Robert Morris Scandal: The Shocking Truth Revealed - I REALLY Hate This

Did Robert Morris really commit such shocking acts, or is this a case of overblown accusations? 😲 Dive into the Robert Morris Scandal: The Shocking Truth Revealed as we dissect the allegations surrounding this mega church pastor, his past actions, and the ensuing controversy. Was it criminal or a misunderstood moral failure from over 35 years ago? This video aims to uncover the truth behind the headlines and explore the complexities of sin, forgiveness, and redemption within the church community.

Chapters

• 0:00 Robert Morris's Past Inappropriate Behavior
• 13:36 Dealing With Past Moral Failures
• 28:25 Restoring Grace After Moral Failures
• 39:29 Join Faith and Failure Community

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the new subscribers. If you haven't yet, consider subscribing, hit that bell notification so that you can see every time I put out a new video. A major portion of you that watch my videos haven't subscribed yet, so why not? It's free. You can also find a PayPal link below if you want to give a one-time or give a monthly to support the channel. Anything, great or small, is appreciated. Now let's get into the video.

Speaker 1: 0:36

So there is some new church news going around. Now. I don't know if you you probably do I actually have. Uh, no, that's rick warren. Oh wait, no, who am I talking about? Robert morris different guy, but anyways, robert morris is a um, his church is definitely considered a mega church pastor, I think his church actually, I think on a a weekend reaches, with live streaming and everything I think, around, from what I heard, about 100,000 people. So I would consider that a mega church 100%. So there's sometimes we are quick to judge without knowing all the facts and sometimes it doesn't matter and listen to me, church people sometimes it doesn't matter what the Bible says. We have our opinions and we're sticking to them.

Speaker 1: 1:33

Okay, now we're going to look into something about Robert Morris that I didn't know about. I've never heard about it. I have a very close friend that knows that family. His father just passed and Robert Morris actually came here in Longview and he spoke at the funeral. I don't know much about his theology, I don't know much about what he believes, but I do know that there are some things surrounding something that he did apparently like 35 years ago. So we're going to watch this video. We've covered this guy before, or we went to this guy's channel before. His name is Ruslan Katie and he's got this video. He covers it pretty extensively. We're going to go into about the 550 mark. We're not going to do the full 30 minutes. I'm going to talk about a few pointers, but he has.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Apparently there was some hush money that was given to this family, and when I say hush money, that's kind of like the Trump thing, where something happens and you don't want them to know. In the political world, in the business world, hush money is pretty common. You make an agreement, you get lawyers together, you say, yes, I'm willing to take this because this happened and I will shut up and I'm going to sign something and I will never bring it up again. I'm all good. My mother actually went through the same thing. I can't tell you what company it was. I don't even I'm not even sure I think I can tell you what happened. But she got sick. It was a company that was doing a weight loss drug thing and it ended up almost costing her life. Miraculously, god healed her and she also got a settlement. I think it was way too low for the life they were taking, but God blessed. In a way that was very unusual. But that's technically what that is. It's either a lawsuit and you sign something saying you cannot repeat what has happened, you can't give the details, you can't even say it was, because most of these companies we're talking about a person today but most of these companies, if you don't know how this works they will pay off people, they will close down the door of that one and then they will have another company that they've already been building up at the same time Same company, maybe doing a different thing, but they're going to go through the same process again. They will never die that way because they will always be making money in other areas and making people not able to talk about it. So let's watch this guy on Ruslan talking about Robert Morris, and we do have an admission.

Speaker 1: 4:10

But I want you to. Really, when you hear things like this, you've got to understand and I know it's a child, I understand that. But if things were done the proper way, according to the word of God and according to the elders and the standard that they had set there, and according to the Bible, there's no sin. He can do that. He can't be. It doesn't matter what happens.

