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Beware of Michael Pearl's No Greater Joy Ministry


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Yeah, I think we all pretty much agree on the following thoughts:
1. We should avoid jumping to judgmental conclusions about people's motives.
2. We can and should judge the fruits of someone's ministry/life.
3. True ministers of Christ should not sell their wares for inflated profit. (We might disagree on the particulars of what that term means, though, especially, as Kita noted, because these men's livelihood might depend on such sales, and the actual value of the resources' content to the buyer may in some cases be much more than the cost of production.)
4. Ministries which are characterized by hype/salesmanship/inflated prices show by these attributes that they are "all about making money," and are likely charging too much for resources/services. (Again, our perceptions might differ in particulars, but we all have a "sense" about this kind of thing.)

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If a pastor takes time out to write a book, then the proceeds from the book should help support his family.

I'm not saying it should be outrageous but he should be paid for his time and effort taken from his family in order to write the book for our benefit.

I've definitely seen outrageous stuff from evangelists too...I can understand if they need to support their family with sales...but the ones I know of have diamond rings and fancy stuff so I think they are going a bit too far.

Moderation...and its not our place to judge pricing like that...just buy it or don't, eh?



Most all pastors, if they tend the flock properly that the Holy Ghost has put them over, they will have a full plate just seeing about them..

Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Of course one can't expect a pastor to do the proper jOB if he is not saved, if he was not put over the flock by the Holy Ghost, nor one who is so busy lining his pockets.

Of course I understand there be those pastors who set back and let others, excuse me, order others to do what they them self ought to be doing.


For instants, one woman told me she had been a member of a large church for several years and had only shook hands with the pastor once. I asked, have you ever had any kind of conversation with him. The answer was no, that the only one you could ever talk with was one of the associate pastors. I asked, you mean if a member has spiritual troubles needing to be addressed right now they could not talk with the pastor about it? Again the answer was no. Seems the only way to meet with the pastor was with an appointment made many weeks in advance.


They said that he was to busy. That is the way bossey pastors get, to busy to take time to help the sheep who are in need, no time to feed the sheep. Of course these types are not servants of God's children, are not godly servants.


I asked her, how often does your pastor have time to deliver a message on Sunday mornings? The answer was very seldom, that he did not have time for that, that he was out traveling most of the time taking care of business, of course what he was doing was leaving many thing he ought to do undone telling his assoicate pastors to do the jOB.

No, he did not have time to feed the sheep. She did say he was in attendance of services at least once a month and that he did deliver a message once in a while.


One man that is presently attending church with us from a SBC Church stated, "I was ready to hear some real preaching, all I've been getting was programs, and it seems ever time there isn't a program the pastor is absent."


Joh 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Joh 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Yes, Jesus stressed the feeding His sheep, that is what its all about for thsoe who God calls to pastor a church.

I might add, any God called pastor knows very well what the jOB of pastor entitles, if they don't, them they've got a major prOBlem. And yes, we have the Instruction Book, if we study this Instruction Book we can easily pick out those who are not doing the duties God has for them.

This not judge thing is sure getting very popular, its slowly reaching many.
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That's a good point Jerry. If God calls one to be a pastor, and He calls them to write a book, He will enable them to write the book without taking away from his pastoral duties.

I've read books before written by a pastor and in the book they talk about having taken off weeks and months at a time to devote to writing.

Our pastor has been doing some writing for several years now, and he's still not completed this book project yet, but he's done this at various times when he could do so without taking him away from his pastoral duties.

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Gentlemen, I completely agree that ministers of God should not charge exorbitant amounts for their supplies and resources. But I don't think it is exorbitant to charge $12.00 for a copy of a recording which cost thousands of dollars to produce. I don't know if that's the kind of CD you're talking about here, but I do know firsthand that a quality vocal/group recording (especially one with orchestration) costs quite a bundle to produce, and these costs (studio fees, orchestra/instrumentalists' fees, royalties, permission/copyright costs, vocalists' pay, mixing fees, traveling and other expenses, etc.) have to be paid out of pocket up front. This cost isn't even recouped (the guy doesn't even "break even") until at least a hundred or so CD's sell. In cases like this, it's a real step of faith to embark on such a venture, since there's no guarantee the recording will sell well enough to recoup the cost of production. So, in my experience (again, prOBably totally different people than the ones you've referred to), $12.00 really isn't that much for a quality recording.

Now, if you're talking about a sermon CD that costs a couple of dollars to produce, I agree that the price shouldn't be set at $12.00. I wouldn't see anything wrong, though, with charging $4 or $5 for such a CD, plus shipping cost.


Maybe I didn't make it clear, what kind of cd it was! Sorry.
I'm talking about a message cd, which for all practical purposes, costs around $1.00 for everything involved! That's what I'm talking about! Maybe I can understand in charging for the cd and such, but not for the preaching of the word of God!
How 'bout this! If it costs $1.00 to produce a preaching cd, just charge $1.00 for it and put that back into the ministry! You won't make extra money to pad your pockets, but you'll be doing the right thing! BTW, I know of some ministries, who charge absolutely nothing, for their cds! One, in particular, gives 30% of the donations they get, to missions, through their local church!
Just a few thoughts.
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Yes, like one SBC Church that broadcast Sunday morning services on TV. After each service they offer videos & or tapes of the services for a big price, never offering to send out literature freely to anyone that requests it.

