Last week, Louisiana church pastor Tony Spell, 48, was arrested and charged with battery after video captured him beating up a 20-year-old male neighbor he claims threatened to rape and kill his family.
According to reports, Spell claims he was working on a church bus when he heard his neighbor’s son yell, “Tony, I’m gonna rape your wife. I’m gonna rape all of your grandchildren. … The next time you go out of town, I’m gonna kill them, and what the F are you going to do about it?”
Spell defended his actions, calling himself the “natural protector” of his family, and claimed that the victim’s family had been harassing and intimidating them as well as church attendees for years — an allegation they denied.
The video of the fight has gone viral, sparking widespread debates over self-defense and pastoral conduct.
On a recent episode of “The Rick Burgess Show,” BlazeTV host and men’s ministry leader Rick Burgess dove into the incident.
“Solomon told us there’s a time for everything — and sometimes there is a time to fight,” Rick says.
This incident, he argues, seems to be one of those times.
“People can say bad things about you and say they don’t like you and all that, and we certainly try to stay out of anything violent, but when it comes to the point when people begin to threaten your family and begin to threaten their very lives … there is a time when this is necessary,” Rick says.
“I shouldn’t love this as much as I do,” he confesses, watching the footage of Spell battering his neighbor.
Rick especially loves the sermon Spell delivered from the pulpit immediately after his release.
That evening, Spell famously told his congregation he “fulfilled the Scripture” by laying “hands on the sick.”
“That was fantastic,” Rick laughs.
The panel agrees that Spell was in the right to defend his family and congregation.
“We love it,” Rick says.
To see the footage of the fight and hear more of Rick and the team’s commentary, watch the episode above.
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