The Sad Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Oral and Richard Roberts Empire

There was a time when Oral Roberts was world famous, and he and his son Richard regularly hobnobbed with the likes of Elvis Presley.  What has happened to the Roberts empire since the glory days of the 1980s? 

Oral Roberts died in 2009, while son Richard still presides over what is left of the massive empire built by his father (Oral Roberts Ministries).  Long since forcibly removed from control of the university his father founded in Tulsa (ORU), an older, paunchy Richard Roberts is still on television, but now languishes in televangelist obscurity on small, late-night cable channels.

Here's the whole sad story of the decline of the Roberts family empire--an object lesson about the long-term consequences of the prosperity gospel, and family-run "ministries," which are actually tributes to their founder, and an unbearable burden to their less-capable children.

The Sad Decline of Oral and Richard Roberts.  The essay is a good read, and reminds us of the fading glory of those monuments built to ourselves out of pure self-interest.

The Five Most Disturbing Things About a Benny Hinn Rally

I recently came across an interesting eyewitness account from someone who attended a Benny Hinn rally in New York.

The author showed great restraint in limiting herself to only five "disturbing things" about a Benny Hinn rally.  She implied that there were many more, and I would expect that to be the case.

Since I would never set foot in such a place, an account from someone who did recently is of interest to me, and perhaps to you as well.

The Five Most Disturbing Things

Allen Guelzo's Essay, "Democracy and Nobility"

There is an interesting essay from Allen Guelzo in the Weekly Standard, wrestling with the question as to whether or not the American Civil War should be seen as a "second" American Revolution (h.t. PB).

Guelzo writes,

The search for a revolution inside the Civil War is sometimes simply a search after something novel to say about an American event. Sometimes, however, the search for a “second American Revolution” is the offspring of a question that bedeviled Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and that bedevils historians of a Marxist persuasion today, the question posed by Werner Sombart a century ago: Why is there no socialism in America? Why, in other words, is there, in the land of the American Revolution, no interest in a social revolution of the classes? The answers on offer since then have been many and various. But one answer to Sombart’s question that has been overlooked may be Lincoln and the Civil War itself. 

Lincoln and the Civil War imparted to the idea of democracy a nobility and a moral grandeur that democracy has sometimes lacked. After all, democracy assumes that the humblest of citizens is competent to participate in governing; if the humblest citizen turns out to be a boor, a simpleton, or a redneck, democracy will quickly begin to lose its luster. But the victory of the North over slavery was a moment in which democracy shed any appearance of the commonplace and the ho-hum, and was borne up on the wings of courage, self-sacrifice, and the soaring eloquence of one humble but extraordinary president. Democracy can be dreadfully ordinary, because it is about the interests of ordinary people, rather than about knights in armor and royalty in gold carriages; Lincoln and the Civil War gave democracy the strength of giants and put into its hand the shining sword of freedom. Perhaps, in looking for a revolution, people have mistaken the means for the end, for in the Civil War, what we got was not revolution, but freedom. And freedom is worth having, by revolution or any other means.

To read the entire essay, click here: Democracy and Nobility

What Happens to Your Auto Trade-In

Poor Mark Oberholtzer.  In October 2013 he traded in his old truck to AutoNation when he bought a new one.  Who knows how many times his old work truck has traded hands since.  But somehow it ended up in the hands of ISIS as seen in this recent photo.

Mr. Oberholtzer should have removed his "Mark's Plumbing" logo and phone number, because now someone might call needing a truck-mounted Soviet-made ZPU-2 to deal with pesky government forces and attacking aircraft.

Makes me wonder what happened to my 2001 Dodge Caravan.  Wherever it is, and regardless of who has it, I'll bet the transmission is shot and everything in it rattles.

A "Liver-Shiver" from a Pilgrimage to Charles Finney's Grave

Revialist Dutch Sheets recounts a "liver-shiver" upon visiting the grave of America's leading Pelagian, Charles Grandison Finney (h.t. Gary Johnson).

Sheets writes,

Perhaps it was to honor the memory of Finney, a faithful son; or, since awakening and harvest is what Finney so powerfully represents, maybe it was a confirmation that God is, indeed, going to give us another great awakening; and it could have been to remind us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves—that the great cloud of witnesses is watching and cheering us on, knowing fully that we're the continuation of their efforts (Heb. 11:39-12:2). Whatever His reason for choosing this time and place, the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon me. I was re-mantled and re-anointed.

Swell, just what America needs, another "re-mantled" and "re-anointed" follower of Charles Finney leading a revival of Pelgianism.  Part of me is very glad that John Calvin is buried in an unmarked grave.

The Intellectual Laziness of the New Left

Mollie Hemingway drop-kicks the New York Times, by pointing out a rather serious factual error as it relates to the Christian faith (h.t. Shane Rosenthal).

You can read about it here, Will Someone Explain Christianity to the New York Times?

