FBC Jax Watchdogs

Timely Article by Wade Burleson: Time to Get New Friends If.....

2013-05-16T07:33:00.001-04:00

Readers: if you haven't already, visit Wade Burleson's site and read his article "It is Time to Get New Friends When....".

Wade writes:

"Friends who shame you, friends who harbor grudges against, friends who expect or demand certain performance from you, friends who are disappointed in you as a person, friends who won't forgive you, friends who don't/won't/can't give you freedom, friends who get angry with you and close off emotionally from you, and friends who expect/need certain things from you are saying, "I have placed you on a platform of performance expectations, and if you don't meet my expectations, I want nothing to do with you."

This is so very true. It is one thing for those who don't know you to judge you and blame you and treat you as an enemy and the cause of their problems, but when it comes from within your own family and circle of long-time friends, it is especially hurtful. I know, I've been there. We all have.

But on the other hand, when those who differ with you, or even might be disappointed in you or think you're off your proverbial rocker and a heretic of sorts - or those you've mistreated yourself - still express love and patience and kindness toward you, that is when you see what Christianity should be about. I know this too, and have experienced it recently.

Sad thing is when we shame our friends and family members and hold grudges and expect performance and adherence to their doctrinal views in exchange for their acceptance - we are showing that we don't believe the bible, and we are denying the basic tenants of the faith we profess.

Thanks, Wade, for a timely article.

As a Gift to Our Mothers and Daughters, Consider You May Be Wrong About the Doctrine of Male-Only Authority in the Church

2013-05-12T09:24:00.000-04:00

Readers: Below is a re-posting of my 2011 Mother's Day post. Enjoy!

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Happy Mother's Day to all of you WD-reading Mothers! I hope your day is filled with love and joy!

I want to take this Mother's Day as an opportunity to encourage all men who read this blog - for the good of your mothers, wives, daughters, and granddaughters - to consider that you just might be wrong about what the scriptures say about women and their subordinate role they must play in the church.

I know that the prevailing thought based on scriptures such as 1 Timothy 2 and the account of the fall in Genesis 3 is that women should be subservient to men, and that men should have authority over women, and that women are forbidden from teaching men, or holding certain offices in church.

I know, because I was taught that in Southern Baptist Churches my entire Christian life. I've been taught it by people in my family and by my baptist pastors for over two decades. It was when I heard of the firing of Dr. Sheri Klouda by Paige Patterson that I first considered that perhaps this doctrine that led to this tragic action taken by Patterson was wrong. I read a good portion of Patterson's deposition in the Klouda case a couple of years ago, and the absurdity of statements made by Patterson under questioning of Klouda's lawyer, Gary Richardson, further led me to believe that this doctrine of male authority in the church is counter to scripture and the will of God and required my further investigation.

And I have to say one of the turning points that caused me to dig even deeper, is last year when I came across Ergun Caner's "joke" at the 2007 Ohio Free Will Baptists Men's Retreat when he said that he believed women should be behind the pulpit...how else could they get back there to vacuum....and his jokes about "mutant granddaughters" barking like dogs. It made me sick that this sort of thing came from one of the most popular baptist preaching-circuit personalities.

So after much reading and research I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong, that in fact the bible does NOT teach that God's plan is for men to have authority over women, and that the Bible does NOT teach women are exempted from having leadership positions over men in the church. I may explore this topic in future posts as to the particular arguments for what I believe, but I want to in this post simply implore men to consider an alternative view by a conservative teacher that can be trusted in this area. His name is Jon Zens.

Jon Zens is a preacher and author that has spoken around the world, but mostly outside the institutional church which is why many Southern Baptists have not heard of him. He is a pastor of a church, but does not draw a salary. He has taught and lived out for years a different model of pastor, not of a pastor having authority over people, but of serving and being amongst the congregation as a servant. You can read Jon's bio here. Jon is a good friend of author Frank Viola ("Pagan Christianity"), and also of Cal Thomas who uses Jon as a reviewer and editor of his work. Jon and his wife Dottie are sweet Christians who in recent years have been involved in traveling to the Philippines to help women and children get out of the sex-slave trade.

I had the privilege of meeting Jon for lunch last September when he was in Jacksonville to do some teaching at a home church group here in Jacksonville, after which he traveled down to Gainesville to meet his friend Frank Viola and minister in that city. We talked over lunch about my family's experience at First Baptist, the journey I have traveled through my blog, and my views on tithing which Jon has written about for quite some time. Jon graciously shared with me a bag full of books and other materials related to topics I was writing about on my blog that he had written about.

What I would recommend for men (and women!) who are willing to just possibly consider they have been taught wrongly what the bible say about women is to listen to Jon Zens' 8-part teaching series he delivered at Wade Burleson's church last September. Click here to go to Emmanuel Baptist Church's video archive, and scroll down to September 2010 to see this teaching series. Also, Jon has written a book entitled "What's With Paul and Women", and another one out this year entitled "No Will of My Own - How Patriarchy Smothers Female Dignity and Personhood". Read Wade Burleson's forward to this latest book here at Wade's blog.

Let me give you a quote from Wade Burleson's foreward he wrote for Jon's book "What's With Paul and Women":

"The viper known as 'the doctrine of male authority' has bitten the church. the toxin emitted by this errant teaching affects the females within our assemblies. It debilitates their God-given gifts, denigrates their Spirit-led ministry, and downplays their role as new Covenant priests. Those of us who have seen the church bitten need assistance, and help has arrived. This book will help you suck out the venom of male-only authority within the church. It will do so by helping you be able to articulate Jesus' view of the equality of women and then revealing for you how Paul's words in 1 Timothy 2 are consistent with Jesus' own teaching and ministry. You will be able to point out to others how the modern institutional church has misconstrued and misinterpreted Paul's writings on the subject, while at the same time ignoring Jesus' words and life on the same subject."

So I hope this Mother's Day you will commit to at least consider the possibility that you have learned wrongly what the Bible says about women, and do further investigation starting with Jon Zens' bible teachings in this area. I believe this is so very, very important. I believe this wrong teaching that has infected our churches for so long is why we are reading about so much sexual abuse and cover-ups in our churches as Christa Brown has chronicled for years. I also firmly believe that the absence of women from any serious positions of leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention or in our churches is why there is no movement at all toward reaching out at a denominational level to victims of pastoral abuse or establishing a database of credibly accused ministers to keep predator pastors from freely moving from church to church. Many of the problems we see in the SBC, I believe, are related to having women on the outside of the leadership circle.

So Happy Mother's Day...and please, men....as a gift to the women in your life, be open to what God might speak to you in this important area.

Celebration Church Cited by City of Jacksonville for Violation of Noise Pollution Ordinance

2013-05-09T06:40:00.000-04:00

"This will be our final comment on the matter." Celebration Church's response to citizens' complaints about excessive noise levels coming from the church.

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Looks like Celebration Church has NOT made their final comment on the matter of their noisy worship services bothering the neighbors.

Stovall Weems and Celebration Church can no longer simply ignore the concerns of the residents of the Sweetwater subdivision over the noise pollution coming from their church.

This week Celebration Church received a "Notice to Correct" citation from the City of Jacksonville's Environmental Quality Division, for being in violation of the "Noise Polllution Control" regulations. The story here from First Coast News says that this past Sunday the city took noise level measurements and found "octave band violations" - meaning for certain sound frequencies the church exceeded the decibel levels allowed by the city. The church has until May 13th to correct these violations.

How sad - a church is in violation of the Noise Pollution ordinance of their city - and they refused to take action at the request of their neighbors, requiring the city resources to have to be spent to force them to take real corrective action.

I want to say congratulations to the citizens of Sweetwater. They did the right thing. They tried to handle this directly with the church over a span of about 6 months. They wrote letters requesting action by the church, and received little response or action from the church. The church's written reply to the citizens - prior to the city's EQD becoming involved - said in part:

"We are sincerely sorry if our services or events have disturbed any of our neighbors. At Celebration Church, we seek to serve and add value to our community. We have worked hard to incorporate exterior noise reduction into the design of our campus on RG Skinner Parkway. With these efforts, even the highest volume levels inside the sanctuary are minimized to a level that is barely audible outside the building.....This will be our final comment on this matter. Thank you so much for your inquiry."

How arrogant. "This will be our final comment on this matter." they said. Not so fast, Stovall and Celebration Church. It absolutely will not be your final comment. You might be able to ignore the citizens' complaints and say that your music is "barely audible", but the city doesn't agree, and they are dealing with engineering measurements, not your opinion. In fact they found you in violation of the Noise Pollution ordinance of the city.

Stovall and CC, we hope you are more responsive to the City of Jacksonville officials than you were to either the citizens of Sweetwater, or to First Coast News, who you refused to grant an interview to discuss the citizens' concerns. You could have answered this question months ago: did you hire an engineering company to take octave decibel readings at the perimeter of your property during services to prove you were in compliance? If so, you could have provided that to the citizens, or to First Coast News.

It is quite sad that a church couldn't handle this themselves, without the city having to spend its resources to discover octave band violations. The church could have detected these violations - or just heard the neighbors concerns and they could've tone down the music accordingly. I've been in the church before, and it is the loudest noise I have ever heard as it actually vibrated by innards - and I've been to my share of indoor rock concerts. There is plenty of room for their music levels to be reduced.

Last night the Twitter account of Celebration Church posted this Tweet:

Yes, the Watchdog and the citizens of Sweetwater have a prayer request, Celebration Church pastors and prayer teams. We hope your pastors will pray that your noise levels will be in compliance with city code next Sunday during worship.

Here is the prayer that you can pray, Celebration:

"Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that this Sunday when the EQD takes more sound measurements, that we will be below 75 decibel levels on the octave ranges of 31.5 Hz, 63 Hz, and 125 Hz, and 250 Hz, when our cool bass player and drummer is the loudest - so that we don't have to pay any fines for our violations."

Or better yet - don't pray. Just turn down the dang amplifiers. God can hear your praise just fine at 50 dB.

Amen.

Celebration Church Jacksonville Music Levels Disturbing Neighbors

2013-04-11T07:42:00.003-04:00

Here in Jacksonville one of the largest, fastest growing churches is Celebration Church, pastored by Stovall Weems.They recently completed construction on a new main campus facility, what they call "Celebration Arena", shown at left.They are a multi-campus site, with videos of Stovall transmitted to several satellite locations in Jacksonville. This church is our city's version of Elevation Church, and Fellowship Church. Good looking, hip pastor, with loud rock-style music. In fact, Stovall has preached at Fellowship, and Steven Furtick has preached here at Celebration.

As reported by TV-12 News last night, the noise levels coming from the church during their services are so loud as to be a nuisance to the adjoining neighborhood, described by the homeowners as a "retirement"community.

However, from the TV-12 report last night, it seems that the church is not very concerned, and would not even talk to the reporter for her story. Here is an excerpt from the TV report last night:

"Since October, Dave and his wife along with his neighbors say they have sent letters, emails and have made calls to Celebration Church asking for assistance with the noise, but have received only one response that referenced a few pine trees planted as buffers....I [the reporter] called Celebration Church and asked for an interview but was told they would need two weeks notice and passed along contact information."

I visited the church a few Sundays ago to hear Tim Tebow speak at the new Celebration Arena, and I can understand the neighbors' concerns. As I told many people about my visit, the one word I used to describe that church is LOUD. I have never, ever heard music and bass levels as high as in that church. The music was so loud, I felt like my inner organs were vibrating! I've been to my share of rock concerts back in the day, and nothing was as loud and deep as the music being played at the church. As I walked in, I noticed the "fog" in the air to give the arena a nightclub feel. The "arena" is beautiful - huge back screen, HD side screens, comfortable chairs - and one heckuva sound system.

Hopefully Celebration Church will do more than just point to the pine trees, and will do something real to alleviate the concerns of Dave and his neighbors. In the TV piece last night, Dave says he is a man of faith and he felt guilty about raising the issue given that the noise is coming from a church, but he and his neighbors believe their quality of life is diminished by the noise levels on Sunday and Wednesdays. Celebration certainly CAN turn the music down, or provide some other engineering modifications to reduce the noise emanating from the property.

It is quite interesting that while this issue is going on, our city council is addressing citizens' complaints about noise coming from Metro Park rock concerts downtown. So Celebration, please be proactive and address this. If our city council is concerned about noise coming from city-owned property on a few weekends a year, certainly YOU can address the noise concerns from your own church every Sunday and Wednesday.

And for goodness sake, Celebration Church, please talk to the reporter. Why do you need two weeks to prepare to speak to a news reporter working for our largest TV news station in Jacksonville?

"Hey Haters" - An Analysis of Steven Furtick's Volunteer Confidentiality Agreement - Don't Criticize, or You Agree to a Restraining Order

2013-04-05T12:21:00.001-04:00

"I acknowledge that my breach of any of the restrictive covenants in this Agreement will result in irreparable damage to the Church. Therefore, in the event of any breach or threatened breach by me, I agree that the Church shall be entitled to an injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction enjoining me from committing any violation or threatened violation of this Agreement. I further agree that the Church shall not be required to post a bond to obtain such an injunction. All remedies available to the Church by reason of a breach by me of this Agreement are cumulative, none is exclusive, and all remedies may be exercised concurrently or consecutively at the Church’s option." Concluding paragraph of contract volunteers must sign at Steven Furtick's church.

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Note from the WD: I don't ordinarily write such long posts, but I wanted to write this post for the benefit of Elevation Church members so they know what great peril they are in if they sign the document about which this article is written.

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Hey Haters!!! Steven "Hey Haters" Furtick and his Elevation Church have taken us to a new low in church manipulation: Furtick's church volunteers must agree not to disclose any information about the church pertaining to finances, member contact information, and "church research and development activities" (church "R and D"? Are you kidding me?) - or the church may seek a restraining order issued by a judge to prevent you from talking about the church.

Thanks to the Wartburg Watch post last night, this brazen attempt at manipulation of their members by Elevation Church is now out in the open for all to see - click here to take a gander at the actual agreement. This document's exposure on the blogosphere hopefully will be another example of a church thinking they will abusively squelch dissent behind the scenes with no one knowing; not realizing their attempts may backfire when light is shone on their scheme (by us "haters"), giving people a glimpse of just how rotten and full of themselves the leadership is.

This goes well beyond just manipulation of members. By asking volunteers to sign this document puts well-meaning members of Elevation Church at great legal peril. If the church perceives a member is violating any terms of this document by publicly criticizing the church over finances - or even publicly disclosing abuse within the walls of the church - the church will consider them to have done "irreparable damage" to "the Church", and the church will seek a court injunction against the member.

Members of Elevation Church who might sign this or have already signed this agreement, I cannot urge you strongly enough: do NOT sign this, and if you have, send in writing a request rescinding your agreement to all terms of the agreement.

Members, do you know what this means when you sign this document and thereby agree that Furtick's church "shall be entitled to an injunction" against you? This means if Furtick and Friends believe you've talked bad about the church, or shared financial information about the church - or even raised allegations of abuse in the church rightly or wrongly - you have agreed that the church is entitled to have a judge issue a restraining order against you to silence you. And if you breach this restraining order and don't comply, you will be held in contempt of court.

The church can go to a judge with this document, and will show it and say that this member agreed NOT to release "confidential information", and make the case to the judge that you AGREED to have the judge issue a restraining order against you. Then if you violate it, you can be arrested for being in contempt of court.

Below are three arguments explaining why this is dangerous for you to sign this document, and how signing this document may require you at some point to violate your own Christian teachings and principles or be in great legal jeopardy - and how this is all designed to silence the "haters" - that is people who publicly criticize pastors like Steven Furtick.:

Getting an Injunction from a Judge Against You
This document is basically saying if the church believes you are disclosing information that THEY think is harmful to the church, that YOU agree to have a judge issue an injunction - which really is a temporary restraining order to stop you from doing what they perceive to be harmful to them. And it is not just that you HAVE disclosed information harmful to them, but if they BELIEVE YOU WILL IN THE FUTURE.

For example, if you are found to criticize the church publicly, say on a blog or Facebook like Chris Tynes did at Prestonwood - for any reason you deem worthy of criticism - Furtick and friends they may then believe you will disclose other "confidential information" like financial information such as salaries or budgets or future plans of the church. They may also assume that you will use your contacts at the church to spread your "gossip". They will then go to the judge and show the judge that you agreed to have the restraining order issued against you to silence you against further spread of "confidential information".

Notice the agreement does define what is "confidential information" that you are not to share, but their definition includes the "...but is not limited to" phase - so basically confidential information would mean any non-publicly available information they think would be harmful. This could be information at a business meeting, a personal conversation you have with another member or pastor, etc.

If you contest this restraining order because you don't want to have a judge order you to be silent, then you will have to hire a lawyer and go to a hearing in a court to argue your side.

If you lose and the restraining order is issued and you don't comply with the judge's restraining order as a matter of conscience, you may be held in contempt of court and arrested and imprisoned.

Sounds so much like the New Testament church in Acts, doesn't it? This is a complete reversal of New Testament church activity: instead of Christians being persecuted for speaking the truth, the church (Furtick's church) is now attempting to be the persecutor of believers who may in the future dare to speak the truth about their church.

Church Disagreements or Church Abuse
Suppose you believe the church is acting abusively toward someone and you have made every attempt to raise the issue with church leadership privately to no avail- or if you fear going to them privately - and you attempt to blog about what is going on in the church to warn others. Or maybe you just have a disagreement over how money is spent or even a theological disagreement.

If the information you share is "confidential" as in not publicly available - then they can go to the court and argue for an injunction that you agreed to when you signed the agreement.

Notice that the agreement states about the injunction:

"I further agree that the Church shall not be required to post a bond to obtain such an injunction."

Under normal circumstances a party seeking a judge to issue an injunction or restraining order to have someone stop doing something deemed harmful to the plaintiff, the plaintiff must put up a "bond" of some value in case the injunction is found to have been wrongly issued and brings harms to the defendant! Makes perfect sense to keep organizations from seeking injunctions left and right. But the church is attempting to make this so one-sided that they don't want to have to put up their precious money to back up their claim that you are harming them. Who does such crap, and ask people who are offering to volunteer their time to agree to it?

Has any employer - let alone a non-profit for which you are trying to volunteer your time - asked you to sign such one-sided legal nonsense? What are they afraid of? What is so precious and secret over at Elevation Church that they must ask all employees and volunteers to sign this?

I can tell you: this is the sign of a cult. They are trying to silence you and intimidate you from publicly criticizing them. It is no secret how much Furtick and friends despise the "haters" who criticize their God-anointed efforts to save the world.

Give as Little Information as Possible

Elevation members, this might be the worst part, where they do tell you that you are allowed to disclose information about the church if required by law.

"However, this provision shall not preclude me...from any disclosure required by law or court order, so long as I provide the Church immediate written notice of any potential disclosure pursuant to this subsection and take all reasonable and lawful steps to limit the extent of such disclosure."

"Gee, thanks Steven, I'm glad you are allowing me the freedom to tell the truth to the police and other law authorities if I'm questioned about the church!!"

But look at that statement. They are requiring employees and volunteers to provide written notification of any "potential disclosure" when required by law or court order! Are you kidding? I have to FIRST tell the church before I talk to the authorities? What rubbish!!

And why must I take "all reasonable and lawful steps to limit the extent of such disclosure?"

That is just crazy. Imagine there is an investigation of child abuse at the church, and a detective wants to interview you about it. By law, you must tell the truth to the detective. But are you first to notify Steven and friends before disclosing confidential information? And why must you limit the extent of the disclosure?

