sarutobie:

King James Bible
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:50
King James Bible
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.Mark 3:35

Christ made it clear that whoever does the will of God IS his brother and sister and mother..he said this after his followers told him that his mother and biological siblings wanted to see him..I then ask,why do we leave what was clearly said by the saviour we claim to follow and instead practice that which he himself expressly refuted?

King James Bible
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Matthew 22:45....this question was what Christ asked his followers when they kept referring the messiah as the "son of David" he let them know that even though he came from the lineage of David, he was and is the Lord of David and not his son..

New Living Translation
For David himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.' Mark 12:36

What exactly are you trying to say here with all that you typed? i mean are these to debunk the questions asked?

Sanchez01:

We cannot call that the standard one tenth as commanded by God. Why? Because tithes are never meant to be given to given to priests and kings, which Melchizedek doubled as. As a king, it was more of a tribute. Abraham, at every turn acknowledged he was a stranger in every land he found himself in, despite being promised to be the one to inherit the earth through his offspring. Tithes are never to man but to God.

Tithes are paid to body of Christ not pastor. Cos Abraham paid to Melchizedek, king of Salem, not born of man. He represents the order of Jesus Christ and not pastor. So tithe goes to body of christ (church) for proper utilisation not to pastor or pastors house.
Pastor are meant to be on salary and to enjoy prophetic seed from ppl who choose to saw in their life.

Sanchez01:

True, and that is because a lot of people will not just change their minds on what they have been taught from childhood till date. Again to hammer on it, why didn't Christ demonstrate it when He was able to pay tax to Caesar's government? He taught us to pray, to forgive, to give, to intercede for others and even to give towards the work of God, but never made a single teaching on tithing? As big as the New Testament is, there is not a single teaching on tithing. What does this tell us? Unfortunately, some pastors realize this but they will never preach it because it;s like preaching their very own death.

Even the concept of paying tithe in the Old Testament made it known that the Levites, the tribe from Levi are to eat and feast from the people's tithes because God commanded them not to have a land like in the inheritance of Israel every other tribe had. They had no lands, they did not farm and they did not rear cattles. So if the Levites had access to the tithes based on God's instruction, why then did Christ not preach about it in the new phase? Simple, because there are no Levites in our midst again. The Pastor who has a full time job has turned himself to a Levite despite his many landed properties and cars. He cannot preach the truth in this regard because that is his primary source of income.

And in addition to the above, tithe is meant for you and your family, fatherless, widows and levites who have no properties and inheritance as it is commanded in Deuteronomy 14:22 to the end of the chapter, not for pastors who have landed properties, cars and even schools.

Kindly read Matt 23verse 23 on what Christ said on tithe and kindly explain or interpret it. While waiting!

snailspeed:


Offerings and tithe are giving to take care of men, not God. The only kind of offering giving to God had to be burnt. God does not eat human food

Now I know who you are and where you belong. It will pay you not to delve into matters that are greater than you.

Dem don come oh!

Ubenedictus:
we was called such by d angel before d pregnacy.... Do u even read ur bible or do u just follow ur pastor?

Bobbybube:
I totally agree with your statements, but I would Like to add to two of them.
Firstly, you have rightly pointed out that church wedding is not biblical, and while I agree let me ask. After marrying traditionally (the true marriage) is it wrong to go before God, in the church with fellow brothers and sisters in christ to get wedded if only for ceremonial purposes??

Secondly, I have always known that Christmas( dec 25th) is not the true birth date of christ and has pagan origins. However, it has not stopped me from celebrating xmas. It is a special holiday that I try to enjoy especially as I have no business with its origin as long as there are no present pagan practices. Since it isnt biblical it should be left out of the church though and people should just see it as a period to let off steam and be merry. it shouldn't be taken too seriously.

