On TV here in Alabama there are multiple Sunday morning church services televised.

I was too lazy to go change the channel while doing other things, so I listened in to see what kind of things the local Baptists are being taught. I was wondering what kinds of things they were preaching.

This was the First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa. This group looked completely white.

The preacher was feeding everyone (a packed house) their weekly brainwashing.

His message:

Be submissive and obedient to rulers and authorities. He actually quoted how the Bible instructed the slaves in ancient times to be obedient to their masters and didn’t even flinch. [Yikes!]

He had all kinds of scriptures to cherry pick his views, mostly from Paul. He talked more about Paul then Jesus.
He said the exception is when the government works against what is right with Jesus Christ.

He enforced the persecution card about how Christians were fed to lions in Rome. We're so persecuted!

He spent a lot of time talking about us heathens. “Others have a sinful life style (but God loves them!). We should not back down from what is right.”

He, of course, knows exactly what God considers “right” (straight).
He admitted that “some” people who are not saved appear to be living a moral life, but we all inherited a depraved nature from Adam and Eve. We must be saved by Jesus Christ.

It is our duty not to defame those following God. He mentioned some preachers who were investigated for some legal issues in Texas. (How dare clergy be scrutinized.)

Someone who is not saved is “false” so we should not expect them to act like they are saved. They have not been transformed! (Translation- they just don’t know the good news yet. The punishment is eternal death – yes, he said eternal hell- BUT they have hope!)

He said to try to do something good for a non-Christian. "Take an unsaved coworker to lunch! Bake a cake for an unsaved neighbor and tell them you just wanted to share a blessing because God loves you. Do something good for a person who is lost!"

He instructed the church to "Bow your head and close your eyes." "Promise God you will do something good for a lost person this week. Maybe there is someone who wants to join this fellowship and needs to be baptized."


Sound familiar?
I was hoping they had chilled out over the years but no.

I do not know how Baptists can criticize Mormons. There are all kinds of Mormons just like Baptists.

Honestly, the average Baptist is similar to the average Mormon supporting some preacher’s interpretation of what God wants them to be doing.

At least I know why the Baptists I work with feel the urge to praise and preach every so often.

Obey
We're persecuted
Us good, others bad
Preach and go recruit
The same old crap, over and over.

Oh joy. A Methodist Head Pastor is on next. He's already blabbing on about communing with Christ. "The Bible is the word of God. The Old Testament is the word of God, because Jesus said so."

Good grief. Why do people need to go over and over to hear the same thing? Spoiler: The Bible ends the same way over and over, no matter how many times you hear the stories.

My TV is off now. At least I got my house work done. :-)

Does anyone else occasionally listen in to what the various Sunday morning religious TV shows are teaching out of morbid curiosity? I probably won't again for a while.

Wow. I'd never heard of that practice.

I work Sundays and during my morning commute there is nothing on the radio except the local Christian station so I tune in for curiosity sake. I can now recognize the same type of mind control that is used in TSCC with the preacher I heard on the radio. So sad. When I was first really out of TSCC I thought about trying a Christian church but now I realize religions are pretty much the same. Preachers and leaders seeking power and control over their flocks.

No, they are not all the same. Frankly, that is thinking like a mormon. Not every thing is black or white.

All Mormons do not think alike either.

dagny, are you in Tuscaloosa?

I've been in that Baptist church for a wedding.

No. One of the TV stations I get here in BHM maybe is based in Tuscaloosa or something.

I used to like to listen to The Bible Answer Man when I was traveling. It was mainly because invariably someone would ask about some Mormon belief and it didn't take much to show it wasn't biblical. They were pretty good at showing the faults in mormonism and how cultish it was.

But the rest of the stuff, was just too much to listen to for me. I have to admit I wanted to be impressed by the other stuff I heard on Christian radio but it just didn't work for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2014 07:10PM by heberjgrunt.

I apologize for making a broad statement that religions are all the same. A better statement would be that 'some' religions seek power and control over their people. And my point is that I personally am, at this point in my recovery, very disillusioned with religions generally. I have little interest in finding a replacement for TSCC I left behind.

