Televangelist Needs A Fancy Jet, And He Wants Donors To Pay For It

Back when I was "religious", this guy would come to our 15,000 member church and speak so forcefully, in such a motivating manner, that people would literally run up onto the stage and empty their wallets, purses, and leave jewelry on the floor in front of him. Its called bringing your sacrifice to the alter. I'd get excited, but not into a frothing frenzy like hundreds of my fellow/lady worshippers did! Apparently, he hasn't slowed down a bit since 1997, LOL.

Reminds me of this song.


Suicidal Tendencies - Send Me Your Money

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: ATF1886

What can I say, or share to you as a believer and would be disciple in Christ?
I share your pain and anger. I roll my eyes, I wring my hands, crack my knuckles and sigh that....'there is one one more reason people see religion and not Jesus'.
Let me address my 'sigh' first.
Jesus had/owned NOTHING (that we are aware of). Read the gospels and you will see he stayed at guests houses, slept on hills or in gardens, or on people's couches. He went wherever GOD told Him to go. He shared a simplistic message of ' GOD loves you. Your concept of personal freedom (ie money) is a stumbling block that actually separates you from GOD. In this life, money can create a sense of freedom, but cannot offer you a release from the internal conflict your soul endures.
Freedom bought or purchased on your own terms is slavery disguised as freedom. The freedom I bring is disguised by the world as slavery.
Your insecurity finds a false liberty in money, but you are a slave to sin. Sin is the nature that insists you do what you feel.
You are more than the sum total of the parts of your flesh and blood.
The kingdom of heaven cannot be bought with money. Money will satisfy and nourish the flesh and blood being on this planet. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of GOD.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
By their fruits, you shall know them.
Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall inherit the kingdom, but he who does the will of my Father.

There are wolves in sheep's' clothing out there.
Therefore, be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.

There sure is alot of judging, condemning and stone throwing in this thread.

originally posted by: Lucius Driftwood
a reply to: ATF1886

What can I say, or share to you as a believer and would be disciple in Christ?
I share your pain and anger. I roll my eyes, I wring my hands, crack my knuckles and sigh that....'there is one one more reason people see religion and not Jesus'.
Let me address my 'sigh' first.
Jesus had/owned NOTHING (that we are aware of). Read the gospels and you will see he stayed at guests houses, slept on hills or in gardens, or on people's couches. He went wherever GOD told Him to go. He shared a simplistic message of ' GOD loves you. Your concept of personal freedom (ie money) is a stumbling block that actually separates you from GOD. In this life, money can create a sense of freedom, but cannot offer you a release from the internal conflict your soul endures.
Freedom bought or purchased on your own terms is slavery disguised as freedom. The freedom I bring is disguised by the world as slavery.
Your insecurity finds a false liberty in money, but you are a slave to sin. Sin is the nature that insists you do what you feel.
You are more than the sum total of the parts of your flesh and blood.
The kingdom of heaven cannot be bought with money. Money will satisfy and nourish the flesh and blood being on this planet. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of GOD.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
By their fruits, you shall know them.
Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall inherit the kingdom, but he who does the will of my Father.

There are wolves in sheep's' clothing out there.
Therefore, be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.

This is pretty well said, though a couple of additional points might add a fuller context.

First, Jesus did teach that "God loves you", quote - unquote, but he also said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17). Luke records the response of Jesus to a crowd that was talking about a recent slaughter of some citizens of Gallilee by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate: "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13: 1-9)

Just pointing out that "God loves you" is not the entirety of the New Testament's message to humanity. "You must repent"---that is, turn your entire life over to your Maker in agreement with Him, with what He says is true and real, and with His lordship over your entire being---in order to be saved.

As for Crefalo Dollar, I don't think I can add anything that hasn't already been said by others here other than to contrast his example with that of Franklin Graham. Graham, once the black sheep of evangelist Billy Graham's family, spent many years anonymously flying small propeller aircraft all over the world with the Samaritan's Purse organization. I don't think he "needed" a Gulfstream jet to go from point A to point B. Not that he should have risked his life flying, say, a 100 year old string biplane, but the real Bible financial ethic neither glorifies poverty for its own sake, nor wealth for its own sake. The entire empahsis is on personal stewardship over what resources God gives you. In other words, one is not automatically morally superior by "virtue" of financial poverty, nor is one automatically morally deficient because of financial plenty. Having "enough" seems to be the sweet spot for most true Christ followers, though it should be noted that Jesus did have a handful of wealthy people as his followers during the time He was on Earth (such as Joseph of Arimathea and probably Matthew and a few others).

In other words, it's not "wealth" in and of itself that makes a person evil or immoral. It is the idolatry of money and the resultant deadening of the wealthy (and worldly-comfortable) person to the call and voice of God that is the problem. If anything, a truly wealthy person who is still a true follower of Jesus is probably an even better Christian than someone who doesn't have much money, because "of those to whom much has been given, much will be required". (Luke 12:48)

Keep in mind, too, that as egregious as this snake oil is, no one is twisting the arms of the people who are choosing to give their money away. They bear some responsibility here, as well.