Pastor Jim's House

The best piece of evidence revealing the hatred and evil in Pastor Jim's heart was a letter written by him and sent to the Sentinel and his family members in March 2010. It is so full of lies, twisted half-truths, and hypocrisy that it is still difficult for the Sentinel to believe that Jim sent that letter. The only explanation that make sense is that God had him send it, for the Sentinel's benefit in revealing the truth about how corrupt Jim is. The letter follows, with the Sentinel's responses in high-light. The names have been changed to protect the guilty, as well as the innocent. The Sentinel returned this letter to Jim, hoping that he would see the error of his ways. Obviously, Jim did not.

 

 Pastor Jim’s letter, written March 23, 2010:

 

Dear Kram,

 

After reviewing the video that Edna took at your recent book signing, I felt that I should try again to reason with you about the course you are on. Again?! When was the first time you tried to reason with me? There has been no reasoning, because there is no reason for what you have done to me, or to several others.

 

First, Kram, you have no idea how much I labored the entire time you were married to keep Maggie encouraged to stay with you. That’s right! I had no idea, because you didn’t labor at all. If what you say is true, then why did you not come to me and counsel me. We had one or two meetings, one of them two months after getting married, and things did improve. Our relationship improved so much that Maggie even in her old age [meant to point out the risk], decided that she loved me enough to want to have my child. A woman needing encouragement to stay married does not have a child with her spouse. It is so typical of you and [my now  ex-wife] to blow things out of proportion. And she made a sincere effort to be the best wife and mother she could be, in spite of the lack of feelings for you with which she often struggled. You have caused her to forget all the good that we had in our marriage. You and others have brainwashed her. She would not describe her life with you as “a garden of Eden”, and neither did you, at the time. I’ve explained that Maggie “struggled” with my inability to be over-religious. Her struggles were a result of the paranoia brought about by your over-religious and self-righteous ways. Every time that Maggie came to talk to me, she once said, she left feeling that I was on your side, not hers. It is no exaggeration to say that I checked on her feelings and the status of your shaky marriage fifty times; so often did I do so, in fact, that after a while, all I had to do was ask with a look. If what you say here is true, and it isn’t, then why did you not come to me to counsel me? Fifty times?! I was never aware of your feelings and hers, when it counted most, and when we could have worked on our marriage and my attitude. Yes, we did have one meeting early in our marriage, but things got better afterward. So much better that we had a child and built a beautiful house together. If you knew of Maggie's feelings at least 50 times, then why was I kept in the dark? You will remember that she came to see me just two months after you married. (You came too, after she had been with me about half an hour.) She felt that she had made “the biggest mistake of her life” by marrying you – her words – and that she – again her words – “wanted out”. I would not, I could not, even consider agreeing to such a thing so quickly. (I regret now that I did not realize how deeply she felt about it. You didn't realize how deeply she felt about it?! When someone so meek and tender-hearted as Maggie goes to someone of your authority to seek a divorce only two months after getting married, you had to have known how deeply she felt about it. If what you say is true, then you have no business being a pastor. You definitely have no business being a marriage counselor. Maybe I could have spared us all a lot of pain and trouble by getting out of the way and not resisting her desire to divorce you then. I was just so sure you would change.) Wouldn’t it have been easier to provide some counseling? One meeting isn’t going to solve, or resolve, any of the problems that were causing a problem in the first place. No, your way is to avoid conflicts and “let” God take care of them. Then, if the outcome is good, God did it. And if the outcome is bad, God did it. That way, God is blamed for the evil that you allowed to happen, and in my case, even promoted.

 

After you walked out on Maggie and the children (she would not have left you), when I heard that she was planning to rent your office the following week, I called her from Louisville and pleaded with her not to do it. If you had pled with her not to do anything, she would have obeyed you. You have her, and everyone else, wrapped around your little finger. This is also a slanderous lie. I did not “walk out on Maggie and the children.” As I have explained, Edna kept telling me that I “just need to go away.” I moved out of the house to the office, but that wasn’t far enough. I moved to the apartment to help Nancie out (financially) and hoped to have a similar experience as hers, which let her back in. Maggie was being coached by you and others, namely Grey, to seek a divorce – and I can prove this claim of mine. I told her that it might happen that after a month or two of loneliness, she would discover feelings for you that she did not realize were there. She discovered those feelings were still in her heart in the summer of 2008 when we spoke on the phone for 7.5 hours (until 3:30 a.m. the second time), but after she talked with someone (probably you and Edna), she cut herself off from those reawakened feelings for me. Maggie would not promise me that she would wait, but she did say that she would think about what I said. A few days later, when I returned home, it surprised me to learn that she had gone ahead with her plans and rented the room. If you had not had so much hatred for me and wanted me gone, you would have undone what she had done, for you know that you had the authority to do so. You kept Edna from divorcing Todd (Edna told me how she came to you more than a couple of times seeking permission to divorce Todd). Maggie and [her daughter] were more relieved to have you out of their house and their lives than I ever suspected. That doesn’t surprise me one bit, as without Maggie’s constant nagging, there was much more peace in the house. I don’t think anyone could have stopped Maggie from renting that office to make sure you could not come back into your house. I do not say that to hurt or offend you but to help you understand what the situation really was. Smokescreen—you could have said something, but didn’t. She would have done anything you said. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you suggested that she rent the office to keep me from coming back.

 

Kram, your descriptions of events from 2006-2007 are so far from what I recall that I struggle to find a connecting point. For one example, you did not call me before you came to my house the evening of December 30, 2006; nor did I call you. Maybe not on December 30th, as I believe it occurred earlier in the week, or the previous week. Even Maggie remembers me coming down from my office into the kitchen when she was fixing dinner, and me telling her that I had called you and that I was going to talk to you later. She remembers asking me what I planned to talk to you about and that I told her that I didn’t know. Nor were you summoned for a trial of any sort. That was poetic license that I used to describe the scene. But I strongly suspect that you knew what you were doing. Furthermore, I did not call people to my house after Maggie told us that you were coming to tell us about a dream. When I told Maggie that you were welcome if you wanted to come over, the people who were already there stayed, even though we all were ready to call it a night. We had been listening for a couple of hours to some of our newly-produced music, and some of us were on the floor because over forty people were present and there were only about twenty-five chairs in my office. During the Christmas holidays, we almost always have a lot of people visiting, as you know. That gathering had nothing whatsoever to do with you. First, I don’t think that meeting took place on Dec. 30th. I believe that it took place the week prior. But when it occurred isn’t important. Second, when I called you to ask if I could talk with you, you told me that you were busy with a couple of people in your office and that you would be finished around 9 p.m., at which time you’d call me back. It may have been Maggie who called me to let me know that you were ready to see me. I don’t remember the exact details. But I have no doubt that you arranged for everyone to show up, probably by inviting some over to listen to a new song, knowing that more would show up. But there were so many there that night, and I don’t think it was on a weekend, so I have no doubt that you or someone called around to get everyone there. Then you probably mentioned that I was coming over to talk about a dream I had had. You knew very well what you were doing. And God is going to hold you accountable for what you did and/or did not do.

It was out of courtesy that Justin (I believe it was) went and found a chair for you in another part of the house and brought it in. He placed it close to the middle of the room because (1) the middle of the room was the only spot available and (2) it was the best spot for you to be able to talk to everyone as you said you wanted to do. Jim, you know as well as I that if I had known that everyone was there, I would not have come. I wanted to talk to you, and you alone. But I knew that there might have been a few others there (I think I remember you telling me that there might be a few people in your office when we met), but I was not expecting everyone. I did not say that I wanted to talk to everyone. Justin was trying to make it so that you did not have to sit on the floor as some of us were doing. You were not required to sit in that chair if you did not want to. You did not even have to come. You could have waited for some other time if you were uncomfortable with the situation. Listen to yourself! You knew that I was uncomfortable. You knew my personality well enough to know that the environment in your office would not allow me to be open and honest. It was all a show orchestrated by you. You try to throw off your followers’ thoughts about the important issues by making a big deal about the placement of the chair and explaining that I didn’t have to sit on the floor. But the fact is, the chair was placed for me and you were right there next to it waiting for your victim. Personally, I would have preferred to wait. It was late, and I was tired of the floor. But since you said that you had something from the Lord to tell us, we waited for you. I said that I had something to tell YOU. Not “us”. If you had preferred to wait, you would have gone to the bedroom and told everyone good night, knowing that they would leave. And you didn’t have to sit or lie on the floor waiting for me.

 

That night, Kram, after you told your dream, you surprised us by volunteering a confession that you were guilty of envy. You said that you envied the blessings that other people received from God, that you envied the wonderful feelings they felt. I believe that I was asked what I thought my problem was, or I just offered a possible explanation of what had happened to me, spiritually. This is really irrelevant to all the evil you did to me, and to others. My response to you, if you will recall, was that what you were feeling was not envy (which is evil), but that you were simply jealous of those blessings, and that such jealousy can be a good thing. It can provoke us to seek God more fervently. I know what was in my heart, and it was not jealousy. It was envy. And I believe that you knew it. But because you were determined to help Maggie divorce me, you made light of it. Or you just aren’t as in touch with God as you lead everyone to believe. If you do not remember that, I can understand. I didn’t remember most of this either until I saw the video of that evening, about a year later. At Christmas, 2006, Bessie had been given a video camera as a present, and to test it, she had set it down on the table in my office and turned it on even before you came. Bessie’s video recorded every second of your visit that night, from the time you walked in and sat down, until you got up and left. If what you say is true, I would like to see that video. Maybe you can post it on your website or send it to me? But I bet that you will have some excuse not to, such as it was deleted or lost. There was one Brother there that night who later told me that “what Joim did to you wasn’t in your best interest, it was wrong.” And I know that he wasn’t the only one to have that thought. On that video, I told you that envying blessings was not your problem, but that pride was, and that I wanted you to deal with the real issue. I told you that you and a couple of others (one of whom was sitting there with us) that night, had a problem with pride, but I did so only because you guys were proud, and it was my job as your pastor to warn you. I seriously doubt that anyone there saw me as being a proud person. I was guilty by association, and you know it. I wanted you, Kram, to deal with your real problem, not to beat yourself up as being guilty of something (like being jealous over blessings) that was not even sin. And I told you that your statement of Maggie was abusive, but only because it was, and it was my job to tell you. Your statement of my abuse of Maggie shocked everyone the first time you made that false accusation. The real abuse was your over-religious, self-righteous way. And you had no idea of how much abuse I suffered from her. If you had known how much abuse I suffered, or if I really did abuse Maggie as you say, then where and when were all the warnings and counselings I should have received? You are trying to justify your cruel treatment and judgment of me. She was hurting, Kram, hurting a lot because of you. Maybe, but mostly, as I have said, because of your over-religious, self-righteous ways. And why can’t you see that I was hurting because of her paranoia and abuse? And I did tell you that William [my 2 year old son] was not developing normally, and I asked the others present if anyone felt as I did about that, and some did. I don’t believe that anyone agreed with you. But you know how no one will say anything against you, which allows you to twist the truth. Since when are you qualified to offer a judgment on a child’s development? You are judging William’s personality. Again, you twist the truth against me. He was shy. He was very much a normal little boy for his age. It was evil of you to imply, or even state, that I “ruined” William. (It was later, in March 2007, in an afternoon conference in my office with a small group of people closest to you, that I told you that you were ruining William. It was not that night in 2006. You confused those two events.) Maybe I did confuse the dates of the two events, but that is such a minor detail that it shouldn’t even be mentioned. This December 30, 2006 visit of yours took place over a month after I let you know that your sarcasm and slander of people here made you unwelcome in my home, but I was willing for you to come if you had something from the Lord that we needed to hear.

