The Church - The House of God or a Business Enterprise?

*Disclaimer: This is a controversial topic that I am going to discuss. This is my own opinion on the subject matter which you may or may not agree with. This is not an attack on the Church but a critique of those who exploit the institution of the Church for personal monetary gains.

As someone who likes to watch Reality TV shows I came across a new reality show called "Preachers of LA"  I was very skeptical at first, I thought to my self "Oh gosh why? this show is going to portray Christianity in the most negative way possible!". Out of curiosity I decided to watch the show. There were both negative and positive elements to this show. One thing I didn't like was the flaunting of all the material wealth these preachers had. The big houses, expensive cars, swimming pools etc. However the main thing that really stuck out to me was a discussion between the preachers about whether it is right for preachers to be charging high fees to speak at churches. One preacher (Deidrick Hatton) was asking whether it is right to charge churches and whether fees can be lowered in order to accommodate to smaller churches that can not afford their high fees. Another preacher (Clarence McClendon) pretty much said if a church can't afford his fees he can not  speak there. The debate sparked an argument between these two preachers. I did agree with Deidrick because he raised the point that Jesus didn't charge anyone in order to spread the message however the other preachers kept saying the church is a business enterprise.

In reality it does seem that the institution of the church is being exploited by people in order to make money. As someone who grew up in the Christian faith I have seen a number of sermons, I have been to different churches, attended conventions and seen a number of different Pastors preach. I have witnessed a couple of preachers who made me question their real motive for becoming Pastors because they appeared to be very materialistic and money motivated. I remember seeing one Pastor brag about a new Mercedes Benz he bought directly from Germany, I've also witnessed another Pastor talk about the 5* star hotels he stays in and the expensive cars he owns. I was thinking to myself since these "Men of God" are financially well off why do they require the money from the church congregation who are struggling financially. Some of who are unemployed, have low level jobs or are on benefits but these richer Pastors are taking their money. I even heard about a Pastor who preached at a church and when the church paid him - sorry I mean "blessed" him, he complained that the money he received was too low. I couldn't believe a man of God will do such a thing.

I understand that some Pastors don't have a job so depend on income from the church in order to live (like everyone else they also have bills to pay), that I don't have an issue with. But for those Pastors who are well off and use their congregations money to fund their lavish lifestyles is something that I disagree with especially when the majority of their congregation are from a low economic background.

I now want to address "seed sowing". To those unfamiliar with this concept it is when you give a an amount of money (sowing) in order to receive some kind of blessing from God (reaping). I believe in the principle of sowing and reaping BUT I disagree with those Pastors who tell the congregation how big their seed should be. I've heard a Pastor ask a congregation if anyone wants to sow a seed of a minimum £500 (WHAT?! does he think that money grows on trees?). I think you should sow whatever amount you feel in your heart you want to give, after all God looks at your heart over the amount of money you give.

(However God explicitly mentions tithing in the bible and that Christians should contribute 10% of their earnings to the church. That I agree with  because it is a biblical principle)

On radio shows and on some Christian channels there are Pastors who invite viewers/listeners who are going through hard times in their life to call in so that the Pastor can pray for them but...wait for it.....you have to pay a fee!. Paying for prayer? where is this in the Bible? I can't find it, if someone knows where this is please let me know! otherwise I might as well keep praying for myself for free.

Church has become a money making scheme and this epidemic is happening internationally. From America with some of these mega churches to Africa where churches are popping up left right and center to Europe. There have been a few documentaries exposing these false preachers.

I am totally against exploiting the poorer in society especially in the name of God in order to make a greedy person rich. What happened to the Pastors who preach out of their love for God? the churches that built schools and helped the homeless? the Christian missionaries who dedicated their lives to building poorer communities? I do believe they exist but they are now being overshadowed by these false prophets. It seems that a proportion of the church has deviated from the teachings of Christ. I'm sure if money was taken out of the equation many of these preachers would not be preachers.

The bible warns us of  false prophets

" But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you." (2 Peter 2:1)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15)

As sad that it is that there are people knowingly deceiving thousands in order for monetary gain, there are still genuine Pastors out there and churches that have helped the lives of many people. I guess with good there is also evil. Just be careful who you listen to and who you choose to give your money to. Let the bible and the Holy Spirit be your guide.

The Woman

The lips, thighs, breast, eyes, we are the ultimate men's desire. Out of Adam's ribs the woman was created to be the companion of man because God knew "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Gen. 2:18). Women are the creator of life, we nurture the future generations, we love unconditionally , we make it a priority to take care of others before ourselves.

