Introduction and Discussion

[TheBibleIsABook]

Hello, everyone.

My name is Yvonne Readings, and my favorite bible verse(s) are Matthew 21:12-17:


12 Then Jesus entered the temple[a] and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written,


‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’;
but you are making it a den of robbers.”
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard[b] the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry
16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,


‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise for yourself’?”
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.



These are my favorite verses, because I believe it clearly demonstrates that Jesus and his followers were against the commercialism and corrupt nature of organized religion at the time (sounds familiar, doesn't it?).


My personal relationship with God is faith-based, not religion-based, because of this. I believe many churches (not all of them, of course) oftentimes forget the real reason Christianity came to be, and use it as an excuse to get money or power over others.


In my experience, many of the churches I've attended started out just fine, but ended up pushing their fundraisers, offerings, and new books the pastor wrote so much they actually spent less time teaching about the bible and more time trying to get money!


This is a massive travesty, because Christianity was an amazing movement that protested the occupation of the Romans and the prosecution of those who followed the word of God in a non-violent, peaceful manner, and was so powerful it spawned the creation of hundreds of churches and millions of believers all across the nation.


Perhaps I am wrong in saying this, but I think churches, as they are now, are not entirely necessary.


I remember hearing a very interesting turn of phrase from a friend of mine. He also has had negative experiences involving churches in the past, and he said something that I have never forgotten.


"Churches are essentially amphitheaters that host Jesus reruns."


What are your opinions on this very interesting topic? I'd love to hear them, so long as they have good reasoning, reliable sources, and aren't just a slew of insults/"you're going to hell for having a controversial opinion" comments.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Introduction and Discussion

Thanks for a polite introduction. That is a wonderful passage.—.we don't recommend the NRSV as a rule yet HERE the message is similar.—.and I must say I agree.

Jesus was very much opposed to the commercialisation, and have you seen the sort of stuff on the market these days? Just now we were checking out THIS mind boggling tackiness and would you believe it? A chocolate pope-rabbit of all things! And just in case full-sized death-by-chocolate is too much, A MORE MANAGEABLE VERSION is available.

Religion is a superstitious world view reinforced by lies and dogma, again just as Jesus noticed two millennia ago. He commented extensively on the subject as I see you have already discovered.

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/search.php?hs=1&q=vipers

The Bible is not a book requiring interpretation. God says His piece quite plainly, and yet, all these denominations and creeds have doctrines and practices which not only disregard The Bible but promote ideas explicitly forbidden in The Bible with rites and statuary directly contradicting God's commandments. So the question arises, since not from The Bible which is our only source of Christ's teaching, where do the ideas come from?

Christians follow the teachings of Jesus, a plain-spoken message I find very easy to understand, resulting in an outlook where superstition and religious dogma become entirely unnecessary. Jesus explained everything we need to know for Salvation and although I appreciate that in specific circumstances by the ministry of The Holy Spirit specific revelation may be possible it is absolutely certain that such revelation will not contradict what had been revealed thitherto.

For example, say I announce “NEVER WEAR ORANGE CLOTHES.” and then you come along with a specific enquiry about what to wear one day. For a special occasion. And I say, orange hat, orange twin-set, orange beads with a nice orange belt and some orange shoes. And maybe THE GREEN FEATHER LEGGINGS with matching orange kilt so apart from minor details of taste you can see that what I've advised contradicts what I said before. God cannot be like that.

JAMES 1 . KJV . look up
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

The "religious" deceivers claim that God does vary. That idols, so vehemently castigated through both Testaments, have become OK for some reason. This is a lie. God defines idols and prohibits idolatry. There are no idols at Landover. Another lie as you point out is that God requires gold plated reliquaries and gem-encrusted platinum goblets so hand over all your cash. The Bible denounces such greed very frequently and is very explicit. Has God changed His mind? No. Of course not. But the goblets and reliquaries are there. Where did they come from? Were these false beliefs, the superstitions reinforced with lies, already in existence before Jesus? Did smarmy clerics rebadge their previous generations of idols as "Jesus" and "Mary" and "all the 'saints'" to centralise the fraud under a single umbrella for economies of scale and increased profit taking? Yes. Of course they did. What they all preach contradicts The Bible, contradicts Jesus and contradicts God. That is religion.

There is no religion here.

Welcome to the forum.

[Mister Brasil]

Re: Introduction and Discussion

My name is Yvonne Readings, and my favorite bible verse(s) are Matthew 21:12-17:

Thanks so much for joining Yvonne!

Definitely, whether or not wealth is best distributed by those who have earned it through hard work, cold accounting, and wise exploitation, or whether it should be seized by bureaucrats and used to encourage various welfare queens to have babies out of wedlock, is a topic of intense debate in some Christian communities. (Not so much around here, as we rely on the Bible for answers, which it always provides clearly.)

I found this great passage by Chad Hovind, who writes,

Let’s not forget where in the Bible we find this phrase, “brother’s keeper.” Cain uses this phrase after killing his brother as an excuse to change the subject when God confronts him. I’d like to suggest that anyone encouraging a lifestyle of charity and generosity should not quote a guy who killed his brother. I’m just sayin’.

He's just sayin', but I think he has a clear understanding of this issue. God understands that Cain is being rhetorical in his question. The rest of that article is great, by the way, you should give it a look.

I think what's important here is that there's a qualitative difference between selfishness and self-interest. Selfishness is what other people do. Self-interest is what True Christians endorse.

[Red Spinifex]

Re: Introduction and Discussion

My personal relationship with God is faith-based, not religion-based, because of this. I believe many churches (not all of them, of course) oftentimes forget the real reason Christianity came to be, and use it as an excuse to get money or power over others.

What exactly are you implying, madam? This statement seems highly suspect, even downright suspicious, to me. No wonder you are presently under investigation. This statement could be read as a snide attack on the L.B.C. and all its true-believing members in its online Congregation.

I believe many churches (not all of them, of course) oftentimes forget the real reason Christianity came to be, and use it as an excuse to get money or power over others.

Hmmm? I don't like this statement. I don't like it all.

But I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, madam, as a True Christian™ should and believe you are not including the L.B.C. as one of the "many churches." But I strongly urge you to watch yourself and be careful in what you state on this forum in future.

[Mary Etheldreda]

Re: Introduction and Discussion

In my experience, many of the churches I've attended started out just fine, but ended up pushing their fundraisers, offerings, and new books the pastor wrote so much they actually spent less time teaching about the bible and more time trying to get money!

So you're against tithing? How do you think pastors get to the unchurched? Do you think Jesus is some cosmic clown that blows up magical balloons into shapes of jets and yachts and snaps His Mighty Fingers for them to become real? I'm sorry dear, but that's ridiculous! No, churches need tithes so their pastors can go in style and not embarrass the LORD by showing up like some barefoot hippie to be mocked and lambasted and thrown out of the village. If you'd like to contribute to our Pastor's New Jet Aircraft Fund, please call the office to set up a tithing schedule now. You won't need naught but your bank routing number, bank account number, social security number. No one will ask for your physical address or proof of citizenship.

This is a massive travesty, because Christianity was an amazing movement that protested the occupation of the Romans and the prosecution of those who followed the word of God in a non-violent, peaceful manner, and was so powerful it spawned the creation of hundreds of churches and millions of believers all across the nation.

Christianity was a political movement? Ever heard of the Crucifixion or Resurrection, dear? Don't you think those are more central to the point?