Why Gentiles don't tithe

Why Gentiles don't tithe
By Lon Hetrick
from HERE


1) Why the Apostles Didn’t Teach Tithing (And Why You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About It)
2) Why Your Church Does Teach Tithing (And Why You Sometimes Feel Guilty About It)
3) What Jesus & His Apostles Taught About Giving (And How You Can Find Joy in It)


Part 1

1) Why the Apostles Didn’t Teach Tithing (And Why You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About It)

Average Tithers

If you’re average like us, on any given Sunday you’ve put something in the offering plate as it passed that amounted to a tithe on your net (after tax) income, or a tithe on gross, or a super-size offering, or some random change, or five dollar bill, or 6% of your current income…

Or, nothing at all.

If you’re average like us, you’ve heard loads of pastors tell you that Christians are supposed to tithe (“Trust God!” “Step out in faith!” “Plant that seed!”), the implication being that “good” Christians tithe, and those who don’t, well…

If you’re average like us, you’ve had your share of financial ups and downs (due to emergencies, or job loss, or a blown engine or poor management, or just plain being too materialistic, or lousy decision making, or all of the above in our case) where making a decision about what you could, should, would put in the plate on Sunday was a high-stress, angst-filled mental wrestling match.

And if you’re average like us, you’ve wrestled with feelings of guilt when you didn’t tithe, and maybe even some secret, self-righteous pride when you did.

If you’re average like us, you’re blessed to attend a church that emphasizesstewardship – the wise management of all your resources for God’s kingdom – over tithing. But tithing still hangs around in your mind as this minimum standard good Christians have to meet – like the first jump for a high jumper. Miss it, and you’re out of the competition.

Are you average like us? Yes? Then you’ve wrestled with the same questions, doubts, guilt, presumption and pride we have.

Tell you what. Let’s figure this out together starting in Genesis, shall we?


Tithe barn at Guiting Power, Gloucestershire

A Little Biblical History

The first tither was Abraham, who gave a tenth of the spoils of war to a mysterious priest/king named Melchizedek in Genesis 14:20. We don’t read that Abraham was commanded to give that tithe; apparently it was just part of the ancient near-east cultural norms and Melchizedek blessed him for doing it.

Four hundred plus years later, when God established His covenant with Israel after the exodus from Egypt, He commanded the Jews to give a tithe of their produce to support the Priests and Levites since they were not to receive any property when the Promised Land was divided up among the tribes of Israel (Numbers 18).

Fast forward another thousand years or so, and the prophet Malachi brought God’s charge against Israel that they were breaking His covenant and robbing Him (yikes!) by not giving the tithes for the Priests and Levites. Malachi challenged Israel to repent and see how God would bless them if they renewed their obedience to the tithing regulations of God’s covenant with them.

Now jump forward another four hundred-ish years to Jesus, who gave the Pharisees (whom he was berating) a backhanded compliment for tithing their herbs and spices. And then…

Nothing.

As in, no other teaching on tithing any where in the New Testament. Zip. Nada. Nothing from Jesus. Nothing from Paul, Peter, John, Jude or James. Not one word.
Why?

Because tithing isn’t an obligation of the New Covenant in Christ.

Now, before you take up pitchforks and torches, lemme ‘splain Lucy…

Jesus instituted a New Covenant when He shared His last Passover meal with the twelve disciples. He broke the bread. He passed the cup. Whenever you partake in Communion you are saying, “I am part of the New Covenant God made with Christ’s followers.” Whenever you hear the gospel – that your sins are forgiven because Jesus has done for you what you could not do for yourself (i.e., pay the penalty for your sins and live to tell about it) – you are hearing the central message and blessing of the New Covenant.
The Gospel Goes Multi-Ethnic

Okay, so there’s no question that the Old Covenant administered through Moses was made with the Jews only, right? If an Egyptian or a Moabite wanted in on the blessings of that Covenant, he had to become a Jew and submit to it’s obligations – Ten Commandments, circumcision, tithing to support the priesthood, not eating pork – everything. But, the apostles Peter and Paul quickly figured out that the New Covenant administered by Jesus was for both Jews and non-Jews (like AverageUs). They understood that the blessing of the gospel of Christ, this New Covenant in His blood, was for all nations.

But this, raised a critical question for the early church leaders: If the New Covenant includes non-Jews, were non-Jews obligated to keep any part of the Old Covenant?

Put yourself in Peter’s place. You’re a Jewish fisherman. You were born under the Old Covenant and lived with an obligation to keep the Law of Moses all your life. Jesus called you to follow Him. After His resurrection, you finally get what Jesus has been trying to drum into your head for three years. It’s about redemption for anyone who believes. Now you’re the leader of the church. And now, Gentiles want in. They weren’t born under the Old Covenant. They’ve never kept the Law. Do they have to become Jews before they can become Christians? Do they have to keep the Old Covenant laws to enjoy the blessing of the New Covenant? Is this like baseball where you have to tag first before you can go to second?
And The Answer Is…

A resounding NO. The Jewish church leaders got together to discuss the matter and their conclusion was simple: Non-Jews mustn’t be forced to keep a law that we Jews have failed to keep ourselves (Acts 15:10). Instead, they gave a few instructions that Gentile followers of Christ should not eat food offered to idols or meat that hadn’t been properly butchered, and should shun all forms of sexual immorality (Acts 15:29). No requirement to be circumcised. No requirement to tithe.

In fact, in all the letters the apostles wrote to both Jews and Gentiles which explained how to live a gospel-driven, Christ-centered life, not once did they teach tithing. They taught on every conceivable subject related to Christian living: church order, prayer, spiritual growth, church discipline, leadership qualifications, worship, personal ministry, marriage, parenting. They even taught on subjects that might logically lead to a discussion of tithing like work and charity.

In short, the Apostles had every opportunity to teach the fledgling churches that they must tithe, but they didn’t. Why? Because they viewed tithing as an obligation of the Old Covenant, a covenant that Gentiles never were a part of, a covenant that Christ replaced with another, better covenant with His church.
Our Conclusions, Until the Next Post…

Christians are not obligated to tithe. (No Guilt!) Tithing is not a mark of a “good” Christian. (No Pride!) God is not displeased with a Christian merely because s/he doesn’t tithe. God is not pleased with a Christian merely because s/he does tithe. These conclusions are, we think, in harmony with the gospel.

Ah, but this doesn’t answer all of your questions, does it?

But you’re tired of reading this anyway, right?

So, let’s continue another time, shall we? For now, we’ll just hint that the New Covenant has it’s own obligations – one that touches on the subjects of giving and charity and stewardship.

If you have a specific question about tithing, leave a comment and AverageUs will try to address it next time.

Dawn and I sincerely hope this helps some of you to experience the freedom of the gospel in a new way. Be blessed.

Part 2

2) Why Your Church Does Teach Tithing (And Why You Sometimes Feel Guilty About It)

In the first post of this series, I wrote that Jesus only incidentally mentions tithing once, and His Apostles never mention it at all. But, since tithing was such a clear obligation in God’s old covenant with Israel, I asked how we can account for the lack of New Testament teaching on tithing.

