The Principle of First | The Blessed Life Week 3

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- Your money can be blessed or it can be cursed,

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it all depends on what you put first in your life.

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Welcome to Crossroads. I'm Paco.

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- We're doing a series called The Blessed Life.

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We did this series several years ago,

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and it's one of the most powerful series

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that we've ever done.

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And you're going to hear some stories from people

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who went through it before.

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So powerful that we're going to do it again.

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Now, I've got to tell you, that kind of hurts my pride

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because we haven't really repeated very much at all

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at Crossroads the last 26 years.

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And the first time we're going to repeat something

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came from somebody else.

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We've borrowed this content

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from Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas.

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I had pastor after pastor, person after person say,

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"Oh my goodness, this material is --

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sounds like a really religious cheesy word,

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but it's true -- is anointed."

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There's something special about it.

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Now, listen, this is not a campaign.

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There's no commitment coming at the end

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where you're going to sign anything.

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There's no big ask of you to whatever,

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whatever, whatever.

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This is not a campaign.

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We are going to challenge you

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because Jesus challenges us,

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but we just want you to listen, consider,

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and ultimately be blessed.

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That's the Blessed Life.

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- If you watched last week's episode,

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you probably are familiar with this idea of a tithe.

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It comes from the Book of Malachi 3:8.

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Let's read it right now.

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It's pretty clear in this verse,

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and all throughout the Bible,

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there's a blessing that comes on your finances,

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or there's a curse.

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And I don't know about you,

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but I am not trying to be cursed.

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So, what does this mean?

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Like, what does this mean in practicality?

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Well, let's look at it like this.

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One of my life goals is to have someone

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come clean my kitchen for me all the time.

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A guy can dream, right?

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Let's just say that's you.

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You're the lucky person and you get to come to my house

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and I pay you over the course of a few months

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1000 bucks for the job.

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I paid ten $100 bills. Boom. Here it is.

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Ten of these bad boys.

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That's a -- my kitchen's not that big,

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but you get the idea.

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So, this is 1000 bucks I pay you right here.

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Now, the tithe, the tithe is 10% of the $1,000, right?

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It's 100 bucks. That's easy.

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But the question today is,

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well, which one of these is the tithe?

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And the answer?

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It's the very first one that leaves your hand.

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You see, this first portion carries the blessing

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across all of it.

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And if we don't give this first portion,

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then that means the rest of this

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is actually under a curse.

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And too many of us are giving our blessing

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to the mortgage company,

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giving our blessing to the landlord company,

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giving our blessing to GrubHub,

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to Toyota, to Jordans.

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Too many of us are missing the blessings

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that God has for us.

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And when God is first in our lives,

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everything comes into order.

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And when God is not first, everything's out of order.

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This might be the most important message in this series

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because it's all about the principles of firsts.

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Like, what came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Well, the Bible's clear, the Bible says chicken.

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But when it comes to our finances,

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how do we put God first and why is it such a big deal?

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Well, we're going to read a passage of scripture

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from Exodus 13.

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It's like the core book of the Bible

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when it comes to God redeeming His people,

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the nation of Israel.

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And I've got to warn you, I wish that the passages

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I had for you today were like beautiful,

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angelic quotables that you could put on a wall

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or a tattoo.

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Nah, I've got verses about goats and stuff, so --

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[goat screaming]

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Let's jump in. Okay? Exodus 13.

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It continues in verse 12:

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"...that you shall set apart to the Lord

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What? What are we talking about right now?

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We're talking about breaking donkeys necks.

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This just got weird, right?

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This passage is intense because it gives us

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instructions on what to do with our first.

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And there are three things that God wants to do

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with our finances, and it's all throughout the Bible.

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The first thing: the firstborn must either be

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sacrificed or redeemed.

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So, how do you know whether to sacrifice the redeem it, right?

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Well, God gave us to animals as like classifications.

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Okay, the firstborn had to be sacrificed,

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if it was clean.

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The firstborn unclean had to be redeemed.

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Do you see the parallel there?

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Do you see what this represents?

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The firstborn, God's firstborn son, Jesus, born clean.

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He was sacrificed.

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Adam and Eve and you and I and all of us born unclean,

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we had to be redeemed.

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You see, the clean Jesus was sacrificed for the unclean us.

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God takes tithing very seriously.

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If Jesus is God's tithe,

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then He must be really serious about firsts.

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So God didn't wait to see if He would change

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or repent or get worthy, God sent Jesus anyway.

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And when we think what the tithe,

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it's about putting God first. It's about our heart.

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The first portion given redeemed the rest.

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And this is the passage that I'm about to read to you

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is from the Book of Joshua.

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And let me make sure we get clear on the book of Joshua.

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Okay?

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Joshua is a story of God's people

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after they've come out of slavery,

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taking the Promised Land.

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And what they're set to do is walk through this land

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and take cities and bring them back.

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And the first one they come across

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is the city of Jericho. Okay.

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And Joshua 6:19, here's what God says

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in response to them taking the city of Jericho.

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God says, "Look, Jericho, bring it all to me. That's mine."

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Now, why didn't God say, like, "Give me 10% of Jericho?"

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Why didn't God say that?

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Because Jericho was first.

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It was the first city that the nation took

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in the Promised Land, it was the first fruits.

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God didn't say, "Okay, after you conquer

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the whole Promised Land and you feel good

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and you're set up and you're successful,

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then start giving me the 10%."

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He said, "No, you can have all the rest,

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but the first, it's mine."

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The first portion is the redemptive piece.

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The first has to be offered.

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The first fruits must be offered now.

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I'm about to cook up some of this chicken,

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but I'm not going to eat it because in the Bible

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it's very clear you're supposed to season your chicken

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and I don't have any seasoning.

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So when we come back, we'll continue.

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- So, this whole thing that we're talking about

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in this series, it's a pretty high challenge, right?

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Putting God first in your life.

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And I just want you guys to know

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it's not something you do on your own,

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that it won't work that way.

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That's not what faith is.

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And actually, we're both here,

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and you specifically are in your role

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as the Anywhere Community Pastor

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so that you can help people.

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And that's your that's your heart. Yeah?

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- Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

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Like, we don't make this stuff just because the internet

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needed more things for you to watch on it, right?

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Like, we do this because -- it does not, it's

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fine. We do it because we think it's going

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to help you grow, help you get traction

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in your spiritual life and your relationships

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and your family.

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We think it can be of help to you.

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And I just want to, like, take that and, like,

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raise the ante a little bit. Right?

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I want to help you grow so much.

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Like, just send me an email.

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It's not a team of people.

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Like, if you want, I don't know, like,

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customized spiritual steps for you,

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I'll do my best to jump in and help get you started

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or help get you moving again on your spiritual journey

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because God doesn't want you stuck

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and He doesn't want you to stay stuck, right?

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- That's right.

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What I'll just say, I've known this guy

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for a very long time.

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He's really good at this. He's helped so many people.

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That's why I was so excited when you agreed

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to take on the role of Pastor because I was, like,

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"Yes, you're the guy.

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You're amazing at caring for people."

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So, take him up on the offer, email him,

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he will actually respond to you.

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And while you do that, do it right now,

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check out this story.

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- Well, I grew up in church as a young girl,

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and I was surrounded by lots of people that were tithers.

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And when I got my first job, I was 17.

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I was a co-op in high school, and I gave my first 10%,

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I was so excited.

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And I learned then that tithing was one thing

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that God would always, always come through.

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I remember married, and when my husband left,

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and I was only working two days a week,

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he left the home. He left me with children.

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So, I went back to work that next week

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and the lady saw my face and knew that

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it wasn't the same face she was used to.

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And she said, "What's the matter?"

