I am Melvin Jones, former member of First Baptist Church of Glenarden.
But you’ve known that since the site first went public.
I’ve decided to tell you a little more. This post will be out here for about a month. It’s a copy of an updated page called “About Me”.
I became a Christian around 1972. Unlike many of my contemoraries, I don’t remember the exact day, the exact time, the exact location in the building, or the weather outside (except that it was in the winter - more or less).
I never had one of those really neat testimonies. You know, the one where I tell you I was living wild, drinking, lying, cursing, and having sex all the time. As far as I could tell, I didn’t think I was in Satan’s hip pocket. I didn’t steal, or cheat (much). And I never killed anybody, or really wanted to (too badly). I went to school (I was Catholic until I left home for college), did my homework after watching Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, and did most of the things a painfully shy, middle-class Black teenager did from day to day. When it came time to go to college, I managed to snag an Air Force ROTC scholarship and spent four and a half years at Tuskeegee Institute (back before they changed their name to Tuskeegee University). I was of those people who are really resistant to the Gospel. I was okay in my own eyes and my life was pretty good. My future was so bright I had to wear sunglasses.
There, I was a shy, teen/adolescent who was quietly enjoying himself while trying not to waste what money his parents did send him too badly. I pledged Arnold Air Society (a professional fraternity tied to ROTC) and Alpha Phi Alpha. Yes, I was an Alpha ape. I worked somewhat steadily toward an Electrical Engineering degree and actually finished half a year ahead of my fellow engineers.
While in college, I was told about Jesus Christ and the need for salvation. I generally argued the evangelists into the ground and tried to make them look stupid. It didn’t do much for me. Shortly after leaving home for school, I decided that Catholicism was at best a scam and at worst a complete waste of time. There were so many rules, and so many ways to do what you wanted to do and make sure you didn’t get into eternal trouble for doing it as long as you made it to confession on Saturdays or Sundays.
Consequently, as soon as I got to college, I dumped Sunday Mass and religion in general. I became (tah dah!) an agnostic. I figured there is a supreme being, or at least a prime mover, but he/she wasn’t all that interested in what we do. My biggest problem was trying to figure out why I should do the right thing without being a hypocrite. And doing right because I didn’t want to go to hell was just too hypocritical.
Everything was quite pleasant. I borrowed money for my first year of school(a little over $1800!), got the rest paid for by the Air Force, didn’t have to go to Viet Nam, didn’t have to work while I was in school. Life was good.
Then my girlfriend got saved. I mean “real live, gotta make a difference so I won’t wear short dresses any more” kind of saved. And I could see a difference in her. Yeah, she was still Peggy, but she was different. And that difference made a difference in my life. I decided to seek salvation.
But here’s the trouble: My girlfriend was saved at a primitive (I don’t say this in a disparaging way) Pentecostal Apostolic church. The fact that she was willing to change her life so radically caught my attention. Once I decided I wanted to become a Christian, I had to go through the whole tarrying thing. That is one of the reasons I don’t remember exactly when I became a Christian. I do believe I became a Christian long before I was given the bogus task of “…speaking in tongues as evidence of being filled with the spirit…” We got absolutely no teaching of any worth. We were consistently told that we were not to ask questions. Just let go and let God. The only things we were encouraged to do were go to church, go to bible study, and…well…that’s about it.
I left Alpha Phi Alpha and Arnold Air Society, and came within a hair’s breadth of leaving AFROTC. A very wise Lietenant Colonel (LtCol Richelieu Johnson, an F-4 Weapons Systems Officer in Viet Nam) talked me out of it. I had been convinced that no self respecting Christian should be in the Air Force. I became one of those Christians stuck in an incredibly burdensome, rules wracked, existence where if you mess up, you lose your salvation and you have to start all over again. Ispent the next six years thinking: “And I’m supposed to share this with other people? I don’t think so.” Thus I wasted the first six years of my walk with Christ. It was actually more of a solitary meandering than a walk with any purpose or direction.
I got back to the states with two children. Two boys. And while I am not one to hear God tell me something, I was washing the dishes one evening while my wife was going over some bible stuff with the children. At that point, I got a very clear impression, or whatever you wish to call it, that training the children was my responsibility. At that point I realized that if I was going to train the children, I had doggone well know what’s in the Bible. And to do that, I had to study. So I did.
