As I walked through Red Square, I noticed a man carrying a large sign—hoisting, rather, for it was incredibly large. It read, “GOD HATES THE SINNER” in bold, angry letters that were meant to grab my attention, lest I be cast into a pit of eternal damnation. The man was shouting, nearly incoherently, about his perception of God as a vengeful, angry, bitter Being who has watched His creation turn on him and on itself. I was intrigued, so I stopped my aimless wandering and started walking closer to him.

Did I mention there was a crowd of about one hundred gathered around him?

The man put down his sign and began “preaching” as I immersed myself in the crowd of people, listening to the man’s tirade.

People were raising their hands, objecting to what he was saying; when he called on them, he would scream at them for being fake Christians and hypocrites. Or he would call them “demons,” “evildoers,” and “hell-bound” if they expressed any disbelief in God. Interestingly, the man was quite a student of the Bible—he recited verses and whole passages as if he was a scholar. But his take on the verses, such as calling God a “hateful, angry God” simply didn’t jive with anything that Jesus taught.

He spent a great deal of time discussing the evils of being gay, yelling about how Hell was a place where gay rape was prevalent. As he screamed about this, he became very graphic and crass, seemingly thinking that such language was fine as long as he was using it in a hateful manner towards those “more sinful” than himself. Many people in the crowd became disgusted and left.

Disheartening as it was, I stayed for about two hours, listening to the man shout epithets and slurs toward everyone that God “hated.” I need to confess that it would be hard for me to think of an example of another time I have felt such dislike and disgust for another person—especially one who called himself a follower of Christ.

Not long before I decided to leave, something interesting happened. A girl walked up to the crowd and immediately raised her hand.

He called on her, and she stated, “I’m gay. How come Jesus doesn’t love me?”

The man had a perfect opportunity to explain that Jesus’ love was not exclusive. He could have gone into great detail about how Jesus loved her more than anyone possibly could. He could have described that Jesus loved people regardless of sexuality, regardless of sin, and regardless of any baggage that a person had. But the man didn’t.

He responded by calling the girl a “muff-diver.”

I think the sound of God’s heart breaking was lost in the sound of the collective gasp that escaped from the crowd. The girl paled, then turned red, and then got up and left.

I could write pages about how the man was clearly misled in his beliefs. I could go on about how he might have ruined any chance for the girl, and the crowd, to open her heart to God’s love. I could even go into the details of why the man’s theology is clearly incorrect. But I have a feeling that if you are reading this, you are already formulating those thoughts on your own. I’d rather look into something else.

The girl hadn’t been listening to the man—she simply walked up, raised her hand, and asked “Why doesn’t Jesus love me?”

I have no way of knowing how she got the impression that Jesus didn’t love her based on her sexual orientation, but it couldn’t have been from Jesus’ own words. Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus loves everyone—He is love. She, therefore, could have only gotten that impression from those who call themselves Christians. Not just the berating, yelling man. Somehow, today, the church has allowed the myth of a hateful, spiteful God to be perpetuated to the extent that she, like most, thought that Jesus based His love on lifestyle or choices.

When I use the term “church,” I don’t mean the institution—I mean me. I mean you. I mean every individual who allows Jesus to be distorted into someone who died for some, not for all.

It is easy to look at the man’s response to the girl’s question as a tragedy. It is easy to find fault in what he did. It is far more difficult for me to look at myself and find fault for smaller, perhaps more unnoticeable things.

When the girl got up and left, I didn’t get up and walk over to her. I didn’t try to explain that the man was nuts. I didn’t try to show her who Jesus really was. I simply stood there amongst the crowd, silent.

What a tragedy.

“If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.”  1 John 4.20-21 (The Message)

The truth is that most Christians pick a church based off of the latest greatest programs, the praise and worship team that can put on the best show, where I get the most goose bumps, the speaker who can pump me to live my best life now, and a place that won’t require much out of us—the great exchange—I pay my tithe, I help with the building fund, attend two services a week, and if I’m really serious, take my turn as a greeter, and for that, the church better be able to train my children, make me feel spiritual, and teach me how to have a better life. Here is the crazy part of all that, it’s understandable. It’s our default mode isn’t it—watch out for number one—me. Out-source the spiritual development of our kids, teens, and house. My problem isn’t so much that the population is a consumer society on a whole, but that the leaders of today’s modern church continue to feed the beast weekly.

