Well, I made it. 2 weeks since the last time I looked at this blog (or any other like it). 2 relaxing weeks…which have led to this extremely long post. In that time, I managed to come up with this defense of our blog. But before I get into that, I'd like to lay out a few disclaimers:

1. I believe that the Prosperity Doctrine which is taught by CBC, TCC, and many others is a false doctrine that is detrimental to the faith of those who attend. If I am wrong then I will be punished heavily (the Bible makes that very clear).
2. Gossip is wrong. There is no excuse for gossip. I will not attempt to defend a gossip blog.
3. If this blog is written out of anger, bitterness, or revenge than it is wrong. These are not the issues that I want to debate. The only way this blog works is if we are correct in the fact that CBC is harming the Gospel of Jesus through the false teachings from the pulpit. (I do not believe that everything taught at CBC is false, but there is enough there to make a strong case for __________….my lawyers advised that I remove this sentence. You get the point.)
4. Not everyone or everything at these churches is wrong or bad. There are plenty of good people doing good things. Its unfortunate that they don't get any help from the pulpit.
5. I didn't really spend that much time looking up a defense…more on that later.

So here it is; two weeks later this is what I came up with: 3 YouTube videos that are worth checking out:

The first is video montage called There's a sucker born every minute. It's funny for the first minute.

Then check out this completely unrelated parody of Lacey and Kameron's SYTYCD performance. It's only funny if you watch the show…which I do.

And finally watch this unfunny, but powerful video of John Piper on the Prosperity Doctrine.

Of course I didn't just use YouTube for my research, I also went to the Bible where I found out this:

Proverbs 13:5 "The righteous hate what is false"…

I am not going list every scripture that deals with false teachings, you should look them up for yourself, but the Bible is full of warnings against false prophets and teachings. That fact alone is reason enough for this blog, but lets continue.

I shall now read from Paul's 2^nd letter to the Corinthians:

I'm actually not going to, I just wanted to fit in a Wedding Crashers quote, but I urge you to read 2^nd Corinthians especially chapters 11 and 12 and this commentary on the same. Since you are not going to read it, I will sum up for you my understanding of these verses.

In 2^nd Corinthians Paul is addressing the Church of Corinth and the Christians throughout Achaia (2 Cor 1:1).The Corinthian church had been infiltrated by false teachers and Paul wanted to address these issues. When Paul speaks of these false teachers he uses rather harsh language (2 Cor 11:13-15) and even "biting sarcasm" (2 Cor 11:16-21).

Note that he does NOT send this letter to the false apostles directly. He does NOT take 2 or 3 witnesses. He does NOT just ignore the teaching and let God be the judge. Instead, he sends this letter to the church and the people of the area. Paul is not concerned that the "non-Christian" people living in Achaia might see this letter, he is more concerned with addressing these false "super-apostles"…and he is not nice about it.

Furthermore, these letters are then placed in the Book that we want all non-Christians to read (hint: the Bible) and we hope that after they read these letters that they then believe in Jesus. I found a number of examples like this in the Bible where members of the church were publicly rebuked for their false teachings. There is nothing wrong with public rebukes, IMHO. And, based on the little research I did, I would have to say that a blog is an excellent way to rebuke a church for leading it's members away from Jesus…but NONE of that is what I "received" during my hiatus.

Here is the conclusion I came to regarding this blog:

We spend way too much time focusing on the negative side of Christianity.

This is why I didn't spend much time researching a "blog defense"…I feel (hope) I've moved on.

Yes, the crap that is spewed by PF each Sunday is offensive. Yes, the fact that they want to continue to grow their church which will only lead to them corrupting the minds of others is disturbing. Yes, the fact that they trade the work of Jesus on the Cross for the American Dream is flat out wrong. But you know what?

The Bible is replete with scriptures that point away from what City Bible Church, The City Church and many others teach. In fact, while I was looking up scriptures about false teachers, I found so many examples that say "Watch out for the trap of Prosperity". It's all over the Bible. This led me to this conclusion: If anyone who attends one of these churches wants to find the truth, it's out there. In fact it's all over the place. Prosperity with a Purpose is not a Biblical doctrine. Its not. That is why you see these preachers taking parts of verses and pairing them up with parts of other verses as they try to weave their web.

