It has been a solid 18 days since I've posted something on this site, and it would've been less than 18 if I had had the time to do this when I originally wanted to.
So let's cut to the chase because this is VERY IMPORTANT and I NEED your feedback on this.
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Right now I'm with my Dad, and I will be here for quite a while, I have about 3 weeks left here, but I'm enjoying myself far too much to even want to leave!
I'm with my Dad for a multitude of reasons--one of which is to get away from my distractions and focus on my spiritual well-being. However, I've reached a bit of a cross-roads b/c Dad and I are in rather medium-heavy disagreement on something.
That something is a preacher by the name of Creflo Dollar.
If anyone doesn't know who Creflo Dollar is, he is a rather prominent preacher who owns or directs something called Changing Your World Ministries. My Dad is a "huge fan of his" I guess I could say, but I've seen and heard some things that make me a bit skeptic of his qualities as a preacher of God.
Before I show why, let me preface this by saying that I'm not "bashing" or trying to completely discredit all of what Creflo Dollar has preached nor am I trying to say that everything he says is bad or he is completely bad for what he has done, but I have a few signs that convince me that some of what he has said about God's Word is wrong.
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With me I have some video examples, let's start from the bottom.
Now, Mr. Truth Endures (please don't read the comments of that video, they're disgusting), I would like to let you know that there is a scripture that says
"faith without works is dead"
So when you say that something is a Gospel of works, therefore it is not a Gospel at all, you are slightly incorrect.
I'll get into another post about this later, but as Christians, we cannot open up avenues for us to look foolish or for people to make fun of us.
Want more context into this, let's look at the next part.
This here is Creflo Dollar;
Now I don't want to get too heavy into dissecting this video or his message but before I spell out my disagreements with his message I want to put this as a caveat:
I have heard that the bible does have plenty of scriptures about money. It spans from covetousness to how God views the rich and the poor, it talks about tithing, offering, sacrifice, and in it lies a "handbook" (if you will) on how to praise and worship God with your money. That is something that I do believe is very important among Christians that I have personally not experienced people preach about.
HOWEVER,
You cannot bribe God into receiving a blessing. Blessings come more from faith and belief in Jesus and his works more than any amount of money. It is impossible to buy your way into heaven or buy your way into blessings.
"You need some money or you'll never know peace"
Wrong, sir.
This is where the Gospel of the New Testament comes in with the silent thunder.
The lepers that Jesus healed, did they give him money?
Better yet, Jesus himself, was he rich or did he want money?
The 12 disciples, were they sent out to heal the sick and cast out devils for a cost?
No, they were sent to heal the sick, preach the word, cast out demons, and give glory to God for it without recompense or without a formal pardon from the church.
I won't prattle on any further, for now I just want your opinions on what you have seen, PLEASE I IMPLORE YOU TO COMMENT!
My Dad really likes Creflo Dollar, and I'm not saying its wrong to, but whenever I mention this he gets defensive and offended. I understand why he gets that way, but debating him on religion is something that I don't want to become a negative part of my time here.
Now for the final video I have to show you on why Christians need to be aware and alert of the people that represent them. This is my favorite because it actually uses verses from the bible to explain why the acts you see are wrong and unjust. After the video I'll have my final remarks then I'm out for now.
This whole video is very--damaging (I almost said something else) to not only Creflo Dollar, but the entire Christian name.
Is he wrong for saying what he's saying? Well, no, he has a right to say this (that opening part) and I can understand him being hypothetical or facetious to get his point across, and I can respect the nature of using rhetoric to get his point across, even if it sounds extreme.
BUT AT 1:25 IS WHERE I GOTTA INTERJECT!
"If we weren't under the blood of Jesus, I would certainly try it."
Creflo A. Dollar,
as a figurehead of Christianity you have a responsibility for the words that come out of your mouth, you should know this yourself because the bible does say that you must be accountable and mindful of the words you speak in many different ways...
That is unacceptable and as a fellow Christian I would not want to be attached to a person who would say something as heinous as that.
In a way this coincides with a lot of the hate speech that occurs in many Christian churches in America, and the world in general.
In fact, this will actually Segway me into my next post on this World.
I've been meaning to make a post about Mega-Churches and why I have a hard time listening to big, as I call them, "name-brand" churches. This is one of the reasons why, because I don't like how someone like this can call himself a man of God and have televised shows, but then say things like this and nobody checks him.
I believe that Creflo Dollar can redeem himself from what he's said, but his words are an indicator of his motives, and they do not seem as pure as one would assume. Dancing on money? Telling people that tithing will get them to heaven? How come the audience hasn't at least "boo"ed at this because it is untrue!? I'll tell you why, its because he has such a large brand that people will follow him no matter what, and that is the case for a lot of corrupt churches.
I'll finish it off with this, and please search this if you want.
Outside of his ministry, Creflo Dollar has done some things that do not look good.
There was one incident where he had a domestic dispute with his daughter, reports say that he choked and beat her.
To that I actually don't care too much because I think the media took that out of context and American perception of "domestic abuse" is very one-sided and I don't like that.
There was also another incident where he asked his congregation to raise at least 1 million dollars for his private jet. I don't really like that, and I'll talk about it in my next post. It'll probably be later this week, not today, though.
ALSO, if you see a report that says he's sexually assaulted some girls, that's actually a lie altogether, I looked into that, and it was a completely false report.
But I say this because if I bring it up to someone (like my Dad, per se) who follows his Changing Your World sermons, they will get so defensive to the point where I think it becomes irrational. This is not an attack on his character because I'm using things that have truly happened. I do this to say that as Christians, we need better representatives because Creflo Dollar is a very big name and a big ministry.
We cannot align ourselves with people who do things like this and do not have repercussions or have any evidence of growth beyond their mistakes.
Yes, Creflo Dollar is imperfect.
Yes, we are imperfect.
However, we should never allow ourselves to stoop so low that our upstanding Christian leaders can ever be seen or shown as schemers, liars, or anything that has a countenance or spirit of evil and wickedness.
We need to do better people.
Please comment your thoughts, it could help the effort in changing the world.
I know its a long post, but I tried to break it up.
Love y'all