@boldened: It is wrong when it is made compulsory. They go to God's presence wearing white to show they are untouched while in truth, they have been touched. That is called a bold-faced-lie in the presence of God. If they had stopped at traditional (which is the one recognised by God) it would not have been a sin, but going to God's house to lie? Moreover, the so called pastors of today made it compulsory most because of the crowd and the huge offering that will come on the day. Another problem is the fact that they esteem church wedding to the extent that people have to kill to do it because of pride. What I mean is, in a case where a lady got pregnant before marriage, she and her man will have to go and abort the pregnancy since no church will wed a pregnant woman to her man. I am not justfying intimacy before marriage, but I am saying the pride (which goes before a fall) of doing a church wedding will make them ignore God's law (that says thou shall not kill) and go into sin (abortion).

thesicilian:
t....ithing did not begin with Jacob, it began with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek the priest of the Most High. (Genesis 14:20) And we're somewhat bound to follow the acts of our great patriarch if we are to enjoy his blessings as ''seeds of Abram''

What did Abraham tithe on?

honeric01:


What exactly are you trying to say here with all that you typed? i mean are these to debunk the questions asked?

Yes! To dispel the doctrine of honoring and bowing down to graven images because the image represents "the mother of god".. Even Christ made it clear that even before David who people referred him to as " the son of David " he was and is..

YOU GUYS ALWAYS LIKE TO ARGUE. MOST TIMES U HAVE TO APPLY COMMON SENSE. LET ME ASK YOU IN UR LOCAL LANGUAGE, WHAT IS THE NAME OF GOD BEFORE EUROPEANS BRING CHRISTIANITY ? IF NOT THE NAME OF IDLE god. BUT NOW U ARE A CHRISTIAN U STILL CALL THAT SAME NAME(idle god ) As THE MOST HIGH GOD. BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND ,YOUR BELIEVE AND FAITH WHY CALLING SUCH NAME. EXAMPLE ODUDUWA WAS IT THE NAME OF GOD BEFORE EUROPEANS CAME BUT NOW WHEN U CALL SUCH NAME U KW WHAT MEAN. EVERY INSTRUMENT OR OBJECT USED IN WORSHIPPING GOD IS MADE BY MAN EXAMPLE THE BIBLE, WINE, BREAD ETC. YOU READ THE BIBLE BECAUSE U BELIEVE ITS THE WORD OF GOD SOME READ AND SAY IT IS A STORY BOOK. YOU EAT N DRINK BLESSED BREAD AND WINE AND SAY IT IS THE BODY N BLOOD OF CHRIST. WHO TOLD YOU, BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE? CATHOLICS GO TO A CRUCIFIX BOW , MEDITATE AND SEE THEMSELVES STANDING WHERE CHRIST IS CRUCIFIED AT CALVARY BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH. WHAT IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH IN THE BIBLE? PENTECOSTAL ANSWER.

thesicilian:
On the issue of tithes, a lot of people might disagree with you as you have already anticipated.
First tithing did not begin with Jacob, it began with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek the priest of the Most High. (Genesis 14:20)
And we're somewhat bound to follow the acts of our great patriarch if we are to enjoy his blessings as ''seeds of Abram''

But the new testament views on tithing are issues of continuing research to me, one would think that for such an important issue as tithing (as our pastors make it out to be), the New Testament Bible would be pretty clear on its stand but this is not the case

I love your insight

charlsecy:
What did Abraham tithe on?

He gave a tithe of what he recovered from all that was taken from Lot and those that were taken captive, not from what he owned, to Melchizedek. But that does not chanhe the fact that tithes are meant for levites (priestly lineage because they have no property/inheritance), you and your family, fatherless (orphans) and widows. Pastors don't fall in that category because all of them have properties and leave inheritance for their children nowadays.

To follow the new testament, there is nothing called tithe. What we have is donations from everyone, which is shared equally among everyone so thatthat everyone has all things in common. See Acts of the Apostles.

