A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

I would like to call The Crossing a church but I choke on the word. I think the pastor himself will agree with me it’s more of a social pass time group that meets on Sundays. Nothing on it’s website points to Christ. Not even it’s latest sermon series. (click photo to enlarge)

The Rockstar sermon series is being touted as:

For the legit Rockstar, livin’ the high life means fame, a personal chef & lots of bling. Kinda seems like the rest of us are doomed to livin’ the low life, doesn’t it?
We don’t think so.
We believe God wrote the phrase, “Livin’ the high life” as the anthem to our existence, and He wants us to actually enjoy living!
Check out this series to learn how to start living as a Rockstar.

Wasn’t Paul right when he wrote to young Timothy, saying:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 4:3-4)

Recently when I heard a lady called Kim Kardashian (a supposed celebrity for those who have enough time to watch reality television) had gone to church I was happy for her. I some how had this idyllic vision of America as a place where the gospel is still preached from it’s pulpits. However my heart sank when I continued reading the article further:

But while [Kim Kardashian] the model and reality star’s Tweets on Sunday revealed … she seemed excited to learn more about the Bible.

“On [my] way to church with the girls!” she posted on her way to the service in Southern California. Afterward she said that she “can’t wait” for next week’s service, which she indicated will feature a lesson about angels.

Kris Jenner, Kardashian’s mother, was also in attendance for the Sunday service. She Tweeted a message of thanks to the church’s pastor, Brad Johnson, for sharing a helpful sermon about “Toxic Family Members.”

With pastors fashioning their messages to appeal to as many people as possible with self help pep talks or relationship guidlines and it’s never a surprise that the closest they ever come to mentioning anything divine is when they talk of angels and ‘living a high life’. Gone are the days when George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon stood and preached Christ and him crucified. Gone are the days when the Bible was expounded and people said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”.

Surely,

One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed. ~Leonard Ravenhill