I know this and now you know it. It’s one of the reasons I will never be rich. One of the reasons I do so poorly with the finances God has blessed me with.

I made a mistake a couple of months ago and I am just now rebuking the procrastination demon (he’s a friend of the smoking demon and the drinking demon) to tell you about it.

A while back I told you the site is going to cost me $168 or so to run each month. I was wrong. I misread my bill. When I finally got around to calling my server company (in England by the way), they explained to me that the $168 is the cost of two servers. One is the server on which I host Pulpit Pimps. The other is a server on which I maintain a web site for my copy writing business. The P-P cost had indeed gone up, but it had only increased by about 30 dollars rather than the amount I had originally thought.

The actual cost of the site for P-P is $84 or so. I think I can swing this on my own.

Those of you who have sent money - I would like to give it back. Of course, I will include in that refund the cost of your transmission (one sent funds through Western Union and one through post office money orders). Send me an e-mail and let me know what you want to do. If I don’t hear from you within the week (January 5th), I will send you an e-mail to get your attention and ask again.

My apologies for being so careless in determining the cost. And my thanks to you who have been so faithful (even if it did make me feel lower than pond scum).

Christian Living | 18 Comments »

Here’s a reminder that T. Dexter is going to be holding a “revival” starting January 3 and oozing on to the 5th of January. It’s at the brand new Washington DC Convention Center in downtown Washington DC.

I’m pretty much ready. I’ve cased the environment, laid out my general approach, finished the rewrite of the pamphlet and made a bunch of copies for distribution.

I’ve been thinking about the mechanics of passing out the tracts. I want to get as many out as quickly as possible because I’d like to go inside and listen to T. Dexter for about an hour as he feminizes the men and bamboozles the women.

I’ll probably take my camera, the one I can make movies with. I figure sight, sound and a running account of what happens should make for a more complete experience for you there at home. Anybody have a compact tri-pod I can use?

T. Dexter Jakes | 50 Comments »

I guess it had to happen. Rock star preachers are drawn to cars, mansions, and jets like a pedophile is drawn to children. It seems that yet another gospel Big Dog is trying to get a jet.

One of my set of eyes out there sent in a link for me to check out. Click here and take a look at the site for yourself. That’s right , Benny “There’s-nine-of-Them” Hinn is now using every one of the pimp tricks in his bag to get his ‘hos out there to buy him a jet. And it’s a sweet jet, too.

He needs the jet because of the tremendous work he is doing to drag souls into the Kingdom. Obviously he can’t keep up the burdensome schedule he has unless he is free of the inconveniences brought on by flying scheduled airlines.

I guess if he personally has to be in all these places since God can’t do anything through a home-grown missionary (things like preach the Gospel), he figures he can avoid some wear and tear on his body by having a private jet to whisk him from here to there, free of the bondage or schedules that have the rest of us tied up in knots.

Mr. Hinn is trying to convince the boobs who listen to him to fund the purchase of a Gulfstream G4SP. Click here to see the kind of plane he’s trying to get.

I do believe this one is bigger than the one Copeland talked himself into. I guess in the world of the Big Dogs, size does matter.

But you can’t say Benny is thinking only of himself in all of this. If you give a thousand dollars or more toward the purchase of the aircraft, Benny Hinn Ministries will give you a “…beautiful art quality model” of the Gulfstream. Any one care to hazard a guess on what an “art quality model” is?

If you give less than a thousand, well…they’ll put your name in a conspicuous place within the cabin of the aircraft. According to the brochure, it will be prominently placed in the area where Benny studies. That’s not all that comforting a thought though. You see, one of things you quickly figure out as a parent of four children, is that you end up doing a lot of studying in the toilet , nobody bothers you in the toilet.

Ah yes, I can see it now, the bathroom’s door panel is lined with the names of the men and women duped into giving money to preen this pimp’s ego.

