It is amazing how this blog gets under the thin skins of so many little self-appointed false prophets of the church. The Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel, the Chief Overseer of Africa and the Occasional 100 Caucasians, popped his little cork today over a letter we posted some time back by Harry Eisenberg (see previous post) where Eisenberg discussed how the church covered up the fact that tithing was not a command.
The Great Bwana Bob, along with many of the other charlatans masquerading as COG leaders claim tithing is a new covent command. They have to do this because they would have no other means to fund their disturbing little "ministries". Trying to prove that tithing is still commanded seems to be one of the times they feel justified lying is appropriate. As hard as they try they cannot disprove that tithing is NOT a new coveant command.
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:
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?
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.
Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine
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.
“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.
But of course, the falsely indoctrinated will speak of how wonderful it is to "tithe" !
ReplyDeleteMaybe even some "miracle stories" like various folks who are adherents of different religions tell.
There goes the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteWWJB?
ReplyDeleteWhat 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!
:)
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.
ReplyDeleteHis 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.
"Tithing was part of the old law (of Moses) which was fulfilled (completed) by Jesus."
ReplyDeleteThat 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.....
Friend, He said no jot or tittle would be removed till all is fulfilled. Sacrifices, circumcision, and the levitical priesthood were done away with in the Biblical account after Christ fulfilled the law on the cross…”it is finished!”
DeleteGreat piece on tithing!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
Anonymous: One must ask the question: 'What law are you referring to?' Without that knowledge, you leave yourself open to error.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
Sorry, but you have misquoted the scriptures.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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"!
ReplyDeleteBut 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!
What lovers of money will never understand: 10% of an annual harvest every third year was (supposed to be) given to 3.3% of the population; 10% of the harvest annually collected by the owner was (supposed) to be used at festivals. No other tithes. Tithing was never commanded on money income. "Change" (of the law) in Heb 7:12 was its removal. Abraham and Jacob tithed voluntarily (where's the law?).
ReplyDeleteHave just watched the sad and depressing ‘Election Debate’ between him and you know who.
ReplyDeleteNot American but my goodness, at least I know who I won’t vote for lol.
Now wouldn’t it be great to have a debate between some of the ‘leaders’ of the Armstrong movement one by one, publicly, about tithing or some other topic close to their heart like BI etc etc.
It won’t happen of course.
Suppose we can but dream.
Good post by the way.
Here 1:06, the closest thing to what you wished for regarding a COG-ish church debate, was GTA guest starring on the very popular John Ankerberg show early 80s :
Deletehttps://youtu.be/hllyp-dwokI?feature=shared
They both poked at each other's beliefs fairly deeply but very very cordially & both well mannered gents.
Yeah, 1:06. It's checkmate either way. We're toast. Gonna be opening up my carton of Newports on election night and firing one up, my first in decades fer sure. damn, it's gonna taste so good!
ReplyDeleteIf only they'd get a clue and draft Chuckie Schumer we might have a chance, but no way will they do that.
Doesn't each cigarette erase roughly 11 minutes off one's longevity? What if you'd need that 11 minutes for something at age 91 or so.
DeleteIf I told Dennis there was a small group of elites that actually ruled the world, he would call that a conspiracy theory. Yet he wants us to believe a bunch of priests sitting around a campfire wrote the Bible.
ReplyDeleteWhich one came up with the Golden Rule? How about the sermon on the mount? The plan of redemption?
Considering the Bible is the world's all time best seller and has spawned a religion with billions of members, those priests had to be brilliant and of superior intelligence. Maybe even worthy of worship!
When the Israelites reached the promised land, the Levites were the only ones not to get any land on which to grow crops and raise livestock to feed themselves. They WERE the only ones doing temple service for all of Israel. In repayment for that service, the fruit-of-the-land tithe was set up to support them. There are no instructions on tithing on money, or even for the Levite fishermen to tithe on their catches; the only mentions of true tithes are agricultural - crops and livestock. The tithe still existed in Christ's time only because the temple, and that situation, still existed. When Christ talked about paying tithes, He was talking to the Jews, who were still obligated to support the Levites. New-Testament Christians are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and each Christian is the priest of his or her own temple, serving under the High Priest. And the Levitical priesthood didn't tithe to each other.
ReplyDelete4:17 '',,,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''
ReplyDeleteThis statement captures in many ways the fallacies of Armstrong.
I turn to Revelation to begin with. Armstrong and his ilk assert Revelation chapter 22 verse 14 demands ten commandment keeping, That verse reads:
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city”.
Herbert Armstrong chose to re-interpret the verse so that it was made to read the “ten commandments”. Plainly, it does not.
it’s a most unusual matter to reflect on, revealing I think the mindset that is seeking at any opportunity to wrest scriptures so as to hold to a preferred doctrine.
(wrest ; by one definition means to distort the meaning or interpretation of (something) to suit one's own interests or views. As such this is an apt description).
The Book of Revelation is Jesus’s revelation (chapter 1 verse 1 - “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John)
- making it odd anyone would ,in the first place , seek to read in something other than Jesus own commandments.
One is hopeful this addition by Armstrong that is observed here - and that is how it must be described - is not embraced by the warning in the same chapter 22 concerning adding to the words of the book of revelation.
There are many scriptures concerning the role of the law and of faith and if grace. Romans chapter 3, and Jesus’s words in Matthew chapter 5., are important revelations and I will now discuss them
Romans 3:
“20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
God’s Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. “
No commentary is needed beyond Paul’s words.
Romans 5 verses 19 and 20
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The law was given so that sin might increase/abound. A very powerful statement framing our understanding.
