For those of you who think you know God because you can quote scripture: Ask yourself why Mother Theresa spent so much time with the less fortunate.
For those of you who think wars and violence will lead to the end of disputes: Ask yourself why the Mahatma was able to end British occupation with out lifting a hand in violence.
For those who feel that monetary wealth is the only way to happiness: Ask yourself why the Buddha gave up a life as Monarch to live a life of poverty.
And for those of you who think you know “suffering” because you have seen the Passion of the Christ: Ask a Holocaust survivor how life can continue after suffering.

What is the point of Giving without Joy, or the purpose of Doing without Pride, or the Reason for loving without Sacrifice?

Where has the joy in giving gone?

Budgets for large churches must be met somehow. Forcing tithing not to be done out of joy but out of necessity. People are led to believe that their place in heaven could be in jeopardy if that check of the right amount doesn’t make the offering plate. Which to me sounds like buying your way out of purgatory. All so the pastor and his cronies can buy bigger houses and bankroll bigger retirements. A church in Michigan recently bought a home for their pastor. No big deal right? Unless the home sits on 4 acres and is over 11,000 square feet costing over 4 million dollars. Of course it is owned by the church, a non-profit, so that means it is costing the town $40,000 in taxes every year. Could there have been a starving country we could have fed with this money or possibly a few hungry, sick, or homeless families in America that this money could have gone to? Probably not, as the elders of the church put it, we honor our athletes and actors with giant bankrolls and multi-million dollar mansions what are we saying if we don’t do the same for a man of God. I believe that if someone wants to be a man of the cloth so he can live in a 4 million dollar house he may be in the wrong profession. I don’t think our clergy need to go poor but I also think a Church that can afford to buy a house of that girth has a greater responsibility to the community in using that money for more Christianly endeavors. The last time I read the Bible I could have swore greed and envy were sins? Interesting how this pastor and church don’t see the correlation. And in a church that size, you don’t think there is one parishioner who may be starving or on the brink of losing their meager home or struggling to pay medical bills? This is the kind of thing that pushes people from Christianity. They see too many churches like this and not enough that make it a joy and goal to use their finances to help others. This could be because the churches with a greater bent towards helping others don’t have the operating budget that allows for flamboyant shows of wealth to get peoples attention.

JESUS CAMP!

This movie is a must see and an incredible eye opener. I could drone on about how many things were incredibly wrong with the way these crazy’s abuse the kids but all of that is obvious. What I have to say is about the biggest victim of this movie. Beyond the children as a whole there is one in particular. He is a small boy with blinding blond hair in a bowl cut. Unlike the other main, more outspoken kids he only has a small section of dialog, one I might add, that is the most honorable dialog out of the whole movie. A boy sitting in a room full of kids with incredible zeal, a boy who is worried because he doesn’t feel that same zeal. He speaks of doubting the Bible and God at times. This elicits a response of gapping horror from the parents and the head preachers. Why is no one proud of this young boy who has the courage to say these things to a group of peers who feel very strongly the opposite? Why does no one encourage this boy to ask questions? Why is that such a bad thing, to ask questions? Multiple times these children are brought to tears and while many seemed genuine, this young boy’s looked more like frustration. Tears that were for the want to understand. To know the zeal all these other kids feel. Why it can’t be a zeal that encourages questioning is beyond me. When you see this movie, if you have not already, don’t be sad for Levi the Evangelist in training or the two girls who are headed on the same path, because they are content in what they have “chosen”. Instead be sad and concerned for the young blond boy and the others like him who cry out of frustration because they are not allowed to question.