Called by God, or called by greed?

That's the question facing W. David Gilliam, pastor of the Houston Temple of Judah, in Humble.

It's a question being asked by both his former followers, and outside business vendors who all claim the preacher took them for thousands of dollars.

At a church service in May, Gilliam, who calls himself “The Apostle,” was preaching a gospel of leading by example.

"I can't give you a principle and then defy my own principle,” Gilliam told the congregation.

"Then I've undermined my own personal authority.”

But is the preacher living up to his own words?

"He found a way to use people, to get what he wanted, whatever he wanted," said Antoinette Bray, a former church member, who said she was one of the vulnerable.

"I believed that he was going to stand for God no matter what,” Bray said. "I was looking for strong leadership."

 But the Pastor's leadership, she said, came with a price tag.

"The check bounced," Bray recalled of the $10,000 hot check Gilliam wrote to his landlord to pay for the church’s lease. She said after it bounced, he came to her for a loan, and reluctantly, she opened her heart.

"And he said I promise you sister I'll pay it back, and I said OK, being a man of God I trusted him,” Bray said.

But Bray said to this day, she's never been repaid, and what's worse, it was to pay for her own personal property taxes...

"I used my credit cards to pay my taxes, it got that bad,” she said.

And it allegedly didn't stop there

"Nothing was ever taken care of," said Verleshia Harris, another former Houston Temple of Judah member.

Harris said the Pastor offered to buy her home in Spring and even moved in, but then fell several months behind in the mortgage, nearly putting the home into foreclosure.

Finally, Harris took Pastor Gilliam to court, and won a judgment to evict the pastor and obtain $5,000 in delinquent mortgage.

But Harris said she hasn’t seen any of that money.

"I'm financially devastated, I am in bankruptcy," she said.

And then there are non church members, business vendors like Mike Lewis, who shot video of a Gilliam church service..

But the $1450 church check he received bounced as well, and Lewis said he hasn’t seen a dime, despite a promise from Gilliam.

"He told me as a man of God, I promise I'm going to take care of this," Lewis said.

George Grega said he’s another victim, and has copies of two hot checks, totaling $3700, after renting sound equipment to Gilliam and the church.

"I can't believe what you preach, versus what you practice," Grega said.

Which brings us back to the pastor’s own words.

"It's a whole lot of preaching, but not much practicing," Gilliam told congregants at a recent service.

"Somewhere down the road he got off track," Bray said.

Bray said it felt like the pulpit was being used for personal profit, especially when it came to the church offerings.

Gilliam required congregants to line up single file, and personally hand him over the envelopes with money.

And Bray said if Gilliam didn't like the amount, "He would take that envelope from you and say I'm going to put this amount on the envelope and are you going to be obedient to God?"

And what if members didn't have the money?

Bray said that didn’t matter.

"He says ‘I don't care what you have to do, shift some things around, challenge God’" Bray said.

But that so-called challenge went overboard, Bray said, when Gilliam brought a pamphlet of Bentley luxury automobiles, and told the congregation which one he wanted, a $150,000 model.

"It was crazy," Bray said. 

So we had some questions for W. David Gilliam, and found him outside the Houston Temple of Judah before one recent Sunday service.

11 News: “A lot of people say you owe them a lot of money, what do you have to say about that?

Pastor Gilliam: “We've already, we've already issued a statement, my attorney should have already sent you one."

In that statement, Gilliam "emphatically denies any allegation of fraud or theft,” and states "the church has intentions on paying any legitimate debts owed by the church."

And what about those former church members?

11 News: “Are you using the pulpit to take advantage of your members?

Pastor Gilliam: “No, no, definitely not happening like that."

 Gilliam's attorney's statement goes on to say some former members, which are not named,  "made gratuitous gifts" to the church and pastor, "but later reneged on those gifts and assumed obligations."

Finally, he said those unnamed members let "personal vendettas and ill-will intentions" motivate them to "make false claims" against the church.

But some of those who've since left the congregation, maintain he's using his position for personal gain.

"His day is inevitable, and that's when he stands before God," Harris said.

Gilliam at first, accepted and then later declined our request to do a sit-down interview citing advice from his attorney.

In at least one case.. however, the pastor does appear to be trying to make good. Mike Lewis, the videographer who is out $1450, said the church recently called him to work out a payment plan.