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Good day precious children of the most high God. Glynis and I have been praying for everything concerning you and your family.

Family, our mission here at the Resurrection Center is to “empower every person to LOVE-CONNECT-SERVE.” Do you believe that this is possible? I do! But only if certain things take place and happen.

If we are going to fulfill our mission and accomplish our task, we need the “fire of God.” What is the “FIRE of GOD?” Thank you for asking!

Fire is a wonderful picture of the power and work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is like a fire in at least three ways:

1. He brings God’s presence.
2. God’s passion.
3. and God’s purity.

The Holy Spirit is the presence of God as He indwells within the heart of the believer. Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

Family, the Bible teaches us that God guides and comforts us with the Holy Spirit that dwells in our physical bodies, which is the “tabernacle” and/or the “temple of the living God.”

In the book of Hebrews 12:29, it describes God as “a consuming fire,” so it is not surprising that fire often appears as a symbol of God’s presence. Examples include the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), the Shekinah glory (Exodus 14:19; Numbers 9:15-16), and Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1:4). Fire has often been an instrument of God’s judgment (Numbers 11:1, 3; 2 Kings 1:10, 12) and a sign of His power (Judges 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38).

For obvious reasons, fire was necessary for the Old Testament sacrifices. The fire on the altar of burnt offering was a divine gift, having been lit originally by God Himself according to Leviticus 9:24. It says, “And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” In Leviticus 10:1-2, God charged the priests with keeping His fire lit and made it clear that fire from any other source was unacceptable.

In the New Testament, the altar can serve as a picture of our commitment to the Lord. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called upon to offer our bodies as “living sacrifices,” engulfed by the divine gift: the inextinguishable fire of the Holy Spirit. At the very beginning of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is associated with fire. John the Baptist predicts that Jesus will be the One to “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” When the Holy Spirit began His ministry of indwelling the early church, He chose to appear as “tongues of fire” resting on each of the believers. At that moment, “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

The Holy Spirit is the one who creates the passion of God in our hearts. After the two traveling disciples talk with the resurrected Jesus, they describe their hearts as “burning within us.” After the apostles receive the Spirit at Pentecost, they have a passion that lasts a lifetime and compels them to speak the word of God boldly. The Holy Spirit produces the purity of God in our lives. God’s purpose is to purify us, and the Spirit is the agent of our sanctification.

Family, we need the fire to fall, or we could say we need to “GET LIT,” “STAY LIT,” and “SPREAD IT.” Bill Bright once said, “the doctrine of the Holy Spirit may be the most neglected doctrine in the church today.” He also said, “that in the course of his ministry he has surveyed thousands of Christians in churches around the world, and determined that nearly 95% of the respondents have indicated that they have little knowledge of who the Holy Spirit is, or why He exists”.

See, one of the first dangers we teach our children is the danger of heat and fire. We all know that physical fire can be hazardous and destructive, and we know a lot about physical fire, but many people know very little about the fire of the Holy Spirit. J. I. Packer has said, “The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the Cinderella of Christian doctrines.”

In the Bible, we read about two types of baptism. One is a baptism of water, the second is a baptism of fire. The Bible says John baptized with water, but Jesus baptized with fire; water baptism is visible, fire baptism is invisible; one baptism is wet, one baptism is dry. One may have no effect on the person being baptized, for it’s possible to go do down in the water a dry sinner and come back up a wet sinner. The problem is you are still a sinner. But the fire baptism always affects the way we live our lives, and it sets us on fire for God. Practically speaking, every Christian knows something about baptism with water, but many Christians don’t know about baptism with fire. That’s why we need the FIRE TO FALL!

It is interesting that in Matthew 3:10-12, fire is mentioned three times. In v.10, we see purging fire. For “every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

In v.12, we see punishing fire. For He will “gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

But here in v.11, we see purifying fire, for “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The Holy Spirit is a fire, and when He is ignited in your heart, He will burn sin out, He will burn self-up, and He will burn the Savior in. A fire does two things: It gives heat, and it gives light. That is precisely what the Holy Spirit does. He is God’s heat for a cold heart and God’s light for a dark soul.

