I’m having some trouble reconciling what the Bible says with what I keep seeing around those who would call themselves the servants of Christ.

Paul, a bondservant of Christ, accepted deprivation, danger, hardships of all kinds in order to minister to the Body of Christ. By his own words, he made it clear that while he could ask for their support, he chose not to. He had a job instead. That, or course would mean he would have to do without. He wouldn’t be able to own the well tailored togas. He wouldn’t be able to own the best chariot around, pulled by the fastest horses. And he would have to pass up on a villa cozying up to the Rubicon River just outside Rome. In other words, he would have to pretty much look and live like the rest of the folks he ministered to.

Here’s a brief quiz. Pick the best answer(s).

The Question: The picture below is a photograph of:

a. The president of the United States and the First Lady

b. A prince from one of the African nations

c. The pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden

d. A Big Dog Wannabee

The answer? c and d.

But don’t think John Jenkins is a unique occurence of this highly elevated servanthood.

Here are some folks for the UPCC. Notice the phraseology - The leaders are enthroned.

And by the way, how come these clods look like cardinals and bishops?

Is it just me or do these “leaders” seem to be profiting at your expense?

John K. Jenkins, Sr., Pulpit Pimps | 5 Comments »

Before I left FBCG I expressed my concern that John was dragging the congregation down a rat hole. He had just added the statement “The Bible becomes God word when it becomes God’s word to you” to his bag of preaching tools. I probably should have left shortly after that, but I’m a patient man. I hung around.

The rat hole just got bigger. They now have “Purpose Driven Life” seminars. Rather than natter on about it, I’ll just shift you over to  Bob Klenk’s discussion.

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 1 Comment »

I was wandering around on the World Changers web site. That’s one of the names for Cashflow Dollar’s business. I tend to go to a site and just kind of poke around. You know, click on some of the more interesting looking links and take a look at what’s there. Well, I clicked on one link and what came up but some prophecies! That’s right! Some real, live prophecies.

Now according to 2 Peter 1:21 we know that “…prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” So if Cashflow is saying these are prophecies in the same sense Peter talks about, then what I got to read on the web that night were the very words of God, just like we have in the Bible.

Now I consider myself a conscientious Christian so I want to obey that which God has said through Cashflow. But the problem I ran into was trying to figure out how to keep the prophecy available all the time.

Since it’s the very word of God, I didn’t feel right just printing it off on a piece of paper and stuffing it in a folder. And I certainly didn’t want to print it out and just kind of shove it in my Bible. As I thought about it, I was hit with a tremendous idea. And because I want this site to be as helpful as possible, I’ve decided not only to share the idea with you, but to make the results of my work available to you, for free.

Since the prophecy is the very word of God (otherwise we would have to admit that Cashflow is a liar) I thought I would create a Word file the same size as one of the pages in my Bible. Then I typed the prophecy in (I won’t lie, I actually just copied and pasted it) and when I printed it off, I had a page that I could staple into the back of my Bible!

And you can tell where the last page of the Bible is. It’s right after chapter 22 of Revelation. And you can tell which page is the last page of 22 because it contains verse 18 which says “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.”

If you want to keep the prophecies near you, and you really believe they are God’s words to man, then click on the thumbnail and you can print off your own copy of the first chapter of the First Book of Dollar.

Dr. Creflo Dollar | 2 Comments »

One of the reasons I have created a presence on the web is because of a fellow by the name of John E. Coleman. He and I have only been face-to-face once, about a year ago in Virginia Beach. I drove my Red Hyundai Excel all the way from Bowie MD to have breakfast with him. (more…)

Christian Living | 2 Comments »

When I saw the actual ad (yes, I changed it around a little) I keep expecting Cleo to look up from her Tarot Cards and say “Call me!”

I visited this clown’s site and I must say I was really impressed at the sheer ‘nads he has. I mean, he offers prophecies for starting at a little over $300. Of course, I wonder how many of those prophecies included things like “You are going to die a slow and painful death” or “You will be killed for preaching my name to people who just don’t like Christians.”

