The informant also took the following photographs of the dungeon, a snake, scorpions and bracelet:
The Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City recently sold scratch off tickets to The Black Party which was held on March 21-22. The tickets mocked the creation story from the Bible. The tickets featured a naked man resembling a snake holding an apple.
From the ticket:
BECOME ONE of 10 INSTANT SINNERS! Scratch off the serpent’s apple for your chance to win a free VIP ticket ($150) to RITES XXX: THE BLACK PARTY. 100% OF PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY CENTER
What is The Black Party and why would a gay advocacy group promote it?
In 1980 New York City businessman Bruce Mailman opened the Saint – a disco club – and began hosting The Black Party. Now the annual party is hosted at the Roseland Ballroom. The annual event features a large dance party, "strange live acts" according to their website, and lots of sex. This year the strange live acts involved snakes and scorpions.
A confidential informant entered The Black Party and observed the following:
lewd and indecent exposure
failure to clean up human excrement
consumption of controlled substances
sodomy
carnal knowledge
The informant also took the following photographs of the dungeon, a snake, scorpions and bracelet:
Where is the New York City Health Department?
There were more provocative photos taken such as one showing a line of men engaging in sex acts. The informant also says the air was filled with the smell of pot.
According to Michael Musto in the Village Voice: "My friend and I danced for a little while near the main platform … only to sprint out of the way when the big black kinky man started PEEING off of the platform into the audience. I almost threw up."
After leaving the party, Michael Musto returns: "I arrive and notice that there are a few hundred less people there, but the ones left are pretty much all having sex. …We end up making out & wandering over to the corner, where a solid 200 guys are all hooking up & banging each other like bunnies (it’s literally like the ads showed) …"
In 2007 Gawker posted a video of comments from men that attended The Black Party. The attendees described public sex acts and the video is definitely not safe for work (profanity and sexual content).
What is the Center?
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (the Center) in New York City is one the gay rights movement’s most effective organizations. In 1983 the Center took over a former school and began offering the use of its facility to outside groups. According to their website, "AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), Queer Nation, Lesbian Avengers and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), were born at the Center."
The Center’s board of directors is a politically active group of people. The individual board members contributed thousands of dollars to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the 2008 presidential race.
The Center is also a prominent promotor of gay marriage. On March 25 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed a gay marriage bill at the Center Dinner – an annual fundraiser. Last year the event raised more than $500,000.
The Center relies on government grants to fund much of its programs and agenda. In 2007 the Center received $2,433,464 in government grants.
Backbone of the LGBT movement and the dangers
The Center has become an effective model organization for gay political empowerment. Gay community centers are being established around the country. These places are advertised as being a safe refuge for young homosexuals fleeing abuse. In a recent press release Terry Stone of CenterLink said, "Community centers are the backbone of the LGBT movement …"
Education programs are prominent feature of the gay community centers. For a brief time the Center hosted the Harvey Milk High School. Some critics claim that these educational efforts are really indoctrination. For example, David Kilmnick heads Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth and his bio says "his dissertation focused on heterosexist attitudes and changes following contact with an openly gay instructor."
The safety of the gay community centers has rarely been investigated. A hook-up culture exists in some of these places. Some teens meet at gay community centers to find sex partners. Sexual assaults sometimes go unreported. Since 2000 the police have been called to the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth center at least 55 times, according to the police list report. At least one person accused of vandalizing this facility is claiming he’s innocent and that he was beaten by police so that they could obtain a confession. I wonder if his story is true.
Will The Black Party end?
I have been unable to find a single report of Christians calling for an end to The Black Party. Maybe that is why the Center would promote and profit from such an event. They probably expect Christians to remain silent about The Black Party.
We must remember that people attending The Black Party can change. The Bible tells of prostitutes following Jesus Christ and leaving their former lifestyle behind. Will we tell The Black Party participants about the love of Christ?
April 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, an openly lesbian minister in the American Episcopal Church, has caused a stir on the internet with a sermon, posted to her weblog, in which she called abortion a "blessing" and called for the suppression of rights of conscience for health care workers.
In her sermon, titled, "Our Work is Not Done," she wrote that there should be no restrictions whatever on abortion: "If we were to find that, while we were here, Congress had acted to insure that abortion would always be legal, that would be a very good thing; but our work would not be done."
