Former Inner Circle Member sends in this article about the increase of religious fraud throughout American churches. Evidently, Christians are gullible. Who knew?
Snip:
Typically, a con artist will target the pastor first, by making a generous donation and appealing to the minister's desire to expand the church or its programs, according to Joseph Borg, director of the Alabama Securities Commission, who played a key role in breaking up the Greater Ministries scam.
If the pastor invests, churchgoers view it as a tacit endorsement. The con man, often promising double digit returns, will chip away at resistance among church members by suggesting they can donate part of their earnings to the congregation, Borg says.
"Most folks think `I'm going to invest in some overseas deal or real estate deal and part of that money is going to the church and I get part. I don't feel like I'm guilty of greed,'" Borg says.
If a skeptical church member openly questions a deal, that person is often castigated for speaking against a fellow Christian.
And who's most at risk you ask?
Investigators say all denominations are at risk, but the most susceptible communities are ones where members are deeply engaged in church activities, such as service programs and small group prayer, giving con artists plenty of chance to ingratiate themselves with congregants.
Often, perpetrators are so successful building an image as good Christians that churchgoers won't cooperate with law enforcement authorities even after the crime is revealed.
"Money has a way of blinding objectivity, even for we who are believers," Minkow says.
But the church gives out food baskets at Thanksgiving time. And the congregation is really happy. And the worship is so wonderful. And its such a warm community.
So really, who are we to object?
At first I thought this article was about Bill Sizemore, then I realized it might not be.
No, it is.
Check out Carlton Pearson’s new doctrine. Carmen used to be tight with him. Now he is ascribing to the doctrine that there is no hell…
“Carlton Pearson seemed to take his associates by surprise, when he announced that he held to those views. Since his fellow charismatics do not normally teach such a deviant doctrine, at least not in such a blatant manner, either they would have to change their teaching in order to conform to his, or they would have to ignore his doctrine and accept him on the basis of being a charismatic, or they would have to disavow what he teaches. Many have preferred the latter course, including his friend, T.D. Jakes, who is no paragon of theological clarity himself. No stranger to deviant doctrines and outrageous claims by its own leadership, even Oral Roberts University, Carlton Pearson’s alma mater, was forced to take action and removed him from its board of directors. Precipitating a large exodus from his church and a drop in attendance to his Azusa Conferences, Carlton Pearson brought to the forefront the deep roots of error that were the core of his theology which he inherited from his earliest memories. His core beliefs came out of the Church of God in Christ, and the charismatic nature of his faith along with the adoption of a belief in continuing revelation from God provided his foundation of sand, in which a true theology was non-existent and would eventually lead to error of the highest type of heresy.”
oops.. here is the link where that came from , but there are others, Dateline NBC did a show on him the other night.
http://www.ondoctrine.com/10pearso.htm
OH MY…. look what I just found on Craig’s List….
Worship music school looking for quality pianos!
——————————————————————————–
Reply to: sale-194516810@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-08-15, 12:08PM PDT
Portland Bible College is a contemporary church worship and music school expanding our resources for students to raise up worship leaders, pastors, musicians and songwriters who will influence the world for Christ. We currently have limited amount of pianos to offer the students for practice and lessons, and are exploring all means to upgrade them and provide a creative environment for worship, music, and songwriting.
If you have a quality used or NEW (please not broken/missing keys, strings, etc.) upright piano that is fairly transportable and in good condition you would like to donate, please contact Jeremy Koepke @ 503.382.1910 or email the Craigslist link provided. Donations are tax-deductible. God bless and thank-you for your consideration!
That statement bugs me. Seems to suggest that in order to be “orthodox”, one has to believe that God doesn’t teach/enlighten us any more. What is ‘revelation’ other than God showing us a truth we failed to see before? Might have been right there, under our noses, but for one reason or another we were blind to it.
I thought this quote was the most telling:
Oh, and CBC can afford new plasma screens but PBC students are still banging away on pianos older than they are!
Ways To Tell Your If Your Pastor Is Cheap:
Notice any of these from City Bible yet? Keep an eye out!
-After shaking your hand he counts his fingers.
-Before counting the tithe money he crosses his eyes so he’ll see double.
-To save money on his laundry bill, he puts soap flakes in all
his pockets and walks through the automatic car wash when the church youth group holds a car wash.
-He married a skinny girl so he could buy a small wedding ring.
-Even if he were in a canoe at Christian camp he wouldn’t tip.
-He buys one of the portable electric batteries that you can charge up for emergencies, like jumpstarting your car or running appliances off of during camping trips, and brings it to the church everyday and lets it charge in his office. He then uses it to run the lights during services.
-He tries to time all of his bodily eliminations to occur at church so that he uses church water for flushing etc.
-When he goes out to dinner with church members he always orders ice water with a lemon – unless someone else is paying.
-He patches any holes in the church roof by putting duct tape over them.
-He asks for the disposable latte cups back to reuse.
-He uses a taxi as a church shuttle bus for the elderly and handicapped…and charges them the cab fare.
“Whatever the cash salary or total compensation package being offered to a pastor it contains a hidden message. Your hidden message says that you appreciate the work of your pastor, that you want your pastor to stay with you for a long time, or that you are ready for a new pastor. Most church leaders I know take seriously their God given responsibility to provide for their pastors, but there are many who financially hold hostage the shepherd of God.”
This is what the pastor said in his sermon entitled Cheap Churches. I think that is the atitude of most pastors today. The idea is “I deserve it and if you don’t give it to me you are financially holding me hostage.”
The link to the above is http://www.pastormassenburg.com/The%20Naked%20Church/Chapter%207%20-%20Cheap%20Churches.htm
I heard this on the radio the other day.
Does any of it sound familar?
I don’t know if I did the link right. If I didn’t, it’s at npr.org and search “preaching to the pocketbook”
okay, sorry I really messed that up. I need to take a class or something.
The Next Big Church Scandal:
Money-hungry church leaders take advantage of the devotion of the poor.
Film at 11.