"GAY THIS!" "GAY THAT!"
Ever noticed that G. Craig can't make a presentation of any kind without bringing up homosexuality? He even goes so far in a recent blog as to criticize Kirk Franklin about his overcoming of porn addiction/ choice of music videos with these words:
"Kirk Franklin comes out and says that he has been addicted to porn for 20 years. He gets on Oprah to tell his story. But in his concerts, he thrusts his pelvis while he dances and does sexual gestures during his gospel performance? Then, he shoots a video wearing no shirt and having a greased up body? Yes, a preacher, minister to youth, and a Christian takes his shirt off in public to show his body in a video. Once hooked on porn? You paying attention? James 1:14-15"
The verse he so generously put with this passage states
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
In other words, because Kirk Franklin has overcome this addiction, he shouldn't ever have his shirt off where the public or he can see it again? Oh, because he has his shirt off for his music video boxing match he is enticed by his desires so he not only is driving viewers of the video to porn, he is driving himself back into his addiction as well. Does this sound a little off to anyone else? Here is a link to Kirk Franklin's video, you look at it and leave a comment when you find a pelvic thrust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJUY_FM_q3Q
My Co-Blogger, Clifton, actually attended a presentation of his in April 2007 at Faith Temple Church in Dallas, TX. Below are some notes taken by him and stated by G. Craige during the presentation concerning homosexuality:
· “You have a Flaming homesexual leading the praise team, flinging AIDS on everybody, and can’t nobody say nothing....”
· “Gay marriage don’t need to happen. Two big hairy stank men sharing rings don’t need to happen.
· "Because of the sins of our forefathers,
o Fatherless-ness
o Homosexuality/Lesbianism"
Flinging Aids on everybody? I haven't heard rhetoric like this since Hitler. Now I personally may not support a homosexual lifestyle (I love my beautiful girlfriend), but I CERTAINLY believe that there are better ways of communication then such inflammatory statements and presentations about this topic. Nothing is being accomplished by this, and, as far as I am concerned, this is the image of what many in the alternative lifestyle community have of Christians and people of faith. A Bible thumping, you are going to Hell screaming and pointing lunatic preacher. On top of that, more misinformation using statistics. That seems to be a favorite past time of his. Statistics at this presentation that failed the Google test as well as Snopes.com include:o "40% of the African Americans in a high school were HIV positive
· 90% of the graduating students at Dillard high school were HIV positive"
Now I disproved these statements in part 1 of my post, but just look at the second stat. He claimed that 9/10 graduating students at a high school were HIV positive? Does that even sound as if it could be accurate in the worst social condition in America? That number is outlandish even for the most Urban, destitute portions of our country. Perhaps he was referring to another country? What's worse is that according to Clifton, the crowd was eating this up. He could say no wrong, do no wrong. This is incredible. Another disturbing statistic he has is that Black Children in the US now grow up without a father 77% of the time. Does that sound feasible or realistic? My Google searches at worst turned up the figure of 48%. While still a horrible number, definitely not 77%. Herein lies one of the biggest problem I have with G. Craige and his presentations. IF you claim to present facts, and are given that trust, shouldn't you do everything you can to ensure that your facts are accurate? At the very least, show sources. To quote one of G. Craige's targets, Shawn Carter, "We don't believe you, you need more people." He does all of his presentations from a nice looking Apple Mac Book, are you telling me he can't save an image of the website or google link he got it from and pull it up in front of the congregation, or at least in the program bulletin post some sort of bibliography? Of course he doesn't do this, because, sadly there is no need. Crowds that attend these functions by and large take everything he says at face value.I'll be doing another post on the presentation Clifton attended and all of the other stuff he said, as well as some actual videos available on youtube of "minister" G. Craige. Stay tuned, and thanks to all of you who let me know you are reading this and find it interesting (I love hearing from people!)
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13 comments:
G. Craige Lewis cannot convince you of truth... only the Holy Spirit can.
Seek him and you won't waste your time or effort on blogs such as this attacking one man or another. For those convinced by the Holy Spirit, you do not dissuade them.
For those who do not believe already, you do not convert them.
What do you accomplish?
Safe your sweat, get on your knees and seek Jesus Christ.
I must agree that Lewis has to be careful that what he says be worded in the spirit of love just as Christ would do. However, he does speak the truth about the homosexual agenda and the hidden agendas of the mega church pastors.
I must agree that Lewis has to be careful that what he says be worded in the spirit of love just as Christ would do. However, he does speak the truth about the homosexual agenda and the hidden agendas of the mega church pastors.
I for one, wholeheartedly agree, and appreciate you efforts in presenting the truths that Craige Lewis so conveniently ignores. Finally, someone has stepped forth to challenge a ministry that thrives off of, worships, and spreads negativity amongst it's congregation. Nothing calls forth the masses like the lure of a scandal- the possibility that a falsehood is true. Just some food for thought: There are more pain receptors in the body than there are pleasure receptors, it has always been easier to break something than to fix it, there is a lot more bad in the news than good, etc.
