I went over my parents house tonight and my Dad and me watched tv. There wasn't much on but we enjoyed a rerun of the Antique Road show. My Dad insisted on flipping to the TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) telethon during the commercial breaks. He says that he does it just to aggravate himself. "God says that in order to receive your healing you need to take a step of faith. You need to plant a seed. Just call us, even if its just $20 a month, take that step of faith." It was as if they were selling miracles.
It was disturbing, it was disappointing, it was disillusioning, it was disgusting. What happened? When did it become ok to pimp out God? I'm torn. On the one hand I want to believe that these people are sincere but sadly misled. On the other hand I feel that perhaps they are B rate movie actors who just found a great paying gig. You can buy 950 people shoes for the price of one Christian cruise. Is it a sin to spend money? No, but where is the line? At what point do we become a church of fat, self serving, poser Christians?
6 comments:
I agree pretty much with what you have to say here...though strangely if I turn that channel on for my client at work he seems to enjoy it & it makes for a pleasant work environment for the evening! haha!
I guess that's the benefit I find in TBN.
I think they are less than B movie stars though..maybe Z. I swear I saw MC Hammer on there the other night!
Yes. This is one I struggle with too. We just bought a flat screen TV for our house, and I thought, "how many shoes would this buy?"
I'm not real sure about this one, Dan. What I do know from talking to others is that you may start giving a certain amount of money away, and then as you continue following Jesus and continue to feel God's blessing, then you work toward giving more and more. At least one person I know from the VWS is working toward giving 90% of his income away. Now that's a lofty goal, and one that I couldn't even imagine at this point.
I think spending money is OK as long as you are also listening to God and serving others. He will let you know, I think.
I like your new format here, by the way.
This layout is sweet you weirdo.
If you send me just $20 seed money I'll heal that green hair disease.
Maybe $40.
Maybe I'm being pessimistic here, but I think many Christians are already in that fat, self-serving, poser state......
That lady's hair scares me. She's like a robot. A pink-haired, scary robot.
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