Okay, so I’m childish, easily challenged, and full of testosterone. I can’t help it. I’m a male.
Little Stevie Wonder “challenged” (for lack of a better word) me to preach a sermon. He claims that neither I nor GaryV could preach our way out of a paper sack. Maybe he’s right. He suggested I preach a sermon and post it out here so y’all could pick it apart the way I do with John K. Jenkins and the rest of the pimps. I thought it was an interesting proposition.
So here’s the poll question: Should Melvin preach a short (maybe five minutes) sermon (with video)? If I do it, I promise not to sweat profusely, say “Look at your neighbor and say (fill in the blank)”, or have the organ pumped up too loud. I also won’t do the Greater Grace Electric Slide.
Your choices are:
-
1. Yes
-
2. No
I’ll give you until Monday PM to vote.
1. Yes-I think this would be very interesting!
I read a story the other day about two young men in Turkey who had been gutted, ears and male genital cut off and their throats slashed in the most satanic way. Why? Because they were preachers. They were Christians who had been duped by Muslims who said they wanted to learn about the Bible. They died for their faith in Christ as preachers. Contrast that to the request made by Pastor Smith. Pride comes before a fall. Preaching (style) in the black church has been grossly overestimated by way of the “whoop.” If Christ is who HE is and we believe what HE said, then as Christians (specifically American) need to remember that it doesn’t matter who the preacher is, we are all expendable for the grace of Christ. And to give up our lives for the sake of the Gospel is what we are called to. “For I live, yet not I, but Christ that lives in me…” What good is it to gain the world (through vain preaching for show) and lose my soul? How many people will die before our faces before we get the boldness not to preach in a church building, but to preach outside amongst the unchurched to tell them of the Law and Grace of God. He that is to be great must be the servant of all. Melvin, you have my answer.
Melvin,
Based on following your website for a number of months (and passing it along to others), I find myself amused, enlightened and encouraged. I know beyond a shadow of doubt your sermon would be Christ-centered and truthful. Conversely, based on Stephen’s website (and its dubious content), I know beyond a shadow of doubt that sermon would need some additional cooking. One of the many tell-tell traits of psuedo-Christians is that they work in the flesh almost all the time. Their only hope is to pull others into the flesh as well. Not equating Stephen to the Satan, but a similar trick was used against Jesus, i.e. “If thou be…” The adversary has nothing new to offer. So my suggestion would be to enjoy the Lord…continue to rest in Him and let the word speak for itself. None of us are that good and thankfully none of us are that bad that we can’t be saved. Hopefully, Stephen and the rest of us will that, without Christ, all is vainity. All that said, my vote is “no”.
Sincerely,
Charles Vaughn
I vote no. You are preaching already and you have nothing to prove to a person who can’t seem to decide who he serves. Christianity is not about competition. Don’t let him draw you into his level of foolishness. You have too much class for that. Keep doing what the Lord has given you to do. Others are watching and you have done good so far.
I am in total agreement with trayjay and voted “NO”.
Thank you trayjay for making a comment here before me. You said it well and with far less words than I probably would have been able to use to make the same point.
I’d like to see them have a “cross-over” dance competition
. (kidding of course)
You’re grown men. If one offers correction to another, it does not mean the one offering correction must prove he’s capable of doing the job himself. I don’t have to be a world class sprinter to recognize bad form. A man with no legs knows it when he sees it. We are not pimping folks, so we are not hypocrites for exposing a pimp.
And some of the MAIN PEOPLE critical of the church and actually on point with their criticisms many times are folks who refuse to attend, some are even atheists, because of the foolishness they see. I talk with them about Jesus and must spend half the time proving to them I don’t believe the crap being put out by these pimps. These pimps hinder promotion of the truth, because valuable time must be taken to separate their lies from the real truth.
1Cor. 13:11 “when i was a child, i spake as a child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child: but when i became a man, i put away childish things.
let it go..
Melvin,
Keep doing what you are doing. There will always be folk who will not agree with you. Remember alot didnt agree with our Lord when He walked this earth. So I say you’re in good company. I really wouldnt worry about what the mass’ have to say.
