Church Lures Worshippers With Free iTunes Songs
If you're in charge of getting new worshippers to come and check out your church, you have several options: Tell sinners they're all going to hell, promise them salvation, hope for positive word-of-mouth, or offer $15 iTunes Music Store gift certificates. If you chose the last option, you would be David Hughes, Church By The Glades' pastor.That's right -- the Coral Springs, Florida church is offering $15 iTunes gift cards to prospective members for filling out a "connection card" and coming to a sermon titled "i: Succesful Living in a Self-Absorbed World." Some may call the idea progressive while others may call it a sad state of religious affairs. Call it what you will, but Hughes has grown weekend attendance from 500 to 2,500 over his eight-year tenure with programs like this one.
We have a feeling he'll be keeping his job for a while.
From Engadget
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
audrey stewart @ Aug 20th 2007 9:41PM
It is a sad day for christians when we have to bribe people to come to church.
Chris @ Aug 20th 2007 10:25PM
LOL!!!!!! You've got to be kidding me?? This is truly sad.. The reason people don't want to join their churches is because it's a bunch of crock!
Just about everything from Christianity was STOLEN from the Egyptian religion Paganism which was around for thousands of years. Virgin birth, performing miracles, 12 disciples, crucifiction, ressurection 3 days later, "moses", noah's ark, ark of covenant, Easter, Passover, Christmas, Christmas trees, candycanes and MUCH MUCH MORE ALL came straight from Paganism! December 25th was a popular date for a LONG LONG LONG time before "Jesus" ever supposedly existed. And as we all know Pagans worshiped "the light", the son, aka the sun. Paganism is nothing more than sun worshiping and astrology. Virgin/Virgo Mary starts with an M because M is the sign of the Virgo constallation. Bethlehem literally translates into "house of bread" which again was used to refer to the Virgo constallation.
If you believe in the bible you might as well fall for the Qu'ran as well that says that if you don't turn to Allah you will burn in hell and die a horrible death. The one thing that both religions have in common is that they are both DELUSIONAL.
Take you heads out of your "holy books" and read a history book instead you mental midgets.
Tony West @ Aug 21st 2007 12:02AM
I think "lure" was the perfect word to use. It is a predatory term that I think fits perfectly.
Rachel A. @ Aug 21st 2007 12:08AM
Matthew 21:13
"And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."
Rachel A. @ Aug 21st 2007 12:33AM
Chris wrote: "December 25th was a popular date for a LONG LONG LONG time before "Jesus"
Chris...some of that is true what you mentioned, except that Jesus did exist and that he did die for our sins and that he did send his spirit back, or the Holy Ghost, to live in us, set us free and give us salvation.
I am a Christian, I believe in God, I have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and I am filled with the Holy Ghost. And, I DO NOT celebrate Christmas, Easter or any of these "holidays" because they originated in paganism. No matter what people try to say......the only time you find Christmas in the bible is when it says NOT to go out into the forest and NOT to cut down a tree and NOT to deck it with silver and gold and NOT to observe the way of the heathen. This is why I don't celebrate Christmas, because the bible tells me NOT to. Read Jeremiah 10:2-4.
Everything surrounding the Christmas holidays is pagan...the yule log, mistletoe, red/green colors, lights (or candles) on the tree. The 12 days of Christmas. It's all from paganism. How could God be pleased in this? This celebration of christmas was meant for other Gods...it was never meant for God. The christians simply decided to take this "pagan" worship time and make it "godly." So, they simply changed the name of the gods being worshipped.
Eladah @ Aug 21st 2007 3:08AM
Rachel A. on the contrary, God is pleased no matter the day or hour we worship him. Every day is His. Days do not belong to man they belong to the Lord. So why should it matter if you celebrate Christmas or Halloween? As long as you're serving him and praising him on that day that's all that matters. It doesn't matter if the pagans worshiped their gods on those days. We serve one Master. That's Jesus Christ.
ET @ Aug 21st 2007 6:23AM
Where are my comments?
