"In What Room Did Your Father Molest Your Sister?" What Sort of Depraved Mind Asks Such a Question? Why Tim Rogers, Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church of Course!

Last night Ergun Caner had a Twitter Q&A session, where he invited people to ask him anything on Twitter, and he would reply.

As you might expect, Tim Rogers, pictured at left, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist in Indian Trail, North Carolina was there to defend Ergun Caner from those who used the Q&A invitation from Caner to ask him about his lies and refusal to repent.

And Rogers was in rare form, using his standard tactic of defending Caner by attacking James White.

But this time Rogers has gone off the rails, using a tragedy in James White's family involving allegations of molestation of White's sister by their father when James was a young boy. Whatever the truth is in THAT situation in James White's family, it has absolutely nothing to do with Ergun Caner using the events of 9/11 to begin deceiving people about where he was raised and his prowess as a trained terrorist who converted to Christianity just before he strapped a bomb to his back.

Look at this Tweet from Tim Rogers, a supposed "man of God", Southern Baptist pastor, in which Rogers is almost making light of and poking fun at the tragedy in James White's family, calling James White "Jimmy" and asking him about the room in which his sister was molested:

And this was just one of many Tweets Rogers posted about the molestation charges in White's family. Go to Rogers' Tweet feed and see if for yourself. He continues to make charges that James White has committed a crime, that he covers for pedophiles.

There you have it, folks. If you needed any further evidence that Ergun Caner and his vocal defenders and his silent supporters will stop at absolutely nothing to prop Caner up to avoid the embarrassment that Caner's decade of deceit is to the likes of Jerry Vines and Paige Patterson and Jack Graham, you now have it.

Thank you, Tim Rogers, for showing the darkness of your heart in this and other Tweets in the past 24 hours.

I'm sure Tim's church members are proud of his defense of the deceiver Ergun Caner, and how he has asked the most sickening of questions to poke fun at the tragedy in White's family. And to make unfounded criminal allegations against James White.

As one commenter or Twitter said today, the train wreck known as "Ergun Caner" is gaining speed, and when it finally derails the mess it will make in the SBC and the embarrassment it will bring to many who have supported him will be spectacular.

Merry Christmas from the Watchdog

Merry Christmas to Watchdog readers!

Below is a repost of the WD poem from 2009. I did a remix of it a few years ago, below is the original.

Looking forward to 2014, the 8th year of the Watchdog watching pastors and churches and giving commentary and analysis. I suppose my tagline should be "gathering, condensing, and analyzing shameless nuttery from the SBC and mega church worlds... so you don't have to."

 And while some accuse me of only seeing the negative in pastors and churches: it is not true. While shameless nuttery is the focus of my writing on this blog, I have had good experiences in 2013 with several pastors - even a mega church pastor - that has shown kindness and grace to me and my family, and who refuses to beat the sheep like so many other pastors over tithing and instead teaches people to be generous givers. So these pastors are out there, but the Watchdog will keep watching and writing about the others in 2014.

'Twas the Sunday Before Christmas

'Twas the Sunday before Christmas

and all through God's church

"Not a churchman is tithing!"

Yelled the preacher from his perch

So the plates were all passed

down each row with great care,

In hopes that the peeps

Would put their 10% there.

The preacher told them 

how dare they not tithe,

Our country's safety at stake, 

Else God's wrath would arrive.

Mama in her new dress, 

and me in my tie,

I saw that plate coming, 

with a tear in my eye.

I took out my envelope, 

with my measly 9 percent

knowing I was "sinning", 

but had just paid my rent.

Here came the plate, 

Put my envelope upside down,

tried to fake a tithing smile, 

but wore a 9 percent frown.

Off Deacons, Off Trustees, 

please count all the dough

See if there is enough, 

for our mega preacher TV show.

The mega church preacher 

climbed up into his place

Said our tithe to his church, 

was required for grace.

He told of his trip to New York, 

how he was doing God's will,

and that we as God's people 

needed to pay for the bill.

He invited us with him, 

on a Holy Land Trip,

or to sail down the Danube, 

on a luxury ship.

He had a broad face 

and a little round belly,

That shook when he yelled, 

like a bowlful of jelly.

