Requiem for the End of HokiePundit
HokiePundit is no more! Although, now that I'm writing this Robbie might be the only one who actually reads this blog so my posting isn't really going to be all that informative...
ANYWAY, according to what his page says right now, he has decided to retire hokiepundit because a lot of his blog topics were getting a little to personal; seeing as a lot of people he knows from VT and sees on a regular basis read his blog, he decided it would be best to start with a new anonymous e-identity. I totally understand where he is coming from (I have another blog that I keep unknown from all of my friends from the real world... at least I think I have... so that I can write whatever I want and feel uninhibited-- This blog, SCSTT, is meant mainly for my deep thinking (originally I targeted politics and religion) although recently there hasn't been much of that), its kinda sad for me. I've enjoyed reading what Robbie has to say about politics, religion, and otherwise over the past 2 years. I really enjoy having deep conversations with people and a lot of times reading what Robbie has said about certain topics has sparked me to contemplate where I stand and stuff like that.
Oh well... I guess that's how things go. Farewell to an excellent blog, HokiePundit. And To Robbie, hope your new one serves you well.... we'll have to keep in touch more now since I can't keep up with you through your blog!
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
News... though not so current
This would have been current about a month or two ago, but I just have gotten around to putting it down here...
Until I was in 6th grade, my family went to church at First Baptist Church of Roanoke. It was the largest church (by far) in the Roanoke Valley and had the most senior pastor of the S. Baptist churches in the area. He even had a daily tv spot (right after the Price is Right) called "God's Minute" where he gave a little "insight" to everyday situations.
Our family switched to a different S. Baptist Church when I was in 6th grade because First Baptist had just gotten too large and impersonal for my family's taste... and I don't think my parents were very impressed by a large number of the people in their age bracket who were members there.
Not long after our switch, Dr. Fuller (the pastor from First Baptist) retired and some of the membership of 1st Baptist was lost due to the fact that he was no longer pastor. At this point, my new church (Bonsack Baptist) gained ten or twenty new members who came over from 1st Baptist....
Now, this spring, the membership of our church has been growing quite rapidly.... Once again there is a migration of church members from 1st Baptist to Bonsack Baptist (now one of the largest churches in the Valley... and now, we have the senior pastor in the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association). This is due mainly to how the new staff of 1st Baptist has dealt with the recently publicly released information about the secret life of Dr. Charles Fuller. Apparently, fifteen years ago while his first wife was still alive (she died while my family was still at 1st Baptist due to cancer I believe), he had a 10 year affair with some woman. After this information became public, Dr. Fuller's title as 'Pastor Emeritus' was revoked and I think he was basically 'forced' into leaving 1st Baptist.
Dr. Fuller had a special ability to empower people in their faith... First Baptist grew immensely and became an extremely strong, active group of believers. And in this one act, he might just have pushed more people away from the church than he ever brought into the church during his 30+ year ministry at 1st Baptist.
I know that the clergy are not to be held to higher standards because they're people just like you and me, but (as my dad and I were discussing one day while I was home between Cincinnati and summer school) it is very disheartening to have something like this happen. I know that he could not go 15 years without saying something about adultery in one of his sermons.... I just don't understand how he could stand up there and preach about this stuff like he was pure from this sin... not only was he committing the sin, but he was lying and a hypocrite when he got up to the pulpit each week.
I know that God views all sins as equal, but non-Christians do not; Most non-Christians do hold ministers to a higher standard. As a member of the clergy you ought to be more careful about what you do because you never know when you might be pushing someone away.
This would have been current about a month or two ago, but I just have gotten around to putting it down here...
Until I was in 6th grade, my family went to church at First Baptist Church of Roanoke. It was the largest church (by far) in the Roanoke Valley and had the most senior pastor of the S. Baptist churches in the area. He even had a daily tv spot (right after the Price is Right) called "God's Minute" where he gave a little "insight" to everyday situations.
Our family switched to a different S. Baptist Church when I was in 6th grade because First Baptist had just gotten too large and impersonal for my family's taste... and I don't think my parents were very impressed by a large number of the people in their age bracket who were members there.
Not long after our switch, Dr. Fuller (the pastor from First Baptist) retired and some of the membership of 1st Baptist was lost due to the fact that he was no longer pastor. At this point, my new church (Bonsack Baptist) gained ten or twenty new members who came over from 1st Baptist....
Now, this spring, the membership of our church has been growing quite rapidly.... Once again there is a migration of church members from 1st Baptist to Bonsack Baptist (now one of the largest churches in the Valley... and now, we have the senior pastor in the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association). This is due mainly to how the new staff of 1st Baptist has dealt with the recently publicly released information about the secret life of Dr. Charles Fuller. Apparently, fifteen years ago while his first wife was still alive (she died while my family was still at 1st Baptist due to cancer I believe), he had a 10 year affair with some woman. After this information became public, Dr. Fuller's title as 'Pastor Emeritus' was revoked and I think he was basically 'forced' into leaving 1st Baptist.
Dr. Fuller had a special ability to empower people in their faith... First Baptist grew immensely and became an extremely strong, active group of believers. And in this one act, he might just have pushed more people away from the church than he ever brought into the church during his 30+ year ministry at 1st Baptist.
I know that the clergy are not to be held to higher standards because they're people just like you and me, but (as my dad and I were discussing one day while I was home between Cincinnati and summer school) it is very disheartening to have something like this happen. I know that he could not go 15 years without saying something about adultery in one of his sermons.... I just don't understand how he could stand up there and preach about this stuff like he was pure from this sin... not only was he committing the sin, but he was lying and a hypocrite when he got up to the pulpit each week.
I know that God views all sins as equal, but non-Christians do not; Most non-Christians do hold ministers to a higher standard. As a member of the clergy you ought to be more careful about what you do because you never know when you might be pushing someone away.
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