Curiosity’s ‘Postcard’ of ‘Marker Band Valley’ JPL/NASA
“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Why is autonomy important to the SBC?
I believe the SBC has a problem regarding its assertion that every church in the SBC is autonomous. What are synonyms of autonomous? According to Thesaurus.com, they are:
- self-governing
- sovereign
- free
- self-determining
- self-ruling
- uncontrolled
Look at that list and think about this question. Did the recent actions by the SBC in which it extended the left boot of fellowship to Saddleback Church cause you, the reader, to think of that list of autonomous synonyms? Nope! A pastor I know asked me why the SBC didn’t address this issue years ago. I believe they knew for decades that there were women SBC pastors and did nothing. Some have said that the Baptist Faith and Message clearly meant women couldn’t be pastors. I beg to differ. One only has to look at Black churches, which are members of the SBC. Many of them have female pastors. Are the SBC power brokers saying the Black churches couldn’t correctly read the BF&M? What will the SBC do? Will they throw out the Black churches or convince them to change women’s titles to minister and overlook the entire saga? What if the vote on the constitution passes next year? Will they throw out all the churches with women serving as pastors? Will they make them change their title?
Now, look at that list of synonyms of autonomous again. Does it appear that individual churches are autonomous? Are these leaders saying they couldn’t do a joint project with a Black Baptist church with a woman pastor? I bet they wouldn’t.
Will McRaney’s case against the NAMB is proceeding, and Kevin Ezell and the NAMB may be getting uncomfortable.
I have written about Will McRaney’s defamation case against the NAMB several times. Here is one. Will McRaney Versus the SBC’s NAMB: Keep an Eye on This Lawsuit. Why are the SBC entities trying to get this case thrown out of court?
Wingfield wrote another post when it appeared that McRaney might go to trial: McRaney trial finally gets a date, and NAMB is compelled to expand the scope of its documentation.
The root of the conflict is NAMB’s effort to change the way state and regional Baptist conventions relate to the national mission board, ending a long history of cooperative relationships in favor of a national and direct-service strategy from NAMB. McRaney resisted that change in the Maryland-Delaware convention.
The court denied McRaney’s request that text messages from and to NAMB officials concerning him be brought into evidence. But most every other form of communication — not just from NAMB staff but also from NAMB trustees — now must be produced.
The SBC and the ERLC attempted to get McRaney’s case thrown out of court, claiming an ecclesiastical abstention. Back to the first article by Wingfield’ above.
The case has drawn national attention because a legal debate about “ecclesiastical abstention,” a doctrine that keeps most secular courts from interfering in the ecclesial work of churches. At first, the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Mississippi dismissed McRaney’s lawsuit on those grounds. McRaney argued on appeal that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine did not apply. That led a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in July 2019 to reverse the earlier dismissal, saying this case appeared to be about more than “purely ecclesiastical questions.”
The case is becoming more and more interesting for those of us who follow ecclesiastical matters and the law. Remember, always follow the money.
The NAMB wants to exclude particularly inconvenient testimony in McRaney’s coming trial.
Baptist News Global posted NAMB wants to exclude damning testimony from upcoming trial. The NAMB and their friends have been naughty and did some things that might blow up in their proverbial faces. It appears that NAMB President Kevin Ezell, whose salary is secret, has been a bit upset about those who might be willing to testify that he can be obnoxious and not play within the lines while he runs all matters for the NAMB. The NAMB, whose money the tither is supporting, is trying to get particular testimony pulled.
NAMB filed motions with the court to exclude affidavits and declarations from David de Armas, former chairman of NAMB trustees; Scott Thomas and Jimmy Crosby, who both say they denied later employment to McRaney based on information provided by NAMB; Rick Wheeler; Joel Breidenbaugh; Steve Wolverton; Clint Scott; Bill Barker, who offered damning testimony about the way he was treated by NAMB President Kevin Ezell; and Joni B. Hannigan, a Baptist journalist who says she was threatened by Ezell and a staff member over an article she wrote.
What happened with Bill Barker? Baptist News Global wrote Key witness offers damning testimony against Ezell as NAMB gets McRaney trial delayed two months.
