babyosisi:
To any Christians especially those attending mega churches,look around you,there is a woman somewhere beside you,perhaps a widow struggling to raise up her children and put food on the table and a roof over her head.Those thousands you would have given the pastor that has two Mercedes Benz and two hummers with a mansion and trips to the USA,give it to that woman,I promise you God will honor that benevolence.
the Bible is replete with ministering to the needy,the orphans and the widows and calls it pure religion and undefiled.
How many times has the pastors preached on this?
That is what God requires of us
It is the responsibility of the Church to take care of these ones not foolishly enrich men of God

frosbel:
There is a new gimmick being used by so called Pastors to cheat their sheople into parting with an even greater amount than the 10% obligatory Tithe.

They tend to agree that Tithe is not commanded anywhere in the bible and use the argument that we are now under a higher grace where GOD owns 100%. By inference, if God owns 100% we should give more than 10% to the church and in some cases even empty our bank accounts or pockets into the coffers of the church.

This new concept still expects you to part with your hard earned cash to a Pastor in even greater amounts. It also still expects you to believe God will meet your needs by faith when you would have sent in your last dime to the detriment of your own needs. Though this one is not mentioned in writing, it also expects that you give expecting nothing in return, i.e do not expect the church to help you when you face hardships in your own life.

This is an even greater evil and a diabolical attempt to impoverish the children of GOD even more by these hardened wicked charlatans.

While I agree that God owns 100% , it is not for a Pastor to tell us how much to give or how much to spend. It is our responsibility to decide out of a good conscience what to use the money for and to use scripture as a basis for our actions.

Our first responsibility is to our wife and children and then parents, siblings, poor church members etc. After all the bible says ;
"Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." - 1 Timothy 5:8

Our second responsibility is to the poor around us especially those of the household of faith and orphans , widows etc.

"So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." - Galatians 6:10

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." - James 1:27

Flee from these thieves masquerading as men of God. Do not give them a penny, if they cannot work with their hands then let them starve to death.

End of early morning rant.

Disclaimer : True workers in the vineyard still need to be intermittently supported if and when required.

babyosisi:


I didn't hear a single preaching or read a single write up against tithes written by anybody before coming to my conclusions
The same way no one preached to convince me that I needed salvation.God put the conviction in my heart and without a preacher I knelt beside my bed and gave my life to CHrist got a Bible and sought out a BIble believing fellowship to grow,I was 17 at the time.

I took up a study on tithes in the year 2000 and what I saw out of the pages of the Bible shocked me
I turned to my husband and told him tithes as preached in the churches were very unbiblical and he thought I had acquired heresies.
I began to show him what the bible says about tithes
What could be tithed
Who should tithe
Who the tithes were given to
The different types of tithes and what the people did with them including a type of tithe that was eaten by all that brought it
I literally jumped out of bed after reading all this
The only person I shared this with was my husband who still believes in tithing till this day
From that day on,I felt no need for tithes and when I heAr pastors read out about people being cursed with a curse,I shake my head
it takes a personal revelation to know this
I don't discuss it with people much because the bible talks about wisdom
I only tell whoever is in doubt to set aside everything the pastor ever said,use a Bible concordance and study everything on tithing and tithes in their own home.
It is written in black and white in the scriptures
If after reading it and you are still convinced,by all means pay your tithes
I give as The Lord has blessed me and as he leads me to give both to individuals and to the church
Sometimes I give to struggling ministers and struggling individuals more than my home Church and I am at peace with it
My passion right now is for widows and fatherless.i will give $1000 of my hard earned money for that course before giving it to any jet riding pastor.

Ilovenigeria:
Babyosisi always making sense whenever she is in a good mood.

babyosisi:
Frosbel,another scam that is catching on like wild fire is the first fruit scam
There are pastors who now scare their followers into surrendering the whole of their January salary every year as first fruit
And we wonder why we hear all these atrocities by so called pastors
Most of them are scam artists using the name of the Lord to defraud naive people
Imagine a whole congregation surrendering 100% of their January salary to one man and his wife and then 10% the rest of the year

Plus offerings o,you give 10% plus offering!they will tell you that
Church building fund
Benevolence fund
Pastors appreciation fund
Missions funds
Sowing seed
Pledges upon pledges

Daylight robbery in the name of God

StarBoard:
@frosbel,
thanks for the heads up.

