.
The government as a State of people, and the Church as God's people are the two sides of the coin of humanity. They are both established and instituted by God himself.
But while the leaderships of secular governments have their own mandates from the people to fulfill, the Church's leaderships have their Great Commission from the Lord to carry out. Wherever and whenever the different paths of these two types of leaderships cross, let the following verse provide wisdom:
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17)
And as the Church leaderships pursue the course of their path in the direction that is in accordance with the Church's mission, may the following verse keep them consistent on their track:
"No man, being a soldier to God, entangles himself with secular affairs: that he may be able to sanctify himself to Him to whom he has dedicated himself in service. Therefore for this reason you must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
----------
People of God: It is our obligation to support the Church and provide for Her needs. When we neglect this solemn obligation, the other side of the coin of humanity could (or would) fill the vacuum and slowly the moral authority of the Church could be held hostage by some debt of gratitude that might develop in the inappropriate exchange of generosity.
Instead of sowing your seeds in the field of gambling, why not prove the faithfulness of God by sowing your seeds in the Lord's field? Here is a practical challenge from God to anyone:
"Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says the Lord, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for." (Malachi 3:10)
It's yet two years since I started to actually took this challenge from God, and to my delightful and thankful amazement, God is faithful with his promise! True tithing is honoring God with the tenth part of the whole blessing of your material substance in a regular periodic manner (I do it monthly). For Catholics, it is hard for most of us to do tithing because we have not practiced it aggressively. But when I decided to myself that I will honor the Lord with my tithe, I prayed this simple prayer: "Lord, like the others, I also wanted to honor you with the tenth of the blessings you give me regularly, help me do this."
There are no poor church congregations, there are only poor faith in taking God's promise.
The government as a State of people, and the Church as God's people are the two sides of the coin of humanity. They are both established and instituted by God himself.
But while the leaderships of secular governments have their own mandates from the people to fulfill, the Church's leaderships have their Great Commission from the Lord to carry out. Wherever and whenever the different paths of these two types of leaderships cross, let the following verse provide wisdom:
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17)
And as the Church leaderships pursue the course of their path in the direction that is in accordance with the Church's mission, may the following verse keep them consistent on their track:
"No man, being a soldier to God, entangles himself with secular affairs: that he may be able to sanctify himself to Him to whom he has dedicated himself in service. Therefore for this reason you must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
----------
People of God: It is our obligation to support the Church and provide for Her needs. When we neglect this solemn obligation, the other side of the coin of humanity could (or would) fill the vacuum and slowly the moral authority of the Church could be held hostage by some debt of gratitude that might develop in the inappropriate exchange of generosity.
Instead of sowing your seeds in the field of gambling, why not prove the faithfulness of God by sowing your seeds in the Lord's field? Here is a practical challenge from God to anyone:
"Bring the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says the Lord, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for." (Malachi 3:10)
It's yet two years since I started to actually took this challenge from God, and to my delightful and thankful amazement, God is faithful with his promise! True tithing is honoring God with the tenth part of the whole blessing of your material substance in a regular periodic manner (I do it monthly). For Catholics, it is hard for most of us to do tithing because we have not practiced it aggressively. But when I decided to myself that I will honor the Lord with my tithe, I prayed this simple prayer: "Lord, like the others, I also wanted to honor you with the tenth of the blessings you give me regularly, help me do this."
There are no poor church congregations, there are only poor faith in taking God's promise.
