Bishop Eddie Long may have just wrought the end to his Atlanta mega-congregation, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. A source within New Birth says that the consequences of the Long sex scandal have amounted to a veritable “three strikes” against him.

Strike One — Church elders are abandoning Long- The resignation yesterday of Reverend Bernice King — Martin Luther King, Jr.’s youngest daughter — all but guarantees that other elders will leave. At the very least, some folks among the 25,000-member mega church are now planning their escape to a new church home as King, whom they refer to as their “ministerial beacon.” steps away.

Strike Two: Revenue for the church is down. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church collected nearly $20 million last year with more than a million dedicated specifically for Bishop Long, according to the source within the church. That million dollar-plus bounty, collected in appreciation for Bishop Long, is called a “love offering.” When Bishop Eddie Long spoke at his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the past, his 10,000-member congregation was often packed to the rafters and financial contributions flowed freely. Church sources now say “attendance is down, forcing the church to make dramatic cutbacks.” Despite Christian claims about living in an “alternative spiritual reality” in which congregants can give money with confidence, those worshippers have cut back severely on donations. This has forced the church to reduce salaries by ten percent and let go of two full-time employees. The work-week has been reduced from five days to four. The source at the church says the organization went into its cash reserves for another $18 million last year to cover its costs. New Birth issued a press release explaining that like many churches, “New Birth and its faith community have been impacted by the nationwide downturn in the economy.” Yeah, right.

Strike Three – Bishop Long’s lack of humility is an example of his complete arrogance. He is renowned for an extravagant lifestyle — drives a Bentley, drew $1 million in salary from his charity, has a nine-bathroom mansion — that had already come under investigation by the federal government. His politics have made him a prominent target as well. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others, has referred to Long as “homophobic” for his stance against same-sex partnerships.
Unfortunately, the shadow hanging over Long is growing longer. Sunday Morning’s sermon was a perfect example. He did not address the settlement at all. And that’s the reason he is in this situation: his complete disregard for his members and for the cloth he wears. It’s certain that additional elders will resign in the immediate future. The money being given for the settlement is rumored to be in the millions of dollars. The 41 ministries that Long runs will no longer be solvent.

Despite the church’s past economic and political power, it faces a uncertain future. It was a big deal in Atlanta society to be a part of New Birth. Members felt better about themselves because they were members.

Said the church source, “Now there are a whole bunch of people trying to figure out what their place is, what’s going to happen to the church and what’s going to happen to them.”

http://elev8.com/news/orethawinston/eddie-longs-church-is-collapsing-says-source/

^^^^^^^^^

The inevitable will happen no matter how long.



to the Other fake "MOGs",

YOUR TIME WILL COME

@dare2think, I feel sad for the members of his church and all other prosperity/pentecostal churches that are being shafted by crooks like this guy

He is a great guy i like him a lot.May God help me through this period of trials

dorox:

@dare2think, I feel sad for the members of his church and all other prosperity/pentecostal churches that are being shafted by crooks like this guy

What has the accusation got to do with prosperity?. Is prosperity of the devil or of God?

^^^^^^^^^^^^ this dude loves prosperity sha. o ga o.


aje nwole ko yen?

Joagbeje, your reply goes to the heart of the problem many of us suffer from in Nigeria today, the belief in a 'Magical God'. I am not against prosperity through hard work.

dorox:

Joagbeje, your reply goes to the heart of the problem many of us suffer from in Nigeria today, the belief in a 'Magical God'. I am not against prosperity through hard work.

I dont think if you answered the question. The question is:

Joagbaje:

What has the accusation got to do with prosperity?. Is prosperity of the devil or of God?

^^^

The devil also gives prosperity, haven't you heard of money making rituals? The devil not promise Jesus all the wealth of this world if only he bowed and worshipped him?

Qadaffi has millions stashed on accounts. Drug dealers and Porn producers make a lot of money from their businesses.

Is Prosperity of God or the devil?

What i am saying is that just like Ted Haggard, Albert Odulele and others that have been exposed as the hypocrites  that they truly are. This self acclaimed man of god while cowardly engaging in practices that was clearly condemned in the bible, was going about promising wealth and health to anyone foolish enough to listen to his sermons. Just think about it, how many pentecostal/ magical prosperity believing christians do you know today that would be excited to hear that Ted haggard or pastor odulele is coming to their area to bless them with healing and prosperity? The answer is very few if any and certainly not the crowds of people their presence used to command before they were exposed.
The question you should ask yourself is when did the likes of Ted Haggard stop being a vessel(if they ever were) through which believers got blessed provided of course they obeyed(payed tithes, 'seed offering', etc), was it while they were engaging in such gross immorality or when they were expose to the public? Now if your answer is while they were engaging in immoral practices, does it mean that believers who gave in good faith to these men can ask for a refund just like they do in all other businesses when the other party fails to fulfill its end of the bargain? In this case staying 'clean' and of exemplary character. And if your answer is when they were exposed, does it then mean that it takes the knowing of their deed to stop them from being a MOG?

sorry for the double post

I challenge any material prosperity believing christian to show a correlation between faith and wealth. The late Benson Idahosa of The Church Of God Mission used to say that his God is not a poor God so he cant be poor. The corollary to that statement is that the poor in his church do not serve his god otherwise they would be as wealthy as him and the  corrupt civil servants, army officers, drug dealers shady business men and women in church worship his god because they are not poor just like his god

I am in a perpetual state of surprise, I am amazed that Nigerians still throng to churches and religious shenanigans for miracles, even when they still do not get any reprieve from poverty; the situation in Nigeria is getting worse every single day despite prayers in various forms, from mountain and fire type prayers to the healing schools of the self styled pastor Chris. Nigeria is one of the very few nations of the world where miracle working is believe by a vast number of people, unfortunately the poverty in the land helps to fuel this believe. Most of the rich nations of the world have a very large atheist population, and they are prospering, Nigeria and Nigerians are closest to God and yet extremely poor. It is fraud on a national scale, a crime against humanity. What surprise is me is this: in a country where there are no jobs the miracle workers promises not just jobs, but prosperity, wealth; also saying the lack of job or the cause of sickness or death is because of some enemies somewhere, not because of the corrupt politicians or bad economy or poor healthcare, poor food intake or dirty environment, thus taking the blame off our politicians onto children, the old, the mentally ill, poverty stricken, sick men and women.

Now the painfully part is that in many places education is an eye opener, it helps people reason and question the status quo, it is through such questioning the science has progress and thus technology which translate into human development. One would expect literate young to question the usefulness of institutions such as churches and traditional rulers/monarchs and their activities, how and if it benefits Nigerians. Unfortunately our universities are centres of religious zealotry, where what we learn does not seem to translate into real life application. Where there are pockets of fellowships left right and centre taking up class rooms hitherto used for studying.

I am interested to see anyone take up the challenge pose by doro.

PLEASE PARDON MY TYPO, DIDN'T READ THROUGH, TIRED FROM WORK.

dorox:

I challenge any material prosperity believing christian to show a correlation between faith and wealth. The late Benson Idahos of The Church Of God Mission used to say that his God is not a poor God so he cant be poor. The corollary to that statement is that the poor in his church do not serve his god otherwise they would be as wealthy as him and the  corrupt civil servants, army officers, drug dealers shady business men and women in church worship his god because they are not poor just like his god

In my teenage years, accidentally watching Benson Idahosa on TV "preach" at Oral Roberts University was what first made me really take note that there are fraudsters in University Christianity. I had only finished WAEC at this time but what he was saying was so fraudulent, I immediately found him repulsive!

PS It was also the first time I had seen or even heard of Idahosa.

It appears to me that we are gradually becoming better christians in nairaland. If it were before there would have been a lot more people lining up in the defense of this low life scum of a man.

You idiots in this bleeped up page; the issue here is hypocrisy, not prosperity. At what point in the era of your existence would you guys start thinking logically without getting blinded by sentiments? You here all the money he controls and get so carried away by sentiments to deviate from the issue. ILLOGICAL BUFFOONS!

E no good to be mumu!

From http://www.wsbtv.com/news/28137253/detail.html

Posted: 4:12 pm EDT June 5, 2011Updated: 4:26 pm EDT June 5, 2011
LITHONIA, Ga. -- Megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long talked big money during Sunday’s sermon and revealed New Birth Missionary Baptist Church had just been audited.

Long asked members of the congregation who could make $500 or $1,000 donations to give those seed offerings.

Go to recoup all that moolah used to settle dem four boys. So, maga must pay.

Also http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bishop-long-announces-start-967907.html

dorox:

It appears to me that we are gradually becoming better christians in nairaland. If it were before there would have been a lot more people lining up in the defense of this low life scum of a man.

In your world!
FYI, Benson Idahosa built 102 schools, all those who worked for him paid a fraction of the actual cost of the fees at a time when most private schools of his type were charging thousand.

Most workers of his church had thier children trained free in his school from ptr-kg to SS-3!

Those that lived in Benin in Idahosa's time will most likely spit on your grave!

This man suffered, yet He never gave up! If you know anything about church growth in Nigeria and how this man Idahosa laboured for it, then you wouldn't pass such comments!

This same man raised millions in glory to God, but you with your seemingly holier than thou I doubt has even helped feed the poor in your neighbourhood!

brood of vipers, reserved for the blackest of darkness. They speak against any and everything they can not comprehend! Jesus encountered your type and you are nothing new.

With all your prosperity through hard work, how many Nigerians have you given shelter to?

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I don’t know many pastors who would hold their smartphones up in a mirror and snap pictures of their reflection. I certainly don’t know any that would do this while wearing Spandex biker shorts, a muscle shirt, and a backward Kangol cap and then send it to a young man. Moreover, four men have come forward with eerily similar stories, and some have offered details of their experiences with Long that most young men would be too embarrassed to share with their closest confidants, much less the public. That’s a lot of smoke.
Continue reading: http://www.mannaexpressonline.com/component/content/article/89-slideshow/439-eddie-long-revisited

Pls leave God to judge His servants. Remember David not wanting to touch his arc enemy Saul the failling king.