Here is a link about Mars Hill.  You can read more about it.  A quote from the article is below.

Mars Hill served as the meeting place for the Areopagus Court, the highest court in Greece for civil, criminal, and religious matters. Even under Roman rule in the time of the New Testament, Mars Hill remained an important meeting place where philosophy, religion, and law were discussed.

Paul the Apostle preached a sermon at Mars Hill, also called the Areopagus.

Acts 17:16   Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. ¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ They took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which you are speaking about? ²⁰ For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

²² Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. ²⁵ He isn’t served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. ²⁶ He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ ²⁹ Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. ³⁰ The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹ because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

³² Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”

³³ Thus Paul went out from among them. ³⁴ But certain men joined with him and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

This talks about church leaders who are pushing the Covid-19 jab.  Listen here.

The Bible tells us to put faith over fear.

I am told there exist 365 scriptures that say, “fear not”, one for every day of the year.

One of the best known scriptures is this.  This is what God has said is the opposite of fear.

II Timothy 1:7  For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Here’s another.

Isaiah 41:10  Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
Yes, I will help you.
Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

There are two groups that use fear against you.  There are probably more, but here are a two.

One group consists of those trying to sell you something.  They will try to create in you some fear of what will happen if you don’t buy the product.

The other group is unrighteous governments.  They will create some big bad “boogeyman” to be afraid of in order to cede your authority of limited government to big government.  This has happened in this whole “jab” scenario.  People were told bad things would happen if they did not get the jab.  Figure were manipulated for news.  It is only more recently that actual facts are coming out.  These facts are far different than the ones used to manipulate people into taking the shot.

Read the article here:

Italian Institute Of Health Drastically Reduces Its Official COVID Death Toll Number

Fear is used by unrighteous governments.   For an atheistic government like communism or marxism to take over a nation, the nation has to first be drawn away from God.

If the United States overall, and the nations of the world overall, were strongly Christian, with citizens waking up each morning giving glory and thanks to God and seeking the Lord, it would not have been as easy for the governments to spread fear about Covid and it would not have been as easy for the governments to create medical tyrannies in their nations.

Jeremiah 17:5   Yahweh says:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man,
    relies on strength of flesh,
    and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
⁶ For he will be like a bush in the desert,
    and will not see when good comes,
but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
    an uninhabited salt land.

Governments that want to enslave their citizens try to force them to “trust in man” or “trust in government” and look to government as the source of wisdom and supply.  We have certainly see that happen in the last few months.

Again, this post is about faith or fear.

You can see if people overall had faith in God, they would not respond so quickly in fear to the propaganda their government or controlled media publishes.  Instead, people would seek facts, they would see righteous counsel, they would seek the Lord as to what to do.

It is important to respond in faith, not fear, to situations.

It is important to seek God for wisdom and not react in fear.

James 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Update:

After finishing this article I heard a well know doctor, Dr. Peter McCullough talk, in this video, about the topic of fear.  It is so applicable that I am transcribing some of what he said here.

You can listen to and watch the full video here.

I am transcribing at the point  36:04 in the video.  Dr. Peter McCullough is speaking.

“We have to break the fear.  I think the most important meme I’ve ever seen so far on Covid-19 is a woman who’s holding her head in anguish and she says, ‘My vaccine doesn’t work unless you take yours.’…So you can’t underestimate how important the grip of fear is driving all the levers of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Every single step of the way is one step of things getting worse.  The way out of this pandemic is breaking our grip of fear.”

Wow.  That says it all, doesn’t it?  God has not given us a spirit of fear, and the thing driving this is fear.  Fear is not from God.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God.
The expanse shows his handiwork.
2 Day after day they pour out speech,
and night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
their words to the end of the world….

Romans 1:19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. 20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse.

Deuteronomy 30:19  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants,

Deuteronomy 4:26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 7:4  For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So Yahweh’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Deuteronomy 8:19  It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.

II Chronicles 7:14  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

There have been discussions on how the Bible is translated.  The verse below helps amplify the point.  It is not always as easy to understand in all verses, but this verse, the way it is written, will help explain the point.

Deuteronomy 8:19  It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.

God set his creation in motion.  We can pray and ask for God’s help.  But there are things that happen simply because God set up laws to make them happen.  We can’t break certain laws and then pray to God that there will be no consequences.  We need to obey the Bible and the Holy Spirit when we are born again.

Water freezes at 32 degrees Farenheit.  Leaves fall off trees in the fall.  God does not personally look at each leaf and tell it to fall, at least I don’t believe He does.  I don’t have a scripture for that, but we know the seasons change, leaves die, and they fall.  I don’t know that God has to instruct each leaf what to do.  He set laws in motion in his creation.

