When I heard of the donation to MUMC today, I was puzzled as to why we would have donated $25,000. I thought perhaps it was because they didn't have insurance. I logged onto their website and found the bank you could deposit donations to. I called them and asked if they had any knowledge of the church being insured. I was told that the church WAS INSURED and the donations were for their different ministries. This bothers me because there are a lot of SBC churches here in Shelby County that are spreading the Gospe that could use some money. I vote to give some of our $30,000,000 to other churches in the SBC here in Shelby County that we know are spreading the Gospel and that are in need of some help.
Do you believe that the Whitmires would want to have inquiries from multitudes of people?
I know that we had been told to ask Mrs. Rogers about a few things as well. She walked by me in the hallway Sunday and there was absolutely no way I would have presumed that she would want to talk with me about these issues and I have far too much respect for her to impose upon her.
I still can't get the logic of donating 25,000 to a church's ministries which support homosexual unions, abortion, and ordination of women to ministry.
People, we are dancing all around the real story but no one will come out and say it. I think everyone knows by now that before he died, Dr. Rogers told Steve Gaines he needed to resign.
My husband learned this from a deacon (I'm not sure if he is one of the 51. I assume he is) and he knew details about this story. Since then I have heard this from two different sources who are on staff at the church.
I am sure Dr. Rogers told Brother Whitmire he had been duped. He had! He's not the only one.
I had no idea about that. If that is true and it can be corroborated by deacons what are they waiting for? Bring this before the church body and allow us to vote again after however many hours of open mic discussions are necessary. And this time let's have written votes none of this let's all raise our hands.
You know. We should be able to go to our church leaders for the truth, but that sure went out the window. Staff members have been silenced. The communication committee (pardon me for saying so) is a joke.
Take a look at the names on the communication committee. Did Steve Gaines personally pick this group.
Seems to me before we can have a communication committee that we need to have an investigative committee. Its a lot like the "we unanimously voted that the credit cards statements were in order and thought we ought to at least look at them in case anyone asked." I think the greek word is baloney.
Why couldn't there be some strong objective men be on that committee. Cullen Beard, David Bishop, Scott Haus, Gary Hulett, Tim Ketler, Steve McCune, Ted Minor, Scott Wood. I know all eight of these guys and can assure you that if you put that group together you would get the truth.
I don't know who knows about this. I promise you some do. I've been waiting for someone to post it since the day I heard it. My husband is furious with me right now for posting it. I understand his opinion. I disagree with him because I think we must be completely real and honest. We need to know what is really going on. Dr. Rogers taught us to stand for truth no matter the cost. That is what we should all do. I don't care how many don't like all this, we have to be honest with ourselves and our church.
We were told one of the beloved ministers who left our church was a witness to this event between Steve Gaines and Dr. Rogers. Of course I didn't witness it, so I cannot absolutely confirm it. Sometimes there are things you hear that you immediately discount as ludicrous. When I heard this it didn't hit me that way. I know there are more than a handful who totally believe this happened.
Brother that is a nuclear post you made. I sure hope you are not making something like that up. It would be way wrong to speculate or spread gossip like that. If you have any doubts please delete. If that is true, oh my.
One thing you have to remeber about all of this is that Dr. Rogers knew Jesus and he knew that Jesus would take care of this flock. He also knew Bellevue (the flock) and that we would not stand for sin in the pulpit.
I have stated several times and will again, We will either remove sin from the man in the pulpit or we will remove the man of sin from the pulpit and I believe that we know which that should be.
Dr. Gaines we are going to change the locks on the doors.
I did not make it up. I would never have dreamed something like that happened because we assumed the Dr. Rogers loved the Steve Gaines.
My husband asked the deacon why he thought Dr. Rogers supported Steve as strongly as he did. We had heard he wanted him here for several years and we have wanted to know why.
The deacon said, "because he didn't know him." He then told my husband that story.
Again, I cannot promise you this happened. All I can promise is a deacon told my husband and I have heard it from two additional sources. I cried when I thought about what Dr. Rogers must have been going through his last weeks on earth.
Someone else already posted the Janice Rogers is going to Germantown. Does anyone know if that is true?
Maybe I should not have posted that. If not I apologize. There are a lot of people whispering the story. You would have heard it soon anyway.
I'm fine. No hard feelings here. This is a difficult process for everyone. And I share your frustration that it is so hard to sort through correctly.
I must say, at the risk of setting myself up for a beating, that Jim B is a friend. We do not see eye-to-eye on everything but I do trust him and I don't believe he would knowingly lie to me or mislead me.
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bin said,... "It violated the BBC expense and travel policies posted here earlier and certainly would never be considered a valid moving expense by the IRS."
Andrew,...Interesting, I hadn't read the policy yet. But this reminds me of a statement I heard someone say about policy. Does anyone know when the policy began or was last updated?
---
Proverbs12:22 said,...
"I for one believe the search committee owed it to the church to tell us the conditions attached to the pastor's acceptance of the call. If he mandated Jamie would be coming too and Dr. Whitmire would be out, we should have been told that BEFORE we voted. If he mandated other changes, we should have been told that BEFORE we voted."
more RUMORS and junk! my point has been proven. many of you seem to enjoy this junk greatly. since I stopped posted this afternoon, there have been all kinds of "new" things "come to light". more Conspiracy theories. unreal!!
whynotask posted: I believe Jamie came sooner then expected because he was fired after Steve Gaines left. I believe gardendale washed their hands of anyone connected with Bellevue. That explains why we have a few extra from there. Also, to iwasthere, were you in the deacons meeting wednesday night. I understand they had a surprise visit from someone
REPLY: why would you post something like that about Jamie? why? an out right lie, why?
So you call a confirmed 25k dollar donation to a church that is lead and believes things that BBC stands firmly against a conspiracy? Are you saying that donation was never made?
whynotask posted: Andrew I donot understand the explanation on the plane tickets? I may be dense but why did he call his secretary in Alabama and then she called Mary Ellen Ward to book tickets here? Was Steve Gaines working for Gardendale or Bellevue at the time of this call? Was this a period between jobs? Sounds confusing to me? Slap me & explain.
