Category — pentecostal

“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here,for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, ”Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ’Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Luke 13:31-35

As I read these words from My Savior, I thought of this an appropriate message to “the black church”.

Ode to the black church

When the word of God is taught/preached in a complete and sound method (expository), you will always have those who obfuscate the truth. Meaning they will purposely teach and lead their listeners into confusion and error. They do not present what the bible says with clarity and understanding to bless those who hear it. But again they pose as real God-fearing, bible believing teachers, when in reality they are nothing more than spiritual dung beetles who desire the spotlight. 

One need no more than to look around at the majority of Christian “bible” teachers on the media scene today. Most, (and it saddens me to say this) have no more bible knowledge than a cockroach has lips, yet they are loved and lifted up as the Men of God for today! While those who labor in the word both day and night suffer for righteous sake, are frowned upon, rejected and scorned for their exclusive, non ecumenical, uncompromising message, which is exactly what our Lord and Savior preached.

The only way to fight lies and error?

By boldly presenting, teaching, preaching, and living out the TRUTH (God’s word). But one must first grasp the truth before they can teach it. One must fully know and understand the truth, before attempting to distribute it to others.

So let’s make one thing clear

By the grace of God I know the truth, not to sound boastful, but its true. I know the truth, and it’s because I know the word of God. You can take that statement as you want, but understand that the truth is not my truth. It didn’t originate with me, nor am I its author. The truth comes from God. It belongs to Him, and He gave it to us. When I preach my authority comes from God. For His words are the authority.

Where can we find that truth?

Only one place….His Word. His open letter to us concerning Him, His Righteousness, His Holiness, His Peace, His Salvation, and His Glory. The Autobiography of His Son, The Christ, The Messiah, The Anointed One, The Mighty God and Everlasting Father.

This Truth is the Truth (John 1:1-3). He is both Lord of all and Savior to those who believe.

So why in the world would people (in the church) tolerate a person who comes not in the name of the Lord to bring Him glory, but in His own name with doctrines of demons and lies that lead to hell? Why would the church completely reject sound teaching and doctrine that is taught for their spiritual health and soul salvation? That question is a glaring one, bold and rebellious sitting right in the faces of so-called church leaders who have turned from God and have embraced humanism. Humanism that will never ever be able to save the souls of those who hear it. Humanism that teaches man that they can be good and better people without ever leading them to the only one who is good. GOD! (Mark 10:18)

The wisdom of men will do that to you. The wisdom of men will raise up large religious cults (Jehovah’s Witness, Mormonism, Islam) that fall vastly short in addressing man’s biggest problem. Sin! The wisdom of men will try to change a sinful world by engaging in politics and legislation to change the laws of the land, but never successfully changing the nature of men, thus keeping them dead in their sins.

When did we lose sight of what truth is?

How have we (the church) fallen so far away from the very thing that was given to us to lead us into the truth? Why is it that churches no longer preach the gospel message? Preferring instead to lure in the sinners with music concerts, kids jams, raffles, and free gas offers. Why have we left the gospel? Don’t we understand the gospel is the power of God that changed our lives? (Romans 1:16) Don’t we remember the dread, the anguish, and condemnation that pressed heavily upon our hearts sending us into hopelessness when we found out that our sin totally separated us from God, and exposed us as hell bound sinners deserving of every ounce of wrath that God would pour upon us? Don’t we remember the sweet and loving peace that fell over us when we finally understood that Jesus Christ died for that very sin, He drank the wrath of God, to save us from that awesome and terrible day?

How dare we rob people of the same conversion! How dare we look at God in the face and tell Him His message in out of date no longer needed to save the lost!

Who do we think we are?

That’s our problem. We are what the world tells us. We are great and special and somebody. And even if we don’t feel that way the world tells us to embrace it anyways. We reject what the bible says about us being hell bound sinners in need of a savior. No, we would rather hear how diverse and unique we are. How we should be ourselves and embrace ourselves not knowing that as we do that, we are embracing the very disease (SIN) that God hates, and sent His Son to die for so that those who believe might be saved.

In other words man has an identity crisis.

Is there any hope?

I’ll echo the words Paul Washer uttered to a man who asked Him if He could be saved: “I  don’t know….”

If the church, who claims to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, will repent and turn back to Him. If…

ATLANTA – Ignoring an impassioned letter for reform in the nation’s largest black pentecostal denomination, Bishop Charles Blake, Sr and his cadre of fellow Church of God in Christ (COGIC) bishops are preparing to consecrate [Superintendent] Joseph E. Hogan, Jr. as a bishop. In November, Hogan will be promoted and has been selected to allegedly head the “North Central Jurisdiction” comprised of about 30 odd churches siphoned off the Central Georgia jurisdiction after the death of Bishop Chandler Owens.

