From: Subject: In Arms Way Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 22:22:36 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://web.archive.org/web/20080219072220/http://www.industryinet.com/~ruby/sa_arms_way.html X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 In Arms Way

In Arms=92 Way

From http://www.houstonpress.com/=20
Originally published by Houston Press June 15, 2000 =A92000 = New Times,=20 Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2000-06-15/feature.html/page1.ht= ml=20

Phil Arms once saved Ron Garner from a life of sin. Garner = tried to=20 return the favor when confronted with evidence of the preacher=92s = drug use.=20 But Arms viewed it as just a Judas kiss.
By Lauren Kern=20

Phil Arms is in bad shape as he takes the pulpit of Houston = Church on=20 the morning of Sunday, January 9. He shifts his weight back and = forth from=20 his right leg to his left, sips from a glass of water and dabs at = his face=20 with a white handkerchief. He puts on a pair of dark sunglasses, = takes=20 them off and puts them on again. =93I have a problem,=94 he = begins, =93in fact,=20 several this morning.=94 One is an abrasion on his right eye that, = he says,=20 has had him weeping all morning. Another is that his voice is = going out.=20 On top of that, he feels ill. But Phil Arms=92s real problem this = morning is=20 more spiritual than physical. He has been accused of sinning = against the=20 church, and that finger-pointing has doused the preacher=92s usual = hellfire=20 and brimstone style. This morning, he=92s supposed to be contrite. = He=92s=20 supposed to be standing atop the green carpeted steps of the altar = confessing to his congregation that he has become addicted to = prescription=20 painkillers and has taken money from the church coffers in order = to his=20 habit. Three days earlier, Arms=92s right-hand man, associate = pastor Ron=20 Garner, and two other staff members confronted the church leader = with=20 these accusations, asking him to repent and resign his position. = Garner,=20 with the help of Arms=92s wife, had spent more than a month = gathering=20 evidence against his boss. And on this morning, he was prepared to = address=20 the church body himself, but Arms had insisted on speaking. This = was to be=20 expected: Arms rarely let the associate pastor preach much anyway. = Arms=20 was the voice of Houston Church.

The preacher speaks slowly with a rich Southern accent, = punching=20 certain syllables and pausing for dramatic effect. Sometimes, when = the=20 Holy Spirit moves him, he speeds things up in a flurry of = charismatic=20 emotion. The rest of the time, though, it=92s easy to get lost in = the=20 hypnotic melody of his many, many words, particularly since he = seems=20 reluctant to get to his point. After proclaiming the specialness = of=20 Houston Church, lamenting the false accusations that have befallen = other=20 pastors, pointing out that nobody=92s perfect, reminding everybody = of his=20 multiple cluster migraine headache attacks and criticizing Garner = and the=20 other men for how they=92ve handled the situation, he gets down to = it, sort=20 of.

=93I had been taking pain relievers,=94 Arms tells his = followers, =93that=20 after using them over a long period of time, as all of them do, = they begin=20 to lose their effectiveness S which necessitates an additional one = in=20 order to compensate for the first one or the second or the next = that isn=92t=20 working.=94 As for the alleged theft, a subject that he introduces = with=20 =93incidentally, a side note,=94 Arms says the long-standing = operating=20 procedure is that he pays back any unaccounted-for petty cash at = the end=20 of each year.

That=92s it. No tears, no pleas for forgiveness, no Jimmy = Swaggart =93I=20 have sinned=94 moment of truth. And why should there be? To hear = Arms tell=20 it, he has some health problems and may have taken too long to pay = back a=20 few dollars of petty cash. There=92s no scandal in that. A member = of the=20 crowd shouts out, =93Thank you for being so honest!=94 and the = flock bursts=20 into spontaneous, standing applause.

