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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Episode 4 :: Question 4 on Tithes, Offerings, and Seeds

11:56 PM | Posted by St. Burnish | Edit Post
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Question 4 – Christopher (United Arab Emirates): Dear Pastor Chris, I praise and thank God for this media. Kindly teach us about tithe, offering and seed. Is it compulsory to tithe only to the Church we belong to, or can we send our tithe to other ministries in other parts of the country? Thanks.

Answer 4: Now, we actually also have lots of materials on these subjects. It will take me a lot more than the little time we have to discuss this. But, let me read something to you because of the peculiarity of your question. 1st Corinthians chapter 4 and I’ll be reading to you two verses, but before that, let me remind you of your question. You said, “Kindly teach us about tithe, offering and seed.” Now the tithe is one-tenth of all what God blesses you with continually. All your income, all your increase, as you receive, a tithe of it [which is the tenth part of it] belongs to God. Now, he didn’t say give it if it’s convenient; he has laid a claim to it. He says it belongs to him, simply put. The other one you said is offering. Now, among offerings, there are different kinds. You have a free-will offering and then you have a first fruit offering. Now, the first fruit offering is different from the tithe. The scriptures show us that. Some people think they are the same [but] they are not. Well, the free-will offering is the one you choose to give anytime, and it’s up to you. The tithe is not up to you; it belongs to God. The first fruit belongs to God, but your free-will offering is up to you. You choose; you decide when you want to give it and how you are going to give it and how much you are going to give. And then the seed is also up to you, but you see, in all of these, we must always recognize the leading of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit can always and should always guide us, lead us and tell us what to do, even how much to give. You know a lot of times we just give as we choose, but the greater blessings will come when you are able to listen to the Holy Spirit telling you what to do. And that particularly applies to the seed. Many times we want to sow a seed for a reason. A seed is that which you give because of the harvest that you want, a specific harvest that you want. And that’s why the Bible talks about seed giving.

Now the other question “Is it compulsory to tithe only to the Church we belong, or can we send our tithe to other ministries in other parts of the country?” No, you cannot send your tithes to other ministries. You can send your offerings if you want to. You can give whatever seed you want through other ministries, but the tithe should be given to the ministry in which you function. Remember, when you belong to a ministry, you don’t just go there to listen to the Word of God and go away; you should participate. You should become a responsible member - you have a duty. Now, let me read this to you in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 from verse 15, it says, “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. [1 Corinthians 4:15-16]” Did you hear that? That’s what Paul said. He says, even though you got ten thousands instructors in Christ, you got a lot of preachers in town, in the city. You got preachers here and there; you got them on television or the internet, "it doesn’t matter," he says, "though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ" [he didn’t say anything was wrong with them. They are all in Christ. These are all instructors, these are preachers, these are teachers.], he says, "but you cannot and you don’t have many fathers." Then it says here in the 16th verse, well the latter part of the 15th verse, he says, “for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” So, he is saying, I’ve bought you up through the word. This is the word that has made you; this is the word that has strengthened you. I’ve brought forth that word to you. Then in 16th verse, he says “wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” That’s plain. That’s what Paul said. And if you study the whole subject, the whole chapter, you’d notice he was looking at the relationship between himself and the other ministers, and the certain things that had happened. There were some challenges; you’d look at all of that there. So, it is inappropriate for you to send your tithe. The tithe is actually what shows your partnership in that ministry, because here is your income and the tithe is part of that income that belongs to God and you are expected to give it continually. And you know, when anything happens to you, those who are interceding for you and praying for you and caring for you are not those who you’ll listening to on the television or those around the city. It’s those who know you; it’s those with whom you fellowship with. It’s the ministry where you belong. These are the ones that actually care. Nobody can care for you through the screen. You see, caring for you has a human touch to it. And that’s why the pastoral ministry is very, very important. Alright, so Christopher, I hope you got that.


Watch the full episode 4 [June 16, 2009] video here!
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

yay iam going to nigeria
on 2011

November 6, 2010 at 12:17 AM
Anonymous said...

am prince from ghana, i am commited to paying mine tithes,but i like to know if i should tithe on my gross or net salary? Thank you.

June 26, 2011 at 10:35 AM

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