He pulled off his glasses 

and gave a jerk of his head,

Soon gave me to know 

I had something to dread;

He spoke not from the Word, 

and went straight to his work,

Began to tell the non-tither, 

how he was a jerk,

He was dressed all in finery, 

even cufflinks of gold,

He took out his Bible 

and yelled to the fold:

"Now please get out your bibles, 

you stupid sheep,

You're holding your tithe back, 

you're being way too cheap,

You owe me ten - 

not nine, not eight,

And we'll spend it as we please, 

you dare not designate."

We thought from our Bibles 

he would be sure to show,

How point-one times the gross, 

is the exact amount we owe.

But ne'er did he exegete 

this demand placed on us,

he just told us to fork it over, 

no need to discuss.

He said if we didn't agree, 

to "Take it up wit da book",

But he didn't tell me where, 

I should start to look.

The white-haired man to my left 

held on to his wallet

His trip to church today 

he was sure to regret.

"I didn't know it", whispered, 

the old man with sweat on his brow,

Then the preacher yelled, 

"HA, well you know it NOW."

I told the old man, 

after the show,

"Don't worry its not what you give, 

but rather its Who you know."

"The message this Christmas, sir, 

is God sent his Son,

He's after our hearts first, 

Not a wallet, not one."

"Baby Jesus came into the world, 

to show us the way,

Not to tell us what percent 

to the pastor we must pay."

The old man grinned, 

and nodded his head with a smile,

"I knew that, and 

I'll see you all in a little while."

"See, at Christmas time, 

I've blessed kids with gifts each year,

And not once did I demand 

a tithe in exchange for my cheer."

"I find it quite odd, 

these men demand cash as they do,

When God gives His love freely, 

to me and to you."

But I heard him exclaim, 

ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, 

and to all a good-night."

Jack Graham Explains How to Have Your Best Christmas: Shun Church Critics, Especially Those "Watchdoggers"

At left is Jack Graham, pastor of the mega church Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.

Being the loving, caring pastor that he is, Pastor Jack delivered a sermon on December 8th explaining how his church members can have their best Christmas ever.

Here is Pastor Jack's advice:

"There's lots of bloggers and watchdoggers who love to attack pastors and churches...maybe people you hang out with who love to attack churches and be negative about the church. My advice to you if you want to be happy in life is to get as far away as possible from those people. They're only going to drag you down....Instead, get around people who say something like this: 'Isn't it great what God is doing in our church?'"

Here is a 3-minute excerpt from Pastor Jack's December 8th sermon:

Ah yes, one of the keys to having your best Christmas EVER is to determine in your heart that you're going to shun those who might criticize your church or your pastor.

Most pastors don't stand in their pulpit and say these kinds of things. To Pastor Jack's credit, at least he wasn't too angry about it.

But why would Jack Graham want to use his pulpit to tell his church members to not read blogs, to basically shun all people who criticize the church or pastors? Because it was a blogger who helped begin the process of calling Graham's church to explain why they failed to report pedophile John Langworthy to police, resulting in the pedophile moving to Mississippi where he molested more children.

Amy Smith is probably one of the "bloggers" that Graham would tell people to shun and stay away from. As I wrote back in 2011 in my article "In the Langworthy/Prestonwood Story, Bloggers Once Again Show They are Sorely Needed to Get Truth Out" I wrote:

"With the help of the New BBC Open Forum blog recently, former Prestonwood Baptist staffer Amy Smith was able to get the attention of folks in Langworthy's new church and community. Finally as word spread among the people at Langworthy's church, and they did Internet searches that landed them on the New BBC Open Forum post here, they realized they may have a pedophile in their midst. Their church leadership began an investigation, and then Brett Shipp became involved. Brett covered the story because of the connection of Langworthy to Prestonwood, and their apparent failure to report Langworthy's crimes to the police back in 1989 and instead let him slip away to another church."

Yes, those darned "bloggers and watchdoggers". They dare to criticize Jack Graham's church for not reporting a pedophile which resulted in John Langworthy continuing his abuse at another church.

So Prestonwood Baptist members: don't listen to your Man of God on this issue. He is one of the many mega church pastors and their minions who view bloggers as a problem. You should know that the New BBC Open Forum blog I mentioned above that helped bust one of your former pedophile ministers was one of the blogs that Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Detective Robbie Hinson subpoenaed (click here to see the subpoena for yourself) back in 2008 when he investigated my blog to uncover my identity (which resulted in a first amendment lawsuit ultimately settled out of court) - all while Hinson was on the discipline committee of his megachurch which sought my identity. Detective and Discipline Committee Member Hinson for good measure also subpoenaed Tiffany Croft's blog - a blog that actually assisted our State Attorney's office in gathering information from fearful Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist church members who reported Darrell Gilyard's (pictured at right) sexual abuses.
 
