Are You Ready?

Imagine this scenario I was shown as I was praying.

I was led to a beach then to a location nobody dares cross or even approach due to the gangs there. Murder was commonplace; robbery was the safest you could expect after getting close to that place or the people whose den it was.

It was a gang even the police dared not confront for their brutality and deviant schemes. They had to literally plead with the gang if there was something they needed to do in those haunts.

Well, God led me there almost against my will because there was no knowing what to expect (I suspect that is what Jonah went through). I can accurately say that He dragged me there.

But He not only dragged me to the location which was scary enough; He took me right at the centre of their convention of sorts, a place that probably had more than one such gang.

Then I started to preach. What I remember was their ire when they saw me in the middle of their meeting. They immediately started effecting plans to eliminate me.

One right behind me came at me with a dagger but God spoke to him through my mouth about what he was coming to do and he was shocked because I was not even looking his direction. Another one started drawing his pistol and God also spoke about that as he was planning it.

Anyway, as that went on I was sharing the Gospel and dealing with all such interruptions until finally they were arrested by the Gospel.

All of them, and we are talking about over fifty, accepted Christ’s offer of salvation.

Of course that port city was transformed immediately.

And that is where my problems started. Where do I direct them to worship? Which church will accept them? Which church will integrate them into their membership? Which church will disciple them?

Think with me along these lines.

Can God save the down and outs? Does He save them?

Do we have the spiritual infrastructure to receive them into our congregations? Do we have the spiritual capacity to disciple those we dread?

Do we believe that Christ can change them? Do we behave like people who believe that?

It is said that talk is cheap. Platitudes come in their bucketfuls. We can confess all we can about the power Christ has to change anybody but many times that does not get beyond our confession. We will agree that they can be saved, but only when there is sufficient distance between us and them. We can even support someone ministering to them but will never even want to see what our giving is doing.

But our duplicity is exposed when such people have means. We have no problems accepting a former thief if he still has the money. We have no problem with jailbirds if they continue with their expensive lifestyle. We may even ordain them to pastor a congregation. We don’t have issues accepting politicians whose delving into the occult is known by all and sundry. We do not have issues receiving tithes from the corrupt to build our churches or maintain our comfort.

But I am sure we know that white collar thieving is still stealing. We know that the elitist conman is still a thief. And the corrupt may be even worse than serial murderers because they may destroy whole communities as opposed to individuals. And the person who solicits sex to give a job or promotion might be more destructive than a crude rapist as he may destroy marriages and families, especially because the damage is not visible yet it grows and spreads like gangrene in the spiritual structure.

But let us get back to my topic. Who will disciple those rejects when they get saved? Must we give them ten years to prove that they have changed? Did Christ do that to those who came to Him?

A case in point is a friend who became fed up with hypocrisy and duplicity in the church he served very passionately and converted to Islam. We prayed (at least I know I prayed) for him to come back to the fold and he came. He even had sessions with some leaders about his decision.

Well, he attended a huge church function and my heart bled when I heard what happened. He was arrested and detained in a police car for the whole duration of the service. He was simply treated as a terror suspect.

Was the church really interested in this young man? Did they pray for him when he was lost? Were their prayers answered?

I am fed up when I see a red alert when a Somali looking stranger attends church in Nairobi. Everybody from the ushers to the pastoral team is made aware that a suspicious character is in the church. If there is CCTV, it is all focused on him.

Assuming he had come to church to become a Christian, is there any possibility of getting through all that hostility to get to Christ? Would we even want to pray for him if he asks for prayer to receive Christ? Is Christ also scared of the suicide jacket?

I am tired of seeing former prisoners being treated as second or even third class members of Christ’s body. An adulterer in the singing group is treated better. A pastor who sleeps with his flock does not raise any eyebrows. A leader who fleeces his members is celebrated instead of defrocked.

Are there some sins Christ’s blood not cleanse? Does He also cleanse the sins of the prisoners? Does He change them as He changes us?

