A couple of weeks ago I landed on part of a TV Ministry that I don’t usually watch. The message the pastor delivered was, for the most part, a standard bible based sermon – until. Until he started taking some twist and turns with the scriptures he cited. This caught my attention so I watched a bit longer to see where he was going with this message.

Then, as Emeril LaGasse would say “BAM!” There it was - a blatant and unashamed bargain -yours for the taking. “You send in your best $8500.00 and the Lord will bless you this year with three things: a financially prosperous and blessed 2008, a peaceful household and good health for a whole year.”

But wait! Who wouldn’t want that? It was easy to see how the preceding, pleasant, encouraging word could snare one into a feeling-good state of mind. However, I know the word and am well-versed in it enough to identify the error in this pastor’s delivery. What he did was unmistakably wrong. God’s blessings cannot be sold! He doesn’t bargain and swindle that way to grant you the favor and blessings He has for you.

Let me point out how we can know this. In Genesis God says He will bless those that bless Israel. In the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) He says blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart and so on.

Does God want us to be in good health? Of course He does. Does He want us to have a peaceful home? Sure. Does He want us to be prosperous? Yes, and not just financially I might add.

But never have I read in God’s Word that you must ‘send in’ $8500.00 (or even $10.00) or His blessings won’t be granted. But this TV personality twisted scriptures such as Psalm 76:11 and 116:14 to plea his case.

After turning off this televised false prophet, I asked my husband what the response would be if this same message was delivered in the poorest of third world nations. What if those people were told “IF you send “X amount” of dollars God will bless you”? His reply was that they would first call this man crazy. I think that would be the least of it.

*The ‘Prosperity Message’ has become a ‘lucrative’ trend in recent years. One of its ‘father’s’ was Kenneth Hagin. However, according to reports, before his death in 2003 he corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes.

He began the ‘Word-Faith’ movement in Oklahoma which begat a Bible College that produced many famous protégé’s like Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and others.

I’m not saying Hagin’s grass-roots movement was all wrong. He taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers didn’t need to be poor. I agree and certainly acknowledge that ministries need financial support.

But before he died Hagin is said to have summoned his colleagues to rebuke them and issued a warning for distorting his message. Repots by those closest to him say that he was not at all happy with some of his followers for manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and self-indulgence.

Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who forged the prosperity movement blew the whistle on his own concept, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his rebuke?

As seen in recent political news, when someone is caught participating in unethical, illegal and immoral acts, that they are to be held accountable. More so perhaps, this is so when they are ‘elected’ officials; or at least when they are caught.

Elected officials are accountable to the voters and the voters are accountable for whom they elect. This accountability includes Obama and his minister Rev. Wright, McCain and one of his spiritual guides Rod Parsley, NY’s Governor Spitzer with his prostitute involvement, Hillary Clinton and all others.

Accountability is Biblical. Todd recently talked about being responsible for our own spiritual growth. I would say that includes a responsibility for who we listen to and who we allow to spiritually teach or influence us.

In Romans 16:17 Paul says we should ‘mark’ someone when they cause divisions and present obstacles contrary to doctrine. Then, he says, we should avoid that person. When we listen to someone we should check the content of what they say and not be fooled by smooth style and ear-tickling deceit.