tithing
Tithing is something we all know we should do and something that the majority of us seem to be really bad or inconsistent at applying in our own lives. Particularly in the domain of money.
God has been teaching me a lesson in this area recently. A few years ago, tithing was something that I did happily. But ever since I bought a house, my tithe has diminished. It’s not that I was struggling with money or anything, but I was shocked and worried by the number of bills and expenses that I had to pay in relation to my house. Furthermore, I still wanted to regularly put money into a savings account. So, when I examined my finances, my regular giving to church was one of the first things axed.
I still gave, but it wasn’t a tithe. And that is the wrong attitude. And the Holy Spirit convicted me of that in a recent sermon by JD on tithing. After that sermon I determined to tithe again. I worked out what I need to give based on my gross monthly salary, took off what I already gave to Tearfund each month, then divided by the number of Sundays until my next pay cheque. Very systematic, eh?
But this post isn’t about trying to acquire praise for my regained love of giving to the church or my systematic approach to it. No, I want you to see what I see now. I can see that God loves me and that He is with me every day and that he’s even interested in the mundane areas of my life… as I gave more to Him, He was working to give more to me. Awesome!
Don’t believe me? Well, just yesterday I got a letter from my employer saying that due to a realignment of the company’s pay bands I was getting an increase in my salary. Totally out of the blue but strangely coincidental, eh?
God is good!
capital punishment : ok?
I was reading Leviticus tonight and came across something that startled me.
If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death.
(Leviticus 24:17, NIV) The same sentiment occurs a few verses later in Chapter 24.
Now take a look at the following:
Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
Now, the idea being portrayed here (if the Hebrew is read) is a premeditated and malicious act – the deliberate murder of another human being. This is not the same as manslaughter (see Exodus 21:13).
So, my question: is God legislating capital punishment in the case of premeditated murder? I’ve always thought capital punishment was wrong. I guess my reason was that who are we to play god with someone’s life. But in the verses above, has God already told us to go ahead?
If God is not legislating for capital punishment, why not? And how can we say that some (social) OT laws don’t apply and some do?
red letters
In some Bibles, why are only Jesus’ words in red letters? Why aren’t God’s words to Moses, for example?
