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Category: Evangelicalism

The Gift of Prophecy: Bruce Almighty Has a Prophetic Dream

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cloth diapers

I am a regular reader of the Charisma News website. I read this site, not because I want to, but because it is required reading for the writing I do for this blog. Every day, I skim through or read hundreds of blog posts and news articles posted to Evangelical websites. If I find something that I think might provide fodder for a future blog post, I forward a link to the article to my email inbox. I could, if I wanted to, focus solely on Charisma News. The amount of Jesus/right-wing bullshit they generate each day is astounding.

Charisma loves to feature the so-called prophetic utterances of Charismatic pastors, prophets, and evangelists. In a June 29, 2017 article, Charisma featured a prophecy by John Mark Pool, a man who believes he has been called to “Teaching, Training and Activating the Body of Christ in the Apostolic/Prophetic Five-fold Ministries for the release of the Saints to do the work of the ministry.”  Here’s what Poole, under the influence of the Holy G-h-o-s-t, had to say:

Our nation of America is being shaken! When the enemy’s hand is revealed, the righteous right hand of God will demonstrate His lifting up a standard against evil for His bride. This is dealt with in very visible ways such as recent special elections won for the conservative platform, chaos in Europe and fake news finding nothing in their continual witch hunts in plans to destroy God’s choice for our current president, Donald Trump. What will remain is a shaking that multiplies our country with God’s fruitfulness. Remember, the enemy is now in exposure for God’s closure!

Our nation was birthed to be one nation under God where, in our new land, we could be free to worship God in His kingdom without tyrannical oppression of an earthly king. The enemy has tried everything to take us under a false kingdom of darkness, to overpower us and take our nation out of its destiny. Yet, it has only exposed the deep state of darkness and is being drained, exposed and removed!

God is now answering many thousands of appeals to heaven. We are definitely going to see darkness get darker and are being set up for the intense light of God’s glory to outshine evil. God will now close the door of the enemy’s attempt at overthrowing our founding roots to be a Christian nation! We are now partnering with the King of kings together to advance God’s kingdom in a fresh wind of fire for a new desire!

I heard the Lord say, “The law of God will again override the plans of the enemy!

On the same day, CHARISMA also featured a prophecy by Johnny Enlow:

I believe we are about to see the shift that I said would happen around July 4th (our patriotic songs time) and you will see it much harder for the fowl birds of the “dirty birds” media to sack President Trump. They gave it their all in the first half of the year, but they are now beginning to get “gassed” because of the relentless moving forward of Trump and his administration.

Expect this July 4th shift to be significant even though the enemy will keep attempting against their “swamp being drained.” However, the swamp is going to be drained like an unplugged cesspool. There is still a lot of arguing because all haven’t clearly seen the players at the bottom of the swamp. Some crooks are hiding under other crooks, but even that is not going to work for very long.

It is a monumental overhaul that God has called for at this time and “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Trump is simultaneously a lead instrument for the overhaul [and] also symbolic of the drastic overhaul coming to everything as we accelerate into reformation days. It is a time of aggressive change towards advanced kingdom purposes. God is on your side only if you are on His side. He loves you unconditionally, even if you are not on His side, but things are not going to go well for you if you stay on your side. It is time to shift to His side.

Recently, I had a dream — dare I say a prophecy — that I want to share with readers. I am uncertain as to what this dream means. I will leave readers to hear the words of Bruce Almighty (my prophet name) and interpret them accordingly. After all, my dreams are every bit as prophetic as Pool’s and Enlow’s and a hell of a lot more entertaining.

I fell into a deep sleep after hours of wrestling with Satan’s emissary — pain.

My mind was taken back to the days when my wife and I were young. Several of our children were in cloth diapers. We visited First Baptist Church in Bryan, Ohio. They were meeting in multi-purpose building. As we walked into the room, we passed by my uncle, Paul Daugherty. He nodded and kept walking. As we neared our seats, Polly turned to me and gave me a soiled diaper she had put in a bread bag. I took the diaper and put in my suit coat pocket.

A short time later, just before the service started, I stuck my hand in my coat pocket only to find that the bread bag had not been tied and now I had baby poop all over my fingers.

I got up and quickly made my way to the bathroom. As I was washing my hands, in walked the twin brothers, Mark and Luke Gray who were serial killers on the TV show The Following.

And then I woke up.

Why do We Dream? at How Stuff Works

Psychology Today article titled, Why Do we Dream?

Note:

My editor wondered if younger readers might not know what the graphic is. For those of you raised on Pampers, those are cloth diapers. If there’s a Heaven above, then my wife, Polly, will certainly gain entrance. Six children, and cloth diapers for every one of them. We had a diaper service for all of two months with our first son. (Again, for younger readers, a diaper service was a company that picked up your dirty diapers, washed and dried them, and then returned them to your home.) After cancelling the diaper service, Polly spent the next fourteen years washing cloth diapers. Surely, if anyone is a saint, she is.

Songs of Sacrilege: Hallelu by The Devil Makes Three

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the devil makes three

This is the one hundred and forty-ninth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Hallelu by The Devil Makes Three.

