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You will recall an earlier post by Pastor Ezekiel
Well, the matter has developed further with one of the 6 false prophets, a certain Mr Copeland attempting to get God on his side by deceptive biblical quotations. (A practice that Landover abhors and to which we would never stoop.)
Well, I think I can supply that one, was it not Jesus Who, in His Sermon on the Mount said,
M't:6:19: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
M't:6:20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
M't:6:21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
And who is to be the “watchdog”? - God!
M't:6:16: Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
M't:6:17: But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
M't:6:18: That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
I am not at all happy with the younger Copeland describing The Lord of Hosts as a “watchdog”!
At the time of Christ’s Ministry upon earth, many thought that wealth was a sign of God's favor and poverty was God's punishment for sin. He then told the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man ended up in roasting in a Pit of Brimstone as he had failed to appreciate the beggar Lazarus.
Copeland has robbed the poor to pay the rich – his treasure upon earth will weigh him down at death and he will sink from the grave towards his master Satan.
Some say, “What about the vast wealth, opulence and power of Landover? What of its jets and airport? Its golf course, its huge church richly adorned?” (If you are one of them, please supply your residential address to Landover Security, who will pay a personal visit and give a vigorous presentation on the generosity of Landover, which only made possible by a certain amount of “old money”, which is to the Glory of God.)
And in any case, have these people, poor not only in financial terms but in intellect, never heard of the wealth of Solomon and many other Biblical kings? Have they never considered that God Himself appreciates vast wealth?
Nu:31:51: And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
Nu:31:52: And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
Nu:31:54: And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
And now I think it is a very good time to ask you to observe the shiny PayPal button at the bottom of this very page – a tithe will be much appreciated and be put to the Godly use of the Church in its fight against the heathen. Brothers and Sisters, give until it hurts – your reward will be in Heaven! Praise!
Here are pictures of Copeland the avaricious and his jet, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." M't:7:20
Praise Jesus, it seems that the intensely private meetings that Pastor Pistle and I have been having with Senator Chuck Grassely ® have paid off. Jesus has directed him to launch an investigation into the nefarious dealings of six false Christian televangelists. I want to assure everyone here and now that this investigation has no connection whatsoever to the alleged gambling losses during a recent private golf tournament between Pastor Deacon Fred and these same six pastors.
Praise Jesus, let us ALL pray for a mutually beneficial and reasonable resolution to this problem, which could become enormously draining for certain parties. Much more so than forgiving a paltry $500,000 error in scoring.
And once again, Pastor Deacon Fred did NOT pick up the ball and toss it onto the green once! All 12 of those accusations are lies. Capeesh?
Praise Jesus, let us ALL pray for a mutually beneficial and reasonable resolution to this problem, which could become enormously draining for certain parties. Much more so than forgiving a paltry $500,000 error in scoring.
And once again, Pastor Deacon Fred did NOT pick up the ball and toss it onto the green once! All 12 of those accusations are lies. Capeesh?
From The Times (of London)
July 7, 2008
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland refuses to render unto taxman
According to a report, Copeland’s faithful have unknowingly financed a mansion ’the size of a hotel’
“It is not yours, it is God's, and you are not going to get it.” So saith Kenneth Copeland, the television evangelist, when asked to submit his ministry's private financial records to Washington.
Mr Copeland is one of at least six American “televangelists” facing the scrutiny of a senate investigation for alleged financial wrongdoing. The Eagle Mountain International Church - otherwise known as the Kenneth Copeland Ministries - preaches a doctrine of financial prosperity, with the promise that God can make a follower both healthy and wealthy. The faithful are encouraged to dig deep and give to the Church, where donated dollars will provide a one hundredfold return in happiness and wealth.
As Mr Copeland's televised congregation listen to their minister boom, “You are not created for poverty,” they deposit cash in a donation envelope across which is written: “I am sowing $____ and believing for a hundredfold return.”
Mr Copeland certainly practises what he preaches. According to a report into the Pentecostal Charismatics, commissioned by the Senate, the ministry built Mr Copeland and his wife Gloria a mansion “the size of an hotel” and enabled him to acquire a $20 million (£10 million) Cessna Citation to help him to spread the word of God across the US.
