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Paul must have missed his own memo there then. When he was stuck in prison, chained to the guards, all he would have had to do was demand God let him out and give him a fleet of chariots and a mansion. In fact all the apostles lived pretty crummy lives as far as their circumstances go. No word of faith preacher would have stood for that.
That is an excellent point.
I used to listen to him a bit a very long time ago. But I just couldn't bear hearing the Faith Message over and over again. I do believe in a Faith Gift, but Faith Doctrine goes way over the top, insisting that Christians have the "magic key" to prosperity, or the "pin number" leading directly to getting anything we "claim" is ours.
People like Kenneth Copeland, and the many who have appeared on TBN, fail to see the Scriptural blueprint for the Christian experience in the present age. Yes, there can be some prosperity and blessing. But often, it is a matter of persecution and tribulation. And clearly, we cannot proclaim what we want and expect to get it, if, as James says, we determine to spend it on our carnal pleasures.
There is something about our Christian partnership with God in which we pursue what is best in the Kingdom of God. Sometimes that means we are blessed for our obedience. At other times we have to give up our rights and benefits, putting it off due to conditions on earth at present. We do suffer illnesses because of our proximity to sinners on this fallen earth. And we do have a sin nature ourselves, which needs to be tempered by the discipline of the Lord.
Much of this is unbalanced in the Prosperity Message, or the Faith Message. I think these teachers are real Christians, but I think their "gospel" is designed to flatter people that they are in charge and can get what they want. It tells people what they want to hear, that they are "God's elite," and have that special door accessing the treasure at the end of the rainbow, which of course is nowhere!
It's because he had chosen wisdom to rule the people. He did not chose wealth. So God blessed him with wisdom and everything he didn't ask God for, God gave him. Do the prosperity leaders ask the congregation to pray for wisdom or do they ask to support them financially so that they can over indulge themselves in financial blessing to get that extra private jet. Read your bible.
If the jet were used to travel as a missionary to other countries, I can see how that would propagate the gospel.
I left open the option that I might be wrong and therefore have not slandered him.