Post YOU GUYS ALWAYS LIKE TO ARGUE. MOST TIMES U HAVE TO APPLY COMMON SENSE. LET ME ASK YOU IN UR LOCAL LANGUAGE, WHAT IS THE NAME OF GOD BEFORE EUROPEANS BRING CHRISTIANITY ? IF NOT THE NAME OF IDLE god. BUT NOW U ARE A CHRISTIAN U STILL CALL THAT SAME NAME(idle god ) As THE MOST HIGH GOD. BUT THE DIFFERENCE IS WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND ,YOUR BELIEVE AND FAITH WHY CALLING SUCH NAME. EXAMPLE ODUDUWA WAS IT THE NAME OF GOD BEFORE EUROPEANS CAME BUT NOW WHEN U CALL SUCH NAME U KW WHAT MEAN. EVERY INSTRUMENT OR OBJECT USED IN WORSHIPPING GOD IS MADE BY MAN EXAMPLE THE BIBLE, WINE, BREAD ETC. YOU READ THE BIBLE BECAUSE U BELIEVE ITS THE WORD OF GOD SOME READ AND SAY IT IS A STORY BOOK. YOU EAT N DRINK BLESSED BREAD AND WINE AND SAY IT IS THE BODY N BLOOD OF CHRIST. WHO TOLD YOU, BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE? CATHOLICS GO TO A CRUCIFIX BOW , MEDITATE AND SEE THEMSELVES STANDING WHERE CHRIST IS CRUCIFIED AT CALVARY BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH. WHAT IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH IN THE BIBLE? PENTECOSTAL ANSWER.

Sanchez01:

I have tried justifying it too. Why do you think Christians say "He is the reason for the season"? Some have come to know but still fight it. Emperor Constantine of the then Roman Empire who was partly Christian and partly Pagan then just so he could keep everyone together fused the celebration of Christ + that of Mars, a Roman god together to realize the celebration of December 25 today.

Please, quit deceiving the gullible. Christmas means Christ mass, listen to this "There are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. A very early Christian tradition said that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby , Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25th - and it's still celebrated today on the 25th March. Nine months after the 25th March is the 25th December! March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died on when he was an adult".

Please, stop the talk on Christmas already, you can go ahead with others, like the decision and decree by emperor Constantine which gave birth to Sunday as a day set aside for workers to rest and celebrate the Sun god which has been wrongly chosen by Christian as the Sabbath day commanded by God in the ten commandments to be kept holy. On Christmas, I fault you brother.

Pls st teach wat you no here, specail titthe read dat malachi very well don't confuse pple here with teaching, mostly marriage,christmas season.it has nv been a seen to celebrate d dealth of jesus islike u re jehova witness member nd mind YE very well...........you nd I re jst passing by judge not

lereinter:

I love your insight

Thanks!

charlsecy:
What did Abraham tithe on?

Gen 14: 16-20

San

5. Tithe:
At this point, I know many will come for me. Therefore, this may be longer to drive my point home. Tithing started with Jacob and not on God's instruction, contrary to the belief of many people. [color=#990000:
[/color]Voila! And it started. But what was the original tithing system before the popular Malachi 3:10 method.

[/color]

The passage above was the proper way of tithing; use your money to buy what your soul lust after and eat before God. Why pastors don't preach this, I don't know. Greed, perhaps. Christ while on earth in human form taught man all he needed to know about God's worship and living with fellow men. From prayer, to fasting, to offering, to giving, to sacrificing, etc. What did He say about tithing? Nothing! What did the Apostles teach about tithing? Nothing! As a matter of fact, Christ paid tax to an earthly government, prayed, fasted, gave, sacrificed and so on, but did He pay tithe at all? No! [color=#990000]

I know many will claim "we operate both the Old and the New Testament". If this is true, how come we don't practice some of the commandments in in Leviticus 15

1. As the Old Testament practice, a woman with her monthly flow MUST not come near the Temple because she's unclean. Do churches examine this? NO! Save a few (white garments).
2. When a woman is caught in the act of adultery, the Old Testament practice was instant killing by stoning her to death. Does it happen in Christianity today? No! If we operate both Testaments, how come we cannot carry out this act? Simple! Because Christ demonstrated the perfect example - forgiveness. Under Christ, some Old practices were abolished, including tithing which is an Old Testament practice to the then Israel. It is hypocrisy to pick some parts of the Scripture that suits you and dump the rest.

