NOTE from Steve Vistaunet: I'm handing this month's Let's Talk page to Cindy Chamberlin, GLEANER managing editor. I believe her perspective here on recent tithe stories is worthy of additional contemplation.
Several readers have wondered why a story about a Mormon businessman ran in the GLEANER. In my opinion, Bill Marriott (January's edition) depicts a life fully consecrated AND fully blessed.
While I am sorry to deprive some of the theory that I was courting the Latter-day Saint faith or disappoint those who believed I garnished a "fat" political payoff, the simple (and boring) truth is only this: I am fascinated by Malachi 3:10. "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it,'" (NIV).
Over time, God's Stewardship Showcase unveils many surprises: Adventists, non-Adventists, old, young and fundamentalists — even a few atheists. Tithe has historically even been paid by prisoners of war using crusts of bread, with ensuing blessings.
Nowhere does the Bible say God's promises were meant to fall along denominational lines. And His promises were not given to make us rich (although some have become so). He gave them to us to show us only He is a gentleman. He keeps His word, and with Him we will PROSPER.
His prosperity doesn't always arrive in the form of more zeros in a ledger. But bizarre things happen when we trust Him financially. Oshkosh and Carter's clothes last beyond their thread counts; cars run when mechanics say they won't; creative solutions "pop out" out of nowhere; the impossible suddenly becomes possible. And these "coincidences" just keep coming when God's put in control.
If you text — as in through-the-Bible texting — you will find even the Book of Job argues "prosperity battles." Job reads much like modern bloggers attacking and countering each other's points, a biblical blog in a feud of heathen vs. saints, prosperity doctrine vs. loyal adverse faith — whom God blesses, whom He can't. (These aren't pretty.)
Some today assert tithe is an archaic Israelite covenant making modern checks (checks postmarked after New Testament times) void and null at the cross. Others cite a labyrinth of texts so paralyzing that one must be a full-time Greek scholar to "unearth" whether tithing and its corresponding blessings are for landowners, Israelites, widows, Sabbath-keepers or the circumcised. Yikes!
Every tithe story I submit for your consideration is testament to the living God that He CAN, WILL, and DOES make good on His promises, in His time, in His way, every time, everywhere, to anyone who gives Him full reign in their life (and purse). Each story is a tribute to Him that HE WILL NOT BE limited — nothing more, nothing less. -CC-
For another controversial (aka inspirational) tithe story, see my blog at Cindy's Garden Blog or gleanerblog.mcmds.com/gleaner-garden-blog.
