Truth Matters Dec. 2013 TBN

Wasted Opportunity?
The Death of Paul Crouch Sr., Founder of T.B.N.
By Rev. Robert Liichow

Crouch died Saturday November 30, 2013, he was 79 years old. Pastor Jack Hayford, whose services at the Church on the Way in Van Nuys were broadcast on TBN for more than 30 years, said: “It is no exaggeration of terms to describe Dr. Paul Crouch’s contribution to global Christianity as incalculably broad.” DMI disagrees strongly with Hayford’s assessment of Mr. Crouch’s influence for the good of the Church on a worldwide basis. There can be little doubt that Crouch was possessed by a business acumen that excelled many others when it came to television broadcasting.

At the time of his death, some estimate the value of all of TBN’s holding at close to a billion dollars and there is little doubt that over the forty (40) years of broadcasting the Crouch Empire syphoned off close to two billion dollars from legitimate Christian ministry. The last reported figure DMI has found states that TBN was bringing in over 100 million per year in donations currently. Pro-rate that over forty years, with even gradual growth over the years, plus interest, yeah it is 100’s of millions at least.

The massive holdings and opulent lifestyle of the Crouches has been well documented over the years. DMI has to our knowledge currently the only book in publication exposing TBN and the Crouch family. It is titled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About TBN *(But Were Afraid to Ask)” is a full color, 8.5 X 12 inch spiral bound “coffee table” book available for $25.00 per signed copy (this publication is limited to 250 copies period). Each copy is compiled and signed by me the “heresy-hunter” himself. My honorary title “heresy-hunter” comes from a “curse” uttered on TBN by dead Paul Crouch against those who dared to speak out against Dad Hagin’s teachings on television in 1990.

TBN’s Televised “Footprint”

TBN owns 35 full-power television stations serving larger metropolitan areas, and, at its peak, 252 low-power television stations in the United States, which are mixed among stations serving medium-sized cities and rural translator stations in order to maximize the network’s reach as much as is permissible. TBN also has several hundred affiliate stations throughout the United States, although just 61 of these stations are full-power UHF or VHF stations. The rest are low-powered stations, requiring a viewer to be within several miles of the transmitter to receive the signal. According to TVNewsCheck, TBN was the third largest over-the-air television station group in the country as of 2010, besting the station groups of CBS, Fox, and NBC, but behind Ion and Univision.

Back in 1971 Mr. Crouch began with one weak station, by the end of his life he had purchased 35 full-power stations and 252 low-power stations. TBN owns them outright folks, they do not buy time for them, and this is a HUGE deal in broadcasting. What is more they are able to “buy time” on several hundred “affiliate stations” as well.

TBN is now the world’s largest Christian television network. Across America and around the world TBN is carried by TV stations and cable systems to millions of homes. As a matter of fact, TBN is featured on over 5,000 television stations, over 70 satellites, the Internet and thousands of cable systems around the world. And the number continues to grow! Programs are translated into numerous foreign languages at TBN’s state-of-the-art facilities at the International Production Center in Irving, Texas.

If you are virtually anywhere in the world and have access to a television signal or internet capability you can watch TBN! Twenty four (24) hours, seven (7) days a week you can see and/or listen to the stable of TBN shills exclaiming the glories of what TBN is doing and will be doing in the future . . . if only “God’s” people will support the vision!

Praise to Pry Partner Money Loose

Here is the dirty little secret concerning Mr. Crouch’s empire. Each station was simply a steppingstone to the acquisition of the next available station. With the very first station Crouch instituted the ubiquitous and infamous Praise-a-thon’s. These fund-raisers were supposed to mimic “revivals” of yesteryear. Filled with emotional music, sung and played by famous Christian artists, all of the stable of preachers would be brought forth to twist the Holy Word of God into nothing more than a “bless me” device for the SINisters and their deluded followers.

The secret is this —- these Praise-a-thons existed for one purpose only: to transfer money from the current viewing audience in order to buy more stations to get more viewers to get more money and buy more stations to get newer viewers (untapped) to get more money.

The purpose of this empire was NOT to lift up our Lord Jesus Christ and boldly and in an unfettered manner (which when one OWNS the stations one can do) proclaim the full fury of the Law and the sweetness of the Gospel in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. How do I know? Regardless of whatever TBN says about proclaiming the Gospel the FACT remains that for the last forty (40) years THEY HAVE NOT DONE SO.

What has the purpose been then? TBN existed for the self-aggrandizement and financial enrichment of Paul and Jan Crouch. How do I know? Again the FACTS are patently obvious. Here is just a small “peek” into their holdings (a wee bit dated):

Paul, 70, collects a $403,700 salary as TBN’s chairman and president. Jan, 67, is paid $361,000 as vice president and director of programming. Those are the highest salaries paid by any of the 12 major religious nonprofits whose finances are tracked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Crouches travel the world in a $7.2-million, 19-seat Canadair Turbojet owned by TBN. They drive luxury cars. They have charged expensive dinners and furniture to TBN credit cards.

Thirty ministry-owned homes are at their disposal — including a pair of Newport Beach mansions, a mountain retreat near Lake Arrowhead and a ranch in Texas.

The Crouches’ family members share in the benefits. Their oldest son, Paul Jr., earns $90,800 a year as TBN’s vice president for administration. Another son, Matthew, has received $32 million from the network since 1999 to produce Christian-themed movies such as “The Omega Code.”

Overseeing these expenditures is a board of directors that consists of Paul Crouch, Jan Crouch and Paul’s 74-year-old sister, Ruth Brown. Control resides primarily with Paul. In a 2001 legal deposition, Jan said she did not know she was a corporate officer and could not recall the last board meeting she attended.

TBN’s declared mission as a tax-exempt Christian charity is to produce and broadcast television shows and movies “for the purpose of spreading the Gospel to the world.”

The biblical Gospel has not been preached by Crouch, or by those he had paraded before the world for forty (40) years. In fact, he is accountable before God for every person and what they said on his programs. Did Mr. Crouch every bring correction publically to anything that was taught from a TBN stage? NO! So, either he agreed with what was being taught or he was afraid of offending the speaker and possibly losing some potential income based on the current popularity of the speaker.

Keep in mind that Crouch had a regular “stable” of speakers and none of them is doctrinally sound. This stable includes Mr. T.D. Jakes, a Oneness Pentecostal heretic; Benny Hinn, a false prophet, false teacher and fake-healer; Joyce Meyer, false teacher; Kim Clement, another false prophet, Creflo Dollar, false teacher, child abuser and Jessie Duplantis, another documented liar and fraud just to name a few “stars.”

In every TBN production utilizing these SINisters, they always make sure and bring whatever the “message” is around to giving money to TBN. Although DMI has no proof yet, it seems that the speakers may possibly be given an “honorarium” based upon the take that evening. The triumvirate of money-makers for TBN over the years have consistently been Rev. R. W. Schambach, John “the bagman” Avanzini, and Benny Hinn. These three alone have brought in multiple millions to TBN and are in their own rights multi-millionaires.

Sadly, to date TBN has NOT been a godly influence. It has frankly been a canker on the Body of Christ due to its self-serving motivations, their ungodly lifestyle, their demonic doctrines and aberrant practices. Now that Paul has assumed room temperature and Jan is not getting any younger either; perhaps the next generation of Crouch’s may repent and actually use their capacity to proclaim God’s Truth. If they do, it will be a FIRST for TBN and actually something that will glorify the God they claim to serve.

References

Obtained from http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-paul-crouch-20131201,0,3333095.story?page=2#ixzz2mdWfznk6

Obtained from http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/41240/top-station-groups-stay-the-course

http://www.tbn.org/about-us/the-tbn-story. Underlining added by the author.

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/sep/19/local/me-tbn19. Underlining added for emphasis.

Audio clip of Jan Crouch during a Praise-A-Thon around 2009:

“Its always been the little women who caught the vision of giving, Some of you precious little ones have that little grocery money some of the little money set aside assure tonight the blessings of God on your family by giving it to God and speaking that say it ‘God this is for blessings on my family’ I love that.”

Jan actually asked for women to give TBN their little grocery money that they have saved for FOOD. Keep in mind, TBN has been sitting on interest bearing cash reserves in the millions of dollars for many years, yet they still wanted more.

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The “Bishop” Eddie Long Saga

Truth Matters Newsletters – October 2010 – Vol. 15 Issue 10 – The Bishop Eddie Long Saga – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International  

The “Bishop” Eddie Long Saga

By: The Grand Pooh-bah 

By Rev. Robert Liichow

 As President Ronald Reagan said “there you go again.” Now Christ’s Body takes another hit as the charges mount against Mr. Long, Bapti-costal pastor of a mega-sized congregation in Georgia, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Four (4) men have charged Mr. Long with sexual misconduct, i.e. the man is charged with committing homosexual acts by taking advantage of his position as pastor to abuse those who are under his care.

 Yes, I know there are other leaders in other expressions of the Church who fall, yet isn’t it astounding how many of them in recent years are charismatic televangelists. The most recent scandals have been revolving around Mr. Benny Hinn who also has been charged with homosexuality in Uganda by local pastors, his wife, Suzanne, divorced him during the time of those charges. Since then tabloids have accused Mr. Hinn of having an affair with televangelist Paula White (also divorced) —personally, this ole Heresy-hunter doubts the tabloids on this one, both of their egos could not fit in the same room, let alone the same bed!

 In our own short span on the planet we have seen the decimation of the ranks of the leading charismatic stars (naturally, television abhors a vacuum and others fill their places quickly). Here is a short list of fallen stars (The names in bold are or were regular guests on T.B.N. or the former P.T.L. network):

Aimee Semple McPherson, 1920s – 40s

Lonnie Frisbee, 1070s – 1980s

Billy James Hargis, early 1970s

Marjoe Gortner, early 1970s

Jim & Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, 1986 and 1991

Peter Popoff, 1987

Morris Cerullo, 1990s

Mike Warnke, 1991

Robert Tilton, 1991

W.V. Grant, 1996 and 2003

Bob Moorehead, 1998

Roy Clements, 1999

John Paulk, 2000

Paul Crouch, 2004

Paul Barnes, 2006

Lonnie Latham, 2006

Douglas Goodman, 2004

Kent Hovind, 2006

Ted Haggard, 2006

Gilbert Deya, 2006

Richard Roberts, 2007

Earl Paulk, 2007

Coy Privette, 2007

Thomas Wesley Weeks, lll, 2007

Michael Reid, 2008

Joe Barron, 2008

Todd Bentley, 2008

Tony Alamo, 2008

George Alan Rekers, 2010

Eddie L. Long, 2010  

What translation Are These People & their Followers Reading?

 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Titus 1:6

 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.  Romans 6:12-13

Do not be overcome by evil, but over come evil with good.   Romans 12:21　

Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

 　

MORE of…The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

Truth Matters Newsletters – April 2010 – Vol. 15  Issue 4 – More of …The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

More of …The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

By Rev. Robert Liichow

Ah, more has been revealed regarding the divorce of Benny Hinn. Last month various scenarios were posited as potential future realities and out of these one is emerging as the frontrunner.

I foretold how one possibility might be the tried-n-true defense of “the devil made me do it.” This maneuver resonates especially well in the ears of the sign-gift crowd. Most of whom have been well schooled in the wiles of the evil one and know what he is capable of. There is after all, a well established track record of Satanic victories over the internationally know sign-gift leaders. This track record of moral defeats begins almost at the start of American Pentecostalism.

The generally accepted founder of America Pentecostalism is Charles Fox Parham, a member of the KKK and a man later charged with sodomy. (1) If time permitted I could speak about Finis Dake, author of the “Dake Bible” used by numerous Pentecostal people for over 50 years. Dake was convicted and imprisoned for taking an underage girl across state lines and staying in a single hotel room with her. (2)

Dake took over Zion, II that was founded by John Alexander Dowie; who upon announcing that he was “John the Baptist” returned and was stricken with a soon fatal stroke. (3) Time rolls on leaving in its wake the sad doxologies of Amiee Semple MacPherson (died of a drug over-dose, adulteress), (4) A.A. Allen (drunkard, died of a drug overdose), (5) James Cleveland, internationally known Gospel recording artists, (died of AIDS, a homosexual), (6) Robert LIARdon (exposed as a homosexual), (7) Prophet Paul Cain, honored as the greatest living prophet by charismatic folk (exposed as a drunkard and homosexual, (8) Paul Crouch, founder of TBN paid hush money (close to half a million dollars) to a man who accuses him of homosexuality. (9) Space does not permit me to cite but a few of the divorces among major sign-gift leaders: E.W. Kenyon, Robert Tilton (3 times) Jim Bakker (adulterer), Kathryn Kuhlman (adulteress), Leroy Jenkins, W.V. Grant, Richard Roberts, Paula White, Juanita Byrum, John Hagee, “apostle” Todd Bentley (right after his upward exalted call to apostle) Larry Lea, Amy Grant and many others.

Now the illustrious and always dapper Mr. Benny Hinn can add his name to the Hall of Shame in both categories. He now is qualified to join the “divorced” column and what is more he is also provisionally qualified to be placed in the sodomite column also. For it has come to our attention (due to arduous research) that Mrs. Hinn’s irreconcilable differences may run a bit deeper than was originally revealed:

The headline in the online edition of Ugandan Tabloid Red Pepper screams, “Pastors Name Benny Hinn Sodomy Bonk-mate.” that headline appears to be in reaction to the news that American Pentecostal prosperity evangelist and faith healer Benny Hinn is unable to heal his own marriage and is seeking a divorce. (2)

The bottom line is simply this, according to some African newspapers the reason Mr. Hinn is getting divorced by his wife is because of his homosexual escapades with other men was uncovered to her and then she filed for divorce, as would any right thinking person (especially when they look back over the years and begin to add one+one together). Although at this point, the exact specifics of the divorce have not been made known (we will let our readers know) we can rest assured that Benny will not go away without a fight!

The perennial question has been and still is “how can this happen to such highly anointed people?” Every person I have cited has made documented claims either about their unique and close fellowship with God, their special gift(s) given to them by God and or their singular importance to God’s end time plans, etc. Since these people walk on such an exalted spiritual level, one not experienced by us {the hoi polloi } what is their excuse for falling? Us mortals sin because we are still ignorant babes still suckling 1% milk if and when we can, like blind kittens, find the celestial spigot to nurse from.

The answer is simple—”the devil made me do it.” When it was revealed to DMI that Roberts LIARdon was a homosexual, we researched the information and found it to be true. How could this happen? Then Pastor Roberts mother told the church that her son fell into sin because the people did not “cover” their pastor in prayer. So you see, it was not really Roberts fault nor the Sunday School teacher (who fled America), the real problem was the Devil…But actually it was the peoples fault. The devil will do what he does, but when he impacts God’s leaders, that is because those flocks let down the barrier to the devil’s attack, got it? Look forget all that stuff about young David protecting his flock (see 1 Sam. 17:36), forget about the lessons on shepherds laying down their lives for the sheep (John 10:12) as opposed to being a hired servant. Please understand, it is the role of the sheep to protect “cover” the shepherd, not vice versa, right? [WRONG !]

Flip Wilson and all others please understand and accept the FACT that the Devil cannot make you do anything!! If he could then Satan would be the cause of all sin. No the best he and his minions can do is tempt us at our weak points or offer to us something new and see if we take the bait. A man’s sin ultimately is his own and he must acknowledge his own culpability. Blaming others, which began with Adam (re-read Genesis 1-4) has never been the answer. Sin is always personal matter between the individual and God, no one can make you sin, you chose to.

Mr. Hinn can blame his wife, the demands of SINistry, an absent father, society, Satan and his minions yet in the end Hinn has to answer face-to-face to a holy God who simply asks “why?”

As I admitted last month, I am no prophet and not much of a swami, but this much I am sure of — please pray for Mr. Hinn, his former wife and their children. These are real people with potentially eternally serious problems; people for whom Christ died.  ♦

Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

** See our previous articles March 2010 – The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada here: https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/the-inscrutable-un-screwed-the-un-thought-of-thought-of-by-swami-bobby-beyondanada/

He didn’t “see” it Coming: The Divorce of Benny Hinn:

 https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/he-didnt-see-it-coming/

I Am Out Raged:

https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/i-am-outraged/

Paul Crouch Possible Peccadello – (see video)http://www.archive.org/details/Fox4InvestigatesTrinityBroadcastNetworksPaulCrouch

https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/paul-crouchs-possible-peccadillo/

End Notes

1. Obtained from www.spirithome.com/hispen1.html on 03-21-10

2. Obtained from http://dangerouscults.com/dake-federal-trial.html

3. Obtained from www.brainyhistory.com/events/1847/may_25_1847_52017.html 

4. Obtained from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/protestant/a/aimee_mcpherson.htm

5. Obtained from www.cephasministry.com/a_a_allen.html

6. Obtained from www.keithboykin.com/arch/2002/11/19/confessions_of

7. Although DMI broke the story here is a web site to validate what we originally said: www.bibleman.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=145

8. Obtained from www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel19.html

9. Why did Paul Crouch pay extortion if the charges were false and he was unafraid to go to court? He has never explained the use of donor funds to do so either. Visit: rickross.com

The Inscrutable un-screwed, The un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

Truth Matters Newsletters – March 2010 – Vol. 15 Issue 3 -The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami”

Bobby Beyondanada

 By Rev. Robert Liichow

The prophetic voice is dim in my ear today, so no charge for these insights. Allow me to run a few possible Hinn scenarios by you: (1) Victim Scene: First of all he is already positioning himself a victim, a close reading will show Benny totally guiltless and Susanne “under great stress.” (2) Devil Scene: Easily sold to sign-gift people, we blamed Satan for everything, even our own sin!! The devil got into Susanne, remember Eve folks, yup he strikes those closest to us. (3) Crazy scene: A little harder push, but not much of one. After all, Hinn is the superstar of our times why leave someone at the “top” of their game, you’d have to be crazy, right? Benny already has floated the “stress” she is under, i.e. she has had a mental collapse. Will Benny survive? That depends on how well he can spin the divorce. Most hard-shell Pentecostals are, and rightly so, very opposed to divorce and terms like “irreconcilable differences” simply don’t compute in their sanctified minds (mine neither for that matter). How can a pastor who alleges such a close walk with the Spirit not be reconciled to those around him? Benny the humble, meek, mild, servant be difficult to live with? How can these things be?

Charismatic sign/gift folks are far more urbane and used to divorces among their stars. In the past both Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman got divorces and kept up their SINistries for many years afterwards, why not Benny? More recently, Todd Bentley, the latest sight-gift “apostle” (I call them “opossums”) divorced his wife not long after his installation and he now rehabilitated and ready to bilk more folks! Plus if Benny can paint his ex-wife as the problem then he will skate away with little damage.

Last speculation regarding the Hinn’s, I’m pretty sure Susanne will have to sign some major non-disclosure agreements before she see a penny of a settlement. Legal fact: a wife cannot testify against her husband, but an ex-wife can. I’d love to read a tell-all-book by Susanne, but it will not be coming (unless Benny really ticks her off, maybe not a good idea Benny)…who knows what stones will be unturned and what dark happenings will be exposed by the light of Day our Lord knows and one day Hinn and all of us will stand before Him. May His grace enable us to stand both now and surely on that day.  ♦

 Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLYQ8oFvMBg

False Prophets Real Profit$

Truth Matters Newsletters – August 2008 Vol. 13 Issue 9 – False Prophets Real Profit$ – By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

False Prophets Real Profit$

By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

If it is true that history repeats itself, then the false prophets and false teachers of old must have also reaped great financial rewards. This much is certain with the advent of Pentecostalism in America all those who claimed to be prophets of our Lord had two indisputable things in common: (1) false prophets who delivered lying words that were generated from their own hearts or they were demonically inspired and (2) they all became very wealthy at the expense of those who followed them.

 

A Little Walk through American Prophetic History

Initially after the Azusa “revival of 1906 for the next several years no one came forward and declared they were a restored prophet or apostle. The fledgling Pentecostal movement did have pastors, Bible teachers and evangelists, both male and female.

Father Divine

Possibly the first individual who received the Spirit at Azusa and went off the spiritual rails in a devastating manner was a man named George Baker. The Azusa enthusiasm and the demonic spirit imparted to him led to his damnation.

This was a major turning point in his life. While he spoke in tongues, he felt a stirring, and suddenly, as Baker believed that he had reached a state of ultimate spiritual purification, a condition Fillmore described as the “consciousness of himself as a spiritual being, knowing himself to be the Christ of God, he is IAM, and ready to recreate the world….He had blended New Thought with Methodism, a little Catholicism, Pentecostalism, and African-American storefront theology, and had devised a syncretic belief system.   (1)

After his Azusa experience George Baker became internationally known as “Father Divine” and he and his man followers considered him to be literally god in the flesh. (2)

Sweet Daddy Grace

Once Father Divine (George Baker) got established and garnered quite a following another man jumped into this obvious lucrative pool of gullible folks. This liar went by the name of Sweet Daddy Grace and he formed The United House of Prayer For All People.

His first big success came five years later when he opened a church in Charlotte. The United House of Prayer for All People prided itself on an ecstatic worship style that included speaking in tongues. Grace claimed great powers and developed a line of products including “Daddy Grace” coffee, tea, soaps, and hand creams reputed to have healing properties. By the time of his death in 1960, the church he founded had become a denomination and Grace himself a rich man.   (2)

 

Please keep in mind that many mainline Pentecostals (such as they were back in the early 1900’s ) did not publicly endorse any of these men, yet their members did flock to hear them speak, prophecy, and give them “numbers” to play on the street. The next early false prophet came out of the ranks of the Pentecostal cult my wife and her family was raised in. It was called “Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ” (to separate it from its main contender “The Church of God in Christ.” Triumph people taught complete sanctification in this life. Proof of having attained this exalted level of holiness was simple, such a person would never die physically (naturally, they became know in a pejorative manner as the never die folk).

Prophet Jones Already recognized as a prophet, at the age of six he joined and began preaching sermons to a Birmingham sect known as Triumph the church and Kingdom of God in Christ, similar in character to the one he later founded in Detroit. At 11 he quit school to devote full time to preaching. In 1938 The Triumph sect sent the 21 year-old Jones to Detroit as a missionary where enthusiastic converts soon pressed expensive gifts upon him. The gifts, his superiors ruled, were rightfully the property of the church. Rather than give them up, Jones broke away to launch his own sect. Prophet Jones founded the Church of Universal Triumph, the Dominion of God Inc. in 1938 in Detroit. Originally headquartered in the old Oriole Theater at 8450 Linwood, the church later moved above the Fine Arts Theater at 2940 Woodward. He blessed his inner circle with royal and noble titles, such as “Sir,” “Prince” and “Princess,” “Lord” and “Lady” and other majestic appellations. His mother who died in 1951 was known as Grace Rev. Lady Catherine Jones. Jones reached his peak as a religious leader in the 1940’s and late ‘50s, and lived like a millionaire. He resided in an 18th century-style French castle at 75 Arden Park. The three-story, 54-room graystone chateau had been built in 1917 by Edmund A. Vier, a General Motors Corp. executive, at a cost of $100,000.  (4)

Like several of the more well know false prophet Jones was a homosexual. Another more recent example would be Paul Cain and some others recently “outted.” As an aside I believe the reason why homosexuality goes hand-in-hand with false prophets is simply because God gives them over to dark desires as a punishment for lying in His holy name (read Romans 1-2).

