Church Archives - Page 129 of 148 - After the Altar Call

Hello World,

As the daughter, granddaughter and niece of pastors, I know that pastors are people too…Although many pastors seem to be supernatural and impenetrable representatives of God, they are not. In fact, I think one of the drawbacks of being on a pedestal is a false sense of self-sufficiency when we all need God AND other people…I don’t know why this Georgia pastor killed himself on Sunday morning as his congregation waited for him to arrive at church, but I imagine that many pastors sometimes feel they are prisoners of their pedestals…Below is an excerpt of the story from The Christian Post…

A Georgia pastor and father of two who once confessed that sometimes “I don’t feel like God is hearing me” killed himself outside his home while his wife, kids and 800 member- congregation waited for him to show up for church on Sunday.

According to 13 WMAZ, Rev. Teddy Parker Jr., 42, of Bibb Mount Zion Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., was discovered by his wife, Larrinecia Parker, 38, in the driveway of their Warner Robins house with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The Christian Post left messages for the family and the church office on Tuesday and responses are still pending.

Lakesia Toomer, a church official, told WMAZ, “We consider this a private matter between the family and the BMZ church family. We kindly ask that the public respects our privacy at this time.”

Russell Rowland, a member of the church who employs the pastor’s brother at his landscaping business, revealed to CP in a telephone interview that the pastor had sent his wife and two daughters to church ahead of him on Sunday morning and they were all waiting for him to show up with the morning’s message from God.

“When he didn’t show up they went looking for him,” said Rowland. “I’m very surprised because he didn’t preach that. He preached totally against it. It’s something that the congregation don’t really understand.”

To read the rest of the story, go to “Pastor Who Confessed: There Are Times ‘I Don’t Feel Like God Is Hearing Me’ Kills Self as Congregation, Family Waits for Him on Sunday.”

Below is a video of Rev. Teddy Parker Jr. preaching on the topic of “Facing Your Storm With Confidence.”

I am sure that his family and his congregation could use our prayers right now…

Any thoughts?

Hello World,

I must confess when I started hearing about the new reality show “Preachers of L.A.” earlier this year, I thought “here we go.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of reality shows. I started watching MTV’s “The Real World,” the first official reality show in college and even considered auditioning to be on the show. But back then, although the show had it’s fair share of likely contrived drama, the show did seem to be a realistic and sometimes even poignant portrayal of the lives of people you would probably never meet. I remember being particularly struck by Pedro Zamora, who revealed that he was living with AIDS. At that time, I had never met someone (as far as I know) that was living with AIDS and his inclusion in the show gave me an opportunity to see someone living and coping with the disease.

But now, chile please, reality shows seem to be scripted, over-the-top, spectacles designed to either launch of the pop culture career of some fame addict or revive the career of people who may be talented but have lost their platforms for whatever reason. But let me not be a hypocrite. Trust and believe I will be watching the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” when season 6 premieres tonight! (Is Todd an opportunist or is he really the one?)

But when gospel artists and other Christians began diving into the swamp of reality programming, I was giving them the side-eye but watching to see what happened. I like Mary Mary’s reality show. They are bonafide celebrities without the show, and their fans are able to see the women behind the award-winning gospel duo. I gave the “The Sisterhood,” which featured preachers wives from Atlanta, a chance, but the fact that some of them weren’t technically First Ladies and some of the crazy things that were said on the show made me stop watching after a few episodes. I guess I wasn’t the only one because the show was canceled. I never watched “Preachers’ Daughters” because I have been a preachers’ daughter for as long as I can remember so I don’t need to see that on television. Is that show still on?

If you’ve noticed, all the reality shows I’ve mentioned above thus far have featured Christian women, and that is to be expected. I bet women are the main target audience of most reality programming anyway. And let’s be real. Women, we can be really messy, and we like some mess too! I’m sure that when I get to heaven, I will no longer like gossip, but right now, I’m praying to be freed from the gossip demon! LOL! And it sure don’t help that I’m a reporter by trade! I never expected men of God to get involved in this mess! My husband can’t stand that I watch the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” and even refuses to be in the room when I do. So when I heard about the “Preachers of L.A.,” I was like, “Really, men of God, really?”

