How The Osteenification Of American Christianity and the Prosperity Gospel Deceived The Church

Nowhere in scripture are we promised worldly ease in return for our pledge of faith. In fact, every single Apostle of Christ received a one-way ticket to prison and/or death by torture.

Rarely do I read anything in the mainstream media that I can actually concur with.  That an essay in the Huffington Posts ‘Religion’ section can put an exclamation point on a truth I have recently learned, is stunning to me.

I have long had a major issue with what can be referred to as the ‘Osteenification’ of the American Church; the lukewarm Laodecian self-help/Prosperity Gospel.  This doctrine is nothing but a mirror of a culture that has created an entirely new Jesus, crafted in an image of the wealth, prosperity and desires of American Christians.

For those who have done missionary work, or lived in third world slums and hellholes serving persecuted Christians, this essay may help bring to perfect clarity a truth you may have struggled to put into clear understanding.   Most of the world’s Christian brethren, live a daily life that will astound, depress and baffle American understanding.  The truth is that our own culture has tainted our view of the biblical Jesus Christ.

THIS essay brings to home probably one of the most important false Gospels the American church has crafted, and it is one the entire church in our culture needs to repent of.

 

The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying

Scott Dannemiller

….I’ve noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the “amen” at the end of a prayer.

“This new car is such a blessing.”

“Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed.”

“Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we are here in this country.”

On the surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn’t I want to give God the glory for everything I have? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

No.

As I reflected on my “feeling blessed” comment, two thoughts came to mind. I realize I’m splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear with me, because I believe it is critically important. It’s one of those things we can’t see because it’s so culturally engrained that it has become normal.

But it has to stop. And here’s why.

First, when I say that my material fortune is the result of God’s blessing, it reduces The Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I can’t help but draw parallels to how I handed out M&M’s to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to continually seek His will, and it’s for our own good. But positive reinforcement?

God is not a behavioral psychologist.

Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of material good fortune is just plain wrong. For starters, it can be offensive to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than $10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar “blessing” per day.

During our year in Guatemala, Gabby and I witnessed first-hand the damage done by the theology of prosperity, where faithful people scraping by to feed their families were simply told they must not be faithful enough. If they were, God would pull them out of their nightmare. Just try harder, and God will show favor.

The problem? Nowhere in scripture are we promised worldly ease in return for our pledge of faith. In fact, the most devout saints from the Bible usually died penniless, receiving a one-way ticket to prison or death by torture.

I’ll take door number three, please.

If we’re looking for the definition of blessing, Jesus spells it out clearly (in Matthew 5: 1-12).

 

….we ignore it all when we hijack the word “blessed” to make it fit neatly into our modern American ideals, creating a cosmic lottery where every sincere prayer buys us another scratch-off ticket. In the process, we stand the risk of alienating those we are hoping to bring to the faith.

And we have to stop playing that game.

The truth is, I have no idea why I was born where I was or why I have the opportunity I have. It’s beyond comprehension. But I certainly don’t believe God has chosen me above others because of the veracity of my prayers or the depth of my faith. Still, if I take advantage of the opportunities set before me, a comfortable life may come my way. It’s not guaranteed. But if it does happen, I don’t believe Jesus will call me blessed.

He will call me “burdened.”

He will ask,

“What will you do with it?”

“Will you use it for yourself?”

“Will you use it to help?”

“Will you hold it close for comfort?”

“Will you share it?”

So many hard choices. So few easy answers.

So my prayer today is that I understand my true blessing. It’s not my house. Or my job. Or my standard of living.

No.

My blessing is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who has planted this same power within me. Within all of us.

And for this blessing, may our response always be,

“Use me.”

 

 

America Heading Way Of Nazi Germany

Indiana treasurer Richard Mourdock warned that the failing economy is pushing the country the way of Nazi Germany

History teaches great lessons and the one of the greatest lessons to learn is that human nature never changes.

Scripture declares it:

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” – Ecclesiastes 1:9

America’s Founders understood this, which is why they created a Republic with divided Government containing a system of checks and balances intended to LIMIT government and prevent it from becoming a TYRANNY – which human nature teaches is an assured fate.  The Founders considered human nature and history and understood that Ecclesiastes was gospel truth and warned the American people repeatedly that they needed to be vigilant in safeguarding their liberties.

But today – this people will be destroyed for a lack of knowledge.  It no longer considers the lessons of history.  A lifetime of peace and plenty, incredible technology and wealth, the American people, thinking themselves wise, have become fools by accepting the beguiling of the Secular Left and have rested in the false comfort that history and human nature no longer applies.

Most Americans, indeed even most in the Republican Party whom I read, are lecturing themselves that electing more Republicans will restore the Constitution and we will be saved from disaster and the tyranny now being installed that is staring us in the face. They are not even paying attention to what is being SAID and DONE that negates their false hopes.  They are not even CONSIDERING the possibility that we already have a defacto dictatorship under Obama.

Obama Says He Is “In A Strong Position” To Amend The Constitution Himself”

I contend most Americans have a fatal case of Normalcy Bias.

But scripture and what the Foundners warned us because of their understanding of history and human nature stands in truth and cannot be shaken.

When anyone in a position of influence or political power states a similar warning, watch how they are immediately impugned, castigated and laughed at:

 

RICHARD MOURDOCK WARNS AMERICA HEADING WAY OF NAZI GERMANY IN DRAMATIC FAREWELL SPEECH

“The people of Germany in a free election selected the Nazi party because they made great promises that appealed to them because they were desperate and destitute. And why is that? Because Germany was bankrupt,” Mourdock said to a crowd gathered at the Indiana Republican Convention on Saturday.

In the 1930’s during the Great Depression and under the pressure of the Treaty of Versailles, the National Socialist Party showered the poor with bread and put millions of unemployed to work with government programs before leading the entire world into war.

“Over the next several years, every time a program began to fall apart, Mr. Hitler’s party was very, very good at dividing Germany by pointing to this group or that group,” Mourdock continued. “First they went after their political opponents. Then they went after the aristocrats. Then they went after the trade unionists. And ultimately, of course, they went after the Jews. They deprived them of their property, their rights, their citizenship, and for millions their humanity. Because they were bankrupt!”

And immediately here come the fools screaming in outrage that such a warning should even be made:

“We are extremely disappointed to learn that Treasurer Mourdock chose to invoke the rise of Hitler and the heinous acts of the Nazis in comparison to America’s national debt,” said Shelby Anderson, president of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council. “Such comparisons are highly offensive and trivialize both the suffering and memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who perished under the Nazi regime.”

“[It’s] deplorable to suggest that a nation in debt is somehow one step away from perpetrating crimes reminiscent of Nazi Germany,” vice president of the council Stephen Klapper added.

What is even more deplorable, is that this very same religious block nearly unanimously supports the MarxoFascists under Obama and the Democrats.  That they choose to ignore the lessons that their own relatives and people suffered just 70 years ago, when the signs of warning are all around them, is an abject lesson in sheep being led off a cliff.