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buddy
Is there a connection between Pastor Mikes personal sex life and next weeks speaker Dr. Increase?

I am sure there is a stimulus plan in the works.

Sounds like Pastor Mike needs anti-viagra!!!!!!!!!!

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Forgiveness_101
Northwest and M&M

About the tithe issue, although i personaly never saw anything wrong the new way of tithing, i do see how it could come off as an issue of...oooohhhh more money!!! To be blunt i liked the old way of titheing, although personaly never felt the pressure of the new tithe, and going up front. I know how people will feel and it just makes it "look" really bad, the big deal we make it esp. with the give God money add we put in every week. Titheing is just about obedience and so no matter how its done, its all about the heart behind the giving that matters....

(Now, i really like online tithing. I never have to go up, and i do it from the couch. The great thing is i only have a debt card, never carry cash, and i dont have a check book so tithing from online is great.)

I just wanted to comment on the specific part where you said, "Tithing is just about obedience and so no matter how its done, its all about the heart behind the giving that matters...."

I do agree that it is about the heart so that part is true but God also says in Matthew 6:3-4 "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your left hand is doing, so that your giving may be done in secret. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

This is Jesus speaking, an exact quote from Him - so I have to say that it does matter to Him how we give even the ways that we are giving physically. It should be done in secret not as a big show or event where we are all able to see who gives and who doesn't. I think Turning Point is wat off base here and not following the guidelines that we are supposed to be following. The Bible is a manual for our lives and that includes pastors and leaders of the church. They should be sticking close to the scripture and this is a verse that is not hard to translate it is pretty clear to most. God knows what is the best for the church and that is why he shares those things with us to keep us from making giving back to him a competition with each other. He warns us in subtle ways and specifically because He knows our sinful nature and he wants us to be able to have successful churches and relationships with one another. Our focus needs to be on beying what He commands us to do and then things fall into place.

It saddens me to think that the church as a whole and especially TPCWOC is this far away from the truth and it shows in many ways. They have taken away the intimacy of tithing in secret to obey, honor, and glorify God and twisted it into some sort of "reality church TV show" for tithing with the music to set the mood and the atmosphere set just right where everyone can see who is giving and who isn't. That is not what God intended it to be like in any way.

I hope this will be something that stops because if I feel uncomfortable with this type of tithing imagine how God feels when He is looking down and wondering where in the world they found the scripture that says to give publically for all to see. I know I couldn't find something in the Bible that tells us to do that.

We should all pray for the tithe to be restored to the way it is supposed to be given.

-giftofsong

Amen,You show much wisdom Giftofsong.Thankyou.

I really appreciate this site, however i think the sarcasm tends to discredit. I would pray that this forum could be used for posting that is beneficial to others. when we retaliate with the sarcastic tone, we are not being a proper reflection of the truth. I would encourage some to stop, because there are people that are interested in finding a support. The posts that contain the sarcasm turn them off to posting or being a part of this . Just my opinion. we are still reeling from the resignation of pastor and elder Jackie Singer. What a great loss for the body of tpc. She was a wonderful example of Gods love and grace.

Wherefromhere: I am sorry for my sarcastic tone and if I have offended you. My wife told me to tone it down, but I didn't listen. I was just trying to be funny and lighten things up a bit from so serious a situation. I will try better in the future. We went to our first church service last Sunday since we left TP. I was a great service directly from the Bible and they knew the art and science of biblical interpretation. We even sang some good old Hymns and during the music I was over taken with weeping. I experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit at that non-charismatic church. We really enjoyed the people to.We will still visit other churches in the area intill God shows us are home. I am praying for everybody,including Pastor Mike and I am sorry if I have been trying to push his buttons, I just want our Pastor Mike to be Pastor Mike and TPWOC to go back to TPC. So much false teaching has came to TP over the years. A year from now TP will be a completely different place of Worship. Most churches in our area will not put up with the false teaching Pastor Mike is bringing to Marsville. We need a miracle in Pastor Mike to restore TP !

My family has been at TP for many years. Over the last several years, we've seen things that have made us a bit uncomfortable, and at times we've had our feeling hurt. We've always decided to stay, believing that no church is perfect, and that *we* were the problem.