In testimony given under oath Feb. 22, former NAMB missionary Bill Barker accused Ezell of bullying and domineering behavior that made it impossible to work for him. That echoes allegations made privately by other former NAMB employees, although Barker is the first person to give such testimony under oath.
Joni B. Hannigan’s testimony is even more damaging as it applies to Ezell in Un-friendly‘ fire in the Southern Baptist Convention unearths layers of deceit, resurfaces old wounds
Ezell used the “libel” word. indelicate tactics for a Christian.
I was sidelined by one of Southern Baptists most popular current leaders.
Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, apparently took exception to the fact that I placed his name in a post-convention news analysis, “Was SBC #METOO resolution on abuse a band aid for larger issues?” that I posted on my own fledgling new website.
The charismatic, Mr. Friendly, church planting leader threatened to sue me for libel.
…Within hours of posting a story about the abuse resolution passed by messengers in Dallas at the 2018 SBC annual meeting, I received a threatening text message to my cell phone from Mike Ebert, NAMB’s executive director of public relations.
“Joni — I think you have put yourself into a potentially libelous situation. I am asking you and encouraging you in the strongest way possible to remove what you have posted about Kevin. I wish you had called to discuss this with me ahead of time.”
What went on with Ezell? Unfortunately, it involves an abuse situation at his church in which he planned NOT to tell the people in his church about a child molester who served in his church.
My reference to Ezell concerned a situation that occurred at the church he served as pastor before he went to NAMB in 2010. According to documented news reports and court records, he was asked to appear before a grand jury in 2004 to testify in the case of a subsequently convicted child molester who had served at the church’s ministry and school for more than a dozen years. At the center of the issue was the use of clergy/penitent privilege, something that had been invoked in this case — and something about which Ezell has given various reports. At that time, Ezell also apparently told media he did not expect the church would announce the attacker’s arrest to the congregation.
The ‘whoopsy’ amicus brief claimed the SBC is a hierarchy. Ouch!
NAMB also wants to exclude from the trial evidence of its role in producing and approving an amicus brief filed by the Thomas More Society on behalf of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. That brief — which McRaney contends NAMB not only knew about but helped draft — said the SBC is a “hierarchy” and “umbrella organization” wherein state conventions are accountable to its national entities.
The ERLC has since amended the brief, but the optics are terrible. I believe the truth was accidentally shared in the original brief. I believe the SBC is a hierarchy. There is a chain of command in the SBC, and Kevin Ezell appears to be the hegemon of the NAMB—the NAMB, which will not divulge their salaries.
The crux of the matter: Why was Will McRaney fired? Was he defamed? If it is proven, this decision will benefit SBC abuse victims.
Will McRaney maintains he was fired from his job in a state convention because Kevin Ezell and NAMB wanted him gone. (Were leaders in the SBC involved? I wonder.) The problem is quite simple. They were not his employer. I have watched how personnel matters have changed throughout the decades. Fifty years ago, a supervisor at one company could call another company and tell them why they shouldn’t hire a former employee. Today that has changed. A former employer can only say, “Maude worked here for exactly ten months.” Anything more could lead to a lawsuit since firings are seldom a simple matter.
If it is true that Ezell directly bad-mouthed McRaney and demanded his firing, then he is in a bit of a pickle. If he did so to get someone else a job, he would be drowning in pickle juice. If McRaney can prove the SBC is a hierarchy during his trial, he will have benefitted many SBC abuse survivors who deserve their day in court when they can finally face the behemoth known as the SBC. If so, good on McRaney!
https://baptistnews.com/article/state-conventions-beyond-the-south-question-sbc-north-american-mission-boards-spending-and-accountability-for-church-planting/#.YC7y_c9Kh-V
This article was posted in early 2021. The article is long and sometimes boring or difficult, but it explains a lot.
The Conservative Task Force (secret files to be opened in 2025) started this mess in 2010 when they set the stage that made it possible to change control of funds over to National mission board instead of state mission boards.
