Lyn,

I agree that tithing doesn't mean giving away food and shelter, especially 
when supporting a family.

I'm praying for your financial needs that God would show himself as the 
Provider.



JulieMelton
visit me at
www.heart-and-music.com
or subscribe to my podcast at
http://feed.feedburner.com/hmradio
Keep smiling!





>From: Lyn Latham <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Electronic Church <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Attention Phil, (I've read it)
>Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 17:50:47 -0500
>
>Kathy,
>
>I just read your article.  I will put my comments in here as well.  First 
>comment that I have to add is that I truly do believe in tithing, but I 
>also have a little bit of a bad feeling with it.  When I was married to Al 
>Cooper, he alway said that we had to tithe even though there wasn't always 
>money there.  Sometimes, he took food out of our mouths to give to "his 
>church" the one we came to Tampa to begin and that kind of fell apart.  
>Well, now he's gone, but I still tithe whenever I can.  However, when I do 
>not have the money to give in either an offering or a tithe, God has taught 
>me thatI must not feel guilty for that.  I used to hate it when he took our 
>rent money or money we needed for a phoen bill because he said that we had 
>to tithe it.  I do not believe that God expects usto tithe our rent or our 
>food away when we dont' have 10 percent of what we have to give back to 
>Him.  Yes, it is His money, and He's never left me without something, but 
>right now I'm almost feeling like I'm without, and just when I thought he 
>was going to keep me in a wonderful home I am told I have to move, and now 
>not only can i not give a tenth of my disability check, now I have to come 
>up with deposits and rents that I do not have, and money for truck rentals. 
>  I just went through this last year, andI do not want to have to do it 
>again.  I am praying that Triston and I will be able to stay here afterwe 
>are married.  I asked if they wanted to sell the house and they said they 
>do not know what they are goign to do with the house.  Please pray for 
>whatever God has for us.
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Vicki and The Rors
>   To: [log in to unmask]
>   Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 1:24 PM
>   Subject: Re: Attention Phil, (I've read it)
>
>
>   Thanks for sharing your article with us Kathy.
>
>   Vicki
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: Kathy Du Bois
>     To: [log in to unmask]
>     Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 9:28 AM
>     Subject: [ECHURCH-USA] Attention Phil, (I've read it)
>
>
>     Hi Phil,
>             Okay, being afraid that I would not get around to it, after 
>writing my last post, I went right to your site and read what you have 
>written on the subject of tithing.  Truthfully, I believe that you and I 
>are on the same page even though we have come to that place from different 
>directions.
>             I've never experience the fear base preaching on tithing that 
>you speak about.  As I was reading, I just couldn't help but think how sad 
>it must be to feel like God is demanding ten percent out of your wallet or 
>else lightning will strike.  I have always been taught that it needed to be 
>done in love and thankfulness, otherwise, don't bother because God doesn't 
>want what you want to give with a stingy attitude.  In other words, if it 
>couldn't be given in love, then, it wasn't really given.    I wonder if 
>this may be part of the reason that you experienced so much blessing when 
>you quit tithing because Christ was celebrating with you that you 
>understood fully that you are truly free in Him.
>             Now I understand why you say what you do about tithing.  It 
>must be freeing to be rid of that fear and sence that what God truly is 
>after is attitude.  That's another whole line of thinking that is taught in 
>the old Testament, that isn't preached on very well.  Samuel told Saul that 
>to obey is better than sacrifice and David says that a contrite heart is 
>what God truly desires.  Giving to God must b a heart matter and not a rule 
>of thumb.
>             Who as a parent wants to receive a gift from their child 
>because the child "has too."  That isn't love and true love casts out fear. 
>  Giving out of fear is not love.
>             I do want to share with you an article that, interestingly 
>enough, I wrote last month for our church newsletter that is on the same 
>subject.  Our church had a pledge campaign, for the first time this year.  
>Now, in asking for pledges, we did not ask for any certain amount of 
>anyones income.  If people pledged 2 percent or ten, we have no way of 
>knowing and that is really between the individual and God.  We have been 
>making unrealistic budgets, however, lately, and the hope was that if 
>people gave some thought to their giving so that we could do a better job 
>of planning financially, as a church, that would make the church a better 
>steward of its resources as well.
>             The idea of actually thinking about what you will give, is a 
>new idea to some of our people.  Some individuals were offended, but they 
>are also the ones who dig through their purse, during the sermon to find 
>what loose change they can to stick in an envelope and put in the offering 
>plate as it goes bye.  I know this because I can't help but hear it going 
>on behind me.  That's what I was meaning about spiritually immature, in my 
>other post.
>             My article was an attempt to get at the point that it is an 
>attitude of the heart to want to give to God.  Yes, I mention that Greg and 
>I tithe.  WE love to do so.  For us, this is a base.  If we can give more, 
>we love too.  Last year, when Greg was doing extra work at the post office, 
>we had an absolute blast giving a lot away to bless others.  To be 
>truthful, I kind of miss that ability right now, but I know that the Lord 
>knows our heart and that's what He truly cares about.  Anyway, I thought 
>that I'd just share it.  It will be interesting to see your response.
>     God bless,
>     Kathy
>
>
>      My Story of Giving
>     By Kathy Du Bois
>
>
>
>             We have always at least tithed.  I was taught about the 
>importance of giving to the Lord as a child.  When Greg and I began our 
>married life together twenty-five years ago, we decided, from the start, 
>that we would tithe.  I never had a sense of obligation about tithing.  I 
>always saw it as a privilege, an amazing fact that I could actually live on 
