Welcome to Free Republic.
MY EYES!! Welcome to FR.
IBTZ...
If only for the lack of paragraphs!
I would think that dying on a cross was not considered "building up" 2000 years ago. If a man is blessed with the thing of this world, who is doing the blessing? Is worldly success a sign of God's favor? God sure has blessed a lot of evil men then.
When you went to John, did you expect to see a reed that easily bends in the wind? but what did you go out to see A man clothed in soft garments, behold those who were soft garments are in the houses of the kings..
It’s not unusual to have a prominent Pastor or Minister attacked in the media, if it is untrue, then there are no worries, Mt 5.11 is still in effect as far as I know...
In point of fact I think it is a healthy thing for people to not allow the fact that a man is the same race as they are to stop them from criticizing that man.
You shouldn't be upset that a black man is criticizing another black man - after all, no one is perfect and above criticism.
I too am uncomfortable with pastors who live the high life - but you are also correct: churches need money in order to undertake charitable initiatives, and far better that churches should take in voluntary donations than the government should extract involuntary taxes.
These pastors pale in comparion to the Reverands Al and Jesse.
This is where the outrage should be directed.
Brother in the Lord...the < P> is our friend...like manna from heaven...
it helps our eyes to not be in want (of blinking every other word),
It helps our eyelids to lay down on green mascara,
and leads us besides tear filled eye sockets,
it restores our vision.
It guides us in the potential of reading
Yeah though we read in the valley of no formatting
I will fear no blinking
for the < p> art with me
your “<” and your “P”
they comfort me
You prevent me form bumpng into the table in front of me (as the burning in my eyes subsides)
You prevent blindness from making me spill my beer.
Surley jpgs and mp3s will follow my all the day of my Freading,
And i will dwell in the FReading room all the days of my cubicle...forever and ever
...until I go blind, get fired, or the net goes down.
Brother in the Lord...the < P> is our friend...like manna from heaven...
it helps our eyes to not be in want (of blinking every other word),
It helps our eyelids to lay down on green mascara,
and leads us besides tear filled eye sockets,
it restores our vision.
It guides us in the potential of reading
Yeah though we read in the valley of no formatting
I will fear no blinking
for the < p> art with me
your “<” and your “P”
they comfort me
You prevent me form bumpng into the table in front of me (as the burning in my eyes subsides)
You prevent blindness from making me spill my beer.
Surley jpgs and mp3s will follow my all the day of my Freading,
And i will dwell in the FReading room all the days of my cubicle...forever and ever
...until I go blind, get fired, or the net goes down.
Please learn to format...
‘When will we stop the hate and just learn to love our brother?’
Sometime after the muggings, drive by shootings, armed robberies end is my guess......
Welcome to FR.......and God Bless America!!!! ;-)
Bush must be in very good standing with God, after all he was elected President....twice!
Wow! It is AMAZING the emotional baggage one brings to an issue. Can we JUST look at the facts? Do you truly believe that criticizing a Black Preacher is taboo? Are you saying they are above approach? Is their race somehow a shield against disagreement? Of course not, you don’t actually think that, but you are being overly protective for a reason that you think is valid: “Blacks should stick together”. You are right, we should. But that is when being attacked. It does NOT mean that when we are “fleecing” each other (or perceived to be) that no one can call us on it. Here is the real situation: Black preachers are making a lot of money essential promising that God will bless you if you give into their ministry. This is the same promise made by Reverend Ike back in the 60’s. At the time it was mostly rejected by the church, but recently with a few new twists, the promise is back in vogue. As proof, these preachers show that God is blessing them BECAUSE they give tithes and always have. If you think about it in the cold light of day, that would mean that the 72 year old woman who has been giving her tithes since before this preacher was born has somehow gotten it wrong. Certainly she has been blessed, but somehow her blessing came in the form of a 4% raise in her social security benefits, but this young preacher has been blessed by God with a 1300% raise in salary compared to his income when he has a mailman. I can’t explain it either but I am certain that it is NOT GOD deciding that one tithe paying Christian gets a little extra help with her light bill and another tithe paying Christian gets to go to the Greek islands twice a year. Not God. That decision is being made somewhere else, on some other level. Perhaps in the board of directors meeting at the church in question. You state in your opinion that What most people don’t know is that they are not paid by member tithes. They make there (sic) money from their books and tapes. Here again, facts are being left out. Few people can afford to print a thousand CDs or books and then set up a distribution system to sell them without some assistance. How does a preacher sell his books? It could be done simply by paying a self-publisher and setting up your website. Of course that would have to be a personal expense on the part of the preacher. He would not be able to charge that to the church expense account. That would actually be illegal. Even secular businessmen know that you can’t do that without serious taxes and penalties and even jail time...ask Leona Hemsley. Another way to do it, would be to let the church publish the book, print and distribute it and keep the benefits. Of course, if the church paid the “author” royalties, that could be viewed as “self-dealing” a very real and illegal practice which could cause a non-profit organization to lose its tax exempt status. Of course these are facts and information available to anyone who wanted to do research on the allegations being made against our Black preachers. But as long as you continue to react emotionally to “attacks” against the sacred, infallible pastor we will always be stuck in the 60’s with our pie-in-the-sky mentality. As a Christian myself, whose father and grandfather were pastors, I have NO problem with any pastor making a living and even being wealthy. However, like any business, it is possible to build wealth unethically and immorally. Do yourself a favor, look at what people are saying...see IF it really has any validity. Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually prove that none of the allegations were true instead of arguing that they shouldn’t even be brought up?