Why Are Church Folk Poor?: Elevate Your Thoughts & Exercise Your Faith to Live an Abundant Life

By Raykel E Tolson

Why are people who love God, believe in the Bible, and attend church regularly poor? Why are non-believers prospering using Biblical principles? Have you ever pondered these questions? The world discovered the "Secret" and began prospering. The law of attraction was no secret to those of us in the church who have been reading and memor

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tolson Publishing
• Release date: Feb 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781732414020

Raykel E Tolson

Raykel was born and raised in University City, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Florida A & M University, a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law, and a Master's degree in Counseling from Capella University. Raykel has worked as a family and criminal attorney, pharmacist, educational workshop presenter, and a Health Law & Ethics professor. She volunteers as a mediator and surrogate victim for Centinela Youth Services, where she uses restorative justice principles to help young offenders. She mentors Airmen and is a motivational speaker. Raykel has written four books and has had devotions published in the Women of Color Devotional Bible. Raykel uses her education and life experiences to enlighten, encourage and empower others to live their best lives. She is a God loving, Bible-believing, church-going Christian on a mission to help people to know God as love and not judgment. Raykel currently resides in Los Angeles

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Introduction

I hope the title of this workbook does not suggest that I am anti-church. I have been a member of a church all my life, so please understand I am one of the church folk for which I speak. My maternal grandfather pastored in the Church of God in Christ denomination. I have been a member of a Baptist church, a Missionary Baptist church, an African Methodist Episcopal church, an Assemblies of God church, a non-Denominational church, and currently a New Thought church. I believe God put some questions in my heart because He trusted me to discover the answer, and then to share it with others.

Why are God loving, Bible believing, church attending people poor?

Why are non-church folk prospering using Biblical principles?

What can I do about it?

In 2015, it was estimated that there were 702 million people world-wide and 45 million people in the United States living in poverty. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty guidelines for 2017 for the forty-eight contiguous states and the District of Columbia are $12,060 for an individual, $24,600 for a family of four, and $32,960 for a family of six. The median income for Americans is $53,657. Therefore, to be considered middle class in America a family of four must have an income between $42,000 and $125,000. Unfortunately, many middle-class Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, with no emergency savings, and no money to take much needed vacations. They might not live in poverty, but they are poor. According to the Oxford Dictionary, poor is defined as lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable. Poor is also synonymous with unsatisfactory, inadequate, and unhappy. Let that marinate before you say that you are not poor.

According to a comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84 percent of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion. That includes more than 3.8 billion Christians, Muslims, and Jews who all believe in God and attend a service in church, mosque, or temple to worship. It is not a stretch to believe that worldwide there are people living in poverty who believe in and worship God. According to a 2010 Gallup poll. Poverty and religious devotion are linked worldwide. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 56 percent of Americans who attended a religious service at least once a week had an annual household income of less than $50,000.

I doubt I am the only person who was raised in the church to ask why people who love God, believe in the Bible and attend church are poor. More importantly, I want to know why other people are prospering. These questions led me to learn more about the secret that people outside of the church were buzzing about. I researched the Laws of Attraction, and read books, like Ask, and It is Given, written by Esther and Jerry Hicks as taught by Esther’s spiritual guide, Abraham. I discovered that the Laws of Attraction were simply principles I had learned in church. Even the title of the Hicks’ book is found in the Bible in the book of Matthew, the seventh chapter, and seventh verse. The scripture reads, "Ask, and it shall be given you." The Hicks explain that we ask merely through our desire for a thing, situation, or even a person. Desire comes from the Latin root verb Desiderare, which means to wish for or to long for. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible found in the book of Psalms,