 

At the end of that December 30 evening, the video showed that we all knelt down and prayed. You and I were kneeling on the floor praying together. At one point, I even had my arm over your shoulder. And the last thing that happened before you left, after you got back in your chair, was that I asked you how you felt. You responded, “I feel a lot of hope.” You do remember that now, don’t you, Kram? Yes, I seem to remember trying to think of something to say that I thought you and the others might want to hear, so that I might have some hope of reconciliation. What else was I to say? You are sure to make yourself the authority and everyone under you look so foolish. Or maybe you will remember standing on my front porch afterward, repeating to Darrel that you felt a lot of hope. Or maybe you remember walking home with Maggie that night and telling her, too, that you felt a lot of hope. You did not leave my home feeling condemned and “castigated”. Yes, I remember telling them I felt hope. As I said, what else was I supposed to say? But I didn’t feel any hope coming from them, or from you. And I did feel condemned and castigated. I remember feeling that I was humiliated for nothing. As usual, you see and say only what you want others to see and hear.

 

The point is, the event as you describe it is so far from the truth that one must be concerned about your mental state. Now this is where you really twist the truth and slander me! This is where the evil in your heart comes to light. I may have gotten the dates and when things were said wrong, but the issues I’ve raised should not be avoided by raising technicalities! And you are no authority to raise questions concerning my mental state! This is pure evil slander on your part. Kram, if your lawsuit against me had gone to court and that video had been played in public, you would have been made to look like a fool. You say this thinking that your followers will agree. But I would welcome that video to be shown to the whole world. Those who view it won’t think about the technicalities you have raised as a smokescreen to cover the real issues. They will see how you abused me that evening. They will see how you control others with fear. Please send me a copy of the video! But I know you won’t, if it still exists, which I doubt. Well, actually, we all might have been made to appear foolish because the world does not understand what it is like to have a real family in Christ, one that is close enough to deal with problems openly and honestly among themselves as the Scriptures say to do. You are really laying it on thick here, Jim! I know for a fact that you keep secrets from some of your followers. Many are kept in the dark on some issues. But, I would not have looked as foolish as you and your followers. A real family in Christ doesn’t talk behind their family members’ backs, as is done among many of your followers, and as you do. And I can point out the proof of what I’m saying here, and there are those who follow you who know that what I say is true. How many people knew exactly what happened to [the couple who bought your old house]? Or Eve? Or [another poor lady]? Or even Todd? I bet that most of your followers were surprised to learn about your judgments against them. And you claiming that God “was cleaning house”, referring to your judgments against them and praising Abel for remaining with the group rather than staying with his “headless” wife, should have shown everyone that you were not speaking for God. Oh, you barely escaped being exposed as the charlatan then. But your way with words and the fear you have instilled among your followers allowed you to escape. I have kept all criticism of you away from the public; such as that should be dealt with only among the family of faith. And for good reason! Everyone would see through you and see the evil you are guilty of. This kind of evil does not need to be kept among the family of faith, for it wasn’t of God. I never wanted you to be publicly embarrassed, Kram, and I still do not. But although I have never gone public with anything about you, please do not take that as fear to do so. It is not. And that is one reason I am writing to you now. More smokescreen! I don’t fear going public, but I welcome it! I have evidence and testimony of what I say is true. You are the one who fears this mess of yours going public. But I would rather you just admit your guilt and repent.

 

For a second example of how far from reality your thinking has become, I refer to the last prayer meeting you attended and that you discussed in your book signing last Friday, March 19, 2010. You must remember, Kram, that we used to video tape our meetings. The camera was rolling the entire three hours of that meeting, on April 4, 2007, the one at which you claim that you were verbally abused and excommunicated. (That was the meeting after which, on your way home with Maggie in the car, according to her, you glibly asked if she wanted to go get some ice cream before going home.) You were there in my home that night not because you were on trial but because you had come to my office that afternoon and asked me if you could be there. I had told you yes, you could come but that if you came, you should be aware that your situation may well come up, since it was unresolved and your family in Christ would want you to know what was going on with you. Why did my family in Christ not come to me, or call, to find out? Because you labeled me as evil and warned them, albeit in an indirect way (but I know that you sent an email out to some, not all, stating such), probably, not to have contact with me. Where was my help between the December 2006 meeting and the April 2007 meeting? This is one of the real issues I’ve raised and which you don’t talk about. I had absolutely no contact with you, and you did not respond to my many emails. Where was my help? Where was the love of God in how you didn’t do a thing to help me reconcile with Maggie? By the way, the meeting where I was “verbally abused and excommunicated” was not the one in April, but was the one that occurred around Thanksgiving of 2006. Again, you are raising technicalities and twisting the truth as a smokescreen. And what is wrong with asking Maggie to go out for ice cream? I wanted to be with her longer, to talk more, because I knew that as soon as we got back to the house I’d have to go up to the office and she’d lock herself in the house.

