Monthly Archives: January 2009

A Challenge to Non-Tithers

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There are a lot of us here at City Business Church who reject the idea of a required Biblical Tithe (10%) and instead we preach "Give as you feel led". Well, I feel led to lead you to give to a great cause:

Transitions Global is a group that helps women who have been sold into sex slavery. The stories that they tell are heart wrenching and disturbing but powerful. You can read all about this inspiring group by clicking on their link.

Seth Johnson, a Global Advocacy Director for Trans-Global is raising money for the cause:

27 Million people around the globe are in slavery. Here in the U.S. the FBI says that there are 300,000 people trafficked ever year!  

On Feb 22nd my sister and I are going to run a marathon! I am doing this as a personal milestone in my life but we are also honoring those who are survivors of modern day slavery. We are also using this race to raise funds for Transitions Global.

Please join us in reaching our goal by: Donating $27!!!

This $27 will represent the amount of miles that we will run on the 22nd and it represents the 27 million people who are still trapped in slavery! 

They are trying to raise $27,000 so they will needs 1,000 donors. Let's put our money where our mouth is and help them out.

So… if you didn't give 10% of your income to your church today, please give $27 to Seth and Transition Global.  (If you did give 10% then you can still donate…and maybe God will give you a double portion of blessing this week).

And for all you runners out there who have every attempted, completed, or thought about running a marathon…help a brother out. You know he is going to be in so much pain by the 27 mile.

You can give online, it's quick and easy…and here is a link to the donation website

DO YOU AGREE?

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(In light of the sparkling repartee engendered by yesterday's question, allow me to submit another….)

According to CNN, President Obama signed a memorandum on Friday that ends a prohibition on funding federal family-planning funds and contraceptives to international aid groups that provide abortions, abortion referrals or abortion counseling. See article here.

On the one hand, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Obama's move "welcome news to the poorest women and families in the world." 

And on the other, Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, said, "This is a stunning reversal of course from the president's campaign statements that he hoped to reduce the number of abortions."

Do you agree with the President? 

-joe

A WISE MOVE?

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Yesterday, President Obama signed an executive order calling for the closing of Guantanamo Bay, to take place within the next year. He said, "We are not going to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals.”

While lauded in some quarters, his decision was decried by, among others, families of the 9/11 victims (here).

Do you agree with him?

 -joe

A Letter To President Obama

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Regardless of where one falls politically, there is no denying the magnitude of the historical events that took place this last week. In light of the history that has been made, I decided to write a letter to our new President.

Dear Mr. President,

Wow, what a fascinating few years it has been. From your opening Democratic National Convention speech in 2004 to your inauguration speech in 2009, you have spoken to us what it means to be an American. And now that the moment of your great achievement is finally upon us, I am writing to remind you of what kind of American leader we need in this most precarious of times.

For the everyday people like myself, there are many emotions as we look forward to your time in office: excitement over your achievement of becoming our first black President; anticipation over your new methods and ideas presented on the campaign trail; nervousness over the state of our economy; and despair over the unknown millions who have lost their lives and livelihood from needless wars, preventable tragedies, worldwide corruption, and greed.

You see our country has slowly declined into a state of panic and confusion, loss and corruption, some despair, and even guilt. Over the last few years we have seen the rise and fall of individual prosperity, the growth and demise of corporate wealth, and our government bury itself under a burden of social need.

But you have united the generations Mr. President, mobilized a people and inspired a movement. Because of you the world has become a more positive place, and to that I say job well done. However, we are now ready to see truth and justice prevail at the most highest of levels. Although we are ignorant of the depths of evil taking place all over the world, we are hopeful that you will stand by your words, commit to serving the people who put you in office, and never forget why we chose you as our new leader.

Now that the celebratory events are winding down, the lights are fading to black, and the millions of revelers are heading to their homes, the time has come for you and your team to get to work at fixing our broken system. And may we, the millions of Americans who put our faith in your ability to do that, follow in your footsteps and take ownership in our own ability to be the change that is so desperately needed.

So thank you Mr. President for doing what you have done, but now it is time to lead like no leader has ever lead this country before. God be with you on this journey and may you lead us to true success, and may that success be reflected in us all.

Sincerely,
Alex Coffee, Los Angeles, CA.

I ate all the Pizza and I drank all the tithe.

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I'm back on a little tithing kick these days and wanted to post another Quick Tithing Question:

Let's read from the Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 14 and Verses 22-27. We'll go verse by verse and I'll add commentary as we go.

 22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.

This lines up with all pro-tithing teachers. Set aside 1/10th of all your produce each year (although now they want you to pay each week or each month…)

23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.

Wait…I'm a little confused? Eat the tithe? I'm sure this is supposed to say "Give the tithe to the Levite Priests and let them ‘Eat the tithe' in the presence of the LORD". But it doesn't say that. It says "you eat". If we translate that into modern times it would be "You spend the tithe…in the presence of the LORD". Hmnnn….I hope God clears this up later on. Let's read verses 24-26

                24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.

