Bishop Long “cures” homosexuals but runes into gay sex claims. God wants him to be wealthy so he gets on with pleasing God as any preacher would.he is big into the Pharasees

Sex Scandal Threatens a Georgia Pastor’s Empire
Jessica McGowan for The New York Times

Bishop Eddie L. Long took New Birth Missionary Baptist Church from 300
members to 25,000.
By JAMES C. McKINLEY and ROBBIE BROWN
Published: September 25, 2010

LITHONIA, Ga. — Over the last two decades, Bishop Eddie L. Long has built a
religious and financial empire from scratch, transforming a small,
faltering church into a modern cathedral with one of the largest and most
influential congregations in the country.

Today, Bishop Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church includes a
multimillion-dollar network of charities and businesses, a private school
and the Samson’s Health and Fitness Center, where he holds court and pumps
iron with young people.

His message that God wants people to prosper has attracted celebrities,
professional athletes and socialites, swelling the membership to 25,000.
The church hosted four United States presidents for the funeral of Coretta
Scott King in 2006.

The rapid expansion of the church — often called “Club New Birth” because
it attracts so many young black singles — has also made Bishop Long a
powerful political player, especially in DeKalb County, home to one of the
wealthiest black communities in the country. The church has become a
mandatory stop for many politicians — local, state and national — and
Bishop Long supports candidates of both parties.

But Bishop Long’s reputation and sprawling enterprises now stand threatened
by a sex scandal.

Four former members of a youth group he runs have accused him of repeatedly
coercing them into homosexual sex acts, and of abusing his considerable
moral authority over them while plying them with cash, new cars, lodging
and lavish trips.

Bishop Long has denied the accusations in a letter sent to a local radio
station and has promised to address them from the pulpit on Sunday. He
declined, through his lawyer, to comment for this article.

The accusations are all the more explosive because Bishop Long styles
himself a social conservative, rails against homosexuality and calls for a
ban on same-sex marriage. His church even holds seminars promising to
“cure” homosexuals.

“When this comes out, it gives at least the perception of hypocrisy — it’s
like red meat to a lion, everyone’s pouncing on this story,” said the Rev.
Timothy McDonald III, a friend of Bishop Long who heads the First Iconium
Baptist Church. “This is the issue: how can you be against homosexuality
and you are allegedly participating in it? That is the epitome of
hypocrisy.”

The accusations center on the LongFellows Youth Academy, an exclusive group
of teenage boys handpicked by Bishop Long for spiritual mentoring.

The boys went through a bonding ritual, known as a “covenant ceremony,” in
which Bishop Long gave them jewelry and exchanged vows with them while
quoting from Scripture as ceremonial candles burned, according to court
complaints filed against the pastor. Reciting Bible verses, the pastor
promised to protect them from harm and called them “spiritual sons.”

But four former members of the group now say the real purpose of the
academy was to provide Bishop Long with young men whom he could lure into
sex. The men say they were past the legal age of consent when Bishop Long
initiated the relationships. Still, the charges have shaken Atlanta’s
church-going society, spurring painful conversations from kitchen tables to
talk radio.

Bishop Long cuts a flashy figure in Lithonia, the Atlanta suburb where he
lives and has built his church. He is often seen in a Bentley attended by
bodyguards. He tends to wear clothes that show off his muscular physique.
He favors Gucci sunglasses, gold necklaces, diamond bracelets and Rolex
watches. He lives in a 5,000-square-foot house with five bedrooms, which he
bought for $1.1 million in 2005.

His lavish display of wealth is in keeping with his theology. In his
sermons, he often tells his congregation that God wants them to be wealthy
and asserts that Jesus was not a poor man. By all accounts, he has been
well compensated for his leadership in building New Birth from a church
with a few hundred members into the largest congregation in Georgia. His
televised sermons reach 170 countries.

In 2005, for instance, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published tax
records showing that from 1997 to 2000 Bishop Long had accepted $3 million
in salary, housing, a car and other perks from a charity he controlled.

“We’re not just a church, we’re an international corporation,” he told the
newspaper in justifying his compensation. “We’re not just a bumbling bunch
of preachers who can’t talk and all we’re doing is baptizing babies. I deal
with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around
this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation.”