There was a man who thought everything was fine. He had his place with God and as far as he knew life was good. He had great wealth and enjoyed it. The Bible does not say he did anything else wrong,  only that he did not help a sick beggar man who had nothing and that seems to have put the rich man in hell.

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which I will post at the end. The man found himself in hell, but he was not expecting to be there. The only fault shown in the story is that he did not have mercy on the poor that was there by him. This one thing caused him to be in hell.

The rich man should be a warning to everyone. Christians typically think they have arrived, they are saved and now they are just waiting for the Rapture or death, whichever comes first, and that is all there is to the Christian life. They think we are just here to live and play and then walk into glory when life is over. They THINK they are alright and their future is sealed, but is it? The rich man thought the exact same thing, but he begged to have someone go tell his family that they did not end up in the same place he found himself. The answer was that they had the Word, they should already know...

Are we listening to this horrifying warning or do we just sweep it under the rug and ignore it as we do so many Scriptures?  One little thing and the man was found in Hell. At what level is that bar set, at what point do we find ourselves cast out? I know, some say that once you are saved then you are forever saved, but is eternity really worth betting on a doctrine of man? At least some that believe that way, will say that if a person lives in sin then they never were saved in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying we can EARN our salvation, as that is a gift from God and no man can justify himself by his works, but if we have not the works that show we have been saved, are we?  In James 2 it ponders this issue of works and faith with the simple statement “I will show you my faith by my works”.  The point is one of appreciation and reasonable service.  In Romans it says:

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

It is about “Reasonable Service”, if we do not have this are we only deceiving ourselves?  In Matthew 22 we have the story about the a king that had a wedding supper for his son and everyone made excuses why they could not come.  So the king called everyone else to his supper instead of those that were chosen and filled the place.  Once it was all filled there was one man found that did not have on a wedding garment and was cast out into “outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.  Why?  He was called and he came and accepted the invitation, but did not have respect for what was offered, he did not do his “reasonable service”! 

At what level is the bar set? In Galatians we have one of several lists in the Bible that keep our feet on the ground as to what is right and what is wrong and what will keep us from Heaven:

Gal 5:19-21  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, that is quite a list and people will say they do not fit anywhere in this list, but is this list the only things that will keep you out?  Look at just the one, “drunkeness”.  The Bible clearly says that an addiction to alcohol will keep you out of heaven if you give into it.  What about other addictions, why should it be limited to JUST the addiction of alcohol?  An addiction controls you, it makes you act against your own judgment.  Perhaps this would apply to all addictions, like smoking, food (either repeated gluttony or anorexia which is another form of addiction), money, work or other addictions.  If something other than God is controlling you, then you might find yourself lost.  Listen to the warning from the rich man. 

At what level is the bar set?  In the book of Revelation we have the letters to seven different churches.  Some believe that this represent different ages of time and the last church would represent our current time.  What was said to the last church which would be the Church of the Last Days of this Age:

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Pay attention here, He is talking to Christians, He wrote this letter to the “Church” and He knows their WORKS that they are lukewarm, that they have put no effort into anything, they THINK they have arrived and have no need of anything, just enjoying life and satisfying themselves.  But..  But…  They did not know they were Wretched and Miserable and Poor and Blind and Naked!  They were in the same boat as the rich man, they THOUGHT everything was fine but their works did not show it, they where deceived!

At what level is the bar set?  We are to bare fruit!  In John it says:

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

I know that is long passage and contains lots of different things, but here we will only focus on a two.  First, we can see clearly that we are to bare fruit and IF NOT we are cast off.  Sound familiar yet?  We are not here to simply live for our own pleasure, build a family and die and go to heaven, we are to bare fruit, we are to be about the work, we are to grow in the Lord and in His might, we are to help those that are in our path, we are to comfort those we can, we are to provide for those which we are able, we are to receive from God to be a blessing to those around us, our minds are to be on the Kingdom of God and NOT ON our own Kingdoms.

The other point in this passage is that we have been called out of the world (the cultures of the world).  We are not to be like the world, nor should we desire to be part of it, we should desire to be part of the Kingdom of God (the Body of the Christ) and keep that as our focus.  There are things that seem Worldly, such as fads, cultures, ways of doing things because others do them that way, which should not be part of us. If our desires go down that path, then are minds and hearts are not on the Kingdom of God.   Some might say, “well it is my life and can do what I want”, can you, is it?