My conclusion was that tithing, which had a specific purpose in the religious life of Israel, was not renewed as an obligation of the New Covenant which Christ established with His followers. The New Covenant is for all people, not just Jews. And when the Apostles wrestled with whether Gentiles had to keep the Jewish Law of Moses (including circumcision, tithing, dietary laws, etc.) as a condition of participation in the New Covenant (i.e. to be Christians), their conclusion was absolutely, “NO”. In their letters, Paul, Peter, John, James, and Jude addressed every conceivable issue of Christian living including work, money, charity and giving, but they never laid the obligation to tithe upon the churches they founded and nurtured. They never even mentioned it.
Umm…Those Guys Never Went to My Church

But at many churches today you’d think tithing was the 11thCommandment! Heck, at some churches you might never even hear the first ten (that’s Sunday School stuff, anyway), but they sure tell you about that 11th one. “Good Christians” tithe, right? I remember one well-meaning Christian brother who described tithing to me as, “basic, square-one stuff.” He was convinced that non-tithers could never grow spiritually. In his mind there are people who call themselves “Christians”, and then there’s real “tithing Christians.”

What a disconnect!


A Medieval Tithe Barn
Why Your Church Makes You Feel Guilty About Tithing

Is it because your church believes in the paramount importance of financing the local and worldwide mission of the gospel? Maybe…

Is it because your church misunderstands the relationship between the Old and New Covenants? Maybe…

Is it because your church wants you to be blessed? Maybe…

Is it because your church genuinely believes Christians should tithe? Probably…
It’s About Checking the Box

Regardless of your church’s motives (which may be more or less noble), I think the real root of the problem is that human nature always looks for some way to self-justify itself. We want a little box to check that says, “I’m okay with God because I… [fill in the blank].” We don’t want to depend solely on the unmerited grace of God. We’re uncomfortable with casting ourselves upon His mercy. We’re all tempted to feel that somehow the cross of Christ needs just a little help from us if God is really going to love us and accept us.

(Sound like you? Yeah, me too.)

I’m like the Pharisees Jesus rebuked. They added rule upon rule to define God’s Laws in such a way that could know that they know that they had checked all the boxes, and had therefore earned God’s acceptance. But isn’t that just a nice way of saying, “God, you owe me?”

I’m like the Christians in Galatia Paul rebuked. They wanted to add Law-keeping as a condition of being a Christian. But Paul wrote to them angrily, telling them that if they did so, they were abandoning the gospel and forfeiting the grace of God (Galatians 1:6-7).
How Your Church Got This Way

But, tithing seems like a pretty worthy check box, doesn’t it? After all, it takes money to support the mission of the gospel, right? So, at some point in America’s history well before your great-grandfather’s time, a few preachers added tithing (and a bunch of other stuff, too) to the spiritual check-list. Then after months and years and generations of checking the box, tithing came to seem, in many of our churches, part of the gospel itself, even though it actually veils the gospel and robs you of the spiritual freedom Jesus died to secure.

Don’t get me wrong. Many Christians tithe and know that tithing doesn’t boost their standing before God. But many Christians and Churches don’t.

Even if you attend a church that teaches stewardship (not tithing), if you asked how to know when you’re giving enough, your leaders will probably hold up the tithe as an example, or a “minimum standard,” saying that in the New Testament everything is elevated. (Not true, by the way. Jesus’ teaching represents a return to God’s true intent in the moral laws of the Old Covenant. Anyway…)
So, What Do You Do?

All this leaves you in a rough spot, doesn’t it? You love Jesus. You’re thrilled to be redeemed and loved by God. You want to give. You want to please God with your giving. You just feel like you need a standard, and the only one your Church tells you about is the tithe – “Just do it.”
There Is A Biblical Standard

But, there is a Biblical standard in the New Covenant, a standard that Jesus and His Apostles taught. And that’s what I’ll talk about in my next post on this subject.

Until then, let me leave you with this thought:

If you are in Christ, God doesn’t love you because of anything you have done or will do. He doesn’t accept you because you checked a box. He doesn’t love you more because you put a tithe in the offering this week. He doesn’t love you less because you didn’t. If you are in Christ, He loves you always and only because of what Christ has done for you.

That’s because God is great; even if your church is average.

Part 3

3) What Jesus & His Apostles Taught About Giving (And How You Can Find Joy in It)

If you’re average like me you’re starting to think about some new goals and maybe some outrageous hopes for the year. Perhaps you’re thinking about new financial goals for earning, saving, spending and giving. If so, this final post in my series on tithing might come in handy.
Review

Part 1 – Why the Apostles Didn’t Teach Tithing (And Why You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About It) asks why the Apostles never mentioned tithing even though they touched on every other subject necessary for the life of the Church including money matters like stewardship, charity, and supporting the teaching ministry of the gospel.

Part 2 – Why Your Church Does Teach Tithing (And Why You Sometimes Feel Guilty About It) asks why so many churches treat tithing like it’s the 11th commandment, or even emphasize it more than the 10 Commandments.
If Not the Tithe, then What?

The Old Covenant tithing laws taught Israel specifically why, when, how much, and to whom they were to give, but the New Covenant teaching on giving isn’t so explicit. You can’t look up the “Giving” section of the New Testament to look up the list of rules. But, Jesus and His Apostles were not exactly silent about giving, either. In fact, the use of money is one of the most mentioned topics in the New Testament. So, what did they teach on giving? Let’s tackle the subject with simple questions to guide us.
Why Should I Give?

Answer: Give to reflect the lavish love of God you experience in the gospel.

Freely you have received; now, freely give. Give because you are loved. Give as an overflow, an echo, of the love you received.

Notice, I didn’t mention stewardship – the Bible’s teaching that God requires us to steward (manage) His resources wisely and faithfully. This is true, but stewardship isn’t the biblical motive for giving. (Stewardship is a great reason to eschew gambling and consumerism). You could be an awesome money-manager without ever giving anyone a dime. But you can’t experience the unmerited love of God which He demonstrated by giving His Son without it creating a love in your heart that also overflows in giving to meet others’ needs.

Have you experienced His love for you? Bask in it, and then give it away.
When Should I Give?

Answer: Give whenever your means and another’s need line up.

When teaching that charity shouldn’t be done to earn praise from others, Jesus simply said, “When you give alms…” He didn’t say, “If…” He assumes that His followers will give to help those in need.

So, if you see a need and you have the opportunity to meet it or contribute to it, do it. You may give systematically (e.g. giving monthly to an international orphanage, or weekly to your church). Or, as James the brother of Jesus taught (James 2:15-17), give when the need is standing right in front of you. You will have to make choices and be selective; there is always more need than you will have means to meet.

But, whenever you can, give. Plan to give, and seek out needs that concern you.
How Much Should I Give?

Answer: Give as much as you decide you can without shirking your financial obligations to lenders, bills, and family needs.

