I have no doubt that I have told this story before but it fits here also. I was asked to give the message at a new sanctuary dedication Sunday service at a church outside of Atlanta. I sat on the aisle in the second set of pews and looked around at the people coming into the church. They were all in their Sunday best and dressed to the 9’s. About 15 minutes before the service was supposed to start, “THEY” walked in. Before they came into the door the good folks in the church were quietly chatting away between each other but as soon as They walked in, the church came to a hush. All eyes were on Them. A family of 5 walked down the aisle and then the dad asked if they could sit next to me. Sure, said I. I stood up and they filed past me and sat down. The kids were quiet and mom and dad were holding hands. They were different. Dad wore what looked like to be his best coveralls. Mom was dressed in something she probably made and the kids, whilst everything was clean, were probably wearing hand-me-downs. Whilst standing, I reached over to shake the hand of dad and mom and started a small conversation and I found out that this was their first time and were looking for a home church. Now, whether everyone watched them because of the way they were dressed or because they were new or a little bit of both I do not know but the message I prepared wasn’t the message I gave to that congregation that day. Not one person welcomed them to the church as they walked by but instead I could see that many in that new sanctuary did not approve. It just seemed sort of funny to me. Not funny ha-ha, but funny sad. God gives us His grace and shows it but yet, those who are the receivers of that grace have none to share. We have received His blessings, but we somehow forget how to bless others. We want mercy, but have no mercy to give. The epitome of greed isn’t the lust for worldly wealth and the keeping of it. Everyone has grace, blessings and mercy to give but the keeping of them is nothing but abject spiritual greed.
Bobby, GOOD FOR YOU!!!! I am a card carrying atheist, but I have all the respect in the world for real believers. (Many so-called God-fearing aren't.) Perhaps one of the most important services the local churches provide is what you did.
Our governor never really imposed many actual restrictions on us, but he did issue guidelines for churches and other group gatherings. I have not heard anything lately about what the local UMC bishop has done. The local Catholic archbishop just eased restrictions on masks making them optional and social distancing optional as well, with one side of the church spaced at distance, while the other side of the church is back to the old spacing. Since the weather is warming, I imagine the windows all be more open, but that just was not practical here during the winter months. Like you, my DNA is intact and I will do what I can to keep it that way.
Hasn't the CDC come out and said social distancing was ineffective? (Play Tape #32: People continue to obey rules even after their experts admit it was defective.) (Play Tape #33: Tape #32 scares the crap out of me.)
From one day to the next who the heck knows what the CDC is going to say. If ya have your second shot you can do any little old thing ya want provided it’s 3 weeks after you got your second shot or on the 3rd Tuesday of the month unless it falls on a full moon. If we are unvaccinated then we can’t be around vaccinated people in case the vaccine doesn’t work and it is further recommended that the unwashed cretins that we are pick out our grave sites in locations specifically designated for us and / or 100 feet from the graves of those who were vaccinated. Seriously though, when every working member of the CDC gets vaccinated then I might think about it. Thus far, only about 50% of them have their shots so that tells me a story. The latest thing I saw was a bunch of democrat congress people nearly rubbing noses sans masks so that tells me another story.
Someone had a video that had Fauci's 46 statements on masks, and not one exactly agreed with his previous statements. I know he isn't with the CDC, but most Americans don't realize that.
As I've mentioned several times, nearly everything he says contradicts every other thing he has said, yet he has been allowed to run the country for the past year and a half.
I gotta be the cynic here and say that there are a whole lot of people you could show that to and they would say "So what?" They would make any excuse in the world (like "No one knew anything about this virus" and "We're all learning as each day goes by") to deny the charade and to obey the Position of the Moment. You cannot convey objective data. People absolutely do not want to think...they truly don't. They will do as they are told in any given moment and not think about it. They can not/will not take their own decisions into their own hands, and their fears and anxieties and frustrations will be taken out on YOU for even showing that video and upsetting them. They are comfortably numb, and you are bringing conflict. You know what would change their minds? They need to see that data presented under the authority of their favorite talking head (preferably with dramatic music in the background) as an exposé of how we have been misled. Then they will come to you as Instant Experts on the very thing you tried to tell them yesterday and they violently rejected. And they will act as though you are an idiot and need their guidance on it.
I went to college at night in my adult years. I was 40 when I took my first philosophy class, and realized that we struggle with the exact same issues as Socrates and Aristotle (and countless others) did. For those who fear change, it is comforting. For those who desire progress, it is depressing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. True that.
I also missed the topic of this thread, but let's not go any further down the side trail, as this thread is about knowing what your church believes in. The virus topic began as an on-topic comment but then branched off into a virus thread.
501c3 government organizations that call themselves churches are simply government controlled organizations. Home assemblies are the way to go. Study the bible with several friends with no one leader telling everyone else what to think. In this way you become the body of Christ. The arm is not more important than the foot, the for is not more important than the eye and so on. When two or more gather and speak His name, He is there.
biblehub.com › matthew For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.” ... For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in their midst."
I tend to agree that small informal groups are free of the trappings of the institution's survival needs (assuming someone among you can prevent you from misleading each other), but just because a church is tax-exempt does not make it a government controlled organization, and more that a 501c3 charity is government controlled. Heck, a taxed entity organizes around tax code way more than a tax-exempt one does.