The underlying theme of these ravenous scavengers is to make you part with your cash against what the scripture says.
10% or whatever, these lazy bums are not going to give up.

I still think the 10% message is still in full force.

My sister told me of this pastor who was telling his congregation of someone who died and went to hell and saw christians who didnt pay their tithe there

THE ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS

The ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS are those who believed that towards the time of the end all nations of the world will run into the house of God to seek the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and we must build a house to accommodate them. This group of people pledged to contribute whatever they can afford to enable the Church Of The Lord build a new Auditorium to the glory of God. However, the Online Nehemiah Builders have pledged to contribute minimum of N125,000 or $750 equivalent ONLINE every month for the next 8 months starting from 15th JANUARY, 2014. In all we are looking for 3,000 people of God who share in this vision and who believed in this course to the glory of the Almighty God. However based on commitment expressed by a number of our beloved brethren we have agreed together to extend our pledges to 20 months with additional 12 months. Those who are joining us afresh can join us and continue with us for the next 12 months
CHANGING YOUR PLEDGES FROM 8 MONTHS TO 20 MONTHS

Those who have pledged before can login to their Profile account with their NB Code and password, then CLICK on DONATE menu page then change NUMBER OF MONTHS from 8 to 20 from that page.
OLD NEHEMIAH BUILDERS

Those that have joined us before are kindly requested to login into their Nehemiah Builders profile to upload their passport photographs which we want to use to print their Nehemiah Builder’s card to be endorsed by our General Overseer. Those who are registering afresh should please load their passport photograph too. The Nehemiah Builder’s gold card will be printed for those who have completed their pledges for between 8 – 12 months period and a platinum card for those who complete their 20 months pledges. The cards will enable you to access the NEW AUDITORIUM effortlessly.

If we were able to meet the 3,000 registered members who fulfilled their pledges unto the Lord at the end of the 20th month this 3,000 RCCG ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS will be hosted during the next convention or at a time fixed by our Daddy in the Lord at Redemption Camp. For those who cannot come they will participate live through WEBINAR services. Not only that the team names will be printed and carefully engrafted and delivered to Daddy GO on the day of our first service in the New Auditorium , the whole world will pray for them and their names will be published on stones placed within the IT Plaza in Redemption camp for public access.
HOW TO REGISTER & MAKE YOUR CONTRIBUTION

Whether you are a member of the ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS or not you can still make your contribution online or by cash towards the New Auditorium by following the instruction below:

I am willing to make a minimum contribution of N125, 000 or $750 equivalent in USD every month means I am joining ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS. Therefore, click on NEHEMIAH BUILDERS and register normally and make your first payment. For you to save your details your payment must be equal to or greater than =N=125,000 or $750 equivalent. After then the system will display your ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS membership code i.e. RCCGONB00001 & this code will be sent to your email and to your mobile phone as text. When next you want to make your payment you don’t need to register again just go to www.rccg.org then click on ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS, then click on SIGN IN, then enter your membership code and your mobile phone number as password, you can then make payment again until you complete the 8th payment on your schedule. You can click on payment details to see how many payments you have made. For those who want to pay cash, you have to register first, and then obtain your ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS code. You will then take this code to any branch of Zenith Bank and pay cash. Please note that you must go there with your ONLINE NEHEMIAH BUILDERS CODE for the payment to appear under your name.
https://trccg.org/nb/about.php

RCCG and FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING

REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD

PAYMENT OF FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING: SECRET OF OVERWHELMING BLESSING



TEXT: Proverbs 3:9-10; Romans 11:16, Leviticus 23:10.

Proverbs 3:9 says Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the FIRSTFRUITS of all thine increase: Verse 10 says So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Rom.11:16 says for if the FIRSTFRUITS be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Leviticus 23:10 says “When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest,” Leviticus 23:10. It is to be set apart as holy unto God!



Opening Prayer:

Oh Lord our God, the bible says you had been our dwelling place from generation past. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou have formed the earth, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. For this reason we give you thanks and praises, we honor your Holy name and we say thank you because you do always opens our ears to ear the truth in your word and to see the blessings inherent in it. Today Father please open our ears to hear again and our eyes to see the secrets of overwhelming blessings in your word and help us to be diligent enough to do accordingly in Jesus name we pray. Amen.



