Part 2: Fellowship meetings are a burden & disruption. -- MCK 😎 (originally posted 11/21/2012)...

ARE WE THERE YET ? 😎

Hello all,

Senior Pastor Kekel shared..."The primary reason for this [fellowship meeting cancellation], was to ease the financial burden on the churches and pastors, and stop the monthly disruption of their schedules." QUESTION: How does a church service disrupt a church's schedule? In what way? Does lunch disrupt a diner's hours-of-operation? In what way? Maybe it depends on the service? Words of Mike & friends in red throughout (includes some-paraphrasing bonus). 😎 If red words are read, with the voice in your head, in the voice of a Graham pretender; while enhancing the read, it may plant a seed, of light in your caveat empter.

The above quote shows Senior Pastor Kekel is unaware fellowship meetings were never a monthly requirement (in red, the weasel words & thoughts of Mike, et al, are in red throughout 😎). As I wrote, he has no oversight of the churches outside of Graham, as much of his own writings show. Those in the work of the Lord in the field never had fellowship meeting the month before, of, and after a conference (this was policy, unless done on the down low). Therefore, there're only 6 per year (1 or 2 hosted). And sometimes less if there were mandatory minister's seminars to go to. Now they're called workshops.

Gregory unlearnedly writes...Thanks for your never-been-there-done-that second-hand insight (he's never pastored a church which had no guaranteed income, or pioneered). Based only on Mike's logic: Why does our cult still have conference?

The following's why I ask:

If you have to get rid of one, for Kekel's above stated reasons, get rid of conference. Being gone a week (or more if coming from oversees) twice a year, is more disruptive than 3 Saturday afternoons per year; or am I missing something? I'm not, cuz it's math.

Let’s crunch some unbiased, in context, numbers: The total cost for 2 conferences is always more expensive than 6 fellowship meetings a year. Loss of pay for 2 weeks. Gas & food for 2 weeks. 1, sometimes 2, good meals per day for 2 or more people for 2 weeks. Possible hotel, possible car rental, and 8 or more offerings for 2 or more people. Juxtapose with the  FMs we hosted, we could still get soul-winning done before (or after); so the disruptions from FMs were reduced to about 3 Saturdays per year. 

    But, again, how can a church service disrupt a church schedule Mike? Some churches even had their normal Saturday evening service after fellowship meeting activities were over (when they hosted). Which was against policy. Briggs was far from the only one doing his own thing. He's just the second one to admit it online; Mike was first. I've even gone home-visiting with ministers in their assigned city before &/or after FM, so before our drive home (no policy against this). I always wanted to be (mostly), or have (less so), a helper. Working together doing Jesus stuff & anytime I could.

One conference usually cost us about $2,500 (gas, food, offerings, hotel, income loss); whereas one fellowship meeting costs us about $75 (gas, food, offering). So, 2 conferences cost about $5,000 per year; whereas 3 fellowship meetings cost about $225 per year ($75x3). Or, 1 conference day's cost = 2 & 1/2 years of FMs cost total. Math's hard to gaslight, though Graham still attempts it. Coming from Asia for 1 Missouri conference was $5,000 in 2006, so double stateside.

 
What about Senior Pastor Kekel’s assertion fellowship meetings are a "disruption to scheduled Church activities." How would he know? Is this what he's heard? Is he projecting his personal negativity & fenced-in perspective? Again: How does a church service disrupt a church's schedule? In what way? Does lunch disrupt a diner's hours-of-operation? In what way?

Continuing, the score is fellowship meetings cause about 3 disruptions (Mike's word for it in red) per year, conference causes about 10 (or more) disruptions per year. This does not include the twice daily prayer meetings, or Monday night dinners, or the regular daily dinners at the servicemen's homes, or fellowship after service; so the disruptions to scheduled activities could be as many as over 50 from 2 conferences per year. 

    But, this's based on the most onerously aggressive schedule among the servicemen's homes (are they still using the Davis-authorized Denis-method). Brutal for all parties, but effective for Rony & growth. It worked best for me if I had a few of Denis' prior church members. They drove this schedule as enthusiastic participants. So I just rained them in as needed & played my pastor part. 

