by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I Timothy 6:3-10<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. In any discussion of false teachers you have to address the issue of money. Money is often\nthe motivation for compromising the truth – I Timothy 6:10-11\n
A. Teaching for the money they can make – Titus 1:10-11<\/p>\n
B. II Peter 2:3 – Some make merchandise of the brethren<\/p>\n C. Even during the Old Testament there were men who would decide who their\nfriends and enemies were solely on the funds that given to them.\n
D. Is it any wonder that such behavior continues today?<\/p>\n
II. Brief history of the church in the Philippines<\/p>\n A. Many of the churches initially established in the Philippines were established by\nbrethren with liberal and institutional beliefs\n 1. Initially, each preacher raised their own support from brethren in the US.\nHowever, the work was organized through central churches, such as the\nchurch in Bagio City.\n 2. After many years, they realized they had a problem. Brethren in the US had\nno idea what a living wage was in the Philippines. Some preachers were\nbarely making ends meet while those more eloquent in English were\nmaking up to 10 times more money.\n 3. They established central churches to receive funding from the brethren in\nthe U.S. and the central churches set the preacher’s salaries to\napproximately that equal to a school teacher (in the 1970’s this came to\nabout 125 to 150 pesos per month).\n a. To get the salary’s balanced, they began lowering the salaries of\nthose being paid too much by 50 pesos each month.\n
b. By the mid-70’s they were approaching their target salaries.<\/p>\n B. About this time Roy Cogdill, Cecil Willis, and others from the conservative\nchurches began to make trips into the Philippines.\n 1. Several preachers were converted out of liberalism, but this meant a loss of\nsupport.\n 2. Cogdill and others offered to replace their support with help from US\nbrethren at a level of 200 to 250 peso per week.\n
3. Can you guess what happened?<\/p>\n a. Word quickly circulated that there were churches offering better\npay if a preacher just renounce liberal doctrine.\n
b. There was a mass exodus from the liberal church.<\/p>\n 4. At first the liberal brethren were upset, but later they realized that the\nconservative brethren had done them a great favor. Only devoted preachers\nwere left. The rift-raft had all left for the money.\n
C. Over the years the situation has decayed.<\/p>\n 1. Those more eloquent in English were asked to write on behalf of preachers\nwith limited English skills.\n a. As a result they began dictating who preached in which\ncongregations and what they had to believe in order to receive\nfunding.\n b. One preacher in Tugueguero, Rudy Gumpad, has approximately 20\npreachers working for him. \n c. Juanito Balbin on the island of Mindanao says “I do the work in\ntraveling to churches. So I know most of the impulses, movement,\nfeelings, activities, and belief of the churches, specially in my area\nof works of 65 congregations and 85 preachers in it.”\n
d. This is the rule more than the exception.<\/p>\n 2. Preachers are often assigned congregations far from their homes. This\ngives “justification” to write brethren in the US about the need for\ntransportation to these remote areas.\n a. Generally, a preacher only visits a community on Sunday. He does\nnot live among the brethren.\n
3. Preachers are assigned multiple congregations.<\/p>\n a. Often this is necessary as travel is difficult, so each village must\nhave a church.\n b. Yet, preachers collect 2 to 4 congregations because this makes\nthem look busier. It is almost unheard of a preacher who is devoted\nto one congregation.\n
c. Multiple congregations also justifies the need for transportation.<\/p>\n 4. “An example of this kind of leadership can be found in the practice of\n‘closed door’ meetings. At these meetings only select preachers are\nallowed to attend. The matters discussed at these meetings are not made\nknown publicly to the brethren. These men were boldly acting for the\ncongregations without the congregations consent. These men have\n‘disfellowshiped’ members of other congregations. They have acted\naccording to a pattern not found in the New Testament. They have\narrogated to themselves authority equal to the Apostles. Their agenda has\nbeen to disallow this disfellowshiped person to teach to their respective\ncongregation for he was a ‘false teacher.’ They have even went as far\ntelling people in their own group that they would be thrown out if they\naccept this ‘false teacher.’ And I know one of these personally. We’re not\ntalking about a local congregation deciding who will be allowed to teach,\nbut a group of congregations being ordered by these men. . . .” [Ian Balbin\nin a letter to Earl Mitchell, advance copy]\n
III. Brethren in the US are encouraging corruption in the Philippines<\/p>\n
A. The prevailing attitude is that one raises as much funds as possible<\/p>\n 1. Rudy Gumpad is shown on video stating that he writes as widely as\npossible to raise support and if he receives more than he expects, well, that\nis a blessing from the Lord to be spent as he sees fit. He never has extra\nbecause he spends all that he receives.\n
B. Brethren are encouraged to use personal hardships in fund raising.<\/p>\n 1. Rudy uses the medical problems of his son, daughter, and wife to raise\nadditional funds. It is widely believed that those funds were used to\npurchase land, build a house, and purchase a new car.\n 2. In a recent trip, Rudy mentioned that one preacher’s daughter was dying of\ncancer and that the family was having difficulty paying the medical bills.\n a. Several months after Rudy returned, the young lady died, yet the\nfamily never received any money.\n b. At the funeral, Rudy offered to pay the medical bill if the preacher\nwould renounce several men who were publically protesting the\ncorruption in the Philippines.\n c. The preacher was so upset that someone would make merchandise\nof his grief, that he walked off without a word.\n C. Money sent to the Philippines was distributed on the basis of membership in the\nchurch and not need. (The following is from the 1998 distribution.)\n 1. “. . . the combined figure for what Jim and I both raised was about\n$400,000. We went to each region and met with brethren in a central\nlocation, rather than asking men to travel from far-away areas. (The one\nexception is Palawan, an island we were not able to visit, though we were\nwell acquainted with the severe conditions and the brethren there. Some of\nthem came to Manila and received help with careful instructions for\ndistribution.) No church in need was ignored, but we simply could not\nreach all the affected areas and churches. Money was not wasted on\npreachers not in need, but brethren from each church listed the local\nmembership and distribution was made accordingly.” [Ron Halbrook,\n3\/17\/1999 in a letter to John Isaac Edwards]\n a. Ron was correct in saying they could not visit all the affected areas.\nThey managed to distribute $400,000 in a single two week trip!\n b. To accomplish this feat, they met preachers who resided in a central\nlocation, gave out funds based on membership, and then had these\nmen deliver the funds to remote regions.\n 2. “I was PERSONALLY present when Jim McDonald and Ken Marrs in\nApril, 1994, asked all the preachers to line up and handed each of them\nP1,500 (about $60 at that time) in an envelope. When I questioned them\nabout the need of these brethren, they said they did not have time to find\nout who had real needs so they just divided up the money they brought and\npassed it out to the preachers. I was there. I heard it. I saw it. And I\ndisagreed. The fact that Halbrook and McDonald still do the same method\nof passing out benevolence is without doubt. Ron admits they just passed\nout the money to every saint who came asking for it. Where is the\nexamination into need? Quite simply there was none.” [Glenn Hamilton in a\nletter to John and Rhonda Bosworth]\n 3. “Jim and Ron went to a central location in each region and gathered the\npreachers. They had all the preachers write down or tell how many\nmembers were in each congregation they worked with as well as the name\nand location of each congregation. They then passed out a set amount of\nmoney per individual in each congregation listed (in some areas as little as\nP800 ($21) in some as much as P1,400 ($37), but generally around P1,000\n($26)). There was no effort to determine if anyone had a need. The money\nwas handed out on a per person basis. Now that is already unscriptural, but\nthere is more. Now when a preach[er] received money he was given several\nreceipts. For example using the two churches in Apayao whose receipts are\nat[t]ached, the preacher reported 15 members and was given P15,000\n(P1,000 to be given to each member). He was given four receipts to send\nback to the US indicating he received P15,000, but each receipt lists the\nwhole amount. So each person who receives the receipt would think that\nhe paid the whole amount. So in reality P60,000 worth of receipts\n(P15,000 x 4 receipts) was given out. The other set from Apayao shows\ndouble receipts. Now all of this could just be poor planning and thought by\nMcDonald and Halbrook, but the result is that there has been and can be no\naccountability. The practice was revealed to me by some accountants who\nare members of the church here (one of whom is a national auditor and the\nother a professor of accounting), who said the receipts would be worthless\nfrom an accounting point-of-view.” [Glenn Hamilton in a letter to Earl\nMitchell, 6\/11\/1999]\n 4. With money being distributed based on membership, you can see the\nproblem behind one story I was told. An American preacher came and\nspoke to a local congregation. The preacher afterwards stood up and\nthanked the preacher in English. He then asked in the local dialect “Who\nwants rice?” Nearly every hand went up. He then turned to the American\npreacher and in English said, “They want to be baptized.” The American\npreacher was shocked and asked if the local preacher was sure. The local\npreacher asked the congregation in the local dialect “Are you sure you\nwant rice?” Again, nearly every hand went up. He then turned to the\nAmerican preacher who was near tears and said, “Yes, they want to be\nbaptized.”\n D. Despite assurances that preachers were warned to deliver all funds to the members\nof the church, I have documentation of at least two cases where a significant cut\nwas taken in the 1999 distribution.\n
1. Case 1.<\/p>\n a. Jim McDonald and Ron Halbrook did not give funds directly to all\npreachers, instead a group of six representatives on the island of\nMindanao took charge of distributing the funds. An amount of 465\npesos was set per member.\n b. I have a copy of a check given to Aldrin Flores for 5,115 pesos (11\nmembers). Aldrin was given two receipts to sign, one for $100 and\none for $200, which were to be returned to the donors. Notice that\nthe donors are not told the pesos amount given to the church.\n c. At the time, the exchange rate was 38 pesos per dollar. The receipts\nof $300 total 11,400 pesos. Notice there is a 6,285 pesos (or\n$165.39) discrepancy.\n
