One of the worst characteristics of fundy preachers is their natural tendency to belittle others in their stories while inflating their own credentials.
Yikes! I KNOW him! I grew up in a fundy “Christian” school where he was the pastor. It was Forrest Hills Baptist Church’s Christian school in Stone Mountain, GA. He was the pastor of the church, which made him the divine overseer of the school, I guess. I remember hearing him preach in chapel many times. You’ll be glad to know he hasn’t changed a bit!
I remember one service (can’t remember what it was) where he ran all the way away around the auditorium. I was a little freaked out by that.
Hey! I even remember when he came with my class on our Senior Trip to Colorado. I remember weeping and wailing with him at the “altar” of a local Baptist church in Colorado. Want to know what the weird part was? There was no one else there but our senior class. I can’t even remember why we were there…I think we went there just to pray or something. So we knelt at the “altar” and we all prayed and wailed and cried together. It was fundy audience manipulation at its finest.
You may discuss amongst yourselves how many times his point was actually “about” heaven or hell, since most of his references to heaven are about the “kingdom of heaven” which is, apparently, at hand, not in heaven.
He reminds me of Tom Farrell – a big WILDS evangelist. Total waste of time.
Yes, Brandon, you’re right. I spent a lot of time with Tom Farrell when I worked at the WILDS. I remember telling him that a message he had just preached was clearly not what the passage he used was about. Boy, he didn’t like that…at all! He had a very un-evangelist like attitude for me.
@Christopher, your problem is that you actually care what Jesus was talking about. Fundy evangelists only care about whether they can use Jesus to make a point.
Hmm. He didn’t reference any scripture, but referenced himself perhaps 60-70 times in that short clip (yes I did try to count). Also, reminds me of one of Darrell’s first classic posts…
I have to admit that I used to love this type of preaching at one point. But it only fed the emotions and didn’t produce any long-lasting spiritual growth in my life.
I call these “recursive sermons.” They’re mostly a collection of stories about other “wonderful” sermons the pastor has preached and how people reacted to them.
Brother @Darrell are you questioning the technology that the LORD has blessed our congregation with? 🙂
@Christopher such adherence to proper exegetics is going to get you nowhere fast in fundy land. I believe the good preacher and the dearly departed (insert whatever deceased Bible College president here) would remind you we only need ONE reference to hell to take it literally and “preach the hell out of it”! 🙂
No, Rob, it was I who questioned the Styrofoam cup-and-string apparently used to record this, um, event.
Wow! More memories. I grew up on this kind of preaching. No Bible verses, just stacatto-type preaching at the same decibel level the entire 45 minutes. Usually it was a hell, fire, and damnation sermon…….Man, can’t believe how good it is to be away from that. We NEVER have any of those wacko evangelists and our preacher actually has an advanced seminary degree from an accredited, respected university. I don’t have to listen to how bad the country is and how much worse sin is today than it ever was and a whole lot of other things that seem to be the norm for the typical “fundy” church. Thank you God that BJU treated my family so badly we all left and found a new life.
More preachin’ about preachin’
He used to be our “staff evangelist” at NVBC in California, but the wicked influence of California got one of his kids kicked out of Bible college, so he moved back to the South.
Amen? Amen? Amen????
No… Horse feathers! Bull Hockey! Sit down and shut up before you do anymore damage to the cause of Christ!
Works, works, works…
My God! Shut him up! That’s too much crap to have to listen to in one sitting.
If anyone believes that is good preaching they need their head examined. Excrement like this passes for “anointed, inspired, preaching” in too many churches and keeps the hearers from the Truth found in God’s word.
A Pox, boils, plague, fleas and lice upon all the pozers in the pulpits of America and around the world that preach this crap.
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!
I think Don sums it up nicely. I’ve been out for so long I forget that this is CURRENT for some people. I know that I grew up very isolated (we did nothing BUT church, 7 days a week), but these poeple are online now, they watch tv…..how are they still swallowing this horsecrap???
This is the guy who inherited the mess left by Bill Pennell at Forrest Hills Baptist. Forrest Hills had become the “largest Sunday School” in Georgia in the early 70’s under Curtis Hutson (who took John R. Rice’s place at the Sword of the Lord). Pennell followed Hutson in 1977 (I was a member from 77-81). Church ran around 3000-4000 in Sunday School (1/2 to 2/3 were bus kids). I thought Pennell was the greatest preacher in the world. He even had a poster that he encouraged his people to buy. It had a big picture of Pennell with the words: “My Preacher,” “God’s Man,” “Our Hero”. He said kids ought to have posters like that in their rooms instead of rock stars or movie stars.
Sometime in the mid 80’s Pennell’s wife told the deacons about Bill’s many affairs (had been going for decades). She had been silent about them up until now because Bill would always tell her how much it would hurt the “cause of Christ” if she told anybody. When she did tell the deacons, at first, Bill told them she was having a nervous breakdown. Later when she produced proof, he admitted and resigned. His buddies Tim Lee, Jack Hyles and others of course defended him. He is now a “missionary”” in the Ukraine.
Lou Rossi followed Pennell and they sold the big campus in Decatur, GA and moved out to Stone Mountain and the attendance plummeted. Rossi left after a few years and someone else became Pastor.
