missionaries. they have quite a scam going on there. when i belonged to a church i had access the the financial reports. 90% of the budget went for salaries and building upkeep. 10% was set aside for missions. almost all of that was used to build churches in overseas countries to preach and gain converts. they didnt use the money to build hospitals or schools or anything useful. i find it interesting that i have yet to hear a christian interviewed who said the endtimes theology is bunk. they have a problem with camping setting a date but they joyfully believe that jesus will return and destroy the world soon. just like you do. the delusion continues.
That's your problem, you belonged to the wrong church. Last time I was involved with missions work, the 26 people who went together to Honduras to help rebuild and repair a children's home all paid their own way, paid for the materials, all expenses and left everything we brought with us; all the tools, clothes, bibles, specially the candy! We boarded the plane going home with the clothes on our backs, passports, and a bunch of smiles. Free Thinker you can spout all the anti-religious non-sense on these boards you want, it doesn't negate the reality of a personal relationship with God each believer possesses. You say it's delusional, I say it's as real as the keyboard on which I'm pecking out this reply.
reality? thats a funny one. Doesn't it seem odd that the "evidence for the existence of god" is completely hidden from the greatest human minds who spend their professional lives exploring how the universe functions, yet it is perfectly clear to uneducated simpletons who have access to internet-linked terminals?
There is essentially no need to belong to any church to do good work. You donât need to leave bibles all over the place to repair a children's home. How much more humble and non self-serving it is when people do such work purely for the sake of it.
... Is this guy related to Fred Phelps? On second thought, more than likely not, he doesn't have any protest signs and is not quite as far out in left field. It does amaze me though that these kinds of people can get so many others to follow along.
The tools, clothes and candy were left at the kids home, the bibles were left at a local church, nondenominational, and not connected with our group other than they were fellow believers. You're correct you don't have to belong to a church to do good works, but there's normally advantages and the ability to reach more people when done in a larger group or context. No one in our group asked for anything, I don't know how you can say otherwise..... we were there to serve others and fulfill Christ's commands, to love one another. We met the needs of a very special group, that does a tremendous work there. They too were not affiliated with our church, their situation was brought to our attention through a friend They would have had no other way to fill those needs by themselves. Tired of the subject.
I agree, a larger group or organization is sometimes better acting as a catalyst and can offer advantages to get things done. But still, apparently there was something on top of that needed , as you say, you and others basically followed a religious instruction to serve others. So however much gloss you want to put on it, of course you asked for something. You might expect something for your good work afterall. You need Christ's command to love each other, to do good work. Really.. Why... For what ? The anticipation it will be in the followers' own self-interests to sheepishly comply, expecting to gain favor from that mythical hippy, made only through false promises in a story book. Hell to pay otherwise of course. Religious direction can never be as genuine , as self-less , or as properly representative of true human spirit, than those people who do good for goodness sake, without having to believe that a fictional megalomaniac is instructing them. Your religion claims goodness itself as justification for belief. Thatâs hypocrisy. Thatâs religion.