Prosperity

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Prosperity “Legalism”?

November 2, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 10 comments

LegalismThis thought has been running through my mind a few hours now, so I thought I’d share and see what you think.

While I know that at its fundamentals, legalism is defined as an adherence to laws and works versus grace for salvation, there’s a loose definition that defines it thus: “if I do this for God, God will do that for me”.

In which case, I’ve been thinking, in light of accusations by those who subscribe to new-fangled Christianity that includes the accursed prosperity message of being a legalistic fundamental — aren’t these folks themselves practising a perverted form of legalism?

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Oh, Look! Kong Hee Has a Fan!

October 15, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 8 comments

I just stumbled upon this site a few days ago and was smiling to myself — thank you, whoever you are who put up the blog and page on YouTube with a whole load of sermon excerpts; it will now be easier to use the resources to warn of the dangers of Kong Hee’s Word of Faith theology and prosperity message!

Technology is wonderful, heh!

Here’s just a couple of samples of Kong Hee’s theology — the first is his vision of a stadium in the marketplace, and the second a very succinct summation of the prosperity message taught at City Harvest Church.

Time Magazine: Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage?

October 5, 2008 in Christian Living by Isaiah | 9 comments

Time Magazine asks the question if the Prosperity “gospel” has turned most of its adherents into victims of the current financial crisis:

Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That’s what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California at Riverside, he realized that Prosperity’s central promise — that God will “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime-lending boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe “God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house.” The results, he says, “were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers.” (more…)

Albert Mohler also weighed in on the issue with Are We Promised Prosperity?, with these sobering words:

Perhaps we all need a refresher course in Christian economics and Christian theology. Niall Ferguson argues from the record of history in looking to the current crisis. Perhaps we should remember our own history lesson — that far more believers in Christ have been and are now among the poor, rather than among the wealthy. We should hear Jesus warn against materialism and Paul remind us that we are to be content when we have plenty and when we have little. We should know that the Christian virtue of thrift is incompatible with the lies of those who push consumer credit.

Oh, and by the way, I learned that the senior pastor of a mega-church in Singapore preached this morning about having to tithe (and give to the building fund) so that your debts will be canceled because God is a “debt-canceling God” and we can chase off the “spirit of debt”.

God sure can cancel debt — our sin the heaviest debt when you repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ, but to say that God will cancel your debt if only you will tithe and give to the building fund… that’s preposterous! Stop feeding these feel-good, engage-the-marketplace, build-a-house-for-God pastors who offer choice passages from the Bible to substantiate their false claims.

The key to overcoming debt which is a result of materialism and greed is not giving more to a church building fund or tithing. Pray God that you will abide in Christ, and He will give you a new heart to focus on His kingdom and not the things of this world which moths and rust can, and will, destroy. In my opinion, that should have been preached, but then again, I never did expect much Biblical sense from a pastor who calls John Avanzini “friend”.

Photo by swamysk.

Are You Sharing the False Gospel?

September 2, 2008 in Evangelism, Quotes by Isaiah | 6 comments

Or have you yourself been given the false Gospel by a Christian, who though well-meaning and sincere, didn’t tell you the Good News as it should be?

I have, and was even taught the same manner of evangelism once, in particular the “relational gospel”. Add the ‘miracle prayer’ and bam! another false convert is born.

James MacDonald tells us of the four false gospels out there today — the relational, relevancy, resource, and prosperity “gospels” (taken from an old clip from Todd Friel’s previous radio show, Talk the Walk, on AM 980 KKMS in Minneapolis).

I’ll also like to include a quote by Dr. John MacArthur here on this issue:

Listen to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You will hear sinners entreated with words like, “accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior”; “ask Jesus into your heart”; “invite Christ into your life”; or “make a decision for Christ.” You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn that none of them is based on Biblical terminology. They are the products of a diluted gospel.

John MacArthur

HT: Bororean for the quote.

