By the way, don't be too quick to embrace Erwin McManus either. He has some serious questions to answer regarding his "non-profit" corporation called Awaken. The foremost question is, "Which "Awaken" is the real one? McManus has ties to FOUR such non-profit corporations on file with the California Business Portal and the State Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts.

I'm still waiting to hear some serious answers to my serious questions regarding the financial transparency and accountability of these non-profit corporations.

1.) Mr. Christy’s fake Impact America PAC is gone. It was taken down on August 10, 2007. It was at http://www.ImpactAmerica.net; an archive of the site is still available online at http://web.archive.org/web/20070429060409/http://www.impactamerica.net/

2.) Potential and present advertisers have been warned that there is no print version of “The Church Report.” Christy has removed the print advertising rates from his website. An archive of the print rate card is still available online at http://web.archive.org/web/20070811195731/http://www.thecronline.com/mediakit.pdf

3.) Ministries that contributed editorial content have been notified that their good names were being used to give credibility to a scam.

4.) Past errors are less likely to be repeated. It is highly unlikely that any ministry will appoint Jason Christy to a leadership position, or that he will be given a national platform to speak for people of faith.

5.) Past victims of Mr. Christy’s scams have a sense of justice. Those that have felt intimidated by Mr. Christy have some relief.

6.) The chances of success for future fraudulent schemes by Jason Christy have been dramatically diminished.

http://www.thecronline.com/blog/2007/08/press-release-from-jason-t-christy.html#links

Thanks for your input and perspective. When I read it and the articles you quoted, I thanked God I am so far away from the “church” in the US.

While at the Hillsong conference, I sat next to a middle aged woman from the States who painted an extremely bleak picture of the church in the US.

Denominational wars, prosperity gospel, self rightousness and the emergent church movement is making Christianity look like a joke.

When will we all realise that we are fallen creatures made whole by Jesus?

Rising Evangelical Star Jason Christy Leaves Trail of Fraud, Associates Say
By Hannah Elliott

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Aug. 1 /ABP/ — When young, charismatic Christian publisher Jason Christy was tapped two years ago to lead the powerful Christian Coalition, the group’s leaders praised him for his ability “to inspire and encourage people of faith to action.” But Christy’s business dealings — both before and after his one-month affiliation with the Coalition — instead have inspired former customers and co-workers to file lawsuits charging Christy with defrauding their Christian businesses.

Christy, 36, who apparently had no previous public-policy experience, persuaded the Christian Coalition in 2005 to place him in one of the most visible and powerful positions in evangelical life. But before the coalition’s leaders officially turned over the reins of their 1.2 million-member national lobbying group, they learned of a trail of legal and financial problems that has followed Christy from coast to coast.

Former associates and customers of Christy’s many business ventures — mostly Christian magazines — say he cheated them out of money and threatened them. At least 10 of them have filed lawsuits, Associated Baptist Press has learned, and others have gotten court-issued restraining or protection orders against the Scottsdale, Ariz., businessman.

Christy says all the allegations are false. He and his supporters say “enemies” are spreading lies about him because of soured business relationships. But critics say Christy is a scam artist preying on trusting Christians.

Christy now publishes The Church Report, supposedly a conservative, national print magazine and web site. He has appeared as an analyst on CNN and spoken at megachurches like Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral. He hob-nobs with some of the evangelical elite and still has relationships with leaders in highly respected positions, like the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

This article is continued at Associated Baptist Press News: http://www.abpnews.com/2685.article

Also at The Baptist Standard: http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=6646 and

Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/augustweb-only/131-35.0.html

But then again, people will gather at churches to hear what their itching ears want them to hear. That is, you cater for the “it’s all about me” mentality and your church will be huge.