One image showed the woman with her legs spread wide, Virgin Mary and baby Jesus postage stamps covering her privates. But after her first sermon, someone anonymously mailed churchgoers Easter cards featuring snapshots of a porn star named Barbie Bridges, who looked remarkably similar to Pastor Melissa Scott. Shortly after his funeral, Doc Scott's comely young wife assumed University's pulpit. In his heyday as pastor, Doc Scott reportedly collected $1 million a month in donations and amassed an empire that included two horse ranches, a 35,000-square-foot mansion in Pasadena, a private plane, and a collection of luxury cars. Gene "Doc" Scott, the wildly popular "shock jock of televangelism"-nearly 40 years her senior-to complications from prostate cancer. Four years ago, she lost her husband, Dr. Scott knows a thing or two about tough roads. In unison, they bark, "Tough shoes for a tough road!" Ninety minutes later, she slips offstage and is whisked by security out of the building through a private passageway. "Before I found God's word, when things got bad, what did I have? I had friends and family forsake me," she cries, directing her followers to Deuteronomy 33:25. Her doe-eyed image is beamed to local cable stations-she is a late-night staple-courtesy of six TV cameras flanking the pulpit. The unlikely stunner who leads this congregation, Scott, 40, struts the stage clutching a red-leather Bible, periodically flinging her endless chestnut locks. But on any given Sunday, several hundred parishioners converge here for a rousing service that has them swaying and shouting Hallelujah!, enraptured by the low, breathless calls for salvation from Melissa Scott. ©2022 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D.Most folks drive right past the gritty stretch of downtown Los Angeles that houses University Cathedral, a former movie palace whose marquee now advertises weekly evangelical sermons. ![]() Ends with a call, for those who can, to respond. This shows that giving begins with the deposit of God's nature being engrafted in the heart. Moves on to a picture of two different responses: that of the Pharisee versus the woman with the Alabaster Box. Goes into Paul's imperative to the Galatians, highlighting the grammar and individual Greek words to show the responsibility of those repeatedly receiving the Gospel to respond. Starts with an admonition to those who apologize for taking up the offering or play on greed to get people to give. He's placed the opportunity to participate in your hand and now He's watching to see what you'll do with it. God is not looking for people to give because they're coerced or because of a need, He's looking for people who will give from their heart. We need only to faithe in His completed work, be separated for His calling, abide in Him and obey the voice of the sayer and He will make us something we are not lights in a dark world. Jesus called the first four fish (Peter, Andrew, James and John) to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men, so He will do with us. When we mess up, we need to get up again and learn from the last time. We must treat Christ as our fort, our place of resistance, and recognize that putting on the full armor of God means putting on Christ, who fortifies us from the inside. When our committedness or our attitude towards our commitment changes, we open up the door for the devil to pick us off. A target is on your back when you open your mouth and make a commitment. There is a battle for your soul, and it is dangerous to fail to understand the enemy is always there. ©2023 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ![]() Follow on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. ![]() You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Call 1-80 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. If you are a Christian, you will be giving somewhere in response to teaching. Listening to the messages delivered here and claiming you have not received teaching is self-deception. We are warned repeatedly in the scripture, "Be not deceived." In particular, we should not be deceived regarding the offering and giving.
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