You've covered a wide array of things.
The woman focused on outward appearance: That's pretty much the culture today and so it's not uncommon to see it walk through the front doors on Sundays. It wasn't too long ago that showing an ankle was considered inappropriate content. We've pretty much run out of stuff to show, so I don't think it can go much further. The candles: I don't know, it might or might not be a symptom of the dark side. The manipulation and anger: That's just strange, unless you made a solid commitment to her and then backed out of it and that disrupted her own plans for the trip. Her husband could've left her for any one or a combination or reasons, even something as simple as she's insane and/or unpredictable. Or maybe he was even more insane than she is and she was the normal one of the pair. We really don't know & probably never will.
The grief counselor: We all have to make a living. I see nothing wrong with charging for professional services, especially when the consumer might have no tolerance for a Christian perspective on the problem. And then who's to say she's not sneaking a little of that in during the sessions, which would be great. Also, if some of the fees come back to the church in the form of tithes and offerings, I'm for it.
On the music deal, one person's sensual is another person's normal. Another thing: It's not uncommon to start a "worship experience" with a secular song just to bridge the gap between the new/unchurched attendees and the Christian message. You have to hit them from the beginning with material they can identify with. Flatirons Community Church does a great job at that. I believe they even have nights where all they play are secular songs -- just to attract new believers the following Sunday. I'm all for that. It's 2015 and you can't attract new/young believers with an old lady sitting at a Hammond B-3 and a 50-watt sound system with a couple of tinny speakers from 1971 hanging from the ceiling. Those days are gone, and I say good riddance, unless it's a church that serves only an older population, in which case that's what they need, so best not to change the model.
Last Christmas concert I played (I'm no longer with that church), we opened with some heavy metal song from Trans Siberian Orchestra. Carol of the Bells, I think it was called. Complete with flashing white Christmas trees run by the lighting crew, lol. But it was fun and the people who were there (average age 35 maybe) got a kick out of it. I don't think it was disrespectful or anything.
Santa and Christmas trees are pagan images. Michel Rood does a good job of explaining. But people who are ok with Santa and Christmas trees do it ignorantly and passively, and probably with a good dose of herd mentality, too, not as part of pagan worship.
I know what you mean about preachers going around the room and laying hands on people. Sometimes the people seem like they're reacting on cue to the touch. Especially when you have catchers standing behind the people for when the Sprit knocks them down. Frankly I don't know what to make of that. It's either fake, or the preacher sure has some high-octane anointing. I see it on TV a lot but never in person. I do know the real thing exists 'cause I saw a tape of Reinhard Bonnke in Africa where a group of a thousand people of a 0.5M crowd fell to the ground in a wave, as if a giant hand had swept over them and knocked them all down like little toy soldiers. It was scary to watch. You can't fake that.
I could be wrong, but I wouldn't characterize either Meyer or Osteen as prosperity preachers. Prosperity may be a component of their messages, but I don't think it's their main themes. I have big problems with one of them unrelated to the prosperity concern, but I won't go down that rabbit trail.
That preacher you heard sounds strange. The woman sounds strange. The whole deal there sounds strange. I can't come up with a cohesive, overarching theme. Basically it sounds like a hot mess, but the financial numbers might be working so they're going to leave things as is. Is there a salvation message at all or is it just fluff with no real meat to it? I've been in fluff churches like that. Get 'em in, get 'em saved by getting them to check the box on the connection card and that way we know for sure, get 'em in a group, get 'em to serve, get 'em signed up for electronic giving, run up the numbers. The Mill. On the other hand, I've seen churches who run the same play but have outstanding Bible-based messages and people's lives are totally changed for the better. It's really hard to categorize a lot of these places. Almost like you need a separate category for each one.