1Co 6:19-29  What? 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?   For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Which Kingdom are you in, the one of the World or the ONE of God?  You cannot be in both Kingdoms, it is nothing more than deception, you cannot be divided, you must choose.

Listen to that warning from Hell! Do not allow yourself to be deceived!  Just because you do not feel conviction on something does not mean it is not wrong, you can easily be deceiving yourself and ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Learn the Word of God and know the nature of God so you can clearly see what is and is not pleasing to Him.  Eternity is a long time to pay a price for not listening and making wrong choices.

At what level is the bar set? At what point are we deceiving ourselves and we are really lost?  Where are we compared to that bar?  Where are those around us, compared to that bar?  Are you listening to those that spend time with God’s Word or those that are living more in the World?  It is time to know the Word and repent.  People need to know the full council of God’s Word, read the Old Testament also, the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament!  In Hebrews we are told the stories in the past are there so that we do not do the things they did and provoke God.  Know the  FULL WORD of God!

It is time to wake up and listen to the warning from a person in Hell!  When life is over or the Rapture happens, it will be TOO LATE to listen, don’t find yourself in the same position as the rich man, LISTEN TO HIS WARNING!

Rich man and Lazarus:

Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luk 16:27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
Luk 16:28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

It seems to be a common sport to bash televangelists and other ministries for their teachings of Prosperity, Word of Faith or Healing.  Often the battle cry is that they are only after your money.  What is concerning, is the open hostility some have for these ministries.  There are various secular entities that are only after your money, but they seem to draw far less rage and many, no rage at all, among the same people who are ready to crucify these ministers.  What is the difference?

Some might say the reason for the hostility is “Holy Anger”.  Remember Jesus drove out those evil merchants at the temple.  There have been many different battles over why Jesus did this.  Some say that they were cheating people selling them quality animals to sacrifices, but once paid would swap them for sickly and worthless animals.  Some conclude that it was due to selling of tools to worship God.  If your belief is the latter then you should never buy another Christian song or purchase a Bible anywhere, this would be the same thing wouldn’t it?

We need to remember these Scriptures:

Gal 5:22-23 ~  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

2Ti 2:24-26 ~  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I know it is easy to fall into the trap of condemning people or being critical of different ministries.  Even writing this post, I felt conviction of some of the things I have felt and  said in the past and had to repent.  That is the point, we do not continue to do wrong when I see that it is wrong, but repent and change!

False doctrines, are you sure?

One of my first lessons after being Born Again was that I would grow and my views on some doctrines would change.  How can we hope to know everything in the beginning when often we do not even know what is contained in the entire Bible.  When I was a new believer, I thought the Lord would return at the end of what is known as the “Tribulation” because of what I had heard earlier from others and a few passages I read.  Later His return seemed to moved to the middle, and after learning more of Daniel and Ezekiel and some more New Testament passages, I believe His return will be in the beginning. Am I willing to bet my eternal life upon it?  No way, there is too many passages that can go in all ways.

There is the first point, many doctrines have Scripture going in different directions and when we study we find the more-than-likely view, but this has to be tempered by the nature of God and the content of the topic.  There are few things we can be completely dogmatic about, to the extent we will bet our eternal salvation upon them.  One such doctrine is Salvation and the fact Jesus shall return.  These are core to our belief, but other doctrines we need to use the full council of God’s Word.  Of course, this is not to be driven by our feelings or even perhaps by our experiences, but by God’s Word alone.

The most common attacks on doctrine for Televangelists seem to be in the doctrines of Prosperity, Word of Faith and Healing.  Why these three?  Perhaps because so few of typical Christians have a clue as to what the Word of God says on the subjects and when hearing the lofty claims being made, try them out themselves and fail not know the full council of God’s Word.  Their experience then turns into disbelief and often bitterness thereby opening the door for Evil to walk all over them.  Many times, once the disbelief and bitterness has taken root, people tend to make fun of or slam those doctrines and ministers.  In the process our we not slamming the Word of God?  That is, if they use Scripture to make the point, are we not fighting against the Word?  We need to be VERY careful!

Word of Faith:

This doctrine really includes Prosperity and Healing, as it is the doctrine of obtaining from God.  I know people who will slam this doctrine while at the same time embrace it.  We have seen some ministers in the past who went off the map, promoting people can claim anything and as long as they believe it, they will receive it.  Yes, they had people claiming for all kinds of things as if God was some kind of personal genie you could bring out at will to give you every frivolous desire of your flesh.  When the people did not receive because they were asking amiss, doubts or perhaps they had sin in their life, they went into disbelief and followed that with bitterness toward those ministries.

