You Call This Church?!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the video that you are about to see was the opener for a service at Buckhead Church. The song that the 'ministers' of Buckhead chose to open their "church service" is called "Ladies & Gentlemen" by the secular band Saliva. Click Here to See just how "Christian" the band Saliva is. Also, here is a sample of the lyrics for this song.

Ladies and gentlemen please
Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see
An explosion of catastrophe

Like nothing you’ve ever seen before
Watch closely as I open this door
Your jaws will be on the floor
After this you’ll be begging for more

Welcome to the show
Please come inside
Ladies and gentlemen

Boom
Do you want it?
Boom
Do you need it?
Boom
Let me hear it
Ladies and gentlemen

Ladies and gentlemen good evening
You’ve seen that seeing is believing
Your ears and your eyes will be bleeding
Please check to see if you’re still breathing

Why are these 'pastors' bringing this garbage INTO the church? This doesn't glorify or exalt Jesus Christ.

More importantly, Pastor Jeff Henderson preached an 'evangelistic' sermon after this performance that boiled down to the statement that "Jesus came for the real you, not the fake you." Apparently, Jesus came to earth to solve the problem of 'inauthenticity'. Henderson's solution to this 'problem' is synergism. Think about it. His solution makes your salvation based upon you, your decision and your actions. Ironically, after listening to the sermon 3 times, we're still not sure what Pastor Henderson was teaching we are being saved from.

Comments

[merry]

"Jesus came for the real you, not the fake you."

Thus our alto ego can't be saved.

Rats.

We are heartbroken.

Kidding! I really don't refer to myself as "we", I promise. :o)

[Shannon]

THIS stuff pisses me off more than anything.

Saliva is -obviously- NOT a Christian band.

This happens all the time. People claim to be a Christian artist/band because it's way easier to get on a Christian label. They throw the word God or Jesus into a song or two, get on a label, go on tour (these guys are on tour with Skillet, I think???), get famous enough that they can get on a real label, then they REALLY let it all hang out.

Case in point: Evanescence. But you never heard of them until "Fallen" came out, right?

There ARE some actual Christan artists who make fantastic music, who don't water anything down. You just don't hear much about them BECAUSE they don't water anything down. I'm going to give y'all a few of my favourites...

Benjamin Gate (Jeremy Camp's wife's old band - great stuff)
Miss Angie
Foreverafter
P.O.D. (as far as I know they are still Kosher)
Waterdeep

I'm too mad to think of anymore right now, and I'm on a computer that can't access my files.

Grrr.

[EmileJames]

Glory to Jesus Christ!
sorry, but i am confused? you say this is a 'Church', isn't this a rock concert at a hall? like a youth festival maybe?
sorry , my english is not good.
thank-you.
Pax!

[carol Y]

Ummm....."Buckhead?"....."Saliva?" Lovely.

Pastor Henderson could save his "church" from this kind of c**p!

[James]

Emile,

Just watch the last 30 seconds of the video. They say 'welcome to church'. This abomination of a performance was the opening to their church service. Unbelievable!!

[Trent Kastman]

I'd still like to know if all of the anti rock and roll evangelists of the past, such as Jeff Godwin and the Peters Brothers know about this.
Does this also mean that such things as record(well, now cd)burnings and accusations such as satanists placing spells in records(now cds) are also a thing of the past?

[Steve R]

OK, a couple of points:
1. Is this church? Yes, according to their stated mission (quote: "A group of people in the Buckhead area wanted a relevant church where they could safely bring their friends who did not go to church") They have set out to purposely target non-churched people. In the Buckhead area of Atlanta there is a large population of the generation that finds this music identifiable.
2. Is the band Christian? No,(Southern Rock / Metal / Rock as listed on their MySpace page) but so what? The point was the song. This song points to the level of what passes for entertainment in our western society today: low brow 'sex-and-blood' smackdowns introduced by cynical insiders who have sold their soul to the machine: hating it but unable to let it go.
Now, maybe the pastor and audience were aware of the meaning of the lyrics and saw this as a fitting metaphor for the church-vs-society position they want to be seen taking-maybe not. Now, it seems they believe that the depravity of man could be pointed out by this performance, but, as always, it's just law, law and more law. NO gospel.

