Quote:
Originally Posted by jrpreacher
Offerings and tithes are a sacrifical praise to God!
Who is the sheperd when family confilcts and misfortune arise Well this Bro. Scott is out driving trucks?
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It's more like an eldership. They don't have "positions". They don't see it as the "office of a pastor" but rather more like the "ministry of a pastor". Each small group has a couple elders that may be approached for prayer or counsel at any given time. Since each group is typically between 12 and 15 people they aren't overwhelmed.
They don't believe that tithing is NT command. They are pretty strict on that. For example, the Law demands tithing only on grain and the harvest. Nothing said about trades etc. For example, a fisherman wasn't bound to tithe under the Law. Neither was a carpenter. The tithe was directly connected to the land. In NT times the first Christians owned very little land, most were Roman slaves. They didn't "tithe" as under the Law. One reason, the Law demanded three tithes: the Levitical tithe to the Levites (the church didn't have Levites), the Temple Tithe to maintain the Temple (after the break from Judaism Christians didn't tithe to support the temple), and the Poor tithe to be stored in the Temple storehouse and to be given to the poor (Christians didn't give to the Temple storehouse, they gave directly to those in need). Christians were VERY generous when giving to those in need and when giving to support an evangelists travels. However, once on the field most Christians evangelists (including Paul) were skilled in a trade and supported themselves (for example Paul supported his ministry via tent making). The tithe wasn't required.
Bro. Scott is more of a facilitator, and the men of the fellowship operate as a team to meet the body's needs.