More on "Eat the Tithe"

In April I posted a blog entitled "Eat the Tithe". (see sidebar on this blog site).

There has been a response which I resonded to. This asks certain questions regarding the implementation of such  an act. The relevant material is reproduced below.

If we are to eat the tithe (or some of it), does that change where we
give the tithe?  Do we still give the whole tithe to the temple - which
I guess in our case is the church?
If so, does that mean that it is the priests, or those who administer
the tithe, who are to organise the feast?

Or, do we withhold some of the tithe and organise our own feast?  Is it
a gathering of those who tithe, or for others as well?

Some of those questions you may have answered in your blog posts, I
can't remember, but they are my thoughts for today.

The 'storehouse' needs to be considered very carefully. We have assumed it is the local churhc, but is it? We need to think more widely than this. I think it is Jesus. The tithe is given to Him. He is the source of all our provision, material and spiritual. The local church is but one of the ways He distributes it. Other ways include, people in need that He directs us to, other agencies He puts on our heart, teachers inside and outside institutional Christianity, etc. I am sure there is a lot more to say about each of these, for instance, Jesus' bias for the poor is clear in the New Testamant. Teachers are worthy of double honour. "1Ti 5:17 NIV  The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching". This later would seem to be directed to the church, but is it the local church. In fact is such a unit known in the Bible? Is the church local, or city, or household, or what?

I think that WE organise it ourselves and invite whoever we believe should be there, certainly not just (or even) other tithers. In 1 Cor 11 the suggestion is that there is a very wide range of socio-economic groups there.

All this raises a lot more questions sokeep the dialogue going..

“Why do you ignore me?”

Prophecy is severely underrated in the Church today. There are so many itinerant speakers on the "circuit" today claiming to be prophets that many have come to be dismissive of all prophecy. Yet one of the most valuable ways that God has to speak to His people is through prophecy.

But what is prophecy today?

What passes for prophecy is directive words spoken to an individual, which can be very dangerous. Nothing should be accepted from such a “prophet” unless it already confirms what God has been saying to you personally and is confirmed by others.

Prophecy in the Old Testament usually consisted of drawing people back to the Covenant. When the people had strayed from God, a prophet was raised up by God to point out the present dire situation and bring the mrssage “RETURN to the Lord your God.” God is so caring of His people that He won’t let them stray from Him without a prophet doing all that he can to draw them back to God and His ways. It is the same today. Yet there are so many false prophets around that the true word of prophecy is sometimes drowned out.

False prophets come in many guises but they generally fall into one or other of the following groups.

●   Doomsdayers who see evil everywhere from a human perspective but miss the actions of God.

●   Rosy eyed people who see nothing but good and ignore the warnings of God.

●   People pleasers who tell people what they want to hear.

●   Really dangerous people who want to control others and give highly directive words for individuals.

How are we to judge prophecy in the midst of all this?

Amo 3:7-8 NIV  Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.  (8)  The lion has roared-- who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken-- who can but prophesy?

The fact remains that true prophecy does exist. God is speaking today the same way He has throughout history. He keeps calling people back to Himself whenever we stray. He always reveals what He wants before He acts in retribution of judgment. This is usually a last resort. God speaks in other ways first. When this is ignored He raises up a prophet so that everything is made perfectly clear before the axe falls.

Prophets are often (usually?) reluctant to speak out for they know what the reaction will be. No one likes to be told they are wrong and need to repent. Jesus made it clear that prophets would not be welcome, especially in their home town or where they are well known.

Despite this there is a compulsion in the heart of a true prophet that he/she must speak. Not to speak means facing the ‘roaring lion’. The prophet who does not speak falls into the same trap as the people he is supposed to warn.

Look at what Amos had to say to the people

Amos 4:1-12 NIV  Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!"  (2)  The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.  (3)  You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD. 

(4)  "Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years.  (5)  Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings-- boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do," declares the Sovereign LORD. 

(6)  "I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. 

(7)  "I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.  (8)  People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. 

(9)  "Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. 

(10)  "I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. 

(11)  "I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. 

(12)  "Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God." 

God spoke to them in many ways, and for a long time. He did this through difficult and often disastrous circumstances.  Yet THEY DIDN’T RETURN TO HIM (in the NIV) or more succinctly in The Message, THEY IGNORED HIM.

How contemporary this sounds. God is ignored in the affairs of state so the country has to pay the price. He is ignored in relationships and we suffer the effects of that in abuse, broken relationships, women and children at risk or abused. He is ignored in individual lives and we end up with an epidemic of depression and its effects, and aimlessness and its effects.

How many times does He have to speak before we take action.

The prophets are calling out “RETURN TO YOUR GOD.”

This is not just a call to a superficial recognition of God’s existence, but a call to a wholehearted return to full obedience to all that Jesus lays before us. It is a call to complete surrender in all aspects of life. But that is for another blog. For now it is a wakeup call.

Can you hear Him?

Will you hear His true prophets?

