quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:



I don’t think 95,000 a year is anything to sneeze at, or feel sad about. That’s almost 6 figures.

That would get you a decent apartment in San Diego, or a small (1,200 sqft) house in a very unsafe neighborhood

It's his money. So what. I think the decision to buy that car was stupid, but hey, maybe life is different in SC. I have a neighbor who has expensive "toys" and I think he's kind of dumb also. But again, it's his money. It's what he likes. Meh.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Awhile back there was a pastor asking his congregation to foot the bill for him to travel on a private jet.

I find this to be nonsense but on the other hand he was flat out in the open about how he wants to spend the congregations money.
If they have no qualms with it and keep giving who am I to say otherwise?

I've got to agree with you. The jet and the car just make me shrug, palms up.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:



I don’t think 95,000 a year is anything to sneeze at, or feel sad about. That’s almost 6 figures.

That would get you a decent apartment in San Diego, or a small (1,200 sqft) house in a very unsafe neighborhood

I know plenty of folks who make do just fine on less.
Truly, I don’t think that a $95,000 salary is anything to be sad about. I guess I haven’t looked at the avg national salary of an employed individual, but I’m betting it’s less than $95,000. *Yup, just checked, it’s about $60,000 (and I think that’s per household).

And being that the number I provided (courtesy of google, “national avg salary of a pastor in U.S.” Dec 1, 2018 salary.com) is a national avg, I suspect that in San Diego they might adjust wages for cost of living in the area?
I am certainly aware that numbers can be manipulated, I’m just laying out the information provided by a simple search. And yes, after reflection, I guess I personally think a $200,000 car is a bit excessive. Just the way I was raised, fairly frugally, I guess. My husband certainly doesn’t think so! I hope she gets her value for it.

I’d think she’d take the money instead and contribute a portion to the homeless or needy, or something other than a bucket of bolts..but again, just me, and how I was raised. I remember visiting Buckhead in Atlanta for a few days some years back, and snorting with laughter when we went by the grocery and I saw all the ridiculously fancy cars parked in the grocery lot, and the women driving them appeared to be dressed to go to an event (coiffed hair, jewelry and all). Definitely an eye opener.
I think they’d struggle as much here as I would there.

quote:

If I remember correctly he also said he could not hear God talking to him on commercial flights.

That was not God.

quote:

If I remember correctly he also said he could not hear God talking to him on commercial flights.

I figure that if God was talking to him, he would have no trouble recognizing it as such!

quote:

Sometimes as a kid, it irritated me. Today, I recognize it as an example of godly people doing it right. Imo, if you're going into the ministry to get rich, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons.

This is how I see it. Jesus did not send His disciples out to get rich. He sent them out to spread His word and the Word of God.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

If I remember correctly he also said he could not hear God talking to him on commercial flights.

That was not God.

The PA system volume wasn't up enough.

The difference between God and a pilot?

God doesn't think he's a pilot.

My church has a very small (25 person) congregation. The pastor (a father figure to me after my father died) makes a very meek 18k a year. Fortunately the prespetary and church cover housing costs and health insurance. Our church is entirely funded by our collection.
Every year my pastor and his family travel 30 miles to my house where my wife cooks dinner for the holidays because they can’t afford the expense of a traditional Christmas or thanksgiving or Easter dinner.
If this pastor was fortunate enough to make money outside his regular salary than more power to him. Let him buy his wife lavish gifts. He is a person just like the rest of us and can spend his homey as he sees fit.

Have you guys considered that maybe the good Pastor isn't the problem. That maybe some of you guys need to better educate the flock to keep them from getting took? Every church I have ever been involved in has been a cesspool. And in every church I have been involved in, the answer to every problem was tithing more and more and more. Good old fashioned socialism. Other peoples money. And when it runs out, the deacons would strong arm the old people with guilt and the wishes of "the Lord" to finance each and every project.

The last straw in my last church was when one of the other local churches in the Southern Baptist Convention bought a 30 passenger bus. They formed a committee, and the committee looked far and wide and found two that would fit the bill. The first was two years old and had 30k on it and the second was brand new. The 30k bus was half the cost, which was still pretty steep.

Now, mind you, there is no real need for a bus. All kinds of "well, we could do this with it" were thrown out, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be done with the three church vans they already had plus SUVs that belonged to members.

So, it came down to a Sunday night vote. One astute member entered the discussion talking about the parsonage and how bad repair it was in. He stated that we didn't need to spend money foolishly until we met our obligations. The bull deacon shut him down, practically made fun of him, and assured the nervous congregation that all was well with the parsonage. The committee made its report and unanimously suggested that the used bus be purchased. But, nope. The bull deacon was having any part of that. He told a tale that the bus was two years old, and that coming year, all the hoses front to back would have dry rotted and fallen off. And this illogical bullshit that masqueraded as some type of fact went on in a filibuster style event for a half an hour. At the end, the old folks were scared of the bus with 30k, and the younger members just wanted him to shut up. The church voted to buy the new bus in protest of a couple of us.

Two Sundays later, the same senior deacon announced the need for $250,000 for a new parsonage. Turns out, it was mold infested and not inhabitable the whole time. Who da thunk it, right?

Maybe you should educate the flock. Cause I am pretty sure Jesus hasn't gotten that first check yet........

You guys want this to stop? Stop giving money to churches. Spare me the "good that happens" from it. I don't want to hear whining about what this pastor does with his money, when the swindlers come from all back grounds, and we seem to be good with it as long as they don't buy a Lambo.

Here is the man. Reverend Ike on MONEY.

It was just plain stupid that the pastor made a video of giving it to his wife. He didn't just want to give his wife an outrageously expensive car, he wanted everyone to see it. A pastor can do whatever they want with their own money but they should also know that it's really dumb to show off a car that costs more than some of the church members homes.

John Gray is a prosperity preacher. So, regardless of the manner in which he bought his wife a vehicle, he doesn't preach a biblical gospel and, thus, isn't a Christian preacher. Oh, some of his stuff sounds Christian-like, but he fails the test. He doesn't preach the biblical gospel.

Since this episode, it has come to light that John Gray cheated on his wife with a 16 year old girl. A girl his wife has dismissed to his "church" as "a kid who couldn't get a date." In order the elicit sympathy for his sin, he claims to be suicidal and has enlisted the help of another anti-Christian, TD Jakes, to pray for and defend him. Any wonder now why he let the congregation take money out of the offer plate?

A very sad episode. Not only for the "pastor" but also for a congregation that has been bought off and refuses to hold Gray accountable. The bible tells us a man who commits sexual sin of not fit for church leadership.

This movie, available for rent or purchase on Vimeo, "The American Gospel: In Christ Alone," speaks to the current false prosperity gospel, as well as the true Gospel. I highly recommend it. (By the way, the guy with dreadlocks a few moments into the trailer talking about his worth, is Todd white, and he's one of the bad guys in the movie (and in real life).)

Wow. I just watched some vid of this guy. Uh uh. Not my kind of church at all, but to each their own.

Yeah, brother mowed his pastors lawn, as brother had a mowing service.
Pastors lawn was twice as big and almost all his other customers and had one heck of hill in the back yard. Very hard to get up with a zero turn and anyone without a lot of experience operating one. Brother only charged him half as much as his other customers.
Pastor had his and her Mercedes. His whole house was furnished with the highest quality of everything.
Brother asked me to check out an electrical problem in his house. When I did and told them about how much to fix, they suddenly did not need me anymore...wanted it fixed free. I did not go to that church. They now have a fund started to buy the pastor an airplane.