REPLY: very simple. he called his Sec. in Alabama and she made the choice that since he was coming to Bellevue and they would be flying here etc, she chose to call Bellevue and get them to go ahead and take care of it from here.
According to the Communication Committee brochere page 8.
I quote thusly and so,
Addendum-Bellevue Executive Staff Expense Reimbursement Policy Summary. It was revised Nov 6, 2006. This is the revision they had to have for the pastor's church furnished vehicle to be legitamized that we have been paying for over the past year.
The Travel and Entertainment Guidelines were revised Nov 15, 2005. I think that's the one that covers sending your peekapoo to doggy spa care for the week.
Does anyone else know anything about what Proverbs 12:22 posted?
Proverbs, I don't believe you made that up, so rest easy. I have heard Dr. Rogers told Brother Whitmire he felt like he had been misled. I had not heard he asked the pastor to resign. If that happened, can you imagine what Mrs. Rogers has been living with for a year?
Yes, it is true Janice Rogers has been attending Germantown. That is an open secret.
regarding the IRS stuff. can you guys please please stop this junk. can we talk about real concerns and try to get somewhere? Chip Freeman and others are VERY qualified to know what to do and how to do it. Bellevue gets rave reviews every single year regarding tax issues and how everything is done. rave reviews every year. this stuff is taken very seriously.
tim: it is more obvious with every post that you want nothing to do with things being made right. you do not want this to end. you seem to truly be enjoying it and that is sad.
i am at a loss for words daily at how so many of you seem to be "Conspiracy theorist". amazed and saddened. no wonder some of you believe all the rumors and stuff going around. it seems that someone is always out to get someone. it seems that I am a new staff member or family member every day. one day I am Brother Steve, the next day Chuck Taylor. like the staff and Deacons are sitting around trying to figure out what to post next and how to trick who next. trying to figure out their next evil move. it is like some are looking over their shoulders every second.
listen to yourselves!! PLEASE
I understand that some are hurting. I pray you get your questions answered and the issues are delt with. i pray that many come back to Bellevue. for the others, I pray they are able to find a new church home. a place they will grow to love and worship in.
but this is getting totally out of hand. totally! you are feeding off of each other and you are consumed by this stuff and it gets worse every day. it is controlling some of you.
i am at a loss for words daily at how so many of you seem to be "Conspiracy theorist". amazed and saddened. no wonder some of you believe all the rumors and stuff going around. it seems that someone is always out to get someone. it seems that I am a new staff member or family member every day. one day I am Brother Steve, the next day Chuck Taylor. like the staff and Deacons are sitting around trying to figure out what to post next and how to trick who next. trying to figure out their next evil move. it is like some are looking over their shoulders every second.
listen to yourselves!! PLEASE
I understand that some are hurting. I pray you get your questions answered and the issues are delt with. i pray that many come back to Bellevue. for the others, I pray they are able to find a new church home. a place they will grow to love and worship in.
but this is getting totally out of hand. totally! you are feeding off of each other and you are consumed by this stuff and it gets worse every day. it is controlling some of you.
Let's postulate that a SBC donated 25k dollars to a church lead by a pro-abortion pro-homosexual leader. What would your reaction be? More to the point what will your reaction be when you find out this is completely true and you can not claim ignorance?
How is all of this not personal? If we don't as members of the church have a personal vested interest in these things then all is lost. I am curious to know what your opinion is of a church that would do such a thing?
i think many need to read the last 6-10 hours of posts on this blog. these are posts from "Christians"??? they are full of anger, personal attacks, rumor, libel, slander, hate, lies, must I go on.
i am sure someone will now post something to try and defend that.
that is fine Tim. again, your tone and posts speak for themselves. they show your true colors. say whatever you would like. attack me all you would like. God is watching every word you type.
Oh but I can certainly remember a certain Pastor standing in front of me and proclaiming far and wide that he had never once used his credit card for personal usage. Do you remember that? Pretty well a foregone conclusion that that statement was a pure LIE. Do you deny that?
ju: my opinion has been posted in GREAT detail over the last 3+ days. in great detail. i have answered many questions and posted on every rumor possible.
I mean your opinion as it concerns a church that donates any amount of money to an organization that holds beliefs you stand firmly against. Not your opinion as it concerns credit card usage or air plane tickets.
since you like to lie to other posters about me, Tim, why don't you back up your claim? find and post those evil comments you claim came from me. you will be looking a long long time since they do not exist. this blog was bad, but you have taken it to it to a whole new level. just what it should not be.
yes, God is watching every word I post. i am fully aware of that. that is why I am careful what I say
Your comments as of lately seem to be full of hate. Just because you disagree with hisservant or somebody else it does not make them evil. Their posts are not less important than those which you post. Quite frankly your 'Holier than thou' attitude towards some people on this forum is starting to disturb me.
Everytime something is said that could possibly reflect Bellevue in a postive way, you are quick to attack it, and deny that there could possibly be any truth in it. When new info is posted, unless it is something negative, you never support it or even acknowledge that it might be the truth.
Why do you do this? Do you get some sort of pleasure or self-satisfication when you insult others and post ONLY negative stuff? It just doesn't make much sense to me...
with every word you post Tim, you hurt your "cause". is that so hard to see? when those on "your side" of the issue read your posts full of hate tomorrow, they will agree with me.
Ok well I'm fairly sure that sometime later today you'll be able to corroborate for yourself that the donation was made. Please let us know your reaction when you do.
Tim, I will attest to all the posts that you have just deleted. I do think that if you thought they were a problem you should have just appologized vs making HisServant out to be foolish. It doesn't help any of your positions.
Now..Now..You have spent the past three days..ranting and talking in circles..You have not had anything of any substance to say. You will qualify yourself as being anyone that would have any knowledge of any of these issues, yet you expect us to take you seriously. Why? Why should what you say be in any more important than everyone else that post here. What credibility do you have?
"i think many need to read the last 6-10 hours of posts on this blog. these are posts from "Christians"??? they are full of anger, personal attacks, rumor, libel, slander, hate, lies, must I go on."
Actually, I saw precious little of any of those things until you showed up tonight. You just seem to bring out the best in people, Mr. Deacon. It is, "deacon," isn't it? And no, you don't have to go on.
