You've heard of life, liberty, and the pursuit of prosperity?
"Preachers seem more comfortable in the premodern economy with premodern images and therefore give very little guidance regarding the unique opportunities, restraints, and temptations of businesspersons' calling (in a modern and postmodern context). A preacher who is able to use business metaphors would touch many hearts."
"...Some Christians tend to elevate poverty as a superior form of spirituality...while some other Christians elevate wealth as a more blessed state of spirituality as if it indicated being specially touched by God...We have to remember these are standards of measurement are faulty..."
History testifies that wealth concentrated in the hands of an ecclesiastical elite corrupts—that's yesterday's bad apple. Wealth creation by the people for the people as managers of God's resources releases enormous potential and empowers the mission of the church—this is today's orange.
"The best charity we can give the poor is to show the poor how to create wealth. "
Wealth creation is happening currently at the grassroots in many developing nations among indigenous Pentecostal churches. But needs to be encouraged and facilitated. For example, Donald E. Miller, Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California remarks:
"In Latin America, we have (visited churches) in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, and Guatemala. In Africa, we have been in Egypt, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa. In Asia, we have been in India, Thailand, Macao, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Then we've been in Armenia and Poland. The Pentecostal churches that we have studied are characterized by outrageous vision...to the point that people set goals...that are utterly unattainable by normal human standards—but...they oftentimes attain these goals.
"They are very much people with a vision who gain their commitment and power to carry out that commitment from a source other than themselves.
"Within congregations, there are numbers of people who have experienced upward social mobility. When you convert, you give up gambling, alcohol, womanizing, and other activities that were a cash drain. By saving that money, people then reinvest in their own businesses...and in a fairly short period of time, people really do start to experience upward social mobility. I don't think that that happens nearly to the same degree in the United States. But in developing countries, converted individuals have a competitive advantage over the rest of the population. In our research we've seen all sorts of examples of this upward social mobility."
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Joint Development Associates - JDA - believes poverty and it's consequences can be alleviated through transformational development.
WEALTH Zero Sum v. Creation
NAIVETÉ Impossible Socialist World
DEFINE Wealth v. job creation
"The Pentecostal movement in the Philippines has established structures that empower the poor and the marginalized to have a greater voice and participation in the system. [However]...there is definitely a dire need to develop a Pentecostal social doctrine that is biblical, context-sensitive and yet true to its tradition."
What is that in your hand?
Strong Towers and Fortified Cities
