The scripture for today, September 7 (9/7), is 2nd Corinthians 9:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

There are many religious leaders who insist that Christians tithe. They want your money for selfish reasons. But tithing was part of the Law of Moses, which we no longer keep.  If we pick one item, we have to pick them all including stoning people.  Let’s look at Law-of-Moses tithing:

Actually, the Jews were required to give more than a tenth. (1) Deuteronomy 26:12 said the Jews had to give an extra tithe every three years for their welfare program. So, if someone tithed $900 a year, s/he would have to tithe an average of $300 more per year for the welfare program, equaling $1,200 year. If the yearly income was $9000, this would take it up to 13.3% a year.

(2) Also, according to Leviticus 27, they had to pay for their vows, which in many cases were really special prayer requests. (3) They also had to buy animals for sacrifices for intentional sins, unintentional sins, and sins requiring restitution.

(4) If they wanted to thank God for anything, they had to buy grain for a sacrifice (Leviticus 1-5). If they didn’t have to buy the animals or grain, they had to take them out of their own supply, thus depleting their own “pay check.”

(5) And every time one of their flocks or herds had a first-born, they had to sacrifice it ~ another depleting of the “pay check.”

So the good Jew under the Law of Moses did not just tithe. He ended up giving about one-third of his income.  Galatians 5:3 says that, if we keep one part of the Law, we have to keep all of it. There were over 600 burdensome commandments in the Law of Moses!

In today’s scripture, Christians are being released from this burden. Instead, they are being told to decide in their own heart. Christians are released from serving and giving through obligation and set free to serve and give out of love.

(And, by the way, what percent of your congregation’s contributions goes for other things besides salaries and the church’s building?)

 

 

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“The past 25 years we have seen science verify the fact that before the physical creation in which we exist there were a large number of things being carefully and intelligently produced. We are just beginning to understand from a scientific perspective how electric charge, magnetism, mass, gravity, and time were created.

‘Science has demonstrated to us that there are dimensions beyond the three dimensions we know about, and that those dimensions have a relationship to us. Scientific discussions about string theory and brane theory argue about eleven spatial dimensions. Studies of light have taught us that two-dimensional objects like photons behave differently than us three-dimensional beings. Understanding that God is not limited as we are allows us to understand more about why God created us. It helps us to understand the nature of our moral choices and why after our physical bodies no longer function we have an existence beyond the physical.

The scripture for today, September 3 (9/3), is 1st Kings 9:3 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“The Lord said to him, ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.’ “

The New Testament builds spiritual concepts on the basic material patterns of the Old Testament. For example, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1st Corinthians 3:16). This is the temple God wants now, not the old material temple of the Old Testament.

Just as there was just one material temple of God in the Old Testament, God looks upon each Christian individually as though you are the only temple. He is with you constantly and hears your every word, your every song, your every prayer.

Is your heart troubled today? Is your heart joyful today? Are you at peace with everything around you? Do you see conflicts you do not know how to solve?

God’s eyes and heart are with you. God sees and watches out for you in everything you do. He knows your cares, your heart’s desires, your joys, your worries. God’s eyes and heart are forever with you. Why? God is living in you, for you are God’s temple!

 

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This outstanding ministry was begun by John Clayton, former atheist and associate of Madolyn Murry O’Hare.  He became a biology teacher to make a living.  He travels the world with his lectures and never charges. He is very effective with university students and will stay and answer their questions all night if he has to (and has done).  John’s website is full of materials you can order free, including videos.  He began this ministry nearly fifty years ago and it is still going strong. Click the header picture to go to his website.