Are YOU Taking Your Religion TOO Seriously - Part 2 (The Immediate Family)

Are YOU taking your Religion TOO Seriously – Part II – (Your Immediate Family)

My previous post discusses how religion, when taken “too seriously”, can cause harm and loss to others.  I did not say religion shouldn’t be taken seriously.  It should be. It has a role in our society, our profession and in our immediate families.  But the point of the article is when religion is taken “too seriously”, ie: it is put above reality, or common sense, or love for others, or above the laws of the land, it can be very ugly and dangerous.  You already know this if you have any recollection of September 11, 2001.  Or if you know anything about the Catholic Inquisition, The Crusades, the Holocaust, etc.  But not all harm is done on such a massive, worldwide scale.  Some of the same kind of destruction, hurt, and loss is inflicted silently, year after year, within the immediate family due to religious differences.  Between husband and wife. Between parents and children.  And it is just as ugly and just as devastating to those marriages and relationships. Please, dear friends, don’t let your religious beliefs get in the way of your job duties; or in the way of medical care you need; or in the way of the relationship you have with your children; or most importantly, don’t let your religious beliefs destroy your marriage over differences in tertiary issues.  We’ve seen enough of this within the Southern Baptist Convention over the last decades.  Don’t let the same nonsense destroy your home.

July 26, 2007. It’s been over 8 full years since this blog was started. Eight long years.  It’s also been several years since the settlement of two lawsuits involving this blog. That pretty much settled the matter for the parties involved. 

But what about you?  Have you "settled" the matter? Or are you taking your religion too seriously on how you view the blog, and more specifically, how you view those that question the “holy man of God” and the “sacred ancient texts?”

If you choose sides in these types of matters, and you take up offenses (see my previous post on this man made doctrine), then the conflict within your family is not over for you is it?  You may not want the Supreme Court building to be leveled as does J.D. Hall, but you still believe that this blog “attacked” the Lord Jesus and those that support it need to repent. Or that this country is going to implode because our courts upheld the rights of gay couples to marry?  Don’t let the pessimistic tantrums of the “man of God” get you all tore up about this great country.  Of course, he is losing influence alright, but that is his problem and is a good thing.  He spent too many years worrying over and preaching about criticism of the pastor over these past few years to even know what is going on in the culture.  No surprise then that everything he has been stomping about has been rejected by society and the courts. 

In other words, even though this blog was never about Jesus, His church, or the Bible; and even though the Supreme Court followed sound legal principles (See Loving vs. Virginia on Wikipedia if you are interested in understanding their decision.)  you continue to hold malice, resentment, disdain and other negative feelings toward the blogger, his supporters and toward our Supreme Court.  Is that being Christ like?  Do you have peace now over this blog and the reactions it brought? Do you love your country?  Do you love your husband?  Are you able to show it, or does your religion, and your religious beliefs keep you from demonstrating true love and support? 

If not, sadly, the tragic fall-out of taking your religious beliefs too seriously continues for YOU and your family does it not?  

It continues in the hearts and minds of those that continue to hurt loved ones by their ongoing reactions and discussions of this blog, the gay rights issue, affordable health care, religion, and the growing population of “dones” and “nones” among our young people who are done with church and want none of it.

I can't help but wonder how many people,  and I’m talking about your close, loved family members now, who have been hurt, not by “religion”, but by your taking religion too seriously.  I mean imagine if you trusted Jesus so much due to your religion, that you didn’t carry concealed weapons 24 hours a day for protection.  That would be taking your trust in Jesus too far, amen?  Or imagine if they trusted Jesus to provide for them and their family, and stopped working to provide food, clothing and shelter.  Crazy, right? Or what if they didn’t go to the doctor when they were sick, or take their daily prescription medicines and instead trusted in Jesus to heal them?  Of course they don’t do that.  They don’t take religion “that” seriously do they?  But yet some still want to hold in disdain, and show contempt for, a loving and faithful spouse that provides for the family, simply because they differ when it comes to "religion." 

You see the dangers of religion when it comes to every religion other than yours, don't you?  

