http://all-things-christian.com which is a BUSINESS but gives back 25% of their profits to christian ministries

The Sabbath rest was a shadow of the reality which is the rest of faith, and is about every minute of every day, not just some days or Sundays (itself an example of vestigial paganism). Herein is the Truth, that Light has come in to the world but Men prefer the darkness because their own deeds are wicked, and those who prefer the darkness and who choose to live in the shadows are already condemned.

I began to read the Rick Warren’s book and found it to be about as anointed as most so-called Christian books and music. Hidden within its promotion of a Dominionist ethos lies subtle deception. Dominionists have infiltrated the Church privily and brought in their damnable heresies of Mammon.

22. These that are recommendations that come to nothing, and that are commandments and the learning of humanity.
23. And they appear to possess the manifestation of wisdom, a gentle outlook and submission to God, and they do not relate to the body (of Christ) or any form of reverence, except to what appears appropriate in the flesh. (A reference to the appeal of ritual).

Jesus hated the deeds of the Nicolatians, hates hypocrisy, and His warnings to the churches are just as cogent and current today, even more so as we await His appearing. Wake up! You have about five more years to get your houses in order and all the purpose driven/church-as-business model will do is to reinforce the walls of your own pious prisons.

Jesus said to love and forgive your enemies, not bomb them back into the stone age. Your own prophets have seen your judgment coming and pleaded with you to repent, and to forsake your love affair with money and materialism. It is the oil of gladness that God offers, not the black oil of madness!

Paul wrote about those who treat the submission to God as a business, himself formerly being a Pharisee of the Pahrisees and a lover of money (quoting from the VA Aramaic Translation):
3. If, however, there is someone who teaches another sort of knowledge and does not present the healing words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings of submission to God,
4. This one elevates himself while knowing nothing, except he engages in vehement altercations and verbal controversies, from which stem divisiveness and ruin, and blasphemies and the basis of evil ideas,
5. And human subterfuge — these [estranged priests] that subvert [the people's] ideas and drive them away from the substantive truth, and they assume that the submission to God is a business. You, however, distance yourself from such priests.

6. For our business is great indeed, that which is the submission to God to the extent of our ability.
7. For we neither brought anything into the world, nor can we even take out what we learned from it.
8. That is why all we worry about is food and clothing.
9. Those, however, who wish to be wealthy, will fall to temptation, in pitfalls and into a multitude of foolish and searing lusts that will sink humanity into the throes of destruction and ultimately oblivion.
10. For the root of every evil is the consideration for money above all else, and there are people who absolutely adore money, and they lose all faith and open themselves up to a multitude of demons.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

My point in pointing all of this out is this: I’m not sure this Christian marketplace we’ve created is all that good. We’re following in the footsteps of our non-Christian industry leaders. You sell your stuff for as much as possible. You keep others from coming close to duplicating the success by putting a trademark all over it. Then you keep things rolling by turning a successful title into a whole series of products. You use the next product to promote all the products before it. Before you know it, you have a franchise! There’s normally nothing wrong with all this except for the fact that we’re talking about books and other materials that the authors/creators claim are for teaching Biblical principles and encouraging spiritual growth. Should these materials be part of the same marketplace that every other product is sold in? Would the Apostle Paul be selling his letters from the New Testament as a series? Maybe he would only trademark them. Cheap shot, I know. But it’s something that has been bugging me for a while now.

I’m not sure if Rick Warren or the 100′s of other Christian authors should be profiting off their ministries. Yes, they have every right to make a living. And, yes, they have every right to become rich. My question though is this: Should they make a living and even become rich by selling the very items that make up their ministry?

As an employee of Family Christian Stores, I’m excited about the potential to serve our customers on a day of the week when many are at their highest point spirtually.

We can split hairs all day long, and I’m praying that the Christian community will embrace versus divide, but the fact of the matter is that Family Christian Stores is both a ministry and a business. No one in our company is confused about what we do. We supply people with products that help them grow in their faith, help minister to those around them and encourage the heart, mind and soul…just like our tagline suggests. It’s the same mission statement as your local church bookstore, which is open before and after services as well.

We can argue about whether or not a “Praying Puppy” or a “Jesus Candy Tin” crosses the line of good taste in Christian retailing (I’m not a fan, but I have heard stories of even Testimints impacting lives), but let’s not be divided about the ability to impact a community by keeping the doors open to a store that is full of people willing to help those who are seeking to grow…and know our Lord Jesus Christ.

Kevin McNeese, Grand Rapids, MI

I hear what you are saying, and it’s easy for us to jump to conclusions?

I have a few thoughts to challenge you with:

1. What would you like to see authors/artists do? Spend 50+ hours a week writing resources, refuse any payment for them and then work additional hours at the local McDonald’s to make an “honest” living?

2. Do you have access to the personal financial records of Mr. Warren? If not, I would caution about making assumptions about his lifestyle. For all you know, he could be giving away 50% of his profits to non-profit ministries.

3. There is nothing wrong with making a living from ministries. What would be wrong is for those who have been blessed by God (because everything we have is from Him) to keep it all for themselves and not continue to sow in the Kingdom. For example, if Family has a great year, you will probably see an expansion into more markets. The money enables more ministry opportunities. If Rick writes a best-seller, it provides marketing resources to expand the product line, get it into the hands of major market retailers like Barnes & Noble and expand the reach.

I hope these questions help to challenge your thinking. There is so much going on “behind the scenes” that we will never know about, and until we do, who are we to be casting stones?

Who cares about how much money people make? Hopefully, every single Christian is doing everything they can to impact as many people as possible about the Kingdom.

Mr. Warren wrote a book that millions of people have been touched by. Entire churches have been transformed. Men and Women have turned their lives around.

Who cares if he has made $1 billion dollars off of it? One cent won’t matter when he dies. Nothing on this Earth matters.

So let’s pray for Rick. Let’s pray that he used the money to invest further into the Kingdom. Let’s pray that he doesn’t get sidetracked because of the amazing blessing God as bestowed upon him. And let’s celebrate that our Brother in Christ was able to impact the lives of more people than any of us could ever hope to.

The point is this: Family Christian Stores are opening on Sundays PRIMARILY because they will make a profit. But many Christians would have difficultly reconciling that truth with the 4th Commandment. But if Family Christian Stores can lead their customers to believe that the Great Commission is the primary motive behind their move, then their customers are more likely to support the decision.

That is what is positively despicable –hiding behind the Great Commission and USING the Great Commission as a justification. After all, how can anyone attack the Great Commission? My daughter loves to play tag. She also likes to grab the nearest, most convenient object and call “safe” before she is tagged. Family Christian Stores Inc. has reached out, grabbed the Great Commission, and called “safe.” But there is a major difference between Family Christian Stores and my daughter. My daugther is a child, and children tend to behave childishly. I expect more from Dave Browne (President/CEO) and Family Christian Stores. It is not amusing watching a Christian business play games.

You are throwing out pure opinions, which is fine. Again, we can agree or disagree about the motives behind the decision, but FCS recognizes that the items they sell are life changing. That’s something that Walmart, B&N, Best Buy and your local gas station could care less about.

I don’t see anyone getting upset at B&N, who could care less about anyone’s salvation and are selling select Christian items PURELY to get a profit.

“Do you believe that Family Christian Stores would open their doors on Sundays –to reach the lost, edify believers, and any other noble motive you can think of– if their research indicated that they would lose money?

No…if FCS’ research showed they would lose money by opening on Sundays, I would hope they would not do it. Because shame on the Christian business who manages their finances poorly. Just like shame on the Christian father who allows his family to go bankrupt.

If we opened on Sundays, lost our shorts and had to close shop…well, there goes the store. And there goes a potenial witnessing opportunity that happens EVERY DAY in our stores.

As a Christian, it’s easy to look in the glass and see a store full of gold. Christians ripping off other Christians for the sake of profit.

Fortuatly, God’s blessing is evident in the stories we hear everyday of people walking through our doors and being blessed by employees, others in the store, or the product they walk out with.

I wish you the best and encourage you to pray about anything you post online. Words can be incredibly damaging to others who are not prepared.

http://www.christianbook.com
http://www.lifeway.com
http://www.parable.com

Parable Store Locator: http://parable.know-where.com/parable

Lifeway Christian Store Locator: http://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/st_loc.asp

(Simply “Copy” and “Paste” the links in the address window.)