Maestroh: Why I Left The Word-Faith Movement PART2

SEE PART 1 HERE

As the spring turned into the summer of 1990, I continued to ponder what precisely was accurate about charismatic teaching. I had, however, noticed a trend: charismatics were every bit as PC as everybody else, only they thought they weren’t. Three issues still occupied my mind: Word-Faith views, the lordship controversy, and eternal security. I was torn on the first, settled strongly on the second, and somewhat settled on the third, having traded in my more Pelagian colors for semi-Calvinistic threads.

I mentioned earlier that I read MacArthur’s book regarding the lordship controversy. In the spring of 1990, his radio show began airing on our local AM station. The broader-reaching FM station added him in the fall, and now it was possible to hear John preach without that interference noise I get when listening to the Cincinnati Reds on WCKY when I’m in Omaha. Because of Mac’s book, I got on his mailing list, which became important when I began receiving his ministry’s magazine, “Masterpiece.” It was quite the glossy little thing, complete with articles, items for sale, and book reviews. In the first one I got, the book reviewed a new tome called “The Agony of Deceit.” This was a polemic written by about a dozen authors criticizing the Faith movement (for the most part). The review was mostly positive, with two negatives: 1) it noted that everyone criticized in the book was a charismatic; and 2) it felt the book was too overly negative and implied that no televangelist had ever succeeded without appealing to common desires.

Advertisement

Maestroh: Why I Left The Word-Faith Movement PART1

I understood the gospel call on November 30, 1987. I was raised a Southern Baptist but never before had the truth of God penetrated my heart. It is unfortunate, however, that the SBC’s emphasis on getting everybody saved – to the exclusion of everything else – led to a stunted upbringing in theological education. Nor was anything about personal relationship really discussed. The emphasis was on believe. In all seriousness, it sounded like Zane Hodges was the source of all things SBC back in the 1980s. That is not to libel him but to simply give you a point of reference.

Upon salvation I turned my back upon everything I’d ever been told. If I couldn’t find it in the Bible, it wasn’t true. Immediately, I rejected eternal security – quite viciously, actually. I knew only two things from the ten years I’d spent in the Baptist church. I needed to believe to be saved, and I could never lose it no matter what I did afterward. A decade in church and that’s ALL I ever learned doctrinally. Well, I did learn that Jesus said, “Thou shalt not drink” and gave a whole list of behavioral requirements to get into Heaven. I also learned that you couldn’t work your way to heaven and yet they’d shame you into doing work at church as if you were the unfaithful servant who buried his gift.

HERESY UNMASKED: PROSPERITY SCRIPTURES IN LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE

PROSPERITY SCRIPTURES IN LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE: From HERESY UNMASKED: Analysis of the Word of Faith Movement Doctrines

Seeing that there are many Scriptures employed by the WoF advocated to promote the Prosperity Gospel, I will take on few of them. We will take the time to interpret each passage in its proper context – after having gone through this, you the reader must draw your own conclusion of the other texts employed by these preachers. These Scriptures are not in a certain sequential order.

Genesis 13:2 “And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.”

Often this passage is used to say that Abraham who is the father of faith was rich so are we supposed to be. However, careful reading doesn’t promise that because of Abraham all believers also ought to be materially rich. God had blessed him greatly with material wealth because of the promise he made to him (Genesis 12:2-3), this was perhaps also an indication of the spiritual blessings God had reserved in Christ (Hebrew 11:8-19). To use this passage as an example for believers’ wealth is to deliberately read meanings into God’s word and give the Christian false hopes of what God didn’t promise them. The fact that Abraham and many of the patriarchs were rich is not a universal blanket of guarantee that every Christian ought to be materially wealthy. Galatians 4, makes it clear of what kind of blessing God was referring to when referring to Abraham as the father of faith of all who believe in Christ.

Charles Stanley says the Prosperity Gospel is a "deception" and "totally unbiblical"

See 2:35-3:45
In this sermon titled “Dealing With False Teachers”, Dr. Stanley warns us about the dangers of false teachers, how they’re becoming more and more prevalent every day and how the Bible warns that this very thing would happen in the last days.

In Part 3, Dr. Stanley discusses some of the most common false teachings that are being taught today. He also tells how to best equip ourselves to recognize such false teachings.

For more information on this sermon, please visit:

http://www.intouch.org

Burned by the prosperity gospel and the teaching of Pastor Mason Betha

A young lady is burned by the prosperity gospel and the teaching of Pastor Mason Betha which is an associate of Creflo Dollar.

Phynerks Ex-Word of Faith Testimony

I was Wof in Tulsa for almost 13 years. I must admit during that time I probably grew in many areas of my spiritual life more than I had up to that point, but I also must admit that I was also becoming a bigger and bigger ‘flake’ in many areas, too. Each time I’ve given a portion of this testimony, the Wof will say that I was not really Wof during this period of my life. I can only say that with all the honesty I can muster that I was as sincere in my Wof beliefs as I knew to be. I studied under some of the “greats”; Billy Joe Daugherty, Ken Cope, Jerry Seville, Fred Price, Buddy Harrison, Ken Hagin, Capps, and a cast of many more. In fact, we were members of Beverly Hills Baptist in Dallas during the ‘hay days’ of Howard Conaster. I knew the Wof scriptures and I lived them. I realized, however that even though we were ‘believing’, confessing, giving, and serving in the Wof way, our lives were no more blessed or miraculous than some of our Baptist friends. Our group was getting sick, losing jobs, divorcing, and having trials just like the Baptists we knew. Then joy of joys…..my dear wife got pregnant with our second child after three miscarriages! We confessed and praised over the blessing ( we never said a word about the miscarriages – that would have been a bad confession and an admission that we were not living the victorious life we said we were ). Our baby was born big and healthy just like we and the Wof church we attended had confessed. Eighteen hours later, he was gone. There we were alone in the hospital wondering why. After my wife was able to come home we began the process of laying our boy to rest and went to our church and talked with the assoc pastor. During our talk we asked him the question on our hearts….why ? That’s when he went through a number of scriptures to show that we must have allowed satan in with either unbelief, sin, or bad confessions. Since I knew my heart better than him, I knew that I had done the best I could have and it “didn’t work” ! From that day we became more sensitive to the Wof insensitivity towards the pain and suffering around them.

I “stumbled” into a fine Baptist church right there in our neighborhood that we began to worship in. I was amazed at the topics that were emphasized that were never mentioned in the Wof circles we traveled in. Topics such as discipleship, and a daily quiet time. We still have several friends from that time that are Wof. One now suffers from a painful nerve condition that he says he’s healed of. Most of the others have divorced or they are Wof/Christians by association only. The biggest regret from my exposure to Wof was the smug I’m-more-spiritual-than-thou attitude I carried for many years after leaving Wof. I’m certain I hurt many dear people’s feelings during the time after leaving the Wof sect.

Victor's Ex-Word of Faith Testimony

This testimony is from Victor who is originally from India and now lives in the United States.  Victor also runs http://blabitandgrabit.wordpress.com & http://blabitandgrabit.blogspot.com

I am from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The name of my home town is Ramnad. Only for less than 2 years I was under the influence of WoF . When it was first introduced in India many Christians including me were attracted to it. I thought WoF was an “advanced level” of revelation beyond what the traditional pentecostal/charismatic churches had. I concluded that WoF is the “full” gospel and other Christian denominations were lacking something. Then God started opening my eyes. God taught me that He is a Sovereign God and He always works in my life in mysterious ways and always does things more than what I can imagine or think.In the  eighties a Doctor called Justin from India got attracted to the WoF teachings. First he started to air his program from a Radio station which broadcasts Christian programs in some Indian languages from the Seychelles island. Initially he preached against evolution, apologetics and Bible and Archeology.  He was stealth in his approach in introducing the WoF message in India. Therefore many Christians including myself trusted him. He later took my home state by storm (converting the Christians there to WoF) using his seductive powers and charismatic personality.   He said that he would never get sick and he would leave his body at his own will.  By postive confessions about divine healing and health he thought he could live in this earth as long as he can.    He even ridiculed those who were still sick. He was unapproachable in spite of proclaiming a postive message.  Even one of his fellow minister used to tell people who wanted to meet him after the meetings that they need to go and see him with boldness.  He used ot say “You have to believe in your heart and not in your brain.  He was spearheading the WoF movement in my home state.   Many innocent Christians were deceived by his false teachings.  Dr. Justin’s influence was growing rapidly. He moved to state capital and was able to gather 2000 people in less than a year. Shortly after that he got a brain disease and suddenly passed away. He died with 800,000 Indian Rupees in debt and his Church split into 8. This incident puzzled many WoF followers in India. They started wondering why a man who boasted about living in divine health, death at his will and financial prosperity himself died of a disease and with a huge amount of debt (in Indian currency). But in spite of God expressing His disapproval by removing that man from the earth, his followers and relatives never repented. They are still advancing his legacy which was heresy!  A number of individuals were spiritually destroyed by this ferocious wolf.  He also asked Christians not to pray for a need more than once because “a prayer of faith must be prayed only once” and if you pray for the 2nd time it would invalidate the first prayer.

