Category: Warren Throckmorton

UPDATE: Ecclesia College president Oren Paris III tonight issued a statement denying any wrongdoing in this case.
A news report out of Arkansas sounds ominous for some of the blog’s favorite people.
Ecclesia College received $200,000 from an Arkansas government agency to build a building on campus. According to the report a sitting State Representative took a $18,000 bribe in order to funnel the money to Ecclesia.
This isn’t the first time Ecclesia benefited from public funds. The school received $592,000 via the same discretionary fund in calendar years 2013 and 2014. Only the Arkansas Energy Office received a higher amount of funding over the same period.  Despite lack of regional accreditation, Arkansas tax dollars have been spent lavishly on Ecclesia.
David Barton and Eric Metaxas are on the Board of Regents at Ecclesia, although there is nothing in the report suggesting they knew anything about the matter.
According to the plea agreement, the president (not named in the agreement) of “Entity B” was aware of the arrangement. The president of “Entity B” (Ecclesia College) is Oren Paris III.
According to a contact at Ecclesia president Paris is meeting with the board about the plea agreement this afternoon.
Here’s part of the agreement involving the only named participant, Representative Micah Neal:

Honest Services Fraud Concerning Entity B
v. In or around 2014, Senator A told NEAL that if NEAL, as an Arkansas Representative, authorized and directed GIF money to Entity B, then Person B would pay NEAL a portion of the money in exchange for EAL’s official action.
w. NEAL and Senator A agreed to authorize and direct a total of $200,000 of GIF money to Entity B in exchange for kickbacks from Person B. Of the $200,000, NEAL agreed to direct $50,000 of the GIF money to Entity B, and Senator A agreed to direct $150,000 of the GIF money to Entity B.
x. On or about December 18, 2014, the NWAEDD issued a check in the amount of$200,000, and drawn on the NWAEDD’s Arvest Bank account ending in 8611, to Entity B. The check constituted GIF monies that had been appropriated by NEAL and Senator A, and was awarded pursuant to a GIF grant application signed by Person B that had been emailed, via interstate wire communications, to the NWAEDD from Entity B in Springdale, Arkansas, on or about December 5, 2014. The application requested a $200,000 GIF grant and listed NEAL and Senator A as sponsors.
y. On or about December 19, 2014, the $200,000 check from the NWAEDD to Entity B was deposited into Entity B’s Centennial Bank account ending in 0681. Arvest Bank subsequently settled the check totaling $200,000 with Centennial Bank via an interstate wire communication.
z. The spreadsheets maintained by the NWAEDD for NEAL and Senator A showed a deduction in December 2014 of $50,000 and $150,000, respectively, for the GIF grant awarded to Entity B.
aa. A check dated January 5, 2015 and drawn on Entity B’s Centennial Bank account ending in 0681 in the amount of $65,000 was issued to Person C’s company and deposited that same day into Person C’s company’s Arvest Bank account ending in 7761. The check was issued at the direction of Person B. Over the following three days, Person C made three cash withdrawals per day totaling $53,700 from his company’s Arvest Bank account ending in 7761.
bb. Between approximately December 19, 2014 and approximately January 30, 2015, and following Entity B’s receipt of NEAL’s and Senator A’s GIF money in the amount of $200,000, Senator A contacted NEAL and told him that Person C would be bringing $18,000 in cash to NEAL in exchange for NEAL having authorized and directed the appropriation of the GIF money to Entity B.
cc. Between approximately December 19, 2014 and approximately January 30, 2015, and following NEAL’s communication with Senator A, Person C met with NEAL and, on behalf of Person B, paid NEAL $18,000 in cash.
dd. NEAL agrees and stipulates that he conspired with Senator A and others in the Western District of Arkansas and elsewhere to deprive the citizens of the State of Arkansas of his honest services as an Arkansas state legislator by taking official actions and using his official position to appropriate and direct funds to Entity A and Entity B in exchange for kickback payments, and that the conspiracy and scheme to defraud the citizens of the State of Arkansas of his honest services involved the use of interstate wire communications and mailings that were sent and/or received in the Western District of Arkansas.