One aspect of the end times that we are in is the ingathering of God’s people from all over, so called the end time harvest.

I believe we will soon be hearing of suicide bombers getting saved in church compounds and will have to be helped out of the suicide vests. I actually believe there are enough of them who have become Christians but do not know where to go because the church has rejected them and do not care to know whether they have responded to Christ or not. Will we receive them? Very soon Al Shabaab members will start coming to Christ in droves. Will we receive them or would we rather that they died without Christ a safe distance from us.

And history bears me out. How many persecutors became Christians by seeing the fortitude and grace of the people they were killing? What happened to Paul?

 I want a church that will receive a former prostitute dying of AIDS and disciple her back to health so that she can reach out to her former customers and colleagues. I want a church that will receive a condemned murderer and adopt him in prison, even growing him into Christ likeness and receive him as a son if he is released, without discrimination. I want a church that truly believes that Christ came to the world to save sinners, and no distinctions are made about them.

I want a church that will receive former Muslims and disciple them without looking at them as security threats. I want a church that will wholly embrace former terrorists and disciple them into effective ministry.

If God shows me such a church, and this is my prayer, I will transfer my membership there IMMEDIATELY. If there is no such, my prayer is that God will raise a team that will be ready to venture in this direction. I am ready to join that team, also immediately.

I am tired of playing church without allowing Christ to bring in His harvest. I am tired of seeing decisions for Christ being treated as statistics. I am tired of the classification of sin and sinners.

I do not want my generation bypassed by the move of God; because that is judgment. I do not want to be part of a generation that blocks the end time harvest of souls. I do not want my children to wonder why Christ tarries because we have refused to allow Him to bring in His sheaves through our prejudice.

I am ready for a church that has enough Barnabases to introduce former ISIS and Boko Haram killers into discipleship and ministry like he did with Paul.

God is like that. He called a terrorist (Simon the Zealot) to be a disciple. Among the first evangelists was the Samaritan woman who was a husband stealer, probably a prostitute. Zacchaeus was a corrupt tax collector as was Matthew who was a disciple. Jephthah was a terrorist and gang leader. And of course Rahab was a harlot.

If the security and respectability of your church and structure is more important than the harvest of souls, then count me out. I am probably already out and only praying for direction as to where Christ would have me be.

The here and now focus is robbing me of real spiritual nurture and vitality I get when I am participating in what God is doing in restoring a lost word to Himself. The blessing in the flesh does not satisfy my spiritual hunger.

As I close, I want you to go back to where I started. Where do all these saved criminals or terrorists go to church? Where would you direct them if they asked you? That is where I am.

God bless you

Anointed Donkeys

Imagine with me this donkey conversation

Donkey 1: You have been so aloof lately. Why don’t you spend as much time with us?

Donkey 2: I have been quite busy. You see I have started getting opportunities that require my spending less time with you.

Donkey 3: But you also seem to be avoiding us. Why do you not even wave at us when you are passing?

Donkey 2: I am too busy to notice anything that does not fit in my purpose.

Donkey 1: My friend, that borders on pride

Donkey 2: If walking according to my new status is pride, then I plead guilty.

Donkey 1: Eh? You actually mean you have been avoiding us?

Donkey 2: No. It is you who are fighting to drag me to your level, something that I will resist with everything I have

Donkey 4: I hope you are not starting to imagine that you are a horse.

Donkey 2: Even a horse is beneath me.

Donkey 3: Now you are taking this too far. Since when did a donkey attain a higher status than a horse?

Donkey 2: Have you ever see a horse being given red carpet treatment?

Donkey 1: Explain

Donkey 2: If you never saw it, did you not hear the time people were removing their clothes and laying them on the road for me to walk on?

Donkey 3: Was it not for Jesus that the people were doing it?

Donkey 2: How many times has Jesus been walking these roads without anyone doing anything of the sort for Him? Could they have done it if it were not me who was carrying Him?

