The Earthly Father Paradigm – A God fashioned In Our Own Image

I was sitting in my living room visiting with a friend who is a member of the City Church when we got to talking about prosperity and healing in the Bible.  I would bring up scripture showing a biblical view of money and the sovereignty of God in healing, but the response I got was that God is a good God and wants to take care of us like an earthly father takes care of his children.  I realized this is the theology of Pastor Wendell, Pastor Judah and the City Church.  I coined this theology the “Earthly Father Paradigm”.  They read the Bible and view God with their “Earthly Father Paradigm” glasses on.

During pastor Wendell’s sermons he often says things like “what earthly father would put sickness on his children to teach them a lesson” or “what earthly father wouldn’t buy good gifts for their children”.  He says this in support of their view that God wants to please us.

I have a few questions for the prosperity idea of the “Earthly Father Paradigm”…what earthly father would allow:

• Satan to take away all of Jobs things, put boils on him, kill his children and then torment him with some lippy friends?
• What earthly father would send snakes to bite and kill his children who disobey in the desert, or open the earth to swallow them up?
• What earthly father would tell the neighbor boy to come beat up his kid, destroy all his toys and take him captive for a while to learn a lesson (Israel in Babylon)?
• What earthly father would kill 2 of his children for lying to him about money?
• What earthly father would curse his children to die for only disobeying once (garden of eden)?
• What earthly father would send his own son to die and take unimaginable wrath for deserved criminals (Jesus Christ)?
• What earthly father would stand by and watch 11 of his son’s 12 friends get killed for being a friend of his son?

God did all these things.  God’s goal in our life is not to please us and make us healthy and rich, His purpose in our life is to shape and mold us in the image of His Son and to present to His Son a spotless bride.  The “Earthly Father Paradigm” shapes and molds God in the image of man and displays a god who is serving mankind…not vice-versa.

As even earthly parents send their kids to chicken-pox parties so their kids will get sick, I believe God allows sickness, poverty and other bad things in our lives to build up our immunization against sin and our flesh.  God is not sadistic, but all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.  The more trouble and sin there is in this would, the more we should have our eyes on eternity and the return of Christ.  Unfortunately, the “Earthly Father Paradigm” puts our eyes on ourselves and this life.  How can I get blesses, how can I get healed, how can I…

I think the “Earthly Father Paradigm” is a self-serving representation of what some wish God would be for them.  God has our eternal best interest in mind, not necessarily our temporal best interest.

I am thankful to God for taking me out of the atmosphere of scurrying around looking to “position myself for blessing”  or looking for “the next breakthrough” and rummaging through the bible looking for promises I can lay hold of.  I can finally rest in the salvation given to me freely by God through Jesus Christ.  The only promise I really care about, I pray God help me to fix my gaze to heaven and not earth.

It causes me to wonder what ways I have tried to mold God in my own image, or to my own liking…I pray for humility to recognize and love God as He has revealed Himself, not how I want Him to be.

Tags: City Church, Earthly Father, God, Jesus Christ, Sickness, Wendell Smith

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A City Church Pastor Talks About “The Rabbi” . . .

Here is an email that I (Daniel) sent to a pastor that I know at the $ity Church and his reply to it . . .

The following is the email that I wrote in response to a ministry newsletter that he sent me concerning Pat Robertson (a Christian) inviting Mit Romney (a Mormon) to speak at Regent University.

Brother Ed,

Thank you for sending me the latest ministry letter. It has been very helpful for me to see who in Christendom is supporting this unbeliever Mit Romney. I have been suspect of Pat Robertson for many years. His ecumenical ways seem to drive him further and further away from the orthodox faith. I have a question for you about Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Do you know why the City Church is inviting an unbelieving/unconverted Jew to preach in their Church? Do you agree that this is the same as Pat having Mit speak at his college? Has the City Church compromised their “evangelicalism” to the degree that they will invite an “enemy of the cross of Christ” into the house of God’s children?

Grace and Agape Love,

Daniel Raplee

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

His Response . . .

have no response on the the Rabbi issue. I have no clue, but doubt Wendell is compromising the gospel in having him there at a meeting.

He is not allowing him to preach from the pulpit to the church, but only there to discuss Old Testament prosperity to an elect group studying that single subject.

At least He worships the same God, whereas Romney not only worship a false god, but plans to be one himself.

go figure….

Brother Ed

My Response . . .

Thank you very much once again for taking the time to respond to my emails.I am deeply concerned about the answers that you have provided in defense of Wendell Smith and the City Church inviting an enemy of the Cross Jesus Christ to address their congregation. Once again it would seem that your answers are invariably subjective and lack proper Biblical Theology.

The most concerning and disturbing statement that you wrote is, “At least he (the unbelieving Rabbi) worships the same God (as Ed and Wendell and all other Christians) . . . Does this Rabbi confess Jesus the Christ as his Saviour and Lord? Certainly not. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. 1Jn 2:22,23. This Rabbi “hath not the Father because he denieth the Son therefore he does not and cannot worship the same God as a born-again Christian. He is not regenerated by the Holy Ghost and the blood of Christ has not washed away his sins through faith. If Jesus’ blood is not over his sins then he cannot worship the Father. If he dies in his sin he will spend eternity in Hell (right there with Mit Romney and all other unbelievers, Jews, Greeks, Atheists, Mormons, Catholics, and Buddhists). All of these so called evangelicals that are telling him that he “worships the same God as they do will have to face an angry God on the day of Judgment for helping him to go to hell! I am in fear and trembling for those who will stand guilty of this apostasy-crime before our King.

“Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. . . They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge . . . [they] have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God . . . How shall believe in him of whom they have not heard?

Freedom In Christ,

Daniel Raplee

Tags: City Church, Danil Lapin, Rabbi, The City Church, Wendell Smith

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