televangelists make me sick

[AKR]

http://www.trinityfi.org/press/hammond.html

From there, he [James Hammond Jr.] segues into stories about his multimillion-dollar homes, his Rolls Royces, and his jets, holding himself up as a living testament that faith is rewarded with riches. "Jesus meant us to worry about money. Without it, we don't have everything he meant us to have," he exclaims. "Just because we're living in hard times doesn't mean we have to have a hard life. Living from paycheck to paycheck is not living in abundance. Money is not the root of all evil, not having any money is the root of all evil."


Living Word is among a subset of churches known as "Word Faith" institutions, a distinctly American variant that has spawned some of the best-known TV and radio ministries of the past 30 years (Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Paul Crouch, Benny Hinn) and is characterized, at least in many instances, by a seeming inversion of Pentecostalism's traditional appeal to the downtrodden. To the contrary, Pastor Mac and others like him assure their believers that God wants them to be rich?and not in some next-world, metaphoric sense that only pays off at the gates of heaven.

Hammond's Sunday sermons contain a not-too-subtle subtext: Once you've tithed, it's okay to take the money God prospers you with and retreat to your cul-de-sac. Ostensibly, the gospel of prosperity does distinguish between being greedy and seeking prosperity in order to be able to minister to others?but according to this strain of theology, that need not include feeding war orphans or clothing inner-city urchins; it really means increasing the size of the church?a goal that can be realized through the influx of new dollars as well as new souls.

this f*ckwad is so contradictive. first he says god wants us to be rich, but then he says to keep your money for yourself, because god really wants you to help people find salvation, not be rich, like you:

Hammond is pretty clear on the point in a pamphlet titled, "Winning in Your Finances: How to Walk God's Pathway of Prosperity": "Do we use our excess money to purchase a bag of groceries for someone that can't afford any food?" he asks. "Do you fill up someone's car with gas? Do we slip him a $20 bill when you shake his hand? Though these are all charitable things to do, they will not, however, meet the greatest need in a person's life. No amount of money can purchase a man's salvation. No amount of money can purchase a healing. The only thing that meets human need on every level consistently and permanently is the Word of God. So consequently, the seed that you have left over is best used to get the Word of God into the hearts of others."

A doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Virginia, Tony Tian-Ren Lin has studied churches like Hammond's extensively. "Word Faith Pentecostalism offers [people] the perfect way to not feel guilty about having made it and about not helping others," he says. "I got mine because I was faithful, and the best way I can help you is to tell you about this formula for being rich. But I don't have to make any material sacrifices.

from another article.

http://www.trinityfi.org/press/GodsMillionaires.html

"Many of these ministers have made themselves multi-millionaires. They are no more than business magnates who benefit from the tax-free status of corporations that they lead. They are not 'pastors' but business managers who have cashed in on a loophole in the Western governmental tax system."

these people are so twisted and the people that give them money are such suckers. maybe they should stop opening their check books and try opening a bible once in a while.

MATHEW 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.

[JSPoole]

Yep he's pretty much a nob jockey.

[hugeness]

Guys like that are disgraces. He must not read his Bible very much. Does that mean that a Christian who is not wealthy is not being rewarded by God? What a joke.

[riptor]

Read James Randi's book "The Faith Healers" for more stuff like this. It makes you want to punch these idiots in the face.

But yeah, I guess all those starving kids in Africa are being punished by God for not having enough faith.

[RasLion]

Amena! Praise the Lorda-ah!