Video Link

Lyrics

Nothing is wrong here so I’m climbing up the walls
Trying to kill this silence with gun blasts and alcohol
I’ve been laughing, I’ve been crying, I’ve been living, I’ve been dying
They say tell the truth, they’re lying, Hallelu

Chorus:
Hallelu, Hallelu, praise the lord and pass the ammunition too
They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain’t running
Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu

What will it take to have this place on bended knee
You run to the forest, you can bet I’ll burn the trees
I will poison the water ’cause it’s only getting hotter
And we came for sons and daughters
Hallelu

Chorus

Trials and tribulations, that’s just bread and wine
Getting my hands dirty, that does not take off the shine
On this farm to get your filling, there’s got to be a little killing
So I am ready and I’m willing, Hallelu

Chorus

If you’re waiting on salvation you’ll need candles and libations
Train ain’t coming in the station, Hallelu

They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain’t running
Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Ouija Board Jumped Out of the Trash and Magically Reappeared in House

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ouija board

Dear Parson,

What do you think of Ouija boards? They even have pink ones to appeal to little girls. Should I let my child have one?

These alphabet boards use a planchette, which is a smaller piece on casters which moves by spirit power, pointing out letters and making words.

This is an occult, demonic practice. It is real, wicked, harmful and an abomination which should be avoided at all costs. “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) “Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:27)

When I first moved to Roanoke in 1976, I preached against such occult practices one Sunday night. A lady from our church went home and threw her Ouija board out in the trash. When she went back in the house, it was back on her kitchen table. She burned it.

Another young Christian girl (not from our church) went to a slumber party where the girls urged her to ask their Ouija board a question. She refused. Finally, after their continued pleas, she asked the board where it got its power. It slowly spelled out S a t a n and then crashed to the floor, breaking in pieces.

— James Bachman, pastor emeritus of Roanoke Baptist Church, Roanoke, Indiana and author of the Parson to Person column that appears in the West Bend News, August 14, 2017 edition

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry in Liverpool, England Offers ‘Starve Away the Gay’ Program

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desmond dele sanusi

Recently, a British undercover reporter, investigated a church offering a cure for homosexuality. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry in Liverpool, England is pastored by Desmond Dele Sanusi, According to the church’s website, Sanusi is:

….an erudite Bible scholar, spiritual orator, anointed many years ago. He has been instrumental to development of many churches where he preaches the word of God. He also preaches word of God and invited guest speaker on career talk in Universities around the world. He has written many Christian articles and tracts.

He is a trainee brain surgeon who has published many scientific articles and presented in many scientific meetings around the world. He is currently a PhD student in Neuroscience. He is married to Dr. Olusola Sanusi and God has blessed them with growing family. [Sanusi is a medical doctor, currently employed at a hospital in Ireland.]

Mountain of Fire’s website lists numerous behaviors and problems that can be cured through their deliverance ministry:

if you were conceived in adultery or fornication
if your parents contemplated aborting you
if you were abused as a child
if you have been raped or molested
if your mother had a difficult pregnancy
if you almost died during the first few years of life
if you had imaginary playmates in childhood
if you have been chronically ill all your life
if you grew up in a war zone
if you have been ridiculed all your life
if you have a history of sexual perversion in your bloodline (adultery, rape, incest, etc)
if you have been accident-prone all your life
if you have a history of poverty in your life and/or in your family
if you have engaged in a lifestyle of cheating, robbing and theft
if you are afraid of being alone
if you are extremely uncomfortable around people
if you are intensely jealous of others
if you were involved with the occult
if you are attracted to, or have consulted palm readers, satanic advisors and psychics
if you have been involved with abortion
if you have chronic headaches or mental confusion
if you have a difficult time reading the Bible or praying
if you are afraid of trusting people or getting close to people
if instead of going forward, you are moving backward
if you have inexplicable loss of memory
if you should be a winner but you are failing
if your inputs and efforts fail to get success
if you are being governed by a power contrary to your will
if you were formerly rich but suddenly turned poor
if your trials have refused to come to an end
if you have unnatural movements in parts of your body
if you find it difficult to get baptized in the Holy Ghost
If you encounter chain problems
if you are constantly duped
if you have horrible experiences in your dreams
if you have participated in a non-Christian religion
if you have a sick tongue
if you have emotional disturbances
if you suffer from restlessness
if you hear strange voices
if you have unholy fear
if you are operating under evil covenants and curses
if you suffer from unexplainable family breakdowns
if you are engaged in profitless hard work
if you observed that you have inherited problems
if you observed that you are bound by sin or Satan
if you are constantly harassed by evil spirits
if you have an evil trend of problems in your family

While homosexuality is not listed, as the following story shows, Sanusi and Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry definitely believe people can, through prayer and fasting, be delivered from homosexuality.

Josh Parry, a reporter for ECHO writes:

A Liverpool church which offered a “cure” for homosexuality through a “dangerous” three-day starvation programme was uncovered by an ECHO investigation.

The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, which has a branch on Breck Road, Anfield, was found offering gay people the chance to “cure” themselves of their homosexuality through a relentless prayer session involving three days without food or water.

An ECHO reporter posing as a member of the public questioning their sexuality was invited for a private counselling session with the church’s assistant pastor, where he was told that being gay is biologically wrong, and that by undergoing prayer therapy it could be corrected to ‘allow him to marry and have children.’

