Harlepolis said:

Went in, out, and in with no help from ANY liquids.

I'm still trippin over the alias "Dick Tracy".....WTF????

[Edited 9/22/10 14:18pm]

SCNDLS said:

Accused pastor crusaded against homosexuals

Editor's note: CNN's John Blake first covered Bishop Eddie Long as a religion reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN)

More quoted stuff here...

"He talked proudly about his ability to reach young men. He called himself a "spiritual daddy" to many of the young men he mentored at New Birth."

More quoted stuff here...

M'kay...that's just icky!!

SCNDLS said:

Accused pastor crusaded against homosexuals

Editor's note: CNN's John Blake first covered Bishop Eddie Long as a religion reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- As Bishop Eddie Long poked through a salad in his church office one summer day in 1999, he shot a weary look at a person ticking off his ministry's successes.

His Atlanta megachurch had already reached 25,000 members. He had been invited to the White House, built a global television ministry and drove around town in a luxury automobile.

But Long told the visitor who had come to write about him that the pressures of being a high-profile pastor could be brutal.

"You don't want any of this," he said in a raspy baritone as he shook his head. "You don't want any of this ..."

Long didn't get more specific about those pressures.

Today, the 57-year-old minister, known for his public crusades against homosexuality, faces serious allegations.

On Tuesday, two young men who were members of Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church filed lawsuits claiming he used his position as their spiritual counselor to coerce them into sexual relationships.

See PDF of lawsuit filed by Maurice Robinson

The men -- Anthony Flagg, 21, and Maurice Robinson, 20 -- allege Long used a private spiritual ceremony to mark a "covenant" between them, with both becoming his "spiritual son."

See PDF of lawsuit filed by Anthony Flagg

Flagg alleges that Long then used that relationship to take him on overnight trips where they shared a bedroom and engaged in kissing, masturbation and "oral sexual contact."

Robinson, who claimed Long engaged in oral sex with him, said the pastor would cite Scripture to justify their relationship.

"We categorically deny the allegations," Art Franklin, Long's spokesman, said in a written statement. "It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action."

Franklin said "our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit."

The men's lawyer, Brenda Joy (B.J.) Bernstein, would not make them available for comment.

Long's crusades against homosexuality

The allegations against Long run contrary to his public image.

He is a celebrity preacher in the black church world and a star in the evangelical world as well. His church is one of the largest in the country.

In the pulpit, Long seamlessly blends muscle and ministry.

He wears tight shirts that display his weight-lifter arms. He writes books such as "Gladiator, the Strength of a Man," that teach men how to be warriors for God. He says he has a special calling to reach out to men.

He's a married man who preaches about the sanctity of the union between a man and a woman. He denounces homosexuality. In 2004, he led a march in Atlanta against gay marriage. He once declared that his church had created a ministry that "delivered" people from homosexuality.

His public statements about gays and lesbians have helped reinforce homophobia in the black church, says Shayne Lee, a sociologist and author of "Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace."

"The homophobic atmosphere he helped perpetuate," Lee said, could "come back to possibly harm him."

Long's controversial ministry

Long has been the center of public controversy before.

In 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a charity Long created to help the poor and spread the Gospel had made him its biggest beneficiary.

An examination of the nonprofit's tax returns and other documents revealed that the charity provided him with at least a million dollars in salary over four years, and the use of a $1.4 million home and the $350,000 Bentley.

A frequent critic of black preachers (he once said they "major in storefront churches"), Long responded by saying he was a CEO of a global business who deserved his lifestyle.

"You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering," Long said, explaining the compensation he received from his charity.

In 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Long asking detailed questions about his financial operations. Long was one of six televangelists whom Grassley targeted.

After an initial flurry of publicity following Grassley's request, the investigation appeared to peter out.

Read more stories about faith on CNN's Belief Blog

In recent years, Long seemed to become more humble, says the Rev. Tim McDonald, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta.

In private talks, McDonald said, Long told him about the pressures of leading a megachurch. He said he no longer had as many close friendships and yearned to return to the more intimate relationships that McDonald seemed to have with his much smaller congregation.

"He said, 'Tim, I may have the numbers, but you have the love,' '' McDonald said.

God's 'scarred leader'

For all his outward confidence, Long also displayed a vulnerable side.

He built an intimate bond with many members of his church by talking about his private failings: his divorce from his first wife; being rejected by his father; and being fired from a job in corporate America.

He called himself God's "scarred leader."

He also became known for his generosity. He would give out cars and money to strangers at church services. He built ministries to help the poor, AIDS patients and young people.

He talked proudly about his ability to reach young men. He called himself a "spiritual daddy" to many of the young men he mentored at New Birth.

