The Prosperity Gospel

I just finished reading "Bad Money" by Kevin Phillips. It wasn't exactly a page turner but there was one part that caught my eye and I can't seem to shake. He wrote about the controversial theology of "prosperity gospel." This is the idea that if one is righteous and has faith then one will prosper financially.

As one prosperity preacher explained, "believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the 'sowing of seeds' through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings." Naturally many faithful find such an idea revolting but there are plenty that truly feel Jesus blesses believers with riches.

Phillips listed several mega churches that eagerly preach a "prosperity gospel" to their congregations who then go out into the world expecting wealth for their faithfulness. Unfortunately they feel so entitled to this wealth that they fall for get-rich-quick scams and other types of white collar crime.

But then he pointed out one strange anomaly: Mormons. Most likely one will never hear Mormon leaders preaching a "prosperity gospel," in fact, if anything you hear quite the opposite. After all, until 1900 or so Mormons practiced a quasi form of religious socialism. Yet for some reason Mormons are particularly susceptible to white collar crime. Phillips pointed out that Utah has the smallest population to have their own office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mormons have been duped into giving away millions if not billions to faulty businesses, get-rich-quick scams, Ponzi schemes, and flim-flam artists.

So, the big question is why is this happening? Unlike these other churches the "prosperity gospel" is not being preached from the LDS pulpit. Could you imagine a General Authority sharing this concept during General Conference? Mormons don't, at least they shouldn't, be leaving church thinking about the money they will now make because of their faithfulness. So where is this coming from? I'm guessing the explanation is more cultural than theological but that still doesn't explain how the faulty message is being disseminated to the LDS community. If not from the pulpit then from where?

Favorite Pictures of the Season

December has been a crazy month. The first three weeks I had finals....crazy, crazy finals! I feel bad because from Thanksgiving to Dec. 14th, I was preoccupied with pre-boards, lab finals and lecture finals; neglecting my household and wife/mother duties. And besides a mishap with overdosing on DayQuil and being stoned for my Orthopedics final {which was short answer btw...I'm sure my teacher loved my answers} I managed to end the year with flying colors. One more year and I will officially be Dr. Shelton!

And to stop tooting my own horn, Dan has been pretty busy himself. He has finished up his course work and he is now a Chaplain for the Military {Army Reserve}. The day after I finished my last final, we flew up to Utah and Dan was set apart as a Chaplain by Elder Evans of the 70. And since we were already there, we took advantage and spent some well needed time with family.

Now we are in the final countdown before reality starts up again next week. This has been my last school break {there are no breaks in the last year of school} and so I have been taking full advantage of sleeping in and eating like crap! Thank goodness tomorrow starts a New Year full of good habits! Here are a few {OK many} of my favorite pictures of the season.

Henry with his "Papa" and "Gee"

Auntie Rachel made Henry this cute warm hat!

No major holiday is complete without a tantrum {or two or three...}

Someone's eyes are bigger than his stomach!

Family :)

Great Grandma Kirby with all of the great-grandkids {minus the one in Whit's belly}

Quinten's best Christmas present

Henry and his "up up"

"Cheese"

Poor Ivy,
Being a dog is "ruff!"

{I love Annaka's face!}

My parent's new dog- Gibbs

I had to make a trip to Temple Square. I hadn't been to Temple Square in around 6 years. I was so excited for Henry to see the lights. Unfortunately he was sleeping most of the time, and I had to force him awake.

The Shelton's {minus Jason's family :( }
Yes, Ray is sitting in the baby stroller

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope that you all have a safe New Years Eve.
See you in 2011.