 

As it turned out, and as the video shows, there was nothing in that entire meeting about you, spoken to you, or heard from you, until the last fifteen minutes or so. And even then, when I spoke to you, I did so quietly, courteously, and sincerely. I did not point my finger at your face and “thunder” accusations at you, as you publicly claim I did. (The whole thing is on video, Kram.) Again, you have the wrong meeting. The one in April was not the one I was talking about. Maybe I got the date wrong, but the meeting where you falsely accused me and excommunicated me was the one around Thanksgiving 2006. And as a writer, you very well understand poetic license. As I remember it, and as the video of that earlier meeting should show, I was “thundered” at. So why don’t you just forget the technicalities and confess your sins? Nor would I have ever acted that way toward you. But you did. Let’s look at the video of that meeting, or did it get “lost” too? But I seem to remember you asking Todd or someone to turn off the recording equipment, so there's no video of that event. You know how to protect yourself. In the thirteen years that you were here, you never saw me treat anyone that way. That’s not completely true. I remember you, more than once, asking someone to turn the recording equipment off so that you could debase someone. And you treated me that way because you knew that I had seen enough of the whole picture and that you had to get rid of me so that no one else would come to see it. At that meeting, I sincerely asked you please to tell me if there was anything you thought we needed to hear or if I was seeing something wrong. You knew very well that I could not respond to you, for if I told what was in my heart and mind, you would have slammed me. You know how no one can stand up to your “authority”, and how no one ever has because they have more fear of you than they have of God. You have masterfully controlled everyone’s minds and hearts. Your only response was to hang your head down and say, “I just can’t do anything right.” That was the only kind of response I ever received from you – to my face. You didn’t expect anything more than that, either, from me or from anyone else. You thrive on such responses.

 

A few weeks previous to this, in our March conference in my office with just a few people closest to you present, I all but got on my knees and begged you to help me if I was seeing things wrongly, and all you did then was to hang your head down and say, “It’s all true.” What else could I say? You were acting then, as you are now. I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn’t. And you knew it. If you really had concern for my spiritual wellbeing, then you certainly could have taken other measures to reconcile me to the Body of Christ (e.g., welcoming me back into the fold, under certain conditions; talking with others openly; refusing to let Maggie seek a divorce (but you and Grey actually encouraged her to do so)). I had the people closest to you there so that they could be witnesses to everything that was said and done. No, they were the closest to you—your “Inner Circle”. You should have had Jiff and Dorrie Allegory there, and Winston Shihite, Saffon Hills, Jack and Dana Kirby, Maggie's family, Tyler and Carrol, and others. But with those closest to me in on it, you would not have been able to get rid of me. They would have questioned what you claimed, as I suspect some of them recently have, in response to my letter(s) to them. My only regret is that I didn’t stand up to you and make you justify your actions, in the presence of those who could have recognized the truth in the matter. You had already begun to mis-remember some things, and I was afraid of how you might later characterize what happened. This is an outright lie. Again, you are dwelling on the technicalities and avoiding the real issues. It may be that severe stress affects your memory; I cannot judge that. But did you not just judge me on that issue?! Do you not see the hypocrisy in what you said? And severe stress will affect most people’s memories. The real question one should ask is, “Why was I under such severe stress?” And where was my help? But you need help. This is slander against me. You have no right to say that I need help, in the sense in which you imply.

 

Kram, the April 4th meeting video is in the hands of my attorney now. I never referred to this meeting in my book, as far as I can remember. I may have mentioned how before this meeting began, Carrol, Jack Kirby, Tyler, and Judy Arque came over and hugged me so sweetly, which really encouraged me. And I remember that it was a normal meeting, and I got very blessed by it, especially when I went up for prayer. But afterward, you did beat me down again and destroyed what little hope I had regained. I’m sure that your attorney will agree with me after viewing that video. I’d like to see it for myself, to see if I really can’t remember that well. And I am begging you, for your sake, not just mine, to cease from these humiliating and false allegations against me. I can prove a lot of the most important allegations I’m making. You are the only one that will be humiliated by a public showing of the videos, and you know it. It makes me feel ill just thinking about playing that video in a public setting. I’d feel the same way if I were as guilty as you. Everything about that night, as you describe it in your book, is proved to be false. You haven’t proved the first major issue, I’ve raised, to be false. And you can’t. But if you continue your onslaught against me, you may force us into a position in which we are compelled to produce such evidence. In which case I will produce evidence that will show the evils you have perpetrated against me, and in the name of God no less. Kram, if that happens, you will appear to be purposefully misinforming people about me, and I do not want to do that to you. Please do not do that to yourself, and to us, and to the name of Jesus. Jesus had nothing to do with this, and I have not mentioned his name. But I have evidence that you are misinforming people about me, so this is another smokescreen of yours designed to appease your followers who have probably asked some tough questions or raised some valid concerns. Instead, you should be asking God what He is trying to get through your thick, evil skull. This is an All Things event for you, Jim! I am seeing the whole picture so much more clearly now, so I have no fear in you taking me to court. In fact, I would welcome the opportunity to vindicate myself. You may have all of your followers, and yourself, fooled all of the time, but you can’t fool everyone.