Tithing began before the law was introduced. The Law simply regulated the tithe. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, 400 years before the time of Moses and the Law, and according to Romans 4:12 we are to walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham. If tithing was good for him, it should be good for us, too.
We give tithes like Abraham gave them—not by the Law but by faith. And beside that, if the people of God paid 10 percent before the Law, and 10 percent under the Law, shouldn't we, who live by grace, be doing any less when we have a better covenant (Heb. 7:22)?
There is a passage in Hebrews, which deals with this issue directly. It is Hebrews 7:8:
In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.
Melchizedek received Abraham's tithe. The Hebrew writer shows that Melchizedek is a prefigure of Christ. We can conclude that just as Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek, we give a tithe to Christ who is declared to be living.
Some people think this is a new issue. It is as old as the second century when more and more Gentiles were being converted. The early Jewish believers had no problem with tithing since they had done it under the Law and gave it to the priests. They simply gave their tithe to the elders of the church and did by love. However, as the church became less Jewish this issue came up to the church fathers. They answered the question of tithing with Matt. 23:23: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."
Notice Jesus said, "You should have practiced the latter (justice, mercy and faithfulness), without neglecting the former (tithing)." The fathers argued, and rightful so, that Jesus word ends the discussion. Since Jesus said not to neglect the former—being tithing—then no believer should neglect tithing. I wholeheartedly agree!
Some argue that Jesus words are not applicable to us today, because Jesus was under the Law and spoke to those under the Law. Their theory goes something like this: Jesus was giving an instruction to the Jews, so His words are not binding to us.
The problem with this interpretation is that these teachers are bringing Christ down to the level of a Jewish prophet or Teacher of the Law. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, so this means every word that comes out of His mouth is eternal. He cannot say anything without it being "spiritual law" and everlasting. Jesus emphasizes this point by saying, "Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matt. 24:35).
These supposed Bible teachers are making the words of Jesus pass away—obsolete and out of date. Besides, these same teachers pick and choose which teachings of Christ in the gospels they believe are applicable to us. I notice that even these teachers agree that most of Christ's teachings are for us; however, because they are predisposed against tithing, they have had to come up with an excuse for not obeying the clear word of Christ in Mat. 23:23.
As a believer, you have to show who your Lord is! Is it the teachers who tell you tithing is not New Testament and who tell you that Jesus word on the subject is out of date; or is it Jesus who clearly told us not to neglect tithing? No modern teacher has the right to tell you to disobey Jesus instruction on tithing. Period!
Even if the only passages in the New Testament was Jesus' word, then that would be sufficient, however, I want to present other New Testament passages on the subject. Let's look at Paul's teaching on giving.
Paul also uses the pattern of tithing under the law in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 and says, "Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."
Paul argues that just as the priests got their food from the tithes of the people, so the preachers should live the same way. This passage clearly shows the mentality of the apostle and his understanding of carrying over the concept of tithing into the church. The passage often used to contradict this is 2 Cor. 9:7: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
The argument goes something like this: "Each believer has a right to decide for himself what to give and should not be told what percentage he should contribute."
The problem with this argument is that the above passage is not dealing with giving to support the church, but rather giving to the poor. Under the Law, giving to the poor was a freewill offering. The Law commanded freewill offerings as well as tithes: "But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks" (Deut. 12:5-6).
It is quite inconsistent for people to appeal to freewill offerings yet claim that tithing has been abolished. Both tithing and freewill offerings were incorporated in the Law as the above passage shows, but they preceded the Law, thus they both should be practiced. The burden of proof is placed on those who teach that tithing has been abolished. If so, where in the New Testament does it clearly say that tithing has been abolished?
One last thing, notice the resemblance of the language Paul uses in the first passage in Galatians and compare it with the Old Testament passage about tithing:
"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor" (Gal. 6:6).
"And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied" (Deut. 26:11-12).
Galatians 6 is dealing with giving to the teacher of the gospel and he uses the same language about the Levites receiving the tithe of the people and he calls it "all good things." This is pretty good internal evidence that the early church tithed to the ministers of the gospel, although, I admit it is not explicit

