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. He said to them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers."
i'm a church musician lately and the one i play at puts a pot of regular and a pot of decaf on. what they have isn't bad for drip coffee, but that's where they are.
and most of us in the band are of the "coffee? COFFEeE!!" persuasion so they really don't even need good drip coffee, but eventually we'd start bringing our own grounds and it'd become a thing.
part of me wants to find one with a coffee shop now, but i really dislike those services.
so currently i'm just a bass specialist in english handbells. i also sing, i am not great at bass guitar and i just got my sax out of the attic a few months ago and am still rusty. way back in my school days i worked my way through the district's set of instruments and taught myself how to play everything they had except the double reeds. not necessarily well, but enough that if i wanted to get competent it would only take a couple weeks.
Around a decade ago I went to church with my parents. They don't go to a mega church but it is a large church in a Texas suburb. My mom offered to buy me a cup of coffee. I thought she was making that silly joke about "buying" me a cup because, it's a church, coffee is free right? No. She actually paid money for coffee at church. And it was a goddamned k-cup.
Like that one church with their Easter service. Put on a whole play. Custom sets. Pyrotechnics. Church of the Rock in Winnipeg. Jenny Nicholson covered it on YouTube. It's so weird.
Y'know I actually enjoyed when churches would put on (actually) funny skits or silly Christmas plays for outreach or whatever because like, entertainment is a universal communication medium, and what's wrong with having a little fun along the way?
But that was on the order of your local middle school production, maybe. Cardboard, craft paint, and a lot of suspension of disbelief. :p
This "Cirque du Holé" business in gigantic "campuses" is embarrassing. Like that time all those churches loaned out a literal micro roller coaster to each other for. . .some reason. . .?
The micro rollercoaster radiated "This damned thing has been sitting storage the fuck are we supposed to do with it" energy. Someone had a micro rollercoaster probably for festivals and things bad did not want to store it.
Stuff like this is why I don't publicly practice my faith with a specific lineage of Christ believers. Money corrupts if there is not honor or values. Also fuck them for not actually using to help people but themselves. That's why I want to remove Tax exempt status from mega churches. (Not the smaller churches, just the mega ones.)
It not like this fly over system costs very much. Compared to the huge building and technology they install. I am fully against Church and religion in general, but flying Santa isn't too spectacular. The private jets, buildings the size of Amazon warehouses that actually cost....
It's an event space? That's perfectly normal. E.g. small musical performance are held in old European churches. Such as some choir music(non religious)
These are the kind of churches where private jets are owned. It's more of a venue issue than what they are doing with the venue. These are businesses in disguise as churches.
How does that support them? 50 bucks for renting a church surely is cheaper than most if not all spaces and ought to not cover personel costs incurred.
How is a church an event space? It should be a holy site.
small musical performance are held in old European churches
Only in deconsecrated ones, i.e. church buildings that are not used as churches anymore. They do allow non-religious music at funerals (sometimes) but that's about it
In the US? I'm not contesting that it's uncommon there, just saying that it doesn't seem very Christian. I'm not religious and I don't care, if not for the hypocrisy.
Yes - US. I was honestly uncomfortable and thought it seemed dicey to force teachers to be around all of the propaganda, but using public funds to push religion is the least unethical thing Epic Charter Schools does lol.
If ancient stained glass art is propaganda everything is. Even lack there of has meaning. It's just a big old building with gold accustics you people. Don't go to a Catholic one, I guess.
It is very Christian. Serving the community is a core tenet. Churches ain't just for praying. They are intended to be a place for community. That's for Europe, anyway.
A google image search could have answered your question of doubt.
The visual is from the annual "Gift of Christmas" production at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas. It IS a church production.
Despite being a 40-year tradition at the church, the $1 million Broadway-style production has faced backlash for its extravagance in recent years. In the past, church leaders have justified the performance by explaining the miracle of Jesus’ birth warrants an over-the-top celebration. They told the Dallas Morning News last year, “Jesus deserves our absolute best. … It’s unfortunate that the perennial American tradition of the church Christmas program now draws criticism.”
It's an abundance that kinda goes against the word of Jesus? If they're "combining" that level of stage with a place of worship, I imagine that they should also be holding events at almost the same frequency of an opera house, and at the same level (and for the benefit of society). But in my experience, it's usually only used for preaching the word of Jesus... of which extravagance isn't a tenet
But that's just my 2 cents and despite the particulars of the photo, the point of the meme remains (at least to me). Jesus didn't preach about the "good of the Great Gatsby"; they just wanted people to love each other and be "good" to one another... not unwittenly flaunt their position of power
What in the actual three-ring-fuck is going on in this picture?
