I found this very interesting article about how some of the high-flying icons of the prosperity gospel living in camp tithe have run into financial turbulence as of late.

• In Fort Worth, Texas, a review board ruled December 7 that Kenneth Copeland Ministries' $3.6 million jet did not have tax-exempt status. The ruling came after the ministry, whose 1,500-acre campus includes a $6 million church-owned lakefront mansion, refused to release the salaries of Copeland, his wife, and others.

• In suburban Atlanta, Georgia, a sheriff's deputy served an eviction notice November 14 at Bishop Thomas Weeks III's Global Destiny Church. Court documents indicate the bishop, the ex-husband of televangelist Juanita Bynum, owed half a million dollars in back rent. The church has lost roughly half of its 3,400 members since Weeks and Bynum's 2007 fight in a hotel parking lot, in which Weeks was accused of pushing, choking, and beating his then-wife.

• In Tampa, Florida, Without Walls International Church—which once attracted 23,000 worshipers—has shrunk drastically after co-pastors Randy and Paula White announced in 2007 they were divorcing. The church faces an uncertain future after the Evangelical Christian Credit Union began foreclosure proceedings November 4 and demanded repayment of a $12 million loan on the church's property.

• In suburban Minneapolis on November 18, Living Word Christian Center pastor Mac Hammond won the first stage of a court battle with the Internal Revenue Service to keep his salary private. Yet in 2008, he was forced to put his private jet up for sale and cut Living Word's hour-long television show in half to save money amid falling contributions.

J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine had this to say. "I believe the charismatic movement, of which I am a part, is in the midst of a dramatic overhaul. God is shaking us." Grady predicts the movement will look much different in a few years as it refocuses on evangelism and overcoming what he calls the distraction of "materialism, flashy self-promotion, and foolish carnality." In his view, the notion that "God blesses us so we can be a blessing" is biblical. What is needed, he believes, is a shift to a more selfless movement where people "realize that God wants to bless us so that we can feed the poor, lift up the broken, and transform society. We need that kind of prosperity," he said.

We've all been saying this for a long time, but it looks like some in the mainstream Christian world are finally starting to realize it as well.  You can only preach health and wealth without results for so long.  When you tell people to give, give, give but only the person who is doing the telling is prospering, people will eventually wake up.  Throw in tough economic times and the wheels begin to fall off.  The more of these false prophets that go away, the better off we all will be.

Chris sends in this follow-up article on Christian Faith Center's new helipad.

The church sensing some backlash sought to clarify the use of the helicopter:

The church will use the helistop only on major religious holidays and for special guest speakers, said Hulsmann, owner of Abbey Road Group Land Development Services. Another case would be a special event, such as Wendy Treat’s birthday, so she could be at both campuses for services, Hulsmann said.

So, no worries, folks. This will only be used on religious holidays and the Pastor's birthday.  You know, Christ's Birthday and um, Pastor Wendy's Birthday. What? What? That's the same thing.

This is actually par for the course for a pastor who once uttered: "When God looks into the Mirror, He sees Me. When I look into the Mirror I see God." God looks into the mirror, He sees me! When I look into the mirror I see God!," -Casey Treat

A mega-church in Minnesota is being investigated by the IRS for using funds to purchase a plane for the pastor, and also for making inappropriate political statements from the pulpit.

Mac Hammond inspires his congregation with the "prosperity gospel," a version of the good news in which following Christ leads to material wealth. With 9,000 members as of last year, a Bible college, elementary and high schools, a drug-treatment clinic, and a television audience reached through KARE-11, Living Word seems showered in God-given riches. The church bulletin proclaims a weekly operating income need of $319,822—or $16.6 million a year. Hammond, too, is a poster boy for his message. Though churches are not required to report the earnings of their pastors to the public, Hammond has garnered enough to donate almost $2.5 million back to his church.

But recently, the very prosperity Hammond preaches has gotten him into a sticky situation with the Internal Revenue Service. Living Word and the taxman are in the midst of a federal court battle over the church's refusal to comply with an IRS tax summons. The government wants to know the details of an arrangement in which the church helped Hammond finance an airplane, then leased it from him and paid the fees to keep it in a hangar. The IRS also wants information on loans Living Word made to Hammond—including helping to pay for his residence—which the church partially forgave.

If the IRS determines that the airplane deal or the personal loans violated rules prohibiting excessive financial benefit to insiders of 501(c)3 tax-exempt organizations, Hammond could be forced to pay the church back, as well as pay a fine to the IRS. In the worst case, Living Word could lose its tax-exempt status, though that scenario is unlikely.

I don't really care if the pastor promotes a specific politician. For what it's worth, I think churches should be free to speak out publicly about who they support politically. However, it really bothers me when churches act and operate like businesses, yet don't have to pay taxes.

In my perfect world, churches would be able to speak out in support of political figures, and they would also be taxed like any other business.   

Here's another fun article mocking the Prosperity Gospel:

It is the notion that all you need is hard work and you will prosper – except in this case, "hard work" gets replaced with prayer and large donations to your church.

