Angels

At this time we are going to touch on the topic of angels. most of us have this vision of the angels sitting up in Heaven on some cloud playing a harp. This is not quite right, as we shall see!                                        Are Angels real? Printer Friendly Version What does the Bible say about angels? A lot! Why? Because God is love, and the world is a war zone. The chief combatants are God and Satan, and what they are fighting over is you. Yes, people are the prize, the spoils of war, if you will. God wants to win people so He can love them, bless them, and give them everlasting life. The Devil wants to win people so he can destroy them (John 10:10a). Because both God and Satan are spirit beings, this ongoing battle is being fought primarily in the spiritual realm, with its manifestations made evident in the physical realm in which we live, that is, the world. Both Commanders-in-Chief, God and Satan, have spirit-being “troops” that they command in the battle. God has those whom the Bible calls “angels” (in both Hebrew and Greek the word for angels means “messengers”), and Satan has those referred to as “evil spirits” or “unclean spirits.” Spirit beings are beings with a life force and a composition that are different than those of a human being. A study of Scripture shows that all of these spirit beings were originally good “angels.” Beside Michael and Gabriel, the other highest-ranking angel was one whom Scripture refers to as the “angel of light” (and by many other names and descriptions). Angels were given free will, and it was “Lucifer” who rebelled against God and somehow persuaded one-third of the other angels to choose to join him in his attempt to usurp the throne of heaven (see Isa. 14:12ff; Ezek. 28:14ff; Rev. 12:3,4). They failed, were condemned to eventual extermination, and ejected from God’s presence. They now inhabit our world, where they are doing as much damage as they can to mankind before their time runs out and they are destroyed. As is the case with many important biblical truths, Satan has introduced much error about angels—what they are and what they do. For example, It’s a Wonderful Life is a great movie, but “Clarence” is a lousy theologian—angels are not dead people. Neither are they chubby babies with bows and arrows. Angels are spirit beings that God created before He created mankind. Because there are both good spirit beings and bad spirit beings, we must know what God’s Word says in order to discern between the genuine and the counterfeit. The good news is that three-thirds minus one-third equals two-thirds. We have millions of supernatural enemies, unwaveringly bent on our destruction, but we have twice as many supernatural friends, whose only mission is to help us in any way they can! Actually, we have more than twice as many on our side, because some of the original one-third are now “in chains” due to their behavior in the time of Noah (Jude 6). If you are a Christian, you know that you are never alone, because your heavenly Father and your Lord Jesus are always flanking you on the path of life, but you can know that there are also angels with you wherever you are. As spirit beings, they don’t take up much space, so there could be 26 of them in your car with you, or at least sitting on top of it. The best news is that there is one man who successfully faced and defeated Satan and his evil-spirit minions on their own turf. Because he did, Jesus Christ was highly exalted to the right hand of God, and he is now the Commander-in-Chief of God’s armies. He has earned the right to intervene in both the spiritual and earthly realms on behalf of those who call upon him in faith. One of the ways he does so is by sending angels to do battle with the evil spirits afflicting people. As we will see, Scripture gives us ample information about the role of angels in helping people, primarily by providing protection, direction, and provision. There are about 275 references to angels in Scripture, and about 50 of those show angels helping people, almost always those who are believers. Apparently that leaves them little time to sit on clouds and play harps. Though present in works of art, that is absent in Scripture. It is important to note that there is no verse in the Bible saying that human beings can command (or ask) angels to do anything, as some Christians today teach. No, that is the Lord’s job—they are his messengers and servants, not ours. Neither does the Word say that people are to worship angels. In fact, Scripture shows that angels respect believers, who they are here to help (Dan. 10:11). It appears that angels recognize that people were originally made in the image of God, and that people are the focus of God’s infinite love. Even though we Christians have the gift of holy spirit, and thereby access to the spiritual realm, we are still five senses-oriented human beings. Because we have a mortal spiritual enemy who we cannot see, hear, smell, or grab, we need some spiritual reinforcements. Earlier I said that life is a war zone, and how true that is! My gosh, how many ways are there to die daily? Alot! That's why we need help! And we have it, as per the following verse: Hebrews 1:14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? The phrase, “those who will inherit salvation,” is misconstrued by some who teach that it refers only to unsaved people, who angels guard and keep alive until they get saved. Then, they erroneously teach, when one gets born again, his “guardian angels” leave him. They teach that angels do not help believers. Not only is that idea clearly contradicted by God’s Word (chances are that David, Daniel, Peter, Paul, et al, and Jesus were in that category), it makes no sense. Think about it: finally, after however many years of living in sin and maybe being a great asset to the Devil, a guy gets born again and becomes an asset to God, and God then withdraws His angelic protection?? Plus, it wouldn’t exactly be fair to angels to have to hang around only jerks and criminals. I mean, what did they ever do to deserve that? Biblically, salvation for a Christian has a past, present, and future aspect to it, as per Scripture written to the Church. Romans 10:9; 2 Corinthians 1:21 and 22; Ephesians 1:11-14; Titus 3:5 and 6; 1 Peter 1:3-5, et al, talk about the past aspect: we have been born again of incorruptible seed and are guaranteed everlasting life. Philippians 2:12 and 13; 3:20; Titus 3:7; 1 Peter 1:6-8, et al, refer to the present aspect: we grow in our faith by standing firm amidst trials, “working out” our salvation. Philippians 3:21 and 1 Peter 1:9, et al, speak of the future aspect: the consummation of our salvation when we receive our new bodies. It is of that future aspect of “inheriting our salvation” that Hebrews 1:14 speaks, indicating that angels help believers until their salvation is perfected at the appearing of Christ. There are many, many examples in Scripture, a few of which we will talk about. Some we won’t cover are found in Acts 5, 8, 10, 12, 27, and they are very stimulating and encouraging. I love the record in Acts 12 of the angel waking up Peter in prison by tapping him on the side! Hold it—angels are spirit beings—how come the angel’s hand didn’t pass right through Peter? Because, as the Bible makes clear, angels know how to do what I call “the molecule trick.” [1] That is, they know how to arrange or re-arrange molecules into different forms, and thus can come into concretion in the form of people. When they do, they look like people, sound like people, and feel like people. They even eat (and it is obvious what to fix for them if any show up at your house). [2] Not only is it the biblical testimony that angels assist believers, but if you have spent much time around Christians, you have heard many accounts of “people” (actually Traffic Division angels) showing up out of nowhere to help them when they were stranded motorists—and then disappearing; others (Child Care Division) leading their lost children home—and then vanishing; others showing up as big, muscular men (Security Division) to scare off their attackers, either military or civilian. Let us be clear, however, that in His Word, God makes it plain that He does not have carte blanche in regard to intervening in people’s lives to help them. If He did, He would, because God is love. Thus, by the definition of love, and by the testimony of His Word, we know that He is always doing everything He can to protect us, rescue us, heal us. Think about it—that means that when He does not do so, it is because He cannot do so [For further study on this subject, see our book Don’t Blame God! For example, God wants to save all men, but He cannot. Why? Because many do not cooperate with Him by making a free will choice to believe in Jesus Christ. So it is in our daily lives as Christians: to a large degree, God needs our cooperation, that is, our faith. The more we trust and obey His Word, the more He can do for us, often by way of angelic intervention.         Follow ME!

