This is the one hundred and seventy-fifth installment in The Sounds of Fundamentalism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section. Let’s have some fun!
Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a clip from an interview of John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas.
I go tomorrow morning to Buckingham Elementary School, because they’ve started a new program called ‘Mindfulness Program.’ And it’s led by yoga instructors. I’m going to go tomorrow morning, because the principal has invited me to come and see the program … and I’m praying for God’s wisdom and discernment. And we’re all praying for discernment and wisdom, because if what’s happening there is in any way trying to indoctrinate our children with a false teaching, then I have to stand against it. And we [the church] should stand against it. All over this community right now, this assault is happening on who Jesus is and who we are in light of him. It’s a clear assault on our community right now. I’m seeing it everywhere I turn. And, listen, I’m concerned.
They’re [church members] saying, ‘Hey, it’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. I’ve never been closer to God.’ Not the true one. You may be close to a God of your understanding, but he’s not the real one, And there is one who likes to mimic God – his name is Satan. And he has a whole legion of demons who want to convince you that you can trust them and that they’re good and that they can help you … But they have one goal, the bible says very clearly: the devil comes to seek, kill and destroy.
The lie that people can be as God or are gods themselves and only need to discover their inner higher self or that they possess the power to heal others by ‘their positive energy’ or that they can bring about their preferred future by the power of their own positive thinking is an old lie from the Father of Lies. God’s people should have nothing to do with such things. I understand not all yoga practices are spiritually focused but the foundation of yoga and many practices are of unBiblical nature and to be avoided by believers. The warning for us is that we ought not be supportive of anything that leads people away from God and the truth. Stretching is not the problem – yoga is. Even though some exercise called yoga may not be evil, there is a whole lot of evil practices occurring in this town under the name of yoga. Yoga seeks to draw and recruit people and in some cases indoctrinate them to false truths and practices.
McCready pastors SonRise Church in Berlin, Maryland. SonRise is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. McCready’s church bio page states:
After graduating from Crisfield High School in 1985, I joined the United States Army as a military police officer of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. During the years I served in the military I walked away from the Lord and I did not walk with Jesus or honor Him with my life. After completing my tour of service with the Army I returned back home to Berlin and began my career in law enforcement where I served for more than thirteen years.
For most of those years I did not seek after God nor did I obey His commands for my life. As a result, I made a total mess of my life financially, and relationally. In 1993 I went through a divorce which caused me to take a long look at my life and the path I was on. It was at that time that I realized what I needed and decided to confess my sin and come back home to the Lord. Since that time, God has been calling me deeper and deeper in my relationship with Him.
In 1995, I married the love of my life, Traci and we began our relationship seeking after Jesus and have been on mission for Him ever since. In 1997 I felt God calling me into fulltime ministry. Having witnessed what pastors deal with first hand as a pastor’s kid, and the cost and stress that is placed on a pastor. I was not very excited about responding to the call. So I ignored the call of God on my life for a short time not wanting to acknowledge it due to my own fear and insecurity. Eventually however, I surrendered to the call of God on my life. In 2001 I was approached by the Baptist Convention of MD and DE and asked to pray about considering church planting. I knew nothing about church planting or what it entailed at the time, but as I learned more about it and read about it, I became more and more convinced that God was calling me to plant a new church. After completing an in depth three day assessment process, and after much prayer Traci and I received approval for funding and support from the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware. I resigned from the Police Department and was ordained in December 2001. My wife also resigned from her job a few months later in order for us to give our full time and attention to this new work and our young children. God led 13 other adults to commit to join us in this new church plant and we left our parent church Berlin First Baptist and launched this new church at the Ocean Downs Racetrack in October 2002.
Jose Luis Pizarro, pastor Iglesia de Dios Nuevo Amanecer in Mansfield, Texas (now closed) was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl and sentenced to fifty years in prison for his crimes. Pizzaro was also charged in 2016 with sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Jerry Newton, pastor of Greater Bogalusa Full Gospel Baptist Church in Bogalusa, Louisiana, faces federal charges stemming from his alleged theft of Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits. People receiving SSDI must be totally disabled and meet certain income guidelines. Newton failed to disclose to the Social Security Administration that he had a job and owned two businesses. The Times-Picuayune reports Newton collected $95,316 in impermissible benefits.
