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The world discovered the "Secret" and began prospering. The law of attraction was no secret to those of us in the church who have been reading and memorizing Biblical scriptures. Unfortunately, many of us have not accepted that the law of attraction is indeed a principle of God. I doubt I am the only person who was raised in the church to ask why people who love God, believe in the Bible, and attend church are poor.
There are more than two hundred scriptures that deal with money in the Bible. There are scriptures about budgeting, saving, tithing, borrowing, lending, investing, and prospering. The scripture that I remember often hearing, second only to the tithing scripture, was “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Unfortunately, growing up, I heard it misquoted as “Money is the root of all evil.” I used to think I was an evil person because I wanted money. The church had me convinced that I could either be rich or I could go to Heaven. I was challenged to dismantle these negative beliefs about money. I had to unlearn poverty thinking and learn prosperity thinking. Eric Butterworth said it best in his book Spiritual Economics, “the right attitude toward money is a root of all kinds of prosperity.”
I moved to Los Angeles from Orlando in 2006, and I thought that I would never be able to own a home because the housing prices extended far beyond my earnings. In 2016, God put in my spirit to purchase a house in Los Angeles. I laughed. Nevertheless, I humored God and completed a pre-approval loan application. To my surprise, the bank offered to loan me $500,000. I still wasn’t convinced that I could own a home in Los Angeles because I was still trapped by my negative thinking about money. How could I afford such an expensive house? I resigned myself to looking only at condos, which were significantly less than my pre-approval.
My landlord, and later my realtor, challenged me by refusing to send me listings of condos or even single-family homes. She insisted that I only look at multiple family units so that I could be a homeowner and landlord. The only property I found that I liked was listed at $629,000. I didn’t want to go and look at the property because it was too expensive. My realtor asked me the following questions. “Don’t you believe in God? Didn’t God say that He would give you the desires of your heart?”
Wow! She called me out. How dare I doubt that God could provide me with a home in Los Angeles? Is anything too hard for God? That was the day that I began to elevate my thoughts and exercise my faith. I am a believer that all I have to do is ask, and it will be given to me. And once I ask, it is not for me to figure out the how. All I am required to do is to expect that God will keep His promise.
Why are Church Folk Poor is a practical reference that allows the reader to examine his or her relationship with money. Each chapter offers exercises for self-analysis. Why Are Church Folk Poor is a book for people who are ready to live the abundant life that Jesus promised.
