Editor's Quote: "The test of democracy is freedom of criticism". D. Ben-Gurion
Dr Albert Odulele Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assaults
Editor's Choice
Submitted by IQ4News on Fri, 04/03/2011 - 11:33am
The UK-Based Nigerian pastor accused of sexually assaulting former members of his congregation at Glory House International, London, has pleaded guilty.
Dr Odulele admitted the charges at Bexley Magistrates Court which included the assault of a 14 year-old boy and a 21 year-old man.
Sentencing will take place at Woolwich Crown court.
Many observers expressed their shock when IQ4News first published the news in February.
UPDATE
Pastor Odulele was sentenced on 31 March, 2011. Click here for this story
Comments
#1 Get real and honest
Submitted by Norah (not verified) on Tue, 12/07/2011 - 12:52pm.
Christians and non christians alike; Who should we be looking to comfort? Who should we be looking to help? To whom should our hearts go out? To Pastor Odulele or to the young 14 year old and other man who were betrayed by their pastor? Definitely we are sorry that Odulele is in prison. Prison is no joke. In fact, prsion may mean death. However my most concern is for the poor boy who wasraped and may have been infected with HIV or some other disease, whose sexuality and deep psyche has been severely abused and who now has to live with this and needs healing of the soul and body. He is probably poor and his parents looked up to their 'pastor' who is actually not a 'pastor' but a wolf to the sheep. A wolf in sheep's clothing. There are many like that in Nigeria and in Uganda.GOd save us from their teeth and abuse.
#2 If this guy had done
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/06/2011 - 10:49am.
If this guy had done something commendable, the writter would not have emphasised the fact that he is "A uk born NIGERIAN" pastor. They would have played down on the fact that he is Nigerian or would not even mention his country at all. Meanwhile, "HE that THINKETH he stands take heed lest he fall"
#3 True be told,this man of God
Submitted by Adesola Tunde (not verified) on Tue, 26/07/2011 - 7:57pm.
True be told,this man of God is a great man even in trouble he still remained anointed of GOD. I trust GOD to sought him and the ministry HE gave to him out.
#4 BE CAREFUL
Submitted by FEEB (not verified) on Thu, 07/04/2011 - 2:51pm.
There is more to this than meets the eye. So, the best thing to do here is pray for the pastor. Don't let the devil get you as one of his recruits to plunder God's name & kingdom with your words. The truth is that God's name will be glorified in the end, no matter what.Even you who have been talking if God decides to weigh you in the balance will you you still be standing? So Examine yourself daily whether you are in the faith.Let him that thinks he/she stands take heed lest he falls. Read these:2nd Corinthians 2:11,2nd Corinthians 13:5,Jude verse 24.
#5 let us be watchful of the anticks of the devil's kingdom.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/04/2011 - 3:34pm.
i express with reservation on this matter that the Christians should be watchful on the way they quickly belive stories like this which may have been sponsored from the kingdom of hell against those who proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. if people can pay others to be suicide bombers only to destroyed others, go to churches and pretend to be one the members only to marry some ladies in the Christian-dom and later to re-appear in the real self...behold they are of other religion with special duty/strategy to depopulate the kingdom of Christ on...be watchful Christians...
#6 Dr Odulele's sexual assault case
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 1:22pm.
It is rather unfortunate that things like this are going on in churches.By the grace of God i am a pastor's wife and also i campaign against chidhood/teenage sexual abuse especially in secondary schools.I have heard from these youngsters how they were sexually molested by pple close to them. In reply to the summit above,i don't want to see it as a cookup from the pit of hell instead, as GOD revealing the hideout of satan.Warning now to church members: esteem GOD AND HIS WORD than man, even your pastor!
#7 SCANDAL IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
Submitted by Godwin Achunine (not verified) on Wed, 06/04/2011 - 11:20am.
I have enclosed 1 Corinthians 5 for our instruction in righteousness. Dr Odulele has sinned against God and against his fellow humans. Quite agreed we are all sinners. God our Father is very merciful in not dealing with us as we deserve. He goes to great lengths and perserves with us, giving us chances upon chances to repent. As a loving and caring Father, He does this through admonition, chastisement, rebuke and as we continue to harden our hearts, He finally scourges us.
