In Memoriam
Todd Ferguson
June 28, 1967 - January 21, 2021
Now With Christ
Todd Ferguson
June 28, 1967 - January 21, 2021
Now With Christ
Transcript
Before we begin, I want to point out that I know the New IFB will do everything in their power to have this video removed. I fully expect to have it, and probably my channel, taken down almost immediately as they will no doubt report this video en mass with pointless claims of whatever. Privacy invasion, copyright infringement, hate speech, whatever they can think of. YouTube doesn’t always watch the video’s that people complain about, they just take them down and wait for the poster to file an appeal. Then they watch the video and see if the appeal is valid, and if it, the video and the channel are restored. This is what the New IFB does, and both Todd and I have played this game with them several times in the past. As predictable as they are, I fully expect them to do it again. To that end, I have ensure that this video is 100% within YouTube and Google’s guidelines. It violates nothing. I have permissions for all the music, and so forth, and I have gone back through and bleeped out all the personal names of New IFB people. We can’t have their privacy violated even though they violate other people’s privacy and rights on a regular basis. That being said, however, I will be posting this video along with a complete unedited transcript of everything I am saying to the Reason Files website. Voice to text is an awesome program. This way you will be read along, and see the names that I have bleeped out in the video. I will provide a link to the website in the comment section below.
This is my friend, my brother in Christ, Todd Ferguson. As some of you know, Todd went missing on January 20th, 2021 between 6 and 7pm. He stepped out of his apartment to buy some shoes from a street peddler. Todd was a kind and generous man, and always ready and willing to help those who were down on their luck. I suspect he believed this person, a woman, was just that, and in need of a helping hand. That would be just like Todd. Always willing to help people. It didn’t matter who you were.
Unfortunately, Todd was not seen again. He simply disappeared without a word to anyone about where he might be going.
This is my friend, my brother in Christ, Todd Ferguson. As some of you know, Todd went missing on January 20th, 2021 between 6 and 7pm. He stepped out of his apartment to buy some shoes from a street peddler. Todd was a kind and generous man, and always ready and willing to help those who were down on their luck. I suspect he believed this person, a woman, was just that, and in need of a helping hand. That would be just like Todd. Always willing to help people. It didn’t matter who you were.
Unfortunately, Todd was not seen again. He simply disappeared without a word to anyone about where he might be going. Because of his serious health issues, Todd never went anywhere without telling someone where he was going, and he usually took a family member with him. In this instance, however, he just disappeared, and his Jeep Laredo, which he had just purchased, was left behind in its parking space. By 9pm, after Todd was missing for approximately 3 hours, his Jeep was still in its parking space. Sometime after that, however, the Jeep also mysteriously disappeared. It was just gone without a trace on the morning of January 21st, 2021.
There was no word from or about Todd. On February 1st, I posted a video telling people that Todd was missing, and on February 3rd came the dreaded news, Todd’s body was found in an alley approximately 5 blocks away. Although his body had been found on the morning of January 21st, the police did not know who he was. He was simply listed as a John Doe. Not only was Todd’s Jeep still missing, but his cell phone was gone, his pockets emptied, his money and bank cards gone, and, of course, his identification was gone. His body was not identified by the coroner until January 26th, and the family not notified until February 3rd.
When Todd’s body was found, he had a single wound on the top of his head, above the hairline. The coroner has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for this wound, saying Todd might have received it by falling down. Typically, however, when people fall down they generally hit the side or back of the head, or the facial area. People don’t fall down and hit the top of their head.
"It was part of Todd's nature to always tell someone where he was going, or to take someone with him. So when he said he was going outside to buy shoes, that was as far as he was going."
Because of his serious health issues, Todd never went anywhere without telling someone where he was going, and he usually took a family member with him. In this instance, however, he just disappeared, and his Jeep Laredo, which he had just purchased, was left behind in its parking space. By 9pm, after Todd was missing for approximately 3 hours, his Jeep was still in its parking space. Sometime after that, however, the Jeep also mysteriously disappeared. It was just gone without a trace on the morning of January 21st, 2021.