>only 90% of our income and give 10% away.  When you think about it, that is 
>just an incredible concept that I don't have to live on all I make: rather, 
>I have been blessed and I can enjoy sharing that blessing with others.  
>When you consider that, truthfully, it all comes from Him in the first 
>place, giving back 10% or more, really isn't doing much.  The trick is, 
>never depending upon that 10% to begin with, but rather, making it a matter 
>of the heart that you can do with less.
>     I can remember, about twenty years ago, seeing a TV evangelist use the 
>illustration of a big shovel and a little shovel.  In fact, if you sent 
>money to his ministry to support his work for God, you could receive a 
>replica of a big shovel and a little shovel, on a key chain to remind you 
>that what you are giving financially, is nothing compared to what God will 
>give back to you.  I think that the idea was that if you give to God, he 
>will bless you with tons of money, so don't hold back.
>     That, however, has not been our experience.  We started giving because 
>we love the Lord and we wanted to have lives centered in his will. We 
>weren't concerned that God would, Pay us back, so to speak.  Why should He, 
>if we truly believed that it was His to give in the first place.
>       We have not been blessed with worldly wealth, as many of you know.  
>I can remember Christmas's when we shopped at GoodWill to have presents for 
>our children.  I can remember many Christmas's when there was nothing under 
>the tree for Greg and myself.  There were times when we were almost 
>penniless.  Once, when Greg and I were both out of work and Matt was around 
>six months old, we used our collection of pennies, about $25, to buy food. 
>There were times when I'll admit, I worried, and complained.  I read Psalm 
>37 on a daily basis and I clung to the promises in those words, "I have 
>never seen the righteous forsaken," but we still tithed to the Lord out of 
>what we had.
>       I suppose that to many of you, this doesn't make sense and, to be 
>truthful, if you are  someone who only views money from a worldly 
>perspective, I can't really explain it.  There were times when I, 
>especially, was tempted to hold back, but we gave, and trusted God, and we 
>always got through the tough places.
>     You see, while it is true that God has not blessed us with great 
>financial gain, what He has given us is Himself.  I wish that I could help 
>you see how much more valuable that is than any vast number in a bank 
>account.  We've learned about God's faithfulness through trying times.  
>We've learned the importance of depending upon Him for everything.  We've 
>learned the value of going on our knees to seek His will before making any 
>decision.  What should we do with the car?  Should we junk it or repair it? 
>  Where should our children be educated?  How should we deal with a 
>difficult teen?  We have learned that nothing is too small and no need is 
>too great, to be placed before our heavenly Father in prayer.  In poverty 
>we have learned how to walk with God and in earthly struggles, we have 
>learned how to depend upon Him.  How can you use a shovel to illustrate the 
>presence of God Himself in your daily life?  No shovel is big enough to 
>demonstrate what we have truly been given in return.
>     My God shall supply all your needs, becomes three-dimensional when you 
>live this way.  I do have to admit that God and I have different views on 
>the idea of, "NEED" from time to time, but He remains patient as He 
>conforms my way of seeing to His, and, He's always right, and, He always 
>gets us through.
>     There have been the times when giving has felt as though it required 
>sacrificing.  When we still lived in Michigan, we cancelled our membership 
>at the Y. M. C. A. so that we would have the money to continue sponsoring a 
>child through the ministry known as Compassion International.  We found a 
>double stroller at a garage sale and took up walking instead.  The blessing 
>there was that we were able to continue to support a child, I believe that 
>the one that we were sponsoring at the time was from Haiti.  Later, 
>Compassion began a program in which it helped some of its sponsors to write 
>wills or living trusts, for free, something that we had neglected up to 
>that point.  We took advantage of the offer, and took a step toward better 
>securing our family's future.   God guided us all the way and while I 
>missed swimming, and still do, we gained some things too; an hour of family 
>time a day, fresh air and exercise on our walks, and financial guidance and 
>wisdom.  It doesn't always work like that, but it does demonstrate how His 
>ways are higher than our ways, if we will just submit our ways to Him.
>     I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous about this upcoming year.  
>We've learned that our mortgage will be going up considerably.  Liz may 
>need braces for medical reasons, on her teeth and insurance may not help 
>much.  Our car is a constant concern because it is older and gets a lot of 
>wear and tear.  Greg will be working much less at the post office this 
>year, which is good because he will have more time to devote to ministering 
>to you, but it will mean a cut in our income.  Yet, we will continue to at 
>least tithe.  Not because we have to, but because we love too.  It's so 
>little compared with all that Christ has given us.
>     As I live, I have two main prayers for my personal life.  The first is 
>that I will always do my best to be generous to others.  This is the heart 
>of God at work in my life. I pray that we can be able to give more than a 
>tithe to continue to help God's church and those in need.  The second is 
>that, if I am given a choice between my life and my Lord, that I will 
>choose Him over myself.  Then I will know that I have truly lived well and 
>that He will say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter 
>into my rest."
>     I would just like to ask this, why do people hang on to all of their 
>earthly things so dearly? When they are gone, those things will go to 
>others if they are not broken or used up before that.
>     Life is the only investment that we can truly take with us. Even if 
>our earthly possessions were thrown into the coffin with us, they would do 
>us no good in the after life. Let's give of our time, our talent, our 
>effort, and our finances to what really matters: eternity, and the 
>salvation of others. That is the one blessing that we will never regret 
>forever.
>
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