I like to think of this blog as a lighthouse, shining bright for all to see; steering wayward Christians away from the Rocks of Damazio. Many times, a sermon gets cloudy, like a fog rolling in, and that's when Catalyst and I run up to the top of the tower and light a way to shine through the darkness. Ahh…the life of a lighthouse keeper.

Look now, a storm is approaching from "The Domes" as we speak…

From CBC's April 21-22, 2007 bulletin

Today's Thought

In the last two weekends we have had over sixty people respond to Christ and many prodigals return to Christ. We took in 120 new members on Super Sunday Night, baptized another twelve new converts and prayed over 37 new small group leaders who are starting new groups. Thank you, CBC, for reaching and loving people.

I also presented in video our history thus far in "Taking Church to the People." You will see this video in the services again this weekend. Our new Vancouver Campus will open Sunday night, June 3, with a 5:00 and a 6:30 pm service and a huge party. To help cover the final set-up cost for the building and the additional overhead until the new campus can grow into this new location, I'm asking everyone to help us raise $350,000.

We are one congregation meeting in multiple locations. Vancouver, like 217, is your campus, an expression of your faith and vision to take church to the people. This new venture will take all of us stepping up, giving, praying, and serving. We will all inherit the eternal fruit of souls, lives changed, marriages saved and young people equipped to face this generation.

Please take the pledge card and let me know what you can do between now and June 10, our first Sunday service. This is an eight week window of giving. Put the card in the envelope along with whatever you are giving today. Our God is our provider and He will open windows of provision for each and every person. Thank you! You are an awesome church!

-Pastor Frank Damazio

Catalyst, quick…light the lamp.

To help cover the final set-up cost for the building and the additional overhead until the new campus can grow into this new location, I'm asking everyone to help us raise $350,000.

Final set-up cost and additional overhead?????? That costs $350,000…what were the initial costs? And "additional overhead" maybe instead they should cut back instead of just spending the money.

Vancouver, like 217, is your campus, an expression of your faith and vision to take church to the people.

"An expression of your vision"…who's vision…certainly not the congregations? Frank, did you take a poll before you decided to expand your business to Vancouver? Was there a vote that I am unaware of? No…that's because it is your vision, Frank…not your church's.

And just like that, the light beams out to the darkness.

You may be thinking, $350,000…that's not all that much, right? Well wait a minute…let me do my job here (lighthouse and all)… How many campuses does CBC plan to have…9…how many do they currently have? 2…and Vancouver makes 3…

This isn't going to stop. Besides your annual November through December "Faith Harvest", you are going to be continually hit up for money to pay for new campuses. All so Frank can self-fulfill a prophecy over him saying he would one day "Pastor 10,000"…I guess if he can fulfill his own prophecy he might actually earn his "self proclaimed ‘apostle of the city' title.

Watch out for those rocks…if you have any concerns with the future of CBC stick with us here at City Business Church…

We'll be your candle on the water.

I just listened to Frank Damazio's lastest sermon titled "Windows: Heavens Treasure". I'm going to tell you about it, but I think it would be best if you just listened to it yourself.

At this point in life it appears that Pastor Frank is just making things up. I don't think he cares about anything but his own agenda. After what I heard today, it will be amazing if anyone shows up at church next week to hear Part 2 of this series (I of course will listen to it online, but that's because I have no life).

Here's the Running Diary:

:57 - Frank starts out with this quote: "I do not teach for Knowledge, I teach for Transformation…". At least he's honest right? The last thing he needs is his congregation to actually learn anything. No, it's much better if he can just get them pumped up enough to follow him around. Anyone questioning whether CBC is founded in "hype" need not look any further than that quote. Go ahead and listen to it yourself.

2:49 - Through this sermon he is going to teach us how to "Throw open the windows of Heaven"…how much do you want to bet giving him money is going to be a key factor in this?

2:57 - Yup, he wastes no time: "Let's start with Malachi 3:10"…I do believe this is the only scripture Frank actually knows. It's unbelievable…wait a minute, I spoke to soon…Frank is following up by offering a disclaimer: "This is not a finance series" (right). He actually mentions that he doesn't want people to tune him out just because he's speaking out of Malachi 3…"This is not a finance series". This is great, he just had to clarify so his congregation doesn't walk out on him. I think we are getting to them.

