And on to the final section. The end of the debate:

In my humble opinion, God's word is very clear. We are expected to give and give generously and cheerfully. We should expect God to bless us in return. God expects us to invest what He has blessed us with into the lives of others and into the kingdom of God.

Hope this helps. Sorry about the lengthy email, but it should be some clarity as to the doctrine of sowing and reaping.

When I look at the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, I never read a word about tithing nor see Him supporting the sowing and reaping doctrine that I hear from you and Frank. As a matter of fact, what I understand Jesus to say is just the opposite of "if you sow money, then you'll reap more money," "if you sow a car, then you'll reap a car," etc.

Please read Matthew 6:25-34 and give me your application of these powerful words of Jesus.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

When Jesus refers to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, He makes it perfectly clear that they DO NOTHING TO EARN their Father's daily provision:

1- "they do NOT sow or reap" 

2- "they do NOT store away in barns…" 

3- "they do NOT work or make their own clothing" 

…and yet "your Heavenly Father takes care of them!" And, on top of that, He says, that His children are even more important to Him than the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, which He takes care of so automatically and seamlessly! When Jesus could have agreed with Frank's Law of Causation and told His followers that the way to get their material needs met was to tithe and give big offerings at the temple, instead He told them to seek His kingdom and his righteousness and, then, "all these things would be added". 

The main picture of God that Jesus brings to the world is that God is a good and generous Father who freely takes care not only of His children but also of all mankind, because of His great love He has for everyone. On the contrary, the main picture of God that you and Frank bring to the world is that God is an investment banker and a tax (tithe) collector, who sits every day in heaven and makes sure that He does not allow anyone to receive one blessing from His hand unless it has first been paid for in full through a tithe or a local church offering. There is no hesitation in my heart as to which picture of God I like more; neither do I doubt which one is more accurate to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I hope you can understand where I am coming from. It is not my intention to "tear down" your church; in fact it is just the opposite. I would love to see your church grow and continue to help many more throughout the city. I do not, however, see that happening with truth and integrity under the current unbiblical teachings. 

Please understand that I have heard countless stories of people who felt abused under the CBC system. For some reason that I do not completely understand, I feel like I have been called to bring these abuses to your attention.

I admit that my tactics in the past have not been the best. By God's grace, I am still learning and growing. Nevertheless, I do not feel that my imperfect approaches should be an excuse to dismiss any or all of my valid concerns about how Frank is not accurately representing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not correctly interpreting God's Word from the pulpit of such a great church as CBC. 

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

-Johnpaul

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