Whoa. Exchange the tithe for silver…and use the silver to buy whatever you like. This can't be right. Use the tithe to buy whatever you like? How is CBC supposed to turn a profit if everyone is allowed to "buy whatever they like"?

But wait, it gets better: Use the silver to buy whatever you like: Cattle, sheep, WINE OR OTHER FERMENTED DRINK, or anything you wish.  I'm supposed to take 10% of my income and buy whatever I like, specifically WINE OR OTHER FERMENTED DRINK? That's fantastic. I'll have to run the numbers, but a quick guess says based on that law I give way more than 10%.

I just have to eat/drink in the presence of the LORD. He is living in my heart…does that count?

We better read on.

27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

Oh. I see. So here's how this breaks down. I'm supposed to throw a big party with great food and wine and invite the pastors who have no income of their own and that will count as "tithing". This is great. Can you imagine if someone showed up to CBC on Sunday and told Frank they were cooking his favorite meal?

Well, that did it. I'm changing my stance on tithing. I now support the Biblical Law of tithe. I would like to invite everyone to join me in my giving this week. Let's all head down to Kennedy School…the first round is on me.

Miracle or stone-cold pilot?

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I'm someone who flies a fair amount, about once a month. And I have to say: I hate the airlines, I hate the crew, I hate the TSA, I hate the food in the airport, I hate the books they sell, I hate the rules on the plane, I hate the people I fly with, I hate everything about the aviation experience. To sum up: I'm not a huge fan of flying. 

That said, a tip of the cap to the pilot who recently landed his plane in the Hudson Bay and saved every passenger on-board.  People are claiming it's a miracle. And I want to give God his due, because a lot of factors were involved to keep everyone on that plane safe. But the pilot and crew of that flight also deserve their props for making excellent decisions and keeping all the passengers from harm. 

Here is a link to video of the plane landing in the Hudson Bay.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U4d3jopk-Q

It starts at the 2:00 minute mark. But watch how quickly the Coast-Guard video crew snaps into action, watch how fast the passengers are evacuated, and watch how fast a ferry heads out to the plane to save the folks onboard.

The power of competence.

Prosperity Gospel on Skid Row

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I found this very interesting article about how some of the high-flying icons of the prosperity gospel living in camp tithe have run into financial turbulence as of late.

• In Fort Worth, Texas, a review board ruled December 7 that Kenneth Copeland Ministries' $3.6 million jet did not have tax-exempt status. The ruling came after the ministry, whose 1,500-acre campus includes a $6 million church-owned lakefront mansion, refused to release the salaries of Copeland, his wife, and others.

• In suburban Atlanta, Georgia, a sheriff's deputy served an eviction notice November 14 at Bishop Thomas Weeks III's Global Destiny Church. Court documents indicate the bishop, the ex-husband of televangelist Juanita Bynum, owed half a million dollars in back rent. The church has lost roughly half of its 3,400 members since Weeks and Bynum's 2007 fight in a hotel parking lot, in which Weeks was accused of pushing, choking, and beating his then-wife.

• In Tampa, Florida, Without Walls International Church—which once attracted 23,000 worshipers—has shrunk drastically after co-pastors Randy and Paula White announced in 2007 they were divorcing. The church faces an uncertain future after the Evangelical Christian Credit Union began foreclosure proceedings November 4 and demanded repayment of a $12 million loan on the church's property.

• In suburban Minneapolis on November 18, Living Word Christian Center pastor Mac Hammond won the first stage of a court battle with the Internal Revenue Service to keep his salary private. Yet in 2008, he was forced to put his private jet up for sale and cut Living Word's hour-long television show in half to save money amid falling contributions.

J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine had this to say. "I believe the charismatic movement, of which I am a part, is in the midst of a dramatic overhaul. God is shaking us." Grady predicts the movement will look much different in a few years as it refocuses on evangelism and overcoming what he calls the distraction of "materialism, flashy self-promotion, and foolish carnality." In his view, the notion that "God blesses us so we can be a blessing" is biblical. What is needed, he believes, is a shift to a more selfless movement where people "realize that God wants to bless us so that we can feed the poor, lift up the broken, and transform society. We need that kind of prosperity," he said.

We've all been saying this for a long time, but it looks like some in the mainstream Christian world are finally starting to realize it as well.  You can only preach health and wealth without results for so long.  When you tell people to give, give, give but only the person who is doing the telling is prospering, people will eventually wake up.  Throw in tough economic times and the wheels begin to fall off.  The more of these false prophets that go away, the better off we all will be.

Quick Tithing Question

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Reading from Numbers 31

32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.  36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was:
       337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the LORD was 675;  38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the LORD was 72;  39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the LORD was 61;  40 16,000 people, of which the tribute for the LORD was 32.

Why is the Lord’s tribute less than 10%? Shouldn’t it be a full tithe? Abraham gave 10 percent of his spoils of war to Melchizedech and Pro-Tither’s want to use that to show that the “Tithe” was established before the law. But if it were…wouldn't the Lords share of virgins be 3,200 and not 32?

Any takers?