I will say this, the Pimps & Pimpettes would not have their game if the sheeple weren’t so gullible. I got caught up in hype once in the Faith Dome, when Juanita Bynum came to town. Let me share, here are the people who were on the roster:
Juanita Bynum
Clarence McClendon
Rod Parsley
G.E. Patterson
sorry but I cant remember the other person, oh yeah Bishop Blake, who at the time was bulding on his new edifice. Every night when the offering was taken up they would come up with these creative ways to get our monies, here are two of them that I can remember.
1. give $100 and if you don’t have it get with 3 other people and you three together will have $100. You are under prophetic anointing so you ‘d better give or you will miss God, you will miss your blessing and I mean it was so enegized in that place anybody would have given.
That was Bishop McClendons creative juices flowing that night.
2. If you want to have the same anointing as Bishop Blake I need you all to give $130, me being a sheeple at the time I got caught up in this. This was Juanita Bynums creavtivity at work.
3. I dont remember Rod Parselys money scheme.
I am sharing this because exactly a month later the Lord woke me up out of my sleep and said these words to me:
YOU KNOW THAT MONEY YOU GAVE IN THOSE OFFERING, YOU GAVE IT OUT OF HYPE AND WHEN YOU GIVE OUT OF HYPE, HYPE IS ALL YOU GET!
I immediatley begin to repent for my error. I didnt even give my tithe, I gave it to the pimps and pimpettes. This is a true account I would not lie. Just thought I would share this with the blog. I know someone out there will probably find a way to dis-credit what I have just shared. Thats ok!
Oh yeah it was revealed to my why that conference was held, Blake needed money to finish his edifice.
(MN: I killed your first paragraph because the link went to a “404″ site and not the one you apparently inteded. Resubmit the link and post and I’ll see about posting it. )
This may seem inconsequential to encourage you on, but I think that it’s pretty astounding to see the amount of effort it takes for you run the site/to post things (+ Preaching on VIDEO, now)
Easy to forget this website isn’t run automatically…..and that it’s being run by someone with his own struggles to contend with, who’s taking much sacrifice to THROUGHOUGHLY inspect EVERY COMMENT posted (hundreds, I’m betting) while also PAYING HIMSELF for the site/handling the other pressures of life (job, bills, family, etc)……yet still willing to even DISCUSS issues from the Word (unlike Mr. Stephen)
Like trajay said, by many of your actions, you’re preaching well already……Perhaps more so than a video demonstration ever could. Appreciate it greatly, n’ I pray U Keep on Sweating, Brah…in Christ, it’s worth it (I Corinthians 15:58).
Blessings….
” And Melvin, in my opinion, no you should not take on a challenge and preach unless God has told you to do so. It is all about Him! This site is to reveal and to warn God’s people of false prophets and teachers and I believe that is of God.
BK
(MN:
BK,
I have contacted the author of the article you referenced. I want to talk to him/her to trace the statement back. If I can do that, I think your comment should be plastered on every pimpicidal website from here to the West Coast. But I really need to do a little more checking just to make sure. After all, the author was reporting on what someone else said they saw. I think this is called “hearsay” in court. At least that’s what I think the defense attorneys on “Law and Order” says when they’re defending a scumbag.
)
I say no, the spreading of the gospel is not about competition or sport. We will all be accountable for what we do and I do not believe a sermon contest is appropriate for what our goals as fulfilling the will of the Father. Preach brother but not in this context….!!!!!
check out gty.org people for some real good preaching.
Deb,
As a person purposes in his heart let them give, I think the scriptures speak for itself on the return from giving.Don’t let the devil speak to your mind concerning giving, are we not suppose to support kingdom projects. Also I didn’t know the edice was his.Melvin there is a saying at my church we always use when people try to do something they may not be called to, “stay in your lane” . The ear is not the mouth and the mouth not the nose and so on and so on.Every person should find out what thier purpose is and act accordingly.If you are NOT called to a certain thing then don’t get in that lane you will only mess things up.
thank you for your response, but I know when the Lord speaks to me. I know His voice. That was one of the biggest scams that I have ever been apart of in the church. Even my friend who was with me didnt feel right in her spirit about it, and she didnt give a dime. I was hyped up! That was about 10 years ago. The Lord taught me a lesson, If I’m not in something you shouldnt be a part of it. Most of these conferences that they are having now are notihng more then fund raisers. I know, I have heard my former Bishop being called to a particular church just to raise the offering. It’s done all the time. And to Stephen Smith, this conference was given at the Faith Dome, by Bishop Blake, more money was needed to finish the buliding. I now do give as I purpose in my heart to give and not out of hype!
