We have a different approach than what most preachers use on televi-sion. We do not raise money by using emotional appeals such as showing starving children, or famine, or earthquakes. I am not saying to do this, is wrong, I'm just saying we don't do it. We teach people how to wor-ship God through their tithes and offerings, giving as an expression of putting God first in their lives (Mt. 6:33), and that God will bless them in return.
We never, never, NEVER associate the message of salvation with finances. On the contrary, I make it clear that you can't buy God, or buy my prayers; salvation is a free gift of God, no strings attached.
Anyone who seriously watches can see I do not charge for my prayers or for any prayer cloths. We pray for thousands of people every month \ who never send any donations to the ministry. But I do teach people' to worship God according to Malachi 3:8-10, with their tithes and offerings, and to make vows and fulfill them, according to Psalm 50:14-15.
First of all, neither I nor our board sets my salary. The board asked an outside group-a consultant company that has been used by the Internal Revenue Service as an expert witness-to evaluate our organization and set a salary range for my compensation which in their expert opinion would be considered reasonable by the government for an organization of our size and scope.
We do not take any extra benefits other than a parsonage (something the law allows churches to provide). The parsonage is owned by the' church, and the church benefits from any appreciation of the property.
We do not take any book sale or other royalties, and the church does not buy our clothes, cars, nor pay for our cleaning, gasoline, etc. And nei-ther the ministry nor we ourselves have ever owned a private jet, as some have said.
Our two younger children go to our church academy, and we pay the same tuition as everyone else.
Even donations and offerings from outside speaking engagements are turned over to the ministry. We do not take any extra outside income. -I am not saying it is wrong to do so; this is just the way we operate.
Our personal finances were recently audited by the IRS and we received a clean bill of health. Marte and I do everything in our power to be totally legal and aboveboard, avoiding any gray areas.
Word of Faith is accountable to the IRS. We comply with the statutes and laws of the land in every aspect. We are recognized by IRS as a church in good standing. We have a law and accounting firm that\ spends a great deal of time making sure that we are doing everything within the codes of the IRS. In addition, the Revenue-Canada Taxation scrutinized our Canadian books and gave us their approval.
We are also accountable to our creditors, and we do the finest job that could be done paying our bills. But above all, we are accountable to God, who is the supreme authority and sees beyond what man can see.
I did not ask God to put me in the ministry. I was having a wonderful time designing, building and selling homes when He asked me to go to work for Him.
Since entering the ministry in 1975, I have discovered that you can't please all people all the time. So we aim to please the Lord and try to do everything humanly possible to live above reproach, with integrity and purity of heart. We sincerely love the Lord, we sincerely love you, and we want to be a blessing to you.
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