Who's your favorite Preacher

If any human, thinks to get between Me, and My GOD, He is a fool, and I will have "No Truck" with him... and If he asks for MONEY, for his Services, then he has a different Agenda from what My GOD has, and I have "No Truck" with him...... If they spout their stuff on Tv, weekly..... I have "No Truck" with them..... If they spout their stuff, in their church, and THEN Pass a Collection Plate, I have "No Truck" with them.... Preachers who get PAID to preach Christ's Gospel, are NOT Welcome at my Fire, ever.... Now that said, GOD fearing Folks, who live by the WORD, that is plainly stated in His Book, are ALWAYS Welcome at my Fire..... ...... YMMV.....

 

Preachers can work, just like everyone else, to support themselves..... Many do.... Just what purpose does a Preacher fill in your life? Does he forgive your Sins, for Money? Does he tell you what the Books says? You would be much better off, to READ the Book, for yourself, and get closer to Your GOD, thru your Personal Prayers, than to depend on some other Yahoo, to tell you, what he thinks the Book Says, and take your Money for the experience. The Preacher will never save you from SIN.... Only your Personal Relationship with your GOD, will save your Soul, or as the Book Says, Many will call "Lord, Lord" but the Lord says, Who are you? I never knew you.... Oh, I knew your Preacher.... but just who are you? Never let ANYONE, get between you and your GOD....

What does the Book say about Preaching for Money..... Something about, No one feeds the Little Birdies, and they get along just fine.... So just why should People PAY a Preacher, unless they are illiterate, and can not read the Book, for themselves, like in the Middle Ages.... If that is the case, they do not need a Preacher, they need a TEACHER, to Teach them to READ.... Every Man must work out his Own Salvation, by the Grace of HIS GOD..... ..... YMMV....

 

I agree with BT in that one does not need an intermediary (human) between them and God. This is an age old Catholic dogma that is not scriptural. The only intercessor is Christ who by his sacrifice earned the right to intercede on our behalf with the creator. He is our High Priest and is the only mediator between God and man.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

As to paying a preacher I have to disagree with BT. It is scriptural that those who preach the good news (gospel) are to be supported by their flocks. When Christ began to send out his disciples he gave them the command to take nothing for their sustenance. However he also told them to share in the duties of those who supported them. ie doing chores etc. They were not to be a burden to their benefactors.

"Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." (Luke 9:3-5)

This is not to say that preachers for profit today are fleecing their flocks at God's direction. But the care and sustenance of a preacher of the gospel is to be provided for.
I had a debate once on this subject. A very vocal young man was going on about how you shouldn't ever give money to preachers or churches and how they convinced little old ladies and widows to send in their life's savings while they lived lavish lifestyles.
My argument was this; You have to look at that through biblical glasses. The widow who graciously gives her money to "the Lord" is making a sacrifice, a tithe to God, a sacrifice that will be greatly rewarded. An investment that will come back to her ten fold in blessings. In this life or the next. But her gift is selfless and greatly esteemed in God's eyes.

The Widow’s Two Mites

21 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,[a] but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Now the "man of God" who accepts that honored sacrifice , if he does not use it to further Gods works. To provide for the flock that he is the Shepard of, or if he uses it for his own personal gain, he will reap the punishment and the wrath for his actions.

Giving tithe to God, supporting ministries, sustaining the workers of God is a scriptural and important part of a true Christians life and is certainly scripturally based and sanctioned. Those who do those things as we are commanded, to feed the hungry, give to widows and orphans, to further promote the spreading and preaching of the Gospel of salvation, those people will be blessed for their gifts. Their sacrifices will be honored.
Those who receive those tithes and offerings will likewise be held accountable for their use of them. The stewards will be judged and many will find a fierce and swift punishment for their misuse of the gifts of God's children.

Mathew chapter 25:30
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As to the function of a preacher, I agree that their duty is more of a teacher, a leader, a Shepard. Not an intercessor. When I received my ordination I was asked what title I wanted on it. I refused to have the typical "Reverend" title. I believe that God alone is reverent, due reverence, not any human. I took and use the title "Pastor" from the Latin meaning literally "to feed" or to be a Shepard.

It is my personal belief (YMMV ) that a minister, preacher, pastor is an essential part of ones Christian life and journey. A pastor fulfills the command to;
II Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”.

