Bro Gary Hawkins 20: Setting Up a Tent at the Train Depot

[thoughtful]

In the last 15 minutes of the video from 7/12, Gary reads Romans 6:23, but leaves off the last five words. I'm pretty sure that's what he usually does with this verse, which is yet another Gary mystery:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Gary knows he's saved because "Ah accepted it."

He runs through his usual spiel about gift giving.

"Jesus Christ gave His son. Jesus Christ shed his blood. Jesus Christ took His body an' was beaten upohn an' spitten upohn - that's the gift!"

He repeats several things about "worl'ly" gifts not being as good, and, as usual, all I can picture is Joanne Worley, one of the few people who could drown Gary out (and I'd love to hear her do it!).

Gary makes a great slip - "Here's what me an' mah wahf do whenever it comes t'anniversaries an' birthdays an' Halloween - not Halloween, but uh Valentahn's an' all those kinda things."

Too late, Gary - you said Halloween! Do you secretly celebrate and dress up in costume?

He goes on with his usual shitty bit about how they go to the card department of a store, she hands him a card, he hands her one, they read them, then put them back.

He likes it when people give him gift cards. His daughter gave him a birthday card: "Ah guess it was pretty funny, but ah travel all over the Unahtid States, ah don't got room for all this stuff!"

So gracious.

And he goes through his litany of all the things he did when he was "playing church," again, and his routine about how God can do things - again.

"Go t'Luke chapter 3 - no, Luke chapter 13."

He reads verses 3 and 5, which is usually part of this message. Poor verse 4, the ignored middle child. Three and five both say:

I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

"There it is, back t'back, two different tahms."

Well, no, it's not back to back, since there's a verse in between.

And he does his usual spiel about repentance being necessary for salvation. Gary didn't confess all of his sins when he got saved, because he couldn't remember all of them. He just repented of himself, he says.

"Ah made a complete u-turn an' went for God - went to God."

The captions are feeling mischievous:

  

"There's a gah in Arizona don't believe in repentance any more."

Steve Anderson, I assume.

He tells the story of the man who came to church, got "convicted," but held on to the pew to resist coming up to get saved, because he didn't want to give up his one beer a day.

After more about repentance, he tells the old story of "his" youngest daughter getting up before everyone else, helping herself from the cookie jar, and, when asked who gave her permission, said she asked herself and gave herself permission.

This is his example of people who don't really repent - they're "sorry they got caught, but not sorry enough t'git it raht."

No, Gary, it's a cute story about the way small children think. Or, perhaps, a sad story about how early kids learn to lie, knowing there's corporal punishment and/or accusations of being a sinner coming, so it's worth a shot.

He's off again on Baptists who don't want to humble themselves, and think they're "it." He teases the pastor again, joking that he's one of those people, and that Hicks can get into Heaven on preaching, and Gary on singing.

Hicks: "We're both in trouble."

That brings another genuine laugh out of Gary:

Spoiler

And then he's right back to yelling "It's the blood! That's the reason that Jesus Chrast sent His only begotten son!"

Think he'll ever get that right?

"Lemme give you this an' ah'll be done. Look in Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, look in verses 20."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10%3A20&version=KJV

Gary knows he's saved because he's still rejoicing.

After talking about a relative that was skeptical about his Daddy staying "in church," ("well, ah'm three years old when Daddy got me inta church, ah'm 49 years old, you do the math, he's been in church that long"), Gary goes on to tell them how sure he is of his Heavenly reward.

"Ah have no doubt, listen - ah fall over dead raht now, ah scare most of you but that's OK, some of you maht rejoice even, 'He's gohn, hallelujah.' Be lahk mah wahf, she may have she may have a shoutin' spell after she gets that check she definitely have a shoutin' spell amen."

Captions:

Spoiler

"But ah'm, ah'm gonna tellya, ah'm Heaven-bound."

After some familiar stuff about how the Rapture could come any minute, he says:

"If you want to go to Heaven, you going to have to go God's way."

Captions:

Spoiler

We have to have an ultrasound, check the weather map, or does Jesus' trumpet just sound like it changes pitch as he approaches and zooms past? I'm so confused.

"And when God says it, that settles it."

Spoiler

After some random crap (Gary often gives me the impression that he just can't bear to stop bloviating at this point in many of his messages), he gets into the subject of being happy with what we've got.