There was no word from or about Todd. On February 1st, I posted a video telling people that Todd was missing, and on February 3rd came the dreaded news, Todd’s body was found in an alley approximately 5 blocks away. Although his body had been found on the morning of January 21st, the police did not know who he was. He was simply listed as a John Doe. Not only was Todd’s Jeep still missing, but his cell phone was gone, his pockets emptied, his money and bank cards gone, and, of course, his identification was gone. His body was not identified by the coroner until January 26th, and the family not notified until February 3rd.
When Todd’s body was found, he had a single wound on the top of his head, above the hairline. The coroner has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for this wound, saying Todd might have received it by falling down. Typically, however, when people fall down they generally hit the side or back of the head, or the facial area. People don’t fall down and hit the top of their head.
The area where Todd’s body was found, is not an area that Todd would have normally been in, and especially overnight, and especially with an overnight low of only 27 degrees. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for Todd to have been there alone, all night, in an area known to be a rough part of Columbus. The coroner has stated that Todd died between 8am and 9am on January 21st. Todd was an intelligent and reasonable man. He would not have been out in that weather, overnight, dressed as he was, which was not for below freezing temperatures. And no one has an explanation for the 13 to 15 hours that Todd was missing and unaccounted for.
I have known Todd for several years now, and some members of his family for more than 20 years. We spent quite a bit of time together as we were both retired, either at his house or mine, and often spending our time discussing the Bible. “Iron Sharpens Iron” the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, and I certainly benefited from those times spent with Todd.
In 2018, Todd came to me and asked me about an online preacher he had come across on YouTube. That preachers name is Steven Anderson. I had never heard of Anderson before this, and so I began to research him so I could give Todd an answer. My initial research told me that Anderson would be someone to stay away from, and I told Todd this, and I told Todd why. For Todd, however, it was not enough, and he began to watch more of Steven Anderson’s videos, and learning about the New IFB and some of the other people involved. By December of 2018, Todd had convinced me that this group really needed to be researched and the more we researched them, the more we dug into their history and theology and behavior, the more we found that was troubling. Todd was essential to this research.
For every video that I sat through taking notes, Todd sat through ten of them. For every interview I did, Todd conducted even more. All in all between the two of us, I think we conducted more than 50 interviews with current and former New IFB people, as well as with reporters, law enforcement, other pastors, and people with intimate knowledge of the New IFB. Of those 50+ interviews, I conducted maybe a dozen of them. Todd not only conducted all the rest of them, but he was the one with the skills to track all of these people down. I could not have done even half of the work Todd did. He was amazing! A natural born investigator.
Initially, I wrote an article about them for The Reason Files website blog. Then another, and another, and eventually 15 articles in all. Then Todd suggested we make some videos for YouTube. It was a great idea, and we got started. I soon found out that Todd was much better at it than I was, producing several videos for each single video that I put out.
Initially, the New IFB ignored us. Then they were annoyed by us. And the more we found and revealed about their cult, the madder they got. They began a smear campaign against Todd and me and The Reason Files. They lied about us, they slandered us, they mocked us, called us demeaning names, and so forth. Then they began making death threats against the two of us. They threatened us in social media posts, they threatened us in their private group chats, and they threatened us in their pulpits.
Aaron Thompson, the so-called “pastor” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington put it succinctly when he said to his congregation during one of his sermons about us, “They just need to die” before going on to describe colorful methods for our deaths, such as having a bus fall on us. From the pulpit. To the congregation. To men, women, children of all ages. In what is ostensibly a Christian church.
It wasn’t just Aaron Thompson, but Bruce Mejia, Joe Jones, Roger Jimenez, David Berzins, Jason Robinson, and even Steven Anderson himself all joined in with the “Hate Todd and Robert Club.” As Todd would often say, we were living rent free in their heads. We were almost honored by all the attention. Neither of us had been the subject of a sermon before, much less several sermons by several different pastors in several different states! Of course, the death threats were troubling. But as Todd would keep reminding me, what’s the worst they can do to us? Send us home to be with the Lord?
