Introduction:

In this essay we will be studying  some of what the Bible has to say about finances. Contrary to what you might think, the Bible has much to teach on the subject of money and how to manage it. Unfortunately since there has been a lot of false teaching in this area, the church leadership has responded by largely ignoring the biblical principles presented in the Word. Worse yet they have perverted them in such a way that Christians now are largely unaware of the fact that our God wants us to be abundantly supplied. It is my aim to present a balanced and Scripturally accurate approach to the subject of finances so that the child of God can be well grounded in these principles and to reap the benefits of them in their lives.

Now just in case you think that the subject of finances is irrelevant to the Christian walk, you would be wise to consider just how much of the precious Word of God is devoted to financial matters. There are literally hundreds of Scriptures that are dedicated to the subject of finances, and how to handle them. It is then obvious that God is quite interested in how we manage our financial affairs as well as providing the means for us to be abundantly supplied to be ready for all good works.

Foundation Scripture: III John v. 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. KJV. Now there are many promises in the Word concerning prosperity that I could have chosen, but this is one of my favorites because it really conveys the heart of the Father toward those who serve Him. The Greek word translated prosper is euodoo; (2137) which means; to help on the road, to succeed in reaching, to succeed in business affairs, to have a prosperous journey. Now do not make the  mistake of thinking that God is not interested in your financial matters, because He certainly is, since He is well aware that most of us spend the majority of our lives in the pursuit of and the management of our finances. And not only this but our finances are a major area of attack by the adversary who seeks to devour us. So it is vital that we be well grounded in biblical matters of prosperity.

I.          Steps to God’s Plan for Financial Success:
Believe it or not the Word gives an ordered approach to managing money, and I will now begin to cover it in stepwise fashion.

A: Seek Him first: In His teachings on the sermon on the mount, the Lord Jesus admonishes us to give top priority to seeking the kingdom of God for our lives, and that if we did this, then He would be in a position to provide for our needs and desires. The mistake that many Christians make is thinking that God does not care about their finances, so they think that they must shoulder the burden of seeking these things, which of course leaves very little time for pursuing the things of God. However the Lord Jesus has given us a promise which is that if we would seek first the kingdom of God, then He would add all other things unto us. We need only ask ourselves the following question. Is God a man that He should lie? Certainly not! Well then we can have full faith and confidence in His ability to provide for us if we would only believe. The Lord Jesus goes on to say that our heavenly Father knows that we have need of the things that make for  our sustenance. So this tells us that we don’t have to whine and beg hoping that He will hear us, but it is sufficient that we go about our daily affairs with simplicity of heart, endeavoring in all things to be found living a life consistent with the Word. In this we find the environment in which the Lord can bless us. This explains why many Christians go lacking since the reason that they don’t have all sufficiency is not because God is unaware of their plight, but it is because they are not living according to the command of the Lord to seek Him first, preferring to waste time and energy in a futile attempt to make ends meet, and that, by  employing the tools of the god of this age.

I suggest that you let the Lord Jesus tell you in His own words in the following Scriptures.                     

Matthew 6:19-34
Luke 12:13-21            
Mark 10:17-27
I Timothy 6:17-19

B:  Be Content: One of the strongest pieces of evidence that we are in compliance with step A above, is that we will not have an anxious heart about our circumstances. We will be what the Bible calls content. Now this contentment, what does it mean? It means that in whatever state that we find ourselves that we will not worry and fret, especially if we find ourselves in a state of lack. Now the reason that we need not worry is that if we believe the Word of God then we know that the Lord knows, that we have need of whatever it is that we lack. We also know that He is not slack in seeing to our needs, but only if we believe. Based on this we can see the unmistakable relationship between contentment and faith. Now this is the faith that God finds most pleasing, and provokes Him to move swiftly on our behalf. You see He is not moved by mere need alone, but He requires faith on our part. So we can see that contentment comes from a belief in the heart on the truthfulness of God’s Word, and that belief begins in the hearing of that Word. So if we are not skilled in the Word of righteousness then we will be subject to assessing our lives on the basis of the testimony of the world, and we know who runs it.

