Malachi 3:10(KJV) 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
In our study of divine prosperity, we have been looking at the practice of paying tithes. The Lord may this practice a part of the law, but it actually predated the law. Abram paid tithes to the priest Melchizedek. This was long before Moses and the law. Why would he give this man, who Abram recognized as a priest of God, 10 percent of what he had obtained in battle? I believe it is because Abram understood paying tithes to God and his representatives as part of his relationship with God. This would indicate that the practice of paying tithes had been known since the days of Adam.
The tithe is the first ten percent of an individual’s income. The Bible uses the word increase. Any kind of income that brings an increase into our lives is subject to tithe. I pay tithe to God on every kind of income I make. I have a salary from our church. I pay tithes on that. If I receive an honorarium for speaking somewhere other than our church, I pay tithes on that money. If there is some other kind of offering that brings increase to me personally, I pay tithes on that offering. I believe that this practice keeps my financial life protected from the curse that came because of the fall of mankind.
To whom are we to pay our tithe? We know that the invisible God cannot receive our visible tithe. We also know that God does not need our money. Therefore, the question remains, to whom do we pay our tithes. Today’s verse gives us some insight. The Lord tells Israel to bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be meat, or food, in his house.
Under the Law of Moses, the tithe was brought to the priests and placed in storage rooms until it was needed. In the New Testament, we do not have priests or temple storage rooms. What is the storehouse for our tithe? A storehouse is the place from which you are fed. In modern vernacular, we might call it a cupboard. In my house, we have a cupboard, a freezer and a refrigerator. It is in these storage facilities that I store my food. When I need to eat, I go to the storehouse and get something. What is the storehouse for our spiritual food?
I believe the place where our spiritual food is stored should be the local church. Many believe the tithe should be given to any place from which we receive spiritual food. However, I get physical food from places other than my storehouse. I often eat in restaurants. When I do, I am not eating from my storehouse. I am eating from someone else’s storehouse, or cupboard. I do not pay them with my “storehouse” money. I pay my bill from other money.
If you receive spiritual food from sources outside the local church, you need to pay for that food. I believe you pay for it by purchasing the material or giving an offering. However, the tithe belongs to your storehouse, not to the restaurant or outside source.
Why do I make this distinction? We are going to take some time to look at the purpose the Lord gives for the tithe this week, but for now let me say that God has established a system to support the ministry. He speaks of tithes and offerings. The tithe is specifically for the storehouse. I believe the storehouse must be the local church. I say this because your storehouse is designed for you personally.
Have you ever been in someone else’s home and looked in their refrigerator or cupboard? There will be things in there that you would not have in your storehouse. I hate mushrooms. I know many of you love them but I just cannot stand them. I do not like how they look; I do not like how they feel. You might ask, “Do you dislike the taste?” I have no idea. I cannot get by how they look and feel. You may think that is silly or irrational. That may be so, but you will not find mushrooms in my storehouse. It is my storehouse and it contains what I like.
I am not saying that we can pick and choose the food God gives us to eat, but I am saying that our storehouse contains food prepared by the Lord for our needs. My wife cooks what I like. However, she also gives me what I need. We have both lost a considerable amount of weight recently. This has caused a bit of a change in our lifestyle. In order to keep the weight off, we need to eat fewer calories than we used to. To accomplish this, my wife cooks much differently than before. My storehouse contains what I need and my wife prepares the food for me.
The local church is the storehouse for you spiritual health and well-being. You may receive good spiritual food from other places. It may be helpful to you and strengthen you at a given time. However, the leadership of the local church seeks God for exactly what you need at all times in your life. They know you. God has placed them in your life to teach, encourage and strengthen you. They are your storehouse.
The restaurant may make great food. It might be a specialty that you cannot make at home, but it is not made for you. The restaurant makes food for anyone who wants it. If it meets your needs, that is great but it was not prepared to meet your needs. The food you get at home was prepared for you. It contains the ingredients you want and need to satisfy you.
The local church should fill that role in your spiritual life. If does not, than you should not be there. That does not mean if the pastor has a bad week you should leave. It does mean that if you are consistently unfed or uncared for, you should take you tithe and your presence to somewhere that will care for and feed you. I am not afraid to tell our people that if this church does not deserve your tithe it does not deserve your presence.
I believe this is a wonderfully designed system. The tithe makes the ministry of the local church possible. Ten percent of everyone’s income that receives ministry from the local storehouse is not an unreasonable or inequitable amount. At the same time this system serves as a check and balance for those who do the work of the ministry. If they do not provide for those under their care, they should not receive the tithe. If they consistently fail to meet the needs of those for whom they have the care, they will not survive long in the ministry.
If you are not part of a good local “storehouse”, I encourage you to find one. If you are part of one, bring all your tithe to that storehouse. By doing so you will ensure that you will have ministry designed by God to consistently meet your ministry needs. You will also ensure that others around you whose tithe may be less than yours will have the special care they need to grow in the things of God. God’s system works when God’s people simply obey.
Practical Wisdom from the Word of God 
Well Tony we can agree to disagree. I have answered all of your questions to my satisfaction, but probably not to yours. As to circumcision and the kinsmen redeemer, I believe they were both fulfilled in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We are the circumcision of the heart and Jesus is our redeemer. As to the tithe being goods as opposed to money, that is true enough, but that was the primary source of most of their income. I am convinced that parallel is sufficient. As to Malachi being written to Israel, so was the rest of the Old Testament. Much of the Old Testament scriptures have meanings that apply to us as well.
At any rate, I believe the tithe is much more about the heart than the money. As I said I don’t look at it as a law. I do not believe there can be any downside to tithing as a practice.
That said, there are far more important things that we can focus on. I write every day primarily for our church and this what we are preaching right now.
Thank you for reading. Your thoughts will give me se things to think and pray about.
Hi pastor Bill,
I do not want to come across as argumentative but I don’t think you have answered my questions.
If both the kinsman redeemer and circumcision practised before the law were fulfilled in Christ Jesus, how come tithing was the only one that survived into the New Testament? What is the scriptural basis that supports this theory?
The tithe was not paid on income, so it is completely irrelevant if goods were the main source of income. It was the tax on the produce of the land alone and not on income from the land hence those who earned wages never tithed their wages. Here it is in scripture
30 “One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy. 31 If you want to buy back the Lord’s tenth of the grain or fruit, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent. 32 Count off every tenth animal from your herds and flocks and set them apart for the Lord as holy. 33 You may not pick and choose between good and bad animals, and you may not substitute one for another. But if you do exchange one animal for another, then both the original animal and its substitute will be considered holy and cannot be bought back.” 34 These are the commands that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites. Lev 27
Also the bible never defined the tithe as 10% but calls it a TENTH. And this is translated from the Hebrew word Ma’asher which means tenth and Ma’asher is a derivative of Asher which means ten. Putting them together, we see that the tithe is the tenth in a group of ten. So in order to determine their tithe of agricultural produce, the farmer grouped his produce into ten equal parts and separated the tenth part as his tithe. For the tithe of animals, every tenth animal was separated as the tithe and if there was no tenth animal one could not tithe. If the tithe was truly 10%, how could the chap with one sheep determine his tithe?
Furthermore, let’s say I agree that the storehouse in Malachi means the same thing as “the church you are fed”. The tithe was brought in by the remaining 11 tribes who were allowed to work but were barred from ministering in the temple. And it was received by the Levites who in turn were barred from doing secular work and owning property because they were allowed to minister in the temple. In today’s church, who then are the Levites barred from doing secular work and who are those that make up the remaining 11 tribes that bring their tithes to the “storehouse”? If you say today’s ministers are the modern-day Levites, I will have to ask how scriptural that is since scriptures promptly states that all New Testament believers are Kings and Priests. This now leaves us with a problem as to who brings the tithe and who receives.
It is really not uncommon to hear pro-tithers claim that tithing is a heart thing. If this is true, why then do many preachers enforce it with every fibre of their being by imposing restrictions on those in their congregation that do not tithe? Calling it a heart thing is a convenient way out as the doctrine cannot be proven to be relevant to today’s church. “It is an eternal principle” is another popular one. Also, no verse of scripture ever says tithing guarantees wealth or prosperity. That is completely man-made and quite akin to John Tetzel’s sale of indulgence.
Like I said earlier, the church can do well with the freewill donations of it members just like the early church did. And there are many preachers who do not teach tithing but have a thriving congregation. John MacArthur is one of those. And I wouldn’t say there are more important things to focus on as this doctrine threatens our liberty in Christ and puts us back under the bondage of the law.
I will leave you be. God bless.
Tony,
I wasn’t really trying to answer your question fully as I doubt I could do so to your satisfaction. To me the two things you mentioned, circumcision and kinsman redeemer, are clearly fufilled in the ministry of Christ. Tithing is not. I answered part of your question is today’s post. I imagine I arroused many more as well.
I want to explain something else here. As I said, this blog, though available to all, is intended for the members of my church. I use it to reinforce and expand upon what I preach on Sunday morning. What I believe about the tithe is what I teach the people I am responsible for. I learned it both from personal study and from those who are over me in the Lord. I am honored to have the opportunity to travel in many places. I would never preach this in someone else’s church because it is up to them as to how they choose to handle these things.
