Feast PICC Talk Series: Talk 3 - Tips vs. Tithes 022612

This is Part 3 of my blog posts about the Feast PICC Overflow Talk Series. If you were not able to read my previous posts, please click these links: Talk 1 and Talk 2.

Malachi 3:10

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me on this, "says the Lord Almighty," and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Talk 3 is about Tithing. Bro. Bo described Tithe as a starting point of grateful giving. It is like a training wheels of a children bicycle. We need to start with this training wheels before we can go on our own. In the beginning, GOD gave us everything we need and He is only asking for 10%.

Bro. Bo simplified the Topic by telling a story about a beggar and a rich man. Once there was a Beggar who met a Rich Man. The beggar asked for money but the rich man didn't want to just give him money, instead he made an agreement with the beggar that he will give the beggar products to sell and a place where he can sell the product. The beggar can't believe this great blessing and agreed with the rich man to meet after 30days. He only needs to give 10% of the sales to the rich man. The beggar had a good sale and after 30 days he was still awed with the huge money on his hand. While trying to set aside the 10% for the rich man, a part of him felt that it is not fair to give the 10% to the Rich Man because he did all the hard work and he didn't even see the rich man in the past 30 days. 

We are compared to this beggar. And the rich man is God. God asked for only 10% but sometimes we feel that it was not fair to give 10% to God because we did all the hard work. But the truth is, everything we have is from him.

Many people thought that Tithing was an Old Testament thing. But Bro. Bo explained that it is never omitted in the New Testament. The Old Testament says 10% and The New Testament says: give based on how grateful you are.

Malachi 3:9
Dare a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me! And you say, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and in offerings!

The Bible verse above also said that we are robbing God if we don't give our tithes. God is encouraging us to give. Give More so that we may Receive More. Let us allow the flow of blessing because by this, we also allow the flow of generosity.

Tithing is similar to breathing. If we inhale, we have to exhale. If we eat, we need to defecate.

Bro. Bo also sited the difference of the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and Dead Sea. Life is about giving. Life is present to the Sea of Galilee and Jordan River because they are giving. Sea of Galilee gives water to Jordan Riven while Jordan River gives Water to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea gives water to no one. This is the reason why no life is seen in the Dead sea.

God encourages us to give big. Be the Best Giver. Not for us but for God because we have a Big and Generous God. 

Bro. Bo also tries to answer three of the most commonly asked questions:

1. Where should we give our Tithes?

It should be given to the community that nourishes us that it may also nourish more people.

2. Should our Tithe be based on Gross or Net?

We need to decide whether we want our blessing to be based on our Gross or Net.

3. Can the financial help we give to our relatives be considered tithes?

No. These are alms.

To summarize, Tithing is a discipline God gave us to test our generosity. The more we empty ourselves, the more we opened ourselves to God's blessings. 

May God continue to shower us with blessings as we learn to give more than 10% of what truly belongs to Him.