Let me ask you this question, what about the money lines that are perpetrated in our churches?
If you give a $1000 dollars the Lord will bless you. Well what about the person who does not have that kind of money? If you cant put a price on the power of the Holy Spirit then you sure cant put one on a blessing from the Lord. I would have more respect for the pimps if they would just simply say, saints we need to raise money to put back in the pot for this weekend that we have had these speakers here, paying for the hotel, their flight, etc. simple! There would be no pimps if the there were no idol filled people, its whats in one heart that causes them to chase after the fishing line of the enemy. Do you understand what I am trying to say?
Thank for listening.
I vote no. That challenge is complete and utter foolishness. Is this an Elijah challenge of my God against yours? It doesn’t seem like it. It seems more like a my ego against yours, and that doesn’t glorify God in the least.
No the issue isn’t whether you can preach or not it’s are the things you say true or false. Preaching like public speaking is a talent and if you don’t have it. It doesn’t take away from the substance of your claims or if you can preach it doesn’t make said claims automatically true.
Nope because it wouldn’t be to build the body but only prove a point to Slippery Stephen (not being mean but he refuses to answer any of my questions, and just slips through by them). I just don’t think it would be beneficial. Plus what will it be evaluated on? Charisma, Organization, applause? Don’t by in to that bro.
Melvin , you could post the greatest sermon ever written , theologically sound and biblically unassailably with Jesus as the main focus but to people like Pastor Smith it wouldn’t matter. You cannot impress people like that without the verbal histronics and
physical pyrotechnics , such as placing the legs on the lectern , jumping over pews , armor bearers wiping the brow , etc , etc , you’ll be wasting your time. To people who are immersed in the COGIC culture it always comes down to style over substance…as James Brown said it they like “talking loud and saying nothing.” Don’t waste your time .
I would say yes and I wouldn’t look at as though it were an competion but rather an oppotunity for you to PREACH the GOSPEL. WHY only 5 mins though is my thing I would say just let the HOLY GHOST guide you through and you never know ho needs to hear what GOD places on your heart I would say never turn down an opportunity to preach GOD’s word. Based on how you help people on this site I would think that you could help us even more if we heard you preach and I think it would help some people that may not understand what you are trying to do with this site. I say GO FOR it but first before everything else is said and done ASK GOD what you should do and then do what he says andnot what others want you to do.
God Bless YA
Don’t do it, it’s not necessary.
What you give attention too you give power too. Stand down and turn the other cheek.
I vote “No”. What’s the point? We’ve all seen enough of your posts and GaryV’s posts to know that you’re both capable of rightly dividing the Word of God.
Besides, I still think that Pastor Stephen’s idea of “good preaching” is based more on style than on content. I’m also still convinced that he’s got too much time on his hands. What busy pastor has time to indulge in childish stuff like challenging people to preach?
I say skip the “Preach-Off”.
Robin you all are criticizing people every day now put up or shut up!
Why? What’s the point? I really think that God would not want His Word used as some sort of tool in the game of some silly man who issues “preaching” challenges.
And once again for everybody who doesn’t get it, it’s not about criticizing people. It’s about recognizing doctrinal error.
“Put up or shut up”?????? Oh, please!!!! That’s rich coming from someone who posts as “Anonymous”.
Get over yourself.
And what are you so happy about??
He is showing off his new dentures.
Melvin slow down for a minute What is preaching? (sarcastic) Is Stevie Wonder trying to challenge you and GAry V to see if you could howl, scream, or do the electric slide? Melvin I agree with Trajay you are ministering to people who are coming to light such as myself about the truth. Little Stevie preaching is not emotionalism. Melvin, do no tdo it. Gary V do not do it. Let this man self destruct. he is going to try and twist everything you say anyway. This is childish.Whenever, you have to defend yourself then I wonder what is going on. Melvin, Christ stood before Pilate and did not defend himself . Whatever Stevie say let him say it but I think you should just ban this joker. He is clearly trying to make a name for himself. Ignore this challenge.
Yes I think you should, but it’s some ground rules that should be discussed, it should only be critiqued on content, not style this being said it doesn’t have to be videotaped. Melvin, I’m quite sure your wife finds you attractive, but I (selfishly) can do without the visual. Then we don’t have biases rise up, like “I didn’t like his style” or “he used to many big words”.