Ezell and crew is taking money (almost demanding money) from the states, but not doing anything to help most states. The NAMB has only two priorities now: planting churches at NAMB discretion and buying property…… lots of property. (Oh, and the NAMB increased it’s church planting budget from 28% to 50%.)
Example: in California, the NAMB is focuses on only 3 cities. If the state association sees a need and wants to plant a church somewhere, they are on their own. No help from the NAMB.
There’s a lot more in that article, but you may want to wait until you have your second (or third) cup of coffee in the morning.
Autonomous??? Hmm, SBC churches are “autonomous” as long as they conform to the BF&M 2000 and conduct services and church programs/activities accordingly. Some state associations require all SBC church members to sign contracts stating that they agree to the BF&M 2000 in its entirety.
Hmmmm…. perhaps “autonomous” is yet another word that has been redefined.
(Please, I’m waiting for them to send out undercover submissive wives investigators……
SWTF ??? ~ Submissive Wives Task Force???)
SoWhatTheF? is their point?
BF&M 2000 Hierarchy plain and simple:
The pastor(s) is the free agent.
Men giving units are his subjects.
Women at home are the men’s objects.
In truth, God created man and woman each in His image, each with free agency. Yeah, it was a gamble, and we struggle. Jesus died and rose to set us free, endowing Jesus’ followers with His Holy Spirit to live in community. Church human hierarchy is not church, as Jesus and his disciples established His church.
We follow Jesus, filled with His Spirit, and live in fellowship community.
I believe we will find that Kevin Ezell “doesn’t play well with others”. Why would he try to squash testimony from other people? Hmmm
It is appalling that no SBC church can see how NAMB is spending the tithes of it’s members. That is enough to be a deal breaker for any church. That can not be defended.
The cooperative program was just that. A cooperation by supposed autonomous churches. There is no telling what is going on in NAMB if you can’t see how they spend the money.
“One only has to look at Black churches, which are members of the SBC. Many of them have female pastors.”
Maybe the powers-that-be within SBC are only concerned about white women in leadership roles?
“Remember, always follow the money.”
And there’s plenty of that to follow in SBC! It’s a multi-billion Christian venture, with total receipts at their churches running around $15 billion annually. How much of that is truly spent on the Great Commission … to preach the Gospel of Jesus to all nations?
“I believe the SBC is a hierarchy.”
A power pyramid with Al Mohler sitting on the pinnacle. Every SBC entity is now controlled by Mohler’s New Calvinists (seminaries, mission agencies, publishing house, thousands of SBC churches). Most entity heads have a direct employment history with Dr. Mohler. Kevin Ezell was Al Mohler’s pastor before he became President of NAMB … with 15 million Southern Baptists to pick from, Ezell was the best man for the job?! Think about it.
I think that, strictly speaking, it would be possible in principle for SBC to function as a kind of “membership organization” which excludes congregations if they don’t meet the criteria for membership. This kind of structure would not call into question the autonomy of either the excluded or the included congregations. “You’re free to do things the way you want to, but certain ways of doing things are disqualitying for participation in SBC.”
So I’m not sure that the beginning of the OP, that focuses on genderedness of pastoral ministry, is a strong argument against the idea that SBC congregations are genuinely autonomous (though the inconsistent application of this “filter” for inclusion in the SBC raises other issues).
It does sound, from the remainder of the OP, like NAMB seems at times to act in ways that are inconsistent with genuine autonomy of state association entities.
NAMB has spent $60 million+ annually for several years to plant churches which have primarily New Calvinist pastors. The majority of Southern Baptists are non-Calvinists. Folks in the pew don’t have a clue that their funds are supporting the proliferation of a theology contrary to the theo-default of Southern Baptists for over 150 years. They trust entity leaders to do the right thing to represent them in fulfilling the Great Commission … have they? Is NAMB planting whosoever-will-may-come Gospel churches or reformed theology? For some strange reason, the masses are not asking this question.
I suspect we will discover that he runs with scissors and hurts people.
That’s exactly the SBC modus operandi. The Baptist Faith & Message is the rule book that SBC churches must follow. It was revised in 2000 to make room Calvinization of the denomination, with its more rigid controlling structure … diminishing congregational governance in favor of elder-rule, men-only pastors, subordinating women through “the beauty of complementarity”, etc.