Thankfulness: A Blessing For Your Life

From  Truth or Tradition Printer Friendly Version When I was a child, Mom and Dad made me and my siblings sit down after Christmas and write thank-you notes to all the people from whom we received presents (and don’t think for a minute that we would have done so had they not forced us to). Mom and Dad also made sure we said “Please” and “Thank you.” Years later, when I became a parent, I found myself doing the same thing for my children. Thankfulness does not come naturally. It needs to be trained in us. Our sinful nature, selfish and ungrateful, must be ruled by our will. If we are going to live godly lives, we have to first know what is right, and then make up our minds to do it. This is very true of making thankfulness a habit. In order to be thankful in our day-to-day lives, it helps to assess why we are so often unthankful. First, life is difficult and unpredictable because we live in this fallen world, in which the Devil has made it his personal aim to make people’s lives miserable. We too often have unrealistic expectations of how things are going to be, expecting things to go “right.” When they do not, we become exasperated and unthankful. Second, the world (especially advertising agencies) works very hard to create unthankfulness and dissatisfaction. What? Absolutely! No one who is satisfied with what they have replaces it, so advertising agencies work hard for their clients, convincing people that what they have is not good enough. This is not difficult to do in today’s world, when almost everything we use is being improved, remodeled, or updated at least once a year, and everything we wear is outdated before we know it. We learn about “better” products and naturally want them (and may even think we deserve them). No wonder we wrestle with being unthankful for what we have. Ah, to live in the “good old days,” when your great, great, great grandfather (or grandmother) wore the same kind of clothes you did, traveled around town by the same method (on foot with a staff for stabilization and protection), and cooked on the same kind of stove (a campfire). Then you could be thankful for what you have. Sound good? Only one problem—it’s a myth. Ancient people were no more thankful than modern ones. Life was difficult back then too, and people griped about it. That is why there are verses in the Old Testament telling people to give thanks to God. In fact, some 3,000 years ago people griped about life and talked about the “good old days.” Ecclesiastes 7:10a Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these…” Let’s face it, the only “good old days” were in the Garden of Eden, and since then life has been difficult, with plenty to be unthankful about. That is why we have to make up our minds to obey God and be thankful. Did I say, “obey God”? You bet I did, because God commands us to be thankful. Hey, that sounds like my parents—and it should. Good parents “stand in” for God until a child learns to obey the Word without parental enforcement. Scripture says, “…a child left to himself disgraces his mother” (Prov. 29:15b). 1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. The Greek verb that is translated “give thanks” in the above verse, eucharisteo, is in the imperative mood, which means it is a command. God does not “wish” that we would give thanks, He tells us to do so. We have the free will to disobey His command, of course, but not without consequences. Unthankfulness produces a host of physical and mental consequences. Furthermore, it makes us hard to live with. Few people enjoy spending much time with an unthankful, sourpuss person. Lastly, there will be consequences for unthankfulness at the Judgment, in terms of the rewards for obedience that we will miss out on. If life is so difficult, how can God command us to be thankful? The answer to that question is twofold. First, because although there is a lot in life we can be unthankful about if we so choose, there is also a lot for which we can be thankful. Second, because we can be thankful if we want to be. Many a parent has confronted an unthankful, sullen child, and said, “Go to your room and don’t come out until you change your attitude.” That is good parenting, because children, and the rest of us, need to learn that bad attitudes and unthankfulness are a choice. I am not speaking of the immediate emotional reaction to a tragedy, but if we have a continual negative and unthankful attitude about life, that is a choice. [1] The fact is, we can be thankful if we want to be. God commands us to take our thoughts captive to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. God has designed our thinking process to be subject to our will, but this is not such a popular subject today. We live in the generation of, “If it feels good, do it.” Slogans, songs, and countless “role models” encourage us to run our lives by our feelings. Thus we become unthankful because we are quite sure that we “deserve a break today” and did not get one. We wanted to “have it our way,” but that never materialized. But even without unrealistic expectations, the trials of life may produce feelings of unthankfulness—and the key to both obedience and a more blessed life is that we choose not to dwell on them. We can take our unthankful thoughts captive and say to ourselves: “I refuse to think like this. I am going to find something to be thankful for in this situation.” In fact, God commands us to think about “good” things.     The Rest HERE                                                ---------------------------------       I thought that I would just let this teaching speak for itself. I know that there has been many times in my life when I wasn't feeling to thankful for/about anything so I was certainly not thanking God for to much of anything.   It does seem to be hard to be thankful when it seems as if life is falling apart all around you.     I have figured out though, that being thankful in the most dire circumstances does have its rewards from God. You may not see it right when you want to,but, the rewards/blessings of being thankful will come forth at the right time.

The history of "Hell"

WHAT IS HELL? FAQ: I live in the USA, and it seems that our language is riddled with references to “hell.” I constantly hear that extremely versatile word used in conversations of all kinds. People say: “What the hell?” or “The hell with it,” or “Hell, yes / no,” etc. On occasion, some people, though not travel agents, have encouraged me to “go to hell.” I don’t think I want to, because I’ve heard that the Devil lives there, but if I did want to just drive by, where exactly is it located? Based on what people are saying, I assume that “hell” is a word used in the Bible, and if so, what is “hell”? Actually, at this time, there is no such place, other than the small town of Hell, Michigan, which, by the way, has, on occasion, frozen over. But it hardly meets the description of the “Hell” that is propounded by so many Christians who erroneously believe that it is a place of everlasting fire where the “living dead” (???) are tormented forever in flames. Also, the word “hell” is not found anywhere in the original text of Scripture. In the King James Version, you will find it as the translation of the Greek words Hades and gehenna, but most modern translations recognize that “hell” is an incorrect translation for Hades, and more correctly render it as “grave.” Even modern translations, however, do sometimes mistakenly translate the Greek word gehenna as “hell.” So how did the word “hell” so permeate our culture? In this relatively brief answer, we refer you to two excellent books that will clearly show you, in detail, just what the Word of God says about this most significant issue. Is There Death After Life? by Mark Graeser, John Lynn, and John Schoenheit (108 pp), sets forth what the Word says about death and its aftermath, while The Fire That Consumes, by Edward Fudge (211 pp), is a very thorough exposition of “conditional immortality,” including the origin of the idea of “hell” as a place of everlasting torment for the wicked. Both are available from our ministry. One of Satan’s ploys to make Christianity look foolish is to introduce ridiculous ideas (that is, ideas that can legitimately be ridiculed because they make no sense) into its theology. In regard to this overall subject, here are two such errors that came into Christianity from Hellenistic (Greek) thought: There is no such thing as actual “death” (defined in just about any dictionary as “the end, or absence, of life”). When one “dies,” he then lives on in some conscious, incorporeal form called the “soul” or “spirit.” The lie that man is deathless (introduced by the Devil in Genesis 3:4 and later believed by the Greeks) spawned the corresponding notion that there must be an eternal residence for good people and another address for bad people. Thus arose the following falsehoods: A dead person goes either to “heaven” or “hell” and stays there forever. “Hell” is a place of everlasting torment in flames. Fire is a preservative (who else believes this?). It is ironic that most Christians believe that Adolph Hitler will have everlasting life. You might be thinking: “What?! No they don’t.” But think again—if Hitler is being tormented forever in fire, does he or does he not have everlasting life? It’s a crummy life, but it is everlasting life, right? On the contrary, Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God never says that the wages of sin is eternal torment. No, He says that the penalty for sin is an end to one’s life. It is important to realize that no verse in the Bible says that the “soul” or “spirit” lives on by itself. No verse says that “hell” is a place of everlasting torment in fire. These falsehoods originated with God’s archenemy, and infiltrated Christianity via mistranslation and the mixing of Greek culture and beliefs with the truths presented in the Word of God. Thinking logically, does it seem fair to you that God, who the Bible says is love, would forever inflict upon wicked people the excruciating agony of constantly burning? Think about it—if “forever” were likened to a feast, 50 million years of torment is a small hors d’oeuvre. Wouldn’t most rational thinkers conclude that, even for quintessential bad boys like Hitler or Bin Laden, that is simply not fair? Sure they would. Justice would not be served by such an egregious atrocity, and how sad it is that this erroneous belief has contributed to many people turning away from the God whom they were told would do such a thing. The late Sidney Hatch well expressed how twisted is the idea of a just God forever tormenting by fire those who refused to believe in Him: “A civilized society looks with horror upon the abuse and torture of children or adults. Even where capital punishment is practiced, the aim is to implement it as mercifully as possible. Are we to believe then that a holy God—our heavenly Father—is less just than the courts of men? Of course not.” And the late Swedish Lutheran Bishop John Persone wrote: “For me it is inexplainable how a person who holds the orthodox view [of eternal torment] can at any time have a glad moment in this life. He is constantly mingling with people whose final destiny will be to be tormented eternally without end…To me it is even more inexplainable that such an ‘orthodox’ person can expect even a happy moment in eternity, when he knows that contemporaneously with his blessed estate continues the endless torment and agony of innumerable millions of the accursed. Can he, if he loves his neighbors as himself, yes, even if he has just a little bit of human love and is not solely a selfish wretch, have even a single happy moment?” Well said, wouldn’t you agree? Think for a moment about fire. What does it do to things it touches? What do you do if you come home and discover that your house is on fire? Do you feel any sense of urgency? Or do you say, “Hey, let’s go to a movie, and when we get back, we’ll call the Fire Department. There’s no hurry, because we know that our home will burn forever.” Nothing burns forever, and a simple word study of “fire” in Scripture shows that its primary purpose is to destroy useless things, like chaff, and evil things, like wicked people, evil spirits, and Satan (Malachi 4:1 is a classic example). This FAQ about “hell” is not the place to exposit the biblical truth that death is the end of life, and that one who dies no longer exists anywhere in any form. That by itself renders fallacious the notion that “hell” is a place where “dead” people are alive and conscious. In His Word, God artfully chose the metaphor of “sleep” to figuratively describe death. Why? Because sleep is a temporary condition of unconsciousness that ends with an awakening. Ditto for death, for one who believes in Jesus Christ. Where there is no consciousness, there is no awareness of time passing. Therefore, the Apostle Paul’s next conscious thought will be when he sees the face of the Lord Jesus at his appearing. Until that glorious moment, Paul, like all who have died and “returned to dust,” no longer exists. Nor will he ever exist again unless Jesus Christ actually died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and comes again to raise Christians who have died. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says that this truth is the only basis for genuine comfort for the bereaved. How important is this subject? It’s a matter of life and death. See Is There Death After Life? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word sheol means “the state, or place, of the dead,” and is usually translated as “grave” (see Ps. 6:5, 16:10, 49:15, 89:48, et al). Because there is not literally any such place, it could also be translated as “gravedom.” The Hebrews recognized that man is an integrated being who is either alive or dead (to us, this is obvious). They understood that man does not have a soul, but rather that, as per Genesis 2:7, man is a living “soul” (nephesh), that is, a living person. When he dies, he is then a dead soul (e.g., Lev. 19:28, 21:1; Num. 5:2, 6:6, 11), that is, a dead person. In contrast to the teaching of the Old Testament, most Greeks believed that man has “an immortal soul,” which they saw as the non-corporeal essence of his being that was trapped in the temporal, fleshly prison of his body until the wonderful moment when his body “died” and his “soul” could freely wing its way to Mt. Olympus, the land of Shades, or somewhere else. Because of this belief, the Greeks had no word that corresponded with the idea expressed by the Hebrew word sheol. The closest thing they could find was Hades, and that is what those who produced the Septuagint (a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek) chose as the counterpart to sheol. As they do with sheol in the Old Testament, some English versions of the Bible erroneously translate the Greek word Hades as “hell” in the New Testament [For a thorough examination of the meaning of sheol and Hades, see the word “hell” in E.W. Bullinger’s A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (Zondervan Pub. Co., Grand Rapids MI)]. The impact of translating sheol as Hades cannot be overstated. In sheol, everyone is dead, but in the Greek language and culture, everyone in Hades is alive. Thus, by the stroke of the pen of the Septuagint’s translators, all the dead (in sheol) were granted life after death in Hades. The Greek-speaking Hebrews, reading their Greek Bible, would naturally come to believe that “the dead are alive” (it was, after all, in their Bible). This explains why, at the time of Jesus, many Jews believed that the souls of the dead lived on after the person died, and why Jesus would speak a parable springboarding off that belief (Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom” – Luke 16 We should note that the English word “hell” comes from an Old English word meaning “to conceal.” The first definition in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary is “a place or state of the dead or of the damned; usually under the ground” (hence, the idea of “concealed”). The second definition is “a place or state of misery, torment, or wickedness.” The idea that “hell” is a place of eternal torment came about because the word Hades carried with it all the connotation of Greek mythology, in which Hades was the god of the underworld, a place where the souls of dead people went to be tormented. As Bullinger writes in Appendix 131 of The Companion Bible: “The Old Testament is the fountainhead of the Hebrew language. It has no literature behind it. But the case is entirely different with the Greek language. The Hebrew sheol is divine in its origin and usage. The Greek Hades is human in its origin and comes down to us laden with centuries of development, in which it has acquired new senses, meanings, and usages.” Scripture most certainly does speak of a place of fire where wicked people will be “punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:9). This is gehenna, a Greek word that the Gospel writers used in reference to what is elsewhere called “the lake of fire.” It is significant that not only wicked people will be destroyed there, but also “death and the grave” will be forever exterminated (see Rev. 20:12-15). Gehenna is the Greek word for the Hebrew “valley of Hinnom,” which was the city dump outside of Jerusalem. When Jesus used this word to refer to the place of the future destruction of the wicked (e.g., Matt. 10:28—still erroneously translated as “hell” even in modern Bible versions), all who heard him knew exactly what he meant. As the note on Matthew 5:22 in the NIV Study Bible says: “The Greek word is gehenna, which derives its name from a deep ravine south of Jerusalem, the ‘valley of Hinnom.’ During the reigns of the wicked Ahaz and Manasseh, human sacrifices to the Ammonite god Molech were offered there. Josiah desecrated the valley because of the pagan worship there (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31, 32; 19:6). It became a sort of perpetually burning city dump and later a figure for the place of final punishment.” As Edward Fudge points out in The Fire That Consumes, “New Testament writers chose the word gehenna to describe the fate of the lost only in the Gospels, speaking only to Jews, and only when addressing people familiar with the geography of Jerusalem.” The lake of fire is also called “the second death” (Rev. 21:8). What does that mean? God’s Word clearly states that the Lord Jesus Christ will raise from the dead everyone who has ever lived, and that “those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:29). Pending that Adolph Hitler had no “deathbed conversion,” he will one day face the Lord Jesus to account for his evil ways, and after that be cast into the lake of fire to be annihilated. He died once physically, and he will “die” again—forever out of existence. Do you think that those listening to Jesus speak of the wicked burning in gehenna thought he meant they would burn forever? Of course not, because they knew that the garbage they took to the city dump did not continue to exist in the fire without being consumed. Rather, it burned up, and was gone. Jesus used the word gehenna to illustrate that the wicked were like the garbage, refuse worthy only of destruction. The only reason the fire continued to burn was because the whole city kept throwing their garbage there. Likewise, when it has done its job, the lake of fire will be no more. If Revelation 20:10 is coming to your mind as an apparent contradiction to what you have read thus far, that’s great—it should. It speaks of the Devil and a couple of his henchman being thrown in the lake of fire and being “tormented day and night forever and ever.” However, the Bible was not written in English, and when we dig a bit deeper, we see that “forever and ever” in the Greek is more accurately “for ages unto ages.” In keeping with God’s decree in Genesis 3:15 that Jesus would eventually “crush the head” of the Devil (that is, destroy him), Ezekiel 28:18 declares that the Devil will be “brought to ashes.” Apparently, as a fitting recompense for his monstrous evil, this will take a long time. Some Christians argue that annihilation is not a sufficient threat to stop people, and that the threat of burning forever is a more effective deterrent to sin. However, this is looking at the Scripture the wrong way. God says that it is His “kindness” that leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4), not His threats of death, although that might work, because it is programmed within mankind to do whatever it takes to stay alive. Apparently, the thought of not existing is more terrifying to most people than the thought of living even under horrible conditions. What God does do is set forth His great love in giving His Son, and encourage people to believe in him and have everlasting life. If God were trying to use the threat of eternal torment as a deterrent to sin, John 3:16 might read: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not burn forever, but have everlasting life.” And God could have made that plain in many other verses as well. The fact that the Bible simply says “perish” indicates that the unsaved will die, and thus exist no more. What faces those who refuse God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is annihilation. They will be terminated, gone—history. And the rest of us, because of the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ, will live happily ever after. For those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he has paid the price for their sin, and he will give them the gift of life in the age to come. Those who refuse to believe in him will pay the penalty for sin themselves. How? By dying forever in the lake of fire. Everlasting life is just that—life without end, and everlasting death is destruction without hope of recall—permanent extermination. This is God’s perfect justice, and it is definitely a matter of life and death.

Does God have sovereign power?

It is now time to ruffle a few feathers, so to speak. Most preachers or what have you have always been taught or told that God has control over everything that goes on in your life and on this earth. This is not a correct teaching!   1 Timothy 2 (King James Version) 1 Timothy 2 :4 4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.     Obviously this is not happening and all men will not be saved.happening. In The King James Version, God is never called “sovereign.” A brief study of the words translated “sovereign” in the NIV will show that, considered in its theological usage, “sovereign” is not an accurate translation of adon (lord, master), adonai (lord), shalliyt (ruler, officer), malkow (rulership, kingship), and despotes (master, lord). Also, a brief look at a dictionary will show that it is quite possible to be “sovereign” without having absolute control over everything within your domain. Independent kings and queens were known as “sovereign,” and we often speak of an independent country as being a “sovereign state” without thinking that everything done in it is under its absolute control. 2. “Omnipotent”— God does not have “all” power. Satan has a great deal; angels and evil spirits have some; Christians have some. But God is the most powerful One in the fight, and that is why He will eventually win. 3. The last verse of the song says: “He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness...” Not now He doesn’t, though He certainly will in His millennial kingdom. More From Truth or Tradition Does God know every future event in human history? Subtitle: Is God in Control? That is an excellent question, and one that has been debated through the centuries, although perhaps not enough. For us, this is not a “deal breaker,” that is, something we consider non-negotiable in terms of having to agree on it with someone before we can work together with him. Our desire is to know the truth, because if we know it and tell it and live it, we can glorify the God of truth. If you see it differently, no problem. We would ask only that you consider our point of view. As usual, this relatively brief FAQ is not designed to answer it in depth, but to broach the subject in a way that we hope will cause you to think outside the scope of your previous belief. As always, what Jesus said in John 8:32 is most relevant: knowing the truth will make you free, and conversely, believing error will adversely affect the quality of your life. The basic belief of most Christians is that God is outside of time, and therefore, once upon a time (biblically, “in the beginning”), before the world began, He saw the future as a present reality, including every single detail of human history, even the socks you are now wearing, or the fact that you would not be wearing any. If that is true, is there any other way your footwear today could have turned out, and did you really have genuine freedom of will in making the sartorial choice you did? Honest and accurate research will show that the origin of this idea is not biblical, but Hellenistic and Platonic, and I will refer you to two books that go into detail about that. God most certainly does have foreknowledge, but Scripture does not support what we will herein refer to as “absolute foreknowledge,” and the ramifications of this spurious doctrine are far-reaching, and very difficult to reconcile in the human heart. Indeed, this issue most definitely pertains to the quality of one’s life. Perhaps the thorniest issue to reconcile is that of evil, and the resulting suffering of mankind, the horror and magnitude of which words cannot describe. If God knew that the angel Lucifer would rebel against Him and later, as Satan, wreak havoc upon mankind such as we see all around us (and in our own lives) daily, but still went ahead and created him, how can that not hinder our love for and trust in Him? If God knew that Adam and Eve would disobey Him and bring disaster upon the human race, but still created them anyway, how can He be all good, as He claims to be? And how can we fearlessly put our lives into His hands? Some sincere and well-meaning Christians would tell us that we must trust that God’s “ways are higher than our ways” (a verse usually taken grossly out of its context in Isaiah 55:7-11); that “all things work together for good” (a very poor KJV translation of Romans 8:28—the NIV is accurate and thus far more satisfying in terms of reality); that we must “take it on faith,” etc. Whoa—take what on faith? Biblically, “faith” is trust in an understandable promise. Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. The Word of God has “everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3), and His words make sense. On the contrary, superstition (“an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear”) calls for one to believe nonsense. At the bottom line, what is at stake in regard to this issue is whether or not God is love, and lovable. Once upon a time (biblically: “in the beginning”), when God was all by Himself, He sovereignly chose to relate to mankind as His Word subsequently declares He does, that is, in a “linear” relationship, experiencing time passing with us. His perspective is definitely far beyond our own (“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”— 2 Pet. 3:8), that is, He sees the big picture that we as temporal beings cannot, but He makes it clear that He relates to us according to how we see time. We can understand that from statements such as what He said to Abraham in Genesis 22:12, “Now I know that you fear God…” If words have meanings, up until that moment God did not absolutely know what Abraham, a free will being, would choose to do. If a person has genuine free will, then his choices cannot be absolutely known in advance of his decisions to make those choices, even by God—unless, of course, He says differently in His Word, which He does not. Did God have a pretty good idea of what Abraham would do? Certainly. Couldn’t a good parent fairly accurately predict what his child would do in a given situation? Multiply that probability as much as God is bigger than we are, and you can begin to see how He can be so accurate in His predictions. No doubt you agree that God knows everything that can be known. The question is whether or not He can absolutely know the future. Consider this: God knows every detail of the past and every detail of the present, including the thoughts, words, and deeds of every human being, and of Satan and his evil spirit minions. That knowledge, combined with His knowledge of His own will and His own ability, make Him able to predict the future with amazing accuracy. However, when it comes to biblical prophecy, we must distinguish between what is conditional and what is unconditional. God cannot lie, and when He makes an unconditional statement about what will happen in the future, He does so knowing that He has the wherewithal to bring it to pass without overstepping the free will of any human being (which is also something that, by His nature, God cannot do). [For further study read “The Conditional Nature of Prophecy.”] When they first hear that God does not have absolute foreknowledge, many people jump to the conclusion that this idea makes Him look smaller and less capable. Hopefully their “hang time” on that jump is minimal, because the truth is that it makes Him look much bigger and far more impressive. Think about it. Who would be more capable and worthy of recognition, a football coach who somehow knew ahead of time each play the opposition would run, or the coach who knew the game and his own plays and the opposing team so well that he could skillfully adjust to whatever came at him, and come out victorious? Obviously, the latter. Ditto for God. Bobby Fischer was once the world’s greatest chess player. Suppose you sat down to play him in his prime? Any doubt of the outcome? Not unless he goes into a fit of hysteria at one of your mindless moves and expires before he defeats you. Would Bobby need to know what your moves were before you did? Nope. Why not? Because it wouldn’t matter at all what you did, he’d have a hundred contingency plans for each move you made. After all, he’s Bobby Fischer, the world’s greatest chess player. Ditto for the world’s greatest God! He will ultimately prevail over the Devil, and all those who have made the free will choice to believe His Word will live happily ever after with Him and the Lord Jesus. Let us not fall into the trap of putting our trust in the static, pagan concept of a bored deity mindlessly watching his pre-planned scenario unfold, and maybe having to wonder what cosmic tragedy he has assigned to us. No, we who have made Jesus Christ our Lord can lay our very lives in the hands of the God whose fathomless love surrounds us and whose limitless resourcefulness are at our disposal. Our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus stand with us in the trenches of life, and they are never caught off guard by the circumstances coming at us, but always ready to show us the next thought to think, word to speak, and step to take. There are two books in particular that I found to be extremely enlightening about this whole matter. One is The God Who Risks, by John Sanders, and the other is God of the Possible, by Greg Boyd. In closing, I’d like to share with you a review of Boyd’s book that I did shortly after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. I titled it “Choose Your Own Adventure,” and I believe that it will give you much food for thought. The incredible events of September 11, 2001 thrust into the world’s collective consciousness the age-old question: “If there is a God, and if He is a loving God, how could He have allowed such a horrifically evil occurrence?” Corollary to that question are many other equally heart-bending inquiries such as: “Is what happened on September 11 somehow a part of a sovereign God’s plan for mankind?” Or: “Do you mean to tell me that God knew exactly what was going to happen and did nothing to stop it?” The problem of evil, that is, how evil can co-exist with a God who says He is love, is not only one that often tragically affects us personally, but it is also one that has turned countless people away from the Creator, who longs for them to know Him for who He truly is. Given the Christian Church’s traditional answers to the above questions, I think it is safe to assume that even millions of Christians are plagued with doubt as to whether some God-ordained tragedy may befall them. If knowing the truth makes one free, then believing something contrary to God’s Word, especially about such a vital issue as this, could put people in great bondage. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 holocaust, I think we have a golden opportunity to set before people God’s answers to their questions, if we are willing to re-evaluate some “sacred Christian cows” and ask, “Where’s the beef?!” I believe that Greg Boyd’s book, God of The Possible, can help us understand and articulate those answers. The fact that it is only 169 pages of good-sized print helped me get started on it, and what I found was a book loaded with Scripture, a rock-solid biblical exposition of a subject it seems has been too often ignored in favor of the unscriptural Platonic, Augustinian tradition. The latter may well have left the majority of the Christian populace with an almost fatalistic worldview that significantly dilutes their resolve to pray, to share their faith, and to realize the far-reaching importance of their own choices. In his Introduction, Boyd asks such penetrating questions as: If every choice you’ve ever made was certain an eternity before you made it, were you really free when you made each choice? Could you have chosen differently if it was eternally certain you’d make the choice you did? If God foreknew that Adolf Hitler would send six million Jews to their deaths, why did he go ahead and create a man like that? [We might now add Osama bin Laden]. How is God not responsible for the behavior of evil people he “unleashes” on the world if, in fact, he is absolutely certain of what they will do once “unleashed”? If God is eternally certain that various individuals will end up being eternally damned, why does he go ahead and create them? And then try to get them to accept his grace throughout their lives—as though there were genuine hope for them? If the future is exhaustively settled in God’s mind, as the classical view holds, why does the Bible repeatedly describe God changing his mind? Why does the Bible say that God frequently alters his plans, cancels prophecies in the light of changing circumstances, and speaks about the future as a “maybe,” a “perhaps,” or a “possibility”? Why does Scripture describe God as expressing uncertainty about the future, being disappointed in the way things turn out, and even occasionally regretting the outcome of his own decisions? Boyd says it was questions like those that led him on a 17-year search in the Bible. The thesis he sets forth in God of The Possible is that, to some extent, God knows the future as definitely this way and definitely not that way, but that to some extent, He knows it as possibly this way and possibly not that way. He calls this the “open view” of God, or of the future, much of which is settled ahead of time either by God’s predestining will or by existing earthly causes, and much of which is yet open to be decided by free will agents. He shows that the issue at stake is not about whether God is omniscient or has foreknowledge – He is and He does. Rather, the issue is about the nature of the reality that God perfectly knows, that is, what is the content of the reality of the future. If God does not foreknow future actions by free will beings whom He chose to create that way, it is not because His knowledge is in any sense incomplete. It is because there is, in the open view, nothing definite there for God to know. Boyd states: “One is not ascribing ignorance to God by insisting that he doesn’t foreknow future free actions if indeed free actions do not exist to be known until free agents create them… Those who oppose the open view of God on the grounds that it compromises God’s omniscience are simply misguided.” As to the book’s title and its thesis, Boyd says that: “…the classical tradition became misguided when, under the influence of Hellenistic philosophy, it defined God’s perfection in static, timeless terms…Given this definition of divine perfection, there was no way to conceive of God as entertaining real possibilities…It followed for classical theology that reality must be eternally and exhaustively settled…This view is misguided on biblical, theological, and practical grounds…God is the God of the possible and not simply a God of eternally static certainties. Practically, a God of eternally static certainties is incapable of interacting with humans in a relevant way. The God of the possible, by contrast, is a God who can work with us to truly change what might have been to what should be.” In conjunction, he writes: “God can and does predetermine and foreknow whatever he wants to about the future. Indeed, God is so confident in his sovereignty that he does not need to micromanage everything. He could if he wanted to, but this would demean his sovereignty. So he chooses to leave some of the future open to possibilities, allowing them to be resolved by free agents. It takes a greater God to steer a world populated with free agents than it does to steer a world of preprogrammed automatons…The God of the possible creates the “Choose Your Own Adventure” structure of world history and of our lives, within which the possibilities of human free choice are actualized…A God who knows all possibilities, experiences novelty, and is willing to engage in an appropriate element of risk is more exalted than a God who faces an eternally settled future.” And I have to say, “Amen.” Boyd’s work is divided into four chapters, the first being “The Classical View of Divine Foreknowledge.” Here he explains how the influence of Greek philosophy has resulted in most Christians having come to believe that once upon a time God saw as present reality every single future event of human “history” exactly as it would occur, even down to the garish neckties that too many TV personalities apparently have no choice but to wear (those are my words, not his, in case you hadn’t guessed). He shows that the biblical material used to support the classical tradition that the future is exhaustively settled does not, in fact, prove it. It proves only that some of the future is settled. In Chapter One, Boyd sets forth some key sections of Scripture used by defenders of the classical view of foreknowledge to prove their point, and offers another explanation of them, one more consistent with the whole of Scripture and with the reality of human existence. He examines the five categories of divine foreknowledge in the Bible, that is: the chosen people, individuals, Christ’s ministry, the elect, and the end times. In this chapter, Boyd also looks at Settled Aspects of the Future, Foreknowing Predictable Characters, Foreknown Life Plans, Prophecies