But wait! There’s more. Not only do you get your name plastered on the inside of the toilet door, you get the following:

1. Your name travels with Benny as he dupes more people
2. He’ll intercede for you in the world’s highest prayer tower (the Gulfstream flies at an altitude of 40 thousand feet)
3. Benny will also ask God to pour out an unusual and unprecedented anointing for you life.

A couple of fairly interesting facts to consider.

1. According to the Trinity Foundation, the cost of operating the Gulfstream for one trip is more than the cost of buying first class tickets for the entire staff traveling to swindle more people out of their money. This cost doesn’t even address the issues of required inspections, maintenance, insurance, recurrent training, oh, and the crew to operate the aircraft.

2. Aircraft very much like this one can be chartered, just like a bus. They run on your schedule, avoid the airlines and their relative inconveniences, and they don’t cost you, the user a cent to operate. You don’t pay for the crew, the maintenance, or the inspections. And you still get to where you are going at 0.8 Mach.

Then again, given the deceptions and errors Benny preaches, I can’t see that there is a particularly good reason to get him from one place to another with any particular speed. In fact, it would probably be best if he did get stuck at Denver Internationa for a week.

It’s amazing to watch these pimps come up with new and improved ways to separate you from your money. It’s even more amazing to watch you willingly hand it over to them.

Think about it: Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, walked where ever He had to go. He walked all over Israel. In fact, He even walked part way across the sea of Galilee.

Paul probably stepped it up a little. I figure he sometimes rode horses (like the one he fell from when he was looking for some Christians to persecute). Please note that Paul and the other Apostles have been described as the men who turned the world upside down.

For them, it wasn’t about corporate efficiencies or physical comforts. It was about giving yourself to the ministry, not getting stuff out of the ministry.

Most of these pimps and pimp-wannabes have a huge house (built on from the money snookered from the congregation). More and more they are getting jets (fueled by the ignorance and naïveté of the congregations). More and more of them brag about being close friends of the leaders of the world. More and more of them are moving further and further away from the truth of the Gospel. And more and more of these pimps are dragging their dupes into hell with them.

Benny Hinn, Pulpit Pimps | 129 Comments »

GaryV and G2 have been engaged in a…discussion for the last couple of days. I figured I’d go ahead and put the latest exchange up as a posting and let them get the whole thing out of their systems. Mav, may I have some of your popcorn please?

(MN: G2, I have a note for you at the bottom of this…ahem…epistle. )

G2 wrote……..

In connection with the previous comments:
As you so kindly did previously with my other posts, Gary V, would you please mind responding to me based on what the Word says about what I said?

(Gary)……….errr…….EVERYTHING I said was based upon the Word EXCLUSIVELY. I posted NUMEROUS verses, in context. What did I miss?? You have yet to address ANY of my points. (more…)

Pulpit Pimps | 29 Comments »

Ladies and gentlemen, the last several days have proven to be quite an enlightenment to me. The site has grown tremendously in its readership and, I hope in its usefulness to those with loved ones taken advantage of by the pimps and those who need assurance that they need to leave a church pastored by a pimp.

But an interesting thing appears to be happening. More and more people are appearing to argue doctrine. Most of them appear to be Oneness proponents. And they seem to be more and more insistent in their arguments. If you recall, starting around Thanksgiving Righter and the guy from Tennessee came in and began an involved thread about the trinity and other stuff. Then Antoine the Incoherent came in and began his doctrinal babblings. He has since initiated a chat area and is occupying himself there. Immediately after that, Mr. Morning began his offense (as opposed to a defense).

Because of this most interesting turn of events, I suspect I need to reconsider how long I give a person to post off topic comments. I do not have, and I don’t especially want, a set rule for banning people. But it is obvious that more and more people who simply want to present their doctrine (with or without supposed biblical support [think here Mr. Morning and Antoine]) threaten to chew up the bandwidth and our energy with irrelavent (in terms of the site’s purpose) comments.

The purpose of this site is to expose the pimps and the bad doctrine they promote. It is not to hold debates with shakey jakes like the folks I have mentioned. Yes, these people do serve as very effective training aids. After all, we will run across people like them in our walk. We may as well pay attention to how they think and see if we can actually communicate with them. But I suspect their usefulness is very limited within the context of this site. Please understand that I will not be banning people because I disagree with them or because I don’t like what they are saying.

Al is right. By trying to address the assertions of the doctrinal flakes, and by trying to give them a fair shake, I do run the risk of being diverted from the main task at hand - warning about the pimps and exposing their antics. As a result, you will be seeing far fewer long-running doctrinal threads, unless the comments are in direct response to a posting I have published. For instance, in a couple of days, I will be revisiting the concept of God’s sovereignty and Calvinism (calm down GaryV). Naturally, the comments and responses will not be directly applicable to the pimps.

I thank you all for your prayers and comments. As I have said in the past, I’m never too sure of who benefits from the site more, the readers or me.

By the way, I will take the poll out to 31 votes. But I suspect no matter the results the banning of Morning will stand unless someone presents a mighty good argument to keep him.

Pulpit Pimps | 36 Comments »

A couple of days ago one of the readers sent in an interesting link. It’s a spot promoting a person called a Pastorpreneur. That’s right , an entrepreneurial pastor. The owner of the site, Dr. John Jackson, presents pastoring in terms of a business. And of course the main thing in a business is to attract customers and potential customers, thus the use of the term “seeker friendly.” You can’t attract the unsaved if you talk about sin, hell, holiness, and sanctification.

And, according to blokes like Jackson, Rick Warren, the Hilliards and others, we have to do things that will attract the unsaved, whether it’s the child, the gen exer, or the old guy. We have to hold medical exams, sponsor basketball teams, be entertaining and not do anything that will make the unsaved uncomfortable. We have to show them how friendly and non-judgmental we are. We have to be seeker-friendly. In other words we have to be like the Carney man as he stands in front of his game at the carnival trying to interest us to come over and try a couple of tosses of the ring, or a few throws of the ball for just fifty cents or a dollar. You want to make sure you attract those people who are seeking the truth and just haven’t figured out that Jesus is that Truth.

There is only one problem with this approach: The unsaved aren’t seeking the truth. You think I’m lying? Take a look at this:

Romans 3:10-12, talking about the unsaved:

…as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

This portion of would seem to say that there are no seekers, only the unsaved. Making God attractive to them is pointless because according to Romans 8:6-8 the unsaved don’t want to please God. Here, take a look at it.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Last time I looked a sinner doesn’t get drawn to God by entertainment. He gets drawn to God by…well, by God. For instance in John 12:32 Jesus says:

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

And in Acts 16:14 it says:

A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Neither one of these seems to indicate the need to attract people by various techniques, by entertaining them, or by grabbing their interest. In Acts Paul was down by the river, not standing in some comfortable well lit synagogue with synchronized torches and lamp light. In fact, if you take a look at Acts 2:14 and following, your boy Peter held the crowd’s attention by reviewing the Old Testament, applying it to the day, and accusing the listeners of killing the Messiah. Not once did he tell them that they have to decide to have a good day. He didn’t even try to convince them that they were somebody. The results? Over three thousand people came to Christ. And this after being told they had blood on their hands!
Churches that attempt to be “seeker friendly” are actually, and simply, trying to get the unsaved into church and to be involved with church folk. It’s not their job. The elders’ job is to edify the saints, not the unsaved. The saints’ job is to build each other up, not the unsaved. The individual’s job is to go out into the world and first live the Gospel and then to present the Gospel (2 Cor 3:2 and 2 Timothy 4:2 and Romans 1:16).

I suspect a “seeker-friendly” church will cater to the lowest common denominator. The only trouble is, that lowest denominator is the unsaved. Spiritually, we have nothing in common with the unsaved. We want to please God. They don’t. We can please God. They can’t. We can understand the things of God. They can’t. If a church organization is doing its job, the unsaved will have no interest in being there. Those who God is drawing will be there no matter what.

