It's all about money, you know!
Michelle and I attended her great aunt's funeral visitation this evening. I saw many old friends from various denominational backgrounds. It was interesting and I was very careful not to stir people up too badly. I now know I have a gift for stirring people up.
Anyway, my friend who is a pastor was telling me how he was going to preach on vision and what we should do and why. I told him that was good. Then I told him what was bad. What is bad is that you've preached hundreds of sermons on this subject and people say "amen" but never engage the truth you preach by putting it into practice.
I told my friend the story about an African American pastor who stood in his pulpit and told his congregation that he was tired of telling them week after week what needed to change and no one was doing what they were taught so he was not going to preach that Sunday morning or any other Sunday morning until they started obeying what they already knew to be truth.
My friend, the pastor paused at that story and said, "You know Bob, it's all about money. I could never do what that other pastor did because I have only three years until retirement and they would fire me. You know Bob, it's really all about money, isn't it?"
Is it really ALL ABOUT MONEY? Is that REALLY why we do not insist on obedience to the truth of God's Word? My friends own words condemn him.
What have you to say?
posted by Bob Carder @ 11:13 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Unfortunantly, I've seen this before. Pastors get to a point where they feel they're too old to do anything else, so they do whatever has to be done to keep their job, no matter how cold they may be.
Which would be fine if they weren't dragging everyone else down with them. Not only that, but any threat to them is eliminated, which is the most angering part.
Yeah, this is sad ...
How could we help him?
Fear is not only an enemy of discipleship, but it's poison to the soul.
This is a sad story. I was shocked that he admitted this to me. I was also shocked because Michelle and I raise our own support and we never know how we are going to end up from month to month. If today was payday, we couldn't be paid. I pray for a willingness for deeper sacrifice among my peers.
We need to pay whatever the price for this cause of reaching younger generations and redeeming older generations back to disciple making as the main thing.
In response to H2B,
is fear the real enemy here? I distinctly remember Jesus saying that nobody can serve both God and money. i think the true problem here is that the pastor referenced is serving the wrong master. Not meaning to be inconsiderate to the man, Im sure he has a family to consider or some other thing that is truly important to him. but isnt what's important to Him more important(not to sound redundant)? But still, it is a sad truth that Mammon has held a seat on the throne of the church that was meant to be seated by God alone
It really is all about money. To find out why look at this site:
http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse
When you look at this, Bob, I hope you will wake up to what a greedy, selfish country you choose to live in.
Can't wait until the Chinese bomb the crap out of America.
We do live in a country with some selfish greedy people. Yet America gives more money away than your country does. If China bombs the crap out of us we won't be able to protect your sorry ass, I mean butt.
David, I also want to thank you for the link above and I am enjoying this dialogue way too much.
David, I need to meet you, for sure.
With what calibre weapon, Bob?
to both david and bob,
please dont turn this into a country bashing conversation. Those rarely go well and are seldom enjoyable for any witnessing party.
To david,
All the nations of the world are sinful. America may be the experts on greed (not a point im arguing in either way), but we dont corner the market on it. The Lord says in Scripture that no one can serve two masters, and NONE of the worlds nations, N. America included, are actually SERVING Jesus, so they are ALL working on Satan's agenda.
To Bob
I thought you knew better than to play the "my country is better than yours" game. We both know that no amount of giving or good deeds negates sin in the Lord's eyes. in fact, said deeds are filthy rags to Him. And His standards, not the worlds, are the ones we are to be living by, is it not so?
To zach: You are full of wisdom. So can you explain why God commanded/condoned mass slaughter, rape and pillaging in the Old Testament? And also explain those passages that state that God is the author of evil. And then there is the death penalty for various misdemeanors.
When you talk about God's standards, I take it you don't have these particular one's in mind?
Or do you know better than to blaspheme God by suggesting He had anything to do with the authorship of the Old Testament?
Huh, zach?
Zach, you missed the country thing. David is a an atheist and he is mocking us.
He really does need to think about is sorry little butt in light of eternity.
ah, the old sarcasm deficiency strikes again. well, thats unfortunate. but sarcasm is a gift, and if you have it, good, if not, get out of the way or youll get stuck in a crossfire. kind of like i just did. oh well. so i'll leave you two to your discussion.
David,
sorry that i wont be continuing our discussion. actually, im not, since as i dont beleive you can even begin to understand the God you so fervently criticize, any conversation would really be fruitless and irritating to me, since unlike Bob, i do NOT find such chatter entertaining. But know that i will be praying for you.
Zach hits another home run. You must rest, you are hitting far too many home runs here. I'm proud of you.
Could it be, Bobert, that you were just taking an offhand remark at more face value than it deserves? Generally we, as people, even if we speak what seems plainly and simply, are far more nuanced and we RARELY speak literally.
Just a thought.
I've never read a serious explanation of why God would condone mass killing and rape. Christians usually avoid this type of query by disparaging the questioner.
david-
the primary reason people avoid this question are either a.) they have no idea because theyve never studied their faith (i know, it's tragic) or that b.) people who ask that question rarely actually want an answer.
BUT I do believe that someone who is willing to ask a question should get some kind of answer. Whenever God commanded His people to wipe out and entire people and not leave any alive, the overlaying theme is holiness. God called His people to be holy and set apart, that He would be their only God. He clearly states that if the peoples aforementioned werent wiped out, they would be a stumbling block to His people and the people would turn to depravity, which very much is the case of what happens, if you read what happens to Solomon. That has always been my understanding of the extermination of the natives of Canaan.
However, i am unaware of ANY instance of the Lord condoning rape, could you provide a specific instance where that happens?
Even with the sins of many, God can use them to declare His manifold wisdom which is, God is God and He alone is God.
While God allows us to sin for the sake of our own free will, He also turns our bad choices and destructive sin around for His own glory.
Nothing happens without God knowing about it before it happens.
In most cases when God ordered Israel to kill other nations, He gave the nations ample warning. Israel wasn't even allowed to claim THEIR promise land for 400 years because God had to wait for the iniquities of the inhabitants to overflow. That's merciful and just.
These accounts prove for sure that God is slow to anger.
Evil and out of control natural events come with a fallen race. We sinned (Adam and Eve) and sin entered the world. Now we suffer. God's perfect universe is now out of balance.
Even hurricanes are the result of SIN - our choice!
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