Country wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleansing_of_the_TempleJesus Cleanses the Temple - the money-changersMat 21:12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
Mat 21:13 He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."
amen...and amen.
Y'know Country, I LOVE the "idea"of that ingot, because I love that Precious Portion of Holy Scripture....."My house shall be called a house of prayer".........In John's Gospel, Jesus cleansed the Temple TWICE, at the start of His earthly ministry and at the close....and two thousands years later, do we call Jesus' house, a house of prayer?
no, its either the First (insert denomination) of (insert city).....or its an outpost of the roman institution.
I couldn't buy that ingot because it has a physical image of Jesus, which is an idol, the same as rome has fashioned a "crucifix", fashioning an physical image of Jesus on the Cross....or is it a Tree, that the Son of God was hung on?.
If one gives an active reading of the Old Testament 15 prophets, 3 major, 12 "minor" (they were anything but minor), but besides prophesying the Coming of the Messiah, they also are used by God to speak forth God's major complaint....idolatry.
this is my own personal dilemma, that I should TRUST in my "stack", God forbid...or that I should worship it....and if my mind takes me THERE, I pray God He blots me out at once. As a Jew who follows Messiah Jesus, I trust in the One True God, and the Son of God, and open my heart wide, to let the God the Holy Ghost to be my Comforter, my Counselor, in my heart I trust and love and follow Him.
as far as 'the stack', i'm only obeying the Lord...."to be as shrewd as a snake and innocent as a dove" .
and as far as the many "religious institutions", with their man centered systems,and their bureaucracies, and their constant bleating for money, or their vaults held full of stolen wealth (rome)......God is watching.
But Jesus helped US...meaning the dear people that post on here, when the religious elite of the day tried to trap Him, with the question, "Teacher (rabbi") do we pay taxes?'.......such taxes paid to their roman occupiers....if Jesus had said, "yes"......they would have screamed "collaborator! traitor!".....and if Jesus had said "no", they would have screamed, "rebel, insurrectionist!"....instead, as you know, Jesus said, "show me that coin"...probably a tenth toz roman denarius, and asked "Who's image is on that coin?'
"Caesar's"
So give to Caesar what is Caesar's , and give to God what is God's".
Divine Wisdom....pray God we NEVER "worship" our stacks......(that fell into the river....lol)
i'll close with a sermon that is just powerful, says everything I wish God would put into my mouth:
"Fundamentalism versus Apostasy" -------Ian Paisley March 1969...(just give it 5 minutes, if it "bores" you ...then stop, but don't think it will bore or others....Ian, before he got into politics,was a giant of the Faith)
http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=6863in His love, n.