Creflo Dollar was arrested today for allegedly choking his 15-year old daughter during an argument in his Atlanta home.If Eddie Long's sexual relationships with male teenagers at his church was just a "wreck" - as Creflo Dollar himself said almost one year ago - I guess we can characterize Creflo's little scuffle here as just a "fender bender".
Remember, mega church attenders, the men you watch on Sunday mornings on the stage in mega churches are mostly performers. They are talented orators, superb story tellers, and they have a gift of being able to give a speech without interruption or having to answer any rebuttals. They probably are not who you think they are off the stage, behind the scenes, and they are definitely not the "holy men of God" who have some sort of "special anointing".
Megachurch pastors who wear shiny suits, beautiful cufflinks and strut around the stage while the TV cameras are on: they are sinners like you and me, no one special, no special "anointing", no special calling on their lives even. They are men who have chosen professional ministry as a vocation, and have risen to the top of their profession based on their skills, a little luck, and because they have friends in high places. They and their wives like the high life they have achieved, and they want you to think they deserve it.
And they have built it all on the premise that you, the commoner, owe 10% of your income to their 501(c)3 ministry.
Don't be fooled. Creflo Dollar had people fooled, and he will continue to try to fool them.
Listening to so much Ergun lately, I have to come to the same conclusion. People consider someone anointed when they sound anointed. This can be faked. It's a little disconcerting.
ReplyDeleteLol,
ReplyDeleteYou can not find this stuff in a soap opera. What the high light for me was when I read "friends in high places" I was sitting at the local DQ and Garth was singing it in the background.
I have grown up with several mega church pastors if you define mega as running 2000 or more attendes. Many have a great burden and gift for the extolling of the excellencies of Christ. What is the deal about referencing cufflinks? Thats not a sign of abusive wealth or any indication of one being flashy.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know the facts yet so maybe you shouldn't be going off on the guy just yet. How about the possibility that a disrespectful young lady got punished and blew it out of proportion? Could be. But nah, let's go ahead and say he is a horrible man, as all pastors are. I am so sick of this crap. Not all pastors are bad. If he choked her, fine, throw the book at him. But like so many stories today (Travon, anyone?), everyone would rather convict in the media first.
ReplyDeleteJohn - cufflinks are of the devil. If your pastor is wearing cufflinks, then watch out!
ReplyDeleteWhat does "extol" mean?
:)
Well mr. Dog , you have me. I have worn cufflinks all my forty years of preaching and will this Sunday at Homecoming for a former church!To extol means to prise, lift up and/or raise up.P.S. Are tie chains still in style if they match your cufflinks? :)
ReplyDeleteIt's just a joke, John. I'm sure your cufflinks are very tasteful. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the daughter will notice how all the parishioners run to defend her father? Will that bother her? Open her eyes to what church is really all about?
ReplyDeleteI think the basic thinking of many in these congregations (not all, hopefully) is that their pastor is a Man of God, and he's up against Satan and all his minions! I mean, the poor guy! He must be supported not matter what he does! Anybody who brings difficulty into his life is working right along with the devil.
I don't know, it just seems that the pastor is always portrayed as a victim, no matter what.
WD,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on most things. Seems like we may need a few more facts before the condemnation in this post is deserved. For me, a long-time lurker but non-commenter, it appears that you jumped the gun here.
And before anyone says boo about anything, I consider Creflo Dollar a heretic and a hinderance to the work of the Kingdom.
A Pastor in Texas
Anon 4:43
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's healthy and normal for a father and 15 year old to go at it physically when there's a disagreement. How dare she be "disrespectful." I'm sure he was the epitome of grace.
APIT: no jumping of guns, no premature condemnation. Simply making the point that Creflo Dollar's arrest shows that mega church pastors who paint themselves as specially-anointed holy men of God, are AT BEST no different than the average pew sitter, no closer to God than the next guy.
ReplyDeleteAnd perhaps they're much, much worse.
Here's the Story on CNN with video
ReplyDeletehttp://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/08/megachurch-pastor-arrested-for-battery/?iref=obnetwork
I'm going to jump the gun and state I'm on Creflo's side on this one. Enough with the mouthy 15 years old.
ReplyDeleteMega is the prefix meaning million. Kilo is the prefix meaning thousand. So Megachurch can not refer to the people, who number only the in the thousands. It must refer to the money, probably the salary, benefits, etc. of the pastor and his family members. So, if you go to a mega-church, you know where your money is.
ReplyDeleteCreflo Dollar Says: “Shoot Them All Dead”
ReplyDeleteCreflo Dollar: Arrested for Attacking Daughter
I'm sure also that none of his church people will be so rude as to bring up that verse about leaders managing their own households well.
ReplyDeleteObviously, whatever happened, a teenage daughter was willing to call the police on her father.
