#matthew leys

A sharp WutBJU reader found something curious.

Around the same time that John Monroe resigned from Faith Baptist Church, he was expunged from Jim Berg's addiction ministry franchise, Freedom That Lasts®.

(FTL® is an official trademark, btw, since it's 2012 founding.)

Back to the founding of Freedom That Lasts®. When you google "Freedom that Lasts" and "John Monroe," it become pretty clear:

Pastor John Monroe founded Berg's ministry franchise.

You can look at BJU's statement, or FTL®'s own publicity, or FBFI's coverage, or even another BJU alumnus, Clinton Verley, for proof. Verley said:

FTL lists only three staff members: its Founder, FBC Taylors head pastor John Monroe, Director Larry Pierson, and Executive Director Jim Berg.

The proof is everywhere.

Here's how Jim Berg said it Proclaim and Defend:

But now? Now Jim Berg has erased any mention of John Monroe as a "founder."

Is that it? Did John Monroe and Jim Berg have a disagreement about something and so Jim decided to expunged him?

Well, Jim now has Marshall Franklin at his side. What could go wrong?

So this is the conversation that got Matthew Leys banned. There's nothing unusual about it really. It's typical schlock from BJU loyalists--full of accusations, misinformation, and distraction.

It's from six years ago, however!

For those just catching up, this week in clutching his pearls over a WutBJU reader's comments about John Monroe's parallel "get-outta-Dodge" resignation, Matthew Leys mentioned the following:

I can’t comment on that page because Camille banned me from commenting because I engaged in and evidence-based conversation that made her uncomfortable so unfortunately, I don’t have a way to respond there to your despicable comment, so I guess here will have to do.

Aww. That's sad. So what did Matthew Leys say after Micah Pretlove's arrest for sexually assaulting a minor on the BJU campus? Mind you, Mr. Leys had just graduated from BJU in 2016 with a MA in Biblical Studies when he made these comments. You may not be able to see it because he is banned from WutBJU's FB page.

So for the record, Mr. Leys, you didn't have evidence nor was I uncomfortable. Your need for narcissistic supply was distracting the conversation from the victims of Micah Pretlove.

And clearly now six years later, you're still reading WutBJU. Thanks for your loyalty! But one has to wonder:

Bless Matthew Leys. He just can't bear to digest anything negative about Bob Jones University.

SMH.

Aw. I love getting love letters from our fans. Thanks, Matthew. You're a great guy! Thanks for being a regular reader.

Hi Camille,

I'll keep this short and sweet.  I challenge you to unblock people (including me) who might dare to give a different perspective on your page, rather than intentionally stamping out any actual, real discussion.  Otherwise, it'll just remain a pretty much irrelevant echo chamber looking for conspiracies under every bush.

And yes, it wouldn't surprise me if this private email ends up on your Facebook page or blog since that seems to be par for the course with you and your buddies since it's already happened once and another indicated that she was interacting with me privately in order to feed information to you.  Classy, ethical stuff there from you all, but, then again, I'm not going to pretend to be surprised.

So as of this morning, WutBJU has a new Friend of the Archive. Meet Matthew Leys, BJU's Class of 2016 (MA in Biblical Studies).

In reporting that Faith Baptist Church in Taylors is suddenly without a pastor with no explanation at all (and a suspicious statement that he needs to spend more time "with family"), Matthew Leys got very defensive.

A WutBJU reader had made a casual comment recollecting two other Greenvillians who disappeared with lame explanations: Al McClaren and Jimmy Epting. He was saying what we were all thinking, tbh.

Leys did not like the joke. He was upset. So he stated:

I don't expect I'd know you from a bar of soap but I came across your comment on the What in the World BJU post about Pr. John Monroe. I can't comment on that page because Camille banned me from commenting because I engaged in and evidence-based conversation that made her uncomfortable so unfortunately, I don't have a way to respond there to your despicable comment, so I guess here will have to do. I suspect you know nothing about the situation, so I suggest you take the advice of Proverbs and keep your mouth closed so you don't look like a fool. There are people who are struggling at this time and your cavalier insults are horrible and unChristlike.

The reader had forgotten the comments. They were so obvious. So Leys explained:

He was meh about the whole thing as all of us who are normal would be. Leys was pissed that his scold was not having an effect.

No point playing games. You know what you meant as did those who found your comments hilarious.

A wise man would recognize the distaste of his insult and apologize. A foolish man would stand by it for the laughter of the scorners. A child would play games with it.

Now, Mr. Leys. You don't seem to understand that you're accentuating and proving what we are all thinking: John Monroe did something immoral (and perhaps not illegal) just as Al McClaren and Jimmy Epting did. Both McClaren and Epting were not faithful to their marriage vows and got caught red-handed (McClaren fathered a child outside of wedlock, and Epting was caught on video with his paramour).

In your accusation, Mr. Leys, you're highlighting what Faith Baptist, your own church, is refusing to say!

And Leys continued. He can't resist.

Genuine question: do you know John Monroe and his family or have a personal interest in the ministry of Faith Baptist in Taylors? Do you actually know anything at all about any current charges changes?

The reader, of course, wants Leys to spit out what he's dancing around, to state unequivocally what he's clearly raging about.

If you genuinely want me to know then tell me, otherwise I'm done interacting with a fool. You ignored my question so as I assumed you appear to know nothing and are slinging mud for the plaudits of scorners. Glad I'm not in your shoes.

Go back to those changes, Leys. Tell us more about those.

If you are in leadership at Faith, you need to work a little harder at shutting up. You're telling us all what's going on.