“Shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from being nobody has become a celebrity.”
—Jerome
We will be exploring a number of issues with Fellowship Church this week. Stay tuned.
Well, I thought I had seen it all. TWW has written extensively about the abuses of the prosperity gospel. We have discussed, at length, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar and others who live rich lifestyles, while occasionally pretending to help the sick, the lost and the letdown. Yesterday, however, I saw a supposed sermon that absolutely turned my stomach. Tom Rich, of the excellent and highly recommended blog, FBC Jax Watchdog, once again earns the most honorable title of “The Dog” for bringing this video to light.
This video is of a sermon given by Ed Young Jr. on 10/10/10 in which he demands that his church members give him (whoops, I mean give the “church”) 10% of their gross income. (how clever and "Biblical"to tie it into the date). My guess is that our readers have never seen anything quite like this as well. In this video, Ed insists that his people give the church their routing numbers so the church can take out their money for them.Note the check on the background screen.
Ed Young Goes After Access to Bank Accounts of Church Members from FBCJax Watchdog on Vimeo.
I was both a member of this church and also a neighbor and friendly with the Youngs. Our children played together. As I have said before, Ed is charming and quite friendly. However, there is a dark side that becomes evident over time. Ed was an effective self-promoter and was fixated on raising money. His plans were always grandiose-build the biggest church, have the local “A” list celebrities attend his church and pal around with rich and famous. He even was able to get people to give him all sorts of things like cars and fancy clothes for the wife.His church, which is located in the flight path, to DFW airport even has the web address painted on the roof so that people on descending planes can dial him up.
Folks, Ed has been in a bit of a pickle recently. The local television media have exposed his excessive lifestyle. He owns a 10,000square foot house on a lake in Dallas (remember-there is precious little water in Dallas and his house sits on one of the few lakes). He owns a large condo in Miami which is worth according to some $1,000,000. Also, unbeknownst , until recently, to most of his church, he has a private leased jet which he uses to visit his satellite in Miami and take trips around the world to “serve God.” Here is a link to the Museum of Idolatry that gives a list of his "assets." I particularly love his $240,000 yearly "parsonage" allowance. Honey, that ain't no parsonage I've ever seen.
In spite of this embarrassing expose last February, he seems bent on conducting business as usual. Actually, he seems to have escalated in his self aggrandizing focus. One indication of this is a rap video, which was to advertise his coming appearance at Hillsong in Australia. Watch the video and note carefully what he is wearing.
The large, dollar sign necklace is unavoidable. It is hanging, front and center, over his chest. That causes this nurse to be concerned for his emotional and spiritual health and it should be cause for concern for both his family and church members. Is Ed doing this to say, “shove it,” to his critics? If so, he is not exhibiting the Scriptural admonition to turn the other cheek. If he simply does not understand how this can be misunderstood, then he has no business being the pulpit. It shows a profound lack of grace,intelligence and introspection. Where is his wife, Lisa? Are there no advisors to stop him? Are the people in his church confused and misled?
Then, several months later, he does a sermon in which he has a check on the overhead screen with the bank routing number circled. He claims, in another sermon, that he is helping to insure that his people give of their first fruits so they will be blessed as he is. Does that mean everyone gets a plane, Ed?
Let’s take a look at his first fruits jive. In the Old Testament, God has a covenant with the Jewish people. I like to call it an “If…then” promise. God told his people that IF they obeyed His commandments THEN He would send the rain and the crops would grow. Israel, during this period of time, was functioning as a theocracy. The Israelites were commanded to bring the first fruits that grew in the new harvest and give it to God. This was to show that they trusted God to fulfill His end of the bargain. This meant they believed God would send the rains and they would have abundant crops. It is important to note that this was the Old Covenant.
Today, we are not functioning under a theocracy. We have the New Covenant, which is based on grace.There is no promise that, if we give God the first 10% of our crops, He will promise to make sure we will not have drought or other calamities. We are no longer living a works based faith. In fact, many members of the early church, awesome Christians who shared everything they had, were martyred for their faith. Very few of them lived in mansions and drove chariots from Mercedes.Although it is expected that we will give to the church and ministry, the “first fruit” command is no longer in play. In fact, Ed could be misusing this to “guilt” the people of his congregation since he claims that in order to be blessed, you must first give. Does this mean if you lose your job and you get sick, you must be stealing from God? That is an outright LIE.
