An ABC News story written by Steve Osunsami states that Ephren Taylor is being accused of $11 million Christian ponzi scheme by the SEC. Not surprisingly, he has had influence upon New Birth Missionary Baptist Church with Eddie Long, as well as Lakewood Church run by Joel Osteen. Once again the health-wealth, prosperity gospel is showing its true colors. Ephran Taylor scandal targeted mostly black mega churches in at least 40 different states.
One of the comedic notes on this story written by ABC News is that the “SEC also alleged that he doled out cash to make a splashy music video starring his wife, Meshelle, draped in white fur and diamonds. The name of the song? “Billionaire.”” If you have the slightest imagination you should get a chuckle out of envisioning the gangsta and his wife singing out their bling-bling with money floating out of the sky.
Another kicker from the ABC News story is that, “Lakewood Church told ABC News they opened their doors to Taylor to speak on the subject of “Biblical financial principals,””
To top it off, one of the investors that were schemed out of their money warned Lakewood Church leadership about Ephren Taylor, and after doing so the leadership blames the victim. These wolves in sheep’s clothing are letting other wolves sneak into the fold, which is crazy that impostors can’t even recognize their own kind!!!
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Jared Brian is the author of www.tithing.com. There are over 300 articles written on research and reviews about tithing information.
It always sickens me to hear about these problems in the church. All of us are sinners who have fallen way short of God’s glory, but I cannot believe that God would be proud of us “making a living” out of falling short.
A couple of years ago, our church felt prompted by God to go in the opposite money direction. We felt led to give away all of our tithes and offerings for one entire year to hurting people in our city. If you want to read a blog post that gives a little more detail, you should check out http://www.missionaloutreachnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/giving-away-the-collection-plate
Very interesting and commendable that you guys actually lifted up the community financially.
Why not do this more often such as 3 weeks out of the month you give offering money to the community or among the members to take care of financial shortcomings?
KT, after one year of giving away everything, we realized that this could never be a “short-term” project. So, we do still give consistently to the community and are setting aside funds so that we can completely give everything away each 7th year. (Does that makes sense?)
But, you’re exactly right. A one time effort – regardless of whether it is for 1 week or 1 year – is not enough. This has to be sustainable for the long haul.