Is prosperity biblical?

This question has been asked for decades, and in light of recent footage and Benny Hinn’s admission of making mistakes in regards to prosperity, it’s come back to the surface of what it looks like from a biblical position.

In an interview with Stephen Strang on the Strang Report podcast, Dr. Mark Rutland tackled this topic and how Christians can see prosperity in light of the gospel.

“God is a God of blessing,” Rutland says. “The error comes where people say, ‘if you’re not blessed, you’re doing something wrong. If you’re not blessed, you’re not a Christian.'”

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Rutland says it’s this thinking that turns the purity of the message of Christ and turns it into a “gospel of greed.” Using John Wesley’s example, Rutland believes the purpose of blessing is not for us take in, but to give to others.

“The result of prosperity, the outcome of it should not be to accrue but to give,” Rutland says.

He also says it is the job of church leadership to pray for blessing over their congregants’ lives.

“Any pastor who’s not praying for His people to be blessed, you should pray for your people to be blessed.”

Rutland points out that in the same way ministries can abuse prosperity for their own sake, those who are donating can also misuse the principle of giving as well.

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“The problem is not just on those who exploit others from prosperity. It’s donors who exploit ministries for prosperity. They turn ministries into the kind of biblical slot machine…so sometimes they spread their giving out over ministries to see which one will give them the return. That’s also greed. So, it can be greed from the ministries, [or] it can be greed from the givers,” Rutland says.

Rutland says one of the ways we can fall trap to prosperity gospel schemes and thinking because of a warped view of God as our heavenly Father.

“I think we take some of our most unworthy attributes and impose those on God, that God says, ‘okay, [give] $100 or withhold the blessing.’ That’s not God and it’s not characteristic of God.”

Just as God looks at our hearts and sees what’s truly there, a distorted view of God’s attributes is what leads many to become involved in prosperity gospel actions.

“The goodness of God is what’s in question here,” Rutland says. “We ought to concentrate on the joy of giving.”

We cannot give with the attempt to gain some type of supernatural favor or blessing; striving in our own works will never prove to be truly fruitful. How much and with what God decides to bless us with has absolutely nothing to do with our own abilities, but has everything to do with His limitless grace and mercy. Giving is meant to draw us closer in relationship to God, not to gain worldly things, but to know Him more intimately.

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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.

Have you ever cast out a demon before?

In a live Bible study interview with Kap Chatfield, Isaiah Saldivar tackled the tough question about how we, as children of God, should interact with deliverance.

The first thing Saldivar makes mention of is that if we actively become part of deliverance ministry, it is not a question but a certainty that people will leave our lives.

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“If you read what they did to Jesus when He started casting up demons, they called Him the devil,” Saldivar says. “So don’t expect to start all of a sudden [to be] casting out demons and everybody loves you and your family thinks it’s amazing. You’re going to be [cast out] for specifically confronting demonic powers and casting out demons.”

Another key point that Saldivar wants people to be aware of is how little the topic of deliverance is actually discussed. It’s something Saldivar says people need as a key to staying out of bondage. What’s more is Saldivar says the training process for Christians to engage in deliverance ministry is necessary because deliverance is not something for one or two people to know how to do. Instead, it’s something God is asking of His children to take part in to set the captives free.

When it comes to setting people free from bondage, Chatfield asked one of the most controversial questions surrounding the ministry of deliverance.

“People specifically ask this question,” Chatfield asks Saldivar. “Can Christians be demon possessed?”

“It’s the most contentious question there is when it comes to deliverance,” Saldivar says. “I do believe one of the devil’s greatest lies he’s given is that Christians don’t need deliverance…so, can a Christian be demon possessed?”

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The answer? Saldivar says absolutely not.

“There’s no possible way a Christian could be demon possessed,” Saldivar says.

Saldivar dives deeper into what this actually means. A Christian cannot be possessed, as in owned, by a demon. However, Saldivar makes it clear that the demonic can still try to influence a believer. While there are lots of theological debates about proper terminology, methods and beliefs about how deliverance ministry should be carried out, Chatfield and Saldivar both note that Christians should be aware of any open doors in their lives to the enemy.

