Al Capone Says: “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

By Rev. Johnny Lee Clary

On Thursday Morning, Feb. 14th, 1929, gangster George “Bugs” Moran was walking to the Clark Street garage in Chicago for a meeting that had been set up, when he saw a police car pull up in front of the building. Rather than risk a shakedown, Moran decided to go to a café to have a cup of coffee and wait for the heat to die down. As it turns out that was the best choice he ever made in his life.



“Bugs” Moran

Ever since Al Capone had moved to Chicago around 1920, the city had been rocked by gangland wars. Prohibition was the law of the land which outlawed alcoholic beverages and the gangsters cashed in on it, selling illegal (bootleg) booze. Mobsters divided Chicago up into 4 sections, North, East, West and South. The most powerful was Johnny Torrio who controlled the Southside, which he inherited after the murder of his boss, “Big Jim” Colosimo who was gunned down. Colosimo's secretary Frank Camilla described the fleeing assailant as a heavyset man with scars on the left side of his face; an accurate description of Al Capone, although he was never arrested.


Big Jim Colosimo

The North side of Chicago was controlled by Irish mobster Dion O’Banion and he came into conflict with Torrio and Capone. O'Banion cheated Torrio out of $500,000 in a brewery acquisition deal and caused Torrio's arrest. Torrio was furious and ordered a hit on O’Banion. On November 10th, 1924, O’Banion was to pay the ultimate price for what he did to Torrio. O’Banion who owned a flower shop which he used as a front to cover his mob involvement, was working that day when Chicago mobsters John Scalise and Albert Anselmi walked into the shop. “Oh hello boys! Are you here for the floral arrangement? “ O’Banion said as he reached out to shake their hands. One of the mobsters clasped O’Banion’s hand and then drew his gun along with his partner and pumped O’Banion full of bullets.


Dion O’Banion



North Side mobsters who were friends and partners with O’Banion, Earl "Hymie" Weiss and George "Bugs" Moran vowed revenge for O’Banion’s murder. On January 24, 1925, Torrio was returning to his apartment at 7106 South Clyde Avenue from a shopping trip with his wife Anna. Moran, Weiss and another mobster who was driving the car lay in wait to ambush Torrio. A hail of gunfire from Weiss and Moran greeted Torrio's car, shattering its glass. Torrio was struck in the jaw, lungs, groin, legs, and abdomen. Moran attempted to deliver the final bullet into Torrio's skull, but ran out of ammunition. The driver of Moran and Weiss’s car signaled that it was time to go, and the three Northsiders left the scene. Although Torrio was severely wounded, he survived but recovered slowly from the assassination attempt. Capone had men guarding Torrio around the clock to make sure his beloved boss and mentor was safe. Torrio observing the rules of the mob to keep silent, refused to tell the police the names of his assailants. Right after his release from jail, Torrio served a year in jail for Prohibition violations. After his release, Torrio said to Al Capone, “It’s all yours Al. I’m quitting,” and moved to Italy with his wife and mother.


Johnny Torrio

Al Capone became the big boss now and the war between the mobsters grew even more violent. The rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire could be heard throughout the streets of Chicago as Capone and the Moran-Weiss gang hit back and forth at each other for control of the bootleg empire. The Moran-Weiss mob murdered Capone’s trusted chauffeur and tortured him for hours before ending his life. His body was found on Aug. 3rd, 1926. A week later on August 10th, the Capone mob struck back with an attempted hit on Weiss, but they were unsuccessful. On September 20, 1926, a motorcade of ten cars from the North side mob roared up in front of the Hawthorne Hotel restaurant where Capone and his entourage were having lunch and in broad daylight opened fire riddling the restaurant with bullets from Thompson sub-machine guns and shotguns. Capone's bodyguard Frankie Rio, threw his boss to the ground at the first sound of gunfire and lay on top of “Big Al” as the headquarters was riddled with bullet holes. Several bystanders were hurt from flying glass and bullet fragmentation in the attempted assassination, including a young boy and his mother who would have lost her eyesight had not Capone paid for top-dollar medical care for her. After this, Capone called for a truce but the North side mob wanted no part of a truce; they just wanted Capone dead.


