Gift shop in a church biblical? You missed the whole point of the story.

I was recently asked this question, "How come churches can have gift shops and sell stuff? Like biblically?" Without thinking much about the question I responded, "I guess to provide the resources a believer needs to grow in knowledge and strengthen their walk." I was told, "No, the church could not biblically have gift shops according to Mark 11:15-17. The same story is also mentioned in Matthew 21:12-13, Luke 19:45-46 and in John 2:13-21.

So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” Mark 11:15-17

First, let me say the story takes place in a temple and not a church, but the reason Jesus was angry and put the moneychangers and people who sold doves, sheep and oxen in the temple out was because they were doing it out of greed. They were using a form of godliness as a means of gain and it repulsed Him. Even the religious leaders of the temple were in on it. It was all a monopoly to get the people's money for themselves. It had nothing to do with God and that is why Jesus was angry because God's house was to be a place where people could go and be reconciled with Him. Even though sacrifices were required by God at that time, the religious leaders used it as a means to enrich themselves by saying the sacrifices the people were bringing were not worthy and so they had to buy the sacrifices the leaders said were worthy. What a coincidence the sacrifices that were worthy could be bought there in the temple. Hmm... What Jesus was actually saying is, "Stop making My Father's house a market place." In other words, He was angry because people were being cheated and taught that reconciliation with God was something that could be bought and we know that's not true. It's a free gift. 

I woke up this morning with the subject on my mind. I wanted to share a couple of things about this because this subject can be a stumbling block for people with sincere hearts seeking to serve the Lord. The point of the story was missed by this sincere brother, just as it is missed by many others causing them to interpret it incorrectly. Then judging or preventing themselves from receiving from ministries or ministers who sell teachings, prophetic art etc. in church gifts shops.

Remember, the main reason the Lord was filled with zeal and threw out the moneychangers is because of the corruption, but there's more to the story. We will find it in the book of John.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. John 2:13-21

In the last verse we see Jesus is referring to His body as the temple of God because that is where the Holy Spirit was residing. Holy Spirit was not in the temple Jesus was driving the moneychangers out of, He was at that very moment living in Jesus, a temple not built with man's hands.

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." Acts 17:24-25

 

So the real question that needs to be answered is, where is the temple of God today? For the correct and accurate answer go look in the mirror. You are the temple of God today. You were not made with man's hands. God formed you in your mother's womb. Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:13

 

 

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

 

It is clear in the scriptures mentioned above that God lives in us today. So we are the temple of God today, right? Then how do we apply Jesus' way of dealing with money changers in the temple today because He was clearly not referring to a church building, right? Read 1 Corinthian 6

 

 

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20

 

So what should we be overturning in the temple of God today? Sin. Clear and simple, it is sin that we should be overturning in our lives today. The apostle Paul gives us example how to overturn the money changers in God's temple today.

 

but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. 1 Corinthians 9:27 HNV and Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 6:15

 

So does God have a problem with churches having bookstores or gift shops? Clearly the answer is no.

 

 

Does God have a problem with people being dollar driven? Clearly the answer is yes, but being dollar driven is not a temple matter, as of a building, but it is a heart issue.

 

 

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10

 

It's okay to have gift shops and bookstores in a church and if you have a problem with it find a church that doesn't have a gift shop or bookstore that you can go to, but do go to church. Be at peace with the household of God.

 

Receive this blessing:

 

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
May the Lord make His face shine upon you;
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

His best to you,

Samuel - Smashing Pillars...raising sons

 

Smashing Pillars International is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Your financial donations are all tax deductible. Thank you in advance.

Donations can be made online at: www.smashingpillarsinternational.org

If you would like to mail in a donation, please mail to:

Smashing Pillars International
14403 Walters Rd., #681601
Houston, Texas 77014

Be sure to include your prayer requests. 

 

Feast of Tabernacles Celebration - September 27, 2015

Wow. So much to say about this experience, but words are difficult to come by. How can one find words to describe thousands of Christians from 70 to 80 nations from all over the world coming to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during the Feast of Tabernacles? Breathtaking, humbling, exciting, heart pounding, joyful.... Well, you get the idea. This was my third time to be blessed to attend the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles Celebration in the Judean Desert at the Ein Gedi by the Dead Sea.

Pastors Ivan and Gladys Seahorn of City of Refuge Global Outreach Ministries, along with Janice Sturkie, could not have planned this part of the trip better. The celebration took place in the Judean Desert by the Dead Sea. We stayed at a kibbutz called Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi is an oasis and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. You can see it in the distance in some of the pictures below.

 

The following information I got from ICEJ's website. It explains why Christians should celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles:

 

"AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT EVERYONE WHO IS LEFT OF ALL NATIONS WHICH CAME AGAINST JERUSALEM SHALL GO UP FROM YEAR TO YEAR TO WORSHIP THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS, AND TO KEEP THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES." ZECHARIAH 14:16

Some may ask why are thousands of Christians coming up to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles? After all, isn't this a "Jewish holiday"?

The answer lies in the unique universal significance of this ancient biblical festival and its past, present and future relevance for all nations.

Every biblical holiday given to the Jewish people has these three aspects. Israel was commanded to observe the holiday in the present in order to remember something God had done in the past, and because of some future prophetic purpose hidden within each festival.

