It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

                                                    CS Lewis

 

 

It’s been a long week covering the sex scandal that rocked Bellevue Baptist Church.  We believe there are ONLY two reasons why this horrendous situation became known to the congregation.
 

(1) Paul Williams’ son had the courage to confront Pastor Steve Gaines regarding why his father was still on staff as a minister at Bellevue, even though he had disqualified himself according to Scripture (see yesterday’s post).
 

(2) The scandalous information was being made public on a blog.  Uh oh!!!
 

 

If you’re not familiar with Bellevue Baptist Church, you likely don’t know about the blogging issue.  Shortly after the congregation voted overwhelming for Steve Gaines to become their new pastor, anonymous bloggers began to criticize him in the blogosphere.  Why?  Once Gaines took over, they became concerned about the quick changes he began implementing, such as a shift from being congregationally led to elder led (a major blog topic to be discussed soon) and a move toward a more contemporary worship style. 

 

 

Other blog topics critical of Gaines included how contributions are being spent at the church and the senior pastor’s salary (rumored to be around $500,000 – twice what Rogers was making), among other things.  Of course, Gaines’ salary has not been divulged to the congregation, so there’s no way to know whether he is being compensated reasonably or not.  In response, here’s what Gaines had to say from the pulpit.
     

http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/2009/07/dont-be-trouble-maker-says-keep-it.html

 

Please allow us to SPECULATE for a moment . . .
 

 

If authoritarian pastors like Steve Gaines were given the opportunity to pick one of Elvis’ songs to describe these blogging “troublemakers”, we believe this is the one they would select:
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6A3vLlVa3I
 
 

Actually, that would be the highest compliment they could pay bloggers.  After all, what does the word “HOUND” mean?
 

“To pursue relentlessly and tenaciously.”
 

Dee and I are thinking about starting an online Christian community called the
 

HOUND DOG BLOGGERS’ CLUB
(HDBC)
 
 
 
Here’s another appearance Elvis made on the Ed Sullivan show singing this song:
 

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/elvis-presley-hound-dog-991956-ed-sullivan/2441307473
 
 

Your blog queens hope and pray that more Christians will have the courage to utilize the blogosphere in order to exercise their influence as part of the “priesthood of believers”.  God calls Christians to hold one another accountable in order to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ! 
 

Let’s be clear… we are careful to share the “truth” in this forum to the best of our ability, even though pastors who criticize blogging label it as “slander”.  Welcome to the 21st century!  This is just another way of communicating. 
 

Tune in next week when we pursue this topic further and re-introduce a pastor who dared to call one of his blogging congregants a “sociopath”.  Yes, we will be discussing both Steve Gaines and Mac Brunson and the new art of communication called “blogging”.  Glad to see that Gaines finally has his own website in blogosphere!
 

Here are three more fun videos of Elvis performing the hit that inspired this blog post.  Isn’t the internet wonderful?
 

Enjoy!
 

Hound Dog (Milton Berle)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU4i5gyFK1s&feature=related
 
 
Hound Dog (modern)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQ9lsW0NgM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

 
Hound Dog / All Shook Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unwE_632oh8&feature=related
 

 
 
 
 

It's been a stressful week for us covering the Bellevue situation.  Time for some comfort food.  Deb's family is having around 60 guests to their farm tomorrow for an authentic PIG PICKIN'.  It's the real deal with a whole pig!!! 
 

Dee has shared one of her favorite recipes with Deb, and this dessert will be served to the attendees.
 

If you'd like to know how to make this wonderful COMFORT food, here's the recipe…
 

Elvis Pound Cake Recipe
 

This is the best pound cake we have ever tasted. Its tender appeal is owed in part to cake flour and cream, and in part to beating the batter an extra 5 minutes.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 3 1/2 hr (includes cooling)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for buttering pan

3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) plus additional for dusting

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups sugar

7 large eggs, at room temperature 30 minutes

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

Special equipment: a 10-inch tube pan (4 1/2 inches deep; not with a removable bottom) or a 10-inch bundt pan (3 1/4 inches deep; 3-qt capacity)

 

Put oven rack in middle position, but do not preheat oven.

Generously butter pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess flour.

Sift together sifted flour (3 cups) and salt into a bowl. Repeat sifting into another bowl (flour will have been sifted 3 times total).

Beat together butter (2 sticks) and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or 6 to 8 minutes with a handheld mixer.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, then all of cream, then remaining flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down side of bowl, then beat at medium-high speed 5 minutes. Batter will become creamier and satiny.

Spoon batter into pan and rap pan against work surface once or twice to eliminate air bubbles. Place pan in (cold) oven and turn oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in middle of cake comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Run a thin knife around inner and outer edges of cake, then invert rack over pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Cooks' note:

Cake keeps, covered well with plastic wrap or in an airtight container, at room temperature 5 days.
 
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Elvis-Presleys-Favorite-Pound-Cake-232642