There are at least two reasons why we must learn the basics of the Holy Spirit. A man named Thomas Arnold said, “He who does not know God, the Holy Spirit, does not know God at all.” Meaning, you cannot know God except through the Holy Spirit. But secondly, you can never understand what the Holy Spirit does until you realize who the Holy Spirit is.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK…

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Greetings RC family and friends, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Today, I will finish answering the question: “Is tithing still relevant in today’s culture?” In this week’s Connect Point, I will show you that Jesus, himself, endorsed the timeless principle of tithing.

Jesus makes it clear in John 7:16 that He didn’t go about speaking His own doctrine but the principle of God. Jesus said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”

From this statement, we know that everything Jesus spoke came directly to Him from the Father. With this in mind, I want you to pay close attention to what Jesus had to say about tithing.

Matthew 23:23 TLB says, “...woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders—hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things—justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone.”

Jesus told the religious leaders they should obey the law, which included justice, mercy, and faith. However, in this portion of Scripture, He also told them He was not doing away with the tithe, for He was careful to emphasize that God required tithing. He said, “Yes, you should tithe....”

Many people believe that these few words were the last time the subject of tithing appeared in Scripture and that there’s no record of anyone tithing in the New Testament.

Go with me and read Hebrews 7. In this chapter, the author writes about Abraham giving tithes to Melchizedek, and he begins by explaining who Melchizedek is. Then he makes a significant statement. He tells us that New Testament saints were paying tithes when writing his epistle to the Hebrews, which was AD 65.

Look carefully at Hebrews 7:8. It says, “In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.”  The writer is telling us that people were tithing in his presence at the very moment he was writing this statement.

According to several widely accepted authorities on the dating of Scripture, the author of Hebrews wrote this portion of the book approximately thirty-five years after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this, we know it was a common practice for Christians to pay tithes in early New Testament churches.

According to this verse, we have a biblical account of the Christian church receiving tithes well into the church age. Add to this knowledge the promise that God never changes, and it becomes irrefutable that tithes are definitely for today.

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.” Even with all this proof that tithing is for our day, it is a shame that it remains one of the most violated timeless principles found in God’s word.

Religious surveys tell us that only about 2% of believers actually biblically tithe. This statistic is a terrible indictment against the end-time church. However, the saddest thing about this violation is that non-tithing Christians are cheating themselves, the lost people of this world, and God Himself out of a blessing. Remember, God is not trying to get something from you, but He’s trying to get something to us.

Think about this, when we refuse to tithe, it affects three groups of people:

• Yourself
• The Unsaved
• God

Not tithing affects YOU because you lose the blessings of God. Heaven closes over your lives, and you can’t receive the physical, financial, and spiritual benefits that God has set aside for you.

Not tithing also affects the unsaved. Without all of us tithing and giving generously, RC and other ministries around the world cannot fulfill their mandate. At RC, our mandate is: “EMPOWER EVERY PERSON TO LOVE-CONNECT-SERVE.”  Romans 10:14-15 says, “how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them unless someone sends him?”

Not tithing also involves God. It affects God because He loses the opportunity to bless us. Acts 20:35 says, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Family, non-tithers close heaven, thereby robbing God of the privilege of blessing them. They also deny God the benefit of saving many lost souls who will never hear the gospel and never be saved.

Family, the truth is, it doesn’t matter how righteous your life may be or how much Scripture you may have committed to memory; if you are a non-tither, the Bible says you are forfeiting your right to walk under an open heaven. Tithing is so important to you, the lost, and God Himself that He openly invites you to put Him to the test and make Him prove to you that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings.

Malachi 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

At this point, something else becomes very obvious. If you refuse to tithe, you are putting God to the test to prove to you that He will close heaven over your life and withhold His blessings from you. There are many reasons God’s children fail to tithe. Some have followed after false teaching. Some have been unable to recognize the scriptural importance of tithing. Still, others have been ignorant of the many benefits that come from tithing. Finally, some fail to tithe because of the fear of insufficiency. I think I’ve fallen in all three of these areas throughout my life.

Regardless of your reason for not tithing previously, God wants you to know that forgiveness, as well as total restoration of all the blessings, are available to those who desire it. God graciously extends an open invitation to all of us to return to Him and to start putting Him to the test by beginning to tithe.

Malachi 3:7,8,10, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

No sincere seeker of biblical truth can read the scriptures and honestly say God doesn’t expect every Christian to tithe. But ultimately, the decision is YOURS!