The Bible says show me your faith without works and I’ll show you a dead faith.  Many Christians today say just the opposite: Show me your works, love, faith in Christ, provision for the family, fidelity in marriage, support and encouragement of the family, and yet you question the bible, or question the pastor, and I’ll tell you that person is no good, going to hell, is not a Christian and is not a “real man.”  Sickening isn’t it?  It’s what happens when you take your religion too seriously.  Religion has its place. Keep it in the proper perspective and make it a priority, but not THE priority in your life.  God can handle it. Jesus will understand.  After all, Jesus had a lot to say about the religious when he was here didn’t he?   Division over religion is sad, tragic, devastating, and oh so unnecessary.  Isn't it time, eight years later, to let it go?  Or is it too late? Has the damage already been done over these eight long years? Only you can decide that. The rest of us have moved on.  

Are You Taking Your Religion Too Seriously? J.D. Hall Sure Is

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies. (Ps 139;19-22, ESV)

I've already shown in a previous post that what is often described by devout evangelicals as a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ", is actually a devout, fundamentalist religion and not actually a "relationship". Read my prior post on this!

So a logical question is: are YOU taking YOUR religion too seriously? What does it look like if you DO go too far in your religious beliefs, and how would you know it? What would it look like?

To answer that question, of what does it look like when you take your religion too seriously or "too far", I'm going to first use a recent example of what I think is a well-meaning pastor and somewhat mainstream bible teacher, that has gone off the deep end and is now taking his religion way too far.

J.D. Hall, a reformed minister in Montana and best-known for his website Pulpit and Pen, on August 5th posted on his website an audio podcast entitled "An Imprecatory Podcast". In this podcast - complete with a mushroom cloud picture next to it - starting at about the 21:00 minute mark, J.D. describes how he prays imprecatory prayers against the United States Supreme Court building - yes the building itself - because of abortion and presumably the Roe vs. Wade decision, and fueled by his disgust over the U.S. Senate deciding not to defund Planned Parenthood.

In the podcast J.D explains that during a business trip to Washington D.C. some years ago he decided to tour the capital's monuments and pray for our government's agencies. He prayed at the White House, the Capital Building, and several war memorials.

But then he went to the Supreme Court building. He says he was going to pray a prayer of blessing, but even though he was able to pray at other D.C. locations where "equally evil men lived", he was not able to pray for the Supreme Court.

Here is what J.D. said:

"Then I went to the Supreme Court building. I was going to pray that the Lord would bless them, guide them, lead them, help them. And I don't know why the Supreme Court and not the House, or Senate - not the Congressional Building, not the White House - where equally evil men live. But when I tried to pray for God's blessing on the justices of the Supreme Court. I couldn't get it out. I tried. I really did. Honest to goodness, I tried to pray for them, in their honor, in their favor, to serve as a priest between me and, excuse me, between them and God, you know, to make a sacrifice of prayer to ask for God's blessing. But I just couldn't. The words wouldn't come to mind. And tears began to stream down my face and I got very emotional. And I prayed what I think in my life was the first imprecatory prayer that I ever prayed."

OK. So here is J.D. A trained pastor. He knows his bible. He preaches his bible. He believes it to be infallible, inerrant, and wholly complete for all instruction for life and spiritual guidance.

J.D.'s faith calls him to try to pray blessings on the Supreme Court. He is emotional. He tries to bless. But he can't. The words won't come. He cries. He is emotional. What a soft, tender heart that J.D. must have.

So he prays an "imprecatory prayer". The first one in his life, I guess a very special moment, his very first imprecatory prayer. What is an imprecatory prayer? In short, it is a prayer calling for the punishment and destruction of the wicked. Wikipedia defines it as prayers that "invoke judgment, calamity, or curses, upon one's enemies or those perceived as the enemies of God."

What did J.D. pray for in his imprecatory prayer? He continues in his podcast:

"I prayed that God would level that building, and leave not one single stone left upon another. Now, it's not as though I wanted to see violence done or wanted to see destruction, but as I thought about 45 million dead American babies because of a decision made in that building, I just prayed that I would live long enough to see God's justice come down upon it."

So there you have it. J.D.'s prayer is for the physical destruction of a particular building in Washington D.C. Not that he WANTS to see destruction, but he says he hopes his God will do the destructing and that he lives long enough to see the building in a pile of ruins. Presumably like the World Trade Center rubble, J.D. wants the building to come down even though he says he doesn't. You can almost sense his own internal conflict and duplicity in saying he doesn't want to see violence, but wants to live long enough to see the violence. Crazy stuff.

