A Spiritual Juggernaut – Part 2

17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20)

In December last year, God granted me the inexpressible honor of having two of my Canadian friends, David and Margaret Maxwell, visit with me and the church here in Tanzania. They stayed with my family and with the church for three weeks, and they were an incredible blessing to us.

David and Margaret are white.

I can’t help it but I have to say that this couple were some of the most amazing people I had ever stayed with, black or white. They were free, humble and sincere. We had the most memorable moments together and at the end of our three weeks together, it was all we could do to let go of each other.

A few days into their stay here, though, I was surprised to find a message on my phone from one of my pastor friends congratulating me for having ‘Wazungu’ (white men) as my guests. The man innocuously added, “Don’t forget me!” I immediately caught on to what he was trying to communicate to me. The man supposed that my white friends had brought me money, and he was telling me that I should not forget him in sharing the ‘loot’. ‘Loot’ is the right word here because the prosperity gospel (upon which these assumptions are rooted) is a spiritually bankrupt gospel which views money as a means for one to enrich themselves materially.

God does promise to meet our physical and material needs. But when it comes to the subject of our earthly needs, the Bible is very sparing in its words. Why? The reason lies in what is important with God, and what  is not. God deliberately downplays this earthly life and everything to do with it. It is not only God’s way of helping us crucify the flesh and its desires, but God wants us to know that our agenda is spiritual, and heavenly.

Nowhere, though, does the Bible promise to make believers rich. This is a mad fallacy that has been brought about by money-hungry preachers. The “hundredfold” return that many wrongly interpret in Matthew 19:9 does not refer to us becoming rich. The true meaning of this scripture is that everything that my brethren in Christ own is mine also. Under the perfect scenario (where everyone is following Christ in crucifying their lives), all that my fellow brethren have from one end of the world to the other is mine also. That is the meaning of the “hundredfold”.

The charismatic prosperity gospel has discarded God’s heavenly agenda and it has embraced a love for money and material gain. Among its teachings are: sowing seeds, the fourth dimension by Paul Yonggi Cho (which is of the occult, really), holy oil, holy water, so-called ‘destiny’ teachings… All these beliefs are materialistic and have no heavenly agenda. They are therefore of the devil, not of God.

Notice what the Bible says about the people who trade in these teachings.

“… who mind earthly things.”

The prosperity gospel is born of a demonic spirit that minds earthly things.

But the Bible has very little regard for earthly things. Materialism has got nothing to do with the salvation of a man’s soul, nor does money have anything to do with God’s heavenly Kingdom.

One of the most horrid consequences of the charismatic prosperity gospel for the church is that it has brought a skewed and unhealthy relationship between the rich man and the poor, in the spirit. In Africa, it has deeply affected the relationship between the white man and the black man. Since the prosperity gospel places a stigma on the poor (I wonder what it has to say about the Macedonians that we read of in 2 Corinthians chapter 8!), the poor man feels inferior to the rich man. And in Africa the norm is for the African to grovel in the presence of the white man. The ‘benefactor’ syndrome has brought all this about. And this syndrome is a product of the charismatic gospel which the church has been fed for years.

But all this is contrary to the true gospel of Jesus Christ, where God wants every child of His, black, white or brown, to be free in their spirit. This is true power; and this was what the Apostle Paul and the early Church were made of. We can expect to effectively preach the gospel of Jesus Christ like the early Church did only when we have crucified the flesh and its lusts. Here, everyone is free to please God, and not men.

Let us conclude with the words of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians. He calls those who mind earthly things – the purveyors of the prosperity gospel – he calls them,

“enemies of the cross of Christ” (v. 18).

Could we talk too much on this subject?

By no means no. The Apostle Paul tells the Philippians that he has warned them about such people,

” often… even weeping”.

[True freedom – true brotherhood – and true power – in the Spirit]

Getting Serious With God

“1 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich… 8 Ana Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” (Lk. 19:9)

I try my best not to judge people (which, unfortunately, is nowhere near good enough!) But notice, in the above scripture, that Jesus spoke of salvation to Zacchaeus after Zacchaeus had done restitution. True repentance goes with restitution. Not with the play with words that is so evident here with Mr. Benny Hinn.

Women In Ministry – Part 1

1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him.

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.

4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

5 A sower went out to sow his seed… Lk. 8:5

There is so, so much to wonder at and think about in these scriptures. But first…

I read in the news this morning that New York’s richest couple – David and Julia Koch – just bought a $40m mansion on a whim, right in the heart of New York, NY. Reading much further down the news article, I read that the couple have an estimated net worth of $47.5 billion.

