Walking back from lunch, I always manage to spot at least one oddity that is deemed blog worthy. Today's entry is this:A black Mercedes, complete with tinted windows, shiny rims and a vanity plate that said, "THKUGOD."
I, too, believe that God is good, is all around us, and answers our prayers. But unless that woman had been praying for a new 4-door sedan, I'm not quite sure I understand the connection.
Does God pay the monthly lease payments? Did the money for the car come from the church collection plates? Did she pray every night for God to fill her empty driveway? Did He Himself drive it up into the 4-car garage?
Either way, I am reminded of a reverend in Atlanta my Mom worked with to decorate his home.
His name, and you can't make this stuff up, is Reverend Creflo Dollar, and he is quite "famous" for his work as the head of the World Changers International Church just south of Atlanta.
Claiming that he doesn't preach love of money, only God, he is under inquisition by the Senate for his Rolls-Royces, private Learjets, million-dollar Atlanta home and $2.5 million Manhattan apartment, all tax-exempt gifts from the ministries and his congregations. He claims that his wealth furnishes proof to his followers of the validity of his teachings and is a leading apostle of what is known as the “prosperity gospel.”
In a DVD put out by his church, called Does God Want You to be Poor?, Dollar says that Jesus was not poor and his disciples were not poor. He says faith can transform poverty into an abundant life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall any mention of Jesus and his apostles living life of the wealthy. Most Bible stories include references to love, compassion and forgiveness, not of riches, clothing, and abundance.
When you click on the home page for his ministries, the first box of content you see says, "A Plea for Support for Our Ministries." Off to the side, you can pledge your "love gift" and in the center, you can buy Dollar's books, support his online broadcast, or buy downloads of his videos. Not exactly the compassionate, love-filled prayerful messages I'd hope would appear front and center on MY church's website.
No matter what your opinion on this mixing ministry with money, my favorite part of my Mom's decorating story was that he wanted my mother, a classy, conservative, talented and all-too-kind interior decorator (with a fine arts degree and a love of fine furnishings) to decorate his entire house using only purple, black and gold. I think my Mom had to work really hard not to laugh when he insisted that she work in some "gold lamé into the scheme."
I kindof hoped he'd pay her not in cash, but in a one-year lease on a gold Rolls Royce. Then, the vanity plate could have read "THKUREV$$" and brought her all kinds of prosperity.
Her suburban neighbors would have loved that one.
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