Originally posted by SWUtigers:
Originally posted by Trading Tiger:
OK, now I get, just a misunderstanding. Some people might consider it their tithe or part of their tithe, but I have a feeling those are the same type of people who would go to one church but tithe at another or donate to some other charity and consider that their tithe...as you pointed out, it isn't.
You can designate your gifts, what I said was correct, and you are correct in saying that that designated money should not be considered part of your tithe. There also very well may be documents showing that the money was spent according to the designation, I've just never worried about asking. It goes back to what I said in another post, if God tells me to give money, I give money. If the Church doesn't use that money for the purpose that it was given, they'll have to account for it, but not to me, so why worry about it?
Trading, I do appreciate your enthusiasm and your commitment to the Clemson program because you literally provide a level of enthusiasm that I do seek out your posts and responses.
That said, your blind allegiance to NS is quite disturbing but I'm in no position to judge others. Even though you are tithing your hard-earned money, wouldn't you at least want to know that the money you are giving is being put to good use? You seem like a very smart, articulate person, how can you just blindly give to someone or an organization? If you aren't that concerned, though, why don't you just take your money and give to the homeless local shelter, soup kitchen, boys club...
What is it specifically that makes you want to give your money to NS?
I was going to give this long, grand post all about blah blah blah, something told me this morning on my way to work to just keep it short and sweet (and it will still be a little long)...
Why I tithe to Newspring: despite everything listed ITT, I know Newspring does a ton of awesome things. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Have they done horrible things? If even one thing that was described in that blog is true, then yes they have. But nobody is perfect and I'm not going to condemn a whole church due to the actions of a few. Truth be told, if that's the worst stuff that Newspring has done, they have a gold star IMO, because compared to the stuff that the Catholic church and other churches have done, that's really just a minor blip on the radar. But the main reason I tithe to Newspring is because that's the church I go to, that's my "local" church, and that's what the Bible says to do. The Bible doesn't say, "just give away 10% of your income to whoever you deem appropriate". The analogy that Newspring uses to describe what you're suggesting is: "if you go eat at Cracker Barrel, you don't go pay your bill at Outback." They aren't saying that you have to pay to receive Newspring's services, but they are saying that if you are a member of Newspring, that's where you are going to be "spiritually fed", so that's where you should give or bring your tithe. And that comes straight out of the Bible, Malichi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. [Storehouse/my house = The Church] "Test me in this" says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."
The real and more important question is, why do I tithe at all: for a long time, I was the typical anti-tither. I would say stuff like "tithing is an Old Testament practice; I don't make enough money to tithe; why should I give money to God/the Church, what has God/the Church given to me; Newspring just wants my money so I'll give 10%, but I'll donate it to some other charity, etc". Basically, I was wrong, extremely selfish, and dumb. I went to Newspring for a good while before I started tithing. People have mentioned all of the sermons on money, and just like those people, it made me uncomfortable and I thought "Newspring only wants my money". I couldn't have been more wrong, when Perry says "I don't want anything
from you, I want everything
for you", he's speaking the truth. So here's the story of how/why I started tithing
I saw a couple in my homegroup go from near bankruptcy to being completely debt free, owning a lot, and will be beginning construction on a new home in a nice subdivision within the next year all because they faithfully tithed. You explain to me how that makes sense...they used 100% of their income to rack up so much debt they almost had to declare bankruptcy, but they were able to take 90% of their income and get out of debt in a relatively small period of time. Oh, and let me also add that they had their first child during this time and in doing so, the wife quit her job to stay home with the baby, so when I said "90% of their income", it was really more like "100% - 30-45% lost income from wife - 10% tithe =
55%" (I used 35% for the wife's lost income obviously). These were not irresponsible people just blowing tons of money everywhere on vacations, going out to eat, expensive clothes, etc, etc. These were good people who just had no control over their finances, it wasn't until they gave God control of their finances that things turned around for them.
I was extremely fortunate!!! I was able to recognize the fact that my wife and I were on the same road as this other couple, we were just a few short years behind them. When I saw what they were able to do with God's help, I decided to take action and get off that road as quickly as possible. Once I started tithing, it was amazing how much further my 90% was taking me compared to where I was getting with all 100%. I truly have been blessed and in turn, I have been able to bless others. Giving my 10% tithe is now just the start for my wife and I, I've already been accused of bragging once ITT, so I won't go into any further details about what I do with my money, but just do what Newspring says for 3 months and see what happens. It doesn't have to go to Newspring either, just tithe to your church, if you don't go to church, just pick one. Newspring has a 90 day tithe challenge, if you tithe and don't see or feel God's blessing upon you, they'll give you your money back.