Of course there are many churches that do not teach this and are blessed. There are many who do teach this and are also blessed. Before you say that teaching paying tithes as a principle and a practice is threatening liberty, you should come and see if that is the case in our church. I think you would find it is not. We do not demand anything of anyone and if someone chooses not to tithe they will probably never hear from me or anyone else.
To liken this to John Tetzel’s sale of indulgences is really quite ridiculous. Indulgences were purchasing the freedom from the penalty of sin. I do not know of anyone who teaches any such thing in relation to paying tithes. Are there some who take this to extreme? Of couse. I do not believe I am one of them.
Most of the questions you raise I have found satisfactory answers to, at least in my heart. Some of them are new to me and I thank you for giving me something more to study. You believe it is irrelevant ot the New Testament Church. I disagree. You say that churches can do just fine on free will offerings alone. Many, I am sure do. However there are many who do not.
Tithing is a revelation to me. If it is not to you or to someone else, it will do you no good anyway. Paying tithes has produced great blessing in my life. It has never produced any kind of bondage. That is my experience. Yours may be different. If so, I am sorry. As I said, we will have to agree to disagree.
God bless,
Pastor Bill Kiefer
Here’s a question for you concerning tithing. What if there is a person who rededicated their life to Christ at a church and began to grow tremendously, unlike ever before in their Christian life. Despite this, they decided to leave the church for a larger ministry that had a vibrant singles’ ministry.
The first pastor left the church to pursue other ministry callings. After a year, and a few calls from past parishoners asking him to do a Bible study (stating they weren’t receiving what had helped them to grow to the point they were, the subject being one of them) the former pastor decides to hold a weekly Bible study to help meet the spiritual needs of these few people. So they rent a meeting room at a local hotel. The parties agree to contribute to help pay for it so the former pastor won’t be burdened financially.
After a couple of months of the former pastor taking on most of the financial responsibility, he asks those who asked him to do the Bible study to consider tithing to help it continue. I think his thinking was, since the Bible study was “exactly what (they) needed to get back to growing”, it wasn’t unreasonable to ask them to consider tithing to help it continue.
Half of those asked, half of them agreed to tithe to help. But one person (the main subject) had a problem with the idea, stating that she “has a church home”.
My question to you is, do you think the former pastor was unreasonable in asking those who asked him to do the Bible study to consider tithing to help maintain after him being burdened, especially since he, by their own admission, is helping them to grow (again) in a way their “church home” is not.?
As I am sure you can understand, your question has far more to it than I can accurately answer in a few words. Was this “former pastor’s request unreasonable?” On the surface, no. The person who had the problem with the request has a home church. Her tithe belongs there, however, if that church is not meeting her spritual needs why does she feel she belongs there. I understand the need to take care of family, so wanting her children to be part of a vibrant youth ministry is valid, but if she is not able to grow in this church, what makes her think that her children are growing? There are all kinds of things in the church today that look good, but what is under the surface.
I also would have to know more about why this person is no longer pastoring the church. Why is the church he left unable to meet the needs of the people? Should you all be considering starting another work? That said, I have know many people who were dissatisfied and rebellious and that is why they felt they needed a bible study outside the church. I am not saying that is the case here, but to adaquately answer the question, I would have to know all those things.
It seems to me there are greater issues here than tithing. If you have asked for spiritual input from this person, it is reasonable that you take care of the expenses and compensate him for his work. (See todays post.) In the circumstance you describe I would say it should be an offering and not part of your tithe. That is my oppinion. However, I wonder if there is someone that you all could go to, who is a little older and wiser that might give you advice and counsel concerning the whole situation? It seems there are some things a bit out of order.
Again, I am only suggesting things from my experience. I know far too little to make any real judgements. I will pray for you.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor Bill,
Thanks for posting the tithing topic. I am at a point of critical decision. I was ordained to start a work in another location. My home church is in another state and I return periodically throughout the year. To date, I have not received assistance in starting the new work but I do pay tithes to my home church regularly. Presently, I have connected to another church and serve there. I will call it Promise for anonymity. I met with the pastor of Promise and explained that I am to start a new work and have a home church. I was welcomed in and began serving there but only give offerings. I love my home church but feel disconnected. I still have the assignment to start a church (already ordained)yet haven’t received support from my home church ( starting a new work is a new area for me). Should I continue to tithe at my home church? This has been heavy on my heart and I believe God allowed me to access your discussion to get answers.
I thank God for this message. It has opened my spiritual eyes on the subject of tith. Is tith paid to the pastor?
I believe the tithe belongs to the ministry. In our church the tithe goes into a separate account that pays the salaries of the ministry staff as well as providing for various other ministry needs. in the bible the tithes of the levites went to the high priest. I pay my tithe to the man that I consider my personal pastor. He is a senior apostle that my wife and I have submitted our lives and minsitries to.
Thanks for your kind wrds. It is a blessing to hear from you.
I have enjoyed reading your comments Pastor Bill and I do have a question for you. I pay my tithes faithfully and count it a blessing to do so, but my question is what do you do when you know your Pastor has and is misusing the funds for his own personal benifits? I don’t fill that God has released me to leave the church yet. However since the Lord has opened my eyes to what is happening, I do feel it just a matter of time be I leave.
Thank you for your kind words.
The situation you find yourself in is very difficult. I believe the tihe system is not just to provide for the ministry but to be a system of checks and balances for the ministry. What I teach, even to my own church, is that if the church and leadership do not deserve your tithe, then they do not deserve your presence.
If you have not done so, I would advise that you go to the pastor and give him an opportunity to anwer the things that make you think there is a problem. Go respectfully without accusation. Just say there are some things that you do not understand.
If you do not get satisfactory answers, you should not talk to other people. You should share with another leader that you do not feel you can stay due to some issues concering finances that you do not agree with. Then you should leave and find a place where you are proud to place your tithe. A place where you are confident that the tithe you give is being used properly.
I hope this helps you. Let me know how things turn out.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I AM RICHLY BLESSED by this write up however, when you are hardly in a location but moves about 4 job needs. What is BEST option 4 you. As most pastors wants your tithe haVing shephered U one time or another. Especially once you haVe left their church or location. Pray well 4 GOD to reveal HIMSELF to me on these. AM AFRAID NOT TO MAKE. MISTAKES. GOD BLESS U SIR.
Reply my last comment via my mailbox sir.
Sir,
I was out of town for some time so I did no get to responding to you. I am afraid I was not able to understand what you are asking. I do not know if this was something that was translated from another language or if there is just some problem with how the message came throug, but it does not make sense. I will pray God give you revelation, but if you could send your question again, I would be happy to try and answer it.
God bless,
Pastor Bill Kiefer
Hi Pastor,
Thank you very much for your article on tithing, it’s so practical. I have a question, I have a local church that I currently attend and tithe and all my offering, first fruit and seeds there, before I joined this ministry I was attending another ministry whose pastor and his wife are my friends and supports me in prayer. I had moved there temporarily until I decide on which church near where I leave I will be attending. I was tithing there the time I was fellowshipping with them. However the distance between where I live and that church is more than 200km so I could not make it there every Sunday, infact I would only make it once in a month because it involved travelling and accommodation. After few months I felt I couldn’t do that anymore and I settled to a church where I am currently. I explained to the pastor I will no longer be able to be with them. They continued to be my friends and would pray for me and give messages from God. I would always send some offering to them when they are standing with me in prayer. My local pastor is very senior and it is hard to see her however she has many pastors who stand with people in prayer, I have severally spoken to some and we have prayed together. My question is I am obliged to tithe to my friend pastor’s church or my local church given the fact that they pray with me anytime I call them? Is failing to support my friend pastor’s ministry in form of tithing hinder my blessings like I am praying for a husband and they have been praying with me, would I suffer delay? I would love to support them inform of offerings once in a while.
I really appreciate your advice.
LW,
Thanks for your comments. I appreciate them.
I believe the tithe was designed by God to suppor those who minister to our needs regularly. Therefore, you tithe belongs to the local church you attend and of which you are a member. If they are faithfully meeting your needs, they deserve your tithe. This applies to both the senior pastors and any that are working with them. If they are not meeting your needs they deserve neither you tithe or your pesence.
You should not feel badly about not sending your tithe to your friends. If the are doing a good work, send them offerings as often as you can. I am sure they would agree with me.
As to obtaining the blessings you are praying for, obeying the principles in the Word of God always helps bring about the blessing of God. It never hinders it.
I hope that helps.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thank you very much Pastor, this is really helpful and helps me to feel at rest. God bless you.
Regards
LW
You are quite welcome. May I ask where you are located?
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor Bill,
I am located in Nairobi Kenya. I saw sometimes back you had visited Kenya. I hope you will visits again soon. Thank you very much for your guidance.
Regards
LW
LW,
Yes, I was in Limuru in July. I will be back sometime between February and April of next year. I will try to remember to let you know. We will be having pastors and leaders meetings in Limuru and a number of other places. Perhaps your pastor would be interested in coming. When I know the dates I will get them to you. My e-mail is Wkiefer@aol.com. Feel free to contact me that way as well.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor Bill,
Am not sure you got my response so i am resending it below.
I am located in Nairobi Kenya. I saw sometimes back you had visited Kenya. I hope you will visits again soon. Thank you very much for your guidance.
