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Cadillacs and Camels

 In my mind Scripture presents a dichotomy that I wrestle with. I would really like to find a solid answer for myself. Maybe you can recommend a book for me?

Cadillacs

Proverbs 13:22 "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous."

I want to be a good person! I want to leave a financial legacy for my grandchildren. Most children in American spend 90% of their inheritance in 90 days after receiving it. You got to have a lot of "cheddar" to be able to not only leave an inheritance for your children but your grandchildren as well.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"

I want to be pure and faultless in Gods eyes! What do widows and orphans lack? A providing man! For me to look after widows and orphans I need money! 

Read Matthew 25:14-30. Did you see how God dealt with the servant who didn't properly use his finances? The one who didn't generate a profit? Now I am really worried ;-(

Camels

Matthew 19:24 "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 

I find it hard enough to have the required faith to be in the Kingdom. I throw myself on the work of the Cross. But if wealth makes it nearly impossible or even harder..........why would I want it? 

Luke 9: 58 - Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 

Acts 3:6 - Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

Jesus and the Apostles appeared to be broke and homeless? Shouldn't I want to be like them? 

Is there a dichotomy that truly exist between Creflo Dollars and Mother Teresas? Are both acceptable? A basic look at scriptures like these I sometimes feel "damned if do, damned if I don't"! 

Thoughts?

Investing in the Kingdom or Wasting Gods Money?

 I'm reading an article in the news this evening about the Old south Church in Boston. It has quite a legacy. Sam Adams was a member. Ben Franklin was baptized by the church. They even own two copies of the Bay Psalm Book, one the first books ever published in North America. Only 11 copies remain of the original printing, published in 1640 by the first printer in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Stephen Daye. I am really into Church history and would drool at the sight of either copy I am sure.  Not going to lie about the edifice either. I travel a lot and love to visit those old beautiful churches. They are freaking awesome!

So on Sunday members of the congregation voted to sell one of the copies, the 372-year-old hymn book valued at up to $20 million – to fund structural repairs and expand its ministry programs. It's their property, their vote, their congregation, their business. I just was trying to reflect on how I would feel as a pastor or member there. How would Jesus feel even? What could I find in scriptures about that?

What the vote says is that members are “agreeing that we are not conservators of rare and special objects, but a church in motion,” says Rev. Nancy Taylor. “We will turn the old hymn book into true doxology for today – helping the homeless, working with prisoners, and assisting victims of domestic violence.” I love that answer. I agree.

Here is where I got a little rattled. Part of the raised funds would go toward an estimated $7 million in building maintenance costs, the AP reported. Can a church really be considering the homeless and prisoners while spending 7 million dollars to maintain a relic of a building?

It's another biblical finance issue we need to wrestle with like the Crystal Cathedral ( see post http://grapplerschurch.blogspot.com/2011/06/owe-no-man.html ). Again, it's that churches business. I'm not standing in judgement. What I do want is for US as THE CHURCH to all wrestle with these financial issues that a lot of us are contributing to. We need to know what God and His Word says about it.

"Two and a Half Men" star, Angus T. Jones, finds religion, calls TV show "filth"

I thought this news was going to make me happy. So I’m watching the videos that were put out showing exactly what he said. I see a lot of “Christians” Amen-ing the videos. I would ask you to slowly consider not getting on this bandwagon for several reasons. 

First, the gentleman with him in the video is Christopher Hudson, aka The Forerunner. He is a Seventh Day Adventist cult leader who has penetrated many African American churches with his Jay-z is a Freemason, Illuminati, part of the end time New World Order nonsense. He talks often about end time prophecy and black helicopters. This spirit has been the footprint of the Adventist since it’s origination. The world was predicted to end in 1844 with the Second Coming of Christ, by William Miller, a New England Baptist itinerant preacher. Miller's followers condemned all the churches of the day as apostate and "Babylon," and warned Christians to come out of them. A great many did, and the "adventist" movement was born and grew rapidly (Melton, J. Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions, Vol. 2, pp. 21–22). 

