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My biggest lessons...so far!

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Marlene:
Amen Arc! This whole thread has been a simple explanation of how we should give. I have always believed this even while in Babylon. I gave with my heart. Never had enough money to give a tithe. Thats, one of the reasons I left caue our last minister choose to speak about the amount of tithe we gave. He also, had a sermon basically telling us if we do not tithe God Might Kill us. But, I thank God every day for that presecution. I had been extremely ill and should have died, but God took good care of me. He showed me who was in control. This all led to me finding BT and now I have been blessed way beyond my imagination.

In His Love,

My Brothers and Sister of BT are a blessing beyone my imagination!

Deborah-Leigh:


And the lessons get better and better....deeper and deeper and more frequent too!

I share with you the gratitude to God for our Brethren here who have also been the avenues through which our Lord has directed, edified, encouraged and helped me in my coming to know HIM.

Arc

Ninny:
I can identify with all of that!  the church I left (to come here! I'd been here awhile before I left, but my heart was gone from there long before my body followed!!) ANYWAY there they had a saying "making room for one more" So they spent 3 million dollars :o to make room for one more!! Well, since I left they have expanded yet again for another "one more" I have no idea how much that cost! It was a remodel and renovation of the existing building, but it wasn't cheap! I have some good friends still at that church, but I just couldn't agree with that philosophy! I never donated to to "building fund"! :P  Every time I pass the church I think the same thing about what have they missed out on by being so enthralled with growing! the pastor always said, "We want to reach the 'unchurched' the thousands who live around us with no church affiliation" I'm not sure building a bigger church does that!
 
They already had like 15 or 1600 people in attendance on any given Sunday! That's a lot for here because every other person who lives around here is a Baptist! There is only one Catholic church within 50 miles of here, the rest of the churches are Assembly of God, various other non denominational churches and a lot of Methodist churches (the church I left was a Methodist church, non traditional) There is one Jehovah's Witness church and two Seventh day Adventist churches! Now I ask you HOW many unchurched people are out there! There are a lot of people who want nothing to do with organized religion, but they don't consider themselves "unchurched"!!  Or maybe they DO!!  :D
So there's my 2 cents worth! (well maybe a little more than 2 cents!!)
Kathy ;)

jassy:
This thread has confirmed a thought in my head for some time now. My little church wants to build on. They have been wanting to for 2 years. But nothing comes of it. The congregation is too small and money she not big. If the Lord had wanted it to happen it would have. If its Gods will its Gods bill.

When I joined them 6 years ago my area was hit by a massive pyramid scheme. Of course, being the hermit crab I am I only found out after the whole thing blew up. It wiped out thousands of peoples savings and pensions. So I walked into into a community that was devastated and huddled together for warmth. Maby thats why I love them so much. They had hit  bottom and been humbled and could not even pay attention. I had my own problems so I fitted in beautifully.

I have always thought a church should be a support base. a place to come to pray for others and be prayed for without having strings attached. Broken people come in, get prayed for and if required given food and sometimes stay for a while. There is no discomfort coming in with a rusted car and a 10 year old wardrobe. Nobody cares, they have all been there.
  Why would you want to build fancy extensions and become yet another place people who are sick of organised religion want to avoid?  Its should be a meeting place for those who dont know where to go and God leads them there. Not a fancy place for Gods people to be entertained.

There you go, This long winded comment was actually for myself, But I will post it anyway. seems a waste to delete it.

Ocean:
Greetings All,

So true that actions do speak louder than words. If I'm not mistaken, Jesus 'ministry' reflected that. The only time He would rebuke anyone was to the 'churched-Pharicees' and Sadducee's.

When i made that connection (thanks to Ray's teachings) of the depth of God's LOVE for ALL humanity and identified the beast within, i can see clearly now. To freely give to anyone, with anything i have and be quick to forgive are new attributes i thank God for.....more precious than my current master's study that has stalled.

At times, i cringe thinking that i still would be 'chasing-my-tail' wondering why everyone else is a problem and not me :o .....had it not been for God's mercy and grace :) Also, it has become clear that God's plan/thoughts are not necessarily ours but rest on His sovereignty through faith.

Ditto, Arc.....yeah, can't seem to get enough of the deeper spiritual meanings of the Word.....its so fulfilling, nothing I've read comes close to this.

Blessings,
Ocean

 

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