Included in the link below is a helpful pamphlet I stumbled across that teaches young children how to avoid Atheists.

What Should You Do If You Find An Atheist in Your Neighborhood

The pamphlet advises children to:

"TELL A PARENT OR PASTOR RIGHT AWAY & AVOID TALKING TO THEM"

The pamphlet also includes this gem of a description:

Atheists are often very grumpy and bitter and will lash out at children or they may even try to trick you into neglecting God's Word.

Coincidentally, this happens to be an apt description of my brother Jesse, who, as you likely guessed, is a devout atheist.

As such, I will be mailing this pamphlet to my sweet nephews and neice, along with a picture of angry uncle Jesse, so they can learn to avoid him and let the adults handle his (usually drunken) antics.

I know we've been a little Dick heavy on this blog. (Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not afraid to go low class for a cheap joke). But I heard some recent news that adds a little context to DI's marriage.

Reportedly, in her last days, Edie (Dick Iverson's wife) was concerned about her husband and worried what would happen to him upon her death. So she asked Roxie to marry Dick and take care of him when she died.  After losing his wife, DI was incredibly lonely and thought that a marriage to Roxie would help the loneliness go away. (It probably also extended his life several years, if you ask me.) Dick informed his family, who were none to pleased. According to my friend, who is Dick Iversons' grandson, only he and his wife supported Dick's marriage. The rest of the family adamantly opposed. Which is partly what led to Dick's removal as Chair of MFI. (Allegedly)

Anyway, not sure what to make of this news. It doesn't really change my opinion much. I've never had a problem with Dick getting married to his long-time secretary. Because even if everything was completely legit, and there was no fooling around before the marriage, it certainly looked sketchy. I believe that Dick Iverson created a church where image was predominent. And I understood the MFI crew being very leery of how the marriage would look to the public and their respective congregations. Thus, Dick was hoisted upon his own petard.  

To be fair, Dick's Grandson does not feel that Bible Temple was an image conscious church when Dick left. I don't agree with this. But it's his grandfather. If it was my grandad, I'd probably defend him as well.

I always liked Iverson. But I think he made a mistake in appointing Frank Damazio to head pastor. And I think he has put church over people. And MFI over congregation.  I firmly believe that people are more important than institutions. And I don't think Dick Iverson shares this belief.

I went to church yesterday; for the first time in a couple years I think. It was a small church outside Boise, Idaho called Center Point.

It was nice. They meet in a high school gym. About 100 people attend. The service only lasted an hour. (I'm a big believer in Less is More.) The folks were friendly and unpretentious. Most people wore shorts or jeans. The woman sitting next to me was still in her pajamas. The worship service was traditional. It was basically a soft-rock band singing soft-rock Christian songs. I haven't been to church regularly in years, so I didn't recognize any of the songs. And yet, I still knew every song, if you know what I mean. The sermon was traditional. I don't really remember what the speaker said, but I do remember he made a very funny joke about smoking a crack pipe.  They passed the bucket, but it was short and sweet. No long guilt trip about giving. They had new people raise their hand. Which I had to do, because there's only a 100 people and it would have been more awkward if I didn't raise my hand. After receiving the visitors card, I made a small joke to my friend about how I was going to fill it out and ask for drug & alcohol counseling. My friend didn't laugh. Which, you know. Typical. All in all, it was quite nice. It felt formulaic, but the people felt real. No one was trying to impress anyone with their lavish lifestyle or impress the pastor with their super dedication to church.

I honestly can't remember the last time I attended church. It's been at least two years. And while this one time didn't change my mind, I did kind of understand the attraction. There is definitely a sense of community in church, that you don't get sitting at home watching reruns of Jersey Shore on a Sunday Morning. I won't be going back to church anytime soon, but hopefully I don't wait two years. It's not all bad.

City Bible is honoring Dick Iverson's service to MFI in October, and they are hoping to buy him a new car.  

From a commenter, here's the pitch.

Dear MFI Pastor,

The October Annual Conference is going to be a great time together. This conference is a historical event for MFI as together we will honor Bro. Dick Iverson for his life and ministry to MFI as the founder. There will only be one founder as a founder is one who establishes, lays a foundation, originates something, starting it for the first time. Bro. Dick is the apostolic founder of MFI and a spiritual father too many. We will honor him at the Monday night banquet at the beginning of the conference. There will be videos of his ministry to MFI, leaders sharing, and all of us thanking Bro. Dick.

We want to replace his old Cadillac with a new one (He is a GM man and Cads are his kind of car) and will do this at the banquet. Using his old Cadillac as a trade-in, we would need to raise about $44,000 by September 20. We have many churches and leaders who can raise this easily if we all step up. I want this to be from all of us, not just some of us. Please give whatever amount you can. Send the check to MFI, 9200 NE Fremont, Portland, Oregon 97220 and indicate “For Iverson gift”.

When we have the $44,000 needed, we will let you know to stop the giving. Thank you for your prompt response to this. It will be a momentous time! We will also be giving Roxy a great gift for her 23 years of serving MFI, but Monday night will be focused on Bro. Dick as the founder.

