Bad fruit from false prophets in Malawi leads government to consider regulating religious practices

Unquestioningly accepting the pronouncements of alleged prophets instead of being a Berean and checking them against the Bible (Acts 17:11) is always a bad idea. If religious freedom ends up being restricted in Malawi, it will be because of the words and actions of the false prophets. It doesn't say much for the discernment of the followers of these false prophets that they're less able to recognize false teachers than are government authorities. Perceptive readers can't help but notice a disproportionate number of women among the false prophets mentioned in the following articles.

As reported by Thomas Kachere in the Malawi Times News, July 12, 2024:

Fifty-two-year-old Ebel Manyamul has been paralysed for almost his entire life.

His facts of life are that when he was aged three, he suffered from leprosy.

From then on, he has been physically challenged.

Just that, as a member of a Christian fellowship, Manyamula held on to the faith that, one day, he would walk again.

Ans the 'good news' he had been waiting for came on Tuesday, April 16, this year when Manyamula, who comes from Mangirani Village in Chriadzulu District, heard that a servant of God from Nsanje, Prophetess Jersey Window, would be in his village for a night-long prayer session.

Scriptures were recited and songs of praise sang.

Before long, some of the congregants started testifying about what God had done to their lives, changing their lives from bad to good.

When it came to Manyamula's turn, the prophetess prayed for him, surrounded by some congregants who were trampling on his feet, as ordered by the Prophetess.

This is according to the version from the court that handled the case.

A medical report in our possession shows that, after the activities of April 16 this year, Ebel had 12 stitches for wounds on both legs.

According to Ebel's brother Joseph, Ebel became physically challenged when he was...3.

"We were saddened with the development," he said.

Times, which was the first media house to break the story online--nmely on Times 360 Malawi--managed to engage the prophetess on the issue before she was arrested and taken to court.

In that interview, Window indicated that she was ready "to die for Jesus Christ."

Before long, Chiradzulu Police Station officers arrested her.

The prophetess was remanded to Blantyre Prison, also known as Chichiri, as confirmed by Edward Kabango, spokesperson for South East Region Police.

They also arrested two more suspects, namely 32-year-old Veronica Wyson and 30-year-old Marita Wyson from Mangirani Village, Traditional Authority Nchema, in Chiradzulu District for causing grievous bodily harm to Ebel.

Then on Thursday, May 30, 2024, Chiradzulu First Grade Magistrate Smart Maruwasa convicted the three and ordered them to pay K150,000.00 each.

He ordered that the money be used for compensating the victim.

Meanwhile, Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance Executive Director Victor Mhango has condemned men and women of God who go beyond limits.

"Justice should be seen to be done, even on people of God who go beyond the limits," Mhango said.

As reported by Pemphero Malimba of the Malawi Times News, August 14, 2024:

Amid troubling incidents involving harm or death in the name of religious healings and exorcisms, the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (Chreaa) has renewed calls for the government to regulate practices of religious leaders in the country.

Last month, a four-year-old child, who was purportedly a prophetess in Kasungu, allegedly instructed her 40-year-old mother, Ireen Banda, to flog four children who had sickle cell anaemia and Down syndrome as a supposed cure.

Banda, who remains in police custody, is alleged to have severely beaten the children all over their bodies, leading to their deaths.

In April this year, police in Chiradzulu arrested a 74-year-old female preacher, Jessie Window, for allegedly directing members of her ministry to straighten the legs of a man with a physical disability in an attempt to heal him through "prayers."

The man sustained injuries and was hospitalised for several days.

These incidents, among others, have ignited debate about regulating religious practices while respecting the freedom of worship.

In an interview Tuesday, Chreaa Executive Director Victor Mhango said such regulation would help alleviate the challenges some Malawians face due to the misconduct of certain religious leaders.

"Many Malawians are being deceived and some have been assaulted, harassed and even sexually abused by so-called men of God.

"We believe the government is aware of these issues; so, we are calling on it to ensure that these religious institutions are regulated," Mhango said.

He added that many people in the country accept whatever comes from religious leaders as the true word of God.

"It is high time Malawians recognised that many of these individuals are false prophets, merely advancing their own agendas," Mhango charged.

Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) General Secretary Reverend Francis Mkandawire supports these calls.

Mkandawire emphasised the need for increased dialogue between the government and religious bodies.

"Regulation is unavoidable at this point. The government must implement it.

"However, we recommend that if regulations are introduced, there must be extensive consultations with religious bodies to address the issues," Mkandawire said.

He cautioned that failing to consult may infringe on the rights of legitimate religious groups.

"If the government introduces regulations without consultations, it may impose restrictions on religious bodies that are operating properly," he added.

Public Affairs Committee Publicity Secretary Bishop Gilford Matonga prefers self-regulation within the religious sector.

Matonga said if all churches or institutions were affiliated with religious mother bodies, such as the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, the Malawi Council of Churches and EAM, these organisations could discipline members who act contrary to religious teaching.

"At present, people can choose whether or not to join these bodies," Matonga said.

He also highlighted the need for a dedicated government ministry for religious affairs.

"Currently, we have only a presidential adviser on religious affairs, which is inadequate. A ministry that could formulate policies would be more effective if the policies were developed with input from the community," Matonga said.

Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu said the government would consider calls for the regulation of religious practices, provided it does not impact legitimate spiritual practices.

"Any criminal activity by a pastor or an ordinary person is punishable by law. If a sector, perceived as sacred, requires regulation to prevent it from evading legal scrutiny, we need to address it.

"However, if the regulation does not affect genuine spiritual practice, we should engage in that conversation," Kunkuyu said.

Flashback: 1998, 2001--more examples of sin finding people out

...and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23b

How embarrassing...as reported by Sun Media and published in The Edmonton Sun, February 11, 1998:

OTTAWA--A retired priest suffered a heart attack during a private showing in a Quebec strip bar, police said yesterday.

Jean-Paul Snyder died last Wednesday in the Champagne Room in Le Mandarin, a strip club in Mont Laurier, about 125 km northeast of Ottawa.

The 71-year-old priest, who was in his street clothes at the time, collapsed at about 10:30 p.m. The dancer, who performed for him in the private room and other club employees tried to revive him before the ambulance arrived.

"Snyder had a lengthy cardiac history," said said Quebec provincial police Const. Gilles Couture.

The priest was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.

Snyder retired from the priesthood in 1992 for "health reasons," said Ottawa Archdiocese spokesman Guy Levac.

Archbishop Marcel Gervais' first thoughts were for Snyder's family when he found out the circumstances surrounding the retired priest's death.

"If on occasion a person makes mistakes or shows a lack of judgment, that does not erase the good done in their life," Gervais said in a statement.

As reported by Associated Press and Canadian Press, and repoted in The Edmonton Sun, April 20, 2001:

Colleagues of a Russian professor, described as a rising star in international law, were shocked yesterday when told he died in Newfoundland after cocaine-filled balloons burst in his stomach.

Gennady Danilenko, who taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, was on his way to Detroit from Amsterdam on Sunday when he became gravely ill aboard a transatlantic flight.

The airliner was diverted to Goose Bay, Nfld., where Danilenko, 45, was taken to hospital. Doctors removed a dozen balloons from his body and he died Wednesday.

An autopsy revealed six of the cocaine-filled balloons had ruptured.

