Seriously Steve 2: She Was a Woman, So She Probably F*cked Up Somewhere

[johnhugh]

It seems that Stevie is not enjoying church:

Stevie wrote on Seriously Dads*:

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You walk into church and give a warm smile and a handshake or hug to the brothers. Some of you are greeted as “Pastor.” Whatever your role, it’s another Sunday and time to assemble together to worship our righteous and most holy God. But if only we had “idiot lights” like a car dashboard on our foreheads warning if the heart is dirty. 

*it’s for men only 

[VodouDoll]

Jeez, the nerve of this guy. “I go to church and the men there warmly welcome me. I wish I knew their porn habits so I could tell them off.” What a creep.

Edited February 3, 2021 by VodouDoll

[Botkinetti]

How dare these other men not bare their souls so Steve can pass judgement and affirm his place as the most holy , best Christian who ever lived.

I think Steve is really pissed off that he is only another congregant and is not being paid the attention he feels he is due.

[Jana814]

1 hour ago, Botkinetti said:

 

I think Steve is really pissed off that he is only another congregant and is not being paid the attention he feels he is due.

Truer words have never been spoken about Steve. He’s probably pissed that he can’t pastor the church they are attending. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Jana814

[fundiefan]

His god see's his heart & its worship of schedules & self. No matter how much Stevie boy tries to convince himself & anyone stupid enough to listen that he is the greatest Christian to ever live, his god knows better, knows what's inside Steve & what motivates him. And, if what Steve himself says is true - he's f*cked. He has set himself up as his own private temple that must be worshipped - by himself & his offspring. He's made an idol of "bible time" and they've all made an idol of "the schedule". 

Poor Steve can't handle going to church like a regular person and not being in charge of a damn thing. 

[petrushka]

This is what you see when a control freak has been subjected to a string of events that he is unable to change.  Steve is getting old and has to confront age related issues--health, in particular, probably his own waning sexuality.  Perhaps he's guilty of looking at some of the church ladies with lust in his heart?

He's not really a leader any more, except under his own roof.  He's only one man among many now, subject to another man's pastoring.  He cannot control how some of his married offspring are choosing to live--moving out of town, associating regularly with in-laws who may not hold to the same level of isolation.  His son Christopher and daughter in law Anna have survived a tough year following breast cancer treatment with a long road still ahead of them;  they will continue to need help from Steve's household as Anna continues to recover.  The pandemic is not over yet, he can't even count on any speaking events to showcase his superior Christian way of life. 

He's become a bitter old man.

[Rosie]

On 1/28/2021 at 6:41 PM, courtlylove said:

As a Catholic (growing up, not now) this was our grace before meals.

We also had a grace after meals - We give Thee thanks, Almighty God, for all thy benefits, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the nicest pre-meal prayers I've heard is 

Bless us O Lord, bless this food, bless those who have prepared it, and give food to the hungry. Amen.

I'd still use this (if required) except for the 'Bless us O Lord' part. 

I grew up in the Catholic church and that was our standard grace before meals.  We didn't have an after-meals grace.

In mid-adulthood, I joined a Lutheran ELCA congregation and that is how I raised our kids.  (DH is Jewish and agnostic.)  Our family grace is, "Thank you God, for this our bread; may all the world be clothed and fed.  Amen."

I prefer it to the one I grew up with, but like both.

[Hane]

@Rosie, I learned about a Catholic “grace after meals,” but I never met anyone who said it.

[petrushka]

1 hour ago, Hane said:

@Rosie, I learned about a Catholic “grace after meals,” but I never met anyone who said it.

I'm a Catholic school student of the 1960's.  We used to pray after lunch:

"We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, amen. 

It was the fastest prayer, taking us less than 10 seconds to say.  No recess until the praying was over, lol!

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Today's Seriously Steve post is boring and same old, same old.  

"Clean on the outside but"

The first paragraph is awkwardly written. Basically it says you can shake the pastor's hand, but is your heart clean?

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You walk into church and give a warm smile and a handshake or hug to the brothers. Some of you are greeted as “Pastor.” Whatever your role, it’s another Sunday and time to assemble together to worship our righteous and most holy God. But if only we had “idiot lights” like a car dashboard on our foreheads warning if the heart is dirty. Then someone could come alongside and offer a word of exhortation, challenge, or even rebuke. God, however, doesn’t need those indicator lights since He sees our hearts. What’s He seeing on yours and mine?

