The Rev. Ike , dead at age 74

The Reverend. Frederick Eikerenkoetter has died. The Reverend was better known to people as, “the Rev. Ike” and was very popular in the 1970s. But his preaching was very odd and very self-centered instead of what you would except from a preacher.

The New York Times wrote about him in their obituary section today.

““Close your eyes and see green,” Reverend Ike would tell his 5,000 parishioners from a red-carpeted stage at the former Loew’s film palace on 175th Street in Washington Heights, the headquarters of his United Church Science of Living Institute. “Money up to your armpits, a roomful of money and there you are, just tossing around in it like a swimming pool.”

With that, you know what kind of preacher that he was – ““Prosperity Now,” “positive self-image psychology” or just plain “Thinkonomics.””

“The philosophy held that St. Paul was wrong; that the root of all evil is not the love of money, but rather the lack of it. It was a message that challenged traditional Christian messages about finding salvation through love and the intercession of the divine. The way to prosper and be well, Reverend Ike preached, was to forget about pie in the sky by and by and to look instead within oneself for divine power.
“This is the do-it-yourself church,” he proclaimed. “The only savior in this philosophy is God in you.””

His theology on that was WRONG. Paul was never moved, motivated and enslaved to money. He constantly was warning preachers of the Gospel to avoid the snare of having a love for money. Ministry was never about making money, rather it was about the Gospel and Christ.

And another concern here is this: did your salvation and walk with Christ all rest on how big or little your bank account was? If that is the case, than what is the standard by which to judge that.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and the many that loved, followed and adored The Reverend. Frederick Eikerenkoetter.

President Obama’s Birth Certificate – Real or Fake?

“Hawaii again declares Obama birth certificate real” - that was a news headline that was all over the news sites this morning. President Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States in November 2008 and he assumed office on January 20, 2009. During the campaign and even now, people are debating the fact that he is “a natural-born citizen”.

“State officials in Hawaii on Monday said they have once again checked and confirmed that President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen, and therefore meets a key constitutional requirement for being president.”

Its saddening to see people engage in debate over this silly thing. There are bigger battles to be engaged in that will have a huge impact upon our nation and the world. This silly battle is over. Barack Obama is our President and he is our President through the blessing of the Constitution.

So, its time to work where our conscience will permit and stand strong against policy that violates our conscience. That is our real battle. Therefore, lets pick our fights wisely and fight them with conviction, courage and integrity

The Anglican Communion and Gay Marriage

The ordination of gay ministers and the entire redefinition of marriage within the church is one of the big issues for this generation. And will no doubt be something that is an issue in probably another generation, because too many churches are desiring to push Biblical truth to the side in order to be more culturally relevant.

That is what is happening before us in the Anglican Communion.

Two weeks ago, the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of that Communion, voted literally 2 to 1 in recognition of gay ministers and even trying to create a more Christian wedding ceremony for same-sex couples. As a result, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made a prediction that there will be “a future “not in apocalyptic terms of schism and excommunication, but plainly as what they are: “two styles of being Anglican” pursuing their mission “with greater integrity and consistency,” even as they work out issues.”

What a sad state! To be a leader and see the people that you led follow down a path of departure from Biblical truth. To be leader and not really confront, deal or even depart from a people that will not be committed to Biblically truth, conviction and integrity. This is a truly sad state. But it’s an issue that is coming to a church near you though.

I want to make a comment about something else in the article before I end.

“Both Archbishop Robert Duncan, of the new Anglican Church in North America, and the Rev. Susan Russell, head of the gay Episcopal group Integrity, say they will keep “being church” (working on evangelism, service and missions) exactly as before, and see when the institution catches up to reality.”

“Catches up”? The church does not NEED to catch up, but rather it’s the other way around. The world and reality is actually just now catching up with the Bible and the church. We are not called to compromise Biblical truth, but to be compassionate in our presentation of that Truth. The presentation is the devotion to Truth through our convictions, the demonstration of Truth through our lives and the declaration of Truth through our integrity. That is our reality! Is it yours?

Article Source: “Restructuring, not schism, ahead for Anglicans”

Test of Faith? Unwise Decision!

A Wisconsin dad is facing prison, because he allowed his daughter to die. In this story, “Wis. father on trial in girl’s faith-healing death“, that is exactly what happened. This father viewed his daughter’s deteriorating health as “a test of his faith”. God is a God that heals, but our God is a God that has given to us the medical field to improve our ability to battle disease and restore us back to health. Mr. Dale Newmann was wrong and is now “charged with second-degree homicide”. The sad reality of this is that this case is not the only one in news right now. An Oregon couple are being convicted of the death of their 15-month old daughter that died. Both couples refused medical help and instead decided to pray.

Both of these couples could be rejoicing and delighting in the life of their children today if they had been wise. This was a test of faith, but faith has never called us to be unwise. Faith never calls us to be disobedient to the commands of Scripture. And faith always seeks out the best for all parties involved. Sad to say, these parents failed and their children paid the price.

God does heal supernaturally, but He also uses the medical field to help in the process. So don’t be unwise – God would not want that.