tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31325098.post116440918187089977..comments2023-05-25T11:08:51.387-04:00Comments on Pike Speak: They smile in your face, all the time they wanna take your place, the back stabbers...(falstetto: Back Stabbers!). The Gospel according to the O'Jay'sBarry Pikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00417162275834989021noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31325098.post-1164588888192968822006-11-26T19:54:00.000-05:002006-11-26T19:54:00.000-05:00OH I hear ya. I don't know how big is too big. I i...OH I hear ya. I don't know how big is too big. I imagine it's somewhere close to the time when you begin marketing your own line of jewelry!<BR/><BR/>What I do know is that money ruins everything. When these places get so big and begin forcing their stuff down people's throats, it's inevitable that people will resent them and also inevitable that they will fall. It's life in this world. <BR/><BR/>I don't know that we can win at any point or know when the right time to judge ourselves is. I know Christ was more upset with religious people than He was with the sinful world. I think we should be too. I don't go for this stuff that because they claim Christ we should all shut up and cheer each other. It's not that simple. I desperately wish it were. But the letters to Corinth clearly show there is a time for jeering and a time for cheering.jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08661253413210243056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31325098.post-1164487323339095432006-11-25T15:42:00.000-05:002006-11-25T15:42:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comments, Jeff. As you know I rea...Thanks for your comments, Jeff. As you know I read your blog daily and am a fan. <BR/><BR/>In terms of churches and ministries, if the relationship between size and integrity (doctrinal, financial, etc.) is reflexive, or somehow inversely proportional, then how big is too big? <BR/><BR/>What scriptural guidance can you offer that will tell Willow Creek that, when it comes to their ministry of equipping smaller churches, they have reached their biblical limit and that the Lord really wants them to scale it back?<BR/><BR/>Honestly, though, as my post mentions, what gripes me the most is the way many Christians just can't wait to line up to throw their twig onto the pyre. It is that very same self-centered small-mindedness that shows up in the cynical gossip of congregants when the church on the other side of town hires a new minister, has a revival, and all of a sudden starts baptizing folks as though they thought Jesus was serious in Matthew 28:16-20. Imagine that.Barry Pikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00417162275834989021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31325098.post-1164463987537381622006-11-25T09:13:00.000-05:002006-11-25T09:13:00.000-05:00I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for me...I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for me on this issue. <BR/><BR/>The Bible constantly maintains that a major sign of false teaching is the desire for excessive amounts of money. When any of these Christian places start making lots of money, I do think the Church needs to be on guard. It doesn't mean they are necessarily being flase teachers, but the temptation is closer. <BR/><BR/>I do enjoy seeing major ministries fall apart. At best it wakes people up and keeps em honest. At worst, it results in Paul and Barnabas, where after they fought their missionary team doubled.jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08661253413210243056noreply@blogger.com