The Disease of Prosperity

May 4, 2006

Dear Pastor Wendell Smith,

I write these words at the command of Almighty God as His servant to you. Please know that I have no agenda or desire, save that you would live wholly and only for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, remaining a faithful minister and shepherd in His Kingdom. If you should have any questions regarding what is written below, please do not hesitate to contact me at bhulen@gmail.com.

Thank you for your most solemn consideration of all that the Holy Spirit is speaking in this hour to you and to the body of Christ at the City Church.

Sincerely,

Bryan W. Hulen

“Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou [art] good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me: [but] I will keep thy precepts with [my] whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease; [but] I delight in thy law. [It is] good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth [is] better unto me than thousands of gold and silver” (Psalm 119:65-72).
_____________________

"There is a disease that is ravaging My body in your midst, of which your current struggle and affliction is a symbol and picture," says the Lord Jesus Christ. "Wendell, I have called and chosen you. I the Lord have appointed you unto the ministry in which you now stand as a shepherd over My flock, to lead and to feed My people into My ways and with My Word. I have carried you through many trials and shown Myself faithful in all seasons. But as yet you have been unwilling to listen to My voice regarding this matter of which I now speak in a way more loudly than ever before in your life. Oh, how I have loved you, My child, My servant. But when will you turn to receive My call to repentance from this most pernicious promotion of the prosperity doctrine of deception that will destroy My people?"

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord unto you, Pastor Wendell Smith of the City Church:

"I have heard your cry in secret places, and I have seen your struggle when no one is around to comfort or console. You have wondered why this cancer now has stricken your body. I the Lord God of glory will tell you, My son. You have taught and promulgated a message that is false in the midst of My people. You have told them to prosper in the wealth of the world at the expense of eternal riches in Me. Are not all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in Me? With what shall you compare My glory? For what would you trade My Presence? Are not My words of greater worth than silver or gold, even the most precious of diamonds? I was sufficient for Abraham’s reward, but would you desire more than the friend of God, whose faith was accounted to him for righteousness, who became the father of the faithful? For My covenant is not a covenant of financial gain or covetousness, but My covenant is a covenant of blood, of love, of eternal life in Me of which My Spirit is the deposit," says the Lord Jesus Christ. "But this doctrine is a disease in My body that will produce death and preclude many from entering into My most holy way for them, even causing some to fall away to perdition."

"I the Lord your God have brought this affliction upon your body, as you are the pastor over My flock, to teach you and show you the toll that this false teaching will bring upon My church. It is a poison that will kill those who eat of it. With what shall a shepherd feed My sheep? The message of prosperity with a purpose will annul My purpose for you, the City Church, and make you unfruitful in My kingdom. This deadly doctrine I hate, I abhor, I despise and will uproot from My church in the last day, only to cast it into the fire of My judgement, that it may burn with all other words and ways of death in unquenchable fire for all eternity. The doctrine of prosperity that you teach will cause the City Church to wither as an old man incapable of producing sons or daughters," says the Lord God of mercy and judgement. "Am I not a Father to My people? Shall I not hold to account those who seduce and deceive My children? I cry from the midst of My throne that I will surely judge all who teach this doctrine, and I call you to repent. For these foolish teachings are the ways of the world cloaked in wisdom to the undiscerning heart, whose end shall be according to his works."

"And so I say to you, Wendell, return to Me, and I will heal you. Repent of this doctrine that will only cause My people to stumble and fall upon the high places unto which I have called them in Me," says the Shepherd of your soul. "I have afflicted you in My faithfulness that you might see the disease that is ravaging My body. For I am the Head above all things, and I love you more than you will ever know; but My church, My bride, is too precious to Me to allow this fateful and foolish thing, this salacious and shameful doctrine to remain among My people in this church I have raised up for My honor. For it is as a whorish and murderous woman calling out for whosoever will to come and partake of her fornications, only to kill the unsuspecting fool upon her bed of lust. She shows forth a strangely alluring and selfless mien. But she is altogether and only evil, a doctrine that slays the souls of men. You cannot love Me and the money that you say I give for the purposes contrived of men, who wish only to increase in this world's perishable possessions. Death begets death, and life begets life. Is it not My mercy that you remain to this day, and will it not be by grace unspeakable that I will heal you? But what will you do in the end thereof? Repent, return to Me, and I will restore you and carry you through this and all other trials you will face. For I am the Lord your God, the Eternal King, and I count you and the City Church so dear to Me, a precious and holy thing, a house wherein I desire to dwell in My glory," says the Lord Jesus Christ.

(original post date: 05/04/2006)