Reflections on Denominations / Launch Pad

My Mom and I were talking the other day and she told me a story that I had never heard before. Back when Paul, Melody, and I were in Colorado, my Mom attended my niece's baby dedication. It was at the church where I was blacklisted from the choir and the Sunday school class (which is another story, trust me). My Mom said that she was there during the worship time when people started popping up saying different things. She said that a woman in the middle of the choir (the woman who kicked me out of her Sunday school class and was instrumental in removing me from the choir) started saying a prophetic word. But my Mom said it was not prophetic. It was in the flesh. This woman said something along the lines of, "Lord, people's anger may last, but yours only lasts for a while." My Mom said this woman was not in the spirit, but in her flesh. This woman knew my Mom was mad about what this woman had done to me. This woman also had kicked me in the shins and threw a chair during Sunday school. So she had issues with anger as much as anyone.

There are many things about this news that are funny to me. First, instead of making things right by me according to the word of God, (Restore a brother and sister in love lest ye fall), she chose not to. Then, when she saw that my mother was angry about it, she used the house of God to pretend to condemn my mother. But it wasn't God or the Holy Spirit condemning my mother. It was this woman's flesh. The second thing that makes this humorous is that my mother is older and wiser than this younger woman. And my Mom knew exactly what this woman was doing.

I am amazed how people think they, in their flesh, can try to condemn people like God would. In a sense, they are making themselves God, which is precisely what Lucifer did prior to his fall from heaven.

The other funny thing about this story is this: The whole reason why I got blacklisted from the choir and Sunday school class was because I allowed myself to get angry and got in my flesh during a service. This is exactly what this woman did herself. My Dad told the pastor, "You are using selective grace." The pastor said, "I don't see it that way."

This same pastor sent my mother flowers and a sympathy card when my Dad died. This pastor was also responsible for my Dad not teaching Sunday school, probably the one thing for sure that God had called my Dad to do. But the pastor didn't want my Dad teaching Sunday school because my dad was better looking than him, thinner, smarter, better educated, more articulate and perhaps most importantly, my Dad wasn't a "yes" man.

This pastor's flowers and card were the first I threw in the trash after my father's funeral.

It was a joke.

Do people really think people are that stupid? You treat someone and their daughter like crap and then, once they are dead, you send a card and flowers.

A day late and a dollar short.

It is how you treat people when they are alive that counts, not what you do when they are dead.

Getting back to this alleged prophetic word: Let me speak some wisdom on this subject, since so many people don't know what they are doing. First, the prophetic word comes from the spirit of God. It can at times be condemning, but it is mostly to edify the body of Christ. A pure vessel (human) has to be right with God and be open to His word. They also have to be sensitive and hear what the spirit of the Lord wants to say to His people. It is your voice, but it is the words of God or the Holy Spirit, not words you want to say to condemn people.

The false prophet in the choir came from a CEA background. I was raised Assembly of God and, although they still look good on paper, sad to say they have gone the way of the mostly dead mainstream church. I will never attend an Assembly of God church again. I am fourth generation, but I like what T.D. Jakes says, "Are you traditional or transitional?" When you grew up experiencing the presence of God in a denomination and then that denomination opts to exhalt money, numbers, and popularity over God's presence, it is time to get out. This church had three suicides within the congregation. This shouldn't be a surprise. When you don't allow God's presence in church, people lose hope.

I'm sure every denomination and church has them but I've noticed that the CEA denomination has a lot of screwed up people. First let's go back to the 1960's when my dad attended a CEA church. He told me how all the women wore long white dresses. But he and my Mom, who dressed normal, waited until they were married to have sex. Meanwhile, all of the long white dress women were doing it with men in the CEA. The grandmother of the choir false prophet looked at my mother, who was at the alter (My mom was crying and speaking in tongues and had been saved since she was a young girl) and said, "Are you saved?" My Mom just kinda looked at her like "Yes. Duh!"

This woman wasn't super-spiritual. She was mad at my mother because my mother was prettier than her daughter. Her daughter had broke up with a guy and that guy was dating my mother. She gave my mom dirty looks in the restaurant because my mom was with her daughter's ex-boyfriend that her daughter broke up with.

Talk about nerve!

I guess fleshly church runs in the family. But the CEA-screwy people connection doesn't stop there. When I was in the fifth grade I attended a Brethren school. There was a girl in my class that was part of the CEA. When I didn't let her copy my homework, she squeezed my breasts! As a child, I just thought she was mean. But now as an adult I realized she was probably sexually molested and very screwed up. And as a former teacher, I can now look back and realize that my teacher wasn't doing a very good job. I would have noticed something like that going on in my classroom.

When I started attending the church where I was eventually blacklisted, this same girl was playing piano. I remember thinking, "Is she well enough adjusted to be playing piano in church?" But I didn't say anything. Come to find out, she ends up having an affair with a married man... the music minister! And then she had a child out of wedlock with another guy. The things that are allowed in the CEA! I know for a fact that there is a known child molester on the board of a CEA church. Indeed, it's not just the Catholic church who have to deal with these very same problems. I believe the CEA denomination has many people who were molested within the denomination and that is why they are so screwed up.

The mother of the man who kicked me out of the choir (Both CEA) and refused to let me back in told me a story of how her son didn't get to do something in kindergarten and because he was mad he told the teacher, " I didn't want to do it anyway!" His mother thought it was funny. These same CEA pastors snubbed an epileptic and a crippled couple because they could no longer tithe at their church (because they bought a home and were moving).

How cruel!

I remember thinking, "What a brat!" If Melody ever does something like that, I won't be laughing about it. She will have privelages taken away. Like I always say, "Anybody can reproduce, but it takes a lot of work to raise a kind, decent human being." When your child is a brat, you don't laugh it off. You discipline them.

There is only one thing worse then a child brat: an adult one. They cause a lot of damage to a lot of people. And thank God that there will be no prima donnas in heaven. I know a lot of married woman who told me they went home crying from this choir director and their un-saved husbands were going to beat him up. That may very well be the best thing that could ever happen to him.

The cousins of the CEA brother and sister who kicked me out of the choir and Sunday school class (who used to be in the CEA) were on staff at Ted Haggard's church in Colorado Springs (Paul and I visited New Life when we lived in Colorado). They knew he was doing drugs and men and they didn't say anything for three years. Only when it came out, did they say or do anything.

That is just plain wrong.

THEN New Life put these men in charge after Ted Haggard left. What's up with that? How can people who cover their leader's sins be trusted to lead people in righteousness? Totally wrong!

I am so glad Paul and I prefer to operate outside of denominations when at all possible. We don't even go to Brethren which is how Paul was raised (actually, Paul was brought up in the United Bretheren church). We've tried many different churches. Unfortunately, at this point, I've come to the decision that the best thing I can do for my daughter is to teach her the word of God and worship God with her. Church or no church.

Church can be a scary place. Especially for children.

Paul and I have a vision of something just a little different.

It would be a home for those who are tired of religion and the politics of church. A place for Word and Worship. We call it Launch Pad. It's not meant to necessarily replace church, but it is intended to be a place to worship without all of the dumb stuff that modern churches seem to have adopted... without that stuff that gets in the way. When space permits, the plan is to meet every 3rd Saturday of the month at 6 p.m at our home, probably in our garage. We will never take a salary and we will never allow anyone to be alone with your children. Paul and I were both raped in different ways (not sexually) by the church. We want a safe and secure place for us, our daughter, and you and your children.

Launch Pad: Worship without weird. Cool without sin.

E-mail me for more information: MakinMusic@paulcarhart.com