Merry Christmas, Y'all!

While I had planned something more personal and original in the way of a Christmas greeting, there is no way I could ever top this.

For your holiday viewing pleasure, SWBTS presents "Pecan Manor Christmas 2009." Dr. Dorothy Patterson narrates this tour of Pecan Manor, home of the president of SWBTS.

Won't you sit back and joi-in Mizz Dorothy, the President, and Noche for a spot of delightful tea in the parlah?

Watch larger version here for now.

Jerry Sutton Sues Accuser

Just goes to show you can take the $314,000 and run, but you can't escape your past.

The Tennessean > Two Rivers' ex-pastor sues accuser

As one commenter said, "The great thing about this lawsuit is that this Harris guy will now be able to demand detailed info from Sutton and the church and maybe the truth will finally come out. Of course, any incriminating evidence has probably been thrown in the church dumpster by now."

FBC Jax Watchdog > Liberty and SWBTS: You're on the clock! What will you do with Sutton?

The original "Two Rivers Info" site no longer exists, but their Facebook Group is still up.

Photo © Associated Press

PRE zent... ALMS!

It's that time of year again -- time for Bellevue's annual Love Offering Sunday. What started in 1934 as a means for the church to pay off their building debt has turned into an all-out dog and pony show during which all present in the worship service on Love Offering Sunday march to the front of the auditorium and parade past large boxes into which they drop their offering envelopes. Last year envelopes were available near each seat, and guests were encouraged to get into line and drop empty envelopes into the boxes so people wouldn't be stepping over each other and no one would feel left out. Of course, if a guest felt led to put a little something inside the envelope, I'm sure no one would have objected.

It's difficult to believe it's been four years since this simple one-page announcement was made regarding the 2005 Love Offering. The prayer chapel, a colossal waste of money when a portion of the existing facilities which sit unused 6 1/2 days a week could have simply been designated as a prayer room, was never built. Many who gave to the 2005 offering have been asking for the past four years what happened to those plans. (Remember the proposed labyrinth?) Now we're told that money, which was reportedly set aside in a separate account, will be plowed into the "Vision 2010" plan which includes... taa daa... designating a portion of the existing facilities as a prayer room.

This year they've been much less specific as to what the love offering is for. Steve Gaines writes:

"This year's Love Offering is the first step in a multi-year effort to develop our people, ministries, and programs, and, when necessary, to enhance our facilities for the purpose of fulfilling our mission. Will we do everything we've planned? Probably not, because situations and opportunities will likely change in the coming years and we will adjust our plans accordingly."

This way they can pretty much use the money however they wish.

Speaking of 2005, my, how things have changed since this photo was taken!



With giving down significantly in the past couple of years and according to one source, "the money pit is awfully shallow," this year they've pulled out all the stops. From reminders in the weekly bulletin for the past month to large postcards and a full-color, multi-page mailout printed on slick, heavyweight cardstock (what did it cost to design, print, and mail that to every family in the church?) to a video to "Love Offering Reminders" e-mailed to people who haven't set foot in Bellevue in years to automated phone calls from Brother Steve -- it's been an all-out media blitz. Here is the full brochure. The whole "Vision 2010" thing will be discussed in a future article.

This quote is printed in this week's bulletin:

"Lines that Linger" by Rev. Don Miller

"The church needs faithful members who are regular attenders, faithful members who know how to pray and do it, faithful members who bring others with them, faithful members who love God more than the world, and faithful members who know the tithe is the Lord's and give it."

Subtle, huh?

And this from page 18 of the brochure:

The Love Offering is primarily a love and thank offering to our Lord Jesus Christ who gave the ultimate love gift -- Himself -- and who loves us with a priceless love. As Bro. Steve has said, our gifts to the Love Offering are not tithes, but are gifts above and beyond our tithe. As you determine how much to give, prayerfully consider the following:

1. God knows the need.
2. God knows how much of the need He wants to meet through you.
3. What God desires to do through you He will provide to you.
4. When we give obediently as God has guided and provided, He gets the glory and we get the blessing!

The need this year is truly God-sized and will require us to increase our faith to reach our goals. Please prayerfully consider what God wants you to give, and obediently and sacrificially give as God directs you.

Do people really need to be goaded like this to give? After all, the Bible says, "God loveth a cheerful giver," not an intimidated giver.

