Schuller has had a huge influence, that's for sure. And seemingly controversy-free. As an aside, in my region, a couple of the non-denominational churches have been holding services (some of them in parking lots) when the mainstream denominations (like my Methodist church) shut down out of lawsuit fear. We still can't have Bibles or hymnals, because someone might touch one and then someone else might come along later and touch it (even though it's a small congregation, we all have out seats, and if anyone might touch the books of another, it would not happen for at least a week.) We're still on 1/2 hour services. Lots of folks have migrated over to those "newcomers," never to return. I've shunned the "modern" organizations out of concern for adherence to scripture, but the Methodist church ain't all that observant. You won't ever hear one syllable out of Revelation ("it was just a dream.") And word on the street is that the Methodist church is about to splinter over modern marriage issues. COVID has deferred the conferences that are gonna precipitate this. On the flip side, I've met some folks I greatly admire there.
At one time, he told his congregation that if they couldn't afford to give $1,000 or more, he didn't need their money; they probably needed their money more than he did. This led to a bit of a scandal, as some people understood him to mean that he wasn't so greedy as to take money from people who had bills that they couldn't afford to pay, while others interpreted it as a rejection of everyone but the very rich. I was in Bible college at the time so that was a common debate topic.
Yeah, he left himself open for too much speculation. Like Lon’s “rent” thread, if there isn’t enough information. many will lean toward the worse case scenario.
BEing loved, first, then loving... BEing Blessed, or "woe to", wherever you go, does that change depending on where you go, or depending on who you are ? Are you loved everywhere, anywhere you go ? Sparked by a phrase I heard long ago - "you/we/ don't 'go to' church" ; we "are church". It is who "we" are, everywhere, not where we go as if that could change our hearts. (as if going to a football game could make us a football player) Thus also Jesus' Warnings, and Blessings: ================================================================================= Matthew 23:13–33, The Eight Woes. There is a one-to-one correlation between the eight benediction of the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3–12 and the eight maledictions or woes Yeshua pronounces on the hypocritical religious leaders of his day in Matthew 23:13–33. https://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2018/11/07/eight-curses-of-yeshua/