Sources (whom we cannot identify for fear of retribution) very close to this story told COGIC Abuse Watch the selection of Hogan was a “travesty”.

The right choice?
Billing himself as the “right choice”, Hogan used this video to promote his candidacy for bishop of the church’s Central Georgia Jurisdiction, But after much politicking, legendary COGIC infighting and a vote, he did not win. To pacify him, Hogan was given approximately 30-45 (per his victory speech video) churches out of the 100 to start a new jurisdiction. In the end, politics and bad judgment won.

If the bible says that among believers there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people, what of the widespread sexual immorality among leaders?

Who is this man?

Hogan, pastor of New Life Tabernacle COGIC located in SE Atlanta, is a superintendent in COGIC, a midlevel administrative position generally supervising five or more churches. In the video, Hogan says he has been serving in the Central Georgia Jurisdiction for some 52 years and pastoring 32 years. He has been married 39 years.

A deadbeat gone wild
In 2005, Hogan (then serving as a ranking official under Bishop Chandler Owens (d. 2011), impregnated Sherry Adams, the wife of his assistant pastor, a man who had served with him for some twenty years.

Public records from Clayton County (GA) Superior Court show that Hogan initially denied the child was his, but after a paternity test, he was ordered to pay child support. In 2011, Hogan stopped child support payments and was subsequently sued and arrested. The case was dismissed “without prejudice” which in legal terms means that he could be sued and/or arrested again in the future for the same offense.

An elder who has served for a number of years in the Central Georgia jurisdiction told Report COGIC Abuse that the child Sherry Adams sued Hogan for child support is only one of several illegitimate children. He suggested that Hogan’s sexual wild cards are a result of the lack of discipline by his two former supervising bishops. In his campaign video, posted just five months ago, Hogan only acknowledges 4 children by his current wife. But according to the court documents, the statement is intentional deception.

What does the bible say about men who desire the office of a bishop?

If a man desires the office of a bishop in the Lord’s church, the scriptures are clear and direct in its qualifying stipulations for that man.

The Apostle Paul wrote that if a man desires the office of bishop, he desires a good work. Its important to understand that the office of a bishop while spiritual, is also equally administrative. Thus, “desiring” to administrate (oversee others in organization, supervision) is a good thing. However, because it has serious spiritual ramifications for those under such a person’s supervision and for the body of Christ at large, the prerequisites are intended to prevent unqualified individuals from accessing the office.

Those 16 qualifications are found in 1 Timothy 3rd chapter:

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt at teaching; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one who ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all dignity. (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) He must not be a novice in the faith, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good reputation with those who are outsiders, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Just by the adultery, lying, covetousness and deception alone, Hogan fails to meet a minimum 4 of the 16 qualifications. Sources also charge that Hogan does not reside with his current wife due to his repeated cases of sexual immorality. Sound familiar?

Doesn’t Bishop Charles Blake know this? If he does, why would he go against the scripture to elevate a man who clearly is unqualified for the office of bishop? If Hogan’s life is out of control now, what excesses will he be able to indulge in once he is given the power of a bishop’s office? For context, Hogan was a faithful disciple of one of COGIC’s most notorious homosexual sex offenders, Bishop John Husband (d. 1991). Incidentally, the church’s current presiding bishop also served as a “youth pastor” under Husband. Are the errors of the past about to resurrect themselves for another Georgia “jurisdiction”?

Warning before a great fall?

COGIC’s stunning disregard of biblical directives in its leadership selection processes has produced numerous high profile embarrassments for the denomination. That’s why COGIC’s former Chief Justice, Bishop Samuel Nesbitt of Jacksonville, FL wrote Bishop Charles Blake a sweeping and detailed letter warning him that the denomination’s habit of allowing sexually immoral men (among other things) into leadership would be its undoing. Strongly suggesting that COGIC was being intentionally deceitful —and hypocritical— against its public proclamations of holiness, Nesbitt wrote:

