National Telescope national telescope newspaper
The Senior Pastor of the Trinity House Church, Lagos, Ituah Ighodalo, has advised believers to pay their tithe to protect their salaries and other income.
According to him, people can make lots of money but have nothing to show for it if they don’t pay their tithe.
The cleric who stated this during an interview with the Punch recently said tithing is compulsory.
This is against the backdrop of claims by the Founder of Abel Damina Ministries, Pastor Abel Damina that tithing is fraudulent.
In a video posted online, Pastor Damina who appeared as a guest on a TV programme ‘Good Evening Ghana’ described tithing as fraudulent.
According to him, giving tithe does not attract blessings nor prevent devourers from attacking an individual’s income, adding that 90 percent of tithers are still confronted with financial challenges even after tithing.
He said, “I was paying my tithe and I wasn’t seeing results. Let me tell you 90 percent of tithers have rooms in their house that have not been filled. Their houses have not filled to overflowing as Malachi promised. You don’t need to tithe for the devourer to be rebuked. But again who was Malachi 3 addressed to?
“It was not addressed to believers. It was addressed to priests, and pastors who are collecting tithes and are not paying tithe. So Malachi said to those pastors, you have robbed me, people pay you tithe, you are not tithing the tithe. Because the priest was to pay tithe to senior priests.”
However, Pastor Ighodalo disagreed with Damina’s position on the matter, saying Tithing which is 10 percent of income is compulsory.
He said, “Tithe is 10 percent of your regular harvest. According to the Bible, it was first done when Abraham gave 10 percent of his spoils to the high priest called Melchizedek. It is also an acknowledgment that the harvest comes from God. Therefore, you’ll give Him a compulsory offering of 10 percent of your harvest.
“So on your regular income, after you have paid your first fruit, you pay a tithe on your subsequent income. The tithe will guarantee that the locust and the cankerworm will not come and devour your harvest. That is, you will not get your salary and waste it on unnecessary expenses.
“Tithe also protects your salary or your income. You can make a lot of money and have nothing to show for it because you have wasted the money on frivolous expenses that you were not meant to spend on. So while the first fruit will guarantee that you will make the money, the tithe protects the way you spend the money and what you use the money for. Then you have your free will offering, which is up to you.
“There’s no compulsion as to the size or quantum. That one also goes with the law of harvest. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. Freewill offering is what you decide to give God in addition to the compulsory offerings that you are obligated or advised to give.”
