Author Topic: Preacher robbed of more than $1 million worth of jewelry during live sermon  (Read 1688 times)

WLJ

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I guess being a preacher pays well in NYC

My [tinfoil] sense is tingling insurance scam.

'Flashy' NYC bishop robbed of $1m in jewellery during live sermon
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62311410

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French G.

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Give those crooks Osteen's address and call it good.
AKA Navy Joe   

I'm so contrarian that I didn't respond to the thread.

MechAg94

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Why does he feel the need to wear $1 million in jewelry during his sermons? 

I guess they don't have a Church security team?
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

griz

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The article said they took two watches.  Why, and how, does anybody wear two $75,000 watches? 
Sent from a stone age computer via an ordinary keyboard.

WLJ

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The article said they took two watches.  Why, and how, does anybody wear two $75,000 watches?

His wife's I would assume.
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
- Calvin and Hobbes

RoadKingLarry

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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

Hawkmoon

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Quote
"It's not about me being flashy," Mr Whitehead said. "It's about me purchasing what I want to purchase."

I have to disagree, "Bishop." You are supposed to be a vicar of Christ. I don't think I have to even open my Bible to know what Jesus would say about a minister who has so enriched himself that he and his wife can wear one MILLION dollars worth of jewelry at one time.

I would also like to know who ordained him as a bishop. I'm pretty certain that he doesn't have any legitimacy in terms of apostolic succession.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2022, 08:09:14 PM by Hawkmoon »
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230RN

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Let us pray for him.  That's a terrible loss.  I feel awful for him.  And now we'll have a special silent collection for him and his wife.  Ushers, pass the baskets while we pray.  Silent collection now, remember, no coins.

Cardinal Terry

Lennyjoe

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What’s the saying that says something about a camel through an eye of a needle before a rich man goes to heaven?

Hawkmoon

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Do we need MORE hypocrisy on the part of the esteemed "bishop"? Well, whether or not we need it, we've got it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxbA080Jpi8

So now he thinks that all pastors should be able to carry. Not all people. Not even all his parishioners -- just all pastors. As if his having one pocket pistol under his robes would have been of any use whatsoever against multiple armed robbers, but ... who am I to judge?

As to his bishop-ness, 'tis exactly as I suspected:

Quote
Bishop Lamor Whitehead is currently bishop ay the Leader of Tomorrow International Ministries, which the Bishop founded himself and described as a ministry that empowers people through the unadulterated word of God.

As with so many BOCs (Bishops of Color), he wasn't ordained by anyone. He founded a church, and then declared himself to be a bisop. But wait! There's more -- he is not the church's only bishop ...

Quote
Yes, Bishop Lamor Whitehead from Brooklyn has a wife named Asia K DosReis Whitehead, who, like her husband, is a strict devotee of Christianity and Jesus and attends church services with her husband.

Asia is an independent woman who is a bishop at the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries while also working for the company she founded named the UaReAChampion Empowerment Network.

The "bishop" was also guilty of identity theft in the halcyon days of his youth. Apparently he discovered that it's easier to con people into giving him money rather than waste the effort of stealing it from them. His bio, from the church's web site:

https://lotichurches.org/meet-our-pastor

Quote
Bishop Whitehead managed to finish High School as a celebrated athlete and went on to score athletic scholarships with Shaw University, Farmingdale University, and Eastern New Mexico University, where he studied Accounting and Videography. Bishop Whitehead attended New York Theological Seminary and completed his studies with a certificate in Ministry in Human Services from the Theological Institution of Rising Hope Inc.; accredited through Nyack College.

So he attended a seminary, but he apparently did NOT graduate with a degree that would lead to ordination by any mainstream church. But, where there's a will, there's a way:

Quote
Among these great accomplishments, Bishop Whitehead is most grateful for his upbringing in the church where he learned to love and serve God at Universal Temple under the leadership of the late Bishop Landon E. Penn. He went on to serve under the leadership of Bishop Albert Jamison of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. There he served as Bishop Jamison’s adjutant and later accepted the call of God on his life. Bishop Jamison later ordained him as a minister in 2006. In 2014 he was ordained as Pastor and as Bishop in 2016.

Problem: Not qualified to be ordained as a Christian minister.

Solution: Find someone who will ordain you anyway -- and make you a bishop on top of that. And I'll bet 'Bishop" Landon E. Penn went the same route. Yep:

Quote
Bishop Landon E. Penn was the founder of the Universal Temple Church of God in Brownsville and was an active member of the community.

So "Bishop" Penn founded his own church, ordained this clown, and then this clown founded his own church. And so it goes.
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RoadKingLarry

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Wasn't it L. Ron Hubbard that opined that the easiest way to get rich is to start your own religion?
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

Perd Hapley

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Is it wrong for preachers to start churches?
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HeroHog

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Hey, I'm a legally ordained minister, maybe it's time "The right Reverend Mercer" makes his mark, in the name of the supreme being of your belief!



Or, I COULD use this one...



 :old:
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Ben

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Is it wrong for preachers to start churches?

It's America - people can do whatever they want, including criticizing a "man of God" who amasses millions for himself and wraps himself in luxury. He's allowed to do that too, but people might question his basic Christianity, at least as a "preacher" vs a parishioner.
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

MechAg94

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Yes, people can do what they want.  I don't know the guy so I won't judge him (or I will try not to).  I don't care for the expensive jewelry, but he might actually be a teaching some people something useful.  I doubt that church is for me. 
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

230RN

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Wasn't it L. Ron Hubbard that opined that the easiest way to get rich is to start your own religion?


That sentiment was "originated" by many people, including me.

Even the most casual observation makes that notion leap upward and frantically wave its arms.

 :-[


Terry, 230RN

REF (Small sample):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjoe_Gortner

Quote
He became a celebrity again during the 1970s when he starred in Marjoe (1972), a behind-the-scenes documentary about the lucrative business of Pentecostal preaching, which won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Film. That documentary now is noted as one of the most vehement criticisms of Pentecostal preaching.[2]
[]/quote]
« Last Edit: July 27, 2022, 10:05:20 AM by 230RN »

HankB

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I'm just thinking of a skit from Saturday Night Live (Season 12, Episode 15) where Charleton Heston - playing the Almighty - shows up at Orel Robert's office . . . looking for his money.

For you younger folks, Orel Roberts was a televangelist who was notorious for his money grabs. At one point, he said he needed 8 million bucks in donations in a hurry, or he'd be "taken home." This prompted bumper stickers saying "Keep your money, send Orel home" and no doubt provided inspiration for this SNL skit.
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MechAg94

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I'm just thinking of a skit from Saturday Night Live (Season 12, Episode 15) where Charleton Heston - playing the Almighty - shows up at Orel Robert's office . . . looking for his money.

For you younger folks, Orel Roberts was a televangelist who was notorious for his money grabs. At one point, he said he needed 8 million bucks in donations in a hurry, or he'd be "taken home." This prompted bumper stickers saying "Keep your money, send Orel home" and no doubt provided inspiration for this SNL skit.
I remember that.  From the 1980's.  I was thinking he said he needed it in 30 days.  There were a handful of those types that were real popular with some people.  A number of them had some serious scandals. 
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

Hawkmoon

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Is it wrong for preachers to start churches?

No -- not if they are qualified and ordained as ministers before starting their churches. (This guy apparently was ordained by someone else, but that someone else was the "bishop" of a self-proclaimed church.)

Once they start calling themselves bishops, I start to have problems.
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sumpnz

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I remember that.  From the 1980's.  I was thinking he said he needed it in 30 days.  There were a handful of those types that were real popular with some people.  A number of them had some serious scandals. 

Apparently as a toddler I was rather infatuated with Tammy Faye Baker.

I got better.

WLJ

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No gun for you!

NYC Mayor Rejects Carry Permit Plea From His Recently-Robbed Pastor Friend
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/nyc-mayor-rejects-carry-permit-plea-from-his-recently-robbed-pastor-friend/
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
- Calvin and Hobbes

Hawkmoon

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No gun for you!

NYC Mayor Rejects Carry Permit Plea From His Recently-Robbed Pastor Friend
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/nyc-mayor-rejects-carry-permit-plea-from-his-recently-robbed-pastor-friend/

Noo Yawk would have no basis for giving the pastor an exception. He's a convicted felon -- he's prohibited under federal law, so the state of New York can't let him have a firearm.
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Bogie

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You just know that some of these guys are hiding cash...
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dogmush

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You just know that some of these guys are hiding cash...

What's the Vatican's cash reserve again?

Bogie

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I wonder if anyone has tried to take it...
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