Church of (insert your name here).

Obedience is always better than sacrifice!


I'm ever amazed at my generation. They won't tithe and then complain that the church is struggling! How can such a clear and easy concept be lost on people?


⁶ "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷ Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
      "But you ask, 'How are we to return?'

⁸ "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. 
      "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' 
     
 "In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 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 you will not have room enough for it. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. ¹² "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.


(matthew 22:20-22, mark 12:17)


Luke 20:22
Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?" 
"Caesar's," they replied. 


 He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."


Tithing is a command, not a philosophy or theology. Its a command that says the least you can do is give 10% of your income to the place you are fed your bread. The crazy thing about it is God doesn't need your money, but if you will simply do this act of obedience, He is promising to bless you. So by robbing Him, you are ironically robbing yourself! 


Here's the problem, people think "Oh I get my bread from such and such online, but I socialize with my church!" You get your bread from whoever you submit to! Thats the problem. We want a reformation, but will not submit ourselves to the authority God places over us that will lead us into it. We want a buddy instead of a pastor and if we feel he's somehow overlooked us, we'll abandon him, despite the fact that they cover us and bear the brunt of our foolishness.  


I remember that one time I went up to my pastor in after service. I told him who I was, as if to expect that he would be impressed, and then waited for some glorious handshake and conversational response. Instead he barely made eye contact with me and looked at his watch and said, "Well, it's about time we all get out of here for lunch; see ya later."  


I could have been offended and then left for such "disrespect" of a shepherd to a sheep. I was there for him to say, "Come, follow me son and we'll win every nation in our generation." Instead, I was made humble and the Lord said, "You can leave offended or suck it up and sit under this apostle through obedience to receive an apostolic anointing." I chose the latter and the moral of the story is that I had to choose obedience.  


I could have labored and sacrificed in prayer for God to change his heart so that I would be elevated to some amazing postion or I could just sit and listen. To sit and listen, I actually learned. To tithe unto this apostle, laying our tithes and offerings at his feet brought a blessing for Jess and I. Tithing is for our blessing! Sitting and waiting under the people God puts over you is for your blessing! You want to be blessed, then start with obedience, not sacrifice!  


I was talking yesterday with a friend about our culture and society. We want a church that on the sign reads, "Church of (insert your name here)". People get offended if the music doesn't match their taste, the air temperature isn't what meets their comfort, sound is too loud or soft, music is too rock or country, and (my favorite) "the message is either too much of a shotgun message, rifle message, or its just too evangelistic." All shit! All shit! All shit! All shit!  


We've come to the storehouse of God to fling our feces on it's walls and write our names in it. Then we ask why the Holy Spirit doesn't move or healings don't take place. We have made everything about ourselves and are not willing to pay any price for change. We take pride in our amounts of prayer time and yet won't even obey something simple, like love your neighbor as yourself or bring your tithes to the storehouse and even test Him in our overflow of giving.


Sheep and goats. Sheep and goats. We are either going to be a sheep led or a goat that butts it's master! God I pray He shows us grace so that we might have the hearts and minds of sheep and not goats. What will it take for us as the people of God to repent and obey? How low does He have to bring us before we turn from our wickedness? If we aren't young, disobedient, and stupid we seem to be old, disobedient, and stupid. The young want change without sacrifice and obedience, and the old want comfort without sacrifice and obedience.  


The young are busy trying to throw out the old for the sake of change and the old are busy trying to cling to yesterday's manna even when God said, "Collect what you need for today and no more," so that they would always have fresh manna.


"Then the LORD said to Moses, 


'I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.'  


17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. 19 Then Moses said to them, 'No one is to keep any of it until morning.'  


20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them." (from Exodus 16)  


We keep doing the same thing. Holding on to yesterday's manna (if we collect any at all). Those who store their manna instead of eating and digesting it are now full of maggots and have a spiritual stench that is off-putting to the Lord and any seeker. Its time to repent, church, for we are suppose to be the spotless bride of Christ, not the haggard old woman protecting dusty cathedrals!