At his post by the piano, Garner is seething with outrage, = trying not=20 to let it show to the true believers lest they cast him in the = role of=20 Judas. When Arms finishes speaking, Garner heeds his call to lead = the=20 church in a song, just like he does at the end of every worship = service.=20 =93Oh, Lord, your tenderness,=94 he sings, =93melting all my = bitterness.=94 But=20 the bitterness isn=92t melting. By the end of this Sunday=92s = service, Ron=20 Garner wants to add another sin to the list of Phil Arms=92s = crimes against=20 God and church: lying.

Garner was once a sinner, too. He and his wife, Sheila, played = country=20 music in Houston=92s honky-tonks, and they didn=92t shy away from = the heavy=20 drinking and drugs that went along with the musician=92s life. = Sheila says=20 Ron was always bucking responsibility. When she got pregnant, he = wanted=20 her to have an abortion.
Sheila wouldn=92t, and that presented = a problem:=20 How would they bring a baby into a life like this? Who would care = for it=20 when they were wasted at 3 a.m.? How would they afford a family? = The=20 Garners had hoped to become famous country musicians one day, but = they=20 weren=92t there yet. Sheila had to spend her days working as a = secretary,=20 and Ron delivered ad contracts for a Yellow Pages-type directory=20 company.

It was in his car, on a delivery, that Ron Garner heard God = speak to=20 him through the voice of Phil Arms. Ron was in the habit of = listening to=20 radio talk shows on his trips, and he stopped on a conversation = between=20 Arms and a man from Jimmy Swaggart=92s ministry. They were hitting = Ron where=20 it hurts, talking about music, music that glorified God. Ron began = to=20 wonder what his music was accomplishing, what he was = accomplishing. When=20 he got home that evening, he told Sheila that he wanted to go to = the=20 church that Arms was starting as an outreach of his revival-based=20 ministry. Sheila was shocked: =93Church?=94 she asked.

Sheila was fat with pregnancy at the first Sunday service of = Houston=20 Church in 1986. Both she and Ron had been taken to Baptist = churches on=20 occasion as kids, but they had never been very religious. =93We = never heard=20 the Gospel,=94 she says. =93I mean, we weren=92t ready. We heard = it, but S it=20 doesn=92t make sense to somebody who doesn=92t have ears to hear = it. It just=20 sounds like a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo.=94

On this day, though, on the verge of their son=92s birth, the = Garners=20 were ready to hear it; and Arms was certainly ready to preach it. = =93He had=20 that fiery delivery, and he was passionate about what he was = saying,=94=20 remembers Ron. =93That=92s why people are drawn to cults. I mean, = Jim Jones=20 was passionate about what he was saying. And these people are sick = and=20 tired of religion, dead stuff. They wanted to get with somebody = who=20 believed something, even though it was totally wrong. I think that = was the=20 draw.=94

The Garners immersed themselves in Houston Church, attending = every=20 service, getting saved, even giving up music. =93God gave us a = purpose,=94=20 says Sheila. =93Instead of wandering, meandering out there in a = world, not=20 knowing where we=92re going or what direction, all of a sudden we = had a=20 purpose, and we had a direction. And we were pursuing that.=94

God also gave them . Ron started working for Arms full-time in = 1992 as=20 the praise and worship director. He handled the ushers, the = parkers and=20 the greeters. He went on hospital visits, organized trips to = Israel and=20 taught Sunday school. He counseled parishioners in need and even = became=20 licensed within the church as a minister. Arms asked the Garners = to go=20 back to music, this time using their talents for good rather than = evil. In=20 1994 Sheila started working in the church office as well. In 1996 = Ron was=20 elected to replace a deceased member of the board of directors of = Phil=20 Arms Ministries, the church=92s nonprofit umbrella organization = that Arms=20 had started in the early =9170s.

Their marriage was thriving, they were making a good living, = they had=20 friends who shared their beliefs, their son was growing up with a = solid=20 moral foundation. They were happy, and their happiness seemed to = hinge on=20 Houston Church. So when Arms asked Ron to quit teaching his Sunday = school=20 class after it got too popular, Ron agreed. When Arms made Ron = squat down=20 in photos so that the pastor would look taller than the associate = pastor,=20 Ron dutifully slumped his shoulders and bent his knees. Ron even = swallowed=20 his pride during a meeting with Arms at a Randalls coffee shop, = when the=20 pastor drew a tiny dot and a large circle on his notepad.

