Monday, June 10, 2013

Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine: This is the big daddy. This is their sacred cow. This is the beating heart of their evil empire. The crown jewel. The Death Star.



Check out CULTWATCH: How Pastors Get Rich

Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine

This is the big daddy. This is their sacred cow. This is the beating heart of their evil empire. The crown jewel. The Death Star. The one ring to bill them all. The pot of gold. Their matrix (into which they want to plug you). Their Wizard of Oz. Their magic spell. Their special power. Their secret recipe with the eleven herbs and spices. Their Golden Goose. The very air upon which they breathe!

Question this doctrine and watch these money hungry pastors bare their fangs. This is a teaching that they will bear no compromise on. Tithing, or at least their own version of tithing, is their one true love.

Here are some bullet points about tithing that these money hungry pastors don’t want you to know:
  • The New Testament Church did not tithe.
  • The New Testament does not teach tithing for Christians.
  • Their favorite Malachi verses cannot be used for Christians since Christians are not under the law of Moses.
  • Abraham’s one off tithe of his war booty did not set up a precedent for Christians to regularly tithe their income.
  • The version of tithing they teach cannot be found in Scripture (see below).
  • The “Storehouse” in Malachi cannot be equated to your local church organization.
  • There are plenty of rich (money wise) Christians who do not tithe. This would be impossible if their version of tithing was true.
  • The New Testament teaching is that you decide how much to give, and there are no rules about where it goes. You cannot be compelled to give.
It may come as a surprise to learn that their tithing doctrine is a combination of twisted scriptures and wishful thinking, as opposed to solid Biblical exegesis reflecting a central thrust of New Testament teaching. Here is their tithing doctrine stated in a nutshell:

“Christians must give ten percent of their gross income only to their church organization. If they do, then God will bless them for any offerings they make to the church organization beyond this ten percent. But if they do not give ten percent gross, then they are stealing from God and God will curse them.”

There are variations of this teaching, and sometimes it is called a “principle”, but the above definition contains the core essence of this doctrine.

It is vital to grasp that tithing is not for Christians. Tithing was part of the old law (of Moses) which was fulfilled (completed) by Jesus. You know that Christians are not under the law of Moses don’t you?

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. – Romans 7:6

know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. – Galatians 2:16

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” – Galatians 3:10
New wine should not be put into old wine skins, nor should new unshrunk cloth be used to patch an old garment; if you think you need to obey the law of tithing then you need to obey the whole law (or you will be cursed, Galatians 3:10).

What is more, this tithing doctrine they teach isn’t found in either the New or Old Testament. Tithing in the old testament does not match what these pastors preach – this unique tithe teaching is of their own invention.

This is such an important subject that Cultwatch has a special website TithingDebate.com dedicated to setting Christians free from this fake doctrine. There are free books to download and articles to read. Make sure you read our article “Should you give? New Testament Giving Supported!”, because Cultwatch is not anti-giving. If you think tithing is for Christians today, then you need to read TithingDebate.com

Tip: If you are struggling to feed your family or buy them clothes, then understand that you do not need to give to the church. You can still do so if you choose, but you should not feel under compulsion since your family is more important. Also understand that if you are poor then that does not mean God is cursing you, or that you have done something wrong; this is an erroneous teaching these greedy men promote to guilt you into giving. Remember, your duty is to your family first. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. – 1 Timothy 5:8

Tip: Churches that push this erroneous tithing doctrine will often try to enforce tithing via written agreements (called covenants), and also by monitoring what people give (so they can compel them to give more if they are not meeting the ten percent target). First, grasp that these “covenants” are illegitimate and not worth the paper they are printed on, because they contain false doctrine (like tithing) and set up the pastors as a false authority over you. God would not be party to a covenant that contains falsehoods, therefore God was not party to the covenant you were pressured to sign, therefore you are free from this burden. It is as if you never signed it. Second, recording what you give and using that information to pressure you to give more is wrong, the Bible implies that our giving is best done in secret so that only we and God know what we gave. Don’t go to a church where they monitor what you give. (note: some churches voluntarily let you record what you have given via a numbered envelope system for tax purposes. Done correctly, no one in the church will know what you gave. There is nothing wrong with this kind of recording.)

