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Disciple.Luke

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News Comments posted by Disciple.Luke

  1. 2 hours ago, Pastor Matt said:

    What would you say was the first thing that lead to this slippery slope down? Was it changing it to 2-3 types of services or was there a change in standards or doctrine that started it all?

    This is kind of a tough question for me. This specific time period was shortly after I had been saved so by the time I began attending with my mother it's worship style was already transitioning.

    This particular congregation had grown in attendance to the point that a second service was necessary because there weren't enough pews or parking spaces. While the first two services were basically identical the third service felt like a worship "experiment" that was completely a rock worship service. At the time it seemed like that third service that started at 11:30 was an attempt to appeal to the college students at Anderson University.

    This was back in 2001 and I'm sure was partially influenced by Bill Hybels seeker friendly blueprint. Just from what I observed it seemed to me that decision was made to grow church attendance and the music was just part of the plan.

    By the time I started attending the Pastor had switched from the NIV translation (apparent from the outdated pew bibles) to the New Living Translation that was projected on screens so no one had to be bothered to actually read the verse for themselves. They also bought a Starbucks type coffee and tea makers set from the library and set it up right inside the main doors. And as I mentioned earlier they did away with Sunday evening and the traditional Wednesday night services.

    I had been attending there for about a year when the church began sending VHS tapes in the mail that explained why and where all these changes were headed. The video was a very emotional attempt to explain to everyone how the Lord had been telling the staff they needed to buy property on the other end of town and build a mega church like worship house. This was a project that at minimum was a several million dollar relocation so they needed the convince the members to jump on board and finance it.

    The coffee machines, music, use of projectors instead of bibles and hymn books seemed to prepare everyone to worship in a auditorium as opposed to a sanctuary. Instead of bringing back Sunday evening and Wednesday services they decided to keep fellowship by having everyone join small groups and have those meetings everywhere but the church building I remember the first book they picked out for the church to read and study in these small groups. It was The Purpose Driven Life.

    I began to drift away from that the church after the relocation plans were announced. By the time it was all complete I had left for a smaller congregation. 

    I have some old friends on Facebook who attend there now...and I end up rolling my eyes when they post Sunday afternoons talking about how awesome and "spiritual" the services are with the guitars and drums and the seeker friendly sermons that resemble a Joel Osteen book more than the New Testament.

  2. The large churches here followed the same downward trends most of you are talking about. Several years ago there were a handful of churches who had 2-3 different worship services. The sermon was exactly the same so they were mostly divided by "music style". Later every one of them decided to drop Sunday night service and even the traditional Wednesday night services because so much was going on on Sunday morning. Eventually they all blended into one service and for the most part the hymns went out the window in favor of modern music...but even after that they still decided Sunday and Wednesday nights were unnecessary. At least one of the churches out new seats in and got rid of pew bibles and hymn books. Now everything is shown on the screen and no one has any idea what the bible says except for what their pastor says.

  3. On 6/4/2021 at 4:48 PM, BrotherTony said:

    Yes, sir. He WAS at Franklin Road Baptist Church for a while, but left there taking a group of families with him back around 2001 or so, and started the Global Vision Baptist Church. Later, as some things started unraveling for him, he dropped the name "Baptist" and became a "Bible" church, and whatever it is now since his divorce. I've had many interactions with him, and they've not been pleasant from his end. This is one pastor who WAS in the "Baptist" group who now has a cult-like following. It's frightening to read some of the emails and messages I've gotten when I've responded to some of his YouTube videos or posts on FB. I only pay attention to him because he is leading people away from the truth of the Word into a political styled, man worshipping religion, and I want to keep the friends and relatives I have who listen to him or wish to go hear him pointed back towards the Scriptures. 

     

    I apologize for my late reply to this but I am just now seeing and hearing about this.

    I've never heard of this guy but I have a very different view of Mike Pence since we have known him here since he was our house representative here in Madison County, Indiana.

    Even back then Mike was known to be a deeply religious and godly man and found support among Indiana Christians. Many people in our IFB church knew him and supported his run for Governor.

    Several years ago when our Pastor Dr. Leigh Crockett died we received a letter from Governor Pence that was read to the congregation at the funeral.

    I can remember back as a representative he was visiting one of the local Wednesday night church services andwas taking questions. One person asked him if he knew the Bush administrations stance on the State of Israel. He answered by telling about a meeting with Condelizza Rice where she asked him why he thought supporting Israel was important. He told us that his answers was that he believed it was biblical to do so, and Rices reply was that she believed te same.

    The Trump/Clinton election was the first one I voted in that I felt like I needed to repent afterwards, but when it came to Mike Pence I always believed he would do what he felt was right an consistent with his faith.

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