A friend just told me that his pastor is ordering them, under the threat of hell fire to surrender their entire January salaries to him or else!!!!  This is under the guise of "first fruit"  I first laughed it off as a joke, but on checking some churches' websites, I found out that this is not an isolated thing!!  Even the RCCG preaches it on its website!!
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QOlIgIi65kMJ:resources.rccg.org/sunday-school/firstfruits-2009201051/+church+january+salary+first+fruit&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
  Of course, in Christ embassy, it seems to be the norm.  Workers are said to complain that there is just no pay check in january in the name of first fruit!!!!!!    This is wikedness at its worst.  It ranks in the same level as violation!!!  It is their minds that is being violated!!!
http://www.huhuonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1141:chris-oyakhilomes-christ-embassy-deadbeat-employers&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
Is there a way to help these people?  Its like a woman in an abusive relationship.  They still love the man who regularly beats them black and blue, and keep going back.

What do u and ur type stand to gain by opening these type of threads?! It seems u guys have made a career out of criticising churches and their pastors! If u dont like ur church or pastor why not simply go somewhere else or is it by force to worship there? May God deliver u oh.

Http://naturekay..com

It seems the problem is quite serious!!!!

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5397122-183/story.csp

Eveoeve:

What do u and your type stand to gain by opening these type of threads?! It seems u guys have made a career out of criticising churches and their pastors! If u dont like your church or pastor why not simply go somewhere else or is it by force to worship there? May God deliver u oh.

Http://naturekay..com

Are you planning to surrender your January salary to your Pastor?  I wish you luck and 'blessings'

@post
Yes it's true, it is mostly practised in criminally inspired cults like christ embassy. It's news to me that rccg has adopted this scam. But then again they have also been known to notoriously twist the gospel for greedy personal gain.

Poeple will doing anything to be "perfect", without problems. The truth is, u can't be alive without a problem, or challenge. I can't judge people for what they do with their salaries, but just know the church you're giving your money to in the name of first fruit.

This is an act of man's inhumanity to man.But while we critisize the churches we should not spare their gullible victims.Afterrall God freely gave us all the gift of comon sense and the ability to read the scriptures for ourselves

I

Eveoeve:

What do u and your type stand to gain by opening these type of threads?! It seems u guys have made a career out of criticising churches and their pastors! If u dont like your church or pastor why not simply go somewhere else or is it by force to worship there? May God deliver u oh.

So you are saying that these people are beyond criticism. No wonder the thieves who call themselves pastors get away with it. They play on the irrational and superstitious belief of their congregations, and rely on phrases like "touch not my anointed".

chukwudi44:

This is an act of man's inhumanity to man.But while we critisize the churches we should not spare their gullible victims.Afterrall God freely gave us all the gift of comon sense and the ability to read the scriptures for ourselves

True. These rogues take advantage of the fact that people are too scared to question them and their interpretation  of the bible.
Why should an all powerful god need anything from human beings? Of course, if god is a human construct, the story is different.

well i just came back from one and wasn't told to bring my January salary at month end

Am not suprise that the stealing organisation christ embassy does this. Now redeem does this too, thieves and rogues

alaper:

Are you planning to surrender your January salary to your Pastor?  I wish you luck and 'blessings'

Or he's planning to collect a bumper january harvest himself. You wan spoil market for am.

Every stupid nigerian need to be punished severely. If one believes in these swindlers enough to submit to them, then one and one's bank account should be severely dealt with.

Ymodulus:

Am not suprise that the stealing organisation christ embassy does this. Now redeem does this too, thieves and rogues

Yes, it is true and expect an army of "true believers" a.k.a gullible lemmings to challenge you for having the effontery to open this thread. Even if their pastor tells them to bring 6 months income in exchange for divine blessings,intervention and miracles from above. . .they will do it without batting an eyelid even if it means borrowing or selling property. Whoe betide anyone who tries to talk sense into them. They would rather kill you than listen to you because they can't face the reality that all the false hope they have been paying for through tithes,offerings/seed offerings,vows,donations,thanksgiving,building contribution and so on has all been a fraud! Truth is always bitter though. Like my people say : The day a madman realises he's mad is the day he ceases to be mad.

harakiri:

Yes, it is true and expect an army of "true believers" a.k.a gullible lemmings to challenge you for having the effontery to open this thread. Even if their pastor tells them to bring 6 months income in exchange for divine blessings,intervention and miracles from above. . .they will do it without batting an eyelid even if it means borrowing or selling property. Whoe betide anyone who tries to talk sense into them. [b]They would rather kill you than listen to you because they can't face the reality that all the false hope they have been paying for through tithes,offerings/seed offerings,vows,donations,thanksgiving,building contribution and so on has all been a fraud![/b] Truth is always bitter though. Like my people say : The day a madman realises he's mad is the day he ceases to be mad.

