The Desperation Driven (501c3) Church (Corporation)

The Desperation Driven (501c3) Church (Corporation)
Kim M., California Correspondent
Planet Infowars
August 21, 2013
And you can quote me:

“A 501c3 corporation is not a Church.
A CEO of a corporation is not a Shepherd.
A self-help program is not the Gospel.
Selling out to the federal government is not the same as being sold out for Jesus.
A new program will not save the corporation.
People are hip to the Clergy Response Teams.
People are hip to the pagan influences and the compromise.
The institutionalized church as we know it is dead.”

This is the gist of what I recently hand-wrote across a large, glossy (slick!) postcard sent to me by the CEO of our local Vineyard Church (501c3) Corporation.
I knew this so-called “church”/this corporation was in trouble when I saw the sandwich board they’ve started setting out on the sidewalk of the main drag – practically begging people to please-please-pretty-please come to church.
A few weeks later…
Large, white, professionally-printed (expensive!) banners started appearing around town proclaiming: “WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?”
I contend that people could easily diagnose their own personality problems…
If only they could hear themselves talking.
If only they could read between their own lines.
For instance, the judgmental person is always complaining about how judgmental everyone is. The hypocrite constantly points out everyone else’s hypocrisy. The bitter/angry person will blather on about the need for forgiveness. The coward will regale you with epic tales of their own bravery and courage. And on and on it goes.
I mean, how ironic is it for a 501c3 corporation – masquerading as The Bride of Christ – to loudly proclaim: WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?!
Exactamundo. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
What on earth ARE they here for? What good are they – to anyone/to the community/to Christ? Why in the world would any community want yet another soul-sucking/energy-draining/time-wasting/disposable-income gobbling entity in their midst during the worst economic downturn in American history? I ask you.
Because it’s not like a bunch of slick advertising is fooling anyone into believing that there’s some kind of glorious revival going on.
Revival needs no harbinger. No trumpets. No alarm bells. No Hollywood-style searchlights sweeping the sky. During true revival, people from all over the world will beat a path to the door even before it hits the news (if ever). Guaranteed. Even hardcore atheists will pop in for a look-see on the off-chance that God might actually show up.
Because when God shows up… Whoa.
The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor. (cf. Luke 7:22) And that’s just God getting warmed up.
In the meantime – back to 501c3 reality – the other side of the postcard says:

“If You Want: … to develop your friendship with God, … to understand what matters most, … to restore broken relationship, … to be transformed by the power of truth, … to learn to utilize God’s power in your weakness, … to fulfill your mission in life, then please join us for a 7 week Series based on Rick Warren’s ‘The Purpose Driven Life.’” [ellipses in original]

Oh God. Tell me it’s not… the Purpose Driven Life (PDL).
The kiss of death for a “church.”
Because PDL promises the world and delivers exactly… Nothing.
Just like every other self-help program in the world. Oh, you’ll probably pick up a few nifty people and/or coping skills here and there along the way… But that’s not the Gospel (gack).
And you’ve just got to love it: It’s not about you…
As they spend seven wondrous weeks with the spotlight shining firmly on… You.
Lol.
(Oh and don’t tell me I can’t touch “America’s Pastor”: Rick Warren. I was actually going to Saddleback Church when that globe-trotting/glad-handing Council on Foreign Relations [CFR] member unveiled his “Peace Plan” and I found out that my highest purpose and mission in life is to help Rick Warren fulfill all of his highest purposes/missions in life as [allegedly] laid out by God. And you know there’s no debate/no voting/no dissension allowed in America’s MegaChurch. You either go along with the program, or get out. This is the “gospel” according to Rick as publicly-documented in his book, “The Purpose Driven Church” – copies of which were being handed out during the time that I became a member – and that “gospel” is firmly reiterated in the several-hours-long mandatory membership classes.)
Because if you’ve got to roll out the most pretentious self-help program ever designed to tickle the itching ears of man…
In a desperate bid to attract yet a few more members to your so-called “church?”
Then face it.
The beginning of the end has already begun.