Two Views on Tithing: Which One is Right? Part Two

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Two Views on Tithing:  Which One is Right?   Part Two
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Jeff Lampl

 

As I mentioned yesterday the question I get most often about Christian giving is the one asked below.  Today’s response come from David A. Croteau, author of Tithing after the Cross, Professor of New Testament and Greek at Columbia International University  

Question:  Is it robbing God to tithe on your after tax (not gross) income?
Answer:     No, put away the calculator

The question here assumes that tithing in some way is required for Christians. The word tithe means 10 percent, not necessarily “a tenth of my income.” The biblical definition of a tithe is “giving 10 percent of one’s increase from crops grown in the land of Israel or cattle that feed off the land of Israel.” It was consistently connected to the land of Israel. A tithe was done multiple times a year, probably equaling more than 20 percent of crops. No one was ever commanded to give 10 percent from their general income (just crops and cattle). So unless you are under the Old Covenant and have crops based in the land of Israel or cattle that feed off the land of Israel, you do not qualify to tithe (Lev. 27:30–33; Num. 18:21–24; Deut. 14:22–29).
Does the Bible teach that neglecting to tithe is robbing God? Sort of. The question refers to Malachi 3:8–11. But the word for tithe in Malachi 3 refers to the definition noted above. Christians live under the New Covenant, so our standard for giving has changed. It’s not necessarily a higher or lower standard, but it is different.
Some people may hear, “Christians aren’t required to tithe,” and think it means, “Christians aren’t required to give.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The New Testament gives many principles for giving, but it never mandates a specific percentage or addresses after-tax or gross income.
For many prosperous US Christians, giving 10 percent could be considered “robbing God” (in a sense) because it does not meet the standard of generous giving. For those who make a more meager income, giving less than 10 percent could be generous and sacrificial. If I’m asking the question with the intent to decipher how little I can get away with giving, then a serious heart issue is exposed. When we are driven by the principles of giving from the New Testament, the after-tax question becomes irrelevant. God’s people should try to find ways to give more, not less.
What are some of those biblical principles?
There are three driving forces for Christian giving in 2 Corinthians 8. First, it is grace-driven. Our giving is a response to the grace that God has shown to us through Jesus Christ. The more we recognize that we have done nothing to deserve salvation, the more likely we are to respond to God’s grace by giving generously.
Second, Christian giving is relationship-driven (v. 5). Much Christian giving today is taught in such a way as to drive the Christian to a calculator. You type in your income, multiply that by 10 percent, and give the total, rounding up to include an offering. But God wants you to seek a relationship with him, not with your calculator.
Third, Christian giving is love-driven. In verses 8–9, Paul provides an example of this type of giving: Jesus’ death on the cross, the ultimate demonstration of love. In this way, our giving is a barometer of the genuineness of our love for God.
David A. Croteau, author of Tithing after the Cross, is professor of New Testament and Greek at Columbia International University.

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Two views on tithing: Which one is right? Part One

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Two Views on Tithing:  Which One is Right?   Part One
Monday, November 9, 2015
Jeff Lampl

Among the most frequently asked questions I encounter regarding following Jesus are question about giving.   And the number one question I get might be this one, “Is it robbing God to tithe on my after-tax (not gross) income.  I recently read two really good responses to this question and I want to share them with you in today’s and tomorrow’s posts.  

The first response comes from Frederica Matthewes-Greene, author of ten books and blogs on Christian Spirituality and Eastern Orthodoxy at Frederica.com  

Question:  Is it robbing God to tithe on your after tax (not gross) income?
Answer:     No, it is robbing yourself  

