I had to pass this along after running into it online the other evening. I shook my head in disbelief when I saw it. There is a ministry now to help pastors "secure your continual leadership role within the local church with Apostolic By-Laws." You read it right. It takes away all voting rights of members and puts the pastor in complete control. It was ummm.... enlightening skimming the site.

This so-called Apostle's church affiliation, is some prophetic type of Pentecostalism and he held license with the AOG. The wife is a so-called Prophetess. He will help churches write or re-write their by-laws to make the church a 'theocracy' and give the pastor full power. And for a cost of just under $1300! I believe for an additional cost, you can have this self-proclaimed Apostle and his other ministry be the church or pastor's 'covering.' Just what unhealthy churches need- a way to ensure a pastor holds full power and control!

I also found basically the same site, without the apostle and prophetess titles at churchby-laws.com. I don't think by the use of 'apostolic,' that they mean what organizations such as the UPC mean.

The link where this by-law kit is found is: http://www.apostolicbylaws.com/home

Lois

Lois

Remember hearing about snake handling in some churches? Recently there were some old pictures of it for sale on eBay and there was a mention in the ad about Oneness Pentecostal.

I didn't know about it until recently, but there is even a Oneness Pentecostal snake handling book out. To my knowledge, it has only been Pentecostal type churches who have practiced this.

Here is the link to the book, which isn't well edited: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...iritualab0c-20

Lois

To fully appreciate the love of God, one needs a reference point. Often this may be one's father who in his demonstration of unconditional love, lays a foundation of experience that would allow a belief in an all loving God. Unfortunately, many of us did not have this kind of earthly father. I always knew my dad loved me but it was a complicated, flawed love that would bear little relationship to the kind of love the Bible promises we can expect from God. For much of my life, I saw God as harsh, critical, demanding and yes also loving.

Then Biff came into my life. It took years of marriage to realize how much of a gift God had given me when he gave me Biff. No Biff is not perfect; he's a bit of a cowboy, likes being the 'class clown' and can irritate me beyond comprehension BUT Biff has shown me a glimpse of the kind of love God must have for us. Biff's love is unconditional. He has loved me through my skinny minny period to my tubby tilly period and back again. He loves me when I make ridiculous mistakes. He loves me when I spend too much money, make bad choices, cry, scream, and even when I am angry and unfair with him. Biff would rather spend time with me than do anything else in life. I truly can't understand this.

But because of Biff, I can believe that God loves me even when I am not perfect and that he loves me more than I can ever comprehend.
I hope God has a special reward for people like Biff. May you have a Biff or Biffettein your life!

Nancy

Lois