Does God want you to be rich?

As much as I'd love to see self-denial eliminated from Christian theology, I smell a rat.

Milhouse VanHouten wrote:

Yeah, Mother Theresa must've been a real dumb ass.

I'm not so sure about this whole "God" thing to begin with, but I hope that if God does exist, he's not wasting his time caring about me being in a higher tax bracket.

try living in britain you'd shit ya self we pay double everything

I saw that on CNN. I will be interested to get my Time magazine to read the cover story. It must be real convenient to believe that so people who believe that don't have to feel guilty about being rich. It will be interesting to see if there's any discussion on the rich helping the poor.

The whole concept is nothing like what I heard growing up in the Catholic church - it was all about encouraging people to give to the needy and do for the poor, as it should be IMO.

I used to hang out on a watch forum and once there was this dude who started a thread thanking jesus for blessing him with his brand new rolex. That thread was deleted, but who knows how many other people there are out there who really believe that Jesus wants his followers to have expensive swiss made time pieces.

This is a good observation. I myself have looked at this in depth and had struggles with it. I found that I was judging what these people did with their money. Then I realized that Jesus was not talking about just millionaires He was talking about you and I. My view from what I have read from scripture is this....what ever God provides you you should be humble and thankful, whether it is not enough, just enough, just enough and some to play with(most americans), or millions, for some billions. Jesus calls for all classes to give of their first fruits to Him and to give to those in need. That goes for everyone and not just those with excessive amounts. As a matter of fact God does'nt want your extra, He wants you to sacrifice, to give of yourself, meaning that if you are comfortable most likely you are doing something wrong. And guess what? We are all falling short of His expectations, including myself I struggle with sacrife because who doesnt like to be comfortable? The main thing I learned is if you are going to throw stone make sure you dont live in a glass house. I know I cant afford too. So before you think you know someones heart, look at your own and see what you can give instead of spending a typical night on the town.


Dinner for two- $40
2 PJ tickets- $110
2 Movie and snacks- $32
Drinks at the pub- $40

Just an example of money we blow every weekend that instead of pleasing ourselves, could go to helping out that family in need. It doesnt take a millionaire to make a difference or come up with $112






quote=Milhouse VanHouten]from CNN.com:

Does God want you to be rich?
POSTED: 9:55 a.m. EDT, September 10, 2006

Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magazine cover story.

(Time.com) -- In three of the Gospels, Jesus warns that each of his disciples may have to "deny himself" and even "take up his Cross."

In support of this prediction, he contrasts the fleeting pleasures of today with the promise of eternity: "For what profit is it to a man," he asks, "if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

Generations of churchgoers have understood that being Christian means being ready to sacrifice. But for a growing number of Christians, the question is better restated, "Why not gain the whole world plus my soul?"

For several decades, a philosophy has been percolating in the 10 million-strong Pentecostal wing of Christianity that seems to turn the Gospels' passage on its head. Certainly, it allows, Christians should keep one eye on heaven. But the new good news is that God doesn't want us to wait.

Known (or vilified) under a variety of names -- Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, Prosperity Theology -- its emphasis is on God's promised generosity in this life. In a nutshell, it suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke.

Its signature verse could be John 10:10: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." In a Time poll, 17 percent of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61 percent believed that God wants people to be prosperous.

"Prosperity" first blazed to public attention as the driveshaft in the moneymaking machine that was 1980s televangelism and faded from mainstream view with the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals.

But now, after some key modifications (which have inspired some to redub it Prosperity Lite), it has not only recovered but is booming.

Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three -- Joel Osteen's Lakewood in Houston; T.D. Jakes' Potter's House in south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar's World Changers in Atlanta -- are Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits (although Jakes' ministry has many more facets).

While they don't exclusively teach that God's riches want to be in believers' wallets, it is a key part of their doctrine.

And propelled by Osteen's 4 million-selling book, Your Best Life Now, the belief has swept beyond its Pentecostal base into more buttoned-down evangelical churches, and even into congregations in the more liberal Mainline. It is taught in hundreds of non-Pentecostal Bible studies. One Pennsylvania Lutheran pastor even made it the basis for a sermon series for Lent, when Christians usually meditate on why Jesus was having His Worst Life Then.

The movement's renaissance has infuriated a number of prominent pastors, theologians and commentators. Fellow megapastor Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has outsold Osteen's by a ratio of 7 to 1, finds the very basis of Prosperity laughable. "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?" he snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"

The brickbats -- both theological and practical (who really gets rich from this?) --come especially thick from Evangelicals like Warren. Evangelicalism is more prominent and influential than ever before. Yet the movement, which has never had a robust theology of money, finds an aggressive philosophy advancing within its ranks that many of its leaders regard as simplistic, possibly heretical and certainly embarrassing.

Prosperity's defenders claim to be able to match their critics chapter and verse. They caution against broad-brushing a wide spectrum that ranges from pastors who crassly solicit sky's-the-limit financial offerings from their congregations to those whose services tend more toward God-fueled self-help.

Advocates note Prosperity's racial diversity -- a welcome exception to the American norm -- and point out that some Prosperity churches engage in significant charity. And they see in it a happy corrective for Christians who are more used to being chastened for their sins than celebrated as God's children.

"Who would want to get in on something where you're miserable, poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven?" asks Joyce Meyer, a popular television preacher and author often lumped in the Prosperity Lite camp. "I believe God wants to give us nice things."

If nothing else, Meyer and other new-breed preachers broach a neglected topic that should really be a staple of Sunday messages: Does God want you to be rich?


http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/10/time.cover.tm/index.html[/quote]

snowcovereddunn wrote:

My view from what I have read from scripture is this....what ever God provides you you should be humble and thankful

Humble for what? Thankful to whom?

He wants you to sacrifice, to give of yourself,

Sacrifice to whom? Give of myself to what?

meaning that if you are comfortable most likely you are doing something wrong.

Why?

snowcovereddunn wrote:

The Whom is Jesus

And who is that?

Sacrifice for others

Sacrifice for others or sacrifice to others?

Give yourself to the will of God

What's in that for me?

Why? Why not?

Because my body tells me that comfort means that I'm doing right.

not sure if God wants everyone to be rich but he sure as hell wants everyone to get a Grammy!!! why else is he always thanked when one is won???

snowcovereddunn wrote:

Well like I had mentioned, no one can really fulfill this, I don't. The awesome thing is Jesus paid the price for our sins, I've broken all ten commandments a number of times over I deserve to be punished. Thankfully Christ took that for me and for you because of the unfathomable love He has for us.

You've murdered people?

Lizard wrote:

You've murdered people?

Jesus said that if you have ever hated anyone you have murdered them in your heart. So yes I am guilty of murder.