Maurilio Makes an Appearance on TBN: His Role is to Help Pastors Who Don't Have Any Tools to Connect the Gospel to the Community

"Sometimes because pastors don't know any better, they don't have any tools, they don't know how to put the pieces together, how to really connect the great story of the gospel to the community. So I felt a burden to do that..." Maurilio Amorim

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Maurilio Amorim, church marketing consultant, was interviewed by Rice Broocks of TBN on May 26, 2011. Below is just a few minutes of the 30-minute interview. To watch the entire interview click here , select the May 26, 2011 broadcast, and fast forward to the one hour, 10 minute mark.

Many of the good people at FBC Jax and other churches that have had their offerings used by their church leadership to pay for Maurilio's services, probably have never seen or heard him. Now you can, and he gives the story of how he was called into his ministry and how he views his role in your church.

Maurilio was brought in day 1 at FBC Jax after Mac Brunson was hired. Maurilio has been a trusted friend and advisor to the Brunson family, as he was a consultant for Brunson at First Baptist Dallas. When he came to FBC Jax, Maurilio played a key role in reshaping the staff, interviewing all ministers to make recommendations on who stayed and who did not, and how the organization should be restructured. He played a very key role behind the scenes the first year Brunson was at FBC Jax. And of course, he along with Trey Brunson transformed the pastor's conference into a marketing bonanza, selling promotions packages that included the selling of messages on the church's screens and actually selling the benefit of having the "emcee" mention a ministry or product from the pulpit.

In the interview Maurilio speaks of how he received the vision from God for his company. Like many of the mighty men of God these days, he received his vision on a mountain top. But unlike Mac I don't think Maurilio's vision occurred while riding a donkey to the top.

I have said before that the premise of his assistance given to churches seems to be standard Marketing 101. We're told by Al Mohler that pastors are "appointed by God", and we're told that pastors are not "hired" but rather are "called by God" himself to pastor a church....yet we also must believe that our called and appointed pastors need to hire a guy like Maurilio to connect the gospel message to the community. I thought the pastor was called, and trained for years and years in seminary on how to teach and reach and preach. But apparently these pastors don't have the tools, or "don't know any better" and they need someone like Maurilio:

"The gospel is alive and there is dynamic things happening. Sometimes because pastors don't know any better, they don't have any tools, they don't know how to put the pieces together, how to really connect the great story of the gospel to the community. So I felt a burden to do that, to become that person, to create a company that would help pastors, ministries, colleges....to help tell their story. But more than that, how to connect the gospel to the community."

Unbelievable. It is so sad that in this day of church marketing, our CEO pastors need to hire a marketer to help them "connect the gospel to the community". I thought that was what they earned MDiv's and PhD's for at seminary.

Perhaps the day will come when our churches stop being run by CEO pastors and their hired marketing consultants to achieve certain revenue and giving unit targets.

"Holy Ground" Dirt from FBC Dallas Construction Site is Given to Members as a Reminder to "Pray" (and Pay) for the New Church Construction

Twenty years ago I used to think there was a wide gap between mega churches and televangelist ministries.

Used to be that phony evangelists like Peter Popoff would be the only ones sending people vials containing "holy water", "Dead Sea Salt" or pieces of "holy cloth".

Now, First Baptist Dallas is giving members little vials containing "Holy Ground", inside of a "prayer tent" as shown at left.

What is this? Well, that is a foldable "prayer tent", with a little vial filled with dirt under the tent. But not just any dirt. This is special, "holy" dirt.

How is the dirt in the vial "holy" and called "Holy Ground"? It is dirt from the construction site of the new $115 million dollar First Baptist Dallas campus. I'm not kidding. I couldn't have made this up myself. Apparently someone went out to the construction site and filled buckets with the construction site dirt, bought some vials, and filled thousands of vials with the dirt. What a tremendous service in the Lord's work, putting construction site dirt in little glass vials. I'm sure Jesus was pleased with that project. If FBC Dallas has any extras, perhaps they can be handed out to the homeless, or sold on eBay.

At the church's website announcing that the pastor is going to give these vials inside of the "prayer tent" to attenders on May 15th, they say:

"Dr. Jeffress has a special "prayer tent" to give each person who attends Sunday's services that includes a vial of dirt from the construction site - "Holy Ground" reminding everyone to pray for the construction of the new campus and the future ministry of First Baptist Dallas."

Notice, it is the pastor who is going to give it out. Just like it was Peter Popoff personally sending you the "holy water", right? Thank you, pastor, for the vial of "Holy Ground". And I wonder if the statement above contains a typo...is this a reminder for people to "pray" for the new campus? Or did they mean a reminder to PAY for the campus? After all, the "Holy Ground" was handed out on the first anniversary of the "commitment Sunday", to remind people of their commitment to pray, er, pay for it!

Yes, someone on staff at First Baptist Dallas - or maybe it was one of those high-priced "generosity consultants" - came up with the bright idea that they could keep the peeps motivated to pray and pay for the new church by handing out a vial of "holy land" dirt inside of a "prayer tent". Maybe they got the idea when they read that the Catholics were installing vials of the pope's holy blood as a relic in a Polish church.

This is just a shameless gimmick. It is an insult to people's intelligence, to infer some sort of "holiness" to the actual spot where the church is being built. The bible refers to "holy ground" as being a spot where God's presence was on Mount Horeb where God spoke to Moses. A church construction site is not "holy ground" any more than the pope's blood is special or holy.

"Guilt Gifts" - A Marketing Strategy

FBC Dallas members, let's consider what this is all about from a pure marketing standpoint. In this age of church marketing, you need to consider the motives of your church leadership in going to all of this trouble to make you a vial filled with dirt in a prayer tent for display at your house. What your church and their marketers have done is use the strategy of giving you a "guilt gift". Non-profits have engaged in this for a long time. It is a practice that some fundraising groups discourage.

Marketers have coined the term "Guilt Gifts" to describe unsolicited gifts given to potential donors to create even the slightest amount of obligation for a return financial gift. Marketers recommend this strategy when they believe that the net increase in giving from the guilt created, is greater than the total cost of preparing and sending the gift. You certainly didn't ask for the church to dig up dirt and fill a vial and prepare a prayer tent, but they did it and they gave it to you. While this particular gift may not include a direct solicitation for money, the connection is obvious: church members committed future gifts to the church construction, and on the one-year anniversary of your commitment you are given a gift that took time and effort to prepare. It is more than a magnet or a card. It is a vial with special dirt from the construction site that YOU committed to fund. The pastor mashed the big red button and blew up the church creating the dirt, based on YOUR commitment. That vial represents what you said you would do to rebuild. Masterful marketing strategy in giving you the vial of dirt created when your pastor mashed the big red button.