"When you go to thinkin' life is bad, ah tell you raht now, it just - mah wahf, whenever she was havin' some issues with that - thing in her neck there an' she fahnally got it taken keer of, ah mean, she listen, ah've never seen her that worried about an' really actin' an' puttin' in the part that she says, 'Do you not know how many preachers' wahves have dahd havin' cancer an' issues? If you want me t'be aroun', you better let me get this straightened out an' taken keer of.'"

Yes, you read that right - Gary is admitting that Becky pretty much had to read him the riot act to get him to "let" her get off the road and have her thyroid surgery.

I stopped to make sure you caught that, but Gary actually went right on:
"Then that brother dropped - drownded - last Frahdee, saving his own daughter."

And he goes on about Adamkoski's family for a while. But, of course, Adamkoski himself has no more worries - "he's shoutin' it out."

He says they should be rejoicing, too.

If he was going for something about even Becky and that family being thankful, despite their very real troubles, or trying to make them feel bad because other people have it worse, I have no idea - this time, he never really makes a point, just goes on to how they should all rejoice.

Gary, in slow-down, wind-down mode, says, "Let Salem know . . . there's somethin' goin' ohn . . . at Cornerstone."

Captions:

Spoiler

After some weak blather about how the neighbors must have heard them under the tent and it made an impression that might have results if the Lord tarries His coming, he prays.

[Xan]

27 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

"...mah wahf, whenever she was havin' some issues with that - thing in her neck there an' she fahnally got it taken keer of, ah mean, she listen, ah've never seen her that worried about an' really actin' an' puttin' in the part..."

Gary, you absolute horse's ass.  "Actin' and puttin' in the part"?  That's why she had to drive across the country without Gary.  He had no intention of leaving the road and passing up on those love offerings.  Also, he loves the sound of his own voice too much to pass up the chances to preach.  Instead of being grateful that she's well and has rejoined him, he's still pissed that she insisting on going to the doctor and ended up not having a serious illness that he could possibly use to draw in more money.

[thoughtful]

  

46 minutes ago, Joyster said:

I think he said as long as you get the main doctrine right (the Bible), then "phooey on your little horse, uh, your little pet peeve. Amen!"

Oh, I should have know that "pit pee" was "pet peeve." That's in a few of his from-a-chair rants, and I think it's in the bunk beds one, too.

On to 7/13, still at Cornerstone, as the video starts, Gary is saying, " . . . and if you want to say that you're saved, now ah heard some of 'em say they wasn't here this week because they were sick. Ah wanna say thank you for that you know what people some people still do go common sense, amen?"

This gets a laugh. Gary goes on to tell them that, while that's OK, "people who make excuses not to come to church - ah'm just gohnna tellya an' ah ah ah don't think that's here, y'know, ah - ih - the devil! Ah've said a little bit - ah've said quite a bit about the devil this week, an' the reason ah have is ah know what he's doin' to our people - of God. He's - listen, hey - Peter - 3000 got saved unner his ministry. He messed up, amen? But what he done was he got raht."

He talks about Paul and John the Baptist and their errors and doubts, all due to the devil. And he goes on about the devil, getting in your prayer closet, being faithful to church, how the unsaved are watching you and which cars come to the parking lot,  - nothing new.

He does a somewhat better job with the fax "joke" this time: "An ah'm not talkin' 'bout whenever something hinders you lahk bein' sick or layin' in the hospital, which one preacher said 'If ya dahh in order for us to be proof ya gotta fax us a copya yer death certificate amen.'"

He mixes his routine about Jesus leaving the portals of glory "to be beaten upon, spitten upon" with his celebration of his parents beating him. When he says that the word spanking "wasn't even allowed in mah vocabulary, mah momma beat me, amen," he gets a substantial laugh.

So fucking sick - I will never understand that.

He does some of his anti-cell phone bit. We haven't seen Gary do a Facebook live while driving in a long time, and I am hoping he has stopped for good. But, if he has, he now seems to have the zeal of the converted about it.

"These cell phones, we maht wanna sorta - take a little break from it once in a whahl.  Do y'notice the way people act on - ah mean, listen, an' ah'm talkin' about goin' down the road, playin' on their cell phones. Ah'manna be honest with ya - ah  believe a cell phone's prob'ly dangerouser than a gun. So if President Bah - Bahden comes up sayin' he wantsta take our cell phones ah'd prob'ly vote for that, amen."

Another laugh - these people may be as shitty as Gary, and that is not an easy bar to reach.