And please don't take this as a "personal attack," but didn't you learn in school that you're supposed to capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence? I know you've got a "Shift" key because you always capitalize "I".
"where did all the hate filled posts from Tim go? he should never be able to post here again"
I didn't see any "hate filled" posts from Tim. And while your unsolicited advice is noted, it is just that -- unsolicited.
Sorry everyone. It's been a long day, and "stevesservantthedeacon" has just worn out his welcome.
bait? you are joking right? no bait is needed. I guess you have not read any of his posts. this is not the first time. if I baited him, why delete his posts? i did NOTHING to him. he can say whatever he wants, i have already said, i will not stoop to that level. he nor anyone else will get me to act like that.
Well I can tell you what my opinion is of a church that would do such a thing which is what I have done already. I would agree that all we have to go on are posts in this forum but some credible names have been attached to those claims that hisservant will be able to verify later today I'm sure.
This has been happening for the past 3 days with hisservant. He has constantly been baiting people into arguing, mainly about nothing. Obviously, from the reactions between the two of them (hisservant & cary) they decided to show up here late this evening and stir up some trouble. Trouble is that it turned upon their own heads. Nothing at all political about it. I will discuss seriously with those that want to. However, for those that want to play games, that can be done also.
you have at least 2 posters that have posted that they saw the posts from Tim and how out of line they were. how convenient that you just missed them. that seems to always be case. you can always find my posts, like them or not, because I have never deleted one. I do not let me emotions take over my body and ruin my witness.
"bait? you are joking right? no bait is needed. I guess you have not read any of his posts. this is not the first time. if I baited him, why delete his posts? i did NOTHING to him. he can say whatever he wants, i have already said, i will not stoop to that level. he nor anyone else will get me to act like that."
I can see it now. Tomorrow morning's headline:
BELLEVUE DEACON SUFFERS COMPLETE MELTDOWN!
Get some rest, man. You've completely lost all sense of reality.
I wish that I had the answers to your questions. That is something that we are working on. I am not expecting for the leadership to call a business meeting any time in the near future, because they truly do not want anymore coming into the light than what has already.
stick with us here and we should have a few things worked out shortly. thanks.
I find it incredible that you could possibly complain about personal attacks. Have you went back and read your posts? Honestly, you have accused everyone that post. Now, if you would like to qualify yourself as someone that knows something and present some creditials, perhaps we could talk, but otherwise it seems that you have no reason to be here other than imploy the rope-a-dope strategy.
tim posted: This has been happening for the past 3 days with hisservant. He has constantly been baiting people into arguing, mainly about nothing. Obviously, from the reactions between the two of them (hisservant & cary) they decided to show up here late this evening and stir up some trouble. Trouble is that it turned upon their own heads. Nothing at all political about it. I will discuss seriously with those that want to. However, for those that want to play games, that can be done also.
REPLY: so where did your hate filled posts go Tim?? also, I thought if someone removed their own posts it stated that. your posts are gone?? where? NBBCOF I thought you never saw them?
if your posts remained, they would prove that I started nothing with you. actually, if you look at the posts above, I never posted anything toward you until posted to me and I responded.
all my posts are here and i have never deleted one. i have nothing to hide, unlike you
Suppose, just suppose, that a vote is taken and Dr. Gaines is asked to leave, or if he should decide to resign,
how would the current staff issues be addressed (AKA- Mark D and those who approve of wounding the sheep) ?
Is anyone willing to stand?
Is it too late?
There does not HAVE to be a Bellevue at all. If we as a church do not repent of sin, there won't be much of Bellevue left.
The Lord says "I will build My church." Current attitudes are contrary to scripture. The Lord wiped Isreal out over and over in the Old Testament, leaving only a remnant. If He did that to His chosen people, why not Bellevue?
And what, o man, doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.
Exactly! God did do that to Israel. God is in control of this situation as well, whether any of us believe it or not. It is true.
We are being put thru a fire and it has been pretty surprising to see the things that are burning away. We have found sin in our pulpit, sin in our staff, sin in our deacon body. It is my belief that God is working on purging our church and I do believe that if it can not be purged, he will destroy it.
There are many details that will have to be worked out, but that is ok as well God is in control of the details. God did not call us to figure it all out and then act. He called us to act. He already has it figured out.
It is late and I am tired. Perhaps we can talk more on these things tomorrow.
tim: my posts speak for themselves. some of the more decent people on "your side" of the issues know that. I posted things today and shed light on things that had never been talked about on here. many claim to have just heard of some of the issues that came up today. I have known for a good while about everything. to me it is not about who knows what. i want no credit for anything i just want the rumors to stop and for people to get the answers they want.
I repeat, Mr. Deacon sir, I didn't see any "hate filled" posts from Tim. For the sake of saving space in these increasingly long comments pages, I've been periodically removing the notations that say, "Comment has been deleted by author." I'm sure others have done the same with their own comments. If, when you delete a comment, you'll check the little box underneath that says "Remove forever?" it won't leave that "trail." I didn't remove any of Tim's comments other than one tonight which I edited something out of and reposted it for him (since he was reportedly stuffing himself at dinner). If any of Tim's other comments were removed, it was by Tim. I've only cleaned up the litter that's left after people delete their own posts.
Let's take a look at where we think things are headed, shall we? That might be a title for a new thread.
It should be obvious to everyone that the leadership of the church is either going to "circle the wagons" and downplay the significance of the numerous questions that have been generated or they are going to try to answer the various questions being thrown at them as best they can. To be fair, many in leadership don't have the answers to a lot of the questions that are being asked of them. They will have to depend on truthful answers from many people who may be unwilling to share what they know.
If Dr. Whitmire and others have been treated with little or no respect, this should be dealt with SOON, while there is still time to make amends. It may be too late.
And,if this was done to his family, was it done to other staff who moved on as well?
Even if there is no such gesture of genuine repentance from the administration, be sure that "God cannot be mocked, What a man sows, that shall he also reap." Maybe some folks will reap what they have sown.
The reason that Dr. Rogers was so loved by me and so many others was that he always treated others with respect and dignity on a consistent basis. As a result, he was rewarded with respect in return. That kind of respect cannot be bought with money, numerical success, or talent.
