COCINO cult "tent meeting" a bust! Head magus Johnny Robertson preaches to the choir invisible (literally) as serial killer look-alike from Texas fails to bring in the crowds

It is by faith alone that we please God. It's just the conceited bastitches among mankind who keep insisting that we must please them with our works.

(Can't think of a better way to preface this post than with that thought from earlier this week.)

Yes folks, it's time to once again chronicle for posterity - in addition to laughing at - what is called on this blog and others the "Church Of Christ In Name Only" (COCINO) and the minions of Johnny Robertson.

A few nights ago numerous e-mails came in saying that I should check out what local cult leader Johnny Robertson - prime evil of the self-professed "Church of Christ" wacko fringe group - had brought in: some guy from the cult's breeding ground in Texas, not just for the group's annual "tent meeting" in this area but also, apparently, for the express purpose of "taking on Chris Knight" since this individual kept referencing me during his live appearances on WGSR.

(With so many of the cult's leadership in this area, I will ask them since they are obviously reading this blog: why are you guys giving all that money from the Lord's treasury to a habitual convicted felon, atheist, purveyor of immoral entertainment and BISEXUAL DEVIANT/PERVERT? If scripture commands us to have an answer ready for every question as it does in Colossians 4:6 and 1st Peter 3:15 then it's high time that this question be answered. Y'all accuse others of lesser things than this but when it's known that you are actively dealing with such a person on your own, you never seem to be able to 'splain that one to us. Reeks of hypocrisy if ya ask me...)

Anyhoo, I checked out what the hub-bub was about and found that Robertson had brought into town someone named Shawn Paden.

The first thought that entered my mind when I saw Robertson's fellow cultist was "this guy looks like John Wayne Gacy without the clown makeup!"

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, executed in 1994 for the murder of more than 30 young men. Gacy was known throughout his Chicago neighborhood for his block parties and dressing up as "Pogo the Clown".

I don't have a photo of Shawn Paden himself at the moment, but just imagine "Pogo the Clown" without the makeup, focus on his heartless soulless eyes, and that is a pretty good image of Shawn Paden.

Anyhoo, Johnny Robertson brought Pogo Paden into town at presumably great expense. Once he got here Pogo Paden did nothing with his television airtime other than declare that people without water baptism were damned to Hell and that salvation is mostly a thing about works. Pogo Paden reiterated Robertson's "thousand dollar challenge" (which has long been answered but Robertson refuses to ante-up) to the belief that we are saved by faith.

Even while working on my new film last night, I was able to tick off the scriptural answers to Pogo Paden: Luke 5:20, Luke 18:10-14, John 3:16, John 6:28-29, John 5:24, John 6:40, John 6:47, Acts 10:43, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:28 (which reads "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT the deeds of the law."), Romans 4:5 (which reads "But to him THAT WORKETH NOT, but BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith IS COUNTED for righteousness."), Romans 5:1 (which reads "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."), Galatians 2:16 (which reads "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."), Galatians 2:21, all of Galatians chapter 3, Ephesians 2:8-10 (which reads "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."), and numerous others which no doubt will also be ignored by Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, Mark McMinnis, Micah Robertson and Shawn Paden as they routinely do anyway.

(Do these people ever preach Christ and Him crucified? I've never heard them do it, not even once.)

But let's get to the really interesting thing, folks! Seems that earlier this week Johnny Robertson ran afoul of the City of Danville because - gasp! - Robertson and his cult failed to get the proper permits for their tent meeting. I didn't see it myself but I had to chuckle at all the reports of Robertson and his goons going on WGSR and blaming "the Baptist Mafia" at work in Danville for trying to foil his plans. Yup, "Baptist Mafia", that's what Robertson apparently said.

Well, Robertson did get his papers in order and the "tent meeting" began. Complete with associates of the cult from Texas including Shawn "Pogo" Paden. But how successful has it been?

Here are some screen captures from a videotape that somebody provided of a broadcast of the tent meeting on WGSR a few days ago. Johnny Robertson droned on and on for an hour, again claiming that without water baptism (and "proper" water baptism at that, meaning that all Baptists are going to Hell anyway) that one is damned without any possibility of salvation.

Here's Johnny Robertson of the Martinsville Church of Christ (which has nothing to do with the mainstream Churches of Christ that most people know and respect and admire) finally shutting up from his "inspirational" preaching. In the footage I thought I could make out Mark McMinnis and one other individual, and one person obviously running the camera...

And no doubt Robertson has been preaching his message to an enthralled, enraptured audience. Right? Right?!

A thoughtless panning of the camera to the right reveals the truth of the matter...

NOBODY HAS COME TO THE TENT MEETING! Johnny Robertson has spent an hour, possibly more, PREACHING TO EMPTY CHAIRS! Apart from his own followers (who are obligated to be in attendance because Robertson calls them out by name during "services" on Sunday morning at Martinsville Church of Christ if they haven't been "faithful" enough) no one from the general public has come to hear Johnny Robertson speak, at least at this particular "tent meeting".

I've seen tent revivals before, put on by churches and visiting evangelists. Not the "charlatan" types either that unfortunately do admittedly roam the land, but some obviously sincere folks. Those events always seemed to pack their respective tents. But here, at Johnny Robertson's "Church of Christ"? Not so much. Crazily enough, Johnny Robertson does sweep his gaze look up and down and across the empty chairs as if they had actual people sitting in them.

I am told by some who have eyewitnessed the tent meeting that there have been apparently less than a dozen people amassed beneath it at any given time during the past several nights.

Maybe that's why Robertson was so hot to locate his tent meeting next to a car dealership: because on camera it would look as though throngs of people beat a path to his sham. Trickery, trickery, trickery.

I guess the word really is out: nobody wants to associate with a cult that regularly harasses and intimidates people in their own homes and during the sanctity of their worship services, a cult that has already been found guilty in court once this year for criminal trespass, and a cult leader who has thus far accused at least two churches of child pornography without any evidence, among many other acts of irresponsible and unethical behavior.

Maybe Johnny Robertson just needs to bring more of his comic book collection to entice people to come visit "the tent".

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"What Does Spider-Man Say?"

Many egotisticial nutcases in history have had pastimes. Fidel Castro almost made it as a professional baseball player. Charles Manson wrote songs. Even Hitler painted roses.

And apprently local cult leader Johnny Robertson of the Martinsville Church of Christ (part of what many are now calling "Sons of Hell" and "Stalkers for Jesus") is not exempt.

Here's the original photo that was sent in by "Code Name Exelsior"...

This photo was taken inside Martinsville Church of Christ's sanctuary. That's Johnny Robertson himself in the left of the picture, and fellow cultist/stalker (and partner with recently found-guilty criminal trespasser Micah Robertson) Mark McMinnis in the plaid shirt sitting down.

Have you spotted it yet? Is your "Spider-Sense" tingling?

Well if not, behold true believers!

I count at least nine and possibly more Spider-Man comic books sitting in a pile on the pews of Martinsville Church of Christ. The headquarters of the cult that puts out What Does The Bible Say?, A Word From The Lord and Religious Review on WGSR: live TV broadcasts where Robertson and his cronies do nothing but condemn everyone else for such imagined slights and sins as having church car washes and bake sales, instrumental music and books during church worship that aren't the Bible.

Yet there it is, most presumably during a worship service at Martinsville Church of Christ: a heap of Marvel Comics and within arm's reach of its head magus. And not only that but Marvel Comics featuring Spider-Man: a character whose fathers include two Jewish comic book legends (Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)! I could also note that Spidey's co-creator Steve Ditko also created Doctor Strange and worked on the New Gods at DC for awhile, so it could be argued that Johnny Robertson is also allowing "eastern religions" and pagan worship inside as he puts it "the church that you read about in the Bible".

Johnny Robertson you damn hypocrite: sit down and SHUT UP, sir!

And you thought it was bad enough that Robertson gets the Bible all twisted and convoluted. Lord only knows how he would interpret the X-Men books.