Speaker 1: 4:35

I as a father, especially of a little girl now I don't know if I was this little girl's father what I would do. I might end up in jail again. I don't know. I've been there twice. Why not make it three times? Right, I don't know. I can't tell you what I would do. I know it angers me, but I also understand that people do stupid things when they are in the flesh. That's a fact. And if you say, well, if he did this thing so many years ago and he messed up and he's disqualified from doing anything for God, I don't know if I agree with that. If the Bible says, then I agree. But if it's your opinion, because it's how you feel, I don't go off feelings. I can't, but we have to receive and process through the lens of compassion, as Jesus did. Think about it. Okay, we're going to go on before somebody else is figuring it out Opinions.

Speaker 2: 5:32

So this is on CNN. This is the first article that just came out. Mega church pastor admits past inappropriate behavior with young lady after accusations of the M word 12-year-old.

Speaker 3: 5:44

Mega churches here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Gateway Church in South Lake, texas and according to Cindy Clemenshire, who spoke with the Wartburg Watch, which is an evangelical church watchdog group.

Speaker 3: 5:56

She details that back in the 1980s she was sexually assaulted by Robert Morris for almost five years. In a statement, the senior pastor Morris said that when I was quote in my early 20s, I was involved in inappropriate behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years. He also goes on to say that he was confronted by the family and went into what he described as freedom ministry and counseling for several years, and then goes on to say that since that time I have walked in purity and accountability in this area. It's important to point out that what the pastor describes as inappropriate behavior is actually criminal An underage girl who was 12 at the time and not able to give legal consent. And also he describes her as a young lady. We should point out that Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old at the time. She spoke with CNN affiliate WFAA about this.

Speaker 4: 6:58

The story is gut wrenching when I read it on paper and I've been sharing for years, so it's just happens to be God's time, I think, for it to come to light. He didn't come forward and confess he was turned in. And when someone's turned in, what are they sorry for? Are they sorry because they got caught or are they truly repentant of what they did?

Speaker 3: 7:20

Robert Morris was a young married pastor at the time in his early 20s, at a different church from Gateway Church. But Gateway Church put also put out a statement saying Pastor Robert has been hold on.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Here's something she said. First of all, she says she's been saying it for a while. This first time I ever heard it.

Speaker 1: 7:37

No, I'm not saying that this proves what she said obviously he is saying that he did something wrong. He did it like he's not, he's not trying to fight, trying to fight it. He said I did it, Okay. First of all, I don't agree when someone says well, if you got caught, you're not really sorry.

Speaker 1: 7:50

There are several things in my life that in the moment I did not see it as being wrong. When I was addicted to drugs, living on the streets, doing all the things I was doing, I did not see it wrong in those moments. But I got caught, I got arrested, I got put in jail and it was in that jail time that God began to reveal to me how sinful I was and where I was. It was in that time that I got sober. I had drugs offered to me in jail. The first time I said no to drugs, no to meth, was in jail.

Speaker 1: 8:28

So to say that because someone turned you in and you didn't come and confess it, you're not sorry is junk. That's a lie. I believe there are many paths to repentance and just because it didn't happen in your way does not mean that now you get to say, oh well, he didn't really mean it. You cannot judge the man's heart, Obviously if he went through years with his elders, years with counseling, back to redemption, which is the whole point of the Christian faith. Okay, I'm not saying he was right in doing it. He says he was wrong in doing it. But, like I said in the beginning, how many times do we not accept that we want to get on our high horse like we have never done anything wrong?

Speaker 3: 9:23

I'm just saying I'm going to go open and forthright about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago when he was in his twenties and prior to him starting at gateway church. He has shared publicly from the pulpit the proper biblical steps he took in his lengthy restoration process.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Now coming from a guy, a pastor, and I'm very open in the pulpit to talk about this specific thing and tell people what you did, so that there is no question about what happened. So here's the thing when you make a truth claim, there has to be people who also were there that can testify, just like when Jesus died and resurrected over 500 accounts, documented people that said, yes, it did happen, I was there. There is evidence that whatever was said happened happened by people saying it happened the way that you claimed. That's how it works in court Okay, Eyewitness accounts.

