Learning How To Know If What Is Said Is An Excuse Or A Reason

The elders among you I exhort,

who am also an elder, and a witness

of the sufferings of Christ, and also

a partaker of the glory that shall be

revealed: Feed the flock of God which

is among you, taking the oversight 

thereof, not by constraint, but 

willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of 

a ready mind; neither as being lords

over God's heritage, but being examples

to the flock. and when the chief Shepherd

shall appear, ye shall receive a crown

of glory that fadeth not away.

1Peter 5:1-4

     Peter now turns his attention to the elders, those leaders of the church and gives to them admonition as to how they are to lead. Do not think that that advice of Peter is just for the elders, even though they are the primary, that advice is for all Authentic Christians. Peter reminds them that he too is an elder and in fact he has something that they do not have: he is a witness of Jesus Christ in person and that he was one of the three Who Jesus took with Him onto the mount of transfiguration. Peter was qualified in all ways to give this advice and all elders, and we, are to heed that advice. Peter reminds them that they are partakers of the glory of Christ with him and that glory will be revealed when Jesus returns for His bride. 

     The word translated "lucre" is translated in the King James Bible as "not greedy for money" and this is a good translation for the Greek word: "αίχροκερδω̃ς" (an adverb) means to be greedy of base gain,or for dishonourable gain, or in this case of the word it means an eagerness for base gain, to be worldly can apply as this is the goal of many in the world to gain all they can as though the one with the most toys win (really? both die). Excuses are not reasons! We probably have all attempted to use excuses as reasons. An excuse when used in this manner to overlook or to judge with indulgence and this is meaning of an excuse for in this way of use it to give forth a pretext, or to subterfuge a thing or person, to hide what is the truth of a matter. A reason is a statement that is presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action. There is a matter of sound judgement based on conclusions, or judgments, or inferences from facts or premises. In other words reasons have support with facts and by facts a sound judgment can be forwarded whether you agree with those facts or reasons or not. 

      Let us look at a few of those men and women that are living, not as men of God, even though this give as excuses for their luxurious lifestyle and preach to their congregations that they too can have this wealth if they do certain things: i.e., give money.....

Paul and Jan Crouch's Earthly Empire... TBN
TBN's Annual Income, Salaries, The Crouch’s Homes, The TBN Building and Private Suites

Joel Osteen
Lakewood Church and Osteen’s 10.5 million Dollar Home

***********

THE INVESTIGATION

Kenneth Copeland
Salaries, 18,280 square foot Parsonage/Housing Allowances, Private Airport for nine aircraft, Travel and Shopping

Creflo Dollar
Rolls-Royces, private jets, million-dollar Atlanta home and $2.5 million Manhattan apartment

Paula (And Randy) White
If one can afford a $2.1 million home on Bayshore Boulevard and a $3.5 million Trump Tower condo in New York, giving away a Bentley as a birthday gift is no big deal.

Benny Hinn
10 million seaside mansion; a private jet, a Mercedes SUV and convertible, and “layovers” between crusades at the cost of $900 - $3,000 per night at locations including Hawaii, Cancun, London, Milan etc.

Joyce Meyer
Ministry Headquarters, Sports Cars and Plane, Meyer's Irrevocable Trust, Family Compound (including aerial view) and Personal Spending

a painting of Jordan on a throne – as God – with his three sons hovering around him as angels.

T.D. Jakes
$2.6 million luxurious pink brick, seven-bedroom home with swimming pool in the affluent White Rock Lake area of Dallas...next door to the former mansion of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt.

- See more at: http://inplainsite.org/html/tele-evangelist_lifestyles.html#sthash.LlvMdcSq.dpuf

      These men and women are living in "filthy lucre" and are "lording" it over their followers and the example they are giving to their followers is not that of Scripture but so that they can live in luxury, money by means of greed of base gain, or for dishonourable gain. If you too do not fall prey to this form of "Christianity" one that uses excuses for not living according to God's truth found in a truthful expository reasoning, then how will you receive from God a crown of glory that will not fade away? You will not! 

     As an elder, a leader in your home you have a responsibility to live as Jesus taught, not as men are teaching today to gain for themselves rather than to gain converts to Jesus Christ and teach them what it means to be a Christian and how to live as an Authentic Christian. Be humble and an example to your Church, your friends, your co-workers and do not leave a bad taste in their mouths about Christianity, rather be a faithful servants of God and see what God will do when you are faithful to Him. 

A wicked man listens to evil lips;

     a liar pays attention to a malicious

tongue.

                  Proverbs 17:4

 Who are you following?