The assistant pastor – who called himself ‘Brother Michael’ – said that in order for the so-called therapy to be most effective, our reporter would have to ‘humble his soul’ by starving himself and not drinking water for 24 hours before taking part in a weekly prayer session. At no point were any physical or medical examinations offered by the church before issuing this advice.

After our reporter confronted the church’s pastor Dr Desmond Sanusi with our findings, he claimed that the church does not discriminate against anyone’s sexuality, and that Brother Michael was not acting under his guidance.

He also claimed that in 20 years of similar programmes running, “nobody has dropped dead”.

He said: “If you come to the church to come and pray to come and know god better you are welcome. We don’t discriminate against people.

“It’s been running for over 20 years and nobody has dropped dead.”

Experts told the ECHO the methods recommended to our reporter were “dangerous” and “extremely concerning”.

Conversion therapy recently hit the headlines after a petition to make it illegal was rejected by Theresa May’s Conservative government – despite all major psychological professional bodies stating it had “the potential to cause harm”.

On his first visit to the church, our reporter was invited to take part in a separate three-day residential programme, where those participating would be expected to pray for up to three hours at a time without eating or drinking until the third day – when they would be given ‘fruits from the church.’ Participants were encouraged not to leave the church during the therapy.

Despite the three-day therapy being advised by assistant pastor ‘Brother Michael,’ the pastor denied claims anyone would be expected to fast for three days.

He added: “What [Brother Michael] discussed with you. It is out of my guidance. I am the pastor of this church. It is not a three-day fasting.”

During the one-to-one session, Brother Michael referred to being gay as a “deceit of Satan” – and claimed people only identify as gay to get ‘celebrity’ status.

He said: “I will say one thing as well, you say all these things about I’m feeling I’m confused about my sexuality. Thank God you say that you are looking for deliverance because you have got your deliverance.

“You need to realise this is a deceit of Satan. How many people are coming out except the singers, the boxers, the sportsmen? The actors that are coming out to say they are feeling this.

“Their reward is the celebrity. That is what you are following in. So many people now want to do it for publicity.

“I thank God that you have come to where you think you will get help and I know you are going to get the help.

“With the help of God, with prayer, with praying, with the help of God you will have children. You will marry and have your children.”

He then went on to suggest the three-day residential session would be more effective if our reporter also attended weekly prayer meetings with a required fasting period of 24 hours – boasting that he himself could manage three days of fasting, and even suggesting it made him look more youthful.

He added: “We have a special programme called deliverance that’s going to take place in September. For three days you will not eat. Can you do that?

When asked why, he said: “Our soul needs to be humbled. And you should start the fasting now.”

After being offered a recording of Brother Michael referring to being gay as a “deceit of Satan,” – which Dr Sanusi refused – he continued to claim the church did not discriminate against anyone based on their sexuality.

He added: “We don’t discriminate against anybody. We’re a church of God. We follow what is in the bible. Jesus did not at any point discriminate against people.

“People come to the church to pray and to know God better and that’s why people come to the church.

“I am speaking as the authority of the church, as the pastor of the church, and I am telling you we are a church that does not discriminate against people.

“As the pastor of the church, any other thing you hear from any other person, either an assistant or members of the church, that does not carry the representation of the church.”

….

As well as the private counselling, our reporter also took part in a prayer session called ‘My Glory Must Manifest’ – which the assistant pastor said would help make his deliverance more effective.

As part of the prayer group, ‘Brother Michael’ repeatedly shouted phrases such as “kill it with fire, die in the fire” while members of the congregation were seen crying, shaking and sweating as they appeared to be speaking in tongues. He told our journalist he should fast for 24 hours before attending each of these prayer sessions.

Children as young as six months were in attendance as well as around 20 adults. However at weekends, assistant pastor Michael told our reporter that anything up to 100 people would attend – sometimes including as many as 60 children.

Although there’s no suggestion that members of the congregation are aware that the conversion therapy is performed at the church, its website publicly displays the details of its ‘deliverance’ programme – claiming it can “destroy the chains of darkness and kill every satanic embargo.”

While being gay isn’t listed on the website, it does carry a list of reasons people may need to undergo the deliverance sessions, including being victims of rape and child abuse, as well as those who have had abortions.

Other ‘ailments’ it claims it can cure include chronic illnesses, fear of being alone, or being ‘intensely jealous of others’.

….

You can read the entire article here.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor James Harris Convicted of Sex Crimes

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pastor james harris

James Harris, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Belle Glade, Florida, was convicted in 2012 of “felony sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy.”

The Wisconsin Gazette reported:

An evangelical Christian pastor tried to commit suicide in a Florida courtroom moments after a jury found him guilty of felony sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy.

The Rev. James Harris, 64, formerly the pastor of Belle Glade’s Second Baptist Church, stuffed several pills in his mouth and tried to swallow them before West Palm Beach courtroom deputies pounced on him and ordered him to spit them out. Deputies called West Palm Beach Fire Rescue who removed Harris from the courtroom handcuffed to a gurney, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Harris had sat emotion-less through a three-day trial leading up to the verdict, according to reporters. He faces up to 80 years in prison.

