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benny hinn

10 Signs of a Prosperity Gospel Scam

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It might be a prosperity scam when. . .

#10 The donation button is bigger than their logo

Being in marketing for a few years has taught me about conversion rates. When you have a website, you identify your #1 objective and make sure that your content and website layout all point to the goal you want your customers to accomplish.

#9 Everything is about sowing seeds

I am not sure what the obsession is with the sowing seed idea, but somehow it seems to be prevalent all throughout the prosperity gospel circles. My guess is that they want you to get your mind off of immediately seeing returns when you give them money. It could take ten or twenty years to see that acorn turn into a magnificent oak tree. So a seed now, but don’t expect anything immediately in return.

#8 You have to pay for their paraphernalia to learn the “simple” steps to prosperity

All the books, pamphlets, audio, videos, workbooks, trinkets, seminars, and classes just to explain the “simple” steps to prosperity? Yikes! All of that helps the preacher be prosperous. Whatever happened to hard work, good ideas, and investments to build prosperity?

#7 The website is colored green and gold

It’s so cliché, but it’s true. The prosperity gospel’s top color choices are green and gold. It’s one of the most hideous color combinations on the planet too.

#6 Receiving God’s blessings sounds like a sales pitch

If they are coming at you like an aggressive car salesman to convince you that God wants to bless you, then it’s time to reconsider sticking around any longer. God doesn’t need your monetary sacrifice to bless you financially. A farmer works hard in the field to grow crops. The hard work pays off and that’s where the blessing comes from. The amount of seed the farmer plants and the costs for the seed are minuscule to the amount of harvest that comes from it. Giving shouldn’t be painful, it should be cheerful.

#5 They display people showing off their bling

If you feel that you are on a casino or gambling site, but it turns out it’s supposed to be about the gospel, then you’ve found yourself a prosperity gospel scam. Playing the lottery doesn’t make you rich. The gospel isn’t associated with FanDuel. Feeding the flesh is not at all what we should be looking forward to.

#4 The usual prosperity preachers are on there

Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch (both), Janice Crouch, Creflo Dollar, Rod Parsley, Freddie Prince, Joel Osteen, Mike Murdock. . . and the list goes on. I get it – I don’t think preachers should promote poverty or living your worst life. Both sides of the poverty vs riches argument are wrong. Saying you should be somewhere in the middle is wrong. How you live your life and how God blesses you for it is not our focus. We are not in a contest about how much we gain or how much we give away. It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s not about glorifying and enriching our lives. The more I focused on myself, the more I felt secluded in life.

#3 They say the Bible contains the secrets to wealth

It’s not a secret, is it? Work hard, build good relationships, and make good decisions. What’s so secret? Many religions and cultures use idols and icons in their homes as a charm to bring good fortune. The gospel is different. There is no lucky charm, prayer, or buried secret that will turn poverty into riches. God is not a slot machine or genie waiting for you to rub him the right way so he can grant your three wishes.

#2 They sound like a QVC commercial or liquidation event

If they need your money now, or if they sound urgent for you to buy their latest trinket, then it’s a scam. When I lived in Pensacola Florida, for six years the same furniture company stood out on the corner of a busy street holding a sign that said, “Going out of business/liquidation event.” For six years this went on. That was 17 years ago and I wouldn’t doubt they’re standing there right now.

#1 Prosperity preachers talk about money and happiness more than the gospel

The two words – prosperity and gospel should not be in the same sentence. It’s a prosperity message. The gospel is something else entirely different. Content entirely about your lifestyle, parenting, work, relationships, finances, etc. may have its place in our lives. We need wisdom, encouragement, hope, and inspiration in all areas of our lives. When God’s people come together to do what God purposed – to worship him; but instead find themselves focusing on worshipping the needs of our own lives, I see a problem.

List of Pastors That Use or Own Private Jets & Mansions

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Here are the pastors and televangelists that own or use Private Jets that are supposedly owned by their ministry

Name of a person who had no place to lay his head.

  • Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:20)

Investigating Televangelist Finances

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I’m sure these slimy little weasels have covered their tracks with their finances. I mean they have enough money to hide anything. Here is the article on US News. US News stated that these “religious” organizations’ complaint is two-fold, “that the IRS, not Congress, is the proper body to investigate tax matters related to religious groups, and that the focus on members of the Prosperity movement is discriminatory and threatens their First Amendment rights.”

What makes them think that their luxurious lifestyles don’t send up a red flag? They are just plain foolish in their logic. Who should congress be discriminatory of? Maybe they should investigate the poor old ladies that have devoted their life savings to these organizations. These poor old ladies don’t get investigated cause they don’t flaunt their stuff! Who should congress pick on if these money-raking fools can’t take the heat? I guess congress should just pick ministries out of their black hat that they should investigate. Oh yeah, i guess that goes the same way with everything. We should just pull names out of a hat when we investigate the steroid problem in baseball. Of course, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, and Mark McGuire are gonna get investigated, for the simple fact that they turned into big huge monsters and their batting numbers showed it.

So deal with the discrimination, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, and Kenneth Copeland cause the rest of the world does!

Senate Panel Probes 6 Top Televangelists

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Well, it looks like the senate committee in the national government is getting more involved in the matters of the church. CBS news talks about this story here.

I have been saying for some time that this was going to happen. If the church doesn’t put itself above reproach then the government will find any reason they can to mettle in the matters and control the Church. Ministries and lifestyles of Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn, just give the government an excuse to investigate.

I am so frustrated at the opportunity that these ministries have given the government to mettle in the matters of God’s children. What do you expect the governmental world system to do? Sit around and let these obese ministries be swept under the rug? I don’t care if you have the Christian liberty to be rich. I don’t care that God has given you the freedom to prosper. I don’t care that your ministry is following the laws of the IRS. I don’t care! I don’t care! I don’t Care! Do you think God looks at these ministries and smiles just because they are staying within the bounds of the tax code?

The only people that can destroy the freedom of religion is religion itself. I’m sick of it! The investigation of these ministries are just the tip of the iceberg in the near future. The government will be more involved, and regulate the church more and more with laws in years to come. These ministries make me sick! Maybe not the ministries as much as the personal lifestyles of these evangelists. These ministries have no right to point a finger at the government and complain about their invasion privacy, because it’s actually the devil at work here destroying the governmental safety net that these ministries have. Also, part of the investigations is a warning from God, saying, “watch out, straighten up, because the government is only going to make it harder and harder for the church to practice their liberty”.

How can any non-profit ministry have the audacity to squeeze a few tax dollars out of the federal government, and then call themselves a charitable organization while sitting their fat butt on their obese estate. Wasn’t it Jesus who said in Luke 3:11, ““He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” But here are these evangelists not only do they have 5 or 6 luxury cars sitting in their enormous garage, but they are flying around in jets.

These ministries have given the government every reason to go in there and investigate. How dare these ministries just sit there with the nose up and lifting their clean hands, without being humiliated.

Children of God, why aren’t you humiliating these people? Why do you support them? You are destroying our liberty! If you gave your child an inch and you saw them stretch it out to a mile wouldn’t you enforce newer laws to limit their liberty? This is exactly what the government will do with the church.

Am I alone in my thoughts here?