Richard L. Crumb 

IntroductionMost of the people on this page made their millions by preaching the Prosperity doctrine, which is the Word-Faith/Positive Confession movement applied to finances. It is centered around the idea that although Christians should keep one eye on Heaven, the good news is that God doesn't want His people to wait until then to inherit His blessings.

It is deeply alarming that most Christians seem to be blissfully unaware of the fact that the principles of the Word-Faith movement being trumpeted from pulpits across the land, stem from the same occult sources as the spiritual movement known as New Thought. 

The non-believing world claims that there are spiritual “laws” which people can learn to use on their behalf. These laws, which will work for anyone regardless of their religious beliefs (or even lack of) are referred to in different terms, but both sides use exactly the same techniques. [See Comparing The Methodology/Technique]. Make absolutely NO mistake.. the secular world, by learning and applying certain principles, can and does match, or even exceed, the gain that "Christian" ministers promise. And we are to believe that this is from God?

However, since they claim to be Christians, the Word Faith group have to somehow “Christianize” the concepts, by adding God into the mixture. This in spite of the fact that a) there are no clear examples of Positive Confession in the Scriptures, b) The texts quoted over and over again by the Word of Faith teachers are usually taken way out of context and therefore do not prove their point, c) The Scriptures refute the general principles behind the beliefs and teachings of the Prosperity Doctrine camp and d) The teaching that believers are to confess rather than to pray for things which God has promised is contradicted by the Bible.

If you happen to be among those who think Christian leaders are entitled to obscene amounts of money, visit the GFA (Gospel For Asia) page, read the article then order their free book Revolution In World Missions (No ‘love gift’ asked for). Then, in view of millions who have never heard of Jesus, imagine how many souls an organization like GFA could save with money wasted on million dollar homes, antiques, jets, jewelry, fancy cars, wardrobes and watches. Finally decide whether you want to help Benny Hinn buy another Rolex, or help a missionary get a megaphone, some Bibles, a bicycle, a warm coat or even a pair of shoes, all of which are desperately needed. 
- See more at: http://inplainsite.org/html/tele-evangelist_lifestyles.html#sthash.LlvMdcSq.dpuf

IntroductionMost of the people on this page made their millions by preaching the Prosperity doctrine, which is the Word-Faith/Positive Confession movement applied to finances. It is centered around the idea that although Christians should keep one eye on Heaven, the good news is that God doesn't want His people to wait until then to inherit His blessings.

It is deeply alarming that most Christians seem to be blissfully unaware of the fact that the principles of the Word-Faith movement being trumpeted from pulpits across the land, stem from the same occult sources as the spiritual movement known as New Thought. 

The non-believing world claims that there are spiritual “laws” which people can learn to use on their behalf. These laws, which will work for anyone regardless of their religious beliefs (or even lack of) are referred to in different terms, but both sides use exactly the same techniques. [See Comparing The Methodology/Technique]. Make absolutely NO mistake.. the secular world, by learning and applying certain principles, can and does match, or even exceed, the gain that "Christian" ministers promise. And we are to believe that this is from God?

However, since they claim to be Christians, the Word Faith group have to somehow “Christianize” the concepts, by adding God into the mixture. This in spite of the fact that a) there are no clear examples of Positive Confession in the Scriptures, b) The texts quoted over and over again by the Word of Faith teachers are usually taken way out of context and therefore do not prove their point, c) The Scriptures refute the general principles behind the beliefs and teachings of the Prosperity Doctrine camp and d) The teaching that believers are to confess rather than to pray for things which God has promised is contradicted by the Bible.

If you happen to be among those who think Christian leaders are entitled to obscene amounts of money, visit the GFA (Gospel For Asia) page, read the article then order their free book Revolution In World Missions (No ‘love gift’ asked for). Then, in view of millions who have never heard of Jesus, imagine how many souls an organization like GFA could save with money wasted on million dollar homes, antiques, jets, jewelry, fancy cars, wardrobes and watches. Finally decide whether you want to help Benny Hinn buy another Rolex, or help a missionary get a megaphone, some Bibles, a bicycle, a warm coat or even a pair of shoes, all of which are desperately needed. 
- See more at: http://inplainsite.org/html/tele-evangelist_lifestyles.html#sthash.LlvMdcSq.dpuf

1. Bishop T. D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America’s best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter “T. D.” Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.
Read more: https://www.naij.com/55285.html

1. Bishop T. D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America’s best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter “T. D.” Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.
Read more: https://www.naij.com/55285.html

1. Bishop T. D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America’s best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter “T. D.” Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.
Read more: https://www.naij.com/55285.html