Ken, it’s fun airing other people’s sin isn’t it? Makes you feel holy.
I just wanted to thank you for your comment. I recently had a conversation with my son. I told him about a school that I attended for part of 6th grade and their rather odd belief that women should not wear pants.
It was Forest Hills. I hadn’t thought about it in years. But decided to look it up to see if it was still there. I hadn’t been able to find any information anywhere on the internet until I ran across your comment. The only Forest Hills Christian I could find in the Atlanta area was in Stone Mountain. I wondered if it was the same one and had moved. Your comment was the only confirmation of that I could find. Thanks, you’ve satisfied my curiosity!
Actually, the truth came out about my dad in 1991; and my mom wasn’t the one who told the deacons. My dad told me, my brother and one of my sisters in a counselling session on a Tuesday. Four days later (Friday), he told my mom in a similar session (yes, we kids kept our mouths shut and let Dad tell on himself, as we didn’t want to be the ones to tell Mom the ugly truth that would change her life forever). Then we (Mom and us kids) decided to let Dad tell the deacons in person, which he did in a session on Monday. He then said, “Well now that I’ve confessed to everyone, I can go back to preaching, right?” He was pretty delusional at the time. He didn’t realize it was over for him. And not just him or even the church, but for our family. We’ve never been the same since.
Since then, he’s been to hell and back; and he’s paid a high price for his self-righteous arrogance back in those days. He’s also repented and been forgiven; and knowing he could never pastor again, he went to Ukraine to work with the orphans of Chernobyl.
I don’t agree with what he did on any level; and he destroyed our family…something most people don’t even think about. They think only of the devastated church left behind. But that’s OK. Those churches will one day be held accountable for their part in putting pastors on pedestals so high, the only way they can get down is to fall. A pastor doesn’t screw up on his own. There’s always a church that helped facilitate it in one way or another…whether it be by not seeing the signs that something was wrong in the family or in the marriage; or by not noticing egomaniacal behavior and calling it into check. So every person who points a finger at a fallen pastor must realize this: you TOO will be accountable for what you did or didn’t do to prevent it from happening.
And its not because of my dad that I no longer attend church. It’s because of self-righteous, hypocritical, holier-than-thou, judgmental, condescending, heartless, unforgiving, uncaring, callous jackasses known as so called “Christians”…like many people I see posting here on this page. I’ll bet good money not a single person on this page has ever reached out to the destroyed wife or family of fallen preachers, have you? Rather, you just make fun of the men that were the center of a pastor’s family somewhere, and not care whether what you write hurts a family member…a wife, a daughter, a son, a grandchild, even an aging mother or father…just as long as you can call it out and make fun.
So…nah. My dad hasn’t deterred me from church. My dad is human. He has admitted it. He’s repented. He’s now a dying old man who has done more for the world in the past 15-20 years as a non-pastor than most people I know will ever accomplish in all of their lifetimes COMBINED. I love him, too. He’s my dad. The only one I’ll ever have. There have been times in the past I wish I could’ve had a different dad; but that’s how it is. If I’m going to have a dad, it’s going to have to be Bill Pennell. I had to work through a lot, but I’m in no position to judge him. If God has forgiven someone, who am I to not? Talk about arrogance! So if anything, my dad would be a reason for me to go back to church, not leave it. But I don’t see my dad at church. I see a bunch of assholes pretending they’re better than my dad. I think I’ll pass, thanks.
Beverly, I met your Dad in 2004. His friendship has blessed me greatly. He has given me great insight through his brokenness. I’m thankful for his influence in my life. I pray often for you and your siblings and mother as I consider him.
I wish I could travel to see him once more.
You should visit if possible. He’s permanently in Clearwater and doesn’t have much time left. He’s been very ill for the past year, and now in his mid-70s, I don’t think he’ll ever again be as he once was. And once upon a time, he was a dad who taught me how to ride a bike, walked me to my first day of school, played Santa Claus at Christmas, belly-flopped in our cheap above the ground pool, gave me my first Bible, and showed me how to climb a tree. Though everyone around us called him “Preacher Bill”, “pastor” or “Dr. Pennell”, I remember…and miss…that young man I called “Daddy”.
Preach it, Beverly!! Well said!!
Beverly, I never thought that I would catch up with you after all these years. Met you many years ago at TTU. So sorry to hear about the things that you and your family have been through. I understand the disappointment and hurt that you feel concerning so called Christians, I have been through it myself. I wish you the best.
Beverly, I graduated from FH with your sister, and was terribly upset when I heard about your dad. I could only imagine what you all were going through. These kind of people is exactly why I did not attend church regularly for a long time after graduation. I was so tired of the judgement, holier-than thou attitude. I think people lull themselves into a false state of perfection that they can treat people as lesser than themselves, when in fact we are taught to put Jesus first others second and ourselves last. The fact is, if we in our fallen state did not need a Saviour , there would be no need for churches. Churches are not for the “perfect people”. I have found a wonderful church that believes in God’s grace and our continual need for it. I feel closer to my Lord now than I ever have.
I hope your dad and your entire family has found the peace that passes all understanding through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Very well written! I remember that time we’ll. I often visited to hear your Dad and my favorite sermon of his was “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I’m glad you’ve forgiven him. I’ve wondered about your family many times over the years. Today I was thinking of all of you which led me here. Your words are truthful and it’s done me good.