So, for a quickie on Word of Faith, the Scriptures say clearly in many places that if you have faith and doubt not you will received.  For example,  here are a few of them:

Joh 14:12-14 ~ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Joh 16:23-24 ~ And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Mark 11:22-24 ~ And Jesus answering saith unto them, have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoevery he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

So, people would grab these Scriptures and pray for expensive luxury car or multimillion dollar home, perhaps millions in cash and some even that they would hit the lottery.  While they had part of the truth they did not know or some did not wish to acknowledge what they already knew, there are conditions.  We have the full power of creation at our finger tips, but how is it wielded and why?  Imagine if everyone was out moving mountains because they wanted a different view?  Yes, that would be silly and God will not put up with it.

Now, are the teachings in Error?  Not completely, most of them just need to add the conditions.  There is nothing impossible for God but there are some things He will not do.  If His word says that He will do something and you fulfill the requirements for the promise, then the promise is yours and God will absolutely do it.  God says He watches over His Word to perform it.  He is not a respecter of persons, if you qualify and your reasons qualify and you have the Word for the promise, it is yours.  It is by your faith without doubts and your knowledge of God’s will on the promise that delivers it to you.  The scriptural reference to the promise insures you have God’s will as long as you know all of Scripture regarding the topic.

You can call it what you like, “Name it and Claim it” or “Word of Faith”, it all comes down to finding what God has to say about a promise, praying in faith for the promise and standing in faith without doubts claiming the promise.  It is a simple truth in the Bible that has been abused a bit, but it is none the less that, the truth.

Still not sure?  How do you think you became Born Again in the first place?  If we did not have the promise telling us that He does save and He had not given us the faith to believe Him for the promise, no one would be saved.  It is by grace that you are saved through faith and that not of your own, but it is a gift from God.

There is power in what you say.  If you are not aware of that, then you need to study more as it is from the beginning to the end of The Scriptures, you are to watch what you say.  People can say a lot of things that open the door to the enemy even though they walk the right path.  Look at what happened to the children of Israel when they murmured.  We should proclaim the goodness of God with our mouths and not the works of the enemy. 

Sure, you can say your are a pickle every day of your life and it does not make you a pickle.  You will never believe you are a pickle and there is no demon of picklism out there waiting to be empowered by your words.  But when you continually confess sickness, weakness, lack of faith, hopelessness, anger, poverty, then you are opening doors not only to your but your family if you are not careful!

Healing:

There have been a number of frauds out there over the century promoting healing and cleaning people out with false teachings.  Typically though, they feed on those that do not know the Word of God and they twist it to the point that you have to “send in” for something such as healing cloths, healing oils and what not.  Given the full council of God’s Word, you would be able to see that healing is for every Christian and is part of the New Covenant.  Yes, our body will be redeemed later so that it cannot ever by harmed and know no pain, but God provides us healing now so that we do not have to die of sickness or disease. When God says our life has come to an end, He will simply stop our heart or breath and we go home.  It is not God’s will for any believer to die a torturous death.

Disease and sickness is from our system being perverted either by what we do to our bodies or what the enemy does to it.  Some of this perversion of our cells happen even before birth as we are in a fallen world and things are corrupt.  That does mean we have to live that way through out our lives, God is our healer, He has provided us healing.  Remember, He lives IN all of us who are Born Again, all the power of creation resides in us and the only requirement is faith without doubts.

Often people think some are not meant to be healed, I mean, look at Paul’s thorn.  It seems that often Paul is used as proof that God does not bless some people or that He DESIRES that some be sick to teach them lessons.  First and foremost, if you believe this way, how do you expect to ever receive from God.  If it is God’s will for people to be sick, then why do you fight against it?  God loves you, He wants you healed more than you want to be healed.  Look to Jesus and you will see how much He values you.  BTW, Paul’s thorn has nothing to do with sickness and there is biblical proof for the reasonable mind.

Others think that God takes different methods to heal people.  You know, that some times you go through surgeries and have them cut out this or that, or make you barely exist while burying you in debts.  What does the Bible say the sick are to do, it is clear?

Jas 5:14 ~ Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

How clear do you need it?  A note here though, who are the “Elders” and what is required of them?

