12 Comments
  1. Dr. Brown,

    My first reaction to the allegations against Bishop Long was, “I knew it”! For as long as I have watched his broadcasts, I have suspected, no, sensed there was something amisss.

    I invite you to consider that this is epidemic in the Black culture and I should know, I am Black.
    What is amazing is that the lid has been on this problem for so many years. Considering the issue of slavery and all that implies, inordinate sexuality in all its forms has been the bane of my culture. When you think about slavery consider the following: 1)incest was encouraged and often forced on the slaves by slave-owners; 2) secrecy was necessary for survival (hence the reason most whites have no idea about what really goes on in the homes of Black families); 3) visit most Black churches on Sunday morning and discover the probability that more than half the male praise and worship leaders or organists are effeminate; 5) judgment has begun in the “house” of God – that includes the Black houses of worship.

    Thank God the truth is finally coming to the light so that the plague can be abated.

  2. I do not know the man, nor will I presume to know the heart. I can’t say if he is innocent or guilty the LORD will dispense his justice with wisdom and total righteousness. People usually want to jump the gun extremely quickly, let the mans fruit speak for him, and if he is guilty so be it, in the mean time let the wheat and tares grow together lest the wheat be hurt. That being said, The LORD is sovereign, and perhaps this is a tool being utilized to get our focus off of men and back on to God where it belongs..The unfortunate reality is that people become so focused on men, and in this case “pastors” that when they fall they loose faith because it was misplaced to begin with (their faith that is)..let us focus on Yeshua, and not on men. Leader’s need to focus on Yeshua also, this is why they are leaders and shepherds to pull the flock into direction and focus on Yeshua, not themselves. In my humble opinion I think he should have stepped down at least until this passes so that people can focus on Christ centric living and not this scandal or sensationalism. Jesus/Yeshua is LORD he is top dog, and “The One and Only”, can you dig it?!

  3. I pray that we as the Body of Yeshua look introspectively instead of passing judgement. None of us is perfect and HaShem is no respecter of persons. We all fall short. We have a situation here where 1 or more persons is lying and in sin and what they need is redemption and healing. G-d is love, this situation requires love. We need to act in love to ensure that all affect parties come out healed, whole and still inlove with G-d and it will be a process that they will need to be supported through, not judged through.

  4. In various places throughout the New Covenant, believers are warned that the last days will be like those of Noah, of Sidon and Tyre, and of Sodom and Gomorrah. Is it any wonder, then, that the homosexual lifestyle, which has always been among us in secret, has begun to make itself very public in these Last Days? The shock and surprise that this is so, and that the Church has been caught so unaware, is what is truly shameful.

    My first reaction upon hearing the news is “Of course it is almost undoubtedly true.” Why? Because with so many witnesses coming forth, and with the libel suits that would surely follow should these young men be lying, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that this will result in the same way as -all- of these news stories end up. Look at Tiger Woods; look at Haggard; look at Oral Roberts… the list is endless.

    Yet I do not rejoice in what I know is likely going to be the outcome. I feel only sorrow for all the parties involved. I beg God to be both just and merciful. And I ask Him to forgive me for all the many times I have failed Him and have brought shame and reproach on the Name.

  5. Certainly not shocked at the hypocrisy of A man. What is so very frustrating is this quivering and submission after someone supposedly In the Faith has committed such an act. The pedophile nightmare in the Catholic church(all churches, really) comes to mind. I guess I take serious His words that those who harm the children are better to commit themselves to the deep with a millstone.

    A corrupt teacher bore tainted fruit. Driving extravagant cars, layers of gold jewelry, body guards… doesnt seem to me the picture of a true man of The Calling. I certainly agree with Mr/Rabbi Brown as concerns the issue/problem of sodomy Identity movement. In a way this is the “hetero-“sexual communities problem more than the offending individual. People run from the cries of those with sexual compulsion problems because its an Eww Ick topic. Its rather sad. And then you have news stations on the bottom of the screen that were running crawlers that read,”Anti Gay Pastor in Sex Scandal”. As though that was his Only message.

    I dont get disheartened. These are clarity moments. Through all the commotion,if you remain calm, you see the faces of those who dont care about hypocrisy of a lone pastor but rather deviance being forwarded.

  6. Mike,

    I am with you on your comments however to put Tiger Woods in the same company as Haggard & Roberts makes me wonder if golf has become a religion,perhaps for some however Tiger should not have been put in the line up.

    Yes it does seem there is some credibility to the allegations when 4 young men step forward to testify against Mr. Long and we all pray this news will turn out not to be true.

    However we have all seen the fall when preachers begin to perceive themselves the way King Herod did and become narcissistic,embracing their own accomplishments and not giving god the glory.

  7. my very first reaction was that it is probably not true, and that I did not need to tell anyone else about it. If it was true, it is a very serious issue, and i still don’t need to spread it to anyone else.

