Ms. Johnny,

First, let me apologize for my delay in responding to your questions. It appears you sent your questions through my "contact us" auto-responder, and I received your questions late. May you find it necessary to forgive me, and
accept my apology?

Your Question(s): It reads that a man should tithe 10% of his salary. He said to tithed so that there is meat in His House and He will open a window for you... And God is true to His Word. Would you please help me to
understand God's Will? 1. A family that is members of a church and the family members pays their tithes, should the church charge those members a rental fee to perform a wedding in their church? 2. Should tithing members
be expected to pay each auxiliary memberships dues. For example, (ex. ushers board $50.00, or choir dues.)? You never hear the officials of the church preaching about their rules and regulations and it seems to be a sin
to want to know. Your reply would be respectfully appreciated.

My Answer(s): First, let me point out that the Holy Bible has no such reading "a man should give 10% of his salary". This reading came about from the Catholic church centuries after Christ laid the foundation for His
church, and the Protestants having broke away from this Catholic church kept this blasphemy teaching because it benefited their pockets. Plus, they feared the members would not give enough money to "their man-made churches" if they were told the New Testament did not have a requirement of tithing. (You should do research on the Protestant movement and the Catholic heresy killings, AKA the Inquisitions and persecutions). So most of the ministers who broke away from the Catholics taught tithing was Scriptural using clever ways to deceive the people that this part of the Old Testament carried over to the New. [Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.] In the Scripture below Proverbs 3, these gospel peddlers use these verses to claim now a person must give of his salary. Upon closer examination one will see these verses were rooted in the Old Covenant and spoke of livestock and grains rather than money, yet these gospel peddlers will say total ridiculously things such as "do you have any livestock or grain?" I ask these so-called ministers are they descendants of Aaron? I mean are they Levites because only the tribe of Levi was given authority by God to collect tithes from the "men only" of the children of Israel not the rest of nations in the world.

Now, I have seen ministers who seek to deceive you into paying them tithes and offerings use verse 9 below. Translated from one of the contemporary English versions of the Bible, which deliberately mistranslated the word "first fruits" to mean, "tithe". Because they wanted you to believe them, when they say they are entitled to 10% of your income. For they claim they represent GOD, yet God says they do not represent Him (see Matthew 25). I say ask them to show you where in the Bible God tells you as a New Covenant Christian you must tithe to them?

• Proverbs 3:8-10
• 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

The word translated in verse 9 as "possessions" is Strong’s number 01952, original Hebrew word "!wh" with the origin of the word from Strong’s number 01951 in the sense of 0202; transliterated word is "Hown", and the phonetic spelling is "hone"; the English meaning of the word: 1) wealth, riches, substance, price, high value interj, 2) enough!, sufficiency; translated in the KJV 26 times: rich 11, substance 7. wealth 5, enough 2, and nought 1

It should be noted here that the word "hawbt" translated as "income" in some later English translations (such as the CEV, NLT, and others) - this maybe a time for those of you who love and declare the old KJV version to be the only correctly translated version of the Bible to gloat.

The word "firstfruits" in verse 9 translated from Strong's Number 07225, original word is "tyXar", the word's origin is from Strong's number 07218, the transliterated word is "Re'shiyth" with the phonetic spelling as "ray-sheeth'"; a feminine noun meaning: first, beginning, best, chief or choice part; it is translated in the KJV 51 times as beginning 18, firstfruits 11, first 9, chief 8, miscellaneous 5 times.

The word translated as "increase" in verse 9 is Strong's Number 08393, the original word is "hawbt", the word's origin is from Strong's number 0935, the transliterated word is "T@buw'ah" with the phonetic spelling as "teb-oo-aw'"; a noun feminine meaning: produce, product, revenue, yield, crops (of the earth usually); income, gain (of wisdom) (fig), product of lips (fig); it is translated in the KJV 42 times as increase 23, fruit 13, revenue 5, gain 1 times.

See also Proverbs 10:16, 15:5, 16:8; Eccl. 5:10 (NAS); and NKJV only translated as "income" once in 1 Kings 10:15.

Next, you also seem to quote the often quoted Old Testament Scripture these greedy Balaam ministers love to use saying, God will pouring out a blessing on you if you fill "their man-made churches" with your money (meat). Please read my web page on "Malachi 3 Miss-interpreted" for the real meaning of Malachi 3. The commandment to tithe was given to the children of Israel, and not to anyone else on this planet. And this tithe was for the upkeep of the temple of God, as we can read where it was given while the children of Israel were still in the wilderness. Yet, God instructed them to begin this system of tithing after they came into the Promise land. Not while they were in the wilderness.

• Deuteronomy 12:10-11… 10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name—there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the LORD.

And you ask what is God’s will for you, well God tells us in the Holy Scriptures what His will is. And that is this:

• Romans 12:1-2… 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4… 3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:12-22… 12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

• 1 Peters 2:15-16… 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

And there are other exhortations for you to live holy, as your Father in heaven is perfect. If you follow the above Scriptures then you will be well on your way to understanding God's perfect will for you. But God did not command you to give no man or if some woman claim to be a minister 10 percent of your hard earn money. Yes, you should help with the upkeep of your meeting place and utilities if they are made known to the whole congregation. And if the minister do not receive enough free will offerings from the members then he should get a job.

As for your questions concerning paying dues to become or remain an usher or on some board is beyond reason to me. I mean if you want to help someone to their seat why would you pay to do it? If the congregation you attend expect you to pay them money to help the elderly to their seats then you need to find another place to fellowship with likeminded followers of Christ. And this notion that you must pay to use the rental hall or a fee to be married in their man-made churches then I say stop paying them tithes. Because it is obvious they are using it for the salary of some self-appointed minister who claims he have a right to your money. Something God has never given him. I find it amazing that these gospel peddling ministers would be so bold as to demand that those whom they have deceived to pay them 10 percent of their hard earn money to give additional money for other so-called services they provide.

NO, I would not pay these money hungry ministers a rental fee for a wedding. I would go somewhere else if they require you to pay them when you are already a member of their congregation. I rather pay a stranger than pay again for something I already support and provide for. These rules and regulations concerning tithing, dues, fees, and the like are all man-made teachings having no root in the teachings of the Holy Bible nor did Christ command these greedy ministers any such thing. It is sinful for these ministers to burden the members with such outrageous financial burdens. Something they themselves do not carry and refuses to carry, yet they will burden the unknowing and innocence babes in Christ with such burdensome tithing system. And the members are these man-made churches find themselves guilt stricken for not following these blasphemous teachings of the evil one and his followers.

It’s only a sin to support these money hungry, greedy Balaam ministers who demand your money for their many ventures. Any excess monies after taking care of your family should go to help the needs poor, oppressed and needy. It’s not a sin to want to know the truth about these self-appointed ministers.

I exhort you to remain faithful in your following of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. And if you want to give follow what Matthew 25 exhort every Christian to do and that is to help the poor and needy not some well to do minister who put you on a quilt trip, for not supporting his already overflowing pockets. I hope I have answered your questions. I pray that God continue to bless you and your household. Amen. Praise God.

In Christ love,

Ron Davis, minister of Christ