The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil IN THE CHURCH. Not only outside the church.
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Money is the accepted means of exchange for “might” and “power”. People
will go to work for you in exchange for money, they will sell their
“might” and “power” to you for money. But God says, “It is NOT by might,
NOT by power – but BY MY SPIRIT says the Lord”. The love of money is
what has been pushing the Holy Spirit and His gifts out of the
pentecostal churches.
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Some pastors have proven that suppressing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even genuine ones in their own ministry, can help boost the numbers in the church, and hence the offerings. That is the model today. And so dehydrated Christians will fly anywhere in the world to slake their thirst, even if the source is impure.
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The love of money is behind false prophecy, to give one example. Balaam
prophesied for money. When someone makes a false prophecy designed to
move money from your pocket to theirs in the name of the Holy Spirit, as
frequently happens on Christian TV, we have a problem. One problem it creates is that it creates a “positive feedback loop”. The more money charlatans collect through false prophecies, the more these charlatans will dominate the airwaves with their false prophecies and false teachings designed principally to extract money and appeal to the greed of their hearers.
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Many Christian leaders encourage their congregation to pursue wealth,
even the toys of the wealthy for personal indulgence, as long as they
get a 10% cut for their budget. What would happen if the same energy was
put into pursuing obedience to the commands of God in the gospels, for
example?
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