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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 376
of blessings is that he wants us to have is eternal life. For most of us, wealth is something that
stands in the way of salvation and eternal life. Jesus said you can't serve both God and wealth
(Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:9-13). We are to put our trust in him who promised to supply all our
needs (Matt 6:19-24, Phil 4:19); the problem is, most of us want much more than we need. The
natural tenancy of a rich man is to store up his riches and trust in his riches rather than to trust in
God; this leads to destruction as Jesus described in the “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus”
and the “Parable of the Rich Fool.”
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Jesus made it clear that it is very difficult for the rich to
obtain salvation; he said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24) The “eye of a needle” was a small
guarded gate used during the night for entrance into walled cities. A camel would have to crawl
on its belly to get through the gate. It was not impossible for a camel to enter but it was very
difficult.
Paul instructed Timothy: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). He further wrote:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into
this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and
raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation
and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which
while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the
good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and
hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (1 Tim 6:6-12)
In contrast to the word of God, during fund raisers, Crouch and others have said that
Jesus was rich but Jesus said he was poor; he didn't even have a place to sleep (Matthew 8:20;
Luke 9:58). Crouch has said if you give to TBN, God will bless you, even make you rich. The
L.A. Times reported Crouch telling his viewers “He'll give you thousands, hundreds of
thousands... He'll give millions and billions of dollars.” What Crouch fails to mentions to the
viewers is how rich he is getting from their donations. The L.A. Times reported that the combined
income of he and his wife, Jan, was $764,700. They also have company perks “including a TBN-
owned jet and 30 homes across the country, among them a pair of Newport Beach mansions and
a ranch in Texas.”
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They beg the poor to give their last dollar while they live in luxury and
while TBN has a $60 million surplus each year.
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If the promise of riches aren't effective, Crouch has other tactics. In 1992 he indicated
that people could save themselves (purchase their salvation) by contributing to TBN he said: “If
you're broke, if you're at your wit's end, if you're out of a job, out of work, let me tell ya. Not
only are we gonna bless the world and preach Christ to millions and the multitudes around the
world, but you can be saved, yourself, by planting seed in this fertile soil called TBN.”
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