Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne's
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit." A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Matthew 7:15-18
Walt Disney was and is quite upset that a few days ago that an executive
of the one of its companies Web portal site Infoseek was arrested for investigation
of soliciting sex with a teen-ager over the Internet, authorities said.
Patrick J. Naughton was arrested Thursday by FBI agents at the Santa Monica
Pier, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said Saturday. Patrick Naughton
was subsequently dismissed and his name removed from anything to do with
Infoseek to preserve the family image of
Disney.
Now the Tampa Tribune reported on September 24, 1999 that a Bible studies teacher at Rodney Howard-Browne's church the River on East Busch Boulevard was arrested Thursday for fondling the 8 year old daughter of a woman he had met at church.
Charisma Magazine out of Lake Wales, Florida owned and run by Stephen Strang a graduate of Oral Roberts University and close friends of the Straders of Carepenter's Home Church Inc. Lakeland, Florida, reported recently that Rodney Howard-Browne's Florida Church Growing Fast The River at Tampa Bay, which the evangelist started in December, plans Bible institute. It sated:
There's a new river flowing out of Tampa Bay that evangelists Rodney
and Adonica Howard-Browne hope will flood America with revival. Called
from their native South Africa as missionaries to America in 1987, the
Howard-Brownes now have a local family of believers to shepherd as senior
pastors of their new church, The River at Tampa Bay. The couple says the
Lord
directed them in October to start a church in the Tampa-St. Petersburg
area, where their Revival Ministries International has been based for three
years.
Howard-Browne plans to implement hands-on teaching methods at The River Bible Institute and said he'll invite guest ministers from around the world to help lead instruction. The couple say they're serious about keeping a "spirit of religion" away from The River. They want to give the Holy Spirit free rein, unencumbered by religious traditions.
Well James Woods, 25, one of the teachers at the River was charged with two counts of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16. Tampa police officers say the offenses occurred on the night of September 15, 1999.
In his winter camp meeting at USF Tampa Florida South African Pentecostal Evangelist Dr. Rodney Howard Browne taught pastors that "sheep needed to be fleeced or they would have too much hair and could not see where they are going. It was the pastors job to fleece the sheep."
Multi-million dollars Family run Evangelistic Ministries in America be it (Benny) Hinn of Orlando, (Karl) Strader of Lakeland, (Rodney) Howard-Browne of Tampa, (Jerry) Falwell of Lynchburg, (Bill) Bright of Orlando, (Pat) Robertson of Norkfolk, (Richard) Roberts of Tulsa, and (Kenneth) Copeland of Forth Worth are notorious for hiding their total salaries and those of their family members and special friends in their personally owned non-profit religious corporation.
Just like with the Bakker's of PTL Club fame personal misconduct, mismanagement,
and pillaging of the treasury and misuse of
Ministry resources are quite common. The Straders of Lakeland, personal
friends of the Jim Bakker, Benny Hinn. Oral and Richard Roberts and Rodney
Howard-Browne, went through a major split of Carpenter's Home Church in
1989 when
the Straders refused to relinquish the financial control they had on
the ministry, the church and its assets.
All of these family run ministries see the dumb sheep as God sent to be fleeced for their own hidden agenda and growth of their personal kingdom of which they are kings and rule supreme.
Dr. Rodney Howard- Browne had been credited with bringing the laughter revival to America. But from what really happened in Carpenter's Home Church in 1993 and 1994 and its devastating effect on the community including the robbing, raping and murdering of the sheep, was not much of a revival.
The leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in Lakeland
and Missouri also would not accept the testimony of one of its members
Roy Aldrich that he was robbed and raped by money changers and wolves in
sheep's clothing in Carpenter's Home Church during the so called
"revival". But the State of Florida who cared about justice, righteousness
and
truth accepted the words and testimony of Roy Aldrich about the Strader's.
The Florida State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors
that Dan Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash in the real
estate and mortgage investments. He was selling the securities without
a license and that the securities were unregistered. This was done in an
organized method amounting to Racketeer-Influence and Corrupt Organizations,
or
RICO Act.
Daniel, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 1995. He was
convicted of 238 felony counts for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors,
some members of the church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments
in properties that didn't exist or already had liens against them. Others
who were involved along with Dan Strader were not pursed by the State of
Florida
as they felt that the conviction of Daniel Strader was a good example
for others to take notice.
Dr Rodney Howard Browne used his influence and powers to raise money at Carpenter's Home Church to buy the senior pastor Karl Strader his much need second Lincoln Town Car. But when Rodney was requested to use his influence and power to raise money for the unfortunate elderly victims of Dan's Strader, he refused.
It is to be noted that Howard-Browne's standard biography claims he
once served as an associate pastor at Rhema. But according to Rhema church
officials contacted, Howard-Browne was never an associate pastor--nor did
he ever hold any pastoral credentials or responsibilities. Said Kelmeyer:
"Rodney was never an associate pastor here. He was an ordained
minister by the state and a lecturer at our Bible school, but was not
involved in any form of pastoral work."
Howard-Browne also claimed a "doctorate of ministry degree" from an obscure San Jacinto, California correspondence institution called "The School of Bible Theology." A state Department of Education employee contacted likened the tiny school, which bills itself as "The Seminary to the World" and has no faculty, to a "diploma mill."
The Tampa Tribune also reported recently that: Although Billy Graham
encourages religious leaders to be open about their
salaries and publish their finances, Howard-Browne would not disclose
what he earns. He says his salary is determined by his board of directors,
which is comprised of four pastors, himself and his wife. The couple does
not vote on his salary. "People get hung up on the figure,'' he says. "But
they don't take everything into account. I don't get a housing or clothing
allowance. We take our kids on the road and that's very expensive.'' Not
good enough, says Paul Nelson, president of the Evangelical
Council of Financial Accountability in Washington. Revival Ministries
International is not among its 925 members. "When you hold yourself
out as a public trust, it's just good practice to be open about your finances,''
he says. "If you're not forthright, you leave a question in the minds of
your potential givers.'' For the past five years, the ministry has been
audited by Katz &
Kamm, a Baltimore accounting firm. But the tax exempt church association
is not required to open its books to the public. "While I applaud them
for getting the audit, I would strongly suggest they go one step further
and make their records public,'' Nelson says.