=93Do you know what this is?=94 Ron remembers Arms asking.

=93No,=94 Ron answered, figuring it was a rhetorical = question.

=93That=92s you,=94 Arms said, pointing to the tiny dot. Then = he pointed to=20 the big circle and said, =93That=92s me.=94
Arms was weird, = Sheila and Ron=20 recognized that. But prophets of God are allowed to be a little = strange.=20 Sheila describes their unquestioning faith in Arms as =93the = fog.=94 The=20 entire congregation was shrouded by it to some degree. That=92s = why, the=20 Garners say, churchgoers often gave Arms their pain pills to ease = his=20 migraines. It was an honor to be asked to help the pastor, to be = closer to=20 he who was closer to God. Ironically, it was those who got close = to Arms=20 who began to question his methods.

The Garners claim that twice in the late =9180s and again in = 1994,=20 inner-circle staff members confronted Arms about financial = discrepancies,=20 drug addiction or both. (Levern Jordan, the associate pastor who = the=20 Garners say confronted Arms about his drug addiction, refused to = talk to=20 the Houston Press about his reasons for leaving Houston Church in = 1994.)=20 The Garners, who hadn=92t yet risen through the ranks of the = church staff,=20 didn=92t believe any of the allegations at the time. According to = Sheila,=20 Arms explained the flurry of false accusations with the line, = =93I=92m so=20 godly that the devil is trying to take me over.=94 Arms always won = the=20 conflicts; the accusers left the church destroyed and disgraced. = In=20 retrospect, the Garners think this was because the accusers = didn=92t have=20 enough evidence to support their claims. So once Ron and Sheila = got close=20 enough to Arms to begin to see the truth, they vowed they would = not make=20 the same mistake.

Ron=92s suspicions started in 1998 when he was helping Arms = build his=20 house, a two-story country colonial affair for which, he points = out, Arms=20 borrowed $359,000 from the ministry to . Arms had an office in a = barn on=20 the property, and the two of them conducted house and church = business from=20 there. They were almost always together.

Ron noticed that Arms was under a lot of stress from working on = two=20 major projects. Arms was acting more strangely than usual, and = making=20 frequent but short trips out to the water hose. Was he just = thirsty? Well,=20 maybe, but what Ron saw reminded him of the pill-poppers he had = seen in=20 his days as a musician. A short time later, Arms=92s wife, = Suzanne, came to=20 Ron for counseling. She was concerned about her husband=92s drug = use. In=20 fact, Ron says she had been trying to get him to quit taking = painkillers=20 for years before she finally decided she needed help. Arms had = begun=20 preaching erratically, manipulating scriptures for his own = purposes (=93Do=20 not touch God=92s anointed=94) and directing his sermons at his = wife.

In the meantime, Sheila was being asked to give Arms increasing = amounts=20 of cash from the account for the in-church sales of Arms=92s = religious tapes=20 and books. At first, she gave it without a thought. =93This is a = very=20 lucrative business,=94 she says. With most of the congregation = tithing 10=20 percent of their incomes, the church was, according to Sheila, = taking in=20 between $18,000 and $20,000 a week just from offerings. Plus, = there was=20 income from Arms=92s tapes, TV appearances, books, newsletter and = radio=20 shows. The $200 or $300 a week she says he was asking for wasn=92t = very=20 noticeable. Besides, Sheila just thought he needed the money to = buy books.=20 But soon the money was flowing out of the account faster than it = was=20 coming in, and Sheila asked Suzanne, the main bookkeeper, what to = do when=20 there wasn=92t any more money to give to the pastor. Sheila says = Suzanne=20 didn=92t even know about the account, let alone the weekly cash=20 disbursements. (Suzanne Arms declined to comment; the Armses=92 = attorney,=20 Brett Shine, does not deny that Phil Arms borrowed from the = account but=20 says, in a fax to the Press, that it did not occur on a weekly = basis.=20 Shine shifts the blame to Sheila Garner for failing to keep = detailed=20 records of the disbursements.)

