Here is part of an acticle sent in by Jack:

An image of Jesus is to appear in pint glasses in commercials this Christmas as part of a campaign to encourage young people back to the Church.

A poster will show his face emerging from the froth on the sides of an empty glass alongside the words “Where will you find him?”.

 Francis Goodwin, the chairman of CAN (Churches’ Advertising Network), said he hoped the “Jesus in your pint” poster campaign would prompt a debate about God, alongside a series of radio adverts in which young people talk about their spiritual beliefs. It will use the social networking site Myspace to encourage discussion.

He said: “The message is subtle but simple - where is God in all the boozing at Christmas?

“For many, Christmas is just drinking and partying and God is excluded, yet many young people are interested in finding deeper meaning and exploring faith.

“We hope the link to Myspace will offer another venue for them to discuss their feelings and debate the issues.”

 I may not be up for much of a debate, but I certainly look forward to drinking a glass of Kris Kringle in my Jesus mug this Christmas.

  Rosie O'Donnell has caused quite a stir (a great ratings boost I'm sure) by comparing "radical" Christians to terrorist. Of course this means that the Holy, Blessed by God, Republican party is now up in arms.

I'm just not sure whether their mad because she insulted Christians or if it's because she's gay. Either way, I love the drama.

Here's part of an article discussing the issue:

Rosie O'Donnell says "radical" Christians in America are just as much of a threat as the followers of radical Islam who piloted hijacked jetliners into New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

O'Donnell, the newest face on ABC's "The View," yesterday let her feelings fly after co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck noted militant Islam provides a threat to free people.

"Just a minute," she interrupted. "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state."

She had been saying America was attacked "not by a nation."

Yet, she said, "And as a result of the attack and the killing of nearly 3,000 innocent people we invaded two countries and killed innocent people."

A bewildered co-host, Joy Behar, protested that Christians are not threatening to impose mass murder on Americans.

"There's that difference. This group is threatening to kill us," Behar said.

And Hasselback, appearing surprised, said, "We are not bombing ourselves here in the country."

"No, but we are bombing innocent people in other countries. True or false?" O'Donnell said.

I for one think she is giving Christians way to much credit. We would never do anything to impose on the comforts of life. Bomb someone? She's crazy, we may throw a big banquet and raise money for someone else to do the bombing, but there is no way were doing it ourselves.

This is what you get when you elect a so called "Christian" president. He may go to church, but he certainly hasn't done much for Jesus.

 Here's an ad for an upcoming event @ The City Church. These people (not all, but apparently Pastor Wendell Smith) never cease to amaze me.

This banquet is set "to honor volunteers and leaders." They also say "it's a special occasion to honor you"…but then they charge you to go.

I'm sure they're just covering their costs.

A Year of Multiplication

On September 17th The City Church will celebrate it's 14th Anniversary, and hold our annual Vision Banquet to honor volunteers and leaders. You won't want to miss this special event.

"Don't miss your own party!" says Pastor Gini. It's true, the Vision Banquet is more than just an annual event, it's a special occasion to honor you, faithful members of The City Church. Week after week you lay down your lives for the sake of the Gospel, and co-labor with us as we reach the city and extend God's kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Additionally, this year's Vision Banquet will be monumental, as Pastors Wendell and Gini have both mentioned "big" announcements will be made. Pastor Wendell will also be sharing the next year's vision, "A Year of Multiplication."

You won't want to miss it, so you'd better hurry to register because tickets are limited and going fast! Get your tickets!

Of course the tickets are all sold out…I'm hoping they open a satellite banquet.

 I just found Pastor Wendell Smith's (The City Church) blog and obviously, one particular post stood out to me: Money Makes Us More of What We Are. I'm always curious any time an MFI pastor speaks on money, seems there's a bit of a trend, but I wanted to give Pastor Wendell Smith a chance.

