Posted on 09/19/2017 5:25:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The fact that something is temporal does not mean it is not blessed and holy. The earth itself has the honor of being God’s footstool. It is dedicated to a sacred purpose. My present, earthly body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Though of temporary duration, it is dedicated to a sacred purpose.
The same can be said of His consecrated sanctuaries here on earth. Nothing, not even the Universe, can contain Him: but His little low houses -— Chartres, Le Mont St- Michel, Notre Dame de Paris, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral -— are, nevertheless, dedicated to this same sacred purpose.
I envision a day when mosque's will be used as something good and useful like processing hogs and rending lard.
Not as weapons caches, ammo dumps and indoctrination centers.
And their loud call to be subjugated is silenced forever.
No, what you preach is not Biblical. We don’t not ‘direct our attention inward’. We are to meditate on the Word and worship God, not our Humanity or mind. That yoga journal verse is in no way like the Bible.
I’m not talking about the meditation part.
I’m not thinking of Yoga as “replacing” the bible or bible teachings. Rather, I see it like the training I do for baseball, or learning a computer programming language. It’s not about “religion” to me. It is an earthly endeavor similar to doing your job, driving to work, mowing your lawn, etc.And with all of those things (including Yoga) you can meditate on God, our creator and savior.
I am not a fan of Yoga, but I really try not to condemn a thing from a biblical perspective just because some people use it for biblical reasons. Just because a pimp drives a Lincoln, it doesn’t mean I can’t drive one to church every day. Though mine is less likely to have fat whitewalls. ;)
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Not into “entertaining spirits.”
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It sounds like you might be Catholic. This may be where we disagree pretty strongly. I see a church as just another building - until the church is in it, in one accord, worshiping Him. And when the church leaves, it’s just a building again.
There were special places in the bible, but it is an OT thing. According to Jesus’ teaching, the only thing “special” in our physical realm is the tent of the human body we occupy on this brief visit to earth. The rest is just “stuff”. Tools, food and shelter.
All "stuff" consists of Master-works loved by God, Who loves intricately, brilliantly, powerfully, and permanently.
When I hear God's magnificent works described as "just stuff," it strike my heart the same as when men refer to their generative organs as "junk." It's disrespectful to the the Intelligent Designer, Artist and Artisan of all things.
St. Paul himself tells to respect our bodies as temples, and that logically requires that we respect actual brick-and-mortar or stone-and-timber temples: we understand that a temple itself --- a physical place, a house of prayer -- is to be treated with a degree of reverence.
We, ourselves made in the image and likeness of the Creator, like to make "houses of prayer." God is delighted when we make these sub-creations under the vast arch of His Great Creation.
You, too, are a physical place, a house of prayer.
You will live forever. But will not God make all things new?
Acts 7:48
Exactly!
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 2:15
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- 1 John 2:16-17
How about, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, overtunning the money-changers' tables in the temple?
[11] And the people said: This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee. ... [12] And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves: ... [13] And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves. ... [14] And there came to him the blind and the lame in the temple; and he healed them. ... [15] And the chief priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the son of David; were moved with indignation.Matthew, Chapter 21
P.S. The above is New Testament.
Two things:
First, for me, there is a big difference between a temple and a church building.
Second, the moneychangers were ripping people off to sell “approved clean” animals for sacrifice. The people were there to sacrifice animals and the temple and God’s law were being used to make an unjust profit. It ticked him off, and rightly so.
Sometimes I like to say, “maybe it’s time to overturn a few tables.
What we are talking about here is not a temple but a church building. It is used for meetings, for worship service, sunday school, activities (some churches use the sanctuary as a basketball court) and, in some cases Yoga classes as an exercise class.
To be really clear, IMO if they are strictly using yoga exercise techniques, I have no problem with it. If they are going for the spiritual context, I have a HUGE problem with it.
Think of how the term "world," like the term "flesh," is used in different senses.
One is bad, hateful: "I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
One is good, love-ful: "For God so loved the world..."
Another sense is neutral, which may serve as the stage for good or evil:
"the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one"
Or in the case of "flesh":
Bad: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing"
"Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
Good: "The Word was made flesh"
"that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh."
"for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."
What we need to study here, is the different sense of these words and how to distinguish them.
The short answer: things (including the world and the flesh) which are estranged from God, are bad. That would be, things which are put up as rivals to God, which distract us from God, or things to which we are attached apart from God.
Things (including the world and the flesh) which are dedicated to God, are good. That would be, worldly or fleshly thing which inspire us to glorify God, which lead us to God, or draw us upward to place our ultimate value and attachment in God.
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“And Jesus’ disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for the Father’s house consumes me.’” John 2:17
BTW, I like to mention in some churches that the “alter” is an old testament concept. And by “old testament”, I mean old covenant.
An altar is:
an elevated place or structure, as a mound or platform, at which religious rites are performed or on which sacrifices are offered to gods, ancestors, etc.
Based on that definition, I tell people that if there even is an “altar” in a Christian church it is the Cross hanging on the wall.
Yes. And in His father’s house are specific areas for specific functions.
But a church is not a temple.
Everything Jesus did up to his death and resurrection was done within the context of OLD covenant.
Even Luke 11:42 (similar in Matthew) Jesus says: Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
Notice he used past tense in the admonishment rather than presence. i.e. he didn’t say “you do this, but you should do that.” He said, “you do this but you should have done that.”
It is because tithing is also an old covenant practice. It is not a christian thing. We don’t tithe. We give.
The closest thing we have to “tithing” today is called taxes. Israel was a theocracy and tithing was performed to support the nation both religiously and nationally.
Since only God is holy (source of all holiness), anything connected to God is holy: and the more closely connected, the more holy. That's why we can properly speak of the "Holy Land," the "Holy Bible," the "Holy Cross," the "Holy Sepulchre" the "Holy Angels," "Holy Matrimony" "Holy Mountain," the "Holy City of Jerusalem" --- and "holy ground."
Similarly, "Holy Church." A sacred place.
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Excellent!
But that was a real temple whose construction was scripturally commanded.
Most churches simply cannot be called the House of Yehova.
Unitarians call themselves a church. They are way witchier than Yoga by definition.
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