Cfreak's Anti Blog

And for good measure, here's the whole passage: 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Okay so I admit this is in regards to taxes ... but I believe the meaning is deeper. Certainly all good Baptist churches throughout time have used this verse for why we should follow the "laws of the land". I've heard it applied to even traffic laws ... by doing so we set an example more like Christ. I believe the meaning though is deeper than that: That Christ wants us to stop focusing on petty things and focus on Godly things. Politics is petty. Salvation ...

I was given the opportunity to lead my Sunday-school class yesterday and while I don't generally like the material we use, I came across a tidbit of something that I found very interesting. (and provoked some very interesting discussion in class as well!) The idea comes from 2 Corinthians 4:2 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (NKJV) The author of the SS book stated that the first part of the verse is an argument against using gimmicks or tricks in ministry. He compared it to the programs that we use in churches today and stated that the message of is so powerful that it doesn't need these things to stand on its own. Now I'm certain that there are things that fall under the categories outlined by Paul. Building a shopping mall in your church, watering down your message so people aren'...