 For a lot of the people who are Pentecostal or Charismatic, especially those who might be Black, may have a fine memory of a lot of things that Carlton Pearson has offered them, particularly his music. Now, I too am the same. I love listening to the Azusa albums and so forth and just listening to him sing because even though at that time I actually agreed with a lot of his doctrinal stances, but even as I moved away, I still appreciated the music. That being said, though, that is still no excuse for not calling the truth the truth. The fact of the matter is that what Carlton Pearson is preaching or has preached and is preaching is trying to leave that particular legacy. That is a dangerous, as a matter of fact, a deadly, spiritually deadly, as well as well as physically deadly legacy to leave. When someone is dying, you do want to be graceful. You don't want to be offensive if at all possible. That is, if you are trying to be intentionally offensive. You do want to show some respect and also have a sense or a modicum of decency towards that person, but at the same time, again, just like the former argument, that there's still no excuse to absolve a person of what they're leaving behind. Everyone is a human being even when they die, regardless of what they did in the past. But still, do we treat everyone the same way, the convicted killer, the rapist, the murderer, the bomber, who have you? Do we feel the same way about that person, that person's family, when they're passing away? Because in the end, it's not really about Carlton Pearson. That's what I think everyone ought to get. It's not about Carlton Pearson. It's about God and His Word. For many of you who don't know, Carlton Pearson was a very famous and very prominent Pentecost, so an immoral, quasi-charismatic preacher and evangelist. However, he shook the world, especially the Christian world, when it came to his revision of hell and also this, what he calls a gospel of inclusion, of those people who also would make it into heaven. I mean almost overnight, not really overnight, but really in the span of a week, two weeks, maybe a month, his entire church was gone, the giving and so forth, and so he was a man without a church, so to speak, but he did find a new place because, again, this gospel of inclusion reverberates amongst people. On a limb and say gays are accepted in heaven, something that the black church disagrees with. Well, not only the black church, the church disagrees with it, and my gay friends, and I have several over the years, were some of the most sensitive, loving, creative, ingenious, generous people, some are members of my family. I got tired of sending them to hell, but these brilliant human beings, spinning eternity in a customized torture chamber, it messed with my theology and my heart, and so I started preaching the gospel of inclusion, saying that Hindus, Muslims, Jews, everybody has access to the grace of the God we preach. It grieves me that we treat people the way we do once we find out that they stop impersonating who they aren't. Usually the people that speak the most vociferously against something are dealing with it in their own life. Black music, church music, where would it be without our same gender loving or gay musicians and singers? Not all of them are. But many have come to you and said, I'm gay, but I can't come out. Oh, yes. We're talking very powerful people in the gospel industry. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. With tears in their eyes, they were afraid. There are people who come to me and say, I embrace your gospel of inclusion, Bishop, but I can't. It's not a theological issue with me. It's a business decision. I'll lose my flock. I'll use my money to lose my Parsons. I'll lose myself. I can't love everybody. I can't even love me. Colton Pearson is on his death bed. He doesn't have long to live. Who knows? Maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. Who knows? But death like us is certain. But for him, it seems to be nearer. And so the question is, what about things that he taught and then how should we treat him and his memory? There are those that believe that his treatment or his belief on hell is spot on. The reality is, it's a complete scam, particularly the fundamentalist Christian version of hell. Most pastors won't say this because their whole business model is tied to the threat of an eternal hell. A person or preacher or pastor's business model is not tied to hell. No, the business model, if you want to call it that, is tied to the book. Not hell. There is a goal to get to. Yes, we want to escape hell. Why? Because the Bible says we'll get that in a second. But the goal is to have a relationship with Christ and to be with him forever. An eternal place of torture as a core belief is a recent phenomenon in human history. If you don't believe me, just pause to read this graphic. It is an oversimplification of centuries of developing beliefs, but the information tracks. Now, I'm not sure what this person's belief is, but clearly they're not Christian. And the fact of the matter is, we don't care what other people have believed, what other people thought about it. All we can do is go off of what the Bible says. That's what we're tied to. That's what our core set of beliefs come from. Here is what Jesus himself said about hell. He said in Matthew 10, 20, he says, do not fear those who kill the body and are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, yes, the word