Pastor John Gray Buys His Wife A $200K Lamborghini Urus For Anniversary

Aventer Gray (inset), wife of Pastor John Gray of Relentless Church in South Carolina and the Lamborghini Urus. | (Photo: Facebook; Instagram)

Two weeks after drawing praise for allowing congregants in need to take cash directly from his offering baskets, Pastor John Gray of Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina, is drawing flak for gifting his wife a Lamborghini Urus for their eighth wedding anniversary celebration that left her screaming on Saturday.

Pastor(s) John Gray and Wife

The Urus, with prices starting at about $200,000 in 2017, according to Fortune, has a 4.0-liter V8 twin-turbo engine that produces 650 horsepower. It also boasts an automatic eight-speed transmission, can travel 0 to 62 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds and reaches a top speed of 189 mph. 

In a clip of the moment posted on Instagram by Sue Mayweather, Gray is shown leading his wife, Aventer, to the luxury vehicle and once she realizes what the gift is, she breaks out in screams. Her husband is seen holding her hand before declaring to the crowd “Lamborghini Urus.” Mayweather noted that Gray’s wife also gifted him the “‘green box’ Rolex,” a term used to describe the Rolex Explorer II which comes with a price of approximately $8,000. 

In an Instagram post on Sunday, singer Tyrese who attended the celebration wrote: “Honored to have been there to see and witness every moment…..Pastor John Gray and his beautiful First Lady renewed their vows after 8 years of marriage….fairy tail grace and magic….Honored and honored again to have been in the room and apart of you guys magical evening. From the #Gibsons to the #Grays May God KEEP you covered in his blood…//Amen!!!”

While some people praised the preacher for splurging on his wife, others were angry that a preacher would indulge in such display of opulence. Modesty should be demonstrated from ANYONE claiming to be a pastor and I believe that the only reason he allowed his congregation to “take as they needed” from the offering prior to this big splurge was to lighten the blow. Oh, he’ll say that it didn’t come from the tithes and offerings that it came from some book sales or other business that he is engaged in outside of his church business. The structural church is a very lucrative business indeed! 

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Lord Carey Criminal Case Would Amount To “Attack on Christianity”

– By Alex Williams

Mounting a criminal investigation into how Lord Carey (pictured above) handled allegations of abuse within the Church of England would equate to an “attack” on “biblically faithful Christianity,” it has been claimed.

A number of conservative Church of England figures have signed a letter which defends the former Archbishop of Canterbury against any criminal probe, calling the idea “bizarre”.

The note, which appeared in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, says: “The notion that a criminal case could be brought against Lord Carey is so bizarre that we can only surmise that the object of the persistent pressure that brings these public attacks is not only Lord Carey but what he represents of biblically faithful Christianity.”

“An attack on him is an attack on us all.”

The signatories – which include former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali and the founder of Christian Concern, Andrea Williams – said similar high-profile cases have all been dropped without prosecutions.

They also wrote: “No one has been charged with any offence in relation to the misdemeanors of Jimmy Savile.

“The cases against Lord Bramall, Leon Brittan, Edward Heath and Cliff Richard were all dropped.

“Why is Lord Carey being targeted at this time? Certain public leaders appear to be being attacked by insinuation without due process.”

The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that police and prosecutors were considering whether to bring a criminal investigation against the 82-year-old, following the publication of a report last June which heavily criticized him.  

The document, produced by Dame Moira Gibb, concluded Lord Carey was among several senior Anglican figures who “colluded” with former Bishop of Chichester Peter Ball (pictured above) – a convicted sex offender.

The Gibb report found that the former Archbishop did not forward to police six letters containing allegations of abuse by Peter Ball.

It also concluded the Lord Carey did not add Peter Ball’s name to a list of clergy deemed unsuitable to be conducting church ministry.

In the wake of the Gibb report, Lord Carey said he accepted the criticisms made of him and he apologized to the victims of Peter Ball.

In a statement, he said: “I believed Peter Ball’s protestations and gave too little credence to the vulnerable young men and boys behind those allegations.”

He also resigned from his position of honorary bishop in the Diocese of Oxford at the request of current Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

 

Ohio Pastor’s Affair With Sunday School Teacher Leads To Assault, Robbery and Arrest

 Anthony Morris (L) and Zelda Marie Morris (R) are accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher. (Booking photos via Toledo Police Department)

An Ohio church pastor, his wife, and daughter are accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher in the church at gunpoint.