“We should live in such a way where we’re walking in holiness and righteousness and circumspect unto God with clean hands and a pure heart,” Saldivar says. “Instead of going from deliverance to deliverance we need to walk in dominion.”

Wherever you stand on the nuanced details of deliverance ministry, it’s key to understand that there is a spiritual realm and the devil exists to steal, kill and destroy. Only through Christ can we be totally transformed and set free.

To pre-order Isaiah Saldivar’s book, “How to Cast Out Demons,” visit .

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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.

A month after announcing her daughter was stillborn, Alexa PenaVega says her faith in Jesus has been critical for the pain her family has endured in the past month.

In a video on Instagram, Alexa PenaVega described how this season of losing her and husband Carlos PenaVega’s daughter, Indy, has been the hardest thing their family has ever had to go through. Yet, it is through this incredible loss that she has been able to see God strengthen her faith, family and marriage.

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A post shared by Alexa PenaVega (@vegaalexa)

“Indy’s little life has transformed us,” PenaVega says. “Our family has never been stronger. My faith has never been stronger. My marriage has never been stronger… Her life was so purposeful in just that short little bit that we had with her. And while she may not have taken a breath here on earth, she did not go without purpose.”

One of the ways PenaVega says her family has been able to deal with this immense pain is through the prayers and support of those around them.

“We have been so thankful reading all of your messages of support. All the prayers that you guys have prayed; we have felt them. Let me tell you, I don’t know how else we would have gone through this season without all of you lifting us up in prayer… The power of prayer is so real” PenaVega says.

PenaVega says this has been the most traumatic thing she or her family have ever had to endure. Yet, at the same time, they have experienced ample amounts of peace.

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“We have obviously felt a lot of pain,” PenaVega continues. “But also, an insane amount of peace. Like God has really met us in this place between pain and peace, and it really doesn’t make any sense other than it is His supernatural peace.”

For PenaVega, the entirety of this journey has been about seeing God give purpose to the pain she’s experienced. More than that, it has been a test of surrender to Christ.

“I don’t think I’ve ever surrendered in this way to God in my life,” PenaVega says. “Until you get to this point, you don’t even realize the type of surrender that you’re capable of.”

While she’s experienced such grief, PenaVega says that this event was not caused by God. Instead, she believes there is an enemy who wants to take people off course from the truth that God is good at all times.

“You know, it’s hard to understand why these kinds of things happen, but I want you to know that that’s not God taking a kid away from us,” PenaVega says. “I know that whenever the enemy can try to throw us off or take us out or hurt us, God already knows all the attacks of the enemy…He prepares us for them and He equips us.”

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Today it appears as though accepted theology in the Christian faith is constantly changing among denominations. However, one of the surest signs of heresy sweeping the church is in the acceptance of an active LGBTQ lifestyle for clergy members.

As Not The Bee reported, one of the latest symbols of this coming apostasy can be seen by two Episcopal priests that used a surrogate to have a baby.

The male priests married each other in 2016 and decided to use a surrogate to conceive a child.

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The Instagram announcement of the priests’ decision to add a baby to their relationship was reposted by Billboard Chris on X where it went viral.

“Our first match months before meeting our surrogate, Julie, was unsuccessful since that first surrogate had family issues that she needed to take care of and was disqualified on day of the contract signing,” the post read.

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“It was very discouraging because it meant we had to restart the search but we know now it was all for the best,” it continued.

After the baby was finally born, the priests posted a family photo on Instagram. Their caption included a statement in support of drag queens and implied that the scandals of sexual molestation of children by clergy does not mean that gay priests shouldn’t be parents.

“We hope our family can be a reminder that ‘protect children from priests’ is just as harmful as ‘protect children from drag queens,'” the post read. “Both are unfair, unnecessary, and dangerous.”

“Mocking any group of people, even if the cause is righteous, has no place here. Not all Christians are the same,” it continued.