I guess the thing that has struck us the most is the secrecy. I don't expcet to agree with everything that my pastor says or does, but I'd like the chance to at least know about it....as far as the church and it's body is concerned. I don't know how much of the claims that I've heard are true or not, and I try very hard not to speculate, but I'm so tired of the secrets. I'm tired of being told that I'm not in fellowship enough, but not being included in fellowship activities. I'm so tired of feeling like an outsider. I'm tired of wondering, tired of fearing what others think, tired of not being able to talk about it, and being rebuked when I try. I'm tired of going to leadership with my concerns, and being told that I'm the problem, that I don't have enough faith, that I don't pray enough, that I don't serve enough....That I'm not good enough.

The departure of Pastor/Elder Jackie is the final straw though. I don't think that we will be going back. I can only imagine how difficult it was for her to make this decision.

My heart is breaking though, at the thought of leaving (what I've considered to be) my family. It's all I've known for so long, it's all that my children know. I don't know how to move on. I don't know how to start over.

Hey, it's me again, the guy who made the Turning Point Church Satire videos on YouTube.

You all pour our your hearts and souls on this forum frequently and there is a lot of deep discussion, compassion, empathy, worry, regret, sorrow, and stress. It's all honest, too. And I don't go to Turning Point and never have... So I guess in many ways I can't say I know exactly how you all feel. Yet I can still grasp that it must be hard.

And I'd like to say, I don't ever aim to crush your feelings or hurt you, nor have I ever, with my Turning Point Satires... And I'm sorry for them almost physically hurting some of you when you've already had to deal with enough.

I like to think my videos are helping, or have helped, or maybe will help some people. Some who were raised with maybe my sense of humor. I like to think that maybe they'll learn something from my videos. Because I do try to base them around a ring of truth, or at least an important metaphor.

My videos aren't for everyone, so I wouldn't watch them if you already have too much stress or you're easily offended or anything like that at all. But I have two new ones up. They are quite funny in my opinion. And, like usual, I try to base them off themes that point out issues the church has.

I posted on on Christmas. Called Villamor Christmas. It's quite long. It includes Mike's love for coffee, Tony Cunningham, and even Jesus pays a visit to tell Mike the error of his worldly ways. However, there are scenes with Mike keeping his son on a leash and giving him nothing but Bibles for Christmas, all heavy metaphors that some of you may find offensive. And for that I'm sorry. But if you'd like to watch it anyways, Here is the link:

[www.youtube.com]

And more relevant to now is my latest video which is on Mike's little... Sex-ed speal... Some of you have found it inapropriate, especially with children around. Some of you thought it wasn't so bad. Others believe it should have been left to the families to discuss sex relations with their children instead of the pastor giving them. I personally found it hilarious. I hate to be offensive, but finding things like that funny is kinda who I am as a person. To bring attention to his creepiness I turned the audio into a hilarious mixture. Obviously mostly out of context. Although some is left in context because it was creepy/funny as it was. I hope it's obsurdity will bring attention to Mike. How is is trying to make all of his church's youth's sex lives his business. And, again, in my opinion it's good entertainment.

If you would like to relieve some of the stress and laugh about things for a bit, the link to that video is here:

[www.youtube.com]

giftofsong- good on the tithe!!

wherefromhere-Thank-you, I agree. You beat me to it. I was also feeling that comments were going in the wrong direction.

Borkenhearted-You will be okay. Find a church that is safe, where the leadership is accountable to someone. Stay away from the independent churches. Before we started going to TP, I did have reservations because it wasn't affilated with any other church, but when I heard Pastor Mike speak at another church we were visiting, we decided to go to TP and then kept going. I might add that my husband was never comfortable there, but could never figure out why. Now we know why and I wish now that we would have not stayed. No leadership should make you feel guilty in any way. Telling you that you don't serve enough, pray enough etc. It is between you and God. I really feel for you. We are going back to the church that we attended before TP. It is a comfortable, safe place to be. We never left there because of problems...only to find something closer to home. So going back there is like home to us. So I guess I would recommend talking to other people you know who are attending a different church that would be safe for you to visit.

I just received a phone call from a small group leader from TP wanting to know why we were leaving. I named the different things that we disagreed with and one thing I mentioned was Spiritual Parenting. He said they no longer taught that. They realized it was not scripitual and stopped. FYI.

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