My husband and I were newly Christian and in seminary when a friend told us about tithing. She stressed the importance of giving a full 10 percent before taxes, before anything else, so that we would be giving God the first fruits of our labor.
We recoiled at the thought, but she said this practice had given God room to work miracles in her life.  She and her husband had once put their last dollar in the offering plate, only to have the pastor turn around and give them the whole collection.  My husband and I began this plan right away and never even considered making our tithe after taxes.  It seemed petty to make such calculations when giving to a God who gave us everything, including his Son.
Soon, we had settled into a pattern of giving 5 percent to our local church and 5 percent to charity. But one year, when it was time to renew our annual pledge to the church, I was convicted that a radical increase was necessary.  God says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse” (Mal. 3:10, ESV). For our family, that means the local church.  So the full 10 percent should go to our church, while charitable gifts (alms) were to be an additional offering.
When I began sharing this with my husband, we were in for a surprise.  He had separately come to the same conviction. The problem was that we had just promised 5 percent of our income to a missionary. Overnight, we went from giving 10 percent of our income to giving 15 percent.
Yet we never suffered. We saw God meet our needs in ways that bordered on the miraculous.  People were always giving us things we needed but couldn’t afford:  a sewing machine, a lawn mower, a new refrigerator.  More than once, we found an inexplicable extra $50 in our savings account.
Over the years, our total giving (including alms) has ranged from 15 to 20 percent. (The Israelites were never subject to withholding upward of 15 percent!).  We found, like others before us, that once we determined to make our tithe the first payment each month and this habit became routine, all other expenses fell into place.
God uses strong language about tithing (Mal. 3:8–9). We live in a time that is offended by that strong language, and resents any implication that we ought to do or not do something.  We regard ourselves as customers, even in church, and expect to be treated with deference, for the customer is always right.
This kind of exhortation has a way of backfiring. So the best I can say is: At least try. Aim to give a percentage of your income. Start with whatever percentage you give now, and raise it a little each year. In time, you will reach the tithe.
Then you will be giving as generously as the people of the Bible, who lived in conditions we would see as abject poverty. Like them, pay God before you pay Caesar, for there is no better indication of your priorities.

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Impaact of "Helicoptering" Parents

Impact of Helicoptering, by someone who knows

Oct 20, 2015 @ 9:54 by Scot McKnight 0 Comments  

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Saturday, November 7, 2015
Jeff Lampl
Impact of "Helicoptering" Parents

“Point your kids in the right direction— when they're old they won't be lost.” 
Proverbs 22:6 (MSG)  

I came across this important article titled, “Impact of Helicoptering from Someone who knows”.  Hope it helps you to think through your parenting.   Jeff  

Julie Lythcott-Haims noticed a disturbing trend during her decade as a dean of freshmen at Stanford University. Incoming students were brilliant and accomplished and virtually flawless, on paper. But with each year, more of them seemed incapable of taking care of themselves.

At the same time, parents were becoming more and more involved in their children’s lives. They talked to their children multiple times a day and swooped in to personally intervene anytime something difficult happened.  
[How helicopter parents are ruining college students.]

From her position at one of the world’s most prestigious schools, Lythcott-Haims came to believe that mothers and fathers in affluent communities have been hobbling their children by trying so hard to make sure they succeed, and by working so diligently to protect them from disappointment and failure and hardship.
[Another viewpoint: Why those annoying “helicopter parents" aren’t so bad after all.]

Such “overhelping” might assist children in developing impressive resumes for college admission. But it also robs them of the chance to learn who they are, what they love and how to navigate the world, Lythcott-Haims argues in her book “How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success.”

“We want so badly to help them by shepherding them from milestone to milestone and by shielding them from failure and pain. But overhelping causes harm,” she writes. “It can leave young adults without the strengths of skill, will and character that are needed to know themselves and to craft a life.”

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The God of All Compassion

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Friday, November 6, 2015
Jeff Lampl  

The God of All Compassion

               "You people who live in Jerusalem will not weep any more. The LORD is 
           compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you."      
                                                          Isaiah 30:19 (TEV)  

I received the following email from Jeanne Cowan who lost her sister last week.   I asked her for permission to pass it on to you.   What immediately struck me about what she wrote is that her words are not just words that she is hoping will help her.  Rather she is writing about something real, about what she is experiencing from God, about something concrete and real that God is bringing about.   Jeff  

“This (above) picture reminded me of your sermon and all God can do.  This is a male eagle that had a wing injury in July.  He was found and take-in by the Nature Dept. in NY and given rehabilitation.  Now just Nov. 2 he has been released to the very same area and is ready to soar. 

