Here is my weekly Sheep & Goats column for the Reader. I reviewed Covenant Baptist Church. Here’s the opening quote:
“One of the things that really irks me is the recent fad of poor end-times beliefs,” Pastor Cook replied when asked if his church teaches that the end-times are near. “One of the more popular teachings prevalent in San Diego mega-churches is dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is a doctrine that at its root separates the Church and Israel. Dispensationalism was nonexistent in church history up until 1830,” said Pastor Cook. “These dispensationalist teachings are also the basis for the left-behind phenomena.” Pastor Cook referred to the Left Behind series of books, written by Tim LaHaye, that has sold more than 60 million copies. These novels depict LaHaye’s reading of biblical prophecy.