Bread and Butter Christianity
by David J. Stewart
To
many people in the world today, the term "Christianity" equates to a plastic
Jesus, a credit card Jesus. Christianity has become a lucrative business
for many people. Even more sickening, much of the so-called "Christian"
materials being sold on the market today have been produced by unsaved people.
Truthfully, there is nothing "Christian" about it.
As an example: in the Left Behind series, the Pope actually gets Raptured. Imagine how much money would have been relinquished by the author had the Pope been LEFT BEHIND? Catholics worldwide would have been outraged!
However, in reality the Pope (and all true Catholics) WILL be left behind when Jesus returns for His own. Why? Because they are trusting in the Vatican's seven sacraments and personal good works to save them instead of in the precious blood of Jesus Christ ALONE.
ONLY through Christ can salvation be obtained because ONLY through Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven (John 14:6). The Pope CANNOT forgive your sins! No priest can pray on your behalf to get you into heaven. If you die in your sins (having not asked Jesus to forgive your sins), then you will burn in hell when you die!!! That may not be popular to teach these days, but it is nonetheless true according to God's Word! (Revelation 20:15).
The Bible actually has more to say about hell than heaven. Those who die in their sins will burn in hell-fire; those who die in the Lord will enter through the pearly gates into the city with streets of gold. I was at Barnes and Noble bookstore not long ago and noticed the Left Behind Series located in the science-fiction section. Sadly, the rapture is science-fiction to most people. On the other hand, if the author of the Left Behind series really believes that the Pope is going to be Raptured, it surely belongs in the science-fiction section.
Tons of new so-called "Christian" books, magazines, movies and other media are coming out every year. I wouldn't be surprised to see a new "Bible-of-the-month" club come out next. The English Bible has been revised over 400 times (which is preposterous) since the Authorized King James Bible of 1611. Multitudes of greedy publishers have become wealthy by tampering with the Word of God.
The 1611 King James Bible is NOT very popular in today's apostate churches. Heathen organizations such as Zondervan (NIV) and Nelson Publishers (NKJB) have corrupted the Word of God to appeal to the neo-evangelical apostates of our day. Zondervan is a subsidiary of Harper Collins. The God-given description of "Sodomite" simply would not do for the Zondervan publishers, so they removed it completely from the New International Version (NIV). By the way, the Satanic Bible was published by Avon publishers, another subsidiary of Harper Collins.
So you have the same parent company (Harper Collins) publishing the NIV, the Satanic Bible and also gay and lesbian publications. Evidently, birds of a feather do flock together. It is appalling to any Christ-loving born-again believer to see the Word of God diminished and outright corrupted for filthy lucre's sake. Of course, nearly all modern bibles are copyrighted, but the 1611 King James Bible is NOT. It's all about money and Satanic influences behind the scenes. What God hath wrought, Satan hath sought!
"Show me the money!," the saying goes. It's all about money nowadays. Money, money, money! Sadly, many pastors have sold out to the almighty dollar. I know of pastors who worship money. No they don't bow down or pray to money, but they are so engrossed in money that it becomes an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. It is our job as believers to do our best to win the lost to Jesus Christ. Soul-winning MUST be our end!
Too many churches have become nothing more than social clubs, activity centers and gossip forums. Every local New Testament church should be a HEADQUARTER for soul-winning! A church without a soul-winning program is DEAD! An autopsy of that church would reveal an immature or backslidden pastor. Too many churches have prayer meetings, Bible studies and much more...BUT NO SOUL-WINNING! I liken this to India today. Amazingly, the poor of India are literally starving to death, while the Indian government has so much grain that it's simply rotting in the fields.
While people are dying for lack of food, the Indian government is paying the farmers rent to store the massive overabundance of grain. As a matter of fact, they have enough wheat bags to stack to the moon and back TWICE! This reminds me of most churches in America today. We have all the spiritual food for ourselves, but our local communities are starving to death spiritually and are going to hell by the droves. The reason why is obvious, everything rises and falls on leadership.
