republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:

Last week, countless secular and Christian media sources reported that highly popular Christian stand-up comedian John Crist has sexually victimized numerous women” over the course of several years. A Charisma Magazine* expose on the news story, stated:


According to multiple sources, Crist has exploited his Christian reputation and platform to harass, manipulate and exploit young women over the last seven years. The allegations include, but are not limited to, individually sexting multiple women during the same time period, initiating sexual relationships with married women and women in committed relationships, offering show tickets in exchange for sexual favors and repeatedly calling these women late at night while drunk.

Over the last 24 hours, Charisma contacted Crist about these allegations to get his comment. In response, he emailed Charisma the following statement [see article for statement]. . . . In the statement, he admits to “destructive and sinful” behavior, apologized to his fans and announced he would cancel all future tour dates this year to focus on getting healthy. . . .

In 2019, few Christians seem better known and more influential than Crist. To those unfamiliar with him, that may be surprising; after all, Crist is not a pastor, ministry leader or worship leader. But Crist has risen to fame precisely because he’s what many young believers want to be: funny, smart, cool, relatable and vocal about his faith.


The reason Lighthouse Trails is posting this information is because according to the Charisma article, some Christian leaders have known that Crist is a sexual predator yet allowed unexpecting women to continue to be victimized.


Multiple sources noted to Charisma that Crist has previously said he is receiving counseling and treatment for this behavior—as early as 2014—yet continued to hurt others in the process. . . . some evidence suggests certain Christian leaders have been aware of Crist’s behavior and—through inaction—let it continue unchecked. This is why Charisma believed it necessary to warn the body of Christ about what Crist has been doing behind the scenes. . . .

“The church should not be looking the other way when a Christian leader is preying on women” . . . “When Jesus talked about wolves in sheep’s clothing, I’m sure He included sexual predators in that metaphor. This guy may be a comedian, but sexual harassment isn’t funny. This behavior needs to be challenged, and the victims need counseling and support.” . . .

Over the years, Crist’s behavior has gradually become a kind of open secret among certain Christian circles. Some individuals contacted for the investigation expressed surprise that the general public was not already aware of Crist’s behavior. . . .

Three sources told Charisma they had contacted WaterBrook & Multnomah [Crist’s publisher] with stories about Crist’s misdeeds. Two received no reply, while one received a response—saying the recipient would share that information with leadership—but did not hear anything more.


After reading the Charisma article in full along with other articles, it seems clear that Crist’s long-time ongoing abuse and misuse of young women was known by others and basically kept under the rug. Lighthouse Trails has always said that the power of sexual abuse lies in its secrecy. Predators continue in power and abuse as long as they can keep the victims quiet and keep those who know about their predatory behavior from exposing them. We have addressed this type of scenario over and over since we began Lighthouse Trails. And, of course, stories in the public arena (such as the Catholic priests) substantiate our concerns that sexual abuse is kept quiet and sexual predators are protected. Crist’s abuse is an example of how Christian leadership is playing its part in allowing sexual abuse to continue.

Those of you who have been Lighthouse Trails readers for some time may remember other stories regarding sexual abuse we have covered. One of the first books we ever published is Laughter Calls Me, the true story of a mother who learned her four children had become victims of a child pornography ring. In 2011, we wrote “Child Sex Abuse – Can We Ignore It?.” In 2012, we wrote “’Heartfelt’ Letter from Voice of the Martyrs Neglects Concern for 10-Year-Old Molested Child.” In that same year, we published and released Seducers Among Our Children by Patrick Crough. Sergeant Crough spent over 20 years catching sexual predators in the state of New York. Today, he heads up a team in Florida fighting against human trafficking. In 2013, we released The Color of Pain by Gregory Reid, a tribute to men who were sexually abused as boys. In 2014, Jan Markell interviewed Patrick Crough on protecting children from Internet predators. And also in 2014, we wrote “Bill Gothard Resigns from Institute in Basic Life Principles Under Allegations of Sexual Abuse.” In 2015, we posted “’Obama Administration Enables ‘Boy Play’” – Child Molestation Overlooked by U.S. Government.” In 2017, we wrote “Saddleback Church Statement Appears to Downplay Role of Alleged Molester Ruben Meulenberg.” In 2019, we wrote “Child Sexual Abuse Scandal at Matt Chandler’s Popular Village Church Raises Concerns Over How Churches Handle Abuse.” And there are many other articles we have written or posted on this issue of sexual abuse and its cover up.

