A few months ago, I started reading the blog of Zsuzsanna Anderson, the wife of a pastor of an Independent Baptist church in Arizona. As I’ve read her posts, I’ve agreed with a lot of her points, I’ve disagreed with some, and I’ve laughed at others.
I found her blog after researching the preacher (who turned out to be her husband) in this video to see if the video was a joke or not. The video is of a pastor telling his congregation that it is against Scripture for a man to pee while seated. I’m not making this up. Watch the video if you don’t believe me.
It turns out that it wasn’t a joke (at least not as far as I can tell), and the church is a real church (Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ). The church’s web site had a link to Zsuzsanna’s blog, and I subscribed to it, mostly out of curiosity.
Zsuzsanna is an amazing person. She’s the mother of 4 children; she homeschools the ones old enough for school; she works hard to be thrifty; she supports a husband pastor who works a secular job through the week so he can be financially able to be the church’s pastor; and she still finds time to post all sorts of information that could be useful to her blog readers.
Most of the time when I disagree with her, it’s a matter of opinion: women shouldn’t be police officers; it’s wrong to send your children to any (public, private, or Christian) school because homeschooling is the only way Christian families should educate their children; male gynecologists are all perverts who chose their field to be able to take advantage of women; the 1611 King James Version of the Bible is the only real Bible. The list could go on, and it does. But it’s all opinion, and I’m happy to let her have her own.
Then today, I read the following on her blog (from this post):
…a derelict and his girlfriend stopped me in their big SUV outside church to ask if the church offered financial assistance to families, and cursed me out when I told them it only helped people who actually CAME to our church.
There! What’s wrong with Christians…it’s in that paragraph…did you see it? Christians today are so full of themselves that we’re not willing to help people who come to a church looking for help.
When we are approached by someone who knows we are Christians, we are given an amazing opportunity to practice obedience to Scripture. Matthew 25 talks about when Jesus returns, and how he will explain to the righteous ones that the little things they had done for “the least of these” had been done as if they were done to Him.
While there was obviously a physical need in this situation, it is likely that there was also a spiritual need. When we refuse to help meet a physical need, we ruin any future opportunity to meet a spiritual need. The people asking for help aren’t immediately concerned with (or may not be aware of) their spiritual needs; they’re focused on the immediate physical need, and anyone who helps meet the physical need has an opportunity to move on to the spiritual need.
Should we give money to any person asking for it? I don’t think so. Should we blindly overlook people living a lifestyle that obviously goes against Scripture? No. There must be some discernment, but turning people away because they are not part of your church is wrong.
It is the responsibility of the local church to help people in need. The needy people know this, but somehow we Christians can’t wrap our brains around the concept of helping people that don’t dress or act like we do. We get so wrapped up in stupid stuff that we fail to realize that meeting a physical need opens a door to meeting those spiritual needs.
It’s hard to speculate on what she should have done; she didn’t say what their specific need was. Maybe she turned them away without asking. Maybe they needed $20 for gas. Maybe they needed a meal or a shower. Maybe they were trying to keep their electricity from being turned off. Maybe they needed a Savior. Since they were blindly turned away because they weren’t church members, they didn’t get the help they needed.
I hope they found someone to help them, because even if they get the gas, food, shower, or money for the electricity, they’ll still need a Savior. And I hope they find Him, but I’m guessing they won’t find Him at Zsuzsanna’s church.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
My response to her blog.
Luke 18
Why do you hold non Christians to the same standards to which you hold Christians? They do not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit. There sin is no worse than ours, the difference is we are forgiven. You are missing beautiful opportunities to share Christ. This was most clear with the couple in the “big SUV”. You don’t know their situation fully because you did not dig deeper. You made a snap judgment that clearly cost you your testimony with them.
Many of us Christians have become the second coming of the Pharisee. Maybe God hasn’t judged this country yet, because we haven’t adequately shared what he has done for us forgiven sinners. Those that don’t know Him, aren’t seeing Him in us. How can they know the truth, if we only help those that actually come to our church. We have to get the message outside of the church. Jesus met sinners were they were at, not inside His church. Don’t let the devil tempt you into turning your God given righteousness into devil twisted arrogance. I will pray for you.
Good Ron…
This is so true, not just here but I’ve seen it all over the world. If the physical is unkempt then the spiritual seems to turn off…
The other day Kryssy and I were at a defunct Christian Bookstore now turned Christian Music store.
I was telling the owner, after some conversation and banter about the business, that I was a missionary and what we do etc… his response was… well, we can not sponsor you… I was like, ok.. I didn’t even ask and it didn’t even cross my mind.
