Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

Well......My two cents worth.
If a minister can raise it and his supporters give it - he should be able to buy, drive, fly, live in what ever he wants and if I don't give to him - I have NO RIGHT to judge him or tell him what he should do with the money that his supporters give him.

IT IS CERTAINLY NOT GRASSLEY and the GOVERNMENTS business to tell Ministers what to do or what NOT to do with their money.

If you support Grassley - he will be telling YOU what you can drive and live in next!

KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

This thread makes me wanna cuss!!! This is the epitome of stupidity!!! I know a pastor who lives in a mansion, drives a nice car, and has never taken one dollar from his church because he is independently wealthy. Before you go pointing fingers at a pastor, you better find out the truth behind it all. You mess with God's anointed and the bears may come and eat you up.

Furthermore, am I the only one sick and tired of holier-than-thou Joelel???? Can't take a joke because the Bible talks about jesting?!?!?!? What is he gonna do with the scripture that says laughter is like a medicine?

FYI - 2008 Jaguar X Type Pricing
Submodel MSRP
2008 X-Type 3.0 RWD 4-Dr Sedan V6 $35,060
2008 X-Type Sport Wagon RWD 4-Dr Wagon V6 $39,330
AND, your ultra con pastor may have paid $50,000 for his pickup!!!
You ought to look up some car prices before you start smack talking.

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT! COME ON AND TELL DA TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!
:friend:amen:amen:amen

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

Ain't nothin' but truth in me! :dance

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

AMEN to that!!! :iagree

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

One time our local news paper came out with an article about how rich our pastor was. He lived in a big house (not that big), had money, owned property and had a storehouse full of expensive cars. What they didn't know is that our pastor was down to one car and he had to find a way to the office at the church until we loaned him my wife's un air conditioned Ford Escort in the month of August.

That pastor now drives a Jag. (10 years old at that) He does own property paid for by investments, not the church.

The bible says a servant is worth his hire.

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

Idk, research shows that one of the major objections to becoming a christian by the unchurched is that they have the perception (whether fair or unfair, whether true or untrue it doesn't matter) that all the church/preachers want is their money. There are other perceptions that play into their perception of the church in general, but this is one of the major ones.

With that in mind I have to wonder what Jesus would do and what did Paul do? If Paul would dial back his financial situation for the sake of ill-informed CHRISTIANS, how much more would he dial it back for unbelievers? Whether wealth is right or wrong is irrelevant. What impact does it have on the kingdom? That's the question I ask myself.

I'm getting rid of my houses, my Jag, my Benz, and most of my stuff. It's an albatross and I find freedom is in the NOT having of all that suff.

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

Are you giving the money from selling your stuff to the poor in the church? :tease

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

You have a point but don't you think there is a line? Even though you have it, the COMMUNITY that you are serving may not know all the things you mentioned and would you not want to distract them out of the message you are trying to bring to them??? Especially in a small community, it doesn't take long for false rumors to start flying " did you see that preachers house, car, clothes,etc..... I just knew he was taking all those poor peoples money!" etc

Also, what if a pastor was independantly wealthy but pastored in a coal minning town where most of his saints were barely above poverty level?
Just asking how it would look if he had a mansion while most of his members lived in shacks

Re: Lavish Lifestyle Ministry Spending
 

I know several preachers who are indenpendently wealthy and they live grand. I can immediately think of two pastors who have large (one over 250 and the other over 1,000) churches, are very involved in their communities, and are greatly respected. The thing is, their congregation KNOWS they are not abusing church funds. The word of mouth of the saints letting people know their pastor doesn't take from the church is what makes their churches grow. Chances are, if the church is of a decent size, that pastor is greatly respected and not condemned for his lifestyle. It is always the jealous outsiders that point fingers. Like every arena of life, there will always be a bad apple in the bunch but don't loop all these men into the bad category.