    I learned through experience, if things weren't done close to what Denis did in Woodbrook, they would low-key mutiny. Some examples: One brother quit cuz I didn't pray hard/long enough, so stayed on post to drink beer & BBQ meat. Another to start a Bible study in the chapel on Camp Garry Owen, cuz I didn't preach hard enough & to cheat on his wife. Were they just using me as the excuse to quit the Davis/Denis program? Again, Denis is very effective. Like why Rodger left PCoG. Any ol' reason'll do, just like Henry VIII. But, Rony was also the servicemen's home director, so I was following his policy anyway, while reporting him. To which I was told, 'just do what he says'. After a few times of this, I started going through Wright, but he sat on the intel. By then, the split had split so I continued with the military's 'follow your last order'. Lots of policy ping-pong during the pre-/post-split era (2003/4). 

    In spite of Denis' prior members, or my warnings to Davis, Olson & Wright (my regional overseer/Bishop) about what Rony & Oloans were doing years prior to 2003, we did what was taught, though conflicting. We were assigned to Georgia during what was going on in Georgia leading up to the split. We shared warnings with Davis, Olson & Wright of what we saw & experienced years (still not a typo & even Sister Olson knew) before the split, then after Rony was appointed org servicemen's home director, in case this wasn't clear. Another Bishop position since discontinued. But, they did it by throwing the baby out with the bath water, instead of replacing the Bishop. Although, is Mike a good decider of what/who's effective? What's bathwater & what's baby? You have to leave Graham for your go-getting, to know what's baby. A synergized insight offers no KJV insight. See for yourself on NTCC-TV.

    Wright would swing by on the regular as part of his job as bishop*. Good fellowshipper, un-good overseer. Denis was an un-good fellowshipper & good overseer, who also swung-by often. Wright apologized to us later for not passing on our warning-reports to Davis/Olson. I told him it didn't matter cuz they were informed directly by me at other times, usually with Denis listening to the call, since I didn't want to go behind anyone's back. Maybe this emboldened Rony more? & put me in Mike's sight-alignment-sight-picture 3-years later? as I was being groomed for positions of greater authority (according to the board-wives rumor-mill to Deborah & the highest I got was regional overseer/Bishop for Asia). Mike's actions reveal all are an enemy & threat to his narrative. Mike has a history of targeting those he perceives successful & general fault finding (as seen on FACTNet, email, blogs, on NTCC-TV & in-person). *ANTI-KJV ALERT: Graham's gotten rid of the biblical office of bishop/overseer. They're citing unprofitableness, as in cash, as in no financial gain from the overseers salary, so this office was synergized out of the Bible. Sorry God. Synergy = profit. If synergy ≠ profit, it isn't synergy.

    But maybe not the general overseer (also historically ineffective), since this's Phil's other cash-paying ministry-job & inherited from his statutory father-in-law, J.L. Johnson. They kept the offices of CEO, missionary (though also historically ineffective for NTCC) & others not in the New Testament, but 86'd Bishop, which's in the New Testament? Wow. I guess they're now using synergy-select (cherry pickers). They're already a subscription service. NTCC's pastors are puppets in a side-hustle, to maintain the road to perdition. Now a cog in synergy, never God's kingdom, which led to further perdition. I know, further is redundant.

 

Continuing with 'what disrupts a church schedule most' by parsing Kekel's logic. The director's wife (Deb) double cooked casseroles the week before each conference for the brother's to eat (not everyone could go to conference). Unless you're Sister Stevens. They paid for the whole month each month so we were obligated by our conscience (& Denis teaching) to provide what they paid for & gladly so. Plus, extra cleaning when we got back if the brother's were messy. We wanted them to relax, so no repercussions ever; no exceptions. 

