Peddling an Adulterated Version of God's Message for Profit - Page Two, Part B

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» This is Exactly Why You Need to KNOW FOR YOURSELF What the Scriptures Actually Say and Teach

This is why you want to know for yourself what the scriptures actually say .. and what the scriptures actually teach ..

.. so that nobody will be able to shortchange you with an adulterated version of the gospel that they are peddling.

And so that nobody will be able to deceive you or seduce you.

Nothing is stopping you from finding out for yourself what the scriptures actually teach.

» Modern Translations » New International + New American Standard + Amplified + Easy-to-Read

Personally I would suggest the NIV version (1978, revised 2011, mixed formal and dynamic equivalence translation) .. if you really want a modern translation for the most accurate rendering of the scriptures.

Any translation is problematic and involves judgment calls ..because of the differences in different languages.

The passage of a few millennia only adds to those problems .. because the world that we live in today is very different from the world that the ancients lived in.

Next I would recommend the New American Standard version (1971, up.dated 1995, formal equivalence translation, which is a stricter translation than the NIV, but which uses language which is less broadly understood).

I attended a church in Pennsylvania where the pastor announced one Sunday morning "Next week I'm going to start using the New American Standard."

So I became familiar with this translation. (His 15-year-old daughter got knocked up, so he left the church for a year to go figure shit out. I liked him.)

I have also found the Amplified version to be very helpful (1965, revised 2015, dynamic translation). This is the most colorful translation and sheds the most light.

I sometimes use the Easy-to-Read version (1987, functional equivalence translation) in my links, but I always include another translation with it.

I would not recommend the 400-year-old King James version (1611) .. because the English language has changed so much over the last 400 years.

King James himself was born in 1566 and died in 1625. (Michelangelo, for example, died in 1564.)

» Somebody Ask Him if He Thinks There are Any Preachers Today Who are Peddling an Adulterated Version of God's Message

Somebody should ask him if he thinks there are any preachers today who are peddling an adulterated version of God's message for profit.

How many times do you reckon he has preached on this particular verse? I am sure that he must be familiar with it .. or do you think he has torn out that page?

I wonder what the people who work inside his ministry think of him. These interviews with former employees suggest that he lied with a straight face on camera (at t=5:00).

» Seems that Little has Changed in Two Thousand Years

Another preacher, Pat Robertson, is also about the money.

Just another evangelical preacher who is really about the money.

It seems that little has changed in two thousand years. There are still "many" who are peddling an adulterated version of God's message for financial gain.

» Paying Attention to Deceitful and Seductive Doctrines in the Latter Days

We must be in the "later times" .. because Paul says that this is when some believers will:

» turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, misled by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron, leaving them incapable of ethical functioning.

Notice in particular the phrase » incapable of ethical functioning.

» The Age of So Called Prosperity Preachers

I am reminded here of what Peter said to the people in Jerusalem » "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation, from this perverse generation, from this crooked and unjust generation."

I bet that Charley Sykes knows what Peter is talking about here.

And he is not the only one. Far from it, my friend. Far from it.

You could also refer to this generation as » The Age of Prosperity Preachers.

James says that preachers will be held to, and judged by, a higher, stricter standard.

You reckon he might know?

» An Angry Hostile Emphatic Warning Delivered Condescendingly from an Elevated Position

Look at him here, angrily pointing his finger at Lisa, warning her not to say what he has already said with his own mouth on television.

Again, he has that crazy look in his eyes here. And that is some finger he has.

Have you ever seen a finger pointed more threateningly or more angrily? This is a remarkable image here. Wow.

I dont think that you could find a professional actor who could point their finger any more threateningly or angrily (at a girl, no less).

Notice how he is elevated above her .. because he is standing in the SUV .. looking down on her. How apropos to the larger theme of this interview.

I am not seeing the love of God in operation here.

Rather I am seeing anger and hostility and threatening gestures and self-preservation and an attempt to silence and censor.

» Isaiah Says to Do Away With the Pointing Finger

I would direct this prosperity preacher to the 58th chapter of Isaiah .. which instructs the believer on the proper approach toward those less fortunate.

And in particular verse 9, in which Isaiah instructs people to » "remove and do away with the pointing finger."

He has obviously not done away with the pointing finger. See for yourself.

He claims that he wasnt referring to people on airplanes as demons .. but this is exactly what he said (with his own mouth) » "You can't manage that today, in this dope-filled world, get in a long tube with a bunch of demons."

Because demons don't do what he calls "dope" and they dont need to get on an airplane, which he refers to as a "long tube." People do. He is obviously referring to people here .. which is why he got so upset.

Lisa caught him with his own words and he didnt like it when she fed them back to him. So it's understandable that he would react this way.

He is probably thinking here, "If word of this ever gets out, then people might not want to give me any more money. That would be horrible."

» Jesus Welcomed the Company of Sinners

I would also remind this 82 year old prosperity preacher that Jesus was known to be in the company of sinners and other unsavory characters. And he didnt call them demons.

What really seemed to irk him, though, were the hypocritical, holier-than-thou preachers. .. who thought they were too good to be seen with common folk.

I am talking here about religious people who like to tell others how to live .. while they themselves make one excuse after another for why their actions and behaviors and morality didnt measure up to the standards that they set for others.

Ken Starr knows what I am talking about. Mike Pence knows what I am talking about. Pat Robertson knows what I am talking about.

» You Cannot Buy the Blessings of God

Speaking of so-called Christians who are really all about the money .. I know that it might seem hard to believe, but some people even think that you can buy the blessings of God ..

.. despite what Peter said about such nonsense » "May your money be destroyed with you, because you thought you could buy the [free] gift of God with money."

Notice how he calls such ideas "wickedness" and "evil thoughts."

You reckon he might know?

There is not enough money in all the world to buy the blessings of God. Not even close.

People who try to purchase the blessings of God are trying to employ the world's transactional model to buy the blessings of God.

» Elisha the Prophet Refused to Accept any Gift from a Grateful Wealthy Commander

Notice what the prophet Elisha said here when Naaman the commander of the armies of Syria tried to give him a gift ..

.. after Elisha directed Naaman in the way to be cleaned from his leprosy.

Elisha said » "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will accept nothing."

Note also that Naaman was a "great and powerful man" who was highly respected by the king of Syria.

So he would have certainly gifted Elisha with abundant riches. But Elisha wasnt having it. Not even a little.

What do you think this prosperity preacher wouldve done? (I bet that Gehazi knows.)

Elisha was obviously not about the money.

Heck, when Naaman showed up at Elisha's house, the prophet didnt even bother to go out and greet him.

He simply sent his servant out to tell Naaman, "Go wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh will be restored." .. which pissed Naaman off something ferocious.

» The Difficulty Understanding How Faith Works is Completely Understandable

It is entirely understandable why people have such trouble with the concept and workings of faith ..

.. because the world-system in which we live, and in which we were raised, is based on a transactional model .. particularly so in capitalist societies.

People involved in such transactions say, "You give me this, and I'll give you that." They say things like, "You do this for me and I'll do that for you."

In such a transactional system, you can't get something of value without giving something of value. (I feel like I am stating the obvious here.)

This is why Jesus said, "I do not give to you as the world gives."

Well .. how does the world give? When the world gives, it is going to want something in return. It does not give simply because it loves you. No. And the more it gives, the more it will want in return. The world gives based on a transaction.

Who does not know (intimately and on a firsthand basis) the transactional model of which I speak?

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