Forest Park church of Christ

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
1 Corinthians 16:1-2
Chedorlaomer and three other kings came out to make war against the five kings of the cities of the plains.  In this battle Lot, the brother of Abraham, was taken prisoner.  When Abraham heard of this, he took his 318 servants and defeated the four kings and rescued all those who had been taken captive.  He also brought back all the spoils that had been taken by the four kings as well as the possessions that the four kings had brought with them to battle.
Melchizedek, the high priest of God and the king of Salem met Abraham as he returned and blessed him.  Abraham then gave to Melchizedek one tenth of the spoils that had been taken from the armies of the four kings.  Yet he refused to take the spoils that he had recovered that had previously belonged to the king of Sodom.  Notice verse 20 in Genesis 14, “And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he [Abraham] gave him [Melchizedek] a tithe of all.”  Abraham recognized that it was God who gave to him first all that he had received.
Perhaps he had to pay for some swords and shields, bows and arrows before the battle.  Do you think that perhaps Abraham first deducted these expenses from the “all” before he calculated his gift to Melchizedek?  
In your giving to the church, do you give according to your gross income, or your net income?  Gross income is defined as that income earned before any taxes or deductions have been subtracted.  Net income is the income left after the taxes and deductions have been made.  One man defined it this way, “Gross is what you make overall, and net is what is left after expensives (sic)”
Do you plan your giving according to what is left after the government deducts the taxes?  Do you include your social security income that has been deducted from your paycheck as part of what God has blessed you with?
Some will argue that taxes should not be included in the definition of “prosper” because they do not have a choice in the matter and never take possession of the money.  Well, if the government decided to tax you 90 percent instead of percentage you pay now, would that alter your definition of “prosper?”  If, when you filed your taxes, you had to pay the government more taxes, would you lower your giving to God because the money had been given into your hand, but then had to be paid to the government?  If you received a refund check from the IRS, do you now add a portion of that back to your contribution to the church?  
The fact is that all of your gross pay is a blessing from God.  Whether the government takes a portion before it is deposited into your hand or afterwards makes no difference.  The “all” that Abraham counted means what it says—all.  He did not first deduct his expenses and then give a tithe.  The definition of “all” is “the whole amount,” “the whole number or sum” (Webster’s Dictionary).

The Amish, Mennonites, and Quakers have commonly been pacifists.  Many Pentecostal churches began with pacifists doctrines but have generally moved away from that doctrine.  According to Wikipedia, in an article on pacifism, the United Pentecostal Church has in its articles of faith the following, “We are constrained to declare against participating in combatant service in war, armed insurrection… aiding or abetting in or the actual destruction of human life.”
Pacifism is defined by Webster as: “(1) opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes; specifically: refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds, (2) an attitude of policy of nonresistance.”  
There are various degrees to which a person may be a pacifist.  For example, a person may be opposed to bearing arms in time of war, but not opposed to defending his home against robbers.  Other pacifists (for example, the Amish, Quakers, and Mennonites) may be opposed to any form of resistance against those who do them harm.
Pacifism is based in the idea that for one human being to do another human being harm is, at its core, wrong or evil.  In the Christian religions the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are often cited in support of this doctrine.  Matthew 5:39, 44 and 45 read, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”  “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Pacifism is not an inherit characteristic of God.  It was God who brought the flood that destroyed all the wicked people of Noah’s day.  It was God who rained down fire and brimstone on the Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness.  It was God who instructed king Saul to utterly destroy the Amelkites in 1 Samuel 15:2-3.  
Neither was pacifism practiced in its pure form by the apostles.  Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit cursed Elymas the sorcerer with blindness for a season because his heart was set on perverting the right ways of God.  In Luke 22:36 Jesus asked his disciples to sell their garment and buy a sword.  In John 18:10 we read that Peter then took up that sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Jesus then told him to put his sword into its sheath, for, He said, “all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).   Jesus did not rebuke Peter, nor did he tell him to repent.  He just stated a truth about taking up swords.
Pacifism is not a doctrine that is required by God for all Christians.  Neither is it wrong for a person to be a pacifist.  It is wrong for a Christian or an organization to bind a law upon others where God has not bound that law.  It would be wrong to fight a war in the name of God or Jesus Christ.  We are not authorized to do so.  But it is not wrong to defend yourself or your family from harm.