- Charles Lawson - Steve Lawson - Deborah Layton - Mike Leake - Lecrae -
==charles lawson======
Charles Lawson is head pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. His style is serious and intellectual. He Is a hellfire and brimstone type of preacher.
==steve lawson======
A Christian’s Response to Pastor Lawson’s Moral Failure
In September 2024 Pastor Steve Lawson was swiftly removed from his church in Dallas, Texas after it was discovered that he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.2 The details were murky. In the absence of substantive explanations, social media filled up with speculation and gossip. Pastor Lawson was the very last person anyone expected to suffer such a “moral failing.” The adoption of terms like “moral failing” and “inappropriate relationship” as the go-to descriptors when a public figure is discovered sinning suggests a measurable decline for American Christianity. Biblical words like “sin,” “adultery,” and “fornication” have so fallen out of fashion even in the church that anodyne words like “failing,” “struggle,” and “inappropriate,” more fitting for the peccadillos of Hollywood celebrities, have replaced them. But these terms, especially “moral failing,” leave a lot to be desired. One problem is that they don’t come from the Scriptures. The Bible calls us to be holy, to reflect, by following the perfect law, God’s character in the world. This impossible task drives the sinner to the cross for mercy and salvation.(Christian Research Institute 10/12/24) READMORE>>>>>
In September 2024 Pastor Steve Lawson was swiftly removed from his church in Dallas, Texas after it was discovered that he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.2 The details were murky. In the absence of substantive explanations, social media filled up with speculation and gossip. Pastor Lawson was the very last person anyone expected to suffer such a “moral failing.” The adoption of terms like “moral failing” and “inappropriate relationship” as the go-to descriptors when a public figure is discovered sinning suggests a measurable decline for American Christianity. Biblical words like “sin,” “adultery,” and “fornication” have so fallen out of fashion even in the church that anodyne words like “failing,” “struggle,” and “inappropriate,” more fitting for the peccadillos of Hollywood celebrities, have replaced them. But these terms, especially “moral failing,” leave a lot to be desired. One problem is that they don’t come from the Scriptures. The Bible calls us to be holy, to reflect, by following the perfect law, God’s character in the world. This impossible task drives the sinner to the cross for mercy and salvation.(Christian Research Institute 10/12/24) READMORE>>>>>
==Deborah Layton======
Nobody joins a cult. You join a self-help group, a religious movement, a political organization. They change so gradually, by the time you realize you’re entrapped – and almost everybody does – you can’t figure a safe way back out. Deborah Layton joined the Peoples Temple in Northern California when she was 18 years old, and eventually became a trusted aid to Jim Jones, the group’s charismatic leader.
In her memoir, Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the People’s Temple, she describes how she fell for the answers Jones seemed to offer, and eventually found herself involved in the upper levels of his organization.Faced with increasing media scrutiny based upon allegations by former members, Jones in 1977 moved his followers — including Deborah — to Guyana. Jones promised them a tropical paradise, free from the supposed wickedness of the outside world.
But when she arrived, Layton saw that something was seriously wrong. The settlement of the ‘Peoples Temple Agricultural Project’ — informally known as Jonestown — was surrounded by armed guards. Food was scarce and members were forced to work long hours and follow rigid codes of behavior. She also noticed that Jones became increasingly delusional and dictatorial.
By May 1978, Deborah Layton was ready to make her escape. Four weeks later she submitted a 37-point affidavit about the compound in Guyana, which helped convince United States Congressman Leo Ryan to make his journey there to investigate claims that people were being held there against their will.
Six months later tragedy struck.
On November 17, 1978, Leo Ryan, a Congressman from the San Francisco area investigating claims of abuse within the Peoples Temple, visited Jonestown. During this visit, a number of Temple members expressed a desire to leave with the Congressman, and, on the afternoon of November 18, these members accompanied Ryan to the local airstrip at Port Kaituma. There, they were intercepted by Temple security guards who opened fire on the group, killing Congressman Ryan, three journalists, and one of the Temple defectors. A few seconds of gunfire from the incident were captured on video by Bob Brown, one of the journalists killed in the attack.
On the evening of November 18, in Jonestown, Jones ordered his congregation to drink a concoction of cyanide-laced, grape-flavored Flavor Aid.
– Source: Peoples Temple, Wikipedia. Cited on Sunday, May 24, 2015 – 10:37 AM CET
A total of 918 people, including 276 children, died in the organized mass murder/suicide — the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until the events of September 11, 2001.
It was a tragedy Layton had predicted with eerie accuracy.
Seductive Poison, reads like a thriller, but it is a true story — presented with scrupulous honesty and thoughtfulness. It is generally considered the most important personal testimony to emerge from the Jonestown tragedy.