All anyone has to do is stop making IDOLS out of their CHURCH, their PASTOR, their Life and they will find the truth. Let me list a couple of scriptures just to help make my point:

1 Timothy 6:6-9… 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

Matthew 19:21-23… 21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

 22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

 23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell 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."

Believe me, there are plenty of others that say the same thing. So what's my point?

During my "fast", I stopped listening to sermons by Frank, Judah, and Wendell, but I still needed to get my weekly sermon fix, so I started listening to a number of sermons by John Piper. The difference was huge. I listened to an 8 sermon set of Piper's called Light & Heat in which he encouraged us to be happy and satisfied in Christ. John Piper refers to himself as a Christian Hedonist, which at first glance sounds awfully similar to the Prosperity Doctrine that we hate so much. However, instead of talking about personal growth and gain he made this point (over and over):

God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.

Yes, we should pursue happiness and joy, but we need to do so "in Christ". Happiness may be persecution; it may involve pain and hardship, but if we can begin to understand what we have in Christ, none of that will matter. We will still be happy, and God will get the glory for it.

Look at what the apostles went through; look at what Jesus went through. None of it involved "Personal Prosperity", but they understood that ETERNAL LIFE is far more valuable than anything that the world can do to us. How does the song go? "You're all I want, You're all I need, You're everything…everything."

If we really understood the value of Salvation, how would we live our lives? Would we pursue personal gain or would we spend our lives living for Christ?

Somewhere along the way I lost my joy. Christianity became a burden to me and I think it is all because I spent so much time focusing on the FALSE. False teachers, preachers, and doctrine. It weighed me down to the point that I wasn't able to enjoy Christ.

I want to give that side up. Feel free to carry on pointing out the sins of the church, but don't let it rob you like I let it rob me. I'm not quitting this blog, but I want to change the focus…which may result in quite a few less posts. I want to live a life that honors God. I no longer feel any responsibility to point out the errors of CBC…the Bible does that far better than I could ever do. I want my joy back. I want to show the world that I am satisfied in Christ so that He gets the glory.

John Piper read this quote from Blaise Pascal that really struck me:

Year of grace 1654, Monday 23 November, feast of St. Clement . . . from about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight, FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars. Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. "My God and your God." . . . Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy. . . Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. May I never be separated from him.

I'm not there yet, but that is where I want to be. This is what I want my heart to feel…Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy… Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. May I never be separated from him.

I've decided to take a break…I think you get religion points if you call it a "fast" so lets do that…

I've decided to "fast" from this blog for a couple of weeks. I've taken a fair amount of criticism over the past couple of weeks (thank you MMI) and while none of it has convicted me to STOP blogging, it has given me a few things to think about…I mean pray about. The first question would be "Is the blog an Idol to me" and the second is "What responsibility do I have in regard to the gossip that happens here?"

I have been praying about this rather heavily for the last few weeks and don't feel God has said anything to me in regard to it. While I think this blog has done some wonderful things over the past 2-3 years I want to be sure that I haven't gotten so involved that I can't see the truth of what is happening.

I felt the best way to do this was to take a short break, read up what on what the Bible has to say about Blogging (should be a good post when I get back), and see if I hear God give me any direction.

Ok, As I am writing this, I just pulled up the comments on our site and saw that Phil had this to say:

I hope you keep this blog going!

That's funny…many people would take that as a sign from God…but I see it for what it is…a sign from Phil. Thanks Phil, I'll let you know what I come up with in 2 weeks.

But before I go, I did want to reiterate a solid comment that was brought up earlier by FICM in regard to CBC/MFI's emphatic teaching on Tithe:

Is there any definitive works or books on the subject available from CBC or MFI related churches? Is there some book or document that spells out what they believe on the topic? You'd think that something so fundamental to the way they run things would be their biggest seller at their bookstore. If they are truly convinced of what they believe, shouldn't it be easily available to the public? But I only find hints of it in their book titles. Does anyone know which of their books is the best one on the subject? I'd gladly buy it just to see how they justify it. JP, I know you've had many conversations and emails with the leaders at CBC - did they ever give you any materials to reference?

It seems strange to me that for someone who went there for over a decade I couldn't point someone to book or leaflet on the tithe.

I hadn't thought of that before, but I think it is a valid point…for all the preaching they do on tithe and with all the books they write you would think it would be easy for us to find something spelling out what they believe…but we can't and they don't…Anyone want to take a stab at why?

