April 2005 Newsletter from the "Apostolic Voice"
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Subject: "Tithes, Taxes and Tributaries"
Greetings beloved,
This is a topic I hadn’t touch before and
probably never wanted to because it usually entails asking for money, but now
that the book is released and the
furtherance of the truth needs to be, it definitely takes money. I’m not
necessarily asking for it, but if the Lord lay it on your heart, do contribute
to this ministry. On those same lines of contribution I can’t help but not to
teach a little on monetary gifts and tithing. Not the normal teachings they
give to itching ear listeners so they can profit from them, but solid sincere
teaching. Even though I open the floor for contributions, the Lord will provide
all my needs. And one of the reasons for this solid teaching is that I myself
have been caught up in this dilemma at one time. For instance, some time in
2000 or 2001 I was so distracted with wanting to be a millionaire that I did
little study and went at it. I wasn’t yet solid in the word as I am now so I
watched T.B.N often with little effort to screen anything with the word. So one
night they were doing a telethon and Benny Hinn, as if he was speaking to me,
says to give something like $2000.00 and you’ll be blessed. I didn’t have it
and wondered what am I going to frantically. Then he said that if you don’t
have it, pledge $2000.00 tonight and when God bless you this year because you
made this pledge give it then. Ladies and Gentlemen, I did what I hate doing,
making a pledge or promise. Fortunately it was conditional and I didn’t get blessed
that year but suffer ruin; but not a bad ruin I later come to realize, but it
ushered me to leave these things and seek the Lord and his purpose which he had
spoken concerning me at age 17.
Tithing, Taxes and Tributaries are not bad but they all have principles and
guidelines and even applicable wisdom. I’ve seen the benefits of giving, for
before that event I had given thousands of dollars to my local church and
individuals. In fact, I remember I was so blessed that my air fare for an
oversees outing was sponsored by the organization that sent me and they even
gave me a couple hundred dollars for the week in spending money. Lo and behold
I went to church and Pastor Everton gave a call for a woman needing $25,000 for
her and her kids or else… I didn’t even hesitate I gave all my spending money
for the week, a great deal at the time for a young fellow like me ($3000.00)
and said in my heart that I can go a week without food. I didn’t know the
blessedness of giving then, I just gave wildly, often. Lo and behold, before
that week was done I got more money from everywhere to eat, buy things and much
left over; plus I never thought I’d have such a good time in Atlanta, Georgia.
I’ve proven tithing and giving over and over again. However, many people have lacked
wisdom in this area, me too, and have faltered greatly.
TITHING
It Is Biblical
Tithing is a very beneficial ancient
Landmark and we are commanded, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy
fathers have set” (Prov 22:28). Normally one tenth of your earnings is given,
but you can give more if you like. Tithing is also very biblical, as stated
here:
“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the
fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man
will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part
thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of
whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD” (Lev
27:30-31).
This was the command for the children of Israel by God. They are to bring the
one tenth of all they had to the Lord. One, because it belongs to him and two,
he will bless them. Nevertheless, it was more than a command, but a principle.
Like the rivers and waters that run into the sea but the sea is never full and
rivers are always running, so we ought to give out of our abundance and let the
cycle of blessing go on. But the children of Israel didn’t necessarily know of
all the inherent blessings of tithing so it was commanded by God that they
tithe, recorded here:
“These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the
land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days
that ye live upon the earth…And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings,
and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and
your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of
your flocks” (Due 12:1-6)
Tithing also has other earthly purposes; the most obvious is the keeping of
God’s house. The keeping of God’s house takes money, the furtherance of his
mission takes money, the laborers in his vineyard are to be paid money and for
them to be good steward it has to become their profession, hence money is a
must. So what tithing does is gather the money of the saints so that the
buildings of the Lord can be kept and that ministers can minister; you’re not
paying the ministers to minister or for the facilities to worship in, but
rather you are giving back to that free service given to you and that it might
always be there rather than crumble under financial pressure. One verse tells
us this,
“Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion
of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the
LORD… And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and
said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD,
we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his
people; and that which is left is this great store… Then Hezekiah commanded to
prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them…And brought
in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which
Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next” (2 Chron
31:4,10,11,12).