When Ron and Sheila put their heads together, they realized = they might=20 have a bigger problem than they had thought. Still, they needed = more=20 evidence before they could accuse an elder of wrongdoing. Suzanne = made=20 copies of her husband=92s office and desk keys, and Ron and Sheila = began a=20 reconnaissance mission. They reasoned that they had a right to = investigate=20 because Ron was on the board of directors of the = ministry.
Under cover=20 of night, they entered Arms=92s private office on November 30, = 1999, and=20 unlocked the bottom file drawer behind his desk. In it they found = what=20 they describe as a =93menagerie of pharmacy bottles and = medications,=94=20 including 25 empty bottles of a drug called Norco, a version of = the highly=20 addictive pharmaceutical narcotic hydrocodone. They found pharmacy = receipts for prescriptions filled on dates that were dangerously = close=20 together: A quantity of 120 Norco filled on November 10, another = 120=20 filled on November 12, another 120 filled on November 17. The drug = cost=20 almost $100 for each order. They took pictures, photocopied the = pharmacy=20 receipts and decided to return the next night. Sure enough, the = next day=20 there was another pharmacy receipt for another 120 pills of = Norco.

Ron and Sheila rummaged through Arms=92s drug drawer nearly = every night=20 for the next 35 days. Sometimes there were full bottles; sometimes = there=20 were empty ones. Sometimes there were pharmacy receipts; sometimes = the=20 bottles came with no prescription labels at all, only the = manufacturer=92s=20 packaging. They began marking the Norco bottles with a ballpoint = pen on=20 their UPC codes in an attempt to track Arms=92s usage.

On December 7 the Garners found a yellow legal pad on Arms=92s = desk with=20 notes that they claim were evidence of his addiction. One piece of = paper=20 was covered in scribbled notes like =93gotta resupply=94 and = =93I=92m leaving for=20 pharmacy in hrs.=94 It also delineated his three-step plan to go = to three=20 different pharmacies and the alias, Roby, that he used on some of = the=20 prescriptions. Another sheet of paper was titled =93Daily Plan=94 = and showed=20 that on July 1, 1999, Arms was taking 75 to 78 Norco pills a day = and=20 supplementing Ultram, a newer and as yet unscheduled synthetic = narcotic.=20 By July 31 he planned to be down to a daily total of 45, taking = 3.5 pills=20 every two to four hours. By August 21 he hoped to be down to 28 = pills a=20 day. But judging by the number of pills the Garners saw appearing = in, and=20 then disappearing from, Arms=92s desk drawer in December, if the = summer=20 cutback plan had worked at all, it hadn=92t lasted.

Hydrocodone, most commonly known by the brand name Vicodin, is = a=20 schedule III controlled substance in a federal classification = system that=20 attempts to balance a drug=92s risks with its benefits. Schedule I = drugs,=20 like heroin and LSD, are deemed illegal because they serve no = medical=20 purpose. Schedule II drugs, like cocaine and Demerol, have some = legitimate=20 medical uses but are also so addictive that prescriptions are = scrutinized=20 and refills are rare. Hydrocodone comes in just below them, but it = may be=20 moving up in the world. It has made the news many times in the = past few=20 years as the drug that sent celebrities like Friends star Matthew = Perry=20 and Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre into rehab. = According to the=20 Drug Enforcement Agency, there is mounting evidence that = hydrocodone is=20 just as dangerous as a schedule II drug.

