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Are Internet Churches Biblical
	They are no different than TV churches. Now with web tv it is possible for them to broadcast the services and many do. For sick people or shut-ins they may be the only church option available.

Pastor Gives Tithes Back

The pastor at our church made the same offer except he said for one year. I really don't think anyone has taken him up on it. I mean, if they did and it failed, who would feel right about asking the church for a huge refund? And, it has not worked out well. The church is millions in debt and has had a lot of budget problems and has had to lay people off. Of course, that pastor will blame all the laid off unemployed people who did not pay their 10% to get their blessing. Or, the church had to give LOT of "refunds" when the economy tanked.

Pastors Teach Tithing

Hey Lawerence! Have you REALLY studied tithing? If you had you would quickly learn that the FULL tithes EVERY third year went 100% to the poor. The 1/3 tithes were called "poor tithes" and were actually a form of social "welfare" tax in their day. Today, about 3% of my income goes to social programs to help the poor through taxes. Your render to Ceasar's and render to God verse is spot on. With Ceasar and NOT my church helping the poor today I would not expect a "curse" at all for only giving my church 7% like the other 3000 members!

Can A Virgin Marry A Non-Virgin
	The story I was thinking of was the one about the prophet Hosea who married Gomer the prostitute. I posted this up twice because I forgot I had already responded. I should have posted the details but could not remember who without a Google search.

Meet-Ups In Houston Texas

How can anyone be part of the remnant now because the rapture has not happened yet and we are not yet in the tribulation? My read of scripture is that we will not know who they are until it happens. And if they are so faithful, why do they get "left behind"? Or am I confused? I am just a regular born again non-denominational Christian. I know I am saved and if I encounter false doctrines I do come out from among them, but I don't call myself a "remnant".

Can A Virgin Marry A Non-Virgin
	What does the Bible teach? God told one of the Old Testament saints to marry a prostitute. His marriage to her was a symbol of God's forgiveness for a wayward Israel and all other sinners.

Can You Afford Obamacare

Larry, right on. You are so correct if the post office ran like it should we wouldn't need UPS or FedEx. ---Elder on 11/11/09 You can't be serious. The post office gets over 300,000,000 pieces of mail properly delivered each and every day. Where else can you send a letter all the way across the country in only 4 days for only $0.44? I am amazed they do as good a job as they do. One guy comes to around 300 condos where I live and in only 15 mins gets all the mail in the right slots. Even UPS is teamed with the post office now. They have a service called "Mail Innovations". I use it and it works better than UPS because the mailman will leave it when I am not home. (Unlike UPS)

Can You Afford Obamacare

Where in the constitution does it say that everyone deserves health care? Our Federal Government has gotten too big. They think they have unlimited powers when the constitution only gives them limited power. ---Pastor_Herb on 11/11/09 Your point is not relevant. You could use the same arguement on many issues. Where in the constitution does it say we are entitled to police or military protection, or to public roads, or to public busing, or to a public school system...yada yada yada... We enjoy many public services that are not in the constitution and that are efficiently provided by our government.

Can You Afford Obamacare

The majority of those who cannot afford health insurance now still won't. ---Gary I have a genetic benign tumor disease. The general population cancer risk is 20%, my risk only rises to 25%. The insane insurance companies will not insure me or deny coverarage for cancer or charge more than $1000 a month. They are motivated by greed and will manipulate statistics to ensure huge profits. In a case like mine, in all liklihood, they would not be hurt if forced to insure me at an affordable rate since I am rarely sick. I have had two job offers withdrawn in the past when they discovered benign tumors at the pre-employment physical. The government needs to be involved to prevent discrimination.

Can You Afford Obamacare

That amounts to $448 an hour assuming you had 24 hour care or $896 an hour assuming you had 12 hours with no care. At $896 an hour that means the doctor is worth $1.8M a year. You call that reasonable? They are raking in $1.8M a year just off of ONE patient. What about all the others? I would say your insurance company was raped. When I was in the hospital it was only $2000 a day. I thought even that was bad. A friends brother worked/lived on call in a hospital. His first year out of med school at age 30 he earned $2,000,000. I heard it straight from the horses mouth!

Can You Afford Obamacare

The real question is can anyone who has EVER been sick afford to go without it? I have neurofibromotisis and have a few benign tumors. Because of that, I am refused health insurance. I am not being treated for any disorders. When I was laid off in 1991, my COBRA policy with Blue Cross (non-profit) was $850 a month. It would be over $1000 now. Because tumors, I was twice refused job offers because they did not want to add me to the insurance policy. Public cancer risk is 20%, mine 25%. I can not be insured against cancer. I also have untreated asthma but have been refused insurance or had the policy rates jacked to the point of bankbuptcy. Obamacare isn't about "free" care but stopping some of the insanity.

What Does Tithing Mean

Under the Law, the Israelites were required to give one tenth of their money to the the Lord (Num 18:26). ---georg9457 Where did you read that distortion into scripture? Nowhere in documented scripture were tithes money. They were always food, and tithe is just a term that means 1/10 amount. There is scripture that says that if the food is too big to carry to the temple it may be exchanged for money which is then converted BACK TO FOOD at the temple location. Many Biblical Christian scholars have even concluded that only the agrarian (farmers and herders) members of Israels tribes were required to tithe. And, the poor took from the tithe and did NOT pay it. (ref. 1/3 of all tithes were for the poor).

Churches That Help The Poor

The mega-church I attend collects food and clothing for the poor. We distribute food through 2nd Harvest Food Bank which is connected to the Salvation Army and other food centers. We only use 10% of tithes for missions and less than 2% goes to the poor though. We did spend millions to build a large orphanage in India that grows its own food and raises fish. The Old Testament "laws" state that 1/3 of all tithes are to be used for the poor. Churches that pound on people to pay their "full" 10% that do not also honor the poor tithe are UNBIBLICAL!

Why So Many Denominations

To some extent, they are self perpetuating. Once established, their people depend on the continuation of the denomination for their jobs and livlihoods. In recent years, they have fallen out of fashion. Some churches change their name to hide their denomination. I know of a number of Baptist churches that took "Baptist" out of their name and go by some generic name like "Woodlake Community Church". I go to a non-denominational mega church. We are tied together with dozens of other denominational churches in town for mutual events and community ministry projects. There are very few "walls" from where I sit.

Should Women Teach In Church
	What do you mean by "teach"? You have to ask a more specific question. The Bible tells us that the older women should teach the younger women, and the same goes with men. Women can also teach children in Sunday school. Teaching is not the same thing as pastoring. Women can even be pastors in the sense of heading up a womens ministry or hospital visitation etc...etc...

Mega Churches Have Mega Pastors

This issue can vary greatly from mega church to mega church. I once went to visit a Pentacostal mega church. My friend told me that the pastor only lived on "love offerings" and not salary. Well, he drove up every week in a brand new $85,000 BMW and proudly parked it at the front door. My friend would only say that the pastor was "blessed" and that if people did not like it they did not have to give to the pastor. At my mega church, the pastor gets a fixed salary. The church gives millions a year to missions and charity and does care for the poor.

Tithe Net Or Gross Income
	Does gross or net include medical insurance as income? It is not fair to ask the person who pays $850-$1100 a month out of pocket a month for medical insurance to tithe on gross when a person who gets free medical insurance does not do that!

Were There Christian Presidents

Obewan, most foot-stomping, tongue-talking, bible thumbing blacks and Hispanics are pro-life Democrats. Watch your mouth. --larry on 10/29/09 Sorry, I did not intend to bash Democrats. I was mainly teasing some of the ultra conservative radicals that frequent this board. Thanks for posting up the Christian Dems who happen to be pro-life. That is something always good to hear about. And I try to be non-partisan since I am a registered independent with Libertarian leanings.

Were There Christian Presidents
	ALL presidents? Come on, you know the answer so why ask such a ridiculous question. And since you know there have been some who were not Christian, then you also know the answer to the second question. If people can accept the mind blowing concept that a Democrat could be a Christian then I would offer up the "born again" Jimmy Carter as one example of a Christian president.