God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel

God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel
Author: Costi W. Hinn
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2019-07-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0310355281

A captivating first-person look at one of the world's most powerful prosperity dynasties that offers a unique perspective on greed, the Church, and the journey toward Truth. Millions desperate for hope and solutions are enticed by the promise of the prosperity gospel--that God will do whatever they need with just a little faith and a financial gift. All the while, prosperity preachers exploit the poor and needy to stockpile their riches. What can followers of the true gospel do to combat the deception? Through a remarkable and fascinating journey, Costi Hinn went from a next-generation prosperity preacher to the first to abandon the family faith and share the true gospel. Nephew of the world-famous televangelist, Benny Hinn, Costi had a front-row seat to the inner workings and theology of the prosperity gospel. But as Costi's faith deepened, so did his questions about prosperity teaching. As the deceptions in his past were exposed, Costi came face to face with the hypocrisy and devastation caused by his belief system, and the overwhelming truth about the real Jesus Christ. This captivating look into the daily lives of one of the world's leading prosperity dynasties offers a thoughtful perspective on the perils of greed, the power of the true gospel, and hope for the future of the global church. Through real-life stories, Costi challenges and equips readers to be living lights pointing the way to the true gospel and the saving grace of Christ. God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel will bolster your faith and encourage your own journey toward the Truth. Spanish edition also available.

Blessed

Blessed
Author: Kate Bowler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190876735

Gospels -- Faith -- Wealth -- Health -- Victory -- American blessing -- Megachurch table -- Naming names.

Prosperity Theology and the Gospel

Prosperity Theology and the Gospel
Author: Daniel Salinas
Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2017
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781683070498

Prosperity theology--the belief that financial and physical well-being is God's will for his followers--has become prevalent in modern-day Christianity. For Christians looking to better understand how it is affecting the life and growth of the church around the world, this book is an accessible and practical resource. Evaluating the prosperity theology movement from a biblical and evangelical perspective, the authors encourage readers to think critically about the ways in which the theology we follow can lead toward or away from the kingdom of God. Prosperity Theology and the Gospel is in four parts: The first part turns our attention to God's word and looks at what the Bible says about the issue of prosperity. Part 2 looks at the issue from different perspectives--be it historical, ethical, or sociological. Part 3 considers the impact of prosperity theology in different regions of the world through several case studies. Part 4 proposes how we might respond to some of the challenges we have identified and what could be a way forward for us all. Each chapter is followed by ideas for further thought and discussion. Contributors include Femi Adeleye, Christopher Wright, Joel Tejedo, Valdir and Maicon Steuernagel, and many others.

Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Author: David W. Jones
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2017-07-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0825445078

Be faithful in your giving and God will reward you financially. It's not always stated that blatantly but the promises of the Prosperity Gospel--or the name-it-and-claim-it gospel, the health-and-wealth gospel, the word of faith movement, or positive confession theology--are false. Yet its message permeates the preaching of well-known Christian leaders: Joyce Meyer, T. D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and many more. The appeal of this teaching crosses racial, gender, denominational, and international boundaries. Why are otherwise faithful Christians so easily led astray? Because the Prosperity Gospel contains a grain of biblical truth, greatly distorted. For anyone who knows that Prosperity Gospel theology is wrong but has trouble articulating and refuting the finer points, this concise edition contains all the robust arguments of the hard-hitting original edition in a shorter, more accessible form.

Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream

Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream
Author: Tony Tian-Ren Lin
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2020-07-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1469658968

In this immersive ethnography, Tony Tian-Ren Lin explores the reasons that Latin American immigrants across the United States are increasingly drawn to Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism, a strand of Protestantism gaining popularity around the world. Lin contends that Latinos embrace Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that believers may achieve both divine salvation and worldly success, because it helps them account for the contradictions of their lives as immigrants. Weaving together his informants' firsthand accounts of their religious experiences and everyday lives, Lin offers poignant insight into how they see their faith transforming them both as individuals and as communities. The theology fuses salvation with material goods so that as these immigrants pursue spiritual rewards they are also, perhaps paradoxically, striving for the American dream. But after all, Lin observes, prosperity is the gospel of the American dream. In this way, while becoming better Prosperity Gospel Pentecostals they are also adopting traditional white American norms. Yet this is not a story of smooth assimilation as most of these immigrants must deal with the immensity of the broader cultural and political resistance to their actually becoming Americans. Rather, Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism gives Latinos the logic and understanding of themselves as those who belong in this country yet remain perpetual outsiders.