Yes, its true, many are out for their bank account, not to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, its just a tool for making money for many.

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

Seems this applies to many churches and their pasotrs, out trying to make money instead of freely supporting spreading the Word.










AMEN, Brother Jerry!
BTW, thank you, both for the post and putting the verse up there, that I was looking for! Oh and also BTW, all the messages on my site, are free!
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Blank CDs are extremely cheap. If a sermon is copied by the church the CDs can be duplicated for less than a dollar apiece. Our church does this and offers them free. It was discussed charging a dollar for the CDs to help cover expenses but our pastor said it would be better to absorb the small cast to produce the CDs and hopefully get the Word out to more folks.

With regards to the other things which require publishers and such, of course there is cost involved and the final profit margin isn't as large as many might think. As has been stated, folks should receive a fair price, but many don't seek a fair profit margin but a highly inflated one. If these works are being put out for the glory of God they should be put forth as inexpensively as possible and profit should be of minimal concern.


AMEN, Brother John! Our church does the same thing and we keep the sound man (who's also Brother John) pretty busy! My comments earlier about charging $1.00, were for Evangelists and such and not churches! IMHO, churches shouldn't charge anything!
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Are the books put forth for the glory of God or the enrichment of the writer. That's a valid question to ask. As you point out, many of these writers have full-time pay coming in already, they don't need money from book sales in order to care for their families.

A few pastors actually don't take any profit from their books. The Lord is already providing for them through their pastorate and they want the books written to be fully for the glory of God and not their own enrichment, so they have all profits from their works go to the church, go for missionaries, a Christian school, etc.

It's very telling that one can look at two nearly identical style books of similar size put forth by the same publishing house and yet one book may sell for 12 dollars while the next sells for 30.

A church can produce sermon CDs for much less than a dollar each yet some ministries charge, or require a "donation", of 20 or more dollars for these.



AMEN, 100%!
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I actually have no idea what you are talking about here.

All I've said is that charging inflated prices isn't right. There is nothing wrong with making a profit, but not inflated profits. Why sell a sermon CD for 20 dollars that can be produced for 50 cents? OBviously such is about making money rather than getting the sermon out there. I like the way our church gives these CDs to all who ask but I have no prOBlem with those who want to have a small charge to cover the expense or even to bring in a bit more than that.

The point is, putting such things forth should be for the glory of God, not for inflated profit. If the material being put forth is something one believes God wants people to read, hear or watch, then such should be put forth as affordably as possible so more many receive it. Of course, of someone is putting forth material just for the sake of making money and haven't really sought the Lord in the matter, then they might as well charge all they want because if the Lord's not in it it's better that fewer can afford it.

For those Annie mentioned who are in the business of productions or their only source of income is in what they put forth then like I said previously, there is nothing wrong with charging a fair amount, but no justification for inflated prices.

Most all of us make judgements every day, or weekly, with regards to whether a product is being sold at a fair price or an inflated price. Such isn't making some sort of wrongful judgement but about using discernment. Then, as Suzy says, we can make our decision as to whether or not we buy the product or not. This is true for biblical books as well as laundry detergent or new and used cars.


AMEN, Brother!
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Yeah, I think we all pretty much agree on the following thoughts:
1. We should avoid jumping to judgmental conclusions about people's motives.
2. We can and should judge the fruits of someone's ministry/life.
3. True ministers of Christ should not sell their wares for inflated profit. (We might disagree on the particulars of what that term means, though, especially, as Kita noted, because these men's livelihood might depend on such sales, and the actual value of the resources' content to the buyer may in some cases be much more than the cost of production.)
4. Ministries which are characterized by hype/salesmanship/inflated prices show by these attributes that they are "all about making money," and are likely charging too much for resources/services. (Again, our perceptions might differ in particulars, but we all have a "sense" about this kind of thing.)


Yep!
BTW, I know some "ministries," who's salesmanship goes far beyond what they charge for their cds and such! It goes into how they witness, but that's another topic!
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Most all pastors, if they tend the flock properly that the Holy Ghost has put them over, they will have a full plate just seeing about them..

Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Of course one can't expect a pastor to do the proper jOB if he is not saved, if he was not put over the flock by the Holy Ghost, nor one who is so busy lining his pockets.

Of course I understand there be those pastors who set back and let others, excuse me, order others to do what they them self ought to be doing.


For instants, one woman told me she had been a member of a large church for several years and had only shook hands with the pastor once. I asked, have you ever had any kind of conversation with him. The answer was no, that the only one you could ever talk with was one of the associate pastors. I asked, you mean if a member has spiritual troubles needing to be addressed right now they could not talk with the pastor about it? Again the answer was no. Seems the only way to meet with the pastor was with an appointment made many weeks in advance.