There are hardly any men of God anymore. Evidently there are more men of God outside the pulpits of America than there are in the pulpits. How do I know? Look at the average church today! Ask the average working person what they think of preachers. People are sick and tired of scandalous, immoral and money-hungry preachers. People are tired of judgmental preachers which lack understanding and love for ALL people. Where are the men of God? To be fair, there are many decent and God-fearing men behind pulpits all across America, but I sincerely doubt if they make up more than 1% of the total number of pulpits in America.
I hate pulpit committees! No pastor should ever be told what he can or cannot preach. I would never allow any committee to tell me how or what to preach. That is preposterous! Unfortunately, many pastors are nothing more than PUPPETS! Our decisions should be based upon principles and truth, NOT upon expedience or convenience (or what some committee says). We must be loyal to truth, not to institutions or organizations. Oh for such men!
Opportunists abound everywhere, ready to change colors on a whim to benefit themselves. These chameleons are really spineless cowards. A real man makes no apologizes for what he knows to be true; He says what he means, and means what he says. No one owns him, and he can't be bought off by any amount of money, fame or success. It's hard to find such people nowadays, I hope you are one. God is looking for someone who will DO RIGHT! Those the stars fall, do right!!!
The University of Chicago was founded by a Baptist preacher. Unfortunately, greed led to their spiritual destruction as a Christian college. It was in 1890 that "John D. Rockefeller captured the hearts and minds of Baptist ministers with a mere $600,000 granted to Chicago University." (World Without Cancer by Edward G. Griffin, chapter 19 - He Who Pays the Piper, ISBN#0-912986-19-0). Baptists across the country were praising Rockefeller as a "godly man." "In scores of pulpits the phrase: 'Man of God!' was uttered. A writer to the Independent said: 'No benefaction has ever flowed from a purer Christian source'" (Flynn, God's Gold, op. cit., pp.305, 306).
Within one year, according to Mr. Griffin, Chicago University had been taken over by John D. Rockefeller, the university president was kicked out and replaced by one of Rockefellers buddies. After two years, all anti-Rockefeller teaching staff had been purged out. How sad! How wicked when evil men can swindle God's men. I believe those Baptist preachers were sincere, but as the old saying goes, "He who pays the piper calls the tune." Rockefeller was now calling the shots! No church or pastor should ever accept money from an evil source, such were the Rockefellers.
It was no secret that the entire Rockefeller family was bad news. William Avery "Doc" Rockefeller, John D's father was known as a cheat, a con man. He had trained his sons well to do the same (World Without Cancer by Edward G. Griffin, chapter 17 - The Rockefeller Group, ISBN#0-912986-19-0).
I was saddened to learn that Jerry Falwell accepted a $3,000,000 donation from cult leader, Sun Mung Moon (the "Moonies"). Moon was invited to speak at Liberty Baptist College (for which the donation was made) and treated as a royal guest. Moon is the cult leader who claims that he is superior to Jesus Christ, that the devil actually converted and joined the Moonies, etc, etc. For more info please visit the Moonies section of this website under "False Religions" on the main page.
How could Jerry Falwell accept money from such a degenerate man who has destroyed so many families as well as the institution of marriage? Most pastors would have a hard time turning down that kind of money, but that's where we separate the spiritual from the carnal. Should it be any surprise that Jerry Falwell labels the King James Only camp as heretics. Not at all. There are things which I admire about Jerry Falwell (such as his stand against Bill Clinton's/CIA drug dealings in Mena, Arkansas), but receiving money from Moon is like accepting money from Hue Hefner or Budweiser. The source of the money is evil.
We are clearly warned in 1st Timothy 6 to "FLEE" from the LOVE OF MONEY!
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." -1st Timothy 6:10,11
Sadly, many pastors and ministers have done the exact opposite of 1st Timothy 6:11, they have redirected their sails in pursuit of gold. I heard a new pastor deliver a sermon against being covetousness a few years back. It was good. Within two years, I was shocked to learn that he was teaching the Charismatic's health, wealth and prosperity garbage. He had been bamboozled somewhere along the way into believing that he should brainwash and milk his congregation for all the money he possibly could. He started preaching that working church members were to tithe based upon the value of their employee benefit plan (sick leave, vacation time, health insurance payout, etc, etc.).