Concerning Romans , there are some who use two verses in Romans in an attempt to, as it were, turn around Paul’s very message in that book concerning the place of law, and of faith. The chapter 2 verse 13 in particular.
chapter 2 verse 13:
13′’ For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified’’.
chapter 3 verse 31:
31 ‘’Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law’’.
These verses are most deserving of study and when one does within the context of the same book it becomes apparent they lend no support whatever to an alleged ten commandment keeping as the way to salvation. Such people have failed to understand the message of Romans itself and other books. This is because they put the words of a proven false apostle over and above the scriptures.
10:42Am ''Funny how Herbert Armstrong never thought it worth his while to mention any of those things. Greedy prick.''
ReplyDeleteThe fact is Armstrong didn't want to know the truth, his purpose was simply to impose a tithe demand regardless of facts. Thus, he is a proven liar and abuser of the word.
Tagging on to what 7:18 said, that game plan was an excellent set of checks and balances to prevent what should be the ultimate oxymoron (millionaire evangelist). It also promoted good financial stewardship amongst those whose entire life was serving God and the tribes, and made sure that the Levites would not be materialistic.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if there had been Armstrongite Levites back then, they'd probably have come up with extra things that should have been tithed, and a couple additional tithes, and maybe even "common"! ðŸ¤
BB
My former pastor said that we should, "in principle" give ten percent. I then might ask, "Then how do we, "in principle", abide by the law dealing with the second and third tithe? Should we spend 10% on Christmas and Easter expenses? If we obey one law, we should do the same for others to be consistent.
ReplyDeleteOh man, as I was reading this I was sure Lonnie had written it. Yes, it's that convoluted.
ReplyDeleteChurches will often use that example of Abraham as to why we should tithe.
ReplyDeleteSo, remember, next time you are in a war, and you have spoils of war, make sure to follow Abraham's example and tithe on the spoils of war.
Other than that, we see no real example of Abraham tithing on anything.
Israel had to tithe on agricultural produce, to give to the Levites.
Where are the Levites today?
We no longer live in the old nation of Israel, we are not under the Old Covenant, we no longer have to tithe on anything.
But, if we did tithe, it should be on the spoils of war and agriculture and only give it to the Levites.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSome additional (truthful) tithing information ... "The Tithing Dilemma":
ReplyDeletehttp://u.pc.cd/k93ctalK
There are examples in the Bible which we cannot truly follow today. However, HWA appears to have used a modified version of the third axiom of Geometry, applying it as a theological principle in many ways, and making it indeed appear possible to follow these examples in our own contemporary times. The third axiom states that if two quantities are equal, then one can be replaced by the other in any expression and the result won't be changed. In other words, things equal to each another are one and the same. So, off he went, often making apples and oranges appear to be equal to one another, and we accepted that.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that to contribute our tithes to the Levites today, our first task would be to find willing participants from amongst the Kohanim. That would be logical, since HWA based so many of his teachings on genetics. These guys with the surname "Cohen" would need to be performing at least some of the priestly duties, so sorry folks, as much as we might like to consider Michael Cohen to be the chief amongst them, he does not qualify for our support! (Dang!). Ultimately, HWA got frustrated in his search, so made this a spiritual thing, and used the substitution axiom on himself and the men he personally trained and ordained, considering themselves to be one and the same as Levites.
Likewise, since very few of us have the resources or savoir-faire to conduct a war as did Abraham, to maximize the usage of this example, HWA turned our daily employment experiences into a type of war, and with himself being the king, commandeered 1/10 of the spoils of this war. It's quite flawed, and even silly when you get down to it, but we were the gullible dumb sheep, and if we thought we were fulfilling our destiny by funding an auditorium which HWA's application of the substitution axiom equated with Solomon's Temple, it really was at least partially our own fault.
It may be difficult to accept this, but HWA was a bottom-feeder in his evangelism, and Armstrongism was time and date-stamped for the 1920s through '60s. He taught us to prove all things, and then fractured one of the bedrock principles of higher math in order to create the illusion of doing that.
To paraphrase Dion and the Belmonts:
"Here's my story, it's sad but true
About a church that I once knew
It took our love and ran aground
With every heresy in town....."
BB
The are plenty of Cohen's abounding BB. Just don't go to war with any.
DeleteWhat proof is there that those who tithe get back more then the 10 percent they give? John Smith just got a big raise in his pay from his boss at work just a few days after he started tithing he claims that this is because he started to tithe and that God is blessing him for tithing. Could it be that he got that raise because of his hard work and dedication to the company and he would have gotten that raise even if he didn't tithe. My own experience is the opposite. After I left the WCG back in 1995 I stoped tithing, I got a much better job, much better pay and benifits and regular pay raises. I am much better off financialy then when I tithed! It seems that God is blessing me because I am "not" tithing!
ReplyDeleteI too got a better job after 1995 when I also left WCG & had no idea who to trust sending my tithe to, so I did not tithe. And yet got a better job.
ReplyDeleteOver the years though I began to wonder who am I to know whether God chose latter timing to bless me for all the times I did tithe, before 1995, to now be blessed for it after 1995?
There is one thing many people do not realize about pain compliance. Because we humans build up a tolerance, In order for it to continue to be effective, the pain must escalate. There is also increasing anger which takes place as it loses its effectiveness. People do not abandon it when it is obvious that it seems not to work, they become really angry and inflict it more intensely and more frequently. So, it becomes an ever deepening syndrome.
ReplyDeleteThose two fingers striking a baby's butt, over years, become 40 lashes with a razor strop, and some fathers begin treating their wives as if they were one of the children.
Bronze age disciplinary techniques should have evolved on the same timeline as humanity. Unfortunately, there are still neanderthals in positions of authority, even leading religions.