of Kingdoms and Judgments, The Foreordained Messiah and the Predestined Church, and in its conclusion he writes: “God decrees whatever he wishes to decree [based upon knowing His own ability to pull it off]. He controls whatever he chooses to control. He is never caught off guard or at a loss of options. He anticipates and ingeniously outmaneuvers his opponents. Hence, all who align themselves with him can have total confidence that he will ultimately achieve his objectives for creation.” Chapter Two is titled, “The God Who Faces a Partially Open Future.” Boyd argues that the Bible passages showing a partially open future should be taken as literally as those showing a partially settled future. The subtitles in Chapter Two are: God Regrets How Things Turn Out (and includes Does Regret Imply Lack of Wisdom?); God Confronts the Unexpected; God Gets Frustrated; God Tests People to Know Their Character; God Speaks in Terms of What May or May Not Be; Hastening the Lord’s Return; Jeremiah 18 and the Flexible Potter; Reversed Divine Intentions. In its conclusion, he states: “The fact that verses as explicit as these [the many that he has covered in the chapter] aren’t allowed to communicate that God really changes his mind or experiences regret or unexpected disappointment testifies to the truth that the classical exegesis of these passages is driven by philosophy rather than by the texts.” Chapter Three is “What Practical Difference Does the Open View Make?” and it is terrific. Among other things, Boyd talks about Rational Minds and Transformed Hearts, The Clarity of God’s Word, Possibility Living, The Urgency of Prayer, and Resolving the problem of Evil. Here are some quotes: “The extent to which the Word of God is incoherent to us is the extent to which it is of no benefit to us…A person’s mental picture of God is the most important feature of his or her belief system [and] determines how we relate to God, for better or for worse. Most of the time we are unaware of our deepest beliefs about God. We may think we believe one thing about God, repeating teachings we have been given, when, in fact, at a deeper level, our picture of God does not actually reflect these teachings. And since our hearts always respond to what we really believe, not what we think we believe on a theoretical level, our lives frequently don’t reflect what we say we believe.” He goes on to say that if God experiences no true possibilities, “it directly suggests that possibilities are not real, for God’s knowledge, not ours, reflects reality as it really is. If we believe that possibilities are not real, we will be more inclined to accept things that we could, and should, revolt against…Conversely, if we believe in the reality of possibilities, for even God faces them, we will be more inclined to take a proactive stance. Knowing that what transpires in the future is not a foregone conclusion but is significantly up to us to decide, we will be more inclined to assume responsibility for our future…[We] will be more inclined to adventurously and passionately envisage and pursue what could be instead of resigning ourselves to what supposedly was settled an eternity ago about what will be.” “The bottom line is that life is all about possibilities. We are thinking, feeling, willing, personal beings only because we, like God, are beings who can reflect on and choose between possibilities. We are fully alive when we passionately seize them, adventurously explore them, and define ourselves by actualizing them…The picture of God as the “God of the possible” creates a people who do not wait for an eternally settled future to happen.” Regarding prayer, Boyd writes that, in his experience, many Christians do not pray as passionately as they should, but rather do so out of obedience and without the sense of urgency that Scripture attaches to prayer. He thinks too many interpret the cliché “God is in control” to mean that “God controls everything,” thus leaving them with the obvious question: “What real difference could prayer possibly make?” He says that: “the common cliché that ‘prayer changes us, not God,’ does not reflect either the purpose or the urgency that God’s Word gives to petitionary prayer.” He states that prayer is a chief means [obedience is another] by which humans participate with God in determining the future and that the will of God “be done on earth as it is heaven.” Listen to this insight: “Prayer is also part of what makes us morally responsible agents. Because God wants us to be empowered, because He wants us to communicate with him, and because he wants us to learn dependency on him, he graciously grants us the ability to significantly affect him. This is the power of petitionary prayer. God displays his beautiful sovereignty by deciding not to always unilaterally decide matters. He enlists our input, not because he needs it, but because he desires to have an authentic, dynamic relationship with us as real, empowered persons.” Regarding the power of prayer and the problem of evil, Boyd waxes both logical and inspirational: “When we rid ourselves of any lingering suspicion that evil somehow fits into the eternal purposes of God, we are more inclined to do something about it. Jesus spent his entire ministry revolting against the evil he confronted. He never suggested that any of the physical or spiritual afflictions he confronted somehow fit into his Father’s plan. Rather, he confronted these things as coming from the Devil and carried out the Father’s plan by healing people and delivering them. We who are Christ’s disciples should follow our Master’s lead. We are to pray that the Father’s will would be done (Matt. 6:10), not accept things as thought his will was already being done!” Chapter Four, 42 pages, consists of 18 most pertinent questions and answers, questions you may have after reading this review of Boyd’s book. It is full of enlightening and comforting insight. The last question addresses his experience that most people who honestly examine the evidence for the open view and then choose to reject it do so not because the evidence is weak but because they fear its implications. The question is: “If God isn’t in control of everything, the world feels unsafe. If the future is open and things can happen outside of God’s will, what guarantee is there that there is a point to a person’s suffering? Maybe it’s all just bad luck.” Here are some excerpts from his answer: “How is the scariness of a view relevant to the question of whether or not it is true?” Good question, huh? He believes that the open view simply articulates what we already believe at a core level, based upon how we act. Boyd wonders how believing that a string of robberies and beatings in your neighborhood was ordained by an all-controlling God helps you to cope with the fear that it might happen to you? You still know at the core of your being that the world is just as scary with your belief as without it. He submits that such a belief makes the world an even scarier place, because: “If God has decided this, there is nothing you can do about it. If God is the sort of God who is capable of ordaining such evils, then you can’t trust God’s character. You have nothing to hang on to.” “If God chooses not to control all things, however, then there is something you can do about it. As a morally responsible free person, you can make choices that maximize your safety and minimize your vulnerability against other free people who have chosen evil. The world is perhaps still scary, but less so than if the Creator himself had the kind of character that made him willing to ordain child kidnappings and the power to ensure that what he ordains will certainly be accomplished.” Boyd closes his book with an appendix expositing 19 passages of Scripture that support the open view of God and of the future. What he has found is very compelling. Do I think everyone currently residing on terra firma (earth) could benefit from reading this book? Yesss! We see in Scripture that because Jesus walked with total trust in his heavenly Father and carried out his part of The Plan, God could reciprocate and keep His Word, both to Jesus and to all those who call upon his name.So keep calling, by aggressively and passionately praying and obeying.

Paul's letter to the Americans

A little fun time for a few .    I ran across this piece on-line last week and I thought that this was a good letter to our  churches!  Of course it is a fictitious letter but the point gets made.   PAUL'S LETTER TO THE AMERICANS by Sean Dietrich Article copied by permission of the author: http://www.seandietrich.com/PAULAMERICAN.html Crossposted from Prayershack.com GREETINGS FROM PAUL Paul, a simple messenger for Jesus to my brothers and sisters in America, and the faithful who are holding onto him tightly. I just want to say thanks to God for blessing me beyond what I deserve with every blessing conceivable. It’s really unbelievable to think that he chose me before he even thought about forming this earth, and he loved us enough to adopt us into this incredible family through Jesus. He is so good, and he is so faithful to me. He is always teaching me new lessons, loving me through turmoil and blessing me in ways that please him. I must say, I can’t wait to finally enter into the inheritance he has waiting for us, which is Jesus himself. It’s good to be able to finally write to you all, I’ve wanted to write for some time now. I have heard about your firm devotion to your churches and your strong commitment to those who call themselves shepherds of Jesus. However, I’m afraid that it is not for your benefit. TRADITIONS OF MEN Where did you adopt these traditions brothers? You conduct ceremonies and rituals like the ignorant do. I’m surprised that you have hushed the voice of the true shepherd who speaks to his own people so clearly. What has happened to the sincere faith that existed in you at the beginning? Who has told you that possessing Christ is no longer enough, but you need to be “plugged in?” Who told you that you needed to submit to anyone but Christ? They are liars if they speak such nonsense. Brothers, Jesus is your only shepherd. I’ve seen your religious ceremonies and heard these self-proclaiming teachers speak. I was astonished to hear my very own name used to verify their dead practices. And since when did my letters become legal documents? Will you do the same thing to this letter when you are through reading it, by placing numbers next to each sentence? How many times have I said that I am but a simple messenger for Jesus, not something to be worshiped? And yet you call my letters holy, and tell your converts to read them every morning until they are able to recite them by memory. Brothers and sisters, there is a better way than this. JUSTIFIED BY JESUS NOT RITUALS I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again: Nothing you can do will justify you. No duty or ritual can make you any more pure. No prayer you can pray, no meeting you can attend and no group of people you belong to can purify you. Only Jesus does this miracle. You don’t need anyone between you and Christ either. Not me, not a pastor, and not a priest. I’m afraid that these institutions you have set up for yourselves are killing the faith that was in you from the beginning. I fear that if you don’t truly seek to know Jesus without observing such foolery, then you are following the wrong gospel. FREEDOM IN HIM Friends, it shouldn’t be this way. Jesus has really set us free. Really! Stand firm and resist any form of this slavery. Open your eyes! Let Jesus take the chains off of you and rid yourself of this mess. Get away from those who confuse you and learn from Jesus himself. If you really read my previous letters closely, you would know that I never said that you needed to be “fed” by the hands of men. Jesus is perfectly capable of feeding you without the help of money hungry shepherds. Brothers, they seek to use you for their own benefit. Christ is not that way. You will never find a truer friend who desires the best for you like he does. These “teachers” will use you and lose you; Jesus will care for you and help you grow. FOLLOW HIS URGING Brothers, be bold and take the step you feel our friend Jesus urging you to take. Don’t hesitate for a moment! Get away from those who seek selfish gain. Live with Jesus and learn from him. People sing songs at their religious ceremonies, saying they are hungry to know Jesus. They certainly are! Drink his refreshing water and never go thirsty again. Grace be with you in the name of our Jesus who loves you and wants you for himself. -Paul The above article was copied exactly as printed from http://www.seandietrich.com/PAULAMERICAN.html Many authors represented on the TruthForFree.com/Prayer Shack website have no current affiliation with TruthForFree.com or the Prayer Shack. Articles are provided for personal, non-commercial use only. As with all things, the reader is encouraged to search the Scriptures and make his/her own conclusion based on prayer, conscience and study of the Word of God.