I think most of them will be like the ones of financial prosperity and living large. As I think about it, they will probably be a lot like the ones Cashflow Dollar “brings forth.”

If you want to take him for a test spin, you can even get a free prophecy!

But the pathetic thing about this is it showed up in the February 2005 issue of GospelToday, which touts itself as “Today’s Leading Christian Lifestyle Magazine”.

If you want to complain to this supposedly reputable publication for advertising the Profit, click here and send them an e-mail.

But then again, this is the same magazine that features Paula White and other Pulpit Pimps and Pimpettes. So I guess I really shouldn’t have been that surprised.

Pulpit Pimps | 1 Comment »

Now I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there are some things I don’t understand about certain phraseology in the typical (and I emphasize typical) Black (or perhaps I should use the phrase African American) church. One of them is the title given to the wife of the pastor.

Why is the pastor’s wife called the first lady? The implications of this title seem immense, but I have yet to hear anyone give any indication they recognize or object to them.

Can there be more than one first of any particular class of things?

For instance, in racing, unless there is a tie, only one person finishes first. Everybody else is second or less. In other words, only one person wins, everybody else loses. Or, as one very successful stock car racer once said: “Second place is the the first loser.” The winner finished first and all of the losers finished after him, or her.

With the title “Fist Lady” comes the implication (if not the outright assumptions) that all of the other women in the congregation are either a) not ladies or b) inferior in some way to the pastor’s wife (i.e. losers).

To suggest that all the other women are in some way not ladies seems awfully presumptuous and down right cattie. Not exactly the attitude you want to promot in a church filled with Christtians.

To suggest that she is the first lady compared to all the other wives even gets into insults of the men who attend. What? The pastor’s wife is the best lady and my wife is second rate? It seems awfully bad for a relationship to call my wife second best every time we go to church or when we talk about the pastor’s wife.

Is there a pecking order in a church? Perhpas the pastor’s wife gets first choice of parking spots if she drives in without the pastor. Or maybe, if the church is really crowded, she gets to sit down in the sanctuary while all the lesser ladies sit where ever they can hustle a seat.

The only other institution I know of that uses the title “First Lady” is the President of the United States. So what are we saying here? That the pastor of a church is to viewed as distinct from the rest of the congregation as the president is from the rest of us? But how could that be. Isn’t that very concept foreign to the idea of equality and humility within the Body of Christ?

First Baptist Church of Glenarden (and some other church organizations) has taken this First Lady thing to a whole new level. No only is Mrs. Jenkns “affectionately” called “First Lady” (second paragraph on her
do I really need to even comment on the fact that she has a bio page?), she even has her own itenerary. A question for you: WHy are the activities of the pastor’s wife any mofe important than the activities of the rest of the wives in the church? I can see why some of her friends may be curous about her shchedule, but why tell the entire church? And why devote webaster time to develop and maintain the schedule…er…excuse me…itenerary?

And just out of curiousity, why is the pastor’s wife delivery a sermon during a SUnday service? IF you look at her itinerary, she’s preaching at Hope Christian Center (for Women’s Day) and at Greater St. John’s Church for morning worship. Wasn’t there something in the BIble about women not teaching men in the church? And why do I get the feeling the folks at First Baptist are being set up to have their “First Lady” become their “Co-pastor”?

I wonder what Deaon Lawrence Lee Lee (second column, third from the bottom) will do when that happens?

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | No Comments »

A warning to ALL Christians:

(more…)

Pulpit Pimps | Comments Off

While the letter is primarily a lecture from Paul letting the Corinthians know where they were falling short, the apostle included solutions to their problems. The love chapter is a dissertation on how love should show itself within the community of Christ. This portion of the epistle says several things about love. Let?s see if we can take it apart and examine it bit by bit.

