Today is Sunday and many people attend the church of their choice. Most churches are filled with mostly women. I’m not really sure why. A lot of “salesmen” typically cater…to women for one reason or another. What I am sure about is that churches are BIG BUSINESS! Not only that, though I do attend church regularly, I find that there seems to be an issue in part with organized religion.
One of the major problems with organized religion is this money component that seems to be extremely prevalent. I’ve heard of many pastors who not only preach but they also handle the purse strings at their church as well. This leads to “absolute power” and… as I heard stated earlier in life: ABSOLUTE POWER RUINS! When I first heard this phrase, I really did not understand it. As I grew older and exposed to various and sundry things, I certainly came upon the realization of what that phrase means.
When an individual has ABSOLUTE POWER it brings about corruption. One would think that the church would be the last place that you would find corruption, yet that is not the case. I think we all have seen news stories where preachers have been arrested for taking money from their congregation. Recently a Delaware pastor, Eric Sapp was sentenced to 5 years probation for stealing more than $56,000 from Grace Baptist Church. In Houston, an associate pastor, Russell Thompson, is charged with felony theft of $250,000. In Cleveland, Pastor Merita White, was convicted of stealing $150,000 from a member of her congregation, Mattie Cunningham. There are more stories of this than I care to repeat.
Basically, organized religion often causes competition between different religions and it forces people to lose focus on the major theme set forth in the Bible. That theme is LOVE. There are many who call some of these pastors PIMPS IN THE PULPIT because of their emphasis on dollars rather than biblical sense.
I am posting the top 10 list of the richest pastors in the world. I think this list is from a year ago and I’m pretty sure that Joel Olsteen is in the top 10 but they do not have him on this list. I think I saw somewhere that his net worth is estimated at $40 million dollars. Am I saying that they are stealing from their congregations? Most definitely not! What I am saying is that the church of today is BIG BUSINESS and… everything you see, is not what you see. I hope you see what I mean.
Top 10 Richest Pastors In The World
This is a list of the richest pastors worldwide.
- Bishop T. D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America’s best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie producer. Thomas Dexter “T. D.” Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.
- Bishop David Oyedepo: Bishop David Oyedepo is a Nigerian Preacher, Christian Author, Founder and Presiding Bishop of Winners Chapel known as Living Faith Church World Wide. Has been hailed as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria with a total net worth of $150 million and properties like 4 private jets and homes in the United States and England. After the foundation of the Living Faith Outreach Ministry in 1981, it has evolved to be one of the largest congregations in Africa and has a flourishing mission in Nairobi.
3. E A Adeboye: This messenger of God was listed in an African magazine, NEWSWEEK, as the most powerful man in Africa and one of the top 50 global power elites in 2008/2009, among others such as President Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. Pastor Adeboye heads the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), something he has done for the last 28years.Amongst his posessions are private jets.
4. Benny Hinn: Israeli televangelist,Toufik Benedictus “Benny” Hinn has an estimated net worth of $42 million. He is best known for his regular “Miracle Crusades” – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, “This Is Your Day”. Hinn was born on December 3, 1952.
5. Chris Oyakhilome: This is the man behind Believers’ Loveworld Ministries, a.k.a Christ Embassy.His church has an estimated net worth of $30 million – $50 million last year, the charismatic preacher was at the center of a $35 million money laundering case in which he was accused of siphoning funds from his church to foreign banks.
6. Creflo Dollar: American Bible teacher, pastor, and the founder of World Changers Church International, Creflo Dollar, has an estimated net worth of $27 million. As his name suggests, this preacher’s “manna” comes in form of the green buck.
7. Kenneth Copeland: He runs Kenneth Copeland Ministries, was one of several televangelists whose finances were investigated from 2007 to 2011 by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.
According to an article by the Associated Press that ran in 2008, “His ministry’s 1,500-acre campus, behind an iron gate a half-hour drive from Fort Worth includes a church, a private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry’s $17.5 million jet and other aircraft, and a $6 million church owned lakefront mansion.
The article later added that while Copeland has not released up-to-date salary statements, “the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland’s wife, Gloria, earned $292,593. It’s not clear whether those figures include other earnings, such as special offerings for guest preaching or book royalties.”
- Billy Graham: American evangelical Christian evangelist, William Franklin “Billy” Graham, Jr., has a net worth of $25 million. The Southern Baptist evangelist rose to celebrity status as his sermons started getting broadcast on radio and television. Graham was born on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina in 1918, he has conducted many evangelistic crusades since 1948. He is now a world renowned televangelist raking in millions of dollars.
9. Matthew Ashimolowo: Ashimolowo, the owner of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) gets an annual income of $200,000. Having his humble beginnings as a priest in Foursquare Gospel Church, a Nigerian church that sent Ashimolowo to open a satellite branch in London. Pastor Matthew had other ideas and decided to set up his own church instead. Today, his Kingsway International Christian Center is reportedly the largest Pentecostal church in the whole of the United Kingdom.
10. Temitope Joshua: Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) has an estimated net worth: $10 million – $15 million Nigeria’s most controversial clergyman is also one of its richest and most philanthropic. T.B Joshua heads the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), a congregation he founded in 1987, which accommodates over 15,000 worshippers on Sundays.
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