Is Tithing Biblical?

I pray that you open your Bible and walk through this concept with me.  I've questioned tithing with numerous pastors and they couldn't show me in scripture where the tithe was changed from food products to sustain the Levitical priests and the poor, to money.  I've even had one tell me that there wasn't much money back in those days, which is false, because Jesus would have had no tables to overturn in the temple, if that was the case.


I've had a pastors convince me that it was a matter of faith and that there was no way to be baptized without tithing first.

We can see here that early churches didn't require tithing:

The Encyclopedia Britannica records: 

"The Christian Church depended at first on voluntary gifts from its members." 

The Americana says: 

"It [tithing] was not practiced in the early Christian Church." 

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: 

"The early Church had no tithing system...it was not that no need of supporting the Church existed or was recognized, but rather that other means appeared to suffice." 

So why institute it later and call it biblical truth?  Is it to build these huge "Mega Churches" and give pastors jets and helicopters?  (Pastors shouldn't even be paid, as can be seen in Paul's ministry of how he supported himself by making tents and spread the Word of God on his own time.  But that's another post entirely.)

Ultimately, if a change can't be found in the Bible, I don't accept any man-made traditions.  Nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to tithing being on anything other than produce and farm animals.  Jesus didn't tithe his chairs, Paul didn't tithe his tents, etc.   Neither of them tithed the money that they received from these "professions".  Jesus did make a way to pay the temple tax for himself and a disciple, but this cannot be confused with tithing.  (And also, how could the masses pay this temple tax if there "wasn't much money" back then.

The Bible does talk about free will offerings as being separate from tithing.  This can be seen with the woman who offered all that she had in Mark Chapter 12: 

The Widow's Offering:

"He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”  Mark 12:41-44 (NRSV) 

As I spend more time reading my Bible, I find myself comparing it's teachings to the churches of today.  There are many inconsistencies, tithing being one of them. 

Did you know that God commanded the Israelites to EAT some of their own tithes as part of rejoicing in what God provided them?  In Deuteronomy Chapter 14, we see: 

"Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field. In the presence of the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always." Deuteronomy 14:22-23 (NRSV) 

There's nowhere in the Bible where tithe changed to your income.  Yes, it was allowed to be changed into money if it was too far for the Israelites to transport their goods.  But as can be seen in verses 24-26, they were to then turn that money BACK into sustenance and celebrate by partaking in a portion of it. 

"But if, when the LORD your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you, then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose; spend the money for whatever you wish—oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together." Deuteronomy 14:24-26 (NRSV) 

This sounds like a celebration.  Do we partake of our tithes in this way today?  No!

Somewhere along the line it changed from a type of Social Security system, and celebration of God's blessings, to something that churches require of you.  In fact, the Jewish don't tithe today because the system that was in place at the time of tithe is no longer active.

One pastor's argument was that Jesus encouraged the tithe in Matthew 23:23 (NRSV).  As can been seen in this verse, the tithe is on spices, not money. 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others." 

What Jesus did teach was this:

"for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’...Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Matthew 25:35-36, 40 (NRSV) 

This is the spirit of giving that God commands, and what we should model ourselves after.  You give directly to God if you help others in need.

God is concerned with the motives of our hearts, not our pocket books.  Remember though, He does want us to have a giving heart, as can been seen in 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NRSV): 

"Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 

For me, this means to think of others before spending money on a desire, if they have a need.  It also means that we should not be guilted into giving by our spiritual "leaders" telling us that it is a matter of salvation, or a measure of faith.

I was basically told that I had no chance of a relationship with God, and salvation by Jesus, without tithing.  Pastors are in a position to tell you the truth, and this is not the truth.

Something to ponder...  When the thief being crucified next to Jesus on the cross was dying and realized that Jesus was who He said He was, the thief then repented and Jesus said this to him: 

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43 (NRSV) 

Was Jesus concerned with how many times the thief had attended a temple made with hands, or if he tithed 10% of his income before taxes or any other expenditure?  Another, No!