=93Hydrocodone is the most abused narcotic drug in Texas,=94 = says Jerry=20 Ellis of the DEA. =93Probably between 80 and 90 percent of all the = cases=20 made on illegal pharmaceutical drugs in Texas are on hydrocodone. = It=92s a=20 very addictive drug; people will do anything at all to get the = stuff.=94=20 They will forge prescriptions, seek out shady pharmacists and = =93doctor=20 shop,=94 a practice that involves taking a somewhat legitimate = medical=20 condition to many different doctors for many prescriptions to be = filled at=20 many pharmacies. They will even buy the tablets on the street for = $7 each.=20 The drug can destroy your liver, and DEA tactical diversions = officer Sam=20 Searcy says the withdrawal symptoms are worse than heroin=92s. = What=20 hydrocodone offers in the meantime is pain-free euphoria.

Most people begin taking hydrocodone for pain caused by a car = accident=20 or surgery or, as in Arms=92s case, severe migraines, but =93this = is not a=20 maintenance medication,=94 says Searcy. =93When you talk a year, = two years,=20 three years S all you=92re doing is feeding the addiction.=94 = Searcy also says=20 that the 75 to 78 pills indicated in Arms=92s daily plan are at = the high end=20 of the hydrocodone usage he has seen: At that point, he says, = =93it=92s a=20 full-time job.=94

Arms declined to comment directly to the Press about his use of = hydrocodone. Through Shine, Arms admitted to taking =93too much = medicine,=94=20 but not 78 Norco pills a day. His lawyer also asserts that the = pastor=20 never obtained the drug illegally. But on April 10 the DEA = arrested James=20 Poindexter, the pharmacist for Safeguard Pharmacy in Katy, a = drugstore=20 where the Garners claim Arms filled some of his prescriptions. = Poindexter=20 was charged with two counts of manufacturing/delivering a = controlled=20 substance. According to the DEA, Safeguard Pharmacy was ranked = eighth in=20 the nation in terms of moving the drug hydrocodone. The agency is = not=20 pursuing an investigation of Arms.

While the Garners were sneaking into Arms=92s office and = documenting his=20 drug use, Suzanne Arms hired an accounting firm to look into the = church=92s=20 s. John A. Braden and Company reviewed the cash deposits into the = church=20 fund and compared them with the giving records for the period of = June 1,=20 1998, through December 31, 1999. Their report to the board of = directors=20 indicates that the giving records exceeded the deposits made. In = fact, the=20 report says, $41,805 was given to the church and not = deposited.

In a sworn affidavit, church office manager Ann Brown alleged = that Phil=20 Arms directed her to give him cash from the church offerings that = had been=20 entered on the giving records but not yet deposited to the bank = account.=20 >From early November to the end of December 1999 Brown claims = to have=20 given Arms =93in excess of $12,000.=94

The Garners now had plenty of evidence. =93We wanted to try to = preserve=20 what we could S because we knew what he was doing was going to = destroy=20 that world that we had set up there,=94 Sheila says. =93Our hearts = were right,=20 our intentions were rightS.He was killing himself, and we had to = do=20 something about it.=94

They staged something like an intervention. Ron had it all = planned out:=20 On the morning of January 6, he would present Arms with five = bottles of=20 Norco and a packet that included a detailed account of his = findings from=20 the late-night office investigation, a list of the financial=20 discrepancies, a plan for the pastor=92s =93restoration,=94 a = notice of a=20 special meeting of the board of directors to vote on Arms=92s = removal=20 (signed by Ron Garner and Suzanne Arms), a letter of resignation = for Arms=20 to sign, a cover letter and a heartfelt conclusion that explains = how, just=20 as God has used Arms to affect Ron=92s life, He now would use Ron = to help=20 Arms.