5:03 - "Every person has a window" Translation "Every person has a wallet".

5:50 - Back to Malachi 3:10

Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

I can hardly believe him at this point. He just told his congregation, that this scripture used to bother him when he would teach it only on finance because "I've never ever been in a place where I can say I don't have room for any more money". Apparently there is always room for more money. …I kid you not, listen to it yourself. Anyone questioning where Frank's heart is at need not look any further than that quote.

Fortunately for and according to Frank, this scripture is "not just about finances".

7:56 - Reads Malachi 3:10 again this time in the Message translation.

Test me in this and see if I don't open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.

Frank is an amazing guy. He is taking his special tithing scripture, skipping past the tithe part, and applying it to his sermon on "opening the treasures of heaven". I can't believe I'm about to say this but, "Frank, you can't do that. You can't leave parts out. If you are going to apply that scripture you need to apply the whole thing. The tithe stays." (I'm sure he will get to that later anyway). Personally, I don't think this scripture can be applied to us today, but if you are going to use it Frank, please use it right.

9:40 - Starts defining the words: THROW, OPEN, WINDOWS, and HEAVEN.

14:47 - Quote of the year. This quote by Pastor Frank is probably the most telling thing I've heard him say in a long time (at least in about 4 minutes anyway). After giving his descriptions for the words above, Frank says,

"There are  scriptures for every one of these, but I won't take the time FOR THAT".

That's right people, Frank Damazio won't take the time for…Scripture, The Word Of God, The Holy Book…he has a bad habit of misinterpreting scriptures, and expects us to take his word on this stuff because he doesn't want to "take the time for that". "THAT" happens to be the foundation of Christian beliefs. "THAT" happens to be the middle part of his churches name. "THAT" happens to be "THE BIBLE". Why doesn't he have time for it? It's unbelievable.

And finally, anyone wondering what kind of Teacher Frank is need not look any further than that quote.

I can't take any more of this sermon. I'm shutting it off now. If anyone else can bear to stomach it, go ahead and finish this post for me.  

This is just absurd.

From City Bible's April 14-15 Bulletin:

Imagine being one of the few in Pastor Frank's recent dream: trapped in a deep canyon surrounded by steep clefts with no visible means of escape. Hearing rushing flood waters rapidly approaching–a breathtaking, fearful, heart racing experience. He had the peace of mind to quickly analyze the situation and PRAY! "Help, Yahweh-the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master; hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ear! Listen to my cries for mercy."     (TMB)

This reminded me of a prophetic word to our church in 1984. "In the time of trouble, in the time of adversity, in the day of storm and hardships, when you feel overwhelmed by the pressures of this life and you feel like you want to pull back and fall away. You want to lay down your armor and your sword, — don't stop now, and don't pull back… Don't rely upon that which you feel or see with your eyes. Draw near unto God."

Overwhelming flood waters may rise to drown us with physical, mental or emotional distress or frustration. What rising waters threaten you today: debt, strongholds, apathy, broken relationships, sickness, family issues, fear, worry, anxiety, depression, immorality, or unbelief? Instead of focusing on the flood, believe-pray-intercede and see the floods retreat! "Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes." Nehemiah 4:14 (NLT)

I'm really quite curious about why they keep bringing up Frank's dream. If its for real, then it sounds to me like some bad things are about to happen to CBC (or just Frank). Probably not something I'd want to parade around.

Also, is anyone else bored with obvious prophecies such as the one above? I mean, really, "When things get tough, don't give up"…that's not a prophecy…that's a Hallmark Card of Encouragement. Furthermore it leads me to this rant:

I am sick and tired of having people treat God like he is the Staples Easy Button. He's not. Lets get real people, God created the earth, He created all the people and all the animals and all the Schefters in this world. HE set the rules in motion…and you know what? He set up consequences or rewards for every one of your actions…that's right…there are consequences for YOUR actions. Stop waiting for God to clear up the problems you created, go out and work on fixing things yourself. Don't just sit around whining to God about your problems. Yes you should pray but don't stop there. Pray and do, people…pray and do.

