Latest On 3abn - Round 3, Kay Kuzma Response to L Shelton Story Options

[HUGGINS130]

Sounds like a classic case of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.

DB

Sounds like a classic case of  'the enemy of  my enemy is my friend'.

DB

DB, we see that often enough in various circles.

What concerns me regarding matters like these is this. There seem to be so few people, even in our church community who will not simply say to those making the accusations that such behaviour is wrong. To make matters worse, they seem to be unwilling to even comfort a member of the same community who has been slandered due to these accusations. Why is that the case? It seems to me that some fear it may hurt them personally, whether financially or socially, to help another in distress or who may be hurting.

What does that suggest to others, to our young people for example? They see what is going on and also see that their parents, grandparents won't do the right thing. And what of unbelievers who see the unwillingness of those in the church community to even give emotional support to their own? Why should they desire to be a part of that community? What happened to Jesus command to love one another? What of laying ones life down for a friend? It all makes me wonder.

[princessdi]

Di - It is more than a little unfair to say that the sister has kept quiet because she likes to eat. That suggests that she has little or less integrity than those who have accused her because she is motived by money.

Not everybody would spill everything just because they are under a gag order or because they are experiencing character assassination on a grand scale. Agreeing to the gag order is simply the right thing to do. But I doubt that would have attacked her accusers as they have her with or without that legal manuever. Which btw, would be one thing her accusers would prefer. Her relative silence, as compared to those who have accused her, speaks volumes about her spiritual integrity and especially theirs. But hey, that's just me
Peace

No, No, Don't get me wrong. What I am saying is that they forced her into this situation. I definitely don't see this as her collecting a "fat check" for her silence. She was undermined here. They keep her to a forced gag order so that their story can be the only side told. This whole mess would not be like this if it weren't for the actions of Danny and the 3ABN board. They used that fact that she would need some form of livelihood to keep her quiet. I don't blame her at all, nor do I believe she was seeking anything other than was fairly due to her.

I believe, also, that even if there was no gag order that Linda has more integrity than to attack Danny and his friends in the manner in which she has been attacked. Whatever she did, or didn't do, in this aftermath, Linda is definitely a victim.

Now, to say just one more thing. You know I don't mind discussing anything. But can somebody please explain to me how Black SDA inherited all of this. I believe, Now I may be wrong, that it has been shown that it is not being played out in any other forum like it is here.

[Telluride]

This is awful! I started watching 3ABN because of Linda Shelton and then learned the Adventist teachings...I am not a member of SDA nor have I had any family or friends who are Adventists (aside from a young woman 30+ years ago in high school who I asked if she was a vegetarian. I became a vegetarian later on my own path.) I have studied many religious denominations, theologies, spiritual paths etc. I am a Methodist originally from the Midwest USA.

Let me get this straight: Linda is concerned about her son Nathan's drug addiction, so she gets help from a Norweigan doctor. Ok, are there no doctors in the USA that are qualified to help? Just posing a question to assuage Danny's side in fair play logic. (I am trying not to be biased to Linda's side as I already hold her in higher favor than Danny just by personal choice and impression from T.V.---this does not denigrate Danny's building of 3ABN.)

In any case, there is a reason why Danny felt threatened whether by his own insecurity, or by a valid claim of infidelity. There is also the possibility that Kay mis-interpreted the connection between Linda and the doctor. 6 hours if true, is a long time to talk to anyone daily, but maybe Linda was not getting the support she needed from others. This problem with Nathan has been ongoing for years...she is looking to help her son.

This mess is going to take some deductive reasoning a long with guidance from the Holy Spirit. In any event, things transpired and Kay went to Norway with Linda and Nathan. Kay is wrong to spill the details ANYWHERE, but my understanding having seen her on 3ABN, is that her doctorate is in EDUCATION not counselling---so she has no business in that business if my observation is correct. If not, I apologize in advance...I am going to look again as I watch 3ABN daily.

Now for the big boom! Suppose, just suppose, Linda and the doctor fell in LOVE with each other? (Is the doctor married?) Well then, that would not be a spiritual adultery, that would be in fact of the flesh as well. Only those two people really KNOW for certain and God....and Danny to the extent of what Linda told him before leaving. Linda was likely given an ultimatum to give up her Norweigan friend..she refused and she is now gone from 3ABN. She says she had no notions toward the doctor (see her website)---I believe her inspite of the so called appearances and wagging tongues of "friends" who betrayed her...as far as I am concerned, Kay is a friend who betrayed Linda by spilling her (Kay's) version of events here----seemingly to salvage her own reputation with a pre-emptive strike by defending herself.

Btw, traveling across Europe together while not proper in human view does not of itself constitute a sin...ONLY GOD knows the wholeness of what the truth is....and no matter what the truth is...it is GOD in the name of Jesus that has the power to forgive. Us people should concern ourselves with our walk in Christ and not the salacious details of scandal in SDA re: 3ABN.

[Guest_statrei_*]

Thanks for that balanced comment, Telluride. We are pleased to have you in our group. May your incisive mind be evidenced on other fora and subjects as well.

[Clay]

Telluride,
That is a good synopsis.... however my position is this (has been from the start), just because a person commits adultery does not mean that divorce is mandatory. Thus, the counsel for husbands to love their wives as Christ love the church and gave His life for it, comes into play as well as the example of Hosea and Gomer... I will admit that there probably is a lot of background that we are missing out on.... but I maintain that Mr. Shelton could have/should have gone above and beyond in his attempts for reconciliation. Additionally, if he felt that divorce was his only option, it could have been handle in such a way not to cause embarrassment to the woman who shared his life all those years..... but that's me.....

[Telluride]

My thanks to the two respondents...truly....here is a link from Kay's website...and as I suspected her doctorate is in education....I can see why though as a Child Development specialist she would be invited to go a long to Norway to help with Nathan....http://www.kaykuzma.org/

I am thinking now though, about the Norweigan doctor issue, and if I recall..isn't Linda of Scandinavian descent? I believe so...in fact I saw her reference it on 3ABN...so that for me gives a light to why [possibly] a Norweigan doctor was sought out for help..the Scandinavians for a large part have a proud cultural heritage of holistic health and so on...and their approaches are what we would call holistic...maybe Linda wanted to introduce Nathan to that part of his heritage...I am just postulating here...I have no knowledge of any details from either side...

In any event, I do know that the Bible says remove first the thorn from your own eye...for me, I am going to go back to focusing on GOD and then pray for all of the parties involved...I trust in Jesus and know that by His good name all that is righteous shall be done. God bless you all.....

[Telluride]

Greetings, I'm back again...I just perused the document about the Illinois tax situation re: 3ABN...sorry...I forgot what page it was on...I forgot my pw already and had to set up a new one...however, it does say in the judge's document that Linda had made a misleading statement saying that she did not collect royalties for her CDs and then later she said she did (this is somewhere between pp.30-40 in the document I think)...this brings to mind what Danny said about having to make a choice between 3ABN and his marriage to Linda...something that is also posted on this board...(my apologies for not remembering page numbers but I am good at remembering information...go figure...I will pay closer attention to page #s from here on out)...anyway, the tax document also concludes that 3ABN property is being used for profit and not religious purposes and notes that neither Danny or Linda are ordained ministers but are lay people who are contracted with SDA and who contract out their production facilities....the issue also related to not having Sunday School on the property etc. So it is a legal matter of importance that is also stressing 3ABN...I am disappointed to read of Linda's failure to be originally forthcoming re: royalties received on her CD sales....in fairness, I now have to question the veracity of any other statements she may make re: anything...this is a sad realization, but due diligence, honest inquiry, and fairness requires adherence to principle and not emotions. It of course does not mean automatically though that she is being untruthful about the doctor...it just means I have to evaluate everything more carefully.

What I am sharing here has nothing to do with spiritual adultry (whatever that is..in all my years I have never heard of such a thing...unless it is the "Jimmy Carter" thing about lusting after...you have already committed adultry....)

It seems to me that maybe both Danny and Linda have something they are concealing...thus the rather bizarre unfolding of recent events. I enjoy watching 3ABN and will continue to do so...I enjoy Linda Shelton's work and will continue to do so...however...the truth is not as simple as it should be...this reminds me of a teaching in Scientology about where-ever there is conflict, there is a third [unknown] party to the parties involved in stirring up stuff...(I am not a Scientologist)...as I said I have studied many religious philosophies...

