Exposing Word of Faith Prosperity Gospel

Drive-Thru Church

Your Worst Life Now - It should be!

Looking Back - The Worldly Church

“Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Worldliness is an accepted part of our way of life. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual. We have lost the art of worship. We are not producing saints. Our models are successful business men, celebrated athletes and theatrical personalities. We carry on our religious activities after the methods of the modern advertiser. Our literature is shallow and our hymnody borders on sacrilege. And scarcely anyone appears to care.”

~ A.W. Tozer

User-Friendly God

"Step into the average church these days and you will likely see that the services are designed more to remove the fear of God than to promote it."

~ Stephen J. Lawson (Made in Our Image: What Shall We do With a User-Friendly God?)

Contentment and Coffins

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world."

1 Tim 6:6-7

There is only room in the coffin for you.
Your stuff won't fit.

Looking Back - Unity at the Cost of Truth

"Just as in the days of the Apostles, so at this day we are forced to hear from certain denominations that we (by our obstinacy to adhere to the truth) do offend against love and unity in the churches, because we reject their doctrine. It would be better (they say) that we should let it pass, especially since the doctrine in dispute is what they call ‘non-essential’, and, therefore (they say) to stir up so great a discord and contention in the church over one or two doctrines (and those not the most important ones) is ‘unfruitful’ and ‘unnecessary’. To this I reply: Cursed be that love and unity which cannot be preserved except at the peril of the word of God."

~ Martin Luther

We Need MORE Religion!

I'm sick and tired of hearing fellow Christians bad-mouth and bash "religion." It is an insult within Christian circles (especially the charismatic ones) to be labeled "religious." Religion is bad. Religion is the problem. Religion is what's wrong with the church. You hear this kind of thing all the time these days. I can't take it anymore. I have had my fill of popular religious leaders attacking "religious people." The modern church's attack on religion is like a drowning man attacking a life vest. The church today needs a lot more religion. We don't need to be warned about too much religion; we need to be warned about too little religion.

If you believe in God's Law, you're just being religious. Even if you just believe in ethical standards, you're just being religious. If you believe that, in worship, all things should be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40), you're just being religious. If you "do not let your good be spoken of as evil" (Rom 14:16), you're just being religious. Morals? Religious. Form? Religious. Modesty? Religious. Propriety? Religious. Suit and tie? Religious. Discernment? Religious. Church bulletin? Religious. Self-control? Religious. Everything seems to be labeled religious unless it is spontaneous, casual or carnal. Somehow, within Christian circles, "religious" has become the insult of insults similar to "intolerant" or "legalist" or "bigot."

At the risk of being labeled "religious" for doing so, I am going to use Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary to define the word "religion." I know it is not very postmodern or emergent to define terms these days but here I go anyway:

Religion:

1. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion.
2. Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness or real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and his law. James 1.
3. Religion, as distinct from virtue, or morality, consists in the performance of the duties we owe directly to God, from a principle of obedience to his will. Hence we often speak of religion and virtue, as different branches of one system, or the duties of the first and second tables of the law.

Being accused of having too much religion is like being accused of having too much belief in the being and perfections of God or in the revelation of his will to man or in man's obligation to obey his commands or in a state of reward and punishment or in man's accountableness to God. What's wrong with godliness? What's wrong with performing all known duties to God and our fellow men? What's wrong with religion? James said, "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless" (James 1:26). James says that to not bridle your tongue makes your religion worthless. I'm afraid that many Christians today would say bridling your tongue makes you religious.

James continues by adding, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" (James 1:27). Performing our duties to our fellow man and keeping ourselves unstained from the world is religious, yes, but it is also good. Pure religion is the only true religion. As Noah Webster said: "the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion." False or filthy religion is not religion at all. Also, reverence, respect, ritual and rote does not quench the Spirit. When we do not allow the Spirit to be seen in our actions (pure religion), that is when we suppress or “quench” the Spirit (but that's another post). What we, the modern church, need is more religion. May the Holy Spirit grant us more religion.

I'm Now Seeker-Sensitive...

I know I have said much against "seeker-sensitive" churches. I want to now change my stance. I now believe that we need to design our worship services with and for the seekers in mind. Our entire corporate worship service needs to be seeker-friendly. The Lord's Day assembly needs to be decently ordered for the seekers. The reason I say this is because the New Testament makes it clear that those who seek after God are those who have already been regenerated and converted by the Holy Spirit of God. It is Christians, and Christians only, who seek after God. In Rom 3:10-11 Paul says, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."

The modern church has bought in to this idea that God is somehow playing hide and seek with the lost and waiting for them to seek Him out and find Him. The lost, though, love their lostness. They have "all turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Rom 3:12) Paul, a couple chapters earlier described the lost like this: "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Rom 1:19-20). They, the lost, do not seek after God, says Paul, they suppress the truth that has been made so very clear to them (1:18). So why do Christians today design their entire worship service to appeal to the unbelieving, so-called "seekers"?

The unbeliever is not a seeker. The only two kinds of people who are truly seeking in a worship service is the Triune God and those who believe in the Triune God. This is why Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. He is the true Seeker and He is seeking true worshipers. The worship and the seeking after God by the Body of Christ is for Christ and only done by the Body of Christ. You do not begin seeking after God until you have found Him, or rather, He has found you. The church is the "called out ones" who the New Testament calls the communion of saints. The worship service is not supposed to be primarily about evangelism. It is a time for God's people to ascend together into the heavenly presence of God in order to worship Him and be equipped for the work of the ministry (like evangelism) throughout the rest of the week.

