Alex: I once heard a preacher say that Jesus wasn’t talking to “us” when he said “For the poor always ye have with you,” but to Judas! That’s right, that bad old Judas was going to be plagued by the poor for the rest of his days, even after Jesus had departed. Too bad Jesus didn’t know that Judas wasn’t even going to have that many days to be plagued.

I think there ought to be an altar call for preachers to walk down front and repent of bad doctrine. Including bad doctrine related to altar calls. Now my brain hurts.

Judson: Charlie’s Angels? Really? To each his own, I guess. It’s hard for me to throw stones after admitting to watching Anna Nicole just last night.

Michael: Your Fanaticism piece is great, as usual, and your mention of Kim Clement reminded me of how disgusted I was at that fool and at my church for letting him appear there. Right now I can’t even remember why I like my church, though I’m sure over time that feeling will fade.

Actually, I have begun to think that my church is generally well-pastored and reasonably well-taught, but that the pastoral staff are bound by the very fanaticism you describe. That is, while the staff pastors would never consider barking or any of the other ridiculous excesses I have seen or heard elsewhere, they also don’t like to naysay guest speakers and “friend of the ministry” that are truly whack (to use an underused theological term). The dichotomy is enough to drive me nuts, and I’ve learned to avoid any services for which I know ahead of time an outside guest speaker will be present. Between Kim Clement, who pops down the road to see us once a year, and “Bishop Tudor Bismarck,” I just can’t stand to admit where I attend several times a year.

Here’s a Kim Clement gem, a “prophecy” he prattled on about at my church’s youth center on October 4, 2001: “There will be at least one person in every home in the United States of America who will come to salvation in the next 12 months. That’s a promise of the Lord!” I checked around my house, even the attic, and I didn’t see it. I checked with some unsaved neighbors and coworkers and they, too, somehow missed out on God’s promise.

The next day, he continued with “This is not going to be a paganistic type of Christmas and I am not insulting you I am just telling you Jesus will be back Christ will be back in this Christmas. You are going to be shocked by what God is going to do over that period Not only in the weather but also in the spiritual climate. People that you never dreamed would be coming to the Kingdom People that are on national television talk shows Will come into the Kingdom and make proclamations about who Jesus is to them in their lives.” I can’t go on, it just makes me sick.