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Anyways, this story is just another example of how these mega churches are too big for their britches. They want total devotion by the members, they want 10% minimum of your income (or God will curse you), and they want you to limit the disclosure of any information that might cast the organization in a negative light. They want you to sign a document forfeiting your legal rights to publicly criticize them. They want you to believe they are the single most important organization on the face of the earth, the one that is truly doing God's will. They require the head man to be viewed as being "the man of God" sent by God, appointed by God, and anointed by God, to tell you what the holy book says. They require you to admit that disclosure of information about what is going on within the organization regarding finances and strategy plans is to cause irreparable damage to the organization.

That my friends, is the stuff cults are made out of.....but even David Koresh and James Jones weren't so stupid as to put it all in writing and make people sign it. This is not a Confidentiality Agreement - it is more of a "Drink the Kool Aid Commitment" that I hope no volunteer will ever sign.

I've talked to a lawyer about this agreement, and he says it wouldn't likely stand up in court anyways. It is just an attempt to chill free speech. The church wants its members to know they have given their rights to talk freely over to their church, plain and simple.

So Elevation members, throw put this confidentiality agreement where it belongs - in the trash can. Tell them to run their background check on you, but that you will sign no such confidentiality agreement. You are signing up to volunteer your precious hours to your church, not guard America's nuclear launch codes. And Elevation employees who must sign this as a condition to maintain your employment, I feel sorry for you. In the real world, no one would ever ask you to sign something so one-sided as a condition for employment.

And watch Steven's "Hey Hater's" performance one more time, and you'll see the heart from which such a document is spawned:

SBC Prez Luter Says Latest North Korean Aggression Might be God's Judgment Over Gay Marriage Issue

2013-04-03T07:34:00.002-04:00

"I would not be surprised that there's not a connection there....I would not be surprised that at a time when we are debating same sex marriage...I don't think its just a coincidence that there's a mad man in Asia who's saying some of the things he's saying." Fred Luter, linking North Korea's aggressive military posture to the debate of same sex marriage.

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No, this is not the April Fool's post. I wish it were.

Fred Luter, president of the SBC, said in an interview last week that perhaps one of the reasons North Korea is now ramping up their nuclear program is because God is judging America for the U.S. Supreme Court debating the issue of gay marriage.

Listen to the radio interview excerpt below. It is shocking. Rick Wiles asks Luter if North Korea's renewed military aggression is God "unleashing" punishment on us. This is the level of nonsense that is driving young people away from Christianity, when they hear a prominent Christian leader like Fred Luter insinuate that God is judging the United States over the issue of gay marriage.

There are plenty of reasons why a person might be in support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Amendment. But to take two events that are completely separate and distinct and link them into a cause and effect relationship using the "judgment of God" hurts the right's cause. And it is why non-Christians actually FEAR evangelicals - our "men of God" think we're so stupid as to believe God is judging us because this week our Supreme Court happens to be considering the issue of gay marriage.

So come on, Christians - let's save America from North Korean aggression by opposing same-sex marriage - and be sure to tithe this week to stop homosexuality from spreading.

And if the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA - everybody head for the bomb shelters.

Helpful Sermon from Fellowship Church Worth Watching - Help for Those Who are Enduring Longterm Struggles

2013-03-22T11:52:00.002-04:00

Tracy Barnes is one of the pastors at Ed Young's Fellowship church. I urge my readers to listen to his sermon last week. I wish I could embed it here on the blog, but the best I can do is give you the link here:

Tracy Barnes Sermon - Pain Management

Tracy spoke last week in the current series "Pain Management". Tracy's family has endured the incredible hardship of having their two young boys - Roger and Phillip - diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy back in the late 1980s. This awful disease causes a wasting away of all muscles. It is diagnosed when children are very young, and death usually occurs around age 20 to 25 from respiratory complications. Their son Roger died a few years ago, but Phillip is still bravely living with this disease, with the love and constant help of his parents.

In the sermon Tracy speaks from his heart to help people deal with painful life trials that have no end in sight. He gives three "stop signs" to help people live with joy despite living in a life-long struggle. A video is shown early in the sermon of how Tracy's wife Debbie has endured, her devotion to Phillip's care, and she speaks of her faith struggles and victories.

If you are dealing with long-term struggles and disappointments in life, Tracy and Debbie's story and the lessons Tracy shares in this sermon will be of great help.

There are so many touching parts of this story that will help you - from Tracy and Debbie's devotion to their boys, to the story of one of Tracy's daughters carrying the gene who decided to adopt a child from Haiti vs. birthing children, to seeing Tracy speak a word of encouragement and love directly to his son Phillip.

Thank you Tracy and Debbie and Phillip for telling your story. One of the most moving, touching, helpful sermons I've seen.

I hope my readers will take a few minutes to watch this.

Prestonwood Baptist Doesn't Call the Cops on the Molester, But They Call the Cops on the Church Member Who Asks Questions About the Molester

2013-03-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

Readers - it is hard to believe another SBC mega church has banned a long-time church member for daring to demand questions of its leadership through social media.

Sound familiar?Don't these guys learn from each other's mistakes in how they try to bully critics and questioners?

At Prestonwood Baptist Church, a long-time church member - an educated, professional, family man - recently became aware of the church's non-reporting of molestation of several young people at the church at the hands of John Langworthy of Prestonwood back in 1989. Brett Shipp of WFAA covered the story here, and ABP covered it here. I wrote about the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal here, here, and here.

This church member then did the unspeakable - he dared to use social media to ask questions of his church leadership. He had questions like, presumably, why did the church leadership NOT contact the police so they could investigate? Did the church warn the next churches or schools that Langworthy went to work at? This church member posted a few posts on the church Facebook page, which were promptly deleted. He then called the church to schedule a meeting - but it was abruptly canceled, and when he showed up at the church anyways he was turned away and told he was no longer welcomed at his church. You can watch the video of his visit to the church here, and you can visit his Facebook page here. You can follow his Twitter feed here.

The church then played the "he might be a threat" card by filing a "Suspicious Person Report" with the local police. Sound familiar?

Prestonwood knows this man and his wife and kids. They know he is not a threat. They even know his questions are completely legitimate. But they would rather ban this man from his church, disrupt his family life and punish he and his wife for asking questions. Are they worried how this will affect this man's wife and children to have their husband and father banned from their own church under threat of arrest - just for asking questions of the holy man of God and his friends?

The Wartburg Watch is going to cover this story more in depth tomorrow, so stay tuned.

I hope this church member continues to use social media to expose their attempts to bully him and intimidate him, and more importantly shine more light on the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal.

But how ironic is this: Prestonwood apparently did NOT issue any trespass papers or "suspicious person's report" against Langworthy when he was found to be touching young boys at the church....but let a church member ask questions about how they handled the Langworthy case, and HE gets the boot.

Don't call the cops when the music man is molesting minors...but quickly call the cops when the faithful member wants to know why the cops weren't called to report the molester.

Don't report the molester to the cops...but report the "suspicious" church member who wants answers to his questions.

Can things get any crazier in the Southern Baptist Convention?

"World-Wide" Evangelist Shows How to Handle a Talker in the Audience

2013-03-03T23:23:00.002-05:00

Below is one of my new favorite preacher videos.

Readers, I introduce you to Mr. Larry Smith, traveling evangelist, sole proprietor of the "Larry Smith World-Wide Ministries".

By "world wide", I think Larry means "KJV churches mostly in northwest Indiana, and small churches like those where Ergun Caner now preaches".

In the clip below, from Larry's January 20th sermon at First Baptist Hammond, Larry yells at, and attempts to humiliate some man who is apparently talking in the audience. Watch this. It is classic. Notice the fake smile, and his inability to ignore the talker. And his sarcastic "Love you" - and a pronouncement to the talker that "you reap what you sow". I guess in Larry's bible Galatians 6:7 reads, "Do not be deceived. Larry the Evangelist is not mocked. You will reap what you sow." This will make you laugh, then it will make your skin crawl.

You can't tell it from the brief snippet, but this is from Larry's classic sheep-beating tithing sermon that he regularly preaches, entitled "Does Your Wallet Have a Hole In It?" [sadly, I've heard a few SBC pastors preach about God poking holes in your purse] posted at his website. Larry tells people point-blank that the tithe is a debt they owe, they need to tithe on all Christmas gifts received to avoid God's curse on their finances, and real Christians will develop a payback plan to pay God for any income or gifts on which they have not tithed in the past.

Larry might think he is "world-wide"....I think in this video he shows he is more "world-class" - as in world-class horse's patoot.

Although he does tell the young man "I hope to God you're not a Hyles-Anderson student; I hope God not".

Amen, Larry, I hope not either. And if he is, I hope your little tantrum caused him to wake up and get out of Dodge.

H/T: Stuff Fundies Like

Christian, You Have Been Released from Servitude to God

2013-02-28T23:06:00.000-05:00

Readers - below is a repeat of my 2nd post from July 2011 based on Wade Burleson's January 2, 2011 sermon.

These four posts - with the third and fourth coming in the next week, are some of my favorites.

I hope you enjoy!

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"You and I are released from servitude TO God. In other words I rest from my efforts to produce for God...because I have been released from my servitude to God....'I thought when I became a Christian I became a servant OF God.' No, No....you became a SON of God" Wade Burleson

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In part 2 of our look at Wade Burleson's January 2, 2011 sermon, we see above Wade tell us that we have been saved and been made sons and daughters of God, and we are not slaves or servants to God. Our debt has been paid and we can rest.

In Part 3, we will look at the concept of a "bond slave", and in Part 4 Wade explains his view on the tithing doctrine as an example of how Christians have been released from having to perform FOR God. What Wade says in Part 4 is so simple yet profound, and something that you just won't hear in most pulpits regarding the truth on Christian stewardship.

Stay tuned....

