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Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Sickening...

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

1 comments:

Chris A said...

I've been wanting to see this video, but unfortunately my work firewall blocks Vimeo, and my computer at home is only partially functional. I need to scrap it actually.

Without seeing the content, let me say comment on what I presume it says, which is usually a bad idea, but I think I can get away with it this time.

It is very troubling to me how some people have perverted what the Bible says about prosperity, and have equated it with a church-coated American-style materialism, and something to be sold using every kind of gimmick. I know this has been exported to Africa, and it is a shame.

The Bible clearly teaches principles of material prosperity as a means of funding God's work in the earth and bringing glory to Him. Also, Scripture teaches us that in addition to this, God has blessed his people for their enjoyment. However, this is secondary to everything else. What I see as the extremes in the "prosperity gospel", which I define as a soothsayer's gospel, is that it makes material wealth the central emphasis of faith and giving. To the extent that any teaching draws people away from the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we need to judge whether there is a doctrine of devils at work.

To be clear, I believe in biblical prosperity. I don't know of a single church or ministry who doesn't, whether they admit it or not. Every legitimate ministry wants and needs a full supply of provision to advance the kingdom of God. The more the better as long as people are trustworthy with it, and that goes for Africa or anywhere else. But I do not believe in the consumerist ideals that some espouse as religion. I'm not opposed to people being rich and neither is God - that's stupid. If anyone should be rich, it should be believers who faithfully give.

But we should remember this warning: "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them" (Proverbs 1:32). Much of what is being taught about prosperity is nothing but foolishness, but that shouldn't keep the rest of us from following what is good and biblical. And financial wealth is only a part of biblical prosperity.

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Darius' book montage

The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel The Main Thing
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Respectable Sins
The Kite Runner
Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho
Show Them No Mercy
The Lord of the Rings
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
The Chronicles of Narnia
Les Misérables


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