This is in response to the post Beliver’s Do This? (listed below)

Ashish,

First, let me thank you for taking the time to read our little blog. It means a lot to us that PBC students are studying our work. I would like to take a moment to discuss a few of your points.

You say:

1. They claim Forward Together is something the church is doing so somehow the leadership can make more money.

-I’ve never said that and I don’t believe it. The leadership is not out for personal gain, but seems to care too much about the image of CBC. It’s more of a corporate money problem then an individual money problem.

2. Financial freedom is something that should be sought out by the local church.

-I Agree

3. The church body should desire to expand and see more people saved.

-I Agree

4. These and other similar things were what Forward Together was all about. -No

-Sorry, but Forward Together is about the expansion of CBC’s kingdom and not the kingdom of God.

5. Just ask and they’ll be more than willing to tell [you] what [is] happening with the money you put into the church.

-Has anyone ever actually tried this? I’m just curious. I don’t need to know the results, but I’ll bet no one has “dared” to question them.

6. They claim Pastor Frank (or PF) is only about ‘giving’ sermons, and that somehow he’s only emphasizing one aspect.

-I spent 10 years @ CBC and from every November through every January all we heard about was Faith Harvest (giving). Now, by my calculations that equals 1/4th of all sermons preached each year. Combine that with the “tithing” sermons slipped in every couple of months and you’ve got 1 in 3 sermons being preached on giving. If that ratio was set somewhere in the Bible I wouldn’t complain, but I just can’t seem to find it.

7. …you’d realize that the season the church is in right now, expansion and growth are at the forefront.

-Season? What is this Hockey? That’s one hell of a "season".

8. There is no biblical support for slandering our leadership.

-Probably true, when you look at CBC leadership as “elders of Christ’s church”; however if you see them as misled Pharisee’s there’s a bit more room to move.

I think if you stop idolizing CBC’s leaders and really listened and watched what was going on you would be equally “Unimpressed”. I for one am appalled.

This is from Impassioned Imperfections (http://myguitarzz.wordpress.com/) I thought it was worth posting.

Sometimes you go about thinking that you won’t ever come across something like this, but the more I read it the more I am in shock at what these so called Bible-believing people do to slander the work of God.

For sometime now I’ve known of the blog citybiblewatch.blogspot.com(also known as City Business Church blog) and at times I’ve been disgusted by their sense of entitlement to belittle the work of God. They somehow confuse integrity with flakiness, and emphasis into overbearance. I’ll go through a few areas where I don’t appreciate what they do. These things have brewed over as I’ve seen what kind of stuff this blog produces.

• They claim Forward Together is something the church is doing so somehow the leadership can make more money. I’ve attended CBC for all the years I’ve been here, and I can honestly say that CBC has been completely open to the entire body about their financial dealings. You can go look at their books. Just ask and they’ll be more than willing to tell what happenning with the money you put into the church. It’s horrific to think that so-called believers can slander the work of God. And by the way, financial freedom is something that should be sought out by the local church body. The church body should desire to expand and see more people saved. These and other similar things were what Forward Together was all about. To claim that there is some hidden agenda is almost preposterous.
  
• They claim Pastor Frank (or PF) is only about ‘giving’ sermons, and that somehow he’s only emphasising one aspect. Seriously if you think about this carefully, you’d realise that the season the church is in right now, expansion and growth are at the forefront. Why shouldn’t a Pastor encourage the believers to give more money. Is it not the responsibility of the body to finance it’s own expansion. Like I said earlier, it’s a season in CBC where that must be emphasised, but it doesn’t mean that’s all that is emphasised. Imagine if you will someone criticizing a farmer because all he does in the months of September and October is harvest. The farmer would nicely tell you that is not the case, but rather it is a season where that’s the emphasis.

There are some good posts and reflections on this blog that I feel should be applauded but the whole basis for this blog was just despicable. I’m not afraid to say it because with every great work that God does, there’s always going to be people who rise up against it.

Here’s what their blog has for it’s follow-up for it’s title:It is not by grace that one enters the kingdom of heaven, but by tithing. - Damazio 3:16

Just despicable. I’m appalled, almost saddened by it. Call me a loyal CBC member who believes in CBC, but according to the Bible if we are not in agreement with leadership the steps we need to take do not include slander, misrepresentation, and twisting of facts. We should rather approach the leadership and hear out the facts, if that does not work then pray, if still you feel ill towards it then leave the church in all humility and love. There is no biblical support for slandering our leadership, be it church or national. It’s wrong and I don’t care if I’m the first blogger to stand up and say it.

Thoroughly Unimpressed,
Ashish Joy

As you may have heard, CBC has updated their look. The are now an edgy 21st century, emerging church for the youth. It’s amazing what a graphic designer can do for your image. Their new look comes complete with a new logo and slogan “discover. experience. celebrate.”

Now, their logo looks like an updated version of the NBC peacock and their slogan reads like OMSI’s mission statement (thank you Anna for pointing that out), but apparently CBC believes that a new look will…? I don’t know.

…validate Forward Together?
…increase giving?
…help reach the lost? (now I’m being ridiculous)

I’ve taken some time to browse through the new website (www.citybiblechurch.org) and I am going to share with you my favorite excerpts. What they said will be in blue and what the meant to say will be in red. Enjoy.

