Robert Morris Issues Money-Back Guarantee on Tithe - But Says Christians MUST Tithe to Avoid Divorce, Losing Kids, Jobs to the "Devourer"

"But please, please, please hear me. I'll make you a deal. All right? You tithe for the rest of this year to Gateway Church, and if you're not fully satisfied, I'll give you your money back."
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There really is no end to how mega church pastors will abuse their congregations spiritually to extract as much money from them as they can. We've seen plenty of examples from Perry Noble, Mac Brunson, Steve Gaines, Ed Young, and even Robert Jeffress.

Now I introduce to you Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church, a mega, multi-campus church in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He too, is using a false tithing doctrine to scare people into forking over more money to his church - but on May 21st he offered a money-back guarantee for those who do tithe for the rest of 2011 but end up not satisfied with the results at the end of the year (Click here and go to the 5/21/11 sermon to listen to Morris' entire message).

Robert preached two consecutive Sundays at Perry Noble's church May 15th and May 22nd on tithing and first-fruits giving. Robert teaches that you must give the FIRST 10% of your income (literally, the first check you write, the first withdraw after the pay deposit) in order for you to give an acceptable gift to God.

But on May 21st, Robert was preaching at his own church on tithing. And in that sermon he told his peeps that they MUST give 10% of their income to be blessed, and to in fact avoid calamity in their lives. He uses the same tactic Steve Gaines does at Belleuve Baptist Church - with a straight face he tells them that their money is all cursed of God if they don't tithe. How do they remove the curse? Easy, move the decimal on your paycheck one place to the left, and write a check in that amount to their church.

But what was unique about Robert's sermon on May 21st at his church, is he made a money-back satisfaction pledge to his people:

"But please, please, please hear me. I'll make you a deal. All right? You tithe for the rest of this year to Gateway Church, and if you're not fully satisfied, I'll give you your money back."

That is great. People of Gateway Church, take him up on that at the end of the year - but it is a pretty safe guarantee, since so few Christians actually do tithe.

But the interesting thing about his money-back guarantee is that it exposes the very weakness of his entire tithing doctrine and disproves it's premise. The premise of his demand for 10% of your money, is that you must give the first fruit, the first 10%, because it belongs to God, that it is not yours. But apparently you really are NOT giving it to God, you're giving it to Robert. Because if you were giving it to God, how could Robert say that HE (Robert) will give it back to you? I thought it was God's? How does Robert take God's money and give it back to someone? He misues the bible to make you think there are "curses" on you, your family, and your money if you don't exactly follow his interpretation of the bible regarding how you give your money. But if that is true, then wouldn't HE be under a curse for offering to give God's money BACK to someone that doesn't own it? No, because there are no curses, and HE KNOWS IT, and now we know he knows it with his get-your-money-back pledge.

You aren't giving it to God, you're giving it to the 501c(3) organization of Gateway Church, whose CEO is Robert Morris. But he wants you to think you are giving it to God, so that he can use the Bible to command that you give it to his 501c(3).

But then, like so many other mega church pastors are doing these days, he tries to tell the people that if they fail to tithe it might cause their marriages to fail, their kids to be lost, and their jobs and income to be in jeopardy. Like Mac Brunson and Steve Gaines, this man preaches that failure to tithe will cause you to have calamity befall you.

He says:

"The only reason I'm asking you to do this (tithe) is for your own good....I'm tired of hearing about families that are losing jobs and losing income and losing family and losing kids and losing marriages, because the devourer is devouring them. And he tells us very simply 'if you bring the tithe to the storehouse I (God) will rebuke the devourer for your sake.' It's a pretty good deal for 10%."

He may be tired of seeing his church members not blessed and suffering. But I'm tired of abusive megachurch pastors lying to their congregations, making them think that their hard times are because they do not tithe.

