19 November 2017
Two-Minute Features | 26 November 2017 | 12 November 2017

Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 1 (TMF:785)

Friday, November 24, 2017
Peace to Live By: Wrong for a Christian or Church to be Rich? Part 1 (TMF:785) - Daniel Litton
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       Contention two: Because many Christians and churches are rich, they are not following the model of Jesus. Really, this question is an issue both for non-Christians and even Christians, as I notice myself that people from time to time tend to question how rich, or frugal, a Christian or church should be. The reality is, is that it is not wrong for a Christian or a church to in fact be rich. Paul did note in his first letter to Timothy the following: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:9, 10, ESV). The idea here in Paul’s words to Timothy is that a Christian should not “desire” or have the “craving” to become rich. One should try to be content with the amount of money that God has given him or her.

Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 3 (TMF:784)

Thursday, November 23, 2017
Peace to Live By: Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 3 (TMF:784) - Daniel Litton
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       So, while there may be some preachers who preach in order to make money—those who preach “out of selfish ambition.” There are also obviously those preachers who tell people about Christ because they really believe what they are saying. They are not doing it for any monetary gain or even personal gain. Interestingly enough, however, God says in the Bible that it’s not wrong for a preacher, or an evangelist, to be paid for their work on behalf of Christ. If you read 1 Corinthians chapter 9, you can note that it is not wrong for a preacher, or evangelist, to receive money or material goods in return for his or her work. It was just that Paul and Barnabas decided to work for their living rather than collect a paycheck from the churches of which they ministered. But it would not have been wrong for them to have done so—to have collected a paycheck. Paul did point out that he had an advantage over those who do collect money since he didn’t, for no one could accuse him of preaching or evangelizing for financial gain. It gave people more confidence in his authenticity.

Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 2 (TMF:783)

Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Peace to Live By: Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 2 (TMF:783) - Daniel Litton
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       Apparently, even within the church back then, there were those preachers who preached in competition with each other, trying to outdo one another. And then, as Paul noted, there was just those who preached because they felt God’s call to do so, and weren’t really concerned about what others thought of their preaching. That’s the way it is supposed to be with the preacher. The preacher is just supposed to preach the Bible and not worry about what others think, including those who are doing the same thing. But Paul called those who preached out of “envy and rivalry” as doing it for “selfish ambition.” That means, obviously, these preachers were trying to advance themselves and were not that concerned about the kingdom of God—people coming to know Jesus or with Christians being helped in their own lives. As far as these selfish preachers afflicting Paul in his imprisonment, it could have been that they were actually arguing against Paul that he was in prison in the first place because God was not on his side, or some other sort of distorted view.

Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 1 (TMF:782)

Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Peace to Live By: Churches Exist for Ulterior Motives? Part 1 (TMF:782) - Daniel Litton
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       Contention one: Churches actually exist as organizations with ulterior motives. Some say, “I will not listen to any preacher who is asking for money.” A good church is one that exists for the purpose of presenting the Bible as God’s true Word to live by, and also wants to multiply more and more followers of Christ—to be disciple-makers. To overgeneralize and say that all churches are fraudulent and exist for ulterior motives just doesn’t make good, logical sense. It could be true, and surely is, that some churches of the great amount which are out there do exist just to make money or for perhaps another political reason. In fact, the Apostle Paul told the Philippians some 2,000 years ago: “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice” (Philippians 1:15-18, ESV).

Intro to Attacks on Christianity- The Church (TMF:781)

Monday, November 20, 2017
Peace to Live By: Intro to Attacks on Christianity- The Church (TMF:781) - Daniel Litton
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       When a lot of people attack Christianity, one of the first things they focus on is the church—or the condition of the church. Opponents believe that if they can show the people who follow Christian principles to be no different than anyone else, to be hypocrites, then they can undermine the church. And it is true that when Christians don’t live up to becoming more like Jesus that it can and does from time to time set a bad example for unbelievers to see. But we cannot, nor should anybody, judge Christianity on the actions of one individual or even a small group of individuals. Just as one cannot judge a team based on one sports performance, or a cast based on one television episode, so Christianity should not be simply judged based on one setting or group of Christians.