Speaking to his assembled congregation on the runway by his new aeroplane, Mr Copeland said: “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘you're gonna believe for a Citation 10, right now'.” He also promised that the jet, one of four owned by the Church, “will never ever be used as for anything other than what is becoming of you Lord Jesus”.
The ministry also owns an airport capable of accepting jet landings, leases land for Mr Copeland's cattle and horses and also leases land to the family so that it can operate oil and gas wells.
Last year Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, began an inquiry into at least six televangelists and commissioned a report by the Trinity Foundation, a firm of private investigators who specialise in religious fraud. The Senate has requested financial information from the churches, and broadly, they have refused to comply.
Mr Grassley is worried that the church ministers may be over-compensating themselves, diverting church funds, or trying to use a non-profit organisation to run an ordinary business. While the churches have complained that they have been unfairly singled out for scrutiny and have accused Mr Grassley of McCarthyism, the real row centres not around religion, but around tax. Under US law, there are many institutions which enjoy tax-exempt status, such as private charities, certain academic foundations and religious institutions. Most of them are required to disclose details of their finances, such as executive compensation, annual revenues, profits, assets and total operating costs. Churches however, are not required to disclose any details of their finances.
When Mr Grassley launched his investigation, he quipped that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not in a Rolls-Royce, but insisted that the purpose of his inquiry was to make sure that the churches were behaving as non-profit organisations and that they were complying with tax laws.
He said: “They are non-profits, like anybody else I have looked into. I have sent them some letters because I want some information.”
While a spokesman for Mr Grassley told The Times at the end of last week that the senator is hoping that the inquiry will force the churches to adopt “self-governance reforms”, the tone of the Trinity Foundation report is more extreme.
In the report, its author, Ole Anthony, writes of these types of churches: “Simply put, a massive amount of money given by well-meaning donors is intercepted by the organisation's hierarchy and often never reaches the people who were to benefit according to the non-profit charter. The problem ...is exacerbated by a lack of disclosure and transparency as well as understaffing with the exempt organisations division of the IRS.” The report also asserted that “in most of these cases only a minuscule part of the organisation is related to religious worship”.
While Shane Hamilton, the lawyer representing Mr Copeland and his church, declined to comment, the ministry insists that it has done nothing wrong and has pointed out that other than demands from the senate committee, it is facing no other allegations or inquiries regarding any financial irregularities.
Mr Copeland has instead invited the US tax authorities to conduct an audit. It is not yet known whether the IRS intends to conduct its own inquiry. One advantage of an IRS audit is that all such tax inquiries are strictly confidential, and would prevent details of the churches' finances becoming public.
In a television interview last month, Mr Copeland's son John hit back at allegations of financial impropriety:
“The jet is a tool. It is just a tool to use in ministry. Where in the Bible does it say you should have watchdogs and judgment groups that watch over ministries?”
July 7, 2008
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland refuses to render unto taxman
According to a report, Copeland’s faithful have unknowingly financed a mansion ’the size of a hotel’
“It is not yours, it is God's, and you are not going to get it.” So saith Kenneth Copeland, the television evangelist, when asked to submit his ministry's private financial records to Washington.
Mr Copeland is one of at least six American “televangelists” facing the scrutiny of a senate investigation for alleged financial wrongdoing. The Eagle Mountain International Church - otherwise known as the Kenneth Copeland Ministries - preaches a doctrine of financial prosperity, with the promise that God can make a follower both healthy and wealthy. The faithful are encouraged to dig deep and give to the Church, where donated dollars will provide a one hundredfold return in happiness and wealth.
As Mr Copeland's televised congregation listen to their minister boom, “You are not created for poverty,” they deposit cash in a donation envelope across which is written: “I am sowing $____ and believing for a hundredfold return.”
Mr Copeland certainly practises what he preaches. According to a report into the Pentecostal Charismatics, commissioned by the Senate, the ministry built Mr Copeland and his wife Gloria a mansion “the size of an hotel” and enabled him to acquire a $20 million (£10 million) Cessna Citation to help him to spread the word of God across the US.
Speaking to his assembled congregation on the runway by his new aeroplane, Mr Copeland said: “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘you're gonna believe for a Citation 10, right now'.” He also promised that the jet, one of four owned by the Church, “will never ever be used as for anything other than what is becoming of you Lord Jesus”.
