<html>
<head>
<style>
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
FONT-SIZE: 10pt;
FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma
}
</style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'>
Yeah, I think this might not be the most comprehensive, accurate exegesis of Scripture I've ever seen. In fact, it's really rather transparent.<br><br>And an excellent point, J, about giving in such a way, and to specific projects, that will only be enjoyed by the congregants.<br><br>keely<br><br>"God works patiently and deeply, but often in hidden ways, in the mess of our humanity and history."<br>--Eugene Peterson<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br><br><br><blockquote><hr>From: privatejf32@hotmail.com<br>To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:28:02 -0700<br>Subject: [Vision2020] Dougie goes phishing for money, money, money<br><br>
Didn't I say it earlier? Dougie is asking his people to GIVE, GIVE,
GIVE as he strives to make up coffers to support his many projects. Take
a look at this week's sermon entitled "Money, Money, Money".<br>
<br>
PLEASE take particular note of his admonitions re: tithing. Do it or suffer the wrath of GOD!!!! <br>
<br>***Question for those who are into Bible-ese: Can you verify what Dougie is
saying regarding such sayings as "The next expression “if your eye is
single” is a Hebrew idiom for “if you are generous.”? *I* personally have
never heard this kind of explanation before.***<br>
<br>
Money, Money, Money (Doug Wilson Sermon for Sept 16 2007 as presented on his church website; emphasis questions added in red...dare you to answer Dougie....didn't think you would.)<br>
<br>
INTRODUCTION:<br>
<br>
For many Christians, the practical issues surrounding money are a real
headache. There are<br>
questions about acquiring it, about managing it, and about giving it away. But
we are not left<br>
without instruction—we are to tithe, give, manage, provide, and enjoy. <span style="color: red;">(Boy, is this skewed or what!?)</span><br>
<br>
THE TEXT:<br>
<br>
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through<br>
and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where<br>
thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also. The light of the body<br>
is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body<br>
shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is that darkness! No man can<br>
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the<br>
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:
19-24). <span style="color: red;">(Isn't this supposed to be in
reference to Jesus being the Treasure and service<br>
to God what we are supposed to be "laying up in Heaven."?)<br>
</span><br>
OVERVIEW:<br>
<br>
Jesus teaches us that His followers must not be graspers. <span style="color: red;">(Well, except if your name is Doug Wilson, I guess.)<br>
</span>They are not to be all about acquisition. <span style="color: red;">(Except if your name is Doug Wilson or Mike Hoffman?
Seems to me <br>
they are all about "acquisition" these days.)</span><br>
Do not lay up earthly treasures (v.19). You are putting your treasure in an
insecure place.<br>
Rather, lay up treasure in heaven—the most secure investment possible (v. 20).
Jesus tells us<br>
that our heart will be wherever our treasure is (v. 21). From this we can tell
where our treasure<br>
is—where the heart is. The next expression “if your eye is single” is a Hebrew
idiom for “if<br>
you are generous.” If you are generous, your whole life is blessed (v. 22).
Having an evil eye<br>
meant that you were miserly. If you are a miser and a tightwad—how great is the
darkness (v.<br>
23). The issue is mastery, possession. God must be your master, and your money
must be a<br>
fellow servant, along with you. <span style="color: red;">(Cite this one for me,
will ya Dougie...where does it say this in the Bible?)</span><br>
<br>
THE FIRST MEASURE:<br>
<br>
Begin with the tithe, God’s tax. The tithe is not extortion money paid to God,
so that you get<br>
to keep ninety percent. Rather, it is tribute money, demonstrating that you
understand that He<br>
really is the possessor of all of it. The tithe is rendered as your way of
saying that you understand<br>
yourself to be simply a steward of the remainder.<br>
Some wonder about the tithe in the times of the New Covenant. First, we believe
that the Old<br>
Testament is binding unless the New Testament says that it isn’t <span style="color: red;">(Oh, yeah? Then what about the part<br>
of the New Testiment that specifically states</span>—as we see, for example,
with<br>
animal sacrifices. But if a biblical principle is not fulfilled in the New,
then our operating<br>
assumption is that it continues. But for those who find this insufficient,
demanding that a<br>
practice must be explicitly taught in the New for Christians to be bound to it,
let us consider 1<br>
Corinthians 9:13-14. The Old Testament priests lived off the tithe, and St.
Paul requires that<br>
those who preach the gospel should live in the same way. <span style="color: red;">(Well, not exactly, Doug... What Paul says is: <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28540">"</span></span>12But we did not use this
right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel
of Christ. <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28538">13</span></span>Don't you know
that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who
serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28539">14</span></span>In the same way, the Lord has commanded that
those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.<span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28540">15</span></span>But I have not used any of
these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such
things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28541">16</span></span>Yet when I preach the gospel, I
cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the
gospel! <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28542">17</span></span>If I preach
voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the
trust committed to me. <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-28543">18</span></span>What
then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free
of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.")</span><br>
But to conclude this point, let me commend you, the saints of Christ
Church, as a tithing<br>
congregation. If you take our church’s annual budget, multiply it by ten, that
should give you<br>
the total amount earned by our families. Divide that number by the number of
our households,<br>
and that should give you the average annual salary—which, if it came out as 6K
a year,<br>
would indicate a big spiritual problem. But the budget of our church indicates
very clearly a<br>
tithing church. The only exhortation here is to “do so more and more” (1 Thess.