Consider this:  Before new, enthusiastic believers were baptized, did they go through a paper Baptismal Review, and the person that would be performing it said, "Wait, let's make sure you are tithing first."  Another, No! 

"So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added." Acts 2:41 (NRSV) 

I've asked 6 pastors to show me where I was wrong in these scriptures and they couldn’t, which only made me feel that much more conned.

The only other times that tithe (meaning one tenth) was mentioned in the Bible was during spoils of war, which doesn’t apply here, and when Jacob bargained with God saying that he would give Him a “Free Will” offering back IF and AFTER God blessed him.  Neither of these other mentions of tithe (that are not part of the obsolete Levitical tithe) are anything close to what churches do today.

Here are some of the things we are taught from the church: 

“If you belong to a church, the way to give to God is to give it to the church organization/leadership.” 

The church also teaches: 

“That your 'church' deserves the money because it is doing God's work on earth." 

The “church” is a body of believers, not a physical building or organization.  If a whole state was demolished by a tornado tomorrow, and those who were still alive assembled to pray and praise God for their lives and blessings, they would be having “church”.

Any organization that tells me that I'm incomplete in Christ without following their man-made rules is something that God wants me to steer very clear of.  I believe that churches have created a doctrine that has twisted scripture into an unrecognizable state.  The tithe of today did not start until after Bible times.  Should we really embrace anything other than what the Bible says?

The "Go To" scripture that many churches use to warn their congregation of the loss of salvation, is Malachi 3:8 (NRSV): 

"Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In your tithes and offerings!" 

The back story on this (if you don't take the scripture out of context) is that they were talking about the lame and sick animals, and other substandard items that were offered.  This can be seen in Malachi 1:7-8, 14 (NRSV):

"By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?” By thinking that the LORD's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? Try presenting that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts." 

"Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished;" 

The sacrificial system required an unblemished animal for offerings.  You were, and are, supposed to give your best to God.  Now, it's through sacrificing our whole selves to Him, as a living sacrifice completely, not just the parts that we want to give Him.  If you don’t simply stop at verse 8, Malachi 3:10 also explains that the tithe items were food in a storehouse.

"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing." 

This, in NO way, supports any church’s doctrine of tithing on income.

Here are some links that give 100 times more information than I just did: 

http://www.tithingtruth.com/

http://www.askelm.com/tithing/ 

Some people might look at this article and think, "Well, she's just selfish and doesn't want to give."  This couldn't be further from the truth.  Why would I want to give to an organization that's teaching the wrong way to give?  If I found a church that taught: "The WHOLE truth and NOTHING but the truth, so help me GOD!", I would certainly give whatever I could of my SSDI income (due to a battle with Lupus).  I wouldn't, however, jeopardize paying my rent and other things that pastors tell poor widows to do.  We're supposed to be helping the poor and widows, yet they're being told, "Don't worry about your rent/mortgage or your prescriptions, God will take care of you."  The Bible clearly states: 

"And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."  1 Timothy 5:8 (NRSV)

God wants us to make sure that our families are taken care of.  When do you ever hear this preached?  Imagine how much you could help others in need if you weren't giving to an organization that wants to build a bigger, fancier building.  Would you have an extra $20 in your pocket to help a mother buying diapers that had to put toothpaste back? 

I’ve never been one to just “Go with the flow.”  Anything I come across, I always ask, “Why?”  I'll paraphrase a story that I once heard: 

A mother and daughter are in the kitchen at a family dinner and the mother cuts the ends off of a ham, puts it in the roaster, and then into the oven. 

The young daughter asks her mom, "Why did you cut the ends off?"

The mother responds, “Because that’s the way my mom did it.  Go ask Grandma.”

So, the little girl goes and asks Grandma the same question. 

Grandma’s response was, “Because that’s the way my mom did it.  Go ask Great Grandma.”

So, she walks over to Great Grandma, who is rocking in her rocker, and asks the question once again.

Great Grandma leans over and says, “I don’t know why these people do it, but my ham didn’t fit in my roaster.” 