I'am sure, if this writer has come out to be a muslim, much attention wouldn't have been given to this post....christians, the dogmatic ones actually would have attacked him/her with religion...
This shows that, if we can leave religion out of some scriptural confusion, we'd be more enlightened than jst acceptin the ways of the fore fathers without knowing reason for doing that.

Surprisingly, Deeper Life Bible Church doesn't do these five points you mentioned.

sarutobie:

Yes! To dispel the doctrine of honoring and bowing down to graven images because the image represents "the mother of god".. Even Christ made it clear that even before David who people referred him to as " the son of David " he was and is..

Then what you quoted has nothing to do with your response, meaning you quoted the wrong person.

honeric01:


Then what you quoted has nothing to do with your response, meaning you quoted the wrong person.

Nope..I was buttressing a point the person made.. Take time and check the post I quoted..

sarutobie:

Nope..I was buttressing a point the person made.. Take time and check the post I quoted..

No need stressing.. not clear to some of us why you quoted what you quoted.

Good night.

Verse 9. - Your father. This was the title given to eminent teachers and founders of schools, to whom the people were taught to look up rather than to God. It was also addressed to prophets (2 Kings 2:12; 2 Kings 6:21). In ver. 8 Christ said, "be not called;" here he uses the active, "call not," as if he would intimate that his followers must not give this honoured title to any doctor out of complaisance, or flattery, or affectation. Upon the earth. In contradistinction to heaven, where our true Father dwells. They were to follow no earthly school. They had natural lathers and spiritual fathers, but the authority of all comes from God; it is delegated, not essential; and good teachers would make men look to God, and not to themselves, as the source of power and truth.

GrammarNazi:


It gladdens my heart whenever I come across posts like this; it shows we still have youths that think for themselves rather swallow religious doctrines "hook, line & sinker".

Every point you have raised is true, but I've got one more to add (actually, I've got more than one, but I'd only give one for now and save the others for later).

In Matthew 23:9, Jesus said “And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and He is in heaven". Obviously, we know he wasn't referring to our biological fathers here.

But what do we have today? Starting with Roman Catholics calling their priests 'Rev Fathers', we move on to pentecostals with titles like 'Daddy G.O.' 'Papa this' and 'Papa that'. When you ask why, they say these guys are their "spiritual fathers"
If your pastor is your spiritual father, then God is what? Your biological father?