Personally, I have no problem with this. I won't be giving, but it seems like a nice idea.

That said, if you want to know reason #82 why I'm going to hell. It's because when I read this letter, I immediately thought of this clip from Dumber and Dumber.

(Two posts in one day? I know. Crazy.)

I checked out the MFI leadership page, and it appears that Dick Iverson has stepped down as leader of the organization and Frank Damazio is now the Chairman of MFI.

A few years back there was a rumor that Dick was going to hand the reigns of MFI over to Bob MacGregor. However, it appears that hasn't happened. Frank Damzaio is now leading MFI.

I haver zero insight into how or why this happened. I can however speculate/gossip. (cause that's how I roll) My guess is that Dick Iverson's marriage to his long time secreatry forced him to take some unscheduled time off. It also likely reduced his influence on the board of MFI. And with this gap in leadership, Frank Damazio was able to convince the board that he should be the new Chairman. Again, pure speculation on my part, but a plausible guess I'd say.

In the credit where credit is due file, leaders of the moral majority (Gary Bauer, Richard Land, Penny Nancy) have come out in favor of electric cars.

Electrifying the transportation system is the most feasible way of displacing oil. Electricity therefore represents a practical solution and offers exactly what oil lacks: a domesticlaly produced, stable source of energy that cannot be cut off by our enemies. The advangates are clear. Our economy would be insulated from devasating price shocks and we would no longer be funding hostile regimes that seek our demise.

I gotta say, more of this and less obsession with sex, and you might have me voting Republican again.

On a completely different tangent, it will be interesting to see what the Christian Right does if the Republicans manage to retake the House and Senate in November. I wonder whether they'll stick with their traditional talking points of Gays are Evil and Sex is Bad. Or whether they'll shift to talking about the economy and the importance of jobs. Because you know what's really important to the health of the American family, working parents. Do you think Christians in Ohio are spending their days worried about prayer in schools or gay marriage. No. They're worried where there next paycheck is going to come from.  The Democrats have left a huge opening for some political group to come in and say "Hey, we're very concerned about the financial health of the American family. And the best way to improve that health is to get Americans working again."  Evanglicals would be smart to jump on that bandwagon.

But I bet they don't, because morons like James Dobson are worried less about whether his followers have a job and more aboout whether they might stumble across porn on the internet. Meh.  

It's summer time, what can I say. I'm failing in my blogging duties.

But, in the meantime, here is a recent comment from someone who just left those large magnificent breasts on the hill.

So true.  I have felt the same way, but GUESS WHAT?! I have a new church! I have attended one service and love it. I’m going to get involved in a Bible study there, it’s super close to where I live, the pastor’s sermons are solid & Bible-soaked (imagine: a message on the Bible - and applicable principles based on it… rather than principles with the Bible based on the agenda/message intended to get across). It’s the coolest thing. They don’t collect tithes, but rather have buckets in the back for it, as you walk out. No pressure and it can be between you and God - kind of like the churches that do communion with individual prayer and allow plenty of time, rather than CBC’s version, where everyone eats together and then drinks together with NO time to actually thank Jesus for His sacrifice (or even think about it) before the pastor goes up and makes everyone do something. It was aggravating.

The worship was very different, but very genuine. I got the impression that one of the worship leaders (there were technically several) was up there to show off (seriously… stop smiling at everyone ALL the time and “almost” winking), but you just choose to ignore him. Everyone has issues and I’m afraid I deal with pride and insecurities more than I ever thought possible. I shouldn’t be the one to judge. It just reminds me that my own heart isn’t in the right place often.

I just wanted to share the good news. I really am excited. They have a solid children’s ministry program, everyone’s super friendly and as far as I could tell, no one was putting on airs… they really were genuine with the people they interacted with before, during, and after the services. Many people seem to know many people, even though it is still a rather large church (not nearly as big as CBC). I also have some very dear friends who attend… on a different service than I went to, but I’ll probably start going “with” them.

Got all excited when the pastor would read entire passages and explain them, tell how they applied to today’s life, how they applied during the culture of the day, and tie everything together so well… without numbers.  No 1, 2, 3, 4, a, b, c, or incompletely finished messages.

Have a great day, y’all!

The next step NSQ, is to start inviting City Bible Members to your new church. It will drive them crazy.

Ted Haggard thinks so. This is from his twitter feed.

• I believe we are at the end of what church historians will, in the future, call the Billy Graham era.
• I believe we are also nearing the end of the "Religious Right" representing Evangelicalism.
• My prayer is that over the next 10 years, there will be a Love Reformation and the Gospel will retake the Bible-believing church.

Of course, Ted Haggard isn't the greatest spokesperson. The guy got busted cheating on his wife with a prostitute and taking illegal drugs. He reminds me of the quote, "A liberal is just a conservative who's been arrested."  That said, I do agree that we are nearing the end of the Religious Right representing Evangelicals. 