Most recently, we began carrying Pastor Stacey Shifflet’s book Wolves Among Lambs, which describes his story of being a victim of sexual abuse and the cover up that followed.

We have given a bit of a recap of our reporting over the years on sexual abuse because often when we post an article about sexual abuse, someone comes forth and challenges us asking why we are reporting on something that is not within the parameters of deception in the church (New Age, contemplative, etc.). It may be that those people are not aware of the Lighthouse Trails motto: “Bringing Light to Areas of Darkness.” Another criticism we have received when bringing to light sexual abuse in the church is that we shouldn’t voice such concerns for the world to see. That’s an invalid criticism because the secular news outlets report on these stories as much or more than the church does. In other words, the world is watching, and they already know about it long before Lighthouse Trails writes about it.

In some Christian coverage of John Crist, his actions are being described as a “sexual sin” that Crist has committed against God. While this is true, we must not minimize the horrific damage that a sexual predator causes to his victims. Already, it is reported that two of Crist’s victims have left the Christian faith feeling very betrayed by a man they highly esteemed because he proclaims to be a Christian. Crist used his Christian claim, his power, his charisma, and his celebrity status to lure in his victims.

If you are in church leadership and know of abuse taking place, you have a responsibility to the victims, to the law of the land, to the church, and to God to do all within your power to make sure it is exposed and stopped.

If you are a member of a church, make sure your church leadership is held accountable and make sure all church members, volunteers, and paid staff are educated properly in how to protect children, teens, and young adults from sexual predators.

Churches and Christian groups are perhaps the main target for sexual predators because of the loving and trusting nature of Christians. And when the sexual predator claims to be one of us, the risk is all that much higher.

ENOUGHby Catherine Brown

May kids be brave enough to tell
Parents be strong enough to believe
The Church, Christ-like enough to support
America, wise enough to judge
May offenders be sorry enough to stop


*Our referencing Charisma Magazine is not meant to be an endorsement of the magazine. However, in the case of John Crist, Charisma did a very thorough and documented report on this story, and we felt it gave more of the facts than other sources.

Related Information:

“John Crist’s Misconduct: It’s NOT ‘Sexual Sin’ – Words Matter” (an insightful commentary)

“Former pastor of Baltimore-area church charged with child sex abuse; police say there may be other victims” (about Stacey Shifflet story)

“John Crist’s Netflix special, book on hold amid sexual harassment allegations” (Religion News Service)

_______________________________________________________________

John Crist Cancels 2019 Tour Dates After Reports of 

Sexual Misconduct Allegations

BY REAGAN HALL

SEE: https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/11/06/john-crist-cancels-2019-tour-dates

-after-reports-of-sexual-misconduct-allegations/; 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:

Popular Christian comedian, John Crist, has canceled his 2019 tour dates after an anonymous woman came forward with reports of sexting, harassment and manipulation. In December 2018, Crist expressed his disdain for “judgmental Christians” after Lauren Daigle was criticized for her stance on homosexuality. Now we know why. This is breaking news from Charisma Mag.

[Charisma Mag] The names of primary sources have been replaced with pseudonyms (marked with an asterisk on first usage). This was an intentional decision made by Charisma and should not reflect on the witnesses’ credibility; four of the five women stood by their claims enough to let us publicize their names. After prayerful deliberation, our editorial board has chosen instead to protect the reputations and identities of those sources.

“I was blown away when John [Crist] agreed to do an interview with me for my senior project… I was shaking and so nervous to be around someone I had idolized for months.”

From a makeshift podcast studio constructed in her room at Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Kate* was thrilled to be interviewing her professional hero, comedian John Crist. She and her boyfriend drove to Las Vegas in May 2017 just to record this interview—and everything was going great. When the interview ended, Crist even stayed and chatted with them for a while.