Unfortunatly we don't get to see the actual 'message' but I'll take the Museum's word for it. As was said, synergism: the self AND God (in Christ, to be fair) together saving the self. Perhaps this church is the radical new offshoot of the Romanists? After reading their statement of faith (http://www.buckheadchurch.org/about), it seems they would be right at home in St. Peters.
Is the Reformation even known about in this church? I have my doubts. They're too busy trying to be 'relevant'!

Cheers from Au.

[Amy]

If you scroll down on the blog where that video was posted (the blog was linked on CRN, if I recall), the guy who writes the blog said that NewSpring Church did an instrumental version of Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" during church. I dare anyone to go look up those lyrics. They make the lyrics posted above look downright quaint.

[Glen]

Have these people no shame? I am NOT against contemporary music but this is not even remotely Christian! What is this garbage doing in a church service?

With the thousands of beautiful hymns and great contemporary praise music available, they open the service with this??????

[Al]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is NOT a new testament 'church' and those are hirelings in charge.

[spence]

Wow! hold on! ATTENTION BELIEVERS: Please stop telling people what you are against and start speaking about what you live for!

Come on now,... Its about Jesus. People find things to tear apart a church all the time...oh, and the christian vs. secular label discussion...give it a rest. Let God move and work through Christ focused people to touch the lives of muscians in a secular world. That discussion is a vicious circle.

Remember that everyone is at different spiritual temperatures and Christ is working on peoples hearts at different points of the journey.

The pastor of buckhead is not perfect, stop finding something to gripe about and start lifting people up in prayer and love.

-Koonz

[The Curator]

Koonz,

Excuse me but could you please provide me with one passage of scripture that says that playing secular (worldly) music that says NOTHING about Jesus, does NOTHING to exalt Jesus, is actually contrary to Jesus' teaching is capable of warming people's 'spiritual temperatures'.

Also, while your at it, could you please show us from the scriptures that God grows His kingdom through the preaching of false doctrine.

You're right. None of us is perfect (myself included). But, from my reading of God's word, God doesn't create true Christians through false gospels, false doctrine and anti-Christian music.

Beleive me, Pastor Henderson is in my prayers. I pray that he would repent.

[art]

If we have to bring secular "artists" into the church, can't we at least get ones with some musical talent? Sure, the lead singer had nice enunciation and the lights were pretty, but everything else was very meh.

[Eunice]

I weep when I see these things, but over and over what I hear in my mind is from Jeremiah 5:31 "...my people love it so..." God calls and pleads, but when we are determinded to follow the lusts of our own hearts He allows us to.
In Jeremiah God was calling His people, warning His own people, but they would not hear. Jer. 6:10 "To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach (is offensive (NIV))to them; They have no delight in it."
There are many of God's people who do stand at the crossroads and look for the good way and walk in it, but many simply stamp their feet and say "We will not walk in it" (Jer. 6:16)
Yes, I weep and I pray, but I realize also that blind eyes cannot see and deaf ears cannot hear, and stubborn hearts will not do anything except what they want to - period!
Human nature has not changed from Jeremiah's day. Read chapter 7 - they also stood in God's house saying "we are delivered" (NASB)but committed abominations in God's sight.
I am so glad I serve a God who sees, who knows and who judges righteously. All I can do is pray and hope God never speaks again the words of vs 16.
Once again I am convicted to my own knees in repentance before a holy and just God - am I being deceived, am I worshiping God without fearing Him? Have I made Him into my own image?
Thank you for sending me to Jeremiah 5-12 again! Please take the time to read it today.
Eunice

[carol Y]

