Judas Maccabeus wrote:silentreader wrote:Josh wrote:So God is a vending machine?
Give more tithes to the local church, and he'll take care of my finances?
Where did Jesus teach that?
Nowhere.
What is being expressed is the Oral Roberts/Kenneth Hagen/Kenneth Copland seed faith principle. I could go on and on, but it is a corruption of the old puritan doctrine of providence (Which I believe to be a result of their reformed methodology that the puritans used of appropriating promises of Israel to the church), that material blessings are a sign of God's favor.
Just tell that one to a 16th or 17th cent. mennonite and they would give a very puzzled look.
Acts 14:22 ""strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.""
J.M.
I am not a fan of the men you mention- so no, what was being expressed was God's heart from Malachi 3- but I do recognize that tithing goes all the way back to Abraham- look up tithe in the Scripture- it was not just "Israel" but predates that- Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek-(who as Apostle Paul taught, was a type of Christ, or as I have been taught elsewhere, the pre-incarnate Christ) and God, not the men mentioned above, is the one who offered blessings for those who trusted Him with their tithes and offerings- of course he wants us to do this with the right heart and motives! He knows our hearts!
Now think back to Cain & Abel- who told them to bring an offering to God? did they conjure that up on their own? Did Abraham invent the tithe? I guess this is why I can appreciate the more ancient teachings as they are able to shed light on this- after the Reformation there has been all kinds of opinions on the matter, and yes "Prosperity tithing" is not something we adhere to at all in our home, but rightly dividing the Word of Faith- Jesus did not tell people to quit tithing anywhere that I read- in fact to the Pharisees He said: King James Bible Luke 11:
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God:
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Tithing to the Lord has been done it seems since the beginning- without clear words to 'stop'- so I don't find the justification for denominations to believe we are no longer suppose to give tithes and offerings, it's Scriptural since Genesis-