I love You. God bless you

Empowerment:
Tithing began before the law was introduced. The Law simply regulated the tithe. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, 400 years before the time of Moses and the Law, and according to Romans 4:12 we are to walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham. If tithing was good for him, it should be good for us, too.
We give tithes like Abraham gave them—not by the Law but by faith. And beside that, if the people of God paid 10 percent before the Law, and 10 percent under the Law, shouldn't we, who live by grace, be doing any less when we have a better covenant (Heb. 7:22)?
There is a passage in Hebrews, which deals with this issue directly. It is Hebrews 7:8:
In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.
Melchizedek received Abraham's tithe. The Hebrew writer shows that Melchizedek is a prefigure of Christ. We can conclude that just as Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek, we give a tithe to Christ who is declared to be living.
Some people think this is a new issue. It is as old as the second century when more and more Gentiles were being converted. The early Jewish believers had no problem with tithing since they had done it under the Law and gave it to the priests. They simply gave their tithe to the elders of the church and did by love. However, as the church became less Jewish this issue came up to the church fathers. They answered the question of tithing with Matt. 23:23: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."
Notice Jesus said, "You should have practiced the latter (justice, mercy and faithfulness), without neglecting the former (tithing)." The fathers argued, and rightful so, that Jesus word ends the discussion. Since Jesus said not to neglect the former—being tithing—then no believer should neglect tithing. I wholeheartedly agree!
Some argue that Jesus words are not applicable to us today, because Jesus was under the Law and spoke to those under the Law. Their theory goes something like this: Jesus was giving an instruction to the Jews, so His words are not binding to us.
The problem with this interpretation is that these teachers are bringing Christ down to the level of a Jewish prophet or Teacher of the Law. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, so this means every word that comes out of His mouth is eternal. He cannot say anything without it being "spiritual law" and everlasting. Jesus emphasizes this point by saying, "Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matt. 24:35).
These supposed Bible teachers are making the words of Jesus pass away—obsolete and out of date. Besides, these same teachers pick and choose which teachings of Christ in the gospels they believe are applicable to us. I notice that even these teachers agree that most of Christ's teachings are for us; however, because they are predisposed against tithing, they have had to come up with an excuse for not obeying the clear word of Christ in Mat. 23:23.
As a believer, you have to show who your Lord is! Is it the teachers who tell you tithing is not New Testament and who tell you that Jesus word on the subject is out of date; or is it Jesus who clearly told us not to neglect tithing? No modern teacher has the right to tell you to disobey Jesus instruction on tithing. Period!
Even if the only passages in the New Testament was Jesus' word, then that would be sufficient, however, I want to present other New Testament passages on the subject. Let's look at Paul's teaching on giving.
Paul also uses the pattern of tithing under the law in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 and says, "Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."
Paul argues that just as the priests got their food from the tithes of the people, so the preachers should live the same way. This passage clearly shows the mentality of the apostle and his understanding of carrying over the concept of tithing into the church. The passage often used to contradict this is 2 Cor. 9:7: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
The argument goes something like this: "Each believer has a right to decide for himself what to give and should not be told what percentage he should contribute."
The problem with this argument is that the above passage is not dealing with giving to support the church, but rather giving to the poor. Under the Law, giving to the poor was a freewill offering. The Law commanded freewill offerings as well as tithes: "But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks" (Deut. 12:5-6).
It is quite inconsistent for people to appeal to freewill offerings yet claim that tithing has been abolished. Both tithing and freewill offerings were incorporated in the Law as the above passage shows, but they preceded the Law, thus they both should be practiced. The burden of proof is placed on those who teach that tithing has been abolished. If so, where in the New Testament does it clearly say that tithing has been abolished?
One last thing, notice the resemblance of the language Paul uses in the first passage in Galatians and compare it with the Old Testament passage about tithing:
"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor" (Gal. 6:6).
"And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied" (Deut. 26:11-12).
Galatians 6 is dealing with giving to the teacher of the gospel and he uses the same language about the Levites receiving the tithe of the people and he calls it "all good things." This is pretty good internal evidence that the early church tithed to the ministers of the gospel, although, I admit it is not explicit

micodon:


Is there any record of Christmas celebration in the Bible?

Many issues here require theological and philosophical approach. Not half knowledge. They r deep tins and need to b dug out.

I will like to react to the issue of Christmas.


First of all, there is a record of the first Christmas celebrated in Bethlehem by the Angels, the shepherds and the wise men.

Luke 2:1-7, Mathew 2:1-12 ..........


I know many will contend this but it is a fact for those who understand Christianity, celebration and how bible documents events.

