Money...one word that will a jouyous group of parishoners faces straight into a scowl and a sense of dreaded uneasiness like a cloud of gloom into a room....
Certianly, it is a reality of life....money is necessary to run a building...to keep a church functioning ie the utilities etc. We must tithe.
So, our church has never had a tithing discussion- we have also grown beyond our means... we went from 50 people all of whom voluteered to and tithed to keep the chuch going- our minister worked a full time job and ministered- we have now grown into a 250 member group- we are so blessed that so many people through out reach and just the Spirit moving them to find us- have come but just as God provides so we must also work to provide for ourselves.
Thus, for the first time in 5 years we find ourselves at a cross-roads... which led  to this - our new little book of worship which we have all been given a copy of to follow every week and discuss in our small groups. On the first page reads: in block letter:
"Jesus discusses money more than heaven and hell combined, and Jesus talked more about money than anyone else in the Bible."
which abosolutely knocked my religious socks off- and I would very much appreciate any suggestions- guidance- new socks- whatever you have to offer....
  I am not geting into any statistical discussions but a connotational one... and also being the "oh no,  Julie is here..." I'm not against this as much as I'm not for it as a strategy. My points are below... any new socks available?

1. Scholars point out that Jesus discusses money more than heaven and hell combined, and Jesus talked more about money than anyone else in the Bible. Financial teacher Howard Dayton, for example, has counted 2,350 verses in God’s word that deal with money. Such comments remind us how much God has to say about money; they also show us how critical it is for us to pay attention to what God’s word says about our possessions and pocketbooks. But like all statistics and truisms, these carry the potential of being misinterpreted or misused. In fact, the Bible is a guide for all of life and practice (2 Timothy 3:16)—not just finances but also marriage, work, character, family life, military service, education, government and many others. We cannot reduce the Bible to a primarily financial message (e.g., properity gospel). In the end, Scripture’s primary focus is God's gospel to His people. So, while the Bible says a surprisingly great deal about money and possessions, it would be wrong to state that the Bible says more about finances than about any other topic, or that money is the Scripture’s primary concern.

       2.  It is often thought that the Bible has only to do with so-called religious matters, e.g., church attendance, individual conversion and personal piety. But this idea comes more from cultural hearsay than from a careful reading of the Bible itself. Even a brief reading reveals that the Bible is remarkably broad in its subject matter. The Bible covers the waterfront of human life because the gospel of God’s redemptio covers the waterfront of human life. In the words of Scripture, God is reconciling all things to himself through Christ (Colossians 1:20). “All things” certainly includes money and material possessions, so it is no surprise to find that the Bible speaks plainly and frequently about these things. There are philosophies that separate reality into “spiritual” and “material” spheres, but Christianity is not one of them. In the Bible, all of life (including the use of money) is spiritual because God is involved in it. 

Please pray for my friend's dad. He most likely has a brain tumor. His name is Frank.

James 1:12  Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Have you ever felt like you've just gone too far? You know when you hit bottom? What if there's a place thats even farther down from hitting bottom. Thats where I am and I don't know if I can be saved from myself. I just need help and prayers. Someone say something to lift me up or to at least lift my head up so that I can know that there is an up...because right now, I'm frozen, I can't tell anymore if there even is an up.

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  -John 4:23-24

1)  What is worship?
2)  What does it mean to worship in "spirit?"
3)  What does it mean to worship in "truth?"
4)  On what basis might you assert that you in fact "worship the Father in spirit and truth?"

Sorry, a follow up question to the one I posted beforehand about drugs and alcohol.

For those of you who argued that your personal reasons for not taking drugs (and I meant illegal drugs) and alcohol were because of the whole treating your body like a temple, would you consider eating unhealthily to be wrong too? Would you consider not wearing sunblock when you go out to be wrong too?

I know it's random, but I'm just curious as to some people's takes on it. Is fast food taken in excess as bad as taking marijuana in excess? I know they have different effects, but regardless... what's your take on it all?

What do you think of Abraham's 'persuasion' of God in regards to the destruction of Sodom? I mean, God continues to 'lower' his standard for Sodom, as per Abraham's wishes. Obviously God would know the outcome, but I wonder about the point of the whole exchange. I can only think that it may show:

A) That even searching for just 10 righteous people is hardly possible by God's standards (and thus may point to the need for Christ)
B) It really just shows God's ultimate will
C) Maybe it's some sort of strange reflection of prayer life (God will do what you ask unless His will must supercede it).