However, I tend to think it's more a generational thing than anything else. Baby Boomers grew up in the free-love sixties and seventies, without a lot of rules and a serious distrst of authoirity. And then when the Boomers became adults and had kids, they got terrfied and leaned on a legalistic view of the Bible to help keep everyone in line.  Conversely, Gen-X and Millenials grew up in the more conservative 80's and 90's and don't have the same fears of openness and tolerance that Baby Boomers do.  It's not that Christians under 40 are advocating more sex and drugs, they just approach the issues differently. And I expect they will want their churches to approach these issues differently as well.

I suspect that the moral beliefs of the church will remain pretty much the same. The Modern Church will still oppose pre-marital sex. Alcohol and drugs will be frowned on. Homosexuality will probably still be considered a sin. But the difference will be in how these issues are approached in the church. There is gonna be a lot less condemnation and a lot more compassion. Because let's face it. We all sin. And we all need forgiveness.

Christians are once again doing their best to keep up their image as unloving a-holes.

Fourth-grade teacher Jarretta Hamilton was newly married and expecting a baby when she went to speak with her supervisors in April of last year.

But the administrators at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud parried her query about maternity leave with a query of their own: When did she conceive?

After Hamilton admitted that her child had been conceived about three weeks before her February 20, 2009, wedding, the school fired her.

But you know how I feel. I'm curious, what do you all think. Should the school have fired her?

A recent comment about a well known pastor got me thinking about what is wrong with many of the churches we talk about on this blog.  The most common thread I found is insecurity.  Insecure pastors do whatever they can to build themselves up, while simultaneously tearing others down. So I did some research.  What I came up with is this list:

Ten Signs of an Insecure Pastor.

10. Micro-Managing:  If a pastor must know what's going on, in every area of ministry, at all times, they are insecure. Having to know what each person and ministry under them is doing and always trying to direct or lead each and every aspect is a practice to ensure that no one out shines them or gets credit for what they have done. This keeps the pastor as number one.

9. Improper Placement:  An insecure pastor usually places people in areas that they are not good at or not very interested in so they won't do it too well. This includes giving people positions they have no business being in so they won't ask questions or leave the church all together. This keeps people looking to the pastor for all of their leadership needs and makes them the focus of the ministry, with all the power. That way church members rely on the pastor for direction rather then God.

8. Spys and Plants:  When someone has a gift or calling and other people are drawn to it, an insecure pastor will often plant a person to come around and sniff it out. They don't want others gifts or calling to take the attention off of them, so they have to watch people with a spy to tell them what they are up to and to ensure that they stay in their place.

7. Always at Church:  Secure pastor invests in family time and allow freedom to their church members to enjoy their lives and pursue other outside interests.  An insecure pastor never leaves the church. They love to call meetings, counsel everyone and spend most of their free time within the four walls. They require their workers to do the same, often burning people out and demeaning them for poor performance.

6. Wrongful Dismissals:  An insecure pastor will ask people to step down from ministry for no apparent reason. They will stop people from doing a good job or who get too much attention because they fear that people will somehow lose loyalty to them if members see someone else as "the next in line." These pastors will often shift people around so as not to allow any one person to be too successful in one area of church ministry.

5. Public Disclosure of Private Facts: An insecure pastor will often bring up members private issues from the pulpit. They will counsel with people, then preach about it the following Sunday. Sometimes they will even call people up to the front and embarrass them by dealing with personal sins before the whole church, making them look bad and keeping them in their place.

4. Yes Men:  An insecure pastor has all sorts of people running around them fixing their clothes, giving them water, even wiping sweat from their foreheads. These pastors won't open their own doors, carry their own bible, or drive themselves around in their own cars. They require others to prove how much they love them before they acknowledge their servanthood, and by then it's too late for any independent thinkers to be apart of the team.

3. No Other Ministry:  When a pastor doesn't believe in or support outside ministry, they are insecure. This is why they never support anyone that does anything outside of their church. They don't create other ministries outside of their control because they fear losing members to them. They keep everything in house and tear down anyone who tries to leave.  And when someone does leave, they make them feel like they are disobedient and going to hell because of it.

2. Artificial/Phony:  An insecure pastor usually puts on a mask to seem spiritual and deep. They refuse to be or seem common with the everyday people because they strive to be worshiped, adored, and even feared by the membership. They depend on their reputation for perfection to create an invisible barrier between them and their members. They have to make others feel less so they will feel important. Their love and respect is artificial.

1. Too Trendy:  The number one sign of an insecure pastor is that they are always worried about what people think of them. They are constantly trying to look and act cool, compare crowd and salvation numbers with other churches, and avoid as much controversy as possible so as to not offend or make people feel uncomfortable.  Their ministry is always politically correct and usually follows trends and the hot flavors of the month.  They foster an environment of hip and cool, rather than real and life changing.

The bottom line is that we must all seek God's wisdom before submitting to any pastor or church. Be careful that you never follow an insecure pastor. It will only lead to bondage and spiritual entrapment.  We must all make sure we are on board with genuine people.  Leaders that cannot admit mistakes or appear as though they never mess up will almost always take us down a path of hurt and deception.  And be sure you are not leading with any of these characteristics yourself.  Let go of the control and rest in what God has already planned for us.  There is no perfect human and a secure person has the ability to say "I was wrong"!