CBC wants you to believe that the only way to solve your problems is by asking God to take them away. Why do they do this? I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess it's because they want to be in control of your life. When they tell you "Just pray about it" if God doesn't miraculously solve all the problems that YOU created for YOURSELF they have built a crutch for you to lean on and then they can pressure you into whatever they want (giving more money seems to be their go to).

All to often while at CBC, when I would go to my pastor for advice they would say "Just pray about it" to which I would think…"I am praying about it, I have been praying about it, I need real advice here"…but none ever came.

In my opinion, outside of death and sickness (and perhaps  "bad childhoods"), life is what you make of it.  For every action there is a reaction. For every decision you make there is either a consequence or a reward…but it's your decision:

What rising waters threaten you today: debt, strongholds, apathy, broken relationships, sickness, family issues, fear, worry, anxiety, depression, immorality, or unbelief?

I've written out their list of "Rising Waters" and next to them I've put what I like to call "The Boat". In addition to prayer, when you face these "rising waters" try:

For Debt - Try a Budget

For Strongholds -Try Self control

For Apathy - Try a Red Bull

For Broken relationships - Try taking responsibility.

For Sickness - Ok, you can push the button on this one.

For Fear, Worry, Anxiety, or Depression - Try Prozac

For Immorality - Try Self Control (again)

For Unbelief - Try…Ok, they stumped me with this last one…go ahead…push the button.

My point is this: Although life is not easy (and anyone who tells you differently is selling something) you don't have these problems because God has decided to curse you. You have these problems because of bad life decisions. Sorry. The cold hard fact (and feel free to disagree with me on this point) is that God is not likely to take away all your problems, that would be classified as a miracle and we don't see to many of those around here do we?

I believe in the power of prayer, I just hate seeing it used as a crutch. Don't just pray…pray and do.

Now that was easy.

It seems we have a college educated teacher pontificating on our fine blog, who asserts a persons age, education, profession, etc., establishes credibility.

So, since we're trying to be a "credible" blog and not just a silly parody blog, you're going to have to show me, Cat and RP your papers before you can post here. (JK )  Henri, enable the "credibility filters" (aka "BS filters"), would you please?

I'll start. I retired from engineering operations at the Boeing company following a career in aerospace, supporting a variety of projects such as (this is for schnitzel who seems to relish acronyms) AWACS /E3A, IUS , ALCM , PHM, GSRS, ISSA , MX, etc.  (I linked a few of the more interesting ones).

Of course, I've learned that Paul was absolutely right when after he cited his impeccable credentials as a card-carrying jew, he considered them all to be "dung" compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.

Oh, and it's because I'm retired that I'm home reading this blog. That doesn't mean I don't work now - I fix houses - play with my grandkids - you know - old guy stuff.

Anyhow, (in my best Sgt. Schultz voice) "Your papers please!"

Sam

Our fearless blog-leader has added the ability to upload pictures and submit stories about Senior Pastor Ed Schefter on his website:

www.edschefter.com

We think this might be a good way to get a nifty repository of the Ed Schefter we know and love.

Who said it? Let's test your City Business Church Blog knowledge. The following is a list of actual quotes from actual people. No matter how ridiculous they may sound, I assure you we did not make them up. Can you guess who said them?

Here is the list of people to choose from:

Doug Lasit, Frank Damazio, Judah Smith, Rick Snow, My Wife, Ed Schefter, or Marc Estes.

Note: some people have more than one quote on this page. If you are having trouble figuring it out; click the link and it will take you to where we blogged about it.

"I have sex all the time." -  Who said it?

"I tithe for Protection; I give offerings for Progression" -  Who said it?

"I love Poo" -  Who said it?

"I just think it would be wise, if we would stop, stand in the gap, build a hedge and turn the tide. Can I hear an amen." -  Who said it?

"I enjoy the feeling of cascading water on my naked body"-  Who said it?

"Most people wouldn't like my coffee, they would think it was oil. And I proceed to tell them its the Holy Oil of Yashua"-  Who said it?