    No soul winning, church or bible study; unless they wanted. They would have to do it & often did. Their call. Good experience for those headed toward bible college. If I was on a conference-vacation the congregation was too. Senior Pastor Kekel may not know any of this since he's been administratively lodged in Graham for the past 28 years (42 to date) at the time of this writing. Has anyone mentioned Mike doesn't have any oversight (or insight) of the churches outside Graham as Davis still does this also. I have, many times.

    So, what value does Mike bring that's not in criticism of someone else's go-getting (as seen on TV & coming to your church soon 😎)? The fault finder & his retinue. A microphoned CV of artificially amplified secular accomplishment, worry & emotional unrest. The schmear that's synergy.

 
Plus (looking back), I always got more lasting spiritual sustenance from fellowship meeting. Probably, mostly cuz I was preached to (not at), and fellow-shipping with (not for) people in the trenches (people just like me), who had even more time than me applying what they'd been taught. Doing what they learned. Doing what worked, as taught, through experience & tailored to where they're currently go-getting. As opposed to the Graham-hibernators who come out of their collective lair twice a year to crow WE ARE WINNING! at the increasingly few who faithfully show up for a conference since 1999.

     Formulaic predictability without fail. Referencing building-projects as growth. For a church? You disagree? Then how many times have you read about or heard the Pavilion (a pavilion?) mentioned since this was posted over 13-years-ago? Maybe it sounds loud to Mike cuz it echoes off the empty buildings Davis built. Now, how many souls-saved/God-moved reports? One? Less than one? They have evangelists, why not an 'Evangelists Corner' tab at myntcc to inform our Cult? A 'Missionary Minutes' tab? Maybe it looks like much cuz his perspective's been synergized (adulterated 😎) with big ideas from extra-biblical sources. Fluff & filler. Bloated, brackish & bruising. Why's conference mandatory again?

Over God's Heritage Since 1969

But wait, there's more; with a monthly fellowship meeting, you don’t have to eagerly anticipate Senior Pastor Davis assaulting you, picking on you, your wife, your children (if you have any), or other ministers—or enduring/entertaining his obscene/racist jokes, and his titillating remarks about women’s body parts—so there's no tension. 

    It's beginning to seem Rev. Kekel brings the burden & disruption with him. As seen also on TV. One bonus, I guess, is now he recently visits churches cuz we wrote he never leaves Graham (sorry NTCC pastors) when not vacationing. Or, only visiting the work(s) in HI, FL & AZ in the winter. Then workshops started & more AZ trips to supervise the start of the new campus from their AZ vacation/retirement property (does he use his, hopefully chlorine-proofed, Polycom to supervise, but only when he's down there 😎) & now he shows up to supervised fellowship meetings. To gaslight us wrong, when all assertions are accurate at the time of publication. Making the lie. Filling with stuff. They'll spend almost no time in Graham once Verna dies (update: 2026 RIP). But, Phil's there.

    All this activity at someone else's work? Mike visits the ministers who pay Graham's bills to advise & supervise. Gives workshops on how to succeed in ministry, based on what he read. But, he's meek & humble when interacting with go-getters, especially at their own pastorate, right? Nope (as seen on TV 😎), he's Graham's stay-getter in charge, there to square your work away (more a Bishop's job). Reminds of FACTNet, the Denis-split & Mike's CEO blog. Remember in '03 & '04, all the tension? No more fellowship meetings, authorized ministers list mailed out, leadership visits, special 'winter' conference marketed as a (suddenly first ever?) Pastor D birthday celebration & then seminars? 

    Well, they're tense again. Now it's NTCC-TV, no workshops, AZ satellite-campus (to replace Graham, like Forest Avenue before & give the Kekel's the reason 'they have to stay there' so it's not technically retirement, like Davis before), supervised fellowship meetings (replaces workshops), no Bishops (except maybe Phil & his overseer salary & Mike & his bizarre attempt to Bishop. All outside Mike's job description & since 2020 [they needed COVID cash] it's televised). Busy work? Misdirection? Let's try this now? Which? Influencer wanna-be? All?

    I wunder what's really going on in Graham? Is it more than financial as is our guess? A perfect storm?

"If you get enjoyment from another ministers discomfort, you may be a Graham-hibernator [or German or Rev. Davis & now Michael 😎]". - Me for Jeff Foxworthy 

Senior Pastor Kekel also writes… ""Ahh, whatever happened to those wonderful 'Fellowship Meetings?'" some watery-eyed person would ask. This question seems to come up often, but maybe people have forgotten the things they 'didn't like' about them."

Though my eyes water at times (oftener once I quit cult-life like a man), there's nothing to forget. Because we enjoyed fellowship meeting. Regular fellowship meeting's were always a blessing to my personal growth and ministry. Can I get a witness? Plus, it was the only opportunity available to get to know my peers in ministry in a professional setting. 

I was never a helper, nor had I ever had a helper. So it was great working with other ministers to accomplish something for God; even if for one service on 6 (or less) Saturdays per year. Just the right amount. The lift from the last fellowship meeting wears off a week or so before the next. This's spent in satisfying anticipation. With conferences, looking back, the spiritual bump ended when I exited camp onto the gravel road back to Asia via Saint Louis (2-ish day trip each way). So, I'm preaching to the choir again, since my personal cult experience is just the standard one.

The more I read what Senior Pastor Kekel writes about our cult-of-choice, the more I realize he and I weren’t in the same organization. He was administratively self-assigned to Graham, falling up each rung, while we pursued ministry challenges not-in-Graham.

I don’t have a problem with the myriad rules, didn’t try to circumvent the system or look for loopholes, and didn’t undermine Senior Pastor Davis’ desires and authority in my personal life, ministry & online. And didn't abuse language to justify any inattention to detail & rebellious bent like Mike in his now infamous rules-are-policy self-justification. Maybe because I didn't have as much free time as he does. Maybe because I'm a team player. Maybe cuz I'm a company man. Rules became policy in Rev. Kekel's imagination, even optional, but just for him. So now he gaslights these were optional options available to everybody; we were just too dumb to understand such nuanced nonsense. Carpe corruptio 😎. 

Of course, I didn’t marry the boss's daughter, nor was administratively suckling in Graham pursuing an administrative calling. Church wasn't a side-hustle to us, just as FMs aren't a burden & disruption. Why is he senior pastor again? Or even a pastor? He has the same Holy Ghost assignment as DiFrancesco & Ripka. So, I had more pressing ministry concerns than what guitar to buy (or make) next, and finalizing the blue-prints on my next mansion.

Senior Pastor Kekel continues (eye roll assumed)…"The original intention was to give members of those churches to have (sic) a chance to see that there were other churches like theirs and that having church together was very exciting; they were to have that same 'old time' feeling."

The original intent of fellowship meeting never changed for my family during our 11 years in ministry. Fellowship meeting remained exciting for us and our congregations. I take the liberty of speaking for my congregations since it's obvious when someone genuinely enjoys something; like Davis with a bologna-sandwich, a NyQuil highball, or an ambassatrix. The holy-baloney trinity. Buffets, booze or broads. Collect the whole set, buy all 3 (cash only).

The ‘only’ main reason I think of, for why they stopped fellowship meeting, is to better control the flow of information (not original; the same was done during the split, Waco, Guyana). To insulate the faithful from context & consensus. Like a hub, all commands come from the center. No lateral communication. They can't have ministers getting together and talking without any way of monitoring them. 

Actually they can; but psychologist have shown if someone is untrustworthy, they don't trust others. Even RWD is certified to witness-for-the-prosecution through his self-mentioned psychology doctorate (mail order? correspondence? honorary? accredited? polymath? poseur?). So, if you're disloyal, you think others also are & they can't be trusted also; hence the cancellation of fellowship meetings & other actions. Things are tense in Gr'a'm & maybe not-only financial.

