Dove-Solutions

Awesome video JA did you watch the movie?

I think this is a good idea also. I have one resolution this year. Drawing closer to the Lord and doing his will in my life. That is it. How about calling the forum: A closer walk with Jesus. Love in Jesus, Connie

love in Jesus, Connie

Ditte and latoya, for you both. Love in Jesus, Connie

D is living in the provision of the Lord! Praise the Lord for answered prayer. Love in Jesus, Connie

Go Mac Davis (the signer of that song). It is absolutely hillarious. Listen to the whole thing some time.

Father God, I come into full agreement with all the prayers here and especially with Virtuous prayer. I stand against the enemy in Jesus name and command it to the feet of Jesus, and that the peace, love and joy of this marriage be returned 7 fold. Father we thank you for goodness and mercy toward us and toward this family. Father we thank you that no matter what our circumstances you are right there with us even when we don't see you, you see us and you never let us go. Father I also pray for wisdom for Latoya and ask that you show her what is the right thing to do in this situation. Father remind her that you are her husband like you reminded me in Isaiah 54. Father we give you all the praise glory and honor and we pray this in Jesus name. your servant, Connie PS: Latoya read Isaiah 54. Whole chapter. The Lord gave me this about 3 years ago. It is awesome.

I pray that the Lords will be done in your life. I pray for uncommon favor in all areas of your life. I am also pleading the blood of Jesus over you and all areas of your life. I am praying for peace, love and joy to overwhelm you. Love in Jesus, Connie

Larger than life in fact!

And to you and yours! Love in Jesus, Connie

I would have to say that as well. Seek out deliverance ministry along with the care of your Doctor. I agree that this could be a generational curse stemmed from witchcraft or some other form of the occult. Generational curses can go back 14 generations. If you are unaware of who may have performed witchcraft or the like you can still seek help through deliverance. The Lord will bring the truth to lite for you. I will be praying for you. May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ rain on you through your spirit, mind and body. Love in Jesus, Connie

Happy New Years Everyone! My hubby and I are spending the night at his sisters and her husbands and bring in the new year. Then on Saturday we will all have dinner together. It is always very nice. Love in Jesus, Connie

Yes contact your landlord to get an exterminator over there and have them vacated from your apartment. It is there responsibility to do it. Let me know how it turns out. God bless!

Now that is awesome! Praise God!

Hey there Dreamster! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope you had the best day ever. The Lord blessed me mightly this year. Love in Jesus, Connie

dreams3, I will be responding to this later today. I have to get to work right now but happend to check my messages and I just came across this this morning. I have done some deliverance ministry myself and may have some things that will help you. I went through much of the same things you did and my experience may help you get through some things. I will be on this evening or later this afternoon and will post then. Take care and God bless, Connie

Merry Christmas all. MJ what I am saying is we no longer tithe but give. That is basically it. It is no longer a requirement but a gester of love to God. That is basically what the article is saying. It just has all the biblical support with it. Love in Jesus, Connie

I think of him both ways actually and always have. I never want to feel his wrath but always want to know his gentleness. I realize however that he is the Lion and the Lamb and there is a reason. He is the conqueror and the sacrifice. You cant be the conqueror without first being a warrior. Good stuff. Love in Jesus, Connie