A blogger here wrote about this tactic used by a charity raising money for children in Peru. A little bracelet is sent to the potential donor, and it is implied that a poor Peruvian girl made it. The blogger wonders if the bracelet was made in Peru, by the girl, as it is implied in the letter. Obviously it is not, it is a gimmick sent to thousands of potential donors with an expected net increase in giving greater than the cost of preparing the gifts.

I hope the vial of "Holy Ground" in the prayer tent has a removable lid. If so, maybe in days to come church members will be instructed to sprinkle the Holy Ground on their yard or on their doorstep to sanctify their home, or to smear it on their door posts, or to sprinkle some in their coffee.

Or as Peter Popoff instructed people to do with packets of holy "Dead Sea Salt", maybe church members can sprinkle the "Holy Ground" on their checks that they send in to FBC Dallas for the new church construction.

One last piece of advice to FBC Dallas members: do NOT carry this vial in your car, and always keep it WITH the prayer tent. Otherwise, it might be mistaken for something other than dirt, and a police officer might be quite skeptical when you try to explain that you have a vial of "Holy Ground" dirt from your church construction site. When you explain THAT to the officer, he will likely think you've been smoking the contents and will haul you off to jail. :)

Ironically, "Liberal Media" Has Much to Teach the "Men of God" About Public Repentance for Public Words

Readers, if you've ever wondered what it looks like when a public figure issues a heart-felt, genuine apology for hurtful words spoken in public, watch the video below of talk-show host Ed Schultz publicly apologizing for calling conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut" on his national radio show.

I can't recall ever seeing a more genuine, unscripted, unconditional apology by a public figure for a misdeed. You really have to see this.

What a strange day we live in, when famous, very public Christians who misbehave, or say and do hurtful things, can't issue public apologies for their public misdeeds. They negotiate settlements, or they remain silent, let their friends defend them, make themselves the victim, or slink away to another church or ministry.

Thank you Ed Schultz for giving our country an example of what it looks like when a broken man issues a public apology for hurtful words. You have taught Christians more about humility and forgiveness and repentance in this five-minute video than most mega-church pastors will in a lifetime.

"SBC Plodder", aka William Thornton, Diagnoses "Chronic Clergy Complaining Syndrome"

William Thornton is an SBC pastor in the Atlanta area that blogs as the "SBC Plodder". He is my favorite blogging pastor, as he is conservative, yet not afraid to speak his mind even when his views are contrary to the CR party line.

He posted a great article Monday entitled "Chronic Clergy Complaining Syndrome". Many pastors seem to exhibit the symptoms of CCCS, as I chronicled in my series "Crybaby Pastors" (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

Here is William's recommendations to his fellow pastors who have CCCS:

Plodder’s suggestions to help the brethren avoid unbecoming whinefests:

1. If you think preaching a 30 minute sermon is like working an eight hour day, take a nap on Sunday afternoon.

2. If you think you are underpaid, find a better paying occupation. You are in an occupation you chose. No one forced you into it.

3. Talk to some eightysomething retired pastors about compensation and other job related matters.

4. Figure out a way to be paid a dollar every time someone says, “I wouldn’t want your job.”

5. Thank Jesus for your high calling.

Good one, William.

After 11 Months, Liberty University Trustee Speaks About Caner Decision: "We, the Committee Never Found One Instance of Ergun Lying"

"I was the Chairman of the committee that crafted the statement concerning Ergun. We never once found that he lied". Evangelist Tim Lee, May 19, 2011
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After nearly 11 months of silence since Liberty University's investigation committee demoted Ergun Caner and issued their confusing statement about "factual statements that were self-contradictory", the head of the committee that drafted the statement has finally spoken publicly and clarified the committee's findings.

Evangelist Tim Lee was apparently the head of this five-person committee that investigated Caner, as he admitted on my blog last week.

Lee posted numerous statements on this blog in response to my May 18th blog post concerning the departure of Caner from Liberty last week to Arlington Baptist College. Lee posted in my blog comment section in an attempt to refute the claims of my source for the information in my May 18th post entitled "Inside Story: Ergun Caner was Finally Shown the Door by Liberty Officials".

And unbelievably, Tim Lee said at least twice that the committee did not find any instances of Ergun Caner lying. He characterized Caner's deceptions that have been chronicled on the Internet over a 9-year period as "misstatements".

WD readers can browse the comment section of the May 18th blog post for Lee's comments, but I've hyperlinked the comments here for easier access:

Lee Comment #1

Lee Comment #2

Lee Comment #3

Lee Comment #4

Lee Comment #5

I do want to highlight a few of Tim Lee's remarks out of the above, and give some commentary.

In Lee's Comment #1, Lee says that they never found Caner to have lied, not even once:

"I was the Chairman of the committee that crafted the statement concerning Ergun. We never once found that he lied. There was 5 men on the committee and 1 eventually removed himself leaving us with 4."

Lee then says again, on behalf of the entire committee, that they never found him to have lied, but only to have "misspoke":

"We, the committee never found one instance of Ergun lying. We did find numerous instances of misspeaking. He was rebuked and reprimanded and I can promise you much more careful about what he says and how he says it."

I find this hard to believe that they never found one instance of lying. A very prominent faculty member who was on the committee with Tim Lee contacted me personally during the investigation to obtain complete copies of Ergun Caner's November 2001 sermon at FBC Jax, and the complete set of sermons preached in 2007 at the Ohio Free Will Baptist men's retreat. These sermons contained multiple lies, not "misstatements". Lies like he was raised in Europe, trained in Islamic Jihad, that he learned of American culture by watching television in Istanbul as a child, etc.