And at that point, I began to run afoul of the pimps and their local fans. Although at that point they were more proto-pimps, with Reverend Ike as the Alpha Pimp. John Avanzini, Ken Copeland, Frederick Price and a host of other second generation Charismatics/Word Faith phoneys were just getting really big. PTL was about to break out into Big Dogdom, and we were surrounded by word faith folks there in Panama City Florida. As I studied, I saw contradictions between what the Bible said and what the W-F crowd was saying. I tried really hard to make the two match. I remember struggling with the apostle John’s salutation that his readers prosper and kept trying to make that say that Christians were supposed to be rich, period. But God was, apparently, too gracious to me. I ended up breaking with the crowd and pursued orthodoxy.
After a fairly circuitous road, we ended up in Washington DC. Here we attended a CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance) church, a Reformed Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church of Glenarden for some seven or eight years, and finally the church I have been attending for the last four and a half years.
Six months ago, I decided I had to do something about the pimpery destroying the church, locally and nationally. I talked to John Coleman. I knew television would be out of the question just yet so I threw some money at him to help his radio ministry in Los Angeles. Then, the technology fell together. I got a webmaster (a really talented webmaster, by the way - He designed the Pimp Cup for me), a server, and some software. Armed with years of maturing, writing science fiction, and outrage at the pimps, this effort came to be.
And that’s who I am.
:lol:...
Interesting. You know, a lot of this stuff I am seeing for the first time. Those were some interesting words of info. -01010111
here’s my impression of this whole site. i agree with your idea, but i don’t think you are accomplishing your purpose. when i read this, i see lots and lots of melvin, but not much of Christ… instead of humbly pointing people towards Christ, the Word, His teachings, His love, and letting Him do the talking and using the power of His Word to accomplish His will, you are doing a lot of logical arguing and using clever words, pointing towards yourself and exalting your own knowledge. as a result, it seems that the people who would read this are either those who are pointed here and respond due to concern for you and for this project, or else those who want to be entertained. in that, you seem to be comitting one of the same sins as the man you often attack… the sin of using entertainment to attempt to gain an audience, instead of trusting in the Lord to bring those He leads to your site. you should be using this site to express His love, His Truth, His will. instead, you are expressing your own cleverness and your own superiority. you should feel pity for these people, and be grateful to the Lord- for you would be in their place if it were not for Him and His mercy. He picked you out of the trillions on this earth to be His precious child, He didn’t have to, and nothing you did saved you or brought you this knowledge. yet, it seems that you are showing off the knowledge you have found, and saying that you are better because you have this knowledge… instead of being grateful that the Lord had mercy and allowed you to reach this point of understanding, and using your wisdom to reach out and help others. please think this through, pray about it, search the Spirit… for nobody else but Him can lead you to the path which will gain for the Lord.
–fiancee of 01010111
Tsarina (didn’t realize who you were until I got to the very bottom of the comment),
I’m pleased that you find the site entertaining. It is exactly my intent that it be entertaining, as well as thought provoking.
But there are several things you really must understand. This site is not about pointing people toward Christ; at least not directly. Its primary purpose, and I will continue to say this as often as I must, is to expose the pimps and pimpettes leading his precious children (of whom I am one) into deception and wasted lives and sometimes even missing salvation to begin with.
As far using entertainment, I think you are confusing things. Being entertaining is not a sin. Presenting the Gospel in an engaging manner is not a sin. But here’s the rub: the only thing the pimps have is entertainment. They package their lies in entertaining appeals to greed and a desire for complete security, thus the promises of supernatural financial prosperity, health, and power. They use entertainment to draw people into these lies. As an example, I watch Fred KC Price. He is very entertaining; a dynamic speaker, I believe is the phrase. But the doctrine he teaches is not only lacking in truth, but people who follow it run the risk of never being born again in the first place.
I’m having some trouble seeing where I am “expressing my own superiority”; especially based on the article you are posting to. I have really said very little about me and have, I believe, consistently focused on the purveyors of untruth. And in the talking, I have pretty much specifically addressed the heresies they deal with. That can only be done by the use of Scripture. A couple of times, I have given some lists of verses. But anyone can do that with a concordance and a topical Bible. But the fact is the pimps and pimpettes depend on their audience to not do that, to not do any studying of any significance. And to not examine what they are saying in the light of Scripture.