Dr Odulele no wonder would have been given all these chances to turn from his evil and disgraceful behaviour, but did not repent. God still loves him and that is why He has handed him over to Satan to be scourged, so that his flesh may be crucified and in the process his soul may be saved. If we claim to be Christians, we should submit to the authority of Scripture and stop getting into silly and foolish unprofitable philosophical arguements, rationalising and condoning sin instead of being shameful about it.
It is also clear from Scripture that before he should mount the pulpit again to be a spokesman of God, he would need to go through a period of counselling and rehabilitation. Anybody who has issues with my contribution to this matter, should sort it out with God, as I have not spoken my own opinion (we should have none when God speaks) but rather declared sincerely the Word of God
1 Corinthians 5
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.
I would also like Dr Odulele and his twin pastor brother to reflect the type of gospel the were preaching. The message of repentance, seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness was hardly their point of emphasis, as they specialised and majored in the health, wealth and prosperity, name and claim it by faith gospel, neglecting the message that would get people to heaven. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul eternally?. Let us not be mocked, where your treasure is, there your heart would be also. If you keep on preaching this wealth and prosperity gospel on earth and lose focus of heaven, you would inevitably become so worldly minded that you would not want to sacrifice anything for the Lord. Did these twin brothers ever look at the life of the apostles, who endured hardship and suffered all manner of beatings and persecutions for being followers of Christ?. Have they ever read the pastoral epistles of Timothy, Titus etc?. Did they ever read that the apostle Paul prayed to know Christ and also to participate in the fellowship of His suffering?. Did they ever read our Lord saying that if any man should come after Him, let him or her deny themselves, carry their cross daily and follow Him?. Did they ever read Hebrews 11 where we were told how Moses gave up the life of luxury inorder to follow God?. In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His good purpose. Perhaps this is the time for Dr Odulele to reflect, repent for the abuse of privileges and opportunities God gave Him, and perhaps come out and be restored in the future and go back to the true gospel of salvation in and through our Lord Jesus Christ.
#8 ATT Sentenced today, 31st March 2011
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 31/03/2011 - 2:14pm.
Case was heard at Woolwich Crown Court today.
Count 1 = 6 months in prison
Count 2 = 8 months in prison
Both sentences to run concurrently.
#9 there is no god
Submitted by jagajaga (not verified) on Wed, 23/03/2011 - 3:29pm.
admit this basic fact and the whole industry collapses.
jehovah deity of the hebrews. blood thirsty vindictive infanticidal and genocidal.
according to the christians he even killed his own son what a terrible character and nigerians follow him blindly calling him the "lord" .
may your brains wake up
#10 That theory or hypothesis is
Submitted by Kunle (not verified) on Sun, 03/04/2011 - 3:30pm.
That theory or hypothesis is always interesting, but for those of u who profess it there are questions begging for answers; how did the World & all in it come to be, what happens when people die-where do they go, who wrote the Bible-and what about the characters in it, what decides what our faith is, why are some rish & some poor (certainly we know its not always hard work or intelligence that decides this), to a large extent there seems to order in this world as if there is a higher force or could this world just be ship without a crew just f;oating arround at sea...
#11 e ma mu aara yin ni gan
Submitted by jagajaga (not verified) on Wed, 23/03/2011 - 9:24am.
there is no such thing as god and no devil either.
the moment stupid nigerians wake up and face these facts the better.
he has done the crime let him do the time and watch him carefully when he comes out out clearly he is a danger to children.
let us help ourselves because the imaginary god will not
#12 The devil is a liar. ESU POFO.
Submitted by Auntie "B" (not verified) on Sun, 13/03/2011 - 9:49pm.
Brethren,you now see the reason why we need to be praying constantly for our spiritual leaders?. For God to uphold them so they do not to fail or fall?. Pastor Albert has fallen but by the grace of God,he shall rise again. I would like to believe that he has confessed to God and asked for forgiveness and i believe God has forgiven him because in the last 7years,God's annointing upon pastor Albert has doubled if not tripled. The devil waited until Albert reached the peak of his carer before pulling out the "joker card" on him. May the Lord have mercy on him. May the Lord send His "balm in gilead" to heal the victims,the wife and the church members in jesus name amen. WE SHALL CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THEM.
#13 the devil is a liar
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 14/03/2011 - 1:15pm.
Although I agree that prayer should be made for Pastor Odulele, I wonder what kind of support the victims are going to have. Is the chuch willing to pay for counselling and be able to effectively minister to them and their familes? What do they know about sexual abuse trauma and the effects? Are they indeed qualified? Yes, prayer is good, but they are going to need more than just prayer, but professionally qualified therapy and loving suppport. Whoever they are, they should never be exposed as victims and have every right to stay anonymous especially as exposing them would make them more vulnerable.
