Prosperity Preachers are Grifters!

Prosperity preachers are a lot like scammers who run pyramid schemes. They draw people in with flattery, and promises of wealth while the only ones getting rich are the scandalous disreputable charlatans at the top.

Worse than grifters these false church leaders use God's name to manipulate and demoralize those who are looking for quick fixes to life and who are greedy for the gain they did not earn.

The grifters and charlatans are to blame but so are those who fall for their schemes. All anyone has to do is ask God and read His Word, and the truth would be given to them.

James 1:5-6 ". 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"

Just like the widow in the Bible who gave her last two coins, many people bring hardship on themselves by allowing these grifters to fool them into giving the money to them as though they are buying their way into heaven.

Imagine someone feeling guilty merely because someone else told them they should give, I can't help but think this is a form of co-dependency, in which the giver feels compelled to please those leaders that don't even know their name, nor anything else about them.

If the people who attended the gatherings of the grifters would begin to read their Bibles and ask God for truth they would be delivered from the clutches of these swindlers.

The problem is that grifters say what the people want to hear, the people are doing it to themselves by desiring what the charlatans are peddling. The hearts of the grifters are evil and so are the hearts of those who fall into their trap.

2 Timothy 4:3 "

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts."

My prayer is that in these last days before Christ comes, many will become born-again and fall away from the grifters and their foolishness to begin to enjoy the peace of the Lord that comes from trusting in Him.

Tithing in the Church Age is not Biblical

How many of you have heard all your lives about the widow who gave her last coin as an example of how we should all look at giving.

The story is actually a condemnation of the Pharisees who suckered her into giving all she had when she was poor and would have nothing left.

The widow was trying to buy her way into the kingdom with her last two cents.

Jesus Christ was not praising the widow he was condemning the Pharisees for intimidating her into giving all she had.

In God's word, the old and new testament alike tells the people of God to take care of their widows not take from them.

Tithes were for the poor, the fatherless, and the widows. So why would the Pharisees be allowing her to give her money when they should have been giving her money.

Widows should not be giving their money they should be receiving. from others. Of course, widows who have enough and love the Lord will want to give but no one should expect giving from widows who barely have enough to eat.

Jesus Christ was chastising the Pharisees, it really wasn't about praising the widow for what she did it was more about chastising the Pharisees for taking from her at all.

Does this remind us of the modern-day Pharisees who sinfully beg and intimidate people to give money while parading about the stage in costly attire?

There is no scriptural model of passing a money plate for people to put in their money. There is no such thing as a tithe in the new testament assembly. Each person is to give as they are led by God and they are not to let others know how much they give. The leaders of the church are not to boast about how much money came in.

One more practice in the modern church that flies in the face of the word of God. When I realized this about tithes I no longer worried about whether or not someone else thought I was giving enough, I gave as led by the Holy Spirit and didn't speak of it to others. And, I had no business knowing or caring about how much anyone else gave.

If any church leader comes to your home to chastise you for your giving, my suggestion is to stop giving to them at all, not one more penny goes to a church that is so greedy and controlling that the leaders would defy the word of God because of their greed.

Just saying!!!!

Hell and Mr. Fudge (2012) | Full Movie | Mackenzie Astin | Keri Lynn Pra...

Only According to His Will

We need to be clear about something, terms that are being misused to justify disobeyig God's word.

Many people call it legalism when we go to God's word to find His heart and to obey.

Here is what God said to me one day when I was confronted with the question of legalism" He said this to me:

Legalism is mandating man's rules that God never gave and obedience to God's word is not legalism.

I know it's a hard pill to swallow for many people, but God really did expect us to obey His Word the Bible.

God answers us only when we ask according to His will.

John 14:14-16 "14 If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it. 15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—…"

Walking Obediently with Mouth Open or Walking Disobediently with Mouth Closed?

Honesty = Integrity

Integrity = strong moral principles; moral uprightness

When we are honest it is not just what we say, it's how we live.

Do I live by the cultural traditions to get along or do I follow Christ because I love Him?

Be Honest about this and it will tell us things about ourselves that will help us to work toward honesty and integrity.

May all our close relationships be based on the word of God not on the cultural Christianity of our day. Cultural Christianity is destructive and deceptive, authentic Christianity is full of peace and joy as well as integrity.

2 Corinthians 8:21

"21 for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of other people."

2 Timothy 2:15

"15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

Colossians 3:9

"9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices."

The best witness we can be to the unsaved as born-again believers is to have a high degree of honesty and integrity. If we do not have these character qualities then it would be best to keep our mouths shut rather than speak of Christ as they watch us walk against Him.

Just Saying!

Cannot Praise the Lord Enough

I cannot praise God enough for all He does for me every day. Things are hard at times but they never seem insurmountable when I know Who my Lord is and that He knows what I do not know.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

AND,

When I leave this world I know I have a home all ready for me prepared by my Savior Jesus Christ.

John 14:2-4 "…2 In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”…"

Anyone who has confessed their sin to God and desires to be transformed into a new creation by Him will have that special dwelling place too when they leave this earth.

I feel sad for those who think they are working their way to heaven without Christ. I feel sorry for those who have not wanted to follow Christ and for those who think they are following Him but have only been pretending, those who remain in their lost condition while attending a church gathering week after week, comfortable with their social club.

My prayer is that those who are pretenders will become honest with themselves and confess their sins to be cleansed by Christ.

If the pretenders become authentically born-again their eyes will be opened and they will see things in a completely different way from the way they saw them before. They will begin to see things with Spiritual eyes, the eyes of the Holy Spirit Who lives in them.

2 Corinthians 4:18

"18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Hallelujah!!!!

False Accusations and Flattery are Equally Manipulative

If someone falsely accuses you of something you can be sure that person who is accusing is struggling in their own heart with the very thing they accuse others of doing.

Those who wish to hide what is in their heart they believe others are hiding things in their hearts too.

Be careful what you accuse others of doing without evidence, you may be revealing your own heart to someone.

Also, remember even flattery is a form of lying, it reveals that the one who flatters wishes to be flattered themselves.

Flattery is a way of disarming people to have power over them.

Proverbs 29:5

"A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."

Proverbs 26:24-28

"Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin."