NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Did The Rich Young Ruler Miss Heaven?

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Benefitting from graft and following Jesus are mutually exclusive.

Political Leaders
Were Like Mafia Dons

Three Gospels report an incident in which a young man approaches Jesus and asks specifically how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response is a bit confusing and makes it difficult – not impossible – to achieve a clear interpretation. Because of the confusion this passage is often ignored or misrepresented.

This post is an attempt to bring sense to an otherwise perplexing situation.

The young man, who happened to be of the ruling class and therefore wealthy, approaches Jesus (Mark says he ran to Jesus and knelt) asking how he might inherit eternal life.

It’s a good question. We have to give him high marks just for asking.

The interesting thing is, Jesus did not convulsively respond with the standard “confess your sinfulness and trust in me” answer.

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Instead, in this situation, He attempted to explore the heart of this young man and in the conversation that followed, Jesus said three things that cause us to raise our eyebrows:

  • One, He asked “why do you call me good,” making the point that only God was good, seemingly insinuating that He was neither good nor God.
  • Two, He told the man eternal life could be entered by keeping the commandments.
  • Three, He directed the man to sell everything he owned and give the proceeds to the poor.

Obviously, these remarks don’t gel with our understanding of truth. They really make us wonder: [Read more…] about Did The Rich Young Ruler Miss Heaven?

Quilts And Quilting – The Next Step

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When I was about 13 my family moved from the “country” to more of a suburban setting. Our new neighbors had four daughters. Two of them were a bit older than me, one was about my age – maybe a few months younger – and the fourth was quite a bit younger. The girl about my age was also named Becky and we became good friends.

My family began going to the church started by their “uncle-in-law”. I spent a good deal of time at their house either at Youth Meetings or just hanging out.

Becky, her oldest sister, Carol, and their Mom were all great seamstresses. One of them was forever sewing something. They didn’t do crafty things, just clothes and I would sit for hours and watch them.

I did not have a sewing machine but I took Home Ec. in school for 3 years which was one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. Class time was about fifty minutes so by the time I got started on a project it was time to stop and pack things away till next class. The teachers always measured us and told us what pattern size to buy and then nothing ever fit quite right.

If it had not been for the fact that I watched my friend and her family sew and actually produce wearable clothes I might have given up before I ever got started. [Read more…] about Quilts And Quilting – The Next Step

In The Beginning – My First Quilt

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My First Quilt

Quilts and Quilting. When did it all begin for me? Perhaps it began when I was a baby. My maternal grandmother made me a quilt for my baby bed or cot as they say in South Africa. I don’t know how old I was but I remember the quilt had gray and blue in it and it was made from wool material. It was scratchy. She also made me a pillow and after almost 60 years I still have part of that pillow.

My other grandmother had lots of quilts. She was not a quilter but her sister was. I suspect that granny set herself a challenge to see how many quilts she could put on one bed. Granted we lived in Tennessee and it did get cold in the winter but I do believe that there is such a thing as too many quilts on one bed. I remember feeling weighted down, I could hardly turn over because of the weight of those quilts.

When I finally managed to get out from under the load I remember looking at them. I have always loved color and I was fascinated by all the colors and shapes. I couldn’t quite figure out how they were put together. Now that I am a quilter I am still fascinated by the way all those pieces come together, one piece at a time joined to another and then another and then another until you have the desired design. [Read more…] about In The Beginning – My First Quilt

Book Review: 9 Things You MUST DO, by Dr. Henry Cloud

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Don’t Feel Good
Feel Better

Success doesn’t come by accident or luck and isn’t limited to a select few, but is rather the outcome of things you consciously do.

That is exactly the point Dr. Henry Cloud makes in his book, 9 Things You Simply MUST DO to Succeed in Love and Life.

In the book he discusses nine characteristics of successful people and clearly shows that any person willing to make the effort consistently can succeed.

Although some of the chapter titles seem a bit cryptic, Dr. Cloud includes a large number of illustrations from his background, both professional and personal, to clarify each one.

Being a psychologist he brings a wealth of knowledge from the experience of guiding many people through their sticking points.

Being a businessman he shares observations gained from both his winning and losing moments.

Some points will surprise you: Pull The Tooth, Hate Well, Don’t Play Fair and Upset The Right People but all of them are relieving. It isn’t a feel good manual but definitely one that will help you feel better, eventually, and generally get more out of life. The nine things are: [Read more…] about Book Review: 9 Things You MUST DO, by Dr. Henry Cloud

Must Tithes Be Given Only To Church?

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Tithing expresses devotion and meets needs.

Good Question
Deserves Thoughtful Answer

Recently on Yahoo Answers a person (we’ll call him Jerry) submitted a question about tithing:

“Does money I tithe have to be given to the church?”

The reason for the question had nothing to do with selfishness, materialism or bad financial management. His question was motivated by generosity.

The church Jerry attends was preparing to send kids to camp and there were a couple of kids who couldn’t afford to go. Diverting Jerry’s tithe to this need for three months would cover the expense and he wondered if that was legit. Would that still qualify as “tithing?”

He also made it clear that he wasn’t questioning the rationale behind tithing (devoting ten percent of your income to God). In fact, he specified that only people who believed in tithing should respond and he further qualified by requesting only “respectful” answers. I almost laughed at the request. Having been scorched a few times by anti-tithers I wanted to put on a flack jacket before reading some of the responses. He had obviously faced a few also.

And sure enough one anti-tithing respondent spewed the venom we have come to expect: calling names, restating old arguments and generally abusing those who disagree. I wont’ waste time responding.

The truth is, this is a good question. It speaks to one particular issue about tithing, “where are tithes to be offered” and it deserves a thoughtful answer.

To be clear the question here is not, should I give tithes to my church but rather must I give all my tithes only to my church. That is an important clarification. Even anti-tithing folks give money to the church they attend.

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Some tithers, however, do argue that every cent of the tithe belongs to the church and they usually refer to this practice as “storehouse tithing.” The argument is based mostly on one passage, Malachi 3:10 which literally says…

“Bring all the tithe into the storehouse…”

Storehouse Tithing

Tithers equate the storehouse in the Old Testament, the Temple, with the church in the New Testament. Anti-tithers debate this, suggesting that tithing was rescinded in the New Testament.

Both ideas can be debated. [Read more…] about Must Tithes Be Given Only To Church?