Jackson Jambalaya

This is the work of the devil-

Whoop, there it is!

Me I prefer women but some people really love money!

More of those conservative Christian Mississippi values on display. He should run for governor.

I think sometimes a victim has a responsibility to all the potential victims out there to hold a person accountable for their actions. I also believe that Biblical forgiveness and just giving someone a pass are two very different things. Paul frequently told the 1st Century churches to hold each other accountable, and he also laid out how to do it.

Crooks either wrap themselves in pages from the bible or the flag!

What is untold is how the church handled this. My Family was looking for a church and attended First Baptist Jackson when they released their pastor and then were at Broadmoor at the time of the discovery that money was missing. It would be understating the matter to say FNB Jackson ran their pastor out on a rail. It was almost unbearable to sit through the after the sermon, sermon as they lambasted the preacher stating 5 times, we counted, that the pastor was asked to resign and his resignation was accepted without any concern for he or his family’s wellbeing. We then were at Broadmoor when the pastor informed the church of this incident and the Christian concern for this individual was one of the best examples of New Testament forgiveness we had ever seen. Their concern for him and prayers for him were inspiring. That pastor is no longer there and they are looking for a new one, but what we saw and experienced was a church body that is dedicated to serving others.

This is unconstitutional due to the separation of church & State.
The state can't interfere with church matters. The church didn't file charges so why can the state file charges into a matter of the church?

dat preacher did not embezzle that money! lawd ham mercy!!!!........he will tell you so himself. he was just 'borrowing' it to catch up on a few bills and he was gonna put it back. but , of course, he never did.

Those Baptists don't drink, but they sure can steal.

Thank God! As a devout southern baptist it breaks my heart when a wolf in sheeps clothing takes advantage of a church like this. Too often the church is too forgiving and/or doesn't want the scandal that they will cover this stuff up.

Forgive on a personal level, yes, but justice must be served in the courts. God established governments for this purpose.

@ 11:47

Yes, forgiveness is the cornerstone of the christian faith.

However, there are consequences for the sinner as well as forgiveness.

Though shalt not steal is still in force. Maybe the stolen monies will be equally reimbursed by EVERY member to the church treasury, for that is the true measure of forgiveness. Not, just a verbal expression.

What's it gonna be?

Wonder where the constitutional lawyer at 11:51attended law school?

@11:23 Hi Donna. Click an ad while you are here.

@11:47 I'm Baptist also. So if someone entered the church and killed 10 members of the congregation with an AR-15, you would want to let the killer go unpunished?

I absolutely believe in forgiveness. But the law needs to do what should be done. This guy should go to jail, Broadmoor and its members should want him in jail, but Broadmoor and its members should forgive him. Members of the congregation should visit him in jail and let him know that while he deserves his punishment, he is forgiven. So when he gets out of jail, he can come back and join the congregation and be welcomed with open arms (but not be hired on staff).

Forgiveness doesn't mean lack of punishment or consequences.

Forgiveness and accountability are different concepts that are not mutually exclusive. This prosecution is about the latter.

Just wondering...what size budget does Broadmoor have? The are some significant amounts to not have been noticed by someone in the financial office.

Why do you always take two Baptists fishing with you? Because if you took only one he'd drink all your beer!

There are some families around Madison living high off the money he gave them.

@12:35, there is no way that @11:23 is DonnerKay. Her bloviating has never been confined to just one line of text.

12:40 is right on the mark.

Lock him up with the pedophile priests. They can pray together.

That sure is a lot of Appreciation Sunday's Mr. Pastor.

"Pass the plate!"

Keep feeding the collection plates, suckers. Don't forget to make a special donation for those luxury business jets that some of these preachers fly around in.

This embezzlement is not an isolated incident.

I find it hard to believe that more than one or two posters on JJ go to this church. And if you don't, what do you get out of posting about this?

The problem with never filing charges against those who embezzle, is that when there is no record of it, they go somewhere else and steal again. I've seen it so many times in charities and churches.

It appears that the leadership of this particular church (as it was constituted at the time the crimes were discovered) had the "gentle as doves" part down pat. Hopefully the new leadership intends to employ more of the "wise as serpents" part of the equation. Both are commended to Believers.

@2:51 PM - so true! I had an optometrist whose office manager stole $250,000 over time. He fired her but did not report it to the police (too embarassed).

Guess what? She moved to a nearby town and was hired by another...wait for it...optometrist, where she probably did the same thing.

Church: extorting money from stupid people with fairy tales, mass hypnosis, grandstanding, and guilt for millennia. Wonder why 43 percent of the US now identifies as non religious.

I wonder if this Pastor is a Mississippi College Graduate?

Very specific information that would seemingly come directly from someone at Broadmoo, but hey they are not pursuing charges. Also I find it hard to believe that Futral a "friend" of Mr. Brown would not have had knowledge about this. Most larger churches also have finance committees and audits annually. Something does not fully add up here especially in the light of Futral resigning. Something does not add up at all.