Regards
LW
I got it.
thanks Pastor Bill
I do understand tithing,but my problem is,our pastor takes all the tithe,and the place where we worshipping God is not right place,we ar renting,is like the church is nt going anywher,and it pains me alot,i dont have a problem with tithing at all,the tithe belongs to the pastor?like all of it?
Thuli,
I do believe that the tithe is for the support of the ministry and the things they do. In our church we separate the tithe from other funds. We use the tithe to pay salaries, buy ministry materials and any other ministry related expenses. All other expenses are handled through free will offerings that we receive in addition to the tithe.
This includes the cost of buildings. The old testament pattern, which I do not see superceded by the New Testament, handled the temple and the tabernacle this way. The tithe went to provide for the priesthood.
That said, I have always had a salary. I have never simply taken the tithe for myself. If there was a need for the building or other things we do not usually use the tithe for, we would pay those things out of the tithe. The difference is we got to make that decision not someone else. (By we I mean those whose support comes from the tithe.)
I can not judge your pastor as I do not know him and I am only hearing your side of the story. You sould talk to him about this. However, my guidelines for people are simple. If you don’t feel comfortable giving your tithe to a ministry you should not give them your presence. You should find a place that you can support freely and comfortably.
Once again, I do not advocate just leaving. You should do your best to resolve the situation, but if you cannot it is better for you and the church that you find a place where you can give your tithe in peace.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I stopped tithing when the pastors wanted to know how much each person was making in the house hold, not that I had anything to hide. I just it was a bit to personal to seek such information and what was their reason for wanting to know this info. I found out later at a conference that this Church organization also tracked their members if they thought they lived above their means, or was driving a new car, had homes etc. it was almost as if they had to know everything about you like the federal Gov. They just recently bought in the Department of Social Services to assist in helping the people in the church. I am not in agreement with this and is seeking God’s direction and getting out. I feel spied on. And this is due to things that are said and that came out in the conference this year. The Church is to political. What would be your advise to me?
May,
I certainly cannot judge the pastors and leaders of this church as to their motivation, but I would agree that this seems far too intrusive.
I do not know how much people in our church make and neither do my leaders. We teach the people to tithe based on the scripture. I may talk to leaders if it seems they are not tithing because I believe they must set the example. We do not approach the people if we feel they are not tithing unless they ask for counsel. Then we will talk to them about it.
The same goes for financial advice. If a family comes for help with their financial life, we will give it to them. If not, we feel it is their business.
My advice to you would be to speak with the leaders and see if they can give you a satisfactory answer. Many times leaders do things that look one way, but they have information others do not have that explains their decisions.
If they cannot give you an answer that satifies you, you should find a church where ther practices surrounding the financial life of the congregation feel more correct to you.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
may God continue to increase anointing of God upon your life, You cant know how far this your articles have imparted many christian globally
keep it on, we will love you to have you here in Nigeria,let plan for it
I saw your message yesterday and I have reply immediately
Thank you for your kind encouragement. I will do my best.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Pastor Bill, I feel comfortable with the answer you gave on tithing. I have decided to start tithing and be a cheerful giver because of your blog. You are not judgmental, and your ears are open to learn even thou you are a Pastor, that says a lot to me. Its like growing together. If you make a mistake, I feel that you would be humble enough to not just admit it but confess it. I can follow a Pastor like you.This is what I have perceived from your spirit and after reading your blog. May God bless you, your wife and your Church family. Keep up the good work.
OH ! Please keep my family in prayer, we have been under a lot of attacks from the enemy. Especially my daughter and grandson and my finances.
May,
I pray that the Lord undertake for you and bring favor into your life that will meet every need. I pray that your family will come into the full knowledge of the Lord and walk in his victory.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor Bill,
Thanks so much about this article , even me I have been confused about the Tithes , thinking Pastor are making a Business in the Bible especially Africa , we are not taught, the meaning of Tithe and offering . As for me and my house we are going to start Tithing we have been missing the Heavens blessings and our windows its have been closed , if am to remember its ten percent of my income and should be paid to a local church where am fed SPIRITUAL FOOD !
and that money will meet the minister ‘s salary and ministry expense not the pastor and his wife?
i wish you could visit my country and teach the about this topic , children of God are tithing with grumbling!!!!! God for give us .. our pastors have not elaborated this part clearly even them I think they do not know what they are doing in this area , they think the money is to help them alone !
We fear to pay a tithe , thinking pastor is getting rich on our own expense !!!…. yet we are missing the blessings ,…. though some of the pastors miss use the tithe, they keep asking us money .eeeee….bring is like bring …….. its too much.
God bless you Pr. Bill
Lily,
Your interpretation of who to pay tithe to and what it is for is correnct. Where are you from? I do travel t Africa. Remeber this. We are only responsible for our part. If you pay your tithe, God will judge the one to whom you pay it for how they use it. Of course if you find out something is wrong with what is being done with the money you can ask questions and, if necessary, go to another church. This should only be done if there is a long term and extreme problem. However, if you pay your tithe in good faith God will honor you.
God bless and thank you for the encouragement,
Pastor Bill
please pastor i have a question. Is it proper to pay tithe to a pastor personally?
Ernest,
I believe it is. As a pastor myself I pay my tithe to the one who I consider my covering or the pastor over my life. I would encourage you to talk to your pastor about this. Sometimes it may seem like a blessing to give him your tithe directly, but he or she may feel differently.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Please Pastor, is there any place in the bible that says that we can pay to the pastor?
Ernest
If you are looking for that specific wording, I can not think of a place. The specific instructions about the tithe were primarily in the Old Testament. I believe they are valid today for many reasons one of the most important being that the tithe, although part of the Law of Moses, was actually practiced before the Law of Moses by Abraham in Genesis 14. Therefore, it is part of the covenant relationship not just part of the law.
In Malachi 3 the tithe went to the storehouse and when Israel went into the promised land the priests had no inheritance but instead received the tithes of the Israelites.
In the New Testament the storehouse where we receive our spiritual food is the local church and the tithe should go there.
If the church, or storehouse, has only one pastor and he is the one who is feeding you the food of the spirit, the Word of God, it could be appropriate for you to give your tithe directly to that pastor. In the Old Testament, the priests gave their tithe to the high priest for his support. This would be similar.
However, there is no place it says specifically you should or should not pay tithe directly to a pastor.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thank you very much sir.
Dear pastor,pls I was paying my tithe faithfully to my local church.but some months ago I met a pastor who God used to save my daughters life in d hospital from witchcraft attack.his main work is going about hospitals to share d word of God and pray 4 d sick.but he faces financial challenge and sometyms cant move freely cos no transport money.I ve decided to pay my tithe to him to reduce his challenges.do u tink its right
Peter,
I believe that God operates by principles that are put in the Word of our good. The principle is that we should pay our tithe to the storehouse that feeds us the word of God and ministers to us on a consistent basis. I believe that should be the local church we attend. If you still go to the same church, you should pay your tithe there.
I understand your gratitude to this man. If he has a church, maybe you should consider attending there. However, if he does not have a church, you should give him an offering if and when you can, but the tithe should go to the church.
I believe if you honor the biblical principle, God will help you support this other man’s ministry as well.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
God bless u pastor Bill.I will do as u ve said.I feel relieved
Peter,
I am so glad to be of help. May God bless your obedience.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I ampart of a local church of which i begin part due to the undivided spiritual food i was getting from the churches Resident Pastor. As was stated by you, if the local church can’t give you the spiritual food you need, then they don’t samely need my tithe and my presence. In this new church, the Resident pastor is the only person who solely ensure that my both spiritual and physical lives are in tack. I pay my tithe to one individual who controls the churches fund, in my opinoin, the pastor is being paid far less than the time he puts up to councel, visit and encourage me to remain steadfast in the Lord. This makes me feel he deserves more of my tithe. What do i do? continue to pay the tithe to the church administrator or to my pastor?
Brother,
The answer to your question is not a simple one. The condition you describe I far too often true. If this is the case, the tithe is not really fulfilling the purpose intended by God.
However, the lack of information I have makes it difficult for me to answer you. In my church, we separate tithes and offerings. The tithe does not all come to me. We have a number of people who work fulltime in the ministry and there are certain ministry related expenses that we feel should come out of the tithe. The key is that those to whom I believe the bible says the tithe belongs make the decisions. We do this openly so that if there is any question as to how this money is used we can answer those questions and any mistakes can be corrected.
I assume this is not the case in your church. If it is not, you should talk respectfully to the pastors and leaders of the church. Ask questions, do not make demands. If the Pastor is in agreement with the way he is paid, submit to that. If, in the end, you feel the pastor deserves more, give his some special offerings.
Please weigh carefully whatever actions you take. Submission to authority is very important in the kingdom. Ask respectful questions and if you cannot resolve this issue in your heart, seek counsel from your pastor.
I hope this gives you some help.
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor just want to know whether in these modern times one can tithe IN KIND? i.e. instead of paying in cash the person uses the money for something else and gives to the church.
Thank you n stay blessed!
Carol.
Carol,
I think that it is possible to tithe “in kind” as well as in time. We had some people who considered food stamps as subject to tithe. They could not tithe food stamps as it is illegal. They found other ways.
The idea of the tithe is all about the heart. If you have the money, in our society you should tithe money. As a local pastor trying to keep things and people paid, I can tell you the tithe is very important to us. On the other hand if the money is not there and you have something else the church needs, I think that fulfills the heart of the tithe.
