Last Sunday me and Ashleigh received our tax-deductible note from our church for our monetized contributions. When I saw that we donated over $10,000 to the church from JAN 2019 to DEC 2020, I’ll be honest, I felt some type of way. I felt some type of way because we don’t even have $10,000 in our joint savings account. Not even half that. I’ll be leaving the Army in September 2020 and my wife is a full-time student. If we had put that money in our savings, then I would feel a lot more comfortable with our future transition expenses than I do now.
Ashleigh is pretty adamant about us buying a house because by renting from a private owner since SEP 2018 we have contributed $40,000 to their mortgage. Well, we also contributed over $10,000 to our church’s mortgage.
In our church’s Confession of Faith, one of the lines says All of our property is paid off in full and we owe nothing to no man. Well, we both have credit card debt. And the money that went to the church could have paid off our debt.
But I know that the purpose of tithing is to have faith that God is going to provide. So, it shouldn’t be about the amount of money we have in our bank account. It’s about the fact that God has provided for us throughout. Thinking back in 2019 the only unexpected cost was I had to replace a tire because it got a nail in it. That cost like $90. Other than that, I experienced more financial blessings than tribulations. I received a refund from my $500 deductible that I paid for from my car accident damage. I won $400 out of the $200 I used to bet on Fantasy Football. I got a $450 photography gig.
And to be honest most of my credit card debt are things that I chose to buy. The only thing that I absolutely needed to buy was a new laptop since the screen on my MacBook broke. But all these other gadgets I bought were just things that I wanted. It’s not paying tithes that’s keeping me from getting out of debt. It’s really me swiping my credit cards when I want something.
Still, if we’re going to put $10,000 in the church then we should have a lot more money in our savings. I have faith but faith without works is dead. I have faith that God will work out a career for me that makes our lives comfortable, but I still want us to have more money in the bank. Most rental places what you to make a security deposit and the first month rent upfront. Ain’t no sense of putting all our money in the church and have nothing for us to buy a new place to live. I love the church, but I also know church business. The church not gone give us any of that money back to buy a new place to live. The church saves souls but not your money lol.
But at the same time, I feel like this. Someone decides to take out a loan and open a church, then goes to look for members to help pay that loan down. So yeah, part of the church is a business, but I don’t need to complain. If I’m going to support a business, then the church is one of the best ones to invest in. There’s been plenty of other businesses that I have wasted money on like strip clubs and high fashion.
ArmstrongTimes 
Salute Cameron!
Just a quick thought: The Church is a Living Organism, it is the Body of Christ; the structured church building is liken unto the temple in Christ’s day, it is simply the avenue or place by which believers bring the tithes into the storehouse, it is commanded of Yahweh, not man.
Try this, your earthen bank could never hold all of God’s wealth, his storehouse (bank) in heaven never runs low or out; the next time you and wife need money for something (no matter how large or small,) instead of worrying over what you already don’t have, just ask Father God to do a transfer from his storehouse into your earthen account.
Everything I purchase nowadays, it’s a cash transaction, large or small. I don’t always save up for anything because Yahweh always has a use for it. So, when I need to make a purchase, He just transfers the funds. My faith takes him at his Word. Works for me!
Great subject!
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