posted October 19, 2013 03:19 AM            

It seems surprisingly common in the US. Lots of scams based on it, too, I understand the scammers rake in millions (and I mean individuals) from mostly poor people sending in money thinking God's gonna make 'em rich. I personally don't get why people don't pray for themselves to get rich rather than sending money to other people to pray for them.

I ticked off one lady who believed this as she absolutely loathed then President Clinton (this was late '99) and wasn't fond of me either for being a teen who had snarky things to say about the books she sold. The lady I was in her store with mentioned she was surprised that her last customer left with 9 kids who piled into a limo and the prosperity gospel lady was like "You can tell they're blessed, they have a limo." I said, "In that case God blesses many pimps and President Clinton, too." Oh how she loathed me.

posted October 20, 2013 01:23 PM            

My best friend insists that she knows several men who read The Purpose-Driven Life and promptly filed for divorce. Weird.

I don't have enough interest in the topic to do full-blown research, but I wonder what is up with that guy? From your wiki link:

quote:

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Prominent evangelical leaders, such as Rick Warren,[6] Ben Witherington III,[6] and Jerry Falwell,[57] have harshly criticized the movement, sometimes denouncing it as heretical.[6] Warren proposes that prosperity theology promotes the idolatry of money, and others argue that Jesus' teachings indicate a disdain for material wealth.[6]

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So, what's the point of him doing all this?

quote:

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Richard Duane "Rick" Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author.[1][2][3] He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States (this ranking includes multi-site churches).[4] He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including his guide to church ministry and evangelism, The Purpose Driven Church, which has spawned a series of conferences on Christian ministry and evangelism. He is perhaps best known for the subsequent devotional The Purpose Driven Life which has sold over 30 million copies, making Warren a New York Times bestselling author

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Oh, so he can invest in his own religious agenda....apparently everyone who gets rich via God is heretical unless they give the money right back to God. It's like a big, filthy rich God-loop, sort of like the Vatican bank?

quote:

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Due to the success of his book sales, in 2005 Warren returned his 25 years of salary to the church and discontinued taking a salary. He says he and his wife became "reverse tithers", giving away 90% of their income and living off 10%.[11]

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Yeah I never understand these people and what their point is.

posted October 29, 2013 02:46 AM            

In the end people will use even the tiniest piece of scripture to justify their theology
http://www.openbible.info/topics/earthly_possessions

posted July 04, 2014 01:17 AM            

It comes back.

What I really enjoy is that it is the perfectly needful thing that comes.

posted July 06, 2014 04:45 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
Giving is the key to miracles.

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Giving and ThanksGiving.

The funny thing is sometimes appearances can be so contradictory.

Things happen and it would appear that they are the worst thing in the world to others, but in reality, they create the most happiness in the end.

I am often Awestruck at the Simple Complexity of the Divine Plan.