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Ponziponzi's Posts

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Christianity Etc › Re: First Fruit: Even The Poor And Aged Are Not Spared- Daddy Freeze by ponziponzi(m): 1:11pm On Jan 09, 2018
Penalty82:
That's what Freeze wants you to believe. He want to appear to be educating people but ending up making a fool of himself. If truly he knows the Bible teachings as he's making people to believe, why is he having a baby mama which is fornication?
What are you saying? Did you read what just typed?
Christianity Etc › Re: Why Is Daddy Freeze Focused On Adeboye And Not TB Joshua? by ponziponzi(m): 3:04am On Jan 09, 2018
TribesNG:
Daddy Freeze as you all know him is popular on this "tithe" payment issue and is specifically calling out Adeboye and RCCG on the tithe issue. Late last year we saw a video shared by Freeze himself that shows Popular Nigerian Pastor, TB Joshua supporting his comment on the to tithing issue where he said "it is better to give to the poor than to pay tithe".

Have we all forgotten about TB Joshua's 2016 Prophesy About Hillary Clinton winning the Election? Why is daddy freeze not attacking TB Joshua as being fake and deceiving Nigerians?


Because TB Joshua shows he helps the needy doesn't mean Those not showing it are not helping the needy. If you ask me, I'll prefer being prayed for to Prosper than to receive #200k or #500k to help myself in this country. And You all know TB Joshua Video tape each and everyone he helps, Whether you're a president or not, or a man who was rich before or not. Even if Dangote becomes broke he'll still decide to let the world knows that he helped him.

Come to think of it, When Jim Iyke gave his reasons for appearing on Emmanuel TV, Daddy Freeze didn't react. But if it is someone who was unknown said the same thing about RCCG, he would be the first to react.

Please Nairalanders what do u have to say about this?

cc: Lalasticlala, Mynd44, Seun, Fynestboi, MissyB3
Hahahaha, grin grin grin grin grin Even the Chikok girls they have been praying for since 2014 are since in captivity or sold into slavery. You better collect the money, invest it and work hard to get out of poverty.

Who prayer don help for Nigeria? As I am typing this more than 10 Nigerians have slid into poverty, how is prayer helping them?

Christianity Etc › Re: First Fruit: Even The Poor And Aged Are Not Spared- Daddy Freeze by ponziponzi(m): 11:57pm On Jan 08, 2018
These people are just heartless embarassed.

So if I give money to my parents to eat and take care of themselves, they should go and give it to a Pastor who is having a surplus?
Christianity Etc › Re: RCCG "Open Heaven": Daddy Freeze Reacts To Ban On Unauthorized Publication by ponziponzi(m): 9:42pm On Jan 08, 2018
stinggy:
Who bore the cost of production?
There is no point spending money on printing if it can be shared freely online. They should only print for those who want the hard copies and are ready to pay for that, they should even be made to pay more cause hard copies are not eco-friendly.
Christianity Etc › Re: RCCG "Open Heaven": Daddy Freeze Reacts To Ban On Unauthorized Publication by ponziponzi(m): 9:38pm On Jan 08, 2018
kosisoOkafor:
And they will use your urine to keep printing it. Go and borrow sense.
There is no point printing, they can always share it online.
Christianity Etc › Re: Pastor E.A. Adeboye's Propecy About High Temp. Being Fulfilled? by ponziponzi(m): 2:46am On Jan 08, 2018
And how is it record-breaking when it has happened 80 years ago?
Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 3:29pm On Jan 07, 2018
bezimo:
On what basis is your intepretation of the scriptures the correct one..so you now know how to interpret the scriptures better than Bishop Oyedepo..even the apostle of faith..my friend get lost with you baseless upside down submission. If you like believe the scriptures upside down..not my business.
bezimo:
All your statistics is garbage..you who is an outsider cannot be in a position to tell me about my church more than me that know the church and a number of its members. Not possible. We in Winners are not poor people. We are blessed people..so get lost with your rubbish statistics.
shocked shocked shocked shocked See comment! No wonder Ponzi schemes thrives in Nigeria...

Please, what is the average IQ of a typical Nigerian?
Christianity Etc › Re: Christians, Believe Freeze At Your Own Risk Of Poverty by ponziponzi(m): 3:15pm On Jan 07, 2018
Nigerians are already poor, over 42.5% of Nigerians are already living in EXTREME poverty and 6 people are drifting into extreme poverty every minute. How else can it get worse?

