93 Year-old Woman Denied Funeral Because She “Owed” Back Tithes.

In Texas, a 93-year-old woman (Olivia Blair) had been attending a church for about 50 years. She is now dead but her pastor refused to allow her funeral service in the church. Why so? The pastor said the old woman “owed” some back tithes!

According to the church’s pastor, the other “sins” committed by the deceased was that she “...had not paid her dues, and she had not attended the church in recent years.”

But when contacted by KRIV FOX 26, the dead woman’s daughter retorted that “For the last two years, my mother has been in either a nursing home or she’s been in a hospital. And the last few months, she was in a coma!”

Now, what manner of a shameless pastor would ignore a sick, old church member for so long and then turned around to condemn the poor woman for not paying tithes in her period of agony and anguish?

X                                                                                          X                                                                              X

And in a related incident, a pastor (in a different American church) has directed members of his church to stop practicing cremation because according to him, “When Jesus comes back, how do you expect him to be going around searching for the remains of your loved ones that have been cremated and whose ashes have been scattered all over the ocean and some other places?...”

And this guy is supposed to be a "Man of God"?

Churches and the Cheerful Givers.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9: 6-7 (New International Version).

It’s been thousands of years since Paul the Apostle wrote this epistle to "the church of God at Corinth", in Greece. It has however been subjected to numerous interpretations, abuses and exploitation by those whose ulterior motives get the better of them. 

It irks me whenever some “men of God”, especially the “prosperity preachers” resort to cheap blackmails by making “seed sowing” a mandatory affair. A pastor will insist that his/her church is the only place to “sow for blessings”. And the worst happens when the same pastor imposes certain minimum amounts as the only acceptable “seed money”.     

With the exception of the orthodox churches such as the Catholic, the Baptist and the protestant that employ “seed money” to care for the poor, the homeless and the sick, others only cater to the lavished lifestyles of their pastors and some vain pursuits. 

In Nigeria, for instance, new-generation churches are rich, one-man-business enterprises. The Article of Association and Memorandum of association of such a church is in the name of the founding pastor while the name of the church is merely an a.k.a.

Those "churches" do not pay taxes. Yet, they maintain fat interest-yielding bank deposits accounts, make huge revenues from mandatory "sowing of seed money", build schools where only the rich elites can afford to send kids, pay for their pastors’ extravagant lifestyles (including ownership of private jets) and serve as avenues for those with ill-gotten wealth to flaunt it.
    

On a personal note, I believe strongly in philanthropy. But my idea of charity is giving to the needy individuals and organizations. Whether sparingly or generously, I consider it necessary to “sow” voluntarily (not by compulsion) and only to my favorite charities that care for the hungry, the homeless and the sick children.

Any church that has problem accepting me for my beliefs and principles will have to leave me alone!