Once presented with this packet from his associate pastor, Arms = would=20 weep and repent over his drug addiction and the missing money. = Within=20 three working days he would enter Methodist Hospital=92s chemical = dependency=20 program and stay in it until all parties involved were convinced = he was=20 cured. He would immediately resign from all pastoral duties, = because a=20 pastor, according to the Houston Church reading of the Bible, must = live=20 his life beyond reproach. (=93It=92s like losing your = virginity,=94 says Ron.=20 =93Yes, God can forgive you, but God can=92t give you that = back.=94) He would=20 make a confession to the congregation via videotape. He would = attend=20 counseling sessions with the pastoral staff twice a week. He would = submit=20 to random drug tests. And most importantly, according to the = restoration=20 plan, he would =93maintain a broken and contrite spirit and = cooperate fully=20 with those in authority over [him],=94 namely Garner. In return, = the church=20 would support Arms, financially and spiritually, and work to bring = him=20 =93back into full fellowship.=94

But that=92s not exactly how it happened. Ron did present Arms = with the=20 pills and the packet on the morning of January 6, but he says = Arms=92s=20 initial reaction was to try to smooth things over. So, in = accordance with=20 1 Timothy 5:19 (=93Do not receive an accusation against an elder = except from=20 two or three witnesses=94), Ron brought in witnesses to the = accusation: Bob=20 Francis and Jim Miller, two men who worked in the church. When = Arms=20 realized he couldn=92t keep this quiet, he called in some support = of his=20 own: his lawyer. What baffled Ron the most was that Arms asked for = his=20 five bottles of pills back.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of closed-door meetings and = confusions of facts. Arms gave his explanations and denials from = the=20 pulpit and took a sabbatical to go in for some =93tests=94 and get = healthy. He=20 appointed his brother, a lifelong friend and the friend=92s = associate pastor=20 to be interim ministers to prevent Ron from taking power. And = Suzanne=20 Arms, who had moved out of her husband=92s home, switched sides. = =93When it=20 all came out,=94 says Sheila, =93there was this line, and she had = to either=20 step on this side against Phil or step on this side with Phil, = with her=20 children, her home, everything they=92d built in all these years, = her=20 comfort zone.=94

Ten days after his =93confession,=94 Arms took the pulpit = again. He updated=20 the congregation on his medical condition (apparently God had = inhibited=20 any liver damage) and wrote a postdated check for the missing = $41,805. He=20 said that there was no way he would have =93personally procured = that kind of=20 money for anything [he has] ever done=94 but that he would take = =93personal=20 responsibility for having done it,=94 just in case. (Much after = the fact,=20 Shine clarifies Arms=92s quote. Arms, he says, disputes the amount = of the=20 shortfall in the church offerings account. Any money withdrawn = from the=20 account, Arms argues through his attorney, was used for expenses = such as=20 hospital visits, gas, parking, gifts for troubled families and = other=20 legitimate ministry needs. There is no way, Arms contends, that = those=20 expenses could add up to $41,805. Unfortunately Arms didn=92t keep = a=20 detailed record of his expenses. In his church address, he was = merely=20 taking responsibility for =93maintaining the church accounts,=94 = which=20 apparently falls under his job description.)

No amount of lawyering could have placated Jim Miller, who rose = from=20 his seat in the crowd and said, =93I will not stand for more = lies.=94 Taken=20 aback, Arms threatened to have the dissenter removed. In a = passively=20 resistant protest, Miller threw himself on the green carpeted = steps below=20 the pastor and prayed for him to repent. When Arms had finished = his=20 speech, he crawled down onto the steps with Miller and spoke to = him=20 harshly under his breath, like a parent scolding a child in = public. =93Now,=20 God=92s told me to wash your feet,=94 Arms said. =93I want you to = get up here=20 right now.=94

But the forced foot-washing did little to bring Miller back = into the=20 fold. >From the altar, he pointed out that Arms=92s repayment = of the=20 money didn=92t negate the fact that he stole it, and this sparked = shouts for=20 truth and repentance throughout the congregation. Finally Suzanne = Arms=20 took the stage to try to help her husband defend himself, but she = ended up=20 just giving the crowd more of the blood they wanted. =93Yes, he = took too=20 many drugs, he=92s confessed that,=94 she said. =93Yes, he took = money, and he=20 shouldn=92t have=97it was drug-driven.=94

=93The authority of this church,=94 said Arms, trying to calm = things down,=20 =93ultimately, spiritually and legally is still in the hands of = this=20 pastor.=94 But he couldn=92t maintain control for much longer. = After the=20 foot-washing debacle, the interim ministers, Arms=92s brother and = friend,=20 told Arms that he needed to step down from the pulpit of Houston = Church.=20 It looked for a moment like Ron had won, that for the first time = an=20 underling had taken on Arms and managed to remain standing. Ron = Garner=20 thought of the story of David and Goliath.

