Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Yahoo]

As financial workers suffer through tumultuous times on Wall Street, some are turning to an old source of solace: religion.Religious leaders said attendance was up at lunchtime meetings in New York’s financial district last week, with many more people in business attire than usual.

That is hardly surprising, said Reverend Mark Bozzuti-Jones of Trinity Church Wall Street, given that people don’t know if their employers will survive from one day to the next.

“The economic financial crisis is a reminder that we cannot put our faith in riches, that we cannot put our faith in money,” Bozzuti-Jones said in his sermon at lunchtime on Friday, which he devoted to coping with the financial crisis.

A handful of men in suits and ties and women in business attire were among dozens of people at the Episcopal church, which was hit by debris from the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001.

The church, which normally attracts tourists and a few financial workers, experienced an upturn in visitors this week, Bozzuti-Jones said. In the past few days he had requests for help to pay rent from those who had lost their jobs.

“People are just sitting there, praying or crying and definitely exhausted. There has definitely been an increase in the number of people who have come in,” he said in his office after the service.

Read more here.

[From me]

Well, if it takes a recession or worse to bring people back to God I may not like it but ultimately it is up to Him.  Are you willing to give up your comforts if it brings people to Jesus?  Really?

What do you think?

On Saturday night I watched part of the forum that was held at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA.  I’ll admit that I was flipping back and forth from the Olympics.  But I digress.  One of the candidates made a comment to a question asked by Pastor Rick Warren.  

Rick asked the candidate, “what do you consider to be rich?”  

The gentleman gave a great funny answer of anyone who sells 25 million books. (laughter) Then he said I would consider the middle class as being anyone who makes $150,000 or less!

OK, I’ve never made anywhere near $150K.  I haven’t even come close to $100K even when I was in the business world.  I actually have made less money at each church since I left Peachtree Corners back in 2001 to start a church.  I’m going backwards. So if $150K is middle class then I’m in the bottom third.  

But this got me thinking.  What is rich?  When I went to the Ukraine a few years back our hosts told us that the average Ukrainian makes an average of $20 US a month! That struck me hard back then.  That isn’t enough to feed a family at McDonalds or Wendys here in the US for one meal.  I once lived in the poorest county in NC and my pay reflected that.  But I have no idea what real poverty is. 

Malawi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world with an income per person of around $160 per year. Most Americans make more than that in a day.  Some people make that in an hour.  

Look at the 10 poorest countries in the world:

So really the definition of rich is almost everyone in the US.  We need to quit whining about $4 gas and other problems in the US, because we have it made here in the US.  I’ll bet people in every country above would trade places with those of us in the lower third of “middle class.”

What do you think?

[Times Online]

“It is not yours, it is God’s, and you are not going to get it.” So saith Kenneth Copeland, the television evangelist, when asked to submit his ministry’s private financial records to Washington.

Mr Copeland is one of at least six American “televangelists” facing the scrutiny of a senate investigation for alleged financial wrongdoing. The Eagle Mountain International Church - otherwise known as the Kenneth Copeland Ministries - preaches a doctrine of financial prosperity, with the promise that God can make a follower both healthy and wealthy. The faithful are encouraged to dig deep and give to the Church, where donated dollars will provide a one hundredfold return in happiness and wealth.

As Mr Copeland’s televised congregation listen to their minister boom, “You are not created for poverty,” they deposit cash in a donation envelope across which is written: “I am sowing $____ and believing for a hundredfold return.”

Mr Copeland certainly practises what he preaches. According to a report into the pentecostal charismatics, commissioned by the Senate, the ministry built Mr Copeland and his wife Gloria a mansion “the size of an hotel” and enabled him to acquire a $20 million Cessna Citation to help him to spread the word of God across the US.

Speaking to his assembled congregation on the runway by his new aeroplane, Mr Copeland said: “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘you’re gonna believe for a Citation 10, right now’.” He also promised that the jet, one of four owned by the Church, “will never ever be used as for anything other than what is becoming of you Lord Jesus”.