He then points to his own life as an example of how God gives when a person tithes. Naughty, naughty, Ed. This "giving to get stuff" is not in the New Testament and you know it. You’ve been spending too much time with your buddy, that theological master, the toothsome Joel Osteen. And, by the way, folks, do you really think that Ed should be the example of God’s blessing? He has all sorts of corporations and trusts "protecting" his money. He will not tell you, the church, how much he makes. There are allegations that he has sold the church membership list for coinage. So this is an example of open and honest blessings? Not in my book! And he says this is what God did for him? Really? It seems rather manmade to me. Didn’t Denny Brewer help him with the Palmetto Trust stuff? Sounds a little more Wall Street than the Damascus Road to me.
He states that one must give an entire 10% of gross income to the local church. He says you cannot give this to a para-church ministry, a missionary, a Christian school, etc. You must give it all to his church if you are a member there. Oh, really? Sound like Ed has some things he wants you all to fund. Ask him for a Bible verse to support this one.
I would caution all members of The Fellowship Church-Grapevine, Plano and Miami :
1.Be very, very careful in releasing your routing number to anyone. If you want to give, just write a check each week.
2.Ask Ed to give you his routing number and access to his checking account. Then you could remove his gross tithe for him. If he wants you to trust him, he should trust you, shouldn’t he? Oh, why don’t you ask him about his salary while you are at it? Rumor has it that one pastor’s wife is driving around in serious style these days. If you have given him the number and realize it was a mistake, you can and should call the church, cancel the automatic withdrawal and call your bank.
3.There is absolutely nothing unBiblical in giving money to a missionary or a para-church organization. See how your pastor lives and compare that to the needs that you see in the world. There are Christians who have ministries reaching out to sex slaves in third world countries, to African villages without wells, and to bring the Gospel to the far reaches of China. There are Christian schools that serve the poor and are in need of books and scholarship money. There are wonderful rescue missions in the poor areas of Dallas.
4. It is highly out of the ordinary to have a pastor do a sermon about bank routing numbers. Ask questions. Why is he so concerned? Investigate other churches to see how they raise funds. There are some churches that rarely mention money and trust God to provide. Does God really need Ed to be discussing routing numbers during church? Could this be coercive? Do you feel guilty if you don’t give him your number?
5. There is no relation to being a “man” and giving Ed your routing number. In fact, a real man like Ed should be able to trust God to provide without resorting to extreme and questionable tactics to raise money.
6. Did you know that Fellowship is part of the Southern Baptist Convention? I know he doesn’t like to talk about it. Al Mohler, President of SBTS, recently said, during the Eddie Long scandal, that it is good to be part of denominations because denominations police their churches. “Hey Al, time to do a little policing, wouldn’t you say?”
7. When I attended Fellowship, Ed would not bring the Bible into the pulpit because he said the Bible turned off the seekers. If he was willing to compromise on that, could he be willing to compromise on other things? He also said, in the Dallas Morning News, that he didn’t like to discuss doctrine because it confuses people. Be very, very wary of this. He may not want you to learn orthodox doctrine because you might realize he is going “off reservation.”
8. Did you know that the Fellowship Church was its own mission? Years ago, Ed said that we shouldn’t be giving money to missions because Fellowship was itself a mission church. You know, the church with the Mercedes parked outside. Meanwhile a world is dying…Don't forget about the admonition of getting your rewards in this world.It doesn't portend well for the next.
9. Have you been told you must not gossip or say anything negative about your pastor? Please read our series on spiritual abuse. Here is a link to one called “Shhh, Don’t Talk.” This is a control mechanism to keep you from asking legitimate questions and voicing appropriate concerns and could be considered spiritiually abusive.
10. I believe that Ed is exhibiting signs of going off the deep end and needs help. If there are any elders in that church who want to be real men, help your pastor. His behavior appears to be escalating as evidenced by both videos.
Finally, TWW has received information that says the Fellowship Church has lost thousands of members. Some estimates have attendance under 10,000 which would mean a drop of 50%. If this is true, please take this as a sign that there are deep- rooted problems. The witness of your church and leadership is at stake. Outside of your own circles, this stuff appears outrageous and abnormal. Think, pray, and act.
