Are you familiar with the term "walking the check"? If you've ever been in the restaurant business, I'm certain you know what I'm talking about. Very simply, "walking the check" is leaving the restaurant without paying for your meal. Some people are scam artists. They dream up creative ways of walking the check. Probably the most common is to claim you left your wallet in the car. Then you drive off.

I confess. I walked the check one time. I hope you take my word, however, when I clarify that I did it accidentally. I got back to the office and realized I had taken both copies of the credit card receipt. I hope no one there knew who I was. Anyway I called the restaurant immediately and rectified my criminal activity.

Walking the check. Does that ever happen at church? I'm not talking about sneaking into the fellowship hall on Wednesday nights and eating supper without paying. No, walking the check in church means that your contributions don't offset the benefits you receive. It's the consumer mentality. Think about the tangible things you receive on a typical Sunday morning. You parked your car in a nicely paved lot we're still paying for. You received a printed order of worship. You are seated in a comfortable facility with heat provided by MCEC. You dried your hands with paper towels. Your Sunday School class was cleaned by our custodian. You studied your lesson in a book, most likely purchased by the church. You pick up your children in a state of the art facility. And on and on. Unfortunately, there are many who walk the check when it comes to church.

Today, we're continuing our studies called "In the Zone." God wants us to live in the zone. The zone is the sweet spot of God's success, the place where we can enjoy the favor of God and receive the tangible and intangible blessings of God.

Last week we talked about the difference between bringing and giving. God tells us to bring the tithe into the storehouse, the local church. The tithe represents the firstfruits, the first ten percent of our income. Today, I want to pick up where we left off last week and share some very important spiritual truths which I believe will help you deal with this very sensitive area. Next week I'm going to talk about materialism. Of course, we don't have that problem in Chapin, do we? Then in my fifth and final message in this series I will teach you what the Bible says about staying out of debt.

Here is the first truth I want to teach you today. God is for you. The Bible says, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32). God wants to bless us. He wants us to live in the zone where He can pour out His favor on us.

To live in the zone, we must recognize that God is the Blessor. Everything comes from Him. He is a loving and generous God. And because of that, we are blessed. And because we are blessed, we can become a blessing. How do we become a blessing? First, by receiving the favor of God. And second, by reflecting the nature and character of God.

Unfortunately, too many people never receive the full blessings of God because they live in the Land of Ing. They are into own-ing, earn-ing, hous-ing, and cloth-ing. They erroneously think that they own it all. "I did it, I made it. I'm the man." Conversely, those in the zone realize they are simply managers. So God is for us. But to experience His favor, we must realize the difference between owning and managing.

As Christ followers, we must understand how we can reflect the character of the Blessor in our daily lives. One of the most important things you and I can do to reflect Him is to bring the tithe. The tithe means one-tenth or ten percent. God says, "The first ten percent of all your income or gain belongs to Me." "Oh no. There he goes again. Talking about giving." No, we're not talking about giving. We're talking about bringing. I don't give what is not mine. I bring back that which belongs to God, the first ten percent of my income or gain.

Why do one out of every eight verses in the New Testament deal with material possessions? Why does God make a big deal about giving ten percent? And why do I say that tithing needs to be an ongoing spiritual discipline in your life before you can live in the zone? Great questions. Every day of the week we spend a lot of time earning a paycheck, right? That paycheck is a reflection of who we are, because we've invested much of our time and energy in order to get it. So when I recognize that the first ten percent of my paycheck belongs to God—that's getting into a piece of me now. That's touching something close to my heart. And that is why from the beginning of time God began to teach the principle of tithing. It is a tangible way of acknowledging that God is first place in our lives.

Let's be honest. Words are cheap. Anyone can walk around and say, "I trust God. He's the One. He's first place in my life." You say God is first place? Then open up your checkbook and let's see. Now we're getting to where the rubber meets the road. This is not something negative. It's positive. Because when you understand the tithing principle and begin to implement it in your lifestyle, then you move from the Land of Ing into the zone, and you position yourself to be on the receiving end of the favor of God.

When I teach you biblical principles on how to overcome fear and worry, I'm doing it to help you. When I talk about prayer, evangelism, and spiritual gifts, I'm trying to help you. In the same way, when I talk about tithing, I am trying to help you. The Bible says to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. The biblical concept of the storehouse for today is the local church because that is what is so close to the heart of God. We worship, we marry, we lay to rest in the local church. When we have a need, we count on the local church to help us.

Let me get back to statements of truth I want to communicate. First, God is for you. Second, God is the one who gives wealth. Okay, God wants to bless His church. How? In many ways—through gifted teachers, servants, mercy givers, leaders and musicians. God also blesses people within the church financially to finance the church. He puts wealth in people's hands as a test. He wants us to use it as a tool to further the greatest thing out there—the local body of Christ.

