The Jeep, Jesus, and the Prosperity Gospel’s Cruel Joke on a 19-Year-Old in Raleigh

The Prosperity Gospel’s Cruel Joke

In 1977, I was a man on a mission, and that mission was to become the owner of a new candy-apple-red CJ5 Jeep with a blue denim top.

I had been preparing for weeks, but not in the way most people go about purchasing a vehicle. Your average person setting out to buy a new car might check their credit score, cash on hand, and the value of any trade-in. I spent my time visiting a Christian bookstore on Hillsboro Street in Raleigh, N.C., where I would methodically work through the End Times section and feast on the books about faith and the Holy Spirit.

Technically, I’d been born again at twelve. However, as a confirmed Methodist youth, this involved “sprinkling,” reciting some creeds, and cake. While in college, concerned that I’d skipped the aquatic commitment of the Baptists down the road, I linked up with a group heading to New Life Camp and rectified this oversight.

But in my reading, I found something I wanted more than a Jeep or water baptism. I wanted the filling of the Holy Spirit: the laying on of hands and the impartation of His Spirit. I searched. I asked around. Nobody in greater Raleigh apparently had ever heard of the “filling” of the Holy Spirit — at least not in the way it is presented seven times in the New Testament.

Fifty years later, this still seems to be the case.

Water baptism? Yes. Sprinkling? Yes. Holy Spirit baptism? “We have a new member class starting. Maybe that will answer some of your questions.”

So one Monday night, after Bible study, I did what any Jesus zealot would do: I walked into the auditorium of the D.H. Hill Library on NC State’s campus and begged the Lord Jesus to pour out His Spirit in me—pressed down, shaken together, overflowing to the point where I’d be drunk with His Spirit.

It took a bit, but the warmth welled up. Tears flowed. The tongues came. My heart became strangely warmed, like those two fellows on the road to Emmaus.

Showroom Showdown

Which led sometime later to the showroom — showdown — of Bob Bass Jeep.

There she was. Candy apple red. Blue denim top. Just like I’d seen in the brochure I’d ordered. Kevin — my best friend and, as we will discover, an innocent bystander to history — settled into the passenger seat.

A salesman materialized, as salesmen do, with the supernatural ability to detect someone sitting in a vehicle they cannot afford. He asked the standard questions. Was I ready to drive her off the lot? Me sitting behind the wheel should have been his clue. How much was I putting down? Here, my faith kicked it. I calmly explained to the salesman that I was waiting on the Lord to show up — that He was handling the financing.

Moments later, I ended up in the back of a police car. After promising I’d never step foot on the lot again, we rode home in Kevin’s brown Pinto.

False Doctrine?

Now, some people will say that “name it and claim it” is a false doctrine, a pillar of the Prosperity Gospel, which is not a gospel at all but rather a very successful business model for individuals who get wealthy by saying things people love to hear but on which there is no basis of fact. These people do, theologically speaking, bring up excellent points.

The idea of declaring a thing as done, then seeing it manifest, is by any measure weird. I’ve also noticed that many of the people who denounce the Prosperity Gospel are themselves pretty prosperous. As to how that spirit of manna seems to end up in their home, driveway, and pulpit, I’ll leave that to Jesus to sort out.

Fifty years later, I remained bothered by how the words of Jesus seem to point to a God who means exactly what He says. No wine? There is now. No bread? Have a seat; let’s eat. Sick? Not anymore. Blind, lame, dead? Restored.

Jesus Said It

“Ask, and it will be given to you. … Seek, and you will find. … Everyone who asks receives. … If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. … Your faith has healed you. … Stop doubting and believe.”

The Prophets and NT Writers Said the Same Thing

“I believed, and therefore I spoke. … The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. … Death and life are in the power of the tongue. … Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things.”

God Gives the Vision and Expects Us to Act

“I have plans for you, says the Lord. … Write the vision and make it plain. … It will surely come. If it seems slow, wait for it. … Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. … Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen with natural eyes but perceived through His Spirit.”

Not our will. Not our desires, but His. Who gives the vision? God. At nineteen, I was convinced that Jeep was His will, that He’d placed that desire in my heart. Still do.

When my youngest son turned sixteen, he wanted a Jeep. We found a used one in Garner, drove over with a tow bar, and hauled it home. Bert, a violent shade of orange, had no doors and needed engine work, but my son got it running. For one winter, he drove Bert to school and work, all while wearing his snowboarding outfit.