Next he has bible verse. I think the question mark is in the wrong place. It makes it look like Steve is unsure which passage he is quoting. 

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“Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them” (Ezekiel 14:1-3)?

Then this part:

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Man can set up his own private temple of idol worship in his heart which is hidden from others but not God. These might include but are not limited to: mental adultery, covetousness, wickedness, love of self and entertainment/pleasure of every sort. Jesus Christ is to have first place over everything. 

For the most part, this is very vague and at the same time condemns a large list of things. 

It ends with this verse. 

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“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). 

 

[anjulibai]

Steve assumes that every man he meets at church is sinful because they don't live like him. Man, I would hate to have him in my congregation. 

[kpmom]

What did Steve think was going to happen when he returned to a church, though?

According to Teri he'd been looking for a way to end their retirement home church.  When COVID came along he took it as a sign to return to a real church (apparently God created a world wide pandemic to help Steve gracefully get out of the retirement home church).

So did Steve expect the men of the church to fall down at his feet?  Did he expect the pastor to step aside?

[Jana814]

4 minutes ago, kpmom said:

So did Steve expect the men of the church to fall down at his feet?  Did he expect the pastor to step aside?

I think Steve thinks this!!  

[anjulibai]

19 minutes ago, kpmom said:

So did Steve expect the men of the church to fall down at his feet?  Did he expect the pastor to step aside?

I am certain that is exactly what he thought. 

[kpmom]

13 minutes ago, Jana814 said:

I think Steve thinks this!!  

But Steve attended real churches in the past.  He knows how they work, and who is in charge.  I believe that's one of the reasons he left way back when.

  No pastor worth his salt will allow a parishioner to take over.  Steve will leave before the pastor does.

And i've said this before, but how long before the Maxwells are shunned in that church?  Not formally, but I mean maybe polite smiles and hellos, but not real conversations, and no leadership positions.  You just know Steve has already pissed off some young families with his child training "advice".

[VodouDoll]

3 minutes ago, kpmom said:

You just know Steve has already pissed off some young families with his child training "advice".

Yes! Oh my gosh! All it would take is one minute on google to see that the new guy is putting all the parents of young kids at church on blast to his blog and mailing list of who-knows-how-many readers. How could anyone ever trust him?

[MamaJunebug]

“Clean on the outside but “ —What about the inside  butt?

He and Sarah lately are hitting it out of the park for my sense of humor, which is roughly equivalent to an  11-year-old boy’s!!!

Edited February 4, 2021 by MamaJunebug

[fundiefan]

I am pretty sure that were I ever to shake Steveie's hand - I know, this is as likely as shaking hands with Obi-Wan Kinobi given I am a female & he'd run at the sight of me and it's unlikely I would ever put myself in the position to be breathing the same oxygen as him - *I* would feel so dirty I'd need several showers just to make my skin stop crawling. He thinks he's all clean and shiny, but really, he's as filthy as they come. And his god knows it, no matter how many little blurbs of arrogance he posts on the Internet.

[allyisyourpally5]

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was expecting to be invited to preach or just speak at the church or an event. I wonder if he and Teri have made their testimonies to other members (we’ve homeschooled for 30 years, we reversed Steve’s vasectomy because called upon us blah blah) and just got met with “oh lovely” and polite responses and basically no one was that bothered.....Maybe they expected people to know them?

I wonder how Steve reacts to the clothing of other members. Are all the women in dresses and skirts? I highly doubt it.

When i went to church as a child, I remember a time of wearing my Sunday Best and it wasn’t uncommon for people to have their smart church clothes - and for the women this was often a dress. This decreased over time - nowadays at the church most people are very casual and women in jeans is much more common than a women in dresses. Perfectly modest I should add, to the majority of us anyway.

 

 

[kpmom]

1 hour ago, allyisyourpally5 said:

 

I wonder how Steve reacts to the clothing of other members. Are all the women in dresses and skirts? I highly doubt it.

 

 

 

Someone here posted a picture of Sarah and the other Women's group members, and IIRC one of the members had jeans on.

Edited February 4, 2021 by kpmom

[Black Aliss]

Speaking of pants-wearing sluts, I just came across this tweet-and-response from someone we've discussed peripherally in the past but who doesn't have/doesn't deserve his own thread, Roosh V. I can't stop laughing.

 

Spoiler

 

[SPHASH]

Steve needs to worry more about his sins and less about other people's sins.

