PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives » Church Politics

Ridicule Christian Zionists

Pomo — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:35 +0000

If I was a bit more cynical I'd opt to go viral with some clever method of ridiculing Christian Zionists for their exceptionally damaging take on the gospel message. Wouldn't YOU think twice before giving a standing ovation if you knew you'd be blasted in your social networks for ignorantly proclaiming that Israel State = Jesus coming back?

The Christian Zionist movement is cleverly shrouded behind the guise of evangelical fundamentalism, yet it looks more like a well-oiled Republican warmongering machine bent on destroying all hell-bound Arabs in the name of their American Jesus.

Make no mistake, there is not one ounce of truth behind their reasoning.

Don't forget, YOUR brothers and sisters in the region aren't Jews, they are the indigenous CHRISTIAN ARAB PALESTINIANS. (And no, this isn't a call to anti-Semitism.)

Pastor Hagee in Jerusalem 3/8/10 (Part II) from Max J Blumenthal on Vimeo.

Ridicule Christian Zionists is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

How Christians Should Do Conferences

Pomo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:16:28 +0000

This is more of anecdotal piece rather than one listing off references and stats. But I'd like to point out how Christians can start leading the charge for cheaper and eco-friendly conferences. We all know that the churches who can afford it, love to send their pastors and as many non-essential workers as possible to gaudy conferences around North America. Well maybe not quite, but there are a number of churches who are conference junkies and may indulge in the activity more often than really necessary (do we have to go to Leadership Summit every year to ask the same questions?)

Nonetheless, let me encourage churches and denominational leaders to connect and involve themselves in online networking in lieu of expensive flights, meals, lodging, etc., of conferences abroad.

Case in point, thenines conference this year on 09.09.09. IT was a FANTASTIC idea that probably had a HUGE following online. THe concept? Big names, brief talks, all for free, all online. No expenses!

Perhaps it's necessary to meet folks face to face, but more often than not you can do away with that component. Take for example the aforementioned Leadership Summit headed by Willow Creek and Bill Hybels. They do it all by live feed. Now, I"m not sure why it's still costs 100 bucks a person, but the concept is at least emerging.

Perhaps the leaders of conferences can start opting for the live feed/online conferencing feature over flights, appearance fees, meals, lodging, etc.. Imagine the THOUSANDS upon hundreds of THOUSANDS per year that could go BACK into community while still maintaining the apparent necessity of 'leadership development'.

So cudos to you Brian McLaren for an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint while simultaneously saving everyone money. Hats off to you and to others who are leading this charge.

How Christians Should Do Conferences is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

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Democracy is the head of the Alliance church

Pomo — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:54:04 +0000

This involves the Christian & Missionary Alliance church just as it does most other mainstream churches. For I inquired of the head of education for the Alliance church in Canada, I inquired of the Dean of the Alliance seminary in Calgary, I inquired of the head pastor from First Alliance church in Calgary... All of them said that when people disagree on the word of God, church doctrine is determined by a democratic vote. When two of them were asked what would happen if there was disagreement on whether or not Jesus was the Son of the Living God (if that ever occurred), they both replied that it would be put to a democratic vote to determine the word of God for the Alliance church. Shocking? Ask them yourselves. Here is a short blog I wrote on another forum.

One fundamental duty of every Christian church is to teach, preach and uphold the word of God as it is written in scripture. This is written in the first line of most church constitutions and is in accord with Christ's own teachings on the authority of scripture.Yet there is a new god in most mainstream churches today, a new 'word of god'. I call this god the 'democratic god', that is a god whose word and truth are not from the One True Living God, but are determined by the democratic process of humanity.

With every new controversy, whether it is child communion, women clergy or gay marriage, the democratic god, not scripture, determines the "word of God" in the vast majority of Christian churches (save the Catholics). Through the disagreements, divisions and contentions in churches, the word of God is then put to a vote time and time again.

Here are some examples:
Nov. 5, 1998. Australian Lutherans vote for women pastors
June 14, 2000. Southern Baptists vote against women pastors
June 2001. American Presbyterians vote to allow gay clergy
June 2002. Scottish Episcopal Church votes for women bishops
July 2003. Australian church votes to ordain homosexuals
July 2005. United church of Christ votes to endorse same-sex marriage
Aug 2006. ELCIC votes against same-sex marriage

The list goes on and on and on...

Notice anything odd about the church votes? The god of those churches is very very confused. He says "yes" and "no" to the exact same thing. Even in a single church he says "yes" then "no", often "yes" again and sometimes "it is up to you". He is a god of confusion, lying and contradicting himself constantly. Say hello to the democratic god.

Why do I write about such things? Why do I not just ignore them as everyone else seems to do? I strongly object to this modern day heresy of the democratic god. Those churches and many many more say they teach the word of God on these issues, but in actual fact it is the word of humanity determined through democratic votes. They are literally inventing the word of God out of their own popular opinions. This is wrong because it is a lie. These democratic votes do not determine the word of God and it is a lie when churches teach the results of these votes as doctrine. Need I remind anyone that it is wrong to lie?

How do we know that it is not God guiding the church votes, as all of these churches will claim? Because the True God does not lie, he does not contradict Himself.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.” Malachi 3:6, “I AM THE LORD, I DO NOT CHANGE”

How else do we know that these democratic votes are not the word of God? Because we are not God that we should determine His word by our own word.

The practice of putting the word of God to a democratic vote is wrong in so many ways that need not be mentioned to make this point. When our churches do vote on God's word we make a mockery of Him by putting our words in His mouth and making Him into a liar, both confusing everyone and saying God contradicts Himself. The god who leads the churches in these votes is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but the democratic god that is none other than humanity. When we put the popular vote on the throne of God to lead the church, we commit a grave heresy. This grave heresy is dividing and scattering the universal church, it is killing Christianity. We must stop.