Stay tuned…

Perry Noble is back and ready to help you.
He is busy tweeting, recording podcasts, and launching his consulting service – The Growth Co. at www.iwantmychurchtogrow.com. He also has a business consulting wing at www.iwantmybusinesstogrow.com. Looks like he is going all John Maxwell on us.
Last we saw Noble (September of 2016), he had “gone dark” on social media and was submitting to his psychologist/pastor/mentor while dealing with personal issues. Just prior to his brief absence from the public eye, Noble was relieved of his duties as founding pastor at NewSpring Church.
Noble’s consulting service is based on his success at New Spring and seems pretty ambitious. Here are some of what Noble offers:

“We would love to talk to you (the senior leader) and/or your entire team about maximizing your potential, delegating what drains you, and making sure you do not burn out.”
“One of the ways we can serve leaders is by providing personal leadership coaching and development, making sure you are maximizing every aspect of your leadership.”
“We can do a deep dive on culture and create a place that both you and others love.”
“We would love the opportunity to partner with you and show you why this is so important and how to maximize social media to connect to more people and grow your church.”
“One of the things we can do is come alongside of you and plan out a 52 week preaching calendar that will maximize attendance, give you several preaching breaks and allow you to establish momentum unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.”
“At NewSpring we took a budget of $58,000 (our first year) to over $63,000,000 – and in so doing learned a few things along the way I believe will help you maximize giving in your church.”
“Jesus said He would build His church, and your church is not the exception.  Let’s chat about what we can do to set your church up for healthy, lasting growth.”

The last quote confuses me. If Jesus is going to build His church, then why do I need Perry Noble to do it? I suspect Noble and any number of other consultants could help me build a bigger religious business with more customers and a bigger budget. What I don’t understand is why I need Noble to help build the entity that Jesus is already building.

Recently, I discovered Mark Frontczak and Sparrow Cartoons. A long time cartoonist, Mark draws mostly biblical themes with some limited social commentary. I especially like this one:

Lighting up the place is what I hope to do here. Go over to Sparrow Cartoons to check out Mark’s work.

Recently, I have been looking into diploma mills and questionable doctorate degrees given to celebrity Christians. One such celebrity is Darrell Scott.

In two weeks, Cleveland pastor and Donald Trump supporter Rev. Scott will be honored by former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown’s charity Amer-i-can for his work in support of Trump’s election. Throughout the presidential campaign, Scott promoted Donald Trump. He served as CEO of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump. Scott was rewarded for his efforts by an appointment to the executive committee of Trump’s transition team.

In his Twitter profile above (and his Facebook page), Scott refers to himself as Dr. Darrell Scott. During the campaign, Trump also referred to Scott as “Dr. Darrell Scott.”

On his church bio, Scott describes himself as

Already a 21st Century Theologian and Scholar in his own right, Dr. Darrell went on to receive his Doctorate of Divinity in November of 2004. His astute wisdom of religious and biblical studies not only qualifies him as a 21st Century Theologian but also serves to further amplify the fact that he is a gifted and anointed teacher and preacher of God’s Word.

Twenty-first century theologian and scholar Scott did get an honorary doctorate in 2004 (since deleted but archived here) from St. Thomas Christian College (now University). However, his bio is worded in a way that creates the impression that he earned the degree. As noted above, Scott uses the title “Dr.” in referring to himself which is inappropriate and misleading since the degree was not earned.

Compounding the problem is the questionable status of the college. St. Thomas Christian University is not accredited by any Department of Education or Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognized accrediting body. The Chancellor of the school Zamekio Jackson told me in a tweet that the school was accredited but declined to tell me the name of the accrediting body. A search of the ED and CHEA websites failed to turn up any proof of accreditation by any federally recognized accrediting body. St. Thomas’ website does not describe any accrediting agency.

St. Thomas is currently unlicensed in the state of Florida. In Florida, religious colleges can be exempted from state licensing if they file a request for exemption (see this post for the process). St. Thomas is not on the list of exempt schools maintained by the state. A representative of the Commission on Independent Education told me this morning that 2014 was the last year St. Thomas had filed for exemption. Chancellor Jackson said the school needs to update their paperwork.

Mr. Scott appears to be using his degree from an unaccredited school to create an impression that he earned a doctorate. He joins other celebrity Christians such as David Barton, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and and Lance Wallnau who use questionable degrees in a questionable manner.

I realize this isn’t exactly big news but David Barton’s use of questionable quotes caught my eye because there is a local connection.
In a WND article out yesterday, David Barton described a situation in nearby Oil City, PA. Here is his not-quite-accurate version:

Because these groups are non-discriminatory in their God-hating, even our venerated military heroes are not off limits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars in Oil City, Pennsylvania, placed a bench in a city park, and on the bench was an inscription of a famous quote by William Penn: “If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants.” This quote, selected by retired military veterans from the historical writings of the founder of their state, was too much for these history-haters. It generated a lawsuit from the American Atheists Legal Center.
(Maybe I should apologize for my patronizing tone, but my defense is that “Sarcasm is the body’s natural defense against stupidity.” Albert Einstein once noted: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” It seems he’s still being proved right on the latter.)

With those details, I was able to piece together a more accurate narrative.
In a city park there, the VFW in 2003 placed a bench with the slogan: “Men who aren’t governed by God will be governed by tyrants.” Late last year, the American Atheists Legal Center wrote the Oil City leaders a letter of complaint (not a lawsuit) and asked that the slogan be changed. The AALC offered to replace the bench for free with another slogan less offensive to them. According to a Venango county news report, the town Council voted in early December to remove the bench. Now, a citizens’ group has created a website to raise money to defend the bench. Liberty Counsel has also offered to defend the city pro bono. As of now, the bench is still there. A representative of that group told me this morning that nothing has happened with the bench to date.
When I read Barton’s account, my first thought was that both quotes (Penn’s and Einstein’s) were questionable. I also wondered if the facts of the situation were described accurately.
What is so typical of Barton is that he is off on both the current event and the history. First, he tells us that the Oil City bench has a William Penn quote: “If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants.” However, the bench doesn’t have that exact quote. It says: “Men who aren’t governed by God will be governed by tyrants.” Second, it is extremely unlikely that Penn said or wrote either quote.
I traced the quote back to a book by Mark Beliles where it is combined with something William Penn did write. Often the quote appears like this (e.g., from William Federer’s book of quotations):

The first part of the quote is correct and comes from a letter Penn wrote to Peter the Great. However, the second part appears to be added on. I found the letter Penn wrote to Peter the Great and the phrase, “Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants” is just not in it.

Thus, Barton claims in his WND article that the atheists are disrespecting history. On first analysis, it appears that it is Barton who has it wrong.
Regarding the Einstein quote, I learned that the claim on that quote comes from founder of Gestalt therapy Fritz Perls. Perls claimed Einstein said, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe” to him in a conversation. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I point readers to a very thorough blog post on this quote at the highly recommended Quote Investigator blog.
Knowing a little about Perls, I don’t have any confidence that Perls ever had a conversation with Einstein, or if he did that Einstein said that quote exactly as Perls reported it. I note from the blog post that Perls recollection of the quote crystallized in Perls’ books written after Einstein died, and thus could not contest it. In any case, I am not surprised Barton used a quote which has a questionable source.
UPDATE: I spoke with Oil City Mayor William Moon this afternoon. He told me that the AALC and the VFW are in discussions about what slogan to include on the new bench. He said the bench will remain in the park until AALC and VFW agree on a slogan and a new bench is delivered.