And don't forget about Prestonwood's treatment of Chris Tynes, another critic worthy of shunning in the wacky world of Pastor Jack: don't call the cops on the pedophile, but call the cops on the guy demanding answers about the pedophile. And one more reason Pastor Jack doesn't like Watchdoggers: we were quick to point out that Pastor Jack was one of those pastors who got duped by Ergun Caner right after 9/11 and allowed Caner to use the Prestonwood pulpit to create his new "former terrorist" image.

But hey, Prestonwood members, perhaps Jack's advice will indeed give you the best Christmas ever, and help you live a happy life: see no evil, hear no evil - and certainly speak no evil. As one friend said recently: if your pastor publicly declares that you shouldn't listen to this or to that person and tells you to shun a person - that should trigger a red flag to cause you to consider that this person is on to something, and schedule a lunch date with them immediately.

Or at least cause you to visit their blogsite every week or so.

Merry Christmas to you, Jack Graham, and thanks for sending me more readership from your church.

Video of Ergun Caner Getting the Call to Brewton Parker!!

Well WD readers, our old friend, the "DrErgunCaner" video spoofer is back. Below is a just-released YouTube video of Ergun Caner getting the call from Brewton Parker Trustee "Bucky" Kennedy, offering the BP presidency to Ergun. You'll get to see what the next phone call was that Ergun made after Bucky called. Hilarious stuff.

This is ground-breaking video. You've heard hot-shot pastors say "God called me" to their church, that it wasn't the job, the city, the six figure salary, or a land gift or other perks and jobs for family members. It was "God called them". Well, here you get to see how it actually works, when God actually makes the call. 

Seriously though, the Ergun Caner debacle has reached such a ridiculous stage - the denials and the defenses and the lawsuits with more to come I'm sure - that all that is left is to make the points through parody. As Rush Limbaugh has said many times, sometimes the only way to illustrate absurdity is by being absurd.

And by the way, the video below is a spoof of this real Ergun Caner video.

Welcome back, Fake Ergun Caner, after a 2-year hiatus. Thanks for helping us make the point about how ridiculous this all is, and giving us a laugh or two.

"From the Dog House to the Blog House" - The (Embellished) Life Story of Willie Vincenzo Nazzareno Antonio Watchdog, aka "FBC Jax Watchdog"

Finally, the day has come for the Watchdog to tell his story.....it's what you've been waiting for in the soon released memoirs of the Watchdog:

"From the Dog House to the Blog House" by Willie Vincenzo Nazzareno Antonio Watchdog, aka "The Hitman"

subtitled "A Former Devout Sicilian Catholic Mafia member Becomes a Warrior Southern Baptist"

Watchdog readers have long thought that the Watchdog was just some boring, run-of-the-mill, trespassed church member gone bad.  Oh, but you haven't heard the REAL Watchdog story! His name might be just FBC Jax Watchdog, but his birth name is Willie Vincenzo Nazzareno Antonio Watchdog, and he was born and raised as a strict Sicilian Catholic mafia gangster who became a Baptist as a teenager.

And it's all coming out in his new book, and will be retold (embellished) as he tours the world preaching about his old days as a devout teenage mafia gangster raised in a Catholic household and sharing his expertise on all things Catholic and mafia. And oh, can he spin a yarn!

Buy his book and you can meet the real Willie Vincenzo Watchdog, aka "The Hitman". You will laugh, you will cry, you will open your wallet as you read about his life. Willie Vincenzo Watchdog will at long last tell the compelling story of how he was raised a devout Sicilian Catholic by a strict Catholic father, and was disowned when he became a Baptist blogger at the age of somewhere between 13 and 17.

Here are some excerpts from the soon released classic - edited by Watchdog's good friend E. Michael Caner - telling the unique story of Watchdog:

"Vincenzo Antonio Watchdog was born in Norway, but was raised in Europe, Beirut, and Turkey (along the Danube River), before emigrating to Columbus, Ohio, with his Sicilian Italian Catholic Mafia boss father at the age of 12 or 13 or 14 or thereabouts. He risked it all, tearing off his strict Catholic altar boy clothing to come to America and don his Baptist tie and coat."