"We were shocked by his death," said Joan Mahoney, dean of the Wayne State law school.

Backlog: Good riddance to Ernest Angley

The death in May 2021 of televangelism's most buffoonish charlatan was barely mentioned in the media, but Ernest Angley had no trouble attracting attention when he was in his heyday in the 1970s and '80s. Without mentioning him by name, Gary Larson based a Far Side cartoon on him, and comedian David Brenner, in a talk show apperance, referred to Mr. Angley when he said, "There's a guy who heals people on TV--and he wears a toupee. I don't get it." While Howard Cosell's wigs aged along with him, Mr. Angley's wigs remained forever young, as shown in the following photos.

As reported by Bob Dyer of the Akron Beacon Journal, May 7, 2021 (updated May 8, 2021) (bold, links in original):

Controversial televangelist Ernest Angley has died at age 99, according to an announcement Friday on the Ernest Angley Ministries website.

"Pastor, evangelist and author Rev. Ernest Angley has gone to Heaven to be with his Lord and Master at 99," the announcement reads. "He touched multitudes of souls worldwide with the pure Word of God confirmed with signs, wonders, miracles and healings. He truly pleased God in all things."

A native of Gastonia, North Carolina, Angley moved to Akron in 1954 and eventually turned into an internationally known figure, thanks largely to the syndicated TV broadcasts he launched in 1972.

His sometimes-outrageous faith-healing claims drew sharp criticism from many, including officials in Munich, Germany, who arrested him in 1984 on charges of fraud and practicing medicine without a license, and officials in Guyana, who in 2006 blasted him for claiming he could cure AIDS.

Angley's odd speaking voice, mannerisms and toupee made him an easy target for comedians. Superstar Robin Williams mimicked Angley with a character named "Rev. Earnest Angry." Williams also spoofed the preacher on "Saturday Night Live," on a comedy album and in the TV sitcom "Mork & Mindy."

But while the comics and critics were piling on, Angley was spawning a megachurch that brought in so much money that by 2005 he was able to buy a $26 million Boeing 747, which he used for overseas mission trips.

Angley's debut in Akron 65 years ago came inside a huge tent in the Ellet area. Followers of his non-denominational, fire-and-brimstone presentations rapidly grew in number. Within months he moved into an old theater on West Market Street, then into a small building next to Ellet Memorial Cemetery, then into a big new structured nearby, naming it the Temple of Healing Stripes.

Within four years of his arrival in Akron, Ernest Winston Angley had more than 3,000 followers.

He bought Cuyahoga Falls television station WBNX (Channel 55) in 1985, and in 1994 bought the Cathedral of Tomorrow on State Road in Cuyahoga Falls from fellow televangelist Rex Humbard and moved his main operation there.

The church does not release attendance figures, but observers say attendance at the 5,000-seat cathedral has dwindled significantly in recent years.

Part of the drop in membership can likely be attributed to a six-part Beacon Journal investigative series in 2014 in which 21 former church members detailed accusations of wrongdoing by Angley.

They claimed the church is a dangerous cult where pregnant women are encouraged to have abortions, childless men are encouraged to have vasectomies and Angley — who preached vehemently against the "sin" of homosexuality — was himself a gay man who personally examined the genitals of the male parishioners before and after their surgeries. They also said he turned a blind eye to sexual abuse by other members of his church.

Angley agreed to an interview before that series. During a 90-minute meeting in his office, he vehemently denied all of the accusations, claiming everyone was lying.

Four years later, one of the people mentioned in the series, former Assistant Pastor Brock Miller, filed a lawsuit against Angley and the church, claiming that Angley had sexually abused him off and on for nine years. Miller said he finally quit his job in 2014 because he could no longer handle the abuse.

Angley and the church countersued for defamation. An out-of-court settlement was reached in February 2020 for an undisclosed amount.

And in early 2019, a former church member gave the Beacon Journal a 1996 tape-recording of a telephone conversation in which Angley admitted to having sexual relations with a male employee. The person on the other end of the call, the Rev. Bill Davis, a former longtime Angley associate, confirmed the tape was genuine.

Former close associates say Angley was never quite the same after his college sweetheart and wife of 27 years, Esther Lee, or “Angel,” as he called her, died in 1970 at the age of 49.

Angley spent significant time dealing with lawsuits.

The final installment of the Beacon's 2014 series drew the attention of the U.S. Department of Labor. After an investigation the following year, the department sued Angley for $388,508 for back wages and damages. The suit alleged violations of minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping and child labor laws involving 238 current and former employees.

Angley appealed, saying the employees were volunteering to do "God's work," but in 2017 a judge upheld the ruling, and Angley shut down the buffet a few weeks later.

In 2018, however, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and sent the case back to the district court for potential further action. A three-judge panel disagreed with the district court's assertion that restaurant employees were "coerced" into working for free, making a distinction between "economic coercion" and "spiritual coercion."

Click on the links below to see other items from the Akron Beacon Journal about Mr. Angley.

Through the years with Rev. Ernest Angley

Falling from Grace, part 1: Ernest Angley’s Grace Cathedral rocked by accusations involving abortions and vasectomies

Falling from Grace, part 2: Sexual assault claims stay in church walls

Falling from Grace, part 3: Church calls departed Grace Cathedral associate pastor a liar, adulterer and drug addict

Falling from Grace, part 4: Former Grace Cathedral member says of Ernest Angley: ‘He divides and conquers families’

Falling from Grace, part 5: The Rev. Ernest Angley - Modest house, big plane (Boeing 747)

Falling from Grace, part 6: For-profit Grace Cathedral Buffet using volunteer labor again after feds said to stop

Former pastor says Angley abused him

Ernest Angley blasted his associate when he left

The Rev. Ernest Angley admitted sexual encounter

Split with Ernest Angley tough for his assistant

Settlement reached in lawsuit by ex-minister against Ernest Angley, his church

A typical televised performance service of Ernest Angley, from 1978:

California "pastor" pleads guilty in $33-million investment scam

Yet another one; as reported by Sean Emery of the Orange County Register, April 17, 2020 (link in original):

The pastor of a Westminster-based church accused of swindling more than $33 million from investors has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kent R.E. Whitney, 38, of Newport Beach is expected to admit to federal counts of mail fraud and filing a false federal income tax return, court filings show.

Prosecutors allege that Whitney ran the Church of the Healthy Self – along with a related investment arm known as CHS Trust – out of a strip mall in Westminster.

Whitney directed church representatives to appear on television and at live seminars –appearances that were recorded and frequently uploaded on YouTube – in order to solicit investments. Among the false and misleading claims prosecutors allege were presented to investors were promises of a 12% rate of return, a guaranteed return of principal with no risk due to federal insurance and a claim the organization was audited by an accounting firm.

In reality, prosecutors say, little investor money went into trading accounts, and fake monthly statements purporting to outline nonexistent investment returns were prepared for investors.

Prosecutors also allege that Whitney reported an income of $17,539 in the 2018 tax year, far less than the $452,872 he is believed to have earned that year. Of that, prosecutors believe $435,333 came from the alleged fraud scheme.

Previous court filings tied to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation alleged that investor funds were used to purchase Rolex watches, a Bentley automobile, Gucci apparel and guns, as well as on rent for various Newport Beach properties. That filing also alleged that Whitney founded the church in 2014, three months after completing a 44-month prison sentence for a commodities scam.

