MEAN NEIGHBOR ON STERLING

rbg

Carnivore---The cover story of Newsweek Magazine about a month ago featured a fascinating article entitled, "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" It addresses the whole issue of prosperity evangelism and speaks to the fact that God really does want us to have nice things. About a year ago, I heard a preacher say, "You know God brought Ya from the chicken shack to the caddilac!" For many of us, this statement rang true...

t-fal

Whereas I don't believe in the concept of the elect and god wanting people to be rich, as its a little too calvinist for my liking...

i do fully believe that some sort of divine inspiration is responsible for heated seats.

jgregorie

wow.....
i thought god wanted us to help the less fortunate.
not that i do actually help the less fortunate but if there is a god im pretty sure thats what He/She would want me to do.

RBG wrote: Carnivore---The cover story of Newsweek Magazine about a month ago featured a fascinating article entitled, "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" It addresses the whole issue of prosperity evangelism and speaks to the fact that God really does want us to have nice things. About a year ago, I heard a preacher say, "You know God brought Ya from the chicken shack to the caddilac!" For many of us, this statement rang true...

:shock:

carnivore

jgregorie wrote: wow.....
i thought god wanted us to help the less fortunate.
not that i do actually help the less fortunate but if there is a god im pretty sure thats what He/She would want me to do.



[quote=RBG]Carnivore---The cover story of Newsweek Magazine about a month ago featured a fascinating article entitled, "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" It addresses the whole issue of prosperity evangelism and speaks to the fact that God really does want us to have nice things. About a year ago, I heard a preacher say, "You know God brought Ya from the chicken shack to the caddilac!" For many of us, this statement rang true...

:shock:
By "less fortunate" I'm assuming you mean those without ice scrapers for their BMWs.

homeowner

Carnivore wrote: [quote=jgregorie]wow.....
i thought god wanted us to help the less fortunate.
not that i do actually help the less fortunate but if there is a god im pretty sure thats what He/She would want me to do.



[quote=RBG]Carnivore---The cover story of Newsweek Magazine about a month ago featured a fascinating article entitled, "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" It addresses the whole issue of prosperity evangelism and speaks to the fact that God really does want us to have nice things. About a year ago, I heard a preacher say, "You know God brought Ya from the chicken shack to the caddilac!" For many of us, this statement rang true...

:shock:
By "less fortunate" I'm assuming you mean those without ice scrapers for their BMWs.


Now I'm up for a good joke as much as the next person, but there really are folks who believe that God wants them to be prosperous and to reward themselves in this life rather than waiting for the next. To my mind, many folks that preach this do so to the exclusion of some other teachings in the Bible, (like not coveting, honor elders, etc) but I don't want to cast aspersions on anyone else's sincere beliefs, no matter what I may think of them.

Bottom line, if RBG's God told her to purchase a BMW more power to her. My God usually spends his time saying "I told you so..." so I'm happy that its working out for her.

michaelkeys

homeowner wrote: [quote=Carnivore][quote=jgregorie]wow.....
i thought god wanted us to help the less fortunate.
not that i do actually help the less fortunate but if there is a god im pretty sure thats what He/She would want me to do.



[quote=RBG]Carnivore---The cover story of Newsweek Magazine about a month ago featured a fascinating article entitled, "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" It addresses the whole issue of prosperity evangelism and speaks to the fact that God really does want us to have nice things. About a year ago, I heard a preacher say, "You know God brought Ya from the chicken shack to the caddilac!" For many of us, this statement rang true...

:shock:
By "less fortunate" I'm assuming you mean those without ice scrapers for their BMWs.


Now I'm up for a good joke as much as the next person, but there really are folks who believe that God wants them to be prosperous and to reward themselves in this life rather than waiting for the next. To my mind, many folks that preach this do so to the exclusion of some other teachings in the Bible, (like not coveting, honor elders, etc) but I don't want to cast aspersions on anyone else's sincere beliefs, no matter what I may think of them.

Bottom line, if RBG's God told her to purchase a BMW more power to her. My God usually spends his time saying "I told you so..." so I'm happy that its working out for her.

homeowner on point, as usual.

shishkab

RBG, i'd have to agree with others here that the nasty neighbor's attitude had a lot less to do with the color of your skin and much more to do with the model of car you were driving. for all the bitching and moaning we do about racisim in our 'hoods (that's a general statement -- it's not targeted at you), i find there to be a much bigger problem with classism (at least where you and i live: PH/PS). sorry it happened to you. FWIW, i'm a female homeowner and i'd have given you my shovel (go ahead, folks. snicker if you must). so would have most of the people on my block. but... a-holes exist no matter where you go, i guess.

