The Great Misunderstanding – Sunday Service

we thank you for

this another opportunity to minister to

these your precious sheep

thank you lord that revelation knowledge

will flow freely

uninterrupted and unhindered by the

satanic or demonic

force and father i pray that you will

speak through my vocal cords and think

through my mind

none of me

and all of you

it’s in jesus name we pray

and everybody said

amen god bless you you may be seated

i um

i want to start off by

saying to you that

i’m still growing

and that the teachings that i’ve shared

in times past on the subject of tithing

were not correct

and today i stand

in

and humility

to correct some things that i’ve taught

for years and believe for years

but could never unders

understand it clearly

because i had not yet been

confronted with the gospel of grace

which has made the difference

i won’t apologize because if it wasn’t

for me going down that route i would

have never ended up where i am right now

but i will say

that i have no shame at all

at saying to you

throw away every book

every tape

and every video i ever did on the

subject of tithing unless it lines up

with this i’ve done some corrective

teaching in in the last 10 years but not

to the degree

of what we’re getting ready to do now

so why is this important

because religion is sustained by two

factors

fear

and guilt

and if it’s one subject that the church

has used

for a long time

to keep people in fear and guilt

it is in that subject of tithing

and it has to be corrected

and it’s got to be corrected now

i may lose some friends preachers may

not ever invite me no more but i think i

already been through that so it doesn’t

matter

go with me in our text today in the book

of romans chapter 6 and verse 14.

romans chapter 6 and verse 14.

and we’re going to begin this

oh probably two or three or four weeks

as we really dig into it now you don’t

know the last two weeks i’ve been

setting you up for this one

you knew it right

and some of you already know what i’m

getting ready to say you knew it because

the gospel of grace has brought you to

that place of understanding as well

but it’s just that elephant in the room

or the elephant in the body of christ

that needs to be dealt with

romans chapter 6 and verse 14 let’s read

it out loud together ready read

for sin shall not have dominion over you

for you are not under the law

but you’re under grace that’s not just a

cute little verse of scripture that’s

literally you are not living

and you are not conducting your life

under the mosaic law which tithing is a

part of them of the law

you are not living you are not

uh

conducting yourself under the law

ever since jesus

rose again from the dead you have been

completely

set free from living under that

dispensation

you are under grace say out loud i live

under grace

now look at this in the nlt you not only

live under grace you live according to

grace

you live according to what jesus has

done you live according to that new and

living way

he says sin is no longer your master

for you no longer live under the

requirements of the law

living under the requirements of the law

made sin your master

living under the requirements of the law

made sin your master he said sin is no

longer your master why because you no

longer live under the requirements of

the law so if you continue to try to

live under the requirements and the

dictates of the law

sin will continue to be your master

he says instead you live under the

freedom of god’s grace

and that’s what we are and that is the

basis

of this teaching right here

that scripture that says we are no

longer under the law but we live under

the freedom of god’s grace

so let’s just let’s just really jump

right into this tithing is an old

testament concept

i’m going to prove that to you tithing

is an old testament concept

the tithe was a requirement of the law

in which the israelites were to give 10

of the crops

they grew and the livestock they raised

they were supposed to give 10 percent of

that to the temple or to the tabernacle

now there are several scriptures i just

want to go over real quick leviticus 27

and 30 you can write these down and i’ll

read them to you but leviticus 27 verse

30 says one tenth of the produce of the

land whether grain from the fields or

fruit from the trees it belongs to the

lord and must be set apart to him as

holy

numbers chapter 18 and verse 26

and i read all these in nlt numbers 18

26 says give these instructions to the

levites when you receive from the people

of israel the tithe i have assigned as

your allotment give a tenth of the tithe

you receive

a tithe of the tithe to the lord as a

sacred offering

then in deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 24

and 25

deuteronomy 14 24-25 now when the lord

your god blesses you with a good harvest

the place of worship he chooses for his

name to be honored might be too far for

you to bring the tithe

if so

you may sell the tithe portion of your

crops and herds and put the money in a

pouch and go to the place the lord your

god has chosen you so he says if that

temple is too far away from you go ahead

and sell the harvest okay

and and put the money in a pouch and

then you know you can go take it there

and then second chronicles chapter 31

and verse 5.

ii chronicles chapter 31 and verse 5.

he says in verse 5

he says when the people of israel heard

these requirements

they responded generously by bringing

the first share of their grain

their new wine their olive oil honey and

all the produce

of their fields they brought a large

uh quantity a tithe of all they produce

so in fact the old testament law

required multiple tides

that’s interesting multiple tides

one for the levites

one for the use of the temple

and the feast

one for the poor of the land

which would have puts the total to

around 23.3 percent

some understand the old testament tithe

as a method of taxation to provide for

the needs of the priests and the levites

in sacrificial systems

in some places

it’s very clear in the old testament

that they gave 14 around 12 to 14

different tides over seven year periods

but then after the death of jesus christ

matthew 5 17 this is important

after the death of jesus christ i want

to reiterate again tithing is an old

testament concept

but after the death of jesus christ

jesus fulfilled the law

look at that in matthew 5 17 jesus said

think not that i am come to destroy the

law so jesus didn’t come to destroy the

law

and anything that was under the law

which included tithing he said or the

prophets he says i’ve not come to

destroy it i came to fulfill it

so in matthew mark luke and john you’re

going to see jesus

fulfilling

all of the law

and at the same time talking about this

new way that is to come

so after the death of jesus christ

fulfilled the law of the new testament

nowhere after the death of jesus there’s

nowhere no nowhere commands or or any

commandments or even recommends that

christians submit to a legalistic tithe

system

the new testament nowhere designates a

percentage of income a person should set

aside but only says

gifts should be

in keeping with the income talks about

giving of gifts

look at first corinthians 16 and 2 in

the nlt first corinthians 16 and 2.