Now most decent men in a civilized society, if they DID entertain such an idea of wanting their God to destroy a building (and presumably the innocents that would be inside the building, because when calamity comes it usually comes without warning and innocents die), would never utter it to anyone, much less record it on a podcast and put it on the Internet for everyone to hear. But that is exactly what J.D. Hall's religion tells him what he must do.

So from where does J.D. get these ideas? He didn't just think it out of thin air, J.D. describes where he gets his desire and need to pray imprecatory prayers of destruction.

He gets his prayer from the Old Testament, and the New Testament. From his bible, the ancient manuscripts on which his religion is solely based.

J.D. continues:

"And considering the mass amount of wickedness and evil that's been done there [Supreme Court Building], there's a part of me that wishes that I would live long enough to see it, to see God's justice to come down. Now was it wrong for me to pray for justice to be administered upon that wicked building instead of praying positively, favoritively (?) for it?"

So J.D. thinks the building is "wicked". Apparently the building gets no credit for the mass amount of good and justice that HAS been administered there (think "civil rights"), but the building and its occupants, and justices, and janitors, and secretaries, and visitors, need to be destroyed because of its wickedness.

J.D. continues his explanation:

"I don't think so, because there's this thing called 'the imprecatory Psalms' contained in the book of Psalms...these are the imprecatory Psalms. We see places like Psalm 69, 'pour out your indignation on them and let your burning anger overtake them'. Hmmm. The Psalmist was serious and real. A time comes, a time comes, where you can find it in your heart no longer to pray for a nation and you begin to pray against it."

And J.D. is not the only one who takes his religion so seriously that he can't any longer prayer for his country. I'm shocked lately to hear so many pastors predict and hope for God's judgement on our nation over the same-sex marriage ruling last month. While these pastors would never admit they want God's destruction to fall on our nation, they seemingly are calling for it as a vindication that their God will do something to correct the wrongs of same-sex marriage and other cultural battles the pastors are losing.

J.D. continues his justification for imprecatory prayers::

"An imprecatory prayer, or an imprecatory Psalm, or song, an imprectatory genre in the scripture, is, is not contained wholly within the Old Testament but also the New. Where a curse is placed - I mean Jesus saying 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, neither go in yourself nor let anyone else go in.' We see this in 1 Cor Chapter 16, verse 22, 'if any man doesn't love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cut off, let him be acursed.' or Galatians 1, 8 and 9, very similarly, 'if anyone were to come and preach to you a different gospel let him be acursed.'"

So J.D. justifies his desires based on Old and New Testament scripture. I didn't know it, but J.D. has found an "imprecatory genre" in his bible. Never mind that Jesus wasn't praying imprecatory prayers against government buildings, but against religious leaders. How ironic that J.D., a devout religious man, uses that particular passage.

J.D. doesn't realize it I'm sure, but if his view is that God should bring judgement on the Supreme Court building, in fact that God WILL bring judgement, and then J.D. is PRAYING for God to do it, and if he believes that his God hears his prayers and might answer them, then I conclude the following:  J.D. is just one step - a small step - from becoming a religious fundamentalist fanatic calling for what we know as "terrorism".

A terrorist who destroys buildings first entertains the thought that their God wants the building destroyed and their God will ultimately destroy it. Then he follows that belief with fervent prayer for it to happen. Then it is just one more logical step to believing that God wants SOMEONE to do it for him! God accomplishes his will on earth by followers, right? Who tells people about Jesus? People do. Who builds the churches? God doesn't magically create them? No, people build them. So who would deliver God's judgement that J.D. is calling for?

But J.D. is not finished. He's going to go further, and not call for destruction of a building, but for individuals, as he is reading from Psalm 139, which he says is one of the "imprecatory Psalms":

"'He [the writer of Psalm 139] is thanking God for the miracle of childbirth, the miracle of conception, the miracle of the formation the child within the womb. He then says 'Oh that you would slay the wicked, oh God. Oh men of blood, depart from me.' Suddenly the hymn takes a sharp right turn. It was about a bouncing baby being formed in his mother's womb, and then it goes all imprecatory. 

"Now what I'm going to do, you can do whatever you want, but as I read this, I'm going to think in my mind: Planned Parenthood. I'm going to think in my mind Lindsay Graham. I'm going to think in my mind my own Democrat senator from my own state [Jon Tester]. I'm going to think in my mind all of those that thought that we should continue to fund Planned Parenthood, or lacked the courage and conviction to defund. People who are OK not only with murder, but murder for profit: the politicians in Washington, DC. 

