The Middle Name Issue Revisited (and some miscellaneous items) with Ergun Caner

Middle Name Issue
Ergun Caner apparently preached "What Worship Looks Like" at FBC Lyons on November 17, 2013. Around 20:45 into the mp3, Ergun Caner states: "My father's middle name, Mehmet, I took when he passed, it means Mohammed in Turkish." (link to mp3)

That is nice as clarification that Caner's name is not really "Ergun Mehmet Caner," as he has put on his books about Islam. One problem though: from what we can tell, it wasn't so much "when he passed" (August 25, 1999) as "after 9/11," as seen in this post (link).

Recall that Norm Geisler wrote:

The Charge that Caner has Used various Names in Publications. Dr. Caner has used “E. Michael Caner” in one book while using “Ergun Mehmet Caner” in other books. Why? His mother desired that he use Michael, a name she always wished to give him, while Dr. Caner used “Mehmet” in honor of his father, especially after his father's passing in 1999. Some have even attacked his nickname, “Butch,” which he has used since moving to the South and was a name given to him by those who had difficulty pronouncing his first name.

Always wished to?  It's his real name.  And again - "after his father's passing" may be true, but "after 9/11" would be more accurate.

Interestingly, Dr. Caner's father apparently legally changed his middle name to Mehmet from Martin back in 1980 (link to post).  I'm not sure whether the "Martin" name was simply an immigration name error, or something else.

I would like to see any evidence that Caner used "Mehmet" as his middle name before his father's passing (to justify Geisler's "especially") or before 9/11, to justify Caner's own comments.

More Creative Childhood
Ergun Caner apparently preached at the 2013 Summer Bible Conference on July 21, 2013 (link to evening video - Around 30 minutes into the presentation, Ergun Caner states: "I was in high school. And I've always been fat. There's never been a skinny picture of me." When you look at his high school yearbooks, he doesn't look fat (link) - same when you look at his childhood pictures (e.g. this).

What's even the point of making something like this up - claiming to have been a fat kid growing up?

Apparently Ergun Caner was on "Fortress of Faith" in June 2012 for a two-part series - but the audio from that appearance has apparently been removed. (link to first part)(link to second part)(another source - also apparently removed - part 1 - part 2)

An Immigration Account, a "Late in Life" conversion account, and the Middle Name again
Caner also apparently spoken in the morning session for the 2013 Summer Bible Conference.  During that session, around 32 minutes into the recording, Caner alleged: "152 miles almost directly west of here, is where - when we first came to America - we went to the mosque, there in Toledo." (compare here and here)

Around 34:30 "I got saved, almost in college.  A high school boy, going into college."
Around 35:00 "Got saved late in life."

I wouldn't usually think of high school as "late in life," but perhaps that's just me.

Around 42:30 "Ergun Mehmet Caner - Ergun, Mehmet, that's my father's middle name and I took it upon his passing ..."

See the discussion above regarding the middle name.

Around 53:30 "I was raised to hate you."

I would be interested if anyone who went to that particular mosque can confirm that they taught Muslims to "hate" Christians.

Around 53:45 "the five pillars: Abinadab, Salat, Zakat, Swan, Haj, they would do the Kalimah"

"Abinadab" is someone who had possession of the ark of the covenant for a while in the Old Testament.  It's not one of the five pillars.

Around 54:15 "Even those who aren't violent, they know what jihad means, jihad al-asghar - they know what it means and 134 miles from right here, that's what I was taught."

Is Caner seriously suggesting he was taught physical warfare at the mosque in Columbus?

Around 57:00 "Three and a half years - almost four years - he kept coming. Freshman year, Sophomore Year, Junior Year, at Gahanna Lincoln.

It looks like Caner is saying that he was saved midway through his senior year - basically the fall semester of 1983.  In other places, he has alleged it was

Around 69:00 "A year later, Williamsburg, Kentucky - going to college, trying to study the Bible - both my brothers get saved.  All three - three boys raised as devout Sunni Muslims. Three boys, sons of Acar Mehmet Caner, three boys come to America -- Erdem and I were already born, Emir was born here -- three boys come here to be Islamic missionaries to you - to build mosques."

If Ergun was saved his junior year, then one year later he was still in high school.  If Ergun was saved his senior year, he wasn't saved in 1982, but in 1983-84.  And to top it all off, Emir claims he himself was saved in 1982.

-TurretinFan