More on yesterdays topic/What the Bible Says (part one)

 

Hello, Friends. I wanted to touch more yesterday's topic because it is so important. Churches that teach those kinds of things are called Word of Faith Ministries.  This study is from gotquestions.com under the question of: what is the word of faith movement? Is it biblical. There is a lot of info there about it with links to follow if you care to read more on your own. However, I will be reposting a lot of this information for at least the next several days.  Please read on.

What Does the Bible Say About Word of Faith Ministries?

The Word of Faith movement is a controversial Christian teaching that emphasizes the power of positive confession—speaking faith-filled words to bring about physical health, financial prosperity, and other blessings—often claiming that believers can claim these outcomes through their faith. The Bible decisively refutes the claims of the Word of Faith movement, offering clear evidence that faith is not a tool to control outcomes or guarantee material blessings. Scripture teaches that God’s blessings align with His sovereign will, not with human desires or declarations. Whether circumstances are favorable or difficult, God is the same, and our faith remains in Him, not in our ability to manipulate circumstances through our words. True faith involves trusting in God's character and His perfect plan for our lives. In the midst of both abundance and hardship, believers are called to rely on God’s faithfulness, rather than the pursuit of material outcomes, keeping their trust firmly in Him.

from the old testament

• Job exemplifies that suffering is not always tied to sin or a lack of faith. God allowed Job’s trials to demonstrate his steadfastness, not as punishment (Job 1:8).
• In Proverbs 30:8–9, the writer prays for neither poverty nor riches but asks for provision to avoid the temptations of wealth and despair.

from the new testament

• Jesus Himself rejects the notion that faith guarantees prosperity. In His temptation in the wilderness, Satan offers material wealth and worldly power in exchange for worship (Matthew 4:8–10). Jesus rebukes Satan, demonstrating that wealth and success are not signs of God’s favor, but potential distractions from true worship.
• Matthew 6:19–21: Jesus teaches His followers to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth, emphasizing spiritual riches over material wealth.
• Jesus corrects His disciples when they assume a man’s blindness is due to sin, declaring instead that it was so “the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3).
• John 14:13–14: Jesus promises to answer prayers made in His name, but this is always according to His will and for His glory, not human whims.
• Second Corinthians 11:16–33: Paul recounts his hardships as an apostle, demonstrating that faithful service to God often involves suffering, not prosperity. Paul’s life, overall, offers a strong biblical counterpoint to prosperity theology. Despite his unwavering faith, Paul experienced poverty, persecution, and suffering. He writes in 2 Corinthians 12:7–9 of his “thorn in the flesh,” an affliction he prayed to be removed, only for God to respond, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). This passage reveals that God’s purpose is not to grant every request, but to sustain His people through challenges.
• In 1 Timothy 6:5–10, Paul describes those who view faith as a means to wealth as corrupt and misguided, stating that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (v. 10). Instead, believers are called to contentment and warned of the spiritual dangers of greed.

implications for today

The Word of Faith movement distorts the gospel, focusing on self-centered desires, rather than God’s will. Its teachings lead to disillusionment, not understanding why difficulties or trials come. Adherents to the Word of Faith movement are often blamed for their own suffering or poverty due to “insufficient faith.” This doctrine not only misrepresents God, but it also exploits vulnerable individuals, encouraging them to give financially in hopes of divine favor.

Christians must approach the false beliefs of the Word of Faith movement with both truth and compassion. Second Corinthians 11:3 warns of being led astray by deceptive teachings, but believers are also called to guide others gently back to biblical truth (Galatians 6:1). Exposing the errors of prosperity theology protects people from spiritual harm and points them to the true hope found in Christ.

True faith rests in trusting God’s sovereignty, whether in abundance or need (Philippians 4:12–13). Scripture assures believers that God provides for their needs according to His perfect wisdom, offering something far greater than worldly wealth: eternal life and peace through Jesus Christ.

Revelation 16:1

16 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Revelation 16:1 marks the divine command from God to seven angels to pour out His full and righteous wrath upon the earth, initiating the final sequence of judgments.

