The Stand Campaign Comes to Atlanta With Accused Adulterer Pastor Jamal Bryant & Bishop Paul Morton Sr. as Speakers

We have recently launched a series on exposing pimps in the pulpit and we are starting with The Stand Campaign's "One Body" rally slated to be held at the Georgia Dome this weekend. The speakers will include Pastor Jamal Bryant, Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr. and the Rev. Jentezen Franklin. It is not clear whether disgraced megachurch pastor Eddie L. Long will attend due to the gay sex allegations brought by four black men -- Maurice Robinson, Spencer LeGrande, Jamal Parris and Anthony Flagg. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Long is reluctant and told radio show host and event organizer, Cory "Coco Brother" Condrey, "if I'm going to be a distraction and stop people from coming into the kingdom of God, it might be best if I'm not there."

Here's the problem with the list of speakers, specifically Bishop Morton and Pastor Jamal Bryant. They have no business covering anyone, much less Bishop Long, with the Word of God. They are a bunch of hypocrites who have used their respective churches as piggy-banks and in Bryant's case, has been accused of inappropriate relationships, even allegedly getting a 17 year-old member of his church pregnant. When will people see these pastors for who they really are, wolves in sheep's clothing?

Let's take a look at Pastor Jamal Bryant's (looking like a true pimp in the picture above) many indiscretions. Bryant, founder of the Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Md., has dealt with infidelity, divorce, the loss of his family and declining church membership. All self-inflicted, if you ask me, but he talks a good game. Like a shyster on the streets of New York City. Last year, Bryant's wife of five and one-half years, Gizelle, filed for divorce, alleging adultery. She also stated in court papers that he made $350,000 a year. Yep, fleecing the poor congregants in his church. All the members who tithed to this man were duped by a snake in the pulpit. Both Bryant and his ex-wife, a former model, were flashy people, who owned a Bentley and a multimillion dollar Canton waterfront property, according to the Baltimore Sun. It should also be noted that the couple attracted a lot of criticism for the lifestyle of opulence, while members of the church were struggling to make ends meet. This isn't about religion. This was purely materialistic and about building wealth at the expense of working-class members of the church. There's a veiled accusation of domestic violence in his ex-wife's lawsuit.

In Gizelle Bryant's filing last month, she accuses her husband of adultery, cruel treatment and "excessively vicious conduct" that caused "reasonable apprehension of bodily suffering so as to render cohabitation unsafe."

In court papers, she says her husband's "persistent pattern of conduct was so cruel as to render" her "incapable of properly discharging her marital duties." Bryant's conduct, her complaint says, "was his final and deliberate act and was calculated to, and did, seriously impair" her "health and permanently destroy her happiness."

In his filing, Bryant says he and his wife were "mutually and voluntarily separated" and that "there is no hope for reconciliation." They have a 3-year-old and 1-year-old twins. Bryant also has two children from before his marriage. He acknowledged one, a 7-year-old daughter, for the first time last year from the pulpit after a court battle over child support payments surfaced and became a topic of speculation. Richardson said that if it's determined that Bryant's conduct needs to be reviewed, he will be referred to one of the conference's committees. Source: Baltimore Sun

Is this the person you want to minister to you at The Stand Campaign this Saturday? His lifestyle and the abusive things he was accused of inflicting on his wife are completely opposite of anything the Bible tells our church leaders to personify.

Now, let's take a brief look at Bishop Paul Morton Sr, who hails from New Orleans, where he left his congregants high and dry during the most devastating time in their lives -- Hurricane Katrina. He dropped the ball on their members, according to media reports. In other words, as the congregants were facing sure destitution, Morton hightailed it out of New Orleans, with the tithes and other funds in tow. In fact, a source told me Morton flew out of New Orleans on his private jet. How many of his congregants could have done the same thing?

When Pastors in New Orleans evacuated as the storm approached, their accumulation of tithes and offerings evacuated with them. Many Pastors only offered prayer as the stormed approached, when many of their members actually needed a ride out of town. The real tragedy was many of the large Cadillac Escalades that have come to symbolize the carriages of Pastors were only filled with their immediate families, as they headed to higher ground. Failed to help elderly members get out of the city.

• Failed to pay for hotels and food that their members so desperately needed.

• Failed to donate money to help members rebuild their homes out of the wealth of the church.

• Failed to come back to New Orleans due to the lack of profitability. Source

Again, I ask the Christians planning on attending The Stand Campaign event this Saturday at the Georgia Dome, are these two men the kind of church leaders you want to minister to you about your walk with God? Add embattled New Birth Missionary Baptist Church senior pastor Bishop Eddie L. Long to this mix. There is a cloud of suspicion surrounding him and the gay sex scandal rocking the church, particularly since the church has come out and said it cannot confirm or deny that sexual misconduct occurred at the hands of Bishop Long. There's nothing either of those three pastors could ever say to me that would move me spiritually. Sorry, but give me as pastor like Andy Stanley at Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga. A true anointed man of God who stresses simplicity in his walk and teachings. This man leads one of the biggest church in Atlanta, but yet he still drives a used car and still exercises fiscal restraint in all he does. This is a man who feels right at home in a pair of jeans and casual shirt to deliver his powerful sermons each week. It is time church-goers hold their leaders to a higher standard and kick them out when they act with recklessness.

Stay tuned, more to come in our series of snakes in the pulpit (white & black).