Quote:
Originally Posted by CAD/JPY
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So what exactly should a modern day christian practice in respect to giving?
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You have to do what you think is best for you and your family.
There are two extremes, both of which can be right for some and not for others.
We can give the first cake to the man of God like the widow in
1 Kings 17:8-16. Here a widow only had enough meal to make bread for her and her son but the prophet demanded she make him a loaf first. When she exhausted her supply to put God first, He multiplied her meal and it lasted as long as she needed it.
The second would be a combination of
1 Timothy 5:8 and
Mark 7:9-13. Paul told Timothy that if a person did not provide for his family he had denied the faith and was worse than an infidel. In the Mark passage Jesus told them that they were disobeying God's laws by keeping their tradition. One of the examples was neglecting the care of their families because they would have to take money that was designated as "God's money" to do it.
So, we can take money which would be used for care and feeding of our children or owed to creditors and give it to the church and trust God to multiply what's left, or write checks to the church when there is not enough money in our checking and trust God to put enough in there to cover the check when it clears. That's option one and some would call that seeking first the kingdom according to
Matthew 6:33.
Or, we can make sure our kids are fed and clothed and the utilities are paid and there is a roof over their heads and let the money designated for "church" move down the priority list.
Hybrid Mode