End of the conversation.

Many ministers, especially in our times reason so much like Donkey 2. They believe that God has no other choice but to use them. They ascribe all that God does through them to their persona.

In fact many announcements and advertisements for meetings, seminars and Gospel crusades leave no doubt as to who the main guy is.

‘With God all things are possible’ is not complete without the addition, ‘with so and so’. The attendance of some ministers commands greater awe and expectation than the presence of Christ would. People attend events and concerts because of the minister present rather than a response to God’s invitation. I know of people who will go on leave (stop attending church) when their star performer (sadly called pastor) is on leave. I have even encountered some who will come to church and go back home because they discover their star is performing elsewhere. And I am talking about people who proudly confess it.

The sad fact is that these pastors are proud of the fact that they are the reason people go to church. Yet who are we?

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2Corinthians 4:7)

There is no glory inherent in us. A light bulb is an ornament without electricity. It may be the focus of the room, but only because it carries the light giving glory.

That glory is Christ in us. Remove Christ and we are worse than that light bulb without power. This is because in us dwells nothing good. This makes it very clear that what is visible is what is being radiated by whatever is in us. And that is what we see in Galatians 5 where the works of the flesh are contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit. In each the resident presence reproduces itself in the vessel holding it.

Even at our best we can only radiate what is in us and not ourselves. We therefore should lead people to the source of what we radiate.

For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2Corinthians 2: 15 – 16)

God is never at our mercy. Remember this

And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:40)

We are the ones in need of His mercy. We do not deserve to serve Him at all. Nothing in us gives us any stature in God’s sight since He already knows that we are dust.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

The fact that He chooses to use us does not change the fact. It in fact amplifies it when we get a glimpse of the One we are serving.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:5)

It is sheer folly, ignorance, even blasphemy to suppose that we qualify to be used. It is even worse when we equate ourselves with God as equal partners.

The first culprit of this is some people we more or less worship for their availability to be used of God. Mariolatry is one such perversion. Mary was not confused as we are about who she was in the sight of Christ, her son in the flesh. Look at her response to God’s offer to use her.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. (Luke 1:38)

She did not treat herself as some of us treat her. But neither did Jesus.

Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Matthew 12: 47 – 50)

Why we think that she and some other dead people can intercede for us is not only incredulous but also completely unscriptural. Or have we forgotten this

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)

Why are we using others to pray for us?

But this message concerns us and our stature or lack of it in the eyes of God.

We know we have fallen for this trap when someone’s daily walk with God is not an essential when one is considering leadership in church and ministry positions.

We look for an excellent voice when we want to raise worshippers without asking whether their lives are consistent with their confession. We look for more degrees without caring to know whether they dwell in God’s presence. We look for the rich without caring to know whether those riches are at the disposal of the King we serve or they are like the rich young ruler in the Bible.

A smartly dressed preacher is regarded better than the one who does not have an elaborate wardrobe. An eloquent debater is respected for wasting an hour expounding on a verse than one so immersed in the word that anything he speaks is the scripture. A magician will draw more people to their ‘church’ with magic tricks and witchcraft than someone whose closeness to God is evident even to the unbelievers. A false prophet has a greater following than a simple proclaimer of the Gospel of Christ.

Even the people we support are many times very clear evidence the kind of donkeys we love. People would rather support an adulterer with a big church than one who struggles because he has refused to compromise his calling. They would rather support a very prominent ministry that pushes the homosexual agenda than one which has decided to stick to the plain Gospel of Christ.

But feeling better than other donkeys does not change the fact that it is still a donkey. In fact it is worse because it has a serious identity crisis. But it gets even worse because it has lost the purpose for which it was created. It has disqualified itself from ever being used by his creator and started living its own self-defeating purpose and of course feels great to it. More like what happened with Eve when she thought to become like God.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. (Psalm 32:9)

That is what happened to Saul, the king. He became more important than the prophet who anointed him, than even the God who commanded it.