Lydia's Corner: Genesis 39:1-41:16 Matthew 12:46-13:23 Psalm 17:1-15 Proverbs 3:33-35
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Multiple security cameras??? Big Brother is watching folks!
But seriously… did people actually give their routing number? This is insane, scary, and adds to my checklist of “why I want to leave the States”.
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Lise
They actually did but some refused and left. Can you imagine? And you thought our previous church was weird.
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I’d give him my routing number, but there’s no way I’d give him my account number with it!
Why would he want this information? Are they going to go snooping into people’s finances? Are they going to take money out of people’s accounts without their permission? Like many megachurches, they already have online giving, and anyone can set up automatic withdrawals through their bank, so why would anyone need to write their routing and account numbers on a piece of paper and drop it in the offering plate just because Ed Young dares them to do it?
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I invited my teenage to son to sit in on this. I want to make sure he understand New Testament giving on the one hand, and also coercive mind games also.
The peer pressure and threat of world-wide ridicule with the cameras, the demand that everyone comply outwardly to avoid shame even if they did not plan to fill out the card, the sarcastic belittling of men and equating their manliness with handing over their banking information…so manipulative!
I wouldn’t have a problem with people harping on the ten per cent if they told their parishoners to give it somewhere BESIDES the local church. Fat chance of that happening….
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I predict GOD will be disciplining this TARE and others soon – and very soon. He is making a mockery of Christ and his Kingdom, and he is about to shown how to be humble.
Just watch and see.
Ed Young has avoided and ignored warning signs from GOD over the years and it is about hit him, and GODS disciplining hand will bring this man to his knees!
We need to pray for him and many other ministers who we all know are in the same boats that are rapidly sinking.
I say Bloggers, fire away and sink these ship of deceivers and their captains!
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Men? Where are the men in that congregation who will confront and withstand this dude to his face? Seriously, are there only a few good soldiers of Jesus Christ anymore? Ah, yes, I know there is only a remnant.
It sickens and discourages me as our LORD’s name is made a mockery of. As the old cliche states ………… “only in America.”
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What is even scarier is that there are that many left there.
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Johnathan
You nailed it. I am also sick and tired of the SBC projecting a holier than thou attitude, claiming their denomination oversees the churches. The only thing they oversee is whether or not a church has a woman pastor. Those get thrown out. However, pastor making bank off their participants, pastors hiding pedophiles, and on and on are allowed. Guess what the SBC sees as the unforgivable sin.
However, there is hope. The one thing these pastors cannot stop is outside bloggers. I have heard tales that Ed has “boys” policing the blogs for critique.I have a message for Ed’s “boys.” Ed knows who I am. Tell him to be a real man and give me a call. We can have a chat.
BTW, I call those who do Ed’s policing, “boys.” Real men would stand up for the people who have been hurt at Fellowship. Do not be surprised if a “survivors group” forms in the near future.
Also, in case someone out there would like to use the word, “bitter,”I have some news for you. We left Fellowship Church on good terms and found an awesome church.
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I can’t help but notice how serious he is. In every other video I’ve ever seen of Ed, he’s silly and goofy. You can really tell how anxious he is through his body language… no big goofy smiles, no jumping, no running around – only grimaces, pacing and fiddling with his microphone. He is obviously very worried about his giving base shrinkage! Hey Ed, don’t worry – God’s gonna take real good care of you.
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Jonathan,
That sounds good in theory, but I guarantee you the first person to stand up and confront EY or any other megalochurchmaniac® about anything would be promptly tackled and dragged out by security.
Dee,
Hindsight is 20/20.
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notastepford
Ahhhh, but hindsight can offer insight to those with no sight today. You know, Ed would have said something like that.
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That’s profound, Dee. You should copyright that.
Yes, I can just hear Ed or some other megalochurchmaniac® proclaiming, “HINDsight… can offer INsight… to those with… NO sight… today. Listen! Write this in the margin of your Bible. I said, ‘HINDsight… can offer INsight… to those with… NO sight… toDAY!'”