Just the other Sunday (March 27,2005) I was in Fasting and prayer, having just
finish putting the finishing touches on the book, making it ready for further
online distribution and for sale which I receive not a cent from, the word of
the Lord came to me with this scripture:
“For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity;
yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion.
This also is vanity and a great evil” (Ecc 2:21). Why a great evil?
Because it ought not to be so, if you labour, you must eat from your labour and
sad to say those who labour in the word (“wisdom, and in knowledge, and in
equity”) often don’t eat from it because it can never been seen how strenuous
and heart wrenching it is. Yet CEO’s of big firms who do the similar thing,
labour in the wisdom of the company as against manual labour, are the ones
getting the big bucks. While in the church it is the opposite, this is a great
evil, for the word itself tells us that the true
“wordists” are “worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word
and doctrine” (1 Tim 5:17). Not only that, “The husbandman that laboureth must
be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give
thee understanding in all thing” (2 Tim 2:7).
This Is Unbiblical
The often verses use for tithing is Malachi
3 and Deuteronomy 28, very famous scripture and correct to the context they
were fitted for. However, what has become rampant in most churches today is
that it has become a sort of beating stick; saying, give me your money or you
will be cursed. Malachi reads,
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed
me, even this whole nation. Bring 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. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field,
saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall
be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts” (Mal 3:8-12).
Deuteronomy reflects the same thing,
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of
the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments [SPECIFICALLY
TITHING] which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on
high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on
thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the
fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep…But
it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command
thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed
shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and
the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou
goest out” (Due 28:1-19).
These two passage of scriptures are violently used to case fear upon the church
populace that if you don’t pay your tithes all the time on time everyday,
you’re going to be curse. Then any mishap happen in the believer’s life, they
blame it on not paying tithes. This is wrong. You are not cursed if you don’t
pay your tithes, however, you might not be blessed either and sometimes lack of
blessings can seem life cursing. The important point is that you are not curse
and never can be under the New Covenant, Christ came and did away the curse of
the Law; so you cannot be cursed by it and those who tell you that you are, are
clearly unbiblical. Don’t believe it!
It is inherently known that tithing brings blessings, but we know tithing
through the commandment law. The commandment law is very clear, you keep it, it
goes well and you don’t to keep it, it brings a curse. But wait, isn’t the
commandment done away with? In a sort of way yes, it is fulfilled in Christ.
But wait, if the commandment is done away with then the outlines of tithing is
done away with, not just the cursing but the blessings? Not really.
The whole essence of the Law is "that it may go well with thee" (Due
4:40). The entire Torah (first five books of the Bible) is the Law of Liberty
spoken of in the New Testament, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (Jas 1:25). However,
through Jesus Christ we are freed from the curse of the Law and therefore it is
no longer a marker for Justification. The scripture confirms this, "Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it
is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal 3:13-14). Just failing to
uphold one clause of the Torah brings a curse, but Christ took that away; in
that we can keep the Torah by faith and if failing in our attempts we would not
be cursed or received the just punishments required under the Torah. Therefore
fulfilling what Zacharias the priest had prophesied, "that we ... might
serve him without fear" (Luke 1:72). Many people try to find
opportunity to do the Law because God says so and if not, damnation comes.
Because of this many weren't keeping the Law because they love God or their
neighbor but because of fear. This nullifies the entire purpose of the Law. So
what Jesus Christ did was to take away the fear factor by removing the curse of
the Law and activated his spirit in us to urge us to keep his statues (Eze
36:27); we are now free to love our neighbor and God, not because we are
indirectly force to do so, but because we want to. That is love - no strings
attached. Some of this can be seen in the following teaching by the Apostle
Paul:
“Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave
the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who
receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the
people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out
of the loins of Abraham: But he whose descent is not counted from them received
tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. And without all
contradiction the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive
tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in
Abraham. For he [i.e. Levi] was yet in the loins of his father, when
Melchisedec met him. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical
priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was
there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not
be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is
made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are
spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the
altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses
spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that
after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made,
not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before
for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh
unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: (For those
priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto
him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the
order of Melchisedec:) By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to
continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an
unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily,
as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law
maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which
was since the law, maketh the Son [US], who is consecrated for evermore”
(Heb 7:28).