ET @ Aug 21st 2007 6:23AM
So what's new, chruches have always used gimmicks to lure people
ET @ Aug 21st 2007 6:26AM
Must be another FL thing, a chruch in Ocala hands our ipods and other expensive things a few times a year, as gifts of course!!
PASTOR SHIRLEY @ Aug 21st 2007 9:01AM
I AM A HOLY GHOST FILLED, JESUS NAME, BIBLE THUMPING, DEVIL HATING, PASTOR THAT PREACHES AND TEACHES PRESENT TRUTH AND THE DAY I HAVE TO GIVE OUT GIMMICKS OR BRIBES TO GET PEOPLE TO COME INTO OUR CHURCH, IS THE DAY I WILL TURN IN MY LISCENSE AND SIT DOWN. IF JESUS ISN'T ENOUGH FOR PEOPLE NOTHING WILL BE. WE HAVE PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES THAT GIVE OUT 5.00 BILLS TO NEWCOMERS, OR 10# BAG OF POTATO'S TO NEWCOMERS OR SOME OTHER THING TO DRAW PEOPLE IN. THEY ADVERTISE IT IN THE PAPERS TO GET THE WORD OUT. IF SOMETHING IS FREE, PEOPLE ALWAYS WILL COME, BUT WHERE IS THE ALTER IN ALL OF THIS? WHERE IS THE BENDED KNEES AND REPENTANCE MADE? WHERE IS THE CHANGED LIVES. THE BIBLE SAYS, " JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER." JESUS DOSEN'T CHANGE, HIS WORD DON'T CHANGE, HIS METHODS TO BRING FOLKS TO SALVATION DON'T AND HASN'T CHANGED. WE MUST ALL COME BY WAY OF THE CROSS AND HIS SHED BLOOD THAT HE SHED FOR MANS SIN. THEREFORE, AS A PASTOR, I REFUSE TO CHANGE GOD'S WORD OR GIVE OUT BRIBES/GIMMICKS/TRINKETS OR ANYTHING ELSE TO GET PEOPLE TO COME TO THE HOUSE OF GOD. JESUS BIRTHED THE CHURCH AND HE WILL RAISE IT UP HIS WAY, NOT MANS WAY. OUR CHURCH IS SMALL IN NUMBER, AND IT'S NOT IN THE NUMBERS,BUT MY GOAL AS A PASTOR IS TO MAKE DISCIPLES AND NOT JUST FOLLOWERS. THE BIBLE SAYS," MANY FOLLOWED HIM, BUT TURNED BACK AND FOLLOWED HIM NO MORE." MY PRAYER IS, THAT THE CHURCH WOULD SEEK OUT AND GET BACK TO THE OLD PATHS WHEREIN IS THE GOOD WAY AND WALK THERE IN.
Dean @ Aug 21st 2007 9:05AM
More crime is done in the name of christianity than anything else.Phony preachers on TV and radio trying to con you out of your money so they can live in their million dollar homes.Don`t be stupid.
Al @ Aug 21st 2007 11:02AM
I think what this pastor is doing is great. He's not selling religion...he's opening the doors and giving a small incentive to those people who wouldn't usually step foot inside a church because of all the bad reputation so called "christians" have given Christ. The gift card is an incentive to walk in and sit through a service...the Word will do the rest.
Regarding the pagan comments, yes, it is a well known fact that the church eventually replaced pagan holidays with church sanctioned ones but that doesn't disprove or discredit the very thing that these holidays celebrate.
I celebrate christmas with a tree and lights and presents because I want to celebrate the birth of my Savior.
To all these other christians condemning this...love. If you really are a follower of Christ; love.
Jim @ Aug 21st 2007 2:49PM
wow you all have a twisted version of the truth which is jesus christ . THEquartrain or whatever its called is against my beliefs jesus says no one come to the father but by me the son meaning jesus christ which is in the bible . Chritians believe accepting jesus as our personal savior and tryuing to live right according to the bible which is the only guidelines we have from jesus to go by its full of truth in revelations it tells of the devils fate at the final judgement as far as history books the bible is the only history book that matters satan and the non believer will spend an eternity in hell for dying without him jesus welcomes all of us for we are all sinners including christians however jesus paid our sin debt in full on calvary to be etrnally seperated because someone didnt accept him is very scary for a mental midget as far as all the other religions they are false again the only way to the father is though christ the son god bless you as far as this i tunes thing im guessing its a cult jesus give us the freedom to choose him or reject him poeople amaze me the way the can twist everything all around like the person up top in this blog why are non believers always knocking christanity i think they know its true .
fred @ Aug 21st 2007 3:32PM
I am actually one of the pastors at this church...