There have been good articles on the subject of "tithing" on the FBC Jax Watchdog blog and The Wartburg Watch this week, and they and their readers have already covered the subject in much more depth than I ever could. So without further ado:

A Look at the Doctrine of Storehouse Tithing

Ronnie and Johnny: Doggone It, How Can We Spread the Gospel If the Sheep Don't Tithe?

Rethinking the Tithe: Part 1

Rethinking the Tithe: Part 2

Happy Birthday, O Purveyor of Baloney!

With any blog come trolls. It's an inevitable fact of life. Often simply ignoring them will make them go away, but it's sometimes difficult to resist the temptation to respond and even more difficult persuading others not to respond. Give them a little attention, and they always return to the scene of the crime.

In the early days of this blog we were occasionally visited by "RM," aka Randy McDonald, who claimed to be a Ph.D. pastor from Texas (a graduate of SWBTS). It wasn't difficult to find Dr. McDonald. He advertised his little church (that he started) as well as his "Christian counseling" service.


RM's comments (a "collection" of the best is here should anyone be interested) were usually caustic and seemed to only be meant to taunt and hurl insults at me and others posting comments. After a while he seemed to grow tired of us and faded into the sunset.

Then we were joined by "Brady." "Brady" didn't claim to be anything. In fact, a pastor is about the last thing I would have expected this potty-mouthed character to be. (He sent an obviously fake photo of himself to someone once and claimed his name was "Brady Davis" while rebuking me and others for not revealing our "real" names.) Most of his early comments were published, but after a while they were so over the top I began rejecting them. However, as with all controversial comments, I directed them all to a special folder where I didn't have to see them. Here is a collection of "Brady's" rejected comments and some personal e-mails to me and others. (Where's that bar of Lifebuoy when you need it?) All I knew was the e-mails were coming from a suburb of Dallas, Texas and that we were getting frequent hits on the blog from someone in that same suburb. You never know when something that seems meaningless today might prove to be useful in the future, and so "the Brady collection" was stored away, largely forgotten, in the nether regions of my hard drive for all these months.

Back in the spring of this year, a new blog came on the scene. The Wartburg Watch, authored by "Dee" and "Deb," two women in North Carolina, deals with a variety of topics with the underlying theme being abuse in the church. A couple months ago a new commenter calling himself "Cooper" appeared on the WW (not to be confused with R.E. or Ralph Cooper, another occasional but friendly commenter on that blog). Immediately I knew I recognized "Cooper" from somewhere, and it didn't take me long to remember where.

"Brady" often resorted to certain unique phrases. One of his favorites for me was "o purveyor of filth" or "o purveyor of dirt." Not "oh," but "o". He harped on "why don't you request a meeting with Dr. Gaines" and sarcastically called people "spiritual giants." RM used the same tired arguments, using much the same wording, not only with me but with Tom Rich of the FBC Jax Watchdog blog. Now, "Cooper" was using some of those same catch phrases on The Wartburg Watch. His "pet name" for them was "o glorious wenches." Again, not "oh," but "o". Here is a collection of some of "Cooper's" work. More than once he claimed he is living on welfare.

It was evident from all these men's writings that they were especially angry towards women. Perhaps they had issues with their mothers. Or perhaps there was an ugly divorce in one or more of their backgrounds. Whatever the reason(s), the venom just dripped from "Brady's" comments and e-mails to me. And I just smiled, knowing that eventually he'd slip up.

Well, folks, it took a while, but a few weeks ago he slipped up.

Randy McDonald's "church" seems to be no more. In fact, the phone number in the ads for the church turned out to be his personal cell phone number, and the address for the "church" changed several times.


Dr. McDonald's main occupation seems to be refereeing tennis matches for high schools and small colleges, and he has a blog. Perusing the front page recently I discovered this gem:


"In order to fully enjoy all our blessings, I am taking my two children (Brady on the left, and Phoebe on the right) to the lake today so they can chase ducks and swim all they want... "

"Brady," huh? Coincidence?

Recently an anonymous poster calling himself "Plano Man" showed up on Christa Brown's blog. Want to guess where RM lives now that he's single again? Here are some of his comments. Note his use of the phrase "o glorious Pharisees."


If there was any doubt at that point, the pieces all came together when McDonald posted this collection of articles on his blog. (Or here should those articles mysteriously disappear.)

