Hello friends. 2024 year has been rocked by more scandals and big exposures in the evangelical Christian community. I’m not going to summarize every scandal but I want to share a few resources for your review. Please make time to hear these podcasts because foreknowledge is essential in order to keep you safe in a church community.
As an advocate against human trafficking; one key thing that I learned is that foreknowledge and warnings can prevent individuals from being deceived and enslaved. Whenever I see in the news the people who are arrested for child sexual abuse and child porn possession; I am always surprised by how distinguished, talented, intelligent, wealthy and successful these individuals are in their line of work in business, education, entertainment, politics, news media, religious establishments, etc. What I’m saying is that these individuals are everywhere and so it’s best to be on guard and have foreknowledge about the warning signs so that you will not be deceived and become their next victim. Like my good, Pentecostal friend would say, “the devil never misses church.”
I heard one preacher say that every church should have a “beware of wolf” sign just like a house would display “beware of dog” sign when they have a dangerous dog. You might ask yourself, then why bother going to church and getting involved? Because the Bible teaches us to. There are some “non-negotiable house rules” in the Bible for living life as followers of Jesus Christ. As a student of the Bible for the past 14 years; I tried to learn and practice the big, important house rules to follow. I called these the “non-negotiable house rules”. Being rooted, planted and serving in a local home church is one of them. Since my husband is not a believer, I’m more limited in how I can serve with my talents, time and money in my church; and so I serve my church community through a prayer ministry. I also see the wisdom of God to isolate me from the busywork of church ministry in order for me to spend a lot of my time doing research, silent reflection and prayers before I share these vetted resources with you. That’s what a prayer intercessor does – we intercede on behalf of others and the world with God’s will, wisdom and discernment.
Gateway Church’s founding pastor, Robert Morris was exposed for sexually abusing a 12 year old girl, many years ago. Because he was a celebrity pastor and his megachurch is very big and affluent, this exposure was a huge deal in the evangelical Christian community. Please hear this recent message by the Gateway church leadership on their investigation and steps forward as a church. They will share how they have changed their approach to accountability, board members and bylaws so that no one is above the law and protected by biased elders and board members. It’s a must listen for all, even if you are not involved with any administration in church or nonprofits or other organizations. Max Lucado shared after the elder’s tough report. Max Lucado has a gift of grace and mercy, and offers good, clean water for the thirsty soul and to flourish out cynicism. I advise you to hear this podcast to the very end. Their new worship song brought some healing to my broken and disappointed heart. I have learned a lot from Robert Morris’s teachings.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gateway-churchs-podcast/id88410531?i=1000675828689
Another big exposure and scandal in 2024 was about the founding members of the Daystar network, a charismatic Christian media company. Since I have recommended Jimmy Evans’ marriage ministry to you before, I really want you to hear this podcast. In this podcast, Jimmy Evans and Joni Lambs (founder of Daystar) are pushing a heretical doctrine about biblical submission to Jonathan Lamb (her son). I want you to hear this so that if a person of powerful position in the church comes to you to submit to their leadership, you will be forewarned about heretical submission. There’s proper biblical submission but these leaders took it to a very wrong and improper level. It was very alarming, especially since I highly respected Jimmy Evans’ marriage ministry.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-roys-report/id1470242499?i=1000679408446
I started to follow Julie Roys, a Christian investigative journalist, after reading her reports on the famous Christian apologist, Ravi Zacharias and his sexual scandal coverups. I tend to be a trusting person and so it’s good for me to read her articles to remind myself that there are wolves disguised as sheep in our midsts. Jesus warned us about that. Read Matthew 7 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207&version=NKJV
Here is a recent article written by a former employee of Ravi Zacharias’ ministry. By the way, his ministry empire is no longer around. He passed away from spinal cancer about 3 years ago. His daughter was supposed to take over the ministry but after the exposure, the ministry folded. I am not sure how his children, wife and grandchildren are doing or where all the money of their ministry empire went. The whole situation is super sad and tragic.
Here is Lori Anne Thompson’s story on how Ravi Zacharias groomed and preyed upon her. He was very smooth and crafty (a wolf in sheep’s clothing).
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-speak-life-podcast/id626198781?i=1000512769332
Please listen to her story because if this can happen to someone like her, then it can happen to anyone here.
If you have time, also hear this message by Francis Chan. He’s another big time pastor and famous Bible teacher. I’ve used many of his Bible study books and resources. He talks about how hard it is to be humble and be a servant-leader like Jesus Christ. I really respect him and his honesty in sharing his struggles with humility. I struggle with humility too. I am always weeding out “pride” from taking root in my heart. It’s a daily weeding for me.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crazy-love-podcast/id1007053996?i=1000678189662
Here is another great interview by Carey Nieuwhof, and his guest is Chad Veach. He is a pastor of a church in L.A. Countless pastors and church leaders have fallen to temptations in that entertainment part of our country. He shares a lot of good lessons learned from ministering in L.A. From his stories, I can tell that big celebrities attend his church.
If you wonder why I study the Bible so much; I thought this short devotional by David Wilkerson summed it well for me:
“While studying the New Covenant, its glorious truths leaped out of God’s Old Testament dealings with Israel. I sensed the Lord asking me, “David, do you want the keys to victory? Do you want to know how to overcome sin, flesh and the devil? Do you want to know how to do battle with the enemy? Go to my Old Testament, and you will learn from the examples there. I have recorded them all for you so you can learn the lessons of godliness.”
https://www.worldchallenge.org/devotion/keys-victory?ref=devos
“Backsliding begins with dusty Bibles.” – Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon has also said “visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” There are many, many great Christian books, devotionals, commentaries, and podcasts out there. If you are short on time, please read the Bible first. These extra resources are secondary to your Bible reading/studying. This is another “non-negotiable house rule” in my opinion.
One more thing – as end of giving is coming up, please consider my advice. I don’t make money and so I don’t tithe to my church. Instead, my husband gives me a nice sum of money to donate in December. Looking back in my past years of giving, I would give my church 50% and the other 50% to various charities. Wherever you give, please look a little closer at their board. In Daystar ministry, their board members are the founder’s wife, Joni Lamb, her now-estranged son, Jonathan Lamb and their family attorney, and CFO of Daystar. That’s only 4 people. That’s definitely not enough board members or neutrality to manage a ministry worth a billion dollars and employing over 300 people! Now, the donations of well-meaning people will be going to pay for lots of lawyers and litigation in this family feud. Daystar operated as a ministry and so they were tax-exempt like a church. (FYI – Marcus Lamb the founder of Daystar and father of Jonathan Lamb died from COVID complications in 2021.)
In my opinion, if you don’t make money then your highest donation should be going to your home church. If you earn money, you should be tithing to your home church minimally 10%, and afterwards your charitable giving can go elsewhere.
Please pray about joining and being involved with a local home church if you are not in it yet. This is another “non-negotiable house rule” for me as a follower of Jesus Christ.
I know I have given you a lot of homework to do. Take your time to process through these resources. Pray Betsie Ten Boom’s prayer for yourself too. 🙏
Journal of Faith 