I know that church doesn't have to be as solemn as a funeral, but still... unless these production levels are generating millions for charity, I can't imagine how people are just okay with this.
Murka don't needem none of that Woke Communist Fake News Christianity. Jesus was a ripped alpha male who beat up on weaklings for fun, and told the poors to get a job!
I'm not that knowledgeable about the events. But did he name the cult?
If someone else named the cult, and someone else wrote the Bible. And the book did not exist in his time. Then even if he was a real person that wanted good in the world, he was never a part of the religion/cult that was started in his name, right?
A lot of the bible that gets followed by mega churches follows the doctrine of Paul who never met Jesus and was a power hungry bastard who claimed to have hallucinated Jesus after he got hit on the head with a rock.
The idea of salvation through Jesus being through faith and not actions, throwing money at churches, treating any sex for pleasure as an apex sin comes from him.
Effectively these are not Christians but Paulians.
102 Comments
ininewcrow@lemmy.ca · 141 pts · 247d
When American Christians get to the afterlife and meet god ....
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world · 64 pts · 247d
They wouldn't get to meet God. They'd go straight to hell.
ininewcrow@lemmy.ca · 38 pts · 247d
I think God would want to meet them just to see the look on their face when he told them they were going to hell.
chunes@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 245d
Fitting since he belongs there himself
Passerby6497@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 247d
Not a fan of the trope of having to wait to see saint Peter before getting thrown into the pits?
DandomRude@lemmy.world · 77 pts · 246d
That's ridiculous, even Jesus thought so.
Matthew 21:12-13 (Source)
Gorilladrums@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 246d
thorhop@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 246d
"Scuse me sir, have you read the Bible"?
"Have you?"
JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 55 pts · 246d
"Christians": Put Christ back in Christmas!!!!
Also "Christians": More flying elves, and the magical reindeer's nose needs to shine brighter!
shalafi@lemmy.world · 51 pts · 247d
Last time I attended a service all I could think was, "How would you explain that you spent $250,000 on the sound system?"
Took my step-son to that same church to witness me voting, trying to set an example. It was like a mini-mall in there.
Sarcastic child: "Dude! Do they have a Starbucks too?!"
Serinus@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 246d
... I think they usually do have a coffee shop.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 246d
i'm a church musician lately and the one i play at puts a pot of regular and a pot of decaf on. what they have isn't bad for drip coffee, but that's where they are.
and most of us in the band are of the "coffee? COFFEeE!!" persuasion so they really don't even need good drip coffee, but eventually we'd start bringing our own grounds and it'd become a thing.
part of me wants to find one with a coffee shop now, but i really dislike those services.
jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 246d
I think this is the first time I've encountered a church musician on Lemmy. What instrument(s) do you play?
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 246d
so currently i'm just a bass specialist in english handbells. i also sing, i am not great at bass guitar and i just got my sax out of the attic a few months ago and am still rusty. way back in my school days i worked my way through the district's set of instruments and taught myself how to play everything they had except the double reeds. not necessarily well, but enough that if i wanted to get competent it would only take a couple weeks.
frostysauce@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 245d
Around a decade ago I went to church with my parents. They don't go to a mega church but it is a large church in a Texas suburb. My mom offered to buy me a cup of coffee. I thought she was making that silly joke about "buying" me a cup because, it's a church, coffee is free right? No. She actually paid money for coffee at church. And it was a goddamned k-cup.
cannedtuna@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 247d
This was last year right? Assuming this year will be even bigger and more batshit
mushroommunk@lemmy.today · 32 pts · 247d
Like that one church with their Easter service. Put on a whole play. Custom sets. Pyrotechnics. Church of the Rock in Winnipeg. Jenny Nicholson covered it on YouTube. It's so weird.
Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 246d
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 246d
They turned the church into a circus.
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 14 pts · 246d
Do they still give out bread tho?
monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 246d
That’s communism. Supply side Jesus says no.
jacksilver@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 246d
Supply Side Jesus!
kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 246d
Very fun read, thanks!
HakunaHafada@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 246d
Indeed! Supply Side Jesus is one of my favorite webcomics.
Killercat103@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 245d
pinheadednightmare@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 246d
So they donate money to be entertained? There is already an industry for that.
frank@sopuli.xyz · 28 pts · 246d
Yeah but this one doesn't pay taxes
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · -2 pts · 246d
Pretty sure there are some struggling artist who also don't pay taxes. Mostly because they are too poor but still.