This Is Also Unbiblical
If you tithe for a show or to seem spiritual
then your tithing is not sincere and you might be abominable in the eyes of
God, though the word cannot be annulled. Even worst, you might be focusing on
such a minute part of the gospel, Tithing, that you neglect the weightier part
of the gospel – charity, love, mercy, faith and others – these things are more
precious and more sacrificial in the eyes of God than tithing. You wouldn’t
want to be abominable in the eyes of God as these scribes and Pharisees:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other
undone” (Matt 23:23) and, “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that
I possess” (Luke 18:12)
God really doesn’t need your money and his ministers can get by without your
help. So give sincerely, not boasting and in secret, knowing your reward is
sure. This verse sums it up:
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise
ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest
thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say
unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left
hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy
Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly” (Matt 6:1-4).
Good Knowledge In Tithing
From one of the verse above it had stated,
"Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham." Notice
Levi, unborn, had paid tithes in Abraham. It means that when you pay tithes you
are not only blessing yourself, but your children, grandchildren and so on. By
reading between the lines of these scripture with tithing we can find other
important things about tithing. The following are listed with their scriptures:
"At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine
increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates" (Due 14:28)
and "Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and
bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years"
(Amos 4:4) and "When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of
thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing" (Due
26:12-15)
The year of tithing, there is a year of tithing and though this might not
dictate that, your tithing don't have to be paid periodically if you cannot, it
can be accumulated; so those leaders who are cursing you if you allegedly don't
pay your tithes on time are unscriptural. Also, if you read verses 13-15 of Due
26, it tells you what to do when you pay tithes, "Look down from thy holy
habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou
hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk
and honey" (Due 26:15), in other words, say to the Lord I have now given
to thee now bless me.
"Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field
bringeth forth year by year" (Due 14:22) and "And as soon as the
commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the
firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the
field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. And concerning
the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also
brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were
consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps" (2 Chron
31:5-6).
The phrase I want to mention there is "increase of the field." You
can not only tithe on the your income or what is already set apart to tithe on,
but any increase you get, tithes can be paid on it - bonuses, gifts, checks in
the mail, finding money, etc. Also, as taught at Slipe Rd while first tithing
on a summer job as a teen, you can tithe on your net income rather than your
gross income. Your net income is the monies you get after the taxes are taken out,
one tenth of that rather than what your job says your pay is. It's not a rule,
so if you want you can tithe on your gross income, what your pay actually is
before taxes and exemptions, I had done that.
"Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst
out with new wine" (Prov 3:9-10).
This is from the book of wisdom and not necessarily set law and hence what is
given is applicable wisdom. Clearly stating that even if it is not a set
commandment today to tithe, it is a most wise thing to do, for it yield
blessings abundantly. Blessings that is needed even if you have it all. For
another verse says, "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there
is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty" (Prov
11:24). In other words, one person gives liberally and increase the more, while
another withhold what he has and is in want thought having. It is a paradox,
for if you hold back you should have more than him who keeps giving away, but
the paradox is solving in the principle of giving, that is, "The liberal
soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also
himself" (Prov 11:25). So even if it is argued that it is not a
commandment for today, it is a most wise and needed thing to do. There is a
little more on tithing if you go to the archives click on
this letter where it is indexed.
TAXES
Tax Exempt
The church was always and should always be
tax-exempt and tax exempt should never have strings attached, like the late
doings of the government to use the tax-exempt to dictate what a church can or
cannot teach. Take your money then and shove it! Only God dictates what
the church teaches, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts
5:29). That's how I would say it, but pastors who have congregations wouldn't
be as bold as I am, so the best rhetoric I can say from their point of view is
that the government efforts in granting tax-exemption is what is blessing this
land and tampering with it is only tampering with your blessings. I think that
sounds politically correct enough from their point of view, though very true.
One scripture summed up this whole dilemma,
"Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites,
singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be
lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them" (Ezr 7:24).
In other words, this is standard set up from Ancient times, here under King
Artaxerxes King of Persia; how much more now. The church is God's
representation on earth and they are Holy and you must treat them as holy
because they "offereth the bread of thy God: [they] shall be holy unto
thee" (Lev 21:8).
And if I could take it a step further, if the government decided to tell the
church what to preach through tax laws, that is making a law concerning
religion which is unconstitutional and thus void. Hence, the present secret
agencies I hear of that go into churches and listen to what is being preach to
waive the tax-exempt stick, need to be stop. It is both a violation of
spiritual inherent laws and the constitutional laws of the land. No maneuvering
of the books can interfere with what the church do, as set forth by US
Constitutional Amendment, Article 1: “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Fortunately for the government, some of the founding fathers established the
laws of the land based on the bible, so the church teachings are mirrored in
the laws of the land. So you can't have a church teaching it's members to
murder people as they leave the building, that is not a church, but a false
Christian organization. Unfortunately they would have gotten away with church
exempt status because the leaders of the land aren't like some of the founding
fathers, bible students, but secularists and therefore cannot decipher a fake
church organization until something heinous happens, like a mass suicide.
Nevertheless, this shouldn't be grounds to start tampering with the
constitution and inferring with the 90% of the Christian organizations, in
trying to dictate to them what to preach; especially when the secularists want
to use it to promote liberalist filth - homosexuality, gay marriage, tolerance
to pagan religions, etc. See also Part 2, Section 3, clause 5 of the Student
Manifesto.
Pay Your Taxes
Though the organization on a whole is exempt from paying
taxes, Christians should pay tax. It is sort of a tithes to the system like that of the
Judaic laws of Moses. But instead of it going to the priests and God's services,
all of it
is allege to go towards civic amenities. Allege I say because it is most often
squandered by some of the "Fat Cats" of the day while we the Treadmillians continue to
spin the wheel of their success. By the way, a Treadmillian is a person who runs
the Treadmill (working 9-5 and 6-1) all the days of their life to feed a system
or more precisely, the leaders of the system - work to live tomorrow, and do
that until they die. The system that says when I'm sick
and go to the hospital for a headache I must get a $6000.00 bill or 4 months pay
(happened to my dad the other day); when because I'm on the system, even missing
a week's pay I go into immediate bankruptcy and endless debt. The very system
that made me sick with its overriding industrialization - synthetic foods,
pollution, unbalanced behaviors, etc. Not only that, then the very drugs we
receive make us sick, while the Fat Cats who keep making these drugs for profit
then withdraw them from the market when the fault is find out get off scotch
free. They file bankruptcy then enjoy their profits that was in an off shore
account. No justice! I can't even go to a hospital if I feel a little pain, I
might die of debt. Anyway, kind of strayed. Christians must pay tax, not because
of it's allege benefits, though there are some (e.g. streets, grants, etc),
but because it is becoming of saints to do so and this system is not your own,
so give to the system what is the system's until our system comes, that is, the
New Jerusalem. We have to live here for the time being, so let us walk soberly.
Christ taught us this in the following lesson:
"And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money
came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And
when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest
thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their
own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith
unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend
them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first
cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of
money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee" (Matt 17:24-27).
Two things to note from this, he wasn't mindful of paying tax to the system,
but when asked he gave it. Unfortunately, today if you don't pay tax to the
system, it accumulates and catch upon you. Secondly, what he did gave us the
method for paying this tax. He told the disciple to go fish for a fish and in
his mouth is money to pay the tax. That was literal, but the implied meaning to
us that we ought to work (fishing) and from that pay our taxes. The good thing
about taxes today is that it is not collected as it was then but taken out of
your pay and on everything you buy or sell; nevertheless, it makes it more that
you still can't get away from working to feed the system or the Fat Cats.