It seems that a lot of today’s churches are led by CEO’s, Managers, and salesmen, whose focus is to keep you coming backing, selling you whatever you want so they can be successful. The truth is, this is a dangerous cycle, that many of us get caught up in, and end up living a spiritual comatose life and end up being just as lost as the people outside our doors that scare us. Though not very spiritual, the movie Fight Club does a great depiction of what the consumer mindset does to a society.

This is not the picture of someone who is living life with Christ. This is not a missional person, A truly missional person is not actively seeking how to become a better richer them, but they are actively seeking to be equipped, trained, and taught as a missionary trough accountability, transparent relationships, sound bibilical teaching, and permission to articulate and actualize the gospel in the lives of their friends who do not know Christ.

In seeking this, and when you find a church that actually focuses on this, that isn’t to say that you won’t find a church with all the bells and whistles, you may, you may not, the point is, are you seeking to be trained to be God’s missionary to where you live, work, and play? This is what the leadership of the church should be supplying. However to do this, it means we must check our ego at the doors, we must learn submission, we must desire an affective life over an affluent life, again, I am not saying you won’t have both, but what is the desire that motivates us – to be more like Jesus or to be a god unto ourselves.

I long for the day when we begin to see a real Ephesians 4 church, verses a church ran like a modern American business selling goods to customers in hopes that they come back to keep us in business and popular.

Ephesians 4:11-16 - ...he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The truth is, one could turn these 5 verses into about a ten week series, that would, if anything not guarantee church growth, but it would guarantee church depth. In most of our western minded Christians, Jesus is seen as a whore! I know that isn’t very pc, and there isn’t a church that would say that, but if Jesus is the whore I sleep with to get my greatest desires fulfilled – prosperity, health, healing, the perfect mate, the American dream, etc – then pastors are no more than pimps selling Jesus to bring in the crowd so they can make more money. After all Jesus shouldn’t be that hard to sell, who doesn’t want the perfect one-night stand? On more mild terms, Jesus seems to be the road map to desire, rather than being the actual desire, the actual fullness of all truth and of everything good.

The truth is, if Christ is truly our motivation and not self, then we should gather to be equipped and trained and edified and rebuked, and then to be sent out to be ‘fishers-of-men.’

The goal is not to be wealthy, though there is nothing wrong with wealth. The goal is not to be healthy, though we need to be. The goal is not to be successful, though there is nothing wrong with that. The goal, is to be more like Jesus every day—period—everything else is secondary. If this is really our goal, then when we are seeking a church or spiritual leadership, we will seek leadership that teaches us to be more like Jesus, love like Jesus, live like Jesus, care like Jesus, and completely and utterly worship Jesus, the God-man who was punished mercilessly so that you and I may be given relentless mercy and be justified before the sight of God the Father…this needs to be our desire, so may our motivation not be self-indulgence, but may we actively seek to be equipped, trained, and taught as a missionary trough accountability, transparent relationships, sound Biblical teaching, and permission to articulate and actualize the gospel in the lives of our friends who do not know Christ...until next month...I love you!

Here are just a few words, phrases, and questions that seem to dominate evangelical conversation these days:

1. Elders verses deacons. 2. How about a plurality of elders and deacons? 3. John Calvin versus Arminianism. 4. John Calvin verses. . . well just about everyone. 5. I have even heard John Calvin versus Calvinism. (I would personally like to see a loser leave town cage match between Calvin and say. . . . John Wesley.) ANYWAYS back to the list: 6. 20 new definitions of what it means to be reformed. 7. Nine Marks, Mark Dever, and John Piper. 8. Blended versus traditional. 9. Has your church become missional? 10. Do you vision cast? 11. How do you vision cast? 12. What do you think about a multi-site church? 13. What makes you and your church relevant to the culture around you? 14. What are your contextual concerns? 15. What do you think about Emergent churches? 16. Is your church incarnational? 17. Do you still use "Baptist" in your church title? 18. What kind of outreach program have you implemented? 19. How do you move people from the "foyer" of your church to the "living room" of your church? 20. What is your church planting strategy? 21. How do you assimilate people from your small group gatherings into the membership of your church? 22. And my all time favorite: "who is your target group"?