Three tins to be understood

*Christianity
*Celebration
*Bible documentation of Events

Christianity is like a profession dat u go abt to advertise to others so as to make them join the profession. Christianity is characterized with evangelism - spreading the good news - Christ birth, cruxificion, death and resurrection. This is the hub of Christianity. The whole tin can be called in one world to be GOSPEL.
So anytin dat will help spread the Gospel keys in into the system as long as it Is not carnal. Christmas helps to spread d news abt d birth of Jesus.

The Celebration issue comes in dis way. How do U celebrate a big person or someone U love?

Now the Angels appeared to d Shepherds and sang Glory be to God In the Highest. Meaning they rejoiced because Jesus was born. The Shepherd acted based on what the first Angel dat appeared told them and when they found Jesus at the manger they worshipped Him.

Now imagine, God put a bright star in the sky as regards d birth of Jesus which the wise men saw and led them to Bethlehem to see Jesus.
These wise men presented Jesus with GIFTS.

Some pple might be saying dat all dis happened at d time time of the birth of Jesus but av U considered the years it took the wise men travelling from the east to get to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? It would av taken them more than a year. There were no cars or any fast means. You could imagine d believe and d determination of dese wise men. despite d fact dat d birth of Jesus had past, despite d fact that d shepherds had visited Jesus a long tym ago and so on, they were still able to find Jesus and CELEBRATED HIM.
By Celebrating Him, they bowed/worship Jesus and they presented Him with gifts.

Also the Shepherds after they have seen the Babe Jesus propagated the news so that all could hear. LUKE 2:17

Now this was the first record of the commemoration of the birth of Jesus.

The greatest celebration of Jesus is by GIVING ONE'S LIFE TO HIM. That is by getting saved.

Pls the celebration of the Birth of Christ is very important to us as Christians. It has a lot of benefit when it done right. The problem with many Christians today is dat they don't know dat Christmas is more than eating, wining and dining. It Is a time to reflect, rededicate and worship Christ. The other parts of d celebration like beautification, boxing, programs are spices and packages that makes the celebration rich. To me it just a brand. Many tins av brands.

Also many pple here r talking abt paganism......... going by history. There r many approaches to it.
Now we need to understand Christianity. Let's look at dis. If a pastor goes to where the Ogun worshippers r gathered and he preached to them and many of them get saved and the king now order dat today will no longer be used for the worship of Ogun but for the worship of The GOD ALMIGHTY. And because we are social beings by design, everybody agreed to b using dat day to commemorate d time Christianity enters into their town every year......... So with dis, is the process of d CHANG OF PURPOSE wrong her? Or what effect would d former worship have on the new worship?

In Africa b4 d advent of Christianity in our continent we were given to idolatry and instruments like gangan "talking drum", bata etc were used to worship gods but now when we received d light we had a change of purpose and today some of these instruments like gangan r used in our Christian worship.
If we want 2 base many tins on history without considering CHANGE OF PURPOSE then Christianity will b difficult 2 practice in Africa.

Besides, d so called the worship of Saturnalia is done on Dec 17 to 23 according 2 Julian calendar. There r many calenders and d festival had witnessed many modification by various emperor. B4 it used 2 b a one day celebration which is always on Dec 17 b4 Julius Ceaser added 2 days to it and from there to 5 days and so on ......... These pple den did not know Christ and were just doing what dey like but suddenly the flood of Christianity wipe off dier festival and grounded Christmas. Just as the ministry of Paul overcame d worship of d Diana god which made dat blacksmith to loose his business of making and selling the carved images of Diana.

No matter what anyone says celebrating Christmas is not a sin it Is how we celebrate it - in holiness

Then as regards Bible documentation, there r some events / analysis in d Bible dat we don't find their exact word in d Bible but yet they exist...........

