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Post by Josh Parsley on Feb 27, 2006 16:26:57 GMT -5
Imagine if you could create the church you wanted, any way you wanted. Put together a worship service exactly the way YOU want: hymns, no hymns, drums, no drums. Are you from Wisconsin, start Polka Mass! Start a building campaign, ask for donations. Be the next Joel Osteen! Pastor a simulated church that and create your own Christian empire Build a church from the ground up, customize your staff, control budgets and more Hire and fire staff and deal with idiots, naive volunteers, and denominational egos Attract fickle unchurched people with Bingo, revival meetings or fasting--it is all up to you! Select a pre-loaded community Xurban or suburban church plant (for those who want it easy) Inner-city, multi-ethnic 80 year old church with 50 members and $1 million mortgage debt (for those who really want a challenge) Choose a denomination (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal plus many more obscure factions and a brand new emergent plug-in) Take weekly offerings and pass a budget Start your own radio or cable-access show Attend the latest conference to hone your skills Implement the latest ministry fadReview weekly attendance and giving records Earn points with God by winning souls for Christ With network play enabled, you can steal members from other churches and earn points just like you saved them yourself. The possibilities are endless! To grow your church, work on all the strategic variables, Write a mission statement Choose a logo Get a billboard Hire a professional worship musician Book a rock band Buy plasma television for your PowerPoint presentations Prayer, study and preparation get thrown in there too--and the mysterious will of God! Deal with real-life challenges. Scenarios include, Troublesome board members Elderly, donor who wants to buy a new organ Your son starts using drugs Your trusted deacon sleeps with your secretary The city starts a construction project in front of your building Offering stolen Oh, the variations and the possibilities. Denominations and Bible colleges use it to prepare potential church planters or associate pastors just like flight simulators train pilots. It is better than an internship! Do it all without a degree, license or even the Bible! Just like Joel Osteen.www.e-church.com/Blog.asp?EntryID=51729 Here is a new game. This stirs me up so much. I don't know whether to protest or lay here and weep.
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Post by messengermicah on Feb 27, 2006 16:40:34 GMT -5
Did any of you see Joel Osteen on Larry King live or read the transcripts? I read the transcripts because I wanted to know for sure exactly what he said or did not say.
He refused to admit homosexuals or muslims would go to hell. Larry King tried to get him every way to make some kind of stand and he refused.
I do not want to get caught up in just criticizing or bashing people, but I believe we need to speak out and take a stand against people like Joel Osteen. From his fruit I do not see how the guy can call himself a Christian, much less a preacher.
He is damning people to hell by his cowardice to speak the truth and maintain his positive reputation (Luke 6:26).
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Post by Kerrigan on Feb 27, 2006 16:50:43 GMT -5
Did any of you see Joel Osteen on Larry King live or read the transcripts? I read the transcripts because I wanted to know for sure exactly what he said or did not say. He refused to admit homosexuals or muslims would go to hell. Larry King tried to get him every way to make some kind of stand and he refused. I do not want to get caught up in just criticizing or bashing people, but I believe we need to speak out and take a stand against people like Joel Osteen. From his fruit I do not see how the guy can call himself a Christian, much less a preacher. He is d**ning people to hell by his cowardice to speak the truth and maintain his positive reputation (Luke 6:26). Amen Micah! I don't think he is a Christian either. He denied Christ before millions of people! Not only did Larry give him numerous chances to take a stand, but a caller called in to give him a chance to say exactly what Jesus said, "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE and NO ONE can come to the Father BUT BY ME." I fear for people like Joel Osteen on the Day of Judgement. A little background on Joel: didn't go to College, doesn't have any Theological training, never preached before in his life until his father died and he "took over" the Church. His preaching and his books have very little Scripture if any at all in them. And when he does use Scripture, it is taken WAY OUT OF CONTEXT. He uses Scripture to fit what he is trying to say instead of the other way around. The funny thing (well not really) is that after the Larry King Live show, many people wrote and called him to tell him how dissapointed they were in what he said. So, he sheepishly apologized...not because he did something wrong or because he thought he did something wrong, but because he disappointed his fans (for lack of a better word). I truly think that if no one had written him about his performance on Larry King Live, that he would have never apologized!
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Post by Josh Parsley on Feb 27, 2006 18:37:42 GMT -5
It is actually not a game. It's just a joke and a mock of Christianity. The link that looked like an Amazon.com page is a fake.
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Post by evangelista on Feb 28, 2006 7:49:08 GMT -5
It's pretty sad, indeed. Christianity has become such a mockery in this country. We need to pray for this country and the world. There are people who we come across when we OA preach who say they're Christians, with alcohol on their breath (drunk!), etc. The fruit of today's "church." It truly breaks my heart to see the state of the church here in America.
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Post by HSTN2983 on May 4, 2006 11:29:31 GMT -5
my ex-church, when i was a believer, is now at the ten thousand member (on the roll, not attending on a regular basis) mark. i sat with my folks in a santuary that seated a thousand people. big, even for tyler, texas. green acres baptist church built a new sanctuary a few years ago, a stadium, seating up to five thousand people. two projection-screen televisions are mounted behind the pastor because people in the back rows can barely see him--the church is this big. the pews are all clothed for maximum comfort and everything is stylized, or plated, in gold and heavily decorated according to holiday. however, what made me sick was the actual building process and what happened to get the church where it is today. the pastor asked for donations, no problem, but then it got a little crazy. he began asking for people to take out second mortgages, sell houses, boats, cars, etc. to pay for the twenty-two million dollar project. also, several blocks of people were forcefully removed from their homes because of iminent domain (sp?).
i thought of my old church when reading this 'mega-church' game. there are christians in this church, and i sincerely believe the pastor to be a good man of the cloth. my parents are christians, as is my sister, and other people like them attend this church. however, how does a church this big meet the private needs of the members. people are divided into cliques, like highschool, and they sit in their same pews every sunday. it is not family-oriented, but more like a social gathering of people who want nothing to do with one another. they come for the music, a ten minute sermon and then leave...honking their horns to get out of a two hour church traffic jam to watch the ball game on tv and have a cookout. i do not sense a presence of holiness, and never did (not because i am a christian, because any person can sense things like that in a community that is truly practicing something of that nature). in other words, you get the feeling that these people really want to be here, and they really care about the other members and their walk with christ, etc.
