Over the years “Christianity” has taken some hits from the likes of James and Tammy Faye Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, whose sexual scandals led to their downfalls. Now the spotlight in this area is on Orlando Baptist Church, in the wake of their now-resigned “pastor’s” difficulties. He was accused of having a mistress and resigned in February. The leaders of the church claimed that his resignation had nothing to do with the alleged “affair”; they claim that they had agreed to pay her for her silence. In fact, in this follow-up article of March 26, 2016, the church disputes the majority of the allegations the woman made. “…they weren’t attempting to silence her but were actually trying to provide confidential support and counseling” (A10). Hmm. As the saying goes, “We report; you decide.”
Just weeks following that “event,” came another scandal. It seems that the same “pastor” who practiced sexual immorality with one of his members is filing personal bankruptcy for, um, $16,000,000. Yes, that is correct. He owes $17 million dollars but only has assets of $1 million. As the attorney for the female paramour said, “How can a pastor of a church have that much debt?” That is certainly a good question, and a second is like unto it: “And also, where did it all go?” (A1). The “pastor’s” attorney said that “the debts are related to failed investments during the Great Recession” (A10). Really? So, he borrowed money to invest? Does that make any sense? But then he also said that the timing of the filing and the scandal were just “coincidence.”
The story gets even more bizarre. The man in question appears to have been involved in “land development for national builders during a time when he was not pastoring a church” (A10). Having a part-time job that leaves one $17 million in debt does not sound like a way to boost one’s salary. How does that happen? Some people think the outlay for AMWAY is expensive! This same guy was running a charity for chicken farms to feed people in Kenya, and one man sued him in 2013, claiming that he was appropriating the funds for his own personal use. Oh, but he explained that the money had to be put into his personal accounts because of a bookkeeping error. The lawsuit was dropped, and the man’s money was returned. One more piece of information is that $3.6 million was loaned to the “pastor” by FirstCity Bank in Atlanta that failed in 2012. The president of that institution is “serving a 12-year prison term for a multi-million-dollar conspiracy to defraud the bank,” according to the FBI (A10).
Could all of these things just “happen” to one man? Only if he were the most unlucky individual alive! The “pastor” might consider some Scriptures: “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” (Pr. 6:27).
“But those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare…” (1 Tim. 6:9).