I myself suffered similar abuse at the hand of my former Pastor and the leadership kicked me out when I exposed things and named me from the pulpit, whislt painting the pastor as a victim. My life went through hell and I considered suicide because of the pain of the great rejection I and my wife suffered. Just becasue someone is a leader and has a title, does not mean that they have even the slightest clue of how help a victim of spiritual/sexual abuse. My former leadership actually made the situation worse and re-abused me in the way we were treated.
Even now we are still shunned in the street and our names have been painted as mud. All because I decided to expose a fake man of God who refused to repent and admit to any wrong doing. My life will never be the same and I have a great distrust for so called church leaders, especially if they appear to be mightily anointed.
i really hope the victims in this case will received the proper care and support they rightly deserve, otherwise their scars will be made much worse and their faith possibly crushed for ever.
#14 What do you mean the devil
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 14/03/2011 - 10:44am.
What do you mean the devil waited to pull out the joker card on him? Why all this blaming of Satan. Pastor Odulele chose not to reveal his struggles and kept them quiet as far as I am aware. Interesting that you say his anointing increased over the last 7 years. it was seven years ago that these particular crimes were commited. Do you really think that those were the only ones and that he stopped 7 years ago. How utter and totally gullible are we as Christian. People who struggle with sexual attraction towards children, don't just get over it by themselves whilst keeping it secret.
i can almost guarantee you there are more victims, probably to ashamed and embarrased to come forward. Yes you are right we do need to pray for our leaders, but let us pray that they will confess and seek help earlier and that our church culture will facilitate them being comfortable and able to come forward without being stoned and judged. Sin is sin and none of us are above it, but let's not be like those in the garden of Eden and blame others, let's be honest with ourselves first and foremost.
#15 ''God is able to make all
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/03/2011 - 10:29am.
''God is able to make all grace abound to His children.Grace is available, and grace seeks and find the one with issues and struggle. Grace says , you might not deserve it but here we go, take my hand and rise up again''.
the righteous shall fall ...and rise up again.
have you ever fallen, from yout bike, rollers, skate etc.. did you rise up or somebody helped you to rise up?
let's not judge or be harsh on what has happened to pastor albert, God is not man and man is not God. ThIS has come to light for a purpose.
one advice if i may: '' Let the christians pray for their pastors and not hate them if they fall'' but instead LOVE. The bible says: love forgive ALL Things..
May God bless you.
#16 The evil one!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 15/03/2011 - 9:57pm.
If he slept and mloested your sons, I wonder if you would be so quick to ask that he should not be condemed. You should be ashamed of yourself. It is nigerians like you who that continue to cover up for these evil people who call themselves pastors. Thank God he was caught in England for he will surely do time in prison. My prayer is that fake "pastor" Albert Odulele is sentenced to a minimum of 8 yrs and extradited to the US to face the music, as i am sure , he would have abused other children there too. May God punish Odulele. Amen.
ps I am sure "pastor" Odulele is not alone! If you think that such an "important" man in Glory church is part of a ring of perverts!! You have been warned!!
#17 Steve Sacman is right
Submitted by Toyin (not verified) on Fri, 11/03/2011 - 10:15am.
I agree completely with you Steve. This whole situation just makes me angry. What ever happened to biblical standards? Why are some of us so quick to find excuses for this kind of behavior when it comes from pastors but so ready to condemn the average Joe, Uche or Ade who does exactly the same thing? What is wrong is wrong. Anyway i thank God that He is no respecter of persons - He has one Rulebook for everyone. I think the people we need to be concerned about first and foremost are the VICTIMS! They have unwittingly been given life sentences by this man. These innocent boys are scarred for life and i pray that God Himself will heal them and their families. Imagine the loss of innocence; the breaking of such a trust is almost unforgiveable. Albert Odulele is the perpetrator and as such is a pedophile. He is at the very end of my "concern list". People like him ("pastor" or not) are 1st class manipulators. It takes a heart made of high-grade kevlar to do what he did. Just imagine that before this all came out, he continued preaching. Yes, he was on the altar, at the pulpit, year after year, all the while staring the parents of his victims in the eye as he preached to them, telling them to repent. What an irony! And he is obviously unrepentant. He is still trying to excuse his actions by insisting that these acts were not planned; in short they happened by accident. He should please tell that to the marines. Anyhow, the Bible is very clear about these kinds of acts committed against children, especially ones who believe in Jesus. It is clearly stated in 3 of the Gospels that it would be better for such a perpetrator to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea than to receive the wrath God has reserved for them. (Matt 18: , Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2). Again, my compassion lies with the victims.
#18 Thanks Toyin......
Submitted by Steve Sacman (not verified) on Sat, 12/03/2011 - 8:51am.
Totally concur with your words too...
I've also noticed that his church Glory House have been extremely quiet on the matter and as yet have not issued any statement of their position especially in regards to his victims..
Grace & peace to you....
#19 oh my God!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 10:12pm.
Lord save your Church this is becoming too much. first it was lust from the pulpit, then it became fornication , then Adultery, now homosexuality....who knows, if we already have beastiality in Church too. Lord please help us ....i mean help your church, we repent, we repent, yes Lord anything to take away these incessant reproach to your name will do. Restore us Lord in Jesus name Amen!
#20 Christ-like NATURE..!
Submitted by Jayden (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 1:39pm.
Applauding mr/miss anonymous Christian 101 would be an understatement, Being quite coherent with his comment i must add that we all have struggles of different kinds, I yet have to come across someone: among the living who has no battles in his/her life...quite the contrary we are ready to crucify christ the second time..LoL! I tend to guess the comments of condemnation & upright judgement above are not from born-again christians but if they are 'shame on u'!!
The vessels Bishop Eddie L.& dr Albert O. might have cracks on them but their content & commitment & proclamation of the Word of Word of God was/is authentic. Now I ask of you, if you have read the bible well...what would Jesus have done in such a scenario???? In the context that sin is sin (ther's no natural sin & unnatural, african, european or american sin!!!) & we all come short of the glory of God! For he who has no sin, should be the first to cast a stone; rephrasing...and he who has no sin may he be the first to condemn & judge?!?!mmmhh.... I guess none of you would do so..
Therefore may we all adopt Christ-like nature, dying daily to our flesh & striving to be perfect as he is perfect until the day of redemption. we all fall & slip on our journey of life but shake up and stand firm aiming for the crown. So, let us remember all those who are on the battle fields in prayer & supplication for it's not by might or power but its by his Spirit says the Lord. And thats the way to strenghten the body of Christ. Bless you all.
#21 Acts 20: 28-31
Submitted by Steve Sacman (not verified) on Fri, 11/03/2011 - 7:24pm.
Jayden, your statement here "The vessels Bishop Eddie L.& dr Albert O. might have cracks on them but their content & commitment & proclamation of the Word of Word of God was/is authentic." is slightly misguided as while you may well proclaim that their words, committment of God's word was/is authentic", as scripture clearly doesn't hence the title of my subject.
Jesus would have done to Long & Odulele exactly what he did to those in the temple who had turned the temple of God into a den of theives (Mark 11:15-19) as clergy sexual abuse is not all Long & Odulele have in common, both teach false doctrine and promote the "prosperity gospel" they teach extensively on "wealth transfer", "Dominion Now" and that poverty is a curse. Long in particular promotes himself as a CEO as opposed to a Pastor.
For example Jesus had compassion on the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) because the Pharisees were using her situation to provoke Him, Christ knew this and that the Pharisees had been abusing their position of authority over the people they were supposed to be overseeing.. His remarks to them in the text were clearly directed at them and their hypocrisy...
On the other hand Long & Odulele are supposed to be teachers of the word and shepherds who have clearly abused their repected positions, personally I believe Jesus would have quoted Jeremiah 23: 1-4: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning b the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. c Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 d Then I will gather the remnant of my flock e out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, f and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 g I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.
There are clear instructions throughout the NT that highlight the standards that a pastor should hold as they must be above reproach, James 3:1 for example shows that they will be judged more severely than non leaders.
So no Jayden personally I have no time for these charlatans and believe that many more will be exposed, Christians just need to watch out for them and avoid them... Romans 16:17-18
#22 reply to wole
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2011 - 11:50pm.
Don't forget this man denied it at first, but he soon found out that the evidence against him was overwelming and did not want to take his chance in court and if found guilty be given a longer sentence hence he pleaad guilty now and get a shorter sentence and rehabilitation. Given his uilty plea it highly likely he will get about 4YEARS AND BE RELEASED IN 2. Better than 8-10.