I am going to post an article I found about tithing and offering and let you all read it. It confirmed for me many things that I was trying to understand. I hope this helps all of you understand this better. I did not personally write this article. The authors name is not listed. FAQ: Most churches I have been to teach rather emphatically that Christians should “tithe,” that is, give 10% of their income to their church. I have even heard some ministers say that if you don't tithe, God will not bless you. Must you give a tenth (10%) to the church? What does the Bible say about financial giving? “What does the Bible say?” is always the “bottom line” in life, but that vital question needs a qualifier: “To whom?” The Bible, the Word of God, most certainly does speak about financial giving, and a good case can be made that it is one of the five most basic activities for a Christian, the others being prayer, Bible reading and study, fellowship with other Christians, and telling others the Good News about Jesus Christ. The question must be: “What does the Bible say to Christians about financial giving?” Why? Because what God says to Christians about financial giving is different than what He said to the Jews of the Old Testament about it. The sad news is that today very few Christians understand the difference, and, as a result, many are unnecessarily living under emotional and financial stress. For a more detailed exposition of this subject than we can set forth in this FAQ, I recommend our audio teaching Financial Stewardship: God’s Heart Concerning Money and Possessions as well as a book titled The Tithing Dilemma, by Ernest L. Martin. And, as is so often the case in examining a biblical issue, that takes us to the subject of the administrations in Scripture. Unless we understand what parts of God’s Word are written to Jews, what parts are written to Gentiles, and what parts are written to Christians, we can neither understand nor apply its truths in our daily lives. We are currently living in what the Bible calls the Administration of the Sacred Secret (Eph. 3:9), which began on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1ff) and will conclude with the Rapture of the Church (all living and dead Christians meeting the Lord in the air—1 Thess. 4:13-18). The primary curriculum for Christians (i.e., people born again of God’s incorruptible seed) is found in the Church Epistles: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians. It is there that we must look to find God’s specific directions for us today, and the issue of financial giving is given two chapters worth of ink in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. There are also some pertinent verses in other Epistles, and the message of Scripture to Christians is that because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, we do not live under the Mosaic Law, during which tithing was instituted and commanded as part of the Law. Therefore, tithing as a commandment of God has no relevance to believers today. At this point, it is important to distinguish between tithing and giving. Although tithing per se is not relevant to Christians, giving most certainly is. As a member in particular of the Body of Christ, each Christian is to determine in his own heart how much he gives and where he allocates his resources among his brothers and sisters in Christ (2 Cor. 9:7). The Epistles metaphor by which material giving is strongly encouraged is that of sowing and reaping—the more you sow, the more you reap (2 Cor. 9:6). “Tithing” is never mentioned. Under the Law, Jews were to give out of their produce, that is, what the Lord had provided for them. Just like the Word says, “We love God because He first loved us,” so we give because God has given to us. When we understand what God has done for us in Christ, and that the material blessings we have come from Him, and that He promises to bless us back for what we give, giving cheerfully is a joy. Even in the Old Testament, believers understood that when they gave to God, they were opening a door, if you will, for Him to bless them in return. This is, of course, still true, but the idea has been distorted by some Christians who teach that one must give to God before God can bless him. Thus, too many Christians are giving in order to get. No, God always gives first. Also, He does not specify just how He will bless us. If we sow, we will reap accordingly, but it may not be money for money, etc. Some Christians have become disillusioned about giving because when they gave money to their church, etc., they did not receive money back. They may have even failed to notice the blessing that God did give them. When we give in response to a blessing, and not so that we will get blessed, we can be cheerful and contented givers. Making known the truth about this subject is critical, because the vast majority of Christians are told, and thus believes, that it is God’s will for them to “tithe,” which means to give one-tenth of what they earn. Many of the more “fundamental” Christian groups are adamant about this, and accompany this exhortation with a warning that failure to tithe will result in consequences of various kinds, usually having to do with a lack of prosperity. In many groups, this has become little more than ecclesiastical extortion, with church leaders using the lever of people’s sincere desire to do what God says is right to squeeze money out of them. Such leaders proclaim that what God says is right is that you give at least ten percent of your income—to their organization. As a result of such pressure, financial giving has, for too many Christians, become a joyless, mechanical act of “bribing” God to avoid the consequences of not giving, and an attempt to earn His favor (something they already have!). For many other Christians who once gave cheerfully, financial giving is no longer an act at all. They have stopped doing it altogether, either because they got sick and tired of the pressure being applied to them, or they really could not afford to tithe, or they saw the money they gave misused and feel that they were cheated when they did give. Neither of these attitudes—giving joylessly or not giving at all—is biblically right, neither is the will of God, and both are therefore detrimental to a believer. That fits with John 8:32, where Jesus said that experientially knowing the truth, that is, practicing it, will make one free. Conversely, error regarding the Bible (the truth) will put people in bondage. And financial giving is a category in which countless Christian people are being subjected to the bondage of guilt and put through an emotional wringer they do not deserve. If you feel that the above describes you, take heart, because you can be set free by the truth of God's Word. Then you can also share with others the treasure you have found. In our economically driven world of today, having the right attitude about money and material things is a huge asset in life. Knowing and practicing what God's Word