When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud"even your own brothers! - 1Corinthians 6:1-8 (ESV)
Lawsuit Accuses Gateway Church of Committing Fraud with Members' Tithes (julieroys.com)
A few weeks back we covered the story of Gateway Church stripping a congregant of her church membership and refusing her entry to their property at gunpoint because she had the temerity to challenge what is left of the leadership after Robert Morris slinked away because he was exposed as a child predator when he was an up-and-coming preacher. One of the issues Valentina Hansen was pressing was regarding financial transparency because the suspicion was that Gateway and Morris had not used the tithes collected appropriately. Some had begun to ask for their tithes back, which Morris promised he would refund whenever people asked. The church of course, returned nothing. Now the above link is from Julie Roys and outlines that there is a new class action lawsuit against Gateway for misusing tithes, specifically that they have not been giving 15% to foreign missions as Morris had always promised they were. With tithe revenue of 100 million per year, they should have been giving 15 million per year but records show that amount never exceeded three million. It also sounds as if the filers intend to give the 100 million judgment being sought to the ministries that should have received it to begin with.
Quite frankly, they should demand their personal tithes be refunded because the tithing teachings of Robert Morris were always wildly unbiblical. Morris spiritually threatened his sheep by teaching them that God would curse all of their money if they did not give him the first ten percent. He also demanded his ten percent before they paid their bills, or bought their medication. Morris was the penultimate tithing whore. He parlayed that into a personal fortune in excess of 100 million dollars. In case someone is thinking that the bible forbids suing believers, you would be right. It is the key verses above. Gateway church however, is not part of God's church, so the key verses do not apply. Gateway was run by a sexual predator cosplaying as a pastor. He taught rank heresy and fleeced his flock for over 100 million dollars. He deserves our utter disdain and the sheep, should demand their money back.
So, as we pointed out a few weeks back, Valentina Hansen was the victim here. It is encouraging to see that some of the sheep, fleeced and abused for decades, are finally fighting back. We should support them and pray for them and the closure of this blight upon Christianity, Gateway Church.
Reverend Anthony Wade - October 4, 2024
