News-Record.com

If a board of directors made up predominantly of people independent of the church voted this guy this level of compensation (after consulting with their attorney to ensure that it didn't endanger the church's tax-exempt status), and the congregation was OK with that, then more power to him, I guess.

But several of those conditions aren't being met here, and that fact raises both moral and legal questions.

It is pretty clear from the Gospels that Jesus had a lot to say about money. None of what He said was very good. In fact, He commands us to sell everything and give the money to the poor (Luke 11: 41).

It is clear that Jesus had a special relationship with the poor as they with Him.

I believe that God calls us to use what we need to live on and give the rest away. What a difference we who call ourselves Christian could make in our world if we did that.

I don't think church leaders should be paupers, but this is over the top to me. For them to have all of this, I would hope that each and every member of their congregation has everything they need. If that's the case and nobody is living hand to mouth, check to check, then I guess this is cool. But if even one person is sitting in the dark because they couldn't pay the power bill or is having to choose which medicine to buy this month because their income is limited, then I have to say allowing the pastor to earn this much and have all this excess is a crime.

I don't think I've ever heard clergy, especially megachurch pastors, say this about other clergy, even if it was true:

"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation," Long said. "We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation.

"You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering."

"Pride goeth before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction ... "

UGH! I hate these snake oil salesmen! I've mentioned this before, but DeeDee and Mike Freeman have a similar thing going on up here in the DC/MD/VA area. Just google Spirit of Faith with their names. They have Bentley's and private jets etc. My friend loves this "church" and keeps begging me to visit again, but I'm not interested in helping the Freemans acquire more wealth.

I did a virtual tour of the church and the computer lab (I saw half a dozen computers and they looked old) was not what I thought it would look like -- not for a church of 25,000 with a pastor driving a Bentley.

Do you think that part of the problem with getting help for the underclass and the working poor is that people in power aren't listening to that "little black preacher" type who's "just getting by," like many of the people who would benefit from a hand up and not a hand out? Maybe the power structure in this country spends too much time listening those who have too much?

It's the "little black preacher" type who is seeing folks saved. It is the "little black preacher" type who is seeing folks delivered and set free from the things that have enslaved them, like drugs and alcohol. It is the "little black preacher" type who is going down the street and praying for the sick person that everybody gave up on and seeing that person healed and restored to health. It is the "little black preacher" type who are seeing the signs and miracles happening in their churches because they are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Him, crucified, dead, buried ,raised again and coming again, and who are helping those folks to truly walk by faith and not by sight.
It is those who like the Bishop are bleeding the poor dry with their preaching of "instant wealth" if only you send me $20 dollars, or send me $20 dollars for a piece of cloth prayed over by the "good bishop" or some holy water blessed by the bishop , (drawn from the tap.) It is those like the Bishop who will fall and mighty will be the fall because it is written, "you can not serve God and mammon" ( money)
The powers that be need to be listening to the “little black preacher” type who is in tune with God because he walks with Him every day and spends time on his knees seeking His face. They need to be listening to the 'little black preaher type" because he cares more for others than he does his own needs. They need to be listening because he would lay down his life for his flock rather than allow the wolves to scatter and destroy even one of his precious little flock.
You can count on the "little black preacher" type to give a hand up and not a hand out because he, like Peter says, "silver and gold have I none but what I do have I give. It is the "little black preacher" type who is denying himself daily and taking up his cross and following the Master.
We all ought to be grateful for the "little black preacher" type.

Why do the names Jim and Tammy Faye come to mind?

Jim Bakker actually wrote a book, "I Was Wrong." He said God calls us to serve the poor, not exploit them as he did.

This guy is manic.

The ONLY good thing about mega church's are the programs offered! Other than than that, people are not more than a face in the crowd and a name on a roll!

Give me a smaller version and I am just fine thank you!

Shalom

Right on Mr. Produce! The church I attend is one where the pastor visits your home when you are sick and I can call him to talk to him if I need to...how can you effectively minister to 20,000+ members? I like it that my pastor knows my name and asks about my work, knows if I've missed services (which I do often, cause I like to sleep in on the weekends). How can the mega-minister do that for me? Gimme the "little black preacher" type any day.

I can't say that "programs" in today's churches are all that great either Darryl. It seems that most churches have lost sight of the real "program" of the church. That being make believers in Jesus Christ and then make disciples, so that those can go and repeat the process. It is the disciplship part that most churches have forgotten. They "get em in" run em into a "program" that fits them and never teach them how to walk. It would be likened to a parent taking a child and feeding them steak instead of starting them off on milk. Or dumping them on the floor and saying walk, before they ever crawled. That is about where a lot of mega churches have gone, IMHO.
I have come out of mega churches of over 25 thousand and into a smaller church which started with 75 and in 3 yrs has grown to almost 400 and planted 4 new churches. Currently I am working in a church of less than 50, but it is growing because there is a "little black preacher" type leading the growth.