The 10% Tithe

The majority of church goers will give the 10% that the preacher says they must give.  But is this right or is this a guilt trip to get your money? Read Mr. Helser's article and then YOU decide!   The 10% Tithe Issue by Jack Helser "Lord, You Are" "Resurrection Power" Previous | Index | Next There are 6 articles in the "Tithe" series. I pray the Lord will use these articles to set you free from false teaching and guilt-based giving. They are: 1) To Tithe Or Not To Tithe: The $earch For Truth, 2) Tithe Follow-Up, 3) The Tithe: Who's Robbing Who?, 4) Just What WAS Abraham's Example?, 5) Fun With Numbers, 6) The Tithe: Final Thoughts Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In the past when I’ve sent an article to Pam Clark for publication on the Trumpet Wind Prophetic Bulletin, I typically received 3-4 replies and I responded to each one individually. The article To Tithe Or Not To Tithe – The $earch For Truth has received over 60 replies within a day of publication and I’m hard pressed to respond to each one individually. Readers of Pam’s newsletter are now forwarding the article, and I’m receiving a 2nd generation of replies. Most are words of encouragement and agreement, others affirm that the Lord has been revealing the same truth to them in recent months – some have been bullied into silence about the truth. Several said the article finally settled the tithe issue for them, and the Holy Spirit has given them peace and the freedom to give as the Lord leads (Praise the Lord!). A few dear brothers and sisters also received permission from the Lord to sow into their own ministries,  which is a wonderful idea. I didn’t mention in the article, but the Lord has had me sow into my own ministry a few times in the past. Once in my early 20’s (I’m 45 now) I had a Christian band and a public music ministry. For a time we used our offerings to purchase a PA system and over the course of 4-5 years, we sang at 200 churches, prisons, military bases, and schools in the Seattle area. We had a blast going wherever we were invited and the Lord blessed us. We had good jobs so whatever we received from the concerts was given to the poor, or donated to area food banks. More recently, the Lord launched my wife Karen and I into music ministry, and we purchased a small sound system for our concerts. After hearing from one sister who just received the Lord’s blessing to sow to her ministry in foreign missions, the Lord spoke to my heart about our ministry. A few years ago, the Lord called me via 1st Timothy 1:12 (NKJV) and impressed my wife and I to move from the Seattle area to north central Illinois. We incurred moving expenses, but we never considered them ministry expenses even though it was the Lord who directed us to move here for ministry. The Lord has impressed on me that our moving expenses are indeed ministry expenses and that it is OK to use what we would normally give to pay the moving expenses. Your responses have been a real blessing to me, and I’m glad to share another way in which the Lord has set me free to give as He leads me to give. Praise Him! The Lord has reminded me of the verse “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 ). I sense in many of your replies that your heart’s desire is for ministry, but you have been held back for lack of funding because you give your entire offering to the church you attend. I know several of the replies struck me as teachers, compassion ministries, encouragers and missionaries – in waiting. I believe the Lord wants me to encourage you to take that step of faith as He leads you, and sow seed money for the ministry He has for you ( Ephesians 2:10 ). It’s OK to do that. ;^) Note that giving to your own ministry is not tax deductible unless you have a registered not-for-profit organization. I’ll save you the embarrassment of asking the Lord about that; when I complained that a gift He’d asked me to give was not tax deductible, His reply was “So!?! I’m good for it!” ;^) (Oh me of little faith! ;^) A few of the replies have been from a brother or sister in bondage over the Tithe issue. Years of hearing the tithe lie has robbed them of the joy of giving as they struggle to obey the rules they’ve been taught: “you must give 10% to the church or you have robbed God and He won’t bless you”. Is that out of my gross or net earnings? “Do you want a ‘gross’ or a ‘net’ blessing?” Argh! There was once such reply that brought me to travail (weeping intercessory prayer). What the enemy has done to that dear sister grieves me deeply. I want to share briefly 2 letters that raised 3 objections to the article and address the points of objection. As you exercise your freedom to give as the Lord leads, you’ll no doubt hear these objections and I feel led to share what the Lord has shown me. The Lord had me write the article around Malachi 3:8-10 . The objections refer to a few other scriptures that are often twisted and manipulated to support the tithe. The “Melchizedek” Argument ( Genesis 14:18-20 ) Abraham gave a “tenth” (NIV) or “tithe” (KJV) to “Melchizedek” the King of ‘Salem (Jerusalem), High Priest of God, in Genesis 14:18-20 . The “tenth/tithe” was given out of the spoils of war - plunder, following Abraham’s victory over King Kedorlaomer and those kings allied with him after they had captured Abraham’s nephew Lot, Lot’s family and possessions, and the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah ( Genesis 14:11-12 ). The person who found fault with the tithe article notes the parallels between “Melchizedek” King of ‘Salem who received Abraham’s tithe of spoils ( Genesis 14:18-20 ) and Jesus who is High Priest in the order of “Melchizedek” (several mentions in Hebrews 5-7 ). A close read of Hebrews 7 reveals that the author is NOT writing a defense of the “tenth/tithe” though it is mentioned several times. Rather, the author makes a case for Jesus as our eternal high priest, by comparing Jesus to Melchizedek whom Abraham esteemed by a voluntary tithe. To help the Hebrew people understand Jesus, the author basically asks a rhetorical question: "if Melchizedek was great though he was just a man, how much greater then is Jesus who was raised from the dead, and lives forever". The author also discusses the end of the Levite priesthood and the effect Christ’s death has on the practice of the Law ( Hebrews 7:11-12 , Hebrews 7:18-19 ). Hebrews explains that Christ is the final and everlasting sacrifice and that He is our High Priest before God forever ( Hebrews 7:24 ) in the order of (like) Melchizedek ( Genesis 14:18-20 , Hebrews 7:11 ). A Tenth of Everything? Define Everything! Abraham lived near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite ( Genesis 14:13 ) at Hebron ( Genesis 13:18 ). Hebron is about 15 miles south of Jerusalem. The Genesis account says Abraham pursued Kedorlaomer north “as far as Dan” ( Genesis 14:14 ) which is about 100 miles north of Jerusalem. When Abraham and his men caught up with Kedorlaomer at Dan, Abraham divided his men and attacked during the night, giving chase as far north as Hobah (north of Damascus) which is 30 miles north of Dan ( Genesis 14:15-16 ). Abraham’s pursuit took him about 145 miles north of his home in Hebron. Following his victory over Kedorlaomer, Melchizedek came out to meet Abraham in King’s Valley (to the east of Jerusalem) as he returned from Hobah ( Genesis 14:17-18 , Hebrews 7:1 ). Abraham’s home in Hebron was still another 15 miles to the south of King’s Valley. Unless Abraham carried his household possessions with him to Dan and back (about 290 miles round trip), Abraham gave to Melchizedek only out of the spoils - plunder he carried back from his victory over Kedorlaomer ( Hebrews 7:2, 7:4 ). In that sense, it was Kedorlaomer, the enemy, who paid the tithe. [ADDED May 08, 2002] There are important elements to consider in the story of Abraham's victory over Kedorlaomer. A map in my Bible suggests the location for Sodom and Gomorrah near Zoar ( Genesis 13:10 ), SE of the Dead Sea, which is about 50 miles from Hebron where Abraham lived. News was spread by word of mouth. It took time for word of Kedorlaomer's conquest of Sodom and Gomorrah to reach Abraham in Hebron. It took time for Abraham to assemble an army of 318 trained men from his household ( Genesis 14:14 ). All the while, Kedorlaomer was making his way north with Lot, his family, and the plunder of Sodom and Gomorrah, presumably making his way northward in the plains area east of the Jordan River, Dead Sea and MT. Seir. The mileage figures I used in the paragraph above, assume Abraham and his men headed due north from Hebron, on the west side of the Jordan River and Dead sea, converging on Kedorlaomer at Dan. If Abraham turned south from Hebron and went around the south end of the Dead Sea, through Zoar and Sodom and Gomorrah, it would be necessary to add at least 80 miles to the round trip figure above. My point with all the discussion of mileage and geography, is that a small army of 318 men, in pursuit of a powerful army with a substantial ' head start', must travel light. I assume Abraham and his men pursued Kedorlaomer on foot, and carried only swords and shields, minimal food and water. A ' light infantry' going off to war, does NOT carry their household possessions with them, their silver and gold, nor did they drive their flocks and herds before them when in pursuit of Kedorlaomer. Undoubtedly Abraham and his men ran in  marathon-like fashion to catch up with Kedorlaomer. Their northward pursuit was over 115 miles of hilly terrain west of the Jordan and Dead Sea. If they turned south and followed Kedorlaomer's tracks from Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham and his men would have run nearly 200 miles before catching up with Kedorlaomer. That Abraham's home was still 15-20 miles south of when he met up with Melchizedek in the King's Valley, shows a clear distinction between giving a tenth out of the plunder of war that Abraham brought back with