Anthony Morris, 49, his wife, Zelda Morris, 46, and their daughter, Kamali Morris, 19, have each been charged with the first-degree felony of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, the Toledo Blade reported.

Sunday school teacher Nickema Turner who had an affair with the pastor Morris claims she was at the St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in downtown Toledo, where Morris is a pastor, when she was violently assaulted and robbed. Turner alleges Kamali Morris grabbed her by the hair, and then both pastor Morris and his wife began to push and beat her, according to a police report.

Zelda Morris then allegedly emptied Turner’s purse and began taking some of the items.

Turner resisted and tried to recover some of her belongings, according to cleveland.com, and when it appeared she was getting the upper hand against her two female assailants, the pastor pulled out a gun and said “Bitch I’ll kill you”. It is alleged he pointed it at Turner’s face, according to the Toledo Blade, and made threats.

Two prescription bottles, a Taser, and an iPhone were allegedly taken from Turner’s purse. The iPhone was later recovered, with the screen broken.

The incident took place shortly before Sunday service was set to begin, it was reported, with witnesses on hand who later provided information to the police.

According to the police report cited by ABC13, the pastor’s wife told the victim’s daughter, “You wanna know why this happened? It happened because your mom slept with my husband.”

The three assailants then reportedly fled the church, while Turner was treated at the scene by Toledo Fire and Rescue crews.

The pastor and his wife have been arrested, police said, but at the time of reporting their daughter remained at large.

In a message on the church’s website, Morris describes St. Paul’s AME as “a family-focused, multi-generational ministry. We honor the traditions of the elders, but we are also intentionally contemporary in our Worship Experience.”

 Left, The Pastors Daughter, Pastor Middle, The Mistress (Sunday School Teacher) Right

 

 

 

Bolivia Bans Evangelism and Calls Sharing the Gospel a Form of ‘Human Trafficking’

Bolivia adopted a new penal code on December 15th called Article 88. The measure states that “whoever recruits, transports, deprives of freedom, or hosts people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalized 5 to 12 years of imprisonment,” the Evangelical Focus, a Spanish media organization, reported. 

Although Bolivia is run by an atheistic socialist government, most of its population is Christian with 77% identifying as Catholic and 16% Protestant. Now, many Christian leaders are concerned that even more of their rights will be taken away. 

“Will they denounce us if we bring a group of people to a Christian camp?” one pastor told Evangelical Focus. “Will I no longer be able to preach the Gospel on the streets?”

According to the Inter-American Federation of Christian Journalists and the Bolivian Association of Christian Journalists, the law compares sharing the gospel with human trafficking. 

“The article says that one commits the crime of human trafficking who: captures, transports, transfers, welcomes, or receives people, with the purpose of participation in religious or worship organizations,” the organizations stated. “This means that one can be punished: a) who carries out proselytizing activities, in public or private, because they are ‘capturing people’; b) who transports a person from their home to their church or religious temple, or simply invites them to the church; c) who welcomes or receives people to participate in a religious or worship organization, that is, who would commit this crime are pastors, rabbis, priests, parents, leaders, etc.” 

 Birmingham diocese visit to Bolivia in 2015

Evangelical leaders say this is a violation of human rights. 

“It is deplorable that Bolivia becomes the first Latin American country to persecute the rights of freedom of conscience and of religion, which are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the declaration of San José de Costa Rica, and our Constitution,” the National Association of Evangelicals in Bolivia said in a statement. 

The new penal code comes after Bolivia’s government abolished term limits, allowing President Evo Morales to stay in power indefinitely. 

Christian School Punished Over Biblical Teaching on Homosexuality Files Lawsuit Against School District

According to CP Reporter, Samuel Smith, 

A Christian society in Canada has filed a lawsuit claiming it was punished by a school district for refusing to censor certain biblical references.

The Cornerstone Christian Society of Camrose and three parents of the Cornerstone Christian Academy are suing the Battle River School Division No. 31 after the school’s agreement with the public school district was unilaterally terminated earlier this year.

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, claims that the Society, which has had held a master agreement with the BRSD to serve as a Christian alternative program since 2009, lost its agreement in June after it initially refused to remove 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 from a revised academy “vision and purpose” document and scrub religious teachings that could be deemed offensive.

