Scott Magdalein posted an excellent but short post about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a very misunderstood concept these days. We are often more concerned with the persuit of justice (something Jesus and Paul clearly told us not to do) when wronged, that we forget the obligation to forgive.
Please read Scott's post Forgiveness.
Have you ever had a dream that you knew was possible, but you couldn't find a way to explain it to the people around you? You knew the what and the why, but you were still trying to figure out the how.
I have a dream that is turning into some goals. It is big. At least to me it is. I know the what and why, and I'm slowly starting to understand the how, but I also know that these things will change some as I progress.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
Back then the blueprint was clear. You believed the Bible and actually did what it said. You didn’t sit on your private butt in front of your flat-screen plasma TV but spent as much time as you could eating and laughing with your fellow saints. And you prayed. That was it. Bing bang bong. Christianity for dummies.
Do yourself a favor. Get narrow
Let me start by saying that, in general, I don't like paraphrases or dynamic equivalent translations of The Bible. I prefer the more literal translations like the New King James (NKJV), New American Standard (NASB) and recently the English Standard Version (ESV). I do use the New International Version (NIV) as a general reading bible, and it's the one I carry around, as that seems to be the default version for most pastors to preach and teach out of.
My biggest problem with the NIV and the New Living Translation (NLT) is that they tend to present one (usually the most common) interpretation of a passage, as apposed to presenting a literal translation of the text, and leave it to me to figure out what the author intended to say. That being said, I also believe that the best version of The Bible for a person to have is the one that they will read, and enjoy reading. I think that explains the success of the NLT, and the NIV before it.
Below is an excerpt from an article titled “Christians Can’t Ignore the World…” -@ktackel
Today I was reading Acts 17 and it is amazing how Paul uses the local culture of the time to reach people. I think there is a big disconnect in churches about using the culture of the time in church. Well, ok, actually more than a disconnect, there can be major arguments on the subject!
Many churches are using secular songs and video to make a point in relation to a subject they are trying to teach. Now before we go further, I will say secular songs for the sake of doing them, to me has no point, but if they relate to a message I think there can be good reason backed by Paul in this case.
People often think that secular media in church can be seen as sin or just wrong to God but I believe that if we truly want to meet people where they are especially people that are not Christians then it needs to be considered. Starting in Acts 17:16 and onward Paul talks about how he walked around and saw the various idols and how distressed it made him. So I believe in reading that we can’t close our eyes to the world and what is going on, we can be distressed by it, but we should not ignore it.
In Acts 17:28 Paul even quotes a poet of the time to help people relate to his message. So what you say? Poets of that time are like popular musicians, or rock stars of our time. Meaning if a preacher uses lyrics from a secular band for example to make a point relating to the message I believe it is completely biblical, as long as there is a point and it points people back to Jesus.
Read the rest of the article here.
I like this. I'm torn a little about it, but it provides some food for thought. I agree with the over all point, but I think that it can cause problems. Below is the comment I posted at the article.
"I play drums, grew up in church, and have changed my opinion on this more than once.
I would have no problem with using a secular song to illustrate a sermon topic, but I couldn't see using it as part of the worship portion of the service..
Worship is to be upward looking, about God to God, and exalting Him above all else. It's not for us or meant to instruct us (although it probably does both to some extent) it's about us worshiping him.
Anything that puts a light on ourselves by definition is not worship, at least not worshiping Him."
The Barna Group has an article out today titled New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible. It is at the same time interesting and very sad. It really highlights a problem that I have recently come to see a the root of a lot of the problems we are currently seeing in the modern Church, specifically, a low view of scripture. The Authority of scripture is not emphasized, and Apologetics is rarely taught, if at all.
I have found an article that sums up why Pastor Brandon Cox dislikes the prosperity doctrine, and posted it as an update to my post titled "The Gospel Gone Terribly Wrong!"
Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich
The New York Times had the above article on Saturday.
Why can't the church speak out about this? I mean really.
One of our church Pastors said in a bible study recently "If you can't preach it everywhere, you probably shouldn't preach it anywhere." I wonder if Kennith Copeland would try to preach this message in Haiti, or Ethiopia?
Check out this excerpt -
Sitting in Section 316, eight rows up, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a Bible at lunch time, was a family who could explain the enduring loyalty the prosperity preachers inspire.
Stephen Biellier, a long-distance trucker from Mount Vernon, Mo., said he and his wife, Millie, came to the convention praying that this would be “the overcoming year.” They are $102,000 in debt, and the bank has cut off their credit line, Mrs. Biellier said.