Poverty, Riches and Wealth

Poverty, Riches and Wealth
Author: Kris Vallotton
Publisher: Chosen Books
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2018-04-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493414917

Overcome the Never-Enough Mentality to Walk in True Abundance Prosperity. It's one of the most dividing words in the Church. Some pastors use it to tell their congregations that God will make them all rich, rich, rich! Others spurn the word and insist that true Christlikeness is found in forsaking all worldly riches and possessions. The truth is, neither of these extremes is fully right or fully wrong. In his latest book, Kris Vallotton mines the Scriptures in an eye-opening study of what the Bible really says about money, poverty, riches and wealth. In it you'll find keys to · overcome the never-enough mentality to experience true abundance · break free from a poverty mindset that reaps lack in your life · demystify biblical teaching on money so you can discover peace in your finances · learn the difference between riches and wealth Kingdom prosperity begins from the inside out. When you learn to cultivate a mindset of abundance, no matter your circumstances, you will begin to experience the wealth of heaven in every area of your life.

Invading Babylon

Invading Babylon
Author: Lance Wallnau
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
Total Pages: 92
Release: 2013-07-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0768485665

You were transformed to transform your world! For too long, Christianity has been defined by a false concept of church. As a result, believers have built walls around their lives, keeping culture at a distance. As Christians have tried to keep culture out of the church, unfortunately, the church has kept itself out of the culture. This was never Jesus’ design for the your life! Before church was established as a place that people “came to,” Jesus instituted it as an army that brought transformation to society, starting with salvation and continuing with seven spheres of influence: Church, family, education, government, media, arts, and commerce. Six revolutionary voices in the modern church deliver Invading Babylon. This essential guide will equip you to: Understand your vital role in shaping society. Release God’s will in your sphere of influence. Become an unstoppable citizen in God’s Kingdom. It’s your time to arise and be a light in a dark world.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything Happens for a Reason
Author: Kate Bowler
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0399592075

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A meditation on sense-making when there’s no sense to be made, on letting go when we can’t hold on, and on being unafraid even when we’re terrified.”—Lucy Kalanithi “Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal.”—Bill Gates NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God’s disapproval. At thirty-five, everything in her life seems to point toward “blessing.” She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son. Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. The prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with “a surge of determination.” Even as this type of Christianity celebrates the American can-do spirit, it implies that if you “can’t do” and succumb to illness or misfortune, you are a failure. Kate is very sick, and no amount of positive thinking will shrink her tumors. What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before. Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, relatives, and doctors. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live. Praise for Everything Happens for a Reason “I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping—she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate’s story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for?”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising

Your Best Life Now

Your Best Life Now
Author: Joel Osteen
Publisher: FaithWords
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2007-09-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0446510939

In this remarkable New York Times bestseller, Joel Osteen offers unique insights and encouragement that will help readers overcome every obstacle in their lives.

PROSPERITY GOSPEL - and it's effect on the 21st Century Church - A Historical and Theological perspective on the Prosperity Gospel

PROSPERITY GOSPEL - and it's effect on the 21st Century Church - A Historical and Theological perspective on the Prosperity Gospel
Author: DR. JEFFERY B. BOWENS
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2012-01-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 146913571X

The Prosperity Gospel has been one of the most talked about discussions of the 21st century, particularly within the Christian Community. The battle line has been drawn by prominent theologians, influential scholars, pundits, and televangelists alike, who are on different sides of this debate and no one is conceding ground to anyone else. The narrow view simply places emphasis and focus on a more capitalistic view of prosperity, such as exquisite homes, fashionable wardrobes, excessive wealth, expensive cars, material and temporal possessions. Things which are tangible and are seen have come to symbolize for many prosperity and achieving the American dream. On the other hand the broader perspective of prosperity is associated with possessing good health, accomplishing ones goals, experiencing a changed life, having a healthy home life, seeing others become productive members of society, and maintaining a perpetual fellowship with the creator. Wherefore, this material will help the reader to be more distinct and precise in defining the different nuisances of prosperity from a historical and theological perspective.