A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

I have always thought if one rule of thumb is if you mix ministry ( or Jesus) with anything else (like course entertainment) you are in for a BIG shock sooner or later. Preach Christ and Him crucified you will see people being drawn to Him by the Holy Spirit. Add a little smoke and mirrors to leaven up your “ministry” and … you become mosaic. To keep them coming you will need wilder smoke and more exciting mirrors. Ugh!

You see, there is a church called Mosaic Church. No kidding. Club Fathom is listed on Mosaic’s website as a teen-centered outreach ministry of the church. That’s not all. There has been activity going on in this club. No not a revival as such but…

A Christmas morning shooting that injured nine people is further evidence that the downtown club where the brawl began is a public nuisance that should be dealt with quickly, city officials said Monday.

Club Fathom has a long history of teen violence dating back to at least 2006 and has faced city ire in the past.

“This place has consistently been a problem and the owners are not addressing the problem,” city spokesman Richard Beeland said. “We are talking to the city attorney to see what our options are.”

Chattanooga police said nine people — five juveniles and four adults — were shot when rival gang members began firing at each other in a crowd of about 400 teens leaving a Christmas Eve party at Club Fathom located in a building run by Mosaic Church on Market Street.

Police believe the Club Fathom brawl, which happened shortly after midnight, led to at least two other incidents, including another shooting near College Hill Courts. Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary said police would not release any additional information about the incident until today.

Police have not released the names of those injured near Club Fathom, but said no injuries appeared to be life-threatening. Police released Sunday the name of 18-year-old Thomas Heffner, who was shot in the hand near College Hill Courts sometime after leaving the downtown melee.

Fliers outside the building advertised a candlelight Christmas Eve service from midnight to 1 a.m., while an online ad billed a “Smash or Pass Christmas Bash,” where no ID was required. That advertisement featured a woman in red lingerie and a Santa hat.

Sorry I never thought I would ever publish the word “lingerie” together with “church” in the same paragraph. But that is the state of the seeker sensitive church today.

Unless we return to a Bible based view of Church, ministry and reverential worship we are bound to have more “christian night club” brawls, church sponsored street fights and God forbid out rightly pagan manifestations.

Whatever happened to preaching  Christ and Him crucified?