1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

The bible I read Nita tells me this -

“…But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant…” (Matt 20.25-26)

Paul said this to the Corinthian church -

“…Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy…” (2 Cor 1.24)

Nita you have not answered any of the questions I posed at you either. You obviously don’t care where the $34 million is going or you’re too afraid to ask. Do you even care that CCC leadership had a homeless congregation member within their ranks and did nothing? Oh well, I guess we just need to honour the Godly lines of authority hey?
And for the record Nita, if you bother to read any of the scriptures where Paul is talking about authority he is talking about the secular authorities - in other words paying your taxes and being open and accountable. Are you aware that in the July edition of BRW magazine CCC were listed under the sub-heading “unaccountable”?

One day you’ll have to make a decision Nita… Who’s it going to be? Phil Pringle/CCC or Jesus Christ?

WIGGY

Are you arguing that God has a order that should determine where people sit in Church?

If there is such an order surely Jesus would be advocating for the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers etc to sit up the front. He was very strong on the last shall be first - a sense of upside down kingdom.

I don’t understand where you get this understanding of the Godly order.

I hope you are able to stick around and help us understand what you mean.

Does CCC teach this bullshit?

We judge a tree by it’s fruit - heathly trees, healthy fruit. I have lived my life with Ps. Mark Smallcombe for the past 5 years. I wasn’t really doing anything to serve God prior to meeting Mark and Gail. I loved God and wanted to do something significant and serve a vision bigger than my own. I started just passionate to see people come to Christ and build God’s Kingdom. I have seen that happen beyond my wildest dreams. God cares about SOULS - nothing is more important. All of the men you mentioned have shown the fruit of souls come into relationship with God as a result of their efforts. AND they are raising up leaders to do the same. I would venture to say that those who spend so much time looking to take down ‘the tall poppy’ have little to show from their own lives much less winning people around them. The message that ‘Lance’ inserted - again lots of time spent on that one - was about equipping people to thing bigger - to prosper financial and in every area of life. I believe God doesn’t care if you have money - He doesn’t want money to have you. As the body of Christ, we have a responsibilty to prosper - not just financial - to be a help to those around us in need. If you’re just surviving then you not going to be in a position for others.

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

God is good! I hope we can just love on each other and pursue God - why is that so hard?

I love how these guys use an Old Testament event like the Israelites Exodus… They tell you that yes: leaving Egypt is symbolic of us coming out of the world. The wildnerness, that’s symbolic of God testing us… The battles Joshua fought in Canaan: more symbolism relating to us “overcoming” things in our lives…
However the riches and anything to do with money, well… that’s just gotta be literal, ain’t no symbolism there!

Like Tom Cruise in Jerry MGuire CCC ministers are screaming “Show me the money” - and it’s all at your expense…

WIGGY

This is a line Mark Smallcombe stole from Phil Pringle and historically it is complete and utter bullshit.

Any person reasonably familiar with Roman architechture will tell you they were a very ingenious bunch.
Central heating? Yes, Roman builders did actually incorporate that into their structures.
It is also believed that they invented concrete and as well as that they used marble, terracotta, stone and brick within their structures.
They were the first to build roads on the foundation basis. They were paved and they had ditches on either side so water could run off. There are roads still standing which were built by the Romans…

Tents were not the hotels of the day and Paul was not a property developer. Mark Smallcombe, adjust the setting of your brain from “DeepFreeze” to “Defrost” and stop parroting Phil Pringle’s heresy.

WIGGY

I admit this place has good coffee and nobody-in-a-rush ambiance. The people working at the counter are a little stiff, but their efficiency is appreciated. The couches and relaxed atmosphere makes it a place you’ll find hipstering CCAC students lounging about. Local design professionals of Showplace Square converge here to meet their clients over a cappuccino. Peeps from Potrero Hill wander down for java refueling when 18th Street gets too familiar.

However, be forewarned…This place is a church.

I kid you not. People that work there are members of the Christian City Church. Services are held there on Sundays (that’s why they are closed on Sundays). I suspiciously surmise they use the hip environs of the coffee shop to recruit young, disillusioned people (read: art students) into their congregation. But that’s me playing devil’s advocate.

Either way, I guess God knows good coffee…

http://www.cccsanfrancisco.com
——————-
“Just to let you know that it is cool and all but it funds a SUPER CONSERVATIVE church (read makes Pat Robertson look like Ru Paul).

I think if 1/2 of the customers knew where there $$ was going they would not be there.

They do a lot of recruiting here, and if you really check them out they are pretty creepy. I am all for religious freedom — but I am not for bait and switch.

http://www.c3sf.com/

from http://www.c3kelowna.ca

“…ps mark smallcombe from Christian City Church San Francisco… they have also started the axis cafe which may end up being a new model for financing and supporting new church plants..”

From http://www.yelp.com/biz/V9ijoF8TYBvJleFJ5ZuxoQ

[memo to church planters from Lance - the people you’re trying to reach for Jesus aren’t as stupid as you]

Cashing In On Opportunity - Jesus On Wealth Part 1.

Pastor Mark Smallcombe
Christian City Church, San Francisco
June 25, 2006.

http://c3renew.com/podcast/2006-06-25%20Jesus%20on%20Money%20Part%201%20(Mark%20Smallcombe).mp3

“Please be seated. Thank you so much. Wow.

I want today as I preach God’s Word, a very very interesting topic, I know this is going to make a deep impact into your life..

I want you to be shouting out some agreement…actually our services are going live in the form of a podcast..so you can download this, anybody can download it all over the world…they can hear this message that God is speaking to this church in this city today.

That’s pretty good news, Amen? (congregation:’yeah’)

And I just want to thank our technical team who’ve been able to set this up, it’s amazing.

So give me an ‘Amen’ (’yeah’). Let’s give the Lord a handclap of praise, come on. (applause). Let’s stir the fire of God up in this place, in the name of Jesus.

Open your bibles with me to Deuteronomy Chapter 8, if you will. Deuteronomy Chapter 8. We’re gonna read from verse 7. Deuteronomy. It’s about the 4th or 5th book into the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 8. Starting from verse 7.

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land.”

Do I say he’s bringing you into a bad place? You know he’s bringing you into a good land. Everyone say ‘a good land’ (’a good land’).

‘Flowing with springs of pools of water’ …or ‘flowing with streams and pools of water with springs that gush forth in the valleys and the hills. It is a land of wheat and barley of grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, olives and honey.’

Now that is a muesli selection if ever I heard it.

‘It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking.

It is a land where iron is as common as stone and copper is abundant in the hills.

When you have eaten your fill, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.’

Who is glad that God has provided an inheritance for them?

But, everyone say ‘but’ (’but’) ‘but this is the time to be careful.

When you are experiencing the goodness of God, be careful, beware that in your plenty, you do not forget the Lord your God, and disobey his commands, regulations and laws.

For when you have become full and prosperous,’ Amen, there is a promise, ‘when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large, and your silve and gold have multiplied’….anyone here have stocks in silver or gold …anybody have any……I believe silver is the thing to invest in …. just if you’re in the trading business, silver is where it’s going to be at.. I believe… and they’re putting out a website very soon where you can just trade in silver through the website ..and you don’t even have to go and buy silver…you just have to have…you know..it’s all paper now …they hold those reserves for you now..it’s going to be very good..

Allright..and everything else….’this is the time to be careful. Do not become proud at this time and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from the slavery in the land of Egypt.

Do not forget that He led you through the great terrifying wilderness, poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was hot and dry.

Instead he gave you water from the rock. He fed you with manna from the wilderness. He did all this to humble you and test you for your own good.’

So if you’re going through it. If you feel like you’re in that hot and dry place, understand that it’s not because you necessarily done something bad or earned God’s displeasure, but he is testing you and preparing you to be able to handle prosperity and wealth..and that you do not forget Him.

Can somebody say ‘Amen’? (murmur)

‘He did this,’ verse 17, ‘he did this’ or ‘he did it so that you would never think it was your own strength and energy that made you wealthy.

Always remember that it is the Lord your God, I want to go to the first slide now, always remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you power to become rich, or power to become wealthy.

And he does it to fulfil a covenant he made with your ancestors. Somebody say ‘praise the Lord’ (’praise the Lord’)

Today I will start a series, that I believe will deeply impact each of our lives, and it is something that must be taught from the pulpit, because finance and money and blessing and laying up a future, not only for our own lives but for the generations to come, is so, so important in God’s eyes.

The fact is, this book, the bible, was mostly written, mostly by the wealthiest men and people of their time.

It was authored, it was actually inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it was actually penned and written down by people like Moses, who if you took his salary, and compared it to today’s standard, he would be getting about 1.5 million dollars a week.

It was written by people like Abraham, wealthy in his time.

People like Job. The bible says there was no-one more wealth…..people like King David, people like Solomon, whose abundance astounded all the kings and queens in the world at that time.

Even Paul, the apostle Paul, coming from an affluent family, he wasn’t short of a dollar or two either.

He was in the hospitality industry, ha ha. He would make tents, and tents were the hotels of that day.

And of course he wanted to seek first the Kingdom of God………..

….The idea is not that I’m preaching about prosperity or trying to achieve something done by our own strength.

No, I’m telling you that God’s will is for us to rise and believe and begin to operate in a realm that we’ve never operated in before.

You see, this series is going to speak to your life ..because I’m not preaching about getting money from you…I’m going to teach you how to get money to you.

Everyone say…’to me’ (to me’) and through me (’through me’)

So I believe the Holy Spirit wants to speak His ideas ..and as I preach and minister over these coming weeks …on the topic of ‘Jesus On Wealth’ …Jesus On Wealth, I believe He will give you His ideas.”

(to be continued)