Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

1Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. 2Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. 3Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. 4And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. 5He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good. 6Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. 7And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream. 8Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

I had someone recommend this book to me, “Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller. That was my first time reading one of his books. I guess i can say it was interesting. My friend, who recommended the book to me said that it changed a part of his life. It didn’t do that for me, but i think it did it for my friend because my friend’s life is exactly how Donald Miller lives his. Ironically, those who relate to an author the most(People who are already exactly like the author), are the ones effected by his writings and are changed. Don’t know how that makes any sense, but i understand what they mean.

Many people like the style of Donald Miller’s writings because Miller seems to admit out loud what most people are thinking in their head. Personally, i don’t think that quality is rare. I think many people are very open. I get this vibe that Donald Miller’s thoughts in his book Blue Like Jazz, are provoked exaggerations of what’s the reality is inside his head. I think his mind wanders, and what he writes really happens in his mind, but i don’t think his thoughts can be taken seriously. They are just wanders. For instance, i can sit here and think about how i would contemplate suicide but not actually be thinking about killing myself.

I also get the vibe in Blue Like Jazz that Donald Miller likes indifference. Typically, that is not rare either considering 90% of people 25 and under are seeking an identity and seek something new, something unique, and maybe something rebellious. For instance, i came across his myspace page here. On that page his profile picture shows him with a cigarette in his mouth. Now, don’t get me wrong, my own mother smokes, and has been for the past 40 years, but let’s face the practicality of smoking versus the stewardship of one’s body. I’m not going to go in a rant that smoking’s bad for you, but i am going to tell you that your creator has plans for your full life, and depriving your life of its full capability is showing you are a careless steward. Anyways, i bring that all up because one of my pet peeves is being indifferent for the sake of indifference. Sure you can find 100 excuses to smoke in order to fit in with the sinners and witness to them, but i have never seen anyone say i want to gain 400 pounds either in order to fit in with the glutenous, or even for that matter, i want to dress like a nerd so i can fit in with them to witness to them.

I don’t know why i’m going on this smoking rant, but i think i’m just gonna stick here for a while. You see the thing is with people like Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz, is they love that people look at their smoking and see it as controversial. Its a selfish desire. Smoking is about them, and how Christians in general will judge them based on some rolled up leaves. Truthfully, the cigarette wouldn’t tell me at all that he’s a bad Christian, it just tells me that he’s a self absorbed human like the rest of us. I think we all have our own rolled up stogies in life. I don’t think i flaunt mine though? I don’t think flaunting our stogies is what God meant when he said that he would rather have you hot or cold. I admit my flaws, but i don’t want to flaunt them. Being open about your indifferences to the general Christian population may win you awards with certain people, but when has God called us to achieve satisfaction from people?

Yeah, i know were suppose to serve, and be relevant, but Jesus didn’t compromise his holiness in order to live among men. You are free to disagree with me about smoking and nicotine, and habits, but i think there’s something that we can gather from what i said above. Most of us live our life of sin much like a cigarette. We have these sins and typically we like to roll them up and hide them in a nice neat paper sheet. Personally, i like to keep my cigarette’s in the pack, but many times in Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller candidly wrote about whipping out the nicotine and smoking in front of everyone without any shame. Every Christian has had at one point say, “God, here’s my sins all rolled up”. What i’m trying to say is that we all have had to get them out in the open at one point, but i don’t think flaunting our burning cigarette of sins is a sweet smelling savor to God.

I guess final note on Donald Miller’s book is i appreciate his candidness, and earnest heart, but being indifferent is much like paddling against the flow - you are just passing other people that have come from where you are going, and are thinking you are going somewhere new, just because you are traveling in the opposite direction.

For those of you who want to know why Senator Grassley is investigating the Benny Hinn Scandal, here is a video that shows how Benny Hinn likes to spend God’s money. For those of you who are giving money to this Benny Hinn Scandal, you are just as guilty because you are empowering him. Here is a video also on the Paula White Scandal.

What type of garbage are people trying to sell these days? I came across this series on Amazon.

Just remember that the greatest gift ever given was given freely, cheerfully, and gracefully.

Scientific research says that there’s one thing that you can do with your money that will buy you happiness, and its called giving it away. Here’s an article on msnbc, that talks about money buying happiness.

“New research reveals that when individuals dole out money for gifts for friends or charitable donations, they get a boost in happiness while those who spend on themselves get no such cheery lift.”

Instead of spending money on youself to find happiness, why not try spending it on others. We probably spend money on ourselves to attain some level of satisfaction, but that doesn’t seem to be a sure fire way to gain it. It’s amazing that we are wired this way. According to evolution it seems that charity and giving is counter-productive to the survival of the fittest, or the preservation of a species. You see my dog doesn’t know how to give. It doesn’t know love. Everything it does is selfish. Those of us who have dogs may think it loves us back by licking us and being excited when we walk in the door, but i’m sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not love. Dog’s do not fight with their conscience about their selfish attitudes.

This brings me to another point that i was thinking about while watching, “The Bee Movie” by Dreamworks. I don’t know if anybody saw this movie, but it made me think why do bees make all that honey? Do they need all that honey? I started to wonder if God just gave them that task for our enjoyment. I know it was a cartoon, but i was getting some profound thoughts about God and creation. Aren’t bees such a testimony against evolution? Everything that bees do tell you is that God made them to work so that we could be blessed off of their production. There’s no need for bees to make all that honey, but God created the bees so that we could enjoy all that honey.

I don’t think bees get enjoyment from giving away their honey, cause they seem pretty pissed off at the dudes wearing those netted outfits. But what if we worked and gave just like those bees do? Yeah, yeah, i know its a stretch analogy, but if you think about it, God made those bees for us. So what did God make us for? Didn’t he make us to serve others, just like the bees serve? Are we producing enough honey to give to others in need? We should be giving liberally and generously. We also need to fight laziness.

Does our giving taste sweet to God by giving with a Godly heart? When you put that honey in your mouth, the sweetness just makes your tastebuds tingle, and it just satisfies your cravings all around. So, does your giving satisfy God’s cravings for his children just like honey satisfies your own?

It’s obvious that God has called us to serve.