I usually walk away from these brief encounters with the outside world with a renewed sense of joy for how simple our rural route church is. We were simple before "Simple Church" was cool. I admit that, at times, I have struggled the last few years to figure out what kind of congregation our rural church is. Who hasn't right? Where do we fit? Which book and ministry methodology best describes our experience in Cottage Grove? Which one of those pastor, teacher, and authors am I supposed to be like?

I wondered how my church members would feel sitting around the afore mentioned table as all the new buzz words began to fly. I imagine they would feel like I often do. They would have nothing to add to the conversation. They, like me, would listen intently and politely but would just feel overwhelmed. I think they would have that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach like I do at times when the conversation moves away from what is familiar. I think they would feel passe and outdated. They would wonder where they fit in. They would wonder if they should even have a place at the table.

Recently I came to a very important conclusion. It was life altering and earth shattering and it only took me about 3 years to discover. COTTAGE GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH KNOWS WHO THEY ARE ALREADY! We don't have to struggle with identity. For over 100 years our identity has been set. We won't sell many books and it won't get me booked as the leader of any conferences but we know who we are. We are in a good place. We are healthy. We are a church that evangelizes, disciples, worships, and fellowships. We are known in our community as a church that cares (does that make us incarnational?). There are some things that have changed (technology) over the years but nothing has changed that would shake the foundation. We are basically doing what we did 100 years ago. We have Sunday school. We have a major emphasis on biblical preaching, discipleship, worship, and fellowship. Even though we are doing what we have always done people are getting saved and young families are joining the church.

About the same time I realized that Cottage Grove already knew who they were I realized that everone else around the table didn't. It seems that all of Christendom is struggling for identity. Every new book and new term is another attempt at identity. The only time we have struggled over the years is when we have allowed ourselves to be drawn into everyone else's attempt to be relevant.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is the same thing you've been doing. There is nothing wrong with redefining methodology and being open to change. There is something wrong with unnecessary change. I guess each pastor and church has to figure out when to back away from the book buffet and just be who they are. Perhaps a conglomerate of our church members should write a book on how to be relevant for 100 years without changing much. Maybe then we would have something to add to the conversation around the table.

Once inside, an old man behind the pulpit taught his congregation what it meant to be a good Christian and warned against the evils that would cast their souls into the lake of fire for all eternity. “You are all sinners!” he screamed. “You must repent!” As he delivered his sermon, many heads nodded and there were a few shouts of “Amen” that echoed throughout the sanctuary. His warnings of eternal damnation continued on for two, sometimes three, hours, and once he finished, the townspeople left the tiny white church and headed home, determined to be the best Christians they could be.

One Sunday morning, the old preacher fell ill during one of his sermons. He collapsed behind his pulpit, and his followers immediately flocked around him, prayed for him. The preacher whispered “repent” and closed his eyes. His pious soul left his body, and went on to collect all his rewards in Heaven.

Little by little, the townspeople began to abandon the Sunday morning services at the little church on the hill. The ringing bells lost their hypnotic effect. New preachers came and went; none of them had the charisma of the little old man who had led the congregation for years. Eventually the church bells were silenced, and a great lock was put on the doors. Weeds overcame the old preacher’s tombstone in the little graveyard in the back of the building, and any memories of his tremendous sermons were lost over the years.

The slow, simple life in the small town was lost forever.

Some Christian music tells of Jesus Christ through the teaching of the Word of God. The only way to describe the love that you have for Jesus is the love that you have in your heart. That wasn’t placed there by man. Your love was placed there by the Word of God. Where does that put some ministries that operate in the flesh and focus on the flesh? God puts His Word into the hearts of man through personal relationship. I believe that many of the teachings that we have today are in reality a counterfeit message that comes from the hearts of man, borne from the heart of man, not from the heart of God. You will never know the difference if you do not have discernment borne from reading God’s Word and having right relationship through God’s Holy Spirit.

Man’s understanding of the Word is readily accepted instead of having God teach and place the true love that He has for you into your heart to understand the aspect of His ministry. When Jesus was here, He taught the Word of God. Man saw it work through healing and life changes. He taught us about demonic control. He spoke to demons and set people free from all kinds of negative influences.

All Jesus had to do was to speak the Word. Jesus not only was the Word, but He spoke it. Or should we turn that around? Jesus spoke the Word because He was the Word. He still is. You can’t understand the Word from going to church and listening to someone ramble on about some scriptures in man’s interpretation. You’ve got to hear from God yourself. Most preachers say nothing about this reality. You must sit down yourself, open up the Bible and let God teach you. God is a friend to invest time with. Only by His Spirit will you learn to come to know God for who He is.

