Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
A Two-Day Oprah Show Event: 200 Adult Men Who Were Molested Come Forward
On November 5th and 12th, a two-part Oprah Winfrey episode will air which deals with the subject of child sexual abuse of males.
Watch the preview.
Read the comments.
David Brown, who was in the audience for the taping, says...
When Oprah read our emails detailing our stories of our abuse she was moved to make two shows on the subject. Understand this is NOT just about clergy abuse but child sexual abuse of males. Tyler Perry (abuse victim himself and 2nd highest paid person in Hollywood) is co-host. This is a very emotional subject and the fact they could get 200 men to stand as one voice in speaking about child sexual abuse is so awesome.
I know many will not be interested but let me beg you to watch. Have you ever seen 200 men in tears? You will on the 5th and the 12th. If you know of anyone that was abused as child you must watch.
One in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused in America TODAY!! There are 39 million victims of child sexual abuse in America. Those are very real numbers. There are over 600,000 convicted, admitted, credibly accused pedophiles in America. Over half that number swear, state, vow they attend church regularly.
This crime is not going away. And please do not think that it will never happen to your family. It may already have. The shows tell you how to look for those signs of abuse and how to deal with them.
This is not a crime in the past but of the present and future. Unfortunately there was so much shame that we have remained silent for way too long. It was 35 years before I began to deal with my abuse and yet another 9 years before I could really speak about it. Please watch these shows, not for me but for your families. And if you suspect someone you love or know is a victim call me at (901)569-4500. There is help available. They do not have to endure this crime alone.
Help is also available from any regional office of S.N.A.P.
Read the account of another man who was there for the taping.
In the Memphis market The Oprah Winfrey Show airs on WMC-TV Channel 5 at 4:00 p.m. In other areas please check your local listings for channel and time.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Calvary Chapel ®: Church or Cult?
There has been a lot of talk in the blog world about the "cults" of Mormonism and Catholicism. I've not weighed in on those topics as I really have nothing to add to the discussion right now, but this got me to thinking about other churches that seem cult-like as well. One is the Calvary Chapel ® churches. (Yes, the name is copyrighted.) They don't call themselves a "denomination" but rather a "movement" or a "fellowship of churches."
Founded in Costa Mesa, California in 1965 by Chuck Smith, today there are well over 1000 CC churches around the world. Most have retained the name "Calvary Chapel," but some have adopted such names as "Calvary Fellowship" and other non-denominational-sounding monikers.
On the surface, their teachings seem somewhat in line with those of Baptists and other mainstream Protestant churches, but scratch below the surface and you will find more significant differences. Actually, their What We Believe page seems rather vague, almost like a "we'll make it up as we go" philosophy. To get a better understanding of what they believe it's necessary to delve into Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel Distinctives.
Chuck Smith proved himself to be a false prophet when he predicted the world would end in 1981. This was documented in his 1978 book, End Times: A Report on Future Survival.
One of the most frequent criticisms of CC churches is the man-centered, authoritarian structure which places the pastor as THE large-and-in-charge, don't-question-my-authority boss.
In 2007 Christianity Today published this informative article about Calvary Chapel.
An earlier CT story chronicled the problems with an authoritarian CC pastor in New Mexico.
Nepotism is alive and well in the CC system, too. Chuck Smith, Jr. has had his own issues.
Los Angeles Times >> Father, Son and Holy Rift
There are tales of abuse, both physical and sexual, allegedly being covered up by the leaders of CC. Here is the story of two brothers' accusations of cover-up of physical abuse:
OC Weekly >> Is Calvary Chapel Head Chuck Smith Covering for a Child Beater?
The allegations of sexual abuse and cover-ups are numerous. For those readers who are interested, just Google the subject. Someone could start a new blog just to cover the stories coming out of this one denomination... uh... movement. People have asked Christa Brown of Stop Baptist Predators why she concentrates primarily on Southern Baptist offenders. The fact is, just keeping track of those in the SBC is a full-time job (which the SBC still refuses to do).
There are numerous discussion boards where people have told their stories of "escape" from what many describe as a cult or at least a cultish organization. Here are but a few:
F.A.C.T.net Discussion of the Christianity Today article.
Whore Church >> Calvary Chapel: How Long Before It's a Cult?
Destructive Churches >> Calvary Chapel Cult??
