Can anyone inform me on Pastor Melissa Scott?

[bridgeforsale]

I stumbled in here by way of Google to find information about Melissa Scott. But now I'm enthralled by this site - it's just tremendous. I have to go exploring! Having read this entire thread, I thought I'd add my two cents. I'm disabled and don't sleep well and, as a result, have watched her in action quite a bit late at night. I do like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so here are some thoughts:

- She is an "almost" compelling figure. It seems she still struggles with what she's doing. It appears she has a knowledge of Greek that one would expect a person to have who has been privately taught for some time - not complete - it is one of the things she struggles with.

- As others have said, she goes back and forth a good deal of the time, makes a point about something and says she'll come back to it, but then never does. It seems like she knows what she wants to get across in her mind, but needs more experience (and perhaps some people to tell her) she needs improvement in these areas.

- I think if I was going have a televised teaching, I would have the Greek white boards set up beforehand rather than on the fly, especially if my knowledge of it was such that I could not do it effortlessly on the fly.

- So, all in all, she seems to me to be a person who is trying very hard and is learning as she goes. On a light note, one of the compelling things about her is that she has a very unusual voice. Sometimes her accent sounds southern, other times something else and sometimes I don't know what. I love her voice though.

she's definitely prettier than John Hague ..... LOL! I think she's probably around 35ish (although I guess her late husband was an older guy) so that's probably why she's not exactly a Calvin or Wesley (who were writing theology until the day they hit the grave). I guess, from what I know about her late husband, at least she's not weird .... and I won't judge her on the basis of some dead guy's weird UFO conspiracy theories (but it is hard to constrain my laughter). I do get the sense that she's not altogether confident in herself .... but I'm not either so oh well. Hopefully it gets better with age???

[cosmotopper]

Arminius, I hope so - I mean get better with age. In the course of thirteen years (since she married Dr. Scott) she is like a car that has gone from zero to sixty in a very short period of time. One would have to have spent almost all of one's times studying in order to get to the point where she is now. She's still shaky at times, but it is amazing what she has learned.

[Alan3838]

I've listened to and watched Melissa for 3 years. Who Husband the late Dr. Gene Scott ordained her to carry on the ministry that he started in the mid 70s. Dr. Scott passed away in Feb. of 2005.
I don't know of her credentials but both her teaching and her history are right on. This is not my opinion but based upon research of what she has taught. When she was asked by a viewer "what denomination the church she pastors belongd to"? Her answer was the denomination of "Jesus Christ".I have never seen her or her late husband sell a thing on the air. I've seen many post with opinons that carry no facts. A little history on the church she pastors. Dr. Gene Scott used to be the president of AOG. He worked closey with people such as Jack Hayford within the Christian community. The church was 3 million dollars in debt when he took it over. By the early 1980s the church was in the black and growing. He never collected money due to the needs of the church but rather taught giving the way God intended giving to be. His wife carries that teaching on today. She is a linguist and does quite well at interpeting the bible in it's original text. It really does take on a new meaning when properly understood. As far as the person that wrote that we should get our own Lexicon and history book I did that and they only confirm her teachings.
Hope this was helpful.

[Pilgrim]

Which Lexicon and history are you using?

[Alan3838]

Which Lexicon and history are you using?

I have several study books from Strong's to Vine's and Green, Easton. For history I usally have to go to the library. I have Josepeus here in the house but books can be expensive. As far as what history? I've studied from the Sumerian civilization to the city of Cornith. I try to read the history with what archaeologist have found that supports that time in history.

[cowardm]

Well, I took the time to register to post this, and who knows, I might stick around. Since I didn't bother to read all 9 pages of this post, I suppose and haven't been around more than 10 seconds, I'm not exactly the most qualified to state an opinion; however, I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out just who Melissa Scott is (which is how I stumbled on this site). I feven ound one web site that went as far as to call her a black person who had surgery to be white and then turned around and called her a racist. I also found several websites, none of them with reliable sources, that cited her as a former porn star.

I think that if these accusations are true it totally doesn't matter. Most web sites tend to agree that she believes in the prosperity doctrine (the idea that investment in the church will lead to richness), and this is evident in what little I've watched of her. I also noticed that she hardly talks about Jesus. I think this doctrine coupled with my observation makes it even more evidential that this has little concern for anything relevant to the Christian lifestyle. Why would any pastor consider the prosperity doctrine? "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain", where in that verse is money relevant? The kingdom of God isn't about material richness, it's about God utilizing his followers for his own kingdom and glory (Rom 8:28; Armenian or Calvinist, I think this scripture fortifies my point).

Furthermore, her the exhaustive use of other languages does little to appeal to me. Is she compensating for something? Well, it doesn't matter. While a good preacher will be able to utilize the text using the original language for self-validation is nothing short of pre-Luther Catholicism in which the Latin Bible wasn't translated in the vernacular as a form of elitism. Such an accusation may seem unfounded, but I truly think it is a tact she uses that deviates the listener from the important thing: Jesus.