Now, to be fully revealing of myself, I am not black...I found this site by accident because I have been wondering all along what happened to Linda and why...I am a 2004 MBA graduate from a school in Washington state...I first became interested in the tax implications because of my business training...I'm like a detective about many subjects...I mean no harm...I am not a reporter for any media outlet...(though maybe I could be bought off for a lot of $...*kidding*)...I don't know any more than the rest of you do....I'm just sad for all the parties involved and the people who love 3ABN....we see how human all of us are by God's design..there is a lesson or two or more to be learned here...those focused on GOD will discern the purpose and meanings by being watchful, waiting, and listening...again...God Bless You All and thank you for allowing me to comment on your site.

[Clay]

Telluride,
We have welcomed you regardless of your skin color or affiliation, you are inquisitive like all of us...... thank you for your comments thus far.....

[Clay]

The following is a comment from one Margaret Gray who posts on ClubAdventist..... I thought it was interesting, and like most things I find interesting I like to share..... so here it is...

Dear individuals,

Mrs. Gray is of the opinion that a counselor should not go about divulging the specifics of counseling sessions in order to justify his or her actions. This particular individual's letter rendered illegitimate any of the "services" which were rendered.

This counselor comes across as a reporter interviewing the couple for the "benefit" of all the gossip-mavens and seems to be attempting to justify her own actions rather than try to help the beleaguered couple.

It would have been much better had she simply said nothing and kept the very personal information she reveals confidential as a true professional would.

Mrs. Gray cannot help but think of Linda Tripp who listened to Monica Lewinsky with a sympathetic ear and then turned into her worst enemy, losing the respect of both Democrats and Republicans. Such a poor choice.

Mrs. Gray thinks Dr. Kuzma has much good to say as the Adventist Dr. Laura, but Mrs. Gray cannot imagine Dr. Laura writing that kind of letter. Of course, in this case, 3ABN is much likelier to hire Dr. Kuzma for a program than Linda Shelton is, so it makes more sense for her to tilt in Danny's direction.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gray

P.S. Mrs. Gray is not on "either side" in this horrific issue because even she's not smart enough to decipher all the mounds of "passive aggressive" gobbledygook. She just knows good and bad behavior when she sees it. She also is now predicting that if Danny stays with 3ABN, he will be engaged or married within 2 years, before Linda is. But that's just Mrs. Gray's prediction, not supported by any evidence other than her experience in ecclesiastical matters.

P.P.S. This issue is consuming so many supporters of 3ABN that perhaps it would better for the network if Danny took a leave of absence for a few months and somebody else filled in for a while. The reason is that, regardless of whose fault it was, rather than keep his family issue separate from the TV ministry, he tied the two together and had his own relationship with his wife pretty much publicly "investigated." 3ABN is not "The Danny and Linda Channel" so there's no reason on earth why this had to happen so publicly. It's almost as if both of them really hate each other very much and want to publicly destroy the other one, both intractibly drawn into a "mutually assured destruction" scenario. Neither will emerge unscathed, so the board at 3ABN should forget about trying to figure out who is guilty in the marriage (since it's "none of their d*** business") and focus on getting 3ABN back on track. But that's just Mrs. Gray's opinion which has no weight with the folk in 3ABN-land.

P.P.P.S. The fact that Dr. Kuzma may not have been in a "counselor" relationship with Linda does not mean that she didn't act like it in order to obtain information. Doesn't it make sense that she would use her finely-tuned abilities as a counselor to draw out more information than the average person would? Doesn't it make sense that the big boys at 3ABN would recognize this and send her in first? Do you think that Kay Kuzma told Linda Shelton "I am not here to represent your interests, but rather those of 3ABN in order to obtain and distribute the information you tell me?" Or do you think she went in and solicited the information from a emotionally-weakened woman in the garb of a concerned friend? No matter what the legal labels, this kind of behavior is not professional, and tests the boundaries of ethical behavior even if technically allowable. Word play does not increase Mrs. Gray's respect for this deceitful behavior.

P.P.P.P.S. For those who think 3ABN can't survive, a similar scandal happened a few years back at Trinity Broadcasting Network (Remember Jim and Tammy Faye Baker?) They had money problems, he went to jail, she divorced him, and life went on with the guy with gray hair and his wife with pink hair. Now TBN is back as strong as ever with a different team. The same thing can happen for 3ABN. It may even improve the channel. We can thank Danny and Linda for setting it up, but like George Washington, Danny doesn't have to be president for the rest of his life.