Also, the obvious question: why would "misspeaking" require someone to be "rebuked" and "reprimanded" as Lee says the committee did to Caner? This question is especially relevant when Lee characterizes Caner's misstatements by relating them to one of his own, where he simply crossed two words:

"I spoke at Liberty University last year on Veterans Day. I have given my story hundreds if not a couple of thousand times. In front of 10000 people that day I said ' I stepped on a 60lb mine and it blew me several feet in the air ripping both of my bodies off my leg'. Now the mine didn't rip both of my bodies off my leg as I only have one body.It ripped both of my legs off of my body. I had said it right hundreds and hundreds of times but that day I got it wrong. My children were listening back in Dallas via Internet. They were in the floor with laughter. "

Would this simple misstatement require Tim Lee to be rebuked and reprimanded? Of course not. This is absolutely NOT what the 9 1/2 years of Caner deceptions were about.

Sadly, Tim Lee portrays Caner as the victim:

"I am extremely proud to call Ergun friend. There are times when he might have been better to have had an affair or to commit a homosexual act or to rob a bank. I believe the brethren would have been more forgiving."

This is so twisted. Ergun Caner lied to the congregation at FBC Jax in November 2001 right after 9/11 to portray himself as a former terrorist and this was the beginning of nearly a decade of deceit in churches all over America. Videos for sale of Caner's testimony even as late as April 2010 portrayed Caner as a "former terrorist". Caner is not the victim. In fact, it was Caner's friends who went on the offensive and mercilessly attacked James White who was the most vocal minister calling for Caner to repent. But Tim Lee does not address that pathetic aspect of this saga.

What Tim Lee's comments tell us is that it is no wonder the committee has maintained 11 months of silence. They know that to defend Caner, or to defend their confusing statement issued last June would just raise more questions, and further subject their university to criticism.

My May 18th post ended with this statement:

"And we can at least be thankful that he [Caner] is out of the SBC, and that some folks at Liberty in the end did the right thing. "

I stand by everything I wrote in that article, but I do retract that last statement, thanks to Tim Lee's explanation that the committee did not find any lies. Apparently they did NOT do the right thing, according to Tim Lee. Investigatory committee, I tried to give you credit, but Tim Lee would not let me.

The king still has no clothes.

Hogan Upset by Brown: A Sign of the Times?

Jeff Brumley, the religion writer of our paper, the Florida Times Union, wrote a tongue-in-cheeck article yesterday discussing what "signs" might indicate that today IS the end of time as predicted by Harold Camping.

Signs of the End Times, locally and beyond

One of the "signs" Jeff mentioned:

"On Tuesday, Jacksonville elects its first black mayor in Alvin Brown (and that was against Mike Hogan, a candidate seemingly backed by mighty First Baptist Church, of which Hogan is a member."

with the hyperlink going to the Sunday May 15th FBC Jax Watchdog post describing how Mac had Mike Hogan come to the front and kneel while Mac laid hands on him and prayed a length prayer "...God, give us godly leadership".

Thanks for the hat-tip, Jeff.

Yes, Mike Hogan lost in a mammoth political upset, as unknown conservative Democrat Alvin Brown beat Mike Hogan in the race for mayor last Tuesday.

As Jeff says, "Whether or not it's the End Times, I have no idea. But the times, they are a 'changin."

Watchdog Bids Farewell: His Last Post, Unless....

Unfortunately, upcoming events have led me to decide now is the time for me to lay down the blogging pen and say goodbye to all of my blogging friends.

You see, I have heard from my pastor, Harold Camping (the picture at left really is him, it is not a wax figure at the "Ripley's Believe it or Not" museum in St. Augustine), that the end of the world is Saturday, May 21st...my pastor has told me that Jesus is coming back and taking all of his true believers with him to heaven tomorrow.

And if Jesus comes back, and by the slimmest of chances I'm actually a Christian - which many of my pastor friends here tell me I'm NOT - I suppose I'm going with Jesus, and all of you recalcitrants who read this blog in defiance of your pastor, will be left behind and I won't have a chance to say goodbye.

And if, as my pastor friends say, I really am a hell-bound reprobate, unregenerate sinner - because I am a "fractious man" who stirs up trouble who should be left alone and isolated, then I will probably be left here to suffer tribulation while all the non-Calvinist, tithing Southern Baptist mega church pastors are in heaven with Jesus, and there will be nothing left to blog about. All the pastors will leave me behind and will be leading their followers on the ultimate "Holy Land Trip" paid for by their latest tithe check. My pastor tells me that Jesus will take us on a cruise down the Danube on our way to heaven, with a stop in Rome for shopping.

So I figure it is best for me to cover both bases and say "goodbye"....unless my pastor is wrong and the world doesn't actually end on Saturday, in which case never mind - I'll see you all on Sunday with my next blog post.

See you all on the other side, or back here on May 22nd.

I'm heading off to make my tinfoil hat.

Blessings to all!

Inside Story: Ergun Caner Was Finally Shown the Door by Liberty Officials

Ergun Caner posted a press release on his website to announce that he is being hired as the Provost and Vice President of Arlington Baptist College in Arlington, Texas. ABC is a tiny bible college of about 115 students.

I have an inside source at Liberty University who has shared with me some of the details behind Ergun Caner's departure from Liberty to join ABC. In the interest of closure in this saga and some sense of disclosure on what Liberty finally did with Caner, I share this information that was shared with me by a reliable source.

Caner was finally forced out at Liberty by several of the trustees and a number of faculty members who gave an ultimatum of some sort to the administration that it was either Caner who had to leave, or them. My source tells me it was not unanimous with the trustees in forcing Caner to leave. In fact the majority wanted to keep him, but the straw that broke the camel's back was his refusal to make a public apology for the repeated lying of parts of his life's story. Thus, with no willingness to make a public apology, Caner was told he had to leave.

So Caner moves on to the next chapter of his life. The more fundamentalist World Baptist Fellowship churches and members, and the very small school to which Caner is moving, likely hasn't followed the shenanigans last year with Caner very closely. Perhaps those that hired him are believing whatever his version of events are - plus most independent fundamental baptists don't have a high regard for the "liberal" SBC'ers anyways.

How sad that in the "press release" announcing Caner's hiring at ABC, they actually quote evangelist and Marine Vietnam Vet Tim Lee - a staple evangelist amongst independent baptist churches - and Tim Lee tells everyone just how wonderful Ergun Caner is! Does Tim Lee understand that Ergun Caner duped our U.S. Marines in 2005 when he conducted training sessions as some sort of Muslim culture expert who grew up in Turkey?

