Do I have your attention? Good. I’ll get to this rather voluptuous photograph of Patti Labelle in a minute.

The more I read about the current leaders of the Black Religionists, the more I am convinced that they think you are all a bunch of stupid clods, easily lead, and even more easily influenced. One of the best sources of material for my postings, GospelToady, was delivered to the house the day before yesterday. Here is the cover of the latest edition. And yes, that is T. Dexter Jakes and his family gracing the front cover.

If you would, please notice that all workers in the Gospel field have now been relegated to secondary families according to the cover of GospelToady (and no, this is not a misspelling - though I did jimmy the cover image…a little). This magazine seems to spend more and more of its paper toadying to the Big Dogs no matter what the Big Dogs preach or do). According to the magazine, T. Dexter’s family is the First Family. Granted they only claim firstness for MegaFest, but still and all, it seems somewhat presumptuous to use the title at all. Oh wait…that’s what a lot of churches call their teaching elder and his wife. My bad.

Once I finished my initial review of the magazine’s contents, I had a hard time deciding where I wanted to start and which way I wanted to go. It is such a “target rich environment.”

I decided to address the overall theme of this month’s edition. The editors say they have a theme of “Families.” But I say the theme appears to be: Our readers will believe anything.

Consider Event #1:

That picture at the top of the page was taken at MegaScam 2004. I’m not making this up. Look at the caption. I scanned it in directly from the magazine. It says it right on there , Patti LaBelle at MegaScam 2004. It’s their fault it looks so bad, not mine.

Would any of you care to try to explain to me why Ms. LaBelle appears to be doing her impersonation of a middle-aged Lady Marmalade? While I am not a prude, I’m just not sure she is…uh…displaying really appropriate attire for a family gathering, much less one sanctioned by a fellow who claims to be a great man of God. Remember, I’m certain nothing appeared at MegaScam 2004 unless it was approved by T. Dexter himself.

But it doesn’t stop there. Last year, and planned for this year, is the appearance of Steve Harvey. If Mr. Harvey has a hankering toward Godliness, I sure haven’t been able to detect it. Here, click on the microphone to hear one of his recent routines. I did a clumsy job of editing it, but you get the idea.

Here is a second one.

Now, you could suppose that this is stuff Mr. Harvey has turned away from as he solidifies his walk with God (to use some of the phrases y’all are so fond of). And that could be. Who am I to judge his heart? Well, one of the great things about the internet is the fact that you can get ready access to information, forgoing the need to judge another man’s heart. I got those clips from a site run by Mr. Harvey. Again I assume nothing goes on the site without his approval. And the site is running now. I just checked to make sure the stuff is still there. After all, I downloaded the files about two months ago and a lot could happen in two months. But apparently nothing has happened.

How does T. Dexter justify signing up these people for MegaScam 2005? It’s brilliant, actually. Here’s a quote from page 52 of the May/June 2005 edition of GospelToady. T. Dexter says:

“We’ve tried to carefully and selectively choose people who are working in a secular environment but had a Christian walk, especially for people that we were trying to draw back into the Christian fold.”

Steve Harvey, according to Jakes was “one of those persons.” Jakes states that Harvey was moved to tears by the acceptance of his gift of comedy at last year’s MegaFest. “He was so excited and so touched that he, by his own accord, called and said he wanted to do it again. He’s also started to attend our church more regularly” says Jakes.

Does anyone have the same questions I have? If a person has a Christian walk, why would they need to be drawn BACK into the Christian fold? Aren’t they already in the fold? At best, this approach rewards disobedience with publicity and money (I’m sure none of these people are doing this gig for free).

But let’s be generous. If I understand this, T. Dexter is trying to draw people back into the Christian fold. There are only a couple of problems with this approach. First, “drawing” isn’t his job. It’s Christ’s. Jesus said in John 12:32 that He would draw all men unto Him. It’s not my responsibility and it’s not T. Dexter’s. It sure sounds good, but it’s not a valid objective. John 15:16 and 19 go one step further and tell us that Jesus chose each of us. If he could do it before T. Dexter came on the scene, I’m sure he can draw people without MegaScam 2005.

This really sounds like a justification for featuring big draw personalities who have no discernible relationship with the Lord.

As a coincident, I just found out my sister-in-law went to see Mr. Harvey last night in Atlanta. She reported back that his routine had more than abundant profanity. So again I need to understand why T. Dexter is rewarding this man for such immoral secular behavior.