Noja@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 246d
The poor alwas pay taxes.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 246d
I meant in a they don't even make enough money to qualify for taxes type of way.
sexhaver87@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 245d
You’ve been fed a ruse, even those who make nothing pay taxes.
wisemanzero@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 247d
Jenny Nicholson had a good video about this a while back.
Iceman@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 246d
Had to rewatch. All time great
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 246d
She's been gone for a while
MonkeMischief@lemmy.today · 24 pts · 246d
Y'know I actually enjoyed when churches would put on (actually) funny skits or silly Christmas plays for outreach or whatever because like, entertainment is a universal communication medium, and what's wrong with having a little fun along the way?
But that was on the order of your local middle school production, maybe. Cardboard, craft paint, and a lot of suspension of disbelief. :p
This "Cirque du Holé" business in gigantic "campuses" is embarrassing. Like that time all those churches loaned out a literal micro roller coaster to each other for. . .some reason. . .?
What a grift.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 246d
The micro rollercoaster radiated "This damned thing has been sitting storage the fuck are we supposed to do with it" energy. Someone had a micro rollercoaster probably for festivals and things bad did not want to store it.
KhantoBlackhand@lemmy.today · 24 pts · 246d
Stuff like this is why I don't publicly practice my faith with a specific lineage of Christ believers. Money corrupts if there is not honor or values. Also fuck them for not actually using to help people but themselves. That's why I want to remove Tax exempt status from mega churches. (Not the smaller churches, just the mega ones.)
ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works · 21 pts · 247d
Wow they really hate the poor
JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 246d
That assumes they even acknowledge the existence of the poor.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 246d
What in the ragety-anne-fuck is going on there?
Krudler@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 246d
I don't know and I don't give a french fried titty fuck
P00Pchute@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 246d
It not like this fly over system costs very much. Compared to the huge building and technology they install. I am fully against Church and religion in general, but flying Santa isn't too spectacular. The private jets, buildings the size of Amazon warehouses that actually cost....
Cort@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 246d
Maybe, but the small things do add up. Insurance rate increases due to high risk aerial performances, coordinator/safety team, etc.
titanicx@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 246d
You're funny thinking they pay for any of that.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 245d
Why pay for insurance, if you can pray for protection, right?
MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 246d
Don't you remember that bible story? Where he got the bread and fish, gave the food to his friends, then flew around to flex on the poors?
Worx@lemmynsfw.com · 1 pts · 245d
Jesus walking on water to shame the sinkcels
ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one · 1 pts · 246d
Oh yeah, I remember it. It;s in the Go Fuck Em Poors Bible with Supple Side Jesus.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 246d
I didn't know a mime getting hanged was in the Bible. Gotta feel bad for the French even their god hates them.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 15 pts · 246d
Is this an actual service or just an event provided by the church? Staging plays is a social task that can be serviced by a church.
Very American and over the top, still.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 246d
Yeah renting out megachurches for other parties to do events in isn't really any better
Gladaed@feddit.org · 1 pts · 246d
It's an event space? That's perfectly normal. E.g. small musical performance are held in old European churches. Such as some choir music(non religious)
Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 246d
These are the kind of churches where private jets are owned. It's more of a venue issue than what they are doing with the venue. These are businesses in disguise as churches.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 2 pts · 246d
Ok. But then the issue is the rent they charge. They should rent it out at cost or below.
Example: Gebührenordnung Raummiete - Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirchgemeinde Meiningen https://share.google/hOTib1IFAd0ADiM7y
Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 246d
Just don't support them at all. Haggling over price is not sending a message.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 2 pts · 246d
How does that support them? 50 bucks for renting a church surely is cheaper than most if not all spaces and ought to not cover personel costs incurred.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 246d
How is a church an event space? It should be a holy site.
Only in deconsecrated ones, i.e. church buildings that are not used as churches anymore. They do allow non-religious music at funerals (sometimes) but that's about it
andros_rex@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 246d
I worked for a school district that contracted with a church as a space for professional development. It’s not uncommon.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 246d
In the US? I'm not contesting that it's uncommon there, just saying that it doesn't seem very Christian. I'm not religious and I don't care, if not for the hypocrisy.
andros_rex@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 246d
Yes - US. I was honestly uncomfortable and thought it seemed dicey to force teachers to be around all of the propaganda, but using public funds to push religion is the least unethical thing Epic Charter Schools does lol.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 1 pts · 246d
If ancient stained glass art is propaganda everything is. Even lack there of has meaning. It's just a big old building with gold accustics you people. Don't go to a Catholic one, I guess.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 1 pts · 246d
It is very Christian. Serving the community is a core tenet. Churches ain't just for praying. They are intended to be a place for community. That's for Europe, anyway.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 1 pts · 246d
That's wrong. At least in Germany.
freddydunningkruger@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 246d
A google image search could have answered your question of doubt.