"He (God) is literally looking, in the American Church especially, for people He can trust with thousands, millions, maybe even billions of dollars over the course of your lifetime" -  Who said it?

"Forgive me, I can not pray to God naked"-  Who said it?

"All good giving hurts." -  Who said it?

"I came up with the concept for ‘Eternity,'" -  Who said it?

"Baths freak me out because there's no like suction" -  Who said it?

"I'm proud to be a Morton." -  Who said it?

"I want to set the record straight. I am having more fun then you are." -  Who said it?

"If you don't tithe at least 10% of every check you get, then you put a cap on God. God simply can not bless you. He is powerless to bless you." -  Who said it?

I found this while wandering aimlesslly around the internet and thought it was funny enough to post: 

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS JEWISH:
1. He went into his father's business.
2. He lived at home until the age of 33.
3. He was sure his mother was a virgin, and his mother was sure he was God.

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS IRISH:
1. He never got married.
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS MEXICAN:
1. His first name was Jesus.
2. He was bilingual.
3. He was always being harassed by the authorities.

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS ITALIAN:
1. He talked with his hands.
2. He had wine with every meal.
3. He worked in the building trades.

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS CALIFORNIAN:
1. He never cut his hair.
2. He walked around barefoot.
3. He invented a new religion.

THREE PROOFS THAT JESUS WAS BLACK:
1. He called everybody brother.
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He could never get a fair trial.

Well, they did it, folks. They tied the score; the gays are on the board.

Gay and lesbian Oregonians won a victory 34 years in the making Thursday when the Legislature passed a law protecting them from discrimination in housing, work and public places

However, City Bible Church, led by coach Nashif and assistant coach Nick Graham, haven't quite given up.

Opponents argued the law was not needed and gives special rights to gays and lesbians. The law raises questions, such as what constitutes discrimination against cross-dressers or what is required of public schools, said Nick Graham, spokesman for the Oregon Family Council, a nonprofit Christian group that opposed the bill.

"They broadened it out quite a bit," said Tim Nashif, political director for the Oregon Family Council. He said that while the council still opposes the law, it felt like it was heard.

The council is weighing whether to challenge the bill by collecting 55,179 signatures of registered voters and putting the measure on the November 2008 ballot, Nashif said. If it is not challenged, the law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2008. 

Guess that mass email alert by Frank Damazio didn't quite garner the bump in support, the church was hoping for. So sad! Oh well, I look forward to the November 2008 showdown at the Oregon Ballot box.  Who will take the lead?

I'll  see if I can create a Gay Madness Bracket for 2008. We can place bets on who wins. I trust it'll be a smashing good time.

Pastor Rick Snow of Atlanta City Church spoke last week at CBC. The title of his sermon was The Generosity Factor, which struck me as odd, because I instantly recalled listening to a sermon from CBC last year by Rick Snow also called The Generosity Factor…in fact I even blogged about it.

*Quick side note, did anyone else at CBC catch this? I beginning to feel like Kathy Griffin in the Seinfeld episode The Cartoon. I've really got to get a life*

So, for the second time, here is "The Generosity Factor":

:36 - "Generosity was laid on his heart". Tells a story of a pastor who took a job at a Christian School that was completely broke and this pastor listened to Rick's series on Giving and then someone gave them 2 million dollars.

7:12 - "Tell Me what you think about money and I'll tell you what you think about God"

9:15 - "Have a need, Sow a seed" - or as Frank would have you believe "Have a greed, Sow a seed"

10:01 - Mentions that for the first time in many years this tax season he is "Getting a substantial amount back from the IRS" and do you want to know why…because he "sowed almost $27,000 into his church". Then Rick mentions that he "is in the top 5% of givers in his church." - Ok Rick, I hate to tell you this, but getting tax money back does not qualify as a "blessing from God"…your tithe is tax deductible…that's a gift from the IRS, not God…and there are formula's for calculating how it all works…not really a miracle is it?

Also, why do you know that you are in the top 5% of givers in your church and why does that matter?