Hymie Weiss

Capone’s men gunned down Hymie Weiss on October 11th, 1926. Moran was furious and all hellish activity broke loose. The next couple of years were hit-for-hit between the North and South side in what became known as the Capone-Moran war. Several attempts were made upon Capone’s life until finally, Capone had had enough. Capone hired Chicago hitman 'Machine Gun' Jack McGurn to put an end to Moran once and for all by sending them the reddest Valentine ever. McGurn planned everything out carefully and Capone headed to his vacation home in Miami, Florida while the hit went down.


Weiss dead

On Feb. 13th, 1929 McGurn had a local booze hijacker contact Moran and offer to sell him a shipment of Old Log Cabin whiskey (i.e. very good liquor) which he was willing to sell at the very reasonable price of $57 per case. Moran quickly agreed and told the hijacker to meet him at the garage at 10:30am the following morning. McGurn got his hands on a police car and two police uniforms. He then brought in two torpedoes (hitmen) from out of town, just in case there were any survivors no one would be able to finger them as part of Capone’s mob.



Machine Gun Jack McGurn

On the morning of Feb. 14th, 1929, McGurn had posted two men as lookouts to watch the S.M.C. Cartage Company garage at 2122 North Clark Street. At 10:30am the lookouts phoned McGurn and told him they had spotted Bugs Moran heading into the garage. McGurn’s hitmen went into action. The stolen police car pulled up in front of the Clark Street garage and 4 men got out; two wearing police uniforms and two wearing suits, overcoats and fedora hats, and entered the garage.

The man the lookouts spotted as Bugs Moran was not Moran at all, but a man that closely resembled him, named Albert Weinshank. Moran was just about to the garage when he saw the police car and rather than risk what he believed would be a shakedown, he headed off to a café to drink coffee until the “shakedown” was over.


Reenactment photo of the shooters

Once inside the garage, 7 men saw what they thought was cops and just figured it was a routine police raid. The 7 men were told to put their hands in the air and line up against the brick wall. The gunmen then opened fire, using two Tommy guns, a sawed-off shotgun, and a .45 caliber pistol. The killing was fast and bloody. Each of the seven victims received at least 15 bullets, mostly in the head and torso. One of the gangsters fell with one side of the top of his head completely blown off.


Actual photo of the aftermath of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Neighbors heard the gunfire and were watching the garage. They reported seeing two men in suits wearing hats and overcoats with their hands in the air coming out of the garage followed by two uniformed policemen with their guns trained on them. They said the two men in suits were put in the backseat of the police car and the two policemen climbed in front and drove off. The neighbors assumed that the police had staged a raid and was arresting two mugs. As a matter of fact, after it was discovered to be a massacre many of the neighbors for several weeks believed the police did it. Six of the victims died in the garage; Frank Gusenberg was taken to a hospital but died three hours later, refusing to name who was responsible. The dead were identified as Frank Gusenberg, Pete Gusenberg, John May, Albert Weinshank, James Clark, Adam Heyer, and Dr. Reinhart Schwimmer. Each of these men had 15-20 or more bullets in him. The only one who would survive the massacre that day was a German Shepherd dog the police found cowering and shaking underneath a car.


Another actual photo view of the massacre




The massacre on that Valentine’s Day made headlines all across the United States. People from everywhere was shocked by the violent brutal killings of the 7 men. Capone’s alibi was bullet-proof. At the time of the massacre he was in the Dade County Florida’s District Attorney’s office. Jack McGurn had an iron clad alibi also. He had been at a hotel with his blond girlfriend from 9:00am Feb. 13th, until 3:00pm Feb. 14th.


Jack McGurn and his girlfriend who was his alibi

Moran was sitting in the café drinking coffee when someone rushed in the door and said that Bugs Moran and his gang were just gunned down at the Clark street garage. Moran immediately left the cafe and went into hiding. A few days later he gave an interview to the media and made the statement, “Only Al Capone kills like that!” When reporters in Miami, Florida told Capone what Moran said, he replied, “Well they don’t call that guy “Bugs” for nothing!” Bugs means loony or crazy.


George “Bugs” Moran

To this day no one has ever been tried for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Legend has it that the two hitmen in civilian clothes were discovered later to have taken part in a plot to betray Capone. Capone lured them to a banquet dinner he was hosting in a banquet room at a Chicago hotel, and while the men sat at the table in front of several witnesses Capone beat the two men with a baseball bat within an inch of their lives, before Capone’s henchmen took them out and finished the job with bullets.