It wasn’t long before hatred for us being spewed from the pulpit by these New IFB pastors, managed to lodge in the minds of the congregation. And that could be a problem. When Steven Anderson preached from his pulpit that President Obama needed to die (just as Aaron Thompson said about Todd and me), one of Anderson’s church members grabbed his handgun and his AR-15 and headed down to an appearance by the then president. He did nothing more than wander around in the crowd with his rifle and handgun prominently displayed, but who knows what was going through his mind? And who knows what he might have done? What we do know is that the idea for his actions came from the pulpit, from his New IFB pastor. And now those same New IFB church members were looking at Todd and me.
The verbal and social media attacks came, of course. New IFB member Ray Flores of First Works Baptist Church in El Monte, California, Bruce Mejia’s church, began making lewd and offensive comments on our YouTube videos, and eventually went on to create a couple of YouTube channels of his own, but naming them after us. Making them appear as if they were real Reason Files channels. On these channels he placed homosexual themed videos, but gave them the same names as some of our videos, and he used our thumb nails for those videos, so as to deceive people into watching his homosexual pornography that he had uploaded.
As vile a tactic as this was, we had to wonder how he even knew where to go to find homosexual videos. And since the videos he uploaded to YouTube disguised to look like our videos were only a few minutes long, this meant he had to watch homosexual pornographic films in their entirety in order to extract those brief clips.
This same Ray Flores, who uses the YouTube screen name of RayKJV and ReasonFiles (all one word), and Reason Files 3, has also made some very graphic homosexual comments about what he wanted to do to Todd. Doesn’t this seem just a bit odd that someone in a New IFB church would be making such comments and watching such films? I wonder why Bruce Mejia allowed it and doesn’t do anything about it. Very curious indeed.
Ray Flores was certainly not the only New IFB member to make vile comments about us, lie about us, slander us, etc., and even make death threats against us. There have been more than I can count. I am sure many people watching this video have heard the 10 minute phone call between Todd and Ben Naim (who goes by the name Ben the Baptist in an attempt to fashion himself as a modern day John the Baptist), where Ben told Todd he wanted him to die, that he would blow his brains out, etc., well, I’ll let Ben speak for himself. Here is a brief clip from his 10 minute rant against Todd.
Two months after Ben stated he wanted to blow Todd’s brains out, and, coincidentally, only 3 months after Bruce Mejia stated, “Dead LOL” with a skull emoji on as a response to Todd; Todd is found dead. Just as the New IFB stated he would be.
On February 3rd, when the family and then I was notified of Todd’s death, I posted a video letting people know that Todd’s body had been found. The outpouring of genuine care, concern, love, and sympathy has been overwhelming. Both Todd’s family and me are sincerely thankful for each one of you. Thank you so much for all your messages of support. They mean a lot.
At the same time, however, the New IFB was also on hand to spread their filth. They quickly trolled both of these videos, as well as several of the other videos that Todd and I had made, posting all manner of lies and slander about Todd, mocking his death, celebrating his death. Almost immediately, New IFB YouTube channels popped up, created by someone named “Stephen the Blasphemous” that featured a hastily made video celebrating Todd’s death, and another channel by the same person featuring 100 brief videos all uploaded in under an hour, with 99 of them being old shoe commercials and the 100th a celebration of Todd’s death. The shoe videos are a reference to “Stephen the Blasphemous’” repeated slur against Todd, saying that the phrase “buying shoes” (which as you remember is what Todd was doing when he disappeared), that the phrase is street slang for buying illegal drugs, and also for soliciting gay sex; implying that is what Todd was doing when he went missing and was killed.
