Topic: TODAY'S CHRISTIANITY IN THE WORLD (Read 361 times)

We have many different people in the world.
Some of them are good and some are bad.
So, in the same way, you can't say that all religious people or pastors are good or all of them are bad.
You should judge each individual based on his/her actions, not based on concepts and prejudices.
Yes, we have corruption in the church and many other problems but also we have many great priests who are sacrificing helping poor and sick in Africa for example, volunteering in the humanitarian organizations, hospitals etc.
Also, through their faith and church service they are giving hope and life to the many people.
This is not a simple story and has a lot of different layers.
   

The Christian persecution is starting all over again. Time for Christians to set up their own means of doing business.


Baptist Pastor Says Bank of America Shut Down All Of His Church's Bank Accounts




Go to Hell, Bank of America!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=B5R3yQqDd9Q

Sad to hear about that, I've known pastors and preachers who doesn't even preach those words.

Like what they are preaching, they are also practicing faith. As they've said, God will provide and will certainly do the same thing for them but without standing in the pulpit and telling that it is convenient for them to have cars to preach to other places. There's always a way to commute to preach the gospel but that's really a clear thing that we can understand what that pastor want.

With that annointing oil, I already seen one like that before in my country and it's really pure business.

You forgot the biggest thing that Christianity is all about. It's the saving of souls for life in Heaven following the judgment. Salvation includes those other things, but they are of lesser importance than salvation.

Those Church practicing that are not the church of Christ.  Many of this religion organizations are just bearing Christian but there are not.  Christianity is about love,  justice, mercy and good deed and most of the big churches we do hear there names has no of this.

Religion is one of the world greatest problem today and our religious leaders have contributed to this problems with they selfish desire for wealth rather then helping the people spiritual life's and also causing separation between different religions in the world there by causing war and crisis in the world today. In fact most of the spiritual leaders take the money from they poor congregation to build schools the children of those poor members can not afford the money to attend.

Religion is now a business in Africa, most especially here in Nigeria. You will always see churches in every 5-10 minutes walk.
I was listening to a sermon on radio yesterday and the preacher was saying that it's very bad for a church member to be using 4 cars while his pastors has none. I don't know why some men of God always feel entitled to part of people's wealth. They are adding to the economic crisis by extorting money from their church members. Because they know that once they cook up a story like “buy this anointing oil, it will make your dreams come true”, that's when you see them auctioning for the anointing oil. The highest bidder gets the offer.

It adds pride to the members, I've known a person that told a friend of ours that he would love to attend to a church that would recognize his tithes and offerings.

He wants to see his name on their bulletin board with the amount he has given. And if the church he attended didn't have that sort of info on where the tithes and offerings goes, he won't give there but instead to the other church that has that kind of recognition although he attends there.

Religion is a tool handed down to people by their guardians. This tool helps guide them through life's tough times, through the good lessons they learn. They learn these lessons through stories and other methods.

This is just the way I see things, but people seem to be learning less about things like self-worth these days.

I totally agree with you on this. Churches of nowadays only recognize “active church members” i.e those who pay their tithes and offering everytime.
This happens not only in churches, the Muslims here in my country also practice this corrupt act. I don't know of other countries.
One has be careful of his/her place of worship, or else, our religious leaders will scam us all in the name of God. Most of them are just wolf under sheep clothing.

All religion that is anything important has solid religious ethics and morals. Compare the people to the morals and ethics of their religion.

Everything can be turned into something "evil" and use it to getting things, same with churches gaining riches and leaving their mission behind or people hiding behind religion to be seen as "good".

However, once I was told that I shouldn't judge religion by the people who claim to follow it but what it originally tried to teach. In the end, all people have flaws and everyone has their own understanding of the religion they believe in or say they believe in...

Religion must be love and respect. Religion is not exclusive to the rich only. God is looking at our hearts and our actions not for anything else .. The money also spoils the souls .

Really, how is that possible? From my observation, Muslims seems to be more of socialist than capitalists. A classical example of this can be seen in how most Islamic republics are ruled in different parts of  the world.

Well the Christian agents here in India are only concentrating people to their religion. It is going at huge pace in Kerala and in suburbs. Even media outlet here are governed by Christian people. So these things dont come to light and so these activities are gathering a lot pace every day. Donations comes from NGO's and Church.