Christ did not appear in 1844. After this "Great Disappointment," one "little flock" still insisted the date of their original predictions had been correct. They decided the event marked by 1844 was not the Second Coming, but the entrance of Christ into the Holy of Holies in the Heavenly Sanctuary. There, they said, He began the "Investigative Judgment." This doctrine was received and endorsed by Ellen G. White (Ibid., p. 680).

Study their history and you will see MANY repetitions of these doomsday prophecies that never come to pass and then are explained away. Hudson is peddling “chicken little” religion and is now exploiting Jones to do so (IMHO). 

Secondly, we should also be slow to consider why we need to parade celebrity “converts” around in the media. Mostly it’s about promotion if we are going to be honest. These ministers who use these new born celebrities exploit them often just like Hollywood did. I know we claim it’s because of how many people they could influence for the kingdom but we should be careful with that. It’s like telling a Jr. High school student to forget about all the hurting kids and just pray for the conversion of the quarter back. “If we can get him, it will impact the whole school for Christ!” Where is this type of evangelism practiced or taught in the Scriptures?

Lastly, if the show is so defiled Mr. Jones and you feel so convicted, then why don’t you quit? Why doesn’t your spiritual advisor suggest it? Would it have anything to do with you won’t make $350k an episode anymore and you will be sued for millions? A lot of people are truly suffering persecution around the world for their faith, that shouldn’t be so hard. 

Don’t tell a kid not to smoke, with a cigarette hanging out your mouth.

10 Blogs that will have you Wrestling with God

 So for those of you who are just starting to look outside of traditional Christianity, I have compiled a brief list of 10 blogs that you might find challenging. When I first began to "emerge" from the "silo", I felt alone and had no one to really talk to. No one to ask who I should be reading to answer some of my questions, or give me new questions. So I want to give you what I didn't have, a head start.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Also, it's not really a top 10 either (sorry authors), I merely wrote down the first 10 names that came to my mind in no particular order. These are people who regularly make me question or make me mad, so I'm always returning to their blog. I do not agree with everyone on this lists theology and I'm sure they would not mine. I'm sure they would not with each other as well...lol. But they are all brilliant men, outside the box thinkers, and consistently contribute to their blogs.

I will do another list soon if this generates a good response. There is a ton of good blogs out there. Who do you think should be on my next list?

1. Frank Viola
     http://frankviola.org
     Twitter: @frankviola

2. John "The Rev" Jensen
    http://www.johnthereverend.com
    Twitter: @rev3j
   
3. Christian Piatt
     http://www.christianpiatt.com
     Twitter: @christianpiatt

4. Shaun King
     http://www.shauninthecity.com
    Twitter: @shaunking

5. Phil "The Whiskey Preacher" Shepard
     http://www.whiskeypreacher.com
     Twitter: @philshepard
     
6. Jay Bakker
     http://www.revolutionnyc.com
     Twitter: @jaybakker

7 Brian McLaren
    http://brianmclaren.net
     @brianmclaren

8. Andrew Marin
     http://www.loveisanorientation.com
     @andrew_marin

9. Donald Miller
    http://www.donaldmilleris.com
    Twitter: @donaldmiller

10. Peter Rollins
      http://peterrollins.net/
      Twitter: @peterrollins

Good Gay Islamic Democrat

Starting a series on "Offensive Grace". This is part #1. Leave your comments. Let's discuss it.

"A Fathers Love"

Our very first Vlog post to celebrate the start of year 2! Year One was more successful than we ever  anticipated! We have grown to an average of 1200 readers a month! Thank you all so much for the support. We are hoping you will feel like sharing the videos even more than you have the blog posts and we can see 2 or 3k a month start coming through ;-)

What if your church was like this?

At Grapplers Church one of our key issues is that most of us have set in traditional churches for years and are asking "is this it?". I am devouring an surfeit of books on new church and cultural shifts. I think this video shows a clear direction of where the church should be heading. Comments?

