God completely destroys First Mount Olive Freewill Baptist Church with bolt of lightning

[Ian David]

Lightning Strike Starts Fire At Baltimore Church
Video: Gotta See Video
Water Cooler News

(CBS) Firefighters in Baltimore, Maryland battled a multi-alarm blaze Tuesday afternoon at a downtown church.

Charm City fire authorities said the blaze at the First Mount Olive Freewill Baptist Church started at about 3 p.m. Multiple reports said the fire apparently was sparked by a lightning strike.

An estimated 80 firefighters and other rescue personnel were on scene. Authorities said one firefighter was taken to a local hospital with a leg injury

http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_191215104/lg

More:
http://keyetv.com/watercooler/local_story_191214105.html


See also:

Free Will church splurged on a Bentley in '05

The First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church bought a luxurious custom Bentley in 2005, the same year the inner-city church failed to pay a $12,000 water bill that has led to the filing of a foreclosure suit, ...
Full story: Available on Topix from Baltimore Sun - Thursday Jul 19
http://www.topix.net/forum/city/brooklyn-park-md/T306PJSO1B4JT2FP8



See also:

Bentley, The Passion of the Pulpit Pimp!
by IndependentConservative @ 12:39 am. Filed under Nuts on Parade




So I was up in Baltimore last week during the time the building used by the First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church was struck by lightening and burned down. I had many thoughts about the whole thing, but was going to keep them private, until the Bentley news broke, which I will detail later in this post. Basically as the building burned away, on the local Baltimore TV news I saw members of that church out doing some interesting things in front of the cameras. Public prayer and/or praise sessions that one could tell were placed into high gear when the cameras were on. It was like the building burning had become a moment for some to pose and look “churchy” for a camera. It made me think of how Jesus instructed us not to try and grandstand before men in Matthew 6. The same day of that fire and the public grandstanding I witnessed, I had just finished the Avoiding Hypocrisy sermons I mentioned in a post I made that same day. It was like just after hearing a message about avoiding it, I was seeing the spotlight grandstanding before men hypocrisy in full motion, with a burning building as the draw. I know people with former connections to that assembly, so I don’t speak about them without actual knowledge of them before their building burned to the ground.

Just after the blaze ended, the media made a big deal about the fact the fire department was able to salvage the stained glass windows. I don’t know how stained glass brings anyone to know Christ, but the media loved it and the folks associated with that church were elated. A flashy item of public display for men was saved.

Baltimore’s Mayor Sheila Dixon quickly went on record, to state that she would work to find the church assembly a new place to worship. Seeing public government working on housing for a church assembly vexed me. You know I’m very much against things such as faith based funding, so seeing government jump into the affairs of a church caught my attention. I don’t find government taking on the role of seeking housing for a religious organization to be a good thing. Setting a horrible precedent, what if a building used by people involved in the cult of Muhammad (Islam) burned, would the Mayor use taxpayer resources to try and find them another building too? It’s simply best if government stay out of the church relocation business. Let those within that church and other churches assist as needed.

Anyway, the fire revealed some interesting things. While the public grandstanding and my knowledge of them had my pimp-o-meter buzzing, it has now been confirmed that money was being terribly managed and the “bishop” was riding a car that probably cost more than some of the church members homes. Why put it towards the needs of the poor saints all around, when the pastor can roll a Bentley?

More:
http://www.independentconservative.com/category/nuts-on-parade/


See also:

West Baltimore Church A Complete Loss After Fire
By WMDT STAFF -- WMDT 7/11/2007

A 140-year-old church in West Baltimore is a complete loss. A bolt of lightning hit the steeple Tuesday and sparked a massive fire. Flames shot off the top of First Mount Olive Freewill Baptist Church.

About 80 firefighters responded to the scene, downtown. One was taken to the hospital for a leg injury. Some 3000 people worshipped there.


See prior thread:


Religious Book Seller Struck By Lightning
Topic started by IanDB1 on Jul-19-07 11:30 AM (18 replies)
Last modified by GreenPartyVoter on Jul-19-07 01:29 PM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=6739375


Meanwhile, it appears services will be held at the Jewish synagogue, Temple Oheb Shalom.


See also
Lightning deals landmark a hit - but it's not a knockout
Jacques Kelly
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kelly14jul14,0,1622301.column?coll=bal_news_local_xpromo



"Sorry, folks. Truth is, I actually do like gay people."

[sakabatou]

1. And people will say "they weren't Christian enough"

[Ian David]

2. It would have been more satisfying (and more just) if god struck the bishop's Bentley. n/t

[ArkySue]

3. OMG!

From North Little Rock, Arkansas... Channel 16 news:
"The First Freewill Baptist church caught fire yesterday afternoon after a bolt of lightning struck the building." This was Saturday.

What is it with the Freewill Baptist churches??? Wierd!

http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3f50ada3-c674-4232-b312-fbd36fa2f77c

[Ian David]

4. I'd like to see a statistical analysis of which NOLA churches were damaged the most during Katrina

Then maybe... FINALLY... we could make a statistical determination of which religion (or denomination) really IS god's favorite.

(Oh no... what if it's really Amish? I can NOT live without my ELECTRIC butter churn!)

[EFerrari]

5. When was the last time the Amish started a war?

lol

[Ian David]

9. What the hell... two Free Will Baptist churches... in two states... in two days?

God must REALLY hate Baptists!

"Free Will my ass, you'll do as your told," says god.


Church Burns Down, Congregation Moves Forward
Last Update: Jul 22, 2007 10:21 AM
Posted By: Sandra Kirk

A congregation moves forward after their church burned to the ground. The First Freewill Baptist church caught fire yesterday afternoon after a bolt of lightning struck the building.

Members of the First Freewill Baptist church look at what's left.

"But the fire started back here, back in this corner over here when lightning hit. This was the nursery right here and on back here through there," Alan Thomas says.

<snip>

"Initial reaction was it will be contained it was just a strike and then one of our other deacons called and said he could see the smoke from where he was at and I was concerned. Then I think the question was would they be able to save the sanctuary, and then when we pulled in you could tell that wasn't going to happen," says Dennis.

More:
http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3f50ada3-c674-4232-b312-fbd36fa2f77c

[LostInAnomie]

6. I wonder what they did to deserve God's vengence.

Must have been pretty bad to burn the whole place down. He at least left large parts of NO standing.

[SoCalDem]

7. I know they "dunk" people, but $12K water bill?? That's a LOT of water

are they testing their ark in the basement?

[emilyg]

8. Scotch and Water