A Year In My Life Through Pictures Day 5

Today's picture is actually a screen capture from facebook (if you couldn't tell). Take a look at the picture and you will see a status update by a local "pastor" from my hometown. This person is the leader of a local church that is as close to emergent as our fair city has. Although they are about 2 years behind (as Paducah is with everything) they still make a valiant effort to be relevant.

As his post shows, a "Worship experience evaluation and planning" meeting was held at a local coffee house. I guess it is the years of emotional and mental manipulations that really rile me up and cause posts like this to cause a holy indignation t swell in me. All I can see is a couple of guys with soul patches sitting around a coffee house, in the heart of the "relevant" part of town, sipping on a couple of frozen - half caff - mocha lattes with half and half foam - figuring out the next steps to manipulate their congregation into "feeling" what they want them to feel.

You probably think that I am going to call this guy out, say what I really think about him and his relevancy factor. Since I went back to work today after 10 days off, I have had some time to reflect on my view towards heretic and the like. I have come to the conclusion that, yes, they need to be called out publicly because what they put out there is public as well. Besides, contacting this particular person directly goes either not replied to, ignored or just glossed over like I was showering him with praise rather than offering a rebuke of his questionable devices.

I have seen it before and I am sure I will see it again, but this post really irked me today. I blurred his name and the name of the person that commented on his post to protect their identities. Of course, if you know me or have read my posts before you have heard about this "pastor" before. He is the Craig Groeschel groupie that hinges on the next "big" thing that lifechurch.tv does, so that he can copy it in some fashion and regurgitate it back to his followers. I pray that this "church" leader will be awakened to what he is doing and in turn use his celebrity (although mostly in his own mind) to actually preach to his congregation. When you have peoples attention you have to share the gospel. You have to relay to them the state of sin they are in and show them to the only cure, Jesus Christ. This guy, and many others, just offer up the cure before people know their disease is killing them. And that is the good messages. The other message is no message at all. Which begs the question, if the gospel is being proclaimed as commanded, the Word is being preached in truth and righteousness, then why is a meeting needed to evaluate and plan "worship experiences"?

Pray that this guy gets a clue to what the true gospel is. The feel good, good works that he is doing will be burned up on the day of judgment because he does them for selfish reasons. He does not do them to be laid at the altar of God, to glorify Him, that souls will be saved. Pray that the Word is preached and that sinners come to repentance and that God is glorified.