Interestingly enough, I am going to be reposting the teaching on the tithe this week.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I am blessed by your revelation on the Subject of Tithing . However, is it right to pay tithe to a pastor that is still serving under another pastor seeing that he is the one God used to profer solution to a major problem in my life?
I believe that if the one you are directly under is serving God to the best of his or her ability you should pay your tithe to them. If the one over him helped you, that is how it should work. I don’t know how your pastor works such things, but I pay my tithe to the one who is over me. You might give an offering to the your pastor’s pastor, but your tithe should go to the one who is directly accountable for you.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Pastor Bill, I think that I have a complicated question. If a pastor has his own job where he receives his salary. And this pastor’s church has a mother-church. Does the pastor give the tithe of his job to the motherchurch or does he give his tithe to his own church. And then he’ll take 10% from all the tithes togheter, i mean togheter with the tithes of all his church- members and give to his motherchurch? I hope you understand what I mean.
Pauletta,
I think I do. I believe that someone in your pastor’s position should pay his tithe to the one he considers accountable for his life, his pastor. That would include what comes in from his job and from the church to him personally.
I also believe that as soon as the church he pastors becomes large enough he should leave secular employment and live by the tithe from the people he pastors. As the church grows, more people could be paid to provide more ministry. That is the way I do things.
Your pastor and the “mother-church” he comes from would have to sort that out according to what they believe. They might take a “tithe of the tithe” of the church he pastors and send it to the home church or they may not. I would probably not do that, but each group decides how that works for them.
You should pay your tithe to the storehouse where you are fed, the local church you attend. Then you should pray that God give wisdom to those who are over the house to use that money as God desires. Once you give the money, it is God’s. If you did not trust the leaders to use it properly you should find a church where you did trust them.
I do not think that is the what you are saying so just keep paying your tithe and trust the Lord to keep his Word from Malachi 3 in your life.
God Bless,
Pastor Bill
Pastor,
I believe that Mal. 3:10 reads. . . That their might be food in my storehouse. “MY” and not your storehouse. Thus we all tithe because of GOD’s storehouse, so wherever there is GOD’s glory , there is HIS storehouse, hence you are free to pay your tithe there
Actually Mal. 3:10 reads “the” storehouse not “my” storehouse. It then goes on to say, “That there may be food in my house.” Who ate the “food in God’s house?” God did not eat it. It was there to feed the priests who ministered in the temple.
When Israel went into the promised land, the Levites had no inheritance. They were to concentrate on the ministry of the Lord and not secular work. The tithe supported them.
I do not teach tithing as part of the Law but as a principle in the Word of God. In the Old Testament the tithe supported the workers in the house of God. (Food in my house.) I believe this principle can and should be extended to those in the hose of God today.
Primarily that should be the local church. (Heb. 13:17 and many others.) I would agree if there is no “Glory of God” in the local church then that church deserves neither your tithe nor your presence. However, please consider something.
Many people think that teachings like tithing are about getting people’s money. Some misuse them in this way. Nevertheless, how is the local church to be supported. Should we charge for services? Somehow bills have to be paid and ministry must eat just like everyone else.
Maybe you are one who does not see the value of local church. I remember the time when one of my young families came to me with the news that their son had leukemia. They were very glad that they had pastors that they knew loved and cared for them. They were grateful for a church family to support them. They were glad there was a place to come for prayer and encouragement in their faith. Thank God the boy was healed and is married today. They did not regret paying tithes to make sure that all of this was available to them.
I believe God in his wisdom set in motion this principle to provide for the house of the Lord. It places no undue burden on anyone, and insures that whenever ministry is needed for the church family it is there.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thank you Pastor Bill,
i really enjoy the way you answers question.There is too much wisdom there ,Humility and i can sense the spirit of God.what if i have questions and i dont want them to apear on the blog.is it possible to give me your email so that i ask other questions.
Ivingwirdgreene@aol.com will work. Icheck it regularly.
Jessica,
I think I answered this, but I was just cleaning up some things on the blog and it says your question is pending. If I didn’t get you an Email you can contact me directly via the Email on the website, http://WWW.livingwordgreene.com.
I think we have already communicated, but if not, there you go.
God Bless,
Pastor Bill
Greetings sir.
Your blog is surely a blessing to many myself included, I want to find out something, what happens if the senior pastor runs his own business on the side. Does the business tithe into the local church he pastors or to the spiritual father in another ministry or church?
Tinashe,
I believe that the bible teaches that the priests gave their tithe to the high priest. If a pastor is in business, I believe he should pay the tithe off that business to his Pastor or spiritual father. They may come together and agree that the money should go to help establish the new church, but generally I believe the pastor’s tithe should go to his covering.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
the email is not going through
Wkiefer@aol.com
If you email livingwordgreene@aol.com there should not be a problem.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi pastor Bill
Thank you for this post.
My his and and I are starting a church. I was just curious about how we would tithe? We have not actually opened the church with legal documents, etc, and we have no staff or salaries as yet. We both work in our own company.
I feel unsure about how we should tithe seeing that we don’t really have a “storehouse”. Currently our solution is to set apart ten percent for growing the church with the people we have coming to our groups.
Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Joy,
My wife and I have started three churches, so I know what it takes. I pay my personal tithe to the man I consider my pastor. In the old testament the priests paid tithes to the high priest. I don’t know if you have someone that you consider a pastor to you or a covering for your ministry. If so, I would send my tithe to him or her. I always felt that paying tithe to my own ministry was not really giving.
If you don’t have someone like that I would encourage you to find someone. Until then you might send it to a ministry that is a blessing to you or to some missions outreach.
Having said that, tithe in the New Testament is not a law. If you have covering I think it should go there. If not you need tho pray and ask the Lord what to do. If he says temporarily use it to help the church get going it is not like that would be a sin. For me, that would be a last choice.
Good bless,
Pastor Bill
Joy,
I know that in your situation it can be a little confusing. First let me say that I am not looking at tithe as a law but a practice. I believe it is an important practice and I think the Bible gives us guidelines that we should follow whenever we can.
If I were you I would find a ministry that has been important to me and I would pay my tithe to them. In a sense if you are receiving from them, they are your storehouse.
I would also advise that you find someone to whom you could be accountable as soon as possible. This is important for anyone in ministry. Is there a spiritual father or mother in your life?
I know that it is often difficult to develop those kinds of relationships but you should do your best to find someone. It will help you in the long run. That is where you should ultimately pay your tithe.
If none of those things is possible, you may put it into the church for a time. Personally I have found it hard to see that as tithing since it is benefitting me in a way.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I am impress. I can now say i am onvinced to tith to my local
Theophilus,
That’s great. Thanks for the encouragement.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Can tithe be paid to an individual ,say you walk meet sb who is in need at the sametime you are going to church.how approriate is that?
Frenklin,
I can only share what I believe. Tithe belongs in the storehouse where you are being fed. To me that means a local church where you are a part of the body. In the situation you describe I think it would be more appropriate that you give an offering. This would be in addition to the tithe you pay in your local church.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I have been paying tithe to the local church I attend. I doing so I believe I should also be afforded the opportunity to be a member of the church. The church makes becoming a member difficult, even though I follow the church’s doctrine. They only afford membership classes two times a year at a specific time. They make no other previsions for membership.
I have been told I can get involved in the church and volunteer in the church, I just can’t vote on church business. I think that is wrong. To me it’s like living together without benefit of marriage. It seems the church is more concerned about receiving my tithe than sharing in full fellowship.
Isn’t there a way I can redirect my tithe and still be obedient to God? There is a lot of work others do for God. They could probably use my money better than the local church
Brother,
Though I understand your concern, I think that you need to realize that the tithe belongs to God. You give it to the church because that is where the Lord has you planted and where you are getting fed. Therefore, you are paying it to God so he can use it to take care of those physically who take care of you spiritually.
If the church is simply following its established procedures, I don’t think you should do anything except continue to fellowship and be a blessing. Express you desire to join in covenant with the church and respectfully ask if there is any possible way to speed up the process.
If not, you need to ask yourself if the benefit you are getting from the ministry of the church is worth paying your tithe there. Are they taking care of you spiritually? Are you receiving the Word of God regularly and is the Word preached and taught blessing your life? Does the leadership walk in integrity and character? Are they available to you if you need ministry? If you can answer yes to those kinds of questions, I would encourage you to stay with the church, get involved and finish the required courses as soon as you can.
If the answer to those questions is no, then you need to find another church. If the church is worthy of your presence, they are worthy of your tithe.
Formal membership is important, but covenant relationship is more important and if they are not treating you differently than they do others, I would just stay the course.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Dear Pastor,
At this point, I respectfully disagree with you on the subject of giving tithes to the local church however I do believe in giving tithes and often more than that. I will certainly study the subject again.
However my question pertains to a specific issue related to the functioning of the local church – and I am certain to an extent that this is the case for many churches here in the south of India (mainly the charismatic and pentecostal churches of which I am a member of).
1) Discouraging fellowship with other Christians openly. If two christian families are staying in the same apartment lets say and they somehow share the burden about something and they just make a decision to pray together on every wednesdays – the church would oppose such a private gathering.