Speaker 1: 10:27

So the elders of the church that were a part of his restoration process, a part of him coming back and making things right, had to have said, yes, he did, he is good to go, or he would not have been able to go any further in any direction. Because I guarantee you I guarantee you because church people are good about this If somebody doesn't do it right, we're going to let somebody know. If it was not done right, church people are going to find somebody and they're going to tell somebody and they're going to shout it from the rooftops and let everybody know that, no, he didn't do what he said he did. Somebody by now would have come out and said it all was a lie. I'm just saying that's how people work.

Speaker 2: 11:18

Lengthy restoration process. They put out a statement that we're going to be looking at here in a second. Now for context, this was Donald Trump's chief spiritual advisor. This was someone that, from my understanding, they reach over 100,000 people.

Speaker 1: 11:34

We don't need to see all this. I already said all that, so here's a statement.

Speaker 2: 11:40

Blog posts and internet stories To me if this isn't minimizing damage control mode. Blog posts and internet stories have popped up today about Pastor Robert and Gateway Church, regarding something from 35 years ago. I want to provide you with a statement from our elders and from Pastor Robert so that you would know the absolute thoroughness and transparency of the situation and so you can provide this response in context. The statement is to empower you with the response of someone inquires, not as something to proactively send out to people. So this is the statement they put out. This is not CNN. This is not a witch hunt against a pastor. This is not. Oh, they're trying to get him because he was close to Trump. Okay, this is their statement that they put out.

Speaker 2: 12:31

Pastor Robert has been open and forthright about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago when he was in his twenties and prior to him starting Gateway Church. He has shared publicly from the pulpit proper biblical steps he took in his lengthy restoration process. Okay, so, foundationally, has he been forthright? Has he been specific? Did he fess up that it was a 12-year-old girl, or did he use vague language? That I morally fell with a young lady? And if the public wouldn't have known all along that it was a 12-year-old, that he was 22, he was married, living with them, would he have rose to the level of influence that he has now? So this idea that we've been guys, we've been transparent about this all along.

Speaker 2: 13:14

All along we've been talking about this moral failure. We've been forthright about it. He's been open and forthright. Has he been a moral like has he? Sometimes you just don't want to make, put out any statements, and this is one of those. Like you guys played yourself with this goofy statement you put out. The two-year restoration process was closely administered by the elders at Shady Grove Church and included him stepping out of ministry during that, while receiving professional counseling and freedom ministry counseling. Since the resolution of this 35-year-old matter, there have been no other moral failures. Pastor Robert walked in purity and he has placed accountability measures on people in his life. That matter has been properly disclosed to church. It was the church leadership.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Okay. So, that being said, let me stop for a second. Now he's talking as if he needs to hear it for himself, which I understand. But he is not a member of this church, he was not an elder. So for him to speak as if he was there or that he has a right to know it, because here's the thing that he has a right to know, because here's the thing.

Speaker 1: 14:19

My son is 15, about to be 16, and he knows I have had moral failures, but him being my child, I do not go into very specific detail about what happened. Sometimes, I guess for his protection, but other times because he doesn't need to know every single little detail. Now, I know you're talking about church people, now you're talking about the congregants and stuff, but here's the thing like, we have business meetings at our church churchwide. If you're a member, you could stay, anybody could stay, but if you remember, you get to vote and you get to do this. You know you have special privileges, but you don't. You don't go and itemize every single little thing that was spent, unless someone asks very specific questions. Like there's people at my church that don't know what I get paid. They don't know what my other staff get paid. We don't advertise that information. That doesn't mean because we're not advertising it, it doesn't exist, but that's privileged or very specific information.

Speaker 1: 15:28

I don't tell the congregation from the pulpit whether I make a lot or whether I make a little. I don't tell them if my family's starving. I don't tell them if we're eating a lot. I don't tell them if we're eating a lot it's not—now I understand this is a very, very touchy and very wrong thing that was done. But I'm giving the analogy or the example that you can't—and this is coming from a guy. You have to understand his position the Ruslan here, who has never been the pastor of a church. Okay, you don't give out every single detail of information.

