By: Taren Vaughan
The Preachers of LA backlash continues as more pastors are coming forward and speaking out against the new reality TV show. “Preachers of LA” is one of the newest additions to reality TV as the show features several preachers from Los Angeles and their families. The show premiered with high numbers in ratings on Oxygen and appears to be a hit among viewers so far. “Preachers of LA” may be off to successful start in the ratings department however Bishop T.D. Jakes isn’t impressed with the show whatsoever. Bishop Jakes expressed his feelings about the new reality TV show to his congregation at the Potter’s House in Texas last Sunday morning, labeling the show as “junk.”
He says of the show:
“Now, I know you been watching that junk on TV.
“I want to tell you right now, not one dime of what you’re sowing right now will buy my suit. I want you to know my car is paid for. I want you to know I got my house on my own. I want you to know I’m not bling-blinging. I am not shake and bake. I had money when I came to Dallas and I plan to have some when I leave.
“You did not buy what I got. I had it when I came here. You know I had it when I came here. The devil is a lie! I have sold enough books and produced enough movies. I don’t need your offering to pay for this little slimy suit. So I rebuke that spirit in the name of Jesus Christ.”
Bishop T.D. Jakes isn’t the only preacher who has issues with the “Preachers of LA” reality show as several other pastors have come forward to say how they feel about it. Speaking with BET, Reverend James C. Perkins of Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit and Reverend Michael J.T. Fisher of Greater Zion Church Family of Compton, California both shared their thoughts on “Preachers of LA.” Reverend Perkins says he fears the show will cause people to believe all Black pastors behave in this manner and isn’t a true representation of traditional Black churches:
“The downside is that people often paint all pastors with a broad brush and, after watching this show, they may well begin to associate all pastors with those behaviors. There are many pastors who are out here serving the people and not just serving themselves.”
Reverend Fisher says while he doesn’t have an issue with the preachers being a part of a reality TV show, he does have a problem with what is displayed on the show. He also says feels the pastors on the show are sellouts and have caused other preachers to have to defend their integrity:
“They are giving the world ammunition to shoot back at the church and not accept the message that it is trying to convey. They’ve sold out. It will call for pastors all over the country to have to defend their integrity because these men have decided to chase their dream of being in the public eye.
After hearing what Bishop T.D. Jakes’ initial comments about “Preachers of LA,” one of the show’s cast members minister Deitrick Haddon phoned in to PRAISE 102.5 to offer a response to Bishop Jakes’ criticism. Minister Haddon says while he has a tremendous amount of respect for T.D. Jakes, he doesn’t quite understand how he can come down on him and his cast mates as he says Bishop Jakes has been known for using “unorthodox methods” to deliver the Gospel:
“I have the absolute utmost respect for Bishop TD Jakes and what he represents. I considered him one of our generals in this generation.
“I was a bit taken back and shocked when I saw his view on the show, being that he’s a forefather in unorthodox, unconventional methods of sharing the Gospel, whether it be through MegaFest or partnering with comedians or Oprah.”
Aside from dealing with the backlash over his involvement with “Preachers of LA,” minister Deitrick Haddon is currently surrounded by some rather scandalous controversy. According to several media outlets, nude photos of the preacher and an email exchange between him and his alleged former mistress from his first marriage were allegedly leaked out on the Internet by the woman. Blogger Funky Dineva obtained the photos.
“They are giving the world ammunition to shoot back at the church and not accept the message that it is trying to convey.” — THANK YOU!
I think the whole point of this show was to further strip Christianity of its credibility. Unfortunately these pastors were not smart enough to see what the network was really trying to do and they let their egos get in the way of spiritual discernment. This just proves they aren’t fit to lead.
*round of applause*
Nude photos? Mistress? LOL I’m done. This is a hot mess.
Deitrick is a complete fraud. It’s funny how some folks came on here and defended this man’s behavior and said he’s human and all that jazz. But this man cheated on the first wife, sent the mistress nude photos, then divorced her because she cheated, and then shacked up and got the next woman pregnant before marrying her. And that’s who people want to minister them? LOL. I can’t. People can’t even recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Tell em.
Nude photos? I couldn’t even click because this man is supposed to be a man of God. This is crazy!
This is such a bad look for the church. I understand no one is perfect but Deitrick seems to willingly make bad choices. That’s not cool if he is supposed to be a pastor.
The truth is there are a lot of phony pastors out here. Church is a big business and they are in it for the wrong reasons. Blame all these mega churches for the surge in corrupt pastors.
Just cancel this show already.
If you are sending pictures of your d-ck to random women, you shouldn’t be a pastor. You obviously have some more growing to do. And by the looks of how he acts on TV now, he hasn’t grown much since all of this went down.
SMDH. It’s just too much.
My mother was an accountant for several churches in our area, and I can tell you that I have seen some incredibly strange things. Because of her job, I am not a Christian, nor do I think I will ever be one, yet one day I decided to watch the show. Reading the comments on here, I’m not sure why I like the show so much, but I do. I respect all of them, and like I said before, I’ve seen some faul things, but the show made me look at myself. The people that my mother worked for, just like the pastors on the show, were good people and I believe they meant well, they just did things that were against their religious belief. I wish them the best. Guess ill be the only one watching…FYI, detricks story is not uncommon to many of the congregations she felt with. One man divorced his wife, married another woman in the church and slept with his new wife’s aunt. S nothing these preachers could do or say would surprise me, but they are human and they have to leave with the decisions they make, be it good or bad.
Personally from the two episodes I have saw of the show I will continue to watch further. I actually like Deitrick in the fact that he speaks his mind. If you have been raised in a strict religious household then sometimes you may have done some things because of how you were raised and not because you felt strong about them. I identify with Christianity, and from being raised in the church I have saw many things, some of which I do not agree with. Seeing those things I have had to step back and re-evaluate some things. Some people inside the church are just as corrupt as some people outside the church. Just because you are a Christian whether you are in a leadership role or just in the congregation does not mean you are free from fault or sin. It means that you are or should be striving to be the best you, you can be. The one thing that we have to remember is that whether your role be that of a pastor, member, observer, or whatever you are still human at the end of the day. We all fall short sometimes, and when we fall short we have to repent and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes people do not do that, instead the cover up their wrong doings. Another thing is sometimes we put people on such a high pedestal that when they make a mistake even after they have moved on from it some of us always continue to make them live there. The bible says; “He who is without sin, cast the first stone”. I am not saying that leaders whether spiritual or otherwise shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions, but I also believe in second chances sometimes. I also now know from seeing what I have seen all through out my life in church what I will and will not accept whether in a church or in outside of it. We should not depend solely on pastors in leadership to give us edification and to believe that everything is bible when they say something, we also have to have our own relationship with God if we choose to outside of church. You build your own relationship with Him, not on what someone tells you. In my opinion it’s time for churches and leadership to get real and stop playing. We have to reach the youth and people in different ways. The problem is sometimes the church gets so caught up in “religion” that they are not being their true selves. Some people are self- righteous instead of righteous in the church. I have seen a lot of things inside and outside the church and I had to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Like my cousin told me once; “You have to have a spiritual garbage can, you take the things you need and throw away what you don’t”. You don’t have to follow anyone you don’t want to it’s a choice. If you have read the bible and you believe the word in it you will see that many of the people who God and Jesus used to lead where sometimes not perfect. David sinned with Basheeba who was married because he wanted her and she got pregnant with his child and lost it, but David repented and God blessed that union, Samson was brought down by Deliah, but in the end God still helped avenge his enemies. I could go on and on, but the moral of my story is, is that God looks at your heart. We can hide a lot of things from a lot of people, but at the end of the day God knows a person’s heart; sometimes when they don’t even know it.
Lord some people just refuse to use the common sense God gave them. Look, it’s really simple folks. There’s a lot of phony pastors out here who are preaching to get rich. They don’t care about your soul or even their own, money and fame are the motives. This is the case with Deitrick and some of the others on the show. No one on here is saying they have to be perfect, but let’s not compare these people to individuals in the bible who were (past tense) flawed but eventually got it together enough to be true men of God. Deitrick is not even trying. He has done numerous shady things but he gets a pass because most people don’t have common sense. That’s why Bishop Eddie Long is still preaching. You church people are too loyal to fake pastors and instead of calling them out, you call them “real.” Lol. So this is why I tell people forget a church, forget even trusting in a pastor. Most of them are snakes because people don’t hold them accountable and their supporters don’t really care. Get your own relationship with God and leave these churches and fake preachers alone.
