Today I was on Christianbook.com, checking out this book on Arminian theology. I started to read the reviews for this book and found this:
Reviewed by Roger French (Pasadena, MD), September 14, 2007
I have gained a greater understanding of the subject and the views of both those who are in agreement with the topic as well as those who disagree. The author has written a very helpful and informative book.
Instantly after reading that I was smiling. The person who reviewed this, I know him. Mr.French was my Sunday school teacher at Pasadena Assembly of God, my home church in Maryland. This review opened up a flood gate of memories. If you've never heard me mention Mr.Roger French and Mrs.Carol French (his wife), then you're probably not listening to me. This married couple were and continue to be instrumental in my Christian walk.
Mrs.Carol is the church secretary, she was a youth leader with The Quake youth ministries, and a dear friend of mine. Shortly after I started attending church at Pasadena Assembly of God, she approached me and asked if I'd help out with some youth ministry project. I remember thinking she was so sweet and had such a lovely, bubbly personality. Between our frequent phone calls, lunches, and constant exchanging of prayer requests her and I grew very close. She is the type of person you are always looking forward to speaking with. Her personality was such a strong witness to me and really shaped my own way of speaking and thinking. She always had the right words. She was always there to talk to and pray with. Selfish is a word she does not know. This summer the Lord called Mrs.Carol's daughter Traci home. When Mrs.Carol and I were talking about this she stopped and asked me, "Hows your family doing? How are you?". That blew me away. This woman just said goodbye to her daughter but she still did not put herself first, she asked about me. Jesus Christ is so evident and alive in her life and she truly is a bond servant of the Lord.
Mr.Roger is an extraordinary teacher. While I had the option of attending another class at the church, I always went to his class. He is such an intelligent man and I could listen to him teach all day long. His approach to the scriptures was something I was not used to- he actually read what was there. I was so used to this fluffy brand of Christianity sprinkled with a line of scripture. But when I heard Mr.French teach- wow!! You mean you can actually go through entire chapters of the Bible and apply it to your life? You mean there is a history behind that scripture? I was amazed. Mr.French helped me discovery my thirst for the scriptures and influenced me to study the riches of the Word. I'd often make comments to my mother, "I wish I could have his brain for just a day"! But his intellect wasn't the only thing I admired. I remember he was teaching about listening to God, having a sensitivity to His voice. One time he opened class with an explanation and apology about something he said that could have been confusing or misleading if not further examined. He said God had dealt with him about what was said. That was such a profound thing in my eyes. He obeyed the Lord and was careful with his words, wanting to present the beauty of the scriptures in their proper deserved light.
That little review just reminded me of the great people God has placed in my life. When it comes to friends and mentors, I am rich. I can't wait to return home and see these dedicated servants of the Lord. I can't wait to hug Mrs.Carol, to take notes during one of Roger's classes, and I can't wait to be home. God is so good.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
If I get in the game Jesus will make me rich?! Oh wait, you're being serious? Um...
I've had a desire on my heart to blog about my experience with churches that teach the prosperity message. If you would've asked me about my take on the prosperity message that is being preached in churches a year ago I would have replied with something like "oh that's not that big of a deal, that's mostly just TV preachers". I knew prosperity teachings were wrong, but since I had never experienced such nonsense it didn't seem important to me.
The second main church I belonged to here in TN (notice the past tense) was very big on prosperity and word of faith teachings. After attending my first service I was determined not to return. But God had other plans and told me that I was to stay at this church for a season. So I did just that. After just a few services I became the children's ministry director. I taught on Sundays and Wednesdays. I knew that what the pastor was teaching about prosperity was wrong but since I was in my classroom and rarely heard a sermon there, I brushed it off.
Well about a month ago my church announced a Faith Conference that was coming up in Chattanooga. I had skipped all of these conferences in the past because the well known pastors that were speaking were names I knew to look out for. Think about false prophets, think about scandalous or objectionable preachers- chances are my church went to see these men preach. But a lady from the church asked if I'd attend so I figured one night out of my week wouldn't kill me. That evening Pastor Bill Winston was preaching (you may have seen him on BET or preaching with Kenneth Copeland before).