"If we were suddenly to find a host of trained providers, insuring access in every city, town, village, and military base throughout the world, that would be a very good thing; but our work would not be done."
Rev. Ragsdale, a director of a left-leaning think tank, Political Research Associates, was appointed on March 30th as the next president of Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, MA. She was the unanimous choice of the School’s Board of Trustees and will begin her duties on July 1, 2009. Catholic Online news service reported that she has previously served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
She posted the sermon, given in Birmingham Alabama in 2007, in August last year, but it has flashed around the "bloggosphere" in the last 24 hours after it was linked to by two of the most popular American Catholic bloggers on the internet, "Diogenes" and Fr. John Zhulsdorf.
The sermon was removed from her blog earlier today after 59 commenters urged her to repent of her support for abortion.
In her sermon, Ragsdale denied the assertions of some "progressive" clergy who call abortion a "tragedy," saying abortion is instead a "blessing." "When a woman finds herself pregnant due to violence and chooses an abortion," she said, "it is the violence that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing."
She described various situations in which "abortion is a blessing", including in cases of foetal "anomalies," rape or incest, material poverty and "lack of social support."
"When a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion – there is not a tragedy in sight — only blessing."
Rev. Ragsdale, described the "heroic" actions of abortion workers in keeping the local abortion facility running during a protest by "Operation Save America."
When a woman can receive an abortion at any stage, and for any reason or no reason, Rev. Ragsdale wrote, "our work" in the abortion lobby "will be done."
She said that although "we in the religious community" have a history of defending rights of conscience, the situation of health care workers and pharmacists who object to abortion is not analogous.
"There’s a world of difference between those who engage in such civil disobedience, and pay the price, and doctors and pharmacists who insist that the rest of the world reorder itself to protect their consciences," she said. If a doctor or pharmacist objects to abortion or dispensing contraceptives, she wrote, they should "choose another field."
The news that a virulent supporter of abortion has been appointed to a prominent leadership position in the US Episcopal Church has jumped the Atlantic with coverage by the UK’s popular Catholic blogger, Damian Thompson, who writes for the Daily Telegraph newspaper’s website.
Thompson wrote, "Do not, please, make the mistake of assuming that she is an unrepresentative extremist: liberal Anglicans in America are among the most fervent supporters of abortion in the world, outstripping even atheists in their enthusiasm for this gruesome procedure."
The extremely popular pseudonymous blogger, "Diogenes," wrote on the Catholic Culture website that the presence of such pro-abortion clergy in the Episcopal Church is ultimately due to the failure of leadership in the Anglican Church as a whole, and specifically the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
"Doctor Williams’ ‘big tent’ approach to doctrinal deviance has earned him the congratulation of the media (and the deviants)."
"At some point a man has to make a choice: he can either be a critic — aloof, sceptical, ironic — or he can commit himself to the battle. But Williams wants to have it both ways, watching the game from the sidelines and then trying to crowd into the team photo when it’s over."
Funny I said , “High” as if there should be even “low” assault rates in the Christendom!? this has become a terrible trend in in that, almost every other month you hear of notable men of God falling for this same weakness (hitting a woman). It is not the constant increasing rates of divorce, it is now the redesigning of woman’s faces that we are dealing with now, how low can we go!? it is not easy to say who is at fault here but judging by what the Bible says about women being the weaker sex . I think men should be able to restrain themselves even in most extreme cases where the woman just refuses to back down from an argument (for we women can sure argue our point to a fault) some of us will let go of the Holy Spirit and let go of all self restraint and lash out at the man and forgetting that as much as we like to see and believe that men are strong willed and powerful in the home, they also feel pain and are also anxious about their future like women too but too many women do not understand men’s pain for it is different from theirs while a woman is worried about “what type of cloth she is going to wear for an occasion a man is busy thinking of money and work or if he can keep on taking care of the family in the coming years” not that we do not have irresponsible men but we also have irresponsible women too, but in most cases men would be men and women will act like women. . . as we have all seen.