Initially I believed this Stephen the Blasphemous was a troll account for New IFB pastor Aaron Thompson. I based this on both of them using the same phraseology. However, Stephen the Blasphemous later revealed that he was a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church and his name was Steven Schumacher. He claimed to have been present at FWBC when certain members were kicked out. Numerous former members of FWBC then contacted me and told me that there was never anyone by the name of Steven Schumacher (or Shoe Maker, which is what the name means – back to the shoe reference), and an investigation revealed that the account was based in Arizona. These same former members, each one of them, is convinced that Steven Schumacher is none other than Steven Anderson himself. He was the only one who insisted that person was thrown out of his church, when in fact, the people and their family simply stopped coming of their own volition. Anderson’s narcissism would not allow him to accept someone just not coming to his services.
There has also been another video. A more ominous video. It lasts for only 3 minutes, and for the entire 3 minutes a single message appears on the screen. That message says, “Todd Ferguson’s sins have caught up to him. He has now been permanently cursed by God.”
This video was posted to YouTube on January 30th, 2021. Two full days before I posted the video notifying everyone that Todd was missing, and four full days before anyone even knew Todd was dead. Yet the person or persons who created this video made these statements, both of which indicate a degree of finality. His sins have caught up to him. Meaning he can no longer escape them, it is judgment day; and, that Todd has “now been permanently cursed by God.” The only time in a person’s life where they are beyond all hope of salvation is when they are dead. It is only when a person is dead that they are judged for their sins and “permanently cursed by God,” by being cast into hell.
The obvious question for me is, how did this person or persons know that Todd was dead before the family knew? And, of course, who is this person or persons? The title of the video as well as the title of the channel it is posted on (and the only video on that channel), all point to the New IFB. The title includes Todd’s name, the Reason Files and the New IFB. The channel name, The Treason Hyles, is similar to what David Berzins and Joe Jones have called us, namely, The Treason Files. The similarities cannot be ignored.
With that in mind, take a look at the comments left by members of the New IFB in reference to Todd and his death, and remember, these comments are the fruit of Steven Anderson, Bruce Mejia, Roger Jimenez, Jonathan Shelley, Aaron Thompson, and the rest of the New IFB pastors. They are the fruit of the New IFB.
Luke 6:43-45 says,
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
And Matthew 7:15-20 says,
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them, my friends, and this bad fruit that you see here, that the family and I have had to deal with over the past week, will be cut down and cast into the fire as Jesus says.
Scripture goes on to teach us in Philippians 4:8,
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
And Hebrews 12:14 says,
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord
Does this sound like the New IFB to you? No, and as they are, they will not see the Lord.
In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said,
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Again, here are six more verses the New IFB completely ignores. And there is a reason they ignore these passages, as well as many, many other passages, and that is because they are not Christians. We see this when we look at Galatians chapter 5.
In verses 22-23 we see the fruit of the Spirit that is exhibited in Christians, in true Christians.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Do we see these fruits in the New IFB? If we are honest, then no, we do not. What we do see in the New IFB is contained in the list found in verses 19-21:
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
8 of the 17 works of the flesh are exhibited in the New IFB comments featured on these two videos. They are: Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, envyings and murder.
Each of these words have a very specific meaning.
Hatred (echthra - hatred, hostility),
Variance (eris - having a contentious or argumentative spirit),
Emulations (zelos - burning emotion, we get our word Zealous from this),
Wrath (thumos - passion-driven violent behavior),
Strife (eritheia, er-ith-i'-ah - places self-interest ahead of what the Lord declares right),
Seditions (dichostasia, dee-khos-tas-ee'-ah, causing or creating divisions which wrongly separate people),
Envyings (phthonos, fthon'-os, "the feeling of ill-will", the miserable trait of being glad when someone experiences misfortune or pain),
Murders (remember Matthew 5, the sins of the heart and mind are treated as if they had been carried out physically).
There is no doubt that the New IFB, as so clearly shown in these comments, exhibits these traits, these works of the flesh. And as verse 21 says, they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
They are not saved. They are not Christians. They are false teachers. Wolves, whose sole purpose is to deceive the children of God and lead people astray, lead them straight to the gates of hell. And that is why Todd and I have been working diligently to expose them.