Sometime last year, I read about the death of Liliane Bettencourt,  the heiress of the L’Oreal fashion empire. At a net worth of $46 billion dollars she was the richest woman in the world.

For all it is worth, I love reading about these rich people. I love the way my brain gets ‘stuck’ trying to gauge the implications of the wealth they have. I admire them, but at the same time my heart goes out to them. But the thing that blows me away is when I wonder what a small percentage of these people’s wealth could do in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ (as long as it does not go to Creflo Dollar & co, of course; God forbid!)

Anyways, that’s me. Thank you for bearing with my musings. Now, back to our main thought.

The scripture portion we just read above pretty much sums up Jesus’s ministry modus operandi. It provides the broadest view possible of how Jesus operated His ministry. As we go through this lesson, it is very important for us to grasp that fact.

Rumor has it that the garment that Jesus wore (the one that the soldiers cast lots upon) was unspeakably expensive. The spinners of this tale claim that it was one of the many expensive gifts that Jesus received from the women who ministered to Him. They point to the fact that, amongst these women were such women of status like Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward.

There can be no doubt that Joanna was a woman of great material means. And there is no question that there were other women who were equally materially endowed. That said, therefore, it is clear that had Jesus wanted to, He could have lived like a rock star. But subscribing to the idea that Jesus lived such a life is alien to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believing the tale that the garment that Jesus wore was unbearably expensive is the equivalent of believing that Jesus would have worn a golden Rolex watch.

But Jesus would never have worn a Rolex watch, let alone one made of gold. The Bible in Philippians 2:7 states that, although He was Lord of all, yet He

“made himself of no reputation”.

He “made himself”. That means of His own will, of His own volition (volition means wish, decision, choice, desire, preference) Jesus chose the kind of lifestyle that He wanted to live. We cannot plaster any kind of ideas upon Jesus. He chose, and the Bible tells us the kind of lifestyle that He chose to live. He chose to become

“of no reputation”.

He cast aside anything that pertained to glory, worldly or heavenly. We do not need to go very far to establish that Jesus did not need to wear an expensive garment. Jesus cannot contradict Himself.

Of His abode, Jesus stated plainly:

“the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Mat. 8:20)

A preacher who has nowhere to lay his head and one who wears a golden Rolex watch are two figures that are poles apart. And for the two aspects to be in one man is a contradiction in terms.

[Thanks, Alvin!]

The New Covenant And ‘Blessings’

When you read the New Testament, everything therein, (the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the gospels, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the apostolic epistles, and the Book of Revelation), you cannot find the promises that God promised the children of Israel under the Old Testament. I cannot, for example, read anywhere where it is written, “Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Deut. 28:5); or, “The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways” (v. 7). This one is mostly used by church people against perceived enemies. And the reason for this is because we cannot take defeat!

But the New Testament teaches us to love our enemies, to bless and not to curse them. We are to be meek, and to willingly turn the other cheek.

And, the favorite amongst Pentecostals: “And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath” (v.13) This one is for those who are seeking after worldly accomplishments, worldly stardom. Oh, glory! To meditate on such wonderful promises!

But the new covenant has no place for such ‘blessings’. Ours is an entirely different blessing! And yet Christians spend all their time “confessing” Old Testament blessings. I used to do so too. Wrong approach. Claiming the blessings of God that are in the Old Testament is a completely useless activity for we who are under the new covenant. If such blessings are to come, let them come. But, apparently, there are many Godly people in the Bible for whom these ‘blessings’ arrived too late, if they ever did arrive at all.

Nowhere did Jesus or the apostles mention the word “Blessed” or “blessings” in connection with anything material. On the contrary, the blessing in the New Testament is always in connection with identifying our lives with the life of Christ, for which there is no promise of any comfort in the flesh. Actually, the new Covenant is solidly against the flesh. Under the new covenant, God openly comes out to declare war against the flesh. Romans 8:7 states clearly:

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…”

When it comes to this life (where, apparently, most believers’ hearts are set on), although I am sure God is not against us living a comfortable material life, yet I believe the case of Lazarus and the rich man illustrates the fact that we have not been called to live the kind of prosperous lifestyle as portrayed under the prosperity teachings. In fact, many scriptures point to the fact that we have been called to live a thrifty lifestyle. In heaven, Jesus castigated the rich man for living a compulsively lavish lifestyle while his neighbor Lazarus lived a poor life.

And how can we, anyway? Take, for example, John the Baptist’s words,

“He that hath two coats,let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” (Lk. 3:11)

Due to our human weakness, God allows us to have more than others. But there are excesses to which God simply does not subscribe. How can you reconcile what John said with owning a Rolls Royce in this world so full of poor brothers and sisters in Christ, let alone a poor world in general. Or manhandling people to buy you a $65 million private jet as if God called you to a mission to Mars?

That fact alone reveals that you are not denying yourself. There is absolutely no justification in this world to own those things. Maybe there is in some other world. But not in this one. You may claim I am being judgmental, but I am not. I am just stating a plain Biblical fact. The Bible tells us to live “soberly” (Tit. 2:12). The word “sober” means an inexpensive, reasonable lifestyle. That means that, under the New Covenant, there are limits to the kind of lifestyle that we can live. We are not King Ahasuerus by any means.

Jesus also said,

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…” (Mat. 6:19)

There are so many scriptures that show that the blessings of the Old Testament as we interpret them are not exactly the kind of thing we have been called to. If God wants to give them to us, well and fine. But they are hardly the main menu. They are not even the dessert. The true meal that God has promised us under the new covenant is Christ, Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23). That was the blessing that God gave to Abraham (before the setting up of the Old Testament covenant and laws with the children of Israel). In Galatians 3:16 we read,

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

Now, who told Paul that this seed was Christ?

God did, through revelation.

Back to our coveted blessings. At any rate, we have no justification to claim the blessings of the covenant that God made with the Israelites. In the first place the covenant was with the Israelites, not we Gentiles. It has absolutely nothing to do with us. Secondly, and most importantly, ever since Jesus came, that covenant and everything to do with it has been annulled. We are now under a completely different covenant, the covenant that God made with Abraham which, as we have just seen, is Christ. And who, pray, is Christ?

The Bible says of Christ, that it is

“Christ crucified”. (1 Cor. 1:23)

And hereby is the cross set revealed to us.

The cross, not material blessings, is the singular blessing in our lives. Whether we have the things of this world or not is completely immaterial. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote:

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel… lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” (1 Cor. 1:17)

That word, “effect”, is crucial to our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It talks of the power of the cross in our lives. Understanding the power of the cross is central to our understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ. The cross comes to crucify the flesh. That is why, in Philippians 1:29 the Apostle Paul writes:

“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake”.

Our singular blessing is to partake of the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ.

Mind you, this is not the gospel of the Jews, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is God. The Jews are people just like us. They have the same human problem just as we, the problem of sin and self. Sin and self go hand in hand and these two comprise the universal human problem.

There is no greater power than the power to deal with sin and self. And this power is in the cross.

[Where the revelation of the cross is lacking, the doors are open for every kind of perfidy to invade the church]

How Many Cups Of Water?

[The original title to this post was: “A Heavenly Reward”]

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Mat. 10:42

Today I have four stories to narrate and they are all related. They all point to the same moral.

The first story involves the biggest mansion (actually, the only one-storied mansion) in my town.

It belongs to the bishop of the largest Pentecostal denomination in our region.

End of story.

The second story is about another bishop of that same denomination who resides in a neighboring district. His mansion, which happens to be the biggest personally-owned building in his town, is currently under construction. But this story stretches out a bit. The bishop also owns two vehicles, both 6-cylinder SUVs. Actually, one is a Range Rover.

This minister’s church, however, is heavily tasked to contribute to the construction of his big mansion. The church also takes care of the running of the bishop’s two cars. Every parishioner has been allocated a large portion of money to contribute, and the deacons have been instructed to enforce it.

A friend of mine who used to worship in this minister’s church once asked him why he needed to build such a big house. The man replied, “Our God is a big God. We should be able to enjoy the big life because all things belong to God.”

When he asked him why he had to task God’s people to pay for his house instead of receiving directly from God, the minister replied, “God has put them there to serve me. That is how they will receive their reward, while I receive mine by preaching to them.”

At about the same time, a friend of mine from the U.S. sent me a video clip of a church that had rioted against the pastor during a church service because they were asked to tithe 1,000 U.S. dollars each. (The tithe goes directly to the pastor.)

Those who could not afford the 1,000 dollars were coolly asked to give not less than 300 dollars.

And yet this pastor drives a Rolls Royce, he owns a number of mansions, and he has satellite churches from which he “reaps” tons of cash every Sunday. But the community that he “serves” is dirt poor and there are families who cannot afford a decent meal.

