Flipping through the channels on Sunday afternoon, I stopped for a moment when I saw a familiar face. Years ago, before I knew the true gospel, I believed a different one. The person I saw on television was one of its proponents, and I used to follow his teachings. Here is an example of the kinds of things he taught:

Never confess anything negative over yourself, such as,"I'm not feeling well," because if you do speak such words, you will become ill. Instead, recite these words over and over: "I don't identify with sickness, I identify with Christ. I don't identify with poverty, I identify with Christ. I don't identify with sin, I identify with Christ." Et cetera.

I am convinced that the christ I used to worship is not the Christ of the Bible. The reason is because when I believed in the false gospel, I never acknowledged my sin. The joy of salvation was not finding refuge in the blood of Christ thus escaping the wrath of God. Rather, the joy of salvation was moving on from not having blessings to receiving lots of blessings; from being sick to being healthy; from poverty to riches.

On this TV program, the following caption read across the bottom of the screen:

Help spread the gospel of Christ around
the world...Sow your financial seed now.
1-866-611-4388
http://inspirationtoday.com/

I listened as my former teacher told a story of how there was a time in his life when he didn't have any money, but the Lord told him to plant a faith seed anyway. He continued, "You see, I realized that in order to receive from God, I needed to plant a seed. Now [as he points to the camera] are you just gonna sit there, or [as he points to himself, inadvertently I hope] are you gonna obey the Lord?"