Blessing of the animals worship service

[The Biblicist]

I have a very good friend, named Carl who is a Conservative Rabbi in Northern NJ. He told me that after a extensive Torah study that he & his wife visited a kill house & that turned them vegetarian. Carl showed me how the Jewish reverence for life issues were so keen that when they harvest wheat they say prayers of thanksgiving for the harvested grain & when they kill an animal they attempt to do it as humanely & painlessly as possible & pray for it & thank God for the food provided. In the beginning, God provided for Adam & Eve's needs & this is a result of our sin that we have to kill. The Jews meat kosher laws are more about the humane slaughter method than anything else.

And I am no stranger to killing---My mothers family were butcherer's & poultry people. It was a way of life (some ways ugly & in some ways rewarding)....we did not however consider the feelings of the animals we killed...it was part of our day to day life.

So now I keep chickens--not to eat & really not for pets but for the eggs they provide. See I am diabetic & so I need protein & eggs are the richest form you can get. Do I still eat meat--yes but less because of the eggs. My chickens also provide natural fertilizer for my garden (2nd by product) & they also provide entrainment...Ive got two roosters & one is the alpha....his name is "Tail" & he comes when I call him, sits in my arms & feeds from my hand....he also protects the hens like a shepherd with his flock.

I can go on but I have come to appreciate ,thru these guys & my dogs & a few cats & horses Ive been introduced to, quality of life that glorifies God perhaps greater than I knew previously, & I am grateful for that.

Bless them.


All Things Bright and Beautiful

~Cecil Frances Alexander


All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Yes, on a more serious note I gave up hunting in 1978 because I really enjoy the beauty of animals more than killing them. Animals should not be slaughtered for the sake of slaughtering them.

The ancient American indians had a great reverence toward animals.

However, it was God, not sin, that provided permission to kill animals for food. The Jewish dietary law included animals for meat and God established that law. The New Testament permits the same dietary law God gave to Noah (Gen. 9:3) long before the Mosaic Old Covenant dietary law (1 Tim. 4:4-5).

However, it is not the mission of the church to hold services to bless animals. The mission of the church is to make disciples and worship God and nowhere in the New Testament does one even find a faint inference that animal services were included in the worship of the churches. This is purely humanistic and something contrary to God's revealed purpose of the assembly. It is more akin to the ocult religion than Christianity.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Earth wind and fire...

Michael...I don't believe we should make the baptist church something it isn't. As Baptists we are to walk the narrow parh of a focused scriptural life as a gymnast walks the beam. It's a focus Michael that requires a very dedicated person makes to God after being regenerated where he just gives it over to the being who is all love, all authority, all compassion & mercy

.

Why do you and others say that they (Highland Hills) are not doing that very thing.?

Are they denying the diety of Christ? No.. Are they denying the Trinity? No. Are they denying justification by faith alone? No. Are they worshipping Mary? No.

They are a bit more progresive then your garden variety baptist church. Acturally. a bit more progressive then I personally would like, but so what? That is not necesarily a bad thing. Sometimes that is a very good thing.

 

[The Biblicist]

Earth wind and fire...

.

Why do you and others say that they (Highland Hills) are not doing that very thing.?

Are they denying the diety of Christ? No.. Are they denying the Trinity? No. Are they denying justification by faith alone? No. Are they worshipping Mary? No.

They are a bit more progresive then your garden variety baptist church, but so what? That is not necesarily a bad thing. Sometimes that is a very good thing.

There is the occultic worship of animals that is still prevelant in our world that the churches of Christ should not identify with by anything they do. Second, the NT scriptures provide no precept, no example, no inferences for such a service in the house of God. The Old Testament worship of God provides no scriptues, no precepts, no principles, no inference for any such types of worship service in the house of God or among the people of God.

However, such worship is prevalent among the occults.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Yes, on a more serious note I gave up hunting in 1978 because I really enjoy the beauty of animals more than killing them. Animals should not be slaughtered for the sake of slaughtering them.

The ancient American indians had a great reverence toward animals.

However, it was God, not sin, that provided permission to kill animals for food. The Jewish dietary law included animals for meat and God established that law. The New Testament permits the same dietary law God gave to Noah (Gen. 9:3) long before the Mosaic Old Covenant dietary law (1 Tim. 4:4-5).

However, it is not the mission of the church to hold services to bless animals. The mission of the church is to make disciples and worship God and nowhere in the New Testament does one even find a faint inference that animal services were included in the worship of the churches. This is purely humanistic and something contrary to God's revealed purpose of the assembly. It is more akin to the ocult religion than Christianity.

Im not disagreeing with you considering the mission of the church....personally I believe too many Christians get caught up in the moment of what they view as heartfelt service dedications to anything, even creatures other than to God. This is why if I may say so, the Calvinists have such obsession for stressing Gods Sovereignty because our operating characteristics need to be totally God centered & God glorifying--anything else is a distortion in the direction of the self.