now i know all you know first thing

somebody’s going to say is well abraham

tithe you have to get the teaching we

just did

abraham

met

melchizedek who was unannounced

and melchizedek came and blessed him

and melchizedek won the battle for him

and then when when abraham found all

that out

he gave a tithe

he didn’t give the tithe to get blessed

he was blessed before he gave the tithe

he didn’t give the tithe to get the

victory of the battle he had already got

the victory of the battle

and and the bible says mail decision

showed up with bread and wine which

points to the body of christ and the

blood of christ

that was a shadow of the grace of god

showing up and so he gave the tithe as

an expression of his dependence upon god

because melchizedek said here is the

possessor of heaven and earth and

abraham said what do i need with anybody

else or anything on this planet if i’ll

hook up with him

and when he gave his tithe it was an

expression of his dependence

on god

the lord woke me up at 5 30 this morning

and he said this to me he said get up

and write it down before you lose it

he said that your giving is a response

to my ability to take care of you

he said when you give it is your

declaration of dependence on me

can i can i read that again

your giving is a response to god’s

ability to take care of you i give

because i now

know that god can take care of me that’s

why abraham gave he gave a tenth of

everything because he says oh that’s the

possessor of heaven and earth i don’t

have to worry about nothing so i’m going

to give and i’m going to in my giving

make a declaration that he is able to

take care of me you remember when abram

said to the king of sodom i’ve lifted my

hands up before god i won’t take nothing

down to a thread or shoe latch it so you

won’t ever be able to say you made abram

rich but i have declared my dependence

upon god his time his giving was a

response to god’s ability to take care

of him

chick-fil-a don’t open on sunday because

it is a response

that god is able to take care of them

[Applause]

look at first corinthians 16 and 2

watch this on the first day of each week

you should so this is the only place

where he’s talking about putting

something aside watch this the first day

of each week

you should uh each put aside a portion

of the money you have earned

don’t wait until i get there paul said

and then try to collect it all at once

so notice what he said he says

put aside

a portion of your money he didn’t say

what percentage he just said put aside a

portion of your money

so some in the christian church have

taken ten percent a ten percent figure

from the old testament tithe and applied

it as the recommended minimum

for christians in their giving he didn’t

say that

he didn’t say that he says i want you to

take a portion and put it aside now if

you want to give 10 that’s fine

but you know he didn’t say that i i want

to i want to get to a particular place

where you understand

that he is not requiring new testament

believers to operate in the old

testament system of tithing which

included a blessing and a curse

if you’re under grace jesus took the

curse away and you are already blessed

all right now watch this the new

testament talks about the importance and

the benefits of giving that’s what it

talks about

we are to give as we are able

and sometimes that means given more than

10

sometimes that means giving less

it all depends on the ability of the

christian

and the needs of the body of christ so

every christian should diligently pray

and seek god’s wisdom in the matters of

participating

on how much you should give

that’s the whole point we’re christians

now under the grace of god we have a

relationship with god we need to be

talking to god about giving us wisdom in

our giving

[Applause]

says they ain’t bible look at james

chapter one and five

james chapter one and five

there’s no fun and you just bucket

plunking he wants you to spend some time

with it lord what you want me to do

james 1 5 if any if any of you lack

wisdom

wisdom is knowing what to do when you

don’t know what to do how many of you’ve

been in a situation when you have you

don’t know what to do he says if any of

you lack wisdom let him ask of god that

give it to all men how liberally and

upbraid is not and it shall be given to

him so wisdom is available now above all

giving

above all

giving should be given with pure motives

it should be given with an attitude of

worship

to god

and it should be given as a service to

the body of christ

so according to second corinthians 9 7

second corinthians nine and seven

look what he says here he says you must

each decide in your heart in your own

heart

how much to give

new testament you must decide in your

own heart how much to give

and don’t give reluctantly or don’t give

in response to pressure

well the tithing teaching always

pressured me

it gave me fear

malachi 3 and 10 says

what’s that you are cursed with a curse

i remember one time i

my tithe was like uh i don’t know what

it was a 100 and some dollars and 26

cents and i didn’t have the 26 cents

and somebody put a brick through my

window the uh my car window of a new car

i had

and uh taff and i just got married and

and as soon as i did that the

condemnation of tithing and not tithing

came up and i and and i’m like you know

the devil just spoke to me and said see

there if you’re tired then this wouldn’t

happen the only reason that happened

it was fear-based

he says you’re never to give in response

to pressure

see the reason why you ain’t getting a

job is because you ain’t tithing you

should never give that’s pressure

you should never give in response to

pressure

i tell you what

and now one of y’all gonna get blessed

until you start tithing you should never

give

responding to pressure

he just told you how to give you decide

going to god seeking wisdom deciding

your heart what you should give for god

loves a person who gives cheerfully and

certainly when god puts something in

your heart and wisdom comes in your

heart what the actions are going to be

cheerful in their in their giving and

that’s that’s the recommendation we get

here now

i’m not suggesting

that we water down our giving

but let’s admit

tithing is an old testament teaching

the new testament contains a theme that

overrides it

so set aside your emotions please just

for a moment

and let’s see what the new testament

actually says about tithing

since we’re no longer under the law

let’s see what the new testament

actually says i know what you’ve been

told it said

i know what i might have told you 30

years it said 30 years ago what it said

let’s see what it actually says

all right let’s look at uh matthew 23

and luke 11 42.

