Rich Preachers

[Guest Lobo]

I didn’t say majority or most or even a plurality.  I was just surprised the percentage was as high as it is.  Plenty of wealthy people fall for dumb religious and spiritual bullshit every day in this nation.  Not most.  Not all.  But many. 

[troph 24914]

While those home churches can be incredible they can also be the breeding ground for cults.

[Pibald 18]

Our original goal of starting a cult fell short and dissolved into a home church. We disbanded in disappointment shortly thereafter. 

 

[Mole 4333]

 

 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

9 hours ago, Lobo said:

I didn’t say majority or most or even a plurality.  I was just surprised the percentage was as high as it is.  Plenty of wealthy people fall for dumb religious and spiritual bullshit every day in this nation.  Not most.  Not all.  But many. 

The percentage of higher income that goes there is very low.  It’s a church with a lot lower income to lower middle class.  Suckers who buy into prosperity gospel.  

[Kyrie Eleison 9312]

 

[TwiceHorn 31573]

On 2/11/2019 at 10:14 PM, Lobo said:

I didn’t say majority or most or even a plurality.  I was just surprised the percentage was as high as it is.  Plenty of wealthy people fall for dumb religious and spiritual bullshit every day in this nation.  Not most.  Not all.  But many. 

Unlike Trump, most of us don't conflate wealth with competence.

[Fudge Nuggets 19227]

4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Unlike Trump, most of us don't conflate wealth debt with competence.

To be correct...

[TwiceHorn 31573]

Just now, Fudge Nuggets said:

To be correct...

Touche.  Actually, though, I have heard/seen the Dotard justify his cabinet appointments (Ross, the weather channel guy) by saying they've made a lot of money they must know what they're doing.

[Horn Dog 9952]

3 hours ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

 

I guess I buying my wife some asbestos underwear as a belated valentines present 

[Gil Bang 26050]

On 2/11/2019 at 12:30 PM, Mole said:

I spent several years as part of a house church of about 20-30 people. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s the best way to have a church when it’s done right. We tried to model ourselves off of the New Testament church.

There was no pastor, so whoever had something to share or preach was free to do so. We’d meet to sing, pray, and listen to whoever wanted to share. By the way, this is the New Testament model for a church meeting.

The preaching was diverse as were the doctrines, although we would have been vaguely categorized as evangelical. On any specific issue, there’d be quite a bit of diversity of thought, although we all tended towards holding the Bible as the authority, to the best of each of our understanding. 

While there was no pastor, there a few that operated in a leadership role, although there was nothing very formal about the arrangement. It was more of a mutual understanding based on character. Think of it as New Testament church elders.

If someone in the church was in need, we’d help in an appropriate way (sometimes money or a meal or a place to stay, sometimes a job, sometimes a kick in the pants). We took up a regular offering and would use our money to help others outside the church as well. It was all normal church stuff without someone taking advantage of you. We also all developed much stronger relationships with our fellow church members and a greater sense of personal agency about our faith. It wasn’t an environment conducive to passivity.

It isn’t a perfect system. You need enough people thinking critically to keep it from going off the rails or turning into a cult. In certain environments, the most fundamentalist person wins over as having the most faith. You need people pushing against that kind of thinking. You also need enough people who aren’t interested in giving over authority to a single person. Also since the preaching time was an open forum, some meetings went pretty long, but since we were all good friends it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

It’s been years since our house church fizzled out as everyone moved all over the world. I still haven’t found that sense of community in a church since then.

sounds like it operated similar to the swinger's club that my ex and I belonged to. 

[Mole 4333]

Well there was a fair amount of intermarrying within the church.

[SKJ 1311]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

sounds like it operated similar to the swinger's club that my ex and I belonged to. 

Username etc...

[RPM 26360]

Didn't read the whole thread, but here's my hso. There are a shitload of weak-minded, easily manipulated, stupid people on this Earth.