We really must ask ourselves what her agenda is. Money is great and all, but if it is a pastor's soapbox shouldn't be worried? Did Jesus care about money? No, Jesus didn't talk about the original Hebrew or how to be rich, and he sure didn't have a controversial past to conceal, but he did talk about love an awful lot. Maybe the important thing to God isn't a white board full of Greek and Hebrew, monetary driven doctrine, or an inferiority complex rooted in gender, but the Gospel of Love that Jesus was so adamant to implement into every point, parable, and example.

Just my two cents, and it may have been said before. It just bothered me that in the first couple of pages of this thread, no one bothered to mention her lack of Christ's love. I hope it contributes.

[timspong]

Good point. However, as far as the prosperity thing is concerned, it is an epidemic over in the states and because of satellite TV it spreading like cancer all over the world in tandem with the insidious word of faith movement. Did Jesus really say "not your will but mine be done"?

I think Scott is just going with the flow as far as that is concerned as like many she is more a victim than anything else. My red flags started to go up when I checked out her site and the only lesson on her teaching page was about giving.

Anyhow, it looks like you love the true enough not to get sucked in and I wish you well in your quest for truth. If only people would take the time to absorb the word of God, it will act as buffer in their heart, their primary source for discretion. I am not talking about a few verses here and there, but an understanding of the whole thing and how it all fits together.

This is a symptom of years of bad teaching, where churches pander to the consumer society and give them what they want rather than what they need.

Personally I love studying Greek and anyone with any amount of Greek knowledge can see her level of expertise for what it really is, probably about a 201 college course, if that, and certainly not enough to teach in it. You need to be an expert before you teach and, as with anything, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing, but Greek even more so.

BTW the porn stuff is true but I personally I think that adds to her credentials as a person who God has really turned around and blessed. That is the thing I respect about her above all else and you can't say she isn't trying to stay in God's will. However, I think she needs to continue to make adjustments, as do we all.

[Alan3838]

Good point. However, as far as the prosperity thing is concerned, it is an epidemic over in the states and because of satellite TV it spreading like cancer all over the world in tandem with the insidious word of faith movement. Did Jesus really say "not your will but mine be done"?

I think Scott is just going with the flow as far as that is concerned as like many she is more a victim than anything else. My red flags started to go up when I checked out her site and the only lesson on her teaching page was about giving.

Anyhow, it looks like you love the true enough not to get sucked in and I wish you well in your quest for truth. If only people would take the time to absorb the word of God, it will act as buffer in their heart, their primary source for discretion. I am not talking about a few verses here and there, but an understanding of the whole thing and how it all fits together.

This is a symptom of years of bad teaching, where churches pander to the consumer society and give them what they want rather than what they need.

Personally I love studying Greek and anyone with any amount of Greek knowledge can see her level of expertise for what it really is, probably about a 201 college course, if that, and certainly not enough to teach in it. You need to be an expert before you teach and, as with anything, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing, but Greek even more so.

BTW the porn stuff is true but I personally I think that adds to her credentials as a person who God has really turned around and blessed. That is the thing I respect about her above all else and you can't say she isn't trying to stay in God's will. However, I think she needs to continue to make adjustments, as do we all.

I have to disagree. Melissa Scott teaches the truth. If anything she is not caught up and she is one of the best teachers on giving I ever heard.

[cowardm]

I've heard many great teachers who don't necessarily teach the truth! i wouldn't presume that you have confused the two, but it seems relevant to mention this. The question is not of her qualifications, the question is of her heart? What does she love? Monetary prosperity? Herself? Knowledge? Maybe I haven't watched her enough, but I haven't heard the love of Christ in her teachings. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but the more I see of her the more my skepticism seems substantiated.

[timspong]

I have to disagree. Melissa Scott teaches the truth. If anything she is not caught up and she is one of the best teachers on giving I ever heard.

I don't doubt that if you compare her teaching to what is currently on offer in the popular media. However, the well of the knowledge of Gods truth is very very deep and she has a relatively short rope in the wider scheme of things. I would imagine that she would have no problems in admitting that.

[Alan3838]

I don't doubt that if you compare her teaching to what is currently on offer in the popular media. However, the well of the knowledge of Gods truth is very very deep and she has a relatively short rope in the wider scheme of things. I would imagine that she would have no problems in admitting that.

I agree that Gods truth is very deep and I myself hope to always be learning. As far as the short rope I think we all have a short rope in the scheme of things if we understand life as eternal. It's sad that christian popular media is what it is but thank God there are still pastors/teachers that stick to lifting up Jesus and teaching that with God all things are possible.

[cosmotopper]

Just a point, Melissa Scott does not teach the Prosperity Doctrine. She openly rejects the whole idea of it. She has said many times that God bestows spiritual blessings on those who give, but not monetary blessings.

She is also very frank about giving - she doesn't get people all pumped up and appeal to their emotions. She simply says if you want her teaching ministry (or any ministry) to grow, you have to give to help keep it going.

I'm not trying to make any sort of pro or con statement about her, but I've watched her enough to know that what some of these web sites say about her teaching are not always right - and you are looking for info on her.

