Tag: Christian

Daily thought: Is the church full of hypocrites?

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EDITED CONGREGATION

Is the church full of hypocrites?  Absolutely!  Go to any church and you’ll find liars, adulterers and a list of sins so long I won’t even try to name them all.  Being a Christian does not mean never having sinned.  In fact, it means the opposite: it means knowing that everyone needs remission of sins. To be clear, remission is the act of deliverance from sin.   By definition, a Christian is one delivered from sin.  Because of this, all Christians are sinners, but they have been redeemed.

Being redeemed does not mean that Christians do not struggle with temptation to sin again.  Jesus told us not to puff up our chest and dare the devil to give us his best temptation. He said to ask that God deliver us from temptation.  Christians do struggle with sin, and this includes hypocrisy.

When someone asks, “is the Church full of hypocrites,” I sometimes wonder if they are actually asking if the people in the church are hypocrites BECAUSE they are Christians.  Of course not!  Hypocrisy is found among atheists, Buddhists, communists.  In short, it is a flaw in the human character. When critics point out there are hypocrites in church, it is kind of like the old joke where someone yells, “we’re all gonna die!” in a manner that insinuates something terrible is about to happen, when they are actually just saying that death is a certainty for everyone.  Christians are not hypocrites because they are Christians, they are imperfect people who acknowledge their imperfection.

Can you name any group as large as Christians, according to NPR around 2.2 billion, that does not have members involved in all of the above mentioned sins?   Perhaps rather than ask if this group or that group sins, we should ask what do men need because of their sins?

What do you think?

UPDATE: Three arrested in Colorado church vandalism

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(Photos: Thornton, Colorado police department)

Police in Thornton, Colorado say three 15-year-olds have been arrested for causing over $80,000 damage to a church the week before Easter.  According to the Denver Post, two were arrested Tuesday evening and one was arrested Wednesday morning. The identity of the suspects has not been released because of their age.

The trio broke windows, punched holes in walls and destroyed musical instruments at the North Huron Christian Center. A tweet from the Thornton Police Department described the act as, “malicious destruction of church property.”  A police spokesperson has not said why the three wanted to damage the church.

According to TexasGospel.com file stories, Pastor Renee Coventry says the congregation will hold Easter services in the building.

A Go Fund Me page with a modest goal of raising $5,000 to help the church has been set up.  As of early Thursday morning, the fund has reached $3,877.

Go Fund Me page set up to help GA church after vandals trash sanctuary days before Easter

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church damage
Vandals heavily damage sanctuary in Colorado (Photo: Go Fund Me)

Smashed musical instruments, shattered glass and holes punched through the walls greeted the congregation of a Colorado church as they discovered the handiwork of vandals who attached the church building early Monday morning.

Investigators believe the damage was done around 3 a.m. Monday. According to a report in the Denver Post, police are looking for three teenage boys who were seen running from the church building of Destiny Outreach Ministries.

“Words can’t describe how heartbreaking this is. You give your life to a community and you invest in the community’s children and their people. This is not our community. This is not the City of Thornton,” Pastor Renee Coventry told Denver’s CBS television affiliate.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the church.  Damage is estimated in the thousands.

Symbols of Satan spray-painted inside GA church building

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2018-03-23 Church Vandalism

Police are investigating vandalism at the Seed Planters Church in McDonough, GA in which someone painted pentagrams and other symbols of Satan inside the church building, according to a report from Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.

The vandalism was discovered Monday evening. Fox5Atlanta reports someone pried open a rear door and ransacked the sanctuary.  They painted a demon head with the number 666 on several walls.

The pastor said the congregation is cleaning up the mess and they plan to have services at the church building on Easter Sunday.

A motive for the vandalism has not been determined. Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the McDonough Police Department at 770-957-1218.