With all of these threads about mind control, etc. How about I post what my Church believes. I attend a large church just outside of Detroit, and he has told uf often that we should live our life and post our priorities as follows:. #1: God. Always put him 1st, no matter what. #2: Your Family. Should come immediately after God. #3: Yourself. This will become more clear in #4. #4: The Church(physical/organized structure..ie The Hall for JWs). Seriously, If you can't serve your Family...or make sure you are well taken care of 1st (ie, are not sick, phyically tired, mentally drained etc.), you are strongly suggested NOT to volunteer at the church until #2 and #3 are properly done. At my church, you still should come to Church at least Once a week, twice if you have the time to. Some people can't come to every service every week because of Job commitments, and yet my Pastor completely understands that.
Put the Church/Hall 4th or your priority list. Lurking JWs, please read.
by A-Team 1 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Cephyr13
I say that you should ask God what your priorities should be, and not trust a man (a pastor) to tell you what he thinks YOUR priorities should be. I don't agree with his priorities, especially the church priority. The Bible says, "Do not forsake the gathering together of believers." This can mean Church, a home Bible Study, or even just a group of Christian friends that get together and discuss God. No where does it say we are to attend church once a week or more.
That is NOT where we should be getting our understanding and knowledge of God from. We should be taking home what we learn from church and testing it against the Bible and trusting God to show us truth. Which would you rather trust: God, or a man (the pastor)? I'd rather trust God. Too many people now days put all of their faith in their pastor to show them truth, and do nothing about finding truth by asking God to reveal it to them in their personal studies. That's lazy and disinterest in God. This is probably the worst problem plaguing Christianity today.
Look at all the churches out there that claim they have all of the true doctrines of the Bible? Are all of those pastors speaking the exact truth of God? Obviously not, because there are so many conflicting doctrines between different denominations. Therefore, it is illogical to put our trust in a pastor to show us complete truth. But rather, we should test our pastor's sermons against the Bible and ask God to show us truth. Then we are much less likely to be mislead.
Don't let your pastor tell you your priorities. You ask God what he thinks your priorities should be and he'll reveal them to you. How can you help your own family if you cannot help or support yourself? God should be your first priority...then God will take care of you...but only to a certain extent. You must take care of yourself. I realized a long time ago that my second priority must be me. If it is not, then I will not be able to support myself, and that means I cannot support my family. After I am supported, then I can support my family...but I must keep myself "up to par" or I'll fall.
Look at it like this...a husband that refuses to go to the doctor, because he puts his family's needs first is going to end up sick and possibly dead or disabled. How, then can he help his family in either of those conditions? He can't. Therefore, putting your family's needs before your own isn't completely correct. You must do at least the minimum necessities to keep yourself supported before you can support your family. This may sound selfish, but it's not. It's being a good steward of what God gave you, so that you can use it to help others.
- Brian