When I was in Bible College, one of my professors jokingly pointed out that every time they got together in the book of Acts, they seem to be eating. Then he would end his story by saying, "Thank God I'm a Pentecostal!"

My brother-in-law has gotten so big that he should be on one of those Discovery channel shows. He is approaching the "can't get through the door stuck in my house" size. He only goes down to the church a couple of days a week, does all his "work" from home and can't even wipe his own butt. My sister told me he has a special shower thing that he uses to clean himself after a bowl movement and as a result he refuses to go to the bathroom away from home. I am guessing he is around 500 pounds and he is not a tall man. 13 years ago his belt was so big it was longer than I am tall and he looked quite a bit bigger the last time I saw him 2 years ago.

He has been on a diet for years...but when he diets, he has to do it his way...he has to tweak it and cheat and he never loses weight. He always claims he has lost 40 pounds, but he always looks bigger every time he diets. His favorite is Atkins, but he is even a glutton on this diet. He will order 5 pepperoni pizzas and scrape the cheese, meat and sauce off and throw the crust away. He goes through 2 jars of macadamia nuts in one sitting and will eat slim jims as if they were french fries. My sister will make himf 4 or 5 huge chicken breasts and a serving bowl full of salad, covered with a half a brick of shredded cheese and slathered in dressing. This thing will look like it should serve a crowd, but it is his side salad. And the whole time he is "dieting" he whines and complains about what he can't eat. He treats everyone just awful and then justifies it by saying he is cranky because he is dieting. And he cheats on his diet. I have seen him at the gas station cleaning out the back seat of his car..which is littered with fast food bags. Then he lies to his wife when she grills him about what he ate and he will eat the massive dinner she prepared for him.

He pastors in a pretty crazy little town and the majority of his congregation are ex drug addicts and they have all been brainwashed that you don't speak up to the pastor.They do talk behind his back a bit though. Most of them are pretty freaked about his size, but are too afraid of God's judgement to say anything about it to him. I know visitors that have come to the church and refused to come back because they can't fathom having a pastor that is such a slob.

My sister is interesting though. She hates his weight on one hand but on the other likes it because she loves the idea of people saying, "She is with him?  She has even called him a Fat Fu_ _  when they are fighting. Nice words from the pastor's wife, huh? I think that she likes the idea that she is so thin and (in her mind) gorgeous and he is lucky to be with her. She likes feeling like he is beneath her...somehow that gives her the right to act anyway she wants to and he should just be grateful that this beauty is with him. He has talked about having Weight loss surgery and she is very against it saying a surgery is too dangerous. At the time they had this arguement I told her that he was more in danger of a stroke or heart attack, but she just shrugged her shoulders....that was when I realized that she doesn't care about his health. She wants to keep him fat so she can feel good about herself.