Jesus is still trying to establish His church … but there are places where human hierarchy won’t let Him have the authority to do so. So Jesus weeps and moves on.
Why should we be surprised that Mr. McRaney and Mrs. Hannigan feel they were the subjects of an exertion of unholy power by Mr. Ezell? New Calvinists have demonstrated time and again, as reported in various TWW posts, that their modus operandi include manipulation, intimidation and domination.
As autonomous as the countries of the Warsaw Pact.
Because their God is a God of manipulation (Theology), intimidation (Hell), domination (Omnipotence and Sovereign Will), DECEPTION (Evanescent Grace), and nothing else.
Mohler’s Little Playgroup?
DODEKA?
As in “Protecting Our White Womanhood”?
Or just “Blacks Don’t Count”?
… and they move by stealth and deception to accomplish their mission. These are not spiritual gifts, nor fruit of the Holy Spirit. The greater church needs to wake up to this movement.
Complete with cattle prods like in The Handmaid’s Tale?
“One only has to look at Black churches, which are members of the SBC. Many of them have female pastors. Are the SBC power brokers saying the Black churches couldn’t correctly read the BF&M? What will the SBC do? Will they throw out the Black churches or convince them to change women’s titles to minister and overlook the entire saga?” (Dee)
As my father used to say, the SBC powermongers “got themselves in a pickle” on this one.
Here is the correct link to the Baptist News Global article Key witness offers damning testimony against Ezell as NAMB gets McRaney trial delayed two months that Dee quoted in her post:
https://baptistnews.com/article/key-witness-offers-damning-testimony-against-ezell-as-namb-gets-mcraney-trial-delayed-two-months/
Don’t believe so – or yes and no. Weeps about the unrepentant? No. Moves on? Yes.
Jesus wept upon hearing that his friend Lazarus had passed, John 11.35.
Jesus angrily threw the money changers out of the Temple. Matt. 21, Mark 11, John 2.
Jesus denounced unrepentant towns. Matt. 11 & 18. Luke 10.
Jesus denounced religious leaders. Matt. 23. Luke 11.
Jesus denounced the betrayer. Matt. 26. Mark 14.
Jesus denounced hypocrites and those who virtue signal. Luke 6.
Jesus denounced those who cause others to stumble. Luke 17. Matt. 18.
It’s interesting and a warning to note what God hates: making money via church, unrepentant communities, evil religious leaders, betrayers, hypocrites & virtue signaling, those who cause others to stumble.
Side note: the old hellfire and brimstone preachers loved to talk about what God hates, but then they poisoned their message as they passed the collection plate. Jesus and His disciples never passed a collection plate (the collection plate pastors prove who they are really working for).
The Gospel is never sold – for that is contrary to the Gospel. Nowadays preachers like Joel Olsteen preach primarily a message of positivity – as they build their dynasties. Either way – the hellfire or positivity – accompanied by a collection plate, is denounced by Jesus. The preachers would need to denounce collections and church as a business or social club, like George Müller did, to actually preach the Gospel. George Müller was the real deal but it took a weekend in prison to get him there. He got to the lowest before God restored Müller to his rightful calling.
Jesus was no weepy schmuck around sin. He was an angry hyper vigilant adversary around intentional sin that gravely affects the lives of others. We all sin. However, intentionally destroying the lives of others is next level.
I believe we will find that Kevin Ezell “doesn’t play well with others”. Why would he try to squash testimony from other people?
Ken A,
Ezell has shown that he wants top-down, authoritarian control of all NAMB funds and church plants, nationwide….. with no oversight, and no financial transparency.
https://baptistnews.com/article/still-no-external-review-of-north-american-mission-board-finances/
“ In short, over the past decade NAMB has changed its strategy of working through state Baptist conventions and local associations in church planting and created its own superstructure that often bypasses state conventions. Tens of millions of dollars have been redirected away from state conventions and associations.” …….