Jack McGurn was murdered on Feb. 15th, 1936 while bowling in a bowling alley in Chicago. The killers placed a Valentine’s card in his dead hand.


The body of Jack McGurn gunned down in a Chicago bowling ally

George “Bugs” Moran managed to hold on to his territory for a short time after the massacre but lost control after the repeal of Prohibition when liquor was made legal again. Moran was suspected of the murder of Jack McGurn because he was known to be a prankster and to write funny limericks. A limerick was found on the Valentine’s card that had been placed in the dead hand of McGurn. However, Frank Nitti, who was Capone’s enforcer was also a suspect because McGurn had become a liability risk to the Chicago mob, getting drunk and shooting off his mouth. Whatever the case, Moran turned to bank robbery and was caught and sentenced to ten years in prison, and then once released he was sentenced again to another ten years for a prior bank robbery. Moran died in prison of lung cancer on Feb. 25th, 1957, with only $100.00 net worth. He was given a pauper’s funeral.


Johnny Torrio

Johnny Torrio returned to the USA and was given much respect by the Mafia as an elder statesmen. He lived to the ripe old age of 75 when he died April 16th, 1957 while sitting in a barber chair getting a haircut.


Al Capone The Man Who Ruled Chicago

And whatever became of Big Al Capone? Well, the police never did get him for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, however the government came after him for income tax evasion. The judge in the case heard a rumor that Capone’s mob was trying to bribe and intimidate some of the jurors so in the last minute before the trial began the judge railroaded Capone by ordering the jury to be switched with another jury on another trial. This very act should have called for a mistrial because the defense did not have a chance to question the new jurors as required by law. They found Capone guilty and he was sentenced to 11 years in the Federal Penitentiary. Capone appealed but it was denied. Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary which was a very tough prison, but the judge then found out that Capone was able to obtain special privileges there and he ordered Capone transferred to Alcatraz Island Federal Prison on August 11th, 1934 under the tightest security possible and ordered that while in Alcatraz, Capone could not have any contact with the outside world. Capone has clearly drawn the wrath of the federal government who were determined to punish him as hard as anyone could be punished.


Capone on his way to prison

While in Alcatraz Capone got into a fight with an inmate who stabbed him but Capone only received a minor wound. He was more seriously injured by an old case of syphilis from many years before that went untreated. He spent his last year in Alcatraz in the prison hospital confused and disoriented a lot of the time. He was released from Alcatraz Jan. 6th, 1939 and was transferred to Terminal Island Penitentiary to serve a one year misdemeanor sentence, before being paroled Nov. 16th, 1939 after which Capone moved to his estate home in Miami, Florida.


Ariel view of Capone’s estate

Capone had not lost his mind completely, but he was unable to return to running the mob. He was known to have gone into fits of rage while playing tennis when someone would beat him, he would yell to his guards, “I want this guy taken care of! “ At times he would seem OK, and then for no apparent reason he would fly off the handle and start having imaginary conversations yelling at people who were not there such as Bugs Moran and Hymie Weiss threatening to have them rubbed out. Sometimes he would sit by his swimming pool in his bathrobe with a fishing pole, thinking he was fishing. He constantly yelled and carried on about Communists, foreigners and Bugs Moran, who he was convinced was plotting to kill him from his prison cell in Ohio.


Capone used to fish in his swimming pool wearing his bathrobe

Al Capone suffered a stroke on Jan. 21st, 1947, but then he started to improve when he contacted pneumonia on Jan. 24th, and suffered a fatal heart attack the very next day on Jan. 25th. He died in his home surrounded by his family including his wife who collapsed at the scene.


Al Capone a changed man

One thing the history writers most always neglect to mention, is that Al Capone repented of his sins while he still had some of his right mind left. He asked Jesus into his heart and became a Christian. Capone was released from Alcatraz on January 6, 1939 and sent to the Federal Correctional Institute at Terminal Island near Los Angeles. There, one Sunday Reverend Silas A. Thweatt, pastor of the First Baptist Church of San Pedro, California, held a church service. When he asked if any needed prayer, Capone raised his hand. They prayed. When Thweatt gave the invitation, according to his account in Time Magazine, "'At the close of the talk, Capone's face seemed to radiate, and when I asked those prisoners to stand who felt the need and will to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, he was the first to rise.' That this "conversion" had taken place, no one doubted."² Al Capone was the first of 16 men to stand up.^3,4,5

Judging from newspaper accounts, Capone's conversion took place on or before March 19, 1939. By September 1939. His mind began to go a few months later.

Even when Capone was head of Chicago’s mob, he gave money to the poor, and also opened up soup kitchens to feed the homeless and hungry, which the government was not doing. He was known to have a generous heart and to have had his driver pull over and hand kids money that looked poor and hungry. He also provided coal for widows and orphaned children so they could keep warm in the winter.

Al Capone’s grave marker reads:

Alphonse Capone
1899-1947
My Jesus Mercy



John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2. "Religion: Bitter Thweatt," Time, April 10, 1939. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761014,00.html
3. John Kobler. Capone, The Life and World of Al Capone, (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press), 2003, p. 372.
4. "Al Capone Turns to Religion," St. Petersburg Times, March 25, 1939, p. 5.
5. "Capone, Leaning Toward Religion, Attending Services Regularly," Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1939, p. 1.

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

Are You Fat And Disrespectful?

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary



Deuteronomy 32:15 says “Jeshurun got fat and disrespectful. (You got fat! You were stuffed! You were gorged!) They abandoned the God who made them and treated the rock of their salvation like a fool.”

Jeshurun was another name for Israel which meant ‘righteous nation.’

Here is the problem in a nutshell. Israel had everything it could possibly want as it was blessed of God, as well as protected by God. (Deuteronomy 32:9-12) It is almost like Israel being chosen by God to be the CEO of a billion dollar corporation. The possibilities and potential was limitless.

So what happened? Well, once the contract was signed and the agreement was made Israel was not hungry anymore. They felt like there was no longer a need to ask God for help or to pray for the crops because they now had everything. See that was the problem. When you have everything you can forget real easy the fact that you still need God which is what Israel did and they grew fat and lazy.

The very people God had blessed and prospered rebelled against Him.

Isn’t it interesting how we tend to forget about God when everything is going well? Before the big test at school, we pray. When we are sick, we pray. When we need money we pray. When we are looking for a mate, we pray. When we want that job we pray. When we want that promotion we pray.

Yes whenever someone is in trouble, all of a sudden God is first and foremost in their life and all they can do is pray. Then when the prayer gets answered and the blessings start rolling in, that prayer time seems to diminish and people end up spending less and less time talking to God.

When we first join the football team, we are ready and willing to do what the coach says to do no matter how hard it is or how much discipline it will require. Then give us a few victories and we become fat and sassy and busy reading our own headlines. We let the fans praise us and forget to give praise to the One who made it all possible which is God. This same thing happens to many Christians in their relationship with God. A few successes and we forget about God and His word. They fail to realize that it is through Him that we move and have our very being. (Acts 17:28)

I remember someone making fun of me one time for praying over my meal. They said “I won’t give thanks to God like you do, because I worked for my money and earned what I have!” What the guy didn’t realize is without his legs that God gave him and as a matter of fact a good healthy body, he would not be able to work. He was too stupid to realize that.

Let Israel’s rise and fall be an example to us. Being fat and filled up does not always lead to you being faithful. It can lead to you being faithless if you are not careful! Be sure and give thanks and honor and praise to God after every success and victory that cokes your way.

I remember a guy that had an ex-wife back years ago in the 80’s, that packed on 40 pounds within a few months after getting married. She hit the couch, stuffed her face with junk food, and let herself go. He asked her why she was gaining so much weight and why she was not taking care of herself anymore. She replied that she was married now and didn’t need to diet and do all that special stuff to look good anymore. That did not make him feel special at all which is probably why they are divorced today. What she did was take him for granted and show him that she had no respect for him whatsoever. Did you ever stop to think that is how God feels sometimes?

How about you? Have you taken God for granted in any area?

Pray this: God I repent of my pride and ego that has kept me from seeing that I need you all the time and in everything I do. Please remove conceit and arrogance from me. Help me not to get too fat and filled up that I forget that it is you that gave me the blessing. I need you in everything I do and I give you honor and glory. Always remind me of this prayer in case I forget. I pray I never again become fat and disrespectful! Amen.

©Johnny Lee Clary
All Rights Reserved
www.johnnyleeclary.com

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

Getting God's Best

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary



Do you know that God wants His absolute best for you and that includes dating! God does not want you to settle for second best or anything below His best. God wants your dating relationships to be HOLY! That means only date people who honor God! Anything less is not only dishonoring yourself but God as well.

When I was a single man, I used to hear people in church say ridiculous things like, “Don’t date; just pray for your mate!” Hogwash! You just can’t sit around and wait for God to act like a Genii in a lamp and say “Poof! There’s your mate!” It is unrealistic not to date in order to find the right person, but when you date, treat your date the way Christ would treat that person. Wait until marriage to be sexually active and be completely honest with what you say and do. Be yourself and let the date see your true self. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache that way. If you lie to the date and put on false pretences you will eventually be found out when you grow tired of putting on a façade and the other person will more than likely dump you faster than a supermodel would dump a fat man!

Deuteronomy 14:2 says “You are people who are holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the people who live on earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his own special possession.” Therefore you need to exemplify holiness. Now if you do that then you should expect to attract the same type of person. Sometimes you end up attracting the opposite. I remember going out on a date once with a girl I met in church. She was a foxy mama. I also thought she was holy, that is until she lit up a cigarette in my car and said the F-word! That was the end of that. A person should not just look at the outside either. For example there was a girl I was so attracted to that looked just like Madonna that I met in a Tulsa church. I thought she was holy because she praised God in church and sang in the choir; that is until she dropped by my house one day to go swimming in my pool and suggested we get naked and get in the shower together! Get thee behind me Jezebel! That was the end of that date!

So many think it is OK to date non-Christians in hope that they can convert them. You are playing with fire there. Christians almost always get drug down into the pigpen instead of pulling the pig up out of the mud. Then they end up either in the pastor’s office crying their heart out asking for prayer or in the confession booth talking to the priest, or backsliding all together.

Make sure you conduct yourself in a way that pleases God and don’t settle for anything less than someone who does the same. I used to know a girl from church that dated guys and she wore miniskirts, low cut tops that exposed the cleavage and flaunted that body like a hooker at a downtown club on a Saturday night. Then she complained about guys trying to take advantage of her. However girls that I knew that dressed appropriately didn’t seem to have that problem. It is also the way someone acts that can cause problems too. I remember working for a boss of a siding company back in the 1980’s that bore an amazing resemblance to the comedian Rodney Dangerfield, named Mr. “B”. There was this girl I knew named Brenda who worked there that was a backslidden daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher. Her father pastured a small church and worked for Mr. “B” selling siding on weekdays in Oklahoma City and got Brenda a job there. Brenda dressed nice but not provocative. However she didn’t need to dress that way because she was so pretty that she could have worn a potato sack and still been a stone fox. Brenda knew how to flirt and make the guys all jump to look at her. She went into Mr. B’s office and flirted with him one day and according to Brenda, the old codger who was old enough to be her grandpa chased her around the desk about 20 times before she was finally able to get out the door. She threw a fit but she had no one to blame but herself. Remember that what you throw out as an advertisement will attract that same thing.

The Bible says to be Holy because your Father in Heaven is Holy. (Leviticus 19:2) If you conduct yourself like a godly person, you will end up with God’s best.


©Johnny Lee Clary Ministries
www.johnnyleeclary.com
All Rights Reserved

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

Getting Rid Of Your 'Idols'

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary



Although I like the TV show, I personally don’t like the name “American Idol” or “Australian Idol.” Webster’s dictionary describes the word ‘idol’ as a noun meaning : a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly : a false god. They need to change the name of that show.

When someone says a person is their idol, they are in essence saying, “This is my god.” Not only is this wrong but they are committing blasphemy when they do so and I promise you that does not make God happy.

Bad habits come from bad choices. God said in Deuteronomy 12:2-3, “Completely destroy all the worship sites on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every large tree. The people you're forcing out worship their gods in these places. Tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, burn their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, cut down their idols, and wipe out the names of their gods from those places.”

God commanded this so His children would not be tempted to worship those idols themselves. I have seen people go absolutely nuts at concerts I have attended all of my life, ‘idolizing’ singers and other celebrities. Hank Williams Jr. had a song out years ago called, ‘Old Habits Like You Are Hard To Break.” Well I say yes they may be hard to break but either you break them or you will be broken because God will not be mocked. Whatsoever a person sows that will they also reap. (Galatians 6:7)

Many Christians are caught up in this hoopla also. I remember when I attended a church in Tulsa many celebrities went there also. One was the well-known gospel singer Carman. Thousands of girls were there thinking they were going to marry him or the pastor who was also single. Carman sat up in the balcony and it was not uncommon to see dozens of girls downstairs with their heads turned around and looking up at Carman while the pastor was preaching. I had more than one girl ask me to introduce them to Carman which I never did. How embarrassing. Carman had to call the cops more than once out to his home to take crazy fans away.



I have had my share of stalkers too, although not to the extent Carman has since he is much more well known than I am. I had one girl from Georgia follow me to several places around America stalking me when I preached and when I told her to stop and never contact me again, she went home and took a bottle of sleeping pills. She called some people and told them what she did and they called the ambulance who got there just in time. There was another girl that stalked me and her pastor tried to talk to her and said it was no use. He said he went to her house and she had made a shrine to me with my pictures up all over everywhere. It gave me the creeps especially when she said, “If I can’t have you nobody can!” Reminds me of the movies ‘Fatal Attraction” or “Play Misty For Me.” The police would not do anything. She made my life a nightmare. She stalked me for a year making hundreds of calls to me as well as relatives of mine, making threats to my life before she stopped and that was only after I threatened to shoot her.

People go way over the top and no one should make an idol out of anything or anyone. God should be our only object of worship.

What is so sad with the show “American Idol” is that these people beg and plead and will do anything, including making fools out of themselves in order to get that shot at being the next “idol.” If they would put half the time they spend trying to be an “idol” into serving God we would already have our nation Christianized like it should be.

Take a look at your life and see if there is anything that interferes with your relationship or time with God. Are you spending too much time on the golf course? How about too much time going to sporting events? How about your girlfriend or boyfriend? Dating relationships can become idols too. Sometimes kids can get into making good grades to where their school work takes first priority over everything, even God, the Bible and church. They become obsessed with making that A until that is all that matters to them. Don’t allow a TV show, a magazine, an IPOD, your favorite hangout, a group of friends or even your school work to become an idol in your life. Don’t let anything steer you away from God. Put God as number one over anybody and anything and make sure he is your ONLY Idol!




©Johnny Lee Clary Ministries
www.johnnyleeclary.com
All Rights Reserved

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

Are There Snakes In Your Church?

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary

Al Wilson once sang a song about a woman that found a snake all frozen in the cold. She felt sorry for the snake and also thought it looked beautiful. She took it into her home, laid it by the fire in blankets, then fed the snake honey and milk. She came home from work and found the snake had been revived. She held it, kissed it, and said how beautiful it looked when the snake gave her a vicious poisonous bite. She cried and asked the snake, “How could you do this to me? I helped you and saved you, and now you’ve bitten me and I am going to die!” The snake replied, “Oh shut up silly woman! You knew darn well I was a snake before you took me in!”

Today many Christians are playing with snakes and sadly many pastors are talking in snakes into their congregations, praise and worship teams, choir, bands, staffs and administrations. They attempt to rationalize it by saying they are reaching out to a lost world. Luke 11:11 tells us the hedges are full of snakes and Ecclesiastes 10:8 says that if you break a hedge you will get bitten! Christ told us to go out into the world and preach the gospel so you are going to encounter snakes. Psalm 58:3-5 says the wicked are like poisonous snakes full of venom and they will not heed the voice of the charmer no matter how skillful he is. In other words you can’t tame a venomous snake. Yes some people have boas and pythons as pets but show me someone who has a rattlesnake, cottonmouth, Black Mamba or Australian Brown snake as a pet! Not going to happen, in my lifetime or anyone else’s.

Pastor David Wilkerson said “ Just as surely as Christians drink of the Blood of Christ-------the river of life, of His divine love and beauty-------we unconsciously drink of the poison of this world when we go out to preach the gospel.

