Posted on 01/06/2021 6:47:03 AM PST by SeekAndFind
New details have emerged related to the now-acknowledged sexual misconduct of the late Ravi Zacharias as recordings of a former business partner have surfaced describing Zacharias' misdeeds.
According to Anurag Sharma, a man who co-owned two spas with the late apologist, Zacharias repeatedly engaged in exposing himself to massage therapists and masturbating in front of them over the course of several years. In recently recorded audio footage that was shared exclusively with The Roys Report Monday, the website of independent investigative journalist Julie Roys, Sharma told investigators that he confronted Zacharias about his actions, which he discovered sometime between 2007 and 2010. Sharma also maintained that Zacharias told him to erase all information about his appointments at the spa from the company computer system.
It was around this time when the two men owned Jivan Wellness, which reportedly offered massage therapy as well as a form of ancient Indian medicine rooted in Hinduism, among other wellness services.
“It started actually, the lady therapist who had come and who talked about that he’d been misbehaving—exactly the pattern that was there...,” Sharma told an attorney hired by the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination, the denomination that had ordained Zacharias, in December 2020.
“And this was exactly the pattern, which was, I saw it plenty of time.”
He described the pattern of sexual misconduct as the apologist saying he was tired after traveling and working, and thinking that he was entitled to misbehave at the spa.
In July 2010, after he was informed about another massage therapist who had refused to take an appointment with Zacharias because of his misconduct and Zacharias' request that he delete information from their electronic records, Sharma wanted to get out of the spa business as the experience had devastated him on several fronts, claiming to have invested $300,000 to $400,000 or more in the business with little return. The Jivan Wellness spa was officially dissolved in September of that year, according to Georgia state records.
Sharma stated in interviews with multiple investigators that the apologist was his close friend and that he became a Christian through Zacharias.
Zacharias died in May 2020 after a battle with cancer. Following reports of sexual misconduct after his death, his ministry subsequently set in motion an independent investigation and confirmed in a Dec. 23 interim report that he had indeed engaged in sexual misconduct, some of which was "serious." A full report is expected in the coming weeks.
“We are heartbroken at learning this but feel it necessary to be transparent and to inform our staff, donors, and supporters at this time, even while the investigation continues,” the ministry said last month.
The admission of misconduct came after the leadership of the ministry had previously expressed that it believed the claims were false and that the allegations “do not in any way comport with the man we knew for decades."
As a result of the scandal, several Christian radio networks that carried Zacharias' teachings have removed him from their affiliate stations.
Moody Radio announced over the Christmas holiday weekend that it was immediately canceling Zacharias' broadcasts from its lineups.
“We are deeply saddened after reading the preliminary report provided to us by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM),” Doug Hastings, vice president of Moody Radio, said in a statement.
“The picture that is becoming clear about Ravi Zacharias through the work of an independent investigator is very much inconsistent with his public ministry,” he said, adding that the network believes that those they partner with must be above reproach.
American Family Radio, which has over 180 radio stations, also dropped Zacharias from its regular programming. It had aired Zacharias' "Let My People Think" broadcasts on its Sunday programming for approximately 20 years.
Yup He didn’t really die for you. It was just talk.
Grace? Just talk?
“Go and sin no more”...
That’s not what Martin Luther meant when he said ‘sin boldly.’
He wasn’t saying to go ahead and sin like crazy because God’s got you covered. He was addressing his friend Melanchtheon in a private letter about something Melanchtheon was worried over. In context, Luther is reminding him to boldly ‘own’ rather than to minimize the true depth of his sin... that Jesus didn’t lay down his life needlessly, for little things people find easy to confess to... but because of the true, awful magnitude of our sin, the only hope was in the terrible price that was required to redeem us.
He went on to console his friend that though the sin be great, don’t lose sight of the fact that Christ is greater.
Thanks to his sacrifice, I can repent and receive forgiveness, enter into into sanctifying grace, and ultimately heaven.
yeahh...after all he is probably once saved always saved so no biggie what he did; its all good..
Salvation is not an issue of sinning and not sinning. David sinned many times, but what was the one thing he did do with deep conviction? He repented.
Assuming you are a Christian, let me ask a question. Did you choose God or did God choose you. Did you choose salvation under your terms or did God choose you for salvation under his terms?
If you think you have the power to choose God and Salvation, then you also have the power to UNCHOOSE. You have no assurance of salvation, it depends on how you feel that day.
If God chose you, it is a lock. His word is good. In fact, if God didn’t choose some, None would enter heaven, ALL have fallen short. Now what would be the evidence that God chose you?
So again, the question. Did you choose God or did God choose you?
What does God say on the matter or are you going to rely on your own understanding. Get your Bible out and read it, don’t let others tell you what God’s Word says.
“What does God say on the matter or are you going to rely on your own understanding. Get your Bible out and read it, don’t let others tell you what God’s Word says.”
Your suggesting personal interpretation which is fallible other wise all who personally interpret would all come to the same exact understanding.
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