“Based on my study of (the etymology of the word lying, and relating it to die meaning of the words hypocrite, deceiver and pretender, I conclude that whether the deceit is uttered (orally) or by an overt act, it is a lie. A hypocrite, a deceiver or a pretender may be classified as “a liar in action.” For this reason, we should be careful what we do and what we say. We are also obligated to place persons in nasttions of leadership who meet the moral standards, as prescribed in the WORD, and the standards which the title represents. A person should not be made to think that he is what he is not In Galatians 5:3, St Paul says: “If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” It is not difficult to see how a deceived person may cause harm to others who may rely upon him to produce that which he is not qualified to perform. As leaders of the Church Of God In Christ, Inc., we are obligated to take every reasonable precaution to see that we don’t place persons in positions who lack the qualifications to produce what the title is known to represent When we knowingly place persons in positions, for which they are not qualified, we may be guilty of making a person think that he is what he is not: That is deceit”

Blake never responded to nor acknowledged the April 13, 2011 letter. Read and download the entire letter.
Hogan specifically thanks Blake and the COGIC “board” for a “unanimous” decision.

This story was cross-posted at COGIC Abuse Watch

There’s few, if any, organizations of Christian belief that have not seen substantial challenges from religious homosexual activism. The acceptance of homosexuality —unlike other sins— presents significant changes in fundamental doctrines of the church: sin, repentance, deliverance, biblical inerrancy and authority, even the nature of Jesus Christ himself. Although we previously had not heard much corporately from the various splinters of “oneness” adherents, they too are in the throes of struggle.

Ergo, several years ago, prominent bishops from leading apostolic organizations met to affirm their stance on homosexuality and same sex “marriages”. The International Christian Apostolic Fellowship included Bishop James E. Tyson of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Bishop GM Boone of the Apostolic Assemblies of Christ, Bishop Jeremiah Reed of the Christ Temple Apostolic Fellowship, Inc, Bishop Willie Duncan of United Apostolic Churches, Bishop JE Moore of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith, Bishop Joel Trout of Impact Apostolic Ministries and Bishop Nathaniel Urshan, former General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International. No doubt these are familiar names among those who attend the noted churches.

The meeting discussed what the Apostolic leaders deemed major challenges and doctrinal issues confronting the church. This particular segment focused on homosexuality. Bishop Jeremiah Reed mentioned (but got off track) that he knew one person who was “totally delivered”. It would have been an greater testament to the leaders if they had all acknowledged the reality of deliverance for those bound in homosexual sin.

While we can appreciate the unanimous solidarity with scripture against homosexual conduct, one wonders if these bishops and leaders spoke out against the current occupier of the White House and his overzealous affinity for homosexuality.

Your comments on the video statements welcome. This post is not an endorsement of apostolic doctrine so please withhold comments regarding that issue.

HAMILTON, AL – Before its all over we may need a national “religious exemption” clause for churches to pray with, minister to and preach against homosexuality. With SOTUS’s ministry of “justice” demanding that the Defense of Marriage Act be struck down (so much for “states’ rights”), things are not going to get better.  As we see it, there is no way biblical truth about homosexuality and the  oppressive social inclusion ideology to peacefully coexist. The inevitable is happening before our eyes. One homosexual activist is accusing Alabama based pentecostal evangelist Damon Thompson of a litany of offenses after an impromptu deliverance service for young people struggling with homosexuality and lesbianism.

Ashton Pittman, a homosexual teen who said he was looking to get out of his boring religious life in a small town Alabama Baptist church, says he was attracted to Thompson’s ministry because the evangelist “wore jeans, had tattoos and preached against religion.” But in one service, he didn’t like it that Thompson called teens struggling with homosexuality to come forward and receive deliverance. So Pittman started a crusade and in the short run is getting the attention his small town Baptist church didn’t give him.

Pittman posted a video of the service and predictablity its raised the ire of gay rights activists.

The service took place at a church called “The Ramp”, founded by frequent TBN guest Karen Wheaton. Thompson has responded to the emerging controversy with a statement on his website.

I first and foremost preach with a strong sense of responsibility to present Biblical truth. As part of that Biblical responsibility, I can in no way condone homosexuality. I understand, along with every genuine preacher and teacher of the Bible, that it is my vocation to call sin sin and to compel men and women to the path of eternal life Jesus and the Apostles prescribed. That path is forsaking sin and placing faith in Jesus Christ.

The video clips most viewed are very short and depict strong statements about homosexuality. I wish to clarify my purpose behind making them. The brevity of the video clips do not allow a viewer the opportunity to hear the entirety of my message and heart.

Any statements I make concerning homosexuality are in the hopes of turning the homosexual to the path of eternal life. I talk about homosexuality as I would adultery, alcoholism, pornography, drug addiction, etc. As with all sin, I recognize its destructive nature and out of love call people away from it.