Christian Living | Comments Off

While I was a member at First Baptist Church of Glenarden, I sometimes felt as though I was living a Christian version of George Orwell’s �1984�. The place was a ready source of a phenomenon called doublespeak. They were, and still are very good at using one word or phrase one way when the actual meaning is quite different. Here are some examples. (more…)

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 2 Comments »

Apparently, the staff at First Baptist Church of Glenarden don’t believe the stuff they teach the congregation. Here’s why I say this. (more…)

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 5 Comments »

You can always tell when a fellow wants to run with the Big Dogs. He starts making the same noises the Big Dogs make. Of course the definition of a Big Dog varies from place to place. In the church community (as opposed to the Christian Community), the Big Dogs are the holy Trinity of Word Faith: Ken Copeland, Fred Price, and Cashflo Dollar.

For years these con artists (also known as Pulpit Pimps) have been preaching lots of bad doctrine. Most of it tends to put an emphasis on material possessions. Quick labels for it have included �Name It and Claim It� or “Gab it and Grab It.” Most of it is a just an appeal to the believer’s greed and a distraction from the real issues of Christianity and Christian living.

But some of their foolishness is real live heresy. It goes something like this: Jesus� death on the cross wasn�t sufficient to pay for our sins. His spirit had to suffer in hell for three days to do that. After all, the teaching goes, if His death of the cross could have paid for our sins, then Fred Price could have died for us.

Well guess what? John started inviting people in who taught Name It and Claim it. Except, of course, they kept saying they weren�t teaching it. Then, about four years ago, John Jenkins stepped up and made his first real bid at running with the Big Dogs. He started preaching that Jesus� death on the cross didn�t pay for our sins. In order to pay for our sins, He had to - you guessed it - suffer in hell as a spirit in order to pay for our sins.

The good pastor and I talked about this for the better part of three months. His best defense was as weak and very twisted interpretation of Ephesians 4:8,9. The details aren’t even worth relating to you. When I asked John to explain how Jesus could have been in hell for three days when He had told one of the thieves on the cross next to Him that he would be with Him that day in paradise, John gave a very revealing response. He said �It depends on what the Bible means by Paradise.� It almost sounds like the Christian equivalent of “It depends on what the definition of �is”, is.”

I pretty well decided at that point that running with the Big Dogs was more important to him than getting the basics of the Gospel right. And it was at that point I decided to leave FBCG. John is preparing to move his congregation into a $22,000,000 facility. He�s finally running with the Big Dogs. And here’s an artist’s rendition of the Dog House.

But back to the issue of Jesus in Hell. Sadly, a couple of his �ministers�, including Clarence Eldrige, began repeating the heresy when they made altar calls. When I asked Clarence why he said Jesus suffered in hell, he had absolutely, I repeat, absolutely no defense for the statement. He gave me one of his empty smiles and promised to �get with me later� to talk about it, but he never did.

Though I lost a lot, I haven’t regretted a day since I walked away.

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 6 Comments »

An essential of Christianity is a truth which, if denied, is a denial of that which defines Christianity as it is. Examples include anything that denies the triune nature of God (one Godhead, three distinct persons), salvation by faith alone, the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, the sin nature of man, and the virgin birth. This list is not necessarily exhaustive.

Examples of Essentials

The Nature of God ? Trinity vs Oneness

Salvation ? Through grace and not through works of any kind

The Deity of Jesus Christ ? Fully God and fully man

The Deity of the Holy Spirit ? Fully God; the third person of the Trinity

The Virgin Birth ? Jesus conceived and born without sin

The Inspiration of the Bible ? All scripture is inspired by God

We can disagree about a lot of other things (tongues, when to take communion, whether to observe the Sabbath and how) and we can still work together and be gracious toward one another. However, if we disagree on the items listed above we have to part ways.

Pulpit Pimps | Comments Off

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, and you have sought to live the life rather than just run the traditions, you’ve probably had this experience. You let other people know that you have become a Christian and that your life is different now. You want Christ to work in you (Phi 2:13) and you begin to grow as a Christian. But then you mess up. Worse, you mess up in front of one of the non-believers you’ve been talking to. The result? A loud resounding accusation of being a Hypocrite. But are you? No.