Hear the Watchdog "The Hitman" describe his very troubled upbringing in his own words:

"Let me tell you something, I submit to you that I was raised in the Sicilian Mafia Cosa Nostra until the age of 15 or 16 or 17 or so, when I came to America....and let me tell you something, I was raised to do the very things that were portrayed in the Godfather I, II, III, and a few of the things in 'Goodfellas' - especially the scene of the guy in the trunk. But when I came to America, I realized I didn't need to kill people anymore."

Hear how Willie Watchdog had to bear the brunt of jokes and ridicule and scorn for his Italian Sicilian Mafia upbringing:

"When I first went to church, I wasn't called 'Dago', or 'Mary worshipper', 'popeblower, 'Mackerel Snapper', or 'Al Pacino'....I got plenty of that OUTSIDE the church....they didn't care that I spoke Italian and was a killer. Oh yes, I said my Hail Marys 5 times a day in the bathroom - that's how devout I was."

And his Sicilian Italian upbringing that led him to think that Americans wanted to kill him:

"Yes, in my upbringing in Europe, Beirut, Turkey, and other mostly Italian countries, I was taught that you Americans hated me for being a Catholic. Did I say I was trained to do that which was done in Godfather I, II, and III, and some of what was done in 'Goodfellas' - especially the scene with the guy in the trunk?"

And about receiving his calling to become a Baptist blogger:

"It was shortly after I became a Baptist, though my English was still poor, though I could not speak as clearly as others, I surrendered to the ministry. I was being called by Gawd to blog - it happened during a trip on a camel up the side of a mountain in Sicily - and I knew God had called me. My brother and sister, if you are in this room, within the sound of my voice, I tell you that though I was in the Mafia, you are at war as well. Because though you are at war with God, God wants to win you, not kill you."

Wow!! What a conversion story Watchdog has to tell! You will agree, Watchdog is a true WARRIOR!!!!

So put in your advance order for the story of the Watchdog...time is short!

Stay tuned for Watchdog's upcoming books, after his star rises:

"Unveiling Catholicism: An Insider's Look at Catholicism"

"Unveiling Cosa Nostra: An Insider's Look at the Mafia"

"Unveiling False Biographies"

"Unveiling the Unveiling: An Insider's Look at Unveiling things that Need to be Unveiled"

"Veiling Your Biography: An Insider's Look at Writing a Fancy Biography to Get Good Speaking Gigs and Book Deals."

"The Art of Speaking Jibberish"

"How to Fit Your Fibs to Your Audience"

"The Rise and Fall of  Ex-Satanist Mike Warnke: Lessons on How Not to Embellish One's Testimony"

"Satellite Dish Hats, Curtain Rods, and Shoes that Match their Cars - A Humorous Look at the African American Worship Experience" [click here for context]

"More than a Pope: An Insider's Response to Catholic Beliefs"

"Mafia Jihad: Two Former Mafia Members (Watchdog and Brother Marmaduke) Look at the Crusades and Killing in the Name of Gotti"

"Why Baptist Churches Die - 101 Ways You Stupid Sheep Mess Up a Pastor's Ministry" - Written with Watchdog's Good Friend

"Out of the Sicilian Shadows: Leading Catholic Women out of the Doghouse"

Also, if you want to join Willie Vincenzo Nazzareno Watchdog on a trip to the Holy Land, including a tour of his homeland in Turkey, Norway, Italy (Sicily), and a brief "cruise down the Danube" and other areas where Watchdog was raised, STAY TUNED! Coming in April 2014!!!

Caner 2007 GBC Convention Sermon: Some Irony, Some Hypocrisy, Some Prophecy - And Yes, Some Baloney

I thought it fitting now that the Georgia Baptists have hired Ergun Caner as one of their college's presidents to go back to the last time Ergun Caner addressed the Georgia Baptist pastors and take a listen. Afterall, these pastors and their congregants will now be helping to pay Caner's salary - and maybe his legal fees - so let's go back and hear what Caner had to say to his Georgia brethren.

I dug back into the Watchdog archives and have found the sermon Ergun Caner delivered at the 2007 Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference on September 7, 2007.

But give Caner his props - it was a real humdinger of a sermon. He he had them rolling in the aisles, and he had them amening and hootin' and hollerin'. Caner's sermon that day was a prime example of why Caner is such a popular circuit speaker.

However, in the 6 years that have transpired since he delivered it - four parts of his sermon are worth noting given recent events. There was some irony, some hypocrisy, a little bit of prophecy, and as in most Caner sermons, there was a serving of baloney.

