Archive for April, 2007
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
One of the things “word of faith” and “prosperity churches” like to do is tailor messages for the congregation from one verse in the Bible and spend 1 hour telling stories (mostly) about themselves. This message was no different. The following verse was used:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Pastor Judah says we all have a yoke made for us by Jesus, and we are to put it on. It is our calling and it is “The Perfect Fit”. Pastor Judah says his “perfect fit” is preaching. He is very eloquent and able to tell stories very well. Unfortunately he strayed from the message and talked about his wife, traveling to Australia for ministry, and he told the story about how he was told he was a “genius” communicator by a doctor at the age of 14 (or so).
Basically, he said at 14 he understood his yoke was to be a pastor because it is easy to him (he said he is good at talking). Unfortunately he forgets that people God used to communicate were not like him. Moses was not a good communicator, he had to have Aaron speak for him. Paul said he didn’t preach the word in eloquence. Judah is saying one of the things that qualifies him as a pastor is his eloquence and “gift of gab”. We shouldn’t forget that God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
Back to the scripture (Matthew 11:28-30). I don’t think it has anything to do with what Pastor Judah preached on for 1 hour. Here is the scripture in context:
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:25-30
The context of the scripture is knowing the Father, not finding your “calling” in life. I believed Jesus called those who were laboring under the yoke of the law, and trying to know God in a time of spiritual apostasy in the leadership of Israel. When we come unto Jesus we find rest in our Souls, because He said if we see Him we see the Father.
I find it interesting that he also equates the “yoke” of Jesus as being a worldly yoke. Pastor Judah told a story about a young man he mentors who likes do to computer programming. He is very good at it and successful at Microsoft. Pastor Judah said this was the guy’s yoke. Since he is good at programming, he is anointed to do it. I know a bunch of anointed heathens if that is the case.
The conclusion I came to from the scripture was Jesus Christ was trying to lead people to the Father, and was telling them to take off the yoke of the law, sin and religious leaders of that time and to follow him (through His teachings). Those who followed Jesus and His teachings were shown the Father. I think by misusing this scripture, Judah was doing the exact opposite. He was telling people the yoke was works (a calling). To his defense, he was saying the works would be easy – “a perfect fit”.
It is sad to me that preachers can get in front of thousands of people and pull scriptures out of context as a biblical “grab bag” to support whatever point it is they want to make. This seems to be the case to me.
Does anyone have a good biblical argument for Pastor Judah Smith’s use of this scripture for a personal calling? I would be very interested to hear it. If I am wrong (I have been known to be) please call me on it.
You can listen to the message here: http://www.thecity.org/message/the_perfect_fit1/
Tags: Pastor Judah Smith
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Here is an article I got from Kevin about Christians switching churches in America.
Here is a quote I found interesting:
“And my sense, after years of examining megachurches, is that 80% of the people who join, including those who go through new member classes, are gone within the first two years.”
In my attendance at the City Church, I found that to be the case. Many people that come into the church and get excited, but after a while you don’t see them any more.
I know many people who left because what is being taught on a typical Sunday (or any other day) is 1 bible verse read for 15 seconds, and 1 hour of pontificating on the verse with lots of personal fluff from the pastors. Most sermons just twisted the scripture to mean something other than what it was meant to be.
Here is the USA Today article.
Friday, April 20th, 2007
Many pastors teach the law of tithing, especially in the prosperity gospel. I do not believe there is a law of tithing for the Christian. I do believe we are to give generously to all, not holding back from friend or foe alike. I also believe we are to make sure the local church and pastor are taken care of.
Today though, many prosperity churches teach from Malachi 3 to prove tithing for Christians:
Malachai 3:8-11
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
This passage is mis-used since it is written to Israel, who was under the law. They were to tithe, circumcise, perform animal sacrifices, and honor the feasts. They were not doing this, so the blessings of the law were withheld and the curses of the law were upon them. These curses and blessings were replaced when Jesus died on the cross (from my reading of the New Testament). Prosperity preachers actually teach we are under a curse if we don’t tithe, even though the bible says we are no longer cursed under the law because of the work of the Cross.
Prosperity preachers like to keep the tithe (since they are the ones collecting the cash) but ignore all the other parts of the law since they were all disbanded in the new and better covenant at the cross (Hebrews 7:22).
Abraham as an example:
To support the view we should give our first 10% to the church (before taxes of course), they use the example of Abraham paying a tithe of the spoils of the a war to Melchizedek. The spoils were not even his, they belonged to the king of Sodom. See Genesis 14:17-19. To see he didn’t even give a dime of his own money, see Hebrews 7:3-5.
Pastor Wendell Smith of the City Church in Kirkland preaches we should tithe. He wrote a book called “prosperity with a purpose” where he defends tithing as a “law”. From the pulpit Pastor Wendell Smith has stated that if we do not tithe our finances will be under a curse (the curse of the law in Malachi). Lets see what Paul says of this:
Galatians 3:10-14
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
If they preach the law of tithing Paul says they are under the curse of the law…not a good place to be.