Yes you can simply read the book yourself, and I encourage everyone I minister to to do just that. But one cannot, just by reading, learn all the many mysteries that are scripture. I have studied in depth the holy writ for many decades and still have my eyes opened to new meanings and inferences by others. I believe God meant it that way. To diligently study to "rightly divide the word of truth". While on the other hand I don't believe in letting any human tell you what the bible says. I start a lot of my lectures and sermons with the admonition to "Don't believe one word I am about to tell you". This gets quite a reaction from people at times. But I think it is an important concept. Don't accept what any flawed human tells you as truth. Hear them, consider them, then go and look it up and read it yourself. We are admonished to have a "Berean spirit.

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

One of Charles Schulz's cartoons shows the teenager lying on the floor with an open Bible. He says to his sister, “Don’t bother me I'm looking for a verse of Scripture to back up one of my pre-conceived notions.”

This is the reason that preachers are needed. True Berean spirit preachers who constantly study to see if a thing is true or not. And to share those insights and lessons with his flock. Too many times people take scripture out of context to justify their own ideas, prejudices or positions.

There is a concept, or a doctrine in Christianity that scripture is a living thing that changes with time. I see it more as it being applicable to certain times more than others. Scripture says that some things are "sealed" until the time that it is meant for. If, as we believe, a creator that transcends time, that proves his reality by "telling the ending from the beginning". A God that can see down the avenue of time itself, would have certainly revealed in his word, messages meant for his people in future times. Meant to be read and understood by a certain people, at a certain time, in a certain place. These messages, and truths, are only found by diligent study. And are to be taken in a Berean mindset and proven whether true or not.

Back to the OP. When I was a young man and first found salvation I was a hellraiser, sex drugs and rock and roll, biker trash, roughneck. I had long hair and had nothing in common with "those Christians".
I found early on a few rebels like myself that taught me that Christians could be cool. They weren't the Pat Boone, vanilla, Billy Graham types I had seen growing up.
My first introduction to "cool" Christians was Mike Warnke. If you can find any of his early sermons then I would highly recommend them. He was an ex satanist, Vietnam vet, drug addict. He became one of the first (I ever heard of anyway) Christian comedians. His routines are hilarious yet end with a pointed message.

Next I discovered Jeff Fenholt. He was a rock and roller who did some early work for Black Sabbath and later had the starring role in the Broadway musical "Jesus Christ Superstar". He became a preacher and I used to watch him on TV.

Another rock and roll, long haired rebel was Kerry Livgren, the lead singer for the group Kansas. He became a Christian and a preacher and cut a couple of solo albums that I used to listen to a lot.

My very first radio preacher that I remember listening to was Garner Ted Armstrong. He was on the AM radio late at night and I used to lay in my bed and listen to him when I was a kid.
GTA certainly wasn't the 70's rebel, he was as mainstream, in looks anyway, as they come. But his message was radical and rebellious and I highly recommend his teachings. I don't agree 100% with everything he preached but I had instilled in me from his teachings the motivation, or the impetus I guess that I have to question the norm and the mainstream.

When I became a Christian and began to seriously study, I was amazed at the things I had always believed, I had been told, were in the bible that weren't. I hear so many arguments where people "quote" things or doctrines that are simply not true or not supported by scripture. But they have been told that "the bible says".

A strong preacher, teacher, minister, pastor is needed to counter such false teachings with diligent study and truth. And a full time minister of a congregation should be supported by that congregation, IMHO. And of course YMMV.

 

Tithes to a church are not direct wages for the pastor. An organized church is just that an organization. Any monies collected goes to the operation of the organization. The distribution of those funds are overseen by a committee and all of the overhead and expenses for running the organization are allocated by them. The pastors salary, which is normally very low, (compensated by a tax free status, free housing and many times a "company" car.) is voted on by the committee. Much like a board of directors with a CFO responsible for financial oversight and the Pastor being a CEO with very limited authority. Most Pastors are invited to a church and serve at the whim of the board and the elders.

 

Matthew 7:22

21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Mathew chapter 25:30
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Judging the whole by the misdeeds of a few is a ludicrous argument. No different than judging all Christians by the actions of the like of Westboro Baptist Church or all Muslims by Al Queda.
Those who do misdeeds in the name of God will be punished, either by man or certainly by God. And woe to them at the day of judgement.

 

Baptists and Pentecostals - YouTube

I couldn't find anything from his early days. If you can find a CD of his 3rd album "Hey Doc" it is the best one he ever came out with. It is hilariously funny but with a very poignant message at the end.

471. Hey Doc – Mike Warnke | CCM's 500 Best Albums Of All Time