Tithing

[Pelado]

Exactly what I think. When you pay on your "income" you are paying after expense and taxes. The brethren say to pay on income so you would pay on surplus.

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Are you agreeing that I had a hard time explaining the concept to my wife?

[Pelado]

Yeah, I still stand my first comment.

Which was...?

[pellegrino]

Interesting.

I need to get the wife to buy into this. And the more lavishly I live, the less tithing I pay. Win-win.

Come on, JL, you know that's not what I'm saying.

[Surfah]

Which was...?

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpost.php?p=937221&postcount=37

[Pelado]

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...1&postcount=37

Gotcha. I like it.

[Mormon Red Death]

Are you agreeing that I had a hard time explaining the concept to my wife?

It's hard to explain and accept

[pellegrino]

This is the crux of the problem. Where do you draw the line?

It's precisely this "problem" that has made me decide, should I ever go this route, that it would be best to determine the "cost of doing business" on the median cost of a home in the area, etc. I don't know how you figure in clothing and cars. I suppose there are similar data sets available out there.

I could make an argument that if you aren't living in a custom home with a pool and hot tub, with satellite TV, with tickets to my alma mater's football games, driving a Porsche Panamera Turbo and eating out every meal, you are NOT living.

It'd be very easy to justify every "discretionary" purchase or "want" as a "need." If you spend your money completely on "needs" then there is no surplus.

One step further, if you have paid for your families "needs" and there is a surplus, where does the money go? Into a savings/rainy day/ retirement account? Isn't saving money a "need?" We are commanded to do it....

So what's left? Entertainment dollars? If you go on a trip to Disneyland and it costs $2000 do you pay $200 in tithing?

WTH does the median home price in your area have to do with it? Just because people on your street have lower mortgage payments than doesn't change the fact that you have to pay more, why should the value of their home affect what your honest tithe is?

Your housing expenses will change, just like your income will. You alone know what your living expenses are, and if you feel like you overspend in one category or if you feel like a certain category is a luxury that isn't necessary for you to live (entertainment, the superduper high speed internet?) then simply eliminate it or lower it to a number you feel comfortable with.

This isn't rocket science, it's nothing more than simple arithmetic. Follow Surfah's advice and decide for yourself as to what your increase is.

[pellegrino]

It's hard to explain and accept

Because it's taught wrong, or at least it's taught in a way that doesn't agree with the scriptures. Think about how many times you've heard the following analogy taught from the pulpit: Little Billy earned a dollar from his paper route and now pays a dime of tithing. Now, if Billy doesn't have to pay his parents for the bed he sleeps in, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, and the cost of the bicycle he uses to deliver the papers, then yes he has probably been properly tithed. Otherwise, he's overpaying. I think that in in many cases members are paying way more tithing than God expects them to.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Because it's taught wrong, or at least it's taught in a way that doesn't agree with the scriptures. Think about how many times you've heard the following analogy taught from the pulpit: Little Billy earned a dollar from his paper route and now pays a dime of tithing. Now, if Billy doesn't have to pay his parents for the bed he sleeps in, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, and the cost of the bicycle he uses to deliver the papers, then yes he has probably been properly tithed. Otherwise, he's overpaying. I think that in in many cases members are paying way more tithing than God expects them to.

Frankly I have no idea how many people do it.

[pellegrino]

I <3 pellegrino.

careful. my kids say I have cooties.

[SoonerCoug]

I really don't give a shit where my tithes go. If it's God's church, He can rectify whatever improprieties are going on, strike people dead, curse multiple generations of their offspring, etc. I refuse to believe that God is too damn impotent to straighten things out when they need to be straightened out.

I did what I agreed to do at my baptism (and consequently reaffirmed to do innumerable times). It's no longer my problem.

You should watch this.

[YOUTUBE]56jd4Jzs1LI[/YOUTUBE]

[Moliere]

Thinking about the word "income" and I came to a realization. Income is never seen @ the top of a financial statement. Its always @ the bottom. Income is closer to margin and profit (net income and gross income) than it is revenues. Is this in your experience as well? Since I only deal with health care industry maybe its different in other areas. I seem to remember you are an accountant of some sort.

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I only know of two GAAP-approved terms (on the income statement) that include the word "income". Operating income and Net Income. Granted, I'm personally not a business so I'm not sure if (or how) those would apply to a personal income statement.

If you want to go all-GAAP on tithing, then you can also capitalize your cars and house and depreciate them over their estimated useful lives and deduct them from your income. I mean, once you start defining things in terms of GAAP you might as well go all in with the accrual basis.

[Moliere]

Because it's taught wrong, or at least it's taught in a way that doesn't agree with the scriptures. Think about how many times you've heard the following analogy taught from the pulpit: Little Billy earned a dollar from his paper route and now pays a dime of tithing. Now, if Billy doesn't have to pay his parents for the bed he sleeps in, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, and the cost of the bicycle he uses to deliver the papers, then yes he has probably been properly tithed. Otherwise, he's overpaying. I think that in in many cases members are paying way more tithing than God expects them to.

Ya think?

[pellegrino]

Ya think?

Let's go shopping!

[tooblue]

Because it's taught wrong, or at least it's taught in a way that doesn't agree with the scriptures. Think about how many times you've heard the following analogy taught from the pulpit: Little Billy earned a dollar from his paper route and now pays a dime of tithing. Now, if Billy doesn't have to pay his parents for the bed he sleeps in, the food he eats, the clothes he wears, and the cost of the bicycle he uses to deliver the papers, then yes he has probably been properly tithed. Otherwise, he's overpaying. I think that in in many cases members are paying way more tithing than God expects them to.

I, everything I am, possess, earn, accomplish, or achieve in this mortal life is due to God’s grace. He created me, first spiritually, and then physically. He created this world and then placed me on this Earth in a conducive-to-human-life environment so that I might benefit from a truly sentient and self-governing experience. I, and all of my interest earned living said experience is the Lords creation to do with as he pleases. For me, that includes more than mere monies earned in a profession or, even, in a vocation of my choosing.

As per the counsel of, what I consider his servants, as recorded in what I consider scripture or, as delivered in written pronouncements or, from pulpits I reverence, the Lord has commanded me to pay 10% of the monetary interest I may accumulate. As a faithful man I choose to exercise my right to personal discernment on this issue. In monetary terms, I pay on the gross of my increase of money earned monthly due to my gainful employment as a teacher. Your comments in this thread strike me as belittling and derisive. That’s unfortunate.

I do not begrudge you your choices based upon your discernment as it relates to the law of tithing. We are both ultimately answerable to God on this matter. Our respective judgments will be an independent inquiry. I do not pretend to wonder how you and your life choices will be measured. According to my faith and understanding “ … men are that they might have joy.” My choice of how I choose to be tithed adds to my joy. I hope your choice of how to be tithed offers you similar comfort and peace of mind.