One of the more “flamboyant” false prophets who was an early arrival to the television ministry is Rev. Ike, Whose real name is Frederick Eikerenkoetter. I remember Ike on television as a young boy and is statement to this day is “you can’t lose with the stuff I use…mind science.” He also used to cajole his audiences by telling them he did not want to hear any change in the offering plates when they were passed because it made him nervous.

Rev. Ike formally the Right Reverend Dr. Fredrick J. Eikerenkoetter II stated that he owns a fleet of Rolls-Royces (a different color for every day of the week, appointed in mink), diamond rings, expensive suits, and multiple mansions – far from hiding his wealth, Reverend Ike makes it a point of his preaching. His theology centers around the “Science of Living” and “Thinkenomics,” his own version of economics based on the premise that poverty, a lack of luck, poor health, etc, are the results of incorrect attitudes, a lack of confidence, a lack of faith and a failure to get in touch with the “presence of God within each of us.” (5)

Frankly, I had thought that “Rev.” Ike had long since assumed room temperature but lo-and-behold, one morning a few years back I saw him on BET (6) standing beside a new breed of false prophet, Bishop E. Bernard Jordan whose SINistry is located in New York. Jordan learned his trade as a prophet by attending Dr. Bill Hamon’s “School of the Prophets.” Where anyone who feels led (I sent many of you a sample of felt lead) to become a spokesperson for the Ancient of Days can go and learn the techniques on how to hear from God and accurately deliver His message {for a price} to His paying people. Here is just a short squib on Mr. Jordan:

Bishop E. Bernard Jordan at the age of 15, where he was summoned to prophesy. By the age of 24, he was recognized nationally as a prophet. Rising from the obscurity of the ghetto to his present and current fame he is known to millions as God’s messenger, the Prophet. Bishop Elijah Bernard Jordan is the founder and Senior Pastor of Zoe Ministries since 1983 Bishop Jordan teaches biblical principles and ethics essential to successful living….Bishop Jordan is a modern-day prophet whose ministry is absolutely astounding! Like Nostradamus, Bishop Pike, and Edgar Cayce, the accuracy of the gift that operates in Bishop Jordan will astound you! He is known to predict exact names, dates, and times of events both individually and globally! His visual perception is so exact that he is able to give accurate descriptions of locations that are pertinent to the recipient of the prophecy!   (7)

I have watched and recorded Mr. Jordan many times and he is in fact one very creepy looking dude. Anyone he “speaks” over gives him money either directly or into a collection plate next to him as he prognosticates. Through his SINistry you can buy different kinds of soap which when used can give one dreams, revelations, peace, etc…Probably three of his best known followers are the former thug and rapper “Run DMC” – now known as “Rev.” Run (has his reality television show) and television judge Glenda Hatchett, and of course, Rev. Ike who speaks at Jordan’s meetings. Naturally Jordan is extremely wealthy. My wife and I ministered to a brother from Africa who upon coming to America for an advanced degree foolishly gave Jordan $5,000 (he knows the truth now, thanks be to God). At one point he was offering a fresh word from the Lord each day for a mere $365, sent to you personally. It only takes a couple of thousand dupes to send in their checks and pretty soon, like Ike, Jordan is riding in his own Bentley or Rolls Royce. Another problem with these self-proclaimed profit$ is that those who follow them never mature in their own spiritual walk with Christ. They are totally dependent upon the word of the Lord through their chosen mouthpiece. Not only that when a person has given themselves totally over to the spiritual authority of another sinful person they are prey to become victims of spiritual abuse. There are many recorded cases of “prophets” taking sexual advantage of those submitted to them, both male and female.

 

Kenneth & Gloria Copeland

In light of all of these ostentatious profit$ there are few who are seated at the zenith of prophetic pimpery (my own new word) and those residing at the summit are Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth & Gloria Copeland. Compared to their wealth all these others are just “piker’s” mere “wannabes” Kenneth Copeland Ministries {KCM} are so wealthy that no one outside their tight nepotistic inner circle knows for sure how wealthy they are. To guess close to or just over a billion dollars in probably not far off the mark. KCM is not telling, and they basically told Senator Grassy what he could do with his questions and have remained mum.

Keep in mind that I was a follower to Kenny’s ministry for years, gave to it, still have 100’s of hours of his teachings on cassette and their books in our archives. My wife and I distinctly remember Jerry Savelle speaking at a “Word” conference and how he marveled over all the antique cars that Kenneth had, including an old steam car! From what Savelle shard with us it seemed to be quite an extensive collection.

A few months ago Truth Matters wrote an article dealing with all the airplanes/jets that the various televangelist owned. Who had the most planes? Why Mr. Copeland and why not, some years ago he/KCM purchased Eagle Mountain Army/Air force base in the 1980’s. (8) This defunct airbase is over 1,500 acres and includes a mansion on a lake which only the Copeland’s are allowed to use. KCM’s main headquarters are on the property also.

A recent Associated Press article took the Copeland’s to task concerning their vast financial holdings, after al, KCM is a non-profit corporation yet strangely enough those associated directly with the running of the non-profit have all profited very handsomely.

Here are some excerpts of what Eric Gorski wrote in his July 27, 2008 piece for the AP.

NEWARK, Texas (AP) —Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper…Over the years, a circle of Copeland’s relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland’s television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events…Kenneth Copland Ministries is organized under the tax code as a church, so it gets a layer of privacy not afforded large secular and religious nonprofit groups that must disclose budgets and salaries. Pastors’ pay must be “reasonable” under the federal tax code, a term that gives churches wide latitude. Copeland’s current salary is not made public by his ministry. However, the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland’s wife, Gloria earned $292,593. It’s not clear whether those figures include other earnings, such as special offerings for guest preaching or book royalties. Another 13 Copeland relatives were on the church’s payroll that year. (9)

Nothing like keeping the wealth in the family I suppose. But it does make one take pause to think about the coincidence that the church land sold to John Copeland (his son) turned out to have deposits of oil and natural gas on it! Not to mention that Board of Directors of non-profits are not to be paid any type of salary apart from being reimbursed for their expenses in traveling to board meetings or board related activities. Copeland’s board members rake in hundreds of thousands per year for merely speaking on his anointed behalf! Another thing, you can bet your sweet bippy that Gloria and Kenny earn far more than a paltry $657,170 per year.  Creflo Dollar just gave Kenny a personal check for one million dollars to celebrate his forty years in SINistry, not to mention all the other “love gifts” he receives and the money from his many books, cassettes, videos and dvd’s.

What I find particularly disturbing is that he and so many other televangelists transformed their organizations into “churches” many of them during the turbulent times of the 1980’s when scandal after scandal rocked their empires. Churches do not have to report any of their income to the government. Their annual “take”, peoples salaries, the budgets are never revealed. Copeland is not the only one incorporated as a church. Joyce Meyer’s organization is incorporated as a “church,” as is Benny Hinn’s and Marilyn Hickey and naturally Robert Tilton and the St. Matthew’s scam artists and many other well known evangelists.

None of these people serve as pastors, they do not hold regular church services where congregation members are baptized married and buried. They do not have deacons and /or elders. Most do not even have official separate sanctuaries. Although I will admit Copeland does have a church with a man he hired as a pastor, yet he himself is not a pastor. The dirty little secret is this: these folks became “churches” as a means to hide their excessive wealth, not because God has called them to serve their communities through legitimate church activities.

After all, if people knew exactly how much money these organizations had in their control it would be next to impossible for them to shear the sheep any longer. At the height of his empire Robert Tilton boasted of bringing in over 100 million dollars per year. Mr. Hinn is estimated to bring in around 80 million per year and Mr. Copeland seems to being doing better than either of these frauds.

Why Do People Support These People?

It is no secret that these folks are phenomenally wealthy. This is one of their primary messages and they point to themselves as proof that what they are teaching works. Part of the prosperity doctrine is that one must not speak negatively of their teachers because these negative words will kill the financial “seed” they have planted.

Another aspect of this false teaching is that – you must continue faithfully to give your very best to the false prophet/teacher if you expect to reap an abundant harvest. They teach that one must “cast your bread upon the water” (Ecc. 11:1) and it will return after many days…how many days, years, epochs is not revealed to the devotee. Only one thing is certain KEEP ON GIVING!

The message of financial prosperity, not just enough to meet your needs, but a message of living the lifestyle of the rich and famous is so widely poplar because it panders to the innate greed without our fallen hearts. These heretics simply tie a “biblical bow” around a teaching that God has never endorsed.

Another reason people give is because they believe their favorite heretic has paid their dues (every one of them tells sad stories of their initial poverty until they received the revelation of seed-faith) and now due to their faithfully acting on certain spiritual laws regarding giving and receiving God has blessed them and if the devotee will stay in “faith” and not doubt and keep giving their day will come too! What the poor dupe fails to realize is that very little of what comes into these blasphemous behemoths ever goes out into genuine charitable works. All any charismatic Word of Faith/Positive Confession believer has to do is simply take a step away from the hoopla and the occasional testimony and see that there are no more millionaires within their ranks than anywhere else. One would imagine that after thirty (30) years of proclaiming prosperity and people faithfully acting on these spiritual laws that there should be a plethora of millionaires….yet there are not. The acid test of any false teaching is that it does not produce the results promised.

Copeland, Hinn, Meyer, Tilton, Dollar, Savelle, Price, Osteen, Roberts, Hickey, Hagin, Duplantis and the Crouch’s annual take is estimated at around a billion dollars per year. Where are all the hospitals, orphanages, feeding programs, and clothing programs (see Matt. 25:36). How about helping rebuild farms in Nigeria, Africa’s breadbasket enabling farmers to grow crops and feed themselves. How abut building Christian schools and supplying teachers? The Saudi Muslims are building their Madras’s all over the world, including the United States with their money—-what are these “Christians” doing to actually expand the kingdom of God? NEXT TO NOTHING! Oh yes they preach the law when it comes to tithing, yet, they do not give away 10% off the gross from their offerings. Not to mention they excel at urging their devotees to not only to give tithes but also additional offerings. (Mal. 3:10).

Paul & Jan Crouch TBN

Paul & Jan Crouch love to show pictures of the “hospital” in Haiti and of Jan giving out little blond haired dolls (which look unfortunately like her) to the poor children. Let’s get real people it costs next to nothing to build a hospital and even less a Christian school in Egypt, Haiti, anywhere in Africa or the Philippines. TBN is documented to be worth in excess of billion dollars! To be sure all of these frauds will show some pictures of what great works they are doing with your money (remember Robert Tilton standing in front an orphanage, which was later proven to be a fake), but do not be deceived by their claims, like many politicians you know they are lying when they open their mouths.

The practice of GIVING sacrificially is highly touted by them all, the practice of sacrificial LIVING is a totally alien concept to them. According to their perverted doctrine it is God’s will for them to live in the best homes behind gated communities. As King’s kids they are to drive and own a fleet of the most luxurious cars and to wear nothing “off the rack” unless it comes off the rack on Rodeo Drive or Savile Row. Never forget that Mr. Hinn was documented taking the Concorde to Paris to purchase some ties several years ago. (11)

If these people were truly people of God they would be constantly building Christian schools, educating pastors (naturally since none of these deceivers has any biblical education themselves that might be a stretch), building medical clinics, distributing Bibles by the boatload.

Joyce Meyer

Instead, they buy huge plots of land for themselves and their families upon which they build mansions (remember the expose by the Saint Louis Post Dispatch on the Joyce Meyer compound and the multiple mansions on her land) (12)   They purchase newer and faster private jets (which no one else can use, even to take a kidney across the country I suppose), fleets of Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz, Bentley and Escalades for themselves, family members and board members. The cost of just one of any of these automobiles could purchase at least a thousand bicycles for Pastors in India, not to mention maybe going as far, GASP, as buying them motor scooters so these true men of God can promote the Gospel more effectively!

It sickens my spirit to see how these false prophets profit mainly off those on fixed income and those who are biblically ignorant. What troubles me is the question of when will God’s people wake up and join the likes of DMI and other apologetic ministries and begin to point their fingers at these people are boldly declare “the emperor has no clothes on!”