He would pay the college tuition for some men, give business suits to others and play basketball and lift weights with his male ministers.

Once, he even boasted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that some mothers at New Birth trusted him enough to bring their wayward teenage boys to him for paddling.

"When I say bend over, even on Sunday, they bend over," he said, referring to the boys he paddled. "Why? Because they respect me. Because I first died for them ..."

The two men who filed suit against Long, though, said he used their relationships to instruct them, as "spiritual sons," to follow their "master."

They also say Long enticed them "with cars, clothes, jewelry, and electronics." Robinson claims the pastor paid for his college tuition.

In Flagg's suit, he claimed that when some young men found girlfriends, Long would attempt to block those relationships by "increased contact and spiritual talk" about "the covenant between the Spiritual Son and himself."

In addition to Long, the lawsuits name as defendants his church and a youth academy where Long was pastor and mentor. Both suits seek unspecified punitive damages on counts ranging from negligence to breach of fiduciary duty.

Lee, the sociologist who has written about Long, says he expects him to mount a fierce counterattack.

"He'll demonize the accusers," Lee said, "and couch it in terms of how the enemy Satan is trying to hurt the ministry."

I will NEVER understand the sheep who can look at and listen to this mess then EAGERLY write checks to this fool and others like him.

Just this weekend, I was at this new spot on Saturday night and saw the pastor of one our megachurches KICKIN' it. My homegirl told me he was there Friday night too. I left him at the club Saturday night. Dude, don't you have somewhere to be early Sunday morning???

[Edited 9/22/10 14:31pm]

SCNDLS said:

Shyra said:

See, this is why I don't go to church. I'm not paying tithes to no jackleg preacher so he can litter his pinky fingers with diamonds and pearls. I'm not paying tithes to keep his wife and the other 10 deconesshoes in furs and Jimmy Choos. Or if he's so inclined, to take pubescent boys to hotels; not on my tab, nucca! I'm NOT doing it!

[Edited 9/22/10 12:49pm]

I live in Dallas, the mecca for slick talking millionaire preachers. Folks be wanting to come out the bag on me when I talk shit about the epic pimpishness that abounds at Potter's House with the ultimate hustla Bishop Jakes. You have to be REAL careful cuz his flock will cut ya! OMG Ima die any minute I just know it!

I was really done with his ass when I went to Bible study there over 10 years ago and saw you could tithe on credit cards and they had ATMs in the church. WTF? That aint pimpin' that's some undercover crack dealin'!

Bad credit and debt be damned as long as TD's walrus looking ass stay in tacky suits and gators. I have a homey who is his personal trainer and he travels all over the world with him, on the church's dime. Plus he lives in a $10 mil home in Dallas. Yeah, all that's real Christ-like.

This is why churches need WOMEN ministers. I firmly believe that many men join these churches for the sole purposes of gettin' paid and slingin' ass! I'm not sayin' the women won't want to be paid big bucks too but I just don't think they'd sexually manipulate members of their church nor showcase her body via tight clothes and flash her bling bling all over the place. Somethin' bout havin' a dick and a lot of testosterone that just leads you down the darndest paths of debauchery and greed. These men just fancy themselves some sort of demigods or something. It makes the people out there truly trying to preach the word and help folk better their lives look terribly bad. One bad apple....

If they are on tv they are entertainers. Don't fucking trust em.

SCNDLS said:

Shyra said:

See, this is why I don't go to church. I'm not paying tithes to no jackleg preacher so he can litter his pinky fingers with diamonds and pearls. I'm not paying tithes to keep his wife and the other 10 deconesshoes in furs and Jimmy Choos. Or if he's so inclined, to take pubescent boys to hotels; not on my tab, nucca! I'm NOT doing it!

[Edited 9/22/10 12:49pm]

I live in Dallas, the mecca for slick talking millionaire preachers. Folks be wanting to come out the bag on me when I talk shit about the epic pimpishness that abounds at Potter's House with the ultimate hustla Bishop Jakes. You have to be REAL careful cuz his flock will cut ya!

I was really done with his ass when I went to Bible study there over 10 years ago and saw you could tithe on credit cards and they had ATMs in the church. Bad credit and debt be damned as long as TD's walrus looking ass stay in tacky suits and gators. I have a homey who is his personal trainer and he travels all over the world with him, on the church's dime. Plus he lives in a $10 mil home in Dallas. Yeah, all that's real Christ-like.

Same with Bishop Long's flock. Before these allegations, I complained about how his congregation has a tendency to worship him. I was cussed out with the quickness by one of his members.

According to MEDIATAKEOUT

sweet said:

SCNDLS said:

Accused pastor crusaded against homosexuals

Editor's note: CNN's John Blake first covered Bishop Eddie Long as a religion reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- As Bishop Eddie Long poked through a salad in his church office one summer day in 1999, he shot a weary look at a person ticking off his ministry's successes.

His Atlanta megachurch had already reached 25,000 members. He had been invited to the White House, built a global television ministry and drove around town in a luxury automobile.

But Long told the visitor who had come to write about him that the pressures of being a high-profile pastor could be brutal.

"You don't want any of this," he said in a raspy baritone as he shook his head. "You don't want any of this ..."

Long didn't get more specific about those pressures.

Today, the 57-year-old minister, known for his public crusades against homosexuality, faces serious allegations.

On Tuesday, two young men who were members of Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church filed lawsuits claiming he used his position as their spiritual counselor to coerce them into sexual relationships.

See PDF of lawsuit filed by Maurice Robinson

The men -- Anthony Flagg, 21, and Maurice Robinson, 20 -- allege Long used a private spiritual ceremony to mark a "covenant" between them, with both becoming his "spiritual son."

See PDF of lawsuit filed by Anthony Flagg

Flagg alleges that Long then used that relationship to take him on overnight trips where they shared a bedroom and engaged in kissing, masturbation and "oral sexual contact."

Robinson, who claimed Long engaged in oral sex with him, said the pastor would cite Scripture to justify their relationship.

"We categorically deny the allegations," Art Franklin, Long's spokesman, said in a written statement. "It is very unfortunate that someone has taken this course of action."

Franklin said "our law firm will be able to respond once attorneys have had an opportunity to review the lawsuit."

The men's lawyer, Brenda Joy (B.J.) Bernstein, would not make them available for comment.

Long's crusades against homosexuality

The allegations against Long run contrary to his public image.

He is a celebrity preacher in the black church world and a star in the evangelical world as well. His church is one of the largest in the country.

In the pulpit, Long seamlessly blends muscle and ministry.

He wears tight shirts that display his weight-lifter arms. He writes books such as "Gladiator, the Strength of a Man," that teach men how to be warriors for God. He says he has a special calling to reach out to men.

He's a married man who preaches about the sanctity of the union between a man and a woman. He denounces homosexuality. In 2004, he led a march in Atlanta against gay marriage. He once declared that his church had created a ministry that "delivered" people from homosexuality.

His public statements about gays and lesbians have helped reinforce homophobia in the black church, says Shayne Lee, a sociologist and author of "Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace."

"The homophobic atmosphere he helped perpetuate," Lee said, could "come back to possibly harm him."

Long's controversial ministry

Long has been the center of public controversy before.

In 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a charity Long created to help the poor and spread the Gospel had made him its biggest beneficiary.

An examination of the nonprofit's tax returns and other documents revealed that the charity provided him with at least a million dollars in salary over four years, and the use of a $1.4 million home and the $350,000 Bentley.

A frequent critic of black preachers (he once said they "major in storefront churches"), Long responded by saying he was a CEO of a global business who deserved his lifestyle.

"You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering," Long said, explaining the compensation he received from his charity.

In 2007, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Long asking detailed questions about his financial operations. Long was one of six televangelists whom Grassley targeted.

After an initial flurry of publicity following Grassley's request, the investigation appeared to peter out.

Read more stories about faith on CNN's Belief Blog

In recent years, Long seemed to become more humble, says the Rev. Tim McDonald, senior pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta.

In private talks, McDonald said, Long told him about the pressures of leading a megachurch. He said he no longer had as many close friendships and yearned to return to the more intimate relationships that McDonald seemed to have with his much smaller congregation.

"He said, 'Tim, I may have the numbers, but you have the love,' '' McDonald said.

God's 'scarred leader'

For all his outward confidence, Long also displayed a vulnerable side.

He built an intimate bond with many members of his church by talking about his private failings: his divorce from his first wife; being rejected by his father; and being fired from a job in corporate America.

He called himself God's "scarred leader."

He also became known for his generosity. He would give out cars and money to strangers at church services. He built ministries to help the poor, AIDS patients and young people.

He talked proudly about his ability to reach young men. He called himself a "spiritual daddy" to many of the young men he mentored at New Birth.

He would pay the college tuition for some men, give business suits to others and play basketball and lift weights with his male ministers.

Once, he even boasted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that some mothers at New Birth trusted him enough to bring their wayward teenage boys to him for paddling.

"When I say bend over, even on Sunday, they bend over," he said, referring to the boys he paddled. "Why? Because they respect me. Because I first died for them ..."

The two men who filed suit against Long, though, said he used their relationships to instruct them, as "spiritual sons," to follow their "master."

They also say Long enticed them "with cars, clothes, jewelry, and electronics." Robinson claims the pastor paid for his college tuition.

In Flagg's suit, he claimed that when some young men found girlfriends, Long would attempt to block those relationships by "increased contact and spiritual talk" about "the covenant between the Spiritual Son and himself."

In addition to Long, the lawsuits name as defendants his church and a youth academy where Long was pastor and mentor. Both suits seek unspecified punitive damages on counts ranging from negligence to breach of fiduciary duty.

Lee, the sociologist who has written about Long, says he expects him to mount a fierce counterattack.

"He'll demonize the accusers," Lee said, "and couch it in terms of how the enemy Satan is trying to hurt the ministry."

Icky!!

SCNDLS said:

Ottensen said:

Who is this dude? Is he really famous in the church world in the U.S.? This dude sounds like he needs to go have lunch with that anti-gay Republican congressman who picks up boys in bathrooms

Don't you remember the first season of RHOA when Deshaun went to church? She wrote him a check for $15k and proudly said she does it weekly. Then she went to his office to talk to him privately. Come to think of it, I thought it was odd he was wearing a robe that REALLY looked like a dress. Now we know why.

That's just wrong . . . . . .

banks said:

According to MEDIATAKEOUT

Lord I'm tired of these bathroom photos.

If MTO is accurate and this is one of the fellas claiming "sexual coercion" then I'm changing my tune a tad bit. This dude may very well be a prostitue who felt underpaid and disrespected so he's trying to jack ole Eddie for some extra cash. It could be a form of blackmail. A "pay me or I'll out you via lawsuit" kind of thing.

Not to judge a book by it's cover too harshly but come on.....does that look like a guy who has difficulty saying "NO"? He looks quite worldly to me.

I mean WTF? I know people get manipulated by money and grand promises every day in this world but it would have to take a whole lot of flashing and promises of the "good life" for any straight guy to say to another guy (especially some dude old enough to be your daddy) "let's suck each other's dicks!"

This guy here is either DL and trying to hide it by suing Eddie Long or he's just plain dumb/naive and he got taken advantage of by Eddie Long.

shameful

My sister lives in Atlanta and she once went to this fool's church.

DesireeNevermind said:

banks said:

According to MEDIATAKEOUT

Lord I'm tired of these bathroom photos.

If MTO is accurate and this is one of the fellas claiming "sexual coercion" then I'm changing my tune a tad bit. This dude may very well be a prostitue who felt underpaid and disrespected so he's trying to jack ole Eddie for some extra cash. It could be a form of blackmail. A "pay me or I'll out you via lawsuit" kind of thing.

Not to judge a book by it's cover too harshly but come on.....does that look like a guy who has difficulty saying "NO"? He looks quite worldly to me.

I mean WTF? I know people get manipulated by money and grand promises every day in this world but it would have to take a whole lot of flashing and promises of the "good life" for any straight guy to say to another guy (especially some dude old enough to be your daddy) "let's suck each other's dicks!"

This guy here is either DL and trying to hide it by suing Eddie Long or he's just plain dumb/naive and he got taken advantage of by Eddie Long.

I totally hear ya gurl, but all that notwithstanding, IF this shit is true. Eddie "2 Skrong" Long is still wrong cuz he's:

1. Married

2. Has children

3. Is in a position of authority over impressionable young men

4. Said he hates the gays and that his ministry could cure them of their evil ways

Even if this dude wasn't manipulated into suckin' Long's Schlong and is trying to get his paycheck, it doesn't change the situation one lil bit in my eyes cuz Ready Eddie is a big ol' hypocrite and hes'goin' DOWN!

Oh, wait he already did that.

[Edited 9/22/10 18:06pm]

Nothing about this story surprises me. It is my firm belief that it is always the one screaming "FAGGOT" the loudest (ie: preaching against homosexuality from the pulpit) that has the most to hide regarding their own sexuality.

There are still so many people in this 2010 world of ours that need to wake up and smell the coffee. "GAY" is much more common than many people apparently want to admit. But people like this "Pastor Long" just convolute the issue, and misleads those who don't have enough megahertz to figure this shit out on their own.

Ottensen said:

Who is this dude? Is he really famous in the church world in the U.S.? This dude sounds like he needs to go have lunch with that anti-gay Republican congressman who picks up boys in bathrooms

Yeah, he's huge. He's one of those prosperity ministry hacks with a mega-church...the whole nine.

I had to straighten one of my coworkers tryna tell me some crap about messin wit God's annointed...I asked him if he forgot the part about false prophets,

Harlepolis said:

Went in, out, and in with no help from ANY liquids.

Oh. My. Damn! Sista broke it down...

I gotta post this in the other thread,

dupe.

See http://prince.org/msg/105/344217