Posted by Melvin Jones on December 9th, 2007
I know many of you naysayers out there were betting that I wouldn’t get to a report on the Standup conference in Newark New Jersey before the end of the month. Well, I worked extra hard to make sure you lost the bet.
Before I go on, I must commend Tim Butler for making the entire event possible. Most, if not all of the cost of the event came right out of his pocket. And he did it with a smile and a welcoming attitude (click here) .
The jet I used to get to the conference is pictured above. Pay no attention to the markings on the tail. It’s purely coincidental that Continental Airlines has a symbol that is so similar to my own. I bought a used stair system and I never got around to removing Continental’s logo.
I actually got to Newark on Thursday, 29 November. Once I got to the hotel, I connected with Saiko Woods and his wife. The three of us, using a van graciously supplied by Tim, drove to the Standup radio studio and participated in the broadcast.
The next day, several of us ended up in the hotel restaurant for lunch and coffee. While there, we were joined by Matthew, a fairly recent escapee (a refugee if you will) from Fast Eddie’s church. Here’s a photo of the gathering. Matthew is on the left, then it’s Shawn Scott, Tyris Horton and Saiko Woods, one of the speakers at the conference. Saiko is also an assistant pastor for a church in Houston.
The conference started on time that evening. Sean did a presentation of the fear of God, and I have to say it was awful. Instead of making me feel good about myself, Sean’s presentation encouraged me to examine myself, my behavior, my attitudes and commitments. He never promised me a breakthrough of any kind. At the break I walked out of there feeling as though I had to be holy just because God is holy.
Saiko gave an excellent presentation on the sovereignty of God. I believe one of the best remedies for the Word of Faith crap out there is a strong, true teaching on the sovereignty of God.
The next day, John Coleman out of California () presented a lecture on the Diaprax. This sounds like a very boring topic, but you have to understand, the Diaprax is at the heart of the methods used to promote the heresies and promote the pimpings that we see in the mega-churches.
John Coleman

I spoke with many of the people attending the conference. One of the interesting aspects of the people is that most of them were escapees from some of the very churches I discuss on the site.
I also got pictures of me with many of the speakers and Standup Ministry participants. Click here to see a picture of Shawn Scott and me.
Unfortunately, the fellow who took the photo wasn’t very good at using a camera. He ended up cutting off over half my face.
I have to say that I was (if you tell anyone I said this I’ll deny it) really blessed by what I saw and what I heard from the people who attended. I have to admit that sometimes I feel like I’m spitting into the wind. They made it clear that I am making at least a small difference with Pulpit-Pimps.
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