Prosecutors charged Harris with luring his victim by claiming to have professional contacts who could help the boy realize his dream of playing in the NFL. The victim testified that Harris had performed sex acts with him on two occasions.

Prosecutors played a video that Harris made of his victim masturbating according to his directions while watching a porn movie. They played also played a video showing the boy having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend.

Harris was previously arrested in March 2009 for aggravated assault after attacking a woman with a baseball bat at the Belle Glade Elks Club.

Harris is being held on suicide watch at the Palm Beach County jail pending his Oct. 5 sentencing hearing.

Georgia Newsday reported:

When a disgraced ex-pastor swallowed suspicious-looking white pills in court after he was found guilty of sex crimes against juveniles, a shocked courtroom assumed it was a suicide attempt.

But a toxicology report revealed yesterday that those tablets were, in fact, breath mints.

Rev. James Richard Harris, of Belle Glade, Florida, was placed on suicide watch after a jury convicted him of molesting a 15-year-old boy and videotaping several teens having sex.

The 64-year-old was accused of trapping his young victims by abusing his connection to Glades Central High School’s football program.

He was found guilty of performing two sex acts on a 15-year-old boy he had lured with promises of introductions to football scouts and trainers to further the teen’s chances of NFL stardom.

He videotaped the teen masturbating while a pornographic movie played in the background, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The 64-year-old was also found guilty of filming an unwitting 14-year-old girl and her 16-year-old boyfriend, who is described as Harris’ godson, having sex at his house, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The two victims sat in court last week as the disturbing videos were played in front of a jury

But as a judge told Harris he would be imprisoned until his sentencing on October 5, he grabbed a glass of water on the defense table and attempted to down some pills.

Deputies rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground, shouting: ‘Spit it out! Spit it out!’ according to the Post.

‘Oh, my God, it’s cyanide,’ others whispered.

Harris was escorted out of the courtroom, handcuffed to a stretcher, looking barely conscious, and was placed on suicide watch at the Palm Beach County jail.

He had refused to tell paramedics what he had downed but alleged he would be dead by nightfall.

But, in a bizarre twist, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office toxicology report revealed yesterday that Harris had merely swallowed mints, according to wptv.com.

‘Yes, mints,’ prosecutor Chrichet Mixon told the channel. ‘My initial reaction was the same as the one I had at the time this happened: Nothing this man does surprises me.

‘It just goes to show that he always has an ulterior motive,’ she added. ‘He clearly had an ulterior motive when he befriended those children, and he had a motive for doing what he did in the courtroom.’

….

The Sun Sentinel reported:

Once a respected Belle Glade pastor and civic leader, James Harris may spend the rest of his life in a jail cell.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John S. Kastrenakes on Tuesday said he sentenced Harris, 65, to 30 years in prison for his convictions on six felony sex crimes.

Last week’s sentencing brings closure to the case of a predator whose “insatiable desire for teenage boys” threatened the community for at least a decade, say prosecutors who had urged the maximum sentence of 80 years.

“He was a reverend, a politician, and a supporter of teenage boys having the dream to play professional football,” Assistant State Attorney Chrichet B. Mixon wrote in a memo to the court before Friday’s hearing. “However, Harris’ most suitable title is that of a master manipulator.”

The prosecution involved Harris’ encounters with a 15-year-old boy in 2008 and 2009. He lured the victim, an athlete, with claims of professional contacts such as trainers who could help the boy achieve his dreams of playing in the National Football League.

During the trial in August, the victim testified that Harris performed sex acts on him on two occasions, and took videos. The jury watched two videos: one showed the boy masturbating under Harris’ direction as a porn movie played in the background; the other showed the boy having sex with his girlfriend, 14, who did not initially realize Harris was recording them.

Defense attorney Christopher Haddad argued there was a lack of evidence of Harris’ crimes, aside from the victim’s testimony and deposition, which he called contradictory.

But a jury convicted Harris on all charges: lewd or lascivious battery; unlawful sexual activity with a minor; lewd or lascivious conduct; two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child; and showing obscene material to a minor.

In urging a prison term closer to the 17-year minimum, Haddad said Harris “tried to use his life as a positive force for change and to improve the lives of those around him.”

Harris emerged from a childhood of poverty in Belle Glade, achieved higher education, assumed leadership of a ministry, and became outspoken “against segregation, discrimination and economic inequality,” Haddad wrote in a memo to the judge.

“Although charges involving sexual conduct are very serious, Mr. Harris should not be judged solely upon the misdeeds of this case but by the entirety of his life experience,” Haddad wrote.

….

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Daniel Hoffman Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Boy

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daniel hoffman

Daniel Hoffman, formerly a youth pastor at Alive Ministries in Jenison, Michigan and a former employee of Jenison Public Schools, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Wood-8 reports:

A former youth pastor has admitted to sexually abusing a young boy in Jenison a decade ago.

Daniel Hoffman, 31, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities say Hoffman was being treated at a Zeeland hospital for a “psychotic break” last autumn when he told a nurse about the abuse. The victim, who used to be neighbors with Hoffman and is now an adult, confirmed to detectives that it happened between 2003 and 2008.

Since the period when the abused happened, Hoffman has worked at Jenison Public Schools and as a youth minister.

