When the people of God gather together in one place to worship it should be a spiritually uplifting and encouraging experience for all people. There are some who enjoy exercising power and authority over other believers; telling them how to pray, how to speak in tongues or how often you should come to church. Many of these power thirsty believers hold such positions such as teacher, minister, deacon, deaconess, choir director or simply those in the laity. I can remember attending a church in Southern California where the deacon fought the Pastor on every issue and he made it known that he didn’t like the pastor. Imagine that, a church member not liking their pastor. This poor deacon was deaf in one ear and was always out of tune & sync as he played his guitar during the worship service.
New members will join the church and the pastor has to protect (by way of warning them who to stay away from) them from being ruined and contaminated by the 5, 10 and 20 year church members whom think they are shareholders on salvation and they own a controlling interest in the Holy Ghost and the Church. Many local community churches have transformed themselves into something that resembles a clubhouse where everybody wants to be in-charge and the leader has to fight to maintain a diminished authority. Many years ago, non-church members (men and women alike) knew, if you wanted to find a good man or woman, look in the church. Fast forward to 2011, many church member have one foot in the sanctuary and the other in a pair or sexy red shoes…in the club or the men will keep their swagger in the pews and the pulpit. What sista can resist a man in the church with a great smile, nice car and a job? What brotha can resist looking into the painted big round eyes, curvy hips and mounds of cleavage of a sista standing in front of him in the prayer line wanting prayer? This is the reality in many churches and yet, no one will address it. Read more on Three Things That Should Be Prohibited From Church Services…
I’m sure the first thing that came to your mind was “Tithing” he’s going to mention something about tithing. Well one thing is for sure, this is not a new revelation, if we exercise a little critical thinking we will see what the scriptures says and to whom it addresses.
“What does the Bible say?” is always the “bottom line” in life, but that vital question needs a qualifier: “To whom?” The Bible, the Word of God, most certainly does speak about financial giving, and a good case can be made that it is one of the five most basic activities for a Christian, the others being prayer, Bible reading and study, fellowship with other Christians, and telling others the Good News about Jesus Christ.
You may say, “Well, what about Malachi 3:6-10? That says people who do not tithe are ‘robbing God.’” Those verses have been used innumerable times to prod Christians into giving, but wait a moment—TO WHOM is Malachi written? Well, in verse 9 of chapter 3 it says “the whole nation” is under a curse. What nation? The USA? No, the book of Malachi is specifically addressed to the nation of Israel, and more specifically to the priests (see 1:6, 10-13; 2:1, 7 and 
who were badly mistreating God’s people. To use verses from Malachi as if they are talking to Christians is at best poor scholarship and at worst dishonest. Who is robbing who? The Church did not exist in Malachi’s time, how can you take a letter written to priesthood and apply what was said to them, to the Christian Church. Why inject the element of Fear into the people of God and say, “If you tithe you won’t get sick, or the reason why your family is not saved or well is because you are disobedient in tithing.
Am I advocating not tithing? By no means, that command was given to Israel to take care of the Levitical Priesthood (whom no longer exists).
Read the Book, It’s all there! Who’s robbing who?
Originally posted 2005-11-06 00:54:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Filed under Christian Information, I can't believe you said that!, Thought Provoking! by on Aug 1st, 2011. Comment. 
I may not be the theologian that most preachers aspire to be, but I had a thought (like most people) and I decided to write it down and post it. I categorize this entry as “Thinking Out Loud”. I enjoy writing; it gives me an outlet…from what? I remember when I would ask questions in the Church and those questions would attract the wrath of the teacher or Pastor. My method of asking was pure curiosity and of the uttermost respect for the teacher. There was an atmosphere in the local church (I once attended) where certain questions were simply taboo, the problem was, I did not know what those taboo questions were.
When I attended the Bible Study, I could feel the intimidation in the air and when I look at the faces of the people, I could see their reluctance to ask or even participate in the study out of the fear of not knowing the answer and being lambasted by the scholars or scrutinized by the Pastor. I always thought asking questions is the mark of one learning.
How else do we learn how to formulate an opinion or discover the truth if we don’t ask questions? Maybe that’s it, too many questions in the Bible Study will expose the truth of a matter and the truth was to be hidden perhaps (…Just thinking out loud). Read more on A burden of the people…
Originally posted 2009-09-26 19:33:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Filed under Observation of Fact, Thought Provoking!, Uncategorized, Writing out loud by on Jul 29th, 2011. Comment.
Nothing is more uplifting to the spirit than to know a life was change, inspired, encourage and that you gave hope to someone. When you see that someone was moved by genuine love and generosity the true spirit that moves people to give and to be concerned about another is worth the effort. I can totally understand … Read more on No Offering Required…….
Originally posted 2010-01-04 15:31:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Filed under Encouraging words, Friends, On Point!, Uncategorized by on Jul 26th, 2011. Comment.
