A prophet(?) in Ghana, a poor country in Africa, has spoken out against the Churches abuse of Tithing doctrine , and it has caused quite a stir :

“According to him, Hebrews 7:7-10 clearly stipulates that Christians ought to give unto the Lord whole-heartedly and not by force: which the tithe law enjoins Christians to do.

Prophet Nkrumah said most churches are aware of this in the Bible; they have deliberately made it their policy to extort money from innocent people by using the name of God. 

In a chat with the Heritage, Prophet Nkrumah, who has written two books, namely Overcoming Darkness and Vision of Reality said, “immortality has become the order of the day for the various pastors in the system, because pastors of today are preaching prosperity instead of salvation according to the Holy Bible. This has shifted the minds of Christians on whatever ways to get money, whether bad or good”

Prophet Nkrumah therefore cautioned the general populace especially Christians against falling prey to the characteristics of false prophets and ministers who parade the whole of the country deceiving the weak and the vulnerable”. 

Source:

Some of the comments illustrate similar concerns to ours on Signposts 

• -“ They (Pastors) can’t continue extorting money from the vulnerable.It must come to an end.I know most of them will not like this Prophet Nkrumah,but hey the message has already reached the people”.
• -“Back in the day, nobody will allow their daughter to marry a Reverend Minister. Today, they are the hottest species on the singles market and marrying one is like hitting the lottery. Unfortunately, due to a lot of reasons, prosperity preachers are poaching on their congregants to enrich themselves….Tithes are to be used to help the needy and the poor. The question is ‘what do churches use their tithes for?’ I think people should question their pastors about what they use the tithes for.” 
• “Immortality has become the order of the day for the various pastors in the system, because pastors of today are preaching prosperity instead of salvation according to the Holy Bible. This has shifted the minds of Christians on whatever ways to get money, whether bad or good…. I can’t agree with you any better…. But let me ask you: Without the tithe how would the pastors drive in the latest mercedes, wear the best of the designers clothes and sleep with the women of the church (married and unmarried). Tithe is a peenut. They are visa contractors, the deal in cocaine, they campaign for political parties. If you have the eyes you see the devil standing in front of majority of the churches”. 
• “About 80% of Ghanaian men of God both home and abroad are all FALSE PROPHETS,pastors,bishops you name them.They are using the Holy Book to make money for themselves and only stupid and confused people would give them the tithes to make money for themselves.They are not armed robbers but rather bible robbers”. 
•  

  Prophet you are the only pastor who has come out boldly to let the world know about this.God bless you.They gonna hate you but fear not,God be on your side and you will be the victorious.Many false prophet has taken this economy hardship era and cheating many innocent souls.GOD bless you again for comming out boldly.thank you 

•  “(it’s) written in the Bible that, one of the reasons Christ died for us is to redeem us from the curses of the biblical laws at the time … but offerings must be done out of Love of God’s work and also love of our brethren, but these monies must not be controled solely by these Pastors, with no accountability whatsoever”. 
• “I know people who would rather borrow from their friends and family to go and pay tithe or some pledging, to maintain some semblance of holiness, whilst they are biting their tongues”. 
• “When I was in Ghana, I used to be like, “Oh that’s my pastors new Lexus,” “Oh pastors new suit is custom made in Italy”. Right now I don’t put a nickel for a collection for any visiting pastor lately …. How the hell are you going to tell me to ignore what the pastor does with the money since in the eyes eyes of God, I am doing the right thing. Am I condoning the leeching of blood off already poor people who don’t even have it, yet the pastor says they will be blessed a thousand fold? Wake up people! I already have 3 friends I attended the same church with who are pastors and don’t even talk to each other but are vying for my presence in their church when I visit during my bi-annual leave. Is it all about the BENJAMINS?” 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 9:33 am by Lionfish and is filed under the money jar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.