Friday, September 12th, 2008
In the wake of my post called “Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones” Pastor Wendell Smith came out with a blog post called “Scandal and Restoration” regarding the Lakeland Revival and the falling of Todd Bently. The base argument of his post is to not get bitter or disillusioned by the fall of a leader.
My only response is if you don’t exalt men so high in the church (senior pastors), but exalt Jesus, when men fall they won’t leave or get bitter because Jesus will never fall. Also, don’t be so flippant and lazy on false doctrine…especially in your own church.
John Piper, on the other hand, also came out with a blog post talking about the issue. I believe his response is a good warning of the false doctrine, including the ones prevalent in the prosperity gospel and word of faith.
Read Wendell’s Blog
Read John Piper’s Blog
Tags: Pastor Wendell Smith, Prosperity Gospel, Wendell Smith
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
I have listened to several sermons by Pastor Wendell and their doctrine on healing has been pretty well laid out in the healing series. I agree with them that healing is for today and that God can miraculously heal today just as Jesus during His earthly ministry. I believe all healing comes from the Lord.
In listening to their sermons and it seems they feel a need to give God a PR job regarding healing. While giving their sermons they say God is a good God, and because He is good he wants to heal everyone in this life and because He is good He will never put sickness on anyone. It seems to me that they have said if God makes people sick, then He is not good. Also, if God does not desire to heal everyone in the here and now, then He is not good. Below are the reasons I think their definition of good needs to be conformed to the bible.
STATEMENT ONE: God will never, ever put sickness on anyone.
To see this is false, all we need to do is read a little bit of the Bible.
- What did God say the punishment for Israel was for not carefully observing His words?
“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues great and prolonged plagues and serious and prolonged sicknesses. Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Deuteronomy 28:58-60
It sounds like God will make them sick.
- In Numbers, God sent a plague that killed 14,700 of the Israelite people for complaining against Moses and Aaron.
- In 2 Samuel 24 God sent a plague on Israel because David performed a census of the people that killed 70,000 people.
- God struck Uzziah with leprosy for burning incense in the temple in 2 Chronicles 26:19-21.
- In the New Testament we find Christians becoming sick because of the judgment of the Lord regarding communion. See 1 Corinthians 11:29-31. Paul says if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. The only judge I know of is God.
- In Acts 5 we read of Ananias and Sapphira (Christians) who are killed by the Lord for lying to the Spirit. I would rather catch a cold that be killed.
- In Acts 13:7-11 Paul struck blindness (through the power of the Holy Spirit) on a sorcerer.
It does not take much time to see that God does put sickness on people in His sovereignty. His ways are higher than our ways, and if we don’t like an attribute of God we should not make up things contrary to how God has revealed Himself to us. I think the 2nd commandment says something about making a god in another likeness.
One analogy they use is that ‘good earthly father’ analogy that goes something like this – “what father would put sickness on their children to teach them a lesson”. The obvious answer to this is – none. But if we think about it a little further, we see that God’s main purpose isn’t to make us comfortable, but to conform us to the image of His Son. Just as parents send their children to chicken pox parties to make them immune so later in life they won’t get the disease and perhaps die, why wouldn’t God let us get sick or injured if the end result is that we are more sanctified and made closer to the likeness of His Son? What is our main goal here? To live a pain-free life or to be more like Christ?
STATEMENT TWO: It is God’s will that everyone be healed.
The main contention I have with this is that the Bible does not say this plainly anywhere. Yes, God is the God who heals us, and yes God does heal today. The problem with the idea that it is God’s will to heal everyone is that not everyone is healed. Many Christians die of sickness and disease, so does that mean God is not powerful enough to heal them? That is absolutely not the case. The only other option we have then is that we are not doing something right to get healed (lack of faith).
I think the statement above is a sad one to make at a church. They do not think through the true ramifications of their doctrine and the faith of many become shipwrecked. Those who are not healed think they do not have enough faith to be healed…do they have enough faith to be saved?
I think the City Church answer to this is comical. They quote Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
They are saying that when Christians die of sickness that since we know it is God’s will to heal everyone that when God does not heal a Christian who is praying for healing that God made a “secret things” decision.
Let me translate what they are saying “IT IS NOT GODS WILL TO HEAL EVERYONE”. They just don’t want to say it. They want a feel good God who is looking out for our health and wealth, so they make contradictory statements to keep the god who pleases them. If God decides in the “secret things” to not heal someone…it is not His will to heal them.
What is our hope then?
Our hope is in the resurrection of the dead. This world is filled with sin, and sickness and death is the result of a sin filled world. There is not condemnation on the sick, they are just dealing with the outcome of sin in our world (disease and death). If we are sick or healthy we need to continually examine our life in the light of scripture to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). If we are sick, we should pray for healing and go to the elders for prayer (James 5:14).
Jesus Christ will come again and abolish all sickness and death. We will have a new resurrected body not tainted by sin, disease and death. We should have our eyes on the prize, eternal life. I think Paul said it well:
Philippians 3:10-12
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Preaching that God wants to heal everyone is a good way to fill the pews and get people riled up, but it is not true to scripture.
I think Cameron did a good job explaining the healing verses used by the pastors of the City Church in the following article, it debunks their use of 1 Peter 2:24 and it explains why healing is not guaranteed with communion.
Read The Lord’s Supper at Cameron’s Blog.
To end, I would like to say I do believe God still heals today and there are many miracles done by His hand. That is a statement to refute the claim Pastor Wendell makes that I am an “unbelieving believer”.
Tags: Healing, Sickness, The City Church, Wendell Smith
Monday, March 12th, 2007
I was taught while attending a “word of faith” church the doctrine that proposes healing was paid for in the atonement of Jesus Christ. I would like to analyze this proposition in light of some scriptures in the Bible.
Just because I don’t believe healing was part of the atonement, does that mean I don’t believe in God healing today? No, I believe God does heal today as a sovereign act of his grace and mercy. I believe all healing is a gift from the Lord, even if it seems natural. I also believe in miraculous and sudden healing by our God!
The doctrine uses several scriptures to bolster their argument of healing in the atonement:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Peter 2:24
These scriptures are very convincing of the argument that we should expect healing as part of the atonement work of Christ, and I believed these arguments for quite some time. (more…)
Tags: Healing, The City Church, Wendell Smith
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
I received The City Church email newsletter for March, and they had a “Questions and Answers” section at the bottom of it. The City Church is in Kirkland, WA with Pastor Wendell Smith leading the way. The City Church is over 6,000 members strong.
The first question is below:
Does God afflict us with sickness to teach us things?
No. Sickness comes from the evil one, from the devil, and is an affliction sent from hell to hurt or destroy God’s people and hinder the work of God through them. Just as parents would never want sickness to come upon their children as a means of education, so our Heavenly Father does not want us to be sick. This is why the Lord our Healer (Jehovah Rapha) has provided healing for us through the work of Christ on the cross (see Isaiah 53). And this is why Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). This is also why we have gifts of healings and means of healing in the church (1 Cor 12:9; James 5:14,15) so that God’s people can be healthy and strong and ready for every good work.
The only thing we need to establish to show the above statement in error is an example in the Bible where God does use sickness to teach us things. Here are several.
- What about the fall of man? God used the fall of man (where sickness came from) to punish disobedience and to show us His glory through redemption.
- What did God say the punishment for Israel was for not carefully observing His words?
“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues ”great and prolonged plagues”and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.” Deuteronomy 28:58-60
It sounds like God will make them sick…
- In Numbers, God sent a plague that killed 14,700 of the Israelites for complaining against Moses and Aaron.
- In 2 Samuel 24 God sent a plague on Israel because David performed a census of the people that killed 70,000 people.
- God struck Uzziah with leprosy for burning incense in the temple in 2 Chronicles 26:19-21.
- In the New Testament we find Christians becoming sick because of the judgement of the Lord regarding communion. See 1 Corinthians 11:29-31. Paul says if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. The only judge I know of is God.
- In Acts 5 we read of Ananias and Sapphira (Christians) who are killed by the Lord for lying to the Spirit. I would rather catch a cold that be killed.
- In Acts 13:7-11 Paul struck blindness (through the power of the Holy Spirit) on a sorcerer.
From these examples I do see God causing sickness, plagues, and diseases as punishment and for lessons to those who hear about them. I personally see no biblical grounds to claim otherwise. I think those who profess otherwise create their own God in their head, ignoring the example of the Bible that God left us.
Tags: Healing, Sickness, The City Church, Wendell Smith
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