As reported by Hillary Davis of the Los Angeles Times, April 17, 2020:

...According to his plea agreement, Whitney ran the Ponzi scheme from September 2014 until April 2019 out of Church for the Healthy Self, which he founded and operated out of a Westminster strip mall. The church appeared to have no sanctuary, according to court documents.

At Whitney’s direction, church representatives appeared on television and at live seminars at church offices to solicit investments in CHS Trust, the church’s investment arm, and made several false or misleading claims, authorities allege. They included guaranteeing an annual rate of return of 12%, guaranteeing a return of principal with no risk because CHS Trust was federally insured and boasting that the church’s traders had not lost money in 15 years.

According to authorities, Whitney and his associates targeted the Vietnamese community by advertising on Little Saigon radio and television stations as well as on YouTube. The scheme identified at least 355 investors.

Investors sunk more than $33 million into the scheme over the 4½ years, but in reality, little of that money went into any trading accounts, court documents state. But Whitney directed that monthly statements be sent to investors showing falsified reports of returns, authorities say.

Whitney also admitted that he filed a false federal income tax return in 2018 claiming $17,539 in total income even though his true income was at least $452,872, largely obtained through the fraud scheme. The resulting tax loss was at least $130,808, according to the plea agreement.

Whitney faces a sentence of up to 23 years in federal prison. He has a previous federal conviction for defrauding investors in a commodities scheme. He had been released from prison a few months before forming Church for the Healthy Self.

The FBI investigated the case with the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Superstition and charlatanry are alive and well in Dalton, Georgia

And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: II Peter 2:3a

Despite coming from a site with a notoriously liberal bias, this story, too lengthy to reproduce here, is familiar to those who've come across such things many times before. Click on the link and read The Bible That Oozed Oil by Ruth Graham in Slate, February 27, 2020.

Assemblies of God Church Nigeria fires General Superintendent Chidi Okoroafor for alleged sexual immorality

As reported by Seun Opejobi in the Lagos Daily Post, March 7, 2020 (link in original):

The Assemblies of God Church Nigeria has suspended and dismissed its General Superintendent, Rev. Dr Chidi Okoroafor.

Okoroafor was dismissed as a Minister after the leadership of the church considered a report of his alleged immoral relationship with a United States, US, based woman, Mrs Maurrissal Nwosu.

His dismissal was announced during the church’s General Committee emergency sitting yesterday.

The Panel which Investigated Okoroafor was headed by a former Lagos District Superintendent, Rev Isaac Mpamugo.

The Mpamugo-led panel was said to have established an immoral relationship between Okoroafor and Nwosu which it said was contrary to Biblical principles and the Constitution and Bye-Laws of Assemblies of God Nigeria.

The Executive Committee of the church also ordered him to hand over all Assemblies of God properties in his possession.

A top member of the church who confirmed the development to DAILY POST, however, claimed that Okoroafor was not given a fair hearing.

“Yes, our boss, the GS has been suspended, though he was not given fair hearing, even the woman at the centre of it all was not invited. But he has accepted it, he has handed everything to God,” he said in confidence.

Following Okoroafor’s dismissal, the church has empowered Rev Ejikeme EJim to take over as Acting General Superintendent.

Recall that the church has been under crisis for many years now, during which a former General Superintendent, Rev. Prof. Paul Emeka was chased out of its national secretariat in Enugu State.

There's a possibility that the allegations may be false, as was the case mentioned in my post Nigerian "Apostle" Johnson Suleman is embroiled in a sex scandal--and then his accuser admits that she lied (April 4, 2017).

600 years ago: The death of Antipope John XXIII

On December 22, 1419, Roman Catholic Antipope John XXIII died at the age of 49. John XXIII, born Baldassarre Cossa, obtained doctorates in civil and canon law, and entered the service of Pope Boniface IX during the Western Schism, when there were rival claimants to the papacy in Rome and Avignon. Dr. Cossa was one of seven cardinals who deserted Pope Gregory XII in 1408, and became the leader of the Council of Pisa, which was convened with followers of Antipope Benedict XIII. In an attempt to end the schism, the Council deposed both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII and elected Alexander V as antipope, resulting in three rival claimants to the papacy. Alexander V died soon thereafter, and Dr. Cossa became Antipope John XXIII on May 25, 1410, having been ordained a priest just the day before. John XXIII was recognized as pope by France, England, Bohemia, Portugal, parts of the Holy Roman Empire, and northern Italian city states including Florence and Venice.

The Council of Constance was convened in 1413 as another attempt to end the schism; Antipope John escaped down the Rhine River to Freiburg im Breisgau, but was returned to Constance, where he was tried for heresy, simony, schism, and immorality. According to British historian Edward Gibbon, "The more scandalous charges were suppressed; the vicar of Christ was accused only of piracy, rape, sodomy, murder and incest."

Antipope John XXIII was imprisoned in Germany after being convicted. He was freed in 1418 after a heavy ransom was paid by the Medici Bank, and died in Florence, where he had been made Cardinal Bishop of Frascati by Pope Martin V. When Angelo Roncalli acceded to the papacy in 1958, there was some confusion concerning the numbering, but he took the name John XXIII.

Remember, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, we're supposed to regard the Bishop of Avignon Pisa Rome as the Vicar of Christ, i.e., a substitute Christ on Earth:

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."402 "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered." Catechism of the Catholic Church

Muslims, Reform Jews, and liberal "Christians" build Tri-Faith Center in Omaha

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3:3

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Revelation 18:1-5

The religious situation during the last days prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ continues to take shape, right on schedule--God's schedule, that is. The "Christian" church mentioned in the following article is affiliated with the extremely liberal and apostate United Church of Christ, mixing theological liberalism with contemplative spirituality.

As reported by Sierra Karst of the Omaha World-Herald, November 16, 2019 (links in original):

As the clock ticked toward noon, a smattering of people — from elderly couples to casually dressed young adults — congregated around a dust-blown construction site.

Enter Wendy Goldberg, interim executive director of the Tri-Faith Initiative, wielding a handful of colorful markers.

“Let’s shake up the pens and get it going,” she said.

The pens were for members of the initiative’s three congregations to sign a black beam that will be installed in the new Tri-Faith Center near 132nd and Pacific Streets.

Board members from the American Muslim Institute, Countryside Community Church and Temple Israel had signed the beam Friday night, and, when community members were done signing Saturday, the beam held more than 130 names.

The center will be the only completely shared building on Tri-Faith’s 35-acre plot. Plans for an interactive exhibit, a reflection room overlooking the entire campus and a tri-paneled front wall will celebrate the initiative as a whole.

The church, mosque and temple are already built and occupied, and the new center will be done in June, Goldberg said.

The initiative places Islamic, Jewish and Christian houses of worship on literal common ground to connect the congregations physically and socially. The goal is to encourage empathy, understanding and shared effort among the three faith’s members.

A larger multipurpose room and grand, bleacherlike staircase will allow for events such as educational presentations and weddings. Office spaces and a dual-use catering and teaching kitchen will allow Tri-Faith staff to gather and talk together, Goldberg said.

It’s been 13 years since the initiative was first incorporated as a nonprofit and started looking for available land. Goldberg called it “a slow-baked experience.”