We need to organize and get militant when they come to our towns. We need to make signs and picket outside their venues in a peaceful and godly manner. We need to be equipped with solid information to hand out to the people being drawn in by the sirens song of success and excess. We must let these folks know that there are congregations they can attend who will not rape them spiritually and steal from them financially. Lastly, we must let thee false prophets and false teachers know that God has watchmen and we are on the wall crying out a warning to His people. I take comfort in the words of Asaph and underlined what was and is pertinent to me:

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, “How can god know? Does the Most High have knowledge? This is what the wicked are like–always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fall, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

When you’ve made a career out of studying every religious crook, spiritual abuser, false prophet, false teacher, false apostle and blasphemer and they seem to continue to “prosper” and grow in popularity it can be depressing IF you take your eyes off of Jesus and forget that our reward is truly in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not break in and steal (Matt. 6:19) Another text has always kept me centered in this work and I hope it is a comfort to you as well:

Proverbs 36:7-9

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

My God has been faithful to manifest this (and other texts) in my life. I used to walk the floors and cry out to God “God I want to know the truth, I want to know the truth God” for hours some times. It took Him some years to break through my stubborn heart but He has finally brought me to the truth and He has delivered my wife and I from falsehood and keep lies far from us. We’ve always had our daily bread, been extremely close to poverty but not quite there. Well as to the riches, He has surely kept those from us for our own benefit. He has been teaching us the lesson the Apostle Paul learned Phil 4:11-13.    Selah  ♦

Copyright ©  2008 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes:

1. Watts, Jill God Harlem U.S.A. The Father Divine Story, University of California Press 1992, pp. 25-30.

2. The story about Father Divine and what his mission did is exceedingly amazing and you can either purchase the above book mentioned at http://www.abebooks.com or research his life on the internet, a fascinating false prophet.

3. Obtained from http://capeverde-islands.com/grace.html  on 08-07-08

4. Obtained from http://info.detnews.com/redeign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=182&CFID=21077377&CFTOKEN=96371783   on 08-07-2008

5. Obtained from: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverendike on 08-07-2008

BET is the Black entertainment Television which sells its time to any “Gospel” pimp who can afford it, much to their (BET’s) shame.

6. Obtained from: http://www.bishopjordan.com/whoweare/aboutjordan.htm on 08-07-2008. Underlining added; please note that the three individuals cited as comparisons to Jordan were all damnable heretics by any stretch of the imagination and NOT Christians!

7. http://endtimepropheticwords.wordpress.com/category/kenneth-copeland-eagle-mountain-kcm/

8. Obtained from: http://ap.google.com/article/AlegM5jhLNcxgGPktbbovb1kMFVwo7WK1wD92638KGO on 08-07-2008 underlining added, please note that the bold print was added for emphasis.

9. Obtained from: http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur38455.cfm on 08-12-08

10. Still the best book exposing Mr. Hinn for the liar he is The confusing world of Benny Hinn, Personal Freedom Outreach. www.pfo.org

11.Obtained from: http://www.stltoday.com/stitoday/news/special/joycemeyer.nsf/0/610CC8888098171886256256DDC0080820A? Open Document on 08-12-08

Where’s the Love Ladies – (and the Discernment)

Truth Matters Newsletters – October 2007 – Vol. 12 – Issue 10 – Where’s the Love Ladies (and the Discernment?) By Rev. Bob Liuchow & Jackie Alnor

Discernment Ministries International

Where’s the Love Ladies (and the Discernment?)

By Rev. Bob Liichow & Jackie Alnor

As you probably know by now both Paula White & Juanita Bynum have both trotted off to the divorce court. Divorce is always troubling to me especially in the marriage of Christians. One would image that since we’ve been forgiven in like manner what excuse can there be to proceed with divorce? After all the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) and this love comes directly from God and we know its character and the fruit of it in our lives.

Love is patient love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

Robert Tilton personally taught me (and others) that the “God” kind of faith Only produces when we walk in love…But then Mr. Tilton is currently in marriage number 3, so where’s the love Bobby? How’s that God kind of faith working for you these days I wonder?

The following televangelists have all gone through divorce: Bob Tilton, Richard Roberts, John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, Bishop Noel Jones, Bishop Clarence McClendon, and Robert Schuller. Now we can add to this sad list Paula & Randy White along with the “prophetess” Juanita Bynum.

Randy and Paula just decided to “go their separate” ways and got divorced for purely selfish reasons, nothing even remotely biblical. Will this effect their impact and future in ministry? If history has taught us anything the answer is “no” it will not effect them in the long run. What is even more curious to me is the case of Juanita Bynum (who we were exposed to in Detroit long before she became a superstar). She calls herself a “prophetess” of the Lord and says she hears from God for the Church and even the nations! If this is true then why didn’t she hear God tell her not to marry “Bishop” Weeks because he was a wife-beater? If she cannot obtain direction from God for her own life, then how can she expect anyone to believe her when she spews forth the word of the Lord to guide other peoples lives?

The following is an excellent article written by a fellow truth-teller and friend, sister Jackie Alnor. If you have a computer you can visit her website at http://www.apostasyalert.org

Jezebel & the Frog Prince – by Jackie Alnor

“Jezebel & the Frog Prince” – sounds like an Aesop’s fairy tale where the loving couple lives happily ever after. But not in the corrupt kingdom of televangelism where lowly church people are transformed into famous starlets whose role models are the rich and famous seen on the primary channels of the boob tube. The big difference between the secular and the religious celebrities are that the secular ones got to the top because of their talent and the televangelists rose to fame on the backs of the poor widows’ mites. ‘

This sad episode began in 2003 when the Trinity Broadcasting Network aired the wedding of Bishop Thomas Weeks to “prophetess” Juanita Bynum. The net cost for the event exceeded one million dollars and was one ugly display of conspicuous consumption with a big load of bad taste thrown in. Newsweek reported in an article called “Evangelist with a Big Stick”.

“The ceremony featured a wedding party of 80, a gown with a bodice covered in crystals and a 7.76-carat diamond ring…Bynum had waited all her life to have a fairy-tale wedding, she says. ‘It started out with a $500,000 budget, and then it just started growing like the blob,’ she says, adding, ‘I didn’t think it robbery to celebrate my day.’ “

The fairy tale ended just four years later in an Atlanta hotel parking lot in a scuffle in which the fairy tale prince Weeks went ballistic all over his Jezebel bride. Charisma Magazine’s Editor Lee Grady expressed the outrage so many Christians felt:

“Bishop Thomas Weeks III was arrested after being accused of kicking, choking and hitting his wife, prominent preacher Juanita Bynum, in a hotel paring lot in Atlanta on Aug. 22. We did not need another embarrassing display of religious hypocrisy played out in the national media. The incident gave the whole church a black eye and bruised our reputation. When I first heard that Weeks excused his actions (the devil made him do it, he claims) and that his congregation cheered his return to the pulpit (after he fled from police and then posted $40,000 bail), I was riled. What was this guy thinking?”

After the incident, Bishop Weeks gave a statement to the media via his attorney that seemed to imply that he isn’t the only one in the marriage that uses physical violence. The statement read on Fox News Atlanta, stated that they agree with Bynum that “any violence is a very important social issue.” The female lawyer completed the statement saying emphatically, “In fact, any violence in a relationship is an important social issue!”

Now evidence has come forth that demonstrates Bynum’s violent temper. Grady’s editorial called Juanita Bynum on her bad behavior leading up to the incident:

“I’m all for rousing sermons, but what Bynum often offers her audiences is downright mean. Eleven days before the Atlanta incident, Bynum told women at a large conference that they needed to learn to become harsh. Shocking clips of her comments were then posted on YouTube. Bynum told of how she corrected an unnamed assistant for being too nice when carrying out her orders. ‘I’m trying to teach you to be a bulldog!’ she declared with gritted teeth and a hateful expression.”

“When women did not shout loud enough after her comments, Bynum threatened them too ‘If somebody don’t start praising God right here, I’m gonna have to hit somebody with this microphone,’ she said. She also implied that women who treat others with polite restraint are ‘too suburb’ and need to learn the street-wise tactics of the ghetto.”

“Is this the new face of domestic violence? An angry woman preacher who threatens to hit people? A ‘bulldog’ who barks orders and teats subordinates rudely? Please.”

Another clip from YouTube shows Bynum laughing about how she handles men who give her trouble – she just threatens violence upon them. In this clip, she talks about threatening her man with a brick while Bishop Weeks looks on chuckling.

TBN: An Enabler of Evil –

Days after Bynum announced that she had filed for divorce from her second husband, the Trinity Broadcasting Network gave her a platform — the entire Praise the Lord program on September 4th – for her to announce that she was not going to lose a day doing her own brand of “ministry.” the TBN announcer, introduced her as “Prophetess Juanita Bynum,” a blind endorsement of her self-appointed spiritual greatness. The show opened with the most shameful display of celebrity idolatry imaginable, as Bynum pranced around shouting while an organ played a dramatic refrain in the background. As is TBN’s custom, when one of their own on-air celebrities gets bad publicity – due to their own outrageous behavior — TBN gives them a quick platform on the airwaves to do their damage control. So it has been this past week with Jezebels Paula White and Juanita Bynum.

Paul White, like Bynum, after announcing divorce plans from her second husband, Randy White, showed up on TBN’s Praise program hosted by singer Carmen. She too announced that she was going to just keep on going as if nothing was wrong as she makes money rubbing elbows with the likes of Donald Trump. Both women have followed in the steps of Tammy Faye Bakker Messner whose love affair with the television camera was apparent from the fact that she would agree to be on any TV program, no matter how undignified it made her look.

These women flaunt their carnal desires for wealth and success in the most nauseous manner imaginable and TBN lifts them up to the world as role models of Christian behavior. Grady pointed out that “the American church is hijacked by carnality” by these women.

In the bulldog video on YouTube referred to above, it opens with Juanita Bynum screaming out at the top of her lungs: “When I get out of this conference this year, I’m going to possess my place in the world, not in the church!” Bynum had already told Fox News of her plans to trade in her ministry to be a secular spokesperson for domestic abuse. She said she would begin her new crusade the following weekend at a campaign party for Illinois Sentor Barack Obama. She said the 2,000-person affair will be held at TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s home in California. Bynum’s followers have often called her a “Christian” version of Oprah. Apparently, she is quite comfortable with the African-American rich and famous. So what if Obama supports partial-birth abortion and Oprah is an open new ager. Bynum has shown her true colors –what matters to her is not spiritual truth or faithfulness to God, but her own success and wealth. The most despicable example of this fact can be seen on Bynum’s own website in a video announcement of her greatness.

The Tribute to Bynum begins with her dancing around in a variety of robes and holy attire. The announcer’s voice is dubbed over her antics saying:

“In every generation God raises up a revolutionary, a chief commander, a force who’s not afraid to cry aloud and spare not on behalf of his people [sound of a trumpet blast]. We call her ‘the prophetess to the nations’, whose very presence invokes a tangible anointing, fills stadiums, and changes lives. With transparency and brokenness, she ushers people into the presence and glory of God. Prophetess Juanita Bynum is an awesome teacher who delivers God’s word in season with brokenness, freshness, and authority. Juanita Bynum Ministries is world renown and has been marked with signs and wonders since its inception. From the war sheets to the threshing floor, the power of God has been unquestionable on Juanita Bynum’s life and ministry…”

The announcer highlights her attributes (comments in parenthesis are my observations):

• Best-selling author (thanks to Charisma Publishers and TBN)
• Popular television personality (courtesy of Jan Crouch)
• Ambassador to world leaders (thanks to T.D. Jakes)
• National recording artist (glory to her role models Aretha Franklin & Donna Summer)
• Executive producer, playwright, and “powerful actress” (by way of idolatrous church members)

Announcer: “Though she has crossed denomination lines, is respected as a spiritual leader in this generation and as one of the most admired African-American women of today, still the totality of Juanita Bynum has yet to be revealed!”