The main focus of the "assembly of the saints" needs to be worship and not evangelism. Our worship equips us for evangelism but our worship is not evangelism. So many today go to church concerned only about how the "service" makes them feel or how it serves their needs. We need to go to church concerned about how God feels and how well we served Him. The unbeliever should be the outsider looking in to our worship service. The unbeliever should not be the focus or the audience. Biblical corporate worship has God as the focus and God as the audience. Because of this misunderstanding today, exaltation has been replaced with entertainment. Confession has been replaced with carnality. Preaching has been replaced with performing. Sacraments have been replaced with sentiment. Liturgy has been replaced with licentiousness.

The Great Christian Mask Deception

Although this seems obvious, I think I will state it anyway: the worst kind of deception is the one that is very deceptive. The worst kind of fake Rolex watch, when it comes to being tricked into buying one, is the one that looks the most like a Rolex watch. The most dangerous kind of counterfeit hundred dollar bill is the kind that looks the most real. The most dangerous kind of self-focus is the kind that hides behind the mask of religious terminology and artificial piety. Sometimes we wear the mask so long that we begin to believe it's actually real. We, following our heart, convince ourselves that our Christianeese and Jesus Jargon actually makes us legit. I guess Jeremiah was right when he said the "heart is deceitful above all things" (Jer 17:9)

Vinoth Ramachandra wrote this: "The Good News is packaged and marketed (using, uncritically, all the techniques of modern advertising) as a religious product offering 'peace of mind', 'how to get to heaven', 'health and prosperity', 'inner healing', 'the answer to all your problems' etc. What is promoted as 'faith in God' often turns out, on closer inspection, to be a means of obtaining emotional security or material blessing in this life and an insurance policy for the next. This kind of preaching leaves the status quo untouched... This kind of "gospel" is essentially escapist, the direct descendant of the pseudo-gospels of the false prophets of the Old Testament. It is simply a religious image of the secular consumerist culture in which modern men and women live."

If you "accepted" Jesus primarily based on the lie that He would fix your relationships, remove your problems, guarantee your promotion, and promise you "your best life now" than all you have accepted was self-promotion and self-glory. There are many in the church who have been given an extremely comfortable sheep costume and taught how to ba-aa-aa very well. Even the apostle Paul, in his day, said this: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." (Gal 1:1-7). Paul is so agitated because the kingdom of self is the most dangerous, deceptive and destructive when it cloaks itself with the kingdom of God.

As Paul David Tripp puts it: "It is quite possible for you to be convinced that you are living for the transcendent glories of the kingdom of God when you are, in fact, living for yourself... Selfishness is its most dangerous when it masquerades as service. Self-focus is most powerful when it dons the costume of love. Earthly treasures are most seductive when they take on the appearance of spiritual need. Idols do their nastiest work when they wear the latex mask of God." Is the gospel an end for you or a means to an end? Are you excited about the gospel or just the "stuff" that you think it will give you?

Prosperity Praise

Paul Washer versus Joel Osteen

God Centered or Man Centered Theology?

ER Clip - The Failure of Postmodern Christianity

This is a powerful clip from the show ER. It's a man on his death bed who asked for a chaplain and, of course, instead of getting a Bible-based preacher of truth he got a postmodern female emergent type. This portrays the utter uselessness of this kind of "Christianity". People need to hear the truth!

Wedding Dress - Derek Webb

This is an awesome song by Derek Webb. It is about the church who is the bride of Christ. I've heard that he wrote it after he saw Bruce Wilkinson promoting his "Prayer of Jabez" and was very troubled by "formulas" that God supposedly is forced to follow if we pray a certain prayer or do a certain thing. It's about how the church will sell herself to any Christianized cultural fad that comes down the pike. This song is a loving rebuke of the blab it and grab it prosperity movement. "Because money cannot buy a husband's jealous eye when you have knowingly deceived his wife" refers to the holy wrath of Christ, the Bridegroom, that will come on those who deceive His betrothed. We must stop promising to love and obey Him and then prefer possessions, positions and pleasures over the Prince of Peace. "One hand in a pot of gold and the other in Your side." We can never be too Christ-centered can we? We are far too easily satisfied with less than Christ.

Lyrics:
If you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I'd ever need
or is there more I'm looking for

and should I read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
and I run down the aisle
and I run down the aisle
I'm a prodigal with no way home
but I put you on just like a ring of gold
and I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child
Though I don't trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side

I am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
a husband's jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

Looking Back - David F. Wells

"Our generation is rapidly growing deaf to the summons of the external God. He has been so internalized, so tamed by the needs of religious commerce, so submerged beneath the traffic of modern psychological need that he has almost completely disappeared. All too often, he now leans weakly upon the church, a passive bystander, a co-conspirator in the effort to dismantle two thousand years of Christian thought about God and what he has declared himself to be. That is to say, God has become weightless. The church continues its business of satisfying the needs of the self--needs defined by the individual--and God, who is himself viewed and marketed as a product, becomes powerless to change the definition of that need or to prescribe the means by which it might be satisfied. When the consumer is sovereign, the product (in this case God himself) must be subservient."

~ David Wells, God in the Wasteland

Theology of Suffering

There is so much wrong thinking in the area of suffering. Mark Driscoll clears away a lot of unbiblical philosophies that people have about suffering. This is definitely worth the watch.

Looking Back - R. J. Rushdoony

"As theology declined in most churches, and sociology became the major 'Christian' concern, the churches became steadily more irrelevant, in that school and state were now the truly effective institutions, and the roll of a harmless club became progressively the function of the church."

~ R. J. Rushdoony The Messianic Character of American Education

R. C. Sproul on the Seeker-Sensitive Movement

Looking Back - man-centered

"Many people are willing to be God-centered as long as they feel that God is man-centered"

~ John Piper

Paul Washer - The True Prosperity Gospel