As God prepared His people to enter the Promised Land, He told them many of the ways He would bless them. He talked about a land flowing with milk and honey. He told them about gold and silver and fine houses. But He also warned them of a danger. He said, "You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth" (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

We must never lose sight of the fact that it is God who made us who we are. God gave us the abilities we have. It is God who has blessed us wherever we are. And one of the easiest ways to constantly remind us of this is the tithe.

When we live in the land of Ing, we get so focused on stuff that we miss the blessings. We miss the fact that God owns it all. We think we've done it. Yet that heaps guilt and stress on our lives because we're trying to protect it, hoard it, and take care of it. But it is not even ours. God wants us to remember that He is the Blessor. When we bring the tithe, it is a tangible reminder of who God is.

Chapin Baptist Church honors me with a paycheck twice a month. Anita gets paid every other week. So at least every two weeks, as soon as we get paid, Anita writes our tithe check to the church. When we bring it, we recognize that God has blessed us and that He is the source of everything we have. He is our Provider. It's not about how smart or clever I am. It's about who God is. God doesn't need my money. But He does need me to remember that He is the one who is behind any money or possessions I have.

No matter how tight things got financially, Anita and I have always been faithful in bringing the tithe. In seminary I parked cars at a fancy restaurant to earn some extra money. Every night I'd come home, count my tips, and record the amount. Then I'd take at least ten percent and bring it to the Travis Avenue Baptist Church. (By the way, I also reported every penny of those tips to the IRS.)

In 1980, I pastored my first church in the little town of Melissa, Texas. My salary package was $12,500, which covered medical insurance and everything. Anita and I even served as custodians at the church in order to earn a little more money. But I promise you, even in the lean years, we never veered from bringing the tithe.

Last year everyone got hit hard with the rising price of gasoline. Before the prices escalated, I remember pumping at Bush River Road for about 80 cents a gallon. It would have been easy to say we can't afford to tithe anymore. One day Anita was working on the books and she said, "Okay, Ken, show me where we need to cut expenses in other areas so we can cover the higher gasoline prices." But it never crossed our mind that we would decrease our giving levels.

All through the years we are living witnesses that you cannot outgive God. He always gives back more. This leads me to my third truth. God rewards obedience. The Bible says, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8). In other words, if we let God's Word shape our lives, if we put its truths into practice, then He will bless us with prosperity and success. Not my words. God's words.

Do you remember the classic verses on tithing we studied last week from Malachi? God said if we would bring the first ten percent of our income to the local church, then He would bless us. He said, "See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" (Malachi 3:10). "Floodgates of heaven"—that's a great phrase, isn't it? It appears only one other time in the Bible. The book of Genesis, where it describes the universal flood which occurred during the days of Noah. The Blessor wants to open the floodgates of His blessings and pour them into your life. When you bring the tithe, He will reward your obedience. He promises prosperity and success.

My time is gone. But let me close with a very frank a personal challenge. I asked Sherry to run some numbers this week to get an idea of about how many families at Chapin Baptist are living in the zone. Remember, our definition of living in the zone means that you are bringing your tithe to Chapin Baptist Church. I have no clue what people's annual incomes are. But I think it is safe to say that generally speaking most of our members' family income is at least $40,000 a year. Single moms, retirees and others, I know that might not be true for you. But I'm talking in general terms.

A tithe of $40,000 is $4,000. Ninety-nine families contributed at least $4,000 to the general fund of the church. 720 families call Chapin Baptist Church their home. Certainly, in some cases, the $4,000+ gifts did not represent the whole tithe. And certainly some who earned less than $40,000 brought the whole tithe. So it probably balances out. So roughly, only 14 percent of our church family is living in the zone. That's not good. That means 86 percent are missing out on the floodgates of heaven promise.

Imagine the additional ministries to the community and for God's kingdom we could do if only 25 percent lived in the zone. Imagine the scholarships we could provide for members to go on mission trips. Imagine the poverty-stricken homes in the community we could repair. Imagine the financial support we could provide to the five young men and women from our church pursuing calls into full-time Christian ministry. Imagine the kids we could mentor with a computer lab.

We have a vision team who recently interviewed key community leaders to determine ways our church can build bridges to the community. Hundreds of possibilities have emerged. In addition to time and effort, most of them require dollars as well.

We have a clear vision of starting a service to the 20-35 age group in the community, a population segment that no other church in the area is targeting. What a tremendous opportunity to reach more for Christ. But right now our budget receipts cannot support such a service since it will require additional equipment purchases. So we've had to postpone the March start-up until a later date.

Many of you faithfully bring your tithe to this church each week. You're in the zone. And you know from experience how God has been blessing you. To the others, my challenge is straightforward. Forget your debt level. Forget all the things that consume your paycheck each week. And simply ask God, "Do you want me to be obedient to you by bringing the tithe into the storehouse?" Let me know if He says, "No." Stop walking the check. Start reflecting the generous nature of God. Start bringing the tithe. And watch the floodgates open.