they say basically the same thing

jesus’s words about tithing or breathe

there are only really two comments here

from jesus but watch this

uh he said and this is so interesting

here

he said woe

unto you scribes and pharisees

hypocrites for you pay tithes you pay

tithes of men and and and anus and

coming and have committed the weight you

have omitted you have omitted the

weightier matters

of the law judgment mercy and faith now

watch this

these ought you to have done

and not to leave the other the other

undone

all right so

he’s going in here

and jesus is criticizing the pharisees

for neglecting the law about justice and

mercy and faithfulness in their tithing

and again

for you tithing these things but you’re

neglecting the others what is he talking

about the others the other laws

you’re

you’re keeping this law but you’re

neglecting the other laws

so to be sure

they are tithing

they absolutely were tithing

and jesus says

you should you should keep that law of

tithing this this and this but you

shouldn’t neglect the other laws

about this this and this

all right now watch this

so they are tithing but they’re tithing

with wrong attitudes

no justice no mercy no faithfulness

others is plural in the new american

standard bible and it refers to the old

testament laws

not only to tithing law but all of the

laws in the old testament you know what

jesus was saying he says i want you to

be a good jew

don’t neglect jewish laws because can’t

be a good jew if you’re if you jewish

person if you’re neglecting jewish laws

he says in verse 24 they’re so busy you

know

you know straining through water so they

won’t

swallow a gnat

while at the same time they’re

swallowing a camel

what is it saying they got wrong

priorities

so he’s not teaching on tithing here in

verse 23.

he’s teaching on being a good jewish

person

living under the law

and to be a good jewish person living on

the law you can’t do this part of the

law and neglect the other parts of the

law

does everybody clearly see that

many will say well see jesus is teaching

on the law here’s what here’s what

here’s how i was taught

jesus said you tithe in this this this

and you ought to and they stop right

there see there you ought to

uh to what see you ought to tithe

he is out of context

the context is jewish people living

under the law

tithing according to the law

don’t neglect don’t neglect the rest of

the law

he’s not talking to new testament

christians jesus is jesus is operating

as a prophet

fulfilling the law

and he is speaking to them as an old

testament prophet fulfilling the law and

he is saying to them

you should be tithing according to the

law but you shouldn’t be neglecting the

rest of the laws

luke 11 42

says basically the same thing here now

now to be sure that they are tithing uh

well let’s let’s look let’s let’s look

at something

most people

will tell you jesus is advocating

tithing for the new way

that he that he’s announcing in the

gospel he is not he is just teaching as

an old testament prophet

according to the jewish law

now there’s another place we see him

talking about tithing luke 18 and verse

12.

all right now check this out this is so

serious here

jesus mentioned tithing in luke chapter

18 and 12

where a pharisee was boasting you

remember the story about the pharisee

and the publican

well the pharisee was boasting he said i

fast twice a week and i give tenth of

all i get

and again jesus does not speak against

tithing but challenges the pharisee

where his self-righteousness is

concerned

let me back up here look at look at uh

look at this in the nlt and let’s back

up to verse 11 luke 18 11 and read

through this there’s a lot going on here

luke 18 11 and the pharisees stood by

himself and he prayed this prayer i

thank you god that i am not like other

people

are you going to see the pharisee is

self-righteous

i’m not a cheater a sinner an adulterer

and i’m certainly not like this tax

collector

i fast twice a week i give you a tenth

of my income you ever met people in

church today that they tell you i’m a

tiger

and what does that mean that means you

still honor the law huh

i give you a tenth of my income lord

come on

but the tax collector stood at the

distance and dared not even lift his

eyes to heaven as he prayed instead he

beat his chest and sorrow saying oh god

be merciful to me for i am a sinner and

verse 14 tells you i tell you this

sinner not the pharisee return home

justified before god for those who exalt

themselves will be humble and those who

humble themselves would be exalted do

you see jesus teaching on tithing here

he was rebuking this guy for his

self-righteousness

self-righteous people are people who

strive to get right with god

and religion and self-righteousness are

the same thing

religion is the same as

self-righteousness it’s man’s pursuit to

make himself right before god

religion and self-righteousness operates

through guilt and fear

guilt and fear

so when you’re religious there’s some

guilt and some fear dependency on guilt

is what keeps religion alive and well

and like a drug dealer giving an addict

a small dose of of the drug to keep him

coming back so what so what’s happening

in the church is we used to give you a

small dose of fear and guilt or to be

ashamed of yourself from not tithing

that’s why none of you and the thing

that bothered me about it is that i

never met too many churches that had

even ten percent of the people in a

church side

it was like the rest of your church knew

something was wrong with this and you

kept pushing it and you were pushing

hard for only about seven or six people

six six people six to seven percent of

the people tithing anyway because they

figure i don’t understand i don’t know i

don’t know about that y’all know about

that

and it turns out they was right

is that the same creflo dollar what

happened

i’m growing honey i’m growing i’m

growing

i’m growing glory to god

[Applause]

jesus does not teach tithing he

challenges the jew to tithe with the

proper attitude so what about the

apostle paul let’s look at the apostle

paul right quick as a former pharisee

paul former pharisee a a former person

who lived under the law

we would expect him to advocate tithing

he lived under the law he was a pharisee

but when paul

taught giving

he never

mentioned the t word

never now if you think it was such a

repo requirement under grace

why did the guy who got the revelation

for grace why did he never mention the t

word

now you don’t even have grace people say

to you watch out for those preachers who

talk about you know you you shouldn’t be

tithing in church something wrong no no

no you bet you better go back a little

bit

either you’re living under grace or

you’re living under the law or you’re

living on a mixture

and nothing happens when you live under

a mixture of law and grace

let’s see what paul had to say let’s

look at this in nlt all of them first

corinthians 16 1-4

look at what paul had to say now

regarding your question about the money

being collected for god’s people in

jerusalem you should follow the same

procedure i gave to the church in in

galatia verse two on the first day of

each week you should each put aside a

portion of money you have earned don’t

wait until i get there and then try to

collect it all at once uh when i come

i’ll write letters of recommendation for

the messengers you choose to deliver

your gift to jerusalem uh and it and if

it seems appropriate for me to go along

uh they can travel with me so he didn’t

mention the t word there

look at first timothy chapter 6

17-19 first timothy 6 17 and 19. well

this is kind of boring when are you

going to shout no no no we need to get

taught we

when you don’t have something wrong go

on the inside of you you got to teach

that thing out

so you shout after i say amen

first timothy 6 17 and 19.

