Optimus Template

Prosperity Theology

The thrust of this work [ our book, Fast Facts On Flse Teachings] is to prepare you to deal with the spiritual darkness and counterfeits looming in the last days, the false Christs and the false prophets who seek to lead many people astray, even the very elect of the Lord.

There is another issue we need to deal with, not outside the church, but a growing heresy that is creeping into the church throughout America. This may be even touching some of your lives.

This heresy has come to be known as "prosperity theology". It is being taught by many people on television. It is the teaching that God wants you healthy, wealthy and prosperous. That the goal of the Christian life is financial prosperity and health, and that if you are not healthy and prosperous, then evidently you are a sinner or you lack faith or you haven't claimed these things using the right formulas, the correct powers of the tongue.

The problem with this kind of theology is that in the duration of Christian life, the teaching of the prosperity doctrine does not match reality. While it isn't a sin to be wealthy and healthy, it isn't a sin to be poor or ill, either.

Let's state one thing right up front. Both Ron Carlson and and I [Ed Decker] live by faith in the ministry. We both trust God fully to meet all our needs without asserting any right, terms or conditions. God has prospered us in our finances, in our families and in our health. We both fully believe that the Lord will supply all our needs, in every part of our lives. We both are living examples of God's prosperity.

Both Ed and Ron have had those moments of severe illness and both have trusted God to deliver them and their families time and again.. Both can tell stories of miracles of faith they have experienced, and have witnessed in others. However, there is a Biblical position to health, wealth and prosperity that the reader needs to understand.

Much is made of the scripture found in John 16: 23-24.

Yet, we must take that in context. Jesus has been speaking to his disciples, preparing them for his soon coming departure. In Chapter 15, He shares the True Vine comparison and says:

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15: 5 - 8)

You see, there is more to it than just being god-men whose tongues are god-tongues, able to speak things there are not, as though they were. Jesus goes on to further qualify this power.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit --fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12 17)

Within that whole section of John's gospel are numerous references to "asking what you will," and throughout His discourse, Christ continually tied the power of what we might call, the priesthood of the believer, to obedience to His will, to being in accord with what He has called us to do. Nowhere in the list are we entreated to operate as god-men, claiming our riches and prosperity. nor is our well being tied to planting seed faith offerings with ministers of Christ. It seems to us that Christ was more concerned with what we do directly with the "least of them

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "(Matt. 25:31 - 40)

Recently, Ron received a letter in the mail with a package of olive oil. On the cover of the olive oil, it said "Holy Bible-anointed oil." The letter told him:

"Use this holy Bible anointed oil. James 5: 14 says 'to turn God's healing and prosperity on in your life.' Are you sick in your body? Use this holy Bible anointed oil. Are you sick financially? Use this holy Bible anointed oil. Open this holy Bible anointed oil. Do not waste a drop.

"Jesus is represented by this faith oil. Make a cross on your forehead with it, and then by faith, go into your room by yourself and take the money out of your wallet and make a cross on each bill, so that God will heal your money problems. Take your check book. Anoint it with this holy Bible anointed oil. Then, write the largest check you can and anoint it with this holy Bible anointed oil and send it to me. I need your support.

"This is important to you. When you anoint your money with this holy Bible anointed oil, make a cross on each bill and send it to me and God will bless you. Don't waste a drop." A man of God for fifty years.

Idolatry is not simply worshipping a stone image. Idolatry is any concept of God that reduces who He really is. There is a false religion growing in our land in this "prosperity theology."

Many Christians are being swept into a false religion that promises financial prosperity, claiming that God wants you healthy, wealthy and prosperous, and they will show you how it's done. This "gospel message" has become idolatry, reducing God to someone who is there to give us what we want. To misquote John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what you can do for God, but what He can do for you."

American Materialism

It is a unique, American humanistic movement whose emphasis is on man's desire for wealth, the sovereignty of man, his power to direct the actions of God. It is the idolizing of the American cultural value systems of success and financial prosperity, to the here and now. It takes secular values and overlays them on the church, claiming that the real Christians will be at the top of the worldly system, because that's where they deserve to be, they are King's kids.