Was Thompson wrong? Should he apologize for “offending” gay sensibilities? Should he now only talk about homosexuality in secret and prohibit any filming? Should he just tell young people that there is no hope for change; that they are doomed to be something that God never created them to be?

We hope not. Its no secret that many young people in churches are struggling with homosexual bondage just like they are struggling with bondages of all type. Somebody must be bold enough, anointed enough, biblical enough to speak the truth in love.  We can’t separate the church from the Lord and the Lord from his message. The mission and message of the true church has always been the same mission and message as the One who established the church.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; Isaiah 61:1-3 ESV (our bold)

That’s what its about people of God. Everyone deserves to hear the message of freedom. The slaveowners of America’s past didnt want black people to hear the message of freedom either. Now, it seems like satan has just found another host to suppress the message of freedom. And if we allow a blind and lost world force us to stop preaching this message of freedom, we will have truly lost our identity and purpose.

If you would have told me 30 years ago that a Christian network in the future would play a part in the silencing of Godly men and women who were preaching the truth, denouncing corruption in the church and exposing liberalism and the teachers who promoted such views, I would have told you that maybe you should take a break from science fiction. But interestingly enough, that’s exactly what seems to be going on within the nation’s largest and most prominent Christian television network – the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Sometime during the week of June 11th, long time preacher Jack Van Impe became the second casualty in recent years when he was ultimately silenced by officials at TBN for comments and opinions expressed in a taped program set to air on their network, but after viewing, was considered a violation of their network policies of offending other ministers, even though this same offending program was aired the previous Monday.

So why did TBN become unhinged about Jack’s comments in his program enough to not only reject him by not airing his program, but forbade any future programs which contained his DVD full length program, “Reclaiming and Restoring Biblical Christianity” as well as moving him to another night where the audience viewership was 25% less than his current time slot, which would ultimately give him a much lower viewing audience which ultimately means less exposure. So what could Jack Van Impe have said, or was going to say that brought down the wrath of the Crouches and ultimately silenced a significant preacher of the gospel?

The answer, it seems, was Rick Warren and Islam.

It’s no secret to many who believe in traditional conservative Biblical views that Rick Warren has ultimately forsaken the gospel for a social gospel, which is no gospel at all, but a gospel of popular ideas not founded on the word. Warren’s belief’s of the removal of the cross in most churches, his pro-Islamic stance and his purpose driven theology, all point to a complete rejection of foundational Biblical truth.

What Jack apparently did, was discuss the major points of four (4) leading emergent evangelical leaders and how they were combining their doctrines to include Islam, something that our Lord has strictly forbidden (Ephesians. 5:11) as well as expose the many false teachings that are literally running rampant within the modern church and the people who are behind these teachings. Two prominent leaders, Rick Warren and Robert Schuller, were singled out concerning their liberal teaching and why merging Christianity and Islamic teachings is not only wrong, but damaging to the body of Christ. Schuller’s pro-gay stance has increasingly become all too well known here and here.

Once Impe began to reveal exactly what was being taught by these men and why their popular and accepted views are being held by many ecumenical leaders today, and why these same views would seriously hinder the gospel, not to mention it’s devastating affects on evangelism, folks over at Trinity began to get nervous, possibly outright upset that someone like Warren, who to many within the TBN camp is idolized, would start getting their feathers ruffled at the mere notion that one of their favorite Pastors was being labeled a false teacher.

It didn’t take long before the consequences of touching TBN’s favorite Pastors would be revealed, as the official statement by Impe’s own website clearly states, “On Wednesday afternoon we received a call from Matt Crouch of TBN informing us that they would not run that program, despite having aired it Monday evening. The reason he gave was that we specifically mentioned Rick Warren and Robert Schuller and that it is TBN’s policy that broadcasters are not allowed to rebuke other ministries. This is a rather hypocritical statement in light of the fact that they have never said anything in the past when we have rebuked others such as Bishop Spong, Bishop Pike, and in the past few months Harold Camping and Rob Bell. They also stated that they would not run any future program where we offered our DVD Reclaiming & Restoring Biblical Christianity as a premium for a donation to our ministry. A DVD that exposes false teachers and the heresies that they proclaim.”

So it seems that not only is it forbidden to examine the teachings of others, it’s also forbidden to challenge any viewpoint that is currently popular and accepted by the status quo. That’s where the censoring begins.

There was another man, a prophet of God by the name of Jeremiah, who went before the people of Israel and preached righteousness, exposing the false ideas accepted by many of his day and when they heard what this prophet declared as “thus sayeth the Lord” the people reacted angrily to the point where Jeremiah was thrown into prison at times, yet his declaration remained true.