Context and Overview

In Revelation 16:1, John hears a "great voice out of the temple" instructing seven angels to "pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth" Bible Hub+1. This verse serves as a pivotal moment in the narrative, bridging the vision of the heavenly temple in chapter 15 with the dramatic outpouring of God’s final judgments in chapter 16 Bible Hub. The "great voice" is understood to be God Himself, emphasizing the authority, urgency, and divine origin of the command myholybible.org+1. The temple imagery underscores God’s holiness and the sacredness of His judgment, showing that these actions are not arbitrary but rooted in His righteous character biblerepository.com.

The Seven Angels and the Bowls

The seven angels are entrusted with executing God’s wrath, symbolized by the seven bowls (or vials). The number seven signifies completeness, indicating that God’s judgment will be thorough and nothing will be left unfinished Bible Hub+1. The command to "pour out" (Greek: ἐκχέω, ekcheō) conveys a swift, total, and irrevocable action, contrasting with earlier, partial judgments such as the seals and trumpets myholybible.org. Each bowl represents a specific plague or calamity, including sores, blood, darkness, and scorching heat, which collectively demonstrate God’s sovereignty and justice godsbless.ing.

Theological Significance

Revelation 16:1 illustrates that God’s patience with human rebellion has reached its limit, and His wrath is a necessary response to pervasive sin and injustice myholybible.org+1. This wrath is not an emotional outburst but a holy and just act aimed at removing evil and restoring creation to its intended order myholybible.org. The verse also serves as a warning and a call to repentance, highlighting the seriousness of sin and the certainty of divine accountability godsbless.ing. Within the broader biblical narrative, it affirms that God’s justice will prevail and that ultimate victory belongs to Christ biblemaximum.com+1.

Summary

Revelation 16:1 is a key verse in Christian eschatology, signaling the start of the final, complete, and righteous judgments of God upon a rebellious world. It emphasizes God’s holiness, justice, and sovereignty, while also serving as a solemn reminder of the consequences of sin and the hope of ultimate restoration through Christ Bible Hub+3.

Thank you friends, for coming by to spend a few minutes here. Have a wonderful day in Jesus!

If God Heals...

 ...Why Doesn't He Heal Everyone?

It is not always God’s will to heal a person physically. A person may sincerely pray and truly have faith that God can heal, but if it is not God’s will to provide the healing at that time, then no healing will come (see 1 John 5:14). Sometimes God’s blessings come in other ways besides physical healing.

If it were always God’s will for people to be healed, then everyone would be healed every time he or she became ill. If good health were always God’s will, then Christians should never die. We can’t blame someone’s malady on a lack of faith, for we know, biblically, that God sometimes uses illness to accomplish His will. Also, it’s not just wayward believers who get sick. Paul “left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20), and Paul himself had a physical ailment that the Lord declined to heal (2 Corinthians 12:7–9).

Often, Christians have an over-simplified idea of healing. They think that, if they are sick, they have only to ask God to heal them and, because God loves them, He will heal them straightaway. Healing is seen as proof of a person’s faith and of God’s love. This idea persists in some circles in spite of the truth that every mother knows: a parent does not give her child everything he asks for every time, no matter how much she loves him.

Joni Eareckson Tada struggled with this issue for a long time. As she recounts in her book Joni, she sought physical healing of her quadriplegia. She prayed and fully believed that God would heal her. In her words, “I certainly believed. I was calling up my girlfriends saying, ‘Next time you see me I’m going to be running up your sidewalk. God’s going to heal me’” (quoted in an interview with Marvin Olasky, January 17, 2013). Yet Joni is still in a wheelchair today. Almost 60 years after the accident that left her paralyzed, God has still not healed her. Her perspective is one of great faith: “God may remove your suffering, and that will be great cause for praise. But if not, He will use it, He will use anything and everything that stands in the way of His fellowship with you. So let God mold you and make you, transform you from glory to glory. That’s the deeper healing” (quoted on Grace to You, October 16, 2013). Some feel that God will never heal anyone miraculously today. Others feel that God will always heal a person if he or she has enough faith. But God will not be put into either box.

