Days after James Morris launched a new website announcing the commencement of a “church planting journey,” they’ve now shared the chosen name for their new establishment.
Morris was about to take over the role of lead pastor of Gateway Church, the 100,000-member Houston megachurch founded and led by his father, Robert Morris, until it was revealed that the elder Morris had sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the ’80s, causing the church to part ways with Robert and James to resign permanently.
Sharing on Instagram, he and his wife write:
We have spent the past few weeks praying and seeking the Lord, and God has confirmed the name of the church the Lord put in our hearts to plant through multiple scriptures and people.
The name is Passage Church!
This name has a twofold meaning. First, “Passage” is another word in reference to scripture. We believe in the authority and power of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. Passage Church is founded on the Word of God and will be a place where people are taught the Word of God. Second, “Passage” is another word for making a journey from one place to another. Passage Church is active and on the move; filled with people pursuing God in every season.
A very popular teacher in his own right, it is believed that James will draw hundreds, if not thousands, of people away from Gateway Church and into his own as soon as it launches, comprising both current attendees, as well as thousands of disillusioned congregants who stopped attending following the tragic revelations.
A Las Vegas judge sentenced Pastor Bobby Cornelius Smith of New Beginnings Ministries Church of God in Christ to one year of probation on Monday, the result of a plea deal that will see the disgraced pastor avoid jail time but have to register as a sex offender. Despite this grotesque development, Smith was not run out of the church or made to resign, but instead will remain the pastor. According to KLAS:
A grand jury previously indicted Smith for 11 felony charges, including nine counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, and one count of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment. Three women, one family member, and two women whom he referred to as “God daughters,” reported that he sexually assaulted them.
A family member testified in front of the grand jury that Smith forced her to use sex toys multiple times starting when she was 17 years old and a senior in high school, according to transcripts obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators. She said that Smith told her, “God is telling me that it is important for you to do this,” and insisted that the sex toys would prevent her from ruining her life and giving into “urges.” Smith later showed her how to use the toy and would tell her to meet him at hotels, she said.
Furthermore:
Another woman testified that her family became involved with New Beginnings Ministries when she was 16 years old. At 17, she said, Smith texted her a photo of a sex toy. She told him that she did not want to use it. Smith later brought up the sex toy again, telling her that sex toys are not a sin and that he wanted to show her how to use one, she said.
Despite his disqualifying behavior, Smith’s has been preaching regularly since being charged early last year, much to the shame of his effeminate elders and weak-willed congregants. With having to register as a sex-offender, he will not be able to be alone with any children other than his own.
A pastor is thanking the Lord for his province after a man entered his church, pulled a gun on him, and fired at him in the middle of a church service that was being live-streamed. Mercifully, the gun jammed and did not fire, causing the gunman to be tackled and apprehended by a brave congregant, who quickly jumped into action.
The incident happened at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in North Braddock, PA, a small church of about 25 people. Pastor Pastor Glenn Germany, who was the victim of the attempted murder by Bernard Junior Polite, 26, recounted the harrowing incident.
“He stood up and he smiled at me. and it was just a smile. He comes to right here and then all of a sudden, that’s when I see him pull the gun and all I could do is duck and try to get out of the way…He pulled the gun; it clicked. You heard him shoot it. God jammed the gun so the bullet didn’t come out.”
Captured on livestream! Man tries to shoot pastor while preaching, but gun jams.
From pastor Glenn Germany of 'Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church' in North Braddock pic.twitter.com/7uGC5IrW9I
Following the jamming, the gunman was tackled by Deacon Clarence McCallister, 63, who shared:
“Once I seen a gun, then I leaped out of my seat and leaped over that railing, and I tackled him down to the ground. The man had his back turned towards me, and I could see he would never see me coming.”
Following the incident, police went to the home of the perpetrator, where they found a body that was fatally shot. The deceased is believed to be a family member of Polite, who he murdered before the attempt on the pastor’s life.
With the news that Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church has become a cesspool filled with LGBTQ+ affirming pastors, leaders, ministries, guest speakers, and conferences, it’s unsurprising that as more stones are overturned, more deviant theology emerges.
So far, three pastors have come forward saying that Stanley made some shocking gay-affirming comments in 2019, acting as witnesses, and providing contemporaneous text messages to prove it. Another pastor at his church, however, may have just outted him.
Debbie Causey is a gay-affirming North Point Community Church pastor and the Director of Care Networl, overseeing a dozen ministries.
Years ago, after her son came out as gay, she wrote the book The Big Reveal: Loving Your LGBTQ+ Child While Strengthening Your Faith, which details her experiences handling her son’s revelations. The book is filled with bad theology and sly innuendo, but one section caught our attention: when Debbie describes what it was telling her pastor about her son and his reaction.
Debbie has been with North Point church for over 24 years and is in a very high position within the 30,000-member multisite. Though she doesn’t name names and has not revealed any further information, this book excerpt and other times she’s told this story makes it an almost certainty she’s speaking about Stanley. If not, at the very least, she’s referencing another senior-level pastor at North Point.
According to Causey, her pastor said he didn’t know whether or not it was a sin to act on homosexual desires and attractions, said the Bible’s description of sodomites in Romans 1 doesn’t mesh with any gay people he knows, and advised her not to tell her son that his same-sex desires were unnatural, because they are natural for him.
We reached out to North Point Community Church but have not received a response at the time of publishing.
One of the speakers at this event is Chris Clark. He is a pastor at the 25,000-member, 14-campus Saddleback Church, where he leads Premarital Mentors and Church Counseling Training. Years ago, his daughter came out as transgendered, and in response, he co-founded an ‘Embracing the Journey’ chapter at Saddleback, along with Shauna and Doug Habel.
Embracing the Journey is an openly “affirming” pro-LBGTQ+ ministry that routinely partners with aggressive pro-LBGTQ activist organizations like The Reformation Project, which seek to advance full LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. In 2020 they entered into a partnership with Saddleback Church to be their go-to resource for parents with kids who are struggling with their sexuality, and Saddleback even cut a video endorsing the group.
The Habels are longtime members of Saddleback Church, attending for over a decade. According to their ETJ bio, in 2016, Shauna attended The Reformation Project conference (a prominent pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy group). There “she saw gay Christians studying the Bible and worshipping God. She saw their vibrant faith, despite the pain they faced” and came to believe that homosexuality was not sinful.
Shauna, in particular, became radicalized over the years, attending Fuller Seminary to receive a MA in Justice and Advocacy and coming to lead panels on behalf of ETJ for Reformation Project. She’s a leader in Saddleback and has grown the ministry. Saddleback Church now hosts four ongoing support groups and one small group for Embracing the Journey.
Shauna claims that “we are not in either the left or right lane, but in the moderate middle of unconditional love for our children,” but it’s evident that this is not the case, particularly when she reveals she works with conservative parents to help them become “affirming.”
Shauna requests a shoutout from Freed Hearts, the affirming ministry of Susan Cottrell. OutSmart magazine called Cottrell ‘The Mother of All MamaBears’ and the famed gay magazine The Advocate dubbed her “our favorite affirming matriarch.” She is a prominent voice for the LGBTQ+ community and has the statistically unlikely odds of having two children who are gay.
When she’s not requesting shoutouts from gay-affirming organizations, she’s giving them, offering a flyer to Beloved Arise, “the first national organization dedicated primarily to empowering youth to proudly embrace both their faith and queer identity.” Beloved Arise in turn recommends Embracing the Journey, Along with Freed Hearts and PFLAG.
These are the people and personalities leading the care group for desperate parents who come to Saddleback seeking counsel and resources for their struggling children. Pro-LGBTQ+ Embracing the Journey, an affirming pastor, and a radical ministry leader who believes it is her mission to help people cast aside God’s good designs for biblical sexuality so that she might instead affirm them in their sin.