says about financial giving will enable you to experience the joy of giving, and it will enable others in the Body of Christ to experience the joy of receiving and therefore having their needs met, so that together we can reach out with the Good News of God to a dying world. A study of the Old Testament will show that tithing was instituted as part of the Mosaic Law to Israel. Some Christians point to Genesis 14 and/or 28 in a misguided attempt to prove that tithing was instituted prior to the Mosaic Law and is therefore relevant to Christians today. Their rationale is that because Abram gave ten percent of the spoils of war to Melchisedek, and because Jacob chose ten percent as the amount to give to God for watching over him on his journey, this is the prescribed amount God would have all people give. This is not sound biblical scholarship. The Genesis 14 record takes place approximately 2000 years after Adam and Eve, and during all those years there is no biblical reference to tithing. Nor is there any record that Abram ever tithed as a result of some biblical law that told him to do so, and he certainly was “making money.” When he did give one tenth, it was not of the increase of his flocks and herds, which was the tithe prescribed by the Law, but rather of the spoils of war that he had gained by defeating the army from Mesopotamia. In Genesis 28, Jacob told God that if He would keep him safe on his journey, keep him clothed and fed, and bring him home safely, he would give God a tenth of what he had. That was certainly not the Mosaic tithe, which was commanded whether or not those things happened. Both Jacob and Abram gave in response to a blessing. Even in regard to Israel, for whom the tithe was specifically instituted, nothing was said about it until the beginning of the second year of their exodus. Prior to that, in Exodus 25, for the building of the Tabernacle, Moses instructed the Israelites to give “as their heart prompted them.” You often hear proponents of the tithe say that surely Christians would do no less than what Jews did in the Old Testament, as if every Israelite gave ten percent of his income. A detailed study of the tithe is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but suffice it to say that the idea that each Israelite gave ten percent of his income (and therefore each Christian should do likewise) is far from the truth. For example, an Israelite who had fewer than ten cattle born to him in a year did not have to tithe on them because the requirement stated that only the tenth animal that passed under the rod was to be tithed (Lev. 27:32). A farmer who had only eight cows born was therefore exempt from the tithe. The tithe was basically on animal and agricultural products, and was paid in kind (i.e., the product itself). If one did not wish to pay his tithe in agricultural products, and decided to give money as a substitute, he was penalized and had to add a fifth part of its estimated value to the amount he paid (Lev. 27:31). Such a law was obviously not intended to encourage payment of the tithe in money. The main purpose of the tithe was to support the Levitical priesthood. The Levites were responsible to minister to the people, and were prohibited from owning land, which obviously limited the ways in which they could earn income. God’s plan was that their support came from those to whom they ministered, much like the direction of Scripture for the Church today (1 Cor. 9:1 and following; Gal. 6:6 and following, etc.). The tithe also provided welfare for widows, orphans, etc. One reason why there was no command to tithe until the Mosaic Law was that until then there was no Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) and no Temple, no regular sacrifices commanded (the daily sacrifices alone commanded by the Law required more than 700 animals a year), and no class of Levitical priests to support. None of these would be relevant to a Christian today, even if they did exist. Should a Christian today tithe? One is free to give 10% if he chooses, but we are not commanded to give any particular percentage or amount. Sad to say that many Christians, once misled and often emotionally coerced into tithing, stopped giving altogether when they learned the tithe is not required. 2 Corinthians 9:6 and 7 make it clear that the more generously we “sow” with the right attitude, the more abundantly we will reap. For some believers who do not earn much, giving generously may not mean a large amount. For others, it may mean millions of dollars, and far more than 10%. Each Christian’s situation is different, and that is why God does not prescribe specific amounts that we should give, but allows us to make our own decisions. Remember, we are “fellow laborers” with Him, and He loves to work with us in determining how much and to whom we should give, and He loves to bless us with more so that we can give more. That kind of giving makes for an exciting element of the Christian life. You may say, “Well, what about Malachi 3:6-10? That says people who do not tithe are ‘robbing God.’” Those verses have been used innumerable times to prod Christians into giving, but wait a moment—to whom is Malachi written? Well, in verse 9 of chapter 3 it says “the whole nation” is under a curse. What nation? The USA? No, the book of Malachi is specifically addressed to the nation of Israel, and more specifically to the priests (see 1:6,10-13; 2:1,7 and 8) who were badly mistreating God’s people. To use verses from Malachi as if they are talking to Christians is at best poor scholarship and at worst dishonest. So what should Christians do about financial giving? 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is the first place to go to find the answer to that question, and the heart of the message there is expressed in 9:7: “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” If, for you, that’s ten percent, great. Beyond that, Scripture directs us to give to those who are genuinely ministering to our spiritual needs. When we do, we are making a sound investment in (that is, sowing into) a work that is bearing good spiritual fruit. Although there is no way we can help everyone who asks us, we are also encouraged to give to those in need, and we can seek the Lord for wisdom in doing so. For a Christian, giving from the heart is all about knowing that we have a great, big, wonderful God, and also understanding who we are in Christ. Speaking of the attitude of the believers in Macedonia about financial giving, Paul said: “This they did, not as we hoped, but even beyond that, first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us, by the will of God” (2 Cor. 8:5). As Christians, each of us has been “bought with a price.” We (let alone our material possessions) don't even belong to ourselves. When you know that you belong to the Lord, and that everything that you have belongs to the Lord, and that he is responsible to keep his promises to care for you, then you can truly be a cheerful giver. Love in Jesus, Connie