But now tell me, if you could get out into the fields, farms & uplands of this wonderful country with a bird dog & a shotgun to spend a few hours would you do it?

I enjoy that, because I seriously dont truly go there to kill anything, I go there to think or maybe halt my thoughts & just enjoy the scenery & if I do kick up a quail or pheasant & am lucky enough to kill the creature, its killed quickly & is eaten within the next few hours. Thats gentleman hunting & its sporting.

 

[OldRegular]

There is the occultic worship of animals that is still prevelant in our world that the churches of Christ should not identify with by anything they do. Second, the NT scriptures provide no precept, no example, no inferences for such a service in the house of God. The Old Testament worship of God provides no scriptues, no precepts, no principles, no inference for any such types of worship service in the house of God or among the people of God.

However, such worship is prevalent among the occults.

The Children of Israel were continually at odds with God over their insistence on bringing "strange" or false practices into their worship. Many Churches do the same thing and a worship service for blessing animals is one of those. I am sure there are many others that folks could name!

 

[annsni]

Why do you and others say that they (Highland Hills) are not doing that very thing.?

Are they denying the diety of Christ? No.. Are they denying the Trinity? No. Are they denying justification by faith alone? No. Are they worshipping Mary? No.

How do you know? They don't have a statement of faith on their site. Why not? That's a very basic aspect of a church website - a vital thing to have there.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Earth wind and fire...

.

Why do you and others say that they (Highland Hills) are not doing that very thing.?

Are they denying the diety of Christ? No.. Are they denying the Trinity? No. Are they denying justification by faith alone? No. Are they worshipping Mary? No.

They are a bit more progresive then your garden variety baptist church. Acturally. a bit more progressive then I personally would like, but so what? That is not necesarily a bad thing. Sometimes that is a very good thing.

Brother, if I was to pray for anything, I'd be praying for the revival of this country because we are in a sorry state at this time.

I visited with a church yesterday that does not stress the "Born Again" experience, rather it's the litergy & havin a Reformation Celebration Day (they are Lutherans). What good does this celebration do to get souls into heaven? Were you not a RC at one time of your life & did you not go through constant remembrance days (feast days & Holy Days of Obligation)? What fruit did they provide?

The only thing I believe we Baptist Christians should be looking at is the Great commission---& that we should be lazer focused. This is what comes out of the mouth of the Lord....Therefore go & make disciples of all nations...(Matt 28: 19). Brother, it is human kind that we need to address, that is our charge. God looks after the other creatures but if we do not change (through the Holy Spirit) the hearts & minds of the unsaved, they are the ones that will continue to abuse animals....I cannot stress this more. It is in the hands of the "Saved" to be used by the Lord to provide salvation to the "Unsaved" & provide aid and comfort to God's non-human creatures.

 

[Revmitchell]

This is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen done at a church. I have heard vaguely of such stories but never a specific one. They probably baptize them as well and preach on movie reviews. Goodness.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Originally Posted by The Biblicist
There is the occultic worship of animals that is still prevelant in our world that the churches of Christ should not identify with by anything they do. Second, the NT scriptures provide no precept, no example, no inferences for such a service in the house of God. The Old Testament worship of God provides no scriptues, no precepts, no principles, no inference for any such types of worship service in the house of God or among the people of God

Your problam is that is that there is absolutely ((( ZERO ))) animal worship going on here. None. A total or ZERO animal worship.

 

[mont974x4]

I don't see how animals being in heaven has anything to do with animal blessings, let alone support it as a practice. Most pastors are overworked as it is without having to bless Aunt May's 10 cats.


I say that as an animal lover....especially the tasty ones.

 

[Alive in Christ]

However, it is not the mission of the church to hold services to bless animals.

Who ever said it was? None of us our side of this are saying anything like that.

All we have ever said is that it is a nice, decent sweet christian thing to do, for those who want to do it.Thats all we are saying.

Its you guys who keep bringing up these laughable charges of (((Heresy))) and (((ANIMAL WORSHIP))) and bringing in (((STRANGE FIRE))) into the camp.

Its been a looong time since I have seen a bunch of people make so MUCH of a HULLABALOO...out of something so innocent. :laugh:

 

[OldRegular]

Who ever said it was? None of us our side of this are saying anything like that.

All we have ever said is that it is a nice, decent sweet christian thing to do, for those who want to do it.Thats all we are saying.

Its you guys who keep bringing up these laughable charges of (((Heresy))) and (((ANIMAL WORSHIP))) and bringing in (((STRANGE FIRE))) into the camp.

Its been a looong time since I have seen a bunch of people make so MUCH of a HULLABALOO...out of something so innocent. :laugh:

I am sure that all those animals really felt blessed!

I suggest we have a national day of blessing for the thanksgiving turkey [the White House one]. Then perhaps we can arrange to have all the thanksgiving turkeys blessed even the ones being thawed!