So now that the show has been on for a month, I must confess I have watched every episode. And now, I feel I am capable to giving an informed opinion about the latest “reality” offering. I must saying watching a reality show about the life of someone is kinda like being their friend on Facebook. Either you’re opinion of that person will get better or worse, but it won’t stay the same. Prior to the show, I was somewhat familiar with three of the preachers – Bishop Clarence McClendon, Pastor Deitrick Haddon and Bishop Noel Jones.

Here is my opinion of them now:

Bishop Clarence McClendon – I ‘ve really only seen Bishop McClendon as I was flipping through channels either late at night or early in the morning. I’ve never stopped to listen to any of his sermons. He seemed to flashy for my taste. I prefer a more humble looking pastor. Not that you have to have holes in your shoes or anything, but I don’t…something about the flashy look screams salesman. And based on at least one episode where he was arguing with Dietrick Haddon about not going agreeing to speak at churches that couldn’t afford to pay him and accommodate his entourage, my five-second appraisal seems to be right.

Pastor Dietrick Haddon – First of all, this man can blow. Period. The End. No doubt about it. But I must confess, I like him a little bit less after watching the show. I like the way he challenges the other preachers – like the time he challenged Bishop Ron Gibson to show him where the Bible states that “no shacking” is allowed in defense of him considering living with his then fiancee Dominique. But dude is waaaay too emotional for my taste…I’m like “that down a thousand” every.single.episode. But his over-the-top emotionality is not a testament to his character or anything…He actually seems to be refreshingly real about all the contradictions that Christians deal with from time to time living in this fallen world…he just couldn’t be my man with all of that goin’ on…

Bishop Noel Jones – I saw Bishop Noel Jones speak for several nights as the featured speaker at 98th Hampton University Ministers’ Conference in Hampton, Virginia. To say this man is not a enthralling speaker would be wrong. I was captivated every night. But he is coming off too “single and ready to mingle” on the show for me. The woman that he could be dating is Loretta, who is also a business partner. But their relationship is not defined on the show. She is just there. He is cool with her but that’s about it. I went to therapy behind men like that. They cool with me. They just didn’t want to define their relationship with me. We just kickin’ it. Please. In the words of Sweet Brown, “ain’t nobody got time for that!”

Pastor Jay Haizlip – First of all, he is just as cute as he wants to be 🙂 He is a little flashy too with his perfectly coiffed hair and slim fit jeans, but somehow, his image doesn’t rub me the wrong way. Plus, he seems to be a really nice guy. I liked his interaction with the woman in the park who appeared to be an anorexic in crisis. His relationship with his wife also seems to be very genuine. But he’s probably too boring to be featured on the show very much….sad to say…

Bishop Ron Gibson – He’s actually my favorite preacher thus far. I like his Magnum P.I. mustache, but more importantly, I like the way that he continues to reach out to the hood where he came from. The episode in which he brought two O.G.s to a shoe store to try on some church shoes was really nice. (Did he actually buy them shoes though?) And I like the way he is trying to help his sister who is a drug addict. Now, his wife Christy, however, likes to get stuff started. Did y’all see the episode where they had the tea party and invited Bishop Noel Jones’ girlfriend I mean “friend” I mean business partner I mean…I don’t even know what I mean…She know she just wanted to get in their business….

Pastor Wayne Chaney – Hmmm…I don’t what to say about him because he really hasn’t been on the show very much at this point. His wife seems nice, and she is pretty. Her blossoming friendship with First Lady Christy seems to be genuine…I guess more will be revealed…

Did y’all see them on Arsenio last week…Arsenio challenged them to a “Preach Off.” No judgment, but I just cannot imagine my father or Dr. Charles Stanley (my second favorite pastor) taking part in a “Preach Off” not even even when they were younger…Maybe I’m wrong, but I just can’t see it… If you haven’t seen the video, take a look…