We have a saying in England about waiting for a bus. "You wait for ages then three come at once!" Well it is Sunday!
Another thought on my mind was about the verse in James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
Here we have it in a nutshell. If the church global has done anything it has confused what we are about. Are we about talking in tongues? Are we about theological argument? What we are about is two things, charity and purity.
Am I more concerned about what I am getting than about those who have nothing getting what they need to live?
Am I more concerned about indulging my flesh than putting off those things that belong to the world?
Please do not here what you would usually hear from a post like this. I am not against tongues or theology. But why does our theology become a weapon, why does tongues become more important than loving our neighbour. Jesus didn't say, "The second commandment is to talk in tongues!" We should not walk into a church and ask is this a Charismatic or evangelical. We should walk in any church and see that the most important things to the believers of that church is purity (Loving God with all) and Charity (loving our neighbour as ourselves.)
If I talk in tongues and watch the latest bond film I have a foot in each camp. I am lukewarm. If I have great theology and can quote 20 verses for any argument, if I tithe to the church and watch a world starve then I am lukewarm. I have a religion that God didn't order. You can be a charismatic and still have purity and charity. You can be an evangelical and still have purity and charity. But if you don't have either one then what is your religion worth?
Here are some other things that aren't in the "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God!":
Pastors having to have Rolls Royces
Church Buildings
rock group worship
proper hymns with choirs
bigger buildings
standing up and sitting down in the right places
ceremonies
really big buildings
paid ministers
Falling over in the right places
Mega buildings.
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3 comments:
I was at a church business meeting once where they argued over what shape ice cubes they should have. One wanted the church to buy an ice machine (this is in Texas, so you really needed one) that had cubes, the other wanted crushed, I think it was. It was the stupidest church argument I'd ever heard.
These things have to be sorted out, I suppose, but they can be sorted out without me.
(Of course, you are talking about more meaty areas, things that people are passionate about. Not ice machines!) Carry on.
I fortogt to ask whether the slightly darker type colour suited you. I find the white too stark a contrast!!
We will have to find a happy medium!
Ice cubes!! I know, I have been in those meetings too! "From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks!" I may have been talking about the "bigger issues" however, it is the same petty mindedness about ice cubes that when let loose on the big stuff has exactly the same attitude!
I have been trying to write a poem about some stuff. I even wrote an article this morning but clicked a link and it openned in the editor I was using and deleted what I had written. The idea of it is that it isn't about us. So many people try and say, "The Lord told me!" or "I really feel the Lord in this!" And reject that anyone else may equally be "feeling the Lord!" (Probably an offence in some parts!)
Anyway, there is a song we sing called "Jesus, lover of my soul!" I think the chorus should go like this,
"It's all about me, Jesus. And all this is for me, for my glory and my fame. It's not about you, and you should do things my way."
What gets me is when one side decides to buy the church an ice machine that they want, and no one can argue because its a gift!
It's all about power and control, "I want, I want, I want" stamp, stamp, stamp!
This probably what Jesus meant about being faithful in the little things. If we can't even get that right how are we going to get the big things right?
Lord, have mercy!
Yes, the gold color is nice. I can see it fine.
I'm sorry your article got deleted. That's so frustrating. My cat walked across my keyboard once and deleted my stuff. Grrrr.
My little sister and I laugh about how couples used to break up in the church youth group we went to as teenagers. One person would say to the other, "I think God wants us to break up." and the other person is thinking, "Gee, he didn't tell me that!" But of course, the one with God's direct "command" always won.
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