I suppose you've figured out where I'm going with this. If it isn't obvious by now, "RM," "Brady," "Cooper," and "Plano man" (and I strongly suspect some others who've recently posted on the WW -- "Maude," "Jeff," and "Silly Boy") are one and the same. The same man who claims to be a Southern Baptist pastor and a personal friend of Dr. Rogers.

Many more interesting tidbits were learned about Dr. Randy McDonald by simply perusing the internet and further evidence of his multiple personalities was uncovered, but I think you've gotten a good idea of the heart of the man. It seems "truth in advertising" is an area Dr. McDonald stuggles with. In this 2001 letter to the Baptist Standard he claimed to have been the president of the SBTC (Southern Baptists of Texas Convention) board of directors for two years and a board member for five years. He was promptly called out by two people the following week, one being the man who actually was the first president of the then-three-year-old organization. Talk about having egg on your face! Not a pretty sight, is it? This kind of behavior was bad enough coming from A CErtain 20-year-old kid. Coming from a 62-year-old Ph.D.'d "pastor" it's beyond belief.

Today is Randy McDonald's birthday. Maybe it's time to "man up" and start acting your age, RM/Brady/Cooper/Plano Man/et al.

Sister Pam's Homegoing

Today I learned of the passing of Sister Pam Gremillion who used to post comments on this blog under the name "woundedandbleeding." Our deepest sympathy to Charles, the girls, and their family. May the Lord bring you peace and comfort during this difficult time.

Pamela G. Lovelace Gremillion

Pamela G. Lovelace Gremillion, 54, of Memphis passed away at her home on October 25, 2009. She was a member of Bellevue Baptist Church, a board member of West African Children Support Network and a published song writer. Pamela was preceded in death by her father, Walter L. Lovelace and brother, Richard L. Lovelace. She leaves her husband of 30 years, Charles Gremillion, four daughters, Princess Noel, Mary Gracious, Naomi Faith and Blessing Joy Gremillion; her mother, Dorothy Lovelace and brother, Steven L. Lovelace. Pam was dearly loved by her family and friends and will be truly missed. Visitation will be 12 noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, October 28, with the service at 1 p.m., all being held at: Memorial Park Funeral Home (901)767-8930 http://www.memorialparkonline.com.

You may not have known that Sister Pam, as she always referred to herself, was nominated for a Dove Award for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year in 1999 for the song she wrote, The Old Love Letter. Here are the lyrics:

The Old Love Letter

I found an old love letter that was written just for me.
It told me how much I was loved so sweet and tenderly.
With a broken heart I read each line of God's love for me.
It was written by a nail-scarred hand at Calvary.

Oh how this old love letter spoke to my heart and soul.
I was captured by every word as I watched His love unfold.
With special care He wrote it down for all eternity.
It was written by a nail-scarred hand at Calvary.

I found an old love letter the pages stained with red.
I am yours eternally is what the post script said.
I treasure my letter that he nailed upon the tree
Like tears stained its pages every time I read.

Oh, how this old love letter spoke to my heart and soul.
I was captured by every word as I watched His love unfold.
With special care He wrote it down for all eternity.
It was written by a nail-scarred hand at Calvary.

Here is a video performance of The Old Love Letter by Larry Sparks.

Tributes:

A Hero's Welcome

Precious in the sight of the LORD are the death of HIS saints.

Just Stop Trying So Hard

A young woman named Sarah posted the following comment in the last thread. Here is a young person (I'm guessing maybe mid to late 20s) who reminds me of the dog who's always chasing cars and one day when he finally catches one can't figure out what to do with it. Here she calmly and logically states what others have been trying say ever since all the changes were announced, but coming from the viewpoint of a young person whose eyes appear to have been opened, I hope her words carry more weight than those of her elders who have been accused of just wanting to live in the past.

Sarah said...

I used to be one of those proponents that believed churches had to become more entertainment-oriented in order to reach people. The reasoning is that people are saturated by entertainment, that they would be numb to a traditional style of worship, or if churches did productions, they would have to be big in order to compete with companies like Disney for people's attention. You had to make the Gospel look cool if people are going to listen to it.

Now, Bellevue has shifted in that direction, and many other churches around the world as well. As I begin to see it firsthand, I'm no longer a proponent of an entertainment-oriented church. It's funny, because everything I'd wanted Bellevue to become over the years is now taking place, and I don't want it anymore.

