How Paul Managed to Mix Ministry and Money
By Ricardo Butler aka ReAsOn DiSciPLe
There is this HUGE struggle in the Holy Hip-Hop community! There are two extremes happening here. It’s not just in holy hip-hop, it all over the body of Christ. And it’s mostly because of a misunderstanding of what the Word of God actually teaches, and not to mention how it has been portrayed by televangelists, super star preachers, and the mega-churches.
But I believe the BIGGEST problem is fear. And that fear is being produced by a faulty belief from one’s own weakness in this area. I should know. I had this fear.
There is a Scripture that says,
“Two things have I required of Thee; deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty [Heb: ‘To be destitute:--lack, needy, poor, make self poor, poor man’] nor riches [Heb: ‘make SELF rich (usually through selfish gain and not by godly increase)’]; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” (Proverbs 10:7-9).
The Message puts there verses as:
“And then he prayed, ‘God, I’m asking for two things before I die; don’t refuse me—banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence. Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I’m too full, I might get independent, saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’ If I’m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God.’”
And the Amplified Bible says,
“Two things have I asked of You [O Lord]; deny them not to me before I die: remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny You and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal, and so profane the name of my God.”
This Scripture is a WISE prayer for anybody in the Body of Christ. Why? Because it brings balance! There is a temptation on both ends. For the Christian we have a fear of losing our salvation if we get too rich. But at the same time we have a temptation to steal and envy the rich man because maybe we are lacking by choice or have been afraid to increase God’s way.
There are FOUR possibilities when it comes to wealth and poverty. Here are the four possibilities. But only one of them is God’s way to prosper.
Continue reading http://www.ricardoequips.com/13979/how-paul-managed-to-mixed-ministry-and-money-by-ricardo-butler/
Comments