Re: Are Pastors to Blame??????????????

For those who may have a challenge understanding Matthew 23 in King
James..herewith a more direct version in NIV or the New International
Version.
Matthew 23
New International Version (NIV)
A Warning Against Hypocrisy

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers
of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must be
careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do,
for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy,
cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 "Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their
phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they
love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in
the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the
marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others.

8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and
you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for
you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called
instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest
among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will
be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You
yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying
to. [14] [b]

15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have
succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the
temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the
temple is bound by that oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater:
the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say,
'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who
swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.' 19 You blind
men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift
sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and
by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by
it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven
swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have
neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and
faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting
the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a
camel.

25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of
greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside
of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on
the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous
but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we
would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the
prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the
descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and
complete what your ancestors started!

33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being
condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages
and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will
flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon
you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of
Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly
I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you
will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.'[c]"

Footnotes:
Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on
forehead and arm
Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark
12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
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New International Version (NIV)

On 12/3/12, Mishe Fon <mishefon@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Culled from Plannet RSS FB
>
> Stupidityis when you don't have a bicycle and you give your last dollar to
> your pastor to buy a jet.......
>
>
>
> Moumou is when you can't pay your children's school fees and yet have money
> to contribute toyour churchto build expensive schools which your children
> cannot and will never attend...
>
> Ignorance is when you believe it when your pastor tells you not to live a
> worldly life, and yet he enjoys all the best things in the world, the fine
> houses, cars, jets, the best babes etc, while you are waiting till you get
> to heaven to enjoy your own. Has anyone come back to tell you how they are
> enjoying in that heaven?
>
> Idiocyis when you refuse to take your very sick child to the hospital
> because your pastor said you should not do so, yet that same pastor secretly
> runs to USA, Londonand Parisfor medical attention any time he has a small
> headache...
> AwaKo Mentalis when you see a poor beggar on the road and you refuse to
> give him 5 Dollars out of the 100 Dollars in your pocket bicos it is your
> tithe money....
>
> You are a zombiewhen you trek, dance and gallivant for 30 kilometersunder
> the hot sun sweating and smelling like shit during your revival program,
> while your flamboyant Pastor is inside a full option, factory fitted
> air-conditioned­­ state of the art SUV with his delectable hot sexy wife
> slowly driving along the road and waving at you.
>
> Stop worshiping these yeye pastors!!! They are human beings just like you
> and me. They are business men and women in the Godly Business Ministry. They
> don't have any powers! If they had the powers they claim they have,
> Africawould not be the way it is.


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The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in
a thing makes it happen.