It made me think of things in light of this world we live in and all we go through.   Brokenness happens, but God can pick you up, and through His compassion through others, healing, and time . . . . Soon you are ready to be released and soon you will SOAR again..   

This is how I am feeling . . . God is good all the time and even in the midst of losing someone very dear to me . . . God is good . . . He is healing . . .  and He blesses me with our caring people to show compassion in so many ways that aid that healing.  Then soon like the eagle
I know it is soaring time again.  Yeah . . .  Love that picture.

Good sermon last week . . .  and thought this went with it.

Blessings,  Jeanne  

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Stewardship

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Thursday, November 5, 2015


Chapter 9: Stewardship
Blog by Megann Graf  

The definition of giving ·  freely transfer the possession of (something) to (someone); hand over to:  cause or allow (someone or something) to have (something, especially something abstract); provide or supply with:  

            A lot of times, when we think of Stewardship when related to Christianity, we can be very focused on money.  We feel that the church just wants more money, or that an organization just wants more money.  But, let’s face it, to get things done, it often requires money.  However, as we dig deeper into the BELIEVE study, and we continue working towards changing our head knowledge into heart knowledge, we must come to the understanding, that 1) stewardship is not all about money, and 2) giving must come from the heart, not the wallet.

We live in an area where, for many, giving from our wallets is much easier than giving from our hearts.  We can even give up some of our time, if we can fit it in our schedule, to help others out.  The only problem with both of these options is that it rarely changes our heart.  Randy Frazee mentions in the study guide to BELIEVE, that God wants 100% of us.  I don’t know about you, but I feel like that is a daunting task.  He also says, that for Christians, this is non-negotiable.  Before, you start to feel like this is impossible, remember, that really nothing you have is actually yours to begin with, it’s all His.  From this perspective, you start to realize, that you’re not going to be able to give God anything He doesn’t already have, but when you let Him change your heart towards finding ways to honor Him, you will find that what He gives you in return is so much more than you gave.  That’s why I liked the quote I put at the top.  When we give, from the heart, we find that we will inevitably gain something in return.  

            We also need to realize that stewardship is also worship.  Worship is not just music, or done on a Sunday morning.  It is imperative to give glory to God in what we say and in what we do.  Read this excerpt from the book “Worship Matters” by Bob Kauflin, he says:
“Committing ourselves to follow and serve God also honors Him. ‘So I will bless you as long as I live’ (Psalm 63:4)  ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ (Psalm 34:1)

I’ve met Christians who feel dishonest or hypocritical when they sing words like ‘I’ll always follow you,’ ‘I will worship You alone or ‘I surrender all’.  But expressions like these help us align our hearts with God’s work in us through the gospel, especially as we’re aware of our need for God’s spirit to carry out those commitments.  That doesn’t mean we sing song after song about our commitments while living in unrepentant sin.   Yearning to know more of God also bring him glory, ‘O God you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

As you live this out, know that while our resources and status may show people on different levels here on earth, we all have the same desperate need for a Savior.  No one is more or less needy than another.  God has given us all we need through Jesus Christ.  He was and is the ultimate giver and example of love and sacrifice.  And that love and sacrifice came directly from His heart and love for me, and others, and for you.      

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National Adoption Month

 

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     Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Jeff Lampl

 

 

 

And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom  of his family, and calling to him, "Father, Father."      Romans 8:15 (TLB)

 

 

Kathy and I encourage anyone who is able to embark on the adventure of adoption.   There are few things I can think of that are closer to the heart of God than adoption.   Anyone who has received the gift of eternal has done so because he or she has been adopted by God at the cost of the cross.

 

 

Note the following two dates and jump in as the Lord leads you.

 

 

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Transhumanish? What it is and why it matters

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  Monday, November 2, 2015
Jeff Lampl

Transhumanism?
What it is and why it matters

 “In the Image of God he created them”     Genesis 1:27

Transhumanism is an international movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and creating widely available technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.  Behind this effort are some of the most powerful people in the world.  Some of the technologies advanced are wonderful.  Others must be questioned, including the efforts on the part of some very powerful people to evolve humanity to the point of “singularity”, the point where man and machine are fully merged, where death will have been defeated and post-humans will have replaced the frail humanity we’re currently “stuck with”.   Transhumanist endeavors are backed by Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Ray Kurzweil of Google, NASA, the CIA and many, many more.    

