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Baptist School's Million Dollar Stained Glass

Revmitchell

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Until you (collective YOU) know what the artist/installer et al did with the $ received, you don't know beans from bull foot about whether it was wasted or not.

Now before some of you get your panties in a wad, I used to feel the same way - such stuff a total waste of money, til I grasped the fact that all of it is His and He can designate it to be spent any way He chooses. Whether you or I agree with the expenditure is worth squat.

If (not anybody else's call) He led the school to purchase and/or accept the donation for these windows, then you may just find yourself questioning God's call for the use of His money. If the school is in His will, He can/will furnish the necessary funds for whatever needed to follow His will; if they are not following His will, such stuff will come back to haunt them.

Mighty dangerous ground to be treading!!

You have to understand the underlying cause of such criticism. The truth is and what they most likely will not tell you is the entire motivation for the op is to take a jab at conservatives in the convention and the pattersons more specifically. They will knock over a blind parapalegic blind man to get to have a chance to do that.

So while they feign some moral outrage that is simply a cover for the real intentions.
 

Dr. Bob

Administrator
Administrator
^^ (post above) is 100% accurate. Weak, sad attacks by people who hate the conservative schools and agenda. We got the same with the fountain at FBC Dallas.

Heard this same argument somewhere else. Hmm.

"Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor."​
 

gb93433

Active Member
Site Supporter
For many years my business was doing work for some very wealthy people. All of them put on their pants the same way and all were in need of Jesus. All of the buildings I built will eventually be gone. I have seen some of my work torn out by the next owner. When I first saw that happen I was reminded of the energy I put into that work and how nice it looked. It taught me a lesson about what really matters most. I finally came to the conclusion that those people will hire someone to do their work and why not let it be me who is a Christian. The man who taught me did much the same thing and gave away most of his money. His wife told me that when he died she had so little that she could not pay for much of a funeral. Nobody knew that and a man from a few years earlier paid for the entire funeral. I had the privilege of living in his home for one year before I got married and saw him on the job and at home. The thing I remember most is his attitude especially when he made a mistake. Many are on the mission today field because of him. When he died the church and gym was packed and there were people standing outside. The city administrators were present. The vendors he did business with shut down their businesses. The city at the time was about 35,000 people. God blessed him in amazing ways like I had never seen anyone. He lived in a two bedroom single bath house. He spent his money on missions and people. His attitude was that the money God gave him was to go to those who needed it and he did not need it. He was a man who was highly skilled and lived on little. The church building we went to was built by the men and women in the church. Their attitude was to save the money and give away all they could. At one time the church gave away 50% of its receipts. The church always had money until it began to focus on money rather than people. The church severely declined to the point where they had to tell missionaries they could no longer support them. Some of the things they owned God took away in a fire.

Several years ago I was working on the home of a Christian family who prayed. I began to notice that almost every worker on the job I was able to talk to about Jesus. I had never seen such openness on a job. In almost every case either I or a worker brought it up. Some of the comments I heard many times were about the attitude of the wife.

I think the difference between someone who lives for Jesus and one who does not is the focus of their life. A highly skilled man thanks God for the doors He opens and the opportunities He gives. He worships God as he works. The ungodly skilled man wants the focus to be on him and his work. The difference is not always in the quality of the work done but in the focus and attitude of the person doing the work. I have seen the rich and poor be grateful and ungrateful. I believe God gives to each person and it is up to them to be good stewards of what He gives. As I have gotten older I have come to the conclusion that it is so little about what we see as extravagant, but what God sees in our heart.

I have come to the conclusion that we will get what we are focused on. If we want things we will only get things, but if we want God we will get Him. That is not limited to wealth or poverty. As I have gotten more wealth I have been able to provide jobs for people and money to help others in ways I never could have before. But along the way I needed some of God's discipline so I would give Him glory and realize who gave me everything I have.
 

blessedwife318

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
If someone wants to donate money so the chapel can have a nice stain glass window that is their prerogative. If the school pulled from their general fund that would be another issue but since it was donated for the stain glass I don't see what the fuss is all about.
 

Jerome

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
. . .I don't see what the fuss is all about.

Indeed.

Here is actual criticism of the school mentioned in the OP:

I saw the same downward spiral with Cornerstone.

Dr. Bob Griffin said:
http://www.fundamentalforums.com/showthread.php?t=76094&p=1585980&viewfull=1#post1585980

(My last time on campus was 1970 at the seminary there and they were new-evangelical to the core then. I can imagine doctrinal changes that are far more weighty than wine - but would not have anything to do with the school for a number of reasons. The GARBC dropped endorsement of ANY school because Cornerstone had progressed so badly and yet was receiving monthly support from unwitting churches)

And here are previous actual pronouncements on the whole 'ministry vs. monument' issue:

Most folks fail to realize the lofty arched ceilings that drift into darkness, softened by the stain glass - typical of a cathedral - is really the result of neo-platonism and nothing to do with the New Testament church.

The more I see of wasted billions in brick and steel and padded pews, the more I feel for the billions of souls in the world that have never even heard the name of Jesus.

God forgive.

I visited "St John the Divine" in NYC for a service (ever been there?) and noted that it was incomplete. The folks there said that they realized the money would be better spent in ministry than building.

Bet it was the first time that they heard a Baptist say "Amen" that loud in a Cathedral before!
 
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