There is no doubt that following a man of Dr. Roger's stature and maturity, combined with the kinds of leadership traits, personal skills, and humble compassion for others which he possessed, could never be an easy task. Not to mention that Dr. Rogers could really knock the ball over the fence from the pulpit, too!!!
My prediction is that Dr. Gaines will remain the Pastor at Bellevue for as long as he wishes. He has the support of those he really needs. (Making the church's payroll or paying the light bill won't be much of a problem with the millions of dollars in the bank, either.)
For those who seek another man to fill the pulpit at Bellevue, I think you will be increasingly disappointed as you continue to attend a church where you dislike the pastor.
I may be wrong, though. It looks like you'll need at least fifty percent of your leadership to "dethrone the human king." If you are patient enough, Dr. Gaines might resign out of frustration.
In the event he doesn't, at least you have choices. With churches on every corner, when church-goers get upset enough, they find that God can be worshipped elsewhere. They even find that they enjoy it better where they admire and like the Pastor.
I would never tell anyone to leave a church, but I know for myself, if I could not look upon my Pastor with a great deal of respect, I would at least have to consider worshipping elsewhere, and I'm sure many are thinking about it.
May God bless each one of you as you follow HIS direction in this and all matters, no matter what men may say.
P.S. Based on your beliefs right now, what chance do you think there is of Dr. Gaines' resigning from Bellevue within the next ten years??
It has been a most enjoyable evening. I certainly hope that the remenant of deacons with good sense will be able to get us back to the Bellevue that we are supposed to be.
And I pray that if we have any deacons with drinking problems that they will repent and turn from the bottle to God.
my point was very simple and you can make it into whatever you want. i know you will anyway. I do not feel that I should have to answer any of your questions, jump through hoops, or anything else to earn your respect.
i respect you and do not ask you to do something special for me before I can.
again, make of it what you will.
i guess I did not communicate my feelings well and I am sorry for that.
LOL! Workshipper, I think you posted that comment before.
Except for the part of Gaines' resignation.
I would like to add, as the Bible clearly teaches, that our economy is not the same as the Lord's. Things can get mighty uncomfortable for someone who's on the receiving end of the Lord's wrath. Then again, to be on the receiving end of God's mercy is a place where miracles occur as well. I know this, because I received his mercy :)
What do I expect will happen? Has anyone seen Facing the Giants? I'm praying and preparing for rain. When it comes? That's not my job to know.
Thank you for your post workshipper. We all need a miracle for SG to resign. Can those of us reading these posts determine to pray for God to remove him? It's our only hope. We can never convince the hisservants of the world because they can't see it.
“his007 and Cary won't answer the $25,000 question because it just came out and the deacons, staff, committees, janitors, and church mice haven't gotten their talking points on this issue yet. Seems like BBC needs to set up a hotline so they can get up to speed quicker.”
----
Close, but actually it's worse than that. Why would you need to prepare everyone (talking points) for a great decision like giving the money to the church – don't you see, they think it was a good idea. That's why they did it. That's why there's no one prepared to defend it.
We are unequally yoked in many ways here. The methods, that are driven by values, principles and convictions are not the same as those of us that are expressing concerns - thus the expression of concern. They don't get. They truly believe what they did was wise and right. That is why the staff, deacons, etc have not been alerted or prepared YET for a response. They anticipated a "good job" response.
Again, the big problem is that these two groups do not share some of the same critical values and convictions. Think of the followers as neutral. The are simply trained to follow the leader - and they are doing so. And unfortunately when the leader, as any leader anywhere, makes a bad move the followers are not grounded, convectional, and strong of heart to stand and not bow.
Now, we've seen that many people are identifying and standing on their convictions. Many are finding that it's not so hard after all to take a stand – but I also think many of us are babes in this ring and just now learning to stand for what we believe.
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292 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 292 of 292allofgrace said...
LOL...expensive TP don't you think?
10:26 PM, November 17, 2006
Response
I was thinking along the lines of a natural laxative.
When I heard of the donation to MUMC today, I was puzzled as to why we would have donated $25,000. I thought perhaps it was because they didn't have insurance. I logged onto their website and found the bank you could deposit donations to. I called them and asked if they had any knowledge of the church being insured. I was told that the church WAS INSURED and the donations were for their different ministries. This bothers me because there are a lot of SBC churches here in Shelby County that are spreading the Gospe that could use some money. I vote to give some of our $30,000,000 to other churches in the SBC here in Shelby County that we know are spreading the Gospel and that are in need of some help.
IWASTHERE,
Is it true that Mike Spradlin (President of Mid Amercia Seminary) has known many of these things and just didn`t want to come forward?
While in the orchestra and use to say a lot of things negative about SG.
letsbehonest,
Do you believe that the Whitmires would want to have inquiries from multitudes of people?
I know that we had been told to ask Mrs. Rogers about a few things as well. She walked by me in the hallway Sunday and there was absolutely no way I would have presumed that she would want to talk with me about these issues and I have far too much respect for her to impose upon her.
Good point Tim...both those families have been through enough.
Tim said:
Do you believe that the Whitmires would want to have inquiries from multitudes of people?
I think you are probably right but where else do you go for the facts?
I retract my earlier suggestion of contacting the Whitmires.
I still can't get the logic of donating 25,000 to a church's ministries which support homosexual unions, abortion, and ordination of women to ministry.
People, we are dancing all around the real story but no one will come out and say it. I think everyone knows by now that before he died, Dr. Rogers told Steve Gaines he needed to resign.
My husband learned this from a deacon (I'm not sure if he is one of the 51. I assume he is) and he knew details about this story. Since then I have heard this from two different sources who are on staff at the church.
I am sure Dr. Rogers told Brother Whitmire he had been duped. He had! He's not the only one.
I had no idea about that. If that is true and it can be corroborated by deacons what are they waiting for? Bring this before the church body and allow us to vote again after however many hours of open mic discussions are necessary. And this time let's have written votes none of this let's all raise our hands.
letsbehonest,
You know. We should be able to go to our church leaders for the truth, but that sure went out the window. Staff members have been silenced. The communication committee (pardon me for saying so) is a joke.
