Texas megachurch pastor asks congregation for $50,000. And you won't believe why.
Bishop I.V. Hilliard of the New Light Christian Church has his Texas congregation talking after he sent out a newsletter asking his congregation to donate $50,000. Was he starting a food pantry? Working with disadvantaged families? Moving people out of homelessness? Oh, no. He needs new blades for his million dollar helicopter:
Bishop I.V. Hilliard of the New Light Christian Center Church, which has six locations in Texas, said the church chopper needs maintenance just like any vehicle. The flyer obtained by KTRH quotes bible scripture, stating, “We have an urgent transportation need that the Lord said can be an opportunity for you to see His favor and His wisdom released to help you.”That's right! In exchange for the $52 donation, each donor will receive their dream vehicle in 52 days or 52 weeks. Because the Lord works in mysterious ways, but keeps a tight calendar.
He suggests that the “Aviation Department” of New Light could get a deal on new blades if the ministry collects the money right away. In exchange for money, he said the Lord will issue a favor to congregants that might help them obtain their dream vehicle.
After community outrage, Hilliard had this to say:
Hilliard allegedly responded to Isiah Carey of Fox stating: “New Light Church World Outreach and Worship Centers, Inc. regularly make appeals to Special Partners, Members and friends of the church for the support of various programs and services. Occasionally, it is not uncommon for an appeal to be directed toward specific Kingdom projects or specific needs. In this instance, the appeal was directed to our Special Partners and friends who are familiar with the Biblical principles upon which we base our faith. We sincerely regret if anyone was offended by this appeal in that it was not our intent.”
You can see the newsletter he sent to the congregation here.
Detriments of the Tithe Teaching
“Some people say tithing is Old Testament law. No, it's not. It's an Old Testament principle.”???
Believers are responsible to measure 'the church' teachings in the light of the truth of the Bible. It is our duty to recognize error.
The Levitical tithe was to meet a need, that of the Levitical priesthood and to help the poor. The Levitical priesthood and all laws and ceremonies pertaining to it ceased when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. The B'rit Hadashah: (The New Covenant). the Books of the New Testament does not teach tithing. The B'rit Hadashah (the New Testament) offices or callings of pastor, etc., are not the same as the Levitical priesthood, which was based on lineage and the Mosaic ceremonial laws, and that the "church" building is not the same as the Temple.
Detriments of the Tithe Teaching
1. The "churchs" tithe teaching can cause tithers to have an erroneous feeling of self-satisfaction, a feeling that they have "paid the bill" and placated God. This can become akin to a superstitious practice of "pleasing of the gods" we see in pagan cultures. Are tithers in some cases even attempting to buy their way into heaven? Wouldn’t this be the same as buying spiritual favor by purchasing indulgences? This practice was soundly condemned in Martin Luther's "Ninety-Five Theses."
2. Mal. 3:8 says, "’Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.’ But you ask, "How do we rob you?" ‘In tithes and offerings….’" This verse is used prior to the passing of the offering plate in many "church" services to coax the congregation to get out their wallets. But, contrary to the meaning of the verse under the old covenant to which it refers, today people ARE robbing God, not of tithes, but of proper New Testament giving to the work of God and to the poor. Didn’t Yeshua say that a cup of water given in His name is given unto Him? When people "pay their bill" to the "church", they aren’t as apt to give that cup of water, or $20 to a needy person around them in Yeshua’ name. Therefore, they have robbed God by neglecting opportunities to minister to Him in the form of the poor. People write out tithe checks in a dogged, joyless manner as if in bondage. They, too, are robbed. They are robbed of the joy of giving to real needs they can see with their own eyes.
3. Tithing can cause an undue financial burden on givers. Young families with children often are living hand to mouth anyway. So are many single parents, college students, and the elderly. They themselves are actually the poor who need help occasionally, yet by sitting in the "church", they are told that they must give up ten percent to a "church" that often is wealthy.
4. This brings us to the next point. It is not uncommon today for the incomes of "church"es (some of whom teach tithing and some of whom don’t), especially large ones in America, to have such enormous incomes that they have investment portfolios. They hire experts to help them manage their funds to make it grow. Why? So they can give to missions or the poor? So they can build more buildings, gyms, bowling alleys, climbing walls? So they can have huge paid staffs? Daycare centers? What WOULD Yeshua do? Would He build any buildings at all? The kingdom of God has nothing to do with buildings. The early "church" grew by great leaps without buildings. "The kingdom of God is not meat or drink." (Rom. 14:17) The kingdom of God is people. SOURCE:
Trillion Dollar Church!
The American church system through its thousands of schemes to gather money, has amassed over a trillion dollars worth of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, insurance programs, real estate, etc. The interest they pay on the mortgages of their buildings could literally feed all the poor in the world!
The deceptive means 10’s of thousands of ministers use to raise money, of which the modern tithe is one of them, has drained our country of resources that could tremendously bless the world. But the church is sitting on the money. Now they are beginning to be fleeced themselves.
Recently, hundreds of the leading Christian organizations lost millions of dollars investing in a fund named "New Era." It was a scam called a "Ponze scheme." An evangelical, named Bennett, dropping the right names such as Billy Graham and Rockerfeller, convinced most of the leading Protestant ministries to invest as much as over 500 million dollars into a fund that promised them a doubling of their money over a 6 month period of time. Now anyone with a little sense should smell something amiss here, especially since conservative Christians should be looking at conservative investments that usually give a low return on investment. But top Christian ministries invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a fund started by another Christian, whose sole purpose in setting up the fund was to defraud them of their, or should I say "your" money. The federal authorities finally shut it down, but not before millions of dollars were lost. (See Dew from Mount Hermon, issue number 7 for more details.)
A person who teaches tithing robs God’s people from hearing from God Himself about what and whom to give to each and every day. Someone who pays their taxes, and gives 10 per cent of their income to their pastor, plus offerings for missions, building fund, bake and rummage sales, etc., because the law or tradition of their organization pressures them to do so, is likely to develop an attitude that their giving is finished at the offering plate. They are so drained of finances that when Jesus arrives at their door for a piece of bread, their response might be, "Oh, I gave already at the church!" Laws such as the modern tithing law, instituted by either ignorant or deceiving ministers keep God’s children from hearing what they should be doing on a day to day basis! Yes, Mr. or Mrs. or Reverend Tithing Teacher, you are robbing God’s people, God, and the world from the blessings He wants to pour out on them and through us! Now repent and stop it! His mercy endures forever! Go to the fountain of Grace and discover how to enter into His rest yourself! Then and only then can you lead God’s sheep into that rest themselves. Until then all you will do is fleece them and eat them yourself!
"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them." (Ezekiel 34:2-4)
"My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them." (Jeremiah 50:6-7)
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that those who mix Mosaic Law and Grace, or worse, twist the Mosaic Law to say what it doesn’t say, are robbing God even though they may not be aware of it. They are also robbing themselves of much needed rest, and they are robbing the world around them from the true blessings they are to bestow upon their neighbors.
The 501C3 church is death.
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