Macon Telegraph: Anti-Stern Pastor Views Internet Porn, Leaves Post
Scott Levison
porno movies so's they can see them over an' over an' over an' over agin
so's they can tell us what we ain't 'llowed t'see....
PRAISE JEEEEEZUS!!!!!!!
Scott Levison
z800...@bc.seflin.org
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"I never set out to be weird. It was always other people that called me
weird."-- Frank Vincent Zappa 12/21/40--12/4/93
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DC
and have sexual desires. And it's not bad. No, that's asking for too
much. Long live the sheep.
Anon Guy wrote:
>
> _________________________________________________
> (Rev.) Johnson, among other things said, "For Democrats
> to claim concern for family values is like Howard Stern
> claiming support for Christian morality." (Below)
> ________________________________________________
>
> Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
> 12/19/00
>
> Mabel White pastor on leave after viewing porn sites
> By Chuck Thompson and Joe Kovac Jr.
> The Macon Telegraph
>
> Stung by revelations that the Rev. Steve Johnson
> viewed pornography sites on the Internet, officials at
> Mabel White Memorial Baptist Church have taken
> measures to restore his ministry, although it's not
> certain when - or if - he'll return to the pulpit there.
>
> Johnson, one of Macon's most visible pastors, has
> agreed to an extended leave of absence after
> admitting that he accessed adult pornography sites
> from his church office computer.
>
> Johnson offered to resign, but deacons and other
> leaders at Mabel White declined that offer to give
> Johnson a chance to receive counseling and undergo
> healing so that he could resume his ministry, said Rob
> Gibson, the church's executive administrator.
>
> Gibson did not say for certain that Johnson would
> return to the pulpit at Mabel White, however.
>
> "We need to take the practical measures that are
> prudent today in our eyes to help restore Steve,"
> Gibson said. "Good ministry comes out of broken men.
> The Bible is full of that. ... Without question God will
> use Steve Johnson. But how God chooses to use him
> and how Steve responds to that I think is yet to be
> known."
>
> Johnson, the church's pastor for 17 years, was in the
> company of church leaders at his north Macon home
> Monday afternoon. He declined comment through an
> associate pastor there.
>
> Church officials announced Johnson's leave of
> absence and the reason for it during Sunday morning
> worship services. Because there is a one-week tape
> delay of the broadcast of Mabel White's services on
> WMAZ-TV, that announcement was not televised
> Sunday. Gibson said it will be broadcast this coming
> Sunday.
>
> Gibson said he discovered Johnson's use of
> pornography during a routine audit of the church's
> computer system earlier this month. He said Johnson
> was asked about it the same day, and Johnson
> confessed that he had been visiting pornographic Web
> sites.
>
> "We have a firewall on our computer system that tracks
> and detects all activity on the system," Gibson said. "It
> discloses to me any inappropriate sites that are hit. I
> discovered it on Dec. 5. Steve confessed to it on Dec.
> 5, and we began a process of dealing with it."
>
> Gibson, who has been at Mabel White since June, said
> Johnson's viewing of the pornography sites appeared
> to be "relatively short-term." He did not name the
> specific sites that Johnson visited.
>
> "They were (normal) to the extent that you would, I
> don't know, call pornography normal," Gibson said. "I
> guess it would be normal adult female pornography. No
> child pornography or homosexual pornography or
> things of that nature at all. Mainstream. I don't know
> what word you would use to describe that sort of thing."
>
> Church members react
>
> Church members who attended services Sunday
> morning used words such as "stunned" and "terrible"
> and "shocked" to describe the mood when word of
> Johnson's admission was announced.
>
> One woman, a Mabel White member for more than a
> year, said churchgoers were "very strongly supportive"
> of Johnson, and that many members prayed for him
> during the morning's altar call.
>
> "It's a strange situation. ... It was like a shock to the
> (congregation), but it touched their hearts. It made the
> members see that he is human. Even though he is a
> pastor, it just shows that anybody could fall," said the
> woman, who didn't want her name printed.
>
> "We feel like the public will take this and try to break
> down the church. Those that are nonmembers and
> those that don't go to church can look at this and say,
> 'Oh, yeah, he's the pastor, look what he's done.' But
> he's human. We totally back him up as far as wanting
> him to come back."
>
> The woman added, "Instead of having gossip and bad
> things going around ... and letting the devil break the
> family of the church, we should look and let God use
> this to build the church."
>
> Another member said he thought the congregation
> took the news "very well."
>
> "But," the member said, "it's something that I think
> we're better off keeping our mouths shut and letting the
> Lord manage it."
>
> No timetable for return
>
> Johnson offered to resign during a meeting with church
> leaders Dec. 14. According to a statement from the
> church, "After hours of prayer and discussion," the
> deacons and leadership of Mabel White voted
> unanimously to decline the resignation.
>
> Instead, they "wholeheartedly support the restoration
> of our brother. The pastor fully recognizes that sin is
> not without its dire consequences. The pastor is
> broken, humiliated and deeply grieved by his failure
> and disappointment to the church and the community."
>
> Gibson said no timetable on a possible return by
> Johnson has been set.
>
> "It's an extended leave of absence in part because we
> don't know today how long the healing process may
> take," Gibson said. "Anyone of us that gets our sins
> exposed in this manner and suffers the brokenness
> and humiliation that pastor Steve feels right now needs
> some time to heal. Needs some time, one, to be broken
> with - I don't want to say habit - but to deal with the
> issues surrounding this, why he's going to
> pornography."
>
> Mark Smith, a church member and New Testament
> scholar at Mercer University, delivered the sermon
> Sunday. The Rev. Joe McDaniel, a Mabel White
> associate pastor, and guest pastors will preach in the
> coming weeks.
>
> Gibson said he and Mabel White members are
> convinced that, ultimately, good will come from the
> situation - both for Johnson and the church.
>
> "It's hard for me to say what the best-case scenario is,
> but our view, and I think Scripture supports this, God
> will be glorified one way or the other," Gibson said.
>
> "None of that to say that sin is OK, and Steve doesn't
> for a minute say his sin is OK," Gibson added. "This
> just happens to be a case where we've named Steve
> Johnson's sin. Most of us wouldn't like to be put on the
> stand and have to say, 'OK, tell me what your sins are
> now,' but they're there."
>
> Gibson said the church must follow Christ's lead in
> dealing with the situation.
>
> "The Scriptures are clear. The message that Jesus
> brought and the way Jesus dealt with sinners in his day
> was he embraced the sinners. ... And that's what we
> feel the role of the church needs to be.
>
> "The church of Jesus Christ needs to be one that loves
> those who are struggling - whether its Steve Johnson
> or whoever it may be."
>
> The Rev. Jim Dant, pastor of Macon's Highland Hills
> Baptist Church, said Johnson deserves compassion
> and forgiveness.
>
> "Given Steve's contributions to the community and how
> he has provided guidance and given hope to so many,
> I would hope we could offer him the same kind of
> guidance and grace," Dant said. "We often have
> disagreed on theological and social issues. ... But I
> would want him to know that there are no stones in my
> hands. We need to respond to what has happened by
> praying for Steve and his family, and for Mabel White
> and its members."
>
> In June 1999, Mabel White moved to a modern
> 68,000-square-foot building on 40 acres along Bass
> Road. The church had been located at the intersection
> of Houston Avenue and Eisenhower Parkway since
> 1906. The new sanctuary seats about 1,350 as
> opposed to the Eisenhower church's 1,500-person
> capacity.
>
> Preaching and politics
>
> In 1994, Johnson came under fire from local Democrats
> for politicking from the pulpit, mostly because his
> sermons are televised on WMAZ.
>
> At the time, Johnson criticized the Clinton
> administration's actions on family values.
>
> Johnson, among other things said, "For Democrats to
> claim concern for family values is like Howard Stern
> claiming support for Christian morality."
>
> Later, Johnson said the comment was meant "more for
> humor" and that he was merely questioning the "moral
> and spiritual direction of the federal government"
> headed by Democrats.
>
> Last month, in a newspaper interview, Johnson
> commented on Mayor Jack Ellis' dismissal of Macon
> Police Chief John Vasquez, a member at Mabel White.
>
> "I think it brings no dishonor on John Vasquez, but I
> think it brings dishonor to the mayor's office. I'm very
> disappointed in the mayor," Johnson said.
>
> Dant said people will react in different ways to the news
> of Johnson's situation.
>
> "I think those who are faithful will be caring and
> compassionate. I think those who are cynical about
> church and religion will have their cynicism reinforced.
> And hopefully, people who are realistic will realize that
> we are all human."
>
> http://www.macontelegraph.com/content/macon/2000/12/19/local/1219mabelwhite.htm