Beware of Those who Call Themselves…

Members of the local Jewish community and other religious groups are offended by the coronation last week of Eddie Long, troubled pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Long, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by five young men and who ended up settling with them, was crowned King with the ritual use of a Jewish Torah scroll.

Rev. Wil Gafney, Associate Professor and Biblical scholar at The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, writing for huffingtonpost.com, denounces Ralph Messer, the man who crowned Long, and who describes himself as a Jew.

See Video Below of Eddie Long being crowned King by New Birth.

“He (Ralph Messer) may well be some sort of Messianic Jew, a person who claims Jewish heritage and recognizes Jesus as the Son of God, but who is not part of one of the major Jewish movements: Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, Renewal. He does not, however, represent recognizable Jewish thought or practice in his (mis-) representations of the Torah and other Jewish sancta — or for that matter, New Testament and Christian biblical interpretation and theology,” Gafney states.

Gafney goes on to debunk the claims made by Messer during the ritual with Long, as these relate to the Torah and Torah Scrolls.

Meanwhile, United Methodist pastor Keith Johnson of the Biblical Foundations Academy, joined others in expressing his shock and outrage over the crowning of Long by the “Messianic ‘rabbi’ Messer.

“Ralph Messer has been exploiting African Americans and making a mockery of the Hebrew roots of the faith for years,” Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson said, he first met Messer 11 years ago and had occasion to challenge him on his ability to read and teach the Hebrew language. He said it was obvious to him and others present, Messer failed on both counts.

“For the past ten years, I have seen Messer continue to throw around Hebrew terms he does not fully understand and misuse holy objects such as Torah Scrolls to manipulate people and bring them under his authority as a “rabbi” and a supposed ‘representative of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel,’” he elaborated in his statement.

Johnson said, he hopes by speaking out, others will be “spared from falling prey to Messer’s manipulative practices that offend both Jew and Gentile alike.”

Like Johnson, Rabbi Ira Michaelson, of Beth Tefillah in Clermont, Florida, echoed his outrage over Messer’s actions, pointing out he is not recognized by legitimate Messianic Jews.

“What Ralph Messer did is desecration of the Holy Scroll, the Torah,” he said.  “No Jewish person would do something like this–target a particular group of people, namely, African-Americans.”   After the tears and abomination I saw, I felt straight outrage, Rabbi Ira added.

Rabbi Ira said there is an uproar in the traditional Jewish community over Messer’s actions which could reverberate as far as Israel.

There are rumors that Messer will be in Orlando over the week-end to crown pastor Paula White, new leader of the New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC), queen.

White, in a decision that sparked much controversy, succeeded the late pastor Zachery Tims, as head of NDCC at the beginning of 2012.

Video of New Birth Crowning Eddie Long King