It's one thing if an unattached Christian group wanted to use entertainment to reach people. They exist - creative arts groups, comedians, bands, etc. that aren't associated with a church and are able to reach people in fun, unique ways - out there in the real world where people are. I'm all for such groups, but I think that so-called "Christian entertainment" should not be associated with churches. Churches don't exist for that reason, and they were never meant to, if you want to go back to the founding of the New Testament church.

There are several reasons for this, the first of which is one that was completely unexpected for me. It just feels weird and awkward for a church to try and entertain people. Bellevue's 11:11 service seems to be nothing more than a superficial vanity. It's overtly trying to be "cool" and draw people in, and it just rubs me the wrong way. People aren't stupid - they can see through such things, and it's not just Bellevue, it's any church that employs similar psychological devices.

Did it ever occur to churches that people might want a refuge from the entertainment-saturated world and find a spiritual escape from it all? Why do you have to make a worship service compete with Disney or a rock concert? Why do you have to add a stage extension and put up rather pathetic looking decorations in an attempt to create a clearly orchestrated effort to dangle a big, fat worm in front of people's faces so that they'll bite.

I don't think any of it is done for money. Bellevue's not about money, even though it may appear otherwise. I just think they don't "get it." And yes, the contemporary service is WAY behind the times if that's what they're aiming for. I'm sorry, but you don't have someone like Steve Gaines preach at a contemporary service. He's about as anti-contemporary as you can get, even without the tie. Bellevue, if you want to update your service, lose the hokey 11:11 title, lose the preacher, lose the ridiculous sails in the background that try to hide the choir loft, forget the unecessary stage extension that attempts to bring the pastor closer to the people, and just stop trying so hard.

I must respectfully disagree with Sarah's next to last point -- that none of this is done for money. I think much of what's driving all this is money. I think they're pulling out all the stops to bring in more money, but they're shooting themselves in the foot with this plan. The demographic they're targeting is not the demographic with the money. Those are the very groups they're alienating. However, we'll cover that in a future article.

In the "Vision Twenty-Ten" plan we read this:

Corporate worship that is honoring to God will always be a part of Bellevue Baptist Church. The style of service and music will vary to enable the church to reach our culture and encourage corporate worship.

This was a joke going around a couple years ago. But is it really that far from reality?

Sarah's comment raises some interesting questions.

1. Why is it the church's mission to "reach our culture"? Implied in "reaching the culture" is that you become more like "the culture." Has anyone noticed "the culture" lately? Rarely does "the culture" rise to your standards. Rather your standards are more often than not compromised to conform to "the culture's" standards (or lack thereof). We've already seen this in the "dressing down" for church and what appears to be a loss of respect (of self and for others) in behavior. Watch a Bellevue service from a few years ago and compare that to services there today. They may be more relevant to "the culture" now, but in my opinion the quality has suffered.

2. Should "Christian entertainment" such as "Christian rock concerts" or "hunting extravaganzas" or public school teacher in-service days (which have involved some rather un-Christian "entertainment") be brought into the church? I'm talking about a church the size of Bellevue that has the facilities to host large concerts and other events that ordinarily would be held in a secular venue.

3. "It just feels weird and awkward for a church to try and entertain people." I think they call that a slippery slope. Stick around long enough and you'll get used to it.

4. "Did it ever occur to churches that people might want a refuge from the entertainment-saturated world and find a spiritual escape from it all?" You mean like someplace... reverent? What a novel concept! Which begs the question -- what is the "purpose" of church?

5. "I'm sorry, but you don't have someone like Steve Gaines preach at a contemporary service. He's about as anti-contemporary as you can get, even without the tie." Well, he's no Rick Warren, that's for sure, but it's not age. Rick is four years older than Steve Gaines, and a lot of people think Rick's "cool."

I will end with an open letter to the pastor...

Dear Brother Steve,

That was a good sermon you preached Sunday morning. While I'm not necessarily a proponent of "scaring the hell" out of people, I'm encouraged to hear you preach on the subject of heaven and hell. A lot of preachers don't do that today. However, I must tell you, performances like this one during your sermon Sunday are not helping raise your "coolness score." Not to mention the theology of this particular song is not really biblical, but I digress. Please, pastor, just preach. Don't yell. Don't beat the sheep. Don't sing. Oh, please don't sing! Preach the Word (not your word, but THE Word) and people will respond. Or as Sarah so succinctly put it, "Just stop trying so hard."

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