Christian Living | 9 Comments »

I should have an article coming out in a couple of days addressing pastorpreneuralism, the idea of doing whatever it takes to get people into the church building. One of the model churches used by the author of the book is Saddleback in California.

This is the kind of seeker friendly stuff they are doing to attract new members and keep people there.

The link below doesn’t play any more. Here is the same clip on Google:

What next? The little g-strings, twinkly bras and the feather headresses like the…uh…dancers in Las Vegas? I guess it’s a plus that at least they weren’t showing their belly buttons.

Christian Living | 184 Comments »

I gotta run a recon mission this week. We’re looking at the possibility of going deep into enemy territory for a sustained operation and I need to get current intelligence on the layout of the deployment area. Recon mission will take place 2100 Zulu on 11 December. The purpose? More on that in a minute.

Did I tell you I’m revising a tract that I distributed at one of Tricky D’s ManCower - I mean ManPower conferences several years ago? The reason I’m revising it? I’m am seriously considering standing at the top of the Metrorail escalator at the convention center and passing out copies of the tract on the first night of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden’s revival. I suspect most folks are going to get there by Metrorail and thus avoid trying to find parking spaces downtown. And there is, I believe, only one way out of the metro system at the convention center - right by me.

Here’s a copy of the pamphlet I passed out at ManCower 2002. I think it was around 2002. Start reading on the left-hand side of the first page.

Remember - January 3 through 5 is the big First Baptist Church of Glenarden (with John Kenneth Jenkins and T. Dexter Jakes) Revival at the Washington DC Convention Center.

And since I’m a fair-minded kind of guy, I’m even going to give them an hour or so of my time and attend the first night’s activities. If it’s anything like the last affair I attended, or the last performance of his I saw on telelvision, there should be a lot of dancing, jumping, and shouting. And the congregation should be pretty active too. Though it might be little depressing to see a bunch of men jumping around and dancing like a bunch of girls. I wonder if Deacon Lawrence Lee has to attend?

I’m AM going to run reconnaissance on the Metrorail station this Monday right after work. I’ll already be in the train system so it shouldn’t take much time.

John K. Jenkins, Sr., T. Dexter Jakes | 155 Comments »

Well, the First Baptist Church of Glanarden New Year’s Revival is fast approaching. The festivities start January 3 and ooze on until January 5th. The guest speaker, in case you don’t know by now, is none other than T. Dexter Jakes, the next Billy Graham - except that he not Billy Graham…and he’s Oneness…and he doesn’t preach the Gospel or the Bible that much…or…well, you get the idea.

This posting is both a reminder and a warning. I’ve reminded you that T. Dexter will be performing during the First Baptist Church of Glenarden New Year’s Revival. Now I want to warn the leaders of First Baptist Church of Glenarden.

I’ll say again that T. Dexter is Oneness - he denies the triune nature of God. You elders, deacons and preachers are doing nothing to warn the people away from him. Instead you are silent, remaining in your leadership positions, sitting on the podium so that you appear on the tapes when John preaches. All the while, the men and women of First Baptist Church of Glenarden are being led further and further into an abominable set of lies. Their blood will be on your heads since you have chosen comfortable positions over warning the people.

Shirley Onque used to teach a class entitled “Trinity” in the Bible Institute. Now, as the Rev. Shirley Onque, Director of Technology & Director of Evangelism Outreach she sits silently by as a heretic is allowed to enter the church and address the saints. But don’t let me call her out all by herself. Here is a list from the First Baptist Church of Glenarden’s site listing the Elders, Reverends, Ministers, Deacons, and Deaconesses who are sitting by silently as the members of First Baptist Church of Glenarden are pulled down the evangelical rat hole.