The event was held at Pneuma Christian Center (a very large church). I was told that this was our sister church. As you pull up to this church you are greeted by a man in a black suit and he checks to see if your name is on the list. If you are a pastor and your name is on the list you get to park in the front row closest to the church. That evening the pastor, his wife, his son, myself, and 2 other ladies from the church all rode together in the pastors vehicle. After we park, we are then greeted by another man in a black suit. He then proceeded to walk us into the church where we were greeted by a woman with another list. This woman then seated the pastor and his wife on one side of the church, and sat the rest of us on the other side away from our pastor. Everyone that was on the church staff wore matching outfits of black and blue. Just looking around at the congregation gave you the impression that the people were wealthy based on their clothing and appearances. The building itself was gorgeous and looked ridiculously expensive. The altar had columns along the back wall and these columns had awesome lightings that changed colors slowly throughout the entire service. There was also a gift shop filled with a few Bibles, tons of books on how Jesus can make us rich, clothing, flashy jewelry and things of that nature. The floors, the gold lined walls, the gift shop in the front- this had to cost millions and millions of dollars. But lets get to the real reason why I'm there- what is being preached.
Pastor Bill Winston spent a little more than an hour delivering this message about how Christians should be wealthy. He also shared stories about his jet and the banks he owns. I heard the words money, wealthy, finances, and seed. Was Jesus mentioned? Sure, He was. But not as a SAVIOR. Jesus was described as Santa Claus more or less. He stressed how you have to sow financial seeds into God's Kingdom if you want to receive financial seeds. And then an offering was taken. People cheered as they were led in a prayer about how our seed will return to us because we gave it. The entire time they were saying this ridiculous prayer I was crying out to God, "I'm so sorry. I want to cry. This is not what You've intended Father".
When Bill Winston finished his sermon Pastor R.J. McCowan grabbed the mic. "Wasn't that an awesome Word from God", he asked. I was thinking, "No, it wasn't. It was a lame attempt by man to get rich". Mr. McCowan then said, "If you want these things, these blessings, you have to get in the game. You have to get in the Kingdom by knowing Jesus Christ. Lets bow our heads and pray to receive Jesus if you are not in the game".
GET IN THE GAME? Did he seriously just refer to salvation and the Kingdom of God as "GETTING INTO THE GAME"? Yes, he did!!! This isn't break dancing!! This isn't Scrabble. This is a matter of spiritual life and death, a matter of eternity. This is not something to be taken lightly. I don't know one hundred percent if someone said a quick prayer to "get in the game" that night- but I really hope not. Not once did these pastors preach SALVATION, SIN, GOD'S LAW, JUDGEMENT, HEAVEN, HELL, THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, or THE CROSS. If anyone would have followed that silly prayer it would not have been salvation, but it would have been someone chasing after what was preached for an hour- MONEY!!! It would have been a false conversion.
Later that evening I sat on the couch and spent some time in the Word. As I read through the chapters in Psalms I came across verses like:
"Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments" (Psalm 112:1)
"I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word" (Psalm 119:16)
Just thinking about how blessed I am to read God's word stirred something up within my soul. I love the Bible so much and I have such a joy from reading it. Twisting it and manipulating it into some cash pyramid does not interest me one bit. I'd rather have the truth of the Word. What happened to being rich in God? Yeah, money is fun and nice to have. But God is so much bigger. God is so much greater. Money can't buy what God freely gives to us in His word. We are so blessed to even have a Heavenly Father that cares about us. But here is the modern Christian church just making a mockery of the riches in Christ. They've turned Jesus into a get rich quick scheme! Its so terribly disgusting. I always think about the church in Smyrna when I think about riches. Jesus writes to them this letter in the book of Revelation and He says "I know your works, and tribulations, and poverty, (but you are rich)..." (Revelation 2:9). He says they are poverty stricken but tells them that they are rich! If you ask me, that's the type of riches I want to seek after. I want to seek after the riches of Jesus. Not the riches of this world that fade away.
After that evening and a few other incidents I left my church and my position as children's director. I believe the Lord made a way for me to gracefully do so and I did just that. Compromising God's Word is something I'm just not ready to do, nor will I ever be ready to do that. After seeing this prosperity rubbish taught over the past few months I've realized how infectious this teaching is. So many are teaching this. This is not just a problem with TV preachers. This is a problem with many churches. I'd like to leave you with what God's Word says about these types of teachings:
"If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness" (1st Timothy 6:3-11)
The second main church I belonged to here in TN (notice the past tense) was very big on prosperity and word of faith teachings. After attending my first service I was determined not to return. But God had other plans and told me that I was to stay at this church for a season. So I did just that. After just a few services I became the children's ministry director. I taught on Sundays and Wednesdays. I knew that what the pastor was teaching about prosperity was wrong but since I was in my classroom and rarely heard a sermon there, I brushed it off.
Well about a month ago my church announced a Faith Conference that was coming up in Chattanooga. I had skipped all of these conferences in the past because the well known pastors that were speaking were names I knew to look out for. Think about false prophets, think about scandalous or objectionable preachers- chances are my church went to see these men preach. But a lady from the church asked if I'd attend so I figured one night out of my week wouldn't kill me. That evening Pastor Bill Winston was preaching (you may have seen him on BET or preaching with Kenneth Copeland before).
