Lincoln, Luther, and King

If we are to err, we should err on the side of mercy and forgiveness. On the one hand, Jesus thought it was important to publicly rebuke the corrupt religious leaders of his day. And so I have done in earlier posts. But since God is able to rescue any local church held in the jaws of ungodly district church leadership; since God is able to build his kingdom out of the ashes of the destruction caused by evil men; since God will one day right all wrongs and correct all injustices... ...today I am removing prior posts that document the gross abuses of the Assemblies of God Michigan District against the churches that God entrusted to it. Undeserved mercy. Undeserved forgiveness. Because there may be a slim chance that they don't realize what they did, just as Jesus prayed for those who crucified him because they didn't know what they were doing. Even though it is extremely unlikely that after 7 years they still don't realize the evil of their actions, maybe there is still a sav...

As this Assemblies of God 2011 General Council website banner requests, I am about to make my mark on their movement... The word 'VOLUNTARY'. Does anyone out there know what it means? The big question is, does anyone within the Assemblies of God (AOG) religious organization know what it means? Let's look at a few quotes from their website and constitution, in which I will emphasize the words voluntary and obligatory in all caps. According to the Assemblies of God contribution page, VOLUNTARY commitments may be revised at any time. The page describes automatic monthly contributions as follows: "As your commitment is an agreement between you and God, it is understood that you may revise your commitment at any time." The page also describes 'Faith Promise' donations: "As your Faith Promise is an agreement between you and God, it is understood that you may revise your promise at any time." OK, so it sounds like VOLUNTARY giving is not OBLIG...

Can't say it any better than this post: Meaningful Worship

I've always found it curious that Jesus would heal people and then give them strict instructions not to publicize it. But we see that when they ignored his instructions, the crowds grew so great that Jesus could no longer move freely among the people and had to retreat to private places. So there was a legitimate reason to keep things hush-hush. No, Jesus wasn't a showman like Benny Hinn. But what about today's Christianity? I've been thinking lately of the tendency I've had in times past to promote my local church's brand instead of promoting Christ. And I'm beginning to conclude that we need to be Jesus-focused, not 'ministry'-focused. A local radio station (WMUZ, FM103.5 in Detroit) promotes itself as "the light", even though Jesus said that he was the light of the world. Jesus also stated that we (Christians) are the light of the world, but what about a Christian-based business? Is it also the light? I think not. WMUZ is definitely n...

I personally don't celebrate Halloween. Since Jesus came to give us life and light (guidance) in this world, I can no longer in good conscience participate in a holiday that celebrates death and darkness (and every evil thing conceivable). Here in Detroit folks use it as an excuse for vandalism the night before Halloween, calling it "Devil's night", despite the fact that the night belongs to (and exists because of) God. So on October 31, I encourage people to celebrate something better - "Reformation Day."

Since one of my pet peeves is undefined acronyms, please be advised that CCM in this post stands for "Contemporary Christian Music". Satire mode on. Today I'm Martin Luther and Paul the Apostle combined. I’ve finally figured it out! I’ve discovered the key to 21st century Christianity! Yes! I’ve discovered that to be a spiritual role model in the church that Jesus Christ started 1977 years ago, you have to be sexy ! That’s right! Just look at all the beautiful Christian music artists out there. Oooh they’re hot! Boy, I could just watch them onstage all day. Forget what they’re singing…I just want to watch them! They are sizz-lin’! You see, we’ve finally discovered that the key to Christianity is outward appearance . The world’s been saying it all along, and we’re finally catching on. To become great in the kingdom of God, you gotta be SEXY!

I'd just like to point out that my post from yesterday was intended to portray one side of an issue. As a comment to the post astutely pointed out, using skits etc. can be an effective means to communicate truth. Personally, I am not against using anything that can be an effective tool to evangelize and make disciples of Jesus Christ in our modern culture. (My own sister is part of a Christian mime ministry called Mimeistry.) But I have to qualify that statement. In my mind, when the church of Jesus Christ resorts to Bingo nights, lotteries, 50/50 tickets, serving beer, playing Fear Factor, and Friday night fish frys, we are inadvertently communicating that the gospel of Jesus Christ is irrelevant. Instead we should be communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ as the "hook". When we have to invite our neighbors to a church-sponsored Super Bowl Bash instead of a Bible study, this implies the Bible is superfluous to Christianity. When we woo non-Chri...

A post at Cerulean Sanctum on “ Spiritainment ” brings up an interesting topic. A topic that puts me in Martin Luther mode. I’m sorry this is going to be a long post. But this is actually a sore spot for me after weathering a church split a few years ago. I am now of the opinion that the majority of American Christians, though sincere, have very little depth to their roots. Sure, we’re all smiles and hugs and love when the winds are fair. But when adversity comes, we wither, flee, give up, stop attending church, go away, fail to make a stand, and give in to satanic pressure like a wet paper bag. We live in a modern culture where our god is no longer the God who created the universe. Instead, our god is our own convenience. And the enemy of our souls is no longer the devil and his worldly systems. Instead, the enemy is offending someone. The unpardonable sin of the 21st century is to offend a church-goer in any way. And I’m not talking about the kind of offense that Paul mentioned whe...