Yes we did but I will find some scriptures about tithe vs giving. Hehe

Virtuous, I think it was the discussion you and I had before under the fellowship collum. Love in Jesus, Connie PS I will find it.

MJ, I gave a really good sermon on here about that not to long ago. We are not to tithe. We are to give of our time, talent and our treasure. Not just money. If you have time to give, give it cheerfully. If you have talent to give then do it cheerfully and if you have treasure to give then do it gladly. Give all three if you can but whatever you decide do it with your whole heart and with gladness. The Lord fulfilled the tithe requirement. We are to give and it will be given unto us, good measure, pressed down, for by the measure we give it will be given unto us. No were in there does it say tithe. The Lord wants our heart. He doesnt need our money. It is the act of giving he wants. He wants you to give because you love him. A gift for gesture only means nothing. But a gift given in love means so much. The woman in the temple gave her last penny.....he was amazed because her love was so great she gave even her last penny. She gave because she loved. A gift is a gift....there is no monetary value on a gift. The value comes in the act of love. I hope that helps some. I loved Cholettes remarks. Good stuff there as well. Love in Jesus, Connie

God knows the grief we feel toward your situation....we are praying for your family and for your brother and his wife. Our hearts go out to you and yours. Hold on to Jesus and He will hold on to you and remember he will never let you go. Father God, We are saddend today about the news of their loss. Father we thank you that your peace, love, and joy would be with them now. Father give them a sense of love toward each other and understanding. We pray that rather than point blame toward each other that love take its place. We thank you that you will gird them with your strength to get through the days ahead. We pray they draw very close to you now Lord. Father we thank you for all the things we cannot understand. We thank you for the time they had with this precious sole and thank you Lord that she is with you in heaven. Father we give you all the praise, honor and glory, in Jesus name, Amen your servant, Connie

Steady, Will be happy to pray for Baby Clare.