WHEN THE CHURCH BECOMES A BUSINESS EMPIRE!

1) Pastors function like a CEOs
2) Members are turned into customers
3) Other churches are seen as competitors
4) Evangelism is reduced to marketing & fake branding.
5) Church planting looks more like franchising.

6) Numbers are primary measure of success
7) Prayer and Word study are replaced by formulas & good ideas
8) Revival is reduced to a few days of fund-raising program
9) Preaching sounds more like motivational speech. All the people do is shout “I receive, Amen,” throughout the concert. I mean the “service”.

10) Praise and Worship is turned into a
performance. The best actors are made the worship and praise leaders.
11) The Spirit of God is reduced to “emotionalism”. No real power of God other than hypnosis and sensationalism.

12) The saints are entertained instead of equipped
13) Disciples of Christ have become papa’s sons, daughters and fans.
14) The Church, a living Body has now become a lifeless body & a monument of celebrities
15) A leader’s empire is built instead of the
Kingdom of God advancing
16) The pastor becomes the super man and Jesus Christ reduced to just another religious figure.
17) Prophets & Prophetesses turned into celebrities & superstars.

Does any one of these sound familiar in this
generation? Beloved, if you are under these pattern of “Christianity” you are already in a cult, not the Church of Jesus Christ. Get out before it is too late!!!

All I have highlighted above is exactly what made Jesus himself to ask: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in he Earth?” (Luke 18.8) AMEN!!!
(Apostl Jeniffer Obadiah)

Economics Simplified

Mary is proprietor of a bar. She realises that virtually all her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronise her bar.

To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around about Mary’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Mary’s bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in the area.

By providing her customers’ freedom from immediate payment demands, Mary gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Mary’s gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognises that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Mary’s borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral

At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets. Naive investors don’t really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation’s leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Mary’s bar. He so informs Mary.

Mary then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts.Since, Mary cannot fulfil her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and the eleven employees lose their jobs.
Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.
The suppliers of Mary’s bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms’ pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. ��Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion no-strings attached cash infusion from their cronies in Government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class who have never been in Mary’s bar.

Now, do you understand economics

#copied

Psalms 40:1-2 AMP

I waited patiently and expectantly for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path.

Samuel Johnson Quote

Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life.  Unhappiest are those who have more of either than they know how to use.

THE FORK

There was a young man who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as he was getting his things in order, he contacted his pastor and had him come to his house to discuss certain aspects of his final wishes. He told him which songs he wanted sung at the service, what scriptures he would like to read, and what outfit he wanted to be buried in. 

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young man suddenly remembered something very important to him.

“There’s one more thing,” he said excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply. 

“This is very important,” the young man continued. 

“I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

The pastor stood looking at the young man, not knowing quite what to say. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the young man asked.

“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor.

The young man explained, “My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’

“It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming – like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder ‘What”s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork … the best is yet to come.'”  

The pastor’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young man goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see him before his death. But he also knew that the young man had a better grasp of heaven than he did. He had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice his age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. He KNEW that something better was coming.

At the funeral, people were walking by the young man’s casket and they saw the suit he was wearing and the fork placed in his right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question, “What’s with the fork?” And over and over he smiled.

During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the young man shortly before he died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to him. He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork let it remind you, ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.

Galatians 6:1

Doing Good to All
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

Psalms 55:22 AMP

Cast your burden on the LORD [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail).

Hebrews 10:24-25 AMP

and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.

I AM THE NEW YEAR By Pastor Barry Black

Deuteronomy 11.12
“…the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”

I will help you to say goodbye to the previous year filled with “yesterdays” and comprised of
Disappointments and surprises
Losses and gains
Failures and Successes
Defeats and victories
A year which may be remembered by recalling…
Fleeting moments
Delightful memories and good times
The sobering reality of missed opportunity
The insight gained from daily living
The unexpected surprise of reconnecting with old friends.
The joy of sins forgiven
Golden words fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11)
And the fruit of obedience and pleasing the Lord
Yes, the old year is a time in which we can recall with gratitude…
Blessings, protection, and rewards from the Providential hand of God
Grace that was sufficient for our every need
Mercy received when justice would have just as easily been fitting for us.
And realizing that even bad things that happened could have been worse…much worse.
May your past productively transition to the future as you experience…
The warm daylight of lessons hard learned,
and the fading sunset of the pain that was long endured while living through them.
The priceless value found in genuine friends,
and the sober understanding of the shackles of superficial people who merely use us. 
The glorious journey of…
The unmatched wealth in reading and studying the Bible
The unparalleled stability of Christian fellowship
And the unrivaled enjoyment of serving the Lord.
And as you experience the wise departure from…
The comfortable enticement of procrastination
The deceptive decoy of excuses
The childish pleasure of pettiness
And the dull applause of mediocrity.

I AM THE NEW YEAR. 
I am…
The challenge of new goals
The desire for spiritual growth
The continual burden for lost souls
The anticipation of answered prayer
And the eager expectation of Christ’s soon return for His Bride, the Church.
I am the New Year, I may only be lived one moment at at time.
I am replete with the unknown
and rife with…
Opportunities to trust
Unexpected moments of blessing and delight
Satisfaction for spiritual truth and hunger
Motivations to give of your time and effort to people and projects
And the joy and privilege of serving the Lord in new and exciting ways. 

YES, I AM THE NEW YEAR!

I AM THE NEW YEAR By Pastor Barry Black

Deuteronomy 11.12
“…the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”

I will help you to say goodbye to the previous year filled with “yesterdays” and comprised of
Disappointments and surprises
Losses and gains
Failures and Successes
Defeats and victories
A year which may be remembered by recalling…
Fleeting moments
Delightful memories and good times
The sobering reality of missed opportunity
The insight gained from daily living
The unexpected surprise of reconnecting with old friends.
The joy of sins forgiven
Golden words fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11)
And the fruit of obedience and pleasing the Lord
Yes, the old year is a time in which we can recall with gratitude…
Blessings, protection, and rewards from the Providential hand of God
Grace that was sufficient for our every need
Mercy received when justice would have just as easily been fitting for us.
And realizing that even bad things that happened could have been worse…much worse.
May your past productively transition to the future as you experience…
The warm daylight of lessons hard learned,
and the fading sunset of the pain that was long endured while living through them.
The priceless value found in genuine friends,
and the sober understanding of the shackles of superficial people who merely use us. 
The glorious journey of…
The unmatched wealth in reading and studying the Bible
The unparalleled stability of Christian fellowship
And the unrivaled enjoyment of serving the Lord.
And as you experience the wise departure from…
The comfortable enticement of procrastination
The deceptive decoy of excuses
The childish pleasure of pettiness
And the dull applause of mediocrity.

I AM THE NEW YEAR. 
I am…
The challenge of new goals
The desire for spiritual growth
The continual burden for lost souls
The anticipation of answered prayer
And the eager expectation of Christ’s soon return for His Bride, the Church.
I am the New Year, I may only be lived one moment at at time.
I am replete with the unknown
and rife with…
Opportunities to trust
Unexpected moments of blessing and delight
Satisfaction for spiritual truth and hunger
Motivations to give of your time and effort to people and projects
And the joy and privilege of serving the Lord in new and exciting ways. 

YES, I AM THE NEW YEAR!