Conversion under false pretenses

I think that the problem with the church -- including why those who "make a decision for Christ" never to see the inside of a church again -- can be summed up in one statement:

At some point in the past 100 years or so, most churches stopped preaching eternal salvation and began preaching how following Jesus will "make your life (on earth) better."

This, coupled with the Word-Faith types, gives people the idea that our reward is here on earth. I don't know about anyone else, but the Bible I read tells me that as a Christian, I am going to be hated, persecuted. The Bible does not promise me a new car, the ability to pay my bills, or even have enough to eat.

We live in a country where the closest we usually get to persecution has been derision or being called names, while there are countries where people get their heads chopped off for being Christians. And amazingly, those are the countries where the faith appears to be thriving, as well as fairly conservative.

We live in a country where we don't see people starving to death, but all over the world, there are true Christians who die of starvation through no fault of their own. How could this be if being a Christian means a better life on earth? It cannot be. But daily, people are "converted" to Christianity using this false pretense!

I am lucky. So wretched was my life when I finally turned it over, that anything would have been an improvement. But in the past few years, I have come to realize that most of the "betterment" has nothing to do with this world, but rather the spiritual one. Instead of wanting a new car, I want to please God...

Sorry. I'm not sure how I ended up rambling so after I clearly said that it was summed up in one statement. Because it probably got lost in this long post, I will repeat it:

At some point in the past 100 years or so, most churches stopped preaching eternal salvation and began preaching how following Jesus will "make your life (on earth) better." Read more!