Christianity: Religion or a Relationship?

 

Religion or Relationship?

Evangelical Christians (ie: those Christians that are NOT Catholics) will often allege that they are not part of a “religion” and thereby, you cannot compare many of their offensive stances, viewpoints, prejudices, hatred and discriminatory behavior with every other religion.  I’m not a Catholic, but I presume they realize they are indeed a religion, and are not denying they are the major world religion in every way, and always have been.  Evangelical Christians on the other hand, will agree with you all day long on many criticisms you have against other religions, such as Islam, for example, because Islam is merely “a religion” in their view and they can clearly see how harmful religion is and can be when forced on others who don’t happen to agree with their exclusive teachings.  Being “religious” used to be a compliment.  Now, even Christians realize that calling them “religious” has negative connotations.  So they deny it.  And many will cutely repeat what they have heard their pastor say, which is this: “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship.”  What they mean is, all that matters to the “true” Christian, and the key to salvation, is your “personal relationship” with Jesus Christ.  Not any religious system, or logically, any adherence to religious requirements outside of trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation.  But my experience is that they are hypocrites when it comes to this point.  Let me ask you, committed Christian man or woman:  Can a man have faith in Christ while rejecting some of the religious nonsense contained in your holy book?  Or some of the nonsense preached by “god’s man”, your pastor? Or disagree or question even one single passage or teaching of your religion? If so, what you preach is a religion, NOT a relationship!

Again, Catholics understand the need for a “right relationship’ with “the Church” and with the dogmatic teachings of that church, in order to be saved.  But evangelicals, who claim not to be religious, ironically, question a man’s salvation if he trusts in Christ for his salvation, but merely doesn’t believe all the religious nonsense that their  paid, professional clergyman doles out to them for a fee each week.   

Let me ask you a personal question, Christian man or woman, does your Bible’s plan of salvation include any requirements that a lost person truly believe ALL or none of the ancient texts?  Do you share with them not only that man is a sinner, he cannot save himself, that Christ died for his sins, and by grace through faith, he can be saved?  Or do you also tell this lost person that he must tithe, that he must serve the Lord by serving in the church, and most importantly, do you tell him that what he believes ABOUT the Bible will determine his ultimate fate.  In other words, are you honest with him and tell him up front that unless he puts his faith in the Bible itself (that every jot and tittle is the infallible, inerrant, and perfectly recorded inspired word of God ), then his trust and faith in Jesus is worthless and he is not a Christian, can’t be a child of God, and ultimately, will burn in hell forever and forever without being consumed?  If so, that is not “Good News”, that is horrible news. 

So my dear Bible believing evangelical friend, either proclaim unashamedly your trust and faith in the Bible itself (not Jesus and his work) and all of its religious teachings and practices, or stop telling people they must believe it all or none of it.  You are being intellectually dishonest, you are not telling them the “whole gospel” and you are lying to them about Jesus and what he did.  I challenge you to find anywhere in your trusted, sacred, scriptures where Jesus told a man “you must believe the Bible to come to me.”  Or “whosoever believeth it all, will be saved.”  Or, “either all of the bible is true or it’s all false.”  No. You know it’s not there. So please quit being a hypocrite and demanding that others believe it lest they be cast into hell.  Shame on you.  Your pastor is paid to preach this line of nonsense.  Their livelihood depends on gullible supporters who look up to them as God’s representative and as wise holy men.  If they start preaching other nonsense that you must do to be saved, run from that church.  Love Jesus enough and care about God enough and love your family enough to take the time to explain to your children and your wife that the man is lying about God.  Tell them that God loves them. Jesus died for their sins.  That they can have peace in their trust and faith in Jesus.  Warn them about the dangers of religions. Warn them about the dangers of blind fanatical adherence to an ancient holy book.  If your family and your wife love and respect you, they will listen to you over the lying holy man of God.  Good luck. If your wife, children, parents and friends are religious fanatics, or members of a cult, they will end up shunning you, have disdain for you, and you will feel worse about yourself then you did before you called upon the name of the Lord when you were lost.  Oh, religion can be so hurtful and divisive.  We know it can lead to centuries of war between nations and peoples. But we also see how, if not put in the proper place in a believer’s life, it can destroy families.

 

John 14:6:  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 3:15 and 16: “…that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Bellevue Asks for Donations for Steve and Donna's Vacation, AKA Their "Time of Refreshing"

It is just so darn difficult to be a mega church pastor these days.

With the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, and Barrack Obama still in office, and the coming Iranian treaty, mega church pastors are agonizing over the fate of our country and the soon-coming judgment of God. And as many pastors are saying, it is only a mater of time before they will be thrown into prison for not conducting same-sex weddings. These guys have it tough. How do they endure such hardships?

But Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis is doing something about it! They have announced to all the good folks at Bellevue that their pastor, Steve Gaines (affectionately known as "Pastor" in first-person), needs an extended vacation to refresh from all these pressures.

And best of all, the good folks at Bellevue have the wonderful opportunity to give money to a special fund to PAY for Pastor and Donna Gaines' "time of refreshing".