In Robert's scheme, no faith is required, really. Just fork over 10% to Robert's church, and you will be protected. This is what the mafia used to do to keep people in line in their neighborhoods - give the mafia their share and you'll be protected. It is raw scare tactics. It is a shameless con game to make people think that by giving money to Robert and his church, that they are paying off a holy mob boss and protecting their family. It is what the Roman Catholic Church did with indulgences in Luther's day.

Robert says the tithe will allow God to rebuke "the devourer". But really, do you know who is the devourer, Christian? It is these mega church pastors who can't stand to let you purpose in your heart, moved by the Holy Spirit, how much to give to your church. They feel it is their place to shame you, to lie to you, and to scare you into giving what they want you to give.

So Robert Morris, look into the mirror. Perhaps YOU are the devourer of your church members' lives.

Angry Preachers: They Don't Like Controversial People - Mac Calls 'em "Nuts", Demands People Pay No Attention

"Stay away from a factious man....somebody who is constantly trying to find something in the body to create controversy and upset about....go to him once, go to him a second time, but at that point, listen, [yelling] DO SOMETHING WITH HIM!!"
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Some preachers are calm. Some are slow and deliberate. Some are animated.

Some are logical, and some are a bit loud.

And some are just plain ticked off.

In the video above you will see Mac letting off a little steam, because apparently there are some "factious" men on the loose who are stirring up controversy, and Mac doesn't like it one bit.

Preaching out of Titus, Mac yells that the scripture is clear that the church should "do something with him"...about some unnamed "factious man"....but then later says they should "leave him alone", and "have nothing to do with him".

Funny, Mac's marketing man Maurilio Amorim said on TBN last week that his calling is to help pastors who "don't know any better, and who don't have any tools" to connect the gospel to their community. Please, someone Tweet Maurilio to let him know he still has some work to do down in Jax. Apparently he still has a pastor-client who doesn't know any better, and thinks aggressive finger pointing, yelling about factious people, telling people who not to listen to, and calling people "nuts" will reach his community with the gospel.

I have to wonder....just who is this "factious man" Mac is speaking about that is on the loose? What are these controversies being stirred up? And notice: no indication that they would discuss in love, or answer questions, or sit down and work things out. Nope. And nothing about loving the person. Just an angry preacher telling his church leaders to get the factious man to toe the line, or else "do something with him". Why not, "love him"? Nope, in FBC Jax's playbook, it is "do something with him".

Whoever said factious man is, Mac absolutely does not want his followers to listen to him. He says in the video:

"Stay away from him [that factious man]. Give yourself to profitable teaching...and stop these silly arguments, and pay no attention to these NUTS that are out here that are trying to do nothing but create controversy in the church."

There you have it, FBC Jax. Discipline Committee, you have your orders. Find the factious man, this "nut", do something with him, then leave him alone and have nothing to do with him (and his family presumably), and please, for the love of God, pay no attention to the any other NUTS who don't agree with your pastor.

And then pass a Deacon's Resolution and have everyone vote on it.

"FBC Jax - That Jacksonville May Know Church Discipline"

Maurilio Makes an Appearance on TBN: His Role is to Help Pastors Who Don't Have Any Tools to Connect the Gospel to the Community

"Sometimes because pastors don't know any better, they don't have any tools, they don't know how to put the pieces together, how to really connect the great story of the gospel to the community. So I felt a burden to do that..." Maurilio Amorim

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Maurilio Amorim, church marketing consultant, was interviewed by Rice Broocks of TBN on May 26, 2011. Below is just a few minutes of the 30-minute interview. To watch the entire interview click here , select the May 26, 2011 broadcast, and fast forward to the one hour, 10 minute mark.

Many of the good people at FBC Jax and other churches that have had their offerings used by their church leadership to pay for Maurilio's services, probably have never seen or heard him. Now you can, and he gives the story of how he was called into his ministry and how he views his role in your church.

