Furtick Preaches Potential...Potential Church, That Is

There's a "church" based out of Florida that has deemed as its mission, "Partnering with people to reach their God potential." Well, perhaps I need to take a few more Bible classes, because I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to mean! If you're a regular listener of Fighting for the Faith, you're already familiar with Potential Church and Pastor Troy Gramling. In Hour 2 of the September 13, 2011 episode of F4TF, Chris Rosebrough reviewed "Pastor Troy's" first sermon in his "W" sermon series. This seven week series was preached just this Fall, and it was based upon the broadway musical "Wicked." Of course, the commonalities between God's holy Word and the fictional place and characters of Oz are abundant, so this connection makes perfect sense. Wait...never mind. Gramling did open the Bible in this sermon, however, it may have been best if he hadn't because his twisting of the biblical text was quite grievous.

Here is how the "W" sermon series was advertised:

Enter the wonderful world of “W” this fall as we journey down the yellow brick road to discover the wicked truth behind some of the most beloved Oz characters. Welcome and wave in everyone you know with an invitation to the most epic fall series yet and remember, “There’s no place like home.”

So, the purpose behind this sermon series was "to discover the wicked truth behind some of the most beloved Oz characters." Hm, that's interesting, because I thought the duty of a pastor was to preach the truth of God's Word, not fictional characters.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

The website of Potential Church offers some interesting information, not the least of which is that they affiliate themselves with the Southern Baptist Convention.

(Online Source)

For this reason, their Faith & Message statement leaves little with which to argue, as it appears to be an instance of "cut and paste." This copyright is found at the bottom of the faith statement:

(Online Source)

However, what is posted online in a faith statement means absolutely nothing if the fruit of the church does not align with that statement. A listen to the sermon referenced above indicates that Potential Church at this point has very little potential of actually being a church per the biblical definition. A brief look at how Potential Church defines success would lead one to the same conclusion:

Partnering With People To Reach Their God Potential 

Troy Gramling is the Lead Pastor at Potential Church (formerly known as Flamingo Road Church) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Pastor Troy has led Potential Church to an average weekend attendance of 11,500 across six campuses , along with a Pastor on the ground in Asia to soon launch the seventh campus (5 national, 2 international). In addition, in the last decade, they have partnered to plant 15 local churches around the world. 

Pastor Troy excels in leadership development and is well known for his extreme creativity in designing unexpected worship experiences. A few of those unique worship experiences have been captured in such creative series as: “ivescrewedup.com,” “MyNakedPastor.com,” “The Bed,” “RationaLies,” “ivemissed.com” and “TheGiftRevolution.com.” Pastor Troy’s vision is fueled by his passion and his burden to partner with people so they can reach their God potential. Today, Potential Church is running after an ambitious goal called “50, 100, 150:” 50 campuses; 100,000 in attendance; and a $150 million budget. (Online Source, emphasis mine)

It seems from this statement that all credit must be given to Pastor Troy Gramling for the growth and worldly success of Potential Church. But then, how could he go wrong with sermon series titles like those listed above? And no mega church pastor can be a true leader without a grandiose "vision:"

Pastor Troy’s vision is fueled by his passion and his burden to partner with people so they can reach their God potential. 

Since I've yet to find the Bible verse that speaks about our "God potential," I'm still personally a bit fuzzy on what exactly is driving Gramling's "vision." Maybe I'm just reading the wrong Bible translation. From this past weekend's guest speaker at Potential Church, however, I'm led to suspect that finding one's "God potential" may have a lot to do with having "audacious faith." That's right, Steven Furtick was the most recent "evangelebrity" to grace the stage of Potential Church:

Once again, this is not surprising at all. We know that Furtick is busy traveling the Seeker-Driven and the Word-Faith circuits. Such a fact still must leave us wondering, though, why some allegedly "conservative Bible teachers" have endorsed Steven Furtick, and have even invited him into their own pulpit? Perhaps the prayers of so many soon will be answered by the waking up of these same men, but as of yet there remains no evidence of such. And so we continue to pray. We pray for the truth of God's Word to shine forth amid the dark deception. And we pray for the deceived sheep who are sitting under the care of these shepherds, that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to the dangers to which they have been exposed. And we continue to speak up and to speak out when the great Gospel of Jesus Christ and when God's unwavering Word are being compromised for the sake of gain and popularity.

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 3-4)

Finally, we continue to pray for the swift and soon promised return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, for your sheep are being fed to the wolves!