 

When I was forced to answer that long list of queries from your attorney, I added at the beginning and the end of those 58 pages an insistence that my attorneys do everything possible to keep those things about you from ever being publicized. There has never been a moment when I had any ill-will toward you, in spite of all that you have put me through in public, and by the grace of God, I feel none yet. My policy has always been to deal with the troubles and failures of God’s children only within the household of faith, and I intend to continue following that course as long as I live, but that may depend on how far you choose to take this. I beg you to stop before this goes any further. You lie when you say that you have felt no ill-will toward me. The hateful things you’ve said about me (I have written documentation) show that you are lying. And you don’t want this to go public because you will be exposed for the fraud you are. But let’s keep it private. Let me meet with select ones to present my case before them. Would you be willing to do that? I know you wouldn’t. My terms and conditions - if I am a liar, you have nothing to worry about. I’ve tried to be wrong, but it just isn’t possible with the evidence I’ve amassed. So I have no doubt that you will not allow me to meet with certain individuals.

 

Your accusation that I do not respond to you is frustrating. I responded to you many dozens of times, continuing even up to three months or so after you left Maggie. If this is true, and it isn’t, then send copies of your responses to the emails from me or your emails to me, with those I wish to meet with when I present my case to them. But you can’t, because I never received any responses from you (not dozens, anyway). (A copy of my last email in 2007 is attached, dated June 14.) That is the only email I have on file for you responding to me. And in it are many hurtful, hateful, and false accusations. Since then, there has been no point in responding. Nothing I said was taken by you the right way, and it was often misrepresented to make me appear to be evil. Because it was evil. And how can I take false accusations the right way? Your memory is poor, Kram, for whatever reason. It may be that a professional counselor will help you discover what that reason is. It cannot be anything I ever felt toward you or did to you. From the day I met you, I was for you. And I have been the same pastor to others as I was to you (including Todd), and those people are not in the condition you are in. Oh Jim, how can you say such garbage? It is slander to suggest that a professional counselor might help me. Your letter strengthens my case. And it is a bold-faced lie to say that you were the same pastor to me as to others, especially mentioning Todd. You kicked me out, knowing that it would be the end of my marriage, only because I had a bad attitude and said something against Sassy, which I have no doubt others felt was true too. Yet, you let Todd continue going to the meetings and bible translating sessions after learning that he had a problem with internet pornography and Edna seeking your approval for a divorce many times! Do you not see the hypocrisy in what you say? Not only that, you told Todd that he “loved his land, his tractor, and his dog more than he loved his wife, family, and God”, or something to that effect. And I’d be willing to bet that most everyone (those outside of the inner circle) think that’s the only reason Todd was in trouble.

 

Kram, your misunderstanding of me and others is misguided and is driving you to do things you wouldn’t normally do. So are you agreeing that I’m a victim and responding in the only way a victim can respond? You are continuing to use the names of certain people as if they support you, even though you know that is not the case. They are afraid of you and not nearly afraid of God as they ought to be. And you are taking advantage of your sisters’ and mother’s love, as well as their lack of knowledge of events. If what you claim is true and what I claim is false, then I wouldn’t have travelled down the road I have. I have no reason to lie. I could be satisfied with my business and seeing [my son] when I can. But I am a man of principle, and I cannot, nor will God allow me to, stand by and let you get away with such evil as you have done. I heard your mother prompt you last Friday to tell the audience of being “shunned”, and I felt so sorry for her. As I have said, you labeled me evil, as well as others, and probably said some other things that would have led your followers to shun us (your followers cannot argue that they did not shun me, and others). You proceeded to falsely accuse me, again, of commanding everyone here not to contact you. I remember seeing an email where you did so (I may still have a copy of it). I was even told by someone that such was the case. If you didn’t tell everyone, I am certain that you made sure that your feelings were made known, either directly or indirectly. Let me talk with some of your followers and see if they can remember why they didn’t even call or write to me. I did no such thing. You did not see me do such a thing during the thirteen years that you were here among us. Yes I did! I don’t remember who it was, and I believe that there was more than one person, too. And I have no doubt that some others will remember you talking behind that person’s back in a way that led us not to have contact with them. They will remember you asking someone in the meetings to turn the recording equipment off so that you could debase them. What makes you think I would start with you? For one, you knew that I was seeing through your charade, your man-made commandments and doctrines. You knew, from the very beginning, that you would have trouble deceiving me. And you could not allow others to learn what I had learned. So you had to make me look as bad as possible, which you did. Things got so blown out of proportion. Nothing I did was deserving of splitting up a marriage and family, or loss of job and property. Think about it, Kram. I have, and I’ve tried to be wrong, but the truth is the truth. There is no argument against the truth. And if allowed to present my case, those who see what I have found out will see it too. Might it be possible that so few contacted you because you did not develop a meaningful relationship with people while you were here? This is a wicked, slanderous lie! I had many meaningful relationships. And if I can meet with those individuals and show them what you just wrote here, they will see the hatred in your heart for me. They will recognize this question of yours as a lie. My relationships were strongest with those who were the least over-religious. Your relationships are strongest amongst those who are the most over-religious. That is one of the pieces of evidence that your work has become a personality cult, which is one reason I believe God is not happy with you. You remember that years ago, I used to tease you, good-naturedly, about disappearing when groups of people were around. I nicknamed you “Bruce Wayne” because Bruce Wayne used to quietly disappear from group functions, as you would do, when Batman was needed. We would just look around, and Kram would be gone. I was ok with you doing that; and I teased you only to try to gently bring you out of your shell, a little at a time. So you are admitting that personality is very important to you—that with a different personality, I could have been more a part of your group? That’s what I thought. I disappeared, because if I didn’t, I’d have had to wait and wait and wait for an opportunity to say goodbye, which I didn’t really like doing anyway. And I didn’t see saying goodbye as being necessary, either. Not everyone said goodbye to me when they left, and I didn’t think anything about it. There were many times that you would disappear and someone would ask where you went.

