| I think I can, I think I can, I think I can (part 1) |
[Jun. 23rd, 2007|02:40 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  This project has taken me 13hr | ] |
INTRO
Faith is like crossing a bridge, if the bridge is made out of real wood and
stone you can cross it. But if it is made out of Legos and toothpicks, it may
look good but I would not step foot on it. In other words, faith is only as good
as which you put your faith in. If you put your faith in a toothpick bridge, you
will fall. I want you to have faith in the rock, the true Jesus. That way you
will not fail.
There is a theological flux in Christianity right now. It is called the
"Word-Faith" movement. And as you know I have been doing some research on it
lately. I wish to share with you what I have discovered. It has been called by
some "the most dangerous movement in Christianity", not only because of the
teachings, but because how much it can look like authentic Christianity and how
so many unknowing churches are falling into it without discernment. It is,
literally, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The thing is, unlike other false doctrine, the Word-Faith movement is just that,
a movement. It is not a denomination, nor are there systematic theologies. The
main people in the movement come from different backgrounds and have no central
canon of teaching. I mention this because it is key to know that not all of the
Word-Faith (WF from here on out) teach the same things, but there are many
similarities in all of them, which allows me to speak against it in a unified
manner. Basically, if I speak against something like Mormonism then it affects
all people who agree with Mormon theology based on the writing texts from
Mormonism. With WF, there are many variants, and streams of it. But like I said
above, there are enough similarities and shared ideas that they can be grouped
together in general.
Before I get to the meat of the message, I also want to know that many of them
either avoid directly teaching what they think, or try to phrase it in a common
biblical way. But often they say what they actually believe, or print their
actual beliefs. So they sound like great teachers 99% of the time, and it takes
some digging to find errors, but I promise you they are there. You find that
their actual beliefs either come out in controlled publishing (books sold to
people who already agree or at a rallies and crusades) or in moments of
excitement where many people cannot understand what is being said. This does two
things, one is it makes them sound good to common Christians, and two is it
slowly gets their message out to people. It is said that the "best way to poison
a dog is a little bit of venom in a big steak", that way they cannot detect it,
but they do digest it, even if slowly. That is why someone like Joyce Meyer is
widely accepted, but also holds some deep and important heresies, and she is
hurting people spiritually. They also, when pressed on issues, "repent" by
rewording something but keeping the same view (Joyce Meyer’s "Most Important
Decision" has two publishings, they are different; she reworded some heresy to
try to cover it), or simply to stop publishing the materials without releasing a
changed doctrinal stance.
THE HERESIES
Intro
The basis for many of the false teachings stems from the WF view of humanity and
God. Some WF teaches that when Adam sinned, he did more than fell, but became a
devil-man. He took on the nature of Satan (I thought my "humanity sucks"
statements were rude, WF says that "humanity is the devil"). So all who are not
saved are, by nature, Satanic. Not merely fallen, affected by sin and cursed by
God, possessed by a demon, or in opposition to God, but actually Satan by
nature. Huge difference.
In contrast, the saved are God-men. Men with the very nature of God. Much like
Christ’s incarnation, fully man and fully God. Not simply reborn men, with the
indwelling Holy Spirit, but actual "little Gods". This teaching allows Joyce
Meyer to say: "I finally got it through my thick head I wasn’t a sinner anymore.
And the religious world think that’s heresy…"[1, she’s right, we do] and Benny
Hinn to say "We are little Christs"[2]. Another leader of the movement said the
Christian "is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth."[3] Compare this
to Romans 7 and 1 John 1:8. This doctrine is important for later.
These things follow with their view of creation. The claim that Adam was created
a god, in fact one of the movement’s leaders Kenneth Copeland (who was the main
influence for Joyce Meyer) said that "God’s reasoning for creating Adam was to
reproduce Himself" [4]. So that is saying that God created Adam, a divine man
who sinned and became a satanic man. We are created gods before the Fall. How
does this square with the serpent’s temptation to "be like God"? We already are
according to WF. This is obviously not Biblical, and is logically inconsistent:
How can a god (Adam) sin?