I vote no, as if you, I and others claim to stand on Truth then we should not allow ourselves to be baited and allow the “Flesh” to rise up and ruin a good witness.
There will always be those who do not follow the Word in Truth who will challenge us to get “fleshy” just so they can say “see He is no different than us”
Preaching should never be done for a carnal wager. The Holy Spirit will not bear witness to the truh under those circumstances.
In my humble opinion, No!You have nothing more to prove to a mere mortal man!You are already preaching,ignore the “challenge” or/and the minister?!Christians should not “dual” or battle for the acceptance of men!Preach off,huh!This is too weird for words!SMH
Yes - a 5min will be great but i also agree with trayjay, you have preached enough and if Stephen can’t see that then he should get on his knees and pray to God for guidance.
No Need, you are doing your good work.
Hi Melvin,
I rarely post comments on your site although i am a frequent vistor but i had to say something! what has your abilty to preach got to do with anything it’s a ludicrous notion, who is the judge God and the fact that he would even bring this idea shows, that he believes it is talent/abilty that deserve the glory not God. you and GaryV have showed that you rightly divide the word.
So instead of making this into a competition who has the most flair or flamboyance lets remember what this all about the search for truth and exposing error. you having nothing to prove in fact thats a major problem with todays church we are more focus on how the way a sermon is preach than its content thats why every sunday i hear the yokels screaming “amen” and repeating the words the pastor tells them and the pastor distorting scripture while i’m sitting dazed and confused wondering do people actually read their bible. in fact i am sick to the stomach of thought of this just full hype/hot air anybody can be taught this type of preaching majore showed us that but the preaching that actually transforms lives brings about real healing etc takes the work of the Holy Sprit and a crucfied vessel
p.s great post (sorry for the rant)
Melvin,
I believe you can preach,you already do that here with your commentary and guidance of this forum. Nothing you do would be appreciated by Stephen because his mind is reprobate. I don’t think you have anything to prove.
On the other hand this is your forum. God gave it to you. It has been profitable for the Kingdom’s purposes. If you choose to record and post messages here for us to view we can only benefit from them because of the Biblical standards that you adhere to. Let your iron sharpen our iron. It is your choice. You are one of the “called” so even a challenge from a reprobrate will come together for the good.
Yes
I would love to hear you preach a sermon because I know that you would tell the truth according to the word of God. I think that what you do here is preaching, though. I voted no because I agree with trayjay in that you have nothing to prove. No matter what you say in a sermon, he will never agree with you unless God reveals the truth to him. So I say, let him say what he wants, you doing a sermon won’t stop him. He’ll just find something else to say. Which is showing that he is doing the same thing that he is accusing you of doing. He has been judging you and the people that comment on this site from day one. Let him do what he will. God has got your back.
HEY!!!! Maybe I can dig up one of my local TBN TV broadcasts for Stephen F. Smith!! I wonder if they still have the tapes……….I was PIMPIN’ HARD!!!!
IF you do , and you can get me a copy, I can work to post it to YouTube and present it as a “Don’t Go There” example on this site!!
I don’t think you “should” just for this challenge. This may be akin to boasting in yourself of how “good” of a sermon you can preach just to prove a point. I can’t know your heart, but if it were just for this challenge would it be the most God honoring reason?
Now, if you preach a sermon and happen to record it then there is no reason why you shouldn’t post it. Just check the heart though, brother, if you posted it to make sure you God is first and not this challenge. You have nothing to prove in preaching that you haven’t proven on this blog from the word of God.
We know that preaching is more than flowery words and catch phrases driven by emotive voice inflections to the point of commanding mesmorizing “Amens”.
See: if this person challenging you heard a sermon from Moses given what we know about Moses’ speaking and communication abilities what would he say?
Blessings,
Mark
I just don’t see what the point of doing a sermon for him would be. I understand why he wants to see it though. People like him depend on there own ability to work people up into a frenzy instead of depending on the Holy Spirit and sound doctrine. They say that what they are manifesting is the Holy Spirit but it is not. It is pure emotionalism. Because of the Apostate Church’s system, which people like him created, that type of preaching is required. And the reason is simple, the majority of the people in their churches are not saved. The pure (untwisted) word of God is not enough for unsaved people but to the saved it is the only thing.
1st Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
It takes man’s craftiness to con people out of their money. We know this because you never see Jesus or the Apostles asking for money so there is no evidence to prove that their ability to separate people from their money is of God. Preaching the pure word of God (without adding or taking away) separates the sheep from the goats. But they don’t want that because their church would be smaller and they could boast of how big there ministry is. So, what do they do. They preach the Quasi-Gospel. Just enough of the Bible to say it is Christian but not enough to convict hearts and/or cry for repentance. Next, they add all types of church programs (which are not in the Bible) to please the unsaved church members because again, the word alone is never enough for the unsaved. It is to boring for them and doesn’t mesh with there lifestyle. The best way to sum it up is to say that preachers of the Apostate Church preach to build congregations instead of preaching for salvation and sanctification.
I imagine he wants to see what your “skills are”. This just shows how shallow and apostate his thinking his. I bet he can “out preach” you Melvin, but that is not a complement to him. It just shows that he puts his faith in his abilities rather than in God and his word alone. I bet he can gather a huge following and get them to do whatever he says (just as long as he focuses on the select Bible verses and ignores the rest). In the Apostate Church they call that the anointing.
I have a challenge for Steven and here it is. Ask him to preach the New Testament, start to finish and verse by verse without adding in his own opinion as well as not skipping anything or watering down any of the non-PC parts. And also to cut the “praise and worship” time in half and replace it with pure Bible preaching. I would like to see how many of his so called church members would put up with that and for how long.
1st Corinthians 2
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power,
5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Sermons are meant to feed God’s sheep, not to answer challenges from weak/false teachers!!! If God has put something in your heart to share with us, go for it. Otherwise, let Stevie go buy a mitt and catch a clue!
Melvin,
Don’t do it. I have heard you teach before. And as great and informational as it was…it’s a far cry from “preachin”. A person who wants to “Battle you” in the pulpit would not be able to appreciate, your wealth of biblical knowledge and your exegetical acumen. This would be a great exercise in futility. It would not prove anything.
Don’t waste your time. Unless of course you just want to put a video of yourself on the Web. Then go for it.
I have some the old episodes of “Answers for Today” that I could post on “You Tube” if you like. - LOL
PL
No,No,No
2Co 10:9 lest I seem to terrify you by letters.
2Co 10:10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”
2Co 10:11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
2Co 10:12 ¶ For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Certainly you have not become intimidated by the letters of Stephen. Shall that which is dirty declare what is clean? Surely you don’t expect that which is imperfect and full of fault to rightfully judge. [John 7:24]
How can they (the false) rightfully judge when their yard measuring stick only has 29 inches. No matter what the quality of your sermon, you will not prosper or profit by succumbing to his childish “double dog dare you”. Why try to compare substance to emotion, eternal goals to temporary goals, and spiritual doctrines to the doctrine of materialism which they preach?
Heed the warning of Proverbs 1:10
Pr 1:10 ¶ My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. (Slight stretch but the principle applies).
Like they (the pimps) stay awake at night trying to figure out what scheme to get the next dollar out of your wallet, they lay awake trying to remove thorns. You Melvin are a thorn, Stephen has stayed awake trying to make you fall. Don’t take the first step on their path. Don’t give him a night’s sleep.
Pr 4:16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.
Let’s all continue to pray that those who have run off the highway of holiness will come to repentance and embrace true lasting salvation.
If your preaching will be for the upliftment of God, do it…if not, don’t.
I feel that you should continue to do what you do best…exposing error!!! This Stevie guy is like the rest of the Laodecian church…wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! There is no need to respond to this fella. I just hope the Lord will open his eyes.
Deb the late Bishop Patterson was not a pimp. He shunned most major conferences to not be characterized as such. He did not use the money schemes that sometimes frequent the evangelistic circuit. He spoke in the Faith Dome for Bishop Blake a lifelong friend. Bishop Blake’s building could not have been paid for by a conference. Fifty to Sixty Million dollar buildings don’t get finished by throwing a conference. Bishop Blake’s church is strong enough to pay for their building without gimmicks. Most major conferences end up in the red. If one wants to stay out of the red, please don’t throw a major conference. Making budget is really a challenge for most conferences. Melvin I think that you should preach a short sermon and enlighten the world on how it should be done.