But on the same day that Arms resigned, the interim ministers = asked=20 Arms=92s accusers, Garner, Miller and Francis, to resign as well. = Things had=20 become too messy in this biblical battle for anyone to survive. = Arms had=20 publicly maligned the men as the enemy in a spiritual war and as = jealous=20 liars trying to destroy God=92s church. In Arms=92s April = newsletter, the=20 pastor wrote of =93the ludicrous, nonsensical rantings of foolish, = unenlightened hearts=94 and penned the following verse:

When the jeering voice of darkness hisses at the end of = day,
And the=20 hounds of hell are howling, and none are held at bay;
When = fiery darts=20 from demon=92s slings have pierced the heart within,
And devils = dance=20 with glee and mock, as night and pain descends.

Ron=92s charges were further tainted by the appearance of = self-interest.=20 As Shine points out, Garner could have expected a significant pay = increase=20 and a dramatic jump in visibility if he had succeeded in taking = the reins=20 of the ministry. He could have walked right into the cushy = situation Arms=20 had worked for decades to create. In a letter to the Press, Shine = summed=20 up his client=92s position: =93The simple fact is that no one has = brought=20 forth any credible evidence that Phil Arms has acted improperly in = regard=20 to his pastoral role at Houston Church. Phil Arms suffers from a = rare=20 blood disorder that causes him to suffer extraordinary pain. The = severe=20 pain began to limit his ability as the Pastor of the very large = Houston=20 Church, and Pastor Arms voluntarily resigned.=94 Shine also told = the Press=20 that Ron Garner suffers from manic depression and has problems = with=20 alcohol that cause him to act =93irresponsibly.=94

Sheila takes the smear campaign in stride, saying that = =93anytime you try=20 to do something against the norm or against the system, you=92re = going to=20 get accused of all kinds of things that you=92re not doing.=94 Ron = angrily=20 denies any problems with depression or alcoholism. =93It=92s like = [Phil is]=20 supernaturally energized, and it=92s not by God, so you figure out = who it=92s=20 by,=94 he says. =93It ain=92t the tooth fairy.=94

Bob Francis and Jim Miller both say that they stand behind the = evidence=20 compiled by the Garners.

When Arms left Houston Church, he didn=92t leave empty-handed. = As the=20 congregation realized during the scandal, Houston Church was a = mere=20 outreach program of the nonprofit organization run by Arms and his = wife.=20 Phil Arms Ministries owned the church building, the land the = church had=20 purchased for expansion, the bank accounts, everything. Houston = Church was=20 never its own legal entity, and because the church is = nondenominational,=20 it can seek no help from a higher religious authority. It seemed = that if=20 no one wanted to play by Arms=92s rules anymore, he could just = pack up his=20 toys and go home. All the money that the congregation had tithed = to the=20 church over the years they had actually donated almost directly to = Arms=92s=20 ministry. =93It wasn=92t set up like a church,=94 says Sheila. = =93It was set up=20 like a mom-and-pop business.=94

According to Shine, the pastor did =93gift=94 the church with = $5 million of=20 equity in the building it is operating in. (The attorney says the = property=20 at 7500 Eldridge was appraised at $6.2 million and has a $1.2 = million=20 mortgage.) But the expansion land and the money, Arms has taken = with him=20 to support his still intact ministry and, possibly, a new = church.