Thank you!
AMEN!!! Well said Beverley. My, my how the tune changed in the reply’s. I too had a similar thing happen to me in church (IBF) growing up. Websites like this could care less who they hurt, it is not the spirit of Christ. They WILL BE JUDGED. Hopefully they will repent and take the site down. Behind ever preacher who fell is a human family that goes to hell and back emotionally, sometimes they never come back. Oh those that stand in judgement of anyone. I thank God he allowed me to be a pastor of a church. Jesus never hurt me, the scripture are true and the church is still the body of Christ.
I Listened to this message and am clueless as to the ridicule and mocking. First you come into the middle of a message. secondly, he is an evangelist. LISTEN TO BOB JONES OR BILLY SUNDAY. Praise the Lord souls were saved and revival broke out…Really… get saved!!!
I can assure all of you watching this clip that Rossi is the same every time he preaches – read a verse, talk about himself, preach about himself, use illustrations about himself. After every sermon I knew a lot about Lou and nothing about God (except that He really liked to work through Lou). Funny though, even in this video he silences naysayers with the old “if you disagree or don’t like me you must have secret sin in your heart” trick.
He was a regular at the fundy church I came out of. True piece of work.
Yea, I’ve seen Lou Rossi. Like zippy mentioned, every sermon I ever heard him preach was the same.
Is it just me or are some of the stories told by fundy evangelists kind of far fetched?
@Jason “far fetched”??? I would go so far as to say fabricated, fictitious, fallacious, falsifications for fraudulent fellows to foster fear for the furtherance of fundyism.
Don made me LOL.
Can someone stick a sock in his mouth….I can’t hear the TV…a “real pastor” has the Bible open and we are actually studying God’s word..lol
1st, I will agree that his sermons can be shallow, but that is not an excuse to be a hypocritical pharisee.
Wow, all of you mock this man and yet you are the first to excuse worldiness of American Churches.
Either speak up and declare him a wolf or pray that God will open his eyes to see the anger inside. After hearing him, I dont think he is a wolf, I think he is a Christian that has an ager problem.
Typical M.O. of an IFB speaker (sorry but they’re not preachers or pastors or teachers; they’re simply speakers, or more like screamers). Read a couple of verses out of the Bible and then spend the next hour or so just telling stories, cutting down others and building up themselves. That’s why they fall….one after another, after another, etc. They would be a whole lot better served to simply teach the scriptures as opposed to screaming, waving their arms around and jumping up and down for an hour or two. Total waste of people’s time imo. And….I have first hand knowledge of this one. He’s now been awarded the title of “Dr” but never even finished a simple 4 year college degree program. I’ll stop here but could go on much longer but it’s a waste of my time. They are what they are and God’s kingdom is not served by this type of rambling on without a deep and rich understanding of God’s Word. Nuff said.
I agree. There will be shock and bewilderment when Jesus says ” I never knew you” to the many who “screamed” in his name. I don’t know WHAT to expect when my time comes, but the more I learn about Jesus and His ways, the more convinced I become that pride ( or an “Emperor’s New Clothes” type fear of not belonging to the professing “saved”) is at the root of loud proclamations of personal salvation.
It’s hard not to separate prideful speech in a rant from a servant’s plea. By this, I mean “meekly instructing those who oppose themselves” with the good news of the Gospel.
Live justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly with your God.
Why don’t we pitch this to Discovery Channel. They could send crews around following guys like this. Call it “Fundie Wars” This is classic. I was waiting for him to say she got up and left in anger at his sermon and got hit by a meteorite. But noooo…she ruined it by getting Saved
HAHA Craig, I would agree with you except this kind of idiotic drivel should not be pushed onto the public. As it is, its already on youtube…
There is so much wrong in the things he says… how about the 85 year old wheel chair sundy-school treasurer deacon guy that “got saved” [tm] ? So basically that is an indictment upon his pastor alleging he had failed to properly propagate the gospel? So since he worked all of those different “roles” in the church as a true “unbeliever” what will change now that he “got saved” [tm]?
Religious emotionalism. nothing more.
I live near the church this guy currently ‘rules’… 😯
He sounds like a lunatic.
…as a former member of Forrest Hills, I also experienced Lou Rossi’s preaching…I find it interesting that so many of us think preaching should be anything but foolishness. “foolishness” is exactly what the Bible calls it (First Corinthians 1). But God also said it was the foolishness of preaching that He will use. I get the fact that not all enjoy certain preaching. If God will use Rossi; then so be it and God be glorified. But trashing a man over personal dislikes and opinion? …might be over-stepping! We must caution ourselves from hating the judgmental that we become judgmental like them. I would suggest eating the meat and throwing out the bones. I know, it’s risky – you might get a bone stuck in your throat. haha. I am very thankful for the church God has led me to. Of course, as in all churches, not everything meets my likes and opinions; but I will not let that hinder me from getting what God has for me in His Word or discourage me from being used where ever or how ever God deems fit. — just another point of view! muse it.
Thanks for those words of truth. I am a graduate of FHCS and am very thankful for the ministry of the church, school, and Pastors. The Lord has used them greatly in my life despite what the critics may say. I can’t wait for Heaven as all disappointments will end and there will not be another sinful word spoken or written about one of God’s children. Jesus said, “if you have done it unto one of the least of these … You have done it unto me”. Please don’t criticize my Savior!
Lou Rossi is your Savior? I’m confused.
I attend the church where he currently is the pastor and lets just say he makes a good grave digger because he keeps shoveling. He is a paranoid, egotistical man who most recently has shown his true colors with his racial overtones using the n-word in private circles and from the pulpit using the word “diaperheads” during a pre 9/11 sermon. Meanwhile he controls his school and church staff like a bully would constantly telling those closest to him that anyone who disagrees with him is fired. The people of the church will rise up and demand his removal in very short order.
Do others at the church feel the same as you? We have been watching this now for a while and don’t see any others in the congregation stepping up. It almost seems as if everyone is too intimidated to speak up? We may have to pull our kids from the school if this continues .
What about the Decons? Why are they allowing this to happen without speaking out? Riding his coat tail.
Lou Rossi is destroying yet another church. He is also destroying what was formerly a well functioning Christian School. Many student parents, myself included, are discussing removing our children from Granite Baptist. Most of us would endure a significant inconvenience in removing our children at this point in the school year, but many of us will be enrolling our children elsewhere next year. We do not want our children in an environment where a so-called “Pastor” simply fires anyone who disagrees with him, especially a well- loved and long-standing teacher, and them gloats about it to the people he thinks are his confidants. Yes Lou Rossi, some of the people you say these thing to do share them with the rest of us.
A Pastor should guide and help his church members, and he should lead them by a Christ-like example. Lou Rossi threatens anyone who disagrees with him (and obviously fires them as he threatens to do), while he lavishes church funds on those who seem to be involved in a sickening sycophantic relationship with him. This is blatantly obvious to many of us student parents, and I would think that it would be obvious to the church members at Granite Baptist. I don’t understand why the church members don’t fire Rossi before he causes irreparable harm to the church, the school, and it’s standing in the community. I have attended church services there with my family, but we will not be joining Granite, and we will not attend church there again.
Agree completely . It’s a very sad situation.
Yes we agree, He is destroying this work. We just ask to Pray that the Church and School are harmed beyond repair.
I meant to say NOT HARMED , SORRY
They’re too afraid to stand up. He threatens everyone under him and he is good at it.
I learned a lot from his sermon today: let see friends came over to his house which by the way is in a “gated” community had steamed shrimp, oysters in the shell and went down in the basement to watch the Ravens beat the Steelers , preach a little, talk about himself a lot.
You obviously missed most of the sermon then.
Hearing now that at the annual business meeting held on 11/1/15 it was announced that the school is now in debt $100,000 with no explanation as to why. In typical sheep-to-slaughter fashion no one spoke up, demanded answers or required accountability. Instead they approved a budget. Oh by the way, no one held David Koresh accountable for his cult like actions either until the government stepped in.
I have been saved for over 30 years & an active member at Granite for over 10 years. Though I am not going to find fault & point fingers at Rossi’s doctrine, preaching, the IFB movement or the blessed Savior whom I proudly bare His banner. I do totally agree with the comments about Rossi’s methods & manner of leadership as a pastor killing GBC. After 3 years under Rossi the attendance & offerings have seen a drastic decline. My wife & I are truly saddened at the 1st hand stories of those he has chased off, good people. Some of which have stated to me because they disagreed with Rossi’s way of doing things that they were accused of “sowing discord among the brethren”& forced to leave the church. I cannot speak for Forrest Hills Baptist Church, though it has been stated, “the attendance plummeted” under his leadership. I am in total agreement with Alex concerning Granite, “He is destroying this work. We just ask to Pray that the Church and School are not harmed beyond repair.”
If this is all is true according to the constitution he can be voted out.
I am ok with different types of preaching, evangelistic, camp meeting style they have their place. but pastoring and preaching is different.
Chris
I have and always will love that sort of preaching. We need it! As far as Pastor Rossi, I believe he is a good preacher, he was our pastor, we know. Why dont u all get a backbone? We dont hardly find that sort of good preaching anymore.. Too much mamby pamby watered down stuff going around. Be careful…
I was saved due to the outreach of a local, what some of you would call a fundy church. Yes, biblically saved. My pastor was well known in town but not nationwide. He was fundamental but more importantly,Biblical.
The church had standards,but loved people more than the standards. This pastor never fell . He was influenced by egomaniacal preachers but never became that himself. The church was a little piece of heaven for a long time . You hear about the bad ones ,but not the many who never fall. Although I am not in a true fundamental church anymore , I still have a lot of respect for them and wouldnt critisize them. I often miss the dedication and togetherness that was shown in outreaching to the community, especially through the bus ministry. I now am trying to seek the Lord agressively to get answers. We enjoy the Word and fellowship,but it seems like organized ministry is almost taboo now. Very perplexing time for me.
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A silly blog dedicated to Independent Fundamental Baptists, their standards, their beliefs, and their craziness.
OMG. I can’t take it. Looking forward to other comments. My head’s gonna explode listening to this clown.
Is there some requirement that all fundy videos sound like they’re in a Styrofoam cup?
They’re probably using one of these
No that’s VHS quality mixed with a booming church sound system that overloaded the camcorder mike.
