Ann, I appreciate your post. You have brought up several points which I am too tired to address all tonight. :sleeping_2: Big day tomorrow coming up.
But I will address a couple of them. I am not a big Joyce Meyer fan, meaning that I have never attended a seminar, never have bought a book or a tape, never donated to her ministry, but I have watched/listened to her speak several times a week on TV. What I do know about her as far as her minstry goes, is I seriously doubt she is taking money from the ministry (that is donations people are sending in and used them for personal gain). I could be wrong, but I doubt it. She may draw a salary, but I seriously doubt that she needs to, because she makes loads from selling her books and tapes and DVDs. And she is perfectly within her right to make money from those, there is nothing wrong with that.
Now, if she was taking donations people sent in to her and using it for personal gain, that would be different. Her children are grown and probably on salary from the ministry, and there is nothing wrong with that, they are working and have a right to be paid for their jobs. It takes 100s of people to put together one of her conferences/praise gatherings and some of those people are volunteers and others are on staff voluntarily and others are paid staff (not relatives). She showed some behind-the-scenes on one of her programs recently on TV.
http://www.joycemeyer.org/AboutUs/FinancialAccountability/
What I do know, and this can be verified from her web site, is she has a big missions ministry whereby the ministry feeds starving children overseas and supplies medical help for them. That is a big part of the ministry.
http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/HandofHope/
Now let's look at where she came from before we criticize too much of where she lives now. (Yes, I've seen the spread in the St. Louis paper, complete with pictures, etc.) She and her husband traveled all over the country in the beginning (for years), in a van, sleeping in the van, because they couldn't afford a motel. She had a rough row to hoe as a woman trying to serve in ministry because everybody knows women preachers are a big no-no in Christian circles, it's a man's world, and some in particular think a woman's place is not in the pulpit or podium or whatever. We know that. But she kept on going and made sacrifices that a lot of other women would not be willing to make because she believed God had called her to ministry.
At any rate, Joyce and her hubby were on the road (and still on the road) who knows how many days out of the year, because she believes God has called her to ministry. Because she is gone so much, she has to pay salaries to people to help her do things that you and I do for ourselves, things like a personal assistant, secretary, someone to keep running the household, etc.
I have never heard her talk about some of the things she has been accused of on this thread and in other places, and if she said something that didn't line up with what Scripture teaches, I think bells would go off in my head and red flags would go up and I would be the first to jump on the band wagon and point that out. Not that I know everything in the Bible, but I think I have a pretty good working knowledge of what God says in His Word, having been raised a PK and walking with the Lord for a few decades.
To be honest, when I first started watching her program, I did so with a bias - I had heard all the negative stuff about her and wanted to see for myself if those things were true. My antennae are still up and have been up, but I haven't heard her teach anything that wasn't Scriptural. I have not heard her talk about getting money and riches from God. Name and claim your wealth or any of that. Nothing contrary to what God's Word says.
As far as stuff she may have written or said 20 years ago, well, I would like to think that we have all matured in our walk with the Lord since 20 years ago, too. So maybe 20 years ago she said something that was off the wall, but she hasn't for the last 6 months or so that I have been watching her program.
More later.....
But I will address a couple of them. I am not a big Joyce Meyer fan, meaning that I have never attended a seminar, never have bought a book or a tape, never donated to her ministry, but I have watched/listened to her speak several times a week on TV. What I do know about her as far as her minstry goes, is I seriously doubt she is taking money from the ministry (that is donations people are sending in and used them for personal gain). I could be wrong, but I doubt it. She may draw a salary, but I seriously doubt that she needs to, because she makes loads from selling her books and tapes and DVDs. And she is perfectly within her right to make money from those, there is nothing wrong with that.
Now, if she was taking donations people sent in to her and using it for personal gain, that would be different. Her children are grown and probably on salary from the ministry, and there is nothing wrong with that, they are working and have a right to be paid for their jobs. It takes 100s of people to put together one of her conferences/praise gatherings and some of those people are volunteers and others are on staff voluntarily and others are paid staff (not relatives). She showed some behind-the-scenes on one of her programs recently on TV.
http://www.joycemeyer.org/AboutUs/FinancialAccountability/
What I do know, and this can be verified from her web site, is she has a big missions ministry whereby the ministry feeds starving children overseas and supplies medical help for them. That is a big part of the ministry.
http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/HandofHope/
Now let's look at where she came from before we criticize too much of where she lives now. (Yes, I've seen the spread in the St. Louis paper, complete with pictures, etc.) She and her husband traveled all over the country in the beginning (for years), in a van, sleeping in the van, because they couldn't afford a motel. She had a rough row to hoe as a woman trying to serve in ministry because everybody knows women preachers are a big no-no in Christian circles, it's a man's world, and some in particular think a woman's place is not in the pulpit or podium or whatever. We know that. But she kept on going and made sacrifices that a lot of other women would not be willing to make because she believed God had called her to ministry.
At any rate, Joyce and her hubby were on the road (and still on the road) who knows how many days out of the year, because she believes God has called her to ministry. Because she is gone so much, she has to pay salaries to people to help her do things that you and I do for ourselves, things like a personal assistant, secretary, someone to keep running the household, etc.
I have never heard her talk about some of the things she has been accused of on this thread and in other places, and if she said something that didn't line up with what Scripture teaches, I think bells would go off in my head and red flags would go up and I would be the first to jump on the band wagon and point that out. Not that I know everything in the Bible, but I think I have a pretty good working knowledge of what God says in His Word, having been raised a PK and walking with the Lord for a few decades.
To be honest, when I first started watching her program, I did so with a bias - I had heard all the negative stuff about her and wanted to see for myself if those things were true. My antennae are still up and have been up, but I haven't heard her teach anything that wasn't Scriptural. I have not heard her talk about getting money and riches from God. Name and claim your wealth or any of that. Nothing contrary to what God's Word says.
As far as stuff she may have written or said 20 years ago, well, I would like to think that we have all matured in our walk with the Lord since 20 years ago, too. So maybe 20 years ago she said something that was off the wall, but she hasn't for the last 6 months or so that I have been watching her program.
More later.....
some of those quotes by JM are downright scary!