Other than the above standard, the how much question is between you and God. Seriously. Dollars or percentage? Gross or net? It’s a matter of conscience. In other words, rather than telling us to give ten percent, the New Testament simply says, “Give whatever you’ve determined in your heart to give, knowing that God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

What’s that mean? It means, think about what you could give, or want to give. Talk to God about what you can and should do. Make a decision. Submit it to God. Follow through on it. Keep it between you and God. And, don’t let anyone give you a hard time about it. Whether you give ten cents, ten percent, or one hundred percent, your only judge is your God, and He will judge your motive, not your Schedule A.

Not able to give what you’d like to give? Then, ask God to help you be a wiser steward – a better earner, a better saver, a more frugal spender – so you can give more in the future as an outflow His love. Ask Him to help you get out of debt and live debt-free. Ask Him to help you enhance your billable skills and knowledge so you can earn more. Repent of any consumerism or materialism. Repent of any love for money. Offer Him your financial life and financial future. Then put your head and heart together with His, and make a plan…together…you and Him.
To Whom Should I Give?

Answer: Give to anyone in need (the poor, the sick, your enemy, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan) and to the people and institutions that promote the worldwide mission of the gospel.

This answer is the financial implication of the Great Commandment and theGreat Commission.

The Great Commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? – Anyone in need. So, like the Good Samaritan, Jesus calls us to invest His love in anyone in need.

The Great Commission is to go and make disciples of Jesus everywhere. This is a huge and expensive endeavor. So, as followers of Christ, give to financially support the people (1 Timothy 5:17-18) and institutions (your church, a mission agency, a Christian charity) God uses to make the gospel of Jesus known throughout the world.
Conclusion

Well, I hope this series of posts will help you experience the joy of giving out of love from God, and the freedom of conscience before God to give as you think best – when, how much, and to whom you think best.

I read somewhere that John Wesley once offered this simple financial advice: “Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Give as much as you can.”

It’s hard to go wrong with that.

Bridget Wins Lottery!

Today one of my facebook friends won the lottery.

Not really.

This is just a test blog post about how gullible people are when it comes to headlines.

I wake up every day in a house that was built by slaves.

Wow, that is...





A LIE! The only thing that slaves built is the PAINT JOB, which is now gone, and replaced with different paint!


And guess what? The "slaves" were PAID! So then, were they even slaves?


Michelle Obama spoke at the Democrat National Convention on Monday night, and it didn’t take long for her to inject race into things, as she always seems to do:


“I wake up every day in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent Black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”


There’s just one big problem with her statement, which has also been echoed by her husband: it’s not entirely true. But don’t expect the media to tell you why.


First, the White House was not built solely — or even primarily — by slaves.


Most of the labor force consisted of local White laborers and artisans (from Maryland and Virginia) and a number of immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and other European nations.


As the project neared completion — the lime-based whitewashing that gives the building its iconic appearance…slaves were indeed added to the mix.


But once again, facts get in the way of the Obama’s preachy race-baiting.


That’s because the U.S. government actually paid the slaves who worked on the White House.


One slave — Philip Reid — was paid directly, a sum of $1.25 per day ($31 per day in 2016 dollars). Is it technically “slave labor” — if you are paid?


Virginia Kruta of IJR adds these important points:


This is in addition to the fact that Mrs. Obama is herself a multi-millionaire, along with her Presidential husband, a graduate of Harvard University who is herself a walking symbol of the success that can come to anyone who is willing to work hard and apply one’s talent in America.


In other words, even as Michelle Obama herself rebukes the nation’s history of racism, she is a living example that America has done much to overcome it.


Once again, the Obamas never let historical facts get in the way of their race-baiting disses of America.

what is politics

what is politics?

politics is the study of the things that we made up

take a place, divide it into two, country apple and blueberry...

these are just false places, arbitrary lines on paper until they make walls to prove themselves justified for drawing on that paper.

apple says: "we don't wear hats on mondays"

blueberry says: "we only wear hats on mondays"

politics would be the negotiation and ratification of the laws and zones in and around special groups of racial, religious and income related monday hat wearing or non hat wearing customs and times.

politics is stupid.

love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself instead of politics.

If a Muslim isn't trying to kill you, he is either planning it or just being lazy

Laura Logan, moments before she was gang raped by 200 men


Recently I was attacked for telling people that I agreed with boycotting a business run by a Muslim. This is a fact. I don't want Koran believing Muslims to have any money.

To believe in the writings of a Pedophile Terrorist is ridiculous and horrible. While the carnal side of me appreciates his war brilliance, I appreciate even more the fact that I serve Christ and tell others to do the same.

The truth is: Good Muslims want to kill you and are commanded to lie to you, take you in their confidence and rape your wives. So. Any Muslim you know who is NOT raping your wife at the moment is:

a) A bad Muslim
b) Planning on it

Because their "holy book" honestly teaches -

"KILL EVERYONE WHO IS NOT A MUSLIM"

It's honestly the Koran. Inside it you find verses about killing ANYONE who does not claim that Islam is the only way. Here is the most potent one, but there are 190 more:

2: 190-193

190. And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors. And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah is worse than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-al-Haram. unless they first fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers. But if they cease, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And fight them until there is no more disbelief and worship is for Allah alone. But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against the polytheists.

So Christians and Jews, Sikhs and other Monotheists have a way out - We can believe in Islam and be saved.

But!

No matter what!

All the Atheists, Hindus, Buddhists, Jainists and Polytheists have to die anyway.

For a more comprehensive list please see:

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx

King James Version Copyright?

the king james version or authorized king james is a great book.

it's one of the better versions in english. what most people don't understand is that when a new company comes along and wants to make their own "versions" of the bible, they have to create the content that is 17% (some argue 20-25 percent) different than the original text.

for example: in matthew 28:18 in the kjv we have: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and inearth."


but in the niv we have: "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."'

they changed the phraseology, and a couple of words to enforce their own copyright. most noticeably they exchanged "power" for "authority"...

wow, they actually did exchange the truth of God for a lie...

let me prove it.

a policeman is in the middle of traffic. he holds up his hand. the car, which can totally run him over, stops because the driver knows who the policeman is... this is authority.

conversely,

an bull elephant is in the middle of traffic. he rears back his head, the car, which has no way of harming the elephant stops because the driver knows that he would die... this is power.

yes. the kjv is a very good version. but, when in doubt, you should look it all up in greek or hebrew to really get down to the nitty gritty of what every word means. i often use an amplified bible for this reason alone... sometimes the word intended in hebrew has a connotation that the translator couldn't work into a "proper" english sentence.

Why Christians Shouldn't Vote



As a follower of Christ, I am happy to say I will not vote in this election, nor in any other one, for I am submissive to a higher government.

And I'm not going to give you any Christian Apologetics about how capitalism thrives on sin, or about how the Constitution pressures the heart into idolatrous, or about how every politician is a slave to the system that Christians should run from. Or about how sinful they all are, or about how voting inside of a system that tempts people away from their allegiance to God is wrong. Or how voting for someone somehow alleviates my duty as a Christian to be the light of the world, because I am asking them to do it for me...