Suze Orman, a renowned financial consultant is just another example. Apparently, it’s the name, the drawing power, and not the character and capability T. Dexter is interested in. Otherwise, it would seem that there are a number of less well known consultants who are also professing (and consistent) Christians to draw from. Instead, he picked Suze Orman. She’s probably a nice enough lady, but is she even a Christian? No indications of it either from what she says in an interview in this months issue of GospelToady, or in the observations of T. Dexter Jakes.

His attempts to de-Christify the whole thing are at best ludicrous. When you make one of the big advertising draws the presence of various Big Dog preachers, it becomes by definition a religious event.

It’s all about the Benjamins.

Consider Event #2

A couple of weeks ago, I warned you about Mr. Lyle Dukes and his appearance at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. I thought I was done with him but it appears my job is never ending. His church bought a full page ad in GospelToady. Click here and take a look at the full page ad. I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

Take a look at the bottom of the ad. Here’s a blow up of it.

If you pay by August 24th, you will only have to pay $29.00 to go to church. If you wait until after August 24th you will have to pay $35 to go to church. Of course, if you can get a group of ten people together, you will only have to pay $20 apiece to go to church.

If you want to do the workshops AND the services, you have to pay $40 by August 24 or $30 if you can scrape together a group of ten or more people. If you’ll notice back at the top of the page, one of the things you get for your money is listening to that weasel Noel Jones spew his christo-babble.

And look at this , if you want to have luncheon with Pastor and Co-pastor Dukes on September 9th, all you have to do is come up with $30, in addition to the money you already paid. And there is no group rate this time.

But it gets better. Look at what the workshops are going to be covering:

1. Maximizing church growth (increasing the Benjamins)
2. Developing an effective choir and music ministry (increasing the Benjamins when more people attend)
3. Marketing and promoting your book (increasing the Benjamins)
4. The keys to YOUR success (increasing the Benjamins)

All they are doing is running a motivational speaking bureau and cloaking it in religious clothing. That’s a little like putting lipstick on a pig. On second thought, I suspect it’s a little closer to putting heavy makeup on an old streetwalker.

Think about it, Noel Jones is Oneness. Dr. Rita Twiggs is an associate pastor at the Potter’s House (that’s T. Dexter Jakes). But she speaks at conferences for such people as the International Pentecostal Young People’s Union, a subsidiary of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW), a Oneness organization. But none of them actually admit publicly to being Oneness.

And lest you forget, Beulahland and First Baptist Church of Glenarden invited the Dukes to speak at their churches. Did the pastors not know the clowns are Oneness? I doubt that they didn’t know. I would suggest that the pastor pimps have fallen so far from the truth that standards no longer matter. Look again at the conference and see that it is all about increasing the number of members, publicity for the preacher, and developing a dynamic , and attractive , music and choir ministry. Nothing about learning how to live in a fallen and depraved society while clearly and accurately representing Christ.

Consider Event #3

Finally, there’s the 48th Bibleway World Wide Holy Convocation in Columbia South Carolina. Click here to see the ad. Notice who will be presenting. That’s right! Paul S. Morton and Co-Pastor Susie Owens. By now, I’m sure you recognize the two of them.

Paul Morton is the fellow we discussed last week. He went to speak at a Oneness church attendance building conference. Susie Owens, of course, was a guest along with her husband at First Baptist Church of Glenarden a couple of months ago.

But here’s the question: If Morton is not Oneness, why is he speaking at the Holy Convocation? A hint: the word starts with a “B” and ends with “enjamins.” A second question: If Susie C. Owens is Oneness, why did she and her husband speak at FBC of Glenarden. Here’s a shot in the dark. Could it be about the personality?

I won’t even mention Horace Smith, the Prelate of the PAW, or the fact that William Bonner (the far right-hand side of the ad) was over Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ (now combined with Bibleway) since before I got saved. My wife used to attend Little Refuge, a subsidiary of Greater Refuge in Atalanta Ga. Greater Refuge, of course, was attached to COOLJC in New York.

Don’t expect these people to look out for your best interest. The biography of every one of the pastors made a big deal about the fact that they increased membership. Is the objective to increase membership or aid in the development of spirituality and Christian maturity? Despite the image these people have, they are not looking out for your best interest. They are looking out for their’s. Period.

Posted by Melvin Jones on Monday, May 9th, 2005 at 7:12 am.