New Ed Young, Jr. Spoof Video

Wow, Ergun Caner has an impersonater on YouTube, and now Ed Young, Jr has one too!

Check out the video below of someone impersonating Ed Young, Jr. doing a rap video of his tag line "Whole Nutha Level".

Pretty impressive, the guy looks and sounds remarkably like Ed Young, Jr.

:)

Times Union: "Corey Doesn't Have to Testify in First Baptist Blogger Case"

As reported by Times Union reporter Paul Pinkham this week on the Times Union website, a U.S. magistrate ruled in favor of the defense's motion to not have Angela Corey deposed regarding the destruction of subpoena and subpoena request forms related to the First Amendment lawsuit.

Here is Pinkham's article:

Submitted by Paul Pinkham on July 7, 2010 - 2:52pm

State Attorney Angela Corey won't have to give a deposition in the case of a First Baptist Church blogger suing Jacksonville police and a state prosecutor for exposing his identity using investigative subpoenas.

U.S. Magistrate Monte Richardson ruled Corey doesn't have to testify about the inadvertent destruction of the subpoenas and related information during an office relocation. Richardson noted that one of her assistants already has testified about the destroyed documents and that Corey said in a deposition that she has no firsthand knowledge of the case and what knowledge she does have was presented to her by her staff.

Richardson said Corey's testimony isn't essential to the case and the information she could provide can be obtained through less burdensome means than deposing a sitting state attorney.

Blogger Tom Rich sued after he was exposed as the author of a blog critical of First Baptist leadership via subpoenas obtained by a police officer who is a member of the church with help from an assistant state attorney in 2008, before Corey took office.

Disgraced Preachers - The Word is "Malpractice"

"Here of course [in a discussion of ministerial ethics] we are not concerned with doctrine but with purity and credibility. We must expect those in positions of spiritual leadership to be faithful to their calling. If the lost cannot trust the preacher, how can they trust the message"? - Daniel R. Mitchell, 1988.

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Last week Liberty University announced that Daniel R. Mitchell (picture at left) would be the interim president of their seminary, replacing Ergun Caner, who we all know is no longer the president as of July 1st, 2010.

I've never heard of Mitchell before - apparently he is an academic dean and professor at Liberty's seminary - but several bloggers sent me a copy of a very insightful 1988 article written by Daniel R. Mitchell entitled "Disgraced Preachers - The Word is Malpractice" (.pdf file of the article is here). Although written 22 years ago around the time of the Swaggart scandal, it is more timely today for Baptists than it was when he wrote it. Mitchell's article focuses not on just sexual sins committed by preachers, but those who violate codes of trust and honesty - "purity AND credibility" as he says in the quote above.

"Malpractice" is the term we use to describe incompetence, or reckless acts by professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers that hurt people. Mitchell advocated back in 1988 that the term be applied to ministers who violate the trust given to them by the church.

Here are some notable quotes from Mitchell's article:

"Malpractice is the term we must also apply to professional ministers of the gospel who violate their trust. Preachers who raise money for themselves and not the work, who use people instead of serve people, who lust for power and sex and status, and who use their platform to satisfy their greed violate the code of the spiritual elder (1 Tim 3)."

And this one, referring to a "crisis in confidence" created by undisciplined
preachers:

"We must correct the crisis in confidence that is generated by the present situation. More is at stake here than just the credibility of the offending preacher. When we fail to impose discipline, fallen preachers drag every minister of the gospel - indeed the gospel itself - into the mire with them. Legitimate preachers and church leaders must call each other to accountability and demand compliance with God's standard for ministry."

Mitchell goes on to say that many local congregations "...[do] not have the inclination of the power to oust its wayward pastor..." and thus they do nothing to discipline the pastor.

And thus, we have blogs. Blogs I believe have filled the void that exists for accountability amongst the Baptists - a void that does not exist so much in other protestant denominations. That is what Christa Brown's blog is about, and so is Tiffany Croft's blog: holding pastors accountable in a religious system designed to have minimum accountability for its ministers allowing them to continue in their misdeeds. I would imagine when Darrell Gilyard is released from prison, there will be no "defrocking" of his credentials and no formal statement of his repentance or oversight of his restoration process - but he will likely just go to another church.

