Phone: (916) 709-3784 Fax: (916) 772-9394

www.ourladyofperpetualhelpchurch.com

On behalf of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, we would like to thank you for all of your timely monthly pledges. Please continue to send your monthly pledges in order for us to be able to pay the large monthly expenses for your church.

Last month I discussed with you the matter of “Tithing”. I hope that you enjoyed the bible verses which I referred you to last month. I am sure that you studied them and were blessed by them. This month I would like to continue the studies with the first question.

Does tithing only apply to the money that we earn? No. God commended us to give Him the first fruits of ALL that He gives to us. Not just the money that we earn! Christ warned us not to neglect such important items as justice and the love of God. (See Luke 11:42). This means we should give God the first fruits of our time: the first day of each week (Sunday) and first part of the day. (Proverbs 3:9-10) Should a man tithe if he is in debt? Yes. The debt itself is often a witness that tithing is not taking place. It should, therefore, be a motivation to begin tithing in order to allow God to show His power in gaining financial freedom. As a practical matter, special arrangements should be made with all creditors so that they continue to receive some payment and the promise of more as funds increase.(See Matthews 6:33). Should a wife tithe if her husband does not want her to? No. A wife’s spiritual decisions, other than salvation, are under the protection of her husband (Numbers 30:8). However, this does not mean that a wife cannot give the equivalent of a tithe in other ways, with her husband’s permission. For example: if she wanted to raise money by selling their unwanted items in a garage sale, she could very well do that. If she raised more money than they were going to tithe then her husband would be pleased and proud of her efforts, success and outcome. Another example would be for wives to make items to sell, or they could prepare food to give to those in need (See Acts 9:36-43). Should a husband tithe if his wife does not want him to? Yes. However, her objections to tithing should be a signal to him that he may not be meeting her needs, either materially or spiritually. It would be important for this husband to find out the real reasons why his wife does not want him to tithe. If any material needs have been neglected, the husband should fulfill them; and then he should discuss with his wife God’s Scriptural admonition on tithing. God holds a man responsible for teaching his wife the Word. (See Ephesians 5:26). What if I have not tithed for several years? You must come to your own decision as to how far you should go in paying tithes. Catching up with past tithes will give us a clear conscience toward God, a conscience that is free of any guilt of robbing Him (See Malachi 3:8). God wants us to be cheerful givers and He promises that the more we give to Him the more He will give to us (II Corinthians 9:6).

I hope that these new questions and answers will benefit you and will get you to start thinking about tithing. We all are suffering in these hard economic times, and our Loving Father in Heaven knows all about it. Please pray and have faith that He will meet all of your spiritual, physical and financial needs. I also want to invite you to please, please come to church every Sunday at 4:00 P.M. If you do that I have all the faith in the world that God will come into you heart and provide you with all of the desires of your heart. We also invite you to join us at our adult bible study class every other Friday at 6:00P.M. And please bring your children to the kid’s activity night every other Friday at 6:00 P.M. Until next month, we hope to see you all in our blessed and beautiful church.

Your Parish Council: Ninous Badal, Tom Simon, Mark Khoshaba and Sam Alkakos.