Often, we don’t want to hold each other accountable. Why? Well, gee, I mess up too. Who am I to tell someone else they?re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing? That would be hypocritical. Wouldn’t it?

Well, no. It wouldn’t be. And you limit your usefulness to the body if you hold what could be considered such a shallow view of hypocrisy.

Jesus rarely called people names. But when He used the ‘H’ word, it was for some really significant reasons. Take a look at what he says about His most powerful nemeses ? the scribes and the Pharisees. Aside from calling them snakes and vipers (Matthew 23:33) He was rather plentiful in his reference to them as hypocrites. Notice what He says about them along the way:

* They lock people out of the Kingdom of heaven (Matt 23:13)
* They are children of hell (23:15)
* They ignore the importance of justice, mercy and faith (23)
* They are full of greed and self-indulgence (25)

The scribes and the Pharisees lived in a pretend world. They pretended they were seeking the Kingdom of Heaven when actually they were just seeking the riches of this world, no matter the cost. And they pretended they wanted to help others to God when actually they just wanted to add to their political faction, increasing their own clout. By the way, does this sound like anyone you know?

They were not really righteous. Jesus describes them as children of hell, not children of Abraham made righteous by faith, not works. As many people do today, they were playing at church (or in this case, temple). They came in and said all the right things, even did all the right religious things. But there was no real relationship with God in all of it. As Jesus points out, if they were truly seeking to serve God they would have listened to Him (John 10:26) rather than trying to kill Him. They tried to put on all the appearances of the righteous and were enraged when Jesus confronted them with their hypocrisy.

They were more interested in appearances and their own reputations in the neighborhood. Thus they were very accurate in figuring out how much to give to the Temple treasury, right down to the amount of spices and impressing people by their tithing. But when it came to treating people with compassion and trying to do right by them, the scribes and the Pharisees were found wanting. They were more interested in impressing people than truly pleasing God.

Despite their “I’m-more-righteous-than-you” act, they were greedy and self-indulgent. They talked about heaven but they chased riches. They talked about humility, but they outdid each other to see who could be the most powerful, the most influential. They talked about righteousness, but were more than willing to lie, cheat and steal. They were willing to set up some poor woman for a stoning (John 8:3) in order to try to trap Jesus, while they pretended they were interesting in defending the law. They got upset because the Son of Man healed a man on the Sabbath. They got twisted out of shape because He had dinner with sinners and publicans, behaving as though they weren’t sinners as well.

When the unsaved claim the church is filled with hypocrites, they are probably right. There are people in the church who are just like the scribes and the Pharisees. They use the church as a source of riches and power. There are pastors and elders who see it as a ready source of babes trusting enough to be taken advantage of by him or more than willing to be a bunch of church going groupies. How many church people go to church just to find a wife or husband? Or worse, just to find a sex partner? Hypocrites? They’re all around you.

Are you a hypocrite if you fail to live up to the standard you have committed to? No. Are you a hypocrite if you believe you are better than another simply because you don’t do some of the things they do as obviously as they do them (Luke 18:11)? Yes.

A hypocrite presents one face in public, another in their private life. But he has neither the intention nor the desire to obey God’s precepts in private. The righteous man seeks to be obedient to God no matter who is watching or not watching. The righteous man depends wholly on God’s work in his life and is grateful for what God has done for him. The hypocrite thinks God should be grateful for what he has done for God.

Is the man who truly and sincerely struggles with a stronghold of pornography in his life and calls out to God daily to remove the addiction a hypocrite? Or is it the man who pretends at righteousness while all the time purposely and joyously filling his life with those things God has clearly condemned when he is away from the church?

It is very difficult for a real live, honest to goodness, born again Christian to be a hypocrite. After all, he has a new heart and that heart wants to obey Christ. If a person can take joy in disobeying, then odds are he isn’t a Christian to begin with.

