 Hi, this is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California. Recently, a television evangelist made the bold claim that he needed $54 million to buy a new private jet. He already has convinced naïve followers to purchase three jets for his world-wide ministry, but apparently it is time to upgrade to a Falcon 7x, which is able to fly close to the sound barrier, but has noise limiting technology. It also has a Bluetooth-enabled entertainment center and an optional in-flight shower. When questioned about this, the evangelist made it clear that he is trying to reach, quote, every soul of the seven billion people that now inhabit the earth, making sure that each one has an opportunity to know the real Jesus, approachable, personable, compassionate, full of joy, the way that he knows Jesus, end quote. Another well-known prosperity evangelist told his congregation and television audience that he, quote, needs one of the most luxurious private jets made today in order to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, end quote. Finally, a third so-called evangelist insisted that he and other prosperity evangelists need private planes because, quote, the mess that the airlines are in today, I would have to stop. I'm being very conservative. At least 75 to 80, more like 90 percent of what we're doing because you can't get there from here. That's why we're on that airplane, he said. We can talk to God. He said that he used to travel with Oral Roberts who flew commercial and it got to the point that it was agitating his spirit. He complained of people coming up to him and them wanting him to pray over them, went on to say, you can't manage that today. This dope filled world and get in a long tube with a bunch of demons. So this is where the slippery slope has brought the church. It has come to the place where charlatans can claim that God wants them to have multi-million dollar jets so that they can travel nonstop throughout the world to preach a false gospel. And millions of people will support them financially and argue with any, especially fellow Christians, who would dare to question the reasons and motives of such materialists. This kind of financial manipulation is not something new. False leaders in the Old Testament were chastised for harming God's people. Ezekiel was commanded to say to them, you eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. Ezekiel 34, verse three. In the New Testament, Paul told the Romans that the false teachers did not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech, deceived the hearts of the simple. We are in a time when the quality of a person's ministry seems to be judged by the clothes that they wear, the smooth style of their speech, the size of their following, the coolness of their attitude and how important others think them to be instead of their love for Jesus, their fear of God, their faithful and proper teaching of God's word, the humility of their lives, and the moderation, love and holiness of their lifestyles. Are we at the place where we accept what is untrue and on our false teachers because our lack of discernment and knowledge of scripture is so massive that any message that purports to come from God is willingly received? Some would say that they like the teacher's personality and the message is appealing and feels right. They go on to say, didn't Jesus teach us that we should not judge? After all, the person is using the Bible. So what gives you the right to say he is wrong? Perhaps we've forgotten that Satan also quotes from the Bible and had the arrogant goal to even quote it to Jesus. The biblical fact is Christians are to make righteous judgments. Jesus said in John 7 24, do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. He did not command us to refrain from judging, but instead to judge in a proper and righteous manner. He actually commanded us to use discernment and to judge righteously. Those who argue that we are judging a brother or a sister when we warn others concerning the error of false doctrine have not been taught the whole counsel of God. And obviously do not read their Bibles. When my son David was three years old, he ran in front of a car and I screamed for him to stop. Thank God the driver heard me yell, saw him and stopped in time. My son was not injured. I assure you that I was not smiling when I cried out the warning. And I don't think that I am an unloving man because I didn't give the warning quietly and gently. There are times when the warning must come loudly and it needs to be given with concern and passion. It seems that we forget that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of discerning of spirits. And perhaps we forget that Paul said in First Thessalonians chapter five verses 20 and 21, do not despise prophecies, test all things, O fast, what is good. Obviously we are commanded to exercise discernment and to practice righteous judgment. We are to test whatever purports to be from God instead of simply swallowing it because it sounds good and makes appealing promises. How do you make righteous judgments by comparing what is being claimed with what scripture teaches? Does scripture teach that every believer is to be rich enough to purchase multi-million dollar airplanes to live in a 35,000 square foot home to have a net worth of 45 million dollars? Does the Bible teach that one man needs to travel around the world in a jet to preach the gospel because after all that one man is more important than the average believer? Does the Bible teach us not to travel on airplanes with non-believers because the airplane is filled with dope filled people and demons? This nonsense is beyond tragic. It is sin. This may be offensive to some. Perhaps many who are listening to this broadcast, my exhortation to you is to search the Bible and find out where I am scripturally wrong. The fact is I'm right and I'm concerned for the body of Christ as every genuine believer ought to be. I was saved during a genuine revival with millions of people coming to faith in Jesus. Some of my friends were also saved during the revival and went on to pass through some of the most God honoring and Bible loving churches in the world. We were not taught to idolize men. Or to use material possessions as measuring rods of success. We were taught to love God, to serve Jesus, to love others, to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. We were rightly taught that the true answer is not found in one superstar preacher. But in Jesus, our Messiah, we were taught that the body of Christ is made up of many parts with various gifts, but that each of us was important. We were taught that no one gift or office is greater than any other, but all are necessary. We were not taught that we needed one evangelist to do the work in the world, but that we all should do the work of an evangelist. There are people giving money to these superstars who do not even preach the whole gospel. And because they donate to these ministries, they do not give to their own home fellowships. Many do not even have a home fellowship because they are busy traveling from church to church looking for a hero to follow or some outlandish story to hear on Sunday morning. My encouragement to you is to find a home church that teaches the Word of God, has a humble God-fearing pastor and ministerial staff get plugged in. Attend studies, fellowship with fellow believers, share your faith with others, serve in your church, financially support your home fellowship, pray for your pastor, let them know that you love him because he often thinks that you don't care if he's there or not. Avoid supporting people who insist on telling you that God wants them to have multimillion-dollar jets so that they can travel to tell people to know Jesus the way he knows Jesus. To be honest with you, I don't want to know Jesus the way he knows Jesus. I want to know Jesus the way Paul, the apostles and every true believer has known him. I want to worship him in spirit and in truth, the way he wants me to know him. If this has offended you enough to get you into the word to prove me wrong, I praise God for that, because when you do so, you will get a picture of the true Jesus, the one who gave up his life for us and made heaven available to us and to all who would trust in him. This is Pastor David Rosales, Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California.