2. Case 2<\/p>\n a. William Iglanon was given a check for 33,480 pesos (72 members).\nHe was given two receipts to sign, one for $150 and another for\n$1000.\n b. $1,150 dollars comes to 43,700 pesos. There is a discrepancy of\n10,220 pesos (or $268.95).\n 3. I was told, though no proof was given, that some preachers took a 10% cut\nbefore distributing the funds to their congregation as a money handling fee.\n
E. Benevolence money was used to split a congregation.<\/p>\n 1. I spoke with a preacher in Macabebe about this. Jim McDonald had\nbrought funds for the church as they were suffering from a severe flood.\nBefore giving the money, Jim insisted that the preacher sign a paper\ndenouncing various preachers as being false teachers. While the local\npreacher did not agree with the teaching of several of the men listed, he\nthought it wrong for a person to come and dictate whom he could talk or\nnot talk to based on his say so alone, and worse to dangle money in front\nof him as incentive. He refused to sign the paper. He pointed out that Jim\nknew him and had stayed in his house several times. If he trusted him, then\nhis concern should be for the needy brethren and not for furthering his\nagenda.\n 2. Jim found another man, who signed the paper, to establish a second\ncongregation in Macabebe. This man then offered the benevolence money\nto anyone who would leave the first congregation and agree to sign the\npaper. Half the congregation left.\n 3. This new congregation is now building a building, financed by Jim\nMcDonald, two lots down from the original group’s building. And this in a\nsmall community north of Manila.\n
IV. Where money is freely spread, corruption will follow<\/p>\n
A. Parable of the tares – Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43<\/p>\n B. This world will have its problems because Satan will not rest. Yet, we can combat\nSatan. He doesn’t have to win. He will not win. God will be victorious.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 6:3-10 I. In any discussion of false teachers you have to address the issue of money. Money is often the motivation for compromising the truth – I Timothy 6:10-11 A. Teaching for the money they can make – Titus 1:10-11 B. II Peter 2:3 – Some make merchandise of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[194,478],"class_list":["post-62160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-benevolence","tag-false-teachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/false-teachers-and-lying-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":0},"title":"False Teachers and Lying Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As long as God has had teachers and prophets in the world there have been those who taught falsely. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah complained about the false prophets - Jeremiah 5:30-31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had problems with teachers binding the Old Law - Acts 15:1-2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul warned the Ephesian elders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90193,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-identifying-false-teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":1},"title":"On Identifying False Teachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dub McClish As our Lord drew the Sermon on the Mount to a close, He gave the following warning: \"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them\" (Matthew 7:15-16). Do we still need this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61856,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-benefits-of-false-teaching-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":2},"title":"The Benefits of False Teaching (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 8:18-39 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is said there is a silver lining in every cloud \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul tells us that God can turn even wicked events to the advantage of the righteous (Romans 8:18-39) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But it is hard to imagine any good coming from the work of those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40405,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-biblical-to-sow-seed-money-every-time-we-seek-something-from-god-as-some-prophets-and-pastors-claim\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":3},"title":"Is it biblical to sow seed (money) every time we seek something from God as some prophets and pastors claim?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it biblical to sow seed (money) every time we seek something from God as some prophets and pastors claim? Answer: First off we have a problem because there are no modern-day prophets. So we are dealing with people pretending to be something God doesn't approve of. See: Prophets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60137,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/their-mouths-must-be-stopped\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":4},"title":"Their Mouths Must Be Stopped","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brian A. Yeager The Apostle Paul told Timothy:\u00a0\"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.\u00a0\u00a0For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/03\/stoppedMouth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-accepting-donations-for-teaching-on-the-internet\/","url_meta":{"origin":62160,"position":5},"title":"What do you think about accepting donations for teaching on the Internet?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a student and also preach the gospel when given the opportunity. I read your site often and I trust you to give the truth in a time when I sometimes feel that many congregations are straying from the original New Testament form. 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