They say the Copelands rescued them from financial failure 23 years ago, when they bought their first truck at 22 percent interest and had to rebuild the engine twice in a year.
Around that time, Mrs. Biellier first saw Mr. Copeland on television and began sending him 50 cents a week.
Others who bought trucks from the same dealer in Joplin that year went under, the Bielliers said, but they did not. “We would have failed if Copeland hadn’t been praying for us every day,” Mrs. Biellier said.
So, they are currently $102,000 in debt, after 23 years of sending the Copelands money, but they travel to Texas anyway, praying that this would be “the overcoming year.” They say they would have failed without Copeland's prayers.
Let's see, $100,000 in debt and no more credit line doesn't sound like success to me.
Then the article has this little gem.
The Bielliers are now among 386,000 people worldwide whom the Copelands call their “partners,” most of whom send regular contributions and merit special prayers from the Copelands.
If you send the Copelands money, then you merit special prayers?
In Matthew 10, Jesus, when sending out the disciples said this:
"As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep."
I know that it say's a worker is worth his keep, but he was talking about God taking care of them, not the people to whom they were preaching. We know this because of the statement "Freely you have received, freely give." Ken Copeland seems to think that sending him money gets you the privilege of being prayed for by him, or his ministry staff. The article continues.
The Bielliers were at the convention a few years ago when a supporter made a pitch for people to join an “Elite CX Team” to raise money to buy the ministry a Citation X airplane. (Mr. Copeland is an airplane aficionado who got his start in ministry as a pilot for Oral Roberts.) At that moment, Mrs. Biellier said she heard the voice of the Holy Spirit telling her, “You were born to support this man.”
She gave $2,000 for the plane, and recently sent $1,800 for the team’s latest project: buying high-definition television equipment to upgrade the ministry’s international broadcasts.
Mrs. Biellier said some friends and relatives would say the preacher just wanted their money. She explained that the Copelands did not need the money for themselves; it is for their ministry.
And besides, even “trashy people like Hugh Hefner” have private airplanes.
“I remember Copeland had to once fly halfway around the world to talk to one person,” she said. “Because we’re partners with Kenneth Copeland, for every soul that gets saved, we get credit for that in heaven.”
Just so we're clear about what we're talking about, the picture below is a Citation X (ten) airplane.
Mrs. Bielliers, again the wife of a truck driver (with probably a lower middle class income), gave $2000 for the plane, and $1,800 for better TV equipment. It's no wonder they are $100,000 in debt.
When asked about the Copeland ministry's finances (like an income of about $100 million annually and what they do with it)
"one of their daughters, Kellie Copeland Swisher, and her husband, Steve Swisher, who both work in the ministry said that the ministry gave away “a minimum of 10 percent of what comes in” to other charities. Her father’s current favorite, she said, is a Roman Catholic orphanage in Mexico."
The end of the article goes as follows:
At the convention, the preachers — who also included Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle — sprinkled their sermons with put-downs of the government, an overhaul of health care, public schools, the news media and other churches, many of which condemn prosperity preaching.
But mostly the preachers were working mightily to remind the crowd that they are God’s elect.
“While everybody else is having a famine,” said Mr. Savelle, a Texas televangelist, “his covenant people will be having the best of times.”
“Any time a worried thought about money pops up in your mind,” Mr. Savelle continued, “the next thing you do is sow”: drop money, like seeds, in “good ground” like the preachers’ ministries. “Stop worrying, start sowing,” he added, his voice rising. “That’s God’s stimulus package for you.”
At that, hundreds streamed down the aisles to the stage, laying envelopes, cash and coins on the carpeted steps.
Nowhere (that I can find) does the Bible say that Christians will "be having the best of times" while the world is "having a famine." At least not in any physical of monetary sense.
If I, as a Christian, am completely disgusted by this teaching, how do the many readers of the New York Times, who have no biblical understanding and have an already distorted view of Jesus view the church? If mainstream Christians and Pastors don't speak out about this, then we deserve the reputation that the prosperity teachers are earning for us.
This weekend I've done a lot of reading of the New Testament, and I've found a lot of references to money and giving, but it is always in relationship to helping the poor among usn not our recieving. Never does it say that we are to desire money. I will post a summary of what I have come up with in the next couple of days.
UPDATE - Aug 25th, 2009
Pastor Brandon Cox has posted an article regarding the prosperity doctrine titled The Prosperity Doctrine Stinks!
It is a nice short read, summarized with the following list of reasons it upsets him.