There are many healing passages in the Bible but one of my favorites is in Psalms:

Psa 103:1-5 ~ Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

So, why are some not healed?  Simply, it is faith, doubts or sin, I know of no other possibilities.  If we have no unrepentant sin in our lives, if we do not have any unforgiveness (again sin) in our heart, and if we have faith without doubts (usually the biggest stumbling block), then we will be healed.  If you go to the elders and have them pray over your anointing you with oil and do not appear healed, then it is up to you to study and draw close to God as you need to remove doubts and develop more trust in Him.  The issue is not with God but with Us!  It is all about relationship, if you have an intimate relationship with someone you will know if you can trust them and if they are trustworthy, nothing can break that trust or cause doubts.  Same goes with God, if your relationship is strong, you will have no doubts.

Prosperity:

This is one area that may have fallen into continual bashing.  While healing is needed at times, many people want prosperity in their lives and if they do not see it, they can get the feeling that people are saying it is due to sin or something they lack or they would be prosperous.  Other times, it is bitterness in them because they have tried and followed some of the teachings out there only to have sunken deeper in debt purchasing books, CDs, videos, etc without any improvement.  When it is all over they blame the teaching or the minister.

There are a number of ministers that virtually flaunt wealth and often their messages are focused on wealth as they sell their teachings or ask for offerings.  Do we throw the baby out with the bathwater? If the teaching lines up with the Word of God, then we should do more study.

The first question is does God want us to be prosperous?

Psa 35:27 ~ Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

Pro 10:22 ~ The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

Ecc 5:18-20 ~ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Deu 8:18 ~ But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

It is God who gives us power to get wealth.  It is for us to use that power.  There is a catch however, what do you call wealthy and what is the wealth used for?

Jas 4:2-3 ~ Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

If we want wealth to be wealthy, we only want for ourselves, then we are asking amiss. Often it can be hard to tell if you are asking amiss as we can be quite good and justifying desires that wrong.  In that same line, if we ask without believing or with doubts that it is God’s will, we can be in the same boat.  There are many passages in the Bible that refer to wealth and prosperity, but I find one interesting in Proverbs:

Pro 30:7-9 ~ Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

I am not sure how much that one applies in today’s world with us having God living inside us, as the Spirit will guide us if we listen, but still the point that we should have a level at which we say “that is enough for me”.  I think anything more than that opens doors to the enemy and a weakness in us.

Well, what about Paul again you might ask.  Yes, he said he had done without and has lived with and without.  In some spots it almost sounds as if he is trying to coerce others into giving to help those in Jerusalem. I go back to the Gospels though, when Jesus sent all the ministers, He sent them without anything and after their ministry, He asked them if they lacked anything and they said they did not.  With the:

• Volume of Scripture showing clearly a blessing upon those that follow after righteousness
• The ministry of Jesus and those He sent out
• Quotes like “I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread”
• The fact that Poverty is claimed under the Curse
• We have the blessings of Abraham being grafted in
• We have all Spiritual Blessings in Jesus

The only rational conclusion is prosperity, like healing is there for those that take hold and possess it.  Remember, the enemy will fight you at every turn to deny the Word of God.  We need to study and know what God has to offer.  All of us should be more like Peter, he was always ready to reach out for all that God had to offer, he was the only one who asked to walk on water, even though he was not sure, he still asked and he was the only one of them that did walk on water.

Just because we do not see God move in our lives with something, we must not pull into a shell and say something is wrong without clear study and a close walk with God. 

All about the money?

Okay, in today’s world there are a number of ministries that seem sell a lot of things and there are others that continually beg for money.  Are they all evil?

While I believe there are some ministries only after money and it is business and nothing more, we still need proceed carefully.  I have seen videos of a man back in the 70's that he himself made of him fleecing the flock and being proud of it.  On the platform he sounds like many other ministers but when he left, he was downright evil, rejoicing at how much money he tricked out of the people by lies and acting.  I personally think this type of thing happens although it is not that common in the top ministries, but probably more so among the smaller ones that go from place to place.  Even with that though, what is to be said?

Php 1:12-18 ~ But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

If Christ is being preached and people are pointed to the Bible as truth, then what should we do?  If you have proof that someone is false, in that they are intentionally deceiving people for the purpose of personal gain, then that should be exposed by turning to the leaders of the Church, but if you are moving completely on feelings, then you should be silent as you do not know the person's heart, you are placing yourself as Judge on them without knowing all the facts and that is a scary place to be found.