My point is that before a man gets married he has made up his mind to spend the rest of his life with this woman and for some reasons( devil prowling seeking who m to devour) he may not live up to his marriage vows and then all hell let’s loose. when this happens it is the woman’s duty to Pray not to nag and fight him,(and not be ignorant of the devils devices) for whether you like it or not a man with a made up mind is not easily swayed by emotions (that is why till date some women still wonder why their men left them for no reasons) it is not every man that is moved by tears, especially when he wants what he wants, he goes after it till he is fed up and then he may come back home.
With the matter at hand being that Pastors and men of God are no longer restrained, they beat their wives at the drop of a hat, some beat and listen later, what is going on brothers in Christ? if your wife is nagging you go into a quiet place and cool off for while instead of reacting on impulse, and if you are not living up to your responsibilities try your best to be there for you family after all you stated the family, why tear it down with your own hands! it is not wise. . . the devil is an expert at making us destroy ourselves with our own hands of course he will aid in the process but subtly
As for the women please allow the wisdom of God to guide your thought processes for I know women can think all kinds of crazy stuff to the extent that we become paranoid with rage and destroy the gift of God to us (our homes). Also the too much TV exposure cannot be good for your kids and family members, for the life of me I cannot understand why you would want your husband you once loved to be trashed on TV or on Newspapers, do they not know that these things will make reconciliation harder? what happens when the film crew are no longer interested in your stories? what will you be doing then? (am not supporting the men here but I wonder what some women think they are doing) Maybe am speaking as an African woman. . . who knows. in my place we have a proverb that says “two people don’t go mad at the same time” meaning one of the couple should show restraint when the other is going of the rails. Where is God in all of this!!!???Ephesians 5:22-25, 28-29 22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Yes Christians Todd Bentley has finally said I do to his former live in nanny /Mistress (Jessa). But am not going to go into the nitty-gritty of what Todd has done , for I know that He and his Pastor/Prophets sure know what the word of God says about these things. This is truly a sad story, every Christian out there should continue Praying for Todd Bentleys first wife (Shonnah) who has had to endure these recent embarrassing situations she found herself in and, remember the Children (my heart breaks for them) and neither should we forget Todd and the New wife both who have given in to the lusts of the flesh we ought to hope that they truly repent and find their way to God. For what I can see and read so far shows of people with hardened hearts, those who have chosen their own way instead of Gods way. so sad indeed(sigh)
Read the full story for yourself from Todd Bentleys Chief apologist Rick Joyner (I call him that for he keeps on making excuses for Todd)
Todd Bentley Begins Restoration Process By Rick Joyner
Todd Bentley was used to spark the Lakeland Outpouring, which raised the faith level of much of the body of Christ. Testimonies of healings and miracles from it are now virtually all over the world. When Todd’s marriage failed, he abruptly stopped all ministry and virtually disappeared for almost nine months. In the meantime, his divorce was finalized and he has recently remarried. Todd has taken full responsibility for the failure of his marriage. He and Jessa also admit that their relationship was premature and should not have happened the way it did. Both are adamant that it was not the cause for the failure of his first marriage, nor did they begin their relationship until Todd was convinced that his marriage was over. They have both expressed that it was wrong and premature. They do not want to try and cover this up even though they know many will never accept them for it. Even so, they are married now and are resolved to make the most of their marriage, their lives, and to continue to serve the Lord in the best way that they can. My position all along has been that I will do my best to comply with Galatians 6:1, “If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (NKJV). To obey this Word, I have always felt that it did not matter what one had done, and that it was my responsibility to help them find the grace of God to return to the place from which they had fallen. I confess that with Todd, I am not just doing this as a duty. From the time I first met him nearly ten years ago, I knew that he had an extraordinary purpose and a gift of faith for the miraculous that would be desperately needed in these times. I consider helping any of God’s children an honor, and helping Todd is a privilege. I also confess to some selfish ambition in wanting to do this. I had a dream two decades ago in which one of my children had fallen into a sewage ditch and could not get up. My child was being scorned and no one would help him. A man came along who helped my child get up and then cleaned up. In that dream, I felt as if I would give everything that I owned to this man who helped my child. Then I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Jim Bakker is My child. Will you help him?” Since that time, I have been devoted to helping any of God’s children that I could who have committed any trespass, because I knew there were few other things that would bring the Father’s favor. I consider this willingness to at least try to help others this way a major reason for the extraordinary favor that our ministry, my family, and I have received. I love Todd and am glad to help him, but I also know by doing this, I will be doing something that means a great deal to our Father. When we release someone to minister in the body of Christ, we are releasing him or her to minister to God’s own children, and I personally do not do that with anyone who I would not allow to minister to my own family. For all that was done through Todd, and especially at Lakeland, which touched and helped countless thousands, many were also left confused and hurt by the way it ended. I think Todd is even more sensitive to this than I am. Although in some ways he greatly misses being in ministry and praying for people, he wants to be sure that when he comes back that his life and his ministry are on the most solid ground possible so that he does not cause these kinds of problems again. Jack Deere and Bill Johnson have agreed to be a part of Todd’s restoration process. I asked them to be a part because I know they will probably see things I don’t, but also because both Todd and I trust them and know they would not sign off on something they did not really believe in. However, both of them are going to be involved in this at a distance, and therefore, I will be the main person responsible.