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Part 1: "Christian, Jesus is Your Jubilee, and You Can Rest" - July 21, 2011

Jeffress Opens a Can on Tebow - Says Tebow "Wimped Out" - And Five Reasons Why Tebow Backed Out that the Press and Pharisees Both Missed

2013-02-26T00:42:00.001-05:00

In a 10-minute response in front of his congregation yesterday, Robert Jeffress yesterday showed the world that Tim Tebow made the right decision to not speak at Jeffress' church, when Jeffress said Tebow "wimped out":

"I am grateful for men of God like these [Vines, Graham, Mohler, etc.] who are willing to stand up and act like men, rather than wimping out when it gets a little controversial and an inconvenient thing to stand for the truth. God bless men like that."

Sorry, Robert. God bless men like Tebow. And shame on religious men like yourself who attack a young man who has lived out his faith in the most challenging circumstances, and a young man that has shown the world what a true Christian looks like. Robert and friends need to read my article from November 2011 in which I wrote about how pastors need to learn from Tebow on how to face criticism and adversity.

Watch the video of Jeffress for yourself here. After Jeffress said Tebow "wimped out" he goes on to mock those like Tebow who claim they are called to "preach the love of God", saying one can't preach the love of God without also preaching the judgment of God. Jeffress come across as a sniveling, whiny wimp who didn't get his way, and wants everyone to know all the Holy religious men of God are on HIS side and not Tebow's.

But the question still remains: why DID Tebow back out of his FBC Dallas speaking commitment? Was it over Jeffress' comments on homosexuality, Mormons, and Catholics? Probably not. After all, Tebow's own pastor came forward over the weekend to confirm there is not "a wisp" (Greek for "a bit") of difference between the theology of Jeffress' church and Tim's church.

Predictably, both the secular media AND the religious Pharisees missed what were legitimate reasons a person like Tim Tebow wouldn't want to speak at FBC Dallas. The religious Pharisees are so preoccupied with the issue of homosexuality, they assumed Tim caved to pressure - or as O.S. Hawkins said, Tebow "capitulated" - on this issue. Likewise, the secular media's darling issue is gay rights, so they also assumed Jeffress' stand on gay rights was Tim's primary reason reason for backing out.

I submit both the religious Pharisees AND the secular media have it all wrong.

To understand why Tim would have backed out, we have to answer the question: what ARE some distinctive positions or characteristics of FBC Dallas and Robert Jeffress that would cause someone like Tebow to not want to speak there? These reasons are quite obvious - unless you are a religious Pharisee who constantly rails about homosexuality, or you are in the secular media and think all Christians are gay-bashing homophobes.

Here are the top five reasons why a Christian like Tim Tebow would not want to be associated with FBC Dallas and Robert Jeffress:

1. FBC Dallas' Construction of $130 Million "Crystal Campus" - it is no secret that FBC Dallas is constructing the most expensive, over-the-top church facility complex ever conceived in modern evangelicalism. Perhaps Tim didn't realize the scope of this building program, and what a tremendous waste of resources this is. You see, Tim Tebow is not into raising money to build Crystal Cathedrals. Tim has consistently used his notoriety to raise money for sick children and needy families. Tim is into raising money for orphanages in the Phillipines. On the other hand, Robert Jeffress likes to manufacture his notoriety through outlandish and divisive statements, to help him raise funds for his new church building. That is NOT what Tim Tebow is all about. Here is an excerpt from the website of Tim's foundation:

"Unlike many other organizations, we pride ourselves in keeping our overhead costs as low as possible that way virtually every penny, of every dollar donated reaches the people that truly need it most. Together with your help, we will make a difference!"

2. FBC Dallas Construction of Waterfall as "Architectural Invitation" to Jesus Christ: As I blogged about here back in 2010, Robert Jeffress sold his church on the bright idea that to reach people for Jesus, they have to build a three-story high water fountain with computerized nozzles. Jeffress told the FBC Dallas peeps that they needed their church to be an "architectural invitation to the gospel". I don't think Tim is into glorifying spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for architectural invitations to Jesus. This was done all over Europe already - and at Tim's church back in the 1990's. Maybe Tim just isn't into this and doesn't want his name to be associated with it.

3. Jeffress Fund-Raising Tactics: As I blogged here, Jeffress preached a sermon to his peeps when he was in full fund-raising mode for his campus, in which he said:

"The greatest thing you can do for your spiritual health, would be to take a large chunk of your assets, and give them to this campaign. Just slice off a big hunk of 'em [as he slices with his hand] and give them to this campaign."

That is pure hogwash. Tim doesn't want to lend his name to the opening of a new facility built using these fund raising tactics, where the pastor says the greatest thing a Christian can do for their spiritual well-being is to take your assets and give them to a Crystal Cathedral-type building program. That is Bennie Hinn territory. Tim is a relentless fund-raiser himself - but he does it to help people, and he doesn't do it through manipulation and scripture twisting like Jeffress.

4. Jeffress' Divisive Political Statements: there is no mainstram evangelical pastor that was more involved in the 2012 presidential campaign than Robert Jeffress. As I pointed out here, Jeffress once said he would never endorse a politician, either publicly or privately, yet he eventually endorsed Texas governor Rick Perry at the Voter's Value Summit in October 2011. Also, Jeffress' statements about Obama paving the way for the Antichrist - Tim likely doesn't want to be associated with divisive political rhetoric that alienates people that he is trying to live out the gospel before.

5. Jeffress' Over-the-Top Statements About Islam: Jeffress has made statements that don't help to reach Muslims in this country with the gospel. As I wrote about here, Jeffress claimed that Islam "promotes pedophilia", and that "all around the world you have Muslim men having sex with 4-year old girls." Those statements are way over the top. Why does Tim need to lend his name to help promote the grand opening of a new church facility, where the pastor makes these kind of statements? That is not Tim Tebow's style.

So there you have it. There are others I could have cited, but these are probably the top 5 reasons why Tim Tebow doesn't want to be involved in the Grand Opening of the FBC Dallas version of the Crystal Cathedral.

And Robert, your comments about Tebow in front of your congregation show you to be a very small man. Tebow is too much of a gentleman to reply to you - but that is perhaps one of the few instances where we see Tebow is NOT like Jesus - else Tim would quickly declared about you, Jerry Vines, Jack Graham, and Albert the Pious, like Jesus said to the Pharisees in his day:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous....You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" (Matt 23:29,33)

But as I said, Tim is much too kind.

So the Watchdog said it for him.

Modern Day Religious Pharisees Now Criticizing Tebow

2013-02-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

The evangelical Holy Men of God are hell-bent on showing the world that they are the modern-day version of the Pharisees in Jesus' day.

Case in point is the criticism being directed at Tim Tebow by men like Vines, Mohler, and Graham this week after Tebow announced he was backing out of an April speaking gig at the First Baptist Church of Dallas.

For the past several weeks Tebow has been criticized by many in the secular media for his decision to speak at FBC Dallas because of the controversy surrounding their pastor Robert Jeffress and his stand on issues of homosexuality, Catholicism, and Obama. For sure people in the secular media have used their influence to try to pressure Tebow to behave as they believe he should, that he should cancel his speaking engagement.

But now that Tebow - as his own man, for his own reasons, and presumably according to the dictates of his own heart and faith - has decided to not go to FBC Dallas, the Holy Men of God are now doing exactly what they can't stand the secular media trying to do: trying to squeeze Tim Tebow to fit THEIR mold, and criticizing him when he doesn't do what they think he should.

I'm perfectly comfortable with Tim canceling his FBC Dallas gig. Why? Simply because I trust his judgment, as he has earned the right to be respected when he makes decisions such as this. Unlike many of the Holy Men now criticizing him, he has shown himself to be the real deal, a real Christian who HAS lived out his faith in the face of intense criticism the past 5 years with nary a complaint. He HAS used his money and influence to do many good works that Jesus would have him do. He has done mountains more to spread the gospel than all the mega church preachers put together. So guess what - I trust his judgment to do what he thinks is best as he lives out his Christian faith. He absolutely does not have have to bow to the whims of modern day Pharisees like Jerry Vines or Albert Mohler or Jack Graham.

And speaking of Vines: how sad - and hypocritical - is it that his former pastor, Jerry Vines, openly criticized Tebow via Twitter for simply deciding not to speak at FBC Dallas in April. Look at these Tweets from Vines, and the many "retweets" by Vines' followers:

What a hypocrite. What is Vines talking about? The "devil laughed" when Tebow canceled his speaking engagement? Really? I guess it makes sense that Vines has the inside track on what makes the devil laugh, since Vines doesn't have even 1/10th of the discernment that Tebow has when it comes to choosing speaking venues or choosing speakers. Vines was the one who gave Ergun Caner the pulpit in 2001 and nodded with approval as Caner lied through his teeth about being a trained terrorist raised in Turkey. It was Vines who first brought Darrel Gilyard to Jacksonville to preach and did nothing to warn people at Shiloh Baptist about Gilyard's sexual predation upon Gilyard's return to Jacksonville. It was Vines who went to preach at Gilyard's church in 2006 when Vines knew what a sexual pervert Gilyard had shown himself to be over and over while he was in Dallas - and Vines STILL went to speak at Gilyard's church knowing Gilyard tried to seduce one of Vines' own church members during a youth revival tour. Yes, Vines can only dream that he has a portion of Tebow's discernment.

Jerry, if the devil laughed over Tebow's decision to not speak at Dallas, then the devil must have had a month-long Mardi Gras over your decision to preach at Gilyard's church in 2006. The devil also has had a 10-year party while Ergun Caner lied in churches and to our troops. YOU started that, Jerry, when you failed to do your due diligence in 2001 - or worse, maybe you knew Caner was lying, but you didn't care. Which was it? We don't know, because you've been silent over Caner's exposure as a fraud, but you now are making a big deal over Tebow's decision.

But this shows the misplaced priorities of Pharisees - they are not so much interested in your good deeds, or what you do for God - or whether you are a habitual liar like Caner or the real-deal like Tebow - what they are most interested is whether or not you agree with their religious teachings, and if you believe exactly as they say you should believe and if you agree with their narrow interpretation of the bible.