But there was one time when we were adding more oil — sad to say, Bert had a drinking problem and 10-40 was his beverage of choice — when I noticed that in one place, under the orange paint, was a long streak of candy-apple-red paint. We’d picked Bert up seven miles from Bob Bass Jeep. Only later, after Bert was sold, did I regret that I’d never checked the vehicle identification number.

Did I leave too soon? Speak too boldly in my faith? I’ll never know.

One thing I have found through all these years is that God’s word is true. All of it. And if the stories in the Old and New Testaments teach us anything, it is that acting in faith on a word you are sure is from the Lord for your situation requires a good deal of weirdness. Pulling a knife on your only son? Stepping out of a perfectly good boat in a storm? Tackling Jesus in a crowd to be healed?

No, sitting in a Jeep wasn’t my unhinged faith. It was worship. I believed then and believe now that Jesus is who He claims to be and does what He says He’ll do. I’d rather believe here on earth and be embarrassed in a showroom than stand before Jesus with Him shaking His head, saying, “Dude, I was like, five minutes away. If you’d have only waited a little longer.”

Full Scripture Reference — That Birth a Faith that Still Believes

Jesus said it. “Let it be done just as you have believed it would. … According to your faith, let it be done to you. … You have said so. … Just believe. … Your faith has healed you. … Your faith has saved you. … Stop doubting and believe. … Blessed are those who have not seen me and believe. … Ask, and it will be given to you. … Seek and you will find. … Knock and the door will be opened to you. … Everyone who asks receives. … If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. … Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. … Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. … Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

The prophets and NT writers said the same thing.

“I believed, and therefore I spoke. … The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. … He satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. … Your paths drip with abundance. … We have the mind of Christ. … Because you obey the voice of the Lord your God, all God’s blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. … Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. … Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. … If you have God’s faith, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

References:

2 Corinthians 4:13 · Romans 5:5 · Galatians 5:22 · Jeremiah 15:16 · John 10:27 · Psalm 36:9 · Romans 15:29 · Psalm 103:3–5 · Psalm 65:11 · Ephesians 5:18 · 1 Corinthians 2:16 · Deuteronomy 28:2 · Psalm 23:6 · Psalm 5:11 · Colossians 4:3 · 1 John 4:4 · Proverbs 18:21 · Matthew 12:34–35 · Mark 11:22–23 · Galatians 2:20 · Nehemiah 8:10 · John 14:27 · John 12:50 · Ephesians 1:3

God gives the vision — and expects us to move on it. “With the Spirit of Jesus, you will write the visions you receive. You will make it plain on tablets, so that when others read the vision, they will run to share it. … Each vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end. It will come true. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely happen. The Lord will not delay the outcome of the vision. … ‘I have plans for you,’ says the Lord. … ‘Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.’ … Those who have spiritual eyes perceive the things of the Spirit of God. They are blessed with His Spirit’s discernment. … Who can fathom the good that God has prepared for those who love him. … Test each vision to see whether it is from God. …

Use your spiritual eyes to look at things that are unseen, for the things that are unseen are eternal. … The Lord God does nothing without revealing His vision to His servants. … Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen with natural eyes but perceived through His Spirit. … Speak visions from the mouth of the Lord. Tell others. Write it down. Repeat it often. … In visions I, the Lord, make myself known to my prophets. I speak with them in dreams. … The one who hears God’s words and sees the Almighty’s vision delivers His oracle. … The Lord still speaks to his righteous servants through visions. … God gives His servant visions of the things that must take place.”

References: Habakkuk 2:2 · Habakkuk 2:3 · Jeremiah 29:11 · Joel 2:28 / Acts 2:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:14 · 1 Corinthians 2:9 · 1 John 4:1 · 2 Corinthians 4:18 · Amos 3:7 · Hebrews 11:1 · Jeremiah 23:16 · Numbers 12:6 · Numbers 24:4 · Psalm 89:19 · Revelation 1:1

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Eddie is an award-winning author known for crafting suspenseful mysteries and humorous adventures that captivate readers, young and old.  His books are read by countless inmates and used to introduce others to Christ.

Eddie is the author of The Caribbean Chronicles, a time-travel pirate fantasy adventure series, and The Caden Chronicles, a mystery series based on supernatural myths that he believes have their roots in the Bible. In each case, Nick Caden seeks to debunk the supernatural “myth” and uncover the truth.

Eddie helped launch Christian Devotions Ministries and is its president. He is the former CEO of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, a Christian book publishing company. He is Executive Editor of Inspireafire.com  and Devokids.com. (If you want to write for IAF, hail this pirate!) He’s also a Writers’ Coach.