Ephesians 5:8-11 reminds us that we were “sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
And that is precisely what we have been doing for the past two years, and what I will continue to do. Todd would have wanted that way. And he would have approved of this video. Had he still be alive, he would have made it himself.
Thank you all for watching, and ignore the New IFB trolls that will undoubtedly leave plenty of vile and obscene comments in the comment section. Just know that this is what they do, this is who they are. Getting down into the mud with them will do nothing more than make you dirty. It will not change them one bit. They are lost in their sin and in desperate need of prayer and salvation. That should be our prayer.
God bless you all, and thanks again for watching.
This is my friend, my brother in Christ, Todd Ferguson. As some of you know, Todd went missing on January 20th, 2021 between 6 and 7pm. He stepped out of his apartment to buy some shoes from a street peddler. Todd was a kind and generous man, and always ready and willing to help those who were down on their luck. I suspect he believed this person, a woman, was just that, and in need of a helping hand. That would be just like Todd. Always willing to help people. It didn’t matter who you were.
Unfortunately, Todd was not seen again. He simply disappeared without a word to anyone about where he might be going.
This is my friend, my brother in Christ, Todd Ferguson. As some of you know, Todd went missing on January 20th, 2021 between 6 and 7pm. He stepped out of his apartment to buy some shoes from a street peddler. Todd was a kind and generous man, and always ready and willing to help those who were down on their luck. I suspect he believed this person, a woman, was just that, and in need of a helping hand. That would be just like Todd. Always willing to help people. It didn’t matter who you were.
Unfortunately, Todd was not seen again. He simply disappeared without a word to anyone about where he might be going. Because of his serious health issues, Todd never went anywhere without telling someone where he was going, and he usually took a family member with him. In this instance, however, he just disappeared, and his Jeep Laredo, which he had just purchased, was left behind in its parking space. By 9pm, after Todd was missing for approximately 3 hours, his Jeep was still in its parking space. Sometime after that, however, the Jeep also mysteriously disappeared. It was just gone without a trace on the morning of January 21st, 2021.
There was no word from or about Todd. On February 1st, I posted a video telling people that Todd was missing, and on February 3rd came the dreaded news, Todd’s body was found in an alley approximately 5 blocks away. Although his body had been found on the morning of January 21st, the police did not know who he was. He was simply listed as a John Doe. Not only was Todd’s Jeep still missing, but his cell phone was gone, his pockets emptied, his money and bank cards gone, and, of course, his identification was gone. His body was not identified by the coroner until January 26th, and the family not notified until February 3rd.
When Todd’s body was found, he had a single wound on the top of his head, above the hairline. The coroner has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for this wound, saying Todd might have received it by falling down. Typically, however, when people fall down they generally hit the side or back of the head, or the facial area. People don’t fall down and hit the top of their head.
"It was part of Todd's nature to always tell someone where he was going, or to take someone with him. So when he said he was going outside to buy shoes, that was as far as he was going."
Because of his serious health issues, Todd never went anywhere without telling someone where he was going, and he usually took a family member with him. In this instance, however, he just disappeared, and his Jeep Laredo, which he had just purchased, was left behind in its parking space. By 9pm, after Todd was missing for approximately 3 hours, his Jeep was still in its parking space. Sometime after that, however, the Jeep also mysteriously disappeared. It was just gone without a trace on the morning of January 21st, 2021.
There was no word from or about Todd. On February 1st, I posted a video telling people that Todd was missing, and on February 3rd came the dreaded news, Todd’s body was found in an alley approximately 5 blocks away. Although his body had been found on the morning of January 21st, the police did not know who he was. He was simply listed as a John Doe. Not only was Todd’s Jeep still missing, but his cell phone was gone, his pockets emptied, his money and bank cards gone, and, of course, his identification was gone. His body was not identified by the coroner until January 26th, and the family not notified until February 3rd.
When Todd’s body was found, he had a single wound on the top of his head, above the hairline. The coroner has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for this wound, saying Todd might have received it by falling down. Typically, however, when people fall down they generally hit the side or back of the head, or the facial area. People don’t fall down and hit the top of their head.