Gary announced John chapter one, and does his usual last-service thank you as he turns pages. When he thanks them for the motel, these sounds fall out of his face:

"Ah got one person 'at works there once in a whahl ah don't ah know' ah asked her twelve mah boy asked for twelve towels she wouldn't give 'em to us but - "

He stops to turn pages, and, for some reason, gets a laugh.

"She told - if you wanna know what ah was all about you have to ask her, she's somebody comes in there once in a whahl thinks that ah was supposed t'get twelve towels."

They laugh.

Maybe someone there had an anecdote about someone asking for twelve towels in a motel, and that's why they are finding it funny.

Gary says he has noticed that motels now seem to want you to use a towel more than once. "After ah've used it the first tahm ah've cleaned ah've cleaned mahself off with it ah want it t'go through a worshing machine amen. John chapter one when y'get yer place y'can yer willin' an' able stan' for the readin'a the worda God."

Lovely segue, Gary. The captions do pretty well with his super-fast instructions to stand this time. Notice the truck and trailer, all ready to get  stuffed with the tent and the Hawkinses.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[thoughtful]

19 minutes ago, Xan said:

Gary, you absolute horse's ass.  "Actin' and puttin' in the part"? 

He is a horse's ass.

I'm not sure I conveyed that particular fragment well enough, though.

In case you were thinking Gary was accusing Becky of faking something, I'm pretty sure that he meant "acting" as in "behaving," not playing a role.

The "in the part" may have been, as it usually is, one of his meaningless word-farts. It can sort of mean "with regard to," in Weenese. In this case, it may even refer to her "putting in" the speech about how serious this was, to drive the point home.

So, in normal English, from an actually concerned and decent husband, it would have been something like "My wife is usually very brave when she's ill - I've never seen her so openly worried about her own health. This time she made it clear to me that it was serious."

Not that he's not a piece of shit, and it sure sounds like he was a big baby about her putting her foot down and taking care of herself, and he was a piece of crap for not cancelling things to go with her.

But I don't think he was accusing her of making things up or faking, if that's how it struck you.

Sorry about that.

[thoughtful]

Continuing the short message from 7/13; silly me, I thought Gary was ready to read. But no, he assures them that he won't make them stand as long as Sammy Allen used to, asks anyone who is able to hang around and help them take down the tent and pack it up, jokes about the pastor just being a supervisor again, then suddenly barks, "Verses 45, the bahble says Philip findeth Nathanael . . . "

And he goes on to read verses 45-51, with lots of errors, including "Nazarus," and turning "saith" into "said" every time it appears.

Also, this: KJV: Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
BGV: "Hereafter ye shall see heaven. Open, and the angels of God ascendin' and descendin' up.

Pon, the Sonna man."

He rambles on about how he was thinking about this yesterday or the day before, but lost it all on the "'lectronics." "Thank God it wasn't just on computer an' electronics - God gives it to me."

"Ah know a man - who can. Ah know a man - who does. Ah know a man - that is a capable in 2022 as he was throughout the bahble amen."

He babbles on about Jeremiah and John the Baptist.

"Ah'm gonna say somethin' to you - hey, quit doubtin' that God cain't in 2022."

Got it - God is a man, and he can't.

He screams about falling back in love with Jesus for a while.

"Another friend of our  - well, ah didn't know him that well but he was a frienda mahn ah believe he woulda classifahd me as a friend as well but ah - he he - three children - four children lost their daddy this past week."

And he milks the story of poor Albert Adamkoski some more. Ghoul.

It sounds like he watched the memorial service, because he mentions something Albert's wife read, and someone showing a video of his oldest daughter "playin' a vaholin at some river up there where they'd had a little - lahk a little get-together and had some church an' stuff lahk 'at. Ah'm just tellin' you we better get in touch with God now before He pulls away."

"Let's get in touch with Him before He whatever was t'put inky Bob."

Captions:

Spoiler

The spot is linked under my attempt at understanding it, above, if anyone wants to give it a try.

Then Gary is distracted by his phone (ah, irony), mumbles something about wondering who could be calling him now, when they ought to know he's in church.

Hey, maybe it's God, getting in touch! Or maybe it's Inky Bob! I'm thinking about who could be called Inky Bob - perhaps famous poets named Robert, like Frost or Browning or Burns. They probably got pretty inky.

