You are right, Rhonda, but the judgement is going to begin at the house of
the Lord.  We won't like it when it comes but it will come.  For example,
the church across the street where we were members for 13 years is now under
the judgement of the Lord.  My oldest sister taught Christian kendergarten
there for 17 years.  I preached there, including in Bible conferences, and I
was the youngest man, 21 years old, ever to become a deacon, or elder, in
the church.  They normally ran 25 to 30 men on the board.  The church, at
one time, reached 2000 people and the largest Sunday we ever had was over
3200 people.  That church is no longer there.  The pastor left many years
ago who basically started the church.  He turned it over to the wrong man,
for some reason, and this man has made it clear that he is called to
yuppies, or people in the early forties, who lives in 400,000 dollar homes,
drive 60,000 cars, and live in one of the affluent parts of town.  So, what
did he do?  Someone donated 3 million dollars to the church and he put it
down as a down payment on 6 acres of ground out by a place in the foothills
of the metro area called Morrison, Colorado.  The county the property is in,
is very difficult to obtain building permits in.  They have been paying
mortgage payments on the remaining 3 million dollars for well over a year,
closer to about two years now, because the county has refused the building
permits till this day.  They finally sold the church across the street.  The
building housing the 1500 seat auditorium was sold to a church, thank God,
that preaches the Gospel, fortunately, but the gymnasium, 3 story school
building, the football field, and the rest of the 12 acres of land, was all
sold to the county government.  If the church that is in the building now
can ever raise enough money, which will definitely be a miracle, they can
keep the building.  If not, they will be moving, too.  A friend, who used to
go to this church for 33 years, and got saved in that church, and who no
longer goes to that church, told me last January, almost a year ago, it was
printed in the bulletin that they were now running 50,000 dollars behind in
offerings each month and they were having problems paying the mortgage on
the property out in the nice part of town.  By the way, the pastor actually
said in a board meeting, I know some insiders you might say, told the board,
if they didn't ok this purchase and consent and sign a paper that they would
not talk about it to anybody, he would take another pastoral offer he had
received.  Extortion?  blackmail?  Also, this same pastor told the board
that he was discontinuing all financial support to the 40 plus missionaries
the church supported each month.  He said they had to sign a paper agreeing
they voted yes to this but that it could not be told to the church.  This
was over 100,000 dollars a year to missionaries.  The man who was the head
of this missionary board within the church, refused and walked out.  God
bless him.  This church is now renting another smaller church, till they can
get building permits, for 20,000 dollars a month.  Many members did not want
to move to this new property.  Why?  First, it is a good 25 minute drive, in
good weather, from where the church is right now, or was, that is.
Secondly, there is a motor race way so close to the church when hot rods and
drag racers compeat, the noise is easily heard where the church is
supposedly going to be built.  The bottom line?  God's judgement has begun.

Phil.



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