he said

teach those who are rich in this world

not to be proud and not to trust in

their money which is so unreliable

their trust should be in god

who richly gives us all we need for our

enjoyment

tell them to use their money to do good

they should be rich in good works and

generous to those in need always being

ready to share with others

by doing this they will be storing up

their treasure as a good foundation for

the future

so that they may experience true life

he didn’t say anything about t-word

look at second corinthians well

you homework homework go home and read

2nd corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9.

both of them talk about paul’s

instructions on giving and he never

mentioned the t word there he did not

mention the t word but uh if if let’s

see let’s go to second corinthians

chapter nine

and uh

well no you go read it read it yourself

give you a little something to do

galatians six and six and then i’ll go

on never mention the t word

galatians chapter 6 and verse 6 those

who are taught the word of god should

provide for their teachers sharing all

good things with them he didn’t mention

the t word

why

not why didn’t paul mention the t word

obviously paul did not want new gentile

believers

to be tempted by judaism

he didn’t want new gentile believers to

be tempted by

judaism which operated under the law

here is a new and unliving way

and so what happens keeping the gospel

pure without adding jewish rules was his

constant concern

under the law

rule keeping was the administrator of

morality in other words if you keep all

of these rules it should produce a

better type of person

it failed miserably

so now rule keeping has been replaced by

the holy ghost

and the holy ghost now is the

administrator of morality

and he starts working you and changing

you from the inside out he takes away

your own want-to’s and give you new want

to and you’re waking up one day trying

to figure out what happened to that

thing i used to want to do the holy

ghost has been working in you and he

does not want to mix he does not want to

mix and add jewish rules

to this new and living way to this

gospel of grace

i got to thinking about this this just

blew my mind

there was a question that was asked

in acts chapter 15.

let’s go

verse 5 and then verse 28

in the new living translation

there was a famous jerusalem council

remember that in acts chapter 15

that decided if the gentiles had to

adhere to jewish law

and the answer was a sum total of no

which means they didn’t have to

submit to jewish jewish law where

tithing is concerned look at this i’m

going to read two verses

acts 15 5 and then verse 28

but then some of the believers who

belonged to the sect of pharisees

they stood up and insisted

the gentiles converts must be

circumcised and required to follow the

law of moses

and so they took this amongst the

council to see all right

should

gentiles have to live under the law that

was specifically given to jewish people

and

they talked it over and looked at it and

so forth

and verse 28 says

for it seems good to the holy spirit

and to us to lay no greater burden on

you

than these few requirements

go to the next verse

you must abstain from eating food

offered to idols from consuming blood of

the meat of strangled animals and from

sexual immorality and if you do this

we good

farewell

and i break down what the answer was

no you don’t have to keep jewish law

which includes the law of tithing just

do these three things and we good

the jerusalem council decided that

and now the church in in the world

decided

against what the jerusalem council

decided

the law was a part of tithing

when when something is a part of the law

it is a part of the law

and is demonstrated because there will

be a blessing and there will be a curse

go to malachi chapter three yeah malachi

oh malachi

oh

malachi

go back go but i’ll go to verse 8.

do it in the king james i want to do it

in the language that we’ve heard all our

lives

okay king james

all right

will a man rob god

i mean you’ve heard of malachi son if

you’ve been in church at any time will a

man rob god watch this i want to rob god

you want to rob god i ain’t robbing

god that’s already set me up will a man

rob god

what the world

yet he says you have robbed me

you rob god

but you say wherein have we robbed thee

he said in tithes and offerings

that’s to be ashamed of yourself that’s

where the shame come from now

you don’t rob god you’re a bunch of

crooks

if you don’t give me your time you’re a

crap robbing god

well pastor i want to set up a

counseling session do you time

well i have a gift i want to sing in the

choir do you do you do your time

because if you can’t sing in this quiet

view i

cause we’re not gonna have a bunch of

robbers send up their robbing god with

some robin anointing coming through the

airways

it’s fearing guilt it keeps religion

alive

watch this you are cursed

kick off

with a curse

for you have robbed me

you have robbed me with a whole nation

next verse

bring you all the tithes in this

storehouse now i’m going to show you a

little bit later on we equated the

church with the storehouse the church

and this course the church in the

storehouse don’t equal

the storehouse was something that was

built because the temples didn’t have

enough room to store all the ties so

they built granaries

the church is not is not a storehouse

for greenery

bring you all the tithes into the

storehouse that there may be meat in my

house and prove me now here with saith

the lord of hosts

if i’ll not open you the winners of

heaven

and pour you out a blessing

that there shall not be room enough to

receive you see under grace the window

has opened jesus has come out the window

the blessing has been dispensed

oh god forgive me

lord forgive me

but in those days

you know

in the preaching circle like you can’t

say no that’s too often what everybody

else saying

you got to stay right there in the

boundaries of everybody else saying that

you can’t say that now

and i figure since i have been

excommunicated three four times

i’m good

i’m already i’m already out of the

boundaries i’m already already it’s just

me and tyler taffy’s still my friend i’m

good

because see taffy can do some stuff for

me that can’t nothing the preacher can

do for me you understand what i’m saying

there i really i really thank god for

that you understand

[Applause]

bring

bring it to the storehouse girl you know

what i’m saying

watch yourself okay all right

how do you even use this if you’re no

longer under the law but under grace and

galatians says

that jesus has taken he became a curse

for us

that the blessing

of abraham

of knowing that he’s the possessor of

heaven and earth he gave us his son that

he’ll give us everything else he took

the curse from us don’t you let nobody

tell you you cursed you are not cursed

you are blessed you got jesus in your

life you are blessed you are blessed

come ye blessed of my father you are

blessed

don’t let nobody tell you you curse

and some denominations say well you know

all black people are cursed because of

the mark that he put on who that ham and

so it spread it and that’s how you make

black people you better shut your mouth

up ain’t no way in a war i’m cursed

hallelujah i’m i’m too blessed glory to

god i can’t i can’t even i can’t even

spell curse let’s see

you and i don’t know

i’m blessed

i’m blessed going in i’m blessed coming

out i’m blessed when i go to bed i’m

blessed when i wake up in the morning

i’m blessed

[Applause]

