Giving Money to Your Church is "Trusting God with Your Finances?" Come On!!!

Readers: I am going to be posting some previous Watchdog posts that might prove helpful during the coming days when pastors will be ramping up their fund raising tactics.

Enjoy!

“How can you trust God with your salvation, if you can’t trust him with your finances?”

Another tool of manipulation used by charlatans and their enablers is the rhetorical question above, or variations or implications of it. I’ve heard this question, or some form of it, so many times by so many pastors, that I’m not going to attribute it to anyone in particular. You have probably heard it too, or will soon, if not already.  Usually, the pastor will trot out this seemingly logical rhetorical question during his tithing sermon. Or when you are not doing what he wants. The implication is that you are indeed trusting Jesus for salvation (which we all certainly should do), but you are not trusting God with your finances (because you are not giving enough).  You should do both, right? WRONG.

Here are a few obvious problems with this type of question and this dangerous line of thinking.  First, and I mean number one, is that the pastor is not God. The 501(c)(3) that hired him and pays him is not God.  Therefore, how does writing your church a check equate to trusting God with your finances?  In other words, another way to say this is for the pastor to say: 

“You can’t trust me for your salvation, and you can’t trust this 501(c)(3) for your salvation, so why in the world would you trust your finances to us?”  

But they don’t want you to hear it that way.  They want you to be coerced into agreeing with a statement about trusting God with your salvation (which we all must do), with giving money to the church to pay its overhead, salaries, debt and a small percentage going to actual ministry to the lost, poor, hurting, orphan and widow.

Second, in answer to your question pastor and enablers, is that we should only be trusting in God for things God does, and not for things God does not do.  Only God can bring salvation.  The doctor can’t save us. The policeman can’t save us.  The auto mechanic can’t save us.  We don’t go to those people for salvation.  We go to God. We trust God with our salvation because He is the only one that can possibly save us. Does that answer your question brother pastor?    

Third, the reverse implications of this question are just as true as the one your pastor is trying to make.  Have you ever stopped to consider that you don’t trust God with your high blood pressure? Of course not.  If you have HBP, you take a pill every single day, day in and day out, for the rest of your life.  But your arrogant preacher isn’t asking you “If you don’t trust God with your HBP, how can you trust him with your salvation?” It makes no sense to do so does it?  What about your safety. Do you pray for God’s protection and then live in a gated community, hire a team of security officers, carry a concealed weapon, lock your doors at night, and stay out of dangerous places?   Do you call the police, or rely on your local police and Sheriff’s department to keep your city safe?  Then you are not trusting God for your protection are you?  But is your preacher asking you "How can you trust God with your finances if you don’t trust him with your security?"  The biggest slice of our city budget here in Jacksonville is for our brave and highly trained police force.  We are not trusting God with this vital area, we are trusting our police.  And what about your finances?  Are you getting up and going to work, working hard long hours day after day, month after month, year after year to earn money so you can have food, clothing, shelter and transportation?  Then you my friend, are trusting in your efforts, reaping what you are sowing, and not trusting in God (or your pastor, or your church) to put food on your table, support your family, and pay your taxes that pay those indispensable police men and women.

What about technology and transportation?  You love the advances that science and “the world” have made in technology, cell phones, computers, automobiles, river boats, cruise ships, airplanes, and medicine.  Yet, you criticize science and scientists who don’t believe the same facts you do about your religion.  You certainly trust them when you get in your car, get on that plane, and use that cell phone to call for help, or perform your job duties.  So has your pastor asked “How can you trust God with your salvation if you don’t trust him with your transportation needs, or technology needs, or physical needs?"  If your car breaks down, do you trust God to fix it?  Of course not. 

The question makes no sense except as one to try and manipulate people that love Jesus and want to serve God.

Do Christians go to the doctor when we are sick.  Do surgeons save our lives if we need surgery? Or do we “trust God” to heal us?  Does the Mayo clinic call pastors or faith healers to heal those in need of a heart bypass? Seen any faith healers over at Wolfson’s childrens hospital's cancer treatment center?  What about Autism and Alzheimer’s disease that afflicts our young and old?  Are you trusting in the church, or God, to heal those conditions? Or are you hoping science will find a cure through research and education and training? And are you elderly or disabled.  Guess what, your government is paying your disability and your social security and providing police and fire protection and paving your roads, and paying our military, and providing parks, and feeding the poor and on and on. But your pastor criticizes them while doing none of the above. But he does advertise the Holy Land trip he is leading and the cruise he will be taking.  Makes you sick doesn't it?  No?  Why not?

So, the better question then the one your pastor asks above, is why trust your pastor/church with your finances at all?  Why trust them to do anything that you actually rely on and need each day.  They don’t protect you, they don’t pay your bills, they don’t heal you, they don’t transport you, they don’t build roads, they don’t provide parks, they don’t support the poor or disabled, and they don't do anything for you at all.  So next time your pastor asks you “How can you trust God with your salvation if you can’t trust him with your finances?”, you can tell him to his face, or quietly reply in your heart: “That’s easy. I only trust God for what only He can do, which is my salvation. And you preacher, and this church, are not God.  So I agree, I don’t trust you with my finances, but I easily trust God with my salvation.”  Next question please.