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And I said, "Well, my husband left."

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And she said, "From now on,

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you no longer work two days a week.

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You work five days a week, you work 40 hours a week.

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And as a matter of fact,

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we're going to raise your income."

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When I think about things like that,

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and when I think about

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when I got my first diagnosis of cancer,

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14 years later I got another diagnosis.

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And I just said, "You know what, God?

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I need you to come through."

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I am now 69 years old.

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I can say He's truly good.

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I had been a tither for many years,

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and a church that I was attending

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was doing a building fund

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and I had saved up money for a vacation.

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And He told me to give that vacation money.

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And God said, "If you will give this,

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I will open up doors for you, you can't imagine."

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And so I wrote the check.

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I took it up front and I put it in the plate up there.

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And I have to be honest, when I first did it, it hurt.

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It hurt real bad.

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And I said, "I don't know why I did this,

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but I'm going to trust You on this."

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And so I got involved in a business

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and for 13 years I went on plane rides.

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I stayed in the best hotels.

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I stayed and ate the best food.

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When I made that sacrifice, God knew my heart

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and He honored that.

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I feel like I'm in a place where giving has a meaning

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it has a destination.

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And if we're able to make a change in people's lives,

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then what I give, it's not the amount,

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because tithers are all equal, and He blesses it.

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If you will look at my budget sheets,

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the first line item: tithing and offering.

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The mortgage, the utilities, the food,

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I don't even worry about that

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because I learned to trust Him.

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Tithing, for me, it's a lifestyle.

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It's a full surrender.

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I can't stop giving.

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I won't stop giving.

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- Welcome back to Paco's kitchen.

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We're talking about firsts today.

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And point number two: The first fruits must be offered.

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Back to the book of Genesis, the nation of Israel,

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right, they're leaving captivity.

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They're doing their thing.

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And here's what it says in Genesis 23:19:

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Now, notice the Bible here says

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the word bring instead of give,

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because we can't give what doesn't belong to us.

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We can only bring it to God's house.

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We have two choices when it comes to our first fruits:

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We can either bring it or we can steal it.

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Now, all the way back in the beginning of the Bible,

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Adam and Eve's first two kids, Cain and Abel.

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It's a pretty famous story, right?

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Cain and Abel, brotherly feud, the first murder in the Bible.

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It's a pretty intense scene.

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When you read it through the lens of first fruits,

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it really changes the dynamic of it.

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Let me read it to you right now starting in Genesis 4:

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Wild, huh? Like,

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why didn't God accept Abel's offering, but not Cain's?

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Was it because God doesn't like vegetables?

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Was because God was on a carnivore diet?

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No, it's because it wasn't first.

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It says that Cain's offering

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was brought in the process of time.

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It wasn't first fruits.

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But Abel's was the first one.

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It's not that God didn't want to accept Cain's offering,

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it's that He couldn't because it wasn't first.

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That brings me to my next point: the tithe, it's got to be first.

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In the Book of Leviticus, which is a book of laws

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and regulations on how to live

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and how to please God with your life

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in your conduct says this in chapter 27, verse 30:

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God takes first fruits very seriously.

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God cares not just about our money,

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but about the placement of Him in our lives.

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And there are few things that God can't do. Okay?

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God can't change.

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The theology word there is immutable.

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If God could change, that means He could get better.

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And God can't get better because He's already holy.

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He's already perfect.

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You know, the other thing God can't do?

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God cannot be second.

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The theology word is preeminent.

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He's not just first of all, but He's before all.

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He's higher than all. He is above all.

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And when we put Him first with our finances,

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with our tithe it shows Him and everyone around us

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who is first in our life and who is it.

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Look, I don't tithe because I like rules

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and I like math, okay?

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I tithe because I want God to know that He's first.

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Like, no one in any relationship likes to be second.

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What would it be like if my wife was like,

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"Yeah, I love you and you're second place in my life."