No. Ignore all those things. Instead, let me just embolden your to lay your mind upon verses from the Bible itself. Let me start with Jesus Christ, and His idea of being a part of the political system:

"The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:5-8)

And I will follow Christ, and He will be my perfect example of how I should live. Not in the system, but, outside of it. And I am not entertaining any election, except that of my own soul, nor do I want any power of my own in this world.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. Thus will it not be among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you, he will be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you, he will be your slave even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

So, no matter who wins this election, it does not matter to me, a Christian. For I am commanded by Paul and Peter to love and to serve and to submit.

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."(Hebrews 13:17)

And

"Be in subjection to every human institution for the sake of the Lord, whether to the king as being supreme, or to governors as being sent by him for vengeance to evildoers and praise to well doers, because the will of God is this: doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, and not having the freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as servants of God.

Honor everyone: love the brotherhood, fear God, Honor the king. Servants, be subject to masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unreasonable. For this is acceptable, if for sake of conscience toward God, anyone endures griefs, suffering unjustly. For what kind of credit is it, if sinning and being struck, you shall endure? But if you shall endure doing good and suffering, this is commendable before God." (I Peter 2:13-20)

Again,

"Let every soul be subject to the authorities being above him. For there is no authority except by God; but those existing are having been instituted by God. Therefore the one rebelling against the authority has resisted the ordinance of God, and those having resisted will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Now do you desire not to fear the authority? Do the good, and you will have praise from him. For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For He is God’s servant, an avenger for wrath to the one doing evil.

 Therefore it is necessary to be subject, not only on account of wrath, but also on account of the conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes; for they are servants of God, attending continually upon this very thing. Render to all their dues: tax to whom tax, revenue to whom revenue, respect to whom respect, honor to whom honor.

 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one loving the other has fulfilled the Law. For, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”a and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, in, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”b Love does not do evil to its neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law." (Romans 13:1-10)

And did you forget that Jesus Christ Himself said the same thing about obeying authorities?

""Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17, Matthew 22:21, Luke 20:25)

And one final thought, as you mull over these passages... If you ever have to choose between doing things God's way or Man's way, you should always choose God. When pressed for an answer, at the firing line, when the guillotine is about to drop... You should remember the words of Peter: "But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men."






This article was mostly plagiarized.

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sharing your new beliefs with your family

something i told a new flat earther when she expressed that she was at the end of her patience when she was sharing some flat earth facts with her parents.
============
Love and patience wins your debates. Stop trying. I've been "trickle feeding" my beliefs on facebook by causally releasing "questions" about gyroscope experiments, southern hemisphere flight times, verses in the bible etc... to them.

After I got over my final belief stumbling blocks last year and went whole hog into the idea i was overcome with elation that i finally understood so much about reality that i did think about telling all of my family.

Face it, my wife still does not believe. That's ok. One day everyone will believe it, but that day is not today. The only thing I can fight with is prayer and a positive life and speaking the truth. "Wise as serpents and harmless as doves" I think is the example that we are supposed to be.

As you get older in the movement, you will find 100,000 different beliefs even in the flat earth movement and many of us "have proof" of this or that or whatever... I encourage you to continue exploring and choose right now:

"When I am offended I will get BETTER and not BITTER."

Because I could name three people right now that I would love to punch in the face in the flat earth move, but the power and love of Jesus Christ compels me not to. So there's that.

Strange as it may be for me to say: Don't worry about the "globe-believers" for now and focus on what you believe. Again, there are probably enough unique views on the whole thing as there are believers in it.

Start looking at historical records, look at science, watch the good videos and don't worry about the trivia for now of trying to convert. The more wisdom you have under your belt; the more armed you are with GOOD information, the more good you can be to the whole movement.

I would say this: When Saul was struck with blindness on the road to Damascus and after his conversion, he waited FOURTEEN years before he went to Jerusalem and was ready for ministry. There was a lot of things he had to work on in his heart before he was ready to preach.

When a sponge is cut from the ocean, there is a time of threshing and beating and cutting and curing before it is ready to be used in fresh water for the purpose of doing human's good.

I would encourage you to take time and learn. I've been in the "movement" for almost a year now publicly and every two months or so I will come up with a question or infographic to help the movement as a whole, but mostly, I am still on my journey to find the whole truth.

Apostle Mathis teaches lies



This fool using corrupt VERSIONS to prophesy nonsense.

Let's break this down in the original language for a TRANSLATION.

Isaiah 9:6 - Directly from Hebrew.

"for to us a child is born to us a son is given to and shall be government on his shoulder and called his name wonderful counselor god mighty everlasting prince peace".

So let's add our possessives and adding correct Hebrew punctuation.

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government shall be on his shoulder; and his name will be called: 'Wonderful! Counselor! God The Mighty: The Everlasting Prince of Peace!'"

So that's it. If I was translating the Hebrew, I would have used an exclamation instead of a comma on the first sentence, or a colon, but this isn't my translation.

English translators will use synonyms to create copyrights on their work. Sometimes the closest translation to our English is the Authorized King James, other times, it's the Geneva, other times the Tyndale.

However, the verse he is reading is indeed corrupt, from the NIV - "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Nowhere in this scripture does it say: "Father." it's silly.

I hope this helps.

Omar Mateen speaks out

this ass.
It wasn't anti-guns. It wasn't pro-guns. It wasn't anti-homosexuality. It wasn't anti-anything. It was pro-ISIS, pro-ISIL, pro Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Omar Mateen was a gay man, a wife-beater, a student of a terrorist seminary and a compatriot of a suicide bomber. He was a failed police man, failed actor, and a failure at life.

If this wasn't a conspiratorial psy-op, then at least understand what is already known to be the actual facts. #Blacklivesmatter wants you to believe that this is a white man's crime and it was inspired by capitalism. #Liberalmedia wants you to believe that this inspired by a christian, republican, pro-gun agenda.

Don't be stupid. Actually get out there and learn something for yourself, by yourself.

The following is one of the calls by Omar Mateen to the 911 Dispatch operator.

------------------

2:35 a.m.: Shooter contacted a 911 operator from inside Pulse. The call lasted approximately 50 seconds, the details of which are set out below:

(OD) Orlando Police Dispatcher; (OM) Omar Mateen

OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.

OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [Arabic]

OD: What?

OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings.

OD: What's your name?

OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.

OD: Ok, What's your name?

OM: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.

OD: Alright, where are you at?

OM: In Orlando.

OD: Where in Orlando?

[End of call.]

Best Horror Movies Of This Millennium


The "Horror Genre" is one of my favorite film genre's and if you are shrinking back then maybe you don't know what "horror" is. Horror plays on primal instinct with a deep psychological impact. In a true horror movie, there is no escape, you must survive. Gremlins, Arachnophobia, and Jurassic Park all fall under action horror, which is sometimes called "thriller." The only horror movie type that I really don't appreciate is what is called "Slasher flicks" and that's just were a weirdo goes around with a knife. Ugh. Spare me.


Here's the summation so far for the best horror movies from this millennium in my humble opinion. They're not really in any order. I have a hard time saying that one is better than the other.


Cabin In The Woods - 10/10 - best premise
28 Days Later - 10/10 - best zombie film made
The Mist - 10/10 - best monster flick
The Descent - 10/10 - must see
The Ring - 10/10 - great twist
Kill List - 10/10 - mafioso twist
Attack the Block - 10/10 - loveable
The Host - 10/10 - korean horror at it's best
Bug - 10/10 - plodding and itchy


REC, REC2 - 9.5/10 - super amazing found footage
Paranormal Activity - 9.5/10 - great twist
Time Of The Wolf - 9.5/10 - a hard realization
Let The Right One In - 9.5/10 - empathatic, better than the remake
Shutter Island - 9.5/10 - deep and dark


Mulholland Drive - 9/10 - a rare awkwardness
The Others - 9/10 - great ideas
Evil Dead - 9/10 - intense
The Conjuring - 9/10 - "true story"
The Loved Ones - 9/10 - edgy


The Crazies - 8.5/10 - dealing with morality
The Road - 8.5/10 - sadness incarnate


Orphanage - 8/10 - kinda drags
Trouble Every Day - 8/10 - wow
It Follows - 8/10 - stimulating
The Babadook - 8/10 - creepy
The Skin I Live In - 8/10 - what? no.


The Devil's Backbone - 7.5/10 - epic and sad
Sinister - 7.5/10 - creepy
Maniac - 7.5/10 - uber stalker


The Guest - 7/10 - "what if"
Kairo - 7/10 - tough
Insidious - 7/10 - strange and dark






Under The Skin - 7/10 - mysterious

Modern Epistle 4: PDF Version for FREE

Click here to see it now!
View the document now

Greetings in Jesus!

As someone who has been on a rollercoaster of writing for the last six years or so, I have enjoyed publishing a novel, a short story collection, and several books of poetry. Recently, I have been following a path of writing that I never intended, but could not stop myself from doing, and this is what you see before you. Writing something like a letter for those that you care about is usually not a publishable item, but I have determined to make them small and inexpensive so that it could easily get to those who need it without an internet connection.

The first definition at Dictionary.com defines an epistle as: “A Letter, especially a formal or didactic one; written communication.” This is what this is. This is not intended to act as a substitute, nor an interpretation of scripture for you or anyone. It is merely a missive with my point of view that I was willing to share with you. If something sits right with you, or opens your eyes, or sparks a zeal to learn the Word of God, then the purpose has been complete.

Please enjoy this free copy of Modern Epistle 4. I am giving it away because it is about giving and tithing, and I would be remiss if I decided to not give it away. Plus, I find that it gives you an idea as to what my modern epistles are all about so that you may judge whether or not you would like to acquire another one.

You can view it free HERE. I will probably keep this link open for the remainder of the year, so if you know someone who has questions about tithing or giving... Or even if they don't have questions about it, but you want them to read this, then please share the link. They might need to hear it.

If you agree with the thoughts within and if you feel led of the Lord, please distribute to whomever you wish. If you have had a move of the Holy Spirit in your heart to learn more of what the Lord has revealed to me, by all means visit my website at PaulyHart.com and find out how you may purchase the rest of them, or just go to my Amazon Page. I would appreciate it.

If however, you find that I am a heretic, a reprobate, and someone who stirs up contention; then by all means delete this from your computer’s memory and move on. If you find that you need to correct the exhortation within, please do so in whatever means you prefer. If you email me personally, I might not have the time to respond to you, so please leave all rebuttals and reproofs on my facebook page at facebook.com/JesuslovesPaulyHart.

Whatever you do, whether positive or negative towards this work, I would encourage you to work at it with all your might as working for the Lord, and not for man. For I believe that we are all called to be bond-slaves to Christ and as such, should strive continuously in prayer, supplications and good works to help the body of Christ come to a mature position in Him, who Abraham called: God Most High.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this!

God bless you!

- Pauly Hart



Gotthard Base Tunnel In Switzerland Bizarre Opening Ceremony Inside and Outside



(Inside Ceremony)
Entrance of coach - The Royalty
Entrance of Workers - The Slaves
Entrance of the ideals (on flatcars)
     Flatcar 1 - Sexuality and Lust enter
     Flatcar 2 - Pain and Toil enter
Worship of Sex - Where the many worship the first ideal
     Flatcar 3 - Demons enter
Satan enters with three Overlords worshiping
Procession of the Unclean Priests
Procession of the Virgin Sacrifices
Procession of the Nature Worshipers
The Unholy Dance


(Outside Ceremony)
Entrance of Workers
Race to tunnel
Breaking down the mountain
Breaking through the mountain
Disrobing the Worker
Showing the strength of man
Full disrobe and The Dance of Humanity
Chaos and Unity Dance
Tower  of the Worker
Emergence of the Devil and Demons
Lament of the Virgins
Rising of the Scarabs
Rising of the Demons
The eye of Satan on Mankind
Mankind perishes, Satan's triumph
Satan raises the dead
The Virgins give themselves to Satan
Satan calls the twelve Unholy Disciples
Satan dies and gives life to the Man of Sin and his two mothers
Procession of the New Priesthood
The Men of the new age appear with enlarged intellects
The hordes of mischievousness and gaiety appear
The past is the future and time is irrelevant
The hordes offer their lives and sacrifices
The Men of the New Age offer their allegiance
The Celebration of Man and Humanity

Abraham Land Covenant

My friend Deb from Facebook, posted this:


Abrahamic Land Promise to Israel was fulfilled 3000 years ago!
Israel becoming a nation in 1948 does not fulfill Bible prophecy!
"So the LORD gave Israel ALL the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it.
And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand.
Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass." Joshua 21:43-45
▶ Restoration happens in the Millennium not on this earth as we know it.
▶ "…And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one King shall be king to them all. And they shall not still be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all," Ezekiel 37:21-22.

Sounds reasonable.

I replied:
i have not studied the prophetic side of this matter, as you seem to have, only the historic one, which i will share with you some of what i have learned.
the promise, (as one can plainly see) from was mostly satisfied by the time of alexander the great, and then again during the umayyed caliphate. now, this is not to say that there will not be a further claim on the land pressed by the 12 tribes alone.
i myself have levitic blood, but don't see myself slaughtering saudi princes. the main point is that there is to be no more killing now that the new and better covenant has been fulfilled.
the questions about YHVH's command to slaughter is still a hot potato in the eyes of many christians, but it has to do with two main issues -
a) the disobedience of ismael, midian, esau and others - they were told to occupy other lands
b) the obedience of the 12 sons of jacob - they were told to not intermarry and stay holy.

Sounds legit to me. 

Harambe Facts


Man proves that the using the naked eye is not good science.
















X-Men: Apocalypse - A type of Anti-Christ

i recently watched the new xmen movie, the one with apocalypse. 

when i watch such things for research purposes, i like to do it at home on a computer where i can pause, pray, fast-forward, rewind... etc... and am not at the mercy of the projectionists whim. i recently view the movie on putlocker and did find the similarities very compelling. the sad news is that this side of the marvel universe is preaching that "mutation" is inevitable and "ascension" a directive of the species to propel us towards an "evolutionary leap" which will greatly benefit mankind.

though they don't dive into too much of the backstory of apocalypse, they do hit the main points home. That he is "The One" to help mankind is a given, although he does it in a horrible way, similar to the black christ of satanism and other such antichrist movements. if it is a shadow of nimrod, it's an easy stretch. in the marvel universe, he is easily the shadow and type of satan.

strangely, marvel (the actual comic company) is one of the most transparent corporations to show the power and glory of God. in power rating lists, there is a YHWH portrayal called "one-above-all", there is a Jesus Christ portrayal called "the beyonder, and there is a Holy Spirit character called "living tribunal." the representations came at a time where marvel really was ministering to a lost and hurting audience. they have changed for the worse in the crossover mediums.

"one-above-all", with eyes as white hot embers, "beyonder", being born in human likeness after realizing his true mission only to be killed by mankind, and "living tribunal" with a multitude of hidden faces so as to judge with impunity all were created, i believe, with a divine plan. even the fourth most powerful being, "eternity" shows Gods glory in the comics... but then again, evil monsters with bible parallels sell a little better.

apocalypse is shown to be "the first mutant" which is a way of saying that for the mutants who need help and love and a leader in this "brave new world" we should look towards the true future of the race and embrace this change. in the movie he has four horsemen (sound familiar)... one of them is "angel" if you remember him, and rids the world of all of it's "false gods." it is a very prophetic telling of the prophetic rise of the "man of sin" as mentioned in the new testament.

"In the harsh, unforgiving desert of ancient Egypt, ruled by Rama-Tut, a band of nomadic raiders found an infant, gray-skinned and freakish in appearance, abandoned by the settlers of Akkaba. The nomads took the child for their own, giving him the name En Sabah Nur, 'The First One,'"

and

"He was also known to have traveled around the world during these ancient years, appearing to various primitive cultures as their death god. At some point, when traveling through Mongolia, Apocalypse encountered a spaceship abandoned by the planet-judging aliens, the Celestials. His travels then became fueled by a single-minded purpose-- to find the key that would unlock the secrets to this alien technology." -Marvel. com

so. watch this movie at your discretion, i would recommend it, but then again i also recommend not giving money to the parent company, walt disney, who has proven to be anti-christ.

may YHVH bless you.

Enjoy this related video.

Society vs. Jesus


"Earth" vs. "earth" Biblical perspective

Following the logic of dictionary.com we, as Christians should believe in the earth and not The Earth, for the earth is earth and earth is the earth. When an athiest says: "The Earth", they refer to a specific fictitious place in their mind as a ball floating around, just as important as Sol or Jupiter. But, since there is but one place we live, it is earth, then let it be "earth"

Genesis 1:1 says: "אָ֫רֶץ" when it says "בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃" or "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the land". Most translations say "The Earth" (even the so-called incorruptible King James Version. Instead, I will chose to call it what Moses called it: "land" or "earth". Below is the following rule from Dictionary.com. Remember, they are speaking of a place that does not exist and therefore has a specific proper name instead of the truth which is: "this is land, here and no other place in the universe is there land but here and so let's call it: earth, because it is".

Below is a quote from Dictionary.com

"When it comes to writing, this common English word confuses many native speakers who aren’t sure whether to use Earth or earth. Why is this an issue? Earth can be either a proper noun or a common noun. In English, proper nouns (nouns which signify a particular person, place, or thing) are capitalized. Following this rule, when Earth is discussed as a specific planet or celestial body, it is capitalized: It takes six to eight months to travel from Earth to Mars. When Earth is a proper noun, the is usually omitted."

Game of Thrones S06E05 The Door - Complete Scene by scene

Opening Credits in order

King's Landing
Pyke
Winterfell
The Wall
(sun)
Bravos
MeeReen



Scene 1
Sansa receives a letter from Littlefinger.
Sansa and Brienne greet him.
He bestows greetings and tells her that he's brought the Knights of the Vale to come to her aid.

"Did you know about Ramsay? If you didn't know, you're an idiot. If you did know, your're the enemy." -Sansa

Sansa threatens Littlefinger
Littlefinger offers to beg for his life

"You freed me from the monsters that murdered my family, and you gave me to other monsters who murdered my family." -Sansa

Scene 2
Arya in bowstaff training with mistress bitch no-name.
Arya defeated and taunted.
Boxing match ensues.
Arya TKO'd in 5 seconds.
Faceless man starts talking about the many-faced god and the first faceless men.
Arya officially initiated and given an assassination of Lady Crane.

"A girl has been given a second chance. There will not be a third. One way or another, a face will be added to the hall."- Jaqen H'ghar

Scene 3
A play depicting Robert Barrathian's death and Ned Stark's "betrayal"
Arya watches as actor Ned Stark is portrayed as an idiot and a traitor.
Actor Sansa asks actor Joffrrey to spare him.
Actor Circi mocks.
Actor Tyrion pulls off actor Sansa's top and steals her away.
<>

Backstage we are treated to a huge ball and cock shot.
Arya lurks and listens to actors idle chatter.
Arya reports back to Jaqen H'ghar and says she will poison Lady Crane's wine.
Arya expresses regret about the assassination.

Scene 4
Bran is out greenseeing with the greenseer.
Watches the children of the forest sacrifice a man on a weirwood tree.
His eyes turn blue.
Bran confronts Leaf about creating the white walkers.
She says she did it to protect the world from men.

Scene 5
A Kingmaking at Pyke
Yara Greyjoy makes a claim to the throne.
She's shouted down.
Theon steps forward and endorses Yara.
Euron steps forward and insults Theon for his loss of manhood.
Yara tells of how she will build the largest navy ever seen.
Euron tells of Daenerys and how he will wed her and take the iron throne.
Euron is named king.
Yara and Theon escape.
Euron is baptized. In the Iron islands, baptism involves drowning. If they come back from the dead, they were meant to rule. That's pretty rude. He comes back and wants to murder Yara and Theon.
Yara and Theon have escaped and taken most of the ships with them.

Scene 6
Daenerys overlooks Vaes Dothrak. Her eyebrows are on fleek.
She thanks Jorah.
Jorah reveals Greyscale to her.
Jorah admits that Tyrion is right and he loves her.
She commands him to find a cure and heal himself so he can help her take the seven kingdoms.
There's a lot of tears.

Cutscene to outside Vaes Dothrak.

She leads an army of horsemen while Jorah goes another direction.

Scene 7
Tyrion, Varys, Greyworm, Missandei sit at council.
Tyrion pours some more wine as they talk about murders in the city.
There is a fragile peace.
Tyrion hints at getting someone to help keep it.

Cutscene to throneroom

Tyrion is introduced to the high priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis: Kinvara.
She's a huge deal!
Tyrion welcomes her as their savior to help keep the peace.
Kinvara tells that Daenerys is the one prophesied about.
Kinvara loves those dragons and wants to "purify" the world of nonbelievers.
Varys cuts in and talks about how Melisandre was wrong about Stanis and insults her.
Kinvara tells Varys about the night he was castrated. Wow.

Scene 8
Bran with sand. Sullen boy.
Hodor sleeps, greenseer sleeps.
Bran crawls over and grabs the weirwood root and goes greenseeing by himself.
He's at a frozen weirwood tree.
All around him are white walkers who are immobile around the tree
Creeepyyyyyy!
He walks into their midst and approaches the four white walker horse-lords.
Night's King grabs Bran's arm and Bran awakes.
The greenseer knows Bran was touched.
There are handprints on Bran's arm.
They must leave because now Night's King can come find him.

"The time has come." -Greenseer
"The time for what?" -Bran
"For you to become me." -Greenseer
"Hodor." -Hodor

Scene 9
Jon Snow with Sansa, Brienne, Davos, Tormund, Melisandre.
Jon is frustrated with the numbers.
Brienne gives Tormund an uncomfortable look (fangirl squee).
They discuss the Umbers and the Karstarks.
Sansa is looking like a supreme war leader.
They will recruit the smallest families first from the North to wage war on the Boltons.
Sansa is going to send Brienne to Riverrun to get the Blackfish's support

"I don't like leaving you here alone." -Brienne
"With Jon?" -Sansa
"Not him. He seems trustworthy. A bit... Brooding perhaps - I suppose that's understandable considering..." -Brienne

Sansa presents Jon with some battlegear that "she made herself" -WTF?
Tormund gives Brienne the eye. Wink. Wink.
Jon rides south with Sansa and Melisandre

Scene 10
Meera and Hodor prepare to leave while Bran is off skinchanging with the greenseer.
Knight's King is on the doorstep and uses his avalanche powers to crack the earth.
Leaf throws firebomb rocks at the white walker army.
Knight's King and the three other frost kings enter the rootchamber of the weirwood.
The white walkers cannot penetrate the fire-barricade and swarm the tree itself.
Bran is still off in la-la land watching a young Ned Stark talking to his dad.
Meera and Hodor fight off white walkers coming in from the ceiling.

The children of the forest fight off the white walkers.
Bran finally hears Meera inside of his mind-trip who tells him to "Warg into Hodor now!"
So, inside the skinchanging greensight, Bran wargs into Hodor.
And in real life, just as the winter kings enter the chamber, Hodor comes alive with Bran.
One of the lesser ice kings kills a child of the forest, Meera throws an obsidian spear and kills it.
Summer makes a guest appearance (thanks to lazy CGI artists probably) and growls a lot.
Summer jumps at one white walker and is promptly stabbed to death by 12 of them.

Meera and Bran and Hodor haul Bran's body away down a hall while zombies... Sorry... White walkers trail them.

Meanwhile... Knight's King approaches the greenseer and kills him with his huge gnashy ice glaive.

Inside Bran's greensight the greenseer disappears in to a Harry Potter Dementor poof.

Meera and company get away while Leaf sacrifices herself with a firebomb... Barely.

Oh snap.

I'm crying.








Summer camp crisis

The Obama administration, in a far-reaching effort to improve the lot of workers that has ignited criticism from business groups, announced on Tuesday that it was making millions more employees eligible for overtime pay.

This is terrible news for summer camps.

fair pay for the young adults working means the camp hires less. the ratio of counselors to campers grow. the counselors are exhausted. the children are unhappy. the safety meetings and buddy checks lapse. more accidents occur. the camp relies on more seasoned veterans to be counselors. the ones who return enjoy the power trip and not loving the children. the camp calls for volunteers, who sometimes come and sometimes don't, making it harder on rely on them and thus causing more problems. the problem mom comes every day and demands to teach every clinic her son is in and the child is miserable. the counselors-in-training are made more busy and less time for personal growth. sounds like government interfering with our life.

as a personal example from my life, i was a counselor at a small christian camp in the midwest in 1988 and they split the "offering" among all the workers that the parents gave at the saturday morning goodbye celebration. once i got paid $2.40 that week. there is no typo there. i was happy and i learned a great deal as a person who worked 70 hours a week for 5 weeks.
“It's WW2 and there are wage controls in place. Instead of health care, companies decide to offer employees shoes. Having absorbed those costs, they later lobby for every company to be required to offer shoes. That calls forth regulation and monopolization of the shoe industry. Shoes are heavily subsidized. Every shoe must be approved. Producers must be domestic. They must adhere to a certain quality. They can't discriminate based on foot size or individual need. Prices rise, and some people lack shoes, so the Affordable Shoe Act forces everyone to buy into an official shoe plan or pay a fee. Here we have a perfect plan for making shoes egregiously expensive. The entire country would be consumed with the fear of being shoeless if they lose their job. The left wing calls for a single shoe provider to offer universal shoes and the right wing meekly suggests that shoe makers be permitted to sell across state lines. Meanwhile, libertarians suggest that we just forget the whole thing and let the market make and deliver shoes of every quality to anyone from anyone. Everyone screams that this is an insane and dangerous idea.” ― Jeffrey Tucker

Under the new regulation to be issued by the Labor Department on Wednesday, most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year must receive time-and-a-half overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours during a week. The previous cutoff for overtime pay, set in 2004, was $23,660.
“This is a big deal to be able to help that many working people without Congress having to pass a new law,” said Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute, an early voice in urging the administration to take up the issue. “It’s really restoring rights that people had for decades and lost.”
The change is expected to play out in a variety of ways. Once the rule goes into effect on Dec. 1, many workers will receive more pay when they work overtime, but others may end up working fewer hours if employers move to limit their time at work. In other cases, employers may decide to increase the salaries of some workers to push them over the cutoff so that the employers will not have to pay overtime or hire additional workers after limiting hours for existing employees.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who will travel to Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday to promote the new rules, said they touched on a core issue for Mr. Obama — ensuring that middle-class workers are treated fairly.
“The middle class is getting clobbered,” Mr. Biden told reporters. “If you work overtime, you should actually get paid for working overtime.”
“For the past 40 years, overtime protections have been increasingly weakened,” Mr. Biden added, noting that more than 60 percent of salaried workers qualified for overtime in 1975 based on their salaries, but only 7 percent do today.
Opponents argued that the measure could cost billions of dollars and would undermine the morale of salaried employees by requiring them to account for every hour of their workdays.
“This is an extreme revision in the white-collar threshold,” said David French of the National Retail Federation. “By executive fiat, the Department of Labor is effectively demoting millions of workers.”
Republican lawmakers, who are close to many of the industries that oppose the new rule, have vowed to block it during a mandated congressional review period.
With Donald J. Trump as their presumptive presidential nominee, however, the issue is fraught with risk for Republicans. Any attempt to repeal the regulation could exacerbate an already palpable split between Mr. Trump’s blue-collar supporters and the party’s establishment donors and politicians.
Paul Porter, a truck driver from Ava, Mo., who is a member of the Teamsters union and a supporter of Mr. Trump, said he already received time and a half after eight hours of work, but strongly favored the new overtime regulation. “I have friends who are managers who get taken advantage of terribly,” he said.
The administration, for its part, expressed confidence it was holding the better political hand. “I welcome a debate in Congress about wages in this country,” Thomas E. Perez, the secretary of labor, said. “It crystallizes the difference between this president and the leadership in Congress.”
Federal employment law provides two ways for most salaried workers to become eligible for overtime. The first is through a so-called duties test that essentially determines whether or not they are bona fide executives, administrators or professionals, which has historically meant spending most of their time exercising some decision-making authority. If not, they are supposed to be eligible for overtime pay. That method is open to interpretation.
The second is more of a hard-and-fast standard, setting a salary level to determine eligibility for overtime, regardless of duties. So even for employees who are legitimately managers, if their salary is below the cutoff, they must be paid overtime.
Certain categories of workers, like teachers, doctors and outside sales representatives, continue to be exempt from the regulation, though academics primarily engaged in research are not.
The overtime rule dates back to the passage of the 1938 law that established a federal minimum wage. The cutoff has been raised several times over the years. In 2004, the Bush administration also made it easier to exempt workers above the cutoff under the duties test.
Proponents like Mr. Eisenbrey urged the administration to raise the cutoff to about $51,000, which, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is roughly where it stood in 1975, when the Ford administration undertook the last major expansion of overtime eligibility.
In addition to increasing the basic ceiling, which will be set to match the pay of full-time salaried workers earning at the 40th percentile of salaries in the country’s lowest-income region, currently the South, the new regulation will be updated every three years to keep pace with changes in pay.
The Labor Department calculates that 4.2 million workers will become newly eligible for overtime. Other estimates put the number of newly eligible workers substantially higher.
In addition, according to the department, nearly nine million more workers who should already be eligible for overtime under the current duties test will be protected against being denied overtime illegally.
The most heated debate concerns the fate of those workers who are relatively far from the new cutoff. Critics argue that employers will simply lower the base wage for a majority of affected workers who work overtime, so that their overall pay, including overtime pay, will remain the same.
A projection by the consulting firm Oxford Economics, prepared for the National Retail Federation, predicted that a “disproportionate number of workers” who became eligible for overtime and worked more than 40 hours would “see their hourly rates decreased by an equal amount, leaving their total annual earnings unchanged.”
By contrast, Daniel Hamermesh, a labor economist at the Institute for the Study of Labor, predicted that base wages would fall somewhat over time, but that the higher overtime payments would more than offset any loss in regular salary levels.
The regulation, which President Obama directed the Labor Department to work on in 2014 and which the department first proposed last July, provoked a deluge of comments from the public — nearly 300,000 in all.
Many opponents argued that the new salary level would unfairly affect lower-wage regions of the country. The department decreased its proposed cutoff of $50,440 in response. It also changed its proposed annual indexing to once every three years, and decided against revisiting the 2004 changes to the duties test.
Groups representing colleges and universities, local governments, and smaller nonprofits also expressed concerns about the cost of the new regulation.
Elward Edd, an official at the Hopi Tribal Housing Authority in Arizona, which has a backlog of more than 500 homes to repair, said the burden of the new regulation would force him to scale back hiring to one construction crew from two.
Mr. Edd said he was not certain the new regulation would apply to his tribe, but planned to follow it until obtaining clarity. Labor Department officials said it would not.
Many critics argued that the need to closely monitor hours would impinge on workers’ freedom by preventing them from working as long as they like, and could damage an employee’s status and sense of self-worth.
But at least some of the likely beneficiaries of the new overtime rule took issue with the prediction of looming morale problems. “That is so out of touch,” said Erin Clark, a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University who spends about 60 hours a week doing research on neurons and makes $46,344 after having earned a Ph.D. from Harvard.
When the regulation goes into effect, Dr. Clark added, “it will at least feel like you’re out there in the job market with everyone else, on some sort of playing field, as opposed to this weird vestigial training position.”
from HERE

modern christian music ministry

the "music ministry" of today's church in so many ways is wrong. it needs to change. we spend too much money on lights and amps and soundboards and not enough on the poor. but the physical items of the stage are not really what's on my heart, it's the songs themselves.

so much of my youth in church was in hymns, even though rich mullins was one of our youth ministers. so, we had all his cool stuff that the radio played as well as all the cool stuff that the hebridean and azuza and brush arbors revivals wrote as well as the as well as the ones from time of the reformation.

i think the largest paradigm shift came somewhere around my time in youth group where it was still kinda "edgy" to play modern music. we were in the trenches on the front lines of the introduction of "pop" styles like "rock and roll" (God forbid) and it was all new.

and so little by little, as i went to church and attended, and finally became a youth minister i watched this whole thing grow and blossom from petra to d.c. talk, and it was fabulous... but i noticed one thing was missing: depth.

i think i must have noticed it for the first time in 1993 when i worked amy grant's: "heart in motion" concert. here was the famous/fabulous woman who had given so much music to her Lord and now she sang love songs? it was very upsetting to more people than the differences between elvis presley's first two albums...

but now, here we are with worldy bands like violent femmes, evanescence and u2 declaring loudly that they were never christian to begin with and our christian music declaring loudly that it is not worldly. that's like the beastie boys saying they were never a punk band. i read the lyrics to a lot of christian music and, hey, they could be talking about b'hai for all i know.

one thing i miss in the old world (as i guess i'm going to call it now) music is the mention of eternal promises and foundational teachings. things like the blood of the lamb, the new covenant, the gift of the Holy Spirit... a lot of these are simplified by (in order) "your love" and "your promise" and "your gifts". right. pretty vague.

but you can play it with slow dynamics and repetition and chord progressions that lift higher and higher and eventually end in a violin solo that brings all the folks to tears... that's what people want nowadays isn't it? not the meat of the word, but milk. isn't this what the apostle paul warned us of?

have we not read our bibles in so long that the things we hear from these stages in our modern buildings is actually uplifting? are we really that dumb to the actual meaning of a "worship service"? is our mind only our emotions and not our reason? is this "worship" or is it "brain washing"?

game of thrones gods pantheon explained - quick

i feel like, in martin's book series: "song of ice and fire" there seems to be a lot of confusion on what god has what power. i mean, we've only seen a couple of miracles right? being brought back to life is the most common with melisandre and the white walkers...

but... we usually hear of "the seven" (the new gods) and "the old gods" which are just trees, by the way... then we heard of the lord of light! and he's been around a lot longer than any of the other ones... or has he? his real name is r'hllor but sometimes he's called the red god and is the actual god of heat and life.

the great other, who gives power to power to the white walkers is the god of ice and death. and these are the only real powers in the world with the exception of the god of death.

so there's the biggest yin-yang going on, but there's a larger pantheon. the biggest star here is: death. and many people worship him on essos.

the god of death is also called the many-faced god, the black goat and the lion of night in yi-ti and he's the only one worshiped in qohor... but oddly enough he is "the stranger" in the religion of the seven gods. he's got straight up churches, cults, cities and other places where he pops up now and again, and guess what? his other name is "the drowned god"... even among sailors who worship the merling king, he's even said to be a face of the many faced god.

so forget the trees or the great stallion or the great shepherd or even the entire religion of the seven with it's septs and sparrows... really there's only two gods in the entire world, with the many faced god wearing all sorts of disguises.

basically there's a GOOD and an EVIL.

syrio forel basically told it to us long ago. "there is only one god, and his name is death. but wait. arya said "yes" to him when she became one of his faces... basically she has become death.

this is something that i don't like, but martin planned it this way. that we would hate melisandre and love arya only to find out that melisandre serves a good guy and arya serves a bad guy.
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