Prosperity (was: TWO WORKS)

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In an effort to be thorough, I've sacrificed conciseness.  My
apologies in advance.

If the gospel of prosperity is THE Gospel, then it will work in any
era, among anyone, at any time, under any circumstances, and in
any country.  It is not an American Gospel, not a white man's
Gospel, and surely not a rich man's Gospel.  If I cannot present
this Gospel to the mountainous village people in the heart of
Mexico or the tribal Aborigines of Australia and expect the same
results as having preached it to the residents of Beverly Hills,
then it is not of God because it is not for all.

I learned a long time ago that I don't have to be financially
prosperous in order to give to the poor.  Christ wants me to give
out of His daily provisions, not necessarily out of the "extra."  It is
in giving of my "mites" (a condition of the heart and not of the
wallet) that the windows of heaven are opened and the blessings
are poured out.  But wouldn't I be limiting myself and setting
myself up for frustrations to assume that the blessings spoken of
in Malachi are only financial?  "...Every day that I live I am
blessed..."  

Not once did Jesus give money to poor people...yet He blessed
them more than any other man ever to walk the face of this earth. 
His instructions to the rich young man to go and sell all he had
and give it to the poor was a testing of the grip this young man
had on riches and the icy grip riches had on him.  We must hold
any financial blessing loosely.  Furthermore, Jesus modeled a
dependency mind set for us when He prayed, "...give us this day
our *daily* bread..."  

Personally, I believe that materialism is, at minimum, a frame of
mind, if not a  spirit, that can work against me and cause me to
deny my need of God and *His* provisions.  Not to say one
needs to be poor...but to be materialistically minded is, for some,
to make it much more difficult to stay saved.  

To guard my heart against "want" is wisdom, because the Lord is
my Shepherd.  To protect my mind from coveting the riches of
others is faithfulness, because I cannot serve God and riches at
the same time.  

"For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content."  This comment from Philippians 4, in context, refers to
how believers cared -- physically -- for Paul.  He said he can be
both abased (plain) or abounding (plenty), both be full and be
hungry, both abound (in provisions) and suffer need.  And then
he follows this with, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengthens me."  

Summarizing the lengthy message here:  As long as I have Christ,
I have need of nothing that really matters.

Pastor Cantu
Monument