Never mind that our King left a secular estate of one torn garment, that he asked one of his disciples to take care of his mother, that he owned no property, had no house, no second pair of sandals. His kingdom was not of the world. It was in the heavens. Our King said,

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19 21)"

But preachers claiming to be following the Carpenter from Nazareth who didn't even have a place to lay His head, offer material riches if viewers would only support their cause. Sometimes the challenge is so blatant as to say "if you call our toll free number right now and pledge what God lays on your heart, you can expect great financial blessings this week." Usually this is followed by someone's testimony who says "I was sick, I was broke, a business failure, and then I gave my life to Jesus and I gave my last few dollars to brother Jones. Now I am healthy, wealthy, a successful businessman."

It sounds great! Be a Christian. Get a bigger home, a boat and vacation in Hawaii. For too many people, prosperity is becoming the goal of applied Christianity and the mark of spirituality.

It is no longer, ye shall know them by their love, but you shall know them by their material possessions. This is creating a generation of Christians who believe that God and all of His universe, revolves around their own personal comfort and well-being. But, it isn't true.

Someone once said that for every 100 people who can handle poverty, there is only one who can handle prosperity. There is a reason for it. Prosperity comes with its own set of problems.

If the prosperity message truly was God's way, it would put some Christians behind the Iron Curtain and in third world countries in a pretty bad light. You see, their testimonies often go something like this: "I was happy. I had everything: prestige, recognition, I had a good job, a happy wife and children. Then I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Now I am in Siberia in a concentration camp. I've lost my family, my wealth my reputation and my health. My crime was I said I loved Jesus Christ."

Sacrifice in Shanghai

Ron was in Shanghai, recently. He spent a Sunday afternoon with a family whose son was an exchange student staying in California. The family were Christians and the student asked if Ron would bring a Bible to his mother and father. They had not owned a Bible for twenty-five years. Ron found his way in that city of ten million to their apartment building and walked up four flights of stairs to a small one room flat where the father and mother lived.

The father was a brilliant man who has a PhD in Nuclear Physics. He had been the head of the physics department at the University of Shanghai, until the cultural revolution. The Red Guard came in and burned his books, took their Bibles and dismissed him from the university. They told him all he had to do was to renounce Jesus Christ and he would get his position back at the university, but he refused to renounce Christ. For the past twenty years, he has worked as a draftsman, drawing pictures, a PhD in nuclear physics.

Ron gave them two Bibles, and he will never forget the tears in their eyes as they wept and clutched them to their hearts.

"Let us show you what we have had for spiritual food the last twenty years," the father said. "When the Red Guard came in during the cultural revolution, they took all of our Bibles and burned them. We were able to save one old, tattered, beat-up English hymnal." He went to their cedar chest and dug in, pulling out this hymnal. He said, "Ron, every night before we go to bed, my wife and I open this hymnal and read a hymn. That has been our only spiritual food for twenty years ."

Ron asked if they would share some of their favorite hymns. He turned and he began to read, "I have surrendered all, all to Him my all." He turned a few pages over and he began to read, "I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back."

Reality in Laos

On the Cambodian border in Thailand, here are still several hundred thousand refugees are still in the camps, with Buddhist refugees from Cambodia and Laos. In those camps , you will find no Buddhists taking care of those refugees. There are no Hindus there taking care of those people. There are no Moslems, there are no Communists.

The ones who are there taking care of those refugees are Christians from Christian relief organizations who understand the value of human life. You find it in no other religion.

Ron met a man there from Laos. He had been the national director of the radio station in Laos. Five years before, the communists had closed down the radio station in the capital of Laos for it was playing Christian music. They told him if he stopped playing Christian music and followed the communist line, that he could continue at the station. But he refused so they took him and his wife and son to a wall.

The man shared with Ron how they had put a gun to the head of his son, and they told the family 'all you have to do is renounce Jesus Christ and we will let you live.' Before he could say anything, the man said, his twelve year old son stood up erect, with a gun pointing to his head and he said, 'I will never deny Jesus Christ." The communists killed him in front of his parents.

Then they went to his wife and put the gun to her head and said, 'if you renounce Christ, we will let you live." She replied, "Never" and then they killed his wife. Because he was an able-bodied man, they put him in stocks, leg irons and for the last five years, he had worked in a concentration camp. Miraculously he was able to escape across the Cambodian border into Thailand, where he was tending to the refugees around him. His service there was the only thing left that he could give to the Lord.

We wonder why these preachers of prosperity theology in America don't go to the Cambodian border, why they don't go to China and tell those Christians that, "Hey. Don't you know that God wants you healthy, wealthy and prosperous? What are you doing in a concentration camp? What are you doing living in a fourth floor flat? Don't you know that God wants to bless you?"

Obviously those Christians in China, Cambodia and Laos, just don't have enough faith. They just haven't made a positive confession, named it and claimed it. They must not have the spiritual commitment that we have here in America.

In Africa, so many Christians are being killed for their faith, they must be certain that the tribulation is in full swing. The prosperity messengers don't say much there. When they do show up in the area, it's with the cameras showing them blessing the refugees with food and medicine and a tag line, pleading for us to send them more money so they can bless these people with more of their prosperity.

Do you notice that there has never been a single one of them who stood there and told these hurt and dying people claim health and success and God would do it. Not one of them has told these people that the key to unlock their faith is to pledge an amount "that God lays on their hearts" to the preacher .If the prosperity theology was truly a real doctrine of God, then these men and women preaching it should see it as their Christian duty to go to those places and instruct these people in its application. What a real joy it would be to turn those places upside down for God. Funny.

They never do that. They don't do it because it isn't true. The prosperity gospel is counterfeit. If you cannot preach the gospel you bring to every person on earth, your gospel is a counterfeit. This false gospel that is being spread throughout our country and infiltrating insidiously into our churches.

Religious Mind Science

It is modeled after success formulas raised up by people like such as Napoleon Hill who has presented the theory in books such as "Think to Grow Rich," and "The Power of Positive Mental Attitude". But, Napoleon Hill tells us that he was into the occult, and that this information was given to him by disembodied spirits and the system operates under the principle of mind over matter.

Hill and his imitators in the pulpit claim that we can visualize our desires and what your mind can visualize , you can achieve. Your mind, your act of visualization becomes a substitute for faith in God. Well. actually, they would say it is the action of your faith.

The Christian prosperity preacher says that because we are the children of God, He desires the best for us. They ask , "What father would not give his children the best he can provide? How much more will our heavenly father give us out of what he has to give!" Then they roll out a few dozen "success" stories and the checkbooks come out across the congregation.

It seems to be modeled after some of the multi-level marketing programs that have also captivated so many people. They offer great potential rewards, wealth, power, prestige and honors. Every meeting has its buoyant leaders, its testimonials of great success and its victims.

Yes, some of the people do make fortunes, but the greatest numbers buy into the program, usually with money they cannot afford, run at full pace trying to duplicate the miracles they heard about at that last meeting, draw in a few friends or acquaintances and end up broke, discouraged and with a garage full of soap or vitamins.

Ed attended a Sunday service at the church of one of the TV prosperity teachers a while back. At the front of the church were the Lincolns, Cadillacs and Mercedes of the pastors. It was quite impressive. He took a moment before he went in and walked around the huge parking lot. First, he noticed that the lot was a mess, filled with potholes in every row. Second, there were perhaps one luxury car in every hundred. There were, at least a dozen clunkers in that same hundred. It's about the same mix at aMulti level conference.

This whole philosophy of visualizing and claiming our "inheritance" is religious mind science. It is a counterfeit religion. It is a product of a western, materialistic mentality, a humanistic philosophy that reduces God to be the servant of man, a god that man can manipulate for his own selfish gain. It's the new idolatry.

Paul’s View on Riches

Can you imagine what some of these preachers of prosperity theology would be saying if Paul were alive? Would they dare say, "Paul. What are you doing in prison? Don't you know, Paul, that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy and prosperous? Paul, obviously you just don't have enough faith like we do. Paul, you must have sin in your life. Paul you just haven't claimed your inheritance."

What blasphemy. It was in that prison in Rome where Paul wrote much of the New Testament. It was there that God was so glorified that Paul's time in chains is still told of in awe, 2000 years since he was there. In Philippians, he said"

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Phil. 1: 12 - 20)

Paul turned his disappointment into God's appointment! He began to share with the whole prison and Christianity began to spread. Paul understood what Jesus had when he said that in this life there will be tribulation. He understood that God promised to meet all of our needs, not necessarily our wants.

Look at what he writes from prison, a few chapters later. Here he is in a dungeon in Rome, ready to be beheaded, and he says: "Rejoice in the Lord always . Again I say rejoice." Paul understood where his joy came from. It was not in his material possessions, it was not in his bank account, it was not in his living conditions. He understood the source of his joy. He returned to the source. Right after he tells us to rejoice, he gives us some more Godly instruction:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable --if anything is excellent or praiseworthy --think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me --put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

And my God will meet all your needs, according to His glorious riches and glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-13, 19)

That is the word of God to the church. That is living the glorious, victorious Christian life. He understood that God did promise to supply all of our needs. Now it is interesting that often times God knows our needs before we even think of the need And God knows what we need.

True Biblical Prosperity

In warning you about the dangerous pitfalls of the fraudulant prosperity theology , we neeed to impress upon you that there is a biblical prosperity: it is a prosperity with a purpose. Paul Continues to give us looks at the real biblical perspective. In 2 Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9, he gives us another piece of God’s blueprint for prosperity with a purpose. . And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you

always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work (2 Cor 9:8)

In Malachi 3:10-11, we learn that if we are tithe payers, the Lord will open the windows of heaven to us, to an overflowing. In 3 John 2, we are told that we may prosper in all things even as our soul prospers. In Timothy 6: 17-19, those with abundance are commanded not to be haughty, but to give, share and center their lives in heavenly goals.

Wherever we are, whatever our circumstances, we can trust in God’s grace for all sufficiency and beyond

Pressing Toward The Real Prize

A well known evangelist recently told the story of traveling over in London, England. He was scheduled to speak across town in a large cathedral that Sunday morning. But, he only had enough money for busfare across town to this church, and wondered how he was going to get back after the service. But, he knew that God had promised to supply all of his needs. So he said, "God, by faith, I am just going to go and preach and trust that you will supply my needs to get back home."

He preached his heart out and after the service, people came out and greeted him, thanked him and pretty soon he found himself alone. Everyone had left. No one had offered to give him money, no one had offered to take him home. He found himself alone and this famous evangelist began to argue with God. "God, what are you doing? God, I thought you said you promised to supply all my needs!" He said, then God spoke to him and told him, "I did promise to supply all your needs and your biggest need right now is exercise. Start walking!" God knows what we really need.

Paul had learned the secret to life. Paul was a highly esteemed Jew. He had all the things the prosperity teachers offer. Yet, he lost it all.

What did he say of this? Had he become a failure in his loss, did he lack the faith to have good health and wealth? Look at what Paul says a bout this:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ --the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. "

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:1 7 - 14)

Paul says that he presses on towards the goal of the upward call. What was the goal? What was the purpose of life he was pressing on toward? the prize? What was it? "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." You see, the goal of the Christian life, is that we may know Him.

What is Your Goal?

God may choose to give you financial blessings, and we believe that God has called many of you to that special calling. But, we can't expect God to do that because we claim it as our due. That is a gift that God gives to some people. There is nothing wrong with having financial wealth. But understand that if God should choose to call you, and give you the ability to make money, it is an awesome responsibility. God is going to hold you accountable for how you invested the money he gave you.

The primary responsibility of the Christian is to rejoice in the Lord in whatever circumstance we find ourselves, that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection. Just like Paul.

You know, a question that we rarely asked ourselves is a question that brings it right down to the nitty gritty of life. Where do you get your values as a human individual? Where do you find your security in life? Is your value as an individual based on your position at work? The title that you have? Is your security in life based upon how much money you have in your bank, or how many stocks and bonds you own, or how much property you have? Is sickness some of the rain that falls on the just and the unjust or is it a sign of your spiritual failure? Where does your security lie today? Your value as an individual? Where do you get your value?

Have you ever thought through these issues? The goals of life, the desires of God for your life, where you find security and what is your value as a an individual. Job lost everything he had in the world and then he fell down and worshipped God.

Some of you may be saying, "That is fine for Paul and Job. They were great men of faith, but you don't know what I am going through. You don't know the heartache, the disappointment and the trial that I find myself in this day."