From the press release:

"Evangelist Tim Lee said, 'I have learned that my good friend, Dr Ergun Caner has accepted the position of Executive Vice-President and Provost at Arlington Baptist College in Arlington, TX. I am excited for Arlington Baptist College! They could not have made a better choice. I believe Ergun will have a very positive impact and that it will be realized immediately! Both Arlington Baptist College and Dr Ergun Caner have my support!' "

But this is the good thing about the Internet: no matter who they get to speak on Caner's behalf, what transpired last year on the blogs in exposing Caner's lies is still here for anyone who is interested in the truth to read, Tim Lee endorsement or not.

In the end, it was arrogance that did Caner in. He could have humbled himself earlier last year when the story was still breaking. I called on Caner to do it, and he could have salvaged his reputation and his ministry with the students at Liberty.

Instead he chose to be defiant and silent, while his friends went into full attack mode against those who called for Caner to come clean. It was a shameful chapter in the life of the SBC that won't soon be forgotten.

And really, isn't the arrogance in full display again with the issuance of a "press release"? Go figure: the man is leaving Liberty after being demoted last year, and moving to an extremely small, mostly obscure school in Arlington Texas that most Baptists have never heard of with maybe 100 students or so....yet he figures that someone of his stature requires a "press release" to announce his hiring at this very small school.

Let's hope that Caner has learned his lesson and the fantastic stories of his past will be buried at Lynchburg. And we can at least be thankful that he is out of the SBC, and that some folks at Liberty in the end did the right thing.

WD Presents "Ballad of Ergun Caner"....as Ergun Leaves SBC and Liberty for WBF Seminary

Ergun Caner finally is saying goodbye to the Southern Baptist Convention. He was saved, educated, employed by, and most importantly for him: he was enriched with money made off of Southern Baptists who were duped by his stories told to our churches over a nine-year period since 9/11.

Ergun reports on his website that he is moving on to be the Provost at Arlington Baptist College, a seminary funded by the "World Baptist Fellowship", a group of fundamentalist baptist churches having no connection to the SBC. Perhaps Ergun was confused, and when he heard that the WBF wanted to hire him, he thought it was the WWF.

Good for us SBC'ers. Good for Ergun. No more of our church or state dollars are going to support Ergun at Liberty University. And no more of our SBC students will be taught in Ergun Caner classrooms.

Ergun is smart. Like any good traveling medicine man selling his magical elixirs and tonics, he knows when it is time to fold the show, load up the stagecoach, and head to the next town to a fresh market who needs a cure for what ails 'em. So Ergun is now moving on to Arlington, Texas and the WBF..and presumably a brand new market of churches and students who come from those churches who haven't heard the yarns and tales of being raised in Europe, terrorist training, and the jokes about mutant grandaughters and ugly women and satellite dish hats.

In honor of Ergun finally leaving the SBC almost exactly 10 years after he shot to stardom in 2001 within the SBC, I present the "Ballad of Ergun Caner", to be sung to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies:

Come listen to a story about a man named Mike,
A poor preacher man, couldn't find a church he liked,
Then one day, early 11 September morn,
Ergun Mehmet Gioviani Janel Caner was born.
[Muslim that is, shaved head, goatee.]

Well the first thing you know ol' Ergun's a rock star
Jerry Vines said, "Ergun You're Gonna Go Far!"
They said, "Liberty Mountain is the place you oughta be"
So, he loaded up the truck and moved to Virginny.
[Falwell, that is, book deals, preaching gigs.]

Well, the next thing ya know, ole Ergun is found out,
Even Peter Lump and Norm can't erase all the doubt,
Falwell's son says "your time here at Liberty is done",
So he loaded up the truck and moved to Arlington.
[Texas that is, fundamentalist baptist, KJV.]

Well now its time to say goodbye to Caner 'cept Emir his kin.
He would like to thank you SBC dupes fer kindly droppin' in.
You're all invited back to hear his next WBF preaching gig,
To have some cherry Kool Aid and take a heapin' swig.
[Muslim, that is. Trained terrorist. Ex-SBC'er]

Y'all come back now, ya hear?
[banjo solo]

So long, Ergun.

Emir Caner Equates Evangelical Mission Organization with Pornography Found at Bin Laden's Hideout

Emir Caner, brother of famed ex-ex-terrorist and ex-European-raised Ergun Caner, started a bit of a firestorm amongst some bloggers when he posted the following Tweet:

Yes, Emir is equating the "Acts 29 Network" - a missions network funded by more Calvinistic churches - with pornography found at Bin Laden's lair.

Imagine that. Emir Caner, president of a seminary (Truett-McConnell College) that exists for the furtherance of the gospel, referring to the efforts of a competing evangelical mission as being filthy sexual pornography.

Interesting how ugly these "men of God" can be when they are in competition with each other for dollars to fund missions. You see, the Acts 29 Network is funded by churches who might otherwise funnel their money to the SBC "Cooperative Program"...so to fund Acts 29 Network is to fund pornography to Emir and friends.

Another example of how the Caner brothers are a colossal disaster. They were vaulted to stardom after 9/11 based on Ergun Caner's phony-baloney story of being raised in Europe and trained in terrorism....when both Emir and Ergun actually were raised in Columbus, Ohio.

The more we hear of the Caner's the more we realize the joke that Vines and Patterson and Brunson pulled on the evangelical world after 9/11 by giving these guys credibility they never earned.

And I might add, some of Emir Caner's brother's worst sermons filled with his lies are much closer to being spiritual pornography than anything I can think of.

"Don't Think for Yourselves", Warns FBC Jax Pastor

Says FBC Jax Associate Pastor Rush Whitt, on his blog last week:

"While everyone is responsible for his own thoughts and beliefs, the word of God does not teach us to think for ourselves or independently develop our own ideas....Instead, the biblical approach to thinking is to inherit godly ideas and beliefs from the godly ones who have gone before. Likewise, these godly men inherited the same from those who went before them, and so on."

Wow. Don't think for yourselves, that is what the bible says according to Rush. Instead, let "godly men" tell you what to think.

He says "the biblical approach to thinking"...he is telling people who are Christians how they should "think"...and you must "inherit" your ideas from others more godly than you.

He continues:

"Wisdom belongs to the Lord and cannot be devised through any independent exercise in human thinking. Therefore, every person must receive wisdom from others, who have ultimately received it from God."

