5 Type of Lies Pastors Tell Members on Faith

By Dave Omokhodion.

We learnt that Pastors are servants of God ordained to keep God’s Word with a sense of truthfulness and responsibilities. That is why they are usually viewed as holy and impeccable. When they speak it’s expected they are telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

This trust becomes much more reliable especially when they are in the pulpit. Every word that proceeded out of their mouths then is seen to be from the throne of God.

But what some people don’t know is that the pastor is still human even when he is ‘flowing’ in the spirit. During such period there are some ‘faith lies’ he is fond of sharing with the listeners. Here are some of them:

1.  You are not born to be poor; you are created to be rich. 

This is a common phrase among prosperity preachers. They tell you God is not a poor God and that as His child you are not born to be poor. To them there is nothing like the “poor”. Every person is a rich person.

But the Bible speaks about the poor. In fact, Jesus said “you will always have the poor among you”. Mark 14: 7. And he also said blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the kingdom of God’. Matthew 5: 3

2.  Believers are immune against sin.

This is another theory most pastors feed their congregation. They tell people once they are saved they cannot sin and even if they sin the grace of God will cover their acts. By this a lot of believers views sin as something inconsequential.

This is why many usually say they are not under the law but grace.

But you know, as much I do, that nobody is immune against sin, nor is there any sin that have no consequence. The sin an unbeliever commit carry the same gravity like the one a chorister or Sunday school teacher commit.

3.  Pastors enjoy marital bliss. 

This is one of the faith lies many pastors always share with their church members directly or with their body language. As the first family of the church they have this make-believe that all is well in their homes. They don’t have issues with finance, no issue with their children and no issue with sex. In fact, each time they speak about their family, its just about peace and happiness.

But how wrong is this view! In deed many pastors have a more disorganized family life than what some of us actually know. They struggle on daily basis to keep the gospel alive. Why their homes are going through chaos you see them putting on good-looking suits and ties.

4. Pastors are blessed beyond measure. 

That is what many faith preachers usually make their congregation to believe. They have one million and one reason to prove that as pastors they don’t live or need to experience lack in their lives. All they are cut out for are the very best things life can afford.

But being a pastor there is no place  in the scripture where it is clearly stated that they cannot experience lack like any other Christian.  In fact, in terms of living without much financial resources, most church pastors encounter more than an average believer. For the sake of the gospel many of them are made to contend with poverty, sickness, persecution and the likes.

5.  Pastors don’t tell lies on the pulpit.

Since they are the carriers of God’s Word than the ordinary believers it is usually believed that every time the pastor preach he speak only the truth. Each time he crave your indulgence to share the word of God with you he doesn’t add ‘salt and pepper’ to the cooking.

Such view is not usually correct. What you may not understand is that they are still human even when they share stories and humors with you. As preachers they find the right ways to communicate some facts to you…and sometimes “dress up such facts” with some lies.

So when you hear some negative stories about your pastor don’t get too upset or try to persecute him or her; bear in mind they are just human like you and me.

Though they are the shepherd in charge of the local church and you expect them to live above board, sometimes what you see him do might not be intentional, just that the natural man in him is at work. Try to let go of any doubt about his spirituality. The Bible say believe in your prophet and you shall be established.

Shared from Christian Finder Africa. Published September 25, 2016 @ Cfa Magazine

How to Sell Your Church and Make Good Money

By Dave Omokhodion.

It sounds funny, doesn’t it, for someone to tell you to go and sell your church? What does that mean? How can you sell your church?

Before you come asking for my neck, I surely believe you need this sincere advice than anything else for now. The reason is that both you and I know very well that our primary assignment as Christian believers is to win soul and expand the kingdom of God.

At least that is what Christ commanded us to do. He say go ye into the world and preach the gospel. The command is not optional: it’s mandatory as a child of God. 

But like so many of us, you seem to be struggling with this injunction. The last time you did some calculation on how many people you have preached to for the past few weeks or months, you had some crack in your belly. The result is definitely very poor.

As a faithful Christian, with eye for the prize that is ahead of you, this poor result is not good for any reason. That is why you surely need this very post.

The beauty of evangelism is that it opens the door for sinners to come to repentance. Going by the sinful nature of man no sinner would want to willingly do that. Someone must sell the idea to them. And that is why every one of us as Christians is concerned.

So like a salesman you have been playing your part because you believe they ought to buy your idea and get born again. But unfortunately things have not worked out that way.

There are some reasons for this. As true Christians many of us don’t actually realize that we are engaged in business. Some of us don’t know that winning soul for Christ is all about marketing the gospel. And that people would not ordinarily want to buy what they are not impressed of. Not just the product alone but the presentation of the product itself.

The first thing here is the image – your image and the image of your church. Most often many of us think our image in winning souls for Christ doesn’t matter.  But it matters. Though it makes sense to look great with a lot of American accent when preaching the gospel, this is however not all about the image. The image here is your complete character.

As a gospel marketer you need to possess stainless qualities. Such confrontation like “Paul I know, Peter I know. But who are you?” needs to be avoided. 

You cannot sell what you don’t have. Your personality must first explain the ‘product’ which is the Word of God before you can sell the product itself. Your total personality is what you need to effectively deliver the gospel.

Likewise the church you attend. It is unfortunate many churches no longer lay emphasis on the important of following the image of early church. A good name doesn’t matter anymore.

While some pastors has gone to connect with strange powers to make their church popular some have resolved to using gimmick and abracadabra to sell the gospel.

