God must have had a really sick sense of humor when he imagined up our Great Bwana to Africa and 100 Caucaisans as He was creating the foundations of the world. On the other hand, He may have known that in these perilous end times that we might need a little humor to brighten our day, and thus we have Bwana Bob at our disposal.
As was mentioned the other day, he apparently does not have the ability to come up with an original thought in spite of all those PhDs, classes at Ambassador and Fuller, and online courses from that great theological university in India with its extensive library housed in a trailer. But, again these are perilous times and we have to be gentle on the Great Bwana as the burdens he carries are enormous as he witnesses to the world his great theological understandings.
This all leads us to today as he triples down on tithing commands he imagines are still required. But as usual, he has to drag out the dead Herbert to reinforce his theories. The Great Bwana has to quote from a 1959 article that Herbert wrote in Ending Your Financial Worries.
Given all of the recent documentaries exposing various cults recently and how they demand and manipulate their followers into handing over their money, this is a prime example of the cultism that we were conned with.
The Great Bwana writes (always in a state of fear):
2022 has been a difficult financial year for many around the world. Food and gas prices have been rising. Some are warning about recession and some about stagflation.
The stock markets around the world are jittery. Many around the world are concerned about international matters, including what will happen with the USA because of its coming elections.
The USA has the most debt any nation in world history has ever had–and it keeps going up. The per-capita debt of those in the UK are among the highest of all time. The Eurozone has struggles between members, plus its own debt issues.
Those in Asia and South America have seen their economic standards of living generally rise over the past decades, but great apprehension exists. There have been gains and losses in some parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Then the Great Bwana goes on to quote the dead Herbert. Here are a few of Herbert's delightful words:
"People say: “What I earn is MINE — I can do what I please with it!”
But is the money you earn really your own? Don’t be too sure. Notice these FACTS about your income you probably haven’t known!
What you earn is not yours!
The man who says, “What I do with the money I earn with my own labor is nobody’s business — I produced it — it belongs to me,” is mistaken.
What you earn, by work performed or investments made is not yours — not any of it"
Then this:
But the first claim is GOD’S claim. You probably never realized this fact before — but it is a fact. God Almighty the living CREATOR-RULER of the universe claims it all — every dollar — every pound — every franc — every mark. Your Maker who gives you the very air you breathe tells you it all belongs to Him, not to you!
And this:
But didn’t you earn it? Didn’t YOU produce it?
Not exactly! Everything produced — money, and all that money can buy — comes out of the earth. You didn’t produce that! God created that. You merely applied certain energy in physical action and in thinking to what God had created and owned. And God created even that energy you expended — He created your thinking processes. He not only created, originally, but He sustains what He created, including all force and energy.
And this:
God Almighty says, in His written Word: “The earth is the Eternal’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods” (Psalm 24:1-2). These inspired words are repeated in I Corinthians 10:26.
“Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is MINE,” claims God (Job 41:11).
“Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the ETERNAL’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is” (Deut. 10:14). “All the earth is MINE” (Ex. 19:5).
And this:
However, God is a God of love. He knows your need. God is concerned about you. He is not selfish. He has your interest and welfare in mind. Therefore God has made A LAW respecting that portion of HIS WEALTH which your thinking, and your labor has extracted and worked upon.
Get this fixed thoroughly in your mind. Your wages, your salary, your profit, your income BELONGS TO GOD, not to you. Probably you never realized this before. This may seem like a new idea to you. But it is not an idea — it is a fact.
Therefore GOD HAS A RIGHT to take, or dispose of what you regard as your income AS HE WILLS. He OWNS it. It is not yours, it is HIS!
So God, the rightful OWNER of your income, has MADE A LAW respecting its disposal and its use. By virtue of being Creator and Sustainer of the earth and all in it, God is supreme RULER and LAWGIVER.
Then this:
The farmer or gardener may plant seed, plow, and expend his labor in raising food. But WHO supplied the SOIL? WHO created the living process that makes the seed sprout and grow? Who sends the rain, or provides water for irrigation? Who set the sun in the sky and causes it to shine and warm the earth? Who causes the plant to drink out of the soil the minerals, vitamins, and good elements, and to grow into the vegetable, the grain, or the fruit? Did YOU perform this part of the business of raising the food you eat?
When we sit down and really THINK, we shall see that God supplies about NINE parts of everything man makes or produces, and man’s thinking, planning, and working supplies only about ONE part. But God does not take nine tenths of the proceeds, or the income. He doesn’t take even eight tenths, or seven, or even three or two tenths. God is GENEROUS. God has reserved for HIS use only one little tiny tenth of what is produced out of His earth through His forces and energies!
God takes only ONE tenth. And after you have been honest in PAYING God’s tenth to God’s chosen representative, then — AND NOT UNTIL THEN — God has decreed that the other NINE tenths becomes legally YOURS!
There are two things that Herbert's old covenant tithing demands did. It financially ruined untold members lives and it kept the fat cats living lives of luxury as their members suffered.
You can see through Herbert's reliance on Old Covenant teachings why there was a need for a New Covenant understanding. The New Covenant was to be an earthly foretaste of the kingdom to come where worship was freely done - not enforced, demanded, or expected. Looking towards sitting at the heavenly banquet is far better than sitting at an empty table while your church leader dines off Imperial Russian china, eats with gold utensils, and fills his delicate crystal with Louis XIII Cognac.
