From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." - Matthew 16:21-23 (ESV)
TX Megachurch Pastor Calls Neighbors 'EVIL' & Demonic in Clash Over Bldg Project
I have done a couple of devotionals a few months ago about Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth Texas and their insanely MAGA pastors, Brandon and Heather Schott. They had appeared on the seven mountains idiot, Lance Wallnau's, show to whine about push back they were receiving from their neighbors about their attempts to open up a 100-bed facility for victims of sex trafficking. Their strategy was to play up the "how can you oppose helping victims of sex trafficking" angle to paint themselves as poor victims. Throughout the appearance they were smarmy, smug and entitled. They bragged about how many meals they feed to people, ignoring scripture to not do your deeds to be seen by man, and then inferring that because they do good things, they should never stand opposed. The heart of the issue for the neighborhood might be a bit of "not in my backyard" but it is not without truth. There are elements of drugs and criminal activity that often trail activities such as sex trafficking. The real issue is how these alleged pastors have handled the resistance. They have been harsh, rude and as previously mentioned, entitled. They use the appearance of trying to help the most vulnerable to behave in a decidedly unchristian manner against the very neighbors their church lives among. In doing so, they scatter people away from Jesus and His cause. Thanks to the excellent reporting of the Roys Report, we now have an update on this situation, linked above that should disgust us all as Christians. Just because someone disagrees with you, no matter how righteous you think your cause is, that does not make them "witches." So, let us reason once more beloved through the above reporting.
"The historic Oakhurst neighborhood north of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, looks like a typical urban community, with modest homes surrounding a pocket park where neighbors frequently gather. It's also the only community to win Fort Worth's Neighborhood of the Year award three times, most recently in 2022.But according to Landon Schott, lead pastor of the adjacent Mercy Culture megachurch, Oakhurst is inhabited by people he believes to be "witches" and "warlocks" who are putting up "insane demonic resistance" to the work of God. Specifically, the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association opposed Mercy Culture's proposed location to build a three-story, 100-bed facility for survivors of human trafficking. After a two-year battle that culminated in a contentious, hours-long meeting Dec. 10, 2024, the Fort Worth City Council narrowly approved the church's plan. The church still needs additional city approvals as the project moves forward, and it's not clear when construction could begin. But the tensions between the church and many of its neighbors remain. The association claims it opposed the project location because of safety and traffic concerns. Plus, the association alleged that Mercy Culture was not following best practices for a facility of this type." - The Roys Report
Let's deal first with the substance of the disagreement. The neighborhood association means the actual physical neighbors of Mercy Culture church, which ironically, shows no mercy whatsoever. I am sure some of the neighbors are concerned about property values, which is a legitimate concern for people who invested greatly in this upper middle-class neighborhood. Without passing moral judgment on such, to pretend that somehow their concerns are immaterial, or somehow "against God" is vile. Their cited concerns are real. Building a three-story facility to house 100 more people would certainly appear to potentially affect traffic patterns and definitely pose security concerns. What the fake pastors do here is they hide behind their assertion that their side, is God's side and use it as a cudgel against any dissent. Being concerned about what will happen to their neighborhood, safety and traffic, including concerns about best practices for the women themselves, is not "insane demonic resistance" and to claim such is to belittle and dehumanize the people that are you direct neighbors. Jesus had a lot to say about how we treat our neighbors and I am pretty sure reducing them to witches and warlocks was not part of it. It is actually bat-poop crazy to make these claims. I am willing to bet Landon and Heather Schott have no direct experience, training or education when it comes to working with victims of sex-trafficking. Best practices are a real thing within human services. Claiming that people who want such must be witches is just nuts and that craziness is not lost on the very people you are supposed to reach with the gospel.
"But according to Schott, the opposition was far more insidious than that. "If anyone resist (sic) helping the most abused victims in our community its only because they're EVIL!" Schott posted on Instagram. And in a Jan. 1 episode of "Holy Disruption," a Mercy Culture podcast, Schott labeled the clash with the neighborhood "spiritual warfare." "We are in a battle. It's not against flesh and blood, which means it's spiritual," Schott said on the podcast. "So, if we have a group of people that are trying to actively resist us around every corner for two years from helping survivors of human trafficking, this is spiritual." Schott's wife and Mercy Culture Lead Pastor Heather Schott added that the opposition had become personal, and multiple people had tried "to kidnap our children from church." She said the church even received a $1 million ransom request for the threatened kidnapping of her husband. The Roys Report (TRR) tried to confirm these allegations with Forth Worth police. A public relations officer was unable to find any reports related to the alleged incidents at Mercy Culture. TRR also reached out to Mercy Culture for evidence and clarification but did not receive a response." - The Roys Report
What is EVIL is misrepresenting what people are saying because you want your way. The neighbors of Mercy Culture Church are not resisting helping the most abused victims. They just disagree that building a three story, 100-bed facility as an extension of a church, is the best way to do so. People are allowed to have a different opinion. I might add here that the 100 victims that would be housed here would not necessarily be from this community. What the Schotts are doing here is just disgusting. I will grant that maybe their motivation is pure. I will concede that they may want to genuinely help these women. That does not give them the right to do whatever they want to everyone else in pursuit of providing that help. There are laws and zoning, and community organizations for a reason. Maybe someone knows better than you. Maybe pastors should stay in their lane and stop clutching their pearls whenever someone has the temerity to disagree with them. Keep in mind that these two people claim to be pastors. When confronted with disagreement, they reflexively paint those that would disagree as evil, and that the very disagreement is a spiritual attack! Oh, you do not agree with me so YOU must be demonic? Then on top of that spiritual stupidity, it appears they just make up outrageous accusations to try and help their cause. Someone tried to get a million dollars from them to not kidnap the pastor? That barely makes any sense. Oh, and you never reported it but we are supposed to believe you? Sorry, I do not. I have researched this disagreement and the only ones who are behaving like a neighbor are the people in the neighborhood association, not the Christian pastors. That fact should worry and bother us greatly.
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