Tom,

My information is coming from credible news reports which reveal established COURTROOM facts about the life of Tom Papania (and thus confirm the authenticity of the "eznewstv" website). These facts about your life differ from the testimony contained on the "From Mafia to Ministry" Focus broadcast tape. You have deceived Focus on the Family by allowing them to air an inaccurate account of what you claim is a truthful personal story. The fact that Focus on the Family has refused to reair the broadcast or even acknowledge publicly that Tom Papania was at one time a part of their ministry indicates a serious problem. In your opinion, why do you think they've stopped offering the tape?

I do not rely on rumors and gossip. If you believe that slanderous accusations have been leveled against you then you can provide a statement on your website answering each of the points made by David Reyna concerning the problems he has outlined regarding your testimony. You can start by explaining why your so-called Christian testimony is in parts identical in detail to the events recorded in the book "House of Cards" by Rocky Scarfone. You couldn't invent a story of your own? You lose points for originality. You're going to lose even more for lying.

I'm doing the right thing by exposing this issue. I have prayed about this matter and my conscious is clear. How's yours? Do you still have one?

Brian Karjala

From: TPapania@aol.com
Date: Tuesday, 27 August 2002 03:35:33 EDT
Subject: Re: website
To: bkarjala@christianissues.com

Brian, I'm truly sorry that you feel the way you do. I can see now it is pointless to try to prove my innocence to you. For your information: It was I who asked Focus to stop selling the tapes as that is my only means of income. Focus agreed to do so and now refers people to me for the tapes. As for David Reyna, well, he and Rocky Scarfone (not even his real name) are partners. Scarfones book was published in 1997 when he claims he was saved. I was saved in 1984 and Focus aired my testimony in Dec. of 1996. You can't copy something before it is written, Brian. But, it seems your mind is made up about me. I forgive you, and may God bless you in all you do.

Tom,

You're playing loose with the facts (an old habit with you). I am a former employee at Focus on the Family and I was told by another Focus employee why the tape was pulled from the rebroadcast schedule. Focus on the Family does NOT continue to refer people to your ministry. This can be confirmed by anyone who contacts Focus on the Family directly. Who do you think you're playing here?

Rocky Scarfone's book ("House of Cards") was published in November, 1996 and was based on an earlier manuscript (I have confirmed this as fact). So the book was in circulation BEFORE the December 1996 Focus broadcast.

These are the facts. Now, do you want to explain why there is such a similarity between your "testimony" and the content of that book? Why not release a statement on your website explaining this?

Brian

After I sent that last message the conversation ended. Papania will not discuss the issues of his life story because he can't argue against the facts. He tried to redirect the conversation from the issue of his credibility by casting doubt on the credibility of others. Stating that David Reyna and Rocky Scarfone are partners does not imply a sinister motive as he would like it to. My motive was also questioned. That the name Rocky Scarfone is an alias for Joe Baffa is also a non-issue. But when Papania tried to knock the salvation story of Scarfone he made a major mistake. "House of Cards" was published before 1997! I have confirmed this using a couple of different sources, one of which is through the company Amazon.com (check the publishing date under the "Product Details" section).

It does make sense to me that Papania would ask Focus on the Family to stop selling the Focus produced Papania tape because the Focus tape cut into his profits. Papania is all about money so for him to make that request would be consistent with his character. However, it appears that Focus never answered that request and only stopped selling the tape when Papania's problems were publicly revealed through news organizations. This is what credible sources have indicated to me and this is also the reason Focus on the Family has given as to why they no longer sell the tape. I can't believe Papania's explanation because I know that he lied to me when he stated that Focus continues to refer people to his ministry. According to a Focus letter sent to an individual in July of 2001 I know that this has not been true for some time. (I recently wrote Focus and was sent an almost exact carbon copy of that letter. I was sent what they refer to "in house" as a c-text explanation which is a form letter kept on file in their database and retrieved to address a given subject. Unfortunately, this Focus letter neglects to answer the question I asked them regarding when the ministry finally stopped selling the tape and it does not express any regret or sorrow for the trouble the tape has caused me and countless others.)

I can utilize a variety of different sources to disprove the testimony Papania offered on the "From Mafia to Ministry" Focus on the Family tape. For example, I can use court do*****ents and newspaper accounts to show that the man admitted publicly in 1987 that he never had anything more than "informal ties" to the Gambino crime family and was never the #3 man in that family (directly contradicting what he had stated on the Focus tape and elsewhere). I could produce marriage and divorce certificates Papania would not want his supporters to find out about. The videotaped testimony of mob expert Jerry Capeci denouncing Papania's testimony is itself a major blow to Papania's story (available for online viewing through EZNewsTV which provides footage from NBC's New York affiliate station). For the best insight into the real life of Tom Papania read the writings by David Reyna and you'll understand why Papania keeps quiet about the charges made against him and why he does not want the viewers of his website to know these charges exist. [Note: These two links no longer contain the content they once did.]

Anyone who visits Tom Papania's website who possesses even just an iota of God-given discernment capability will be able to see that something isn't right about the man. The emphasis Papania places upon himself is not spiritually healthy and lacks the humility from someone who's past crimes would warrent a broken spirit. On the home page of his website the statement is made that "Entire cities and nations have been impacted by Papanias presence and message." Apparently the man does not understand that a sinner who is truly saved by the grace of God will never boast about the presence of anyone other than God (and Tom is very arrogant to make the false and outlandish claim that his presence and message have changed entire cities and nations). The content of his website is an example of how shallow a phony Christian witness will appear and serves only as a promotion vehicle for the man with the ultimate objective of gaining him revenue. No expository Christian teaching is presented and only one Bible verse is quoted to make the site look Christian. Papania's ministry is devoid of any real substance and exhibits a superficiality similar to what can be seen on TBN's site, an organization which, by the way, continues to promote the man in their address book. But when you consider TBN's legacy of promoting deception Papania being listed in their address book makes complete sense.

I very much regret the part I at one time played in promoting the man (I think this goes without saying). I trusted the leadership at Focus on the Family and believed that they knew best about who to promote. How wrong I was. It says a lot about our society when the respected "Christian" ministries of our day display such a crucial lack of judgement for knowing how to discern the character of others. These are the same ministries that exist for the purpose of telling you and me how we should live our lives and even after becoming aware of their blatant error deny their problems and have the audacity to make us believe that they remain our leaders. They are allowed to remain in their positions because an apathetic society permits them to do so.

If you would like to help me and others fight this battle for truth and accountability then please make your voice heard. You can call Focus on the Family at:

1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459)

If you would like, let them know who sent you. If you are interested in knowing how to correctly pronounce my last name I will spell it out for you:

KARJALA
car-juh-luh
"juh" as in jug
"luh" as in luggage

If you would rather write to them, you can do so at:

Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

By writing them you will receive a written reply offering you do*****ented proof on how they presently view Tom Papania. If you receive any strange comments from them please let me know. (I will protect your privacy.)

Here is an e-mail letter I received from Rocky Scarfone on (10-2-02):

Rock's e-mail letter to Tom Papania
This e-mail takes the cake for being the most interesting message I've ever received. Now I've really seen it all.

What a truly bizarre life I am having . . .