Modern Paganism, Rich People, and Sister Aimee

It is easy to think of pagan rituals as something tied to the ancient past.  This photo essay of contemporary images of European paganism is not only creepy, but a reminder of how prone the human heart is to worship the earth and its creatures.  Seems like Paul knew what he was talking about in Romans 1.  Pagan Rituals

Who are the twenty-five richest people who ever lived (adjusted for inflation)?  Only two contemporary Americans made the list.  You get two gold stars if you've even heard of the richest guy (# 1).  The 25 Richest People

Here's an interesting essay (complete with photos, then and now) on Aimee Semple McPherson's Angelus Temple--she was a huge national celebrity complete with the scandals to go with it, and Angelus Temple was LA's first mega-church.  Chuck Smith and Jack Hayford's theological roots are here as well.  Sister and Angelus Temple

Gotta Get Me an "Armor-Bearer"

I hear of such things going on in churches, but it is still hard for me to accept the fact that they really do.

In a recent opinion piece, J. Lee Grady (former editor of Charisma Magazine) mentions what he considers to be six really bad charismatic doctrines (h. t. Gene Veith).   

Only six?  Obviously, a subject for discussion another time.  But two of the six Grady mentions are simply incomprehensible to me. 
(6 Really Bad Charismatic Doctrines)

Number Three is bad enough . . .

3. Inaccessible leadership. In the 1980s, some charismatic ministries began to teach pastors and traveling ministers that in order to “protect the anointing,” they must stay aloof from people. Ministers were warned to never make friends in their congregations. Preachers began the strange practice of skipping worship on Sunday mornings—and then appearing on the stage only when it was time for the sermon in order to make a dramatic entrance. Shame on these people for attempting to justify arrogance. Jesus loved people, and He made Himself available to them. So should we.

I wonder if the elders would let me "hide" in back and then pop out at the pulpit at some dramatic moment?  Avoid making friends, and visiting with church members?  What an impoverished ministerial call and cold church that would be!

But it is number four on Grady's list which blows my mind:

4. Armor-bearers. The same guys who developed item No. 3 started this strange fad. Preachers began the practice of surrounding themselves with an entourage: one person to carry the briefcase, another person to carry the Bible, another to carry the handkerchief. Some preachers hired bodyguards … and even food-tasters! The armor-bearers were promised special blessings if they served preachers who acted like slave-owners. Reminder: True leaders are servants, not egomaniacs.

Can I really get someone to taste the food for me before the church potluck?  Someone to carry my bookbag, or extra-handkerchiefs--even though one is plenty, since a handkerchief stuffed in someone else's pocket usually doesn't do much but gross out others forced to touch it?  Some of these guys sweat up a storm--one Jesus-only type comes to mind.  People really expect to get healed from touching one of these guy's handkerchiefs?

We can even give the person a cool biblical sounding title--"armor-bearer."  I'm all for reasonable church security, but "armor-bearer," "food-taster" and personal butler?  We better dash off an overture to classis.  We are doing things all wrong . . .

But anyone I hired to protect me would be far more likely to be associated with terms like "armor-piercing" and "body-armor" than with "armor-bearer."

Amazing . . .

"Peace in Our Time?" Maybe Not

With all of the prophecy pundits speculating about the doings of Vlad Putin, "Blood Moons," and Israel's deteriorating relationship with Syria, Iran, and the Palestinians, it might be helpful to consider these matters from the well-informed, critical stance of a seasoned diplomat.  Does the return of geopolitics and the failure of liberal pluralism mean that the threat of regional wars is a real and present danger?  Might that tenuous "peace in our time" actually be facilitating war in the near future?  This author raises the possibility and discusses why (h.t. Rod Rosenbladt).  Click Here

On a far less ominous note (albeit, still a serious one), I thought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar raised several very salient points regarding the Donald Sterling/Clippers fiasco.  Granted, racism is sinful, and as Kareem and many others have now pointed out, institutional racism is a far deeper problem than the recent thoughts of a misogynistic, pathetic, old man like Donald Sterling.  But Kareem also addresses the troubling precedent arising from the taping of private conversations which are then used to destroy someone's public life--and few seem to care.  No doubt, the dangers of allowing private rants to become public are ignored, in this case, because everyone in the NBA wants the worst owner in the history of pro sports kicked out the league--white owners as well as black players.  Sterling is a racist and inept as an owner, and both the players and other owners hate dealing with him.  The greater good, right?  Abdul-Jabbar on Donald Sterling

I knew it.  Meat-eaters live longer!  I love my Nutri-Bullet.  But for dinner, I always strive to eat something which had parents.  Meat-eaters live longer

Brian Lee on Canonization and Celebrity Culture

Dr. Brian Lee (you know, the pastor of the "other" Christ Reformed Church in DC) has a great essay in the Federalist addressing the canonization of two popes to sainthood (Canonization and Celebrity Culture).

Lee writes,

The church isn’t just susceptible to celebrity culture; it generates it. American evangelicalism has more than its share of celebrity pastors. George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson have all been among the most famous and most recognizable figures of their day. Billy Graham even wears something of an untouchable papal tiara in his fading glory — What? He criticized Billy Graham?

He adds,

But our religious pop culture can’t hold a candle to Rome’s pope culture and endless cataloguing of saints — somewhere between 921 and 10,000, depending on who is counting.

Lee concludes,

And here is the twofold nub of the offense. First, the canonization of saints encourages and indeed validates the veneration and invocation of creatures, not the Creator, trading on their power and goodness. It does so on the basis of their personal merits, howsoever fueled by the grace of God. God, however, hears our prayers because he alone is omniscient and good. But the saints, even in glory, are still mere men. What gives us reason to believe they can hear us when we cry out to them?