My brother, the only people getting rich are your Pastors. God is MMM, He is not a money doubler.
Christianity Etc › Re: Unauthorised Publishing Of "Open Heavens Devotional" Is Illegal - RCCG by ponziponzi(op): 3:03pm On Jan 07, 2018
Nuezha:
This is an internal memo. How did it get here?
Wolves among sheep.
Are you in a cult?
Christianity Etc › Re: Nigerian Mega-rich Pastors Living In Million Pound Homes Prey On Believers - UK by ponziponzi(m):
OneCorner:
So what do u want us to do now?
Go and close the church or kidnap d pastors?
thought this recent obsessions with pastors ended in 2017 sef
Want people to understand that some of these Pastors are just fraudsters and just like MMM are only after people’s money.
Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze Trying To Abolish The Old Testament? by ponziponzi(m): 4:20am On Jan 07, 2018
Or these? It will make sense to make some money selling stones

Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze Trying To Abolish The Old Testament? by ponziponzi(m): 4:13am On Jan 07, 2018
Awon weree, when you want to cherry-pick from the old testament to suit your pastor's business empire, you guys will quote Mattew 5:17. So do you guys obey all these laws in Leviticus 19?

Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 2:28am On Jan 07, 2018
bezimo:
You are a fat ignorant liar. You are not a member of Winners so your submissions are invalid and maliciously construed.
I 've been a member of Winners Chapel for over 2 decades, I am not poor or needy, my family is the same, my friends who worship at Winners. Its the same. So what nonsense statistics are you talking about.

God gave Bishop Oyedepo this scripture when he was mandated (To get back home and make my people rich) to open up the prosperity dimensions of the gospel to Gods people 2 cor 6:10

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.


So your statistics is baseless and garbage.I stand not to be corrected because i cant deny what my eyes has seen and my hands have handled by the blessings of Lord that I have enjoyed since planting myself in Winners chapel.
...........and stop quoting the bible out of context to suit your defective teaching. Paul was not talking about riches, he was talking out his HARDSHIP and how to persevere for Christ despite the challenges.

Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 2:17am On Jan 07, 2018
bezimo:
You are a fat ignorant liar. You are not a member of Winners so your submissions are invalid and maliciously construed.
I 've been a member of Winners Chapel for over 2 decades, I am not poor or needy, my family is the same, my friends who worship at Winners. Its the same. So what nonsense statistics are you talking about.

God gave Bishop Oyedepo this scripture when he was mandated (To get back home and make my people rich) to open up the prosperity dimensions of the gospel to Gods people 2 cor 6:10

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.



So your statistics is baseless and garbage.I stand not to be corrected because i cant deny what my eyes has seen and my hands have handled by the blessings of Lord that I have enjoyed since planting myself in Winners chapel.
grin grin grin grin grin grin cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy So all winner people are rich abi? And yet Nigeria has more than 46% of her population living in ABJECT poverty. grin grin grin grin

See delusion ooo shocked shocked shocked.

For your information, more than 90% of Nigerians are living poverty sef (a country where people earning $8/day are considered middle class).

Like I said before, 4 in 10 persons you see in your church are in ABJECT poverty, the only rich person in your church is your pastor. The fact that they are telling you that you are rich or this year is your year doesn't make it true.

For your information, I didn't make up the statistic, you can look it up yourself. Stop deceiving yourself.

See where rich people live, some of them are not even Christians o; and see your country 'where God has instructed your Pastor to enrich its people'. Nigeria is a sick country but her citizen will not accept that fact. Until we understand that the country is very poor and accept it as our responsibility, we will continue to suffer and smile.

Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze Reacts To Wale Gates Post: Women, Bible, Husbands, Maids, SideChick by ponziponzi(m): 11:18pm On Jan 06, 2018
MOTIVEBI:
Nonsense movement... Daddy Freeze and is supporters are inviting the rod of God on their lives.
grin grin grin cheesy cheesy cheesy So God still dey use rod? Technology never reach that side?
Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 9:43pm On Jan 06, 2018
wickyyolo:
I didn't say every man on the pulpit is a man of God.
Don't mess with a True man of Gof
How do we know who a true man of God is?
Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m):
bezimo:
Oh the prosperity gospel is fake and it is your own gospel that is the real one.. I see.!!
you see how this idiot keep appealing to the senses of the online social media pharisees and saducees by the fake garbage he dishes out to feed them from time to time. but we are not surprised. He is one a mission as mandated by hell.

