re 30-days of prayer for bobby schuller

8/9/2019 re 30-DAYS of PRAYER for BOBBY SCHULLER

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6/2/15

e 30-DAYS of

P AYE

for BOBBY

SCHULLE :

SO I kind of lost track of what BobbySchuller was doing after the bankruptcyof the Crystal Cathedral until recently!In fact yesterday I was rela"ing brie#yat Corona $el %ar beach &little C$% to

be e"act' listening to (y transistor radio) ca(e across *+he Botto( ,ine-Christian radio show &hosted by .oger%arsh here in southern California' andheard hi( interiewing Bobby! I was 0ustabout to go swi((ing but decided tolisten to the interiew before doing so!

But let (e back up! I didnt een knowthere was a *bobby schuller- or &.oberternon Schuller' back in 134 when (y

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dad ) fa(ily &ie (yself (y youngerbrother ) (y (o( (inus (y two oldersiblings who were already in college'

(oed fro( rand .apids &%I' toBell#ower &C7' because (y dad hadaccepted a 0ob at the Crystal Cathedralas director of pastoral care! I wasaguely fa(iliar with the Schullers ingeneral fro( the 8our of 9ower whichwe watched periodically on + &althoughit only aired on Sunday (orning so weonly watched it if we were staying ho(efro( church due to illness' ! I think I was(ost fa(iliar with the Carol Schullerstory &because of her leg a(putationdue to a (otorcycle accident'! I probably

was aware that there was a .obertSchuller :2 but didnt know (uch abouthi( in 134 &he would hae been ;


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new neighborhood &called an*e?uestrian co((unity-' and we wereabout a 15=(inute drie to the nearest

beach &Seal Beach'! I was a senior inhigh school and had lied (y whole lifethus far in the %idwest &Iowa )%ichigan' and knew how long and coldthe winters could be but still ,O@$ (yfriends class(ates church (e(berspastors teachers et al where I grew up!It was truly ho(e!

7nyways Bell#ower had one bigsi(ilarity to grand rapidsA it was a$utch=7(erican co((unity with lots ofChristian .efor(ed Churches &C.C for

short'! 7ctually rand .apids has %7(any (ore C.Cs than Bell#ower butrelatiely speaking Bell#ower has a ,O+co(pared to (ost of the southernCalifornia co((unities and according toits siDe ) population!

So that sets the stage for the present!Ero( 134 until 2


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Cathedral! Suddenly I was aware therewas a third .obert Schuller! By that ti(eI had already left Euller Se(inary and

started (y own Christian eangelical(inistry and was still regularly=to=periodically attending Sunday serice atthe Crystal Cathedral &this was beforethe sharp decline began'! I re(e(ber hestarted a (inistry in the new hospitalitycenter on the top #oor! I attended once!

+hen he apparently started a church in abuilding so(ewhere in Orange that Ineer attended! 8e would re=appearfro( ti(e=to=ti(e at the Crystal Cat as aguest or guest preacher but it was

sporadic neer on a regular basis! 7tthe sa(e ti(e the two adult children of.obert Schuller :1 were battling it outas to who would be the lead pastor atthe Crystal! Eor a while it was .obert 7!Schuller &the father of Bobby' and thenlater it was Sheila! 7nd Fnally 0ust asthe Cathedral was FnaliDing itsbankruptcy Bobby returned and took thehel(! So(ewhere around this ti(e I senta letter to hi( thinking we (ight hae

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so(e co((onalities but in retrospect IrealiDe we do not hae (uch in co((on!I( 4=years old by the way so we are

not een of the sa(e generation! I thinkI thought he was older at the ti(e heFrst appeared but hes about 1=yearsyounger than (e which is signiFcant!