  8. I used to love Eddie Long, but it seemed that he was growing in popularity and was kind of ‘self’ driven. I am so sad to hear this news. I know this has been happening in the black community for a while (religious leaders having sex with young men). It’s basically the black Protestant version of the ‘Roman Catholic sex scandal.’

    By that I mean that this issue has occured so much, particularly in the black community, that any pastor or deacon who is accused, its kind of like when a priest is accused of doing something wrong, meaning most people suspect the accusation to be true. It’s occuring so much these days. I think there are plenty of scandals going on in the white evangelical community, it just seems that each faith/religious community is getting hit on all sides in their sensative areas. Perhaps judgement really is begining in the House of G-d.

    Personally, I really am frightened by Dr. Brown’s challenge of self-examiniation, what sins do I or have I committed which I would horror at the thought of being exposed nationally, or just in my community if I’m ever put into a position of spiritual leadership.

    Pray for Eddie Long, pray for his accusers, pray for the church, New Life, and the whole Body worldwide.

    Shalom, Chris

  9. @ Kenny – I included Tiger Woods because he is someone that a lot of people looked up to and respected, and he initially denied any wrong doing before the truth came out. Not in the context of religion, although you make a good point how sports has become a religion in our culture.

    @Chris – I agree with you that Dr Brown’s challenge of self-examination is intimidating. As for Bishop Long, “There, but for the grace of God, go I” comes to mind.

    Be merciful to us, O God, hear our cry and heal our land.

  10. We have financial accountability auditing organizations for the financial practices of Evangelical groups. Why not form such an oversight organization for joining the moral and ethical practices of Protestant leadership to practice what is preached?

    With the actual number of US Evangelical Denominations Pastorates declining by 1/3 in the last decade of the 20th Century something must be done for mutual accountability, to reestablish credibility of the associated Evangelical essentials. It seems simple enough to form such an across the board self policing alliance as a proposition of corrective action toward mutual accountability in the Body of Christ. Where, if the Body does not take up the challenge, this world’s legal system will–and at the expense of our witness.

    What is of current concern are the apparent editorial and authoring policies at VOR on-line Magazine, which seem to avoid dialogue, not grant reflective respectful listening to commenters (as to responding to their ideas, questions, and input), and largely respond with silence as far as cultivating healthy dialogue as well as debate. Avoidance of a conversational approach to topics asserted and raised is timid, at best. Limiting responses to comments primarily to those of the immediate choir lacks a mature outlook on the exchange of ideas which think it through logic embraces.

    This is an extremely curious state of affairs, for M. L. Brown seems to do just the opposite by his leadership model. Is there a major disconnect going on between the model and the on-line pubishing protegees? What to do where common sense principles of Organizational Design and Development–or organizational psychology if you will–might be put in place to follow a Mt. 18 model on approach as to actually hearing differences of emphases brought up between commenters and the kind of very emphatic authoritarian articles currently advanced by the Magazine? If some corrections to this trend were in fact addressed, the Magazine might yet achieve a distinctive Witness, regarding “taking on the culture.”

  11. You may read the above and be taken aback, yet the question remains, is the mind of Christ contained in the above reflections? To equip anyone for modern day ministry must include a communications and community building by dialogue training element–whether assuming church government has had no credible cause for considerable adjustments since the New Testament was recorded, or not. It may be that the named offenders on sexual and financial misconduct are simply not corrected midcourse by the real world forces businesses have to account for all the time to have customers and subscribers.

    This is not to say that there have not been major business improprieties over time, but it is to say such are most often publicly displayed over fudging on the basics. Mt. 18, in its entire scope, is the word for the church in this Age, on steps to take for self correction seldom followed in practice; this is the Age of moral confusion as is standardized by the always and ever shapeshifting philosophies of the Nations, and their cultures becoming the practices of church cultures. What would happen to the ongoing demise of our witness where the steady hand of the King of the universe was applied by actually doing what he did when challenged in outlook, expression, or temptation? It is time for at the very least establishing a National movement of self accountability for basic conduct among the so-called leaders among us. At some point the 1/3 decline in Pastorates will erode even further in number, and why? It is obvious.

  12. And this is not to say that the phenomena of American Christianity often redefining itself through independent movements does not take up the loss of numbers among Evangelical denominational Pastorates–by creating new, outside the box non accounted for, Pastorates. Even so, the model usually embraced which ultimately fails is that of promoting an omniscent leadership style. This is inherently flawed, where the assumption is made that Christian leadership is to assert many little tin Godlike Christs, as powerful leaders, rather than bend our knees to the Christ and what he taught us to do for Message self perpetuation and its associated leadership after he went away (as still being the leader). If these thoughts are indeed posted, as now “awaiting moderation” and acted upon by such an organization as carries these broadcasts and blogs, change will come.

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