It also happened to Nebuchadnezzar. See what he said

The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30)

It happened to Belshazzar when he took temple utensils to his party.

And it attracts judgment, sometimes instant as it is blasphemy however we may want to look at it.

Saul and Belshazzar lost their kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar was demoted to the point that he ate grass like an ox.

But it is Herod who met that judgment dramatically as he started rotting and being eaten by worms as he was standing and taking in all the glory the people were pouring on him.

And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. (Acts 12:23)

But does it have to end that way? Is there a way we can avoid falling in that trap?

Of course God has provided an escape even for that (1 Corinthians 10:13).

But it is not an attractive option for most. It is sacrifice at its most basic.

But we have Christ as our example. See how many times He referred people to His sending authority.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2: 5 – 7)

He surrendered the authority He had to accomplish the mission that brought Him.

And He also gave us the same instruction.

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?  Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. (Luke 17: 7 – 10)

Are you more important than the Gospel you proclaim? Who between you and the Gospel adds value to the other? Who can exist and flourish without the other?

It is essential that we establish that in our hearts and minds who we are in relation to the God we serve. Otherwise we will continue behaving foolishly in our service to Him. Our self importance will very easily disqualify us from being ministers, not only in the eyes of men but also in the eyes of the one we pretend to serve.

Look at some introductions given of ministers as they are called to speak and you will get what I am saying. Some would put Christ to shame if He stood by them as they were being introduced. There would be little difference between them and Herod.

Some churches are extensions of these donkeys. A signboard will be incomplete if it does not have the picture of the main donkey very prominently. An announcement can never be made if it lacks their contribution. Some have wives of the donkey as the deputy and children as directors. And we are talking about church and ministry!

But another problem with our self importance as we do ministry is that we are wont to set the standards instead of relying on God’s eternal standards. It becomes easy to dismiss sin and excuse it for weakness. We become our own judges of character, even dismissing anyone who insists that God is the only one with the standards for any judgment. Thus we will explain sin instead of addressing it, especially if we or our supporters are the culprits.

We also easily become partial with our attention. We elevate those who ‘recognize’ our status and hate those who do not buy into our importance. We hate, even destroy people and ministries whose view of our life and ministry makes them treat us as ordinary donkeys. It becomes worse if they have the backing of scripture and character as we fear they may influence others into their ‘skewed’ view. Sin is sin not because it is so in God’s eyes but because it stands in opposition with our self importance. We handsomely reward those who recognize our elevated status and publicly affirm those who invest in our status.

What kind of donkey are you? Is your status consistent with God’s revelation? Or are you on the firing line of God’s judgment?

The Grace of God

Do you realize that Christ did not die for rebellion? He died for the sins of man.

And that is the reason the devil is not a candidate for grace.

I will paint with bold strokes so that we can get the point very quickly and clearly.

The only reason some people were condemned and others were pardoned is this simple fact. And I want us to realize that nothing has changed that reality even today. God is the same as He has always been.

Cain lost it for that simple fact. He cared for his safety than for his relationship to God. That is why there was no room for him in God’s scheme of things.

We see the same with Pharaoh when confronted with the reality of the God of Israel.

Balaam the prophet died the death of the wicked because his desire for their wealth had a greater pull for him than obedience to the God he knew.

Korah and his partners were swallowed by the earth for that reason.

Saul the king is clearest we get of this reality. We find him explaining away his sin instead of facing it squarely in confession. He finds greater security with his troops than with a right relationship with God.

God’s people also sinned, some of them gravely. But we find them again and again prostrating themselves to God for grace, grace that was extended to them again and again. Some of the sins they did were worse than those of the rejected, but they always faced them head on when confronted for the same. They never explained away their sins. They never sought excuses for their sins.

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10: 26 – 30)

On which side are you?

