Should churches be allowed to invest the money from donations to be used for inv

1. 52

   graceinusposted 11 years ago

   Should churches be allowed to invest the money from donations to be used for investments?
   
   Did you know that a lot of money given in the form of "tithing" or "donation" to churches are then used by the churches to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investments solely for the benfit of the churches. Should these kinds of actions by churches be allowed?

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   celafoeposted 11 years ago

   Does it really matter what we think?     The businesses  that call themselves "churches" will continue with their business no matter what we think.
   Christian churches (which are few and far between these days in the USA) have no business doing such.       
   government giving tax exempt status to anyone is a breach of scripture and righteousness.     Scripturally there is absolutely no way to justify it.    Jesus clearly said  " Mark 12:17   "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
   The use of tax free status is a very profitable business and has opened the door to all the churches of men to run their profitable businesses..
   The tax exempt status should be removed from the tax codes.   This in itself would eliminate a large portion of the unGodly businesses that claim to be churches.    The hirelings running these businesses will quickly find another way to maximize their profits and incomes.   But this would keep many uninformed people from being led into their hands.
   But in answer to the question,no they should not as this  ( securing the hirelings future) is not the purpose of the church. 
   The real Christian ( again, very few) leaders trust God for their lives and not the wiles of man.
   The True Christian church's purpose is people.    Helping and converting people to a saving knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.   It is not who can gather the most people or money, or the leader with the best college degree, or the largest and fanciest buildings (and ego).    The proof of a Christian church is are people being helped, are people being born again and scripturally taught and allowed to use their gifts freely,  are the sick being healed, or in other words are the signs following according to scripture?
   Any place calling itself a Christian church that does not have all of the sign being manifested is not a Christian church and should be avoided.
   If the people of God are properly trained, then they would be meeting needs that God shows them with God's money instead of giving to these unGodly businesses.    If we hear God, He will tell us what to do.   Why waste His money or squirrrel it away for unGodly men to enjoy.
   Mark 16: 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Celafoe- Great answer. Many thanks and blessings.

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   JThomp42posted 11 years ago

   No, I do not agree with this. This is basically gambling tithes in the stock market. They should be thankful to God for what he provides and use the money for the church's expenses and to help the less fortunate. Their is also a huge need for missionaries. This is my humble opinion my friend.

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   1. 52

      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      JThomps42- Totally agree. Great answer too. Many thanks and blessings.

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      JThomp42posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you my friend. God bless!

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      frumpletonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If the church has a food place for poor people or a soup kitchen, or something beneficial to others, then, yes, I think so.  They might get more money.  Some churches even help buy clothing for poor kids or fuel

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4. 73

   LoisRyan13903posted 11 years ago

   The church I go to-when I have a chance when I am not working-tells us where the money goes.  We basically have two funds.  The first is the missionary fund and the money goes toward supplies like Bibles, traveling expenses and other items to help out people (like the Hurricane Sandy victims).  The second is the church fund and this goes towards things like when we had to get a new heating system, helping out local people who are in need.  I don't think it should be used for investments unles if it is a mortgage they are trying to pay off

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Louis- Thanks for your answer. It is very common for churches to invest donated money they receivee towards Bonds , Mutual funds and common markets. Thanks

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   2. 73

      LoisRyan13903posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think it can also depend on the type of investment what type of risks are involved like Money Market accounts/CDs fine in my own opinion-no to low risk, not stocks-high risk not sure about bonds not too familiar with them

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Lois- I believe most people who donate their money to a church do so believing the money is used to help the poor, homeless and to support the operation of the church. If they knew  their donations were used for investments, donations would stop.

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      celafoeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      any time a church is investing instead of using the money for the furthering of the Gospel it shows they do not trust God, but rely on their own wiles.  But they will cry when the market collapses soon.  and God will smile.

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   5. 73

      LoisRyan13903posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The church should tell the people how much money is going for investments.  But from the business sense I think I can understand how the growth can help the community in the future.  As long as they take care of the present needs first.

