About 30 years ago I remember being asked to give a “tithing testimony” in the local church we attended. It went something like this: “Members were encouraged to complete commitment cards as the offering plate was being passed one Sunday. I hurriedly converted from my monthly salary to the form’s requested "weekly amount".
"Driving home, my wife and I discussed the amount and we realized I had made a $400 error. I promised more than I could give! I quickly called my Sunday School teacher and asked for his advice. What should we do? Retrieve the pledge card and re-work it? Just pray about it? Or simply ignore it?
"It was a serious matter to us and so we began to pray. About a week later I received an unexpected consulting request that yielded an additional $4000 in income that year, which exactly covered the $400 short fall in our pledge.”
How long has it been since you heard a “tithing testimony” in church? I haven’t heard one in at least two decades. Is that just my experience? If not, why do you think such testimonies are no longer used?
I don’t agree with the comments on tithing in Billie Friel’s commentary on “Worship Appropriately.” Harry Leafe offers a better commentary on New Testament Giving.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
have not heard about tithing testimony for 2 decades that's bad.
I have heard or experience it almost every month or week in terms of offering or tithing in my church or cell group. www.chc.org.sg
My tithing has nv cease to drop.
grew from 20 bucks when i first came to almost a hundred in tithing. Not even considering offerings.
amazing i am still a student.
I am blessed by God and i pray that God will bless you like never before.
How about tithing more than 10%, maybe 15%. or offering? Test God in the area of tithing and he will never let you go back empty handed!!
that's just dollar blessings not talking about items like NoteBook, handphones and ++.
Visit my church website.
www.chc.org.sg
Hi Ronnie,
Though I have heard tithing testimonies before, I never thought of them being shared formally in a church setting. Interesting idea.
I also agree that Leafe's commentary is more thoughtful and indepth than Friel's. I'm curious, what was it specifically that turned you off from Friel's commentary--the assumptions he makes about the person who doesn't tithe, perhaps? Certainlly, such words would do little to encourage a non-tither to tithe!
David
Huntsville, AL
Hi David,
I'm all for people tithing if done for the right reason--Christians should give out of love for God, not out of compulsion.
Friel's comments on tithing seemed harsh and biblically inaccurate to me. Malachi was written to Israelites living under the law, not to New Covenant Christians living under grace.
Again, I'm all for giving a tithe (a tenth)--if nothing else it is a good guideline, but not for giving it due to improper exposition of Scripture.
Hope this makes sense! Thanks for the thoughtful question.
Ronnie
ya know sometimes when the spirit has control it doesn't matter what the old law said about tithing. God gave us his SPirit to teach his church about giving. If he wanted to leave the law of tithing then his Spirit would have been given in vain. Your testimony is an example of what happens when the Spirit is in control not some old testament law of tithing.
Post a Comment