He should ask questions, were are they which criticised before him because he is not the first, they are in Oblivion. he is not the first to criticize and speak again and will not be the last. Bishop Oyedepo was mandated by God in 1986 while in the States specifically..."get back home and make my people rich". there is no name he wasn't called when he started ..but today he is a full proof of the mandate and the gospel just as many who bought into that truth.
Make people rich or himself rich? 6.5 people are drifting into extreme poverty in Nigeria per minute. Stop listening to what they are saying and just look around even in your church. Every 4 out of 10 people you see in your church on Sunday are in abject poverty. (i.e less than $1.25/day, this money can't buy a cup of black coffee).

Just look at this statistic and be ashamed of your statement, we need to own the responsibility of our poverty and look for ways to get out of it. Prosperity teaching has definitely not helped us and will not.

Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 7:26pm On Jan 06, 2018
princechurchill:
Like i said its working for me
Yea, but it not working for millions of poor Africans. While 43% of all Pentecostal Christians live in Africa, it is still the poorest continent in the world. Also, so you may know, another 30% of Pentecostal Christians live Latin America (another poor continent).
Christianity Etc › Re: Daddy Freeze: Prosperity Doctrine Is Fraudulent & Satanic From The Pits Of Hell by ponziponzi(m): 6:46pm On Jan 06, 2018
Mariangeles:
There's nothing satanic about prosperity, Freeze is so confused.
Why pretend you don't want something when you know you need it..."ask and it shall be given unto you"
And why are we so poor in Nigeria or in Africa for that matter, if more than 43% of Pentecostal Christians are in Africa?
Christianity Etc › Re: Unauthorised Publishing Of "Open Heavens Devotional" Is Illegal - RCCG by ponziponzi(op): 1:47pm On Jan 05, 2018
Goodness4525:
as a result of xposing the wrong teachings which the sheeple cannot detect themselves
Abi?
Christianity Etc › Re: Please I Need Answers To This Biblical Happening by ponziponzi(m): 2:56am On Jan 05, 2018
So you guys believe Noah put all the animals, in this world, in a boat? shocked shocked shocked shocked
Christianity Etc › Unauthorised Publishing Of "Open Heavens Devotional" Is Illegal - RCCG by ponziponzi(op): 2:46am On Jan 05, 2018
... or not

Christianity Etc › Re: RCCG Prohibits Unauthorised Publishing Of Its Open Heavens Devotional by ponziponzi(m): 4:30pm On Jan 04, 2018
Photo of the memo will be nice
Christianity Etc › Re: Pastor E.A Adeboye's Prophecies For 2018 by ponziponzi(m): 1:28am On Jan 01, 2018
Hahaha grin grin grin
Christianity Etc › Re: Why Are Pastors Criticized For Their Riches And Not Christians in General? by ponziponzi(m): 3:32pm On Dec 31, 2017
petra1:
pastor that are rich are blessed of God. the put principles of the bible to work and it works for them also. God supply you financially if you have vision.either you're a pastor or member. pastors are hard workers
Your logic also works for yahoo boys.
Christianity Etc › Re: Why Are Pastors Criticized For Their Riches And Not Christians in General? by ponziponzi(m): 3:31pm On Dec 31, 2017
If the source of your wealth is from the hope and fear of poor and sick people, you definitely deserve to be criticised.
Christianity Etc › Re: How Long Should We Pray? by ponziponzi(m): 5:51pm On Dec 27, 2017
asuustrike2009:
Basically there is no minimum or maximum hours of prayers. It all boil down to the individual, if he or she chooses 3 hours to pray,he should be consistent with it. What God watches is your consistency in prayers not necessary the hours spent. But again if you spent more time in his presence, you get more results
So God loves to watch you pray hard and sweat before He grants your request? I don't do that to my kid, sometimes I grant his requests before he even asks.
Crime › Re: Ex-Boxer & Lord's Chosen Pastor Murders His Wife On Christmas Day In Anambra by ponziponzi(m): 4:03pm On Dec 27, 2017
See poverty...

This kind of poverty is enough to cause mental disorder.
Christianity Etc › Re: Apostle Joshua Selman Expose The Secret To His Miracles,signs And Wonders by ponziponzi(m): 1:38am On Dec 27, 2017
asuustrike2009:
He is highly anointed. He ate the Bible very well
Great!
Crime › Re: Man Rescues Wife From Committing Suicide, After Spending Money For Their Rent by ponziponzi(m):
She used the money for MMM. Many of them have gone this way, it’s just not in the news.
Politics › Re: Innoson Vs GTB: How Does A Private Commercial Matter Becomes EFCC Case? - Saraki by ponziponzi(m): 1:29pm On Dec 21, 2017
aolawale025:
A transaction between a bank and it's client is a civil matter. EFCC is only involved in criminal matters.
It becomes a criminal matter when you forge bank documents to clear goods with the customs.
Christianity Etc › How Pastors Get Rich by ponziponzi(op): 8:30pm On Dec 20, 2017
This article exposes the secret methods certain pastors use to get rich off God’s people. Have you ever wondered how some pastors start a church and then become wealthy living in flash houses and driving luxury cars? Well this article exposes how they do it, extracting money from their congregations to fund their lifestyles. Here are the secrets they definitely do not want you to know.

Important Note: As you read please remember that very few pastors use the techniques you are about to discover. The great majority of Christian pastors do not earn much money even though they work hard at their jobs. Most Christian pastors would find these techniques repugnant. Please do not make the mistake of tarring the many good pastors with the brush reserved for the spiritually corrupt few.


Introduction
Like Judas reaching into the money bag, the sad reality is that a small minority of Christian pastors steal from God’s people. As Christians we hate to face this truth, but I believe we must, because it is our duty to protect our less aware brothers and sisters – keeping them from these thieves.

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. – 2 Corinthians 2:17a

Here exposed are the secret techniques used to fleece money from God’s people. Don’t be naive thinking that these schemes have spread throughout the world by accident. These techniques are talked about and shared behind closed doors by the clique of pastors who employ them.

It’s big business. Some of them laugh at us like con-men laughing at their marks. Seriously, if you don’t believe that there are men like that, then watch the 1972 documentary Marjoe. You’ll soon realize that these wolfs in sheep’s clothing have been a blight on Christianity throughout its history.

I will start by outlining the primary pattern that underpins these modern schemes. Then I will drill down, listing each technique one by one, exposing how they work. Finally, at the end, I will outline the biggest monetary scam of all.

First let’s discover the primary pattern behind their methods…


The Multilevel Marketing Pattern
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up toJerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” -John 2:13-16

We’ve all been approached at some time by a friend caught up in the hope of multilevel marketing. The business they are pushing is simple, sell toothpaste or web sites or whatever, and then recruit people under you doing the same, taking a cut from their sales. Soon you will be so rich that you can buy a flash European car and give stacks of money to Godly causes.

That is the dream. The proof the dream works is embodied in the wealth of the dream’s leaders. Do you see how rich our leaders are? They made all their money by following the dream, proving that you can too. Except, that it’s a lie.

Coming up is the key to the pattern, are you ready? These leaders did not become wealthy by following the dream, instead they became wealthy by building up a group of people who believe passionately in the dream, and then selling dream-promoting wares to this captive audience.

I will say it again, because you need to understand this pattern. They did not become rich by selling toothpaste; they became rich by hyping dream-promoting books, tapes, DVDs, and conferences to their own private market of dream believers.

This same pattern is practiced by some Christian leaders and their churches. The dream is the prosperity gospel. Their captive market is their congregation. The products are, well you guessed it: books, tapes, DVDs, and conferences, and t-shirts, and most ominously spiritual rewards and the prevention of spiritual punishments.

These leaders use their faked “success” to promote a distorted gospel which basically says: “tow the line obeying the leaders buying whatever we tell you to buy, and donate money whenever we tell you to donate, and then God will pour riches into your life.” They tell us that they became successful by following this dream, but in reality they became rich by sucking money out of those caught up in the buzzing environment where this distorted gospel seems real.

Let’s drill in and discuss some of the products and techniques they use to line their pockets with money that ought to have stayed with God’s people or gone to legitimate good works. You are about to discover how these spiritual vampires feed…

Tip: A clue that you are caught up in one of these churches is if you hear things like, “This is your spiritual home, you can’t go to another church. You must be loyal.” They are very jealous about protecting their market, and do not want to lose one of their paying customers to another church. Some even try to prevent their patrons leaving by making them sign contracts or “covenants”, like a mobile phone company locking you into a two year term. But the Bible does not teach that Christians are bound to their local church organization, this idea is foreign to Scripture.


Books
The first product is the leader’s book (often ghostwritten and fraudulently claimed to be authored by the leader). Let’s be honest, many of these books are below par. Like bad business books they have one good idea, if that, and then are padded with motivational sayings and anecdotal stories of how the leader obeyed the dream and so God hosed him down with wealth. The theological content is basically non-existent. These books would tank on Amazon or in a real bookstore, but hyped to their captive market they sell like hot cakes.

