\u00a9 2023 wikiHow, Inc. All rights reserved. As a teenager he was charged with . Additionally, bad pastors are often manipulators, able to explain away every action, no matter how egregious. He predicted a Pacific Northwestern tsunami in 2006, then a terrorist attack on American soil sometime in 2007. Postal Service inspectors who raided his North Texas headquarters last year. The strangest part is that his followers were not hopeless runaways or uneducated and uninformed. That way, we could all see how the money is being spent, so theres no more confusion.. I love the way Beeson Divinity Schools Frank Thielman puts it in the NIV Commentary, Beware the curs! The list is not complete, but it should provide insight to what makes an effective church leader. Even though American courts of law have no problem with either. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. They may be misled or kept in the dark about the leaders actions. The sad reality is that those labeled critics often start as close confidants of the pastor, but once they begin to push back, they are cut off. Full Of Pride. Nation. On numerous occasions, the New Testament warns us about the motivations of bad pastors. He has even called President Obama a n____r on several occasions. He is now out of prison and living in Wilmington, Ohio, officially labeled as a terrorist. Refusing accountability Leading by force of personality Refusing to believe anything is wrong Spiritual Abuse Warning Sign #1: A Bad Pastor Surrounds Himself With "Yes" People Godly spiritual leadership is about helping people move from where they are to where God wants them to be. Autocratic leaders are rarely transparent. They picket the funerals of dead soldiers, screaming at the families, even while they grieve at the gravesides, that the soldier has gone to Hell and so will they. In other words, the same things that caused Jimmy Bakker to implode also led to the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos (once valued at $1 billion). Is there a direct easy path to life? wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. I met a pastor recently who really encouraged me. A few months ago, a man named Lavontraye Andrews publicly accused Larry Reid of molesting him when he was in his teens. Jesus himself gave us the flu shot. wikiHow, Inc. is the copyright holder of this image under U.S. and international copyright laws. Unfortunately, what often happens is that pastors and spiritual leaders conflate Gods plans with their own plans. They are called upon to be students and teachers of Gods word, to deliver great sermons, to administer the staff, and to oversee a church that ministers to all age groups, that ministers in the community and touches the world with the gospel. They attempted to depart via a nearby airstrip, and were fired upon by Temple security guards. They are the abortion candidates, the big-oil candidates, the environmental candidates or the Tea Party candidates. Youre either in or out, for or against. But what everyone is probably wondering right now is "JUST HOW DELICIOUS IS THIS AMAZING FOOD?" I wanted to share some concerns that I had about the recent use of church funds. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. What often starts as good and godly ambitions can curdle into spoiled, selfish ambitions. Here are our picks for 15 of the most suspect preachers around. The following are prayer points for pastors with Scripture that you can readily use to pray for your pastor, associates and other leaders. Here are six bright red when learning how to recognize a bad pastor. 6 Benny Hinn Regrets His Prosperity (As The IRS Closes In) Like many "healers" and basic cable holy men who've been in the game for a while, Benny Hinn has no shortage of the kind of controversies and debacles that might cause a reasonable person to doubt his supernatural abilities. Joe McKeever has been a preacher for nearly 60 years, a pastor for 42 Funny how people mistake the pastor for God. Their most common tactic is using partial truths to get their way. The church needs to be evangelistic, but also mission-minded, Bible-teaching and good stewards. Youth pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in West Union, SC pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery for sexual abuse of 13-year-old girl. Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox! And so bad pastors and abusive spiritual leaders surround themselves with people who always say, Yes. The inner circle those closest will support every decision the pastor makes, no matter how destructive or ludicrous. Not a very model preacher. Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr. may not have a name that's as immediately recognizable to those of us who grew up with the Orals, Falwells, and Popoffs of the world, but his success as a preacher is indisputable. He was never convicted of anything, as he seems to definitely know how to play his cards right when dealing with the law. God has better things for you. One of Tilton's main tactics to get his enormous following to donate money was to ask them to send prayer requests to his ministry. Those who are loyal are promoted to positions of honor, while those who criticize are ostracized. Jesus didnt make one cent. You may want to confront your pastor if their actions are affecting you or your church. Considering the organizations involved, chances are slim that investigation had anything to do with Hinn's son beating the snot out of a handicapped man in Brazil a few years ago (a hefty payoff appears to have solved that one). His ministry at the Westboro Baptist Church, which he founded, in Topeka, Kansas, is based almost entirely on anti-homosexuality, which is one of the easiest, if not the easiest, sin to denounce by means of quoting the Bible. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. As Kenneth Copeland described, "You can't manage that today. I . The release last week of a secret list of more than 700 church leaders and volunteers accused of sexual abuse was a . After all, the leader cant afford to have critics talking behind his back. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. Ive read sobering stories of bad pastors/spiritual abusers (Jimmy Bakker), deceitful startup founders (Elizabeth Holmes), and obsessiveathletes (Tiger Woods). This article has been viewed 2,277 times. This list looks at 10 of the worst. Ive also witnessed the profoundly destructive power of bad pastors and spiritual abuse first hand. Counseling requires a three-dimensional Bible. After the death of Billy Graham, Hinn expressed remorse at accumulating more cash than eight Pamela Andersons: "We get attacked for preaching prosperity, well it's in the Bible, but I think some have gone to the extreme with it sadly, and it's not God's word what is taught and I think I'm as guilty as others. An arrogant and unhealthy pastor could not care less. Talk to the pastor in private and lay out your concerns. And if youre not all in, youre accused of being disloyal. This list evolved over time, hitting its peak in the early 1990s and it slowly shrank after that. Because homosexuality is such an identity-centric sin, it's not easy to preach against it, but it is important to take note how your pastor speaks about these groups; does he condemn them without loving them first, or preach toleration and acceptance without acknowledging what God thinks about it? Offer solutions to help them move forward as a better pastor. And thus was launched "Project G650" (G650 being Gulfstream's fanciest model), with the goal being quite straightforward: convincing his followers to pony up $300 each so he could afford the $65 million price tag. And dream Michael Smith -- oops -- Creflo Dollar did, even after public outrage seemingly compelled him to cancel the fundraising campaign, because by golly, Jesus wanted him to have that plane. His nonfiction debut, Murder-Bears, Moonshine, and Mayhem: Strange Stories From the Bible to Leave You Amused, Bemused, and (Hopefully) Informed, is now available from HarperCollins. Hinn is a longtime proponent of the prosperity gospel (aka "If you donate to me, God will make you rich" -- it's kind of a spiritual cryptocurrency scheme), but after all the years of pretending that his flying jacket heals the infirm, perhaps the man does have some decency and shame after all. Beware of these dangerous pastors in your quest for God's leader for the flock 1. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Fuck you, pay me. The. Guidepost is also maintaining a tip. In spite of all these challenges, Dollar was routinely met with resounding applause every time he took to the pulpit, where he would proclaim that these were all attempts by the devil to discredit him.