The Tithe and Offering Part 3

Understanding Sonship Today’s Focus: The Kingdom Tithe and Offering: Part 3 Scripture: Luke 16:10,11 Greetings Kingdom Citizens Money has been used to represent the best blessing a man can receive but in actuality it is the lowest but God uses it as the appropriate test to see if we will be good stewards. In this whole passage in Luke 16 we see the parable of the steward but let’s look at our selected verses 10 and 11: He that is faithful IN THAT WHICH IS LEAST (MONEY) is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust IN THE LEAST (MONEY) also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (money), who will commit to your trust the TRUE RICHES? Money is looked at as unrighteous mammon and the least of the true riches. This is why God uses it as a meter stick to see if you can be trusted with. So this then makes sense, if you cannot be trusted with unrighteous mammon or money then how can you be trusted with true riches of the Kingdom. Let me use this big illustration and I know it may offend but the truth needs to be exposed: In the United States through the latter of 2008 and unto this day, we have seen churches closing for lack of finances and churches having to cut services because they could not afford the electricity bill for lack of funds. In addition, we see Pastors begging for money because the church is in debt and in many cases it is a lack of financial accountability. Why are we seeing today record number of these troubling situations? Well is it because: 1. We have left the central message of Jesus Christ which is the Kingdom of God? 2. We have put our faith on building big churches with large congregations to increase money intake? 3. Have we mishandled the tithes and offerings of the people and stole and mislead them to a point that they no longer trust “the church”? All of these have happened but none more that number 1. Because number 1 is the heart of God and if we understood number 1 then 2 and 3 are of no consequence because we understand that in the Kingdom all of our needs are supplied and if we seek the Kingdom first then everything else comes with the territory. But we have become mislead because of the image and put our faith in the image of the Pastor and not the Master, Jesus Christ. And when the pastor falls, then what are you left with. Let me share my personal testimony: Coming out of school I was making high five-figures and spent most of it on things that I longed for and wanted. My mom would have to remind me to pay my tithes. And as I switched jobs and went into the six-figure mark, I began to spend more and more on me and not on others. I looked at the blessing as a reward for all my hard work in school which resulted in the money. I wasted that money from the standpoint that I spent it on self and on girlfriends but not on God and His Kingdom. It was not until I did what the Lord said, took a twenty thousand dollar pay cut and went to the job He told me to go to that I begin to learn about the Kingdom and how to be a good steward. Now since I have been converted for the past 3 years to the message of the Kingdom, I had to learn how to be sound with money. There were times I tithed my last dime and God had to correct me to take care of what He told me to do. There were times He told me never outspend on self over God. There were times I gave unwillingly and not cheerfully. But out of all of that, I learned and my approach to giving is completely altered and change. Now it is done freely and from the heart. I tithe in celebration of my sonship and my inheritance of the Kingdom. No longer do I worry about food, water and clothing, but I wait upon the Lord to use me in the manner that He sees fit and allows me to bless others as he would have. Kingdom Citizens, I am declaring this today, tithing is a great opportunity to show the world that you are a son of God and an heir of the Kingdom. When you give, give cheerfully because Kingdom citizens do not worry about those basic necessities because their Lord, their Father, their Source, takes care of all of that for them. This can only be accomplished through faith. At Our Father’s Service, Elder Calvin Calhoun, Jr.