……. “Last year, a large group of state convention executive directors went public with their concerns about how NAMB operates, accusing Ezell of being arrogant and spiteful and controlling. Subsequently, a group called NAMB Whistleblower created a public website and tip line.”……
…..”One of the primary concerns of all NAMB’s critics is that the agency has more money than ever before but is producing fewer results than before. There are accusations of lavish spending on gifts and real estate that NAMB leadership has been unable to stave off.”
If your mission was to plant reformed theology throughout SBC life, rather than Gospel churches, you would want to take State and Local non-Calvinist associations out of the picture. The majority of Southern Baptists (millions of them) are non-Calvinist in belief and practice … the New Calvinists would dearly love to see that change as they rip the denomination out of their hands by stealth and deception. This is about control.
Max,
Multi billions IS great “commission” (percentage)?
Question? What makes baptists “southern”? Why not call churches and state conventions “baptist of theology 1” and “baptists of theology 2” and allow conventions or churches from anywhere to join each knowingly? Are people from New York or Minnesota allowed to be “southern”? Are people outside the south obliged to be (self vauntingly) “fundamentalist” ones?
Michael in UK,
It reminds me of when I wasn’t “studying” to become a librarian. In the classification system class we were warned not to mix levels of logic when cross-indexing, as some apocryphal butcher had done by advertising himself as “pork and family butchers”. Thus, Jesus sayeth, “be ye southern or fundamentalist, else I’ll spew ye out”.
I can’t believe the reports of an atmosphere as if there is a whole self contained
universe in there. In England it’s normal for hundreds of thousands to drift off from some church, albeit not together. Most English christians are serial drifters, and not adventurous enough in picking something different from last time. The C of E only shrinks less than one might expect, by staging superficial excitements for gullible 20 somethings.
Here, “horizontal relationship” refers to mental control which means the vertical one isn’t much use ewweither.
researcher,
Thank you. I’m not Sur how that happened, but I am grateful to you for picking it up. I am making a change in the post.
Wild guess: they are perfectly content to silence black people too, particularly women who preach. They just aren’t forced to talk about it.
So, hijacked? Funds are hijacked?
In answer to your question, the “southern” and “northern” baptists used to be part of one denomination. The SBC officially split about 15 years before the American Civil War, largely (but not entirely) over slavery. (The convention has since officially apologized for this, though it took well after the Civil Rights movement.) All of the slave states in the US were in the southern party of the country, hence the name. Even though the SBC still retains “southern” in its name, in the 150+ years since the end of the American Civil War, the denomination has established churches all over the US and internationally.
The “northern” Baptist churches left after the split eventually became the American Baptist denomination.
Along the way, other denominations and networks have splintered off as the fancy suits them. Conservative Baptist, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist, etc. We Americans have a long tradition of secession, you could say.
The groups self-select based on theology, not geography. There used to be more leeway in theology amongst SBC churches, their main purpose in coming together used to be to fund and support missions. As many of Dee’s posts (and Max’s comments) have documented, though, this is changing.
So, hijacked? Funds are hijacked?
Ava Aaronson,
Well, the Annie Easter Offerings, the CP funds, and other donations are certainly not being used in the way the creators of the Home Mission Board (one of the predecessor to the NAMB), the NAMB (created in 1997), and the WMU intended.
I don’t think those folks had high-end real estate, mega-churches, professional sports team chaplains, and upscale homes in gated communities for planter pastors and church employees in mind when the SBC combined other entities to establish the NAMB.
Unintentionally so many of my own TWW comments end up with the concept of Jesus throwing the money-changers out of the Temple or Why in the world are we PAYING $$$ for GIFTS from the Holy Spirit (far beyond NT room and board for a traveling teacher or preacher or evangelist or prophet)?.
I was going to apologize for this repeated digression.
However, sadly, so many church conundrums are rooted in money. Love of.
Follow the money seems to often clarify.
The SBC has a hierarchy???
Good Gawd No!
That’s only for those awful Catholics!
Off on a slight tangent, I wonder if their pastors are still using this –
Quite simply, the Church Planter Management System is a software program to help a church planters manage all of the information generated in the course of running a church. Please see the brochure.
CPMS is available for Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT.
Features:
Information on all members and prospects.
