Do you?

[BigChicken]

Believe in horoscopes?

Read yours?

Read it just for fun at work?

Ever read one that really sounded like your day?

[Big_Dave]

One time about 10 years ago, another couple and us went to breakfast. My friends wife reads the daily horoscope every day, so she just had to have the morning edition of the paper.

The horoscope for that day, 3 of the 4 of us were right on the money and the 4th one wasn't far off. :wow:

That did turn out to be one hell of a good day.

[BigChicken]

Well mine didn't say anything about a good day. But it was pretty darn close to how the day went.

I do read it at work most days, and I have it on my google homepage.

I'm not sure if I really believe or not. I was told by my minister when I was growing up that we shouldn't believe in them. He was a pretty good moral guide for me as a kid. Unlike some of the recent ones at my church.

[McGee]

...How has that turned out???

[BigChicken]

Well, it said that I would hear about a friend from my past. Seems a friend had to go from local hospital to Philly for a serious problem.

Friend is doing good and improving. Said prayers immediately, didn't go google up another horoscope page for sure.

[McGee]

:doh: ....Sorry...I meant this... :D



Well mine didn't say anything about a good day. But it was pretty darn close to how the day went.

I do read it at work most days, and I have it on my google homepage.

I'm not sure if I really believe or not. I was told by my minister when I was growing up that we shouldn't believe in them. He was a pretty good moral guide for me as a kid. Unlike some of the recent ones at my church.

[BigChicken]

Um McGee do you mean what happened at the church with the minister
or
if I should really read the horoscope.

I'm truly getting senile. I forgot what today's said already. :cool:

[McGee]

:D ...Yep what happened with the minister at your church???...sorry WAY off topic... :ninja:

[BigChicken]

Sunday, November 11, 2007
Posted on Sat, Nov 10, 2007 Zoom + | Zoom -
EMBATTLED PASTOR QUITS HIS CHURCH
AFTER ENDURING CRITICISM AND A COURT CHALLENGE, THE REV. MALCOLM L. FINKLEY IS LEAVING TO START A CHURCH IN TEXAS
By R. JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff Writer
COATESVILLE — The pastor whose flock took him to court last summer has quit his post as leader of Tabernacle Baptist Church.

But he said he remains firm behind the choices he made at the helm — including those that put him at odds with the trustees and board members of the 100-year-old congregation.

Last week, the Rev. Malcolm L. Finkley confirmed his intention to resign and sounded off about his 14-month tenure at the church at 819 Coates St.

Among his criticisms, Finkley said church leaders talked about following biblical laws but challenged him when he tried to enforce them.

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The leaders wanted to establish fiscal accountability with the Tabernacle’s bookkeeping, Finkley said, but members ignored recommendations set forth in an audit he commissioned.

And although church leaders hired Finkley as pastor, entrusting him with the power to lead the church, he said Tabernacle’s trustees and some of its deacons regu

larly undermined his authority.

Finkley’s last official day on the job is Monday, but he delivered his final sermon to the congregation a week ago.

“I told the church that basically when I came to Tabernacle it was my desire to grow the church and grow the ministry,” Finkley said. “However, I learned there were some things blocking the growth of that ministry.”

He cited a lack of commitment from church members and the refusal of some to follow “biblical guidelines.”

Finkley provided a copy of his Oct. 30 resignation letter to the Daily Local News.

In it, he questions, “Why didn’t we say in pastor’s initial offer letter that Tabernacle is a Democracy where majority rules always apply versus yielding to leadership and the Holy Spirit?”

“If that had been clearly stated in the offer letter,” he wrote, “we would have never gotten into this situation, and I am sure Malcolm Finkley, a true man of God, would not have relocated his entire family to Coatesville if he had been told Tabernacle does whatever the majority of the congregation wants versus following scriptural leadership as clearly stated in the Bible.”

The infighting at Tabernacle became public when the pastor and member of the church began threatening each other with criminal charges.

Finkley fired first, sending a letter to some members accusing them of “planning and participating in chaos” and threatening to have them arrested if they attended Sunday services.

The “chaos” he described was the intent of some members to hold a special meeting after Sunday services in July to let the congregation vote on whether it should oust Finkley.

Those who received Finkley’s letters responded by accusing him of harassment.

Charges were never filed against either side. But a court got involved when a group of Tabernacle’s trustees asked a judge to intervene and clarify Tabernacle’s bylaws and, in the interim, stop Finkley from spending the church’s money.

Attempts to reach Nathan Bookman, a Tabernacle trustee listed as a plaintiff in court documents, and Calvin Rowland, a deacon at the church, for comment were unsuccessful. Daniel Fallon, the congregation’s attorney, did not return a call for comment Friday.

Finkley said the questioning of his use of church funds began on his first day of work at Tabernacle in August 2006 after he ordered a computer and a bookshelf for his office.

It continued, Finkley said, when he chose to stop Tabernacle’s practice of “bootlegging” Internet service from a member’s America Online account and instead subscribe to Internet services for the church office.

Later, Finkley said, he was scrutinized for hiring his wife as church secretary after getting no response when he advertised the position in the church bulletin and after he approved her salary with the trustees.

But the expense Finkley said drew the dispute into the courts was $17,000 the church paid for an accounting firm to review Tabernacle’s bookkeeping and tax records, even though the expense was authorized by church leaders, Finkley said.

Finkley provided the Daily Local News with a copy of an audit conducted by Chitwood and Chitwood, a Tennessee-based financial services firm that specializes in checking the books of religious organizations.

The five-page study raises numerous flags concerning Tabernacle’s apparent failure, among others, to properly file tax documents, account for funds or do “basic housekeeping” tasks, like electing church officers and withholding federal and state taxes from employee paychecks.

“We believe these violations are quite serious,” the auditor wrote.

The auditor concludes:

“We do not receive any pleasure from the disclosure of bad news about our clients … It is imperative that (Tabernacle) find somebody to step in and take charge of their church’s management and financial affairs. This will be no easy task.”

Finkley said he thought he was hired to be that guy.

“It’s sad because I think the sum total of the legal fees in this issue is $50,000 … that was not approved by the church,” Finkley said. “The sad reality is that most of the members do not know … This was a waste … and I begged every Saturday to get this matter out of court.

“I would really like to know why they were this committed to me instead of fixing some of the issues that were there.”

Prior to moving to Coatesville, Finkley worked as an assistant pastor at a large Baptist church in Dallas, Texas.

He and his family plan to return to that city, he said, and start their own congregation.

To contact staff writer R. Jonathan Tuleya, send an e-mail to jtuleya@dailylocal.com.

[McGee]

'He and his family plan to return to that city, he said, and start their own congregation. '



:yikes: :yikes: ....Wonderful... :wow: :wtf: :wacko:


Well...glad ya'll got rid of the fella....I hope your church can heal ...