(MN: Un…not quite. Blake rents out the facility to some very ungodly people. I suggest you look a little further into it. But nice to see you out here as you. It’s refreshing. )
Did I mention that he was a pimp? I told you of the ones who had the creative money ideas. Pay attention to what you are reading steven. After dealing with the pimps and pimpettes I didnt go back on the night he was suppose to be there. I loved Bishop Patterson. Please don’t put lies in my mouth!
Mr. Smith, Melvin has a full slate of essays you can review.
In particular, I’d like for you to review the one about tithing. I know that paying your home church 10% of gross income + an offering is something that COGIC strongly encourages, with the full weight of Malachi 3:8-12 as your foundational scripture. Please review Melvin’s essay on the matter and share your thoughts with us.
Share your thoughts here, or on your own blog where you can fully control the setting. (If you do it on your blog, please mention it in a comment here, because I don’t frequent your blog, but would read your thoughts on this matter.) But please share your thoughts on the matter and if you do it on your blog, of course it would only be right that you link to Melvin’s essay for the sake of reference.
I don’t think Melvin should have ever indulged you to this point, but if the vote goes towards Melvin giving a sermon, I recommend he read the entire essay on video.
Sure, that’s why the Church of God in Christ had an annual conference sponsored by McDonalds and some other major corporations. Don’t tell me it is not true because I heard the commercials over and over again. I know COGIC can afford their own events so what’s up with that?
Our Holy Convocation is not sponsored by any companies. Give it a rest!
(MN: I was going to give it a rest and then I though “Hmmm. Let’s do a little research. Lo and behold, what did I find with just a moment’s worth of looking? Affinity4 worked with one of your Holy Convocations. Take a look here for the news article. Click here to see what Affinity4 is. )
I can not say for certain but I think Pastor Smith is correct, Pastor Smith is referring to our International Holy Convocation which is held in Memphis every year and to my knowledge it is not sponsored by any companies,(I am not saying for certain, I could be wrong) in fact the late Bishop GE Patterson would not allow vendors to set up and sell products at the International Holy Convocation. The convention in the link is a state convocation. In COGIC each state Jurisdiction has a state Holy Convocation for that particular state Jurisdiction. Each state has a Jurisdiction Bishop who is in charge of all the activities of the jurisdiction. In the case note above, the prelate is Bishop is Samuel Green. As far as the state jurisdiction that I am a part of, we are not sponsored by any companies.
Stephen…………man, you’re better off just sticking with you blog where you can control the comments and save face.
Are you acquainted with ANY facts on ANY subject??
An offer to sponsor the COGIC annual Spring Call 2008
http://www.cogichacs.org/
An offer to sponsor the COGIC National Leadership conference 2008
http://www.cogichacs.org/
The same link is under the 100th COGIC Holy Convocation with a paragraph that is an offer for sponsors and exhibitors to contact the Director of Housing and Convention Services.
901-522-0331 is the phone number for potential sponsors to call.
http://www.cogichacs.org/
Do you know anything about your own orgaization??
I was baptized in the Church of God in Christ. I get no pleasure from having to inform you of these things. I have no reason to make any of it up.
BTW Why don’t you get a $100.00 Hook Up at the site:
http://www.viaggios.net/
That is a part of COGIC’s 2007 Men’s Conference website.
http://www.menperfectingmencogic.org/
Ms. Williams
I would first like to start out by saying that no where in my post did I imply that you made anything up. If my post came across that way I sincerely apologize. I wrote in my post the follow words:
“Pastor Smith is referring to our International Holy Convocation which is held in Memphis every year and to my knowledge it is not sponsored by any companies,(I am not saying for certain, I could be wrong)”.
I did not say that we did not have sponsors was a fact, I said to my knowledge so it is apparent that as far as the national church goes I was wrong. As far my church, my pastor does not have sponsors for any conference we may have, in fact he will not even allow a clock to be put in the sanctuary( bank wanted to give him a clock with there name on it ). As far as our state jurisdiction, there are no sponsors. In reference to your post, I consider your statement “Do you know anything about your own orgaization??” as a snide and unnecessary remark. A remark such as this and the $100 bundle can easily fuel and ignite unnecessary bickering over what I would say is an irrelevant issue. But I will refrain from spewing insults because that is not Christ-like and it really accomplishes nothing. COGIC as many other denominations has its imperfections and I am sure we could all look at many denominations and pick out different things. The question I would pose though is this: Is this issue relevant enough to go back and forth on and ignite confrontation. I am not endorsing sponsors because I myself personally do not see them contributing to souls being saved and making saints become more effective to do the work of the Lord. Why COGIC uses sponsors I do not know but I think that is an important question to ask.