Take a look at the names on the communication committee. Did Steve Gaines personally pick this group.
Seems to me before we can have a communication committee that we need to have an investigative committee. Its a lot like the "we unanimously voted that the credit cards statements were in order and thought we ought to at least look at them in case anyone asked." I think the greek word is baloney.
Why couldn't there be some strong objective men be on that committee.
Cullen Beard, David Bishop, Scott Haus, Gary Hulett, Tim Ketler, Steve McCune, Ted Minor, Scott Wood. I know all eight of these guys and can assure you that if you put that group together you would get the truth.
I don't know who knows about this. I promise you some do. I've been waiting for someone to post it since the day I heard it. My husband is furious with me right now for posting it. I understand his opinion. I disagree with him because I think we must be completely real and honest. We need to know what is really going on. Dr. Rogers taught us to stand for truth no matter the cost. That is what we should all do. I don't care how many don't like all this, we have to be honest with ourselves and our church.
We were told one of the beloved ministers who left our church was a witness to this event between Steve Gaines and Dr. Rogers. Of course I didn't witness it, so I cannot absolutely confirm it. Sometimes there are things you hear that you immediately discount as ludicrous. When I heard this it didn't hit me that way. I know there are more than a handful who totally believe this happened.
Proverbs12:22
Brother that is a nuclear post you made. I sure hope you are not making something like that up. It would be way wrong to speculate or spread gossip like that. If you have any doubts please delete. If that is true, oh my.
Was Jamie actually fired from Gardendale or did someone surmise he was fired?
sw&w,
One thing you have to remeber about all of this is that Dr. Rogers knew Jesus and he knew that Jesus would take care of this flock. He also knew Bellevue (the flock) and that we would not stand for sin in the pulpit.
I have stated several times and will again,
We will either remove sin from the man in the pulpit or we will remove the man of sin from the pulpit and I believe that we know which that should be.
Dr. Gaines we are going to change the locks on the doors.
bin wonderin,
I did not make it up. I would never have dreamed something like that happened because we assumed the Dr. Rogers loved the Steve Gaines.
My husband asked the deacon why he thought Dr. Rogers supported Steve as strongly as he did. We had heard he wanted him here for several years and we have wanted to know why.
The deacon said, "because he didn't know him." He then told my husband that story.
Again, I cannot promise you this happened. All I can promise is a deacon told my husband and I have heard it from two additional sources. I cried when I thought about what Dr. Rogers must have been going through his last weeks on earth.
Someone else already posted the Janice Rogers is going to Germantown. Does anyone know if that is true?
Maybe I should not have posted that. If not I apologize. There are a lot of people whispering the story. You would have heard it soon anyway.
It could be that it's nearly midnight as well :) some people have to sleep.
binwondering,
I'm fine. No hard feelings here. This is a difficult process for everyone. And I share your frustration that it is so hard to sort through correctly.
I must say, at the risk of setting myself up for a beating, that Jim B is a friend. We do not see eye-to-eye on everything but I do trust him and I don't believe he would knowingly lie to me or mislead me.
---
bin said,...
"It violated the BBC expense and travel policies posted here earlier and certainly would never be considered a valid moving expense by the IRS."
Andrew,...Interesting, I hadn't read the policy yet. But this reminds me of a statement I heard someone say about policy. Does anyone know when the policy began or was last updated?
---
Proverbs12:22 said,...
"I for one believe the search committee owed it to the church to tell us the conditions attached to the pastor's acceptance of the call. If he mandated Jamie would be coming too and Dr. Whitmire would be out, we should have been told that BEFORE we voted. If he mandated other changes, we should have been told that BEFORE we voted."
Andrew: I agree.
---
more RUMORS and junk! my point has been proven. many of you seem to enjoy this junk greatly. since I stopped posted this afternoon, there have been all kinds of "new" things "come to light". more Conspiracy theories. unreal!!
whynotask posted: I believe Jamie came sooner then expected because he was fired after Steve Gaines left. I believe gardendale washed their hands of anyone connected with Bellevue. That explains why we have a few extra from there. Also, to iwasthere, were you in the deacons meeting wednesday night. I understand they had a surprise visit from someone
REPLY: why would you post something like that about Jamie? why? an out right lie, why?
and who was this suprise visit by?
So you call a confirmed 25k dollar donation to a church that is lead and believes things that BBC stands firmly against a conspiracy? Are you saying that donation was never made?
whynotask posted: Andrew
I donot understand the explanation on the plane tickets? I may be dense but why did he call his secretary in Alabama and then she called Mary Ellen Ward to book tickets here? Was Steve Gaines working for Gardendale or Bellevue at the time of this call? Was this a period between jobs? Sounds confusing to me? Slap me & explain.
REPLY: very simple. he called his Sec. in Alabama and she made the choice that since he was coming to Bellevue and they would be flying here etc, she chose to call Bellevue and get them to go ahead and take care of it from here.
According to the Communication Committee brochere page 8.
I quote thusly and so,
Addendum-Bellevue Executive Staff Expense Reimbursement Policy Summary. It was revised Nov 6, 2006. This is the revision they had to have for the pastor's church furnished vehicle to be legitamized that we have been paying for over the past year.
The Travel and Entertainment Guidelines were revised Nov 15, 2005. I think that's the one that covers sending your peekapoo to doggy spa care for the week.
Does anyone else know anything about what Proverbs 12:22 posted?
Proverbs, I don't believe you made that up, so rest easy. I have heard Dr. Rogers told Brother Whitmire he felt like he had been misled. I had not heard he asked the pastor to resign. If that happened, can you imagine what Mrs. Rogers has been living with for a year?
