Here's an example of this.
I just got this this week in the mail.
You got five seconds to get out of here before I start ripping on the Bible colleges by name.
I got this in the mail this week from Heartland Baptist Bible College.
Now let me tell you something.
I've lived here in Arizona for the last 12 years and I've been pastoring for 12 years
And in the last 12 years, this particular Bible college has sent me stuff in the mail literally over 30 times.
My wife thinks it's more like 50 but I was trying to be conservative.
I said, honey, wouldn't you say it's at least three times per year that they contact us?
She believed it was more like five times per year.
Every single time it's to ask us for money.
So here we are just minding our own business, just serving the Lord in Tempe, Arizona, preaching the Bible.
And these people have contacted me over 30 times only to ask me to give them money.
In fact, they've even sent us a piggy bank and literally said, use this piggy bank to save up coins so that you can send it to us.
I don't even know who these people are.
I've never contacted them.
I never got on their mailing list.
I never joined their club.
Listen to me, if they're sending it to me, they're sending it to everyone.
You think they're like, hey, let's send this to Pastor Steve Anderson.
I mean, I know he's hated Bible college for the last 12 years.
I mean, I know that he's against Bible college.
I know that we wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.
But let's get him out of it.
If people send me stuff, you know what it means, they're sending it to every independent Baptist in America.
Now look at this.
This is a full color magazine infomercial.
Okay?
How much does this stuff cost?
They've sent me posters, piggy banks, magazines, just tons of packets.
I promise you that they've sent me at least $100 worth of mailers, at least.
Because I mean, how much does it cost to do a mass mailing of giant color magazines?
And then they sent me a preaching CD with it too.
Now you say, oh, well, Pastor Anderson, they're trying to edify you with some biblical preaching.
That's good.
No, they've never sent me a Bible sermon to edify me.
Here's the title of the sermon, The Importance of the May College Offering.
That's the title of the sermon.
They sent me a preaching CD called The Importance of the May College Offering.
I popped it in the CD player.
And in the first few minutes, he's like, now, you know, this is a time that would normally be reserved for preaching.
But, you know, we need to talk about this offering.
That's what they sent me.
Who are you?
I never knew you.
OK, but look.
They sent me.
This is just one of 30 things.
I just got this this week.
Here's what it has on the inside.
Real big.
The big centerfold right here.
Look at this.
$1.5 million is what they want to raise.
We need $1.5 million.
Now, this is how deceptive these people are.
They send me this CD all about the importance of the May College Offering.
On the front, it's all about a preaching conference.
On the back, it's all about a preaching conference.
No mention of money.
But every page is only about money on the inside.
Like, for example, on the front page is Dear Friend.
He doesn't know me.
I want somebody to go up to this guy and ask him, is Steven Anderson your friend?
Is Pastor Steven L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church your friend?
Dear friend, give me money.
OK, listen to this.
Listen to this.
I'm just going to read you a little bit from every page.
Just a little sampling.
Now, please, brothers and sisters, how special can the 20-year celebration be if we only endeavor to reach the offering amount of the previous two years?
Surely a special celebration calls for a special amount in the May College Offering.
I'm almost sure I'm hearing a resounding amen.
I mean, what is this?
Is this TBN?
Is this Kenneth Copeland?
Is this a televangelist?
I mean, how can we have a special conference without a bigger offering than last year?
I'll tell you how.
By preaching the Bible.
By ripping some face.
By doing some soul winning.
By winning people to Christ.
Because it's not about money.
It's about serving God.
It's about preaching.
It's about the Bible.
But to them, it's like they can't help but speak what's on their heart.
How can we have a special meeting if the offerings aren't exceeding last year's offerings?
That shows where their heart is, huh?
I'll tell you how we can have a better year than last year at Faithful Word Baptist.
More souls saved.
Better sermons preached.
Right?
More baptisms.
It's not just about bringing in more money.
And look, if they're sending this to 6,000 independent Baptist churches,
and they've sent me at least $100 worth of stuff,
probably more like $200 or $300 of stuff in the last decade,
that means they've probably spent a half million dollars just sending out this kind of junk.
Do you think this junk mail is cheap?
It's all color.
It's all glossy.
