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The difference is...I'm not asking people for money or basing their blessings on how much they give. I would never go to a Mega church for anything. Money and spirituality doesn't mix! I understand that the church needs money to operate. But what we have is a gross misunderstanding of what religion should be and its effect on people. Creflo can buy the biggest house or the best car, but it should not come at the expense of his hardworking congregation. The whole "prosperity" preaching is a gigantic farce. It reminds me of Vegas. The house will always win. Masses upon masses give to these so called prophets of the pulpit for what. And make no mistake about it, it's a big business. Most of the pastors have lost touch with reality and have a disconnet from the original reason why they got into preaching. To help people find spirituality and the lord. My grandmother is an avid church goer but she explained to me as a kid that you don't have to go to church to be saved. And you should never follow anyone or anything that you feel will lead you astray. There is a special place in hell for Creflo and his ilk. I have heard stories and read articles where Mega churches like his have asked potential members for their credit report, pay stubs and W2's. Supposed i can't afford to give ten percent, does that make me less spiritual? When money comes into the whole equation, the message becomes watered down. Church should not be a big business.
LOL. Your response reminded me of this quote:
"We must feel equally discouraged when we see a minister driving up to his church on Sunday morning in a Cadillac. He does not comes to feed the multitude spiritually.He comes to fleece the flock. The appeal he makes is usually emotional. While the people are feeling happy the expensive machine is granted, and the prolonged vacation to use it easily financed. Thus the thoughtless drift backward toward slavery"
The Mis-Education of The Negro, p.124 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
I must say, this is one of the most interesting threads I've read on City-Data in a while...
But just to add two more pennies...
My only problem with Creflo Dollar and Eddie Long is that both can do sooo much more to help and advance the black community in Atlanta as a whole, but choose not to.
It's like so much power, influence, and money could really start a powerful movement for positive change... but they never seem to want to get their hands dirty. All these organizations address symptoms. But with the man (and woman) power that they wield, they could really tackle the roots of various issues in Atlanta. Especially those involving African-Americans.
Unfortunately, many black people walk around like everything is gravy and it is not. If these preacher's truly were down for the people, they could make a dent in crime, education, lack of parenting, media-pimped role models, employment, and many other issues that plague the black community, but they choose not to.
If MLK, Jr or Ralph David Abernathy were alive today, do you really think that they would respect these dudes? I highly doubt it.
Nobody with power and influence wants to be a real leader. And it's sad to see these guys waste it on BS when it could be used for so much more.
Dr. King wasn't poor either, but at the heights of his fame, fortune, and success, he was physically in the trenches fighting for the have-nots locally and on the national stage. Ironically, I'm sure Creflo Dollar and Eddie Long's congregations far outnumber that of Dr. King.
Lastly, you guys should check out "Brainwashed" by Tom Burrell
I'm not gonna hate on Reverend Creflo Dollar & Bishop Eddie Long. The only thing they are doing is simply capitalizing on the moral bankruptcy of so many people. What they(the high-dollar preachers) do is help make people feel good about their own sorry lot in life & help absolve them from making any drastic changes that can change their character for the better & change the world.
As far as expecting these guys(Dollar, Long & any other cash-flo preacher) to be involve in the serious efforts of bettering the black community? I'd say forget about it. Even back in the day of the Civil Rights movement people like Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathey, and Andrew Young were but a tiny segment of the black ministry willing to grab a pair & fight against the evil of the powers-that-be.
From what I read, most of the black church & by large the community were more comfortable hiding under bed sheets & skinnin' & grinnin' for the powers-that-be. They didn't want to upset the apple cart and MOST of the black community CERTAINLY didn't participate in the marches or even contribute a sigificant money to the struggle.
I just wanted to get that misperception out of the way, because there are a whole lot of black people in the pre-babyboomer generation who are trying to gain to credit for something that only a few people actually did. In reality all most of those folks did was live in those turbulent times. Sorry, but just living in a bad time period doesn't earn a person rep points with me.
To sum things up, I don't blame Dollar & Long for getting theirs. I just blame so many of our black community for being so weak in spirit that they would willingly part with their physical fortune in this "business" & not expect some kind of socially-uplifting dividend.
The difference is...I'm not asking people for money or basing their blessings on how much they give. I would never go to a Mega church for anything. Money and spirituality doesn't mix! I understand that the church needs money to operate. But what we have is a gross misunderstanding of what religion should be and its effect on people. Creflo can buy the biggest house or the best car, but it should not come at the expense of his hardworking congregation. The whole "prosperity" preaching is a gigantic farce. It reminds me of Vegas. The house will always win. Masses upon masses give to these so called prophets of the pulpit for what. And make no mistake about it, it's a big business. Most of the pastors have lost touch with reality and have a disconnet from the original reason why they got into preaching. To help people find spirituality and the lord. My grandmother is an avid church goer but she explained to me as a kid that you don't have to go to church to be saved. And you should never follow anyone or anything that you feel will lead you astray. There is a special place in hell for Creflo and his ilk. I have heard stories and read articles where Mega churches like his have asked potential members for their credit report, pay stubs and W2's. Supposed i can't afford to give ten percent, does that make me less spiritual? When money comes into the whole equation, the message becomes watered down. Church should not be a big business.