Thus Jews begin Shabbat each week by lighting of two candles, which stand for "Keep" and "Remember". In so doing, they remember how God rested on the seventh day of Creation while also looking forward to the Millennial rest promised for the whole earth.

Likewise, Passover and Pentecost look back on the great Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the law at Sinai, while their hidden prophetic purposes were fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the Church fifty days later.

The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, is the third great annual pilgrimage festival when the Jewish people gather together in Jerusalem not only to remember God's provision in the Wilderness but also to look ahead to that promised Messianic age when all nations will flow to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

A Feast for All People

Tabernacles is unique, however, in that the nations also were invited in ancient times to come up to Jerusalem at this season to worship the Lord alongside the Jewish people. This tradition first arose from the command given to Moses that Israel should sacrifice seventy bulls at Sukkot, which were offered for the seventy nations descended from Noah (see Numbers 29:12-35).

When Solomon later dedicated his Temple at Sukkot, he also called on the Lord to hear the prayers of all the foreigners that would come there to pray (2 Chronicles 6:32-33). Thus, Jerusalem and the Temple itself were destined from the start to be a "house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13).

A second unique aspect of Sukkot is that it is a feast of joy. It is a fall harvest feast to be marked with great rejoicing in the ingathering of the fruit of the land. Israel also was called to instruct the nations in the laws of God and the people were to take joy in this task. Thus, Sukkot also serves as a harbinger of the joyous last-days ingathering of the nations.

The Past: Remembering the God of Provision

The most visible symbol of Sukkot is the small hut or booth which the Israelites were commanded to dwell in for the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43). Jewish families across Israel build these booths on their patios and balconies, and decorate them with colourful fruit, ribbons and pictures. Some families eat their meals in the sukkah and even sleep there at night.

These flimsy booths serve as a reminder to Israel that they once dwelled in makeshift huts during the forty years of wanderings in the Wilderness. It was a harsh environment and they were totally dependent on the Lord. Yet during that time, God was ever faithful to provide water, manna, quail and every other thing they needed to sustain them in the barren desert. He even was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night - a shade from the noon-day sun and then warmth and light in the darkness.

Indeed He is Jehovah Jireh, the "Lord who Provides", and who even provided Himself a sacrifice for our salvation (Genesis 22:14). So there is every reason for Christians to also celebrate the faithful provision of the Lord in our lives at Sukkot.

The Present: Celebrating His Presence Today

Sukkot also marks the ingathering of the harvest at the end of the summer season, providing sustenance for the coming winter. There is also at present a great harvest of souls from every corner of the world into the Kingdom of God. This too gives us reason to celebrate, as Christians from around the globe gather to worship the Lord together in Jerusalem at Sukkot.

It may surprise some, but Jesus also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. The Book of John, in chapter 7, tells us that one year the disciples went up to Jerusalem for Sukkot but Jesus stayed behind and then came up secretly. Then on the last "great day of the feast", he stood in the Temple courts and cried out: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

So Sukkot is a time for Christians to rejoice in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our earthen vessels.

The Future: Entering the Joy of the Lord

The prophet Zechariah foretells of a time when all nations will ascend to Jerusalem from year to year to "worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (14:16). Thus we keep Sukkot now because of that future prophetic purpose hidden in this unique festival which will soon be revealed - and it has to do with the second coming of the Lord.

Throughout the Messianic Age, the entire world will celebrate this feast because I believe it will mark the return of Jesus to the earth. For a thousand years, we will look back on the day of his appearing to take up the throne of David in Jerusalem and to judge the world in righteousness and peace.

At that time all nations will be required to join in this yearly gathering, but for now it is voluntary. Yet when Christians flock to Jerusalem now to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, it serves as a powerful statement of faith that we believe that day is coming when the earth will finally be at rest in Messiah, the King of Israel.

For the past thirty-five years, thousands of Christians from all over the world have come up to Jerusalem each fall to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. They come with much expectancy to take part in a dynamic worship experience, knowing the One we worship will soon be sitting on His throne in this great city. Indeed, celebrating Sukkot now gives us a foretaste of the joy of the age to come.

The following are photos from the celebration. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Ein Gedi can be seen in the upper right side of picture. It is the cluster of palm tree at the foot of the mountain.

Picture from inside Ein Gedi. This is a real desert Oasis we stayed in. Only in Israel!

With Juha Ketola, International Director for International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). I had the pleasure of spending some time with Jula in Houston earlier in the year. I was able to help him around town for a day...and what a day in the Lord we had! I told him I would look for him in Israel during the feast. It was so good to see him again and to meet his family.

 

 

 

 

I seriously encourage everyone to go to Israel at least once in your lifetime. You will not regret it. Ask the Lord if it is His will. I will speak for Him....YES, it is His will for you to go!

Next year in Jerusalem!

Receive this blessing and so shall you prosper:

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
May the Lord make His face shine upon you;
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

His best to you,

Samuel - Smashing Pillars...raising sons

 

Smashing Pillars International is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Your financial donations are all tax deductible. Thank you in advance.

Donations can be made online at: www.smashingpillarsinternational.org

If you would like to mail in a donation, please mail to:

Smashing Pillars International
14403 Walters Rd., #681601
Houston, Texas 77014

Be sure to include your prayer requests.