re: Do you think tithing (10%) to the church is a Biblical requirement?

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I give from the heart, but my heart is a little hard though.

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If you hear his voice, harden not your heart!
FYI, Not giving 10% either.

It is voluntary.


And some of us do much more than, with joy.

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All of these cost next to nothing. You are paying for drums,geetars and them high-falutin headsets. Anyone who gives 10% in Baton Rouge doesn't recall the Swaggart years.

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That's not accurate and I know it's not accurate because I've seen the financials. They provide them to anyone who asks and also provide them at the budget meeting. Regarding the instruments, most of the musicians actually bring their own personal instruments to play on Sundays. What I do know about where the money has gone is hundreds of thousands to local mission partners that participate in rehabbing addicts, freeing those in sex trafficking, homeless outreach, etc. I've seen hundreds of thousands dispersed to out international mission partners in Central America & Haiti as well as domestically in places like Alaska, which has an unbelievable sexual abuse and rape issue. I've seen dozens and dozens of couples who have nursed their marriages back to health in part through professional counseling paid for by the church. I've seen electricity bills be paid. I've seen food drives and school supply drives multiple times a year. I've seen thousands of dollars worth of scholarships to pay for students to attend summer camps where many have been saved as a result. All in all, we have given away as a church more than 3 million dollars in the last 4 years and that doesn't account for the in-house sponsorships. By the way, we do all of this with only about 30% of people giving. 7/10 folks that attend don’t give a dime.



And frankly, that's what really ticks me off about all of this is there never seems to be a shortage of people who gripe about money around the church but VERY few even bother to show up to the budget meetings. Even fewer ever ask for an itemized report. People love seeing students get to go to camp, marriages restored, mission work done in our city............They just love letting others around them pay for it.

here is Trump's psycho bitch "Christian" cabinet member or whatnot

A church should clearly have open accountability for contributions. A finance team should oversee finances and ensure integrity. Any church that is not open about finances is suspect.
At least an annual report to the congregation. Salaries can be confidential but should be set by elders or personnel team.
A church thst handles its finances with integrity rarely needs to plead for finances.

After the tax man takes his amount, the church wants 10% then there is always something going on where people are asking for donations. You go to the grocery store and they are asking if you want to round your bill up and give that amount to this group or that group.

I'll say this. If I were to give 10% I would rather give it to something like St. Jude that uses it to take care of sick kids and to house their family, etc than to a church.

I seriously don't think a person will be judged on whether or not they went to a service for at least an hour on Sunday. I don't think someone has to be a member of a church to be a man of faith so if you are asking me, no I do not think its a biblical requirement. Others have different views.

Went to a mega church once. Pastor had a huge house, rolex, couple of gold rings. Most of his sermon was on tithing. Don't think this is what Jesus invisioned when he died for us.

Now I go to a small country church. The church has a small house on the property for his family. And he works a full time job. He came by the house when power was out and helped us fix our generator. I have never heard him speak of tithing. Those funds go to church bills and missionaries. Really good man.

It’s very easy to hit if you count Catholic School tuition for multiple kids.

No. It's an old testament practice that preachers who don't know any better or who do but are squeezing money from the sheep.

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It’s very easy to hit if you count Catholic School tuition for multiple kids.

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Giving to the church and its mission or ministry is one thing educational expense is something else imo