Marketplace Ministries
Posted on May 7th, 2007 by Reformed Pope into the The City Church, David Mackin Writes: categoryDavid Mackin writes in this great post:
There are two meetings coming to town! Meeting #1 is Matt's meeting. Meeting #2 is Paul's meeting.
Which one do you plan to attend? Here are the details:
Meeting #1:
"Matt McPherson is a highly successful entrepreneur who has been recognized by the Fortune 500 Magazine more than once. He is the owner of several thriving businesses including Matthews Bows, the world's largest archery bow maker. He is also an innovative designer of the-state-of-the-art McPherson Guitars, a name that has become synonymous with quality, integrity and inspiring music. Matt's testimony is that God is the giver of all wisdom and creative ideas, and he is quick to give God all the glory for incredible success." (from http://www.thecity.org/)
Meeting #2:
Marketplace Ministries Banquet
With Guest: Paul of Tarsus…
Tickets are not required. (The food has been donated by local brothers and sisters.)
Paul does not know how to make "archery bows or guitars." (He just makes tents and converts for Jesus.)
Paul is not a "millionaire." (He doesn't make enough money to support himself by making tents; at times, he needs believers send him money, too.)
Paul is not a "highly successful entrepreneur." (He just makes tents because he can take his trade wherever he preaches the gospel of repentance.)
He has not founded any of the "world's largest" companies. (He just travels, preaches the forgiveness of sins and plants churches.)
He says that all of his "incredible success" in Judaism before he met Jesus is now just dung (Philippians 3:8).
He does not play the guitar. (He is not going to try to entertain you. He is just bringing some of his traveling companions who are also risking their lives to preach the Gospel (Romans 16:4). They are asking for greater boldness to preach the gospel. It's going to be a prayer meeting.
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May 7th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I just got word that a friend at CBC died on Saturday. Steve Warren. He was 54 and had attended there off and on, mostly on, for 25 to 30 years.
The church is busy getting a conference up and running this week and is/was stretched to find a pastor to do his service and help Steve’s family… mother and brothers and other relatives… who I understand do not know the Lord.
You think if it were someone with money/prestige/correct genes/nice watch/Nordstroms clothing, that he would be pawned off to the lowest bidder to do his services and comfort/assist the unsaved family? Or even pawned off to someone who never knew the guy? You’d think they would be able to have the elder/pastor involved who knew Stever more than in passing (if at all) or from a photograph in the directory. SO WHAT if that pastor who knew Steve is “over another district” or “has other responsibilities.” What IS the responsibility of God’s Kingdom?
May 7th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Church is a place for weddings and funerals as far as I’m concerned.
The last time I was at CBC was for Dave’s funeral. It was really interesting to me that everyone assumed everyone else still attended there. Most of the conversations went something like:
Person A: Oh hi, it’s been awhile
Person B: Oh, uhm yeah….
Awkard pause
Person A: So which campus do you go to?
Longer awkard pause
Person B: Uhmmm, I don’t really go here anymore
Person A: Oh yeah!?! Me either!
Person B: Oh cool! So how’s it going? What have you been up to?
In the end I felt that actual CBC members were in the minority for that service.
At one amazing point in during the reception Doug came up to two friends of mine and said “Man this sucks. All the hard cases from my past are here.”
The best part was he didn’t even realize the offences and hurt he had caused to the people he said that to… and how much worse he made it by saying that about their friends. I guess if they had spoken up and tried to get some resolution they would be on the “hard cases” list too.
I wonder if Doug will ever notice that year after year, most his former groupies become his “hard cases”.
Sorry about your loss Living Life. Leave it to CBC to even suck at funerals.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Its amazing how self-centered people can be. The funeral did suck, but that was because we had all lost a great friend.
Doug can kiss my ass.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Steve Warren was a friend of mine also. I knew he was in poor health. The last time I saw him was in CBC parking lot, the Lord impressed me to give him some $$. He had just lost a place to stay, due to the end of a ‘house sitting’ period. I stressed to him to let me know if he needed someplace for awhile…..it was the last time I saw him.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Do you know when and where Steve’s service will be….
….Would appreciate as quick a response as possible…Thank you…From another friend of Steves…
May 7th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Could someone tell me when and where Steve’s service will be??
May 7th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Steve’s service will be sometime after Mother’s Day and probably at CBC. I heard Mike White is the “elder” in charge.
Did Steve lose his house? I helped him plant trees once at the one he had bought from Bro. Andrew.
He was living with an aunt in Sandy the last whatever as he was just too weak to live on his own I heard.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Gee, if he brings the promise of Hellfire and Damnation for sinners; “I’M THERE!”
May 7th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
All of this is so sad. I don’t how these people go on the way they do! I feel horrible! I remember Doug Lasit. No substance. I asked him to simply back up a few of CBC’s beliefs and he kept telling me that he would later. Never did. At one point I actually heard him admit that “he didn’t really know what he believed”. What sucks is Doug, which explains all of the hard cases. Fortunately for me, I only lost two years at that rotten church. He is like a little child.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:18 am
I think you can just call CBC and ask when Steve’s service will be.
As far as attending a service where Paul of Tarsus will be speaking… I’m not sure. I heard he was a real trouble-maker, got kicked out of churches and even in trouble with the law. They say he’s pretty harsh in his written communication, but not much to hear in person — in fact he talks so long he puts people to sleep.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Anna: Yeah, I heard the same rumors about this “apostle.” Maybe we should just go to Matt McPherson’s meeting and hear how God can take our tent making or bread baking businesses from being average to bringing in millions of denarii! But, then what will we do with all of that denarii? We shouldn’t send our kids to college or save up for retirement because Jesus will come back before that - so, there’s nothing more that we can do with it except choose a mega church and give it to its senior pastor so that he can buy investment properties for his portfolio!
May 8th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
“The pastoral office has stolen your right to function as a member of Christ’s Body! It has shut your mouth and strapped you to a pew. It has distorted the reality of the Body, making the Pastor a giant mouth and transforming you into a tiny ear. It has rendered you a mute spectator who is proficient at taking sermon notes and passing an offering plate!”
Pagan Christianity, page 178
May 9th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Berean said: The pastoral office has stolen your right to function as a member of Christ’s Body!
Berean: Fabulous quote! Thanks for posting it. The idea is very scriptural:
“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?” I Corinthians 12:17-19
i.e., If the whole body was a pastor, where would the prophets and the evangelists be? If the whole body was a pastor, where would the teachers and apostles be?
i.e., If the whole body is Frank Damazio, as just one example, there is no need for any other preachers and teachers on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings!
Unfortunately, the later letters in the NT seem to reveal the rise of institutionalization in the church - very different than the body life in the Pauline communities addressed in your pertinent quote. E.g., The churches began to have official titles and offices (elders and deasons, I Timothy 3) for their leaders, etc.
May I ask the author and publisher of Pagan Christianity so that I can obtain a copy?
May 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola
Another similar book by Michael Rood The Pagan Christian Connection Exposed
‘Scrupe
May 9th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Does anyone know if I can use these book quotes on this blog? Anyway, I have another one that I thought was good from the book “BECAUSE THEY HATE” page 216 by Brigitte Gabriel
Political Correctness Gone Mad. Religious Correctness Gone Mad Too!
‘The term “political correctness” has evolved out of the Marxist and Freudian philosophies of the 1930s to become a tool for multiculturalism, multisexualism, multitheism, and multi-anythingism. It was created to discourage bias and prejudiced thinking that discriminates against an individual or group. It has become society’s way of not offending anyone, whether it is an individual, a group, or a nation. In many instances, however, it is a simple, disarming way of ignoring or deflecting the truth about a situation, Today, the use of political correctness has become so abused that anyone who voices his or her opinion contrary to “politically correct think” is immediately tagged with some form of disparaging label, such as racist and bigot (or in the church, a rebel, emphasis mine). This exploitation has gotten so out of control that this name-calling accusation is used as a simple and mindless means to manipulate academic, social, or political (or religious, emphasis mine) discussion. The result is a social paranoia which discourages free thought and expression. It’s like living in a totalitarian state in which you are afraid to say what you think. Now who wants to suffer that? So people keep quiet. Their opinions are held captive to fear.’ (BECAUSE THEY HATE, page 216, chapter 14)
I thought this was an excellent paragraph in this book, so I wanted to share it with you.
This relates so well to the church in so many ways. There is a hidden religious correctness that lies at the heart of most IC’s. It’s an unsaid but obvious fact that you don’t question the policies of the pastors or the board of a local congregation without very quickly becoming one of those troublemakers to be labeled and ignored.
One of my brother-in-laws related this story to my wife and me a short time ago about a conflict that arose in our family concerning some business dealings. This particular brother-in-law would not confront my other brother-in-law because he was a pastor and didn’t feel worthy to confront him even though he was obviously in the wrong. He felt like he couldn’t question what the pastor(the man of God) did. Where did that come from? From years in the Catholic Church being brainwashed into thinking that the hierarchy does nothing wrong. Most parishioners sit silently, mute listeners to the man of God. Silent questions that arise are quickly tucked beneath the surface, to await another resurrection at an opportune time. Many people, I’m sure, would just love to stand up and confront some of the things that are said, but they know they would be herded out of the building. So week after week, month after month, year after year, they sit and listen or they quietly leave, go somewhere else or don’t return to any assembly. It’s like living in a totalitarian church where their afraid to say what they think. Their opinions are held captive to fear. I personally don’t believe the Lord intended His Church to function that way. Comments, please and thank you.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Short quotes are OK Berean - it’s called ‘fair use’ - just credit the source
May 9th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I love Frank Viola ! That name really brings back some childhood memories. I think I’ll pull out my baseball cards when I get home tonight…
May 9th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Thanks Scrupe, I’ll have to check that one out as well.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Thanks, Living…Steve sold his house quite awhile back…Several yrs. or so…I would bump into to him every few months at CBC…Any other info on what happened with Steve would be appreciated…
May 9th, 2007 at 11:57 am
What an incredibly ACCURATE quote!
May 9th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
caj—If you click on my name with this post, I think it takes you to where you can contact me and I can give you the name of a lady to phone. I just don’t feel comfortable putting that information here.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
I have a friend of a friend who lets me know about these things:
Steve’s memorial will be Saturday May 19, 11am at the chapel. His mother has asked that in lieu of flowers, people give money to the CBC building fund, since Steve’s greatest wish was to take Jesus to the community.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
It was for Steve… but which community will CBC be building in? Guess I’ll find another Christian outreach to support
May 12th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Living life…thanks for your offer…I’ve made a connection re:Steve…hope to see you at his service…caj
May 13th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
MEDIA MATTERS
Murdoch pastor gets heat for mogul’s porn channels
Christian leaders question Rick Warren for church’s cozy ties with Fox owner
——————————————————————————–
Posted: May 10, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Rick Warren
Mega-pastor Rick Warren is being challenged by other Christian leaders for not disciplining a prominent member of his California Saddleback Church flock for being one of the world’s leading pornographers.
That would be Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., which, in addition to building a media empire on the chests of topless models and edgy, pushing-the-envelope Fox TV network shows, recently began building a stable of hard-core porn channels for its BSkyB subsidiary.
“Rupert Murdoch is a born-again Christian and Rick Warren claims to be his pastor,” says Chris Rosebrough, head of the Christian Accountability Network. “As a Christian, Murdoch is committing an egregious sin by owning, expanding and profiting from pornographic channels, and Rick Warren, his pastor, has a biblical duty to call Murdoch to repentance and/or put him out of the church.”
Read the whole story and you’ll see where the IC is on church discipline. Corrupt in my estimation esp. when it benefits the CEO. Makes you wonder about other CEO’s. Time to do a little more house cleaning.
May 13th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
If the Purpose Driven Life involves topless women then I can see why it is such a big hit in Christian Circles. Maybe I will read it.
May 13th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
READ it?
I heard most guys just look at the pictures….
;)
May 14th, 2007 at 9:32 am
:) lol.
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
For those who might be interested…Steve Warren’s service was very nice.. there was many kind words and great stories shared at the microphone about Steve…Lots of family and friends were there…the chapel was close to full…we’ll miss you Steve…