The Magna Carta of Tithing

By F. Glen Skidmore

If Bernie Madoff was a pastor, would you support his church? Would you assist and enable the fraud to successfully continue, acting as though what they dont know - wont hurt them? And, if you were able to stand up and hold him accountable, how could you best present your objections? With so much rampant corruption and dishonesty in business, government, and even in our own churches today, it is important now more than ever to turn to the Bible for guidance.

The Magna Carta of Tithing provides a way to help us uncover the manipulation and distortion of Gods Word as it relates to tithing for the purpose of collecting for unrighteous gain. It deals with what the Bible actually sayswith the biblical history of tithing in Israel, how it has been manipulated today for gain, and how the word of Christ covers finances for the churchand it shows us how Jesus, our Lord, maintains church accountability in the book of Revelation.

But not just restricted to biblical stories of dishonesty, accountability, and godly recompense, author F. Glen Skidmore develops a prescient and timely guide for helping believers restore their integrity and see through the corrupt tithing practices lurking in their own churches today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512711400

F. Glen Skidmore

F. Glen Skidmore has been a born-again believer in Jesus Christ since 1974. He is a tool and die maker in the medical field, with responsibilities in process and tooling design and fabrication. F. Glen Skidmore lives in Palatine, Illinois, where he serves Jesus with his wife and three children.

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Copyright © 2015 F. Glen Skidmore.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®. Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-1141-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1140-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015914838

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/7/2015

Contents

Introduction

1 The Failure

2 How I Started Studying

3 Treasuries and Storehouses in Scripture

4 Money versus Food

5 Why Should I Care?

6 Deceiving Arguments

7 Cling to Law, Forfeit Grace

8 A Root of Evil

9 Conclusion

This book is dedicated to my heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; as well as to my wife, Eileen; and my children, Adam, Eric, and Emily. All of us are such a big, happy family.

As Beethoven wrote on all of his symphonies, To the glory of God!

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, to give light to all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 5:14–16)

The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matt. 6:22–24)

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light … from the darkness. (Gen. 1:3–4)

Introduction

This book is addressed to disciples of Christ everywhere, to the bride of Christ Jesus the King, on planet Earth. It started out as a personal exercise, trying to learn for myself what the actual truth about tithing is, as stated in 2 Timothy 2:15: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. Tithing is the practice of taking the first 10 percent of your gross income and giving it to God as an offering. Most churches say the tithe belongs to God already, which makes you a thief for not giving it to Him. The more I discovered about tithing in the Bible, the more I felt the information needed to be shared and revealed. My message here is entirely found in the Scriptures, so I strongly recommend checking your bible to confirm what I say. The revelation may be new, but the Word of God is unchanging even today.

Ephesians 5:25–27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he