Reading your apology made me realize how seldom people really do apologize. And yours showed a lot of class.

Yer Pal,
Reggie

How does the historical fact that Christians were persecuted by Rome translate as they are still being persecuted today? I didnt get that from the remark although he may have said more. I also dont have a problem with obeying the law if that is what he meant by submitting to the government. The rest of the preacher's comments I could live without.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2014 05:12PM by bona dea.

I could not quote everything he said since it was on TV, but yes, there was more, as you say.

It was quite clear he was inferring that Christians are picked on today for doing what Jesus wants and standing up for what is right. Everyone was supposed to accept that HE knows what Jesus thinks about everything. Bringing up the Rome persecution was to draw a parallel to today. His sermon wasn't exactly a history lesson.


It was also clear in the context of his sermon that obedience is to anyone in charge with the caveat that you have to obey Jesus first.

Here's how the dialogue goes Bona Dea:

Christian: "Two men having sex together, or two women having sex together, repulses me. Therefore it repulses jesus. Therefore it's an abomination and a sin, and those who engage in this behavior should be shunned and shamed by society."

Person: "Stop being a cruel bigot."

Christian: "I'm being persecuted! I'm being repressed!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKIWjnEPNY

Thousands of christians havd been slaughtered this year by ISIS.

I bet far many more muslims have been slaughtered by ISIS.

To say all religons are the same is like saying all American's are the same and all Irish are the same and all colleges are the same. There is nothing in this world that All "blank" are the same. I go to a Christian church, my pastor teaches us to read the Bible for ourselves and not just take his word for the srrermon. He has no problem with people letting him know if he missed the mark. He is just a human like the rest of us. Religon only divides the Body of Christ instead of bring it into unity. I am NOT religous, I am a follower of Christ who is on a journey with many things to learn and grow. I know, not popular on this board, but the only One I have to please is my God so that is my goal.

That's the thing. You have no idea what "pleases your God" any more than the man in the moon or the preacher I saw today. You're deciding what you think is right and picking how you want God to be. You read the Bible and make it match your views.

That's why there are so many kinds of Christians- they each cherry pick what is real, what is good, etc. We all do that, Bible or not. Maybe that is what we all have in common and also what makes us different.

Not that that is bad. I can tell a lot about a person by the kind of god he designs. People tend to validate their views by deciding God agrees with them as if that gives their views more credibility.

You said, "...the only One I have to please is my God so that is my goal."

If God personally let you know exactly what pleases him, do tell. I'd like to know what criteria God gave you for that goal.

Dagny,

You asked "If God personally let you know exactly what pleases him, do tell. I'd like to know what criteria God gave you for that goal."

What pleases God is spoken by Jesus; to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and to love thy neighbor as thyself. That is what I try to do. Do I fail? Every day, but I keep on trying because I do have a personal relationship with Jesus and I love Him and I know He loves me and every single person in this world. He loves us because He created us, not for what we do. But I do want to please Him just like I want to please my spouse out of love.

Everyone can read the Bible, it really is very straight forward. Put aside religous traditions and just really read it with an open mind. I think once you set aside past teachings you will be greatly suprised.
Have a great day.

Did they have a huge picture of Bear Bryant behind the pulpit?

Hahaha. Yes, and St. Sabin too.

I hereby raise my arm to the square and declare that God's TWOO colors are purple and gold.

Even if the Tide rolled over the Tiggers. . .(sniff.)

Whether it's monotheism (Baptist) or polytheism (Mormonism), it's all centered on praying, obeying, and enduring. It's kind of a group think where the followers involved cannot, for whatever reason, grasp the idea that they are responsible for running their own lives--nobody is going to tell them how to do it! And so, preachers and priests and bishops have come among these people and said "I'll tell you how to run your life. Just follow me!" And these people follow them, never realizing how much of life they are actually missing out on by following these people.

