Who is Steven Furtick and why is he important?

[Soulhuntress]

Who in the world is Steven Furtick?

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article44218650.html

Quote

In a rare media interview broadcast Tuesday night, Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick said revealing how much money he makes and how much of it he gives away would be unfair to his family and would violate Jesus’ call to be discreet about donations.

Furtick, 35, also told WCCB-TV anchor Morgan Fogarty that he would continue to resist calls from the media and others to be more detailed in discussing the Charlotte church’s finances.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article44218650.html#storylink=cpy

What in the world?

[Scribber]

He's crazy popular with evangelicals. Elevation Church is a huge mega-church, hugely popular with a younger crowd.

 

They have television shows, a huge internet presence, etc.

 

My bet? He's worried something will happen to him like what happened at Mars Hill in Seattle because he has to make a ton...

[Soulhuntress]

13 minutes ago, Scribber said:

He's crazy popular with evangelicals. Elevation Church is a huge mega-church, hugely popular with a younger crowd.

 

They have television shows, a huge internet presence, etc.

 

My bet? He's worried something will happen to him like what happened at Mars Hill in Seattle because he has to make a ton...

Makes sense.  He is pretty open in his avarice so that is a point for him sort of....

[Four is Enough]

So. Mega church, mega internet presence... mega money hidden hither and yon, unaccounted for in the church register.

[Scribber]

So. Mega church, mega internet presence... mega money hidden hither and yon, unaccounted for in the church register.

 

Precisely. Check his Instagram - he leads an insanely lavish life.

 

http://instagram.com/stevenfurtick

[formergothardite]

He is HUGE in parts of NC. I am not sure how anyone stands to listen to him. He made this video after someone dared to criticize him

 

[hoipolloi]

5 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

He is HUGE in parts of NC. I am not sure how anyone stands to listen to him. He made this video after someone dared to criticize him

What a FUCKING asshole. How can people be so stupid?

[formergothardite]

http://watchkeep.blogspot.com/2015/06/steven-furtick-and-elevation-church.html

He is more of an asshole than that video shows. 

Quote

Over two months after Norman's arrest on federal charges of possession of child pornography, Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, dedicated a blog post to Norm.

 

Quote

Norm pleaded guilty on October 25, 2006.  His sentencing is dated June 19, 2007. Furtick dedicated another blog post to Norm on July 2, 2007 in which Furtick refers to Norm as a key volunteer and would probably win the award for “most loved Elevator.”

Quote

 

One of my favorite people at Elevation Church is a guy named Norm.

He gave his life to Christ during our first month as a church. We baptized him a few weeks later. Now he’s a key volunteer and would probably win the award for “most loved Elevator”, if there were such an award. Lori, work on that.

A few months ago, Norm came into my office and asked me if we were going to kick him out of the church. It turns out that before he received Christ, Norm committed some crimes and he was facing at least a few years in jail.

 

Way to down play what he did asshole. 

Quote

If you have forgotten some of the details of Norm’s story or haven’t read the book, Norm is one of the greatest examples I’ve ever seen of how God can turn our mistakes into miracles. Before Norm came to Elevation, he had been involved in some illegal activities and his life was a wreck. But then he accepted Christ and everything changed.

 

Quote

"In 2004, Norman Vigue found his faith." Furtick claims that Vigue committed these crimes before he became a Christian.

 He got Jesus in 2004 so it is all good. But....

Quote

The indictment record of Vigue states that, "Between January 14, 2005 and February 24, 2005, in the Western District of North Carolina and elsewhere, Norman Wilfred Vigue did knowingly receive, and did knowingly attempt to receive, child pornography..."

Jesus didn't cure this guy. 

Quote

I can find no documentation that Steven Furtick and Elevation Church have ever mentioned that Vigue's "legal mistakes" are child sex crimes

Elevation church is very, very bad news. It draws in tons of people, though. 

[formergothardite]

Steven also made a coloring book for church children where they get to color pictures of church member gazing up at him while the words around the picture say that the children must be united under the visionary and support Steven Furtick because God gave him a vision. 

[Dreadcrumbs]

57 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

He is HUGE in parts of NC. I am not sure how anyone stands to listen to him. He made this video after someone dared to criticize him

 

What a insufferable douchebag.

