Tom Raabe, a freelance writer...
Illustration
Tom Raabe, a freelance writer, described "The Ultimate Church" of the year 2005. This church makes the Crystal Palace look like a house church. The church is called the First Ultra-Church of Southern California. The founder of the church, the Rev. Roy Dude, founded the congregation on his reputation as the greatest builder since Solomon. He managed to employ worldly tricks of showmanship without making the church look like a part of the Vegas strip. He adapted marketing techniques and parking philosophy of the commercial world, color coded and all. The Ultra-Church is the epitome of all that is going on in the mega-church sponsored by prophets of dreams. They all preach they have a gospel of health and wealth guaranteed to those who will follow their dreams. For them to believe the right thing about God is to believe that God will come through for you every time you ask and believe enough. For them the unbelievers are those who fail to take advantage of the goodness that God offers. Like the Ultra-Church they push possibilities that are open to all who want to dream their dreams with them about health, wealth and success. They are the kind of prophets with which Jeremiah had to contend.
