This

article may sting a little but if the shoe fits, wear it!

Would your or I think of

driving a stolen vehicle? Would you dream of wearing

stolen clothes? Are you storing up warehouses of stolen

goods? This Christmas will we steel money from our credit

card companies with the full intent of never paying them

off.

I know of a lady that has

the philosophy of keeping her credit cards to the

absolute max with no intent of ever paying them off and

understands full well that the debt will even be passed

down to her children for generations to come. The very

sad part of this is that many of us who have this

philosophy are sitting in church pews every Sunday and

listening to plea after plea from our pastors; pleading

to honor the God's principle of tithing.

I remember when I got my

first paying job stocking shelves at the Military Post

Exchange at Fort Carson, Colo. and my pay check left a

lot to be desired. I remember when 45 rpm records were 99

cents and '60s rock and roll was just coming into full

swing, and we all just had to have the latest hits by

Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and, of course, Elvis.

(If there are any teenagers reading this, please ask your

parents what a 45 rpm record is and they will explain).

I remember my mother

sitting me down and explaining the scriptural account of

how Almighty God owns all the gold and cattle of a

thousand hills and how He has clearly stated in His word

that we are to tithe. I thought she had developed a lisp

when she said the word tithe.

She explained to me that

God allows us to keep 90 percent of all that we make and

that he asks us to give just 10 percent back to him for

His work here on earth. Imagine, just 10 percent! What if

He asked us to give 90 percent and keep only 10 percent

for ourselves? Isn't God good?

It also clearly states that

they are to be brought into the "Storehouse of the

Lord." This means the church. It further states,

"Would a man rob God?" Ouch! I certainly don't

want that conversation with God one day when it's me and

Him talking one to one and He has all my check book stubs

sitting on the table.

I will probably step on a

lot of toes here and I know we all get a lot of requests

for money from many sources and many of them are good

causes. But, we are supposed to take care of God's work

in our churches first. National statistics reveal that

the professing Christian churches world wide provide 80

percent of all the charities in the world today.

I also know that there are

a lot of ministries out there needing help and how you

split up your tithe is up to you and God. I know

Christian people who send their tithes to everyone but

their local church where they are fed spiritually every

week.

I remember attending the

Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Fla., where thousands

of visitors come every week. I was wondering how they

were going to handle the offering. One of the pastors

stood up and said, "If you are visiting the

Brownsville Revival and you want to give an

"offering" here that's fine, but if you have

your tithe with you, don't put it here in Brownsville

- that belongs in your local church."

I almost shouted for joy at

hearing a church that size "getting it right."

Your and my tithe belongs in the local church where

ministry is going on for you and your family.

If you or I have been

dealing in "stolen goods," now in the beginning

of a new millenium is a time to come clean and start

over.

God forgive us if we have

stolen from you, Amen. And He will!

P.S. Interestingly enough,

I had that same conversation with my two teenagers about

the tithing of their meager pay checks that my mother had

with me, and CDs don't cost 99 cents either.

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon

is the pastor of "His House Community Church"

and a substitute school teacher in the Fayette County

school system, and a former Army chaplain. The church is

currently meeting in the American Legion Log Cabin across

from the fountain on the Square in Fayetteville. Prayer

line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected]