I'd like to take a quick moment to say thank you to all the faithful contributors to this blog. Over the past few months our little blog has averaged over 500 unique visitors each day. I don't know why you are coming by and I don't care. You can love us, you can hate us, you can just be so damn bored at work that you need anything to give your self a break…it doesn't matter. To any and all who stop by…Thank you.

Here are a couple of comments that led me to a small rant: 

Help me understand says:

“If we simply preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that He died and was buried and was RAISED from the dead (which by way is what separates Christianity from all the world religions) and that we need to follow after Him. I bet people would get saved…maybe?” 

 Fred Flinstone replies:

<blockquote>All we have to do to see people get saved is talk about Christ and Him crucified. Now that’s just crazy talk. </blockquote>

I tend to agree…to a certain extent (I think HMU was making a slightly different point but never the less)…

People know Jesus. And people know that He died on the cross for our sins.  I am yet to run into one person who said "Now, who is this Jesus guy?". The problem is that the majority of people out there talking about Jesus are doing nothing to SHOW Jesus.

If you really want to see people saved, stop talking about what Jesus did and start SHOWING people what He did…which is sacrifice His life for you.

Please people, Can we all make a pact to STOP TALKING ABOUT WHO JESUS WAS AND WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED UNTIL WE CAN START SHOWING IT. Simply serve others, expecting nothing in return, and let Christ work in their hearts.

Serve others without preaching at them (they've heard it all before).

Serve others without inviting them to church (they've been there and found it to be a waste of time).

Serve others without saying "Well sir, Jesus is my Lord and Savior" 100 times (the more you say it, the less convincing it sounds).

Serve others even when they take advantage of you (don't stop at the poor and needy.)

Give Jesus something non-hypocritical to work with and see if He doesn't bring that elusive "revival" so many are seeking.

I'm done. 

Wendall Smith of The City Church in Seattle has written an interesting blog about healing…and of course by interesting I mean confusing. The blog was written back in February so it may not be current, but this is what he says:

This past week was a challenging week for me and many members of our church. While I have been preaching the message of healing from the pulpit over the past few weeks, the devil is still at work attempting to steal, kill and destroy.

One of the dear sisters of our church and a wonderful mother and wife suffered an undetected heart attack and went home to be with Jesus on the weekend. Another dynamic young Pastor's wife passed into eternity after battling cancer for several months. Many people prayed fervently, cried out to God and did everything they knew to secure healing for these women of God. But they died. They departed from us and went home to be with the Lord in Heaven.

TOOT TOOT, I have an announcement to make: When I die, whether it is tonight or in 100 years, it will be the work of the Lord. It will be because God has allowed it to happen. It will be God's decision that I die. I refuse to put my life in the hands of the devil and I can not understand why Pastor Wendell Smith would end a paragraph about healing with, "the devil is still at work attempting to steal, kill and destroy and follow that up with a paragraph talking about people in his church who have died. Why does Wendell think dying is the work of the devil?

Announcement over.

Wendell then goes on to list 7 "comforting secrets" that are "hidden in the pages of God's wonderful word". Here are a few of them:

#2 - The Scripture tells us that the "secret things belong to the Lord" and the things that are revealed belong to us (Deut 29:29). There are many things in this life, on this side of eternity that we do not understand, and therefore we must trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean to our own understanding. We may not know the "why" but we can know the "Who"!

We may not know the "why" but we can know the "Who"! WTF does that mean? And how does it relate? Geez Billy, sorry your mom died…and while I don't know "why" she died I can tell you "Who"!….see that doesn't even make any sense.

#4 - We have the sweet assurance that Heaven is an unfathomable reward for the believer. The death of the saints is precious in the eyes of the Lord (Psalm 116:15). Paul actually says it is far better to depart and be with Christ, and that to die is gain (Phil 1:20-23). He even says that he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death!

"The death of the saints is precious in the eyes of the Lord…"but wait…

#6 - With hearts full of faith and trust in the Lord our Healer we will continue to speak the word of faith and healing for people. We have been commissioned to preach the Word and heal the sick (Mark 16:15-20). These momentary contradictions will not hinder us from obeying the Lord and continuing His work. In fact we will retaliate (2 Cor 10:6) with greater fervor and zeal and continue to destroy Satan's evil works- by preaching and propagating Christ's healing message.

"We will retaliate with greater fervor and zeal and continue to destroy Satan's evil works…"

So…what I hear Wendell saying is that the Evil Works of Satan is precious in the eyes of the Lord…

It all sounds like double talk. I don't think Wendell knows what he is talking about. That is all.

Even though I have several more articles burning to be posted on this blog right away, I have realized that I first need to finish my book against the Mandatory Tithe. One of the things that I have found very difficult if not impossible for me on this blog is not to carry on extended conversations with those who choose to interact with the subject matter I post. Posting articles as well as conversing about them can involve much time.

I have been researching this book for several years now, and I feel that I must focus exclusively on it until I get it published. I want to thank the many others who have posted their thoughts about the tithe on this blog, too. All of the comments have been very enlightening. 

I will return to the blog when copies of my book are available. Please forgive me if I have left any topic or conversation too open-ended. That was not my intention. Blessings to all!

Galatians 5:1,

David  

Recently, I posted an article entitled, “The 3 Dirty Words of a Mega Church Pastor.” Someone brought my article to the attention of the pastor I named in it, i.e., Pastor Ted Roberts of East Hill Family Church (Gresham, Oregon). Pastor Ted posted a strong disagreement to my article with the words, "I challenge you to post this response and speak with me directly."  Ted’s response had already been posted, and I happily met with him on May 22. I brought a very good friend to the appointment with me.  Here is what happened:

1-Ted told me that he “had no doubt” that what I posted was accurate, as far as his former church employee understood him to have said about platform protocol. Ted believed that his former church employee, Will (name changed) had told me that he understood Ted to have forbidden the 3 words "sin, hell and repentance" from being spoken from the platform at East Hill Family Church.  
 
2-Notwithstanding, Ted further explained that even though Will had understood him in this way, that as the senior pastor of East Hill, Ted had never forbad the words "sin, hell or repentance" from the church platform. He did want everyone on the platform, however, to have tears in their eyes when/if they were ever to use the word “hell” – “like Jesus did,” Ted said.  
 
3-Furthermore, Ted explained that he personally believed in using the words "sin, hell and repentance" both theologically as well as ministerially. Ministerially, Ted is now traveling with his book and seminar, Pure Desire, calling Christians to repent from sexual sins so that, as Ted explained: true revival might come to the Church.  

 
4-The mistake I made, as Ted pointed out to me, was that I posted what Will had understood Ted to have said without first running it by Ted. I did this because Will was a very credible source to me, but this was a mistake in judgment. I sincerely apologized to Ted, and he gladly received my apology and we parted on very good terms. I also apologize to this blogging community.

  
5-For clarification purposes, before I composed this follow-up article, I asked Ted whether he ever had had a platform policy that forbad certain language being used in the church services. He wrote back to me these words:
 
“Once again, I cannot comment about what a 'former staff member' may have said I said. I just know I didn't put any overt or implied restrictions on sharing from the pulpit other that it be truth (biblical-practical truth) expressed with compassion and grace. I don't communicate that clearly at times and we are all in desperate need of a Savior every single day of our lives—so I have long ago stopped trying to get everyone one to fully understand me. I am just trying to love and help get as many folks as I can get healed. You don't have to run your comments past me. I am sure you will communicate as clearly and truthfully as you possibly can. In His Love, Ted”  

6-I spoke with another former East Hill Family Church employee, Craig (name changed), who worked with Ted for many years. Craig told me this about “The 3 Dirty Words…”: “The short answer is there was no implicit directive…. but also it is important to acknowledge what I would call (un-written but strongly implied "no-go" language).” Surprisingly, Craig also wrote, “Much of this actually originated with me.”
 
7-Ted shared with me that there was a very redemptive event that came out of the posting of my article. It was the fact that he and another estranged brother got together and found reconciliation in Christ. When my friend and I heard this, we gave God thanks.
 
I was very impressed with how Ted came onto the blog using his real name and challenged my article. This gave me the opportunity in Part 2 to give the other necessary side of the story. I was also very impressed with Ted during our meeting. He was gracious, honest, respectful and kind both to us as well as to Will. At the end of the appointment, all of us prayed together.

God brought much unexpected good from my first article. Not only did it create the opportunity for Ted to reconcile with a person who had sadly been estranged from him, I, a City Business Church (CBC) blogger who has come out very strongly against some senior pastors for operating like “pastor-kings,” am now posting a very positive report about Pastor Ted from my own meeting with him.   

Maybe this can be a beginning of reconciliation between some CBC bloggers and pastors. My hope is that more CBC bloggers would admit when they do not fairly give both sides to a story. I pray that more pastors would follow Ted’s example by coming onto the blog using their real names inviting us to meetings of deeper understanding and reconciliation. 

P.S. I will be taking a sabbatical from this blog in order to finish my book against The Mandatory Tithe. I will let you know when copies are available. Blessings to all!

Galatians 5:1,

David