Clip: According to Pastor Damina, donating to the church doesn't bring personal prosperity

Pastor Abel Damina, founder of Power City International, has publicly challenged the notion that giving to the church is a guaranteed path to financial prosperity, citing a lack of scriptural evidence to support this claim.

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In a viral video, Damina dismissed the idea that giving to God results in riches and prosperity, instead arguing that this mindset can lead to poverty and wretchedness.

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The clergyman believes that such a doctrine deceives Christians into thinking that their financial prosperity is directly tied to the amount they give to their pastors and religious institutions.

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Damina emphasized that the Bible does not contain any scripture stating that giving to God will make one rich, and that giving actually creates a vacuum that must be replenished through work and time.

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He illustrated this point by sharing the story of a man who donated all three of his cars to his church in anticipation of a divine financial reward, only to be left with nothing and considering retrieving one of the vehicles.

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Damina recounted the man's experience, saying, "Somebody told me he gave his church all three of his cars, and he has been trekking since then till when I met him.

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The pastor noted that the man was contemplating collecting one of the cars, to which Damina responded, "I think so too, because if you gave three and the only one you want to collect is one out of the three, you try, you're never asking for the three."

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Damina, known for his unconventional theological views, argued that the idea that giving to the church can produce billionaires is not supported by scriptural evidence.

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Instead, he asserted that wealth is the result of education, hard work, and enterprise, rather than religious offerings, stating, "I never saw anybody who, because he tithed, became a billionaire."

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Damina explained that those who become billionaires do so because of their jobs and businesses, not because of their tithing, saying, "Even those who said they became billionaires because they tithed — it's because they don't know, it's because they had jobs and businesses, that's why they became billionaires, not because they tithed."

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The pastor attributed the presence of natural resources, such as oil and precious stones, to God's blessing, and encouraged people to acquire education and skills to tap into these resources and create wealth.

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He concluded by saying, "So because God has blessed the planet, all we need to do is go to school, learn what to do to get into what has been blessed and turn it into commercial property, we go to school, we go to market, we engage to make money."