Doctrine Of Prosperity

I'm currently riding out the last few minutes of my lunch break here at ABT and I thought that I would share something that has just gotten me fired up today. It has to do with some of the false teachings that are going on in some churches around this nation. In specific - the Prosperity Doctrine. I believe that this is a problem that is rising up in our nations churches, lead primarily by greedy pastors. These prosperity teachers are those who encourage Christians to acquire wealth as a way of furthering the Kingdom of God. I really don't have an issue with this, but they closely associate the idea that God WILL give financial rewards (or blessings) to those who continually practice tithing. This is not true! God does mention through out the Bible that He does reward His followers with different blessing through good faith, but I don't recall God promising a reward for giving other than the reward of pleasing God. To preach from the pulpit promises of prosperity for tithing misses the point of why we give, and thus feeds off of American greed. You create followers that no longer give for the love of pleasing God and placing Him first in their lives. Instead they give with a heart expecting a return for their good deeds. This type of giving is the antithesis of the practice to begin with. You are to discipline yourself to trust in God and diminish yourself (greed). Instead prosperity pastors entice their congregations to give with the expectant heart of repayment from God in the form of worldly wealth. Thus, bringing an offering of greed!

It is important to note that God does want prosperity for all of His followers, but in the way of eternal prosperity. Not worldly. I believe that God intends for some Christians to be wealthy with worldly prosperities and I also believe that He does reward some with these prosperities as blessings. But to imply that a completely prosperous person walking in the fullness of God has blessings in all areas including material riches is actually a very unkind and soul - destroying teaching. If a person does not "have it all" then the implication of these teachings is that that person is not walking in the fullness of God. There is something wrong with them if they lack in any material way. This is psychologically damaging to people and it has caused some to depart from the Christian faith. They feel condemned and they feel like failures in their faith. It is important to know that there are tens of thousands of people around this Nation alone that are buying into this scam. It is not only hurting the people who continually give and receive no worldly reward as they has been promised, but it is also hurting the reputation of our faith. Christianity is not about give and you will receive. The continuation of this doctrine will make the Church appear as a scheme for people to make lots of money off of other individual's insecurities. The prosperity Doctrine is not the Biblical Gospel and is a distorted, spiritually dangerous muddle at the very least, and a damning spiritual cyanide at the worst.

Unfortunately it can be hard to spot these teachings to someone who hasn't spent time reading their Bible. For example, I am not going to name the pastor who was quoted saying the next quote, but I will say this person is NOT a pastor that resides here in Alaska. the quote is " If you and I can change our thinking and develop a healthy attitude towards money, I believe we can all walk in the blessing and prosperity that god intends for us. We will NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MONEY AGAIN. I can agree with some of what was said in the last statement, but to promise that with a basic attitude change, you will never have a problem with money is false. Nor does God intend for us to walk in worldly prosperity. God knew that His most difficult contender for worship was the greed for worldly wealth (money). We as humans will always struggle with money. The fact is - the purpose of giving should be done with a heart for pleasing God. Period. We give to the Church so that we can help further the ministry of the Church, practice the discipline of placing God before money, and entrusting that even if we do not have money to give - we do so anyways because we believe God is the sole provider of everything and that we have faith that He will meet our daily needs. It's about living for him, not for ourselves. The only reward you should expect is the reward of pleasing God. To come before the altar with such a low offering of greed is disrespectful. We pray for our daily breed, not our weekly or monthly breed. We should not distort the meaning of give and ye shall receive. Whether God blesses us financially is unimportant. What is important is our heart.

I was accused on Facebook (posting under a thread of this topic) that to talk about "heart" is cheap talk - "I can't help thinking that it is all beside the point. When it comes to who I want to be and who we are supposed to be, issues of prosperity are not on the radar." I disagree completely. I understand where this person is coming from. Focusing on things like the prosperity doctrine are not important in the grand scope of Christianity. Christianity is about loving God and others. I understand this, but to ignore the issues of false teaching within the Church - that corrupt the very foundation that we base our Faith, and that also allow people to believe in a scam that will ultimately provide them with a distorted view of God is not in my opinion, an example of loving others. We want to exhort our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and give them the true Gospel. Not a twisted example of Christianity that will only provide them a weak foundation in their faith. To stand up and talk about these kinds of issues defends the Gospel of Christ from being misinterpreted. Which I believe is something we are all commanded to do. As far as "heart" goes. I find it fairly annoying when people downplay the value of a Godly heart. It ticks me off. Especially since the very foundation of our Faith is focused on first having a heart for God. Faith without works is dead, but works without a faith based heart can never bring glory to Christ.