him from Dan, and Abraham's personal WEALTH and INCOME which remained at Abraham's household in Hebron. Interestingly, Genesis 13 says Abraham was already wealthy with silver, gold, and livestock, before he even moved to Hebron. Abraham did NOT tithe out of his INCOME. There is a distinct difference between Abraham's one time voluntary thank offering out of the plunders of war, and what was later instituted by the Law of Moses as the ongoing tithe for the Levite priesthood. I believe that difference is the reason the NIV Bible translates the word "ma'aser" (Strong's Reference #4643) in Genesis 14:20 as "tenth" and not "tithe". [END May 08, 2002 ADDITION] It is a tremendous perversion of scripture to take a perpetual tithe from the wages of the sons of God – the Church – when the original tithe was a one time voluntary thank offering given by Abraham to Melchizedek from the plunder of an enemy! It is shameful to treat the sons of God like the enemy! How should the sons be treated? Consider Jesus response to the temple tax. Jesus asked Peter “What thinkest thou, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? From their sons, or from strangers?” Peter answered “From strangers” and Jesus replied “Therefore the sons are free” . ( Matthew 17:24-27 ). Another point to ponder from Genesis 14:18-20 is simply that Melchizedek did not ask Abraham for a tenth of the plunder. How is it that ministers can read Genesis 14:18-20 and ask for a tenth, when Melchizedek did not ask for a tenth? Let's look at what really happened in Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek came out to King's Valley to GIVE TO Abraham, NOT to receive from Abraham! Melchizedek brought bread and wine for Abraham, they ate together, and Melchizedek pronounced a wonderful blessing over Abraham. This is the very picture of Jesus who said "I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many!" (Matthew 20:28) Abraham was apparently so moved that he voluntarily gave a tenth of the plunder to Melchizedek. Why is it that I have never heard a minister address the greater meaning of this passage, by relating Melchizedek who served bread and wine to Abraham, to Jesus who offered his flesh and blood that we might live in communion with the Father forever (John 6:33-63)? Wasn't it bread and wine that Jesus served the disciples for the last supper (Luke 22:17-20)? Genesis 14:18-20 is of prophetic significance - a portrait of the new covenant of grace that would be implemented by the last Melchizedek priest: Jesus. Why then is it that so many ministers take Genesis 14:18-20 and turn it into a binding law on the freed sons of God, when clearly it is a wonderful promise of our eternal communion with the Father through that flesh and blood sin offering of Christ? Gross Misrepresentation Genesis 14:18-20 has been broadly interpreted to impose the tithe on the Church. Obvious errors are: Reinterprets the “spoils of war” or "plunder" ( Genesis 14:14-16 ) to “wages” or “time”. Overlooks that Abraham’s “tithe/tenth” to Melchizedek was voluntary, NOT compulsory. Assumes that Abraham’s “tithe/tenth” to Melchizedek was a continuing practice though there is no evidence to suggest that it was. Ignores that Melchizedek did not ask for a tithe. Ignores that it is the descendants of Levi who collect the tithe ( Hebrews 7:5 ). Ignores Hebrews 9:9-10 which clearly states that the old way of gifts, sacrifices and offerings applied only until the “time of the new order” (NIV). The “God Changes Not” Argument “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says ( Galatians 4:21 )?” An objection made the statement “God changes not”. While it is true God does not change, it is a poor argument to use on behalf of continuing the tithe. If the argument “God changes not” is a valid reason to keep one part of the Law – the tithe – then it is a valid reason to keep ALL of the law ( Galatians 5:3 ). Consider the uproarious implications! Burnt offerings and sacrifices on the altar of every church! “Come to our Sunday morning worship service and BBQ!” Every church with it’s own grain silo, winepress, and pasture / corral for the livestock people will be tithing! We’ll need much bigger offering plates! Oh and the joys we’ll all have practicing ceremonial cleanliness – women instructed to stay home from church 1 week per month ( Leviticus 12:2 ). Pastors inspecting rashes and teens staying home from church and school because of a zit outbreak ( Leviticus 13 )! Undertakers! Poor undertakers! Every time they touch a deceased person they are unclean for a week ( Numbers 19:16 )! If business is brisk, don’t expect to see the undertaker in church again! Yes Lord! We want to go back to the Law! Not! Rebuke of the Scribes and Pharisees Argument Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for meticulously giving a “tithe/tenth” of their “mint, dill and cumin”, while neglecting the more important matters of the law: “justice, mercy, faithfulness”. Jesus said “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (KJV) and “You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (NIV) - Matthew 23:23 Once again, there are several problems with using this scripture to support the tithe as applicable to the Body of Christ. Reinterpretation of “mint, dill, and cumin” (food) to “money” and “time”. Jesus was addressing the Scribes and Pharisees – who are Jews – under the Law of Moses – and obligated by the Law to tithe. Jesus was NOT addressing gentiles (non-Jews). Jesus choice of words was different addressing this sin than when He addressed other sins. His choice of words is weak and in the past tense, as it would be from someone who understood that the Law was about to be superceded by the new covenant in Christ’s blood: grace! Strong’s Reference #4160 for the Romanized word “poieo” says it is a “less direct” form of a command – which is why it was rendered “ought to” or “should have”. Contrast Jesus words to the Scribes and Pharisees with His words to the woman caught in adultery: “Go and sin no more” (KJV) and “Go now and leave your life of sin” (NIV) - John 8:11 . His words to her are direct, emphatic, and they are in the future tense – because there is a continuing command against adultery, unlike the Law to tithe which ceased to apply with Christ’s death and resurrection. [THE FOLLOWING ADDED June 29, 2002] The complete text of Matthew 23:23 reads: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. As I was meditating on the text above, the Lord showed me something I hadn't seen before. In the statement "You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law", Jesus makes it clear that the "tithe" is a "matter of the law", in that He refers to it along with "justice, mercy and faithfulness" which are also "matters of the law". In effect Jesus is saying 'the law requires you to tithe, and practice justice, mercy and faithfulness, and while you have meticulously kept the law concerning the tithe, you have failed to keep the law concerning justice, mercy and faithfulness'. This clear identification of the "tithe" as a requirement of Old Testament law, dispenses with the "tithe" as applicable to Christians in as much as Jesus fulfilled the law ( Matthew 5:17 ). Further, since we are IN Christ, and Christ is IN us, we too have fulfilled the law ( Colossians 2:8-23 ). That the Law is NOT applicable to Christians is discussed further in the section "What About The Floodgates" (below). [END OF SECTION ADDED June 29, 2002] [THE FOLLOWING SECTION ADDED May 08, 2002] Receiving "A Living" From Preaching Gospel Argument A pastor wrote to challenge me with 1st Corinthians 9:14. The following is my response: "Pastor ..." Since you asked for me to address 1st Corinthians 9:14 specifically, I offer these comments of the scripture IN context of the whole chapter, and common understanding of how the apostles of the day lived. vs. 4 the context is "food and drink" vs. 7 the context is food and drink vs. 9 the context is food vs 10 the context is food (grain from the harvest) vs 11 the context is food (seed and harvest) vs 13 the context is the food (meat, grain/fruit and drink) offered on the altar And so, in context, Paul is talking about food and drink - sustenance. If Paul, who was imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and ultimately beheaded for the gospel sought nothing more for himself than food or drink, how is it that modern pastors expect to extract a full time salary for conducting services on a Sunday morning, and Wednesday evening? Especially in light of 1 Corinthians 9:15 where Paul expresses pride that he did not use his "rights" to compensation. In verses 17-27 Paul makes it very clear that he wants to offer the gospel 'free of charge' so that the gospel is not hindered, and so that his reward is in heaven. If Paul boasted about offering the gospel free of charge despite his 'entitlement' to food, how is it pastors turn 1 Corinthians 9 into justification to draw a salary from preaching the gospel, at least in the western culture's understanding of "salary"? The Lord gave me new insight into the real, literal meaning of 1 Corinthians 9:14. 