Maurilio was brought in day 1 at FBC Jax after Mac Brunson was hired. Maurilio has been a trusted friend and advisor to the Brunson family, as he was a consultant for Brunson at First Baptist Dallas. When he came to FBC Jax, Maurilio played a key role in reshaping the staff, interviewing all ministers to make recommendations on who stayed and who did not, and how the organization should be restructured. He played a very key role behind the scenes the first year Brunson was at FBC Jax. And of course, he along with Trey Brunson transformed the pastor's conference into a marketing bonanza, selling promotions packages that included the selling of messages on the church's screens and actually selling the benefit of having the "emcee" mention a ministry or product from the pulpit.

In the interview Maurilio speaks of how he received the vision from God for his company. Like many of the mighty men of God these days, he received his vision on a mountain top. But unlike Mac I don't think Maurilio's vision occurred while riding a donkey to the top.

I have said before that the premise of his assistance given to churches seems to be standard Marketing 101. We're told by Al Mohler that pastors are "appointed by God", and we're told that pastors are not "hired" but rather are "called by God" himself to pastor a church....yet we also must believe that our called and appointed pastors need to hire a guy like Maurilio to connect the gospel message to the community. I thought the pastor was called, and trained for years and years in seminary on how to teach and reach and preach. But apparently these pastors don't have the tools, or "don't know any better" and they need someone like Maurilio:

"The gospel is alive and there is dynamic things happening. Sometimes because pastors don't know any better, they don't have any tools, they don't know how to put the pieces together, how to really connect the great story of the gospel to the community. So I felt a burden to do that, to become that person, to create a company that would help pastors, ministries, colleges....to help tell their story. But more than that, how to connect the gospel to the community."

Unbelievable. It is so sad that in this day of church marketing, our CEO pastors need to hire a marketer to help them "connect the gospel to the community". I thought that was what they earned MDiv's and PhD's for at seminary.

Perhaps the day will come when our churches stop being run by CEO pastors and their hired marketing consultants to achieve certain revenue and giving unit targets.

"Holy Ground" Dirt from FBC Dallas Construction Site is Given to Members as a Reminder to "Pray" (and Pay) for the New Church Construction

Twenty years ago I used to think there was a wide gap between mega churches and televangelist ministries.

Used to be that phony evangelists like Peter Popoff would be the only ones sending people vials containing "holy water", "Dead Sea Salt" or pieces of "holy cloth".

Now, First Baptist Dallas is giving members little vials containing "Holy Ground", inside of a "prayer tent" as shown at left.

What is this? Well, that is a foldable "prayer tent", with a little vial filled with dirt under the tent. But not just any dirt. This is special, "holy" dirt.

How is the dirt in the vial "holy" and called "Holy Ground"? It is dirt from the construction site of the new $115 million dollar First Baptist Dallas campus. I'm not kidding. I couldn't have made this up myself. Apparently someone went out to the construction site and filled buckets with the construction site dirt, bought some vials, and filled thousands of vials with the dirt. What a tremendous service in the Lord's work, putting construction site dirt in little glass vials. I'm sure Jesus was pleased with that project. If FBC Dallas has any extras, perhaps they can be handed out to the homeless, or sold on eBay.

At the church's website announcing that the pastor is going to give these vials inside of the "prayer tent" to attenders on May 15th, they say:

"Dr. Jeffress has a special "prayer tent" to give each person who attends Sunday's services that includes a vial of dirt from the construction site - "Holy Ground" reminding everyone to pray for the construction of the new campus and the future ministry of First Baptist Dallas."

Notice, it is the pastor who is going to give it out. Just like it was Peter Popoff personally sending you the "holy water", right? Thank you, pastor, for the vial of "Holy Ground". And I wonder if the statement above contains a typo...is this a reminder for people to "pray" for the new campus? Or did they mean a reminder to PAY for the campus? After all, the "Holy Ground" was handed out on the first anniversary of the "commitment Sunday", to remind people of their commitment to pray, er, pay for it!