As an example, I have heard people say that certain TV evangelists are only out for money, they are just milking the people.  First, do you know this for a fact, you have proof or is it just "gut feelings"?  We have to understand that some ministries claim God has lead them to receive offerings. Are you sure they have not heard from God?  What if your eternal life depending on your claims, are you sure they are only after money?  I am not asking are you sure they “are after money”, but that they are “Only” after money.  There is a difference.

Some do fall into the money trap.  I have heard ministers say they promised God they would never beg for money.  Then a few months or years down the road they would have their assistants start asking for money and then eventually, they start down that path themselves until the message about needing money takes more and more time.  What has happened?  Were they false from the beginning?

Often ministers fall into this trap by either other ministers telling them it is God's will or they fall on hard times and instead of shrinking the ministry the find out how much can be brought in by simply making a request.  That is a slippery slope since they are putting trust in themselves and not in God.  But there are few that I think would handle this with control and not fall into the trap, if they do not have good consul around them to warning them when they start to fall.  Can you imagine if you had a large multimillion dollar ministry, the funds dried up and you were looking at a financial collapse, how tempting it would be if all it would take is a few words to the people and you would have more than enough to pay for everything?  Think of how easily it would be in your mind to justify that!  Remember ministers are still just like every one of us, they make mistakes just the same.

What next?

Okay, so you know a ministry that have fallen in a money trap or one with invalid doctrine.  If you know this is intentional and you have proof, then you need to take it to your spiritual leaders and see where to go from there.  I do not believe it is God’s will for you to just spew this out whenever you have a chance to slam against everyone who has a ministry on TV.  There are many things that can be done for false ministries, but often maybe all that is required is for the Church leaders to warn their congregation against that ministry and pray for them.  If however it is a blanket attack against TV Evangelists, then I do not believe it is from God.  Since the creation of TV, God has used the media to reach people through ministers ministering the Word.  Millions of people have come into the Kingdom of God by the use of media. 

Just because we might not like or agree with a certain doctrine, it does not mean we throw away that ministry.  As an example, I am a young earth creationist and do not find any Scriptural proof of a prior world nor billions or millions of years in creation.  There are many ministries that teach an old earth, long creation, but while I have strong feelings against this do I throw out their ministry as evil.  There are some that I have doubts about because of their violent attacks on young earth creationists along with how they twist volumes of Scripture, but it is hard to judge as we cannot tell the intent of their hearts.  Now however, if someone says evolution is the the true creation, then I consider their ministers completely false.  The reason for the difference is simply that you cannot believe in the God shown in the Bible while denying the Creation account and saying that Mankind evolved.  This is complete heresy and must be rejected.

What do we do if you have found a fault in a ministry but we have no proof or it is just a doctrinal issue, are we free to bash them now?  NO!  Is it Christ like to bash others in the work?  Some might say, “Well look at how Jesus talked to the religious leaders”.  What were the “religious leaders” doing or did Jesus claim there were doing?  Often it was simply because they exalted themselves as judge over people, showing themselves as more “Holy” than others and at times because they attacked His ministry as being false and not of God.  Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

For those continually bashing Christian TV and Televangelists, let me ask you a couple of question,

• How long have you fasted and prayed for those ministries before you bashed them in front of others?
• Have you removed all beams out of your eyes first so you can see clearly to make yourself judge over them?
• How many souls have they bought into the Kingdom and how many have your brought in?

We need to examine our intentions and see if they are pure before God.  While all ministries we have seen on TV or off are not perfect and we can find fault with them all, it does not mean we need to attack them mercilessly for ever fault we find, it should be viewed as a reminder to pray for them.  Do you believe in the power of prayer?  If so, then use it!  We do not have time to waste judging everyone for not living up to the true measuring stick, which is Jesus, but we are all called to help.

Conclusion

If you happen to be a person that is given to bashing Televangelist or the doctrines of Prosperity, Word of Faith or Healing, I ask you to look prayerfully inside to see if there is not a root of anger or bitterness.  The Bible is full of Scriptures telling us that God is Good and He is Good to His People.  But we need to be open to Him in order to obtain His Goodness.  God does not force anything on us.

Pick up the Bible (not a reference one with all the commentaries and all that stuff, just the basic Bible) and read it from cover to cover, study!  Do not go to outside studies, focus on the Bible alone.  Be sure to read the four Gospels over and over and over.  Seek out the nature of God and see that God is Good and He only wants Good for you and hate has no place in His Goodness.

