[Laissez-faire capitalist]

This is in line with the scriptures (for those that support tithing) in Deuteronomy 26:12 which says that every third year a part of the tithe not only goes to the priests and Levites (which I guess today could be said to be the ministers and staff), but also to the poor, widows and fatherless. If these 3 groups are to go to the state for help, then what of the ministers if the scriptures cannot be broken - as the Word says?

But how will they spend it? Does every church give a line by line exact tally for where and how and when every dollar is spent?

[Vigilanteman]

This is almost as crazy as sending people who actually pay taxes rebate checks.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

If people tithe to their local church, I have no problem with what has been termed “reverse tithing.”

But what of those who tithe very little in comparison to others? Did Lazarus (not the Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead) tithe very much? Uh, no, I don’t think so...

[LearsFool]

Pastor Laura Truax

If they want to do profit-sharing from their real estate business, will God be any more displeased with them than He already is? This church obviously doesn't care what He thinks anyway.

What they need to do is turn to Christ for salvation, and acknowledge and obey Him as their Lord and Master, and stop coming up with brilliant ideas of their own.

[bgill]

Some of that should be spent to send Billy back to Journalism 101.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

This church did a good deed and should be commended for it.

We need only give praise for this good deed, not needlessly deflect away from it.

[MNDude]

A click-baiting heading like this is so typical to come from Mr. “Tune in to my show tomorrow for an announcement that will shake the foundations of our nation”.

[logi_cal869]

The headline itself is fodder for an invasive IRS to check all the congregation for claiming their ‘gains’. I hope the church provided a handout to help their congregation in this respect, as I suspect we’ll be reading about this again in 6 mo...

[Alex Murphy]

This is in line with the scriptures (for those that support tithing) in Deuteronomy 26:12 which says that every third year a part of the tithe not only goes to the priests and Levites...but also to the poor, widows and fatherless. If these 3 groups are to go to the state for help, then what of the ministers if the scriptures cannot be broken - as the Word says? But how will they spend it? Does every church give a line by line exact tally for where and how and when every dollar is spent?

I'm a little lost on your question, L-Fc:
- Who would "a line by line exact tally" be given to? Whose spending would it be about?
- What do you mean by "what of the ministers...?"

[pgyanke]

A friend of mine is a very Godly priest in California. He took a mission trip over to Africa and was touched by a town that needed an orphanage. When he returned, he decided to do something about it.

Did he hit up his parish for donations? Not exactly. He took a page from the Bible and passed out random sums of money in envelopes during Mass (during the homily or collection, I assume). He gave instruction to use the funds according to their conscience and return the money with whatever gains over the next six months. Some received $500... some $250... and some $100. I think the overall investment was about $10,000 outward.

Over $100,000 was returned and the orphanage was built with funds to spare for other projects in the village.

I wish more priests thought this way rather than just coming with sob stories and open hands.

[marron]

The pastor at our church has on occasion handed out money to the members with the instruction to pray over it and use it to bless someone as God leads. And then, preferably, send him an email describing what happened as a result.

He occasionally does it when the church itself is in particular need.