To tithe or not to tithe?

Most pastors will have a problem with this but I am more convinced than ever that tithing is Old Covenant....as is not committing adultery or not bearing false witness etc. etc.

Old isn't wrong. It is just Old and the New has come. The old is the school master whose ultimate purpose is to bring us to the author and finisher of the New...Christ.

Today in the church I visited the message was on tithing. Church budgets require it at least yearly. It was as good as it gets...lots of reasons why it is good for us, lots of illustrations on how we will be blessed or cursed by what we do with our tithe.

At one point three volunteers came up on stage. As an illustration all three were hypothetically given $10,000. The first person person gave 10% of the 10 thousand dollars they had been given (a very reasonable and blessed transaction)....the next person gave above and beyond the 10%, ( opening themselves for even greater blessing),...the third was stingy and kept it for himself and thus the object of much shame.

As this was all going down I was just buzzing inside with the freedom I have come into as a result of the cross. The freedom that I am discovering in my identity as his son; no longer in bondage to the demands of the law; not just the tithing part but all of it; A freedom that allows me to live outside of the law, no longer as a slave.

I now get to live generously as the son of a very generous Father.

Do I give? Yes my dad is a giver and giving is part of my new DNA. But it is no longer a performance that is motivated by obligation and shame. No I have been set free from that. Everything changed since Calvary. The law was turned on it's head there. Most of my life I have endeavored to live in the new covenant with the old wrapped around my neck as a task master.

But now at the ripe age of 60 I'm beginning to get that my ONE vocation as the son of a wonderful father is to abide in His love. It is there that I become a true refection of Him. I don't even have to deal with sin any more. (I draw near to Him and He draws near to me). Sin and Shame have no power over me. I am the son of a very wonderful father who loves me just like I am and then transforms little by little until I begin to look like him.

My giving might look like someone else's tithing....but in all truth there is no longer any similarity.
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Thoughts of a Non Meaningless Venture.

So Almost Everyone Remembers the days when Telemarketers Wouldn't leave you alone, I do. Its funny because lately I keep getting calls like that..only this time they want my blood. I took a call this evening telling the lady on the phone, (poor lady, she has to make the most embarrassing calls, asking for peoples blood..weird.) politely, that I want going to make an appointment just now, but I had been considering giving blood soon. She then Quietly ended the conversation. So yeah...I want to give blood soon. Oklahoma! Yeah, Oklahoma, on the five o' clock news this evening around the same time of the phone call, the news anchor said something along the lines of, ..." The Governor of Oklahoma has declared a state of emergency for the state, and urges all civilians to stay indoors, and Give Blood to the Red Cross." It was an odd statement, as my mom commented, because in her words," Well, what does He expect, for the people to leave when he told them to stay and give blood." funny, so maybe when I give my blood I will give it will go to Oklahoma, and the non accustom drivers in there wintry mix of a state. And alas the bad driving, I laughed when my states so overly smart people decided to take corners at 40 miles an hour on frozen roads. I laughed my head off. Southerners aren't accustom to driving in snow. Its sad but true. Even today I began thinking about this at work and soon after as my mind was drifting, I waited on a man who was completely from the south...like dang. And the presence that he carried with him just didn't sit well with me, he was nice, but he smelled, and just felt grungy. I dunno, I then, in retrospect, found myself uncomfortable, and later regretted it. Lately I have been reading allot about the poor and out, and this man just took me off guard. From his thick long droning accent to his appearance, I regret I wasn't really impressed, I even felt annoyed. Looking back my perception of this man was completely not something Jesus would have done. Even after so much ministry in my past I find my self now being numbed to the desperation and need of individuals. So today was a wake up call, and I continue to long and desire to work once again with the poor. Its a different enviorment here in the land of suburbia, than in desperate places, we have our poor,but we all have so much, and its hard, being numb to need is all to common. And even now in light of the horrible Disaster in Hatti I am beginning to think that the giving is waning, and people have lost interest. "Ha! Fad over, lets move on the the next thing." I dunno, from day to day I see so much superficial and materialistic interaction, and I'm drowning! End all I need to wake up!

The Vision Presentation

The Vision Presentation

Restless and Hopeful

As Elim comes to an end i am so eager to return home. With Christmas around the corner and the excitement of reuniting with family and Friends draws near, I find it hard to focus on the few remaining days left. My dear car broke down, i feel bad, and actually quite sad. It was a good car, and it didn't deserve to be rendered completely useless. I'll miss it. It was quite my fault but in the end it will bring my parents up north for an over due visit to the campus that has changed so many lives, and more interestingly theirs. I find it amazing How great God has orchestrated so many peoples comings and goings and even the very establishment of the so called Holy Hill. Its awesome, I'll miss this place, and as I say goodbye again, I cant help the feeling that I will return somehow, in someway at some other time. So yeah, onward and forward into what ever adventures await me. Yes Please!

-The Guat