So according to Rush, the bible is to be interpreted to mean there is no wisdom to be gained except those who have received it from someone else, who received it from God. Dangerous thinking, especially when considering Al Mohler's statement that pastors are "God-appointed agents to save His people from ignorance", and considering Mac Brunson's statement on 5/1/11 that "not having a pastor is dangerous". These men truly want us to think we cannot survive without full-time, professional religious seminarians in our lives telling us what to think, how to interpret the Bible, and how we are to live, who we are to listen to and not listen to....almost forgot...and we must also give 10% of our gross income to the institutions they work for, else we can't receive the full blessings of God for following their teachings. Can you spell r-a-c-k-e-t?

We've gone all the way from "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand" to "Without My Pastor I Cannot Stand".

The reformation started over professional religious men telling the plebe they can't think for themselves. Really, this is the stuff that cults are made of. A cult must condition people that they are stupid, way too stupid to think for themselves, and that they can't possibly exist without their spiritual gurus telling them what God says.

Brunson Brings Mike Hogan to the Front, "Ordains" Him as Mayor in Morning Service

At left you see a picture of Mike Hogan and his wife kneeling at the altar Sunday as their pastor, Mac Brunson, lays hands on him and prays.

SEE COMPLETE VIDEO BELOW

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One of the benefits of being a politician at a mega church is you pick up the endorsement of the mega church pastor and the other influential heavies in the church. The mega church pastor, if he so chooses, can use his church and his clout and influence with the brethren to endorse you as the candidate that good Christians will vote for.

Homer Lindsay, Jr. did it back in 1988 when he sent a letter to the congregation to let everyone know that a member, John Lewis was running, and that he was God's man for mayor. Lewis lost to Democrat Tommy Hazzouri.

As far as I know, Mac didn't send out any letters endorsing Hogan, but he did one better...he called Mike Hogan and his wife to the front of the auditorium Sunday, had them kneel at the altar, and then laid hands on them as he prayed a lengthy prayer.

The kneeling symbol was very interesting....the only time that we have someone kneel in a baptist church and lay hands on them is at deacon ordination service, or when a minister is being ordained in the gospel ministry. So that is why I say that Mac is "ordaining" Mike as mayor. Very strange.

At the end of the prayer, Mac summarized it up like this by telling God what he wants:

"God, give us Godly leadership. And so Lord, we pray that you hear our prayer, and we're convinced that you do. And we pray this in accordance to your will, and for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen."

The Lord has heard their prayers and given FBC Jax a couple of judges, the tax collector, multiple city councilmen, and a sheriff's detective with subpoena power on their discipline committee...so no wonder Mac says he's convinced that they will get their Godly leadership Tuesday...when FBC Jax speaks, God listens.

Now Mike goes forth with the blessing of his pastor, and the Lord. Look out Alvin Brown, God's ordained man is heading toward a victory this Tuesday.

Here is the video of the portions of the service where Hogan was recognized and prayed for.

Mike Hogan, Mayor Candidate and FBC Jax Leader, Should be Grateful His Opponent is Playing Nice

This coming Tuesday is an important election in Jacksonville. It is the mayoral run-off election between Republican Mike Hogan, and Democrat Alvin Brown.

Hogan is a longtime member of FBC Jax, and Deacon and Church Officer. At left is a photo from the Times Union, showing Hogan (right) having a conversation with FBC Jax executive pastor John Blount before a recent church service (Blount is the executive pastor who hand delivered our list of 16 sins and filed a trespass warning against my wife, wrongly accusing her of "church misconduct"; he also was the witness in the JSO lawsuit that confirmed that JSO detective Hinson was not merely a security guard at the church, but was a Deacon and Discipline Committee member).

Hogan will likely win, although the race has tightened in recent days.

The campaigns on both sides have been relatively cordial, although recently Hogan has gone quite a bit more negative, accusing Brown of being a "tax and spend liberal" (when his policies are absolutely not liberal), trying to connect Brown to Obama, saying Brown will raise taxes (Brown, like Hogan, has promised not to)...and Hogan has even said the "media elite" is supporting Brown. By "media elite" he must be referring to the conservative Florida Times Union that has endorsed Brown - the paper that our FBC Jax pastors have always been friendly toward until they printed the front page story "First Baptist, Cop, Team Up to Out Blogger". Hogan has followed his pastor's lead in expressing disdain for our local paper.

But Hogan should be very grateful that Brown's campaign, or friends of Brown, or the "media elite" Times Union have not gone after Hogan as hard as they could have. So far Hogan's close affiliation with FBC Jax, the concentration of political power at the church, and the statements by the pastors and other FBC Jax politicians has NOT been a campaign issue.

As I blogged about in September 2009, it would only be a matter of time before an opponent of an FBC Jax member and politician runs TV commercials asking the FBC candidate why he remains a member of and financially supports a church that:

- has an executive pastor on staff who unashamedly has declared in writing and in a sermon from the pulpit, the Catholic Church to be a "cult", and has referred to a Catholic priest as a "cult leader", and who has declared that voting for Obama is a sin that a Christian must repent of;

- has a Senior Pastor who has declared that if a hurricane hits Jacksonville, he hopes and prays FEMA does NOT come and help us;

- has a Senior Pastor that has declared multiple times (here and here) that our economic recession is the result of the judgment of God, for the failure of Christians in this country to practice tithing - giving 10% or more of their money to the church;

- has declared that 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, rising gas prices, and the stock market crash and resulting economic recession to be the direct result of God "working behind the scenes" to see how he can punish Americans;

- is a member of church that appointed a JSO detective to a position of Deacon and Discipline Committee member who then used his police investigatory power to subpoena information about three bloggers critical of FBC Jax and two other Baptist pastors.

- has a pastor who has attacked a former church member and blogger publicly, call him a "sociopath", and issuing trespass papers against his wife for the sin of "associating" with her blogging husband;

- passed a "Deacon's Resolution" read by judge A.C. Soud telling church members that they will be "aggressively confronted" if they are divisive in the church.

- has a pastor who "praises God" that his parishioners didn't get a raise during the tough economic times of 2008, while he himself lives high on the hog and takes expensive trips around the world and even accepted a six-figure gift from a wealthy donor.

- has an executive pastor who believes Muslims must be converted in our city else our grandchildren will come under Muslim law.

Perhaps if Mike Hogan were asked about any of these, he would distance himself from the views and actions of his church leaders.

