http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2012/09/sri-lanka-acknowledgments/
Sri Lanka: Acknowledgments

First of all I’d like to thank Matthew Paul Turner for considering me to go on this trip at all. We had never met in person and I know he took a risk asking me to come sight-unseen. He may still well live to regret this decision when he finds the snake I cleverly hid in his luggage. (Just checking to see if you’re reading this, Matthew)
I also have to thank World Vision for investing in this trip by paying our traveling, lodging, and meal expenses. I only hope that the return on their investment in a lifetime of kids sponsored is an astounding success.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank Lindsey Minerva and Carla Gawthrop from World Vision for their leadership on this trip. Together they presented the perfect mix of cool confidence and amusing weirdness that was just what we needed to get us through the rough patches. Lindsey and Carla, I’d travel with either of you again pretty much anywhere.
From the World Vision team in Sri Lanka I have to thank our interpreter and communications specialist Hasanthi. I’ve never met a person who has been more patient and kind to a bunch of silly Americans than she is. She is a rare and beautiful shining light in Sri Lanka. Along with her I also have to mention our drives Nixon and Manjula who (for all Matthew’s screaming) got us where we needed to be safely every time through some pretty harrowing traffic situations. They even provided an oldies soundtrack for some of it.
While mentioning the support team in country, I’d also like to thank the staffs of the Carolina Beach Hotel and Amagi Lagoon Resort for their amazing customer service and and attention to our needs during the few precious hours we had each day to write about our experiences. They made our live as easy as was physically possible. If I ever start a hotel chain I’m staffing it completely with Sri Lankans.
Many thanks to Joy, Allison, Roxy, Tony, Shawn, and Laura, my fellow bloggers on this trip who put up with my wise cracks and constant reminiscing about my childhood without (as would be understandable) leaving me stranded on the side of the road. They have the patience of Job and great shall be their reward in heaven. (Except for Tony because he doesn’t go in for that sort of thing.)
And last I need to acknowledge so many of you. Our own RobM lent me the laptop that I’ve been using all week. Others of you sent gifts of money to help with my passport, immunizations, travel supplies, and other expenses. And most of all so many of you have offered words of encouragement, prayers for safety, and advice on dealing with charging cows. (Actually you didn’t do that last one but it would have come in handy if you had.) You all share in the success of every child that is sponsored as a result of this trip.
I offer you all my weary, jet lagged thanks. It has been an amazing week.
Oh, and I’m taking tomorrow off.
The Heresy of the “Altar Call.”
Posted in Americanized Religiosity, Charles Finney, Church?, doctrines of grace, God, Gospel, IFB, Just Thinking, Livable philosophy, Manipulation, Obedience, Orthodoxy, Questions, Reformation, Religion, Religiosity, Revival, Revivalism, Semi-Pelagian, Social commentary, Sovereignty of God, Thinking, Toxic Faith, Traditions of Men, Worldviews, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, Control and Power, cult of personality, DANGEROUS CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY, Fundamentalism, Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult, Religion, Sloppy Preaching, Sovereignty of God, Toxic Faith on Sunday, December 29, 2013| 3 Comments »
The altar Call is an outward show of how the pastor can emotionally manipulate his followers to do what he says through guilt and other pressure tactics. It is a power play so that there is visible evidence of a successful sermon. The (so-called) “Altar Call” is the pastor’s way of “proving that he is worth his paycheck.” It is part and parcel of the Man-centered Gospel of the Church Growth Movement in Modern Churchianity.
The church lecture series is all about the man in the pulpit no matter how much he claims to the contrary. The Cult of Personality is the glue that really holds the congregation together. Take away the charisma in the pulpit and the so called church that meets in the temple they have built for themselves will dwindle down and die. The sheeple will find themselves another proxy god to put in the pulpit. They must have their very own idol to listen to and to worship.
“Not a god,” you say? Really? Pastors are the gods over their congregations. His is the only voice allowed to speak during the lecture and he cannot be questioned about anything he says from behind the so called sacred desk. He is infallible and not to be questioned. He demands loyalty and obedience. His word is law. The sheeple are conditioned to passively, and unconditionally accept what the man in the pulpit is saying no matter what he says. The pastor is in fact speaking “ex cathedra” as he is the head of his church no matter who he gives lip-service to.
“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority. There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” -Lord Acton expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887
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My premise is that any man who is given authority over others will, if left unchecked, make full use of that authority for both personal gain and personal power. The amount of corruption by this person will ultimately be decided by the amount of power that is available. As Lord Acton says, “Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority.”
In modern Christianity most church congregations are based on a simple design. The authority is vested in the persons of the (so called) clergy, usually at the consent of, or at least the tacit agreement of the (so called) laity. This Catholic Idea of Clergy/Laity came from the teachings of Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprias, and Augustine who created and promoted the whole “Christian” class/ caste system. While not addressing the theological issues of this problem Lord Acton actually does a marvelous job of attacking just such a system, “There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” As true today as when Acton said it.
-excerpted from my blog: https://persifler.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/corruption-is-directly-proportional-to-the-level-of-control-that-is-available/
The “Altar Call” is nothing more than a way for the Pastor to practice his manipulation tactics while stroking his own ego. I dare say that what most people claim to be a movement of the Holy Spirit is at best ginned up emotionalism brought on through guilt and spiritual/emotional manipulation. Why would I say such a thing? Because the “feeling” is generally gone by the time you reach the parking lot, that’s why.
Finally, and most importantly, the Altar Call promotes a man-centered humanistic approach to religion and “salvation.” It portrays a weak frail god who can only work in “his building” following the pastor’s sermon. I have heard testimonies from folks who sweated bullets all week long until they could get to the Altar Call part of the service so they could get saved. That screams of a god in a box who is so weak and so inept that that he has to have the work of the Man of god (little “g” on purpose) in order to save someone. I have also heard of so called soul winners who got people to say the sinners prayer on visitation coaching them to come to church on Sunday and come down during the altar call in order to make their decision official with the preacher. *groan* No, no I don’t have all the answers. I’m just now asking the right questions. I just know that this Kabuki theatre that is being called “Church” these days is a sham and a shame.
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