not because of something that i have

done

but because the possessor and heaven and

earth had decided to release his grace

upon me and even if i didn’t deserve it

and because i didn’t earn it he decided

to bless me anyway because i believe

hallelujah

[Applause]

and now all of a sudden i will be cursed

because i don’t get 10 percent

i’mma give because you know if you give

it’ll be given unto you but you’re

telling me i gotta give ten percent

even jewish people gave more than ten

percent they gave almost 20 some percent

or more

and i’m cursed because i didn’t give 10

that don’t match nothing

but the law

but we’re not under the law

we’re under grace

[Applause]

so how much is enough

i found an excellent illustration i

think it would help you it’s

it’s a little

i’ll give it to you and you decide what

you want to do it

okay you ready if 10 percent is the

standard then consider what happens to

give me a name uh

johnny blue

if ten percent is the standard

then consider

what happens to johnny blue

a new believer

you just met him

at bible study on wednesday night for

the first time

johnny blue earns 806 dollars per month

take home

it’s about uh 9

9672 per year

probably below the poverty line in

america

uh

to tithe he would have to give

80 dollars each

month leaving him 726 to live on

and rent for his modest apartment was

500 per month

his teenage son lived with him

and he took care of another son on the

weekend

what we call him johnny blue

johnny blue heard his pastor teaching on

tithing and on the next wednesday

asked

sister ann

should he give 10

and she said

very skeptically

i couldn’t

he he said i could i couldn’t make it if

i did that

now would you have it would you advise

johnny blue

to tie

yeah based on what we all been taught

you would

because you were taught that that was

the magic pill

and real magic pill was just i’m

depending on god

and i’m gonna give what god tell me to

give because if he had a problem with

the tenth what was that what was that

widow’s woman gonna do she didn’t have

no 10 percent she just had a widow’s

mite and jesus said she gave more than

everybody in the place

okay

and so you got another dude

who lived across town he earned 250 000

a year

adam he was he was a growing believer

who wanted to honor christ

if he gave ten percent that would leave

him with 225 thousand dollars for living

this misses

now is my 250 thousand dollar friend off

the hook if he tithes

most of us would say yeah

he

he should do more because i mean check

him out he makes 25 dollars look at what

he’s given

well that’s what makes it so perfect no

here’s a here’s another thing i thought

about 10 percent belongs to god and the

rest is yours god better not even think

about asking me for no more

i don’t gave you yours now leave mine

alone

[Applause]

many christians are content to tithe

thinking that they’re obeying the bible

10 from the lord and 90 for me

so how much is enough

if the new testament is silent on

tithing

does it offer

some other guidelines i think so look at

luke chapter 21.

luke chapter 21

uh

verses one through four let’s let’s look

at it in the nasb

luke 21

verses 1 through 4.

the familiar story of jesus observing

the rich men and a poor widow woman

putting their gifts and treasure

and so jesus said

to the woman

he said uh said

said uh jesus said the widow woman put

in more than all

even though she gave only two small

copper

coins

now why would he say he gave she gave

more than them all

scripture says because she gave out of

her poverty she gave out of her living

whereas the rich gave out of their

surplus

jesus commended the widow woman because

her giving affected her lifestyle

if we give only out of surplus we’ve

missed the point

you should be giving out of your living

you shouldn’t be giving out of your

savings you ought to be given out of

that pot

that you buy your groceries with and

it’s out of your living this is going to

impact my living

i was preparing my offering this morning

and i had an amount and i and i thought

to myself this ain’t doing this ain’t no

it’s not moving me

[Music]

and i thought if my if what i give it

doesn’t move me it probably ain’t gonna

move god either

watch this

so jesus commended this with a woman

because she gave out of her lifestyle

he said

she gave out of her living

they gave out of their surplus it didn’t

move them

it don’t move a millionaire to come in

church every sunday and give a hundred

dollars

you can tell he didn’t pray he ain’t

asked god for no wisdom

on god’s requirements you go and say

lord what do you want me to give and

don’t let poverty

infect your hearing

i don’t know what god said but i ain’t

got the five dollars so that one i’m

gonna get here today

no you you

you got a thousand dollars you was

planning on going shopping with give get

500 out of your living

i i don’t

it happens it’s been happening to me for

40 years every time i give the way god

wants me to give it ain’t a week that go

by that he don’t bring it right back to

me in my face

but you ain’t gonna know that because

it’s a relationship thing

god what do you want me to do and what

moves you he been too good to me he’s

the possessor of heaven and earth ain’t

never gonna have to worry about nothing

because he’s able to take care of me so

i’m express i’m gonna express my

confidence and his ability to take care

of me

yeah i’m gonna get this

how do you ever know if he’s gonna be

able to take care of you and what you’re

gonna do when everything else fail when

you playing religious games do you know

him for yourself and do you believe he

can take care of you all right get used

to it now let him start taking care of

you now

[Applause]

i don’t took the t-word out of things

some of y’all are still scared

no i depend on god he will take care of

me

we started building this building

over 20 million dollars we started

building this building and had no

idea where the money’s come from i went

to the bank i said we need to get along

they laugh you ain’t getting no loan

in fact she said you ain’t getting along

ain’t nobody gonna give you the money

and god had already told me don’t go to

the banking bar now i went anyway

i couldn’t see how

if she got up in my face you know back

in the day i think was cns bank

now i might tell you ain’t nobody going

to get that money i was like oh carly

parker going to go up don’t come

don’t spit in my face now you need to

back up now

i’m saved but i ain’t that sad

you know i just got said yesterday

man she hurt my feelings

and god said i told you

i’m gonna do this

i said all right god

all right fine

i just got a question being facetious

with god

we ain’t got no money

how are we going how we how we gonna get

started

what are we gonna do how we gonna start

he said get started i say we got no

money

now watch god he said how much does it

cost to dig a hole

[Music]