Being a believer in body ministry, I expect our whole leadership team, and to some degree, our whole local church, to be involved in helping Todd and Jessa. Our staff and all from the church that I have discussed this with are very happy about them being here and want to help them in any way that they can. In future Bulletins, we will go into more detail about what we’re doing and why, as well as what we think was a cause of some of the failures Todd experienced. We will only do this for the sake of helping others avoid the same traps. We know that trust has to be earned and that Todd will have to earn the trust of the body of Christ for future ministry, which will not be easy, nor should it be. Todd, more than most, does not want to jump back into ministry prematurely, even as much as he misses it in some ways.
I for one have been very encouraged by the expressions of grace and genuine concern so many have expressed toward Todd in this situation. It gives me great hope. As we have been constantly reminded, the Lord had great patience with sinners, but He had none for the self-righteous. We’re all here because He had mercy on us, and we know we still need it. However, we also know that true repentance and restoration can only come if we refuse to compromise the clear biblical standards for morality and integrity. Todd wanted to personally say the following: It has been a long while since I have spoken publicly and openly. I am sorry for the hurt and confusion that my decisions have caused the body of Christ. It has been a true season of brokenness, hiddenness, and a long process of grieving. As many of you now know, my previous marriage has endured years of unresolved conflicts. I apologize that it has ended in divorce, and I take full responsibility for my part for the ending of the marriage. I realize that my silence and decisions have caused many of you to feel hurt, confused, and offended. The reason for the silence was for my need of healing, creating a restoration process under a team of qualified leaders, much needed rest after the Lakeland Outpouring, repentance, and the divorce process. I have now relocated to Fort Mill, South Carolina and have entered into my restoration and healing process under Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, and Bill Johnson. I am confident of this one thing—that God is faithful to His promise and my hope is to be fully restored, strengthened, healed, and to learn from all the mistakes I have made along the way. Thank you friends and partners for your continued prayers, encouragement, and love. I am committed to the work of the Holy Spirit and confident that the good men around me will help me be restored first as a man, as a husband, and ultimately to fulfill God’s call on my life.
Those of you who were touched by the Lakeland Outpouring do not lose your encouragement. What happened there was from God, and Todd is a true servant of God. He has made some mistakes, and he is trying to get his life back in order, and you can be confident that he will. Throughout the Bible, many of the greatest heroes in it also made some of the worst mistakes. King David, possibly the greatest hero in the Bible after Jesus, made one of the most horrible mistakes, not only committing adultery, but murdering the husband of the woman he committed it with. God knew that was going to happen with David when He called him, and He loved David before, during, and afterward. One of the remarkable events in the Bible is that the Lord then used Bathsheba to bring forth the heir to the throne, Solomon, and she is part of the genealogy of Jesus. It still stretches me, but we need stretching in the grace of God. At the same time, we must balance it with how God hates divorce, and it is one of the scourges of our times that is tragically hurting many, many people. Marriage is under such an assault now because it is so important. However, legalism will not overcome lawlessness. This situation and similar ones that almost every church and family are now being faced with is one that we need answers for. We cannot run from Him, but must run to Him with our need. Many of Todd’s friends and former partners have asked if and how they might help to rebuild and establish Fresh Fire USA, which has recently relocated from Abbotsford, BC Canada and is now based at Heritage International Ministries in Fort Mill, SC. Donations can now be made to Fresh Fire USA at the following address:
Fresh Fire USA
C/O MorningStar Fellowship Church
375 Star Light Dr.
Fort Mill, SC 29715
Make checks out to Fresh Fire USA, or if you would like to donate by credit card to help in rebuilding Fresh Fire USA, call 1-800-542-0278, and tell the operator that you want to make a donation to Fresh Fire USA.