Yes, it is true Janice Rogers has been attending Germantown. That is an open secret.
regarding the IRS stuff. can you guys please please stop this junk. can we talk about real concerns and try to get somewhere? Chip Freeman and others are VERY qualified to know what to do and how to do it. Bellevue gets rave reviews every single year regarding tax issues and how everything is done. rave reviews every year. this stuff is taken very seriously.
tim: it is more obvious with every post that you want nothing to do with things being made right. you do not want this to end. you seem to truly be enjoying it and that is sad.
i know nothing about. nothing. until you show me otherwise, i call it junk.
i am at a loss for words daily at how so many of you seem to be "Conspiracy theorist". amazed and saddened. no wonder some of you believe all the rumors and stuff going around. it seems that someone is always out to get someone. it seems that I am a new staff member or family member every day. one day I am Brother Steve, the next day Chuck Taylor. like the staff and Deacons are sitting around trying to figure out what to post next and how to trick who next. trying to figure out their next evil move. it is like some are looking over their shoulders every second.
listen to yourselves!! PLEASE
I understand that some are hurting. I pray you get your questions answered and the issues are delt with. i pray that many come back to Bellevue. for the others, I pray they are able to find a new church home. a place they will grow to love and worship in.
but this is getting totally out of hand. totally! you are feeding off of each other and you are consumed by this stuff and it gets worse every day. it is controlling some of you.
God is on His throne and God is in control.
Are you dismissing the 25k dollar donation because you know in your heart you would have to come out and make a stand against the church? I think so.
I'd like to know the answer about the 25,000 to FUMC as well.
oh ...no sw&W...it was true...puhleasee.. it was so true...
never mind, I thought you were taking that out for good.
That's actually sort of funny. What is the answer to the 25k dollar question? (campy reference to the 64k$ question)
i know nothing about. nothing. until you show me otherwise, i call it junk.
i am at a loss for words daily at how so many of you seem to be "Conspiracy theorist". amazed and saddened. no wonder some of you believe all the rumors and stuff going around. it seems that someone is always out to get someone. it seems that I am a new staff member or family member every day. one day I am Brother Steve, the next day Chuck Taylor. like the staff and Deacons are sitting around trying to figure out what to post next and how to trick who next. trying to figure out their next evil move. it is like some are looking over their shoulders every second.
listen to yourselves!! PLEASE
I understand that some are hurting. I pray you get your questions answered and the issues are delt with. i pray that many come back to Bellevue. for the others, I pray they are able to find a new church home. a place they will grow to love and worship in.
but this is getting totally out of hand. totally! you are feeding off of each other and you are consumed by this stuff and it gets worse every day. it is controlling some of you.
God is on His throne and God is in control.
Let's postulate that a SBC donated 25k dollars to a church lead by a pro-abortion pro-homosexual leader. What would your reaction be? More to the point what will your reaction be when you find out this is completely true and you can not claim ignorance?
you can get personal all you want. i will never stoop to your level.
How is all of this not personal? If we don't as members of the church have a personal vested interest in these things then all is lost. I am curious to know what your opinion is of a church that would do such a thing?
i think many need to read the last 6-10 hours of posts on this blog. these are posts from "Christians"??? they are full of anger, personal attacks, rumor, libel, slander, hate, lies, must I go on.
i am sure someone will now post something to try and defend that.
I have not attacked you or made any false claims. I merely wish to know your opinion.
that is fine Tim. again, your tone and posts speak for themselves. they show your true colors. say whatever you would like. attack me all you would like. God is watching every word you type.
Oh but I can certainly remember a certain Pastor standing in front of me and proclaiming far and wide that he had never once used his credit card for personal usage. Do you remember that? Pretty well a foregone conclusion that that statement was a pure LIE. Do you deny that?
ju: my opinion has been posted in GREAT detail over the last 3+ days. in great detail. i have answered many questions and posted on every rumor possible.
I mean your opinion as it concerns a church that donates any amount of money to an organization that holds beliefs you stand firmly against. Not your opinion as it concerns credit card usage or air plane tickets.
since you like to lie to other posters about me, Tim, why don't you back up your claim? find and post those evil comments you claim came from me. you will be looking a long long time since they do not exist. this blog was bad, but you have taken it to it to a whole new level. just what it should not be.
yes, God is watching every word I post. i am fully aware of that. that is why I am careful what I say
Tim,
Your comments as of lately seem to be full of hate. Just because you disagree with hisservant or somebody else it does not make them evil. Their posts are not less important than those which you post. Quite frankly your 'Holier than thou' attitude towards some people on this forum is starting to disturb me.
Everytime something is said that could possibly reflect Bellevue in a postive way, you are quick to attack it, and deny that there could possibly be any truth in it. When new info is posted, unless it is something negative, you never support it or even acknowledge that it might be the truth.
Why do you do this? Do you get some sort of pleasure or self-satisfication when you insult others and post ONLY negative stuff? It just doesn't make much sense to me...
it amazes me that some of you actually even care about what is going on in a church. reading the things you post.
Tim said:
or you are just-a-dope.
Case and point. Now *that* is the Christian attitude.
with every word you post Tim, you hurt your "cause". is that so hard to see? when those on "your side" of the issue read your posts full of hate tomorrow, they will agree with me.
hisservant, I appreciate your responding at all. I really do want to know what your opinion is though.
i want to know the facts on what you are talking about
hisservant wrote:
"it seems that I am a new staff member or family member every day. one day I am Brother Steve, the next day Chuck Taylor."
And just who are you today? Are you just a plain deacon or a higher-up-the-foodchain deacon (i.e. a deacon officer)?
NASS
Ok well I'm fairly sure that sometime later today you'll be able to corroborate for yourself that the donation was made. Please let us know your reaction when you do.
New BBC Open Forum:
where did all the hate filled posts from Tim go? he should never be able to post here again
Hisservant, I noticed the same thing...all his posts disappeared.
That is so low..
stillwaiting:
Unlike you, I don't think this is all a game. Thank you for giving me the chance to play, though.
Tim, I will attest to all the posts that you have just deleted. I do think that if you thought they were a problem you should have just appologized vs making HisServant out to be foolish. It doesn't help any of your positions.
Now..Now..You have spent the past three days..ranting and talking in circles..You have not had anything of any substance to say. You will qualify yourself as being anyone that would have any knowledge of any of these issues, yet you expect us to take you seriously.
Why? Why should what you say be in any more important than everyone else that post here. What credibility do you have?
hisservant wrote:
"i think many need to read the last 6-10 hours of posts on this blog. these are posts from "Christians"??? they are full of anger, personal attacks, rumor, libel, slander, hate, lies, must I go on."
Actually, I saw precious little of any of those things until you showed up tonight. You just seem to bring out the best in people, Mr. Deacon. It is, "deacon," isn't it? And no, you don't have to go on.
And please don't take this as a "personal attack," but didn't you learn in school that you're supposed to capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence? I know you've got a "Shift" key because you always capitalize "I".
"where did all the hate filled posts from Tim go? he should never be able to post here again"
I didn't see any "hate filled" posts from Tim. And while your unsolicited advice is noted, it is just that -- unsolicited.
Sorry everyone. It's been a long day, and "stevesservantthedeacon" has just worn out his welcome.
NBBCOF
bait? you are joking right? no bait is needed. I guess you have not read any of his posts. this is not the first time. if I baited him, why delete his posts? i did NOTHING to him. he can say whatever he wants, i have already said, i will not stoop to that level. he nor anyone else will get me to act like that.
Stillwaiting,
I don't have all the facts on this particular situation, therefore I cannot comment on the subject intellegently.
hisservant,
If you ever feel like it, could you email me? My contact address is in my profile. I'd like to write you a quick private message.
I don't care who you are...feel free to use an alias name when you send it, I just would like to be able to contact you in private...thanks.
If you don't feel comfortable doing that, then by no means do it! God bless you.
Well I can tell you what my opinion is of a church that would do such a thing which is what I have done already. I would agree that all we have to go on are posts in this forum but some credible names have been attached to those claims that hisservant will be able to verify later today I'm sure.
So...does anyone know what is the next step?
How do we register our vote of "no-confidence" ?
Will anyone be listening?
m,
This has been happening for the past 3 days with hisservant. He has constantly been baiting people into arguing, mainly about nothing. Obviously, from the reactions between the two of them (hisservant & cary) they decided to show up here late this evening and stir up some trouble. Trouble is that it turned upon their own heads. Nothing at all political about it. I will discuss seriously with those that want to. However, for those that want to play games, that can be done also.
you have at least 2 posters that have posted that they saw the posts from Tim and how out of line they were. how convenient that you just missed them. that seems to always be case. you can always find my posts, like them or not, because I have never deleted one. I do not let me emotions take over my body and ruin my witness.
hisservant wrote:
"bait? you are joking right? no bait is needed. I guess you have not read any of his posts. this is not the first time. if I baited him, why delete his posts? i did NOTHING to him. he can say whatever he wants, i have already said, i will not stoop to that level. he nor anyone else will get me to act like that."
I can see it now. Tomorrow morning's headline:
BELLEVUE DEACON SUFFERS COMPLETE MELTDOWN!
Get some rest, man. You've completely lost all sense of reality.
hisservant wrote:
"I do not let me emotions take over my body and ruin my witness."
I think that ship has sailed.
What exactly is the procedure? Does the congregation's vote count? Who can call a business meeting? Anyone? Or only the pastor?
charis,
I wish that I had the answers to your questions. That is something that we are working on. I am not expecting for the leadership to call a business meeting any time in the near future, because they truly do not want anymore coming into the light than what has already.
stick with us here and we should have a few things worked out shortly.
thanks.
my posts and the way I have handled the personal attacks etc are able to be read. i am far from a meltdown.
so you defend Tim or anyone else posting hate filled posts with personal attacks?
hisservant wrote:
"i am far from a meltdown."
Good. But are you a deacon?
I find it incredible that you could possibly complain about personal attacks. Have you went back and read your posts? Honestly, you have accused everyone that post. Now, if you would like to qualify yourself as someone that knows something and present some creditials, perhaps we could talk, but otherwise it seems that you have no reason to be here other than imploy the rope-a-dope strategy.
tim posted: This has been happening for the past 3 days with hisservant. He has constantly been baiting people into arguing, mainly about nothing. Obviously, from the reactions between the two of them (hisservant & cary) they decided to show up here late this evening and stir up some trouble. Trouble is that it turned upon their own heads. Nothing at all political about it. I will discuss seriously with those that want to. However, for those that want to play games, that can be done also.
REPLY: so where did your hate filled posts go Tim?? also, I thought if someone removed their own posts it stated that. your posts are gone?? where? NBBCOF I thought you never saw them?
if your posts remained, they would prove that I started nothing with you. actually, if you look at the posts above, I never posted anything toward you until posted to me and I responded.
all my posts are here and i have never deleted one. i have nothing to hide, unlike you
Suppose, just suppose, that a vote is taken and Dr. Gaines is asked to leave, or if he should decide to resign,
how would the current staff issues be addressed (AKA- Mark D and those who approve of wounding the sheep) ?
Is anyone willing to stand?
Is it too late?
There does not HAVE to be a Bellevue at all. If we as a church do not repent of sin, there won't be much of Bellevue left.
The Lord says "I will build My church." Current attitudes are contrary to scripture. The Lord wiped Isreal out over and over in the Old Testament, leaving only a remnant. If He did that to His chosen people, why not Bellevue?
And what, o man, doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.
May the Lord of Hosts have mercy on us
trust me, I have the "respect" of all the important people in my life. that is all that matters to me.
charis,
Exactly! God did do that to Israel. God is in control of this situation as well, whether any of us believe it or not. It is true.
We are being put thru a fire and it has been pretty surprising to see the things that are burning away. We have found sin in our pulpit, sin in our staff, sin in our deacon body. It is my belief that God is working on purging our church and I do believe that if it can not be purged, he will destroy it.
There are many details that will have to be worked out, but that is ok as well God is in control of the details. God did not call us to figure it all out and then act. He called us to act. He already has it figured out.
It is late and I am tired. Perhaps we can talk more on these things tomorrow.
tim: my posts speak for themselves. some of the more decent people on "your side" of the issues know that. I posted things today and shed light on things that had never been talked about on here. many claim to have just heard of some of the issues that came up today. I have known for a good while about everything. to me it is not about who knows what. i want no credit for anything i just want the rumors to stop and for people to get the answers they want.
