When God Asks for Time and Tithe
			By
		   Pastor Van 
	      September 28, 1997

When the preacher speaks on tithing
	This is what one finds
Thoughts like these start running
	Through the people's minds.

"I guess the church needs more money.
	Funds must be running low."
Or "I suppose that the costs are higher
	For the removal of the snow."

But here are the reasons that
	On tithing I must speak
To help you to find the blessing
	That so many of you seek.

It is not that God is trying
	To take from you your money
Nor is He, like the bee keeper
	Stealing all  your honey.

Tithing is God's way of saying,
	All that you have is mine
So I will take one day in seven,
	(Just a portion of your time)

And all of the money man has made
	Is truly really not his own
Man may keep the 90 percent
	But leave the 10% alone.

Folk feel that the church is claiming
	What it has no right to claim.
They do not see that God holds
	All things in His name.

So when you take what is His
	To spend it on yourself
You steal from God when the tithe
	Is used to increase your wealth.

Now there was a tree in the Garden
	That Adam had to tend.
(It was not his to use lest
	He loose God for a friend)

The tree possessed no poison
	Yet to eat from it one would die.
Man must never forget that he's not God
	No matter how much he may try.

So God owns this little garden,
	The world we all inhabit.
Then why does tithing seem so hard?
	It should be such a natural habit.

But just like Adam from the beginning 
	We take what is not ours,
Whether it is measured by money
	Or by the passing hours.

So let's think again about our tithing--
	Not what we give but what we keep!
And knowing that we've done just what we should
	Will help us when we fall sleep.