2) Not allowing people to recognize and work on their personal callings. Instead the church motivates people to get involved in the Church’s calling (though no where in the Bible we read that God ever calls a Church!). What this means? Considering most of India is unchurched, suppose that I have the burden to take the Gospel to a village and I feel I can better do it through partnership with a missionary organization – the churches not only do they discourage such a mission but they openly advocate that any member getting involved in any kind of mission work should do it only through Church. In other words, we are supposed to get involved in work only in which the church gets involved. The scenario is similar to the situation that John Wesley faced in England. Is this right? I understand they may be concerned about some false doctrines invading the church but then why cant the church teach the members as to how to identify false doctrines?
3) What if the Church has misplaced priorities in terms of spending money – assuming the Church has already everything they need but they still need more money to build some grand buildings, buy some top quality sound equipments, etc, when there are so many villages and towns unreached right nearby, with people not knowing the basics of the gospel truth. Is this justified?
4) Some churches insist on not only tithes but also the entire offerings. They do not recognize any ministry that is not officially represented by a Church… If every Christians contributed only to their church, from what I could see, all missionary organizations operating in India would go bankrupt and no body other than those who are already part of the church will hear the gospel.
I can go on and on… My main concern here is that, Churches instead of advancing the Gospel are now actually hindering it. Instead of enabling people to grow in serving the Lord, they are actually hindering it by coming up with unnecessary rules. And further to that instead of having the genuine biblical concern about expanding the kingdom, they seem to be more concerned about expanding their own tents.. The motive behind any ministry done in the church seems to be to increase the growth of the church, rather than with a selfless goal to present the gospel with care and winning members into the kingdom without bothering about which church those members will become part of.
I would love to hear a response from you – as a pastor you would certainly understand better. I apologize if I am deviating from the topic.
Thank you,
John
John,
First let me state a couple of things about the tithe. If you study it in the Old Testament you will find that there were actually three tithes mentioned. One was for the poor, one was for worship and one was the Levitical tithe. That is the one I am talking about and how it was used and to whom it was given is very specific.
Next let me remind you that I do not teach this as a law but as a practice and a principle. Think cause and effect not reward or punishment.
Finally let me say again that if the local church is not worthy of your tithe than it is not worthy of your presence. From what you describe, that seems to me to be the case here.
You use the term church as though all local churches are this way. I can tell you mine is not. We believe in building the Kingdom not our kingdom. I don’t care who our people pray with as long as they pray. I do not say that they cannot participate in other ministries. We believe our job is to build people so they can fulfill their destiny.
That said, there is a reality to the fact that the people I have the honor of leading are my responsibility. I must give account for them. Therefore I do want to know what they are doing. Many times the kind of prayer meetings you describe turn into more gossip and rebellion sessions than prayer.
The same goes for ministries outside the church. I want to know who they are and what they are doing. This is not to control the people but to protect them.
Another aspect of this is that I know the people I lead. I know if they are ready for certain things or if they need more preparation. I know if their lives are strong enough to handle what ministry requires. I may advise them to wait or to try something else.
Accountability is a major thing in the Kingdom of God. I believe we all need it. I have someone I am accountable to. This is not out of law but out of relationship.
Finally you say that God did not call a church. By that logic he also didn’t call missionary organizations or any other kind of ministry organization. In Matthew 18, Jesus says upon this rock I will build my church. Although it could be said that he was talking about the universal church, he is also talking about relationship. True relationship requires the local expression of the universal church.
Any church worth existing has a vision. There is a reason it exists. Although I do not have a problem with people participating in other things, I count on the people to help us fulfill what God has called us to do. I believe that should take priority.
As to buying sound systems etc. I agree that our priority should be people and the gospel not things. However, there are times when things need to be bought or replaced. We only have so much finance and it is often difficult to determine how to use those resources.
The church you describe is not one I would attend. I suggest you respectfully talk to the leadership and express your concerns. If they cannot be resolved, you should look for another church. Do not go offended but understanding that you are not on the same page and that probably means you are in the wrong place.
Don’t write off the vital relationships and accountability of a good local church. I believe we all need the things such a church provides. I will be praying you find the place that is right for you or that you find a understanding where you are.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Dear Pastor,
Apologize for the delay in my response. Thank you for your time and for your thoughtful response. Having read through this and analyzed this, I certainly accept most portions and have some comments on the rest.
On the area of accountability, I agree entirely. In the Bible, I read that Paul was making himself subject to the scrutiny of his audience. Based on this and in addition to what you have mentioned, I would say that, it is better to be accountable also to fellow christians/Church members who we know are godly, who may have an access to an area of life which leaders do not have.
I have some comments on other points you have mentioned:
I agree that Church as a group of people have a purpose to exist. However, it isn’t necessarily biblical to state that the Church’s calling should take priority over individual callings. If God has called someone, in some extreme cases, it is not even necessary to get such a calling approved by leadership. Because in the end God makes me accountable for my calling. If that is not the case, there would not have been a Bruce Olson or John Wesley, whose lives we take as an example today. We see in the life of Stephen, when the Church appointed him to do something but he ended up doing something entirely different. In the life of Paul, we see that the Church neither agreed nor denied him authority to preach, yet he went about his calling in the way God called him. In fact, he felt the need to be accountable to his preaching with the disciples only after 14 years, as we read in Galatians. My point here is individual callings – if there is a certainity from God – must take priority over group calling. The Church should encourage people to discover and fulfill their calling rather than forcing them to do something else. Written other way, if people do not think it is their ultimate mission to be a blessing in the area where the Church exists, they are unlikely to do God’s work in a delightful, fulflling way. So even if it is a Church’s calling, people should identify their own calling within it otherwise their works are unlikely to be fruitful. The Church calling may not be comparable to the calling of a missionary organization because in the latter’s case, there is no control involved: if people think they have a calling to be missionary they join else they don’t.
With regard to fellowship with other Christians: On the area of accountability I agree. I wouldn’t intend to hide anything from my pastor or anyone else. However I would say it may not be right to generalize and say that many such fellowship tend to be gossip. If two people are Godly, and are having the desire to serve God utmost in their lives, I dont see why such a prayer meeting will end up with Gossip. When Paul writes to Corinthians, he recognizes Peter’s ministry and he encourages people to understand that, it is God who finally grows the seed – this knowing very well that the Church was founded by Paul. Having authority over Corinthian Church, Paul could have prevented members from fellowshipping with those who were brought in by Peter.
I apologize for being slightly judgmental in my first email. I was just pointing out the general trend of Churches where I live. I do not intend to see all churches in the same light.
Regarding tithes, I should point out that when I checked my last 6 months of contributions, I had given more than tithe to my local church. I would only say that we should give cheerfully wherever there is a need and whenever we feel for such a need. I will certainly revisit this topic again in my personal study.
I agree with you wholly on the vital need for accountability and fellowship with local Church. My only concern here is that, I should be able to prove it in my heart that the Church exists to help me grow in Christ, in serving him better, not attempting to control me with a set of rules and regulations that put me down and are not based out of scripture. I was speaking to a member a month back and he was kind of surprised to realize that ministry can be done by anyone anywhere as long as they love God and love men and they see God’s calling in it. He, being a life-long member of the church, may have been taught that ministry can be done only within the church and with the authority of Church leaders. This is what I disagree with and I feel it goes against the crux of what the great commission stands for.
Once again many thanks for your reply and Godly advice. Many regards.
Blessings,
John
John,
I am sorry that you seem to have some bad experiences. I have spent a good bit of time in India. I have friends in Andhra Pradesh. I say that so you will know that I understand where you are from.
It is unfortunate that your experience with local church involves words like control and rules and regulations. These are not the kind of words I would ever use to describe what local church relationships should be.
God is above all else a Father and the church, both universal and local, is about this Father and his family. All who lead in his family must understand that and pattern their leadership accordingly.
Unfortunately much of the church patterns itself after other kinds of organizations. Denominational Christianity tends to be organized corporately. Many Christian leaders tend to be kings, chiefs or CEO’s not fathers.
I have six children and fourteen grandchildren. I see my role as pastor in a very similar light. My job as a father is to protect, guide and nurture my children. It is my greatest joy that they fulfill their call in God. For the most part that call has led them to stay with me and help me in the ministry. However, if that call leads them elsewhere, that is what I want them to do. I approach every member of my church the same way.
Though I do not pretend to know everything about the bible, what I say is born of 46 years of Christian life and 36 years of fulltime ministry most of which has been spent pastoring in one form or another. All of that time has been spent in the study of the Word of God and the bible is my only standard.
When I say that independent prayer meetings often turn into gossip sessions I assure you that I am not throwing a blanket over all such meetings. I am speaking from much experience. I have seen churches split apart, families and ministries destroyed and the people themselves fall into ruin because of “prayer” meetings where people thought they knew things they did not and decided to “pray” their own will over situations while talking amongst themselves about things they had no way of knowing or understanding. (Their are times when both leadership in general and confidentiality in ministry will not allow me to tell everyone what I know.)
That said, I do not tell anyone what they can or can’t do. I do not control anyone. I guide them and cover them. That is my job and I must give account before God for how I do it. (Hebrews 13:17)
I do not believe the vision or calling of the local church supersedes the calling of an individual. I believe that God calls individuals to local churches so that he can use them in symphony with others.
The difference between a missions organization and a local church is not the degree of control they exert over the people working there.
The difference is that when the missions organization is done they either move on or establish a local church.
It is the church that wins the town or village. It is the people who live there who ultimately must reach the people of that town or village. It is the local church that will disciple those who come in long after the missions organization leaves.
Understand, I travel a great deal. I go to places that need instruction. I am not an evangelist. I am an apostle. I build the local leaders and teach them how to be godly leaders. In the end, however, all places are local and must be won by the people who live there.
My views of leadership come from places like 1 Peter 5:1-4, 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Jesus’ teachings on servanthood. My teachings to the people come from 1 Peter 5:5-6 and Hebrews 13:7 and 17 as well as many others.
Finally, take another look at Paul’s life. It is true that Stephen did not seem to be sent out from Jerusalem and that Paul did not feel the need to submit himself right away to the apostles at Jerusalem. However, when you read about Paul in the book of Acts you see a man called Barnabas who took Paul under his wing and vouched for him with the apostles.
Later we find that Barnabas, upon finding revival in Antioch, sent for Paul. We find that Paul stayed there many years teaching in the church. We find in Acts 13 that Paul was sent out along with Barnabas by the local church at Antioch to do the work that God had called them to.
If you continue reading you will find that after every missionary journey except the last one, Paul went back to Antioch and gave an account of what God had done. The only reason he did not go back the last time is that he was arrested and sent to Rome.
Antioch was Paul’s local church. He was not the pastor there. He was accountable to the church and the leaders there.
The Jerusalem church was full of politics and doctrinal debate. I do not believe it was a good example of the local church Jesus intended to be established in the earth. Study Antioch and you will see a vibrant, spiritual and missionary minded local church.
I pray that you either come to a better understanding of the local church you attend or that God will lead you to one that really fits the pattern Jesus intended.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I’m married to a Pastor which happen to be my spiritual father too and we don’t have a church home but we visit different churches.
As his wife Do I pay my tithe to my husband since he is a Pastor or pay it to the places we visit.
Most important is that sometime when we have an argument I don’t want to give him my tithe because I feel neglected.
Please help me.
Dorcas,
First, Let me encourage you to find a church. Even though you are in ministry, you need the support and interaction of the local church. I believe we all need a pastor. Even those of us who may be in the ministry. I have been a local pastor for over 35 yeas. I am covering for other pastors and ministers as well. However, I have a person that I look to who can speak into my life, encourage me when I am right and correct me when I am wrong. We all need that.
As to your tithe, marriage is a covenant I do not believe there should be your tithe and his tithe. I believe you should decide together where you pay your whole tithe as a family.
I hope this helps.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thank you very much and God bless you Pastor Bill. Dorcas
Sent from my iPad
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Pastor bill can you answer me please. Thank you
Dear Friend,
My name is Engr. David; I work with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing here in my Country. I have decided to tender a Resignation letter as a result of trying to start something on my own.
I have just been paid my outstanding contract sum, which I intend to start a business with, am hereby seeking your opinion on the line of business Investment one can go into in your country, that have be my intentions, I am not comfortable with the way boko haram is bombing this country, I am afraid of investing my life savings here.
I will really appreciate your Out most Assistance and Partnership in this Quest. I had always been interested in International Investments, and I believe this is the right time; I have made up my mind to completely give it a try anymore I will be waiting for your ideal business, and also looking forward to Partner with you.
We could set up a company together or probably invest in an existing one. If you are too busy for this, maybe you could introduce me to someone. engrsamdavid1965@gmail.com
I do sincerely hope to read from you soon
Regards,
Engr.Sam David.
Brother,
Although we will pray for God’s direction and blessing on what you are starting, I have no business contacts of any kind. I do not have those kinds of resources so I could not help you in any way.
The Lord can help you. Read Deuteronomy 28 and meditate on the blessings of your covenant with God. I am sure God will give you direction. I cannot even imagine living under the kind of threat you do, but God is God in all places.
In the kind of situation you are in, I am sure there are great needs that must be met for people. Any good business is built on finding a need and meeting it. I do not mean exploiting people because of their need. I mean really giving yourself to meet the needs of others. If you can find a way to do that, you will be successful.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hello sir, thanks for this topic. I’ve made a decision to leave my local church because I’m not been fed at all. Every other DAT I spend there, I sense a draining of the little nourishment I get from few TV ministries of some men of God. I’ve stopped going, but I’ve not found another church. I actually want to take my time and let God lead before settling down in another church. I have this strong feeling in me that my tithe for now should go to these TV ministries who be a huge source of life to me over these months. Pls what do you think? Thanks
David,
I think that the decision is up to you. If that is where you are being fed then it is valid for you to send the tithe there. The other option would be to send offerings there and save your tithe until you find a church. Of course you have to be disciplined not to spend it.
Just don’t fall into the trap of not looking aggressively for a local church. I believe that is the place we fit with others and really come into our destiny. I would also suggest you talk to your pastor if you have not and explain your feelings. It could be that he is not aware of something.
It is easy once a person starts to stay away from church to continue in that pattern. Don’t let that happen.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Dear Pastor, I should have posted the above comment (the last one in my name) privately. In spite of my doubts expressed, I maintain a cordial relationship with everyone and I feel sorry about posting it for public. I sincerely apologize for that. If you can delete my last comment, will be great. Thank you.
John,
I clicked on trash but I am not sure I that deleted it. If not let me know.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Dear Pastor, It is deleted. Thank you very much.
John,
Great.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Dear Pastor sir.
My name is Rendani from South Africa in the West of Johannesburg, just want appreciate you for responding to the call of Spirit when he asked you to start this blog, its really helping a lot my questions have been answered just by reading your posts.
Thank you Pastor sir.
Redani,
Thank you for the encouragement. It is a blessing to hear from readers like you.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
God bless u sir, ur blog has really been a blessing to me.
I hope Tithe and Gift is very different, People sometime put together tithe and Gift or present.
Please READ every Body the Bible verses I give:
Number 18:21-24 God gave to Levi or priest or Pastor
How to use the Finance now a day : Deuteronomy 14:22-28,29
Levi, orphanage, widow, etc..
it is not the first things to use Buliding and Mission
You are right in that the tithe and a gift are different. Under the Law of Moses, there was no option where the tithe was concerned. It was a requirement of the Law. We are not under the law. I do not teach tithing as a legal practice but as a principle that will bring blessing to us.
The law actually included three tithes. Some of what you quote above reflects that. There was a tithe to the Levites. This is the one I am generally speaking of. There was a tithe to be eaten with the priests at a certain time of year. This was a tithe for worship. There was also a tithe that was set aside for the poor. Under the law all were requirements. Under the New Covenant, in many ways, all are gifts.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I don’t actually know how to pay my tithe. I sometimes get money within the week which is not from the work that i have done. Do i have to pay tithe from it?
Eric,
I would. The bible says we should pay tithe on all our “increase.” No matter where increase comes from, I pay tithe on it. In my experience, I have seen this as a way to insure that those kinds of things keep happening when I need them to happen.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thanks for your encouragement
Sam,
You are very welcome.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
My husband and l were pastors in a certain ministry and we had to move to another country because of work.We have found ourselves being part a local church (different ministry)where were we feel at home.We have been tithing in our home church back home all this time(directly to the senior pastor).We will not be opening a church in the present country as an extension of our home church and the senior pastor from home knows it..My question is should we continue to tithe directly to the senior pastor back home or start submitting our tithe to the local church.We are torn because the economy in our country back home is so bad and the money is handy for the senior minister and his family.But at the same time we feel like we are not 100% committed to the local church because we are not tithing there.How do we go about this without loosing the relationship we have with the senior pastor from back home and doing what is right before God without feeling like we have abandoned the senior pastor
Nel,
I think you have answered your own question to a great degree. I think your tithe belongs with the local church. It seems that your heart is leading you that way and that’s why you feel uncomfortable. If the church you are attending is feeding you and doing the work of the kingdom, you should pay your tithe there. If not, you should find one that is.
What about you pastor back home? I would pay my tithe to the local church and send as good an offering as I could to my former pastor. If he is a father in the faith to you, you should not stop supporting him. I know that means you would have to give more. It might mean you could not send quite as much to him, but I believe that when we get into God’s ordained order something good can happen.
You might want to talk to your current pastor about this man of God from your home country. You should not pressure him to support financially, but you could ask for prayer and see what the Lord does.
I will pray both for wisdom and for the blessing you former pastor needs.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Thank you Pastor Bill.Will continue to pray for wisdom as well on how to handle these conversations.God bless you.
It is a sad state of affairs in today’s church that the doctrine of tithing is thought necessary for people to give. And this occurs in churches that consider themselves under grace.
Michael,
We can agree to disagree. I believe it is nothing of the sort. The tithe is a practice not a law. It was included in the law but pre-dated it by many years. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Why a tithe? I believe it was an understood part of his relationship with God. There was no law until Moses.