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. (KJV) 14. In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. (NIV) Based on the Strong's Literal Bible translation below, neither the KJV or NIV translations capture the real meaning. The literal meaning, according to Strong's, seems to be "practice what you preach" 14. |3779| So |2532| also |3588| the |2962| Lord |1299| ordained |3588| those |3588| of the |2098| Good News |2605| announcing, |1537| of |3588| the |2098| Good News |2198| to live. In other words, if you preach ' set the captives free', then set them free; don't tie them up with religion and doctrine. If you preach ' share what you have with the poor', then share with the poor. If you preach abstain from sexual immorality, then do so! Strong's Literal Bible says |2198| TO LIVE - is a VERB. Yet when it's translated as ' receive their LIVING from the gospel', "TO LIVE" (a VERB) is made into a NOUN ("A LIVING"). That is an error in the translation - likely influenced by the 'institutional church' mentality of the translators who have buildings to pay for, and the salaries of pastor and staff. Our cultures understanding of "making a living" simply doesn't fit the context of the scripture. Jesus sent out the Apostles in Matthew 10 and Luke 10 with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, and sandals on their feet, and told them to expect nothing more than food and a place to sleep. The word ANNOUNCING is key too... to 'announce' means (as I understand Paul's use of the word) the first to proclaim the gospel in a new territory, or to a people who have never heard it before. The closest we have these days to that function is a MISSIONARY. There really are very few in the western culture who are "announcing" the gospel in that fashion. There are many who are 'repeating' the gospel, in church buildings, over and over and over again to those who have long ago heard the gospel announced - but those who 'go out' and who are spearheading the gospel to new cultures are very few. In reality, the gospel is announced only once - thereafter the gospel should be put into practice by the people who have heard and received the gospel. In regard to "ANNOUNCING" the gospel, Jesus instructed His disciples: "...Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). If that was Jesus command to the apostles, and it is apparent Paul understood Jesus command where in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul sought only food and shelter, how is it pastors expect a full time salary for preaching the gospel? [END OF SECTION ADDED May 08, 2002] [SECTION REVISED May 24, 2002] What About The Floodgates? I often asked myself a tough question about the floodgates in Malachi 3:10, but I have refused to answer it because it seemingly made God out to be a liar! Finally one of my close friends asked me the same question - and I knew God wanted me to give an honest answer. She asked "why after tithing, tithing, and tithing, don't we ever see the flood gates open?" Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say "sowing into a lie does not produce a blessing". The Holy Spirit impressed me that Malachi 3:10 was not a lie in and of itself, but rather some ministers use the scripture in a manipulative way to extract the tithe from the congregation. During a time of meditation later that evening, the Holy Spirit impressed me to read Galatians, and I heard the Spirit say "Jesus paid the tithe for you". The next morning I read and re-read Galatians. In a nutshell, Galatians contrasts the differences between reliance upon the law for salvation, and reliance upon Christ. Galatians 2:16 sums up the difference saying "…a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ…". For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, Galatians 3:25 says "we are no longer under the supervision of the law". The most important scripture in my view, is Galatians 3:19, which says "... the law ... was added ... UNTIL the Seed to whom the promise referred had come...". Galatians 3:16 says Jesus Christ is the "Seed to whom the promise referred". And so, the law applied UNTIL the time of Christ. Thereafter, the new covenant in Christ applies. Since Christ has come, our salvation depends on faith in Him, not upon our observance of the law. Yet for whatever reason, many ministers continue to teach elements of the law, and congregations are expected to obey. The tithe is one such element of the law that is frequently taught from the pulpit. My concern for the Church is that opening the door to any element of the law could lead to reliance upon the law for righteousness sake, about which Paul writes in Galatians 3:10 "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse...". If a believer's sole reason for tithing is obedience to the law, it should come as no surprise that the floodgates never open. In Galatians 5:18 Paul writes "If you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law". And so one must ask: "Are we led by the Spirit, except for giving which is directed by the law? "NO! Jesus paid the tithe for us because we have died to the law through Christ (Romans 7:4, Romans 8:2, Romans 10:4, Galatians 3:13). THE moment we try to make ourselves righteous by resuming the practice of any portion of the law, WE INSULT CHRIST just as if we were to say "Jesus sacrifice was not sufficient to pay for all sin." Let me paint the picture for you that the Father painted for me regarding the tithe, or for that matter, any other law of the Old Testament. IF after Jesus died to pay the price for sin we were still required to obey any portion of the law, then Jesus did NOT in fact pay the price for ALL sin. If there were a sin that the blood of Jesus did not cover, judgement would look something like this: "Jesus forgives all of your covered sins - BUT WAIT - you are condemned to HELL because Jesus death doesn't cover your failure to obey certain applicable laws..." Preaching Jesus AND the law means either we need a 2nd sin offering to pay for what Jesus did not cover, OR, we will be condemned to HELL for failing to obey the laws not covered by Jesus blood. Suddenly our "coverage" sounds very much like an insurance policy with numerous exclusions in the fine print at the bottom! Brothers and sisters there are NO LOOPHOLES in the blood of Christ! Jesus has paid the tithe for us! [END OF REVISED SECTION] But I Feel Guilty - A Personal Note Every time I heard a minister preach on the tithe, I felt sick - best described as a nauseous feeling in the pit of my gut. For years I assumed that feeling was guilt welling up in me, caused by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I can't count the number of times I responded to that nauseous feeling by swallowing hard and giving all the money I had with me - sometimes beyond what I had - whereupon I borrowed from my line of credit account. Years of hearing messages on the tithe, where ministers had enslaved my compliance by sowing guilt and shame had convinced me that God was the type of Father who whips, prods, guilts and shames His children into obedience! I simply did not know the wonderful Abba Father who loved me so much that He gave everything to restore our relationship and ensure that I would spend all eternity with Him. After years of believing God was using guilt to force my obedience to the law, I prayed about it. Abba Father gently said "the sick feeling you experience is My gift of discernment serving to tell you that what you are hearing is a lie." He was there all along, but I didn't know His language, and I didn't know enough to ask Him to teach me. And the shepherds didn't teach me to listen to the Father for myself. Now I know that I am His, He is mine, and I hear His voice. So can you (John 10:14-16). [THE FOLLOWING SECTION ADDED June 29, 2002] If You Still Have Doubts Since writing "To Tithe Or Not To Tithe: The $earch For Truth" in March 2001, and the original "Tithe Follow-Up" article in May 2001, I have heard from hundreds of brothers and sisters around the world, and have been asked many questions, which have prompted further study, and additions to this article. I wrote back and forth with one brother in Singapore for several months, as he was not comfortable changing his giving habits without a thorough explanation of every scripture that mentioned the tithe. Even after every scripture was accounted for, he still struggled with years of tithe teaching, and the guilt it had instilled in him. For me, it comes down to 2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." What 2 Corinthians 9:7 says to me is: "what he has decided" (it is MY decision what to give), "in his heart" (I am to follow the leading of MY heart), "not reluctantly" (what I give must feel right), "or under compulsion" (no one can make me give) and "God loves a cheerful giver" (God wants me to give what I feel GOOD about giving). There is one final observation I shared with my brother, that has freed me from all condemnation concerning the tithe. I have given far more than a tenth/tithe to the Lord, I have given my ALL! When I made Jesus my Lord and Savior and took up my cross to follow Him where I daily offer my body a LIVING SACRIFICE ( Romans 12:1 ), I gave all of me - 100% - to the Lord. To that end, the Lord Himself said: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" ( John 15:13 ). Christ laid down His life for me out of love for me ( John 10:11 ). In turn, I have laid down my life for Christ out of love for Christ ( Matthew 16:24-25 ) so that He will live through me ( John 3:30 ), and my friends might see Christ in me ( Galatians 2:20 ) and be saved ( 1 Peter 3:15-16 ). There is no more loving and pleasing sacrifice you can offer to God than your life. [END OF SECTION ADDED June 29, 2002] The Last Word In regards to the law, what part of “It is finished” ( John 19:30 ) is so difficult to understand? Or what about “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” Galatians 5:18 ? There can be only one conclusion: Mini$ter$ who $tre$$  tithe$ $how  a $elfi$h  intere$t in $omething be$ide$ $aving $oul$  for Je$u$. Let us be clear about who is entitled to the first fruits of your labors: 2 Timothy 2:6 "The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops." Please pray that the Church breaks free from the tithe lie, guilt, manipulation and fear that keeps the Church in bondage. Pray for the Church to come into the complete freedom of Christ and for freedom to give AND live freely and joyfully as the Lord intends for each of us. Finally, please pray especially for those whom the enemy has bruised by the tithe lie. If this and the original tithe article have blessed you, please pass them on as you feel led to do. May the Lord bless each of you with abundance as you give as He leads you to give. Get free and stay free! Love in Christ, Jack Jack Helser