Finally, the “sheep” had woken up to the fact that they were being pimped and they decided to do something about it.

The Bible does not say we pay back evil for evil, nor that we should riot in church. But these people did not know any better, so they rioted.

The last story is about our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus talked about a reward. He did not say that we would receive a reward by building a mansion for ourselves or by driving the most expensive cars in His name. Jesus, however, said that we would be rewarded by giving a cup of cold water to one of God’s servants (children).

Imagine that. Not even warmed water, but cold. A cup of cold water is worth nothing. And yet, the littlest thing we could do for God’s Kingdom and for His children will get us an eternal reward in heaven.

“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

We can serve God’s people with the littlest thing we have and expect a reward; or we can serve ourselves by pampering our flesh, for which the Lord made no promise.

I am trying to calculate how many cups of water this American preacher could get from selling his Rolls Royce. According to our Lord Jesus Christ, each cup of water that this man would give to a saint has a reward in heaven. Now do your maths and tell me what kind of reward this preacher would have in heaven. But he is wasting it away on self.

Jesus said,

“19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Mat. 6:19-20)

Self (the love for this world) is the saint’s biggest enemy. That is why God gives us the revelation of the cross, to the end that we might crucify the flesh and move on and serve God in the Spirit, where there is a reward. The revelation of “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” gives us a spiritual vision and we lose sight of the pleasures and glories of this world.

[“But we preach Christ crucified… Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Cor. 1:23-24]

Of Apostles And Prophets – Part 2

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Eph. 3:1-5)

Let us begin with the Old Testament. In proverbs 17:11 we read:

“An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.”

Notice how these words align with what the Apostle Paul went through as he describes in 2 Corinthians 12:7.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

A messenger of Satan was given to Paul, to buffet him in the flesh.

Was Paul an evil man?

It is clear from these scriptures that the “evil man” that the writer of Proverbs 17:11 is referring to is not our human idea of an evil man; on the contrary, the “evil man” here refers to the flesh. In essence, therefore, this scripture addresses all of us, for we are all carnal. If you thought you were good or holy, the Bible says no, you are “evil”. You haven’t become good until you meet with that cruel messenger. If you haven’t met him yet, get prepared; it is God’s will that he be sent… to buffet you!

With regard to his candidacy for meeting the cruel messenger, Paul states in Romans 7:14:

“… I am carnal, sold under sin.”

And again, in Romans 7:21-23:

“21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Do we not all experience this? We are at war! And the cruel messenger has been sent our way. Strangely enough, he has been sent to help us win this war.

Who is the cruel messenger then?

The cruel messenger is the cross. The cross was set up against Paul’s carnal nature, for Paul’s carnal nature was evil.

We read in Romans 8:7-8:

“7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

In his case, therefore, scripture had to be fulfilled:

“An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.”

In order for Paul to do the will of God and please Him fully, God put him under this cruel messenger. Unscribed in the ways of God, Paul prayed to God thrice to have this messenger taken away from him, but God told him:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

In other words, God was telling Paul, “Paul, you cannot serve me as you are. But that thorn will constantly keep your flesh under, for your flesh only wants to rebel. That cross will produce the grace needed to bear fruit for Me.” (Rom. 7:4)

In 2 Corinthians 4:12, the Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians just as much concerning what the cross accomplished in his life :

“So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”

When the cross worked death in the apostles’ lives, life came to the church!

It is the same today. The problem with the church today is that there is a huge number of people calling themselves apostles and prophets. But death is not working in these people! Their condition is exactly as it was with the false ministers of Paul’s day. Paul spoke of the ministers of his day thus:

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:13)

Why?

Paul tells of what they were doing to the church.

“For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.” (v.20)

This is exactly what is happening in church today. These so-called apostles and prophets are doing these same things to God’s people!

“Smite you on the face” means to degrade, to demean, to humiliate. Just as in Paul’s day, today’s false apostles and prophets are doing extremely inhumane things to God’s people. Every kind of evil is being done against God’s people by ungodly men who are in actual fact ravenous wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. The Swahili Bible uses the word “cruel”. It calls them “cruel wolves”.

Indeed, there is probably more cruelty going on in the church than in the world. But, just as in Paul’s day, people are thronging to these crude ‘ministries’. Wonders.

Because the church today is largely under the influence of these false apostles and prophets, there is no life left in much of today’s church. Everywhere, God’s people are suffering terribly, and they are in deep mourning.