[Soulhuntress]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

He is HUGE in parts of NC. I am not sure how anyone stands to listen to him. He made this video after someone dared to criticize him

 

Hater?  Yes I loathe baby rapers and their enablers and unindicted codefendants with the fire of a thousand suns.

[Bad Wolf]

Most loved elevator? Well, the one in Macy's is pretty nice, and some of the casinos have quite ornate ones. Sorry, that just tickled me.

[JermajestyDuggar]

So who wants to make bets on when and how he will go down in a blaze of douchieness? 

[Soulhuntress]

I will make a bet:  this douchecanoe is a Southern Baptist in the land of Jim and Tammy Faye/   Wide stance airport is best case scenario @JermajestyDuggar

[Cats B4 Quivers]

Wow. I couldn't spend more than 20 seconds watching that ridiculous video. I have about 20 seconds of regret now. 

I have a particular propensity of distaste for tele-evangelists and enjoy chuckling when they are knocked off their holy roller pedestals. 

I could have done so much in that 20 seconds. They could have been beautiful. 

[Howl]

@Cats B4 Quivers, I only lasted 5 seconds! 

The douche is strong with this one and yes, shades of Mark Driscoll.  

The simple truth is he needs to hide an income that is outrageously disproportionate to what should be a sane amount for a preacher man.  It's all about prosperity Gospel and that would be prosperity for the preacher and not the flock. 

[DinglyDoll]

The bloggers at the Wartburg Watch have documented so much on Furtick: http://thewartburgwatch.com/?s=steven+furtick&x=25&y=8  

He's disgusting.

[Mrs. Bean]

He sounds like another "come to Jesus and he will make you rich" pastor. Hey news flash, Jesus was poor,  most likely homeless, and was definitely not into amassing material wealth. Have any of you seen the Greenleaf? I realize it's a fictional story but it's probably not far from the truth.

[Howl]

11 hours ago, formergothardite said:

 

 

He looks like Jim Carrey cast as a demon-possessed preacher in that pic. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 hours ago, Soulhuntress said:

I will make a bet:  this douchecanoe is a Southern Baptist in the land of Jim and Tammy Faye/   Wide stance airport is best case scenario @JermajestyDuggar

I was thinking he would go down like Jim Bakker! Within a couple of years is my guess. 

[Scribber]

The bloggers at the Wartburg Watch have documented so much on Furtick: http://thewartburgwatch.com/?s=steven+furtick&x=25&y=8  
He's disgusting.

I had totally forgotten that TerKeurst was his BFF. She is highly lauded among the conservatives too.

(My mom used to send me her books for my birthday every year and she drove me insane. So I looked into her, and I had forgotten how deeply entrenched in that mess she was.)

[Four is Enough]

I went to about 45 seconds with "hey haters" and wanted to puke. Wannabe rapper? FAIL. Dazzle 'em with a display of brilliance? FAIL.

 

The smarmy is strong with this one.

[Palimpsest]

Oh, great.  Yet another one for the Fundie Hall of Shame.

3 hours ago, Howl said:

He looks like Jim Carrey cast as a demon-possessed preacher in that pic. 

And how! His eyes are really frightening. How and why do people ever want to listen to these types.

[GenerationCedarchip]

9 hours ago, Mrs. Bean said:

He sounds like another "come to Jesus and he will make you rich" pastor. Hey news flash, Jesus was poor,  most likely homeless, and was definitely not into amassing material wealth. Have any of you seen the Greenleaf? I realize it's a fictional story but it's probably not far from the truth.

Yes - he is very much tied in with prosperity gospel stuff.  He's huge in mainstream evangelical circles, but not so much with theologically conservative folks.  I'm not sure how the ATI crowd views him, but I know he's actually widely reviled as a false teacher in reformed circles because of the televangelist/Osteen-esque teachings and the ostentatious lifestyle.

[feministxtian]

2 hours ago, GenerationCedarchip said:

He's huge in mainstream evangelical circles, but not so much with theologically conservative folks. 

He's a non-entity in the circles I run with...he's more the type that would be preached against...same as Osteen and many others. I can say that a lady in our church started talking about TBN and their huckster types and was told to stop watching that rubbish because they were twisting and turning Christianity into something it's not...not much later it was preached about...as part of a sermon on discernment.