Voluntary Taxes
This might seem strange to you, but there is
a voluntary tax. The Fat Cats who don't have the prowess as the dominant Fat
Cats of the Land have invented this one. It's called lotto or gambling. I saw
the recent fuss in the news coming off the 2004 elections, of the Florida
lawmakers against the casino Fat Cats who want their slots everywhere
regardless of; I can't believe Broward allowed this. What these Fat Cats do,
and I might as well unmask them, Fallen Angels in flesh, is create this lottery
where everybody buys a ticket then they allow some people to win some or even
have fake identities to supposedly collect winnings, when in fact it could be
someone from their Fat Cat circles; genuine people probably never win these
lotteries. They then collect $20.00 a week from each person, much like taxes,
then raking in millions. It has to seem legit and they have to get the other
Fat Cats off their backs, so they donate some of the money to things like
education. The money given alone shows how much money these Fat Cats are making
off gullible law abiding Treadmillians through voluntary taxes, for no one give
away millions except they are making billions, so to speak. The Treadmillians
are already living pay check to pay check with depletion of government taxes
from everywhere, then they now have to pay more taxes to these other Fat Cats.
Where is the justice? It has gone so well that they want to put casinos
everywhere, and to appease their efforts, as seen in this recent local casino
battle, they offer the other Fat Cats money by taxing the slots. Even worse,
this can be in every home via the internet. The first Fat Cats use some of the
money for civic amenities, its purpose, but these lotto slingers are for pure
individual gain and it is a moral pitfall in our society; so no appeasing can
be made. Giving money to the schools in return for it being legalized is like
pay a woman for sex. She claims she has no other choice but to sell her body
and the payee says if you give me your body I'll give you my money, a mutual
understanding. Government officials, would you sell your body? Then why are you
selling out the country's morals for a few Fat Cat dollars? It's like saying to
a man and his daughter, take this money and let me tickle her underparts, we
know some consider it wrong but you want the money and I want to tickle her
underparts. The man takes the money while his daughter is tickled and sexed.
The man and his daughter is the present government and it's citizens, the money
is donation to things like education and even gambling being taxed and the
tickler is the Gambling Fat Cats - lotto, casino and all. It might be hard to
convince the government to take a hold on the exploits of it citizens, but as
for you and your house you should refrain from paying voluntary taxes.
TRIBUTARIES
Tributaries is just another word I use for gifts, offerings, etc. Under the
law, tithing was a requirement but not offerings or tributaries. You could
offer as much or none at all. Often time you’ll see tithing and offerings
together. However, tithing is that one tenth you decide to give periodically,
while offering or tributaries is what you give when you feel like, God calls
for or if the church has a special need. Some call this love gift. The Lord
would have us to be tributaries ourselves, giving often and sacrificially. Not
just money, gifts and material things but more so, yourself. God need willing
people to work in his vineyard, willing laborers that will forsake all and make
themselves ready. People that will also give of their time to show unselfish
compassion for hurting souls and visiting the sick. Give not just your monies,
give yourself. That is love, and if you give it, it will be given back to you
full measure, press down together and running over; as Mrs. Johnson, my Up Park
Sunday school teacher use to say. You can't out give God, he even challenges us
to, “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.” Give of your time, money and
life and he will out give you, prove him, I have. “And every one that hath
forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall
inherit everlasting life” (Matt 19:29). Give to God, especially by giving to
others!
LAST REMARK
The best investment you can make is in the Kingdom of God, you can't out give
God, but use wisdom yet not neglecting faith. That sounds complicated, so the
best thing is, let the Lord only, lead you in giving away your hard earn money.
How can I know it is the Lord? If you have to doubt it, it's probably not the
Lord. For, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me" (John 10:27) and, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God" (Rom 8:14). It's good to look at a presume
fruitful ground to sow your seed of giving in, but it can or cannot be so, so
give as the Lord leads.
Grace Be Unto You,
Oneil McQuick,
www.LiberationIM.org
http://groups.msn.com/Threeqcom
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P.S.: If you feel led to, you can make a check or money order out to "Oneil McQuick (LIM)" and mail it to P.O. BOX 100291, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl, 33313. Or you could contribute your time by printing, copying and distributing this flyer of the book for us, in your church and local influence. The flyer is located at http://www.threeq.com/pdf/flyer2.pdf. Or, you could give by going to our love gift donation site at http://www.cafeshops.com/threeq.