Sounds like an interesting religion you have there. No wonder you have mixed feelings. You are associating with others of religions like yours.

In recent time I have begins to have mix feelings about religion in general and I believe that religion does not really change the people and in most cases religion make the worst and at that instead of they religion to shape the act religion is now use to defend they wrong doing, take example with our political leaders today the do all manner of inhuman act and yet still goes to the worship place to deceive the people.

LOL! There you go, taking a chunk of what I said out of context... a practice as old as the mountains.


Jesus said what He said for whatever purpose. This doesn't mean that there are NOT other meanings that can be correctly applied to what He said, and that circumstances regarding things that He said are the only thing that was happening.

For example, many people fail to realize that Jesus spent something like 3 years in his ministry, and that during 3 years it is easy for a person to say the same things over and over many times, plus a lot of things that didn't get recorded. What? Do you think that the only things that Jesus ever said are the things that are written in the Bible?

Another example: When God created the earth, direct talk in detail about every blade of grass was never uttered in the Bible. This doesn't mean that each blade of grass never had its own individuality as a blade of grass, but rather that such detail was never recorded in the Bible... same said most of the rest of the individual details of the universe.

You need to realize that Jesus was living a life that largely was not recorded, and see how things fit together in His life in the ways that were not recorded.


Depends on how overripe they get. Did you ever hear of the word "rotten?"



My reference to Saint Paul as such was simply to show that I was talking about Saint Paul of the Bible. Many people recognize the Bible when they see the words "Saint Paul." Then, once they realize we are in the Bible, talking about the writers of the epistles of the N.T., James is understood as one of them. If you are more comfortable with Saint James, fine.

You are using a small section of a contextual writing and applying your own ideas, and thereby displacing the original meaning. This practice is as old as the mountains and of course it will go on forever. I do not condemn or judge you for applying bits and pieces of writing to support your own ideas. The context of the writing you refer to, is one where even if you disguise yourself as the real McCoy, but you are not, you can not "outstrip" - so to speak - your true nature. If you are a thorn or a thistle, but pretend to be a grape vine or a fig tree, it will show.

Btw, overripe fruit are the sweetest and tastiest; try overripe bananas next time you bake banana bread, it is truly at least three times as tasty as average ripe bananas.

Also, if Paul of the bible to be considered a Saint, is James not to be considered one too?

Christianity is about Jesus salvation. There are many people who do not understand this, but use the word "Christianity" with regard to themselves or others who don't have Jesus salvation in mind at all. Even the teachings of Jesus, if they don't include Jesus salvation, can be found in many places and religions, although not combined as Jesus combined them.

If you have a saved Christian who does not follow the law perfectly, does this mean that he is not a Christian? By their fruits you will know them. But judging them without finding out their fruits that show their faith, is itself a fruit of evil.

Take a look at a fruit tree. Every fruit tree in nature that produces good fruit, also has overripe fruit that is not good. They all have a chunk of bad fruit at times. Some of them have mostly bad fruit. Mixed good and bad fruit in Christians does not necessarily show their salvation faith. After all, even Saint Paul says that it is the wise of this age who are rejecting faith, but it is many of the sinful who are turning to faith.

If you are a bad person and an unbeliever, and you come to faith, does it mean that you will live the perfect life ever after? Of course not. True Christians still us bad language. James says that nobody can tame the tongue. There is an easily seen Christian flaw that many saved Christians have... although they have reduced their bad language usage.

The point is, don't condemn Christians for not being perfect. Yet, when they do bad things, keep yourself from doing the bad things. And if it is in your power to show them their mistakes, do so. That's when you will find out if they believe in Jesus salvation or not.

and Christianity myth is based on other (pagan) myths (Osiris, Mitra etc.).  So what is your point?

All religious myths are 'pagan'.

it is very difficult to separate the ego from what is actually taught in Christianity about love. we must distinguish that love will not distinguish between a tribe and one's prosperity. Christianity does not teach it but pastors are also humans where they need to fulfill their daily needs. but not all can be equated. There are still many who teach with love by not distinguishing what we have and our tribes. I think there are still many pastors who do things about gentle love.

I thought i did define what it means to be Christian.

I said "To be a Christian is to put Jesus and His teachings above ALL things. Especially above the traditions of man and of this world."

