RE: Prosperity

From: Dr. Blake Nelson (bnelson301@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jun 30 2003 - 12:29:51 EDT

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    I'm sorry, but I beg to differ immensely with the
    sentiment apparently conveyed in the first paragraph.
    I don't have the time to do adequate justice to what I
    am trying to convey, but to say that living a life of
    poverty and defeat is not going to attract anyone to
    Jesus implies a lot that you don't perhaps intend.
    For example, it implies that the thing that attracts
    one to being christian is success in some popular
    sense (wealth, health, fame, etc.). Perhaps, what
    attracts someone to christianity is joy and love even
    in suffering, peace in turmoil, etc. Heck, it doesn't
    take faith in anything to be superficially happy with
    prosperity.

    Off the top of my head, a couple verses of Phillipians
    come to mind:

    But whatever things were gain to me, those things I
    have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
    8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in
    view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus
    my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
    things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain
    Christ,
    9 and may be found in Him, not having a
    righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that
    which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
    which comes from God on the basis of faith,
    10 that I may know Him and the power of His
    resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,
    being conformed to His death;
    11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection
    from the dead.
    12 Not that I have already obtained it or have
    already become perfect, but I press on so that I may
    lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by
    Christ Jesus.

    ---------
    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

    5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The
    Lord is near.
    6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by
    prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
    requests be made known to God.
    7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all
    comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds
    in Christ Jesus.

    -----

    Perhaps, these outworkings of the spirit and this kind
    of attitude in poverty and "defeat" are just what
    makes someone wonder what is different about someone
    who is christian?

    --- Debbie Mann <deborahjmann@insightbb.com> wrote:
    > That was NEVER my claim. I'll try again:
    >
    > Our lives attract, repel or escape notice.
    > When Christians have the kind of life that other
    > people want, such as Sondra
    > apparently has, wealth not withstanding, then
    > non-Christians investigate.
    > Living a life of poverty and defeat is not going to
    > attract anyone to Jesus.
    > Living a life of abundance will. Abundance is
    > relative and can mean a lot of
    > different things. Abundance of joy is probably the
    > greatest attraction.

    (SNIP)

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