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Word Gems 

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As a younger man, I belonged to an “Old Testament” Christian church, and it taught the law of tithing. A “tithe” – an Old English word meaning “tenth” -- would be ten percent of one’s income; gross income, of course: "Just because the government deducts from your paycheck doesn't mean you can cheat God," as they would say.

But wait. The Old Testament speaks not of one tithe but three! The first tithe is for the general maintenance of the church. The second tithe is for your annual expenses to observe “God’s holy days.”

Editor’s note: And, for literalists, are you keeping these holy days? If not, why not? The scripture says that these "commanded assemblies" were instituted for all time.

And the third tithe was collected to support “widows and orphans.” This “tenth” was assessed once every seven years.

Further, on top of all this, there were the “commanded” special offerings.

There’s no mistake here. I well recall the entire church being “catechized” on the relevant scriptures supporting all this. With so much money involved, a hefty portion of a family's budget, we all knew these doctrines very well. It's all laid out in the “infallible” and “pure” Bible.

Again, for those who love to assert, “every word of God is inspired,” we need to understand that this phrase, itself, from the book of Second Timothy, refers to Old Testament scripture, as, in those early Christian days, that’s the only Bible they had.