Speaker 1: 16:02

If someone was to have a moral failure in my church and they severely messed up, you would not hear me ever talk about it from the pulpit. It doesn't matter what type of leadership they were in, no matter what position they held, because we're not meant to embarrass each other. But yet people expect and I'm coming from a pastor's perspective here people expect the pastor to say whatever his laundry is and air it out in front of everybody. But if it's somebody else, he would do everything in his power to protect them and not to divide the body with information that wouldn't necessarily need to be shared in a more of an intimate setting sharing to where you aren't airing out your laundry for everybody.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Just my personal opinion. Yes, people need to be held accountable, but no, people do not need to be held accountable in public in order just to embarrass them and to bring shame to them, and you've got to think about the family being involved as well. It's obvious that he said, yes, it happened. He's not hiding that. But for someone, especially someone who didn't even go to the church, to say, well, is he, is he? He doesn't have the right to say that. Just my opinion.

Speaker 2: 17:19

Okay, this is his statement. When I was in my early 20s, I was involved in an inappropriate behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying Okay. Is that an honest statement or is this a sanitized version? Genuine question Is that an honest statement? He was involved in an inappropriate behavior with a young lady. When we say 12 years old, do we think young lady?

Speaker 5: 17:46

When you hear early 20s, unless you know that he's a young married man, do you also make the connection that he was married? It almost starts to sound like it's painted as a 20-year-old slipped up while he was a youth leader and with one of the other people on young ladies on staff. That was 19.

Speaker 1: 18:20

You know, it's like young 20. Yeah, I get what they're saying, but at the same time, I have no reason to doubt that he was probably coached by his elders, probably and in their wisdom, probably to protect him and his family, and that the people that needed to know the information know the information. That's what I think, and these are two. I mean, this guy's actually my age, we were born in the same year. But I say young guys, that there's a reason that younger guys are not elders, because sometimes we want to. What's the details, what's the facts, what's this and that, and then put it out there without really thinking and chewing on it a little bit.

Speaker 2: 19:03

We're family friends and often stayed in our home when he was preaching at my dad's church, revealing how it started. We even went on trips together, so this is like a family friend. I was a child. I was an innocent little girl At the time of the situation.

Speaker 2: 19:17

Morris was 21 to 25 years old. He was also a pastor of Shady Grove. On Christmas night, morris allegedly asked her to come into her bedroom and spend some time talking. During this visit he essayed her. The accuser described her childhood, growing up in Oklahoma, 1970s and 80s, as picture perfect with a loving family. He told me, never tell anyone because it will ruin everything. It didn't ruin anything for him, but it ruined everything for me. This was always in the background. When she was 17 years old, she told her parents of the years of it, of the essay, that it escalated from inappropriate touching to R-A-P-E by inch. Years later, when my father found out what happened, he told the pastors at shady Grove that if Morris didn't get out of ministry he would report him to the police.

Speaker 2: 20:05

After years of counseling, the woman reached out to a high profile, high profile criminal defense attorney to file a civil lawsuit against Morris. The statute of limitations authorities to file criminal charges. That expired in Oklahoma, however. Um. So this is where the initial offer was. I just wanted someone to pay for the years of counseling. I went through. She said gateway offered to 25 000 if she would sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Speaker 1: 20:28

Again, massive red flag it's not that big of a red flag when you realize it happens in the business world. Now, the church is a church, you know. The people are the church with the temple of the church. We're the temple of the Holy Spirit. But at the end of the day, something like this, where she says I just wanted someone to pay for the years of counseling I went through, I mean that sounds like a business transaction. If you say that, Now listen, don't get me wrong, I'm not justifying, I'm just reading it for face value. If somebody says I want somebody to pay for this and they say, okay, we'll give you this money, you're making a deal, Like, if you're doing a civil or a lawsuit, it comes down to numbers, it comes down to making a deal. I mean, that's what a lawsuit is at the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Y'all need to stop going to these churches that are trying to get y'all to sign NDAs. I wasn't wanting money, she said I wanted him to pay for the counseling I had gone through. In Morris' statement he said he confessed and repented of his actions and stepped down from ministry position for two years. In 1987, he said he had also received counseling and returned to ministry and two years later, with the blessing of the young lady's father. However, she said her father did not bless Morris' returning to the ministry. We were instructed to forgive, but that does not mean that my father forgave, that my father gave his blessing. He wanted to kill him.