Ron is trying to start a new ministry as well, but without the=20 financial backing. God hasn=92t told him to start a church quite = yet, so he=20 and Sheila spend their time trying to book appearances at = different=20 African-American churches around town. The Garners=92 music and = message seem=20 to cross cultural boundaries. =93Black people love us,=94 says = Ron. =93We=92re so=20 welcome in black churches. I think it freaks them out when these = white=20 people come in to preach and sing. It=92s really neat.=94 = But the main=20 goal of Glorybound Ministries, which includes several former = members of=20 Houston Church, is to access the =93unchurched=94 by appealing to = their needs=20 for love and acceptance, or even food and clothing.

Ron Garner wants to reach a lost soul, just like Phil Arms = reached him.=20 His religious experience with Arms might have turned sour, but it = hasn=92t=20 soured him on religion. He has managed to separate the man from = the=20 message. =93You=92ve got the false and you=92ve got the real,=94 = he says, =93and you=20 don=92t throw out the real because you=92ve got the false. Because = we got bad=20 policemen, we don=92t throw out the whole police force. Because we = got bad=20 lawyers, we don=92t throw out the whole law office.=94

Ron Garner and his family are well turned-out for a recent=20 Saturday-night gig at The Point Christian Outreach Ministry in a = strip=20 mall in northwest Houston. Ron looks the part of the evangelical = preacher=20 in a flashy double-breasted suit and a red silk tie, his hair = moussed back=20 and up into a TV-ready pompadour. His tanned and freckled = 13-year-old son,=20 Ryan, has imitated the hairstyle. Sheila is channeling a little = bit of=20 Tammy Faye Bakker, with peroxided curls piled on top of her head = and thick=20 mascara clumped around her eyes.

Sadly, it=92s past time for the service to start, and there=92s = no one in=20 the 100-seat hall. It=92s hard to find people who want to be saved = these=20 days, and Ron is certainly not the only fundamentalist preaching = game in=20 town. Besides, it=92s Memorial Day weekend. The Garners and their = band set=20 up anyway, perhaps realizing they have to pay their dues in empty = rooms=20 like any young act. When an African-American teenager with = gold-capped=20 teeth takes a seat, Sheila can hardly control her excitement. = =93Oh, praise=20 be,=94 she says. Throughout the course of their performance, about = ten more=20 members of The Point=92s congregation filter in.

The crowd may be small, but it is enthusiastic. To these = worshipers,=20 the Garners are white folk with soul, both spiritually and = musically. They=20 play jazzy, bluesy, rocking gospels, hymns with honky-tonk piano = solos.=20 Ron throws in an Elvis-inspired =93We-e-ell=94 as he goes to town = on his=20 keyboard, Sheila sings with her face scrunched up like a = country-music=20 diva, and Ryan gets in on the action, too, belting out a = Christian-rock=20 duet with his mother. They even have some cheesy between-song = banter=20 worked out: =93You ain=92t gonna hear that one at the Presbyterian = church=20 unless we=92re there,=94 Ron jokes.

But when he starts to preach, he=92s serious as salvation, and = the fire=20 in his delivery is reminiscent of the pastor he watched for 13 = years. Ron=20 bounds about the front of the strip-mall hall, preaching his = message for=20 the evening: that Christianity of late has been too much about = condemning=20 and not enough about comforting, too much about stoning and not = enough=20 about saving. Relaying the scene in the Book of John about the = adulteress=20 who is brought before Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees, Garner = throws=20 imaginary stones at the crowd, shouting with each one. Drug = addicts!=20 Adulterers! Drunkards! In the Bible, Jesus answered the = accusations, =93He=20 who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her = first.=94 And=20 Garner speculates on the scene that followed Jesus=92 profound = words. Thunk,=20 thunk, thunk. The scribes and the Pharisees must have let their = heavy=20 rocks fall to the ground one by one. That, says Garner, is what we = should=20 all do.

But there is one stone that Ron Garner will not drop. There is = one=20 stone for the man who saved him, the man who introduced him to = Jesus, the=20 man who kept his family together, the man who gave him a new = career, the=20 man who betrayed him, the man he hopes he never becomes. That = stone he=20 will throw with all his might.

http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2000-06-15/feature.html/page1.ht= ml=20

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