Q:
How
can I be more abundant and live more at peace in that area?
J-R:
Are you married? Do you live at home?
I live by myself.
J-R:
Do
you give money to anyone else?
To the Movement when I can.
J-R:
Donations?
Yes.
J-R:
Tithing?
Sometimes.
J-R:
The
basic principle of abundance is that you tithe on the "first fruits
of the harvest." If you're not, then you are thwarting yourself
of receiving the abundance that comes from tithing. Some people
say, "I don't have enough money to meet my bills, let alone tithe."
That may be very true, and it may be like that all their life
because they do not have God astheir partner. They have themselves
as a selfish partner. So how would a person handle that?
We
suggest that you tithe 10 percent of what you receive. That is
the gross, before things are taken out of your paycheck. Many
people said that was too difficult, so Spirit said it would then
meet them if they gave 10 percent of what they took home. In other
words, Spirit made them a deal. But Spirit would not give any
further than that because it isn't ours in the first place. It
is God's, and all we are doing is recognizing that God is our
partner by giving Him 10 percent. It's the law of tithing. So
the minimum is 10 percent. Now, when MSIA started around 1971,
I tithed. I started out with a dime, and from that dime, all of
this grew. At the time, I had debts like you couldn't believe,
so I borrowed the dime and tithed all of it. The strange thing
of it was, I was President of the Church, so I just tithed to
myself. Then I had the Church pay back the dime. Then Spirit said
to me, "That was very smart, J-R, but that's not how this works.
You have to give it all."
So I gave everything: my socks with holes in them, my hair shampoo
and conditioner, my hankies everything. Then I took a vow of poverty
and said, "I will not take possession of anything material in
the world and have my name on it." I gave it all. From that day,
the Church became one of the wealthier churches around for its
size. Never have I been tempted to take money from the Church.
Never. When people give me gifts at Christmas or my birth-day,
they become Church property. I get to use them because having
a vow of poverty does not mean I can't drive nice cars or have
nice clothing. I can't OWN them. So I'm always "borrowing" if
you look at it that way. My attitude was God first, Jesus second,
and myself third. That made up the Triune of God.From that point
on, whomever I worked with large corporations, individuals, any
kind of group they prospered because God is my partner. And wherever
I went to work, God went with me. God doesn't know failure.
Now,
that didn't mean that I could be wasting the money. There had
to be a purposeful use for it. And the way 
I
found out if something was not appropriate in its use was that
the value started being taken away from what I did. Back then,
when my health started failing, I got myself back in line with
God, and overnight, tumors disappeared out of my body. Debts that
were accumulated were paid off or forgiven. It was miraculous.
I know that tithing works. The people who try it and do it with
a willing heart receive so much because God loves a joyful giver.
At first, I had a hard time being joyful with what I was giving
because I wasn't giving 100 percent. Then those who work spiritually
with me said, "Fake it." No, they actually said, "Act like it.
Act joyful." And as I started acting joyful, joy appeared. As
I started acting wealthy, wealth appeared. When I started giving
money away to the poor people, that showed I had abundance, and
more abundance appeared. Now the organizations that I work with
are worldwide, and they have a great deal of influence but not
because of me. It is because God is my partner. Is God your Partner?
Yes.
J-R:
Then
you don't have any problems.