That is nowhere taught in the Bible! This misguided pastor even asked the parents in his congregation to cough up their children's college money. He actually tried to convince the parents that their children would just squander the college money away. Can you imagine? He teaches that tithing is the way by which we enter into the Abrahamic covenant. No sir! That is heresy! We become a receptor of that promise made to Abraham the very moment we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.
He also teaches his people that they owe God a 20% penalty (interest fee) if they haven't been tithing. Psalm 15:5 warns us against lending out money for interest. God does NOT violate his own principles. Please show me that in the Bible where non-tithers owe God 20%! What has gotten into this man of God? Greed? Insecurity? Ego? The foolishness of youth? The bottom line is that he is teaching and preaching heresy concerning our financial responsibilities to God; I won't judge him, but I feel sorry for the loyal church members under his preaching.
He is making the lives of his church members extra burdensome as Rehoboam did for the Israelites when Solomon died; in effect, he is using his people to build his ministry. This is wrong! It's bad enough we can't do much about the Charismatic mess that has plagued our great nation, but now we see once great Baptist churches going down the tubes as well. Wake up! America needs voices! Money must NOT be an issue. Why do churches need so much money? Why teach "new" doctrines about tithing that aren't in the Bible? Anytime you have to stretch the Bible to prove a point, something is very wrong. The Bible says what it means on the surface. I tell people that everything God wants them to know is right there on the surface of the Bible. You can become a theologian, thoroughly learn Greek and Hebrew, and you'll eventually come to the honest conclusion (if you grow in the Lord) that there are only a few great truths in God's Word that we need to worry about. Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 22:37-40 where He proclaims that ALL the law and the prophets hang upon just TWO commands; 1) Love God; 2) Love thy neighbour.
It doesn't get much more simple than that. Yet, look how God's children fight! The Christian life is not difficult to comprehend, but it is hard in that it requires a denial of SELF. We need to yield to God's will and not our own. This whole thing of money has no place in our pulpits. I would think a new pastor would want to write books and teach a Bible study on Jesus Christ, the capstone of the pyramid of prophecy. But money? It's a crying shame! If the money is not coming in as it should, then you have one honest option, cut spending!!! It is that simple. You can't force people to give. Employees may have to accept wage cuts, you may have to lay some people off, you may have to forgo the new cars for your staff members, you may have to cancel your vacations to Hawaii and Europe, you may have to forget the fireworks shows, you may have to forfeit having money to burn, but this is the reality that your church members live in every day.
They are living from paycheck to paycheck as this author does. It's getting harder and harder to make it financially these days, we're all having to tighten our belts; churches and pastors are going to have to do the same. My biggest concern is where this pursuit of money will lead, what sails are going to be dipped next? What additional compromises will be made? My prayers are sincerely with this pastor, I am confident he will do the right thing by getting back to the basics.
The Apostle Paul clearly said that we are to give as God hath "PROSPERED" us (1st Corinthians 16:2). With jobs paying less and less, property taxes skyrocketing (which churches don't pay), health care premiums soaring, and a whole avalanche of increasing costs...it is simply NOT fair nor reasonable for pastors to add undue financial stress to congregation members by pressuring them to give what they don't have. Notice that we are to give "after" God has prospered us. There is NOTHING in the Bible teaching that we are obligated to give to God what we don't have.
We must place our financial responsibilities first. Seeking the kingdom of God first (Matthew 6:33), does not mean placing the church ahead of our own financial obligations. Putting God first means being honest, upright and obedient towards God in your daily walk. Obviously this involves charity if we have been blessed enough to be able to do so. We are commanded to help the poor. I don't see any poor pastors these days; on the contrary, they're living high-on-the-hog. If you have been blessed of God, please use good sense by giving money to win souls to Christ and help the poor (this disqualifies most ministries). I see church staff members going on trips to Europe and Hawaii, driving brand new cars and living VERY well to do. I won't support such a ministry of extravagance. I drive a chunk-of-junk car with $207,000 miles on it, and I praise God daily that it keeps running. The roof of our home has been leaking for years, the roofer wants $8,000 to replace it, I simply don't have the money. But I certainly thank the Lord Jesus for our home.