Even Prestonwood Baptist Church pastor and former SBC president Jack Graham criticized Tebow for his decision, assuming he bowed to the pressure of cultural decay:

Perhaps the reason all of these Holy Men of God are so wigged out over Tebow's decision is that they know Tebow's home church in Jacksonville is no different than FBC Dallas. Maybe they're worried that the most influential Christian of our day who has earned the respect they never could - might actually be signaling that he is turning away from his fundamentalist roots. The Holy Men of God know how dangerous this is to their own religious power, as Tebow speaks with the real-life, living-out-his-faith kind of power the Holy Men of God don't have. He doesn't just stand in a pulpit bloviating and dictating on Sunday mornings, collecting a fat check from church coffers like the big wig Holy Men of God. No, Tebow is in the real-world, engaging real people and doing real good works to help hurting people.

Tim is learning the sad truth that in the fundamentalist world in which he was raised is that what is important to measure someone's faith by is NOT necessarily how much good they do, but it is whether you believe exactly as they do. Pretty sad.

All this time Tebow thought it was the secular media who was watching and waiting for him to fall - now he knows it was the modern-day Pharisees who were waiting and watching - not for him to sin but for him to somehow go against their strict teachings. What a loving bunch.

The Pharisees criticized Jesus for doing good on the Sabbath, because Jesus dared to break their rules and ignore their teachings, showing them to be hypocrites.

Now the modern-day Pharisees are doing the same with Tebow. I hope Tebow continues to show them to be the hypocrites they are.

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"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.' "

Some Refreshing Words for the Weary Church Member: Jesus is Your Rest

2013-02-20T07:31:00.002-05:00

Readers - I rarely go back and repost previous WD blog posts, but I feel I need to cover a few significant posts from 2011 that will be very helpful to WD readers - and thanks to longtime WD reader and commenter "Thy Peace" whose comment over at the Wartburg Watch prompted me to move in this direction!

I know what it is to struggle to find a church home, to find a place where you can take your family to worship God and hear a sermon that encourages you in your faith from the heart of a person who truly wants to help you and your family. Over the past few years we've actually been blessed to be in several churches in our city where we HAVE found this - and where believers are not hung up on worshiping their pastor and their institution. But to make a transition is especially difficult when your family has had to leave a long-time church when the preacher has stomped on your faith with unloving, legalistic teachings and you've had to bolt. It is not easy to find a new church home as preachers are under tremendous pressure to preach sermons to keep the revenue flowing to prop up their institutions.

And so many church members I've heard from are just plain weary from the heavy burdens placed on them by their pastor, as the pastor has put forth a religious system of performance - you do this, and God will do this. You give this, God will bless you this way. If you don't give this percentage, or serve this way, or evangelize this many times, or attend church these days, God will only bless you in proportion to your obedience is the message of the day. And not only that, God will purposely hold back blessings and bring harm in proportion to your lack of commitment. This all is anti-Christian, yet it IS the overall message of the day in most churches.

If that is you, I offer you some excerpts from a Wade Burleson sermon that I featured on this blog back in 2011. What you will hear from Wade will actually shock you - because it is what you likely have never heard from any preacher before, and you will probably never hear it stated so honestly and emphatically from any preacher. But when you hear what Wade says, you will know that it is precisely the truth and lines up with what you have read in your bible. Wade says what you know to be true from your bible, but what your preacher will not ever freely admit.

Below is the first post on this Wade Burleson January 2011 sermon, and I will repost the others in the next few days. Enjoy.

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"Christian, Jesus is Your Jubilee, and You Can Rest - Part 1"
FBC Jax Watchdog Post 7/21/11

"You will have preachers tell you that this year should be the time that you commit more TO God, that you promise to do more FOR God, that you work the fields DOUBLE. And what the preachers will say to you is 'God will be very pleased with you if you do that.' Do you not see that they have missed the Christian message?"

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Readers - over the next several days I want to share with you several excerpts from a sermon preached by Wade Burleson the first Sunday of January 2011. The short 2-minute video above is the first of about 4 clips I will show here on the blog.

On this blog we have looked at a number of mega church pastors over the past year or so that are really beating up the sheep during these tough economic times. Most of these mega church pastors are models for other pastors, their methods are emulated by other pastors who look up to them. These pastors load rules and regulations on the backs of their people. They use tactics of scare and guilt and shame, even ridicule and mocking, to get their sheep to bend to their will in the matters of service and financial contributions.

So it is time to take a step back and look at how simple the gospel really is that these men have complicated, and outright misrepresented.

In this brief sermon by Wade he explains how when you come to Christ, you can REST in your efforts to produce for God. You don't have to produce FOR God. You are not a slave to God. You are a "son" or "daughter" of God, and you can rest. When it comes to giving - you give generously as the spirit leads you. That is it. No need to have a man scare you, or pronounce curses on you and your family, or tell you that God collects it anyways through calamity.

The truth is we are free in Christ. Christ is our "Jubilee" as Wade preaches. Christians under the New Covenant are free, and are led by the Spirit. While Pastors use the Bible to create a holy sense of duty that Christians have to perform for God - and their pastor - to receive the blessings and favor of God, the truth is we can rest from our efforts to produce for God. Pastors are trying to say you "owe" God a tithe, that you have a debt that MUST be paid, else he will collect it by force and withhold blessings.

People, Jesus paid that debt, no matter how much the pastors point and stomp and yell to convince you otherwise.

I know many of those of you who regularly read this blog have endured much over the past few years from preachers who have spiritually beat you up and raked you over the coals. Some of you have had to leave your church, others have dealt with the conflict of leaving your church vs. staying and waiting. You feel tired and abused. You've had the bible used to beat you up over the head - that you aren't giving enough, you aren't serving enough, you're not faithful enough and that you will pay a price for your slackness. You've had pastors question your salvation, you men have had pastors question your manhood and your commitment to the Lord. You've given all you can but you've been made to feel it isn't enough, that still you can't enjoy the full blessings of God until you get to a certain level of giving. You've been yelled at, pointed at, lied to, and even mocked by the man in the pulpit.

And although I do focus on the mega churches on this blog because of their wide audience and influence of other ministers - these same antics happen in smaller churches. I know of one in particular in Jacksonville that is going through some upheaval and a church split over these same issues. It is so sad.

So enjoy these excerpts over the next several days from Wade Burleson. You will find them refreshing as you see a preacher who speaks the truth to the sheep about their position in Christ. He speaks the truth that so many pastors are afraid to preach these days, for fear that they won't get the results they need from their flock to keep the family business going.

If you want to see Wade's sermon in its entirety, go to his church's website here, click on the "Watch Live" button in the upper right hand corner, register for a login account, then go to his January 2, 2011 sermon entitled "Your Year of Jubilee".

Enjoy....more to come.

Ergun Caner - the Lance Armstrong of Evangelical Christianity - Finally Returns to Prominent SBC Pulpit, Where Decade of Deceit Began

2013-02-18T10:26:00.000-05:00

Sad to report, but Ergun Caner has returned to prominence within the Southern Baptist Convention, as Caner was granted the privilege on February 17th to preach once again in Jacksonville, in the same pulpit where Caner began his well-chronicled "decade of deceit" in 2001. At left he is grinning from ear-to-ear as he is being introduced to the congregation just before he preaches.

For a prominent SBC church and pastor to once again feature Ergun Caner - the evangelical version of Lance Armstrong - in a pulpit to preach to the youth choir and congregation is nothing short of a tragedy, and it is just an example of the sorry state of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Caner quickly became an SBC darling after his 2001 sermon in Jax - in which he claimed:

to be "raised in Europe", coming to America at age 15;
that he spoke broken English in high school;
until age 15 he was in "Islamic Youth Jihad";
that he was a trained terrorist, "trained to do that which was done on 11 September";
that he wore full Islamic gear to high school, praying to Mecca;
that he was called a "sand monkey" and ridiculed for being a devout Muslim;
said "Jesus strapped a cross on his back so I wouldn't have to strap a bomb on my back";
that he knew how to speak Arabic, even using a phony dialect in his sermon.

The only problem is; Caner never was raised in Europe or trained in terrorism. It was all made up. Caner and his family moved from Sweden to Columbus, Ohio at the age of 3. All of the above lies and deceits were spoken in that one single sermon to dupe the entire SBC, with former SBC-president Jerry Vines giving nods of approval while Caner spoke. Caner fooled the entire congregation, including myself and my family who were at the service. Caner and his brother Emir leveraged that one single sermon to launch them to become authors and seminary presidents and Christian speakers. The whole mess is what James White coined the "Great Evangelical Cover-Up".

Why rehash all of this? Because I want the record to be crystal-clear, no re-writing of history by the SBC'ers: it was in Jacksonville that Caner set the groundwork, established his phony-baloney storyline that he would follow for the next 9 years, until he was finally exposed by bloggers - including this blogger - and Christian apologist James White. Caner's fibs even went so far as to lead him to lie to our military troops during 2005 training sessions in which Caner posed as an expert in Turkish culture - preparing our troops to engage the enemy's culture. Can you believe it? It is true - Caner put our fighting men and women at risk by posing as someone he wasn't, as an expert in something he at best had only read about.

So here Caner is back in the SBC - all is forgiven apparently, and he never has publicly apologized for his decade of deceit, or for the way his defenders attacked James White and others who tried to get Caner to come clean - sounds like Lance Armstrong, doesn't it? Caner's friends and defenders will tell you he has apologized for making a few misstatements of fact over 10 years. But it is just not so. In fact, after Caner was removed as president of Liberty University's seminary president in 2010, at one of his first public speaking engagements at a Bristol, VA prayer breakfast he said his troubles were due to "bloggers" and said they were just "frustrated people in their basement". He also said "it will take more than edited videos to take me down."