 

Please take no offence at the following, but you need some information to understand why you got so little communication from people. You sent an angry letter to B. H. and a few others just a few weeks ago, ending the letter by saying that you missed him. Afterward, he told me that you never gave him the time of day the entire time you were here, except for one day when you were “showing off” your big-screen TV (his words). You have brainwashed him too. I don’t believe what you wrote here. For one thing, the “so little communication from people” happened before my letter to B. H., and I don’t remember it being angry (at him or others anyway). Second, I don’t think that B. would have said what you say he said, except that is what your followers feel toward those you denigrate and ostracize. I may not have had a very close, personal relationship with B., due to the fact that he lived 70 miles away and we had very little in common, but I loved him as a brother anyway. And he was the one who stopped by my house when I was watching my new hi-definition TV. Why is it such a sin to talk about things other than God? Your over-religious, self-righteous ways have affected every one of your followers to an unhealthy extent, but didn’t affect me nearly enough for my spirituality to be considered worthy of your acceptance. Your over-religious, self-righteous way is the sand in the ointment. And I don’t miss it at all. Would you expect that B. would pursue you after you left, when while you were here, you showed no interest in him or his family, especially when you have publicly criticized him as being one of a group of mindless cult followers? Again, the smokescreen. If my email or letter to him, and the others, offended, I’m sorry. But the truth of the matter is that they abandoned me, not in response to fear of God, for God was not in what was done to me and to others, but it was done out of fear of you. And that happened long before my letter. So your argument is worthless. What you are saying is that everyone who follows you must have a perfect human relationship with each other, as well as their spiritual relationship. That is more evidence that you are the leader of a personality cult. And God is trying to get you, and everyone else, to see that. This is an All Things for you and your believers who believe that doctrine of yours. Besides, B. and everyone else should love the brethren no matter how they are treated (Jesus said to love even our enemies, and I definitely was not an enemy). In such a case, Kram, normal people would be glad that you were out of their lives; they would not want to contact you. But John, you maintain that your followers are not living as “normal” people. They are God’s children, and should know better. You lie and twist the truth around to fit your own needs.

 

It was my original intention, when I received notice of your humiliating lawsuit in 2007, not to contest the charges leveled against me because that is what Jesus commanded his followers to do if ever they were sued (Mt. 5:40). My friends and family worried that I was making a big mistake, but I was determined to do it God’s way, regardless of what it might cost me. I announced to everyone here, that it was my intention to obey Jesus’ injunction not to resist evil, but to give to the one who sued me even more than he demanded. First, you said something about your “friends” worrying. Now Jim, everyone knows that you have claimed many, many times that you have no friends, that God won’t allow you to have friends, because you cannot be a respecter of persons. So a little of the dross of your lie just came to the surface in that sentence. Second, you knew God’s way on how to handle a lawsuit, but you went against God anyway?! Maybe your hypocrisy is why I had to go through the hell you put me through and then write my book. I told them that not only did I intend to turn the other cheek to offer a defense, I intended to give you even more, by returning to you every dime you had ever given to me by way of tithes and offerings. Oh Jim, do you really think that anyone would believe that? If you did say anything like that, it was only for show. You perform acts like that all the time. If I am so evil, and if I am lying, then God would not want you to have any of the money I gave you in tithes and offerings, because I’d be able to say that I helped build your work. And I’m sure that He would want you to pay me for all of the time I spent in your basement painting the OT maps on the walls, and clearing your land, and helping others with moving and mowing and such. You are saying all of this for show. Do you not feel the greed that is so obviously in your heart? Your records were searched, and the total added. Later, however, it was pointed out to me that unless I put up at least a token fight, there was another man who had walked out on his faithful and loving wife here who might use your “successful” lawsuit as a weapon to further harm that utterly broken woman. First, Brad did not walk out on his wife. He walked out on you. And you helped destroy their marriage too. People don’t just stop loving each other, especially when they have children. And if there are marital problems, the pastor should do whatever he can to help, not to divide. Anyway, what difference does the outcome of my lawsuit have in doing what is God’s will? You justify changing your mind (especially after seeing how much money you’d have to pay out) based on what else you think could happen. I had to admit that such was a possibility, and I was persuaded by that consideration. Persuaded by the greed and pride in your heart. I met with an attorney just to signal to others that they would meet with some resistance and that there would be costs involved in following your example. That was pure fiction, pure acting. This excuse is such a joke. What others? Who else’s lives did you destroy to a point that you feared they would sue you to? I could not bear to see that precious, completely innocent sister suffer beyond what she had been put through. I pray to God I never again see anyone that crushed in spirit. She obviously suffered from your brainwashing the same way Maggie did. And she suffered because of your over-religious, self-righteous way. And I doubt that she will be the last, either. [Another couple's marriage and family were broken up many years later because Jim would not discuss Tyler's questions about Hell and eternal torment.]