rbg

Wow! I can't believe you guys actually think she was acting that way because of my car. I understand the concept of classism, but this takes the cake...As for prosperity evangelism, its based on the concept of titheing and giving back. If you tithe and give back to the Lord, you'll be rewarded for it. For me, this is not a joke. I tithe 10% of my income to my church.

whyfi

I hope that you tithe a tenth, 'cause if you don't tithe a tenth, it's not a tithe.

shishkab

RBG wrote: Wow! I can't believe you guys actually think she was acting that way because of my car. I understand the concept of classism, but this takes the cake...

i first bought my house about 8 yrs ago. very old school Irish/Italian block (and just so we're clear about this, I AM irish and italian). hubby and i were the youngest people to move there in a very looooong time. when we bought it, owners basically said, "there goes the neighborhood. the yuppies are moving in." i thought it was a joke.

i was the first woman on the block to have a full-time job. do you want to know how that translated to my inter-personal relations with my female neighbors? none of the women wanted to bleepin' talk to me! i'm not kidding -- i'm a friendly, honest, and earnest gal, and they all thought i was an alien from another planet! it took a long time (we're talking years, not weeks) to break down the class barriers with those ladies (it was a lot easier with the men). my next door neighbor at the time was a real doll: she single-handedly forced the acceptance issue with some of the other female neighbors. plus, it wasn't long before others moved onto the block (now i barely recognize the place -- there are more newbies than old timers, and hubby & i are considered old-timers! talk about a 180 degree shift!). now that all is said and done, i can look back at that time and say with certainty that it wasn't me they disliked; it was what i represented to their world.

so, to come back to your issue: yes, i can certainly believe that a woman with a BMW on sterling would be chastised and ridiculed by a neighbor over a stupid thing like an ice scraper. it's not you, dear; it's what you represent.

doctorj

WhyFi wrote: I hope that you tithe a tenth, 'cause if you don't tithe a tenth, it's not a tithe.

Is that before or after tax?

carnivore

homeowner wrote: Now I'm up for a good joke as much as the next person, but there really are folks who believe that God wants them to be prosperous and to reward themselves in this life rather than waiting for the next. To my mind, many folks that preach this do so to the exclusion of some other teachings in the Bible, (like not coveting, honor elders, etc) but I don't want to cast aspersions on anyone else's sincere beliefs, no matter what I may think of them.

Bottom line, if RBG's God told her to purchase a BMW more power to her. My God usually spends his time saying "I told you so..." so I'm happy that its working out for her.

I'm no biblical scholar, or even Christian (actually, I'm an atheist), but didn't Jesus say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." I mean, people can believe whatever they want, but are these prosperity evangelists reading the same bible as everyone else?

whyfi

doctorj wrote: [quote=WhyFi]I hope that you tithe a tenth, 'cause if you don't tithe a tenth, it's not a tithe.

Is that before or after tax?

After - taxes before God.

bklyntransplant

From a recent NYT magazine article on the topic of "prosperity evangelism": http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30E1EFA3F550C748DDDAB0994DE404482

In the event that you're not registered for NYT.com, here's a taste:

Stanley regards Stratton not only as a spiritual adviser but also as a business mentor. ''It helps to have a pastor who understands tough days on the market and speaks the lingo of Wall Street sometimes,'' he says. ''I watch Pastor Dan, see how he talks to different people, the kind of range he has, and I learn from him. He's definitely helped me expand not only in my prayer closet but in the boardroom.''

Stanley is a member of ProVision Network, the Christian entrepreneurial support organization run by Stratton. ''It's definitely a worthwhile financial connection,'' he says. ''You brainstorm with people in other lines of work, and it opens all sorts of deal flows.''

Stratton also dispenses pro bono financial advice to the less business-savvy members of his flock. For example, he expects everyone to tithe but teaches that God's 10 percent should come off net income, not gross. ''A person sells his home and clears $100,000, sometimes he thinks he should tithe $10,000. But I say: 'Wait a minute, how about the improvements you've made in the house? What about inflation?' A tithe isn't supposed to bankrupt you.'

rbg

Here are a few bible verses about Prosperity:

"(Abraham) was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold." (Genesis 13:2)

Ecclesiasticus 11:14 Prosperity and adversity, life and death, poverty and riches, come of the Lord.

Ecclesiasticus 11:22 The blessing of the Lord is in the reward of the godly, and suddenly he maketh his blessing flourish.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

BUT, There's another side to this coin:

Far from stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). Love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, "Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions" (Luke 12:15).

chrispy

I'm no biblical scholar, or even Christian (actually, I'm an atheist), but didn't Jesus say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." I mean, people can believe whatever they want, but are these prosperity evangelists reading the same bible as everyone else?

I'm going totally off topic here, but when I was in high school (I went to a Catholic school) a religion teacher explained the context for this quote.

