Giving
78 conversations where the hosts get into giving.
78 conversations
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Complaint-line follow-up: tithing, blessing, and the prosperity gospel
- Does faithfulness in giving guarantee material blessing, and does suffering imply unfaithfulness?
Ben reads his own complaint-line text challenging the prior show's tithe conversation: if giving brings blessing (Malachi's 'test me in this'), how should blessing be understood when faithful givers still lack basic needs, and does suffering imply unfaithfulness?
From No. 530 · Know Self Control
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Dear LFTP: the $8 spaghetti sauce in the grocery line
- Should I feel guilty for not covering the stranger's grocery bill when I could barely afford my own?
Boova (speaker-2, who reads the letter on-air) reads a Dear LFTP letter: at a grocery store, a young woman with an $8 jar of spaghetti sauce used the last of her food-stamp card,…
From No. 522 · Biking with Billy Shatner
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Only thirteen percent of evangelicals tithe
- What percentage of evangelicals actually tithe?
- Does a day set apart as holy still matter beyond legalism?
A giving study ("The Generosity Factor" finds only 13% of evangelicals tithe, half give less than 1% of income, and the median church giver gives about $800 a year.
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Practical kingdom actions: check-ins, restraint, and giving
- Should churches keep meeting in person during the pandemic?
Asked what the kingdom of Christ should be doing, a host gives three recommendations: make phone calls to isolated and immunocompromised people (even just dropping things on the…
From No. 398 · Thus It Begins…COVID
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Pennies on the dollar vs. paying the bill
- If a creditor will settle a debt for less than I owe, do I still owe the full amount — is paying less an integrity failure?
Back to the debt story: is it better to buy up old debt cheap or pay someone's current bill in full?
From No. 396 · Pet Pastoring and Confounded on Dear LFTP
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Dear LFTP: political donations as a birthday gift
- A grandson's fifth birthday invitation requests donations to politically affiliated charities in lieu of gifts, which I cannot in good conscience support; must I give a gift anyway or stay away from the party?
The hosts read a second Dear LFTP letter: a friend's grandson's fifth birthday invitation requests donations to politically affiliated charities in lieu of gifts, which the listener cannot in good conscience support.
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Do we misunderstand 'unreached people'?
- Is redefining 'unreached people' to include our neighbors hampering international missions?
The hosts discuss a Christian Post article reporting that mission alliances worry Christians now define 'unreached' as their unbelieving neighbor, which — the article claims — is hampering funding for truly unreached people groups (tribes in Sudan, Malawi, the pygmies).
From No. 338 · Following the News
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Dear LFTP: donate or buy the broom?
- When a disabled vendor sells me something I do not need, should I take the goods or just donate?
A listener and her husband disagree over a blind man who sells brooms door to door: she donates and declines the goods, he says accept them so it is not a pity donation.
From No. 275 · Under-Asking God
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Dear LFTP: court settlement — tell the friends how much?
- Should I tell my friends how much money I'm receiving from a court settlement?
A Dear LFTP letter from someone about to receive a court settlement asks whether to tell five loyal friends the amount.
From No. 264 · Seven Reasons to Skip the Lottery
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Pope-style advice: obedience before confirmation
- How do I know whether I've heard God correctly or just manufactured the prompting myself?
- Are Christians — or people generally — too risk-averse to take steps of obedience?
Dave Herrick — whom a crowd of followers has decided is the pope, and who was trapped by them in a cave over the weekend — delivers pope-style advice on the order of faith: we…
From No. 234 · The Messiah Complex
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Dear LFTP: the panhandlers who declined the groceries
- What should I make of the panhandling couple who declined my groceries and asked for cash?
A listener offered a panhandling couple (with a baby and toddler, sign asking for food help) her family's dinner groceries — premium spaghetti sauce, ground beef, spaghetti, fruit…
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godisimaginary.com proof #10: 'Watch the Offering Plate'
- If God is real and answers prayer, why does the church pass the offering plate instead of praying for the money it needs?
The hosts read proof #10 aloud: if God is real and promises in Mark 11:24 that whatever you ask in prayer you will receive, why do ministers pass the offering plate and beg money from mortals instead of praying for it?
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Dear LFTP: donated charity items kept by the organizer's family
- Are we wrong to be upset that items we donated to a charity giveaway are being kept for the organizer's family?
A listener named Abby writes that she and her wife have been donating items to a friend's charitable giveaway operation, but have now noticed donated goods appearing in the friend's home and on her family members.
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Dear LFTP: whose is the free bumped-flight ticket?
- Does the free bumped-flight ticket belong to me or to the grandma who paid for the original?
A host reads a letter from a granddaughter whose grandma-bought plane ticket got her a free voucher after she volunteered to be bumped, with her mother insisting the ticket belongs to grandma.
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The $5 charity debate
- Should you give cash to a stranger who asks -- even a well-off one?
- Where does tithing fit alongside spontaneous giving to people in need?
A long, meandering debate on giving cash to strangers. One host (addressed on-air as Ben) describes his practice of trading $5 for a stranger's name -- 'buying a name to pray for'…
From No. 29 · Why Bad Things Happen To, Uh, People
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Pathway Church promo and a question for the pastor
- Are the 80% (inactive churchgoers) as important as the 20% (active servers), and should pastors try to guilt the 80 into serving?
The host plugs Pathway Church in Johnston - new service times 9 and 10:30 at Wallace Elementary, thepathonline.org - then puts a direct question to 'Pastor Dan': most pastors preach to the 20% already serving; are the 80% as important, and is guilt the right lever?
From No. 24 · Sittin' In Your Own Pew (And Doin' Nothing Else)
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BeliefNet item three: tithing based on a sense of obligation
- Do Christians struggle to give out of a joyful heart rather than obligation?
The longest article discussion: tithing treated as obligation versus joyful generosity. The hosts argue Western Christians are terrible with money because they chase comfort and security instead of trusting God.
From No. 476 · CS Lewis Has Fallen
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Serving, accountability, and not building a Christian compound
"Who is your neighbor?" has nothing to do with Sunday-morning boxes; accountability is a small, permission-given list; be careful using "serve your community" as a recruitment line.
From No. 590 · Theodore Franco
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The widow's mite in isolation — then Secular's answer
A host cautions that teaching the widow's mite in isolation can weaponize generosity: the temple was not dying for money, and Jesus gives extreme examples — 70 times seven,…
From No. 522 · Biking with Billy Shatner
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Church in the metaverse: VR Church
The hosts read about Sheryl Sandberg's hope that churches host services in virtual reality and Bishop DJ Soto, who left megachurch ministry in 2016 to lead VR Church, a…
From No. 462 · Jesus and the Metaverse
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Mary Wastee interview, part 1: Wycliffe and language survey
- Do Bible translators work from the Greek, the Latin Vulgate, or an English translation?
The guest Mary Wastee (speaker-5), a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators, explains her role: she does language survey work paving the way for Bible translation, rather than translating directly.
From No. 215 · I Never Knew You
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RELEVANT article, part 5: blind devotion and spiritual abuse
Problem 5: 'you could fall into blind devotion' — the author fell into an abusive ministry in Africa with cult-like control over every part of life and misused donor money.
From No. 234 · The Messiah Complex
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Serious turn: giving under compulsion vs. cheerful generosity
The hosts critique the telethon's manipulative tactics — guilt, compulsion, "the Holy Spirit is leading you in this direction (and if not, you're not paying attention)".
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Rebuttal: God owns it all, so giving is a heart response
The hosts rebut: the proof's whole premise is wrong — God doesn't need money, currency is a human system God doesn't trade in, and giving is a reflection of the heart rather than a payment.