I believe God does not intend to make us rich with worldly wealth. Some of the most influential and faithful Christians are/were poor. It is so much more effective when god uses someone who has nothing, to provide aid to someone who is in need. It is less powerful when a rich man buys someone in need - a meal. But much more inspiring when through the grace of God, someone gives the last of everything they have to provide for even the smallest need in someone else's life. God is not concerned with our comfort here on earth. Especially those living in the USA where you are considered poor if you make just $20,000 a year. What many don't realize is that those who are considered poor by our standards are considered within the worlds wealthiest 15 percent!

Don't buy into the Prosperity Doctrine. Focus on what matters: loving God, loving people, and spreading the TRUE undistorted Gospel (good news!) of Christ.

Many Blessings,

Dave Roediger

THE TEMPLE

1st CORINTHIANS 6:15 -20

15 - Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?
17 - But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

19 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 - you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Happy Monday friends! So a little over a week ago I had been talking about change. Well, I am at the point where I believe I am ready to tackle another challenge. I have been planning for about a month now, to begin a weight loss plan to lose 60lbs by September 1st. so I expect all of you to keep me accountable. It just so happens (as I found out last Thursday) that beginning today, KAFC is promoting a biggest loser competition. It lasts for three months and the winner gets a free trip for two to Yelape Mexico for a week! So now that i've got some extra motivation, it has become my goal to lose at least 30lbs by May 1st. I am feeling very confident! With God as my strength and my mom as my trainer, I am feeling ready to tackle the most difficult goal I've put on myself within the last year. My Mom is a body builder so I'm pretty sure she qualifies. She is also my sponsor, providing me a lot of free product from her business Pure AK Energy supplements.

I have two main motivations for doing this.
- One, is so that I can become heather for my family. I want to be able to do the things my parents did with me when I was growing up. I lived in an active household of skiing, 4 wheeling, camping, and sports. I was a very healthy kid growing up. I even used to be a model if you can believe that!

- Two, I am putting together a worship band where the focus will be to minister to people throughout Anchorage with a high energy, Worship concert experience. We'll be playing at youth conferences across the city and maybe State, as well as opening for concerts, and playing for youth at some schools. I want to make sure that I have the energy to keep up with the work it takes to lead a band like this.

I also want to be able to give my all to this ministry and to my family, and if I continue to live the way that I am, then my all isn't very much. I need strength so I can be used more effectively by God. I need the ability to physically endure for his Kingdom! For the next handful of months I pray for mental strength and will from God to emotionally endure the trials I am about to put on my body - Workouts five days a week - twice a day, and a very strict diet and supplement plan. I also need about 8-10 hours of sleep a day. I ask for prayer for my wife. This is more time that she is going to have to give up spending with me. She will have a hard time and I pray for her support, but most of all I pray that i am never to busy for her. A lot of you know how I am - I am a little spastic and very A.D.D., and competitive! I am one of those people that get lost in work and projects so I pray for heathy time management as well.

I thank all of you who continue to read these posts, and I am very encouraged by all of you who continue to respond to them.

I pray you all have a blessed day,

Dave Roediger

Change

Hi all, I pray everyone is having an awesome day! God has been placing things on my heart for a while for me to focus on and change. You all know what I mean. Things about yourself that are displeasing to God. We as Christians all struggle with Sin, Christianity is a life long journey, with every step trying to shed yourself of your wicked ways and continuously develop a relationship with God. God talks about change often in the Bible. In Matthew 18 Jesus speaks about "Unless you change" "you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven". On the other hand God does talk about the changes each individual goes through when they call unto the Lord to be their Savior. In a nutshell meaning that become saved evokes a change in all of us. Jesus's message stays consistent throughout the Bible (big surprise!) where if you become a Christian you are Changed, but if you do not change you cannot go to heaven (Matthew 18). by looking at these to examples one can deduce that the person that Jesus is talking about in Matthew is a person not saved and therefore unchanged. As Christians we are changed and have accepted the gift of life from God. Now I have to admit that I did take a little liberty with Jesus's specific teaching in Matthew, but this this example is not uncommon of what Jesus talked about in the New Testament. Now as I get back on track; Jesus talks about a change everyone needs to revisit on their journey through Faith, a sorta airing of the laundry, spring cleaning so to speak. I used to feel convicted of these teachings, pray, then just quite everything bad in my life cold turkey then a week later, wonder why I had failed. It took me a while to realize that change happens gradually. It's a process, a journey a lot like our journey in Faith. I suffered from the I want it now syndrome. I wanted it my way, with no onions, and extra cheese! These changes that we here our pastors speak about during services are not a bang, pow(!) insta-change powder packet we need to dump in our drink. it's a take it one step at a time pace yourself change. It's amazing what you learn about yourself when you focus on one thing at a time and give it to God and see what he does with it. Let people see your falls, faults, and struggles. Let them also see your successes. God can use those to inspire and uplift others. So go and experience a spring cleaning!

