tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post1321180530792585890..comments2023-10-29T02:58:10.500-05:00Comments on promise and pleasure: God, Money & TimeAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12659211054881634938noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-81586029207662536442006-12-14T15:51:00.000-05:002006-12-14T15:51:00.000-05:00Straight from the horses mouth.. Hey you guys I am...Straight from the horses mouth.. Hey you guys I am Todd Bain one of the (according to Karen Lewis from S.C.) "greedy" circuit city six. I just wanted to say that you guys have started an interesting conversation on this blog and I figured who better to comment on it that one of the people involved in the situation itself.<br /><br />There are so many things I want to comment on in regards to this that it may be hard to hold it all together but I will do my best to say what I think and we can go from there.<br /><br />Yes we did camp out for two days (no it was not fun) and yes our intentions were to sell the ps3s on ebay. I honestly have no ethical or moral problem with what we did what soever. Ever since the wonderfully uplifting letter to the paper by Mrs. Lewis came out, I have thought over and over about it and my mind is clear on the subject. If someone buys a house, and then turns around and sells it the next day for a profit do we call them "greedy"? No. As someone stated earlier about the stock market, I would be considered wise if I invested my money and it turned a profit.<br /><br />In regards to how we sold the Ps3s all of our auctions started at one cent with no reserve. We sold them for whatever people were willing to pay for them. We never twisted anyones arm nor demanded that they pay an extrememly high price, simply what they were willing to pay (which by the way, was no where near $8000.00).<br /><br />I am not sure if any of you are aware of this but unless you are a big time televangelist, ministry doesnt pay well. I used what we made off of the selling of our Ps3s to pay some bills and buy my families Christmas presents. <br /><br />One other thing that no one seems to take into consideration is the "slant" that the media gives to things. When you watch the news daily, 95% of the time you hear the bad, all of the people dying in Iraq, how hopeless the situation is etc.. Hardly ever do you hear the stories of children being able to go to school for the first time and the freedom that the people are experiencing for the first time. It is the same with the newspaper article they wrote about us. They twisted the words that my wife said in such a way that it did paint a picture that seemed tinted with greed. But neither Mrs. Lewis nor anyone else has even considered that.<br /><br />I would also like to comment on the post that said that we could have used our time better. WOW. Honestly, short of totally ignoring my family, I give the majority of my life to trying to bring Gods love to jr. and sr. high students. I love God with all my heart, my family next, and my students after that. I would think that I (like anyone else in the world) deserves time off once in awhile to do with as I please and thats what I did. I approach ministry in a little different way than some and I am ok with that. I beleive that the best way to share Gods love with people is to show it. It's to do your best to live out a good example for them (if you want to say I set a bad one by trying to make some extra money oh well.. I guess I can't win for losing) in everything you do, to try and be there for them when they need you, and to constantly point them to the person with all the answers. GOD. I have found this much more effective than constantly preaching to them, people are tired of preaching, they want to see that Gods love is real, so I try to live it out in front of them (and I try to never take a day off of that). So anyway, thats my 5cents on that. <br /><br />The last thing I would like to say in this really long post is this. Besides the lovely letter to the paper (which by the way began by saying how wrong it was to judge people, but then went right on to slam us for being greedy and saying how glad she was that she didn't attend our church etc..) we have seen other negative side effects. We received a letter from some college students who were attending our church informing us that because of the letter to the paper they would no longer be attending our church. Now I have a HUGE problem with this. First of all because these people (whom I have never had the pleasure to meet because we are always with the students) decided to send in their letter and storm out of the church without ever once asking for our side of the issue, withhout ever once meeting us and finding out if we realy were the "greedy" type. Instead they chose to just throw us under the bus. The sad thing is that (since I have worked in the church for over 8 years), this is an all to common occurance. <br /><br />My point in mentioning that is this: perhaps if Mrs. Lewis and the people who decided that we were to "sinfull" to be around would spend a little more time loving those around them and trying to share Gods love with everyone they meet instead of pointing out what they see as "sin" in the church, then there would be alot less hurting people in the world. I have nothing against them at all, it just hurts to have people make assumptions about you when they have no idea who you are or how much you care for those you come into contact with...<br /><br />Thank you so much for giving me an avenue to vent and share my side of the story. God bless and have a Merry Christmas everyone!<br /><br />8:44 PMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-71851119272547265752006-12-05T15:39:00.000-05:002006-12-05T15:39:00.000-05:00my mom plays a role in the blog world... love it.my mom plays a role in the blog world... love it.Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189840827952960816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-39003763563781058562006-12-01T22:30:00.000-05:002006-12-01T22:30:00.000-05:00Sandy,
Thanks for the comments. I think you make ...Sandy,<br /><br />Thanks for the comments. I think you make an excellent point.<br /><br />Wow. Eight people read the blog now. Awesome.Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12659211054881634938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-63983696846471191412006-12-01T21:01:00.000-05:002006-12-01T21:01:00.000-05:00Sorry! I don't know why my comments were posted tw...Sorry! I don't know why my comments were posted twice. Like I said, I've been having some technical problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-58017140239263915592006-12-01T19:59:00.000-05:002006-12-01T19:59:00.000-05:00Hey, Aaron. More people read your blog than you re...Hey, Aaron. More people read your blog than you realize. I tried to post my thoughts yesterday, but I ran into some technical difficulties. Here is what I tried to post last night:<br /><br />Is it a sin to purchase a PS3 for the purpose of reselling it at a big profit? Probably not, but is it wise—especially at Christmas time. I wonder if these youth pastors had any idea what a storm their actions would create. People generally hold Christians to a high standard and hold ministers to an even higher standard. I Thessalonians 5:22 states that we should abstain from all evil—or as the KJV states, avoid the appearance of evil—and maybe this is a situation that should have been avoided for the sake of their testimony and for the sake of the One whose birth we celebrate at this time of year. It may not be a matter of sin (although it could be, but that’s a subject for another blog), but of what’s wise. Unfortunately, it appears that these youth pastors are very greedy and appears that they are praising God for satisfying their greed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30060884.post-26131989816824862352006-12-01T19:57:00.000-05:002006-12-01T19:57:00.000-05:00Hey, Aaron. More people read your blog than you re...Hey, Aaron. More people read your blog than you realize. I tried to post my thoughts yesterday, but I ran into some technical difficulties. Here is what I tried to post last night:<br /><br />Is it a sin to purchase a PS3 for the purpose of reselling it at a big profit? Probably not, but is it wise—especially at Christmas time. I wonder if these youth pastors had any idea what a storm their actions would create. People generally hold Christians to a high standard and hold ministers to an even higher standard. I Thessalonians 5:22 states that we should abstain from all evil—or as the KJV states, avoid the appearance of evil—and maybe this is a situation that should have been avoided for the sake of their testimony and for the sake of the One whose birth we celebrate at this time of year. It may not be a matter of sin (although it could be, but that’s a subject for another blog), but of what’s wise. Unfortunately, it appears that these youth pastors are very greedy and appears that they are praising God for satisfying their greed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com