Deceit in Churches"  

"But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.

 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way."  2 Peter 2: 1-3

How often have you heard religious preachers say that if you want a blessing from the Lord, want to be healed, or want the Lord to help you with your problems, you must give a seed offering, pay tithes, or offer first fruits “to God” - which always means sending money, specifically your money, to them?

How often have you heard religious preachers say that if you do not do as they say, God would not do what you ask of Him?

How often have you heard of religious preachers who establish $50, $100, $500, $1,000 prayer lines for church goers to allegedly “give to the Lord” in order for Him to bless them?  How often have you heard of religious leaders who have requested that offerings, tithes and gifts be paid with one’s credit card by those who lacked the funds to do so?

The question is: Is this godly?

Just think.. really think about this behavior and while you ponder on this, please consider the following:

	The Almighty God created us, but before He did so, He created everything that we would or could possibly need to live and enjoy a world rich in resources and beauty. God gave us life and every good thing for us to enjoy in obedience to Him. What price did we pay?
	We sinned and God gave His Only Begotten Son to die for our sins so that we would be reconciled to Him and have everlasting life. What price did we pay?
	Jesus Christ, the only one who really knows God, preached to and fed thousands, performed miracles, died for our sins and was resurrected which assures us that we also would be resurrected to live with Him in the Kingdom of God. Did He ever ask for tithes, offering or first fruits in order to heal anyone or perform any other miracles on their behalf? What price did those who were healed pay to Jesus Christ?
	Jesus Christ sent his disciples into the world of darkness to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God, heal the sick and be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This they all did. Did they ever ask for tithes, offering or first fruits in order to heal anyone? What price did those who were healed pay to the disciples?

What price was paid in all of these significant examples? Nothing was paid - no seed offering, no tithes, no first fruits - nothing. In fact, Jesus Christ told us what we should do when we need help from God, as it is written in Matthew 6:6,

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Just think.. really think about the present behavior of some of these preachers and compare it to the Holy Scriptures - God’s Word - and ask yourself : Is this of God?

The healing of the sick and performance of other miracles are manifestation of the power of God working through Jesus Christ as the Savior and bringer of the Kingdom of God. The things of the Kingdom of God cannot be bought with corruptible things – only with the blood of Jesus Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit. The selling of miracles is indicative of the inability of the flesh to understand the things of the Spirit. Only through the Spirit of God can one discern that the practices and habits of the world of darkness cannot be used in the Kingdom of God. The rules and practices of commerce in the world of darkness cannot be used in the Kingdom of God. Miracles cannot be bought from God, financial blessings cannot be bought from God, healing cannot be bought from God. God is not for sale – neither are His powers to bless, cure diseases, heal the sick, blind and lame. When someone is ill, the Bible tells us what we should do, as it is written in James 5: 13-18:

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

Please Be Careful! 

We at AGS are not speaking against the paying of tithes, offerings, etc. We are requesting that believers and followers of Jesus Christ be mindful of the scriptures which are given to us for exhortation and to study the Holy Bible to show yourselves approved. We are encouraging all readers to continuously test everyone who comes in the name of the Lord because Satan does come as an angel of light, as it is written in 1 John 4: 1,

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

There is nothing new under the sun. The Apostle Paul also had to warn believers of preachers during his time; one of the congregations that he warned was the one at Corinth, as it is written in 2 Corinthians 11: 1-20

“I hope you will be patient with me as I keep on talking like a fool. Please bear with me. I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. For I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ. But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. You seem to believe whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach about a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

But I don't think I am inferior to these "super apostles." I may not be a trained speaker, but I know what I am talking about. I think you realize this by now, for we have proved it again and again. Did I do wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God's Good News to you without expecting anything in return? I "robbed" other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. And when I was with you and didn't have enough to live on, I did not ask you to help me. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me another gift. I have never yet asked you for any support, and I never will. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, I will never stop boasting about this all over Greece. Why? Because I don't love you? God knows I do. But I will continue doing this to cut the ground out from under the feet of those who boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

Once again, don't think that I have lost my wits to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. Such bragging is not something the Lord wants, but I am acting like a fool. And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. After all, you, who think you are so wise, enjoy listening to fools!  You put up with it when they make you their slaves, take everything you have, take advantage of you, put on airs, and slap you in the face.

The Holy Bible Warns Us! 

Again, the question is: Are these religious leaders preaching according to God’s will and for the Kingdom of God? Or is it sinful man in the world of darkness manipulating the Word of God to rob and steal, as it is written in 2 Peter 2: 1-3

But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.

Jesus Christ is not only our Savior but he serves as a living example for us - it is to his image that God is conforming us. As true believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we have to follow the example that he set for us. Additionally, we have to allow the scriptures to light our path and use it to examine our lives and our actions. We all have to measure all that we do in light of the scriptures.  Constantly, we must ask ourselves -  Is this of God? Is this of the Kingdom of God? Is this what Jesus Christ or his disciples did?

The Holy Bible Warns Us! 

Another modern day practice among preachers is the excessive promotion and sale of books, videos, cassettes and admissions to healing or other types of conferences. These are allegedly related to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is it? Was the sale of the gospel the purpose of Jesus Christ? Was this ever the intention of God? Is this of the Kingdom of God? When Jesus Christ lived on the earth, the equivalent custom at that time was the sale of animals in the temple, today it is the sale of the gospel, food and conferences.

Think about this event documented in John 2: 13-16

“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.

And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"

The apostles of Jesus Christ followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. What did they do? How did they manage their living expenses? Did they “make up clever lies to get hold of believers’  money”?

 Think about the following:

“You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters,  that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, even though we were surrounded by many who opposed us. So you can see that we were not preaching with any deceit or impure purposes or trickery."