Greetings Beloved,
I was up early this morning and after prayers, I was flipping through the channels on the old boob tube when I came across tele-evangelist (and I use the term Evangelist loosely) Kenneth Copeland. He was saying, according to my recollection, that God told him to lay his hands on his airplane and call it into the ministry. He proceeded to say that he loves his airplane, his cars and his motorcycles and that they love to minister the gospel. Following this he stated that in a trillion dollar economy, there's no reason why we shouldn't have a piece of it, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to pay our rent etc. "Even in a two-hundred fifty dollar economy there is no excuse, because your earning potential is based on the fact that 'God shall supply all our needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus'." He continued to rail saying that his purpose and that of his ministry is to teach others how to get their needs met.
As I watched, a multitude of upsetting emotions flooded my soul, and after wading through them I finally settled on what I feel about these charlatans and the health, wealth and prosperity gospel that they preach. I HATE, absolutely hate what they are doing and I feel sorry and ashamed for them. All I have to say to them is repent while you have the chance!
Unfortunately, this is a reflection of the contemporary Church, and what's worse is that this message is what we're exporting to countries like Africa and Asia. We're bringing these lies to the poorest of the poor and saying, "If you believe this message, and if your faith is strong enough, your wives won't have miscarriages, your livestock won't die, your children won't be sick, you'll have rings on your fingers and coats on your backs." What a load of bull-cucky!!! Instead of giving of our time, money and lives to help these individuals and offer them the true hope of Christ, we're selling them a bunch of crap that we're calling the 'gospel'.
The real Danger, and the reason that it is so horrible is because no-one, and I mean NO-ONE, has ever received their salvation or came to know Jesus as the all satisfying Lord of their lives because of the house you live in, or the airplanes, cars and motorcycles you drive, or how much money you have in the bank. But nevertheless we run around telling people, "God's gonna bless you with a new house, or a new car, or great financial blessing etc." We proclaim that Jesus gives all of these things to his faithful children. So then the men, women and children in these third world countries that we minister to say,"Well, I'll take Jesus!" THIS IS IDOLATRY!!! Why can't we see that this message exalts the gift over the giver. It doesn't glorify God, it doesn't bring others to the Master's table for love and fellowship with Him, but to see what they can get from Him.
A true relationship with God is based on the fact that "His great love was demonstrated towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) . When we open ourselves up to this love, God satisfies our souls! He is good, He takes care of us, He gets us through the bad times as well as the good. The attitude of a real Christian should be an "attitude of gratitude!" When we can say with the Psalmist; "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73: 26-26). This is the attitude that reflects God as the true treasure that He is. God as Creator, Redeemer, Lover of our souls, not the giver of airplanes, cars, motorcycles, money or health.
My prayer for today is:
Heavenly Father, forgive us for peddling our own greed and selfishness and labelling it as the gospel, rather than truly ministering Your love and reconciliation. Lord I pray that all those involved or influenced by the health, wealth and prosperity message would, wake up, open their eyes and repent while they still have the chance. Furthermore I pray that this message would be revealed for what it is, GREED, the love of money and the pursuit of filthy lucre, and that it would no longer typify or be associated with the Church. May Your true Church be marked by its suffering for our Savior Christ as well as our love for You and others. May You be to us all that we'll ever need and help us to realize that You are glorified when we are satisfied with You in the midst of our problems and our losses, not in prosperity. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. AMEN!!!
God's blessings to you all,
Fr. Ernest+
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