4:10). <span style="color: red;">(Um, this verse is about brotherly love, not about giving to the church: "<span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-29597">9</span></span>Now about brotherly love we do
not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love
each other. <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-29598">10</span></span>And in fact,
you do love all the brothers throughout </span><span style="color: red;">Macedonia</span><span style="color: red;">. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more. <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-29599">11</span></span>Make it your ambition to lead a
quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we
told you, <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-NIV-29600">12</span></span>so that your
daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be
dependent on anybody.")</span><br>
<br>
A SECOND MEASURE:<br>
<br>
The Bible links the first table of the law to the second. How can we say we
love God, whom we<br>
have not seen, if we don’t love our neighbor, whom we have seen (1 Jn. 4:20)? In our text, Jesus<br>
mentions the need for personal generosity. <span style="color: red;">(Where is
this text? I have read and re-read both Chapter 4 and 5 and can not <br>
find this in either chapter...please point this out so we can all see it,
Dougie.)</span> That would include donations of time, work, money,<br>
gifts, advice. All of these are ways of giving yourself away. As God has given
to us (freely),<br>
and we have returned it to Him (freely), let us also be generous to those
assigned by God to us<br>
in that noble office of “neighbor.” Is the first instinct to hoard? Is the
first instinct to say no? Is<br>
the first instinct “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth
shall be watered also himself ”<br>
(Prov. 11:25). “He that hath a
bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to<br>
the poor” (Prov. 22:9). <span style="color: red;">(Em, ok...question:
Do you consider your "church" to be poor?) </span> “The
instruments also <br>
of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with
lying words, even when the needy speaketh <br>
right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he
stand” (Is. 32:7-8)<br>
<br>
A THIRD MEASURE:<br>
<br>
The second and third must go together, and they must go together in this
order—generous<br>
and then shrewd. Not shrewd and then stingy. The right kind of shrewdness is
demonstrated in<br>
an understanding of the source of God’s blessing, and wisdom in the management
of it. You<br>
give to get, in order to be able to give again. A foolish man can be “generous”
if he drives<br>
down the road, throwing money out the window. But that is not true generosity.
“Be thou<br>
diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” (Prov.
27:23). Put this<br>
another way—know the value and importance of what you are giving away, and give
it away<br>
anyway. As John Wesley put it once, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give
all you can.” <span style="color: red;">(He, as were Christ<br>
and His Workers (Paul, Peter, etc.) was talking about giving to those in need
in the community - NOT to one building fund <br>
after another that benefits only those giving...i.e. to Christ Church which will
be the ONLY beneficiary.)</span><br>
<br>
A FOURTH MEASURE:<br>
<br>
We want to provide for our own, and then be generous with whatever is left
over. This is backwards.<br>
You are to be generous in such a way that you are more than able to provide for
those that<br>
God has given you responsibility for. Yes, you must provide, and to not do so
is to be worse than<br>
an infidel (1 Tim. 5:8). But what do I mean—in such a way? Seek first the
kingdom and all these<br>
things will be added to you (Matt. 6:33<span style="color: red;">).<span style=""> </span>(<b style=""><u>ACTUALLY</u></b>, that verse says, in
whole: <span class="sup">30</span></span>Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of
the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? <br>
<span style="color: red;"> <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-KJV-23314">31</span></span>Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? </span><br>
<span style="color: red;"> <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-KJV-23315">32</span></span>(For
after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. </span><br>
<span style="color: red;"> <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-KJV-23316">33</span></span>But
seek ye first the </span><span style="color: red;">kingdom</span><span style="color: red;"> of </span><span style="color: red;">God</span><span style="color: red;">, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you. </span><br>
<span style="color: red;"> <span class="sup"><span id="EC_en-KJV-23317">34</span></span>Take
therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the
things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.<span style=""> </span>– Or did you forget this part of that
chapter, Dougie?)</span><br>
<br>
<p class="EC_MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>And you should
prayerfuly consider that this encompasses<br>
more than just next month’s rent. “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his
children’s<br>
children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just” (Prov. 13:22<span style="color: red;">).<span style=""> </span>(Not sure what you’re saying here…should they
consider their children first or what?<span style="">
</span>Seems kinda contradictory to me….)</span><br>
<br>
AND LAST . . .<br>
<br>
Enjoy yourself. God gave you this wealth so that you would enjoy it (1 Tim. 6:17). The<br>
idolater has enough food but no taste buds. “But thou shalt remember the LORD
thy God:<br>
for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his
covenant which he<br>
sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Dt. 8:17). “And there ye shall eat
before the LORD<br>
your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your
households,<br>
wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee” (Dt. 12:7). “Because thou servedst
not the<br>
LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of
all things;<br>
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against
thee, in hunger,<br>
and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a
yoke of iron upon<br>
thy neck, until he have destroyed thee (Dt. 28:47-48).<span style=""> </span><span style="color: red;">(So, in other words,
give to the church or suffer the consequences?<span style="">
</span>Wow!<span style=""> Y</span>ou really, really believe
God is that demanding and cruel?<span style=""> </span>Boy, do
you worship a meany or what?!)</span></p>
<br><br>J :]<br><br><hr>Gear up for Halo® 3 and get a $25 Best Buy gift card. It’s our way of saying thanks for using Windows Live™. <a href="http://gethalo3gear.com?ocid=SeptemberWLHalo3_WLHMTxt_1" target="_blank">Get it now!</a>
</blockquote><br /><hr />Make your little one a shining star! <a href='http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us' target='_new'>Shine on!</a></body>
</html>