Well, there is a whole teaching that some Pastors teach to their flocks that if you tithe to their Church you're guaranteed financial prosperity and if you don't tithe you cannot even become a fully fledged member of their Church. So what you have in such Churches is, a two-tiered system, where you have your fully fledged Christians who tithe to this Church, and those who don't for whatever reason.
I recently met three VERY vulnerable single mums who had decided to visit this particular Church on a regular basis. They then began to unfold the story of their personal experience at this Church. It seems the Pastor invites the fully fledged members who tithe to one midweek cell group, but only the tithers who are known as members can attend the weekly cell meetings. Those who haven't committed themselves to tithing cannot attend this weekly cell meeting, but instead they can attend another meeting once a fortnight; so they effectively have less fellowship than the Christians who tithe.
I listened to these three single mums with anger burning within my heart, and many reading might say the anger burning within me was certainly not the righteous anger of God, but was my own human rebellious spirit. Fair enough, each reader is entitled to their own opinion, but I am telling you now I have no doubts these three single mums were daughters of God, and I tell you, I take my hat off to them for the job they're doing in raising their children alone without a man in tow.
I heard Pastor David Wilkerson say (on video) to the single mums in his Church, single mums, put your money back in your pocket because this Church isn't going to take your money, use the money to put food on the table for your children. I shared what Pastor David said to these three single mums and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads because they'd never heard a pastor say such a thing.
One Christmas the leader of this Church said, flock I have a Christmas present for you all, and lo and behold what was it? Yes, it was tithing envelopes, and he said each of you have a number. I was there, and as he said this, each of you have a number, I inwardly said, Lord what is going on here? I sensed the Holy Spirit said, don't take the envelopes.
The Pastor's wife went round the room giving packs of envelopes to each person; as she got to me, I said kindly, no thank you. You could have heard a pin drop, and all eyes were on me. A few weeks later I was asked to leave the Church and not return. That's a long story.
Leaving the Church in October 2005 was the start of a journey with the Lord. Was I distraught the night I was told to leave the Church? Well, I thought I should be, and came home and got into bed, and propped up on my pillows I said Lord I am worried about my reputation amongst people I live with; you know my neighbours. How's this going to look?
It was as if the Lord came right beside me and said, daughter I am going to share some things with you tonight. I won't tell you now what the Lord unfolded to me from the scriptures but just to say, the peace that came over me was just awesome, and the love was out of this world. I actually ended up weeping for this Church Pastor and his wife and the elders; I mean not just a few little superficial tears, but heart rending stuff.
A year later, a woman that can only be described as one of the right hand 'men' of this Pastor came to my home. With tears in her eyes she began to tell me what happened after I was told to leave the Church. I am not going to share here what happened, only to say it was pretty horrific; a Church elders wife committing adultery was tucked in there and the assistance Pastor and his wife quitting that Church, and just a whole stack of mature Christians leaving for another Church; that gives you an outline of what happened.
This particular Pastor said to me personally he believed non tithers were under the curse of God and would suffer poverty in their lives. So, I went to my bank and asked the bank manager to set up a direct debit to take £100 from my account to the Church bank account every month; this was over and above the tithe; the Pastor said to get prosperity I had to go over and above the tithe.
Guess what I got? No, not prosperity, but bankruptcy
I hid from my son and daughter what I had done. I gave a £1000 as a one off gift to a Christian in the Church because I thought it was God telling me to do this. The Church pastor had said this person needed a £1000 and would we pray and ask God if we were to give this amount.
I had tithed at my first Church religiously, and I know for a fact I did not prosper financially. I did it because I believed that was what I was suppose to do. I tithed from my single parent government allowance when my children were just toddlers.
I now know this teaching (robbing the poor) is evil, and anyone that takes from a poor single mum is committing a crime against her and her children. I know these poor mums and their children are precious in His sight, and He looks after them with His own hand; they are highly prized in His sight. I have seen miracles happen in my life; serious miracles. If I was to share some of the miracles that happened to me; your eyes might almost pop out of your head.
I've been in situations where I have literally lost everything, and this is as a believer, and I'm telling you this had nothing to do with me not tithing to the Church; it had to do with what God knew would happen to me. Look at Job he lost everything and was that because he did not tithe? Look at Paul, he suffered the most heinous of injustices and was that because he did not tithe? Why was Paul not financially prosperous?
Jesus said pray for your 'daily' bread. We're to pray for our need not our greed. We're to pray to be fed on a 'daily' basis, not to pray to win the lottery, not that I am suggesting anyone who reads here has ever prayed they'd win the lottery.
Oh beloved, I could say so much more on this subject but I am not sure if I should. I could also unfold some of the miracles that have happened in my life; and I mean the most beautiful miracles of provision that God has seen fit to bless me with.
One very recent example. My son's shoes developed holes, and it was my daughter's graduation on the 5th November. Instead of grieving and thinking woe is me a poor single parent mum, forsaken by the Church for not tithing, and condemned to poverty; noooooo. I prayed to Jesus Christ my Saviour, and I simply said, Precious Lord, my sweet son needs a pair of black leather shoes for my daughter's graduation, size 11, I then added, and he could do with a nice winter coat, and well, a few extra clothes. Also, would You be able to help with some groceries this week if possible?
I felt such an amazing peace about asking the Lord for these things, and I felt literally overwhelmed with His love. I then received a phone call the next day from a Christian lady who said I was very much on her heart and she sensed the Lord wanted her to buy certain things for me, and then she began to ask me about my son and what he needed.
Well, to cut a long story short, she arrived at my house with a pair of size 11 black leather shoes, a nice winter coat and several T shirts, long sleeved shirts and several pairs of long trousers and a nice woollen jumper for my son and £100 worth of groceries.
Some might say, oh how wonderful, well, my friend that is absolutely nothing compared to other miracles I have experienced over the years; that was one teeny weeny thing. Like I said if I'm still around this forum after posting this, I'll start to share more of the wonders of God's provision, and not just material provision, but spiritual healing and changes in my personality; how He is changing me into a beautiful, dynamic woman of God who is able to lead many lost sheep to Him. My phone goes several times a day, sheep looking for guidance, and I just marvel at how many people phone and say please Jackie, can you listen and then give advice.
Do I get tired with the phone calls? Yes, I do, but I have to go to the Lord to replenish me. Even this morning I had a dear lady wanting to hear something from the heart of God. I am so excited because I know she is just so close to being born again, and so are quite a few others who phone me. I had two beautiful Christian Pastors phone me yesterday, and they prayed the most amazing prayers for me on the phone, and I was so mightily blessed. Both these men of God live in a different county to me, but distance made absolutely no difference; they felt as close to me as ever they could be, as they prayed on the telephone.
Glory to God in the highest for He alone knows the heart of each of us.