The bottom line is this. If we have full confidence in the Word of God, then we will not be discouraged by the circumstances no matter how hopeless the situation seems. This is what the Lord meant when He answered Paul on his request concerning his thorn in the flesh saying,“ My grace is sufficient for you”.  Many mistakenly think that God was refusing to deliver him, preferring to derive some kind of perverse pleasure out of seeing him suffer. This is of course absurd but nonetheless it is a very prevalent mindset to this day, where Christians assuage themselves with the false notion that they are suffering for the Lord in enduring lack. In reality they are victims of the faithlessness that ensues from ignorance of the Word, and worse yet they make God out to be a liar by effectively blaming Him for their predicament. Now notice Paul’s testimony in 2^nd Tim. 3:11 where he declares that out of all of his afflictions and persecutions, the Lord had delivered him.  Don’t you know that He will also deliver you out of all of yours? The key to obtaining this is to make God bigger in your life than the problems that you face.

Let  me at this time say a little bit about the difference between contentment and satisfaction. Lest you be put in bondage you must understand that the Word does not preclude you from operating in benign ambition, or relegate you to an existence of perpetual lack as a sign of some sort of  badge of honor. On the contrary as we have already discussed, the Lord’s position is simply for you to be at internal peace no matter what state you find yourself in, whether plenty or lack, or feast or famine. It is also clear from that same Word that He prefers us to exist in the state of plenty and feast rather than lack and famine. Now the difference between contentment and satisfaction should be becoming clear. Contentment is the condition of peace of mind in the face of lack, or plenty, while satisfaction is the state of peace in the midst of plenty. You  should always be content, even though you may never be satisfied. As usual, below are listed Scriptures to help you confirm the truthfulness of what I am saying.                                 
I Timothy 6:1-10                                 
Hebrews 13:5                          
Philippians 4:10-13

C: Convince Yourself that it is God’s Will for you to Prosper: This may be the toughest task of all seeing as how so many of you have been lied to concerning God’s attitude about prosperity. There is nowhere in the Word where we find that God’s will is for us to be poor and suffering lack. On the contrary, everywhere that we see God moving in the midst of His people, His intentions and actions are always to bring full sufficiency. Consider for example the deliverance of the nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Overnight they went from being slaves and paupers to being rich, and so much so that when the call went out for provision to build the tabernacle, so much came in that the elders finally had to constrain the people from further giving. Now when was the last time your church said “ please don’t bring any more money for thus and so. We have enough”. Again in the person of Abraham we see another example of God’s power to bless, when we consider the incident of Abraham’s  servant who was sent to find a wife for Isaac. Notice how he told Laban that God had blessed his master Abraham greatly, and also notice that the nature of those blessings were material not spiritual.  I think that the heart of God concerning the matter of wealth can be summed up excellently in the following pronouncement from the Lord to the nation of Israel before they crossed over the Jordan. “ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is to this day”. (Deut. 8:18) Well I want you to know that God is still in the business of giving power to get wealth, because the necessity remains for the covenant to be established. As a matter of fact if it took wealth to establish the older inferior covenant, how much more wealth do you think it necessary to establish the newer and better covenant?  Finally consider  King Solomon who God had made so rich that silver was like rocks in the street.

Well if this message of God’s will for our lives is so positive, why then do so many Christians reject it? Mostly because of poor teaching which, rather than filling the child of God with hope in the complete delivering power of the Gospel, has resulted  instead in their being taught to revel in false humility and ignorance, thinking that they are honoring God with their poverty. You see God gets no glory from people operating under the curse of the law, which includes sickness, disease and poverty. But He does get glory when He has a chance to respond to our faith and to deliver us from the bondage of the curse, and thus to show us and the world His salvation. Now am I saying  that if you are sick and or poor, that you are precluded from being in the family of God. Certainly not! As a matter of fact it is usually these types of people that will finally humble themselves to seek His face and receive salvation. But as good as it is to serve God from a position of lack, it is better to serve Him from a position of His having made you abundantly supplied. Now this can be accomplished through belief in and obedience to the Word of God.  So do not allow yourself to be defrauded by deceitful men, thinking that you are serving the cause of the Gospel by persisting in poverty after you have received the knowledge of the truth. It then becomes imperative for you to convince yourself by the Scriptures that it is indeed the will of God for you to prosper, and that His plan for that prosperity is spelled out in His Word. Below are just a few examples of God’s will for our prosperity.