A Church Scatters. What next?

One of the more sad moments of my time in Bendigo was seeing View Hill Fellowship cease to exist.I pastored this Fellowship for all but the first 2 years and last 7 years of its 20 year life, pouring my life into it. It was sad to see the end of what was once a very vital church, pioneering the life of the Holy Spirit, which was taken up by others in the area. The end came with a whimper rather than a crash.

This has caused me to wonder about many things, not least of which was my role in the Fellowship. From the perspective of distance, both in time and retirement from Parish ministry, I can see things I would have done differently, such as move more slowly in some of the changes. However there are far more things to rejoice in as the ethos of VHF was taken up by other churches, not necessarily Anglican.I can see people that were equipped and released into their ministries, people brought to faith, and many released from sickness and other burdens in their life.

However the fact remains that the Fellowship reached the end of its life.

In prayer and meditation on this fact, several scriptures have stood out to me.

Act 8:1,4 NIV  ……. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  ……… (4)  Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

Joh 12:24 NIV  Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Mat 28:18-20 NIV  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  (19)  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  (20)  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


The first church was in Jerusalem. All the Apostles were there together with those saved at Pentecost (3000+) and other converted Jews. It had grown large and complacent.

The last words of Jesus to this infant church were “Go and make disciples …”. They didn’t go. They stayed where it was comfortable.

It was not until there was persecution and Stephen was martyred that there was any real threat to them; certainly not any threat serious enough to scatter them. However now it was becoming impossible to remain. A “great persecution” broke out. People were suddenly faced with the seriousness of staying in Jerusalem. Their comfort had been shattered.

All except the Apostles were scattered far and wide.

It must have seemed like a real death to them. Once they were secure and comfortable. Now they are scattered and in fear of their life, especially now that Saul (later named Paul) was expending all his effort to root out and kill all members of this new sect, as he saw it. It was his religious duty to kill all he could who had joined this sect of the Nazarenes.

What are they to do now? In some way they remembered the words of Jesus about a grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying to itself before it gave a harvest of many grains. There were certainly many other things they remembered such as the call of Jesus to spread His Name wherever they went, and many other words of Jesus.

They were now forcibly scattered. They had indeed been forced to “GO”. Now they had to do the rest of what they knew they should have been doing all along. They began to multiply their own lives as they made disciples of all they contacted. The Word of God now spread rapidly throughout the region and beyond.

In their comfort they refused to “go and make disciples …”.  Now they were forced to go and obey Jesus.

I hope (and believe?) that this is what has happened to VHF. The Fellowship certainly became comfortable. In the last few years of my tenure there this was already becoming evident.

The scattering has begun, now that the Fellowship has been dissolved. It is to be hoped that each member of the Fellowship will act in the way the infant Church of Jerusalem acted.

There are two ways of seeing the closure

⦁    Loss
⦁    Opportunity

I see the closure very much in terms of an opportunity. Here is an opportunity to demonstrate that the church is not a building. It is a group of people committed to the task of disciplemaking by going wherever the Lord Jesus directs. It may take many forms: going overseas or to another location, going to your neighbours and friends, going into a task (ministry) that the Lord gives you, such as fervent prayer, or whatever. You need to find what GO means for you, but GO you must.

Now is the opportunity for VHF to complete the task given to it when Bishop Oliver Heyward authorised the Fellowship. It must be a “going” church, making disciples who can discover their own task within the Kingdom of God. VHF was never meant to be a place of rest and comfort. It was, and must be still, people of mission, with the fire of the Holy Spirit in their bellies, doing “Whatever It Takes.”

Where do you fit into this? Let me know your thoughts.

Get rid of corners!

At one stage in my life as a pastor there was a major scandal in the church. I was determined that it had to be dealt with in the open. Some of the people in the leadership team tried to persuade me to sweep it under the carpet lest everyone found out. I was determined that this was not be the right course of action. Everything was to be out in the open. The issue would be dealt with in such a way that no one would be in any doubt as to how we dealt with scandal.

 Christianity is not a secret society. Everything we believe, and/or do, must be open for inspection by anyone. That is part if the challenge of the Christian life and its power.

We have seen in recent years the effect of secrecy in the church. The world wide scandal of child abuse has brought parts of the institutional church into such rebuke that it will be hard to recover any sense of integrity. That has been the result of secrecy.

Act 26:26 NIV  The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

Paul was defending himself before Festus. He had recounted an outline of the salvation history of Israel ending with the death and resurrection of Jesus. These facts were not unknown to Festus. Even so, Paul found it necessary to bring all the facts to light so that there could be no doubt as to what was at stake.

“The Way”, as Christianity was known then, was being severely persecuted. There already were martyrs, and others had lost all their property. It was a dangerous time to be a follower of Jesus. Still there was no way Paul was going to try to gain his freedom by keeping quiet about Jesus.

Nothing to do with Jesus was “done in a corner.”