Not sure what 'secular Christianity' is. But there is only one type of Christianity. And that is to believe and do what Jesus said and taught.
Anything else is paganism disguised as Christianity.

And i agree, paganism isn't Christianity. And thats exactly why the majority of todays Christianity isn't Christianity at all seeing as 95% of all Christians celebrate the pagan festivals of Xmas and Easter and 99% celebrate birthdays. Just because people dont want to research the origins, in fear of losing their annual emotional fix in the process, doesnt make the practise non-pagan all of a sudden. That is hypocrisy at its finest.

How can I agree when you haven't defined a Christian? Bible Christianity is different than secular Christianity. You can't lump people together by one word.

Biblically speaking, paganism isn't Christianity. A pagan can be called a Christian all the way to Hell, but that doesn't make him a Christian.

In law silence is generally considered as agreement.

So i take it that you agree ^^

It is the end time now. what can we expect? Everything that is happening right now is written in the bible that is going to take place. Lucifer is disguising himself in sheep's clothing and deceiving many but those that are guided by the Holy Spirit will not be deceived. A tree is recognized by its fruit so you will recognize true religion based in the actions they are showing. they are false Christians.

My humble recommendation: Listen to an half-hour to an hour of Bible-tapes/Bible-CDs daily, where someone is actually reading the Bible out loud.

Listen to the Old Testament straight through once, then the New Testament straight through 4 times, then back to the O.T., then the N.T. again, etc. Never stop. Every day.

This in addition to whatever church or other Bible studies you do.

  religion is the most legit business in the world.imagine you are gaining without money capital but just bible?imagine how huge you can earn without paying any single cents in the government?this is how stupid people nowadays,believing in a short word that this demonic human says..religion will only leads you to hell if you dont make a perfect research for whos saying the truth

Churches should be the hospital of the sinners not only just for certain people that has thick pockets. Sad truth for these churches, they give introduction for those people who gives the highest "offering".

They'll let the other members know on how much you're giving to him and it's like the privilege that they'll give to you. The treatment will be different from those normal church goers that doesn't give any benefit to them.

you dont understand the concept of spiritual realms.

it means that there are regions where people have a certain type of thinking

And what will you do with religions, such as Islam, in which one cannot separate the two? (At least not in it's current form.)

Islam may change and become a tolerant, multi-cultural religion accepting those of different faiths as well as atheists and apostates. (But I don't see it in the near future.)

Ive read it from beginning to end, so i know whats in there.
To be a Christian is to put Jesus and His teachings above ALL things. Especially above the traditions of man and of this world.

How many churches do you know of that celebrate Christmas, Easter and other pagan holidays?
Did you ever learn of their origins?

And, how many Christians do you know of that celebrate birthdays?

Some facts about the orgins of Birthdays:

• Why do we celebrate birthdays?

The idea of celebrating the date of your birth is a pagan tradition. In fact, many Christians didn’t celebrate birthdays historically, because of that link to paganism.

Pagans thought that evil spirits lurked on days of major changes, like the day you turn a year older.

The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays.

• Why do we blow out candles on our birthday?

The candles were a response to the evil spirits. They showed up to communicate with the gods. A light, in the darkness.

The Germans are credited with starting the kids birthday tradition in the 1700s. They put candles on tortes for “kinderfeste,” one for each year of life, along with some extras to signify upcoming years.

• Why do we sing “Happy Birthday To You?”

It’s the most recognizable song in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and it started as a song for schoolkids.

In 1893, two Kentucky schoolteachers, Patty and Mildred Hill wrote “Good Morning To All.” The tune was published in a book for schoolteachers.

It’s unclear who changed the words to “Happy Birthday To You,” but in 1933, that song was in an Irving Berlin musical. One of the Hill’s sisters sued, arguing that they held the copyright to the song. They won the case, and the courts have ruled that copyright still holds today.

In fact, some believe the song is under copyright until 2030. The owner of the copyright splits proceeds with the Hill’s estate, reportedly $2 million a year.


Today's 'Christianity' is an abominable hybrid of paganism which breeds on the emotions of people. Do you disagree?

So, you have studied the Bible, especially the New Testament, and done a detailed comparison between Christians and their activities, and the Bible, right?

So, what is it that makes a person a Christian?

