"I like what some people say, that I do not believe in the prosperity Gospel but I believe there is prosperity in the Gospel. 2Corinthians 9:8 is very clear that He came to do was to free us from the poverty mindset. That we might come out from under it and be blessed and increase. The religious spirit and the poverty spirit are closely linked if they're not operating with each other to try and keep us out of the blessing of God. 2Corinthians 9:8 says that He was rich and became poor that we might be rich. I say that does not mean that He lived a life of poverty. It means that as He hung on the cross He allowed everything to be stripped of Him and He took our poverty on Himself so that we could have all of the blessings and riches He has for us. But what happens to many people is that they hear that verse and they want to make it spiritual but 2Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 are dealing is all about natural finances." - Robert Henderson
The prosperity in the Gospel is spiritual prosperity. It is a Gospel that sets you free from sin, reconciles you to the Father, and guarantees you eternal life. What could be more eternally prosperous as that? The blessings of God however rarely matter to hucksters and frauds so they want material prosperity on this mortal coil called earth. 2Corinthinas 9:8 has nothing to do with a poverty mindset or spirit because those are made up terms by the NAR and prosperity preachers. Paul is reinforcing a biblical truism that if you are stingy you tend towards having less and if you give freely, then you will find yourself in more abundance. This is the principle of sowing and reaping. Put all of this aside for a moment and reread that absurd and insulting analysis Henderson does of Christ's work on the cross. Jesus Christ did not die on a cross so that we could be rich. Period. If God wanted to make someone rich, He certainly did not need to sacrifice His only Son. Jesus hung on the cross as an atonement for our sins. It is in fact the very heart of the Gospel message and the heart of God. This bastardization by Robert Henderson while Sneaky Squid LeClaire looks on in full agreement is nothing short of disgusting. Chapters 8 and 9 do deal with a lot of natural financial issues but Henderson misses the point. Imagine Jesus having to leave heaven behind to become one of the created on a mercy mission that will end with a horrific death for a people who openly reject you. THAT is what the writer is speaking about when he says He became poor so that we might become rich. It has nothing to do with money. Henderson ends this segment by claiming "God has said I need my people to be wealthy so they can be a part of my process of bringing reformation to the nations of the earth"; to which Jennifer responded:
"Of course God wants us to have really nice things. A really nice car, really nice clothes. I am reminded of a scripture in Ephesians that says to work hard so that you will have something to give to other people. Our motive cannot be our four and no more. Our motive is to advance the kingdom and that takes money. Ecclesiastes says money answers all things so if we're just getting by, broke, busted and disgusted then we have a poverty mentality. You know I had nothing as well. My husband left, we were doing pretty well. I was making a lot of money at one point and then I was falsely accused of a crime I didn't commit and I was put in jail. I had to hire an attorney to overturn this bogus charge, which he did but it cost me everything I had. I came out on food stamps, I had no money, nothing." - Jennifer LeClaire
Arrrghhh, no Jennifer. The entire verses says let the thief no longer steal but rather do honest work so that he may share with anyone in need. Is the purpose of this verse to exhort us to own nice cars and fancy clothes? Seriously? So the indigent Christians around the world are supposed to really have rich homes and abundance? This is a fundamental underpinning of false prosperity preachers worldwide. To pursue being blessed in order to be a blessing. It is heresy wrapped up in a faux piety bow. The principle here is simply. Do not steal, work and if you work, you'll be in a position to help others. It does not necessarily take money to advance the kingdom. What an insult to missionaries throughout the centuries. Now, let's put that Ecclesiastes verse back into the context Jennifer violently tore it out of:
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness! Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks. Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. - Ecclesiastes 10:16-19 (ESV)
Woes in the bible are akin to judgment. So it is a really bad thing when your king is immature and your princes feast in the morning. When you king is noble however and princes feast at the appropriate time they do so for strength and not drunkenness. It is through sloth, or laziness, that your very roof sinks in and the house leaks. Now given this context, the next line is most obviously sarcasm. Jennifer takes the one snippet of verse 19 and pretends that we should all pursue money for it answers everything. To make matters more disgusting Jennifer claims that unless you pursue the morning feasts for drunkenness and not strength, you must have a poverty mentality. While it may seem noble to have started over after this alleged false imprisonment, realize that Jennifer has made her new money by robbing the sheep of the Lord.
"I did not understand that the enemy would use legal things against me in my own life and in my bloodline. Poverty spirits, religious spirits, believing wrong things about God. When I began to repent and ask for the blood to speak for me the voices that were speaking against me in the spirit realm were silenced. It was at that point everything started to shift." - Robert Henderson
Why do Charismatics fall for such unbiblical nonsense? The notion of a poverty spirit as already seen is simply the pursuit of nobility when it comes to money. The Robert Henderson's of the world believe in the pursuit of mammon, you know, to advance the kingdom. Wink wink. If you are not pursuing those nice cloths and fancy cars well you just have a poverty spirit. Ugh. The notion of a religious spirit is also made up by the Charismaniacal crowd and this simply means you insist on biblical proof for every position you take. The so-called religious spirit refuses to take half a bible verse out of context to make specious claims God never made. So Henderson is claiming that these two made up spirits allowed the enemy to speak against him in the spirit realm until he asked the blood to speak on his behalf and at that point there was a shift. Not only does it make no logical sense but it is completely unbiblical. Oops, there goes my religious spirit again.
