fr_evangel:
Amen.
Thank you sir.
You would be amazed how many friends, preachers and ministry founders who no longer tell their members to tithe or sow special seeds to "connect to their anointing".
I know a pastor that does not do any from of giving in his church. If you decide to support the work, he would accept, but it must be your decision and choice. If he teaches giving, it is about how you should help the poor, needy, fatherless, widows, and probably the church if you so which. He doesn't teach that your giving connects you to any form of "anointing" for breakthrough etc.
I have minister friends who have returned seeds to people and asked them to go share with their families and others.
One thing I know is that there is a remnant which will not bow to mammon!

In my church, after giving tithe and offering we are still told to give special offering for the needy and sometimes special offering for other evangelical works. I then begin to wonder, if the normal tithes and offerings are not used for the needy and these evangelical works what are they are used for. The only problem is that when one stands to challenge these things in the church other members who have outsourced the study of the word to their pastors will see you as a hypocrite or even an Anti-Christ.

I want to also make it clear just like some other people have said, nobody is against giving in the church but let no man or pastor make it an obligation or a command else it becomes a ritual that has no blessing attached.

There are some questions I would seriously want any tithe advocate to answer, maybe they will win me over

1. The Bible mentioned tithe about 10 times, why is it only the one of Malachi that all our pastors preach about?
2. Is it wrong for me to pay my tithe to the poor around me if and when I choose according to the commandment in Numbers and Leviticus?
3. If tithing is as important as our pastors want to make me believe(by preaching about it every sunday even more than they preach about salvation), how come Jesus didn't instruct his disciples to pay tithe but instructed them to pay tax?
4. The disciples had some form of careers that kept them and their families going, who did they pay their tithe to and who paid tithe to them?
5. There are about 1000 commandments in the old testament, from how to worship God to how to relate with others, why did we jettison all these commands but cleave to tithe and not just cleaving to it but insisting on only the tithe of Malachi chapter 3.?
6. Even if we agree to the tithe message, does the command in Malachi cancel the ones in Number and Leviticus?
7. Abraham gave his tithe willingly without any command from God, In leviticus God commanded Isrealites to pay tithe because the Levites had not inheritance. Now, on what bases are our pastors making tithe a command even though they have jobs and businesses that could sustain them and their families?

I need answers to these because that is the same way i was taught while growing up that 3 wise men came to visit Jesus only to realise that the bible did not mention the number of wise men that paid him a visit. Am also very curious because, this emphasy on tithing started with the rise of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, How come the Orthodox churches that were before us don't lay this kind of emphasy?

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...

2 Peter 2:3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago and their destruction will not be delayed.

NLT

Ruthia: dnt get it twisted, tithe s different 4rm charity giving oo, dnt say i dint tell u,

Don't tell me what your pastor said, tell me what the scripture said. Don't limit your knowledge of tithe to Mal 3:10, read passages that talked about tithe too.

For the past 2 months my tithe has always been paid to the needy around me, am waiting for anyone to prove me wrong. If you choose to pay tithe then give it to where it will be needed whether it is your church or not.

Matt 25:44-45 "Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."

talktimi: You see, sometimes i keep wondering if Amaechi is talking about this same Rivers state where person dey. He is a very funny man but now his comedy is turning pathetic, is it not this same Rivers whr people are complaining that Amaechi stopped working immediately he won 2nd term ? He talks too much and ive always said his mouth will put him in trouble one day. If people should observe very well, his fellow travellers in the G7 group hardly say anything but are fighting their cause quietly, why cant this boy of a man follow that wise path ? Many people who dont know the nearest bus parks in their states to ph have suddenly become experts in Rivers affairs just because Amaechi doesnt like their common enemy Gej isokay. Amaechi na rugged akpa man, nobody has confronted him about the ignoble role he played with his boss Odili while he served as speaker in the Rivers state HA but one day breeze go blow and fowl yansh go show, in the mean time pls complete the multi billion naira monorail to nowhere for your people make we take am snap picture

I can confidently say that Mal 3:10 is the most quoted verse in the old testament by our pentecostal pastors and one wonders why? For more than 2 years now I have never heard a mention of The Ten Commandment in my church because it is assumed that The New Testament commands takes precedence over the Old testament yet our pastors are hanging onto this singular verse in the Old Testament. There are over 1000 commands in the old Testament, why are our pastors throwing them away but insisting on this verse that benefits them and them alone? Well I have choosen to go the way of the Berean Christians, I shall search the scripture myself and I hope to be considered noble by God at the end

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

I intend to constantly invest a certain percentage of my salary on stocks for few coming years. But am confused on whether to make individual investment or go through Mutual Fund managers. I have been investing individually with my small funds before now but haven't tried mutual fund before.

Please your experiences and advice on Mutual funds in Nigeria will be greatly appreciated.

And here I was thinking Nairaland has gone beyond the era of tribal hate and bashing, can the moderator tell me what they intend to achieve with this kind of tread on the home page?

How the highly educated ACN members could be decieved by the ill logic of half-educated haramites from the north beats my imagination.

I recieved a congratulatory message from them, am now waiting for more details as they promised. Have u heard from them?

If Boko Haram have their way, this kind of news could come out of Northern Nigeria in a matter of time.

Egyptian court sentences Christian family to 15 years for converting from Islam

The 15-year prison sentence given to a woman and her seven children by an Egyptian court for converting to Christianity is a sign of things to come, according to alarmed human rights advocates who say the nation's Islamist government is bad news for Christians in the North African country.

A criminal court in the central Egyptian city of Beni Suef meted out the shocking sentence last week, according to the Arabic-language Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm. Nadia Mohamed Ali, who was raised a Christian, converted to Islam when she married Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab Mustafa, a Muslim, 23 years ago. He later died, and his widow planned to convert her family back to Christianity in order to obtain an inheritance from her family. She sought the help of others in the registration office to process new identity cards between 2004 and 2006. When the conversion came to light under the new regime, Nadia, her children and even the clerks who processed the identity cards were all sentenced to prison.

Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, said conversions like Nadia's have been common in the past, but said Egypt's new Sharia-based constitution "is a real disaster in terms of religion freedom.”

"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever." - Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice

"The cases will increase in the future," Tadros said. "It will be much harder for people to return to Christianity."

President Mohamed Morsi, who was elected last June and succeeded the secular reign of Hosni Mubarak, who is now in prison, pushed the new constitution through last year.

Tadros said the constitution limits the practice of Christianity because “religious freedom has to be understood within the boundaries of Sharia.” He added that the constitution prescribes that the highest Sunni authority should be referred to as an interpreter of the religion clause contained in the constitution.

Opponents of the constitution, including Coptic Christians and secular and liberal groups, protested at the time against passage of the document because of the mix of Islamic-based Sharia law and politics. Roughly 10 percent of Egyptians are Coptic Christians.

A government spokeswoman told FoxNews.com she would determine “who is responsible for this and covers this issue in Beni Suef,“ a city of 200,000 located about 75 miles south of Cairo. She did not offer further comment.

The case is the latest example of the increasingly dire plight of the nation's roughly 7 million Christians, say human rights advocates.

"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever," said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice. "This is another tragic case that underscores the growing problem of religious intolerance in the Muslim world. To impose a prison sentence for a family because of their Christian faith sadly reveals the true agenda of this new government: Egypt has no respect for international law or religious liberty.”

Morsi has been under fire for failing to take action against rising violence inflicted on Egypt’s Christians. In August, the roughly 100-family Christian community in Dahshour was forced to flee after Muslim neighbors launched attacks against the Christians’ homes and property. Morsi said the expulsion and violence was “ blown out of proportion.” Radical Salafi preachers -- who have formed alliances with Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood -- called for Muslims to shun Christians during Christmas.

Sekulow urged U.S. diplomatic intervention in Egypt to promote religious freedom. Morsi is scheduled to meet with President Obama, possibly in March.

”The U.S. State Department must play more of a role in discouraging this kind of persecution," Sekulow said. "The U.S. should not be an idle bystander. The U.S. provides more than $1 billion to Egypt each year. The State Department should speak out forcefully against this kind of religious persecution in Egypt.”



http://www.naijapundit.com/news/egyptian-court-sentences-christian-family-to-15-years-for-converting-from-islam

siddiq202: 12year-old given 43 strokes of cane over hijab

…MSSN calls for suspension of erring principal

Twelve-year–old and a JSS 1 student of Kadara Junior Grammar School, Ebute Metta, Lagos, Aisha Alabi was recently subjected to very horrible and inhuman treatment by the School Principal, Mrs. E.C Ukpaka, because she used hijab.

The Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) Lagos State Area Unit in a press release signed by its PRO, Sulaimon Alamutu, therefore called the attention of the state government and the entire peace-loving citizens of the state to the inhuman, unprofessional and barbaric act of the principal.

“Our findings show that Aisha wore the Hijab outside the class in the school compound when she was seen by Mrs. Ukpaka who immediately called an emergency assembly and allegedly ordered her to be beaten. The students at the assembly, we learnt, counted no less than 43 strokes of cane landing on the hapless little girl’s body!

This happened on Tuesday February 5, 2013 around some minutes to 4pm. This is quite unfortunate and unacceptable in a country where the constitution guarantees the citizens right to practice and manifest any religion of their choice without any interference from any quarter.”

If all these provisions are clearly guaranteed in the nation’s constitution, we are seriously at a loss as to why Mrs. Ukpaka, who we expected to know better and act accordingly, would deliberately and with impunity; violate the provisions of the constitution. Aside the fact that the principal brazenly violated the constitution, what if the little girl dies in the process of beating her, what excuse would she give as her reason?

This amounts to child abuse!” Mrs Ukpaka’s action demonstrates the deep hatred and disgust that most non- Muslims school principals in Lagos State have against our law abiding female members.

Hers is not the first as others had done similar thing in the past without any disciplinary action against them by the state government. In the light of this, the student body called for the immediate suspension of Mrs. Ukpaka and orders a full investigation into the matter.

“Ours is a law abiding organisation and the state government can attest to this fact. It should be noted that the leadership of the MSSN Lagos State Area Unit had had course in the past to keep its members across the state calm over recurrent abuses and discriminations against our sisters in the face of government’s indifference towards bringing to justice those maltreating them because of Hijab.

However, we must state that failure to take disciplinary action against Mrs. Ukpaka this time around would draw the anger of the entire Muslim Students’ population in the state.”

http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/12year-old-given-43-strokes-of-cane-over-hijab/

I believe this story is highly exagerated.
1. Public schools close by 2pm on week days and 1 pm on friday. How possible is it then for a Principal to see a student wearing Hijab by 4pm (after school hour)and Cane her 42 times?

2. Which emergency assembly will a school call by 4pm?

But if this story is true, the Principal got got it wrong because there could have been a better way to punish her. Let's also not forget that Hijab is not a school uniform and if such is allowed then the essence of wearing school uniform is defeated.

Nairaland is part of the problem, times and again we see countless meaningless pictures of naked "Celebrities" being fed to the public on the Frontpage. We keep idolising immorality in the name of civilisation little wonder a thread like this is still hidding in obscurity days after being created but create a thread with Tonto's naked pictures and instantly it'll hit the front page even without upto 5 comments. Fine Goldie may have lived a double life but she has contributed to the deceit of many who see her as a role model because to such people all they knew is the Goldie on media display. Am not judging her too but am sure that "we can only be remembered by what we've done".

Dishonourable Farouk Lawan

Barth Nnaji

Pardon me for breaking the rule but did you mention the state where Bakare was born innocently or is it a tacit attempt to sway voters? Am just curious.

DailyNews: What pains Prof. Achebe & the whole of Ndigbo community is not the fact that we were attacked for wanting to be free from a tribalistic set of ppl tagged a nation, but the fact that the people (Yoruba) we loved, cherished & saw as our true brothers, betrayed us & sold us to our known enemies (The Northerners).


We hardly mention Northerners cos we know them & they know us, we two are good opposites, & we know how to settle our feuds, but the Yorubas hve always betrayed Ndigbo who trust them. Igbos love Yorubas, but Yorubas are traitors by nature; they can be so cunning, & what I see Achebe trying to fore-warn Ndigbo is to always be watchful of Yorubas, to always trust them with caution.


Yorubas can sell their friend for selfish gain. Ojukwu released Awolowo from jail, Awolowo publicly agreed that South-West will secede with South-East, then he turned against Biafra on the die-minute.


The Yorubas always forget that Hausas hate them. They always love to jail their heroes- Awolowo, Abiola, Fella, Soyinka, et al. If not for Ojukwu, the Hausas would have killed Awolowo like they killed Abiola & later consoled them cunningly with OBJ whom they know too well won't ever do anything that will favor the Yorubas solely.