At first glance, it seems he was taking a slightly different approach then any I'd ever heard from Frank Damazio and City Bible Church. His article was about lotto winners and the DANGERS OF MONEY… (One of CBC's most feared subjects). In it, Wendell Smith, actually lists many scriptures that warn of riches and wealth (he must not know Kevin Conner scratched these verses out of the newest MFI Bible), but here they are, as Pastor Wendell listed them:

5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Prov 23:5 (NKJV)
22 A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him. Prov 28:22 (NKJV)

13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. 14 But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. Eccl 5:13-14 (NKJV)

12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. Eccl 5:12 (NKJV)

23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matt 19:23-24 (NKJV)

20 "But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:20-21 (NKJV)

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Tim 6:9-10 (NKJV)

20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Prov 28:20 (NKJV)

Quite frankly, I was shocked. It seems he is at least open to the idea of wealth not being the ultimate goal of Christianity (See any Frank Damazio sermon from 1994-present). How could these 2 MFI churches co-exist? The City Church and The City Bible Church???? Two moderately large churches, each belonging to the same Non-Denomination (MFI) with similar backgrounds and names and websites and conferences and youth pastors and…. like I said, I was shocked.

Then I took a closer look. I missed one important thing. Prior to listing, the "forbidden" scriptures (my words, not Wendell Smith or Frank Damazio's) Wendell says this:

The Bible tells us clearly what will happen to people whose riches come quickly.

"…whose riches come quickly"

I'd always wondered what MFI did with all those scriptures (they didn't really scratch them out, Catalyst made that up) and now I know. "…whose riches come quickly". Is it safe to assume that we should still try to "get rich blessed by God", just not quickly?

Well, I'm not ready yet to say Pastor Wendell Smith of The City Church from Seattle, WA has the same beliefs as Pastor Frank Damazio of City Bible Church from Portland, OR in regards to tithing and the Bible, but I will say this, IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.

I'm going to be traveling a lot for work the next couple of weeks. And I'm also training to run in the Portland Marathon October 1st. So blogging will be light for the next month or so. However, I'm working on trying to get a guest blogger on the site, and we'll see how that goes.

Let me leave you with a link from an article in the Washington Post discussing President Bush's belief in a Third Awakening. (Thanks to Chris for sending this in.)

Key quote:

"A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me," Bush said during a 1 1/2 -hour Oval Office conversation on cultural changes and a battle with terrorists that he sees lasting decades. "There was a stark change between the culture of the '50s and the '60s — boom — and I think there's change happening here," he added. "It seems to me that there's a Third Awakening."

Considering President Bush's track record in predictions, (We'll be greeted as liberators. Who knew the Levees were going to break. Iraq has nuclear weapons.) I'm pretty sure we'll be facing the next Apocalypse.

Jesus helped this lovely lady find her Yellow Hat.

She prayed:

But one day, years after the hat was long gone, I prayed to God, "Jesus, only you can find that hat for me because I have no idea what happened to it or who stole it. But would you find it for me, please?" I left it at that.

And Jesus helped her find it.

Locutus sends in this link about a guy who finds a Higher Conscious while surfing. And surfing ends up saving his life. 

The surfer also offers this anecdote about growing up Jewish:

Did you grow up with any kind of religious life?

I grew up in a Conservative Jewish household. I remember — hopefully, my mother will never see this article — at one point asking my mother why she was lighting the Shabbat candles. I was probably 8 or 9 years old at the time. And she said, "It's just what we do." And I was like, "Well, what do those prayers mean?" And she said, "Well, they are the blessings of the candles." And I was like: "Well, why do we bless the candles? What does it mean? Why does God care if we bless the candles or don't bless the candles? What does any of this mean?" And there were no answers. The answer was: This is what my parents did, and this is the tradition. And I never bought that.

This is the cover of the September 18th edition of Time Magazine. The entire article is subscription based, so I cannot post it here. But sufficed to say, the word is getting out.

Thanks to everyone who sent me this.

And to answer the question, "Yes. Sometimes God wants you to be rich. And sometimes He wants you to be poor. But mostly He wants you to love Him and love others."

Update: If you don't mind sitting through a short ad, you can read the entire article here. (Thanks Lex)

It's comments like these that make this blog worthwhile. Here's one from a Churchgoer in Boise:

My good friend and co-ex-toxic church refuge turned me on to your blog and we feel like we’ve discovered a goldmine. There are actually people like us in other cities! We knew there was a continual stream of the disillusioned who leave the dysfunctional world we were a part of, but to think it’s happening in your city too. wow.