We can see MCK's disloyalty in his writings, no need for any second witness. Blogs, and now television, are just Mike's latest reactive solution to stop the hemorrhage of wallets, purses & change-jars from NTCC. Mostly folks fleeing pastor Mike's bad example & ridiculous posturing(s). Since MCK doesn't do what was taught (his words). Everything's an interpretation, an interruption, but just for him. People are the imposition to his chosen side-job of people & now synergy. A negotiation, but just for his conscience & real estate. A hypocrite preaching 'you do' what he never did. 

    He doesn't know what to do, cuz he never had to do, so he keeps trying things he sees successful outside-the-fence preachers do. But, since he's a stay-getting pew-sitter it won't work since he sees only the end result & not how to get there. You can't learn how to build a car from steering one. All he had to do was steer/figure-head NTCC & there finances would be what they were post-split/pre-COVID. In a mostly imperceptible decline, NTCC would have continued to run itself.

    All the mega-churches started from humble pioneer beginnings. It's the skills learned from this that cause the sustained growth. Mike wants to do it from his armchair in Graham; like he's Nero Wolf. He started at the top, so doesn't understand the steps to get there (like maybe Osteen, though Joel started with more, unlike Mike, he grew it). Again, Mike fell up the ladder & gaslights a struggle & therefore struggles to gaslight. Little-he-speaks is plausible to the first person eye witness of the things-he-speaks to/of/at. Don't change, don't repent, don't work the program; just exert more control. Or, if something isn't working, keep doing more o' the same.

NTCC's changing, just not the way leadership needs you to believe & they lie to their-selves. Our cult is getting more worldly. This's a fact since 1999. All of Senior Pastor Kekel’s myriad justifications never hold up under minimal examination. He struggles to gaslight 😎, since us quitters know too much & blog when he lies. So often.

It's obvious (for the been-there-done-that crowd) from Senior Pastor Kekel’s article he has no firsthand knowledge of the positive dynamics of a monthly fellowship meeting for those in the field (the go-getters). Though he does share…"I remember one many years ago at Rev. Espinoza's (RIP) Tacoma church with a bunch of us out on the front porch, just singing and having church; a pleasant memory." So, maybe just not blessed often enough? Like a child not held enough can't understand healthy physical interactions. Doesn't understand love/affection when he sees it. Just a pleasant memory? Was he there or not? Is he monologuing a TV-show recap? He gets more excited telling others about their latest visit to the Louvre & the Pavilion.

    But don't despair kekel & kekel fans, he's a corporately astute, connected, landed, portfolio-ed, coat-tailed...um...imperious, seething lump? Rule means policy, right? Or does only Mike get to do it? Quit means stop & nothing else. So stop, your not getting younger. No one will care for you (see Sister Espinoza), so leave & learn to care for/about yourself. Mend some bridges, chart a future. Mike's only point of reference for the past 28+ years (41 to date) is anything which happens local to Graham, or many years ago at a Tacoma church (someone else's work), or even more years ago as an evangelist temp (ministrating all over someone else's work). 

Senior Pastor Kekel shares..."FMs should never be a burden. But for some people, everything is a burden." To which I'd like to add for a very select few in the cult, nothing's a burden for any appreciable length of time. The rest of us lived our go-getting life & made the best of it & most times it was a pretty good life. Nothing like retirement though (since 2023). Nothing like leaving a cult (since 2008). Things must be felt to be telt. Kekel starts with the telt part from subsidized NTCC-Graham. UPDATE: We're all Davis' monkeys, so Mike doesn't know how to get replacements now Davis's dead.

In summary, Senior Pastor Kekel’s justifications for NTCC's abandoning the need for fellowship meeting are: Schedule disruption, strife & resentment, financial burden. All debunked in a few paragraphs. This's how Art Bell must feel suffering fools on his shows, too easily debunked & keep it entertaining. Again, Senior Pastor Kekel and I weren't in the same cult. I was completely compliant to it, and didn't view fellowship meeting as any type of burden; while pursing ministry challenges outside the fence.

If Mike really & truly wants to be a blessing, discontinue conference (or both). 

If you want to be a blessing to yourself...just walk away. You're not getting any younger. You'll be glad you did.

NTCC was WINNING! prior to 1999, you're still not.

Gregory