A Zambian pastor has shocked his congregation members after ordering them to stop calling him their spiritual father if they cannot pay him tithe.
According to Zambian Watch, Prophet Bernard Siame who is mostly known as ‘Commander 1’ urged all those who regard him as their spiritual father and yet don’t give him their tithes not to enter 2018 with that sort of behavior.
This comes as awareness on social media deepens urging churchgoers to desist from paying men of God tithe. The campaign championed by Nigerian OAP DaddyFreeze has left many pastors embarrassed as they have been unable to prove from the bible why members of their churches are subjected to compulsory payment of tithe every month.
In a Facebook posting, Prophet Siame who is the leader of Shammah Miracle Embassy and also the spiritual son of the controversial Prophet Andrew ‘Seer 1’ Ejimandu wrote: ‘That behavior of calling me your spiritual father without your tithe must remain in 2017.
“So, to respond to those people asking that ‘so, we can’t be your (spiritual) children, just because we are not paying tithe,’ I think every person must learn the principle of getting a blessing.
Blessings do not come by prayer and fasting. If that was the case, believe me, many people today wouldn’t be coming to church. They would be going to the mountain to pray and fast so that as they come back, they would return with ukwa bags full of money. When it comes to the principle of receiving finances, a person must be a giver. And one of the tools through this happens is the tithe…the 10 percent of your income,” he explained.
Prophet Siame added that the same rule applies to clergymen who looked up to other clerics as their spiritual fathers. He said returning tithe to spiritual fathers was a way of showing one’s loyalty and obedience.
“You can’t have children who are not obedient to you. Every child must be obedient to their fathers or mothers. For example, tomorrow I open another church and I put one of my sons or daughters there to pastor the church and they themselves are not givers. What you do attracts the same thing that you do to others. If you can’t give, God will never allow people to give to you,” he said.
Prophet Siame added: “So, a son of the prophet or Bishop, it cannot be me, it can be another person but its very important for them to lead by example. If people can’t see you give, they are not going to give to you. If for example, you are not showing love to others, are they going to show love to you? Definitely no! What you plant is what you reap.”
He also revealed that he too returns tithe to his spiritual father.
“And those people asking that ‘what about you prophet, do you give tithe?’ I am a dangerous giver. I even have some men of God who are not from my church and I pay the house rentals for them every month. But they are not my church members. We have made a covenant with them to support them. It’s part of giving tithe,” he said.