I challenge you to begin praying this prayer…

Father, I know that you own everything, that your resources are there for me. Help me to become a generous giver. To trust you to keep your promise to return back everything that I give. So that I can give even more. I thank You in advance for the financial blessings that are coming to me! I know that You will meet all my needs according to Your glorious riches. Father, I put my trust in You. I trust not in my job, my friends, my family, or anything else. I place my trust in You because You are my provider. I know that You will take care of me and that I will prosper. I know everything will be okay. Calm my anxiety and help me to focus my eyes on You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

My blessing for you…

May you--more and more in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead--take your cues from God’s “timeless principles” (and not from culture) and become a generous giver! May you dream big dreams with God! He intends to solve some of the world’s problems through you. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises a standard against him. This is no time for cowering in fear. This is a time to rise up in faith! Trust God’s Word. Believe His promises. Do what He says. And in due time, you’ll see the waters part, the mountains move, and the answers you’ve been waiting for. You are mighty in God. Walk full of faith and become a generous giver and an excellent receiver today! 

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Good day RC family and Happy Mother’s Day week!

Here in Canada, on Sunday May 9^th, we are celebrating mothers! So, please remember to do something extra special to honor your biological mom and if that’s not possible try to honor another mother figure in your life. For all the dads, this is a great day to honor the lady that gave birth to your child/children. 

Today, I want us to continue answering the question, is tithing still relevant in today’s culture? Did you ever wonder who chose the percentage of the tithe? Did you ever wonder why the tithe is 10% and not 5% or 20%?

See, I believe it’s very important for us to know that someone just didn’t arbitrarily chose 10% as the amount of the tithe. Strong's Concordance tells us the Hebrew word for tithe is ma`asar or mah-as-ar' which means a “tenth.”

When you compare the following two verses, it becomes evident that God and the Bible defined the tithe as 10%. Genesis 14:20 says, “And he [Abraham] gave him [Melchizedek] tithes of all.” Hebrews 7:4, “Now consider how great this man [Melchizedek] was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”

In both of these verses, the writers are describing the same event. In one case, Moses speaks of Abraham's tithing. He says Abraham gave Melchizedek tithes of all. When describing the same event, the writer of Hebrews says Abraham gave Melchizedek the tenth of the spoils.

One verse uses the word tithe, the other uses the word tenth. This clearly reveals from Scripture the exact amount of the tithe is ten percent.

I find it very interesting that God has always required His people to set aside a portion of their increase (the tithe) for Him. Setting aside this divine portion literally spans all of human history even as far back as the garden with Adam and Eve.

Yes, I believe God expected Adam and Eve to set aside a portion of their increase (tithe) for Him. I can hear someone say, “Come-on Bishop that’s a far stretch.” But let’s take a look. Adam and Eve had jobs. They were not on a permanent vacation.  They had a clearly defined job description. They were the caretakers of the garden.

Genesis 2:15 NIV says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

It is clear from this verse that God required Adam and Eve to look after the trees and plants in the garden. Are we to assume that God required Adam and Eve to work for free? Of course not! God paid them generously for their labor. Their wages were the fruit of almost every tree in the garden. Genesis 2:16 says, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.”

 It is important to notice that God claimed a right to a portion of the fruit of their labors, for He absolutely forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of one particular tree. They had to work hard to care for it. They expended labor on it in the same way they did every other tree in the garden. However, they were not to eat any of its fruit. Genesis 2:17 says, “but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.” Yes, Adam and Eve were to bestow labor on the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, they were not to eat of it.

This account from the Garden of Eden gives more than just a vague suggestion of tithing. God expected Adam and Eve to operate in exactly the same way He expects of us - to operate with the increase we receive from our labor. When you have completed working the prescribed number of hours it takes to earn your living, God puts a restriction on a certain portion of the wages you have earned. He says the first ten percent of your increase is His. It is the tithe.

I have often heard people say, "The money I earn is my money. I worked hard for it. It's all mine!” Well, this is only partially true. No doubt you expend your precious time and hard labor earning your wage. However, if you believe God's Word, you must admit the Bible says ten percent of your income belongs to God.