"The wickedness that controls them. The principalities and powers of darkness in high places that rule over them. This reading of Psalm 139 is for you: 'Oh that you would slay the wicked, God. Oh men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord? Do I not loath those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred. I count them as enemies. Search me, oh god, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."

There you have it. J.D. makes it personal. Calls for the death of Lindsay Graham and Jon Tester and other government officials who disagree with him on the funding of Planned Parenthood.

Another one of the Pulpit and Pen contributors, Seth Dunn, did the same on Facebook, calling for imprecatory prayers of the Senators who refused to defund Planned Parenthood. I actually asked him, on Facebook: "Really? Imprecatory prayers? Should I pray for God to kill them? Or just break their legs?", Here is Seth's chilling response: "Kill them". Yes, Seth wants God to kill the Senators who voted not to defund Planned Parenthood.

Sounds like Seth and J.D. could hobnob with the Islamic fundamentalists and share ideas on how to pray for the destruction of the Great Satan.

I'm sure, that J.D.'s podcast has or will be examined by our federal government. Oh, J.D. wraps up with a "disclaimer" as he calls it, that Christians should not be the one to shed the blood, but we should call on God to do it. Not much of a disclaimer.

But what about YOU? Do you take your religion as serious as J.D. Hall? What is being destroyed in your life because of your devout religious beliefs and your strict adherence to your holy scriptures and to the men who tell you what they mean?

Stay tuned for more, in answer to that last question.

Taking Up Offenses

Another Tool of Manipulation: "Taking Up Offenses"

Psalm 82:3  (GW) Defend weak people and orphans. Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.

Isaiah 1:17 (ESV) Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Ephesians 5:11 (NIV) Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.

Watchdog readers already know about my passion for exposing any preacher that I sincerely believe is a charlatan that is taking advantage of gullible people that love Jesus and desire to serve him. The biggest hammer these charlatans wield is the notion that they are speaking for God, and that you must believe all of the Bible or none of it.  The second major hammer they use to keep the gullible sheep in line is the teaching that unless you were personally harmed or offended by the pastor’s words and actions, then you are sinning by exposing these words and actions; or even coming to the aid of others (ie: "taking up offenses") who you perceive to be hurt by the charlatans’ abusive teachings and practices. 

So what does the Bible have to say about “taking up offenses?”

Notice the three Bible verses above. Do you strive to live out those verses?  Specifically, do you “learn” to do good? (By learning, I mean do you truly keep an open mind and seek to correct your past, long held beliefs, or are you merely dogmatic about everything you believe with no willingness to consider what the bible actually says or other viewpoints?)  Do you “Seek” justice?  (By seeking, I mean going outside the same identical sources of information as to the facts and reality of a situation to consider other viewpoints?)  What about “correcting” oppression?  Have you ever made any effort to correct an oppressor? (By correct, I mean have the backbone/courage, the level of concern, the willingness to incur pain and harm to you and your family, by simply trying to get the oppressor to see their actions and change some of those hurtful ways?) Do you plead the cause of others? (By plead the cause of, I mean actually speak for, and on behalf of others, who otherwise might not have anyone else to do this.)  Do you, or have you, ever “protected the rights of the oppressed?” If you answered yes to any of the above questions, and I hope you did, then you have “taken up offenses” for others. And the Bible commands you to do this. Well done!

   

And what about Ephesians 5:11? The verses above are what this blog has been all about, when you really stop and think about it. It is not enough to merely not participate in wrongdoing, but the Bible commands us to do more. It requires us to expose them. Which might in fact require us to plead the cause of others and expose a charlatan's activities. So when others say "if you don't like it leave!", or "why don't you just go someplace else if you are unhappy with the preacher", your conscience and conviction and commitment to Christ won't allow you to do this. 