If you hear a godly message from the world, you won’t get that from God, but from the world. When you hear God’s spoken Word by reading it, sounding His Word into your heart and coming to an understanding by His Word, only then can you begin to understand and receive what God and His Son are all about.

It’s not a matter of moving emotion. Some are moved by the crucifixion of Jesus, by watching a movie. Are they moved by flesh or by the Spirit of God through their hearts? No one on the outside would ever know. Who would go around broadcasting the truth of the matter? How many people know the difference to even ask the question? Most people do not understand that you must open up the Bible and contemplate His Word daily, exactly like you get up and feed your body. God’s Word must be spiritual food for you to live daily.

Paul reveals the position of Evangelist in Ephesians 4:11 as designated of Christ. Before I go on I need to share an opinion formed by Scripture, but not specifically stated. Any congregation can have a member be a designated preacher for various meetings. They could have an Elder, and even paid to serve full time (1Timothy 5:17-18). They can hire a qualified man to preach to the congregation. Yet, what I’m writing of now is the Evangelist.

By definition the Evangelist is a “Gospel Preacher.” The root of the Greek word euangelistou means to preach. In Acts 8:4 we find persecuted Christian Disciples leaving Jerusalem. As they go they are “preaching.” Yet, the Evangelist Timothy or Philip was either working to make disciples and start a new congregation of Christians, or they were working with a congregation to “set things in order” and appoint Elders (Titus 1:5).

When reading the letters to Timothy and Titus we can gather that the Evangelist was a “Jack of all trades.” He was bringing order to the church, training the members in holiness, recruiting and training men for Eldership and the Deaconate, refuting false teaching, and reading and preaching the Word of God. He did some pastoral work, deacon work, teaching, preaching, and so I say he had a broad responsibility.

Unlike the person from the congregation or a man hired from without, the Evangelist works with the charge to accomplish those things stated in the letters of Timothy and Titus. He is not the Pastor. Pastoring (Shepherding) is the work the Elder does. He’s not just the Preacher. Any qualified man can perform that task.

Now many fine men have taken positions at churches as their “Minister,” or “Preacher.” That is fine. Especially, when the congregation is being lead well by the Eldership and the congregation is structured well. To bring in a man or recruit one from the congregation and expect him to function as an Evangelist or Elder is ignorant and unfair to the “Preacher.” I’m not meaning disrespect by saying ignorant, but I’m saying more study of the Scripture is necessary.

To many times a poor preacher has to take the fall for a poor leadership team. Or, he has to do the work of these other men and he feels the burn out, because the “Preacher” is truly serving outside his Biblical job description. The poorly led congregation can perceive the “Minister” as the congregational leader who is under their and their Elders’ authority. Can you understand the dilemma? It is a no win situation.

Yet, if you hire an Evangelist you have a man who is an equal with the Elders, a team player who is to be respected as the Evangelist.

Hillbilly Theologian

Family members don't just leave without telling someone where they are going.  It would be rude and the other family members would worry.  So it is with my church family.  We pray for one another when we are absent.  It just so happens that this Sunday I, and several others, will not be there b/c of a mission trip.  I know our church will miss us and be praying for us.  I know that the entire Bush family will be at a family reunion this weekend.  I know that the Bruce family will be in Colorado.  I know that whenever my friend Buddy is absent it has everything to do with him taking care of his wife.   I am so grateful to be in a church where my absence and my church member's absences are accounted for.

I love Sundays because I can go to church and have that special  time with the Lord, worshiping Him together with other like-minded people. It gives me a special high, especially when I come with my heart open to what He has to show and teach me. Everyday with Him is also special, of course. But Sundays rank high up there. Especially when the spirit of worship continues even way beyond the praise and worship time. It continues even when we listen to a spirit-filled preacher, who shares God's word with conviction and love. Even beyond with a wonderful challenge of living a life worthy of the Lord. However, the worshipful attitude sometimes becomes affected when you get somebody preaching about something that confuses. Then the question arises whether this person is really filled by God's spirit, and why does he confuse instead of give light? Especially when a preacher says that he/she lost his/her notes, and couldn't becoherent about the topic. Just like the other Sunday. Hmmmm ... just shows something. Anyway, last Sunday, i.e. yesterday, was a good one here in our church. We had this preacher who is well seasoned and well prepared that every time he comes to preach I really get encouraged and challenged to live life as God wants. He also challenges me to look at my life and see what else I have withheld from the Lord's sharpening and polishing. I do hope we get more devoted people like him who comes with a heart to share God's heart with us.

I am presently in a 'divine' vs. 'design' -- occupation versus vocation -- dilema and well here's the 1 virb post:

I am a web designer. At least I am trying to embrace this reality. I have a lonely alter ego that is well established within society and pleading to be resumed because I am entertaining the truth that I went to a Liberal Arts college -- to earn a minor whose field is full of hot topics and stymied progress and a major that is a trade.

Web Design is a skill set. Learned aesthetic and applied craft. I have a funny feeling that I could have optimized 2 years of my life and learned more at Devry. The truth of my trade is further compounded by my alter ego's graduate school 'leave of absence' and the multitude of bills due: Rent, Utilities, Car Insurance, Groceries, GAS, etc.,.

It seems like an appropriate time to reconcile my Jekyll and Hyde but I fear that once resurrected my sleeping beast will leave no room for my 'burgeoning' occupation. Being a designer is frowned upon in my niche of the world, but I do enjoy the challenge and there is much to learn. The struggle begins.

I am a web designer & a preacher.
I am code.
I am church.

A preacher dies, and when he gets to Heaven, he sees a New York cab driver who has more crowns. He says to an angel, "I don't get it. I devoted my whole life to my congregation."

The angel says, "We reward results. Did your congregation always pay attention when you gave a sermon?"

The preacher says, "Once in a while someone fell asleep."

The angel says, "Right. And when people rode in this guy's taxi, they not only stayed awake, but they usually prayed!"

A Sure Bet

An archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert in Israel and came upon a casket containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of a prestigious natural-history museum. "I've just discovered a 3,000 year-old mummy of a man who died of heart failure!" the excited scientist exclaimed.

To which the curator replied, "Bring him in. We'll check it out." A week later, the amazed curator called the archaeologist. "You were right about the mummy's age and cause of death. How in the world did you know?"

"Easy. There was a piece of paper in his hand that said, '10,000 Shekels on Goliath'."

In the Confession Box

A drunken man staggers in to a Catholic church and sits down in a confession box and says nothing. The bewildered priest coughs to attract his attention, but still the man says nothing.

The priest then knocks on the wall three times in a final attempt to get the man to speak.

Finally, the drunk replies, "No use knocking, there's no paper in this one either."

My experience of religion was amorphous for most of my childhood. Both of my parents were raised in religious families--my father in a Catholic family and my mother was the daughter of a sometime Church of Christ pastor in Alabama. I couldn't define their views of religion now, but apparently they made a conscious decision not to raise me in a religious environment; instead, they let me make up my own mind.

I went to church occasionally as a kid, mostly during visits to my grandparents. I went to a friend's youth group a handful of times during middle school. I probably only went to church a dozen times before I reached my teens. Then I went to a mildly religious private high school, because it was closer to my house and better than the public school.

"Mildly religious" means a sort of implicit acceptance of Christianity, largely of the Protestant variety. Bible classes were taught up through middle school, so thankfully I never had the pleasure of sitting through a daily dose of New Testament. The religious element to the school was relegated to a chapel service every second Wednesday and a devotional read in homeroom at the start of each day, followed by a prayer led by whoever read the devotion. These were harmless enough, but something within me brewed that made me hostile toward Christianity in general. Maybe it was feeling left out--a very high school experience that didn't need to be augmented with a religious dimension. Maybe it was the exposure to this breed of Christianity all at once--the trite devotionals, the youth ministers who would visit during the chapel services, the daily prayers. High school sucks for most people, and I'm not saying that this was any worse than the average high school experience. That said, this religious element to it all certainly didn't help me any during those four years.

I became numb to it all. I can only remember being called to read a morning devotion twice during all my time at the school, and I remember those instances as harrowing. I nearly mispronounced Job's name during one reading that focused entirely on his story. Like any aspect of high school, you bury a part of yourself, sacrificing that slice of your being to make it through the day. I swallowed whatever thoughts I had on Christianity and moved on. That's why I didn't stand up for what was right one morning my senior year.

This was a small school, and my graduating class was especially small--a grand total of thirty-three people graduated that year. During spring break my senior year, everyone went to Myrtle Beach and partied. I stayed at home that week, which probably says a lot about the person I was at that time in my life. Come Monday morning, everyone had stories about debauchery, with winks and nods about what went on. One of these individuals was a preacher's son. Apparently his father caught wind of what had gone on that week, and set up a speaker to come that Monday for a special edition of chapel. The speaker was visiting the Baptist congregation and was able to swing by to give a sermon.

For those of you lucky enough to have never encountered this style of "youth minister," the title evokes a forced hipness to me. The notion that this person "speaks the language" of teenagers is the selling point, "reaching kids" in the same way a usual teenage marketing campaign attempts to reach kids--with extreme sports and awesome language. "This guy's cool!" the children will shout, and follow him as if he were the pied piper. Such was this character.

I don't remember much about what he said, because I didn't write about it at the time. I have four very clear memories about the event. First, I had caught wind of what this was all about before entering the auditorium. The seniors always walked into the auditorium in alphabetical order, after everyone else was seated, so it was usually impossible to choose a nondescript seat. For some reason, I was particularly bold on this day, and elected to break with that, finding a seat at the very back. To my left was a sophomore I knew pretty well and to my right, after I had been seated for a while, sat the guidance counselor, a woman who lived in my neighborhood and was the mother to one of my best friends who had graduated the year before. She didn't say anything about me sitting at the back, and I took that as tacit approval of me sitting where I was.

The second memory was of a specific thing this preacher said. He had been going for a while, undoubtedly building his rapport with the students. He was billed as a comedian, and of his hilarious observations was this gem (roughly remembered): "What's with kids putting lights underneath their car? You're going to light the road underneath your car?" Ground effects are hilarious! Then he said this as he was walking down one of the aisles with his microphone, and I remember it with perfect clarity: "That is so gay!"

To the students, no doubt, this was an example of an adult speaking their language. He understands us, because he's unafraid to say this thing in public that we say all the time in private. To the speaker, who apparently was nationally-known, this was a calculated turn of phrase. This was the moment he got the kids on his side, and, more than that, this allowed him to spread his view of what it means to be gay. Namely, that it's bad. It was at that moment that something in my brain went off. This guy wasn't like all the other bland speakers preaching about meaningless and trite things. This guy wasn't another harmless religious speaker. This guy wasn't respectable. This guy was wrong, fundamentally wrong. And he was spreading this garbage to children, masking as some sort hip youth minister. All of this hit me at once, and I realized that this person represented everything about religion that I despised--the bigotry, the hatred, the politics, the masquerading.

The third memory was looking over at who was sitting next to me. I don't remember when this occurred, but I remember looking over at my sophomore friend, and he was visibly uncomfortable. I looked over at the guidance counselor, her face somewhat disgusted. The memory is there, but without context. In an odd way, it was confirmation of my feeling of being appalled.

The final vivid memory involves how this whole charade ended. In some Protestant traditions, public confession is a means of cleansing one's sins. It involves an admission of guilt to the assembled, and the atonement for that wrong offered by the pastor. (See There Will Be Blood for a dramatic example--"I've abandoned my child!") In this case, he played on the guilt of everyone who had enjoyed themselves too much over spring break, inviting them on stage to be "reborn in Christ" or whatever Christian rebirth analogy he conjured. As person after person went on stage, singing some nondescript hymn together as it was played over the speakers, it was at this point that I realized the irony of my position. If there was a God, he placed me at the back of the auditorium so that I might be sane for the rest of my life. Had I stayed up front, I would have been in the second row, alone, facing all of my classmates as they stood on stage in some empty guilt-ridden sort of solidarity. Instead, I was in the very back row, sitting next to two people who weren't going on stage; not because they were without sin--everyone bears the burden of some sin, according to almost every Christian tradition (which is a pretty convenient theology)--but maybe because this was wrong. Of all the uncomfortableness of high school, nothing rates above that moment as maybe a dozen people in the auditorium, for whatever reason, decided not go on the stage. Even the memory puts a sinking feeling in my gut.

At lunch, I remember one girl in my class talking about how funny the speaker was, and I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't begin to articulate how I felt, and I'm still at a loss for words of what was wrong, thanks in part to my fuzzy memories. Even after receiving a B.A. in religious studies, I can't put my finger on what went on that day.

Besides the sickening feeling I get of having everything I despised about religion exposed to me all at once, the other overwhelming emotion I now associate with the event is regret. I should have summoned the strength to say something, anything. I should have spoken out, yelled at him. I probably couldn't think of anything to say then, and I definitely can't think of what I should have said now. But to have stood up and faced him, to have announced to the world "this is bad" in whatever inarticulate way I could have managed, to have spoken out--it would have been exhilirating. At the very least, I should have stormed out of the auditorium. I vaguely remember thinking I should leave, but I didn't want to walk over the people sitting next to me.

And so it was that one of the most disgusting experiences in my life informed my opinion of religion in such a basic way that it took academia to undo the damage. Thanks to that day, I saw religion as nothing but a negative force in the world, Christianity as the most pernicious expression of whatever religion is. I made the exception the rule.

Looking back at my writing from the period, I can't find a single mention of the event when it happened. I might have pushed it out of my mind, busy with high school--soccer, Calculus, English 102. Or, I might have neglected to realize how strongly the experience struck me. Regardless, the experience was formative, for better or worse.

I found out a while afterward that the incident sparked controversy among the faculty, and there was a sort of resolution to never let that happen again. The general tone of the discussion, from what I gathered, is that his approach wasn't appropriate. I wish I would have known that at the time I was sitting in that auditorium. «»

I grew up around people who went to Church and family was part of the Ministry. Now these cats are the most wicked people I have met in my life. If there was a sin to break these cats broke it adultery, murder, lie, steal and covet.

I have seen preachers with congregations as big as a Nascar crowd. I've watched the preacher peddle his sermons for $5 telling people they should take them home. I've seen people with the whole preachers collections and they are no better off than when they started. In fact I haven't seen anyone from that congregation rise up as a success from following this preacher.

I've watched Brothers sell bean pies since I was a kid. Standing in the middle of the street on Crenshaw pushing the Final Call. I know their children because I grew up with them and the only time they see their father is on that corner. Telling me when I see them tell him I said what's up!

I have been to the community church who doesn't have one person from that community attending their church. I've seen their outreach program outreach the people in their own congregation.

I've seen the richest preacher serving the poorest community. He has 3 Bentleys, lives on a hill over looking the beach, and has his own personal jet. When confronted about it on TV he said he deserved it. In fact his congregation grew after that.

-- I guess what I'm trying to get at is you have to just believe in God because most of his so called Stewards on this earth are either Ineffective Leaders or Damn Good Hustlers!

this is the best!

Fewer and fewer churches are showing forth any power as they attempt to be politically correct. You know there is a problem with a pastor condones abortion or agrees to perform a same sex marriage ceremony. The church is weakening steadily under the power of the devil.

There are a few strong pastors and churches around. Check out this minister over in England:

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed the declining importance of the church was creating a “double jeopardy” situation where faith was being challenged at a time when society would most benefit.

He said believers needed to “recover their nerve” and spread the Gospel again.

The outspoken bishop, who earlier this week told those who tolerate homosexuality in the clergy to repent, also said he was “frustrated” that decisions which had been made in the church had not been stuck to.

Dr Nazir-Ali was greeted with a standing ovation as he gave a speech to a breakaway summit in Jerusalem of more than 1,000 traditionalists from across the Anglican Communion who oppose gay priests and the blessing of same-sex unions.

He did not say that divisions over sexuality would lead to a schism in Anglicanism, and referred to unity being a “very precious thing”.

Instead he called on those in the church to concentrate on mission – trying to convert those of other faiths and with no faith to Christianity.

Dr Nazir-Ali, who earlier this year claimed the decline of Christianity had led to a collapse of Britishness, said: “The greatest challenge is that of militant secularization, which is creating a double jeopardy for western cultures.

“It is losing its Christian discourse at the very time when it needs it most.

“Let us pray that we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the west and make sure the Gospel is not lost, and that all that is valuable in western culture – much of which comes from its Judeo-Christian background – will survive as a way to enhance cultures in the west and renew them once again.”

He said he could not apologise for wanting to explain Christianity to Muslims and to great laughter he added: “That’s not the only thing I want to do to them.”

The Pakistan-born bishop repeated his claim that the church began its decline in influence when parents stopped passing the faith on to their children.

“Don’t blame anyone else,” he said.

Dr Nazir-Ali said when changes took place in society they must be assessed against the Bible to see whether they should be accepted, and should not just be waved through.

He said those who were attending Gafcon, many of whom like him are boycotting the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference gathering of bishops because of their opposition to liberals over homosexuality, were at the forefront of a revival of Anglicanism.

“You are the miraculous beginning of a movement for the renewal of the church.”

The bishop suggested that the current structure of Anglicanism was not good enough to deal with its divisions over sexuality, which have seen American liberals consecrate an openly gay bishop in defiance of church rules.

“In the crisis that is facing us we have found this [structure] to be not enough. In the end it was based on English good manners and in our world English good manners are simply not enough.”

He went on: “I believe there are some things that do need attention.

“We need to have councils that can make decisions that stick. In the last few years I have been frustrated by decision after decision after decision that has not stuck.

“We cannot have this in the future for a healthy church.”

GO HERE to read the remainder of the article

This is a picture of our former pastor. . . Dr. Charles Shifflett. He plead guilty Tuesday morning to 21 charges of obtaining money by false pretenses, tax fraud and filing false workman’s compensation claims. In December 2006, he plead guilty to six charges of assault and battery and a charge of cruelty to children for allegations of child abuse from former students at Calvary Baptist Academy, 20 years ago.

Needless to say, I'm sad to see another man fall because of sin.

"Mr. Shifflett has proven what kind of tree he is by his fruit... evil fruit. He has hurt many people and inoculated them against the truth of God's Word. I do hope that for anyone who reads this that they understand Mr. Shifflett is not a true representation of what a Christian is. Don't turn your back on God because of hurt or pain he has caused you, because if you do, one day you will receive condemnation and an eternity in the lake of fire for your sin also.

For all those who are still at Calvary Baptist. . .pay close attention to doctrine. Check out what is being preached. Be the watchmen God expects you to be. Guard and teach the children that are left, be true to God's Word. Run off hirelings and those who consistently fleece God's flock. Our prayers are constantly before God on your behalf. Please wake up for the sake of your souls and the souls of your children."

Please click on the link below to read the entire article at our website:

Dr. Charles Shifflett "GULITY"

You talk about slithering...what a brood of vipers! I am here to tell you that there is no end to the skullduggery, back-stabbing, cheating, and with no shame mind you...maybe that's way these Washington D.C. politicians fit in so well with the pseudo-celebrities in Hollywood.

I'm not sure if it's that I loathe hearing these people spew dribble out of one side of their mouths, or if they trying to get me to believe this rubbish, but I just can't take anymore of the hypocrisy!

A couple of weeks ago, two people carried on as vile, mortal enemies. Now we got some jerk up there with his 'call and response' style of politics and the other combatant, is just lying straight through that fat face.

Goodness! Where has our dignity gone? One of these two got into some tremendously serious debt-mega debt folks, double figure millions of who knows, and who cares, the family's wealth or her own personal money, as I said, who knows? (Hmm, how long before rehab?)

So for "the good of the party..." so they can try to put up a 'United Front', these two and all of their cronies are blowing smoke up each other's....where the sun don't shine.

Everyone who has a milligram of self-respect left let me net this out for you: Hillary Clinton is some twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) in debt. Some of these funds she borrowed from cronies or friends; some is fund-raiser support, a bit of Clinton family wealth, and gawd knows how much of it is ours-meaning some federal taxpaying money.

What is wrong with those people screaming in the background? Here we have a person who not only has showed she can't manage her own money, let alone 'other people's money' and did she ever hide when they asked for the White House First Lady documents; there is a pattern here people, so wake up!

This person has no business being anywhere near the Nation's Capitol, period. And for that matter, anyone who is stupid enough to align themselves with her shouldn't be either.

But it remains nauseous to me that the other 'wing nut' Obama-bama-bo-Bama be by bo-bama-bo-Obama as well as these people with dung for brains would even attempt so insult my intelligence by asking me for money is unconscionable.

 Just a sidebar: Gee wiz, in the 'Hall of Hollywood Half Wits'--

Janeane Garofalo, George Clooney, the Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow, Mike Farrell, Ed Harris, Jessica Lange, Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen, Oliver Stone, and Barbra Streisand, don't forget our ever-conspiring, Rosie O'Donnell, gee, missing any money?

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Funny stuff, funny stuff.