….

In May 2017, Hoffman was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Wood-8 reports:

An Ottawa County man is facing charges more than 10 years after police say he sexually abused a young boy.

24 Hour News 8 has learned that in the time since the alleged abuse, the suspect has held a number of jobs involving children.

Daniel Hoffman, now 31, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Court records from March — when an arrest warrant was issued — show the alleged abuse happened over the course of several years from 2003 to 2008. A police sergeant who testified in court in March said the suspect and the victim were neighbors in Jenison.

Before that, in January, an Ottawa County sheriff’s detective wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant that Hoffman was being treated at a Zeeland hospital for a “psychotic break” in October 2016 when he told a nurse that he had inappropriately touched the victim when the boy was 6 years old. Hoffman would have been 17 or 18 at the time.

The detective interviewed the alleged victim, now an adult, who said that from the age of 5 or 6 until he was 10 to 12 years old, Hoffman repeatedly fondled him. The alleged victim said it happened at Hoffman’s house, in his camper and at Camp Ao-Wa-Kiya in Shelby, where Hoffman was a counselor and the boy was a camper.

The alleged victim’s family chose not to talk to 24 Hour News 8 on camera Tuesday, but said the alleged victim has suffered from depression and thoughts of suicide in the years since the alleged abuse. The family released a statement saying that the suspect “has been involved with so many young people that there are possibly more victims.”

The family said they “want parents and children to know that there are people out there like this, more than we think, and they are devious. If you suspect that your child has been abused look for the signs of mood swings, depression, nausea in the morning and a reluctance to be part of society… even with months of therapy our son was reluctant to say anything because this individual had groomed him to think it was OK until going through maturity realizing it was not. There isn’t anything wrong with bringing this to people’s attention. There is help out there and in our case our son has a huge support system that is helping him, but he has been permanently affected by this and his youth was taken away from him. Don’t let people like this destroy your life talk to someone and above all if it does not feel right say no.”

Court records show Hoffman was a paraprofessional at Jenison Public Schools and also a youth minister, most recently at Alive Ministries in Jenison, 24 Hour News 8 learned. Court records show both of those positions have since been terminated. The lead pastor at Alive Ministries said Hoffman was asked to resign in August.

….

Update

Wood-8 reports:

A former youth pastor who admitted to sexually abusing a young boy in Jenison a decade ago is headed to a state prison.

In Ottawa County Circuit Court Monday, Daniel Hoffman was sentenced to between 3.5 and 15 years in prison. He received credit for 36 days served.

….

Feeling Like a Stranger in My Own Country

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flags at henry county fair 2017

I am someone who is committed to social and economic progress for all Americans. I oppose racism, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia wherever they are found, including in the groups and political parties I support. Recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia have left me increasingly feeling as if I am a stranger in this blessed land of ours. Nazis, KKK members, and white supremacists — some of whom were armed with assault rifles — marched in the streets as if we still lived in the 1950s. Counter-protesters pushed back at this vile and ugly display of Donald Trump/Steve Bannon-inspired white nationalism, but I was dismayed to see photographs of people who supposedly have much in common Martin Luther King, Jr. carrying firearms and resorting to violence to get their message across.  During President Obama’s eight years in office, great strides were made in areas such as gays serving in the military and same-sex marriage. As a liberal, I thought, better days lie ahead. Thanks to Bernie Sanders and others who hold Democratic Socialist values, the plight of American workers will be improved, health care will be reformed and expanded, and the economic stranglehold the rich and corporations have on the working class will be broken. I naïvely thought that the influence of lobbyists and corporate donations on our political process would finally be ended. Instead, white and Evangelical America rose up and voted Donald Trump into office — the most inept, unqualified man to ever be elected president. Overnight, President Trump has rolled back decades of social progress, dumped billions of dollars of new money into the military-industrial complex, attacked minorities, and used the power of the Federal government to persecute and deport people who are in the United States illegally. Worse yet, President Trump has increased troop levels in the Middle East, threatened to attack Iran and Venezuela, and has us on the cusp of nuclear war with North Korea. And now it is increasingly likely that the President and/or people closely associated with him colluded with Russia to subvert our democratic process.

I find the current state of affairs to be quite depressing, so I try to do things that distract my mind from Trumpmania. Last Saturday, Polly and I, along with our oldest daughter, drove to Napoleon, Ohio to attend the Henry County Fair. We met our two oldest sons and their families at the fair. My sons love tractor pulls, and since Polly and I had never attended such an event, I thought attending the NTPA — (National Tractor Pullers Association) sanctioned tractor pull would be a delightful distraction. Little did I know that Christian nationalism would be front and center at the pull.

It comes as no surprise that the crowd was white. During the four-plus hours I sat in the stands, I saw all of one black person. An Asian family sat in back of us for a short while, but after having their fill of high-horsepowered machines, they got up and left. Prior to the start of the event, I expected the announcer would ask everyone to stand, remove their hats, place their right hands over their hearts, and face the flag as someone screeched out the Star Spangled Banner. While I personally despise the singing of the National Anthem (and God Bless America) at sporting events — a tradition dating back to the World Wars —  I acquiesce, removing my hat and placing it over my heart. Unfortunately, minutes — long, painful minutes — before the singing of the National Anthem, the announcer launched into a diatribe better suited for the brown shirts In Charlottesville who were, at the same time, showing their support for nationalism, militarism, and Christianity.

