Textbook Manipulation From The Pulpit By Jon Courson
How do megachurches and celebrity pastors deal with being exposed?
They ignore it…except for messages meant to make those who have done the exposing the real sinners.
Neither Ben or Jon Courson have answered the allegations of moral failure that have been made public.
Instead, new Applegate Christian Fellowship lead pastor Alex Heater has preached pointedly against those who would “come against the church”for a couple of weeks.
This week neither Heater nor Courson is teaching, but the substitute teacher is preaching…on the Rapture.
When in trouble, break this glass and point to the sky…
Jon Courson added this “postcard” yesterday.
Courson here is in full “PapaJon” mode and he’s trying to shape the churches response to the allegations without addressing them specifically.
In amazing Scripture twisting accompanied by outbursts of laughter (that reminded me of The Joker) Courson compares those who won’t “receive others as Christ received us” to Pharisees.
They are also “grumpy bears” or “grizzly bears” and in short, people you don’t want to be like.
The not so hidden meaning to this is that instead of questioning those who have been accused of moral failure, you just love them and let the Lord sort it out…and keep those tithes and offerings coming.
Don’t worry about people being “qualified”…even though the Scriptures are clear that there are qualifications to being in church leadership and specific ways that the church is to deal with those in unconfessed sin.
This is textbook manipulation of the flock…meant to demonize the victims and whistleblowers and keep the abusers in power.
It usually works…
It usually works, until itās picked by the larger media or some national publication, in other words the hole in the dyke becomes too large to be able to plug it any longer with just a finger of silence and manipulation.
Actually, I’ve been a part of stories that were in national publications and the AP wire…and it still worked…
I sat under a guy like this, except it was all about not touching the Lordās anointed. Then I went overseas and everything in the church imploded: he had a mistress whose son was on staff, he had other affairs in his previous churches, and they let him go without a word because they feared community backlash. Instead of expressing true, godly sorrow, these folks seem to either go the ālove and forgive me, Iām only humanā or āIām still your spiritual authority and donāt you forget it!ā
The older Courson might have been restored to ministry if he had gotten good counseling and restoration over a period of time. That might have given Ben a better model to emulate.
Linn,
I’m sure “touch not the anointed” is coming next…
pretty predictable
What I can’t stand is when a fallen pastor is forced to resign gives his farewell speech and compares himself to an Old Testament character. “David sinned big time, but God said he was His beloved! Me too!”
I wish they wouldn’t accept resignations, either. I wish they were plain fired. I wish those boards would say “You can’t resign because we are firing you.” That should be on their resume when they go shopping for a new church to commandeer. People resign for a lot of reasons, many admirable. But “Fired” will take some explaining and maybe some background checking. I’ve seen the worst scoundrels allowed to resign and next thing you know, they are ruining some other congregation. (I am not referring to my former CC pastor, just to be clear.)
Michael, help me get this right. Ben as been accused of sexual assault, enough for someone to file a police report. Is Courson implying that such a person is either a grumpy bear or grissly bear?
Paul,
People that file police reports are “coming against the church’.
People that take police reports and patrol abuse seriously are grumpy bears and grizzly bears.
I was born grumpy and grew into grizzly… š
Xenia,
In this case and so many others…the board serves at the pleasure of the pastor…
For these pastors to come after their own flock and call them pharasees and using the wheat and tares parable as a defense to keep the grips of power is beyond hypocritical.
It seems there is a whole “Me Too” movement going on among unfaithful church leaders when they try to compare themselves to David and make it all okay.
They also forget how much of Godās corrective discipline affected David. Not only did he lose his son, Amnon raped Tamar and then rebelled against the kingdom. The kingdom was divided after Davidās death. There was never a king without issues after Davidās death. God takes our sin seriously and he sends correction.
Aside from the obvious sexual sin and abuse of womenā¦I canāt believe Jon has been running this weird alliteration schtick with the goofy dramatic voice and the repeating of everything twice for decades and people eat it up like itās Ben n Jerryās.
Hiding their heads in the sand,
ignoring everything, pretending nothing happened, making everyone even more confused and divided.
Iām just sick over the fact that Jon continues to put out his
videos and calls himself āpapa Jonā.
How dare he refers to himself as āpapaā!
A papa protects his flock not feed them to the wolves. āIn the last days, if possible even the elect would be deceived.ā
We need to seek purity, keep your eyes on Jesus, because Jesus is coming to take home His pure bride.
Groan. I must have been in some kind of mind bent parallel universe back in the day when I held Courson and others in that club as annointed teachers. I once had his study bible and his little book on Jonah. Gave them to the Goodwill some years back. Now I can’t even stand to listen to him, he comes across as super creepy. And that laugh, I percept it as trying to emulate Chuck Smith’s laugh. And why is he called “papa Jon”…to emulate “papa Chuck”.. I have noticed over the recent years he even talks like him, he didnt used to talk that way.
This seems common with some, one of my other old favorites was Greg Denham, but if you listen to him he sounds like Greg Laurie, who he was mentored by a bit.
And then there’s the one I got saved listening to all those years ago, Raul Ries. Oh well, ‘ nuff said. Sadly my cynicism regarding “church” still runs deep..
Forgive for my rant.
Just an aside, but “papa” in Spanish means “pope” or “potato”-take your pick.
Uhmm..
In light of the Parable of the Tares involved angels descending from Heaven;
..”..and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do inequity. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”.. I would be afraid to invoke that Parable .
That felt ill advised. That felt like an omen of death.
He really thinks this is all a joke, doesn’t he? He can’t stop laughing throughout his message.
I’m sure he thinks that fake laugh comes across as hokey and down-to-earth, but it feels more like the creepy laugh of someone who knows that he’s been pulling the wool over their eyes for decades and is convinced that it will continue to work. And he doesn’t stop with it. He bares his teeth in a fake smile and laughs with practically every sentence. In real life, away from the camera and the spotlights and microphone, I doubt Courson cackles non-stop.
I appreciate genuinely happy people who are quick to laugh and lighten the day for those around them. I doubt Courson is really that kind of person.
I listened to Jon Courson on the radio for many years in the eighties. His voice does sound, very different now than it sounded then. I hadn’t noticed it before, but his laugh and tone does sound very much like the late Chuck Smith. This is the first I’d heard that he had adopted Pastor Chuck’s ‘papa” title as well. It’s almost as though it’s all just s!one and mirrors behind a curtain – like The Wizard of Oz story. It’s very creepy.
Okay, I got 2/3 through that video and had to stop because of the faux laughter. Anytime a person serves as a threat to the flock, they must be dealt with. Especially leaders who hold power and authority over the congregation. Not “received” as if it doesn’t matter what people do. That’s chaos! This is sad to see. Several years ago I had to release a fellow pastor who was (and is) my friend because of some actions that were very unwise. It was hard to carry out, but it took me 5 seconds to come to the decision because of the flock.
I had heard of Jon Courson for years. When I finally tuned into him on the radio, it took me about 2 minutes to realize that this guy is an actor and he’s doing a bit. I understand he has done very well for himself playing this part. He is on full display in the above video.
That is one creepy video. Doesn’t even matter what he’s saying, just the voice and mannerisms are so…odd? Wow. Never seen this guy. That’s weird stuff.
One wonders IF these personality boys really are Believers…?
They seem to take liberties with God’s Word that a God fearing person would never take
I had never listened to Jon Courson before this video. I don’t know if this video is anything like his normal delivery and manner of speaking, but something is very eerily wrong here. It is almost as if he’s under the influence of another spirit as he puts on his show meant to manipulate and deceive his listeners.
This is all so very creepy and sickening.
I agree with all the comments here. I’m suspicious that Jon may be under the influence of some kind of drug. I’ve never smoked pot before but this kind of behavior is what I would expect from a weed smoking pastor who is self medicating to ease the reality that he doesn’t want to see or accept.
Jon is recovering from Covid and is said to be fighting cancer…so he may be medicated.
