Dear Bishop Eddie Long

I find it hard to stomach some of the things that are happening to the Church. I say to the Church simply because it is a living thing. It breathes, it moves, it gives live. Where else can someone go and be reborn. Washed of all their sins. Embraced for the man that they are and for the man they wish to become. With the rates of fatherless children ever increasing, where else can a little black boy go to find a father figure. I was blessed to have a man in my life. My father is still raising me to this day and I'm so grateful to have been blessed by GOD to have him as a father. Yet, my heart cries for those children who don't have that blessing. My heart used to rejoice when those young boys turned to the church to find some solace from a cruel world. A world where most young black men are born with two strikes. In the Church, they could find a father (on earth and in heaven), who would love them and nurture them.
The image, that I just painted, is fading. And I'd like to thank you for that.

As a Bishop, your job is to mentor, lead and protect your flock. You are to be a protector and defender of the Church and of its name. You are expected to be honorable and noble. These are expectations that your parishioners and supporters expect of you. They can't expect you to be prefect, you're human. You are bound to have flaws. They do however, deserve for you to be what your title demands you to be. A MAN OF GOD!!!

A man of GOD defends the church and protects its walls
A man of GOD protects its members and provides a safe haven for all.
A man of GOD does not run, nor hide.
A man of GOD does not abuse those under his wing.
ESPECIALLY NOT YOUNG BLACK MEN IN CHURCH!!!

Being a young black man, I can relate and possibly explain why some of the men in my demographic don't attend church. If you take away the one's who have a genuine dislike for anything organized and positive and the complete non believers there is still a significant number of young black men who would love to attend church. And just don't.  Your recent actions are not helping. You're actually contributing to the destruction of the black church from within.

Now I will admit, I'm not a follower, or parishioner of your church. I am however, a young black man, with a love of GOD who you've utterly offended. Be it you're Innocent or not. Homosexual, bisexual or not I could care less. I honestly believe that there is a place in GOD's heaven for homosexuals simply because the GOD I serve is a loving and forgiving one. I'm offended by the fact that you ran.

Flat out turned tail and ran.

What if David had decided that Goliath was just too big and quit?
What if Moses had said the Red Sea was to dangerous and looked for another way around?

You said you'd fight, and before the bell sounding the first round your were on your back.
As a black man there is no way I can respect you for that. If my father had told me he would fight and then, ran. I wouldn't be able to look him in the eyes again.

So this message is not for me. You're not my bishop and i'm not a member of your church. Yet as a member of THE CHURCH, as a young black man in THE CHURCH, I feel duty bound to say, your recent actions and the actions of those defending, you are a taint on the image of the black church.

Some women in Church will forgive you. Some older men in the Church, will forgive you. Some younger men, on the fence about going to Church, won't. Some young boys, who don't have a father figure, won't turn to the Church.

Thank you for that.

Some folks will read this and some of my other post and say "he's just got an ax to grind" or "where does he get off saying this." And I say this to them. I am a child of GOD. For all my faults and all my successes it is becaue of HE that I am who I am. I was made in HIS image and he knows my heart and my mind.