If we study our Bible very well there r words to describe some events dat r not written in d Bible and we Christians looks 4 d appropriate word dat fits d event.
because some pple might say d word Christmas or celebration of Jesus birth is not in d Bible but thank God my analysis above solves dat. All d events dat surrounds d Birth of Jesus describes d word Christmas.
There r examples of dis kind of a tin like d word "Trinity" is not in d Bible but we av events in d Bible dat describes it.

Also there is no word like rapture in d Bible but we av events dat describe it and so on.

Well, we r all free to choose what we believe but my own Believe is dat Christmas is right and there is no where in d Bible that it is said to b wrong and dat it is a sin.

Thanks

Muafrika2:


Sacrifices, in this age, unlike in the old testament, are spiritual. Because God is Spirit. So are we. If a sacrifice does not come from the spirit, it's a waste of time.

1 Peter 2:5 |
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Praise is a sacrifice; Incense has always been a sacrifice,

Jeremiah 17:26 |
And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

So you see, men are priests offering sacrifices/worship to the wrong entities.

By praise, am refering to both words of praises. and song

Honour as sacrifice; This is how in the heavens, God is venerated, on earth too. Offer honour to God.... it's something you give as a gift. An offering.


Revelation 5:12 |
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

thanks I grab

Muafrika2:


Sacrifices, in this age, unlike in the old testament, are spiritual. Because God is Spirit. So are we. If a sacrifice does not come from the spirit, it's a waste of time.

1 Peter 2:5 |
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Praise is a sacrifice; Incense has always been a sacrifice,

Jeremiah 17:26 |
And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

So you see, men are priests offering sacrifices/worship to the wrong entities.

By praise, am refering to both words of praises. and song

Honour as sacrifice; This is how in the heavens, God is venerated, on earth too. Offer honour to God.... it's something you give as a gift. An offering.


Revelation 5:12 |
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

thanks I grab

spacohill3:
You tried but your Theological approach to all the topics you raised are WRONG AND MYOPIC! even the Philosophy is shallow for great minds. Anyway nice try but study more for better understanding of some things.
WHAT A CHILD DOESNT UNDERSTAND HE CALL 'NAMES'. Goodday

Hmmmm, great minds indeed! Pls put forward your great thoughts on this issue and let's subject them to unbiased analysis. Thanks in advance.

Aizenosa:


Brother this people their rate of ignorance is alarming, the believe everything literally but when it comes to the one too big for them, they turn to judges, the Bible in ur hands who compiled it let's start from there

lol

snailspeed:


The day God has a mother, he stops being God. That is a pagan concept. If you serve a Good that has a mother, you are an idol worshipper

gal 4:4 clearly teaches that Jesus the son of God who is also God (jn1:1) was born of a woman, the bible writters all address mary as his mother... I agree with the bible not with u.. My God became man to save me, he was born of a woman, he had a mother who gave birth to him suckled him, packed his poo and to whom he was obedient till maturity, her name is mary.

If you claim he didnt have a mom then you are claiming to be more knowledgeable than the bible, you are denying that a woman gavee birth to Jesus, u aree denying that God came in the flesh and contradicting scriptures, you are teaching heresy, and manifesting d spirit of d antichrist, d one who denies that Jesus came in d flesh.

jagojunior:


Please, quit deceiving the gullible. Christmas means Christ mass, listen to this "There are many different traditions and theories as to why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. A very early Christian tradition said that the day when Mary was told that she would have a very special baby , Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25th - and it's still celebrated today on the 25th March. Nine months after the 25th March is the 25th December! March 25th was also the day some early Christians thought the world had been made, and also the day that Jesus died on when he was an adult".

Please, stop the talk on Christmas already, you can go ahead with others, like the decision and decree by emperor Constantine which gave birth to Sunday as a day set aside for workers to rest and celebrate the Sun god which has been wrongly chosen by Christian as the Sabbath day commanded by God in the ten commandments to be kept holy. On Christmas, I fault you brother.

A simple question to you is: Where in the Bible did anyone celebrate Christmas?