Seen that way, Prosperity lies somewhere on the same spectrum of fashionable, particularly American optimism as the 1990s self-help movement, Tony Robbins-style motivational speaking, and the kind of ultra-positive thinking stressed by bestsellers like The Secret, all of which teach that you should "fake it until you make it." Think Oprah and How to Make Friends and Influence People, but guaranteed by the love of Jesus Christ, and you've got an idea of the doctrine's seductiveness.

…a preacher might say, `If you give this offering, God will give you a house.' And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy."

My two great interests the last several years have been the "prosperity doctrine" and the "housing bubble".  It's quite fun to see them intersect.

Lending standards and poor risk management had much more to do with this financial crisis than the prosperity gospel, but it has certainly played a part.  The question going forward is how these churches survive? Will their congregants continue to tithe even when they know they won't be blessed financially. My guess, is some of them will. But a great many won't.

It seems the recent financial collapse is inspring greater outrage against those who preach the prosperity gospel.

From Belief.net, a blog post titled To the Christian Leaders of America:

For the last thirty years, selfishness and private greed in the material world has been mirrored and supported by individualistic and privatized spirituality.  We have been bombarded by the heresy of the 'me first', self help, prosperity Gospel.   David Van Biema just wrote a startling piece in Time magazine as to how the the Prosperity Gospel played a role in the subprime mortgage crisis as predatory lenders fed upon poor congregants' magical belief that God had provided them with a home they could not afford.  Once the economic reality crashed in on their spiritual fantasy, it caused them more poverty, heart ache, and a spiritual crisis to add to their financial one.  Perhaps now the world will recognize the prosperity preachers for the snake oil salesman that they are.

Notice the especially harsh language. It is now becoming much more acceptable to criticize Pastors who preach the prosperity gospel. I like it.

The City Church is hosting their annual, "Give Us Money and God Will Make You Rich" Conference at the end of October. 

Below is the letter Pastor Wendell Smith writes to the congregation challenging them to attend the conference. It's so great, I'm not changing a word. You can't parody, parody:

A Letter from Pastor Wendell Smith

I was personally challenged recently by one of our key business men, when he said to me, "Let's not let the present economy dictate what kind of church we are, Pastor. Let's encourage our people to keep giving and sowing." It was like cold water in my face when I was dizzy and stunned! I needed that. I actually got riled up at the devil for doing what he is doing right now in American culture and around the world. Beyond other things, and his typical destructive nature, he is trying to hinder the propagation of the Gospel! I say "No"! How about you?

This may be one of the most challenging financial times we have faced in a long time, and for some young people, the first financial blip on their radar screen since they were born! But this is not the end, it is just a new chapter in the testing of our faith, to see what Jehovah Jireh can do for His people even now! If we ever needed this conference, it is now.

Pastors, Church leaders, Business people- be here. Make whatever changes are necessary in your schedule and on your calendar- and be here for this Conference. The Bishop who purchased the former home of the LA Lakers will be here. A Pastor who has been a financial Coach to thousands will be here for two dynamic sessions to help us get through this time. Our Marketplace Team will be here to encourage you and pray for you and your team personally. And I will be here- and I am stirred up and loaded with the Word of the Lord for the Church in the midst of a financial test. C'mon. You be here too! This will be life changing and church saving.

The Gospel depends on our obedience and faith.

Pastor Wendell Smith
The City Church

Someone's getting nervous…

A professor at Boston University defends the prosperity gospel:

People generally know what is good for them, better than the well-meaning outsider. So do buyers in the marketplace, especially if they are poor. Thus the "consumers" of the prosperity gospel generally know what they are "buying." Specifically, they know that the betterment being promised them is not an illusion, and they know and don't care that their preacher has a swimming pool and drives a Mercedes. If they put money in the collection plate, they generally believe that they are getting good value in return. Thus it is not only patronizing to see them as dupes and victims; it is empirically misleading.

Basically, he's applying a free-market approach to the Prosperity Gospel. However, he underestimates the powerful hold pastors have over their congregation. In a non-religious world, the free-market theory works fine. However, in the confines of the church, where guilt and fear reign, it's not so much a free-market as it is extortion.

Integrity Bank, a christ-centered Bank in Georgia, failed last Friday and was shut down by state regulators.

The banks philosophy:

"We felt if we prayed and obeyed God’s word and did what He asked, that He would help us be successful,” the bank’s founder, Steve Skow, told the Journal-Constitution in 2005. 

Mr. Skow would do well to learn the word's of Job, when God took away all his success.  

