The Danger Of The Prosperity Gospel

We have a responsibility to the Gospel to make sure that we not only uphold it, share it, and live it but to also defend it. Any misrepresentation of God’s Word should be met, and countered, with sound Biblical doctrine.

The prosperity Gospel that teaches if you are in God’s will then you will be blessed with health, wealth and success isn’t the good news message that Jesus spoke. The danger of such a tainted message is that it could (and does) easily lead to disbelief when we arrive on difficult times. Those types of hard days aren’t reserved for those who are distant from God, those types of hard days are just a part of life.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." – John 16:33

Does our sinful nature lead us into trouble? Absolutely it does! However, sometimes (often times) we face difficult challenges so that God can reveal His power in us, strengthen us, and/or grow our faith. God’s message to the exiles in Ezekiel 13, condemning false prophets, still applies today to those who water down and distort the truth of God’s word in order to profit from it.

Here’s a message that I preached on 12-3-14 on Ezekiel 13 and the dangers of the prosperity Gospel. 

Confused? Ask For Help!

James 1:5-8

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.

​There are two things we can take from this passage. First, we need to understand that times will come when we do not understand a situation or circumstance. We need to know that its okay when we reach that moment but we also need to know that we can (and should) seek the Lord's wisdom on it. God desires to reveal things to us. So many people live shallow Christian lives simply because they are trying to figure everything out on their own and not seek wisdom from the Lord. 

Lack of understanding is dangerous because it can cause us to doubt and when we doubt our God and our faith we are stuck with an inward struggle that results in no outward reflection of Jesus in our lives. That's why James says that the doubter is tossed about like the waves of the sea. 

Instead, God wants us to have a clear sense of direction and understanding. The only way we're able to do that is to seek Him on a daily basis and ask for understanding.

The second thing we can take from this passage is that God gives generously and without criticizing when we ask for understanding. In other words, He treats us with grace and mercy. We all have been, or will be, in a situation where someone around us doesn't understand our position, instruction or direction. The natural reaction is to respond with frustration but let's always remember how God responds to us. 

Pray for the trust to seek understanding from the Lord and the ability to respond to others with the grace and mercy of Christ. 

Use Difficult Times As Teaching Moments

James Chapter 1 

Greeting 

1 James, a •slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:To the 12 tribes in the Dispersion.

Greetings. Trials and Maturity 

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 

​Difficult times are going to come about. Sometimes it may be with you and mom or I or with your brother and sisters. Sometimes it may be at school, work or with athletics or something else. The point is this, you will not guide your way through life smoothly. 

The question is, what do you do in difficult times. James (the brother of Jesus) tells us that we should consider it joy when those times occur. The reason is because God is trying to teach us something and better us. Our immediate response seems to be to answer difficulties with frustration, blame and anger. I want to encourage you to instead, respond by thanking God for an opportunity to learn something about yourself, someone else or Him. Then seek the purpose behind your difficult circumstance by seeking the Lord. 

There are two ways to respond to difficult times/situations. One way destroys our relationships and reputation and the other builds our Godly character. I pray that you seek the later of the two. 

Occupy Movement Linked To Bomb Plot In Cleveland

I'm not sure why we didn't see this on the national news over the weekend (sarcasm) but there is a strong connection between the Occupy movement and domestic terrorism in Cleveland, OH. According to CantonRep.com, five men were arrested on an accusation of trying to bomb a highway bridge south of Cleveland using fake bombs that were provided through an undercover FBI agent.

One of the men arrested, Anthony Hayne, also happens to have signed the lease to a warehouse that houses around a dozen Occupy protesters in the Cleveland area. Now the Occupy movement is trying to distance themselves from Hayne and the perception of violence. Don't be fooled though!


The Occupy movement is grounded in socialism and in violence. Occupy Cleveland spokesman, Joseph Zitt, says that the group of men arrested don't reflect the non-violent philosophy movement and have been removed from the group. “These people participated in aspects of the movement, but once we discovered what was going on we decided they could not be part of it,” Zitt said. “I wish we had learned earlier.”


As with just about any other aspect of life we need to look at what people are doing as opposed to what they are saying. Actions always, always speak louder than words. The video above is from an Occupy the Occupy Los Angeles camp. You tell me, do the words, " the bourgeoisie won’t go without violent means. Revolution! Yes, revolution that is led by the working class. Long live revolution! Long live socialism!” followed by cheering sound like a non-violent group to you?

Don't Think We Take The Bible For Granted? Watch This Video!

In a culture where we leave Bibles laying around in our cars from Sunday to Sunday, on coffee tables or stuck on bookshelves its very easy to take the Word of God for granted. However, what if we didn't have the Bible in our own language? How would our attention to the detail of God's Word be then?