uh

yes yes sir

so we dug a hole

we got started we dug all didn’t cost a

dime that hole was dug debt-free

ah

sometimes god just wants you to get

started

sometimes he just wants you to crank the

car up sometimes he just wants you to

put it in drive hallelujah

[Applause]

i believe we got a picture of that

brother chris you had your foot on a on

a shovel

and he didn’t charge us for his foot

[Applause]

then it started rolling in

and it kept coming and we kept growing

and learning stuff

and we moved in here

not to a building that was

just prayed for

but it was paid for

and all the way today

even with other churches and properties

around the world

the ministry is totally debt free

we owe nobody

nothing

we didn’t need to get no pph at long or

whatever i’m saying well we didn’t need

to get none of that because we had

already lifted our hands up before god

that he would take care of us

the possessor of heaven and earth

[Applause]

and that’s what god wants out of all of

us let me take care of you

pray about what you want me to do and i

tell you

we did like this with a woman right here

there were times

we gave it all away we didn’t we if god

didn’t move we were going to have to

move

but the wisdom of god told me

i didn’t do it well you know how we do

well if you did it for them you’ll do it

for me not necessarily they had a

revelation god told them to do it you

heard the testimony about them doing it

and now you tried to do something that

you heard testify but you ain’t got no

revelation from god himself breakthrough

doesn’t come just from reading the bible

breakthrough comes from a word when you

get a word from god not just a word of

god but a word from god and when god and

wisdom shows you how to do something

ain’t no devil in hell gonna be able to

stop

[Music]

second corinthians chapter eight

and verse seven what did the apostle

paul

say paul exhorted christ’s followers to

abound

or increase in generosity

in second corinthians chapter eight

verse 7 he says he said but just as you

abound in everything he said you you

abound in faith you abound in utterance

you abound in knowledge and in all

earnestness

and in the love we inspired with you

see that you abound in this gracious

work of giving also

increasing your giving also

a quote by c.s

c.s lewis he said this he said i’m

afraid biblical charity is more than

merely giving away that which we could

afford to do without anyone anyway

in other words giving away your junk

people used to do that with church let’s

take the junk up to the church we don’t

take no job

when we give when we stock our clothing

area those some of those clothes still

got tags on them

we look at your raggedy jump let’s

reject we can’t take this

you want to bring your regular furniture

we can’t take that

we’re out of church y’all supposed to

want everything no we represent the

kingdom we operate in a spirit of

excellence we’re not just going to take

your jump you you’re going to throw your

junk away don’t give it to us or throw

it away cause we certainly gonna throw

it away

now right along here now some of y’all

feeling i don’t want to hear this

prosperity gospel you better get your

thinking right

this is more than prosperity gospel this

is a declaration of dependence upon god

to take care of you because i promise

you there’s coming a time real soon

where you’re gonna need somebody like

god to take care of you because ain’t

nobody else gonna be around to take care

of you

and i’m just trying to show you how to

get taken care of

and i’m trying to show you how to get

your bag when you need it

by trusting god and not trusting systems

and men that’s gonna let you down how is

it that god healed you god delivered you

god saved you but then he ain’t got

nothing to do with you where physical

natural things are concerned he wants to

meet those needs as well something must

be cracker jack in your head that you

think god just want to sit back and let

you be homeless and suffer and no

he’s not that kind of god

where you just preaching it for your own

benefit listen i’m not going to

apologize for being blessed but believe

me i’m blessed i keep trying to give it

away and it keep coming back i keep

trying to get rid of it and it keep

coming back i don’t know what else to do

i don’t try to act pope but it just

won’t do right

i remember when i was i was given

i i gave some jury away

and it wouldn’t stop coming back

i had jury coming from all over the

country i’m like oh my god where do we

go they bought big boxes of jewelry and

i just shared it with my staff but now

i’m giving it away again and they kept

coming again and i’m like how do we stop

this

there were people getting married i said

you bought a ring yet

i got something for you

i want to give because i’m motivated by

a god who won’t stop giving to me he

gives me healing he gives me peace he

gives me love he wakes me up in the

morning he gives me the money to pay my

bills he just won’t stop he won’t leave

me alone he keep running me over with

his blessings i

[Applause]

[Music]

i ain’t trying to

i gave 150 cars away

and the church gave me an appreciation

service i don’t know how many years ago

how many years ago

20 something 30 years ago

150 100

oh i don’t even know how many calls we

gave we we bought so many calls for

people

and they told me to come to the stage

and there’s a rolls royce came out then

i fell out and then i thought oh law

these colored people gonna think i stole

money

these colored people gonna think i stole

money and bought a rolls royce

and half the colors are in the room

y’all see y’all giving it to me

i kid you not

a week later

my sons came together we had the

gathering of our sons coming together

and they said dad we got a surprise what

is it

walking outside it was another road rust

i said i told teddy i said i’m scared

i don’t even know what to do

i don’t even know what to do

i could not even receive from god

because i was so abundance to people i

was so scared with people there and so

and so i gave

the first rose i gave it away

because i i was on i was doing

interviews i think i was on 20 20. and

they said so you have a rose ross and i

said yes but i’m giving it and selling

it and giving the money to the

children’s ministry

and i thought that was satisfied and

guess who talked to me immediately after

the interview god

he said

i gave that to you because i wanted to

bless you

and you let people bond this cause you

to give away what i blessed you with

i felt so bad

i called my son i said listen go find

that rolls royce he said hi i said go

find it i don’t care what you got to do

scroll around the nation in every state

you got to but you find that rolls ross

that was god’s love that he was trying

to show on me and i let people bonus

talk me out and that was the year i got

free from people free from color folks

free from church folks i got free from

white folks i got free from everybody

praise god hallelujah

hallelujah

my god

wants to bless you

i’m sorry you don’t want to receive it i

apologize that you hate the prosperity

gospel but that’s still not going to

stop his his his abounding his abounding

provision he’s going to keep increasing

his provision on you he’s going to keep

blessing you he’s going to keep turning

things around for you he’s going to keep

increasing you he’s going to keep

healing you because he’s jehovah jireh

he can’t help it he gonna do it anyway

[Applause]

i dare you to give him a shout give him

a shout and hit somebody

hallelujah

hallelujah

[Applause]

