nevaehinvesting
Active Member
...and a lot of other nice things. 
A lot has been said on this board about Preachers vs Money, what they should vs should not have.
Lets use this thread to close the issue.
I know a little about these 3 pastors so I'll use them as examples for discussion.
1. TD Jakes
2. I.V. Hillard
3. The Osteens
ALL 3 men are well-off preachers with nice incomes, cars, houses, etc and similar testimonies.
TD Jakes was dirt poor. He said that his choir was made up of 5 people and 3 of them were his kids. He said he would drive like 2 hours to preach to 8 people, half being family. He and his wife had to struggle to make ends meet, have a beat up car, and old apartment but they never lost faith.
I.V. Hillard was struggling. He and his wife drove an old ugly bus around because they couldn't afford anything else. They were broke all the time. Times were tough but they stayed faithful to God and did what He wanted them to do which was spread the Gospel inspite of their less than desirable circumstances.
Joel's family (father) picked cotton and was poor. John Osteen dropped out of school when he 17 to pick cotton like his own father, and grandfather did. None of his family was educated and everyone had major problems. They were not realizing God's blessings at all and didn't care. They were the definition of real poverty.
***Long stories short, much of their lives was filled with poverty, struggling, and lack. They didn't have much money or members. BUT, they were all faithful in little so God gave them more, and more, and more.
More people came to hear them preach that they couldn't turn away and so they eventually had 'mega-churches'. They became financially savy (not crooked) & started investing, writing books, selling cds, starting businesses, & literally spreading the gospel to the world which also meant making more money.
After 20yrs+, in some cases, of struggling and building and pushing through, they were no longer poor, but rich. No longer driving old cars, but new cars. No longer living in old apartments, but a big houses. No longer preaching to 8 people, buy 80 million people. They had given so much of their lives that God began to give back more than they could imagine or think.
The good thing is that they all give God 100% praise for their blessings and success. They all tithe and give offerings and give their daily lives to spreading the news of Jesus to millions. Their ministries bless more people than ever before.
________________________________________________________________________
Now, my question is, after struggling for years upon years, more money comes in to these guys, as long as more people are getting saved and they're not stealing tithe money, how much money + material things do these men get to enjoy, and still be saved?
If they get 300K from books, 275K from cds, 200K outside business ventures, 100K personal donations from around the world, 100K church salary, etc then
#1. is it greedy to have a S500 Mercedes?
#2. What about a 800k house?
#3. What about a private jet?
#4. What about a 80 million dollar church building?
Should they buy a honda accord and give MORE of their earned money to church? Should they buy no more than a 2,000 sqft house and give MORE money to church?
And, if you think that they're just all about themselves, then how do you explain the 20years of being poor and still remaining faithfull to God?
That was long but I was just wondering....
A lot has been said on this board about Preachers vs Money, what they should vs should not have.
Lets use this thread to close the issue.
I know a little about these 3 pastors so I'll use them as examples for discussion.
1. TD Jakes
2. I.V. Hillard
3. The Osteens
ALL 3 men are well-off preachers with nice incomes, cars, houses, etc and similar testimonies.
TD Jakes was dirt poor. He said that his choir was made up of 5 people and 3 of them were his kids. He said he would drive like 2 hours to preach to 8 people, half being family. He and his wife had to struggle to make ends meet, have a beat up car, and old apartment but they never lost faith.
I.V. Hillard was struggling. He and his wife drove an old ugly bus around because they couldn't afford anything else. They were broke all the time. Times were tough but they stayed faithful to God and did what He wanted them to do which was spread the Gospel inspite of their less than desirable circumstances.
Joel's family (father) picked cotton and was poor. John Osteen dropped out of school when he 17 to pick cotton like his own father, and grandfather did. None of his family was educated and everyone had major problems. They were not realizing God's blessings at all and didn't care. They were the definition of real poverty.
***Long stories short, much of their lives was filled with poverty, struggling, and lack. They didn't have much money or members. BUT, they were all faithful in little so God gave them more, and more, and more.
More people came to hear them preach that they couldn't turn away and so they eventually had 'mega-churches'. They became financially savy (not crooked) & started investing, writing books, selling cds, starting businesses, & literally spreading the gospel to the world which also meant making more money.
After 20yrs+, in some cases, of struggling and building and pushing through, they were no longer poor, but rich. No longer driving old cars, but new cars. No longer living in old apartments, but a big houses. No longer preaching to 8 people, buy 80 million people. They had given so much of their lives that God began to give back more than they could imagine or think.
The good thing is that they all give God 100% praise for their blessings and success. They all tithe and give offerings and give their daily lives to spreading the news of Jesus to millions. Their ministries bless more people than ever before.
________________________________________________________________________
Now, my question is, after struggling for years upon years, more money comes in to these guys, as long as more people are getting saved and they're not stealing tithe money, how much money + material things do these men get to enjoy, and still be saved?
If they get 300K from books, 275K from cds, 200K outside business ventures, 100K personal donations from around the world, 100K church salary, etc then
#1. is it greedy to have a S500 Mercedes?
#2. What about a 800k house?
#3. What about a private jet?
#4. What about a 80 million dollar church building?
Should they buy a honda accord and give MORE of their earned money to church? Should they buy no more than a 2,000 sqft house and give MORE money to church?
And, if you think that they're just all about themselves, then how do you explain the 20years of being poor and still remaining faithfull to God?
That was long but I was just wondering....
), employs 105 employees, physical plant worth $8 million dollars and a charitable foundation that gives millions of dollars a year in the form of donations, scholarship, community outreach and mission work. We pay him a salary commensurate with the income of a CEO, that's what he is; we do not have a pastor's anniversary, but if you want to buy him a gift and give it to him, or give him money, that's on you. He has been pastor for 44 years and for his 40th anniversary, we FORCED (insisted, gingerly) him to have a special program, DURING regular service and it happened to be on his 70th birthday. The members, VOLUNTARILY, gave him $70,000 cash (one member gave $40,000 of that) as a gift to commemorate his 40 years of faithful, diligent service to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. 