"The church is giving Pastor and Donna extended time off in July 2016. They will travel to England where they will retrace the lives the men who have been part of great awakenings in the past as they take time to pray, study, and refresh". 

Come on. Why not just say it like it is. They're giving the man and his wife an extended vacation. They're not retracing steps, or studying the "Great Awakening". They're going to Europe for a vacation and will stay in luxurious hotels and will go sightseeing. They're not going to just be "praying, studying and refreshing".

But turning a vacation into a spiritual journey back to study men (no women presumably) of the past, and to say they will be praying and studying while there - allows the church to with a straight face hit the people up at Bellevue to give money to pay for "Pastor's" vacation.

"If you would like to help fund the cost of this time of refreshing for Pastor and Donna, please indicate your gift in the same envelope and make your check payable to Bellevue Baptist Church."

Yes, the Bellevue members get to help fund a "time of refreshing" for Pastor. Maybe cut your vacation short so you can help "Pastor" pay for his.

This sort of shameless fundraising should sicken the people at Bellevue. They should be outraged that their pastor who earns hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and benefits, who earns stipends when he goes and preaches at other churches - is not going to pay for his own vacation and they are hitting up the church members instead.

But I'm sure the people of Bellevue love it. By giving to "Pastor's" vacation, er "time of refreshing", they feel like they are giving to God himself. Another deception of the gullible.

Who else does this? Do private companies solicit employees to pay for the "time of refreshing" for the owner? Do CEO's of corporations solicit shareholders or customers or employees to pay for the CEO to take an "extended time off"? Of course not. But CEO's are not "men of God", like pastors.

Here's my take: I say megachurch pastors like Gaines' and others deserve a pay cut, and need to have shortened vacations and not extended ones. Their influence on our culture has waned. Mega church pastors have shown our culture that what really matters in modern-day Christianity is fund-raising, huge buildings, and large staffs with lots of professional holy men with seminary degrees.

So Bellevue peeps, tell Steve and Donna to pay for their own time of refreshing, just like you pay for yours.

Stovall Weems is Having Joyce Meyer Speak at Celebration Church April 22nd

This says it all about the state of evangelical Christianity in Jacksonville: the largest and fastest growing church in our city, Celebration Church, is having none other than prosperity preacher/millionaire Joyce Meyer in to speak at a conference.

For only $129, YOU TOO can go and hear Joyce Meyer speak to church leaders. Yes, Stovall is giving Joyce Meyer a platform in our city to speak to church leaders and church wannabe leaders.

Do we really want Joyce Meyer here to speak in our city? Meyer and her money-making enterprise (known as her "ministry") were investigated by Senator Charles Grassley's Senate Finance Committee back in 2007 and 2008 for possible tax violations. Grassley focused on whether Meyer and five other "ministries" improperly used their tax-exempt status as churches to lavishly enrich themselves and their families.

It is a travesty that Stovall brings Joyce Meyer to our city. She represents everything that is wrong with evangelical Christianity. Her board is made up mostly of family members. Most of her kids and their spouses are on the payroll. She has a net worth of around $25 million and her ministry spends a tiny fraction of their revenue on actually helping anyone.

But I've said it here multiple times: Stovall himself preaches a prosperity gospel, so this doesn't come as a complete surprise to the Watchdog. 

Welcome to Jacksonville, Joyce Meyer. Hope you don't stay too long.

Lifeway Introduces New Storehouse Tithing Bible Translation - the RSTB

Today Lifeway is introducing a new bible translation to help preachers and churchmen teach the important first-fruits storehouse tithing doctrine to their church members.

The translation is called the "Revised Storehouse Tithing Bible", or RSTB for short.

"We have sought input from some of the best fundraising pastors in modern evangelicalism to provide this valuable resource to pastors as they teach the sheep the absolute necessity of forking over a minimum of 10% to their local church", said a Lifeway spokesman.

Contributors to the RSTB include Steve Gaines, Ed Young, Frank Page, and also John Hagee. Robert Morris, best-selling author of The Blessed Life and storehouse tithing teacher, was the editor of the project.

"Tapestry of Green" on Every Page of the Bible

Lifeway says the RSTB will help church members see that tithing really is a common theme found throughout the Bible.

"Just as the tapestry of red, Christ's redemption, is found throughout scripture pointing us to Jesus Christ, so on every page of the Bible we find the first-fruits storehouse tithing principle, the blessed 'tapestry of green', that points Christians to securing God's blessings and avoiding God's curses through giving the first 10% of our income", said one of the RSTB editors.

The RSTB has several unique features: it is color coded - verses having to do with storehouse tithing are highlighted in bright money-green. Also, unique tithing icons are used throughout, such as those highlighted verses that refer to Christians getting blessings for their tithe are marked in the margin with "$" symbols, while those that speak of God's curses for not tithing are marked with either an icon of a purse with holes in it or a devil's pitchfork.

To help Christians fully understand how important it is to tithe to avoid the wrath of God, the RSTB includes modern-day translations of verses dealing with first-fruits tithing principles that have been uncovered in scripture by the today's evangelical tithing experts.

