what should have been posted with my last post
Do you believe in what they or doing or not? It doesn't matter. That Holy Ghost laughter makes them feel better, laughter is good for the soul, and, for that matter, good for Seoul. It's a lot cheaper than an IAS donation worship service, and, unlike the IAS donation service, nobody goes home doing a slow internal burn, feeling like he has been taken advantage of and taken to the cleaners.
Personally, I believe that there is such a thing as genuine manifestation of the Holy Ghost, I don't buy for one moment that it ended the day of Pentecost. However ... the nature of the manifestation ... is it genuine or a manifestation of group think? Might there be a motivation to manifest to gain status in the group? God knows, I don't.
My issue with that church ... and this is speculation ... is that this church is a registered church and is therefore not an independent pulpit that would be willing to speak out and expose corruption, which I believe is legitimate function of the church. In the US, churches aren't "registered" in the way that they were in the old Soviet Union, but, they are effectively registered via acceptance of not for profit corporation status using the privilege of tax exemption versus standing on their inalienable right to remain an exception to the tax codes.
I have gone to many mega churches at the request of my wife and son, and some I have even enjoyed the services of. But there is something that just irritates the heck out of me knowing that if I were to tithe and/or give beyond a tithe, the funds would be going to a legal fiction, a not for profit corporation chartered via the good graces and permission of state government and no doubt granted a tax exemption, having therefore waived their inalienable right to remain an exception. I believe that the political climate in this country that is being manufactured will eventually lead to government pulling the strings they have attached to churches via their corporate status to silence the pulplt and/or totally confine it within the church. Furthermore, there exists a program where FEMA has been contacting various church pastors and encouraging them to work with FEMA in the event of some sort of disaster, encouraging people to turn their guns in and get on the FEMA bus for evacuation. Furthermore, most times I have spoken to the regulars at these sorts of churches and raise any of these issues they mainly have no clue whatsoever as to what I am talking about or go into a certain catatonic brainfart upset mode.
Here in the US, these folks tend to be 9-11 officlal govt. version true believers, will go into the usual clucking noises about "render unto Caesar" anytime you discuss tax issues and how liabilities are incurred, etc. I remember the blast I got back in 1990 talking with one of these folks about how the Federal Reserve System works, how the nature of citizenship in this country changed from Citizen of a state to Federal US citizenship, etc. This guy went off on me verbally like you wouldn't believe.
Anyways ... I think all churches tend to become bastions of brainwashed thinking, because of all of the other baggage that people bring along, along with their Bibles .. and I think that this tends to happen in larger churches with larger congregations.
Pete
Do you believe in what they or doing or not? It doesn't matter. That Holy Ghost laughter makes them feel better, laughter is good for the soul, and, for that matter, good for Seoul. It's a lot cheaper than an IAS donation worship service, and, unlike the IAS donation service, nobody goes home doing a slow internal burn, feeling like he has been taken advantage of and taken to the cleaners.
Personally, I believe that there is such a thing as genuine manifestation of the Holy Ghost, I don't buy for one moment that it ended the day of Pentecost. However ... the nature of the manifestation ... is it genuine or a manifestation of group think? Might there be a motivation to manifest to gain status in the group? God knows, I don't.
My issue with that church ... and this is speculation ... is that this church is a registered church and is therefore not an independent pulpit that would be willing to speak out and expose corruption, which I believe is legitimate function of the church. In the US, churches aren't "registered" in the way that they were in the old Soviet Union, but, they are effectively registered via acceptance of not for profit corporation status using the privilege of tax exemption versus standing on their inalienable right to remain an exception to the tax codes.
I have gone to many mega churches at the request of my wife and son, and some I have even enjoyed the services of. But there is something that just irritates the heck out of me knowing that if I were to tithe and/or give beyond a tithe, the funds would be going to a legal fiction, a not for profit corporation chartered via the good graces and permission of state government and no doubt granted a tax exemption, having therefore waived their inalienable right to remain an exception. I believe that the political climate in this country that is being manufactured will eventually lead to government pulling the strings they have attached to churches via their corporate status to silence the pulplt and/or totally confine it within the church. Furthermore, there exists a program where FEMA has been contacting various church pastors and encouraging them to work with FEMA in the event of some sort of disaster, encouraging people to turn their guns in and get on the FEMA bus for evacuation. Furthermore, most times I have spoken to the regulars at these sorts of churches and raise any of these issues they mainly have no clue whatsoever as to what I am talking about or go into a certain catatonic brainfart upset mode.
Here in the US, these folks tend to be 9-11 officlal govt. version true believers, will go into the usual clucking noises about "render unto Caesar" anytime you discuss tax issues and how liabilities are incurred, etc. I remember the blast I got back in 1990 talking with one of these folks about how the Federal Reserve System works, how the nature of citizenship in this country changed from Citizen of a state to Federal US citizenship, etc. This guy went off on me verbally like you wouldn't believe.
Anyways ... I think all churches tend to become bastions of brainwashed thinking, because of all of the other baggage that people bring along, along with their Bibles .. and I think that this tends to happen in larger churches with larger congregations.
Pete