“I believe that our mission moving forward is about deepening relationships and building trust,” she said. “Less focused on bricks and mortar.”

For the Rev. Chris Alexander of Countryside, the new center will be perfect for growing friendships with the initiative’s other faith partners.

As a participant in the initiative, Alexander said, she has discussed everything from what to name her church’s coffee drinks to how to deal with troublesome scriptures with her Jewish and Muslim counterparts, who have become friends.

“We wouldn’t just naturally come together and have a cup of coffee if we were 6 miles apart,” she said. “We interact in ways we never did before, and with this (new building), it’ll just expand that.”

For families like Cary and Rashid Mohiuddin and their two children, the Tri-Faith Initiative is about more than faith.

Raised Catholic and married to a Muslim man, Cary Mohiuddin said she loves attending educational Islam classes at the mosque. The community, with its accepting atmosphere and close relationships, is like a piece of utopia right here in Omaha, she said.

“To be able to build a fourth building devoted to all of the faiths under Abraham’s tent is very special,” she said. “It’s a great example of what humans are capable of if we keep love in mind.”

In light of the 85 headstones recently vandalized at the cemetery on North 42nd Street owned by Temple Israel, Goldberg spoke of the shared American value of religious freedom.

“The more that we come together for experiments like the Tri-Faith Initiative and hear the narratives of the religious other,” she said, “the less fear will fill that narrative and the more opportunities we have to believe that we were all created in the image of God.”

Ms. Goldberg is the interim director of the Tri-Faith Center because the liberal United Methodist minister who was hired in 2018 as the Center's director is on leave while facing accusations of sexual misconduct. As reported by Christopher Burbach of the Omaha World-Herald, October 18, 2019 (links in original):

The former executive director of Omaha’s Tri-Faith Initiative, the Rev. Donald “Bud” Heckman, has been suspended from ministry by the United Methodist Church over accusations of sexual harassment and domestic abuse.

Four women filed complaints about Heckman’s behavior toward them between 2011 and 2015, according to a United Methodist News Service article. One of them was Heckman’s ex-wife. The other three were connected to interfaith ministry, a field in which Heckman is nationally prominent.

Heckman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

The dates of the alleged misconduct were before Heckman’s time as executive director of the Tri-Faith Initiative, a partnership among Temple Israel, the American Muslim Institute and Countryside Community Church on a single campus in west Omaha.

Heckman was the organization’s executive director from March 2018 to February 2019. Heckman was placed on leave when the initiative’s board learned of an allegation, and the organization severed ties with Heckman “as soon as we confirmed that there was some validity to the allegations,” said Wendy Goldberg, the initiative’s interim executive director.

“It was important that we act responsibly in putting the mission of the initiative ahead of any individual,” she said Friday.

Asked if there had been any complaints against Heckman at the initiative, Goldberg said, “None that we’re aware of.”

The organization released a statement that said, “The Tri-Faith Initiative is committed to providing an environment free of discriminatory intimidation or harassment. In keeping with this commitment, we maintain a strict policy prohibiting harassment in any form, including verbal, physical and visual harassment.”

The United Methodist News Service reported that the denomination’s West Ohio Conference confirmed that Heckman was suspended from active ministry. He could face a church trial in December.

The four women filed formal complaints after 15 women had raised allegations of harassment or domestic abuse against Heckman, according to the News Service.

Police in Nigeria rescue people chained in charismaniac church in Lagos

As reported by Chijioke Jannah of the Lagos Daily Post, November 1, 2019:

The Lagos State Police Command has rescued at least 15 persons between ages 19 and 50 from chains at an illegal healing church in Isheri-Osun, Egbe Idimu LCDA of Lagos.

It was gathered that the church, situated at 26, Alafia Street, Oriofe Ijegun Isheri, is known as Blessings of Goodness Healing Church.

According to witnesses, some of the victims have been chained for over four years and could barely walk when they were rescued.

Some of the victims, it was learnt, suffered certain health challenges and were thereafter dumped at the facility by their families for spiritual healing.

However, the police acting on tip-off stormed the place around 6:10pm on Thursday night and arrested one Prophet Joseph Ojo, 58, the operator of the healing home, alongside 10 other suspects.

Speaking to newsmen on Friday, police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the prophet admitted to have been in the healing ministry since 1986, adding that he chained them to prevent them from escaping.

He said: “Some of the victims were said to have spent five years in the detention camp. They are between ages 19 and 50.

“Some of them were brought by their families to seek spiritual help from mental illness and other diseases. The Prophet said he has been in the healing ministry since 1986.

“Investigation is ongoing,”Elkana said.

Roman Catholic church in Northern Ireland removes memorial tribute to pedophile priest after protest

As reported by David O'Dornan of the Belfast Telegraph, August 30, 2019:

The parish priest for a Co Down Catholic Church which recognised the anniversary of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth has said he has no idea how the tribute found its way into a memorial book and pledged it would be removed immediately.

The daily listings at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Newcastle included 'Fr Brendan Smyth 1997' for August 22 - the same date the evil cleric died in prison.

When the Belfast Telegraph alerted Fr Jim Crudden yesterday, he said: "I don't know how that's got into there so I'll just check that now and take it out."

He said that after removing it, he would look into how it found its way there.

He added: "I just didn't see that in there, I don't check that book. That shouldn't have happened."

Campaigner Jon McCourt from Survivors North West called it a "knife in the heart" for victims of Smyth and other abusers.

He said: "I think it's disgusting. I mean, good God, how insensitive do they have to get? It's the best way I can put it, insensitive is like a very mild word.

"He (Smyth) should have been defrocked, his title should have been taken away from him. They actual buried him with 'Father' on his gravestone and they covered it with concrete to make sure nobody could get at it.

"That guy should have been literally written out altogether and to think that they are memorialising him in that way in the Church - look, okay, lost souls deserve prayers, but I think there's a special exemption that should be given to people like Brendan Smyth.

"I knew some of his victims and the lives that have been destroyed as a result of what he was involved in. They'll never be repaired. This is not a slap in the face, this is a punch in the mouth and a knife in the heart of surviving victims and survivors...

...Smyth, a serial child abuser, is widely viewed as one of the most heinous examples of a paedophile priest.

The infamous image of him leering into a camera lens as he prepared to face justice for his crimes compounded his notoriety and public contempt for his evil deeds.

Belfast-born Smyth was eventually convicted of dozens of offences against children over a 40-year period, and the scandal of his sickening acts rocked the Catholic Church across the island of Ireland.

Despite allegations being previously investigated by Church officials, including former Irish primate Sean Brady, as far back as 1975, it was almost 20 years before he was jailed.

Cardinal Brady found himself under pressure in 2010 after confirming he was at meetings when two alleged victims of a paedophile priest signed an oath of silence. Instead of taking action against Smyth, a member of the Norbertine order, the Church moved him between parishes, dioceses and even countries where he preyed on victims who were as young as eight.

As a priest in the Falls Road area of Belfast, he targeted four children from the same family. It was their courage in reporting the abuse to the police that led to his first conviction.

In 1991 he was arrested and released on bail, before spending the next three years out of the reach of police in Northern Ireland by hiding out at his order's Kilnacrott Abbey in Co Cavan in the Republic.

