I don't ever want to be responsible for anyone missing a blessing, but then again, I don't want to see people who don't have any money at all, follow televangelists on television blindly and send them money for a perceived blessing they will get when parting with the money. I am sorry, but I do believe one would be better to toss their money in the trash.
Yesterday I wrote about mega churches and televangelists and I didn't have any particular reason, I just felt led to do so. Today, while watching television I stumbled upon a televangelist and he was telling people he knew they wanted to plant a seed, they were hearing from God and God was telling them to sow a seed of (are you ready for this?) $1000.00.
I continued to watch to see what they were talking about and I was appalled. They stated they needed (I doubt this seriously) 1000 people to sow a seed of $1000 and if they felt so led (and they knew some were) to sow $5000 or $10000 and not to worry about it, because you could take 90 days and put it on your credit card.
I could not believe what I was hearing. I was so shocked that a pastor and man of God would tell people to put more debt on their credit card. But don't worry, it would be okay because you would be reaping a huge amount of money back. What part of the Bible does that come from? Last time I read my Bible, we were told NOT to go into debt and now this man was saying go ahead...!
His words were, 'If you keep your $1000 thats all it will ever be, but if you 'sow...send it to him,' it will become the least it can be. It continued on to tell people they needed to be happy to send him the money because they were being obedient to God.
Being obedient to God isn't just sending the televangalists $1000, it is following the Ten Commandments as best as we know how and to follow Jesus teaching to reach out to the poor and to tithe and be cheeful sowers, it isn't just sending a guy on television $1000.
If we are obedient to Gods word and tithe our 10% and give to other things we see a need for, God will give us all we need. Notice, I did not say everything we want. God wants to bless us to be the most effective person we can in His name and moreover, He wants us to be a blessing to others.
How can we be a blessing if we are sending money we do not have to the television pastors. I believe if we want to give $1000 or more away, we should be giving it to our church and our community or helping our families that may be struggling.
Remember, there will be many wolves in sheeps clothing, I am just making comments that each one of us be very wary of people wanting that amount of money from us. Where does it go? Ask questions, know about where you are giving that kind of money to.
I know there are many people hurting in my community and if I had the money to give, I would give it to the local churches, local foodbanks and shelters, I wouldn't be sending it away to someone I didn't know.
But then again, if you want to give money away, my address is:.....Only joking!
Just a channel flip away I found another show talking about money and this was a mega church Pastor, Steve Foss. Pastor Foss was talking about how having debt makes us a slave to our debtors and those people we owe money to. Not only are we slaves, but our entire families are slaves because of our debt.
Pastor Foss stated he knows about debt first hand as years ago he was using credit cards to build up a church and he talked himself into believing what he was doing was right and he was doing it for God. Soon, he had debt and no money to pay it. He realized then, while he was tithing and sowing seed, he had also led himself to believe God wanted him to have the debt he had.
He explains why that was wrong and I was impressed. I have followed some of the best Christian money guru's around...Larry Burkett's teaching helped me find hope years ago when there was none, only blackness all around. I gave that book later to someone else in need.
I followed Dave Ramseys course recently at church and while I love Dave and his teachings, I felt $100 to keep myself from getting into debt was steep. I am not an employee of any of these teachers, but I felt Pastor Foss's teachings on money to be much more realistic as his is only $25 for a 2 disc 8 lesson teaching. For people struggling to pay their bills, their mortgages, who have no medical insurace, etc. I certainly find $25 easier to put out than $100.
I am not a debt counselor, all I know is now is the time to plan for the future, not waiting for the future to make your plans. My family is in debt, but I know if I continue to pay tithes, follow Gods plans, He will bless us. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in His time.
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