But ordinarily the image of a good church is enough to do a successful marketing with the gospel. Like a good corporate organization would value its image, the church should be more concern about the kind of image it possesses.

Secondly, as a soul winner you needs to be highly tolerant and accommodating. You cannot sell the gospel with hostility, anger or hate. There is no doubt you will encounter some challenges in the field but you need to control yourself and avoid improper language. 

Like what a good marketer would do, strive to feed your ‘buyers’ with only relevant and convincing information. Though you are not the one to convince sinners to repent, but the words that come forth from you can make a difference.

This should be the same attitude with your church. The church definitely needs a kind of a brand. The way a church is can determine the kind of people to attract into the ministry. 

If your church is still one of those churches that worship under a leaking roof and tatter-looking auditorium, you need to think fast. Or if your church is one of those churches that don’t see the value of using microphones and musical instrument for worship, you need to examine what you really want with the gospel. 

The reason is that you are dealing with people who are daily experiencing changes in the world. You cannot effectively reach out to them with your outdated method.

Then thirdly, you need a good communication skill. Because this is usually the area where many gospel marketer flops. They have the zeal to preach the gospel but they don’t know how to effectively deliver their messages.

The issue is not about speaking ‘grammar’. It’s just the ability to communicate what the spirit ask you to say in the most appropriate and honest way. This can be done in any language you are most conversant with.

This is the same thing with the church. Most pastors don’t understand that worshipers are not really keen about those ‘terrific’ sermons. All those theatrical displays on pulpit may be good but sometimes this not what bring sinners to repentance. What the sinners need is the WORD OF GOD preach with simplicity, power and anointing.

Finally, the church must enhance its image through regular publicity in order to win more souls. The truth is, God is not going to announce your church to the world if the church is not prepared to announce itself.

Your church must blow her trumpet to attract people. This can be done in form of distributing tracts, flyers, handbills, invitation cards and banners. It can also make use of the various media outlets, like the television, radio, social media, newspapers and magazines. This is one sure way of how you can sell your church and make good returns.

Shared from Christian Finder Africa. Published September 18, 2016 @  Cfa Magazine

Why is the Church Broke Financially

Your first response may be based on the reaction of serious campaign going on against TITHING today. But hold your breath first!

Last Sunday service in my church was not particularly lively. The pastor came down hard on every one who were in attendant.  

He was practically shouting at the top of his voice, screaming that the church finance was in red. He has spoken on several occasions that people are nolonger paying their tithes. The offerings has been very poor and those who made pledges and vows are not redeeming anything. Very sad moment indeed!

Such complain is a common phenomenon in many churches today. Quite a lot of them are finding it difficult to cope with the little resources that are coming from members. Most of the projects on ground are not been executed. Some of the church properties which are out of vogue are still there. 

It's not only the pastor and the council members that are feeling the pains, even the members are getting frustrated because each time they come for counseling with the hope of receiving some cash from the pastor the story is always a sad one. Nothing to give!

Today there is no doubt if many churches are broke. And there are so many reasons for this. But before going into the reasons, we need to understand one thing here. With all sincerity of purpose the church may not be a full-fledge charitable organizations but down the ages it has been a place where people find help, succumb and hope. The church has been the last hope for the poor, orphans, destitute and internally displaced person. That is why no one should be confused when one hears how some churches are thrilling financially.

The church is going broke today due to many factors. Like what we know of the early Christians, the Bible says there were closed links among the believers. In the book of Acts they showed quite a lot of love among themselves, even to the extent of sharing their personal wealth with one another. 

But today the story is not the same. There is a big gap between the rich Christians and the poor Christians.  The brotherly love which extends to being one’s keeper has diminished, if not eliminated. Now, it is God for all but each man for himself. So the help that members are supposed to enjoy among themselves which can also fall back on the church are no longer there.

The second reason  the church is going broke today is the attitude of the church leaders. Many pastors are living above board. Concerning the issue of money they are the alpha and omega. They decide on every issue. The consequence does not only lead to crisis but also reduce the perception of member about how their money is being spent.

The third factor is the economy situation in the society. Faith apart, every church member is feeling the bite of poor economic challenges. Many people are losing their jobs. Contracts are no more forthcoming. Buying and selling are no more thrilling. And there is general poverty in the land. So the usual church offerings have got down. The same with tithing, pledges, levies and vows.

The forth issue that could be responsible why the church is facing hard time may be due to lack of foresight of the church leaders. There are some projects that may not be necessary at a particular time. But the pastors may insist of embarking on them. Every penny of the church is sunk into them. The result therefore is that the members are push down to the wall.

The ways out of these challenges are not farfetched. The church must fall back to the old religion. The love that once heralds the birth of Christianity should be rekindled. Church members must start to stand for one another.

They must stop being for themselves alone; they should learn to extend their benevolent to their fellow believers. It will not only put more money back to the church it will really prove what the Christian faith stands for.

Secondly church leaders must learn to be cautious with church finance. The money in the church pulse does not belong to them; it belongs to God.

The perception that those who live in the temple feed in the temple should not be misinterpreted. Before embarking on a project pastors must be very sensitive to the situation on ground. There is no point of allowing every penny in the church to go down into one project. It could lead to a lot of embarrassment and chaos.

Finally, the church must assist members to beat the present economic challenges. Whatever it can do to restore that member who have lost his job or that member whose business has collapsed, it should go ahead to do it.

The period of sitting down doing nothing should be seriously avoided. This is one sure way of putting money into their pocket and subsequently gives room for the church to grow.

Shared from Christian Finder Africa 

Published September 18, 2016 @  Cfa Magazine