You can see my reply to Pastor Wendell Smith’s view on tithing on this PDF.
http://www.doctrinetalk.com/letter_to_pastor_wendell.pdf
That is the short version of my view on tithing. There is much more to search and know, but this is a snapshot of what the Bible teaches for the New Testament believer.
Tags: The City Church, Tithe, Wendell Smith
Friday, April 13th, 2007
The Secret is a new movie telling people “The Secret” of health, wealth and general success is the law of attraction. I haven’t seen the show, but from what I hear they teach a “name it and claim it” version of the gospel very similar to what Word of Faith preachers espouse. Similar to what some Christian Word Faith and prosperity teachers push from the pulpit today, “The Secret” tells its viewers to “believe, ask and receive”.
These teachings are nothing new. There is nothing new under the sun, but this is new to Christianity. I have heard preachers say the secret is stolen from the Bible, and Jesus taught this years ago. This is simply not the case. Jesus taught to lay down your desires and follow God. He also taught to have faith in God, where the Word of Faith heresy teaches to “have faith in your faith”.
From what I hear “The Secret” has many similarities to “Word of Faith”. This is why the preachers need to say “The Secret” stole from the Bible. Unfortunately for them, it is well established that “Word of Faith” stole from the mind sciences and it not aligned with Jesus Christ’s teachings.
Let me know your thoughts on this subject, especially if you have seen the video.
Wikipedia article on the secret.
Wikipedia article on Word Faith
As you will see, both doctrines teach to get what you want in the here an now. The secret teaches we are gods (some word faith teachers say this too), while the other uses God to get what we want.
Tags: The City Church, The Secret, Word of Faith
Monday, April 9th, 2007
I received a copy of a teaching from a large church warning the men in the church of people like myself (people who disagree with their doctrines and are vocal about it). There was a lot of good information about how the large church views people who disagree with them, and how they view their congregation.
First, they categorized people who went to their church see what they teach and find fault as wolves. I guess answering critics from the Bible is too difficult, so we will blanket categorize them as wolves. Forget the fact that they may have attended the church for many years and believed what was taught until they read the Bible for themselves. I know many people who have left the mega-church after studying the Bible for themselves. I guess they are all wolves.
The pastor was telling the men how he handles emails from people who disagree with his doctrines. First he replies once (like this reply). Then he said if the person replies to him with more information, he ignores them. If the person then sends in more emails, they get their email address black listed.
That explains why I didn’t get a reply to this email.
The hand out gave examples of what to do when someone disagrees with the teachings of the church. The specific example was when someone disagreed with the prosperity gospel. The pastor said to question their motives and heart. They were either greedy or hurt in the past.
After assuming the person has wrong motives, you are then to accuse the questioner of assuming the pastor has wrong motives. Even better, after accusing them of having bad motives, you are to tell them you know the pastor’s motives and they are good! Never mind the bible teaches us the following:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.Jeremiah 17:8-10
It says “who can know it?” – I guess we can rest assured anyone who goes to a mega-church knows the hearts of men.
The funniest thing the men of the mega-church were told, was to suggest professional help if someone disagrees with the head pastor of the church. I guess you must be crazy to disagree.
The most conspicuous part of the teaching was the absence of any guidance to think for yourself. You are to put all your trust in the pastor of the church, and trust his motives are pure. Forget having a defense for what you believe, but rest on the teachings of the mega church pastor who has a lot to lose if you leave (tithes).
Here is the best scripture they used:
“The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ Proverbs 30:15-16
That verse sounded like an offering from the pulpit of some churches…just a thought.
So the bottom line is:
- Do not question pastor
- If someone does, their heart and motives are wrong
- The pastor has pure motives
- Assume anyone who disagrees with the doctrines of the church need psychological help
- If they disagree, tell them they would be happier somewhere else
- The church tells us to study the Bible, but if they come to different conclusions about prosperity, tithing, women as elders, or anything else…it is best if they just don’t rock the boat. Tell them to leave.
Tags: Wendell Smith, Wolves
Thursday, April 5th, 2007
As you can see from my posts, I haven’t had a lot of time to write articles for the blog, but I did listen to a message on http://freecdtracts.com again. This one describes the “sugar coated” messages that are preached at a lot of churches these days. Let me know if you think this applies to the City Church messages…or not.
Listen at the link below:
Gimme some sugar – Prosperity and Persecution.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
My pastor just sent me a link to this video that discusses the quotes from Joel Olsteen’s book “Your Best Life Now”. It is hosted by http://www.christianworldviewnetworks.com/ and the video is by Branon Howse. I think the content is very revealing. It is very sad how people flock to feel good messages that bear little resemblance to the messages that were preached by Jesus and his Disciples. We are not longer invited to lay down our lives, pick up the cross and follow Jesus. We are instead told to “find ourselves” and live our best lives now.
I think this video shows how this gospel is a mixture of Jesus with the New Age line of thinking.
See for yourself.
I appreciate how Howse quotes from Joel’s book with such things as “if you can conceive it, you can receive it”. I don’t find that quote in the Christian Bible.
Tags: Joel Osteen
Filed under 