Prophet's Blog

Text Scripture:

Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Over the last few years, one of the things that has troubled me is the way in which big-name preachers have expounded on financial prosperity. Over the last few decades, many of the scandals that were exposed concerning televangelists were focused on this issue during the so-called "Prosperity Movement," and more recently, these "anointed preachers" (with Leroy Thompson as the ringleader) led another charge of this nonsense.

I'm not at all opposed to Christians prospering, but I'm highly disturbed about the unbalanced and seductive methods that these preachers have used to beguile their foolish and scripturally ignorant audiences out of money while knowing full well that the only guaranteed benefit from their conferences and broadcasts will be realized in their own ministries' (and their hosts when they are invited) balance sheets. I am not attempting to speculate that there any illegal activities involved, but I am still alarmed about the method of presentation on this subject.

None of the broadcasts that I have viewed have given a truly biblical presentation on the subject; it has been totally one-sided and there has been no balance revealed from God's perspective. While God has caused many people to prosper over the generations, and I have been personally and supernaturally blessed on a financial level by God myself, there are still certain criteria that have to be met before you are blessed by God.

3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

The first criteria that has to be met to be blessed by God is to have your soul prospering before God. In the underlying Greek, the word "prosper" means "to succeed in reaching." In other words, to succeed in reaching your business or financial objectives, you must first succeed in reaching God; i.e., to be diligently seeking Him for wisdom, walking in obedience to His word, and having an intimate relationship with Him in terms of prayer, fellowship, etc. On every broadcast that I have watched, the preachers have continually roused the crowds with stirring messages on how your money is coming, but not once have I heard them tell the listeners to renounce sins, become more committed to their prayer and study, or other admonitions to spiritually prepare themselves for their blessings. They’ll never tell you that you won’t be blessed until you stop fornicating or shacking up, refusing to forgive others, or failing to walk in love and obedience to God in general. And why is that? Because the baskets won’t fill up with your cash and checks if you hear that your current lifestyle is blocking your blessings, and their DVDs, CDs and books won’t sell. My friends, it's a cash cow for them as well as a personal recession for you in the name of Jesus, and their "anointing" in this area cannot supersede God's laws regarding prosperity since blessing you monetarily would only justify you remaining in your sins (if that's the issue blocking prosperity in your life).

I have also seen them use tactics that either wear down or oppress people into giving, and the Spirit of God is not present in these practices because He never operates to manipulate or threaten people into giving. You also have to ask yourself why they preach faith, but use such faithless methods to obtain what they desire from the people, sometimes singing songs to seduce you into giving or using methodologies that even border on demonic manipulation as they question your love for God if you don’t give until it hurts! I ask you, are they doing the same by guaranteeing a return of your funds if your risk doesn't pay off? Jesus and Paul never instructed anyone to do anything that they didn’t demonstrate first by open example in the midst of the people. Also, while they base generous giving on a dollar amount and even have "thousand dollar lines" where people of privilege can line up to deposit their funds with poorer people looking on, Jesus looked at it differently:

Mark 12:41 through Mark 12:44 (KJV)
41And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

I even witnessed a prominent preacher on TBN during one of their fundraisers, bent over "in the Spirit" because the Holy Spirit was "on him" so strongly that he could barely stand as he prepared to prophesy "thus saith the Lord" regarding the audience's giving. He stated that people had gone into debt using their credit cards to fulfill their material lusts, so God was telling them to now use their credit cards to bless the kingdom of God (and the station) and reverse the financial curse that they had placed upon themselves! In the midst of this "hickaMessiah" moment, he suddenly paused, asked "You do take credit cards, don't you?" to the show hosts, and once it was confirmed, bent back over under the "anointing" to continue his fervent plea for the audience's funds! Skeptical (and discerning) person that I am, I felt that even without the anointing the most clueless person should realize that an international, multi-million (if not billion) dollar television ministry accepts credit cards, so why would someone being led of the Spirit have to ask such a ridiculous question? The answer is obvious, he wasn't being led, at least by the Holy Spirit, and his working up of the audience was based upon his flesh no matter how much he contorted or pleaded with the audience.

Once again, I'm not opposed to giving or accepting funds for the purpose of ministry, and as someone who used his personal funds to broadcast locally via Philadelphia-area Christian radio as well as via international media, I realize that the expenses can be substantial. However, a "small timer" such as myself also broadcasted in faith and witnessed God moving on my behalf to remain "on the airwaves." The networks and stations airing my broadcast were so impressed with the quality and soundness of doctrine in my programs that they often broadcast or rebroadcast them for free, often without my knowledge, and it was only the communications that I received from listeners that made me aware of what God was doing on my behalf. I literally reached the entire planet for the gospel of Jesus Christ with a limited budget in comparison to the mega-ministries, and it was done without requesting a single cent from the audience!

Getting back to positioning ourselves to receive from God, I am not stating that you never be blessed by God while having areas of sin in your life, what I am sharing is that you cannot receive the pinnacle of what you could have received if you were walking in total obedience to God. The failure of preachers to present “both sides of the coin” is ineffective and unbalanced, and it bruises the faith of those who have areas that need to be addressed, but aren’t because they haven’t been properly instructed. When they fail to receive their promised blessings, they wonder what is wrong with them, whether God truly loves them or if the promises found in the word of God are true. As a result, their faith is weakened instead of strengthened, and they may not be able to trust God in other areas of their lives.