Most churches and Christians now days couldn't even be considered as 'Christian', and should rather be considered as pagan instead.
They just like to hide behind the banner of Christian because it gives the perception of being 'loving' and 'caring'.
Does a group of satanists masquerading as Christians make them Christian?
Or does a group of Chinese pretending to be African make them African?
Of course not.
And neither does a bunch of pagans prancing around as Christians represent actual Christianity.

I think that even churces become more and more commercial. In my country they have fixed prices for everything - mass, funreal, wedding. You simply can't donate how much do you want. And then we priest driving new Tesla car. Then I feel it's unfair that church aren't paying taxes.
In my country over 80% of people claims to be Christians. But only very few of them are really religious. Others just visit church on Christmas or Easter because it's tradition and etc. It's just not accepted by our society, especially by older generations that you can be atheist.

Religions don't take you to court when you don't give to them. But if they do, it's because you agreed that they can do this.

There are mainly two slave-tax collectors (oppressors) in today's world namely state and church (back in the day it used to be fused together, but fortunately Galileo Galilei - amongst many others - made some startling discoveries that upset and irritated the status quo of the almighty church despots of his time, and thereby consequently changed the course of history that led to the inevitable growing apart of these two oppressing slave masters).

Consequently, in today's world, you are taxed forcefully by the state, slave master number 1, which understandably also collects the most taxes, even up to and over 50% in some jurisdictions, whereas the church oppressors (slave master number 2) had to settle for second place (in the old world they ruled supreme, you will not believe how almighty these church administrators used to be) with a much lower voluntary tax bracket of roughly 10% (but with a non-calculated benefit of thousands upon thousands of hours of free labor which could be added and would probably push the percentage up quite a bit). Actually, [*on a side note], to state the church tax as voluntary is not quite accurate, as there are forceful aspects to this tax collection, albeit not physical force, as is the case with the state.

 


Is it any wonder of all the institutions, foundations, companies and organizations, the religious organizations are the only ones whose worth are counted in billions?

So that the Christians can gain a better place in Heaven for using their money to bring more treasure to God... the treasure of more souls.

Christianity is all about separating naive and gullible from their money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_organizations

jes but religious people do their accounting for stuff in this world and another one while atheistic people purely think and accounting for this world alone.

so they are more selfish and less spenderous (hope its right englisch word)

Honestly, this whole thing of religion is getting worse by the day. It makes one wonder whether it's some sort of brainwashing meant to control people.
It's really hard to believe a thing these days because certain religious secs do things that are really so questionable.
Greedy people have infiltrated religions. All they care about is their well being.

So are the religious people. Everyone is doing a more or less same thing in some point of his-her life, and this is not a bad thing per se. unless one doing meditation in the Himalayas.

Religion and politics should never interfere with each other, there should always be a separation of church and state

interesting chart, but well its not wondering me, people that are not religious are very much focused on gaining stuff in their lives.

Using Ancient Israel as an example...

When Solomon fell away from God, God split the kingdom of Israel. The smaller part - 2 tribes plus Levi - went to Solomon's son, Rehoboam. The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom went to Jeroboam.

The two tribes under Rehoboam remained faithful to God. Jeroboam almost immediately started turning the northern 10 tribes away from God.

Then Jesus came, Ancient Israel was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., and belief in God now operates individually in people, rather than if they favored a Northern or Southern Kingdom in Israel.

The point? Two (three if you count Levi) out of twelve (or 13... Levi), will be faithful Christians that God will understand as His people. Nobody knows who they are. But at times you can tell who some of them aren't.

Get into the Bible if you are a faithful Christian. Because the Bible is the thing that the Holy Spirit uses to strengthen the faith of people... or to show that they really didn't have faith in the first place.

I will just leave this here:



https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statistics/u.s.-generosity

oh christians are not different in this regard than other groups, muslims are even more capitalist in my oppinion than christians.

It seems religious segregation is not helping the progress of the world. Many  leaders claim to be Christians but it's funny how greedy they are in reality. Some churches are also making matters worse. For instance some churches in the major cities are obviously for the rich in society only, from all intentions and indications, the less privileged are not welcomed. Honestly, If you don't have money, you are seen as a nuisance in those kind of churches believed to be for the elite in the society.  I thought christianity is about love.