If you run into traffic on a busy street without looking, you could get hit.  Did God tell a car to hit you?  No.  You didn’t do your part, and there was a consequence.  The Bible says to not test God and one way we test God is by not following safety rules when we know we should follow them.

Matthew 4:5  Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw ourself down, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”

At lot of the Bible sounds like God personally is doling out punishment with each transgression, but translators have said it is more like a passive thing.  In other words.  God set up the law that water freezes at 32 degrees.  If the temperature cools, the water freezes.  God does not have to individually go around to each ice cube to tell it to freeze.

And so all the scriptures about punishment are simply repercussions for breaking the law.

Can God forgive?

Yes.

But don’t presume on that.  Forgiveness does not equate to there being no consequences.

If you burn your house down, God can forgive, but you are still without a house.

So I hope that is understandable.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.

 

What is a born again Christian?

It is important tp realize that being “born again” has its parallel of people being born into the natural world. When a physical baby is born, it is not the end, it is the beginning. The baby is fed and clothed. The baby grows.  The baby learns.

It is similar when a person is “born again” into God’s kingdom. It is not a one-time event and that is all. Then there is a lifetime of growing closer to God.  The born-again Christian learns to relate to God and the Kingdom of Heaven.

How to Get God in Your Life

Another way to ask the same question is “how do you have a relationship with God”?

A man name Nicodemus asked that of Jesus and here is Jesus’s answer.

John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? 11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

How do we know that Jesus knew what He was talking about?  There were many prophecies about Jesus.  There were prophecies of where He would be born, what He would do, how He would die, and how He would redeem mankind back to God.  Jesus is God’s only begotten son.

Here are two sites that have more information about this.

Here are prophecies about Jesus. 

Here is a site about the Shroud, which was the gravecloth Jesus was buried in.  When Jesus resurrected, the light at the moment of resurrection made a negative imprint on the Shround which a photographer took a picture of and turned into a picture of Jesus as he looked in the grave before the resurrection.  The Bible talks about how the tomb was empty.  The scripture verses and other information are at this site.

The Apostle Paul also talked about this.

Romans 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); 7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: 9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When a person experiences the new birth of being born again, this Bible verse now applies.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Now, as mentioned at the beginning, there is a lot of growing to do.   Learning to think correctly is very important.   There is definitely right and wrong thinking.  Your thoughts determine your words and actions.

Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

How you think, learning to think in line with the Bible is extremely important.

If you have been born again, you need to find a Bible-based church (not all churches teach the Bible) and grow.

If you haven’t found one locally, or until you find one locally, here is a church that is held online. They also have a Facebook and YouTube page.

Rhema.tv
10 am Sunday Central time
6 pm Sunday Central time
7 pm Wednesday Central time.

Whenever a church begins to talk about tithing, the rumbles begin…there they go, they just want your money.

Realize that this is a blog, not a church, and tithing is an important topic to write about. Your tithe goes to your church so even if you decide to tithe after reading this post, it will not be going to me anyway.

So I have no “dog in this fight” as the saying goes. 

Now, realize also, while you are not willing to give a tithe to a church, you are probably willing to give more than a tithe to your local retailer on Black Friday.

You don’t expect to the movie or fast food restaurant or local sports store or football game without paying money.

Yet, when it comes to God, people don’t want to give. The statistics prove that.

Why is it a big deal?

Well, if this nation overall, and enough people had been tithing, we probably would not have the problems that we have now.  Again, view the statistics.

To talk about any one topic in the Bible, it is important to step back for a moment and establish a framework. It does not matter whether the topic is tithing or any other Biblical topic.  Here is a principle.

Individuals and nations reap consequences for breaking God’s laws.

Somehow there is a disconnect when it comes to God.

People understand that if they break any kind of natural law, there is a consequence. That’s why there are safety rules. That’s why there are check lists, plans, procedures and even recipes. If one ingredient is left out of a recipe, the final result is not the same.

Yet when it comes to God’s laws, there is an assumption that there are no consequences for ignoring them or avoiding them.

Jesus died so people could be born again and begin to walk in the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven.

It doesn’t work saying, “I believe in Jesus,” and then ignore the rest of the Bible.

Biblical principles are still in forces and there are good and bad consequences accordingly.

Being born again is just a starting point.

Here are just a few scriptures out of many, many that could be picked showing that what we do, how we walk, matters.  We need to be born again, but how we walk also matters.

That’s why you read your Bible, pray, and go to church to learn more about how to walk.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Romans 8:12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.

So behavior matters, what we do matters.

This applies to tithing as well.

Bible Verses About Tithing – Tithing Scriptures

Where in the Bible does it talk about tithing?

Probably one of the most well known scriptures about tithing is in Malachi.

