F4F | Ed Young Preaches About Greed

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith here on YouTube. If you remember hearing something years ago about Ed Young of Fellowship Church, the guy who burnt all of his Botox on top of the roof of his church when he did his sex challenge thing.

Yeah, if you heard that he had a private jet, if you seem to remember something about that, go ahead and click on the subscribe button down below and ring the bell, because we're going to remind everybody about that particular fact, because Ed Young recently, like really do, super-de-duper recently preached a sermon called Barnyard Friends, and it's about greed.

I know you're, stop looking at me like that, you know, I don't make these things up. I have no idea why he named it Barnyard Friends, because it's Ed Young, that's all I can say, and he's preaching about greed, and as far as I'm concerned, you don't have much by way of credibility when it comes to preaching about greed.

So let's whirl this thing up, and we'll get right to it. Here's Ed Young and Barnyard Friends.

Ed Young's "Barnyard Friends" and the Text on Greed

Here we go. Twelve years old when my youngest brother was born, he was a surprise. I remember reading him children's books, and my favorite book I ever read to my brother was a book called Barnyard Friends.

I really loved that book, and I have to confess to you, it was one of the first times I began to work on my sound effects. I always have loved sound effects, but I used to read him that book, and he would love it, and I got...

Maybe that's the reason why.

He named the sermon on Greed Barnyard Friends. He likes, you know, doing sound effects,.

Really annoying sound effects, yeah. I've kind of memorized part of Barnyard Friends, so here it goes. So I would read it in this voice for some reason. I would go, Barnyard Friends. I don't know why I use that voice, but I'm like 12 years old, and you know, I really read...

Which biblical text are you preaching on again? I'm a little confused here. Barnyard Friends to Cliff from the time I was 12 to maybe 14. So, Barnyard Friends. So the first picture would show a realistic picture of a pig, and the baby pig eating pig slop, and here's what it said, dinner time on the farm, and then I would go...

He would laugh and laugh and laugh, and then the next page. It's kind of sick I remember this,.

Isn't it? You just walked down memory lane here, dude. That's clearly what you think sermons are.

For. Showed a horse and a little, you know, colt by the horse, and the horse, I would use this, you know, as my... Isn't my baby cute? So I'll just go through. I don't want to do all the animals, like all sorts of things, but well, I'm not sure an elephant was part of the...

I just threw that in. You know what's really weird? I do think we covered a sermon of his in 2018 where he did that elephant noise too. Barnyard Friends. Yeah, you know, okay.

But I think you feel me. Barnyard Friends. It's a great book. I tried to find it on the worldwide web. Out of print. Barnyard Friends. I mean the real Barnyard Friends. Jesus today is going to.

Tell us about Barnyard Friends. What? I don't recall the Barnyard Friends parable of Jesus.

Which translation are you working from there, Ed? Jesus, in essence, opens up this book and he goes, okay, Barnyard Friends. Why would Jesus talk about Barnyard Friends?

You still haven't shown me that he has. I'm a little skeptical at the moment, you know,.

Just saying. Do you have Barnyard Friends? I don't know. I think at the end of this talk you'll go, okay, I either do or I don't. Barnyard Friends. Why would Jesus talk about Barnyard Friends? Well, a couple of guys were arguing in the crowd.

Thousands were in attendance to hear Jesus talking. Some of the guys were arguing about money, about inheritance issues. Brothers were going back and forth. I need this or I want that or dad wanted me to have that.

Why don't you just.

Luke 12 and the Parable of the Rich Fool

Read the text? The word of God is living and active sharper than a double-edged sword. Your summary, paraphrase, retelling, how you imagine the text goes, yeah, it doesn't have that same power, you know.

We're, as pastors, we're supposed to, you know, preach the word.

Arguing about just what the guy had left. And so they lob a question to Jesus. Hey, Jesus, hey, settle this issue, which was common back in the day, you know, when rabbis would speak, people would just throw questions at them, sort of like a first century press conference, so to speak.

So Jesus answers this question in a highly unusual way. Well, first of all, in verse 15 of Luke chapter 12, he brings up... All right, so now we know where we're supposed.

To be. Luke chapter 12. All right, let me pull this up. Luke 12, verse 15. Okay, let me fast forward here. All right, so here's the account. We'll take a look at it and see if we can identify any barnyard friends, you know, like elephants and horses and pigs and lions and tigers and bears.