But this is not TBN’s first rodeo when it comes to applying pressure to someone who is openly critical of another faith, one has to simply look to Hal Lindsey and see the affects of tolerance pressure when it is applied. Lindsey himself got into much hot water for questioning Islam and why the Islamic religion is dangerous not only to our nation, much less the world, but to the body of Christ. And yet, when Lindsey began to speak openly on his program, it didn’t take long for the Crouches to put a stop to his rhetoric and soon, Hal Lindsey was removed completely from the network and long time friends (Lindsey and Crouch) became divided. Lindsey was eventually brought back to TBN after much public swaying, but obviously the damage was already done.

The idea that a Christian network, ANY Christian network, would pressure a minister of the gospel in what they can or cannot say, should concern all of us who value God’s word. A true preacher of the word cannot be regulated, nor is he subject to sermon approval, the reason is simple, the gospel must be preached regardless of who it offends. Once we start silencing the gospel under the guides of tolerance and political correctness, we lose and not only us, souls lose as well.

At a time when Christians are accepting homosexuality within its walls, accepting worldliness, secularism and humanism, when Pastors can write books stating there is no Hell and that the atonement for man’s sin is not in the cross but through psychology and a purpose driven ideology, God will raise up a watchman or a Prophet that will declare what God has to say and no other. When a Pastor cannot state for certainty how a homosexual can be saved and delivered, when another wants the church to subscribe to ecumenicalism by joining up with Muslims, while another Pastor produces a popular movie which depicts a nearly half naked woman sitting on the couch undoing her bra, something is sadly wrong within the body of Christ and it takes someone with grit to expose and deal with this problem we are now facing.

Trinity Broadcasting is in error, and their new direction is clearly a sign of the times we are living in, when men would rather seek the praises of men rather than to promote Godliness and righteousness. When a Christian network begins to silence preachers and prophets of the gospel who are doing nothing more than warning the body of Christ what is happening in the church, it fulfills the warning of the apostle Paul, who saw this great falling away in our future, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3

I contacted Paul Crouch Jr. seeking a comment for this article and was given this reply, “We choose to lift up the Lord, not chastise others. That’s not our calling. If he (jack van impe) needs to do that, he can buy time on secular TV outlets. Remember, we would not allow anyone to criticize Jack Van Impe either, even though many would love to! (The sword cuts both ways.) Again, it’s not our mission. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men…” end quote.

Again, it bears repeating, part of the gospel is weeding out the false and exposing those teachings which bring harm to the body of Christ, if we ignore those who are called of God to warn us of the poison many are bringing in, is that not lifting up the Lord by protecting his sheep he has entrusted us with?

All I can say is, judgment day is going to be a time of joy for many and a heartbreak for others.

Well the year is coming to a close and what a year it has been.  Gay Christian Movement Watch is thankful for every single person who has supported us in word, thought and deed. Going forward, we promise to stay on the wall: sober, vigilant and ready to keep you informed of the enemy’s devices.

Here’s a list of our top ten stories of 2010 (source:  google analytics).

1. CNN Interview about Bishop Long yeilds painful surprise. CNN Anchor Don Lemon reveals he was sexually molested by another man.

2. A litany of lies from Bishop Jim Swilley. An Atlanta area religious leader comes out of the closet with a bucket full of lies about homosexuality.

3. Bishop Long facing lawsuits. Megachurch leader faces four damaging sexual coercion lawsuit from young men formerly under his “watch”.

4. Ted Winn on the CoCo Brother show. Gospel music industry worker Ted Winn ducks, dodges and evades the obvious and in the process reveals the obvious.

5.  “If I be a lying prophet”. A Connecticut bishop makes a stunning comment at a funeral and then 30 days later he is dead.

6.  Lesbian bishop remembers gospel singer’s influence. Gay false prophetess Bishop Yvette Flunder partially opens the closet doors on former friend and “mentor” the late Walter Hawkins.

7. Brian Carn sees perversion in a vision. A Florida based black church prophet claims God showed him a major church leader in a homosexual context but does not reveal who it is. Eddie Long?

8.  Cogic bishop puts Tonex in the drivers seat. Once promising gospel industry worker turned gay church poster boy “preaches” at a New York COGIC (Intl) church.

9. Yahoo reports christian “star” now a lesbian. A former Christian singer uses her homosexuality announcement to create hype about her career aspirations.

10.  Its gay “holy” convocation time again. Atlanta’s mock pentecostal denomination the UPPC, holds convocationfest.