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In Summary

How Ms Karani spent the borrowed money

Sh17,000
Amount she spent to buy anointing oil. The oil packed in small bottles cost between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500, depending on spiritual needs

Sh5,000
What she paid for prayers to get a spouse. She was desperate to get a partner and borrowed money to pay the preacher.

Sh14,000
Spent on prayers to get a job. Ms Karani trusted that through her preacher, God would answer her prayers for a job, and was ready to pay.

...These pastors...They really need prayers from their flock!!!

...I am yet to hear of a preacher who does not blackmail his flock...yaani you have to do this to recieve that...blablabla...GOD is our provider. HE does not need anything from us. He gives all to us...He has everything, and I repeat everything...What he want us to do s to show kindness, help the needy...etc...but not ....

Magigi, maybe Kibaki should consider forming a "Commission of Inquiry" about pastors

isaiah says give freely what u get freely. without money and without price. that settles it.

The Bible addresses giving to the church multiple times in both the Old and the New Testaments. God expects His people to give to the church, and then God will bless them for their obedience. The Bible says that those who give generously will be blessed generously. The Bible also says that God cares more about our attitudes toward giving to the church than He does about the actual amount that we give.
History
1. The concept of giving to the church goes all the way back to Abraham, who was the founding father of the Jewish faith, and, by extension, the Christian faith as well. Genesis 14:18-20 records Abraham giving a tenth of all he had to Melchizedek, who was both the king of Salem and priest of "God Most High." The only other person referred to as both king and priest in the Bible is Jesus. See Hebrews 6:19-20.
Size
2. The Bible says that God is more concerned about our hearts than the amount of money that we give to the church. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus noted that a widow who gave only two very small copper coins actually gave more to the church than the wealthy people who gave more monetarily because the widow gave out of her poverty rather than her wealth. However, the Bible says in Act 5:1-10 that God was not pleased with Ananias, who gave a lot of money to the church but lied about it being all he had.
Considerations
3. The Bible says that God wants us to "sow generously," and He does not want us to give to the church grudgingly. According to II Corinthians 9:6-8, "God loves a cheerful giver." God wants us to give to the church what we have decided in our hearts. He does not want us to give "reluctantly or under compulsion." However, the Bible reminds us that those who give generously will also reap generously. See II Corinthians 9:6-8.
Warning
4. God sees failing to give to the church as "robbing" God. The Bible addresses this issue in Malachi 3:8-9. The Bible says that the failure to give full tithes (a tenth of your increase) and offerings (a "gift" to God in appreciation for what He has done for you) to the church is the equivalent of "robbing" God. As a result, the entire nation was under a "curse." God wants there to be "food in my house." (Malachi 3:10)
Benefits
5. In Malachi 3:10, the Bible follows up God's warning not to "rob" Him with the benefits of giving the full tithes and offerings to the church. The Bible says that God will richly bless us for giving to the church. In Malachi 3:10, the Bible encourages us to "test" God on his promise to "throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

>> Its time to sneak a sub section in the constitution reprimanding pastors to pay taxes from the offerings!

@Pastor M

Those verses you have quoted and the interpretation you have accorded them are the very ones those pastors use to build big business empires. I think there is more to those scriptures than just money, money, money!!!!to the pastor!

I believe from the posts I have read from you that you are NOT one of them!

Why do people think they can buy stuff from God? Giving should be a show of gratitude or a call to duty not as a precondition to blessings! Fake Professionals are all over including churches. so don't use the same measure on pastors too...please remember that pastors are also people, if you give them money they will take it and say a prayer for you whether or not it works or God answers it favorably is not up to him.
Anyway ever since Jesus died the veil was torn and we can then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. remember sometimes the answer is not what we want, it could be grace to endure the situation.
Guka...actually both...We are instructed to do both (Malachi 3:10 -Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.) and (James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.) remember the later is the only place i remember the word religion appearing in the bible.

@guka...very true, its not about money.

Pastor.
As @ bwenyenye said, these are the same verses pastors use to build multi million $ church/business empires.

Also to add on to Njunge's question, who does Jesus Consider a giver?



Pastor, the bible does NOT address GIVING TO THE CHURCH.

In the old testament the all rules and regulations including the ten commandments, the keeping of the sabbath, TITHING, circumcision etc were given by GOD to the JEWS and applied to the JEWISH nation of ISRAEL.

The bible in the old testament speaks on two types of giving.

1. Giving to the poor.
2. Giving the tithe to the temple.

Now some biblical facts about the tithe.

1. It was a command to the JEWS.
2. It was NEVER given as money, always as
foodstuff (was to be eaten with gladness in
the presence of the lord.)
The only time it was to be converted to money is if the temple was a considerable distance away and transporting the meat/food too tedious it was to be sold then once the destination is reached converted back to FOOD and eaten with gladness in the presence of GOD.

3. It was the inheritance of the JEWISH tribe
of LEVI (they were not allotted land, the
tithe was their inheritance)

4. It was used to buy food for the poor to be able to participate in the various feasts of the Jewish Culture.

Are you a JEW of the tribe of Levi ?

Why compel your congregation to the tithe and not keep the rest of the 600 laws of Moses?
If you want to keep then you are compelled to keep the whole law and are not under grace.



The Bible says GIVE not to the church BUT the emphasis is actually on giving to THE POOR.
remember the parable of the good Samaritan? i ask you pastor who acted like a neighbor in that parable? was it the priest? or some foreigner... a samaritan!



This is certainly not an example of giving to the church. Abraham was not under any compulsion to give, it was not required of him and neither was he asked for the tithe he gave. Ask yourself, who asked cain and abel to offer sacrifices to GOD ?



Pastor, to quote the words of the one who is true.
Mark 7:11

9And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,'[d] and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'[e] 11But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Meaning? The guy referred to up here by Jesus disobeys the command to honour thy father and mother by saying that whatever help he/she might have given them is "devoted to GOD". Jesus says thats upuss.
@ Njunge here is the answer to your question.




God does love a cheerful giver. BUT the recipient is not the church. Neither does the scripture in Corinthians 9:6-8 talk about giving to the church.



Pastor Malachi 3:8-9 was again, Gods express communication to the Jewish nation of israel.

It ammounted to robbing GOD because it is disinheriting the priestly tribe of LEVI!!!!!



Pastor. When you read that scripture is says bring the whole tithe that there may be what?
FOOD in my house...the tithe was ALWAYS in form of food and not money.

Consider this, in the new testament every time Jesus mentions the tithe it is in the light of the self righteousness of the pharisees...

The truth is most so called churches, Christians and worst of all pastors have forgotten what the Gospel is about.

It is about mans condition - A sinner.
Gods provision - Jesus
Mans responce - Repentance or Rebellion
and the coming Judgment.

It is not about
Pop psychology
Wealth creation / entrepreneurship
marital bliss
etc