That's why y'all are broke. BTW, we're not in bondage. It's God's money, we're just returning some of what He's loaned us.
Ummmm ... no we aren't.
BTW, we're not in bondage.
If you preach salvation by man made rules, you are in bondage.
It's God's money, we're just returning some of what He's loaned us.
God is not a banker. Money is an invention of man for purposes of commerce.
God also has no need of money, being God. Giving money to a Church is not "giving money to God". Its giving money to a Church, and more specifically, to the control of the Pastor or Bishop. If the same brainwash you to convince you that you are really giving money "to God" when you put it in their offering plate, I'd like to clarify your understanding by asking you to check on who is depositing and spending the money. Hint. It ain't the Lord Jesus.
Second, God has not "loaned us" the material things of the earth. We are not in debt to Him by our existence, nor are our possession deeded over by promissory note to the Almighty. God created us to crown the material world and tend it. The material things of earth were created to benefit all mankind. We are stewards of them for our fellow human beings, not God. God has no personal need of these things.
Christ, for example, in counseling perfection to the rich young man, did not say, "sell all you have and give it to God" and he did not say "sell all you have and give it to the Temple and the Priests". He said "sell all you have and give it to the poor."
Christ did, in His lifetime, pay the Temple tax. He gave us an example that we should support His ministers to the requirements of their need. This need is certainly less than 10% of the salary of every Church member.
It is very questionable that families earning $50,000 per year need to give $5,000 to a Church being run by several ministers making in excess of $100,000 per year. The gift is not in line with the means of the giver, and the receiver is taking in excess of what he needs. This is, however, a typical situation in Protestant churches.