I have just had a thought. Perhaps the truth is that LS belongs to a church that says you have to tithe if you want to become a member, hence the lack of personal knowledge about the subject.
At the expense of being accused by some of mockery (which this isn't), the attitudes exhibited by LS are actually a very common malady among those who have a strong belief in something; coupled with an unreasonable level of self-assurances that they are utterly, perfectly right, and therefore not at all willing to consider that they might be wrong.
Generally speaking, discussions with people of that mindset usually end with them resorting to finger-pointing accusations, concocting out of thin air statements allegedly made by their opposition, labeling any and all who dare disagree with them as violating the rules for engagement by way of mockery, disrespect, etc.
The only thing I disrespect are falsehoods, not the one uttering such.
Unfortunately, the two tend to be so tightly intertwined that piercing the one through with the sword of TRUTH tends to do injury to the other.
Again, generally speaking, it's a no-win scenario to discuss such deeply entrenched doctrines as tithing with some. To them, the antiquity of a doctrine is more than ample reason to defend it, even when such a defense becomes so manic and unreasonable in its tactics that it drawss the fires of cleansing when anyone dares point out how idiotic some observations tend.
If antiquity were the acid test for legitimacy, then we may as well join hands with the roman catholics, mormons, and all the abberant, liberal protestant denominations...declaring us all to be right, even though roman catholicism, mormonism and many abberant, protestant denominations all teach christs unknown to the scriptures.
Sorry, but that is not the truth. You have posted an article written by someone else who obviously has an investment in keeping people at his church tithing to ensure the money comes in to pay his wages.
That to say the least is not objective exegesis. It is subjective eisegesis, which no one skilled in the scriptures would accept because it is based on experience which the word of God is used to justify.
What's worse is that falling back on lengthy articles written by someone else, based on that person's beliefs lacks a demonstration of having taken responsibility for ones personal beliefs.
How can anyone know the truth if they choose to ignore the New Testament entirely?
LS ignored the timeline, the direct ties tithing has to a specific priesthood and the temple, the fact that Abraham tithed not one red cent from his own personal property still located in northern Canaan at that time, that Jacob's tithe was pre-conditioned upon demands he made upon God, and a slew of other truths gleaned by simply letting scripture speak for itself. Also ignored is the fact that the Lord at NO time ever modeled tithing after Abraham's actions in relation to the spoils of war (see Numbers 3), that the apostles at no time upheld the continuance of the tithe with new ties to buildings and ecclesiastical, institutional bonds.
My challenges for such evidence to the contrary have, to this day, gone unanswered...at least with answers originating from a foundation of compliance to reasonable and consistent exegesis and rules for interpretation.
LS says he hears from God. I believe I hear from God and I hear the opposite to LS. Let me explain.
(snicker) That brings to my remembrance the mindset of post-modernism. Folks today like claiming that, for example, two or more opposiing views are all equally valid. That's their definition of tolerance.
Strangely, the intolerance inherent within islam is tolerable to them, but the intolerance of Chrisitanity is somehow not tolerable.
What it REALLY boils down to is that they know beyond a doubt that followers of islam will kill them for speaking against its tennets, but that Christians will not lash out at them for such. That's nothing but a cowardly respect for a show of might...the fallacy of might makes right.
I don't know about the other brethren here, but if you give 10% of your income to God, why do you need to trust him completely when you still have 90% of it to spend on yourself?
Ahhh, but handing ones tithe over to institutionalized religion isn't necessarily giving to God. Therein lies the difference.
SW
Well, it seems as though LS is still frequenting this thread since I've now gotten two PMs from him/her (all things brought into the light).
LS seems to think that because he/she is no longer responding, that saying anything about him/her is gossip.
Well, there's yet another falsehood to put onto the pile. Since you're here, it's not gossip...right?
LS, you really need to get over yourself, and start reading what's actually written. I clearly indicated that I was speking generally. I said it twice.
I mentioned your mindset only as a precursor to the fact that there are others who also believe falsehoods, and hold to falsehoods with a tenacity that defies all reason and scriptural integrity.
Now, if you can defend your beliefs from the merits of your own ability to speak out as to WHY you think the tithe is scriptural for today, then please do so. Your hit-n-run tactics are old hat to me, and fail to elicit the pity you seem to want.
Pretending that you're the victim of slams and belittlements simply on the basis of the fact that we all refuse to believe you with blind indifference to all the scriptural facts presented throughout, then get over it. If you think you're right, dig deeper for TRUTH and show us that you have something with substance worthy of consideration.
Otherwise, remain indifferent to the TRUTH presented to you, slink away silently, and stop with the PMs. They serve no purpose but to show me even more problems in your thinking and practices.
We've issued a number of invitations for folks to present their case, and discuss it all on level grounding, without anyone resorting to some useless martyr syndrome. We sometimes rib each other and others. Take it like a woman/man. Expecting others to walk on egg shells in a discussion is indicative of an imbalance in one's views about others.
You say the Lord told you one thing, and someone else says the Lord told them something the exact opposite. One or both are wrong.
TRUTH is worth seeking out.
SW