INTRODUCTION

The Bible is replete with virtually inexhaustible provisions for Man’s comfort here on earth and in eternity. The oldest singular limitation is Man’s refusal to simply obey the WORD of GOD. 3 John 2 for instance reaffirmed God’s persistent intention and plan for man: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prosperity. However, God not wanting to appear to man as a Dictator, grants man the freewill to enjoy virtually endless benefits ONLY on the condition of total obedience, to the giver of these benefits -The Almighty GOD.



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING

God instructed Moses to expose the secret of overwhelming blessings to His chosen Nation of Israel. Moses obeyed God by stating the conditions precedent to man enjoying God’s overwhelming blessings. In the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, Moses stated the significance of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING, in not less than thirteen (13) occasions.



Exodus 23:19 stipulates strict obedience to giving of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING. He repeated this again in Exodus 34:26. To remove any ambiguity on the significance of FIRSTFRUIT, God expressly instructed Moses again in Leviticus 23:10 that the euphoria of victory and celebration of wonderful accomplishment must not be allowed to obliterate compliance with His instruction on FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING.



For brevity, let us itemize important points to note on FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING:



FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING must be taken to God’s house (Exodus 23:19; 34:26);
The FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING must be delivered to the Priest of the Nation (Lev.23:10; Numbers 18:42) otherwise known as the High Priest as at then in Israel (Numbers 3:32);
The FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING shall apply to all a man engages in for livelihood (Deuteronomy 18:4);
The giving of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING must be accompanied with worship (Deuteronomy 26:10);
It must be offered once and during each cycle of harvest, which was yearly in biblical time (Nehemiah 10:35). It must however be noted that in situations of multiple planting seasons within one year, FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING becomes due after each harvest exercise;
The FIRSTFRUIT is the exclusive preserve of the one considered the Nation’s Man of God (II Kings 4:42); and
The FIRSTFRUIT in Hebrew is “bikkurim” and literally means “promise to come.” And there is ONE who never breaks His promise – God! That is why the truth behind this “promise to come” in God’s Word is so powerful. Though long overlooked by many, this divine establishment of God’s order of things is actually the root that governs the rest. When you KEEP FIRST THINGS FIRST through faith and obedience, you turn God’s promise into provision… ABUNDANT PROVISION! The giving of FIRSTFRUIT must be done promptly along with payment of tithe ( II Chronicles 31:5).



OVERWHELMING BLESSINGS OF GOD



Givers of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING enjoy God’s comprehensive insurance. Jeremiah 2:3 says God issues automatic judgment on whoever or whatsoever attempts to devour givers of FIRSTFRUIT
Isaiah 61:7, “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.”
God can be called upon to specially favor the giver of FIRSTFRUIT (Nehemiah 13:31);
The Old Testament text: Proverbs 3:9-10, state clearly that in addition to God honoring the giver of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING, the giver also enjoys overflowing blessings from the Almighty God;
The Old Testament text further implies that the honor rendered unto God by the giver of FIRSTFRUITS automatically attracts greater dimension of honor from GOD (I Sam 2:30b).
FIRSTFRUITS are giving the first portion to GOD. Romans 11:16 says, “If the part of a dough offered as FIRSTFRUITS is HOLY, then the whole batch is HOLY; if the root is HOLY, so are the branches”. Giving the first portion of your finances to God will cause all of your finances for the rest of the year to be HOLY. FIRSTFRUITS causes God to treat your finances as HOLY giving you favor with GOD because your finances are connected to the FIRST FRUIT OFFERING.
Ezekiel 44:30 “The first of all FIRSTFRUITS of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests: you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house.” FIRSTFRUITS impart a blessing on your home. Many times a financial blessing is not our main need or concern. Having a blessing on your home positions you to have healing in your physical, spiritual and emotional need for you and your family. When you give FIRSTFRUITS not only do you benefit but your saved and unsaved loved ones do also.



CONCLUSION

God’s intention is that Man lives a life of true dominion, comfort and overwhelming blessings. However, realizing this divine desire depends on Man’s prompt, total and consistent obedience to God’s instructions, one of which is giving of FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING.

Go to www.rccg.org for frequently asked questions on FIRSTFRUITS OFFERING in RCCG.