You people who attend First Baptist Church of Glenarden - I know you can’t get in to see the pastor. Make these leader/oaves (I think that’s the plural for oaf)do their job. Ask them why they haven’t complained to John about the mentoring thing or about having T. Dexter come in and speak to the congregation. Make them look you in the face when they mislead you.

All of you leaders who refuse to sound the warning trumpet but instead stand in your positions of authority, remember - the blood of the lost will be on your heads (Ezekiel 3:17 - 19). With authority comes responsibility. You have been sorely negligent.

Here’s a link to a pretty good article on T. Dexter. A reader posted it last week but I want to bring it to your attention again, keeping the fact that John Kenneth Jenkins, the fellow who is moving his church into a FIFTY MILLION DOLLAR structure, has invited this bozo to preach during the New Year’s revival. By the way, what, exactly are they reviving? Did someone pass out? Did someone die? Or maybe the spirit just isn’t high enough and they need to ratchet the spirit up a notch or two. Maybe one or two of you manly men can ask him what it’s all about.

As a part of my Warn-the-Sheeple-’Cause-Maybe-They-Don’t-Know-Any-Better campaign, I have also linked to an MP3 file here, so you can listen to T. Dexter do one of the best verbal two-steps I have heard in a long time.

The conversation was recorded by John Coleman a few years ago. It’s the tape referenced by Christian Rsearch Journal and the Christianity Today article. The audio was made before he pretty much stopped discussing the question at all. And even here he doesn’t really say anything to indicate he accepts the orthodox view of the Trinity.

Remember, if you’re a convicted thief, you gotta be willing to empty your pockets out if something comes up missing. Otherwise people can only reasonably suspect you are hiding something. T. Dexter has long been associated with Oneness Pentecostals. He has yet to unambiguously recant any oneness views. A clear doctrine on the Trinity is not that hard to state. Even I can come up with one.

John K. Jenkins, Sr., T. Dexter Jakes | 29 Comments »

I hope, over the next four weeks, to keep up a constant reminder of the fact the T. Dexter (or Tricky D. as one reader has christened him) is going to performing at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden Watch Service and at the three-day revival at the DC Convention center.

But in the face of this, it’s nice to know that out of the thousands who are members at First Baptist Church of Glenarden, there are in fact some people, some real men, who are beginning to understand that T. Dexter is a fraud of tremendous proportions. Here’s a comment made by one of the readers. I tell you, it’s enough to warm the cockles of your heart! Oh, and see if any of you can explain why a relatively new Christian is able to see things the deacons and elders (guys who’ve been there for years) seem to have trouble seeing.

Well, I’m a member of FBCG (for now). In all honesty I have a very serious problem with Bishop Jakes being invited to the New Year’s revival. Each year I had to work this event, but this year was the last straw for me. I was sadden and angered on what was going on in the convention center. I told the people I was working with that night, “I’m gone” and I left midway through his speech.

I say speech because it sure as heck was not preaching or teaching. I just don’t understand why Pastor has to invite this guy every year, but I guess I do understand. It does not help that Pastor look to this guy as some sort of mentor. Yes, I was there when he said that and it turned my stomach.

I remember back in 2003(only been saved a little more than a 2 years) when I still didn’t know any better, I went to the Potter’s House one Sunday while vacationing in Dallas. I sat there and listened to the entire speech. I heard a lot of big words and fancy terms, but not much about Jesus or how to live a holy life within the parameters of God’s word. I actually left there feeling kind of empty. While everyone was running around, screaming and crying, I sat there confused trying to figure out what I missed and even went to my word trying to figure out how what he just said related to the text. I found no relation.

As I grow in my Christian walk I’m starting to see a lot of things that just are not right at FBCG. Having Jakes at this revival is just one of the many things. As much as I don’t want to leave, my wife and I may have to. I’m concerned that she may stay there, which really could split my house.

off topic…..

Rex, If you are who I think you are how did you get over here?

LOL!

Remember, the revival at the convention center starts on January 3, 2007. Get ready! Get Ready! Get ready!

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 114 Comments »