First, the announcer had everyone stand, remove their hats, and place their right hands over their hearts, not for the singing of the National Anthem, but for the saying of a sectarian prayer to the Christian God. He demanded everyone conform, and then launched into a full-blown — are we at an Evangelical church? — masturbatory prayer to Jesus. The prayer was completed with the announcer saying, and all God’s people said AMEN. The stands reverberated with an orgasmic AMEN! with virtually everyone around me lending their vocal approval. No shock here. This is rural Northwest Ohio, the land of Christian God, guns, American militarism, and overt displays of nationalism.

cash explosion tractor pulling team henry county fair 2017

Having attended countless sporting events over the years, I have had to listen to innumerable inane, stupid — and at times hilarious — Christian prayers. I was not, however, ready for what happened next. Once the prayer was finished, the announcer asked everyone to remain standing for the next ritual, the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance. Before leading the crowd in a profession of fealty to the United States and to the Christian God, the announcer went on a several minute-long harangue about how great America was, how awesome our military was, and how parents need to teach their children the importance of blind, nationalistic patriotism.

Once the Pledge of Allegiance was duly uttered, it was time for the singing of the National Anthem. I thought, finally escape looms near. Unfortunately, everyone in attendance was forced to listen to part three of the announcer’s Ain’t ‘merica Great sermon first, and then the appointed singer sang the National Anthem. Thinking my hell on earth was finally over, I started to sit down, only to find out that the announcer wasn’t done. Since there were Canadians in attendance at the tractor pull, it was deemed appropriate to play the Canadian National Anthem. Thankfully, no one was called on to sing O Canada.

As I always do when attending sporting events, I refused to remove my hat for the praying of the prayer to the Christian God. This God is not my God, and I find such displays of sectarianism at events open to the public offensive. As far as I could see in front of me and to the left and right, I was the only man who refused to uncover his head. The saying of the Pledge of Allegiance elicited the same response from me. I refuse to pledge my allegiance to America, its flag, or the Christian God. I know the saying of the Pledge has its roots in the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s. As a Christian, I refused to say the pledge because my only allegiance was to Jesus. These days, I refuse because of the connection of the Pledge to nationalism and militarism.

I am sure some readers might wonder how, constitutionally, the announcer could get by with the sectarian prayer and sermonizing. Ohio county fairs are actually private events. Agricultural boards rent the fairgrounds from their respective counties and are free to do whatever they want. I learned this years ago when I got into a skirmish in Southeast Ohio with the Perry County sheriff and county fair officials. I had gone, along with a group of people from the church I pastored at the time, to the fairgrounds to hand out tracts and preach. The local sheriff, with whom I had a running battle, threatened to arrest me if I didn’t immediately stop what I was doing and leave the fairgrounds. I refused, threatening both him and the fair board with a lawsuit for violating my first amendment rights. They backed down, but a few weeks later I received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General informing me the Ohio fairs were private events and as such I could be arrested for trespassing if I continued to hand out tracts and preach. Ironically, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) was permitted to have on fair property a train caboose-like vehicle they used to trap children into watching movies or other forms of entertainment so they then could be evangelized. (At the Henry County Fair, there was a man preaching and handing out tracts. He was allowed to do so unmolested.)

The tractor pull itself was quite entertaining, and both Polly and I enjoyed watching the loud, thunderous machines pull a weighted sled down the track. My sons informed me that this Saturday’s NTPA national event at the Wood County fairgrounds in Bowling Green, Ohio will even be worse when it comes to worship of the Christian God and the promotion of American exceptionalism and nationalism. Not only will there be a prayer and a pledge, there will also be the playing of numerous patriotic country songs. The songs of flag-wavers such as Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood will blare across the pull grounds, as men and women who proudly wear the redneck label thank God for horsepower and the smell of racing fuel. I’ll pass, thank you.

God Approves of Slavery by Neil Robinson

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bible defense of slavery josiah priest
Text From Bible Defense of Slavery by Josiah Priest, 1851

Guest Post by Neil Robinson. Neil blogs at Rejecting Jesus: Refuting the Lies of Christianity.

Over on his blog site, Biblical Musing, Don Camp is trying to justify why God appears to condone slavery. It’s not the first time Don has tried to defend the indefensible; he’s recently been arguing much the same thing on Debunking Christianity.

The fact the Old Testament appears to endorse the keeping of other human beings as slaves is a problem for Christians. It’s a problem compounded by the fact that Jesus in Luke 12.47-48 and the imposter-Paul, in Ephesians 6.5, both support the practice. How can it be that God approves, or at least raises no objection to it? Wouldn’t an omniscient, all-loving God have outlawed slavery, as he outlaws so much else, in one of his innumerable laws and commandments?

Instead, he provides instructions about how to keep and look after slaves; what to do, for example, when you flog one to within an inch of his life so that he later dies (Exodus 21.20-21) or when you deliberately blind your slave – she’s your property after all – or rape her (Exodus 21.26; Numbers 31.17-18).