Some of you may be wondering whether God has left you. Does God really care about you? You find yourself in a difficult situation, medically, financially, or in your family, and you say, "How do I handle that?"

We must tell you that you just simply must trust God, who made you and who loves you and who gave his son for you on Calvary. A God who has done all that can deal with the needs of our lives.

Finding out What Really Counts

Just a few weeks before the completion of this manuscript, Ed was raced to the hospital by a team of medics who had responded to a 911 call by his wife, Carol. Ed was in serious pain and struggling for breath when they arrived at his home. He was having what appeared to be another heart attack. Coming on top of a stroke a year and a half earlier, the prognosis was not great. It was the third time that Ed had made the trip in the back of a Medic One unit.

He spent two days in a Critical Care Unit before they discovered that he had acquired a virus infection in the muscles around his heart, and the infection had spread in to his chest muscles. It's been a long way back, but Ed is all smiles.

"I lay in the back of the Medic One unit, my face covered with an oxygen mask, an IV in my arm, monitors reading my vital signs across the airwaves to an attending Doctor at the emergency room. In the flesh, it wasn't a very positive sight. Yet, I had such a positive peace. I knew that I was in the care and keeping of the Master Healer. I knew that I was going to live, either here or in heaven with Jesus. It was hard not to want to go to Him right then. It was just trust in God all the way. I didn't even think about any other option."

Ron tells a similar story of an experience while he was traveling with friends, while attending school in Israel."

"We climbed Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. We'd blown out three tires getting there. We were short on gas, so we decided to head towards the Suez Canal, to get help from the Israeli military. It's a long story. I'll be brief.

We got involved in the largest raid on Egypt since the Six Day War, during the War of Attrition. We were bombed and strafed by MIG s. One of the jeeps was destroyed. We took the other jeep across the desert and blew out the tires on it. We were stranded for five days without food or water, drinking the water out of our radiator that was rusty mud, eating pieces of wood and chewing on our leather boots to survive.

We were finally rescued by the British Ambassador to Israel, which is another long story. We ended up flipping the jeep over on our last day as we were heading back. Our three day trip had turned out to be a two week odyssey. We went back to Jerusalem, and a week later I began to turn bright yellow. My eyes looked like neon lights. My liver began to swell out of my stomach.

I woke up on Sabbath morning and I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed. It took me over an hour to get dressed and finally, I got on my motor scooter. Everyone else had left the school on the Sabbath. I went through the streets of Jerusalem to Hadassah Hospital, drove up to the emergency room and the doctors knew immediately what I had.

They took blood tests and the doctors said, "Carlson, in another thirty-six hours, you would have been dead." They said this was the worse case they had ever seen of viral infectious hepatitis. They told me I had let it go way too long. They put me in the hospital there in Jerusalem and I was there for ten days, and then had a relapse. It was worse than when I went in.

They transfer red me to a French/Arab Catholic hospital in East Jerusalem. I was there for six weeks. At the end of six weeks, the doctors said that the only way I was going to survive because of the damage done to my internal organs, was to put me on a plane, send me home and then I would have to stay in bed for the next ten to twelve months.

The ambulance took me down to Tel Aviv, put me on a plane, and my father met me in New York. He took me home. I was extremely sick.

I had been dating a girl for several years that I was planning on getting married to; in fact I had bought a diamond in Jerusalem for her. When I got home I called her up and she informed me that while I was away, she had fallen in love with someone else and never wanted to see me again for the rest of my life. I tell you, not only was I physically sick, but emotionally and mentally, it was like somebody was ripping the insides of me out.

Then I said, "God. What are you doing? God, why me? God, don't you know how much I love her? God, why do you put me in bed? Don't you know I want to finish my studies? God, why me?"

I became severely depressed, and for two months, I lay flat on my back. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't want to read the Bible. I didn't want to pray. I didn't want anybody to preach at me. I just wanted to be miserable. Now I realize none of you have ever felt that way! And after two months, and sheer frustration, I picked up my Bible one morning and just opened it up. Looked down, and the first verse I saw was Psalm 46:10. It said, "Be still and know that I am God." It was just like God was slapping me across the face, and saying, "Carlson, just be quiet! Be still and know that I am God." I said, "God what do you want to teach me?

And those next several months in bed, God began to teach me some things I could never have begun to learn. He began to teach me what it was to have patience. He began to teach me what it was to have full trust and faith, what Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 means when it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." You see, when you don't understand why, that's when you have to trust God with all your heart. He began to teach me what it was to have love. What it was that 1st Cor:13 means when it says that "love bears all things, endures all things and hopes all things."

Because of my extreme illness, my father took me to a very famous doctor in the midwest, where we were living at the time. He was a man who was seventy years old, and had gained great notoriety in the medical profession. He had a large clinic, where he had fifty doctors working for him, a man who had literally given hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to Christian work

around the world.

I began to share with this doctor the pain and disappointment I was going through. He said, "Ron. Would you mind if I shared with you a little about my life?" I said, "Fine." I learned how eight years before his wife and daughter had been in an auto accident. The daughter was killed and his wife was totally paralyzed. He said, "Ron, for the last eight years, every day after work, I go to the nursing home, go to my wife's bed and tell her I love her. She cannot speak but I know she hears me, and then I go home to a big house. I wake up in the morning and put a frozen waffle into the toaster, and then I go to work. You know, everybody thinks I have it made.

I'm wealthy, I'm a success in my profession, I've given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Christian work. When this happened, I said, 'God. why? Why me? Why, when I am ready to retire in the prime of my life, God, why do you allow something like this to happen? Don't you know how much I love you? Don't you know how much I have done for you, God? Why?"

He said, "Ron, I realized at that point that I had a choice. I had a choice either to become bitter or better." He said, "You know, there is only one letter difference between the two. You can focus on the "I, feel sorry for yourself, self-pity, and you will become a bitter person. Or," he went on, "you can focus on the "E" which stands for Emmanuel, God with us. You will become a better person" He said, "Ron, eight years ago, I chose to become a better person. I said, 'God, I do not understand why, but I am going to trust you. Whatever you want to do, whatever you want to teach me, however you want to use me."

That was the turning point for me. I decided that what I was going through was going to make me better, not bitter."

The Loving Blacksmith

Sometimes, God is like the blacksmith, who takes a rusty, bent-up, twisted piece of metal out of the junkyard and that blacksmith lays it on the hot coals, the fire, and begins to heat it up. And that piece of iron must go, "Blacksmith! What are you doing? It's hot in here!" He takes it off the fire, and lays it on the anvil. "Blacksmith, what are you doing? It hurts!" And then he thrusts it into the cold water. ?It's cold in here!" And when he takes it out of that water, no longer is it a rusty, bent-up, twisted piece of metal, but it is a strong, tempered horseshoe, usable for another purpose.

If you are seeking to grow as a Christian, it's not all health, wealth and prosperity. Sometimes God wants to conform you to His image. And sometimes, that means putting you in the fire, and laying you on the anvil, the cold water, and you're not going to understand why. And when you don't understand why, He says, "trust in the Lord with all your heart." It's like what James said in the first chapter of his epistle.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1: 2 -4)

The Phillips translation says, "All kinds of trials come into your life. Don't resent them as intruders. Welcome them as friends. Realize that they come to test your faith and produce in you the quality of endurance. Let this process go on until that endurance is fully developed and you will find that you will become men and women with the right sort of independence."

Biblical prosperity theology is simple to understand. God a sys:

The real prosperity message is that God wants to give us Himself. Paul says in Philippians 3, that:

"the goal of the Christian life, whether in prosperity or poverty; I've learned the source of all joy, my security, my value is not based in material possessions. My security and value must rest with God and Jesus Christ."

And, when you are secure in that relationship, like Job, it does not matter what happens to the things around you. It's like the hurricanes off the coast of Florida, with their turbulent winds. In the center of every hurricane there is perfect peace, in the eye of the hurricane.

When you center your life in Jesus Christ , no matter what the storms of life may be raging around you, when your security and values are in Jesus Christ, there is perfect peace. Don't be swept away with the subtle idolatries that we are hearing about today even in the church. The true goal of life is that we may know Him and then one day, people will say, "There is a friend of God."

For the rest of the story, pick up a copy of our book,