According to his explanation, there was a small entrance in the walls around Jerusalem called the Eye of the Needle. It was there so that travlers could enter and exit the city at night while the gates of the city were closed. The idea was that the entrance was just wide enough to allow one person through at a time and could easily be blocked up if there were an invading army outside.

Since the entrance was so small anybody who rolled up on a camel (the biblical equivalent of the BMW) would have to get off his/her camel, push it into the entrance and give it a couple good kicks in the rump to squeeze push it into the city. Apparently it was a real production, but not the impossibility that we typically think of when we hear about a camel passing through the eye of the needle.

The moral of the story? RBG should enjoy those heated seats and once the ice is all scraped off she should crank up the system and treat the icescraper hoarding bitch to the wisdom of another great prophet (this one more local):

Bubble hard in the double R flashin the rings
With the window cracked holler back
Money ain't a thang

carnivore

chrispy wrote: I'm going totally off topic here, but when I was in high school (I went to a Catholic school) a religion teacher explained the context for this quote.

According to his explanation, there was a small entrance in the walls around Jerusalem called the Eye of the Needle. It was there so that travlers could enter and exit the city at night while the gates of the city were closed. The idea was that the entrance was just wide enough to allow one person through at a time and could easily be blocked up if there were an invading army outside.

Since the entrance was so small anybody who rolled up on a camel (the biblical equivalent of the BMW) would have to get off his/her camel, push it into the entrance and give it a couple good kicks in the rump to squeeze push it into the city. Apparently it was a real production, but not the impossibility that we typically think of when we hear about a camel passing through the eye of the needle.

http://www.debunker.com/texts/needleye.html

18 wrote: The Camel and the Needle's Eye[/size]

Robert Sheaffer

Many fundamentalists seek to explain away the obvious hostility to wealth in the saying attributed to Jesus, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). Fundamentalists today constantly tell each other that the "eye of the needle" was a narrow gate into Jerusalem through which a camel could just barely squeeze, implying that even rich people can get into Heaven, provided that they walk a straight and narrow path.

While believing this no doubt lowers the cognitive dissonance they suffer between the resentment against wealth that is integral to the Christian religion they revere, and their own desire to achieve, it is nonetheless a silly legend, like the alligators in the sewers. The Jerome Biblical Commentary is a standard reference work found in many libraries, written by Catholic scholars. Its commentary on Matthew 19:24 states bluntly, "the figure of the camel and the eye of the needle means exactly what is said; it does not refer to a cable or a small gate of Jerusalem." The Abingdon Interpreter's Bible is a major reference work compiled by Protestant scholars, and its analysis of this passage is in full agreement. Unfortunately for the fundamentalists, the concensus of New Testament scholars is that Matthew's passage barring rich people from heaven means exactly what it says. It remains to be seen how many of them are willing to give up all their wealth in accordance with the ideals they claim to profess.

whyfi

But, but, but... it's a Beemer, not a Rolls.

rbg

By the way, let ME stress the fact that I NEVER brought up the model of the car. In my opinion, it doesn't have much to do with the story. And, honestly, my assumption was that the mean neighbor actually owned the limestone. She was shoveling down the steps and around the building like she owned it. Not sure why my little car would make her feel uncomfortable. I'm sick of this topic. Can we please change the subject? Please?

doctorj

A wise man once said: "You can take the sayings of a wise man and twist them into whatever suits your purpose".

carnivore

doctorj wrote: A wise man once said: "You can take the sayings of a wise man and twist them into whatever suits your purpose".

What a post-modern wise man!

armchair_warrior

God wants his people to have a Lexus, when one gets the moneyth.

quijibo

"that's racisteth!!!!"

can we have a separate board just for race-card-pulling?

jack krohn

All of this debating and we still don't know if RBG is HOTT.

armchair_warrior

Jack Krohn wrote: All of this debating and we still don't know if RBG is HOTT.

hmm i think some of the boys wants pics .

rbg

What's hot look like?

whyfi

Jack Krohn wrote: All of this debating and we still don't know if RBG is HOTT.

With the heated leather seats, we can rest assured that at least her rump is HOTT.

carnivore

armchair_warrior wrote: hmm i think some of the boys wants pics .

NOTE: "some of the boys" = armchair warrior

armchair_warrior

Carnivore wrote: [quote=armchair_warrior]hmm i think some of the boys wants pics .

NOTE: "some of the boys" = armchair warrior

slander!!!!! defamation!!!!

carnivore

armchair_warrior wrote: [quote=Carnivore][quote=armchair_warrior]hmm i think some of the boys wants pics .

NOTE: "some of the boys" = armchair warrior

slander!!!!! defamation!!!!
Not if it's true... :roll: