Posts Tagged ‘Prosperity Gospel’
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, September 9th, 2008
Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones has always been a statement that bothers me. It is thrown out to say we should not worry about some false teaching mixed in with the bible, but just be mature enough to “Eat the Meat, Spit out the Bones”. I have a friend who asks, would you eat a bowl of ice cream if you knew there was a little dung mixed in, even if you knew you wouldn’t taste it? Of course not, and false teaching is like dung. Below is an article that I tend to agree with:
EAT THE MEAT, SPIT OUT THE BONES
There are a lot of clever-sounding sayings that make the rounds among Christians, and one of these is “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.” Many have written to exhort me to do this, and they mean that I shouldn’t worry so much about exposing error. They wonder why I can’t just “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”
There is a bit of truth to this saying, in that God’s people are always to exercise biblical discernment when hearing sermons or reading Christian books. We are to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
But the Bible also twice warns that “a little leaven leaventh the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:9) and exhorts us to mark and avoid those who teach doctrine contrary to that which we have learned in Scripture (Rom. 16:17). There is great danger in eating the wrong spiritual meat!
What if the meat is rotten or poisoned or hasn’t been cooked or properly stored? The U.S. government regulates how restaurants must cook meat, because undercooked meat is dangerous. When I worked in a restaurant in my youth, I was taught to handle the meat very carefully and to store it properly, because it spoils easily. If you eat meat that is spoiled or poisoned or undercooked, even if you spit out the bones, you will be in trouble. The writings of men like Brian McLaren and Richard Foster and Chuck Colson and Rick Warren contain plenty of rotten meat. Those who advise God’s people to “eat the meat, and spit out the bones,” must explain to us how they know that this “meat” is safe.
Also, what if the bones have splinters or what if you get a bone stuck in your throat? When I was growing up in Florida, I went fishing often with my dad and granddad, and they were careful about which fish they kept and which they threw away, because some had too many bones to eat safely. And Mom was very careful to keep an eye on us when we were eating fish because of the ever-present danger of getting a bone stuck in our throats. This happened from time to time anyway, and it was a very unpleasant thing and, in fact, can be fatal. Likewise, very few Christians are able to wade through sermons or books by compromising preachers on their own and expertly spit out all of the “bones” of error.
And what if you don’t know the difference between meat and bones? A toddler doesn’t know the difference, and if it tries to eat meat and spit out bones, it will quickly be in trouble. Likewise, the average Christian today is far too biblically ignorant and carnal to distinguish properly between truth and cleverly presented error.
My friends, beware of clever sayings that aren’t supported by Scripture.
We live in a shallow, apostate, carnal age, and it behooves us to study the Bible diligently and to think biblically!!!!
Written by David Cloud
|Hat Tip: sermonindex.net|
Tags: false teacher, Prosperity Gospel, The City Church, Word of Faith
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Clifton forwarded me an article titled “The Bankruptcy of the Prosperity Gospel:An Exercise in Biblical and Theological Ethics” by David Jones M.Div.; Ph.D. The article outlines 6 major systematic flaws of the prosperity gospel as preached at The City Church and other rapidly growing prosperity churches.
The six major areas he covers are:
- The Theology of the Prosperity Gospel
- Prosperity Theology and the Abrahamic Covenant
- Prosperity Theology and the Atonement
- Prosperity Theology and Giving
- Prosperity Theology and Faith
- The Biblical Interpretation of the Prosperity Gospel
As you can see, these are not minor areas of misuse or error…these are the very foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being messed with, let there be no mistake about it. Below is the section regarding the Abrahamic covenant (see my article on the subject):
Prosperity Theology and the Abrahamic Covenant
The theological basis of the prosperity gospel is the Abrahamic covenant. While this is good in that prosperity theologians recognize that much of Scripture is the record of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, it is bad in that they do not maintain an orthodox view of this covenant. Prosperity theologians hold an incorrect view of the inception of the Abrahamic covenant; what is more germane to the present study, however, they hold to an erroneous view concerning the application of the covenant.
Researcher Edward Pousson best stated the prosperity view on the application of the Abrahamic covenant when he wrote, “Christians are Abraham’s spiritual children and heirs to the blessings of faith…. This Abrahamic inheritance is unpacked primarily in terms of material entitlements.” In other words, according to the prosperity gospel, the primary purpose of the Abrahamic covenant was for God to bless Abraham materially. Since believers are now “Abraham’s spiritual children,” they consequently have inherited these financial blessings of the covenant.
Prosperity teacher Kenneth Copeland wrote, “Since God’s Covenant has been established and prosperity is a provision of this covenant, you need to realize that prosperity belongs to you now!” Referring to the prosperity theology of Kenneth Hagin, author Harvey Cox wrote, “Through the crucifixion of Christ, Christians have inherited all the promises made to Abraham, and these include both spiritual and material well-being.†To support this claim, prosperity teachers such as Copeland and Hagin appeal to Gal. 3:14, which says “that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. . . .” While it is not an understatement to say that the problems with this argument are legion, two glaring problems need to be addressed. First, in their appeal to Gal. 3:14, prosperity teachers ignore the second half of the verse, which reads, “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” In this verse Paul clearly was reminding the Galatians of the spiritual blessing of salvation, not the material blessing of wealth.
Second, prosperity teachers claim that the conduit through which believers receive Abraham’s blessings is faith. This completely ignores the orthodox understanding that the Abrahamic covenant was an unconditional covenant. That is, the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant were not contingent upon one man’s obedience. Therefore, even if the Abrahamic covenant did apply to Christians, all believers would already be experiencing the material blessings regardless of prosperity theology.
Read the whole article here… It is well worth the read.
UPDATE 6/3/2008: The link was broken, but now it is fixed.
Hat tip: Clifton
Tags: Prosperity Gospel
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
Worshiping At The Altar Of Success
by David Ravenhill
Though you may find it hard to believe, there is an addiction more subtle and more powerful than either drugs or pornography. It’s older than prostitution, more prevalent than alcohol, more addictive than cocaine. It doesn’t discriminate between male and female, black or white, young or old, rich or poor. Its strength is greater than all other addictions combined. It’s as rampant in the Church as it is in the world. It leaves the body unscathed but destroys the soul. The vast majority of people addicted have little if any understanding of its power or perils.
The history of the worship of success dates back to Lucifer, the rebellious archangel who wanted to relegate God to a subordinate role and take the top gun position for himself. This desire for success soon spread throughout the earth like a cancer, reaching its pinnacle with mankind seeking to build a tower and to make for themselves a name. What a contrast in attitudes we find between Genesis 11 and 12. Chapter 11 exposes man striving for recognition, while chapter 12 we find God promising humble Abraham that He would make his name great.
A clear picture of this obsession with success can be found in the story of King Ahaz. His numerous sins had brought judgment upon himself and the nation of Judah. This punishment came through the king of Aram who carried off a great number of his people as captives. Embarrassed and distressed over his glaring defeat, the Jewish king made the monumental mistake of attributing the Aramean victory to their gods. Whatever small faith he may have had in Jehovah was completely discarded in favor of idol worship. Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, he reasoned, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me. (II Chronicles 28:23) It seems that Ahaz was prepared to pay any price for success.
Lamentably, it seems that much of the American Church holds this same misguided logic. Pastors around the nation are flocking to follow the mega church pattern, believing that what worked somewhere else will work for them as well. We now have the mentality that success is purely numerical. Witness what the Barna Research Group stated as the result of a recent study:
The most discouraging study we ever conducted was one in which we attempted to identify churches in the U.S. that consistently and intelligently evaluate life transformation among the people to whom they minister. We found that very few churches – emphasis on very – measure anything beyond attendance, donations, square footage, number of programs and size of staff. None of that necessarily reflects life transformation. (Italics mine)
How tragic! Success is now measured by attendance, donations, square footage, etc. It’s time we stopped worshipping the gods of success and turned our gaze afresh upon the Lord, for beholding we will be changed. I think that is the definition of SUCCESS in the Kingdom of God.
Found a sermonindex.net
Tags: Prosperity Gospel, Ravenhill
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
A friend I met while at the City Church has a blog with a couple good posts.
The first is a series of youtube sermons from Donnie Swaggart (Jimmie Swaggart’s son) decrying the lies of the prosperity gospel. They are passionate pleas to repent from selling Jesus as a new gospel.
The second is an excellent article on faith…
Check them out here and here.
Both are very informative so check them out!
Thanks Cameron!
Tags: Prosperity Gospel
Friday, November 9th, 2007
I had the time to listen to a few prosperity “with a purpose” conference sermons. What caught my attention is how much time Wendell spent talking about the critics. I think this blog may be what he was talking about, unless I have an inflated view of my blog and he doesn’t know it exists…but I just don’t hear any other critics out there speaking up against the City Church’s false teachings about prosperity.
Wendell’s Straw Man
Pastor Wendell said those who oppose their teaching of prosperity “with a purpose” are really questioning their motives.
That is simply just not true (well, ignore the quotes above…I couldn’t resist). On my blog, I haven’t questioned their motives. I believe they are sincerely deceived, and they think they are doing God’s work. My contentions have to do with doctrine and scripture.
The Mormons are sincerely deceived and think they will become little gods when they die (well if you are a man that is). Many Jewish people are sincerely deceived and think by rejecting Jesus they are honoring God. Doing things sincerely does not make your doctrine correct.
Just like with Mormons, the prosperity gospel comes down to scripture, not motives. The bedrock of the prosperity gospel is Galatians 3:29. It is quoted often times by Pastor Wendell as a reason we should expect the promises of Abraham.
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
According to Pastor Wendell, this means you can put your name in the place of Abraham and receive all the promises given to him by God.
Unfortunately for Pastor Wendell’s theology, Paul thought of that interpretation and headed it off earlier in the same chapter.
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:14
As partakers of the promise we get the Holy Spirit from God’s covenant with Abraham (not to mention a much better covenant with Christ). Notice how Paul said we might receive the PROMISE (singular). Not all the promises to Abraham.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16
Paul makes it abundantly clear that the PROMISES (plural) here are not to the seeds (us) but for one Christ. Paul is telling us that Christ received all the promises that were promised to Abraham, and we should not expect them because they were promised to one (JESUS CHRIST) and not many (US). We were not promised the stars in the sky, we are the stars in the sky promised to Jesus Christ.
When Pastor Wendell says to insert our name in the place of Abraham, we should be inserting the name above all names. We can’t take what belongs to Jesus.
Pretty simple little bible study.
Now, Pastor Wendell Smith and the City Church can do whatever they want with their money. I really don’t care (unless they want to give some to me).
Another straw man argument he used:
1. Critics think Christians should be poor. I don’t think that…I just think we should be content, not clamoring to “positioning ourselves for prosperity”.
2. We lack faith in a big God – I don’t lack faith, I think I can show more faith by doing what Jesus said and not seek after prosperity. Those are the things the heathen do according to Jesus.
So, if you wish to support your doctrine, it is better to do so with scripture and not straw man arguments. Straw man arguments by definition are deceptive. They are presented to deceive those who you wish to convince. If you can’t answer the questions posed by critics honestly, it is better to not be deceptive and ignore the critics altogether.
Tags: Abrahamic Covenant, Prosperity Gospel, Straw Man, Wendell Smith
Monday, October 8th, 2007
Oral Roberts University hit with another scandal?
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts’ university, or else he would be ”called home.”
Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.
I like this quote:
”We have asked and asked and asked to see the finances of our school and what they’re doing with our money, and we’ve been told no,” said, Cross who is majoring in government. ”Now we know why. As a student, I’m not going to stand for it any longer.”
If they are not spending the money poorly, what would they need to hide? I dare anyone who goes to the City Church to ask for details of where the money goes. A good question to ask is how much money the pastors make. Remember, the wives are all pastors too…so see what they make.
Here are a list of the charges filed against ORU:
– A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.
– Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU’s ”first lady” on the university’s Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to ”underage males who had been provided phones at university expense.”
– The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an ”evangelistic function of the president.”
– Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico’s clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, ”As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off.” The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.
– Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.
– University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts’ home to do the daughters’ homework.
– The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts’ children.
– The Roberts’ home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years.
I think this scripture describes what we see in these people:
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 2 Peter 2:2-3
For those who think lots of people going to your church means good fruit…Peter told us many would follow destructive ways (not a few). So be careful how you define fruit. The world defines Christ by these high profile speakers, who use covetousness to extract money (exploit people) and get rich. They take from the poor to live lavish lifestyles. It is a sad state of Christianity we currently live in, where the health and wealth doctrines are largely going unchallenged as they slander the name of Christ time and time again.
My prayer is that they would repent and follow Christ for His riches, and not seeking the things below.
Read the whole article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Oral-Roberts-Scandal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
<—- UPDATE 10/17/2007 —>
Richard Roberts said he will step aside temporarily as president of Oral Roberts University as the school fights a wrongful termination lawsuit by three former professors who accuse Roberts and his wife of misconduct.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/17/oru.leave/index.html
Tags: Oral Roberts, ORU, Prosperity Gospel
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Cliff wrote this after reading the book by Wendell Smith called “Prosperity With A Purpose”. It is an excellent commentary on the subtleties used by Wendell Smith to push the false prosperity gospel. I pray for more men in the Church like Cliff who will see the dangers of the prosperity gospel and stand up against its leaven-like spread throughout the body of Christ.