Lou Rossi Has a Webcast! http://countdownrevival.com/webcast.php
Fun!
One of the worst characteristics of fundy preachers is their natural tendency to belittle others in their stories while inflating their own credentials.
Yikes! I KNOW him! I grew up in a fundy “Christian” school where he was the pastor. It was Forrest Hills Baptist Church’s Christian school in Stone Mountain, GA. He was the pastor of the church, which made him the divine overseer of the school, I guess. I remember hearing him preach in chapel many times. You’ll be glad to know he hasn’t changed a bit!
I remember one service (can’t remember what it was) where he ran all the way away around the auditorium. I was a little freaked out by that.
Hey! I even remember when he came with my class on our Senior Trip to Colorado. I remember weeping and wailing with him at the “altar” of a local Baptist church in Colorado. Want to know what the weird part was? There was no one else there but our senior class. I can’t even remember why we were there…I think we went there just to pray or something. So we knelt at the “altar” and we all prayed and wailed and cried together. It was fundy audience manipulation at its finest.
Let’s see…
Jesus mentions hell: 11 times
Jesus mentions heaven: 144 mentions
You may discuss amongst yourselves how many times his point was actually “about” heaven or hell, since most of his references to heaven are about the “kingdom of heaven” which is, apparently, at hand, not in heaven.
He reminds me of Tom Farrell – a big WILDS evangelist. Total waste of time.
Yes, Brandon, you’re right. I spent a lot of time with Tom Farrell when I worked at the WILDS. I remember telling him that a message he had just preached was clearly not what the passage he used was about. Boy, he didn’t like that…at all! He had a very un-evangelist like attitude for me.
@Christopher, your problem is that you actually care what Jesus was talking about. Fundy evangelists only care about whether they can use Jesus to make a point.
Hmm. He didn’t reference any scripture, but referenced himself perhaps 60-70 times in that short clip (yes I did try to count). Also, reminds me of one of Darrell’s first classic posts…
http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2008/12/evangelist-fish-stories/
I have to admit that I used to love this type of preaching at one point. But it only fed the emotions and didn’t produce any long-lasting spiritual growth in my life.
I call these “recursive sermons.” They’re mostly a collection of stories about other “wonderful” sermons the pastor has preached and how people reacted to them.
Brother @Darrell are you questioning the technology that the LORD has blessed our congregation with? 🙂
@Christopher such adherence to proper exegetics is going to get you nowhere fast in fundy land. I believe the good preacher and the dearly departed (insert whatever deceased Bible College president here) would remind you we only need ONE reference to hell to take it literally and “preach the hell out of it”! 🙂
No, Rob, it was I who questioned the Styrofoam cup-and-string apparently used to record this, um, event.
Wow! More memories. I grew up on this kind of preaching. No Bible verses, just stacatto-type preaching at the same decibel level the entire 45 minutes. Usually it was a hell, fire, and damnation sermon…….Man, can’t believe how good it is to be away from that. We NEVER have any of those wacko evangelists and our preacher actually has an advanced seminary degree from an accredited, respected university. I don’t have to listen to how bad the country is and how much worse sin is today than it ever was and a whole lot of other things that seem to be the norm for the typical “fundy” church. Thank you God that BJU treated my family so badly we all left and found a new life.
More preachin’ about preachin’
He used to be our “staff evangelist” at NVBC in California, but the wicked influence of California got one of his kids kicked out of Bible college, so he moved back to the South.
Amen? Amen? Amen????
No… Horse feathers! Bull Hockey! Sit down and shut up before you do anymore damage to the cause of Christ!
Works, works, works…
My God! Shut him up! That’s too much crap to have to listen to in one sitting.
If anyone believes that is good preaching they need their head examined. Excrement like this passes for “anointed, inspired, preaching” in too many churches and keeps the hearers from the Truth found in God’s word.
A Pox, boils, plague, fleas and lice upon all the pozers in the pulpits of America and around the world that preach this crap.
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!
I think Don sums it up nicely. I’ve been out for so long I forget that this is CURRENT for some people. I know that I grew up very isolated (we did nothing BUT church, 7 days a week), but these poeple are online now, they watch tv…..how are they still swallowing this horsecrap???
This is the guy who inherited the mess left by Bill Pennell at Forrest Hills Baptist. Forrest Hills had become the “largest Sunday School” in Georgia in the early 70’s under Curtis Hutson (who took John R. Rice’s place at the Sword of the Lord). Pennell followed Hutson in 1977 (I was a member from 77-81). Church ran around 3000-4000 in Sunday School (1/2 to 2/3 were bus kids). I thought Pennell was the greatest preacher in the world. He even had a poster that he encouraged his people to buy. It had a big picture of Pennell with the words: “My Preacher,” “God’s Man,” “Our Hero”. He said kids ought to have posters like that in their rooms instead of rock stars or movie stars.
Sometime in the mid 80’s Pennell’s wife told the deacons about Bill’s many affairs (had been going for decades). She had been silent about them up until now because Bill would always tell her how much it would hurt the “cause of Christ” if she told anybody. When she did tell the deacons, at first, Bill told them she was having a nervous breakdown. Later when she produced proof, he admitted and resigned. His buddies Tim Lee, Jack Hyles and others of course defended him. He is now a “missionary”” in the Ukraine.
