Cullen Allen

Is Tithing Really That Important? (Part 1)

Last night we had a great service at SOS Church in downtown Stockholm.  I briefly shared on the subject of "Tithing" before the offering was taken.  Malachi 3:10 says, "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."  

The concept of "tithing" basically involves 2 primary principles:

1) Ten Percent - The word "tithe" means 10%.  So God's challenge to us is that we would give 10% of our income back to Him.  I've been asked the question many times, "Should I give 10% before taxes are taken out or afterwards?"  A good answer to that question is, "How do you want God to bless you, with little or with much?"  If we want God to be generous with us, then it's good to be generous with Him.

2) First Portions - In the Bible, the tithe was given as a "firstfruits" concept, or the very first portions from the crops that were harvested (because agriculture was the primary economy during biblical times).  As you translate that principle into our lives, God's intent is that we give the very first portions of our income to Him…not the leftovers.  

When you put the principles of 10% and "first portions" together, what we find is that the Bible instructs us to give the very first 10% of our income to Him.  We shouldn't wait and see if we have enough left to tithe after our primary expenses are accounted for.  Instead, it's a faith-step in which we say, "I'm going to give God the first 10% of what I make, and believe by faith that He will multiply the remaining 90% in ways that go beyond anything I produce on my own."  After all, it's better to live off 90% of what God has blessed than 100% of what He is not able to bless (if don't obey the principle of the tithe).  

Next, I'll share a great story of how I've seen this principle work in an amazing way!

Do You Have "Junk" That Your Hiding?

Last night in our Sr High 2Twenty Youth Service we did something unique.  Instead of having a typical sermon, we watched one of Rob Bell's "mini-movies" from the Nooma series called LUMP, which talks about the "junk" we often hide in our lives.  Then we broke off into small groups for a time of discussion and Bible study relevant to the topic of the video.  It actually went really well.  I even decided to post the discussion guide that we created for our small groups.  Some of the questions were taken from the booklet that came with the purchase of the Nooma series, while others were ones we came up with ourselves.  If you choose to watch the video (which I recommend), just know that it lasts about 10 minutes.

Lump (Rob Bell - Nooma)

HERE'S OUR DISCUSSION GUIDE WE CREATED:

Question #1 – Have you ever gotten busted for something you’ve done?  If so, what was it?

 

Question #2 – What are some ways that you avoid dealing with the “junk” in your life?

 

Question #3 – You don’t have to answer the first part of this question out loud, but make sure you think about it:

• Do you have anything in your life that you’re hiding or something that you’re ashamed of?  If so, are you ready to deal with it?
• Here’s the portion of the question that you can answer out loud: Instead of hiding something that you’re ashamed of, or that you regret, what’s the best thing to do about?  What are the results of continuing to hide it?

 

*Let’s see what the Bible has to say about these things:

 

James 5:16 – “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

• This verse tells us there is freedom and power when we confess the things we’re trying to hide.  When we confess to God, He forgives us.  When we confess to another person who is spiritually strong, they can help by to keep us accountable so that we don’t keep getting tripped up by the same thing over and over again.

Romans 8:38-39 - And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    

Question #4 – Is it difficult for you to believe that God loves you no matter what you have done in your life?  Why or why not? 

 

Question #5 – How can that truth (the fact that God loves you no matter what) help to change the way that you live? 

 

Remember this quote from the video: “May you stop hiding under the covers.  May you let God pull the covers back.  May you embrace him.  May your whole life become a response to the truth that you’ve always been loved, you are loved, and you always will be loved.”

Avoiding "Dumb" Decisions (Inspired By Andy Stanley)

I recently listened to a message by Andy Stanley from a teaching series called, "The Best Question Ever."  I used the thoughts from his message in a sermon I preached this past Wednesday night at one of our 2Twenty services. 

All of us can probably say that we've made "dumb" decisions at some point in life.  At least I know that's true for me.  Maybe it was a poor financial decision, a relationship that we should have never jumped into, or even an invitation we should have never accepted.  These types of decisions (and many more) can lead to destruction.  No one ever plans to fail, no one ever plans to become an addict, and no one plans to spend their life in counseling from problems that arose out of poor decisions in life.   However, it's also true that very few people plan for these things NOT to happen.  So how do we prevent ourselves from making choices that we look back on and say, "That was a really dumb decision.  Why did I ever do that?"   

In Ephesians 5:15 the Bible says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise."  This simple verse provides us with a question to ask before we make decisions in life - especially when it comes to issues that don't have specific and/or clear biblical instruction.  Here's the question: IS IT A WISE THING TO DO?  And to take this concept a little further (and deeper), there are 3 variations of this question that Andy Stanley suggests that we ask ourselves before making questionable or difficult decisions:

#1 - Is It WISE In Light Of My Past Experiences?
Everyone has different past experiences.  In light of those experiences, we need to ask ourselves the question, "Is it WISE to do move ahead with the opportunity that is in front of me?"

• What happened the last time I hung out with this person?
• What happened the last time I attended an event similar to this one?
• What happened the last time accepted that invitation?

#2 - Is It WISE In Light Of My Current Situation?
What may be good for me 2 years from now, may not be good for me right now in my life.

• If I'm not married, then sexual intimacy would NOT be good for me now, but it would be good for me once I'm married (only with the person I'm married to of course!)

#3 - Is It WISE In Light Of My Future (Hopes & Dreams)?
What we often fail to realize is that our present choices and decisions in life actually create our future.  So the things that we do now, determine what we will have to live with tomorrow and beyond.  Our current choices can give "life" to our future or they can kill our hopes and dreams. 

• Do I want to have to one day tell my kids that I was an addict, that I was promiscuous or that I was immoral?   
• Do I want to take the chance that no one will find out about the sin, the questionable activity or illegal behavior that I'm involved with today?

While I'm grateful that God gives grace, forgiveness and fresh starts, we don't have to make things worse by continuing down the path of poor decisions.  We can start to change things today!  It begins with ONE decision at a time.