Good Morning!

Yesterday, I read an article in USA Today entitled, “This South Carolina megachurch bought its pastor a $1.8M house. Here’s why.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/20/south-carolina-megachurch-bought-pastor-million-dollar-house/2631092002/

Yup. Now, you can draw your own conclusions, but I want to point out a few things regarding the article that were very interesting.

– The Tone of the Article. The writing itself was very skeptical and sarcastic.
– The Hyper Links. Embedded in the article were several hyperlinks to related articles:
o That same pastor bought his wife a brand-new Lamborghini (starting list price $200,000)
o Megachurch pastor receives rousing support from congregation after giving $200k Lamborghini to wife
o With tears, megachurch Pastor John Gray defends $200k Lamborghini anniversary gift to wife
o Young adults are dropping out of church in large numbers, survey finds. This is why.
o Anti-LGBTQ pastor who called Pulse nightclub victims ‘scum’ resigns, admits paying for sex
o Televangelist ask congregation to buy him a Gulfstream G650 jet.
o Joel Osteen: ‘We never turned away’ Hurricane Harvey flood victims
o Controversial megachurch Bishop Eddie Long dies at 63
o ‘Men of God hid it all’: Church protected more than 300 ‘predator priests’ in Pa., grand jury says
o Thousands of women are pushing back against a top Southern Baptist leader. Here’s why.
o Willow Creek pastor, board resign amid sexual misconduct investigation of founder
o Christian churches still struggle with race, how to discuss it, what to do
o Mother gets apology from pastor after rebuke for breastfeeding inside her own church
o Megachurch pastor tells church to stop going to yoga, because of its ‘demonic roots’
o John Gray controversy: Pastor who baptized Gray says scrutiny is about us, not him
o Memphis megachurch pastor resigns following sexual abuse investigation

Folks, this pastor is morbidly obese, if not super obese. He’s huge. He was an associate pastor of Joel Osteen’s church until he was recruited to pastor this church. His self-proclaimed preaching style is James Brown meets James Taylor meets Lady Gaga, Run DMC, Billy Graham, Michael Jackson, Chris Farley, Luther Vandross, meets TD Jakes. Apparently, he missed the lesson on believers striving to be like Jesus.

I can’t stand the thought of this guy. Apparently, neither can the USA Today. And, neither can the rest of the country, or so it would seem, because there was not one single positive link to this article.

Folks, it’s only a matter of time before the United States puts the hammer down on churches. First will come hate speech legislation (you ain’t seen nothing yet). Then will come the elimination of all tax deductions. Congregations will lose their religious charitable tax deductions and the churches themselves will pay income and property taxes. Without a doubt, offerings will dry up and churches will close. This is coming sooner than we think.

Is your church prepared? Is your church barely meeting its mortgage and payroll? How will the church fund missions? Folks, I’m a banker by trade. There is no way I would lend to ANY church right now unless it was backed by a big-buck person who could pay for the mortgage by him/herself. You may find some banks who still will, but the day is coming when the church will be forced to live on manna from heaven.

I say this is a good thing. It will separate the goats from the sheep.

Are you ready for that?

Father, wake up your church! Amen.