If the decision is, that it is better
to build, once the church occupies its own building, it would be
fair to advise the believers that the church running costs have been reduced
(remember: it was an
economical decision to build) so that they can adjust their level of contribution
to the church's
running costs.
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Luke 19:45-46 Then He [Jesus] went into the temple and
began to drive out those who
bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house
of prayer' and
you have made it a 'den of thieves' ". |
I have heard and read numerous examples where so-called
ministers of the Word teach the most
stupid and most ridiculous "giving principles" which, astonishingly, many,
even "the elect"
believers, fall for. As we have seen from the Biblical teaching on the subject
of tithing and giving,
there is definitely a blessing for the giver - God ordained it so. But also,
if a believer is not careful
with his giving, he will end up with curses rather than with blessings, or
at best, with wasted
money.
It is the ignorance of the people of God that causes excesses
in the church, as much as false
teaching. If believers would pay more attention to the Biblical truth, there
would be less room for
these "teachers" to propagate their self-centered "doctrines".
Some, so-called Christian ministries have accumulated
great wealth, not by preaching the gospel of
Jesus Christ, but by teaching the "prosperity doctrine". There are books
and circular letters written
on how to get "prosperous" and, of course, each ending with an invitation
to give to that particular
ministry, which will in turn pray for you, and you will get blessed. They
talk about "faith", about
"mixing giving with prayers", about "agreeing" on your wish, about all kinds
of superstition and
witchcraft, which many believers fall for.
Most commonly used technique by some unscrupulous "teachers"
is to quote an isolated event
from the Bible and then turn it into a "principle" which we, if we are 'godly',
should follow. These
"principles" have as much weight as the "principle" that if a man grows long
hair he will posses a
supernatural strength as Samson did. There is only one principle that we
have to bear in mind:
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Deu. 28:1-2 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently
obey the voice of the Lord your
God, to observe CAREFULLY all His commandments which I command you today,
that
the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all
these blessings
shall come upon you and overtake you, BECAUSE YOU OBSERVE THE VOICE OF
THE LORD YOUR GOD."
John 14:15 (Jesus speaking) "If you love Me, keep My
commandments."
John 15:7 (Jesus speaking) "If you abide in Me, AND MY
WORDS abide in you, you will
ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:10 (Jesus speaking) "If you keep My commandments,
you will abide in My love,
just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." |
An often quoted example is the account of the prophet
Elijah and the poor widow whose son was
raised from the dead, supposedly, as a result of her giving to the man of
God. So, if you give to
the "man of God" you may expect a miracle in your life. Few of them mention
that, in that
particular instance, God actually commanded the widow to give food to the
prophet, so she did,
she obeyed God's specific instruction; therefore, the principle is: "Obey
God's commandment",
rather than "give to (any who claim to be) the man of God". |
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