[Alan3838]

Just a point, Melissa Scott does not teach the Prosperity Doctrine. She openly rejects the whole idea of it. She has said many times that God bestows spiritual blessings on those who give, but not monetary blessings.

She is also very frank about giving - she doesn't get people all pumped up and appeal to their emotions. She simply says if you want her teaching ministry (or any ministry) to grow, you have to give to help keep it going.

I'm not trying to make any sort of pro or con statement about her, but I've watched her enough to know that what some of these web sites say about her teaching are not always right - and you are looking for info on her.

Thank you,
No I;m not the one looking for info. I wonder if the person that started this post watches her?

[DukeD.Div2004]

As an ordained minister who has extensively studied Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and Aramaic (among other languages), I love actually seeing someone on the televangelist circuit who focuses on linguistic exegesis and a fairly Hermeneutic biblical exegesis. I get so irritated seeing people like Benny Hinn, a wolf in sheep's clothing, take the Word and turning it into a revenue source. While I doubt Pastor Scott will see this, I would like to take this opportunity to thank God for providing the television world with a pastor who actually takes the time to study the languages the Bible was written in -- English had NO basis in the formation of the Bible. Speaking of which, I have a comment for the lady that made the comment about women having no authority speaking in an authority position in church. As for the first portion of the Bible dealing with this, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, only a fundamentalist would find the position disqualifying a woman from the ministry in these verses. If you have actually studied the cultural background of the text realizes what kind of church Corinth was. It was a church full of immorality, disorder, and followers of other religions disguising themselves as Christians in order to cause disruption. 1 Corinthians is a letter written by Paul in response to Corinthian church leaders expressing concerns in the church. One was that unlearned women were speaking out in church, asking questions in the middle of the "sermon", having loud, shouting conversations across the church, and causing disruption. Paul did not aim to make women sit down and shut up. If you look at the previous instructions concerning tongues, Paul uses the same word, sigao, to tell a man who speaks in tongues with no interpreter to stay silent. Note that in 1 Corinthians 14:40, Paul admonishes the church, "All things must be done decently and in order." Paul was not meaning to hold women back but to rather restore order so that others could learn. He passed this advice down to Timothy, and in 1 Timothy 2:11-12, Paul tells Timothy to not let these women start doing this again. If anyone who has studied the Bible with any depth will remember this: Timothy was to be the preacher at the Corinthian church. Paul was giving him a heads-up as to what he could expect. To end this subject, the lady who posted her post indeed needs to cease spreading confusion on this issue and allow those who have studied the Bible in depth to explain issues such as these. To sum up Pastor Melissa Scott, I enjoyed watching her husband, and I enjoy watching her program -- well, maybe with the exception of the song at the end. She wasn't blessed with the most beautiful voice!

[Alan3838]

As an ordained minister who has extensively studied Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and Aramaic (among other languages), I love actually seeing someone on the televangelist circuit who focuses on linguistic exegesis and a fairly Hermeneutic biblical exegesis. I get so irritated seeing people like Benny Hinn, a wolf in sheep's clothing, take the Word and turning it into a revenue source. While I doubt Pastor Scott will see this, I would like to take this opportunity to thank God for providing the television world with a pastor who actually takes the time to study the languages the Bible was written in -- English had NO basis in the formation of the Bible. Speaking of which, I have a comment for the lady that made the comment about women having no authority speaking in an authority position in church. As for the first portion of the Bible dealing with this, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, only a fundamentalist would find the position disqualifying a woman from the ministry in these verses. If you have actually studied the cultural background of the text realizes what kind of church Corinth was. It was a church full of immorality, disorder, and followers of other religions disguising themselves as Christians in order to cause disruption. 1 Corinthians is a letter written by Paul in response to Corinthian church leaders expressing concerns in the church. One was that unlearned women were speaking out in church, asking questions in the middle of the "sermon", having loud, shouting conversations across the church, and causing disruption. Paul did not aim to make women sit down and shut up. If you look at the previous instructions concerning tongues, Paul uses the same word, sigao, to tell a man who speaks in tongues with no interpreter to stay silent. Note that in 1 Corinthians 14:40, Paul admonishes the church, "All things must be done decently and in order." Paul was not meaning to hold women back but to rather restore order so that others could learn. He passed this advice down to Timothy, and in 1 Timothy 2:11-12, Paul tells Timothy to not let these women start doing this again. If anyone who has studied the Bible with any depth will remember this: Timothy was to be the preacher at the Corinthian church. Paul was giving him a heads-up as to what he could expect. To end this subject, the lady who posted her post indeed needs to cease spreading confusion on this issue and allow those who have studied the Bible in depth to explain issues such as these. To sum up Pastor Melissa Scott, I enjoyed watching her husband, and I enjoy watching her program -- well, maybe with the exception of the song at the end. She wasn't blessed with the most beautiful voice!

Thanks for posting that pastor. Looks like we have one more that Melissa who is willing to take a stand for Christ.