Vision vs. Need (Prophecy or profit-see)

I heard from a brother yesterday, who excitedly told me about a prophecy that was spoken over his church this past week. The prophet spoke of blessings, how to prepare, and how to receive. Needless to say the prophecy included a command to tithe, so as 'not to rob God and miss out on your blessing'
The brother actually began the exchange by sending me a link to a video of Todd Koontz and Benny Hinn discussing 'finances' and basically the same thing was being said.

(If you are familiar w/ Todd Koontz, here is a link which pretty much sums him up: Or you can go to his website, and check out his 'Money moment'. Mr. Koontz says he wants to 'partner with you and help you increase your money'. You many notice also that there are 10 yes TEN links for you to give, oops I mean sow
but only 2 for prayer. hmm...

Mind you, I have heard this man 'teach' that the more you give, the faster God responds'... Please note on his site by the way, that the '7 prophetic Promises for 2009' has been cancelled....hmm....(Is my contempt showing? Sorry... anyway)

The brother took the Hinn/Koontz video as 'confirmation' of the prophecy. I took it as something quite different.
When I asked the brother what scripture was being used in the prophecy, all he could remember was Malachi 3.
When I asked a few more questions which challenged him, he retreated into, 'Well, I know that when I tithe I experience more grace, and when I don't I am not blessed"
I asked what grace was, and after defining it as unmerited favor, made sure that he understood what UNMERITED meant.
We agreed to disagree...

A couple of years ago, (before we opened our ministry) my wife and I were invited to a friend’s church to visit. We went and were impressed overall with the music, the atmosphere, and people seemed genuine, and the worship was sincere.
But then the ‘guest speaker’ got up to ‘teach’, and proceeded to lambaste the congregation using Malachi 3 like a bludgeon. He called them thieves, robbers, even stated that because they don’t tithe, their children can’t be saved and they can’t be healed.
My wife and I left, dismayed, distressed and disgusted.
A couple of months later, I saw one of the church elders at a function, and I asked him rather pointedly about that day’s message.
When pressed he admitted to me that:
a) The guest Bishop had been brought in to do this so that the weight of any repercussion would not be on the Pastor or Elders, and
b) The church is in the midst of a building project, and the revenue streams were low.

I have a feeling family, that we are going to be seeing/hearing many more of these 'prophetic' (profit-ic) utterances as our economy continues to slide, and the church revenues with it. So here's my question to you:

Does your vision drive your methods, or do your needs drive them?

Think about it...

Comments

Jaqlaci said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jaqlaci said…
Jesus said not to give emotionally. I do believe in not touching the Holy Tithe, however my convictions came from many hours of reading the Word.

LOVE is the greatest of all commandments. While giving is vitally important. I've noticed in my Bible that Jesus hammered on giving to the poor more than anything else. That, my friends, is ALMS, not OFFERING. He did say to give Caesar what is his and give God what is His. That is clearly speaking of Holy Tithe and taxes. Tithe is the first 10% of your increase...and only 10%. Give as you feel led of the Spirit, not out of influence of some person telling you that they've received some exclusive message that you have to "sew seed" to get. The prophets never charged for prophecies! In fact, the Bible records them turning down monies offered to them in exchange from prophecies and miricles.

A lot of churchs preach that giving should be in the order of Tithe, offering and then alms. I beg the differ. Jesus stressed alms so much that there is no doubt in my mind that "sacrificial giving" and "offerings" should be mostly directed to the poor. David said that he would not offer a sacrifice to God which was no sacrifice to himself. He was refusing FREE land and animal and insisting on paying so he could offer sacrifice to God. Again, no prophet was standing behind him telling him what to do. That was out of his own convictions.

I'm not knocking churches or evangelists either. It is true that false teachers are among us. Jesus said they would be. He also told us what to look out for. God set up the tithe system to support the church. He also set in place the spiritual laws of giving and receiving. The motivation in your heart has more to do than the amounts. Do not forget the woman in the temple who gave her two cents.

There is a big difference in a man of God and a false teacher. Should you bless the man of God when he comes through town? Absolutely! Paul couldn't stress that responsibility enough.

Ask God before you go to the meetings how much to give and give according to what he impresses upon your heart. Also, study your Bibles and bank on the things that Jesus and the apostles said, because when a false teacher comes through preaching a different message the counterfeit message will slap your face, not feed your spirit. Don't empty your bank account at the end of some service because you feel an all of a sudden need to prove your faith to God. All the wisdom of giving in in the BIBLE. God gifted us several English translations.

What saddens my heart is that people would rather gleen information about God and the things of God from any other source than their Bible. Turn off the TV! Put down the popular books and CD's! Faith comes by hearing (spiritually speaking) and hearing comes by the Word of God. Not by the opinions expressed about the word of God, not when some other third party breaks it down for you in a 200 dollar cd set, not in some "well researched" book on a subject. The Holy Spirit counsels through his Word...so read it! Wisdom greater that Solomon's is in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I recommend The Message//remix version, however, just about any will do :)

READ. THINK. PRAY. LIVE.
CT Jermin said…
Jaqlaci,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I agree with all, except of course the issue of the tithe.

Personally I take the view that Matt 22, Mark 12, and Luke 20 are actually much broader in context.

The coin is made in the image of Caesar, hence it belongs to him, we are made in the image of God, hence we belong to Him.

This is the point, As Jesus says later in Matt 22:(37,Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.),

Allegiance to God then, is complete and total, and much larger than a tithe.
Blessings to you, and thank you for commenting

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