But sometimes when I look at what some women are and it is upsetting.

It seems that we tolerate a lot of things that devalue our being. We tolerate the cheating, being verbally/physically abused, being disrespected, being used, being treated as objects.

We allow men to dictate our worth. Why is our worth dependant only on our physical attributes? It seems that these days having a big ass seems more important than having a degree.

This is the reason why a lot of us have low self esteem. We place our worth on the wrong things and when we don't look a certain way then we feel bad about ourselves. Low self esteem makes some of us sexualise and degrade ourselves. The strippers, prostitutes, glamour models, video vixens, the girl who sleeps with rich guys, the girl who posts pics in her underwear to get likes on instagram, the girl who goes from man to man because she's searching for love, the girl whose face is always caked in make up, the girl who is willing to go through dangerous procedures to enhance her body. Low self esteem even has some of us being content with being a mistress or sidechick. We yearn for attention more than respect.

The media plays its part, we see these models and female celebrities and aspire to be like them. When we have people like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian in the spotlight no wonder some girls are the way they are. Even the way women are portrayed on some reality TV shows where being degraded is the norm. It is okay to be disrespectful, it is okay to be a side chick, it is okay for him to keep cheating on you, it is okay to be his baby mama when he has no intention of  marrying you, it is okay to become successful because of who you slept with. This is the detrimental culture which our young girls are seeing. Any female can open their legs to a man, thats easy but it takes a strong woman to work hard and use her intellect to build a name for herself. 

We need to see women who use their brains, not just their beauty or vagina to succeed in the world. It is a shame that the media does not bombard us with images of female doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, engineers, academics etc.

We seemed to have lost our worth and as a result there are men out there who don't respect women. "I only respect women who respect themselves" a phrase I've heard many times. However it does show that men will treat us how we allow them to. As long as we tolerate BS we will keep receiving BS, we need to have standards on how we should be treated.

A man should be the one to protect us not hurt us, give us love not pain, provide not take away, lead us not deceive us, respect us not dishonor us, take care of us not abandon us to raise our children by ourselves.

We shouldn't be allowing unworthy men into our lives giving them the opportunity to take advantage. God made women to become a WIFE to a man ("That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh" Gen 2:24) not just an object for whenever he wants to penetrate. Stop settling for less, you should be with someone you deserve, don't just settle for the first man that comes by.

Stop allowing your past experiences to define you and make you feel less than you are, we've all made mistakes. Know your worth. Be a goal digger not gold digger, work on becoming a better woman. You are more than just a cute face, big ass and vagina. You are valuable. Women are Queens, and should be treated like royalty. Queens deserve a King who will love, respect, protect and cherish them. Learn to love yourself first. You are beautiful and deserve the best. After All without women where would men be?

Girlfriend : Babe, what's your favorite position ? 

Boyfriend : When I get on one knee and make you my wife

Don't settle for being his side chick

Be with a King who will make you his Queen

Written by Dinah

Eric Thomas live at The Mermaid

What up what up what up!! Its ya boy....Ok I'll stop lol

On Saturday 27th April I had the opportunity to see my favorite motivational speaker (though he doesn't like that term) Eric Thomas live in the flesh! The experience was indescribable.

Last December Eric announced that he would be coming to do a tour in London and that tickets were on sale. I knew I could not afford to miss this opportunity so I made sure I bought my ticket. I can honestly say that was one of the best investments I had ever made.

I first discovered Eric when I saw his youtube video "Secrets to Success" while I was a student at university. I was literally in awe after watching it. Since then I subscribed to his YouTube Channel and followed him on twitter. Every Monday I look forward to his video's Thank God Its Monday (TGIM) . The way he is able to motivate people and change the way they look at life is just amazing. His words are able to touch you so much that you think to yourself "I need to change the way I live my life".

On the day of the event I was really excited, I got to the venue early and the queue was already looong! It made me realise the amount of people that Eric impacts. When I finally got into the auditorium I had my pen and notepad ready. When Eric came onto the stage everyone was excited and the energy was crazy. He spoke for about an hour but it didn't feel that long because his message was so captivating. I didn't want it to end, I wish he had more time to speak (coming from me that is saying alot because concentrating during uni lectures and church sermons that long is a real struggle for me lol). I was writing notes during the event as if I was in a university lecture. By the end I had pages of notes written down. One thing he said at the start was that by the end he wants us (the audience)  to leave as changed people. I can honestly say that he did accomplish that. At the end Eric received a standing ovation from the audience. His message was more deeper than that of his TGIM videos. There is no way you could have been at that event and his words didn't touch you in a certain way. I can't even put into words how I felt. Seriously I AM going to make the REST of my life the BEST of my life.