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that JERRY R. NEWTON, age 54, of Slidell, Louisiana was charged yesterday by a Bill of Information for Theft of Government Funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.
According to the Bill of Information, NEWTON applied for Social Security disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. A person receiving disability benefits must truthfully disclose to the Social Security Administration any employment or income while getting the government money. In forms submitted to the SSA, NEWTON failed to disclose that he was the paid pastor of Bogalusa Baptist Church since May of 2007 and that he owned two businesses, Still Dreaming Graphics, LLC and Kclean Sweep, a cleaning service. Due to his concealing of his salary and income produced from his businesses, NEWTON received a total of $95,316 in DIB benefits to which he was not entitled.
U. S. Attorney Evans reiterated that a Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, NEWTON faces a maximum penalty of ten (10) years imprisonment, followed by up to three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory $100 special assessment, as well as restitution to the Social Security Administration
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Carter K. D. Guice, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Les Hughey, pastor of Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, resigned Wednesday after being accused of sexually abusing church teenagers in the 1970s. The alleged abuse took place while Hughey was the youth pastor at First Baptist Church (now Crosspoint Community Church) in Modesto, California.
Prior to his resignation, Hughey released the following statement:
Over 40 years ago, as a church intern in California, I sinned and harmed the most important relationships in my life. I was unfaithful to my God, my wife, and the ministry, and was rightly removed from that church.
I engaged in consensual relations with fellow college-aged staff. With God’s help, my wife’s forgiveness, and discipline and counseling from church authority, I sincerely repented and we put our lives back in order. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to undo what happened, so I instead accept and live with the consequences, even now so many years later.
My family and the authority over me at my church are aware of this history. I thank God for his forgiveness and grace.
Pastor Les Hughey
Of course, Hughey –forty years later — can’t be honest about his past sexual misconduct. The “consensual relations with fellow college-aged staff” was actually with church teenagers. One of the girls was only sixteen.
Carey Fuller was shocked to see the news about Hughey. For decades, she thought she had been the only one to receive one of what Fuller called his “famous full-body massages.” That massage crossed the line when he groped her genitals, she told The Republic.
Hughey, then a youth group leader at Scottsdale Bible Church, was attractive and charismatic, Fuller recounted. He was married and in his late 20s at the time, she said.
“Everyone always wanted to be around him,” she said. “It was always a gift to be around Les.”
Fuller said she was honored to be selected as one of the few who were invited to hang out in the church van one night during a mission trip to Mexico when she was 18.
She happily accepted when Hughey offered her one of his “famous” massages, but she didn’t know what to do when it suddenly went too far, Fuller said. Somehow, no one noticed in the van’s dim light, so she figured it had must have been an accident.
“I wasn’t a strong enough person and I didn’t want to offend anyone there,” Fuller said. “I didn’t think to call him out, so I just laid there.”
Fuller said she didn’t realize that what had happened to her was sexual assault until she saw an article on azcentral.com Sunday.
Within hours, she learned at least five other women she had known during her time in the youth group said they had experienced the same thing, she said.
Her best friend, Juliet Buckner Pekaar, was one of them.
Hughey pulled the same “massage” ruse when they would travel together on band trips when she was 16, Buckner Pekaar said. The abuse continued until she married another youth pastor at the church when she was 19.
“His power was in making you think you were the only one,” Buckner Pekaar said. “Nobody ever talked to each other, so there was just this shame and depression.”
Neither of the women reported the incidents to police, they said.
Buckner Pekaar said she did attempt years ago to tell Scottsdale Bible Church staff members about Hughey’s actions, but she said she stopped after their reaction made it clear they weren’t interested.
…
Dare I ask the proverbial rhetorical question: can a leopard change its spots?
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Law enforcement has broadened its investigation of Evangelical evangelist Acton Bowen, saying that it is likely that there are other victims in multiple jurisdictions. AL.com reports:
Evangelist Acton Bowen, currently facing sex abuse charges in connection with five teenage boys in two counties, is being investigated in three other jurisdictions.
That’s according to an Etowah County prosecutor, who said in court today that additional charges could come against Bowen as early as this week. Deputy District Attorney Carol Griffith, arguing why Bowen’s $500,000 bail should not be reduced or changed, said Bowen is being investigated by the FBI and in Orange Beach, as well as in Florida and Colorado.
“The true extent of these crimes is not yet known,” Griffith said. “Under the guise of leading children to the Lord, he was abusing them and leaving them more lost than ever before.”
District Attorney Jody Willoughby was even more forceful in arguing before Presiding District Judge David Kimberley.
“Acton Bowen is a danger to every child in this community,” he said. “The only place he remains not a danger is in the Etowah County Detention Center.”
This is the one hundred seventy-fifth 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 Songs of Sacrilege is Everything is Made to Last by Ciaran Lavery.
Woke up in the afternoon again
Where you been? Where you been?
We go waltzing through the past
Everything is made to last
Maybe Jesus knows my name
I can’t be sure, I can’t be sure
I sin like an every day man
Nothing ever goes to plan
[Chorus]
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Living outside, living fast
‘Cause people wanna be alive and a part of the dream
It all lights up to a God they’ve seen
But I wanna be alive and a part of the dream
Ooh-oh-oh
Ooh-oh-oh
Night crawls through my window again
Let it in, I let it in
Not sure if this feeling’s gonna pass
So leave me where the shadows cast
Wonder if there’ll be a change
In everything, with everything
We sin everyday because we can
I’m afraid of what I am
This is the one hundred seventy-fourth 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 Songs of Sacrilege is Goodbye, for Now by Derek Webb. Webb, formerly part of Contemporary Christian Music group Caedmon’s Call, is now an unbeliever.
the reason it’s been so long since we talked
i’m not ready to show up and feel nothing
i don’t even feel sad anymore
i’m just always looking for your replacement
i still believe in love
like i believe in just war
i think it’s possible
but maybe just not anymore
so i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
so i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
so i’m back in the corner of this bar
just studying a glass and these faces
i’ve been looking for the one i lost
and for eternity in the wrong places
so either you aren’t real
or i am just not chosen
maybe i’ll never know
either way, my heart is broken
as i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
as i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
so you left me here to document the slow unraveling
of a man who burned the house down
where he kept everything
excommunication never made much sense to me
like abandonment to demonstrate how you’ll never leave
and yet you say
and i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
oh, i say goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
goodbye, for now
This is the one hundred seventy-third 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 Songs of Sacrilege is Chasing Empty Mangers by Derek Webb. Webb, formerly part of Contemporary Christian Music group Caedmon’s Call, is now an unbeliever.
the tiny christmas tree
the empty stockings hanging
the house devoid of chaos and life
while daddy’s getting drunk
the peanuts kids are dancing
there’s no star atop the tree tonight
’cause i’m taking what you give
the baby god returning
bringing peace to every house but mine
so another man takes the fall
just for doing all he could
in light of what you dreamed up
for your glory and another man’s good
oh god, what have i done
without your great permission
knowing fully of the end at the start
like a dirty goddamn trick
i either sin as i resist you
or i do it as i’m doing my part
so all my empathy
to judas and the devil
they were yours as much in light as in the dark
so another man takes the fall
just for doing all he could
in light of what you dreamed up
for your glory and another man’s good
so tonight i’ll watch the skies
for a sleigh and saint appearing
like a great star running out of space
on this drunken christmas eve
i gotta say that feels as likely
as any one of you three showing your face
so a toast to all my friends
who are lost and beat and bleeding
still chasing empty mangers out of faith
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
(You can read my previous post about Douglas Rivera here.)
Yesterday, Douglas Rivera, pastor of God’s Gypsy Christian Church in Glendale, California, pleaded not guilty to committing a lewd act against an eleven-year-old Chinese girl. Rivera insists he is innocent, saying “I did not do nothing wrong. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.” An NBC-4 report states that Rivera exposed himself to two minor girls and inappropriately touched one of them. Video evidence puts Rivera at the scene of the alleged crimes. NBC-4 reports:
Prosecutors say Rivera drove to the Vanllee Hotel and Suites, at 1211 E. Garvey St., and parked his truck in front of a room where two young girls were staying on Feb. 7. Prosecutors allege he exposed himself to the girls before entering the hotel room and inappropriately touching one of them.
The girls had opened the door, believing it was their chaperone, according to police.
Authorities released surveillance video and still shots of the suspect, which they said resulted in numerous calls from people who are part of or associated with God’s Gypsy Christian Church. The callers said they believed the man was Rivera, who subsequently proclaimed his innocence in a video shot before he surrendered on Feb. 11 to Covina police, tearfully asking people to keep him in prayer.