In the Redeemed Christian Church Of God, all FIRSTFRUITS OFFERINGS goes to the RCCG National Account and report presented to our General Overseer with which he pronounced blessings directly on all the FIRSTFRUIT OFFERINGs and on the giver. Since it is meant for the High Priest why not send it directly through the RCCG ONLINE GIVINGs? Now if you want to pay your FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING kindly click on the link below and your FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING will be acknowledged by the Office of The General Overseer thereafter.

nora544:


Adeboyes newest scam!

nora544:


scam about first fruit this man is realy a devil in sheep clothes

frosbel:


Now I can confirm this man is a BIG THIEF !!

PastorKun seemed to know this before most of us on this forum.

frosbel:
Pastors are planning a major robbery in the churches this January.

There are certain months of the year referred to as the “ember” months. These comprise those months which, in the English language, end with “ember.” They are September, October, November and December. You will notice already that, strictly-speaking, October does not fit the bill; otherwise it would have been called “Octoember.” But never mind, it is still included in the “ember” months.

One thing however is without controversy about these last four months of the year. In those months, there is a definite change of emphasis in the messages preached by many pastors.


Thieves and robbers

In the “ember” months, pastors start to preach about “first-fruits,” laying down the foundation for a major robbery routinely planned for the month of January. In our selective use of Old Testament scriptures, we start to remind church-members that the first-fruits of every harvest must be given to us.

Never mind that in the New Testament, the harvest is now the harvest of souls and believers themselves are the first-fruits. Never mind that even in the Old Testament, God was only interested in agricultural products. Today, all that pastors are interested in now is money, money, money; for “money answers all things.”

If we teach this “godliness” as effectively as we should, we can make all the money we need for the year between February and March. The first-fruits scam requires all church-goers to hand over to us, their pastors, not just a tenth, but their entire January salaries. It used to be the case that the first-fruits were defined as a Christian’s first salary after leaving school and securing gainful employment. But some of us soon realised that this only gives us the right to a man’s entire salary once in a lifetime. So we have become more ingenious in coming up with new, more financially lucrative, biblical revelations. Many pastors now insist that since the January salary is the first salary in the year, legally it falls under the definition of first-fruits.

Just do the math. Imagine a situation where the pastor gets the January salary not only from twelve members of his congregation, but from all of them. Depending on the size of his church, he can get in one bonanza enough money to last him a lifetime. Is it any wonder, therefore, that pastors are very zealous in preaching about first-fruits in the “ember” months?

Many even refuse to be limited to their churches. Turn onto Christian television such as the Trinity Broadcasting Network in the “ember” months, and you are likely to find Paula White and Steve Munsey extolling the blessings of giving first-fruits. Of course, the first-fruits must be sent to them and to no one else.


Sour grapes

Kingsley Akenzua told me a story pregnant with meaning. In one of Nigeria’s big churches with a large branch-network, the pastors were making a killing collecting first-fruits. But one of them used the money to put up a church building. This went a long way to endear him to his congregants. Members of the other parishes started comparing him favourably to the other pastors who had nothing to show for the first-fruits they collected. Those pastors became concerned that the pastor who put up the building would soon bring the entire first-fruits scam into disrepute. So they decided to take “appropriate” action.

They reported the “erring” pastor to the General Overseer of the church. His transgression was that he put up an entire church building single-handedly. So doing, they claimed, he was being greedy. He was determined to monopolise the spiritual blessings that come from putting up the building. He prevented others from getting blessed by not taking contributions from them. The General Overseer wondered where he got the money to erect the entire building by himself. So they told him the money came from the first-fruits he collected from his church-members.


Comeuppance

The General Overseer became even more curious. Just how much first-fruits were the pastors under him collecting? He decided to investigate. When he did, he was astonished at the sums involved. It was unthinkable that such lucrative business was taking place in his church without due consideration for his position. The General Overseer fired a memo to all the parishes under him: henceforth, all first-fruits collected must be forwarded intact to headquarters.

However, his memo did not exactly have the desired effect. Thereafter, the pastors in that particular church noticeably lost interest in preaching about first-fruits in the “ember” months.

http://www.femiaribisala.com/christian-news/13-articles-of-faith/pastors/9-fleecing-flock

frosbel:
Pastors are planning a major robbery in the churches this January.