 

You have no doubt wondered, since you know that I normally offer to return the last six months of people’s money who contribute to my work and then decide to go some other way, what I did with the tithes and offerings I had wanted to return to you. That amount (minus the taxes I paid on them) was used to pay my attorney’s fees for the lawsuit you filed and to restore [my son's] college fund that you plundered to start the lawsuit. First, this is another slanderous accusation. I did not plunder William’s college fund. That money was from the sale of my boat, which Maggie made me sell because she thought it was too much trouble (I told her that the only trouble it was for her was that she had to step into it—that is the kind of abuse I had to put up with). And the rest of the money came from my retirement funds. We did not have a formal educational account set up for William. Second, if you added up everything I gave you over the years, and were thinking of returning that amount to me, then you couldn’t have paid nearly that much to your attorneys and William must have a huge amount in the bank. I’d like to see a deposit slip. I’m willing to bet you didn’t give anything to him. If you did, thanks, that was the least you could do. I was forced to put $10,000 into an education fund for William. If you are not lying here, prove it. I want to see a bank-supplied record of the deposit. But maybe you did deposit the last 6 months of my tithes and offerings, which after paying your attorney fees could not have amounted to much at all. You may have your followers fooled, but I can see your deception. Even at that, there was some money left, and from that amount, Maggie’s attorney fees were paid when you filed that senseless and cruel lawsuit against Maggie to take William away from her. As part of my settlement, I had to pay Maggie’s attorney’s fees. So I believe that you are lying again. Or, you are making it sound like you paid them all. I know it cost me over $2,000 in fees, which would seem about the right amount for what her attorney did in her defense. So again, show some evidence that what you say is true. Kram, I must tell you that your descriptions of our meetings in your lawsuit against Maggie were outrageous, and at one point, blasphemous. How on earth could you bring yourself to say such things about these sweet people and the holy Spirit of God? I don’t remember saying anything about prayer meetings, and if I did say anything, it would have been the truth. Anything I could have said about the meetings and people would not have been of any use in that lawsuit, anyway, so I don’t believe you are telling the truth. This is just another of your smokescreens. Besides, I was not the one who was deposed, so I did not give any testimony. I pray that God has mercy on your soul and attributes those wicked words to mental stress that pushed you to go so far in your attempt to take William away from his wonderful mother. In the first place, you don’t know the reason I took Maggie to court. Because I had to spend so much time getting my business going, there was no way I could take William completely away. I only wanted more custody of him, maybe 50%. Second, you are the one whose false accusations and cruel actions led to this mess, and the breakup of other families. William will have to overcome the hate he will surely have for you when he learns the truth. And I will try my best to help him overcome it.

 

Please consider these things, Kram. To this point (and even now only to your closest relatives), I have refused to defend myself by going outside the body of Christ with the truth about your situation, even though you have publicly taunted and abused me for things that I did not do and words I did not say. I can prove what I have said. I can show everyone how you have lied. You have not gone public because you know that I am right and you are lying. You should stop it. It is not only illegal; but more importantly, it is sinful. Seeking the truth in a matter is not sinful. Seeking justice, even worldly justice, is not sinful. What is sinful is destroying people’s lives in the name of God, as you have done. Either you are acting, or you are completely deluded. I suspect that both are true.

 

There is no sarcasm or malice in my suggestion that you need professional counseling, Kram. Maybe not, but it is slanderous! To be as adamant as you are about things that never took place in reality, you must actually believe what you are saying. If you really believe what you wrote, then you won’t mind me talking to a few of your followers about it, right? What do you have to lose? If I’m as wrong as you say, then they will see it too. Let me meet with certain ones. Let them be the judge between us. I know what I am saying is true, and therefore your idle threats don’t scare me the least bit. But there would be no question in the mind of any reasonable person, once he is made aware of the facts, that you are living in a world of your imagination. You think things are real that are not. You have invented a personality for yourself that you never had (the hero, the only one courageous enough to question and oppose a cult leader – which you never did), (You are bragging here, wanting your followers who read this garbage to see you as the hero) and a personality for me (refusing to give you a chance to speak your mind – which I did many times) (You never gave me an opportunity to speak after I learned what I have learned. And prior to April 2007, those “opportunities” occurred in your presence, and you and everyone who knows you knows that nothing can be said against you) that I never had, and a personality for this wonderful group of people that never existed. (I refer to the “50 or so”, what did you call them, “poor, ignorant country folk” who, you say, are hopelessly afraid of me?). How could you speak of these saints like that? Don’t you know that if you keep this up, somebody is going to do some real investigative work, not just pursue some disgruntled former members, as you have done, and that they will find out what kind of people are really here, and that you will look foolish again? First, you never gave me a chance to speak my mind because at the time I didn’t know what I know now. And with you present, as everyone who knows you well, it was impossible for me to defend myself—everyone knows this is true. Second, by arguing about how I described your followers, you are avoiding the real issues, again a smokescreen. That was poetic license, because I did not want to describe everyone in detail, for the benefit of their privacy, and you know that that kind of writing makes the story more readable and interesting. So quit avoiding the real issues. I have not claimed to be a hero, only a victim. And why are there so many other victims, whom everyone knows loved God? I am not afraid of anyone doing investigative work, but rather, I welcome it. You are the one who is afraid of that. It made you so angry and scared when I started finding out why the others were victims too. Why were they disgruntled? That is a good question that should be answered. Why don’t you ask all of your followers to personally talk to Eve and [the couple who bought Jim's house], and even Brian? Have them talk to them one on one. Then they can get together and discuss what they have learned. I’d bet they’d have some tough questions for you!

