Here’s an article from the news herald of a church in Panama City that built a 21 million dollar facility to hold their congregation for sunday’s. Here are some quotes from the article and from the video, which is below.
“The reason we built the new facility was basically out of need,”
I had a recent email come to me that basically criticized me for my critical attitude towards church buildings. Basically, they said he can see the problems church building pose, but the same argument can be used for personal homes and other so-called private property as well.
Well, i couldn’t agree more. The problem is that if I improve or expand my home, it is scrutinized as something selfish, but if i do that for a church building, then it’s Godly. My house and a church both have the same reasoning. For instance i could use these reasonings here for either a church building or my home: i need a roof over my head . . . my children need to be comfortable . . . God needs to be glorified in it’s beauty . . . It is a light in a dark area . . . strangers are welcome here . . . i train my children here . . . etc. . . and so on . . . and so on.
Can you start to see the moral dilemma we’ve gotten ourselves into? On one hand these reasons are Godly, on the other these reasons are humanistic? Which is it?
“The construction and renovation has cost the church $21 million total, with funding coming from church members’ tithing”
Ah, Yes! The old tithing trick. Figure out something that i want to do; convince them it’s from God; and then naturally, they are required to fund my endeavors. There’s nothing like providing God’s people without a choice. I mean who can actually prove that this building is what God wants? Would you withhold your tithe and risk getting cursed, and becoming destitute because you were not sure about tithing towards the new building?
Get on the ball people, that’s why freewill, spirit-led giving should be responsible to fund supposed spirit led missions. This is so some nut case doesn’t come along and do something crazy call it spirit led, and then obligate scared tithers into paying for it.
“The easiest thing for us to have done would have been for us to move out of downtown Panama City and purchase property and just start over,” Conner said. “But we stayed down here because we feel like we have a very vital ministry to the downtown area.”
Hey knuckleheads, why not do the easy thing, and move out and still minister down town. No, you probably didn’t do that because it would be TOO HARD for you!
For those who balk at the hefty price tag, Conner said the church is fulfilling its goal as creating a pulpit to spread the Christian word.
ROFL – LOL! They haven’t created a new pulpit. It’s still the same pastor. the same staff. They didn’t even plant a new Church. My goodness, as long as i am spreading the Christian word, then the ends justify the means? I mean where’s the line? Does anyone ever think of planting a new church fellowship anymore? Should we not think about price as long as the pulpit is still there?
“Our primary responsibility as a church is not to feed the hungry,” Conner said. “We have a very, very active benevolence ministry … that opens feeds people, that clothes people. But our priority is the preaching of the gospel.”
You need money to feed people, you don’t need money to preach the gospel. The gospel is free, food is not. Maybe that will help put things in perspective. Let’s get back to building God’s kingdom 1 brick soul at a time.
Oh yeah, in case you are wondering the news article states that it took 408,000 bricks to build, if only they represented souls.
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