CREFLO DOLLAR TITHING REBUTTAL
By Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
July 10, 2012
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Dollar: You know we are under the
blood of Jesus so we can’t shoot and stone people like we used to. All we need
to do is repent and God will forgive us and take us where we need to be.
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Kelly: Being under the blood of Jesus
means being dead to the law (Rom 7:4) – not being under the law. In fact,
Gentiles and Christians never were under the Old Covenant law (Rom 8:3).
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Dollar: But I’m telling you man, if
it wasn’t for the blood there would be a whole lot of us being stoned and being
in hell right now over the tithe. But for the blood of Jesus we’d be doomed.
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Kelly: Dollar has absolutely no idea
what he is talking about. The Law was an indivisible whole given only to
national Israel as the terms of the Old Covenant (Ex 19:5-6); there are 44
texts which confirm this. It was either all or none; keep ALL to be blessed;
break ONE to be cursed. There is no biblical principle (hermeneutic) behind the
idea that one could be blessed for tithing while, at the same time, breaking
any of the other 612 laws of the Old Covenant.
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Dollar’s threat of hell for not
tithing reveals his gross ignorance of what tithing really was and his
ignorance of the difference between the Old and New Covenants. While money was
very common even in Genesis and essential for sanctuary worship, money was
never a tithed item. True HOLY tithes under the Old Covenant were never money
or income. They were always only FOOD from inside God’s HOLY land which God had
miraculously increased (16 texts). And the only O.T. persons required to begin
their level of giving at 10% were food-producers who lived inside Israel. HOLY
tithes could not come from Gentiles, from non-food producers, or from outside
Israel. Not even Jesus, Peter, or Paul qualified as tithe-payers. Check out
these facts at www.tithing-russkelly.com.
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Dollar: I thought about, when we
first built the dome, I wanted to put some of those moving bars and give
everybody a little card and they stick it into a little computer slot. And, if
they were tithing, beautiful music would go off and you would hear “Welcome,
welcome, welcome to the world dome.”
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Kelly: Does that mean that only tithe-paying
Christians were welcome? Does that mean that poor lost sinners were not
welcome? Does that mean that the prosperity gospel has replaced the gospel of
the New Covenant? He says “I wanted to” and “this is serious.”
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Dollar: But, if they were
non-tithers, the bar would lock up, the red and blue lights would start going,
the sirens would go off and a voice would go off throughout the entire dome
“Crook, crook, crook, crook.”
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Kelly: Why wouldn’t the computer
signal that a lost sinner had entered the building? Jesus said in Matthew 9:13
“… I am not come to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance” and in Luke
15:7 “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance.”
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Dollar is the real “crook.” He
receives the “tithe” under false pretenses and also owns much property contrary
to the same tithing law he is using to condemn others. There are twelve (12)
texts which forbid Levitical tithe-recipients from owning property. (Num 18:20-26; Deu 12:12; 14:27, 29; 18:1, 2; Josh 13:14, 33; 14:3;
18:7; Eze 44:28). How many times does God have to
repeat this? How many times does Creflo Dollar ignore God as a “crook”?
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Dollar: Security would go and
apprehend them and, once we got them all together, we would line them all up in
the front and pass out Oozies by the ushers. We’d point the Oozies right at all
those non-tithing members ‘cause we want God to come to church …”
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Kelly: If non-tithers keep God out of
churches, then no church has God today because nobody literally tithes today.
Even 1000 years after the HOLY tithe was first described in Leviticus 27:30-34,
it was still only FOOD in Malachi 3:10 and remained only FOOD to Jesus in
Matthew 23:23 as He discussed “matters of the law.”
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He wants “God to come to church” and
God will not come to church if non-tithers are there. What? Whatever happened
to the doctrine of the indwelling Holy Spirit within every believer? Does
Dollar renounce that doctrine? Dollar is so stuck in his own brand of Old
Testament finance that he throws out New Covenant freewill sacrificial giving
principles.
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Dollar: … and, at the count of three
“Jesuses” we’d shoot them all dead.
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Kelly: That would make all of the
shooters murderers deserving of death under the Old Covenant because there was
no death penalty listed anywhere in the Old Covenant law for non-tithers!
Dollar wants to kill New Covenant Christians in the holy name of Jesus for
violating 1 of 613 laws even after Jesus had removed the curse of the law and
ended that covenant (Gal 3:13, 26; Heb 8:13). And he is disrespectful of the
precious holy name of Jesus!
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Dollar: And we’d take them out the
side door there, have a big hole and bury them. And then we’d have church and
have the anointing.
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Kelly: The Holy Spirit would not come
near a congregation which did that. Judas sold out our Lord for the price of a
slave – thirty pieces of silver. At least Creflo Dollar and his brand of crooks
have sold-out our Lord for even more money and fame for their apostasy.
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Dollar: Aren’t you glad we’re under
the blood of Jesus? ‘Cause, if we were not under the blood of Jesus, I would
certainly try it. Folks this is a serious thing.
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Kelly: And he probably would
“certainly try it” if he thought he could get away with it. This shows where
his heart really is. Dollar does not even want to be around somebody who does
not pad his pocket. He would never be caught entering the kinds of houses in
which Jesus ministered and, if he does, he needs to apologize for these
remarks.
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Dollar: If you take time to tithe the
tithe correctly, it is impossible to go to hell.
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Kelly: Where is the Bible text to
validate this? I thought the biblical way to avoid hell was to accept Jesus
Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior. Paul said that he had preached the
whole gospel and never included tithing.