#23 We all have sinned
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2011 - 5:58pm.
May God forgive Dr O.
Please remember, we all have sinned, no one is exempt from Sin, whether we are at the forefront or within the congregation of Christian Ministry, God forgives, why can't we?
Disciples and followers of the Gospel within the Bible, also had sinned - Almighty God forgave them and will continue to forgive us, providing we ask for forgiveness and learn from our mistakes. I hope and pray that we will all learn from this sad situation and move on positively.
#24 Christianity Vs.Circularism
Submitted by Wole (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2011 - 11:11am.
You might find it ironical that this event has deepened my respect for Dr. Odulele more than ever before. I have listened to him for years & even had the previledge to meet him personaly in Lagos once.
The fact that he admitted & pleaded guilty expresses a heart that places God above self, & the pride of life. The convinient way would have been to deny, save your reputation, save your million pound worth ministry, pretend to be a victim of blackmail, but at the end lose your soul. I salute the courage of this man of God to stand up to his weakness! I pray that God empowers him to deal with it, I pray that his wife, family & other Christians stand with him to cover his "nakednessness".
The accusation of Dr. Eddy Long of sexually assaulting some young boys too is still fresh in my mind. Dr. Eddie Long vehemently denies all allegations but frankly something tells me that he is guilty (I hope I am wrong!).
My point however is that these accusations/practices of homosexuality in European & American churches are getting really embarrasing! Christians in the West really need to deal with all this mess, its embarrasing the rest of us! If a male preacher commits adultery with a female member its equaly sinful but at least we know its NATURAL HUMAN nature for a man to desire a woman. But a man desiring another man? DISGUSTING! I need to speak this strongly because subconciously the world, gay activists, hate speach law proponents, etc would think the body of christ has endorsed same sex partners. When people argue that they "were born as homesexuals" I ask them; have you ever seen any male dog chasing another male dog? Same sex partners is not "natural"! It is becoming an increasing concern that subtlely same sex intercourse is becoming more & more acceptable.
#25 Romans 1:18-31
Submitted by Steve Sacman (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 8:58am.
Wole, how can you have a deepened respect for someone who has clearly been decieved within himself and tried to deceive others in the process? Ask yourself this simple question... Odulele had 7 years to confess and admit his wrong doing to his congregation and then to freely hand himself over to the police, this was not done and he was arrested last September and finally enough evidence was brought against him to charge him and only at that point (last month) did he admit his guilt.. It's obvious that Odulele and the elders tried to cover this story until the victims had enough courage to go to the authority's as yet again the "church"fails to deal correctly with sexual abuse cases committed by clergy...
Odulele case is very similar to Longs, difference here is that the evidence was overwhelming and his guilt was clearly obvious..
Your words "The fact that he admitted & pleaded guilty expresses a heart that places God above self, & the pride of life. The convinient way would have been to deny, save your reputation, save your million pound worth ministry", really show a lack of thought for his victims and clearly show how Christians are truly blinded by the charisma of a leader rather than what the biblical standard of a leader should be.. If he was truly expressing a heart that places God above self, then he wouldn't of committed these heinous acts in the first place.. Stop defending the actions of a man who is clearly of a reprobrate mind and has violated his position as a pastor.. Above all it is his victims who now need to be reminded about God's grace and his mercy, while Odulele must never be allowed to Pastor or lead any congregation ever again as he is totally disqualified from this position by scripture..
1 Tomothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5
Very sad to read such comments.....
#26 C V C, how can you have a
Submitted by Steve Sacman (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 8:55am.
C V C, how can you have a deepened respect for someone who has clearly been decieved within himself and tried to deceive others in the process? Ask yourself this simple question... Odulele had 7 years to confess and admit his wrong doing to his congregation and then to freely hand himself over to the police, this was not done and he was arrested last September and finally enough evidence was brought against him to charge him and only at that point (last month) did he admit his guilt.. It's obvious that Odulele and the elders tried to cover this story until the victims had enough courage to go to the authority's as yet again the "church"fails to deal correctly with sexual abuse cases committed by clergy...
Odulele case is very similar to Longs, difference here is that the evidence was overwhelming and his guilt was clearly obvious..
