For the next month and half we will embark on a journey we are calling Adventures in Friendship. Reaching out to our friends and neighbors is incredibly important and a core priority at crossroads. So in order to help build bridges to people we are going to be giving away a brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle. Here is how Adventures In Friendship works. If you are a first time guest at Crossroads over the next 8 weeks OR if you bring a first time guest during this time period, your name will be entered into the drawing to win the Harley. Then on May 22nd at our 6pm service we will draw the name of the winner. It could be you!
Download the press release! Click here. (pdf format)
Eligibility Rules:
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published January 10, 2005 [version below is abridged]
TAMPA - Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne stands in the pulpit, preaching the promise of Malachi 3:10 over shouts of hallelujahs and amens. God can rain down blessings, he says in his native South African accent, until "there shall not be room enough to receive it." Someone apparently will need room enough in the driveway for a blessing the pastor plans to give away during the revival: A 16-by-10-foot H2 Hummer.
Revival Ministries International will give away a yellow, 2003 H2 Hummer during its Winter Campmeeting, which began Sunday and runs through Jan. 16. The weeklong program features Howard-Browne as the keynote speaker at the River at Tampa Bay, the church he and wife Adonica founded in December 1996. Church officials declined to comment about the giveaway, saying they didn't want any publicity.
"I think it's an excellent idea," said Randy White, televangelist and senior pastor of Without Walls International Church, one of the fastest growing congregations in Tampa with 18,000 members. "If this were MTV or any other secular market or organization, there wouldn't even be anything written about it. I applaud Rodney." White said that his church has given away homes and paid electric bills for a full year to those attending his services. "It's a bait on the hook to get people in to hear the message," he said. White readily admits that his approach to religion and preaching can seem controversial. It's to be expected, he said. He's had strip club owner Joe Redner in his pulpit. "And I've had Bubba the Love Sponge call me his pastor," White said.
According to the official drawing rules and regulations for the Hummer on Revival Ministries International's Web site, www.revival.com people had the chance to register to win the vehicle between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2004. Those eligible for the drawing included first-time visitors to select services at the River during 2004, church members who brought first-time visitors, Bible students, and people who filled out one of several surveys.
The Web site listed two other prizes to be given during the Winter Campmeeting: a scooter and a Play Station. A 2003 H2 Hummer, listed as the "grand prize," is registered to Revival Ministries International, according to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. A 2005 H2 Hummer can retail for more than $50,000.
He told churchgoers on the first Sunday of the new year that 2005 would be the year of blessings. For one person, that begins with a Hummer.
"It's a great idea. Ingenious," said Randy Brummit, pastor of Brandon Assembly of God with about 400 members. "If I could give away a car a week, we would."
Marc S. Sack, rabbi for Congregation Rodeph Sholom, with more than 500 members, said he would rather see the River give away a more economical vehicle.
"I think Hummers are morally questionable," Sack said. "At a time when Americans think about conserving energy resources, I don't think we should be encouraging or celebrating a vehicle that is the ultimate gas guzzler."
But White, from Without Walls, said churches in the Tampa Bay area have to compete with nearby amusement parks and beaches. Concerts offer million-dollar pyrotechnics, he said. "We'll have a candle," White said. "It's just sad where the church hasn't stepped up." White plans to have Rhythm and Blues songstress Mary J. Blige at Without Walls for the Super Sunday service on Super Bowl Sunday. White says he's working to get hip-hop stars Usher and Mace to also attend a service. Churches, he said, should be on the cutting edge.
http://www.statesboroherald.com/news/article/11809
SNELLVILLE — So much for spaghetti
suppers: The First Baptist Church of Snellville is fueling its membership drive
with a sign in front of its sprawling campus proclaiming ‘‘Free Gasoline.’’
There’s a catch, of course. The offer is a not a giveaway. Instead, each
time newcomers or members attend a church event during a Sunday-to-Wednesday
revival they get a pink raffle ticket for a chance to win one of two $500 gas
cards.
‘‘We don’t know how far it will go with these soaring prices,’’ said Rusty
Newman, the church’s senior pastor. ‘‘But it may make someone’s night.’’
Newman’s congregation boasts roughly 9,000 members, but only about 2,500
regularly attend Sunday services.
The church, like others, has long relied on special dinners and giveaways to
draw in members, but elders wanted something a little more timely for this
latest pitch.
They set up a sign advertising the offer outside the church’s parking lot on
a busy road near downtown Snellville, a traffic-clogged suburb northeast of
Atlanta.
‘‘How can we capture those people?’’ asked James Lee, the church’s minister
to seniors, who came up with the idea. ‘‘We’re strong in door-to-door
evangelism, but there’s no way to reach them all.’’
Soon the calls came flooding in. Church staffer Lisa Gauthier said she’s
handled dozens of them each day, some from as far afield as Seattle. Radio show
hosts in Oregon caught wind of the idea and invited Newman on air. So many
inquiries came pouring in that Newman had to order a new phone line and dedicate
a receptionist to answering each one.
Newman views it as a service to the community, and he’s looked to the Bible
for his endorsement. One passage he mentions to support his idea involves Jesus
feeding 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
‘‘Some pastors have questioned our motives,’’ Newman said. ‘‘If it was just
to get people in the building, it would be wrong. But we want to meet someone’s
physical need and eternal spiritual needs.’’
Kent Comments: Let's see - Jesus fed some people who had come to the
middle of nowhere to hear Him. That seems a bit different from handing out
chances for middle-class people to "win" $500 worth of gasoline. And about
those motives, does "Pastor" Newman realize that motives alone do not a good
action make?