Bay Area Fellowship Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, will give away more than $2 million worth of prizes, including cars and TVs, during its Easter services. Bay Area Fellowship Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, will give away more than $2 million worth of prizes, including cars and TVs, during its Easter services.Judging from the picture, the folks “winning” these cars, i.e, Jaguar, BMW, Audi, etc., will be driving much better than the original Disciples since “they were all in one Accord”.
The notion is highly suspect in my estimation, but the usual, reflexive condemnations would not seem to apply, due to the obvious age of the vehicles in your photo. They are not new. I’d imagine they were donated by members of the congregation or by local businesses. The Jaguar sedan may look impressive, but resale on them is terrible. Same for the Mazda RX. Several old Beemers, too.
So, the “megachurch” (odd how that’s so evocative and negative for some, when many Catholic churches have larger congregations and are not similarly labeled) likely has donated merchandise to give away, to encourage attendance, and is getting a great deal of press coverage for it. Will this lead some to God, who would not have paid any attention otherwise? Hard to tell.
That’s the story, here, imho.
Zero is going to be really pissed at these guys. They are cutting into his gig.
I am totally unimpressed with most of these mega churches. Preach the gospel and with working in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including signs and wonders, people will come.
I know a missionary who is trying to raise $500 so their poor little church can give some of the women in their little congregation micro-loans so the women can add another $1,000 a year for their family’s income by sewing blankets.
Praise the Lord!
Sixteen cars, 15 flat-screen televisions, furniture sets and other prizes are lined up at Bay Area Fellowship Church and ready to be claimed by anyone who attends the church's Easter services on Sunday.
I guess "Eternal Life" doesn't have quite the draw it used to anymore... hmmmm....
This is disgusting..
Somebody please explain to me how winning a Lexus LS430, or a Jaguar XJ8 is going to bring them to Christ?
COME ON DOOOOOWWWWWWWWNNNNN!!!!!!! /s
Corpus Christi = The Body of Christ
When I was there in the early 70’s there was talk of building a huge statue of Jesus. At the time down town had a few strip clubs. A letter to the editor suggested the statue we looking out to see with it’s back turned to downtown. I don’t think it was ever built.
I’m sure this is the way Jesus would want it. He would be particularly happy that the cars being given away are high-end BMWs and Jags.
Golly Gee, why didn’t Jesus think of this? A new Jaguar would have soothed Herod’s bloodlust.
I guess I don’t understand why the Gospel is not enough. This really bothers me. He is Risen is all the good “things” that needs to be given away.
I remember Christ’s reaction to moneychangers in the Temple. I think it would be somewhat the same to modern day money changers in the Church....
I am all for reaching the lost, but this sickens me.
“Mercedes Benz”
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town?
I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town?
Everybody!
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
(Janis Joplin)
Holy ulterior motive, Batman!
This is not sharing Jesus. If they want to give these things away and do good deeds, fine. Call it that, but don't expect these people to keep coming back. They are only there for the handout. To lure people to church in this manner is disgusting. I guess for this church it is still all about the numbers.
Disgusting.
At first glance it irritates me a bit, but at second glance what you see is this. The congregation itself dug deep and donated this stuff. The members themselves came up with a couple million dollars worth of stuff that they are going to give away, apparently to non-members.
We’ve never done anything quite like that, but our church does have a habit that, when we’re in financial trouble, we give money away. Sometimes to another church across town. Sometimes to some other need. This would be on top of the usual giving that the church does. I’ve never heard of a church that donates to another church (and its not something we do all the time). But hey.
We are constantly coming up with ways to get people in the neighborhood to come in and get aquainted. They’ll hold a Saturday bike repair session, people around the neighborhood bring their bikes over and get them fixed. Or they’ll set up and do haircuts for people in the neighborhood. The idea is to get people to come, bring their kids, and get aquainted. Or they’ll have crews of teenagers going out riding buses with a cooler full of bottled water on a hot day and just give away water (it gets hot here). No sermon. Actually, we’ve had a long list of odd projects that were designed simply to get people aquainted.
The result is that we can’t build fast enough to keep up with the growth. We keep building and its not enough. People come, they come back with their wife, they come back with their kids, they come back with their neighbors. The effect is exponential. When you see how a church can grow you have to wonder then about the churches that sit static year after year.
Sometimes for a laugh the pastor asks how many of you all have been in jail. Half the congregation rises. The people we’re getting aren’t the traditional church goers, some of them, but they are coming here. Ten thousand on a Sunday, probably three thousand on a Wednesday, in a small city.
Sometimes you have to shake the dust off and do something. Someone won’t like it, but if you bring people in the Holy Spirit will do the rest.