Life is Worth Living Well.

I have a belief that the situation of every human being upon death will be like the arrival point of an international airport. There will be a long line of travelers as they arrive from earth. Waiting at the front of the aisle, are some angels who will take one look at each of the new arrivals and direct them to appropriate cubicles for entry interviews.

And very much like the Parable of Talents (Matthew 25:14-30 English Standard Version), a particular group of people will be directed to a cubicle where the interviewer will yell at each one of them; "You slothful idiot! Do you know how long and how painstaking it took God to create and mold you as a precious, distinct individual? Yet, you got lazy, complacent and wasteful of that same precious life. While on earth, you neither passed nor failed except to remain static in one spot. And now, you return up here all messed up, looking sad, depressed and dispirited! Will someone please cast this worthless fool into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth!"

93 Year-old Woman Denied Funeral Because She “Owed” Back Tithes.

In Texas, a 93-year-old woman (Olivia Blair) had been attending a church for about 50 years. She is now dead but her pastor refused to allow her funeral service in the church. Why so? The pastor said the old woman “owed” some back tithes!

According to the church’s pastor, the other “sins” committed by the deceased was that she “...had not paid her dues, and she had not attended the church in recent years.”

But when contacted by KRIV FOX 26, the dead woman’s daughter retorted that “For the last two years, my mother has been in either a nursing home or she’s been in a hospital. And the last few months, she was in a coma!”

Now, what manner of a shameless pastor would ignore a sick, old church member for so long and then turned around to condemn the poor woman for not paying tithes in her period of agony and anguish?

X                                                                                          X                                                                              X

And in a related incident, a pastor (in a different American church) has directed members of his church to stop practicing cremation because according to him, “When Jesus comes back, how do you expect him to be going around searching for the remains of your loved ones that have been cremated and whose ashes have been scattered all over the ocean and some other places?...”

And this guy is supposed to be a "Man of God"?

What Do You Believe in the Bible?

It's funny how many of us Christians love certain books or sections of the Holy Bible while ignoring those we detest.

For instance, there are people who will always stay away from the Book of Exodus only because it contains the Ten Commandments. And these are the reasons why:

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

- Tell that to those who are so emotionally weak that they swear and curse every micro-second of their lives due to the most minor form of frustrations.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

- Yeah right! It’s on a Sunday that a whole lot of people engage in the most dirty forms of recreations…illicit sex, substance abuse, etc. 

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

- Unfortunately, there are too many temptations out there (including houses of worships) beyond the control of lots of people, especially men. 

8. Thou shalt not steal.

- Let’s hope the stealing of office stationery is not included.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

-Mischievous people hate this commandment as if it is a plague.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

- This is similar to adultery except that eyeing someone else’s wife or husband is worse.

As for pastors, many of them love to quote excitedly from the Book of Malachi all because of a tiny line about the payment of Tithes. The same pastors however will not be found dead quoting from the Book of John Chapter 2 (verses 1-11) where Jesus turned water into wine. 

Now, the trick of some pastors is to quickly point out that the wine produced by Jesus (through miracle) was non-alcoholic. For God’s sake, it has been proven that non-alcoholic wine did not exist until thousands of years after the transition of Jesus!

It is very important for us as Christians to always keep in mind, the primary purpose of the Holy Bible as a message about salvation. It’s primary sphere of authority is salvation. And it is a sufficient guide that tells us how we might be given eternal life with God. 

Such a great book therefore cannot be turned into a tool by any individual to serve a selfish or personal purpose.