Other F.A.C.T.net Calvary Chapel "Cult" Links
On a personal note, I've personally known only a handful of people who were CC members. While some may have been a bit eccentric to begin with, most of the "nuttiness" stemmed from their association with CC. When they weren't talking about their church you wouldn't know they were different from anyone else, but they made it crystal clear that if you weren't part of "the" church (CC) you were somehow beneath them. Reading some of the comments on the above links about CC members being "cliquish" and thinking CC is the only "real" church certainly described my admittedly limited experiences with them.
Here is one more (long) article written by a now-reformed former CC member. I don't agree with all points of reformed theology, but I found it very informative.
Other than a few theological differences, I see little difference between CC churches and the SBC. In both, individual churches are considered autonomous. Baptism is by immersion. Nepotism lives. Abuse is covered up. And many of the pastors are authoritarian.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Yeehaw!
Dr. Danny Akin, president of SEBTS, preached at Bellevue on August 4th, kicking off the first week of "Awesome August." Dr. Ergun Caner was originally scheduled to preach on the 4th, but with his recent issues he seems to be keeping a low profile.
Dr. Akin preached a very good sermon, seemingly without the need to "embellish" anything.
Zach Wamp, Tennessee Republican primary gubernatorial candidate, was in attendance, as was bluegrass and country singer and string player, Ricky Skaggs, who campaigned for Wamp. (Wamp lost in the August 5th primary. Ron Ramsey, another failed Republican gubernatorial candidate, attended a service at Bellevue Sunday morning.)
Ricky sang during the service, and at the end of the service, Steve got him up on stage to "sing with me." In the end Steve gets Ricky's guitar tuner... and a little something more!
This is what ensued. Enjoy!
Monday, July 12, 2010
The line blurs again...
... between the church and crass commercialization. VeggieTales Live!, a quasi-religious version of stage shows such as the popular and profitable Sesame Street Live is coming to Bellevue Baptist Church on October 26, 2010. Showtimes will be at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and tickets are $25 for "Gold Circle" seats or $15 for general admission.
begin continue!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Bellevue says 'you're out,' gay softball coach claims.
Click on title for link to Commercial Appeal article.
I'm quickly throwing this together now so people can discuss it if they want. I want to finish reading through the comments on the Commercial Appeal's site and will post some links and further commentary later.
Update: Since I have neither the time nor the desire to read 2000+ comments, here is the follow-up article. Steve Gaines' public statement (the unedited version) is below.
Commercial Appeal >> June 23, 2010 >> Ousting gay coach necessary, Bellevue Baptist pastor says
Steve Gaines Speaks
I don't think this would have ever been an issue if someone hadn't, as indicated in the article, tipped off the church, perhaps someone who knows her or assumed she's gay based solely upon her appearance. The latter is a terribly slippery slope down which no one should be going. Besides, I saw her on the news, and her appearance didn't "scream" anything to me. She is simply, as she describes herself, athletic in appearance.
I've even wondered if there wasn't some threat against the church involved. For example, "You're letting this softball team with a gay coach play on your fields. If you don't tell her she's not welcome, we'll go public with this." If that was the case, how'd that work out, guys? Of course I don't know if that happened or not and am not suggesting it did, just wondering.
I don't think we've heard the whole story by any means. To say the "no PDA" rule prohibits gay people from playing on softball teams seems rather lame. As one CA commenter asked, "Were they having orgies on the mound when someone hit a home run?" It doesn't seem likely that was the issue, rather an excuse.
I can sort of see where the church was stuck in the middle on this one. It was a no-win situation if someone were threatening to "out" her (which apparently someone did).
However, Bellevue created these potential problems when they opened the fields up to outside teams. Just like they created the annual
This certainly doesn't help Bellevue's witness to the Memphis they claim to "LO♥E" so much and their "God Loves You Just the Way You Are" campaign. I guess it's okay to come as long as you don't come out. But for heavens sake, they need to clean up their own house first! If a fraction of the stories I've heard are true, Bellevue has a LOT of housecleaning to do.
I'm not condoning homosexual behavior either, but apparently if you go to BBC and are "just" an adulterer, fornicator, child molester, drug addict, rapist, felon, liar, or stay in the closet, that's okay. Just don't touch alcohol or openly associate with a gay person.
Bellevue has forever blown any opportunity to be a witness not only to this woman but to her teammates and much of the rest of the community. Actually, based upon the comments I've read so far it seems the ridiculous mishandling of the Paul Williams situation already did irreparable damage to Bellevue's reputation in the eyes of many.
Oh, wait. I think I've got it! Maybe the church's defense can be this is what they meant by the "no smoking" rule.
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