Send the check to God c/o me
Updating to add: story from 2018. She’s now been promoted to his adviser though, so the information is hotly relevant.
Ah the old “send me money and God will reward you tenfold” scam, this time from Trump’s “spiritual adviser.” Yeah right.
Paula White, who heads up the president’s evangelical advisory committee, suggested making a donation to her ministries to honor the religious principle of “first fruit,” which she said is the idea that all firsts belong to God, including the first harvest and, apparently, the first month of your salary.
“Right now I want you to click on that button, and I want you to honor God with his first fruits offering,” she said in a video shared to her website, in which she encourages her followers to donate to her ministries to get blessings from God.
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In her newest video, the pastor encourages people to send her money, stating, “Each January, I put God first and honor him with the first of our substance by sowing a first fruits offering of one month’s pay. That is a big sacrifice, but it is a seed for the harvest I am believing for in the coming year. And God always provides!”
Those who send White money, which she suggests belongs to God, will see positive consequences, she claims.
But how do people know sending her money means it’s going to God? (And what does God want with money anyway? It’s not as if God’s short on the rent this month.)
“When you sow a First Fruits Offering of $75 or more, I will rush to you the book, the devotional and also a Paula White 2018 wall calendar! Track throughout the entire year prioritizing God with me!” her website says.
Oooh a book and a calendar for 75 bucks! Plus salvation!
If sacrificing money somehow honours god, why do these prosperity preachers never advise people to set fire to their money? It’s weird how they always insist on having it sent to them personally…
“When you sow a First Fruits Offering of $75 or more, I will rush to you the book, the devotional and also a Paula White 2018 wall calendar! Track throughout the entire year prioritizing God with me!” her website says.”
She’s really offering a 2018 calendar? Wow, that’s pretty special!
George Carlin had it right. “God needs MONEY! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, but somehow — JUST CAN’T HANDLE MONEY!”
The story’s from January 2018, so a 2018 calendar wouldn’t have been out of line then.
Ophelia neglected to mention the special offer also includes a devotional. So not such a bad deal after all then? LOL.
There was a several year stretch where a couple times of year I’d get these bizarre letters that were made to look like they’d been typed on a typewriter, just for me, and they’d have some goofy gimmick inside like a prayer cloth that was gold on one side and purple on the other, with instructions saying to pray with it then sleep with it under my pillow. The pitch for money was very subtle and relied more on getting people praying then hoping the message they imagined they got back would tell them to send money. The magical trinket varied.
This sounds suspiciously like the selling of indulgences. Someone needs to learn about the history of her church.
Aw damn I didn’t notice the date this time. (I’ve spotted several lately – maybe I’ve used up my allowance of spottings.) Soz.
You can be certain that she’s pulling the same scam this year, though.
WaM, I always found that the funniest thing about indulgences was the graduated time off from purgatory that the ranks of the clergy could give: the higher the rank, the more time they could knock off one’s stay. I would say that you couldn’t make this stuff up, but…..
Well, they burn it in a very special way that makes sure there’s no unsightly
evidenceash left.Trump is the first failed casino-owner, golf course mogul president. Would he count as a first fruit? Where do we send him?
not Bruce, that particular fruit is already rotten, unfit for either human or divine consumption. Maybe Satan could find a use for it?
AoS – compost.
Not rotten, but toxic. Can gods be poisoned? Hmmmm….
Not unless you want to spread carcinogenic or mutogenic compost; see above. I guess it depends on how much you like those who are going to be eating the crops raised thereon.
Good point, not Bruce. The compost I prefer to spread is from wholesome fruits and vegetables, not toxic glop.