The roofer wants half the money upfront, but I simply don't have it. We're in serious debt because we had to hire a lawyer to enforce our God-given rights as parents. It's sickening what abusive power the states have over us. DCFS forced our daughter onto drugs for a petite mal seizure condition. Our daughter's hair started falling out and she was sick to her stomach because of the medicine. To make a long story short, we we're charged over $20,000 in legal fees to get DCFS to stop forcing our daughter to be their guinea-pig for new experimental drugs. DCFS is a bunch of monsters as far as we're concerned. Some free country! We have NO rights anymore, we just think we do. Wake up America! My point is that my family is just one example of what people are going through nowadays, the money is just not going far enough. Pastors need to smell the coffee and come down to where the rubber meets the road, in reality. Times are going to get very tough in America!!! Guaranteed! Not many pastors would want us in their church, we would just fill up pew space.
I won't allow myself to envy those people living it up on the ministry because I've watched how they change over time. Money always brings change when it becomes a main focus! (Luke 12:34; Psalm 15:5). Christians who used to aggressively seek after bringing the poor to Christ are now aggressively seeking after money. Why? Because times are getting tougher due to the wicked Federal Reserve bankers and politicians who have plunged this nation into trillions of dollars in debt. This country is headed towards massive bankruptcy.
Money is just getting harder to come by and pastors are getting desperate. What they need to do is to stay focused and do what every honest business has to do in hard times, cut spending. This may wound the ego, but it's better than wounding your people spiritually. We are to maintain a good name as Proverbs teaches. People who don't pay their debts do not have good names. This whole thing of tithing has been abused by preachers for centuries. Malachi 3:10,11 applies to the nation of Israel, not us. There is nothing in the New Testament about tithing. I am not against tithing, but I am against anyone trying to scare you into tithing by pronouncing God's judgment upon you. We are to be rich towards God, but only to the extent that God has prospered us. The garbage about giving to get more is NOT a Christian teaching, it sounds more like Rockefeller's business strategy.
I gave and got less, so there. We are to give IF we can. Most people today can give something, but fewer and fewer are going to be able to do so as America is brought to financial destruction by wicked men and their evil schemes. Think about it! Why are you paying for three houses just to get one? Because the bankers control you and me, we are slaves to the evil rich (who also control our government and the news media, all CFR members). The END of the United States as a free country is approaching friend, wake up your pastor. Churches need to get their financial house in order, not crush their people into financial lies and ruin. Remember, Lazarus was the good guy, you know, the starving guy lying in the garbage!
Giving is to be based upon what God has already given to us. There was a time when I and my wife faithfully (and foolishly) gave 15% of all we had to God (to the church offering plate) for several years. I say foolishly because we didn't even have enough money to pay our bills. We were living on a shoe-string. We had three children at the time. We were flat broke. I mean I had to close our checking account because we just didn't have enough money to maintain a minimum balance. We didn't go out to eat, we drove a junk car, we just did without.
However, the church was receiving their 15% because we felt OBLIGATED to give. That was our food money! This is what we were taught, and we believed it because our pastor showed us some Bible verses! We were taught that giving 10% was not enough, it was only a "tithe." Now you were supposed to give an "offering" above and beyond that amount (based upon Malachi 3:10,11). I ignorantly went along with it. It's been many years now. Do you know what? I still drive a junk car. We still can barely make ends meet. I still don't have enough money to buy things for the family I wish I could buy.
