AI
Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:37:01 AM
Police: Pastor Found Dead in Times Square Hotel Had Drugs
Rev. Zachery Tims, Jr., center, celebrates the grand opening of the New Destiny Christian Center Community Youth Recreation Facility in 2005. Mr. Tims’s body was discovered at the W Hotel in Times Square on Friday.
Courtesy of Julie Fletcher/Orlando Sentinel
By Sophia Hollander and Sean Gardiner
August 15, 2011, 12:04 PM ET
Updated 4:40 p.m. Monday
A white powdery substance believed to be narcotics was discovered with the body of a 42-year old megachurch Florida pastor who was discovered dead in a Times Square hotel room, a law enforcement official said Monday.
The cause of death for the Rev. Zachery Tims, Jr., who led an 8,000-member ministry in Orlando, is still pending.
Tims’s body was discovered Friday afternoon when a worker trying to check the minibar in his room at the W Hotel, and found the room’s door latched from the inside. A maintenance worker opened the door and found Tims lying on his back between the bedroom and living room area. According to a law enforcement official, police found a glassine envelope with a white powerdery substance inside the right pocket of his shorts.
The substance was being tested, according to a law enforcement official.
Another law enforcement official familiar with the case said, “what that white powdery substance is and whether it played a role in Mr. Tims’ death is still to be determined.”
Police found no signs of trauma to his body. At this point criminality is not suspected, officials said. Detectives spoke with his family members and it appears Tims died in possession of his jewelry and other belongings.
Tims was in town for a meeting and was supposed to leave for Texas last Thursday, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter.
Tims was a young drug addict in Maryland when he was “miraculously saved” according to his website [ http://www.ndcc.tv/Home.aspx ] and a memoir published in 2006. After discovering Christianity, he earned degrees in accounting and theology and worked at a ministry in Baltimore. In 1996, he and his wife Riva moved to Orlando, where they founded the New Destiny Christian Center.
At the ministry’s first service, six people gathered in a hotel room, according to the ministry’s website. In 1999, they purchased a church; two years later, the ministry expanded to a second 21-acre-location dubbed “City of Destiny.”
As the church grew, it was able to bestow lavish benefits, even giving away cars to members, according to its website.
Tims’s memoir and self-help book, “It’s Never Too Late: How a teenage criminal found his divine destiny and became a successful millionaire and pastor of a thriving church,” released through Charisma House Publications in 2006, sold “fairly well,” moving around 23,000 copies, said Woodley Auguste, the imprint’s director of marketing and publicity.
In 2009, Tims and his wife Riva divorced after he admitted to a year-long affair with a stripper. The couple had been married for 15 years.
After the divorce, Riva Tims founded Majestic Life Ministries in Orlando; they shared custody of their four children, including a son with Cerebral Palsy, according to the Majestic Life Ministries website.
As news of his death circulated, condolences poured in from around the country. Mourners arrived at his church, the New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, FL, seeking answers and posted messages of shock and sadness on social media sites like Facebook and twitter.
“I join many others in being saddened by the news of the death of Rev. Zachery Tims of Florida,” tweeted the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Copyright ©2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/08/15/no-answers-in-death-of-florida-pastor-in-times-square-hotel/ [with comments]
===
Church Calls on God as Facts Emerge in Tims Death
CBNNews.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
As new details begin to emerge about the death of megachurch pastor Zachery Tims, members of New Destiny Christian Center are finding comfort in God.
On Monday, church members gathered in a meeting to discuss the rumors and speculation surrounding the death of Tims, founder of New Destiny Christian Center.
The 42-year-old was found dead at a New York hotel Friday.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting an envelop of white powder, believed to be narcotics, was discovered in Tims' pocket. The news has led many to suggest an overdose, although no official cause of death has been named.
Tims started New Destiny Christian Center in 1996 after overcoming a troubled past, including attempted murder charges and drug addiction.
His sermons have reached millions of people around the world, and he regularly appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network program "Praise the Lord."
"While words are difficult for me to find during this time of loss, I honor the great work he has done for the kingdom of God and pray for every family member, friend, associate and the incredible congregation of New Destiny," fellow megachurch pastor Paula White said of her "spiritual son" and friend.
The Christian Post reports that at Monday's church meeting, members participated in a time of worship, asking God for "strength and healing."
"Zachery's death may have caught us by surprise, but it has not taken God by surprise," Riva Tims, the ex-wife of the Florida pastor, spoke to the congregation.
Riva, a pastor herself, also used Facebook to thank people for their support during this time. "Please continue to keep my family especially my children lifted in prayer," she said.
Supporters have flocked to New Destiny's Facebook page to express their condolences over the loss of Tims. Well-known pastors and other leaders also responded with deep sorrow.
