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NASB | Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Malachi 3:10 "Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. [Mal 2:2] |
Subject: May we claim rewards for tithing? |
Bible Note: I thnk we're on the same page. While the churches efforts are to be applied to the needy among us, I very rarely see as much funds being used for those purposes than to get larger buildings, better bands and singers, higher power evangelists and so on. The issue is more about the missuese of funds than the willingness to give. We are to give sacrificially when the need is there but churches today have come up with more ways to spend the money given than what was originally intended. In order to pay for these "porkbarrel" religeous programs, scriptures are used out of context to enforce why we should give to them. Instead of giving to my congregation, my wife and I make sure we take care of her elderly parents, use funds towards the children classes we teach, and will freely give to the person on the street corner. I do not doubt for a minute where our hearts are in this matter but it would seem that many do not give to the need around them because they gave to the church. It has become an excuse not to help and be involved in our neighborhoods. In a certain churhc I used to be a part of my wife and I gave well above 10 percent each week and then another 20 times our weekly pledge in a summer month in order to "reach out to the owrld" only to find that the money lined the pockets of greedy leaders in affiliated churches. I would have been happy to see it go for our own church to meet needs there but that was not the case. Now we make sure what we give is done out of willingness and faith according to how God has blessed us. Our giving is a freewill offering and not accountable to any church financial officer. |