Then Easter we can bless the Easter bunny and then there's there's, well perhaps someone else has a suggestion.

 

[Michael Wrenn]

The Church has its mission and it is making disciples for Christ. The church has not been called to evangelize animals, disciple animals, or minister, pray or preserve animals. In Vietnam they eat dogs and cats and probably some ask a blessing over the food they are about to digest.

Some make sheep, cows, pigs, chickens pets also. Should we stop having them on our menu? I do ask God to bless them as I eat them how about you?

Very cynical post.

Why don't you start killing and eating dogs and cats? Sounds like that would fit you just fine.

 

[Michael Wrenn]

I have a very good friend, named Carl who is a Conservative Rabbi in Northern NJ. He told me that after a extensive Torah study that he & his wife visited a kill house & that turned them vegetarian. Carl showed me how the Jewish reverence for life issues were so keen that when they harvest wheat they say prayers of thanksgiving for the harvested grain & when they kill an animal they attempt to do it as humanely & painlessly as possible & pray for it & thank God for the food provided. In the beginning, God provided for Adam & Eve's needs & this is a result of our sin that we have to kill. The Jews meat kosher laws are more about the humane slaughter method than anything else.

And I am no stranger to killing---My mothers family were butcherer's & poultry people. It was a way of life (some ways ugly & in some ways rewarding)....we did not however consider the feelings of the animals we killed...it was part of our day to day life.

So now I keep chickens--not to eat & really not for pets but for the eggs they provide. See I am diabetic & so I need protein & eggs are the richest form you can get. Do I still eat meat--yes but less because of the eggs. My chickens also provide natural fertilizer for my garden (2nd by product) & they also provide entrainment...Ive got two roosters & one is the alpha....his name is "Tail" & he comes when I call him, sits in my arms & feeds from my hand....he also protects the hens like a shepherd with his flock.

I can go on but I have come to appreciate ,thru these guys & my dogs & a few cats & horses Ive been introduced to, quality of life that glorifies God perhaps greater than I knew previously, & I am grateful for that.

Bless them.


All Things Bright and Beautiful

~Cecil Frances Alexander


All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Thanks for that post!

 

[Michael Wrenn]

Yes, on a more serious note I gave up hunting in 1978 because I really enjoy the beauty of animals more than killing them. Animals should not be slaughtered for the sake of slaughtering them.

The ancient American indians had a great reverence toward animals.

However, it was God, not sin, that provided permission to kill animals for food. The Jewish dietary law included animals for meat and God established that law. The New Testament permits the same dietary law God gave to Noah (Gen. 9:3) long before the Mosaic Old Covenant dietary law (1 Tim. 4:4-5).

However, it is not the mission of the church to hold services to bless animals. The mission of the church is to make disciples and worship God and nowhere in the New Testament does one even find a faint inference that animal services were included in the worship of the churches. This is purely humanistic and something contrary to God's revealed purpose of the assembly. It is more akin to the ocult religion than Christianity.

What a lie.

Tell me, is the "revealed purpose of the assembly" for people to get together and gorge themselves on "fellowship meals"?

 

[Michael Wrenn]

Who ever said it was? None of us our side of this are saying anything like that.

All we have ever said is that it is a nice, decent sweet christian thing to do, for those who want to do it.Thats all we are saying.

Its you guys who keep bringing up these laughable charges of (((Heresy))) and (((ANIMAL WORSHIP))) and bringing in (((STRANGE FIRE))) into the camp.

Its been a looong time since I have seen a bunch of people make so MUCH of a HULLABALOO...out of something so innocent. :laugh:

It shows what's in their hearts.

 

[Michael Wrenn]

Some posts in this thread remind me of something I heard once which I am coming closer all the time to confirming:

"The more I am around people, the more I like my dog!"

And when I get to heaven, I would prefer to be around the animals there rather than some Christians I know.

 

[Michael Wrenn]

This is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen done at a church. I have heard vaguely of such stories but never a specific one. They probably baptize them as well and preach on movie reviews. Goodness.

That is not dumb, but I can tell you one thing that is: These "fellowship meals" that Baptist churches are famous for having where people show up who never come to church just to see how much fried chicken they can shove in their gullet. Nothing more spiritually edifying than watching 300-pound Billy Joe with all that grease dripping from his jowls.

Now that is really fulfilling the Great Commission!

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

That is not dumb, but I can tell you one thing that is: These "fellowship meals" that Baptist churches are famous for having where people show up who never come to church just to see how much fried chicken they can shove in their gullet. Nothing more spiritually edifying than watching 300-pound Billy Joe with all that grease dripping from his jowls.

Now that is really fulfilling the Great Commission!

feed them & they will come...so that's the secret!

 

[Michael Wrenn]

feed them & they will come...so that's the secret!

That's about the size of it, pardon the pun.