Thanks Be Unto Our Pastor

I don't know if you've visited the FBC Jax website, but there is on the front page a letter from the President of the Trustees, A.C. Soud, and the Chairman of the Deacons, Dave Bristowe, expressing the "THANKS" they have in their hearts for the incredible, wonderful job Mac Brunson is doing. Not giving thanks to God, or expressing thanks to God for our pastor, but thanks to our pastor for being so wonderful.

Remember people: we must view everything that is done with a skeptical eye, as to the "marketing" strategy behind it. I wonder if that letter was the brain child of the two men whose names are on it. I mean really, its one thing to express thanks and love to the pastor...but the detail that they go into about WHAT it is they are thankful for sounds disingenous to me. Why? Because most of the things they say about Mac and how great he is AREN'T TRUE, and they seem to address the very concerns expressed on this blog. This looks to me, and I could be wrong, but it looks to me like an attempt to manipulate the average church member who is beginning to get concerned over Mac and his antics. This letter is a way to try to show the congregation that despite people being concerned over Mac's leadership, he has the full support of the two top lay people.

This looks more like a letter composed by Trey or Honey and passed to A.C. and Dave for their approval...especially since the first version posted on the website had some editing comments in it until the church took it down. I challenge either man to post here and say that they stand 100% behind the content of that letter, and maybe even address a few of the comments below.

But let's look at phrases used:

The opening line: "Thank You, Dr. Brunson, Staff, and Members:"

So this is addressed to everyone...but the content doesn't address the staff or members...it is a love letter to Mac and his family, but the person writing this started by thinking they would express thanks to everyone, but they forgot and just addressed how GREAT Mac is!

"...our deepest gratitude to you, Debbie and the family for all you mean to First Baptist"

So its to "you" (Mac Brunson) not to the members and staff. And of course we need to let everyone know that we thank God that we have the entire family, Mac, Honey, and Trey...they have saved us from the terrible course we were on. Let the record show: from Day 1 we have had to pay all three for their service.

"...we are not only thankful for your embracing the legacy that we have enjoyed for more than 60 years..."

What are they talking about? The man came here and told us to stop "worshipping the past"...his only "embracing" of our legacy are those parts of the legacy that HELP HIM! If he needs to convince us to tithe, pull out the Homer Lindsay, Sr. and Jr. quotes. If he doesn't get 150 prayer partners, he lashes out at us and says that "six years after Homer Lindsay raised up men I can't find 150 men that will pray with the pastor." If Mac wants us to love him, he will remind us we loved and respected the other guys. He presumes to know what Homer, Jr. would think about something when he never met Homer. And let it be noted that Mac has actually done what he could to take slaps at our legacy to SUIT HIS PURPOSES. While speaking at SWBTS and Criswell College in November, he has said that our church lied to Homer, Sr. when he came, about the amount of our debt. Mac says that Homer, Sr. was wrongly attacked by the deacons when he purchased a "neon sign"...and he decided to tell a story painting Homer, Sr. as a legalist by demanding that people don't clap in church. So spare us, Dave and Judge Soud, the statement that he "embraces" the legacy. The only part of the legacy that he wants to embrace is the total power and control we granted the other guys, and he wants the same respect that they had.

"...thank you...for the establishment of the First Baptist Academy..."

A bit premature, don't you think? Let's hold our thanks until we see how the school starts and if we can fund its start-up. It is NOT yet established. There is no school yet. No students, no teachers, no computer equipment. Just a Children's Building, a pastor's suite, an unannounced vote to take $500,000 form the general offerings (which we don't have) to hire the headmaster and pay the A-group for a website and promo videos and a sales and marketing strategy. Its a bit premature to give thanks to Mac for establishing that which doesn't exist yet.

"Thank you...for the Theology Driven Ministry that educates and promotes knowledgeable Christian living..."

Yep, thanks to Mac and Jim for small groups. What would we have done without TDM? Is what we see from Smyrl - attacking Catholics on our website in the name of "educating" people about their poor theology in the most offensive terms possible using the words "cult" and "cult leader"...is that what we are thankful for in TDM? I'm not thankful for TDM. TDM should go in the trash can. We don't need a gimmick ministry method...just do the right thing for our church, be open and honest, and implement things that will help lead people to Christ and disciple believers. And please don't tell me, that according to the TDM we MUST do small groups if we're going to do life application. That's an insult to my intelligence.

"thank you...for your personal integrity in assuring the transparency of all opertions of the Church and its ministries."

Wow. Transparency? Where's the transparency? Maybe transparency if you're on Team Brunson or the Trustees or the head Deacon man. But no transparency whatsoever for deacons or the regular church member. Where was the transparency when our bylaws were changed?Where is the transparency on the land gift given to Mac by ONE OF OUR DONORS? What would Mac do if he found out his staff was accepting gifts from our church donors? Would he put up with that? OF COURSE NOT!!! He would tell his staff: "We pay you, and you are not to accept any money from church members, especially very large gifts." So please don't tell me about Mac's personal integrity and transparency. Our church is NON TRANSPARENT, and Mac has only served to make it LESS TRANSPARENT than it was when he arrived.

"...thank you..most of all for your humility before the Lord and your faithfulness to the Word of God and His pulpit.."

Oh my..."humility"? The guy is the picture of arrogance every week in the pulpit. This makes me wonder, who is writing this letter? This is a letter written to counter the claims on this blog..."they say he's arrogant on the blog? He slandered Sheri Klouda and doesn't have the humility to simply apologize to us for using our pulpit to speak ill of a woman who has suffered greatly. Let's put in the letter saying that MOST OF ALL we are thankful for his humbleness." Give me a break."

We know you have come to realize that the people of FBC Jax are some of the most faithful, dedicated, and loving folks on the face of the earth."

Dave and Judge Soud, you left off Mac's descriptions of us as the "most legalistic, most past worshipping, biblically illiterate, scared, frightened, unloving, poor listeners, 'sitting and not doing what the pastor says'..." and so many other things that pastor has accused us of, both in the pulpit of FBC Jax and out of it. He "built a case" against us to tell us just how sorry we had become right before Chest of Joash, then followed that with a sermon to tell us HOW AWESOME HE IS IN ALL THE INITIATIVES HE HAS BROUGHT. All you have to do is watch his preaching and his condescension towards us and its so obvious to see how little he cares for his congregation and what his low view of us is.

So there you have it...another manipulation technique...let's use "Thanksgiving" as a way to express "Thanks" - not to God but to the pastor for being the great wonderful leader that he is accused of NOT being on the blog. The only problem is this: just saying something, and putting it on the FBC Jax website doesn't make it so. We are much smarter than Mac, Honey, Dave, and Judge Soud give us credit for.

Much smarter.