"My Heart is so heavy tonight," longtime friend and pastor Clint Brown said on his Facebook page. "It will take Orlando a long time to get over this. Dr. Zachary Tims you will never, ever be forgotten... I miss you so much. My heart is broken."
Tims' ex-wife announced on Facebook that funeral services will be held Saturday, Aug. 20.
© Copyright 2011 The Christian Broadcasting Network
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/August/Megachurch-Pastor-Zachery-Tims-Found-Dead/ [with embedded video, and comments]
===
What We Must Learn From the Zachery Tims Tragedy
J. Lee Grady
Wednesday, 17 August 2011 09:50 AM EDT
God has something sobering to say to us through the death of this popular preacher.
Zachery Tims’ story had a great beginning. As a young man he met Jesus and was saved from a life of crime and drugs. He and his wife, Riva, moved from Baltimore to Orlando, Fla., in 1996 to launch a church that aimed to restore families and pull teens out of trouble. New Destiny Christian Center grew fast, mostly because of Tims’ passionate preaching. He was soon a regular on Christian television.
But things unraveled in 2009 when Tims was caught carrying on a yearlong affair with a stripper he met in France. He admitted to an “indiscretion” and got a few weeks of counseling, but he didn’t take serious time off for rehabilitation. Riva divorced him for his infidelity. The billboards that once featured photos of the happy couple were changed. By 2011 the roadside ads featured a shot of Tims by himself, with this slogan: “A Family Church Meeting Family Needs.”
This story did not end well. On Aug. 12, Tims was found dead—at age 42—in a New York City hotel room. His four children lost their dad, and his church lost their beloved leader. But while Tims’ family and friends are grieving their loss (and I’m not minimizing that because the pain is real), I’m also grieving over the fact that the wider body of Christ has yet another embarrassing religious scandal to explain. We can’t gloss over this.
There are so many aspects of this story that should cause us to lament. How did a preacher get involved with a stripper? Why didn’t Tims put himself on the bench for at least a year after his sin was exposed? Why did Christian television keep him on the air after his affair became public? Why did his church continue to attract crowds when people knew Tims’ behavior did not match the biblical standards of morality required for church leaders?
It’s especially troubling that the people closest to Tims—church elders, advisers and mentors—didn’t hold his feet to the fire. They were in such a hurry to “restore” him to the pulpit that they ignored his need for personal healing. They were so eager to exonerate him from all wrong that they couldn’t wait to see the genuine fruit of repentance—which takes time to develop in a person who has been living a life of denials, deciepton and secret sin.
Now a man is dead. We don’t know yet why Tims died in his room on the 37th floor at the W Hotel in Manhattan. Police are still investigating. But I believe this tragedy could have been avoided if Tims and the people in his inner circle had followed the forgotten principle of biblical discipline.
Some critics have called me a judgmental stone-thrower because I believe leaders should step down for a year or more after a moral failure. In our permissive culture we’ve lost the will to confront. God’s commandments have become suggestions. Accountability is viewed as legalistic. Morality has been redefined. And we’ve dropped holiness from our vocabulary.
As a result of our spiritual laxness, congregations not only tolerate but celebrate leaders who are unrepentant about their moral failures. As long as adulterous preachers tickle ears and soothe guilty consciences with empty words about prosperity, big crowds will keep the offering plates full. This fake religious game is a mockery of all that is decent and godly.
I won’t win any popularity contests for saying this. But I believe the Lord is speaking a sobering message to us through the death of Zachery Tims. God will not be mocked. As in the days of Isaiah, the Lord is saying to His people: “I’ve had enough!” (Is. 1:11, NASB).
The Lord is weary of our religious games. He’s going to close down the show. Judgment begins in the house of God. The fire of His holiness is going to be unleashed on the American church. Ministries that have been built on personality, pride, hype, charlatanism, fakery and compromise are going to crumble.
Leaders who strut on the stage, pretending to be men of God while hiding gross immorality, are on a collision course with the same God who struck Ananias and Sapphira dead in the book of Acts. We who celebrate God’s kindness must also know His severity. We who love to preach about His mercy must also know “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ( Heb. 10:31). We who sing about heaven must also warn people about hell.
God said to His wayward people in Isaiah 1:24-26: “I will be relieved of My adversaries, and avenge Myself on My foes; I will also turn My hand against you, and will smelt away your dross as with lye and will remove all your alloy. Then I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.”
As we mourn the death of Zachery Tims, let’s pray that the Lord’s fearful judgments will lead His people back to true humility and faithfulness.
J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His most recent book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).
*
10 Lies Men Believe: The Truth About Women, Power, Sex, and God--and Why It Matters
By: Lee Grady
Charisma House / 2011
http://strang.christianbook.com/believe-truth-about-women-power-matters/lee-grady/9781616381370/pd/381370
*
Copyright 2011 Charisma
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/31798-what-we-must-learn-from-the-zachery-tims-tragedy [with comments]
===
(linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=63738767 and following
Rev. Zachery Tims, Jr., center, celebrates the grand opening of the New Destiny Christian Center Community Youth Recreation Facility in 2005. Mr. Tims’s body was discovered at the W Hotel in Times Square on Friday.
