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Just outta curiosity, how would I have known he was banned? Is it announced? Posted? I see that I can't click and view his profile like I can everyone else...but if I didn't notice that?

who was banned?

chuck j wrote:2 Thessalonians 3:10 (King James Version) ,may be worth considering also .

there you have the difference between someone receiving assistance or subsistence...which is I think what we actually started out discussing...lol

Tecumseh wrote: It is good that you and your church donate to the needy. But why doesn't the church sell of the treasures of the Vatican and do more as Jesus commanded?

Matthew 22:39 says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." I take that to mean that Christ would have us treat others as good, if not better, than we treat ourselves. This can include our spending also...

If the church spends more on services to the common good than they do in operating costs, they are fulfilling this command in my mind.

I do have to say that the trickle down to the individual (in that we should do the same at the personal level that the church does at a corporate level) needs to be concentrated on. Do we spend more on God's work than we do on ourselves?...the cattle on a thousand hills are His afterall...

I attend a small country church that has about 150 in attendance on Sunday mornings on a good day...our pastor is what most would consider "part-time". He owns his self- employed and does not receive a paycheck from the church.

The tithes that go into the coffers each week go partially to keep the lights on and pay the two quasi-fill-time employees we have, and supply the closet with materials for teaching and general use. Roughly 30% goes to missions that we support around the country and the world.

There is a group of us who go out weekly and feed homeless and marginalized folks in our area every Saturday night. We feed around 200 folks out of our pockets to the tune of about $375 per week. The church provides us with wheels with which to deliver and gas to run the wheels (out of the general fund and not from the afore mentioned missions fund.) We feed folks and provide stuff we take for granted (deoderant, soap, shampoo, toilet paper...etc.) All of this is over and above our tithe each week.

As the offering plates are passed on Sunday morning, the kids walk around and gather pocket change that goes into a seperate fund used exclusively to help folks put food on their tables, keep the heat on and keep meds in the medicine cabinet. Our spare change adds up to around $1500 every two or three months. I am not alone in that I never spend my change, I keep it to give to the kids on Sunday.

When West blew up, we bought and loaded four PALLETS of bottled water and trucked it down there for the relief efforts.

This just scratches the surface of what our 150 person congregation does on a continual basis. But we also, continually hear how we should do more or that the church isn't doing what it should. It gets old...thank you...we appreciate your input...

Tecumseh wrote:Why is it the most wealthy country/institution in the world, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, doesn't just take care of all the homeless and sick people? Why doesn't the local church down the street raise money for cancer patients and operate a homeless shelter after church services? Why should I be forced to do that with my tax dollars. Churches don't even pay taxes but keep the money they are gifted and don't even use it for good works. Just another reason that the tax system is not fair. Churches need to start coughing up money and doing their fair share.

I know quite a few churches that spend more outside the church than they do in-house...Mark 12:31 in practice...so get your church to start doing it if it's not...

No one is entitled to my labor because they made bad choices.