Reports on spiritual progress of ministry to people.
Birthday reports.
Leadership development and progress reports on people.
Mailing list, mail merge letters, outreach to prospects.
Management for all financial contributions.
Attendance of all groups, Sunday School, small groups, Bible studies, etc.
Directories of Groups.
Sample letters from the Pastor for all situations: new members, benevolence, visitor, birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, absentees, plus many more.
Personal records for full and part-time staff.
Confidential, password protected, counseling records.
Ministry management reports for growth around purpose-driven concepts.
Pastors sermons file.
Pastors illustrations file.
Tape ministry database of sermons, producing tape labels.
Pastors library system to index books by subject, title, author, including the value of the library for tax purposes and in case of loss and records of books borrowed or loaned to others.
Wedding database.
Funeral database.
Disbursement records for reimbursements.
Mailing labels for groups, prospects, members, etc.
Discipleship and leadership training records on every person entered to measure his or her spiritual progress and areas of service.
Tele-care records database for recording information from phone contacts.
Name tags for groups of any type.
Children’s class rosters for Sunday School teacher follow up.
Personally, I think it lacks the personal touch.
It might be an idea to read the SBC Transparency document (if you haven’t already done so) to get an idea of the scale of the problem. My opinion is that NAMB would fall foul of the Charity Regulator in the UK over some of its financial arrangements.
https://sbctransparency.com/
Of course they are. They believe in strict heirarchy in everything else and only use autonomy to get out of being accused of crimes. This was obvious to me back in seminary.
Lowlandseer,
1.) This is invasive to members and potential members.
2.) How does a traditional church planter manage to do all of this, and do what he is called to do?
But, nowadays they pay big bucks to a large crew to do this in big cities, while they live high on the hog.
Not to mention a lack of the Holy Spirit’s touch. But, doing church without God seems to be in vogue these days.
BIG $$$$$$$$$$$ in the Jesus Racket.
“TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED!”
It’s way, way more information than my church collects.
That summarize things well, it would seem.
To borrow and rephrase a quote about kindergarten: “Everything you ever needed to know about what ails the SBC, you learned in seminary.”
A friend of my daughter who graduated a few years ago from SEBTS told her that there was intense pressure in the dorms and classrooms by New Calvinists to convert non-Calvinist seminary students. He resisted that indoctrination all over the campus and survived with the Holy Spirit’s help to take the Gospel truth that Jesus saves ALL who believe to churches he has served. Unfortunately, he is becoming a rare and endangered species in SBC.
They even have a Pope! Pope Mohler!
Lowlandseer,
“Discipleship and leadership training records on every person entered to measure his or her spiritual progress and areas of service.”
++++++++++++++++++
i feel sick
Well, here’s the deal … the pew still ain’t got a clue and keep giving their hard-earned dollars to the Cooperative Program (CP), Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Together, those receipts total half-billion dollars annually coming from 45,000+ churches across America! The average Southern Baptist thinks national leaders are using those dollars wisely to fulfill the Great Commission, evangelize the lost, and serve the world with missions. They don’t realize that much of these funds are being used to Calvinize their non-Calvinist denomination. They really need to wake up … but perhaps they don’t care as long as you don’t mess with their autonomy to have monthly potluck dinners.
It took Southern Baptists 150 years (in 1995) to officially “repent” of the racial sins of SBC founders.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/06/21/an-apology-for-racism/25ce442e-8733-47de-85b1-0dd7c7fd62ec/
Michael in UK,
I see what you did there 🙂
As you enter the church building, you immediately login on a handy computer right there that keeps track of attendance, performance (service projects) and giving, linked to all of your family’s personal data. The software does all the work.
We have never participated in this login system, adverse to Big Brother or Dear Leader keeping track of us. However, we have also never been big donors, so never part of the inner circle, never part of the power base.
We feel our spiritual gifts (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4) are of equal value as the next guy. Obviously, church leadership does not see it that way. We believe it is most important how God sees it, not the church leadership:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Is. 55.8-9
“For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” I Sam 16.7
“For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many… God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now they are many members, but one body. The eye can’t tell the hand, ‘I have no need for you,’ or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need for you.'” 1 Cor 12.
$$$ The Great Commission. A la Bill Bright, businessman for Christ, for example.