Also, Pamela M., you seem to have missed the point of this man's post. It in no way works to disparage, or berate Lewis as a person. It merely strives to presents the falsehood in his ideologies and broken truths. It does not "attack" him. In fact, that comment is very highly self-righteous of you.
Now has far as the hidden agendas of mega church pastors go, do you mean much like how Craige Lewis charges $75 for a dvd box set that presents truths that should be "free" knowledge? Surely you are referring to the way Lewis profits off the factual ignorance and gullibility of his audience. We don't tear down our brothers in arms, we work to build them up. The bible says we hate the sin, not the sinner.
Once again, thank you for this insightful post and I hope you keep up the good work.
Also, I think this post:http://www.clarkyboy.com/hazakim.htm
....may be beneficial.
I started to make a remark about your attacks... but then I saw that you had Common & Muhammad Ali on your page & that told me all I needed to know. Don't attack a man of God for preaching the truth. His intentions aren't to mislead anyone, his claims are backed by scripture so I'm convinced that you are just picking apart his words to try to find fault in them because you're upset.
Thank you all for your comments!!
(I hope you see this response.)
To Pamela, Scripture tells us that a bit of an untruth mixed with a lot of truth= a lie. G. Craige is WRONG in many of the facts he shares with his audiences. I have no problem with him making his points about music that a Christian should not be listening to, but BE factual. I seek Christ everyday. And seeing what Pastor Lewis does troubles my spirit. His method is not the method Jesus (our biggest and best example) used. Thank you for your comment.
Jamaal, appreciate your comment.
TellingitLikeitis, I fully agree with you that there is a homosexual agenda within the church, and that SOME mega church pastors have alternate un-Christian agendas. But his methods of going after them, (some of them perhaps wrongfully) does great damage to his cause.
Stevens3 (my name is Steven too!)
This post was not written out of hate. It was written to remind us that no matter how much we agree with someone's presentation or a train of thought, we must NOT allow ourselves to get carried away at the expense of the truth. G. Craige's agenda and Scriptural backing is strong enough without false information. I absolutely am a sinner (as is everyone) but it is WRONG when someone purporting to be a man of good spreads misinformation, even in the furthering of the Gospel. I will not hesitate to highlight these mistakes, as it does more damage in the long run to the Christian movement. Thanks for your comment.
Champelle,
I am a huge fan of Muhammed Ali as an athlete. Forgive me for not seeing where that is wrong. I also am a fan of good rap music. I am also an avowed Bible believing Christian. While it may be true that his intentions aren't to mislead, they do. The truth does not need exaggeration of lies associated with it to make it look better, it is the truth. It stands on it's own. I am not just picking his words apart, these are statements and stances he repeatedly uses. Flinging Aids?! Are you aware that at this point more straight people have AIDS (By a large margin) than gays? Pastor Lewis's methods leave much to be desired, and I am baffled at those who would defend them. Notice I am talking about his methods, not his message. I actually agree with a lot that he is.
Everything that Craige Lewis is Saying and have Said is the TRUTH. The Bible says " You shall Know the Truth and the Truth SHALL MAKE you Free, Regardless of the Words that Craige Lewis used during his Conference Meetings - He is human and we all say things in the Spur/heat of the Moment - He is Passionate about Teaching the Truth and I am sure we all see this come through when he speaks. But we MUST not shift our FOCUS away on the Truths that Elder Craige is Speaking - People don't like to be told the Truth, they enjoy lies that appeals to their FLESH and the end result is DESTRUCTION. Homosexuality is a NO NO NO and a Great Abomination that the Lord Hates- So no One must Engage in this Abomination - Look at the People of Sodom and Gomorrah who Indulged in this Immorality, what happened to them and to their City??? Our God is a Loving God but he does not Condone or Tolerates SIN of any Kind including Homosexuality - IF you make a choice to call yourself Gay, Lesbian and Engage in this Lifestyle - YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE - THE DEVIL AND YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THIS CHOICE; DON'T GO BLAMING GOD; YOUR SIN IS WHAT HE HATES AND AS LONG AS YOU CONTINUE TO SIN, YOU SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM GOD AND YOU BECOME HIS ENEMY AND DEVIL IS YOUR FATHER. GOD WILL HELP US ALL IN JESUS NAME. AMEN!
Ibironke,
Your statement confuses me. You say that everything G. Craige is saying and has said is Truth, and then immediately after that you say that he says wrong things in the heat of the moment because he is human. Those two statements don't mesh for me. If you read G. Craige's blog or get his email messages, you will notice that recently he posted a blog talking about the mistakes he makes in his presentations, and basically said that he is human, makes mistakes, and anyone that is bothered by the mistakes is missing the point. Some of these mistakes however are SLANDER when they have been proven to be false. MOST importantly, I will draw to the attention of those who blindly support this man that he has made the claim that this was given to him as a prophetic message in 1990. I strongly suggest you take a look at what scripture says to us about the gift of prophecy and how we are to know when things are correct. A prophet CANNOT be wrong. Their message must come true and it must be consistent with what we have seen previously. How can G. Craige claim this message to be prophetic
(or claim to be a prophet) and make glaring mistakes in the message that is from God? Once again, I agree with many points of G. Craige's message and ministry. I don't agree with his methods of persecution (especially considering some of his facts and assertions about people are flat out WRONG) nor do I agree that we should simply "overlook" his mistakes because he is human, and his message is still good. Instead of correcting the errors in many cases he counterattacks those that simply point them out and claims they are working for the enemy.
I am in total support of G craige Lewis and his teachings. G Craige provides truth about homosexuality that others wont dare to mention. We as christians need to stop tippy-toeing with the truth,and teach others who are unaware. If you visit his website he has a section as to apologizing to some info he may take out of context, but come on guys we need to stop pointing out the little and worry about the majority of the content of his messages and leave it at that. Thank you
im directing this towards slaihing, in my oppinion you are either blind or maybe g.craig lewis's messages trouble's you're spirit because you are struggling with some of the issues that lewis is preaching about. you also are taking his words out of context. I have read youre comments and you claim that you agree with his sermons but do not agree with the way he delivers them well guess what, the bible says that a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways and that he shall not move. You might wanna go back and read what you said about him because it sounds to me that you are uncertain of how you realy feel about you're brother in christ. I think you're character is the same as the prophet balaam. Yes my brother Balaam, you need to do some research on him and if you are seeking god then you would turn away from that spirit. listen, we as kingdom builders cannot play with the devil. He's not playing with us, and when lewis speaks about the nephilim's and the corybantes and other ainciant spirits that the average christian is not aware about, we should be glad that god left this remnet for us to be able to come into this knowledge and be aware of these evil thing that the enemy has us off focoused about. The word of god say's that his people perish for the lack of knowledge and thats true. I refuse to compormise with the enemy or the world for the sake of what man thinks about me. He did also say benot conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of you're mind. so it is not our job to pet the devile on his back and baby him. if you read the new testement yes jesus did teach with a iron fist also, just like when he went into the temple and over turned all the tables, and basicly tore up the place because they were disrespecting gods house and when ever he confronted the devil or was casting demons out he did it with an iron fist. he did not pet the enemy or show compassion towards the enemy, i agree with lewis, i thinkk that it is ok to prach prosparity messages but in the same token we have to preach on the spiritual things also because this world is gonna pass away. im not going to be like balaam and be a man pleaser, even if the world is against me, because god if you are for me, then who can be against me. and lord god i know you said that the world is going to hate me but to just know that they hated you first, and also that lord god you have already overcome the world.
WOW. I am very surprised that this post is still drawing some attention and even comments. Thank you all for reading.
Lovely Spirit, it is a credit to G. Craige that the backlash he has received due to some of the slander (call it what it is!) he has presented falsely about some artists has caused him to put up that disclaimer on the website. When you make presentations as he does, and you claim to be speaking as a messenger and PROPHET (his words) of the Lord, you best not make a mistake in your relaying of the message. While he is human, the message he is presenting (if from God as he claims) should be infallible. I personally do not support Homosexuality. But I vehemently oppose any open persecution of those brothers and sisters who may deal with this struggle in our Church. G. Craige's message, while it may be correct, is delivered in a way that is counter to what Christ would have done. For you to say "we need to stop pointing out the little and worry about the majority of the content of his messages and leave it at that" gives him a pass and is a bit crazy to me. He says a lot of good stuff, so just gloss over his errors which may cause harm to others? RIDICULOUS! Hold him ACCOUNTABLE for his message, as he holds others ACCOUNTABLE.
Piggy ! DP,
I find it a bit amusing that you are able after reading some comments and blog posts from me to put the heavy handed claim of Baalam on me or my character. You don't know me, and you making a comment judging my character places you in the category of many others who rush to attack and judge those which may not fully believe or support everything they do (something that troubles the Christian Church, in any denomination). I am thankfully not troubled by the things G. Craige says on a personal level. I am a Bible believing Heterosexual Christian. What does trouble me, and the thing that the people who have felt strongly enough to write to me about, is the blatant overlooking of errors he unrepentantantly made for several years, ranging from full out untruths about whether an artist was a 5%er (Jill Scott) all the way to either taking email forwards at face value (the High School Aids epidemic) or just making the stories and statistics up. How does all the good he has done somehow cover up the wrong? I don't get it. I respect your opinion, but if you are going to talk about balance and using the whip as Jesus did to overturn the tables in the temple, than you must also concede that Jesus overwhelmingly worked in other methods as well to reach the wrong and suffering. My point has always been that G. Craige claims to be a PROPHET. Those are high standards to meet, as you well know if you study the Word. The Bible is clear on how we are to treat and judge Prophets. He does not pass that assessment.
Also, by the way, my blog has moved over to www.go2page3.com
This page is dormant. The only reason I was able to see your comments is because I have an email alert system on this blog I forgot about. This same post is available at my newer blog.
Thanks!
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