What’s interesting about the post is the recognition that there is such a thing as righteous living. Does actively living and promoting the LGBTQ lifestyle fit into the way of the godly, especially for those who are supposed to be leading God’s flock?

Modeling a lifestyle which is not of God is something the Good Shepherd would never do. At the end of the day, there are many, including church leaders, who are more concerned about their own goals and agenda than leading people to Christ. Don’t be deceived by this type of living, and pray for the children who are being used for the selfish gain of others.

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When one person comes to know the Lord, all of heaven rejoices.

The world was completely floored when Blac Chyna, whose real name is Angela White, turned over her life to Jesus and was baptized back in 2022. Now, she’s sharing her journey of faith with Christian music artist Lecrae.

As Church Leaders noted, White became known for stripping, rapping and modeling. Her fame took off due to her ties with the Kardashians and her OnlyFans account. However, after committing her life to Jesus, she got rid of the account with no backup plan on what her source of income would be.

As Lecrae pointed out, some people may have thought that that White’s conversion to Christianity was nothing more than a scam and a way to gain attention. However, she says this couldn’t be further from the truth.

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“Nobody needs publicity when you’re already Blac Chyna,” White says. “You just walk outside.”

White says when she was ready to delete her OnlyFans account she called up her bishop to let him know it was time for her to release the old.

“Even when I stopped the OnlyFans I didn’t have a backup plan,” White says.

White believes that’s when the outward expression of her faith really started to kick in.

Lecrae says the most misunderstood part of the entertainment industry is how spiritual darkness reigns in it, shifting people around to do vile things for glory and riches.

“People don’t understand how this industry will chew you up,” Lecrae says. “This industry will suck you in and like just create this false world that you get caught up in and I think its spiritual. It’s a lot of darkness that happens behind the scenes.”

White says it was around her birthday when she realized the only thing she wanted was to get baptized. While her life was still rocky in many ways, this is what she wanted most. White finally took the plunge into the water on May 11, 2022.

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“I was just, like really honestly just tired of myself and like tired of waking up and feeling a certain type of way when I know for a fact I’m way smarter than that,” White says.

Even after her baptism it still took White some time to fully give up her old life and start walking in the new. By the time September rolled around she decided to finally sober up and has been free from past temptations since then.

As her life has drastically changed, it can be wondered then, who is Angela White?

“I want them to look at me as a businesswoman, as a model, entrepreneur and just as a real person,” White says.

Completing her daily devotions, cleaning house and raising her children are all normal parts of White’s routine that she wants people to know she does just like anyone else. Overall, White just wants people to know that she is a real person who has transformed her life.

“We’ve been rolling by faith this whole time,” White says.

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President Biden has been at it again with his colorful commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

During his speech at Morehouse, a historic African American university, Biden focused on targeting young, African American men with a message of hopelessness and despair.

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“You started college just as George Floyd was murdered. And there was a reckoning on race. It’s natural to wonder [if] democracy you hear about actually works for you,” Biden said to the graduates.

He kept repeating the question of “What is democracy?”

“What is democracy? Black men are being killed in the street. What is democracy? Betrayal of broken promises still leave Black communities behind. What is democracy? You have to be 10times better than anyone else to get a fair shot. Most of all, what does it mean? As we’ve heard before, to be a Black man who loves his country, even if it doesn’t love him back in equal measure,” Biden said.

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Besides painting a picture of a democracy that does not care about young African Americans, he threw in the opportunity to tell the graduates that the Republican party will not fight for them. As the Democratic nominee for the next presidential bid, this could be seen as Biden using the commencement speech to grab voters.

Further, Biden put himself into a political corner as he used the speech to call for Israel and Gaza to end the ongoing war.  The president said it was necessary for an “immediate” and permanent ceasefire to occur, with a two-state solution as “the only solution.”

This speech certainly did not ring a bell with everyone there. Some students and staff protested against Biden by turning their backs on him. As Fox News reported, hundreds of alumni asked the school not to have Biden address the class of 2024, believing it was an insult to do so during an election cycle as a way for the president to gain votes.