Canadian Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, AB, has been acquitted on charges of breach of Public Health Orders for his actions during the COVID pandemic, a judge has ruled.
Stephens was one of only a handful of churches that fought to stay open throughout the pandemic and was ruthless targeted by Alberta Health Services. Stephens, along with Pastor James Coates, was imprisoned for weeks.
Judge Allan Fradsham ruled that prosecutors failed to prove Stephens didn’t maintain social distancing during two church services in early 2021, meaning that all personal Public Health Act charges against him have now either been withdrawn or resulted in acquittals.
In an interview with Post Media, Stephens was overjoyed.
“All my personal matters have been dealt with so I feel vindicated. It certainly speaks volumes of the overreach of government actions during COVID…I praise God because those heavy-handed measures only enhanced the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that, I rejoice.”
On May 6, 2021, Associate Chief Justice John Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench issued what might be the broadest restraining order in common law history. Justice Rooke’s injunction allowed police to arrest and detain immediately and take before the court any Albertan who exercised her or his Charter freedoms in the face of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s unscientific and unconstitutional lockdown orders and restrictions.
On May 13, 2021, at the request of the Justice Centre, the injunction was amended by the Court of Queen’s Bench to apply only to persons associated with the Whistle Stop Café. Nonetheless, on May 16, 2021, Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church was unlawfully arrested for allegedly violating the terms of the injunction, even though he had no association with the Café and had not been served notice of the injunction. Pastor Stephens was released after spending three days in the Calgary Remand Centre.
Pastor Stephens was again arrested on June 14, 2021, for having allegedly conducted an outdoor church service violating a court order. As a result, he spent an additional 18 days in jail before being released on July 1, 2021. At the time of his release, the Public Health Orders in question had been revoked.
In addition to spending a total of 21 days in jail, Pastor Stephen had also been served with six provincial tickets for his alleged breach of Alberta Public Health Orders. Four of those tickets have since been dropped; today’s decision is in relation to the two remaining tickets.
In an interview with Post Media, Stephens was overjoyed.
“All my personal matters have been dealt with so I feel vindicated. It certainly speaks volumes of the overreach of government actions during COVID…I praise God because those heavy-handed measures only enhanced the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that, I rejoice.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Andy Wood, the new pastor of the 25,000-member, 14-campus Saddleback Church that recently recently raised eyebrows after ordaining several pastrixes and having a “Blacks Only worship service” where no white members were allowed in, so the “black fold” could have a “safe space” to “heal,” says he doesn’t want to get involved in denominational politics, despite his church being ground zero for new controversies within the SBC.
Having recently introduced his wife Stacie as the congregation’s newest female teaching pastor, Wood told AP:
“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise those spiritual gifts. My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”
According to the AP, Wood “expressed gratitude for the SBC’s partnership at Saddleback and Echo and hopes that it would continue.”
“I’m not looking to engage in denominational battles. I’d really like to be a unifier of people – to help, love and support pastors in the SBC.”
For years Andy Wood’s former church, Echo Church, was supported by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB), all the while wife Stacie was an ordained “teaching pastor” and regularly leading services.
Saddleback’s longtime former pastor, Rick Warren, previously made a surprise appearance at the SBC 2022 convention back in the summer and spoke for several minutes uninterrupted, using his time to list all the accomplishments he has done as the largest Southern Baptist church in the world, bragging about all his accomplishments while telling attendees that they need to stop “bickering over secondary issues” like what gender the pastor is, and instead focus on the Great Commission.
Despite being a SBC church with money and influence, there is no way they will unite anyone so long as they continue to act in arrogant disobedience.
Instead, they should fire the pastrixes, get rid of any church leadership who went along with the idea, put on sackcloth and ash, mourn their actions for a decade, and then we’ll talk about how they can start unifying and loving SBC pastors .
Welcome to our bi-monthly roundup of the worst of the worst so-called pastors and pastrixes from TikTok and other social media hubs. These are a collation of lost souls fast on their way to receiving the greater judgment if they don’t repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ.
Each one is between 15 and 30 seconds and is used to demonstrate the sheer insanity that is out there. This also serves as a foreshadowing where some of these conservative denominations are headed if they don’t take an uncompromising, bombastically hard line against even a hint of LGBTQ influence in the church.
Money-grubby ‘pastor’ Carlton Funderburke of Church at the Well in Kansas City, MO, has apologized after ripping his congregation for not buying him a luxury watch, saying “I’ve spoken to those I am accountable to and have received their correction and instruction.”
During his August 7th church service, ‘Prophet’ Funderburke derided his congregation as ‘poor, broke, busted and disgusted’ for not buying him a Movado watch, which range between $300-$3500 dollars, acting like an entitled baby who is upset because he can’t have the shiny things.
“This is how I know you’re still poor, broke, busted and disgusted, because of how you’ve been honoring me. I’m not worth your McDonald’s money? I’m not worth your Red Lobster money? I ain’t worth your St John Knits? (Luxury clothing brand for women) Ya’ll can’t afford it no-how. I ain’t worth ya’ll Louis Vutton? I ain’t worth your Prada? I’m not worth your Gucci? ….I’m saying this because I want you to understand just what God is saying…You can buy a Movado watch in Sam’s. And y’all know I asked for one last year. Here it is, the whole way in August and I still ain’t got it.”
Kansas City Pastor GOES OFF on congregation calling them "poor, broke busted and disgusted" because they didn't give him enough money to buy a new watch he's been wanting. It's pastors like these that give the church a bad name smh an also why a lot of our generation left the church. What y'all think? 🤔
Coming under fire, Funderburke further stated in a video released to his church “though there is context to the content behind the clip, no context will suffice to explain the hurt and anguish caused by my words.” and that “I regret that your first impression of me is one of anger, hate and resentment. My actions and my words are inexcusable. I offer no justification or defense. That moment was mishandled and mismanaged. I deeply regret this moment and I solicit your prayers and your forgiveness as we grow forward.”
Andrew Wilson is a frequent contributor to the Gospel Coalition. He’s also the teaching pastor at King’s Church, London and the author of God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World. During his “Good Faith Debate’ with Bob Thune on ‘How should Christians think about gun control and the right to bear arms?” Wilson, who is an extreme pacifist, claimed that the the world should not have opposed Hitler militarily, but rather should have let him conquer the world. He explains:
Question: In World War II, from what I understand reading of history, one of the Axis powers were very concerned about how in the world you would invade the United States, because of how many private citizens owned guns and ammunition. How is that part of the debate land with you?
Wilson: Yeah, I think World War II is that the closest thing we have to a a genuine war of good against evil. I think most wars in history you’d probably say ‘Ahhh ,You know, there’s bad men on both sides, there’s good men on both sides.’
I think when you have Hitler and Nazism wanted to steamroll everybody, you’d go ‘Okay, that’s it. I think we’re as close as we can be to saying that’s a very, very bad man, and a lot of very, very bad things are gonna happen if he’s in charge.’
So as that sense it follows us, it’s like the reductio ad absurdum of the pacifist position. And I think you as a pacifist you, you basically swallow it and you say, ‘Yeah, that might mean Britain been invaded…I might now be speaking German, maybe.’
I think the world would be- I’d have to trust the providence of God, I have to, I have to ultimately say ‘this is exactly what Romans 12 is doing. So you don’t do these things. because vengeance is mine, is mine to repay.”
…I think if you read the Sermon on the Mount and say ‘what does this say I should do with Hitler?’ You’d go ‘yeah I think that means, you might have to say I don’t resist’. And and at that point you might say ‘oh that’s cowardice.’…I actually think that takes a lot of courage to hold that position.
…So I don’t it sounds very weird in our world to say, ‘let Hitler invade’, you know, ‘bring it on’, and trust it to God.