Mark 10:28-31            (One hundredfold)
Luke 12:29-32             (Father’s good pleasure)                                  
Psalm 35:27                 (Pleasure in the Prosperity)

II.        God’s Wealth

Now it should be superfluous to discuss the fact of God’s prosperity, however because of the volume of erroneous teaching perpetrated on the church, many Christians believe that their God is weak and poverty stricken  Himself. And if that be the case then how can they possibly expect Him to supply their needs, seeing as how He cannot provide for Himself? Well what does the Bible say about this matter? Is the Almighty on food stamps, and receiving government cheese? No, but the God that I see in the Bible has laid claim to all of the wealth of the earth. Now who can oppose Him in this boast? Moreover was it not He who proclaimed that it was His good pleasure to give us the kingdom?And was it not He who said that we were heirs together with Christ Jesus? Now what did He inherit? Was it sickness, disease, death, or poverty? No, but He came that we might have life, and moreover to have it more abundantly. I could go on and on for the Bible is full of such promises from the Most High. Did you ever consider just why it was that the Gospel was called the good news? Below I have listed just a few of the many Scriptures that tell us of the attributes of our God and  His desire to share with those who have been found faithful.
Revelation 21:18-21                 Streets of Gold
Psalms 24:1                              The Earth is the Lord’s
Hag 2:8                                    The Silver and the Gold
Psalms 50:7-15                        Cattle on a Thousand Hills

III.       The Law of Sowing and Reaping:

By this time many of you may be thinking that I have painted a very unrealistic view of the kingdom of God, and that I have focused only on the matter of prosperity. Well if you think that, you would be wrong. First of all the subject of this essay is prosperity, and inasmuch as the Bible has much to say about the subject. It would be shortsighted to ignore it as many others in the past have done, or probably worse yet to teach erroneously concerning it as others still have done. No I will give you the precise teaching in the Word on God’s view concerning our financial life. In addition, if you think that I have described a genie like God who, if you say the right combination of words,  will magically grant you all of your wishes, then you are also in error. As I will now explain, the economy of God is governed by certain spiritual laws that must be followed if you are to achieve success on this earth in the affairs of life. One of these laws is what I call the law of sowing and reaping. Now this law is a spiritual law and has applications in many areas, but seeing as how this is about finances, we will limit our discussion of it to that arena. You will find that in every case of the Lord’s making a financial promise, there is a condition upon which that promise is predicated. That condition always has something to do with what we must do first, in order for God to do on our behalf whatever it was that He has promised. In other words, if we wish to reap something from the Lord, then we must first sow something to Him. Now this sowing something to Him, what does it mean, seeing as how we cannot actually put anything into His hands? The Word makes it abundantly clear what kinds of financial sowing are acceptable to God. Among them are the support of your local church and its activities, helping the truly needy, and the like. So basically then your sowing is going toward the building up of the house of God. This is the only sowing that carries the promise of reaping.

Now there are many Christians who are robbed of their heritage because they judge the promises of God by other people’s circumstances, or by the poor history of the church in the handling of its finances. For instance, someone may appear to really have it together spiritually, because they quote a lot of Scriptures, and carry around a Bible. However usually that person is living a life that is quite contrary to the Word. They are in debt and their testimony amongst those who are outside is terrible. Their word is no good, for they are always making financial promises that they know they will not be able to keep. You dare not accept a check from them, since it is not likely to be worth the paper that it is written on. Now these are the sort that unlearned Christians will be fooled by, being carried away with their empty religious façade. Then, measuring the disparity between what the Word of God that they are quoting has promised, and the lack of the fruit of that Word being demonstrated in their lives, the gullible Christian will then conclude that it is not God’s will to actually make good on His promises. If this were true then God would be no better than us, seeing as how we are covenant breakers, and our word is no better than the breath used to give it. How then could He stand in judgement of us? But no, God does keep His word and stands by His promises. That’s why you must never judge the truthfulness of God’s Word by the unfaithfulness of those who are chosen to bring it and live it. Remember these two things, that the Lord is not impressed with how many Scriptures you can quote, but by how many you can live, and also, “let every man be found to be a liar, but let God be found to be true”.

Secondly, many Christians become cynical and distrustful of their local church leadership because of the church’s very poor track record of financial stewardship. Many churches are constantly on the verge of financial collapse, and the pastor spends most of his time whining and begging for, and in some cases extorting funds from his beleaguered congregation. Some churches have elevated the art of fundraising to highway robbery, and some pastors deserve academy awards for their performances proclaiming the direst of consequences if they don’t receive a certain amount of money in a given amount of time. This will result in compulsory giving, and that will destroy the cheerful heart that the Lord expects to be the motivator of giving. Now in some extreme cases this error has degraded into all manner of silliness, with ministries coming up with some very bizarre tricks to seduce the people into giving. I’m sure that there is not one of you reading this that has not at one time or another, received in the mail a letter from some ministry which contained some sort of “blessing” enhancing talisman. They contain things such as mustard seeds, water from the Jordan, dirt from Israel, holy oil from Lord knows where, and my personal favorite the “hands of Jesus”. Oh and let us not forget the hand annotated letter to you personally from the pastor, which states that he was up at three o’clock in the morning last night thinking of you, and the Lord impressed upon him to write you this letter to encourage you to send in your best offering for his “xyz project”.  After dealing with this lunacy for so long, I can almost understand why most of the church world is lacking and the people are full of cynicism. However, they are not off of the hook because there are churches that do it right and they testify against those who continue to walk in error, and those who are caused to stumble by them are not spared because they failed to exercise good judgement according to the Holy Word which clearly revealed the heart of those who perpetrate such cunning craftiness against the unstable, and the ignorant.

Sometimes pastors innocently victimize their congregations financially. Through their ambitions to evangelize the world, they sometimes exceed the calling of the Lord for them. They try to do the whole job themselves, allowing their pride to contaminate their efforts at ministry building. The admonitions for the Christian here are the same as for the one who might judge the Word of God by rebellious unbelieving brethren. Reckon that God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent. Whatever He has said in His Word, whether pertaining to an individual or to the church at large, He is well able to perform. If you find yourself in a church that has a history of continued financial impropriety, then you would be wise to find another storehouse for the Lord’s portion. But you should also remember that the Lord Jesus said that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be too”. And to this I will humbly add: where your heart is there your body should also be.

Below are just a few of the many Scriptures that cover this concept of sowing and reaping.
            Ecclesiastes 11:1
            II Cor. 9:1-8
            Luke 6:38
            Philippians 4:17-19
            Galatians 6:6-10
            I Timothy 5:17-18
            I Corinthians 9:1-14
In addition, here is some of what the Word has instructed the shepherds as to how they should comport themselves in the ministry concerning the finances. The Scriptures clearly point out  right and wrong ways of financial stewardship within the ministry.
a.         Preaching for Dishonest Gain                            I Timothy 6:3-5
b.         Teaching for Dishonest Gain                  Titus 1:10-11
c.         Shepherd Willing Not for D.G.                          I Peter 5:1-4
d.         Qualifications                                        I Timothy 3:3<![endif]>

IV.        The Law of The Tithe:

Tithing!  Mention this word and it will strike fear into the heart of most Christians. After the aforementioned discussion, you can see why. Most Christians see tithing as just another “trick” of the pastor to extort from them their meager earnings.  They vehemently protest that the tithe is part of the law of Moses and as such has been nailed to the cross with it. Well this attitude demonstrates ignorance of the law of the tithe which, being a spiritual law, has validity far outside of the bounds of the law of Moses. The concept of the tithe was introduced to man’s consciousness long before Mt. Sinai, for it is a vitally important part of God’s economy. Consider for example the story in Genesis of Abram’s rescue of his nephew Lot and his family from the five kings. After he delivered his family, Abram gave honor to God by paying a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High. (Gen. 14:1-24). Now this event took place fully 600 years before the law of Moses was given. Where do you suppose Abram, the father of the faithful found out about the benefits of the tithe and its relationship to the concept of honoring God? Was it not from the Most High Himself?  So don’t make the mistake of thinking that the tithe is an outmoded concept that is only being used today as a tool to extort money from unsuspecting Christians. On the contrary, it is the channel that God Himself has opened to us that we may be blessed in all that we do, even though the prosperity of the earth is being held hostage by the evil one. The tithe then is that portion of our increase that the Lord has sanctified unto Himself, thus removing it from the dominion of the devil. And as such he cannot hinder that seed from producing a good harvest of fruit that is abundantly accredited to our accounts.