• Upcoming ventures include:
• New magazine – Ethme
• Her own reality show
• Opening of the Country Spa
• Mount Olive line of candles & tea
• Her own make-up line also called Ethme

Then the final rallying cry:

“From the preacher, teacher, ambassador, entrepreneurial mastermind herself – Juanita Bynum!”

The shameful display of self-promotion and her calling herself a “prophetess” is what makes it biblical to refer to her as “Jezebel.” Every Christian in America should write a heartfelt letter to Paul Crouch Jr. at TBN rebuking him for allowing such wickedness to be displayed on the public airwaves when he has the power to stop it. This fairy tale of Jezebel and the Frog Prince puts all of Christianity up for ridicule — what an unhappy ending for all of Christendom. The enablers are just as guilty as the perpetrators in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to public scorn.

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that women Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” (Rev. 2:20)

Obtained from : http://www.apostasyalert.org/REFLECTIONS/jezebel.htm on Sept 26, 2007

_____________________________________

Folks I understand that in extreme cases divorce is the only way out for some couples, but I believe that is the exception and not the rule. Today in the Church the rate of divorce is a little higher than in the world and this simply should not be. The majority of divorces are due to selfishness, pride, and unforgiveness.

Certainly it is not the unforgivable sin and I am not judging anyone who has been divorced. I do know this, God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) and I pray for all Christian marriages that they by God’s grace withstand the pressures of the world which seek to split up couples and families to the greater detriment of society. ♦

Copyright © Robert S. Liichow

 

Rekindling An Extinguished Flame (Making Money Off A Memory)

Truth Matters Newsletters – February 2007 – Vol. 12 Issue 2 – Rekindling An Extinguished Flame (Making Money Off A Memory) by Rev. Bob Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Rekindling An Extinguished Flame

(Making Money Off A Memory)

By Rev. Bob Liichow

This month’s issue of Charisma magazine had several things which caught my eye, but two advertisements really speak to where the emphasis is within the Charismatic Movement today. On page 62 of the February, 2007 issue of Charisma you can read the following information from a three-quarter page ad:

A.A. Allen’s

Miracle Valley

Resurrected

Resurrection Glory Tent Revival

February 21-25th, 2007

‘Miracles, Healings, Signs and Wonders once again at

Miracle Valley, Arizona.

A Generation later God is now restoring this massive

Well

Of Glory and Power! (1)

Naturally, two names come to the forefront when you consider A.A. Allen’s legacy, R.W. Schambach and Don Steward both of which can be seen on “Christian” television on a regular basis. Schambach is a regular guest on TBN and is brought out especially during Beg-a-thons because he appeals to the “old school” Pentecostals due to him being one of the last roving tent revivalists. Don Stewart has his own television broadcast. Both men will on occasion mention A.A. Alan’s name in passing to let their viewers know they walked with a General of Pentecostal power. Roberts LIARdon devotes an entire chapter to A.A. Alan in his book “God’s Generals.”

As I read down through the Charisma ad, which has a large picture of A.A. Allen in the upper left corner, I expected to read that either R.W. or Stewart were going to be speakers or hosting the event due to their being Allen’s former right and left hand men. Yet neither person is involved with the “Resurrection Glory Tent Revival.”

Could this be because the ad states that “God is now restoring this massive well of Glory and Power,” meaning that Allen’s mantle of miracle power did not fall upon Schambach or Stewart? With the death of Allen did the “masive well” of God’s power run dry and only now is being restored? First, we would have to agree that at some point there was a massive well of power in Miracle Valley, AZ. Secondly, we’d have to agree that the well through which this miracle power flowed was no less than Asa A. Allen.

I find a couple of interesting comparisons between charismatic extremists and Roman Catholicism. First, both groups believe there is or can be places where God moves specifically. For the Roman Catholic it may be dipping in the water at Lourdes, France or staring at the Sun on a hilltop in Medjugorie, Bosnia-Hercegovina. For the charismatic extremist it might be Azusa Street. CA. or the graves of Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman. Benny Hinn visits both tombs to re-charge his alleged anointing. (2) It seems that the final resting place of A.A. Alen’s is the latest place where people can come and receive miracles, healings and signs and wonders once again! A second comparison between these two groups is the belief in some form of “apostolic succession.” For the Roman Catholic that belief is centered on the office of the Pope. For the extremist it is a belief that God’s power can be bestowed from one anointed minister into another lesser anointed one. This is why many younger ministers will often mention how hands were laid upon them by some past (or current) man or woman of faith-N-power! I might as well add a third comparison between these groups of professing believers, that of the power of human mediators. For the Roman Catholic it can be a host of deceased saints, the Virgin Mary being the greatest of all mediators in their minds. Charismatic extremist televangelists foster the belief that their prayers are especially efficacious. Oral Roberts built an empire based on this misguided belief. Ever since he built his prayer tower he has used it as a tool to garner millions of dollars from God’s gullible saints. I mean, after all , if Oral is going to shut himself in with God to pray for me specifically, then surely God will answer my prayer request (along with other millions or so Oral will personally bring “before God.”). Hinn does the same thing on his television broadcasts when he and his guest or henchman will all lay their hands on the huge stack of prayer requests and prey on., I mean pray “for” God’s needy saints.

Since the advertisement states that “once again” this massive well of glory and power is being restored it behooves us to ask the question was A.A. Allen ever such a well of glory and power during his ministry?

A Little Stroll Down Memory Lane

It has been over thirty years since Allen died so many of our readers may not remember or even know who he was back in the day, as we like to say on the eastside of Detroit regarding the past. As the old adage says, “those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it” is certainly true regarding Allen and all the fake-healers that preceded and proceeded from him.

Allen claims to have received Christ at a Methodist meeting in 1934 and within a couple of years he became part of the Assembly of God (AOG) in 1936 and began ministering with them at that point. While an AOG Evangelist Allen in the mid to late 1930’s Allen claimed to have shut himself literally in a closet and fasted and prayed asking the Lord for the secret of His power. Allen claimed that God honored his prayers and revealed to him what the price tag was for miracles:

‘…When the last requirement was written down on the list, God spoke once again, and said: ‘This is the answer. When you have placed on the altar of consecration and obedience the last thing on your list, you shall not only heal the sick, but in My name shall you cast out devils, you shall see mighty miracles as in My Name you preach the Word, for behold, I give you power over all the power of the enemy…At last, here was the price I must pay for the power of God in my life and ministry. THE PRICE TAG OFFER THE MIRACLE-WORKING POWER OF GOD! (3)

“God” revealed to Allen thirteen works he had to do and when he had done all 13 of them, then God’ power would flow in his life. Allen only revealed eleven of the thirteen to is followers, saying that the last two had to do with “pet sins” in his life.

However, it was not until he participated in an Oral Roberts tent miracle revival meeting in 1949 that Allen got into the flow amidst a field of almost 200 other roving healing revivalists:

While attending an Oral Roberts Tent revival in 1949, Allen felt a burden to reach the lost with the miracle-working power of God and he soon hit the revival trail. Allen would be part of the “Golden-Era of Tent Evangelism,” that flourished between the end of World War Two and the mid-1960s. (4)

I can’t say for a certainty whether or not Allen “felt a burden” or not. When we consider his history and the fruit he brought forth it seems more likely that he believed he could do what Roberts did. Allen saw the large offerings being taken by Roberts, saw him lay his “anointed” right hand on the sick in healing lines, heard the standard Pentecostal revival preaching (Roberts was still Pentecostal at that point in time, he later left the Pentecostals and became a Methodist) and no doubt thought “I can do that too.” So Allen transformed himself into “A.A. Allen, healing evangelist” with the AOG. Allen stayed with the AOG until 1955 when they defrocked him and took his ministerial license away due to him being arrested in Knoxville,TN on a drunk driving charge. Instead of facing the charges in court, he jumped bail and fled the state (R.W. Schambach was with Allen as they fled the state). (5)

In true Latter Rain style (keep in mind by 1955 the New Order of the Latter Rain was in full gear) Allen simply re-ordained himself and started up as an independent ministry calling it the “Miracle Revival Fellowship,” along with the biggest tent of all the tent revivalists, he hit the road and hit pay dirt.

In 1955 Allen purchased a tent for $8,700 that would seat over ten thousand people , and Allen was soon one of the major healing evangelists on the revival circuit. Allen’s revival meetings were similar to the other leading evangelists of the time (such as Jack Coe, Oral Roberts, and William Branham) where there would be an extended time for music and testifying, then a sermon, then an appeal for those in need to come forward and be prayed for. Allen opened his revival meetings to all races, and his interracial meetings drew criticism, but Allen used the criticism as a platform to preach upon. (6)

Later Allen cut the tent up and sold pieces of it as point-of-contact devices saying that the tent had absorbed healing power from all the miracles that transpired under it (and you thought some Roman Catholics were superstitious)! In 1958, Allen purchased the largest of all the tents on the circuit, he bought Jack Coe’s tent which seated 22,000. Coe had died in 1956, so Allen got the tent for a good price, but he was “visionary” enough to see the future of revivalism. Not long after he purchased the huge tent, Allen was given 1,280 acres of land in Arizona by Urbane Lienen Decker. This large tract of desert land was soon to become Allen’s headquarters and he renamed this land “Miracle Valley.”

Miracle Valley, Arizona, is at the base of the Huachuca Mountains in the southeast corner of the state. There, Allen had his own airfield, a Cessna 150 aircraft, a record company (with 47 albums going), a 3,000 seat church, and a telephone prayer center. He appeared on 58 radio stations daily, and on 43 TV stations weekly…Miracle Magazine, a monthly publication with a circulation of 350,000 was produced and printed at Miracle Valley. (7)

Allen saw the future was in radio, television and print media’s and he was one of the first of the modern “televangelists.

Allen became one of the first to develop a national television ministry and broadcast prophecies and deliverances from demons over the airwaves. Allen is credited with helping to start over four hundred churches and led a revival in the Philippines. Allen also founded a Bible School in Miracle Valley, to fulfill his visions; ‘a place where thousands could be trained up to deliver the Word of God to the multitudes in need’. At a revival meeting on Jauary 1st, 1958, at Phoenix, Arizona Urbane Leign Decker, a recent convert and Spirit filled, approached Allen and offered him 1280 acres (5.2 km) of the finest land in Arizona, free of charge and with no strings attached. Within days a deed was recorded in the name of A.A. Allen Revivals, Inc. at the Cochise County Courthouse. (8)

Allen was pulling in around 4 million a year, which back then was a great deal of money, naturally I realize this in no way compares to Mr. Hinn’s one hundred (100) million + dollars per year today. Yet back in the late 1950’s and through the 1960’s a million dollars was a lot of money. In 1969 reporters from Look magazine wrote an article on Allen. These reporters concluded that Allen’s greatest miracle power was his unique ability to separate bills from billfolds. Let me cite James Randi again regarding this “power” of Allen:

He was very good at that. In his heyday, he claimed he sent out over 55 million copies of his publications from his mail room every year. He sold water from his Pool of Bethesda in Miracle Valley to customers all over the world. Said Allen of this commodity, ‘People are being healed instantly while they sip it as an act of faith’ Containers of plain dirt from the valley were also sold though no instructions went along with them. The reverend displayed demons in glass mason jars, sealed up safely and looking very, very dead. Allen told the faithful that those the preserved specimens might look to some insensitive, unbelieving folks like ordinary toads, snakes, and spiders, they were actually disease demons. (9)

Delivering folks from demons was one of Allen’s stock-in-trade shticks. However, Allen could not deliver himself from the demon of alcoholism and substance abuse. What is sad is that those closest to him did nothing to stop his self-destruction. R.W. Schambach and Don Stewart had to have known about this problem in Allen’s life, but both have kept silent and denied his alcoholism to this very day. I suppose they did not want to kill the “golden goose” by confronting the man of faith-and-power with his own “demons.”