His case led to the collapse of the Republic's Labour/Fianna Fail coalition government when it emerged there had been serious delays in his extradition to Northern Ireland in 1994.

When the priest finally appeared before a Belfast court, he was convicted of 43 charges of sexually assaulting children in Northern Ireland and was sentenced to four years in prison.

He was later found guilty of another 26 charges and given a three-year sentence to run concurrently. Upon his release from prison, Smyth was immediately arrested and extradited to the Republic.

In 1997, the convicted paedophile again appeared before a judge - this time in Dublin - where he admitted to 74 charges of child sexual abuse over a 35-year period. He had assaulted children in a hotel, a cinema, a convent and other venues across nine different counties.

Smyth - born John Gerard before changing his name to Brendan - died of a heart attack in prison in August 1997, just a month into his 12-year prison sentence.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. accused of using Liberty University assets to benefit his personal trainer in real estate deal

Some "non-profit" organizations and the people who run them seem to have a suspiciously large amount of wealth; as reported by Aram Roston and Joshua Schneyer of Reuters, August 27, 2019 (link in original):

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Evangelical leader and prominent Donald Trump backer Jerry Falwell Jr personally approved real estate transactions by his nonprofit Christian university that helped his personal fitness trainer obtain valuable university property, according to real estate records, internal university emails and interviews.

Around 2011, Falwell, president of Liberty University in Virginia, and his wife, Rebecca, began personal fitness training sessions with Benjamin Crosswhite, then a 23-year-old recent Liberty graduate. Now, after a series of university real estate transactions signed by Falwell, Crosswhite owns a sprawling 18-acre racquet sports and fitness facility on former Liberty property. Last year, a local bank approved a line of credit allowing Crosswhite’s business to borrow as much as $2 million against the property.

Falwell, one of the most influential right-wing Christian leaders in the United States, has been buffeted by disclosures about his private dealings over the last year and a half.

A Florida lawsuit brought public scrutiny to a relationship between the Falwells and Giancarlo Granda, a young man they befriended while he was working as a pool attendant at a luxury Miami Beach hotel and later backed in a business venture involving a youth hostel. Falwell filed an affidavit in 2018 saying he used his own wealth to lend $1.8 million to the $4.65 million project with Granda.

And U.S. President Trump’s now-jailed fixer, Michael Cohen, has said he helped the Falwells suppress racy personal photos, as Reuters reported this May, in the months before Cohen persuaded Falwell to endorse Trump’s 2016 White House bid. There is no evidence that Cohen’s efforts to suppress the photos were a quid pro quo for Falwell’s vital political backing.

The support Falwell provided to the two young men, Granda and Crosswhite, has some parallels. Both were aided in business ventures and both have flown on the nonprofit university’s corporate jet.

One difference: When Falwell helped Crosswhite, he used the assets of Liberty, the tax-exempt university he has led since 2008. Among the largest Christian universities in the world, Liberty depends on hundreds of millions of dollars its students receive in federally backed student loans and Pell grants.

In 2016, Falwell signed a real estate deal transferring the sports facility, complete with tennis courts and a fitness center owned by Liberty, to Crosswhite. Under the terms, Crosswhite wasn’t required to put any of his own money down toward the purchase price, a confidential sales contract obtained by Reuters shows.

Liberty committed nearly $650,000 up front to lease back tennis courts from Crosswhite at the site for nine years. The school also offered Crosswhite financing, at a low 3% interest rate, to cover the rest of the $1.2 million transaction, the contract shows.

Crosswhite declined to answer questions about the deal. “All I will say is that my wife and I consult each other before every major business deal and we bought the complex from Liberty together,” he said in an email. “My wife and I both work around the clock to make our business succeed.”

Falwell referred Reuters to the university for comment. Liberty issued a statement describing the transaction as both proper and beneficial for the school.

Liberty had received the athletic center as a gift in 2011 from a trustee who has since died, but it quickly became a “drain on university resources,” the statement said. Crosswhite had been leasing gym space at the property since 2013, and was thus “the most viable purchaser.” Liberty said it adjusted the price and financed Crosswhite’s purchase because its tennis team would continue to use the courts.

Falwell has “tried to be a business mentor” to Crosswhite, the university statement said, but that effort did not “cause him to abandon his fiduciary duties” to Liberty.

As Liberty’s leader, Falwell draws an annual salary of nearly $1 million, and is obligated to put the university’s financial interests before his own personal interests when conducting Liberty business.

Liberty University denies the charges; you can see Liberty's side of the story here, and Dr. Falwell's response here.



See also my previous posts:

Libertine University (May 9, 2009)

Look who Liberty University's commencement speakers are for 2010 (April 24, 2010)

Adulterer and New Ager-turned Roman Catholic Newt Gingrich to speak at The Awakening 2011 conference at Liberty University in April (March 15, 2011)

Liberty University (and another "Christian" school) stage a work by Jesus Christ Superstar composer (March 24, 2011)

Liberty University has Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin as a guest speaker--after he's been exposed as a Jesuit (March 14, 2012)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to deliver keynote address at 2018 commencement of Liberty University (March 27, 2018)

British mainstream media finally discovers Hillsong

The following article doesn't mention things such as Carl Lentz's church having a sodomite couple in the music ministry, nor does it state that Frank Houston was the actual founder of Hillsong, but it does mention the accusations of child molestation against him. The perceptive reader will note the mention of the notorious Holy Trinity Brompton, responsible for such dubious achievements as introducing "holy laughter" to the United Kingdom.

As reported by Joe Shute of the London Daily Telegraph, July 26, 2019 (links in original):

This week, thousands of teenagers and twentysomethings mustered excitedly about London’s O2 Arena eagerly anticipating the evening’s entertainment. Sporting tattoos and scantily dressed in the summer heat, they might have been queuing for any pop concert. Instead, it was to meet an evangelical church pastor.

Inside the arena, a packed audience, nearly 15,000-strong, cheered breakdancers, rap artists and rock guitarists all espousing the worship of God. And then, at the moment of maximum rhapsody, out strode Hillsong’s lead pastor and founder Brian Houston, wearing a red checkered blazer and declaring: “Jesus, what a beautiful sight…”

As the 65-year-old Australian preached, those in the exultant crowd closed their eyes and raised their arms to the lights. One teenage boy in a tracksuit opposite me wiped a tear away from his cheek.

Chances are you may not have heard of Hillsong, an evangelical movement founded by Brian and his wife, Bobbie Houston, in Sydney in 1983. Now spanning more than 15 countries, its mega-churches are the centre of the fastest-growing religious movement in the world: Pentecostalism, which boasts more than 500m adherents.

The movement emphasises the power of the Holy Spirit and direct experience with God through messages and miracles. As Brian Houston told the London crowd, at Hillsong’s annual conference in Australia earlier this month (attended by the country’s prime minister Scott Morrison), “verifiable miracles” occurred.

The US singer Selena Gomez is an avowed Hillsong worshipper, so too, the Kardashians. Much of this popularity is due to its clever repackaging of the Bible to a modern, younger audience. Hillsong’s social media channels and in-house musicians are as stylised and curated as those of any chart-topping band. Its pastors boast tattoos and ice-white trainers.

Hillsong’s New York church leader Carl Lentz is referred to as “the rock-star pastor” and reportedly baptised the pop singer Justin Bieber in a US basketball player’s bathtub.