I find your comments insulting to me and it seems like you are trying to take a shot at me. You may have meant no harm but as Christians we should not conduct ourselves in this way. But I myself could be making too much of the comments made myself and if so I welcome the correction. But in closing I would like to say this. We in the Christian community are doing too much fighting among ourselves. I am not saying that we should compromise or do not expose error. I am not saying that should be no disagreement. I have no problem with that. In fact, I think we should inform everyone of heretics and pimps in the church. My problem is when we disagree with someone on non-essential issues to the faith, we start trading jabs and insults over these issues. We try to belittle other or make them seem stupid when we correct them or they do not agree with us. This is not the will of the Lord. We are supposed to be Christ-like and Christ-centered. Insulting others and belittling others does not do this. Once again, I say I do not have any problem with the false teachers being called out. They deserve to be exposed for their mess.
Curtis Terry
(MN: Be careful Curtis. You may be mistaken for a voice of reason. )
Maybe we should stop attacking denominations and simply go after mis- or bad-interpretation of scripture. All denominations have an area of error, of course because they are all man-made. The COGICs have some stuff right and some stuff wrong just as the Baptist, the Pentacostals, the 7-Day Adventis and yes, even the non-denoms (which is becoming just another denomination). If there was a denom that got it all right, our egos couldn’t handle it. I could be wrong, but I think this approach would stop a lot of insults. Maybe not.
(MN: Take a look at the past postings. Almost to a man/woman, they have been outside the pale of traditional denominations. The closest we get is the Full Gospel Baptist Convention. And that isn’t a denomination. Even within the COGIC I have jumped primarily on specific people and not the denomination. The only ones I might make an exception of are the oneness people. I suspect they are not Christian to begin with. )
No, don’t do it. This sounds like a rapper challenging another one to a battle. I would like to know what the leadership of the Chruch of God in Christ would think about a Pastor in their organization acting in this manner. I don’t post often, but his actions make me mad enough to get on my knees and pray for him.
The ministry gifts given to the church are supposed to work in harmony, not against each other.
1. Yes - that would really bless me.
Dont fall for the “okey doke” Melvin. This minister is trying to overcompensate for his inability to exegete the Word of God objectively. If he truly has a legitimate disagreement with your exegesis, he should possess the intelligence and the spiritual fortitude to respectfully and calmly refute what is being said - point by point using the Word of God - not issue chldish and pointless challenges. Next…….
I have to admit that though the poll is running slightly in favor of doing the preach-off, many of your comments opposing have been quite beneficial to me.
However, keep voting. If it slows down before Monday PM I’ll announce the results and my decision. If it’s pretty steady through Monday, I will wait until the PM to close everything out and make my decision.
I hope that you preach on tithing Melvin! I’ve posted again about our friend at my site. I expect more of the same from him (name calling and failure to address the issues) but I’m always willing to try and actually have a dialogue with him!
…Most specifically the difference between tithing (according to the Mosaic Law laid out in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deutoronomy) and GIVING!, mandated under the new covenant.
I vote no. The challenge appears to be an attempt to distract you.
No, don’t do it. He still hasn’t clarified what he believes in, nor will he give a reasonable response to many of the questions you asked of him in earlier posts. To supposedly be a man of the cloth and carry on the way he has, with all the name calling and so forth, he just strikes me as being all style and no substance. If he clarify’s his positions, in what he believes (and why), then yeah go for it. A good step would be to know (as IC asked earlier) what his stance is on tithing?
This is isn’t dueling sermons…no banjos playing; Stevie is just angry because he’s been exposed for what he is; maybe he can have a woman preacher stand him for him…hmmmm
If I’m not mistakein when you preach the word of God it needs to come from God by Divine revelation not by your own will so why would you preach because someone say’s that they want you to prove something to them that is arrogant and ignorant please we are not to please Man but we are to please God, I say no don’t do it what is it going to prove and what is the point what need’s to be done is some PRAYING FOR THE BROTHER THAT HE MAY SEE THE LIGHT OF JESUS CHRIST
Be Blessed
No, don’t make a mockery of preaching by preaching simply because someone dares you that you can’t do it. I would personally not ask you to lower yourself, and shame on Stephen for taking the ministry of preaching with so little seriousness, as to advocate something like a “preach-off”.
