14 OCT 07: MONEY IS COMING TODAY
Instant Message to whomever suggested a federal investigation of the Cascade Hills Church pastor: Sorry, you lose. Bill Purvis seems to be in the clear. I mean, he didn't need to add a "God told me to say...." phrase like Richard Roberts did in Tulsa.
BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Pastor Bill Purvis revealed during Saturday night's Cascade Hills Church service that someone suggested the Internal Revenue Service review his tax returns. He didn't say who made the suggestion. For all we know, the I.R.S. may not have told him. But whatever other Baptist church is spreading these rumors needs to stop it....
Bill Purvis said the I.R.S. checked his returns - and contacted him the other day to report he'd overpaid on his taxes! He actually has a refund coming. So it was no wonder he felt inspired to give a sermon on "Five Steps to Biblical Prosperity." [True!]
(No, he did NOT say one of the steps was to misfigure your taxes, or throw in a "tip" for the I.R.S. processing staff.)
Last weekend we went to Bill Purvis, to explain several e-mails about his church's incorporation. Now this weekend, he discloses someone called for a review of his tax returns. This pastor might be wise not to take his secretary out to lunch for awhile....
Given these rumors and disclosures, I'm starting to understand why some Cascade Hills Church members are so defensive of their pastor. I heard one single woman say Saturday she wouldn't marry any man who refused to support the church or "Brother Bill." This is the closest anyone at Cascade Hills has come to backing the Apostle's Creed.
Maybe the critics are simply jealous because Cascade Hills Church has been so successful. They figure you can't have the biggest church in Columbus without some kind of hanky-panky -- and a church is far less likely to sue over misleading rumors than Microsoft is.
But over the last couple of weekends, I've noticed some changes at Cascade Hills compared with a few years ago. There's no drama team introducing messages, either in person or on video. Full-color church bulletins have been replaced by simple one-page announcement sheets. If this downturn continues, the congregation soon may have to sing from hymnals.
Do other churches face the same sort of rumor-mongering that Cascade Hills does? For instance, I drove past Fourth Street Baptist Saturday night and found a long stretch limousine parked across Fifth Street from the sanctuary. But a couple of them were rolling around the Historic District - so I don't think Pastor J.H. Flakes kept the party all to himself.
If the critics want to go after Cascade Hills Church, they should check the main entryway on 54th Street. A fountain was running Saturday evening - even though all Columbus city fountains are shut off, because of the Georgia state water restrictions. But the way things are going, inspectors may check the church and find a natural healing spring underneath it.
Water is a main (pun) topic, as we check weekend news headlines:
+ The annual "Help the Hooch Weekend" found people cleaning up items along the Chattahoochee River, and leaving groups of bags along the Riverwalk for collection. I jogged by one pile of trash, which seemed to include the base of a park bench. I think those things were supposed to stay where they are....
(Even students at Wynnton Elementary joined in the cleanup, cleaning up the school grounds on Friday. It makes you wonder how embarrassed the custodians felt - since it implies they're not doing their jobs.)
+ Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue demanded the federal government order an immediate change in the regional water policy. West Point Lake overseers say the lake is low because they're under Army Corps of Engineers orders to draw it down. The Third Brigade can't get home from Iraq fast enough, to straighten this out.
+ Goodwill Industries opened a new recycling center. One staff member said a plastic bottle takes 700 years to decompose in a landfill. And then they say our country doesn't make things that last anymore....
+ Mayor Jim Wetherington told the Ledger-Enquirer he's thinking about asking for a new one-cent city sales tax, especially for public safety improvements. That sounds like something voters will support - as long as no city official gets snookered into promising a park along with it.
+ TV star Erik Estrada appeared at the central library, to help parents fit children's seats properly in cars. This is what happens when you're passed over for "Dancing with the Stars."
(It's a nice public service Erik Estrada is doing, of course - but is this a case where the "ChiPs" are down?)
+ Auburn edged Arkansas 9-7 in college football. Tiger radio announcers Rod Bramlett and Stan White prepared for Wes Byrum's game-winning field goal by declaring they would "lock up." Somewhere, linebacker Trey Blackmon may have thought he'd finally get some companions.
+ Jordan beat Northside 18-14 in high school football. Jordan's actually won a game, while Northside has not. How will Northside backers connect this to the lack of an auditorium?
SCHEDULED MONDAY: Your e-mail about a new school building, and a place which has been quiet for a while....
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