The tithe is an Old Testament word that means “a tenth.” God required his people to give a tenth of their produce to the Levites for the work of the temple. There is a debate among New Testament believers about whether this mandate is still in effect, with the main objection being this: the mandate was an Old Testament law that no longer applies under the new covenant. 

Of course, there are many such laws under the Old Testament that no longer apply (thank goodness), such as the prohibition not to eat shrimp. When it comes to the question of tithing, some believers argue that the New Testament era is marked by freedom, not law, and that we are to give from the heart as we feel led, not by compulsion (2 Cor 9:7). 

While there is some merit to that position, I and many other Christians believe the tithing mandate still applies to us today. Here are seven reasons supporting this belief (with thanks to William Barcley and Randy Alcorn for some of these insights. 1) 

Lately, between my personal studies and my discipleship group Bible study, I have been spending a good deal of time in the pastoral epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. They are called the pastoral epistles because they are addressed to two young pastors (Timothy and Titus) about ministry and church life. 

But just because they are written to pastors doesn’t mean they lack relevance for non-pastors. You really ought to think of the pastoral epistles as letters to pastors about you: about God’s will for churches, about the marks of maturity in a church, about how we are to relate to one another, and so forth. They are leadership instructions that ultimately will (or should) be applied to you. 

I’d like to share three themes that have caught my attention as I’ve been studying these books, and which are relevant for all of us. 

Over the last year, our church has been focusing some of our teaching on godly conflict resolution, or peacemaking, as the Bible calls it. Recently, our discipleship groups read works on peacemaking by Ken Sande: The Peacemaker, or the abridged version of that book, Resolving Everyday Conflict. Both books are chock full of biblical, tried-and-true wisdom for resolving conflict. I recommend both to you, especially The Peacemaker. 

But since you’ll likely have some form of conflict this week (unless you happen to be sick in bed or otherwise isolated), here are three practices you can try before your book arrives in the mail. They represent elements of peacemaking that especially resonated with my discipleship groups when we read Resolving Everyday Conflict. I find that adopting these methods really changes the course of conflict for the better. 

You may know that for the last couple of years, our church leadership has been giving attention to leadership development. One expression of that is that we have been trying to pair emerging leaders with mentors for their continued development. Since we have recently made some of those pairings, I wanted to equip those mentors with some thoughts to guide them. Here is what I’ve shared with them; perhaps it will benefit you in any mentoring relationship you find yourself in. 

This article, originally delivered as a charge to students at Trinity Classical School, invites readers into a lifelong habit of engaging God’s Word deeply—through reading, study, and meditation—for the sake of knowing Christ and living wisely.

To know Christ and him crucified.

To trust God with all our hearts. 

To have the Spirit. 

Last year, Pastor Nate outlined three key strategies for overcoming sin—gospel, community, and behavior—in his article, “What Should I Do if My Husband is Addicted to Pornography?” This summer, I saw these principles in action as I led a group of men through Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace. By applying these strategies, the men made significant progress and have remained porn-free for over three months.