Lou Rossi followed Pennell and they sold the big campus in Decatur, GA and moved out to Stone Mountain and the attendance plummeted. Rossi left after a few years and someone else became Pastor.
Ken, it’s fun airing other people’s sin isn’t it? Makes you feel holy.
I just wanted to thank you for your comment. I recently had a conversation with my son. I told him about a school that I attended for part of 6th grade and their rather odd belief that women should not wear pants.
It was Forest Hills. I hadn’t thought about it in years. But decided to look it up to see if it was still there. I hadn’t been able to find any information anywhere on the internet until I ran across your comment. The only Forest Hills Christian I could find in the Atlanta area was in Stone Mountain. I wondered if it was the same one and had moved. Your comment was the only confirmation of that I could find. Thanks, you’ve satisfied my curiosity!
Actually, the truth came out about my dad in 1991; and my mom wasn’t the one who told the deacons. My dad told me, my brother and one of my sisters in a counselling session on a Tuesday. Four days later (Friday), he told my mom in a similar session (yes, we kids kept our mouths shut and let Dad tell on himself, as we didn’t want to be the ones to tell Mom the ugly truth that would change her life forever). Then we (Mom and us kids) decided to let Dad tell the deacons in person, which he did in a session on Monday. He then said, “Well now that I’ve confessed to everyone, I can go back to preaching, right?” He was pretty delusional at the time. He didn’t realize it was over for him. And not just him or even the church, but for our family. We’ve never been the same since.
Since then, he’s been to hell and back; and he’s paid a high price for his self-righteous arrogance back in those days. He’s also repented and been forgiven; and knowing he could never pastor again, he went to Ukraine to work with the orphans of Chernobyl.
I don’t agree with what he did on any level; and he destroyed our family…something most people don’t even think about. They think only of the devastated church left behind. But that’s OK. Those churches will one day be held accountable for their part in putting pastors on pedestals so high, the only way they can get down is to fall. A pastor doesn’t screw up on his own. There’s always a church that helped facilitate it in one way or another…whether it be by not seeing the signs that something was wrong in the family or in the marriage; or by not noticing egomaniacal behavior and calling it into check. So every person who points a finger at a fallen pastor must realize this: you TOO will be accountable for what you did or didn’t do to prevent it from happening.
And its not because of my dad that I no longer attend church. It’s because of self-righteous, hypocritical, holier-than-thou, judgmental, condescending, heartless, unforgiving, uncaring, callous jackasses known as so called “Christians”…like many people I see posting here on this page. I’ll bet good money not a single person on this page has ever reached out to the destroyed wife or family of fallen preachers, have you? Rather, you just make fun of the men that were the center of a pastor’s family somewhere, and not care whether what you write hurts a family member…a wife, a daughter, a son, a grandchild, even an aging mother or father…just as long as you can call it out and make fun.
So…nah. My dad hasn’t deterred me from church. My dad is human. He has admitted it. He’s repented. He’s now a dying old man who has done more for the world in the past 15-20 years as a non-pastor than most people I know will ever accomplish in all of their lifetimes COMBINED. I love him, too. He’s my dad. The only one I’ll ever have. There have been times in the past I wish I could’ve had a different dad; but that’s how it is. If I’m going to have a dad, it’s going to have to be Bill Pennell. I had to work through a lot, but I’m in no position to judge him. If God has forgiven someone, who am I to not? Talk about arrogance! So if anything, my dad would be a reason for me to go back to church, not leave it. But I don’t see my dad at church. I see a bunch of assholes pretending they’re better than my dad. I think I’ll pass, thanks.
Beverly, I met your Dad in 2004. His friendship has blessed me greatly. He has given me great insight through his brokenness. I’m thankful for his influence in my life. I pray often for you and your siblings and mother as I consider him.
I wish I could travel to see him once more.
You should visit if possible. He’s permanently in Clearwater and doesn’t have much time left. He’s been very ill for the past year, and now in his mid-70s, I don’t think he’ll ever again be as he once was. And once upon a time, he was a dad who taught me how to ride a bike, walked me to my first day of school, played Santa Claus at Christmas, belly-flopped in our cheap above the ground pool, gave me my first Bible, and showed me how to climb a tree. Though everyone around us called him “Preacher Bill”, “pastor” or “Dr. Pennell”, I remember…and miss…that young man I called “Daddy”.
Preach it, Beverly!! Well said!!
Beverly, I never thought that I would catch up with you after all these years. Met you many years ago at TTU. So sorry to hear about the things that you and your family have been through. I understand the disappointment and hurt that you feel concerning so called Christians, I have been through it myself. I wish you the best.
Beverly, I graduated from FH with your sister, and was terribly upset when I heard about your dad. I could only imagine what you all were going through. These kind of people is exactly why I did not attend church regularly for a long time after graduation. I was so tired of the judgement, holier-than thou attitude. I think people lull themselves into a false state of perfection that they can treat people as lesser than themselves, when in fact we are taught to put Jesus first others second and ourselves last. The fact is, if we in our fallen state did not need a Saviour , there would be no need for churches. Churches are not for the “perfect people”. I have found a wonderful church that believes in God’s grace and our continual need for it. I feel closer to my Lord now than I ever have.
I hope your dad and your entire family has found the peace that passes all understanding through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Very well written! I remember that time we’ll. I often visited to hear your Dad and my favorite sermon of his was “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” I’m glad you’ve forgiven him. I’ve wondered about your family many times over the years. Today I was thinking of all of you which led me here. Your words are truthful and it’s done me good.
Thank you!
AMEN!!! Well said Beverley. My, my how the tune changed in the reply’s. I too had a similar thing happen to me in church (IBF) growing up. Websites like this could care less who they hurt, it is not the spirit of Christ. They WILL BE JUDGED. Hopefully they will repent and take the site down. Behind ever preacher who fell is a human family that goes to hell and back emotionally, sometimes they never come back. Oh those that stand in judgement of anyone. I thank God he allowed me to be a pastor of a church. Jesus never hurt me, the scripture are true and the church is still the body of Christ.
I Listened to this message and am clueless as to the ridicule and mocking. First you come into the middle of a message. secondly, he is an evangelist. LISTEN TO BOB JONES OR BILLY SUNDAY. Praise the Lord souls were saved and revival broke out…Really… get saved!!!
I can assure all of you watching this clip that Rossi is the same every time he preaches – read a verse, talk about himself, preach about himself, use illustrations about himself. After every sermon I knew a lot about Lou and nothing about God (except that He really liked to work through Lou). Funny though, even in this video he silences naysayers with the old “if you disagree or don’t like me you must have secret sin in your heart” trick.
He was a regular at the fundy church I came out of. True piece of work.
Yea, I’ve seen Lou Rossi. Like zippy mentioned, every sermon I ever heard him preach was the same.
@Brandon, LOL–maybe you’ll want to buy this new book:
http://www.strivingtogether.com/pages/preaching-that-pleases-God.html
Is it just me or are some of the stories told by fundy evangelists kind of far fetched?
@Jason “far fetched”??? I would go so far as to say fabricated, fictitious, fallacious, falsifications for fraudulent fellows to foster fear for the furtherance of fundyism.
Don made me LOL.
Can someone stick a sock in his mouth….I can’t hear the TV…a “real pastor” has the Bible open and we are actually studying God’s word..lol
1st, I will agree that his sermons can be shallow, but that is not an excuse to be a hypocritical pharisee.
Wow, all of you mock this man and yet you are the first to excuse worldiness of American Churches.
Either speak up and declare him a wolf or pray that God will open his eyes to see the anger inside. After hearing him, I dont think he is a wolf, I think he is a Christian that has an ager problem.
Typical M.O. of an IFB speaker (sorry but they’re not preachers or pastors or teachers; they’re simply speakers, or more like screamers). Read a couple of verses out of the Bible and then spend the next hour or so just telling stories, cutting down others and building up themselves. That’s why they fall….one after another, after another, etc. They would be a whole lot better served to simply teach the scriptures as opposed to screaming, waving their arms around and jumping up and down for an hour or two. Total waste of people’s time imo. And….I have first hand knowledge of this one. He’s now been awarded the title of “Dr” but never even finished a simple 4 year college degree program. I’ll stop here but could go on much longer but it’s a waste of my time. They are what they are and God’s kingdom is not served by this type of rambling on without a deep and rich understanding of God’s Word. Nuff said.
I agree. There will be shock and bewilderment when Jesus says ” I never knew you” to the many who “screamed” in his name. I don’t know WHAT to expect when my time comes, but the more I learn about Jesus and His ways, the more convinced I become that pride ( or an “Emperor’s New Clothes” type fear of not belonging to the professing “saved”) is at the root of loud proclamations of personal salvation.
It’s hard not to separate prideful speech in a rant from a servant’s plea. By this, I mean “meekly instructing those who oppose themselves” with the good news of the Gospel.
Live justly
Love mercy
Walk humbly with your God.
Why don’t we pitch this to Discovery Channel. They could send crews around following guys like this. Call it “Fundie Wars” This is classic. I was waiting for him to say she got up and left in anger at his sermon and got hit by a meteorite. But noooo…she ruined it by getting Saved
HAHA Craig, I would agree with you except this kind of idiotic drivel should not be pushed onto the public. As it is, its already on youtube…
There is so much wrong in the things he says… how about the 85 year old wheel chair sundy-school treasurer deacon guy that “got saved” [tm] ? So basically that is an indictment upon his pastor alleging he had failed to properly propagate the gospel? So since he worked all of those different “roles” in the church as a true “unbeliever” what will change now that he “got saved” [tm]?
Religious emotionalism. nothing more.
I live near the church this guy currently ‘rules’… 😯
He sounds like a lunatic.
…as a former member of Forrest Hills, I also experienced Lou Rossi’s preaching…I find it interesting that so many of us think preaching should be anything but foolishness. “foolishness” is exactly what the Bible calls it (First Corinthians 1). But God also said it was the foolishness of preaching that He will use. I get the fact that not all enjoy certain preaching. If God will use Rossi; then so be it and God be glorified. But trashing a man over personal dislikes and opinion? …might be over-stepping! We must caution ourselves from hating the judgmental that we become judgmental like them. I would suggest eating the meat and throwing out the bones. I know, it’s risky – you might get a bone stuck in your throat. haha. I am very thankful for the church God has led me to. Of course, as in all churches, not everything meets my likes and opinions; but I will not let that hinder me from getting what God has for me in His Word or discourage me from being used where ever or how ever God deems fit. — just another point of view! muse it.