Oh my. So Luke 12, 13. Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But Jesus said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbiter over you? And he said to them, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

So he told them a parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.

And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Yeah, this is clearly a text dealing with, you know, where your heart is, and, you know, talking about money being something like an idol in your life, you know, your deity, the God that you look to, and in your greed you forget the fact that, yeah, you actually are your brother's keeper.

I love, I think it was Ambrose of Milan, the church father, who noted that this guy was very foolish, because rather than storing this food in barns laid up for himself, he should have stored this grain in the bellies of the poor.

Yeah, that's kind of, I think that's a good way of looking at this text. So it's the reason why this sermon that Ed Young is preaching, because the word barns appears once in the text. I'm detecting a little creative license on his part,.

Shall we say. We continue. He just talks about greed. So they they throw this question at him, and then Jesus goes in verse 15. He said to them, the two guys, the two bros, take heed and beware of greed, for one's life does not consist of the stuff of the possessions that he owns.

Indeed. He talks about greed. Yeah. Isn't it interesting, just to talk about greed for a second, greed was once called a vice, now it's a virtue. Now it's like, oh boy, you're greedy. Well, anyway, Jesus throws that out, and then he tells...

Has it really become that bad in society that people think that greed is a virtue? I don't know anybody who thinks that. Yeah, just hanging out with the wrong set. I don't know here.

These two guys have a story, and this story is fascinating, because if you put yourself in the of his crowd, you kind of go, wow, this sounds like a very positive, kind of a business vibe type story from Jesus.

I mean, it sounds...

What are you... How could this sound like some kind of business vibe story that somehow somebody can accidentally, just as they begin reading it, think that greed's a good thing? You seem to forget we have the law of God written on our hearts, but Jesus doesn't begin the story with telling the story.

The land of a rich man produced plentifully. Jesus begins with the words, take care, be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. That little disclaimer right there at the beginning of that parable makes it impossible for somebody to sit there and go, wow, man, Jesus has given us a business vibe, and boy, he's really telling us how great it is to amass possessions.

Only if you like failed fourth grade reading comprehension, but okay, we continue.

Really cool about making a lot of money, and after all, we want to make a lot of money, and the money is for me, and I can invest the money, and have my money working for me, have this giant portfolio, so that's what everyone's thinking.

So as I read this for the first time,.

What am I watching here?

Okay, this is just annoying. I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking, wow, okay, greed, maybe greed is good, and you're talking about greed here, Jesus, and maybe greed, maybe this desire to acquire is a God thing.

Well, let's see what Jesus says. Again, only if you failed.

Fourth grade reading comprehension. Could you even remotely begin to think that the desire to acquire is a good thing while reading this parable. I mean, his explanation, it's not real. Nobody.

Thinks this way. Verse 16, Luke chapter 12, and he told them this parable, again, them being the two guys, right? The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. I'm like, well, that's good.

Good for him. This guy's banking, man. I mean, he's rolling. When you read the Bible, do.

You just work your way through one verse and sit there and emote based upon the one verse? He's telling a story, man. I mean, ever since I was a wee little lad, you know, when I would hear a story told to me, it's like I would kind of like take in the story, you know, before I would start to reflect on how different parts of the story were making me feel in the moment.

It's just one sentence, and as soon as Jesus takes a breath, the next sentence is coming. This is not exegesis.

I don't even know what this is. He's a heavy hitter. He thought to himself, the guy that made all this money, what shall I do? I mean, that's an honest question. When I make money, when you make money, I mean, that's what I think.

What shall I do? Sometimes if I make extra money, maybe an investment, maybe for me a book deal, maybe a consulting fee or whatever I'm doing, I go.

We just learned a little bit about Ed Young's cash flow there, book deal, consulting fee. Uh-huh. Okay. What shall I do? I don't know. Maybe you buy more fuel for your private jet.

I'm just taking a stab in the dark here, you know. You're the same way. You know, it's so funny. I can talk about three subjects, like death, I can talk about money, and I can talk about sex, and two out of three of those are negative.

But every time I talk about death and money, you know, people get kind of funny, and that's okay. Everybody take a deep breath. Ah, you know, we're just going to talk about stuff. I mean, I have to talk about it.

Just got to talk about stuff, man, you know. Got to talk about money from time to time,.

