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Prosperity: The Devil’s Gospel
Some of us feel entitled to the “good life,” equating hardship with a life gone awry. The prosperity gospel aligns with this ideology—that God ordains health and wealth for Christians. “Name-it-and-claim-it” theology further perpetuates this notion that Christians can up their luck by speaking positivity over situations to alter outcomes. Taking bible verses out of context, and cutting and pasting them to make crowd-pleasing sermons, prosperity gospel preachers apple-polish the gospel (Rom. 16:17-18). Pastor Joel Osteen has preached, “Maybe Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family genes, but don’t succumb to it. . . . If you’ll rise up in your authority, you can…
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Evangelicals and The “Happy” Imperative
Some grow up convinced that feeling unhappy, uneasy, and uncertain is unnatural. American media promotes that being uninvited, unattractive and unintelligent is unnecessary. Even some evangelical circles will contend that feeling unwanted, unworthy, unlovable, and remaining unmarried is unacceptable. Expectations for happiness run high for many evangelicals. Some even believe a marriage that does not offer a lifetime of bliss has no purpose. Well-meaning Christians sometimes nudge unhappy spouses towards divorce in the name of, “God wants Christians to have happy marriages.” But in Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas contests that God intended marriage to cultivate holiness more than happiness. But some…
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This is a Test
…of the emergency broadcast system. That bulletin disrupted my summer binge watching of gameshows like “Press Your Luck” and “The Price Is Right.” But, you know, Israel was playing games long before studio audiences and Hollywood soundstages. God instructed Israel’s leaders to rely on him and to rule with his Law of righteousness. Instead they caroused with foreign nations and idols. They trusted treaties and strategies (Ex 34.12; 1 Ki 11; Is 7.1-9, 30.1-5). The northern kingdom of Israel assumed that no harm could befall God’s people, so they doubled down, lost, and fell to Assyria in 722BC. God ain’t playin’ games. The southern kingdom of Judah followed suit. Society…