Thank you all for you enthusiastic response to my meeting with Howard. Reading your comments took me back about 18 months to the passion I once felt in regards to City Bible Church. I would like to address some of the comments and will do so, but maybe it would help if I tried to explain myself a little better first.

When we first started this blog a year and half ago I still felt (and was) very connected to CBC. I still had many friends that went there and spent a lot of time talking with people about the church. After giving over 10 years of my life to CBC I felt I had a right, and duty, to call out the errors of their way.

I did just that. And it was good.

Now fast forward 18 months, I haven't stepped foot inside the church, I only have a few friends that still attend there (I can't imagine why) and don't really know what's going on anymore. At this point I can confidently say they are not the same church that they were while I was there.

Yes, it sounds like they are worse off now then when I was there and that they are continuing to head in the wrong direction, but I don't really know for sure. At this point it just doesn't seem to be any of my business. There are millions of screwed up churches out there and I would like to focus on more of them then just the one I used to attend.

It's not because I believe they may have changed for the better, its because I just don't care anymore (yes CBC, another point to show that I am not bitter).  As I said before, this does not mean that I will never write about City Boobie again, I still may…

Please don't take this post as a resignation or a concession. It's just time to move on.

And now for your comments.  

Comment 1: Maybe I got it wrong, but, why wasn't someone willing to meet with you a long time ago?

They made 1 previous attempt (2 if you count Larry Asplund, but I think he knew he was on his way out). I met with Marc Estes when the blog first started. He didn't seem to care about what I was saying. He was only there to tell me why I was wrong. He threatened to "Do what ever it would take to make the blog stop", but never followed through.

Comment 2: Can I ask you honestly? Doesn't the 18 months, lawsuit, etc., kinda let the air out of whatever happened in your meeting with Howard? I mean, clearly Howard cares, but he's just one man. What about CBC the institution?

They are what they are. Right now, I feel I have made my point and as we all know, there is no point in beating a dead horse. I had never spoken with Howard before that day and I stand by what I said. He's a good guy.

Comment 3: Does talking with one man really give you closure?

Not really. I believe this blog and the many comments by all of you have given me closure. My meeting with Howard was just a nice way to formalize it all.

Comment 4: Yea, so Howard's a great guy, and he cares. Guess what. There's other great guys up at CBC…who probably would care too…But it just seemed like you shared the conviction that many of us have against institutions like CBC, and now you're backing away faster than a Joel Fahndrich post.

There may be other people up at CBC who care, I haven't spoken to any of them. I've been through so much on this blog: talks of lawsuits, multiple threats, countless meetings, my family even got Uninvited to a 3 year olds birthday party; all because of my actions. There's been nothing "fast" about it.

Comment 5: We've spent a lot of time on here spelling out the things we've disagreed with in terms of doctrine, philosophy, and policies of CBC, the actions of the pastors, elders, etc. None of that has changed, but now you feel good about it because you had an amiable meeting with Howard?

I don't feel good with it. I still don't agree with the way they do things, I'm just tired.

Comment 6: Let me give you a hint: Howard is the head of CCLI because he's really good at something. That something is making people feel good about agreeing with him… So is it any surprise that you felt good coming out of that meeting? Not in the least. Unless you already know Howard and are willing to look past the slick salesman (as sincere as he is), and stay focused on the issues, you're not likely to make any "progress" towards resolving your philosophical issues regarding what church should look like, especially when it comes to tithing.

I don't get a "slick salesman" feeling from Howard. I believe he genuinely cares. Howard and I are still communicating about our "philosophical issues", but we go to 2 different churches now. Chances are real good we won't agree on everything. The important thing is that we can openly debate the issues.

Comment 7: And now that I see how you've backed off, I can't see why I should be reading here any more.

I'm not sure why anyone reads here anymore. Things have gone downhill since we posted our last Christmas song.

Comment 8: RP said himself that there is a time to judge intentions and a time to judge actions. I have a hard time when I hear that someone who has been a CBC elder for 20+ years has pure intentions when he continues as part of a church leadership group that misrepresents Scripture to boost their income.

How about this then?

In dealing with me…Howard had the best intentions. His actions backed that up.

Comment 9: Howard seems to be ok with that tithe policy as he referenced 10% tithing in his last blog post….and hasn't posted since. As FICM already pointed out, I have no doubt that RP was sold on a salespitch by an experienced salesman, nothing more.