Your words "The fact that he admitted & pleaded guilty expresses a heart that places God above self, & the pride of life. The convinient way would have been to deny, save your reputation, save your million pound worth ministry", really show a lack of thought for his victims and clearly show how Christians are truly blinded by the charisma of a leader rather than what the biblical standard of a leader should be.. If he was truly expressing a heart that places God above self, then he wouldn't of committed these heinous acts in the first place.. Stop defending the actions of a man who is clearly of a reprobrate mind and has violated his position as a pastor.. Above all it is his victims who now need to be reminded about God's grace and his mercy, while Odulele must never be allowed to Pastor or lead any congregation ever again as he is totally disqualified from this position by scripture..
1 Tomothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5
Very sad to read such comments.....
#27 I think we Christians should
Submitted by Ola Chris (not verified) on Wed, 09/03/2011 - 8:14am.
I think we Christians should get real about the "gay thing"...... I think a lot of people are battling with this sickness and need help! How should they come out? To the Church where they are going to be crucified? I am sick and tired about Pastors being ridiculed everyday. Someone needs to set up a forum or sanctuary where these people can come out, get help and get healed.............
#28 God continue to bless you
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 10:12pm.
God continue to bless you with His wisdom.
#29 So very well put
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/03/2011 - 9:55am.
So very well put
#30 Christainity 101: It is
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/03/2011 - 5:21am.
Christainity 101: It is important to remember that becoming a passionate Christian or pastor does not free anyone from moral struggles. It gives one a heart that seeks to please God and seeks to forsake sin. Our hope in our walk wih Christ is that we become more Christ-like as we abhor sin. However the perfect has not come and God does not necessarily only use 'sin-free' vessels! being at the top as a minister also makes it more difficult to reach out for help with struggles than if one were not a minister. If you study the life of David God described as the man after (God's) heart, he was an adulterer and murderer! How inconceivable! We would have had him rot in jail for the rest of his life based on all the comments here. There are consequences for sin and David has some serious consequences. But sin in itself is no indication that a person is not genuine in their pursuit of God and their desire to be sin-free. In the bible., you read of Christ lovers saying in different ways :’Who will deliver me from this body of mine? The good I desire to do, I do not and the bad I abhor, I do!’. Brokenness and heart condition is key! True worshippers of God need to understand the concept of mercy over judgment. Christian ministers are people like you and I- with their own internal struggles-like you and I. They just picked a different vocation than you and I. This is very sad. Instead of all this mindless judgement, we as Christain should be on our knees, praying for the victims and the offender…praying for healing, courage, strength, fortitude, genuine repentance, reconciliation and restoration to each and every person involved and affected. We shouls be praying for those who may have been close to getting saved by the saving grace of our God but who now are reconsidering as our God’s name is getting dragged in the mud on account of this minister’s failing. I will be praying for the victims and the minister as well as their families and the church of Christ. I suggest that all who are called by Christ, do the same!
#31 I completely agree with
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/03/2011 - 10:47pm.
I completely agree with Christian 101's views. Our prayers should be that God's healing and restoration flows to all the families affected. Perhaps if we Christians spent more time submitting to God through prayers for the body of Christ, we would succeed in resisting the wiles of the enemy and completely keep the devil out of our lives..... Let's look to God 's spirit for direction in how to focus our prayers. Remember He has all the answers!!! Lover of Christ
#32 Healing & compassion for all affected
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/03/2011 - 10:55am.
Well said, my anonymous brother or sister.
As an older victim (over the age of consent) of the sexual predatory nature of my former, still unrepentant pastor (who also has a thing for young boys), I totally agree with all you have said. This man is going to experience some severe hostility not only in the prison system, but sadly also in the church amongst those who are "professing" to know Christ.
What kind of support is available to a church congregation who have been affected by this? How are people going to minister to his precious wife and family, what of the victims both young over the "age of consent"? There are so many victims in this mess, but sadly the worst place on earth for healing is sometimes the church itself, due to ignorance and judgementalism.
I would dearly love to offer my own support alongside my wife and feel as if we in some small way could make a contribution towards the healing journey for others. Please pray for us that we can set up something here in the U.K, very soon, as I am sure that other situations similar to this are going raise its ugly head in the not too distant future. They will also need the support of loving, compassionate, non-judgemental brothers and sisters in Christ to come along side to help and serve their needs, by helping the leadership to understand the dynamics of abuse in the church, speaking to affected congregations, victims & silent victims etc & offering professionally qualified counselling.
May God help us all to do our part whereever God has placed us in the body of Christ.
Post new comment