Yorubas if sensible enough, ought to have known their true enemies- the Northerners, but envy against Ndigbo economic progress won't ever let them stop hating Ndigbo.

You have summed it up, the Hausas are hardly mentioned in this whole issue which is likely because their positions are well known. Even David's anger was more than Achebe's own when he wrote in Psalm 55: 12-15 "For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them."

Complaining about Achebe's book gives credence to the fact that he is saying the truth. This should be the time to heal our wounds but how can that be done if the people that inflicted the wounds sees our injury as well deserved and hate to hear any mention of it? Nobody among those accusing him has come out so far to say that what he wrote is a lie, most arguments have have been based only on emotions of protecting the memory of "The Dead" at the expense of the memories of over 2million others who who were starved to death for what they knew nothing about. If we continue to insist that all is fair in war why are there RULES OF ENGAGEMENTS in warfares? why are Prisoners of war protected because one will expect all enemies to be killed? Can't we understand the difference between Genocide and Wars?

I wasn't born during the war but how can I read things like this and not be offended as an Igbo "I want see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no pope, no missionary, and no United Nations Delegation. I want to prevent even one Igbo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the center of Igbo territory, we shoot at everything even a things that don’t move”—Benjamin Adekunle

Matt 5:31-32(from THE MESSAGE BIBLE)
"Remember the Scripture that says, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights'? Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are 'legal.' Please, no more pretending. If you divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a divorced adulteress, you're automatically an adulterer yourself. You can't use legal cover to mask a moral failure."

Chrisbenogor:
I know a 34 year old virgin, its no biggie really.

Nice to know, it shows I may be inexcusable if I fail. I shared mine to help some people like the OP are about to jettison their decision.

Nice thread, at 27 the pressure is mounting it's not going to be easy but 3 or 4 more years of abstinence before marriage wouldn't be impossible to achieve by His grace. It doesn't make me any less a man but offers a greater peace of mind about my future and the relationship with my God. God forbid that I should make a shipwreck of my faith.

I hope NEMA is alive to it's responsibility in these area?

@OP I've been a passive reader but your post has drawn my attention. This is a nice opinion, I posted one of my few topics here about a month ago on Madman controlling traffic in Lagos https://www.nairaland.com/974194/madman-controls-traffic-toyota-ladipo. It got several attentions and condemnation but the guy is still there doing his thing, assuming Nairaland had a group that followed it up with appropriate authorities maybe there would'v been a better change.

Nairaland has gradually become a National phenomenon, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that GEJ and Buhari are fellow forumites

Somebody should warn them not to tamper with my infinito or...

ceeceeco: picture please.

damilola15: I was hoping to see a picture.

check the original post again

lexsals4real: sometimes this mad men u see acting like this migth b a security operatives so b careful...may God save us in this country...

That is so funny, will they set me up like Farcrouk? Remember that it is thesame location that Clifford Orji had his abode.

Danka7777:

This is one common problem inherent with some Nigerians, they jump to conclusion pretty fast and they do it smugly. This a typical example how people fail JAMB AND WAEC, they may know the solution to the problem, however because they refuse to read the problem correctly and exercise some patience to think it through, they fail woefully.

There is great possibility that he didn't even read the entire article but judged from the title.

charlsecy4:

Can't you use Paint on your system, if you have, to reduce the size of the picture?

Thanks bro, I'v reduced the size and tried using the the "browse button" to upload it but it's still not showing on NL yet. Can someone please tell me how to upload d picture here because I haven't done that before?

Whoever has witnessed this should add a voice to this, lets see if there will be a solution to this embarrasing problem. I would have uploaded his pics but its larger than 200kb which is NL max capacity.

It may sound funny to some but it should be considered absurd for every reasonable mind especially because of the location. Whoever passes through the bridge that links Oshodi Apapa Express road to the international airport road around 4pm will notice a constant hold-up on the bridge which sometimes blocks the entire expressway (opposite Ladipo spareparts market) that is usually because a madman is doing the job of LASTMA. This has been on for more than one year now and I keep wondering if the Lagos State govt is oblivious of that.

I installed an Anti-virus (Avast) yesterday and used it to scan my system but after shutting down it has refused to come up. After booting, it'll tell me to wait that it's "preparing to configure Windows, do not turn off your computer". This has been on for about 5hours now. Pls can someone tell me what to do?