When my eldest son and I fly stand-by, one of his favorite parts of the journey is the ride (usually when returning home) on the employee bus. There is always some kind of drama on the bus since it is usually over-crowded and dodging drivers at the airport as well as stopping for irate folks banging and chasing it down for a ride to the employee parking lot after a hard day of work. As a result, the humor associated with many of the things that we witness it usually one of our highlights as we conclude a trip.

Since I'm an employee of US Airways who works at this airport, I obviously take the bus frequently, but I always marvel at the thought that the bus is a microcosm of the kingdom of God. Although its purpose is professional in nature, this bus has representatives of many nations on it, from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, and it also regularly has passengers from one extreme of pay (international captains) to another (cleaners and clerks). However, in order to gain access to the employee's free parking lot, we are all required to take the same bus, and this process is similar to all nations of the earth gaining access to salvation via one gateway:

John 14:5-6 KJV Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Based upon this parallel, another similarity is in how people are supposed to regard each other. As an example of this, the Lord brought to my recollection the overcrowded bus that I got on after completing my workday at 10:30 pm on the night following Thanksgiving, more commonly known as Black Friday. Within minutes of getting on the bus, I saw a great illustration of what our Lord taught in regard to humility. As we learned from our text scripture, Jesus declares that "to whom much is given, much is required." However, do we really put this principle into action when opportunities arise? As my co-worker and I boarded the crowded bus and I found a seat, I was grateful, and I was even more appreciative when the First Captain got up and permitted my co-worker to take his seat. This was a nice gesture, but flight attendants and pilots work together and have a mutual respect and usually help one another out.

As we got to the next stop and the bus became more crowded, more rampers and cleaners hopped on. Instead of keeping his seat, the next captain immediately jumped up and granted one of the female employees his seat. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and especially our Lord would have been pleased at this gesture. This very seasoned pilot never looked at her color or what would consider a lesser position within the airline, he just jumped up immediately because that's what a gentleman does for a lady regardless of race or social status. As I said earlier, I would liken the passengers of this bus to our journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. We all have jobs to do, we are all created differently, but the Lord says that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female" in His kingdom:

Galatians 3:28 KJV There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

In other words, there are no gender, racial, socioeconomic or other criteria in heaven which enable someone to be better respected or favored than anyone else. Jesus considers us all equals who are afforded the same rights and privileges before God. If this is the case, why are we (as the Lord's disciples) so disobedient to this concept? It grieves my heart to see those who are elevated by God permitting it to go to their heads so that they begin to seek accolades instead of continuing to remain humble servants before God's people. Instead of wanting to be the Lord's servants, when we become elevated in our hearts and minds, people want to be served.

Matthew 20:25-28 KJV But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. (26) But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (27) And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (28) Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

James 4:6 KJV But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

As the Lord states here, if you desire to be great, you need to be a servant to others. He also states that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. If there an area of resistance today in your heart, place it under the microscope of these verses? Are you walking in pride or humility? Do you seek to serve or look for opportunities to be noticed and elevated in the eyes of men? These scriptures should be the litmus test for every deed that we perform as well as our motives, both in secret or out in the open.

The bible says that we will face opposition, but it is only to be as a result of our righteousness and not in areas of disobedience where we are permitting our fleshly traits to overrule our desire to walk in obedience to God. If we are dealing with opposition or disrespect, it is the result of reaping the consequences of what we have sown in?

Saints, let us run this race the way the Master intended it to be completed, with a spirit of servitude and humility, because He will reward now and in eternity according to what He and He alone sees in the underlying motives and attitudes behind our actions. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith (as one of my girlfriends always says, "He's running things"), so let the final chapter of our lives indicate that we have matured, taken on His character and lives proven lives of servitude to God and mankind!

-- Pamela Fox

Recently, I was dealing with a situation in which I needed my car repaired. Although I have two reputable and reliable businesses that I have frequented over the years, I decided to enlist the services of a brother in Christ who is struggling financially (he notified me of this and requested a loan) and going through some personal struggles. I figured that it would not only provide a means of blessing him, I could also use the time in which we interacted to encourage him. This gesture was not foolish in nature; he was actually a great mechanic who was certified for many makes and models, and he had previously "resurrected" my older car for much less money than several other vendors had estimated.

Several days prior to having him handle my latest car repair, I called and notified him that I would need him to handle the repair in one day, but I provided him several options that would work with my schedule and also ensure that my wife and son could get to college and school (I work from home, so I had much more flexibility). After he verified his availability, we scheduled a date and time for him to perform the repair.

When the time arrived, he hadn't arrived at my home or called to indicate that he was on the way or experiencing some type of delay. After waiting for approximately a half hour, I called to see if anything was wrong, but he didn't answer his phone. I decided to be patient although it is an extremely hectic time for me, but finally called him after another hour had elapsed. Once again, no response, and I left him another message.

Approximately 2.5 hours after our scheduled time, he called to inform me that he was heading to my location without any apology or indication that he realized that he was late. When he arrived, I was gracious although I despise lateness; I figured that his current trials and tribulations might be causing him problems that were affecting is arrival.

As planned, he completed my car repair that day, but instead of first thing in the morning it was now approximately 4:30 PM. Although I had an open schedule for the morning, his tardiness had negatively impacted me because I had some errands to run, but I decided that I could wait until the following day since they weren't critical. Once he completed the work, he stated that everything was fine, but as we test drove the vehicle I noticed that it was making noise that was related to the brake job that he had performed. We returned to my home, and after inspecting the vehicle he determined that I also needed rear brakes as well as the front. Since it was now dark, we agreed that he would do it the following day.

Once again, his arrival was much later than planned, but he completed the repair quickly after he began working. As we test drove the car the second time, I noticed that it sounded like the brakes were rubbing as we drove, so we headed back to my home and he made some adjustments and removed excess spray that was intended to eliminate vibrations that cause squeaking. Upon driving the car again, I still noticed noises, and I told him that it sounded as if the brake calibers weren't releasing properly, followed by providing the analogy of how brakes on bicycles would rub against the rim and make noise due to friction from not fully releasing. Based upon this, he told me that he would take it to a friend's garage the following day and recalibrate them.

Over the previous two days, I was already a little frustrated at the fact that on many occasions, he was non-responsive when I called him and left multiple messages. As I was nearing a critical day in which I needed the car all day, he was lackadaisical about properly completing the repair and failed to pick up his phone for hours after I called and left messages. As a matter of fact, I only reached him when I finally called his home and had his wife hand him the phone, and he had the nerve to ask me if I had called when a simple glance at his cellular phone (his primary work number) would have confirmed that he had awaiting messages.

At this point, my frustration was reaching a peak level, and I truly had to pray to restrain myself from "blasting him with both barrels." I have always been a hard worker, a person with over two decades of experience in my career who is known to do whatever it takes to please my superiors or customers, even if it means working all night for free or billing much fewer hours than I actually worked. To deal with someone with a nonchalant attitude who was nearing four days on what would have been a one-day repair at my regular auto repair locations was the height of restraint. However, I still felt obligated at that point to inform him of my work philosophy, expectations for myself as well as the standards that I require to refer him to my friends. He stated that he understood, so we agreed that the situation would finally be completely resolved the following morning. After once again dealing with multiple calls to reach him after he had agreed to contact me with a time, he finally stated that he would be at my home between 8-9 am. However, I told him that that wasn't a time, it was a range, and I needed him to commit to a specific time.

On the final day of this debacle, he arrived within the agreed-upon time frame, took my car and had the brakes recalibrated. As I had described in my bike analogy, there was something preventing the brakes from totally releasing in the passenger-side rear brake which would have kept the brakes continually rubbing and at least wearing out much quicker than they were supposed to. However, instead of admitting that I was correct in pressing the issue to ensure that it was perfectly handled, he shared that he had told the person at the garage that he had a "particular" customer who required that he find a location to complete the final (and necessary) repairs. I don't understand why someone demanding that a job is properly handled would be described as "particular," or probably more accurately, difficult.

Although I ended up being viewed as a "particular" customer, the man who performed the repair was actually blessed when my pestering and refusal to accept a substandard repair forced him to go to a garage where he could pay to use one of the owner's bays to lift up my car and see what was causing the brake issue. One of the things that I had previously asked him and prayed about was where he was going to work during the winter months since he was low on income and couldn't work outside when the temperatures are too low or weather conditions are poor. As he was finalizing my repair, the garage owner noted that he was a good mechanic and they reached a percentage agreement which will enable him to use one of the open bays whenever he needs it.

Men of God, you have to understand that trials and tribulations are no excuse for sloppy work, tardiness and a lack of responsiveness or reliability before your employers or customers. All of us will endure struggles of various levels that may weigh us down, but we still have a responsibility to provide quality work and to position ourselves for future success by not frustrating the people we are blessed to work for. Especially in a situation such as this where I could have gone elsewhere but was trying to help a brother that desperately needed the income, he should have been aggressive about showing up on time, diagnosing things properly (instead of having me provide suggestions) and completing it as quickly as possible. Unexpected things may sometimes occur, but even these issues can be handled properly and without frustrating your client by communicating effectively.

My career success is a perfect example of this even in times in which I have been overworked, underpaid or overlooked. I have always gone "the extra mile," and even if one position doesn't meet my expectations, God has always opened up additional (and better) opportunities because of my obedience to the following passage of scripture:

Ephesians 6:5-8 KJV Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; (6) Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; (7) With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: (8) Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

Whether it is your boss or a client, you should work for them as if your work efforts are being performed directly for Jesus Christ. As it states above, your work quality should not be impacted by their observations or proximity to you while you're working, it should be the same regardless of whether they are absent or present. As we see here, the current employer may not treat or compensate you fairly, but if you dedicate your work ethic to God, He will ensure that you will be elevated or provided another opportunity to "reap what you sow" in this area. What you invest in your work, not only in physical effort but in attitude, is what will eventually be returned to you. As a matter of fact, if your current job situation or career outlook looks bleak, it may be because you haven't committed yourself to being faithful with the opportunities that God has provided you in the past.

So what does this mean? It means that regardless of whether it's "the perfect job," you should get up each morning on time and give 100% to your employers or clients. Over a decade ago, I struggled with chronic asthma, and I often lost sleep due to the medications giving me heart palpitations or due to me being up coughing and wheezing almost every night as I struggled for air. In addition to this, I suffered with bronchitis multiple times during the winter months, sometimes felt tightness in my chest during the summer months and experienced high fevers or flu-like symptoms from the medications. As a result, I rarely slept more than 5-6 hours a night during this time. However, regardless of how I felt, I got up each morning and rarely missed a day of work, and I also had an exceptional reputation for my quality of work. Even when my body would have failed me, my determination enabled me to succeed!

Regardless of the economy, if we submit our career or employment situations over to Jesus and provide the best quality of service possible, He will ensure that our efforts are rewarded!

Quite honestly, the passage of scripture above makes me cringe. If we examine it from a superficial perspective, it seems strange to be coming out of the mouth of the Lord, but I believe if we dig a little bit deeper we can get some insight into this verse.

We all know that the Lord is not the author of confusion, and in the Old Testament as well as out of Jesus' own mouth He told us to love and honor our parents. However, He also seems to contradict His loving and peaceful nature when He speaks (Luke 12:51) of coming to the world not to bring peace, but division (even in a household). What is He really saying to us?

In the Greek translation, it's pretty much what you would expect in English, "to detest, to love less." So once again, is our Lord telling us to despise our family and even ourselves? I believe Luke 14:27 clarifies what He means:

Luke 14:27 (New King James Version)
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Taking up the cross of our Lord goes to the heart of the matter. When the Lord spoke about dividing, I believe that the dividing line is Calvary. There are two camps, one defined by a lifestyle of acceptance of Jesus and His statutes, or one in which we serve our own interests or define ourselves by earthly characteristics. Which camp are you in? Although I am a proud African-American woman, my primary focus and devotion is to being in the Lord's camp.

When the Lord says take up your cross daily, that's what He means. We are to take up crosses, not nail people to them, or burn them on someone's property. The Lord made it clear that the entire law of Moses hangs on the royal law of love, i.e, do unto others as you would have them do to you, serve others, take the lower position during interactions instead of seeking to be placed on a pedestal (place of material, emotional, power-based or other forms of superiority).

Once again, all of these commands seem to contradict being told to hate the ones you are to serve and love, but have we taken a look a this so-called contradiction in light of the flesh factor?

Romans 7:18 tells us in no uncertain terms that there is nothing good about our flesh:

Romans 7:18 (New King James Version)
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

Romans 8;1 brings even more clarity to the issue:

Romans 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

This is where the "rubber meets the road." When we walk after the Spirit, we are taking up our crosses and crucifying our flesh. In my humble opinion, I believe when this attitude is inserted in marriages, family relationships, work relationships and other situations that we encounter, the door is open for the Lord to go to war against the forces of darkness that have people bound. The lord is not telling us to hate for the sake of hate, He wants us to detest carnality in any form ( no matter how wholesome and righteous it may appear) because we are in a fallen world and we need to desire to serve and exemplify His nature above any earthly thing. How many times are wives devastated because they just knew their husband would never cheat or an elderly person feels discarded and worthless because that favorite child has forsaken them? The lord knows generational curses may have people doing things that they said they would never do, and that's why it's for our sake and the sake of those that we love that we are to put Him first, and hate, or prize everything else at a lower level.

As a wife and mother of a little over 21 years, my pain and frustration is no different than that which has been had through the ages by other women. However, I thank God daily that because I obeyed the Lord and loved Him more than myself, when I felt betrayed, let down and unappreciated, He gave me the strength to show the God kind of love (agape) that I could not have done had my priorities been out of order. When He is first, that opens the door for His anointing and deliverance to flow freely. So, in every situation we are to draw that line in the sand and allow room for the Lord to work out dysfunction in a supernatural way that years of counseling and mediation may never be able to fix.

At an early age kids are taught through cartoons to revere superheroes and athletes, instead of parents and educators. We are pretty much indoctrinated from an impressionable age to crave those things that excite us, and then cave in when they disappoint us or just stick our heads in the sand and refuse to see the ugly truth of "flesh on display."

The Lord has spoken in His Word that a shaking will come and what is left cannot be shaken. The last decade, and even this past week, has been a continual exposure of things that were done in secret by our politicians, presidents, would-be presidents, radio hosts, late night show hosts, athletes, and even those of the household of faith.

Depending upon how you feel about a particular individual, it may dictate whether you think the exposure was a setup or a bold-faced lie. However, for the most part, what is done in the dark comes out in the light. There may be some embellishment when inappropriate behavior or actions are exposed, but there is always some truth behind the scandal.

When our Lord was crucified, though it was a kangaroo court, the words that they used against Him could not be denied. He was, in fact, the King of the Jews, and He did openly confess that His Temple would be destroyed and raised back up, and He did call God His Father. Of course it was a travesty that He was crucified, but the facts did not lie. Of all the books written about our Lord, even from atheists denying his deity, where do you see in recorded history that He played the hypocrite, preaching one thing, and living another? Even other religions call Him a great man although they may differ on their overall perception of His deity or the fact that He is the only means of salvation.

We are admonished to suffer for righteousness' sake and not for our own evil doing. When our brothers and sisters are persecuted abroad, it is actually for living up to being what our Lord told us to be, and not for what we say we are and are not truly living.

One of the saddest bible verses, in my opinion, comes out of 1 Samuel, chapter eight where the Lord told Samuel, when the people asked for a King because the other nations had one, that they were not rejecting Samuel, but rejecting Him as their God. It's sad today that some many of the Lord's children want a celebrity pastor in the form of a mega-church or president, Democrat and Republican alike, instead of truly celebrating daily the One who
will never disappoint, who is Holy, undefiled and truly higher than the heavens.

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!

Contrary to popular belief, the Christian church is one of the most avid, yet hidden, purveyors of pornography. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry that actually targets Christians in its electronic mailings, realizing that many saints will secretly click the enclosed links and enjoy its illicit practices from the comfort of their homes or hotel rooms instead of risking the embarrassment of getting caught at strip clubs or peep shows. Hotels have known for years that the viewing of pornography in their rooms rises during Christian conferences, and a recent poll revealed that 90% of men, 70% of women and 50% of pastors anonymously admit that they regularly view it.

We previously viewed the women subjected to the actions portrayed in these films as abused or kidnapped runaways, rebels, addicts and prostitutes, but the latest wave of practitioners is actually comprised of "the girl next door." Many of them are college girls pursuing professional careers who would rather make $500 a day abusing their bodies than making that amount in 1-2 weeks at a traditional place of work. They feel that the risk of disease as well as the potential emotional and spiritual damage is less imposing than the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars that they will owe in student loans by the time that they graduate, so many of them are "living the glamorous life" and ending their collegiate careers debt-free.

Although this industry has clearly "come out of the closet" and has openly been endorsed in the mainstream, the word of God still states that it is contrary to the will of God as even looking at a woman (or man) with lust in your heart is perceived as an act of adultery (in the case of marriage, fornication if both parties are single). Jesus stated that it would be better for you to pluck out your eyes than to permit yourself to get entrapped in the bondage of sexual lust (Matthew 5:27-30).

You may ask yourself why He takes such a harsh stance if the performers are willingly being filmed and the audience is "minding its own business," but let's examine an Old Testament passage that could be representative of watching pornography:

Ezekiel 23:1-21 (KJV)
1The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: 3And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 4And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
5And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, 6Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. 7Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. 8Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. 9Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her. 11And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
12She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. 13Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, 14And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: 16And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. 18So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. 19Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy youth.

If you examine this passage more closely, you'll see that the daughters mentioned in this passage initially looked upon men or images representative of them that elevated their sexual desires as they fantasized about fulfilling their lusts with them. The word "doted" means "to dwell in," so their obsessions with fulfilling their desires caused them to vicariously replay their desires in their minds. It is safe to assume that since they eventually summoned the men into their presence, they originally masturbated as their minds were filled with lustful images of actions previously experienced or desired in the future. This initial step is often similar to the fantasies experienced by people prior to their indulgence with pornographic movies or illicit encounters. They initially start off with mental images of persons that they are attracted to as they pleasure themselves, followed by looking for visual stimuli found in magazines or websites that will help them "relieve their stress." Once this is no longer fulfilling them, they move to the next level of viewing films or desiring an actual physical encounter with a willing partner, regardless of whether it's due to physical or emotional attraction or monetary gain. Although the sisters from this passage didn't have our current technology, the effect was still the same; their imaginations caused them to escalate their actions to the next level.

Once the men were summoned into Aholibah's presence, they acted out what had formerly been fantasies, and the word of God states that her sexual partners defiled her (corrupted her spiritually and emotionally) during these sexual acts. As she continued these acts, it later states that she was polluted, or self-defiled as she participated in these encounters, and then it mentions that her mind was "alienated from her." In other words, her ability to reason, feel conviction and realize that she was committing heinous acts was stripped from her mind. Finally, it states that another element that polluted and alienated her was their flesh and their "issue," which in the Hebrew refers to "a gushing forth," or their semen. The bodily exchange of fluids associated with the sexual acts literally polluted her spirit even more than the act of imagining it.

God revealed to me that you can actually become chemically addicted to watching porn, not from the use of external substances such as drugs or alcohol, but from the rush of adrenaline and other secretions and enzymes released by your body as you view and pleasure yourself and/or your mate. You are doing more than just performing a physical process, you are exposing your spirit, emotions and mind to demonic influences that can impact your life long after the physical or mental act is completed.

1 Corinthians 6:15-20 (KJV)

15Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

As we can see here, the physical act of sleeping with someone exposes you to their spirit as well as any ungodly attributes that they have, but Jesus warned that even looking on someone without committing the act exposes us to various consequences. Given that Aholibah basically lost her mind as she ventured from fantasy to lust fulfillment, I believe that we are also subject to similar spiritual corruption and contamination just by emotionally and spiritually aligning ourselves with illicit acts. We can easily confirm that by examining the lives of formerly straight men who are now "on the down low" after their sexual fantasies were fulfilled with women to the point that they "crossed over," or by reviewing the transcripts of "normal guys" who previously never would have harmed a hair on a child's head that are now registered pedophiles. The enemy always begins with imaginations in our mind, but once we engage in these ungodly fantasies, he "ups the ante" until we are totally entrapped in our sins.

What can we do to avoid this? Simply realize that this is contrary to God's will for your life, so you must avoid the temptation to involve yourself with it. If television programs, magazines, billboards, webpages and other media are enticing you, refrain from reviewing them as much as possible. If you have partaken of it previously, repent for your involvement and ask God to deliver you from any spirits that you have subjected yourself to. Most commonly, you'll have to ask him to deliver you from sins of lust, covetousness (for desiring someone that isn't espoused to you), fornication or adultery (depending upon your marital status), etc. If you have been watching something more depraved, there may be spirits of rebellion, anger, violence or other vices to be repented of. Please pray, study the word and seek someone of enough spiritual depth to guide you through the process of deliverance from this spiritual stronghold.