On Jesus
Since the nature of man is different, this changes the nature of Christ. Many,
although not necessarily all, have differing unorthodox views of Jesus. Those
like Copeland say that Jesus is not divine, but rather created [5]. Others, like
TD Jakes, deny the traditional Trinity and teach modalism (The Father became the
Son became the Spirit, only one exists at a time). The view of Jesus by Benny
Hinn is confusing. At one point he says there is a 9 person trinity (a ninity?),
and that Jesus would have sinned without the Spirit (as God, Jesus could not
anyways). Hinn says, "So had the Holy Ghost not been there, then Jesus would
have sinned."[6] Yet another teaching (I cannot find the reference) is that Mary
"spoke Jesus into existence" (this will become more clear later). Since they all
do not agree at this point, I will move on from here.
The Atonement and Christ’s Sacrifice
These teachings elevate into what I see to be the worst of all the heresies in
the WF movement. One interesting thing about this is that all the WF teachers
hold to some version of this, so they will not say it is not what they believe.
And this is the doctrine of salvation (aka soteriology). They deny the death of
Jesus as the once and for all atoning sacrifice for sin. Rather Jesus dies,
spends time in Hell getting beat by the Devil, then be born again. They believe
in a "born again Jesus". Let us look more closely…
The WF teachers do not deny that Christ’s death on the cross happened. They just
deny it is important (compare 1 Cor. 15:3-4)! The logic is that it is not
special for a man to die. Frederick Price said "Do you think that the punishment
for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could
have paid our price." [7] Anyone’s death, according to this logic, would pay for
other people’s sins. This ignores the importance of Christ’s divinity in the
atonement (if Christ was only a man, then His death can only cover one person
but since He is God His death covers all), and that the sacrifice must be
"without defect or blemish" (Lev 22:21, 1 Peter 1:19). Kenneth Hagin stated
"Christ's physical death on the cross was not enough to save us."[8]
Since they downplay the physical death of Christ, they create something that is
not scriptural in its wake… Jesus’ spiritual death! God, the second person of
the Trinity, was damned! One famous preacher teaches that "The Bible indicates
that for three days, Jesus went into the very depths of Hell, right into the
enemy’s own territory, and he did battle with Satan face to face" [9]. In fact
this is so important to WF teaching that another said "You cannot go to heaven
unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell" [10].
Now it is possible that Jesus visited Hades (1 Peter 3:19, although there are
several other possibilities for this text), but He went in victory, not for
punishment. Again, WF says "When His blood poured out, it did not atone" [11].
The idea is that Jesus’ physical death is worthless, while the time spent in
Hell is what atoned for us.
The idea that "Jesus tasted Spiritual death"[12] doesn’t square with the Bible.
Jesus’ (if He even visited) actions in Hades (not Hell since Hell is not created
as the Lake of Fire in Rev.) was NOT to pay for sins. For this to be true, there
would have to be several things. One is that Satan and the demons live in Hell
as their home, this is just not true, they wander the world looking for prey
(Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8), Hades/Hell is a place of torment, not Satan’s house
(this is an old view from the medieval period from the legend Dante’s Inferno).
Secondly, it ignores Luke 16:26 that says that if you go into Hades as a
punishment, you are not going out! Finally, and most importantly, it would have
to be possible for God to die Spiritually. In fact to reconcile this some teach
that Jesus gave up His divinity at the cross, took on the nature of Satan, and
died merely a man. Jesus took the nature of Satan, get that? Copeland on the
issue said "Just as Adam died spiritually, Jesus died spiritually. The spiritual
death He suffered caused His physical body to die.... When Jesus accepted the
sin nature of Satan into His Spirit He cried 'My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me?' He was separated from God... He was ushered into the bowels of
hell" [13, underline added] at the cross.
The atonement is the breaking of the BODY of Jesus, not the Spiritual death.
Jesus said "It is finished" in John 19:30, the work was done at His physical
death. The WF teachers take this verse to mean that the OT Law is finished,
Copeland said this "It did away with the handwriting of the ordinances that were
against us"[14]. Joyce Meyers echoes a similar teaching. The problem is that the
Old Testament thought was that "the life of a creature is in the blood" (Lev
17:11) and Jesus’ physical death, the pouring of His physical blood, is what
saves us (Rom 5:9, Col 1:20, Heb 9:12). Nowhere does the Bible teach Jesus’
spiritual death. And the WF interpretation is wrong by Matthew 5:17.
Kenneth Copeland's view "…All the hosts of hell was [sic] upon Him. Upon Him.
They got on Him. They got Him down in the floor and got on Him. And they were
laughing and mocking." "Sunday morning, here comes the Son. Sunday morning, God
gets Himself together. Ho, hoooo. Justice has been met, somehow the thing's been
taken care of. And ol' God gets His voice together and He hollers out three
words and they go roaring through the universe and entering the gates of hell.