During 1969 Allen was a sick man who according to Roberts LIARdon suffered from a severe arthritic condition in his knee. Somehow Roberts failed to mention the revelations in the Look article which proved Allen to be a fraud. Instead he tries to paint a sympathetic picture of a man in so much pain that he must take strong addictive drugs to combat it:

In fact, it is documented that his personal physician, Dr. Seymour Farber, prescribed Percodan, Seconal, and Valium to ease the pain and for insomnia brought on by the severity of the pain. (10)

On June 11, 1970 Allen checked into the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco. He made a phone call to a close friend at 9:00 P.M. who was alarmed by whatever or however Allen spoke to him, so much so that he drove over to the Hotel and got the manger to open Allen’s room with the master key. According to the Coroner’s report A.A. Allen was declared officially dead at 11:23 P.M. that evening. In the room was a bottle of whiskey and numerous bottles of prescription drugs. According to the death certificate (which DMI has an official copy of – See at End of article) Allen died of “acute” alcoholism and fatty infiltration of the liver.” In the words of Paul Harvey, “now you know the rest of the story.”

Brothers and sisters, there is no independent recorded evidence of any creative miracles or divine healing in Mr. Allen’s ministry. We do know he was extremely sensational, so much so that almost every other revivalist stayed away from him due to his wild unsubstantiated claims. It is a fact that he jumped bail and fled TN due to a DUI charge. We know that his wife left him around 1962 in a legal separation. We know he was being sued for over $300,000 in back taxes in 1967. We know his doctor had him on highly addictive drugs, which I believe, combined with his drinking, eventually caused his death on June 11th, 1970. A.A. Allen was not a man of wonder-working power or of miracles and signs and wonders.

Yet these documented facts do not seem to matter to those holding the “Resurrection Glory Tent Revival” on the Miracle Valley property later this month. Since Schambach and steward are not involved in this meeting, who is you might ask? It is being sponsored primarily by David Herzog and his wife Stephanie. If you go to their web site www.thegloryzone.org you can read about their miracle ministry! On their site they claim jewels from heaven are manifesting in some of their meetings. They show pictures of people with their mouths gaping open showing the “gold teeth” God has supernaturally given them, etc…In other words they, like the man they esteem, Mr. Allen, seem to be totally caught up in the sensational and not the Scriptural. Naturally, on their web site there is no proof given for any of the testimonies or pictures on their web site. DMI has looked into various alleged reports of gem stones and gold teeth and we have yet to find any proof of such things. So be aware a new generation of frauds, fakes and thieves are being raised up to fill the place where Allen on stood.

Just When You Thought It Could Get No Worse

As if propping Allen up as a miracle worker was not bad enough, Charisma on the adjacent page sells a full page advertisement to “Mel Bond.” (Who you might rightly ask is Mel Bond?) According to his Ad he is a “last day Apostle of signs and wonders.” What is more, Mr. Bond is holding a school of signs and wonders, here is a portion of the ad:

Sound the Alarm

New School of Signs and Wonder

I am building an army equipped with the ministry of signs and wonders to go to the world and openly on platforms demonstrate the power of God by healing the blinded eyes, deaf ears, crippleness, incurable pain and the dead corpses to rise, ALL INSTANTLY THAT THE Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:12-14).   (11)

DMI is in fact “sounding the alarm” that another flake is on the loose. I’m sorry if I do not sound very merciful towards Mr. Bond, but I have yet to see the Scripture so openly and obviously twisted and misstated as his ad proclaims. What is worse is that this nonsense passed the inspection of the Editors of Charisma magazine. They see no problem at all with the above statement. Bond goes on to say the following:

According to God’s Word, God is waiting on the ministry of Signs and Wonders to bring in the masses throughout the world and then the rapture will take place (Joel 2:28-32; Rev. 4:6; 5:9). In this one week of schooling I will teach & demonstrate (1 Cor. 2:4,5) in the classroom how to see in the spirit world, how to feel God’s anointing, how to place God’s anointing into physical bodies for instant miracles, and how to release God last days anointing for Signs and Wonders. At the end of the week together, you will have learned to do the same. (12)

Oh really? Where does the Bible speak of a “last days anointing? It seems in order to move this hitherto unknown anointing one simply needs to attend Mr. Bond’s class? It is not a question of the sovereign good pleasure of God, nor is it up to the Holy Spirit to bestow His gifts as He wills (1 Cor. 12:7). No, friends in these dark and evil last days it takes only a week of instruction by one of God’s restored Last Day Apostles {drum roll please} “Apostle Mel Bond.”

In Matthew 12:39 Jesus answered His crowd saying “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” God has never used signs and wonders to create saving faith in people. The Israelites saw daily miracles and yet the entire generation could not enter into the promised land due to their unbelief, except Joshua and Caleb. The genuine Apostle, the Apostle Paul said that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The same Apostle said that the Gospel is the POWER OF GOD unto salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16).

Last Days Anointing for Signs and Wonders?

Mr. Bond claims that the rapture cannot and will not occur until the “ministry of Signs and Wonders” brings in the masses of lost throughout the world. Oh really? What saith the Scriptures?

Jesus asks quite clearly that when He returns to earth will He find faith (Luke 18:8)? It is a rhetorical question with the answer of “no.” Our Lord also says that in the last days the love of most will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). How does Mel deal with texts such as the following:

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:22-23.

For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. {Possibly interpreted ‘I am the anointed’}. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matthew 24:5,10,11

He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. Luke 21:8

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  2 Thess. 2:9-10

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  2 Timothy 4:3-4

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 2 Thess 2:3

Sorry Mel and anyone else who is counting on some great tidal wave of revival and soul-winning to occur that will precipitate the return of our Lord. If such a thing were true then the return of Christ depends upon the Church and not God’s will; which is exactly what Bond’s ad implies when it states that “God is waiting on the ministry of signs and wonders.” I’m sorry but did I miss something in reading my Bible? Where exactly is a “ministry” of signs and wonders mentioned and moreover where doe the Bible declare that anyone can be taught to flow in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit?

A plain reading of the Biblical texts show that the very end of times (which has been going on now for almost two thousand years) is a time of apostasy from genuine faith, a time when men {and women} will declare themselves to be anointed by God, a time when the love of most will grow cold towards God and each other. It will be a time of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders to deceive those seeking a sign versus the God behind the sign. The end times will be a time when multitudes will gather to themselves teachers that suit their own fleshly lusts and desires, i.e. people teaching things they want to hear as opposed to what the Bible actually teaches. Humm…maybe we are in those times.

Let me close out this sad episode of deception by letting you know that Mr. Benny Hinn, not to be outdone by an “unknown” like Mel Bond also is now offering a “Signs and Wonders School of Ministry.” Unlike Bond’s Mr. Hinn offers his school online and at a cost. Mel Bond’s school is free: the only cost is room, board and travel to his home base located at 140 N. Point Prairie, Wentzville, MO. So all DMI Missouri readers, if you live near Wentzville consider these dates: March 26-30 or October 22-26 of this year to attend a week of classes on how to become a super-raising the dead and lifting wallets saint of the Most High!! ♦

Copyright © Robert S. Liichow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End Note

1 Charisma, February, 2007, p. 62. Bold type and underlining added for emphasis.

2. In an April 7,1991 sermon, Hinn revealed that he periodically visits Kuhlman’s grave and that he is one of the few with a key to gain access to it. He also visits Aimee’s grave. Where he says: “I felt a terrific anointing…I was shaking all over…trembling under the power of God…’Dear God, ‘ I said, ‘I feel the anointing…I believe the anointing has lingered over Aimee’s body.” Obtained from http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/bhinn.html on 01-2007

3. Liardon, Roberts God’s Generals, Tulsa, OK: Asbury Publishing, 1996, p. 390.

4. Obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Allen on 01-28-07

5. Randi, James. The Faith Healers, Prometheus Books: Buffalo, New York. 1987, p.85

6. Obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Allen on 01-28-07 underlining added for emphasis.

7. Randi, James. The Faith Healers, Prometheus Books: Buffalo, New York. 1987, p.84

8. Obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Allen on 01-28-07

9. Randi, James. The Faith Healers, Prometheus Books: Buffalo, New Yor. 1987, p. 87.

10. Liardon Roberts, God’s Generals, Tulsa, OK: Asbury Publishing, 1996, p. 408.

11. Charisma, February, 2007, p. 63. Bold type and underlining added for emphasis

12. Ibid. Italics, underlining and bold type added.

Benny HINN JOINS the Jet Set

Truth Matters Newsletters – January 2007 – Vol. 12 Issue 1 – Benny Hinn JOINS the Jet Set – by Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Benny HINN JOINS the Jet Set

I guess it comes as no surprise, other than why did it take Benny such a long time to join the televangelist “jet set,” but that day has come. According to the Trinity Foundation Mr. Hinn’s SINistry are now the proud owners of a Gulstream private executive jet. His plane is bigger than Mr. Copeland’s new Citation X, but Copeland’s plane can fly higher and faster. Benny’s jet is not as big as Paul and Jan’s Canadaire, but it is newer.

In the minds of all these jet-setters, i.e. Mr. Copeland, Cashflow Dollar, the Crouches, Keith Butler, Benny Hinn and others… They are simply too important and their message or anointing are vital for the advancement of the Kingdom of God ergo that they cannot fly commercial. They must be able to leave at the drop of the hat as the Spirit leads them (or in case they have to blow town or a nation in a big hurry). Hinn’s plan was paid for, by the infirmed, poor and desperate people who think God will/can heal them through Hinn. What a shame.  ♦

Copyright © Robert S. Liichow

See Related Article: The Jet Set  https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/the-jet-set/ 

 

Carlton Pearson’s “Gospel” of Inclusion

Truth Matters Newsletters- November 2006 – Vol. 11 Issue 1 – Carlton Pearson’s “Gospel” of Inclusion – By Rev. Robert S. Liichow and Gary Hand

Discernment Ministries International

Carlton Pearson’s “Gospel” of Inclusion

By Robert S. Liichow

We were in the car driving to Church a couple of Sunday mornings ago and I turned to our local Public Broadcasting station hoping to hear some classical music. Instead of hearing Chopin, I heard a familiar voice, one I had not heard in many years, that of Pastor Carlton Pearson.

I have personally met and spoken with Carlton years ago when he spoke at Jubilee Christian Church in Detroit (back then he was a mere Word of Faith heretic). Now many years later I heard his voice again, this time applauded as a heretic of a different stripe. Sadly, like all error when left unchecked it grows worse and worse. Paul rightly states in 1 Cor. 5:6 that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, which is why truth so desperately matters. Pearson had gone from espousing the heresy of the Word of Faith cult to being the “poster child” of the false Gospel of Universalism. He has gone from being heretical in many areas of doctrine to being apostate from the One Holy and Apostolic Church.

The reason why this issue of Truth Matters is devoted to Mr. Pearson and his aberrant doctrine is because I believe that the stage is set spiritually for his deviant message to be embraced by a wide audience. Our era has been culturally prepared by Hollywood movies, television programs, radio talk shows, the music industry, liberal politicians, and even some seeker-sensitive leaders to accept Pearson’s revamped message of universal reconciliation. Pearson has a charismatic personality, he is well spoken, fairly well educated, and has a great deal of media exposure. He is currently being used as a force for the darkness of deception that cannot be ignored.

A Little Background on Pearson —

Carlton grew up in a Pentecostal family. On the radio interview, (1) he readily admitted that all his ministerial mentors had absolutely no theological training. He began his public ministry at the age of 16 and unlike his forebears he decided to attend college. Carlton attended Oral Roberts University, graduated from there, and later received an honorary doctorate from Oral. Oral considered Carlton to be his “black” son in the Gospel. At one point Carlton was a member of the Board of Regents at ORU, but was removed due to his aberrant beliefs (which is saying something when one considers the host of aberrant beliefs upheld by Roberts and his ilk). He also served on the College of Bishops of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, which has also renounced him and his doctrines.