The visual is from the annual "Gift of Christmas" production at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas. It IS a church production.
MrShankles@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 246d
It's an abundance that kinda goes against the word of Jesus? If they're "combining" that level of stage with a place of worship, I imagine that they should also be holding events at almost the same frequency of an opera house, and at the same level (and for the benefit of society). But in my experience, it's usually only used for preaching the word of Jesus... of which extravagance isn't a tenet
But that's just my 2 cents and despite the particulars of the photo, the point of the meme remains (at least to me). Jesus didn't preach about the "good of the Great Gatsby"; they just wanted people to love each other and be "good" to one another... not unwittenly flaunt their position of power
andros_rex@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 246d
Elaborate, borderline heretical passion plays are very much a thing. (Ever wanted to see Iron Man crucified?) Churches definitely do rent out their spaces, but this kind of thing is usually put on by the church.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 245d
very evangelical, its either this or some kind of wierd play, or concert they are doing.
madjo@feddit.nl · 12 pts · 246d
Panem & circenses…
WoodScientist@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 246d
These people are all damned to Hell.
Krudler@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 246d
They are creating it on Earth.
Agent641@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 245d
What if they were already sent to help for their sins, and this is it, but they don't realise it?
n0respect@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 245d
Bad Religion - Fuck armageddon ... this is hell
Krudler@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 245d
So make sure when you say you're in it but not of it
You're not helping to make this earth a place sometimes called Hell
Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love
And maybe our children's grandchildren And their great-great grandchildren will tell
Stevie Wonder - As
jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 246d
Looks like the set of The Righteous Gemstones.
AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 246d
People are gonna watch The Righteous Gemstones and think it's a documentary
Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 246d
It is.
FatVegan@leminal.space · 2 pts · 246d
It's just rather tame and the people are way nicer than in reality
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 246d
What in the actual three-ring-fuck is going on in this picture?
I know that church doesn't have to be as solemn as a funeral, but still... unless these production levels are generating millions for charity, I can't imagine how people are just okay with this.
AngularViscosity@piefed.social · 10 pts · 247d
Putting up a literal show for the believers. Look at the shiny thing, and give us money!
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 247d
Church is just another form of entertainment for Americans.
SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 245d
Murka don't needem none of that Woke Communist Fake News Christianity. Jesus was a ripped alpha male who beat up on weaklings for fun, and told the poors to get a job!
DarkFuture@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 246d
If Jesus returned from the dead he would be anti-Christian.
How much further from actual Christian values can modern Christianity get?
thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 246d
Was Jesus ever Cristian?
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 245d
No, the Christian church was established after his death (assuming he existed). Jesus was Jewish.
Agent641@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 245d
If you start a cult, are you not the first member of the cult? Shoko Asahara was still the leader of and member of aum shinrykio
thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 245d
I'm not that knowledgeable about the events. But did he name the cult?
If someone else named the cult, and someone else wrote the Bible. And the book did not exist in his time. Then even if he was a real person that wanted good in the world, he was never a part of the religion/cult that was started in his name, right?
DrivebyHaiku@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 245d
A lot of the bible that gets followed by mega churches follows the doctrine of Paul who never met Jesus and was a power hungry bastard who claimed to have hallucinated Jesus after he got hit on the head with a rock.
The idea of salvation through Jesus being through faith and not actions, throwing money at churches, treating any sex for pleasure as an apex sin comes from him.
Effectively these are not Christians but Paulians.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 245d
he would probably smite them.
carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 245d
Ok I thought they were hanging Ronald McDonald in effigy
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 245d
ronald is finally ascending to heaven. looks more like marcel marceau the mime, a temu version.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 245d
And somehow Palpatine returned.
MehBlah@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 245d
What a golden calf.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 246d
But only by suffering enough will the poor be worthy. Then they’ll magically lift themselves up out of poverty.
So heap suffering on them!
Oh look, I guess they were never worthy…
JuliaSuraez@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 245d
If you need pyrotechnics to sell compassion, maybe the priorities are backwards.
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 246d
Kinda unrelated, but I got a place on my church's theater. I'm gonna act as an angel. Hope they won't put me flying like this.
flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 246d
Angel of ....?
/s
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 245d
Dunno. Pratices are tomorrow, will update you by message when I get it.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 245d
I want an angel play update, too. Sounds fun!
MeowerMisfit817@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 245d
Okay, notef.
motor_spirit@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 247d
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 245d
Most of them lost the vision eons ago
altphoto@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 245d
Some things would mix well. I'd go to "church" just to see the mix.