Perry Noble is Latest to Offer "90-Day Money Back Guarantee" on the Tithe

Perry Noble is the latest pastor to issue a formal "money back guarantee" to his church members as a gimmick to get a revenue boost at the church.

Ed Young, Jr. has tried this money-back guarantee gimmick. Also, Robert Morris has tried the gimmick at his church and he has pushed it in churches around the country including Celebration Church in my own city of Jacksonville, Florida when Morris preached earlier this year for Stovall Weems.

Below is the video of Perry Noble issuing the challenge. Here is a link at the church website to a form one must fill out to let the church know you are taking the challenge. I guess to qualify you need to let God, er, I mean NewSpring, know you are taking the challenge? When do you think NewSpring will post a redemption link for people to request their tithe back?

If a discerning Christian watches Perry's video and listens very closely, they will see how absolutely ridiculous this "guarantee" is, and why members at Perry's church should absolutely reject this idea as the money-grubbing marketing scheme that it is.

Let me give some commentary on Perry's guarantee to help you see why members of Perry's church should be offended and disgusted at such a challenge:

"Here's what we believe here at Newspring Church:  you cannot out-give God."

I hate this statement. I've heard it for years, and you have too, probably. Of course God is God, so who really could "out-give" God? Who said you can? I hate this statement because of how the preachers like Perry who utter it want to use it to motivate gullible people to fork over more money to their church.

The implication of this phrase "you cannot out give God" is that the more money you give to the  church, the more blessings you will receive. This statement implies that your material blessings are tied to how much money you give. More money, more blessings. Less money or no money, no blessings, only curses.

The phrase "you cannot out give God" implies that by giving to Perry's church you are "giving to God" (which is not true), and it implies that you cannot give too much to Perry's church because God will make sure he has your back no matter how much you give. You CAN give too much money to Perry's church, if you cannot afford it and if it means you can't properly care for your family. God makes no promise to Christians to subsidize foolish donations made to a 501(c)3 religious organization.

And we're just getting started.  Here's the next phrase from Perry worth examining:

"And the very first way we that we put God first in the area of our finances is the tithe: 10% of our gross income."

 Oh yes. If you are truly committed to Jesus, you will show it by giving 10% of your income. Not 10% of your "net" income. It has to be the "gross", the before-tax amount, of course.

This sentence is the shortest and softest way to sell to his church members - as the piano gently plays in the background - the false claim that unless you put God first in your finances by tithing, you are subject to a curse on all of your finances and you subject yourself to all sorts of calamity at the hands of God. Perry has said so before.

And one minor detail:  the "tithe" in the Old Testament was not "10% of our gross income". As documented over and over on this blog, the Old Testament tithe was 23 1/3%, not 10%. But preachers know you can't give THAT much, so they round it off to an tidy 10%. When preachers like Perry can't be completely truthful about even the percentage of the tithe from the Old Testament, what makes anyone think they are being truthful of how the verse applies to the Christian?

"And we believe that what the bible says in Malachi chapter 3, verse 10, is true, that if we will put God first with the tithe, then He will bless us."

Yep, "if...then"....if you give 10% of your income, then God will bless you. And as Perry has said before, there is another "if...then" that he believes:  if you do NOT give 10%, then God CANNOT bless you. In fact you are under a curse.

But that is all pure poppycock. It is fiction. It is a preacher using the Old Testament verses in Malachi that were really spoken to the religious leaders of the day who were robbing the resources given to them by the people. These verses applied to those living under the Old Covenant. Those verses have no more application to the Christian's life than to the Old Testament verses on circumcision.

Perry doesn't give any New Testament verses that deal directly with how Christians should give (generously, consistently, and cheerfully), as those verses don't suit his purposes. They might actually lead to a church member believing they are obeying God at a level less than 10%, and Perry can't have that. Instead, it is more profitable to him to use Malachi 3 to make you think that the pathway to blessings is to give minimum of 10% of your income to his church.

And next, we see the kicker...that Perry and NewSpring actually do NOT believe Malachi 3:10:

"We believe it [the principle of the tithe] to the point that we are challenging you to take our 90-day tithe challenge. And in 90 days if you don't like feel God has blessed you...we will refund every dime you gave..."

This is my favorite part of the money-back guarantee, because it proves the preacher doesn't actually believe what he preaches concerning the tithe. The entire premise of the "tithe" is that it belongs to God, and if you don't bring your 10% to church, you are stealing because that portion of your income doesn't belong to you, it belongs to God (and to give it to God, you have to of course deliver it in a pre-printed envelope, with the check made not to "God" but to "NewSpring Church".)

So get this:  if it belongs to God and not you, and if Perry Noble and NewSpring church leaders actually believed that....then how on earth would they think it OK to take what was not yours to begin with (your tithe), and give it back to you just because you want it back? Wouldn't that mean THEY are robbing God by taking what you gave to God and then giving the money, which is God's money, back to you? Wouldn't Perry and NewSpring now be under a curse? Where in scripture did the priests have the right to give back from the storehouse anything that was already given?

This proves that either Perry doesn't believe what he teaches about the tithe, or maybe a scarier proposition: perhaps Perry believes he and NewSpring Church ARE God. Or maybe it really is a hoax, they know it, and they just think you're too stupid to carefully consider the implications of their guarantee.

Here's one that I can't believe they didn't edit out or do a retake on:

"If you don't feel like God has blessed you, if you don't feel like God has done what his word has said, if you believe God's a liar, then's here's what we'll do:  we'll refund every dime you gave during that 90-day period, no questions asked. We're not sending anybody to your house, nothing weird."

When you watch the video, you'll see Perry give a chuckle or snicker as he says "if you believe God's a liar"....because here is the catch:  if you actually make a claim to have your money refunded, this will be interpreted by your church to mean you believe God is a liar. Perry says they won't send anybody to your house. Maybe not, but you will be singled out as a heretic, a money-grubber, someone who is hurting the church.

There you have it...the "90-Day Challenge" from Perry Noble and NewSpring Church.

Next post:  Watchdog will issue his own "Challenge" to members of Newspring Church, so stay tuned!!