With respect to my appreciation of God’s choosing me, I praise him everyday for choosing me. There is nothing I did to warrant it; absolutely nothing. In fact, if you will notice in the article you posted your comment to I said “But God was, apparently, too gracious to me. I ended up breaking with the crowd and pursued orthodoxy.” I recognize his graciousness not just in saving me, but in sparing me the misery of being trapped in the Word Faith wilderness. I could just as easily have gone the way of Ken Copeland, Creflo Dollar and John Jenkins (though it would be great to own my own swweeeet airplane).
But having said that, having acknowledged that “except for the grace of God, there go I”, we are still called to bring attention to those who would teach another gospel (Romans 16:17, 18). We are to contend for the truth delivered once and for all to the saints (Jude 3). That struggle for the retention of the truth of the Gospel is against those who (to use Jude’s phrase) “….have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 4)” Paul tells us several times to take note, to mark, to bring attention to those who would teach another gospel. This site does that. It does it with Scripture (the only way to address the heresies), it does it with humor (keeping people who generally are not interested in theology and doctrine engaged), and it does it with compassion (for the ones who have been drawn in or have relatives who have been drawn into the WF and other heresies).
So remember: this site is not directly about presenting the Gospel. It is about contending for the truth of the Gospel. And contending is often bare-knuckled. It’s not something the typical, comfortable, go-to-church-on-Sunday-and-otherwise-leave-me-alone Christian has ever seen very much of. And that lack is one of the reasons the Church is in the process of being inundated with error.
I enjoyed your comments. You really seem to have thought them out. Don’t lose the passion. 01010111 is getting quite a prize.
Melvin
Your purpose is also one of my purposes at http://www.healingwaterscc.com—to warn the people by exposing the pimps and the pimpettes. I GET THAT. There are others on the web who share the same purpose. I also understand that there are diversities of operations and methods and that unique strategies must operate at every level–on the individual, local, statewide, country and worldwide level. Yours is a unique person-to-person local strategy. However, the problems of doctrinal error and deception among the Lord’s people is so pervasive, that unfortunately, you have not even touched the iceburg, much less its tip.
I have perused your site, and not to say that I have read everything, I believe that I have read enough to make the following suggestions:
1. If your concentration continues to remain “local”, then I believe that thus far, too much emphasis has been placed upon your former church. It is time for you to branch out to the other churches in your community. For example, you really hit on something where the AME Church is concerned. Consider this. Did you also know that Sun Yun Moon has infiltrated the Baptist church throughout the country? What you need to understand is that the pastor of your former church is a victim of “the Big Dogs” and his own ambition. He is not receiving any direct revelation from the Lord because he is an immitator. But is he really an imposter? I don’t know. This is where prayer for the man is important. Prayer will decidedly reveal whether he is an imposter or a true man of God who allowed himself to be deceived by “bigger dogs.” For example, he learned the false doctrine of Jesus suffering for our sins in hell from Joyce Meyer. Joyce Meyer received this doctrine from the King of the Big Dogs, Kenneth Copeland. This thing has spread like yeast throughout the word of faith world and has now hit the mainline denominations. Is it error? Yes. However, is it the most important, damnable error? No. Also, the “Oneness” Pentecostal folk. Are they in error? Most definitely. Is it a damnable error? I’m not sure. For example, I don’t hear doctrinal error in the clip that you have on the site of TD Jakes on this subject. Which leads me to my next point.
2. You need to prioritize your efforts or you will find yourself spinning your wheels over the same territory. For example, whether or not a person believes that Jesus suffered in hell will not affect their salvation. Most of us don’t fully understand the Trinity. However, to consider that Jesus, the Son is also the Father is itself, damnable. because it is the Father who sent the Son to save us, so no one can leave out the Father.
So since there is so much error, I suggest that you concentrate on those false doctrines that hinder or jeopardize a person’s salvation. In that regard, the two most outstanding problems in both the denominational and the charismatic churches is that there are countless people in church who do not understand the doctrines of repentance unto salvation and the need to believe on the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have found that the vast majority of people in church believe that Jesus rose from the dead as a spirit. Therefore, their faith in Him is vain as Paul warned in ICorinthians 15: 1-12
3. I also recommend that to save yourself some time and some foot work that you begin to research what others are reporting so as to back up some of your statements. I believe that this is the reason why you are being viewed as “expressing your superiority” and that you appear to be somewhat highminded. Other than your friend on the west coast, you are standing alone. You need some back up. The professional way of reporting is to quote the work of others.