The ministry also owns an airport capable of accepting jet landings, leases land for Mr Copeland's cattle and horses and also leases land to the family so that it can operate oil and gas wells.
Last year Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, began an inquiry into at least six televangelists and commissioned a report by the Trinity Foundation, a firm of private investigators who specialise in religious fraud. The Senate has requested financial information from the churches, and broadly, they have refused to comply.
Mr Grassley is worried that the church ministers may be over-compensating themselves, diverting church funds, or trying to use a non-profit organisation to run an ordinary business. While the churches have complained that they have been unfairly singled out for scrutiny and have accused Mr Grassley of McCarthyism, the real row centres not around religion, but around tax. Under US law, there are many institutions which enjoy tax-exempt status, such as private charities, certain academic foundations and religious institutions. Most of them are required to disclose details of their finances, such as executive compensation, annual revenues, profits, assets and total operating costs. Churches however, are not required to disclose any details of their finances.
When Mr Grassley launched his investigation, he quipped that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not in a Rolls-Royce, but insisted that the purpose of his inquiry was to make sure that the churches were behaving as non-profit organisations and that they were complying with tax laws.
He said: “They are non-profits, like anybody else I have looked into. I have sent them some letters because I want some information.”
While a spokesman for Mr Grassley told The Times at the end of last week that the senator is hoping that the inquiry will force the churches to adopt “self-governance reforms”, the tone of the Trinity Foundation report is more extreme.
In the report, its author, Ole Anthony, writes of these types of churches: “Simply put, a massive amount of money given by well-meaning donors is intercepted by the organisation's hierarchy and often never reaches the people who were to benefit according to the non-profit charter. The problem ...is exacerbated by a lack of disclosure and transparency as well as understaffing with the exempt organisations division of the IRS.” The report also asserted that “in most of these cases only a minuscule part of the organisation is related to religious worship”.
While Shane Hamilton, the lawyer representing Mr Copeland and his church, declined to comment, the ministry insists that it has done nothing wrong and has pointed out that other than demands from the senate committee, it is facing no other allegations or inquiries regarding any financial irregularities.
Mr Copeland has instead invited the US tax authorities to conduct an audit. It is not yet known whether the IRS intends to conduct its own inquiry. One advantage of an IRS audit is that all such tax inquiries are strictly confidential, and would prevent details of the churches' finances becoming public.
In a television interview last month, Mr Copeland's son John hit back at allegations of financial impropriety:
“The jet is a tool. It is just a tool to use in ministry. Where in the Bible does it say you should have watchdogs and judgment groups that watch over ministries?”
M't:6:19: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
M't:6:20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
M't:6:21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
And who is to be the “watchdog”? - God!
M't:6:16: Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
M't:6:17: But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
M't:6:18: That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
I am not at all happy with the younger Copeland describing The Lord of Hosts as a “watchdog”!
At the time of Christ’s Ministry upon earth, many thought that wealth was a sign of God's favor and poverty was God's punishment for sin. He then told the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man ended up in roasting in a Pit of Brimstone as he had failed to appreciate the beggar Lazarus.
Copeland has robbed the poor to pay the rich – his treasure upon earth will weigh him down at death and he will sink from the grave towards his master Satan.
Some say, “What about the vast wealth, opulence and power of Landover? What of its jets and airport? Its golf course, its huge church richly adorned?” (If you are one of them, please supply your residential address to Landover Security, who will pay a personal visit and give a vigorous presentation on the generosity of Landover, which only made possible by a certain amount of “old money”, which is to the Glory of God.)
And in any case, have these people, poor not only in financial terms but in intellect, never heard of the wealth of Solomon and many other Biblical kings? Have they never considered that God Himself appreciates vast wealth?
Nu:31:51: And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
Nu:31:52: And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
Nu:31:54: And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
And now I think it is a very good time to ask you to observe the shiny PayPal button at the bottom of this very page – a tithe will be much appreciated and be put to the Godly use of the Church in its fight against the heathen. Brothers and Sisters, give until it hurts – your reward will be in Heaven! Praise!
Here are pictures of Copeland the avaricious and his jet, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." M't:7:20
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