PRETEXT FOR GREED

So we’re back into The Book of 1st Thessalonians. Today’s reading finds the Apostle Paul laying down a comparison between his ministry and that of others. His ministry was clearly given to him by Jesus and was evidenced by the character change evident in the lives he touched. But others, their ministries produced error, impurity, and deception.

“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed–God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6

The above passage was written about 2000 years ago. But today, ages later, we can find “men of God” who come to please men’s wicked greedy hearts, full of flattery and silver-tongued, and their preaching efforts are clearly a pre-text for their own enrichment, not for the expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Below is one such man, and from him and others like him, stay away.

Peter Popoff, still on air, very popular on BET (Black Entertainment Television), still appeals to the bent in each of us to be self-serving. From such men, stay away.