Bankruptcy.

I've never been impressed with the Crystal Cathedral (sure, they have a pretty building. That's about it. I'd meet in a shack on the highway if I felt the teaching was theologically sound). And I'm not even going to get into the fact that they have a female pastor.


But.. Today, they filed for bankruptcy.

I don't know what to do with that.

The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously.
Psalm 37:21

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:18


Granted, I don't know all the details. They filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. I've read that they're over $40 million in debt. I know their leadership has changed recently.

But I do know that when I read that they were filing for bankruptcy, my heart sank, because I can't imagine what the effect of this will be.

Maybe it will have no affect.

But I can just see tons of people out there (that are struggling financially) look and see "Hey, if a church can file for bankruptcy, it must mean that God has given us this option to get out of debt!".

Or I can see Athiests dubbing this as an example of "when you trust 'God', everything blows up in your face".

I mean, the government's in debt, and now a "megachurch" is in debt and has filed bankruptcy..

Why not everyone else?


Steve Lawson taught on Spiritual Bankruptcy (download sermon here!) at Resolved in 2009.
He reminded us that we need to admit that we are completely bankrupt without Christ. That we have failed, that our life is worthless without Him. Spiritual growth can't happen until you realize that you are Spiritually poor on your own. Filing Spiritual Bankruptcy is recognizing your own Spiritual state, to recognize that you are nothing compared to God and you have fallen short. To recognize that you have aboslutely nothing, NOTHING. Everything you have is because of Christ. Only in Spiritual Bankruptcy can you experience the fullness of God.

That's the type of bankruptcy you should file.


I didn't see any of the articles quoting Pastor Sheila saying that "this was something we prayed long and hard about". She did say "For these reasons, the Ministry now finds it necessary to seek the protection of a Chapter 11"...

A direct quote from the OC Register...
Penner, executive producer of the "Hour of Power" and teaching pastor, said the Chapter 11 may not have been necessary had a few creditors worked more patiently with the church. "A few didn't want to play ball," he said. "They tried to get ahead of the others. It became difficult for us to hold the coalition of vendors together."

I just have issues with the vendors being blamed for wanting to get paid. "A few didn't want to play ball"?... As in.. A few didn't want to wait longer and longer to get paid... Why not admit that they messed up their finances? That maybe they haven't had the right type of leadership in place to deal with the change in economy...

At another point in that same article, I feel like Penner's just making excuses..

"Churches and synagogues rely on membership fees and donations," he said. "With the tough economy, their cash flow has suffered significantly, leading to increased foreclosures and bankruptcy filings."

Most churches just rely on donations, and not membership fees.. And most humans rely on a salary, and not on membership fees and donations.. It's how churches survive. It's how everyone else survives. Businesses survive on selling things. It's how it's always been. Not a very compelling justification. And a casual way at kind of saying "well, everyone's doing it".. You're a church, you're supposed to be followers of Christ and leaders to your congregation and to nonbelievers... You should be an example to others..

I'm sad with the fact that Bankruptcy is the way they're going, and I'm disappointed in the way they're handling explaining it to the world.