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Those Prosperous Pastors: When to Say No

There are few things on the planet more disgusting and infuriating than the prosperity of televangelists, Christian university executives, healing hedonists, and mega-church ministers. I see it locally here when a pastor guy comes in to visit the sick with a gold ring on each finger, gold watch, gold necklace and dressed to kill. Of course, they always carry a dog-eared Bible to send the right message when they place it on the counter for all to see.

Recently, the self-proclaimed Apostle of the Restored Church of God in Wadsworth, Ohio, has given his clarion call sermon for the faithful to collect what they can, including home equity, retirement funds, and property resources, and “send it out!” here!” Time is short and the minister has a great job to do on behalf of the people. He just needs the dollars. Of course, this formula is a disaster waiting to happen, so we’ll see. He is also not asking for 1, 2 or 3 thousand. How about 10, 20, 50 or 100 thousand is more what the Pastor has in mind. It’s actually quite disgusting. But self-proclaimed gurus, pastors, apostles, and vigilantes can do such things without much supervision. They seem to know that the members won’t question it, and if they do, there are plenty of scriptures that will make them feel unfaithful for doing so.

And now we have another statement…

“Jesus Died So We Could Be Rich! Declares Bible Expert and Bestselling Author

Dr. Norman Robertson believes the US investigation into megachurch pastors is unfair because God wants us to be rich

CHARLOTTE, NC–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The recent investigation of several mega-church pastors has some people glad the Senate is finally getting involved and holding pastors accountable for their lavish material possessions and lifestyles. . Others think that attacking these pastors is unfair and undeserved. One such advocate for pastors and other Christians living prosperous lives is Dr. Norman Robertson, an acclaimed authority on biblical finance and biblical concepts of successful living. Dr. Robertson, who has been teaching and writing about God’s financial plan and “The Prosperity Gospel” for over 20 years, is an expert who maintains that the Bible declares that God wants his people to prosper.” .

So there you have it. Jesus died so you could be rich. God runs a great pyramid scheme so that you can be obviously rich. Obviously, God’s plan is a little below reality for the vast majority on the planet, but it’s good to know that He has this plan for all of us. Perhaps the “We” for Dr. Norman Robertson are just pastors who do this trick on the faithful.

Of course, no Jesus died so you could be physically rich. If so, then he should have saved his breath as the plan failed miserably anyway. However, the Jesus of this type of Pastors could well have died so that they could prosper, which they have very well.

Let us remember what the average member of a congregation needs to remember, where a pastor is asking or even demanding his money.

1. Never lend money to someone who advertises to you that he is “a good Christian.” You’ll probably never see him again.

2. Never let a good Christian give you something and “we can work it out later.” It is possible that he finds out that he has lost his home and three of his children.

3. Never give a church or a minister what you don’t have! Don’t use credit cards to support the church and don’t take out personal loans for the local group or minister, no matter how much they tell you “the church” will pay you back. They won’t and they will make you feel bad for asking for your money back.

4. You will never give your assets and resources to your church, unless you have absolutely no one else on the planet to share them with. It is not worth it and it is unduly impossible. Many churches want members to include the church and make a pledge to share with child survivors, etc. Do not do it! People change churches, circumstances and affiliations change throughout life and you will have to pay a lot to try to fix everything and your survivors never will. Churches I know of have left members’ children swaying in the wind with no apparent awareness of the whole thing.

5. Never give what you don’t have. One more time. Never give what you don’t have.

6. Never offer to pay for things for the minister, your home, or your family that you cannot afford. A man who would allow you to do such a thing should be avoided as a pastor anyway. If the church cannot pay him an adequate salary, he does not offer to make up the differences. It never ends and encourages the minister not to do his part when he could.

7. Make sure that any offer to give free or at a discount to the church or pastor is YOUR idea first and that you have not been goaded, blamed, or suggested. “Yes, I can help” or “No, I can’t afford it” go a long way in keeping you away from these weeds.

There are also reasons NOT to give to a Church.

1. Don’t give when the motivation is “time is short”, so you can help the church too.

2. Don’t give to a church where they tell you that once you give it, God decides what to do with it. In this case, just throw your money up in the air and what doesn’t go down belongs to God, the rest is yours.

3. Do not give to a church where only ONE Pastor, Minister or Apostle can account for everything. That is a formula for foolishness and your hard earned money is spent on anything from horses for the children to gold and toys for the shepherd.

4. Do not give to a church where after giving, it is NOT your business.

Of course, there are many good ministers who would not behave in this way. But those aren’t the ones that are going to leave you and your family crying behind closed doors. If you give to a minister or organization that shows no sense of responsibility for what he is actually doing with his hard-earned money…

Stay Home Away From Church…Save 10%

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