Courtesy of Julie Fletcher/Orlando Sentinel
By Sophia Hollander and Sean Gardiner
August 15, 2011, 12:04 PM ET
Updated 4:40 p.m. Monday
A white powdery substance believed to be narcotics was discovered with the body of a 42-year old megachurch Florida pastor who was discovered dead in a Times Square hotel room, a law enforcement official said Monday.
The cause of death for the Rev. Zachery Tims, Jr., who led an 8,000-member ministry in Orlando, is still pending.
Tims’s body was discovered Friday afternoon when a worker trying to check the minibar in his room at the W Hotel, and found the room’s door latched from the inside. A maintenance worker opened the door and found Tims lying on his back between the bedroom and living room area. According to a law enforcement official, police found a glassine envelope with a white powerdery substance inside the right pocket of his shorts.
The substance was being tested, according to a law enforcement official.
Another law enforcement official familiar with the case said, “what that white powdery substance is and whether it played a role in Mr. Tims’ death is still to be determined.”
Police found no signs of trauma to his body. At this point criminality is not suspected, officials said. Detectives spoke with his family members and it appears Tims died in possession of his jewelry and other belongings.
Tims was in town for a meeting and was supposed to leave for Texas last Thursday, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter.
Tims was a young drug addict in Maryland when he was “miraculously saved” according to his website [ http://www.ndcc.tv/Home.aspx ] and a memoir published in 2006. After discovering Christianity, he earned degrees in accounting and theology and worked at a ministry in Baltimore. In 1996, he and his wife Riva moved to Orlando, where they founded the New Destiny Christian Center.
At the ministry’s first service, six people gathered in a hotel room, according to the ministry’s website. In 1999, they purchased a church; two years later, the ministry expanded to a second 21-acre-location dubbed “City of Destiny.”
As the church grew, it was able to bestow lavish benefits, even giving away cars to members, according to its website.
Tims’s memoir and self-help book, “It’s Never Too Late: How a teenage criminal found his divine destiny and became a successful millionaire and pastor of a thriving church,” released through Charisma House Publications in 2006, sold “fairly well,” moving around 23,000 copies, said Woodley Auguste, the imprint’s director of marketing and publicity.
In 2009, Tims and his wife Riva divorced after he admitted to a year-long affair with a stripper. The couple had been married for 15 years.
After the divorce, Riva Tims founded Majestic Life Ministries in Orlando; they shared custody of their four children, including a son with Cerebral Palsy, according to the Majestic Life Ministries website.
As news of his death circulated, condolences poured in from around the country. Mourners arrived at his church, the New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, FL, seeking answers and posted messages of shock and sadness on social media sites like Facebook and twitter.
“I join many others in being saddened by the news of the death of Rev. Zachery Tims of Florida,” tweeted the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Copyright ©2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/08/15/no-answers-in-death-of-florida-pastor-in-times-square-hotel/ [with comments]
===
Church Calls on God as Facts Emerge in Tims Death
CBNNews.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
As new details begin to emerge about the death of megachurch pastor Zachery Tims, members of New Destiny Christian Center are finding comfort in God.
On Monday, church members gathered in a meeting to discuss the rumors and speculation surrounding the death of Tims, founder of New Destiny Christian Center.
The 42-year-old was found dead at a New York hotel Friday.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting an envelop of white powder, believed to be narcotics, was discovered in Tims' pocket. The news has led many to suggest an overdose, although no official cause of death has been named.
Tims started New Destiny Christian Center in 1996 after overcoming a troubled past, including attempted murder charges and drug addiction.
His sermons have reached millions of people around the world, and he regularly appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network program "Praise the Lord."
"While words are difficult for me to find during this time of loss, I honor the great work he has done for the kingdom of God and pray for every family member, friend, associate and the incredible congregation of New Destiny," fellow megachurch pastor Paula White said of her "spiritual son" and friend.
The Christian Post reports that at Monday's church meeting, members participated in a time of worship, asking God for "strength and healing."
"Zachery's death may have caught us by surprise, but it has not taken God by surprise," Riva Tims, the ex-wife of the Florida pastor, spoke to the congregation.
Riva, a pastor herself, also used Facebook to thank people for their support during this time. "Please continue to keep my family especially my children lifted in prayer," she said.
Supporters have flocked to New Destiny's Facebook page to express their condolences over the loss of Tims. Well-known pastors and other leaders also responded with deep sorrow.
"My Heart is so heavy tonight," longtime friend and pastor Clint Brown said on his Facebook page. "It will take Orlando a long time to get over this. Dr. Zachary Tims you will never, ever be forgotten... I miss you so much. My heart is broken."
