I had a problem and went to church and told the Pastor. He said, "I would like to help you out, which way did you come in?":wow:
I had a problem and went to church and told the Pastor. He said, "I would like to help you out, which way did you come in?":wow:
So I went and told one of the board members and he responded, "We love you Nikos. You know every person has a right to be stupid, but you have abused the privilege."
See how nice they are?!
I sure am thankful that I go to a church that really is concerned about me. One of the Deacons came up to me last Sunday and said he had been at the Zoo all day last Saturday. He said, "I thought of you all day long."
:wow:
Actually she did
To which BAP respondedQuote:
Quote Originally Posted by curly sue View Post
All I see here is a club. What are the scriptures teaching we should require anything, tithes, attendance or anything to receive benefits from some man? What scriptures tell us to incorporate and have bylaws to gather together with the body? BABYLON pure and simple!
Jesus said I came unto you hungry...naked...did you feed Him? Did you clothe him. Oops, he isn't a tithe paying member. My bad.
Again Colonel , Keep discussions on point rather than going off on tangentsQuote:
Guess we are going to get rid of all the membership rules and bylaws of this man made forum too :)
Still not sure exactly what you are going to feed the poor and the naked with if somebody somewhere isnt giving or tithing .. Help me
out perhaps i am missing something
She was talking about extracting a tithe or membership fee, not about giving voluntarily to a church. Including so that they can give some of the money on to the poor. You're the one who is confusing things and I have no interest in nitpicking about this any further.
I'll try not to muddy the waters further,:hanging:.
I think the small letter c church today doesn't particularly resemble the way people gathered in the NT.. I do not believe the NT mandates tithing. So, to endlessly argue over those points is a waste of time imo. For those who actively participate in church as it is mostly "done" today, I think it would be dishonoring a contract to not do what one agrees to do. That is one reason I will never be a "member" again. I have heard of a church locally that if you aren't paying your tithes, don't call on the pastor because he won't come. I think that is a pretty sorry attitude myself, but so be it. I'm not going to mess with a shepherd who beats the sheep.
Now as to the OP, if the facts are true as stated, (who knows huh?) I think the church could have handled it differently. As I have known tithers in the past, they pretty much made sure their tithes went in no matter what. So, that's that for me. As has been said, we only know one side of the story.
I don't desire to fall out with my brothers and sisters over stuff like this.
You're describing a corporate church but there are other approaches. CatchyUsername was into the concept of the relational church at one time. She once sent me 7 tapes by Graham Cooke called "Who's building the house ?". Maybe someone has something to add about that concept.
I appreciate the spirit of your post nonetheless I must say that as far as the scriptures go "membership" wasn't optional and with membership came obligations. Very real obligations
Now how to implement those obligations today is obviously up for debate But the NT certainly didn't post a soft picture of those membership obligations . In other words they were very real and not abstract .
For instance those who didnt work weren't allowed to eat meaning there's were requirements . People who weren't willing to work to contribute to the collective treasure weren't to partake of the collective treasure of the church. Don't know if such people would be seen as having inactive membership status in today's parlance but I certainly see a parallel
It sounds like they just did some actuarial work on the"membership" of the church, the lady gave for 50+ years and when the time arrived where she may be entitled to some fruit they pulled the plug.
Even the pagans would call that theft.
Come to me, all who labor and can bring in your tithe, and I will give you rest in the church cemetery when you die.