As a WOF heretic, Pearson built up a large following, eventually leading the Higher Dimensions Family Church (HDFC), a mega-church of close to 5,000 members, in Tulsa, OK for twenty years. He was a regular guest on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the 700 Club and was even a guest at the White House during the terms of both Bush Presidents. He is also a Grammy nominated singer and he authored a variety of books and booklets as well as a two-time Stellar Award-winning and Dove Award-nominated recording artist. In short, Pearson was a very big fish in the WOF/charismatic pond. He was influential in bringing T.D. Jakes into the limelight. (2) In all fairness to Mr. Jakes, he does not endorse Pearson today. “Bishop T.D. Jakes told Charisma Magazine that Pearson’s theology is wrong, false, misleading and an incorrect interpretation of the bible. (3)

Pearson also held annual revival conferences entitled “Azusa” at the Maybee Center on the ORU campus and marketed the music CD’s through Integrity Music, which has since pulled his contract and no longer publishes his songs. All the hoi polloi of charismatic stardom attended the Azusa conferences. The speakers included Mr. Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts, Bishop Earl Paulk, Marilyn Hickey and others. The Azusa annual conferences was A financial boom to Tulsa’s local economy by an estimated $10 million each year for the last 14 years. (4)

This man was literally the “golden boy” of Charismania. He had the backing of its elder statesman, Oral Roberts, he was bringing in millions of dollars per year through his congregation, recording and book sales. Pearson was an internationally sought after convention speaker, out-spoken conservative black Republican and a regular guest on TBN.

Yet, today all of this is nothing but a painful memory to Carlton and those who once adored him. Gone are the 5,000 members; he is now down to around 100-200 people in a rented hall. The bank foreclosed on the huge complex, Higher Dimensions Family Church. Gone are the recording and publishing contracts. Gone are the speaking engagements and close friendship he shared with Jakes, Hinn, Hickey, the Crouches and other charismatic glitterati. I seriously doubt that G.W. will be inviting Carlton to the next White House Prayer Breakfast.

What Happened?

Simply this Carlton Pearson stopped believing that God would send any people to hell. He denounced the doctrine of eternal damnation as a false teaching from the HDFC pulpit. News of his new doctrinal stance quickly spread and even after many of his charismatic ministry friends and associates tried to counsel Pearson and get him to recant his position he refused. His counselors, for all their doctrinal errors, knew Pearson was wrong on this point and so severely so they rightly broke fellowship with him. Instead of humbly submitting himself to the orthodox teachings of the Christian Church for two thousand years, Carlton, in a supreme act of pride said the Church has been wrong and that he will restore the “true” Gospel back to the Church!

Pearson states: “A careful study of early church history will show that the doctrine of universal restoration was the prevailing doctrine of the Primitive Christian Church.” History does not show that the doctrine of universalism was held by the Primitive Christian Church as he and others claim. It was Origen in the 3rd century who began to espouse this view as he held to a more allegorical interpretation of Scripture, but it was never held as an Orthodox Church view. (5)

Every cult leader has taken this posture. The entire Church is wrong and now God is restoring biblical truth through him or her.

One does not arrive at this position overnight and although Pearson does not go into great detail as to why he took this heterodox stance, I believe we have enough information to come to the reason why he departed from the faith.

Pearson started off as a member of a Pentecostal church, the Church of God in Christ, which is at best semi-pelegian doctrinally. They preach a form of “decision-theology” when it comes to Salvation. They are very works oriented. One works to get saved and then one must continue with various works in order to stay “saved.” From his childhood, through his time at ORU and then as a pastor he has been driven by works evangelism in the classic Charles Finney frame of mind. (6) Pearson admits as much in his radio interview. Here is a transcript of a portion of that interview:

…and it all came to a head one evening, in front of the television, when my little girl who will be nine next month, was an infant, returning from Rwanda to Uganda, and umm Peter Jennings was doing a piece on it, now Majesty was my little girl and I was watching these little kids with swollen bellies, and it looks like their skin is stretched across their little skeleton remains, their hair is kind of red from malnutrition, the babies are, they got flies in the corners of their eyes and mouths, and they reached for the mother’s breast and the mother’s breast are like pencils, there’s no milk, and I, my little fat faced baby with a plate full and a big screen television, and I said, “God I don’t know how you can call yourself a loving Son of God, and allow these people to suffer this way, and then just suck them right into hell,” which was my assumption, and then I heard a voice say within me, “So that’s what you think we’re doing?” and then I remember I didn’t say yes or no, I said, “that’s what I was taught, we’re sucking them into hell,” I said, “yes” well they need to get saved.” “and how will that happen” “someone needs to preach the gospel to them and get them saved” so if you think that that’s the only way to get saved is for someone to preach the gospel to them and we’re sucking them into hell, why don’t you put you’re little baby down and turn your big screen television, I’ll push your plate away, get on the first plane, well get them saved, um, and I remember this all broken up and in tears, I was very upset, I remember thinking, “God don’t pull that guilt on me, “I’ve given you the best forty years of my life, besides, I can’t save the whole world, I’m doing the best I can, I can’t save this whole world. And that’s when I remembered, I believe it was God saying precisely, “You can’t save this whole world, that’s what we did. Do you think we’re sucking them into hell? Can’t you see, they’re already there?” That’s hell. You keep creating and inventing that for yourselves, I’m taking them into my presence. (7)

Due to the impact of Finney’s Pelagianism, Carlton and multitudes of others within the Church believe they must do something in order to bring about the salvation of the lost. Pearson said further on in this interview that every time he sat down next to someone on a plane he felt compelled to open his Bible in front of them and challenge them regarding their faith (or lack thereof) in Christ. His goal, like that of Campus Crusade For Christ, was to get as many people as possible to repeat the “sinners prayer” with him. He felt guilt when he did not witness in this manner and he also felt guilt when he did witness and people did not respond to his invitation. Keep in mind according to Finney it is the job of the evangelist to compel the lost into the kingdom of Heaven using any means necessary. (8)

Let me state quite clearly, that I believe in the necessity of witnessing our faith to others. We are commanded by Jesus Christ to go into the entire world and preach the Gospel (Mark 16:15). I have no problem with brothers and sisters passing out tracts, knocking on doors, and inviting people to their local church. However, we must keep first and foremost in our mind that salvation is of the Lord (read Psl. 37:39). God uses the foolishness of preaching to draw people to faith in Jesus (read 1 Cor. 1:21). The Bible clearly states that one man plants and another waters, but it is GOD who gives the increase (read 1 Cor. 3:7).

All Roads Lead to Heaven —

Pearson’s problem was that in spite of all his working to “get” people saved, multitudes were not saved. Instead of simply bowing his head and humbly submitting to a loving sovereign God, who although not obligated to saving anyone, is saving multitudes daily through the Gospel…he gets mad and accuses God of being unloving and unjust and allowing multitudes to suffer and in the end sending them to eternal damnation. In fact Pearson is on record making the following statement about God’s righteous judgment: “a God who eternally condemns non-Christians would be worse than Hitler. ‘Hitler killed six million [people], mostly Jews. He is the most despised man in the twentieth century. Is God worse than Hitler, who’s going to burn eternally, endlessly, billions of people?” (9)

Due to his lack of a biblical worldview (see Matt. 7: 26) when confronted by the sad realities of a fallen world Carlton makes the classic mistake and chooses one of God’s attributes, love specifically, over the other. He chooses to see God now only as a God of love and total reconciliation. Pearson states in an interview “I believe that most people on planet earth will go to heaven, because of Calvary, because of the unconditional love of God, and the redemptive work of the cross, which is already accomplished.” (10) In an interview he states:

“Jesus was not a Christian, He was a Jew. God, however, is Spirit and cannot be confined exclusively to any particular religion including Christianity. He’s not Jewish or Christian or Hindu or Buddhist; yet He is all of that if we want or need Him to be, while at the same time, none of it conclusively, because He can’t be and, in fact, is not limited to a person’s or culture’s perception of Him. He loves everybody, He understands everybody, and He has a covenant with everybody—again, whether they know it or not. (11)

He does this at the expense of God’s other attributes such as holiness (see Rev. 15:4); sovereignty (see Isa. 46:10); the wrath of God (see Deut. 32:39-41); the decrees of God (see Isa. 40:13,14; Eph 1:4; etc.). The point is simply this—always remember that our God is perfectly balanced in all His attributes. He is equally; loving, just, merciful, compassionate, righteous, holy, and vengeful of sin at the same time with no aspect of His Person being more pronounced than any other.

Paraphrasing Carlton’s words he states that he heard a voice which told him that we, the Church, were putting people into hell and that God on the other hand was bringing them into His presence. This voice told Carlton that these poor suffering souls were in hell now, while on earth.

It was on this basis of this experience that Carlton began to create a new version of an old heresy he calls “The Gospel of Inclusion.”

The Gospel of Inclusion

Pearson now believes that since God so loved the world and Jesus died for all the sins of the world, then the entire world is already saved. The following comments come from a brother who has written an excellent article on Mr. Pearson. This information is used with Gary Hand’s kind permission:

A. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection paid the price for all of humanity to have eternal life in heaven, without any requirement to repent of sins and receive salvation.

B. Belief in Jesus Christ is not necessary for a person to go to heaven. Salvation is unconditional, granted by the grace of God to every human being.

C. It is presumed that all of humanity will have its destiny in heaven, whether they realize it or not.

D. All of humanity will go to heaven regardless of their religious affiliation, including those who believe in false religions or adopt any other form of religious persuasion, or who have no religious persuasion.

E. Only those who have “tasted of the fruits” of real intimacy with Christ and have “intentionally and consciously rejected” the grace of God will spend eternity separated from God.

F. There are persons in some type of hell, but the emphasis is “to get away from the picture of an angry, intolerant God. I don’t see God that bitter.”

The Nature of God

Carlton Pearson’s difficulty begins with a flawed concept of God in relation to man. In presenting aberrant doctrines, the attempt is always made to define the nature and character of God as less than who He is, and to raise the level of the nature and character of man to a position which he is not entitled. A wrong view of God leads to a wrong view of Jesus Christ, a wrong view of the Holy Spirit and eventually to a wrong view of the elements of salvation.

Through his claim that the God, traditionally believed by orthodox Christians, is a bitter God, Carlton Pearson sets up a “straw man” argument or a false premise, against which he argues and makes his claims. He does the same by defining the reason for God’s anger being bitterness on His part, which is a human characteristic but not one of god. He wishes to disassociate himself from those who he claims believe in this “bitter God” that he created, for sake of argument, “to get away from the picture of an angry, intolerant God. I don’t see God that bitter,” Choosing his words poorly, he intimates that he actually does believe in a “bitter” God, because to state that God is not “that bitter” is to assume that He is bitter to a lesser degree. Orthodox belief would deny that God is bitter and would state that a bitter God has never been a tenant of true Christian doctrine. In setting up his false argument, he makes a claim against orthodox belief that is not true, and at the same time places himself in a position where he affirms, by his own words, that he accepts a belief in a bitter god who is just not “that bitter.”

He seems to believe that God’s intolerance of sin and consequent anger expressed against it, an taught in the bible and found in orthodox belief, is equated with bitterness. By his acceptance of a bitter God himself, he assigns to God a deviant human characteristic which is the result of a fallen nature, and at the same time denigrates the character and integrity of God by assuming that He acts on the same level as human beings.

Carlton Pearson, by an ever-so-subtle method, begins to teach about a different God than is found in the Bible. He teaches about a God who is less than is His Holy nature, and by just a slight degree, is closer to the nature of humanity than the Bible reveals. So the character and nature of God is lessened by that small step which will lead to a greater lessening of the character and nature of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and a consequent vast change in the nature of salvation.