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Thank God, there is. Let’s recap again to our key scripture in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 5.

“…Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit”.

Notice,

“holy apostles and prophets”.

The key lies in the word “holy”. God’s Holy Spirit will minister the true gospel only through holy apostles and prophets. These are they who will preach and live the singular gospel that the Apostle Paul preached:

“Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2 Cor. 2:2).

Unfortunately, the church has always had unholy ministers, and these nearly always outnumber the holy ones. But we are to be on the look-out. Jesus said,

“15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Jesus was talking about entering into God’s Kingdom through the narrow gate; and here He declares that false ministers will not live a life that reflects this lifestyle. They will live the high and sinful life.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that these false ministers have not the vaguest idea of the gospel of the cross, which was the singular gospel that the apostles preached. They preach

“another Jesus”; “another spirit”; “another gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4).

They preach the prosperity gospel. I heard one of them say, “I am a billionaire.” A billionaire preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another has jets (“Jets, with an ‘s’!”, effused the reporter). Etc, etc. Incredible.

Others skirt the prosperity gospel but carry equally demonic doctrines. But any other gospel, apart from the revelation of the cross, is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And Jesus told us to beware of all these fellows.

“Beware of false prophets”.

This is a responsibility the church must bear. You cannot just say of your pastor, “Oh, I did not know his life.” How can you not know your pastor’s life? If you have no access to your pastor, stop going to that church. You should have access right into his bedroom (it could be that’s where he beats his wife).

Jesus gave us the responsibility to know what those who minister to us are carrying in their hearts.

“Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

False apostles and prophets have not been granted the revelation of the cross. They will preach and live other things altogether.

God’s people today need to desire and to heed the gospel of the cross which has been revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets . Otherwise, there is no end to the spiritual grief they will endure and, in the end, most likely miss heaven altogether because they have been led along the wide and broad way.

[Another of my favorite dishes in the villages: freshly boiled pumpkins]

Businessman Or Preacher?

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mk. 8:34-36

It is incredibly strange how Jesus’s teaching that one should deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him is juxtaposed alongside the prosperity gospel that is rife in the church today.

There is an infinite difference between motivational teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The principles embodied in motivational teachings are not for the church; they are for the world. Jesus should not even be mentioned in such teachings, because He did not come to seek after the success of this world.

Millions in the church will try these principles and still remain poor because God is not involved in such principles – or their end result, which is worldly riches and success.

These teachings by Dr. Myles Munroe only encourage greed for worldly success and glory, and worldly riches. (The Bible calls greed “covetousness, which is idolatry” – Col. 3:5)

In the end, so much good $25,000 did Dr. Munroe.

 

Joseph’s Patience – Part 1

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. Gen. 37:5

The Lord moved upon my heart this morning to write about Joseph – again! There are many, many things to learn from the account of Joseph’s life; but here we will dwell on just two.

The first is Joseph’s perseverance. Yes, Joseph persevered. By “persevered” I mean he never made a complaint concerning his sufferings. He never protested, grumbled, objected nor criticized. And the outcome of this attitude, as we see in Genesis 39:2:

“And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.”

And, in verse 29:

“But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

Yes, the Bible states that, everywhere Joseph went, and in every situation that he passed through, the Lord was with him. But the reason the Lord was with Joseph was because Joseph persevered and never let any of those negative attitudes listed above enter into his heart.

It is not in vain that the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23:

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

When we keep our hearts well, the Lord will be with us every step of the way. He will bless whatever we put our hands to. It is not just suffering that we must endure; but we must endure suffering with a good and patient heart. Most believers do not prosper in their spirits because they cannot endure “evil”.

[Joseph persevered and, as a result, he prospered]

A Joke

This is a joke, right?

And, as for,

“And those of you who are just now coming into these things…”

No, sir, we are getting out of those things, and real fast! Thank you. And goodbye.

Prosperity Not Gospel

When John the Baptist came preaching in Judea, he did not have even a shirt on his back. The Bible says:

“And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.”  (Mat. 3:4)

The man was that poor materially. Moreover, John went on and preached, saying:

“He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” (Lk. 3:11)

When Jesus lived here on earth, the Bible says of Him:

“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Mat. 8:20)

And, pray, what have we here today? We have preachers who own private jets and million-dollar homes and cars and who claim to preach the same gospel that John and Jesus preached.

Aw, c’mon! C’mon!!

[Prosperity preachers are not much different from this fellow. Scheming and conniving to get their paws on their material “dues”]