John Piper: I’m On a Crusade to Crucify the Prosperity Gospel

August 13, 2008 in Apostasy, Christianity, Quotes by Isaiah | 13 comments

John Piper“Prosperity Gospel is no Gospel because what it does is offer to people what they want as natural people. You don’t have to be born again to want to be wealthy and therefore you don’t have to be converted to be saved by the Prosperity Gospel.

When you appeal to people to come to Christ on the basis of what they already want, 1st Corinthians 2 makes no sense! The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit, they are foolishness to him. Therefore if you offer to people what they do not consider foolishness in the natural man, you’re not preaching the Gospel.

And the Prosperity Gospel offers to people what they desperately want as fallen people, gives it to them and grows huge churches … I can’t believe what we tolerate in the Church, so I am on a crusade to crucify the Prosperity Gospel!”

John Piper
“God Is the Gospel: Meditations on the Love of God as the Gift of Himself”
February 18, 2007

Ray Comfort, Sir, You Had the Microphone

July 24, 2008 in Christian Worldview by Isaiah | 39 comments

Ray ComfortThe word “disappointment” cannot even begin to describe what I felt after reading Ingrid’s report (you can also listen to the podcast here) of the Word of Faith conference that Ray Comfort decided to speak at.

With all due respect, Ray Comfort, Sir, I must say that I am not in agreement with what you did at the conference. More to the point, I was disappointed that you did not do the right thing.

No, not the right thing that we who disagree with you think to be right, but we are specifically instructed in God’s Word to call out false teachers and expose their false teachings.

I’ll be careful to say that I fully believe that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:6), but this is a different crowd. While there is no doubt that there are many in the audience who do need to hear the Gospel, I believe that most there believe they have heard the Gospel and believed. They can’t be more wrong because they have been misled onto a broad road to destruction by these false teachers and their false teachings.

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What Are You Doing, Ray?

July 3, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 21 comments

Ray ComfortI have great respect for Ray Comfort as a brother-in-Christ though I don’t know him personally. It therefore came as a shock to me when this piece of news came to my attention.

Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries and Ingrid Schlueter at Slice of Laodicea disagree with Ray’s practice of participating in some conferences where he will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with health and wealth heretics on the same stage. The more surprising thing is that this is not the first time that Ray has done this.

Having observed Ray’s ministry, I can say without much doubt that I know that he will strive to preach the Gospel as it is without hesitation. However, the issue here is not whether he will preach the Gospel, but whether Ray, whose radio show has on many occasions decried the practices of such heretics and their errant doctrines, should be seen to be in league with these heretics by his participation in such conferences.

I’m of two minds on this issue, not because I respect Ray and therefore am hesitant to point out that he’s wrong, but because I think there are questions to be answered:

  1. Should Ray be seen to be associated with such WoF heretics though we have faith in his motivation to preach the Gospel at such conferences?
  2. Will such an approach, i.e. preaching the true Gospel in a heretical conference, be effective?
  3. Or is this a case where we can bring up the fact that though Jesus dined with sinners, he didn’t partake of their sinful ways but spoke His truth to them?

What’s your take on this?

Oh, Saint Hinn, Grant Me Health, Wealth and Prosperity!

June 25, 2008 in Humor by Isaiah | 13 comments

The good folks at Tominthebox.net recently learned that Benny Hinn has been granted the first official “sainthood” by Health, Wealth and Prosperity “Gospel” (HWPG) leaders like Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Leroy Thompson, and Joel Osteen.

In a statement, Kenneth Copeland explained the rationale behind the decision to bestow the sainthood upon (Benny) Hinn:

“Well, the man has healed many,” said Kenneth Copeland. “And his ministry is worldwide, plus he’s got that cute little accent which really adds a sort of cultural flair to the whole deal. Overall though, we looked primarily at his bank account and his possessions. That man’s got a lot of stuff and that’s proof he’s got a lot of faith.”

I wonder what I might get if I revere this saint alongside the popes of the Emergent movement and the Environment (Al Gore). First things first though, I’ll have to print this out, get it laminated then stick it on my bank book!

Full story here.

HT: Team Tominthebox News Network (TBNN) via Daniel’s Place.