He has always talked like this…
There is no evidence of pot smoking at all…
Well, that sure is a strange way of speaking. Now maybe it’s possible that this is his normal way of speaking, but it’s hard to fathom that one could have become so popular speaking in a manner that comes across feeling very contrived and for show….. and that laugh….. just so unsettling.
He was recommended to me from a friend to listen to his teachings and I just could not handle his voice his mannerisms his laugh . Evidently I was in the minority as he had a steady flock .
I remember when Bob Coy fell and even when all the issues were made public, he had 1,000ās of fans who wanted him to remain as their Pastor. While Jon has a large following, he doesnāt seem to be convincing the masses that he still has the charisma to carry on long term. I think between him and Ben, people are tired of pretending everything is ok. I also believe there are a couple up and coming churches in the valley now that can give Applegate a run for their money.
I listened to it and will say it again as one who worked with the mentally ill for years:
Heās nucking futs. Cuckoo. Crackers. Brain Fried. Someoneās spiked his Cu Cu Coco Puffs.
Only a full frontal lobotomy would suffice.
Older days…
https://youtu.be/vr9b8of_qVg
Classic JC handling of scripture. Taking one word and using it out of context and authorial intent to make his own personal point. Letās be honest. We were once entertained by and applauded his unique handling of scripture. We thought he was a man who could speak to his generation. But now we (I) see it was nothing more than a manipulative tool. Could it be that he actually believes what he says? I dunno.
I remembe his preaching the passage in Matthew 22 āā¦ expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36āTeacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?ā
37Jesus declared, āāÆāLove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: āLove your neighbor as yourself.ā 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.ā
He used the worship āhangā to preach about Jesus hanging on a cross. Creative to be sure. But when it comes to explaining the meaning of scripture, creative is not always a good word to describe a pastorās style.. My hermeneutic is grammatical, historical and redemptive. By grammatical I mean God chose to communicate in words and sentences. And words and sentences have meaning. To be ācreativeā with their meaning is a scary thing IMO. Applications may vary but not. interpretation. IMO
Should read āhe used the word āHangā
There’s nothing crazy about JC or his delivery style. It’s a packaged overall brand. Friendly, self depreciating, jocular even.
Prior to listening to JC, I was exposed to Reconstructionism, plus Presbyterianism repackaged as a non-denom. Lets remember that Rushdooney wanted homeschool kids to grow up and lead a violent society. Death to Democrats, college professors, people caught having affairs, etc. Killum..killum all in the name of Christ.
Or..jocular glad handling JC. (As a then much younger man) In hindsight, all the major second tier CC’s had a package.
To Nathan’s point about the JC brand, we as a culture are highly brand-driven. It’s a way to gain a sense of identity and belonging. Everything is packaged because we love the packaging…sometimes more than what we are supposed to find within the package.
Jon’s delivery is similar to what I remember from my years @ACF, but perhaps exaggerated a bit due to his aging. Yes, it is awkward for the uninitiated and those of us separated by time…
The bigger issue is the manipulation–the subtle warning to avoid listening to or joining with those who judge others or hold them accountable to biblical standards. The sloppiness of handling texts and lifting out the word or phrase and stitching up his own message is classic JC. He has always used biblical texts to say what he wanted to emphasize–a bully pulpit with built in credibility on loan from Jesus.
I am not familiar with Mr. Courson but the tone of this video clip is pure shiny-suited-used-car-salesmanship. And what’s with all the sibilant S’s?
Thatās Jon Courson?
As an outsider ā isnāt his cadence and delivery clearly an imitation of Chuck Smith.
I never listened to him and not much to Chuck but ā¦
There are so many disturbing things about Jon and the promotion of his prominence in Calvary Chapel leadership circles that I am going to journal about them in order to engage them in a healthy way.
Alan,
The imitation of Chuck Smith is one of the first things that hit me, too, even as I also have never listened to Chuck much. But the similarity was uncanny. Then the exaggerated and excessive manner was just creepy.
As i read the thoughtful comments prompted by this post….