"Naked I have come from mothers womb and Naked I will depart. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Job 1:21

—- 

Atlanta Journal Constitution 

http://tinyurl.com/5tc5qy

Greetings, fellow Netizens! It is I, Belteshazzar, your newest and latest contributor to all things tithing here at City Business Church. I've been a long-time reader and commenter here and the Mortons have kindly asked me to lend a hand in creating new content. I've been commenting under the name Former Inner Circle Member (FICM), which was a rather vain moniker I'll humbly admit. I've decided to change my alias for a couple of reasons, mainly to get rid of the old awkward one, and also I was jealous of the other bloggers for having such cool super-hero sounding names. In the end, I chose "Belteshazzar" because it's a pretty good hint as to my true identity without giving it away completely. I have good reasons for remaining semi-anonymous, so I will neither confirm nor deny any guesses. If you think you know who I am, look me up on Facebook or email, I'm not hard to find. If you don't know who I am, well, it's probably not important.

I was a part of Bible Temple/City Bible Church for over 10 years. I went to a Christian High School and aspired to be in full-time ministry so I promptly went to Portland Bible College. That worked so well, after my first year I quit to spend the next year working off my tuition debt and figuring out what the heck I was going to do next. But I was still drinking the kool-aid and spent the next decade working my boney butt off trying to please God and the leaders of the church. Man, I did it all, youth ministry, music, mission trips, outreaches, small group leader, started a student group on my college campus, and spent 3 services on Sunday and 2 nights a week in meetings, on top of working at a Christian company and going to a real college. I did everything but actually take a paid staff position at the church. I say all that so that when people have reason to question me or the legitmacy of my complaints at CBC and MFI, or as they call it my "lack of unity", I want people to know that I'm not making this stuff up because I was offended by some off-hand remark or don't understand how things really work there under the big bubbles. I tried it all, and despite all the normal dysfunction of being in a church being run by imperfect people there is one "doctrine" they still teach that I am unable to forgive. I've forgiven all the other petty things done to me or said about, heck, I really don't care what they think of me. But I can't help but feel righteous rage that they still teach and promote tithing and prosperity over the Gospel of Christ. It's something I won't back down on, and I'm not about to apologize to them or anyone else for criticizing, mocking, or satirizing the teaching of tithing=wealth.

So, in the spirit of that, I'll leave you with something I hope you will think is funny or at least though provoking. There was an episode of South Park a few years back where the kids discovered that the Underpants Gnomes were stealing…well, underpants . When confronted, said gnomes gladly shared their business plan:

1. Collect underpants

2.  ?

3. Profit

With a little rearranging, we get…

1. Tithe

2. ?

3. Prosperity

For all the Bible quoting they do about how God will bless you if you give, phase 2 seems to be remarkably absent from this business plan. Next post, I discuss how tithing could actually be costing the church money in the long run.

I just had to post this.  These are serious responses from a blog I found about Sen. Grassley investigation into prosperity gospel preachers.  It is actually scary how brainwashed these people sound.  Reading through I almost threw up in my mouth, just a little. Its strange to me that at least 80% of the responders are women.

Gail H: When I first heard about the investigation, I was stunned. Then very upset- what if it were true that the Copelands and others have taken us for fools? Then, God spoke to my heart and I realized, they have not made fools of us or taken us for what we have. The reason for Sen. Grassley’s attack is nothing more than satan rearing his ugly head once again. You see, if we are downtrodden, in ill health and suffering, why would any one want to follow Jesus. Sure rewards in Heaven are nice, but what about right NOW? Do you want to follow someone that leads you into despair and sickness? Prosperity means so much more than the media could ever fathom.

Maxine Wilford: I have been supporting KCM for many years, and I have never heard Brother Copeland beg for any money. So I say to Mr Robert Luchow, you do not know the Copelands and it is best for you to stay out of this. God does not take kindly to people(ignorant or not)touching His anointed one.

Bettie: Ihave followed and supported the Copeland's ministry since 1977. I have been a good Berean and checked their teaching with the scriptures and never found a questionable doctrine. I will do whatever I can to help stop this illegal persecution. Certainly I will join others in prayer and God will hear from heaven and heal our land.

Tammy Roig: I am fully behind KCM. I truly believe this is more a personal attack than a religious one. Sen. Grassley is just using the power that was given him to pursue and deep seated jealously of successful ministers. I have been following KCM for six years and have never seen them "begging", "pleading" or "tricking" people into sending them money. I believe that KCM, Joyce Meyer and Creflo Dollar are all Godly ministries that function under Godly principals and are not "fooling" their partners and givers.

Deborah: We have supported KCM for about 15 years. They have changed our lives because of what they have taught us about The Word of God. The Senator fails to understand we have the mind of Christ, along with The Word, along with the teaching we receive from these ministries. I think the greatest way to settle this issue is to vote these life long Officials out of office and put in people who understand the phrase "One Nation Under God…."

Karen: If these ministers are blessed with prosperity, I am happy for them. It is God's reward for the work they do. I could not put a price on the positive changes in my life as a result of these ministries. Throughout this attack, we must be continue to believe and trust God.

Sharon: This is all out spiritual warfare. Satan is having a temper tantrum because the good news of God's love is covering the earth and the church is being prepared for what we need to know in these last days. I am humbled and honored to watch KCM walk in love yet stand firm both legally and in the Spirit.