So the pastor at the time of this resigns and then moves out to California. What did he know? Also cool that the church is not pursuing charges, but seems to be leaking specific information on it.

Also, churches typically have audits annually and finance committees. Seems to be a missing piece here especially since a second home was involved. What did the pastor know?

Embezzling is such a grand old tradition and southern fundamentalists are all about observing traditions.

Jesus yes.

Establishment religion? No.

Drain the swamp.

Church:

Have you ever been to church? I would like to take you. I think you have been mislead.

How in the world did these withdrawals not get found out for two years after the fact? Doesn't the church balance their bank statements monthly and account for what comes in and what goes out? I find this extremely difficult to swallow. There MUST be others involved that knew about what was happening but "were trying to protect" the pastor/thief. I hope the DA does a thorough investigation . The pastor definitely should be prosecuted of a theft of such magnitude ($332,000) as this over a two year period. It's not like he slipped up once or twice but FOURTEEN! Shame on him. He deserves his punishment, and yes, he can be forgiven for his sin.

A crime is a crime. It doesn’t matter if you embezzle from the bank or the church. Punishment (and forgiveness) should be consistent across the board.

The Christians on responding on this site are advocating forgiveness, they are not presuming to tell law enforcement or the courts how to do their jobs. Nor are they saying this man should not be punished by the appropriate branch of government for stealing this money. They are not suggesting the department of revenue should not pursue the taxes this thief probably did not pay. They are simply saying as Christians one should not judge this person and should behave a in forgiving manner toward him. Ultimately, only God can judge us.

The "trier of fact" will certainly judge him.

Keep feeding those collection plates. Tithing will save your soul, or at least build big egotiscal taj mahals.

I'm sure that he will repay Broadmoor for every dollar that he took....

And for the church to just let him resign, and hush it up--it just perpetuates the problem. There is no repentance without confession.

just google 'houston chronicle baptist database' and read all about churches that passed the problem...

What, no sex with another staff member or someone's wife? No prostitutes or under age children? Just money? Phhht...this doesn't rate as a scandal, just simple theft.

Just like the mackeral snappers - transfer the offender to a different city.

How in the world does any church (especially one as large as Broadmoor) not have an accounting
system in place whereby ALL money removed from any of their bank account(s) is not seen/pre-approved
by at least 3 people before any check or withdrawal is made?
And, how did this go on for so long a period of time before anyone noticed?
Come on folks, just use 1% of your brain when dealing with money. It’s not hard.

I’m a life long card carrying Baptist and I’ve never seen this type problem
occur at any church I’ve been a member.

What a light weight. He could have used that money to lure some church wives to an out-of-town resort...

Oh but church members who turn a blind eye to pilfering cash from the offering plates might be allowing someone or some several individuals to make life more comfortable for themselves, 9:40. Even some large televised evangelicals feel free to skim cash off the top for themselves and allow their dear friends who volunteer to open the mail to do the same.

Tax laws written to remove churches from financial scrutiny also removes scrutiny from those in the churches it seems. An ordained minister has a license to steal and then pay no taxes on his loot. The Mafia envies them.

I heard the church reported the money to the IRS as income. That was pretty slick.

Many churches buy homes for their staff. There are no taxes paid on those homes.

These church 'leaders' who think this sort of thing ought to be swept under the alder, forgiven or treated like taking two donuts instead of one during annual revival ought to run a poll of the membership and feel the pulse of the sheep. I don't doubt some of them want the same sort of 'forgiveness' when they do the same thing.

"Charity (embezzlement) begins at home."
"The Lord helps those who help themselves (to the cash)."

OK, so you're told, "Every dime your family has tithed for the past thirty years has been stolen for personal use. But your church leadership has admonished you to look the other way".

Judgment and vengeance aside, where and by whom are we admonished to suffer, gracefully, those who would enter our gates and steal from us that to which they have no right?

Render unto Caesar that which is Caeser's. I've always understood that Biblical admonition to mean, among other things, that crimes should be prosecuted by the government.

Most congregants think 'the church's money' is mythical anyway. It's not as if 'church money' is part of the parishioner's budget. After all, the money claimed to be tithed is fictional and only a pencil entry on the annual tax return.

The Perception of Christianity

This asst. pastor claims he's 100 percent innocent. Said the pastor let him do it! Started squealing on the whole bunch when they fired him. Must have blew up in his face. Whole bunch seems dirty. Jesus thrashed and overturned the den of theives.

January 2020 comment is interesting. Because of this story and all the comments I have seen, I did research; it seems the main pastor is now at a smaller church in CA. Did Broadmoor run him out of town because he wanted to forgive his old college roommate and not hold him accountable? Or did he flee before they found out he knew all about it?

Looks like Brown's old boss Futral is now a former pastor of the So California church, it's only been a couple of years. The plot thickens.