12:22 - His goal is to "give a reverse tithe" (I'm not making this up). Giving 90% of his income and living on 10%, Rick Warren already does this.

15:07 - Tells us that his church "sowed $100,000 to a "Black" Church in Portland, OR & God gave back not in the form of dollars but instead the reaped in square footage" (they now own a 100,000sf building).  - Whoops, don't let Pastor Frank hear that…Frank doesn't believe that is possible:

                "The special law of sowing and reaping is that the product of the harvest will be the same in kind as the seed sown. Tares will never produce wheat, nor wheat tares. But each seed reproduces its own kind."

Sorry, Rick maybe you sowed a house somewhere and that is how you received the bigger building.

16:35 - "God is in the business…" I didn't catch the rest of this statement, but I don't think God is in any business…he's God.

16:50 - Tells a story about a guy who was in debt with over $100,000 on 2 credit cards that came to him for help. With Rick's advise, the guy pays it off in 2 years. The guy didn't receive any raises at work or anything. So how did he pay it off? Rick says it's because "once God saw that this man was serious…it's amazing how quickly the blessings come". - OR…once this guy got on a budget (with Rick's help) its amazing how much money he actually had.

 Let's be honest, average Joe doesn't have the ability to run up $120,000 on 2 credit cards, clearly this guy makes plenty of money; he just needed someone like Rick to slap some sense into him. And there is your blessing…God didn't pay off the credit in 2 years, this guy did.

19:00 - Tells everyone that if they don't listen to his sermon (which is led by the Spirit) over and over then none of this will work.

20:02 - Quotes Scripture "My God will supply all your needs..." but then says "Every promise has a premise" (Marc, are you getting all these quips. They're gems). "Every promise has a premise" so that scripture "doesn't apply to everyone". Anyone want to guess what that premise is?

33:30 - Rick says something to the effect of "I'm not watching where you give your money…that's not my job…God forbid I would have to do that". Sure, but you know that you are in the top 5% of givers in your church. Stop lying to us Rick.

33:50 - Quote of the night. "I tithe for protection from the curse that is in the earth out there". Let's read that again

"I TITHE FOR PROTECTION FROM THE CURSE THAT IS IN THE EARTH OUT THERE".

My friend Jenny wants to know which scripture that comes from…no seriously, which scripture?

33:59 - "I tithe for Protection but give offerings for Progression". Frank, write that down.

Ok, you see where this is going. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Pastor Rick had a lot of GREAT things to say about getting your finances under control and I'm sure he makes a great financial advisor (just talk to the guy who paid of $120,000 in debt in 2 years). The problem for me is when you tie Financial Trouble with Giving Money to the Church. It sounds good, but just isn't Biblical.

People, stop and think about all this for a minute. Do the math. Listen to everything you've heard from CBC on giving and receiving, run it through the Bible, and see if it adds up. It doesn't. If you have financial troubles today, giving money to the church isn't going to solve them. Getting on a budget, however, will. Tithing isn't a miracle cure for debt, in fact, ask around and you'll find people who tithed regularly and only dug themselves deeper into debt. I'm one of those people.

When my wife and I first got married 7 years ago, we gave 10% of our income every week to CBC. By the end of the month we were living on credit cards. Why? Because we didn't know how to handle our money. Here we are years later, we don't give a full 10% to the church anymore (although I wish we could) and now we have no credit card debt. Imagine that.

I'd like to offer this challenge: I bet that if you took 2 people (or 100 for that matter) and had half of them give 10% of their income to their church, but after that not look at their money at all, and take the other half and have them not give a dime to the church but follow a strict budget you'd see the truth to how much blessing*is involved in tithe. The blessing is in the budget, everyone. The blessing is in the budget.

*by blessing I mean in a CBC sort of way…financially that is. I believe that there is a great "general blessing" for those who are generous, I just won't put a dollar figure on it.

Just so you know, we don't make this stuff up. You might think Samaritan stayed up late one night putting this together but I swear, this is not us…

Here, for you viewing pleasure, is a video advertising…no…I'm not gonna spoil it (but Judah Smith is in it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoG3ENXg_kU&mode=related&search

And don't worry, this one's short.