Have you stopped preaching against sin because you fear offending your wealthy financiers, even starting to call them supporters and partners as if God can partner with people living contrary to His holiness? Do you fear for the finances (tithes and offerings) of the church than the displeasure of God?

Are you in a relationship that is clearly sinful yet choose not to leave it because that is what pays your bills? Do you still stay in that workplace even when God has shown you that your faith is being corroded by the institutional rottenness yet you can’t leave because jobs are hard to come by? Are you pastoring that church when God sent you to another location because the new location offers no assurance for your children’s education yet they are now in high school and college?

Do you still watch that program and movie after God clearly showed you why you should stop?

Do you still maintain friends God has ordered you to disconnect from?

In short are you doing something you know is wrong in the eyes of God? Are you pursuing a course you know does not please God?

Could you have disconnected from the grace of God?

I just feel a great urgency for this message because it is possible that some of us are living on the fringes of God’s grace by our choices and preferences.

You see doing the right thing is not enough in God’s eyes. Doing what He requires is what counts. And I believe that is why we have ministers wondering why they are being sent to hell in Matthew 7: 21 – 23. When we serve God on our terms we will be shocked to realize that we are not really serving Him. Serving Him in obedience to His revelation is what counts. That obedience is better than sacrifice is demonstrated wherever we look in the Bible.

By the way even changing the Bible to agree with our rebellion does not change that fact at all. I read with shock Romans 8: 1 where our responsibility is removed in some versions, I think to make grace all inclusive. I will quote it in full and underline the second part which has been removed.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Being in Christ without following it up with a life of obedience is living in deception, a deception that has the capacity to send us to hell.

Are we willing to take an about turn (repent) so that we can get back into God’s grace?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

There is always grace for the repentant. There is never any grace for the one who has chosen a way away from God’s revelation.

The sacrifice for excising rebellion is sometimes very costly. But the rewards for the same are eternal.

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. (Matthew 18: 8, 19)

Is that compromise and source of rebellion worth losing eternal life? Will you gamble with the grace of God by changing the doctrine you preach? Do you think changing it will change God’s eternal standard?

I will repeat; there is no grace for rebellion.

You See what You Seek

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (1Timothy 6: 4, 5)

I will start this message with the recent happenings in Paris, hoping that you will not take me for a sadist. It saddens me that the doctrine most Christians practice is a faulty one, even worse is that it is managed from hell.

But let us first deal with the Paris massacre. I was shocked when the reports started streaming especially from the place the worst carnage happened.

I was amazed to know that the band performing was called Eagles (angels?) of Death. How do people go to be entertained by people who are proud to be associated with death?

It got worse when videos were released showing the song being performed when the slaughter began. They were rocking to a song ‘Kiss the Devil’ with lyrics really worshipful to the evil one.

How do you expect the devil not to show up in such an environment? How do you cry out asking the devil to show up yet complain when he does it? Why cry out when he shows up with his trade mark?  Do you determine the facet the divine you worship displays? Of course not

This incident shows that what we call ignorance is for the most part worship, worship that will invoke the manifestation of the deity we are directing our worship. Yet in our ignorance we will start crying for the protection of the God we think we worship. I am sure most of the people in that concert hall had no idea that it was a worship service they were attending when they were buying the tickets, a worship of the father of lies whose best reward for his worshippers is stealing, killing and destroying.

And for the most part this is replicated in church again and again.

Someone innocently buys a T-shirt with some strange art and wonders why all of a sudden he is unable to get rid of nightmares. You buy an attractive necklace or bangle and wonder why you all of a sudden start getting sick. I make friends with someone and wonder why it starts being increasingly difficult to read the Bible or pray yet we do not even stay near each other. You stick a beautiful piece of art on your car or laptop and can’t understand why you start feeling as if your wife or husband should be replaced by all these hotties you all of a sudden start noticing. You attend a bash and wonder why it has always to end in risky sexual encounters.