We are over here in Boise Idaho where another MFI church exists called Capital Christian Center, run and controlled by the uncle (or should I suggest really by the Aunt) of Judah Smith. so good to see this blog to find out there are others out there who have disembarked from what is considered the maiden city ship. It’s a hard ship to get off, let me tell you. but you all seem to already know that. But once you do disentangle yourself, freedom comes in waves and in layers. We’ve been out a year and a half now and are still dealing with residual issues but making progress toward realness and getting back to original roots of Jesus. He is very patiently mending and reconstructing the incorrect teachings and attitudes I had accumulated over 20 years (it’s ambarrasing that it took my husband and I so long to figure out what was really going on), and 12 odd years of my above-mentioned friend.

It’s amazing how many similarities there are in the 3 churches, City Bible, City Church and Capital Christian Center, in attitude, in elitism, in celebrity-driven name-dropping motivations, in entitlement mentality so obvious as they audaciously fleece the flock weekly of money that in turn is used more to support the lifestyle of the senior pastor and his family (who are all over 25 now) than to further the work of the gospel in helping the poor or even helping those within the 4 oppressive walls of their domain. Prada purses and huge homes for newlyweds, countless trips to Washington DC (cancelled and rescheduled at whim on a continual basis) . . .

We go to the largest church in Boise now which is Calvary Chapel. It’s no wonder that it is attracting regular people because the pastor has an authentic history of living life before he met Jesus so can relate to most people and has slowly built a church that supports mission work all over the world. All we can do is show up on Saturday night or Sunday and listen to him expound on the Bible, verse by verse, and watch how it’s supposed to be done and let it heal us. Absolutely devoid of all hype– he refuses to press people for money but somehow the mission stuff actually gets done, both in this city and abroad. Instead of a propped up facade with no layers, their website has deep drop downs on every ministry that actually helps people where they need it.

We are still unable to read the Bible much–maybe in small doses; trying to shed the authoritarian voice of God that overtook his once authentic love and grace voice. Still gun–shy of getting involved at the new church, can’t even go every week, but go when we are up for it; at least it’s helping unravel the mess we allowed ourselves to become by seeing a new way of doing things: A church that pays their bills on time, accepting people as they are, not trying to hard-sell the latest vision/scheme and especially treating people with dignity and respect instead of making them all feel like they are worth less than and have an unimportant role in the big plan of God(which is reserved for the senior pastor and family: God-forbid you too can have a destiny and a reason to live other than to perpetuate the vision of the ‘First Family’–an expression coined by Wendell Smith himself); so much different than the sham of Christianity the former church has disintegrated into over the years.

I guess that was a really long way of saying that we get what you’ve all gone through because the same attitude and m.o. is at work here and we are so glad to be free of it altho it still haunts us daily. Your blog indeed so telling. Maybe we should start a Boise one. For that matter, why isn’t there one in Seattle?

You are known by your fruit, MFI. You are known by your fruit.

Pete sends in a link to a Christian Music Boat Cruise:

Here's a typical day for a passenger on the cruise:

7:15- Room service. What a wonderful invention. Up early for pancake breakfast with the sunrise.

8:41- Ready to be uplifted during devotions with the help of Todd Agnew and David Nasser.

10:04- Getting off the boat for Jamaica. Trying to decide between a tour of the island or hiking to a tropical waterfall. Time to flip a coin.

3:46- Back on the ship. Laying out on the sundeck with friends enjoying the view of Caribbean waters and exotic shorelines.

3:52- I'm pretty sure that Nicole C. Mullen waved at me from 4 chairs over.

4:57- Getting cleaned up for dinner at the exquisite restaurant onboard.

5:45- The word "exquisite" doesn't do the food justice. Dining is its own experience here.

7:50- Left for the Third Day concert. I hear the band is signing autographs tomorrow. Must remember to grab all 5 of mine.

9:08- Acoustic set with Bebo Norman. The calming waters only soothe the atmosphere making a perfect worship experience.

10:00- No time for sleep yet. I'm off to see Tim Hawkins eclectic comedy routine. Bring Kleenex in case I laugh so hard I cry.

11:53- Discussing the day's events with friends in my comfortable oceanview stateroom. Hawkins still cracking us up.

12:25- Finally slipping under the covers. Tomorrow can't come soon enough. Another day of relaxing, fun, concerts, and spiritual renewal. Man, did I ever need this vacation.