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This is a spinoff subject that came up in this thread: 1A. Is tithing strictly an OT principle (given to Israel)? 1B. If no, does tithing apply to Believers in Jesus Christ today? 2. Is giving a NT principle that applies to Believers? 3. Is tithing/giving specifically to the local church or to include other Gospel centered organizations? Feel free to answer one or all of the questions. Biblical backing is always appreciated.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/27/russians-spacewalk-urthecast-cameras/?intcmp=latestnews – Two Russian astronauts outside of the International Space Station are installing cameras that will soon allow anyone, anywhere to see the greatest view in the galaxy: the Earth, lazily spinning against the inky black emptiness of space. The Friday venture by Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky is the third spacewalk in a week at the orbiting laboratory. U.S. astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins performed two on Saturday and Tuesday to remove and replace a faulty cooling pump. The Russians' tasks on their spacewalk, which is expected last about seven hours, include installing two high-resolution cameras and attending to experiment equipment on the space station's exterior.

except a man be born of water and of the Spirit: http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/john-3-5.html these are, (twnv) (twlm) , "two words", which express the same thing, as Kimchi observes in many places in his commentaries, and signify the grace of the Spirit of God. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "the Holy Spirit", and so Nonnus; and who doubtless is intended: by "water", is not meant material water, or baptismal water; for water baptism is never expressed by water only, without some additional word, which shows, that the ordinance of water baptism is intended: nor has baptism any regenerating influence in it; a person may be baptized, as Simon Magus was, and yet not born again; and it is so far from having any such virtue, that a person ought to be born again, before he is admitted to that ordinance: and though submission to it is necessary, in order to a person's entrance into a Gospel church state; yet it is not necessary to the kingdom of heaven, or to eternal life and salvation: such a mistaken sense of this text, seems to have given the first birth and rise to infant baptism in the African churches; who taking the words in this bad sense, concluded their children must be baptized, or they could not be saved; whereas by "water" is meant, in a figurative and metaphorical sense, the grace of God, as it is elsewhere; see ( Ezekiel 36:25 ) ( John 4:14 ) . Which is the moving cause of this new birth, and according to which God begets men again to, a lively hope, and that by which it is effected; for it is by the grace of God, and not by the power of man's free will, that any are regenerated, or made new creatures: and if Nicodemus was an officer in the temple, that took care to provide water at the feasts, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, and as it should seem Nicodemon ben Gorion was, by the story before related of him; (See Gill on John 3:1); very pertinently does our Lord make mention of water, it being his own element: regeneration is sometimes ascribed to God the Father, as in ( 1 Peter 1:3 ) ( James 1:18 ) , and sometimes to the Son, ( 1 John 2:29 ) and here to the Spirit, as in ( Titus 3:5 ) , who convinces of sin, sanctifies, renews, works faith, and every other grace; begins and carries on the work of grace, unto perfection;

~ Jesus O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. Jeremiah 17:13 The Fountain For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13 Of Living Waters And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Revelation 21:6 ~ He Who Believes Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:25-26 And Is Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 1 Peter 1:21-23 Baptized I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Matthew 3:11 ~ Dear One, Are You A Follower Of Mr. Joseph "The Digger" Smith And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Mark 1:7-8 Or Of Papa Francis Or Of Some Other Baptizing Man Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 Other Than That Holy Man Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24 From Galilee For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 ~ Believe If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:12-15 And Be For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 Blessed Beloved Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-3 Love, Joe

This is interesting. LookingforAnswers do you think any words exist that are what scripture describes as filthy or profane; and if so should we avoid using them ? I'm not sure how the word "gay" being used for homosexuality has any relevance upon profanity. I do think, that words exist that would fall under what the scripture calls filthy. And I have my opinion of what those words are. But not everyone agrees with my opinion of which words fall under such a category. Why should I judge people that have an opinion that is different than my own? I use the word gay as an example of how the meanings of words change over time.

While YHWH hasn't given us a dictionary of words we shouldn't say; if you are using your body and words to offer testimony and a witness to the transformative grace of Christ, your message will be lost, because no one will see how Christ makes you any different from or better than them. I am no better than them, no Christian is. We are not saved by being better than anyone, we are saved despite ourselves. Why would any Christian think themselves better than a lost soul? Paul certainly did not, perhaps his would be a good example to follow.