You know, because, you know, Jesus did. Yeah, okay. You know, most of his parables were about stuff. Stuff in the Bible is talked about more than earth. You know, most of Jesus's parables.

Were about, you know, stuff. Yeah, that's so profound, man. So deep, it's unfathomable.

I'm backing this up just a little bit. Yeah, we're just going to talk about stuff. I mean, I have to talk about it. Jesus talked about it. You know, most of his parables were about stuff. Stuff in the Bible is talked about more than prayer, more than heaven or hell.

Stuff. So don't judge me. We continue. We love to say that, don't we? It's so funny. That's a whole other subject, but I'm just telling you what Jesus said about stuff. So sounds to me like this story's going pretty good, doesn't it?

Make a lot of money. This guy made a lot of money. Maybe sometimes you have extra money, and it's like, whoa, cool. Well, it even gets better. This guy now says, you know, I have these barns, barnyard friends.

I have these barns, and I'm sure he had a lot of friends in the barns.

And there we now know why he named the sermon Barnyard Friends.

And he said, you know, what shall I do? Verse 17, I have no place to store all of my excess, all of this stuff. So he makes an arrogant decision, an arrogant decision. Say that with me, an arrogant decision.

Have you ever made an arrogant decision? Well, I have. Yeah, I have made an arrogant decision before because I've had things happen to me before, and I've said to myself, that's for me. I didn't even really think about God.

I thought I did that. I made that. It's my stuff. Greed. Greed. I wrote a book about greed. The first of my 14 books.

He wrote a book about greed. Okay. You ever heard of the concept of pastor? You need to.

Practice what you preach. You know, just saying. I'll quote you a definition from Greed, chapter 5, page 89. It's out of print now, but I want to write it again.

Just like Barnyard. Friends, please don't write it again.

Greed is the desire to acquire, as I said earlier, but let me add something to it that's gone haywire.

The desire to acquire that's gone haywire. That's his definition. Okay. We'll let him.

Repeat it just a second here. Acquire that's gone haywire. It's okay to have a desire to acquire. What's wrong with that? The Bible is not anti-ownership. The Bible does not say that money is bad. It doesn't say that stuff is satanic.

It's not in the Bible. Okay. Isn't that good? Just nod your head like, yeah, that's good. That's good. So money's neutral. Now, the love of money is what will mess you up and me up.

The Private Jet Investigation and the Church's Money

Yeah, I agree. Now, let's go back in time here to the year 2010. In February of 2010, Brett Shipp, an investigative reporter down in Dallas, did an exposé and showed that Ed Young and Fellowship Church owned a private jet.

In fact, at the time the story broke, there was an ex-employee of Fellowship Church who went on camera and remained anonymous who ratted him out and talked about his trip on the private jet. And then in April of 2010, there was a follow-up.

Yeah, a full-blown follow-up to that story. So greed is the desire to acquire that's gone haywire, according to Ed Young in this Barnyard Friends sermon. Let's just take a look at some of the investigative reporting regarding Fellowship Church's private jet that Ed Young used to travel to resorts because he's got a minister there and.

Stuff, I think, yeah. He's been flying around to exotic locations on the Fellowship Church jet, but has megachurch pastor Ed Young also been vacationing on the congregation's dime?

Well, Young says no. Channel 8's reporter Brett Shipp joins us now as News 8 investigates, Brett.

John and Gloria, Fellowship Church pastor Ed Young is widely known for his contemporary style and controversial messages, but there's something in particular he's not so open about. His church's $8 million jet first leased back in March of 2007, but it wasn't until a News 8 investigation this past February that pastor Ed Young revealed its existence to his own congregation.

And it wasn't until just a few days ago that we found out through a government records request exactly where that jet was traveling. Now, according to a public relations firm in New York, the Fellowship Church jet is used primarily for vital ministry affairs, helping Young minister.

To more than a quarter million people. But wait until... Oh, yeah. A quarter million people, you can't reach them unless you have a, you know, a private jet. You see where the jet has been going.

To conduct those vital missionary services. And once you see where the jet has been going, you may also want to know how much it's costing and who's paying for it. Questions we'll try to answer tonight at 10 o 'clock.

Join us as News 8 investigates. Well, he told his congregation he.

Had nothing to hide. He insisted... Yeah, this is the 10 o 'clock version, the later version of.

