By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on June 2, 2022
An Editorial Opinion
Greg Locke is an angry white man who masquerades as a "Christian" preacher. The church Locke founded on November 5, 2006 was called "Global Vision Baptist Church" in Mount Juliet, Tennessee (USA), which is just outside of Nashville. Today, Locke's church is called "Global Vision Bible Church."
Unlike traditional churches, Locke runs "Global Vision Bible Church" without the oversight of congregational votes, or a board of deacons, or a board of trustees. Despite the lack of a traditional church governance structure and pastoral accountability to the church's congregation, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Locke's church tax exempt status.
Locke has an online following of 2.2 million on his Facebook page. In September 2021, Locke was permanently banned from Twitter for reasons that will become self-evident as you read this article.
Jesus Warned Christians About "False Prophets"
In Matthew 24:11, Jesus Christ warned Christians about false prophets. "And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people," said Jesus.
Greg Locke appears to be one of them. Based upon his words and deeds, Locke is a modern-day apostle of hatred.
Locke's rants and actions define a depraved man who hates political views that differ from his own. He also hates abused women, including those in his family. Locke's words and actions attest to the fact that the hatred that consumed him as a wayward teenager carried forward to shape his present-day views and dictate his unchristian-like actions.
In a video sermon on May 15, 2022, Greg Locke gave his Tennessee congregation this mindless tirade in lieu of a sermon:
"If you vote Democrat, I don't even want you around this church. You can get out. You can get out, you demon. You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation. I don't care how mad that makes you. You can get as pissed off as you want. You cannot be a Christian and vote Democratic in this nation ... You cannot be a Democrat and a Christian. You cannot. Somebody say, 'Amen.' The rest of you get out! Get out!"
What is worse, Greg Locke recently led his church in a book burning celebration of "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" series books, as well as merchandise featuring animated Disney cartoon characters. Book burning ceremonies is a favorite pastime of hateful, demented people.
Locke has not commented on the Bible's graphic violence against innocent men, women and children, or its depiction of soldiers gang-raping women, or its account of female bodies being mutilated, or its description of male genitalia and ejaculation, as cited in specific Biblical passages in our May 12, 2022 article titled, "Is the Bible to Graphic for Children Under 18?"
Greg Locke also attended the January 6, 2021 Insurrection on the steps of the National Capitol. The day before the Insurrection, Locke appeared at a pro-Trump rally where he spewed hatred in one of the most violent prayers ever given in the name of Christianity.
Reflecting on his "Insurrection" prayer, Locke said:
"Everyone wanna talk about the Insurrection? Mmmm. Let me tell you something: You ain't seen the Insurrection yet. You keep on pushing our buttons, you low-down, sorry compromisers, you God-hating communists, maybe you'll find out what an Insurrection is."
Greg Locke has also "blessed" the violent right-wing "Proud Boys" domestic terrorist group from his church's pulpit. According to Locke, the group provides him "security."
Locke's Trashy Lifestyle Mirrors a "Jerry Springer" TV Show
Greg Locke says there are two kinds of people in the church -- "those being used by God and those who are using God." Clearly, Locke falls in the latter group.
Locke was born on May 18, 1976 in Donelson, Tennessee. During his teenage years, Locke was in and out of state juvenile facilities. He was arrested six times for various offenses and placed on probation five times. Locke claims that he became a Christian in April 1992, about ten days after he first landed in the juvenile facility.
Locke does not explain how and why he landed in prison five more times after he became a "Christian."
Locke described his hatred for his stepfather this way: " My father was in the Tennessee State Penitentiary for about ten years, and I hated my stepdad." Locke expressed no hatred for his "convict" father, whose absence at home clearly contributed to his son's criminal lifestyle.
Locke has expressed no "Honor thy father and mother" praise for his mother, who divorced his father.
As expected, Greg Locke's hatred is not limited to Democrats, or his stepdad, or his mother. He has also spewed hateful rants about his first wife, Melissa.
Greg and Melissa Locke got divorced in 2018, with Melissa filing for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences." Afterwards, Greg Locke trashed Melissa in the media by claiming the "[s]he's been in and out of mental health facilities, but that is not where she is right now. She is at a place that helps ladies get on their feet again."
Before the ink was dry on the couple's divorce papers, Locke fell in love with his administrative assistant at the church, Taisha (Tai Cowan McGee), and married her in 2018. The timing of Pastor Locke's starburst "insider" church romance with Taisha and relatively quiet marriage to her raises questions that only Melissa, Taisha, and Locke can answer.
Locke used his remarriage press statement to trash Melissa, again. "I'm legally remarried, and I'm legally divorced," Locke said. "I'm not gonna live crazy and single for the rest of my life and just live in misery because my ex-wife decided to burn my life to the ground publicly with a bunch of lies about abuse and stuff which my kids were mortified by."
Locke claims he earned a Master's Degree in Revival History from the Baptist Theological School in New England and a Graduate of Theology degree from Ambassador Baptist College. It is unclear where he obtained his undergraduate degree, if he has one.
Epilogue
There is no Biblical support for the brand of hatred that Greg Locke routinely spews in his church's pulpit. His prominent place in the white evangelical church cheapens the public's respect for white Evangelical Christians.
Locke's church appears to be little more than a Biblical cover for a slick financial hustle of sympathetic congregational members by a self-professed serial criminal offender. There are no traditional checks and balances on his church's ministerial mission, daily operations, or finances.
By his own words and deeds, Locke's ministerial mission has drifted away from Christianity, as defined by Jesus in the New Testament's Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and into the realm of domestic terrorism, extremism, and Christian Nationalism, as defined by the Book of Greg Locke.
Locke's violent rhetoric is what Southern Baptist preachers spewed throughout the 20th century to justify the thousands of lynchings of innocent black men and women that were carried out by church members on Sunday afternoons before they returned for evening worship services.
Greg Locke and his brand of evangelical hatred constitute a clear and present danger to the domestic security of the United States. Locke does not preach a universal love for mankind, as Jesus did. Locke does not love his enemies, as Jesus did. Locke does not strive to enlighten and unite humanity, as Jesus did. Instead, Locke uses God as a prop to mask his unadulterated hatred of Americans whose politics differ from his own.
In our view, Greg Locke is one of the many "false prophets" Jesus warned us about in Matthew 24:11. In time, Locke will join his kindred spirits in the dustbin of history. This is where all despots and apostles of hatred eventually wind up.
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