There are certain months of the year referred to as the “ember” months. These comprise those months which, in the English language, end with “ember.” They are September, October, November and December. You will notice already that, strictly-speaking, October does not fit the bill; otherwise it would have been called “Octoember.” But never mind, it is still included in the “ember” months.

One thing however is without controversy about these last four months of the year. In those months, there is a definite change of emphasis in the messages preached by many pastors.


Thieves and robbers

In the “ember” months, pastors start to preach about “first-fruits,” laying down the foundation for a major robbery routinely planned for the month of January. In our selective use of Old Testament scriptures, we start to remind church-members that the first-fruits of every harvest must be given to us.

Never mind that in the New Testament, the harvest is now the harvest of souls and believers themselves are the first-fruits. Never mind that even in the Old Testament, God was only interested in agricultural products. Today, all that pastors are interested in now is money, money, money; for “money answers all things.”

If we teach this “godliness” as effectively as we should, we can make all the money we need for the year between February and March. The first-fruits scam requires all church-goers to hand over to us, their pastors, not just a tenth, but their entire January salaries. It used to be the case that the first-fruits were defined as a Christian’s first salary after leaving school and securing gainful employment. But some of us soon realised that this only gives us the right to a man’s entire salary once in a lifetime. So we have become more ingenious in coming up with new, more financially lucrative, biblical revelations. Many pastors now insist that since the January salary is the first salary in the year, legally it falls under the definition of first-fruits.

Just do the math. Imagine a situation where the pastor gets the January salary not only from twelve members of his congregation, but from all of them. Depending on the size of his church, he can get in one bonanza enough money to last him a lifetime. Is it any wonder, therefore, that pastors are very zealous in preaching about first-fruits in the “ember” months?

Many even refuse to be limited to their churches. Turn onto Christian television such as the Trinity Broadcasting Network in the “ember” months, and you are likely to find Paula White and Steve Munsey extolling the blessings of giving first-fruits. Of course, the first-fruits must be sent to them and to no one else.


Sour grapes

Kingsley Akenzua told me a story pregnant with meaning. In one of Nigeria’s big churches with a large branch-network, the pastors were making a killing collecting first-fruits. But one of them used the money to put up a church building. This went a long way to endear him to his congregants. Members of the other parishes started comparing him favourably to the other pastors who had nothing to show for the first-fruits they collected. Those pastors became concerned that the pastor who put up the building would soon bring the entire first-fruits scam into disrepute. So they decided to take “appropriate” action.

They reported the “erring” pastor to the General Overseer of the church. His transgression was that he put up an entire church building single-handedly. So doing, they claimed, he was being greedy. He was determined to monopolise the spiritual blessings that come from putting up the building. He prevented others from getting blessed by not taking contributions from them. The General Overseer wondered where he got the money to erect the entire building by himself. So they told him the money came from the first-fruits he collected from his church-members.


Comeuppance

The General Overseer became even more curious. Just how much first-fruits were the pastors under him collecting? He decided to investigate. When he did, he was astonished at the sums involved. It was unthinkable that such lucrative business was taking place in his church without due consideration for his position. The General Overseer fired a memo to all the parishes under him: henceforth, all first-fruits collected must be forwarded intact to headquarters.

However, his memo did not exactly have the desired effect. Thereafter, the pastors in that particular church noticeably lost interest in preaching about first-fruits in the “ember” months.

http://www.femiaribisala.com/christian-news/13-articles-of-faith/pastors/9-fleecing-flock

babyosisi:
Please can anyone tell me exactly when this first fruit thing started because I think it is a relatively new scam that is not more than 10 years old I don't recall anyone preaching this in the early or mid nineties.
This is exactly how tithing resurfaced hundreds of years after Christ and everyone kept quiet till it took roots.
First fruits is about to do same before our very eyes
What is next?
Wave and heave offerings translated to money ?

PastorKun:


Actually I only came to terms with the fact that Adeboye is a notorious rogue three or four years ago when he wrote in his "open" heavens devotional about how God would give you a hundred fold return if you sow money into the life of your high priest, he then went on to say a G.O is a high priest.
in that same write up he discouraged people from giving to the needy becos it would not attract the type of return on investment giving to a G.O would attract.