Tithing Illustration, Gary Fenton 2009-09-28

Giving Based on God’s Promises for the Future

Gary Fenton told this story at deacons meeting 9/28/2009:

His first church was very small—about 25-40 there on Sunday mornings. The offering was on a sign in the front of the church along with the attendance. It was usually about $100, some of which Gary put in as a tithe of his $50 salary. On a good Sunday (first of the month) it might be $165, on a bad Sunday (end of the month) $80.

A retired Baptist minister, A.C. Hawkins, moved to the area and joined the church. He was a peanut and cotton farmer. The Sunday he joined the offering was $2,600. The congregation was abuzz as they saw the figure posted on the sign. Someone had given $2500! It was the only topic of discussion that Sunday and they figured out pretty quickly who was the donor—A.C. Hawkins.

That Sunday night they had a testimony time at church. Rev. Hawkins was not there, but his son got up to speak to the congregation. He said, “I know a lot of you think my father’s wealthy, but he’s really not. You see, he borrowed $25,000 to buy seed for planting this year’s crop, and he tithed on that money. He says, ‘Real faith is not giving on God’s past blessings, but giving on what he has promised for the future.’”

Tithing, Giving, Stewardship