BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: There's an interpretation of Jesus' teachings that seems to be spreading fast, especially in many African-American churches, especially among the young. Critics call it the prosperity gospel and say Jesus never promised his followers that they would become wealthy. Proponents say they're just preaching what the Bible says. Deborah Potter has our story.

DEBORAH POTTER: It's Sunday morning at the Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles, and the Reverend Frederick K.C. Price is preaching about abundance.

FREDERICK K.C. PRICE Reverend FREDERICK K.C. PRICE (Pastor, Crenshaw Christian Center, Los Angeles, during sermon): When you read that Jesus says I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly, what does "abundantly" say to you as an individual person? What?

CONGREGATION: A whole lot of stuff!

Rev. PRICE: A whole lot of stuff. Talk to me brother. A whole lot of stuff.

POTTER: Price, who leads a 10,000-member congregation, preaches that Christians who act as the Bible tells them, who are "doers of the Word," will prosper, and not just in the next life but in the here-and-now.

Rev. PRICE: God gives us power to get wealth. Does that sound like he wants you to be on welfare? That's in the Bible! He gives you power or the ability to get wealth. Notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say God will make you wealthy. It says he'll give you the power to get it.

POTTER: The pastor points to his own wealth, including his luxury home and cars, as living proof that the message is true.

FREDERICK K.C. PRICE Rev. PRICE: I am one of the very few ministers that are very open, very, very open, because I don't have anything to hide. And I do it —I tell my people here all the time, "I'm only doing it so that you can see that there's somebody the same color that you are, breathing the same contaminated air, paying the same outrageous prices for everything else, and I'm prospering because of the Book."

So anyway I was watching a program called Religion and Ethics today and I saw a few interesting stories this was one of them.
Apparently they are preaching about get rich through worship and a few of them seem to think it is working.
Now obviously it is working for their pastors cause they are all tithing to him but I wanted to see what you all think about this.
From PBS- program Religion and Ethics newsweekly

What is their congregation's name? The church of the Holy Capitalius?

apparently they are known part of something called the word of faith ministries,
heres a link to the story
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/...51/feature.html
I love the fact that the minister's last name is Price (cha ching) and one of the other ministers in the organization's last name is Dollar. I wonder if they changed their last names hehehe or if it was just coincidental.

The bible tells us if we live accordingly to his word, he will supply our every need, as so much that we cant contain it all, as we have received so shall we give, share with others...
I dont believe anywhere in the bible God tells us to seek after him and he'll give us great pleasures of this world.

Keyword is need. Nobody needs to own a 2 million dollar home or drive a mercedes. I think the congregation mentioned in the article is on the wrong track. IMO religion should be somewhat of an escape from the material world.

There is a passage in Malachi that does seem to advocate a "prosperity doctrine" (the teaching that following God will lead to wealth). However, I think this passage is very much misunderstood and is based on the complete Literalist approach to the Bible in that whatever is said in any part of the Bible, regardless of who wrote it, when, or why, it has the same applicable meaning to today's society. I'll try and give a fuller discussion on the passage in question when I get home from uni, but I've got class in 15 minutes and don't really have a Bible handy right now

~ Regards, PA

So anyway I was watching a program called Religion and Ethics today and I saw a few interesting stories this was one of them.
Apparently they are preaching about get rich through worship and a few of them seem to think it is working.
Now obviously it is working for their pastors cause they are all tithing to him but I wanted to see what you all think about this.
From PBS- program Religion and Ethics newsweekly

I keep running across these "prosperity" ya-hoo's... it makes me physically ill to be honest. It goes against everything I believe.I can't say more than that without getting very angry.

eh?

Hi BM, Long time...

She probably means christians that are part of what we call the "prosperity movement"...

Almost all fundamentalists preach this kind of thing. If you give to god, you get perks, and the more money you have the better you can serve god in giving back. On the surface it sounds like a pyramid scheme, and it kind of is. Bring in more faithful to the church, have fun, give money and the money comes back to you because you have faith. Lets face it most of the large churches in this country and others are out to make money, they are corporations. Whatever spiritual quota exists they worry more about the bottom line than souls.

The funny thing is that in my experience, the more of gods bounty you return to him, the more he gives back to you. If you start off with the premise that everything you possess is actually the lord's and you are just his steward, it helps.

Giving a tithe and free will offerings ,in a true spirit of giving, seems to bring back both spiritual and financial rewards greater than those you give away. Plus, no matter how much a miser has, he is rarely happy, while those who share their wealth quite often are.

The bible does tell us to use our talents wisely, including making wise use of our finances. If we are capable, we should make enough to look after ourselves and our families, plus some surplus to share with those less fortunate. I am a teacher with a single income family. While not rich, we have never lacked for food or shelter (except the time our house burned down.) Even then, within 24 hours we had offers of houses, caravans and other places in which to stay, as long as we needed, and actually had our own rental home again within a week.

We give a lot away to mongolian villagers, asian kids, children close by who need food and education, and even quite a bit for animal welfare( mostly due to my wife's love of animals) In return we recieve not only a wonderful standard of living, but many physical, emotional and spiritual blessings.

The funny thing is that in my experience, the more of gods bounty you return to him, the more he gives back to you. If you start off with the premise that everything you possess is actually the lord's and you are just his steward, it helps.

Giving a tithe and free will offerings ,in a true spirit of giving, seems to bring back both spiritual and financial rewards greater than those you give away. Plus, no matter how much a miser has, he is rarely happy, while those who share their wealth quite often are.

The bible does tell us to use our talents wisely, including making wise use of our finances. If we are capable, we should make enough to look after ourselves and our families, plus some surplus to share with those less fortunate. I am a teacher with a single income family. While not rich, we have never lacked for food or shelter (except the time our house burned down.) Even then, within 24 hours we had offers of houses, caravans and other places in which to stay, as long as we needed, and actually had our own rental home again within a week.

We give a lot away to mongolian villagers, asian kids, children close by who need food and education, and even quite a bit for animal welfare( mostly due to my wife's love of animals) In return we recieve not only a wonderful standard of living, but many physical, emotional and spiritual blessings.

Then again a perfect example of this is Benny Hin.