Your Counter Strategy: Buy the book if it’s got good reviews or if your friends have read it and liked it. In other words treat it like you would any other book. Avoid buying it if the pastor or speaker has hyped it during his talk and especially if there is a lot of peer pressure from the group to buy. Be aware that conferences and seminars are designed to emotionally hype these products. If you’ve ever been to a high pressure time-share sales session, then you will know what it’s like. If you’re feeling the hype, then cool off for a few days, buying the book later if you still want to.


DVDs
Next comes the ever popular DVD. Most of which are videos of the leader preaching in his church on a certain topic. Let me ask you a question, is it ethical for a leader who has been paid by his church to prepare and deliver a sermon, to then take that performance and sell it back to his own church members for a healthy profit? I’m not talking here about paying for reproduction costs or the money going into church funds. I’m talking about DVDs being sold at the same cost as a movie DVD and the profit going into the leader’s own pocket.

And like the books most of these DVD’s are awful, not worth the money paid. Minimal content with gallons of fluff. Some are so bad that my friends and I have been in hysterics, like the preacher whose proofs for his latest invented doctrine is to slap the bible he’s carrying and say, “It’s bible, it’s bible!”.

But, these DVDs are hyped and hyped, and the captive audience buy stacks of them. In the worst money hungry churches you’re expected to buy them, and it is noticed if you don’t.

Your Counter Strategy: The same as for a hyped book. Is it good? Do you still want the DVD after the hype has dissipated? Then buy it, otherwise save your money.


Hyped Conferences
The hype for these conferences start months before hand. Other church members look at you strangely if you are thinking about not going. What, you can’t afford the huge entry fee? What’s wrong with you, don’t you love God? Don’t you want to be blessed? Don’t you want to be successful and wealthy? Don’t you want to be part of us? Because you won’t be, unless you go to THE CONFERENCE!

Each speaker is completely amazing. The next best thing to the second coming.

He’s built a church up from nothing to one with thousands of people. She’s the most Godly woman in the universe who is the best wife ever with the best kids and the best lifestyle, and she’s the pastor’s wife too. He’s from overseas. She’s a corporate CEO. Wow. It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be triple awesome! It’s going to be mega massive triply awesomely awesome!

The spiritual reward for going is implied to be life changing. The conference fee is nothing, compared to the fire-fighting-bomber worth of blessings and wealth God will dump on your head from upon high.

And Jesus had conferences too, don’t forget, like the Sermon on the Mount, where He charged, oh, he didn’t charge anything for that spiritual teaching. In fact it was free wasn’t it? Hmmm. Well, often the first-movers can’t figure out how to monetize their success, we can’t blame Jesus for that, can we? Gosh, if only He had some books to sell at the back…

Understand, I’m not against conferences. I’m against overly expensive hyped conferences that deliver hardly any lasting value to their attendees; Conferences that are linked to your standing in your church, and supposedly what God thinks of your commitment to Him.

And why are they so expensive? Where does all that money go? Well, in the next section you’re going to find out…

Your Counter Strategy: Hire a hotel room, and sit there reading your Bible with a few Christian friends – trust me, spiritually you’ll get more out of it and it’ll cost less. Realize that you don’t need the sugar high of a conference to get closer to God. De-program yourself from the idea that conferences are like a spiritual hot-point you just have to be at. See the hype for what it is. Be led by the Spirit to conferences, not pulled by the fear of losing your church friends and God’s blessing.


The Christian Speaking Circuit
If you have a big market (congregation) and are willing to let others come and sell there, then your fellow pastors will invite you to come and sell into their markets (congregations) too. The bigger your own market, the larger the markets that will open their doors to you – as long as you are willing to reciprocate. Quid pro quo.

There is a Christian speaking circuit, just like there is a motivational speaking circuit. The circuit has no formal structure like say a football league, but rather is like an exclusive network or an old boys club.

Young speaking-cubs sweat blood to be allowed into the circuit. These wannabes practice hard and desperately seek in-circuit patrons because the financial rewards are significant. Revenue flows in four ways: from sales of products, from special “love offerings” taken for the speaker, from various perks, and from the formal payments (honorariums) for speaking.

Not all visiting church speakers are on the circuit, the difference is in the amount of money their visit extracts. There is nothing wrong with a speaker’s flights and accommodation being paid for, along with the speaker receiving a fair payment for his time. But if the amounts are excessive and the perks extravagant, then that is an unacceptable waste of the Lord’s money.