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. (Luke 16:8)

Mention images and people accuse you of spoiling their fun. Mention tattoos that are expressly forbidden by the scriptures and you are treated as too ancient to understand popular trends. Mention their music and they accuse you of being of the Stone Age.

The world understands the spiritual connections certain things attract.

Take an example of a person who commits suicide or murder because a soccer match was the other side of the globe in a place whose connection he makes only by watching the matches. Is it just football?

The game is a worship event. That explains why people take leave to watch the world cup when there is a time zone clash. Yet they may never take a week’s off to visit an ailing grandparent or even parent.

The money flowing into it is just a camouflage for the real thing.

What I will not shout loudly about (though I will shout it in a whisper) is that the game is the introduction to an interaction with the spirits running the show. Then they are able to manipulate you in such a way that you will start enjoying wasting your life running errands for them, and very joyfully so. No wonder the overnight prayer must be passed over when a match is on.

I was also a football fan. And it started long ago when we followed matches on radio. The TV just increased the craving.

I was also a news addict. And it was before I joined the media school and there were 24 hour TV stations. I followed them on short wave radio, one of the most taxing and frustrating tasks for those who have never experienced it. You are following a news item when a clash of waves in the stratosphere dims the signal until you stop hearing it. You then have to wait another hour hoping the same item will be repeated or you look for other stations to see whether they have the same splash. From BBC to VOA to Xinhua to Russia radio (don’t remember the name) and many others.

Until I returned to myself (the closest in English is came to my spiritual senses). I discovered that I was wasting too much time on something that was not only denying me time, sleep and thoughts, but something I had 0% control over. You see my watching has no effect or impact on the game. It is like spending the whole night watching a river flow with a lot of concentration and concern.

Any addiction is managed from hell. That is why all life apparently stops when the craving starts. Anything you MUST do is an addiction. Otherwise explain to me why one can never be addicted to godliness and holiness and must strive at all time because falling back is all ever too easy. Tell me why reading the Bible or living holy is so difficult for the bulk of the Christians.

You see a drunkard knows and confesses that he needs rescuing. A drug addict confesses to his helplessness.

Yet this is all child’s play compared with a faulty doctrine. This is because doctrine convinces me that I am on the right path even when I am on the highway to destruction.

And no doctrine could be more poisonous than that of equating material wealth to spirituality (supposing that gain is godliness).

Confusing the material with the spiritual or associating them is bound to create immense confusion. Using the material to judge the spiritual is as impractical as using a tape measure for liquid quantity. Just because we call a river long does not mean that we use the kilometre to measure the amount of water that makes that river.

That Abraham and Job were rich and blessed is not in dispute. But was Abraham cursed all the time his wife was barren? Was Job cursed when everything had been taken from him? I ask this because in those instances the connections we are nowadays teaching were being trashed.

Between the rich man and Lazarus in the parable Jesus gave, who was blessed and who was cursed? Who had the wealth and who had none? Who had God’s favor and who had none?

Even associating riches with money and things is a very faulty doctrine. You see in my experience the poorest people I know are people with loads of money and among the richest people I know are those with very little material substance.

A rich man overflows his wealth while a poor man must grasp it all as he reaches out to grab more.

Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! (Isaiah 5:8)

Compare this with Job 31.

He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not. (Proverbs 21:26)

The greatest problem with the present doctrine is that it concentrates on what we get and keep as opposed to the kind of blessing God will make us. We will thus pride ourselves in being the most suckful leeches instead of the most effective spreaders of God’s love.

And it gets worse because it makes greed a virtue instead of the vice the Bible calls it. We celebrate the stingy brat even as we lynch the faithful steward. We make Lazarus the despicable one even as we sing praises to the rich because we have overlooked the heavenly view.

It is no wonder that a very minimal percentage of pulpits speak against sin for this simple reason. Associating worldly wealth with God’s favor and blessing will never agree with the Bible’s position on sin. Even the purpose of our redemption is clouded in the haze of this faulty doctrine because it makes more sense that Christ died to make us rich instead of saving us for our sins.