So as you can see, we do a lot without asking the simplest question, “Why?” 

I pray that you find peace in knowing what God expects of us through His word.  Man, and his greed, have tainted everything that we know.  We need to test everything that we're taught with scripture.

We're to obey God, not man.

"We must obey God rather than any human authority." Acts 5:29 (NRSV)

Why I Cherish the 7th Day Sabbath

There are many ways to research this biblical truth.  I pray that you'll open your Bible and enjoy this study of God’s Word.


Let me preface this by saying that I’m not Jewish, Seventh-day Adventist, or Seventh-day Baptist.  In fact, I choose not to affiliate myself with any denomination because I believe that we can knock down the walls that doctrine puts up between believers if we look to the Bible for all of our answers.  Scripture was given to us as our life instruction manual, and it's our final authority.  I simply love Jesus because of the fact that He took my punishment for everything that I ever did, or will ever do, wrong.

When I first heard of the 7^th day Sabbath in the Spring of 2011, I thought, “But, church is on Sunday.”  I doubted that Saturday could have possibly been kept throughout the ages.  I then realized that Jewish history proves that they have kept this day sacred from Bible times until now, but I was perplexed.  So, I started doing research.  All of my research sent me straight back into my Bible, exactly where I belong.  :-)

I knew that Exodus 20:10 said to keep the 7^th day holy, but that’s not what we do today.  It’s tradition to worship on Sunday.  Who’s tradition though?  God’s or man’s?  Everything I do now, I bounce off of the notion of:  WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? 

"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love." John 15:10 (NRSV)

It can’t be more clear than that.  Jesus kept the 10 Commandments, so I will too!

Jesus himself honored the Sabbath.  One of the things that he was criticized for was breaking the Sabbath by healing people on it: 

“Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”   For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.” John 5:16-18 (NRSV)

Jesus also says, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” Luke 14:5 (NRSV)

So, I looked further into what the Bible tells us to do, and not do, on the day that God set aside and made holy.

Exodus 20:8-10 (NRSV) tells us: “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work”. 

Nehemiah 10:31 (NRSV) says: “and if the peoples of the land bring in merchandise or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy it from them on the sabbath or on a holy day”.

Isaiah 58:13-14 (NRSV) reads: “If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;  then you shall take delight in the LORD”. 

The Bible is pretty clear that we don’t buy, sell, work, or just do whatever pleases ourselves on the Sabbath.

When I first thought of putting these things into practice, I was nervous.  I thought: “What if I’m too sick or tired during the week to do laundry, errands, housework, etc., and the only day I have to do it is Saturday?”  It was a struggle at first, but now I plan my week around being able to forget about these things on Sabbath.  Exactly what God intended the day for, so that I can focus on Him, His creation, and His love for every single one of us.  He doesn’t love the Sabbath keeper any more than someone who chooses not to keep it, but He certainly rejoices when we follow His commandments.

So this leads to: Why do I choose to do this?  Am I trying to work my way into heaven?  Absolutely not!  We’re saved by God’s Grace.  He loves His creation so much that He put a sacrifice in place for our sins so that we’re not bound by the law of: “For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23 (NRSV)

Jesus took the fall for every sin we’ll ever commit.  He will blot out our sins in front of our Father if we use our free will to follow His example.  We choose by Faith to accept this Grace.  The fruits of Faith are repentance, obedience, and love.  Our love for God and what He’s done for us compels us to find out exactly what He expects of us, and to live according to His will, and not our own.  What compels us is the Holy Spirit that we invite to live inside of us and take direction from.  I know that my own will has not worked out well at all, so it was simple for me to put my trust in God.

So, every week from sundown Friday night until sundown Saturday night, I look forward to my time with God, my time with my family, and the beautiful rest that fills my soul and fuels me for the upcoming days.  I devote that time to God and forget about the world’s greed, hatred, violence, and evilness.

Leviticus Chapter 23 talks about “The Sabbath” along with other festivals or ceremonial sabbaths.  In verse 32, it can be seen that: “from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath”. (NRSV) 

In Mark 1:32 (NRSV), we see that the Jewish people did not want to bring their sick to be healed by Jesus until after the Sabbath had ended: “That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.” 

