I had said I would not reference Little Stevie Wonder much more on Pulpit-Pimps. The trouble is I visit there every once in a while because I find his general approach to be amusing at the very least.

But every once in a while, I am left speechless when I see some of the things he says and some of the folks he promotes. The latest is Reverend Henry Lyons.

You don’t remember Henry Lyons? Check this out.

If you mozey on over to LSW’s site, you will see Lyons being promoted.

Granted, a man can turn from his sins and repent. But somehow, and maybe it’s just me, I have a little trouble seeing any kind of a real change. If nothing else, it makes no sense for a man with his reputation to still be a leader within the Baptist Convention.

It’s almost as if LSW gives his full attention to style and virtually no character - or content for that matter. As you listen, see if you can count all the additions the Right Reverend Lyons makes to the passage he is preaching from.

Pulpit Pimps | 27 Comments »

Now that the readership is a bit larger, and I have more eyes out in the community, this may be a good time to bring back the PIMP O’ THE MONTH contest. The last time I ran it (over two years ago, two people responded - and one of them was me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to make this a much more interactive site. In order to involve you in the contents with more than just comments, I have decided to initiate a contest.

The pimps and pimpettes are out there. While I want to concentrate on the national Big Dogs and the Big Dog wannabees in my area, I would also like to help people who may need to be informed of their local pimps and pimpettes.

The rules are fairly simple.

1. If you think you know a pimp (or pimpette) operating in your local area, tell me about him (or her).

2. Give me specifics. The fact that they drive a big car or has a large audience is not an automatic indicator of his pimpism. But it’s a start.

3. If the candidate is involved with the Word Faith idiocy, say so.

4. If they have a web site, include it in your comments.

5. If the church is pastored by a woman, or if the church has a husband/wife team as co-pastors, include it.

6. If the pastor has armor bearers (read here - butlers and drivers) include that information.

7. If the church has more than 1000 members (yes, I pulled that number out of my…arm pit) include that information.

8. If the pastor travels a lot to preach at other churches, include that fact.

9. If the church has a book store and they sell books by Word Faith phoneys tell me. Mention some of the titles.

10. A ten point bonus if the church’s book store sells Benny Hinn books such as “Good Morning Holy Spirit!”

11. The decision of the judge is final.

12. There will be no one there to validate my findings.

I will take the submissions and, after scoring the candidates with my secret formula, identify the pimp o’ the month.

The pimp o’ the month will be announced on the 15th of each month, except this month ’cause a contributer just reminded me that the contest is out there and it’s too close to the 15th. I’ll announce the winner on the 20th instead. .

Extra points if you can provide a picture of the pimp candidate or is his site has a picture of him - or her.

I’m toying with the idea of sending the submitter of the winning candidate some cheap token prize. But I haven’t decided on that just yet. I’ll decide later on. At a minimum I will say nice things about you and maybe prophesy something really positive into your life (for a small love offering of course).

If nothing else, we can start identifying the bush league Wannabes and maybe slow their growth a little. After all, I said, holding my hands to my heart, if I can save one man or woman from becoming a pimp/pimpette then all the effort with this site has been worth it.

Pulpit Pimps | 134 Comments »

I was on my way home from Safeway on the morning of July 4th when I noticed the C29 bus turning up into the medical center spur. And what should I see on the side of the bus but one of my favorite testimonies to shameless self-marketing - Jamal-Harrison Bryant and his arm candy, Giselle Bryant.

I quickly parked my car, got my cheap phone camera ready and stood by the side of the road waiting for the bus to come out of the cul de sac. A couple of minutes later, the bus rumbled around the bend in the road and obligingly stopped right in front of me. Okay, so there was a traffic light and he had to stop. (more…)

Pulpit Pimps | 222 Comments »

The video you are about to see scared me. It scared me because it was so easy to see John K. Jenkins, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, in the place of the pimp standing there. And the reason it’s scary is because I don’t believe Mr. Winston has always operated with all the acoutrement of a Word of Faith pimp. I fear that unless John Jenkins draws back from the path he is on, rubbing elbows with Oneness Bigdogs, following after Word of Faith foolishness, and generally being willing to sell out the truth for gain, he will become like this man, William (Bill) S. Winston. Or perhaps I should say he will become more and more like this man.

Take a look at the video. It’s about five minutes long. While watching it, notice that he preaches the same Word of Faith drivel that comes out of the mouths of Cashflow, Copeland and the rest. He pretty much removes God and His will in the whole thing.

He says such things as:

1. No one can keep you from success but you.

2. If Jesus Says you’re a millionaire, you’re a millionaire!

3. What you’re going to do is call: Money Comin’

One thing you should understand is that Mr. Winston has appeared on television with Ken Copeland. Take a look at the screen shot from Mr. Copeland’s website.

John seems to be following in the man’s footsteps. He’s busy working on growing the church into a larger building rather than growing the members into stronger Christians. And you should note that in the early part of John’s quest for Big Dogdom, he was actually a warm up act for a conference featuring Ken Copeland. If he plays his cards right, he might be able to appear on the man’s television show!

Like Winston and the rest of the “gospelpreneurs” John bought an airplane and uses it to travel around the country, making a name for himself.

He’s teaching more and more of the Word of Faith foolishness and having more to do with the pimps who promote the foolishness. Remember, T. Dexter is now his “mentor”.

And like Mr. Winston, John is taking the congregation nowhere.

Of course it should be pointed out that Jenkins isn’t unique in what he’s doing. He, like Winston is simply following the template laid down by such luminaries as Hilliard, T. Dexter Jakes, Dollar and his arm candy Taffi, Price, Long, Copeland, DuPantis, Avanzini, and the rest of the Big Dog pulpit pimps.

I hope John doesn’t sell out completely. I hope he pulls back and returns to his earlier efforts to put together a solid sermon, rightly dividing the word. But I fear the lure of riches is pulling him away, as it has countless other men. It shouldn’t be too long before John has two churches, one on either end of Prince Georges county. Or maybe he’ll get a church going in Richmond. That way he can use his plane to fly down there every Sunday, build up his flying hours, and get paid for flying.

You people who escaped FBC Glenarden, pray for the man. You people who are still there and hanging on his every word…well, do what you can. But I suspect that won’t be very much.

John K. Jenkins, Sr. | 199 Comments »

Ladies and gentlemen, in one month, John Coleman will be coming to Prince Georges County to present his traveling “Basics of the Faith”.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to locate a space for us. I had thought perhaps I could hold the session in one of the hotels around here. The average cost for just Saturday? $2000. After I picked my teeth up from the floor, I attempted to be a bit more creative in coming up with a resource. No dice.

But that’s not why I’m writing this posting.

I need a head count of who is going to attend. A couple of people said they are planning on it. However, I, that is, some demon - yeah that’s it - some demon made me misplace the names and e-mails/comments of the folks who said they are attending. If you would, please let me know if you are planning on attending. The e-mail address is in the image below. I did that so I wouldn’t get a bunch of junk e-mails from web-crawlers and other creations of unpleasant people who frequent the web.

Write me today - I will then send you my phone number and I can continue planning for the session.

I look forward to meeting you. I’ve spoken to some of you, and I’ve heard some of you on a couple of radio broadcasts. But it will be good to see you in the flesh.

I’ll try to get rid of my horns by then (Friday and Saturday - August 3 and 4th).

Pulpit Pimps | 16 Comments »