We need $8,000 for a roof. As I mentioned, our car just turned 207,000. All six of us cram into that old Buick, but praise God it still runs! My wife does not work out of the home, she is a homemaker as the Bible teaches she should be (1st Timothy 5:14). Consequently, we cannot give what we don't have. I don't want your sympathy, your probably in the same boat as we are. What I do want is for you to stop tithing if you are in debt. God wants you to pay your bills. You know whether or not you are foolish in your spending. I want you to stop giving if your family is doing without. In our case, DCFS forced us into massive debt. God is with us!
Giving to the poor is one thing, but supporting a well-to-do ministry is another completely. Is your car as nice as your pastors? Does your pastor care about you? How do you know? I'm not against pastors, I'm against phonies. A pastor should set the example for his people of a content life, he should not be materialistic or covetous. Look at Charismatic TV evangelist, Creflo Dollar, and his $1,000,000 mansion, and don't forget his $5,000,000 private jet. Stupid people gave him all that! Idiots! Why are people so dumb? Benny Hinn is a multi-millionaire over and over again, right behind Miss Cleo the TV psychic. Ignorant people have been swindled by false prophets such as Oral Roberts, Don Meares, T. D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, and a whole bunch more for eons.
We need to wake people up, take off their blinders and help them see the light.
Of course, soul-winning is our number one priority in our service for God. In addition, we must educate our converts. Unfortunately, most churches are wearing blinders concerning the evils in America. TV preachers are just one evil. People are being lied to by the mainstream news media. Our economy is being deliberately destroyed by evil rich men and women. They want to eliminate the middle-class. Our country is literally going to hell. We are headed towards nationwide bankruptcy. I realize that the answers are not in The White House to America's dilemmas. The answers are in the pulpits all across America. If Unfortunately, our churches are SLEEPING. We need men of God to stand against the evils in Washington, but they're NOT doing it!!! I've had many doors opened to me simply because I knew what was going on. We need men of God to expose the Benny Hinns, and the Creflo Dollars. We need preachers to expose the evils of fluoride, aspartame, vaccinations, chemicals in our food, and so much more.
We need preachers to stop endorsing these criminals in Washington and start exposing them. It is unbelievable what the FDA allows into our food supply. It is evil what the Energy companies in Texas have gotten away with under George W. Bush's administration (like ripping off California citizens for nine Billion dollars, not to mention horribly polluting the environment in Texas). You can thank Mr. Bush for this infringement of justice. We need men of God to expose the wicked Federal Reserve System and it's evil and anti-American practices. We need preachers to expose the CIA's trafficking of drugs into the United States cities. We need preachers to expose the blatant looting of tax-payer money in Washington (trillions of dollars are missing)! We need preachers to expose the wickedness which has robbed our Social Security funds.
We need to expose the evils of the stock market and how the government uses the Exchange Stabilization Fund to rig the gold and stock markets. People just aren't aware of what's going on. Then to add insult to injury, you go to church and your pastor tries to squeeze every last dollar he possibly can out of you from the pulpit. It is sickening! Of course, he won't mention any of the things I just told you about. While your children are learning about Jesus, the drug attic that will one day put a bullet in your child's head is getting his drugs from your beloved government. Wake up! Get mad! America needs VOICES!
No doubt, the church will be purged once again as it was in the days of the martyrs. Oh and believe me, those days are coming again friend. Christians will go to the guillotines again. Pastors will be executed for preaching the Word of God. Patriots will be labeled and tried as "terrorists." Even now, "no protest zones" are being implemented all across America, denying our 1st Amendment rights! Military personnel are being forced to receive dangerous anthrax vaccinations. Children are being force-vaccinated with dangerous vaccinations.
The U.S. government paid out $802 million between 1990 and 1997 to parents of children who suffered either death or brain-damage from vaccinations. While churches nationwide condemn the ACLU as being an evil organization (and they are), at least the ACLU is fighting against those who are trying to remove our 1st Amendment rights. The ACLU is doing more to preserve our freedoms than the average church is. Sad indeed! What are you doing? What is your church doing? Don't you criticize the ACLU if your not going to at least try to inform and wake people up to what's going on in this country.