Gary thinks he's seen people get closer to God this week. Taking credit, Gary? He does a lot of his standard last-service stuff, exhorting them to stay with their church and support their pastor.

He tells them to go to Romans 5, real quick-like, but never says what verse. I find it:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Gary says "commended," but does OK otherwise. He screams about God's love for a while, and re-tells the story of his argument on Facebook about going to church being a commandment. When he tries to quote the verse from Hebrews, he falls apart, and sounds like he's not giving up on putting together something from Ikea.

"Not forsaking us - not forsaking our self's assembly - ah'm not gittin' it word for  - not - forsaking - ourselves in the as - how's it go?"
Jacob: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as . .  ."
Gary (talking over him): "Yeah, there ya go. Ah'm a little bit nervous tonaht."

Gary screams about church being essential for a while, then tells them that "Jesus don't lahk conflict - He wants fellowship."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+15%3A13&version=KJV

God wants to fill us with Himself.

"You know what ah pray now? Lord, take me, turn me upside-down, git me away from mahself, git this junk outta me, an' fill me with you."

Kinky.

He's screaming about not knowing what will happen to him, "If ah go back to that motel, an' ah lay down in that motel, an ah"

The video cuts off.

Gosh, I wonder what he said next. 

[postscript]

Praying for God to turn Gary upside down? That’s an interesting mental picture. I would pay to see that,

Does he ever refer to Jacob by name? Seems like whenever he mentions him in a sermon, it’s always as “my boy,” which makes him sound like a servant. I suppose that’s what he is to Gary. 

Twelve towels? How many towels does he need to dry himself? Or is he planning on committing a murder? Even if the motel wants you to reuse your towels (though in my experience, they usually bring fresh towels anyway), if you want clean ones, you leave the dirties on the floor or in the shower. You don’t need to ask for all your towels up front. The motel probably thought he was going to steal them. 

[thoughtful]

5 minutes ago, postscript said:

Praying for God to turn Gary upside down? That’s an interesting mental picture

Turn him upside down, empty him of "junk," and fill him up with Jesus, no less!

[Xan]

I nominate "Inky bobbing for Jesus" as a future thread title.

I looked at it too and couldn't make any sense out of it.  I did see that he looked at his watch and he noticed someone was calling him so Gary has an iWatch.  (Maybe they make knockoffs but it does look like a standard iWatch.)  How can he afford that?  Why does he need it?  

[thoughtful]

OK, folks - on to Grace Baptist in Ekron, KY. The morning service has the message title and a reading listed (also a repetitive redundancy):

Spoiler

Maybe Gary had to turn in a lesson plan for this one! In the comments, various other verses are listed:

Spoiler

I have a feeling someone was adding them as Gary went along.

After some singing, whoever that bearded man is (song leader, deacon?) tells them that he and Brother Hawkins were talking about the burdens people have. He recommends the Are You a Good Person tract they have in the back of the church, and suggests they take some and litter with them - er, I mean, leave them in stores and places like that.

Unless there's another with that title, that's a Living Waters tract - Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. Lovely.

Then he tells them "Take out your -" and holds up a laminated card. He wanted them to look up? He couldn't remember the word "songsheet?" I have no idea. But, pounding on the lectern and horribly out-of-tune, he leads them in a shouted rendition of a hymn. The lyrics are these, but the tune is Nettleton, which I think of as the tune for "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

I fast forward - also through Jesus Loves Me. He sends the "kiddos" out with "Miss Amy," then introduces the Hawkinses. Gary does his "How many's glad t'be in church" bit - haven't heard that in a while, since Gary's videos usually only include his messages.

The Hawkinses sing. I fast forward. Gary comes to the lectern, says he's glad for the opportunity, but hates that the preacher's sick. That gets him onto the subject of watching church via Facebook is not the same, and how he can't believe people have gotten used to "stuff lahk 'at."

"The old tahm preachers preached this stuff was comin', an' here we are."

But Gary's not getting knocked off of the solid rock.

Gary announces John chapter 11, then drifts off into talking about a book they must have given him. Maybe we'll hear what it is at some point.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+11%3A41-45&version=KJV

Gary strains his way through it. Some of the worst messes:

KJV: And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
BGV: And I knew that thou herdeth me always: but but because of the people which stand by it ah said it - ah - bah - bah - ah said, it that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

KJV: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
BGV: And he - uh - he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot an' gravenclothes: and his face was bound about with the napkin. Jesus said unto him, Loose and, let me go.

