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People that are confused about things about tithing, like, for example, who got your stimulus check in the mail or in the direct deposit? Did you get that? Your economic stimulus package from the government? I got mine. Did I tithe on it? No. I didn't tithe on it. Are you gonna? No. Because that's not an increase. That's a rebate. Okay, let me put it to you this way. I wrote them a check. Are you listening? I wrote them a check for $6,900. I'd already prepaid $800 or whatever. I wrote them a check for about $6,900, okay, on April 15th. So I wrote them a check for $6,900 and six weeks later they sent me back $2,400 of it. Thank God for having a lot of kids. That stimulus package got big for me, $2,400. But think about that. Did I really increase? I mean, if I gave you $10 and you hand me back $5, that's not an increase, okay? But there are pastors all over America who are preaching that people need to tithe on that stimulus check. And people even saying that they should consider putting the whole thing in the offering plate. It's like, you know, now, look, if you want to take your whole stimulus check and put it in the offering plate, go ahead, okay? If I wanted to, I would have, but I didn't, okay? Because I got a family to support and it was hard enough to give them the $6,900 in April, okay, you better know I was like counting down that $2,400. I needed that money. It was spent before I even got it, okay? Because I couldn't afford the taxes that they're milking me for in this country, okay? Do you understand what I'm saying? So people get confused about tithing, you know? Tithing is on anything that you increase, the income to you. You know, for example, I get my paycheck. I don't tithe on after taxes and after health insurance, but I don't have health insurance, but, you know, I tithe on the, you know, the net earnings, the gross check, you know, obviously if you run a business, you have expenses, you don't tithe on the gross, but I'm talking about I tithe before taxes, you know? If I made, okay, $1,500, but then when I got the check, it was only $1,300, you know, I tithe before the taxes, okay? Because in all things, he must have the preeminence. I don't give him 10% of what Uncle Sam didn't already take from me. I give him 10% of what I earned, okay? If somebody buys me a present that's worth 100 bucks, I put 10 bucks in the plate for that on a weekly basis. If somebody takes me out to eat and pays the bill for a $20 meal from me, I put $2 in the plate for that, okay? That's tithing, 10% of what you receive, but tax returns or insurance payments, like you pay for insurance every month and then you get an accident, they pay for your accident, you don't need to tithe on that, okay? You know, if you want to give an offering, that's one thing, but that's not tithing. Or people say, well, you ought to, you know, you ought to tithe 12%, then you're not tithing, okay? Because a tithe is 10%. And I'm going to stand here and tell you right now, you are not obligated to give anything above 10% ever. Now look, I've given above 10%. If you want to give above 10%, you want to throw in an offering, praise the Lord. But you know what? You are not obligated to put in one dime above 10%. And any preacher who tells you that you have to give more than 10% is not telling you the truth, okay? Because it's called a free will offering. It's supposed to be something that you want to do. If you want to put the money, then put it in, okay? But, you know, it's not obligated. And tithing on your stimulus check is something that is a refund, okay? It's not earnings. It's not anything that you got. Does that make sense? I just want to throw that in just to make sure that you understand. And I have a whole sermon on tithing, you know, if you want to get more in-depth on that subject, which I'm not going to do tonight at all, I just wanted to throw that in. But let's talk about some ways tonight. Now that we've laid the foundation for the sermon, merchandise is anything that's bought or sold. Where does it not belong? In the house of God. Well, what if it's spiritual? I mean like sheep, doves, and oxen? No problem. Because back then, you say, well, it doesn't seem very spiritual now. Hey, back then that was very spiritual. That's what they were doing. That's what the house of God was all about. And you know what the house of God is all about today? Jesus. Because Jesus fulfilled those offerings. And so we realize that merchandise is anything that's bought or sold. The place that it doesn't belong is church. The house of God. You say, where did church come into this? Well, because the Bible says that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar around the church. You're sitting in the house of God. Not the building, but this assembly right here is the local church. This is God's house right here. Number one, what are some ways that the house of God can become a house of merchandise in 2008? What are ways that could make Jesus