some of my web favorites
  • Notes From Dave
    • my thoughts on some of the tough issues of short-term missions
  • God's Politics
    • jim wallis' smart, political, and God centered take on the issues of today
  • Progressive Eruptions
    • the liberal side of politics from shaw kenawe. a daily read of mine.
  • Conservatism With Heart
    • a conservative take on life and politics from a well connected missouri mom
  • Truthdig
    • left of center, and very informative. bob scheer's online journal
  • Coffee Klatch
    • home of the best coffee roaster in So. Cal. and where i learned to love coffee
  • The Coffee Geek
    • everything you need to know about coffee and how to make a great cup o' joe
  • Bleacher Report
    • varied sports blog, lots of attitude, and sometimes i'm a featured writer
  • Aubievegas
    • a mix of sports in general with a bent towards vegas and auburn

About Me

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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

I am a self proclaimed coffee addict and Executive Director of a non profit missions agency working primarily in the Mexican cities of Oaxaca, Guadalajara, and Ensenada. I've been married for over 30 years to Chelle, and we have one grown son, Joseph, a graduate of Auburn University in Alabama.

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Monday, February 09, 2009

What Would Jesus Do? A Monumental Question

Many Christians I talk to cannot understand why the church is viewed negatively by those on the outside. They struggle to comprehend why non Christians seem to believe that the church cares mostly about itself.

Here is an article that might shed some light on that subject.

Neighbors at odds with church over huge crosses.

Here is the crux of the short story from the Las Vegas Sun. A donor has given a local church $350,000.00 to erect a three cross monument at the site of the church's new facility.

Without getting into whether the monument is going to impact residential views, here is the $64,000.00, or rather $350,000.00 question.

How will this monument positively impact a community devastated by the current economic crisis?

How many lives will be changed as a result of this monument? And how does this look to a community that could use this apparently expendable $350,000.00 for some type of Kingdom focused ministry?

You can be sure there are a lot of non Christian people in Las Vegas asking why, if this donor has that kind of money to invest, he not investing it in people instead of monuments?

I think it is a reasonable question.

posted by Dave Miller at 1:58 PM

Comments on "What Would Jesus Do? A Monumental Question"

 

Blogger Pastor David Curtis said ... (8:57 AM) : 

Interesting question Dave. You always have to question things.

First the question is assuming that this donor is not also giving money to causes that directly serve people including the poor.

Second, where would our culture be if it weren't for people donating money for monuments, works of art, things of beauty. (Not that this is more important than changing peoples lives with the gospel which I don't think the crosses will do.)

I think that projects like this that are aimed at beautifying a city or giving glory to God have their place. The timing with the economy may be inappropriate I will grant you that. The intentions and scope of the project may be questionable as well. I don't like people who donate for these types of things in order to get the credit and leave a monument to themselves instead of purely to give God the glory.

Definitely a question worth considering. I doubt our church would sign off on a project like that. To approve of that much money going to something with limited kingdom impact.

 

Blogger Dave Miller said ... (9:12 AM) : 

Here's another way of looking at this. I literally could build 25 - 30 new churches in Mexico with this kind of money.

Think of the Kingdom impact that kind of investment could have in places where building is much less costly.

I do not think good investments elsewhere, as you mentioned, negate that this is probably not the best use of his money for the church and perpetuates our bad standing in the community.

Have you read Unchristian?

 

Blogger Pastor David Curtis said ... (2:25 PM) : 

Haven't read it.

Can't really disagree with your argument on this(especially when you play the mexico card). Just wanted to give you a little pushback on the thinking today.

 

Blogger James' Muse said ... (11:05 AM) : 

This comment has been removed by the author.

 

Blogger James' Muse said ... (11:13 AM) : 

After reading the article, I can see both sides of the argument. I can see the neighbors being irritated that the monuments would block their views, and that would be detrimental to the church's witness.

On the other hand, arguing that the money could be better used is a given. Most money could be better used. But the neighbors pitchin' a fit over it due to the economy? Honestly, they can get over it. Thats like the neighbors complaining that the millionaire next door (who happens to give large amounts of money away to charity and the community) shouldn't be allowed to drive a Ferrari, just because that money could be "better used" by them. They're thinking "man, i could really use that money to pay MY bills"...

I can see both sides, but Pastor Curtis is right...that donor might be giving much more money to help the community, but has a right to be able to spend some money on something that is important to them, such as a monument.

 

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