I recently finished watching American Gospel: Christ Alone for the second time. It is overall a great movie, and a great look at what the gospel truly is, and the tragedy of the prevalence of false teachers pushing the prosperity gospel both in America and around the world.
Near the end of the movie, Katherine Berger summarizes her story. Russel and Katherine were not Christians when they got married, and they were both very into physical fitness and health. After delivering their first child, the doctors discovered a myriad of health problems in Katherine. Her health fell apart and she experiences a lot of pain because of it; but over time, she eventually came to know and trust in Jesus (and Russel did too) and they grew into a very faithful and godly family. She says near the end of the movie that if she could go back to how she was before her health problems began, she wouldn’t do it; because she knows Jesus now and needs him everyday and that is more valuable to her than anything.
This story is so beautiful to me, because God took two people who had no interest in him at all, and brought them into faith and into his grace and turned them into a beautiful Christian family who is full of joy and peace, and a contentment they never had before. It is almost ironic that their peace and joy came after the health problems, but it shows what the gospel truly leads to: hope beyond this world and peace that truly satisfies the soul. It illustrates to me how strong and amazing God’s love and mercy towards us is, and it is a story through which God’s glory shines brightly to all who have eyes to see. It encouraged me a lot and I wanted to share it here; thank you for reading.
Please consider watching the film, linked below; it is deeply moving.
The entire documentary can be seen here for free. Youtube forced ads onto it, an ad-blocker is recommended, as always. This is a great film about what the true gospel is and how the prosperity gospel distorts it and turns it into a horrific form of works-salvation that leaves people devastated.