We need to understand that healings, even in the Bible, are very rare indeed. For the first 2,500 years of biblical history, there is no mention of any healings whatsoever. Then during the life of Abraham we have a possible healing, although it is only implied (Genesis 12:17–20). Then we have to wait until the life of Moses, who performs a number of signs to authenticate his authority as God’s leader. However, the only healing associated with Moses is Miriam’s cleansing from leprosy (Numbers 12:13–15).

In the covenant God gave to Israel, there were a number of provisions to regulate their lives, and there is an emphasis on physicality and material things in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 28, God promises to reward Israel’s faithfulness with freedom from disease. This is the clue to the meaning of miracles in the Bible. God promised Israel health, long life, children, flocks, corn, grapes, etc.—and victory over their enemies—if they stayed faithful to the Lord. At the same time, God threatened them with sickness, barrenness, disease, drought, famine, the loss of livestock, and enemy occupation if they forsook the Lord. This is the context of Israel’s relationship with sickness and healing. The promise to be kept “free from every disease” in Deuteronomy 7:15 was specifically part of the Mosaic Covenant with Israel under the theocracy; such a promise is not given to the church.

With the coming of Christ, we have the fulfillment of the Mosaic Covenant (Matthew 5:17) and a reversal of the effects of Israel’s spiritual backslidings. Wherever Christ went, He healed the sick, but this was not just because of kindness on His part; His healings were always a sign from heaven of Christ’s authority as Messiah (John 7:31). He was giving Israel a taste of the kingdom of God (Luke 11:20). Those who refused His authority were often left sick (Matthew 13:58). At the pool of Bethsaida, for example, Jesus healed only one in a huge multitude (John 5).

The apostles were also given the specific power to heal the sick, and for thirty-seven years they went everywhere healing those who heard their message. Again, their miracles, including healing, were confirmation of the truth of the gospel the apostles proclaimed.

The twelve apostles did not heal everyone, either. Often, there were Christians left unwell in spite of the apostolic power. Paul says to Timothy, “Use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23). Why didn’t Paul just lay hands on Timothy and heal him? It wasn’t because Timothy didn’t have enough faith; it was because it was not God’s will to heal Timothy that way. The healing ministry was not for anyone’s personal convenience; rather, it was a sign from God—to the Jews of the Old Covenant primarily—of the validity of the apostles’ message.

We are not living in the apostolic days today. Of course, God can and does heal today when He wants to. The question we need to ask in any given situation is, what does God want? Does He desire to heal the individual in this life, or does He have another plan to show His glory through weakness? Someday, all sickness and death will be eradicated (see Revelation 21:4). Joni Eareckson Tada will walk again. Until then, there is a greater healing, the cleansing of sinful hearts, that God performs every day.

(Source: gotquestions.com)

💗💗💗

Hello, Friends. Sadly in many of today's churches, God's healing is for sale. In other words, if you give to a ministry (such as KCM) you can live in complete good health by Him.  They take advantage of people that are desprate for God to take away their sickness and make them whole. 

And what happens, when they aren't healed?

They are told that they didn't give enough, didn't have enough faith, or some other lie that the devil has used to make pastors rich off the their congregations. It makes God seem like a liar to some that turn from the faith because something was promised but not delivered.  

If you want to know who these biggest losers really are. Look no farther that someone that has attended one of these churches, given money even when they can't afford to give, waiting for a miracle that in most cases never happens, while the people in leadership fly around in custom jets, live in mansions and drive big cars. 

Do I believe that God can and does heal? Absolutely! Because the Bible does tell us that. But within my own extended family, a close sibling of mine passed away believe in those lies, and eventually died of dementia I have taken a closer look.

Kennth and Gloria Copeland have and are going through some of that kind of stuff right now. Their own son said, they have taught this word of healing for years and they shouldn't be going through what they are now.

He truly seemed clueless when trying to explain why. But I can answer that for you.

Why are they?    BECAUSE IT IS A LIE FROM THE PIT OF HELL!   That is why. 

Friends, I take no comfort in telling you that Kenneth Copeland now wears eye glasses to help him read. That he has to have help walking now, that he has had hip surgery and a pace maker. 

Nor that Gloria appears to have some kind of dementia herself when she does show up in the congregation. 

Nor that many people that go there get healed. But these things we go through in life are just a part of it. We get old and die. Our bodies often fail us. It happens.