Before we go any further, stop reading and take some time to research what the bible says about “taking up offenses.”  Did you find it?  No, it's not in there in the Old or New Testament is it? You tell people you read the bible, that you study it, that you believe 100% of it, and that you follow the bible’s teachings don’t you? So aren’t you embarrassed that the Bible does not say we should not take up offenses.  So, where did that teaching come from if not from the word of God?  Unfortunately, it came from the word of a man. Bill Gotthard, in an attempt to silence those that were becoming more aware of, and concerned about, his inappropriate sexual activities, began teaching this "doctrine."  (Gotthard’s scandals date back to the early 1970’s and continue all the way up to this past year. They are not the point of this blog post, but for those that are indeed interested in “seeking” and “learning”, please click here: http://www.recoveringgrace.org/2014/02/silencing-the-lambs-taking-up-offenses/)

I want to try and keep this blog post simple.  Many people that have read this blog over the past several years were highly offended by the author’s criticism of various pastors, including the initial focus on one certain pastor. His name is not important, because this blog is no longer about him or all that he did, and hasn’t been for several years.  More importantly, he is merely one of hundreds of such pastors and their congregations that this blog will discuss, so why single him and his congregation out?  Nevertheless, these pastors have followers that defend them vigorously and vocally and aggressively and even warn of impending death and destruction in a variety of forms to the blogger and even to those that agree with him.   

Now let’s talk about you!  Did you feel offended by this blog’s content?  If so, you took up offenses.  Remember, this blog was not about you. It was not about “the church.”  It was not about Jesus.  It was not about God.  It was not even about the Bible.  The author never questioned Jesus or his teachings. It never criticized the true church of God. It never questioned the reliability of the scriptures. So admit it. If you read this blog and were upset over it, you were taking up offenses, and still are doing so if you have held on to those feelings for these past several years.  And worse, if you spread that resentment, disdain, concern, or other negative feelings about the author to other people that supported, and still support, this blog and its author, then you are hurting those people (and yourself and your family) by taking up offenses.

Remember, many of you told the author he would get laughed out of court. That he may die of a heart attack. That God would get ahold of him in a variety of ways.  That he owed the pastor an apology.  How ironic then, wasn’t it, when the blogger won BOTH lawsuits (one against the pastor/church and another against the Sheriff’s office) and presumedly was paid undisclosed sums of money by representatives of the pastor, his church, and the Sheriff’s office.  But nothing was more telling and definitive about who was on the right side of this issue then when all those people had to hear their beloved “man of God” apologize to the author.  Hello? The author didn’t apologize in the long run. And never will.  It was the “holy man of God” that had to stand behind that pulpit in front of the world and apologize. National TV, local TV, and internationally via internet streaming.  

But let’s be honest, that didn’t change your mind did it? The author and his few supporters were vindicated.  Or at least they thought. Have you apologized to the author? Or to his supporters against whom you have held years of resentment, disdain and contempt?  Will you? It may save you and your own family much pain if you do so.

Let me leave you with this thought.  How much stronger would your points about the author and his supporters be if the author of the blog lost both lawsuits, had to pay large amounts of money to the pastor and his church, and then had to publicly apologize for what he had written?  What would you be saying about the author then?  Answer: You would say that God showed up. That justice was done. That God’s man was vindicated. And that the blogger was exposed and given justice. And that he should repent and apologize. And that his followers were mislead and deceived and they also should repent and apologize. So…, can’t I say the same things about the author now?  And shouldn’t you agree?  And if not, can I tell you not to take up offenses?  Let’s all “seek” and “learn” and “protect” and “defend” as scripture commands us!  Maybe you are not called to “expose” wayward preachers as Ephesians 5:11 commands us to do. Maybe you don’t believe that verse.  Maybe you don’t believe it applies to you.  Maybe you believe it but don’t have the courage or ability to live it out.  That’s fine. I understand.  I thank God that the author was able to do it for us.  And everyone that stood with him should consider it a privilege to have supported him and encouraged him during the years of persecution he faced from his church, his pastor, the staff, the state attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office, and most importantly, from his own family. Shame on us when we don’t live out these verses.  Shame on us when we criticize, ban, trespass, shun and hold in contempt those that do. Let us take up offenses, particularly those offenses caused by bully pastors and charlatans that misuse and twist the Holy Bible to manipulate and exploit God’s people. Your pastor is not the weak, the oppressed, or the poor.  Those are the people that need your love, support and understanding in the face of persecution.  Don't let your "holy man of God" manipulate you into taking up his offenses.  And certainly, don't let him manipulate you into hurting those that took up the offenses of the author when his church, pastor, sheriff's office and state attorney's office came after him for merely asking some questions...and being persistent.  And writing blog posts. It's okay.

            

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.