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Jesus was angry, but He did not sin. Christians are right to be upset about sin and injustice and should take a stand against them. Jesus became angry because God's house of worship became a place of extortion.
What was the temple supposed to be? What had it become? What crucial lesson is in there for us,not only as individuals but as a church?
The temple was SUPPOSED to be a pure and holy place to worship God, but had been corrupted with money-changers, and merchants selling goods. One lessen learned is that which is pure and good can be corrupted by evil, therefore we should be on the watch....not to let our guard down. As individuals, we are each the temple of the Holy Spirit...therefore don't allow an opportunity for evil to move into our "temple", ie: sins of drunkedness, smoking, drugs, etc.
What was the temple supposed to be? What had it become? What crucial lesson is in there for us,not only as individuals but as a church?
The temple itself was torn down by the romans around 70 A.D. and it still has a few remains, one of which is Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall, which is considered holy by Jews.
Muslims also built their "Dome Of The Rock" mosque in the 7th Century A.D. on a portion of the temple that was destroyed by the Romans.
I`m afaraid that is what a lot of american christianity has become.. a den of thieves. It`s all about money. You can`t turn on the t.v. to a so called christian network without them begging for money,hawking their christian books,telling you if you just send us money God will bless you back..making God for sale. The words..`depart from me you workers of enquity,I never knew you` should make people really stop and think about what they`re doing.
I`m afaraid that is what a lot of american christianity has become.. a den of thieves. It`s all about money. You can`t turn on the t.v. to a so called christian network without them begging for money,hawking their christian books,telling you if you just send us money God will bless you back..making God for sale. The words..`depart from me you workers of enquity,I never knew you` should make people really stop and think about what they`re doing.
They use the money from the books they sell to keep their ministries going with missions around the world, and for some of them, it's their primary source of income. It's also the best way to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Are they really using the money for those purposes? I`m sure SOME of the money brought in goes for that purpose. But when I see a televangelist driving an expensive car,living in an enormous home, wearing expensive suits and jewelry..it makes me cringe. There are literally people starving to death in third world countries. People suffering from disease with no shelter. If these people were truly of God they would sell some of those houses,jewelry,cars,expensive clothes and other luxuries of life and truly give to the poor. In my opinion they are wolves in sheeps clothing...having a form of Godliness. That is how satan deceives. He mixes the truth in with a lie. He mixes a little good in with the bad. Outwardly it appears to have a form of godliness but it is all a sham. The people that Jesus referred to when he said they were casting out demons in his name and performing miracles in his name were doing SOME good but he said depart from me. Don`t be deceived my friend. Give to worthwhile charities and missions and not to televangelist wearing fine jewlery living a life of luxury while people are suffering. If they are truly called of God then they will give all they have to help the poor and not take money from them.
What was the temple supposed to be? What had it become? What crucial lesson is in there for us,not only as individuals but as a church?
The temple was supposed to be a place of worship, Jusus went there expecting to do that, but found it overcrowdwd with venders selling their merchanduse for the coming passover celebrations..In otherwords, the temple gave the appearance of being a place of worship, but upon entry Jesus found just the opposite..The same with the fig tree. It showed leaves which would give the passerby the opinion that it contained fruit. However on closer inspection, it did not bear fruit, although it had the outward appearance..I think we can apply all of that part of Mark to a person who has all the looks and outward appearance of a christian, and deceives people, but upon closer inspection we find that inside the person is far from what his outer appearance is..It can also be compared with some of our churches now a days. They have a beautiful appearance, but inside they produce no fruit..
Are they really using the money for those purposes? I`m sure SOME of the money brought in goes for that purpose. But when I see a televangelist driving an expensive car,living in an enormous home, wearing expensive suits and jewelry..it makes me cringe. There are literally people starving to death in third world countries. People suffering from disease with no shelter. If these people were truly of God they would sell some of those houses,jewelry,cars,expensive clothes and other luxuries of life and truly give to the poor. In my opinion they are wolves in sheeps clothing...having a form of Godliness. That is how satan deceives. He mixes the truth in with a lie. He mixes a little good in with the bad. Outwardly it appears to have a form of godliness but it is all a sham. The people that Jesus referred to when he said they were casting out demons in his name and performing miracles in his name were doing SOME good but he said depart from me. Don`t be deceived my friend. Give to worthwhile charities and missions and not to televangelist wearing fine jewlery living a life of luxury while people are suffering. If they are truly called of God then they will give all they have to help the poor and not take money from them.
If a well-known evangelist writes a few books and makes millions, what they do with the money they earn is up to them and whether they used the money for a Godly purpose, well that's up to God to judge. What I do get sick about is when an evangelist takes the money people contributed for what was supposed to help their ministry, but end up wasting the money on useless and extravigant things for themselves, like mansions and fancy cars.
Evangelists and churches do have to account for the money they receive and report it at the end of the year, and the majority of evangelists are average people like you and I, who only want the world to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ispire millions. If I go to a church and see the senior pastor driving a very expensive Corvette, I'll simply go to a different church. I've never seen any churches like this here, but I'm sure there are a few that take the money and don't use it for legitimate purposes.
Our Pastor is Tommy Barnett and as well know as he is, he'll still walk up to you and shake your hands and talk to you, and he doesn't drive a fancy car or has a fancy mansion, just an average SUV and house, and our church has really done a very good job managing the contributions and using them to reach and help those who are lost, the Dream Centers that are all over the United States are the best example.
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