He is still doing Gods work and thats delivering a message to the people.. There Ministry is what Got them where they are today.Your just going off what you see. You dont know whats in that mans heart are why he is doing what he is doing... You see a pastor driving a bentley. The first thing that comes out of peoples mouth are, He is stilling the church money lol not know where and how they got it... I just dont judge people until I really know the situation.... Its not fair at all
He is still doing Gods work and thats delivering a message to the people.. There Ministry is what Got them where they are today.Your just going off what you see. You dont know whats in that mans heart are why he is doing what he is doing... You see a pastor driving a bentley. The first thing that comes out of peoples mouth are, He is stilling the church money lol not know where and how they got it... I just dont judge people until I really know the situation.... Its not fair at all
The pharisees exhibited their wealth, lived in excess. Jesus did not rely on material things to "show off" he haas the most humble garments, did not wear expensive clothing. many in those churches are barely making ends meet...they should share a little...Pastor Dollar lives on a huge acre property he lives in excess. It is not suppose to be a business but it should be volunteering---just like Jesus.
I'm not gonna hate on Reverend Creflo Dollar & Bishop Eddie Long. The only thing they are doing is simply capitalizing on the moral bankruptcy of so many people. What they(the high-dollar preachers) do is help make people feel good about their own sorry lot in life & help absolve them from making any drastic changes that can change their character for the better & change the world.
As far as expecting these guys(Dollar, Long & any other cash-flo preacher) to be involve in the serious efforts of bettering the black community? I'd say forget about it. Even back in the day of the Civil Rights movement people like Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathey, and Andrew Young were but a tiny segment of the black ministry willing to grab a pair & fight against the evil of the powers-that-be.
From what I read, most of the black church & by large the community were more comfortable hiding under bed sheets & skinnin' & grinnin' for the powers-that-be. They didn't want to upset the apple cart and MOST of the black community CERTAINLY didn't participate in the marches or even contribute a sigificant money to the struggle.
I just wanted to get that misperception out of the way, because there are a whole lot of black people in the pre-babyboomer generation who are trying to gain to credit for something that only a few people actually did. In reality all most of those folks did was live in those turbulent times. Sorry, but just living in a bad time period doesn't earn a person rep points with me.
To sum things up, I don't blame Dollar & Long for getting theirs. I just blame so many of our black community for being so weak in spirit that they would willingly part with their physical fortune in this "business" & not expect some kind of socially-uplifting dividend.
Tragic my peoples, tragic...
I feel you and I'm sure you're right. But even still, King was supported by and large by the younger crowd. The teenagers that were alive around the time of King's assassination. It was this generation that grew into the Black Panthers and post NOI Malcolm X. True, the old heads in King's time were very likely too scared to stand up to "the man", but the only thing that stopped that younger generation was the assassination, imprisonment, and/or defamation of their leaders (Newton, Carmichael, Hampton, etc.) in the 70's and early '80 and the gov't's flooding minority communities with drugs, etc.
True, this is not the black church, and I guess that is the point of this thread (and your post), but the kids who were coming of age shortly after king could have done wonders with mature guidance and if they where not systematically shut down by the government. If only that motivation was coupled with the money and sheer manpower of those that follow Dollar and Long. Back then blacks where overtly oppressed by whites, but today many of the ills in the black community can be solved in large part by the systematic fortitude of the black community itself... this would eliminate the "black on white" racist stigma that these groups had in the past...
But like you said, I'm sure all of this is wishful thinking... I doubt any of those preachers would man up and fight for REAL positive change...
The pharisees exhibited their wealth, lived in excess. Jesus did not rely on material things to "show off" he haas the most humble garments, did not wear expensive clothing. many in those churches are barely making ends meet...they should share a little...Pastor Dollar lives on a huge acre property he lives in excess. It is not suppose to be a business but it should be volunteering---just like Jesus.
So how is a preacher suppose to LIVE????? Every Preacher makes money some have buisnesses outside of the church but dont be fool too think that every preacher is not getting paid from church money.... Because they are.... His ministry just grew into a powerhouse. Same with Osteen Long and all the other big mega churches...
I know nothing about Creflo Dollar really except that he is a minister of a mega church that makes a lot of money but just saying his name kind of sums it up for me, Creflo DOLLAR, these church's with memberships up in the thousands that have to host two or three services aren't for me, can you imagine how many times the collection plate is passed around for two or three services, that's a lot of money collected, I like smaller church's where the minister knows me because he knows his congregation, I don't want my minister to only know me because I'm one of the ones with a generous checkbook, a lot of these people at some of these megachurch's give a lot of money probably just trying to outdue the other members of the congregation, there are other ways of doing the Lord's work than just with your checkbook, donate to a worthy cause, volunteer to take the elderly to a doctor's appt., become a tudor, become a empty stocking family adopter,and the list goes on, some people want everyone to know that I gave this and i gave that but to a real Christian it shouldn't matter who knows how you do the Lord's work as long as the Lord knows.
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