But as one trusted associate put it when I showed this photo to him: "Of course, I did wonder if comic books is where Johnny Robertson gets his theology from."

Feel free to post whatever clever and snide captions and comments you can think of!

(P.S.: Speaking of hypocrisy, why is Johnny Robertson giving more than a quarter of a million dollars of his congregation's money per year to a multiple-convicted criminal, habitual thief and bisexual purveyor of "filthy" entertainment?)

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REAL Church of Christ member discusses Johnny Robertson

First things first: Earlier this week somebody suggested that we should begin referring to local cult leader Johnny Robertson as "He Who Stalks Behind the Pews".

It was too good an idea not to go into Photoshop with it...

(click to drastically embiggen)

Heh-heh. Haven't done one of those in awhile :-P

Speaking of video cameras, a number of people have informed me that during his four hours of "Religious Review" this past week that Johnny Robertson put the word out to all(?) of his viewers that he wants them to begin covertly video recording all the churches in this area with video cameras, cellphones, iPhones etc. and to send the footage to him.

Between his obsession with Martinsville-based television station BTW, his constant scheming to destroy Baptists and Pentecostals and Methodists (especially Baptists), his harassing innocent people in their own homes and churches and store parking lots, his monitoring both feeds of WGSR to watch for dissenters, and now trying to amass an army of spies, does Johnny Robertson ever, like... you know, minister to the members of his own church? Doesn't seem right, somehow.

Yet another blog has popped up to counter Johnny Robertson and his so-called "Church of Christ". Whoever is behind it is already asking hard questions about the hyper-legalist doctrine of the cult as well as the lingering enigma regarding Jason Hairston's departure from the cult.

Finally, there is this that was posted on another forum by a mainstream Church of Christ member in the Martinsville, Virginia area. I thought it pertinent enough to repost here...

Word on the street, is supporters of John are starting to see through him, meetings have transpired as to a solution.

Even the Preaching School was created on lies and deceit via pictures, names of attendees. Funds were raised via a list of names and pictures of those who were supposedly enrolled. After some dropped from the program, funds were still being raised as if the program still had the same enrollees. It is quite clear that the purpose of the training school, was not to make “Gospel Preachers” but created solely to make clones – clones of John. John knows he has lost support and also realizes that his negative popularity is hurting his cause, rather than furthering his agenda. In desperation, he has tried to push more air time, as if this will help.

Watching a few shows one can quickly see that the show revolves around his ego. Seldom is Jesus referenced on his shows. He is more interested in picking apart the flaws of others than he is in reaching lost souls. And, NEVER do you hear him discussing the many problems within the Church of Christ. Why not? Well, simply put, it would show him to be like the rest of us – IMPERFECT. He falls short with morality and doctrinally, just as everyone else. But, pride comes before the fall and he dare not acknowledge his short-comings nor will he disclose information regarding the many disagreements within the Church of Christ; and folks these are not just some minor disagreements, they involve doctrine.

The “Doctrine of Christ” becomes whatever each sect within the Church of Christ deems it to be. Also, there is so much disagreement over “the gospel”-- not the Gospel about Jesus, but the gospel of scriptural interpretation. If you teach something like one cup MUST be used during communion, the multiple cuppers are labeled preaching “another gospel.” Many splits have occurred because one group says the other church of Christ sect is preaching “another gospel.” In both cases, Johns teaching on the “Doctrine of Christ” and Paul’s teaching to the Galatians are twisted and ripped from context and then used to divide the Church – a sin that Paul condemned strongly. John is a master at such misapplication of scripture, often ripping a verse from it's context and giving his own private interpretation which we are warned not to do.

Cults are masters of scripture manipulation and this brings me to the million dollar question: Is John Robertson a cult leader? YES!! Is the Church of Christ a cult? NO!! Many conservative Church of Christ are loving people, teaching the truth in love, not wanting to control peoples minds, but lead them to Christ. John wants his cultish ego fed and many afar off are staring to see this.

If you are reading this, and desire to stay in the Church of Christ, there are others in town who know John is a cult leader and they will gladly accept you and will do so in love and not attempt to control your minds.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Last night during my personal Bible study (so far that's all I'm reading this Lenten season, having vowed to give up reading for pleasure :-) I did some study in 2nd Corinthians. Beginning in the eleventh chapter, Paul has a lot to say about as he puts it the "super-apostles" who were puffing themselves up with legalism. They thought that by following "the rules" that this would give them more merit than other Christians. Paul rails against them and not just because they were trying to destroy Paul's ministry either. These people were bringing back the same rule of law that Christ's substitutionary death had put an end to. In effect, these people were undoing the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

It's not by any work of our own, lest we should boast! We are saved by the grace of God, and not by the grace of other men.

I cannot put it any more plain than this: to insist otherwise, is a very evil thing. Perhaps the most evil thing possible in this world. Christ came to free us. Men like Johnny Robertson and his followers lust to enslave others... and in the name of Christ, no less!

And I'm going to keep stating the obvious for however much I have to, regardless of any intimidation or threats from Johnny Robertson and his lackeys.

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James Oldfield is FULL of crap tonight!

How long has it been since I've posted about those lunatics from the local "Church of Christ" cult? Awhile, at least.

Time to have some fun with them again...

Earlier tonight it was Micah Robertson talking about satanic sex (bear in mind that this is the same young man who recently went on a weeks-long spate obsessing about Abraham's libido) and Mark McMinnis, who for once didn't do his whiny act about "...those Baptists made me lose my job in Danville schools!"

But it was the 9 p.m. show with James Oldfield that was so rife with hypocrisy that I literally laughed out loud too many times to count.

James Oldfield - the second banana and second cousin of cult leader Johnny Robertson - ranted for the entire hour about... some caller last week, apparently... who was insisting that Jesus had to be referred to by a specific name in order to be saved. Oldfield actually condemned this man's insistence upon ritualistic salvation demanding the following "right" methods as being "twisted" and perverted.

For James Oldfield or anyone from this cult to damn anyone for believing in doing a certain thing to be saved... is like King Kong condemning Curious George for being a monkey.

James Oldfield, Johnny Robertson, Mark McMinnis, and Robertson the Lesser don't do anything BUT damn EVERYONE ELSE for not following Christ as "they" think is proper. Funny thing: for all the airtime they have on WGSR, they have never done anything to show that they follow Christ. They can't even prove that they're in a real church anyway: they spend all their time knocking others.

Oldfield and his droogs don't want salvation by grace. They want salvation by religion: their religion. They are enslaved to their own works and their fallen nature demands that they enslave others even more cruelly.

It was almost hilarious to behold. But I was also reminded of what another James - namely James, the brother of our Lord - would have to say about James Oldfield of the Eden Church of Christ...

"...he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

-- James 1:8

'Course, that could be said of everyone in the evil cult that is Johnny Robertson's "Church of Christ".

(And why is Johnny condemning Martinsville cable channel BTW when he himself is doing business with a s***** d******? B******* perhaps?)

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Had enough of Johnny Robertson? Not enough apparently...

This blog hasn't had much to report on local cult leader/pathological liar/convicted felon/public menace Johnny Robertson lately. Been almost a month since I posted anything new.

This next item though is sufficiently wacky enough that it screams to be talked about.

Some people have been writing to let me know that Johnny Robertson and all of his followers (those being James Oldfield, Micah Robertson "The Lesser" and Mark McMinnis) have been conspicuously absent from the airwaves of local television station WGSR in recent weeks. Instead What Does the Bible Say? and A Word from the Lord (AKA "The Martinsville Taliban Show" and "A Word from James Oldfield") have been in reruns, one of which was Oldfield's two-hour spiel about why it's a sin to place money in the Salvation Army kettles. That particular screed prompted one person known to this writer to make a fifty dollar contribution to the Salvation Army on behalf of James Oldfield, but I digress...

So, wanna know where Johnny Robertson and his crew are?

Siddown. Y'all ain't gonna buh-leeeeve this one.

Robertson and his cronies are currently on a madcap dash around the country visiting the few other gatherings of their "Church of Christ" cult (which again, has nothing at all to do with the mainstream Churches of Christ) in a bid to raise money for more airtime on WGSR.

But wait: it gets better...

Currently, the "Church of Christ" cult broadcasts for four and a half hours each week on WGSR out of Martinsville, Virginia and Reidsville, North Carolina.

Johnny Robertson has decided that this isn't enough "information" (which approximately consists of 50% bragging about himself, 40% harassing other people and churches and 10% sloppy PowerPoint presentations and 0% about Jesus Christ).

So now he is attempting to raise funds to purchase TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF AIRTIME PER WEEK!

That is about 3 and a half hours per day that Robertson and his co-villains will be attempting to fill with god-knows-what (not God that is, but the god of this world that Robertson and his cronies serve and commit evil for).

Wouldn't surprise me if Robertson ordered what few followers he still has to ramp up their attacks and intimidation tactics of innocent people and church congregations around here. Maybe even going as far as harassing Greensboro, Burlington and Winston-Salem since Robertson is apparently goading WGSR general manager/personal stooge Charles Roark toward expanding into those markets...

...But that also means that this blog will be expecting a lot more traffic in the near future as people start Goggle-ing about Johnny Robertson, "Martinsville Church of Christ" and the like as more begin to discover the brazenly unethical behavior coming out of WGSR and its current management.

Twenty-four hours per week? I don't know of any politician who's that conceited...

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Cult driven out of Reidsville as Johnny Robertson gets caught in a lie (and the "Church of Christ" digs for dirt... literally)

Many people have told me that on Sunday night's television broadcast of What Does The Bible Say? on WGSR - or as I call it "The Martinsville Taliban Show" - local cult leader Johnny Robertson of the "Martinsville Church of Christ" claimed that there are now four robust congregations of the "Church of Christ" (which is nothing like the mainstream Churches of Christ) meeting in this area. Those would be his own Martinsville group, one at the old post office on The Boulevard in Eden, the one that has been coming together in Reidsville at the Holiday Inn Express, and a group meeting in Ruffin.

Robertson alleged that the Ruffin "Church of Christ" had been meeting for "over a year" (his words).

Curiously, the July 5th 2009 broadcast of What Does The Bible Say? on WGSR was the very first time that Robertson or anyone else with the "Church of Christ" has mentioned a group of their own in Ruffin.

Now some very intriguing information has come to light, the upshot of which a rational person could only possibly take to mean that, once again, Johnny Robertson is telling us a bald-faced lie.

It turns out that there are only three congregations of the "Church of Christ" that are currently meeting in the area... and maybe not even that many!

James Oldfield, previously of the Reidsville congregation, is conducting the services for the cult in Eden. Robertson is still in Martinsville. There has been thus far no evidence that a Ruffin cell of the cult is meeting at all...

...and the Reidsville congregation is now completely defunct! Sources have told this blogger that "This meeting is no longer being held, nor is any meeting of their group being held in Reidsville." The reason? "This would seem to say that folks in Reidsville are too wise for the tactics of this group, and have rejected participation in this 'sect'."

So Reidsville has proven too much for Robertson's cult. Let us pray that other communities in this area - and wherever else they try to harass - will prove too much for them also.

Meanwhile, other sources have been telling me that the cult's much-ballyhooed two weeks of "tent service" in Danville and the accompanying thirty hours of television airtime that Robertson purchased on WGSR has been "a bust and a sham". In spite of what Robertson and Oldfield publicly claimed was a large outreach in the Danville area, very few people showed up during nightly services at the tent (and Robertson himself did "little or none at all" knocking on doors, choosing to order his goons out instead). I can say that The Knight Shift blog is in possession of numerous photographs that attest to the low turnout at the "Church of Christ" tent but as these might well identify the person who took the photos, I have been asked to withhold publishing them here.

I haven't seen the footage, but several people have told me that during Sunday night's broadcast Robertson aired a tape of himself accosting the wife of some local minister in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Martinsville. Robertson alleged that he "just happened" to see her in the parking lot and coincidentally had his camcorder with him... which the same people have told me that it was pretty obvious that Robertson was stalking the lady (as is his well-documented custom).

Now for the last bit of info for this report...

Folks, I didn't believe it at first, but plenty of people have been telling me about it and now The Knight Shift can confirm: Johnny Robertson's "Church of Christ" has been caught digging through the trash cans of people Robertson has decreed to be "enemies" of his cult! They are literally trying to "dig up dirt" that they can use against those they are actively seeking to, as Robertson infamously proclaimed last year, "defeat destroy".

I've read the Bible quite a number of times, but for the life of me I can't recall any passage that teaches us to go through others' garbage in order to attack them.

(But then again, Johnny Robertson also claimed recently that he needs a camcorder because he doesn't have the Holy Spirit... whatever that is supposed to mean.)

The lesser angels of my nature are more than inclined to note that should any member of the cult come to my home and attempt to behave in their typical miscreant fashion, that I will not only shoot him dead, but I will gladly and immediately post full color photographs of his freshly-deceased corpse on this blog. As a warning to the next ten generations that it is the right of each person to seek God as best he or she can understand Him and without fear of harassment.

That's just the lesser angels of my nature though...

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Are more people standing up to cult leader Johnny Robertson?

It sure looks that way. I was notified earlier this week about Answering The Church of Christ, a new and rather articulate blog dedicated to taking on Robertson and his local "Church of Christ" cult (which again, has nothing to do with the mainstream Churches of Christ that most people know and respect).

To the best of my knowledge that makes at least four separate blogs - none of which are my own - that have set out to counter Robertson and his gang of ecclesiastical bullies.

(Incidentally, this coming week marks two years since Robertson posted anything new on his own blog.)

And then there's this YouTube video that was sent to me today, proclaiming Johnny Robertson to be this week's "Con-Artist for [Another] Jesus"...

I have been told that Robertson and his goons have been harassing quite a number of legitimate churches in the area lately (apparently they've got a "tent revival" or somesuch going on). Robertson's son Micah even attempted to interrupt a service at one Baptist church in Danville recently.

In the past month or so I publicly asked the following questions on another blog devoted to answering the cult. So far, no one from the local "Church of Christ" that is known for its bullying tactics has dared to answer them. So I will pose them here as well...

1. If Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield and their followers have proclaimed all other denominations are "false", then what evidence is there at all that their own "Church of Christ" is true?

2. Where is the evidence that the "Church of Christ" that Robertson and Oldfield represent is described in the Bible?

3. If no such evidence exists, then why are Robertson, Oldfield and their followers in a church that is not in the Bible?!

I've said before: I don't care what these loons choose to believe in. Because I believe that every person has the right to seek God as best he or she possibly can. But when it comes to someone (like the "Church of Chris" cult) trying to interfere with others' right to seek God and to the point that it becomes illegal harassment... then there is a problem.

And from the looks of things, a lot more people are standing up to this kind of nonsense.

And this blogger absolutely applauds it! :-)

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BREAKING HARD: Johnny Robertson arrested at the Vatican! Cult leader threatened Pope! Son critical after shot by papal bodyguards! Nuncio "furious"!

UPDATE 04/02/2009: Please click here for major new developments in this story!

The damned lunatic has finally gone too far. And not all the pathetic PowerPoint charts on his laptop can possibly save him now.

Local cult leader Johnny Robertson of the "Martinsville Church of Christ" - the very same individual who has harassed many churches in the area and has sought to inflict his own warped brand of "Christianity" with rude force and heartless lies - has been arrested in Vatican City following what is being called a "coordinated and persistent attempt" to threaten Pope Benedict XVI within the very Papal Apartments of the Apostolic Palace!

Behold the front page of today's New York Post, screaming the over-the-top sins of Henry County, Virginia's most rabid mad dog for all the world to see...

Robertson's 16-year old son Micah Robertson is also in critical condition at a Rome hospital after being shot in the abdomen by the Papal Swiss Guard. Micah Robertson apparently made a threatening gesture with what seemed to have been a weapon, but was found to have been a concealed video camera.

Fellow cult member James Oldfield was subsequently apprehended by Rome Police and is being held for questioning.

Johnny Robertson himself is currently being detained by the Gendarme Corps of Vatican City State in a security station adjoining Saint Peter's Basilica. Inspector General Domenico Giani is said to have personally taken charge of the investigation of "this most grievous and uncivil affront to the safety of the Holy Father."

And top Catholic officials from the Vatican to the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington D.C. are reportedly "furious" at what is being called "the biggest diplomatic incident between the Holy See and another state since the Noriega/Papal Nuncio situation in 1989."

Here is what I've been told by Hank Vorjes of the New York Post (which allowed this blog to break the cover after I provided the image of Johnny Robertson on short notice): late Monday afternoon Johnny Robertson, Micah Robertson and James Oldfield arrived via commercial airliner in Rome. After securing accommodations the trio immediately made their way to Vatican City: recognized by the Lateran Treaty as its own sovereign state. Upon entering Saint Peter's Square the elder Robertson and Oldfield approached two Swiss Guards and asked to be directed to "the pope's house". The guards refused, judging the three to be "suspicious". Not to be deterred, Robertson led his cult members toward what he said must be "the pastor's office". This turned out to have been none other than the main gate of the Apostolic Palace: the location of the Papal Apartments.

By this time it was getting to be late afternoon and Johnny Robertson, impatient, accosted three of the Papal Gentlemen who were entering the palace. Robertson Sr. informed the Gentlemen that he was "a preacher with the 'Church of Christ'" and that he had "information" that he wanted to "share with you all". Robertson and Oldfield then tried to press numerous DVDs into the hands of the Papal Gentlemen, who refused and later informed Maestro di Camera del Papa James Michael Harvey - himself an American - of the incident.

Then yesterday afternoon, Johnny and Micah Robertson and James Oldfield returned to the Apostolic Palace. Only this time the cult members changed tactics: Johnny Robertson produced credentials for a fictitious organization called "Religious Review Multimedia" and asked to see "the person in charge". He was told that he would have to make an appointment with Prefect Harvey. Robertson refused this and violently insisted that the people inside the palace "are all afraid of me!" and demanded to be allowed inside so that he could "debate" with Pope Benedict XVI. Robertson and his comrades were asked to leave, at which point Robertson started screaming "There is not a preacher in this town that knows as much Bible as I do!" and that "I will make him look so bad!" if he were to meet the Pope. Swiss Guards were called to the scene and attempted to herd Robertson and his cronies away from the gate. "This is going on YouTube, just so you know!" he was heard to tell them.

Approximately one hour later, due to circumstances which at this time are still being investigated, an alarm was sounded throughout the Apostolic Palace. Additional Vatican gendarmerie rushed to the scene and were told that an intruder had entered the inner sanctum of the Papal Apartments: the Pope's private residence. Minutes later Johnny Robertson was arrested at gunpoint after being found "banging ferociously" on what he assumed was the Holy Father's office. As he was dragged away, Johnny Robertson shouted atop his lungs that "I'm presenting myself just like Jesus did! Nobody could answer Him. That's what I'm doing. These guys can't answer me!" and "I would wrap that stuff around their necks!"

Immediately following Johnny Robertson's removal from the building, a number of Papal Gentlemen indicated to the Papal bodyguards the presence of Micah Robertson, who attempted to flee the scene. The guards ordered the junior Robertson to halt but he refused, instead moving to produce what was thought at the time was an automatic weapon. One of the guards instinctively shot Micah Robertson with a SIG P225: the standard sidearm of the Swiss Guards. Micah immediately fell and was rushed at by both Swiss Guards and gendarmerie. A BBC World News camera at the scene happened to catch the drama as it happened. The "weapon" turned out to be a well-concealed video camera that the younger Robertson had apparently been using to covertly interview random individuals in Saint Peter's Square without their knowledge.

Papal guards quickly assured officials that Pope Benedict XVI was not in danger, and was in fact having an audience in another portion of the Apostolic Palace at the time.

With the elder Robertson remanded into custody and the younger being rushed to a nearby hospital, Vatican police alerted their colleagues in the greater Rome metropolitan area to be on the lookout for the third confederate. James Oldfield was arrested a few blocks away from St. Peter's Square.

The story in the New York Post is describing Robertson's "Church of Christ" as a "lunatic fringe movement" that has nothing in common with the mainstream Churches of Christ. Indeed, Robertson's "Martinsville Church of Christ" is being likened to the Taliban, and Robertson himself described as a "Jim Jones" type who has declared himself to be "God" on more than one occasion. Reporter Hank Vorjes of the New York Post has asked for my cooperation in securing interviews with former members of the cult, who will likely be eager to tell all now that Robertson is behind bars in one of the most tightly-secured pieces of geography on the planet. Of particular interest to Vatican officials is how Robertson, an "uncouth, illiterate" convicted felon who served time for armed robbery, managed to even get outside his own country and into Italy. Vatican and Italian ambassadorial staff are reportedly in contact with the United States Embassy about the incident: the first serious diplomatic abrasion between the two countries since the United States military laid siege in 1989 to the Papal Nuncio in Panama, where ousted strongman Manuel Noriega had found sanctuary.

And that is all I know at the moment, folks. But I'll be posting new details as they become available.

And I never thought that Johnny Robertson would be so insane as to bring his deranged war right to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Some might call that "brave". I call it "being a blithering idiot."

More as this hard-hitting story develops...

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Just one kiss

This was among the e-mails awaiting my perusal this morning. I should comment that the same issue has been raised considerably on various forums in recent weeks and months...

"Johnny Robertson and James Oldfield can't be the real church of Christ because they aren't obedient to Romans 16:16."

The writer is of course referring to local cultist Johnny Robertson and his lackey/second cousin James Oldfield, the leaders of what they proclaim is the "Church of Christ" (no relation to the real Churches of Christ). The two men who have been harassing the legitimate churches in this area, and even committing slander against some (like when Johnny Robertson accused one church in Kernersville, without evidence, of child pornography).

And in case you're wondering what Paul instructs in Romans 16:16, here it is from the King James version...

Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

You know, for all their demanding of "obedience" to the Bible, and their insistence that their own obedience makes them out to be the "one true church", I have never heard of Robertson and Oldfield saluting anyone with a "holy kiss". And they've been on television together plenty enough times: why haven't they kissed each other yet, as the Word of God clearly commands?

Maybe it's time for Robertson and Oldfield to give each other that holy kiss on live television, for everyone to witness, so that we can all see without a shred of uncertainty that they really do "practice what they preach" and that they honestly believe that they truly are in "the church that you read about in the Bible". The commandment to greet brethren with a "holy kiss" appears four times in the King James Bible... which is far more times than any scripture dictating that those who are not water baptized will go to Hell (which is none at all).

Hey, that's not necessarily my own opinion. I'm just the reporter here folks. I'm only sharing what a lot of other people have also been wondering.

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Cult leader Johnny Robertson: In his own words

Longtime readers of this blog already know about cultist Johnny Robertson and his self-proclaimed "Church of Christ" (which is nothing like the mainstream Churches of Christ that most people know and respect). About how Robertson, flunky/second cousin James Oldfield and their "Religious Review" charade go around the area accosting the decent (and in my mind, legitimate) churches, and then televise their harassment on WGSR... which is now widely acknowledged, Robertson is the de facto owner of.

Robertson, and what he represents, is not real Christianity. There is no love, no humility, no thankfulness for the grace of God that comes out of what they have been doing. All that Johnny Robertson has ever demonstrated that he is capable of producing is hate, and spite, and division, and... dare I say it? Yeah, I will: evil.

But... why should you have to take my word for that?

During his show tonight I recorded what Robertson was saying. I'm going to post some of the more notable comments that he made, and let you, Dear Reader, decide for yourself what to make of this. If you are like most people, I would guess that you would ascertain that what you are about to read is a disturbing glimpse into a very dark soul, indeed.

Remember: I didn't have to make anything up for this post. Everything you are about to read are Johnny Robertson's own words, spoken during his What Does The Bible Say? broadcast tonight, January 25th 2009, out of WGSR Star 39 in Reidsville, North Carolina...

"I would wrap that stuff around their necks!"

"Why are we so strong in this area?!?"

"We are the most morally well-behaved people in this area!"
(Editors note: does "morally well-behaved" mean confronting people in their homes, having dissidents followed by fellow cult members, and outright lying about another church in the area by accusing it of child pornography?)

"I will tie that around their necks and they will never say it again!"

"I will make him look so bad...!"

"Sir you've never seen me mad!"

"He is all mouth! That is what all of them are!"

"I spend THOUSANDS of dollars to open the phone lines up!"
(Editor's note: earlier Robertson boasted that his self-styled "Church of Christ" takes up no offering... but he didn't care to mention that he gets practically all of his funding from wealthy cult members in Texas and other places far west of this area.)

"Because what you believe is not in the Bible!" (talking about Baptists)

"There is not a preacher in this town that knows as much Bible as I do!"

"They are all afraid of me!"

"I'm presenting myself just like Jesus did! Nobody could answer Him. That's what I'm doing. These guys can't answer me!"

"I believe the way I demonstrate that is the case is by answering all of these people that their doctrines are all too weak to shut me up!"

"There's no such thing as a Baptist!"

"THIS (referring to his cult) is the church that Paul was in!"

"There is a church that is determined to preach the truth and only the truth and that is the church that I represent, and that is why everyone is afraid of me!"

As Rod Serling might put it...

"Submitted for your approval."

It certainly does seem like something out of The Twilight Zone, does it not?

If anyone can tell me how Robertson is reflecting the love of Christ, the mind of Christ, or the grace of Christ with his words and his actions - and then daring to insinuate that only he comes with the truth of God - then I would certainly welcome such exposition in the comments for this blog entry.

And if you are a member of the Martinsville Church of Christ: are you really that proud to be represented by such a man who brags of being your minister?

Would any congregation be proud, for that matter?

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Cult leader James Oldfield uses YouTube video of my performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to attack United Methodist Church

Right when you think that there are no more crazy headlines that this blog can possibly generate...

I just watched James Oldfield, second cousin and henchman of cult leader Johnny Robertson of what many here are calling the "Church of Christ In Name Only", use the YouTube video of my karaoke performance of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on live television... to attack the United Methodist Church!

(I've already received one e-mail telling me that "whatever this guy is smoking, I want ten pounds of it.")

During the live television broadcast tonight of his show A Word from the Lord on WGSR out of Reidsville, North Carolina, James Oldfield and some other cultist that I'd never seen before, devoted the program to their latest "Religious Review" hijinks: this time, Oldfield was involved in ambushing not one but two Methodist congregations. And I was already having fun half-listening to Oldfield's comedic ramblings, thinking all while working on another project that "Robertson and Oldfield see through the glass just as darkly as the rest of us. What possibly leads them to believe that they have perfect understanding and the authority to lord that over us? They don't have any more monopoly on the truth than anyone else who is professing to follow Christ!"

See, I have no problem with so-called "denominations". And the Bible doesn't either. The seven churches of the Book of Revelation were clearly not in perfect accord with each other, and yet Christ still counted them among His followers.

(Yeah, I can do deep theology while simultaneously editing high-def video and writing for a client: am I a multi-tasking fiend, or what? :-)

But then, as if James Oldfield is not already more incoherent than usual, his frivolous arguments descended into the realm of the truly nutty...

Oldfield announced that Woodmont United Methodist Church in Reidsville was guilty of, something or 'nother, that was coming across as direly sinful. And what, pray tell, wound up being the grave iniquity that Woodmont had tolerated?

None other than the video of me doing karaoke of "Bohemian Rhapsody" during the strike party last month for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist.

Here it is, if you haven't beheld it already...

Yes folks, because I chose to do my ever-popular rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody", the entire United Methodist Church is damned to Hell, according to James Oldfield!

Well, all I gotta say is: I don't mind at all that they chose to broadcast my performance. I've always done it for laughs, and whenever there's an audience to be found, I don't care how that performance gets conveyed.

Heck, I'll dare Oldfield and Robertson to post the segment of Oldfield's show tonight, where he played my "singing", on their own YouTube account! C'mon guys: show everyone the "case" that you have supposedly built against the Methodists using my karaoke. What have you got to hide? We're giggling at you already: why should this be any different?

Remember folks: don't sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" anymore or you'll be consigned to the stygian depths of the Abyss, forevermore amen.

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Religulous Review: Johnny Robertson admits to "multimedia" schizoid sham... with a clip show?!

(With kindest regards to Bill Maher for coming up with such a great new word that I couldn't help but apply it to another bunch of loonies that he would probably laugh at as well...)

In late November this blog reported on local cult leader Johnny Robertson - of what I call "the Church of Christ in Name Only" - employing the services of what he referred to on his live TV show as "Religious Review Multimedia Group", and Robertson heavily implied that whoever "Religious Review Multimedia Group" was, that they were an independent outfit covering matters of faith.

Except the whole thing was something Robertson made up. And in the footage that he aired, that's his own teenage son who's now following in his old man's footsteps with the hidden cameras and "in yo face" confrontations.

"Religious Review Multimedia Group" was, as is so often with Johnny Robertson and which has been documented on this blog many time before, an outrageous lie.

By the way, at least one person has privately told me that for accusing one church of child pornography on live television, that Johnny Robertson "should be shot" and that for allowing such slander to be broadcast unquestioned and without research, that WGSR general manager Charles Roark should have his license revoked by the Federal Communications Commission. I can certainly see some merit to that. About the FCC anyway...

(Why did you let Robertson say such a thing anyway, huh Roark? Or do you simply not care what Johnny Robertson says? Is it true that Johnny Robertson owns your miserable excuse for a soul and that you don't have the backbone to stand up for journalistic integrity? Sadly, many of us know the answer to that question.)

So there is no such thing as "Religious Review Multimedia Group". Or there used to not be anyhoo... because as I noted last week it now appears that other folks are taking the initiative against the damage that Johnny Robertson and his second cousin/toady James Oldfield have been doing to north-central North Carolina and southside Virginia. I don't know who's behind it but the Religious Review blog is off to a fine start. And in its latest post, Religious Review (The Blog) provides hard evidence for Robertson and Oldfield's chicanery...

What are they trying to prove?

Apparently, Johnny Robertson and his second cousin James Oldfield are feeling a bit guilty about the recent public backlash against their misleading use of something called "Religious Review". Because tonight, on "What Does the Bible Say", they showed an old rerun of "What Does the Bible Say" with a banner below reading "Vintage RELIGIOUS REVIEW".

How much criticism must they have gotten for their dishonesty to devote an entire program to trying to prove that they aren't doing anything wrong? Why is this "Vintage RELIGIOUS REVIEW"? They were calling the program "What Does the Bible Say" even back then, not "Religious Review". More dishonesty!

Maybe the threat of legal action scared them into trying to prove themselves. Nice try, boys, but you didn't prove anything with this.

"What Does the Bible Say"...
effective computer usage since 2002

Yes folks, believe it or not: Johnny Robertson tried to hoodwink everyone into believing that "Religious Review" has been around since 2002... with a clip show!

(I didn't see that show personally, but I did manage to catch and chuckle at the "All Calls Special" that Oldfield had running in place of his usual show this past Thursday night.)

I've talked with a lot of people who have been following the Johnny Robertson cult for longer than I've been paying attention to it, and to the best of their knowledge "Religious Review Multimedia Group" didn't exist until the past couple of months. But in a bizarre statement that he made on the Answering Church of Christ blog, Robertson said the following (in his typical bewildering ranting style)...

keep up Walking in (not) love all anyone has to do is go back for the last 6 years and see that I have been doing RR for a long time

Religious Review was hated in Martinsville long before you fellows caught on to my work.Thanks for the advertising though

Can this man not make up his mind as to whether or not he is or is not affiliated with "Religious Review Multimedia Group"? First Robertson makes out as if they are some serious Web 2.0 outfit independent of him. Now, he says that he is "Religious Review Multimedia Group" and in an act of apparent time travel, he claims that they have existed for at least six years.

That is either a lie of omission, or a leap of insanity.

Either way, "walkinginlove" asked this of Robertson on the same thread...

As for the RR site, I have no idea who did it or why but I do know that you are falsely representing yourself and that is a lie Johnny, now in your belief system you may think it is ok, but do liars inherit the kingdom of heaven?

How indeed, Johnny Robertson? Can you honestly say that your behavior is reflective of a Christ-like life, or that this is the kind of attitude that is going to be rewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven?

I don't doubt that Robertson betrayed what his real motivation is with what he said a few days ago...

"we are revealing the evil behaviors of you all"

If you are not a member of Robertson's cult, you are "evil" and damned to Hell. That's what it boils down to.

But what is now becoming common knowledge is that Johnny Robertson is more like a "useful idiot" for the real cult leaders (like Shawn Paden) in and around east Texas. They're the ones (no matter how much Robertson claims otherwise) who keep sending the thousands of dollars for Robertson and his second cousin James Oldfield (gotta love how fast that tidbit has become well known too!) to be operating on the only television station that had management desperate enough to sell airtime and sell out to anyone with the cash. Without that, Robertson would have been a former imprisoned felon who, as one commenter on this blog put it, has "abandonment issues" from how bad his father treated him and his mother.

Johnny Robertson, you're from Texas. Maybe you've heard of the saying there: "You've got to rise above your raisin'." Those are wise words and you'd do well to heed them. Instead of running around the area acting like a liar and lunatic and ruining the lives of your kid and whoever else.

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About the "Religious Review" blog (Plus: How Johnny Robertson spends Christmas!)

In the past week I've received three e-mails directing my attention to Religious Review, a newly established blog. And it's been asked if I'm the person behind it.

I am not. And I didn't even know about Religious Review until the last several days. But I certainly have to applaud whoever it is who set it up.

As was reported on this blog last month, "Religious Review" is the name of the bogus outfit that local cult leader Johnny Robertson came up with in his continuing bid to harass and intimidate the legitimate churches in this area. He and crony/second cousin James Oldfield have already been known to confront innocent individuals with hidden cameras and such. Now Robertson has recruited his own son to go out in the name of "Religious Review" and do the same.

So what sayeth the real Religious Review?

Folks have been talking about "Religious Review" since it was mentioned on "What Does the Bible Say?" recently. It's been said that for a multi-media company, it is strange that "Religious Review" doesn't have any sort of internet representation.

This blog is not affiliated with Johnny Robertson's fake "Religious Review". We don't go into churches with video cameras under false pretenses and pretend to be something we are not. We don't lie and mislead people so we can get juicy soundbites for church of Christ television broadcasts. That is the fake "Religious Review". We're real.

Whoever this person is, he/she is not alone in going after the "Church of Christ in Name Only" loons. Mash down here for a somewhat more crude response to Robertson's acts of un-Christlike bullying. It certainly does seem that lots of other people are beginning to stand up to the cult leader/convicted felon Johnny Robertson, aye?

And since we're on the subject...

For the most part I've been away from this blog for the past several days, doing "Christmas celebratin'" stuff with family and friends. Still, I've kept a watch on the stats from time to time, partly because it's been interesting to see where the traffic has been coming from regarding the story I posted here on Monday about the "angel" photograph at a Charlotte hospital. Probably been the most visits this blog's ever received during the holiday season...

...And one person in particular couldn't stay away from it for very long. According to the stats, Johnny Robertson (trust me, it's him) visited this blog for the better part of half an hour on Christmas Eve night, and then came to it at least four times on Christmas Day.

How someone uses their time is their own business. But really: to have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve night than to obsess about THIS blog?! And then to keep coming to it on Christmas Day?

That is pathetic beyond measure.

How did my loved ones and myself spend Christmas? Being thankful to God for what He has blessed us with. Seems like at least one other person was spending it harboring spite and resentment. That ain't understanding why Christ came to this world at all.

Johnny, go outside and play. Quit trying to wreck life for others just because your daddy did you and your momma wrong. There's a whole lot of wonderful things that God has made for you to appreciate if you'd only allow yourself that indulgence.

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James Oldfield declares the Salvation Army is a work of evil on broadcast television

Folks, please understand that I am not on a "get the 'Church of Christ In Name Only'" binge tonight. Heck, I've so many projects on my plate right now that I'm pretty much relying on the reports that others have been sending me lately about the cult. Like earlier today when I posted that cult leader Johnny Robertson can't spell worth a hoot even as he condemns preachers of other (and in my opinion, legitimate) churches in the area.

And now later this evening, it is Robertson's chief henchman/second cousin who accompanied him from Texas, James Oldfield (heh-heh... bet y'all didn't know that the two were related, did ya?) who is up to no good.

Who is Oldfield and the "Church of Christ" cult (remember, it's not the real Church of Christ at all) going after this time? None other than the Salvation Army.

I came in from some errands tonight, and there were two e-mails practically screaming at me to tune in to WGSR Star 39. And I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it but sure enough, Oldfield is in "mad pit-bull" mode, assailing the Salvation Army for not being "the real church" and accusing them of all sorts of chicanery. Oldfield even used his hidden camera tricks on the head of the Salvation Army in Danville. As if that weren't bad enough, Oldfield told viewers that he and the "Church of Christ" do not boast about how they help people like the Salvation Army does... and then Oldfield went on to brag about how there was a frozen turkey in the trunk of his car that he was delivering to a fellow cult member!

I also happened to catch Oldfield condemning the Lord's Food Pantry in Eden. Which logically puts WGSR general manager Charles Roark in a bad position since apparently he was making a big deal about the Lord's Food Pantry earlier in the week, even staging a "telethon" to raise money for them to purchase food for needy folks. Which I think the Lord's Food Pantry is doing a good thing too. I think the Salvation Army has always been of immense service to others also, for the right reasons.

So why are James Oldfield and no doubt Johnny Robertson and the rest of the "Church of Christ" cult attacking them?

I can think of only one word at the moment: "jealousy".

Maybe Robertson and Oldfield should take the $15,000 that "the boys in Texas" send them for airtime each month, and put that money to some good use like the Salvation Army and the Lord's Food Pantry... instead of using it to harass and threaten others. They certainly have let it be known to enough people that they have no intentions but malicious ones.

(And some of y'all wouldn't buh-leeeeve what one person has told me in the past few weeks what he/she would do if Robertson and Oldfield came to their house again. 'Twould be enough to give one pause for sake of personal safety, no doubt.)

EDIT 11:02 p.m. EST: And what were Oldfield's concluding words on his broadcast tonight? "Don't put any quarters in those kettles."

A very wise man told me in recent days that Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, and their cult were "of the spirit of the Antichrist" as the Bible puts it. If I had only their broadcast tonight to go by, I couldn't possibly doubt that.

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EXCLUSIVE: "Church" in division? Cult leader Johnny Robertson throws Norm Fields off television!

Norm Fields, who has hosted one of the three weekly live television broadcasts of the self-professed "Church of Christ" cult in the Reidsville, Martinsville and Danville area of north-central North Carolina and southern Virginia, has been kicked off the air by cult leader Johnny Robertson, The Knight Shift has learned.

Fields, who came to this area from Georgia in 2007 and has been working at the Danville Church of Christ, has been doing the Bible Q&A broadcast every Thursday night at 10 p.m. on WGSR Star 39, broadcasting from Reidsville, North Carolina. For the past several weeks Fields has been conspicuously absent. This past week there was a two-hour broadcast of A Word from the Lord at 9 p.m. to fill in the hour that Fields has usually hosted. That broadcast featured a "debate" between James Oldfield of the Reidsville Church of Christ and Larry Surber of Stoneville in regard to science versus religion.

The Knight Shift can now report that Fields "won't be coming back" and that Johnny Robertson has made this clear to WGSR general manager Charles Roark. The reason? Fields wasn't "working out", which was explained that Fields was not combative and aggressive enough for Robertson and Oldfield. Indeed, of the three "Church of Christ preachers" broadcasting on WGSR it should be noted that so far as is known, Norm Fields was the only one who did not ambush any other area churches or pastors with a hidden camera during worship services or at any other time. Many people have regarded Fields as the "more sensible" of the three preachers. A number of sources have been reporting to me in the past few months that there was some friction between Robertson and Fields and that Robertson "did not like Fields at all", that Robertson thought of Fields as a "wimp" for not "taking on the denominations hard enough".

The "Church of Christ" cult - which is not associated in any way with the mainstream Churches of Christ - prides itself on "unity" and maintains that being one church is something that Jesus not only taught but demanded. Robertson and Oldfield are known throughout the area for broadcasting their message that unless a person is a member of their "Church of Christ" that a person is damned to go to Hell, with zero tolerance allowed for dissent. It now looks at this hour that Fields, the preacher of the Danville Church of Christ, is indeed dissident enough for Johnny DeVere Robertson - widely known as the leader of the cult - to have him drummed from the airwaves.

There is no word yet on how Fields's position with the Danville Church of Christ is affected.

More information as it becomes available.

(Actually I'm sitting on a whole mountain of more information about Johnny Robertson and his cult, that I haven't divulged yet. If he's going to declare during his Sunday morning "church service" and on broadcast television that I'm his "worst enemy", I might as well act the part, yes?)

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The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste: Something Johnny Robertson and his cult cannot respond to

This blog is drawing lots of attention lately from local cult leader Johnny Robertson and members of his so-called "Church of Christ". Why? Beats me.

But since I have their attention, I'm gonna have some fun with them.

It has to do with something that I've thought about for the past several weeks...

Robertson, along with James Oldfield and Norm Fields - who all broadcast for four hours each week on the only television station in the area desperate enough to sell them the airtime - teaches that if a person is not a member of their "Church of Christ" (which isn't the Church of Christ that most people know and respect, remember that), and especially if that person is not baptized, then that person is going to Hell when he or she dies.

Which brings us to the subject of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, one of the earliest and best documented accounts of persecution to happen to the early Christians.

There were few contingents of the Roman Empire's army that were as respected or feared as the Legio XII Fulminata: the "Thundering Legion". Founded by Julius Caesar, the Legio XII Fulminata accompanied him on his campaign through Gaul. It was then assigned to the eastern reaches of the Empire during the time of Augustus Caesar, and was active until well into the Fifth Century.

In 320 A.D., Licinius, the Emperor of the Eastern Empire, was engaged in civil war against Constantine, Emperor of the West. Licinius had originally yielded to pressure from Constantine to legalize Christianity in his half of the Empire. But Licinius soon broke broke the peace with Constantine and resumed persecuting the Christians.

Licinius decided that if he was going to full-blown war with Constantine, that his own army had to be "purged" of the undesirables: namely, the followers of Jesus Christ. So Licinius issued an edict: all soldiers of his army had to make sacrifice to the pagan gods. Those who would not bow to the gods of Rome would be made to suffer cruel death.

Then came word from the town of Sebaste, in Armenia. Forty soldiers of the Legion XII Fulminata had declared that they were Christians, and would not pay homage to the Roman gods.

Furious with their contempt, the judge sent by Licinius sentenced the forty Christian soldiers of the Thundering Legion to death. But it would not be quick and merciful. By this time it was in the dead of winter, with a bitter cold wind blowing through the land. The forty Christians were to be stripped naked, and made to stand throughout the night on a frozen pond. Left to the elements, the exposure would no doubt kill them. But if they were willing to renounce Christ, then they could leave the surface of the pond and come to the shore, where shelter, a warm bath, and food awaited them.

One of the centurions who had sacrificed to the gods - many accounts tell us that his name was Sempronius - stood guard on the shore of the pond, and he watched the forty Christians stand shivering. But in the midst of their torture they were also singing hymns and crying aloud to God...

"Oh Lord, forty wrestlers have come forth to fight for Thee. Grant that forty wrestlers may gain the victory!"

One of the forty soldiers standing on the pond gave in to the temptation of comfort and survival, and left the group. He was welcomed back on the shore. And still, the Christian soldiers of the Thundering Legion appealed to Heaven...

"Oh Lord, forty wrestlers have come forth to fight for Thee. Grant that forty wrestlers may gain the victory!"

And the centurion Sempronius, so moved by the faith of those who were determined to stay true to their Lord even unto death, openly declared that he too was a Christian. He had been obedient to the gods of Rome up until that moment, but now he saw something among his thirty-nine comrades that he also chose to have.

Sempronius voluntarily threw down his weapons, stripped off his armor and removed his clothing, and joined the thirty-nine other Christians standing naked on the frozen pool.

By dawn, God had answered their prayer. "Forty wrestlers" indeed, their number unbroken, had fought to the end for His glory. Among them was Sempronius, who had willingly become a believer so that he might die a believer. Most of the forty Christians had frozen to death during the night. Some were barely alive, but immobile. The bodies of all, dead or not, were gathered up to be burned.

The story of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste is one of the most famous in the history of the early church. It is also one of the most thoroughly chronicled. There is no doubt that the story of the Forty Martyrs happened, and that Sempronius (he is also called Aglaios in a few places) did join with the thirty-nine other Christians so that forty might enter Heaven together.

But according to what Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield and Norm Fields would have us believe, it was not enough for Sempronius to declare that he was a follower of Jesus Christ! Sempronius, they must declare by virtue of their doctrine, went to Hell when he died... because Sempronius was never baptized! Sempronius declared that he was a Christian with his mouth, and then promptly went off to die. He didn't have time to be baptized.

Robertson and his minions, who spew their hateful message for four hours a week and have even harassed the worship services of other churches in this area, would have us believe that Sempronius's death for the name of Christ was not enough, because Sempronius did not "obey" and become baptized. Thus Sempronius was always beyond the reach of the grace of God. Which means that his sacrifice on the frozen pond of Sebaste was meaningless!

I have searched for every way that I possibly can think of, about how the story of Sempronius can be reconciled with the "Church of Christ" doctrine of Robertson and Oldfield and Fields, in such a way that Sempronius also might be afforded entry into Heaven. And I can't find any means among their narrow, selective mentality that would have extended such a grace to this noble centurion and follower of Christ.

So, to Johnny Robertson and James Oldfield and Norm Fields and Mitch and anyone else from the "Church of Christ" of Martinsville, Danville and Reidsville (a cult deemed so potentially dangerous that people in some local churches are now taking extraordinary measures to defend themselves, but more about that coming soon)...

Did Sempronius of the Thundering Legion go to Heaven along with the other Forty Martyrs of Sebaste? If he did, where is your scripture to back up that he was able to get into Heaven without baptism? And if it must be admitted that Sempronius did gain admission to Heaven without baptism, then how is it not to be said that this same grace is given to everyone else who follows Christ, also?

Or, Robertson and Oldfield and Fields: Are you prepared to tell us that Sempronius died for nothing, and went to Hell?

More than likely, they won't answer. They probably can't find an answer.

But I'm having fun asking it, all the same.

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Johnny Robertson ("Church of Christ in Name Only") attacks me... because I'm a Star Wars fan?!?

Okay, now it's getting into the territory of the downright nutty...

About two months ago I called into Johnny Robertson's show What Does the Bible Say? on WGSR Star 39. Johnny Robertson (shown at right) is considered the chief ringleader of what I've come to call the "Church of Christ in Name Only" (COCINO for short), a very vindictive, mean-spirited cult working around Reidsville, North Carolina and Martinsville and Danville in Virginia. These guys have about three hours of programming on WGSR each week and they do nothing but attack anyone who isn't "their" brand of Christianity. Namely, they believe that if you are not part of what they call the "Church of Christ" (which is nothing like the Church of Christ that most people know) that you are damned and going to Hell. They also believe that a person must be baptized in order to be saved.