Van Impe is very amusing to watch. I even like his name, as it shares the same meter as Jack be nimble. And his wife is named Rexella, which reminds me of an old science fiction movie somehow. They are beyond cool. They push apocalyptic DVDs that predict the world's end within months or perhaps even weeks. Their doctrine-mentary movies are completely remade every once in a while, and you need to buy the new one because it's not fake like all the previous ones.

Rating: two thumbs up to the square.

About 30 years ago my exmother inlaw told me that all religions wanted one thing, Your money. I'm beginning to think she had it pegged. If you don't give your money, or time (same thing), they don't have much use for you.

I used to watch Benny Hin like you would watch a car crash. The comb over is epic. The message is barely there.

Now I watch documentaries on YouTube if there's nothing to watch on TV. Much more edifying.

Benny Hinn is the BEST for a laugh.
Especially the people falling all over the place.

If it weren't so funny it would be depressing to see all those people eating it up as they get fleeced.


Best comb over ever.

Let me guess ....

This is the SBC whose only reason for existence is bacause of slavery ?
If they were truly remorseful they would join those baptists they broke away from.

The First Self-Righteous Church of Pascagoula is better.

To the one who posts as Interesting. I too feel the same as far as pleasing God/Jesus. I feel it is an important value to have in one's life. For direction and to be better SAVED than sorry.

I took my 4 kids to Living Word Bible Church. Of course their way of 'unreverant'(lol) worship took some getting use to. I felt the need to instill the kids with Jesus. I told the older ones that Sundays are to be set aside to praise and worship God/Jesus. Only taking 1.5hrs of our day. That's not too much to ask. In order to keep the Sabbath Day Holy or intact

I was guilty or at least FELT guilty for the longest time for looking forward to NFL. Ultimately taking the place of God/Christ in my life, forgetting about him altogether. Anyway I went in with an open and UNWIRED mind. Though still weary of any shady or suspect lessons from the Pastors. I found none to be honest, but was surprised to find tithing slips readily in the slots in front of you, while also passing buckets down the aisles to throw some loose cash or change in. They did this twice in one service. I put Nothing in of course.

All I'm looking for is a church (or a way) to praise Jesus Christ on HIS day, with no strings attached. I also did some research on this church, which I suppose they are called prosperity pastors, the only negative I came away with was the main pastor lost a buttload of money in some investments. His Son was the Pastor last Sunday and made note that none of us are perfect...duly noted...

I understand the church relying on donations to continue thriving and to have the ability to help fellow members in need. At the same time though, I don't find it fair or true that they use it mostly for the overhead, using it to pay off their mortgage or cars. That's what THEIR jobs are for.

Is not paying your tithe "stealing from what is owed to the Father?" After all, he DID give me the job I work at. Let's make it harder on myself, here's 10% off the top. Now..what are we going to do about Christmas?

LAMEnite

I hope you find a church home that you feel comfortable in. My pastor always teaches that the Sabboth doesn't have to be on Sunday. I live in a community with lots of shift work. Just pick one day a week to rest and reflect on your blessings and God's goodness. Sunday is the day most churches have services, but we never fell guilty if we miss. The church is the people not the bldg. My family feels closest to God when we sit on top of a mountain. Yes going to service is benificial, but church can happen where ever you want it. It is about relationship with Jesus. Also, the money plate: the Bible teaches the Lord loves a joyful giver. So only give what you feel you can and the Lord leads you. If it is not joyful, then don't give. I figure if you don't trust the pastor to handle your offering properly, then maybe you are at the wrong church.

Help your kids to seek Jesus and not be worried about man-made rules. I will pray that God leads you to a church home that will bless you and your family

I'd say worse than Moism......
Especially this day and age...
You have no excuse to follow a jerk like Jesus....

Sorry you feel that way. However, you can live as you like and so can I. You do have free will, but so does everyone else. So I do not understand your anger at those who choose to follow Jesus, I am not angry at those who choose not to follow Jesus. I know the Mormon "church" has hurt many people, but not all Churches are bad. I have gone to many that feed the poor and help kids.

I always thought Baptists were a lot like Mormons, only they dress better.