Central Christian Church - Mesa — Attraction in Mesa

As of recently Pastor Cal Jernigan has sounded more like a bought-out politician than a pastor. He is certainly dividing his own church lately with his series on 'Peace'. Pastor Cal seems to be taking things into his own hands rather than thinking of his congregation and being a responsible shepherd (Psalm 127:1). Pastor Cal should know there is a very fine line between personal conviction and teaching emotion. Having lunch and befriending a local Muslim Imam seems more along the lines of Pastor Cal's personal ideology rather than God's Voice and Wisdom (John 4:4). What is the purpose? Love your enemies? Sure. Turn the other cheek? Yes... if they strike first. I prefer to keep my enemies at a safe distance. Read the Quran, please. It is clear that Islam is not only against Christianity and Judaism, but the entire western world. I do not think Pastor Cal has ever heard of the Muslim phrase of Tequira "Be friendly to your enemies to their face, but hate them in your heart." Look it up.

Pastor Cal seems to be having lunch with fundamental enemies of human freedoms and God-given rights...and giving those freedoms over to man-controlled Sharia Law. Trying to convert them? PRAY for them. We do not fight against flesh and blood... (Eph. 6:12). Central Church seems to be taking the fleshly route. The very chaos and confusion this world is facing is all because of the religion/ideology Pastor Cal wants to befriend. You don't learn from history than you are doomed to repeat it. This is just one of another issues Central in general is creating in its division.

The biggest issue with Central? Not listening to God's Voice through PRAYER. It is clear they are going off of emotions and personal agendas now rather than seeking God's Voice and direction. Also, EVERY year they used to ASK the congregation (again...Psalm 127:1) to suggest ideas on how to change things for the better and keep the leadership on track. They don't do that anymore. It has been a couple of years since they have asked anything of the congregation. PRAYER has taken a backseat to the personal preaching. Never a good thing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). The services are shortened when they could have EASILY made the 2nd service start later...rather than earlier. Why?? And Pastor Cal has been 'absent/vacationing' more and more...and more. I wish I had the vacation time Pastor Cal seems to be making. God is the CEO and a Pastor is just a manager. They have forgotten that. Maybe Central should go back to having God run the Church rather than taking it upon their shoulders...

I attended this church for a few years but after hearing the truth and being convicted, I had no choice but to leave. There are so many things about this church that are not Biblical. Women should not be pastors (1 Timothy 2:11-12) yet they have women who preach to the entire congregation. Church should not be on a screen. If your pastor can't even be at your church, how is he supposed to shepherd you? I'll never forget walking in and seeing the Hollywood sign on the stage. Why do we need to find Biblical truths in movies when we can find them in the Bible? Why are we even bringing something as filthy as Hollywood in to the church? They very much like to talk about money but not in a Biblical way. They trick people into giving more by telling them that if they give more that God will bless them more. Also 10% is not a requirement. What you give is between you and God, there is no required number for giving. They say they believe that baptism is an outward expression of an inward change, but that is never made clear during baptisms. I have even heard things said that imply that baptism saves which is not true! The last straw for me was when they started supporting Black Lives Matter and the lead pastor started to talk about "getting woke." As Christians we should be rejecting these things. It's sad to have to write this because this church did play a part in my journey to salvation, but they're so far from teaching truth that I have to say something. There are other Biblical churches in the valley. Please do your research and find...

It was my first time going today ,I have had a hard time finding a good church to go to for the last few years and i said ok God help me find a good Christian base church and he answered my prayer who knew God was so great with Google, god helped me find this church online and he lead me to this amazing church and I was impressed. I like the new comer's meeting they have where they talk about what their church is about and they have alot of really great stuff you can do with them and how they help there community, just tons of ways you can be involved in church. There service today was very nice. They have good Christian music. I was not familiar with the songs but that is ok the band sang beautifully and did a great job. I will say central Christian church is a great family church to go to, i highly would recommend it. I plan to go next Sunday. Oh and they have a nice cafe you can go to before service or after to get breakfast or lunch just incase you are hungry before or after service ,coffee beverage options ..I mean they thought of everything when they made this church, I was very impressed with that. The church is a huge campus and my first time here and I was like wow now this is a church! The people are so friendly and so nice and help you will anything you need. I know you will...