Speaker 1: 21:46

Well, yeah, as any father would Like, I said, I probably would go back to jail for the third time. But, that being said, if the elders of the church and this is taking for granted that we're assuming the elders of the church are biblical, because they are the elders, biblical men or women that are actually holding a pastor, the church accountable, helping him take care, a true elder that loves the Lord and loves the word more than a man who is filling a position at the church, now, this is a hard topic and a hard conversation. So let's take for granted, if that is actually who was in the eldership position at this church, then we can't just assume that they didn't do it right. You can't just say, okay, well, they're the elder of the church. If they're in an elder position of the church, something, some process had to take place for them to get there. It wasn't just hey, you're a good guy, come on, man, be an elder. There's a biblical example outline of what an elder of a church is. So let's look that up actually right quick, while we're so, in my denomination we're church of god. Uh, we we call certain positions overseers, so we have district overseers, we have state overseers and we have a general overseer which is overall, so, uh, elders. So first, timothy three, one through seven, paul lists the qualities of an overseer or an elder, after teaching about prayer and roles of men and women in the church in chapter two. So he moves on to the leadership in chapter three and it's very clear throughout the epistle, uh, uh, that the Ephesians uh had leadership problems. Paul prof. Uh yeah, paul prophesied about this in Acts 20, 29, 31. So let's see, leaders in the church. Okay, this is a trustworthy saying.

Speaker 1: 23:47

If someone aspires to be a church leader, let's see what this little I like looking at these little things. An overseer bishop also, okay, he desires an honorable position. So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach, okay. So what does reproach mean? Such a way to express his disapproval or disappointment. So, above disappointment, above disapproval, he must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home. So he must be a social person, at least a little bit. He must be a good quality. How can he love and serve the people if he doesn't love being around them? He must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker In our denomination we don't support drinking at all being a leader in the church or he must not be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome. He must not love money Doesn't mean he can't have money, big difference. He must manage his own family well, so his house has to be in order himself, having children who respect and obey him.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Now, everybody knows you can't always control your children, but you can demand their respect or there's consequences. And if you're a man that just gets ran over and there's no consequences when disrespect is dealt out, then you can't be respected in your own home. And that's what it's talking about. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he help? Or how can he take care of God's church?

Speaker 1: 25:21

So you see, right here, not only is the pastor supposed to be doing this, shepherding the people, but an elder, a leader in the church, is supposed to help take care of the church. And the guy I was talking about a minute ago, who's the chairman of the board, the guy he kills himself to take care of the church. A church leader must not be a new believer because he might become proud and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside of the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil's trap. Now does this sound like what we're talking about here? So in the elder position it must be somebody who fits those characteristics. A leader position must fit those characteristics. Now I know we're looking at all the details of everything. I don't think they have any more here. No, he's just yapping for another 20 minutes. So let's look at the actual news story.

Speaker 6: 26:26

Just for a second, a woman has come forward accusing the pastor of a North Texas megachurch of sexual abuse. Good evening, I'm Blake Hanson.

Speaker 1: 26:35

Robert Morris is the founder and senior Same news channel, Fox 4, Dallas-Fort Worth. Poor Fort Worth getting bad rips from pastors. Pastor at Gateway.

Speaker 6: 26:45

Church in Southlake, a woman has come forward alleging Morris sexually abused her as a child for four years, starting in 1982. In response to the allegations, morris reportedly told a Christian news outlet he engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior. Boxer's Amelia Jones live with more on the accusations.

Speaker 7: 27:05

Amelia Blake, the woman who came forward with this allegation of abuse, says that it began when she was just 12 years old. She says that she's sharing her story now to encourage other survivors to speak up. Since 2000, when Gateway Church opened its doors, it's grown into one of the largest church communities in the country. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? The megachurch has nine campuses in Texas, one in Wyoming and another in Missouri. Every Sunday, a total of 100,000 worshipers attend services in the churches. Earlier this month, the church's founder, pastor Robert Morris, was accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1980s. The now 54-year-old woman, who we're not publicly naming, says the alleged abuse began when she was 12 years old and lasted for four and a half years.

