A Glimmer of Hope: So Far Trinity's Fuller is Saying the Right Things

Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in this Trinity Baptist Church scandal.

After listening to the May 30, 2010 sermon of Trinity's young pastor, Brian Fuller - who now must clean up the mess left by previous pastor Chuck Phelps - just maybe these younger pastors are looking at the deplorable way scandals are usually handled at Baptist churches, and they are learning how NOT to respond to scandal in their church. Fuller's 38-minute sermon is devoted mostly to explaining the need for the church to face the harsh criticism from this scandal without lashing back, take a hard look at themselves and what was done in 1997 and what it says about them now, and see what restitution needs to be made and what change needs to occur at their church.

So maybe the light that has been shone on Baptist scandals by bloggers over the past 5 years is providing results - younger pastors like Fuller realize the tired old cover, sweep-under-the- rug, never-admit-any-wrong-doing, attack and defend tactics are wrong.

You'll notice in his sermon Fuller is not lashing out at church critics or even his personal critics. In fact he tells his church to avoid this temptation, as there may be truth in what is negatively being said about the church. He acknowledges wrong may have been done, that perhaps the church treated the victim wrongly, did not do enough to see justice done to a criminal, and that significant change to their church polity may be required.

When is the last time you heard THAT from a Baptist immediately following the scandal hitting the newspaper about their church?

When you listen to Fuller's sermon, what he did NOT say is just as striking as what he did say.

He did not say "touch not thine annointed".

He is not telling us what a wonderful godly pastor and "man of God" Chuck Phelps was or is.

He is not minimizing the crimes of the perpetrator.

He is not doing as some SBC pastor/bloggers do and lash out and belittle and attack those who are calling for an investigation into a scandal.

He is not blaming the liberal media for attacking his church.

No deacons resolutions about unjust criticism.

He isn't calling his personal critics or his church's critics "the haters".

He hasn't called anyone involved a "sociopath", and the president of the trustees of Trinity is throwing around "coward" accusations.

He didn't fly in two pastor friends to say how wonderful everything is at his church and what a great family he has and that their policies and procedures are hunky dory and that we all need to pray for the reporters salvation.

He didn't hold a Wednesday night prayer meeting and mischaracterize the sins of the criminal as being "non sexual" and nothing "immoral".

He didn't say Phelps' actions were a mistake of the head and not of the heart.

He didn't say that what Phelps did he did because he was charged by God to protect the flock, and then read a scripture and shed a tear while getting a standing ovation. He didn't call their mistakes "stumbles" and make himself out to be the victim of a reporter.

It doesn't sound like he's going to pursue a state baptist resolution demanding bloggers to repent of their divisive words, and I don't think any trespass warnings are coming forth for any critical bloggers or their wives.

None of that. He is contrite, serious, very concerned over what his church may have done - and seems genuinely committed to finding the truth and then making necessary apologies to victims and/or the community.

I know that some WD readers will understandably be skeptical of Fuller. I am too. It's very early. We will wait and see what his actions are now. But the man has already shown that he has more integrity than just about every other mega church pastor in the past 5 years that has faced scandal at his church, because Fuller is focusing INWARD and not OUTWARD. He acknowledges that his church needs to step back and examine themselves and listen to their critics, instead of attacking those who are asking questions.

In fact, he acknowledges their church has lots of questions that need to be answered, and is committed to answering them.

Imagine that: a Baptist pastor who faces a scandal at his church, and right off the bat acknowledges the possiblity his church may have done wrong, and is committed to answering questions and being held accountable and making restitution if necessary.

The following statement appears on their website, with a hyperlink to his 5/30/10 sermon:

"In reviewing the events of October 1997, the present leadership is seeking answers for the victim, our congregation, as well as our entire Concord community. The prayers of our entire church are for justice to be served to the alleged perpetrator, and that mercy and care will be extended to the victim.

To listen to Pastor Fuller's Message to the congregation click here."

And we all pray that Pastor Fuller will be an example for other Baptist pastors to follow when faced with scandal and wrong-doing in their church.

"I've Never Heard Him Pronouncing Any Arabic Word"

Above is James White's video discussion with a man raised in Syria and whose native language is Arabic. Sorry, Caner defenders, the man is not Muslim, but is Christian, so you can't attack him on that basis. Or shall you say all Syrians are liars?