Koonz,

My husband and I are casualties of the CCM (Contemoporary Christian Music) movement and the PDC (Purpose Driven Church). I had been at a church all my life until a year and a half ago. Our church lost many members because of the pastor and the praise team and their performances. My husband was the music director and was forced to have "blended services." Although he didn't want anything to do with praise teams he tried to work with the divas who thought they could sing. They were urged to call all the shots by the pastor. It was awful. Both my husband and I are musicians ourselves, have music degrees, and teach music so we might have a bit of knowledge of how music works and how to perform it. The praise team cranked out it's noise for about two years and then folded because the instrument players (of all people) believed that the music was dividing our church. Now that church has no pastor, no music director, and no youth director. It would be interesting to see how many churches have split because CCM was forced on them.
Let me ask you something. Are we to conform to the world? The Bible says we're not to. We can "come as we are" but we can't stay that way. We are to progress beyond that point to a more mature relationship with Christ. CCM is too shallow, trite, and in some cases detrimental to allow that to happen. It's like constantly being in spritual kindergarten. Looking through music and it's history especially in the church, it was not until the 60's that people insisted secular music was appropriate. Did churches have Joplin ragtime music, Big Band music, Buddy Holly? Did Elvis perform rock and roll music in church? I know he sang gospel music but he didn't get up and dance and didn't use a rock band. (I'm not even going to say what the term "rock and roll" meant before it was used to describe the music.) Even before the 20th century, only sacred music was used in the church. The world used folk and court music. They were separate. Why are we now different? Because people want to feel good with the adrenaline that is produced with the 'happy, clappy" music (or worse as we have seen in this video). It is possible to actually be adicted to our own adrenaline. In PDL churches nobody is allowed to question the practices of the church or they will be asked to leave. They are called "pillars who hold up the church." Our pastor literally ignored us like outcasts. Many, if not most, people sympathized with us but didn't know what to do except talk to a brick wall (the pastor). He finally left after we did. We cannot force this music, dress, and worldly pop culture sermons on a church and expect it to be blessed by God. Numbers don't necessarily mean blessings. Especially numbers who are mislead by the wrong music and PDC.
I'm going to use a quote from the book "Let Those Who Have Ears to Hear" by Kimberly Smith. (Winepress Publishing). "If we were to take most CCM and remove the words, it would be accepted in any bar or nightclub...Go to those same nightclubs and play tradtional hymns with no lyrics. They would throw us out. Why? They know that this style of music does not belong in a nightclub. The customers would leave because they would be uncomfortable--they would be convicted. But they don't want to be convicted; they want their lifestyles to be validated, and musically CCM also provides a type of validation, an excuse for our present lifestyle." So why is it acceptable to use nightclub or bar music in churches? The PDC says that there is no bad music, just bad lyrics. So why not play "The Stripper" for a service? No words so it's amoral, right? Two more good books about this are "Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement" by Dan Lucarini.(Evengelical Press)and "The Dark Side of the Purpose Driven Church" by Noah Huthchings. (Bible Belt Publishing). He says "Rock music rediscovered the power of pagan music on its volume, repetitiveness, and highly syncopated rhythmic patterns. Loud rock music triggers the fight-or-flight response, initiates the first stages of hypnosis, and overcomes consious resistance to becoming part of a group conciousness. Detoxing from rock music can be just as difficult as detoxing from cigarettes, alcohol, or so-called recreational drugs." The PDC fits perfectly into the New Age movement, even using the same buzz words. (seeker, seeker sensitive, different points of a journey, etc.) I could write a lot more but I think I made my point.
I hope I gave you something to ponder seriously.
God bless you.
My name is really Karol Jan Young, I go by "Jan." I use the name "carol" on my posts because (besides the obvious) of the relationship to music, my life's work.

[fourpointer]

Koontz,

How is bringing Satan into the church supposed to glorify God? Isn't that like trying to cast out demons in the name of Beelzebub? (I remember reading something about that sort of thing somewhere.)

And after they get these people in the door (apparently the sole purpose of this kind of thing), do they then tell the people, "Well, we know we brought you in here with that kind of music, but you really shouldn't listen to it. Yeah, I know, we kinda lied. But hey, you're here, and that's all that matters."

[Jan]

Koonz - Careful, you've stepped into a minefield.

While I agree with many of the thoughts/opinions on this blog, I've also realized that it's not a place for dialogue. The purpose of the comments section is more for people to express how righteously indignant they are. Here, Christianity is a set of rules and regulations - follow them all and you're worthy to be called a Christian. When I read your post, I knew what the responses would be...and I already know what the response will be to this post (if it's even posted).

[carol Y]

My apologies to Pastor Noah Hutchings for my typo in his name in my previous post. He has Southwest Radio Ministries. He puts out a radio program, a newsletter on a variety of spiritual subjects, offers books, and has recordings of past radio shows. He also has a pamphlet on the PDC called "Is Your Church Going Purpose Driven? How Can You Tell?" Did you know that the church isn't even told of the transition until the fourth of eight published steps? (Of course the music change and Christless sermons are dead giveaways. By then your church has already been stolen). He also has a site at www.swrc.com.

