Do we need to belong to a church?

[zone]

I agree with that. Indeed the term "Ecclesia" indicates an assembly of the "called out".
I just don't think that building and air conditioning dedicated structures, at the expense of 20 billion dollars a year in the U.S. alone, would be what Jesus had in mind when He made His people His temple. Particularly when there are folks hurting around the world that could be helped with that wasted wealth.

what did Jesus have in mind?


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How much military aid do you provide?

From 2000 to 2009, the United States appropriated to Israel $24 billion in military aid, delivering more than 670 million weapons with this money.

From 2009 to 2018, the United States is scheduled to give Israel--the largest recipient of U.S. assistance--$30 billion in military aid. Through its illegal 44-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, Israel misuses U.S. weapons in violation of U.S. law to kill and injure Palestinian civilians, destroy Palestinian civilian infrastructure, blockade the Gaza Strip, and build illegal settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem.

How much of this total will your community provide? Is this a good use of your tax dollars? What else could your taxes be used for in your community? Find out on the interactive map below.

Click on the map below to learn how much money your state will give in weapons to Israel from 2009-2018 and what that money could fund instead for community needs. Underneath, you can filter the results for your Congressional district, county, and city as well. Counties and cities with less than 20,000 people are not included in the map.

How to Interpret the Numbers. The amount of military aid to Israel is the estimated 10-year contribution from that state, Congressional district, county, or city.

That same amount of money could fund instead each year one of the following programs for the number of people indicated: affordable housing vouchers for low-income families, green jobs training for unemployed workers, early reading programs for at-risk students, or primary health care for the uninsured.

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

cont....

 

[zone]

“Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct U.S. economic and military assistance since 1976 and the largest total recipient since World War ll. Total direct U.S. aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars. Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America's entire foreign aid budget. In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year. This largesse is especially striking when one realizes that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain.”

- John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt
"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"

AmericanPoverty.org < click


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[error]

Yes, we need to go to church. At least-I know that I need to be in church to see myself grow up spiritually. If I don't go to church I'm slowly dying-spiritually. I can hear God's word in church. I can pray with my sisters and brothers in Christ-in church. And I can serve to others there.

I don't belong to any church right now. I'm looking. But-I must admit I was very lazy at looking for a new church. I guess I thought to myself-oh, that's not a big deal, it will turn out well in the end-somehow (honestly-I have no idea what I was thinking). I understand that I was wrong. If I want to see myself growing up spiritually-I must-not only read the Bible and pray, but also-find a church for myself.

 

[Dude653]

Forsake not the gathering of the saints...i think that pretty much sums it up.