In my church, we are required to pay our first salary or the salary of the first month of the year under the doctrine of first fruits. Please can you clarify?

Some people teach that in honouring the Lord with our first fruit, the thing to do is that your very first salary just bring to the Pastor or bring to the church to honour the Lord. Interesting!

Now my attitude is this, some of those things are based on the Old Testament and we find no example of these things in the New Testament nor do we find any scripture in the New Testament showing that those things were types that should be the real thing of which is being manifested in the New Testament. There is no example of it whatsoever in the whole of the New Testament.

And so as far as I am concerned, if anybody is so touched that God has blessed him so much, or he has looked for a job for five years. He finally now found s a job and he wants to honour God and say Lord my first salary completely I'm gonna give to you. Beautiful. It's that person's choice. I don't think it's for us Pastors to come up and use our position and teach people that their first salary should be given to the Lord because it is the first fruits or the first salary of the year being January must just go to the church because it is the first fruits.

I think that these things are not founded in the New Testament and is not right for us to come up and teach such stuff. I expect us to relate to God by faith and expect that God will take care of us. If indeed God has called us to ministry ,He will also provide for us ,He will make things available for us and help us to do what he has called us to do without resulting into what is not hundred percent scriptural.

I would advice some of my colleagues to try to let us stick to only what I call perfect compatibility with the character of Jesus Christ or with his teachings, what has hundred percent correlation to what is in God's word . Let us stick to that and stick to that alone. And not do what looks like sixty-five percent correct .I think we should just stick with what is hundred percent correct.

So my advice for you please is that when you have an increment in your salary, just change your tithe. According to the new salary you are now earning, begin to give that new tithe the God and God will bless you for it . If you do feel that you should give something to God to really show to God that you are appreciative, excellent. the Lord will reward you for it, but when you give it because somebody has (permit me to use the hard language) rammed some teaching down the throat of some people, you will be doing it under compulsion and there's no blessing whatsoever in that thing you're doing .God help us.

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The amount of contributions demanded in church, monthly, weekly and daily is getting to be a burden to the point where no matter how much money you take to church on Sunday, it turns out to be insufficient. I have a lot of things to be grateful for which God has done for me, but the point is these contributions are weighing me down.

Contributions, donations, asking for this or for that in the church. God help us in Jesus' name. We all do it. Projects are on, our building is going on, our T.V ministry needs money, and building needs money. The choir wants to buy new equipment, the church wants to buy a bus. All kinds of things are going on that we need money for. And so we come up from time to time to say people should contribute money.

But like you have said now, contributions are made monthly, some of them weekly, some of them daily and they are becoming a bother to you and may be many more people who cannot talk like you have spoken.

I would want to just appeal to those of us who are leaders to feel, to try to feel for the people, to try to appreciate what the people are going through as we make these announcements, as we make these appeals and all. To the people too, unless you are convinced that the Spirit of God really wants you to do something , nobody can force you to do anything. You must be convinced that Yes, this is the Spirit of God touching me, moving me to give in this direction. Then you go ahead and give.

I know there is a time to sacrifice, there is a time to take a step of faith, there is a time to sow and expect God to make a big difference as you give sacrificially. All those things are wonderful and are scriptural. Nevertheless, it is always important to allow the Spirit of God to really guide you. Anything you are not so convinced of, don't bother yourself about it and you don't need to feel guilty about it. It is your money really, it's your money. You don't need to feel guilty about it.

Somebody came to me a couple of years ago and said he needs so and so amount of money and the Lord had directed him to see me to collect part of the money from me. And I looked him in the face and said “Look, let me tell you this, if Angel Gabriel himself comes before me to ask for money at this time, I won't give him and I am not giving you. Go and tell God I said so.” He said “What, you say you are a man of God and you spoke that way?”. I said “Tell God I said it's your money really and unless you are absolutely certain that the Spirit of God is the one behind it, you don't have to give the money.”

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