 

Please seek professional counseling, Kram. Or, if not, at least agree to meet with me, Maggie, Todd and Edna, along with your relatives, so that they can hear something other than what they have heard. There would be no point in meeting. They have seen the evidence I have and know that I am not lying, and know that I do not need professional counseling. Why do you always suggest meeting with your “Inner Circle”? Don’t answer, for the answer is obvious. I felt so sorry for your mother at your book-signing, trying to support you, knowing only what you have told her happened to you. Kram, you know how badly you used to speak to me and Maggie and others about her, your father, and your sisters and their children while you were here. Shame on you Jim for such slander. You know very well, as does my family, that my behavior while in your work was due to the over-religious, self-righteous influence of your way. I have not denied that to them, but have apologized. And I have repented, by coming to my senses and exposing your sins. Maybe you have confessed those things to her and to them, and have repented. I hope so. My family sees through your little scheme in writing this garbage. Your parents seemed to be fine people, in spite of their commitment to an abhorrent religious system. You have badly misinformed your family, Kram, and they need to know what really happened if they are ever going to be willing to encourage you to seek the help you need. These last two sentences were just oozing with pure evil. If you think that their faith in God is abhorrent, while you trash innocent people’s lives in the name of God is just, then I can only believe that you have become a false prophet. And I wish that Jesus would, right now, stand before us and judge us. To tell the truth, I think we would both be quite surprised (in a good way).

 

It may be a good time to sit down and talk when we are all at the beach this summer, if not before, since I hear that you (with family?) will be at Ocean Isle the same week as many of us. Why do you write “with family?” when you know very well that I will be down there only because of the kindness and love of my sister and her family? You know I’m not foolish enough to step into your traps again. You write this only for show, to “prove” to your followers that you are superior and right and that I am wrong. But it proves nothing, except that you are a cold, callous cult leader. [I would bet my life that Jim never shared my responses in this letter with anyone, except maybe one or two of his closest followers.] I will certainly bring the video of your last meeting so that they (and you!) can see how far from reality your imagination has taken you. And you know that that video is not of the meetings I have written about in my book! Your deception deceives no one on this side of the fence. That is what you really want, isn’t it? For the people you love to know the truth and think for themselves? Yes, so you are saying that you will allow me to meet with certain followers of yours to show them what I have learned?! Great. I will send you the terms and conditions of the meeting. I will even allow my family to be present, although they already know the truth. But I’m sure that they’d like to hear from my former spiritual family their thoughts on the matter. We will even video tape it so that you and the Inner Circle can watch it later. Also, if by the time we meet, Betsy can dig up her copy of that video she took in my office on the evening of December 30, 2006, I will bring that. I threw mine away not long after I saw it. Oh, I bet you did throw it away. And I bet you told Betsy the reason you threw yours away, intending to persuade her to do the same, because it was such damning evidence against you. But if you can find it, send it with those I invite to our meeting, where all the cards will be placed on the table for all to see. I’d like to see that video, because I have no doubt that it shows the shocked expressions on many faces—the shock of how you so badly treated me.

 

You have publicly accused me of being afraid to face the issue, Kram. But in your heart, you know me better than that. And you may be able to fool all of your followers with a letter like this, but I do know you better than that, and I’m not falling for it. The only issue is, are you willing to let your family see us all together and then judge for themselves whether you need the help that I believe that you need? You, yourself, have realized, and have said on a number of occasions that you have done and spoken certain awful things because, in your words, you were “temporarily insane”. The “only” issue is that I need help? That I am insane? I’ve raised many more issues than my temporary insanity. That truth proves nothing. Anyone who trusts someone as much as I trusted you, to be a man of God, but then is falsely accused, slandered, and has his family ripped apart in the name of God, would experience at least some temporary insanity. Had I been evil and had no love of God or the brethren as you have said, I would have just gone away. But I will always stand for the Truth, in all things (not to be confused with your All Things doctrine, which I believe is one of Satan’s footholds in your work). You just keep blowing a smokescreen to hide all of the real issues. All that I’m suggesting to you is that your condition may be worse than you realize, and if so, shouldn’t you be encouraged to seek appropriate help? It will not hurt to let your family help you decide if that is the case. For everyone’s information, my brother-in-law, Richard, is a doctor and knows more about psychoses than you. And he will testify that I am fine, and always have been. In addition, my mother works for two psychiatrists, and they know me well enough to know that I need no professional help. So your slanderous smokescreen is just that. You’d better hope that I don’t take you to court.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Jim 

 

cc: C. J. H., K. H. D., S. H. T., K. H. R. (These are the Sentinel's family members’ initials.)

 

 

Can you believe the nerve of this guy? The reason the Sentinel never got a response to his responses should be obvious to anyone who reads this. The Sentinel is certain that his insights made Jim look really bad to those who may have read the letter. One individual, Bart in Arizona, whom the Sentinel hosted during Bart's first visit to North Carolina, refused delivery of this letter with the responses. Obviously, Jim warned him about it. The Sentinel believed that many others were probably warned too. He sure would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in Jim's office if he read those responses in the presence of anyone. But there is no doubt that the only ones Jim would have shared it with were those in his “Inner Circle”. But even they would probably have seen how right the Sentinel's claims and observations were, so Jim likely kept it secret.

 

The Sentinel thinks it is important to point out Jim’s hypocrisy and greed in what he wrote about planning to return all of the Sentinel's tithes and offerings, but then changing his mind. The Sentinel found his tithes and offerings statements for the first six years he was in Jim's work. Keep in mind that he was in Jim's work for at least twelve years. The total amount given to Jim in the first six years was over $40,000. And that amount is shy of the actual six-year total, as he could not find the amount given in the second year there. So, there is absolutely no way Jim's lawyer’s bill amounted to half of what the Sentinel gave him over half of his time following him, nor did he put that much into the Sentinel's son’s education savings account.