Cognitive Dissonance in overdrive. 

do the best and leave the rest, pay your tax, pay your tithe and give good offering to God, this issue of first fruit is biblical, I don't see anything bad in giving God your first fruit if you are capable of giving it, but if you are owning anybody, including house rent, I will advice you to settle your debit before you consider anything. Please remember I'm speaking with flesh right now not with spirit.

Some of the victims have NO choice. In search of a job, they fell into the trap of CE. What do they do except accept such if they don't wish to lose not only January's pay but their very livelihood. So they cry and curse inside and keep quiet

To all the pastor collecting first fruit and to the victims, we should all know that, this world is not our home but, we are just passing through! The bible says " what does it profit a man when he inherits the whole world and loses his soul"

Cheers

Everybody is just against Pastors forgetting that they are not the originators of the first fruits
The first fruits started in the bible days,even now and not even in the days of Jesus

Ex 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Le 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
Le 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Pr 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

God gave specifications through his prophets, that's to show you the importance of the first fruit and he specifically stated that it should be given to the prophet, so, which one is your own about giving to the pastor or the pastor asking for it. If the pastor can talk about any other subject, how much more about the firstfruits.
I'm not aware he forces anybody to give, it is a thing of choice in as much as God demands for it.
Any bible believing church should preach firstfruits
I give my firstfruits, it is not the first or second and neither will it be the last
It is my money remember
At this point i have read it in the bible with my two eyes so it is not whether pastor says so or not, i just give it
abi the bible na lie!

Who does the pastor pay his own first fruits to?
How is it to be paid? Is it the first week, first month or first year's salary (considering this is the beginning of another decade).

harakiri:

Yes, it is true and expect an army of "true believers" a.k.a gullible lemmings to challenge you for having the effontery to open this thread. Even if their pastor tells them to bring 6 months income in exchange for divine blessings,intervention and miracles from above. . .they will do it without batting an eyelid even if it means borrowing or selling property. Whoe betide anyone who tries to talk sense into them. They would rather kill you than listen to you because they can't face the reality that all the false hope they have been paying for through tithes,offerings/seed offerings,vows,donations,thanksgiving,building contribution and so on has all been a fraud! Truth is always bitter though. Like my people say : The day a madman realises he's mad is the day he ceases to be mad.

GBAM! U just hit d nail on d head.

Religion is the opium of the masses and will continue to be. Many people cast their troubles on religion, expecting overnight miracles, forgetting that no matter who you are at any point in time, regardless of your belief system, you must have challenges as long as you are alive.

mabell:

Everybody is just against Pastors forgetting that they are not the originators of the first fruits
The first fruits started in the bible days,even now and not even in the days of Jesus

Ex 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Le 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
Le 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Pr 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

God gave specifications through his prophets, that's to show you the importance of the first fruit and he specifically stated that it should be given to the prophet, so, which one is your own about giving to the pastor or the pastor asking for it. If the pastor can talk about any other subject, how much more about the firstfruits.
I'm not aware he forces anybody to give, it is a thing of choice in as much as God demands for it.
Any bible believing church should preach firstfruits
I give my firstfruits, it is not the first or second and neither will it be the last
It is my money remember
At this point i have read it in the bible with my two eyes so it is not whether pastor says so or not, i just give it
abi the bible na lie!

 My dear u need to study (not just read) your bible again. d fact that something is in d bible don't mean u should do it, scripture interpret scripture and also, we're in a different dispensation. Let me ask u- have u read where it says in d bible- 'suffer not a witch to live?' will u now stone a self confessed witch to death? Do u keep d lords' sabbath (saturday)?, Don't u eat unclean meat (pork, cat fish etc)? The truth (which i believe ur pastor knows) is that we're no longer under d law but under grace. All things have been given us for free, u don't have to pay a dime. Be it 1st fruit, tithe, seed sowing etc if u must give do it cheerfully and without compulsion.
 Lastly, i'll advice u to give to d needy, orphans, homeless, widows etc remember christ said anything u give/do to these people (not ur pastor) u have done/given to him and u will store up treasures for urself in heaven. (sorry am not quoting scriptures here cos am not with my bible but am sure u know d relevant scriptres)

Pukkah:

Religion is the opium of the masses and will continue to be. Many people cast their troubles on religion, expecting overnight miracles, forgetting that no matter who you are at any point in time, regardless of your belief system, you must have challenges as long as you are alive.