This explains why sin is rampant in our churches as we speak of blessing and breakthrough. We define revival in terms of the vehicles we own instead of sinners saved and lives transformed.

As a result we are leading a lot more people to hell as we parade our faulty doctrine.

Yet God gives wealth. God gives. James 1 says that every perfect gift is from Him.

But wealth is not the end of the game as this doctrine seems to imply, even teach.

Lazarus could easily be identified with the poorest of the poor yet found a place on Abraham’s bosom. Many of God’s great servants died pitiable deaths and lived pitiable lives, and not because they fell out of favor with God. Many of God’s prize servants died in their prime, and not in judgment. Otherwise tell me why Hebrews 11 is in the Bible.

Stephen and James had heaven’s applause yet died very shameful, painful deaths. The only righteous person in Jeroboam’s family died in his infancy.

Why was James killed whereas Peter was released?

We just need to get the right perspective. And we will get it when we spend adequate amounts of time with God through reading His word and immersing ourselves in prayer. Listening to our favorite preachers may give us enough energy to look for that wealth but could eventually lead us to hell as only a right relationship with God can take us to heaven.

But it is not only heaven that can be missed by that doctrine. It is the present that can make one lose hope in this life. What with all the focus on what God is supposed to do for and give to us?

I have many times been confronted by friends who ask me why or whether God lies. On enquiring I learn that a preacher or preachers have given ‘revelations’ about things God was going to do or give them with a deadline in sight especially after they give a prescribed offering or seed.

The simple reason is that this harvester of seed has taught this faulty doctrine consistently that the flock is one tracked concerning God. To them God exists to fulfill their material cravings. Blessing is therefore measured in that yardstick.

It is an insult to call it the prosperity gospel because apart from the material, especially monetary cravings, nothing of any spiritual value is taught. People are taught to derive pleasure in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and ascribe it to God.

But it gets worse because the world does not have an unlimited supply for cravings. Second is that we cannot all have the same thing. We must determine our boundaries when we talk of being heads and not tails. Let me elaborate.

Suppose we have class with Christian students. Surely not all of them will take the top position as they were taught! And that is where they think that God has lied when one takes the last position after the prophecy was given.

Many people’s faith is crushed because their expectations are skewed by this doctrine. One will get depressed because the blessing they have from God is outside the boundaries of the doctrine. You see peace, good health, healthy family life are rate very low on the value spectrum the doctrine draws. A person who is admitted in a high end hospital is thought more blessed than the slum dweller enjoying excellent health.

A song, secular as it is epitomizes this doctrine. He sings that he would rather weep in a Range Rover than rejoice on a bicycle. He would rather lose sleep in a huge house than enjoy peace in a shanty.

I found a church that was involved in sports ministry very interesting. They would recognize the young ‘ministers’, but only when they won matches. I never heard any announcement when the team lost that I wonder the kind of ministry they had. But that is the outcome of this faulty doctrine. I would expect a sports minister to strategically lose the matches to be able to be more effective as a victor is normally more receptive than a wounded loser.

And it affects ministry in more devastating ways. People are feted for attaining wealth instead of walking with God. We take James’ admonition (James 2) to the extreme opposite.

I see that in pulpits all over. A celebrity or tycoon can occupy any pulpit whereas someone whose consistency and faithfulness to God and His call is never allowed anywhere near that pulpit. A politician known for his foul language and morals is invited to greet the congregation yet a longsuffering missionary is not even acknowledged.

I will repeat that God gives. But He does not do so for us to parade ourselves. He gives to get the glory. He gives for His purposes to be revealed. Redemption is the end result of his giving.

Is the doctrine you hold consistent with the complete and consistent revelation we get when we read the Word of God? Otherwise you could be filling the pews for the few who are on the narrow road to heaven, even cheering (jeering) them on.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Is that promise from the captain of our salvation making sense in our experience?