The reason I brought this up is because a while ago I decided to take my spiritual growth slowly and one step at a time. I started noticing that I was at a plateau in my walk, for like a year or more. I just decided to pick one thing about myself that I knew was displeasing God and began to focus on it. It started with the drugs I was abusing then quitting, then going back to, then quitting, then going back to etc. It then spread to downsizing my alcohol intake. Other than one day during the holiday season I can't remember a time I consumed a considerable amount of alcohol (I'm talking about more than a couple glasses of wine). cleaning up the vocabulary I used behind closed doors (which I had a really bad streak with during this holiday season by the way. oops), quitting cigarettes, reading the bible more, stop being such a hermit and stay connected with friends (this e-mail for example), begin taking time out of the day to focus on God. These are all personal issues of mine that I decided to give up to God one at a time and throughout my struggles I continue to learn more of His Grace.

At current time I have been drug free for over a year, zero slip ups for 7 months. I currently only drink 1 glass of alcohol a week on average - for about a year now. I spend every morning at work in devotion before I move on to other tasks, I focus on God all day by playing only Christian music on my computer (and iPod) while I work, I have been cigarette free, 0 slip ups for 4 and a half months. All of this within a years time. There is a saying among musicians who practice that goes: " you will learn faster if you practice slower" and this has been very true in my walk this past year. I was reflecting at my accomplishments a week ago and I was disappointed. I didn't think that I had come very far. This was until I spoke with an old friend over the phone. After the call I was astonished at how far he had back slide until I realized it wasn't him, it was me. I had come a lot farther in my faith than I had thought. When speaking with this person it was as if he was different, when after further inspection I realized he hadn't changed at all, I have. The desires I had for my future have changed, the things I enjoy doing have changed (somewhat), the faces I hang around with have changed, my taste in music has changed, my outlook on life has changed, my politics have changed, my relationships have changed, my responsibilities have changed, my knowledge of God has changed, I have changed and all for the better! My recent journey hasn't been about doing works nor has it been without struggle. It has been about clearing the junk out in my life so I could have room for God (thanks Steve Holsinger). The best part of it is every time you make progress god reveals more of Himself to you. The bestest part is there will always be more to change. : )

Blessings,
Dave Roediger

Dr. Martin Luther King and Christian Activism - Originally written on DMLK day.

From the abolition of slavery to woman's suffrage to the civil rights movement, America has a rich history of Christian activism. But what lies at the heart of true Christian activism? True Christian activism always begins with the truth. That means the true activist is a witness, anxious to pass on truth to others. We can all agree that Dr. Martin Luther King was a true Christian activist that sought change in our society, and fought for the freedom and equal rights for all African Americans and women. Dr King taught America that change can happen when people unite, but he did it with the love of God and fought back with the truth of His Word. This morning as I read news articles from around the country I hear a common thread among journalists - "Dr King's challenge to America - to honour its Constitution that mandates unity, equality and justice for all - is resulting in a healthy, vibrant, PROGRESSIVE America today", "Too many churches today follow the path of 'prosperity preaching' instead of Dr King's message of SOCIAL JUSTICE,". "The key question to ask ourselves is, are we making a difference with our lives?" As you read those words, within them there is an abundance of truth. Although, if you look closer you will notice a common misunderstood world view.

As you watch news stories today you will notice very far left progressives twisting the words of Dr. King. Remember, he wanted equality among God's people. He was not searching for an all around utopian society that some suggest was the meaning behind his "I Had A Dream" speech. It was a dream that someday God's vision of unity among His people would come into fruition. Martin Luther King supported the strength of God through his people, and encouraged all Christians to fight for what is right in our society by delivering the word of God first - Truth. He did not put his faith in Government to do the work that we as Christians should be doing. There are many Christians out there that believe that since we are not being as active as we should be in this world; then it is up to the Government to stand up and fill in the gaps. Let me tell you this is dangerous thinking. We who have been anointed in the glory of God are all COMMANDED to stand up for his people - which is everyone! Our government is no longer a God fearing government. This being said you can be rest assured when we put our faith in government to lead aid to countries such as Haiti; they are not doing so by first bringing the Truth of God. There was a saying not to long ago by a gentleman in the Senate who said "Never let a good disaster or tragedy go to waste". This comment got all Conservatives ticked off because of the political controversy this statement was made in. Although is we as Christians need to think about it - God does allow tragedies to happen, but he does so that we Christians around the world can unite and bring the Truth of God to the people who need help. We as Christians should never let a disaster go to waste by not bringing the light of Christ into the darkness.

