New Spring Church has scheduled their new teaching series All In to start on January 8, 2012. The slick Hollywood-grade promotional trailer is gambling themed, with a card player set amidst high stacks of poker chips on an alluring green table felt. The voiceover informs “the game is a big deal, and it will cost you everything,” and the narrator goes on to explain the “risk is great” in the upcoming game to be played at church, but that “the payoff is even greater.”1 We should note that in gambling, bets are made on uncertain outcomes with the goal of obtaining property or money.
While there are some card games where player skill influences the outcome, casinos structure the play so that the odds favor the House. There are few successful, professional gamblers compared to those who play, lose, and build more casinos.
So, what are the odds that this churchHouse will be dispensing sound Christian doctrine in the upcoming All In series?
New Spring is pastored by Perry Noble who has an established track record of devising various ways for enlisting volunteers and crafting celebrity-styled programs to amass free labor pools and tons of cash. Noble even went into the personal coaching business; selling his secrets on human resource management and building large lucrative organizations, where getting close to Noble started at $1,500 per person.