7nyways as all of this was transpiring Iwas also attending nu(erous otherchurches on a regular basis includingro(an catholic parishes een theclosest one to the Crystal Cathedral on aperiodic basis St! Callistus which wouldbeco(e Shepherds roe &for thosewho dont know after the CC was sold to

the Catholics the CC congregation(oed down the street to St! Callistusand it beca(e shepherds groe whilethe St! Callistus congregation (oedinto the arboretu( and it beca(eChrists CathedralG the Cathedral itself isbeing renoated and will not be readyfor worship until 2


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also obsering the sociologicalpheno(enon of the CC! I was a *pastor-by this ti(e albeit (ore so an

eangelist than a for(al church leaderas is (ost=often associated with the titlepastor! I thought about leading a churchbut was still not coninced about howod wants *church to be conducted! Ihae reserations about what we call*church- today is what od reallyintended ! Its beco(e *big business!- Itre?uires accountants secretaries(aintenance etc etc etc ! %y idea ofchurch is 0ust people who belieegathering together without all the*politics- to put it kindly!

+o be honest when we Frst ca(e to theCrystal Cathedral in 134 I was totallyi(pressed! +he architecture wasaweso(e! +he serices were inspiringinteresting edifying! +he big +ca(eras at that ti(e were so(ethingto behold for those of us who grew upco(ing out of the black=)=white + erainto color + then cable + &with a longwire ' and gradually to re(ote control

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C.s and on ) on! Being able to reach1


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is still (entally ) physically acutesee(s to be doing well and still doingperiodic kindness conferences fro(

ti(e=to=ti(e! 8e was also doing pastoralcare periodically for .obert Schuller :1before he died at the 7rtesia Christianho(e &which is aJliated with our C.Cdeno(ination'!

+he reason I was no longer attending thenew crystal cathedral &or Shepherdsroe' was because towards the end ofthe original CC I was beco(ing less )less co(fortable attending the CC due torelatiely new olunteers treating (elike I was a *newco(er!- I had been

there since 134 co(e=)=go and yet anew olunteer who ca(e fro( whereer(aybe een another country wouldso(eti(es treat (e as if it was (y Frstti(e there! I een suspected at ti(esthat they were deliberately being *(indblind- towards (e because it (ade the(feel as if they were *aboe * (e!

,et (e e"plainA at so(e church there areolunteers who see their participation aspart of a *ladder- on the *pyra(id-!

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+hey Fgure that by olunteering they(ay be *below- the pastor ) so(e ofthe other higher=up church workers but

at least they are *aboe- the aerageperson attending to who( they hand abulletin or who they watch as theoKering plate gets passed &to (ake surenobody takes anything out of the plateright>'! +his is a pheno(ena I see toooften at arious churches not 0ust at theCC then or now!

Eurther(ore there is een *racialposturing at so(e churches and I saw itcreeping in at the CC ! +raditionallychurches were usually ethnic gatherings

in general! +here were and are so=called *black churches- ) *whitechurches- ) *ietna(ese churches- etc! 7nd of the so=called white churchesthese were often actually ethnic=oriented to a certain e"tent! +he CC wasa white church in general but was also$utch=7(erican (ore than otherethnicities! .obert Schuller ca(e fro(the $utch=7(erican church co((unitiesof Iowa attended the $utch=7(erican

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8ope College &in 8olland %I' and waspart of the .C7 &.efor(ed Church of7(erica' which was originally part of

the $utch=.efor(ed Church which latersplit into C.C ) .C7 due to relatielys(all (atters which are no longerre(e(bered by and large today! Butback then still in the 6


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Schuller would often talk about his$utch heritage!

I say this all as a reiew to co(e to aconclusion about how things haechanged now that the CC is Shepherdsroe and there are certain non=whiteethnic persons who decided they weregoing to (ake sure this is a (ore than a*white church!- It was clear in so(ecases that so(e persons of color werenow co(ing to the CC to (ake a*political point-! 7nd they would eenbeco(e olunteers or een on thepastoral staK and suddenly they were*aboe- you &in their (inds'!

Eurther(ore I dont think Bobby has(uch if any loyalty to the $utch=7(erican tradition! Mnlike his father &)aunt Sheila' who went to college at 8ope&like his dad' in 8olland %ichigan &8opeCollege is aJliated with the .C7' Bobby went to Oral .oberts inOklaho(a! I re(e(ber when he Frstshowed up at the CC he was sort of a(aerick in ter(s of doing *altar calls-

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wheneer he had the opportunity! I dontthink his grandpa .obert Schuller :1was ?uite as co(fortable with this sort

of eangelis( een though he waseangelical in general! I( not een sureBobbys dad was doing altar calls in his(inistry either at .ancho Capistrano orat the CC! I think this was so(ethingsort of new to the CC &although I noticedSheila beco(ing (ore and (oreeangelical in ter(s of initing people toaccept Christ at eery opportunity eenat .obert Schullers funeral but shewasnt doing altar calls the sa(e wayBobby was doing as you (ight see (orein the Oral .oberts tradition'!

So I was sitting at Shepherds roe lastweek watching (y dad *happily- get his*e(eritus- award and despite haingbeen a contributor to the CC not onlyFnancially but also as a olunteer I feltlike I didnt belong there any(ore! HhenI droe into the parking lot I een got an*eil eye- fro( a black fe(ale parkinglot olunteer who see(ed to be *0udging(e- in a #eshly (anner! 7nd I was

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seated by a young orean&>' usher whosee(ed to want (e to clearly know butaggressie body language that he was

(ore of a (e(ber of the church than(e! I wanted to tell hi( &) the blacklady in the parking lot' what I had donefor and with the church since 134 butwould it hae (attered> So(ewherealong the way there see(s to haecreeped an anti=white 7(erican posturefro( 0ust a few *(inorities- who hadarried at the CC! 7nd it see(ed to haepolitical innuendo! But there was*localis(- too! It wasnt 0ust a (atter ofethnicity or race but there were a fewushers ) others who were like robots in

ter(s of their serice to the church andagain it (ade the( feel as if they werehigher on the pyra(id than (e orpersons like (e who were contributingto the church behind the scenes!

+hus in so(e ways the church wasbeco(ing too (uch like a *pyra(idsche(e- with those (ost seen in frontof the ca(era or handing out bulletins orwhateer it was as long as it was isual

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being *higher- than those who did theirserice to the church and/or od in lessnoticeable ways! I couldnt co(pete

because I didnt want to be a olunteergoing thru the (otions eery Sundayhearing the sa(e ser(on ) 0okes etctwice ! I like being in *real ti(e-Neerything being .@7, not rehearsednot a script! I dont want to *playchurch- or *play pastor!- +his does O+(ake life easier but (ore diJcult albeitnonetheless (ore real and I think (oretrue to ods intent!

Eunny thing is that while all of the CCbankruptcy was unfolding I was

attending both Catholic ) 9rotestantchurches! I was e"ploring all of OC ) ,!7!and een a bit of S$ &san diego county'assertiely trying to attend as (anydiKerent churches as possibleAprotestant catholic ) orthodo"! I factthis led (e to een oKer a new branch of Christianity pro=cath=ordo" which seeksto truly united the three (ain branchesof Christian faith! +hus you can keepattending whereer you attend your

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local church but you think of yourself atthe highest leel as pro=cath=ordo" notprotestant not catholic not orthodo"

but united three=in=one! +his (akes youa greater participant in the largerworldwide body of Christ not 0ust yourlocal co((unity church!

Since the transition I hae keptattending the serices in the arboretu(at the Christ Cathedral gradually beinga recogniDed participant as well as atnu(erous other parishes )congregations both protestant catholic) orthodo"! It was O+ easy doing thisat Frst! 9eople want fa(iliarity and

loyalty at the local leel! But itsi(peratie that we break thru this needfor co(fort in ter(s of fa(iliarity ) localloyalty if we are to be (ore true to odsintent for the body of Christ!

But this is supposed to be about Bobbyand ;


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sitting on the beach listening to hi(being interiewed on *+he Botto( ,ine!-I felt a (i"ture of feelings about hi( as

pastor and about the whole *SchullerSoap Opera- so to speak! I saw his wife8annah for the Frst ti(e at the sericelast week! She looked so young!

+hen I heard Bobby (entioned they(arried at age twenty=one also eryyoung! But he *reersed-it saying hethinks (en should (arry younger andwas critical of so=called *dudes- whodate for too long! +his is anotherproble( in the protestant churchA thenotion by the (arried pastor that

un(arried (en are less disciplined thanthe(seles! So(e protestant pastorsdont beliee in the possibility ofcelibacy let alone respect it!

+he catholic church is %MC8 betterabout respecting celibacy while8ollywood has tried to (ake a (ockeryof it beginning with the Fl( *+he


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and it is a irtue but both 8ollywoodand so(e parts of the protestant churchdont respect the irgin %ary or fe(ale

irginity either! I think it is a coer=upfor their own sha(e!

7lso during the serice as well as duringthe radio interiew I heard Bobby(ention *his book- about *happiness-&according to esus'! +his is anotherpheno(enon I a( wearied byA that to bea success you hae to *publish- ! ouhae to hae a book or seeral! +heSchuller trio &all three .oberts' are nowauthors! 7pparently this is Bobbyssecond book! He went thru this with

.obert :1 .obert :2 ) now .obert :;!

I+ see(s clear that we can *look forwardto-&>' decades of books by Bobby toco(e! It dawned on (e that Bobby isdeFnitely a long=ter( career pastor whois say about (edia publishingtraeling and running a corporatechurch! It dawned on (e that Bobbygrew up in a ery priileged ho(e withlots of (oney lots of trael good

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obiously O+ the case and a ,O+ ofpeople were not 0ust disappointed buthurt by it! If this was a corporation

there would be lawsuits and a lot ofbla(e being cast on people for whatsee(s to be a lack of good discern(entabout Fnances! But because it is achurch eerything gets *washed awayas a (atter of si(ply not enoughdonations! Bla(e the people for notdonating not the Fnancial decision=(akers right>

Church in orange county is big business!,ots of (ega=churches hae risen uphere! %aybe it begain with the Crystal

Cathedral but theres also CalaryChapel %ariners Saddleback and (any(ore! 7ll of the pastors hae a(pleinco(es and are able to traele"tensiely ! +his is a lu"ury albeit in(ost cases it is chalked up as *doing(inistry!- On the radio show Bobbyspoke of being in ew ork and on theway to Israel when he had to turnaround due to a health proble( of one of

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his children! I a( sure Bobby has beento Israel (any ti(es!

+hats a lu"ury that (ost pastorse"perience but not (any parishioners! Iknow the Schullers had a nice boat for(any years called the *Be 8appy- orso(ething like that! I i(agine theyen0oyed going out to Catalina Island andFshing and all that! I know they had acondo(iniu( in 8awaii so all of the kidsand grandkids probably hae taken tripsto the 7loha state! 7nd yet these are allthings that are paid for in general bychurch (e(bers! He do it because wewant to beliee that its helping a good

cause and we like to see a successfullyhappy een *worldly- pastor who isdoing well! But how (uch of thisso(ewhat happy=go=lucky attitude &alsocalled *faith- by so(e' led to theulti(ate bankruptcy of the CC> @en atthe funeral of .obert Schuller :1 a few(onths ago the son &.obert :2' spokeof going *around the world- for a Fshingtrip with his dad &and didnt (entionbeing a *Fsher of (en- si(ply tuna or

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swordFsh or whateer'! 7nd thedaughter &Carol' spoke of not being ableto aKord a pool cleaner at the parents

house after the bankruptcy! She thinksthey are poor because they cant aKorda pool cleaner> +hats a lu"ury to hae apool let alone a pool cleaner!

So where do we go fro( here> ClearlyBobby is not going to *back down!- 8esgot big plans and a ision 0ust like hisgrandfather! On the radio show heshowed he was ery aware of the :s ofiewers of the *new- 8our of 9owereen though he ?ualiFed that it was notabout :s! So why (ention the :s

then> Its hard to be critical of aChristian pastor! He all need grace andthe (inute we begin to be critical wefeel like we are lacking grace! But weneed to be critical so(eti(es! Hhere isBobby going to lead this newcongregation &or sa(e congregation at anew location'> Or dont they care> 7sthey say “Fool me once, shame on you,Fool me Twice, Shame on me”.

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I dont think any of the Schullers thinkthey are *fooling- anybody! +hey haeconinced the(seles that this is for the

sake of the gospel! 7nd *playing pastor-is part of the Schuller tradition! +hey areall spin=oKs of .obert :1 albeit therewas so(ething uni?uely original about.8S &.obert :1'!

.obert :1 ca(e fro( a s(all far( inIowa that once was destroyed by atornado! 8e grew up in the %idwestNknowing the cold of winter (onthswithout sunshine! 8e knew tough ti(es!8e knew poerty at least as a child!Hhat about the rest of the Schullers>

+hey all grew up in southern Californiaco(ing of age when the CrystalCathedral was doing ?uite well! .obert:2 ) Sheila at least attended 8opeCollege and showed so(e continuitywith the $utch=7(erican .C7 traditionbut Bobby see(s to hae lost all of thataJliation! $utch=7(ericans like a lot ofother ethnicities were loyal to eachother! .obert :1 hired (ostly .C7 andespecially $utch .efor(ed persons like

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(y dad like en ,eest(a ) +erryyhuis a(ong others! I dont see thatloyalty in Bobby but thats not (y (ain

concern! I( not looking for a 0obworking *for Bobby- at the Shepherdsroe!

%ore concerning is that there is noaJliation at all apart fro( Christ ingeneral! +hat (ay sound noble butwhen theres no accountability to anyboard or deno(ination or wiser olderhu(ans as you can see with theulti(ate bankruptcy of the CC proble(sarise! Sure the CC had a Board of$irectors but they did +OO ,I++,@ +OO

,7+@! 7nd een the .C7 neer did (uchif anything at all in ter(s of oersight of Schuller ) Fnancial decision=(aking!

Eurther(ore as you can see with thelawsuit that .obert :1 Fled before hisdeath he ) the Schuller fa(ily think ofthe 8our of 9ower ) arious aspects ofhis ser(ons ) positie thinking to betheir own copyrighted (aterial!7lthough Schuller lost his lawsuit that

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had to do with further pay(ents fro(the CC its clear that there is apossessieness by so(e of the Schullers

about what *he started- as opposed towhat Schuller started with the help of alot of people called the church! @en onthe funeral progra( I noticed in s(allprint at the botto( that they wereatte(pting to clai( the funeralcere(ony itself was *protected bycopyright-!

Back to 134 when (y dad e"citedlytook the call to be director of pastoralcare at the Crystal Cathedral! Only(yself and (y few fa(ily (e(bers and

a few others in our co((unity know (ydads career as we know it! 8e startedout as a C.C pastor for a s(all church inIowa and also did hospital (inistryespecially psychiatric pastoral care including C9@ &clinical pastoraleducation'! 7part fro( the parish inIowa he did (ostly hospital chaplaincy inew ork 7nn 7rbor and (ostly inrand .apids at our deno(inationalChristian psychiatric hospital &9ine

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.est'! He lied on riswold street inrand .apids about seen (iles fro(9ine .est &actually in Caledonia'! 8e

would go to work eery day as a chaplainwhile we went to school to our athleticactiities to (usical eents etc! 8e wastruly deoted to doing pastoral care! 8ehad a true passion for it and especiallyfor issues of *grief!-

8e had a passion for caring for peopleand thats what he ca(e to the CC witha passion! 7nd he was able to do a ,O+in that regard een an annual kindnessconference a few books along witharious other church duties &beco(es

class new hope counseling C9@occasionally preaching in the chapel=in=the=sky but not (uch if eer inoledin the Sunday serice ! 8e was rarely infront of the ca(era! So(eti(es Iwondered if the Schullers were eryprotectie and e"clusie about who theyallowed to *appear- in the 8our of9ower!

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@en at the *e(eritus- serice lastweek the pastors were only gien *6 7s noted 8annah read thescripture &on ca(era for the 8our of9ower I assu(e' and Bobby conducted(ost of the other liturgy including theser(on of course! 8ow (uch do theSchullers coet the ca(era> 7nd control

it>

%y feelings were that there wasso(ething non=integral transpiring fro(the CC to the new Shepherds roe! Onthe radio interiew Bobby (entionedthat the new church was now gettingstrong and (entioned that he was happyto hae gotten rid of a few people andbetter of with so(e new people! +hissee(ed to lack a bit of class! 8e didnt

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(ention na(es but you notice that thebla(e goes towards other people nothi(self not any of his own fa(ily

(e(bers! I a( concerned aboutSchullers being self=sering! H@ lie in asha(eless culture and add Christian*grace- to it and we are supposed towhitewash eerything away now>

+he church is O+ intended to beanything ) eerything the pastor wantsit to be! +here has to be a certaina(ount of nitty=gritty integrity ) loyaltyto certain principles! +here has to beself=discipline! Churches now borrow(oney banking on future contributions!

Hho eer heard of a church goingbankrupt before the Crystal Cathedral>I( sure its happened but neer to sucha large see(ingly Fnancially well=oK(inistry!

%aybe Bobby will continue to get the big:s in ter(s of iewership! I get thefeeling he is ery say ) aware of *the:s- een if he wont ad(it it! +his is soco((on now! But it shouldnt be! 7s I

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entered the Shepherds roe the big +ca(eras no longer were i(pressie!

It was O BI $@7, to know it was beingteleised and would be shown on + )internet all around the world not (atterhow (any watched! I wondered if it istruly possible to be an *incarnational(inistry or church- ia teleision! It is soephe(eral! ,ook how easily andrelatiely ?uickly the CC went bankruptand folded! +hose who wereincarnationally inoled with the CCcouldnt beliee it while those who wereinoled less=so 0ust (oed on down thestreet try again! o big deal! +he church

is supposed to be incarnational! Christincarnate!

So I dont know whether to feel sorry forBobby or angry or re(ain e(otionallydetached! .eally all I can do is re(aindetached while intellectually trying tofor( a conclusion! 7nd so I decided toput it to od in prayer! ,et us praysy(pathetically for Bobby in ter(s of 0ust doing the natural thing in ter(s of

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opportunistically carrying on what hisgrandfather started! ,et us pray with alittle (ore aggression if there is any

inkling in his (ind that he (ay be takingadantage of us and that od will leadhi( in the right direction!

He all know as + audiences etc aboutthose sorts of directors and producerswho think of their audience ) consu(ersas *sch(ucks- ! ,et us hope and praythat this is not how Bobby thinks of us!+here were ti(es when I would get ahint of this fro( the Schullers as theywere the say sophisticated +producers and (ost of the rest of us

were the less=than=intelligent audience!

I dont know where to go fro( here! I 0ust felt I had to get so(e of this oK (ychest gien the feeling I got recentlyabout Bobby Schuller knowing that wehae (any decades to co(e of hi( andnew books and seeing articles in the OC.egister about hi( and fa(ily andthinking to (yself *here we go again-

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0ust when I thought I could Fnally e"haleabout the Schuller Soap Opera!

8es here to stay! 7nd I( not trying tobe (ean! I( trying to for(ulate a wayto understand what this (eans andwhether we will be treated like fools like a free studio audience for *hisshow- or whether he is truly building upan incarnational church that sincerelycares about the people in the building as(uch as or hopefully (ore so than there(ote iewer 1


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including the people who show up weekafter week and drop their 1=dollar or 1

re 30-days of prayer for bobby schuller

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