But it makes me angry that they have gotten rich from this teaching and good people that are deceived by the same, are told not to go to doctors or that they need services of the same thereof, and yet now that they are in this position the teaching in the church still goes on by other false teachers. And they are going to doctors, surgeons and taking medications themselves and making excuses for it.

And worse yet, people are still falling for it and not seeing what is and should be plainly in front of them.

I am angered and saddened. Because I know this kind of theology was preached by some in my own family.  And two members died because of it. 

I am asking you to please please please do not fall for the enemy's lies and follow a church that teaches this. If you are in one now, run and not walk away from it immediately.

This is a heavy topic today. I hope you have stayed with me through it. God's word comes first. Not from the mouths of someone distorting it to make is say what they want it to say. Believe me, to get away from it is the best thing you can do for yourself. 

Thanks for coming by today. I am praying for you my friends and visitors. Take care and God bless!

A Message From Me

 Hello, Friends

I pray that all of you had a great weekend. I wanted to let you know that our new Bible study will start tomorrow, September 9th. I had wanted to get it started today but have encountered some things that are affecting me both health wise and online as well. It's one of those "When it rains it pours..." type things which can be just a pain in the neck...literally. And so, I am not quite sure what we will be looking at as far as the study goes, although I do have an idea. 

At any rate, I am confident that God is seeing me through these problems and I will have something ready for you tomorrow afternoon. (est) 

And so, with that, I will bid you His blessing for the day and I pray that you have a good one. Thanks for checking in. 

Baby Dedication: What is it? Is it necessary?

 

What is baby dedication?

In the majority of Protestant denominations that practice it, child dedication is a symbolic ceremony undertaken by Christian parents soon after the birth of a child. Some churches perform these ceremonies en masse and have several couples and children participating at the same time. The rite is intended to be a public statement by the parents that they will train their children in the Christian faith and seek to instill that faith in them. The congregation often responds through responsive reading or some other method to affirm that they, as a church family, will also seek to encourage the parents to bring up the child in the faith. There is no implied salvation in the ceremony, and it varies from church to church.

The idea of dedicating a child to the Lord can certainly be found in the Bible. Hannah was a barren wife who promised to dedicate her child to God if He would give her a son (1 Samuel 1:11). Luke 2:22 begins the account of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple after forty days in order to dedicate Him to the Lord. This was slightly more involved since it involved a sacrifice, but once again this ceremony did not indicate any level of salvation.

Child / baby dedication is not one of the two ordinances—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—required of Christians in the New Testament. As Christians, we are baptized and participate in the Lord’s Supper as outward and public signs of what Christ has done within us. While baby dedication is not an officially instituted ordinance of the church, there does not seem to be any conflict with Scripture as long as parents do not view it as assuring the salvation of the child.  (Source: gotquestions.com)

Hello, Friends. As this article explains, it is not something that is necessary to do. However, I believe it is a good thing we can do for our babies and even our older children, if we have come to Christ after they have passed the infant stage. 

My parents dedicated me as an infant, and I believe it was really the beginning of my love for Jesus. And as an 8-year-old my father led me to Jesus.

I can't say that my life has been perfect because of it. I have had many bumps along the way. But I can say that I believe God has been with me during all the years that the bumps have gotten in the way. He has been ever faithful to me, even when I haven't been faithful to Him. 

Revelation 15:8

8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled

And the temple; that is, the church, as temple most ordinarily signifieth in this book.

Was filled with smoke: by smoke, doubtless, is meant confusions and troubles.

From the glory of God, and from his power; caused by God’s glorious manifestation of his power, in bringing antichrist to ruin, who had so twisted his interest with that of the civil magistracy in several kingdoms, that there was no rooting him out, without a terrible shaking of all those parts of the earth where he set his foot.

And no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled; so as no part of the church could be at rest until God had fulfilled his ruin by these plagues: nor must any quiet state of the church be expected, until this great work be effected.

(Source: Mathew Pooles Commentary)

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. This will conclude our study of these subjects. I will be taking a break over the weekend and we will begin a new study on Monday, September 7th. I am not sure where our next subject will land, so pray with me, that I will find what God would have us look at.  Have a wonderful weekend. God Bless!