re: A man at the Chevron station just passed me a Healing Place Flyer

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Just so you know, Dino is no longer the pastor there and they release there audits every year now. They even make pamphlets for people to bring home. Shows what they collected from tithes and exactly what it went to, such as feeding the homeless, helping addicts, other outreach programs, expanding their churches, etc etc.

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Out of curiosity, are the audits internal or external?

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Out of curiosity, are the audits internal or external?

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External. There is also a board of Overseers (other pastors from across the country) who meet with Mike and make sure that he and the church are staying on track with its beliefs.

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Out of curiosity, are the audits internal or external?

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External like DGau said. They get an independent outside auditor to come in and audit everything. Then, they release that info to the church goers in multiple ways.

Dino did some things wrong and yes, he deserves all the criticism he gets, even though he's asked for forgiveness, he was still doing things no pastor should do. I know pastors aren't perfect, but I think what he did is taking it to another level.

Anyways, my point is that HPC has changed a lot. Pastor Mike is a genuinely good person and HPC does a lot of outreach to the broken parts of this community. The church dipped in attendance for a long time after the dino scandal and tried out a few of their pastors who were under dino/outside pastors until they realized Mike was the perfect fit for their message. He's worked his arse off to bring that church back and make it what it is today. Without him, I think the dino scandal would have sunk it.

People on here just say shite and have no clue what they're talking about, but it is the OT after all.

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It's still more cult than church baw.

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EVERY religion is a cult.

Catholics get together every week and chant the same chants and perform rituals.

I will never understand the hate for HPC. I am not a believer at all but I have been there a few times with friends, and they always seemed to have a positive message. I don't know why anyone would have a problem with that.

dude you don't have to come here and defend organized religion
all of them are human constructs designed to deliver a message
since that message is touched by human hands it will necessarily be flawed

all religions and all churches are flawed

whatever makes you happy and whatever you find meaningful is all that matters
don't take it personally

meant to reply to saint tiger sorry

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The ex-LSU players you see there could be there to 100 percent worship...or do they see a large audience to sell their new product to?

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Some of y'all have some twisted minds. It's not like they're there with booths setup to sell shite. A lot of people don't even recognize them and it's not like they're seeking attention. I recognize them bc of me being such a fan of LSU sports.

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many college kids go there to get laid or look for a sig? How many hurting divorcees are looking for a rejuvenation?

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Again, just shows your mindset. I'm sure they do have people that go to every church like this. The church can't help people's intentions, they just preach their word and try to spread the word of Jesus. And Pastor Mike is good at that and makes it known that's their intentions.

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Yes, I am a Christian. I do not go to church. I have been to plenty. I agree 1,000 percent with the poster who stated that church should represent a more middle-class, realistic living.

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You say you're a Christian, but you say churches should represent a middle class living. While I may agree some churches are a little too big, their goals should be to reach out to poor, sick and hurting people regardless of class. But maybe I'm misreading your quote.

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There are 5,000 preachers and another 5,000 youth ministers in BR who are getting paid to all pretty much say the same thing. Jesus is big business and they know it.

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Again, intentions. In everything you do in life, there are people with the wrong intentions. Unfortunately, church/religions aren't exempt from that.

It seems to me like your mindset is just in the wrong frame about churches. Most people already have their minds made up and can't be changed. However, a lot of churches do good things and it's a shame the few that may be tainted give the rest a bad name, just like in anything that happens that way (cops for example).