They said that he was to busy. That is the way bossey pastors get, to busy to take time to help the sheep who are in need, no time to feed the sheep. Of course these types are not servants of God's children, are not godly servants.


I asked her, how often does your pastor have time to deliver a message on Sunday mornings? The answer was very seldom, that he did not have time for that, that he was out traveling most of the time taking care of business, of course what he was doing was leaving many thing he ought to do undone telling his assoicate pastors to do the jOB.

No, he did not have time to feed the sheep. She did say he was in attendance of services at least once a month and that he did deliver a message once in a while.


One man that is presently attending church with us from a SBC Church stated, "I was ready to hear some real preaching, all I've been getting was programs, and it seems ever time there isn't a program the pastor is absent."


Joh 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Joh 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Yes, Jesus stressed the feeding His sheep, that is what its all about for thsoe who God calls to pastor a church.

I might add, any God called pastor knows very well what the jOB of pastor entitles, if they don't, them they've got a major prOBlem. And yes, we have the Instruction Book, if we study this Instruction Book we can easily pick out those who are not doing the duties God has for them.

This not judge thing is sure getting very popular, its slowly reaching many.


Excellent post, Brother Jerry!
Sounds like the "pastor" of which you spoke, needs to step down and get a real jOB!
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That's a good point Jerry. If God calls one to be a pastor, and He calls them to write a book, He will enable them to write the book without taking away from his pastoral duties.

I've read books before written by a pastor and in the book they talk about having taken off weeks and months at a time to devote to writing.

Our pastor has been doing some writing for several years now, and he's still not completed this book project yet, but he's done this at various times when he could do so without taking him away from his pastoral duties.


Excellent post!
Praise the LORD, your pastor has his priorities where they should be; being faithful to the flock the LORD has given him! Whenever the LORD permits him to finish writing the book, it'll be in His will!
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Maybe I didn't make it clear, what kind of cd it was! Sorry.
I'm talking about a message cd, which for all practical purposes, costs around $1.00 for everything involved! That's what I'm talking about! Maybe I can understand in charging for the cd and such, but not for the preaching of the word of God!
How 'bout this! If it costs $1.00 to produce a preaching cd, just charge $1.00 for it and put that back into the ministry! You won't make extra money to pad your pockets, but you'll be doing the right thing! BTW, I know of some ministries, who charge absolutely nothing, for their cds! One, in particular, gives 30% of the donations they get, to missions, through their local church!
Just a few thoughts.


Why not instead, hand it out freely, give it away, churches should not charge those who are not members for getting the Gospel of Christ out, by the way, that is the jOB Jesus gave to His Churches,

I might add, one thing I have to respect the churches of Christ on, on their programs they offer literature and even tape free of charge, of course that about the only thing they do biblically. You can usually find free literature on their web sites, while generally Baptist will want to charge for anything and everything. To many Baptist are trying to build up bank accounts.

PS. If the churches cannot afford to give it away, them don't even offer to sell it.
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Why not instead, hand it out freely, give it away, churches should not charge those who are not members for getting the Gospel of Christ out, by the way, that is the jOB Jesus gave to His Churches,

I might add, one thing I have to respect the churches of Christ on, on their programs they offer literature and even tape free of charge, of course that about the only thing they do biblically. You can usually find free literature on their web sites, while generally Baptist will want to charge for anything and everything. To many Baptist are trying to build up bank accounts.

PS. If the churches cannot afford to give it away, them don't even offer to sell it.


Good points. One of the reasons that false teacher Armstrong, who published Plain Truth magazine, gained such a following was because he offered his material free. I can still remember seeing copies of Plain Truth even in some magazine racks in stores; for free.

Meanwhile those actually putting forth the truth of Scripture were busy selling their material and it wasn't spreading around as much as the false teachings.
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Good points. One of the reasons that false teacher Armstrong, who published Plain Truth magazine, gained such a following was because he offered his material free. I can still remember seeing copies of Plain Truth even in some magazine racks in stores; for free.

Meanwhile those actually putting forth the truth of Scripture were busy selling their material and it wasn't spreading around as much as the false teachings.


AMEN, Brothers! In case you missed it, in a later post, (now earlier) I said that churches should charge nothing for their cds and such! BTW, the ministry I mentioned that charges nothing, but gives 30% of their donations to missions through their local church, is Audio Ministries! You'll find the link to their audio messages page, in the Bible Study And Sermons portion, of the links directory! I urge you to check them out! On the Profile page of their Audio Message page, you'll see more about their work and their full website!
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AMEN, Brothers! In case you missed it, in a later post, (now earlier) I said that churches should charge nothing for their cds and such! BTW, the ministry I mentioned that charges nothing, but gives 30% of their donations to missions through their local church, is Audio Ministries! You'll find the link to their audio messages page, in the Bible Study And Sermons portion, of the links directory! I urge you to check them out! On the Profile page of their Audio Message page, you'll see more about their work and their full website!


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