Howard sold me nothing (except this great CCLI T-Shirt).

Comment 10: I have always found that actions speak louder than kind words and "pure intentions". If I believed every religious salesperson that had "pure intentions" and a good sales pitch, I'd probably be a Mormon.

How true. Mormon's really are the best humans aren't they. I look forward to seeing many of them in heaven.

I am a superstitious man. It’s true.

This blog is supposed to end this weekend. Sunday marks the one year anniversary of when we started counting traffic to our site. Over 80,000 hits, in one year…that’s impressive.

The problem is that I’m enjoying the blog again. We’ve got new readers…new comments…new people telling us we’re bitter. How can I give this up now??? Well, I’ll tell you.

Last night when I went to drive home from work, my car wouldn’t start. Ok, all you closet CBC readers, have your laugh. Go running out of the Generation Ministry offices and give each other high fives. The Pope’s car won’t start…isn’t God good (all the time).

I called Justin; told him my car wouldn’t start and that I was ending the blog. He agreed.

Fortunately, it was just a dead battery; I got a jump and went home. On the way home I had to question my rash decision to end the blog, after all, it was just a dead battery. Nothing serious.

Regardless, I’ve decided… when it’s time, it’s time. I am done participating in this blog. You don’t believe me? Well…

I’m not going to explain this blog again. I’m not going to say why I blog. I’m not going to try to defend what this blog has done. All I am going to say is….

82,800 hits…and counting
1 article written in the Pulitzer Prize winning Willamette Week
1 threatened lawsuit
1 million laughs…and counting

I can’t think of any better way to end this then by posting the #1 blog of the year…it’s actually 2 blogs…both of them Christmas songs…both of them hilarious… both of them written by Jesse and Joel Morton. Congratulations boys…Merry Frankmas.

Catalyst got run over by a Lasit
Catalyst got run over by a Lasit
Walking home from blogging Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Dougie,
But as for Joel and Jesse, we believe.
He’d been drinkin’ way too much egg nog,
And we’d begged him not to go.
But he’d left his medication,
So he stumbled out the door into the snow.
When they found him Christmas mornin’,
At the scene of the attack.
There were hoof prints on his forehead,
And incriminatin’ dollar marks on his back.
Catalyst got run over by a Lasit,
Walkin’ home from blogging Christmas eve.
You can say there’s no such thing as Dougie,
But as for Joel and Jesse, we believe.

DOUGIE THE BROWN NOSED PASTOR
(Sung to the tune of Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer.)
You know Scheidler and Mishler and Estes and Louman,
Jaimeson and Rachinski and Joneses and Nashif,
But do you recall, The most famous pastor of all?

Dougie, the brown-nosed pastor
Had a very dirty nose.
And if you ever saw itYou would even say it shows.
All of the other pastors
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Dougie
join in any pastor games.

Then one foggy Faith Harvest
Damazio came to say,
"Dougie with your nose so brown,
Won’t you guide my lexus home"?

Then how the pastors loved him
And they shouted out with glee,
"Dougie the brown-nosed pastor,
You’ll go down in history"!

Have you listened to a City Bible sermon lately?

They’re pretty good. And by "pretty good", I mean the word "tithe" isn’t peppered constantly throughout the sermon.

And this, JP and I have decided, was the ultimate goal of this blog.

Or course we’re not arrogant enough to think that our blog alone prompted this change at City Bible… …alright, actually we are that arrogant…

Anyway, the one year anniversary of this blog is fast approaching. And to celebrate the Pope and I have decided to list our Top 10 posts, write a farewell post, and then finally end this wonderful experiment in humor, religion and large lopsided breasts.

And while JP and I are quite content to list only our Top 10, we thought that perhaps some of our readers may have their own favorites. Thus, feel free to email us at:

justin.morton@gmail.com

and

mortonjp14@hotmail.com

In conclusion, the agenda for the next month and a half is to post our best blogs, pat ourselves on the back for doing such a wonderful job, and then get back to what we do best. For Johnpaul that’s taking care of a wife and raising three young children, and for me that’s trying to determine which Capitol Hill bar is going to have the hottest interns tonight.

Recently, the church leadership at The Well asked Johnpaul (Reformed Pope) to stop blogging. They felt this blog was creating a rift between The Well and City Bible Church. They felt their church was becoming an anti-City Bible church.

