The Heart's Test: Money and Tithing

1) "Money is a test. When you get more money, it doesn't change you. It reveals you. It doesn't make you a different person. It just amplifies who you already are. And whenever we think about money and we begin to converse, especially in the church about money, but basically anywhere, you're going to find that passions come alive. People get fired up whenever you talk about money. Temperatures run hot whenever you introduce money. And we can see this not only in the relationships we have, but in the Bible. The first murder in the Bible was over money. The reason why Jesus was betrayed by Judas was an offense over money. The first death in the New Testament, church was over deception concerning money." [01:14:16] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "The God of our age is money. What's worshiped in our culture is materialism and greed. These are the altars with which we come to sacrifice and worship. And whenever we talk about money, we're talking about what is near and dear to the hearts of our generation. And as the worship of money, increases, so does the attack on genuine worship of the one true God increase. And right now, we can see this in our culture. You mentioned church, Christianity, money. Church, Christianity, money. That's what the topic is going to be. And the reason why is because we are facing a time in history when the worship of money is being elevated." [01:15:57] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Money is a hugely emotive topic. Jesus said in Matthew 6 24, you can't serve both God and money. It's going to be an either or in your life. But then look at the language he uses. He says you will love one and you will hate the other. You'll be devoted to one and you will despise the other. That is volatile language. Love and hatred, devotion and despising. You will be conflicted in your heart always. When it comes to money, if you don't establish first who you're going to serve. And when it comes to our money, the ultimate test of our heart and where we sit concerning money is always going to be in the returning of our tithe to God." [01:17:33] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "The reason why our tithe is so powerful is because it connects our heart to our finances. It connects it to our faith. It connects our faith to our wallet. It causes us to worship God in the most fundamental expression of who we are. Where your treasure is, there your heart is. When your worship goes towards God financially, your heart goes towards God as well. It is so powerful because it is just enough to dethrone mammon and to place God on the center of our lives. When we worship God with our tithe, it awakens a trust relationship in him concerning our finances, where we are and where we're going." [01:18:58] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "God does not want you to love money. Number two, God wants your heart ablaze with love for people. God does not want you to love money and God wants your heart ablaze with love for people. The kingdom of this world worships money and it drives us towards selfishness and greed. The kingdom of God worships Jesus and it draws us towards surrender and generosity. And I love Abraham because Abraham replies to the King of Sodom and he says, I won't have anything that belongs to you. You will never get to say that you made Abraham rich. Abraham passed the test of money." [01:33:03] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Let's never forget God's heart. God offers to us relationship and blessing. And then He calls us to worship Him by rightfully returning to Him what belongs to Him. Our tithe. Tithing is about the heart. That's what it's about. Our heart towards God and His heart towards us. He is the God of blessing and relationship. And when we tithe, we are freeing our hearts to worship Him. It's about our heart. It's about our heart. Tithing is about our heart." [01:38:27] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "God says, come back to me. Open your heart to me. Trust me. Worship me. Adore me. Would you choose to put your trust and faith in me? He says, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Let's get this fixed. And then he goes on to say, so that there will be enough food in my house. He's saying, bring your whole tithe into the storehouse. What's the storehouse? Your local church. The place from where you are spiritually fed. And God said, bring all the tithe into the storehouse. Bring it into the church so that there will be food in my house. The practical purpose of the tithe is the funding of the church." [01:41:33] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "If you do, God said, bring the tithe into the storehouse, there will be food in my temple. If you do, says the Lord of heaven's armies, I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great, you won't have room enough to take it in. You're going to have to get generous because you're going to have more than enough for what you could use in this period of time. Try it. Put me to the test. God is saying, when you tithe, what you have is redeemed. When you tithe, you are releasing me to work on your behalf. See if I will not open the flood gates of heaven. See if I will not bless you. You're going to find out what it means to live under my blessing." [01:42:55] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)