There are other suggestions that I could make, but I don’t want to use up the space. You and I have already had email dialogue on “the woman as pastor” issue. If you are interested in receiving more of my commentary, you know how to contact me.
I think its good that you came into a responsible relationship with God and not resting on tasks- but I think that the Apostolic Doctrine had no part in it, it was the folks that made up things to do and learn about to protect it- wrong? YES! - but should the doctrine be faulted? NO-
While I do believe the apostolic doctrines are defective, I can certainly agree that a lot of the difficulty stemmed from the people involved. However, let’s not forget that part of my frustration also grew out of the belief, encouraged by the Aapostolics, that my salvation was tied to my efforts and not the grace and keeping power of Jesus Christ.
The Apostolic age is long gone. I wish people could really just let it go, but just like stiff neck Israel, people are still looking for a sign in order to believe or feel they are important. I’ve ran into so many Church of Christ Cult members for more then one life time. These guys are still stuck in Acts and won’t leave. Scripture has proven their doctrine heretical in some many different ways, but they are determined to stay in their stinking thinking mindsets.
Also, can someone show me where these Apostolic people get this so-called “5-Fold” ministry from. I went to my Wife’s former Pastor for a one time only Marriage counseling session and he was blabbing about him having this “5-Fold” ministry up in his church. I was like this guy couldn’t counsel me out of the 2nd Grade when it came to God’s Perspectives on Marriage.
Like Mel says, these guys are dancing the tango in line with the Catholic Church “Works for Salvation.” I grew up in that nonsense. My mother claims to be an Apostle called by God. Yet, I’m reading Scripture showing me the qualifications for a person to be an Apostle in Acts 1.
Acts 1:16-26
“16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 “For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
18(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE,
AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’;
and,
‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’
21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us–
22beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen
25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”
So, has my mom did either of those things? Uh, No. Therefore her claims to Apostleship are phony and she needs to repent. However, I’m not even saved in her eyes sometimes because I go to a Presbyterian Church, go figure. Well, I’ve rambled on enough….
Grace and Peace
seal
In response to your question on where Apostolics get the 5-fold ministry from…They take it from Ephesians 4:11:
“And He gave some, apostotles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers”
Now I am not the greatest Bible scholar, but rather someone who seeks Truth and revelation from the Lord. With that said, I will not say that the Word above is wrong, but as we all know, man’s interpretation of such puts some things in to question. What I have found many church folk to do, is pull “pieces” of Scripture not realizing the “context” of what they are reading or saying…My word to those who are hungry…don’t be lazy, read the whole chapter and research the contextual background if you must.
Exactly right. And the interesting thing is this is the same general area many of the pimps use to demonstrate that Jesus suffered in hell for three days (vs 8-10).
LOL…Okay I get it now… I thought they may have got it from Corinthians, but Ephesians makes it more commical when Ephesians 2:20 pretty much smashes the notion of there actually being any Apostles or Prophets today….Ephesians 2:20We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. How can they still claim these offices when they don’t meet the criteria? Yet all of them claim to hear “Audibly” from God and anytime in Scripture God spoke Audibly it was written down and well documented. However, it would seem as though God is just a conversationist as much as these pimps claim they hear Audibly from him. I be sitting back like dag, I guess Scripture was left incomplete and God didn’t leave us his word to equip us for every good work like he says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Or that Jesus Christ has spoke all the words of Life we need as Hebrews 1:1-3 clearly states. Or that all the True Prophets are dead according to 1 Peter 1:10-12
So, Scripture is very precise in helping us understand the tatics of these pimps who claim to have Divine Revelations from God, but I encourage you all to study the culture during the times of the True Prophets like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah and see that the False Prophets of their time resemble Benny Hinn, Cashflo Dollar, Fred Price, T. Dexter, Copeland, and the TBN Family.
Grace and Peace
seal
P.S….Check out this Scripture Passage from Ezekiel 13…
Ezekiel 13:1-7
Mel, you remind me of Ezekiel….Keep bringing the Truth of the Scripture…
do any of you know what the apostolic doctrine teaches?