I cannot tell you where to give or how much to give! That is between you and God! Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive! I am not soliciting to give to this ministry or any other ministry! I got a call from Joel Osteen Ministries today Sunday. They wanted a $35 dollar donation. I suggested to the caller that he should make a disclaimer to all donors that our tithe first belongs to the local church! He agreed yet I asked him why he did not tell me this? Then I asked him if he worked for Joel Osteen Ministries? He told me he was a private contractor collecting money for the ministry. I told him I thought Joel was a good preacher but does not enter into the cultural warfare breaking down America! I mentioned that Joel lives in a 10.5 million dollar mansion! He owns another house worth 2.9 million and another lot worth 1.9 million! The caller told me we cannot judge him! I told the caller I am not judging anyone but these are just facts about Joel’s lifestyle! His lifestyle does not fit the Jesus I know in my Bible? I told the caller I appreciate him giving up his 200 thousand annual dollar salary back in 2007 from the church. However his net worth is 40 million dollars! He sells his books but most of the money is gained by Christian’s buying his books! This is money from believer’s in the Church! Could this money have been more productive by church member’s investing in their local church? Also the 501c tax exemption allows the escape of tax money to the treasury department and that short fall has to be made up by the American tax payer! The caller told me I need to move on! Here is the point I am trying to make! Jesus said to render unto God what is His and to Caesar what is his! The tithe is automatic going to your local church! The offering is optional! To give to any ministry I need to see sacrifice from the leadership! If God speaks to you to give to Joel Osteen Ministries do it! Joel’s father is the one who really sacrificed to build the foundation for Joel! The same can be said of Franklin Graham. He gets 880 thousand dollars per year annual salary! Billy Graham’s net worth is 25 million dollars! I have to see examples of sacrifice for me to invest in any ministry! We need to put our money where our mouth is! These ministries do great things but the love of money is still the root of all evil! I would suggest that all ministries tithe their incomes to other ministries and support for the poor, widow’s and orphans! My prayer is those who read this will get a conviction in their heart’s including myself to be wise with our resources and invest into those who mirror Jesus Christ the most! Will 35 dollars break me? No! I wanted to make a point to our caller! God Bless your ministry! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: mansion
Mansions or Mansion? John 14:2
The English rendition of the Greek word (mone), is translated mansions. The problem is the Greek word mone is singular not plural. Is this a big deal? it could be if it renders in your mind a different concept than the original Greek language intended! We have an earthly concept of mansions as individual houses like in our neighborhood block. If we think of one mansion where everyone lives then the concept is changed. Let us think about going to church on Sunday morning and parking your car in the parking lot with all the other cars. Now during the service i call a tow truck and pay to have all the cars towed away! At the end of the service the Pastor says do not go the parking lot because your vehicle is not there? We are now all going to live together in the church in one mansion here forever! Troubling? You are now thinking i cannot even get along with my spouse how can i get along with all these folks? I cannot divorce these people and move into my own mansion! Do we have the capacity to live together forever in the same house? Only God can give us this capacity! It is humanly impossible otherwise! If you go to John 14:23 you can see this from a different perspective. If by pre-conditions laid out by Jesus here then God makes his abode in individual believers. Then Christ dwells in many mansions(believers). He dwells in many mansions while we are on earth but one day we end up in the “Big House” together as we say down here in Georgia! Please do more than just read your Bible! Study it! James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Which Kingdom do you want?
The year was 1985. We had been in India one year then. We had just moved from Madras(Chennai), to a hill station named Yercaud. The name Yercaud in the Tamil Language means the village of the lake and the forest. It is a beautiful place with coffee estates, mango trees and assortment of fruits! This village was so remote that there was no gas station there. The problem for us was finding suitable housing for my family. My daughters at that time were 4 and 5 years old. My concern was for their safety. A friend of ours from Salem had been searchin for us and through another friend located this Hindu man who owned coffee estates in Yercaud and also had a English hotel converted for his summer home. Rich people there would escape the summer heat and live in the cool hill stations for the season. This man owned a car manufacturing and boat manufacturing company. He was also an M.D. educated in the United States. Having lived in the U.S. he could not understand why we came to India? This mansion was remote and beautiful! It was nested on the edge of a cliff with a panoramic view of Salem Valley below! Also a clear view of Metur Dam. The clouds would hit you in the face! Yes due to low cloud elevation across south india any mountain would be covered in clouds. Yes I was walking in clouds! As I would sit in this old english chair with extended arms for your legs and view the valley below I used to feel sorry for the folks back in America. They had to get up every morning and go to work everyday! Fight the traffic, bosses and all else! What really bugged me about this Hindu man was he never asked for rent? I offered him but he declined? After we had lived there for about 3 months the owner approached me and told me he would like to make an offer to me. He asked me if I would like to live in his mansion for the rest of my life! He told me he would pay for my daughters tuition and living expenses through college in the United States. To sweeten the deal he told me he would find me alot of young girls for me down in Salem valley! He told me to think it over for about two weeks. He had to go to America on buisness and would get back with me. I thought the girls are out but the rest? What is the motive? I again began to feel sorry for the folks back home! Well, this Hindu man returned to Yercaud and asked me if I would take his offer? However he said there was only one condition? I must stop preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the people on Yercaud mountain! I politely told him this is the reason we came to India! He told me we have 3 days to vacate mansion! The hardest thing I ever had to tell my family was we had to move in 3 days! I did not tell my wife Hamsa the real reason we had to move until 25 years later! Well we ended up in a scorpion, rat and snake infested house for the next two years! I thought about those fortunate people back in America! About two weeks before leaving Yercaud and India for the United States the rich man pulled his Mercedes Benz convertible up along side me while I was walking. He asked me again why I had come to India? I told him for the last time because God has sent me here! Satan will offer you all the Kingdoms of this world if you just bow down and worship him! It gets down to two Kingdom’s! The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan! Everyday for the rest of your life you will have to make a choice what Kingdom you want? Choose this day who you will serve! Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Million Dollar Challenge!
A very wealthy man threw alot of parties at his mansion. This wealthy man had an olympic size swimming pool in his back yard. He was a peculiar man because he filled his swimming pool with sharks and alligators! At every party he would challenge his guests that anyone who could dive into one end of the pool and swim to the other end would get one million dollars plus anything else they wanted! One night during the pool party where guests used to feed the sharks there was a large splash at one end of the pool? This man swam like a porpoise dodging sharks and alligators! He finally made it to the other end of the pool safe! The wealthy man congradulated him and then told him he could have anything he wants! The young swimmer said he wanted the name of the person that pushed him into the water? Source; Pastor Joel Osteen.
30 Pieces of Silver!
The year was 1986. The place was Yercaud, India. We had just moved from Madras(Chennai), to this small village located on a mountain in South India. One big problem moving from big city to small village is finding adequate housing for my family. My uncle victor who was an MD. down in Salem had a friend who was a wealthy man. This man owned a mansion on Yercaud mountain that he used as summer cottage during hot season down in Salem Valley. This man was a Hindu who offered his mansion for free! This mansion was surrounded by 1000 acres of coffee estates located on the edge of a cliff! Beautiful panoramic view of Salem Valley below. We were excited! Clouds would hit you in the face as they moved over the mountain! Servants on duty to take care of all house work! I began to feel sorry for Americans back home as they had to go to jobs every day! Then this rich man came by and asked me if I would like to stay in mansion for rest of my life! Also he offered me young girls down in Salem Valley to make me happy! I told him the young girls for sex was out! But to stay in your mansion? Then he offered to pay for all college expenses for my small daughters when they reach college age! He told me to think about it and would be back from visit to U.S. in about two weeks. Well he came back and asked me about the offer? I told him it was a very generous offer! He told me there was only one condition? I must stop preaching about this Jesus Christ to the local villagers in Yercaud and villages above Yercaud! I explained to him that this is the reason we came to India! He then told me I have three days to vacate the mansion! We found a hut complete with scorpions, snakes and rats! I wish I were back in America! We completed our 3 years in India and shared the Gospel of Christ to many people! Scripture; Matthew Chapter 4, verses 8 and 9. Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com