But really, shouldn't Hogan tell voters whether he believes and supports the above? Why not? Let's face it - Obama was never in any sort of leadership position in Jeremiah Wright's church, yet his pastor's views were a major political issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Hogan on the other hand describes himself as an accomplished FBC Jax leader when listing his civic and community involvement. Shouldn't citizens be concerned that we might elect a man to lead our city who is a leader in a church that teaches the solution to our economic crisis lies in having more people donate to mega churches, and believes 9/11 and in Hurricane Katrina God is God's punishment on America?

I for one am troubled that FBC Jax didn't see the potential conflict of interest in appointing Detective Hinson to be on their newly formed discipline committee that was charged with disciplining church members like myself. I am troubled that him being on the committee was not immediately disclosed by Hinson or the church when the story broke. That John Blount and Robert Hinson didn't see the potential problem with Hinson doing an investigation into the FBC Jax blogger, AFTER they had elevated him to deacon and discipline committee member, causes me to not want to have any closer connection between our city government and FBC Jax than already exists. And people of Jax, all you have to do is watch A.C. Soud read his edict telling FBC Jax members that what they did to me, they would do to other troublemakers, tells you they didn't see anything wrong with what they did, and that they intended to do it again if necessary. Keep in mind, A.C. Soud's pronouncement was BEFORE they knew that the subpoenas would be found by me and the local media. I would not vote to give that church any more political power than they already have.

So far Hogan has avoided virtually any questions regarding his connections to FBC Jax. Brown might have had a chance if these issues were raised and if he were to hit Hogan back in the campaign like Hogan has Brown.

Hogan should be grateful that neither Brown, nor the conservative paper that he calls "media elite", has raised FBC Jax as a campaign issue. It likely will ensure his victory on Tuesday, and more concentration of political power at First Baptist Jacksonville.

WD Training Video: How to Get Stupid Church Members to Bring Their Bibles for the Pastor's Excellent Sermon

One of the more pressing problems in our churches today are church attenders who don't bring their bibles to church. Apparently, it is very difficult for an authoritarian pastor to convince people from the bible that NOT to have a pastor is "dangerous" (which the bible does not actually say), unless that person is holding the bible in their hands. The effect of the pastor's statements of his own importance in the lives of his followers will have much more impact, and be retained in their long-term memory if the sheep are holding that bible in their hands.

Thus, as a public service to pastors who face this challenge of non-bible-bearing Christians, Watchdog has produced a training video especially for pastors on how to motivate your church members to bring their bible to your church service so that you can convince them that the bible says what YOU want them to think it says.

In the WD training video below, we have used an excellent example of Mac Brunson forcefully telling his church members they absolutely must have a bible in their hands, just moments before he tells them that house churches are a "movement" of people without, egads, a "pastor". And that Christians in house churches that don't have a pastor (i.e. "seminarian") are in "danger" for lack of a pastor. In the training video we examine step by step the masterful way Brunson exerts his pastoral dominance and authority over the plebe in the audience, in a very rude and condescending sort of way, just before he pulls a fast one out of his....bible.

Although this training video is provided for free, I do want to issue the following warning:

This training is for pastors only. This is an exclusive training video best suited for Southern Baptist pastors south of the Mason-Dixon line. If you are a lay person, a woman, an NIV-reader, or any FBC Jax employee, or a preacher north of the Mason-Dixon line, please do not watch this video, as it may be harmful to your ministry. Any questions about the techniques used should go directly to the pastor, not to the Watchdog. CEUs for completing this training are available upon request. Thank you. And PLEASE HAVE A BIBLE IN YOUR HAND. Enjoy.

Pastor Gets Caught in 5-Year Lie About Being a Navy SEAL - Navy Expert Says "Clergy" are Worst Offenders at Exaggerating Their Military Record

A Pennsylvania pastor was caught red-handed last week in a 5-year lie about his past as a Navy SEAL.

The Rev. Jim Moats of Christian Bible Fellowship Church in Newville, PA had told people in his congregation that he served as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam. After Osama bin Laden's death last week, Moats' local paper did a story on his supposed military career involving Navy SEALS service in Vietnam.

To Moats' credit, he did own up to it, and he confessed and asked for forgiveness publicly. Unlike Ergun Caner who was exposed last year for his decade-long deception of being raised in Turkey, Moats didn't remain silent. He didn't depend on his friends to defend him and attack those who pointed out his deceit. Moats didn't say that Satan was attacking him, or that the story was concocted by a bunch of Calvinists trying to bring him down. But then again, Moats didn't have high-profile pastor friends who helped push his story either.

After what evangelicalism went through last year with the Ergun Caner fiasco, this sort of story is not surprising.

But what IS surprising about this story, is what the Navy expert who busted Moats had to say about these kinds of liars, and also what law expert Jonathan Turley said.

Here are quotes from Don Shipley a retired Navy SEAL who runs a website called Extreme Seal Experience, which in part is set up to expose liars who claim to be former SEALs.

"We deal with these guys all the time, especially the clergy. It’s amazing how many of the clergy are involved in those lies to build that flock up."

"Pastors are common impostors. So are sheriffs. Politicians get caught boasting about medals they never received. Several impersonators were booted from boot camp, dishonorably discharged....Many never served a day in the military."

How sad that pastors are known as the worst offenders. This likely has to do with how pastors do a poor job of policing themselves as we saw in the Ergun Caner disaster. Pastors and law enforcement leaders are the worst, says Shipley. Last year I compared the Ergun Caner saga to that of Gainesville, FL police chief, Waylon Clifton, who was found to have exaggerated his life story by telling of his days playing football at Alabama for Bear Bryant. Someone finally investigated, and he was found out.

Also from the article about Shipley:

"Shipley and other retirees use YouTube, Facebook, and military sites, such as pownetwork.org, to get the word out. As soon as a news article hits the wire, they mass distribute — outing the phonies in a virtual form of street justice. 'We don’t just go around punching these guys in the nose anymore,' he said. 'The pen is mightier than the sword.' "

Amen. The playing field is evened, and lying pastors are found out. Pastors might have the mike for 45 minutes on Sunday with no rebuttals, but the Internet allows their sermons to be listened to and stories checked, and lies and deceptions exposed.