The problem with the statements in the first paragraph are that - Progressives (both democrats and Republicans) in our so called progressive America no longer believe in the Constitution as a document that binds us together as a Nation under God, but a document that "stands in the way of progressive change, and binds us up, which limits Government" (President Obama) "I believe in amending the constitution to better reflect the America of today - the America of the future". The truth is our governments world view of SOCIAL JUSTICE is far from the same social justice that Dr. Martin Luther king stood for (After all we would have to ask ourselves: Could we even begin to understand what social justice is if it wasn't already defined to us in the Bible by the Lord our God). Martin Luther king believed in our country as a Nation under God protected by the Constitution Of The United States Of America, not a Country striving for progressive change under a Constitution that stands in the way of Government growth. The Government should work for the people not the other way around. We should not need to fear our government, government should fear the accountability of it's people. Dr. Martin Luther King stood up as a man of God and an American against the Injustice of Slavery, All along encouraging everyone to do the same.

To keep something straight. I believe that it is a good thing that our country gets involved in world issues such as what has happened in Haiti in recent days. What I do not agree with is Christians standing by, giving up opportunities to promote real change to a people who have suffered for many years as a result of the absence of God. I realize this is not true for all Haitians for this would be profiling, but to ignore this truth would be hasty. To give your faith in a government that does no longer believes that we are a country under God, to go and do the work we as Christians should be doing in order to spread the word of God in places - like Haiti - as commanded of us. Then we would be failing. Not all of us can go, but I ask you all to look up the people of Faith that are, and help them financially. Randy Hogue of Randy Hogue Ministries. He just left last evening to go to Haiti to help bring aid as well as distribute 1 Million Bibles to the people of Haiti and teach them the word of God. Truth first. He is a die hard Baptist, but I am sure you all could forgive him. : )

While you remember the man this day was dedicated to; please remember his successes and his social influence, while remembering to distinguish between the media's spin of his words and the truth of Gods teachings conveyed through this minister. I would like to finish off another one of my long rants with some inspiring words from Dr. Martin Luther King.
"Above all the activist must possess courage and an unyielding faith in the God of justice. Injustice does not loosen its grasp easily. We must be prepared for a long haul, drawing on the rich resources of community and that abiding hope and passion for truth. And we must avoid violence: in our rhetoric and our actions". "Don't get panicky. . . . I want you to love our enemies. Be good to them. This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love."

Blessings,
Dave Roediger

This Is Me

I am just a normal person who happens to be a better thinker than speaker. I have found it easier to place my internal thoughts on paper (so to speak) than to organize my random mental dribble into an understandable and systematic approach that anyone other than myself can understand. So this is why I created a blog!

I am a 27 year old male that lives in frigid Anchorage Alaska. I am married to an amazing wife, and we are expecting our first child in the first week of September. I make a living as an Audio Engineer - currently working as the Audio Director for the largest Baptist ministry in Alaska -ABT. Before I took on the responsibility of ministry, I worked as a guitar instructor, Audio Tech/mixer, and crew manager for two of the states largest production companies. Played in a few good and not so good bands.

As a child - I grew up in a middle class home with two loving parents and a sister. Even in these circumstances, I have a background of sexual abuse and very low self esteem. These two problems haunted me through much of my youth, in part causing a destructive pattern of drugs, alcohol, theft, vandalism, violence, self isolation, sex, lying, and mild hints of OCD. Some of which has lasted into my twenties. To deal with some of these problems I turned to music. Unfortunately the music that I listened to did nothing more but encourage the behavioral issue that I was indulging in. As I got older God reintroduced me to a high school friend (Ryan) who brought me back to church. I haven't left since. My twenties have been a great struggle to deal with and dig out the seeds that I had sown as a youth, but have seen the triumphs over life's hurdles by constantly working hard to keep my eyes focused on God. It is really through Him that I have been able to turn my life around and turn down the road I should have taken many years ago.

These blog postings will be a reflection of things that run trough my mind on a fairly regular basis, lessons I have learned, and most of all I will try to stay true to what some believe are my spiritual gifts as an exhorter and teacher - using this blog as a vehicle to motivated and inspire other people to seek out the glory of God. Thanks for reading.

God Bless,

Dave Roediger