So what you are saying is basically Foursquare is for sale if there are enough benefactors with the right kind of bank account? Sounds like a deacon of a church I knew who made his money by working hard and by doing the 'right' things. He told us all one day at a guitar pulling at his home one Saturday, "You guys can be rich too if you have the right lawyer and sue the right people!"
At least Jesus had the chutzpah to keep Judas from having any influence in his church. And he kept the legal eagles at bay as well. Too bad the church today is tainted with so many betrayers and legalists. Oh, that's right... they're the people who run cults!
I am starting to think not only is CFM a good place to stay away from, but so is Praise Chapel and Foursquare. Saw way too much balogney in Assemblies of God as well, but I won't say that the AOG and Foursquare are cults, but I will say this much, AOG came from Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) and Foursquare was birthed from AOG, CFM split from Foursquare and PC came out of the splits from CFM... you get the picture. Of course Calvary Chapel has roots in Foursquare, with Chuck Smith who left them in good graces (and remains as such even today) and started his own work. I don't see CC as a cult at all. They are very user friendly. Nobody gets very close unless you are part of the clique, but there's no membership, no hammering about tithes and those who wish to be in ministry must prove themselves and be accountable as well as seek higher education and experience in matters of ministry and study. The big thing I like about them is there is a pretty relaxed atnosphere without all the emphasis on dress code or mode of worship. You can sit or stand, clap your hands or look stoic. Nobody follws you home to see if you are living with your wife or if you are going to a club or whatever. In short externals are viewed with a less important place in the believers life. No preacher or deacon or whomever is there to judge you. They actually teach the Bible there, and do it in a more organized fashion rather than the haphazard way cults like CFM tend to do, teaching the same stuff over and over to hammer the distinctive doctrines they major on. CC pastors teach thru the Bible and in context instead of zipping around the Book.
I will not go to any church that isn't user friendly. I don't mind them teaching against sin, because the Bible does. If there is no love and only rules and regs from some man and his organization, I am outa there!
Has it ever occurred that Jesus fed the 5000 that day and never took an offering? He asked what food was available, not how much money did they all have. He didn't seem interested in 10% of ANYTHING, did he? I wonder if it ever occurred to any CFM pastor that Mitchell has demanded 10% of all of his churches from what they collect and this is one of the very factors that he split with Foursquare over! He wasn't paying them the 10% from the churches in Foursquare he had oversaw which had been started by men he sent out under his discipleship/church planting program. That 10% was the core issue as to why Ron Jones led over 200 churches out of CFM in early 1990 because he and these pastors were tired of giving Mitchell 10% of everything their churches brought in!
I will say it again: "By their fruits will you know them"
"Follow the money, honey."
Some other things to consider:
Are people being set free by the truth of the Word or are they being hammered with guilt trip after guilt trip where they can never do enough to please God, because the pastor isn't pleased and he let's them know this everytime he sees them? Are people getting to know God in a real way where their lives show the difference in the way they walk and talk or are they on some hyped up religous kick straight out of the cults where everyone else in the world is bad and apostates? Do the folks in the church live a life that speaks of God's love or do they walk around with a constant frown and an unhappy demeanor? Sure all of that can be faked, but they can't fake it 24-7. How are they about sharing with those less fortunate than themselves? Do they care about God's creation or do they just take it all for granted and treat the world as if it's a waste dump? People that really connect with God have a tendacy to reflect how He really is, which is become caring and kind rather than be some selfish person who is angry at everyone. Religous idiots have this "God is up there with a lightning bolt, ready to zap you if you don't... (fill in the blank!)" instead of real spirituality which longs to share God's love with others. It's the love that is the core of the Gospel, not the law! We had 1000's of years under Moses law and not one of those rules had the motivator to enable people to live for God, but the law of Love actually empowers everyday people who want to know God to do just that and a lot more including loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is not the kind of thing you will hear in most churches! They don't dare tell their flock this stuff.
This is the stuff the cults like CFM can't afford to teach and preach because if they did it would jeopradize the control they have on their followers. If their people heard the truth they'd realize they have been lied to, been manipulated and decieved - all in God's name! This is why Paul instructs the truth is to be taught in love. Instead the cults teach lies out of hate and anger! And to think of the the untold numbers of folks who are caught up in that stuff.
Jesus said it best. "You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free."
Would to God that all the poor ones in the seats this Sunday would actually hear the truth.
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nitedork
but frank, do you really think foursquare gives a rat's rear-end about scribner? it's his mouthpiece hsommer that has these guys on the hook. his business partners are major benefactors in the van nuys foursquare community.
rob is the baggage that comes along with having powerful allies in berglund, johnson & sommer esq et all.............