The bible does say in Mark 16:18 “They will pick up snakes, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.” This is talking about going out to spread the gospel and accidently encountering snakes along the way. It is not talking about showing how strong your faith is by picking up rattlesnakes in a church service and dancing around with them in your hand like some of those backwoods nutty cult churches do in those “snake handling-strychnine drinking churches.” That is why you hear about people getting bitten by poisonous snakes or dying from drinking strychnine poisoning in those services all the time, because those wacky morons are tempting God, and the bible specifically tells us not to tempt the Lord God. (Luke 4:12; Matthew 4:7)

Many churches that have allowed venomous snakes into their congregations, are allowing their other members to get bitten. Some youth from a church, started experimenting with sexual perversion at a church camp and now some of these kids are living sexually perverted lifestyles. It makes me wonder whether or not a strong message was preached and taught to them that such perversions are wrong. I am sure some would attempt to justify allowing sexual deviants to attend church camp as “God loves the sexually perverted too!” Yes God does love them but God does not love it when people who claim to be Christians take in deadly snakes all in the name of “sharing the gospel and building the church” especially when it results in His children getting bitten. That is exactly what will happen when you bring in the snakes. So you disagree with what I just said? OK, so suppose there was a convicted child molester, a drug dealer and a rapist that all started attending your church. Do you think that is a good environment to be around or to allow your children to be around? If you do then you are a sorry excuse for a parent. You should have your kids taken away from you if that is the case. If child protective services found out you were allowing deadly snakes to roam around your home, they would take your children away. So what is the difference if you are attending a church that allows deadly spiritual venomous snakes to roam around it’s halls? That is why St. Paul said to expel immoral people when they refuse to repent.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 St. Paul wrote “In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins. I didn't tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world. Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don't eat with such people. After all, do I have any business judging those who are outside [the Christian faith]? Isn't it your business to judge those who are inside? God will judge those who are outside. Remove that wicked man from among you.”

We are to go into the world to bring the gospel to the wicked but we are not to partake in the wickedness of the world. To do so is to play with deadly snakes. Many churches are playing with snakes when they bring the wickedness of the world into the church in order to please mankind. Many are adopting the platform philosophy that preaching repentance, the fear of God and the fires of Hell are the old way of thinking and in order to fill the seats and grow churches the gospel must be toned down to a less offensive, more modern all-grace-all-loving-anything goes message. Some churches are even hiring marketing firms in order to sell the church to the world in order to get butts in the chairs. I even saw where one pastor of a mega-church wrote, “As a pastor you are not entitled to your opinions. Opinions do not put butts in the chairs. Your job as a pastor is just to grow churches!” Wow. So this dude is preaching quantity over quality. How sad. That may be the world’s philosophy but I can promise you that it is not God’s.

Rest assured, if you play with a snake you are going to get bitten. Those snake handling cult members will tell you they play with rattlers all the time and never get bitten. That is a lie because although some do not get bitten, many do and die from it. This is documented. Maybe there is something about a rattlesnake where it is not as aggressive. I don’t know and I am NOT going to find out. What I do know though, is I have never seen one of those cults break out a sack of Taipans, Black Mambas and Australian Brown snakes and play with them. I don’t think you will ever see that either. Even those cult nuts seem to know at least some boundaries. As a matter of fact, the late Steve Irwin who was known as the Crocodile Hunter, said he didn’t even fool around with Brown snakes.

Some will argue and say that numbers in church growth is the focus and is what matters. Really? I am going to tell you what, I would rather have 5 men and women with me that I know have my back and will die in battle if necessary, than an army of 5,000 who will run and desert me when they hear the gunfire. God is interested in quality over quantity.

Therefore, don’t stop spreading the good news and don’t stop building churches. However in going out among the hedges, highways and byways, take your snake bite kit which is putting on the FULL armor of God, Ephesians 6:11-17 so you can protect yourself from the snakes and any other evil that comes against you. Don’t back down and NEVER compromise the Word Of God. Finally brethren, any church that preaches this toned down-less offensive-more modern- all grace-all loving-anything goes-no repentance needed message, is no different than those wacky backwoods snake handling churches. If you are attending one of those, my advice to you is to make like Joseph when he encountered that snake that Potiphar was married to and RUN BABY RUN! That does not make you a coward to remove yourself from where sin abounds. It makes you smart. If you run with dogs you get fleas. If you take in snakes you will be bitten. That my friends is the bottom line.

©Johnny Lee Clary International Ministries

www.johnnyleeclary.com

All Rights Reserved

“The problem with the church today is not people who preach repentance, hell, and the fear of God, but it is people who compromise and fear to speak God’s word powerfully with conviction. Our job as ministers is not to bring God down to the level to please people but bring people up to the level to please God!”...Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.