In our church we teach and practice tithing. We give beyond the tithe. No one is pressured to give. No one is “check up on” to see if they are tithing. It is taught as part of our relationship with the Lord. It is the giving of our heart not just our wealth. Our people are incredibly generous without any coercion. To my way of thinking that is a product of the proper teaching concerning tithes and offerings.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Please i want to know–Can one bless a minister of the lord with the tithe or can one sow into a minister of God’s life with the tithe
Sedinam,
You can do both of those things. I am not speaking about a law here. What I will say is that the tithe should go to the local church you and your family are fed consistently. That is, in my opinion, the primary purpose for which God instituted the tithe in the first place. Recently I married a couple that had joined the church not long before. He asked me how much it would cost for me to marry them. I told him nothing. The tithe covers the services that the church provides. I would pay my tithe to my local church and support the other ministry with offerings. I believe God would honor that with greater blessing.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
where is a wife of a pastor supposed to pay her tithe
Peace,
I do not believe there is any difference between the husband and wife. They pay their tithe. You and your husband need to come together and agree on who is feeding you. If you have a covering that you submit to, I believe that is where you pay your tithe together.
I am assuming by your question that you receive income that is not from the ministry in which you and your husband are involved. I do not believe that makes any difference. The increase that comes into your family belongs to your family. The most important thing is that you and your husband be in agreement as to what you do with your tithe.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I wonder though, how come Jesus, Paul, Peter etc, although they fed a lot more spiritually and naturally, never received or asked for the tithe themselves? Also, Abraham gave the tithe voluntarily, not out of law, and (I also do not know whether he did give the tithe again after that).
Simba,
All valid questions. First, I do not believe the tithe was ever meant to be given out of law. Abraham gave it out of relationship. It was later included in the Law because Israel needed the law to maintain relationship.
In the new testament the Law is written on our hearts. (Jer. 31:31-34) We keep the law from the inside out not the outside in.
Did Abraham pay tithes before or after his encounter with Malchizadek. We do not know . However, the question I ask is “How did Abraham know to give a tithe?” I believe it is because tithe was a practice that God put into man’s experience. It was just an expected part of worship.
As to those in the New Testament, no there is no record of their paying tithes but if they were Jews they did. It was part of the law. Although Paul preached against the law for the gentiles, Acts makes it clear that he kept the jewish customs. Tithing wouldl have been a part of that.
Did Jesus pay tithes. Again, as a Jew it was likely. However, we have no record of it. That does not change what the old testament teaches about the paractice of the tithe.
You cannot be hurt by setting aside ten percent of you increase to give the Lord. If you want to give more, by all means do so. If you want to give less, you might want to reconsider. I believe it is a way to keep our heart where it belongs and to cripple the God of Greed.
I do not teach tithe as a law. No one comes to our memebers demanding the tithe. We teach them what we believe the Word of God says. What they do with it is between them and God.
The tihe is, to me, a practice and a principle initiated by God and and sanctioned in the law. It is spoken of in the prophets and practiced by the father or faith, Abraham. It has been a blessing in my life and in the lives of those both over and under me in the Lord.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Bill, I read that if a person tithed and paid offering God would open a window in heaven and pour out a blessing that would overflow the givers cup. I’ve tithed and paid offering religiously for years. Then, I was charged with a felony that I did not commit. After that I became unemployed. Now I’m on the verge of losing everything. I wonder where my blessing is? My cup is empty. Why hasn’t God kept his promise with me when I did what he said to do. I feel like I was involved in a deal with a bad businessman who took my money and my hope and left me with nothing but empty promises. I feel so cheated. Can u provide any insight? Can you pray to God and ask him why this happened to me?
Sent from my iPhone 6+
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Chris,
I am truly sorry to hear that and I will certainly pray for you. If you are not in a good bible believing local church, I encourage you to find one. If you are, reach out to the leadership there. You need someone who is right there with you to help you and believe God with you.
First, let me say that God did not do this. The devil is the enemy of our souls. His ways are the ways of deciption. It is impossible for me to say how he has managed to produce this attack on you. I can say that the answer is not to believe God less it is tosontinue to believe God. I know that does not sound logical and it is certainly not easy. None the less, it is the right thing to do.
You can use you faithfulness in the tithe as a weapon against the devil and a tool to encourage your own faith. Go back to the promise and remind yourself that God said the tithe would release blessing. Go to the devil and tell him that what he is doing is illegal for many reasons, the tithe being one of them.
Remind him most of all that you are a child of God. You did not pay tithe (or do any other giving) for what you could get out of it. You did it becuase it was the right thing to do as a child of God. Remind yourself and the devil just who he is dealing with.
Read Romans 8:26 or so to the end of the Chapter. Paul was more than a conqueror in many bad things because he never gave in to the lie that God did not love him.
I know it is easy for me to say these things from where I am sitting and harder to do them from where you are sitting. The thing is, your story is not over yet. If you did lose everthing, the story of Job tells us that if we keep trusting God even when it looks like we should not, we will have more in the end than what we lose.
All of what I said is true. However, I encourage you to find someone there you can talk to, pray with and who can go through this with you. You are not alone. Hebrews says that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb. 13:6-7.) That is a powerful truth but you need some flesh and blood believers with you as well.
Let me say one more thing that I know is not easy in a situation like yours. Do not give in to the fear. You are afraid and that is very normal. It is not at all wrong to feel fear but we do not have to lay down and just take it. Paul reminds Timothy that God did not give him a spirit of fear but a spirit of Love, power and a sound mind. ( 2 Timothy 1:6-7) Pray that over your own life. Meditate on that until it becomes real to you.
I believe God is going to undertake for you in this. No matter what, keep trusting him. He has not let you down. Don’t believe that lie. Get back in the game with him and let him comfort you and lead you through this. I know you don’t understand but faith comes first. Understanding second. That’s how it works in the Kingdom of God and that is what connects you to the supernatural..
I am praying,
Pastor Bill
pastor Bill , i want to ask a question, my husband and I worship at mfm church, but we have this financial challenges in his business. We have been praying and our pastor in church is praying too for a positive result. We are still waiting upon God.
But there is this prophetess that is also praying for us too, she is doing intensive prayer for us, going to mountain to pray and doing midnight prayers for us with fasting. She now told my husband to start paying tithe to her. She has a ministry not a church because of her calling.
My question is, what do we do in this kind of situation?
Ada,
I am going to reply to you according to what I believe are scriptural principles and as someone who walks and ministers in the prophetic. God would never have a prophet tell someone to tithe to them.
I don’t know this woman and she may well have a good heart. You should appreciate the prayers she is praying for you. If you wanted to help her with some offering that is up to you. However, for her to use the prophetic word to press someone to give any money to the “prophet or prophetess” is to misuse the gift.
Look at what Paul said.
1 Corinthians 9:18 (NKJV) 18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.
Although this is talking about preaching the Gospel, I believe it applies in your situation.
God established the purpose of the tithe in his word. It is my conviction it belongs in the hands of people who give account for your soul.
If a pastor used that truth to manipulate people to give to him or her, I would suggest they ask the pastor about it for the same reason. If a good, scriptural answer could not be given, I would find a church that did not abuse their authority.
Again, I do not know this woman and she is probably a very good prayer warrior who got something a little wrong. Hearing God is not exact even for those of us who may be called “prophet.” However, your business will not be blessed by giving to her in response to an instruction God did not give.
Pay your tithe to your local church. It sounds to me like your pastor is doing his job!
God bless,
Pastor Bill
My research does not agree with yours. The priests paid tithe to the high priest. The tithe is 10 percent of our increase. Whatever that increase may be. Yes there were multiple tithes and yes the Lord directed where those tithes went. The Leviticle tithe was one of them and it was to support the priesthood. Each tithe was a tenth so you might say the Hebrew tithe was 30%. The fact that Melchizedek was a higher priest than the Aaron’s priesthood is irrelevant, it is the principle that is important. Abraham believed that his duty to God required he pay a tithe to God’s priest. Where did he get that idea.
Finally, I do not threaten anyone. I simply quote the Word from Malachi. if you do not believe in this principle, that is no problem to me. There is no fear in my church over what I teach about tithe. As to how ministry today is paid and declaring no fixed salaries etc. are you in the ministry and living this way? Please do not respond I ask just for you to consider.
What I teach has brought great blessing to my church. If you don’t agree with it, that is fine.
I have been studying and preaching on Ephesians 4:1-4. I choose to keep the unity of the spirit that is between all of us who believe by maintaining the bond of peace. So peace to you and we agree to disagree.
God Bless,
Pastor Bill
Bill, I can tell you I see now that tithing and offering is a powerful thing. God carried me through the time when I was financially lacking because I was faithful when I had overflow. He put me back on my feet and has prepared me for the most successful time in my life. I am living proof that gods promise about tithing is real.
Amen. That is a wonderful testimony and one that I share. Thanks for the encouragement.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Nothing in Scripture says that tithe is 10% of our increase. As a matter of fact, Scripture totally contradicts the claim.
Psalm 147:19-20 tells us that the commands given to Israel were not given to any other nation.
When the door to Salvation was opened for the Gentiles, Judaizers tried their best to make the Gentile Believer’s keep the Law of Moses.
Both the Apostle’s and the Holy Ghost put a stop to their demand. Nothing in the word says that Gentiles were ever required to tithe to the New Testament Church.
I also see nothing in the Biblical text that says Abram felt it was his “duty” to tithe to give God a tenth through His Priest Melchizedek.
Where did Abram get the idea to tithe? Good question!
I believe History holds the answer to that question. History records that the ancient Babylonians were tithing war spoils more than 285 years prior to Abram tithing to Melchizedek.
I believe that is important. Why? Because Abram, at one time, lived in a city of ancient Babylonia… Ur of the Chaldees. He worked in his father’s idol shop there.