Back in London, Dan Blythe is Lentz’s equivalent. The 33-year-old 'creative pastor' meets me backstage during its three-day annual conference in a baggy white T-shirt revealing ecclesiastical tattoos all over his heavy-set arms. The first was inked on his bicep: a scripture from Ephesians 2:8. “It basically says we’re saved by grace,” he explains.

According to Blythe, various British celebrities also worship at the church, which hires out the Dominion Theatre in central London for its Sunday services attracting up to 2,000 people. He won’t name names, but suffice to say they span singers, television presenters and professional footballers. “The nice thing is it’s very chilled,” he says. “Nobody runs up for a selfie.”

Blythe first became a Christian on his gap year to Australia, and in nine years of being a member of Hillsong in London has baptised new followers all over the city – including in a nightclub’s swimming pool in Shoreditch. “It wasn’t our greatest experience of baptism,” he says. “It was a little bit dirty.” A baptism tank has also temporarily been installed at the O2 to douse any of the 3,000 volunteers involved who so wished at the end of the conference – too many risk assessments were required to haul it out into the crowd.

Despite Hillsong’s undeniable popularity, the church has also been dogged by controversy. Brian Houston’s father, Frank Houston (now deceased), has been accused of sexually abusing children while the influential leader of the Pentecostal denomination, Assemblies of God in the Sixties and Seventies. Although Houston sacked his father as a pastor when he discovered his crimes in 1999, an Australian Royal Commission in 2015 found he had failed to report him to the police – something he has been criticised for by his victims.

A Hillsong statement in response to the Royal Commission’s findings said: “We are confident that the actions of Pastor Brian, from the moment he discovered the news about his father, were done with the best intentions towards the victim. The findings of the Royal Commission confirmed that his actions resulted in the perpetrator being immediately removed from ministry.”

The amount of largely tax-exempt money the church brings in has also raised eyebrows (its latest annual report for its Australian operations reveals revenues of more than 100m Australian dollars). By the exits of the O2 arena, giving envelopes were distributed alongside Bibles, although the church emphasises the money goes back into community work.

In London, its leader Gary Clarke resides in a luxury apartment owned by the church currently estimated to be worth £2.5m. “The church bought it as an investment,” the 59-year-old says. “We call that smart because we can sell it to put into a building project. It’s no different from any Church of England manse in central London, but when you’re new on the block and people perceive you as different, it leaves you open to people criticising.”

Hillsong also adopts a strict stance on homosexuality. In a 2015 blog post, Brian Houston stressed that while the church welcomes all people, “clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle, and because of this, we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid”.

Yet those queuing outside the O2 seemed untroubled by such sentiments. “I explain it like a modern church but with traditional values,” says Mirjan Kleimann, a 25-year-old from Hamburg who has travelled with two friends to attend the conference. “They are sermons that preach about the topics relevant today, which we talk about together as friends.”

Jesse Hewitt, a 29-year-old in a baseball cap and white socks, who works in a coffee roasters in London and has been a member of the Hillsong congregation for three years, agrees. “It’s the same faith, same beliefs, but just really relevant,” he says.

The popularity of the likes of Hillsong among a younger generation is prompting the Church of England to take note. Trinity Church in Nottingham is one of a number of so-called “plant churches” where a group is sent up to form a new church.

It was established on the request of the Bishop of Nottingham by Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), the evangelical west London church that wields increasing clout within the Church of England and has initiated dozens of plants, including Birmingham’s Gas Street Church, which opened in a renovated warehouse in 2016. One notable former graduate of HTB is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

Everything about Nottingham’s newest church, situated in a former auction house, is perfectly on-trend: house plants, refurbished parquet flooring, specialist coffee from a local roastery, artisan pastries, not to mention its leaders who are all 20 and 30-somethings sporting sculpted beards and trendy jeans.

Indeed, on first impressions, there is little inside the entrance hall at Holy Trinity to distinguish it as a church whatsoever – save the guest wifi password: “Revelation”.

In December 2017, the Diocese of London received £3.9 million to train 15 “planting curates”, who, at the invitation of diocesan bishops, will be deployed to 15 “strategic cities” between 2020 and 2022. According to the Church Times, at least ten are being trained at HTB.

The Holy Trinity leadership team, many of whom hail from London, arrived in Nottingham in September 2016 and moved into the former auction yard site, which had been acquired by the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, in Easter 2017.

As with many of the other church plants instigated by HTB, sermons are intended to be a lively affair, with a church band called The Worship Team performing each week on a raised stage backed by a giant wooden cross. Joanne Arton, a 24-year-old Glaswegian, is the worship leader. She describes the music as a mix of reflective songs and ones where “people wave their hands in worship and receive”.

She says she grew up in a Christian household and, despite losing her father at the age of four, has held on to her faith. “My generation are definitely looking for love and connection and structure in their lives,” she says. “Church offers that.”

More and better information on the Hillsong movement can be found in some of the blogs on my blogroll. Hillsong Church Watch hasn't been updated recently, but is an indispensable source of useful information.

Roman Catholic priest in California suspended after being caught holding the bag--of collection money

...and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23b

As reported by Maggie Angst of the San Jose Mercury News, July 22, 2019 (updated July 23, 2019):

A Bay Area priest has been suspended for allegedly stealing more than $95,000 from parishes he served over the past several years, the Diocese of Santa Rosa announced Monday.

Father Oscar Diaz, 56, was ordained by the Diocese in July 1994 and served as a priest at Saint Mary Parish in Lakeport, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Clearlake and most recently, Resurrection Parish in Santa Rosa.

On June 19, Diaz was involved in a car crash, suffering a fractured hip.

First responders discovered bags inside Diaz’s vehicle containing stolen Resurrection Parish collections totaling more than $18,000, which Diaz allegedly described as his salary, according to a statement from the Diocese.

Police officers were alerted to the situation later that evening by a hospital employee who was uncomfortable with the amount of cash Diaz brought with him into the emergency room.

Less than a week after the crash, Diaz allegedly called Resurrection Parish staff to report that he had more collection bags in his office.

Upon further investigation, staff discovered more than 10 collection bags full of cash in his office and home that showed “systematic theft at Resurrection Parish from September 2018 through June 2019,” Bishop Robert Vasa said in a statement.

“There is also documentary evidence that theft, over the course of many years, included an undeterminable number of checks made out to parishes and deposited to Father Oscar’s personal account,” Vasa said in the statement.

The diocese said officials uncovered evidence that Diaz stole an additional $77,000 in cash from other parishes where he previously served.

“I am deeply grieved that this has happened and am deeply saddened that the parishes he was sent to serve have been harmed,” Vasa said in the statement.

Diaz allegedly admitted to Vasa that he had taken the collection bags and had been doing so for an extended amount of time, according to the statement.

Efforts to reach Diaz were unsuccessful Monday.

Although Vasa asked the police to investigate the matter for “possible criminal prosecution”, they determined that “the protocols surrounding collection accounting would make it difficult to arrive at sufficient proof of theft to pursue criminal prosecution,” the statement said.

Police advised that the diocese to hire a certified fraud examiner to help put together a report for possible prosecution, but the diocese has opted not to do so.