Let's take them one by one. We shall start with the prophecy.

Prophecy: Caner warned the pastors about the bloggers "attacking" pastors.

In a bit of prophecy and foreshadowing, Caner warned about the dangers of bloggers "sowing seeds of discord among the brethren". In September 2007 when this sermon was delievered, this blog had just begun a few weeks prior, and there were several other bloggers out there such as the NewBBCOpenForum, Saving Bellevue, and another one dedicated to Two Rivers Baptist in Nashville. Caner was one of the first to be out front warning of the "evils" of bloggers. He even made a reference to bloggers in their parents' basement.

Here is an excerpt from the 51:15 mark of the sermon:

"Everybody in our church is demanding their rights and believe that their opinion is worth hearing, and they BLOG US TO DEATH. Now you need to listen to me. I've got a blog, and many of you do too. But there are those that have become infected with this narcissism. They've developed this focus on their own opinion and thus they have a spirit of dissension. They sow seeds of discord among the brethren." (51:15 mark)

Who knew when these words were uttered that it would be Caner himself who had the most to lose by those nosy and "narcissistic" bloggers? Perhaps Caner saw the day coming where HE would have his fibs posted on these same blogs and thus he decided to take a pre-emptive strike. Imagine Caner's horror when he realized that ordinary, non-ordained Christians obtained some measure of power through the blogosphere to disclose and discuss the misdeeds of pastors.

Or perhaps Caner's words above were just a divine prophetic moment, now revealed by God on my blog. Or is that just me being narcissistic?

Irony:  Caner warned about the evils of Christian lawsuits.

"Everybody is obsessed with their rights. You know why we know this? Because everbody is suing everybody else. We're a litigious society, aren't we? Everybody's got a right to sue!! I got a right to get me some cheese!!! I'm gonna get me some cheddar!!! I'm gonna get me my money!!  Why? Because it can't be my fault! It's not my fault, I'm a victim...if I'm a victim, I'm not culpable. If I'm not culpable, I'm not responsible. If I'm not responsible, it's not sin. So what we do instead of bowing our knee in repentance, is we demand our rights. And it has infected the church." (50:10 mark)

I guess Ergun Caner had a change in heart on lawsuits replacing repentance and responsibility and culpability. 

Baloney: Caner claimed to debate various groups, and that they are available online.

"You can get everyone one of my - I have two rules when I debate. Number one, no money. You know why? Because they say we're always after money. And I work for Jerry Falwell. Right? The second rule is no Christian can ask me a question. No money, you can download all my debates. I debate the gay church, I've debated B'Hai, Buddhists, Shintos, Orasthean (?), Muslims." (48:45 mark)

So here it is, unmistakable - Caner is claiming not to have had informal debates, as in one-on-one conversations. But these would have been recorded, uploaded, available for downloading, debates with multiple religious groups.

Where are these formal debates? Did they ever occur? Was this just a simple "misstatement"? He thought he had debated but forgot that they hadn't occurred yet?  He had a few dates wrong? Or was he purposely misleading the Georgia pastors about his debating prowess? I think we know the answer.

Hypocrisy:  Caner claims his debates are free, offered online, and would not want any money for them.

The rest of the quote from above:

"The second rule is no Christian can ask me a question. No money, you can download all my debates. I debate the gay church, I've debated Baha'i, Buddhists, Shintos, Orasthean (?), Muslims. You get 'em all. They're free, they will always be free. Why? Because I like a good debate, and I like the church in culture."

That is great! He doesn't want to charge for his recorded debates, and he claims to want them available to everyone everywhere, available for downloading on the Internet. Thus, he wants them to have as wide of dissemination as possible, unhindered by the need to pay for them. He throws in the point that he is already being paid a salary so why try to charge more money.

If he claimed in 2007 that he wants his debates to be spread via the Internet unhindered, why would he object to sermons? Why would he object to his excellent speech given to the Marines in 2005  being posted on the Internet? And more importantly: why would he now claim that he wants compensation from Jon Autry and Jason Smathers for doing what he said he himself does or rather claims to do: puts his debates online for free for anyone to download?

So there you have it. Something for everyone.

And I'll leave you with one other quote from the Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference of 2007, that only Ergun Caner gets a pass on:

"I don't think the Tele-Tubbies are gay. I think Barney [the dinosaur] is queer." (48:45 mark)

And did the Georgia boys ever yuck it up over that one.

And listen to the sermon for yourself right here: