“After and as a result of reporting and objecting to her employers’ unlawful conduct, Ms. Koper (far left in picture) was terminated by the TBN Companies,” the suit says. “In retaliation, the TBN Companies also terminated Ms. Koper’s husband, Michael Koper, who was Trinity Broadcasting’s Corporate Secretary and Vice President of Media Services.

“When questioned about the grounds for termination, Matthew Crouch, a director at Trinity Broadcasting, began tapping the firearm he had brought to the meeting and asked Ms. Koper what she thought would happen when she wrote a memo to the board critical of Matthew Crouch’s financial improprieties. Matthew Crouch continued tapping the gun he was holding to ensure that Ms. Koper recognized the lethal threat being made.”

I guess we will never know for sure if this threat took place or not but we can know for sure that the following veiled threat was made by Paul Crouch Senior. And it is more than reasonable to connect the threat directly to Ms. Koper given that this threat was made on an episode of “TBN: Behind the Scenes” the very day that the story of Mrs. Koper’s lawsuit hit the internet (Feb. 9th 2012). In fact Koper’s attorney calls the following portion of the Crouch’s conversation “menacing” and that it “resounded with Koper”.

“You know what’s funny Dad?” Matt said (at minute 8:38 on the video). “There have been a few attempts in the TBN history to upset TBN, to stop TBN, to — there have been a few fools in the 38, 39 year history, coming up on 40 years, and you know what, any attempt at stopping TBN — they have no idea who they’re actually pushing into the corner. You and Mom get pushed in a corner, God help you. That’s a lesson I’ve learned from you, seriously.”

Paul Crouch responded: “God help anyone who would try to get in the way of TBN, which was God’s plan. … I have attended the funerals of at least two people who tried….

“Boy, anyone that’s ever tried to get in the way of this network – don’t. Don’t try it. Don’t try it, I’m telling you. You’re playing with fire. God says ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ And TBN, you know what, just plain old TBN as a great network entity is proof of the sovereignty of God and the power of God against hell and high water. This network stands as a monument to the faithfulness of God. He did it. Jan and I were just simple little kids — we didn’t even know what we were doing. It was God’s idea. He did it all.”

Crouch then appealed for donations. “Anyone have a need?” he asked. “Plant a seed. Get to the phone.”

Make sure you watch the video for yourself here. Anyone who has kept up with the false teachings and improprieties of TBN are well aware that this is not the first death threat issued by the TBN bunch.

In 1971, someone put into my hands some little books by Kenneth Hagen, and I became (briefly) convinced of the “Word of Faith” teaching. I probably taught these doctrines for nearly a year before I began, through my own Bible studies, to see the fallacy of these interpretations of scripture. I abandoned these teachings soon afterward. Fortunately, I had already been reading books like those of Corrie ten-Boom, Richard Wurmbrandt, Watchman Nee, Brother Andrew, Hannah Hurnard, and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs—so I had already imbibed a fairly scriptural attitude toward suffering, which probably made it harder for the Word of Faith ideas to take a permanent hold on my sympathies. Around the same time, I also became aware of the phenomena of demon-possession and the Satan’s general activities. I was briefly swayed by certain “deliverance ministries” that seemed to be getting spectacular results in helping people with problems that were apparently caused by demons. I had previously been taught, at Calvary Chapel, that Christians are invulnerable to demonization, but I decided to do my own thorough study of the scriptures on the topic, and emerged from the inquiry, two years later, with the conclusion that the Bible says nothing for or against the possibility of the demonization of Christians. Today, I still have an interest in helping people whose problems may be demonically-induced, though I soon got over my fascination with “deliverance ministries,” which seemed to see demons behind every personality quirk, every sin, and every misfortune.

READ MORE HERE

Audio teachings by Steve Gregg

01. Introduction
02. Is Healing in the Atonement?
03. Healing on Demand?
04. Prosperity?

VISIT OUR

Recently I talked with a reporter for a major metropolitan daily newspaper about Pentecostalism. He called me after interviewing (he said) many scholars about Pentecostalism. He said that the people most enamored with Pentecostalism were non-Pentecostal religious scholars; none of them would say a bad word about Pentecostalism. He had read my article on the dark side of Pentecostalism in Christian Century and knew I could say some negative things about the movement. (Most of the negative things I have to say about it relate to the independent Pentecostal evangelists and entrepreneurial pastors–not the leading Pentecostal denominations.)

One thing that shocked  him and me both was the responses he received to questions about the so-called Prosperity Gospel of health and wealth that is rampant among independent Pentecostal and Charismatic “Word of Faith” churches and evangelists. He told me that one sociologist of religion explained it to him as nothing more than Pentecostal pastors and evangelists trying to teach their followers how to handle money responsibly. Needless to say, I filled him in on what it really is from first hand experience with it.

As some readers here already know, my first full time teaching position was at Oral Roberts University (1982-1984). I accepted that position because, returning from my studies in Germany, I had no other option. The tenure track position was in the undergraduate theology department. For those of you “in the know” I succeeded Chuck Farah who moved to the graduate school of theology. (Chuck was a leading critic of the then-budding health and wealth, word of faith “gospel” then being proclaimed by Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland. His book From the Pinnacle of the Temple was, to the best of my knowledge, the first book length critique of it.)

I was already aware of this teaching before moving to ORU to teach in the summer of 1982. I was raised Pentecostal and there had long been a “lunatic fringe” of the movement that promised physical and financial blessings in response to prayers of faith. They were our lunatic fringe because almost to a person they prayed for people’s teeth to be filled with gold. One of them came to our town (where my father was pastor of a Pentecostal church), set up his tent, and proceeded to pray for people’s teeth to be filled with gold. Several people from our church claimed to have had their teeth so “healed” by the prayers of this evangelist. When my father strongly suggested that our people not go to those meetings, the evangelist “prophecied” that my father would be struck down with cancer for opposing him. That kind of thing was well known and common along the fringes of the Pentecostal movement in the 1950s and before.

While attending seminary I served as assistant pastor at a Pentecostal-Charismatic church. Several of our members drifted away to become followers of television evangelists. Again, the pastor of that church openly opposed the television evangelists who preached the then new version of the gospel of health and wealth that denied the sovereignty of God and made God a slot-machine (words of faith in, healings and financial blessings out). We were just seeing the end of the so-called “Shepherding/Discipleship Movement” (Derek Prince, Don Basham, et al.) when Jim Bakker and PTL went on the air with people like Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin receiving the spotlight to proclaim that God is bound to heal and bless with riches those who spoke the word with faith. (You had to speak it; you couldn’t just ask for it.)

Mainstream Pentecostal leaders were slow to respond, but eventually they did respond with “position papers” denouncing the more extreme versions of the Word-Faith movement and doctrines.

When I went to ORU in 1984 Oral Roberts was still a United Methodist. While I was there he left the UMC and joined Billy Joe Dougherty’s church that met on campus. It was an independent charismatic congregation with leanings toward the prosperity gospel. Then Oral began inviting Word-Faith preachers to speak in chapel. I will never forget the day a California-based African-American preacher of positive faith and prosperity (he boasted of owning several Rolls Royces) spoke in chapel. We were all required to attend. With students in wheel chairs in attendance he shrieked “You can’t be a good witness for Jesus from a wheel chair!” Dead silence fell over the nearly five thousand people in the Christ Chapel. Then he asked “Well? Am I right?” One usually quiet and very humble professor stood to his feet and shouted through cupped hands “NO!” Then he sat down. Many, many chapel speakers were from that wing of the Charismatic movement. Oral himself did not teach or preach an extreme version of the so-called Word-Faith message he allowed surrogates to do it for him. And when Farah’s book was published, strongly criticizing it, Oral called him on the carpet.

While I was teaching at ORU a graduate theology student was conducting research into the origins of the Word-Faith teaching and found word-for-word parallels between the writings of E. W. Kenyon, an early 20th century Pentecostal healing evangelist who had been influenced by New Thought, and Kenneth Hagin, the then leader of the Word-Faith movement. He published his findings in A Different Gospel. His name was D. R. McConnell and his critique of the “name-it-and-claim-it” movement and teaching was devastating. He proved its genesis in New Thought and demonstrated its unbiblical character while also strongly hinting that it is downright dangerous to people’s health and financial well-being (insofar as they were being taught to act like they were well and rich even when they weren’t). McConnell succeeded me when I left ORU (with a huge sigh of relief) in 1984. (Some day maybe I’ll tell more of what I saw and heard during those two years at ORU, but I don’t want to in any way hinder the work being done there since Mart Green took over a couple years ago. For now I’ll just say that before I went I read Give Me That Prime Time Religion by Jerry Sholes and couldn’t believe what it said about Oral Roberts was true. After two years teaching there I believed every word of it.)

Recently I saw a billboard a few blocks from my house on a major thoroughfare. It says “Never sick, always well; never poor, always rich–Guaranteed!” (or something like that–it’s since been removed). It cited a web site so I went there and found that a new Word-Faith church was starting up in a store front near my home. Over the past 25 years this movement has exploded in America and around the world.

The essence of the movement is this: God promises that if you have positive faith and truly believe AND speak that faith with your mouth in positive affirmations (e.g., “God is my source of healing and prosperity; I am well and rich”) God is obligated to heal you and give you financial blessings beyond your wildest dreams. It isn’t always stated that baldly, but that’s the essence of it–especially as it is HEARD by its many adherents. There are, of course, degrees of it. Oral Roberts’ version was called “Seed Faith.” It was mild compared to some of the chapel speakers’ messages. But the essential message is that God will give you abundance, meaning well-being in every sense, if you exercise faith in him for that abundance by speaking it into existence.

READ MORE HERE

At the conclusion of our November 21, 2010, Rockford Worldview Weekend we were told that three months before the rally the church staff had voted for Worldview Weekend not to return in 2011 because our 2009 rally was thought by some of the church staff to be too negative and that it was inappropriate to name the name of false teachers.

I asked what their senior pastor thought about that evening’s Worldview Weekend Rally but was informed that the senior pastor had chosen not to attend the conference.

Please understand that I am not going to name the church because those that attended the conference and live in the area know the church of which I speak. I am not writing this article because of some kind of personal offense but to highlight how Biblical truth has become an offense to most of America’s churches.

Many such churches would claim to love truth but what they really love is a man-centered Christianity that helps them obtain success in their marriage, finances, family, and a positive attitude that produces health and a successful personal life without the pain of dying to self, picking up the Cross of Christ and being persecuted for proclaiming Truth.

II Timothy 4:3 tells us that many Christians will only want to hear what makes them feel good and appeals to their flesh; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”

The 2009 speakers that joined me for the Worldview Weekend Rally in Rockford, Illinois included me, Dr. Erwin Lutzer and Dr. David Reagan.

In my 2009 presentation I spoke on the topic of my book Grave Influence and I did name such Emergent Church, false teachers as Pastor Brian McLaren who has said the cross and hell is false advertising for God. I named Pastor Bill Hybels that signed the Yale document that states that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Hybels has also had Brian McLaren at his church. I also mentioned Pastor Rick Warren who sits on the advisory board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation that seeks to bring the religions of the world together. I also named Pastor Rob Bellwho has proclaimed an abundance of heresy and who has also spoken as Bill Hybel’s church. I spoke on why pagan spirituality was doubling in America every eighteen months and how many New Age practices had come into the churches of America such as “Christian” yoga and contemplative prayer. I explained how Christian could proclaim the Gospel to a postmodern culture that has become more interested in spirituality than theology. I also warned last year, as I did this year, that many churches are being compromised from within by church staff that do not adhere to the Biblical mandates and purposes of a New Testament church and are an inch deep and a mile wide in their doctrinal and theological understanding and commitment. I warned that the remnant should understand that our greatest opposition would not come from the government but from those that have the title “reverend” or “pastor” in front of their name. Click here to hear a few minutes of the presentation I presented at this church in 2009.

In 2009, Dr. Lutzer spoke on seven lessons America should learn from Nazi Germany and Dr. Reagan spoke on 50 signs we are living in the last days. All three of us used a lot of scripture to equip those in attendance to understand the times and know what God would have them to respond.

Worldview Weekend is thankful for the churches that will allow us to rent their buildings but the increasing trend is that we are being forced to rent more and more hotel ballrooms because so few churches have leaders, staff, and pastors that have clear discernment, real courage under fire, and an unwavering commitment to Biblical truth in an age of non-judgmentalism, tolerance, and Christian happy talk.

No one ever said being a watchman on the wall that warns of impending danger was going to be a popular job but if popularity is what we seek then we are not seeking to be faithful to the One we serve and thus we have failed in our calling.

Warning the church of emerging dangerous, unbiblical trends, false teachers, a false gospel, and unbiblical theology and doctrine has now become negative in the eyes of many of today’s hirelings. Jesus Himself told us that we would see those that claim to be shepherds/pastors that really have little concern for the sheep. In John 10:11-13 we read:

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

Listen to this audio of Pastor John MacArthur as he explains how Jesus named the names of false teachers and how this is the job of all Biblically minded Christians and true shepherds. In this audio clip Pastor MacArthur calls out Rick Warren by name for teaching a false gospel.

Worldview Weekend will not be deterred in speaking truth no matter how unpopular it becomes with individuals or members of a church staff.

Needless to say, I was concerned how my wife would respond to this criticism since she was raised in this church. Her response revealed to me, once again, how blessed I am that God gave Melissa to me as a helpmate. Melissa’s response was “why are you surprised, you knew this church was becoming increasingly liberal over the past few years. I was shocked they let Worldview Weekend return for the 2010 rally.”
Melissa encouraged me to shake the dust from my shoes and go out and find a hotel ballroom. She also encouraged me to continue to bring the Worldview Weekend to Rockford because of all the people, including life-long friends, that come up to her at the resource table to express their thankfulness that Worldview Weekend returns to Rockford, IL each year.

In fact, that night, while standing behind our resource table, a medical doctor, that is a member of this church, handed my wife a letter he had written to his children after last year’s Worldview Weekend in Rockford. In his letter he wrote in part:

…I attended a Worldview Weekend Rally at [name of church removed] on Sunday evening, November 22^nd, and found it to be very helpful, informative, stimulating and timely.”

This father went on to recommend that his children read some of the books written by the speakers.

At this point in time, all three books impress me as being coherent, credible, plausible, relevant, responsible, strategic and timely. I believe that they qualify as priority reading for serous Christian believers and church leaders who need and want to be alert to the crucial times in which we and our families are living.”

This letter reveals a common response and a common problem that I have seen all across America-lay leaders that are more Biblically grounded, discerning, and committed to Biblical truth than some of their own church staff.

The Worldview Weekend in Rockford was held at another location a few years ago and has consistently had a large attendance regardless of where it is held. Thus, if you live in or near Rockford please know we will return and have already secured a hotel ballroom for the November 2011 Worldview Weekend Rally in Rockford, IL.

Let me answer the question of our article. Is it negative and unbiblical to name false teachers? The Bible is filled with examples of Jesus and others naming false teachers by name. For example, the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy names numerous people by name.

2 Timothy 1:15: Phygellus and Hermogenes
2 Timothy 2:17: Mymenaeus and Philetus
2 Timothy 3:8: Jannes and Jambress
2 Timothy 4:10: Demas
2 Timothy 4:14: Alexander the coppersmith

In III John 9, John named Diotrephes.

Jesus called out the false teachers in Matthew 23 and Luke 11.

I truly believe that one reason why God allows false teachers is to provide believers with a test of whether they will be faithful in their Biblical mandate to expose false teachers and thus protect the sheep from the spiritual poison of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Ephesians 5:11 makes it clear we are to expose false teachers; “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”Pastor Jim Bublitz gives further insight into the positive results that come when we name false teachers by name:

READ MORE HERE

The Influence of the Prosperity Gospel

These teachers gather crowds in services, are seen on television, heard on the radio, and their books sell in large amounts. They obviously are teaching and selling a message people want to hear. People want to hear that God wants them to be wealthy . They want to hear that not only does God want them to be wealthy, but that they can be wealthy if they simply have the right type of faith and unleash God in their lives. Each of these teachers has a different way this might be done. It could be through giving to their ministry. It could be through a certain type of prayer. The point is with the right kind of faith you can prosper.

The Reason People Follow It

The message is so popular because it hits on our inherit greed. The love of money is still the root of all forms of evil. These ministries prey on peoples love of money. Some of the people are folks who are poverty stricken and want to believe that if they just got things right with God he would give them their hearts material desires.

This teaching does not simply state that God wants us all rich, but also that if you are not rich, then it is because of your lack of faith in God. Therefore Christians who are poor and sick are Christians who are unfaithful to God.

Peter’s Critique of such a Message

Now I want to compare that theology to what Peter teaches. Peter has taught that instead of the Christian faith being a calling to wealth and prosperity that they are called to do good and suffer (read more here). That they should not be surprised when they face fiery trials (read more here). That they should prepare themselves to suffer by following the example of Jesus (read more here). That they should rejoice during persecution (read more here). That they should entrust themselves to God and keep on doing good. That they should understand this world is not their home, but rather they are pilgrims and sojourners (read more here). That they should prepare for suffering, not for wealth and prosperity (read more here). All of this pushes back hard agains the prosperity gospel movement that is seen all too often in the largest churches in America and broadcast on television. God does not make life perfect and prosperous for the Christians. He does redeem us. He does provide value for our suffering. He does give us opportunities to find joy in suffering, but he does not promise us health, wealth, and prosperity! In fact, God promises the opposite. Those who follow Jesus will face persecution.

Conclusion

This gospel that is promoted all to often is not the gospel at all, rather it is a different gospel that plays off man’s desire for wealth and those who follow such a gospel will miss out on the joys and glory of the world to come. The gospel of God is not a gospel of cheap grace and ease. It is a glorious gospel, but it is a gospel that costs you everything. Sadly, many don’t want the gospel to cost them anything, but they still want to claim the name Christians, so they have perverted the gospel to their own demise.

http://www.studyyourbibleonline.com/theology/1-peter-and-the-health-and-wealth-gospel/

RELATED POST:

1. 1 Peter 1:24, 25–The Gospel Preached As we conclude chapter 1 of 1 Peter we have…
2. What Jesus taught about the Gospel? Gospel is a key theme in the Mark.  In fact…

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1. God uses problems to DIRECT you.
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” Proverbs 20:30

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you.
People are like tea bags . . . if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you? “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.” James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something … health, money, a relationship … by losing it. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.” Psalm 119:71-72

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you.
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good .” Genesis 50:20

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you.
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. “We can rejoice when we run into problems . . . they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.” Romans 5:3-4

Here’s the point: God is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it. By reading these 5 Lessons of God, be mindful to ask “Why have you endured a situation?” If ANY situation exists and YOU can see no way out, pause, meditate, and ask God to show you the way out. (WORK, HOME, SCHOOL, the interstate, ANYWHERE). Sometimes the lesson can be one of patience, so be receptive to ALL God’s ways. God will show you. Have faith in the outcome of God’s work. God does all things in our life to strengthen us. We are His children. Each road we journey is a lesson for life. If you continually seek understanding from life, you can be receptive of its lesson.

Since I first heard of Tim Tebow, people have been saying that Tebow is for God and God is for Tebow. After a recent game the stats reflected John 3:16 4 times and people where amazed and talking about how God must be for Tebow. I don’t know if God is for Tebow or not but I think, like many others, that Tebow is for God. That is why myself and so many others like Tebow so much, he really is for God.

ONE CAVEAT about AP’s article. Myself, and anyone who has studied Islam will confess that Islam is an “Anti-Christ” religion.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Tim Tebow has canceled an appearance at a revival organized by a controversial Ohio preacher, a spokesman for the star athlete said Wednesday.

The Denver Broncos quarterback and dedicated Christian had been scheduled to speak at a three-day Columbus event in March led by televangelist Rod Parsley.

Tebow’s brother Robbie said in a phone interview that he was canceling the talk. Robbie Tebow said his brother’s speakers’ bureau hadn’t researched the event before saying yes to the invitation.

“I know for a fact that Tim is not going to be a part of it,” Robbie Tebow said. “That’s being resolved.”

Parsley teaches that God wants the faithful to be rich. Last year, he asked followers to donate more than $1 million to ward off satanic attacks. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain disowned an endorsement from Parsley after learning the pastor called Islam an “anti-Christ” religion.

Parsley’s gathering is called “Contending for the Faith Weekend.” Texas televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who also preaches the prosperity gospel, is another featured speaker, according to the event website.

Mark Youngkin, a spokesman for Parsley, said the quarterback has a contract with the event organizers, who have asked Tebow to reconsider. Youngkin said national advertising for the event had just been approved Tuesday.

“The ball’s in their court at this point,” Youngkin said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMvfge5SJneMzeDSuRSqhqJ1snXQ?docId=aac06b348bbe4040937b937c24ba45d3

Here is Crouch’s first responce to Martins last TBN appearance.  Martin noted that Crouch had previously denied the WoF teaching that men are little gods but Crouch decided to defend the heresy and those who teach it while claiming he (Crouch) really is a little god. And then Crouch said about Martin,,,,, ”Critic be gone”.

1.Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Monday, Jan 9, 2012

 What does the Bible teach about prosperity? Listen as June Hunt answers the question: “What is Prosperity Theology?” June also introduces some of the biblical flaws in this theology.

2.Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012

Have you prayed for healing for yourself or a loved one yet you didn’t see the prayers answered with a physical reversal of the illness? Listen as June Hunt looks at God’s role regarding illness and shares part of a conversation she had with a young woman who was struggling with her own health crisis.

3. Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012

Would you know when to leave a church because of consistent misrepresentation of Scripture and false teaching of God’s Word? Listen as June Hunt shares a conversation she had with a man who asked for counsel in this very situation.

4. Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|The Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope|Thursday, Jan 12, 2012

Have you prayed for healing for yourself or a loved one yet you didn’t see the prayers answered with a physical reversal of the illness? Listen as June Hunt looks at God’s role regarding illness and shares part of a conversation she had with a young woman who was struggling with her own health crisis.

5. Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Prosperity Gospel: False Teachers – False Hope!|Friday, Jan 13, 2012

Have you wondered where God was when a loved one died, even though you persistently prayed for healing? Perhaps you’ve been told that your prayers weren’t answered because you didn’t have enough faith. If you have had this experience, then you’ll want to listen to June Hunt as she talks with a woman who was grieving the death of her child while struggling with the teaching in her church about healing, prayer and faith

SOURCE

During my senior year at Hillsdale College, in part because of the influence of Rev. Everett Henes and Dr. Richard Gamble, I found myself engaged in discussion on the question of the prosperity gospel.

This form of evangelical preaching promises God’s blessings in the concrete forms of healing, financial security, and general wealth, provided that listeners support the ministers who proclaim this message.  Preachers of this stripe have gathered thousands of adherents.

Dr. David Jones of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Russell Woodbridge have co-authored a short monograph on the subject.  Their work outlines the history of the modern prosperity gospel movement, and then compares it with an orthodox protestant understanding of the gospel. They conclude that prosperity preachers alter the message of Christ too far to be considered orthodox

Health, Wealth & Happiness: Has the Prosperity Gospel Overshadowed the Gospel of Christ? is a compelling read which addresses an need within current evangelicalism. If preachers such as Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and T.D Jakes claim to preach the gospel of Christ yet link their message to financial prosperity, they have left the fold of Christianity.

Wrestling with defining orthodox Christianity (in a broader sense than the Orthodox denomination) was a large part of my Hillsdale experience, and this book contributes to that continuing discussion.

- Josh Herring, ’11.

http://hillsdalenaturallawreview.com/2012/01/09/prosperity-gospel-not-orthodox-christianity/

Dear brother…

Thank you for this vid.

I am a former WOF follower. I attended Life Christian Univ. for almost 2 years which is seminary where prety much all the books that you study are written by Kenneth Haggin.

I enter this church as a baby christian, hungry for the word of God and thirsty for the HS.

After a while following these ppl, and faithfully study the scripture, I realized that something is not right.

I began to search out for the truth, and lo and behold, I came to the realization that I am in a movement which is called WOF.

I withdraw myself from the school and the church with a simple letter to the pastor and the teachers…

I followed the promtings of the HS, which protects us from erroe and false teaching…

Unfortunatelly, my sister is still involved with a similar church, which pastor’s spiritual father is Kenneth Copoland.

I had tried to explain to her and her husband what is going on, gave her scripture and documentation

But she is still in the same church along with all her family.

She is stuck basically, and gradually, after many warnings and pleadings, she is not talking to me any longer.

I thank you for exposing and talking about these ppl, maybe, just maybe someone out there like me will hear the truth.

It took me a long time, but with God’s help and the HS, I was able to clear my mind of the heresies that these ppl teach.

I learned how to lean on the HS for guidance.

God bless

Ariel

Here is the video Ariel commented on.

VISIT OUR

The 3-D Effect (Descent, Deception, And Desensitization)

Once a pastor fought the cause and took aim
Now you’re lucky if a pastor knows your name

The 1950′s biggest trouble in school was chewing gum
Now the school grounds they’re killing from

There was a day when your barn burnt down
Many came to rebuild from that town

When you were sick and needed help most
Church and family lined up to be your host

When a stranger in need came to ask
Now send him down the street to complete the task

When parents spanked their kids and it all made sense
Now we tolerate bad behavior, no real consequence

There was a time when family was very near
Now they’re far and spread, and we hardly hear

Truth about eternity, hell, fire and brimstone
Now they preach fluffy stories to reduce the tone

They think the Church is a building to entertain all
To manipulate with music, not knowing their great fall

Now they preach how to prosper and to gain
Not knowing the Word teaches it’s all in vain

What does a man gain to profit and toil
Only now to have his soul to spoil

The Church is believers to worship in it
Now we invite tares to come in and split

Instead of reaching out and doing a good deed
We now give a fraction, saying we’ve sown our seed

When the seed is really Jesus in our life
Spreading it individually and to suffer strife

The wise, mighty, and noble are scarcely called
It’s the humble and abase to Him who have crawled

Our knowledge has greatly increased
Our spirit though is almost deceased

Once was a button only to sew and hold
Now it’s a key stroke, powerful and bold

At the touch of a button we can now watch porn
Where many use to read God’s Word and be warned

Now sports, movies, and games have taken the place
When it was mostly family and friends that we’d interface

No longer molten calves as god’s we bow down to
It’s now thousands of things that we pursue

Instead of being separate and sanctified
We now look like the rest of the world and mortified

Now 2012 and there is a great shift
Truth, loyalty, and justice have all gone a drift

Had you known what hour the thief would enter
Would you’ve prepared yourself, an armed defender

The enemies plan was slowly making us compromise
When the truth about him, he’s the father of all lies

By Ron Evartt

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The 3 pictures in this video come from this site and there are actually 4 pictures available if you will go to the site and click on the link at the bottom. I also suggest going to the site because the authors commentary is much better than mine. Here are some comments on the video at YouTube.

So a person who sings about ho’s drugs and bit**** can be rich,,, A guy that can hit a baseball can be rich,,, a women with big bo*** and a loud mouth who gets on tv with her sisters ij a reality show can be rich,,,, but a person who makes it his calling to help people out through religion cant have anything. No one is twisting peoples arms to list5en to him or donate money any more then they are twisting peoples arms to buy tickets to a concert, movie or baseball game,

AND

Amen. I have told people that all the time. Rock stars and celebrities and those living for the devil are allowed to have nice homes, but if a preacher has a nice home, all hell breaks lose!

To hear comments like this really breaks my heart because it seems that many Christians are not aware that the Old Testamant repeatedly asks and answers the question of why the wicked seem to prosper. Here is an entire Psalm that confronts this issue.

Psalm 73 (ESV) – A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Please notice here that Asaph almost slipped and stumbled because he was envious of the prosperity of the wicked and in the end he concludes that the wicked will have their best lifes now. Asaph recovers from his envy when he realizes that having God is all that matters and after this life he will be recieved into glory while the wicked are set upon slippery places that make them fall into ruin. Many other passages like Job 21:16-34; Psa. 37:1-17 and Luke 12:16-21 show that while the wicked might prosper in this life and have their “best life now”, it is the Godly that prosper for eternity while the wicked are set to eternal destruction.

Rock stars, rappers, celebrities, baseball players and playboy centerfold models are not Gods representatives here on earth as Joel is supposed to be (Christians should not try to emulate them; even Osteen should not). Neither do they say “I can’t be a blessing to others if I am poor” as Osteen recently said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. That is just an absurd statement, as if all blessings have to come from money and are material. How about being a blessing and telling unbelievers they will suffer in hell if they do not believe in the one and only Savior. And how about telling those who do claim Christ that they need to repent of their sin, even their sin of coveting the wickeds prosperity. Well if Osteens goal is really to be a material blessing to others just think how many water wells could be dug in arid climates in poor countries with 10.5 million. Think about how many homeless people could be clothed and fed with 10.5 million. How many hungry children could be sponcered through Compassion International. Osteen could have very well have stayed in his 2.6 million dollar mansion and gave the 10.5 million to charitiable causes. Most baseball stars have their foundations to help the needy, is Joel excused from using his personal money to help the poor because LakeWood Church does charitable work? He could have very well kept his previous 200, 000$ a year salary from Lakewood, given the church the royalty rights to his writings or started a charitable foundation in his name and still VERY easily paid the taxes and up-keep of his 2.6 million dollar TangelWood mansion; which meets the criteria for the last commentors idea of a “nice home” (imagine that – it takes 10.5 million to have a “nice home”). It seems that if Osteen has a “calling to help people out through religion” he would be doing these things because even the wicked help people out with mere money and material things.

Now am I suggesting that God wants and the bible teaches that Christians should be poor? NO I AM NOT!!!

Here is a comment we got when we first opened this Blog.

“Hello, Damon. Since you clearly don’t want comments that say anything nice about the guys you’re against, I won’t say anything. But I have to ask you SERIOUSLY your personal opinion or what you think the Bible says about the issue… Perhaps God doesn’t necassarily want ALL believers to be BILLIONARES. But… Do you really think that as Christians, the only things we’re worthy of having (in God’s eyes) are the SAME things non-believers have or LESS than what non-believers have??? In other words, why would God ask believers to engage in things completely outside the realm of what the rest of the world is doing, then expect those SAME people to eat mud pies for dinner, AND LIKE IT?????? Again, are you saying that the God we serve is a “turn the other cheek & eat hambergers for dinner & thank me for it” type of God, while the person that slapped you is laughing with his friends about it & eating steak & has NOTHING to do with God??? Honestly, if God is going to contrast the size of our wallet to whether we love & trust in him, then perhaps it’s not us who are putting stock in money, maybe it’s really God! OK, but that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it??? But equally ridiculous? The notion that God wants, condones, or commands that all believers be LESS than “the world” even if the subject IS MONEY!!! Be HONEST… Do you want to serve a God that “sees” you as not being worthy to have a house BIGGER than a person who OUTWORDLY MOCKS GOD???? – Thanks”

Please see how I responded in this video and article.

Does God want us to be rich and have a BIG HOUSE? THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME!!!

VISIT OUR

You  can see Pastor Jeff’s teaching video series on the WoF called Wolves in Wool here.

You can but the book on Amazon here or at this URL

http://www.amazon.com/Apostasy-Word-Faith-Doctrinal-Jeff-Kluttz/dp/1468152947/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325885038&sr=1-6

I am not sure which chapter this is in the book. I tried to find out which chapter it was by reading through the reviews at Amazon and looking at the preview of the first 2 chapters on Google Books.  Even though I have so many books on my wishlist already I am going to add this one too. I hope you guys enjoy!

=======================================================

 From Randy Alcorn’s book “Money, Possessions, and Eternity”

A “man of God” stands before his audiences and rebukes the “spirit of poverty,” assuring them of material prosperity. He sends a Christmas letter concerning “the urgent need you have to get into true biblical prosperity as the wise men did. The money they brought literally met the financial needs of Mary, Joseph, and the child in that desperate hour.” By sending money to this evangelist in his desperate hour, according to the letter, one may expect to become materially prosperous, just like the wise men who gave generously to the baby Jesus.

This man represents a large and visible segment of American evangelicalism that subscribes to what is called “prosperity theology,” or the “health and wealth gospel.” This worldview thrives, in churches and in parachurch ministries, only because such men have willing supporters, eager to get their share of the prosperity pie. This chapter isn’t about some position “out there” in the world, but “in here” in the Church. It addresses the attitudes and lifestyles of millions of mainstream Christians who, to varying degrees and sometimes without realizing it, have bought into the lie of prosperity theology.

THE OLD TESTAMENT AND PROSPERITY

What makes every heresy dangerous is an element of truth. Without a sugar coating of truth, the lies would never be swallowed. The portion of truth that makes prosperity theology credible is that some Old Testament passages link material prosperity with God’s blessing. For instance, God gave material wealth to Abraham (Genesis 13:1-7), Isaac (Genesis 26:12-14), Jacob (Genesis 30:43), Joseph (Genesis 39:2-6), Solomon (1 Kings 3:13), and job (Job 42:10-17) because he approved of them. He promised the Israelites he would reward them materially for faithful financial giving (Deuteronomy 15: 10; Proverbs 3:9-10; 11:25; Malachi 3:8-12).

In Deuteronomy 28:1-13, God tells the Israelites that he would reward their obedience by giving them children, crops, livestock, and victory over their enemies, but he also tacks on fifty-four more verses describing the curses that would come upon the nation if they didn’t obey him-including diseases, heat and drought, military defeat, boils, tumors, madness, and blindness. The teaching is double-edged: prosperity for obedience, adversity for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:14-68).

The Old Testament also warns against the dangers of wealth-especially the possibility that in our prosperity we may forget the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:7-18). Furthermore, the Bible recognizes frequent exceptions to the prosperity/adversity doctrine, noting that the wicked often prosper more than the righteous. The psalmist said, “I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil” (Psalm 37:35), and “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…. This is what the wicked are like always carefree, they increase in wealth” (Psalm 73:3, 12). Solomon saw “a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 7:15). Jeremiah, a righteous man who lived in constant adversity, framed the question this way: “You are always righteous, 0 Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1).

Are material wealth, achievement, fame, victory, or success reliable indicators of God’s reward or approval? If so, then he is an evil God, for history is full of successful madmen and prosperous despots. Was God on the side of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and other prosperous butchers of history during their rise to power and at the apex of their regimes when they were surrounded by material wealth? Is God also on the side of wealthy cultists, dishonest business executives, and immoral rock stars? If wealth is a dependable sign of God’s approval and lack of wealth shows his disapproval, then Jesus and Paul were on God’s blacklist, and drug dealers and embezzlers are the apple of his eye.

CHRIST AND PROSPERITY

Many in Old and New Testament times believed in a direct cause-and-effect relationship between righteousness and prosperity on the one hand, and sin and adversity on the other. Health and wealth meant that God approved; sickness and poverty meant he did not. Job’s “comforters” thought there must be hid¬den sin in his life to account for his loss of prosperity, but they were wrong. God approved of Job (Job 1:8; 42:7), yet he permitted Satan to destroy every¬thing of earthly value that job possessed.

The well-to-do Pharisees lived and breathed a prosperity theology, labeling everyone beneath their social caste as “sinners” (Luke 15:1-2; John 9:34). Christ’s disciples betrayed their own assumptions when they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). Jesus responded by saying their presupposition was entirely wrong: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…. but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). In other words, God had a higher purpose for this man’s adversity that simply didn’t fit in the neat little categories of “Do good and you’ll be well off” and “Do bad and you’ll suffer.”

Consider their response when Christ told his disciples, “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,” and “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24). When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25).

Why the astonishment? It was because they were accustomed to thinking of wealth as a sign of God’s approval. If the wealthy, of whom God obviously approves (why else would he make them wealthy?), have a hard time going to heaven, how could the poor (whom God obviously disdains) ever make it? The disciples hadn’t yet grasped the significance of their Lord’s lifestyle. The one whose Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, NKJV) was the same Son of Man who didn’t have a place to lay his head and owned nothing but a robe and sandals (Matthew 8:20).

Jesus said of his Father, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the un¬righteous” (Matthew 5:45). God extends common grace to all.

The air breathed by every person-sinner or saint-is God’s gift, regardless of the person’s morality. What we call prosperity is often incidental: An evil person may have good soil and a large crop, while the good person has poor soil and a small crop. As Christ’s account of the rich man and Lazarus demonstrates, an evil person may live a long life, suffer little, and prosper, while the righteous person may have life cut short, suffer considerably, and live in poverty (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus says things will be turned around in eternity, but often not until then (Luke 6:20-25).

The New Testament goes one step further. Not only may the righteous suffer despite their righteousness, but often they will suffer because of their righteousness. “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). The early Christians continually suffered for their faith and were assured that “your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (I Peter 5:9). A materialistic world system,

The well-to-¬do Pharisees lived and breathed a prosperity theology, labeling everyone beneath their social caste as “sinners.” with its emphasis on personal peace and prosperity, does not look with favor upon a true disciple of Christ (John 15:18-20).

These examples from Scripture should disturb any of us whose goal is to be hailed a success by the standards of this world. If we fit in so well with the world, is it because we are living by the world’s standards, not Christ’s

LIVE LIKE THE KING’S KID?

There’s great irony in a popular saying heard in “health and wealth” circles: “Live like a King’s kid.” The “King’s kid” was Jesus, who lived a life exactly opposite of what is meant by the phrase today. The King we serve was stripped down for battle. At the end of the age he will don the royal robes of victory, and so will his faithful servants with him; but now is the time for battle garb, not regalia.

How did the King send his “kid” into this world? Born in lowly Bethlehem, raised in despised Nazareth, part of a pious but poor family that offered two doves because they couldn’t afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:6-8; Luke 2:22-24), Christ wandered the countryside dependent on others to open their homes, because he didn’t have one of his own. “Live like a king’s kid”? Whatever king’s kid the prosperity proponents are speaking of, it obviously isn’t Jesus!

Prosperity theology sees as our model the ascended heavenly Lord rather than the descended earthly servant. Jesus warned his disciples not to follow a lordship model, but his own servant model (Mark 10:42-45). In this life, we are to share in his cross-in the next life we will share in his crown (2 Timothy 2:12).

In verses you’ll never see embroidered, framed, or posted on refrigerators, the King promised persecution, betrayal, flogging, and being dragged before courts and tried for our faith (Matthew 10:16-20). He warned, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:3 3) and said, “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

This is not the stuff of which prosperity sermons are made.

PAUL AND PROSPERITY

Other than the life and teachings of Christ, the most powerful refutation of prosperity theology can be seen in the life and writings of Paul. As the health gospel tries to experience the full redemption of the body in this life, so the wealth gospel tries to experience heaven’s rewards on earth. Because these are two inseparable sides of the prosperity gospel coin, we’ll look at Paul’s life in terms of health and wealth and other trappings of success.

