We were recently discussing the so-called "Prosperity Gospel." Read about the life of this girl whose cause for sainthood is now being advanced. Almost all of the saints were blessed but most of them weren't prosperous by the world's standards.
(That's TV preacher Joel Osteen in the picture above, whom Evanglical author Hank Hanegraaff, author of Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century, describes as "the preeminent prosperity preacher on the planet." I believe that the early Christian martyrs depicted above were blessed and that their best days were ahead of them, but not on this earth and not in the sense that Preacher Osteen means.)
I sorta like Osteen for some reason. Interesting story. His dad dropped dead and he was deathly afraid to preach; but his mom talked him into taking over their mega-ministry...something like that. The rest is history - the church is bigger than ever, and it was already gigantic when his father was living. He's a good example of the power of positive thinking, if nothing else.
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