After they watch and listen to numerous clips of Ergun Caner's supposed Arabic recitations in his sermons, James White asks the man near the end of the video:

"Just from what you've seen here...do you have any reason to believe from what you've seen that Ergun Caner is a native Arabic speaker?"

To which the man replies, in a thick Arabic accent:

"Actually, from what I heard so far, I don't think he knows Arabic. I never heard him pronouncing any Arabic word."

The man did not hear one Arabic word. Translation: Caner is either speaking "jibberish", or he is impersonating someone on TBN speaking in tongues - or both.

We Christians are so gullible. How could this have taken 10 years to expose?

What else are the likes of Caner selling to us and preaching to us that is fake? What other nonsense has been coming forth from conservative Baptist pulpits from our rock star preachers that is false and fake, but hasn't been exposed yet because we worship preachers' great oratory skills and story-telling abilities, and believe everything they say?

Thank you James White for taking the time to provide evidence of Caner's fakery, with nothing to be gained for yourself but getting more ridicule and scorn heaped on you by the likes of Peter "I AM" Lumpkins.

With THAT, Peter,

I am embarrassed for gullible Christians

Trinity Baptist Victim's Brother Speaks Out On Pastor Chuck Phelps

Local Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN ran a story today about Chuck Phelps, the current pastor at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianpolis - and who is one of the central figures in the story of a raped 15-year old at his previous church, Trinity Baptist in Concorde, NH.

This latest news story by reporter Kim King contains excerpts from a phone interview with the victim's brother who says in no uncertain terms people in Indianapolis "should stay as far away as you can" from the church where Phelps is pastor.

I hope the local news folks stay on the case there in Indianapolis and in Concorde, New Hampshire. Here in Jacksonville, Jeannie Blaylock and other local reporters thoroughly covered the Bob Gray scandal and subsequent cover-up in depth at Trinity Baptist Church here in Jacksonville back in 2006 and 2007.

Here is a link to another story running today from ABC News on the Trinity Baptist (NH) scandal.

Thank God for freedom of the press. No Baptist resolutions will stop this "criticism". I suppose the news reporters, and the man quoted in this story, aren't getting the memo that to critize "elected leaders" in Baptist churches is sinful and should be ceased immediately.

Latest Caner Clip: "I Was Held Back a Year" as I Learned English as an Adult

Above is the latest installment of the "Dr. Ergun Caner" YouTube channel. The video image is of our friend, the Ergun Caner impersonator, who is lip-synching words spoken by Ergun Caner at the 2009 "Xtreme Winter Festival" in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He does a great impersonation of Caner, but the protruding gut is a little on the small side.

While the video impersonation is humorous, the actual words of Ergun Caner are not. He calls illegal immigrants "illegal criminals", but as he has done so many times while out on the preaching circuit he mischaracterizes his own upbringing and experience to give him the platform from which to harshly criticize minorities.

"Let me be very clear. They are not undocumented aliens. They are illegal criminals. I came into this country legally. I stood in the line. And so I say to all the immigrants who come in - I get a lot of immigrant who are, who are uh, students in the seminary, I go "God bless you." I just want to tell you three things: pay ya taxes, learn English, and shut up and quit whining - because - everytime you come here - everytime you come to this country and you say [mocking a foreign accent] "Um, we like America we want to come to this country, let us speak our language" - you are ruining it for the rest of us!

I had to stay out of school for one year, to learn English. I got held back a year, because my English was so poor. I could learn it, and I'm an adult, anybody can learn it."

So Ergun was held back a year, and learned English as an adult, and therefore these lousy no-good immigrants who aren't speaking the language should do what Ergun the Immigrant did as an adult: learn English, and don't "complain" - and immigrants whatever you do, do NOT criticize mega church pastors or you'll be on the first boat back to wherever you came from. Amen? Amen!

But what year was Ergun held back in school? Was it nursery school, or maybe pre-K? All documents we've seen indicate he "stood in line" to get into this country when he was 3 or 4.

I think there is a cowardice element to Caner's words: if Caner truly feels this strongly about illegal immigration, just say it. Why the need to create a cover for himself as having justification for his strong views because he supposedly walked the path of an immigrant not speaking the language who himself overcame these challenges? Man up and say it, don't hide behind a false personna of having walked that same path. In fact, anyone who has truly walked the path of an immigrant to this country who doesn't know the English language would not be so judgmental toward other immigrants as Caner seems to be. I know that for a fact.

This need of Caner's to embellish his own experiences in front of strangers to give him more credibility reminds me of the character "Penelope" played by Kristen Wiig on Saturday Night Live who is obsessed with continually trying to one-up whoever she meets. Enjoy.

"Thou Shalt Not Blog"

Here Ye, Here Ye! Thou Bloggers Shall Cease Your Criticism, and Thou Shalt Repent!!

"[we] call upon bloggers to cease the critical second-guessing of these elected leaders, and be it further resolved that all Georgia Baptists respectfully request and expect that individuals who disrupt the felllowship through blogging repent and immediately cease the activity and no longer cause disharmony...." from the Georgia Baptist Convention resolution on blogging, passed November 2007.

"The [blogger] went down to Georgia, he was lookin' for a soul to steal, he was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind, and he was willin' to make a deal"...Charlie Daniels, 1979.

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As the Ergun Caner scandal has unfolded over the past year, there is no question religious blogs played a pivitol role in getting the word out about the Caner deceptions. The blogs presented evidence, and allowed analysis and commentary by all on their blogs. Through video and audio clips, through parody and satire - by a Muslim in Europe, a female blogger in Oklahoma, a trespassed blogger in Jacksonville, and even a Calvinist professor and debater from California, and many others - the word got out about Caner.

But you have to at least give the Baptist leaders credit for having foresight: they saw the danger blogs presented to their grasp of power and their money faucet back in 2007 - even before that with Wade Burleson's blog, and they came out with this resolution. They realized blogs would be a source of information and an avenue of public discourse and debate amongst the brethren they couldn't control.

And that has created a mammoth problem - e.g., Ergun Caner.

This weekend I re-read the resolution against blogging that the Georgia Baptist State Convention passed in November 2007. I've printed the Georgia resolution at the bottom of this post. At the time of it's passage, the resolution got only scant mention in baptist news outlets (here and here). I gather they don't like critical blogs very much in Georgia - maybe Charlie Daniels' song should be changed: "The blogger went down to Georgia, he was lookin' for a soul to steal..."

Yep, SBC leaders - in Georgia and elsewhere - don't like critical bloggers. They refer to critical blogs as slander, personal attacks, divisive, destructive, and other such adjectives. And there is no question, they would love to exercise their power and influence to shut 'em down if they could, we have hard evidence of such.

So take a look at the Georgia Baptist resolution below, now 2 1/2 years later. I'll post some analysis and commentary on this resolution later. Would love to hear your thoughts on this resolution, and other attempts over the past 5 years in dealing with this problem of recalcitrant bloggers.

This resolution was so successful in stopping blogging, maybe one like it should be introduced at the SBC Annual Meeting this year!

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RESOLUTION ON BLOGGING
submitted by Wayne Bray, pastor
Beulah Baptist Church, Douglasville
and William Harrell, pastor
Abilene Baptist Church, Martinez

WHEREAS the American people have the distinct privilege of freedom of speech as provided by our United States Constitution, and this resolution is not intended to limit that freedom of speech we all value so much; and

WHEREAS responsible blogging can be a means of encouragement of our people, but certain people use this tool for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the Brethren; and

WHEREAS blogging is also being used by some as a tool for personal attacks among other Christian Brothers and Sisters, and this critical and divisive use promotes a negative view of the Southern Baptist Convention in the eyes of the society we are striving to reach with the Gospel (James 3:6, 14),

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the messengers of this convention oppose blogging when it is used to cause division and disharmony among the members of our Southern Baptist Family (Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Cor 1:10); and since personal differences should not be dealt with in public view,

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that all personal attacks should cease immediately (Proverbs 17:27-28; John 17:21-24); and

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that we affirm the historical method of administering our agencies and institutions through elected boards of trustees, and we call upon bloggers to cease the critical second-guessing of these elected leaders; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Georgia Baptists respectfully request and expect that individuals that disrupt the fellowship through blogging repent and immediately cease this activity and no longer cause disharmony for the advancement of their own personal opinions and agendas; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we set our eyes once again on the fields to which we are called to labor, refusing to dishonor God with activities that militate against harmony and good will.