Author Archives: catalyst

About catalyst

I started this blog in 2004 to make fun of City Bible Church. It hasn't gotten old.

People Who Criticize Pastors are The Worst

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Pastor, Philip Wagner, writes a lengthy article criticizing other pastors for criticizing Joel Osteen.

The article could have been written by one of the many people who come on here and tell us to knock it off. The only phrase it is missing is “Touch Not God’s Anointed”.  I’m going to assume Mr. Wagner just forgot that particular verse.

My favorite part:

Yes, arrogance is really hard to see in the mirror. Really, really hard.

Anyway, the article gave me a good chuckle.

In the NFL off-season, God likes to help the NBA

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I don’t know how many of you are following this Jeremy Lin story. But he is an asian Harvard grad, who came from out of nowhere and is  tearing up the NBA . He has led the New York Knicks to a six game win streak. Last night, scoring a game winning bucket at the last second to help the Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors.

He also happens to be a fervent Christian. His twitter bio claims, “to know Him is to want Him more”. And his tweets are filled with praise for God.

If the Evangelical movement was smart, they would ditch those old fat guys James Dobson and Rick Warren and have Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin be the face of Christianity.

(And yes, I know technically Jesus is the face of Christianity. But when was the last time Christ made a game winning three or led his offense over 80 yards to a touchdown in overtime?)

Is using birth control a sin?

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Where in the Bible does it say that using birth control is a sin?

There is this huge debate about whether Catholics should have the right to refuse to provide contraceptives in their health insurance. And I am genuinely curious how the Catholic Church came to this position. Is this a belief based on the Bible or is it just a conservative religious position that has been passed down through the years?

I’m genuinely curious.  Does anyone know?

Moments in Marital Awkwardness

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While looking for a sermon from Judah Smith elaborating his position on homosexuality, I stumbled across this message from December 2011 titled, “The Discussion”.  In it, Judah and his wife Chelsea answer questions from the congregation, and in the process, give their very best Al and Peg Bundy impression.

“The Discussion” – Q&A from The City Church on Vimeo.

I have zero insight into Judah and Chelsea’s marriage. I hope it is great. But what you see in that first five minutes are two people who just plain do not like each other.  I watched that first section three times. I’ve had friends watch it. And I’m telling you, those two are not fans of each other. As a friend told me the other day, “I know Judah loves Judah. I’m just not sure Chelsea loves Judah.”

And hey, I get that marriage is hard. But if you can’t fake it for forty minutes in front of an audience, then I’m going to guess there are some deeper issues going on that perhaps might require some help.

Oh, and Judah’s position on homosexuality is just as ridiculous as always. His church welcomes gay people, provided of course, that they stop being gay. Only in an Evangelical church would this make any sense to anyone.

“Benny Perez is a Crook and a Fraud”

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Below is quite the revealing comment from someone who appears to have inside information on Benny Perez’ outreach to ex-prostitutes.

I was one of the handful of women who was in the Destiny House under Annie Loberts Ministry that the so called Church is now claiming as theirs. Not only were we exploited by the church but we were used as was Annie Lobert and her ministry for their own financial gain.

They are and always will be exploiting someone else for status and financial profit. Hooker For Jesus has not been associated with the Church for a long time now yet they still are deceptive to donors and to their own congregation about the issue. They have accepted donations for Hookers For Jesus knowing full well it was not for their church and knowing Hookers For Jesus was no longer associated with them in any way shape or form.

Benny Perez is a crook and a fraud. As for the IMPACT organization of course this was so he could hold onto more money. There is no other reason for it. As for their so called new sex trafficking house it is a joke and a front. In months since Hookers For Jesus stopped association with the church they have continued and do continue to accept donations knowing full well they have no had a single girl in that house with the exception of one and even or if they ever do it is there plan to then pawn them off to the Dream Center so they don’t have to deal with them cause they are incapable and over their heads.

They exploit/pimp their congregation and the populations such as sex trafficked girls they claim they want to help.

Usually, this is the part of the blog where I make a snide sarcastic remark. But Anna more accurately captures my thoughts:

“I think the Bible has a few things to say about those who exploit the poor for their own gain. I would not want to be one of them on the Last Day.”

God Works on Commission

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That is going to be the title of my upcoming “prosperity gospel” book.

A pastor in Maine, William Cripe, titled his book, “The Proper Pursuit of Prosperity”. (My title is better). And I love what Mr. Cripe says about the prosperity scam:

Cripe said the book is intended for people struggling with the frustrations of life. He made clear that there is nothing about financial success or extraordinary wealth.

“Many of the faithful people of the Bible were wealthy,” he said in his email. “This is not another book that bashes the rich nor does it maintain that poverty is next to godliness. There are in fact promises of ‘blessing’ in this life for the one whose priorities are God-centered rather than self-centered.

“But material wealth and perfect health are not guaranteed to anyone no matter how faithful they are,” he continued. “Some of the most faithful people in the Bible and throughout history were dirt poor or suffered horrible diseases or experienced great tragedies. We all know examples of very wealthy yet very nasty people and we probably all know some very wonderful people who experience crisis and calamity. Poverty and wealth are both poor indicators of God’s favor on a person.”

Um, yeah. Exactly.

Makin’ Sinners out of Saints

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When a commenter becomes annoying and dominates the online discussion, a lot of blogs will just ban the individual. But not here at City Business. No, here, we write a song parody about them.