[Music]

god is not going to let some sinner

outlive you

and you depend on him but he couldn’t do

it because you were under law

or you were missing law with grace

and it was holding back

what he wanted to do

the motive can’t ever be most stuff

the motor can’t be well i’m gonna do

this so god can bless me it ain’t gonna

happen

the motive has got to be

i depend on you i lift my hands to you

like abraham

and i will give any way you tell me to

give

because i have no fear

that you are the god

that knows how to take care of me

you gave me your son and you told me

i’ll give you everything else you want

but i trust god i depend on him i don’t

depend on no money there’s a lot of

things money can’t do for you i depend

on him what you gonna do when money

can’t buy a cure because they ain’t got

one what you’re gonna do with money by

the house but can’t turn it into a home

what you’re gonna do when money can buy

you a woman can but can’t buy you

somebody to love you all your life no no

no no no

you know what the love of money is is

when you trust money more than you trust

god

the love of money is the root

you know what he’s saying

your dependency and trust on money is

the root to all of the evil that you’ll

see in your life

and some people trust money

more than they trust god until they turn

that money into their god and now

they’ve committed idolatry

because they value money more than they

value god

what you’ll do for money you just can’t

seem to do for god

you’ll be on time for the job to get the

money but you can’t be on time for

church you will spend time studying to

get more money but you won’t spend time

praying and letting god speak to you and

give you wisdom

it ain’t never been give a tithe and

watch god go to work

that’s not better than come on genie

this is always about love for god so

love the world look at the reflex

that he gave

and then you walk around tell me how

much you love god and can’t figure out

how to even go before god and say

lord i know you love me what do you want

me to do

and it could be in all kinds of

different ways all kinds of services

it’s not always going to be in money

it’s going to be in all kinds of

services that you do for the lord

and just because my last name was dollar

i’ve i’ve almost been dismissed

from the credibility of ministry

you’re here to pass a dollar or that

crook you know you

you don’t even know man i’m saved for

real cause if i want i’m gonna bust you

up on your face of you

if i wanna i’ve been buried you where i

know where the bodies is what you’re

talking about

i just feel a kingpin boss but what you

talking about i would hurt you

but i’m saved sanctified filled with the

holy ghost fly baptized

but in the midst of all of that they

still hadn’t been able to

to to put me down

because god just keep loving me

[Applause]

now you got to be ready because people

don’t understand the blessing on you the

blessing on you looks like you committed

a crime

and god getting ready to bless your

world changes

to the point where it looked like you

did something wrong to get out of myself

god is getting ready to bless you like

it looked like look like you did

something wrong to get it and when they

come and accuse you of doing something

wrong tell them like abraham i’ve

already lifted my hands up before god

that no man made me rich but god only

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

out of my heart i go before god what

would you have me to give

i want to worship you lord

i depend on you lord

i trust you i need you

and giving now

becomes

just as much a part of my worship

as my song singing

as my dancing as my lifting my hands

i get to give and i’ve got to i get to

give

now for some reason if you’re cool

we’re starting off at 10 percent that’s

the thing it ain’t no

it ain’t no crime

but you can’t make it

mandatorily the law for new testament

christians to give 10

that’s all i’m saying

new testament is clear about giving but

not by a law that says

either you tithe and you’re going to be

cursed you know that ain’t god no more

that was

and that’s what jesus lived under that’s

what he fulfilled

hey you know i’m gonna get letters i

ain’t read no no i’m gonna read letters

no more

if it cost me my piece it’s too

expensive i ain’t spending my p i ain’t

spending my piece on nobody’s drama or

nobody’s emergency

people call me time i got an emergency i

don’t do emergencies

because if i’m gonna live long and stay

on this earth i got to learn how to be a

man of ease and a man of peace i can’t i

can’t take all that drama and stuff like

i used to i ain’t doing that

you know i ain’t still 30.

i may look like it sometimes

sometimes i look 79.