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notastepford
I get it!!! HIND is an acronym. Let’s start a megachurch together. First, we get notoriety by getting thrown out of the SBC because we are women. Then, we allow a local chapter of EAT to meet at our church and get a lot of people mad at us which weill bring in people to our church. Nothing like controversy, I always say. Then, we get blank checks from the followers and go to Australia to pretend we are doing ministry. Instead we could go snorkeling and witness to our tour guide.
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I just cannot see how people can continue to support these clowns. What in the world would it take to wake these kool aid drinkers up?
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HIND is an acronym.
Okay, junkster. Go ahead. 🙄
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The good news: this is how God is using the Internet. I received an email from a member alerting me to this sermon. I think it was Sunday morning. I would not have thought to watch this video, as the series is called “Verses”, and the description does not at all let the casual site visitor know that it is a tithing sermon.
I watched the video, was shocked, and put a post up that afternoon with the video at Vimeo.
The word of Ed’s sermon is spreading very quickly. Just do a blog search in Google, and you’ll see. The video is now on YouTube.
If a preacher is going to preach this nonsense, he should expect that it will spread.
Too bad that Ed’s board, or the SBC big wigs don’t reel him in. If he doesn’t then clear-thinking Christians will exercise their first amendment rights and expose them.
Amen? Amen!
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The Vimeo version I posted is on many blogs, and the total views is near 1000. Let’s keep the heat on. Christians need to know.
But here is the disturbing part to me: Ed is just preaching what many other Baptist preachers believe, but are to afraid to preach it! Mac Brunson has come close to doing what Ed is doing, by saying that non-tithers have caused God’s judgment to fall on America, that if his members don’t tithe God will get the money from them by causing car crashes and leaking roofs.
Thank the Lord Chris Rosebrough did a sermon review of Mac Brunson’s ridiculous sermon preached on the same day as Ed’s (10/10/10) about how Haggai (got the spelling right) was about the Lord punishing the nation of Israel for not rebuilding the temple, as proof that America is being judged for non-tithers. Rosebrough said it was “malpractice” to try to connect the two.
Let’s keep using the Internet to expose this false teaching!
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Tom R
Preach it, brother. Have you heard about the missus’ new car? Serious coinage. Rumor has it that Ed is trying to start his own little Willowcreek called C3.Member churches have to pay bucks. I wonder if he gets their routing numbers as well.
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notastepford
I think you may be hinting that another one of the flock fleecers likes acronyms.
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Bill
Spread the word. Cut, paste, and forward as much as possible. Blogging has changed the face of the news media. Perhaps it will change the face of the church.
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and the atheists sit back in a comfy leather lounge chair with a beer enjoying the internecine warfare of the Church.
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Karl
Darn straight! What did you think of my suggestion of starting EAT?
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I was thinking maybe past tense or food related might be better
ATE – Atheism Trumps Evangelicals
TEA – Theism Evolves (to) Atheism
Actually I like the idea…with some modifications.
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Karl
And I thought we could have fun. I’ll forgo the church supper for a bowl of chowder and oyster crackers.
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I was just joking … sorry if it came across wrong. Been out of work for a while and the stress builds up some times. 🙂
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Karl
I am sorry. I have many friends in your predicament. That can sour anyone’s mood.I’m sure it is tiring looking and wondering. My thoughts are with you. (See, I’m learning, I didn’t mention prayer).
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This is a sham. I cannot believe Ed Young would resort to this type of bullying.
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This man is an abomination. It is amazing to me that ANYONE still listens to him, that he has anyone to whom to whine and cry for more money anymore.
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Paula
There are people who have been introduced to the faith through FC and think this is normal. We have to educate them about the true, living faith. Ed has warped their view and it is sad.
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John
Why not? He is more interested in the money then in the people. It shows. Thankfully, man know it is a sham and we have a duty to inform the people who are confused and manipulated.
Pingback: RealTime - Questions: "Is it normal to call.....( please read with caution)?"
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Sorry folks, but the video of Ed Young, Jr. asking for bank routing and account numbers has been removed from Vimeo due to “copyright infringement”. You can read about it at this link:
http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/01/fellowship-church-claims-copyright.html
On a positive note, it you Google “Ed Young, Jr.” and “Routing Number”, this TWW post comes up first!