They're spending hundreds of thousands of people's donations asking for more money.
So they can send out more requests for more money.
So they can bring in more money to send out more requests for more money.
They're calling it the make a difference offering.
Listen to this.
There is such a thing as giving what is convenient.
And there is forward planning that can quote make a difference.
Now, you know why they're putting make a difference in quotes?
Because they're quoting the Bible.
Here's what the Bible says.
And if some have compassion, making a difference.
Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
So they're taking a verse that's about soul winning.
Making a difference about pulling people out of the fire.
It's about having compassion on lost souls.
And they're saying, hey everybody, let's make a difference by sending us 1.5 million dollars.
So they can build this palace that's on the front of their flyer.
This giant 40 foot tall ceiling palace.
You know what?
This ceiling is high enough for me.
I want to be able to hit the ceiling.
You know, I want people to come to church and say, Pastor Harrison was so mad.
I mean, he just hit the ceiling when he got that junk in the mail.
That's what I want him to say.
What do I need a 40 foot ceiling for?
Were there giants in the land in those days?
Doesn't make any sense.
It's just, it's all just to show off their palaces.
Send us money so we can make a palace.
They have a list of what they want to spend the, you know, the money on.
A hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the men's dorm bathroom renovation.
Why don't you go in the bushes and let me keep my money?
The whole world's a men's room for crying out loud.
A hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the men's room renovation.
Two hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the maintenance and exercise facility.
Exercise facility?
This is what we're, we're going to drain all the money from the local churches, right?
And send all our money so they can have an exercise facility.
Then you know that it's a bunch of machines and stuff that doesn't work.
They're probably not even hitting the real heavy weights.
You think those bunch of lavender shirt wearing, pink shirt wearing Bible college students
are dead lifting and bench pressing and doing squats?
No, they need some expensive machine.
Some expensive cardio machine or something.
Why don't you go outside and go run and then you'll find your bathroom while you're on the run.
Get out there and do a real workout.
Professional sound treatment for the cafeteria.
What is that?
You say, well that's none of your business if they want to professionally sound treat their cafeteria.
They want me to pay for it.
Professional sound treatment for the cafeteria.
What is that? Is that white noise?
Is it, I don't know what that is.
Okay, here's a pie graph.
Okay, this is why they need to raise the 1.5 million.
Because they want to make it really cheap for the students to go there.
Okay, so the May College offering subsidizes 20% of the tuition.
And then churches sending money every month subsidizes 12%.
So basically 32% of the tuition is subsidized by local churches giving them money.
Okay, so what does that mean?
You know, let me break that down to you.
Last year they're trying to earn, they're trying to raise 1.5 million dollars this May.
Last May they brought in 1.08 million.
The year before that they brought in 1.03 million.
Okay, well riddle me this.
If that's 20% then what's the 12% right?
That's another 600,000 if you do the math on that.
Okay, so what they're basically saying is 1.6 million dollars was already given the last two years
toward making it cheap for the students to go there.
Okay, so now they've made it so cheap that a student can go to this Bible college
for tuition, room, board, food, everything.
Right, so it's your food, it's where you live, it's your tuition for $8,000 a year.
Okay, when if we didn't all give them millions of dollars it would cost $14,000 a year.
So why do they want so bad to bring the cost down from $14,000 to $8,000?
I'll tell you why.
Because if you open up the sword of the Lord and if you open up revival fires
and if you open up any of these independent Baptist newspapers
all the colleges are advertising how cheap they are.
$79.99, $89.99, $69.99, so they have to compete with that.
They're trying to compete with that by having a cheap price
so that you'll go to their Bible college instead of the other guy's Bible college
so that we can get your money and build our palaces and our exercise rooms.
So that's what's going on, that's why they want to make it so cheap.
Why don't these college students get out and work and pay their own way?
Why do we have to subsidize them so they can sit on their lazy rear end?
They can't earn $14,000 in a whole year?
I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands
but I believe that probably every adult, hair-legged man in this room
earns $14,000 a year.
I don't care how poor you are because these are only singles, right?
Because they're living in the dorms and stuff.
You're telling me a single man can't earn $14,000 a year?
Because this way he only has to earn $8,000 a year?
What in the world?
Makes no sense.