Our country is on the precipice of initiating one of the greatest bailouts in the history of the world. It will essentially completely socialize our financial system. And then you can begin referring to me a Camrade Catalyst.  

However, there is a chance to stop or at least alter the outcome. All you have to do is contact your Representative, and tell them to oppose any Bailout of Wall Street without a significant tax increase on the Finance system.

For example, this could be accomplished by a 1/4 percentage tax increase on all stock sales. Or by an increase in the estate tax. Or they could raise the capital gains tax. 

If Wall Street wants tax money, then they can pay for it through higher taxes. Don't fool yourself, someone is going to have to pay for this, and I don't want it to be me. And I don't want it to be my children. (Well, I don't actually have kids. So I don't want JP's kids to have to pay it.)  

Here's the link to finding your representative:

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

If your Representative is a Democrat tell them you'll vote for the Republican in the fall. And vice versa, if your Representative is a Republican, tell them you'll vote for the Democrat. I worked in DC for five years, and trust me, Congress pays attention to their constituents, and they are desperately afraid of not getting elected next year.  

Anyway, I just called my Congressman. There is no reason we as taxpayers should be on the hook for the greed and stupidity of Wall Street.

Update:

George Bush and the Republican Administration wants unfettered access to 700 Billion dollars to help protect you from financial ruin. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21cong.html?hp 

How come this all feels so familiar? Oh yeah, that's what they said about Iraq too.  

Last week, Wendell Smith (Pastor of the City Church) updated his blog, which he usually gets around to doing once or twice a year. (Not a committed blogger.) 

In his most recent blog he tackled two recent scandals to hit the Evangelical world. The problems with the pastor in Lakeland Florida, and the perfectly-healthy-duper who wrote the song Healer.  

Here's a segment from Smith's blog: Hot Questions and Cool Answers

What did you think of the Florida Revival? And will it continue? I think it was genuine, with authentic healings. Although there was questionable doctrine promoted at times, many people were helped in the name of the Lord. Revivals historically are plagued with accompanying excesses and ample criticism but overall they help move the Church closer to a lost and needed truth. I am also thankful a group of godly Pastors stepped in to provide accountability for the Evangelist and subsequently provide covering (“love covers a multitude of sins”) and correction for him. We pray that true restoration will work effectively in his life (Gal. 6:1-5).

Should we still sing Mike Guglielmucci’s song, “The Healer”? Of course! That beautiful song belongs to the Body of Christ, and besides it was the cry of a sin sick soul that really did need the Lord to heal, (Psalm 41:3,4).

Not too shabby, Smith, not too shabby. Your response to "The Healer" is quite impressive.

Here is a great Survey from Faith in Public Life 

The poll released Thursday, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57% of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.

But when asked if they agree that "the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers," the percentage who said torture was rarely or never justified rose to 52%.

"Presenting people with this argument and identifying with the golden rule really does engage a different part of people's psyche and a part of their heart, their soul, and really does shift their views on torture," said Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research, which was commissioned to conduct the poll.

A lot of this also comes down to "Turning the Other Cheek."  Another Christ-like principle many Christians struggle with.

In my search for more blog-worthy material, I came across a kindred-spirit blogger in Jared. His web site is much like ours, minus the pointed direction towards a specific church. We at City Business Church are so focused on the shenanigans of the other CBC, that it's easy to forget that there are other good perspectives on the topic of tithing.

Some noteworthy posts:

Televangoly - the game  

Stop Tithing and get out of debt!

Be sure to check it out and leave a comment or two.

Not since, Bill Cinton have I seen a politician so adept at lying.

Let me count a few of the ways:

- She lied about the Bridge to Nowhere. She actually supported it.

- She lied about getting her ex-brother in law fired. She did it out of revenge for her sister. (Which is almost excuseable, because she was defending her sister. But just tell the truth already)

- She lied about not accepting earmarks. (She's accepted more federal money than almost any other Governor in the U.S.)

The list goes on and on. Andrew Sullivan is documenting the atrocities.

But guess what, since she believes in Jesus, the Evangelicals don't care. And it is becoming increasingly clear to me that Evangelical Politics isn't about right and wrong, it's about power. 

So let me say this clearly, "Just because you believe in Jesus, that doesn't necessarily make you a moral competent leader."

My five years at City Bible Church and the last eight years of President Bush have taught me that.

This is going to be a ten part series for those who are interested. 

As is evidenced by the 500 point drop in the Dow today, our economy is in some serious trouble. I'm not going to assign blame, other than to say, America has been living beyond it's means, and now it is time to pay that debt back.  

I'm also going to be very curious to see how this economic downturn affects our many "Business Churches" around the country. Because if these pastors/ceo's actually ran their churches like a business, then I suspect we're going to see some "church" bankruptcies as well.

Should be interesting.  

A reader writes: 

Have you heard of the Worship Invasion group? They showed up out of the blue tonight at my school, Simon Fraser University near Vancouver and rocked for Jesus for 3 hours. My brother and I walked past the venue a few times over the course of a couple hours and they had a variety of styles going, people waving banners, there was even some kind of line dance going on stage, or so it seemed. It looked very goofy in that lovable goofy Pentecostal way, and very fun depending on what mood you're in.

I checked out their website and it it's worth a look for giggles. It's not that I want to mock what they're doing; I think it's a great idea…it's just their presentation is, well, you'll see:

http://www.worshipinvasion.com/WI_2nd_page2.htm

Check out this page for their mission statement, especially the part about "Raw and Uncut praise." It is not a joke: http://www.worshipinvasion.com/Mission.htm

I enjoy reading the blog from time to time. Keep up the good work.

Henri sends this in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGYlxV4v6A&NR=1

Lol.

Reformer, This comment you made was so dead on I thought it deserved more attention and so I am posting it again. The letter that Frank sent out about the Lasit's church plant was so full of manipulation…it was hilariously ridiculous. Thank you, Reformer, for pointing out exactly what Frank Damazio was trying to say: 

Pastor Frank Damazio says: If God speaks to you about being a part of this church plant team, we have learned from experience that it is better for everyone involved that you talk to your district pastor or an executive pastor first before talking to them. We are asking you to follow this process so that we can all be confident we are discovering God’s will in this together. We will not start this procedure until February so we can let emotions settle before plans are made. It would be wise not to assume who will go on this team and not to give your assumptions to others.

Are you kidding me? I just love this stuff. His actions make writing in this blog so easy. What he meant to say was:

“We have learned from experience that if we announce that a very popular youth pastor is leaving (a la Wendel Smith, Steve Carpenter, Bob McGregor, Eric Knox, etc.) that a huge majority of are tithing faithful will want to leave with them. Because this hurts our ability to throw big conferences, lease more needless buildings, buy new suits and drive luxury cars, it’s important that you tell us of your intention to leave so that we can talk you out of it by means of guilt and manipulation. We are waiting until February so that we have enough time to prep all of our district and executive pastors on how to do this. Please do not share you knowledge with others about who is leaving because we don’t want it to get out that some very popular families are tagging along, since that would mean others might decide to join. Trust us, we know what God’s plan is for your life. So please continue to sit in our pews, write checks to the order of CBC, and remain silent.”