Monday 13 August 2012

Ain't that the truth


17 comments:

  1. nice. :-) consistency has never been a very human trait. of course even OT tithing laws don't say anything about giving to "church" or paying preachers - it is very inconvenient!

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  2. Most so-called Christians have never understood circumcision of flesh, so it is impossible for them to understand circumcision of the heart, which is necessary to become a true disciple of Christ.

    Also, at the time of reformation, the command to tithe was passed from the Levitical to the Melchisedek priesthood, of which Christ is the High Priest.

    Sadly, whoever put the dialogue in the mouths of the two characters in the cartoon, "neither understand what they are saying nor whereof they affirm," to quote the Chosen Vessel.

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    1. So Tom, who do YOU tithe to?

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    2. >So Tom, who do YOU tithe to?<

      We are in the period called, "A famine of the hearing of the word," that is, there is no loger an organised church with a ministry to pay tithes to. The few Christians that were in the Worldwide Church of God are now scattered to the four winds of the earth. So there is no one to pay tithes to.

      Byker Bob, if you read the epistle to the Hebrews you may understand when the reformation occurred(Hebrews 9:10), and when the priestood was changed(Hebrews 7:12).

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  3. Interesting. The cartoon illustrates perfectly how doctrine is influenced by money in many churches.

    I would disagree with Tom about tithing passing from the Levitical to Melchizedek priesthoods during the
    Reformation. I tend to believe that it predates the law of Moses. Circumcision, otoh, predated the law of Moses, but was one of the lynchpins of the Old Covenant. Uncircumcised individuals were not allowed to keep most of the elements of the law of Moses, which is why the edict from St.James and the Jerusalem Council is so far reaching and significant.

    On a personal note, I really enjoy tithing. It is a pleasure to be able to make discerning decisions regarding where tithes should go based not on some authoritarian church group commanding them, but based on whom I feel is really doing the work of God. There are some children in Africa who have clean drinking water, medical care, and shoes as a result of my tithes. They also get to hear the gospel. Some physically challenged individuals now have wheelchairs as a result of my tithes, and get to hear an encouraging and healing message. And, some people who are preaching the gospel sincerely and without grinding axes around the world also benefit from my tithes. A local church in my area where I get to participate in group praise, take communion, and learn more about God also receives some of my tithes.

    If you do it properly, rather than Isaiah 1 style, it should bring great joy into your life, as well as serving its primary purpose of fulfilling the great commission.

    BB

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    1. Just curious as to how you can UN-educate yourself like that, Bob. There never wan any "Great Commission" to preach the gospel. The Christian church made that up post 70 AD. Even the earliest gospel, Mark, does not include a great commission. So, you know that it was added even later than Mark. Nobody knows when this stuff was written but the mention of the abomination in Mark 13:14 better fits the time of Hadrian and the Bar Kokhbar revolt. Which means either that Mark wasn't written until after the revolt or that that passage was added to Mark after that revolt.

      @Tom Mahon, there was no Christian Priesthood in the early Christianity of Paul to change from a Levitical priesthood to a Christian priesthood. Whoever wrote "Hebrews" was full of it because he didn't know what "after the order" of Melchizedek meant. Melchizedek was a priest-king, he combined the offices of priest and king - there were no priest-kings in early Christianity (except for Jesus). In fact, there were no priests at all. Abraham's tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek was because he was one of the priest-kings affected by the war of the kings. In other words, it was his share of the booty. The one after the order of Melchizedek (combining the offices of priest and king) was king David and that's who the psalm refers to and not Jesus. Christianity is just a midrashic (allegorical, hidden meaning of scripture) corruption of Judaism.

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  4. Corky,

    You may want to Google "Great Commission". I don't swear by Wikipedia, but in this case, some basics are cited that anyone can look up in their own Bibles. Lately, I've been studying the works of Paul and his scribes or disciples, and he seems to amplify the great commission, emphasizing the personal responsibilities of individual Christians in participating. I admit, this is a problem area for me on several levels, #1 because of decades of certain teachings in WCG deemphasizing personal evangelism, that apparently being left to alledge professionals (the upper levels of the ministry), and #2 because the rejection rate is probably about 99.9%. If it's not done properly and appropriately, one can make the gospel appear ridiculous, and open the door to mockery, actually setting others back. As a lifetime nonconformist, really I have no problem appearing to be different, but we're talking about the gospel here, not me personally.

