you knew me before my time
you molded a beautiful mind
i come to you a sinner and ashamed
yet i feel glorified when i hear your name.....Jesus!
thank you for your example....
yesterday's church service was the best one i've had since i moved back, wait no, ah lie, the service i had on my b'day was pretty great but then again it was a visiting minister at my church not even my home minister and then yesterday i went to St. Matthias so there i am faced again with getting the spiritual food i need from people who are not from my church sigh* (oh woe is me) and i can't say i'm a big Anglican person but that church was da bomb! i thoroughly enjoyed the service, it was so interactive and real man, i miss churches like that! reminded me a bit of NY at least on the inspirational level, i would love to make that my home church but chaaa it's so far and then my mum might feel a way that we aren't ministering together so that's another issue but it has given me the soul power i need for this week. i even wrote a verse whilst in church (i know that's bad) but it inspired me. pity i left it home but i'll probably upload it later.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/06/mlk.role.church/index.html
Kevin sent me this link and i found it rather interesting, i've been reading a lot recently about prosperity preachers and how they have been leading people astray with their "successful living"theory as the way to God, neglecting to mention that Christians suffer as well. i will just upload the correspondence we had after reading this article.
On 4/6/08 3:44 PM, "Vanya "
this was a good article thanks for sharing.Dear Vanya,
i think a lot boils down to what people think "living the best life they can" is as we mostly hear that once u do good u will get good, that was always a motivation for me. it would be hard for people to understand that being a Christian also means that there may be suffering as well plus a lot of poor people who make up like half of jakes' congregation don't want to hear that even though they're poor now the possibility exists that they may spend the rest of their lives being poor even though they are Christians. especially living in the USA where there is so much ugliness around, ppl tend to want something positive to hold onto i guess.
what is your view of priests and the like, living luxurious lives? (cars, big house, brand name clothes)
The thing about the prosperity message is that if you teach it according the bible, it’s short, concise and maybe too simple for people to accept. From the book of Matthew the scripture reads
“25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
If you read that and understand it, that’s it in a nutshell. The error with the prosperity gospel is that it makes “successful living” the motive for coming to Christ. This is a deception for we are to come to Christ because we recognize we are sinners who need to repent and seek God’s mercy that is made available through the blood atonement of this same Jesus Christ. I can tell you that historically, many of the early Christians were persecuted, lived in poverty and even beheaded and executed. According to the standard these prosperity preachers are using today, these people lived very unsuccessful lives. I remember there is a verse, I can’t quite remember where it is in the bible but it talks about Paul and Barnabas receiving lashes for having preached the gospel when forbidden to do so. After that they actually rejoiced for having suffered for the sake of the kingdom. Besides that they were homeless for a while and were in jail as well. In fact Paul, I think died in jail, beheaded by the Roman emperor Nero.
Now being a Christian doesn’t mean god will not bless you and you’re destined to live a life of suffering. He will bless you according to his will, in his time and in his own way. It may not be riches, it may be, it may not be infamy, it may be...you don’t know. What you do know is that if you seek him first and his righteousness then everything else that you need for this temporal life will be given to you. But it’s nothing compared to what you will receive in the life here after and that is what we Christians are looking for. “A city not made by man but whose architect and builder is God.”
With that I leave you with scripture. From Philippians chapter 3:
“7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Regards
i have to share this article with some of my friends and see what opinions i get. i wonder what lars would say?
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