Things I Think…
1. Hireling Judah Smith is being sued for demanding that church employees tithe to retain their jobs. The proper response of the congregation to this would be to fire the hireling, make restitution to the workers, and find godly leadership or close the church. It’s that simple and anything short of that is enabling sin and avarice…naturally, nothing close to that will happen, because “he’s such a good teacher” and any victims of his greed are collateral damage to the cause…which in reality… is Judah Smith…
2. As we begin another contentious political season where we all be tempted to speak and act as heathen…I remind you that the concerns around the New Testament church were almost wholly familial and not political…read it for yourself…
3. I would also note that the single best political outcome from a biblical perspective is that the people of God would be left alone to practice their faith inside the community of faith…not set the agenda for unbelievers…read it for yourself…
4. As Christians bemoan the breakdown of the family, they also ignore the fact that a church is supposed to be a new family in Christ with all the care and concern for each other that a blood family would have…read it for yourself…
5. Six people killed at a Nashville Christian school this morning…will be forgotten by next week unless one of the caskets holds someone dear to you…
6. I had an interesting experience this week…the steroids given for my pain cleared up all my brain fog and depression…I’ve enjoyed my own company this week…I mention this to think again about how fragile our thoughts and emotions can be …and perhaps why God elects His people instead of condemning them for bad brain chemistry…perhaps…”free will” isn’t really free for most of us…
7. I might as well get this out of the way early…I take a backseat to no one in my contempt for the person of Donald Trump…but I share many of the same concerns of those who support him…they have simply picked a bad champion…and we need to listen to those concerns and offer better alternatives…beginning with a fresh understanding of our place as exiles…and the real power contained in the people of God…
8. I am often criticized for criticizing the obsession with politics among Christians…we need to “do something”…the “somethings” I see us commanded to do are praying, feeding, clothing , visiting, comforting, and supporting where there is a need…all these things can be done without party affiliation…but they seem to be considered “doing nothing”…take it up with Jesus…
9. As I’ve studied the theme of church as family in Paul’s epistles I’m unconvinced that the biblical model can work with more than 100 people at a time…and that might be stretching it…maybe we should redefine success in ministry...
10. On the other hand…I suspect that we are culturally immune to acting as family outside our own homes…which leaves us with the mess we have…
#6: Michael, it is refreshing to hear that you are enjoying your own company.
@ Nr. 1 up-top:
There’s no bizz like the jeezus bizz.
I’m glad the folks stood up to a tyrant and are gonna’ sue his @$$ off.
Ron,
Just a little levity…because that’s not always the case…
#s 7 and 8 are both important.
Our country would be in much better place if he church practiced the New Testament “one anothers” with the church and with those outside the household of faith.
So many of those who got on the Trump train have been disenfranchised for years-generational poverty and job insecurity, with no hope in sight. They are even looked down upon by other people. I often wonder what would happen if churches reached out to them in a humanitarian way.
Linn,
I know that I have been guilty of not listening because of the nonsense that came with real concerns…
#9 Success in ministry is obedience, regardless of what that obedience may appear to be to the non-believing world. As the Apostle Paul looked back over his live in II Timothy, he knew that he had obeyed God in all of his ministry years, and looked for that “crown of life”. But to the world, he was a prisoner, abandoned by most everyone, and soon to be executed, a failure, while Rome partied on. If obedience is the key to success in ministry, then what place does “growing your church” occupy? In many places, the church has prostituted herself in thinking that success in ministry is measured in numbers. That is the culture’s measure of success, but not in the eyes of God. It took me a long time to learn this.
Here’s a solution for the tithing issue: the church “gross up” pay by 10%, like sometimes bonuses are done in the secular world. The employees get their full salary and the church as a self-proclaimed proxy for God gets its share rendered unto it, just like Caesar (the IRS or state tax board) gets what it requires in the secular world. As an added bonus, the church is acting in service of its employees, washing their feet, in effect.
DavidM…well said…
TNV,
Or maybe they could teach that tithing is not a part of the new covenant…giving, yes…tithing, no.
The 28 year old woman shooter was apparently a transgender man. NBC apparently misgendered the shooter. That news will outlast the story.
Alan,
Sadly, you may be right…
Hate is hate. Evil is evil.
2 short comments;
1. that pastor has a net worth of 61 million dollars according to wiki.
2. the nashville shooter was a woman.
Michael…thank you for #6…as I read comments elsewhere on the interwebs where ignoramuses (probably spelled wrong) continually pat themselves on the back for saying it’s a sin for Christians to take meds and “Jesus will cure you, not meds”, your perspective is refreshing.
Dan,
I’ve fought that fight for years…and will continue to do so…
#10 – good ponder
I just had an unplanned wisdom tooth extraction today, and it was a rough one, even for the dentist. She prescribed 5 different medications. So not only am I losing some wisdom, but if it’s a sin to take meds, I’m on my way to hell.
Thank God for them and heal up, my friend…
#2, 3 &4: Read it for myself and agree with you 100%.
Thanks Michael. You as well.
Michael,
Yep, I can relate. I guess I’d rather just openly face the blatant legalism of an SDA/JW assembly concerning the ‘evil’ of meds …versus the ‘soft’ oppression of sideways glances, pointed sermon illustrations and that unsettling feeling that you’re the ‘radioactive’ topic of hushed conversation …and are being shunned.
(Please have the decency of stabbing me in my chest …while facing me).
As for #7, I grew up in a politically conservative world and still lean that way. I have always had great concerns for the way that the Left has allowed for and promoted abortion as I have considered it, and still do consider it as this nation’s gravest sin of the past 50+ years. I also have great concerns as to the way that the Left has promoted and in some ways has even coerced others into acceptance and celebration of sexual and gender morals that not only oppose the teachings of God, but in some ways even violate biological science and natural law.
So I understand why the Right can be so disgusted by things the Left does and supports and I can understand them reacting in and resorting to whatever ways they think may be the most effective in stopping these evils on the Left.
Nonetheless, even as I can understand their concerns and their inclinations to do whatever necessary to stop such evils, I also remain appalled, especially by my fellow Christians, that over the last several years they have chosen ways to oppose the Left that are so diametrically opposed to the teachings of God. The manners in which they have chosen to fight the evils of the Left have made them just as evil as the evils they oppose.
CK and Michael…had some dental surgery this morning…will load up on Advil while laughing at the Fundies….
Hang in there Dan!
Every time someone says fundies, I picture them in their undies. I’ll blame it on those evil meds.