He said, 'It is enough! It is enough!" [15, underline added]. Odd, especially in
light Luke 23:43 where Jesus tells the other man on the cross that "I tell you
the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
As eluded to above, if Jesus died Spiritually, then He has to be born again.
Jesus has to be born again. WF teaches that "the resurrection power of Almighty
God went through hell and filled Jesus...He was resurrected from the dead, the
first born-again man" [16]. This born again Jesus left Satan’s nature and once
again took on divine nature and was resurrected. This born again Jesus has been
given a new identity or a new name "He has given to Him the name that has within
it the fullness of the Godhead"[17] (compare to the actual Biblical verse Col
2:9) So at the resurrection Jesus took on divinity again. Jesus was given
Godliness. It is error to think He ever lost it! Jesus IS GOD and as such is
unchanging (Hebrews 13:8), although He "added" a human nature, He cannot lay
down His divine nature and pickup a Satanic one, just to pick up the divine yet
again. Jesus was resurrected, not born again. Born again is meant for fallen
humans to have a change of heart (Ezekiel 36:26) from God and be given the Holy
Spirit, not to take on a divine nature.
To recap the WF atonement… The man Jesus became Satan, died and went to a
non-existing Hell to get beat up by demons who were not there because God was in
a panic, then Jesus was born again, retaking on his divine nature, giving the
sound of his name power.
PLAIN AND SIMPLE, WORD-FAITH DENIES THE PROPER TRINITY AND THE ATONEMENT, the
benchmarks of Christianity. Some say you have to believe WF to be saved.
Our Salvation
Since Jesus was born again with a divine nature, WF teach that (as I eluded to
above) that saved people’s do so as well. Saved people are mini gods according
to WF. Benny Hinn on the subject: "If He was not reborn, I would never be
reborn. How can I face Jesus and say, 'Jesus you went through everything I've
gone through, except the new birth?'" [18] Since Christ’s rebirth included
taking on divine nature, so do we. "I am a little god. I have His name. I am one
with Him. I'm in covenant relation. I am a little god." [19] The FOUNDER of Word
Faith, EW Kenyon said "Every man who has been 'born again' is an Incarnation,
and Christianity is a miracle. The believer is as much an Incarnation as was
Jesus of Nazareth" [20]. This is interesting, isn’t this what Satan tempted us
with? To become gods? Also, isn’t this similar to Mormonism exaltation doctrine?
We become gods, according to WF. This is our salvation, not to being changed and
given the Spirit.
The Consequences of Our Salvation
This is where things get interesting. Since we are little gods, we have the
power of God. We have control, instead of God ruling our lives, we rule it. Our
divine nature gives us creative powers, powers to change the world, and just
simply "Power". Just as God spoke to create, we now can speak to create. Now
this is NOT the view of Christianity, that if we have faith in God, and it is
within His will, He will provide. We can present petitions to God, Philippians
4:6; but God does NOT have to answer (2 Cor 12:7); He makes the choice to grant
or not depending on His will. WF teaches that we use the power of our divine
nature to create ourselves what we want. This doctrine goes by several names:
Name it and Claim it, Health and Wealth, Prosperity Gospel, and (my favorite)
Blab it and Grab it. Joyce Meyers explains: "We can curse our future by speaking
evil of it, or we can bless it by speaking well of it. If we will take the Word
of God and start to speak it over our lives, things can begin to change
dramatically. We can prophesy our own future!" [21]
Another teacher, Joel Osteen, said: "It’s not enough to just read it. It’s not
enough to just believe it. You’ve got to speak it out. Your words have creative
power. One of the primary ways we release our faith is through our words. There
is a divine connection between you declaring God’s favor and seeing God’s favor
manifested in your life. And some of you are doing your best to please the Lord.
You are living a holy consecrated life, but you’re not really experiencing God’s
supernatural favor. And it’s simply because you’re not declaring it. You’ve got
to give life to your faith by speaking it out." [22]
Some teach that this power comes with a special choice. This is similar to the
"Baptism of the Holy Spirit" doctrine by charismatic, that with special prayer
and the decision you get gifts of power. It is different than the charismatic
thinking in that most charasmatics still let God be Lord, where WF uses this new
power to control the world around them. TD Jakes: "Scripture teaches that
receiving Christ as your personal Savior does not necessarily make you a son of
God, but if you choose to do so, the power (authority) and right to do so is
present. ... Just being saved does not make you a son of God, ...only those who
are willing to be led by the Spirit actually realize and manifest the sonship of
God."[23] This is a two level salvation! In comparison to Gal 3:26 and Romans
8:1-4, all who are saved are sons of God. And to be baptized with the Spirit is
imply to be saved and part of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13) (this is where
charismatics go wrong).
Charle’s Capps: "The spirit of man is not of this world, it is of the spirit
world. The creative ability of man comes through his spirit. He speaks spirit
words that work in the world of the spirit. They will also dominate the physical
world. He breathes spirit life into God's Word and it becomes a living
substance, working for him as it worked for God in the beginning. These spirit
words dominate the natural world". [24]
Simply speaking, if you are saved, and operate as God with the Power of Faith,
you can have whatever you want. This is why it is called the health and wealth
Gospel. If we want to be healthy and wealthy we can do it on our own, with our
own power, with our own words. Operating in this place of power is usually
called the "anointing". Popular sayings are like "I have the anointing" or "I
was in the anointing" or "I feel the anointing strongly". The WF teachers claim
to have God’s power by "being in the Spirit" or like phrases, this establishes
power. And since you are a little God, you can have all of this too.
Health and Wealth
"You can have what you say! In fact, what you are saying is exactly what you are
getting now. If you are living in poverty and lack and want, change what you are
saying. It will change what you have. Discipline your vocabulary. God will be
obligated to meet your needs because of His word. If you stand firmly on this,
your needs will be met" [25] God is obliged to meet my needs? God has to do what
I say? I control God?
John Avanzini, who assures everyone that "Jesus was handling big money."[26].
"Jesus had a nice house, a big house--big enough to have company stay the night
with Him at the house." [27] There was something about the son of man not having
something… oh yeah, a place to lay his head (Luke 9:58).
Joel Osteen: "It’s the same way with us. We have to conceive it on the inside
before we’re ever going to receive it on the outside. If you don’t think you can
have something good, then you never will. The barrier is in your mind. It’s not
God’s lack of resources or your lack of talent that prevents you from
prospering. Your own wrong thinking can keep you from God’s best." [28] from his
book Your Best Life Now… I thought our best life was to be in Heaven? Oh well…
"Your circumstances will line up with your words." "Words are like seeds, they
have creative power." "The more you talk about it the more you call it in."
"Your words will give life to what you are saying." "You can change your world
by simply changing your words." "You can use your words to bless your life or
curse your life" [29, all six last quotes from one sermon]
Joyce Meyer: "if we expect to have good things happen because what you say then
is what you probably end up having tomorrow" [30]. Also has a health view: "Pain
is a spirit. When it gets on your body, tell it to leave" [31]
"I am fully convinced - I would die saying it is so - that it is the plan of Our
Father God, in His great love and in His great mercy, that no believer should
ever be sick; that every believer should live his full life span down here on
this earth; and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus"
[32]. Darn it, I had a cold last year… I must not be saved.
"Yeah, God has pleasure in the prosperity. So he must have displeasure in the
poverty. So if he does, then poverty couldn't be from God. Yeah… God lets
(poverty) happen. You're right, he does. He does, because you do. He can't do
anything about it" [33]. I thought Jesus said something else… what was it?
Something…. about a rich man, and a camel… and a needle… hmmmm? And God is
powerless compared to man?
TD Jakes: "My brothers and sisters the power of life and death is in the tongue.
You can have whatever you say"[34].
Price: "If you've got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar
item, it ain't going to work. It won't work. Jesus said, 'According to your
(faith),' not according to God's will for you, in His own good time, if it's
according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said,
'According to your faith, be it unto you'" [35, emphasis and double emphasis
added].
Let’s take a break for a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di9-PebV634
Enough said?
Prophecy
This section I will open up with Scripture, "But a prophet who presumes to speak
in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in
the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, 'How
can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?' If what a prophet
proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a
message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not
be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:20). We should not fear false teachers, in
fact this scripture is clear that if ANYONE that speaks in the name of the LORD
and it is false, they are not to be associated with the community, in fact they
should be immediately killed and we should not fear him at all. Now I am not
going to walk around killing false prophets, I think God can forgive and people
can repent, and I am not the judge. But I am comfortable saying that I am not
going to listen to false prophets, and teach against them.
