And The Pulpits Are Silent

RevMitchesll wrote: Despite what the political parties would like you to believe, the problem in America is not the politicians, it is the pulpits. I hate to break the news to you, but most of America’s pulpits are filled with cowardly men. They are a shame to the Christ they claim to serve.


There is some truth in your statement. Pastors are afraid to preach from the pupit

1. Against unjust wars and ignoring the words of the Prince of Peace.
2. The destruction of our environment.
3. The neglect of the elderly.
4. The neglect of the sick.
5. The pursuit of governmental policies that enrich the rich and improvish the poor.
6. The pornography that now passes as "normal" television.
7. The unhealthy eating/drinking habits of Americans, and thus the destruction of their "holy temples.
8. Against fear mongering by both preachers and politicians.

There, you have at least two months of sermon topics to preach on.

:BangHead:

 

Amen to your reply. Sounds like someone watches CNN and NBC Today too much.

 

Seems the Bible is pretty humanitarian.:tonofbricks:

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Prov. 29:7. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such concern.

1 John 3:17. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Prov. 19:17. He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.

Prov. 14:31. He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him

Could go on but I won't.

 

But is being a humanitarian the same as being humanistic?

I think they are two far different issues.

 

Show me your works and I will show you your faith.

 

Back to your original thought.

There are many on the liberal left who are trying to take away churches freedom from taxes if the preacher preaches on political issues. I believe the seperation of church and state was put in to protect the church from being run by the state, like it was in England prior to the US revolution, but I dont think it was meant to imply that churches couldnt teach morals and political standards.

Its funny, the Dems want the churches to stay out of politics but Bill Clinton never misses an oppurtunity to have himself filmed attending a church service,,,,,usually along with Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Go figure

 

Amen, Revmitchell.

 

Did you know that Bill Clinton attended church much more often than G. Bush has during his term as president? I do not think either man is particularaly moral, just that their immorality differes one from the other.

 

I am not sure why you believe that I believe the government is the answer. I have never said I believe that and surely the government plays no part in the volunteer work I do here in Prague, or the volunteer work I do when I am at home.

Your assumption is incorrect!:BangHead:

 

I am conservative but not a Bush supporter. Bush sr was pro-UN and Bush jr refuses to finish the war in Iraq. I dont object at all to us going there, but why dont we just send everything we have and get it over with?

When I mentioned the Clintons use of the media when they go to church, why did you take a jab at the Bush's? They werent the point of my post at all. I dont particularlly like them but they are way better than the socialist Clintons.

Somehow, Democrat/liberal and Christian seem to me to be oxymorons. How can you support someone who promotes abortion, homosexuality and socialism and still claim to be a Christian? I dont get it

 

How do you know I am a Democrat? I consider myself a traditional Republician. The modern Republicians are no more Republician, in a historic sense of the word, than the modern Democrats.

If I am liberal it is simply because as I have grown older and have studied and taken Christ's teachings more and more seriously I see that his teachings lead me to beliefs and actions that many call liberal. I think it strange that the closer I come to Christ the more often I am called liberal. If I am liberal that simply means that Christ's teaching are liberal. I am not for big government or big spending. If the church was really doing its job there would be no need for the government to be involved in social welfare programs.
:BangHead:

 

The subject is

silence in the pulpit


Lets stick to the subject, boys!!!!!

God is not speaking to Washington, DC!! He's not speaking to Democrats nor to Republicans!!! His spokesmen is neither Clinton nor Bush!!!

God is speaking to the church-----"He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches!!!"

 

Amen and AMEN!

 

I hope you were just joking around in your responses. However, given that this is one of the few places someone would say the things you've said and actually mean them seriously. . . I'm going to respond as if you were not kidding around.

Ah, I see. So even though gluttony, defined as excessive eating, is condemned in the Scriptures, the fact that the liberal left also dislikes it means we can't talk about it in church. Seems to me you've placed "disagree the 'liberal left'" higher on your priority list then "serve God and preach the Word."

I'll go ahead and guess you haven't yet gotten to Genesis chapter 2 in your quest to read the Bible from cover to cover. So I'll just go ahead and tell you that is where Adam is placed in the environment God created for him and was told to "take care of it". Most of the trees are dead atop the highest point in my state (Mount_Mitchell, North Carolina) and the park service, on its tours, says scientists have shown it is due to acid rain from pollution causing mineral imbalance in the soil. Don't tell me environmental harm is "not happening". Plus this issue is personal to me. My father died from skin cancer which, in case you haven't noticed, is the disease who's rates have increased dramatically in the last 40 years or so as the same pollution that ruins the environment in my state depletes the atmosphere of radiation fighting compounds.

If you honestly believe that in our enormous, bumbling bureaucracy of a government there is not one policy that disadvantages or impoverishes poor people, then that is your opinion (as foolish as it may be). But if any preacher disagrees with you and, in his heart, recognizes that such policies exist then he has a duty to speak up. Looking out for the needy is a Biblical mandate... crying "communist" or "class-warfare" whenever someone mentions taking care of the poor is not. I mean, how do you know what policies were being referred to? You don't. Here again is another example of you placing "disagree the 'liberal left'" higher on your priority list then "serve God and preach the Word." I mean, at least ask what policy he might be referring to... unless you are absolutely sure not a single one possibly exists.

Again, you don't even know what war (or by what country) the author was talking about. Is it the U.S.? Is it an ally of the U.S.? Are you saying an unjust war has never occurred, by any country in the world? At least get the details before you chime in. "Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." (Proverbs 17:28). Unjust wars (wars against countries that pose no threat to the waring country and result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not millions through the violence and lawlessness that ensues) are not things Christians should be engaged in. I'm not approaching the topic of whether the U.S. is currently involved in any such war, but wars like that have occurred in history and are not right. Sure there is no "reckless endangerment" verses like there are statutes in our criminal code, but a recklessly fought war is clearly against principles of peace, love and many other fruits of the Spirit found in the Scriptures. That is a practical thing preachers should be able to remind their congregations of from time to time without facing your scorn, especially since their congregations elect the commanders of the strongest military in the world.

Also, the neglect of the elderly and the sick does not get "preached all the time." You're lying to yourself if you think those topics get approached even 1/10th as often as abortion and homosexuality in most conservative churches.