That may well happen, but thank God Tiffany's blog will be a voice of accountability and warning, as will Christa Brown's - and others - when that day comes.

I have long said that if there were blogs when around when Bob Gray was doing his dirty deeds at Trinity Baptist Church, the powerless would have had a voice early on and the damage he did here in Jacksonville would have been reduced by some measure. If there was a blog about Darrell Gilyard back in the late 1980's and early 1990's, perhaps some of the folks at Shiloh Baptist Church would not have been so trusting of the "man of God" Gilyard - for he came from a religious system - the Southern Baptist Convention - that was powerless to remove his credentials as a minister.

As I blogged about in 2007 in the early days of the Gilyard scandal, there WAS a voice to hold Gilyard accountable when he came to Jacksonville in 1993. His name was Pastor Harvey; but Shiloh church leadership successfully silenced him through legal processes. And before too long Gilyard was back to his old tricks. Too bad Pastor Harvey didn't have a blog back in April 1993.

As Mitchell says:

"We must view failure to maintain these standards as ministerial malpractice worthy of public censure and/or removal from ministry. The crisis in confidence threatens us all. Failure to take appropriate action will surely lead to continued widespread skepticism."

Amen.

And failure to maintain these standards will most assuredly lead to widespread blogging.

Watchdog's Response to Geisler: Listen to the FBC Jax November 2001 Sermon Again

Norman Geisler seems intent on bailing water out of a sinking boat. He has posted a lengthy response to the "Muslim" charges and "misstatements" made by Ergun Caner, but he apparently hasn't listened to the Caner FBC Jax sermon preached on November 20, 2001.

Geisler needs to let it go. The Liberty University investigation was completed, they found him to have lied, and they demoted him. Every time he tries to justify the "decade of deceit" by Caner, I will roll out the November 2001 Ergun Caner sermon at FBC Jax. And I roll it out again.

Ergun Caner at FBC Jax November 2001 from FBCJax Watchdog on Vimeo.

In Geisler's "defense" of Caner he does not deal with the FBC Jax November 2001 sermon.

I was there when he preached it, I've spoken to many others that were there, and we all had the same impression from his sermon: this man whom we never heard before was a terrorist, a "Jihadist" trained in Europe, who came to America to commit 9/11 style attacks but was saved just in the nick of time. Caner purposely led us to that conclusion. He cleverly deceived 10,000 worshippers with his story that day, while our pastor Jerry Vines sat right behind him nodding and amening, affirming his story.

That day we were duped by Ergun Caner.

Boy, were we were gullible.

We trusted our pastor to not allow a man to deceive us behind the "sacred desk", yet that is exactly what happened.

We believed Gilyard's story in 1987 about being homeless, living under a bridge, but it was a lie.

We believed Caner's story in 2001 about being raised in Europe as a Jihadist trained to "do that which was done on 11 September". Actually, he was trained to be an average midwestern boy like I was.

But it was a lie. His sermon that day started with a lie of his name, telling us: "My name is Ergun Mi'kael Mehmet Giovani Janel". He claimed to have spoken a "different language" than English as a high schooler. He claimed to speak poor English as a high schooler. Geisler does not deal with that.

He fooled us with his fake Middle Eastern accent when he pronounced "Europe" and "America."

Geisler needs to write a post explaining the entire farce of a sermon at FBC Jax, if he is to provide a complete defense of Ergun Caner.

So keep on defending him, Geisler. Or just let it rest, and let's see if Caner asks for forgiveness from those he has fooled.

Chris Rosebrough: Caner Kept on Staff at LU to Not Give Victory to Calvinists and Bloggers

One of my favorite Christian bloggers and commenters is Chris Rosebrough, the founder of Fighting for the Faith radio broadcast and Pirate Christian Radio. He broadcasts several times a week from Fishers, Indiana, and is a one-man show who is supported by mostly small donors who listen to his broadcast on I-Tunes and read his blogs and various other websites. His motto is "Comparing what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God." Much better than the SBC Motto: "Listening to God by listening to and obeying what the preacher says." More on Chris at the end of this article if you're interested.

