Handed to me by a friend, this book struck a discordant note with me. As the title would suggest, Financial Glory for America, Israel, and the Nations contains a revelation of financial prosperity for God’s people. The core: if God’s people were to realize God’s strength and power, God’s people would live blessed lives and become more financial successful.
Turning on various prophetic visions experienced by the author and backed with some good scriptural references, I certainly cannot blindly write off this book as wrong. Jesus centered most of his parables on the proper and improper use of money. Moreover, there are plenty of scriptures that either imply or expressly demonstrate God’s desire to provide for people financially. Simply put, James is right for most of us when he says “[y]ou do not have because you do not ask.” James 4:2b NASB (emphasis added).
Though the thrust of the book may be right, the tone of the book rang off-key. Financial Glory places the focus on wealth garnering. There is little to no recognition of Jesus’ requirement of the rich, young ruler to sell all his possessions. There is no sense of Paul’s sarcastic take on the Corinthians’ perceived wealth.
“for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:45b NASB
To me, it appears that God neither calls his people to riches or to poverty, only to Himself. Whether God calls a specific individual to leverage wealth or poverty for God’s glory, is intrinsically individual. It is the very nature of the personal relationship between the individual and the Creator.
All I know is that I desperately fight to hold both my bourgeois sensibilities in one hand and God’s will for my life in the other. If it comes to a choice between one or the other, I pray God helps me do what He calls me to. I am not sure that I need that much held filling my head with (self-)righteous visions of material wealth.
Simple fact: money is a useful tool for building God’s Kingdom. I want to build God’s Kingdom. I will use money to build God’s kingdom. But, I do not want Financial Glory. I will leave that for someone else. If God has money for me, great. If He does not have money for me, I have Him. That is enough.
The Berg 