Word of Faith: Chad Marinelli; God in a Box, A Review Part 4

God in a Box, WoF Quotes, Part 4 by Yodas Prodigy

Here is PART ONE, PART, TWO, PART THREE

God is not sovereign in Word Faith Theology.

Below are some issues that Dr Marinelli should have grappled with including the following concepts espoused by the Word Faith Fathers:

E.W. Kenyon

“It seems that God is limited by our prayer life, that He can do nothing for humanity unless someone asks Him to do it. Why this is, I do not know.” (“The Two Kinds of Faith,” p. 42).

Kenneth Hagin

a. “Originally, God made the earth and the fullness thereof, giving Adam dominion over all the works of His hands. In other words, Adam was the god of this world. (Kenneth Hagin, “The Believer’s Authority, 1987, p. 19)

b. Therefore, Adam had dominion upon this earth and in this world. He was originally, in a sense, god of this world. But Satan came and lied to Adam. Adam committed high treason and sold out to Satan. Then Satan became the god of this world. (Hagin, “The Art of Intercession,” 1980, p.3; reissued as “The Art of Prayer” both 1992 and 2000 editions contain the same teaching.

Word of Faith: Chad Marinelli; God in a Box, A Review Part 3

God in a Box, A Review Part 3 by Yodas Prodigy

HERE ARE PART ONE AND PART TWO

Dr. Marinelli’s Thesis: http://www.light-after-darkness.org/index.php?page=wof

Satan needed God’s permission to attack Job. Despite the crowing of Word Faith supporters, Satan admitted that Job had a hedge of protection around him (Job 1:9). It is obvious that God removed that hedge of protection in order for Satan to attack.

Remember also, God told Satan everything of Job’s is yours. Do not touch him. So the first attack was against everything that Job had except his wife. Why, because Satan did not have permission to do anything else. The second time, Satan had permission to attack Job’s flesh. But he could not kill him. Each time, God was asked by Satan for permission.

Job is far more than Dr. Marinelli can understand using his Word Faith perspective. He was a man who had control of his thoughts, Job 31:1. His sacrifices for his children are considered acts of fear. Yet, Abraham and Noah made the same types of sacrifices. See Genesis 8:20; 15:9-10. Also note that each time Job was attacked, he did not sin (Job 1:22 and 2:10) Even when God had chastised Job for his self-righteousness, God did not require a sacrifice for Job, only his friends (Job 42:7). I would like to also point out, each time Dr. Marinelli quoted Job when one of his friends were speaking, they were considered to be errant by God.

HERESY UNMASKED: Analysis of the Word of Faith Movement Doctrines

As the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is nearing and the age is also closing in on the schemes of satan – he is working fast around the human clock to spread his deceptions and heresies.

While it is evidently quite difficult for Satan to lure believers into heinous sinful activities – he’s found other means of getting to them right from their pulpits. He is using the means of heresies and even heretic preachers to divert Christians from their primary mission – God.

The Word of Faith Movement has been at the very front of promoting doctrines or teachings that are nowhere taught in Scripture. These men and women distort many passages of the Bible to propagate their own ideas rather than the clearly revealed Word of God.

Click on the picture to download your free 60-page PDF Ebook!