    Back when I was exploring the works of Edgar Cayce, I used to entertain the possibility that Jesus had been reincarnated multiple times, and that Melchizedek was one of those incarnations. There is also a concept known as theophany, which is the physical manifestation of the deity to humans, and some consider Melchizedek to be a candidate for this because he had no human geneology.

    Just touching on this last point briefly, but I vehemently disagree with even the remotest possibility that we're living in the time of the famine of the Word. Christians have more resources available today than at any time in history, and there is much deep personal Bible Study ongoing, and actively promoted by groups such as Calvary. I will agree that certain groups familiar to most of us here are experiencing reduced exposure, and people can draw their own conclusions as to the meaning behind that.

    BB

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    1. I've got to agree with Bob on this one. The Bible is the #1 best seller in the world year after year. Every possible flavor of Christianity is sending missionaries all over the world. Not to mention umpteen TV broadcasts, people on the streets of the cities and people knocking on our doors. "Famine of the Word"??? What a hoot! "The Word" is available in abundance, to the point where you can't seem to avoid it.

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    2. Bob - just curious - what is your "take" on Edgar Cayce?

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    3. Skeptic,

      You can only get so far with Edgar Cayce. He taught that for the most part, there is an impenetrable void between a person's supposed sequential lifetimes, a void that allows karmic influences through, but no specific memories. So, you get around, once again, to needing a special human such as himself to enlighten you, and no possible way of obtaining any sort of second opinion.
      It was somewhat comforting to believe his "buddy" system, or that the same basic set of people go through all of their lifetimes together, somehow recollecting or finding one another, and fulfilling different roles. Obviously, that belief can lead to greater kindness and understanding. I also liked the idea of a review by a mentor/deity after each lifetime, with specific goals set prior to a new lifetime.

      Back in the 1980s, I felt that there was still a tremendous amount of negativity and self-sabotage remaining in my mind, remnants of Armstrongism. To better perform in my career and as a husband and father, I wanted to replace these with positives, so sought relief through hypnotherapy. My hypnotherapist, as it turned out, was Christian, but respected my then agnostic mindset, and performed her work in a professional and secular way. I needed perhaps ten sessions, iirc, and there was vast improvement. However, even in an hypnotic state, although I seemed to have perfect recall of events throughout my life, there was no recall of any past lives.

      I believe that Edgar Cayce was sincere, and that perhaps peoples' minds reacted positively to his assistance, based on their faith in him, but that's about where it ends. Pondering his teachings was a valuable stepping stone for me, and there were some good takeaways.

      BB

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    4. Some Jews think that "Melchizedek" was the title of Abraham's great grandfather, Shem (son of Noah), who according to the genealogy would have still been alive at the time of the war of the kings. In fact, he outlived Abraham if Shem actually lived 502 years after the flood (Gen. 11:10-11). Plus, Shem was the ruler of Canaan (Gen. 9:6) which is where the war of the kings happened.

      According to Paul, the commission to preach the gospel was a short work (Rom. 9:28). See (Gal. 2:7) as to whom the commission was given. No apostolic succession spoken of either.

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    5. Hmmmm, (Gen. 9:6) should have been (Gen. 9:26) above.

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  5. Corky, Your post has been delivered with the certainty of a eye witness, rather than, in reality, the opinions and assumptions of scholars, who tend to disagree among themselves.

    "The famine of the hearing of the word"(Amos 8:11), is not defined by the number of self-appointed missionaries, who have arrogated to themselves the rsponsibility to preach a false gospel, but by who God has chosen to preach the true gospel(Roms.10:15). At this period in history, God has not chosen anyone to preach the gospel. But that will change with the coming of the two witnesses

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    1. "At this period in history, God has not chosen anyone to preach the gospel." Oh really, Tom? NOW who is delivering a post "with the certainty of a eye witness"? Perhaps God HAS chosen someone and you just don't know about it. Do you think that might be possible?

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  6. But Tom, haven't you heard? - HWA and GTA were the two witnesses. I guess you missed that "truth" back there in the 1960's but I remember it well.

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    1. Wait a minute ... didn't I hear somewhere that Ron Weinland and his wife are the two witnesses?

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    2. Yeah, but Ron Weinland is wrong...the two witnesses are death and destruction - namely of Jerusalem and the temple.

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