Another quote:

"Until Shipley told him, Moats said he was not aware of the Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that had made it a crime for someone to wear military medals he had not earned or to otherwise misrepresent service in the U.S. military. The law has been declared unconstitutional as a violation of freedom of speech. Shipley said even if the law was binding, he would not favor prosecuting Moats. The pastor has been outed through the Internet in what Shipley said is a form of street justice.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley chimed in:

"Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University, said the majority of people who lie about military ranks and honors do it for the money. ...'Faux warriors often buy medals on the Internet,' Turley said. 'Some can’t resist buying more and more medals until they look like a Soviet general. ... It’s tragic. These are people who are desperately seeking recognition of this kind.' "

And Turley summarizes it very well, at least what SHOULD happen to ministers when they have been found to be repeating lies about their past to make them seem greater than they are:

"And for a minister, it should be rather devastating to have perpetuated such a terrible lie. That’s a significant punishment. ... Many of these people have a desperate need for public adoration and respect, and when uncovered they become social pariahs and pathetic figures — truly their worst nightmare."

Here is video of Rev. Jim Moats:

H/T: Times Union reporter Jeff Brumley, on his Twitter.

As a Gift to Our Mothers and Daughters, Consider You May Be Wrong About the Doctrine of Male-Only Authority in the Church

Happy Mother's Day to all of you WD-reading Mothers! I hope your day is filled with love and joy!

I want to take this Mother's Day as an opportunity to encourage all men who read this blog - for the good of your mothers, wives, daughters, and granddaughters - to consider that you just might be wrong about what the scriptures say about women and their subordinate role they must play in the church.

I know that the prevailing thought based on scriptures such as 1 Timothy 2 and the account of the fall in Genesis 3 is that women should be subservient to men, and that men should have authority over women, and that women are forbidden from teaching men, or holding certain offices in church.

I know, because I was taught that in Southern Baptist Churches my entire Christian life. I've been taught it by people in my family and by my baptist pastors for over two decades. It was when I heard of the firing of Dr. Sheri Klouda by Paige Patterson that I first considered that perhaps this doctrine that led to this tragic action taken by Patterson was wrong. I read a good portion of Patterson's deposition in the Klouda case a couple of years ago, and the absurdity of statements made by Patterson under questioning of Klouda's lawyer, Gary Richardson, further led me to believe that this doctrine of male authority in the church is counter to scripture and the will of God and required my further investigation.

And I have to say one of the turning points that caused me to dig even deeper, is last year when I came across Ergun Caner's "joke" at the 2007 Ohio Free Will Baptists Men's Retreat when he said that he believed women should be behind the pulpit...how else could they get back there to vacuum....and his jokes about "mutant granddaughters" barking like dogs. It made me sick that this sort of thing came from one of the most popular baptist preaching-circuit personalities.

So after much reading and research I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong, that in fact the bible does NOT teach that God's plan is for men to have authority over women, and that the Bible does NOT teach women are exempted from having leadership positions over men in the church. I may explore this topic in future posts as to the particular arguments for what I believe, but I want to in this post simply implore men to consider an alternative view by a conservative teacher that can be trusted in this area. His name is Jon Zens.

Jon Zens is a preacher and author that has spoken around the world, but mostly outside the institutional church which is why many Southern Baptists have not heard of him. He is a pastor of a church, but does not draw a salary. He has taught and lived out for years a different model of pastor, not of a pastor having authority over people, but of serving and being amongst the congregation as a servant. You can read Jon's bio here. Jon is a good friend of author Frank Viola ("Pagan Christianity"), and also of Cal Thomas who uses Jon as a reviewer and editor of his work. Jon and his wife Dottie are sweet Christians who in recent years have been involved in traveling to the Philippines to help women and children get out of the sex-slave trade.

I had the privilege of meeting Jon for lunch last September when he was in Jacksonville to do some teaching at a home church group here in Jacksonville, after which he traveled down to Gainesville to meet his friend Frank Viola and minister in that city. We talked over lunch about my family's experience at First Baptist, the journey I have traveled through my blog, and my views on tithing which Jon has written about for quite some time. Jon graciously shared with me a bag full of books and other materials related to topics I was writing about on my blog that he had written about.

What I would recommend for men (and women!) who are willing to just possibly consider they have been taught wrongly what the bible say about women is to listen to Jon Zens' 8-part teaching series he delivered at Wade Burleson's church last September. Click here to go to Emmanuel Baptist Church's video archive, and scroll down to September 2010 to see this teaching series. Also, Jon has written a book entitled "What's With Paul and Women", and another one out this year entitled "No Will of My Own - How Patriarchy Smothers Female Dignity and Personhood". Read Wade Burleson's forward to this latest book here at Wade's blog.

Let me give you a quote from Wade Burleson's foreward he wrote for Jon's book "What's With Paul and Women":

"The viper known as 'the doctrine of male authority' has bitten the church. the toxin emitted by this errant teaching affects the females within our assemblies. It debilitates their God-given gifts, denigrates their Spirit-led ministry, and downplays their role as new Covenant priests. Those of us who have seen the church bitten need assistance, and help has arrived. This book will help you suck out the venom of male-only authority within the church. It will do so by helping you be able to articulate Jesus' view of the equality of women and then revealing for you how Paul's words in 1 Timothy 2 are consistent with Jesus' own teaching and ministry. You will be able to point out to others how the modern institutional church has misconstrued and misinterpreted Paul's writings on the subject, while at the same time ignoring Jesus' words and life on the same subject."

So I hope this Mother's Day you will commit to at least consider the possibility that you have learned wrongly what the Bible says about women, and do further investigation starting with Jon Zens' bible teachings in this area. I believe this is so very, very important. I believe this wrong teaching that has infected our churches for so long is why we are reading about so much sexual abuse and cover-ups in our churches as Christa Brown has chronicled for years. I also firmly believe that the absence of women from any serious positions of leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention or in our churches is why there is no movement at all toward reaching out at a denominational level to victims of pastoral abuse or establishing a database of credibly accused ministers to keep predator pastors from freely moving from church to church. Many of the problems we see in the SBC, I believe, are related to having women on the outside of the leadership circle.

So Happy Mother's Day...and please, men....as a gift to the women in your life, be open to what God might speak to you in this important area.