The area where Todd’s body was found, is not an area that Todd would have normally been in, and especially overnight, and especially with an overnight low of only 27 degrees. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for Todd to have been there alone, all night, in an area known to be a rough part of Columbus. The coroner has stated that Todd died between 8am and 9am on January 21st. Todd was an intelligent and reasonable man. He would not have been out in that weather, overnight, dressed as he was, which was not for below freezing temperatures. And no one has an explanation for the 13 to 15 hours that Todd was missing and unaccounted for.
I have known Todd for several years now, and some members of his family for more than 20 years. We spent quite a bit of time together as we were both retired, either at his house or mine, and often spending our time discussing the Bible. “Iron Sharpens Iron” the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17, and I certainly benefited from those times spent with Todd.
In 2018, Todd came to me and asked me about an online preacher he had come across on YouTube. That preachers name is Steven Anderson. I had never heard of Anderson before this, and so I began to research him so I could give Todd an answer. My initial research told me that Anderson would be someone to stay away from, and I told Todd this, and I told Todd why. For Todd, however, it was not enough, and he began to watch more of Steven Anderson’s videos, and learning about the New IFB and some of the other people involved. By December of 2018, Todd had convinced me that this group really needed to be researched and the more we researched them, the more we dug into their history and theology and behavior, the more we found that was troubling. Todd was essential to this research.
For every video that I sat through taking notes, Todd sat through ten of them. For every interview I did, Todd conducted even more. All in all between the two of us, I think we conducted more than 50 interviews with current and former New IFB people, as well as with reporters, law enforcement, other pastors, and people with intimate knowledge of the New IFB. Of those 50+ interviews, I conducted maybe a dozen of them. Todd not only conducted all the rest of them, but he was the one with the skills to track all of these people down. I could not have done even half of the work Todd did. He was amazing! A natural born investigator.
Initially, I wrote an article about them for The Reason Files website blog. Then another, and another, and eventually 15 articles in all. Then Todd suggested we make some videos for YouTube. It was a great idea, and we got started. I soon found out that Todd was much better at it than I was, producing several videos for each single video that I put out.
Initially, the New IFB ignored us. Then they were annoyed by us. And the more we found and revealed about their cult, the madder they got. They began a smear campaign against Todd and me and The Reason Files. They lied about us, they slandered us, they mocked us, called us demeaning names, and so forth. Then they began making death threats against the two of us. They threatened us in social media posts, they threatened us in their private group chats, and they threatened us in their pulpits.
Aaron Thompson, the so-called “pastor” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington put it succinctly when he said to his congregation during one of his sermons about us, “They just need to die” before going on to describe colorful methods for our deaths, such as having a bus fall on us. From the pulpit. To the congregation. To men, women, children of all ages. In what is ostensibly a Christian church.
It wasn’t just Aaron Thompson, but Bruce Mejia, Joe Jones, Roger Jimenez, David Berzins, Jason Robinson, and even Steven Anderson himself all joined in with the “Hate Todd and Robert Club.” As Todd would often say, we were living rent free in their heads. We were almost honored by all the attention. Neither of us had been the subject of a sermon before, much less several sermons by several different pastors in several different states! Of course, the death threats were troubling. But as Todd would keep reminding me, what’s the worst they can do to us? Send us home to be with the Lord?
It wasn’t long before hatred for us being spewed from the pulpit by these New IFB pastors, managed to lodge in the minds of the congregation. And that could be a problem. When Steven Anderson preached from his pulpit that President Obama needed to die (just as Aaron Thompson said about Todd and me), one of Anderson’s church members grabbed his handgun and his AR-15 and headed down to an appearance by the then president. He did nothing more than wander around in the crowd with his rifle and handgun prominently displayed, but who knows what was going through his mind? And who knows what he might have done? What we do know is that the idea for his actions came from the pulpit, from his New IFB pastor. And now those same New IFB church members were looking at Todd and me.
