Category Archives: e-Teachings

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A Prophet Among Profits

It was pointed out to me that the title of last month’s E-teaching, Jesus, the Greatest Prosperity Preacher, was a phrase also used by a popular prosperity preacher in one of his teaching articles. He used that phrase, however, not as I did, but rather as a serious claim that Jesus was in fact just like him and other modern prosperity preachers—but Jesus was the greatest! This, in my opinion, was a terrible slur against Jesus. Jesus was the absolute antithesis of greedy prosperity preachers.

Since that particular prosperity preacher has duped so many people into helping him live his opulent lifestyle, I thought it might be worthwhile this month to examine his entire article in which he makes his outrageous claim. By so doing, it will not only reveal how he has abused Scripture to prove that Jesus was like modern day prosperity preachers, but it will also be a lesson in what questions should be going through our minds when we listen to any Bible teacher, so that we may avoid being duped by anyone about anything.

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Jesus, the Greatest Prosperity Preacher

“Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” — Jesus (Luke 6:38).

The primary reason that Scripture is misinterpreted is because context is ignored. Every verse must be interpreted in light of its surrounding scriptures and within the context of the entire Bible. If our interpretation of any verse does not harmonize with the rest of Scripture, our interpretation needs adjusted.

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A Parable about Frank, the Wise Investor

The following parable was sent to me from a friend in France, who received it from a friend of his. It is a short story of a man named Frank who became very rich by investing in Microsoft stock. (If you had purchased one share of Microsoft when it first went for sale in 1986 for less than $25, your investment would be worth 300 times that today.)

Although some of the decisions that Frank made on his way to becoming a billionaire may have seemed foolish at the time, in the end, he would prove all of his critics wrong.

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It’s Time to Try Pond #2!

Dear Friends,

Last month I received a letter from an enthusiastic reader who told me that he has been downloading the first chapters of my evangelistic book, Forgive Me for Waiting so Long to Tell You This, printing them, and leaving them in the men’s bathroom stalls where he works. He said they are being read, and no negative comments so far!

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Oh, the Luck that Saves Us?

God chooses people. He chose a man named David, for example, to be a king of Israel.

Quite obviously, God’s choice of David was not a random choice. He didn’t draw straws up in heaven. Rather, God’s choice of David was a calculated, intelligent choice. He saw something in David that He liked. Specifically, He liked David’s heart, and for that reason, God chose him (see 1 Sam. 13:13-14, 16:6-12; Acts 13:22).

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The Snack We Call Supper

At the last church that I pastored, I required that our ushers wear a coat and tie on those once-a-month Sundays when we celebrated the Lord’s Supper. It seemed to me that those who distributed the elements of Jesus’ body and blood should demonstrate at least that much respect in performing their sacred duty.

On one of those Communion Sundays, while an usher was driving his family to the church, his five-year-old son noticed that he was wearing a coat and tie. He innocently asked, “Dad, is this the Sunday that we all eat God’s holy snack?”

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Lessons from Children

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:1-6).

Jesus’ disciples did not ask the question, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” from a purely academic concern. They were all personally interested, hoping to be great in the soon-coming kingdom. It was obvious to them that they had a winning candidate in Jesus, and they believed it wouldn’t be long before He would be ruling the world. Opportunity was knocking for those with ambition!

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Only Eunuchs Never Struggle With Lust

A number of the responses I received from last month’s e-teaching, Can a Christian Have a Demon?, were from men who told me their stories of enduring ‘deliverance ministry’ to expel the ‘demon of lust.’ In every case, they spoke of the ultimate failure of those sessions, and how they had to learn to overcome lust by self-discipline. Lust is such a common struggle among Christian men that I’ve decided to devote an e-teaching to the subject. I hope it is helpful. And to all the women who intend to ignore the ‘For Men Only!’ warning, I hope this will at least help you to better understand men. But don’t expect any help from me to understand yourself. I don’t understand women! — David

All genuine Christian men desire to be lust-free. To overcome lust, however, it is essential to understand what it is. To understand what it is, it often helps to consider what it is not. So let’s begin with that.

First, lust is not sexual desire. Sexual desire is God-given and thus pure. It is nothing to be ashamed of, any more than the desire for food is shameful. Allow me to elaborate.

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Can a Christian Have a Demon?

When it comes to the subject of casting out demons, we are prone to fall into the ditch on either side of the road, either downplaying something that is entirely scriptural, or finding demons behind every bush. As with all biblical topics, the truth is found in the middle of the extremes.

Certainly casting out demons is not a subject we should ignore. It was a regular feature of Jesus’ ministry (see Mark 1:32-34, 39; Luke 4:41; 6:18; 7:21). Moreover, He commissioned the twelve to cast out demons, and they were generally quite successful, bringing deliverance to many suffering people (see Mark 6:12-13; Luke 10:17; Acts 5:16; 8:7; 19:12). Beyond that, there was at least one person during Christ’s ministry who cast out demons in His name whom He had not specifically authorized (see Mark 9:38-39). There are also records in the book of Acts of many people being delivered from unclean spirits through the ministry of the apostles (see Acts 5:16; 8:6-7; 16:16-18; 19:11-12). Finally, one of the signs that Jesus said would follow believers is that they would cast out demons (see Mark 16:17). So the exorcism of demons was not something that was only for the early church.

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The Day Jesus Lied?

It is always pure joy to discover more people who are focusing on the substance of what following Jesus is supposed to be all about—loving God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. These two commandments are what Jesus said are most important and what encapsulate all the rest (see Matt. 22:36-40). Being a Christian is all about love-relationships, lived out in self-denying servanthood towards God and others. There is no truth that is so simple yet so profound. People who respond to the gospel become lovers. As we will explore in this month’s e-teaching, the two greatest commandments are inextricably linked to salvation itself. So we begin with a portion of Scripture that has had many of us scratching our heads.

Luke tells us in his Gospel that Jesus was once “put to the test” by a man who was an expert in the Law of Moses, a lawyer, as they were called. He asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Convinced that he knew the answer to his question, the lawyer wanted to see if Jesus would answer correctly.