It just really caught me off guard.
As missionaries who live and do ministry through donor support, we live a lot with rejection or misunderstanding. It seems people’s posture toward giving has changed to an air of obligation.
We try desperately to tell people to pray about it, whether it is for us or someone else or aforementioned need above and ask God! And go do that!
I have recently become familiar with Mrs. Anderson’s blog through a link on another website. Some of her latest entries are an attack on a woman who underwent many IVF treatments and has a blog about it, something Mrs. Anderson is strongly against (IVF, not blogging). I was dismayed by her hateful attitude and words but won’t bother leaving a comment telling her so, as she deletes all comments that don’t agree with her. It gave me a very unsettled feeling.
Please pray for Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and also for all the people who have been hurt by professing Christians. I grew up in a legalistic church and know the damage that can be done when we demand strict adherence to extra-Biblical rules. It truly is a shame that all this is happening.
I agree with your post. Though I read her blog and appreciate much of what she writes I tend to get angry reading it. Not really because of her and her beliefs but the fact that she is not a welcoming person. Sometimes those who are in the process of perfecting faith in their lives need someone to mentor them through it rather then knock them down when they are seemingly already down trying to get up.
What disturbing is that she really does think she is perfect in every which way in her life and in her faith. Sorry to say but she is not as close as she things. There is much work for her to do and one is fixing the attitude towards others who are not active in their church. Those who run a church should have their doors open to everyone and help them by leading not treating them as if they will never be at their level.
To lead others to Christ you much open your arms, and doors, so that you can guide them in the direction of the Lord. I pray for that family frequently because I think they truly are doing a great thing but they need to open their very tunneled eyes and see what is around of them. They have such a wonderful chance to reach out to many who have yet been touched.
Zsuzsanna Anderson and her husband Paster Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona both sound like they are in the beginning stages of forming a cult. Give it another ten years and the FBI will be surrounding their compound.
You just “know” Zsuzsanna from her blog. That is only a glimpse of what she really thinks. Please do not put their names and Christianity in the same sentence. The two of them trash Scripture to smithereens.
Come on, the “preacher” has half of the New Testament memorized. That’s his “training.” Ask him how much studying he has done. Greek, and Hebrew translations, and I’m not talking about letting Google be your teacher. No schooling, no studying, nothing but memorizing. That is not what a preacher makes.
It is pure evil and a mockery to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior to twist and ruin God’s Word the way they do. And the way they disregard the teachings of Jesus is pathetic. No Christian in their right mind would admire either of them or listen to a word they say.
And as for homeschooling, that woman is an insult to parents who really do homeschool. Throwing a worksheet at your child and calling it a day does not make a homeschooler. I could go on with many examples, but I won’t. All I have left to say is that I feel very sorry for their children.
I came across Zsuzsanna’s blog and was actually traumatized by some of the things I read there! I am a Christian, but I don’t want to be placed in the same category with her.
It makes me sad in my heart to think of all the hatred and self-righteousness festering within her. It also saddens me that she uses the Bible more often to condemn than she does to lift up herself and others… Her children are beautiful. I hope that as they grow up, they can realize that what their parents believe is not normal and is in many ways inconsistent with the past 2000 years of Christianity.
I agree Kittycat with everything you said. Look what Pastor Anderson says here: http://www.fundamentalforums.com/showthread.php?t=3912
He says “I will worship my King James Bible till I die.
The Bible is God.” How offensive to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How very sad and offensive to Him. Christians may disagree about certain tenets of Christianity, but all will agree that you do not worship a bible and the bible is not God.
Pastor Steven L. Anderson and his wife Zsuzsanna are leading their congregation straight to hell. Anderson’s sister closed down her blog because people were reporting her. She advocated blowing up a school. And the hatred that Zsuzsanna and her husband have for police officers runs deeper than that ditty she had on her blog about when she got a ticket. I pray that the state comes in and takes their children away. Harsh, yes, but that is what I pray for. The two of them were not fit to raise a dog nevermind children. My heart cries for those children.
I agree, I feel sorry for her children. I fear for the souls of that church. I pray God will work in that church. It is discouraging…
My favorite part of her blog is the section with photos of her dad firing an assault weapon. These people are twisted.
Are you aware of the latest with “Pastor” Anderson and the border patrol incident last week? Google Steve Anderson tased.
Yeah, I saw he had an incident with the border patrol. I haven’t watched the videos yet, but he looked like he was roughed up pretty badly.
