Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

What type of garbage are people trying to sell these days? I came across this series on Amazon.

I don’t know much about John Piper, so i don’t know much of what he believes. But i’ve got to hand it to him here in this video. He says it straight up. He nails the prosperity false gospel on the head.

I had received this comment below on the article, “A Look At Prosperity Gospel - CBS News“. I was debating in my mind whether or not to approve the comment in that post, because it looked like someone just spamming for attention to their site. But then i read the material in the links provided and i thought it was all very interesting and informative in the least. I want to hear your thoughts and intuition on the information below. Here’s the comment:

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Kenneth Copeland put on a excellent performance at his latest ministers conference held on January 22,2008 visible here , which has now gotten the attention of people all across the USA, and abroad. The message he was unmistakably sending, came across loud and clear on every subject he was addressing. From voicing his personal feelings about the senate investigation, to a multitude of other issues facing KCM. Surprisingly, Kenneth does admit to some element of truth in the letter KCM received from the Senate, but did not go into any detailed explanations. Also in his defense, he makes the accusation that the truth is being twisted a bit. A old saying comes to mind , what comes around goes around. Years of promoting the promises of prosperity, physical healing, and last but not least the twisting of biblical scripture for personal gain has returned to KCM full circle.

“I had a home“, “I had a life“, “I had faith“, “I had a family“, “I lost a loved one“, these are merely a handful of endless testimonies coming to light nationwide. Ranging from all walks of life, their heartbreaking testimonies can be found throughout the web, yet inconceivably, victims are being labeled as fools, ignorant, and basically downright blind for not seeing the truth behind the Prosperity Gospels falsehoods. Being only human, our quest for health and wealth, regrettably does lead some in the wrong direction. Promises and guaranties, made by the Prosperity Gospel ministers, give people that have not obtained these blessings on their own, a second chance at achieving their goals in life. An important discovery I made while reviewing testimonies, revealed the fact numerous victims had very little knowledge of the Prosperity Gospels dark side. These unfortunate victims, appear to be equipped with only a small portion of the web of deceit these ministers weave . For example, picture yourself being raised in a small country town, with a population of only a few hundred, the closest city, only a population of only a few thousand.

Computers, internet, cable, satellite TV, and other high tech gadgets are not needed or desired. This was my life, before KCM.
Prosperity Gospel ministers enter the homes of many victims though a thirty minute Sunday morning worship service on a local broadcast station. Myself, growing up in Jigger La., truly located in the middle of nowhere, I can testify to the fact that we only received on a clear day about three or four channels at most. Therefore warnings of the numerous dangers, and intentional deceit, associated with Prosperity Gospel ministries, being made by critics, ministers, and victims went unheard by many. The irony of this are the many warning labels we all encounter every day. From cleaning supplies to over the counter medications, labels posted on various products warn us of the dangers associated with that particular product. Regrettably Prosperity Gospel does not offer this, but should! Family’s have lost their homes, lifesavings, and some even their lives to the Prosperity Gospel.

Unfortunately my mother was not one of the lucky ones, her confidence, and faith in this false Gospel, ultimately cost her, her life. After more than a decade of programming her mind to believe and think the Prosperity Gospel way of life, she lost her battle with cancer. By refusing medical attention, she sealed her fate, but the programming she had acquired from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland proved strong all the way to her last breath. A diary she left behind revealed the horrific tale of her life from 1992-2002, the top of each page titled with Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, or BVOV. Some mistakes in life we can not undo, and good intentions don’t always go as planed, these victims are simply following misleading promises of health and wealth. Their use of miraculous healing confessions, and newly found wealth testimonies, are their sales pitch, my mother among others, are proof that their sale pitch does work. The possibility of certain Mega churches misusing contributors finances for their own personal luxuries is ultimately what brought this scam to the publics attention, not the loss of life, the financially bankrupt, nor the numerous homeless victims that have been left in the wake of this devastating hoax.

Knowledge, is the only discovery I found to be effective in this seemingly endless battle. Sadly for some our efforts will go unheard. As for my family, once again I am addressing another envelope to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, asking once again for a summery of my mothers (Bonnie Parker) contributions to KCM, and since they have bankrupt our family also due to the numerous expenses we encountered before and after mom’s death, and once more, ask them to purchase a headstone for mom. I believe they at least owe her that much.

- The family of Bonnie Parker
E-MAIL - sis359@gmail.com

Photo, before and after KCM,
http://picasaweb.google.com/sis359/BonnieParkerDiaryPhoto

Documentary Suffer The Children, exposes televangelists lavish lifestyles ,
http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/suffer-children

Book recently published by Sara Posner, also looks into these subjects,
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Profits-Republican-Crusade-Values/dp/0979482216

http://sis359.blogspot.com

I came across this Prosperity Bible on A little leaven. Here’s an excerpt from the editorial review on Amazon.com

“The Prosperity Bible is a one-of-a-kind resource that collects the greatest moneymaking secrets of authors from every field-religion, finance, philosophy, and self-help-and makes them available in an attractive, keepsake edition.”

I guess you can say that now there officially is a prosperity “gospel”.

Here is an investigation by CBS News, looking into the kenneth copeland ministries. Of course you might have to watch a commercial first.

Why did i even click on the advertisement that said, “Tithing Generates Wealth”!!? I knew what was coming. When will it all end? Here is a thumbnail to the right that you can click on to see the full screenshot of the website i came across.

Where do I start and what do i say to this crazy website. Where do you get the idea that tithes and offerings made Abraham wealthy? Another thing it says: “Five simple steps you must take to accumulate massive wealth”. Everyone wants microwave Christianity. Everyone wants microwave wealth. They just want to press a few buttons and presto, out comes a T.V. Dinner. As a matter of fact i was close to naming this post, “microwave Christianity”.

There are principles to wealth in the bible, and tithing and offerings is not one of them. Work hard, gain wisdom, save, invest. . . these are all principles in the bible.

I like chasing rabbits, so here goes one kind of off topic. I am sick of hearing the word, “seed”. i wanna puke every time i hear that word in the prosperity message. “sow your seed here”, “sow your seed there”. Makes me want to scream.

So back from the rabbit trail. Probably the next “worse” thing about this website is, (well its all bad at the same degree, so all of it is “worse”) that they have this annoying, never-ending popup that doesn’t want to go away. It says, “STOP RIGHT THERE” and then rambles on about your blessing you are promised. It’s not like the website itself is horrific enough. If that doesn’t give you nightmares, you’ll be dreaming of popups chasing you all night that won’t go away.

I should come up with a list of top 10 most annoying things of prosperity websites. One of them would be the paypal donation button at the bottom. As a matter of fact, i am going to come up with a top 10 list. Has anyone come across any other horrific websites?