i just want you to be free and

and finally

choose jesus

he loves

you he cares for you

you know how much

it takes for me to get up here

and correct my teaching

yeah

not all pastors do that not all

preachers that do that they’re not gonna

do that they’re gonna

make you think it was all right we just

be quiet no nobody’s saying that

but i’m pretty correct in my teaching

and others teachings

it’s it’ll go around the world before

tomorrow night

yeah i love y’all too man i don’t want

to be nowhere else but listen if god if

god told me i had to go to another

church to preach

i might quit for a minute you know

bow your heads my time’s all on we’ll

pick up with this

if y’all come back next week we’ll pick

up with this

lord we

we get it

melchizedek showed up before abraham

unexpected

nobody knew he was coming

but by your grace you sent a priest

with the bread and the wine in his hands

he showed up right after the victory

that was given that nowhere in the world

abram could have won

then he sat down and he blessed abraham

with an understanding of who god was

the possessive of heaven and earth

and abram responded

that i am going to give to my god

as a response to his ability to take

care of me

help us to get that revelation that our

giving is responding to

you being the possessor of heaven and

earth you being the provider you being

the one that can take care of us in any

arena of our lives

now holy spirit i trust

you to teach this into our souls and

into our spirits

let our tradition not rob us

from the word

open the ears of the people of god that

they may hear your wisdom

and we may worship you

in the beauty of your holiness

help me lord to

continue to grow and

help me to articulate stuff and say

stuff like you want me to say it

and give us all sweet lips so we can see

learning increase

may the blessings of god begin to run

the world change over

until he just can’t help but give it

away because ain’t got no more room to

receive

not just stuff

but character and love

and those things that you lead us to do

to treat people right

we give you praise for it now

now if you’re in this place and you’ve

never made jesus the lord of your life

or if you’re on the stream i want you to

say this simple prayer after me heavenly

father

i realize that i’m a sinner

but right now i repent of all of my sins

i receive the free gift of forgiveness

i make you my lord and my savior

thank you lord for saving me

i receive you now

in jesus name

and everybody said amen

come on give the lord a big hand clap

for praise he is worthy of it

he’s worthy of it

if you just prayed the prayer of

salvation with me text the key word i’m

saved as one word to 5155 provide your

name and email address and we’ll send

you a free ebook as a gift to you today

if you prayed their prayer with me in

the dome just hold on just for a moment

we’re going to have an altar call and

you can come down and we’ll get you some

information that you need now let’s go

ahead and participate in our final act

of worship

and that is our giving the final act of

worship

that is our giving

you know here’s another thing i thought

about too ken you can’t use abraham and

one time you found him giving and

assumed that he gave like that every

time

just too many assumptions

well you know the tree in the garden

that was a type of tide that ain’t what

that was

the tree in the garden

was either going to be a declaration of

dependence on god or declaration of

independence from god and it happened to

be a declaration of independence from

god

because they heard

you just like god and they said well

shoot we don’t need god then and they

they responded by eating the fruit of

the tree declaring their independence

from god

no type of the tithe we love taking the

cheaper

instead of the deeper

and we’ve got to stop assuming stuff

into existence

well i tell you all what we need to pray

for brother dollar he’s really he’s off

his rocker thank god i’m off that rock a

thing wasn’t comfortable anyway

my business is right here ain’t

everybody my business right here

amen

let’s go ahead and uh uh have y’all

passed out the offering

thank you you have

go ahead man if you need an offering

envelope go ahead and um

raise your hands and the ushers will get

you i’m confusing y’all all right so if

if you need an offering envelope raise

your hands and us to give it to you all

right

before we take it up don’t don’t take it

up yet let’s let’s get everybody uh an

offering envelope

again thank you all for taking your time

out to come it’s summertime

like he was singing this morning i don’t

know the song

it’s summertime

summer summer time

s-u-m-m-e-r

summer summer

my daddy used to come home when he was

on the ship at the police

as a police and

he come home get extra guns

i said dad what you doing

you said it was 100 degrees out there

you know black folks go nothing

i said no dad you know they just did a

study of that and they actually said

that when the temperature arises it

seems like crime rises at the same time

i said dad was right the whole time

man

so that’s why i got my piece on here

with me just

[Applause]

i ain’t know what y’all are going to do

to you know

this there’s been a year to slap like

you don’t want to

go running out here and drive left

[Music]

hey ain’t going to be sitting there oh

i’m gonna pray and say lord let thy

mighty hand come between his hand and my

face in the name of jesus

and i’m like lord lord and it didn’t

work all right lord you’re gonna do

something

amen let’s go ahead and receive the

offering right now y’all know i’m just

playing right some of you’re like

what kind of priest are you i ain’t no

priest

[Applause]

i’m still working on that tattoo

give me a big sleeve right here right

here

ankle and neck and come out my collar

like that

and come out here and just watch y’all

judge me

yep

y’all don’t know what the thing dude

some of y’all said is he serious is he

playing

should we be laughing or you know

you know

you you got to learn how to live you got

to learn how to have some fun man y’all

some of y’all just too stuck up it’s

just something to matter with you you

need to go have a drink or something you

know

look at you

[Applause]

well now that you’re missing it

i carries my communion with me

everywhere i go

oh man

i got folks they’re walking out real

quick now this you’re lost in mind you

know

amen

praise god well at this time if you

desire to

you desire to join this church today

if god has put it on your heart to join

world changers church international

would you please get your personal

belongings come on down front we’ll

receive you right now if you prayed the

prayer of salvation and you want us to

continue to we got some instruction to

give to you you can come on down right

now it’s totally up to you you can come

at this time as i speak to our e-church

if you want to be a part of our e-church

membership go to worldchanges.org

and click join at the top of the page

you can text join wcci all one word to

51555 and we will send you all the

benefits of e membership welcome to

e-church at world changers

we thought we thank god for you and we

believe that the best is yet to come in

your life amen

praise the lord

[Applause]

amen praise god anybody else god bless

y’all father we thank you for those

who’ve come down and we ask your

blessings to be on them continuously

prove yourself to them is my prayer in

jesus name amen if you’ll follow this

gentleman to the prayer room they’re

going to take your minister to you and

give you some information that’s going

to really help you out

all right let’s stand up for our final

blessings and dismiss you guys

have an amazing day today have an

awesome week learn how to live and enjoy

your life amen

learn how to live and enjoy your life i

went too quick look at all these people

coming out here now

look at the law

[Music]

and now unto him who is able to keep you

from falling

he who will perfect everything that

concerns you

he who will provide protection for you

throughout all this week

he will give you long life

i declare your protection of your life

of your family

he that will cause you to prosper and to

increase in every way

may the god of all peace and the god of

all comfort

may the god of the blessings that

overtake you run you over

may the god of favor and grace

be upon you all this week

may wisdom invade all areas of your

thinking

and may you see hear and understand

the wisdom of god that will promote you

to the next level

and again now unto him

who is able to keep you from falling

and to present you faultless before the

almighty god

be glory

honor majesty

forever and ever

in jesus name

you are blessed god bless you everybody

[Applause]

[Music]

you asked and we answered we know there

are friends of the ministry who prefer

cds and dvds but for those of you who

find the digital versions of messages

better fit your life creflo and taffy

dollars message series are now available

as digital downloads in the cywe store

log on to

cywestore.com today to see the whole

catalog of new and re-released messages

that can be downloaded to any device for

easy and convenient listening

[Music]

of a world

[Music]

changer that can be