If you have a comment, use the “Contact” option at the top of the page to send me a note.

We always need to be on alert and use caution.  Things are not always as they appear.  At times we can allow what we find desirable to overshadow and hide the truth we do not want to see that is in details.  If we are not careful, we will only see what we want to see.

Other times, we may find something or someone that appears to be good only to find out later that we were deceived.  We often are not aware of all the facts or know the end result.

The picture to the right, is a pretty yellow flower and is something one might desire to have in their flower beds.  But there is more to this little flower (I found out recently) than just its beauty:

This is an invasive noxious plant known as the Buffalobur.  While it may have a pretty flower, it has an abundance thorns that can cause pain when you come in contact with them and supposed to have a mild toxin that causes the pain to linger for a time.  In the fall, the plant dries out, breaks off at the ground and then rolls along with the wind like a tumbleweed, spreading its 8,500 seeds it produces.  If that were not enough, in some places it hosts the Colorado potato beetle to cause more damage.

We need to use caution and not be taken in by what we may see on the surface.  The enemy tires to get us to focus on that which is desirable and ignore or devalue the negatives.  We must know the source and not trust what we see or feel.

2Co 11:13-15 ~ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The enemy often tries to portray himself as good, a friend who cares for you or as truth.  That is not the case though, Peter said “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour”.  He lays traps and waits for your to fall.  He is after the result and may work on traps that takes years to develop in your life when he can rise and pounce on you.  No need to fear though as God says “Greater is He who is in your than he that is in the world”.  God will take care of it if you let Him.

There are examples of this through the Bible, even in the beginning:

Gen 3:1-5 ~ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

There is a lot in this passage.  We notice the source is our enemy and his plan is to remove our trust in what God says and then plays up our flesh to lust for things which are wrong. 

The first step here, the enemy acts friendly, but the purpose of asking about what they may eat was to bring the issue to mind that he may attack it and lie to her.  She tells him what God had commanded them about the tree and he starts his lies by sowing seed that they could not trust God, that God had lied to them and that she would not die.  If that is not enough, he goes further and makes it sound like God was being evil against them by keeping them away from the fruit of the tree because God knew they would be just like Him.  Can you see the web of evil here?  The enemy tries to make us believe their are no rules, that we are free to do as we please and anyone that says different is evil and even uses partial truths such as they will know good and evil.

Once we the first step is complete, our flesh takes over and it births lust in our hearts “And when the woman SAW that the tree was GOOD for food and pleasant to the EYES and a tree to be DESIRED to make one WISE…”.  This little conversation with the enemy disarmed their reverence of God’s command and then allowed her flesh to look upon this object as desirable, pleasant to the eyes and then appealed to her intellect as it being able to make them wise and even to be equal with God.  This is the work of the enemy, to break your trust in God, to make you feel you have no responsibility and that those things which we clearly know are wrong, are really good.

So, the end of the work the enemy begun upon Adam and Eve, they took of the fruit of the tree with disregard to God’s commandment and that day, their spirit within them died just as God had promised.  Beyond this, God drove them out of the garden and set Cherubims and a flaming sword to guard the gate that they may not come back in and eat of the tree of life that they may live forever.

The enemy does not change, this pattern continues throughout the Bible and in life around us and often in our own lives.  The enemy is waiting to be your friend so that he may destroy you.  Does he really care about you, I mean, what have you done to him.  The enemy does not care anything about you, his only goal is to hurt the heart of God and the only way he can do that is to get you to turn away from God, as he knows how much God loves us all, or that you would hurt others. 

Remember:

Jas 1:13-15 ~ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

You are nothing to the enemy, but a tool for him to get back at God, his promises are empty and does not last, at the end of the day you are laid waste, lost and alone full of regrets and sorrows.  That is not a road to follow, but there is a narrow road that will lead to forgiveness, blessing, peace, fulfillment and love, that is the path we all must take.

Healing IS the atonement.  What?  Yep, the healing is of our total being, body, soul, spirit.  We have been made in right standing with God, our relationship has been “healed”.  We inherit the blessings and this includes physical healing.  The price has already been paid and we are no longer under the curse of sickness. 

In the wilderness, when the fiery serpents were killing many people, God told Moses:

Num 21:8-9  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

This was the Lord’s healing of the people who had sinned against Him.  They lifted up the serpent and “ALL” where healed that looked upon it.  In the New Testament, Jesus said John 3:14-15:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Jesus knew exactly what the reference to being lifted up would portray.  For when the people of old who spoke against God, would look upon that serpent nailed to the poll being shown powerless and defeated, that God had taken the victory over that curse, which they had brought upon themselves and their sin would be forgiven, they would be physically healed and not perish.  This is what Jesus performed on the cross, who healed us into right standing with God, defeating the curse of the law.  That curse included sickness, disease and lack of provision.  We have been reborn and now live under the favor of God!

This is yet another picture of the atonement being complete, bringing a greater covenant not a weaker one.  The message of the Good News is that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, placing a new spirit within us and giving us the Holy Spirit to lead us unto perfection (He has placed His Law into our hearts).  No longer are we under the curse of the law, we have inherited this blessing through the Christ Jesus!

This lines up with:

James 5:14-16 ~ Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

See the resemblance?  We look to God in faith, we are healed and if we have committed sins, they are forgiven.  Again, physical healing and forgiveness tied together.  Many times through the Gospels we see Jesus healing them physically and then forgiving their sins.

Again, under the past covenant, we have:

Psalms 103:1-5 ~ Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquites; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

We clearly see physical healing, provision and forgiveness of sins all bundled into one package.  See the pattern emerging?  This pattern runs through the Bible if we pay attention.  It is God’s will to “Heal” you, to make you in right standing with Him, which brings healing to your physical body, forgiveness of sin and provision, this is the blessing of God, which the Christ shed his blood on that cross to bring to us.  It is the Good News, the favor of God!

There is no doubt we are living in the last days.  Not only are our youth forced to take a "gay indoctrination" seminar, but also ordered to sign a "confidentaility agreement" to not tell their parents.  Yep, that is happening in Illinois high school for 14-year old students.  Remember, someone "will" teach your kids, either you will teach them your Christian faith or someone else will teach them their evil ways, it is up for you to choose.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54717

There are several moves right now to make descrimination of homosexuals to be a crime which would force religions to accept them and no longer say the act of homosexuality is a sin.  If these groups have their way, should you say they are in error or do not accept them in your religious organizations, you will go to jail. 

I read this post today:

http://invisiblefootprints.blogspot.com/2005/02/where-does-adultery-begins.html

When I tried to comment, it had a 1,000 letter limit and I did not want to totally flood his blog comments with my post, so I am posting my reply here. 

This is one passage I have found a bit of mystery.  In the King James (everyone, I am not in for a battle of versions, just illustrating the point) the passage is:

Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

What I have found interesting it that is says for the "cause of fornication" and then goes on to mention "adultery" as the end result after the divorce.  I wonder if possible He was implying for grounds of a make that was not pure when married by promised to have been.  The reason I say this is that "Fornication" is something you do when you are not married and "adultery" is something you do after you are married.  In the OT a spouse would be killed in the situation of having fornication prior to the marriage while hiding it from their new spouse.

It may just be a battle on words, but it a passage that has made me wonder at times.  I know a lot of "Christians" that believe this just means that if their spouse sleeps with someone else they are free to divorce them.  Hope they are right for there are many in that boat.

In addition, it seems strange that there would be a "holding" over of adultery after a divorce.  You could kill the spouse then be forgiven but no if you divorced them?  I know it does not work that way, but many have asked this of me before, and I really do not have any absolute answers.

They only time I can see in the Bible that there seems to be an absolute allowance for divorce would be if you are married to an unbeliever and they request to be released or possible if a spouse was not virgin material when you married them and you thought they were.  I am not even sure of the latter one.  There may be the times of adultery in a relationship, but I think that is scary ground to walk on just in case.

I really do not know exactly where God stands on these issues.  He was clear about the woman caught in adultery and no one could cast the first stone (although He could have as He was pure but did not).  There are passages such as "love covers a multitude of sins" that help, but it is one of several areas in Christianity I just do not know for sure.  It does not seem absolute passages to settle this issue once and for all in my mind.

One other thought here.  If you lust after a person that you are not married to (let your thoughts run wild without trying to control them) and have been found to have committed adultery in your heart, in the one method of those passages, I wonder if that would free your spouse to divorce you... If that were the case, anyone could get divorced ;)

Thanks for the post!

NOTE: When this post was move to the new blog the comments were lost.