From reading the comments in the newspaper where many are supporting him totally, I conclude that there is nothing to worry about if you are a mega pastor. Your congregation will defend you no matter what you do. They will feel anger for your victim for causing a problem for you and the church.
Obviously, whatever happened, a teenage daughter was willing to call the police on her father.
ReplyDeleteAnd her 19-year-old sister corroborated her story.
On a different note, could Blogger possibly make the captcha feature any more stupid and unwieldy? Because I'm sure if they could, they would!
From reading the comments in the newspaper where many are supporting him totally, I conclude that there is nothing to worry about if you are a mega pastor.
ReplyDeleteI've always said one of these guys could commit cold-blooded murder on the platform some Sunday morning, and he'd get a standing O.
WD,
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to my assertion that it might be premature. Certainly the news reports are favoring the daughters' stories at this point. But what do I know? I'm only a pastor of a 300-attending congregation. No Mega for me.
A Pastor in Texas
What do you think a Old Testament Tithing preacher would teach on this subject?
ReplyDeleteRebellious Kids?
Stone em by
Bellevue Baptist Church pastor
Steve Gaines
http://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoaf2VY4.html
APIT - there is nothing premature here in this article. I'm not saying he is guilty, or that the daughter is right. Simply pointing out: mega church pastors are no different than any body else. No special "anointing". Only special suits and cufflinks and story-telling abilities. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm flabbergasted that the daughter(s) had the guts to call the police. Perhaps it was his wife who called. At any rate, his family is now standing up to his abuse, and for that, they should be applauded, though it will be a very very hard road for them now. Just a very sad situation.
ReplyDeleteHere's another video of Steve Gaines talking abut who's abusing the children:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoafM_69.html
WD - I understand your point. But reading Geoff Surratt this morning made me pause. Just a thought - http://geoffsurratt.com/blog/2012/06/08/judging-creflo-dollar/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FwJhY+%28Inner+Revolution%29
ReplyDeleteJB
Older daughter confirms the 15 year old daughters version of what happened.
ReplyDeleteGlad I was never your kid, Anon 1:23.
ReplyDeleteGod did not intend "spare the rod, spoil the child" to include choking or other physical brutality.
Money says his daughter will come out with "heartfelt," eloquent public apology for calling the police on her well-known father. And say that she started it and that he really didn't hurt her and that it was all her fault.
Geoff Surratt excerpt:
ReplyDelete“In a world where Black children are shot every day by one another and by the police, the tough hand of a loving parent might be the only thing that keeps that child out of the morgue. I encourage others to refrain from judging Pastor Dollar’s parenting techniques until the evidence is fully revealed. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day, his daughter thanks him for his sacrifice.” (You can read the full article here)
Is Creflo Dollar an angry, ego-maniacal prosperity preacher who has finally been revealed for the fraud we knew him to be? Or is he a desperate dad willing to do whatever it takes to protect his daughter from evil?
What would I do if my 15 year old daughter demanded to go to a party I had forbidden her to go to? What if I caught her sneaking out of the house at midnight, and she refused to stop when I told her to? What if there were older boys waiting for her in a car in the driveway? What if I could see that the boy who was driving was obviously drunk? What would I do to keep my 15 year old daughter from climbing in that car, to keep her from going to that party, to protect her from making a decision she could never recover from? Is it possible that I would physically restrain her? Is it possible in the course of a horrible, horrible encounter that she might get a scratch on her neck? And what if she was so angry at me, so enraged that she couldn’t go that party, that she called the police and told them that I had beat her?
I don’t know what happened at Creflo Dollar’s house last night. But I do know that when I choose to judge him, regardless of how I feel about his theology, I am walking into dangerous territory. In John 8 Jesus seems to indicate that the prerequisite for judgement is perfection, and I’m nowhere near that standard.
The reality is that, while they don’t make headlines, I come into contact with stories like this every day. People make decisions I don’t understand, people espouse views I can’t agree with, people fall into the trap of sin that chips away at their soul. I can have one of two attitudes when I encounter the messiness of life in a fallen world:
Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
Oh, and one more thing, I’m thankful my kids didn’t have cell phones when they were 15.
Great, great post!
ReplyDeleteHere is the ubiquitous standing O.
ReplyDeleteThe "family mansion"?
"They weren't scratches on her neck
ReplyDelete...the only thing on her neck was a
prior skin abrasions... "
Oh that explains everything,
so there could other times?
Rely on the power of the holy spirit. Not man! Pray for your nation! Pray for Christians that they may wake up!
ReplyDeleteHe supports Eddie Long? That says it all. I Don't trust him.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody remember him thinking up shooting all non-tithers with UZI's, now this? The man has a real problem!
ReplyDelete