Does God Want You to be Rich?

Today was the official start of the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference. And, it was a good day!

Yesterday morning, we had a class (with 22 other people) with Dr. Wayne Gordon and then Dr. John Perkins.

Then, today, (with 2,000 other people) I heard Dr. Alyn Waller.

And, they all had their own unique passion to talk about!

However, the one thing that they all mentioned was the
misunderstood notion of God's people being blessed with wealth.

Does God Want You To Be Rich?? is an article Time Magazine put together...but, it's not the first time this topic has come up.

It's often taught in church that if you follow God, he will bless you with prosperity and a wealthy life.

However, this has never sat very good in my stomach, and after spending 3 months in Haiti and learning about the world, the idea that God blesses his people with wealth has even made me more uncomfortable...

First of all: Does God love a surburban business-man more than He loves a starving child in Uganda? Because a Christian family in Iraq does not have a lot of material wealth, does that make them any less blessed by God??

Well....Wayne, John, and Alyn brought some Biblical understanding to this struggle!!!

God may give us abundance in wealth, but we must give that wealth to others!

God will bless us with an abundant life...

But, what is the abundant life??

I don't know if a "heap of things" is actually the abundant life...

Our Western culture has taken Christianity to a mainstream level and sometimes it's not even Biblical!!

Materialism, Greed, Consumerism, and Selfishness
as a way of life is accepted in soooo many suburban churches!

Please rethink the Prayer of Jabez...please rethink this.

I am continuing to think about Christianity and to think about the difference between being a Western Culterized Christian and being a Christ-Follower.

Lyrics I'm Humming:
Red and Yellow, Black and White, We are Precious in His Sight!
Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World!