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The outpouring of God’s spirit is here.

A California church, Oceans Church, is no stranger to holding mass baptisms. According to the Washington Times, the church held a 2023 initiative called “Baptize SoCal” where 4,166 people where baptized at Pirates Cove in Newport Beach.

Now, the church made its goal to baptize 30,000 people this past Pentecost Sunday with “Baptize California” in hopes of seeing a “Baptize America” movement take place next summer.

The Baptize California initiative brought together over 300 congregations in many of California’s counties to see lives changed throughout the state.

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Reverend Mark Francey told the Washington Times how the church’s heart is to see revival spread throughout the state and eventually to the entire the nation.

“Our church is excited about revival. We want to see God awakened. We’re tired of the darkness in California. We believe that God wants people to know about it, and if we will put our money where our frustration is, that God could do something great,” Francey says.

On the event’s website, the mission statement for Baptize California is “about seeing people saved, water baptized, and discipled in a local church.”

Sharing photos from the event on their Facebook and Instagram, Baptize California writes that the time of baptisms were “powerful” and a “mighty move of God.” Some baptisms took place in traditional baptism tubs while others took place in the ocean. The most significant part is how many people say their lives have been transformed by the power of God during the time of baptism.

One comment on Instagram described the power of spiritual healing experienced by those in attendance.

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“I was a line leader and this lady – probably in her 50’s, started running down my line. I held my arms out open and yelled ‘Welcome home.’ She ran down the line and hugged me so tight and said, ‘I am free! I am free.'”

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Baptize California (@)

Another Instagram commentator said, “It’s so good to see our next generation so faithful. California will be saved.”

It’s this kind of revival that Francey believes will not only take over the state of California, but will also transform our entire nation.

“What God’s doing in California is not going to stop here. It’s going to go to all of America. Like [God] did it in a new way as the ‘Jesus People’ movement. We believe that if God could do that 30,000 in California, it could happen all over America, and we’re not going to stop there,” Francey says.

This powerful wave of revival through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happening in California is just the beginning of the greater plans that God has for each and every one of us to encounter Him.

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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.

The Catholic Church is tightening their rules about how to deal with the supernatural.

In a newly released document, the Vatican is advising bishops no longer act alone when dealing with supernatural phenomena such as blood-soaked crucifixes and apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Instead, bishops should consult with the Vatican.

The Vatican’s announcement acknowledged that supernatural events “have led to a great richness of spiritual fruits, growth in faith, devotion, fraternity and service.” However, they believe there are times when the supernatural can act as a deterrent away from faithfully following God.

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“In some events of alleged supernatural origin, there are serious critical issues that are detrimental to the faithful; in these situations, the Church must respond with utmost pastoral solicitude,” the statement reads.

Vatican News reported how this change in rules about the supernatural means “the Church’s authority will no longer be engaged to officially define the supernatural nature of a phenomenon.”

The reason for these new changes is because of an explosion of events that were believed to be of the supernatural origin in the Catholic Church. However, many of these experiences were later determined not to be of this nature. With a rapid advancement of technology, the Vatican worried its guidelines from 1978 were insufficient to deal with internet hoaxes.

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These new guidelines have not changed Vatican officials’ views on the power of God to do miraculous wonders.

As American Magazine reported, Vatican Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández spoke at a press conference stating, “The Holy Spirit, who flows from the hearts of the risen Christ, works in the Church with divine freedom and offers us many valuable gifts that aid us on the path of life and encourage our spiritual growth in fidelity to the Gospel.”

Unfortunately, the concern over abuse of the gifts has led to these cautionary guidelines.

“The use of such phenomenon to gain profit, power, fame, social recognition or other personal interest,” Fernández says, “[acts] as a means of or pretext for exerting control over people or carrying out abuses.”

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The assassination of President Kennedy may have more spiritual significance than anyone first thought.

In a recent video, Perry Stone unlocked a spiritual mystery revolving around JFK’s death.

