I'm trying very hard not to speculate or be skeptical. I would think that they would consider laying of employees, like other companies do (not that I would like to see anyone out of a job). TP is very staff *heavy*. With the resignation of two employees, they have already reduced the budget. I have no doubt that each ministry has also had to take a cut. I sincerely hope that the cuts included a portion of Mike's salary (a significant enough portion to actually have meaning, not just something else to boast about)....it would at least be a small step in teh right direction.

BROKENHEARTED - we shouldn't have to speculate - it should be open for us to see where they made adjustments. Regardless where they 'should' or 'should not' cut money's we should have it available to the congregation. This speaks to the lack of transparency that is the overall issue when it comes to finances.

TPWOC sermon for Sunday May 3rd "Great Faith" part 2 by Pastor Mike Villamor is now on line at TPWOC web site. Pastor Mike during his sermon said that he has gave away 7 vehicles, suba gear and television sets. Pastor Mike you forgot to read Matt 6 Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Pastor Mike said that God is good over and over again.( What does he think we are in kindergarten class,of course we all know God is Good.) Pastor Mike says our little faith causes us to be in bonage, we are real confused, we have lots of fear in our life, and it cuts short progress and hinders our provisions. (so we can't bless mike with double,triple honor with our money) Pastor Mike said that Mary's great faith moves Jesus to turn the water into wine. Pastor Mike said , do you know Great faith has the power and is so attractive to God that he actually changes his time table for you.Pastor Mike said Great faith is pleasing to God, and there are not many people that have it.Pastor Mike says that the promise of faith is that what we hope for and what we do not see is certain and we can be sure of it. That we must be in the realm of faith so we can move into the realm of knowledge and knowledge is power. He knows it works. That is why nothing is happening at the church at large.(only at TPWOC)Pastor Mike told people to check out the internet web site to check out the evidence that God exist.( but don't go to the rick ross cult education web site )Pastor Mike said that he used to be afraid of Gods judgement and Gods kindness bring us to repentance.( I guess we don't need the Holy Spirit in John 16 The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment) Pastor Mike talks about taking care of widows (Mikes a expert at this one)Pastor Mike said that God satisfies our desires with good things, rich things and (Mikes favorite word prosperity) prosperity! To make sure your desires don't become idols you must give them away.Thats why Mike said he gave away the 7 vehicles,suba gear and television sets .( it must be easy to give stuff away when you don't pay for it) Pastor Mike wants to be like Caleb and Joshua in the promise land and wants houses he did not build to be given to him .All the people who where complaining did not enter the promise land but died off.( whatever you do don't complain or say any thing negative at TPWOC) Pastor Mike says, I want my mountain and it is set aside for me.( That is my take on Mikes sermon an I believe that he is seting up a formula for faith when you use it as a power source through the realm of the power of knowlege , so you can control Gods will and create your own reality like christian science and word-faith movement(name it claim it) Pastor Mike has been using the same terms as false word of faith prosperity teacher Casey Treat (the helecopter guy) and other false teachers in alot of his past sermons . And now along with Casey, Mike is having Dr. Dave Martin( another Dr. increase guy) come to TPWOC. )

I didn't have exact numbers when I posted, so I figured I'd post them.

Former Faith Budget : $109,141

New (marked as Amended):
$66,801 Fixed Budget
$89,717 Faith Budget

Do you have the number of the former fixed budget? Anyone have word yet on what cuts were actually made? Did anyone get layed off?

Didn't they lose 2 employees? right there makes up approx. $40,000. Did Mike tell the congregation that the budget went down because of the now 2 less employees? Sometimes they forget to mention those things..... Does anyone know about TPC gearing up for Stewardship Campaign? It's why they're speaking about "faith", etc and bringing in Casey Treat.

Attender or belongs to him,

have you "actually" asked to see the previous/new salaries? i really don't think mike would take a decrease in pay. he never has......

It’s been since November, that I’ve been posting on this thread, and I have to say that it’s been a surprisingly helpful thing to dialogue about my deep and abiding concerns regarding the downward slope Turning Point has been on ever since their Possessing the Land campaign (which is when I believe Turning Point took a turn for the worst).

I have not been ready to delve into my personal experience at TP for a number of reasons. But I’m convinced that it’s time now for me to add my testimony to the others on here. Probably the two main factors in my inhibitions for posting this personal side of things has been (1) a desire to retain a level of anonymity, and (2) I am not as brave a many of you in that I have not wanted to revisit the deep grief that I experienced when things unraveled and I realized my season at Turning Point was over.

An example of how my grief impacted me can be seen in how debilitating my sorrow rendered even the simplest thought processes for me. One Sunday I locked myself out of my apartment once and out of my car twice—all in the same day. I just struggled to function at all. I had several single “lock outs” in the weeks that followed, and there were other “absentminded” things too, but the lockouts stand out in my memory because they were so inconvenient and put others out and were embarrassing. How could I tell people I was so distressed in spirit over leaving my “prodigal” church?

I hope this “preamble” will set the stage for how seriously I considered my decision to leave, how deeply I felt the separation of the leaving. Like so many others of you have testified, we did not leave lightly—not over carpet colors, nor hymns vs. choruses, nor any such silly matters. We have left a trail of tears on our way from there to here because of Turning Point's serious, ongoing, and increasing departures from truth and Christ-centeredness. How we have loved (and continue to love) our brothers and sisters at Turning Point! How we have loved and prayed for the leaders there (and continue to love and pray for them)! May God forgive those who have accused us otherwise.

Sad Episode One: “Please, Pass the Millstones”…See next posting (coming soon)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2009 07:18AM by LearningPoint.

Quote
tpcwocattender
BROKENHEARTED - we shouldn't have to speculate - it should be open for us to see where they made adjustments. Regardless where they 'should' or 'should not' cut money's we should have it available to the congregation. This speaks to the lack of transparency that is the overall issue when it comes to finances.

I agree whole heartedly with tpcwocattender. It will be interesting to see if TPC leadership is completely transparent with the TPC congregation. I hope and pray this is the beginning of a change at TPC.

Daughter of Dorcas

Brokenhearted, I got the numbers from the bulletin. The old bulletins only listed the $109 as the faith budget, no fixed budget was listed.

Miki, no I've never asked to see what anyone makes. That isn't what made me leave TPC, but I do believe that some people there make way more money then they should.

Does anyone know why TPC has never had finances truly broken down or had an independent auditor come in? Isn't that considered normal for churches? (I really don't know, TPC was my first church)