“While I am willing to have Father Oscar face prosecution I do not know that I want to expend additional money for a prosecution which brings no additional benefit to either the Diocese or the parishes which are victims of his crimes,” Vasa said in the statement.

Diaz was suspended from his role as priest in Santa Rosa and his future for ministry in the church is “uncertain,” the statement said.

“Unfortunately, given the length of time over which theft occurred, the variety of methods and the total dollars involved, I cannot envision any possible future ministry,” Vasa wrote in the statement.

40 years ago: Indian guru receives prison sentence in Switzerland for ordering followers to commit crimes against opponents

As reported by United Press International, May 23, 1979:

Lausanne, Switzerland--Self-styled Indian guru Swami Okmarananda [reported in some newspapers as Ommarananda--blogger] was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment Tuesday for ordering members of his bizarre Divine Light Centre to kill and intimidate opponents of his sect.

Okmarananda, 49, whose sect practised sexual and black-magic rites, promptly appealed the verdict by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court.

He was arrested in 1976 after Divine Light members blew up the house of Zurich state police chief Jakob Stucki.

Stucki and his family escaped unhurt.

Sentenced along with Okmarananda was his right-hand man Joseph Meichtry, a Swiss, who was sentenced to seven years.

A German woman, Verena Plein, received a four-year sentence and was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment.

A 24-year-old Australian nurse, Katherine Bingham, was sentenced to 27 months.

Verena Plein told the court during the two-week trial that she had been forced to serve as a human altar. She was raped and a chicken was slaughtered over her body.

Katherine Bingham told the court that Okmarananda had sect members inject poison into chocolates and tomatoes and try to give them to the families of authorities opposing the Divine Light Centre, which had its headquarters in Wintethur, north of Zurich.

Two youths, Johannes Schaeben and Theo Diem, received suspended terms of one year and six months respectively.

Miss Bingham's sentence was also suspended. She will be expelled immediately from Switzerland because the court also handed down a sentence of three years expulsion from the country.

According to the Wikibin entry on Swami Okmarananda:

The evidence against the Swami himself is disputed, however, and in a later series of articles published in the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger an investigative journalist presented certain materials which supposedly had been suppressed at the time of the trial, such as involvement of Belgian and Zurich police. One of the Zurich police officers - who led the investigation and the one who is accused of signing a letter ordering the suppression of material - was later accused of corruption.

Swami Okmarananda died on January 4, 2000, six days after his 70th birthday.

U.S. political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche dies at 96

I missed this when it occurred a month ago: Lyndon LaRouche, economic theorist, conspiracy theorist, perennial U.S. presidential candidate, and cult leader, died on February 12, 2019 at the age of 96, as reported in a laudatory obituary published in his Executive Intelligence Review.

Mr. LaRouche's cult--the International Caucus of Labor Committees--revolved around himself rather than around fixed dogma, which enabled him, over a period of 40 years, to retain much of his following while migrating from Marxism to a position on the political spectrum that could be described, in the words of a former professor of mine, as "slightly to the right of Nero."

Mr. LaRouche achieved some success at infiltrating the Democratic Party in the 1980s, but his tentacles reached beyond the United States. This blogger has seen LaRouche cultists at the Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, while the Schiller Institute, which was founded by his second wife Helga Zepp-LaRouche, had, and perhaps still has, a base in Sherwood Park, Alberta. In the mid-1980s, an obscure critical article about Mr. LaRouche by Alberta cultwatcher Chris Milner in Alberta Report magazine prompted a handwritten rebuttal to Mr. Milner from a well-known American admirer of Mr. LaRouche.

For more on Lyndon LaRouche, see the following articles:

Lyndon LaRouche, Cult Figure Who Ran for President 8 Times, Dies at 96 by Richard Severo, The New York Times, February 13, 2019

Lyndon LaRouche Jr., conspiracy theorist and presidential candidate, dies at 96 by Timothy R. Smith, The Washington Post, February 13, 2019

Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right by John Mintz, The Washington Post, January 14, 1985

Political Theater of the Absurd by Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, February 19, 2019

Mainstream media belatedly discovers sexual abuse within the Southern Masonic Baptist Convention

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6 (also Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2)

As is so often the case, mainstream media are late to come to a story, and then act as if they were the ones who discovered it. An example is 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms by Robert Downen, Lise Olsen, and John Tedesco in the Houston Chronicle, February 10, 2019--the first of three articles on the subject, mentioning names and incidents.

It comes as no surprise to this blogger to see mainstream newspapers exposing sexual abuse in the SBC; I just wonder why it took them so long to get around to it. All anyone had to do was do a Google search using the term "Baptist" and "predator" to find the website Stop Baptist Predators and blog Stop Baptist Predators, both by Christa Brown, who has been warning about this matter for more than a decade. I recommend her site and blog for research purposes, although I don't think she's doctrinally sound.

Another useful blog is let's stop pastor darrell gilyard together by Tiffany Croft, which is on my blogroll. The information provided in these sites isn't particularly current, but is still relevant. The fact that the sites go back a few years shows how long that sexual abuse within the SBC has been an issue that some have tried to draw attention to, before its belated discovery by mainstream media.

February 24, 2019 update: Click on the links for the rest of the Houston Chronicle series:

Part 2: Offend, then repeat: Southern Baptist churches hired ministers accused of past sex offenses (February 12, 2019)

Part 3: Preying on teens: All too often, Southern Baptist youth pastors take advantage of children (February 13, 2019)

March 19, 2019 update: The same thing has been taking place in Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches, as reported in a series of articles by Sarah Smith in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 9, 2018:

Hundreds of sex abuse allegations found in fundamental Baptist churches across U.S.

These ‘men of God’ sexually abused children. Then they found refuge at other churches

‘It’s ruined me.’ Former independent fundamental Baptists describe life in the church

‘My earliest memory of being molested was when I was 4 years old. It was Sunday school’


HT: Vox Popoli

40 years ago: The raid on Ambassador College

On January 3, 1979, California state officials raided Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, and put the pseudo-Christian organization known as the Worldwide Church of God into receivership, much to the displeasure of the church's founder and leader, Herbert W. Armstrong. This blogger isn't aware of exactly what words were exchanged, but I think it can be assumed that Mr. Armstrong didn't offer his usual salutation of "Well, greetings, friends!"

The raid took place just six weeks after the Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide/murder, and alternative religious movements, popularly known as "cults,", were no longer viewed as harmless, and were attracting closer scrutiny, especially in California. Several weeks after Jonestown, the Los Angeles Times published a series of front page articles on the drug rehabilitation organization Synanon, and the California government raid on the WCG's main college campus took place a few weeks after this.

14 years after these events, a U.S. government raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas turned violent, initially resulting in the deaths of four U.S. government agents, and ultimately resulting in the deaths of everyone in the compound. This blogger predicts that it's only a matter of time before government forces enact violent raids on true Christian churches and organizations. Such occurrences are likely to occur in Trudeaupia Canada before they occur in the U.S.A., so Americans would do well to pay attention to what's going on to the north of them.