that's used there is the word DNA, and it literally still does mean what we think of as hell. But even if you think that it means something other than hell, yet means the garbage heap and so forth. But if you think that's something that's different than hell, fine. That's where you're going to go if you have not placed your faith in Christ. And that garbage heap is not the same as what you find at your local city dump. So Jesus himself is even talking about hell and what the reward would be if you don't. And he says, don't fear the person that can kill you, but fear the one who can kill you, which is ultimately God. He's the one that gives life and takes life. And then after that, send that soul to hell. And when listening to the CNN interview, it's not just the issue of hell, but it's this gospel of inclusion, meaning that everyone can go to heaven. I don't care what you're doing, what sin, what wickedness, whatever it is that you're in, you can do so. Well, if that's the case, then why would anyone ever want to bypass their time of freedom and fun here on this planet, knowing that the destination is still to be with the Father? And oh, by the way, that makes God a liar. God is the one who says that sin shall be punished, not us. We didn't come up with the rules. He did. And so to ignore that and to say different or to cite different and to teach different, that calls God a liar. Remember what the Bible says about someone who preaches a different gospel. In Galatians 1-8 Paul says, but even if we or an angel from heaven, or even if it's Carlton Pearson, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be a curse. It may not sound nice. It's not pleasant. Think of a special one that you have found in reserve, someone that you appreciate that you like. But the fact of the matter is God is not changing his rules, not for Carlton Pearson, not for me or anyone else. If he, which he has preached a different gospel, then hell is reserved for him. Now, for him, it's not too late. He literally has time. He literally has one of the opportunities that a lot of people don't have. He has the opportunity to make a death bed confession to where he's got the opportunity to reflect and think about it. I mean, that's what God is doing. I don't know. But he certainly can. But it seems to me that he, what he's really doing is still digging in and really trying to pass this message on to other people. Always say, success without success or is failure. I've always said, when I heard him say that, that success without succession is failure. Because he's thinking about Richard. I would have been thinking about him. I'm not saying anything about Richard. That's no. But it's succession. This is succession. Not success or he's got his own ministry. You've got your own ministry. This is all, it says the movement is well underway. And so rather than being fallen, rather than coming to a grips with himself, facing the fact that he is going to be a sinner in the hands of an angry God, to borrow a phrase, rather than have that ring and resonate in him, he is going to dig in and he's going to still push this, that there will be people left behind to preach this. Remember what the Bible says. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, he says, verse 11, therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God. And I hope that we are made manifest also to you and your conscience, to be with the Father, but he didn't want to. He's digging in. And so the fact of the matter is Carlton Pearson has placed himself in the hands of an angry God who is going to judge him accordingly. And the fact that he would want to make sure that there are others preaching and teaching this, leaving behind a legacy, a legacy of a different gospel. Guys, I know it's hard to say, maybe even hard to hear, but what is ultimately behind that? What's ultimately behind that, behind anyone that preaches and teaches and pushes something that is antithetical to the scriptures is completely demonic. Yes, he's on his deathbed, but he literally has an opportunity to hear. And those that said they love him, you are doing him a disservice. You're trying to comfort him. You're trying to make him feel better on his way to hell to the very place that he doesn't believe is there. He'll be able to tell you, although you won't know it at the time, but he will be the first one to tell you that he was wrong. It won't take but a second, once it happens for him to recognize that I made a mistake and then to think of how many other people might buy into what he's preaching. How many other folks are going to listen to that? Listen to what he said. Listen to what you're saying. Listen to what you're preaching. If you're doing this, how many other folks are going to face the same judgment, but instead rather than you giving him the gospel, causing him, begging him, if you say you love him like you say you do, well, then why don't you do what the one thing that everyone who loves someone should do? Help them to see how they can spend eternity with God the Father. Help them to see that rather than making them feel good about what their life was like. I know what my life was like and everything like Paul said, I count as refuse. I count as waste. None of that is good, but the Bible says only what you do for God will remain. Well, he hadn't done a whole lot in terms of his own personal ministry. Yes, the songs were nice. The songs had us clapping in and dancing and so forth, but