..not in this church, not at all. i felt nothing at all, only 'buddy christ' to use an example from a movie: dogma.
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Post by ejuliot on May 4, 2006 14:20:53 GMT -5
That is really sad!
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Post by messengermicah on May 4, 2006 14:39:27 GMT -5
dmclayton,
This is not to give you an excuse or anything, but I can understand better your skeptiscm with being brought up in an environment like that.
It is obvious you know what hypocrisy is. God is going to hold you accountable since you know what hypocrisy is.
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Post by HSTN2983 on May 4, 2006 15:17:01 GMT -5
you don't need to tell me that twice. the problem i have with christianity is not the faith, but its followers. how can so many people fudge up so much, and still think they are on the right track? i am not speaking of your run-of-the-mill 'everyone is a sinner', but christians are doing things that they sincerely believe to be right and its completely unbiblical. christianity is a beautiful faith when the people are left out of the picture. haha. i mean, half of the events in the bible do not even sound realistic because it sounds as if these followers of god led raids against neighboring cities, looted it, raped the women and slaughtered men, women, children, infants and ripped open the bellies of pregnant women. then, they would slaughter the livestock and burn all the crops. this sounds like men doing what they want to do and justifying it by slapping god's name to it and writing it in the bible.
remember, the catholic church decided which books they wanted to put in the bible and the rest was considered heresy. how do you even know that everything in the current bible is even the true word of god? you do not. do i know that it is a forgery? no, of course not. this is why you have to take it upon yourself to find the truth, instead of blindly following everything your parents or some lousy, snake-handling preacher tells you. heh.
people, myself included, often times rely too much on the words, actions and thoughts of others. we need to stop being sheep. we need to start thinking for ourselves, lead a little...
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Post by messengermicah on May 5, 2006 10:34:39 GMT -5
You make some good points and I am glad to hear that you do have a conscience. Christians are not supposed to blindly follow something. Faith is not supposed to be based on something we do not know. It is supposed to be based on something we do know. Faith is based on knowledge. We are supposed to think but we have to think honestly.
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Post by HSTN2983 on May 6, 2006 10:58:42 GMT -5
i agree with you that faith and knowledge go hand in hand. this is why i am agnostic, and not atheist. atheism is ridiculous, because you cannot prove that there is not a god, nor can you prove there is one, but i am willing to accept the possibility. this is why i am seeking the knowledge of scriptures, and even doctrine. this does not matter to a christian, because going to church is not as important as faith itself, but i go to church on a regular basis. i keep up with religion in politics, religion in the media, and christianity in general. i read the bible on a regular, daily basis.
so, as jesse will agree, i CAN be profane and intolerant of some christians, but i am also extremely open-minded, objective, sincere and intelligent. see, i boost my own ego. we all have our shortcomings. haha. nevertheless, i agree with your reply.
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Post by Jules on May 6, 2006 11:12:32 GMT -5
HSTN, unfortunately, you, along with many here, are the product of modern-day gospel. It produces hordes of false converts, pacifying their consciences with once saved, always saved teachings, pre-trib raptures, and that "evangelism is a gift" - gotta give the ol' serpent some credit there, he did a marvelous job deceiving millions, over the past 100 years. So many movements, books, movies, and organizations have contributed to the down-grade of Christinianity, as SPurgeon warned about in his time, in his Sword and the Trowel magazine. The articles he wrote then sound like they are for today. He saw the beginnings of it then.
The problem is, that churches today have stopped providing "sheep food" for the sheep and are now giving "goat food". Sheep food of course is the whole counsel of God: wrath, sin, judgment, grace, mercy, holiness, etc. NO compromise. This makes us grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus CHrist. When pastors started turning into pulpit pimps and peddling goat food, everything changed. Sheep began starving, some left in search of good food again. Some stayed and began eating goat food, which will ultimately kill them. Goat food consists of the "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" It is proliferated thorugh books such as "Your Best Life Now", "Purpose Driven LIfe" and packaged and sold by WIllow Creek and TBN. No wonder sheep are starving to death. God help us.
I would htink you, of all people, would join in preaching against such hypocrisy. I think it is absolutely a good thing you are disgusted by what you see - we all are on this board. WHich is one reason we take to the streets I suppose. I know when I speak out against sin, I often speak out against the "false church" of America.
Keep reading the Word. Ask God Himself to reveal truth, and shut your eyes to the lies of the world, and the false converts. It is disgusting to behold, but they will give an account for leading millions astray when they are judged. The church today is filled with the people Jesus spoke of who will say to Him "Lord Lord, didn't we do ___ and ___ in your name?" And he tells them to depart from Him WORKERS OF INIQUITY. We warn them, pray for repentance, and move on. Time is short.
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Post by HSTN2983 on May 6, 2006 22:32:36 GMT -5
jules, i realize the modern church is the false gospel, because i have a noggin' up on my shoulders. my issue is IF there is a gospel, period, but thanks for the insight. i will continue to study the bible--ten years going strong. heh.
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