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‘Set Free’ or Can Not Make Bail

6 August 2008 8 Comments

I recieved links to this LA Times article and to this OC Register article documenting the early morning raid on several homes in Anaheim occupied by the Set Free Soldiers Christian motorcycle group.

Apparently, this is stemming from a fight (alleged that a Hells Angels gang member threw a pool ball at a Set Free gang member) and stabbing (alleged that two Hells Angels were stabbed by members of the “Set Free’ gang) at a Newport Beach bar two weekends ago.

The most notorious name arrested is Pastor Phil Aguilar, the founder and director of Set Free Churches Worldwide, and owner of numerous houses in the area where the arrests took place.

I remember this guy used to be on TBN alot back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Then I read about the controversies in both of Ronald Enroth’s books and also online. According to one neighbor, their ‘behavior/witness’ wasn’t too Christian

“The neighborhood has been trying to get them out of here for years,” said Sharon Murphy, 50, who lives across the street. “It’s supposed to be a sober-living place, but they’re always at the liquor store buying beer. They’re running their motorcycles all night long. They own three or four houses up and down the street.”

Another neighbor stated:

the raid was not surprising because the gang had “taken over the neighborhood in a lot of ways.”

She said gang members had bought several houses on the street and had a history of intimidating neighbors. Visits from the police have been common, she said, and motorcycles and cars with black “Soldiers” decals often line the street of single-family homes.

It will be interesting to see what transpires….

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8 Comments »

  • Diane R said:

    Yes, this guy was one of the biggest cultists around. But this is what happens when you take a new Chritian and immediately make him or her a “Christian” celebrity like what TBN did with Aguilar. I didn’t think he was around anymore…sad to read this.

    # 7 August 2008 at 10:16 am
  • Frequent Commenter Ken said:

    That’s that big white house on Broadway near Brookhurst, one cross-street down Broadway from the Valero station — I used to live a couple blocks from there and still drive by the place a couple times a week! (The neighboring Valero station has the cheapest gas on the West Side of Anaheim.)

    Typical house for that part of town; one-story, fairly large, tree-shaded, 1960s vintage. Usually had a big “Set Free” sign trailer (thought it was some sort of CCM band) and a line of hogs parked out front on the Broadway side.

    # 7 August 2008 at 12:04 pm
  • Triple_P said:

    Typical.

    I love how these people [the white Rednecks, the black 'hood thugs', and the Mexican MS-13 types] get “saved” but refuse to let go of the old life, and you’re just supposed to lay down while they put on proud display their white trash, black ghetto, and Mexican trailer park lifestyles and attitudes.

    My Bible tells me, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

    My Bible tells me, “God has put a difference between his people and the heathen.”

    My Bible tells me, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.”

    My Bible tells me, “[W]ho hath called us out of darkness into marvellous light.”

    My Bible tells me, “God hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us unto the kingdom of his dear Son.”

    There’s so much in the Bible about leaving the old life to be with him.

    Peter left fishing.
    Matthew left tax collecting.
    Paul left the Pharisees.

    And these lowlifes can leave THEIR garbage of violence, wrath, and carousing behind, too.

    # 8 August 2008 at 8:46 pm
  • admin (author) said:

    If you have access to buy or check out from a local public library these books by Ronald Enroth

    Churches That Abuse

    Recovering from Churches That Abuse

    I would recommend you reading these books. Especially the chapters devoted to Set Free.

    # 9 August 2008 at 11:50 am
  • Frequent Commenter Ken said:

    Triple_P

    I suspect what happened was the guy who started all this got altar-call-saved, then fast-tracked as an Instant (if local) Christian Celebrity because of his “colorful” past and “testimony”. (A lot of white-bread Christians like to live vicariously through such colorful testimonies; actually accepting those who give such testimonies — well, that’s another matter. There’s a reason why such testimonies are traditionally from itinerant revival tent shows.)

    Instant Celebrity Christian gets fast-tracked into revival testimonies, only to burn out or be discarded when the next Instant Celebrity Christian comes along with a new colorful/spectacular testimony. (If you have a “colorful” past, you’re too much a sinner for white-bread Christians to actually associate with. No matter how much they ate up your “testimony”.)

    Result: an uncatechized or poorly-catechized burnout, out on his own. Tell me this isn’t a recipe for going off on a weird tangent and founding a flake group/cult.

    # 10 August 2008 at 12:04 pm
  • Jeff Seymour said:

    One of Jesus’ best friends was a guy named Peter who tried to kill a guy with his knife. What was Jesus doing hanging around a guy like this?
    When the Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus the bible says they didn’t recognize Jesus because Jesus dressed and looked like the people he was reaching out to.
    Jesus was falsely accused because many people hated him and said all kinds of mean things about him. The bible says “beware when all men speak well of you”. They told all kinds of lies about Him and the people of that time completely misunderstood Him.
    None of us are perfect but then again Christ came for people who aren’t perfect. There was another guy named King David who was one of God’s greatest leaders. The bible called King David “a man after God’s own heart”. Yet David put a contract out on a guy’s life and had him killed. And the whole reason David did that was because David slept with the guy’s wife and didn’t want the guy to find out.
    I understand those of you who have never read the bible but still hate Christianity. I also understand all the haters of Jesus because I was the same way. I use to bash Jesus and say He wasn’t real so I hear you. Just know Jesus loves you as much as He loves me so don’t worry He will be there for you if you ever change your mind.
    Jeff Seymour

    # 11 August 2008 at 6:08 pm
  • Alexander Devros said:

    I will admit that I am not a biker, and I never was one to begin with. I was raised as a Christian, though news like this makes me want to reconsider my faith. After reading as much about this fiasco as I possibly could, I’ve bacically come to the conclusion that I could not trust any Christian biker organization or individual, period. What if it’s all just another front for criminal activity? Unfortunately, at times, I’ve learned that I must judge a book by its cover. For me, it’s a learned behaviour. I’ve been hurt too many times in the past giving other people a chance–over 30 years of built up anger. Actually, I don’t trust anyone. I don’t hate anyone of them, but if a Christian biker was to even make the attempt to rescue me from a burning vehicle or building, I would rather refuse the help! That’s how strongly I mistrust them. I don’t mean any disrespect towards anyone. It’s just a severe trust issue I have with others. Now if someone was to approach me without claiming a label, that may be another story. And people say that adherents of other subcultures, such as Goth, are violent. Aaahh ha ha ha ha ha!! Such a stereotypes is rather passe. Goths are simply non-conformists, many of whom are interested in intellectual matters, such as philosophy and art. I could imagine a Christian biker criticizing a Goth, punk or whatever on the basis of how “immorally” they dress. Guess what? I’ll let you in on a little secret: Many Goths tend to prefer velvet Victorian style clothes or PVC over leather. I hate labels anyway. C’est la vie. Goes back to listening to Dimmu Borgir and reading Aleister Crowley’s satanic bible…NOT (though I listen to Dimmu occasionally, they’re not necessarily Gothic in the traditional sense)!!

    # 28 November 2008 at 4:26 pm
  • Alexander Devros said:

    Oops. In my haste, I made a few typographical errors on my prior post.

    “Bacically” should have been “Basically”, and “Such a stereotypes is rather passe” should have been written as “Such a stereotype is rather passe.” I probably made a few other mistakes as well, unfortunately.

    Cheers.

    # 28 November 2008 at 4:38 pm