Category Archives: The African-American Church

SCANDAL and the Institutional Church

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in black clergy, Black preachers, led out of the church, rejection, The African-American Church

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Here is an interesting quote from a blog called Detox From Church For Real, as it pertains to those who have left the
institution called “church.”

“If you’re not careful, keep harping on what’s wrong with church can become YOUR religion. An obsession. An addiction as real as that to crack cocaine…Keeping your spirit’clean’ also means turning away from that which poisons you, that takes you back to that place of being wounded by churchianity. I don’t see recovering drug addicts going back to the crack houses…trying to ‘save’ those who are caught up in the drug scene. SO what’s with religious folks trying to ‘save’ the lost and misguided, the bamboozled, the deceived in church?vThat’s NOT your job anyways…THAT IS THE JOB OF THE HOLY GHOST.” (Wenona Russ)

In ministry while in a denomination for 25 years, I was once  one of the wounded, so I personally know the truth of this quote. When the Bishop manipulated the leadership council to remove my name from the membership rolls  back in 2004, even though I had been shown by God what would happen nine months before the deed was done, I was still both hurt, bitter and angry. The truth is that when you focus on individuals and not the religiously political system that my enemies represented, bitterness and even outrage will naturally surface. I took out my rage on them in a book, where I changed names but I identified the denomination. I re-wrote the book a few years later, with a new title “Come Out of Her God’s People,”  and  without identifying the specific church.  BT,.I no longer market the original. You see,   once a critic stated that I sounded “bitter,” I realized that my literary articulation was being negatively affected by the outrage that I thought I had successfully suppressed.

The truth is that I had allowed “looking back” at their scandals to tarnish my own soul.   I have purposed in my heart to  refuse  to allow any person, place, thing  or entity to shape, or even slightly influence the essence of who I am according to who God created me to be. .

Once the Lord revealed to me the deep truth as to why I was rejected by church leaders, I never again looked back at them or  their SCANDALS.

You see, there was and I expect continues to be much SCANDAL in this particular sect—so much so that I am reminded of the TV series that bears the same name.

SCANDAL

In this regard, as a former pastor among them,   I once knew of loads of COVERED UP denominational  scandals among the religious white- washed tombs of  the persevering hypocrites.  So watching the politicians cover-up of scandals on the TV series  reminded me of  the games religious folk play.

At first, like everyone else, you look at the individual characters to make an assessment as to who is to blame, who is at fault. With the TV series, you wonder if  it is the President or his monstrous Chief of Staff! Or is it his power-hungry First Lady, or perhaps the head of the secret agency called B613? In my “church situation,” , I first looked at the people involved in trying to bring me down in the church. There were three of them.

On the TV series, when you begin to watch each character  lie, plot, scheme, manipulate, and even murder, I noticed that  at the heart of their behavior is their yet naive attempt to be the good guys, wearing the white hat. The characters are able to live with their mess 20140303_185514because they can still rationalize that they did their best to protect the republic. So with all of their political tactics, you have to ask yourself “well! who is the republic?”

And this is the institutional church. . Both politics and religion use the same tactics. Religious folk” kill off”  other churchfolk because they believe they are protecting  their territory within the IC.  Therefore, it is understandable that both politics and religion  have their part to play as Mystery Babylon.

Consider the IC.

By any means necessary, whether a famous mega preacher or the choir director or trustee of a 50 member church, the goal is the same. To protect the IC, which like the republic is a non-human entity. A system. A religious system.

The reality is that the problems and SCANDALS of the IC have been built into Her system for the last 17 centuries. so there is no one in the IC today who is really the originator of any of her present circumstances.

Olivia Pope had an interesting revelation about the republic. As the re-election campaign manager for the sitting President, she came to realize that it really did not matter who wins. All three candidates committed murder. The democrat committed a premeditated murder of his wife’s lover, the independent killed her closet gay husband in a fit of rage and covered it up, and the incumbent President killed a dying woman who was about to release a damnable secret to the press!

In other words, ALL THREE CANDIDATES ARE MURDERERS!!!!!

Upon this realization, Olivia got yet another revelation. Working for the republic at any cost changes who you are because through passivity, you lose yourself. Engulfed in darkness, you can no longer stand in the sun.

Herein lies what happens in the IC. Each individual loses him or herself trying to sustain Her. When a member or a pastor  become a target of destruction in the denomination I was ordained in, the expression was “the Bishop or the  Council killed him or killed her. When a  church scandal has been covered up, the devil comes in and takes over.

That is why, rather than spend my energy bashing Her, I focus on restoring individuals who desire freedom from Her. Seeking freedom? Check out RESCUE at www.aboutrescue.com or call 518-477-5759

What are some other reasons why it is fruitless to continue to look back at HER to expose, criticize or blame?

Well, If she were alive, I know of someone who can answer the question by her own personal experience. God warned those He led out of two decadent cities not to look back at what He was destroying. For to look back is a sign that you want to GO  back.

Let Lot’s wife warn YOU  from her pillar of salt.

God Speaks to the Church Through Whitney Houston’s Death

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in organized church, The African-American Church

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Wenona Russ is the first new author published by Pam Sheppard Publishing, the author of the e-book, “the Making of a False Prophet.”

In this video, Wenona  makes some salient comments relative to the failure of the institutional church to conduct successful interventions with its troubled and addicted flock.

However, I have a different take on the issue.  In my book, “Come Out of Her God’s People,” you will find these words:

                                                                                                      

There Are Plagues in the Institutional Church

“It is ironic to note that the very conditions conducive to the pervasive emergence of the plagues of the organized church thrive in Her ability to weaken, distort, mis-apply, and discard Her primary reason for existing, namely the revelation of both the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Beside preaching the gospel so that the Holy Ghost can convict and convert, the most important responsibility of the church of Jesus Christ is to tend the sheep.  Jesus was very particular about the mandate of safety and protection.”

Whitney’s church gave her a memorable “going home” service, yet they failed miserably to protect one of their own from the evil music industry whose favor they  flagrantly seek, evidenced by the exaltation of worldly superstars at the center stage of their “holy” place.  The backlash?  Whitney drowns in a bathtub.

Her death may appear to be an accident.  On the surface, it seems so.  The spiritual truth is  that Whitney’s death is a plague upon the church because they have kept  one foot in the “house of God” and the other foot— in the world.

  The wages of sin is death.  Not so much the death of a phenomenal icon, but the death of the church system  who adored  her. The institutional church idolized  Whitney Houston  and out of a lust to bask in her superstardom, churchfolk  could  not protect her with their prayers or their counsel.

Black Preachers Who Provoke the Wrath of God!

21 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in Black preachers, Creflo Dollar, false prophets, sin, The African-American Church

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As an ordained minister in an African-American Church from 1981-2004, I concur with the contents of this video.  However,  Creflo Dollar, Juanita Bynum and others are really not representative of the black church.  From her book, “Come Out of Her, God’s People,” the author “goes a lot deeper.”  Two words tell the tale: hirelings and sin.  Here is a sample from this shocking  book.:

The denominational  ministers on the local district  formed a fellowship group where the ministers sat around and talked church trash after eating a full course meal. At each of these meetings, I was always the only woman present. Having attended several of these exclusively Denominational meetings, one particular ‘gathering’ stands out prominently in my mind.  One day, Rev. Keith McGillis, the President of the  Alliance and the pastor of the largest church on the Albany district decided he would “school me.” He hollered across the room  to me,  “Pam, you need to have a gimmick.” When I looked puzzled, Rev. McGillis stood up to demonstrate.

“Girl, look here. The niggas ain’t happy unless we give them some entertainment. I remember one day, my niggas must a been out late Saturday night, cause when I looked around, half a dem niggas was sleepin. So I jumped up, ran down the aisle, swung my robe hard to the left, then hard to the right.  Took my handkerchief and waved it in the air, then I threw it down hard to the floor. Twirlin around real fast, I ran out of the sanctuary, went into my office and slammed the door. Girl, them niggas started to shoutin and  screamin, some of dem jumped up and did the Holy Ghost dance.  That’s what I mean Pam. You got to have a gimmick.”  The rest of the ministers laughed in agreement. Rev. McGillis has since moved up to bigger and better things on the national level of the Denomination.

I never took his advice. I never found a gimmick. Perhaps this is the reason why I could never preach the congregation into a frenzy.  In fact,  on various occasions, my sermons were so poignant that some have jumped up out of their seats and showed me their backs as they were running out of the door while others defiantly sat right In front of me completing a cross word puzzle.  The word I preached was a two-edged sword. For even when my own garment was soiled or spoiled, I still preached holiness.

Come Out of Her, God’s People” is a shocking, yet powerful book.  Click the title for the softcover.

Click book cover for e-book