The event was held at Pneuma Christian Center (a very large church). I was told that this was our sister church. As you pull up to this church you are greeted by a man in a black suit and he checks to see if your name is on the list. If you are a pastor and your name is on the list you get to park in the front row closest to the church. That evening the pastor, his wife, his son, myself, and 2 other ladies from the church all rode together in the pastors vehicle. After we park, we are then greeted by another man in a black suit. He then proceeded to walk us into the church where we were greeted by a woman with another list. This woman then seated the pastor and his wife on one side of the church, and sat the rest of us on the other side away from our pastor. Everyone that was on the church staff wore matching outfits of black and blue. Just looking around at the congregation gave you the impression that the people were wealthy based on their clothing and appearances. The building itself was gorgeous and looked ridiculously expensive. The altar had columns along the back wall and these columns had awesome lightings that changed colors slowly throughout the entire service. There was also a gift shop filled with a few Bibles, tons of books on how Jesus can make us rich, clothing, flashy jewelry and things of that nature. The floors, the gold lined walls, the gift shop in the front- this had to cost millions and millions of dollars. But lets get to the real reason why I'm there- what is being preached.
Pastor Bill Winston spent a little more than an hour delivering this message about how Christians should be wealthy. He also shared stories about his jet and the banks he owns. I heard the words money, wealthy, finances, and seed. Was Jesus mentioned? Sure, He was. But not as a SAVIOR. Jesus was described as Santa Claus more or less. He stressed how you have to sow financial seeds into God's Kingdom if you want to receive financial seeds. And then an offering was taken. People cheered as they were led in a prayer about how our seed will return to us because we gave it. The entire time they were saying this ridiculous prayer I was crying out to God, "I'm so sorry. I want to cry. This is not what You've intended Father".
When Bill Winston finished his sermon Pastor R.J. McCowan grabbed the mic. "Wasn't that an awesome Word from God", he asked. I was thinking, "No, it wasn't. It was a lame attempt by man to get rich". Mr. McCowan then said, "If you want these things, these blessings, you have to get in the game. You have to get in the Kingdom by knowing Jesus Christ. Lets bow our heads and pray to receive Jesus if you are not in the game".
GET IN THE GAME? Did he seriously just refer to salvation and the Kingdom of God as "GETTING INTO THE GAME"? Yes, he did!!! This isn't break dancing!! This isn't Scrabble. This is a matter of spiritual life and death, a matter of eternity. This is not something to be taken lightly. I don't know one hundred percent if someone said a quick prayer to "get in the game" that night- but I really hope not. Not once did these pastors preach SALVATION, SIN, GOD'S LAW, JUDGEMENT, HEAVEN, HELL, THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, or THE CROSS. If anyone would have followed that silly prayer it would not have been salvation, but it would have been someone chasing after what was preached for an hour- MONEY!!! It would have been a false conversion.
Later that evening I sat on the couch and spent some time in the Word. As I read through the chapters in Psalms I came across verses like:
"Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments" (Psalm 112:1)
"I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word" (Psalm 119:16)
Just thinking about how blessed I am to read God's word stirred something up within my soul. I love the Bible so much and I have such a joy from reading it. Twisting it and manipulating it into some cash pyramid does not interest me one bit. I'd rather have the truth of the Word. What happened to being rich in God? Yeah, money is fun and nice to have. But God is so much bigger. God is so much greater. Money can't buy what God freely gives to us in His word. We are so blessed to even have a Heavenly Father that cares about us. But here is the modern Christian church just making a mockery of the riches in Christ. They've turned Jesus into a get rich quick scheme! Its so terribly disgusting. I always think about the church in Smyrna when I think about riches. Jesus writes to them this letter in the book of Revelation and He says "I know your works, and tribulations, and poverty, (but you are rich)..." (Revelation 2:9). He says they are poverty stricken but tells them that they are rich! If you ask me, that's the type of riches I want to seek after. I want to seek after the riches of Jesus. Not the riches of this world that fade away.
After that evening and a few other incidents I left my church and my position as children's director. I believe the Lord made a way for me to gracefully do so and I did just that. Compromising God's Word is something I'm just not ready to do, nor will I ever be ready to do that. After seeing this prosperity rubbish taught over the past few months I've realized how infectious this teaching is. So many are teaching this. This is not just a problem with TV preachers. This is a problem with many churches. I'd like to leave you with what God's Word says about these types of teachings:
"If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness" (1st Timothy 6:3-11)
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