Although the school and BRSD had instituted a five-year agreement in 2015, when Cornerstone submitted its vision and purpose document in January 2017, the school was told by division officials that they must remove the biblical passage.

“Based on the position of the Minister of Education and Alberta Education, we do not support leaving this reference in the document,” the lawsuit quotes Imogene Walsh, BRSD assistant superintendent of business, as writing in an email to the school district on Jan. 30.

The Corinthians passage states: “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

“The Verses reflect Evangelical religious beliefs that BRSD was well aware are foundational to Cornerstone’s religious character,” the lawsuit explains. “BRSD’s request to remove the Verses was a profound interference with the religious character and religious freedoms of the Applicants, as well as the contractual agreement between the parties evidenced by the Master Agreement.” 

According to lawsuit, the master agreement states that BRSD recognizes that Cornerstone is “an educational setting which operates in accordance with the religious beliefs, core values.”

The lawsuit also claims that Laurie Skori, then chair of BRSD Board of Trustees, told the school in an email in May that the concern is about “any actions, teachings or scripture that results in any student, staff member, parent or other stakeholder from being discriminated against based on any protected grounds.”

“For example, any teachings that denigrate or vilify someone’s sexual orientation, since that appears to be the focus, would not permit the school board to meet with its legal obligation,” Skori wrote.

Although Cornerstone eventually agreed to remove the verse from the document in early June, the agreement was official terminated on June 29 and will be effective in June 2018.

“BRSD was not satisfied with the removal of the Verses. Ms. Skori wrote the same day in response to require Cornerstone to make a further concession: that it would not use any Scripture that ‘could be considered inappropriate,'” the lawsuit explains.

In a statement, Justice Centre President John Carpay stated that the school district “acted out of anti-religious prejudice and ideological discrimination” and further argued that the district “lost sight of the best interests of the children.”

According to the court application, the case will be heard on April 17 at a court in Wetaskiwin. The school is seeking a stay of the school district’s decision.

“In attempting to censor the teaching of Biblical sexuality, and in attempting to prevent the Society from communication with staff and parents, BRSD breached its obligations under the Master Agreement, the School Act, the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Carpay added.

In June, Skori explained that the school district was “disappointed” with how Cornerstone went public with the school’s request that offensive verses be removed, saying that the situation was turned into a “public spectacle.”

“We are now at the center of a firestorm as a result of information distributed without our knowledge, by the Cornerstone Christian School Society board and their partner in this process, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms,” Lori was quoted by CBC News as saying. “Hate mail is flowing, misinformation and fear-mongering are widespread. The Cornerstone society has compromised our reputation, risked our safety and broken our trust.”

Skori also denied that the school district was trying to restrict religious teachings.

“The board does not want to get involved in things like that. I think it’s up to the school to decide what things are appropriate or not,” Skori stated.

 

Christian school teacher accused of sex romp with student

According to Fox News~A former teacher at a Christian school in Maine was arrested days before Christmas after she allegedly sexually assaulted a student under the age of 14-years-old, officials said.

Nancy Leigh Ann Brann, 43, was taken into custody Dec. 21 after turning herself in at a local jail, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The alleged offenses took place during the fall of 2016 when Brann was a teacher at the Coastal Christian School in Waldoboro, located about 60 miles northeast of Portland,Or. “There is no information the school administration had any knowledge of these alleged offenses prior to being notified by investigators,” the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said the victim was a student under the age of 14 years old at the time, but did not disclose the student’s gender. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request by Fox News for further information. 

Brann was dismissed by the school shortly after the offenses for unrelated issues, the sheriff’s office said. 

The 43-year-old is being held on $10,000 bail, unsecured, with the conditions that she not have contact with the victim, not return to Coastal Christian School and have no contact with children under the age of 16.

 

Pastor and wife FOUND GUILTY of defrauding friends and church members of $1,200,000

The Alexandria, Va., pastor told his parishioners they could benefit themselves while doing good if they invested in his Christian-based company lending small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

 Pastor Terry Wayne Millender and his wife Brenda Millender

Instead, a jury in Alexandria  federal court agreed that Terry Millender and his wife Brenda Millender, who together ran Victorious Life Church, defrauded their friends and flock out of millions of dollars.

Terry Millender told investors they would make their money back with profit, all while fueling growth in developing countries. But that never happened.

At trial, the pastor argued that he was guilty only of financial mismanagement, not fraud.