So Your Daughter Married a Man of Whom You Don't Approve

Well, it happened. As much as  you thought it couldn't happen, your beloved daughter married a man that you can't stand. She had dated another man for quite a long time, and you were sure, almost 100% positive she would pick THAT guy - the "right" guy, in your eyes.

Instead, she started dating a different guy. You didn't think too much of it, you thought it was kind of funny at first, because you knew this "loser" didn't have a chance at your daughter. You didn't object too loudly, as you just knew your daughter wouldn't marry the guy you didn't approve of. She is too smart, you thought. No way. He's dreaming if he ever thinks he can win your daughter over.

After all, this guy doesn't share your values. He doesn't work as hard as you. He's not well spoken, a bit of a bumbler and stumbler with his words, and there is just something about him that makes him untrustworthy in your eyes.

He has a bit of a checkered past. He was perhaps a womanizer in the past, although now he seems much more stable and is beyond that phase.

The guy you thought would be your wife's husband was just as surprised as you! He can't believe that his long-time girlfriend picked this loser. To this day, he still hasn't come to grips with his loss. He just can't see how this could happen. He realizes now there were some areas that he just didn't pay attention to; there were some warning signs that she felt a bit abandoned and forgotten by him, but he thought he already had her heart captured and locked up.

But he was wrong.

The wedding has happened. Your daughter picked the wrong guy, you think. Although he has pledged his love and has made many promises to your daughter, you don't believe him. You think he's a fake.

But it is too late now. He is now your daughter's husband.

He is now YOUR son-in-law. He is now part of the family, and has promised to care for and protect your daughter.

So now what do you do NOW?

Well, you could never let your daughter forget that she picked the wrong man. You could at every opportunity remind your daughter what a loser he really is. You can try to find more character flaws and bring them up at every family function. You can try to persuade the other family members, day after day, that this guy is not worthy to be in your extended family, or to be the husband of your daughter.

Yes, you could do that. And you know, you might very well be successful and break up the marriage. You might be able to convince your daughter to dump him after she sees the error of her ways. Just keep pushing. Find everything wrong with him. Don't rest. Time is short. Your daughter's future is at stake; so be relentless in your pursuit to get him out of the family.

Every flaw you find, every stupid thing he does as a young husband, bring it up to your daughter and family members - make THAT the last straw.  "See!  What an idiot! Why did you marry him!!"

But is that what you should do? Do you love your daughter? Do you love your family?

Or are you just interested in getting YOUR way? Are you incapable of seeing the good in him, the potential he has? Are you so intolerant that you can't see things from your daughter's viewpoint? Can't you bring yourself to see that there IS some good in him that your daughter sees?  Perhaps if you had more respect for your daughter, you COULD understand her.

Before you keep trying to break up the marriage, stop and think. Is that what you want? Do you want your daughter to go through the turmoil and pain and loss of a divorce when you and the other family members haven't even given the guy a chance? Doesn't he AT LEAST deserve a chance to show you that he can be the husband you want for your daughter? Doesn't your daughter - the one who chose to marry him and bring him into the family - deserve the chance to show you that she picked a good guy, the RIGHT guy?

Or maybe you just have no respect for your daughter and think she's too stupid and gullible to choose correctly whom she will marry. I hope you don't feel that way. She doesn't see things quite like you do, but that doesn't mean she is incapable of discernment to choose a mate.

And what if - just WHAT IF - he actually turns out to be a good husband. What if he turns out to be much better than you expected? You know, sometimes marriage has a way of changing a man. Don't let your hatred of the man himself, cloud your ability to see the good he can be for your daughter and family. Won't you feel, well, sort of stupid, if he ends up being one of the best men in the family after he perseveres your ridicule and score?

So please. If you love your family and your daughter, stop the obsession with breaking up your daughter's marriage. If you ARE successful, I have a feeling you will regret it. The pain it will bring everyone in your family - the split it will cause in the family - will be ever so painful. And besides, if you are successful, how do you know the next guy is going to be any better?

For the sake of your family, give the guy a chance.

Please.

If you love your family - if you love your daughter - give the guy a chance.

If you love your country and fellow citizens - if you truly want what's best for us all - accept the man for who he is, faults and warts and all. Let's hope for the best.

Just give the man a chance.

Thanks.

God Squads Coming to a Mega Church Near You!

I was quite surprised to hear this week that a Birmingham, Alamaba mega church is close to getting their own police force!

But this makes perfect sense - the pastor of this church and his deacons/board members should be congratulated for coming up with the best idea in modern evangelicalism in recent years: hire your OWN police force!

Albert Mohler and Ronnie Floyd and Steve Gaines - you need to put this on your agenda for the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting this June!

Of course the argument is that churches need protection from events like Sandy Hook - as the Birmingham church states in its recent press release.