Is Prosperity The Privilege of Every Believer?
I just read Wendell Smith’s book, Prosperity With A Purpose, and I found it to be a mixed bag of truth and error. The chapter entitled “The Dangers of Wealth” was really quite good, and biblically sound. But there seemed to be a logical disconnect between that chapter and the overall message of the book, which is best illustrated by a statement on page 7 of the Introduction: “Prosperity is part of the abundant life provided for every believer.”
Prosperity is defined on p 6 as “having more than enough”, in other words, the abundant life of every believer includes an abundant provision of material wealth. Now, it seems the whole teaching of the book rests on this premise, that prosperity is the privilege of every believer. For myself, I cannot agree with it, because it cannot be established from the Scriptures. Indeed, the Bible gives many examples of believers who were highly regarded by the Lord, who experienced poverty and hardship in this life, as well as examples of those who were righteous and prosperous.
(more…)
Tags: Judah Smith, Prosperity Gospel, Prosperity With a Purpose, The City Church, Wendell Smith
Friday, September 21st, 2007
I have heard several people recently saying “God delights in the prosperity of His people”, so I decided to outline how Jesus defined prosperity. It is way to easy to define prosperity as our culture likes to define it, and we ignore the clear teachings of Jesus.
Here is how Jesus prospers us:
Blessed are you poor,For yours is the kingdom of God. – Luke 6:20
Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. – Luke 18:22
I think these two scriptures teach us that true riches are not as the modern day prosperity gospel defines “blessing”, but on the contrary Jesus says blessed are the poor. The Kingdom of God is the only true prosperity we need.
In Revelation, Jesus addressed a poor and a rich church, and took the opportunity to define what is poor and what is rich. He calls the rich church poor, and the poor church rich. Why did he do that? I think it is because He has a spiritual view of prosperity, not a physical one.
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) – Revelation 2:8
Contrast that with what Jesus told the “prosperous” church.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; – Revelation 3:17-18
Notice how Jesus didn’t tell the poor church they need to seek the fullness and abundance of God. The reason is because they already had it without mammon. The modern day prosperity gospel is not of God…not preached by Jesus Christ.
Once again, Jesus turns our “wisdom” on its head. He said those who we consider rich (even though they are in church) are poor, and those who we consider poor are rich.
If you follow the prosperity gospel, you may need to take heed from the Apostles who warned of such error:
They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 2 Peter 2:14-15
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Jude 1:11
They warn of the error of Balaam, who was a prophet of the living God, but was enticed away by profit. If you look at the story of Balaam, he never denied God and only said what God told him to say (he never cursed Israel), but he obviously wasn’t doing what was right in the eyes of God.
I believe Peter and Jude are talking about church leaders who really desire position, money, power, and notoriety. In their desire to gain followers they are willing to compromise the message of Christ to “tickle ears”. One of the means of “tickling ears” used today is by telling people God wants to help them to prosper financially. It is a very enticing message that I fell into for a few years.
Tags: False Gospel, Jesus Christ, Prosperity Gospel
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
I was told by a friend that Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle preached about a Rabbi who is teaching at a local church. Because of the passion Pastor Mark showed, the sermon caused my friend to decide to leave the City Church. Thank you Pastor Mark.
I listened to Mark Driscoll’s sermon, and it was excellent. I don’t know for sure, but Mark Driscoll could be speaking about the City Church inviting Rabbi Daniel Lapin to preach about old testament prosperity. In the sermon, he tells about hearing an advertisement on Christian radio to come to the church and listen to the Rabbi teach. He preaches from Nehemiah 13 where the Jews allowed pagans to live and preach in the temple, and Nehemiah came back to kick them out. He then tells the congregation of a local church that is doing that today by allowing a Rabbi (who does not follow Christ) to teach the congregation. The City Church is doing exactly that.
I recommend listening to the whole sermon here: http://media.marshillchurch.org/
Select: Anger and Action (Nehemiah 13:1-14)
You can see a small clip of it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_MLUuNKjZU
In regards to a church having a non-Christian Rabbi teach your church about money, in my opinion it shows which is more important to the church between Jesus Christ and mammon.
Isaiah 30:9-11
That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the LORD;
Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
For more info on having Rabbi Daniel Lapin teach at the City Church “Prosperity with a Purpose Conference 2007″, see this blog entry.
Tags: Mark Driscoll, Prosperity Gospel, Rabbi
Filed under 