In his review of the book, Dr. Philip Zimbardo said
Deborah Layton takes us behind the scenes in her chillingly brilliant memoir of her adolescent descent into his hell and her ascent years later as the woman courageous enough to expose this evil to the world. Her privileged status as a trusted inner circle member – responsible for depositing millions of dollars in foreign banks – gives her story an untold perspective on this charismatic leader and the transformations of human nature that took place among so many followers under his domination. Layton’s is a remarkable narrative that reads like a novel, but sadly is all too true.
This mesmerizing, well-written story shows how people from any background — regardless of race, culture, class, or education — can fall prey to the seductive poison of cult leaders and their cults.
--Apologetics Index; Nobody Joins A Cult
In her memoir, Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the People’s Temple, she describes how she fell for the answers Jones seemed to offer, and eventually found herself involved in the upper levels of his organization.Faced with increasing media scrutiny based upon allegations by former members, Jones in 1977 moved his followers — including Deborah — to Guyana. Jones promised them a tropical paradise, free from the supposed wickedness of the outside world.
But when she arrived, Layton saw that something was seriously wrong. The settlement of the ‘Peoples Temple Agricultural Project’ — informally known as Jonestown — was surrounded by armed guards. Food was scarce and members were forced to work long hours and follow rigid codes of behavior. She also noticed that Jones became increasingly delusional and dictatorial.
By May 1978, Deborah Layton was ready to make her escape. Four weeks later she submitted a 37-point affidavit about the compound in Guyana, which helped convince United States Congressman Leo Ryan to make his journey there to investigate claims that people were being held there against their will.
Six months later tragedy struck.
On November 17, 1978, Leo Ryan, a Congressman from the San Francisco area investigating claims of abuse within the Peoples Temple, visited Jonestown. During this visit, a number of Temple members expressed a desire to leave with the Congressman, and, on the afternoon of November 18, these members accompanied Ryan to the local airstrip at Port Kaituma. There, they were intercepted by Temple security guards who opened fire on the group, killing Congressman Ryan, three journalists, and one of the Temple defectors. A few seconds of gunfire from the incident were captured on video by Bob Brown, one of the journalists killed in the attack.
On the evening of November 18, in Jonestown, Jones ordered his congregation to drink a concoction of cyanide-laced, grape-flavored Flavor Aid.
– Source: Peoples Temple, Wikipedia. Cited on Sunday, May 24, 2015 – 10:37 AM CET
A total of 918 people, including 276 children, died in the organized mass murder/suicide — the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until the events of September 11, 2001.
It was a tragedy Layton had predicted with eerie accuracy.
Seductive Poison, reads like a thriller, but it is a true story — presented with scrupulous honesty and thoughtfulness. It is generally considered the most important personal testimony to emerge from the Jonestown tragedy.
In his review of the book, Dr. Philip Zimbardo said
Deborah Layton takes us behind the scenes in her chillingly brilliant memoir of her adolescent descent into his hell and her ascent years later as the woman courageous enough to expose this evil to the world. Her privileged status as a trusted inner circle member – responsible for depositing millions of dollars in foreign banks – gives her story an untold perspective on this charismatic leader and the transformations of human nature that took place among so many followers under his domination. Layton’s is a remarkable narrative that reads like a novel, but sadly is all too true.
This mesmerizing, well-written story shows how people from any background — regardless of race, culture, class, or education — can fall prey to the seductive poison of cult leaders and their cults.
--Apologetics Index; Nobody Joins A Cult
==mike leake======
July 25, 2023: Sight: Church and politics: Some critics see Trump's behaviour as un-Christian. His conservative Christian backers see a hero
In rural south-west Missouri, pastor Mike Leake of Calvary of Neosho – a Southern Baptist church – says support for Trump within the mostly conservative congregation seems to strengthen the more he is criticised and investigated.
“It further convinces them of their rhetoric that there is a leftist plot to undermine our nation,” Leake said. “So if everybody from the Left hates Trump, well, he must be on to something.”
In rural south-west Missouri, pastor Mike Leake of Calvary of Neosho – a Southern Baptist church – says support for Trump within the mostly conservative congregation seems to strengthen the more he is criticised and investigated.
“It further convinces them of their rhetoric that there is a leftist plot to undermine our nation,” Leake said. “So if everybody from the Left hates Trump, well, he must be on to something.”
"It further convinces them of their rhetoric that there is a leftist plot to undermine our nation.
So if everybody from the Left hates Trump, well, he must be on to something. Many of his congregation members who strongly support Trump “are not our most dedicated members. Anytime we’ve seen someone go full on MAGA, we lose them. Attendance and involvement drops. Giving drops. It’s all consuming - just as with any other idol.”
--Mike Leake; Calvary of Neosho 7.25.23
==lecrae======
Jan 25, 2023: Catholic News Agency: Alabama governor adds another layer of protection to religious freedom
Grammy award-winning artist Lecrae took to his Facebook page to give his condolences over the death of Keller, saying that the notable pastor was there in times of spiritual pain and “he changed my life.”
Grammy award-winning artist Lecrae took to his Facebook page to give his condolences over the death of Keller, saying that the notable pastor was there in times of spiritual pain and “he changed my life.”