Page 8 of 10 pages

Devious Divine Transactions

        Dan is my barber, and has been my barber for many years.   This is NOT his picture, and this is not me in the chair.   This is some other barber in Chicago who made the mistake of putting his picture on the internet.  And my barber's name is not Dan but another name I shall not be telling you because I don't want a lot of you calling my barber and giving him religious advice, such as he's going to Hell because he is now questioning whether or not the Bible really requires him to pay tithe.

      What this picture does have in common with my barber and I is that I get him to give me a #2 buzz job which appears to be what this young man may be getting.

      Last week when I went to see "Dan" for my usual #2 buzz job  he asked me if the Bible really required him to pay tithe and I told him more or less the same thing you have read on the previous pages, but in an abbreviated form because you can only say about so much while you're getting a haircut.  It was then that I decided to do these web pages.

    In a nutshell, I told him --

    Ministers use Abraham's example as the first tithe-payer BUT- Abraham did not use his own money, and only once.

     Then, I said, they'll go to Jacob, who pledged a TENTH of his income, but there's no record he kept that pledge.

     After Moses, it became a Jewish custom to pay tithes.

     There's no record Jesus or his disciples paid tithe--

     "Dan" then brought up the promise of prosperity for tithe-payers in Malachi chapter three with this observation and complaint --

     "Dr. Holt, I have been a tithe-payer since I joined the Seventh-day Adventist church, and I have yet to see any indication that the "windows of heaven" have opened for me.   I'm not looking for so much wealth to come my way that "there shall not be room enough to receive it" like the text says, but it seems to me that tithe-payers, like me, should be at least a little better off financially than non-tithe-payers.    Instead, I struggle to get enough money to pay my bills.   There's something wrong with this picture.    I'm still paying my tithe, but lately I've been selective about who I pay it to.

     I said, "Dan, I know other people who are doing the same thing.  My brother-in-law pays tithe, and indeed enjoys quite a good income, which he attributes partly to paying tithe.   But he now pays his tithe to someone who was once an Adventist minister, but who uses this money in ways my brother-in-law approves of."

     "Well," said Dan, "I started paying my tithe directly to an official Adventist Evangelist who goes around putting on revivals in various Adventist Church districts."  (Dan gave his name, but I will withhold it because of what came next)

      Dan said, "I love the health messages this evangelist includes as part of his revivals, and as a donor I received this magazine on health issues. (Dan showed me an attractive little health pamphlet with practical health advice)   "I called this evangelist's office to see if I could use some of these pictures on my own web site with some of this advice.  The person who took this call said they'd get back to me -- but never did."

     Dan continued,  "Then one night at about 2 or 3 AM, I did get a call from someone who worked for the evangelist.  He  woke me up from a sound sleep."

     "Probably forgot to note the time difference between California time and Eastern Time." I said.  "What did this person want to talk about?"

     "He wanted to have prayer with me!" Dan said.  "I was so angry I felt like getting in my car, driving to California, and punching him in the nose!"

     I said, "These people call you up and want to have prayer with you because they want you to send them some money.  I know lots of evangelists who do this.   How'd he get you telephone number?"

     "I'm on their donor list," said Dan.  "He got it off their donor list!"

     "Well, anyway, once I cooled down enough to talk to this guy at 2 or 3 AM,  I told him about my request to use the pamphlet health pictures and information on my web site.   He said he'd look into it and get back to me right away.    That was three weeks ago and I haven't heard a word."

      By now the picture was pretty clear in my mind.    What this employee of this Adventist big-time Evangelist was doing was following the instructions he had received to call X number of people on the donor list and offer to pray with them.    What he wanted back from "Dan" was a large check, accompanied by a note crediting this extra donation to the "thoughtfulness" of this named employee  --- NOT, as "Dan" had requested, an added bit of work on his part to gain some materials for what they saw as "Dan's" ministry, not theirs!

      I am a special friend of Jesus.   He and I communicate with each other often.    And it's a two way conversation, not a one-way conversation.   So I'll tell you the message that Jesus has authorized me to give this great, well-known Adventist Evangelist (whose name I shall still withhold) ---

"My house shall be called the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves."