God Wants You To Be Rich

Most religious people suffer from a misconception about money. That is, they fail to acknowledge the direct connection between this trinity:

Material wealth, spiritual consciousness and self-knowledge.

This is a holy trinity they reject. They have the misconception that money is corruptive to Spirit.

This is a tragic error.

Especially for anyone trying to find virtue in poverty. The truth is, there’s no virtue in poverty.

There are plenty of entrepreneurs who came from nothing to become millionaires. Even less have become billionaires. In the business world, it’s expected.

But when a black child born into poverty in 1935 grows up to be a millionaire by preaching the Gospel, it’s unusual. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II was his name. His popular name was Reverend Ike. He was an American minister and evangelist. Reverend Ike pioneered the “prosperity gospel” movement in the United States.

He was born in Ridgeland, South Carolina. His father was of Dutch Indonesian heritage and his mother was African-American. She was the granddaughter of a slave. His mother believed that black people in the South were born to suffer. To her, it was God’s will for her to carry the old rugged cross all her life. When she passed on to be with the Lord, only then was she allowed to exchange it for a crown.

His mother decided to leave his father and took her son with her. The reason? Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter, her husband, refused to settle for a life of poverty. He started businesses and invested in real estate. She believed it was a sin to be rich. To follow Jesus, a man should pursue meekness. This rejection triggered resentment by his father towards his mother. As a result, he refused to give any financial support.

The year was 1949. He was 14 years old. Young Fred became a preacher at his father’s Baptist church. By age 15, he accepted a position as assistant pastor at Bible Way Baptist Church. At 16, he was the church’s sole minister for a while. At 17, he elevated a baptismal service to a higher level that the old church deacons didn’t appreciate. To young Reverend Ike, it was a great celebration which brought the joy of the Holy Spirit.

What started as an early morning baptism carried on with a marching band playing music. Reverend Ike led the congregation from the creek to the church with song and praise. The religious old church people described it as a devil’s ceremony. That “young boy who had such big ideas of himself” was in trouble. By the end of that Sunday, the elders kicked Reverend Ike out.

That night, the shame of telling his mother was unbearable for young Reverend Ike. He stood outside his house, hesitant to go inside. Instead, he went across the street to Sadie’s. It was the juke joint owned by Miss Sadie. There, he sat down with a bottle of soda, amongst gamblers playing dice and other sinners. They didn’t have a care in the world, while his heart was heavy. That’s when a prostitute approached him.

Reverend Ike had an invitation which included a scholarship for him. He was to attend the International Christian Youth Festival in Buffalo, New York. It was a 2 week seminar that would provide tuition, room and board. He only needed enough money to pay for transportation. The cost of which was more than he had, or would have, since the church kicked him out.

Lady T was one of the prostitutes who worked out of Sadie’s. She noticed young Fred, concerned at his countenance. He was so down on his luck. He told her what happened.

“So they kicked you out yo church, sweetie? Why those dirty rotten dogs. I’m telling you, those church folks are too much, man. So full of themselves in their high and mighty ways. Huh! They have some nerve talkin’ trash about the way we treat each other over here, don’t they?”

He thought she was right. They were hypocrites. Even so, name calling wasn’t going to get him to Buffalo.

“Look-y here, young blood. I’ll tell you this right now, so you pay attention to me. You want to go up there in the North to this old church thing? Well then, you go on right ahead, honey. You hear?”

That’s when Lady T took young Reverend Ike’s fountain pen he carried with him. She reached into the bosom of her dress and took out her check book. She wrote him a check for the full amount. The check was good, and he went on a life changing trip.

In 1952, Reverend Ike’s formal bible school training commenced. He studied at The Church of Christ Bible Institute. Then he transferred to the Manhattan Bible Institute for his final year. The American Bible Institute, based in Chicago, governed both schools. The bishop provided Reverend Ike with an apartment. The bishop payed for some, but not all of the fees for his school.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? One where boundaries and expectations are without clear definition?

The demands by the bishop upon Reverend Ike cut into his study time. They included driving the bishop around, typing for him, and running errands. He expected these services in exchange for his support and living expenses. The bishop didn’t have the courtesy to define his expectations. It was shady business that led to distrust and resentment.

One day, the bishop had young Reverend Ike drive him to the home of a minister. The bishop told him it would only be a few minutes and to wait for him. It was a half hour before young Reverend Ike realized what was happening. The bishop was eating dinner with the minister while a starving Reverend Ike waited in the car. It had been several days since he had a meal anywhere.

He received his Bachelor of Theology degree at 21 years old, in June 1956. It wasn’t without a fight. He rejected the premise of a punitive God. One who doled out favors to some and punishment to others, while expecting his worshipers to fear him. Reverend Ike had a different concept of God. He believed God to be a loving father who approves of his children, and supports them. God wants his children to flourish in every way possible. As a result of his conflict with the church’s theology, they reprimanded him several times. They threatened to withhold his degree. They requested for him to withdraw from the program. They expected him to walk away from his impending credentials. The school’s dean recommended his permanent suspension.

Reverend Ike refused to quit. The school officials acquiesced. Reverend Ike had a reputation for always paying his bills on time and in cash. He made sure it was clear that he would pay the several hundred dollars and they would award his degree.

Bitter about his time at theological seminary, he enlisted in the US Airforce. He spent 2 years in the military as a chaplain service specialist. In the library there, he discovered the work of Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993). Peale was a Methodist minister and bestselling author. He was most famous for his book, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). He served as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York City for over 50 years. His optimistic philosophy combined Christian faith with positive psychology principles.

Reverend Ike began broadcasting his radio sermons in the late 1960s. He named his weekly radio show “The Joy of Living.” That show brought him to start a church in Boston.

The name of Reverend Ike's church in Boston was the Miracle Temple. Which he founded in 1964. That’s where he practiced faith healing before relocating his ministry to New York City.

Reverend Ike established his ministry in New York City in 1966. That year, he moved his operation from Boston. His ministry acquired The United Palace, a former Loew’s theater at 175th Street and Broadway.

From there, his ministry reached national prominence by the early 1970s. By the mid-1970s, The Joy of Living was being carried by around 1,770 radio stations across the United States. His television broadcasts reached 2.5 million people across the United States. 

Reverend Ike’s estimated net worth at the time of his death in 2009 was around $6 million.

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– Sean Allen Fenn

PS: God wants you to be rich.

Methods of Prosperity newsletter is intended to share ideas and build relationships. To become a billionaire, one must first be conditioned to think like a billionaire. To that agenda, this newsletter studies remarkable people in history who demonstrated what to do (and what not to do). Let me know how I can help you out. For more information about the author, please visit seanallenfenn.com/faq.