Samson's Jawbone

Recently I  watched an argument between two news commentators about the Christian view of the current border crisis. One commentator a professed Christian passionately asserted that as Christians we were obligated to open our doors as a nation to anyone who wants to come into the country. In view of the many commands in scripture to take care of the poor, helping the immigrant is an obligated of any nation governed by Judao-Christian principles..She asserted that a biblical world view required Christians to support open  borders and let anyone who wants to come into the country, as long as our rich country has the resources to help the poor we cannot deny them entry. The other, a professed Catholic, said that while we had an obligation to clothe, house and protect anyone living among us there was nothing in a Christian commitment that required a nation to open its borders.  The subject of immigration is a  hot button  in some Christian circles today. You...

Several years ago I was interviewed for a senior pastor position at a church in the Philadelphia area. The interview seemed to be going well until we began talking about my philosophy of church financing. There seemed to be some concern over the fact that I would not affirm that I believed the scripture mandated every Christian to give 10% of their gross income to the local church. One person said, "Well what do teach regarding giving; how much should a person give?" I responded that I believe in cheerful, responsible, proportional, local, sacrificial giving, and that while I believed that the tithe was good benchmark that met that criterion for most of us, it was not a mandate of the New Testament.  This particular group had never heard that concept it was a new paradigm they could not embrace. I understand that my view is not common: In the evangelical Christian sub-culture in America. many people embrace tithing as a watershed doctrine. I've heard it presented a numb...