And to make matters worse, if they could be worse, the media outlets for the Southern Baptists and Florida Baptists never, ever had reported on the Caner scandal. Why? Because prominent SBC leaders who have authored books with Caner and have been involved in promoting Caner after 9/11, would be too embarrassed. Too much potential damage, so the Baptist Press and Florida Baptist Witness - who purport themselves to be Christian news organizations - pretend Caner's decade of deceit never happened. And now that Caner is back in a prominent SBC pulpit, Joni Hannigan, one of the editors of the Florida Baptist Witness, tweeted last night during the Caner sermon: "So blessed to hear my friend @erguncaner preach tonight...", and she tweeted photos of her beloved Christian hero, Ergun Caner.

In Caner's sermon last night, he asked an excellent question: after citing statistics that we have about 75,000 Baptist churches in America, with 55 million people claiming to be "born again Christians", Caner asked the following:

"...don't you reckon we [the church] would be further along? Don't you think we'd have a bigger impact on our culture?...We spend 8 billion dollars on church growth resources in America every year. What are we missing? We've got all the new programs, we've got more churches, with more land, more money, more members than in our history, so why aren't we seeing revival?"

Great question, Ergun. The answer to Caner's question, in part, is staring right back at Caner in the mirror. It is Caner himself, and those who have defended him and who continue to promote him, that are partly responsible for the ineffectiveness of the Southern Baptist Convention to gain new converts, and their failure to keep the young ones raised in SBC churches. Young people are growing up and seeing that their most prominent pastors and preachers have lied to them for personal promotion and financial gain, and the lies were mostly ignored and never dealt with openly. All of this causes people - especially young people who are prone to doubt during the early years of their faith journey - to question the entire validity of the Christian message.

You, Ergun, are the man. How ironic is it that one of the many books Caner has coauthored is entitled "Why Churches Die - Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ" - when Caner himself, and those who promote him, are part of the lethal concoction infecting the Southern Baptist Convention today.

Thank goodness most professional groups or societies in our culture deal harshly and swiftly with known liars within their own ranks. They know the effectiveness of their cause and the validity of their message can go down the tubes in a heartbeat with one prominent phony left unchecked. Unfortunately, Baptists haven't figured this out, and I don't think they ever will. As their numbers decline and their churches die and get snatched up by larger churches, they'll just complain that we are a "post Christian nation" and blame it all on the devil - and of course the Calvinists. And the bloggers.

I remember my former pastor Jerry Vines saying many times that Christianity is a faith that can stand up to the test of intellectual debate and inspection. He would say that a person doesn't need to check their brains at the church door to become a Christian.

Unfortunately with an unrepentant Caner still roaming SBC churches, being promoted by prominent SBC preachers, I'm not sure that is true anymore.

18 Ways God (or Your Pastor) Has Changed Tithing

2013-02-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

One of the arguments made by preachers who try to convince you that the "tithe" of 10% of your gross income is a Christian requirement, comes from their favorite tithing passage in the Old Testament, Malachi Chapter 3:

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty." (Malachi 3:6, 7)

Then of course the pastor will explain that immediately after these verses God tells Malachi that people are robbing him (actually, God tells Malachi that the religious men of his day are robbing him, but that is another story) by not "bringing the tithe" to the "storehouse" - and that YOU, Christian, must also bring your tithe - 10% of your gross income to the church (today's "storehouse"). And then if you choose not to, God will poke holes in your purse, will cause your kids to turn out bad, and God will bring calamity to your family like job loss, wrecked cars, and God will actually "blow it all away" - that is the money that you did not tithe that was rightfully God's. Some say God might even kill you like he did Ananias and Sapphira. Oh, and if you don't tithe, you're helping to spread homosexuality.

So God does not change, thus the requirement to tithe is still in place, and thus preachers go to the most ridiculous and manipulative lengths to hang the burden and guilt of tithing around the necks of their members to keep church revenue up.

A friend here in Jacksonville who maintains the "Tithing.com" website, posted a masterful article yesterday on 18 ways the tithe HAS changed - either how God himself changed it within the Old Testament or between the Old and New Convenants - OR just ways that your pastor has decided to change the tithe to try to convince you to give 10% of your income to his church.

Read the article here to read about the 18 ways the tithe HAS changed. This is one of the best tithing articles I've read in years

I wanted to highlight and comment on a few of the 18 ways either God has changed the tithe, or preachers have decided to change it to "help" God:

The newest argument amongst the tithe-pushing preachers is the concept of "first fruits" - that the Old Testament teaches that God expects your FIRST and BEST - and thus your FIRST 10% of your income goes straight to the church.

Yep, year after year, we must give. If the preachers believe the bible word for word, and they put the tithe on Christians, why are they not strictly adhering to what God said the tithe was and how often it is given? On what basis to preachers ignore the details of what God says in the bible regarding the tithe? Are they above God and can change God's standard for this tithe? [answer: apparently, yes].

The new, aggressive, "first fruits" tithing doctrine coming out of pulpits today contributes to the decline of people's church attendance drives people from their Christian faith: when they wake up to the fact that what the preacher is pushing as biblical truth concerning finances is not in the bible, and it is actually to their family's detriment - and pastor's use manipulative techniques to boot. The preacher's want you to put your tithe above your daughter's wedding, above your children's education, above the well-being of your family.

Make no mistake - to try to convince a church member through false teachings and manipulation that they MUST give 10% of their income to obtain the blessings of God and avoid the cursings of God is to convince a person that religion and institutions and religious holy men come before one's spouse and family - and that is about as anti-family as it gets.

Caner Now Attacking Muslims, Calling them "Towel Heads" and "Wife Beaters" and "Living in Caves" - Tells Them to "GET SAVED AND SHAVED"

2013-01-21T07:54:00.003-05:00

Just days after Ergun and Emir Caner were in the recording studio of apologist John Ankerberg recording a program on Muslim beliefs, Ergun Caner has decided the best way to love his Muslim brothers to Jesus, is to tweet hateful, racist remarks to his Muslim detractors.

Below are tweets in Ergun Caner's Twitter feed last night (Sunday 1/20/13), where apparently he is responding to Tweets from Muslims and bloggers. You see, the whole issue of Caner's "decade of deceit" has resurfaced, after John Ankerberg published a ridiculous statement here to defend his recent decision to invite The Caner brothers on his TV show.

The Caners claim to have love in their hearts for Muslims - in fact Ergun says he does what he does, that he entered the Christian ministry to reach out to his fellow Muslim brothers - yet his own Twitter feed displays hate and pushes ugly stereotypes of Muslims. Hardly a way to express love.

But this is nothing new for Caner. As I have chronicled on this blog, he has a history of saying derogatory statements about women and minorities. He once said took a swipe at Mexicans saying he would adopt one if he needed his lawn cut or work on his roof. He has made multiple derogatory statements about women, and blacks; yet he still is a popular speaker to youth groups, and in fact just finished speaking at the "Strength to Stand" student conference in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Face it: Caner is the evangelical version of Lance Armstrong. He gained his notoriety based on a lie about his past, he perpetuated the lie for years and years, and finally when exposed he chose to belittle and bully people on the Internet who have tried to call him to account for his lies. The biggest difference between Caner and Armstrong is that Caner's peers have decided to embrace him and hail him as a hero, rather than defending their own profession by acknowledging the fraud from within their own ranks. Now Ankerberg is joining in and allowing it all to resurface again.

I just wonder if Ankerberg will issue a statement now defending Caner's stereotypes of Muslims as cave-dwellers, wife-beaters, bus-bombers, and towel-head stalkers? Or is that the idea of how Ankerberg and the Caners are reaching out to Muslims now? Apparently Caner's defenders love these racist remarks, judging from the "Retweets" and "Favorites" marked on the Tweets below.

Perhaps that will be the subtitle to the Caner/Ankerberg TV that will air soon on Islam: "GET SAVED AND SHAVED".

James Duncan Interview on Fighting for the Faith Radio Program

2013-01-15T09:23:00.002-05:00

Readers - below is an hour-long interview of Dr. James Duncan, conducted on 1/14/13 by Chris Rosebrough of the Fighting for the Faith radio program. In the interview Dr. Duncan describes what he learned during the discovery process of his lawsuit against Perry Noble and NewSpring Church, which was settled before it went to trial.

It is a real eye-opener as to how mega churches with rock star preachers operate. Really, there is no one so hated by these pastors and their followers than the person who dares to publicly and consistently criticize their beloved pastor. Not even child molesters within their own ranks get anywhere close to the treatment of a criticizing blogger and his spouse.

I've got a couple of posts coming that will try to boil down all of this information into lessons we can all learn from Dr. Duncan's experience.

Since my last post on this matter January 3rd, Dr. Duncan has posted some more blog articles, so visit his site to get the latest.

Detroit Church Holds "Brokeback" Ordination Service for Deacons, as Pastor Mounts Two Deacons in Front of Congregation

2013-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Once again, I have to say, "Now I've seen everything", when it comes to pastoral nonsense in the church.

We now have the first "Brokeback Mountain" deacon ordination service, where pastor Wayne Jackson lays two deacons on the floor at the front of the church, covers them both with a thin sheet, and then proceeds to mount them both and place his crotch area on their buttocks while he shakes and jiggles. If you think I'm exaggerating, slide to the 14:10 mark of the video below.

Good thing the pastor was wearing a large, loose robe. And how long before he ordains women deacons in this fashion?

All the while, the choir sings over and over and over again "I give myself away, I give myself away, so you can use me." Appropriate chant, as the two men indeed gave away their manhood and dignity, while the pastor was using them.

Not surprisingly, the congregation found this sordid act all very spiritual and moving as they swayed with hands raised high and singing the chant "I give myself away"...if only they all could be mounted by the pastor.

And this blogger spent 1000+ words analyzing the Bible to see if there was something wrong with this Brokeback Mountain ritual, and concludes:

"...Bishop Jackson was in error. The fact is that there is no history of this type of event among Christians."

Gee, you think? I thought maybe sometime in the past 2000 years there were pastors laying flat on top of grown men and gyrating. I'm glad the blogger cleared that up for us that the good bishop was "in error". I don't need to consult the bible to know better than to let a grown man lay on top of me - pastor or no pastor.