[Lane Chaplin]

Alittleleaven,

HOW DARE YOU speak against my idol of secular media! How dare you expose these people for what they truly are! You people make me sick. It's not W.J.W.D. I am about sick of you always bringing the Word of God into situations like this! There is a time and place for that and that is that time is NEVER! Why don't you people wake up! When Jesus said he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, he was just kidding! Wow. Some nerve. You people take things so literal. Don't you know that there's new revelation that states the Bible isn't relevant starting about the 20th century? You want to know why I'm addressing you like this? It's because I'm so sensitive to unbelievers that I want to be like them in every way. (Not that I'm not one now, of course. I said the prayer in VBS '98.) Your God sends people to hell for unbelief? That's not my god. You keep "exposing" these people for bringing pagan practices into the church if that makes you feel so good! Again, it's not what my bracelet says! W.W.J.D? This kind of mentality is in direct contrast to the T-shirts my youth group has made so you better take your Bible and change it accordingly! Being all judgmental and stuff... Sure, Jesus said to "not judge according to appearance, but judge righteously" but that's supposed to be IN CONTEXT of everything else he said which means the exact opposite of what it says! Ah!

Signed,
A Person Very Sensitive to Please Unbelief

(Now see how utterly ridiculous that mentality is? I pray that anyone who agrees with anything said in the "comment" above will awake to righteousness and do as Paul said: "flee from idolatry." (1Cor 10:14))

[Eddie]

It is ironic that at the end of the video, the pastor said, "Welcome to church" and everyone laughed. It appears that they do indeed recognize the contradiction.

[pam]

I'm torn. Mostly because I didn't hear the full message that went with this video but I understand wanting to draw in the lost, who would never step foot in a church. I guess I always thought if I was so radically His that people would want to know what was different in my life that helped me survive what life throws at me. They would see Jesus without knowing it. To me church shouldn't be about making us comfortable. It should be real (without great details exposed) but show the real Jesus. sometimes showing what the world is basing it's belief systems on can help when a pastor wants to counter with the what the Word says. I always find it interesting that people are more accepting of the "out there" aspects of the world but uncomfortable with the power of God. It's a fine line between "being real" and glorifying the crap in the world. There's nothing like people and churches to warp the message of love. It seems to be a trend in churches---make seekers comfortable. We tried a church like that out. There wasn't enough of the Word taught for my comfort. I wonder what Jesus sees there.

[carol Y]

Jan,

(This is weird because as I have said in a previous post, that's my real name too.)Let's ask the Curator what the purpose of the comments section is. Curator, is this comments area supposed to be for people to "express how rightously indignant" they are? Jan has obviously discussed this with you in depth and now she has revealed it to us for you. She says that "Here, Christianity is a set of rules and regulations-follow them all and you're worthy to be called a Christian." Thanks be to God for the rules and regulations He's put in the Bible (whether you like it or not) to show us the way to salvation and to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's called what you probably think is a bad word--doctrine. The Bible also reveals what happens to people who don't follow His rules and regulations. Therefore we have a guideline on how to live a Christian life. What if our society didn't have rules and regulations? It would be complete Bedlam. Perhaps Jan would like to live in a country where there are no rules and regulations. She obviously is opposed to her spritual life having any.

[Tim]

Aww, the cute little Entertainment Evangelists try so hard! But all their work and toil will produce nothing but a generation of cynics (like myself) who will flock straight into the open arms of authentic (historical, confessional) Christianity. It'll be God's way of rewarding those who quietly went about the work of the Kingdom, abiding by Christ's command to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments, amid the screaming and flailing of the postmodern/fundagelical church. And I suppose that if you're clueless enough to think you can run/grow the Church better than God (and/or that God will actually appreciate you for trying), you probably won't take the hint and repent. Lord have mercy!

[Kevin]

I can personally say that was in attendance at Buckhead Church the day that this song was performed. The church is located in the middle of young, urban Atlanta. Their demographic is the same demographic that the band Saliva is targeting. I know from talking to the staff that performing this song was not something done lightly or off the cuff. It was a heavily weighed decision.

I also know from being there that the attenders (young and old) loved the performance and were completely drawn into the service. The song allowed everyone to be engaged (See this post from another blog for more insight http://davidksmith.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/music-matters-2/ ) regardless of where they were coming from.

If you read more about Buckhead Church and it's philosophy of ministry, you'll find that the whole idea of Sunday services are to provide an irresistible environment that is welcoming to all people, whether they buy into a relationship with Jesus or not. The services are not intended to be a place of growth (that comes in a community group setting). The service that was created – followed up by a GREAT worship time after the song and welcome were done – was meant for those who believe to invite their friends to church.

I know that this is controversial. The staff knew it would be, but were willing to take the risk. It paid off.

Oh, Jeff's message is available at http://buckheadchurch.org/messages

It was given on November 11 and concluded on the 18. Check them out.

[carol Y]

I wanted to comment on one more thing my husband and I noticed about this video. The audience in front of the camera is just sitting there, not at all like most PDC church attenders listening to that kind of thing. They didn't look like they were standing, jumping, yelling, etc. Were they put into a trance or just bored with it because it just doesn't excite them anymore? It was so out of character. It was just at the end when people looked alive for the camera. I guess they're going to have come up with something even more extreme, won't they?

[TC]

I Corinthians 2

1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, EXPRESSING SPIRITUAL TRUTHS IN SPIRTUAL WORDS.

So, will non-believers listen to that powerful truth?:

14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

CHURCHES

I Corinthians 3

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.

[Mrs. Pilgrim]

Jan,

Are you quite sure it's self-righteousness, and not, for instance, an articulation of WHY one finds something inappropriate or outright blasphemous?

You would be grossly offended if one of us were to say that you only expressed said opinion because you are, yourself, self-righteous. (I could probably come up with a plausible argument that you were, too--but I won't.)

I would remind you please to be careful when you start judging hearts and motives.

[Andrew]

Church of satan, plain and simple. This road leads to hell.

[fourpointer]

Kevin, you just summed up the bedrock of the Emergent/Poetmodern school of thought. "Get them in the door any way you can. Don't worry about righteousness, we'll figure out what that is as we go along. Or maybe not. Who wants more coffee?" You hit the nail right on the head: "whether they buy into a relationship with Jesus or not." How typically postmodern. Salvation is something we "buy into," like it's some vain philosphy or political affiliation that just kinda comes and goes with every strange new wind.

Jesus is not a "philosphy." He is not a "movement." He is Almighty God who came and dwelt among men, full of grace and truth, wrapped in sinfukl flesh and He died on the cross because you and me and everyone on this board and everyone who has ever been born has been wicked and sinful and worthy of God's righteous eternal wrath. Does this sound like something we "buy into", Kevin? Because if it does, I fear for your eternal soul.

You said, "The services are not intended to be a place of growth..." So what are they for? A bunch of kids to hang out, have fun, and....what? That's it? What good is that? Why bother having them come to your "church"? They could do the same thing at home? Why waste their time filling their minds with a bunch of mushy-squishy-feel-good crap?

Kevin, you might want to check under your couch and see if you can find something called a "concordance". That's a book that tells you where you can find certain words in the Bible. If you have one, dust it off and look for words like "edify" or "edification." It has something to do with, oh, I don't know, maybe...GROWTH. Like, let all things be done for edification (That's, like, growth, dude.)

Yeah, I'll bet you had a great time worshiping after you were through. Question is: who (or what) were you worshiping?

[jmac]

Once again a church goes worldly. These so called "churches" think they can win the world by being the world. Isn't there a warning in the bible about something like that?

Any church that thinks they have to be of the world in order to save the world or people within is indeed a lost church.

[elaina Brumbaugh]

Seems like just another bait and switch that screams that Buckhead doesn't have faith in the Holy Spirit to "drive the numbers" so long as they are faithful to simply, "Love the Lord their God with all their heart and love their neighbors as themselves," while going out and preaching the Gospel message to all the nations.

I am so grieved lately over this mess. Between the triple-x church's monstrosity of a mascot and Mark Driscoll's recent, debased presentation on humor at the pulpit... I really am starting to wonder how much longer we are going to have faithful pastors to help shepherd us. :::sigh:::

It's a call to prayer. We all must PRAY, and keep PRAYING about this. It's got the enemy all over it and the best we can do is pray. :-(

[carol Y]

elaina,

I agree. What is so sad is that SOME of the comments posted about this church, the xxxchurch and Wally and all the other abominations we see on this site are saying is that these things are NOT SO BAD and that we should lighten up, the music doesn't matter, the lyrics are good, it gets people to go to church, the dancing isn't bad, it's just people having fun, it starts conversation, don't judge, etc., etc. That's how things get out of hand. There are no boundaries. Whatever means justify the end. But the intended end (salvation) can't be achieved because it's all a lie. No substance, just warm feelings or a shock factor to get attention and of course,the need to have a good time. Jesus and His suffering for us isn't enough of an attraction for them (you know, it's such a downer!) so they turn to secular marketing devices to sell Him. I agree with another poster who said that it's not "bait and switch", it's "bait and bait". There's no switch back to the truth. I really don't think things will get better unless these "churches' repent and I don't see that happening. We'll probably see a lot more of this and if you could even imagine, it will get worse than it is now. I'm grieved too. The end times might be very near or maybe they're already here. Jesus come quickly!

[Jimmy]

I went to the sight of this church and listen to one of the messages-lets put it this way I had to turn it off.What an abomination.Just lok at the reactions of the people after this prefomance in this video, looks like an Ozzy concert.One more question or two what ever happened to the pulpit and why has it become a stage, and where is the cross?

[Keith Kennon]

www.northpointministries.org/player/player.jsp?occurrenceID=2368 is the link to the sermon that occurred after the performance. About halfway through the sermon, Jeff Henderson says that Jesus came for the real you - not the fake you. His sermon was taken from Luke 7:36-50. While I agree with him that there must be godly sorrow that leads to repentance, I'm not sure how in this service someone would have arrived at that conclusion because I don't think he ever mentioned repentance.

If seeing this service had been my first time to go to church, I would have figured that I could get as much truth from the world. I think people like Jeff are so removed from the world that when they step out into it, they see it with God-goggles and so they bring back what they think will attract the world such as ungodly music and light shows. When I came from the world into the church, the only thing I truly desired was unadulterated truth.

[Cody]

This is a joke...I'm glad I am not part of anything like this. I pray everyday that nothing these "churches" ever do will be attractive to me. But I don't think it will be because I have read Amos 9:9-11.

[Sarah J]

How can you all judge an entire church by one opening song? Buckhead Church is a wonderful church whose mission is to lead people to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. And you know what? They DO!! People regularly profess their love and commitment to our Lord through baptism and service. This church is a large part of where I am spiritually today. Thousands of lives have been touched by this church. Sometimes secular songs are brought into the opening or closing music...but they make a point and they ARE relevant to the message. We also sing praise and worship songs every week. Just because this church isn't traditional doesn't mean it is wrong. The Pharisees were traditional too. That is of course not to say that traditional is wrong either. All I am saying is that this church leads people into growing, personal, intimate relationships with Christ...and isn't that what every Christian should want?

[coolspot]

I attended this church for two years. I am a reformed Christian. One thing that I want to say something about all your comments and this post:
"Never take things out of context".

If you really think that this is not a church, I challenge you to listen to their sermons (it is available online). If you have so much guts to judge people, shouldn't you do more research? Stop being like atheist who judge us, Christian, based on few Christians in their lives who messed up.

Andy Stanley and Jeff Henderson (together with their teams) have been able to reach so many unchurched, not by compromising the gospel, but by changing the method of how the gospel is communicated. I have seen lives changed in this church and I have seen how they work through ministries. People see Jesus through the work they have done.

Honestly, see the sermon. There are too many ignorant Christian out there who think that they are the best, who judge other Christians based on a piece of video that is taken out of context. That is why, youths and teenagers are running out from your church. Your church is judgmental and irrelevant, and that is not reflection of Jesus. Start seeing from different point of view. Who knows that you are the false prophet?

[Stu]

After attending several services at Buckhead Church and BHC meetings known as Fusion, I have come to the conclusion that there are more messed up head cases and closet skanks in Buckhead Church than any bar in Atlanta.

Damn, I personally know of a Fusion Group leader who is a pothead/alcoholic and a player.

I know of a single ladies "small group" that is run by a crazy chick who has threesomes and smokes pot on a regular basis. This same small group encouraged and supported a girl who was a virgin to give her boyfriend a blowjob. After she gave him a bj, it eventually led to her having sex with this guy. When he was done with her, he blew her off and played her. Now she's a headcase.

This is what Buckhead Church is pushing through our community. Fake-ass Christians that drink, get high, and have sex on the weekends; they run to Jesus on Sunday.

One more thing, I have dated and hooked up with several girls that attend Buckhead Church. Easiest place to pull skirt in Atlanta.

I also have a gut feeling that the pastor who leads Buckhead Church is a closet homosexual; I'm not talking about AS either.

Let me know what you think or if you have any similar stories.