In every country you will travel to, you will note that there exists the rich, the very rich and the poor. The rich are meant to show that their is hope and that the system works hence you gotta trust it. You have to believe that everyone (especially the very rich) is playing by the rules and that someone above is watching. This belief is catalyzed by the clergy, whether catholic, protestant, hindu or muslim. You believe that someone holds your luck cards and you just have to be good and fight the devil - be prayerful - and eventually you will be blessed like the top-class. In the meantime, the very rich are enjoying themselves silly and the clergy too. The clergy will take trips around the world enjoying themselves in the name of seminars and pilgrimage and eat dinner with wine and good sex from prosties.
Tithing is worse than gambling, it is just a spiritual bet hoping someone will 10x it.
Have been thinking same thing and that we have treated our belief and walk with God like some who has placed the altimate bet the one that cannot fail , and we have been waiting for this jackpot called blessings that will sort us for life ,
And the frustration of failing to hit the jackpot year after year yet you have played by all the required rules .then you keep asking your self what wrong you are doing because itās not coming .
Big question have we believed a lie??!
Belief in God isnāt a lie in itself, itās a human attempt to explain how we got here. The science of reproduction is clear about how humans are conceived, but it doesnāt explain how the very first seed of human life or the other things we see happened, or the reasons for our existence. Itās OK to try to understand what life is, beyond the obvious.
The lie is in the commercialisation of that quest for truth by religious outfits which pose as the answer to everything, by asking people to give too much of their time and money to perpetuate their existence. IMHO, every human being must work to support himself, but some people have become clever and seen that pretending to know God more than anyone else, and just talking continuously about the mysterious, actually qualifies as work.
I agree with you.
The lie to me is the assumption that through prayers and fasting one can conjure God in to some predictable patterns of events. Particularly financial breakthrough as we call it . And that one can read him scriptures to make him feel guilty of not fulfilling his word , Again as presented by alot of questionable preacherās now we know .
And the frustration comes after carrying this weight of belief for years , through youth , into married life waiting for this jackpot called breakthrough that is Soo elusive over this yearās ,and imagining that because God has never failed , then Mimi ndio Niko na makosa and I need to find out this one thing that am not doing right ,
Then across the road pale Mugithi ya samido there more V8 parked there than in our church parking lot ,people fckn each other like rabbits yet it looks like this financial breakthrough is very present there. Than in our clean corner . ???
They say it takes all sorts to make a world; there are honest people, and there are rogues. It then becomes the personal duty of each individual to interrogate the reality of life and make the decisions which fit his/her circumstances. There are those who will take advantage of religion and the ignorance of many to take out of life what hard honest work wonāt give as fast (like one well known preacherman who was recently seen selling scraps of āblessedā paper to his congregation, and waking dozing idlers with slaps), and theyāll justify it because they too are children of God, who must eat, drink and make merry. Remember that the world thrives on deception, even money as we know it in modern times is just a particular type of coloured paperš
Just use your head, thatās all.
but Sir, how will the church be run and maintained if pastor does not take it seriously like a real job and collect tithe from the flock? Also, are they really pretending to know better when some of them have degrees? If pastor says God speaks to him how do we disprove him?
Iām someone who speaks from the heart, so nitafungua roho.
Kwanza kabisa let me continue praying to my God. I believe the Kingdom of God is within me, and as for the things of this world, weāll leave them behind when our time comes. Ni ya dunia tu. Na dunia tunapita.
I may not fully understand the concepts of heaven and hell, but one thing I know is that everything in this world ends here.
When it comes to tithing and offerings, Iāve come to believe that itās better to help the poor and needy directly. Church ina ukora mwingi sana.
There was a time I felt deeply troubled and asked myself, āMust I really take a tithe to church? My God is not broke.ā Hapana God sio msoto. Yuko na kila kitu. Jamaa wa kanisa alininyorosha na scriptures sawa sawa and honestly felt like I was being manipulated. I felt like I was being forced to do kitu si feel. It hurt me, and I even swore Iād convert to Islamā¦ but eventually, I calmed down. These days, I donāt go to church anymore. Siendangi not because simpendi mungu but juu sitaki kupatana na watu wakunitupisha mbao.. wakora. Matapeli.
What Iām giving are just my own opinions and observations about the practice of Christianity, and the way I perceive it to have morphed over the years Iāve been around since I was a kid. Let me stick to that because itās what I know, I canāt say anything about other religions.