Here are a few quotes from the event:

"You are not where you want to be because you are not who you are supposed to be" 

"Stop looking at people and look within"

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have mastered you will never grow"

"Recycle your pain, allow it to take you to the next level and push you to greatness"

If you haven't seen any of Eric's video's I urge you to watch them!

I would like to thank Incipio academy for making this event happen, it was worth every penny and I would like to thank Eric for his inspirational messages. Next time Eric comes to London I will make sure all my family and friends attend!

Written by Dinah

Football Players Greed

Let me start of this article by stating that I am a huge football fan and I support Liverpool football club. I regularly watch football regardless of whether I am busy or not and I always ensure that I watch all of Liverpool’s matches. I have always been a strong football fan.

However, for quite some time now, there is one issue in football that has started to bother me. In fact this issue has irritated me for a while, but it has come to a stage where I am sickened by it. This issue is the greed element mired into footballing culture today. In the past, footballers were only paid a few hundred pounds per week. Players such as Bobby Moore received enough money to take care of themselves and their families. These players played solely because of the passion they had for football and not because of monetary reasons.

However, today, football has changed dramatically. Football players in the premiership earn a minimum of £10000 a week! The wage just quoted is the minimum amount for players who are mediocre at best. The majority of talented players earn in the excess of £40000 a week. Let’s take Theo Walcott as an example; up until recently he was earning £55000 a week. However he stalled on signing a new contract at Arsenal simply because he wanted a substantial increase in his wages. Arsenal then submitted to his demands of £100000 a week. This dear reader is absolutely shocking. How can human greed be so profane? One does not need to earn £10000 a week to make a living in the UK, it is simply absurd. Even Doctors, Fire-fighters, Lawyers and people serving in the army do not earn a fraction of what these players earn (not that I’m saying that they should be earning £10000 a week).

What do these players spend their money on? Well as someone who once worked at Chelsea and West Ham united football grounds, I can say that these players spend a portion of their wages on purchasing extravagant cars. The following are the type of cars they drive to their stadiums: Mercedes, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, BMWs, Rolls Royce and other brands. Furthermore, they also spend ridiculous sums of money on mansions whilst half of the rooms will forever remain unused. In addition, these players’ huge salaries attract females that attach themselves to players purely because they wish to live the rich and famous lifestyle. As a result of these football players gargantuan wages the wag culture in Britain is intensifying.

Many of will remember when Wayne Rooney stated in 2010 that he wanted to leave Manchester United. After Manchester united offered him a new contract worth a staggering £250000 a week he signed the contract instantaneously. This is one in a number of episodes which shows that todays football players are interested solely on money. Manchester City is an epitome of the greed engulfing football today. Manchester City who have wealthy owners have the ability to purchase any player of their choosing because they can afford to pay these players higher wages. Hence, in the world of football today, it is no coincidence that the average player lacks loyalty and is very unlikely to remain at one club. Gone are the days when money did not dictate who wins and who losses matches.

Considering how much money these football players earn, we are yet to hear of many players joining together to form charities to help the starving children in the world, or the masses of UK citizens who are struggling in the current economic crisis. Many players have allowed their natural greed instinct to take over their thinking, and as a result, they have become out of touch with the reality of the average citizen. A good example of this is Rio Ferdinand’s twitter exchange with a football fan. https://twitter.com/BBCSporf/status/286200987113373696 This shows that some football players are similar to some politicians and do not care about the masses, but they simply serve to maintain the current capitalist status quo of materialism, consumerism, individualism and as this article stresses: greed. Football players have successfully kept we the fans in constant awe in matches when it is we the working class who are funding these hoggish men. Even the fact that the average fan may be struggling financially and still manages to purchase expensive season tickets does not seem to affect the players. In fact, the players remain indifferent towards the average citizens struggles.

What can be done to stop this? I think that the F.A, or a greater body can meet and introduce a law which will lower players wages significantly. If this approach doesn’t work, and footballers wages can’t be lowered, then footballers should spend their money appropriately by setting up charities and giving at least 70% of their incomes towards charitable causes. Also, with lower wages, clubs can lower the ticket prices to fans which will enable more people to have a chance to attend football games.

Overall I still love football, but because of the direction football is heading in I have started to become disillusioned with it, and it may only be a matter of time before I stop watching it altogether unless there is a reform of the current policies.

Written by Aaron