(You think? I could have told you that. Two years ago I went to The Well and it was all ex-City Bible members. If you ask me The Well is just City Bible for people who like to booze it up. But I’ll blog my thoughts on that later.)

Nevertheless, no sooner does JP tell me he’s quitting the blog, than he sends me the following email. So enjoy this post, as it will be Reformed Pope’s last.

Justin,

They get it. I hate it, but they get it.
Conferences make money. This one may take the cake though.

City Bible Church is holding:

“The TOTAL LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE. This conference is an uncensored, practical and up-close look at leadership in the local church.”

A one week conference cost $250.00 each.

However if you want to also participate in Leadership Uncensored (I know, I can’t stop laughing either) then you pay an additional $75.00. PER NIGHT. That’s right, per night. There are 3 Uncensored nights for $75 each. The good news is that you can get PBC credit for going (an extra $100).

So, total cost (excluding parking)

Conference $250
PBC credit $100
Uncensored $225
Total Cost $575

Also, the first Leadership Uncensored is hosted by PF @ HIS HOME.

And there it is…. Farewell, sweet pope. You will be missed.

(Somewhere there is a joke about art mimicing life, but at this point, I’m fresh out of Van Gogh jokes.)

I think its time to end this blog. When we started this blog, my brother wanted to be like Martin Luther. I wanted to be Jon Stewart. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, we stopped sounding like Jon Stewart and started sounding like Lars Larson. As such, I think its time to stop. Let me close by saying thankyou to everyone who read the posts and commented. I have discovered a lot about myself and about how the church deals with dissent. I had a lot of fun writing the different posts. And as me and the Pope are eight-year veterans of the homeschool movement, look for homes-cool blog at a computer near you. Take Care Justin Morton justin.morton@gmail.com

It can’t be over! We didn’t even get to talk about Presbytery or the Toronto Blessing or any other wind of the Spirit that P.F. has gone chasing after in an effort to keep up with the Jones’ found in the pages of Charisma Magazine. Oh well, maybe I’ll just have to hang on to my "…I see you getting married someday, Oh handmaiden of the Lord" jokes. I bet if they sell one of their $3500 robotic stage lights on eBay they could still have time to make someone’s Holiday really special, but then that’s just the practical side of me thinking out loud. Merry Christmas everyone!

I feel that the purpose of this site has been achieved. It was never meant to be a large debate, but simply a forum to call attention to a problem with today’s mega church. I believe that has been accomplished. Whether this was the right avenue or not I don’t know, but I do believe that God has used this site. I hold no bitterness in my heart for anyone @ CBC. I have spoken with many of my friends there and those that actually listened to what I was saying know this is true. Please continue to think about everything you are being told and run it through the Bible. Do not be afraid to call attention to problems that you see, but be open to criticism. We were never trying to “bring down” the church, that was not our intention. If you find truth in the words and songs written here, please don’t run from your church. Try to make a change. Even if they ignore you or tell you to go talk to Lanny, there is always room for you to grow in your faith by stepping out and doing the unpopular. To the leaders @ CBC I would like to say, even if you hate what we do, even if you truly believe that we are tearing down the church, and even if you believe that we are doing the work of the devil, it would be foolish for you to ignore us. This clearly is an issue that strikes a cord with your membership. Look at the counter at the bottom of the screen and you will see that people are interested in this. Continue to preach on giving, it’s a Biblical principle after all, but maybe it’s not the most important thing. If you want to see your congregations truly blessed tell them to give to the poor. This is what Jesus would do. God doesn’t need their money, but do you? Be open to criticism, after all no one is infallible, and the next time someone questions you, stop reaching for your book on “Submission to Authority”, listen to what they have to say, and try to grow. Thank you to all the contributors who have made me laugh. Someday we should get together and write a book. “The prayer of Jabez” was a big hit, how about “The curse of Malachi”. Sounds like an instant classic. I would like to hand out some awards for the best lines written. The THITHY for best song goes to……….Finally Home for his work on “Here comes Satan Claus.” Best Sarcastic Line goes to……. White boy. It was a tie between “It was Monday and I couldn’t even find my Bible” and “THE CURSE OF MALACHI WAS UPON ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD . . . AAAAAAAAAARGH!! Best serious line….. Catalyst for his “If the church is the Bride of Christ, then the bride is having an affair with a guy called "money".” Best story goes to…………Finally Home in “I’m Finally Home” Best Song (espanol) …………….Titho Navidad. Good work virGENmary. Best Quote………………"Poo, I love you. I love Poo." Best line by a dissenter……………. 4 Bitter Boys Best Article goes to………………….Zach Dundas for The Big Bible Blog Battle Best Response to a comment………..megachurchsurvivor with "Anonymous, I applaud you and your bravery! It takes courage to use your real name like you’ve chosen to do, though, I don’t for the life of me know what your parents were thinking at the time of your birth." As I hand out these “Titheys” I realize that there are way to many funny things to comment on. It has been a great time. Next time around we can tackle “Church vs State” and the “NO TITHE LEFT BEHIND ACT” Thank you. I’m Out. -Johnpaul Morton mortonjp14@hotmail.com