And they have an extremely ugly attitude toward anyone who disagrees with them.

So I called up Robertson's show one night to ask a simple question: "How is what you guys are doing giving glory to Christ?" And more to the point, I wanted to know how is what they are doing showing Christ's love and grace to a world that is lost without Him. How is what Robertson (along with James Oldfield and Norm Fields) doing, in any way, able to persuade those who don't know Christ about Christ at all? Because I can't see how their hatred toward others can do anything but drive people away from wanting to consider Christ at all.

Robertson and his cohorts are ultra-legalists of the highest order. It's all about following rules and regulations so far as they are concerned: which is exactly what Christ's sacrifice did away with for all time. I think it could even be argued that Johnny Robertson is trying to crucify Christ all over again. But I digress...

Robertson had no answer for me. Instead he told me to "go listen to Benny Hinn!" Here's the video again if you want to see what happened for yourself.

Then a few days ago I heard about a very sad story out of Tennessee, involving a woman who was by all accounts a devout follower of Christ, who passed away after a lifetime of unusual circumstance that did not allow for her to be water baptized as Robertson and the Church of Christ in Name Only demands. So I asked a question on this blog directed to Robertson, Oldfield, and Fields: "Is this woman now lost because she was not baptized?"

It got picked up by the Answering the Church of Christ blog and it's led to a rather heated discussion. There are currently 134 comments, including a few that I've made.

Well, none other than Johnny Robertson himself has chimed in. And according to my meter's records he spent about a half-hour on The Knight Shift earlier this morning, looking at a lot of stuff (including my post about how The New York Times had reported on the crazy TV commercials that some of us school board candidates did in 2006). Apparently he was looking for dirt on me.

This is what Johnny Robertson fired back with on Answering the Church of Christ...

On May 31, 2008 at 10:22 am johnny Said:

Knight said

In the end, that faith in Him is something that must transcend earthly terminology. To say that we are saved because we are "Christian" or "Church of Christ" is to deny the new creation that we are called to be in Him.

transcends earthly terminology"

talking about a gnostic!
Col 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

you kinda got beyond yourself there chris star Wars New York posted ....I've a part in Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of "Children of Eden"(look at me everyone I am an actor toooooo!)

Let me try to understand this: Johnny Robertson cannot confidently tell us that what he and the others in the Church of Christ in Name Only are doing is showing the love of Christ to others. So instead he chooses to attack me because I dared asked him that question... by mocking my being a Star Wars fan and because I'm involved in a production of Children of Eden?!?!?

Star Wars, Johnny? Star Wars?! And Children of Eden?!?

I responded to Johnny Robertson thusly...

On May 31, 2008 at 11:24 am Chris Knight Said:

Dear Johnny Robertson,
So now that I have your attention, might I ask you again...

How IS what you are doing possibly showing others the love of Christ?

You still haven't answered that.

And now you are attacking me because I’m a Star Wars fan, of all things?!

You're acting pretty infantile, dude.

I know it's you, by the way. I saw where you visited my blog earlier this morning, and spent quite a bit of time looking around on it.

So Johnny, once again: HOW is what you, and Oldfield, and Fields, doing, illustrating the love and grace of Jesus Christ to those who don't know Him? WHY should the lost of this world look at you guys and be persuaded at all?

You have nothing to show for your work, because it is not motivated in love. You are too enamored with your sense of power and leadership... but if you have not love, then these things are utterly worthless.

Why do you make yourself so big and God so very small, Johnny?

A few minutes later I added...

On May 31, 2008 at 11:28 am Chris Knight Said:

By the way Johnny, you're invited to come see the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of "Children of Eden". Performances are June 20-22 and June 27-29 at Rockingham Community College. Tickets are $10 for adults. More information is on the Guild's website at tgrc-nc.com

Among the themes of "Children of Eden" are love and forgiveness. Maybe you could learn something from it.

Yes Johnny, I am a Star Wars fan. And it's something that I've never been ashamed of, or have ever felt it encroached upon my faith in God. You would no doubt be surprised at how many followers of Christ are also fans of this story. And it would probably blow your mind at how quite a few have found opportunities of ministry with it. As Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 9:22,

"To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."

Johnny, has it ever occurred to you and your bunch that maybe instead of puffing yourselves up and lording over other people, that if you humbled yourselves and brought yourselves lower, that God might actually bless your ministry?

I mean, is this really about you or is it about Him?

As it is now, Johnny Robertson - along with James Oldfield and Norm Fields - is a false preacher. He comes preaching another Christ: a Christ that would bind us in legalism all over again, instead of being free by His mercy and grace and love. The Jesus Christ of the Bible is not the Jesus Christ that Robertson and Oldfield and Fields preach on WGSR.

(Or as Mama Reyes said on Lost: "Jesus Christ is not a weapon!")

Johnny Robertson, again I am compelled to ask you publicly: How is what you are doing showing love of Christ and demonstrating Christ's love toward others?

I would very much like to know this.

EDIT 4:51 p.m. EST: Johnny Robertson spent two and a half hours visiting my blog today, on at least two separate visits. He was quite the busy bee, taking screenshots etc.

Wonder what he's up to...

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A question for Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, Norm Fields, and others of the "Church of Christ In Name Only" in the Reidsville/Martinsville area

Dear Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, and Norm Fields:

I can't recall a single time that any of you have been live on the air on your various "Church of Christ" television programs that broadcast on WGSR, when you have not vehemently stated that in order to be saved and go to Heaven that one must be baptized in water and join the Church of Christ. All three of you claim that without water baptism, there is no salvation possible at all.

(I'll take time out here to state again - as I did the first time and then again not long afterward that in no way do I consider Robertson, Oldfield, Fields and their bunch to be the real Church of Christ that most people know and respect. The "Church of Christ In Name Only" that broadcasts on WGSR is something that can only be described as a twisted cult.)

If you guys are so convinced that baptism is absolutely essential for salvation, then I would like to know what your take on the following true-life story is...

Yesterday Dianne Odell passed away near Memphis, Tennessee. She was 61 years old. Only a few months after being born, Dianne was struck with a form of polio that left her unable to breathe on her own. Of her sixty-one years on this Earth, she had been confined to an iron lung for sixty years. She died when a power outage stopped her iron lung from working, although her father and brother-in-law made a valiant effort to keep it operating manually.

She spent all those years of her life laying on her back, confined to a steel enclosure, just to keep living. But she wound up having a more full life than most people will ever know. Dianne earned a high school diploma, took college courses, and even wrote a children's book.

What sustained her? By all accounts, Dianne Odell was a devout follower of Christ and she completely put her faith in God, and she didn't hold it against Him that she was given the kind of life that she had.

I'm fairly certain that given her condition, that Dianne was never baptized. There's no way it could have been done without killing her, most likely. At least she was never baptized by immersion, which is what you guys claim all the time is an absolute obligation in order to have salvation. I've even heard you claim, on numerous occasions, that if a person comes to believe in Christ but is not baptized before death, that such a person is damned forever.

Johnny, James, and Norm: Are you really prepared to go on live television and say that it is with 100% conviction that you believe that God did not allow Dianne Odell into His kingdom yesterday morning, all because it was impossible for her to be water baptized? Or might you possibly even argue, per your logic, that Dianne Odell should have left her iron lung and risked water baptism if she wanted salvation? Because that is what you are claiming, whether you want to admit it or not.

I'm planning on calling some or all of you live on the air to ask you that, if you aren't willing to provide an answer in any other way. If you won't take my phone call, then maybe Charles Roark will let us debate the matter live on WGSR. Is that an open challenge? You bet it is.

So what's your take on it, Johnny and James and Norm: Are you seriously ready to condemn such a person to Hell with your legendary zealousness?

But I've no doubt that Dianne is in the presence of the Lord that she loved, and for Whom she shared that love toward others in her earthly life. That is the beautiful thing about a God Who has abundant grace and mercy.

I just wish that you guys could understand that.

(And for everyone else: If you want to know more about what Johnny, James and Norm stand for please check out the Answering the Church of Christ blog.)

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