Rumor Control: Bishop Eddie Long’s Wife Didn’t Move Out

Last week rumors swirled that embattled preacher Eddie Long’s wife had packed her things and moved out of their opulent mansion in Decatur.

Not true says the spokesman for New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The church released a statement saying the rumor was ignored because the church is focusing on doing God’s work, but “many people can’t discern the difference between legitimate journalists and irresponsible bloggers.”

According to Long’s rep Art Franklin, “Mrs. Long has not moved out and is very much a loving, dedicated and committed wife and mother.”

“It is unfortunate that anyone would make such hateful and damaging false claims of this nature. These cruel and insensitive rumors have the potential to cause immeasurable pain and suffering. Those involved should feel obligated to retract their earlier statements,” Franklin said. Source

I guess he told you irresponsible bloggers!

Thanks to loyal reader Kamadiva for the link!

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Bishop Eddie Long is Strapped for Cash

Last Sunday a woman walked up to embattled preacher Bishop Eddie Long during his sermon and handed him a stack of a thousand one dollar bills. Long seemed surprised as he hugged “baby girl” and said: “I see EVERYBODY moving like that!”

But according to Rhymeswithsnitch’s Daily Long Report, the Bishop’s own congregation seem to think the woman’s generous gesture was a hoax.

Her approach seemed timed to coincide with him saying, “What I NEED…”

They say the unlikely act of generosity was staged to nudge other members into opening their wallets and donating $1,000 or more for a proposed expansion of the church to other cities.

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has seen a staggering decline in attendance since the news of his multimillion dollar settlement with former church members who claim they were coerced into providing Long with sexual favors.

In a screenshot taken from the video, the church pews near the back appear empty — as do the church’s upper tiers. Last Sunday, attendance at the church was at less than ½ capacity.

At this rate, New Birth will be forced to shut its doors in 6 months if attendance doesn’t pick back up. Long needs a huge infusion of cash to replace the millions that he paid out to his accusers.

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Is Derrick Rose off the market?

I’m not sure about this one. But, according to sports blogger Jill (a Lakers groupie who makes it her business to know which ballers are on or off the market), Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose has a girlfriend/fiancee.

Rumors have swirled for months that D. Rose is down low or teh ghey, but Fox Chicago anchor Jan Jeffcoat spotted Derrick and his woman at her church, FCC in Chicago this past Sunday. So, like any good journalist would do, she tweeted a few pics during the service.

There is growing debate about whether groupies should be tweeting and taking pictures in church. But the fact is, we wouldn’t know which team these suspect sports figures batted for if it weren’t for groupies taking pictures in churches.

Anyway, these pictures don’t prove or disprove Derrick’s sexual orientation. She could just be a good friend or a beard like Amber Rose was to Kanye West.

But, according to a church member the woman in black is Derrick’s fiancee. Below is a comment she (or he) left on Jill’s blog:

I actually attend that church and people usually know better than to take pics because celebs are in out of there all the time. I’m a huge fan of D.Rose but church is not the right place for that. They are regular people too, let them worship. And yes that is his girlfriend/fiance.

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Bernice King Leaves Bishop Eddie Long’s Church

Unable to come to terms with her pastor’s secret lifestyle, Bernice King has left her position at New Birth Missionary Church, according to the AJC.

King, 48, the youngest and only surviving daughter of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, left her position as an elder on Sunday just days after Bishop Eddie Long and the church settled lawsuits brought by 4 men who say he coerced them with gifts, clothing and trips in exchange for sex.

King was an impassioned opponent of gay rights and gay marriage in particular. In 2004, King and Long walked side by side during a march against gay marriage that ended at the Martin Luther King grave site. It is well known in the lesbian community that King is not empathetic toward gays and lesbians. Especially since it has long been rumored that Bernice, who never married, is an undercover lesbian herself.

Both Long, 58, and Elder King made the fight against gay marriage their personal crusades. Conflicted church members looking for guidance from Long and King were often instructed to seek Jesus to rid themselves of their “sick” homosexual urgings. Meanwhile, Long and King battled their inner demons in seclusion, only to emerge bitter and broken people.

In a report written by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Long was called “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.” In one sermon, he says to gays and lesbians, “God says you deserve death!”

Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist megachurch once had a membership of 25,000. But at the 8 a.m. service on the Sunday following news of the settlement, the congregation numbered in the hundreds.

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Eddie Long Settles Out of Court With Accusers

Disgraced New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Bishop Eddie Long has one thing in common with the late Michael Jackson: he paid serious bucks to make his sexual indiscretions go away quietly.

According to online reports, Long settled out of court with his 4 male accusers, who were teenagers of legal age when he plied them with cash and gifts in exchange for sex. Maurice Robinson, 21, Anthony Flagg, 22, Jamal Parris and another man, claimed the Bishop “coerced” and “enticed” them with exotic trips, clothing and cars. In one case, he paid the young man’s college tuition.

Barbara Marschalk, who represents New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and LongFellows Youth Academy, said she anticipates ” the lawsuits will be dismissed, with prejudice, by close of business tomorrow.”

Long was a fierce opponent of gay marriage and often preached anti-gay sermons from the pulpit. All the while a fire burned inside him that only the touch of young boys could extinguish.

Long vigorously denied the allegations when the news broke last September. Throughout the ordeal the Bishop’s long suffering wife and their four grown children stood beside him. Their support never wavered.

V-103 Morning Show co-host Frank Ski, a longtime member of New Birth, called an Atlanta blogger to show his support for his pastor, and to dispute allegations that his show was biased.

There are unconfirmed rumors that Long paid each man $1.5 million and an apology behind closed doors. But according to media personality Star Jones, who was in Atlanta yesterday, the terms of the settlement have not been made public.

So, in other words, don’t believe the rumors.

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Doctor under investigation for telling patient “You need Jesus”

A Christian doctor in England is under investigation by the British medical professional body for telling a patient that he needed Jesus.

Richard Scott, a doctor for 28 years, was informed by the General Medical Council (GMC) that an investigation was underway after a young man’s mother lodged a complaint.

Dr. Scott, who practices at a medical center in Margate, east of London, said he had a lengthy discussion about treatment and follow up care with the unidentified 24-year-old male patient, who likely suffered from depression.

But when the man’s mother asked what the doctor told him, he replied: “He just said I need Jesus.”

This prompted the mother to report Dr. Scott to the GMC for medical misconduct.

Dr. Scott insists he acted professionally: “I only discussed my faith at the end of a lengthy medical consultation after exploring the various interventions that the patient had previously tried,” he said.

“I only discussed mutual faith after obtaining the patient’s permission. In our conversation, I said that, personally, I had found having faith in Jesus helped me and could help the patient. At no time did the patient indicate that they were offended, or that they wanted to stop the discussion. If that had been the case, I would have immediately ended the conversation. Source

The young man practices a different faith than Christianity, but his faith had lapsed recently. He continues to seek treatment at the center despite the complaint lodged against the doctor by his mother.

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Mom May Have Sacrificed Her Son in Preparation for the Rapture

On Saturday Maine police found the body of a small, blond, blue eyed boy wrapped in a blanket alongside a remote dirt road in South Berwick, Maine, near the New Hampshire border.

The child seemed to be well nourished and well cared for before he died. But police were puzzled because no one had come forward to report the tyke missing.

The story made the evening news across the country.

A tip was called into the police after a computer-generated image of the boy wearing a t-shirt with the words ‘Aviator Series’, was broadcast nationwide on Monday.

The mystery of the dead blond boy was solved on Wednesday when a state trooper approached a blue pickup truck at a highway rest stop two states away in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The truck matched the description of a blue truck that was seen in the area where the body was found.

The woman inside the truck had a confession she wanted to get off her chest: “I killed my son. I want to kill myself,” she told the state trooper.

Julianne McCrery, 42, was placed under arrest. She had been sitting in her truck reading a bible when she was arrested.

The boy was identified by various media outlets as Camden Pierce Hughes, age 6, McCrery’s son.

McCrery, of Texas, told police that she had given Camden too much cough medicine. But an autopsy revealed the boy died of asphyxiation (suffocation).

Read more…

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