Steven Furtick (pastor in North Carolina) and ur thoughts on him (Gospel, Leviticus)
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Furtick recruited a so-called “board of overseers” to set his salary. The board is made up entirely of other megachurch pastors, just like him.
Smith said to him, the board looks like a paper tiger. “The financial well being of those guys are intimately intertwined.”
That means Furtick agrees to pay them to preach at Elevation, and they pay him to preach at their conferences or megachurches. “They attend each other’s conferences and are compensation for that regularly,” said Smith.
When Furtick held his Code Orange Revival last year, three of the headliners,
pastors Stovall Weems of Jacksonville, Fla.,
Perry Noble of Anderson, S.C.,
and Kevin Gerald of Seattle, Washington were all board members at Elevation.
Those are three of the five votes that set Furtick’s salary.
Executive pastor James “Chunks” Corbett told NBC Charlotte that pastors get paid for appearances at Elevation Church, but said the pay is “small in scope,” and he won’t disclose the amounts.
“All of the accountability in Steven Furtick’s church goes from the top down.”
Elevation Church was founded by, got loans through, and gives missionary money through Southern Baptists. But unlike many Baptist churches, there are no elected deacons or elders here overseeing the church.
He's a budding megastar "pastor" that is making a lot of money doing "ministry".
Furtick has a gift of taking any scripture and makes it about himself. I heard a sermon of his where he literally made the birth of Christ about Steven Furtick.
In his book, Sun Stand Still, he makes it seem that if we have big enough faith we can command the sun to stand still -- and then conquer any other "suns" in our lives. The problem, though, is that the Biblical story of the sun standing still wasn't about how to pray and conquer our problems. It was about God--and his provision.
In his book, Greater, he reasons that since Elijah burned his plows, we need to follow God with abandon and "burn our plows". The problem, of course, is that the story of him burning his plows is not about how we should live. If we are going to do everything the prophets did....I'm waiting for him to cook his food over poop.
Location: Omaha Nebraska and dreamland when I am sleeping
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vizio, u are so right
Furtick has a gift of taking any scripture and makes it about himself. I heard a sermon of his where he literally made the birth of Christ about Steven Furtick.
why any pastor or christian would listen to someone who does that is baffling
I'm glad that the media finally started investigating this guy. The thing that bothers me the most is his lack of transparency. If he really believes that God has blessed him with this house then why does he hide his salary and falsely claim that his house "isn't that great"? Not that great?!?! Really?!?! If he feels the need to hide the house and his salary then he must feel guilty about it. The whole thing is just shady. This affects more than the Elevation Church members because Steven Furtick has a reach that goes beyond Charlotte, NC. He is best buddies with Perry Noble and often appears in Anderson, SC to promote his books. I wonder how much money NewSpring received for helping Furtick's book sales? Perry Noble is another celebrity pastor that refuses to disclose his salary.
And another thing that really bothers me is that these prosperity-gospel guys like Furtick and Perry Noble basically guilt trip you into tithing to their churches because they falsely claim that you will not be blessed if you don't give them 10% of your income. Most of their members are ignorant or new believers and it's easy for them to fall for these lies. Word to the wise, modern day Christians are not required to tithe! John MacArthur explains it best:
Quote:
Does God require me to give a tithe of all I earn?
Two kinds of giving are taught consistently throughout Scripture: giving to the government (always compulsory), and giving to God (always voluntary).
The issue has been greatly confused, however, by some who misunderstand the nature of the Old Testament tithes. Tithes were not primarily gifts to God, but taxes for funding the national budget in Israel.
Because Israel was a theocracy, the Levitical priests acted as the civil government. So the Levite's tithe (Leviticus 27:30-33) was a precursor to today's income tax, as was a second annual tithe required by God to fund a national festival (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Smaller taxes were also imposed on the people by the law (Leviticus 19:9-10; Exodus 23:10-11). So the total giving required of the Israelites was not 10 percent, but well over 20 percent. All that money was used to operate the nation.
All giving apart from that required to run the government was purely voluntary (cf. Exodus 25:2; 1 Chronicles 29:9). Each person gave whatever was in his heart to give; no percentage or amount was specified.
New Testament believers are never commanded to tithe. Matthew 22:15-22 and Romans 13:1-7 tell us about the only required giving in the church age, which is the paying of taxes to the government. Interestingly enough, we in America presently pay between 20 and 30 percent of our income to the government--a figure very similar to the requirement under the theocracy of Israel.
The guideline for our giving to God and His work is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver."
I made the sun stand still. In fact, it is still standing still. It does not even move. That is some deep faith.
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