Some people have abused the willingness of the congregation to give to God, so much that it has become like showbiz. For starters, what kind of person was Jesus, whom Christians follow, as portrayed in the Bible?
He was a gentle person kind and conscentious, even feeding a crowd of 5000 people at one time. But at the same time he was very fierce when it came to keeping the temple (the equivalent of a church building today) free of commercial activity: he once thrashed with a whip a group of traders who were selling their wares in thr temple. He was also not a flamboiyant or showy person, thatās why after healing a person there is a time he told the man not to reveal it, meaning he wasnāt looking for fame. He must have looked like just an ordinary guy, thatās why even Pontius Pilate was laughing at him, mocking him, asking him, āAre you the king of the Jews?ā, and why Judas had to identify him to the Pharisees with a kiss on the cheek ( nothing strange, itās a normal way of hugging and greeting a close friend/brother among Italians even today, probably a culture extended to Judea by the Romans then) during the betrayal and arrest. So he wasnāt spectacular, standing out in the groupāhe needed to be pointed out to the strangers (yet people who had spiritual discernment knew him enough to ask him to have mercy on them)
If you look at many one man or one woman ministries today, there is a complete departure from the example Jesus. Those leaders are like celebs, hardly any different from politicians, secular musicians, and film stars
Personally I believe a church should exist to give spriritual nourishment to a peopleāso they donāt become too evil and destroy themselves and others. But as Jesus helped people, a church should also help the community around it, for which it should exist in the first place. Of course a pastor is a human being who needs to be supported to be able to function well and do Godās work. And what is Godās work if itās not serving fellow humans? No one has seen God, degree or no degree, we all spend our lives seeking Him, thatās the truth as I see it. He is Spirit, influencing people and moving them to do right, si we cannot see Him. The only way we experience God is through the forces of nature, and through the actions of fellow human beings who have a heart to do good, and thatās how God does miraclesāHe works through human brains, eyes, hands and feet.
What seems gross is seen great wealth in the churchāwhich is gathered from the contribution by the community, and then it contrasts sharply with the poverty among members. It ought not to be that way, and this is what leads me to question the purpose and motivations behind some of the ministries which seem to compete for attention in low income parts of Nairobi, for example. Jesus never advertised miracles and did anything so as to be applauded, He did things because they were the right things to do. People are so much drawn to so called miracles at scheduled crusades, which are just theatre. This is why Iām skeptical of the glamour of our new Christianity.
Chief, Jesus was definitely a celebrity. The gospels tell us repeatedly that his fame spread like wildfire throughout Galilee and it is his miracles to be precise that drew the mega crowds. Jesus himself said, āIf you do not believe me, then believe the works.ā He definitely wanted the miracles out there. If he wasnāt a celebrity why did he need 12 disciples following him around? I mean 12 PAs even for a county governor is overkill. Also we donāt know whether Jesus did not advertise his miracles. Can crowds of 7000 men and 5000 men (21000 and 15000 respectively if you include women and children) just gather randomly out of nowhere to listen to Jesus without prior information he was coming? How? They must have been informed he was coming. The story about Judas betraying him is puzzling considering Jesus had just made a very public triumphant entry into Jerusalem only a few days before his betrayal. Anyway, miracles were a key part of Christianity even before Jesus with guys like Moses, Elijah and Elisha performing them. It literally proves someoneās from God/ has Godās audience. Poor people have more free time so obviously pastor must target them for maximum salvation.
On whether anyone has seen God, yes. Isaiah saw God. Jacob too saw God and even wrestled with him. Even moses saw Godās back I believe. Apostle Paul also claimed to receive revelations too from Jesus. In fact, all the prophets claimed to have at least heard God so we cannot dismiss pastor when he claims to be hearing God.
They ask you, O Prophet, what ways they should spend charitably. Say to them: Whatever good offering you pay is for your parents, and nearest relatives, orphans, the indigent, and the needy wayfarers. And whatever good you do, God is, indeed, all-knowing of it.(Quran 2:215)
mdau our faith is not based on fear but freedom and conviction , its OK to go to a church where you are comfortable and dont apologize for that the fact that you are aware as you say [quote=āYuletapeli, post:10, topic:558873ā]
I believe the Kingdom of God is within me,
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Keep it there NO ONE HAS A MONOPOLY OF GOD , we are all equall,
agree with you.