But Rosebrough weighed in on the LU Caner decision during his 6/28/10 broadcast, and made some very interesting comments I want to share with my readers. He laughed and chuckled at the ridiculousness of the Liberty statement, calling it "corporate speak" and "political spin" and a statement which means very little - but to make sense of what the committee's findings were you have to look only at the ACTIONS Liberty took. They are what matters, not their goofy statement. No matter what they SAY, their actions speak loudly: the committee found that Caner lied, he had lied to Liberty University, and they had to get rid of him.

But here is Rosebrough's analysis of why they did not totally can Caner.

The story was rooted in and pushed by people Liberty viewed as adversaries, said Rosebrough, and they couldn't stand to give any victory to their opponents for fear that it would embolden them. A total dismissal of Caner would be seen as a victory for their opponents: Calvinists and bloggers.

Here are Rosebrough's comments on the "bloggers" who were instrumental in "pushing" the story until it eventually made its way to what Liberty considered "credible news agencies":

"They [Liberty] couldn't give the bloggers a win, you don't want to give the bloggers a win because all that does is give them credibility and embolden them. You can't let bloggers look like they have any credibility at all. And remember, whenever somebody talks about bloggers - and by the way I'm one of them - they don't ever address the content of the bloggers' points, they always instead go to an ad hominem argument where they basically say 'Listen, these bloggers, they're a bunch of people in their 40's who live in their mom's basement and probably sit on bean bag chairs in their underwear eating Cheatos all day...these are people who are malcontents and really mentally unstable.'

They never deal with the content of the arguments brought up by bloggers, instead they always go with the ad hominem....If they canned Caner that would have been seen as a big, big win for bloggers and people who are supposed to be non-credible."

I agree completely - notice he said critics of bloggers paint them as "mentally unstable"...oh how true, and I would add also as "sociopaths" and "cowards". Can't give those recalcitrant bloggers credibility at all.

Funny thing is, while I believe Rosebrough's assessment is correct, we do know one of the LU investigating committee members who is very credible, had enough sense to reach out to bloggers to get their assistance in gathering source documentation to complete their investigation. That must REALLY chap the hineys of Caner and his staunch defenders - the committee sought the help of bloggers, but apparently didn't call Tim Rogers or Peter Lumpkins. Ouch.

But we all know that the Caner decision is a victory for TRUTH - its not about bloggers or Calvinists or Muslims - it's about a decade of deceit perpetuated by Ergun Caner that has done great harm to the cause of Christ, that has finally been exposed and hopefully stopped. While many don't think Liberty went far enough, and their statement is certainly embarrasing - they took the right action, and Caner will be gone about the time a new seminary president is named, in my opinion.

Now, excuse me while I get up out of my bean bag chair and fetch some more Cheetohs...."Hey Mom, I'm out of Cheetohs!!!!"

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Some additional thoughts on Rosebrough: Rosebrough is theologically very sound - he is gospel-centered and he is dedicated to exposing false doctrine wherever he sees it no matter if it is in the SBC, or non-denominational churches. He regularly exposes error at Saddleback and in Rick Warren's sermons and other "purpose driven" and "emergent" churches. He has been a harsh critic of Perry Noble's NewSpring Church in South Carolina, and he pulled no punches in his criticism of Ed Young's jet and lavish lifestyle - and he gave expert analysis of Young's "dog and pony show" when Young brought in John Cross and Mac Richard (prounounced re-SHARD) to tell everyone how wonderful Young is, and to explain why private jet travel is needed for Young.

His broadcasts are quite humorous - he has parody/lampoon segments poking fun at false doctrine. He does sermon reviews (egads!), and pulls no punches when preachers get out of line. I believe he is reformed in his theology, he is a Lutheran, but no question he is a solid Christian believer.

His goal is very simple: he wants people to be discerners in their churches. He wants people to compare what their preachers are saying in the name of God, to what the word of God actually says. He has an undergrad in religious studies, has an MBA from Pepperdine, and has political and corporate work experience. He ain't a professional religious man, if you get my drift.

And very important: he is independent in that his financial support is very much grass roots. He is not entrenched in a denominational power structure and beholden to church leaders. No CP dollars going to Chris! He encourages his listeners to become "Crew Members" for a monthly $6.95 donation.

He would not be a favorite of the SBC'ers, because of his more reformed views, and worst of all, he might drink an adult beverage from time to time.

You can subscribe to his radio broadcast via I-Tunes here.