that's not what gets us to heaven. What gets us there is the gospel understanding the truth of it and not that anybody can do what they want to and not accept or even reject Christ and then come face to face with him and he'll say, well done, my good and faithful servant. That is not going to happen. But what we have seen instead rather than people encouraging him to place his faith in Christ legitimately and to turn away from this false gospel rather than them focusing their attention on trying to convince him, you would rather attack people. I don't know who specifically these people are speaking of, but rather you would focus your energy on condemning those that may not have been as nice to Carlton Pearson. Many of you have not been raised, particularly those of you that are in the pews of the black church. Now, whether someone has not used the best amount of discretion when it comes to talking about Carlton Pearson, I can speak of. But this person, Larry Reed, one is the person that you probably ought not to be listened to. As a matter of fact, you should not be listened to, but listen to what he's saying. And by the way, guys, let me just warn you ahead of time, he does kind of cover the vulgarity, but it's not cucked enough. You still know what he's saying. Those of us that love and supported Bishop Carlton Pearson in his life, some of us longer than others, financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, supported and wrapped our arms around him, gave our money to support, to platform, amplify his voice. We are in pain because we have to watch him transition. And your blacks don't have enough common sense or courtesy, coot, order, or intelligence to not make posts, reiterating how you did not agree with his stats on hell, him embracing all people from all walks of life. And then ending with, but I respect and love him, go to hell. There are many ways to go to hell, pick one and go quickly. You are a religious, mean, ugly, raggedy, no good church, pure woman, church, brain, habit, dumb ass, mother, and I want you to disappear from all of the postings online, celebrating Carlton Pearson. Do not come in the comment section. The level of anger that comes from him just gives you an indication of his heart. And again, for me personally, when I pass, I want the one comforting thing that I would like to know, I'm not going to know, but I would love to know who would be there at the end with me, supporting me, pushing me. I don't want people like him that's surrounding me. That's not what I want. You telling people to go to hell because you don't like what they said about his teaching on hell. Well, no, the Bible says that he will go to hell. The Bible says that you will go to hell. If you don't embrace what this gospel teaches them, if you teach something different, then you, my friend, along with Carlton Pearson, will go to hell. This is not that difficult. It's not that hard. And to act as though his soul, that he is special or above others, do you have the same level of remorse for someone who's a terrorist who dies? Do you have the same level of remorse for someone who's been convicted of killing people who has been executed on death roll? Are you having that same level of remorse or do you cheer for that? No. Now, am I saying that we ought to celebrate this person's death? No, we should not. That would be just as wicked. The point is, though, here is a man that's preaching that and what he's preached has come to the forefront. Let me just remind you guys how we ought to be treating God. And this is a God who does give life, but also take life. Remember the story of Nadab and Abihu, who go before God in an unworthy fashion and God literally rains down fire. And his response through Moses to the father Aaron, the father of those two boys, was this. He says, Moses says, by those who come near me, that's near God, I will be treated as holy. And before all people, I will be honored. I will be regarded as holy and I will be honored. There's no if ands, buts about it. If you disrespect him or disrespect his word, if you preach another gospel and you dishonor that, well, then you've got a problem. Carlton Pearson literally had one job. One job because it was a task that he took on. He decided, the Bible says if anyone desires his office, they desire a good thing. Well, he desired to do so. So his one job was to preach the gospel, to read the text, to exegiate it properly, and then to teach it and also to live it out. You had one job and not only did you fail it, but then you taught something different. You taught the opposite. And so, yes, even though he didn't like it, Larry didn't like it, we feel bad for him, but again, it's not about Larry Reed. It's not about anyone else that's supporting him. It's not even about Carlton Pearson. What it is about his word, him being magnified and being magnified through his son, Jesus Christ, who if you place your faith in him, you will not have to go to hell, but you will indeed go to heaven, be with the Father. And notice what it says in Revelation 2013. It says, And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it. And death and Hades, that word Hades is also linked to the same word of hell, gave up the dead, which were in them and they were judged. Every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And so the unfortunate thing is that even going to hell, even going to Hades is not the final resting spot. That's a temporary holdover until all of death and