RE: Stupid things religious people say
March 28, 2025 at 10:14 pm
(This post was last modified: March 28, 2025 at 10:15 pm by Fake Messiah.)
Pastor Marvin Sapp Defends His $40K Ask From Congregation: ‘Not Manipulation; It’s Stewardship’
At a sermon at Chosen Vessel Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas, pastor Sapp instructed church ushers to “close the doors” of the sanctuary until attendees contributed the full amount of $40K. “Giving is worship,” he told the congregation, as he urged both in-person and online participants to donate.
Sapp assured critics and supporters that his plea was in the spirit of stewardship. The cathedral will hold the “Engage Conference: A 3N1 Experience” on May 22. Any funds raised during the service will cover the costs of the international gathering.
“Conferences have budgets. Churches have budgets. And people have budgets. As the assigned ministerial gift for this international gathering, one of my responsibilities was to help raise the conference budget. That’s not manipulation. It’s stewardship.”
He explained the risks of collecting large sums of money in a physical location, which led to the decision to lock the sanctuary doors.
“The truth is, when finances are being received in any worship gathering, it is one of the most vulnerable and exposed times for both the finance and security teams. Movement during this sacred exchange can be distracting and, at times, even risky. My directive was not about control. It was about creating a safe, focused and reverent environment for those choosing to give and for those handling the resources,” Sapp wrote.
Sapp asserted that his request aligned with scripture.
“The Bible says they gave gold, silver, bronze, iron and precious stones. Specific amounts were recorded not because God needed their money but because the people needed to show their commitment to the vision and because stewardship demands accountability. So when someone challenges people to give a specific amount, it is not unbiblical.”
https://www.blackenterprise.com/marvin-s...-offering/
At a sermon at Chosen Vessel Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas, pastor Sapp instructed church ushers to “close the doors” of the sanctuary until attendees contributed the full amount of $40K. “Giving is worship,” he told the congregation, as he urged both in-person and online participants to donate.
Sapp assured critics and supporters that his plea was in the spirit of stewardship. The cathedral will hold the “Engage Conference: A 3N1 Experience” on May 22. Any funds raised during the service will cover the costs of the international gathering.
“Conferences have budgets. Churches have budgets. And people have budgets. As the assigned ministerial gift for this international gathering, one of my responsibilities was to help raise the conference budget. That’s not manipulation. It’s stewardship.”
He explained the risks of collecting large sums of money in a physical location, which led to the decision to lock the sanctuary doors.
“The truth is, when finances are being received in any worship gathering, it is one of the most vulnerable and exposed times for both the finance and security teams. Movement during this sacred exchange can be distracting and, at times, even risky. My directive was not about control. It was about creating a safe, focused and reverent environment for those choosing to give and for those handling the resources,” Sapp wrote.
Sapp asserted that his request aligned with scripture.
“The Bible says they gave gold, silver, bronze, iron and precious stones. Specific amounts were recorded not because God needed their money but because the people needed to show their commitment to the vision and because stewardship demands accountability. So when someone challenges people to give a specific amount, it is not unbiblical.”
https://www.blackenterprise.com/marvin-s...-offering/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
