A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent. – John Calvin
“What we suffer from … is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful of himself, but undoubting of the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays, the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not assert – himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not doubt – the truth.” G.K. Chesterson
We live in a time where men are quick to have a kind of false humility about what the truth is. Our post-modern (the only absolute is no absolutes) society has killed the conviction of truth. It is common to hear about how nobody can be sure of truth and uncommon to hear confidence in the truth. I recently read an essay from John MacArthur in which he describes the most important reason to be discerning when it comes to doctrine. I was deeply convicted when I read it. I, to my own dismay, was not prepared to think the way MacArthur thought. His reason for discernment - the glory of God.
We are bombarded with consumerism at every turn. Pay attention to how many times the television or radio tells you to think about yourself. Flip through a magazine and count how many times there is an ad telling you to put yourself first. There is advertisement after advertisement where celebrities are telling insignificant people like you and me what we need. It is all about us. Sadly, this type of thought has invaded the church. I talked to a friend tonight about elders of a church leaving because the high school ministry didn’t have a big enough building. We have become consumers. The modern church has turned the gospel into a product. Choosing a church has become like a stroll down the cereal aisle, if you don’t like Frosted Flakes, just switch to Lucky Charms.
Yesterday I read a post on a website that basically said doctrine doesn’t matter. What matters is loving God and your neighbor. This is such a deceptive debate strategy. Of course no sane Christian would say loving God and our fellow man isn’t important, but loving God and men must be defined. Are we truly loving God if we allow him to be nothing more than a product? Does my wife want me to know her for who she is or to merely make her what I want her to be on any given day? Every relationship has finalities to accept about the other person. There are finalities to accept about God. He is who he says he is in his word. Any humility which denies biblical truth about God is false.
The bible is full of scriptures of God’s salvation being for his name’s sake. We must repent of our consumer mentality and return to a God - centered approach to scripture. The church is not ours. The church belongs to Christ. May we be diligent in pursuing true humility. May all of our efforts and passions be to the glory of God.
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Words: Reginald Heber. Music: John Dykes.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert and art and ever more shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name
In earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
3 comments:
OK, I have a question. I have been really confused and asking about this subject for a while, but I don't know who to believe.
Read this:
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Tithing is not God's plan for the New Covenant. It was never intended to be a standard of giving for the church. Tithing is based on theological premises that are inconsistent with the finished work of Christ on the cross. The doctrine of tithing contradicts the most important aspects of the New Covenant and the believer's new nature in Christ.
In Christ, we are no longer just servants of God who live by a paradigm of laws and principles as people did before the cross and the resurrection. We are now spiritually re-born of God and live by the indwelling Christ himself.
God's objective is to bring the church to a place of full stature and maturity in Christ, to live as sons of God, reigning in life by Christ and being a demonstration of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ in this present world.
This book examines all the arguments used to justify the doctrine and practice of tithing and compares them to the finished work of Christ at the cross. It explains who we are in Christ and how we can be led by the Spirit.
Discover:
How the tithing doctrine contradicts the New Covenant and destroys the power of Christ's finished work on the cross.
What the Bible actually says about tithing before the Law and why the popular teaching that promotes tithing is wrong about the tithe that Abraham gave to Melchizedek.
The truth about tithing during the Law and how the confusion about tithes, offerings, and gifts contributes to the erroneous teaching that Christians should tithe.
What the Bible actually says about tithing after the Law and where the misunderstanding originates that causes people to think that tithing is God's plan for the church.
Answers to more than twenty of the most popular statements that are used to promote tithing—each statement scripturally analyzed and exposed as being contrary to the New Covenant.
God's glorious New Covenant paradigm for giving which is separate from and superior to any concept of tithing.
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What do you guys think??
i would need to know a little more before i said too much.
the early church gave in abundance. some churched actually gave more than they could afford to give. the gospel moved them to radical giving. i know so many stories about people beginning to give on a regular basis and being immediately blessed (not only financially). tithing is not an area i have studied a lot.
i believe a gospel believing heart will be moved to radical giving. if a person doesn't have money to give they can certianly give in other ways. i hope this helped a little.
Tithing is never mentioned even one time in the entire New Testament. Giving, Like Danny said is mentioned all over the new testament. It is my belief that tithing CAN cause a false sense of security if the person tithing doesn't have a true heart of giving.
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