Leviticus 27:30 says, “and all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.” When we read first few chapters of the Book of Genesis we can see that Adam and Eve understood that a portion of all the increase they produced was not theirs. It was set apart for God. This account shows us a perfect picture [type] of what we now call "the tithe."

So, we can see the timeless principal of tithing started with Adam and Eve and from there we follow the timeless principal of tithing to Abraham.

In Genesis 14:14-20, we see when Abraham returned from the battle of the kings and Melchizedek meets him, and he tithed Abraham from all the spoils he had taken in battle. It is important to notice this took place many hundreds of years before God gave the law to Moses, which is positive proof that God expected ten percent of the increase long before Moses incorporated the tithe into the law.

After we see that Abraham tithed, we also see that before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, God told them to give all the wealth of Jericho to Him. Joshua 6:19, TLB says “…all the silver and gold and the utensils of bronze and iron will be dedicated to the Lord, and must be brought into his treasury.” Here we see God receiving His portion first, a picture or type of the tithe. 

See, the topic of first fruits, offering and tithing will always be controversial for many within the body of Christ because the enemy wants to convince us that God is trying to take something from us, rather than give something to us. But God says, test ME in this…

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

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Praise the Lord RC family. Please continue to pray for Glynis and me, and we promise to continue to pray for you.

I understand that many people reading this ConnectPoint may not trust the things I say or write. Still, I found myself sitting at my desk today just thinking about how much I love and appreciate you (members of RC) and how I can be more of a blessing to you and your family.

Glynis and I really, sincerely care about you, and we want God's best for you. Our only desire for you is good and never evil.  We want to see you walking in financial freedom and God's abundance. We want above all else to see you in good health and your soul prospering.

In the last ConnectPoint, I ended it with a question. The question was - Did God do something terrible to Ananias and Sapphira, or did they cause their own deaths? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, go back and read last week's ConnectPoint, as well as read the story in Acts 5:3-10.

The answer to the question is simple, God didn't kill Ananias and Sapphira. However, because they violated a timeless spiritual principle when they lied to the Holy Ghost, their actions exposed them to the penalty of sin.

Family, it was their willful violation of God's established timeless principle that brought about their deaths. Read the account as carefully as you can, and you will find that God took no specific action against either of them. They simply collected what they sowed. The Bible is clear that the wages of sin are death.

Every believer reading this will quickly agree that lying to the Holy Ghost is a sin! We also know the penalty for sin is death. God has clearly stated this principle in both the Old and New Testaments. Liars who refuse to repent and receive forgiveness are sinners, and sinners die. Ananias and Sapphira lied, and true to God's Word, they died.

Please keep in mind that the Bible does not give a set amount of time to pass after a person commits a sin before its penalty takes effect. It may take fifty years, fifty days, or fifty minutes. Or as it was in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, it took less than 50 seconds for the penalty of sin to become their portion.

When we understand the consequences of sin, it becomes easy to see that God did not curse Ananias and Sapphira. It was their own willful violation of a God-ordained principle that brought the penalty of death upon them. Notice God's Word doesn't change!

The violation of any God-ordained timeless principle always brings the promised penalty. This truth is parallel in the natural realm. For instance, as long as you obey the established timeless principles of aerodynamics, you can safely fly through the sky.

However, if you violate these timeless principles, you will stop flying and crash. If you break a timeless principle that carries with it the penalty of death, you will die. If you obey God's timeless principles, you will live. God doesn't crash airplanes or kill liars. It is the violation of established timeless principles that bring about these disastrous results.

Some of you may stop reading when you see the next verse but according to Malachi 3:9, not putting God first in our finances carries a preordained penalty. It says, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." Ouch, I'm glad I didn't write that. 

Family, when God says you are cursed with a curse, He is speaking of the consequence of willfully violating His established timeless principles of tithing. Now I am not saying that you will die if you don't tithe, but I am saying that when we refuse to put God first in our finances, He simply closes heaven over us, and the promised blessings come to an end.

So the decision is ours to make. Are we going to trust God and His Word, or are we going to do what we want to do? I don't know about you, but I, David Winston Burton, need to live under an open heaven, so I choose to follow God's TIMELESS principle and give whatever He asks of me in every area of my life. I realize family that I am not the owner of anything, but I want to be a faithful servant. What about YOU???

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK…