A poster at Above Top Secret had a great story for the mid-morning coffee break, picked up from a staff report of the Dayton Daily News:
MONROE — Charred remnants remained this morning, June 15, of the large Jesus statue iconic to Interstate 75 that was destroyed following an apparent lightning strike during a thunderstorm late Monday night.
The Lawrence Bishop Music Theater at Solid Rock Church on Union Road endured smoke damage, according to officials. Damages to the King of Kings statue and the theater were estimated to be around $700,000, said Monroe Fire Chief Mark Neu.
Monroe, Ohio must be a very small town if the fire chief is also the insurance appraiser; after all, human resources compartmentalization is nearly complete in here in the good ole US of A.
According to WLWT, initial financing for the 2004 erection was $250,000. This means that the smoke damage at the Lawrence Bishop Music Theatre must be just awful. On top of that, there's more damage estimates to come according to Fire Chief Insurance Appraiser Neu:
Also lost in the fire was audio equipment stored in the attic that Neu said was to be used for a Fourth of July event at the church. No damage estimate will be available until 10 a.m. today, said Neu, who added that church leaders indicated to him they planned to replace and rebuild all that was lost in the fire.
In researching the Solid Rock empire which gave birth to the late Butter Jesus, a church video was selected but unfortunately Pastor Lawrence Bishop was not involved in the production. Instead there was a visiting preacher hosted by the pastor's wife, Co-Pastor Darlene Bishop. Darlene is the understanding founder of a 501(c)3 for troubled girls (provided said 501(c)3 is assured of the "applicant’s ability to benefit from our program"). Judging from the photo splash at the website, one benefit seems to be a new attitude for young women "Ages 18 and over". Of course, none will ever match the style and pizzaz of the founder herself, no not even one from the congregation or the choir. Darlene has the same shopping god as Joyce Meyer, Paula White and other select holy first ladies.
Pastor husband horse-trader and holy crooner Lawrence can afford for his wife to dress exclusively judging from the photo splash on his for-profit (we say that on faith) LB Ranch. They certainly are the busy couple. Fortunately they have established a low-maintenance congregation; bible-believing, penitent, rejoicing, hard-working, kind, and generous human beings. The kind of human beings who have been fleeced by prosperity pushers through the financing-for-everyone decades. The confidence preachers that convinced their flocks that "doors were opened by God" and therefore a tithe was due on that dining room set from Rent-a-Center.
The game is nearly over for the mega churches and their confidence men and women, the diddlers. CEO 44's purpose-driven diddler, Rick Warren, begged for money last Christmas, got more than he asked for, then leased Schuller's Crystal Cathedral retreat. The Robert Schuller empire is crumbling as did Oral Roberts', James Kennedy's, Jerry Falwell's, and Jim Baaker's. Warren's won't last either but there seems to be some punch behind his recent lease acquisition. If the Bishops pursue another Touchdown Jesus erection, Warren's financiers might consider plucking up the Solid Rock campus before dispatching Warren to bankruptcy and a blurb in the Presidential trivia books. Somewhere up the mergers & acquisitions ladder at least one pair of eyes is monitoring the disposition of church property in America and making bids thereon.
Last night the King of Kings was struck on the right hand, burst into flames and was reduced to a charred black frame. Haunting - like an Edgar Allen Poe sentence. Poe, who had a little something to say about the confidence game:
"Diddling, rightly considered, is a compound, of which the ingredients are minuteness, interest, perseverance, ingenuity, audacity, nonchalance, originality, impertinence, and grin".
The Lawrence Bishop Music Theater at Solid Rock Church on Union Road endured smoke damage, according to officials. Damages to the King of Kings statue and the theater were estimated to be around $700,000, said Monroe Fire Chief Mark Neu.
Monroe, Ohio must be a very small town if the fire chief is also the insurance appraiser; after all, human resources compartmentalization is nearly complete in here in the good ole US of A.
According to WLWT, initial financing for the 2004 erection was $250,000. This means that the smoke damage at the Lawrence Bishop Music Theatre must be just awful. On top of that, there's more damage estimates to come according to Fire Chief Insurance Appraiser Neu:
Also lost in the fire was audio equipment stored in the attic that Neu said was to be used for a Fourth of July event at the church. No damage estimate will be available until 10 a.m. today, said Neu, who added that church leaders indicated to him they planned to replace and rebuild all that was lost in the fire.
In researching the Solid Rock empire which gave birth to the late Butter Jesus, a church video was selected but unfortunately Pastor Lawrence Bishop was not involved in the production. Instead there was a visiting preacher hosted by the pastor's wife, Co-Pastor Darlene Bishop. Darlene is the understanding founder of a 501(c)3 for troubled girls (provided said 501(c)3 is assured of the "applicant’s ability to benefit from our program"). Judging from the photo splash at the website, one benefit seems to be a new attitude for young women "Ages 18 and over". Of course, none will ever match the style and pizzaz of the founder herself, no not even one from the congregation or the choir. Darlene has the same shopping god as Joyce Meyer, Paula White and other select holy first ladies.
Pastor husband horse-trader and holy crooner Lawrence can afford for his wife to dress exclusively judging from the photo splash on his for-profit (we say that on faith) LB Ranch. They certainly are the busy couple. Fortunately they have established a low-maintenance congregation; bible-believing, penitent, rejoicing, hard-working, kind, and generous human beings. The kind of human beings who have been fleeced by prosperity pushers through the financing-for-everyone decades. The confidence preachers that convinced their flocks that "doors were opened by God" and therefore a tithe was due on that dining room set from Rent-a-Center.
The game is nearly over for the mega churches and their confidence men and women, the diddlers. CEO 44's purpose-driven diddler, Rick Warren, begged for money last Christmas, got more than he asked for, then leased Schuller's Crystal Cathedral retreat. The Robert Schuller empire is crumbling as did Oral Roberts', James Kennedy's, Jerry Falwell's, and Jim Baaker's. Warren's won't last either but there seems to be some punch behind his recent lease acquisition. If the Bishops pursue another Touchdown Jesus erection, Warren's financiers might consider plucking up the Solid Rock campus before dispatching Warren to bankruptcy and a blurb in the Presidential trivia books. Somewhere up the mergers & acquisitions ladder at least one pair of eyes is monitoring the disposition of church property in America and making bids thereon.
Last night the King of Kings was struck on the right hand, burst into flames and was reduced to a charred black frame. Haunting - like an Edgar Allen Poe sentence. Poe, who had a little something to say about the confidence game:
"Diddling, rightly considered, is a compound, of which the ingredients are minuteness, interest, perseverance, ingenuity, audacity, nonchalance, originality, impertinence, and grin".