When the expected return on their giving fails to manifest, now they are stuck with many questions and lowered bank balances. As preachers are challenged about a failure in their messages to come true, now they are beating a hasty retreat, informing their audiences that their messages work, but people have to examine themselves to confirm whether they are living in a manner that positions themselves to receive it. As I stated, this should have been preached in advance, not after the fact, but it would have failed to reap the financial windfall that was obtained from these conferences and so-called revivals that stated that “Your Money Cometh!” Some of the same preachers that promoted this filth are now distancing themselves from it and the pivotal figure behind it, no longer inviting him to their conferences, and even calling themselves prophets that are now warning you to get right before expecting to be blessed by God. I even saw a broadcast where a notable pastor who had invited this charlatan to preach responded to his audience in an indignant manner as they questioned why they weren't blessed, followed by providing them a balanced teaching on how they must align themselves with the word of God to reap their blessings. My question is, why wasn't this sound biblical instruction provided before their offerings were made? The obvious answer is that a balanced teaching without the hype and lure of guaranteed blessings wouldn't have filled those offering baskets. That’s like selling someone an oil field with a promised yield, and after obtaining all their income, informing them in a critical manner that it will cost them millions in equipment and labor expenses for them to extract the oil. A true prophet would have warned you in advance that the spirit behind this latest “prosperity flavor” was not inspired by God, but the spirit of Mammon from our text scripture, which means “greed deified,” or made into a god.

A major problem is that people live in a “microwave generation;” we expect God to respond to “get-rich-quick” schemes or to bless us immediately upon salvation or repentance after years of living in any manner that we choose. This desperation to get out of debt makes some gullible and open to the spirits of greed and manipulation that were found in these conferences. Most of these individuals would have been better stewards of God’s money by using their funds to budget properly, and letting God direct them on how to give instead of being lured out of their funds when God wasn’t in it. Another major issue is that instead of blessing their home churches and/or the pastors who labor for the betterment of their souls, they instead invest their funds in people who have national names but no personal interest in them.

If we are to expect God to bless us, we can only expect Him to do so if we are living in obedience to His word. You have to understand that the enemy will entice us to run after filthy lucre, using it as bait to cause us to backslide, while God wants to bless us but cannot unless we meet His standards. My question is: why is there so much emphasis on this topic without preaching it with balance from the entirety of scripture? We can only assume that it is found in the following scripture:

Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

When you are consumed with building funds, playing with the big boys, and conferences in which tens or hundreds of thousands are collected from people who want a quick fix to prosperity, you can only preach what you crave. Where is the cry for holiness? Where is the cry for unsaved souls, the restoration of the family, the end of crime and the return of America to God? Because they aren't hearing God's cry for a return to our first love, and are consumed with wealth, they can only preach what they live.

I Timothy 6:10 states: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

I am not stating that the people involved are false preachers, but I believe that by omitting the biblical criteria for prosperity, and by preaching nothing else, they are erring from the faith. This is dangerous, because it is providing an unbalanced foundation to many people whom are attending or watching these conferences. It also hinders the faith of those who never prosper as they expected, making them feel that they haven't been blessed because they are unworthy. As I pondered the previous scripture, I asked the Lord why money is the root of all evil, and He took me to the following passage:

Ezekiel 28:12-17 12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

This passage of scripture is a description of Lucifer (Satan) in his original state, and as you see from above, he was described as perfect, adorned in precious stones and materials such as diamonds, emeralds and gold. As he looked upon his glorious image, he was filled with pride, and finally attempted to overthrow God so that all of creation would worship him. This pride led to his downfall, and the precious stones and materials became the basis for the world’s economic system.

Believers, if we become consumed with the love of material wealth without any desire to draw closer in relationship with God, we are subject to the same downfall as Satan. Just as his heart was lifted up as he looked at his precious covering, we may have the same iniquity in our hearts as we don our fir coats, place on our jewelry and drive our fancy cars. We must remember the rich man in Luke 12:20 who hoarded up wealth, filling his barns and never seeking to bless others, finally reaching a point where God said, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Those of us who are spiritual leaders have a responsibility to demonstrate that we trust in the same word that we preach on a weekly basis. The word of God states that He loves a cheerful giver, and He has promised to meet our needs according to His riches in glory. If we fail to have the necessary funds to handle our objectives, we are either hindered by our selfish failure to bless others, or we are embarking on endeavors that God has not released us to do, at least in this season. I can tell you from personal experience as well as from a ministerial standpoint that my wife and I have always been cheerful givers, and because of this, we have never gone without what we have needed to sustain ourselves.

A scientific principle is that “space abhors a vacuum,” and whenever something is removed, something has to come in and take its place, even if it’s just air. It’s the same thing concerning our giving, if we are always looking to bless others, God keeps the pipeline open and more than replaces what we gave, just as He did in the parable of the fish and the loaves! In that passage, Jesus didn't accept the disciples suggestion that they send someone into town to purchase food; instead, He directed them to take their eyes off of their limited supply and give from what they lacked. Not only did Jesus expand upon what they provided exponentially to meet the needs of the people, He also enabled the disciples to be blessed with a surplus that was greater than the amount that they possessed in the beginning of that tale.

Beloved, let us run from this commercialized, whorish gospel and return to those things that are balanced in scripture. When and if God wants us to prosper, He will do it when we are able to handle it without backsliding, and it will not just be financially, but in every area of our lives! Amen!