But pastors, take note: there are some other wonderful benefits of hiring your own police officers that are paid by the people of the church, and who ultimately report to the pastor:

1. If an anonymous blogger begins to criticize your pastor and his decisions and calls him a pompous ass, you have officers who can open an investigation, and when someone on the church staff expresses fear that the blogger is a kook, they can send a subpoena request to the local state attorney's office to force the blogger's ISP to hand over his name. Your own cops can then leak the name to Pastor, then shut down the case and destroy the documents, and then Pastor and the churchmen can kick the crazy blogger out of the church. Problem solved!

2. If someone on staff is accused of sexual misconduct, you have a police force to which the initial report can be made. The church cops can then investigate the charges and report directly to the pastor the results of their investigation so the Man of God can determine what should be done. Why should a Man of God have to rely on those "godless" pagan city cops to investigate - they certainly don't understand how sexual molestation charges can damage the Lord's work! Churches need to keep it all in the family.

And don't forget: all evangelical churches worth a darn will exercise "church discipline" on their wayward members. If a church has their own God Squad police force, they can include the force of law on the discipline committee, putting the fear of God in the church members to keep them in line!

Non tithing church member? Have Officer Smith write a "warning" that they are breaking God's law. The church police can enforce both man's laws, AND God's laws! Gossiping church member? Chief Jones can open an investigation and make an arrest based on Malachi 3 and bring the offender to the discipline committee.

I predict this is a trend that will sweep evangelicalism. As mega churches continue to gobble up dying churches and their properties as satellite locations, they will hire their own police forces.

I just wish I had come up with the idea for one of my April Fool's posts.

Eddie Long Dies - An Icon of the Stench of Modern Megachurch Prosperity Preachers

"Bishop" Eddie Long, the pastor of the Atlanta megachurch New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, has died. It seems Eddie died after a brief fight with an aggressive cancer.

Most of the national media reports of his death include mention of the 2010 scandal involving the four young men who claimed the good Bishop groomed them through their youth and used them for his homosexual sexual gratification. True to form of these mega church pastors caught with their pants down, Eddie's victims were paid off with funds from the ministry and he continued as a spiritual guru to thousands of gullible church members.

The Watchdog did write a few articles about Long and his scandal, and some of the disgusting responses to the scandal. I wanted to post links here to two of these articles.

Creflo Dollar Calls Eddie Long's Sexual Predation a 'Fenderbender':  This first was Creflo Dollar's defense of Long's sexual abuse scandal, equating his sexual abuse to simply a "wreck" - like it was all a bad accident that should be overlooked. Creflo characterized Long as the victim of discerning church members who wished to hold Long accountable (sound familiar?). The above link includes the video of Creflo Dollar.

Prepare Ye the Way of the Cult: Eddie Long is Literally Lifted High. This second article was about church service where Long was wrapped in a supposedly 300 year old Jewish scroll, and proclaimed to be a king and given a crown and lifted high on a thrown and paraded around the church. If you didn't have the video to watch, you would never believe me. Again, read the Watchdog article, and see the video at the link above. It is a good reminder of just how demented people's minds have to be in order to be duped by the nonsense slung by Long.

Long was a despicable human being for sure. He used a perversion of Christianity to get his hands on people's wallets and their genitals. But those who supported Long with their money and love and adoration also share in the blame - they helped form this man into who he became and granted him the power and provided the venue for his abuses.

The good news is that over the years as Long's generation passes, I believe the Millennials will not be so gullible. They have access to blogs and social media which help shine a glaring light on the actions of these charlatans. Most major denominations see this declining trend, and there is not much they can do to reverse it except to market their nonsense to the uneducated and insecure.

I am glad THIS blog was part of the cataloging and analysis of just a small part of the abuses of supposed men of God who use their religion to abuse good people through over six years of blogging and over 600 articles and hundreds of videos documenting it.

Did I just say that? You better believe I did.

Hurricane Matthew Bearing Down - But Pastor Craig Groeschel Has Prayed for Us on Video

Watchdog has received numerous emails and texts from friends expressing their concern for myself and my family as we brace for the impacts of Hurricane Matthew. Thank you, friends, for your concerns and well-wishes. As our governor has said over and over, we are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.

But as I was preparing my home yesterday (Wednesday) for hurricane-force winds, my phone dinged and I received an email from of all people, Pastor Craig Groeschel! He is one of the creepy mega church pastors who is bosom-buddies with Stephen Furtick (remember this video? One of my all-time favorite WD videos).  As you might recall, Stephen refers to Craig as "Uncle Craig".

So as we were evacuating and/or preparing our homes for Matthew, Uncle Craig sent all of us a video of himself praying for us. That is him at left, with his eyes closed, praying for all of us. I suddenly felt so, so, safe. But I wasn't sure if I should pray with Uncle Craig as I watched him praying on video, since he already prayed and it was just a recording. Or should I pray and thank God that Uncle Craig prayed to God for us, and pray that God listens to Uncle Craig, or should I pray and pray God listens to me?

And then in my confusion I turned the TV on and decided to pray to Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel. 

Here is Uncle Craig's video prayer so that his video prayer might comfort all of those in Matthew's path. Oh, and Uncle Craig also told us that the "good news" of the storm is that his church members can use the opportunity of the devastation to "show the love of Jesus". 

We're all going to be all right after all.