$eed$ of Faith

If we are to be stewards of God's Word and Truth and our finances, I believe we are also required to overturn the moneychangers tables in the Temple, when we see them, like Jesus Christ Himself did. There are many wolves in sheep's clothing. False gospels like the health, wealth and prosperity gospels, which are really no gospels at all. They promise what they themselves can not deliver. They mix truth with error. You can offer the Living Water, like verses from the Bible or quotes from Jesus, but add one tiny drop of poison (error) and it becomes lethal.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, but I am ashamed of those who seek to use His name for their own prosperity and give liberal and generous promises they have no business giving. These "moneychangers" (from your hands to theirs) are unscrupulous. The want you to send "seeds of faith" in exchange for a financial miracle. They promise blessings but if Jesus walked the earth today, I doubt if he would drive a Mercedes Benz.

They like to think that they are doing God's work, but their promises go against the very Word of God. In Proverbs 30:8, it says "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I might have too much and disown you and say 'Who is the Lord?'". Promising riches is not how God works. The eye of a needle" is part of a phrase attributed to Jesus by the synoptic Gospels: "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Math. 19:23-24, Mark 10:24-25, Luke 18:24-25).

Even so, these are they which the Apostle Paul talked about who preach the Gospel for money. In their wake, they leave shattered lives of widows, the poor, desperate, and those who are on their last straw. They bilk money from those who have little and hope against hope for anything. But the way they leave is destitute, angry and bitter at God for not fulfilling His part of the promise. The empty promise of what they usually call, "seeds of faith". But Paul was very angry at them and exposed them when he saw them. In Titus 1:11, Paul told Titus of those, "Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." Filthy lucre is another way of saying dirty money. He insisted that these are those "whose mouths must be stopped": (epistomizw), "to stop the mouth; to silence someone; to bridle; to muzzle".

From these poor widows and widowers and orphans and the poor in general, they are actually extorting from their audience; making offerings for promises in return for their generous "love offerings" and "gifts". It matters little to them that God is not a cosmic Santa Claus and that riches are often a stumbling block for what God wants: A deep, dependent necessity on Him alone. This sounds more like quid pro quo. God does not work that way. The "prosperity or health and wealth gospels" contradict the very Word of God. Remember that Jesus and the disciples took no purse for themselves.

We are commanded to test the spirits in the New Testament to see if they are of God or not. I would ask you to check with these "ministries" since many have IRS irregularities. The most troubling is that they have absolutely no accountability with fiscal evangelical associations (1, 2) which monitor financial records of different ministries. If you see the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) or Ministry Watch labels on their websites or on their literature, they are being held fiscally accountable for all of their donations. If not, there is not accountability whatsoever and no monitoring at all. Below is a list of some of the most faithful ministries who are proven financial stewards with your donations.

These are what Paul called false gospels. They are in it for money. I am tempted to list them here, but I rather will provide you with links below which you can use to search for any ministry that you have doubts about. If you would like to know the many false gospels and $eed$ of faith or seeds of greed ministries that I have investigated and found to be fraudulent, just send me a personal message and I will send this list to you. If any ministry doesn't have these agencies listed on websites or literature (ECFA or Ministry Watch), don't trust them. If you search for them on the links below and they don't show up, that's a red flag. That's because these agencies provide a free service to any ministries to ensure financial accountability.

The seeds of faith or more seeds of greed may contain some accuracy in scripture, but remember that Satan himself can appear as an angel of light and even 1% of error negates the integrity of the entire message. They may quote scripture, and appear to befirmly grounded theologically and biblically, to the basic principles and articles of faith in the Word of God, and the Holy Bible, but the devil likes to mix error with truth, as during Jesus 40 days in the wilderness during His temptation.

You can trust MinistryWatch.com as an invaluable resource, as well as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). I hope these act as a guide in your donation decisions. Remember that God does not promise riches in this life but that our treasures be stored in heaven, where moth nor rust can corrupt. Some of the highest rated ministries that have an A grade include:

Billy Graham; Hour of Decision, Dr. R. C. Sprouls; Ligonier Ministries, Dr. Charles Stanley; In-Touch, Adrian Rogers; Love Worth Finding, Dr. James Dobson; Focus on the Family, Chip Ingram; Living on the Edge, others include John MacArthur, Dr. David Jeremiah, Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, and many others.

If there are others, let me know. I will include them in my "safe list". Or, if you know of some that are fraudulent, you can also send me a message and I will add them to my (growing) list of false-gospel ministries. They will be held accountable at judgment day, but until that time: Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. They promise blessings when you send them $eed$ of faith. Don't fall victim to it. Pass this on so we can be good stewards of what the Master has entrusted us with...to store up treasures in heaven. Not here on earth, where it will pass away some day.

1. http://www.ecfa.org/HomePage.aspxhttp://ministrywatch.com/

2. http://ministrywatch.com/