Re: the link you gave us

we belong, personally, to a small church (less than 75 per sunday). the pastor and wife are not ostentatious in dress or living(?), HOWEVER as we become more involved with our church we are seeing decisions made that we are not comfortable with. i would prefer not to feel obligated to supply our church with so much of the money that we give. interestingly, after reading this past link (and some others) i've discovered that a non-tithing lifestyle and mindset actually requires MUCH MUCH more of us. giving the church your "tithe" and then giving a little bit more here and there in "offerings" doesn't require a whole lot of thought. you just do what you are supposed to do. but a lifestyle of giving?.... how much more challenging! you must always be looking around you, looking for others to help... i would think that also you would make much more careful decisions about your/God's money. when you give to the church I was always told that it is then "out of your hands" what happens to it. no longer is it your responsibility. i'm getting more and more turned off with that. it could very well be because i see what seems to me to be abuses and laziness....