Thoughts.com Blogs - being weird isn't enough

   i must say that i am a believer. my unfortunate tithing friend may not believe that, but i don't care. i did a study of tithing in theological school. the comments on tithing in the last post's "comment section" are inaccurate and not the thoughts of the management. i have been offering the facts on tithing to people through my newspaper column and my blog for years and nobody asks. tithing is something people want their own opinions on, not Scripture, and damn the facts. anyway, for those who know Scripture, "Christian" is a label used first by non-believers to describe little ole us. they accused us of being like Him. we were "little anointed ones." that is literally what "Christian" means. i leave the labels to those who invented them. i believe. i do not claim to be a "little anointed one" on my own. He freely gave me His Spirit, as He does all who believe. it was important enough to Him that He left earth specifically to send Holy Spirit. He called Holy Spirit "Comforter." i DO accept His labels! thank God for Comforter.

   my only competition in the brokerage firms i worked for was a practicing alcoholic named vern. don't worry. he called himself that and called me when he drank so much that he couldn't negotiate getting back out the door to the bar. i didn't go get him. i opened a drug unit. i know not to enable, but old vern never quit trying. i had to work. i had to make three times the calls vern made to keep up with him. he was a sales mystic. he got money from rocks. i made it rain by creating each little drop. vern turned on a faucet. by 10 AM vern had sold what it would take me til 10 PM to sell. vern-vern went through the window of his corvette one night driving drunk. no more vern. but just before he died he had been telling me of his plans to do a TV preaching show. "are you a believer?" i asked him. "hell, no," he replied. "what will you preach about?" i asked. "it don't matter," he said. "Buck," he continued, "people could learn on their own from that Book. you do. but most people don't want to. they want to be told what to believe. you KNOW i am good for that!" sometimes non-believers see our games better than we do.

   a very successful premise for those who preach to line their pockets is to preach about punishment for disobeying God and then go for offerings. people think ten extra bucks will be invaluable to Him Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. offerings given out of fear mean nothing. offerings given out of love build the Kingdom. labeling your gift "tithe" does not make it more holy. the King said to give secretly, yet people argue about tithing continually. so much for giving in secret. "i believe that Scripture says to give 23.5% when you include tithing and whatnot. the minimum you can give and not rob from God is definitely 23.5 %." let me ask you: was the widow's mite a tithe? do you suppose she got ten mites somewhere and said, "oops. better put the tenth part away so i don't honk off God!"? Jesus said nothing about tithing in this most pointed reference to giving. in fact, like the interminable references to sin that our preachers use in spite of Jesus' ability to teach continually while VERY rarely even referring to sin, most Christians can argue fluently about tithing and have never brought anyone to the Lord. Jesus didn't share rules. He taught spirituality. so why did we switch back to rules? because they worked so well before Jesus got here?

   want to know why as many people believe in Tom and Katie Cruise as believe in George Bush? rules. tom owns katie, at least from the reports we get. we simply don't believe in their beliefs. scientology is ridiculous. its creator was a sci/fi writer. i watch sci/fi to divorce myself from reality for a little while. they learn sci/fi as reality. john travolta is a jetson. tom cruise is a leprechaun. and they recruit incessantly. we have one of the three largest state fairs in the country. the biggest display in our vendor building is the dianetics island. scientolgy. if Christianity had that garish a display, there would be lawsuits. yet people join because they sound like they are knowledgeable.

   if you work like all get out to live the rules and regs of Christianity, you're doing it wrong. Jesus didn't erase the Old Testament. He opened our understanding to it. the entire law and the prophets He said add up to love. that law still stands. what He did is empower us to live it joyfully. if we voluntarily embrace a "rule," the purpose is to enhance our ability to love. those who merely know the rules are deathdealers. those who live the rules are lifegivers. those who live the rules quietly and humbly are the reborn into His image. we need to embrace each other and let God change us. you don't know what i need to change in myself, because i don't belong to you. i am slave to my King. He can tell me how to change. i need to clean my house. thanks for stopping.