Several years ago, our production staff in Israel gathered around the dining room table (which also served as our community desk) to pray about our financial dilemma.  As a ministry production team, we were down to our last $100.00, and we needed to cover the rent for two apartments, food for eight adults and two children, utilities, and production endeavors for the next two television programs that were eminently pending – and most importantly, diapers.

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Our credit cards were maxed out, and there appeared to be no light – just a long dark tunnel ahead.  As we prayed, the spirit brought to my remembrance that I was not broke.  I had $2,000 secreted away in my bedroom.  Our problem was solved!!!  This money was given to Judith and I for the express purpose of ministering to widows and orphans in Jerusalem.  My prayer changed immediately…

The Scriptures instruct us very emphatically on this point:  one tenth or “tithe” is to be reserved from our increase to provide for “the widows, orphans, poor, and the Levites who have no inheritance in the land but live to minister to the body of believers (Deuteronomy 14:12-29).  Furthermore, we are encouraged that when we give to those who cannot possibly help us, we are loaning to the Almighty – and He will be the one who repays us.  This is the prosperity gospel, pure and simple.  Yahshua further elucidated upon this principle, stating that if we give in a way that prevents us from being personally recognized for our acts of kindness, Heaven will see and reward us handsomely.  If we give to be recognized – enjoy it – that is all the reward we are going to receive (Matthew 6:1-4). 

This money was given to me, in cash, for just such anonymous purpose.  I committed my time and energy to find the place it was to be sown.  Weeks before, we had prayed for guidance as to where that tithe was to be sown, but Heaven was silent.  I sat on it.  It was now obvious to me why we had gone broke.  Yahweh had to get my attention to teach me a very important lesson so that I could share it with every one of you who is a part of this ministry. Immediately I prayed that the heavenly Father of the fatherless and Husband to the widow would let us know His will so that we could be His hands and feet to do His will upon the earth as it is done in heaven.  The next day our prayer was answered.  We knew, beyond all human certainty, that we had planted that tithe into the place that Heaven had ordained.  Within hours of apportioning “the widow’s and orphan’s portion” the floodgates were opened to our ministry, and we were able to complete our deadlines, pay the rents, buy groceries and to be sure – a lot of diapers.  The next week our crew was on our way to the shores of the Yam Suph (Red Sea) in Egypt where we began recording episode seven in the A Rood Awakening! series.  The Almighty had already made provision for us but was waiting for us to do our part to complete the circuit.  Our ministry goal is to help every believer complete the circuit in their lives that will allow the blessings to flow from heaven according to their obedience to the Torah and the Messiah.

Some, no doubt, might be inclined to think that my solution to our personal ministry financial dilemma would have been for us to use that money.  After all, we are doing the Levitical work of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.  NOT SO! We had already been given the Levites portion of that tithe. What I had hidden away upstairs was the widow’s and orphan’s portion.  For me to use that portion would have meant bankruptcy – spiritual and financial!

So many believers today are in financial bondage because they do not give a tenth of their income to the very areas of need that will “always be among us”.  As long as the sun rises in the east, the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the Levites who live to serve the bread of life, will be among us.  The gullible may be deceived into “vowing” a thousand dollar pledge to a silver tongued evangelical “hairdo” on Christian television because he promises “a thousand fold return – hallelujah – thank you Jesus – lo shundoma cee kee kehuna.”  But fulfilling a vow to a religious con artist is tantamount to flushing money down the toilet.  We are commanded to take care of the poor, widows, and orphans who cannot make such outrageous promises of high return on investment.  The Almighty promises the return and decides when and how to administer His abundant goodness. 

You are the benefactor of that which you give to the Levite.  Your tithe to us comes back to you in ministry.  You keep us fed – we return to feed you.  You minister to us in carnal things – we minister to you in spiritual things.  The tithe is NOT to build buildings, pave parking lots, or pad pews for personal comfort.  The Temple was neither built nor maintained by the tithe.  What the Levite does with his portion of the tithe is his responsibility.  Make sure that you are sowing where you are reaping or there will be an end to the harvest you enjoy.  Either the Levites will wither away (like Matthew who had to get a job as a government employee (tax collector) because he was not adequately ministered to by the people who were increasingly supporting the Pharisee controlled synagogue system instead of the legitimate Levites) or the faithless will be removed from the table of those who are serving the true “leaven-less” loaf of truth.   The gullible are all to easily “led by the Spirit” to slurp from the pail of hog feeders.  Those who truly hunger for truth will gather at the table that was set by the Messiah – a table served by true apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers – and the obedient will “tip” adequately so that the servants of the Most High may properly feed and clothe their families. 

The lesson learned by our obedience to administer the widow’s and orphan’s tithe in Jerusalem is the revelation of the true prosperity gospel for this moment in time.  That true prosperity gospel must now be firmly embraced at the onset of the global economic meltdown that has recently prompted the second closed door session of Congress in over a hundred years.  Soon, Divine prosperity will be the only alternative to slavery – and that prosperity may only be the lackluster provision of our daily bread.  But even this will be a welcome alternative to the plight of the name it and claim it crowd who will grow hoarse shouting at rocks to be transformed into bread.

We, as a religious nation, have neglected to set aside the tithe portion for the poor, the widows and the orphans.  We have neglected to do that which defines a “pure and undefiled religion” (James1:27).  We have NO right to expect Heaven to bless us, because we have not, as a nation, as a Christian community, or as a Messianic community or as individuals, taken care of the primary or foundational principles that allow blessings and prosperity to flow to us from Heaven.  Certainly we have all participated in the blessings that have come to our society under the direction of those who have “bowed the knee to Satan” and have thereby received their part of the wealth and glory and honor of this world.  They have doled it out to those who have likewise dipped the knee to the kosmokrateros (rulers of this world – Ephesians 6:12).  Yahshua said it best:  “Depart from me you religious wackos!  I was hungry, naked and imprisoned and you never helped me in my distress.  “When did we see you in that situation?” comes the reply, “I don’t know what you are talking about!  Didn’t I tell everyone about you?  Didn’t I do spiritual warfare in your name and get rid of my Christmas tree and Easter bunnies just for you??”  (Yahshua leans forward on His throne before bellowing the words that would part the hair of even the most “over-sprayed” TV evangelist) “When did you see me??  Exactly my point!! At Mount Sinai I told you to take care of the poor, the orphans, the widows and the Levites – but you refused to take even one tenth of my blessing to you and share it with them!!  You disobedient imbecile – get out of my sight!!!”  (MIV emotionally adapted from Matthew and Luke) 

This February, while we were expanding our outreach ministry across the American continent at a speed that kept us at the office each day until the wee hours of the morning, we made a plan to relieve my wife, Judith, from her critical job in our ministry.  I do not yet know how I am going to replace her in the office as she was by my side for sometimes 18 hours a day – but she had to be released to do something much more important.  Her fulltime job is now to make sure that this ministry is doing its part to sow the tithe into the areas of concern among the poor, widows and orphans in the land of Israel. 

The Messianic Jews are the most persecuted people in all of Israel.  The Russian Jewish believers, especially the widows and orphans who are flown or boated into Israel, are not only neglected by the government and orthodox charities, but much of the money collected on Christian television that is sent to help Israel often goes to groups that actively persecute Jewish believers in the land.  There are pogroms (religious persecutions) going on at this very moment in Israel.  Groups, energized by donations derived from unaware Christians in America, are burning believers out of their homes in Jewish communities around Israel on a regular basis.  Radical, anti-messianic religious groups are bombing and maiming Messianic Jews, beating them in the streets, and forming protest marches in front of their homes in order to attempt to erase the name of Yahshua from the land of Israel.  Yet, Messianic Jews are the saints who are actively helping to clothe, feed, and house Sudanese refugees who are finding sanctuary in Israel.  Once these Sudanese receive sanctuary, they receive no help from the government.  Our Messianic brothers and sisters are fighting the good fight and taking care of these desperate people with little or no provisions of their own.  It is like the hungry feeding the starving – they need our help – now!

It is time to quit playing games!  Pouring millions of dollars into the hands of those who hate Yahshua while neglecting the Messianic believers who are making a real difference in the land of Israel, is the epitome of hypocrisy!  Many Christian groups who give to Israel are recognized by the orthodox community as “good Samaritans” – and verily, they have their reward.  We have started the Lydia project to rectify this spiritual disconnect. 

The Lydia Project is named after the Jewish believer Shaul met on a riverbank one sunny Sabbath in Thyatira (Acts 16:13-15).  Lydia was a seller of “purple” (Hebrew - techelet), the biblical blue dye made from the Hilazone sea snail.  The Hilazone produces two very rich dyes from the same gland – depending upon when it is processed (see The Hem of the Garment episode four in our series from Israel).  When the snail is crushed in darkness, in the absence of the ultra-violet rays of the sun, it yields a deep purple dye that was legally reserved for Roman Nobility.  When the snail is crushed in the light, it yields the biblical blue dye that we used to dye the threads on the corners of our garments (Tzi-tzit).  That blue ribbon of fabric is to remind us to always keep the commandments of Yahweh.  Which commandments?  ALL of them!  Especially the commandment to reserve a tenth of our increase to minister to the widows, the orphans, the poor, and the Levites who minister among us.  The Lydia Project is established strictly to take care of the poor, widows and orphans. 

Judith has selected a team of believers in Israel and in the U.S. who are moving on many urgent needs – even as I write this letter.  Judith and her team have already given away multiplied thousands of dollars directly to the needy in Israel.  This ministry and our staff are behind this project one hundred percent.  I am giving some of my hard-earned airtime to the Lydia Project, and I am encouraging you to support the project with the widow’s and orphan’s portion of your tithe on a regular basis.  One hundred percent of the tithes and offerings earmarked for the Lydia Project goes directly into the fund.  We don’t play games. 

I feel that this project is best administered by mature, Messianic women who love and are in touch with Israel and its rarefied spiritual climate.  Judith is Jewish.  Her relatives in Israel are ultra-orthodox.  She was raised as a conservative/orthodox Jew in Baltimore and became a believer in Yahshua in 1974 amidst much persecution.  She spent a year in Israel working on a Kibbutz when she was eighteen before returning to America to earn her masters and teaching degrees.  Judith is very qualified to chair this project.  I need faithful women of spiritual maturity to stand with her and host events around America to raise awareness of Israel’s plight and to receive and distribute the widow’s and orphan’s portion of the tithe.  Time is short.  Preach the REAL prosperity gospel and do what Moses told us to do – the way that Yahshua told us to do it – exactly the way He lived it and commanded us to live it.