Ever seen a church flyer that cussed?

This is a flyer from Revolution Church in NYC -http://www.revolutionnyc.com/. What is your feeling about a church using such a method to reach the unchurched or the X-churched? I understand the why they are doing it and I think its effective "marketing" for reaching their "niche". But the question to wrestle with, is it Biblical? And does it reflect Jesus well? I hope to receive many comments. Start wrestling ;-)

Script on the flyer says "As Christians, We're sorry for being self-righteous judgmental bastards. Revolution NYC A church for people who have given up on church. "

Owe no man?

With over 550 creditors, and around 50 million dollars owed, (a 36 million dollar mortgage), the Crystal Cathedral is being sold to a real estate investment group to pull the church out of bankruptcy. LA Times:

This is not an attack on Robert Schuller. I read the above article in the LA Times and it made me reflect on a couple questions. The kind of questions biblical leadership everywhere should be wrestling with.

1. If God was in this, what went wrong?

2. Either way (if God was or wasn't), how has the prevailing American mindset that bigger and richer is better, infiltrated our churches to such a degree? Even suppossedly backed by the scriptures!

Doesn't scripture tell us it's harder for a rich man to get into heaven? Doesn't scripture teach us to owe no man?

Were there elders that sat in this church and helped make these financial decisions? Did they look at scripture for guidance?

We have seen too much of this in the modern church arena. 550 creditors????......Be careful Mega-Church leadership, be careful.

Why even "Christians" are staying home from church!

An alarming number of Christians are staying home on Sunday mornings and the trend is affecting today's church. Believers who have become "stayaway saints" are alternately worrying and exciting church leaders, pointing to what is being seen as either a serious threat to the spread of the gospel or the actual cusp of a revolution that could usher in the sort of revival many have prayed for and dreamed of for years.

A 2005 study by The Barna Group, a California-based Christian research organization, found that about 13 million Americans whom the researchers identified as being born again were "unchurched ... not having attended a Christian church service, other than for a holiday ... at any time in the past six months." People aren't leaving the faith, but they are leaving the traditional church.

Traditional pastors better wake up and smell the coffee, it's just not about serving coffee. Pastors are either stuck in their traditions and saying "I aint never seen it done like that before!" (The famous last 9 words of a dying church)....or they are using western fortune 500 marketing concepts to build a business (see attached video).

Either way pastors, people are turned off by both. What the church needs is biblical, transparent, and authentic communities built.

Put the marketing books down, take a breath, crawl into your prayer closet, and read the book of Acts. We need to see some real Christianity at work, not another succesful biz.

9 Things Church Leadership Needs to Grapple With

1. If it’s harder for a rich man to get into Heaven, while all the teaching on prosperity?

2. Christ has called us to love and even bless our enemies. The church needs to find new ways to embrace Islam and homosexuals instead of smear campaigns and hatred.

3. Transparency from the leadership. Words like “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I need help. And I need a break” would make you more relevant. We’ve already experienced leadership that knew it all and never messed up.

4. Accountability and delegation in the leadership. There is more talk about elders than pastors in the Scriptures. They are under utilized and we are killing pastors because of it.

5. How the church collects money. You had better be able to defend your stance on whether tithing is biblical or not. People are weary of the traditional plate passing. Wrestle with new ways to teach on and inspire support.

6. How the church is accountable with its money. Because people are weary of traditional plate passing what can the leadership due to build their confidence, bring down their guard, and let them see their money at work.

7. Why isn’t your old school church using social media and the internet more?

8. Why is your new school church establishing kids programs, talented worship teams, charismatic teaching, and creative marketing when you haven’t even heard from the Holy Spirit on how to do church?

9. Jesus never made disciples out of the masses. Why are you more centered on growing the “church” than in growing “disciples”. Get relational and multiply yourself.

By Scott Blair

©2011