Since we are little gods, we obviously have the power of prophecy (which
contradicts Paul when he asks "are all prophets?" (1 Cor 12:28)). This means
that anything I teach while prophesying MUST come true. The question for WF is
are they foreseeing the future or inventing it? The Health and Wealth mentality
is creating destiny, not simply being told by God what it is. I have never
claimed to speak prophecy, and probably never will, but I will speak boldly the
Word of God. And any mistake I make in my teaching is forgivable, I am not
claiming to be speaking for God, just learning the scriptures and sharing what I
learn. But the WF claims prophetic power.
Joyce Meyer: "I'm not a prophet of God. I'm a woman of God that's preaching the
gospel. I operate with a prophetic flare. And God gives me words and
things."[36]…. huh? So you are not a prophet, but you speak prophecy, and God
tells you what to say? Ya sure you are not claiming prophetic gifts? "I am going
to tell you something right now. I no more believe that my God is going to let
me stand around and believe a lie than I believe that I am going to turn green
in the next two minutes. God is my source and He loves me and I am after God
with my whole heart. And if I am accidentally, or any other way, getting into
error, I am going to have a bell go off on the inside of me that is going to be
so loud that not only am I going to hear it, but so is everybody else." So you
will not teach any falsehood? Ever? OK. Is that because "I believe that right
before I speak some anointed statement to you, that one of them bends over and
says in my ear what I’m supposed to say to you." [37] So her messages come from
angels, she has internal bells going off if she teaches falsehoods and will turn
green, she says she speaks words that God gives her, but she is not a prophet?
Hmmm….
Benny Hinn: "The Spirit tells me - Fidel Castro will die - in the 90's."[38]…
"The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90's, about '94-'95, no later
than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America." [38]… "You
know, yesterday on the program I was telling you and the audience here that Ruth
Heflin, the prophetess, had sent me a word from the Lord, where she said that
the Lord had spoken to her clearly, that, a, for me to prepare myself, for the
Lord is going to visibly appear, on the platform, in one of our crusades. I pray
it'll happen in every crusade. But I have a feeling, I am just telling you
honestly, I have even told some of our staff, when I go to Kenya, I am going to
Kenya in just a few days from now, a million people will be in Kenya, Nairobi. I
feel in my being it is going to happen there."[39] The Bible tells us that when
Christ returns it will be from the clouds and visible to all (Rev. 1:7) Plus,
there was just no manifestation of Christ there according to all records. There
are many more fun saying from Benny, but I will leave it here.
Kenneth Hagin said: "In October in St. Louis, the center and heart of the
nation, it shall come. It shall spread all over the nation. Manifestations
everywhere. That which has frustrated will be removed. Then you will know the
full meaning of the Divine glow. And others will be invited to walk in the light
of it, and so they shall. The glory of the Lord shall shine upon His people."
[40] This prophecy never took place, there was NOT a revival from St. Louis in
July 1997.
John Osteen, Joel’s father had a vision saying that "God has promised him that
he will be preaching into his early 90's, and he is only 77 now."[41] He died
two weeks later. This is not a hit against Joel, but John. Joel just picked up
his father’s church and kept it going after his father’s death, keeping the same
WF theology.
The fear realized
Since they are charismatic in practice and depend highly on "special revelation"
(aka wild guesses and feelings if not talking about Jesus or the Word or true
prophecy), there is a minimal view of Scripture. This comes through in Joel
Osteen’s teachings, he simply doesn’t look at the Word. He picks one or two
pieces of Scripture to prove his stories, not teaches form the Word. The same
goes with Joyce Meyers, her teaching is practical, fun, and generally good
advice. But it is not Biblical! It is just good advice. TD Jakes has the same
problem, he uses modern psychology and GQ Magazine to teach about manhood, not
what God says about being a man. They rest on feelings and not the Word. This is
the fear for all, to turn away from the Word. There is a HIGH emphasis on
tongues in all of their teachings, they all do it and teach it.
In prayer, many WF teachers tell others NOT to pray with "your will be done"
because they can just claim it. "Never, ever, ever go the Lord and say, 'If it
be thy will....' Don't allow such faith-destroying words to be spoken from your
mouth" [42]
The one’s who do encourage prayer do so completely out of false doctrine. "Now
this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth
realm on behalf of man. … Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no
longer has it? God. ... When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer
had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give
Him permission through prayer" [43]. Please just re-read the underlined
statement.
Hagin on the issue: "It is unscriptural to pray, 'If it is the will of God.'
When you put an 'if' in your prayer, you are praying in doubt." [44]
The Bible: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or
that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do
not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that
appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it
is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and
brag. All such boasting is evil." (James 4:13-16) And what did Jesus say before
He was beaten and killed? Oh ya! "Your will be done". So much for a health
gospel.
Reaping and Sowing
They all make millions of dollars a year. Prosperity is not a bad thing in and
of itself, but many of these WF people do not disclose their financial earnings,
and most likely launder money from the ministry. This is especially evil when
they teach that you must seed money in order to reap it. This would not be so
bad… if it were Biblical. God does say that joyful giving is a Christian
attribute, but many, like Jakes, Hinn, and Meyers teach that you get back 100
fold what you pay (or something similar). There is just no promise of that, a
gift to God is out of faith, and God honors the faith and will help you get by
day to day, but there is no promise to get back 10 or 100 fold. Each time they
speak they ask for money, even from the poor. In order to be spiritual you HAVE
to give, this is not true. Most the time the teaching is stated "the gift is a
seed, and the more you sow the more you will reap", some like Hinn ask for money
right before the "healing service" part of the show, so people with needs expect
a bigger miracle if they give more.
Look at some examples:
- Joyce Meyers: "Sowing and reaping is a spiritual law... Sow generously and
you will reap generously"[45]
- Benny Hinn: "A man said to me, ‘How much do I sow?’ My reply was, ‘What kind
of harvest do you want? If you have big debt, sow a big seed.’ That’s just the
way it is!"[46]
- Oral Roberts: "God himself has established the law of sowing and reaping, of
giving and receiving. Under the New Covenant you can make every act of giving a
seed planted which brings you into the SEED-FAITH lifestyle of sowing and
reaping which I have been led to call 'A Blessing-Pact Covenant with God.'" [47]
- TD Jakes: "You could have kept that $1,000 and not gone through the trouble!
Come on church folk! But God is going to give you some more on top of that" [48]
Reaping and sowing is a Spiritual truth… but not a financial one. Galatians
6:7-8 please.
Why is it attractive?
It is attractive because it is empowering. Even if you do not get taught the
whole "you are a mini god" deal you are taught that you have Power, and you can
determine your own destiny.
It is uplifting because they believe that God simply wants them to be happy with
all the good. Sure, God wants joy, but His goal is not for us to have fun. Most
of these preachers have bright smile on their faces, speak in a fun way, tell a
lot of stories, and say what sounds nice… God wants something for you and you
can get it within your own power.
The WF person is never confused or doubts because they are doing it themselves,
they are not worried about the will of God. There is no struggle with the sinful
nature because they are mini gods. And since they have the focus and
determination (and spiritual power that may be from someone other than God),
they seem to be blessed and have it all together. Who would not want to follow
that?
They seem convincing because they show much of fruit, some prophecy, speak with
authority, and have a smile on their face. They look and sound appealing, and
their followers want what the WF teacher have. Followers compare themselves to
the WF teachers and realize that all they need is more faith, to speak better,
and sow a bigger harvest. They need to seek the Power, and they do this by
listening to WF teachers. If it fails it is not because of the false teachings,
or God’s will, but rather a faithlessness, a doubt, or a sin that is holding
them back. So they push harder to follow the WF, hoping to one day just get it.
Where is God in all of this?
He is powerless! Many teach that God has relinquished His power to humanity.
Copeland once gave an image that Satan was between him and God. Copeland asked
God to remove Satan and God responded something like "I cannot, it is in your
power. I gave my power to you to remove Satan" [Sorry, reference unknown] (in
Jude 9, the archangel had to call on God to remove Satan, why is it in our
power?)
If humans succeed it is because we have the power, and we had enough faith to
claim what we want.
If we fail it is because of our doubt, or a sin.
What a man centered religion! Read Ephesians 2:8-9, James 1:17, Romans 9:15-16.
I thought God was supposed to be the center of our religion? He is Lord, king of
our lives, not us.
Conclusion
Each person quoted in the have been big in the movement. Many, like Joel Osteen,
TD Jakes, and Frederick Price have mega churches in the thousands of attendees.
Others, like Benny Hinn, Paul Couch, and Joyce Meyers all have either TV or
radio ministries around the globe. Each of them, when they travel, have
thousands flock to them to see them preach. These are big names. And many of
them, like Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyers, TD Jakes, and Joel Osteen are all looked
upon with favor by Christian laypersons.
The WF movement is heretical, I would not support their ministry in any way.
They are harming the souls of thousands of people, giving people false hopes,
and doing more damage than good. One of the problems with WF is that when a
person "claims" healing, they stop seeing their doctor and the disease still
kills them. This happens often, especially to travelling healing ministries like
Benny Hinn.
Oral Roberts is big in the WF movement. He actually was one of the first big
time preachers for it. He had prophecy like he was going to build a City of
Faith Medical Center (which never came to pass), he had a vision of a 900 foot
tall Jesus, and he said that God told him that he would find a cure for cancer.
He also supported Jim Bakker and had a vision from God saying Mr. Bakker was
innocent, this was false. He opened Oral Roberts University, which spreads the
WF heresy to its students under the banner of a Christian School.
The WF is heresy and will take money from you and teach you false doctrine. Be
aware, make it known to people who idolize people like Benny Hinn and TD Jakes
what they are doing.
God Bless!
------
REFERENCES:
1. Joyce Meyer, What Happened form the Cross to the Throne sermon
2. Benny Hinn, Trinity Broadcasting Network, 1990
3. Kenneth Hagin, The Incarnation, The Word of Faith; Dec. 1980
4. Kenneth Copeland, Following the faith of Abraham, Tape #01-0304
5. "Jesus only existed as an image in the heart of God". Copeland, The Power of
the tongue
6. Benny Hinn, Praise the Lord, TBN, April 24 1998
7. Frederick KC Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, June 1990
8. Kenneth Hagin, How Jesus obtained His Name, Tape 44H01
9. Joel Osteen, Sermon #CS_002-4-23-00
10. Joyce Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make, 1991
11. Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory, September, 1991
12. Kenneth Hagin, How Jesus obtained His Name, Tape 44H01
13. Kenneth Copeland, Classic Redemption
14. Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory, September, 1991
15. Kenneth Copeland, From the Cross to the Throne, sermon 1999
16. Joyce Meyer, The Most Important Decision you will ever make, 1991
17. Kenneth Hagin, The Name of Jesus
18. Benny Hinn, Our position on Christ, Orlando 1991
19. Paul Couch, Praise the Lord, Trinity Broadcast Network 1986
20. EW Kenyon, The Father and His Family, 1964
21. Joyce Meyer, Prophecy Your Won Future, Miracle Now Oct. 1998
22. Joel Osteen, Bible Answer Man, 2004
23. TD Jakes, The Harvest. 1996
24. Charle’s Capps, The Tongue, a Creative Force. 1976
25. Kenneth Copeland, The Laws of Prosperiety
26. John Avanzini, Praise the Lord, Trinity Broadcasting Network, videotape,
September 15, 1988
27. John Avanzini, Believer's Voice of Victory, Trinity Broadcasting Network,
videotape, January 20, 1991
28. Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now
29. Joel Osteen, Speaking Faith filled Words, Tape 223 Daystar Television, 2004
30. Joyce Meyer, Bible Answer Man, 2003
31. Joyce Meyer, From the Cross to the Throne.
32. Kenneth Hagin, Seven Things You Should Know about Divine Healing
33. Frederick KC Price, Ever Increasing Faith. 1990
34. TD Jakes, (During an Intermission of) The bone collector, Part 2, TBN, 2004
35. Frederick Price, (quote from critical work) Charasmatic Chaos
36. She said this in an interview after a devastating fire killed many people.
They asked why she could not foresee the fire.
37. Joyce Meyer, Witchcraft and Related Spirits
38. Benny Hinn, Orlando Christian Center 12-31-1989
39. Benny Hinn, This is Your Day, 4-21-2000
40. Kenneth Hagin, Holy Ghost meeting, St. Louis Family Church
41. Lakewood Church prayer Request, Jan 19 1999
42. Benny Hinn, Rise and Be Healed, 1991
43. Frederick Price, Know what prayer is, and how to pray
44. Kenneth Hagin, Exceedinly Growing Faith
45. Joyce Meyers, What does your future hold? 2004
46. Benny Hinn, This is Your Day, 1996
47. Oral Roberts, Holy Bible, The Oral Roberts Edition: My personal commentary
48. TD Jakes, Bible Answer Man, 2004
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