Wealth

The world around us, and as we know it, is falling to pieces. There’s panic at every corner — the financial crisis is sending ripple waves across the world and being felt by millions at an unprecedented speed; there’s war (Iraq, Afghanistan) and rumors of war (Iran, Israel), political uncertainty, and the list goes on.

To many, it’s doom and gloom – time to hunker down and try to ride out the crisis as best as we can, while counting on the governments and experts to devise manners in which to bring the world out of the mess caused by unbridled greed and lust for mammon.

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I 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?

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.

I came across this four-part series of videos by Justin Peters, who has credentials as a Master of Divinity (Biblical Languages), a Master of Theology (New Testament Major / Theology Minor), and is a recognized expert on the Word of Faith movement, having done his thesis on the life and ministry of Benny Hinn.

If you yourself are involved in a church that teaches this dangerous doctrine, and/or holds Benny Hinn and other false teachers in high esteem, I beseech you to watch this four-part summary and find out for yourself just how far removed such doctrines are from BIblical teachings.

And if you know anyone — loved ones, friends, etc — who are in such a church or following pastors who actively advocate the teachings of such false teachers, please show these videos to them. Better yet, order the full DVD set¹ of the series A Call For Discernment by Justin Peters.

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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 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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Just 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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It is funny how just last week there was a talk about the topic of wealth as the world defines it.

First off, there was the buzz in the office that everyone should go get their Toto tickets because the prize money for the week was S$5 million (US$3.32 million).

I did not buy any tickets for the draw because I never had the habit of “buying hope” as I call it. Besides, I have never thought that I’d win one of the prizes — it is not in my personal history to have won anything that involved the ‘luck’ of the draw.

Then there was a letter in the Forum page of the national daily, The Straits Times, from a concerned parent about how mega churches adversely affect students, which naturally led to a rather lively debate on whether churches should be as rich as mega churches.

Now I don’t have anything against mega churches per se.

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