Your Counter Strategy: Stop giving to that church until they change their ways. That doesn’t mean to stop giving to Godly works, we would encourage you to give as the Holy Spirit prompts you and as you decide. But it is valid to protest false doctrine by refusing to fund the system that promotes that false doctrine.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

But of course, the falsely indoctrinated will speak of how wonderful it is to "tithe" !

Maybe even some "miracle stories" like various folks who are adherents of different religions tell.

Anonymous said...

There goes the neighborhood.

DennisCDiehl said...

WWJB?

What Would Jesus Buy?

$25,000 Steuben for his office?

Doubt it...

Where did Jesus build his School for the Disciples campus?

Nowhere

What make and model chariot did Jesus, the Disciples, Apostles and Paul use to go to all the world?

Feet

Mega Churches and the one man act in Christianity, along with Televangelists over the last 50 years have made fools of themselves and Christians with their public ignorance and excesses.

I'd not worry about what Abraham did or didn't do, along with Moses and perhaps even David and Solomon. Most archaeologists, hebrew scholars and historians along with Rabbis freely admit the evidence for their literal existence is slim to none. The "Law" was not from any Moses and was written up in the 7th century BCE by priests. There was no literal Exodus as portrayed and there are reasons why the story mentions many Pharoah's but gives no names. That would belie the real time frame of the story or they did not know the names as it was all made up. We might know who someone's grandmother is, but we never know which Pharoah is spoken of. THere are reasons for that.

The only people for whom the windows of heaven are opened for are those who receive the tithes.

Stay home from Church this weekend. Save 10% and more!

:)

Head Usher said...

Just by coinkydink, I stumbled across this message "Tithing Reexamined" by Dwight Pryor a few days ago, and being of a Jewish background, I wondered what he would say about it.

His basic point is, don't be a greedy prick, give to charity as you are able, as that's the socially responsible thing to do, and don't give it to greedy pricks who pick & choose selective verses and interpret them so as to guilt-extract as much cash from you for themselves (not god).

He starts off by saying that orthodox Jews don't tithe because there's no temple, no preisthood, and no Levites. Without that, the entire institution is defunct. As if that weren't enough, he talks about how it was only on agriculture increase, never hourly wages, how the third tithe was always supposed to be handled privately, not centrally, and how during the seventh year there was no tithing because of the land rest. Funny how Herbert Armstrong never thought it worth his while to mention any of those things. Greedy prick.

Anonymous said...

"Tithing was part of the old law (of Moses) which was fulfilled (completed) by Jesus."

That statement is simply not true. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law Himself, He did not abolish the law. He kept the law perfectly, there was no sin in Him.

People simply do not understand what it "Jesus fulfilled the law" means.....for some odd reason most believe it means that He did away with the law, even though He says not a jot or tittle will be changed.

Then they expand it to include abolishing the Sabbath and Feasts, food laws, etc....

To each his own I guess.....

Anonymous said...

Great piece on tithing!
I love Kelly's book on the subject! I reckon it's the best book out there that dispels the myths of tithing absolutely! I only wish there was a similar book or books on other ACOG doctrines likes sabbath, holy days, clean/unclean meats, etc. It was this book that opened my eyes to the lies and deceptions of tithing as officially taught by the ACOGs in all their literature.

Sweetblood777 said...

Anonymous: One must ask the question: 'What law are you referring to?' Without that knowledge, you leave yourself open to error.

The law that was done away was the ordinances that were the works of the law.

Not the commandments, for we see in Romans and Revelation, that the commandments are considered HOLY and if not obeyed one would not be allowed in the Kingdom of Yahweh.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but you have misquoted the scriptures.

Jeremy said...

I find it incredible that Armstrongites & other Xians that have been deceived by the false "tithing money is a law" or "give a tithe of your money & you'll be magically blessed with more money to buy more things" dogma! Seriously it's sad that they'd rather believe a widespread lie than be empowered by God's truth! I pray for them that they will be awakened even if it's by what they may find to be a painful truth rather than continue to be lulled asleep by this seductive lie.

Anonymous said...

I think you got that wrong, it's not, "give a tithe of your money & you'll be magically blessed with more money to buy more things," it's "give a tithe of your money & you'll be magically blessed with more money...for you to tithe on"!

But seriously, I love Armstrongism. I always have and I always will because it really is the one and only very best and most amazing religion in the whole wide world. For me to poop on!