All I can think about at this moment are the group of 6 men in front of me at my sometimes office (McDonald's). I gather from their conversation that at least one of them is a preacher, the very lively man on the end who seems to love talking. But the man in the middle appears to be the real center of attention as he seems to be some sort of banker or financial guy because the other men are all trying to talk him into helping them build a new church. His idea is that they should setup the church in an already standing building and buildup their congregation from there. To get a base of people (and funds) that can help them to fulfill that new building idea at some point in the future. Their idea is to build a new church now because people don't like going to church at an old building. They want new buildings, new furniture, or they won't attend.

I used to be religious, even going so far as to be in several musical groups as a sometimes lead singer for what was the basis of Christian pop music. I loved the musical part, but could not stand the fund raising bit. It always seemed that we spent far too much money on things we didn't need and not nearly enough money on the items we were supposed to be spending money on (missionary work, helping the poor with shelter and food). So it still irks me a little to see a bunch of men planning a church building when, if we have the money to do that, why can't we put that to better use and help the less fortunate?

I am by no means a saint, and I don't give out nearly enough of what I make to the poor, so I am not passing judgment on what they are doing (okay yeah probably a little). It is their money after all, and they can do what they want to with it. It has always seemed to me that if you wanted to build a church from the ground up, doesn't it make sense that the best way to do that is to help people first, give them your time, money, and love? You make a friend for life if you help someone in a time of their deepest pain. They will almost certainly stand by you through whatever you want to do from then on I expect.

I dunno. I have really enjoyed going to some churches. Listening to the preacher, especially when he's got a really good sermon to preach. But thinking back, almost every church that I have been a part of, I've left about the time they started talking about building funds and needing a new church.

The better bargain seems to that one should be happy with what they have and then reread the parts of the Bible that regard bringing that message to the masses and helping the poor. I can't remember a single instance in the book where they talked about the importance of a new building or a "building fund". Planting churches yes, but it's definitely not in there that one should go into debt to build new buildings. Especially when there is a perfectly good building (or wait even a whole other church) just right down the road.

B. Daniels is the lead review expert with Find Cheap Bargains. B. was more than likely the person responsible for the hands-on review of every product on the site. He also spends time searching for sale bargains when not conducting and writing the reviews.