Posted by Otter at 12:49pm Jan 12 '09which is reasonable but sad.
You're assuming the worst about everything you see... which is a decision you've made based on your bias based on your personal experience.
I don't know anything about this church and it's reputable-ness or not... or it's doctrine, or even it's denomination!
Assuming that it's "good" though without knowing seems to make life a lot easier. Assuming everything is "bad" without knowing seems to make life a lot harder.
I don't know what this "witnessing" before a sermon means - I don't think this is a familiar concept to me. People will naturally gravitate to the leader - yes... is that right? probably not... they assume he knows the most about God... which is probably a false assumption too.
Does that woman saying "amen" loudly so everyone can hear her... continue to be a Christian when she walks out the door? Who is it for us to judge her actions based on her church demeanor? What right do any of us have?
No greater right than someone would have to judge you for NOT saying "amen" loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Maybe their church store benefits homeless people in Houston... did you ask? It probably benefits the church general fund which in-turn benefits all the church's ministries which probably includes a homeless program for a church of that size and notoriety. Have you ever studied the wastefulness of the American Red Cross?
Despite that the church has to make a weekly production of God's message - I'd be willing to be they are as efficient or more efficient than some other non-profit organizations in their giving and public service..... unless they happen to be one of those mega-church's where the Pastor pulls-down a clean 500k/year plus all the free ferrari's and houses in hawaii that the church can buy.
Mega-Churches do scare me... somewhat irrationally. Revelation talks about the big church full of lies. Whenever I see the next great mega-church I wonder....
and yet my own church that I love is growing very rapidly. People really seem drawn to it. We've gone from 250 when I started only about 3.5 years ago to over 700 now.
It's scary messing with ideas of life and universe and powers greater than we can imagine... very scary. It's so much easier just to pretend they're not there and it's all make-believe.
----
If you stand on a train track and announce that you don't believe in trains. Will it still arrive eventually and kill you?
You're assuming the worst about everything you see... which is a decision you've made based on your bias based on your personal experience.
I don't know anything about this church and it's reputable-ness or not... or it's doctrine, or even it's denomination!
Assuming that it's "good" though without knowing seems to make life a lot easier. Assuming everything is "bad" without knowing seems to make life a lot harder.
I don't know what this "witnessing" before a sermon means - I don't think this is a familiar concept to me. People will naturally gravitate to the leader - yes... is that right? probably not... they assume he knows the most about God... which is probably a false assumption too.
Does that woman saying "amen" loudly so everyone can hear her... continue to be a Christian when she walks out the door? Who is it for us to judge her actions based on her church demeanor? What right do any of us have?
No greater right than someone would have to judge you for NOT saying "amen" loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Maybe their church store benefits homeless people in Houston... did you ask? It probably benefits the church general fund which in-turn benefits all the church's ministries which probably includes a homeless program for a church of that size and notoriety. Have you ever studied the wastefulness of the American Red Cross?
Despite that the church has to make a weekly production of God's message - I'd be willing to be they are as efficient or more efficient than some other non-profit organizations in their giving and public service..... unless they happen to be one of those mega-church's where the Pastor pulls-down a clean 500k/year plus all the free ferrari's and houses in hawaii that the church can buy.
Mega-Churches do scare me... somewhat irrationally. Revelation talks about the big church full of lies. Whenever I see the next great mega-church I wonder....
and yet my own church that I love is growing very rapidly. People really seem drawn to it. We've gone from 250 when I started only about 3.5 years ago to over 700 now.
It's scary messing with ideas of life and universe and powers greater than we can imagine... very scary. It's so much easier just to pretend they're not there and it's all make-believe.
----
If you stand on a train track and announce that you don't believe in trains. Will it still arrive eventually and kill you?
added on 12:49pm Jan 12 '09:
maybe you've never seen a train in your life before... will it still kill you?
you're just very suspicious... - Otter