# Church Mailing Received Today



## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

The mail ran a little while ago, and with it came a invitation postcard from a local church. I thought the cookie-cutter mega-wanna-be church mentality was waning (being replaced with post-modern emergence), but here it was complete with all the "fresh" tell-tale signs, including the name that sounds like a subdivision. I'll let you just read it for yourself:



> Most of us have Easter traditions: Easter egg hunt with the kids, one or more dinners to attend with family, or maybe a b-b-q with friends. Before you begin your Easter tradition this year, we invite you and your family to be a part of the Easter celebration at Life Pointe Church. We will have a special Easter message from the Bible, great music, and an egg hunt for the kids. Our services are casual and do not last long, so you DON'T need new clothes and you will have plenty of time for all the day's activities. We hope you'll join us for an incredible Easter celebration!



A few observations:


Whoever wrote this is obviously a Yankee, because "b-b-q" still means "pulled pork" in Kentucky. I think he means "cookout with friends."
I am glad the "special Easter message" is from "the Bible," since that would be confusing otherwise. And I'm serious. Nowhere on this mailing does it say a word about "Christian" or "Christ." Not once.
The services are "casual and do not last long." That is simply awful. There should be nothing casual about worship. Do we think God is honored by this? And they "do not last long" so "you will have plenty of time for all the day's activities"? Gentlemen, we have met our idol, and it is us.

I went to the church's website hoping for some more clues (since they don't expressly identify themselves as "Christian"). Under the obligatory "what we believe" section, I found this:



> In Essentials Beliefs: We have unity (Ephesians 4:4-6) at Life Pointe Church. We have key beliefs that give our church vision, purpose, focus, and healthy boundaries. Essential beliefs are located in the following selections from the Bible.
> 
> ~ Joshua 1:8, 18:15-17
> ~ Psalm 118:89
> ...



Maybe it's just me, but that's a recipe for ecclesiastical disaster. Why not simply respond to "what we believe" with "the Bible"? This tells no one how the church interprets the Bible. It almost reads like a statement that says "read these verses for yourself, and however you interpret them, that's what we believe." If I am wrong, feel free to talk me down.

I'm sure many of you are inundated by this trivializing of the worship of our Lord. I would encourage pastors to preach the gospel with fervency and zeal this Lord's Day, not bowing to the "Easter whims" of men. I would encourage Christians to attend worship without clocking watching and worrying about the remainder of the days activities. And above all else, I would encourage everyone everywhere to remember that one of the reasons we gather for worship on the Lord's Day is because that is when He rose from the dead. Every Lord's Day is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! And if we reduce that to one day a year, we have yet another trivialization of worship.


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## Zenas (Apr 7, 2009)

Let's storm their mega-building. I'll bring the torches. I gotta fill up on gas before I start up there though. 



Honestly, you gotta come down here and hit up Bellevue. It's the mega-church to end all mega-churches. They have a commandment-breaking Easter play every year and a giant singing Christmas tree during the "season". 

I think most of your points are valid, but most especially regarding their casual approach to worship.


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## SolaScriptura (Apr 7, 2009)

I went to the church's website...

I was particularly impressed to learn a few amazing facts about the staff.

For example...

The senior pastor is an energetic, passionate, and visionary leader who is committed to helping people find life change. Profound!

The Discipleship pastor (and his wife) have one dog, Charmin (yes, like the toilet paper). In his spare time, the discipleship pastor listens to death metal and cheers for the Detroit Lions. Lovely!

The "Media Guy" loves to travel and is always looking for the next party. One of his favorite quotes is “you can have anything you want if you help enough people get what they want”. Thrilling!

The youth pastor, oh boy, this is great, is a great fit in (their) church, and really raised the bar with the staff in the area of tattoos and piercings! (His picture looks like a de-makeuped Marilyn Manson.) His wife uses her skills to keep him in line... Perfect! What a great example for our kids!

What a marvelous collection of leaders to teach us God's Word and instruct us in the way of godliness and maturity!


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Apr 7, 2009)

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

A giant singing Christmas tree? Is that like the giant talking cross in one of the Gnostic "gospels"? 

BTW, their service is held in a local megaplex theater. But they are also located less than 5 miles from the REAL local megachurch, Southeast Christian Church (at least they put Christian in the name), which boasts 17,000+.

Bellvue -- wasn't that Adrian Rogers' church?


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## Grace Alone (Apr 7, 2009)

Haha! (The laugh was for Ben's post)


Well, this is nowhere near that extreme, but we noticed that our former PCA church removed the word "presbyterian" from the name of the church (on the sign) so they could attract more people.


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## jfschultz (Apr 7, 2009)

Marrow Man said:


> Bellvue -- wasn't that Adrian Rogers' church?



Yes


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## toddpedlar (Apr 7, 2009)

Grace Alone said:


> Haha!
> 
> Well, this is nowhere near that extreme, but we noticed that our former PCA church removed the word "presbyterian" from the name of the church (on the sign) so they could attract more people.



This is becoming more prevalent among new plants in the PCA. I keep hearing of "blah blah community church" and "church of the Savior" etc. Gag.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

toddpedlar said:


> Grace Alone said:
> 
> 
> > Haha!
> ...



But are they keeping the subdivision-sounding names? That's the important thing.


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## Berean (Apr 7, 2009)

Are you sure "open hearts, open minds" wasn't in there? Or does the UMC have that copyrighted?


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

Berean said:


> Are you sure "open hearts, open minds" wasn't in there? Or does the UMC have that copyrighted?



Nope, instead you get this garbage:



> We exist to empower people to develop a connected relationship with God. Sounds cool, huh? What does it really mean? Life Pointe wants to make a difference in people’s lives and wants to be a church that no matter where a person is on their life’s journey they would feel welcome, have opportunities to investigate the claims of Christ, discover information to build their lives, and have opportunities to make a difference in the world. These principles are founded in the fact that God loves people and gave Himself to place the highest value on people’s lives.
> 
> We don’t have all the answers, but we are authentic in our desire to know God, help others know God and make a difference in the greater Louisville area and beyond.
> 
> ...



At last, we have the emergence of post-modernism creeping in!

BTW, "investigate the claims of Christ" is the only mention I've found of our Lord (thus far) on their website.


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## Grace Alone (Apr 7, 2009)

Marrow Man said:


> toddpedlar said:
> 
> 
> > Grace Alone said:
> ...



The church is near the intersection of Country Club Road and across from the golf course, and we used to joke that we could have named it after the road like a lot of the churches in town. The sad thing is, perhaps they are moving in that direction.


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## rescuedbyLove (Apr 7, 2009)

Zenas said:


> Let's storm their mega-building. I'll bring the torches. I gotta fill up on gas before I start up there though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Bellevue is like going to the mall--only it's much fancier.

Well, I know one thing--when the Lord is pleased to call His people out of these man-exalting, activity-obsessed churches and places them in God-centered, Christ exalting churches, they will be oh-so amazed and thankful. 
(While I hate shallow preaching and a casual approach to the Most High God of the universe, I'm thankful that He sovereignly chose to expose me to much of it before putting me where I am now. It makes me more appreciative of sound doctrine and God-centeredness, and helps me to pray (and grieve) more specifically for churches that "preach" like Dr. Phil, misrepresent Christ, make God the Father out be some needy old man, make the Holy Spirit out to be some magical "force" to get us what we want, and don't teach the truth about the exceeding sinfulness of sin or the wonder of grace.)

Tim, I agree with you. Oh, how I agree.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Apr 7, 2009)

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”


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## BG (Apr 7, 2009)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.




That is the verse that I use to justify having a youth pastor.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

Benjamin, you are on a roll today, my friend!


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Apr 7, 2009)

Ole John Brown of Haddington has me fired up...


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

If you're going to be fired up, it is good that he has ARP pedigree


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## Herald (Apr 7, 2009)

> “you can have anything you want if you help enough people get what they want”



Do you know where that quote comes from? It was made famous by motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, of Amway fame. Instead of having a biblical mandate for "being all you can be" this guy chooses a marketing gimmick. Sad.


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## E Nomine (Apr 7, 2009)

Zig Ziglar is a Christian who's most recent book is "God's Way Is Still The Best Way." I'm convinced his motivational techniques are successful because he has his priorities right.

Brothers and Sisters, look at this thread. Is it any wonder the Reformed community has the reputation of being legalistic, judgmental and lacking in compassion? Rather than mocking other churches, how about praying for them or privately witnessing to enlighten their leaders?

Assuredly I say to you, the Lord has used churches less perfect than Life Pointe to call His elect. 

At least they're trying to fulfill the Great Commission.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Apr 7, 2009)

The point is SW that _they are not_ trying to fulfill the Great Commission.


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## Herald (Apr 7, 2009)

E Nomine said:


> Zig Ziglar is a Christian who's most recent book is "God's Way Is Still The Best Way." I'm convinced his motivational techniques are successful because he has his priorities right.
> 
> Brothers and Sisters, look at this thread. Is it any wonder the Reformed community has the reputation of being legalistic, judgmental and lacking in compassion? Rather than mocking other churches, how about praying for them or privately witnessing to enlighten their leaders?
> 
> ...



This has nothing to do with whether the Lord can use this type of church. God can use the sin of men to glorify Himself. But does that make what this church is doing right? Is it something to be encouraged?

And by the way, the quote by Zig Ziglar has nothing to do with his Christian witness. I know. I've listened to the man in person and read many of his books. That phrase is meant strictly within the context of selling.

I am not mocking this church. I grieve that they have such a low view of godly worship, and turn the gospel into a pop culture experience. I certainly do pray that the Lord will save His elect from all parts of the globe through the preaching of His word, regardless of who is doing the preaching.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 7, 2009)

One would think if the Great Commission were being fulfilled, the name of Christ would be proclaimed on the church's mailing and website.


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## Edward (Apr 7, 2009)

Herald said:


> > “you can have anything you want if you help enough people get what they want”
> 
> 
> 
> Do you know where that quote comes from? It was made famous by motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, of Amway fame. Instead of having a biblical mandate for "being all you can be" this guy chooses a marketing gimmick. Sad.



Zig Ziglar, the Baptist Sunday School teacher.


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## Marrow Man (Apr 9, 2009)

If any are interested, I posted this same thing on my blog here. If you check the comments, you will find an interesting exchange between myself and a fellow PBer. Any helpful input (and blog traffic  ) is appreciated!


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