This is where fundamentalism is ultimately going: the pastor is the man of God, he is appointed by God into his position, and thus lay people just have to trust God that what the man of God is doing and saying is right and proper; even if the man of God is simulating masturbation in front of teens, mounting his deacons at their ordination, asking for church members' checking account numbers, or telling them that God might be prone to killing non-tithers.

At this point, anything goes. And as the sane people leave fundamentalism, a greater concentration of loonies will be left, and the pastoral behavior will be more and more off the charts as time goes by.

Bishop climbs onto of men during ceremony part 1 by expozethismess

H/T: Julie Anne Smith at Spiritual Sounding Board blog.

Jack Schaap Blames Decreased Giving at Church for His Molestation of 16-Year Old Church Member

2013-01-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

Jack Schaap has told the U.S. District Court in Hammond, Indiana, that decreased donations to the church and his working too many hours led to his having sex multiple times, in multiple states, with a 16-year old church member that he was counseling.

Yep, financial difficulty and being overworked are to blame for his sex crimes against a young girl in his church. If that is true, 90% of Americans will be molesting teenagers this year.

Schaap's lame excuse might give pastors another reason to preach the 10% tithe, telling church members they must fork over 10% of their income because if they don't, it might put too much stress on the head man-o-God, and he might accidentally have sex with a teenager. Save a teenager, tithe to your church. I'm only half joking; I've heard some incredibly asinine, nonsensical reasons to tithe given by mega church pastors already. And don't forget, Perry Noble has already blamed the spread of homosexuality on non-tithers, so why not blame sexually abused teenagers on non-tithers also?

I hope the judge sees through this nonsense, and I hope the judge ignores the 140 letters of support from First Baptist Hammond church members, including Schaap's wife, and gives Schaap the maximum sentence on January 15th. He will likely be sentenced to 10 years, probably more.

The truth is Schaap's molestation crimes had nothing to do with finances of the church or a busy work schedule. Pastors all over the country are over-worked and churches everywhere are under financial strain, and they aren't regularly finding comfort by having sex with teens in the youth choir.

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“I believe First Baptist Church gradually evolved into a cult that was in complete idolatry of my father [Jack Hyles] and, after his death, complete idolatry of Jack Schaap." Linda Murphrey, Sister-in-law of Jack Schaap.

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Everybody but the die-hard FBC Hammond members understand that Jack Schaap is just another in a long line of perverse sexual offender pastors and lay people at FBC Hammond going all the way back to the 1950s, starting with Schaap's late father-in-law, Jack Hyles. Ministers at FBC Hammond, as at most fundamentalist, independent Baptist churches, are authoritarian rulers who have absolute power and whose judgements and actions are not to be questioned. If you want to read about the history of FBC Hammond and a chronology of the sex crimes and cover-ups at that church, read "Let Us Prey: Big Trouble at First Baptist Church". A "Godfather"-type movie - in three parts - could be made about the shenanigans at that one church.

Schaap was and is a sick man who as time went on began preaching graphic, sexual sermons at FBC Hammond. Only a man who has a twisted mind, and who answers to no authority, would be able to deliver the sermon Schaap did in 2010 that best demonstrates his sickness. At a youth conference, in the middle of his sermon he simulated masturbation for over a minute with a long stick held close to his crotch while he stroked the stick and made painful, orgasmic sounds as he talked to God. Watch it here, and you'll see what I mean. It is simply unbelievable that a man could behave this way - in front of a audience of teenagers especially - and not be escorted off the property or arrested for his X-rated performance.

What can we learn from this? Simple. Churches that have a history of sexual abuse by pastors, especially those that have a history of denying the abuse, covering up the abuse, and then repeatedly lying about the abuse, they will produce more sexual abusers eventually. Churches that can't come clean to their members and to their communities about the past actions of their sexually abusive pastors - and the actions of those who covered it up - are breeding grounds for more misbehaving pastors.

I'll wrap this up by sharing with you another quote from Linda Murphrey, daughter of Jack Hyles and sister-in-law of Jack Schaap:

“Don’t get me wrong—I certainly believe Jack Schaap is guilty of a crime and deserves punishment. But I wondered: If my dad [Jack Hyles] had been taken off his self-constructed throne long ago and people had known the full truth about who he was, perhaps Jack Schaap would never have been given the liberties, the complete lack of accountability, and the power that eventually led to his own demise. Instead, he was allowed and encouraged to perpetuate what my father began..."

How true. Are you in a church that has yet to be completely truthful about the past of a sexually-abusive pastor, or his successor who helped cover it up?

Perry Noble and NewSpring Church Settle Lawsuit Over Church's Harrassment of Blogger and His Family

2013-01-03T10:49:00.001-05:00

"Ignore the jackass. In Greek, 'jackass' is translated 'blogger'....bloggers that go online, that will take shots at you, that copy parts of your sermon...who has time for that? The jackass. You [the jackass] have no friends! The reason you have no friends is you're a jackass! That is your problem, either that or you're demon possessed or oppressed. Because when a move of God is working and people are getting saved and lives are changed, who would criticize that, God or Satan?" Perry Noble at 2009 "Unleashed" pastor's conference.

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It was about three years ago that I first introduced Perry Noble and NewSpring Church on this blog. If you go back and read that WD post here, posted way back in December 2009, you'll see it was concerning a blogger named Dr. James Duncan, who dared to criticize Perry Noble's teachings and methods on his blog "Pajama Pages".

What did Duncan get for his criticism? In 2009 Noble's employees and volunteers smeared Duncan's reputation by starting a phony Twitter account with gross and profane sexual posts attributed to Dr. Duncan, a fake resignation letter to his employer, and perhaps worst of all, sabatoge of Dr. Duncan's adoption efforts in 2009. You can read all about these here.

Thankfully, Dr. Duncan fought back. It is not an easy process to fight a powerful church and pastor for the harm they have done to your reputation, but Dr. Duncan fought back by filing a lawsuit against Noble and NewSpring. Since December 2009, Dr. Duncan's blog has been silent as he has fought the difficult legal battle.

I am happy to announce that Dr. Duncan did prevail in his lawsuit, as NewSpring and Noble settled with Dr. Duncan after months and months of depositions and legal discovery. Very likely all that came out of the discovery process would have been much too embarrassing to Noble and NewSpring in a public trial, so they decided to settle. But thankfully, it doesn't stop there, as Dr. Duncan has decided to begin blogging again to tell his readers what he learned from the months of depositions that led to NewSpring settling the lawsuit.

I am going to follow and write about Dr. Duncan's posts about the inside story of what was going on at NewSpring, and why these people at NewSpring did what they did to a very fine, Christian man. Dr. Duncan is a committed Christian, has a wonderful family, and is highly educated . He has a master's and Ph.D. from Regent University, and is a professor and department chair in communications at Anderson University, yet he was vilified and persecuted by Noble's sycophants because he dared to criticize the most prominent and powerful pastor in his community.

But there is much to be learned from this saga, and I will delve into it over the next few weeks as we learn more details from Dr. Duncan. This sort of thing, the demonization and persecution of church critics is a natural outflow from modern evangelicalism and fundamentalism which teaches pastors are special "God-appointed agents", modern-day prophets sent by God to teach Christians how to live. This is what is taught in the seminaries, and it is what is preached from the pulpits. Thus, when a church critic arises, they aren't just criticizing a man or an institution, they are attacking God himself.

Read the Perry Noble quote again at the top of this post - this is the view of many fundamentalists today. It is all black and white. Challenge or criticize a pastor, you're doing the work of Satan. You're probably demon possessed. You're a jackass with no friends, a blogger in your mom's basement eating Cheetos.

So WD readers, stay tuned for more analysis on this topic. And NewSpring members and employees and volunteers, please begin following Dr. Duncan's blog so that you can learn in more detail what your church did to a fine man in your community - and what your tithes and offerings had to pay for to defend the lawsuit and to repair the damage that your church did to Dr. Duncan and his family.

Meanwhile, if you want to do some research on the Duncan/Noble saga, here are some links that will help you:

"Holy Rage at the Spring" - Dr. Duncan's detailed account of what NewSpring did to him and his family - it is grotesque and disturbing, so be prepared.

"Shut Up, They Explained" - Dr. Duncan's 2009 defense of his blog

"Perry Noble Says You're a Jackass" - Apprising Ministry December 2009 summary

Duncan Interview by Chris Rosebrough - Chris Rosebrough interviewed Dr. Duncan in December 2009 on his Fighting for the Faith radio show.

Happy 2013 from the Watchdog!!

2013-01-01T21:27:00.002-05:00

Hello Readers! I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope that 2013 is a year of health and prosperity for all of you!

The FBC Jax Watchdog blog continues in 2013, its 7th year, because I still care. Yes, I do still care about harm done by authoritarian pastors and teaching of self-serving, nonsensical doctrines. Because I care, I will continue to blog.

I will start off 2013 tomorrow, January 2nd, by beginning to discuss a lawsuit settled in 2012 involving Perry Noble and NewSpring church over Noble's sycophants who went after a blogger and his family to intimidate the blogger for his criticism of Noble and NewSpring. This saga gives a glimpse into what the modern-day mega church pastors and their employees are really all about.

Again, Happy New Year to all, and look for a post tomorrow!

Ed Young Teaches Us Rule #1 When Hawking a Guest Speaker's Book at Your Mega Church: Make Sure You Get the Title Right!

2012-12-04T01:01:00.000-05:00

Watch the video below, as Ed Young hawks Colonel Oliver North's new book, "Heroes Proved." That is PROVED, as in Heroes who prove they are heroes....

Unfortunately Ed took the stage thinking the name of North's book was "Heroes PROVIDED"....even though he was looking right at the book.

Ooops.....

Make Sure You Get the Book Title Correct! from FBCJax Watchdog on Vimeo.