The verbal and social media attacks came, of course. New IFB member Ray Flores of First Works Baptist Church in El Monte, California, Bruce Mejia’s church, began making lewd and offensive comments on our YouTube videos, and eventually went on to create a couple of YouTube channels of his own, but naming them after us. Making them appear as if they were real Reason Files channels. On these channels he placed homosexual themed videos, but gave them the same names as some of our videos, and he used our thumb nails for those videos, so as to deceive people into watching his homosexual pornography that he had uploaded.
As vile a tactic as this was, we had to wonder how he even knew where to go to find homosexual videos. And since the videos he uploaded to YouTube disguised to look like our videos were only a few minutes long, this meant he had to watch homosexual pornographic films in their entirety in order to extract those brief clips.
This same Ray Flores, who uses the YouTube screen name of RayKJV and ReasonFiles (all one word), and Reason Files 3, has also made some very graphic homosexual comments about what he wanted to do to Todd. Doesn’t this seem just a bit odd that someone in a New IFB church would be making such comments and watching such films? I wonder why Bruce Mejia allowed it and doesn’t do anything about it. Very curious indeed.
Ray Flores was certainly not the only New IFB member to make vile comments about us, lie about us, slander us, etc., and even make death threats against us. There have been more than I can count. I am sure many people watching this video have heard the 10 minute phone call between Todd and Ben Naim (who goes by the name Ben the Baptist in an attempt to fashion himself as a modern day John the Baptist), where Ben told Todd he wanted him to die, that he would blow his brains out, etc., well, I’ll let Ben speak for himself. Here is a brief clip from his 10 minute rant against Todd.
Two months after Ben stated he wanted to blow Todd’s brains out, and, coincidentally, only 3 months after Bruce Mejia stated, “Dead LOL” with a skull emoji on as a response to Todd; Todd is found dead. Just as the New IFB stated he would be.
On February 3rd, when the family and then I was notified of Todd’s death, I posted a video letting people know that Todd’s body had been found. The outpouring of genuine care, concern, love, and sympathy has been overwhelming. Both Todd’s family and me are sincerely thankful for each one of you. Thank you so much for all your messages of support. They mean a lot.
At the same time, however, the New IFB was also on hand to spread their filth. They quickly trolled both of these videos, as well as several of the other videos that Todd and I had made, posting all manner of lies and slander about Todd, mocking his death, celebrating his death. Almost immediately, New IFB YouTube channels popped up, created by someone named “Stephen the Blasphemous” that featured a hastily made video celebrating Todd’s death, and another channel by the same person featuring 100 brief videos all uploaded in under an hour, with 99 of them being old shoe commercials and the 100th a celebration of Todd’s death. The shoe videos are a reference to “Stephen the Blasphemous’” repeated slur against Todd, saying that the phrase “buying shoes” (which as you remember is what Todd was doing when he disappeared), that the phrase is street slang for buying illegal drugs, and also for soliciting gay sex; implying that is what Todd was doing when he went missing and was killed.
Initially I believed this Stephen the Blasphemous was a troll account for New IFB pastor Aaron Thompson. I based this on both of them using the same phraseology. However, Stephen the Blasphemous later revealed that he was a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church and his name was Steven Schumacher. He claimed to have been present at FWBC when certain members were kicked out. Numerous former members of FWBC then contacted me and told me that there was never anyone by the name of Steven Schumacher (or Shoe Maker, which is what the name means – back to the shoe reference), and an investigation revealed that the account was based in Arizona. These same former members, each one of them, is convinced that Steven Schumacher is none other than Steven Anderson himself. He was the only one who insisted that person was thrown out of his church, when in fact, the people and their family simply stopped coming of their own volition. Anderson’s narcissism would not allow him to accept someone just not coming to his services.
There has also been another video. A more ominous video. It lasts for only 3 minutes, and for the entire 3 minutes a single message appears on the screen. That message says, “Todd Ferguson’s sins have caught up to him. He has now been permanently cursed by God.”
