New Life Church — Attraction in Conway

Probably the most phony, self-centered church ever. I actually tried to write a review about how New Life Church took 3 MILLION DOLLARS from the PPP money during COVID, which was intended for small businesses. Apparently Rick Bezet and ALL his family (all his children/wifes-husbands-spouses all work at this church and live on Round Mountain in Conway .... million dollars homes. When I went on their site to ask them why they took taxpayer money intended for small businesses, they immediately REMOVED my post and did not respond. Of course, not. How does one justify receiving money from the government intended for small businesses who pay taxes?

Trust me, search the matter out, like I did. Go look where these pastors/staff live; all family or friends to one another, while they ask you to give to them??? Find out for yourself how much Rick Bezet pays himself. Last I knew (and this was a long, long time ago) he paid himself $28,000 a month. Yes, a month. It's all about them and their families living a great life on your dime.

Have you ever noticed how many banks there are in Arkansas? Better yet, have you ever noticed how many churches there are? That's because it's a business designed to only profit themselves and their families.

There is so much more I could tell you about every single church. They are all a scam for the pastors and their staff. The more they earn, the more people they hire. I can assure you they do not work even 40 hours a week.

The whole system is corrupt. I no longer tithe to any church, unless I am directed by God. After all, who is the one who told you you needed to tithe to them, but the very people who profit from your tithe.

I go to all the community outreach places myself and ask them how much money do they actually receive from all these churches in our community and the answer is usually 3%, always less than 5%. If I hadn't of been going to church since 1997 and tithing all the time to them and know this firsthand, I wouldn't say anything, but it is only a system to profit the pastor and their families and all their staff which are usually their family/friends. They are surrounded by nepotism.

I cannot wait to see all the churches crash and God take them down. They remind me of the Pharisees in the temple and Jesus throwing over the tables. That's what needs to happen to them.

ANY church you decide to go to, search it out, ask to see their financials (half of them won't ever show it to you, which should tell you everything) and see what they are actually doing/giving. After 27 years of tithing to churches like New Life and almost all of them here in Conway, I can assure you they are corrupt and act just like a politician with your money. It's all about them and not about God and his Glory!

The mere fact that New Life Church took 3 million dollars of money intended for taxpaying businesses who needed help should tell you everything you need to know and all the people who work @ New Life (especially the entire family of Rick Bezet) and who all live on Round Mountain should tell you everything. I should know I know the person who paved all their driveways and it is obscene where these people live, all on your dime.

They call this the "Great Awakening." Please search the matter out and see what is happening right before your eyes. It's actually an awesome gig these people have for themselves.

Now, please, I am not telling you to not tithe. One hundred percent give to God's Kingdom and for his Glory, but don't give it to the church who is not a good steward. Give direct to the ministries in the community that God directs you to. There are so many that need our help and it's not people who pay themselves over...

It's a place for higher class people to hang out. I see a lot more of a fashion show than it being about God. I volunteered with the usher team and all I ever heard was that we had to market the church where it'd bring people in and fill the seats , I never heard a word about caring for people or making relationships or getting close to god, and I was there alot. , it's about money, and how many people they can pull in. Also the mission trips are a joke. Any of them, they just go to a country or city for a week or so , maybe longer, and then come back. They talk about all the Haitians or homeless they helped and the building's they helped paint , etc. it's in vain. Unless you can live in that country and help everyday , your efforts for one week are futile. I saw that it was more of a vacation than a helping missions trip. I'd see things that said they were going to do this help.this day and then the next day go sight seeing and to a few shops. If your trying to do the work of the Lord and help people , why is shopping and sight seeing even in the plan? It's a joke. And the accommodations they me for these trips are insanely over the top , unnecessary. They choose to rent high class vehicles because their comfy and they have the latest tech , instead of saying let's just get a decent bus that'll get us there and let's use the other money to see how else we can help these people . It's a church for the in crowd and not common people. People flaunt their wealth and show a degree of stuck up-ness. As for pastor rick, I didnt like him the first time I saw him , I read him like a book and it said fake and a ego big as the moon. He's looked at like a celebrity and like he's just in the in crowd, not sitting with the blue collar people , but with the high society people. Its a very cliqish church. They also spend money uneccessarily. People's hard earned money is being spent on high tech gadgets that they don't need and don't serve much of a purpose. Last time I checked they have 13 flatscreens in th foyer , most of them just say an inspirational saying , far as I know that's all they do. What point is there in spending the money on those tvs.? You could've gotten by with a few and used the rest of that money to help the homeless or the boys and girl's club. They spend money on one time use poster printing's and handouts , because usually they come up with a new design each week and each little event has a different look. Why waste all that paper and money on it. ? Kid life is ridiculous on what they spend money on. New toys, high tech equipment and many of those kids aren't even old enough to benefit from the use of a high tech system or know how it benefits them. Why waste money on buying brand new toys when those same kids woild be happy with hand me downs from goodwill? Doesnt matter if the money is donated and not part of the church fund or from offering, there's no reason to buy these things. Kids nowa days dont know what being content with what you have at the moment is, they want phones, tvs, game systems, food, etc and if they don't get their way they throw a fit and mommy and dadday come give them what they want. It's a church of excess, pulling people in with the looks of the church, who goes there and what they can do for you to keep you coming back . If it really cared about God and wanted you to be close to him, you'd think theyd focus on involving him in the mix, instead of wasting everyone's money and not doing enough...

My first experience with this church body was in the early 2000s with one of the founding pastors (not Rick) reaching out to me to urge me to leave my current church body, "if I wasn't getting my needs met from them," and to join their church body instead. Fast forward to the 2010s I had experience with their college-age ministry, which were mostly positive experiences. However, it was evident the senior church leadership's focus was on their music team and how great they were, as they were often praised from the stage by staff over Jesus. No doubt their strong emphasis was on performance or "excellence" as they called it. Good to not be distracting, but also good to leave room for the Holy Spirit. Several friends played on their music team, and said they always felt a pressure to be perfect, rather than just be free to worship the Lord. Despite leadership's misguided motives and the culture they produced, the leaders have been kind people for the most part. I think most folks have good intentions, and often are doing what they've been taught, however, people need to keep their nose in the Bible to focus on what really...