My vote is no, you don’t need to prove anything, and I doubt it would change anything regarding how Pastor Smith views you or your work.
Why not simply direct him to a link of sound expositional preaching? At the end of the day it is not the who preaches that is important, but the truth of God that is being preached?
Simply put, NO! What man of God in his right mind would take the precious calling we have been given and tread upon it as if it were “pissing” contest. Forgive me for my frankness, but I am appalled that someone who calls himself to be a true man of God would even dare suggest something so crude. Things like this cause me to doubt the salvation of some. It makes me sad to know that Christians are being martyred in Turkey by being gutted and having their “manhood” removed for preaching the Gospel (regardless of their style) and this joker wants to be the greatest preacher in America. Pride truly does come before a fall. Bro. Melvin, I pray that you would give this no more thought. There are better things that need to be done for the true glory of our resurrected King.
Christopher you have the ways of a snake. I never asked for a preach off, yet I am suggesting that Brother Melvin who spends all his day criticizing others should show those whom he criticizes how it’s done. I may have been wrong to suggest that he couldn’t preach his way out of a paper bag, yet it is what it is. Let him show us how it’s done!
Stephen, you were doing so well. Now, all of a sudden, you have to tell someone they have the way of a snake! Come, come Stephen. Couldn’t you just tell the poor schlep that he’s putting words in your mouth? That would have been much less combative and much less - shall we say - judgmental in the sense of trying to tell us what is in his heart.
“show how its done” focus more content i.e scriptures, conviction, holiness and you know conforming to the image of Christ and consider preaching sermons that cut to the heart (than tickle the ear) and build courage in them to do the work of the ministry, teach them to focus on others than what God is going to do for them.
As apposed to on style you know hyping the crowd or making them feel good or feel justified in the wicked ways, no need that any man show you Christ has shown us,(i dont mean teach) Stephen don’t get caught up in who you are, we’re all just vessel of the Most High the greatest among you shall be the servant
Hey Stevie………..rather than a Preach_Off, why not simply pick one of the many articles of Mel’s available here and show US where he’s wrong??
I mean, it’s only fair. We already did that to your scribblings. You haven’t answered our objections either Biblically ,logically, or factually. You just delete the comments so you won’t be further embarrassed, and so there will be room enough for your Brown-Nose Brigade to agree with your drivel.
Step up………
Oh, BTW, many of my articles are here as well. Feel free to point out my errors as I have done for you.
I’m all a-tingle at the prospect.
all a-tingle lol
Come on now Pastor Smith. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Why worry about how someone can preach? What matters is do they (or you I should say as well) preach the Word of God according to the Word of God or don’t they?
If Melvin hasn’t said something right, show proof! Show scripture! What is wrong in calling out the true snakes? Are you a man of God or are you a man of men, Stephen? Do you hear what I am saying? Are you preaching for the glory of men or do you do it to glorify God that someone might be saved or if they are already saved edified?
That is the biggest problem with COGIC now. Too many of the preachers want to be the big dog. Well if that’s what you want to be, go ahead Stephen. But I will never refer to you as a Man of God or Pastor (terms that are reserved for those who would give their lives for the sheep) as long as you continue to preach and support that which is unedifying and chokes the life out of Christians.
I am sickened at your display of contempt for others while you continue to say that you aren’t mocking or belittling. Young man, please for a moment, take a step back and really look at what many people are in uproar over. It is unbiblical teaching and the robbing of the Saints. I believe all of the Christians on this site would rather dwell together in unity and fight the good fight against those that are without- together. But if pride will keep you from repenting or if you are reprobate, then my words will fall on deaf- but mark my words- you will be held responsible for yours before God- because the false teachers will receive the greater damnation.
In my humble opinion, you have already preached enough, you have given your insight into scripture on many occasions, and you have a myriad of essays already on post for him to pick apart, and lastly lets not turn the site into the spiritual wwf(world wrestling of faith), think if you do that, then he wins.