Now I have an interesting question to ask you. Are you an embezzler? What do I mean by that? The earth and its fullness is owned by God, and it was originally given over to Adam and his descendents. However he didn’t keep it long, for in the rebellion in the garden, part of the consequence of the sin was that the kingdom of the earth fell under the control of the devil. This is why his offer to Jesus during the time of the temptation was legitimate. After taking Him to an exceedingly high mountain, he showed Him all of the kingdoms of the earth and their glory. He then said that all of this would be His if He would bow down to him and worship him. He backed up the claim by stating that all that He had seen had been delivered unto him, and that he gives it to whom ever he pleased.(Luke 4:5-8). The Lord Jesus wisely refused his offer, preferring to obtain the kingdom in a lawful manner, but the implications of the devil’s boasting are staggering. It means that he now has control of all of the earth’s finances and resources, and I can assure you that he is particularly stingy when it comes to the children of God. Now if you belong to God but have not been faithful in the tithe, then you are not operating through the channel of safe passage provided by God. Remember, the tithe is that part of the resources of the earth that the Lord has exempted from satanic dominion, thus allowing His people to be blessed in the midst whatever financial storms the devil may send. What you  may not realize is that every dollar that you have, was obtained from the devil. So if you are unfaithful, this means that as far as the devil is concerned you have embezzled from him, and then he has a right to require it of you at any time or place of his choosing. And it’s a pretty safe bet that he will wait until it is most inconvenient for you, to snatch the financial rug out from under you. This is why the Lord instituted the tithe, so  that we could be insulated from the economic chains of the adversary.

Another way to look at this situation is from the parable of the strong man. In defending Himself against the charges of the Pharisees concerning by whose authority Jesus was casting out demons, He stated that a house divided against itself cannot stand, meaning that Satan would not work against his own kingdom, but that the work that they had witnessed was the result of the intervention of One stronger than the strong man. This One bound him up, so to speak, and plundered his house. Well the tithe is the mechanism by which we lawfully “bind” the strong man and plunder his house. Now this plundering occurs because of obedience to the Word of God concerning sowing and reaping. Otherwise whatever you obtain in this life is by virtue of embezzlement, and therefore still subject to satanic influence. This is why most people still struggle with their finances, because either by ignorance or disobedience they have become spiritual criminals, and their finances remain cursed. Now the devil’s grip on your finances is broken through faith, but faith without works is dead. You must speak and act based on the Word. So by being found faithful in the law of the tithe, the Christian will not fall victim to the god of this age who has made slaves of all men who have not loved the truth. These consequently have been made subject to him through the sin of the first man Adam. But those who have been translated from the kingdom of darkness, and have been made partakers of the ministry of the last Adam, namely  Christ Jesus, are entitled to the financial immunity that is provided for by the obedience to the law of the tithe. In the same way that Abram gave glory to God (by paying the tithe to Melchizedek, in honor of his victory over his enemies), we also give glory to God by bringing our tithes to the same Melchizedek ( a.k.a. Christ Jesus), in honor of our victory over our enemy.

a.         The Purpose of the Tithe:

There are basically three reasons for the tithe, a practical one and two spiritual ones. On the practical side, we see the tithe ordained by God to be a reward and recompense to those who have been charged by God to minister unto Him on behalf of the people that they have charge over. For example in the old covenant, the Levites had no inheritance in the land. Their needs and those of their families were met by receiving and using the tithes of the people (Num. 18:21-32). In this way they were free to consecrate themselves solely to the work of ministry, and to do so without distraction. This process was an antitype to the new covenant command that those who are taught should share in all good things with him who teaches (Gal. 6:6), and that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel (1^st Cor. 9:14). In addition to this there is the command of the Lord Jesus which says that the laborer is worthy of his wages, and that it is not lawful to muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain. So then on a practical level we can see that God uses the tithe to support those who have given up personal ambition in order to serve the cause of the Gospel. Now of course these still have the same needs as anyone else who tills the ground or tends the herds so to speak. So God has provided a mechanism by which these can receive sustenance from the ones who are being blessed by their ministry..

The second reason for tithing is a spiritual one and has to do with the ongoing battle between the forces of good and evil. Now, as already  discussed, the wealth of the earth long ago fell into the hands of the devil because of the sin of Adam. And left to himself the adversary would insure that everyone remains a pauper for the rest of their lives. He is the agent of the curse that is on the earth because of the sin of Adam, and part of the manifestation of that curse is that the devil is loath to let you prosper if you belong to the Lord Jesus. Now what the Lord has done to mitigate this situation is to sanctify the tenth part of our increase unto Himself, thus removing it from the dominion of the devil. Now so freed, this tithe can now serve as a foundation upon which the Lord can build a stable financial house in our lives. Thus He insures that we will always have all sufficiency despite the devil’s control over the world’s overall financial empire.

Now of course this only works when we are faithful in the tithe, and when we are not then the curse automatically kicks in because that is the natural state of man’s finances. That is why the Lord said what He did in the book of Malachi concerning the children of Israel and their unfaithfulness in the tithe. He said that they were cursed with a curse. Now most people think that He was pronouncing punishment for being disobedient. However what He was actually telling them, was that their rebellion in the tithe had made them subject to the curse that was already present in the land and working in the sons of disobedience.  A good analogy to understand this is as follows. When it is raining outside you usually carry an umbrella so that you won’t get wet. However, this protection only works if you use it, moreover it will not stop the rain from falling. It will  only keep you from getting wet. Now if you lower your umbrella then you will get wet because it is still raining. So too is everyone who is not faithful in their tithes. The devil is “raining” down financial cursing on everyone. Now those who are faithful have their “umbrellas” up and they don’t get wet. But those who are rebellious have their umbrellas lowered and therefore they are subject to getting wet. So then it should be helpful to view tithing not as some sort of punishment from God, but as a channel of safe passage through some very treacherous financial waters.

And finally the third reason for tithing is that we might show our obedience to His commandments, which is of course indicative of our faith. Now remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. You see it demonstrates great faith when one is willing to “sacrifice” a portion of their precious resources and then to put their trust in the promises of God who has said that He is a rewarder of those who  diligently seek Him. So tithing becomes one of the best ways to honor God, by sharing with Him that which is very precious to us, namely our money. The exercise of our faith comes from the fact that He has promised to reward us in a certain way if we are faithful. And we have the choice to believe Him or not. The process then essentially becomes a contract between us and Him. If we do our part and we have confidence in Him as not being a man that He should lie, then we can  fully expect Him to live up to His end of the deal. ( Mal 3:8-10). This principle is beautifully illustrated in Hebrews 7:1-10.

b.      The Mechanics of the Tithe: 

Now I will discuss the nuts and bolts of tithing. First of all, the tithe consists of the tenth part of our “increase.” Well just what exactly is an increase? Back in the days of the law of Moses the people were generally farmers and herdsmen. So calculating an increase was easy. If you started the year with 500 head of cattle, and finished the year with 600 head , then your increase was 100 head. Therefore your tithe was 10 head. Or if your field was empty in January and  then produced 1000 bushels of wheat in October, then your increase is 1000 bushels, and your tithe is 100 bushels. Of course today few people still work in the farming or cattle industry, but most of us punch a time clock and are paid in currency. So then your increase is simply the amount of your salary for the given period of time. For example if you are paid every two weeks and your gross pay is $1000.00, then that is your increase and your tithe is $100.00.

I am frequently asked questions about whether one should tithe on their gross pay or their net. The rational for this question is that most people think that because the government deducts their portion of your money before you get it, that it isn’t really your money or attributed to an increase unto you. Well that isn’t true and whether you have the money pre-deducted or you send it in quarterly, your increase is still the gross amount of your salary. For example if someone asks you how much money you make, and the amount is $50,000.00  per year, don’t you say fifty thousand, and not thirty five thousand, which is the actual amount that you get to keep? It is evident that  we don’t have any control over the government’s refusal to trust us to send in the money, and if they deduct it up front that does not absolve us of our responsibility to pay the Lord what we owe Him. Now if we tithe on the net then we have allowed the government to have the firstfruits which rightly belong to the Lord. So don’t let the IRS defraud you of your blessings by being prioritized higher in your financial mindset than the Lord of heaven. The only way to avoid this is to tithe on your entire gross paycheck.     

At this time it is appropriate to discuss just where one should pay their tithes. In the book of Malachi, the Lord commanded them to bring all of the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in His house. Well what or where is the storehouse? According to the Law of Moses the storehouse was the temple where the people brought their  tithes and it was from here that the Levites disbursed them for themselves and for all who had need. Well I don’t think that you have to be a rocket scientist to figure that the New Testament equivalent is the local church. Inasmuch as each local congregation is an independent organization that ministers primarily to the spiritual and material needs of its own members, it is the responsibility of those members to see that the pastor of that church has what he needs to discharge his duties.

Now what if you don’t have a church that you call home? Then I would suggest that you find one as soon as possible.