By
Coach Dave Daubenmire
July 21, 2011
NewsWithViews.com
If I have to look at one more billboard with a pastor on it I swear I am going to throw a rock through it.
I don’t know what it is like where you live, but they are popping up all over the place in our area. You know what I am talking about...the smiling face of Pastor So and So and his “First Lady” inviting you to his place of business...er...I mean worship... where the two members of God’s Royal Family will train you in the fine art of Christianity.
Heck, I guess Jesus isn’t good enough. It takes an “anointed teacher” to help lead you to your destiny. The thought of getting out a Bible and getting on your face just doesn’t seem to do the job anymore.
I’ve always found eating carpet to be an effective way of getting in touch with my destiny.
But no one wants to work out their own salvation any more. They want a formula, a quick fix, three-steps to help, hope, and happiness as spelled out by some shiny-haired, sparkling tooth, charlatan promising prosperity, popularity, and promotion.
Sometimes I wonder who the real Devil is.
Personality is driving the church. Instead of a “Christ-centered” church most of the mega churches are Pastor-centered, personality-driven, and prosperity focused.
It is as if the man in the pulpit has a pipeline to God and you too can get in the good graces of God if you follow the man with the plan.
Just turn on Christian TV. The cult of personality is alive and well on the airwaves. “Let Pastor Glitter-Teeth show you how to get in touch with Jesus.” His anointing is the mediator between you and the Lord.
Let’s face it. America loves stars.
I hate to pile on, and it really is not my intention, but look how the cult of “American Christianity” is flocking to hear the wisdom of Bristol Palin as she instructs our young people on the virtues of abstinence. Lord knows our kids need the message, but is Miss Palin really the one to teach our young people? Can anyone explain what her qualifications are?
Or could it be that the media has made her a star...she appeared on Dancing With The Stars for heaven’s sake...so let’s not miss this opportunity to have a “real star” teach our children the importance of chastity. How else can you explain the fact that she now gets $30,000 per speech? Yep...we Christians love our stars. “Our Christian-star is better than your non-Christian star.”
We try to market Jesus by marketing a star. “I want to be like Bristol!”
And who can forget Carrie Prejean..or did you already? She was the former Miss California who was such a committed Christian that she risked her crown by saying she thought marriage should be between a man and a woman. For those of you who missed it, she said that right after baring a good bit of her flesh prancing around partially naked in the swimsuit competition.
Only after she was paraded all around the Christian media as a “role model” did we come to find out that a few years earlier she had had the unfortunate luck of having someone take her pictures while all of her clothes were off.
Darn it...we had such high hopes. Well, at least she believed in traditional marriage. That's what qualifies as defending Christianity today.
We are sooo starved for a star, we Christians.
Let me nail it down. This star-centered Christianity that is sweeping across the nation is making the average Christian impotent. The idea that some people are better in the eyes of the Lord than others flies in the face of Scripture. Not only that, it fails to teach Christians how to access the power of the Holy Spirit on their own.
It seems like I am always the one raining on the parade, but ask yourself this question. How long will Benny Hinn’s ministry survive after he is gone? Ditto for Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and Crefalo Dollar. The king of “Possibility Thinking “ Robert Schuller has recently been voted out as his “Chrystal Cathedral” struggles to stay out of receivership. His shoes wouldn’t have been so hard to fill if he hadn’t allowed his footprint to be so big.
Christianity is in crisis because of our star-starved addiction. Why do we struggle so hard to be liked by the world? Wasn’t it Jesus who said to “come out from among them and be ye separate?” Didn’t he warn us to have “no idols?” Didn’t he tell us we were all “one body and many members?” Didn’t he admonish us that no one was above another...that we were all equal in his sight?
Quit bowing down to your anointed pastor.
Jesus is the star and it is Him we must worship. America’s only hope is that He would once again become our unchallenged American Idol.
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Do you think like a Christian or a humanist? Did the Founders really separate Church and State? Is Judicial tyranny ruining America? Check out these great teachings by the Coach
� 2011 Dave Daubenmire - All Rights Reserved
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