For instance, when Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt 6:33, KJV)

has been translated with the help of Perry Noble to read:

"Tithe ye first to your storehouse, and money, clothes, and food shall be delivered unto you." (Matt 6:33, RSTB)

Another great example of interpreting Jesus' words in the context of modern day storehouse tithing doctrines, is Matthew 23:23:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." (Matt 23:23, NIV)

which has been shortened through translation, with the help of Frank Page, to read:

"Woe to you, you non-tithing Christians, you hypocrites! I've paid for your sins and delivered you from hell, now PONY UP!!!" (Matt 23:23, RSTB)

Steve Gaines has been on the forefront of the storehouse tithing interpretation in the New Testament, and helped correctly interpret the Acts 5 account of Ananias and Sapphira. Some of the translated verses include:

"But a certain man, named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and did not tithe on it....and Peter said 'Why hast thou conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lived in a stolen house and driven a stolen car belonging to men, but thou hast sent thou offspring to school with the tithe belonging to God.'....and Ananias, hearing these words, and Sapphira with her stolen jewelry, fell down and gave up the ghost and the tithe." (Acts 5:1-5, RSTB)

Old Testament verses have been interpreted to aid Christians in seeing that the modern day church is the temple, and that their pastors are the modern day equivalent to the Old Testament priests.

For instance:

"A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." (Lev 27:30, NIV)

is translated as:

"A tithe of everything in your paycheck, whether it be your salary from work, or the hourly pay at your second job; even your welfare or social security checks, - they all belong to the church, it is holy to the church." (Lev 27:30, RSTB)

Lifeway acknowledges that the RSTB will have its critics, but that these are mostly recalcitrant bloggers who don't tithe anyways.

One such critic, FBC Jax Watchdog, says he offered the RSTB translation team a helpful modern day translation of Malachi 3, saying that it is the most misused verse in the bible on storehouse tithing.

"They weren't too interested in receiving a modern-day translation of Malachi 3 that reflects how God would apply it today to the church", said the Watchdog. "You see, what the storehouse tithing preachers don't want you to know is that the book of Malachi was directed at priests of Israel and the sons of Levi. So in Malachi 3 God is upset that the priests, not the people, are misusing the tithe and thus robbing God."

The editors instead went with the Perry Noble translation of Malachi 3:10:

"Fork ye over all the tithes to the church, that there may be large budgets in mine house, and prove Pastor now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the bank account of heaven, and pour you out money to pay your bills, so much that there shall not be room enough to store it and thus you'll have to give even more to the church." (Mal 3:10, RSTB)

Ergun Caner Version 4.0 is Released - and C.B. Scott Rehired at Brewton Parker

Things can't really get any crazier around the on-going Ergun Caner saga. Caner is preaching at a youth retreat, while C.B. Scott is rehired at Brewton Parker by the new incoming president after he was fired by the trustees for spilling the beans on Ergun Caner, leading to Caner's resignation.

Then, just a few weeks after Caner resigned in disgrace at Brewton Parker over the allegations of using racist language, and allegations of "sexting" at the campus, Caner pops up at the New River Fellowship Church. Butch wasn't there to receive the terms of his church discipline for his moral failings in Georgia, but instead was able to go spend a weekend preaching to the young skulls of mush at a New River youth retreat.

Yes, just a few weeks after being accused of saying he was "n**ger f****d" by the Brewton Parker trustees, and allegedly engaging in sexual text messaging, Ergun the Warrior was called by God and New River pastor Scott Crenshaw, to tell the kiddos about Jesus.

I wonder if Scott Crenshaw informed the parents at his church about the allegations against Caner at Brewton Parker. My guess is that Pastor Scott told the parents at New River - much like Bucky Kennedy in Georgia - that Ergun was chosen as the youth retreat speaker not in spite of the allegations, but exactly BECAUSE of the allegations of racism and sexual text messages. That is how things go nowadays in the circles Caner travels.

Ergun is now "Ergun 4.0". Version 1.0 was Mike Caner, the George Castanza-looking nerdy preacher from Ohio. Ergun version 2.0 was released after 9/11, as Mike Caner became Ergun Mehmet Giovani Caner, the terrorist who was "trained to do that which was done on 11 September". Version 3.0 was released after Ergun was busted for his tall tales - he became Ergun the Warrior who has attacked by bloggers and evil judges who required him to pay for his frivolous lawsuits to quiet his critics.

Now Ergun is Ergun Version 4.0 - the conquering hero who rescued Brewton Parker from extinction, and who "quit" his job to become more like Jesus. Said Caner to the New River faithful on Sunday:

"I quit my job - at the age of 50. I got Brewton Parker out of accreditation problems, off of 'double death penalty' - and to celebrate it, I quit. I want to come home....I want to heal, and I can't heal, if my title is more important than my heart."

So Caner didn't resign over his racist slurs, or because of allegations of inappropriate behavior, he did it out of his most noble intentions that he didn't want his title to be more important than his heart; whatever that means. And in Caner's view, it was himself who saved Brewton Parker.  

Sadly, Ergun still can't quit telling tales about himself.  And he won't as long as there is a market for his stories to be told.