OUR Jesus said I should help YOU Pay for WHAT?!!!!!!!

If you know Lynda and you want to make her happy, let me let you in on a secret. She loves all things Anthropologie. Since she provided the impetus for this "rant", it is only fitting that I post something she absolutely adores. So sometime last week, she sent me a link about a Pastor asking his "flock" to help him pay for his/a plane. If you are so inclined watch the link here.

On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'

And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'

*Sigh* Where do I even begin to begin... Ok Disclaimer, first of all, I do not know said Pastor, nor has he ever done anything wrong to me, or anyone I know ( I think).

HOWEVER, I have issue with his (and others like him) "message(s)". Although come to think of it, a person giving such a message should not and does not rate highly in my books but I digress. I have a deep loathing for such preachers and their gospels because it focuses too much on prosperity especially in the here and now. So when you are not prospering, then is Jesus mad at you? Or perhaps is Jesus taking his time? If everything truly has its season then why do some preachers in their gospel try to preach that we must always have a high season and that is what God wants for us. I know God does not want us to suffer, but our OWN actions lead us to do so. That is where our free will comes into play. If your free will lets you cheat on your spouse, your job etc. then how do you run to Church and expect God to reward this? You cannot hold God accountable for your sins!!!

For these Preachers, I want to ask a simple question. Where in the Bible does God call on his prophets to make others suffer on his behalf? Did God tell Abraham to tell his wife to sacrifice their only son? Let's even look at Jesus, do you think God could not have sent down an Angel to be sacrificed? I do not buy any Gospel that tells me that in order for the Church to grow I have to sacrifice and the minister/pastor/priest must enjoy. Pastor's/preachers how about we focus on GROWING the congregation we have before trying to shoot for the moon? Did the early disciples have jets etc? No but still the message went far. Be the change you want to see in the world. Let people see you ACT like a Christian.

I respect a pastor, preacher, infact any Christian who acts more, and speaks less. Did Mother Theresa sit in Palace somewhere and get minions to do her work? No! She was deep down in the trenches. She ate what they ate, slept where they slept, did what they did!!! She SHOWED with action!!! If you need ME to sacrifice for YOU then we maybe have a problem n'est ce pas?

I keep wondering how some people get "sucked" into these preachers and their Gospels ( and they ask me how I stay with my depressing Catholicism) and the Vatican which some would argue is a haven for material wealth. I would remind these people that although the Vatican receives funding from Catholics around the world, that is not its only source of income. The day I see the Pope, or even hear of the Pope or any Priest for that matter telling any Catholic to give so he/the parish can chill, Catholicism and I will have a problem.

Moving right along, for some people who buy into these Preachers, they have proof that their gospels work. Such people argue that they have seen products of their friends who go to such churches prospering. Mr./Mrs. X gave 1 million and got 4 million back by God. I give them a side eye and submit that Mr. /Mrs. X did not prosper BECAUSE of that Church but DESPITE their Church trying to fleece them. Some people are great Christians, who TALK the TALK and WALK the WALK...such a person will receive their blessings because ultimately they follow the tenets that God has given (the 10 commandments etc.)

I am so worked up about this because God is not an exclusive deal on a website and I hate it when I get the feeling that he is being marketed in this way. He is a free for all. We all know what it is to be good, and what it is to be bad. Its innately built in. He asks that we do good and shun bad. DONE! Not everyone who comes in his name is FOR him. Priests, Pastors, Church people are ultimately HUMAN like you and I. They strive to live godly lives but YET they are HUMAN and thus fallible. It is my opinion that anyone who says I need to sacrifice for THEM who is NOT Jesus Christ, we have a problem. Think about it!

Matthew 7: 21 - 27
	"Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
	On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
	And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
	"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;
	and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
	And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;
	and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.