Is God's House a marketplace (John 2:16)?

[Just_Ahead]

Is God's House a marketplace (John 2:16)?

 

[Salty]

I used to teach a defensive driving course (completion = 10% savings on auto insurance)
Over the years, I taught at many church buildings.

Well, one day, I asked a pastor about using his building. He told he could not permit that, as I
would have to charge the attendees.

OK, I accepted that - As I was preparing to leave, I looked at the bulletin board.
There was a brochure for the Mother and daughter dinner. - Cost $10 per person.

Take it for what it is worth.

 

[HeirofSalvation]

One thing I wish churches would cease doing is referring to their facilities, buildings, sanctuaries etc....as "God's House". The indwelled believer, and, more specifically, the gathered indwelled believers where his Spirit dwells with men is "God's House". We do not "Gather together in the 'Lord's House' on the 'Lord's Day' ". The gathering of his indwelled believers is God's House.
There's a reason God had the physical temple destroyed.

 

[Salty]

One thing I wish churches would cease doing is referring to their facilities, buildings, sanctuaries etc....as "God's House". The indwelled believer, and, more specifically, the gathered indwelled believers where his Spirit dwells with men is "God's House". We do not "Gather together in the 'Lord's House' on the 'Lord's Day' ". The gathering of his indwelled believers is God's House.
There's a reason God had the physical temple destroyed.

But often a Church (ie - the people) have dedicated that building to the Lord.

 

[HeirofSalvation]

But often a Church (ie - the people) have dedicated that building to the Lord.

Sure....But it doesn’t make it God’s house, nor any closer to being God’s house than if they didn’t. Passages about the Jerusalem Temple have zero relevance to church facilities.

 

[Roy]

One thing I wish churches would cease doing is referring to their facilities, buildings, sanctuaries etc....as "God's House". The indwelled believer, and, more specifically, the gathered indwelled believers where his Spirit dwells with men is "God's House". We do not "Gather together in the 'Lord's House' on the 'Lord's Day' ". The gathering of his indwelled believers is God's House.
There's a reason God had the physical temple destroyed.

Talking about "God's house," reminds me of a J. Vernon McGee broadcast where he commented on a zealous church member who invited him to his house to dedicate it to God. The home owner told him that if he ever needed a place to stay, he could stay at his residence because it is now God's house.

Dr. McGee commented that if the house were truly God's house, the owner should sign the deed over to the church and start paying rent on it.

 

[Roy]

Is God's House a marketplace (John 2:16)?

It makes you wonder when visiting evangelists and gospel groups come in hawking books and CDs. Sometimes I will buy a book from one of these people, because I want to help the ministry and receive more enlightenment.

I think there was a high level of corruption going on at the temple at Jerusalem when Jesus ran the money changers off. I heard it from one source that the animals at the temple were pre approved sacrifices. When a worshipper would come and bring his sacrifice which was carefully nurtured and cared for all year long, the temple priest would examine the animal and reject it as a suitable sacrifice. The person would then have to buy one of the preapproved animals, from which the priest would receive a kick-back.

 

[Just_Ahead]

HeirofSalvation,

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
C. S. Lewis

*****

Interesting quote from C. S. Lewis.

Here is the source for this quote.

C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996), pp. 46-47.​

And here is the selected quote from The Problem of Pain that appears on the Amazon webpage (689 ratings).

The Problem of Pain is a 1940 book on the problem of evil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God. Lewis summarizes the problem of evil like this: "If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were almighty He would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both."[1] His partial theodicy addresses human suffering and sinfulness, animal suffering, and the problem of hell, and seeks to reconcile these with the Christian belief in a just, loving, and all-powerful God.

Lewis's first book of theology: an examination of physical pain and mental suffering, and their place in the universe.
​

*****

And quotes by C. S. Lewis should probably be combined with a study of the personal life of C. S. Lewis.

Here is the C. S. Lewis page at Wikipedia.