A Christian Who Is Strongly Deluded By the Prosperity “Gospel”

May 30, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 36 comments

Please understand that I mean no offense to this brother, but I just cannot stand by and do nothing while he wallows so deeply in such lies spun by the prosperity “gospel” preachers!

I stumbled across a local Christian blog yesterday, and being pleasantly surprised since I don’t really think there are that many Christian blogs in Singapore, decided to read some of his posts.

Written by Yeap Chee Seng, the blogroll on the blog immediately set off some alarm bells in my head — on it were listed the ministry sites of people like Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, and Kenneth Copeland and even a book he authored containing specific verses in the Bible that address prosperity.

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The Prosperity “Gospel” Is the Theology of Babylon!

May 25, 2008 in Apostasy, Christianity by Isaiah | 3 comments

Straight from the pits of hell itself!

So few preach it like Carter Conlon, so few…

Forget What You’ve Learned About Getting Rich, Here’s How!

March 28, 2008 in Christianity, Humor by Isaiah | 6 comments

No gimmicks (though some props like gold dust might be useful)!

If you have some knowledge of theology (even if it’s bad), have read the Bible at least once from cover to cover or even just some choice verses (it doesn’t matter, really), you are in place to have all that you covet beyond your wildest dreams without having to spend a single dime of your own!

Introducing…

Pulpit Pimping For Dummies

Pulpit Pimping For DummiesTake your ministry to the next level. Walk in divine prosperity. Get the breakthrough you keep promising the sheeple. Drive the best cars, live in the biggest house, fly the best planes and patronize the best restaurants.

The Dummies guide tells you how to convince people to give you more money than they can afford to give you. But not only that, it teaches you how to make those people think you are doing them a favor by taking the money. We give you the secrets for convincing people to pay you their tithes BEFORE they pay their rent or electric bill. Do you want to make people financially dependent on you? We’ll tell you how.

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Death Row

March 5, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 12 comments

Death RowThe empty hallway with its closed and heavy steel doors on either side have always made you uncomfortable, but as chaplain at a high-security prison where inmates headed for execution as punishment for the heinous crimes they have committed are held, you know it’s your duty to minister to those 24 hours away from death.

You walk up to a cell where such an inmate is held in solitude. He looks up at you as you enter, sneers, then resigns himself to the moral preaching (as he calls it) he knows he has to listen to shortly before his time on earth is up.

Without a word, you press into his hands a book by a famous author in Christendom and exit the cell.

The prisoner looks down at the title, and it says “Your Best Life Now!”.

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Ooh, This Just Makes Me So Mad!

January 3, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 11 comments

Don't waste your money and time on this book!I get both really riled up and sad at the same time whenever I hear or read of those who profess to be serving God fleece gullible people out of their hard-earned money while giving them false promises.

Oh, you wolves in sheep’s clothing! Woe to you!

Just read about this poor woman — Cindy Fleenor’s a 53-year-old accountant, someone smart by academic standards anywhere in the world, and she’s been conned into writing so many checks to these wolves in the shape of Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and Paula White that she has to borrow money from friends and payday loan companies just to buy groceries!

And when the promises didn’t come about (of course they didn’t, because they are false!), she learned that it was because her faith wasn’t strong enough.

Is it any wonder that she’s now bitter and angry? And the worse thing is that this episode might just push her away from God and she loses the real promise — salvation — because of the misdeeds of these wolves!

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Looking Back At 2007

December 30, 2007 in Christian Worldview, Christianity, Israel by Isaiah | 8 comments

Looking Back at 2007Just a day more, and soon the new year will be upon us. What has 2007 been like for you? What has 2007 brought about in you? These are questions I’m sure most of us would ask ourselves either today or the eve of the new year. And I’m sure that there’d be many who will be making new year resolutions too.

This past year hasn’t been a great one for me in terms of success as the world defines it. There has been no breakthrough career-wise, much less financially. In fact, quite the opposite has happened — I’ve seen a fall in my take-home income and seem to be stagnant in terms of career advancement. There have also been some difficulties that had me tossing and turning in bed, worrying about this issue or that problem.

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