I am a strong believer that the tithe should be given to the church you are presently attending because they are God's servants attending to your needs. If they take up a tithe collection where you attend services then pray for God's guidance. Worship God and be joyful with what you give. If you feel in your heart to send it to the home church then follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Always be sensitive to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, He always knows best. You might want to read: How To Know If You're Really Hearing From God

Now seed offering, which is above the tenth, can be given to other ministries that feed your soul. The tenth belongs to God and we receive certain promises for honoring God with it, but the seed offering is from our heart and reaps a larger more prosperous return for every area of our life.

Matthew 10:41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.

If you want to give seed offerings start small. Choose an amount that you can be consistent with and give it in a place where you know it is being used to the fullest for doing God's work. Then watch God increase your supply, He will bless even the smallest amount.

Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything, all she had to live on."

If you ever have a pastor in your church who is not completely in the perfect will of God and there's no church close to change to (I've been in that situation) then I give the church a portion and pray desperately for the pastor. The Lord doesn't bless wasted money and you want to give where you will receive all the promises for your giving. Then God will increase your supply and you will be able to give more because you are a good steward. The balance of our tithes and our seed offerings I then give to whomever is teaching the truth and is filling my soul, because I want them to reach others with the same message. God has continually increased our supply and we support many miniseries now. Missions is my first love because reaching the lost is God's first love, however, teaching Christians to live victorious in every area of life, including finances, is important so that the work of God is supplied for the harvest of souls.

Pray and worship God each time you have an offering. We worship over what we are giving at home before we ever go to church. If they take up a separate offering for something special we give a seed offering and pray about how much it should be. You may want to read How To Keep Your Bank Account Full And Overflowing

Thanks for writing, my prayer is that God's riches blessing be upon you now and forever more.

How To Balance A Bank Statement

I do my balance electronically because my check register is in my Palm Pilot which is somewhat different than how I used to do it on paper. Here are the instructions that the bank puts on the back of statements to help people but when I did it on paper I did it this way:

Compare and mark check numbers and the amount in your Checkbook Register with the check numbers and amounts that the bank shows they have received on your Bank Statement. Marking your statement as well as your checkbook helps later on if you have a discrepancy.

Bank Statement Credits, Service Charges or Other Deductions

List and subtract in your Checkbook Register any previously unrecorded service charges or other deductions, such as ATM fees, purchase of new check etc., that are listed on your bank statement. Also, list and add any credits not previously recorded such as interest or fees that the bank has waved. Don't forget to mark these like you did the checks, in both places, so that they show that you reconcile with the bank. This total now is your "true checkbook register balance" for the closing date that month. Since it includes what you have outstanding it will not match the bank statement balance.

I used to leave several empty lines in my check register near the date that my statement would close to have room to balance. Because I always kept my register in pencil, this allowed me to start fresh adjusting my totals for the next entries when I needed to make adjustments in balancing. It kept my register neat.

In this space I would list my outstanding checks, deductions (such as ATM fees) and all deposits that were not on my bank statement. It allowed me to carry them forward into the next month and not have to search for them when they did show up on a future bank statement. When you total what you have outstanding and subtract it from your "true register balance" it should equal the same balance as on the bank statement.

If you had no adjustments in balancing your statement your figures should carry on just as they were before you balanced. If you did make changes then you recalculate your totals starting with your reconciled balance and subtracting or adding your outstanding entries first.

I hope you can find a way to balance your checkbook each month that works for you. You will want to read my article "How To Keep Your Bank Account Full And Overflowing"