15 The Fruit of Fearful Faith: Wealth I believe that the Bible clearly teaches that God desires to prosper His people. In saying that, I am not espousing the heretical Health and Wealth Gospel, which I have written about elsewhere. I am simply stating the biblical truth that whenever and wherever God can find a trustworthy vessel, He often blesses them so that they can be a blessing to others, just like He did with Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3). Also, history and contemporary experience prove that wherever the Gospel goes and takes root in individual lives and cultures, there is a gradual rise out of poverty into prosperity. I have seen it all over the world. Given one generation of Gospel transformation and you see people emerging from poverty. That’s because they become better stewards of the small or large resources God entrusts to them. After almost a half century, I have traveled and ministered in some of the worst slums, townships, and ghettos in the world; real hell holes where people live worse than animals. In all of those situations I have seen five robbers actively at work and prospering: alcohol, drugs, gambling, prostitution, and witchcraft. In the worst situations imaginable, these social thieves are robbing people blind. They are taking advantage of the desperation and depression under which people
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