Agreed. I don’t go to church anymore. Why should I? Church people will ride or die for their crooked pastors and if it’s ok for a preacher to be an adulterer and send nude photos to his mistress, then why do I need to even have a pastor? I’m flawed too and can have a relationship with God in my lonesome. I don’t see why anyone needs a pastor who has as many issues as they do. That defeats the purpose. Forget church and form your own relationship with God.
I don’t know if you were commenting on my comment when I gave examples of people in the bible who were imperfect and with sin as we all are, but if you were let me clarify. I was not comparing any of the people on Preachers of L.A. to the people in the bible. I was giving an example of how God chose people to lead and they made mistakes and sometimes sinned against God, but repented and was forgiven by God and even blessed. David was a king and he sinned by committing adultery with Basheeba and having her husband killed to do so. After all of this he repented to God and God forgave them and blessed their union because of that. Like I said people should be held accountable for their actions whether in leadership or otherwise. The bible says “We sin daily, though our outward man perish our inner man is renewed. Everyday knowingly or maybe unknowingly we sin whether you call yourself a “sinner” or a “saint”. Everyone has a choice to make, just because someone in leadership is doing such and such does not mean that you have to do it or follow it. I just believe that when you are honest when you fall short of the glory of God instead of covering it up or lying about it or being unrepentant that is when the problem arises. I don’t know what Deitrick or any of the other pastors on that show do everyday in real life, but they are human just like me. I just refuse to put anyone preacher or otherwise on a pedestal anymore, because when they can’t or don’t live up to it, you are disappointed. Being real to me means acknowledging your shortcomings and flaws and mistakes/sins and owning up to them and moving forward trying to improve yourself, not making excuses or covering your wrong doings with lies. If you have never lived in a strict Christain household then you don’t know the weight it bares because you are constantly trying to live up to a standard you sometimes cannot uphold. Also sometimes you are guilt tripped into doing things because you don’t want to disappoint others or it is the “Christian way”. Like I said I like the fact that Detrick speaks his mind and when you have been restricted because you didn’t want to challenge authority for so long you have to start speaking up. At the end of the day no matter who you are you have to be real with yourself and God first and foremost. And if you know your bible it also states that even sometimes God uses his enemies to get the glory, so whether or not these pastors on television or in real life are on the up and up God still will get the glory.
Oh please! Such judgmental people! They are still HUMAN at the end of the day. That is the problem, stop making them out to be Jesus Christ himself. Most of the people commenting on this probably NEVER even watched the show. I like the show. Give the show a CHANCE before you bash it. Everyone religious beliefs are different and not the same.
LOL. I watch this and to me, it’s Love and Hip Hop for pastors. It’s messy and I can’t help but laugh at how dumb some of them look on TV. I stopped giving pastors the benefit of the doubt a long time ago. Most church people are stupid/gullible anyway. Just sayin.
This is honestly why I don’t go to church. I have to agree with Tasha and Anonymous. If it’s okay for a man of God to commit the same acts as those unsaved, then why do I need to listen to them? Why do I need to get saved if the “saved” pastor isn’t even acting saved? Why do I need to go to church on Sunday if the man preaching is committing the same acts he was telling me not to? I bet none of you in defense of these pastors can answer those questions. The only perfect person that walked the Earth was Jesus and he was God in human flesh. So then I don’t need to go to church and I don’t need no pastor. All any of us need is a relationship with God and an understanding of the teachings of the Bible. You don’t need a preacher for any of that. Skip church and stop giving these men wealthy lifestyles they don’t deserve.
See this is what the pastor I quoted in my earlier comment on here warned about. He said this behavior would make people question why Christianity’s message is even necessary. And that’s my problem. When pastors drop the ball in such a big way, they turn off potential believers. They question why they should even try to be better people when pastors aren’t even trying.