Tell dem my brother. This is d main reason we're not moving forward as a nation. Instead of fighting & demanding for our rights to good governance, good roads, security, stable power, we turn to religion for instant miracles 4 ourself and family (as if other nigerians don't matter, _{as long as it's not me and my family}. Our religous and political leaders recognise this and laugh their way to d banks, while ur eyes are tightly closed in prayers 4 miracles, they get their miracles instantly @ ur expense.
D average nigerian about to embark on a journey from lagos to ibadan (less dan an hr journey) will pray and fast against accidents (bad roads), highway robbers (lack of security), police encounter (corruption). But same nigerian in a developed society takes all these for granted because of d reaponsible government they have in place, which was made possible by d people.

mabell:

Everybody is just against Pastors forgetting that they are not the originators of the first fruits
The first fruits started in the bible days,even now and not even in the days of Jesus

Ex 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
Le 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
Le 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Pr 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

God gave specifications through his prophets, that's to show you the importance of the first fruit and he specifically stated that it should be given to the prophet, so, which one is your own about giving to the pastor or the pastor asking for it. If the pastor can talk about any other subject, how much more about the firstfruits.
I'm not aware he forces anybody to give, it is a thing of choice in as much as God demands for it.
Any bible believing church should preach firstfruits
I give my firstfruits, it is not the first or second and neither will it be the last
It is my money remember
At this point i have read it in the bible with my two eyes so it is not whether pastor says so or not, i just give it
abi the bible na lie!

I can't see any cash in your quotation above, only agricultural products.  I hope you don.t advocate people should kill their children if they are abusive, because it is clearly written in the bible.  Lev.: 20; 9
I hope you don't advocate killing of women who are not virgins on their wedding night because it is clearly written in the bible!!  Deut. 22: 20 -21.
It will be difficult for you to get every one who works on Saturday (Sabbath day) to be executed!!  because it is clearly written in the bible!!  Exodus 31:12 - 15
I am sure many people will complain if you advocate that entire towns should be wiped out if one person is found to be worshiping another God there!! because it is written in the bible with detailed and clear specifications!!  Deut. 13: 13 -19
I hope you don't advocate the killing of any pastor who makes a prediction, but that prediction did not happen because according to the bible they should all be killed!!  Deut. 13: 1 -5;  Deut. 18: 20 - 22
Please take my advice:  Anyone who asks for your money quoting  the bible and promising some 'blessing' in the future is by definition committing advance fee fraud!!

Any person when carry him one month salary go give one "pastor" or one "church" for sake of lie of "first fruits" - na fool.

And dem talk say: "a fool and his money are soon parted".

If you like make you let pastor wife dey fool you with scripture on firstfruit (Exodus and all that) when be say na for sake may hin and hin husband enjoy all ya January salaries dem like so! Yẹyẹnatu!

You hear Jesus collect firstfruit from any pesin? Or na Peter collect? Or na James collect? Or na Paul collect? Or na John wen collect?

True be say na only THIEVES dey take sake of "christianity" collect "first fruit"

Yes, I said it: only THIEVES use "Christianity" as a ruse to demand "first-fruits".

@alaper

alaper:

Please take my advice:  Anyone who asks for your money quoting  the bible and promising some 'blessing' in the future is by definition committing advance fee fraud!!

Galatians 6:7-9
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Interestingly Paul has obviously committed advance fee fraud

Joagbaje:

@alaper
Galatians 6:7-9
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Interestingly Paul has obviously committed advance fee fraud

And were did Paul solicit for money in the verse above which you have obviously quoted outof context

KunleOshob:

And were did Paul solicit for money in the verse above which you have obviously quoted outof context

I didn't quote out of context . If you read it from verse 6 it's there.

Galatians 6:6
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things

Galatians 6:6 (amp)
6 Those who are taught the Word of God should help their teachers by paying them. 



.

Where did Paul ask for anybody's first fruits?

Where did Paul ask for anybody's January salary?

Of course he didn't because he was not a thief; only THIEVES demand "first fruits" and people's January salary!

I cant understand the threads i am seeing these days, last time it was offering, tithe later thanksgiving offering and now first fruit. I think the poster of this hread is shallow minded, please ask him if he has ever been forced or arrested to pay such money. Please and please let us stop this criticism and follow our mind afterall you cannot reap without sowing, so why the noise.
secondly if you dont trust your pastor, confront him or better still leave his church rather than distract us here huh!

Eveoeve:

What do u and your type stand to gain by opening these type of threads?! It seems u guys have made a career out of criticising churches and their pastors! If u dont like your church or pastor why not simply go somewhere else or is it by force to worship there? May God deliver u oh.

Look i dont know if this thread-starter has a grudge against
churches but i think this issue is a problem.
I know that alot of people cannot afford to give one
months salary to the church talk less of Janaury's salary.
I believe in giving, but does not the Bible say that God loves
a cheerful giver and that you should give freely not under any duress
or constraint, (2 Corinthians 9:7)

I dont believe in churches that "Indirectly Control & Manipulate
Peoples Lives, Too many of them exist in Nigeria,

I just have a few words to say to all those who have been misinformed and those who have yielded their small minds to the devil, the First fruit is God s instruction, you have a choice to believe it and do it. You also have the choice to ignore it and keep thinking that the Pastors are enriching themselves through it, Me i have decided to obey God and i suggest you do also.

Furthermore the first fruit offering is not restricted to your salary alone, The word says." bring in the first fruit of all thine increase, " So if you get promoted on your job, the initial addition on your pay should be your first fruit even though your promotion came in December.

Finally, i recommend that you study the word of God for yourselves and stop displaying your ignorance of scripture for the whole world to see,