[Botkinetti]

Steve’s contemplation of his own sins must scare him so much that he immediately pivots to other people. I think it comforts him to believe that because other people are flawed and sinful he isn’t so bad.

His obsession with the secretive ways other people aren’t living up to his ideals is just so creepy. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Time for another Seriously Steve Breakdown. This week (2/10/2021) is called "Let's Get Serious" .

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Have you ever admired someone who seems to have a deep, sincere relationship with the Lord Jesus?

Not really, no. 

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Have you secretly yearned for that too? 

Again No

In fact, I would say most people who claim to have a deep, sincere relationship with Jesus tend to have distorted of Jesus compared with the biblical Jesus.

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My brothers, it can (must) be like that, but it starts with a choice. Make having a close, loving, on-fire relationship with Jesus Christ, the holy, righteous God of creation, your commitment.

Why does this sound like a marriage advice column? Is Steve married to Jesus as well as Teri? Is he a nun?

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 Any piddly cost to us is NOTHING compared to what Jesus “paid” in emptying Himself, taking on human flesh, and dying to purchase us with His blood. In light of His sacrifice, anything it costs us is NOTHING. 

Unless it's protecting our neighbors by wearing a mask and social distancing to stop the transmission of a deadly virus. Steve and Teri do wear masks, but only seem when necessary. And most fundies we follow would agree with the above quote from Steve and still not wear a mask.

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It begins with commitment and action. I suggest you set in stone the following:

      1, Your wakeup and bedtime is the same every day. 

Okay that's interesting. It would explain why Jesus and I aren't as close. I have a messed up sleep schedule.

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       2. Then before the distractions can begin, read your Bible for thirty minutes.** Usually, wrong priorities might make one think that isn’t possible. (Seriously, you don’t have thirty minutes a day for the One Who purchased you with His blood?)

First of a while, why must bible reading happen in the early hours of the morning? Would it be any less holy than reading it around lunch?  Before Supper? How about evening reading as a vesper?

Also If you read one psalm a day, not all of them take 30 minutes. But wouldn't be nice to read small part and then have time to mediate and examine it?  

I also think God allows us to work within our means. If someone only has five minutes of time a week to read the bible; maybe that's the temporal version of the Widow's Mite.

Don't even get me started on how many Christians see Jesus's sacrifice and still whine about wearing a mask to protect others!

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3. Read His Word with the commitment of living out (obeying) what you read. Systematically ingest His holy Word with the commitment to live it.

4. Then pray for at least 15 minutes**. I suggest having bullet items written out. 

You write a list of things to pray for! I usually just say a quick prayer as things occur to me.  

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Almost everyone I talk to seldom misses a meal. How much more committed should we be to our Lord? 

Typical Steve comparing food to reading the bible! You won't be much use to God if you give up eating! Taking care of one's self is part of serving the Lord. 

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** (It is possible that during some seasons or due to circumstances, that amount of time isn’t possible. If you want an objective perspective, let’s talk.) 

30 minutes for reading the bible, 15 minutes for prayer afterward. 

If you don't have 45 minutes in the early morning to read and pray, Steve will tell you do. He claims it to offer an objective perspective, which will just amount to "Sure You Do" on the basis you manage to shower, eat, drink water, etc.

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“And all the people came early in the morning to Him in the temple, for to hear Him” (Luke 21:38).

Ha! Luke Chapter 21 starts with the Widow's Mite, which I was alluding to earlier. The point of that story is that if you give what you can even if you don't have much, it means a lot. So if someone who is busy finds ten minutes to read a little of the bible and reflect, it's better than retired Steve's 45 minutes.

Also this verse refers to people physically going to see Jesus while he was in the area, not just reading the holy works.

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(To be continued) 

Argh! Never a good ending for a Steve post. 

 

[PennySycamore]

I can tell you pretty much what my morning schedule is like: I usually get up around 6:20 because the dogs or the cat get me up.  I unload the dishwasher first, the feed the cat, close her door, then take the dogs out for their morning potty.  When we come back in, I let Daisy out of her room and check to see if the pee pads in the dining room need changing, If they do, I take the soiled ones up and put new ones down.  Then I go back to sleep for a while.  This morning I got up a little before six as one dog was already up.  What I did not do (not that I would have anyway) is read the bible or pray.  

I would not have been bothered by early morning mass if I'd become a nun, but not even nuns (most nuns anyway) get up as early as Stevehovah.

Edited February 11, 2021 by PennySycamore