Recounting details from Pastor Davis, a former missionary in Haiti during Kennedy’s presidency, Stone says it’s quite possible that an occult leader from Haiti placed a curse over Kennedy, leading to his death. Stone says this would have followed when Kennedy put a blockade on Haiti. The Haitian leader, Francois Duvalier, also known as “Poppa Doc,” was largely into witchcraft and voodoo at the time of Kennedy’s presidency.

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One of Duvalier’s superstitions was that he had one day a month, the 22nd, when he was led and protected by spirits.

“This is the part that came from converted voodoo doctors who were familiar with Papa Doc personally,” Stone says. “Papa Doc was so angry at President Kennedy that he had a voodoo doll made of President Kennedy.”

Stone claims this voodoo doll had needles put into the back of its head and that the spirits were sent to the United States to attack and assassinate Kennedy. However, the story gets even darker from here.

“President Kennedy was killed Nov. 22, and was assassinated by a shooting in the back of the head,” Stone says.

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This uncanny connection alone between Duvalier and Kennedy shows why it’s of the utmost importance to be covered by the blood of Jesus.

“When a person is under the blood of Jesus, protected by the blood of Jesus, there is a protective hedge that comes when you plead the blood, claim the blood of Jesus and you ask the Lord through the power of the blood of Jesus to help you defeat the powers of the enemy,” Stone says.

Just as the Israelites covered their doorposts in blood to protect themselves from the angel of death, the blood of Jesus today is our hedge of protection against all powers of the enemy.

“If you are not born again, not saved by the blood, you’re not under that protective hedge,” Stone says.

While Stone does not want believers to fall prey to conspiracy theories, he does point out how odd this scenario appears to be. More than anything, it acts as a reminder that the most protected place a person can be is in covenant with Christ.

“He’s able not just to redeem us, not just restore us, but to protect us as well,” Stone says.

It is through the blood of Christ as our sacrificial lamb alone that we find refuge, restoration and vindication.

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The day of Pentecost is a critical day for Christians.

Through the death of Jesus Christ, our sins have been atoned for, and through His Resurrection we can have eternal life. The day of Pentecost, however, is also key for our faith. It is the day the Holy Spirit came and filled the 120 followers of Jesus and empowered Peter to preach to the masses. Without the coming of the Holy Spirit, there would be no power, authority and guidance to go and fulfill the Great Commission.

The day of Pentecost also did something we rarely think about. It reversed what happened at the Tower of Babel.

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One for Israel Ministry discussed with Dr. Erez Soref how Pentecost acts a reversal to the self-seeking acts from the people of Babel.

“Everyone was coming together for man’s glory,” a ministry member said of Babel. “Now, all of a sudden, they’re spread out, separated, divided. And now, we’re being united by God under God’s ways instead of man’s glory.”

In Genesis 11, as the people focused on uniting together to build their own tower to heaven, God decided to “confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech,” (Gen. 11:7). This confusion of language was reversed on the day of Pentecost when “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak,” (Acts 2:4). It is this reversal to speak to others in their native language that Soref focused on.

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“Those Galileans, the simple people that were speaking, they didn’t study it. Then they spoke perfect Cappadocian, Roman, whatever, it was perfect language,” Soref says. “It’s definitely a supernatural event that God is saying to all the people on the planet, ‘I am here. I want to bring you back.’”

Soref also believes there is a powerful connection between Pentecost and the giving of the Mosaic Law in Exodus chapter 19. He draws the parallel of how the Israelites came out of Egypt in the middle of the first month. Fifty days after that would be the time when God told Moses to have the people prepare because He was coming down to meet them.

In the same way, Jesus told His followers after His resurrection to wait and prepare because something monumental was about to take place. It was after this waiting period when God’s glory showed up in the form of the Holy Spirit with tongues of fire resting on the believers.

“It was an individual symbol that each one was indwelled with the Holy Spirit,” Soref says.

As we look throughout Scripture, we can see the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the great harvest of souls for God’s glory.

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