Malachi 3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies. 12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

Sometimes people think laws of the Old Testament no longer apply.

However, the principle is that in the New Testament, because a person can be born again and have the Holy Spirit on the inside to help, that the expectation is higher, not lower.

Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said,  ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ 28 but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

There are those who don’t want to tithe, no matter what. But some of those same people may want to rush the sales on Black Friday and give to corporate America. For some reason, people don’t mind when corporate America asks for their money, but they do object to God asking for a tithe.

Matthew 6:19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.

What is the definition of a tithe?

This is a standard definition.  In other words, if I asked you for a quarter of a pizza you would know what I mean, because everyone knows a quarter of a pizza is 1/4 of a pizza.  The definition of a tithe is standard as well.

A tithe means 1/10. If you have $100 dollars, a tithe is $10.
If you have one million dollars, a tithe is $100,000.
If you have a dime, a tithe is a penny.

A child who gives one penny out of a dime has proportionally given as much as a billionaire who gives $100 million out of a billion dollars.

God doesn’t have a system for billionaires to hide their assets or send them overseas, as can be done with earthly governmental systems. God knows who has what, who has tithed, and who hasn’t tithed and multi-billionaires can’t shift their assets around from nation to nation to avoid tithing the same way they avoid taxation.

Here’s another thought and this is just my observation (but it is also stated in the Malachi scripture itself) is that when a person won’t tithe…it will eventually catch up with that person one way or the other. The money they didn’t give as a tithe will be taken some way…a flat tire, an air conditioner that goes out, a lost job…something.

God promises a blessing for tithing. To not tithe is to put oneself under the curse. It just doesn’t pay to avoid or defer tithing.

You may get away with it for a long time, but the “wheels of God grind slowly, but grind exceedingly fine”.

Here are a some scriptures along that line.

Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against Yahweh, and against his Anointed,[a] saying,
3 “Let’s break their bonds apart,
and cast their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh.
The Lord[b] will have them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his anger,
and terrify them in his wrath:

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street.
She utters her voice in the public squares.
21 She calls at the head of noisy places.
At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery,
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn at my reproof.
Behold,[c] I will pour out my spirit on you.
I will make known my words to you.
24 Because I have called, and you have refused;
I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;
25 but you have ignored all my counsel,
and wanted none of my reproof;
26 I also will laugh at your disaster.
I will mock when calamity overtakes you,
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come on you.
28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer.
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me,
29 because they hated knowledge,
and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh.
30 They wanted none of my counsel.
They despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way,
and be filled with their own schemes.
32 For the backsliding of the simple will kill them.
The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell securely,
and will be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Galatians 6:7 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Here is another point about tithing.  Giving to the poor or giving to something like the Red Cross is not the same as tithing.  Giving alms, giving to the poor, is a separate kind of giving and has its own separate reward.  Tithing is giving to a church that preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It does not apply to other kinds of giving.  Charitable giving is not the same as tithing.  That kind of giving is a separate study with separate scriptures.

Now your church may have an outreach to the poor and when you give to the church, a portion of that may go to the poor, but that is different than when you take what you would give as a tithe and giving it to your sister-in-law who can’t pay her rent.  People can have financial problems because they don’t tithe.  It is a downward spiral.

Maybe you don’t go to a church but you want to start tithing.

Here are some places to think about.

I am not putting direct links because the cynical will say…see, it is just for the money.

You can go Google some of these places and see where you would like to tithe.  It needs to be a church that preaches Jesus as Saviour and Lord and as the way, the truth, and the life.   It needs to preach “be born again“.  Not all churches do.  So be careful where you tithe.

Samaritan’s Purse…this is worldwide
Rhema Bible Church…this has an actual online church
Christ for all Nations…this is an outreach, particularly to Africa, with a church in Florida
Morris Cerullo World Evangelism…this has a school of ministry
Marilyn and Sarah…they are on Christian television

And there are many others. Tithe to the places where you go to church and get your spiritual food.

And remember, if you haven’t tithed, but are thinking of spending a whole lot of money on Black Friday, rethink that. Set your spiritual house in order.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Tithing is not a one time event. It is an ongoing way of life.

It’s like a diet or a exercise routine.  Neither are one time events if you want ongoing results.  Tithing is the same.  It is a way of life.

Tithe out of every income you get, and tithe first, before you do anything else. Tithing is in time as well as first in money.

This video is one of a series. Once you watch it, I recommend going to their site, bookmarking their site, watching more of their videos, and checking out their store and the various other tabs on their sites. This site has very interesting specialists and scientists and a lot of thought-provoking information.

You can view the video here. However, again, since it is one part of series I recommend finding the rest of the series or purchasing it from their store.