This is a touching story because I can relate to this on a personal level without saying much, I want you dear reader to Pray for this sister and use her as a point of contact to reach other sisters who are been molested in any way across the Globe. I Pray that the Lord will guide sister Jesme and show her what true love in Christ really means for I can see and feel her hurt and pain and believe me she cannot say everything she suffered for the shame of it (sigh) Read on
A former nun’s tell-all story which details illicit relationships, sexual harassment and bullying in the convent where she spent three decades is causing ructions in the Catholic Church in the south Indian state of Kerala.
In Amen – an autobiography of a nun, Sister Jesme says when she became a nun she discovered priests were forcing novices to have sex with them.
There were also secret homosexual relationships among the nuns and at one point she was forced into such a relationship by another nun who told her she preferred this kind of arrangement as it ruled out the possibility of pregnancy.
“I did not want to make this book controversial. I want to express my feelings and to explain what happened to me … I want people to know how I have suffered,” she said, speaking from the town of Kozhikode. [...]
She also alleges that while senior staff turned a blind eye to the actions of more experienced nuns, novices were strongly punished, even for minor transgressions. [...]
When she resigned as a college principal, she claimed convents had become “houses of torture”, saying: “The mental torture was unbearable. When I questioned the church’s stand on self-financing colleges and certain other issues, they accused me of having mental problems. They have even sent me to a psychiatrist. There are many nuns undergoing ill-treatment from the order, but they are afraid of challenging it. The church is a formidable fortress.”
The allegations are not the only controversy to rock the Catholic Church in Kerala. Last summer, a 23-year-old novice committed suicide and left a note saying she had been harassed by her Mother Superior.
Reports suggest there have been a number of similar suicides. And in November, police in Kerala arrested two priests and a nun in connection with the killing of Sister Abhaya in a notorious 1992 murder.
Last night, a spokesman for the Syro-Malabar order of the Catholic Church, Dr Paul Thelakkat, dismissed Sister Jesme’s allegations as a “book of trivialities”.
“It’s her experiences, but these are things that might creep into a society of communal living,” he said. Asked if the church would be shocked by the allegations, he replied: “Absolutely not. The church knows about these things.”Bookshops throughout India’s Christian communities in Kerala have already sold out of Amen, the autobiography of Sister Jesme, who has alleged that priests and nuns not only broke their vows of celibacy with each other but regularly forced novices to have sex with them.
The Catholic Church in India is mired in a series of sexual controversies, and has only just begun to recover from the dismissal of a senior bishop who “adopted” an attractive 26-year-old female companion as his “daughter”.
The book by the former nun reveals how as a young novice she was propositioned in the confession box by a priest who cited biblical references to “divine kisses”. Later she was cornered by a lesbian nun at a college where they were teaching. “She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,” she claims.
When she was sent to Bangalore to stay with a priest known for his piety, he lectured her about the need for “physical love” and later assaulted her.
"People say that everything is OK, but I was in the convent and I want them to know what goes on. I have concerns for others."
Sister Jesme, who quit last year as the principal of a Catholic college in Thrissur, alleges senior nuns tried to have her committed to a mental institution after she spoke out against them.
In her book, she says that while travelling through Bangalore, she was once directed to stay with a purportedly pious priest who took her to a garden "and showed me several pairs cuddling behind trees. He also gave me a sermon on the necessity of physical love and described the illicit affairs that certain bishops and priests had". The priest took her to his home, stripped off his clothes and ordered her to do the same.
She was not allowed to go home after she learnt her father had died. "I was able to see [the body of] my father barely 15 minutes before the funeral," she writes. "The [response] of the superiors was that the then senior sisters were not even lucky enough to see the bodies of their parents."
Matthew 6:19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
You Don’t Need King Jesus, You Need M O N E Y!
What Kind of message Is This In Church!?
My husband calls them Men of Goods? I couldn’t agree more. . . it is really sad.
Am Still not back to full time blogging please keep Praying for me In Jesus Mighty Name Amen
Preacher killed wife, stuffed body in freezer, police say
(CNN) — An evangelical preacher killed his wife several years ago and stuffed her body in a freezer after she caught him abusing their daughter, according to police and court documents.
Anthony Hopkins appeared in court Thursday to face murder, rape and incest charges.
Anthony Hopkins, 37, was arrested Monday night at the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Jackson, Alabama, just after he had delivered a sermon to a congregation that included his seven other children, officials said.
He faces charges including murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and incest.
Hopkins was denied bail Thursday when he appeared before Mobile County District Judge George Hardesty. The case is set for arraignment next week, Hardesty’s clerk said.
The case began Monday, when the daughter, now 19, went to the Mobile Police Department’s Child Advocacy Center and reported that she had been sexually abused by Hopkins since she was 11 years old, according to an affidavit filed in support of a search warrant of the preacher’s home in Mobile.
The affidavit related the daughter’s story as follows:
Her mother, Arletha Hopkins, 36, caught her father abusing her in a bathroom in November 2004. Afterward, her parents argued, and her mother locked her father out of the house. The father came to the daughter’s window and asked her to let him in, and she did so.
The next morning, her father asked her to help him hide her mother’s body in the freezer in the laundry room of the home.
The girl said she moved out of the home about two weeks ago and was living with a neighbor. She told police that her mother’s body was still in the freezer.
When authorities went to the home, no one was there, as Hopkins and the other children were at the church. A body was found in the freezer, the affidavit says.
Although police think the body is that of Arletha Hopkins, an identification is not expected until early next week, Mobile Police spokesman Officer Eric Gallichant said Thursday. Watch Nancy Grace’s report »
Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett had said that an identification and autopsy results would take a few days: “obviously, the body was in a freezer.”
He said he was not sure of the body’s condition or whether it was intact, as upon seeing the body, authorities immediately sealed the chest-type freezer. The body had been covered in the unit, he said, and the entire appliance was taken to the state Department of Forensic Science.
At the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Hopkins was preaching at a revival, pastor Beverly Jackson told CNN affiliate WKRG. His message, she said, was about forgiveness and not passing judgment — and at one point, he turned to his seven children and asked them to forgive him his past, present and future.
Police allowed Hopkins to finish his sermon before arresting him, Jackson said. She said she asked police why they were arresting him and was told, “he murdered his wife.”
She said Hopkins had told her his wife died four years ago while giving birth to their youngest son.
Attempts to reach Jackson on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Authorities moved quickly on the daughter’s accusations to make sure the children still in the household were OK, Garrett said. They were placed in the custody of child welfare authorities. The next-oldest child is a 17-year-old female, he said.
All eight were the children of Arletha Hopkins, and Anthony Hopkins fathered six of them, he said.
An investigation has not found any record of Arletha Hopkins’ existence since 2004, according to the affidavit. Asked how long police think the body had been in the freezer, Garrett said, “I’m thinking that she’s probably been there for a number of years.”
He said Anthony Hopkins did not have a regular church but apparently preached in various areas around the South.
“Part of the mystery here is that, apparently, none of these children were in school” but were being home-schooled, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson said. “Home schooling, under this situation, removes almost any chances of us catching up with these kinds of things until there is a catastrophe.”
Pastor Jerry Porter said he used to preach with Hopkins at his church, the Williams Street Holiness Church, and knew the family.
Arletha Hopkins “was very quiet,” he told Mobile television station and CNN affiliate WPMI. “She was kind of secluded. She’d talk, but not much.”
Anthony Hopkins, he said, made statements that led him to believe all was not well at home. “He always used to tell me … ‘You’re blessed in the fact that you have a wife that supports you and what you’re trying to do for God,’ ” Porter said.
He said Arletha Hopkins disappeared shortly after the couple’s youngest child was born. As rumors swirled, Porter said, he confronted Hopkins and asked whether his wife was dead. Hopkins “wouldn’t give me an answer,” he said.
After that, Porter said, he banned him from the church but remained on good terms with him.
He said he visited the family a few years ago, and their home was clean and well-kept.
“It was the ideal family. I mean, the children were so respectful, just so easygoing,” Porter said. “Didn’t seem to be no stress at all. Never got that impression, never.”
The children, he said, “loved their dad. They were very close to him.”
Of Hopkins’ preaching ability, Porter said, “he was a bulls-eye prophet. If he told you something, you could pretty much bank on it.”
How can anybody who calls on the name of the most High God, do this? I mean, Impregnating a lady and asking her to have an abortion right in the church office… I know you are thinking she wants to tell another story… This is no story, this happened yesterday as my husband went to visit our pastor in the Church. (I say God sent him there at the right time) will stop here for now don’t want to give out most of the info until I have heard from my fellow Christian Brothers and Sisters on their take on this issue at hand. Cos my husband is shaking he is confused doesn’t know what to do, he thought they were close… I said obviously not close enough for him not to know this part of the pastor, He wants to confront him… I said No Ways!
Now am asking should he confront Him? or should he go to the church headquarters and report him so that another pastor would be brought to the branch? or should he keep quiet and let him keep deceiving other Children of God as he had deceived my husband all these years?, should we change our church because of this? what would you do in this case.
Many folks have heard or read this story time and time again but for the sake of those who haven’t already… please do read and be blessed as I was when read it.
Godbless
FOR COUPLES AND INTENDING ONES….
When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. “I want a divorce!” I raised the topic calmly.She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, “Why”? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew.When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a months time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.She requested that everyday for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.I told Dew about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was greying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday work-out made me stronger.She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me, .. she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.I drove to office… jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other any more. Now I realized that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money inthe bank, blah..blah..blah. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to beyour spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.
Glory to God!!! February is here again and soon everyone will be all about Valentines this and Valentine that, so many people will get engaged on that day or better still get married on that day. . . Well am not against people celebrating or whatever, even I have picked out things I want my husband to buy for me, LOL.
The fact still remains that many rush into things without looking, hence the high divorce rates, and spousal abuse etc (especially in the Christendom) it is scary that even the world have to give advice to Christians now. Perhaps you are already married , about to wed, or in a very serious relationship, I recommend you read this along side with your Bible.
My junior sister’s friend sent me this through email last year
Godbless you as read
SUCCESS IN LOVE RELATIONSHIPS Success in love relationships is not a matter of luck. The state of your love relationship today is a product of your choice till date. Choices are made based on the information at our disposal per time. Having false, wrong or incomplete information will lead to making wrong choices. Having true, correct and complete information will lead to making right choices. Your source of information determines the quality of your information. Information from the wrong source is usually false, wrong or incomplete while information from the right source is usually true, correct and complete. The nature of your source determines the reliability or otherwise of your source. The success or failure in love relationships depends on the nature of your source of information on love relationships GOD AND LOVE RELATIONSHIPS Because God created humans, God is the only authentic source of information on love relationships. God is love. God does not have the ability to love. He is love. He is therefore the only authentic source of information on love relationships. It makes sense to pay attention to whatever love has to say on relationships. Success in love relationships can only be attained by understanding and practicing the principles that guarantee success in the manual (Bible , word of God) . WHY MARRIAGES FAIL AND LOVE RELATIONSHIPS DO NOT SUCCEED. The source of information on love relationships today are friends, magazines, Romance Novels, the electronic and print media, the Internet, and movies. Most of these sources of information contain man’s ideas and no more. Hardly do people turn to the manual when they have questions on love relationships. Because the information is not from the right sources the information is false, incorrect and incomplete. Choices made from false, incorrect and incomplete info cannot be right choices. Consistent wrong choices in love relationship will always lead to failure in love relationships. WHO ARE YOU? Your