No, it does not. Tell me... do you refer to women using the "B" word? Do you use profanity in your regular day-to-day conversation or when you are angry about something? Yes and when they are used according to their proper meaning, they are not profane. But how often are they ever used that way??? It that some people want to justify unwholesome behavior by muddying the water on the issue. If you want to cuss and swear and use profanity and call people by those ugly words, that is up to you. The Bible says not to, but you seem to think its okay. I am not going to help you justify your sin and tell you that words are just words and that profanity is in the eye of beholder. Those words are not not words that should come out of the mouth of a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus said you will give an account before the Lord for every word that comes out of your mouth. and that by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. If you feel that it is the worth the price to pay for a lack of self-control and you don't mind having to explain to the Lord why you didn't think obeying His commandments about controling your tongue was all that important, that will be between you and the Lord. I will not be joining in you. I do not choose to use this sort of language as it was not part of my culture, to me it is profane. At the same time I do not feel comfortable judging others who were raised in a different culture than I. It seems that people wish to take their own personal opinions and use them to judge others instead of using the bible as their guide. You yourself have already admitted that profanity is in the eye of the beholder by stating that different things are obscene in different cultures. Perhaps we would be much better off if we left the judgement to God and focused on showing his love to the lost instead.

I've been down a simuliar road Will. I must say though it's kind of easy to believe when you really meet Jesus personally as as he pulls you out of the grip of the devil.

Before giving my life to Christ I studied them and none of them rang true. Just an exploratory when trying to find out if the Bible was true. Most other religions can be taken apart on a fundamental level and Christianity can't although they try. I'd been into some weird things since my youth studying the mind. ESP, mind control, astral projection, etc... While they aren't labeled a religion they are demonic. I was just too ignorant and not a true Christian at the time to understand. After you get saved I think you are kind of repelled by the Holy Spirit against other religions. You see them for what they are and aren't blinded. Now what I did was dangerous and I wouldn't recommend following the path I took to Jesus. Studying other religions or experimenting with psychic stuff can open you up to demonic activity. God I believe would rather you use that time to study his word and become stronger in it. When you know the Bible you'll have all the tools needed to show people errors in their religion.

I honestly don't know. Mar 9:17-18 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. (18) Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." I think that's a little bit more than mental illness. Possibly; but don't you think lesser forms of these symptoms may be seen as mental illness ? Anyway I'm not trying to convince you of anything nor am I trying to suggest every "mental" illness is demonic. This is just my opinion, but what is described in verse 18 sounds more like epilepsy than mental illness. And I realize epilepsy is caused by abnormal activity in brain cells, but the mental illness discussed here has more to do with depression than anything else. Most types of epilepsy, like depression can be controlled with medication. If an illness can be controlled with medication, I don't believe that illness is caused by demonic forces. Of course this is just my opinion. That and a dollar will get you a can of pop.

Blessings preciouspearl, Let me encourage you dear one ,that instead of focusing on what the enemy can do let us focus on what they cannot do ....they cannot penetrate the full armor of God nor can they defy the Sword of the Spirit which cuts them down in an instant!They cannot disobey the authority of Christ,they cannot have any legal right to what is placed by God in Jesus Hand,they cannot put fear in a heart that is FILLED with faith in the knowledge of our Lord & Savior Christ Jesus!!!!!Halleluliah,praise & glory to God! Pray for a more intimate relationship with our Lord,immerse yourself in His Word,read Ephesians & put on the full armor of God & pray for a refreshed indwelling of the Holy Spirit .......it does not matter,Beloved,what these annoying little deceivers can do,they cannot remove you from your position of Victory that Jesus won for you 2000yrs ago.....stand firm on that position & declare who you are in Christ Jesus,you are a child of the Most High........the Supreme Ruler of the Universe & all things are under Him! With love,in Christ-Kwik

Tithing is not an OT principle. It is a command in the Mosaic law given to the children of Israel. The tithe was brought to Jerusalem and given to the Levites as an inheritance. There were multiple tithes. One was given to the Levites and the poor. The Levites were to tithe from the tithe they received. In Judaism today, this law is not practiced because there is no Temple in Jerusalem, and no Levites serving in the Temple to give the tithe Lev 27:30 ‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. Numbers 18:24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’” Numbers 18:26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe