Well, Mac put in his 2 hours of work today, and now its OFF TO PIGEON FORGE, TENNESSEE to do some more double dippin'...he takes two weeks vacation including a tour through Italy with Tom "Yes Man" Stimler....comes back and takes another trip to preach....comes back and preaches to us today...now he is off for the entire week to preach Monday through Thursday in Tennessee! Mac takes his bloated salary from FBC Jax, along with his wife and son...but that isn't enough! How do you expect Mac to make a living off of $300,000 to $400,000 each year? So he is off to preach to a group of seniors at Pigeon Forge, TN with his good buddy, the nationally acclaimed Phil Waldrep so he can pay for that trip to Italy!Notice Mac didn't bother to tell us today that he would be out all week preaching. Our previous pastors told us what they were doing if they traveled. If Vines was traveling to preach, he would tell us for three reasons: 1. He wanted us to be praying specifically for him; 2. If he was going to be out of the pulpit that Wednesday he showed us the respect of letting us know, and telling us who would be in the pulpit; and 3. HE SHOWED US COMMON COURTESY AND ACTED LIKE HE HAD SOME ACCOUNTABILITY TO US. How laughable is that? The pastor being accountable to us? Do you remember when Mac declared he was accountable to us? That was a joke. He thinks because he says something it is so. Actions speak louder than words Mac. We know you don't view yourself as accountable to us. We're just stupid sheep that are supposed to give the dough so you can earn your "base" salary from us, and then your book deals and preaching circuit is where you earn your extra spending money.
I think Mac operates in a paradigm of FBC Jax being in a sense his own private corporation. He's the President and CEO, his wife is the vice president, and his son is the LWO (I'll let you figure that out - we'll see how back some of you readers go on the blog). Since this is HIS company, and we are merely low-level "employees", he doesn't need to tell us what he is doing or where he is going or when he's out of the pulpit. Its none of our business. Its HIS church, not ours, and he is accountable to no one.
And let me tell you something. I made some comments on the pseudo-sermon this morning that if there are many people who struggle with the security of their salvation as Mac says, its because Mac himself preaches confusing sermons that would make an immature Christian doubt their salvation if they don't fall into line with Mac's orders. He preaches legalism in giving and service, has said that God is a God seeking to punish us with higher gas prices and falling stock prices, that God is looking to "zap" us when we get out of line.
But tonight was just an example of empty rhetoric. His one point tonight: DON'T LEAVE GOD OUT OF THE EQUATION when things get tough. I do declare, from the FBC Jax Watchdog Blog: Mac Brunson's entire tenure is full of decisions made leaving God out of the equation. I've chronicled them on this blog and won't bore you with the details. The way he beats us up when we don't do what he wants (after all we answer to him not the Holy Spirit), how preaches legalism in giving in service and giving, his changing of bylaws without telling his congregation, telling us that God is "gonna zap us"....even when he ripped us up one side and down the other because he didn't get 150 men to pray with him...those are all examples of MAC LEAVING GOD OUT OF THE EQUATION. So brother pastor it rings hollow when you preach to us to not leave God out of the equation. To all but the ardent believers who have been baptized in your Kool Aid, we see right through it all.
Here's one for you Mac: Don't you trust God to meet your needs by the salary you draw here? Don't you think God can take care of those seniors at Pigeon Forge without you vacating your pulpit here to preach to them and grab another paycheck? Stop leaving God out of the equation Mac.
Just a note of trivia: Did you know that Duval Co., is the third largest market for Kool Aid products in the country. I think I know why!!!
ReplyDeleteMaurilio has been seen at the Kool Aid corporate headquarters pushing his market branding and knew Duval Co. had some receptive, ripe and ready customers.
ReplyDelete"Our previous pastors told us what they were doing if they traveled. If Vines was traveling to preach, he would tell us for three reasons: 1. He wanted us to be praying specifically for him; 2. If he was going to be out of the pulpit that Wednesday he showed us the respect of letting us know, and telling us who would be in the pulpit; and 3. HE SHOWED US COMMON COURTESY AND ACTED LIKE HE HAD SOME ACCOUNTABILITY TO US."
ReplyDeleteThis is the stated policy regarding that at Bellevue Baptist in Memphis:
It has been our policy under Dr. Rogers and now Dr. Gaines to keep the Pastor's away schedule confidential due to security issues for him and his family.
Of course Dr. Gaines doesn't preach on Wednesday nights, so #2 above wouldn't apply. Nor has #3 ever applied, in this or any other area.
I know Dr. Rogers received threats over the years and was even rushed on stage by a mentally ill man. He was said to have had an armed bodyguard present in services after that, but to my knowledge Dr. Gaines has not had this problem.
Still, it seems to be an issue on some people's minds. There was a conference at Bellevue Thursday regarding this topic:
Bellevue Baptist Church to Host Church Security Conference
Thursday, October 16, 2008 • 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Purpose:
To provide church security related information including cost-effective ways to
enhance the physical security of your church and guidance to surviving an active
shooter incident.
Who should attend:
Security directors, ministerial staff and key lay leaders
For more information:
Contact Jerry McConnell, Outreach Minister, Center for Personal Protection
and Safety at 509-252-8533 (www.safe-travels.com) or Ralph Anderson at 901-347-5231.
And no, this was NOT publicized in last Sunday's church bulletin!
"Just a note of trivia: Did you know that Duval Co., is the third largest market for Kool Aid products in the country."
ReplyDeleteShelby County, Tennessee is second.
Lake Forest, California is first.
Pigeon Forge is "leaf peeping" country this time of the year. Did Honey go with Mac? Was this another VACATION?
ReplyDeleteGet the calendar. Get the calendar. A visual is worth a thousand blog posts.
ReplyDelete"Was this another VACATION?"
ReplyDeleteOh, of course not! If she did go, it was "official church business."
Can someone tell me who is on the Board of Directors of Inlight Ministries?
ReplyDeleteSo Brunson is most likely using the umbrella of "security reasons" for not telling members when or where he is going. How deceptive, yet clever. He can plan as many "away gigs" he wants without informing the congregation, thus no one knows when he sneaks in 2 and 3 day engagements and no one is the wiser. He truly is not accountable to anyone; but God. So we shall see.
ReplyDeleteI am sure the recent changes in church by-laws and amendments specifically addressed and ensured the "Confidentiality Schedule;"
thus he is on "solid ground to do as he pleases.
Yes, quite clever.
Look out Mac, those seniors in Pigeon Forge just might be after you.
"solid ground" :-(
Anon asking about Inlight:
ReplyDeleteMac said from the pulpit about a month ago that the board is made up of FBC Jax trustees.
A play on words: Why do we call these men "trustees"? I dont't "trust" them to do anything correctly, or for the benefit of the church congregation,do you. It's hard to "trust" anyone who is tied to the preacher. And who we know are point men for the preacher, against the best interest of the church as a whole. Each of these men have their reasons for being in lock-step with the preacher. Remember , trust must be gained. It can't be demanded. Trust must be given and it should benefit all who are affected by their decisions. So you can be called a "trustee", it doesn't make you one!!!
ReplyDeleteTo the Anon defending Phil Waldrep:
ReplyDeleteI do commend Phil Waldrep in being a member of the ECFA. I have blogged previously about this organization and even have said our church, FBC Jax, should join it and disclose publicly its revenue and expenses.
I have no bone to pick with Phil Waldrep. I'll take your word for it that he limits his salary at $91,000 - I really don't care what he earns as he is not my pastor and as far as I know is not a pastor of a church. He is not taking money from church members and is not preaching to them in a legalistic manner to guilt people to give a MINIMUM of 10% of their income to his ministry, then turning around and taking $300,000 of it to live a lavish lifestyle. He is not double dipping, since it is his ministry and he does as he pleases. So I will hold Phil Waldrep up as a positive example as compared to pastors like Mac Brunson that not only take outlandish salaries from the tithes of God's people, but then turns around and takes a week to earn supplemental income by preaching a 4-day conference that has - get this: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MINISTRY OR MISSION OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
Now, since you brought up Phil Waldrep, readers can view the self disclosed revenue and expenses of Phil Waldrep here. It looks like his ministry in 2007 had revenues of $3.1 million, with "administrative" expenses of nearly $831,000. According to the ECFA, these administrative expenses are defined as "This measure reflects what percent of its total expenses a charity spends on overhead, administrative staff and associated costs, and organizational meetings. Dividing a charity’s administrative expenses by its total expenses yields this percentage. ". So I'll leave it up to the readers of this blog to decide where the $831,000 administrative expenses goes.