I find it ironic that she told the “derelict and his girlfriend that they only help people who actually CAME to our church,” and now she is soliciting donations for her husband’s legal fees on her blog. I’ve been reading her blog for about a year now; I accidentally stumbled onto the infamous “sermon/rant” about a man’s posture while relieving himself. I feel for their children! When Rebecca was born in October, their oldest son, Solomon, wrote “please don’t hate her.” That’s heart breaking…but I guess when he lives in a home where hate is spewed…he’s smart enough to know it will likely come back to them and I’m sure this incident with Steve is very hard on the children. I’ve replied a couple of times to her comments but of course she doesn’t post discenting views; she just accuses me of being judgmental. They need our prayers.
I came across the videos of pastor Anderson’s encounter with the bps .. and I was shocked by what I saw and heard. I sent the clip to my son, who replied he had seen it and had no sympathy because Anderson is connected with Westboro. So, further research revealed Westboro as being a hate spewing church. Check it out yourself.
THEN I thought to check Anderson’s church, so, found the website, looked it over,and came across some of his essays. Well, the King James Only thing bothered me, but then to read his teaching on homosexuals … whooeee baby!
Now, let me explain something: I do not use the word “gay” because it is a word coined by homosexual extremists who would force us all to accept that lifestyle … but, to call a homosexual queer or fag is just ignorant. Anderson says it is ok because the Lord used the word “strange” which translates “queer” Queer is an insult to a human being, just as kike, spick, wop .. all the slurs.
OK, so then I read he teaches homosexuals cannot be saved, that the have already been given over to their sin.
That is not what my Bible says (even the King James); mine says all who come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance will be saved. It does not say a homosexual can continue in that life style, of course, and we know that is true of all sinful lifestyle … we, who are born again,change, we will never choose to live again our former lifestyle, whether it be drunkenness, promiscuity, adultery. We may stumble, we may slip and fall … but we are indwelt by the Spirit of the Most High .. and HE will not let us be comfortable over sin.
Anderson teaches that homosexuals are beyond redemption and worse than “normal” men.
Having read all this, I see the videos of his encounters with the BPs in a different light. What is his real purpose there?
Yes, this nation is changing! Yes, Obama has brought changes that are unamerican! Yes, we need to be aware of a government that wants to take away our rights … it is foretold. But to be hatemongers is not of the Lord.
Jesus would never call a homosexual a queer.
I see “the user” removed the video about men sitting to urinate!
What changes has Obama brought that are un-American, Irene?
Irene, I agree. John 3:16 makes it very clear: “For God so loved the world that WHOSOEVER believeth should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Also, “God is not willing that ANY perish but that ALL come to repentance.” I sent this to his wife’s blog some time ago but, of course, she didn’t post it. Anderson’s say that to repent is works.
The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, longsuffering, self control, to name a few. I don’t see it in his “sermons” or dealings with authority. Did you see the sermon on You Tube about Little House on the Prairie? He told (actually screamed) to a man who asked a question to “Get the “H” out of MY church!”
I think he pulled the infamous “He who p’s against the wall” rant after his encounter with the border patrol. (I refuse to call it a sermon). The owner of another blog wrote him an open letter suggesting that Anderson removed it due to the legal proceedings, as it might not put him in the best light. Someone posted it again and I’m guessing it wasn’t Anderson.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Notice where it says and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Word was made flesh now who could that be. Could that be Jesus and so we se again that the Word is God because Jesus is GOd. Also God puts his Word above his name. I think that’s a pretty high honour for the Bible.
What a lovely site. Real Christians in action who are showing love and using discernment. I’m amazed!
I live in the Phoenix area and I have to tell you folks that this Pastor Anderson scares me. One of you wrote that he was associated with the Westboro **sigh** crowd. Do you have a link?
He’s been doing interviews with all the media outlets but some of them are ultra, ultra right wing extremists. I’m not talking about Conservatives at all. Some of the big networks (who haven’t done their homework) are turning him into some kind of national hero. He surely needs our prayers. There is preaching of the vilest stuff I’ve ever heard. Doctors are perverts, He who “p’s” on the wall, homosexuals will be given the ‘death penalty’ by God even if they are redeemed by our Savior. This all adds up to a big red flag to me.
Anyway, I have very much enjoyed reading this blog. It’s a blessing to see that there are people who truly love the Lord who aren’t engaged in being hateful.