And, of course, Lazarus becomes "Lazaruth."

He re-reads verse 44, and gets the ending right this time, but still says "gravenclothes."

Sounds like a little-known house at Hogwarts, that teaches kids how to carve outfits out of stone.

Gary zooms through some of his standard spew, then seems to confound the words "bound" and "bowing." I can't tell if he doesn't know which he wants, actually means "bound," he thinks this is a clever pun, or what.

"There's so many people bound, and ah mean listen, they bound down t'this an' they bound down that which it part of it is is the flesh, amen."

He does some of his Covid, brainwashed by the government and the media crap. Gary's glad he's not dependent on the government - he's dependent on God. He goes off on a tangent condemning contemporary music, then gets back to his theme.

"Galatians says whatever we sow, we'll reap."

So far, so good . . .

"If we're reapin' to the flesh, we're gonna reap - we're gonna sow - if we're sowin' t'the flesh, we're gonna reap. If we're sowin' to th'spirit, an' ah am gonna tellya somethin'; we better sow a whole lot more to th'spirit."

Aw, Gary, you came so close.

He babbles about the Sunday school message from that morning, and says "she's right." She? They let a woman preach the Sunday school service?

Gary says the bible is "explainatory." He says it twice, in fact, and just can't understand why people say they (stupid voice) "don't understand the King James Bahble." Shrieky voice: "Maybe y'just git saved, it'll he'p ya amen!"

Gary, you say you don't understand a lot of the KJV yourself.

Gary says that a man at the tent meeting he just preached "up in Illinoiss" told him (Gary puts on a prissy, high-pitched voice for this) "I use the New King James." He dismissed that very idea, of course.

A rant about old stuff being better, and staying away from the world and it's dope (and actual medicine) follows.

Gary has been screaming "I'm free!" at intervals throughout this shoutfest.

He's glad to be in a church with young people, because "old people get sot in their ways." That leads him into talking about talking like a hillbilly. He claims a woman that follows him on Facebook said "Brother Hawkins has come up with a new word."

No, Gary, she'd just never heard the stupid conspiracy theory term "plandemic" before. Nothing hillbilly, or original to you, about that.

"If you read the bahble just raht, you'll fahnd out Jesus had a little bitta hillbilly in 'im. Haymen!"

Captions:

Spoiler

He has been getting shouted responses from a few people, and goes into full scream and dance mode to bellow about how he just celebrated his 23rd birthday in the Lord, and how being saved changed him. When he comes to his triumphant conclusion, for some reason, there is silence.

That triggers a "'s'everybody awraht? 'Bout three of ya amen. The rest of ya can catch on in a little bit, amen."

Gary yells about how he loves air conditioning, and how sad it is that the man who invented it is "frahin' in Hell lahk sausage. "

I guess he means Willis Carrier, who was a Presbyterian.

For no apparent reason, he yells, "Ah git stuff sent t'me, with this politician mess an' with emails ah guess ah sahn up with too much stuff an' one the things was - was - did ah agree or disagree with the part that - now ah wanna say the worl' is in a mess, amen-huh? But ah'manna say wha th'worl's in a mess, 'cause that's what the worl' wohnts. An' as the brother's already said, listen hey, ah don' wanna go tell the drunk he's a drunk ya say 'Wha?' Somebody done tol' him that a lohng tahm ago. He don't need mah help, he just needs me to live the life of Jesus Chrise, he needs me t'live right, he needs me t'show people that ah'm set free, there's a change, there's a difference, amen!"

Well, I don't know, Gary. Your father is no prize, either, but at least he knew that sometimes what "the drunk" needs is dinner on Thursday nights.

He tells them to turn to Psalms 103. I'll meet you there later.

 

[Joyster]

2 hours ago, Xan said:

I nominate "Inky bobbing for Jesus" as a future thread title.

A possibility, but I also love "If you cridicule Gary, the defriend bottom still works"

2 hours ago, Xan said:

I looked at it too and couldn't make any sense out of it

I thought you would be the one to understand it if anyone did.  I listened to that over 10 times, and each time heard, "per inky ball", which makes no sense.  It will probably forever be a mystery.

2 hours ago, postscript said:

Does he ever refer to Jacob by name? Seems like whenever he mentions him in a sermon, it’s always as “my boy,” which makes him sound like a servant. I suppose that’s what he is to Gary. 

I was just thinking about Jacob.  He always seems to be available and willing to help.  From what I can see, he seems like a nice kid, and it doesn't seem like he gets much of an opportunity to be a kid/teenager.  He's always trying to meet Gary's every need. Jacob had to ask for those 12 towels.  I stayed at a couple of hotels in the last two years, and they each was not doing daily maid service due to labor shortages/COVID.  I assume Gary sent Jacob to get a towel for each day for each of them, although that seems crazy.  It made me think poor Jacob sharing a hotel room with Becky and Gary all those nights.  The poor kid hardly gets any personal time, but Gary could care less about that.

Caleb sang at the Light of Sandy Ridge today. 

[Joyster]

Gary is going to read a book other than the KJV Bible and is excited about it.  Gary usually only likes ideas that echo his mind, which can be difficult, so we'll see how this reading a book goes.

I tried to find out more about the book.  From the author's website:

Quote

Perilous Times was written to help stabilize God's children in their increasingly difficult endeavors to preserve the "old time religion" amidst the "new normal" in "Post-Trumpian Woke America." It will explain what is presently happening, why it's happening, and - most importantly - how to survive till the Blessed Hope.

So it's a survival guide for now until the Blessed Hope.  I didn't realize Gary was having difficulty surviving, but okay.

Another quote from the website:

Quote

Given the present crisis hour, this installment of Understanding the Times will prove far more "reader friendly" than the previous two volumes (i.e., half as many pages; no tedious endnotes; and, very few "big words").

Good, no big words for Gary to try to understand.

And it just gets weird with this description:

Quote

On the bizarre side - from how God used a petite preacher's wife to "bomb" Vatican Square - to Donald Trump's unknown connection to the China virus.

The author's biographical sketch is unusual. Among his claims to fame, besides his illustrious writing career, is he sold a scanning system to Jill Biden (then Jill Stevenson) and his grade school diploma was signed by the cardinal (he was raised Catholic). Grady Publications About the Author.

I wish someone would bless me with a copy of this book so I could snark on it.

[Joyster]

Shining Light Baptist had cowbell preaching yesterday.  The preacher said it was “men’s meat and preaching”.  It appears to be like popcorn preaching.  There were three men, Jamie Doss (Caleb’s father-in-law), another guy Todd, and Caleb.  They drew straws to see the order they would preach in.  The preacher said they would hear some preaching and ring the cowbell when it was time for the next preacher.  If only the churches Gary goes to had a cowbell to signify the end.  Alas, I could not see Caleb preach because he was second, and there were technical difficulties with the recording.  There was a “Help Wanted” sign on the lectern.  I’m not sure if this had to do with some vacation school bible program or if it had to do with cowbell preaching.

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Joyster
Added a better screenshot. Not sure if it's my connection or the recording tonight, but video keeps coming in and out for me.

[Xan]

2 hours ago, Joyster said:

The author's biographical sketch is unusual. Among his claims to fame, besides his illustrious writing career, is he sold a scanning system to Jill Biden (then Jill Stevenson) and his grade school diploma was signed by the cardinal (he was raised Catholic). Grady Publications About the Author.

Good grief.  Gary's actually reading a book and it's by a whackadoodle.  Here's the back cover:

Spoiler

He's a really offensive character.  On his Facebook page, he talks about being on a airplane with Anderson Cooper whom he describes as a "filthy animal".  He gives out Chick tracts to people he encounters.  He went into detail on one Facebook post about "three defenseless WHITE women" who were knifed to death by a "BLACK truck driver".  A person who was reviewing one of "Dr." Grady's previous books described it this way, "It's not often that I've run into books that aren't even worth the paper they are printed on. In this case, I almost think the paper is ashamed off what it has to contain."  Another reviewer on Amazon said that Grady was a few clowns short of a circus.

The Dr. part of his name is because he got his Ph.D. in History from the former Baptist International Seminary, Oxon Hill, Maryland.  The school no longer exists so I can't find anything about this.  It smells like a diploma mill.  He did "study" at the University of Tennessee and the University of Delaware -- which probably means he took a course or attended a meeting at each.

Yeah.  This is Gary's kind of people.  

 

[thoughtful]

We already knew Gary was a fan of Grady (although, with his foggy memory, he probably forgot, but I'm sure Becky didn't). He is offensive, racist and bizarre in the extreme.

Becky posted a talk Grady gave at, IIRC, Mike Stout's church, in February 2021. I recapped it, in between gagging and WTFing:

 

[Joyster]

22 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

We already knew Gary was a fan of Grady (although, with his foggy memory, he probably forgot, but I'm sure Becky didn't). He is offensive, racist and bizarre in the extreme.

I think I blocked the memory of this guy out.  Yuck, just yuck.  He belongs on my top 5 worst IFB men along with Nathan Rager and Steven Anderson (although, he's really NIFB).  Thank you again, @thoughtful for summarizing that filth.

[Xan]

37 minutes ago, thoughtful said:

We already knew Gary was a fan of Grady (although, with his foggy memory, he probably forgot, but I'm sure Becky didn't). He is offensive, racist and bizarre in the extreme.

Oh, wow.  I'd forgotten about that.  He's even worse on a second reading.  

[postscript]

Alert! Gary posted a photo of biscuits and gravy (not the weenie gravy, thank goodness). Apparently they also managed to find a last-minute preaching gig for tonight. I hope that poor church knows what it’s in for. 

[Xan]

He also posted this word salad:

JESUS die for sins and won't be uphold them?  HE didn't coke to condemn? I don't understand...

He turn HIS back on HIS SON?  When did God do that?  Wasn't the sacrificial act of crucifixion the whole purpose?  

Help, @thoughtful!  I'm lost here.

[Dana723]

16 hours ago, Xan said:

He also posted this word salad:

JESUS die for sins and won't be uphold them?  HE didn't coke to condemn? I don't understand...

He turn HIS back on HIS SON?  When did God do that?  Wasn't the sacrificial act of crucifixion the whole purpose?  

Help, @thoughtful!  I'm lost here.

It's simple - Jesus chooses Coke over Pepsi.  

 

Also, to be more serious, when Jesus was on the Cross, He took all the sins of the world on Him and since God cannot tolerate sin, He had to turn His back on Jesus.  At least that's what I remember my Daddy preaching about when I was growing up.

[Xan]

58 minutes ago, Dana723 said:

Also, to be more serious, when Jesus was on the Cross, He took all the sins of the world on Him and since God cannot tolerate sin, He had to turn His back on Jesus.  At least that's what I remember my Daddy preaching about when I was growing up.

Thanks for the explanation but it sort of leaves me with more questions.  If God created everything, didn't He create the ability to sin?  And, God being, you know, God, couldn't he tolerate anything and everything?  It makes me sad that people think God turned his back on Jesus.

I grew up in a semi-fundie household and went to church all the time.  There was some hellfire preaching, particularly during revivals, but mostly the church stressed the love one another parts.  Sure, they did talk about the vengeful God of the Old Testament but I tended to tune that part out when I was small.  Even then, I didn't have much use for a vindictive deity.  I still don't have much use for a god who would create sin, force His son down to earth to absorb all that sin, and then turn His back on that son for doing what He asked.

[Xan]

Oh dearsweetbabyjesus... Gary is still on Facebook blabbing away.  God made a dress code and the KJB has it.  You're not supposed to look like the world.  If you study, you'll see that the robes from Bible days "was different".  I guess Gary thinks there were male robes and female robes.  I don't even know what to do with this...

[Joyster]

@Xan, I am as confused as you are.   The comments are a riot.  I agree with Scott: who is us?  I hope Gary is not developing multiple personalities. 

ETA: David replied to the who is us question with this response

Spoiler

This just clears everything up.  Thanks Dave.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Joyster
Took out redundancy.

[postscript]

I just stumbled on Gary’s post in my daily swing through his Facebook page. “I was thinking today” made me mentally reply “that’s a first!” Of course the Lord provided the thought, not Gary rubbing his two tiny brain cells together. 

[Joyster]

The Christian clothing discussion continues on Gary's latest post.

Luke lets us know that wearing ties is not required by Jesus, but competent church leadership will wear them.  Somehow, padded pews and air conditioning fall into the same category as wearing ties 

Mark chimes in about God's dress code. He follows the dress code to let worldly people he is  peculiar.

Spoiler

 

[Xan]

6 hours ago, Joyster said:

Mark chimes in about God's dress code. He follows the dress code to let worldly people he is  peculiar.

I do like that he admits that he's peculiar.  So is Gary.  What's next?  Are they going to start insisting that "stupid" is a positive attribute?

Gary, who thinks we need to not be so involved with the internet and electronic devices, is back on Facebook.

There's a song called "Getting used to the dark?"