The ministry also owns an airport capable of accepting jet landings, leases land for Mr Copeland’s cattle and horses and also leases land to the family so that it can operate oil and gas wells.

Read more here.

[From me]

I posted my views on church and ministries tax free status here last week.  Churches and ministries aren’t guaranteed tax free status forever.  If ministers and ministries start becoming arrogant towards the government, the tide could turn against all of us.  I also mentioned this past weekend I don’t know whether or not they need private jets.  As long as ministries are up front about their donations and gifts and they pay their income taxes, what they spend is between them and their donors.

But what about the arrogance of:

“It’s not yours, it’s God’s and you’re not going to get it and that’s something I’ll go to prison over. So, just get over it!”  Kenneth Copeland

Is that really how ministers should respond to our government?  I don’t see prosperity as a God given right. Jesus never promised us lots of money.  In fact he promised us trouble. 

Luke 9:23

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Jesus said if we follow Jesus we must give Him everything we have.  Taking up one’s cross means one thing-Death!  According to the Health/Wealth teachings I guess I must be living in sin.  We are struggling financially as I type this.  If I gave a large “seed” to one of these Health/Wealth teachers would I become rich?  Would it change my life?  No, but it would pad their pockets.

Look what Jesus said in:

Luke 12:41-44

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

How do the Health/Wealth teachers explain this?  If I’m missing something please show me.  Because I don’t like struggling financially.  I would love to have lots of money so I can give a lot away.  I would love to go on mission trips and support ministries.  I don’t want a jet.  I don’t want an expensive car.  I would like to buy a motorcycle so I could save money on gas.  I could go on and on.  But I’m happy paying my bills and enjoying the ministry God has given me.  I’m grateful for my family and friends.  I’m convinced that God doesn’t promise us wealth.  Abundant life is more than money.  The widow mentioned above was rich in God’s eyes. Everything is different when we look at life the way the BIble lays it out.  I doubt I’ll ever have a lot of money.  That’s OK.  I left the world of making money to become a vocational minister–not to get rich.

What do you think?

The other day my good friend Rob from college called and we talked about life, family, church, Bama football, etc…  Then I told him I was thinking of buying a Scooter because gas has gone up to $3.79 a gallon.  Little did I know that he has a Honda Scooter sitting in his garage not being used.  It only has 200 miles on it and gets 120 miles to the gallon.  He has a motorcycle himself so he doesn’t use it.  He said I was welcome to use it if I went to North Alabama to pick it up.

So here is my dilemma, do I spend the gas money going to get an almost new Honda Scooter and drive it back to Charlotte?  My office is less than 4 miles from my home so I could probably go to work for a month for less than $10.  If I had to use my car, I’m close enough to drive back and get it.  Will driving a Scooter make me turn in my “man card?”  Or am I just being wise with God’s resources?  

What do you think? 

Tom Brady has All American looks and an NFL MVP arm as a quarterback for the New England Patriots. He has won 3 Super Bowls and has dated some of the most beautiful women in the world. He has more money than he could ever spend. Yet, he says him self that something is missing. This video is less than 3 minutes long but I think it is worth watching.

If you don’t watch anything else–go to 2:31 into the video and listen to what he says:

“Why do I have 3 Super Bowl Rings and still think there’s something greater out there”

“There has to be more to live than this”

Interviewer, “what’s the answer?’

Brady. “I wish I knew.”

Wow! Tom Brady is living the dream that most American Boys could only imagine and yet he seems unhappy. I know the answer. The answer to life is a relationship with Jesus Christ. The moment I gave my life to Jesus the world is different. I have a purpose everyday. I see the world differently. I look at people differently. I confess I have pulled against Brady because of his lifestyle. No more. I was wrong and will pray for him.

If you are wondering is there more to life? Yes, and all you have to do is ask Jesus to become the leader of your life.

What do you think?