Yes, someone on staff at First Baptist Dallas - or maybe it was one of those high-priced "generosity consultants" - came up with the bright idea that they could keep the peeps motivated to pray and pay for the new church by handing out a vial of "holy land" dirt inside of a "prayer tent". Maybe they got the idea when they read that the Catholics were installing vials of the pope's holy blood as a relic in a Polish church.

This is just a shameless gimmick. It is an insult to people's intelligence, to infer some sort of "holiness" to the actual spot where the church is being built. The bible refers to "holy ground" as being a spot where God's presence was on Mount Horeb where God spoke to Moses. A church construction site is not "holy ground" any more than the pope's blood is special or holy.

"Guilt Gifts" - A Marketing Strategy

FBC Dallas members, let's consider what this is all about from a pure marketing standpoint. In this age of church marketing, you need to consider the motives of your church leadership in going to all of this trouble to make you a vial filled with dirt in a prayer tent for display at your house. What your church and their marketers have done is use the strategy of giving you a "guilt gift". Non-profits have engaged in this for a long time. It is a practice that some fundraising groups discourage.

Marketers have coined the term "Guilt Gifts" to describe unsolicited gifts given to potential donors to create even the slightest amount of obligation for a return financial gift. Marketers recommend this strategy when they believe that the net increase in giving from the guilt created, is greater than the total cost of preparing and sending the gift. You certainly didn't ask for the church to dig up dirt and fill a vial and prepare a prayer tent, but they did it and they gave it to you. While this particular gift may not include a direct solicitation for money, the connection is obvious: church members committed future gifts to the church construction, and on the one-year anniversary of your commitment you are given a gift that took time and effort to prepare. It is more than a magnet or a card. It is a vial with special dirt from the construction site that YOU committed to fund. The pastor mashed the big red button and blew up the church creating the dirt, based on YOUR commitment. That vial represents what you said you would do to rebuild. Masterful marketing strategy in giving you the vial of dirt created when your pastor mashed the big red button.

A blogger here wrote about this tactic used by a charity raising money for children in Peru. A little bracelet is sent to the potential donor, and it is implied that a poor Peruvian girl made it. The blogger wonders if the bracelet was made in Peru, by the girl, as it is implied in the letter. Obviously it is not, it is a gimmick sent to thousands of potential donors with an expected net increase in giving greater than the cost of preparing the gifts.

I hope the vial of "Holy Ground" in the prayer tent has a removable lid. If so, maybe in days to come church members will be instructed to sprinkle the Holy Ground on their yard or on their doorstep to sanctify their home, or to smear it on their door posts, or to sprinkle some in their coffee.

Or as Peter Popoff instructed people to do with packets of holy "Dead Sea Salt", maybe church members can sprinkle the "Holy Ground" on their checks that they send in to FBC Dallas for the new church construction.

One last piece of advice to FBC Dallas members: do NOT carry this vial in your car, and always keep it WITH the prayer tent. Otherwise, it might be mistaken for something other than dirt, and a police officer might be quite skeptical when you try to explain that you have a vial of "Holy Ground" dirt from your church construction site. When you explain THAT to the officer, he will likely think you've been smoking the contents and will haul you off to jail. :)

Ironically, "Liberal Media" Has Much to Teach the "Men of God" About Public Repentance for Public Words

Readers, if you've ever wondered what it looks like when a public figure issues a heart-felt, genuine apology for hurtful words spoken in public, watch the video below of talk-show host Ed Schultz publicly apologizing for calling conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut" on his national radio show.

I can't recall ever seeing a more genuine, unscripted, unconditional apology by a public figure for a misdeed. You really have to see this.

What a strange day we live in, when famous, very public Christians who misbehave, or say and do hurtful things, can't issue public apologies for their public misdeeds. They negotiate settlements, or they remain silent, let their friends defend them, make themselves the victim, or slink away to another church or ministry.

Thank you Ed Schultz for giving our country an example of what it looks like when a broken man issues a public apology for hurtful words. You have taught Christians more about humility and forgiveness and repentance in this five-minute video than most mega-church pastors will in a lifetime.