Luke 6:24 “But woe unto you that are
rich! for ye have received your consolation.”
Matt 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
Matt 19:24 And again I say unto you,
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God.
1 Tim 6:8 And having food and raiment
let us be therewith content .
1 Tim 6:9 But they that will be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1 Tim 6:17 Charge them that are rich
in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but
in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Dollar: ‘Cause if you are doing all
of that, then tithing will keep you in heaven; it will keep you in the presence
of God.
Kelly: Dollar should be afraid of
being struck by lightning for this kind of heresy.
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Dollar: We know that the tithe is the
agreement. We know that, according to this we are believing right now, the
tithe is the covenant.
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Kelly: This is absurd. The tithe was
a very small part of the entire indivisible Old Covenant. It was part of the
ordinance/statute (found in Numbers 18) which was given to support the Levites
and Aaronic priests to replace their loss of land inheritance rights in Israel.
If Dollar is referring to Malachi 3:1, he needs to look at its context going
back to 1:6 and 2:1.
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Mal 2:1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
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God’s anger in Malachi is directed
primarily to the dishonest priests (see also 1:6) who had vowed to give God the
best (from the tithe they had received) and, instead, had stolen the best
(1:13-14).
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Mal 2:2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to
heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a
curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them
already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
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Those cursed in Malachi 1:14 and 2:2
are the dishonest ministers – the Creflo Dollars of 400 B.C.
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Mal 2:3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung
upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you
away with it.
Some of the nastiest words in the
Bible occur here where God is angry at the priests.
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Mal 2:4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment
unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
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The “covenant” being discussed in
Malachi is the “covenant” “with Levi.” Verse 5 says “My covenant was with him
of life and peace.” Verse 7 says “he (the priest) is the messenger of the
Lord.” Verse 8 says “ye (priests) have corrupted the covenant of Levi.” Verse 9
says “ye (the priests) have been partial in the law” – the same sin as that of
Creflo Dollar and tithe teachers –they teach only that part of the law which
enriches themselves. Verse 10 says that priests were “profaning the covenant of
our fathers” – honest priests of the past.
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Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he
shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
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Jesus was born and lived under the
Old Covenant law (Gal 4:4-5). Jesus cleansed the temple of the Old Covenant and
Jesus ended the Old and ushered in the New Covenant.
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Dollar: [Video shows his house, car
and jet plane.] I’m telling you that your tithe is your covenant connector. I’m
telling you that all the promises that God ever gave you, you cannot get them
without being connected to them with the tithe.
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Kelly: Notice the frequent “I’m
telling you” because there is no text in God’s Word which is telling this lie.
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Neh 10:29 They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and
entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given
by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and DO ALL the commandments of
the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes.
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Mal 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I
commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
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Creflo Dollar’s duped congregation
may believe his lies, but Malachi’s audience knew better. They knew that one
could not be blessed from tithing while breaking any other part of the whole
law. I personally know Dollar-fanatics who tithe and live out of wedlock with
illegitimate children and unmarried companions.
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Dollar: I’m telling you that the only
way you are going to get hooked up to healing is through the tithe. I’m telling
you that the only way you are going to get hooked to prosperity, deliverance or
any promise in the Word of God is through the tithe.
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Kelly: Due to an obvious lack of
Bible texts to validate his claims, Creflo keeps on saying “I’m telling you.”
He has his congregation so mesmerized and controlled that they dare not
question what he says.
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[Video is Leroy Thompson during a
church service dancing on money being continuously thrown on the platform
steps. Creflo Dollar joins him at the end of the video.]
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Thompson: Ooooh, I gotta walk on this
money. Woooo. Woooo. Woooo. Get some anointing. You put something up here. Put
some anointing on this money man. Woooo. Put some anointing on this money. You put something up here. Woooo. Prosper.
Prosper, I said. Prosper. Give them the money Lord, send it to them. Glory to
God.
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Kelly: This part of the video reminds
me of why God promised the dishonest minister-priests of Israel that He would
“spread dung upon your faces” (Mal 2:3). Certainly Jesus would have never
performed such a ritual and we are to follow His example.
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The largest group in American society
which approaches giving ten per cent of their income to the church are
ghetto-dwellers who faithfully sacrifice even disability and welfare checks in
obedience to their pastors. Yet the greatest percent of them never escape
poverty because they never get motivated to become educated and work long hard
hours to get ahead in life. The vast majority of “tithers” never receive the
“overflowing blessings and those who do are those who have persisted in other
ways also. The blessings and curses of the Old Covenant ended at Calvary (Gal
3:13; Heb 8:3; 7:18).
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[Video shows loud cheers from the
standing church members.]
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Thompson: Your bills are paid.
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Kelly: No, they are not. If this really worked – if
every ghetto dweller tithed and got all his/her bills paid, the word would
spread and there would be no ghetto-dwellers. That is not the real world. When Malachi
3:10-12 was written, Judah had already been in slavery to foreign nations for
206 years (since 606 B.C. and would continue in slavery to Persia, Greece,
Egypt, Syria and Rome until its destruction in 135 A.D.
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[Video shows almost a panic scene as
Creflo Dollar joins the dance and members continue to throw money on the
steps.]
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Woooo. Woooo. Woooo. Wooo, glory to
God. Hallelujah. Paid. Your bills are paid.
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Kelly: May God help the Christian
community if it allows this kind of lie to push out the gospel of salvation.
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Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