Raised a Pharisee and therefore a believer in prosperity theology, Paul was one of those who could not believe that Jesus was Messiah, because of Jesus’ obvious lack of success. God’s disapproval of the man Jesus was surely self-evident in his questionable parentage, his disreputable place of upbringing, his lack of formal education, his poverty, and above all, his shameful death. But when Paul bowed his knee to the Carpenter from Galilee, he forever turned his back on prosperity theology. As his Lord said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16).

In his letter to the Philippians-written from a prison, not a plush office or the Rome Marriott-Paul says, “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29). He depicts Christ as the suffering Servant, whose prosperity came after his life on this earth, not during it (Philippians 2:5-1 1). Had Jesus laid claim to prosperity in this life, there would have been no crucifixion, no atonement, no gospel, and no hope for any of us.

In Philippians 3, Paul discusses his credentials of success, his diplomas, and awards. These he once highly valued, but now he says, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8). Actually, this translation is too delicate. Paul did not call his credentials and possessions “rubbish,” but dung. Excrement. That’s how he viewed the things he once valued, when stacking them up against Christ. Contrast that with today’s prosper¬ity preachers, their heavy jewelry swaying as they strut across the stage.

As a result of following Christ, Paul lost everything. What little money and possessions might have passed through his hands he considered a loss. He describes his daily adversity, persecution for Christ, and nearness to death (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). Two chapters later, Paul refers to his troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, and hunger, as well as the experience of nearly dying, and being sorrowful and poor (2 Corinthians 6:3-10).

Perhaps the most graphic portrayal of Paul’s life comes later in the same letter:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers,’ in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29)

Paul seems to make a case for what might be called “adversity theology,” or the “sickness and poverty gospel.” I wonder if in his dreams the apostle ever heard a faint chorus of voices from the future saying, “Paul, you don’t have to live like this-why don’t you trust God and live like a king’s kid?” The truth is, Paul heard some of these voices in his own day. In fact, Paul had to defend himself against the “super apostles,” well-off ministers who berated him because he couldn’t claim their wealth and prestige (1 Corinthians 4:8-13). He said to them, “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings” (1 Corinthians 4:8). He added, “We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” (1 Corinthians 4:10) . Paul faced off with these prosperity preachers, pointing out that they’d jumped the gun on reigning with Christ by living now as kings rather than as servants. Paul’s point is clear: Don’t try to reign prematurely! Dress like a servant. Let God put robes of honor on you when he brings you to his kingdom. Don’t put them on yourself now!

After explaining that God had given him some special revelations, Paul adds:

To keep me from becoming conceited … there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Paul knew that God had a definite purpose in his illness or disability. We don’t know what the disease was, but among other things it apparently caused his deteriorating eyesight (Galatians 6:11). His affliction, Paul said, was “given” to him in order to keep him from being conceited.

Moreover, God had a specific purpose for not removing the disease-to teach Paul that God’s grace was sufficient. Paul wasn’t to trust in his own strength but in God’s. His disease was a day-by-day reminder of his need to trust in the Lord rather than his own gifts and accomplishments.

A physician sponsors a frequent ad on our local Christian radio station. He says, “Helping you get well is all that matters.” Well, actually, it isn’t-there’s a great deal more that matters, and a great deal that matters more! I speak as an in¬sulin-dependent diabetic who has seen God do greater things through my sick¬ness than through my health.

Instead of assuming that God wants us healthy, we need to realize that he may accomplish higher purposes through our sickness than through our health. We may pray for healing when we’re sick, which is exactly what Paul did. But notice that he prayed only three times. When God chose not to heal him, he didn’t “name it and claim it” and demand that God heal him. Instead, he acknowledged God’s spiritual purpose in his adversity.

Today’s health and wealth preachers bypass the rest of this passage and say, “Paul called this disease a ‘messenger of Satan.’ It’s from the devil, not God. The devil wants us sick, but God wants us well.” Yes, Paul called the ailment a messenger of Satan. But God is bigger than all, and Satan is just one more agent he can use to accomplish his own purpose. After all, whose purpose and plan is the passage talking about? Satan would never give anyone something to keep him from being conceited. God is the one who intended the disease for Paul’s good. It wasn’t Satan but God who refused to remove the disease, despite Paul’s pleadings.

If you’ve prayed for healing and not received it, take heart-you’re in good company! Not only was Paul himself not healed, but he also had to leave Trophimus in Miletus because of sickness (2 Timothy 4:20). His beloved friend Epaphroditus was gravely ill (Philippians 2:24-30). His son in the faith, Timothy, had frequent stomach disorders, for which Paul didn’t tell him to “claim healing” but to drink a little wine for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23). Those who claim enough faith can be healed” apparently have greater faith than Paul and his missionary associates.

Like many of God’s servants in the early Church, Paul was neither healthy nor wealthy. It’s clear that God didn’t intend for him to be healthy or wealthy. Paul is now enjoying perfect health and wealth for all eternity. But when he was on this earth, it was God’s higher plan that for much of his life he would be poor and sick.

When Paul was taken in chains from his filthy Roman dungeon and be¬headed at the order of the opulent madman Nero, two representatives of humanity faced off, one of the best and one of the worst. One lived for prosperity on earth, the other didn’t. One now lives in prosperity in heaven, the other doesn’t. We remember both men for what they truly were, which is why we name our sons Paul and our dogs Nero.

THE NEW TESTAMENT UNDERSTANDING OF WEALTH

How can we explain the apparent contradiction between the words and life¬style of Jesus and the apostles, and the Old Testament prosperity passages? The answer lies in the fundamental differences between the Old and New Cove¬nants, which we will explore further in chapter 11. For now, suffice it to say that the New Testament reflects a fundamental change in its understanding of true wealth.

In the New Testament, the Greek word ploutos is used six times for material riches put to evil purposes (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19; Luke 8:14; 1 Timothy 6:17; James 5:2; Revelation 18:17). Yet the same word is used eleven times in the positive sense, each time referring to spiritual, not material, riches (Romans 11:33; Ephesians 1:18; Philippians 4:19; Colossians 1:27). Once we experi¬ence those riches, we find them so profoundly satisfying that we can never again elevate earthly and material riches to the place of importance they once held.

DIDN’T CHRIST PROMISE PROSPERITY IN THIS LIFE?

READ MORE HERE

Jeff was interviewed on his book here. AND brother Jeff has made the following introduction from his new book available on his site here. And you can see Jeff’s other books here. I have read and recommend them both. His book “The Spirit World” is particular to the WoF because it has a whole chapter refuting the WoF idea that Jesus went to hell.

