Megachurch pastor says revealing his salary would violate Christ’s teachings:

He previously defended the home, which he said was “not that great of a house,” as a “gift from God” — and he cited Christ’s teachings in resisting media calls for more information about church finances.

“I know that we have to have integrity and we have to be generous, and I know the extent of which that is true for me and Holly,” Furtick said, referring to his wife of 13 years. “So to go on record and say here’s how much money we’ve given and here’s what we do with our finances, to me, that would be the most arrogant thing I could do and it would rob me of the blessings of what Jesus said, which is that when you give, you don’t get up and tell everyone how much you’ve given.”
www.rawstory.com...

I know there are churches that do good with money taken from its congregation but WTH?? when are people going to stop playing the sucker??

Yeah its not doing good when they pocket the money them self, in a name of Jesus or God. There are punch of criminal minds playing all sort of roles, including pastors..

a reply to: Spider879

and he cited Christ’s teachings in resisting media calls for more information about church finances.

lol... what?

So to go on record and say here’s how much money we’ve given and here’s what we do with our finances, to me, that would be the most arrogant thing I could do and it would rob me of the blessings of what Jesus said, which is that when you give, you don’t get up and tell everyone how much you’ve given.”

not to mention what you've taken..

Good job buddy

a reply to: Spider879

Sic the IRS on him .

a reply to: Spider879

Guys like this see themselves as farmers to their flock instead of 'good shepherds.'

Fleece 'em and fillet 'em.

An old story.

Last came, and last did go,
The Pilot of the Galilean Lake;
Two massy keys he bore of metals twain
(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain).
He shook his mitred locks and stern bespake;
‘How well could I have spared for thee, young swain,
Enow of such as, for their bellies’ sake,
Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold!
Of other care they little reckoning make
Than how to scramble at the shearers’ feast
And shove away the worthy bidden guest.
Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold
A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else the least
That to the faithful herdsman’s art belongs!
What recks it them? What need they? They are sped,
And when they list their lean and flashy songs
Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;
The hungry sheep look up and are not fed.

Milton, "Lycidas", ll108-125

Scary part is his congregations will back him up.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Enough said.

originally posted by: Spider879
I know there are churches that do good with money taken from its congregation but WTH?? when are people going to stop playing the sucker??

Just have to wonder what is in this kind of persons mind or there faithful followers
I wonder if they realise Christ preached the sermon on the mount
Nowhere does Jesus teach blessed are the greedy, selfish and self important

It's so sad people see this as a Christian ministry, that people think this man represents a desert nomad who owned nothing and then died on a cross

a reply to: Spider879

Wow that hole in the wall is where he lives. He's right, it's garbage.

a reply to: Spider879

Im not defending rich pastors but this guy didnt say anything wrong when u give something your not supposed to
stand up and say i gave this much .
And if 20,000 people find him entertaining enough to go to his church see some people sing some songs ect
and give a little money then why is that anyones business and better yet why does that bother people so much.
And he gave 9 million back to the church .
So that means paying for college of some of the members the churches ive seen go to poor communities and buy
school supplies clothes food ect...In fact down the road is some young drugged out couple with 2 kids
and i see the church people bring them food all the time .
And i dont go to church really when i do i like to go to a pentacost church because lets just say all religions are right
we are all going to the same place just taking different buses.
Well then brother the pentacost bus is a rocking lol.
Churches do good in the community they are in and i bet the people on here so quik to yell at a pastor never went out and bought a poor stranger anything .
And this guy didnt say give a 1,000 dollars sew your seed send me money and miracles will happen
He said your not supposed to give money then jump up and brag or want award for it .
And its not like he said we made 33 million and i gave 2 million it was almost 4 then the 9 million back to the church
you guys dont know that could mean poor sister sarah who has a sick son lets pay his hospital bill get him good care

a reply to: sweets777

You poor gullible soul. People can do all that without a pastor fleecing them. Why do want to support some guy who never works or pays taxes, he leeches off the congregation.

a reply to: sweets777

Sweets, the issue is the man calls himself a follower of Christ , his actions are not Christ like
Does anything this man does look like an imitation of Jesus?

It's pure greed and selfishness, why can't you see that, how can you defend greed and selfishness in a man supposedly of God

So what's the problem? These grifters give people a product, and people send them lots of money for that product. The fact these liars are about as Christian as I am doesn't seem to enter the conscious minds of the millions of Christians who support their "ministry". This is an extremely old scam going back thousands of years, and it works just as good today as it did back then. Maybe better. Amazing.

Honestly. If there's any group of people on earth that could make me re-consider public executions. These guys could almost convince me.

If he disclosed his finances it would show that he doesn't know what the hell Jesus actually taught.

Matthew 19
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Not that we don't know he's a hypocrite anyway, but it's hard for one to actually fess up to it.

a reply to: Raggedyman

I would agree that this man is deeply flawed.

But there are also lesson throughout the Bible, even in the NT, that faith and salvation are personal.

So, this man is flawed, likely a hypocrite who teaches that one should freely give, and even as he himself does not lead by example, there may be in his congregation that humble old woman who gives her last two shekels. Just as the old woman did in the temple that Christ railed against as being so notoriously corrupt.

Jesus didn't stop her from giving. Rather, he praised her for it. The lesson there is that your state with God is personal, your state with God.

There is a passage in the bible that reads like this, For Scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."

It is easy to bash this guy and yes he is well paid, so too are a lot of these men but they work for it and do so by bringing people to god.

Of course god loved the humble man whom has nothing and gives his wealth to the poor but I am not going to condemn this guy or John Hagee for there failings, they know there failings and are still our brothers, yes they may be a little bit poorer in heaven though as a house like that could have sheltered many homeless Christians and he will be called to account for it as a shepherd of the lord.

Jesus said that the son of man has no place to lay his head meaning he was essentially homeless while he was preaching the gospel and going about the fathers work but everything is for a purpose, was the man whom owned the house were he had the last supper flat broke or did god grant him his wealth that he would serve the Lord in that manner when the time came for him to be there.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Who knew? All those years I spent working as a CNA hospice, giving comfort to the dying that I could have done this instead. Never sweated, never pay taxes, and people would stand up for me. Cause I sure liked those dime raises I got and no one stood up for me. Yes, I am angry over this that christians could have such screwed up priorities.

The issue isn't that this man is well paid or is making money, it's that he's taking advantage of desperate people who have next to nothing to begin with.