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      celafoeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      LRYan-- please give me a scripture to approve of this trusting in the wiles of men vs trusting God.  my bible teaches trustin ONLY in God as men are not trustworthy

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      LoisRyan13903posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Gee did I say that people trusted investments over God?  Don't see anything in my comments.  Better off not to read between the lines.  I know this post is over 3 yrs old

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5. 73

   lburmasterposted 11 years ago

   I'm not surprised, but most churches have plenty of faculty, including investment bankers. Just like a family, they want some money to lean back on in case something happens. Honestly, I've always prefered making donations to different organizations that I can research what they are doing.

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Iburmaster- I'm glad to hear that you do donate to other organizations. There are many needy out there. God bless.

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   conradofontanillaposted 11 years ago

   In the Philippines,. the Catholic church is a registered foreign corporation. Big donations and alms are given to Catholic church. Alms are a form of donations. There is no accounting as to missionary fund or church fund by the Catholic church. Filipinos do not know how much the Catholic church is getting by way of big donations and alms. But we have some hints, for example, the Quiapo church in the heart of Manila collects more than one million pesos a day. it does not spend even half of that in a day, I surmise. The Quiapo parish keeps the rest that it gives to the Vatican.
   So the Catholic church is laundering money from the Philippines to the Vatican. This church is also doing business in the Philippines that is exempted from paying tax. I have a Hub "The Catholic church makes Filipinos poorer".

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      conradofontanilla- You may want to research this years "scandale at the Vatican Bank " in Rome.  90 % of the members of this church have no idea what happened. Thank you.

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   IDONOposted 11 years ago

   Absolutely not! Aren't most churches tax exempt because they are supposed to be non-profit? If they can invest for profit, they should show tithes as income.

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      IDONO- I agree with you 100%. Many thanks for your answer. Blessings.

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      celafoeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Jesus says that "churches" are to pay taxes.   Start and read from vs 14
      Mark 12:17  17 And Jesus answered and said to them,  "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

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8. 67

   wjlambertposted 11 years ago

   I too was against this at first.  But when it comes to maintaining the funds, I think CD, Money Market, or Preferred Stock is fine.  Open Market, not so much, because it's much more volatile. Or any type of investment that is subject to the emotions of the market. At least with Preferred stock, if the company folds,  you still get your funds back.
   
   But then I also believe that the church should have no employees.  All the work in my church is done voluntarily.  I think it's a bit odd that people would live off the tithing of the other members of the church.

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      wjlambert- I do not understand how any church that claims to love and worship God would turn around and invest donated money in the ways of the world.

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      wjlambertposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      i guess a church could just go without money altogether and exist purely on the love of God and work of its parishioners.  But then people do contribute funds without much direction on the purpose. I think of donations as "thank yous"

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      graceinusposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      wjlambert- I am not saying that people should not donate money. But  the money received should be used for good purpose such as feeding the poor, care for the homeless and other good deeds. This is what is expected of a church. Thanks.

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      wjlambertposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      absolutely, I agree that it should be used for the sake of the community.  I dont condone risky investments. I do think that CDs, Money Market, and preferred stock are valid methods, to help grow the funds for use in the community

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      celafoeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      what about the scripture that tells us not to worry about tomorrow as we do not know if there will be one

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      LoisRyan13903posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Good comment-this reminds me of the Parable of the Talents

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   stas karimovposted 8 years ago

   I invented the perfect monad. What is it? To know the cosmic laws person must refuse the property (like Jesus Christ). To live in the world we need money! Donations are evil! Perfection is when the saint receives money from us only in one case - if he or she speaks the truth!

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      celafoeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      STAS--WHAT?

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    tamarawilhiteposted 8 years ago

    The closest legal version of this is investing some of the money in the investments for the clergy's retirement account. The rest should go into savings, sinking funds, charitable activities.

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       celafoeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       where in scripture does it authorize retirement accounts or retirement,

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    Bildad Hawiposted 7 years ago

    The money should go to those in need of food, clothing, shelter and even education. Investing distorts the mission of the church as it is not a financial organisation that profiteers but a refuge for the needy.

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       KingdomComeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       This is just one example of the greedy churches out there, with the Catholic Church being one of the worst. The Catholic Church BILLIONS of dollars in donations and invest it to make even more BILLIONS. The Mormon Church is just as bad.

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       celafoeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       if churches paid taxes as Jesus said the USA would not be trillions in debt. the scimming from not paying taxes by all of the tax exempt groups is billions every year.  there are some that collect millions every weekend by unscriptural tithes etc

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