Speaker 8: 27:59

Most survivors come forward between the ages of 50 and 70.

Speaker 7: 28:03

Melanie Sakota works with the Survivors Network of those abused by Priest or SNAP.

Speaker 8: 28:08

She says many survivors come forward to prevent what happened to them from happening to somebody else and I think the fact that Robert Morris is still in ministry is an incentive to come forward, because what happened to her when she was young needs to be known.

Speaker 7: 28:25

The woman spoke with an online Christian publication, the Christian Post, and confirmed to Fox 4 the information she provided is correct. The woman says the abuse started when Morris was preaching at a local church in Oklahoma and was a guest at her home, along with his wife and young child. By the time she was 17 and told her parents what was happening. Morris was the pastor at Shady Grove Church, which is now the Gateway Church campus in Grand Prairie.

Speaker 8: 28:50

Sakota says the abuse should have been reported to law enforcement and it's unclear if it ever was First report to law enforcement, because the best investigations of these types of crimes are done by secular authorities, not by the church itself.

Speaker 7: 29:08

According to the Christian Post article.

Speaker 1: 29:10

Which is fair, because I mean they are Anything with money or anything with the sexual abuse, and things like that should always be done by a third party that is not affiliated with the church, because it will be done right and will be truly authentic and there will not be questions when the results come out. If the church does it in an internal investigation, obviously they're going to have bias for the pastor, for the, the leader or whoever in the church, because they know their family, they've ate with their family. So it always, always, always, needs to be done by a third party. So that's pretty much it. So give me your thoughts Like comment down below.

Speaker 1: 29:46

I want you to think critically about this. Now. I want you to think of it in such a way to where you're talking about sin and you're talking about forgiveness and restoration. Okay, sin is number one, because sin is what our flesh desires to produce. Sin is what we all produce. We are sinners, we are birthed in the flesh and we produce and act in act in our sinful nature. So, that being said, what do you think the proper protocol is for someone to be restored? Do you think that if someone falls, or someone messes up, or someone does, does and listen.

Speaker 1: 30:37

I am disgusted Don't get my calm tone sideways. I'm disgusted that this even happened. Okay, it is disgusting, but for those of you who have lived a good life as far as, like Christian, raised in church, you don't understand the depths of sin like those who have done grievous, horrible things. Even though there was no sex, that happened. There were sexual acts and it was wrong, no doubt about it. But if he was a part of a body of believers that took him in, restored him biblically, and there's things that I've done in my life that were wrong, that were sinful, that were disgusting, that produce out of me today, now that I live by the Spirit, they produce out of me excellent leadership and character that would not have been there unless I went through what I went through, would not have been there unless I went through what I went through.

Speaker 1: 31:59

Now it almost sounds like a cop-out, and don't think that I'm saying that, but I want you to look, and here's what we do as Christians Whether it's the Pride Month, whether it's a pastor messing up, whether it's you, fill in the blank with whatever disgusts you. Okay, we all have something, we all have a button, and the devil knows how to push it. And when we see something like this, it pushes that button and immediately in our hearts we are clinging to a posture of unforgiveness, immediately. And the Bible says that if we don't forgive, we will not be forgiven. That's God's rules, that's not mine. That's God's rules, that's not mine. That's God's place to make that call, not mine. And he says if you don't forgive, you will not be forgiven.

Speaker 1: 32:44

I just preached to my people this past Sunday about the root of bitterness and it's that root that produces the fruit of anger of all these things. And I can't even imagine how this dad feels. I cannot even put myself in that shoes without getting sick to my stomach. But there have been worse crimes committed and I have seen parents go up to the microphone and their last words to this man or woman about to be on death row or whatever is I forgive you. And they have actual forgiveness in their heart.