We would like to thank Church Gal for releasing this letter to us. It was her last contact with the Reformed Pope, before he past away. Please send your prayers and support to her and her family at this difficult time.

Catalyst was right. The proud soldier is dead. I appreciate all the support that you all have given me over the past few weeks but I regret to inform each of you that it is over. It is finished. Anonymous was right. CBC was right. And according to one pastor, out of the 395,000 churches in America 390,000 of them believe the way CBC does. How could I possibly think that I had received some sort of special word from God? It was foolish and prideful.

CBC doesn’t preach “give to get”, they simply preach the Word of God. Give and God will give back to you. That principle is undeniable. I clearly caused a lot of people pain and anguish, people that love me so much that my actions brought them to tears. To each of those people I would like to say………………………… “No”.

Do you really think that you can manipulate me into running? No.

Do you really think that you can guilt me into stopping? No.

(sing this next part) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no God’s not dead, but he’s alive. God’s not dead, but he’s alive. God’s not dead, but he’s alive and I feel him all over me. I feel Him in the street, I feel Him in the air, I feel Him in this blog, yes I feel Him all over me. No, no, no, no, ….(fade song out slowly)

I am sorry that you think this is tearing the church apart. I am sorry that you don’t understand my sarcasm. I am sorry that you refuse to accept that there might be some truth to what we have been saying. But most of all I am sorry that you take yourself so seriously. Lighten up. You might find life to be a bit easier to handle if you can laugh at yourself.

“I saw three checks come mailing in” that’s funny, but maybe you don’t get it. “I saw three ships come sailing in” is a Christmas song. We changed the words. Hilarious. I’m laughing right now as I write this. My heart is light. I would like to sing another song. Everyone join in. BE BOLD! BE STRONG! For the Lord thy God is with thee. BE BOLD! BE STRONG! For the Lord thy God is with thee. I am not afraid, no, no, no. I am not dismayed no, no, no. I’m walking in faith and victory, COME ON, I’m walking in faith and victory for the Lord thy God is with me. (end song)

This is where I get serious. I do not want this site to cause bitterness in anyone’s heart. That truly is not my intention. My intention is not for people to leave CBC. My intention is to cause people to think about what is being said. Question everything, and run it through the Bible. Your faith will grow, and you will be blessed. It does not matter which church you go to. There is no perfect church. Everyone, everywhere take the time to stop and run things through the Bible.
If you are struggling with bitterness, go and reconcile it. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right, don’t be afraid to ask questions. And for goodness sake, everyone, lighten up.

What happens when a church won’t let it’s members question anything? The congregation becomes totally dependant on their pastors for everything. They look to them for complete guidance and they lack their own personal convictions. Imagine what happens when that pastor is not around? This is a dangerous road to walk on.
Pastors of this nation, I challenge you to encourage your congregations to question your teaching (Ombudsmen of America unite). Let them dig into the Word of God to study what you are preaching. How harmful can that be.

On a more personal note, I really struggled with what the right response was going to be.
I was uncertain whether our use of sarcasm was an appropriate way to raise questions in the church or not. After much deliberation I decided that there are many ways to communicate your thoughts, and my generation really responds well to sarcasm. There for I shall continue in my ways.

A blog is nothing more than an online journal. Please understand that this is simply a few men’s opinions. I encourage you all to question everything that we write. Criticism is appreciated as much as support. The important thing to me is that we are all thinking about what we really believe.

Catalyst, hand me my sword.