That is just ridiculous. I've visited may churches around the city and i've never seen anything like that. I think that's awful, especially asking a newbie for money. Is there a faster way to drive someone away? My church sometimes holds out reach services for new people. We use the church offerings to provide an awesome night for those people, like buying the food and stuff. That seems a lot more welcoming than pushing them for money.
you know i wouldn't mind giving money if it was going to say an aids foundation, or cancer or 3rd world nations and not the preachers Lotus, but sure as hell not to get in the door.
Hi Tekk, I looked up "Christian House of Prayer" on the net and found a church in Copperas Cove, Texas, is that the one? If it is, it looks like a charismatic evangelical church who are probably in the money making business. Some really like that sort of thing, but like most here, it'll be a cold day in hell before I pay a cover charge for church! Were there bouncers?
church charge? Yikes! I'm SDA Christian, I wonder why those evangelists are doing that? They must have a good reason, but I wouldn't go back there if they are charging money before you go into the service. Was it a good sermon? Alot of Churches here in the city provide food, and clothing for the homeless, even on days when there is no worship service. I can think of two or three actually, and I know there is more. The prespertarians, catholics, and baptists.. etc,
yeah, i'm pretty sure thats it. n there wern't "Bouncers" but there were 2 BIG guys {like 6'2 looked to weight about 230 or in that range} they didn't act like bouncers either, they were smiling and being polite and collecting the money, but they looked capable of atleast keeping you out if you didn't pay, everyone payed though, now i'm half tempted to go back and not pay, and see what they say/do.
Sorry dude. :love: I'll try to remember that in the future. It must be a regional thing. My home towns are Phx, San Diego, and LA. In those places "dude" is a friendly term for a male, young or old. It's always a benign word. You can use it with friends and strangers alike. I stand by what I said about it being a fake Christian church. I'd say it to their face.
well, not particularly, it was about repention and sinning, nothing new that i hadn't heard a thousand times, i do get a kick out of how they get red in the face from all the arm motions and yelling. i also didn't like that he specifically pointed me out and put me on blast when he mentioned that i was new and blah blah blah.
no prob, but just for the record, you do know that a "dude" is an enfected hair on an elephants ass? so next time you go to call someone "Dude" think about that around here dude is used, but not as much as "man" or my least favorite 5-letter N word {how the hell that became acceptable is beyond me} the catch phrase around here is "guy" "Hey guy, check this out" it sounded weird, and took a few weeks to get used to. you'd say that to their face! now that would be funny, i could see the reaction now "you're going to hell" or "you're not a christian" and then you could come back and slam some verses in their face, {religious arguments are always the most entertaining} you of all people are most definately safe from hell.
Run... run fast and far... the moonies are coming...!!! Was the reverend named Jim Jones or similar... anywho... a mate of ours used to be hooked into this place called the forum (not an internet board) who would charge you for a "breakthrough"... (no idea something to do with the head I think)... the first one was a few hundred pounds (£) and several weeks... then the price rocketed... thousands... can we say "praise the lord"...
God is omnipotent and lives in the sky......but apparently hes just not good with money. did any of you see that south park episode where the christian channel kept asking for more and more money? that was a classic.
No, ... man. (I remembered. ) Entrance into real churches is free. Real churches are not businesses and real churches do not chase after a profit. I'm very pained that all the churches you went to were focussed on money.
On the topic of "paying" for church, can anyone tell me if the practice of the "tithe" is used by any denominations nowadays? How do you figure out how much it is and how do you pay it? What if you don't pay? Thanks!
Roman Catholics still tithe. And how much depends on the parish, IIRC. Some state a flat amount of 5-10% of your income, while others simply as that you give what you can.
i only went to that one. there are others. But none of my friends go there, i may go this weekend just for the hell of getting a feel, last time i had to hold my wallet the whole time.
Wasn't it in the bible about giving unto Caesar what is his, etc, etc.... and it says that ten percent is Gods? Where are you Aki???
Tithing 10% is not part of official Catholic Church teaching. We are obliged to help support our church as our means allow, but the exact amount or percentage is left up to the individual to determine. People who have no money to spare are not obligated to give anything. The money we give is supposed to be a gift, cheerfully and willingly given. When a fixed percentage is demanded, that money is no longer a gift. Kwajman, you're probably thinking of Matthew 22 19:21 "Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." But there's no mention of percentages.
I know that Mormons demand 10%, and it's not a gift, it's mandatory. And Scientologists make you pay for everything, the more money you have, the better a scientologist you are, that's why actors like it so much. Moonies indeed. They're all crazies.
Ya, what she said. The Caesar episode was an attempted, but failed, trap that has nothing to do with tithes/offerings. See verses 15 and 16. Herodians were people loyal to king Herod, who sat under the Caesar. To say that the Jews shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar would be treason against Caesar, and the Herodians would be all over Jesus. But to openly support Caesar would upset the Jews, who hated living under Roman rule. Jesus couldn't win. Well, they thought Jesus could not possible escape this trap. But he did it. Verse 22. The idea of 10% comes from the OT law requiring 10% of crops and other income to go to the Levites (the priests). When Joshua led the Israelites into the "promised land," the land was divided up among the several tribes. Each tribe was allotted specific real estate. This was an aggrarian world, so land was crucial. The tribe of Levi, however, was not given any land. No land --> no farm --> no food. So the OT law provided for their support. Obviously we no longer live in that context, but pastors/priests are supposed to be supported by the congregation. 1 Corinthians 9 and some other places speak to this, especially 1 Corinth 9:14.