Abram would have been well aware of the custom of giving tithes of war spoils to kings.
It is interesting that, when God established the Mosaic Law He required far, far less from war spoils under the Law. Numbers 31 records that of sheep taken in battle, only one out of five hundred were required. 1/500 is nowhere close to 1/10.
You asked that I not respond. However, I am responding so that people do not think I am just some rebellious pew warmer. I am an ordained minister of the Gospel. I havd been ordained since 1988.
When I answered God’s call to preach, I didn’t answer a call to preach a “principle” that is found nowhere in the word of God. The monetary tithe “principle” was invented long after God had already established in His word what His tithe was to consist of.
As to salary, no… I don’t take salary from anyone for preaching the Gospel. I, like Paul, fear taking a salary might hinder the Gospel. I have never taken pay for preaching the Gospel in any church assembly I have spoken in. And I have spoken in dozens upon dozens.
Disagree as you wish. You are not only disagreeing with me, but also with the word of God. The monetary tithe requirement doctrine is a man-made doctrine… totally foreign to the pages of God’s holy word.
I will not post further. I have done what God’s Spirit directed me to do, and that was to post the truth. What you do with it is your choice.
We will agree to disagree. I have studied these things for many years and have had the input of many senior ministries. I see it differently. You are free to do the same.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
i am a dedicated tither but my question is about the store house, for instance if i attend two churches. and they both attend to my spiritual need where should i pay the tithe or should i divide it into two and send to the two store house(church)
Mic Fun,
Remember, the tithe under the New Covenant is not a law. You do not have to get every detail correct for it to work in your life. You need to give according to what you understand and your faith. God is not going to withhold if you don’t get every detail right.
If you are attending two churches than they are both a storehouse to you and the tithe should probably go to both. (Perhaps whichever one you attend on a given week should get your tithe for that week for instance.)
That said, I think that every believer needs to part of a home. I do not know why you attend two churches. If it is simply because you like both and get something out of both, that is fine but I believe you need to seek God on which one you are really called to serve in.
Local church is not just about what we get or what we like. It is about becoming part of a team and family that is called to accomplish something for God’s kingdom. He can and will make it clear where he has called you to serve.
Once he does, you can visit the other church and give offerings to support what they are doing, but I believe your tithe should go to where God places you as part of the team.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I see nothing in the word of God that indicates that we are supposed to tithe today.
Even if we are supposed to tithe, there is no indication that money is to be tithed.
Abram tithed war spoils,… not his monetary income.
Israel tithed agricultural crops, flocks and herds,… not their monetary income.
No one in the Bible was ever instructed, or commanded, to tithe their monetary income.
Brother,
I can easily agree to disagree. I believe that all of Israel was commanded to pay tithes. In Malachi we are told that we rob God when we do not pay tithes as well as offerings. God said this in answer to how they were to “return to God” when they didn’t seem to think they needed to return.
That said, if you see it differently, praise God. Let me ask one question. How can it hurt me to give God the 1st fruits of my income? Jesus said give and it shall be give to you. (Luke 6:38) He said we should give to the gospel and if we did we would receive 100 fold homes, family, children and lands (the greatest measure of wealth in their world) in this life.
If you do not want to pay tithes, that’s fine. If you feel I am talking about a law that puts a burden on people, again we must agree to disagree. I have seen this principle bring great freedom not bondage. I am sure you are a giver. Let us agree that we can never lose by giving to God, his work or to people.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Hi Pastor Bill,
My parents are the lead pastors at our church, is it ok to directly give my tithes to them?
Thank you
Ryan,
My children did that at times. It helped me when I needed it and I was the primary person speaking into their lives. If the church is not taking care of your parents as they should, I think it can be valid as long as they are the main voice speaking into your life.
I would say two things, though. First, talk it over with you parents. Second, are you being feed by other leaders in the church? If so than the more you grow the more your tithe should go to take care of them as well.
As a rule I think that the tithe should go to the church and the church should distribute it as the Lord leads. You didn’t indicate your age so I don’t know if you are a grown child, but there comes a time where your tithe must go to God not just your parents.
That said there are times when God will direct us to do some things differently. I believe the tithe is a pattern not a law and it can be adjusted somewhat under varying circumstances.
I hope that helps it is hard to answer specific questions with incomplete information..
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I like your article. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the tithe to an individual rather than an organization, denomination, program or building. My understanding is that tithing was to people (Deut14:27), but often times tithe in the church goes to pay for building/ bills/ programs etc. The OT example and certainly the NT as you pointed out never provides example of tithing to anything but people. When you use the term ‘store house’ do you also mean people contribute to the ‘storage facility’ for the food, or simply the food itself? Because my interpretation of that passage is that the storehouse isn’t the point, but the tithe and the people it is supporting. What say you?
John,
I do believe the point of the tithe is people. The problem can be that people may misuse money.
Our solution has been that we separate the tithe from offerings for buildings etc. The tithe goes to pay those who minister to the needs of the people and the things they need to do that.
If any of that money is needed for bills etc. we who live on the tithe make the decision to give it for those purposes. In that way the ministry is not put “last on the list” as it were when needs are met.
I think what the storehouse means is clear in Malachi 3. God says bring the tithe to the storehouse that there may be food in my house. The Levitical tithe was to be the inheritance of the priests who ministered in the house of God. The food was for them.
I believe that the tithe should go to support the ministry in the local church. I think the best way is for it to be brought to the “storehouse” where the food for our souls is prepared. I believe it should go to support the people who minister to us.
I hope that answers some of your question.
God Bless,
Pastor Bill
If one has a ministry with many churches-being a founder or covering so many pastors-what kind of tithe is he/she receive? only the tithe of his pastors(from their businesses, tithe of tithe, tithe from own church pay) or whole tithe from their congregations? for a church that has several ministers-can they agree on having tithe of tithe? where should it go if everyone has own spiritual father?
Joseph,
Once again let me say that in the New Testament the tithe is a practice that I believe puts our heart in God’s hands and that he honors. As such, the promise to the tither in Malachi 3 is ours. I believe the spiritual attitudes this discipline create put is in a place where we can receive God’s blessing. I personally believe that if I do not tithe I rob God. That said, it is no longer a law but a principle.
I say that because in a law the way a thing must be done is specific. It is spelled out and to do it any other way puts that person outside of the law. When we are referring to a principle we must keep the spirit of the principle as opposed to the letter.
In your situation you will have to pray and seek God as to what you should do. In our church we have multiple people who minister to the Lord full-time. There are others who do so part time. The tithe goes into an account from which they are paid. We also use it to pay guest speakers and the expenses of having them as well as any materials or expenses used for the ministry we must do.
If we want to use that money for other things, those who are paid by that account discuss it and come to an agreement. The senior pastor has final say but I don’t believe that he or she is a dictator. All derive their livelihood from that money and all should have a voice in its use.
When a church is small the tithe will probably go to the senior pastor as he is usually the only one being paid. As the church grows, it is not healthy for the tithe to go to one person. It is for “food in the Lord’s house.” It should go into an account or fund as described above.
Now more to the point of your question. I base what I have done on the directive to the Priests who paid their tithe, which would be a tithe of the tithe of the people, to the High Priest. I paid my tithe to the man who I consider my pastor. The tithe of the people went to the priests who ministered to them directly.
In the situation you describe you should pray and study this for yourself. You should talk with those who are affected. When you ask the question about what you should do, always chose the side of generosity over the side of personal benefit. In other words if you are not sure which is right, the leader of leaders should take less to avoid any possibility of greed entering in or of any impropriety where finances are concerned. It is very important that we be above reproach especially in finances both in the eyes of the world and those who follow us.
God will always bless the giver even if it is when we take less than we might be able to so that others will be blessed. I have lived that way all my life and I have never lacked for it.
I hope that helps some.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
thanks for your contribution, your honesty and the way you do it has given me something to start on- I really appreciate pastor Bill.
Joseph,
I’m glad I was of some help.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
I think God is using you to clear a lot of doubts about tithe. I believe God will use you to help us as well. I relocate from my home country to another country with my family and connected to another church. Though my family is fully settled in the new country and a new church in most cases I go back to my country as I still have a lot to do there. I was tone apart as regards where to put our tithe. In addition we have also pple we consider spiritual leaders who always take off their time and come to pray with us. so we are confused where our tithe should Go. Help Pastor.
Joseph
Joseph,
It is my opinion that your tithe should go to the local church where your family receives their spiritual covering. I believe the most biblical thing to do is to give offerings in your home country and to those who have been a blessing in your life. That said, this is not a matter of law. There may be times where the nature of help you get or the time you spend away from your local church could cause you to give all or part of your tithe to that place or ministry.
What I believe is that the tithe was implemented so their would be “food in God’s house.” If the local church is going to be there when you and your family need it, somehow the bills have to be paid. I believe if each family that is part of the church gives their tithe to the church they are a part of, than the services they need will be there when they need them and when others need them as well.
God bless,
Pastor Bill
Can I give my tithes to a woman of God who who place herself in the house of God?
John,
I do not believe that is what God had in mind for the tithe. If she were the one providing for your spiritual needs, maybe. It sounds to me like you are talking about someone in need. I believe it is good to help a person like that, but not with the tithe as such. I would give the tithe where I am being fed and an offering to a person like you describe.
God bless,
Pastor Bill