GEORGIA
Digital Journal
By Jacki Viles
Feb 4, 2012
Atlanta- In 2010, Bishop Eddie Long was accused by 4 young men who alleged that the bishop abused his authority, took them on trips and gave out lavish gifts to coerce them into sexual relationships.
In May of this past year, the bishop settled out of court. By December, his wife of 21 years filed for divorce. Bishop Long took a month off to re group and was back at the pulpit in January.
This past Sunday the congregation of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church was on hand for a real treat as the bishop was given ‘new birth’ himself and anointed ‘King’ by a man known as Rabbi Ralph Messer. Ralph Messer is a particularly controversial figure. He claims to be a Messianic Rabbi. Messianic Jews are better known by their common name, ‘Jews for Jesus’. This group is not Jewish faith based. They are Christians. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
But something is definitely wrong with the ‘rabbi’. Whatever Ralph Messer purports to being, his ceremony was a sanctimonious sham. His deliberate misuse of the most holiest religious article in the Jewish faith made my skin crawl. I couldn’t believe my ears as he preached to the congregation that the Torah he was using was over 312 years old and recovered from the concentration camps at Auschwitz! Watch the video. I think he said the scroll was recovered from Auschwitz and Birkenstocks! Where? Rabbi, don’t you mean Birkenau?
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