Thanks for those words of truth. I am a graduate of FHCS and am very thankful for the ministry of the church, school, and Pastors. The Lord has used them greatly in my life despite what the critics may say. I can’t wait for Heaven as all disappointments will end and there will not be another sinful word spoken or written about one of God’s children. Jesus said, “if you have done it unto one of the least of these … You have done it unto me”. Please don’t criticize my Savior!
Lou Rossi is your Savior? I’m confused.
I attend the church where he currently is the pastor and lets just say he makes a good grave digger because he keeps shoveling. He is a paranoid, egotistical man who most recently has shown his true colors with his racial overtones using the n-word in private circles and from the pulpit using the word “diaperheads” during a pre 9/11 sermon. Meanwhile he controls his school and church staff like a bully would constantly telling those closest to him that anyone who disagrees with him is fired. The people of the church will rise up and demand his removal in very short order.
Do others at the church feel the same as you? We have been watching this now for a while and don’t see any others in the congregation stepping up. It almost seems as if everyone is too intimidated to speak up? We may have to pull our kids from the school if this continues .
What about the Decons? Why are they allowing this to happen without speaking out? Riding his coat tail.
Lou Rossi is destroying yet another church. He is also destroying what was formerly a well functioning Christian School. Many student parents, myself included, are discussing removing our children from Granite Baptist. Most of us would endure a significant inconvenience in removing our children at this point in the school year, but many of us will be enrolling our children elsewhere next year. We do not want our children in an environment where a so-called “Pastor” simply fires anyone who disagrees with him, especially a well- loved and long-standing teacher, and them gloats about it to the people he thinks are his confidants. Yes Lou Rossi, some of the people you say these thing to do share them with the rest of us.
A Pastor should guide and help his church members, and he should lead them by a Christ-like example. Lou Rossi threatens anyone who disagrees with him (and obviously fires them as he threatens to do), while he lavishes church funds on those who seem to be involved in a sickening sycophantic relationship with him. This is blatantly obvious to many of us student parents, and I would think that it would be obvious to the church members at Granite Baptist. I don’t understand why the church members don’t fire Rossi before he causes irreparable harm to the church, the school, and it’s standing in the community. I have attended church services there with my family, but we will not be joining Granite, and we will not attend church there again.
Agree completely . It’s a very sad situation.
Yes we agree, He is destroying this work. We just ask to Pray that the Church and School are harmed beyond repair.
I meant to say NOT HARMED , SORRY
They’re too afraid to stand up. He threatens everyone under him and he is good at it.
I learned a lot from his sermon today: let see friends came over to his house which by the way is in a “gated” community had steamed shrimp, oysters in the shell and went down in the basement to watch the Ravens beat the Steelers , preach a little, talk about himself a lot.
You obviously missed most of the sermon then.
Hearing now that at the annual business meeting held on 11/1/15 it was announced that the school is now in debt $100,000 with no explanation as to why. In typical sheep-to-slaughter fashion no one spoke up, demanded answers or required accountability. Instead they approved a budget. Oh by the way, no one held David Koresh accountable for his cult like actions either until the government stepped in.
I have been saved for over 30 years & an active member at Granite for over 10 years. Though I am not going to find fault & point fingers at Rossi’s doctrine, preaching, the IFB movement or the blessed Savior whom I proudly bare His banner. I do totally agree with the comments about Rossi’s methods & manner of leadership as a pastor killing GBC. After 3 years under Rossi the attendance & offerings have seen a drastic decline. My wife & I are truly saddened at the 1st hand stories of those he has chased off, good people. Some of which have stated to me because they disagreed with Rossi’s way of doing things that they were accused of “sowing discord among the brethren”& forced to leave the church. I cannot speak for Forrest Hills Baptist Church, though it has been stated, “the attendance plummeted” under his leadership. I am in total agreement with Alex concerning Granite, “He is destroying this work. We just ask to Pray that the Church and School are not harmed beyond repair.”
If this is all is true according to the constitution he can be voted out.
I am ok with different types of preaching, evangelistic, camp meeting style they have their place. but pastoring and preaching is different.
Chris
I have and always will love that sort of preaching. We need it! As far as Pastor Rossi, I believe he is a good preacher, he was our pastor, we know. Why dont u all get a backbone? We dont hardly find that sort of good preaching anymore.. Too much mamby pamby watered down stuff going around. Be careful…
I was saved due to the outreach of a local, what some of you would call a fundy church. Yes, biblically saved. My pastor was well known in town but not nationwide. He was fundamental but more importantly,Biblical.
The church had standards,but loved people more than the standards. This pastor never fell . He was influenced by egomaniacal preachers but never became that himself. The church was a little piece of heaven for a long time . You hear about the bad ones ,but not the many who never fall. Although I am not in a true fundamental church anymore , I still have a lot of respect for them and wouldnt critisize them. I often miss the dedication and togetherness that was shown in outreaching to the community, especially through the bus ministry. I now am trying to seek the Lord agressively to get answers. We enjoy the Word and fellowship,but it seems like organized ministry is almost taboo now. Very perplexing time for me.