perspective Until you know who you are, it is not wise to start a love relationship. Self discovery begins with knowing why you exist. A discovery of your purpose makes life meaningful and gives your life direction. Knowing where you are headed makes knowing who can go with you easy. Knowing your dominant temperament helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing your dominant temperament helps you know and understand who you need. Knowing your dominant temperament helps you know who can complement you. Knowing your purpose in life helps you understand your likes and dislikes. Knowing your purpose helps you understand your potentials (abilities). Knowing your purpose helps you eliminate wrong partners for marriage. Knowing your purpose helps you appreciate your gifts and talents. Knowing your purpose helps you specialize in your area of gifting Specializing in your area of gifting builds your confidence. Knowing your purpose helps you understand your life experiences, past, present and future. Knowing your purpose helps you to accept yourself. Accepting yourself helps you build self confidence. Knowing your purpose helps you develop a vision for the kind of marriage you desire. Knowing yourself helps you develop vision for the kind of marriage that you desire. You are a product of your environment and your experiences in life. Your environment and your experiences contribute and concretize your belief system. Your belief system determines how you process information received from your services. Your environment and your experiences shape your expectations in life. More than 57% of marriages contacted worldwide fail because most people get married without knowing God’s purpose for marriage and they end up abusing themselves and their marriage. Marriage is first and foremost for the establishment of a home where Godly children can be born and unturned to become responsible citizens of God and the world. Marriage is also for the purpose of providing suitable help for a man to fulfill God’s purpose for himself and his wife. Marriage creates the right atmosphere where man and his wife can work together joyfully as companion to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. Marriage is not just to stop people from being promiscuous. Marriage is not just for financial security. Marriage is not just to provide a man with an unpaid domestic help. Marriage is not just to provide women with a bread winner. Marriage is for two spiritually mature children of God. Marriage is honourable and adultery is forbidden. God judges adulterers and adulteresses Marriage is a life time commitment and should not be entered into unless one is ready to be committed to another person forever God hates divorce and judicial separation. Two people became one with unity of purpose, vision and direction. Marriage attracts the favour of God. WHAT DO YOU WANT? The place of expectations Expectation is the mother of manifestation If you do not know where you are going you will end up anywhere. If you do not know where you are going you won’t know when you get there. After knowing yourself and knowing God’s purpose for your life, you must know the kind of mate you require. You must have a dream of your mate, spiritually, physically, temperamentally and socially. You must realize that you are not perfect so you cannot expect a perfect mate. You must understand that God doesn’t give us finished products. It takes faith to choose the right partner. THE PLACE OF PRAYER God wants your marriage to succeed more than you want it to succeed. God knows the beginning from the end and he knows who is right for you. You must consciously ask God to lead you to the right person. You must give God thanks continually for hearing and answering your prayer before the manifestation of the right mate. You must rest in God and not allow anxiety or pressure from friends and family to make you jump at the first available choice. You must believe that God loves you as much as he loves Jesus Christ and he cannot mismanage your life if you trust Him. WRONG EXPECTATIONS Your expectations about spouse must be rooted in the manual (Bible , word of God). Your expectations must not be based on information from romance novels or soap operas. Your partner may not immediately have all the qualities you desire in a spouse. Your partner may not have all spouse but they may have the potential for those qualities Asking a lady to get pregnant before marriage to prove that she is fertile is unwise. Sleeping with a lady before marriage to prove that you are not impotent is unwise. Asking a lady to sleep with you before marriage to prove her love is unwise. Footing the education bill or caring for the family of your partner before marriage is unwise. Not Waiting to hear God’s voice about the choice of a marriage partner is unwise. Getting married because someone said it is God’s will without hearing from God yourself is unwise. Hoping to get married to the first person you enter into courtship with is not wise. Asking God to give you a rich man for a husband is not wise. Getting married to someone who has promised to change their character is unwise. Expecting someone to get married to you out of sympathy is unwise. Marriage in itself does not bring joy, peace, happiness or fulfillment. Marriage in itself is not the solution for your emotional needs Marriage in itself will not provide you with self worth. Marriage in itself will not make you a better person. Married life is not a bed of roses. It is foolish to serve a man, hoping he will end getting married to you.
I Appreciate your Prayer Requests,(Thanks to God for all who have been sending already) Keep them coming in Please, I love Praying for you... Lets Trust Jesus Together! HALLELUYAH!!! Thank you Holy Spirit
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