What do you think?

From a solely Christian standpoint, why don't you take drugs? And if you don't do them, do you drink alcohol? Why are you okay with alcohol but not drugs?

How would you define regret?

Since I got drawn to orthodox christianity I know that regret of past sins is essential. But I must say that either regret doesn't come naturally to me, or that I prevent myself from real regret by not being very familiar with such emotions anymore.

For a long time I've simply focussed on repenting. But it seems like I don't quite get anywhere with repentance that isn't carried by felt regret. Last year I sort of discovered regret again. I've found it's not a scary emotion. But then came the question, why am I afraid of certain emotions in general? Are there really dangerous feelings? Am I held responsible for how I feel? Does God really look at our emotions? I think there are emotions that are necessary to be resisted. When in fear it's not good to get lost in fear so that it develops into panic or hysteria. When feeling attracted by a woman it's not good to let such attraction develop into lusting. But I find the raw emotion isn't the danger, the danger comes from misinterpreting emotions, and from exploiting them on the search for pleasure.

I've found regret to be a wonderful emotion. Sure it's sad. But it's not an emotion like fear which one would desperately try to leave behind.

One problem remains and that is that I often feel as if I am not really a part of my emotions. It often feels to me as if they just "happen" to me, like when a fly lands on my hand. I am curious, I watch it, and in my heart I feel conviction, but part of me is also very detached. There had been some pains in my life which made me fear emotion, which made me want to stay in control. It's not always easy for me to give in to feelings, even when I know they are good.

How is the emotional side of faith life for you? Problems with it? Successes?

For some time I thought that feelings ought to be neglected. But I don't quite think so anymore. Rejection of feelings gives too much emphasis on our heads. And since I try to let my heart guide me, mind you a heart that has accepted God, my feelings seem to have become better, or perhaps I became better at accepting them, knowing them. Reason and thought have their value, but so have emotions. They help us to live wholly. They help us see depths. It's good to be able to survive harsh emotions. But to completely distance yourself from the emotional side of life is wrong, I think.

I just read this Time Magazine article that wonders if the prosperity gospel (and specifically the idea that God would "make a way" for people to own homes even though their credit and financial situation should preclude it) helped contribute to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1847053,00.html?cnn=yes

I'm not sure I agree with the idea, but I do find it intriguing. I know some people who follow prosperity-gospel brands of Christianity who would sincerely believe, if they got a home loan in spite of bad credit, that God was blessing them with something they wanted very much, a home of their own, when in fact they were being preyed upon by unscrupulous companies.

I did wonder about the assertion that the prosperity gospel is "a type of Pentecostalism." I was under the impression that it is, rather, a heterodox materialistic theology that isn't tied to any particular denomination but unfortunately affects all of them?
Thoughts?

These are some arguments I have encountered when thinking of our faith, particularly about salvation.

#1 goes like this: we know that God is omniscient. And we know that God is omnibenevolent. These are pretty standard beliefs of christianity. And let's also suppose for the sake of this argument that from all of mankind, some will get saved, some won't, which is decided by our belief in Christ and whether we receive Him in our life.

Now how about this: suppose God created the man Jerry. Now God being omniscient He knows that Jerry would not get saved. Anyway, God is good so He gives Jerry this chance anyway and goes on creating Him. Jerry lives, a pretty average life. He's not a hero. He's not a paragon of virtue. Just an ordinary guy with both good and bad sides. However, because of some deep seated suspicion towards religion, he refuses getting in touch with Christ. So, after his death, he has to pay the penalty for his sins and goes to hell forever.

What's the point of God having created Jerry? One could also suppose Jerry believed for a while, but eventually fell away. Why did God give Jerry this chance? Particularly when God knew Jerry would ultimately reject Jesus.

Argument #2 goes like this: Why does the Lord stall His return? Every day many new people are born of which only a percentage will choose Christ. So the longer He stalls His return, the more people will go to hell. On the other hand, the longer He waits, the more people will get saved. What should keep God for letting this remain the way for Eons?

When I used to believe in the doctrine of Universal Reconciliation, this was all easy pie to avoid as eventually anyone would get saved. UR teaches that there is a chance to salvation even after death, that at most the punishment of hell is like the catholic doctrine of purgatory. IE, hell is at most a punishment of limited duration. But as I returned to orthodox christianity I was convictec by the bible contradicting this view ... well, I think the bible can be construed to support this view, but when compared to orthodox doctrine it's a pretty farfetched interpretation. Occam's Razor seems to support the doctrine of eternal punishment.