For those wondering, the beginning of the series was awesome. We had just over 2800 people attend one of the 5 weekend services. Most importantly for us, numerous people made decisions to follow Christ. I personally spoke with 2 different families that were interested in a life-change! In addition, we had over 100 first time visitors who will receive a $15 iTunes gift card in the mail this week. We had about 1100 enter to win a free iPhone for attending a Saturday night service! We will give away that iPhone to the lucky winner sometime this week. Finally, we gave away an iPod Nano to a person who attended our Sunday morning 8:30am service.
There are a couple of reasons we do give-a-ways like this @ Church by the Glades (CBG). First, if it takes a $15 gift card to get someone to come and hear about having a life-changing and saving relationship with Jesus Christ, we think it is money WELL spent. Two, it is a fun way to say thank you. A large # of our first time guests choose to visit on Sunday morning. The problem is we don't have many seats left during those "prime times" (9:45 & 11:15am). However, we do have seats available on Saturday night. The iPhone was given away to help people come and experience doing church on Saturday night. By doing so, they not only are giving God the first part of their weekend, but they also get to sleep in, play golf, go to the beach, etc...on Sunday morning. More importantly, this helps us free up those much needed seats on Sunday morning for first timers!
We know not everyone is going to agree with our tactics. We are OK with that. We believe Jesus has called us to be fishers of men. When you fish you use bait. This promotion is merely a tool to get them here and expose them to the Truth of Jesus Christ. In addition, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 that he became “all things” to “all men” so that he might “win some.” We take this example and advice pretty seriously and literally. We will utilize technology, advertising, marketing our creativity, etc…to expose this world to Christ. It seems that the gift, promotion, bribe, gimmick, or whatever else you want to call it, was a huge success—people connected with Christ! We believe God was honored by the whole weekend!
If you are interested in hearing the podcast of the message visit www.cbglades.com/podcast.
If you are in the area, we would love for you to come and check out what we do. Visit www.cbglades.com for more info on service times and directions!
God Bless!
Jim @ Aug 22nd 2007 1:30AM
wow you all have a twisted version of the truth which is jesus christ . THEquartrain or whatever its called is against my beliefs jesus says no one come to the father but by me the son meaning jesus christ which is in the bible . Chritians believe accepting jesus as our personal savior and tryuing to live right according to the bible which is the only guidelines we have from jesus to go by its full of truth in revelations it tells of the devils fate at the final judgement as far as history books the bible is the only history book that matters satan and the non believer will spend an eternity in hell for dying without him jesus welcomes all of us for we are all sinners including christians however jesus paid our sin debt in full on calvary to be etrnally seperated because someone didnt accept him is very scary for a mental midget as far as all the other religions they are false again the only way to the father is though christ the son god bless you as far as this i tunes thing im guessing its a cult jesus give us the freedom to choose him or reject him poeople amaze me the way the can twist everything all around like the person up top in this blog why are non believers always knocking christanity i think they know its true .
heart4turks @ Aug 24th 2007 6:28AM
What's sad is that people are lured into unbelief because they don't know the difference between candy canes and worship of a God whose Spirit you can feel living inside of you when you repent and receive Him. My friend described it as something coming and sitting on her heart. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
What's a crock is that something so easy and free is disposed of as garbage and then talked about as if it's known by people who have no clue.
Talk is cheap. Try it and then tell me about it. If you don't like it, then I'll still wonder about you, because I wouldn't live without it ever.
chris hughes @ Oct 27th 2007 2:11PM
Keep up the good work @ church by the glades. Whatever it takes to expose people to the gospel!