Reverend Rod Parsley is a man of tradition.
It lends an air of continuity to the world to see that just as one old money-begging prosperity-pimp passes, another continues to pass the plate (hat/tip to Pam's House Blend for the link to this article):
Parsley is asking for donations by Dec. 31, calling that date an "unavoidable deadline" during an episode of Breakthrough posted yesterday on www.rodparsley.com. Breakthrough is Parsley's television show.
A message titled "Crisis -- Urgent" on the Web site says ministries such as Breakthrough and World Harvest Bible College need help.
The headline of the appeal for donations reads: "Will you help me take back what the devil stole?"
When asked to comment yesterday, Parsley's World Harvest Church issued a statement saying the recession caused a decline in member giving in 2009, which has led to a fourth-quarter deficit of $3 million despite a 30 percent reduction in the budget.
This year, the church settled for $3.1 million with a family whose son was spanked at its day-care center in 2006, to the point his buttocks and legs were covered with welts and abrasions.
It's one thing to maintain that the ministry is suffering a lack of donations due to the economy--that much is true all over. Although that is a little ironic, since at the core of the prosperity gospel is the notion that God wants you to be rich and enjoy a "more abundant life". Wouldn't that go for His churches, too? But it's another thing to blame "the Devil" for the expensive set-back caused by having, apparently, at least one monster working in the ministries' day care. The "Devil" here, seems to be in the details.
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