What are the teachings of the prosperity gospel? It teaches that financial success is a direct reward for unwavering faith, positive speech, and religious donations. Today's version of this ancient heresy surfaced in the 1950s. One of their preachers, Reverend Ike, stated, "I don't want pie in the sky when I die; I want cash in the stash here and now!" It interprets scripture as a divine guarantee of earthly wealth, putting the believer's material desires at the center of faith. Some have characterized their teaching as "name it and claim it, give to get, blab it and grab it, profess it and possess it". Also known as the "Word of Faith" movement, it key figures today are Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, John Hagee, Creflo ("Cashflow") Dollar, Paula White, and Joyce Meyer. Past figures included Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth Hagin.

The sermon explores the practical challenges of becoming a disciple of Jesus by examining four primary hindrances: the love of money, the love of food and drink, excessive attachment to family, and the love of ease. Drawing from multiple Gospel passages, particularly Matthew 16 and Luke 9, the message emphasizes that true discipleship requires daily self-denial and prioritizing spiritual treasures over earthly comforts. The preacher illustrates how anxiety for material provision and comfort can distract believers from the eternal value of the Kingdom of God. By referencing personal experiences and biblical examples like Matthew and Paul, the text encourages contentment with basic needs and reliance on God's presence rather than worldly security. Ultimately, the central call is to fix one's eyes on Christ, accepting the cost of following Him as a necessary path to finding true happiness in serving the Master Jesus Christ.

In 1631, two English printers made a huge mistake. When printing a new edition of the Bible, they accidentally left out one word and caused a huge commotion. They left out the word "not" in the seventh commandment. As a result, those who bought that edition of the Bible were surprised when they read these words: "Thou shalt commit adultery." You can imagine how surprised the readers were! This caused such an uproar that the king demanded that all of these editions be destroyed. He also fined the printers a large sum of money. Thankfully, almost all of the printings were destroyed before that misprint could mislead many people. Almost 400 years have passed since "The Wicked Bible" was first printed. However, the sin of adultery has been around for thousands of years before that. The Bible talks about Joseph rejecting the advances of Potiphar's wife, David's adultery with Bathsheba, and the unfaithfulness of Hosea's wife. While it has happened many times, the Bible makes it clear that this is not something that pleases God. In fact, the Law of Moses prescribes the death penalty for those who commit adultery. But what did Jesus think about it? Was it something to be forgiven or to be judged? This was the question posed to Him in our passage today.

The sermon examines the transient nature of earthly wealth through James 5, contrasting the fleeting beauty of riches with the enduring value of spiritual devotion. It identifies 'practical atheism' as a dangerous trap where individuals prioritize self-interest and autonomy over God, mistaking financial freedom for true liberty. By referencing passages like 1 Timothy 6 and Luke 12, the text warns that the pursuit of money often leads to idolatry and spiritual ruin rather than genuine gain. The preacher urges believers to reject the world's obsession with material success and instead seek godliness with contentment as their ultimate goal. Ultimately, the message calls for a shift in focus from temporary earthly treasures to eternal riches found in Christ.

Twila Brase is President and Co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom, a national patient-centered, privacy-focused, free-market policy organization to support health care choices, individualized patient care and medical and genetic privacy. Twila is a certified public health nurse, and author of the eight-time award-winning book Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records. She is the speaker on the daily Health Freedom Minute heard on stations across the nation. There was an article in the BizTimes which covers Milwaukee Business news. It was dealing with the springing up of data centers all over the country. Here's how the article began, "Every time you ask an AI assistant a question, stream a video, transfer money, or pull up a patient's medical record, something physical happens. Somewhere in a building full of servers and cooling systems and fiber cables and backup generators, a machine processes that request. That building is a data center. And right now, the United States does not have nearly enough of them." We've done multiple programs on these AI data centers and have told you that virtually your every social media post, medical records, financial records, emails etc are all contained in these data centers. But are you aware that AI has also entered the medical exam room with recording devices that are capturing your visit including what you believe to be a very private conversation with your doctor? More information: CCHFreedom.org