But perhaps all of this is relatified by ceasing to think of damnation as one refering to eternal conscious torment in seething flames. I refer to scriptures that speak of gnashing teeth and weeping ... a person burning in agony will likely not gnash their teeth. So even when damnation is something terrible, it does not mean eternal torture by God Himself, and "flames of hell" might mean everlasting problems in life, everlasting sorrow and toil of which the faithful are released.

How would you solve these arguments? Personally I've started to incline myself to think that I am not God and will not ever have a say in this matter, that therefor such speculations are useless. But if these arguments have a better answer I'd be happy.

What do you think of Goethe's Faust?

Ever read it?

Personally, I find the book pretty impressive from an artistic point of view. It's the kind of book you can read many times and still find something new all the time.

But the christian in me says no. A man making a deal with the devil? The only requirement being never becoming lazy?

Unacceptable, my heart cries. As much as I like Goethe's mastery of words, it seems not only foolish and silly to make deals with the devil, but also very very dangerous. I know the devil is real. We're not talking about some sort of force here that balances life. We're not talking about a kind of dark buddy in God's plan. We're talking about someone who actually deceives the whole world, and who will definetly punished forever in hell for that. And we're talking about a share of mankind sharing that fate because of indifference or worse kinds of complicity.

Goethe was a critic of christianity, but an intelligent one who noted and confirmed the value of christianity, particularly its ethical values.

The devil is evil, perverted and cruel. I know that from experience. He chains people, seduces people to very evil deeds. He harasses, assaults, tries to pervert. Unlike Goethe, I don't see anything redeeming about him.

Still the book is a good read for a mature christian. It tells us a little about life, particularly the kind of life which I think a christian has to avoid. But it forgets something. We simply don't need to make a deal with the devil to get forward in life. Instead we can rely on God. In fact the devil would always want to give you trouble, to do you harm. God doesn't have such malice inside of Him at all. He is indeed a benevolent, trustworthy God.

What do you think of the book? Ever read it?

I read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Deep_Field

and couldn't help but wonder... if God thought we were important enough to love and make in His image, why did he make the rest of the universe so big? To say we're a tiny spec is being nice. We're a lot less than that.

There was an article in the paper today about "Gospel Today, the Fayetteville-published magazine, was pulled off the racks by the bookstores’ owner, the Southern Baptist Convention" because the five women on the front of the magazine were women pastors and they strongly believe that the pastor job is reserved to be by men only.

If you want to read the full article go [here].

I'm wondering:

1. Should they take the magazines away from the shelves because of their beliefs---even though some of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ may disagree? Or should they allow others to read about it and come to their own conclusions through their own research instead of just banning the book?

2. Can/should Pastors be women or is it reserved for men? [As the Bible teaches]

( my opinion )

An added question: I was looking at 1 Timothy chapter 2 and I saw the verse 2:15 "But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety." and it sort of caught me off guard. What does that mean?

"We refuse to be who we are, by refusing the grandeur of freely knowing and loving, by avoiding life itself as much as death. In this way, each human person has possible self-negating dimensions. We can reject our destiny and personhood through violence which is self-hatred, through self-maintenance at all costs, through hedonistic escape from committed love.... We refuse to accept ourselves as lovable creatures, who are not and need not be God"

John Francis Kavanaugh, SJ

Soooooooo we're approaching seven billion people alive today. Does God's command to Noah to "be fruitful and increase and number and fill the earth" still pertain to us? Is the earth done being "filled" yet? What do we do with commands like this in an era of not enough food and not enough water?

Further to my last post, it's now been confirmed that Melita Jo was indeed murdered; her death has now been reported on the BBC website here, together with a recent photo which I think was taken during our church's 900th anniversary celebrations over the past couple of weeks.

Many thanks for all who said they would pray for Melita, her assailant, and our community. Please continue to pray that her assailant repents of his deed, and that the police investigation goes swiftly.

So I decided to make a tattoo. it's gonna look like bar-code, look here -

http://flickr.com/photos/darky_hilton/2466488294/

but instead of the letters i want towrite something Christian, like "forgiven" or "Son of God". However, I came up with another great idea. There are 6 numbers on the bar-code followed by space and the other 6 numbers. What if the words that I wanna have there should consist of 6 letter each one? In this case it will look more impressive and interesting.

So what two words would you recommend me to use so that they would make a Christian meaningful phrase?

Thanx :)