Bingo, etc??

I have no problem with any of the things you described except selling religious goods.

What scriptural proinciple did your friend say they violated?

If it was the account of the money changers in the temple, then maybe you should remind your friend that the point of that passage, and what Jesus condemned, wasn't simply selling things in the temple, that was done quite frequently, but selling impure sacrifices to worshippers at inflated prices, preying on their desire to be faithful to sacrificial law.

I grew up in an Independent Baptist church who felt the same way. Their reasoning was that if they needed to "raise funds" for one reason or another, God would provide for them. The pastor often spoke out that the day the church had to have a bake sale would be the day that he closed the doors.

Personally, I see absolutely no problem with the kind of stuff you mentioned, nor have I found scripture to support it. Now, if it was something that was taking away from God's work, then yes, there would be a problem, IMO.

As for the church that I attended, I disagree with their thinking. Yes, I am a firm believer that God will always provide a way for us, as long as it is within God's will, but I don't believe that means the money will just appear. I think God provides us with opportunities to get the money. If their way of thinking is correct, why do we have jobs if God will provide us with the means that we need to survive? I think God provides in ways that may not be, "here, this is for you," but may be "here is a chance for you to earn/work for this."

JMHO.

JOYfulbeliever said:

I grew up in an Independent Baptist church who felt the same way. Their reasoning was that if they needed to "raise funds" for one reason or another, God would provide for them. The pastor often spoke out that the day the church had to have a bake sale would be the day that he closed the doors.

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That's too bad. I love bake sales. I always make something for them and they usually go right away. It's always funny to see the look on people's faces when they found out who made it (like a guy can't make a cheesecake - like Emeril Legasse says, "Hey, it ain't rocket science!").

MikeMcK said:

That's too bad. I love bake sales. I always make something for them and they usually go right away. It's always funny to see the look on people's faces when they found out who made it (like a guy can't make a cheesecake - like Emeril Legasse says, "Hey, it ain't rocket science!").

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Hehe! You know, guys can make GREAT cooks!

/me thinks if someone is going to cook for her, she doesnt' care if they are male or female!

As for the church, I strongly disagree with them, and for various other reasons, I no longer attend that chuch. I love the bake sales at my church now, and this summer, we had a "church wide yard sale" to help raise funds for the youth mission trip. It was awesome. For $20 a table, you could sell all you wanted, and you kept all of your money. I got to get rid of a lot of junk, make some money, and still help out the teens.