There is such a lesson for all of us here. If we try to be “secret believers” then we are, in effect, showing that we are ashamed of Jesus, or afraid of what others might think or say. These are really the same thing.

We are either for Jesus or against Him. There is no middle ground.

Mat 12:30 NIV  "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus couldn’t be clearer. There is no middle ground. No room for secrecy. No room for compromise. No room for inaction.

Jesus calls us to be disciples, ones who become more and more like their master. He has a big fan base but fewer disciples.

In 2011 Kyle Idleman wrote an important book titled “Not a Fan.” I recommend it highly. In it Kyle describes some points to help us diagnose whether we are disciples of Jesus or just fans who admire him and even follow the rules. He calls this section of the book “Define the relationship” and offers 5 questions to help us define our relationship with Jesus.

Have we made a decision, or a commitment?
Do we have knowledge about Him, or intimacy with Him?
Is He one of many, or your one and only?
Are we following Jesus, or following the rules?
Are we self-empowered, or spirit-filled?

Kyle goes on to say that we must be involved in a passionate pursuit, involving daily surrender leading to a daily death to self. This is to be pursued wherever, whenever and whatever the circumstances.

Does this sound like your life with Jesus?

There is no other way. It is not a life of secrecy at any level but a total openness to Jesus and to everyone we meet. This is another word for “integrity.” In other words, what is inside is seen clearly on the outside.

No hiding in corners.
No hidden agendas.
No fear of man.

To many this may seem like an impossible dream. It is, if you are relying on your strength to achieve it. Fortunately when Jesus gives a command, He also gives us the means to carry it out. He has poured out the Holy Spirit on all who would receive Him. It is in the power of Holy Spirit that we can, and will, live this new life.

What are you hiding? Bring it to the surface and expose it to the light of Jesus. Then you will see how freeing it is to live a transparent life. Nothing is hidden from Him who is The Light of the World. He has called us to be the same.

Mat 5:14 NIV  "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Let your light shine!!

I hate crowds!

There are very few things as frightening as a crowd. They can be swayed by anyone with a silver tongue or by a few agitators. All the great, and infamous men of history have been able to sway a crowd by their oratory. Think of Hitler and his Nuremberg address, or Barak Obama in his inauguration address, or Winston Churchill in his famous speeches during World War II.

This power can be used for good or ill. The issue for me is the fact that many in most crowds have a limited understanding (if any) of the facts involved, and are swayed by the speaker, or the planted agitators.

Act 19:32 NIV  The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

Paul was in Ephesus for one of the most strategic times in his journeys. He had been preaching about the uniqueness of Jesus in a city which was the centre of the worship of Diana via  the meteorite which looked like a multi breasted women. The economy of Ephesus was dependent on the silversmiths who manufactured images of this meteorite for the pilgrims who came to worship at Diana's temple. Her temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world.

This trade was at risk since many were abandoning the temple and turning to "The Way".  This was enough reason for Demetrius on behalf of the silversmiths to bring charges against Paul.  This soon ended in a near riot. The mob was out of control.

Any attempt by Paul or his companions to explain the situation was drowned out by the crowd. They cried "Great is Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians." The mob was out of control.

A few years ago a team of Intercessors from the UK and Australia visited the open air arena at Ephesus and took up the cry "Great is Jesus the Son of God!" This time it was the mob of demons that were put to flight.

With Paul's situation we see the true effect of a mob and how a few agitators can stir up a mob. It was not a matter of what the reason for the assembly was, it was just the mob effect in action. Most did not have the faintest idea why they were there. They were just caught up in the mob.

This same effect is at work in many of the controversies we face in our society. Complex issues are reduced to simple slogans without the majority of the people really knowing what the full issues are.

We see this in the homosexual debate and the same sex marriage debate. A small minority of the population reduces the debate to an emotional level and agitates through the media and demonstrations, while the majority are manipulated to agree with the small minority. Even some Christians are taken in by community attitudes and emotionalism.

What are we as Christians supposed to do?

We are citizens of another world, the Kingdom of God. We are not meant to be caught up in the agitation of the mob. We are to be like Paul and his companions and stand up for Jesus. We are to be like the city clerk in Ephesus who calmed the crowd. He drew attention to what was really happening and so became the voice of reason.

Act 19:35-38 NIV  The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Fellow Ephesians, ..... you ought to calm down and not do anything rash.  (37)  You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.  (38)  If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.

He enabled the issue to be discussed properly with all the facts able to be determined. He defused the emotion and so overcame the stirring of the silversmith agitators.

We can act in the same way as the voice of reason. However it involves taking the heat out of the argument and examining the facts in a reasoned way.

We can enable the truth to be seen as we refuse to play by the rules of the mob and call for the voice of reason to be heard. The old adage "All truth is God's truth" can be applied as we calmly demonstrate the truth of God's Word by action as well as words.

Who will you follow, the crowd represented by general community values, or the single voice of Jesus standing against the crowd and in the process, overcoming the world? His Kingdom overcomes all other kingdoms and lasts forever.

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