On Wed, Nov 4, at 7:00 pm you are invited to the Hot Topics Class where we will look at things that we and our children are already doing, some of which are wonderful, but some of which are changing us in ways that we need to question.   Following are some examples of technological “enhancements”(?) that have been achieved so far  

Bioengineering:   The teenage girl with three biological parents.  IVF.  Designer babies who will look great, be athletic and intelligent and will have genetic defects edited out.  Wouldn’t you like to be one of them?  Or your child to be one of them?  

Virtual Reality:   how TV, smart phones, computers and Video games are leading human beings into a world that isn’t real, but will become preferred.   Just wear google glass when it gets fixed or an entire suit that will put you in a better virtual world than you’re in now and you’ll be able to live the vibrant fascinating life you’ve always wanted!    Actually you can get a precursor to this kind of thing for a hundred bucks on Amazon.  

Bionics and Cyborgs:  What is the difference between a person with a pacemaker (part human, part machine) or with a brain implant that can control prosthetic legs and a brain with an implant that can control an entirely new prosthetic body?  Where do you draw the line?  Stepford wives anyone?   How about part human and part animal combos who can do our soldiering for us (didn’t Sauron have Orcs?)  (we have already produced mice with 100% human brains which can produce human sperm – what if your dad was a mouse?)   What about the iron man (Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr.) exoskeletons that are in the works for soldiers to keep them safe in battle?  

Cybernetics:  Ever wanted to send someone a message with nothing but your mind, or have a neural implant that gives your brain direct access to Google? Hundreds of corporate and academic labs across the world are working on projects that generate progress in telepathy.   How about full spectrum vision via artificial eyes, or disease immunity, or the elimination of suffering, or the elimination of even the possibility of suffering and eventually immortality?  Sound Good?   How does a Christian define “good”?     

How do Christian know when to affirm or disaffirm life enhancing technologies?   I suggest starting with following six  basic truths about humanity and asking the accompanying questions.

1.    Everyone is in some way shape or form a carrier of the image of God.  (Genesis 1: 26,
       27, 2:7)       
       Question:  In what way does each new technological advancement enhance human
       beings as bearers of God's image and in what way does the new technology deface the
       image of God in human beings?

2.    Every human being you encounter is built for God centered community.  Everyone
       needs to be noticed, cared about, engaged and loved by God by being loved by God's
       people (Genesis 1:28, 2:18)
       Question:  How does any particular new technology separate us from one another or,
       conversely, how does it bring us together?
       Does it make us more or less dependent on and caringly observant of one another?

3.    Every human being needs to be engaged in God's purpose for his or her life:  to
       accept their role as God's partner in cultivating a flourishing, God honoring, loving world
       wherever they find themselves in life.  (Genesis 1:28, 2:15)
       Question:  How does a particular new technology serve to this end or how does it
       serve to make us more dependent on the technology than on God (the biblical definition
       of idolatry).

4.    Every human being misses the mark (sin).  You will never meet anyone uncorrupted

       by sin.  This means that each person you meet needs both God's forgiveness and

       yours.  (Genesis 3:1-13)
       Question:  In what ways does a particular new technology embed human sin (our
       autonomy from God, our selfishness, our depersonalization and objectification of
       others, our manipulating outcomes by our own devices, etc.) and in what ways does
       that new technology serve to create us ever more into the image of Christ (selflessness,
       living for the sake of God and others).

5.   Every human being needs God in order to flourish, to transcend their sin, to live the life
      they were meant to live.
      Question:  In what way does a technology honor or dismiss that reality?

6.   Every person who ever lived is viewed by God as incredibly and equally valuable
      John 3:16, 17).  The Cross applies to everyone.  Therefore the human task in life is to
      view others as God views them, and act accordingly.
      Question:  In what way does each new technology advance a perspective of other
      people which values each person equally, no superiority and no inferiority?  In what way
      does the new technology separate the "haves" from the "have nots"?  

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