If you will subcribe to this blog in the sidebar I will let you know when Jeff gives me word of an exact release date. THANKS YA’LL.

INTRODUCTION: A cancer is spreading at an alarming rate in the modern church. It expresses a heretical doctrine which exchanges the glory of the gospel of Christ for temporal gains that were once known as the very temptations of man. Heresy has become mainstream in an enormous population of Christendom. Sadly, much of the church today is too biblical illiterate to notice. The concept of orthodoxy has been given over to a competitive attitude by which doctrine is relegated to a local flavor. While heresy has always existed in the church, never has there been a time when “exotic and unfamiliar” were considered the creative virtues of preaching that they are today. The past few hundred years have been celebrated as times when enigmatic and incomprehensible creeds have been taken to task by a doctrinally savvy congregation and errors reproved by the biblical preaching of proven men of God. The tables seem to have turned entirely. In today’s religious circles it is old-school holdouts with the audacity to cling to the scriptures who are in the minority. It is a truly remnant church today which continues to preserve sound biblical fundamentals at the persistent ridicule of a new majority of doctrinal thrill-seekers.

They scream dissent from untold thousands of books, television networks and millions of websites. Entire supposedly “Christian” publishing houses have abandoned their former scriptural faith principles in favor of new proposals which, frankly, move more books off of store shelves. Christian bookstores, devoted more to their bottom line than the Lord’s, have likewise lifted not one finger in any measurable way to dissuade them. Countless modern congregations have jumped an entire generational cog; with an old-guard too tired or unwilling to fight for doctrinal purity and a new, younger work force that will only bother to show up if things are considered hip, novel, and decidedly not-too-biblical. Bereans are sparse; having been rapidly replaced by giddy, temperamental consumer-types who crave the latest “star” pastor’s deposition over the eyewitness testimonies of the apostles. The recipe for the modern pulpiteer calls for less scriptural content and more bizarre showmanship, to the extent of being positively juvenile.

Evangelicalism is in sincere trouble. Authentic Christians are relegated to a tireless search to find a church that preaches the Bible at all, as today’s pulpits more commonly stream self-help infomercials which refuse to mention, let alone offer remedy for man’s greatest issue: sin and man’s need for redemption. Churches have redefined ministry and missions in the image of public service fraternities. The gospel being proclaimed in so many supposedly “thriving” congregations is shallow enough to disappoint a Unitarian. Reminiscent are Jesus’ words to the church in Sardis, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”[1]

Fueling these trends are a growing number of pastors who have committed themselves to unadulterated apostasy on the grounds that it produces the desired results. This new breed of pseudo-theologian teaches, through contrived and corrupt exegetical processes, things which in some cases completely reverse the truths of scripture. Man is instructed not on his depravity and need for salvation, but on his alleged posture of value before God’s grateful eye. Christ is presented not as the crucified lamb but the exemplary enabler of human potential. Scripture is not promoted as the inspired testimony of God by which men are convicted, redeemed and trained for His eternal service, but the means by which they can learn the secrets of acquiring their best life now.

While such a dire state of the church is heart breaking to those who love her, it is not something which has taken the student of God’s word by surprise. This emerging apostasy has been articulately forewarned in scripture; a word of caution to each generation that the roots of their faith will be challenged from within at a future juncture.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV)
³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Surely such times are now at hand. Paul could not have more articulately portrayed the state of the modern church. The tested and proven methodology of starting new churches today is to send a group of surveyors into a neighborhood to determine the type of church that neighborhood would want to support. We are, in effect, asking the lost to dictate the function of the church. We may as well be determining which fast food franchise to inject into a business center. With the platform for church growth being the edification of everything people want to hear, the church has become nothing more than another consumer-oriented business. To the upwardly mobile, churches promise a leadership role in the renovation of culture. They are assured to be doing the work of Christ simply because they engage themselves in the types of things that Jesus did. To the poor and lowly is a promise of redemption; not from sin, but from the poverty which has stricken them due to their lack of “proper application” of God’s Word. To the ill is the promise of God’s full earthly reversal of their sicknesses, if only they will learn how to properly ask him. The church has become utterly user-friendly, offering carefully researched theological products which are in demand by the intended congregational target.

Numerous are the magical prayer books which give the correct formulas for invoking God’s response to one’s request, as if He were a cosmic genie who must only be suitably addressed for his magic to work. At the end of this process, man has taken the role of deity, dictating his will to an obedient subordinate; and God himself is that humble servant. With cleverly orchestrated theological arguments which attempt to make this doctrine seem biblical, these false teachers have relegated man to a place of power, success and great personal glory, while almighty God becomes nothing more than a grand enabler of man’s creative capacity. Shortly, even Shirley McClain will be pleased to join one of our mainstream mega-church congregations.

In the charismatic world, the “Word of Faith” movement represents the largest organized purveyor of these types of consumer-oriented doctrines. This work will focus specific attention to this movement in the hopes of illuminating the truths of scripture as a warning to the millions who are being systematically indoctrinated by this group. Through religious television networks and an increasing number of local congregations buying into the sheer hype, the Word of Faith movement has generated non-stop sensationalistic and un-verifiable claims that challenge everything the world has ever identified as orthodox faith. This work is not an attempt to engage heresy in debate, but to reveal it to individual readers for what it is. The true church must understand the nature of what she will battle in the coming days and years. These groups are steadily permeating the wheat field with tares while a lost and dying world is being cross-evangelized by false apostles utterly incapable of presenting the true gospel; for they do not know it themselves.

The end result of this counterfeit ministry will be an ever increasing wake of souls who are either happily deceived and relegated to an eternity of death, or are so damaged from their failed foray into “religion” that they write off Christ entirely as a charlatan who must be of the same essence as his phony ministers. Too often the deceived think they have experienced the fullness of Christ’s grace and find it lacking. Sadly, many walk away from anything with the Name of Christ attached to it from that point forward.

To that end, the responsibility of identifying and preaching against false doctrines is of major importance to those who live to affirm and defend the teachings of scripture. While scripture clearly indicates that an apostasy waits the latter days, it nevertheless demands the faithful of Christ to contend earnestly for the truth which transcends all times and cultures.

As Jude warns,

Jude 1:3-4 (ESV) ^{3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.}

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” Acts 14:22

RESOURCE POST: Christian Suffering verses the Prosperity Gospel – Which one is Biblical?

http://thewordonthewordoffaithinfoblog.com/2011/04/20/resource-post-christian-suffering-verses-the-prosperity-gospel-which-one-is-biblical/