In John 19:31(NRSV), we learn that it was against Jewish law for bodies to be left on the cross during the Sabbath: “Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity.  So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.”

The women that were going to anoint Jesus’s body, as was the custom, did not buy or prepare their spices on the Sabbath.  This can be seen in Mark 16:1-3 (NRSV): “When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 

There are many of Paul’s writings that are taken out of context in regards to Sabbath keeping.  2 Peter Chapter 3 is wonderful reading, but pay special attention to verses 16-18 (NRSV) where it talks about Paul’s writings: 

“speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.  You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability.  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 

So when we look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians, who were new Christians being pressured to follow the Jewish Law, we get a much different perspective than what some individuals use the scripture for, which is FAR out of context.  Colossians 2:16-17 (NRSV) reads: “Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.  These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”  What Paul was telling these new Christians is to not feel pressured to follow the customs of the Jewish people.  Their ceremonial sabbaths and food & drink offerings, as can be seen in the Old Testament, were a shadow of things to come.  That THING to come was Christ!  He was the living sacrifice.  Therefore, old ceremonial laws were only for people that didn't believe that Jesus was the Lamb of God.  To continue to sacrifice would denounce Jesus as the sacrifice that God made to reconcile us to Him.  What we need to understand in this scripture is that it says “sabbaths”, not “THE sabbath” like the others that refer to the 7^th day Sabbath.

The 7^th day Sabbath could not be a shadow of things to come, as it was created by God to commemorate His work.  It’s something given to us to help us to look back on creation and thank God for everything He has done for us.  A commemoration is the opposite of a shadow.  The shadow looked forward to Christ.  Those shadows were the perfect lambs of sacrifice, something that Jesus fulfilled when He chose to die for our sins.  No longer was there a need for the High Priest to atone for sins through ceremonies and sacrifices.  In John 19:30 (NRSV), Jesus said this for a reason: “It is finished.”  He didn’t say, “The 10 Commandments are null and void.” 

In fact, Revelation 14:12 (NRSV) shows us what God will be looking for in the final days: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” 

Once this was made clear to me through my own research, I couldn’t consciously choose to throw out this knowledge.  That would be hearing God’s message and refusing it because it’s inconvenient or because uninformed people would think less of me.  Only God's opinion matters!  "We must obey God rather than any human authority." Acts 5:29 (NRSV) 

We have to ask ourselves these questions: 

How much did Jesus endure for us?

Could we set aside a 24 hour period of time of selflessness to honor Him for the pain and mockery that He took for us?

Is our world in disarray because we don’t spend time in our Bible?

Should we worship Jesus on a day that a majority of our churches have deemed appropriate for worship, instead of the day that HE honored?

Does the Bible say that Satan will try to change times and laws?  (Daniel 7:25)

Does the Bible say that God “does not change”?  (Malachi 3:6)

The Need for Jesus

A Life with God

Straddling the world and The Word

I spent many years with one foot in the world and one foot in The Word.  Can you live a life fully connected to God if part of you embraces the world and its guilty pleasures?

Amongst other ways to embrace sin, I had an addiction to television, during which my mind was being taken on a journey far from where God wanted it.  It wasn’t until I conquered this affliction that I saw how much it was a barrier between me and God.  Conquering it was just that, a battle.  I was forced to turn off cable for financial reasons.  You would've thought my food or water was being taken away.  I asked friends for DVD’s and even VHS tapes to get me through the “withdrawal” phase.  I got through that phase and became comfortable reading my Bible and other books more, along with spending more time writing and doing logic puzzles.

