Giving and Tithing

The Joy of Tithing

By Benny Hinn

I'm so grateful that our relationship with God is an ongoing one, that He takes us literally "from glory to glory." And how glorious it is to be in an ever-deepening love relationship with our wonderful heavenly Father! Every day as I spend more time with the blessed Master in the Word of God and in prayer, I become that much more acquainted with His ways, that much more familiar with what is important to Him, that much more motivated to please Him in every way.

And as I become more and more acquainted with His Word, His will, and His ways, I become ever more convinced of the importance of tithing in our lives. Yet I sometimes talk to people - sincere, convinced brothers and sisters in the Lord - who say, "Tithing is part of the Old Testament law and not a requirement for believers today." Frankly, I cringe when I hear that. I fear that these good people are experiencing giving only as a requirement or demand when our heavenly Father wants us to experience it as a delight. No one requires us to give to someone we love - it happens naturally. It is delightful to give to those who have given to us first -  and we experience this delight when we tithe.

 

Study: Religious Donors Don't Plan to Cut Back

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service - Despite the economic downturn, more than half of actively religious donors plan to give the same or more to charitable causes in 2009 as they did last year, a new survey shows.

Cygnus Applied Research, a Chicago-based international research firm, completed a survey of more than 17,000 U.S. donors to charitable causes in February. It found that 57 percent of actively religious donors said they expected to give more or the same amount to charitable causes as they did in 2008.

Researchers found that that more than a third (37 percent) of donors described themselves as "actively religious." About a quarter (24
percent) said they were "not at all religious" and 38 percent said they were "somewhere in between."

Delight Yourself in the Lord

By Benny Hinn

"I want ice cream, Daddy!"

"Eat your supper first, Joshua, and then you can have some ice cream." It was the beginning of a conversation with my son, Joshua, one evening as he and I enjoyed a meal together.

"I want ice cream , Daddy!"

"Eat your supper first, Joshua," I repeated, "and then you can have some ice cream. You can't have the ice cream until you eat your supper."

Joshua sat there, looking first at his dinner plate and then back at me. After some time, and a battle of the wills, he picked up his fork and began to eat the food before him. As he chewed his food slowly, he glanced at me from time to time, seemingly trying to determine how serious I was about his eating his dinner.