Why I Hate The Gospel of Prosperity

Doesn't God want us to be successful? Isn't there some truth that if I follow God's laws I can avoid the hardships in this life? Is this what Jesus meant when He said, 'I have come to give you life...life to the full?' Some teach, come and receive Jesus and your problems will go away. There are successful ministers in America preaching that God wants to bless you financially, but you have to step out and give first. Does this correlate with what Jesus taught?

Pastor and Author, John Piper, gives his response to those who claim that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous in this life. Watch the following video and give your thoughts & comments.

The Road Home

   In 2004, the group Mercy Me came out with their song, Homesick.  By just reading the title of the song, you can surmise that it’s about someone missing home…obviously! But as you listen to the lyrics, you realize that the home that’s being missed is not a home located here on this earth or in this life. It's not even a home where the singer has lived before. Here’s how the chorus reads:

   I close my eyes and I see your face. If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place. Lord won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow. I’ve never been more homesick then now…

    It can be confusing to be homesick over a place that you’ve never been or even seen. Why would anyone consider such a place home in the first place? But when our eyes are opened to a new world devoid of pain, suffering, disease, and death, we begin to understand how corrupt and tarnished this current world we live in is. Thus, our hearts begin to long for something more than this world can offer. I would argue that every person feels a bit out of place in this present world. Solomon wrote that God has placed eternity in the hearts of men. Meaning, we all long for something more than living for a time and then death and then annihilation. And this is no accident. We desire more because God has made more. Jesus promised His disciples that when He left He would go and prepare a ‘place’ for them. The promise He made is also true for us. Those who follow Christ look forward to a ‘new heaven’ and a ‘new earth.’ We can and should look forward to an eternal home.  

    Speaking to a church in London in November 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God, no one has yet heard about the realm of the resurrected, and not been homesick from that hour, waiting and looking forward joyfully to being released from bodily existence.” –Stations on the Road to Freedom.

   Heaven becomes a reality and our deepest desire at the moment we sincerely believe God’s promises. Death loses its power and intimidation when we come to realize that it’s but the last station in our life on the road home.

   Because this world is all we’re familiar with, it becomes tempting to hold on too tightly and forget what we were made for…a better & eternal home. In addition, Jesus said, those who try to keep their lives will lose it, but those who lose their lives for me and the Gospel will save it. We must be willing to give up trying to fulfill our deepest needs in this life. This world was never meant to satisfy us. Its purpose is only to point us to the better one coming.

   A week after Easter Sunday 1945, a 39 yr. old imprisoned pastor opened up his Bible in a classroom turned prison and now a makeshift sanctuary for that morning’s service. He began by reading the passage from Isaiah 53:5, “…he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” He read another passage, and then spent the remaining time explaining what the verses meant to the prisoners in attendance. A few brief moments after he closed the service in prayer, two men dressed in plain clothes walked into the room and one of them said, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer, get ready to come with us.” Knowing that his time was up, he remarked to a fellow prisoner and friend, “This is the end…for me the beginning of life.”

   In the early hours of that next morning, Dietrich walked up the steps of the gallows at Flossenburg prison; he bowed and prayed one last time; and after a few short moments, he was executed for his public outcry against unfair treatment of the Jews during Nazi control of Germany and for his spying and work to have Hitler assassinated in the now famous ‘Valkyrie’ plot. The camp doctor who witnessed his death would later write about the event, “In almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

    Love casts out fear. The more we love God the less we will fear death and its repercussions. It is but the last doorway home.

'Courageous' The Movie

This is a movie that will be out in theaters this year, and one that every father should make a point to go and see. Just watching this trailer has inspired me. I pray that it starts a movement of God turning children's hearts back to their fathers. May you be blessed you 'Modern-day Knights' to live the calling God has laid out for you.

Blessings,

Derek

 

A Reasonable Question

   Several years ago, when my oldest child was around 5, a friend of mine and I agreed to take our families up to Chicago for a day at the zoo. As you can imagine, our children were all excited and eager to get on our journey as we loaded up the cars and made plans to meet each other at the front gate.

   After arriving, we purchased our tickets, and made our way through the turnstile and into the park…children in tow. Being a hot summer day in the city, the park was full of people. Of course, we didn’t let that deter us from seeing our favorite species as we made our way through the crowd and the maze of exhibits.

   A few hours passed when the little feet of some of the members of our group began to get a little tired. We decided to take a break from the action for awhile. Making our way to a couple of empty tables and chairs, we settled down and began to attend to the needs our families. After a few moments, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, my friend’s son walk up to him and ask, “Dad, why are we here?” Without looking up from his duties with his other child, my friend replied, “We’re here to see the animals…to have fun!” But this wasn’t the answer he was looking for. He retorted, “No dad, I mean, why are we here…on earth?”

   At this point, I was all ears. What would my friend say to him? What a great opportunity this was. This little boy, who was no more than 4 years old at the time, was already beginning to wonder what his purpose in life was. I stopped what I was doing and was now watching and waiting as this conversation unfolded.

    It’s been said that there are 3 questions every person will ask at some point in their lives. The first is a question of origin (where did I come from?). The second is a question of destiny (What happens to me after I die?). And the third is a question of purpose (What’s the reason behind me being here?). It was this 3^rd question that this little fellow was wanting an answer to.

    I wish I could tell you that my friend sat his son down on the bench and looked him straight in the eye and gave him the best answer he could, but I can’t. In fact, my friend didn’t give him an answer at all. He just raised his head slightly and said in frustration, “Son, I don’t know.” And with that, his son turned around and quickly focused his attention on something else. 
    A part of me wishes I could go back to that day and answer him, or at least encourage my friend to answer him. After all, I watched this all unfold and said nothing to either one of them.

   The young boy should be around 16 today, so in case he or his dad reads this, or if anyone else for that matter has the same question, I would like to respond now.

   The reason we were made; the reason we exist; the reason we move and have our being is for the glory and pleasure of God. The earth and all that is in it exists to bring glory to and awareness of God. The universe shows the splendor and grandeur of our Creator. When we make much of God and acknowledge Him, we are fulfilling our number one reason for existing.

   Furthermore, we glorify God best when we worship Him only. By nature, we are worshipers. There hasn’t been a tribe or a people group discovered on this planet that isn’t worshiping something or someone. But unless we’re worshiping the One, True God, we worship in error and miss our primary purpose. Even heaven and all of its inhabitants worship God.

   How do we worship God? Contrary to what many think, this is not where we get into a discussion on musical preferences. Nor is it the number of visits one makes to the church building every week either. A.W. Tozer wrote, “If we don’t worship God seven days a week, we don’t worship Him one day a week.”

   Worship occurs in the entire life of the believer. It is authentic and Holy Spirit led. It’s in our actions, but more importantly it involves our entire lives. For Jesus said:

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  -John 4:24 NIV

   So whether I’m sitting in a building surrounded by like-minded people singing songs I enjoy, or whether I’m in the middle of Wal-Mart during Christmas season, I can be worshiping God…and that’s His desire…that wherever and whatever I’m doing, I’m always in His presence adoring Him.