He said he acted “stupidly, not criminally — not from my heart.”

He blamed the failure of his companies on the 2008 financial collapse and a banking crisis in Ukraine, among other events he said were unforeseeable.

Prosecutors said the couple had no experience in micro-lending and did not tell investors they planned to generate profit though risky currency trading. Their friends’ money was used to lure in new investors, according to court documents, and to make payments on a $1.75 million home in Springfield, Va.

After $1.4 million in micro-lending money was squandered and the company failed, the couple started another firm focused on the Nigerian oil industry. Investors in the micro-lending business were told that through the new venture they would be repaid. That company too collapsed, and their investors lost over $600,000. Again, prosecutors said much of the money went to pay the couple’s personal expenses, including golf games and rent.

Grenetta Wells, who was chief operating officer of the micro-lending company, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and testified against the Millenders.

While Terry Millender was found guilty for all 31 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, false-tax-return filing and obstruction, his wife was found guilty only for seven.

“I’m pleased that the jury’s verdict at least acknowledges a vast difference between Mr. and Mrs. Millender’s respective involvement,” Brenda Millender’s lawyer, Lana Manitta, said. “However, our position is and will remain that Brenda Millender wasn’t involved at any level that triggers criminal culpability.”

A lawyer for Terry Millender did not immediately return a request for comment.

 Terry Millender argued on the stand that if he and his wife were really stealing from their investors, they would not have been evicted from their Springfield home or declared bankruptcy in 2010. Millender contended he had hoped to “make a difference in the lives of people” in Africa and South America and to see his friends rewarded by God for helping. The pastor told jurors he could have made plenty of money, having run a successful restaurant recommendation business, but he was called to lead a church and a Christian-focused investment firm. To truly make a difference, he said, he needed to not just give what he could to charity but make enough money to give significantly.

“You can’t do good and be poor at the same time,” he testified. “You can’t help the poor and be poor, it makes no sense.”

The Millenders, who were convicted Monday, both face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced in March.

Founder of Nation’s Largest Christian Music Festival Charged with Child Molestation

The founder of Creation Festival — the nation’s largest Christian music festival — has been “indefinitely suspended” from the ministry and his position as pastor of his New Jersey church after he was arrested on charges of child molestation.

Harry L. Thomas, 74, was charged Wednesday (Dec. 6) with sexually assaulting four minors “over a lengthy period of time ending two years ago,” according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. The charges include one count of aggravated sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault and four counts of endangering the welfare of children.

Those alleged assaults occurred over a 16-year period between 1999 and 2015 in Medford Township, N.J., where Thomas lives, according to the prosecutor’s office. His church — Come Alive New Testament Church, which has been described as charismatic — also is in Medford Township.

The prosecutor’s office did not name the victims or detail the assaults, but Come Alive said the allegations are “unrelated” to the pastor’s roles at the church or its ministries, including Creation Festival, according to a post on its website. Its leadership is “actively cooperating” with authorities, it said.

A similar message was posted Friday on the Creation Festival website and Facebook page.

Thomas was criticized previously at a 2014 congressional hearing for his advocacy on behalf of a couple from his church who were accused of starving four foster children, according to New Jersey’s Courier Post.

The former disc jockey-turned-pastor founded Creation Festival in 1979 after he had a vision of “thousands of kids on a hillside,” he told RNS as the festival celebrated its 25th anniversary. It grew from attracting 5,000 people to a park in Lancaster, Pa., that first year, to annual, multi-day events in both Pennsylvania and Washington state.

The two festivals, Creation Northeast and Creation Northwest, draw up to 100,000 attendees a year, according to Christianity Today. Creation Northeast brought more than 75 Christian speakers and musical artists to central Pennsylvania in June 2017, including popular musicians Crowder, Casting Crowns, Relient K, Sho Baraka, TobyMac and For King and Country.

 

Courtesy: Religion News Service

Photo: Pastor Harry Thomas, co-founder of Creation Fest, listens to a speaker in this file photo from 2011.

Photo courtesy: LNP Media Group

Christian school teacher charged with 84 counts of sexual abuse

A total of 140 charges have been made against Sioux Center Christian School teacher Curtis Van Dam, dating back to August 2013.

On November 11, 2017 a teacher from a Christian school has been charged with 84 separate counts of sexual abuse after it was claimed he abused students over a four year period.A statement published by the school reads: “We have been told from the beginning that additional charges for a former teacher at Sioux Center Christian would be coming.

Fifth grade teacher Curtis Van Dam, 35, of Sioux Center Christian School in northwest Iowa, US, is accused of abusing an unknown number of pupils from the school between August 2013 and October 2017.

Authorities say charges were filed after a complaint was lodged with police on 18 October, alleging inappropriate conduct between the teacher and a pupil at the school.  But since the original allegations were made 140 separate charges have been filed, including 14 counts of sexual exploitation by a teacher.

“Today, Mr. Curt Van Dam, was charged with 101 felonies and 39 misdemeanors.

 

“On Oct 18, within hours of hearing a complaint, school officials removed Mr Van Dam from the school and immediately contacted authorities. His employment was terminated on Oct 19 and we have been in full cooperation with civil authorities since.

“We’ve wept, now it’s time to weep again. We’ve prayed, now we need to continue praying. We’ve brought our anger and fears to the Lord, and now we need to lay those feelings again at His feet,” the statement read.  

School Administrative Assistant Cheryl Haan told Newsweek that the exact number of students affected by the allegations is still unknown. 

“This case is in the hands of our criminal justice system and we trust that justice will be served. Though the number of charges do not necessarily reflect the number of students, we are grieved again as we hear the extent of the charges. 

The statement also offered reassurance to parents and children: “Kids, we want you to know that we consider you brave for telling your parents, the police, and the interviewers what happened to you. 

“We praise God that your testimony has brought to light a dark secret that none of us adults knew was there.

“Please know that thousands are lifting you before the throne of your Father in heaven…. Trust Him to restore you completely.

“Our focus at Sioux Center Christian continues to be the Christ-centered education of our students, while also providing daily support and guidance to students as needed through their teachers and professional counselors.”

Mr Van Dam has been charged with 14 counts of Sexual Exploitation by a Teacher; 72 counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degreee; 12 counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree; 2 counts of Lascivious Acts With a Child; 1 count of Lascivious Acts with a Child; 34 counts of Lascivious Conduct with a Minor and 1 count of Indecent Exposure.

 Curtis Van Dam, 35, is said to have been accused of up to 140 sex related crimes at the Sioux Center Christian School in Iowa. The exact number of children affected is still unknown. Sioux Center Police

Mr Van Dam is currently being detained in Sioux County Jail and is awaiting trial.

A tweet sent from the school’s official Twitter account appeared to offer a form where students and parents could sign up to therapy sessions with a school pastor, although the form is now “no longer accepting responses”.

Ex-priest to stand trial for 1960 murder of Texas beauty queen

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A former Roman Catholic priest is due to stand trial this week on charges he beat, raped and strangled to death a Texas beauty queen nearly 60 years ago after hearing her last confession.

 Irene Garza 

Lawyers for John Feit, 84, have denied his responsibility for the 1960 murder of Irene Garza, 25, in McAllen, Texas, and said in court filings that he was wrongly accused of “one of the most notorious and heavily publicized crimes in the history of the Rio Grande Valley.”

 Irene Garza

Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and opening statements are expected on Thursday at a state district court in Hidalgo county in south Texas. The trial is likely to take about two weeks, county officials said on Monday.

Garza, a former Miss South Texas and second-grade school teacher, was last seen giving confession during Holy Week at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on April 16, 1960, according to the Texas Rangers cold case website.

Her body was found five days later in a nearby canal. An autopsy showed that Garza had been raped while comatose and died of suffocation. 

 Left- Irene Garza who was raped and murdered after giving her last confession to Feit-Right

Feit had initially been considered by authorities to be a suspect in the case but was not indicted. He had been implicated in the assault of another woman in the area a few weeks before Garza’s disappearance, but pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and served no jail time.

Shortly after Garza’s body was found, Feit was ordered by his church superiors to leave McAllen, the Dallas Morning News reported.

 Feit

Feit later left the priesthood and moved to Arizona, where he started a family.

Texas Rangers investigating cold cases reported in 2002 that a local priest had told them, shortly after Garza’s body was found, that he had seen scratches on the hands of Feit, who was a visiting priest at Sacred Heart Church at the time.

The local priest, Father Joseph O’Brien, also told investigators that Feit had confessed to the murder, law enforcement officials said. Feit has denied that.