For more information, see my posts:

30 years ago: Synanon founder Charles Dederich pleads no contest in murder plot (July 15, 2010)

25 years ago: Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, goes to the "wonderful World Tomorrow" (January 15, 2011)

10 years ago: Garner Ted Armstrong goes to the "wonderful World Tomorrow" (September 16, 2013)

Russian Orthodox Church rebukes priest for flaunting designer goods on Instagram

Instagram seems to be facilitating an ecumenism of prosperity preaching, as in the item in the post below, and the following, as reported by Matthew Bodner of the London Daily Telegraph, December 10, 2018 (link in original):

The priest, Father Vyacheslav Baskakov, displayed Louis Vuitton bags and Gucci shoes in his Instagram posts

The Russian Orthodox Church is pursuing disciplinary action against a priest in the city of Tver for a series of immodest Instagram posts in which he flaunts Gucci shoes and Louis Vuitton handbags, a church spokesman has said.

The account, belonging to priest Vyacheslav Baskakov, drew social media heat on Friday when users noticed posts featuring his luxury swag. The account has since been deleted, but not before Instagram users took snapshots of high price Louis Vuitton slippers, among other things.

“I hope this will bring this shepherd to account,” said Alexander Volkov, a spokesman for Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, “and to find the words and actions to bring him to reason, so that these kinds of things will not happen again.”

This isn’t the first time Russian Orthodox Church officials have been caught with high end fashion accessories, though it is perhaps the first time one of these holy men have been so blatant about it.

In 2012, Patriarch Kirill himself was spotted wearing a $30,000 Breguet wrist watch in a photo posted on the church’s website. After a wave of outrage, a photo appeared with the wristwatch photoshopped out.

However, Patriarch Kirill’s hand was resting on a table that reflected an image of the watch -- a detail overlooked in the photoshopped image. The original photo, with watch in clear view, was later put back on the website.

All things considered, this was not Russia’s greatest luxury watch controversy. In 2015, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accidentally flashed a $620,000 Richard Mille RM 52-01 watch, of which only 30 were reportedly made, in a photo taken at his wedding in the resort town of Sochi.

While perhaps marginally more appropriate in the halls of power, Patriarch Kirill’s spokesman laid into Father Baskakov with some harsh words for his Instagram posts, saying that his “immodest and unrestrained way of life” has no place in the church. “The life of a priest cannot be divided between the personal and public and no clergyman can act like a priest in a church from the morning until lunch and then be whoever he wants from lunch until evening,” he said.

South Carolina megachurch pastor gives his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary present

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:1-4

The prosperity gospel seems to work for prosperity preachers, which no doubt enables them to do their alms "in the streets;" I believe the scholarly term is "doing well by doing good." As reported by Charles Duncan of the Charlotte Observer, December 12, 2018 (links in original):

A megachurch pastor from Greenville, South Carolina is catching heat for buying his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary present last week. John Gray, of Relentless Church, is the same pastor who drew praise from around the world for giving tithes directly from the collection plate to veterans, single parents and widows.

A video posted on Instagram, which has since been deleted, shows Gray dressed in black tie leading his wife through a crowd and surprising her with the car.

The gift drew criticism on Instagram, the Christian Post website reports, noting that some people “were angry that a preacher would indulge in such display of opulence.”

Defending the gift from her husband, Aventer Gray posted to her own Instagram account: “My hubby is a hard worker, he worked his whole life and he saved to bless his wife.”

She pointed to his income outside of the megachurch, including producing movies and writing songs.

Her husband, she writes, “Gives away cars, full houses of furniture, coats off his back.”

“I don’t see anyone screaming about how basketball players drive what they do while you paying $$$ to see them play in arenas and on fields,” she wrote on Instagram.

MY HUBBY IS A HARD-WORKER, HE WORKED HIS WHOLE LIFE AND HE SAVED TO BLESS HIS WIFE!!! REALJOHNGRAY AUTHOR X 2 SILENT ENDORSEMENTS (YOU KNOW BECAUSE EVERYONE DOESN’T HAVE TO BRAG ABOUT WHO THEY ARE SIGNED TO) 6 TV SHOWS MOVIE PRODUCER SONG WRITER TOURS Gives away cars, full houses of furniture, coats off his back... Checks before pastoring and tithes that in its entirety between 2 churches AND those he feels lead to at any given moment... BEEN WORKING FOR YEARS...GET OUTTA HERE WILLSTAY OFF MY HUSBAND... I don’t see anyone screaming about how basketball players drive what they do while you paying $$ to see them play in arenas and on fields... We don’t live for people! We live for God! Back to my regularly scheduled grocery store trip!!! Happy Sunday!

A post shared by grayceeme (@grayceeme) on DEC 9, 2018 AT 4:10PM PST

Gray was praised just two weeks ago for a video that went viral of him giving money to needy members of his congregation. “The role of the church is also to meet the needs of people in the house,” Gray said in the video.

“Any single mothers in here?” he asked. “Any widows? Are there any single fathers, any veterans that don’t have what they need to make ends meet? Come to the altar. There’s some money in these baskets.”

Just one question, Chief: If there's nothing wrong with Pastor Gray giving his wife an expensive car for an anniversary present, why was the video of the event deleted?

30 years ago: Disgraced televangelist Peter Popoff underwhelms Edmonton

This blogger first became aware of Peter Popoff early in 1979, coming across his weeknightly radio broadcast. Mr. Popoff was offering, and spending most of his time talking about, his book The Other Side of Life: An Astonishing Glimpse Into the Future; he was a few decades ahead of the curve when it came to books by people claiming to have gone to Heaven. I was just starting to read the Bible in those days, and the Lord protected me from falling for deception of the kind promoted by Mr. Popoff.

In the 1980s, Mr. Popoff became widely known as a televangelist, performing phony faith healings, ostensibly hearing directly from God. In 1986, secular humanist skeptic and magician James Randi exposed Mr. Popoff as a fraud, receiving his revelations from his wife, communicating through an earpiece. The exposure of Mr. Popoff as a fraud led to his declaration of bankruptcy in September 1987. However, you can't keep a con good man down, and Mr. Popoff wasn't one to let debunking and bankruptcy stop him. He started down the comeback trail, and on November 26, 1988, performed in one of the meeting rooms on the second floor of the Chateau Lacombe hotel in downtown Edmonton--a considerably smaller venue, with a considerably smaller audience, that he had attracted a few years earlier.

This blogger attended with fellow cultwatcher Chris Milner, and witnessed an entertaining, albeit bare-bones performance, with no miraculous healings, and no instant divine revelations. Although Mr. Popoff performed no miracles for his audience in Edmonton, he was able to tell stories about alleged miracles that he had recently performed elsewhere. My favourite was when he claimed that he had prayed that a recently-deceased man who was being transported for burial would be raised to life. According to Mr. Popoff, the man woke up in the hearse, and the driver of the hearse, a backslidden Pentecostal preacher, promptly pulled the car over, got down on his knees, and rededicated himself to the Lord. As they used to say in Get Smart, "I find that very hard to believe."

We weren't the only ones who weren't fooled by Mr. Popoff; on our way out, we met a discerning Christian named Steiner Bremnes, who perceptively observed that since Mr. Popoff had been exposed, he seemed to have lost his spiritual gift.

Mr. Popoff eventually found the prosperity gospel to be effective--for him--and within a few years he was back on television, raking in millions of dollars while using the methods that had made him notorious in the first place, and is presumably still going. Howard Cosell's comment about the "coaching business" can also apply to the televangelist business: "Bad apples seem to always float back to the surface of the barrel..."