“I opened up about my mental health, what it’s like being in the industry, addiction struggles and how he inspired me to create this podcast and do interviews. It was at this point John confided in both my boyfriend and me that he was a sex addict. Both my boyfriend and I felt it was cool how open he was about his past, and I continued to feel grateful and excited I was getting to meet my comedy idol. Moreover, I … was so excited to have a mentor I had so much in common with.”

So she thought nothing of it when Crist asked her for her number before he left. Or when he later added her on Snapchat and immediately began messaging her. Or when he invited her out for the evening—just the two of them.

Kate says she eagerly accepted, told her boyfriend about the meeting and then left to meet Crist. When she reached his apartment, he met her outside, suggested they rollerblade, and invited her upstairs to “grab a few things” for the trip. Upstairs, he gave her a water bottle full of raspberry vodka and poured himself whiskey in a Snapple bottle.

Drinks in hand, they rollerbladed along the Venice boardwalk and talked. He reiterated how talented she was and how he could help her career. He also bladed behind her so he could “enjoy the view.”

“I was truly blinded by his celebrity status,” Kate says. “There were a few moments I thought, ‘Hey, this is kind of weird,’ but the same phrase kept playing through my head that stopped me from leaving: ‘It’s OK. He’s a Christian. He won’t do anything inappropriate.'”

Soon Kate had consumed half the bottle of vodka Crist gave her. Intoxicated, they took off their blades and ran into the water. Once there, she says Crist grabbed her and tried to kiss her, and in her drunken state, she struggled to push him off. He told her in crude terms how much he wanted to have sex with her and continued to pursue her. In response, she tried to explain that she had a boyfriend and only desired a mentoring relationship with Crist, not a sexual one. Eventually, he relented.

She rollerbladed back with him to his apartment to get her bag. Once there, Crist again grabbed her, crudely propositioned her for sex and begged her to stay. She pushed him off, left and—on the verge of blackout drunk—called an Uber to bring her home. The next morning, she told her boyfriend what happened. (Her boyfriend confirmed to Charisma the accuracy of all points of Kate’s testimony for which he was present. On the points for which he was not present, he says her testimony to Charisma matches what she told him the next day.)

Crist later messaged Kate that their evening together was “the best day of [my] life” and that he couldn’t stop thinking about all the things he wanted to do to her.

“The one thing that stopped me from believing he was creepy is John so proudly parades his face as a Christian,” Kate says. “I’ve let myself believe that just because someone is a Christian means they won’t do something intentionally bad. But the truth is, John invited me to his apartment with the intention of sleeping with me after shaking hands with my boyfriend.”

The ordeal left Kate emotionally devastated and still—two years later—spiritually shaken. She says she struggles with “what it means to be Christian after being so disgustingly let down by a role model I considered a man of God.”
Unfortunately, Kate’s story is not an isolated incident.

According to multiple sources, Crist has exploited his Christian reputation and platform to harass, manipulate and exploit young women over the last seven years. The allegations include, but are not limited to, individually sexting multiple women during the same time period, initiating sexual relationships with married women and women in committed relationships, offering show tickets in exchange for sexual favors and repeatedly calling these women late at night while drunk.

To continue reading, click here.

[Editor’s Note: This article was written by Taylor Berglund and first published at Charisma News]

A Call To Action 


Too many churches in America are lacking in discernment. Do you find yourself wishing you could help? Do you have a love for Scripture? And a desire to write to edify the church? 
I hear every day from people who want to make a difference but don't know how to get started. To answer this need, I created Writers Write: The 5-Day Challenge. 
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Get your writing in front of people who will actually read it. Don't miss out on this special deal. Click here to get started. 
God Bless, Cody Libolt 
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SEE ALSO:
https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/11/07/stop-dancing-monkey-john-crist-to-only
-take-a-two-month-break/

Slimeball John Crist openly joked about 

sexual harassment & fornication 

Chick-Fil-A Tour Canceled




Lauren Daigle on “The Ellen Show”: 


Watch Her "Powerful Performance"

SEE: https://churchleaders.com/news/336275-lauren-daigle-on-the-ellen-

show-watch-her-powerful-performance.html

SINGING THE SAVING POWER OF JESUS 

WHILE AFFIRMING THE LGBT LIFESTYLE?