Blessings to all
i also hear that she is not a us citizen!! imagine that!! what mentally stable woman would want to have anything to do with him… ? he got what he deserved at that checkpoint!! no doubt in my mind… he did the same thing before but those BP officers just let him go… he came up against some in arizona that took their job serious and did what was necessary…. she is NOT an amazing woman… she is brainwashed from a controlling lunatic and sje allowed herself to be that way!! the more this clown exposes himself, the more dirt will come out about what a whack job he is!! i hope the good pastor gets some jail time for his antics!! he is as much a man of god as charles manson!!
Steve Anderson’s wife was granted United States citizenship last year (per her blog).
I fear for this woman and her children. I wrote a comment on her blog and told her so. I’m sure she deleted the comment. I hope the comment haunts her, though.
I truly fear for this woman. Her husband, his beliefs, his influence over his wife and children etc….are the exact markings of men you read about in the paper…who one day kill their wife and children…in the name of God.
He is dangerous. He is so filled with hate that I truly fear for his family’s lives. She is a naive woman to think her husband is “normal”. Quite frankly, I don’t think we are hearing to whole story behind her blogging.
I hope I am wrong!
The video about He who p’eths upon the wall is still on the site. I’ll be happy to provide the link for anyone who wants to view it.
Very sad. I’ve come to the conclusion that this man is mentally ill. He surely needs our prayers and some true Godly intervention.
Forgive me for being a drive-by poster, but I stumbled upon this blog when I was doing some research on Pastor Anderson.
No one is hateful towards gay people without cause or by accident. There is always a trigger for such anger, and it’s usually a personal event in a person’s life when they were younger. (The 1997 documentary “Licensed to Kill” illustrates this through numerous interviews with incarcerated murderers who killed gay people.)
The fact that Pastor Anderson thinks gays can’t be saved and believes that they’re all rapists and molesters is a total projection of his irrational fears. But where would these fears come from?
Let me play armchair psychologist and offer a couple of theories:
1. Anderson was molested when he was younger by some male adult in his family, and has harbored anger and bitterness against this person ever since. If this is true, he has clearly never received the kind of therapy and assistance needed to overcome such a personal violation. Instead, it comes out through his preaching, which is more of a cry for help than anything.
Or:
2. Anderson has always been same-sex attracted, and growing up in a fundamentalist church in Sacramento didn’t help any. (The video of him preaching when he was 17 set off my gaydar alarm bells more than anything I’ve seen in quite a while.) Despite marrying young, having plenty of kids, founding a church and running soul-winning campaigns, he still feels he’s not doing enough to “kill” those feelings deep inside him. So, he outwardly projects his anger and hatred of this part of himself through his sermons.
It’s likely either one or the other… or possibly both.
His run-ins with Arizona border patrols is well-documented and has only added to his martyr identity, but he was also involved in an incident with security guards in a local hospital after the birth of one of his children. It’s also been stated on another blog that his claim that he was sent out from the Sacramento church to start a new work in AZ is not entirely truthful. It seems odd that he informed his pastor of his intent to do so on a Saturday and the pastor told the church *the very next day* (without any period of prayer and reflection) makes it appear that the church leadership was very eager to see him leave.
Clearly, this man is a ticking time bomb of anger, and something bad is going to happen if he doesn’t seek compassionate, *professional* help to deal with whatever is eating away at him. Unfortunately, being an extreme fundamentalist, he likely won’t seek help from anyone but an unlicensed Christian “counselor” who believes the same exact way he does and can only enable him, not help him.
I’ve seen this played out over and over and over with extreme fundamentalist types. There’s not much that we fellow Christians can do but pray for the protection of his family and ask that God intervene before something really tragic happens.
Boy this man is pure evil.After the info I seen on cnn
today I started doing some research and I am in shock
that these doors to this so called church are still open.
We not only need to pray for them but we need to say stronger prayers for the people that are attending his church so they can see the light and get out of harms way before its to late.
Your right, Jesus wouldn’t have called them queer.
Jesus called them “an abomination”. this is about the worst thing that a creator could call his creation. In my opinion this is worse than queer or fag. Would you have been happier if he instead called them abominations, or how about “lusters of strange flesh”?
If you would have felt worse about the beating he took because you agreed with everything he said, you should examine your own thinking. Either the BP was right in what they did, or wrong in what they did. Saying they were wrong but “he had it coming” just doesn’t cut it.
kb, Jesus did not call them an abomination. The entire bible does not contain the words of Jesus, so don’t put words in His mouth. The argument that Jesus is God and the bible is God breathed doesn’t hold up with what you posted. Example “You may have heard it said an eye for an eye, but I say to turn the other cheek.” Jesus didn’t say an eye for an eye either, yet it’s in the bible.