How much should I tithe?

Question from Jennifer:

Bob... I am reading a book on tithing. I haven't been doing close to enough to what God asks. I am determined to tithe and gift. I realized a lot about ...giving when you don't make anything. My question is most people get paid a paycheck. I get paid and then I turn around and pay rent on my booth and supplies used. Do I give first fruits of what I earned before I pay my booth rent, etc. or after the booth rent?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Jennifer, that is a question many people ask. Many wonder if they should tithe on their gross income or their net income, which is a question similar to the one you are asking. Many would point out that Exodus 23:19 and other passages teach that we give our firstfruits to the Lord. Some would say that applies to the gross, meaning we tithe first, before taxes or before expenses. Whether or not it applies to the gross, I definitely think it means that we should set aside our tithe before paying any other bills.
Now to answer your specific question: I think you have to decide in your own heart what is right. Second Corinthians 9:7 (HCSB) says, "Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not out of regret or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."
God owns it all, and everything we have belongs to Him. But more than our money, He wants our hearts. It says in 2 Corinthians 8:5 that the churches in Macedonia gave first of themselves and then gave their offering.
If you resent God because you had to give the gross, then you cannot be a cheerful giver, and you should tithe the net. But if you feeling guilty for tithing the net, then you need to the tithe the gross. It all belongs to God, but we need to give it cheerfully.

Will animals be in heaven?

Question from Nick:
What happens to animals during the rapture and will they also be killed during the 7 bowls of judgment and the seals and etc.?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Nick, I'm not sure, but the Bible talks about heaven being a wonderful place with all of the good things on earth there, only better, and Isaiah talks about how great heaven is and describes it as "the wolf lying down with the lamb" (Isaiah 11:6) and talks like animals could be there.

So I'm not sure, but I think if is likely that animals will be in heaven, but they will not hurt anybody.

Where does the Bible says Jesus is God?

Question from Douglas:
I need your help. I was asked...where in the Bible does it say God and Jesus are the same person?...

Answer from Pastor Bob:
John 1:1 says "the Word" is God and verse 17 of that chapter makes it clear its talking about Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:9 says that the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ.
When Doubting Thomas saw the hands and feet of the Risen Christ, he called Jesus "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28) and in the next verse, Jesus blessed him for making the statement.
Some people make a big issue about how Jesus was the "Son" of God, as if somehow it made Jesus' nature less divine to be God's Son. Nothing could be further from the truth. They point to John 14:28, where Jesus says "the Father is greater than I." But that only means that Jesus follows the leadership of His father, just as an earthly son would listen to the counsel of his earthly father. It does not mean Jesus is any less divine. That's why Jesus could also say "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30). Perhaps the most important verse is John 5:18, which proves that the Jews themselves understood that when Jesus called Himself the Son of God, he was "making Himself equal with God."

To mourn or not to mourn?

Question from Lianne:
Can you tell me anywhere in scripture that it says we are not suppose to mourn? I would really appreciate your help with this.

Answer from Pastor Bob:
Nehemiah 8:9 says that the day was a holy day of celebration, and thus the people were told, "Do not mourn" on that day. The people wept because they were grieved over their sin when they heard the words of the law.

Did Daniel's dream refer to America?

Question from Wade:
I was reading the Book of Daniel and I was reflecting on Daniel 2:31-35. In prophecy there is no mention of America when it comes to great kingdoms. Is it possible the feet of the statue in Daniel's dream represents the old Roman kingdom (iron) and American being the clay?

Answer from Pastor Bob:
Most interpreters see the statue as Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at the time of Daniel. According to Daniel 2:36-40, this refers to kingdoms that come after Babylon, which historically would be Babylon, then the Medo-Persian Empire, then the Greek Empire. The fourth kingdom would refer to the Roman Empire.
I do not think that the prophecy was a direct reference to America. However, Daniel's prophecy shows how kingdoms will rise and fall according to God's direction, and that is an important point for every nation to remember, including the United States of America. No nation or kingdom is greater than the kingdom of God.

Bible commentaries online

Question from Jan:
I have been looking at some Bible commentaries online. I would like to know which one you would recommend. I looked at Matthew Henry, John Wesley, and John Darby.

Answer from Pastor Bob:
Those are all Bible-believing writers. My personal favorite is Matthew Henry. You can find these and other free Bible commentaries online at http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/

Before we were Christians, was our "father" Satan?

Question from Bryan:

Is it okay to say that our father before we were Christians was Satan? Is that biblically correct?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

I hadn't thought of it that way, but yes, I guess you could say that, since Jesus told the Pharisees they were of their father, the devil (John 8:44).

Who is 666?

Many people ask me about the meaning of Revelation 13:18:
"This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."

Since the second century, people have proposed all kinds of theories for a name that would whose letters would spell 666, from Nero Caesar to Hitler.

Revelation 13:18 calls for wisdom and insight to calculate the number of the beast: 666. All of the speculation that it adds up to a name misses the point. The Revelation never uses numbers to stand for letters. It always uses numbers as symbols for other things. For example, we have seen that 3 stands for God, 4 stands for the earth, 7 is perfection, and 12 stands for God’s people. Revelation often uses an imperfect number 3 ½, because it is half of 7. In Revelation 13:18, we have another imperfect number: 6. The number 6 is imperfect because it falls one short of 7, the perfect number. Notice that 666 is called a “man’s number,” not God’s number. And remember that the number 3 stands for God, because of the Trinity. So 777 would stand for Godly perfection. Thus the simplest explanation is that 666 stands for ungodly evil imitation of God. It could mean a specific future false prophet or Antichrist, but it can apply to anybody who puts himself and his ideas ahead of Jesus Christ. After all, since Satan does not know when Jesus will come back, he must always have antichrists and false prophets in waiting.

Who wrote Hebrews?

Question from Leah:

Do we know who wrote Hebrews?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Nobody knows who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews. The letter itself does not say. It was probably not Paul, for several reasons. The writing style is different from Paul's. Hebrews 2:4 says the gospel "was confirmed to us by those who heard Him," and Paul received the gospel by direct revelation (Galatians 1:12).
The two most popular suggestions for authorship are Barnabas, who was a Jew of the priestly tribe of Levi (Acts 4:36) and would be familiar with the priesthood that is discussed so much in Hebrews, or Apollos, an intellectual (Acts 18:24) associate of Paul who would have used the sophisticated writing style we find in Hebrews. But nobody knows for sure.

Was John the Baptist the reincarnation of Elijah?

Question from Leah:

When people in the Bible thought John the Baptist was Elijah does that mean people in the Bible believed in reincarnation? Or does it indicate that God may let souls who have passed come back for a specific purpose. I do know the Bible tells us NOT to try to contact the dead.

Answer from Pastor Bob:

Hebrews 9:27 says we die once and then go to judgment, which does not allow for reincarnation. So what was going on with John the Baptist when Matthew 11:14 says he was Elijah who was to come?
1) Elijah himself never died, but was taken up to heaven, according to 2 Kings 2:11 he went to heaven in a whirlwind.
2) Elijah himself appeared with Jesus in the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3), so Elijah was not reincarnated as someone else.
3) Luke 1:17 explains that John came "in the spirit and power of Elijah," not a literal reincarnation.
So John was not a "reincarnation" of Elijah, but he was a repeat of the spirit and power of Elijah, that is, he carried on a similar ministry, just as Billy Graham was the most famous evangelical preacher in America years ago, and today Rick Warren is the most famous evangelical preacher in America.