Below is ‘Scrupe’s ode to Antipas. (To the tune of If I Only Had a Brain)

He loves posin’ with his doggie
And postin’ on our bloggie
Makin’ sinners out of saints
And with his Bible quotin
He’s been boastin’ and a gloatin’
Makin’ sinners out of saints

He unravels ev’ry scripture
And paints a damning picture
Makin’ sinners out of saints
With all the words he’s spewin’
He’s got all the bloggers fumin’

Makin’ sinners out of saints
Oh, why Cat’ tell us why
We must endure this bore

He sounds like preachers we have heard before
Who had us running for the door
He’s been huffin’ and a puffin’
Spewin’ lots of nothin’
Like a cloud that gives no rain

He should take a long vacation
From all all his accusations
Makin’ sinners out of saints
If he’d leave there’d be less fightin’
Though I’m sure we’d all miss Titan

Antipasta is insane

(c) 2012 ‘Scrupe

Scrupe also did us the favor of singing the song as well. You can listen to it via the link below. (You have to click through to the link and then click it again to hear the song.)

making_sinners_out_of_saints

Stop Bullying Pastors

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I have to say the ex-members of Harvest Church are a pretty fired up group. We’ve had a lot of people roll through this blog, but none with quite the fervency of these folks.

Recently, they created a petition asking Pastor Mark Bryan to stop bullying his current and ex-members.

On a related side note, I saw via Facebook that Bill Scheidler is relocating from South Africa to the Boise/Meridian area. I have no insight into why he is making this move, but my  guess is that it has something to do with the issues expressed in the petition above.

God Can’t Love You If You’re Wearing Gap

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Below is an email we received from someone who recently got fed up with the superficiality of church. I edited the email to protect the writers identity. 

I have been reading this blog for years but have never had the guts to actually send an e-mail with how grateful I am to have found this site. I found this site after I had been out of CBC for a few years. I was hurt badly at CBC from a lot of people ranging from “pastors” (I unfortunately use the quotes because the lack of maturity is maddening to me) to just other church members who were friends and family friends. I never felt like I fit in at CBC and was always treated as such. I never did drugs, wasn’t having sex, wasn’t drinking, wasn’t partying etc. There wasn’t any reason for me to be treated the way I was treated.

I went through serious health and mental issues in high school and found no help when in “counselling” sessions from CBC pastors. I also realized the emphasis on outward appearance there more than I already had. My doctors were extremely excited because I was 10 pounds away from gaining to the “goal” weight they wanted. I was approached by a “mentor” who negatively commented on my weight gain.

I stopped going to youth group during my freshman year of high school. I literally came home crying from some comment either another GU member said to me or a pastor. Comments about my non Nordstrom jeans, and other stuff. The day before and day of GU became days that I had so much anxiety that I could not handle it anymore. I found that it was less stressful to take heat for not going to GU than to actually just go.

Leaving City Bible was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I no longer found my identity in CBC, but found it in my studies. I felt confident, happy, and worth something. These feeligns were something I never felt before because my life revolved solely around a church that I felt like an outcast in.

I don’t have a problem with God, and I never have. I’m not an immoral person, I still read my bible and pray daily and try to live my life according to the Word. But as for a church I have not gone in forever. However over the past few years I have formed a friendship with a lady I met through my work and she has finally convinced me to try her church. Her church is a place where jeans and a tee shirt are fine and that it’s okay to make a mistake because pastors help you through it. If this church is anything like the person she is, I can’t wait to try it.

I read your blog not because I am bitter anymore, but because it’s a place where people can go through the process. They find out they aren’t the only one, or they read it because it puts CBC in a negative light, but then they just end up reading it to thank God they are out and in a new and better place. I like to look at this blog, it’s a constant reminder that leaving CBC was the best decision I have ever made.

I have never had the guts to really tell my story, and I know this is a long email, but I’ve never really told anyone besides a few close friends about what I went through and how I felt. Your blog has been a great place for me to have the courage to stand by my decision to stay away from CBC and I love seeing people come  out with their stories and what they went through. If it had not been for this blog, I would still have this nagging thought of am I awful because I feel this way about CBC. I love seeing stories of people breaking free and finding a better place.

I have to laugh at myself because as I went to send this, I almost didn’t because I became afraid if you mentioned my name in conversation someday to a CBC person that happened to know me,  what would they say? Would they claim I was lying? Would they judge me? Would they say I overreacted? But thoughts like that, fear of being judged for saying the truth….that’s exactly why I left CBC. I am telling my story in this e-mail to you because it just feels good to tell someone who would understand because they’ve been there too. I’m sure you may think I’m crazy blabbering on to you in this, but then I remember..I’m not the only one that has e-mailed you before to thank you for the blog.

What is Required for a Christian to get into Heaven?

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There is an interesting debate taking place in the Mormon thread, regarding salvation and what it takes to get into heaven. In one comment, Antipas states:

However, permit me to offer a “Jewish” perspective. Much of Pauls writings (ie Romans are taken WAY out of context. Are we saved by grace – Of course. However, that means the “moral” law of the Torah is very much intact and in fact now much more strict ( ie look at a woman with lust = adultery as Jesus said).

The new covenant as stated in Heb 8 is the writing of Gods law on our hearts and mind vs. stone tablets. A disciple of Jesus is under the Torah – however it has transcended as seen in Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

A Christian that continues in known sin is not a Christian and will not inherit eternal life and the Kingdom of God

My take is that everyone, even Christians after they are saved, continue in “known sin”. Christians may stop the easily identifiable “sins” – Drugs, Sex and Rock & Roll. But the more abstract sins — pride, anger, lust, greed — are all still very much present.

A reader also pointed me to Acts 15, which discusses the different requirements between Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles.  I had not read this chapter in awhile, so I was a little surprised to see that apparently at one point, according to the Bible, the amount of skin on a man’s penis affected his Salvation.

…and Mormons have the crazy religion.