Some speaker’s egos are so ripe that they demand business or first class flights, expensive chauffeured cars, five star hotel accommodation, gourmet dining, and the right to bring a small entourage along with them (at the church’s expense). Their fees can be enough to buy a family car, and then they have the audacity to expect a special “love offering” to be made for them. The sales of their books and DVD’s are carefully planned, and the hosting pastors are expected to hype their products.

Of course the hosting pastor will then get the same treatment later at the visiting speaker’s church, including his own big fat love offering. If the visiting speaker does not have a church, then the hosting pastor will expect a cut from the speaker’s product sales.

These Sunday service speaking engagements are the bread and butter, to the glamour and super-liquidity of the hyped conferences. Only the true speaking-circuit superstars get to keynote at these hype-fests. The speakers at these conferences are like sharks in a feeding frenzy, seeking to boost their profit margins with the over inflated prices of their products. Their speaking fees and perks are why these conferences cost so much, and can sometimes even run at a, ahem, cough, “loss”.

It is unbelievable what some of these speakers expect from the Body of Christ. I would not like to be in their shoes when they finally meet our Lord, or for that matter anywhere within the blast radius.

Your Counter Strategy: Don’t go to these conferences. Demand transparent accounting to the whole church of all costs of visiting speakers, and for that matter transparency about any income your pastor is earning while speaking at other churches and conferences. No pastor earning reasonable fees from away engagements would have a problem with this, assuming of course he is on leave when he speaks and not double dipping.


Pastor Owned Businesses that Feed Off the Flock
Another way bad pastors extract money from their captive market is to set up a business, and then get their congregation to patronize their business.

Businesses like: bookshops, counseling, gyms, production firms, computer consulting, cinemas, business coaching services, supermarkets, building firms, music festivals, music studios, real-estate firms, and many more. The bookshop is the most common, often located inside the church itself.

Members in the church who show loyalty to their pastor’s businesses are rewarded, often with increased standing in the church. Members who refuse to use the pastor’s businesses are frowned upon.

Your Counter Strategy: Don’t frequent these types of businesses. Ask questions about who owns them, and where their customers are from, if eighty percent or more of the customers come from the pastor’s church then that indicates where its marketing is targeted.


The Honor The Pastor Scam
Money focused churches tend to be run on cultic patterns. One of these cultic patterns is the division of the church into exclusive rings: the all-powerful pastor perched at the center, the inner-ring of sycophants around him consisting of the pastor’s lieutenants and the church’s privileged class (the rich, the famous and the very pretty), and the outer-ring of the ordinary folk who would love to be in the inner-ring, but are not.

The power of those in the inner-ring is determined by the amount of favor the pastor bestows upon them.

To get more favor the inner-ring will employ many favor-currying measures, one of which is a scam called “Honoring the Pastor”. It works this way, the inner-ring will figure out what the pastor would like, say for his birthday. Then the inner-ringers will squeeze the outer-ringers for the money to buy this item.

Using this method pastors have been “given”: diamond rings for their wives, cash gifts, jet skis, luxury cruises, motorbikes, cars, holidays, boats, and a myriad of other expensive luxury items.

Are the pastors complicit in this game? Of course they are. They couldn’t demand the gift openly themselves, but seek plausible deniability by having their inner-ring lieutenants do the work. Of course they could refuse the gift when it is presented, and make it clear that they don’t want the Lord’s money spent on such things again, but they never do. These pastors exchange their favor, for cash from their congregation.

Your Counter Strategy: Unless it’s something reasonable like a bunch of flowers for the pastor’s wife, don’t give to this sort of fund raising.


High Pressure Offerings
Another way the pastor uses his inner-ring to extract cash, is via high pressure offering talks in the church services.

One of the church’s inner-ring will take the Sunday offering, which in these money focused churches can turn into a mini-sermon. These inner-ring members are competing against each other’s past high scores. At stake is their standing with the pastor and hence their standing in the church. If they rake in the cash then their position is secure, but if they score low then no matter what excuses they have they know the pastor will blame them.

In the extreme money focused churches it is made known who gave the most and who gave the least, and in these churches the giving will not be in secret but people will be expected to come up the front so that everyone can see how much they give. Or people will be watched to see if they put anything in the offering container as it is passed down the aisles.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:7

Your Counter Strategy: If you feel you are being compelled to give then don’t give a penny, no matter how much pressure is applied.

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