Ep. 449: Robert Morris, USAID and Samaritan’s Purse, Steve Lawson

On today’s program, Gateway Church founder Robert Morris turns himself into authorities after a grand jury indicted him on child sexual abuse charges. We’ll have details. And, USAID unfreezes $19 million in funds for Samaritan’s Purse. We’ll take a look. Plus, nearly 200 ministries do NOT file a Form 990 with the IRS. We have that list, and many of the largest ministries in the country are on it. But first, prominent pastor and theologian Steve Lawson breaks his silence six months after news surfaced that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a young woman. Steven Lawson, 73, who stepped down from ministry following an adultery scandal, has published a public confession admitting his sin and repentance. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Jessica Eturralde, Kim Roberts, Tony Mator, Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Ed Stych, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. Until next time, may God bless you.     MANUSCRIPT:    FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you this week from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, Gateway Church founder Robert Morris turns himself into authorities after a grand jury indicted him on child sexual abuse charges. We’ll have details. And, USAID unfreezes $19 million in funds for Samaritan’s Purse. We’ll take a look. Plus, nearly 200 ministries do NOT file a Form 990 with the IRS. We have that list, and many of the largest ministries in the country are on it. Natasha: But first, prominent pastor and theologian Steve Lawson breaks his silence six months after news surfaced that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a young woman. Warren: Steven Lawson, 73, who stepped down from ministry following an adultery scandal, has published a public confession admitting his sin and repentance. On March 12, in his first tweet on X since before the scandal broke, Lawson addressed his followers in a nearly 500-word tweet. "It is with a shattered heart that I write this letter. I have sinned grievously against the Lord, against my wife, my family, and against countless numbers of you by having a sinful relationship with a woman not my wife," the tweet began. Natasha: In September 2024, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas removed Lawson, their lead pastor of six years, after he admitted to church elders that he was having an "inappropriate relationship" with a woman. Before joining Trinity in 2018, Lawson was a pastor for over 40 years, leading churches in Arkansas and Alabama. Warren: Lawson formerly served as professor of preaching and dean of D.Min. studies at The Master's Seminary (TMS) and was a frequent preacher at John MacArthur's Grace Community Church (GCC) and its conferences. Lawson is also the founder of OnePassion Ministries, executive editor of Expositor Magazine (a ministry of OnePassion), and author of 33 books. Natasha: Next, Robert Morris turns himself in to authorities. Warren: Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, turned himself in on charges of lewd acts with children on Monday, March 17. Morris was indicted by a grand jury in Oklahoma last week on five charges of lewd or indecent acts with children. Natasha: The charges stem for allegations brought by Cindy Clemishire last year. Warren: Clemishire has accused Morris of sexually abusing her in the 1980s, starting when she was 12 years old. Morris was allegedly a 21-year-old visiting evangelist. He was married, and he and his wife had a young child. Morris resigned after the allegations became public through Clemishire’s account published by The Wartburg Watch on June 14, 2024. In reaction to the indictment last week, Clemishire said, “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.” Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge. Natasha: Next, anti-gambling groups and Casino unite. Warren: As the old saying goes “politics makes strange bedfellows.” That proverb fits a situation in Arkansas involving a proposition to allow casino gambling, where an anti-gambling group led by church leaders took casino-interest money to fight a competing casino from entering the state. The story begins in 2018 when Arkansas approved an amendment to the state constitution that would allow casino gambling in four counties: Crittenden, Garland, Pope, and Jefferson. That opened the door for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which operates at least eight casinos in that state, to seek a casino license in Pope County, Arkansas. Natasha: But locals created anti-gambling groups to oppose a casino in the county. Warren: At least two leaders of these anti-gambling groups involved in opposing casinos are affiliated with First Baptist Church of Russellville: Pastor Larry Walker and Deacon Jim Knight. Walker, the finance and administrative pastor on the First Baptist Russellville staff, has given his time and effort to anti-casino groups that accepted money from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Natasha: That’s not so unusual. You’d expect churches to be opposed to gambling. Warren: That’s right. But what makes this story strange is that the funding for these anti-gambling groups came from The Choctaw Nation, which owns casinos in Oklahoma. They funded the Arkansas groups because they wanted to eliminate competition. Natasha: In an email to potential supporters of a 2022 ballot question against the casino, Walker acknowledged the strange partnership between Fair Play for Arkansas and the Choctaw Nation but claimed they shared a common interest. Warren: Walker wrote, “Although the partnership may seem strange and though some may object, through much prayer and deliberation our leadership determined that this arrangement was the most prudent way forward and in the end our desired outcome was the same…no casino in Pope County.” Natasha: Moving to our next story: a pastor is charged for scamming nearly a quarter of a million dollars Warren: Terrance Elliot was already a convicted felon when he became pastor of Aboard the Ship of Zion in San Bernardino, California. Now, he faces 11 new felonies and a possible 20-year prison sentence. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Elliot was arrested March 6 following a grand jury indictment for allegedly swindling several “long-time friends” and a nonprofit out of more than $230,000. The statement outlined multiple schemes allegedly hatched between September 2018 and February 2023. Natasha: What were they? Warren: In one case, Elliot convinced a friend, identified as “M.C.,” to let him manage her inheritance money, “claiming that she would lose her Medicare and Social Security benefits if she directly received the inheritance.” Elliot then used a “fraudulently modified copy” of a trust agreement to give himself sole control of the victim’s money, which he then withdrew to pay a church’s rent and cover personal expenses such as Nike sneakers and an extended warranty for a motorcycle. In another case, Elliot allegedly convinced a nonprofit that it owed money to a corporation, only to take the payments and deposit them in a bank account he controlled. Natasha: Elliot has quite the checkered passed but we won’t get into that right now, instead, what can we take away from this story? Warren: Todd Johnson, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, told Christianity Today that the trust people feel for each other in religious organizations makes churches vulnerable to fraud. “One of the things we found after someone had been convicted of embezzlement, some cases where a pastor was actually in prison, you had church members who still said, ‘I don’t believe he could do this.’ They were the victims, but they still couldn’t accept it,” Johnson said. “That shows the power of trust. And trust is good, but if it’s misused—which is the definition of affinity fraud—that’s really a problem.” A 2022 study by Johnson’s organization projected that embezzlement in churches will decline to about $10 billion in 2025, but, based on current trends, will rise to $170 billion in 2050 unless churches do more to protect themselves. Natasha: Warren, let’s take a quick break. When we return, Samaritan’s Purse confirmed with MinistryWath that $19 million in frozen USAID funds has been released to the ministry. I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and we’ll have that story and much more, after this short break.   BREAK   SECOND SEGMENT Natasha: Welcome back.  I’m Natasha Cowden, along with my co-host Warren Smith, and you’re listening to the MinistryWatch podcast. Next, the story we promised before the break. Warren: Samaritan’s Purse has confirmed that $19 million in frozen USAID funds has been released to the ministry. Payments to the North Carolina-based evangelical aid organization had been stalled since January, when President Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all federal foreign aid. News of the release follows the Supreme Court’s March 5 ruling that the Trump administration must unfreeze nearly $2 billion for foreign humanitarian work already completed at the government’s behest. Natasha: ...