Totally agree with the observations on Pastors comparing their “flaws” to David of the OT- David was able to humble himself, confess his trespassing to his Creator AND take his punishment
AND
I am reminded of the chicanery in the world of politics…. OR
Ha ha ha ha ha? As a certain veep would say
I am terribly bothered by Ben’s treatment of Necia in his public statement. He disrespected, defamed, and dishonored her, all in the name of “sharing” his pain. This was not a humble man sharing his heartache – this was a calculated, angry man hoping to manipulate his audience into supporting a false narrative. Shameful!
IMHO – good observation, Shoshana! ! !
I can’t wait until the sexual version of “but, I didn’t inhale,” is used during the Ben and perhaps Jon investigations. The Coursons have been speaking from the book of I-Say-Uh since the ’70s, and this disturbing video is exhibit A. I’m seriously grossed-out. Michael’s statement about the board serving “at the pleasure of the pastor,” keyword: Pleasure. Heaven weeps.
You just wait!!!
Should big CCs start to dwindle, then the narrative will be itās proof of the upcoming rapture and āthey were not of us,ā blah blah.
UnCCed
Unfortunately CCās and vs x vs teaching are diminishing. The split in cc didnāt help. Generally, evangelicalism is in decline and unlike the 60ās and 70ās mainline churches are seeing growth because they are a little less conservative. The pendulum is swinging the other way.
Is Officerhoppy who I think he is? Not Ben Harper……
Bob
Yes i think i am!!
āAt the pleasure of the pastorā is straight out of the original Calvary Chapel Distinctives. The CC boardās purposes were to fulfill legal requirements of establishing a church, and in CC particularly, to support & protect the head pastor as godās anointed one chosen to lead the body. Smith was ferociously opposed to the board having any power over holding pastors accountable! Jon learned every trick he knows from Smith.
All these pastors become rich. Yet Jesus had only the clothes on his back . He chose poverty! Why would all these evangelical pastors become wealthy! Isn’t he our example???? That is as disturbing to me as the abuse of power. And yes he’s taking advantage of his popularity and leadership. The two usually go together. Financial abuse and sexual abuse. No wonder they like Trump…
I looked and looked for Jon’s acknowledgement of Ben’s sin. Nothing. I looked for some acknowledgement from the pulpit that first Sunday. Nothing. The complicity in the coverup sickens me. I can no longer listen to his voice. I pray for repentance of all involved for their own souls’ sakes and the sakes of their children and grandchildren. I pray for the healing of those who have been abused.
Oh thank goodness you’re praying for their repentance Martha! What would we do without you?
*whew*
Donald, that comment was creepy. I read Marthaās comment as a person with a sincere heart who has been hurt by the Coursenās and hopes for the best from them. I read your comment, went back and read Marthaās comment and I have come to the conclusion that you are just a creep.
Nonnie
You might have been a little quick to jump on Donald. Not defending either Jon or Ben, we Christians are quick to throw other believersāespecially pastorsāāunder the bus. We should be praying for Ben and Jon. We say a pastor is not different than the rest of us, so why do we get our nickers in a twist when they act like us?
Again, I am not defending either Jon or Ben. I was a pastor at ACF for 7 years an an elder for about 17. I havenāt attended there for over 25 years. There were some things done that just didnāt sit right. But that doesnāt mean I will ever stop praying for them.
Just my thoughts
Officerhop, Please read again what Martha wrote and then Donalās comment to her. He was mocking a woman (Martha) who (if I understood her comment correctly) said she hoped for repentance and prayed for them, but was sickened by their lack of acknowledgement. I was not commenting on what the Coursensā did or didnāt do, but rather on how D mocked Martha, who, from her comment, appears to have been in the congregation and was very hurt by the Coursen ministry. That was why I said what I said to Donald.
Nonnie
Thanks for the clarification. My apologies
Thank you, Nonnie. You got what I was trying to say. I abhor what the Courson’s have done. I do believe that they are not beyond the grace of God, which is for us all. If not for the grace of God, there go I. But there needs to be repentance for the grace of God to have any effect.
I’m not sure about Jon. But I loved this tape!! He’s I hope right. And Ben should be love and excepted. And he should be receivied. But he shouldn’t be a pastor!!!!
They are both disqualified .
Love Ben, but keep him away from your young people…