For the love of Truth, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, tell your church leaders that you reject them voting on the word of God. Tell them they have no right to put God's word to popular vote and still call it God's word. They may say there is no other way, but pull out your bible and call on the Name of our Lord God. We worship a Living God whose Word and Spirit are with us in truth! He is not silent, He is not dead but ALIVE!! If they honestly do not know the word of God on an issue, let them submit to the word of God in scripture. If the scriptures are silent to them, if the Holy Spirit does not speak to them, if they cannot get the answer from God, then let them not speak the word of God on that issue, for when they do they slander our God and pervert His word. We are the Church of God, we follow His Holy Word. We are not the church of man, we do not follow man's word. So let us stop this heresy that has hi-jacked mainstream Christianity.

May God have mercy on His church.

-John Graham, a servant of the Living God.

Democracy is the head of the Alliance church is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

NSFW – Gospel Today Cover Shows Women

Pomo — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:36:39 +0000

Gospel Today, Christian magazine from the dirty South, has released their latest issue full of controversy. At the center of it all includes six women on the front cover--so racy that over 1000 Christian bookstores have hid the magazine from prying eyes.

Picture below, must be 8 years old or over to view.

The real issue is the fact the six women are pastors. Southern Baptist's refuse to allow women preachers, elders, or regular preachers. So screw you Gov. Palin, because you don't have a penis you could be president but you couldn't pastor over a gaggle of rednecks.

Time to update you theology--or is headship/submission the only way you view the Godhead?

NSFW – Gospel Today Cover Shows Women is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

Tyson Gay Homosexual

Pomo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:29:04 +0000

The far far right-wing in America is a powerful powerful lobby with money and strings. Unfortunately their attempts to be taken seriously by normal people sometimes backfires. 'All things to all people by all means,' didn't really work out when a news agency auto replaced all terms 'gay' with homosexual. Sucks if your last name is 'Gay'.

Tyson Gay Homosexual is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

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Millions More into Texas Creation Science Teacher School

Pomo — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:22:00 +0000

The institute for creation science, a right-wing fundamentalist Christian organization, is now applying in Texas for the approval to train science teachers. Yes folks, this is the best use of money some Christians can come up with. Too bad it's not a school for lawyers who could fight for justice matters to the oppressed, or a medical school to help with the AIDS epidemic, or a basket weaving school to train basket makers--anything other than a literal six-day creationist school to continually school impressionable kids into being antagonistic and incomprehensible 'lights' unto the world. Only in America folks....Now where's the nearest rapture high school to enroll my kids in?.....

Millions More into Texas Creation Science Teacher School is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

Pope and Bart Get Together – Denominations a ‘Scandal’

Pomo — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:36:54 +0000

Posted this almost last year, but the picture is too good. It`s santa!

Good news from Istanbul, let's see the RC church lead the way.

Pope denounces Christian divisions.

Pope and Bart Get Together – Denominations a ‘Scandal’ is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

All Hail the ATM Money Changer

Pomo — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:37:15 +0000

Do ATM's Belong in Church?

For a while now I've cringed at the ATM in church, but times are changing no? Essentially, people are becoming more and more lazy, they can't plan their tithing, so they need a big flashy ATM in the church lobby to remind them to give. Time has release an interesting article on the phenomenon.

I'm skeptical of the ATM and surely do not want churches accepting credit cards (what next, money laundering?) I do, however, acknowledge that we're in a new era of money and plastic is the way to go. I caught myself nodding my head with the final thought in the article above.

"I often hear people say that the only check they still write each month is to the church," he says. "It seems that everything else has gone electronic; the church will follow."

Yea, me too

All Hail the ATM Money Changer is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

Pastor Sues 20/20 ‘Cause He Only Gots 1 Bentley

Pomo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:38:18 +0000

He Only paid for One Bentley, the Other was a Gift....

A LA pentecostal preacher filed a lawsuit against the 20/20 news program citing that they falsely illustrated his life in one of their programs. The Rev. Frederick K.C. Price, pastor and founder of Crenshaw Christian Center, was part of a segment on televangelists titled 'Enough!' (Did they catch Benny Hinh in this one? Somebody tell that guy I'll punch him in the gut but steal his cool suits.)

20/20 apparently painted the religious leader as an overly wealthy individual who has too much. I can totally agree that 20/20 would bash Christians like this, but that doesn't mean preacher Price is out of the clear. My favorite quote from the article?

"And one of his two Bentley cars was a gift from two of his congregants."

OH, geez, for a minute there I thought he bought two, but really it was one. One for him and one for his wife. I don't mind rich pastor's, there's nothing in the Bible that suggests a pastor needs to be poor. Rather a church should be good stewards to pay their pastor what they can afford. Rich churches will have wealthier pastors. What I don't like is extravagance, and although I'm not one to judge, two Bentley's seems a bit much. I mean come on, sell one and save the seals, better yet, the hungry hippos, or maybe the hungry inner city kids.....Just saying.

Pastor Sues 20/20 ‘Cause He Only Gots 1 Bentley is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives

Pope Renounces All Other Denominations Again

silq — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:46:36 +0000

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19692094/

Just wondering what the pope means when he says "The other communities "cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles."

I'm just wondering if the Pope thinks that those churches that Paul planted were actually churches then (according to his definition). and what is this 'proper sense' he speaks of? ftw? i guess this pope wants to leave a mark... let's undo everything that the last guy did so the next guy has something to do.

Pope Renounces All Other Denominations Again is a post from: PomoTheo - Missional Perspectives