The story. Yeah. The News 8 investigation about his lifestyle was wrong, but Ed Young, the pastor at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, may soon have to answer. Numerous trips by the leased church jet to resort locations, travel costing tens of thousands of dollars per trip.

News 8's Brett Shipp joins us now. He's got some new information about the use of that jet. Brett? That's right,.

John. Three months ago, we first reported on the lifestyle of Fellowship Church pastor Ed Young. We revealed the existence of a private church jet and a complex network of private businesses. For months, we have requested interviews with Pastor Young.

Each time, we have been referred to a New York public relations firm, yet they have declined to answer simple questions, such as who uses the church jet and for what? So we did a little digging of our own, and tonight, News 8 investigates.

Fellowship Church, located in Grapevine, has thousands of members on five campuses. Pastor Ed Young says his church and travels have allowed him to minister to more than a quarter million people, but Young may be best known for this.

Sex is like pizza. His 2008 sermon urging married couples to have seven days of sex. So sensational, he made guest appearances on several network programs, including Comedy Central. The church, we've been quiet about sex.

And something that God has not been quiet about, so I think Christians... You're not doing it right.

Then. Yeah, it's true. Young is somewhat less eager to talk about this. A News 8 investigation into his Fellowship Church's leasing of an $8 million Dassault Falcon 50 private jet, which the church keeps at a hangar at Alliance Airport.

While Young is not legally or professionally obligated to disclose anything to his congregants, he did respond to our report about his travel.

And this year, I'm flying commercially like a mad dog to places all over the world.

Yeah, sounds like he got caught, you know, and so he's, you know, this is his version of like, honey, I'll sleep on the couch tonight, you know. Also have chartered planes. Then last on his list.

Of preferred air travel, something he had not disclosed to his congregation until after our story. We also lease private aircraft. According to the New York public relations firm hired by Young, the plane used by Pastor Young is used primarily for vital ministry affairs.

This primarily vital, vital ministry, vital, vital. Plane has allowed Pastor Young access.

To minister to more than a quarter of a million people. Because you can get to him so much quicker,.

You know, if you could fly there in a private jet, it's a lot quicker because, you know, then you don't have to like, you know, wait in line and queue up and then go to the baggage claim and stuff. So, I mean, if you fly commercially, you know, in coach or something, you can't reach a quarter of a million people.

It's just, just not humanly possible. He otherwise would not have.

Been able to reach. But FAA flight logs obtained by News 8 tell a more detailed story. Using dates, times and destinations dating back to March 2007 when the jet was acquired, we plotted the trips on a monthly calendar.

Shaded in green are the days of the month the church jet was being used, presumably by Young. Four hundred six. The Bahamas. In days in less than three years, many of those days, 150 of them, the jet was parked at an airport in Miami where Young has a branch of his fellowship church.

But as we found out a few Sundays ago, Young and his associates regularly minister to the Miami congregation via satellite signal. That's right. The Miami.

Campus of Fellowship Church is a video venue church. Only on rare occasions does Ed Young actually physically preach there. To their church from the Fellowship Church in Grapevine. The.

Question is, of those 150 days the jet was in Miami, how often was Young on the jet and how often was he actually serving his congregation? According to the New York public relations firm, Pastor Young is personally very active at his Miami campus.

He often returns week after week to lead sermons. All of those trips to Miami, all of those days in southern Florida. And while his church is only open one day a week, there is one place belonging to Young that is open 24 seven,.

Specifically a condominium, which young high rise condo beachfront Miami.

Makes passing reference to in this address to his congregation. I have a condo. I have a.

Condo. It's not paid for either, but I have invested in a condo. I have that. And this.

Is it. Young's condo, a gated 2600 square foot oceanfront condominium in Coconut Grove, Florida, which he bought in 2007 for $1 .1 million from 16th floor oceanfront balcony. A spectacular view of the dinner key Marina, the largest Marina in Florida, also of interest to young in South Florida.

One of his admitted passions.

In addition, yeah, I think you get the point. We'll put a link up to this video so that if you'd like to see the remainder of it, you can, if you want to just find it on YouTube for yourself, it's Ed Young, second WFAA expose April 2010.

So remember in the barnyard friends sermon, he defines greed as the desire to acquire that's gone haywire. Need I say more? That's my point. So if you found this helpful, please share this video and all the information on how you can support Fighting for the Faith and Pirate Christian Media is in the description down below.

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Amen.