The Lord who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps...
but I do :)
Goodnight "toolman"
I repeat, Mr. Deacon sir, I didn't see any "hate filled" posts from Tim. For the sake of saving space in these increasingly long comments pages, I've been periodically removing the notations that say, "Comment has been deleted by author." I'm sure others have done the same with their own comments. If, when you delete a comment, you'll check the little box underneath that says "Remove forever?" it won't leave that "trail." I didn't remove any of Tim's comments other than one tonight which I edited something out of and reposted it for him (since he was reportedly stuffing himself at dinner). If any of Tim's other comments were removed, it was by Tim. I've only cleaned up the litter that's left after people delete their own posts.
NBBCOF
hisservant,
It is good that the people important to you respect you.
You are fairly new to this blogging stuff aren't you.
Let's take a look at where we think things are headed, shall we? That might be a title for a new thread.
It should be obvious to everyone that the leadership of the church is either going to "circle the wagons" and downplay the significance of the numerous questions that have been generated or they are going to try to answer the various questions being thrown at them as best they can. To be fair, many in leadership don't have the answers to a lot of the questions that are being asked of them. They will have to depend on truthful answers from many people who may be unwilling to share what they know.
If Dr. Whitmire and others have been treated with little or no respect, this should be dealt with SOON, while there is still time to make amends. It may be too late.
And,if this was done to his family, was it done to other staff who moved on as well?
Even if there is no such gesture of genuine repentance from the administration, be sure that "God cannot be mocked, What a man sows, that shall he also reap." Maybe some folks will reap what they have sown.
The reason that Dr. Rogers was so loved by me and so many others was that he always treated others with respect and dignity on a consistent basis. As a result, he was rewarded with respect in return. That kind of respect cannot be bought with money, numerical success, or talent.
There is no doubt that following a man of Dr. Roger's stature and maturity, combined with the kinds of leadership traits, personal skills, and humble compassion for others which he possessed, could never be an easy task. Not to mention that Dr. Rogers could really knock the ball over the fence from the pulpit, too!!!
My prediction is that Dr. Gaines will remain the Pastor at Bellevue for as long as he wishes. He has the support of those he really needs. (Making the church's payroll or paying the light bill won't be much of a problem with the millions of dollars in the bank, either.)
For those who seek another man to fill the pulpit at Bellevue, I think you will be increasingly disappointed as you continue to attend a church where you dislike the pastor.
I may be wrong, though. It looks like you'll need at least fifty percent of your leadership to "dethrone the human king." If you are patient enough, Dr. Gaines might resign out of frustration.
In the event he doesn't, at least you have choices. With churches on every corner, when church-goers get upset enough, they find that God can be worshipped elsewhere. They even find that they enjoy it better where they admire and like the Pastor.
I would never tell anyone to leave a church, but I know for myself, if I could not look upon my Pastor with a great deal of respect, I would at least have to consider worshipping elsewhere, and I'm sure many are thinking about it.
May God bless each one of you as you follow HIS direction in this and all matters, no matter what men may say.
P.S. Based on your beliefs right now, what chance do you think there is of Dr. Gaines' resigning from Bellevue within the next ten years??
Yes, I'm with "charis." Well, not really with charis, but I'm outta here for the night. Hold down the fort, Toolman. 'Night, Mr. Deacon!
NBBCOF
SW&W & NASS,
It has been a most enjoyable evening. I certainly hope that the remenant of deacons with good sense will be able to get us back to the Bellevue that we are supposed to be.
And I pray that if we have any deacons with drinking problems that they will repent and turn from the bottle to God.
my point was very simple and you can make it into whatever you want. i know you will anyway. I do not feel that I should have to answer any of your questions, jump through hoops, or anything else to earn your respect.
i respect you and do not ask you to do something special for me before I can.
again, make of it what you will.
i guess I did not communicate my feelings well and I am sorry for that.
LOL! Workshipper, I think you posted that comment before.
Except for the part of Gaines' resignation.
I would like to add, as the Bible clearly teaches, that our economy is not the same as the Lord's. Things can get mighty uncomfortable for someone who's on the receiving end of the Lord's wrath. Then again, to be on the receiving end of God's mercy is a place where miracles occur as well. I know this, because I received his mercy :)
What do I expect will happen? Has anyone seen Facing the Giants? I'm praying and preparing for rain. When it comes? That's not my job to know.
Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord. I will repay
For our God is a consuming fire.
Is His arm too short that it cannot save?
tim: are you going to admit to everyone why you deleted several of your own posts??
stillwaiting
I guess we could have used that $25,000 to buy 22 more cheerleader trips instead.
Maybe a cheerleader missionary team? I think we could work with this. Poms for Jesus!
Thank you for your post workshipper. We all need a miracle for SG to resign. Can those of us reading these posts determine to pray for God to remove him? It's our only hope. We can never convince the hisservants of the world because they can't see it.
stillwaitingandwatching said...
By George, I think I've got it.....
“his007 and Cary won't answer the $25,000 question because it just came out and the deacons, staff, committees, janitors, and church mice haven't gotten their talking points on this issue yet. Seems like BBC needs to set up a hotline so they can get up to speed quicker.”
----
Close, but actually it's worse than that. Why would you need to prepare everyone (talking points) for a great decision like giving the money to the church – don't you see, they think it was a good idea. That's why they did it. That's why there's no one prepared to defend it.
We are unequally yoked in many ways here. The methods, that are driven by values, principles and convictions are not the same as those of us that are expressing concerns - thus the expression of concern. They don't get. They truly believe what they did was wise and right. That is why the staff, deacons, etc have not been alerted or prepared YET for a response. They anticipated a "good job" response.
Again, the big problem is that these two groups do not share some of the same critical values and convictions. Think of the followers as neutral. The are simply trained to follow the leader - and they are doing so. And unfortunately when the leader, as any leader anywhere, makes a bad move the followers are not grounded, convectional, and strong of heart to stand and not bow.
Now, we've seen that many people are identifying and standing on their convictions. Many are finding that it's not so hard after all to take a stand – but I also think many of us are babes in this ring and just now learning to stand for what we believe.
ATTENTION PLEASE! TIME TO TIE A KNOT IN THIS ONE. PLEASE GO TO THE "YET ANOTHER NEW FINANCIAL THREAD" TO CONTINUE.
Thank you.
NBBCOF
v
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