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That'd be weird, right?

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And we see this as little kids.

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I just had a second baby.

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My daughter, my oldest daughter

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realizes she's not just the only one now.

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Like, she's got to share some of the love and all that jazz.

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It doesn't feel great to her at the moment.

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Why would we think that God

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would be okay with being second?

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Why would we think that?

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You see, for me, it's personal for me because

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I've seen the hand of God rescue me over and over and over.

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I've seen the hand of God provide for me and my family

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over and over and over again.

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We came to this country with just a few hundred bucks

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and we saw God provide for us all along the way.

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And now that I'm raising my own kids in this country,

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I continue to see God bless our finances,

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bless our relationships, provide for us

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in ways that we probably don't even see yet.

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I want that kind of blessing to continue in my life.

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And I want that kind of blessing for your life, too.

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God is a God of deliverance.

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God has a mighty hand, and there's a blessing

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that can come on our lives if we put God first.

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Someday, when my kids get old enough

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to to look at our budget sheet and look at our finances,

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they might ask me, "Dad, why are you always, like,

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consistently giving this certain amount?

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Why are you always doing that?

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Why always giving that to them?

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Why? Why is that always happening?"

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And I'm going to look at them in the eye

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and I'm going to say, "Look, we're doing this as a family.

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This is a part of who we are as a family

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because we once were in bondage,

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we once were lost and were orphans.

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And now we belong to the family of God.

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God has delivered us with a mighty hand.

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So because of that, out of gratitude for that,

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man, I will gladly give God first."

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So if you want the blessings of God on your finances,

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and not the curse, we've got to give Him the tithe.

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And the tithe has to be first.

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When God is first in your life,

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everything else comes into order.

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And when God is not first,

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well, everything else is out of order.

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So put God first and watch Him bless your life.

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- Great message by Paco.

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I like the way that ended with order.

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I certainly want order in my life.

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And if this is something you want to do,

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I realize just jumping in and tithing,

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giving 10% of your income is, like, a high bar.

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So, we made a way to make it easier for you.

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It's called The 90 Day Tithe Test.

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It's super, super simple.

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Works like this: You try tithing for 90 days,

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and if at the end of the 90 days, you're like,

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"You know what? That was fine.

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I don't really sense more of God in my life."

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Awesome. We will give you all of your money back,

00:19:08

no questions asked.

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If you're interested: Crossroads.net/tithetest.

00:19:13

- Yeah. Hey, we want to do whatever we can

00:19:15

to push you along in your journey with God, right?

00:19:18

So that you aren't stuck. So you are growing.

00:19:21

And I just know as a dad, like, I often times feel stuck

00:19:25

in how I invest in or teach my kids.

00:19:28

- Yes. Even as a pastor, it's, like,

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I've got to teach my kid about God in their language.

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How do I -- How do I do that?

00:19:33

- Right. So you've got three kids?

00:19:35

- Yeah. - I've got three kids.

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And we have something coming up.

00:19:38

We've been working really hard for over a year

00:19:40

on preparing resources for your family,

00:19:44

for your kids that we are getting ready

00:19:47

to start piloting in the real world.

00:19:49

So, if you would like to be a part of our Kid's Club Pilot,

00:19:52

you can sign up.

00:19:53

This will get you first access to

00:19:55

some of the resources that we're rolling out.

00:19:56

We have a VR pilot that rolls out this week

00:19:59

and some other really, really cool stuff

00:20:00

I'm excited about.

00:20:01

And your input will help shape these things

00:20:04

for thousands of people all over the country

00:20:07

and world for years to come.

00:20:09

- Awesome. That's it. We'll see you next week.

00:20:12

- Is money the root of all evil?

00:20:16

Mammon is one thing that people think that it is.

00:20:19

Today we're going to talk about this epic battle

00:20:22

of mammon versus God.

00:20:31

- Hey, make sure you hit the playlist button ahead

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