Nowadays, the Great Commission is alive, well, and thriving in our megachurches and their vast array of satellites. $$$.
Myweh is now the supreme authority in much of the American church, rather than Yahweh.
… has been replaced by the Great Omission in much of the American church … we’ve forgotten what we are here for
So Ezell thought that a child molester could serve at the church and at the school, but the congregation was not to know about this past of his. So he didn’t have confidence that he was making a right decision? He didn’t want to answer questions about that? The members of the congregation were too stupid to make this type of decision (to agree with him or not) all by themselves? All of the above? Ugh. So many leaders so few good decisions.
Bill Bright, with his Four Spiritual Laws sales pitch and his Multiplying Ministry MLM pyramid.
Sheep whose only purpose bring Saved is to Save More Shwep whose only purpose is to Save More Sheep whose only purpose is to Save More Sheep whose only purpose is to…. With CCC/Cru Staff as your Upline and Jesus as the theoretical Ultimate Upline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWTJmrPa5TQ
JUST LIKE SCIENTOLOGY AUDITING RECORDS, EXCEPT CHRISTIAN(tm)!”
Ever noticed that the RCC and the Really Truly REFORMED have switched places completely over the past 500 years?
I feel sick too elastigirl.
I’m astonished and confounded that people will willingly put themselves into bondage under this kind of horse-s|-|it.
This will be your occasional reminder that many churches do not require people to log in or even wear a name tag.
And Praise God for them! The Church of Jesus Christ is a free church. Attendance is voluntary. You are free to come and go. No log-ins, name tags, or other monitoring required. You can be a member of one church and freely attend another as the Spirit leads. You can even visit churches of other faith expressions to hear sermons and fellowship with believers there. Such is the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now.
Max,
P.S. Church leaders don’t want you to know this
I think we’re trying to clear the same/similar parasitic infections.
And right on cue, 9Marks publish this – “ Church leaders recognize that attendance, giving, serving, discipleship, community groups, and missions are all measurable elements of successful church member assimilation. However, few churches (less than twenty percent) actively measure these key markers with their online church participants. For instance, consider the idea of “online membership.” One purpose of church membership is accountability. Yet most churches with online “members”—in fact, ninety percent—have no ability to articulate an actual process of accountability for those who attempt to engage the church through virtual membership”
(https://www.9marks.org/article/technology-mediated-ministry-how-far-is-too-far/)
Lowlandseer,
It’s interesting. We have some people in our church who are in assisted living (some in the same on as my mom) and follow online. Mark never is opposed to giving communion to people who are sick and in assisted living and other such places.
Do we forget those who are not able bodied because they cannot get to church?
What would Jesus do?
The threat of Eternal Hell and being Left Behind(TM) can be quite a motivator.
Matt 10:28, remember?
And the Great White Throne scene from all those Jack Chick tracts?
Remember the REAL top of the food chain is NOT the Apex Predator;
It is the PARASITE leeching off the Apex Predator.
Good Lord! Now they are after cyber-souls to manipulate, intimidate and dominate! These NeoCal 9Marxists are a scary bunch!
dee,
We shouldn’t forget them. Presbyterian elders and members of the congregation used to visit the sick and elderly in order to participate in Communion with them. I don’t know if that’s still the case. I think the church nowadays has a tendency to forget their responsibilities to the weakest, poorest and most troubled, and that by including them, they are ministering to the Lord Himself.
Random thoughts: autonomous churches can band together to form an autonomous group that sets the parameters of who can belong to said group of autonomous churches. Autonomy in the Baptist world never meant everyone is free to do their own thing without any repercussions.
I think personally what we are seeing is another time where the “temple will be cleansed” so to speak. After all those centuries God once decided to end the whole temple and sacrifices based system. End of the world in the eyes of the Jewish leaders of the time. And right now might just be the end of the church system. End of the world in the eyes of church leaders.
But perhaps the beginning of the Church.
End of sacraments / ordinances. Except remembering the spiritual gifts in the least.