Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Date: March 01, 2013 06:37AM
Hi guys
Well, you may think so Clive, but I stand by my comments on my much loved laptop. My students have no problems with reading, writing and uploading their work and all the software they use, is completely FREE – No charge at all.
Anyway, I think you are missing the real point here which is less to do with slating the i-Pad and more to do with the justification for the expense in the first place. This is what is questionable and, dare I say it?, somewhat less than holy.
The underlying issue is that the i-Pads are only ONE instance of lies being told in order to in-still a certain mind-set into the congregation, to the advantage of the whims of some of the leaders. The same thing was evident in the shares incident, as you reminded us.
What we're seeing here is that the school is already being subsidised by the members of the congregation, to the tune of something like £1.5K per child (if last years' accounts are anything to go by). Some of the people contributing to this fund are not in a position to have their own children privately educated and yet they are subsidising children from families who are already more privileged than their own.
This alone should be making the congregation have a good think to themselves about whether or not this is how God wants them to donate their money. I don't know but I have a serious nagging doubt that this would be God's will when there are so many references, in the Bible, to giving to the poor, the meek inheriting the earth, the first shall be last and the last shall be first etc.
Far be it from me to say what God intends for anyone and perhaps the members of the congregation are giving their cash willingly to subsidise the school. Perhaps the subsidies are being used towards paying the teachers' salaries; the majority of whom belong to two families with a position of authority in the church.
What-ever way you cut it, it still seems like a very strange way to be using the funds of the ordinary members of the organisation, who are facing their own financial hardships. And I'm beginning to draw some parallels here between the coffee shops, Cedars school and the shares incident anyway. Except that a lot more of the congregation's money was lost in that incident.
They are still losing money and waiting for the revival which was promised almost half a decade ago; which somehow seems tp have been waiting around all this time until the school got thousands of pounds worth of i-Pads; putting them into more debt.
This isn't wholly about new equipment being bought and old equipment being given away. The very serious core issue is the un-wise decisions being made by the members of the SMC board with regards to the Financial situation of the church.
SMC need to concentrate on the REAL reason God put them there. There's way too much commercialism surrounding the church and they don't have the finances to support this. Haven't they wondered why God has not been helping them to make a financial success of these ventures? Or are they still believing what they are being told about having their faith tested? Come on folks, if you got back to the basics of Christ on the Cross, I think you'd find that it's only humans who stand in the way of revival, not God.
So this isn't just about i-Pads it's about mis-management of funds and doubtful recruiting policies, and the ease with which the congregation are manipulated into believing that these people, in charge, have all the correct answers and are God's chosen individuals. I don't know about you but how can anyone believe these are God's chosen when they have behaved so abominably - as testified to on this site. I certainly don't believe for one second that God's chosen leaders would behave in the ways these guys have - down to outright lying to the congregation. That's not even Christian, never mind the mark of someone you should respect as a leader!
In essence, the leaders of SMC have gotten too big for their own boots and, to coin a phrase: "they're writing cheques their butts can't cash". They need to seriously think about whether or not they're in this to pay some privileged folks salaries and buy equipment which has to be subsidised by the congregations' offerings; or whether or not they're in this to save souls.
When I was young, the whole of the collection was used to pay for the upkeep of the churches, the church vans and occasionally help someone get to camp who couldn't otherwise afford it. Money given by the congregation was used wisely (to the best of my knowledge) and given where it was needed and NO ONE in a position of authority – or any other position - was claiming any salary from church funds - absolutely NO ONE, right down to cleaning the churches; which was always done by volunteers from the congregation of that church.
You aked, Clive, some time ago now. If God speaks directly to the leaders of the church, then why wasn't someone being alerted to the fact that HB was doing something which would harm the church, back at the time of shares problem. You see they haven't really come out of that pattern and the opening of coffee shops and a school is still pouring money away - regardless of i-Pads.
As I said, in my previous post, I have no objection to SMC sending their old i-Pads to Africa; but I was pointing out the lack of care for the people of their own areas - which has been publicly spoken about, by at least one of the leaders of SMC - where it was stated that they did not need to be bothering with the people who were in need of help in their own areas.
This was the IMBALANCE I was speaking about, it's all very well to call a press conference and say "Look how wonderful we are, we're taking i-Pads to Africa!" when, in the background, you have no intention of doing anything at all to help out those closer to home, who are also in need of help - but then, that would be less press-worthy I suppose.
In addition, are the people who are subsidising the purchase of NEW i-Pads still being lied to about the need for the equipment? Perhaps the original i-Pads just weren't powerful enough for revival and God has been waiting around for the next, better looking and easier to read model to come along.
It boils down to ONE thing and ONE thing only – SMC was never meant to be operating bookshops, coffee shops much less a school. Because if they were; given that they have so many anointed people in their midst, they would have been doing a roaring trade - by using all that insight they claim to have - to the point they would be enhancing their members' lives and contributing in a real way to their communities rather than the other way round.
The school has been running at a loss, for how many years? And yet they continue to favour a couple of families and subsidise their salaries. I wonder how many of the current contributors to the SMC coffers are unemployed at present, or working shifts to make ends meet? While their hard-earned 'dollahs' are being used to subsidise the salaries of the privileged few who run a completely unnecessary and loss-making school. No amount of technology is going to make the slightest bit of difference to that fact - except to contribute to the amount the congregation has to subsidise the various ventures.
You may ask again, Clive, as I'm asking also – if God is speaking directly to his 'anointed ones' then why haven't they foreseen the continual loss-making state of the school and taken steps to prevent this continual loss. Let's see, by maybe increasing the fees for the school perhaps? You don't need to be annointed to come up with that very basic principle of trading – let's face it, if someone can afford to have their kid privately educated why should they expect to be subsidised by those who cannot afford the same privilege?
I would think by now, given the consistent failures fincancially, that it's time to get REAL and find out what it is God wants rather than what humans want.
Oh no, silly me! I forgot, these are all tests of the congregations' faith and, if they keep praying in tongues fervently enough they'll have their i-Pad revival!
Don't slip on the verbal diahorrea on your way out, dear!
As always huge love and huggggggs to all
God bless xxxxxx