A friend of mine sent me this video. Its of the day that the Kimyal Tribe of Papua, Indonesia received the Bible, written in their language, for the very first time. I'm amazed at how much they celebrated the arrival of the Bible and the amount of emotion that was shown once it was received. Its certainly something that we can learn from because to these people the Word of God has legitimate value. I'm willing to bet that you won't find one just laying around on a shelf among this tribe.

How about we learn something from our brothers and sisters here and start celebrating the Word of God!

Did Abraham Believe In The Resurrection Power Of God When He Offered Isaac?

We just celebrated Easter weekend and the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. It’s the ability of God to raise Jesus from the dead that should give every Christian believer the confidence of knowing that there is no circumstance in life that we cannot overcome through the power of Christ who lives in us. However, in a follow-up to my sermon from Easter Sunday we discover that believing in the resurrection power of God is not limited to the New Testament.

In Genesis chapter 22 God asks Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him in the region of Moriah. Keep in mind that Isaac was the promised child of the covenant who the Lord had said would use to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. There’s no doubt that Isaac meant the world to Abraham because in addition to being the fulfillment of God’s promise he was Abraham and Sarah’s only child.

So why would God ask for Isaac to be sacrificed? The brief moral of the story is that God was testing Abraham to see if Isaac had replaced the Lord’s spot in Abraham’s life and whether Abraham still looked at Isaac as God’s blessed child or as his own child. If you’re familiar with the story then you know that the Lord ultimately sent a substitute sacrifice for Isaac once he saw Abraham’s willingness to be obedient. God then reiterated his promise to Abraham in regards to the covenant. However, what did Abraham believe was going to happen if he had truly sacrificed Isaac?

Part of the answer is found in verse five. There he tells his servants to stay with the animals while he and Isaac go up to worship. The he says specifically that “we will come back to you.” There was no doubt in Abraham’s mind that he was returning with Isaac. He was fully committed to living out God’s covenant in his life and was devoted in following the Lord’s direction even when it wasn’t crystal clear and extremely difficult. God’s promise meant so much that he actually would have sacrificed his own son for the sake of obedience to the Lord.

Today we look at that story and are tempted to comment on how sick and twisted it is that Abraham would have actually slain his child in the presence of Jehovah. In doing so we fail to see that the focus of the story isn’t on Isaac at all but rather Abraham’s heart. The fulfillment of God’s promise wasn’t based on Isaac’s health or life. It was based solely on God’s power and Abraham was confident in that power, so much so that the author of Hebrews tells us in 11:19 that Abraham believed that God would have risen Isaac from the dead had he been sacrificed. Now that’s faith!

You and I also have a promise that we can stake our lives on. Jeremiah 29:11 (what I’m preaching on this Sunday) tells us that God has a plan for our lives that is to prosper us and not to harm us. God’s plan is to give us hope and a future. Seek to live out God’s plan for you and be willing to sacrifice all at the altar of God knowing that His resurrection power can restore and rebuild broken, hearts, dreams and lives as well as supply all that we need for prosperity within his plan. Ho

Melchizedek - Could He Be Jesus In The Old Testament?

One of the great things that I love about my church is the inquisitiveness of our congregation. In my sermon on April 1st I mentioned that Abram's encounter with Melchizedek in Genesis 14 could have been an encounter with Jesus Christ. In fact, that's actually what I believe and here's why.

In Genesis 14 Melchizedek is described as a "priest of God Most High" but he's also introduced as the king of Salem which is important to note because of the meaning of both his name and the meaning of Salem. Before we go there let's look back at Genesis 14 real quick. It says that he is a priest and that Abraham gave him a tithe of ten percent. This is long before the tribe of Levi and eventually the priestly order that came through it. At this point in history there is no Levitical Law to tell people to tithe. Melchizedek surpasses all of that!

While that's not enough evidence on its own to indicate that Melchizedek is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament so consider this. In Psalm 110 David is clearly speaking of the Messiah when he says, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." Did you catch that? Genesis describes Melchizedek as a priest of God Most High and then David says that Jesus is a priest forever!

Now, consider this. To my knowledge the only other place in the Bible to talk about Melchizedek is the book of Hebrews. In chapter seven we are told that the name Melchizedek actually means King of Righteousness and that king of Salem means King of Peace. There is no other King of Righteousness or King of Peace above Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings!

Then the author of Hebrews goes on to say that Melchizedek is without origin. No beginning or end, no mother or father and without beginning of life or end of days. He then goes on to say that he is a priest forever (the exact same phrase David attributes to Jesus) resembling the Son of God.

How could Melchizedek be anyone other than Jesus?