Speaker 1: 33:18

I'm not saying it's easy, I'm not trying to claim that it's something that can be done overnight, but what I am saying is Like when we Say when and how Someone can be restored, what it has to look like, and it's outside of the word of God we place ourselves in God's position as judge and jury and executioner. I'm just wise enough to know that I cannot handle that kind of power, I cannot handle that position. But I do know this that, as disgusting as I was in my sin, more disgusting than Robert Morris, more disgusting than Tony Evans and yet it's that grace and mercy that covered me and raised me and washed me clean and raised me up to a place that, even though I had a massive amount of mess ups, that, even though I had a massive amount of mess-ups, it gives me the fire and the compassion to preach from a place and a depth in God that I never would have known if I had not been such a filthy wretch. And here's the thing At the end of the day, when you look, look at somebody, whether it's a pastor or a regular person and yes, I know there are scriptures that say leaders, pastors, deacons, board, what, what you want? To fill in the blank, we're held, held to a higher standard. But you also have to understand that that higher standard also comes greater pressure and that makes the target on our back much bigger, which means you need to pray for us harder, that we need a greater depth of mercy and grace and compassion for when we do mess up, because no pastor who has ever pastored, whether great or small, has not also been simultaneously flesh. That's not an excuse, but it is accurate and there's no greater heart of compassion that we can have for somebody else until we have walked in that shoe and we have seen those steps and we have felt that loneliness and that seclusion and that shame and that disgrace. It's tough, it is hard.

Speaker 1: 35:50

I've done some things in my life. I'm not proud of that. You will never know, my wife will never know, my son will never know, but thank God for his mercy and restoration. In my life, in my heart, there were some things I seriously had to. There's no telling. We're talking about robert moore's. We're pointing the finger, we're saying, yeah, he did this and he did that. What a disgusting piece of. And we don't care about what he had to go through after that. He obviously didn't get off scot-free, he had to resign from that church.

Speaker 1: 36:20

But here's what I believe or maybe I'm throwing around and I'm assuming a lot, but just think about this and I'm coming from my perspective just as the nasty, disgusting things I did, that God saved me from, it makes me pray in a different way. It makes me see things in a different way. It has given me wisdom beyond my years. It has given me the heart of ministry for people that other churches don't want. I don't reject people because of how they smell, if they smoke, if they drink, if they're womanizing, if they fill in the blank. I don't care because I've done it all. I have no place to judge any of these people.

Speaker 1: 36:58

And if we think about it and you measure your heart and your mind up to what the Word says is filthiness next to God's righteousness, you are no better than Him. According to God's standards, you can try to say whatever you want and church it up, make yourself feel better, you know, give yourself a little pat on the back and say, ah, I've never done anything that bad. You can live an entire life of not that bad and still go to hell. At the end of the day, the measurement of how you measure it doesn't matter. We have to love each other and see each other with compassion, through the eyes of compassion, because God measures a man and a woman by their heart, not by what they've done.

Speaker 1: 37:44

How can we tell people come to Jesus, all is forgiven, you're not defined by your past, when we define this person's future because we put ourselves in the judge's seat and say, well, they can't do this because they have done this, and we tell other people that are new coming into the church, oh, god will forgive you, you can leave that all behind and you will be set free and the chains will fall off. Can that person be a minister? Can that person do something for the kingdom minister? Can that person do something for the kingdom? I'm not saying there is not a hard path back to restoration and forgiveness and true redemption and true freedom. But I am not bold enough to put myself in the place of God and tell God who he can use and who he can't use. Because if we would all be honest and we would apply probably the same standard we would apply to some guy like this, we wouldn't have a scripture to read, we wouldn't have verses to quote, we wouldn't have a message to preach. That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 38:53

Think outside of your own echo chamber, get outside of yourself and stop thinking that you know when in reality you're not truly thinking it through and measuring it up to Scripture. What does the Scripture say? I need compassion and grace and mercy more than any of you If Paul can call himself the chief of sinners. Holy moly, I got some work to do. God has some work to do, so I love y'all Praying for you.

Speaker 1: 39:29

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