so mad that he starts throwing chairs and throwing tables that he begins to chase people with a whip and shout? You say, oh, I think you're splitting hairs. I think you're being picky. I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. Show me another place in the Bible where Jesus got so mad he threw a chair. Show me a place in the Bible, I mean, while Jesus was on this earth in the four gospels where he flipped over a table upside down. I mean, Jesus was meek. He said, I'm meek and lowly of heart. He was gentle, but there was something that made him so mad he started throwing things. You ever been so mad that you threw something across the room? You ever pick up a chair and throw it? I have. You ever throw over a table? I have. Jesus, have you thrown over a table? He has. But what made him so mad? What ate him up inside? Have you ever heard something like, man, it just eats me up inside. Jesus was eaten up by this. Number one, so you better know that tonight's sermon is important. Don't sit there and say, I'm splitting hairs and making a mountain out of a molehill. I'm preaching the Bible. Number one, salespeople using church to get their sales leads. Are you listening to me? And let's just bring it right down on the bottom shelf where everybody can find it. Amway. That's what we're talking about tonight. Amway is what we're talking about tonight. Selling Amway at church is a one-way ticket to Pastor Anderson throwing a chair at you. But anyway, I'm just kidding. But let me tell you something. Amway, one time my parents, and this happened to them many times, but one time in particular, they went to a church for the very first time. It was an independent, fundamental Baptist church. They walked in, and my parents are a little bit shy. Both my parents are. And so they walk into church, and they really liked churches where somebody would be friendly with them and be their friend. They're kind of shy people, and they're not really the first one to go out and make friends with everybody. Usually people make friends with them. Well, my parents walk in, and this one couple is very friendly to them and even invited them over for dinner at their house. They were very happy. They went home and said, this is a great church. Wow. These people are so friendly. In fact, they're even inviting us over for dinner. This is great. Tuesday night, they show up at their house for dinner. They're having a great time. They're fellowshipping. They're eating the meal. And at the end of the meal, that couple proceeded to get out a chart and do a presentation on Amway. Think about how my parents felt. Let me throw some words at you. Used. They felt used. They felt abused. They felt deceived. They felt like they've been lied to. People pretending to be their friend were really out of covetousness, trying to make merchandise of them. And they were using God's house to carry, they carried their vessel through God's house and said, hey, look at all these people that are potential customers for me. You didn't bring those customers. You didn't buy a Yellow Pages ad to advertise for those customers. You didn't put an ad in the paper. You didn't buy a big neon sign. I'm giving you legitimate ways to advertise. You buy an ad in the paper. You buy a Yellow Pages ad. You buy a neon sign. You buy a sign. You have somebody dance around dressed up like a gorilla jumping up and down saying, Little Caesar's Pizza, $5.99, hot and ready. But you don't go to God's house and get all of God's people who you didn't bring there, you didn't pay to bring them there, and just swoop up on God's customers. It's wrong. You see, God's house is filled with people that came here, not because you brought them here, not because you advertised to bring them here. They came here for Jesus. I mean, why did you come to church tonight? Wasn't it to hear the Bible preached? Wasn't it to sing praise of God to Jesus Christ? Or was it so that because somebody told you that there was a good Amway salesman here that you wanted to maybe meet up with after the sermon, see if you could get some of that soap that doesn't work, some of that messed-up toothpaste, some of those stupid... And you know what you say, Well, are you against Amway or are you just against Amway selling at church? I'm against Amway all the way across the board. I'm not kidding. I mean, you think I'm kidding right now, but I'm not. I am against Amway, period. Now, I'm doubly against selling Amway at church, but I'm against Amway all the way around, because you know what? Amway is a cult of money, is what it is. And I'm... Thank you for coming tonight so you could have somebody tell you the truth. My mom and dad, one time, some friends of theirs convinced them to go to an Amway meeting. They said it was a church service to the Almighty God of money. They said, I felt like I was in church. We sang songs about money. Yes! They said we sang about money. The preacher preached about money. It was money, money, money. You're going to be rich. Look at this house.