MG

[Panama_Pete]

I am disappointed to read of Linda's failure to be originally forthcoming re: royalties received on her CD sales....in fairness, I now have to question the veracity of any other statements she may make re: anything...this is a sad realization, but due diligence, honest inquiry, and fairness requires adherence to principle and not emotions.

There may have been a problem between the words "profits" and "royalties."

The profits from sales of the CDs, such as "The Story of Jesus' Birth" went to 3ABN. This money did not go to Linda Shelton, personally.

However, BMI is an organization that keeps track of royalties to copyright owners who write songs. BMI requires that royalties be credited to the owner of the copyright. Linda Shelton retained the ownership of her own songs.

However, when asked about royalties, Linda may have believed they meant the profits. So, she may have said they did not go to her, personally.

When mention of BMI licensing came up, she would, naturally, have to differentiate "royalties" from "profits" and correct the matter, which she seems to have done.

[Panama_Pete]

In any event, things transpired and Kay went to Norway with Linda and Nathan.

I understand that Linda Shelton went to Norway with Brenda Walsh to check on Nathan, who was already there.

Brenda Walsh has two sisters, Cinda Sanner and Linda Johnson. They are the daughters of Pastor Micheff. Therefore, the three daughters sometimes go under the name Micheff Sisters.

The Micheffs are lifelong friends of Danny Shelton.

They have a Web site: http://www.micheffsisters.com

They, too, have a CD. Tommy Shelton, Danny's brother, helped bring the CD project together. "All proceeds are donated to 3ABN 'Kids Time' Programming," according to their Web Site.

[Telluride]

Greetings,

Good points made by all...thanks for the clarifications where needed....I am familiar with both BMI and ASCAP and royalties/copyrights. I can see how some confusion may have arisen...another lesson for me to not *cast judgement* no matter how sincere the desire to understand, or the desire to be sympathetic toward such a sad situation. I only know that I always perceived a sincerity from the parties of 3ABN in their broadcasts including of course, Linda. I wish Godspeed and healing to all involved.

Lyle Albrecht and Leo Schrevede are a couple of my favorites too...and I enjoy the Mischeff Sisters too when I see them....I may have seen Calvin's brother too I think [within the last 24 hours]...anyway, I watched this Sabbath morning and enjoyed it as always.

[inga]

Danny and I were unable to see eye-to-eye on some very fundamental issues, and if I stayed, I would have to disobey my employer's orders, so I resigned.

Derrell,

Some questions for you, if you don't mind...

What was your specific responsibility at 3ABN?

I understand you've been hired by ATN/HopeTV. What do you do there?

And, now that you've had a taste of working directly for a church entity, as opposed to a "supporting ministry," such as 3ABN, can you share the similarities and differences as to how it feels.

If your responsibilities are similar, is there little difference, or do you sense a difference in what, in a secular workplace, would be called "the corporate environment"?

I believe your answers may be relevant to our discussion, because we're not just discussing Linda and Danny, but 3ABN as an independent ministry. Your answers will be much appreciated.

Blessings,
Inge Anderson <-- who, though not "black" is appreciative of this forum offered by her black brothers & sisters

[inga]

I am thinking now though, about the Norweigan doctor issue, and if I recall..isn't Linda of Scandinavian descent? I believe so...in fact I saw her reference it on 3ABN...so that for me gives a light to why [possibly] a Norweigan doctor was sought out for help..the Scandinavians for a large part have a proud cultural heritage of holistic health and so on...and their approaches are what we would call holistic...

Thanks for your thoughts, Telluride.

I don't doubt that the commone Scandinavian heritage helped Linda feel more comfortable with the doctor from Norway to whom she was introducted by Johann Thorvaldsson, former Director of Europena Development, and a retired pastor and administrator of 50+ years' experience.

However, the way Johann relates it, the doctor and her son Nathan really hit it off, and that was an answr to Linda's prayers, I believe, since Nathan agreed to go to Norway to allow the doctor to treat him to help him get off drugs. The fact that this is a committed, praying Adventist doctor who uses natural methods must surely have given Linda confidence. And that confidence was well placed, as Johann relates it, for when "Nathan had merely been there for 10 days, and I did not recognize him when I saw him. He was a completely transformed person." In other words, the natural treatments were very successful. I can certainly understand why Linda would want her son under his care.

Blessings,
Inge Anderson