Mother's Day at FBC Jax Means: We Need 1% More of Your Money to Do Basic Ministry

And here's a thought: if you think the ministries shown on the video are worthwhile, do NOT give to FBC Jax, but rather give DIRECTLY TO THE MINISTRIES! Mac has said that anything in excess of the goal will go into the general fund!! This means if they take in $200,000, then only about 3/4 of your money will go to those ministries. Give directly to Trinity Rescue Mission or the First Coast Women's Ministry, click on the links and GIVE!! Don't funnel it through FBC Jax where some of it might end up in their general fund for salaries and buildings." FBC Jax Watchdog

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This Sunday FBC Jax is taking up ANOTHER special offering on Mother's Day.

It seems they STILL don't have enough of your money coming in to do basic ministry.

Mac and Trey Brunson announced in video form Sunday 4/24 that they need to raise an additional 1% of their budget by members giving 1% more of their income to FBC Jax, so that they can help Duval County Schools, give money to the the crisis pregnancy center, and help out at Trinity Rescue mission, and to help fund a church plant in Columbus, Ohio.

They are already giving $500k to the Cooperative Program, but they need more of your money for the Columbus, Ohio church plant.

So the dollar amount they are shooting to collect from you this Sunday is $130,000 for these ministry needs.

They take in $13 to $14 million a year, and they can't budget these items in, so guess what: they need YOU to give more money. And as Mac said, if you're really generous and they raise more than the $130,000, it will go into the general budget.

I blogged about this back in 2008 when Mac asked for $1 million to pay for "emergency repairs". I told the FBC Jax faithful that you already gave it, and THEY need to budget better. That year they took a special offering to put Mac's sermons back on INSP network, then later that year Mac coldly demanded $1 million in two weeks for their emergency repairs. They didn't get it, and the Monday after the special offering was taken, the church administrator filed his complaint with the JSO detective/church member/church security guard/deacon/discipline committee member (yes, he was all five), and that opened the investigation into this blog resulting in subpoenas for this blog, Tiffany Croft's blog, and the Bellevue Baptist blog.

But, I will say the same thing here: you already gave it and are giving it. The good people of FBC Jax are giving generously in tough times already, so why doesn't FBC Jax and Mac Brunson find the $130,000 in the budget? They just spent millions in putting in a new stage and new carpet and new pews, and now they need $130,000 MORE, else they can't do basic, essential ministry in our city? Do they think people are THAT gullible and can't see through this?

And here's a thought: if you think the ministries shown on the video are worthwhile, do NOT give to FBC Jax, but rather give DIRECTLY TO THE MINISTRIES! Mac has said that anything in excess of the goal will go into the general fund!! This means if they take in $200,000, then only about 3/4 of your money will go to those ministries. Give directly to Trinity Rescue Mission or the First Coast Women's Ministry, click on the links and GIVE!! Don't funnel it through FBC Jax where some of it might end up in their general fund for salaries and buildings.

God Bless Florida Baptist Convention Director John Sullivan. He made a cameo appearance on the video with Mac and Trey, saying he and his wife are giving 1% more of their income to FBC Jax so they can do more ministry.

So follow John Sullivan's lead, FBC Jax. Give 1% MORE.

Let's hope that our soon-to-be-elected mayor Mike Hogan, long-time FBC Jax member, doesn't follow his pastor's lead and try to get 1% more from us to fix the city's financial ills.

Or better yet...maybe Mike Hogan can teach Mac a few things about fiscal responsibility and cutting expenses, rather than always coming to the people holding out his monogrammed-cuffed hands asking for more money.

Perry Noble's Church Opens Service With Katy Perry Song: So Is it Really Non-Tithers Who Promote the Gay Lifestyle, or NewSpring Church?

Two weeks ago, Perry Noble said that if there were fewer greedy, non-tithing, God-robbing Christians, there might be less homosexuality in the world.

"Maybe there would be less homosexuality in the world today if there were less greedy Christians who actually cared enough to tithe and spread the gospel." Perry Noble, April 17, 2011

But interestingly, we see this past Sunday, that the reverse might just be true: that the more money you give to NewSpring Church, the MORE promotion of homosexuality you might be involved in! It might actually be the tithers and Perry Noble at NewSpring, not the non-tithers, who are promoting homosexuality.

You see, this past Sunday Perry Noble's worship band opened the service by playing and singing the song "You're a Firework". Watch the NewSpring worship band here.

"You're a Firework" is a world-wide #1 hit pop song, performed by and co-written by pop sensation Katy Perry. The song is from her album "Teenage Dream", and the music video for the song features several young people who find courage within themselves to overcome their fears and anxieties. One of the young people in the video is a gay young man who musters the courage to approach another young man at a party and land a French kiss on him, as seen in the still shot below from the video. The sparks in the picture are from the "fireworks" bursting from within as he expresses himself as a gay man kissing another man. That is what the song is about in part.

So who is promoting homosexuality now? Is it the non-tithers? I think not - perhaps it is the tithers at NewSpring Church, because it is a reasonable assumption that Perry Noble's church did pay a licensing fee to Katy Perry and her co-writers for the use of her song. If true, then Perry Noble's NewSpring Church is taking money from Christians who were told they MUST give it to God (via NewSpring, Inc. of course) and NewSpring (on God's behalf, presumably) purposely gives it to an artist who has no problem promoting the gay lifestyle in her songs and videos. Watchdog readers might remember that Katy Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the song "I Kissed a Girl (and I Liked It)", about her fantasy of romantically kissing a pretty girl.

So while Perry Noble pontificates that greedy non-tithers are keeping him from reaching the gays with the gospel....his church is playing songs written by a pop artist who does not have a problem promoting the gay lifestyle.

I'm really not trying to make light of the hypocrisy of Perry Noble in this...it really is a serious matter. Noble's church is filled with a very young crowd - that is why his worship band is playing rock and pop songs. We've raised teenagers for the past 8 years, and believe me all the teens at NewSpring know who Katy Perry is, and they know of her "I Kissed a Girl" song. Many of them have probably seen the "You're a Firework" video featuring the male kiss above. So for Perry Noble's worship leaders to be playing Katy Perry music is about as close to promoting the gay lifestyle as a church can get, whether they mean to or not.

But if you're a gullible mega church pew sitter, it is easy to convince you that the person who doesn't drop 10% in the plate is the one who is helping to promote a gay lifestyle, not those who might be paying licensing fees to artists who promote a gay lifestyle in their music and videos.

So let's do a remix on Perry's quote:

"Maybe there would be less homosexuality in the world if emergent churches would stop confusing their young Christians by playing in their worship services secular music written and performed by artists who promote the gay lifestyle." Watchdog, May 4, 2011