Christian Living | No Comments »

Ken Copeland is a major force in the Word of Faith splinter within Christianity. He is a presence on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the Church Channel, The Word Network, and Channel 20 in Washington DC. He is as ubiquitous as misquitoes in a Florida swamp. And he is just as much a blood sucker. Listen to a clip of the things he says about God, Adam, Christians, and Christianity.

An up and coming Pulpit Pimp, Leroy Thomas, appears with him. Listen.

I promise you I didn’t modify anything he said. As I go along, I will be collecting more outrageous and heretical comments by Mr. Copeland. If all goes will, I will be presenting the words of Price, Cashflow, and John Jenkins.

Kenneth Copeland | Comments Off

So far, we have examined four of the aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit. And just to remind you, we are looking at the fruit as a single entity, with nine qualities. It?s similar to saying that the fruit of the grape vine is small, round, purple, juicy, sweet, etc. So far we have seen that the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and patience. These, for starters, are what the Fruit of the Spirit ?looks? like. And over the last three articles, we have looked at love, joy, peace and patience and tried, at least on an elementary level, to see what the fruit looks like in the life of the believer.

The fifth aspect or quality of the Fruit is kindness. And as with most of the qualities, it?s easy to confuse this quality with how the world defines kindness. Most people think of kindness as what we feel when we rescue a turtle from a road so it won?t get squashed. Or we think of giving a couple of bucks to a homeless man or woman. We may even, at times, see it as giving someone our seat on the bus or subway train. But all these fall far short of what God is talking about when he speaks of kindness. As nice as they are, none of them require God?s work in our lives. None of them require us to depend on God?s spirit to do them. So as before, I ask: If the things I talked about are not examples of kindness, then what is?

For a moment, let?s take a look at Jesus Christ, the One to whose image we are being conformed. Ephesians 4:31 - 32 says:
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

On my own, this is a tall order. God commands us to put away all the things we like to wallow in when we have been offended ? bitterness, wrath and anger. Then He forbids us to engage in the activities we so love ? clamor and slander. If left to my own devices, once I am offended, I will kick up a fuss, whine and cry, and try to make people think the worst of the person who has offended me.

And God forbid that the person who has offended me should get in trouble of any kind. That is simply my opportunity to feel justified in the way I feel toward this person. After all, if they insist on making my life miserable, then it serves them right that their lives should be messed up too. Now I can sit back and really enjoy their misery.

Unfortunately, God commands us to do otherwise. Remember what I said earlier about God requiring more of us than we can supply on our own? He does the same thing when it comes to kindness. Let?s take a look at Romans Chapter 12, verses 19 through 20.

19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ?VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,? says the Lord. 20 ?BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS UPON HIS HEAD.?

In other words, if that person who has offended me should require my help, I am to help them. And I get the idea that I am to help them cheerfully and generously, not gritting my teeth and wishing they would go away. After all, when we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10 ? we were enemies of God), God sacrificed His Son, why should he expect any less from us? In fact, looking again at Romans 12, He says that we are to ?Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.?

Here, Paul is talking about people who are actively and consciously mistreating us. Notice that he doesn?t say ?And don?t say anything bad about them.? Instead, God requires something more aggressive from us. He tells us that we are to bless this person.

Can I do that on my own? Certainly not. Is it reasonable? Not by the world?s standard. But it is the example set by Christ when, in the midst of the crucifixion, He asked His Father to forgive His executors. Stephen, when he was being stoned, did the same thing. He forgave his tormentors. Now God asks each of us to do the exact same thing. But He doesn?t just give us a command and then leave us to our own devices. His Spirit empowers us. And, if we are willing to obedient to His word, His Spirit convicts us when we are not being kind.

While this particular aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit seems like the most innocuous, this one actually calls for us to have Christ?s attitude not just with our husband or wife, but to have His attitude toward those who are yet the enemies of God.

Christian Living | No Comments »