Posted on 03/29/2013 12:43:16 PM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
While channel surfing recently during the wee hours of the morning, I happened upon the weekly telecast of Melissa Scott, pastor of a Glendale, California church.
My instinct was to keep on surfing (I still struggle with the idea of female “pastors,” for in spiritual matters, the Word of God declares, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man”).
Nevertheless, I wanted to hear what Sister Melissa (my honorific for her) had to say. So I watched her telecast and found her rather conversant on the Bible. Scholarly even.
I DVRed a couple more of her televised messages – I’m not going to use the term “sermons,” for the previously stated reason – and came away with the same, generally favorable, impression.
So I did little research on Sister Melissa.
I learned that she was born in Rome; eventually moved to the United States; joined Los Angeles University Cathedral (headed by Dr. Gene “Doc” Scott, the “shock jock of televangelism”); married Scott in 2000 (he was 70, she was 32); and took over his ministry when he died in 2005.
And, oh yes, she used to be a porn star known as Barbie Bridges.
At least that’s the allegation made by Marie Claire, in an expose the magazine published in 2009. It recounted that, after assuming the pulpit formerly held by her late husband, after delivering her very first message, Easter cards featuring lurid snapshots of Bridges were anonymously mailed to members of the University Cathedral congregation.
Sister Melissa denied she and Bridges, the porn star, were one in the same. She attributed the similarity of their likenesses to an expert Photoshop job.
In an interview with Marie Claire – one of the rare occasions she’s actually spoken with journalists – she told the magazine, “I’ve seen a good portion of the stuff on the Internet, and honestly, I almost have to laugh at it.” She also stated, unequivocally, “I was never an actress in a pornographic movie.”
Marie Claire didn’t buy it. It maintained that Sister Melissa’s past in adult entertainment was confirmed by several acquaintances of hers.
What convinced me that the magazine printed the truth is the fact – which Sister Melissa does not dispute – that she was previously married to Paul Pastore, whom she divorced before marrying Doc Scott.
Pastore worked for an exotic dancing agency, according to the magazine, before launching a porn distribution outfit called Barbie Bridges Enterprises. Marie Claire reached him at his West Hollywood office where he was still working in adult entertainment. If Sister Melissa doesn’t want to acknowledge her past, he told the magazine, “that’s fine with me.”
Well, Sister Melissa has come full circle since she followed her late husband, Doc Scott, into the pulpit at University Cathedral; since the damning Easter cards exposing her former life were anonymously mailed to her congregation.
Instead of running away from her past as an adult entertainer, Sister Melissa should embrace it this Easter holiday. She should stand before her congregation this Sunday and tell them, truthfully, she once was lost, and now she’s found.
She should tell them the blood shed on Calvary was a ransom for poor sinners like her, like them, like all of us. And she should tell them that, because Christ rose on Easter Sunday, having conquered the grave, our sin debt has been paid to the Father.
Sister Melissa has a powerful story of redemption to share. Like her, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But the Good News is that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus – be it on a holiday card, on the Internet, in a magazine or anywhere else.
For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
....Instead of running away from her past as an adult entertainer, Sister Melissa should embrace it this Easter holiday. She should stand before her congregation this Sunday and tell them, truthfully, she once was lost, and now she’s found. She should tell them the blood shed on Calvary was a ransom for poor sinners like her, like them, like all of us. And she should tell them that, because Christ rose on Easter Sunday, having conquered the grave, our sin debt has been paid to the Father.
It would seem that non-denominational, non-creedal evangelical pastors lead the most interesting lives. Rev. Melissa Scott / Gene Scott PING
A little googling indicates the “pastore” also committed fraud on a ronald atkinson by reneging on a $30,000 promissory note related to the barbie bridges porn firm.
Is that also a forgivable sin?
She’s also a living testament to the principle that the word of God doesn’t apply to those who apply it to others, otherwise known as clerical hypocrisy. The church doesn’t need her in the pulpit, rather she needs to be in the pew.
I use to listen to her husband. I have never heard anyone like him. After he died, I caught Melissa on tv. I learned a whole lot more from her than I ever did from him. She is fluent in about 15-20 languages and would take words back to the original. She must be doing something right since a person has to have a reservation to the church services. I do not know if it is still true but the church use to have one of the best Bible collections in the world. She did talk about her past but I do not remember what all she said.
Well, the Bible says, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” On the other hand, public scandal in the church should be condemned.
If she has been in the pulpit lying her head off about herself for three or four years, then that doesn’t sound much like a genuine conversion to me. Sounds more like picking up a very profitable business from her husband after he died, and not wanting to risk those profits.
Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow.”
Yet she does deny it. Why? I do not feel authorized by God to judge the validity of anyone's profession of, and relationship with Christ. But, I can examinie thier fruits>P? I would not trust this woman as my pastor.
She’s also a living testament to those who refuse to obey the Word of God: she can’t be a pastor. It is a sorry state when the church cannot judge such simple things so clearly stated as a basic church doctrine. 1 Tim 3 among others. She needs to be sat down.
Do you have any recollection or evidence that the woman has confessed her sins? Isn’t that required action for forgiveness?
Brilliant, a beacon of light from the pit of hell.
“Melissa Scott is a living testament to God’s amazing grace. That’s something to be celebrated. Not denied.”
This is not something to celebrate, she’s in opposition to God’s word by assuming a position that the Bible clearly states is not for women and she has been lying about her past while doing it. She is in danger of being one of those that the Lord denies at the judgement as being one of those he never knew. She needs to repent and start over but she won’t as people like you will come to her defense thinking your doing good when you are encouraging evil.
That’s the point. Easter presents an opportune occasion for her to confess the sins she has previously denied, while also glorifying the Lord for paying the ransom for her sins (and the sins of the rest of humanity).
I think you bought the proffered image hook, line and sinker. There is no evidence she is fluent in 15-20 languages. Yes, she clearly knows Italian and English, but what she does with her marker board does not prove fluency in any ancient language. Also, you have to ask yourself how on earth she learned - fluently - 20 languages in 5 years. Seriously, how is that possible?
And about her past: she denied it, she denied it, and then she sort of admitted it without coming close to full disclosure. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for her standing before the Lord.
Also, you need a registration for the services because they like to exercise really tight control over who attends their church.
She’s a huckster like her husband. She found the religion business to be more profitable than the porn business.
I’ll presume you presented your request for her confessions to her organization or to her personally. (Got FEDEX?)
Only then can we objectively evaluate if she takes her expressed creed seriously, by witnessing her informed decision whether to confess for Easter (or not).
You might want to read this: http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/melissa-scott-porn-pastor
I’ve spotted her previously and ignored her, skeptical not merely of her pulpit ministry but indeed of her relationship with ol’ Gene. So, without in any way attempting to minimize the issue here of her authenticity or indeed her salvation, I’ve just got to ask: does she employ a cigar in any way on-stage?
Why would I want to go near any article by this person? She is not someone I would beleve after she said aborting her disabled baby was the best thing she ever did. After seeing the joy Sarah Palin’s son has brought them, this person should mind her own business.
You wrote:
“Why would I want to go near any article by this person?”
Because what she says about Melissa Scott is true.
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