everything else, all of God's enemies are going to be tossed into the lake of fire. Well, there will be eternal torment. If somebody offered me $10 million to serve the God that your psychotic ass serves and the God that Bishop Carlton Pearson serves, give me a Bishop Carlton Pearson for $10 million, Alex. Bishop Carlton Pearson is more of a man of God than your hateful ass ever would be. And by the way, if you are going to make it into heaven, I'd much rather spend eternity in your imaginary hell than spend any day with you anywhere. Now go have the day that you deserve. Sometimes you get the opportunity to look back on things that you said, realize them, put them in context, and then regret them. I hope that at some point in time this lady does that. I hope she regrets what she says at some point in time, but looking at some things that she said in the past, I don't know who she is, but I did see a few of the things that she said. I hope my prayer is that she does get a chance to regret those and then place her faith in Christ according to the scriptures, not in some sort of false gospel, this gospel of inclusion or gospel that teaches you that you want people to go to hell themselves, or you would much rather go to this so-called imaginary hell than to be in heaven with these people. I hope that, I hope she regrets, I hope this is just one of the, these momentary things you say, you know, kind of in the heat of the moment. I hope that's what it is, but if that's the case then she's wrong and she will find herself in the exact same place as a Carlton Pearson. Our gospel of inclusion is a reflection that 25 years ago, if it were not for Carlton Pearson on this stage, there would not be an AME with a Kojic, a Kojic with an apostolic and apostolic with a Baptist. This is the gospel of inclusion to say whether you went down three times or once if you confess Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life and believe confessing with your mouth, then you shall be saved. That's the kind of inclusion so that when we get to heaven there's no denominations, no reformation, no jurisdiction, but all of us are singing the same song, Gloria in Hallelujah. So my one prayer is that we will get to the place that the healing would happen because what we have seen happen to Dr. Pearson, Bishop Pearson, is what the church is guilty of. The church is the only army that kills its wounded soldiers. That if in fact you are hurt, they'll leave you by the side of the road and you think the gurney is gonna come and the gurney never shows up. The church could be a little bit more forgiving, but let's be clear, the church is not the only people that would kill or stop on or to kick a member when he's down. No, we're not the only ones. Matter of fact, atheists do it, Muslims do it, Buddhists do it, Hindus do it. It's a human trait. It's not a Christian trait, but we should be less susceptible to that than others. But the fact of the matter is he's not one of our own. That part needs to be clear. He is not one of our own. I know it might sound tough, it might sound hard, but again, and then to get it coming from him because his gospel inclusion tells us that when you act a certain way, when you become a certain way, when you do certain things or whatever, when you get caught in committing multiple adulteries that you can still come out and preach, I'm still the man. Yes, so the gospel of inclusion does sound good to someone like that, whereas other people when they come face to face with their sin, they feel remorse, they feel pricked in their heart, they feel ashamed. His gospel does make sense, but listen, we are not going to whatever you might think about how some Christians treat us as other person. Again, it's not about them and it's not about Carlton Pearson and it certainly is not about Jamal Bryan. It's about God and his word. What does his word say? He says that all scripture, this is the focus that it needs to be, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, including the scriptures that speak about hell, even though it might be unpleasant, even if it speaks about an internal torment in hell, because again, you literally have a way to not have to suffer. It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, which is what people are trying to do to reproof what he's doing for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Don't come against that teaching. Don't say that those that hold it up, even if they don't say that in the nicest of ways that they should go to hell. Don't condemn them for trying to point out what this man is preaching that's wrong, that if people were to listen to Carlton Pearson's message, this is the problem. If people were to listen to his message and take it, take it to heart, what would be their reward? There's the question. If anyone were to listen to Carlton Pearson's message and to take that into their heart, where would they spend eternity? Not in heaven. In that hell that he calls imaginary, that's where they would be. And so that's why people are rejecting his message. And if that means, if you think that rejecting his message means rejecting him, well then fine, that's why people are rejecting him. Because again, as I said before, it's not about Carlton Pearson. It's about God and his word. And the fact that he's given an opportunity, he's made a way for those who don't deserve to go to heaven, but who do deserve to go to hell. He's made a way for them not to go there. Amen.