Don’s answer is that, despite God involving himself in the minutiae of slave treatment, he knew it would be a waste of time telling his people slavery was wrong. Why? Because he took the trouble to tell them lying and stealing were wrong and yet they ignored him. So, hey, why should he bother telling them about slavery? They’d just ignore that too.

But the point is – disregarding the fact that not everyone steals and lies – ‘God’ did issue laws prohibiting stealing and lying (and eating shellfish, and wearing garments of mixed fabric). It seems it was important to him to tell his pet-tribe that these were wrong, even though he must have known many of their number, and many more subsequently, would ignore him.

What can we conclude from this? Only this: that God didn’t feel the same way about slavery as he did about lying and stealing, which is why he didn’t bother making even the same token effort for slavery.

Or, and much more likely: the tribes who wrote the laws didn’t think slavery was wrong. In fact, they thought it quite useful to have slaves. Given this utility, they were unlikely to have devised laws prohibiting their ownership. The enslaved themselves no doubt thought differently, but then they didn’t get to write the rules.

We don’t find a commandment prohibiting slavery in the bible because those who wrote it liked having slaves. For this reason too, we find all those inhumane instructions about keeping slaves and what should happen if you maim or kill them.

Of course God didn’t write these laws. People did. And they wrote them according to their understanding of what was moral, fair and legitimate within their own primitive milieu. Thus it was that slavery got a free pass.

 

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: What God Thinks of Sodomites by Ivan Foster

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ivan foster

It is very common for sodomites and their supporters to make the most offensive and fallacious claims regarding God’s view of sodomy. It is in keeping with the character of this dreadful wickedness that the community associated with it does not fear to claim God’s endorsement of their vile lifestyle. Nothing can be more provocative in the eyes of God than this blatant misrepresentation of Him and His Holy Word. Mrs Elaine Somers claims that, in her view, she can say of her older sodomite son, “God made him, he is God’s son”. She went further and said: “I, too, could take verses from the Old Testament regarding homosexuality, but the Jesus I know, and my mother knew, teaches me that they are precious in his sight and you cannot take that from me.” She went on to say of Mr Wells: “You do not know the true meaning of Christian love. I hope someday you will.” She is quite wrong in a number of important matters.

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Men and women whose lives are dominated and controlled by sin, as the sodomites most definitely are, cannot claim that they are children of God! The Christian is someone in whom God is working out His purpose as it stated by Paul the apostle. “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen,” Hebrews 13:20-21. The sodomite lives in complete defiance of God’s stated will. In utter contravention of His holy law. There is a total absence of that “working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight” in the unrepentant sodomite. This poor woman is utterly deceived regarded her sons’ eternal state. Tragically, her error is endorsed and supported by the leaders of the mainline churches worldwide! What a dreadful day of retribution awaits both the deceivers and their victims, the deceived.

— Ivan Foster, The Burning Bush, A Poor Deceived Mother Defends Her Depraved Sodomite Sons, August 10, 2017

You can read the letter that sparked Foster’s ire here. Foster is a retired British Fundamentalist Presbyterian minister.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Mitch Olson Accused of Sexually Assaulting Church Member

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pastor mitch olson

The victim has made a live video statement here. PLEASE take the time to watch it. Also, PLEASE read Why Women “Let” Pastors Take Sexual Advantage of Them.

Mitchell “Mitch” Olson, pastor of Grace Ministry Center in Kimball, Michigan, stands accused of sexually assaulting a woman he was counseling during an anointing ritual. When asked about the accusation, Olson said his hand may have — are you ready for it? — slipped in the anointing oil.

WXYZ-7 reports:

A young woman went to investigators at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and said she went to her pastor asking for help getting forgiveness for her sins.

He offered an anointing ritual but what happened during that ritual has her believing she is a victim of sexual assault.

Justine Morden says she worshipped at Grace Ministries in Kimball for years.

Last year she decided she wanted to repent for her sins, strengthen her relationship with god, and get more involved – so she met with Pastor Mitch Olson for counsel.

“I trusted him. He has been my pastor since I’ve been in 6th grade,” Morden says.

He told her he could cleanse her of her sins with an anointing ritual – but he didn’t have anointing oil at the church.

That evening she says he wanted to come to the then 19-year-old’s apartment. He said he could anoint her.

However she says he told her because she had committed sexual sins – he would have to anoint sexual parts of her body.

When her mother told her that is not how the anointing ritual should be – she says she was shocked.

We went to the church to ask to speak with the pastor.

When confronted, according to an investigative report, a church board member said the pastor told him his hand may have slipped in the oil.

During a board meeting the pastor said it was an unusual ritual – because it was an exorcism, not an anointing.

“I was completely shocked that he would have the audacity to say this,” Morden says.” No, I am not possessed.”

When asked if he touched Justine inappropriately by police, his answer according to the police report was “No. No. No.”

The prosecutor received the report Tuesday and says a decision on charges is to be made in as soon as two weeks.

Video Link

The Times Herald adds:

The Marysville woman [Justine Morden], who then lived alone in a Port Huron apartment, said she was not happy with the way she was living her life and wanted to do something to get closer to God. She began seeking counseling from Olson, she said. She had known him since she was in middle school because her parents were dedicated members at Grace Ministry Center, 4731 Lapeer Road, Smiths Creek.

Olson suggested she be anointed to cleanse her of her sins. He said he didn’t have anointing oil at the church during a meeting in July 2016, but told her they would make time for the procedure. The practice of anointing is a religious ceremony that typically involves crowning subjects with oil.

“Later on that night, around like 8 or 9, he texted me and asked what my address was,” the alleged victim told the Times Herald. “I gave him the address and didn’t think anything of it since I trusted him … He got there and said, ‘I have the anointing oil if you want to be anointed,’ so I said ‘OK.’”

According to the police report, “Olson then said a prayer and placed oil on her head, Olson then did the same on (her) shoulders. Olson then asked if he could put the oil on her breasts (she) said yes and Olson put his hand down the front of (her) shirt making skin to skin contact with (her) breasts. Olson then put oil on (her) stomach/mid-section. Olson then asked he could put oil on (her) buttock, (she) responded yes. Olson then put his hand down the back of (her) pants and made skin to skin contact with (her) buttock cheeks. Olson then asked if he could put oil on (her) pubic area (front of pants), (she) responded yes. Olson then put his hand down the front of (her) pants and made skin to skin contact with (her) pubic region. Olson then touched (her) knees and ended with her feet.”

The Washington Times reports:

Grace Ministry Center board member Gordon Farnsworth does not dispute that Mr. Olson anointed the victim and touched her on her breasts and pubic region, but said that “the intent and extent of the touching” is in dispute, according to the police report.

Grace Ministry’s board conducted a disciplinary hearing in March attended by Mr. Olson, the alleged victim and the victim’s stepfather, and the resulting action was a mere “slap on the wrist,” according to the stepfather, who recorded the proceedings.

WXYZ reported that Mr. Olson in the same board meeting described the anointing ceremony as an exorcism as he considered Miss Morden possessed.

“Do you want your daughters coming to this church where this could possibly happen … I feel like it (has) been covered up,” he said, the Times Herald reported.

According to the police report, Mr. Olson’s misconduct may not be an isolated incident of impropriety involving a member of his flock: Another young woman has come forward to relay an incident from four years ago when the pastor attempted to record her changing her clothes on a cellphone left in a church changing room.

Prosecutors are currently reviewing the evidence and will decide on whether to move forward on the case in the next few weeks, WXYZ reported last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Times Herald is requesting that other individuals who have either a “story of sexual assault or of an inappropriate occurrence” to contact the paper’s investigative reporters.

Update

Black Collar Crime: Pastor Mitch Olson Slips Out of Criminal Charges

An October 23, 2017 news report published by The Times Herald states:

A civil lawsuit was filed in St. Clair County Circuit Court on Friday against Grace Ministry Center in Kimball Township and its former pastor Mitch Olson.

The suit was filed on behalf of the woman who accused Olson of groping her during a religious ceremony. The suit seeks in excess of $25,000. Allegations against Olson include battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Allegations against Grace Ministry Center include negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit comes after the St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office declined to bring criminal charges against Olson after he was accused of sexually assaulting the woman, 20, of Port Huron. A police report was filed in August that stated Olson placed his hands on the woman’s breasts, buttocks and pubic area during an anointing ceremony inside her apartment.

Olson resigned from his position at the church on Oct. 8, according to a recorded farewell letter he read to church members. Olson was served with the lawsuit on Sunday at Grace Ministry Center during his farewell gathering.

Olson told the Times Herald on Monday that he looks forward to defending his church and himself in court.

“I was served with a lawsuit filed by the plaintiff in this case (Sunday) evening at Grace Ministry Center, a church I founded and served for nearly 11 years and am no longer a part of due to the false allegations of the claimant,” he said. “My heart aches that this person, who was never a member of the church and whom never had counseling from me, would deliberately lie and use the judicial system to advance a personal agenda at the cost to a church who has faithfully served this community for decades. I am left with only one choice: to vigorously defend the church and myself in this matter. We look forward to defending this case in court and restore our reputations that have been so grievously ruined by this person.”

The lawsuit states that “Defendant Mitchell Olson coerced (the woman) on multiple occasions to submit to unwelcome touching, including to touching of her breasts, buttocks, and vagina under her clothing … Plaintiff was fraudulently coerced into believing that the offensive touching was necessary to the anointment and an essential extension of her counseling because of the counselor/counselee relationship Plaintiff and Defendant maintained at the time of the incident and Plaintiff’s consent was therefore not voluntary .. Defendant Mitchell Olson’s actions caused Plaintiff (the woman) irreparable physical injury and emotional harm.”

The lawsuit stated that Olson falsely represented his action. The lawsuit also states that the incident has caused the woman much emotional and mental strain.

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The church is also being sued for alleged negligence in how it handled the report of the assault. The lawsuit claims that the church failed to protect the woman when the church board declined to take action against Olson.

The last claim argues that the church was in violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act because Olson targeted the woman because of her gender.

“It’s clear that Pastor Olson targeted the victim because she was a young woman,” said Kathleen Garbacz, one of the non-profit attorneys representing the woman. “Not only has this been devastating for her personally, but we want to send a clear message that women should be safe from these kinds of horrors in all places, but especially in places of faith and counseling.”

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