"It's Not Your Money!!" Says Steven Furtick, as He Proudly Screams "Yes! The Church Wants Your Money!!"

2012-11-24T11:36:00.005-05:00

"Yes, the church wants your money!! Guess what? It's not your money! God gave you that money, Big Boy!....my name is Steven Furtick, and I approve this message!" Steven Furtick - SEE VIDEO BELOW

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What is so fascinating about mega church pastors is the new lows to which they plunge in their attempts to expand their church, and to extend their reach into the pockets of their followers.

In the video below, Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, proudly proclaims that "Yes, the church wants your money", and then tells his church members as they hoot and holler: "It's not your money!"

What Steven means is that he and his church have a greater right to your checking account than you do. None of your money is yours, says Steven. All of your money is God's, and you need to give God back at least 10% if not more, since he gave it to you. And here's the catch: to give God back what he gave you - which doesn't make sense since God owns it all anyways - according to Steven you have only one choice: give it to Elevation Church - because Steven is building the church that Jesus promised he would be responsible for.

"And once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks who went for a walk in the woods..."

Furtick's claim to his follower's money is so illogical, and so wrong-headed, that to hear the hoots and hollers from the crowd as Steven spews this nonsense, tells me this church is on its way to being a cult, and Steven Furtick a cult leader. Perhaps it is there already.

I don't point out the exploits of Furtick and his other mega church pastor friends just to get a laugh and chuckle. This is serious business, these guys are forever damaging Christianity in America.

When I heard Furtick spew this nonsense, it reminded me of the story a friend told me about why he had to stop attending his church. His pastor was so aggressive in raising money that he told the men in the congregation that if they were not tithing, they were not "real men". The pastor said they were having other men "pay their way", and that no real man would have another man pay their way. And for good measure, the pastor said if you're a man not tithing you probably are not a Christian. This man was giving some money to the church, but he was struggling financially, had two kids in college, and was being very generous to his family in providing for their material and educational needs. He went to church to get encouragement in his faith, but instead was told on multiple occasions from the pulpit that he was no damn good, was not a man, that the pastor was the "real" man, and that in fact he probably wasn't a Christian because he didn't give 10%.

So this man felt he couldn't return to the church and continue to expose his family to a preacher who denigrated their own father's faith and manhood from the pulpit.

This is what is happening in evangelical churches - pastors who have such a love of money and power, they are turning away clear-minded, rational-thinking believers. And young people who are very adept at seeing through these shallow preachers, will be turned away from Christianity altogether.

And what this will leave is churches predominantly filled with Kool Aid drinkers who don't dare question the pastor, and who will fork over 10% of their money based on fairy tales and myths and believe they are buying favor with God.

Avoid these churches like the plague, Christian.

Yes, the Church Wants Your Money, 'Cause it Ain't Yours Big Boy!! from FBCJax Watchdog on Vimeo.

Letter from a Friend: There is Hope After an Experience With a Spiritually-Abusive Pastor and Church

2012-11-20T00:29:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving week, I want to wish all of the Watchdog readers a wonderful time with your family and friends as you give thanks to God for all of the blessings we enjoy.

Over the past 5 years of blogging I have made many new friends who have followed our story on the blog, and have contributed to the blog's success in helping shine a light on misbehaving pastors and churches. I thought this Thanksgiving week would be a perfect time to share the testimony from one of the Watchdog readers I have corresponded with via email and telephone over the past few years as he and his family endured the antics of a spiritually abusive pastor who arrived at their church some years ago. I asked him to put in writing his testimony for my readers, and today I am sharing his story with you.

There is so much of his story that I can relate to. But if you read his entire story, you'll see it is one of hope: that even after you and your family have been hurt by arrogant and abusive clergy and their enabling lay leaders, you can find a new church where the leadership are transparent, loving, and seek to minister to you and your family.

Thank you to my friend for sharing this testimony with all of us. Please read it to the end, he has some very wise advice for all of us in his concluding paragraph.

So enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

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Dear Tom: I have been a follower of your website for a number of years, having discovered it after my wife and I and many friends experienced firsthand a “pastor” who came into and church who was totally void of the fruits of the spirit; who autocratically ruled with a heavy hand, and who practiced spiritual abuse upon the members of the church who did not obey his directions.

Disagreement with him was labeled of the devil. Those who disagreed were referred to as “Satan’s Agents”. Deacons and Sunday School teachers were removed, or not asked to come back to serve when their terms ended if they did not agree to everything the “pastor” wanted to do. Loyalty oaths to the Pastor were required to be signed to remain a deacon and Sunday School teacher. All transparency with finances was removed. Those who disagreed were “bitter, angry and selfish”, disobedient to God; “kinks in the hose – squelching God’s work”, “snakes in the garden”. (Actual sermon titles!). Long time staff members were run off by the pastor, on trumped up charges of sinful lifestyles and impure hearts. (Based upon his sole declaration, without any evidence).

Unbridled anger was exhibited by the Pastor in sermons, and in meetings with members, when he did not get his way. With amazement many of us watched as our fellow members seemed not to be bothered in the least by such behavior. Lives of Godly men and their families were ravaged. Unfounded charges were relentlessly made by this person, without any hesitation or guilt as to the lives he destroyed. So convinced of his own Godliness, there was no limit to his actions.

Those who stayed “went along”, for fear that they might displease God if they “don’t obey their pastor” as the pastor tells them the Bible requires of them. He analogized himself to Moses who was leading the Israelites through the wilderness; he claimed to be leading the “dead” church that he came to pastor through a desert – a city under the “grips of Satan”. (We are a small Texas town, with lots of good people; it is truly hilarious at some point). He claimed to be a “Prophet”. He and his followers justified anything and everything they did by claiming it was of God. Over the 8-9 years he has been at this Church, there has been an almost complete turnover of membership. As I read about the things you have related from your experiences, I can only think the man must be reading and operating from the same playbook as your previous pastor. (I’m pretty sure they know each other).

However, God has provided an oasis for us. My family and I left, without looking back. In the last year and a half my wife and I have joined another church in our town. It is quite a refuge for many hurting people in our city. Many from our former church attend there, and many have moved to other wonderful congregations in our town. The pastor of our new church family is wonderful. Get this – he is kind, outgoing, fun, friendly, loving and a great communicator and student of the Bible. He does not seek the limelight or notoriety or fame. He merely seeks to love and care for those who attend.

Since I was ordained as a deacon many years ago at my former church I was asked to be deacons at our new church. We had our first deacons meeting two weeks ago. Our new pastor visited with us and advised of how "things are handled at our new church". He informed us that we were not his rubber stamp, not his yes men, and that he did not "run" the church. He told us that the congregation did. He told us that he would never check giving records, so to not be influenced by persons who did or did not give money to the Church.

He asked us to let him know immediately if we sensed any un-Christlike attitude or spirit from him and to schedule a time to visit with him and let him know our concerns if we did. And he really meant it! He told us that he only wanted to love and minister to the body. He has no goals of mega growth, no agendas for fame, no desire to be well known. He also told us that we would never be asked to sign a covenant or loyalty oath to him or the church. He said he trusted that through our personal relationship with Jesus Christ that we would be right with God and therefore we would all treat each other and himself as Christ directs - and therefore all things will work in accordance with God's will. He truly believes in the Priesthood of the Believers and the personal relationship one can have with Christ. He trusts us to allow Christ to lead our lives, even if it means that we might have a disagreement with him as to what God wants for us as a group. He is confident in Christ’s ability to move the group as Christ sees fit, not as he (the pastor) plans, desires, or directs.

It is telling that when the pastor of our new church arrived as a bi-vocational pastor over 8 years ago, there were 35 people who regularly attended. He is now full time. That number in attendance is now close to 400 on Sundays, and growing. New Christians, the un-churched, and many others in our community are now in attendance. Our church continues to grow. More people are attending each Sunday. We are about to exceed the capacity of the sanctuary. No surprise! The one common comment that is always heard from those who visit and who join is “we love the loving feeling of the congregation”.

It is so refreshing and I though you and other readers would like to hear about a healthy body of believers and a loving pastor. I just wanted to encourage others in our world who may read your website and who have been exposed to unloving and unkind leadership. There are very wonderful congregations for them to attend. We have found one, and pray and hope for the best for those who have suffered at the hands of similar men.

If I may add my advice to those who may be dealing with similar situations, don’t try to wait such people out – it is a waste of your time and a loss of opportunities for peace and worship with God. Find a place where you can worship God without the distraction of men who try to get in between you and God. Such “pastors” (so-called) are in reality a barrier between you and God; they seek to squelch the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life because they seek to be a God-like figure who you must spend time following, listening to, and obeying. They must act this way to control you; they only need to control you because they have earthly desires at heart. It is selfish and un-Christlike. Please run from it and find peace.

Keep up the good work Tom. You have been a blessing to me.

News Flash: Jeffress Declares Obama is NOT the Anti-Christ, As His Poll Numbers are a Bit Too Low

2012-11-09T09:36:00.002-05:00

"I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he's not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes. President Obama is not the Antichrist."
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Wow, that was close. I thought for a minute there, after the election, that Barack Obama was the Anti-Christ.

But thanks to Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, I slept easier last night knowing the Southern Baptists have determined:

Barack Hussein Obama, is NOT the Anti-Christ.

How has he made his determination? He doesn't say exactly, but says "one of the reasons" is that "the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes."

I love how the fundamentalist Baptist mindset works: let's start with the assumption he might be the Anti-Christ. Then look at his poll numbers.

He goes on to say Obama is just "paving the way" for the Anti-Christ, you know, like "John the Baptist" for the Anti-Christ.

Watch it for yourself:

In all fairness, let me say to my readers: Robert Jeffress is NOT the Anti-Christ. I am not saying he is the Anti-Christ at all. However, his leadership of at FBC Dallas in convincing the members to spend $120 million on a glamorous new church and fountain while our country suffers economically - he is just paving the way for the gullible sheep to follow the Anti-Christ.