Tims' ex-wife announced on Facebook that funeral services will be held Saturday, Aug. 20.
© Copyright 2011 The Christian Broadcasting Network
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/August/Megachurch-Pastor-Zachery-Tims-Found-Dead/ [with embedded video, and comments]
===
What We Must Learn From the Zachery Tims Tragedy
J. Lee Grady
Wednesday, 17 August 2011 09:50 AM EDT
God has something sobering to say to us through the death of this popular preacher.
Zachery Tims’ story had a great beginning. As a young man he met Jesus and was saved from a life of crime and drugs. He and his wife, Riva, moved from Baltimore to Orlando, Fla., in 1996 to launch a church that aimed to restore families and pull teens out of trouble. New Destiny Christian Center grew fast, mostly because of Tims’ passionate preaching. He was soon a regular on Christian television.
But things unraveled in 2009 when Tims was caught carrying on a yearlong affair with a stripper he met in France. He admitted to an “indiscretion” and got a few weeks of counseling, but he didn’t take serious time off for rehabilitation. Riva divorced him for his infidelity. The billboards that once featured photos of the happy couple were changed. By 2011 the roadside ads featured a shot of Tims by himself, with this slogan: “A Family Church Meeting Family Needs.”
This story did not end well. On Aug. 12, Tims was found dead—at age 42—in a New York City hotel room. His four children lost their dad, and his church lost their beloved leader. But while Tims’ family and friends are grieving their loss (and I’m not minimizing that because the pain is real), I’m also grieving over the fact that the wider body of Christ has yet another embarrassing religious scandal to explain. We can’t gloss over this.
There are so many aspects of this story that should cause us to lament. How did a preacher get involved with a stripper? Why didn’t Tims put himself on the bench for at least a year after his sin was exposed? Why did Christian television keep him on the air after his affair became public? Why did his church continue to attract crowds when people knew Tims’ behavior did not match the biblical standards of morality required for church leaders?
It’s especially troubling that the people closest to Tims—church elders, advisers and mentors—didn’t hold his feet to the fire. They were in such a hurry to “restore” him to the pulpit that they ignored his need for personal healing. They were so eager to exonerate him from all wrong that they couldn’t wait to see the genuine fruit of repentance—which takes time to develop in a person who has been living a life of denials, deciepton and secret sin.
Now a man is dead. We don’t know yet why Tims died in his room on the 37th floor at the W Hotel in Manhattan. Police are still investigating. But I believe this tragedy could have been avoided if Tims and the people in his inner circle had followed the forgotten principle of biblical discipline.
Some critics have called me a judgmental stone-thrower because I believe leaders should step down for a year or more after a moral failure. In our permissive culture we’ve lost the will to confront. God’s commandments have become suggestions. Accountability is viewed as legalistic. Morality has been redefined. And we’ve dropped holiness from our vocabulary.
As a result of our spiritual laxness, congregations not only tolerate but celebrate leaders who are unrepentant about their moral failures. As long as adulterous preachers tickle ears and soothe guilty consciences with empty words about prosperity, big crowds will keep the offering plates full. This fake religious game is a mockery of all that is decent and godly.
I won’t win any popularity contests for saying this. But I believe the Lord is speaking a sobering message to us through the death of Zachery Tims. God will not be mocked. As in the days of Isaiah, the Lord is saying to His people: “I’ve had enough!” (Is. 1:11, NASB).
The Lord is weary of our religious games. He’s going to close down the show. Judgment begins in the house of God. The fire of His holiness is going to be unleashed on the American church. Ministries that have been built on personality, pride, hype, charlatanism, fakery and compromise are going to crumble.
Leaders who strut on the stage, pretending to be men of God while hiding gross immorality, are on a collision course with the same God who struck Ananias and Sapphira dead in the book of Acts. We who celebrate God’s kindness must also know His severity. We who love to preach about His mercy must also know “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ( Heb. 10:31). We who sing about heaven must also warn people about hell.
God said to His wayward people in Isaiah 1:24-26: “I will be relieved of My adversaries, and avenge Myself on My foes; I will also turn My hand against you, and will smelt away your dross as with lye and will remove all your alloy. Then I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.”
As we mourn the death of Zachery Tims, let’s pray that the Lord’s fearful judgments will lead His people back to true humility and faithfulness.
J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His most recent book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).
*
10 Lies Men Believe: The Truth About Women, Power, Sex, and God--and Why It Matters
By: Lee Grady
Charisma House / 2011
http://strang.christianbook.com/believe-truth-about-women-power-matters/lee-grady/9781616381370/pd/381370
*
Copyright 2011 Charisma
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/31798-what-we-must-learn-from-the-zachery-tims-tragedy [with comments]
===
(linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=63738767 and following
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