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After church we have adult sunday school i guess you could call it and we have different classes you can take. Well, our group is doing a financial class. i think its called, what god wants you to do with his money. ITs a really good series from Crown Ministries. So, the lesson today was about giving. and how you should give because you want to and with a loving heart instead of giving because the bible tells you that you should. So, they say that you should give 10% of your income as your "tithe". and that should be a minimum. its says that in the bible somewhere, but i dont remember where. ANyways, so in the video it said that Unanswered prayers might be from a lack of Titheing. (giving) Meaning, if you arent giving or giving enough to the lord, that he might not be answering your prayers. I thought that was a bit odd.
I can say that i try adn give faithfully and with anopen heart but some weeks i think, i am barely going to beable to pay the bills not less keep giving to church the next week also. So, maybe that week they only get half as much as i would like to give. I should be giving as much as i can, but i always find a way to tell myself its okay to just skip a week or two. But is it really okay?? i mean, its not our money. its the lords money and we are just stuards of it. Those whom give alot will receive alot. Not necessarily in material things, but in blessings other ways also. I am just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that they were basically saying that god withholds your prayer requests because you arent giving enough to the church and or charities. I dont know if i really believe that or not!!! So, in theory, if i give lets say 20% of my income to the church, then all my prayers will be answered?? I dont think the lord works like that. He has a seperate plan for each of us. It just doesnt sit right that they are kinda saying that if you give a lot, then god should automatically bless you in every prayers and everything you have ever wanted. What do you think?? Do you think that God withholds his blessings because we arent as giving with his money?? I'm really curious to see people's thought on this. Thanks, Rachel
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I would agree with you that that seems a bit odd and from my own experiences, I would say it doesn't seem to be true. I am an Atheist. I don't attend church and I don't pray. I have never given a dime to any religion. I have given to other charities, but no where near 10% as that is way more than I can afford. All that being said, I have many "blessings" in my life and if I were a praying person, I would say that most of my prayers have been answered. I attribute my "blessings" to a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck along the way, but if there is a God up there handing them out, I'd say he's been pretty good to me.
If there is a God and if he is as loving and forgiving as I've heard people say, I don't think he would withhold blessings because you choose to put food on your table rather than give 10% to your church. There are so many other ways to help people and be a good person other than just monetary. I would think a loving God would recognize that and say "just do the best you can."
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I stuggled with this myself when I changed churches. I came from a church that practiced "tithing" and joined one that did not. (both Baptist) . My church now things that "tithing" can be done with money, or time and that we doint' tith because we give when someone or something is in need and if that means $5 this week and then a house burns the next and people give $100 and organize a fund raiser than so be it. I wish I had an answer that made since, but that is how I found peace with it.
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No I do not belive that God would not answer our prayers just because we didnot give enough to the church,,,,
I do belive that God does answer all prayers , but not with the answer "we" want, but with his plan.
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No I do not belive that God would not answer our prayers just because we didnot give enough to the church,,,,
I do belive that God does answer all prayers , but not with the answer "we" want, but with his plan.
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I hope you don't mind an adoptee/bmom chiming in on this one....no, I do not agree with God distributing "blessings" based on the amount of money you "tithe" to the church. I am Catholic so this is struggle that many feel in my parish, also.
My opinion is that we are all given "talents" by God. God wants us to practice these talents in our life and share them with others. As Jesus even said in the Bible, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. Well, that is not JUST money. Yes, everything we have is only ours to use and it does belong to God, but He also gave us life and talents to share. Why is this not considered tithing, giving of myself? Isn't this what Jesus did on the cross, give God all that He asked?
Giving of myself CAN cost more than can be valued by financial measure and I believe that God still loves me regardless of the fact that my pocketbook isn't as thick as someone else's. Giving monetarily what you can afford and giving of oneself and living by the Word are what God asks of us. We are not just Chrisitian when we attend Sunday service, but we are Christian 24/7 and need to show everyone our Christianity. Who is to "judge" us in that fashion? That is NOT our place to do, that is God's and His only.
I'm sorry this got a little long. Just my opinion....
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BlackSheep
I hope you don't mind an adoptee/bmom chiming in on this one....no, I do not agree with God distributing "blessings" based on the amount of money you "tithe" to the church. I am Catholic so this is struggle that many feel in my parish, also.
My opinion is that we are all given "talents" by God. God wants us to practice these talents in our life and share them with others. As Jesus even said in the Bible, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. Well, that is not JUST money. Yes, everything we have is only ours to use and it does belong to God, but He also gave us life and talents to share. Why is this not considered tithing, giving of myself? Isn't this what Jesus did on the cross, give God all that He asked?
Giving of myself CAN cost more than can be valued by financial measure and I believe that God still loves me regardless of the fact that my pocketbook isn't as thick as someone else's. Giving monetarily what you can afford and giving of oneself and living by the Word are what God asks of us. We are not just Chrisitian when we attend Sunday service, but we are Christian 24/7 and need to show everyone our Christianity. Who is to "judge" us in that fashion? That is NOT our place to do, that is God's and His only.
I'm sorry this got a little long. Just my opinion....
OF course i dont mind you chiming in!!! i agree with alot you said. After the movie clip was done then we have discussion questions and our teacher said that he thougth they took that point to the extreme a bit. he mentioned that we do need to give not only monetarily, but also give our time and effort. We are having a kids camp in the end of july and we usulaly have 100 innercity kids whom come and it is ALOT of organizing, work, and i think that is a wonderful way to express your giving through activities like that. I guess the monetary part isnt expressed very much in our church and that is why i was a bit shocked when the video has such strong views on it. i am reformed by the way. I really want to talk to my pastor about this next week also. See waht he thinks of this. Thanks for all the responses. Rachel
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