What should I expect when I come?
“We can wear what’s comfortable” Church really isn’t about what you wear. We’re more interested in serving your real needs, experiencing God, enjoying being together and celebrating life. So dress casually and you’ll fit right in. Dress casually in $200 jeans and you’ll fit right in. (Currently we are wearing 7 For All Mankind Jeans, but if all you own are Citizen’s, we’ll make an exception. And remember, a Luis Vuitton handbag will make up for non-designer clothing.)

If sin separates me from God how do I get reconnected?”It all about the “F” word: forgiveness. Edgy, but no. Actually, it’s all about the “G” word: Give (to us)

The only question is will your kids have more fun than you will? We are willing to cover up sexual relationships as long as no one gets pregnant.

Frank Damazio, senior pastor of City Bible Church, is known for his relevant and transforming Bible teaching. Frank Damazio will at least make reference to the Bible in every sermon. On occasion he will even put scriptures up on the screen for you to read.

We Care: How can we help you?
Whether its food, clothing, personal, marital or financial counseling we want to help you. We will provide you with food, clothing or financial help, if you can pass our rigorous “Personal Profile” interview.

What’s the best part about the new CBC? A lot less talk on giving. We’ve spoken and they’ve listened. Because of all the outspoken thoughts and comments on this website and others, PF has had no choice but to cut down on “Giving” sermons. You can now feel free to visit CBC without the pressure of constant giving. Thank You.

Thank you all for sending in your nominations for posts of the year, we are excited to see who will come out on top this year. So far we have received 15,277 votes. Keep them coming, and remember you can text your vote to us by sending the message TITHE plus the name of the post to 4265 (HANK).

While we wait for the final tally, I am going to post an old blog that I wrote awhile back, but didn’t quite make the cut. Remember our motto “If it makes fun of Hank, print it.”

Looks like PF wrote a new book titled Biblical Principles for Releasing Financial Provision
The promo reads like this:

Learn how to obtain the favor of God and receive financial
provision in your personal and business world with
Biblical Principles for Releasing Financial Provision, a new
release by Frank Damazio & Rich Brott. Now available in
the bookstore.

“Learn how to obtain the favor of God…”
Now I haven’t read this book yet, but I’m pretty sure it should go like this:

Chapter 1 – Ask forgiveness for your sins
Chapter 2 – Accept salvation

It’s not a long book, but it’s power packed.

There is a chance however, it might go like this:

Chapter 1 – Take over a large successful church
Chapter 2 – Co-write a book titled Biblical Principles for Releasing Financial Provision
Chapter 3 – Wait for checks to come rolling in.

Not quite as life changing, but at least it should be a quick read.

If you think this should be nominated for Post of the Year, send an email with the header “Faithful Giver” to mortonjp14@hotmail.com. God Bless.

Have you listened to a City Bible sermon lately?

They’re pretty good. And by "pretty good", I mean the word "tithe" isn’t peppered constantly throughout the sermon.

And this, JP and I have decided, was the ultimate goal of this blog.

Or course we’re not arrogant enough to think that our blog alone prompted this change at City Bible… …alright, actually we are that arrogant…

Anyway, the one year anniversary of this blog is fast approaching. And to celebrate the Pope and I have decided to list our Top 10 posts, write a farewell post, and then finally end this wonderful experiment in humor, religion and large lopsided breasts.

And while JP and I are quite content to list only our Top 10, we thought that perhaps some of our readers may have their own favorites. Thus, feel free to email us at:

justin.morton@gmail.com

and

mortonjp14@hotmail.com

In conclusion, the agenda for the next month and a half is to post our best blogs, pat ourselves on the back for doing such a wonderful job, and then get back to what we do best. For Johnpaul that’s taking care of a wife and raising three young children, and for me that’s trying to determine which Capitol Hill bar is going to have the hottest interns tonight.

Is church just about dressing up and stepping into a Christian Culture every Sunday? What’s the significance and purpose of Church? Is it a place where you meet your friends? Is it something you “do” once or twice a week? Or is there supposed to be something more? Something that leaves you transformed because it’s in the context of this community of people that you are changed by God’s presence and refreshed by the meaningful relationships of those who stick closer than a brother?

Church. What’s the big deal?

It’s God’s big deal. He came up with the idea and He’s moving forward with the idea. The church is His bride, His family, the one who He died for. Church is the hope of the world, the revealer of His wisdom, the place of His residence, the people who He has entrusted with His life and power. Church is the big deal.

When God said that He would build His Church, He desired to create a community that was truly interactive, the kind of community that you would be involved in. It’s about interacting with His presence in a such a way that you discover the joy and life of getting to know Him more closely; you experience the power and reality of who He is and you have the opportunity to celebrate Him, His life and the friendships that He surrounds you with. Church is a community and an experience that you interact with, it really ought to leave you transformed… more fully devoted to Jesus.

City Bible is doing a great job not talking about money. As such, me and JP don’t have much to write about. So, we checked the internet and came up with our Top 10 Christian T-Shirts.

Here we go:

10 - Jesus offers you his protection.

9 - Satan - You’re Fired

8 - Every time you take a breath, 7 people go to Hell. Don’t be one of them.

7 - So What if I pray like a girl?

6 - Megachurchsurvivor

5 - My God Kicks Your God’s Butt

4 - Jesus Died For Pedro (and he died for you too Romans 5:8)

3 - Satan is a Nerd

2 - Body Piercing Saved My Life

and the number 1 Christian T-shirt…. (drum roll please)

1 - MORE COW BELL!

(Alright. Well, maybe that’s not Christian, but in some circles, Will Ferrill is a religious figure.)