This video was posted to YouTube on January 30th, 2021. Two full days before I posted the video notifying everyone that Todd was missing, and four full days before anyone even knew Todd was dead. Yet the person or persons who created this video made these statements, both of which indicate a degree of finality. His sins have caught up to him. Meaning he can no longer escape them, it is judgment day; and, that Todd has “now been permanently cursed by God.” The only time in a person’s life where they are beyond all hope of salvation is when they are dead. It is only when a person is dead that they are judged for their sins and “permanently cursed by God,” by being cast into hell.
The obvious question for me is, how did this person or persons know that Todd was dead before the family knew? And, of course, who is this person or persons? The title of the video as well as the title of the channel it is posted on (and the only video on that channel), all point to the New IFB. The title includes Todd’s name, the Reason Files and the New IFB. The channel name, The Treason Hyles, is similar to what David Berzins and Joe Jones have called us, namely, The Treason Files. The similarities cannot be ignored.
With that in mind, take a look at the comments left by members of the New IFB in reference to Todd and his death, and remember, these comments are the fruit of Steven Anderson, Bruce Mejia, Roger Jimenez, Jonathan Shelley, Aaron Thompson, and the rest of the New IFB pastors. They are the fruit of the New IFB.
Luke 6:43-45 says,
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
And Matthew 7:15-20 says,
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them, my friends, and this bad fruit that you see here, that the family and I have had to deal with over the past week, will be cut down and cast into the fire as Jesus says.
Scripture goes on to teach us in Philippians 4:8,
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
And Hebrews 12:14 says,
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord
Does this sound like the New IFB to you? No, and as they are, they will not see the Lord.
In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said,
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Again, here are six more verses the New IFB completely ignores. And there is a reason they ignore these passages, as well as many, many other passages, and that is because they are not Christians. We see this when we look at Galatians chapter 5.
In verses 22-23 we see the fruit of the Spirit that is exhibited in Christians, in true Christians.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Do we see these fruits in the New IFB? If we are honest, then no, we do not. What we do see in the New IFB is contained in the list found in verses 19-21:
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
8 of the 17 works of the flesh are exhibited in the New IFB comments featured on these two videos. They are: Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, envyings and murder.
Each of these words have a very specific meaning.
Hatred (echthra - hatred, hostility),
Variance (eris - having a contentious or argumentative spirit),
Emulations (zelos - burning emotion, we get our word Zealous from this),
Wrath (thumos - passion-driven violent behavior),
Strife (eritheia, er-ith-i'-ah - places self-interest ahead of what the Lord declares right),
Seditions (dichostasia, dee-khos-tas-ee'-ah, causing or creating divisions which wrongly separate people),
Envyings (phthonos, fthon'-os, "the feeling of ill-will", the miserable trait of being glad when someone experiences misfortune or pain),
Murders (remember Matthew 5, the sins of the heart and mind are treated as if they had been carried out physically).
There is no doubt that the New IFB, as so clearly shown in these comments, exhibits these traits, these works of the flesh. And as verse 21 says, they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
They are not saved. They are not Christians. They are false teachers. Wolves, whose sole purpose is to deceive the children of God and lead people astray, lead them straight to the gates of hell. And that is why Todd and I have been working diligently to expose them.
Ephesians 5:8-11 reminds us that we were “sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
And that is precisely what we have been doing for the past two years, and what I will continue to do. Todd would have wanted that way. And he would have approved of this video. Had he still be alive, he would have made it himself.
Thank you all for watching, and ignore the New IFB trolls that will undoubtedly leave plenty of vile and obscene comments in the comment section. Just know that this is what they do, this is who they are. Getting down into the mud with them will do nothing more than make you dirty. It will not change them one bit. They are lost in their sin and in desperate need of prayer and salvation. That should be our prayer.
God bless you all, and thanks again for watching.
I have turned off the comments for this particular blog post, however, if you would like to comment, please send your comments, questions, or concerns to me at:
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[email protected]
Just click on the link, and it will take you to the contact me form.
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