The battle wasn’t over yet though.  I eventually got a rabbit ear antenna because I wanted to at least see the news.  The one channel that it brought in drew me right back in, and in a worse way.  I began watching shows that I didn’t care for because that was all that was on.  I returned to watching the numerous crime shows that were on prime time.  The ones that I had stopped watching due to vivid nightmares.  I started watching comedies that were raunchy, too.  It wasn’t until those vivid nightmares had made a reappearance that I realized that I needed to nix the violence.  I was also getting tired of filling my head with sleazy entertainment news, jokes about meaningless sex, the use of God’s name without honor, and commercial after commercial attempting to train the mind towards gluttony that causes disease, and drunkenness that enables poor choices.

As I was getting closer to God, I found myself asking, “Is this something that I would watch with Jesus?”  Over time, it actually started to hurt my insides when I would hear the typical responses using God’s or Jesus’ name so flippantly.  Those same phrases used to roll off my tongue without a thought because we're so flooded by it everywhere we turn.

I found that when I'd put the TV on for just a football game, I was blasted with things that are meant to distract you from heavenly pursuits.  When I spend an evening doing some of the free Bible studies that I requested online, I find that my soul is light as air afterwards.  That heaviness and darkness that I feel after mindlessly allowing the television to take me where ever it pleases is far behind me.  There's a well inside of us that goes dry when we choose not to connect in with God.  When we spend time reading His words of guidance and encouragement, we're better equipped to approach these trying times with our wells full of peace and joy.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are a few (very few) shows that are clean and informative, but these are few and far between.  Similar entertainment can also be sought out on the internet or in books.  But beware, we can easily fall into the same addiction on the internet as well if we're not careful.  I believe it's important to stay up to date on the news, but I find that I receive the same news from Christian radio without seeing the footage of dead bodies.

Satan wants our minds trapped in death, destruction, and immorality and he's found many ways to do just that.  The sad thing is that we actually enjoy it and have helped to personally create an industry that caters to this desire.

Not everyone reacts to these leadings in the same way.  My difficulty might be with the nightmares that come from violence.  Others may be overcome with perverse sexual thoughts.  Someone else might be lead to drink their week of hard work away.  Can you imagine how our society might benefit from commercials about forgiveness, compassion, and respect?  The sad thing is, this isn't going to happen.  So, it's up to us to seek out this type of soul nourishment.

Keep in mind that there are many ways for the world to get its message lodged in our consciousness.  Not only TV, but music, literature, and the conversations that we engage in.  The contents of best selling books and lyrics of catchy tunes are just morally unacceptable, yet we accept them because it’s now the norm.  We can’t unsee or unhear things, but we can filter a massive portion of what's ready and waiting to be received.  Remember that it's our choice what we fill ourselves up with.

Since I've filtered what I receive into my mind, I feel much less part of the world and more tightly interwoven with God instead.  Is it something that we can accomplish on our own?  Absolutely not!  The only way to step away from the world is to reach for the hand of God that He has outstretched for anyone that will take it.  We take His hand through our redeemer, Jesus.  God can not hold hands with sin.  Jesus allows that connection to happen because He erases the sins we've confessed so that we can be reached by God.  He took all the sins we've committed, and every one that we'll ever commit, upon himself.  He laid down his life like any loving parent would do.  Jesus is the all important link directly to God, no other way exists.  We do need to be honest about our sins because just one that we haven’t repented for is preventing our closeness with God.

When you leave the world behind and concentrate on our Creator, things no longer upset you in the same way that they used to.  You're also less likely to worry about the negativity that's around you.  You effortlessly see the positive while going through your daily tasks.  I had to realize that God is not the author of chaos, terror, and perverseness.  That’s Satan’s dreadful work.  The more that I entertain those thoughts, the less room that I have to allow my character to be molded into the likeness of Jesus.

There's nothing in this world that has more importance than an eternity with Jesus.  Our Creator, coming down as a man, showing us that He understands our earthly life, giving us an example to live by, and promising to make a home for us in Heaven, as long as we surrender our free will to Him on a daily basis.  We must choose to stay strong in our Faith until our last breath.  We'll experience temptations continuously throughout our lives.  There's a deceiver that works tirelessly to knock us off the narrow path to Heaven.   Find every inlet that Satan has and close it.  Our reward will be more than our human minds can comprehend.