Sexy pastor charged for cheating church's money

Well, I am not surprised. When you have a system where anyone can pick up a Bible and claim that God has called him or her to found a church, then you have a system that is ripe for abuses. The thing is, the people in the pews are not taught to question or think critically. They are not encouraged to be free to disagree. It is just one man (or woman) standing up there and telling others what to think or do. There's very little chance afterwards to discuss what has been said--and I am convinced this is by design.

The saddest thing about this is that this sort of thing goes on all the time and not one word of protest from the other pastors. But let someone teach something that is at odds with their interpretation of the Bible and you will hear all about how Pastor X is teaching heresy. Behavior, that's another thing. And then they wonder why the rest of the world shakes its head and says that Christianity is nothing but hypocrisy.

I agree with you that a smaller church is probably better as they tend to have more accountability. My church does not push tithing or pass around a collection plate. If you want to give there is a donation box in the back. Once a year they go through the finances with the congregation so everyone can see how much money comes in and where it goes.

I really think most of us need to see where our money goes. I wouldn't want to chip in to any spending I find questionable, like say, a Ferrari, though a Ford Explorer SUV may be acceptable where there is a real need, though.

We really hope to criticially think about the church and its practices. For one of my friends in that church, he says it's really so forceful that when one questions about something, then his cell group will try even harder to 'brainwash' him to think, the church is all good and he should not question the church's good work.