Jesus Christ

The question that is presented in Carlton Pearson’s doctrine, which has been discussed and answered many times, is, “For whom did Christ die?” Carlton Pearson would answer that He died for every person in the world that ever lived and will ever live. At the same time he would claim that the death of Christ was also efficacious (effective) for every person in the world that ever lived and will ever live. By that claim, he then states that all men are saved and going to heaven as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ, regardless of their religious view, even if they do not know or believe in Jesus Christ.

However, in his theology, the majority of human beings, who are saved and going to heaven, are second class persons in the heavenly scheme of things, because those who are a “Born Again Believer” and are the “sanctified” individuals through a specific belief in Jesus Christ, are also “set apart to and for special service, ranking and relationship both with and to The Lord Jesus Christ…,” which he claims is taught in 1 Corinthians 1:2. (This is strikingly similar to the Trip To Heaven dream that Jesse Duplantis claimed to have, in which there are two catagories of Christians, where the weaker ones must smell the leaves of the Tree of Life in order to get strength.) So, his theology becomes apparent: salvation is given to every human being, unconditionally through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because, a personal relationship or faith in Jesus Christ is not necessary to obtain salvation. However, sanctification, or the setting apart to a higher ranking, is accomplished by a specific belief and relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the absolute reverse of orthodox belief. Since Carlton Pearson claims to have this belief and relationship with Jesus Christ, he presumes to be set apart, ranked higher and anointed to a higher level than the normal, every day person who is simply going to heaven on a scholarship.

Salvation

The difficulty in Carlton Pearson’s theology is that it turns salvation on its head. He claims that salvation is granted to every human being, unconditionally. This salvation is granted at birth, because the ultimate destination of every human being is presumed to be heaven. Even those who believe in another religion or another god are saved; they just don’t know it.

The death of Christ made it possible for God to accept sinful man, and that he has, in fact, done so. Consequently, whatever separation there is between man and the benefits of God’s grace is subjective in nature and exists only in man’s mind and unregenerate spirit. The message man needs to hear then, is not that he simply has a suggested opportunity for salvation, but that through Christ he has, in fact, already been redeemed to God and that he may enjoy the blessing that are already his through Christ.

Carlton Pearson, Jesus: The Savior of the World

Even though the Bible states that man is estranged from God and requires redemption through belief in Jesus Christ, John 3:18, Carlton Pearson claims that this estrangement is only in the mind of man and that all man needs to do is realize that he is already saved, rather than needing to be saved. As a result of this view, Carlton Pearson states that Romans 5:12-21 supports his belief, claiming that the apostle Paul taught the gospel of Universal Reconciliation. He then claims that faith in Jesus Christ does not accomplish salvation, but brings about sanctification or the setting apart of a person from the rest of the crowd who are going to heaven. So, the object of faith is still Jesus Christ, but the purpose is not to secure salvation but to obtain sanctification. He teaches that belief in Jesus Christ, or being “Born Again,” gives a person special status and an exalted position over other persons. This is a major difference between his belief and orthodox belief. It is at the point of salvation that Carlton Person departs from the faith and proceeds to define, on his own terms, the means by which salvation can be obtained. He says that salvation is granted by God through means of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to all human beings, even through they may not know or even care about the events. Salvation, in his theological system, is unknown to the majority of human beings, but they are saved just the same. He claims that those human beings who do learn about Jesus Christ and are consequently “Born Again,” receive sanctification and not salvation, because they have already been saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The salvation claimed by Carlton Pearson is simply a given entity. It is possessed by every human being without their knowledge. However, this is not what the Bible teaches. Salvation is not possessed by default, but is obtained in a specific manner, by a process which may be slow or quick, but it is a process of obtaining knowledge about Jesus Christ. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:14-15. Apostle Paul “But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ –that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:8-10. The apostle Paul teaches a different message regarding salvation than does Carlton Pearson. Paul did not preach a gospel of universal reconciliation applied to all, but a specific gospel to be universally preached to all. The difference is quite profound. The gospel of Universal Reconciliation is not the gospel taught by the apostle Paul. Salvation, according to the apostle Paul, is not automatically granted and is not possessed by people from birth.  Salvation must be found and it is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ. It is at the point of faith that it is granted, not by default or by inheritance. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:11-13

The apostle Paul was teaching a radically different gospel than that claimed by Carlson Pearson. The apostle Paul was teaching that those Christians, who were Gentiles, had formerly been separate from Christ, without hope and without God while in the world. They did not have salvation until they were brought near through the blood of Christ. The same view is taught by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:18. The gospel of Universal Reconciliation is not taught by the apostle Paul and the claim that he does teach such a doctrine is false.

What Carlton Pearson teaches is a difference means of salvation, provided in a different manner, than is found in traditional orthodox belief or in the Bible. The grace of God in salvation is redefined to be the granting of it to all human beings. Faith is redefined as applying to sanctification and not to salvation. Faith is not necessary to obtain salvation in his theological system because it is automatically provided by God to every human being. Everything changes in the gospel of Carlton Pearson. God is less than He is, grace is devalued, faith is not directed to the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross and as such, the Jesus Christ of his theology is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible.

In Carlton Pearson’s theology, if Christ died for every person in the world that ever lived or that will ever live, then His death and resurrection must have been efficacious for all of those individuals. In other words, they were all saved at the point of His death and resurrection, when the penalty for their sins was paid. Since this must be the case, if Christ died for every person in the world, then what accounts for his claim that some who were saved when Christ died and rose from the dead for them, lose that salvation at a future date? He presumes that those who have “tasted of the fruits” of a real relationship and intimacy with Jesus Christ and have “Intentionally and consciously rejected” that relationship and grace, will spend eternity separated from God. The reality is, that in Carlton Pearson’s doctrine, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was not sufficient to secure salvation for every person in the world, and in fact, He died and rose again for people who have salvation for a time in their life, but reject it and will not be saved when all is said and done. So, by definition, they were not granted a universal salvation by God and were not saved, since they are separated from God at their death. Salvation is no salvation if it does not actually save. Carlton Pearson redefines and devalues salvation to mean simply going to heaven. In that context, it is easy to lose salvation since it is just the act of going to heaven. However, in orthodox belief, going to heaven is a fringe benefit of the act of salvation, which is a reconciliation of man to God. Salvation is much more than just going to heaven, and, as such salvation is truly what the term signifies; being kept secure by God Himself. It is a difficult concept to claim that Jesus Christ died for those who deliberately reject His placement of salvation on their lives. However, this goes very well with most charismatic belief, because it is a common thread in those doctrinal systems that salvation can be lost at any point. Just how a person is supposed to know at what specific point that occurs, is not specified.

In his theological system, human beings have no say or control over being ranted a universal salvation by God. It is given without their knowledge or consent. However, human beings obtain control over the possession of their salvation if they are told the gospel message (as Carlton Pearson define it) and reject it after having “tasted of the fruits” of a relationship with Jesus Christ, whatever that is defined to be. Fro the majority of people in Carlton Pearson’s theological system, God is sovereign in their salvation, in that they are going to heaven whether they know it or not, even if they might reject that destination if they were told. For the others, who have been told the gospel and “tasted of the fruits” of a relationship with Jesus Christ and rejected that message, they are able to break God’s sovereignty over their eternal destination and take from themselves the ability to determine their own destiny. The question must be asked, “Is God sovereign or is man sovereign?” In Carlton Pearson’s theology, man is master and God becomes the victim. At one point, God grants salvation, but at another point that salvation has no effect and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is pointless, and is powerless to maintain the salvation given.

Even in his own theological system, it would be better if Carlton Pearson would stop preaching his gospel, because the person who does not hear his gospel will not have the opportunity to reject the message and be separated from God as the result. If they do not hear the gospel and reject it, they will go to heaven. Preaching Carlton Pearson’s gospel to a person is, in reality, doing that persona disfavor by presenting to them the option of choosing to be separated from God. Truly, in his theological system, ignorance is bliss, because to be without knowledge of Jesus Christ will assure a person of a place in heaven. Again, what Carlton Pearson claims is the opposite of orthodox belief and what the Bible actually says. Salvation, according to the Bible, is obtained by hearing the gospel and placing faith in Jesus Christ, while damnation is not to hear the gospel or reject the gospel.

In Carlton Pearson’s theology, God grants salvation to every human being on an unconditional basis. The granting of sanctification is conditional, based on the choice of the individual. So, the major aspect, which is salvation is unconditional, which the minor aspect, sanctification, is conditional. In higher education, one spends the majority of time on their major, or the chief area of their study, and the minority of their time on their minor, or the secondary area of their study. In this theology, the major becomes the minor; the minor becomes the major and the individual majors on the minor element, which is sanctification. God and Jesus Christ have gone to the limit in order to provide salvation for humanity, but in this system it is simply granted, even to those who are ignorant of its provisions. But at the minor point of the issue, that of sanctification, the choice is given to continue in the belief or choose separation from God. The great work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection is relegated to an insignificant part of the life of a person, while the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about sanctification is elevated to the major portion of a person’s life to such a degree that a person’s decision on that more minor element determines whether a person will be separated from God or will go to heaven. This is a theological system turned upside down in which a person is forced to major on the minors and minor on the majors.

The glaring fault in Carlton Pearson’s teaching is that he creates two classes of people who are going to heaven. There are the ordinary people, who have never heard of Jesus Christ or have another religious belief, and there are the “sanctified” persons who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and are set apart to a higher level. The difficulty is apparent, in that the first class of people is going to heaven in the same spiritual condition in which they live on this earth. Nothing has changed, because they are ignorant of Jesus Christ, believe in other false religious systems or have no religious belief at al. The Holy Spirit has never worked in their lives and they have never been spiritually changed in order to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.

Carlton Pearson has a gross misconception regarding the elements of salvation. Salvation is not about just going to heaven. If a person could obtain salvation without sanctification, then heaven would be filled with the same sinful, reprobate people in their same sinful reprobate condition, that inhabit this world, which is what his new theology allows.

In Carlton Pearson’s theology, not only is the method by which salvation is obtained redefined, the nature and composition of salvation itself is redefined and the elements of that salvation are detached from each other. Carlton Pearson assumes that salvation is going to heaven, but there is much more to it than just going to a pleasant place when one dies. Even if there was no such place such as heaven, salvation would still be a necessity because the issue of salvation is about the reconciliation of human beings to God, from whom they are separated.  Reconciliation is not accomplished by going to heaven, but by means of the elements of salvation in which God demands accountability by man to the provision made by Jesus Christ by His death and resurrection, through faith, repentance, regeneration, justification, adoption and sanctification, those elements being accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit. These elements constitute the totality of salvation and cannot be separated. It is not possible to obtain salvation without salvation without accomplishing sanctification, just as it is not possible to enter heaven without all of the elements being accomplished in the life of the believer.

Salvation in the Scriptures, is granted as a result of faith; that faith being exercised toward the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. Faith has always been the means by which salvation was granted, even in the Old Testament, as Hebrews chapter 11 shows. To accept Carlton Pearson’s view of salvation is to conclude that one possesses salvation by virtue of simply being human. Presumably if one is born, one has salvation. That is the disaster in his theology. To presume that one has salvation when one does not, is to be lost and damned to an eternity in hell, without the presence of God. Heresy leads to damnation because to preach a wrong gospel about salvation is to preach a damning message to those who would believe it.

According to Carlton Pearson, the orthodox Christian church has gotten the salvation message all wrong for 1900 years and he has finally been the one to discover the truth and set everyone and everything straight. In a sense, he is maintaining the old apostasy theory that claims the early church believed one thing, but at some point that belief was changed and the church became apostate. He has now come along to end that system of apostasy and restore the truth of the real gospel as he has discovered it. The Apostle Paul, whose teachings were the first to be referred to as heresies in Acts 24:24, was the first to teach the message of Universal Reconciliation, as he tried to convince Jews and Jewish Christians that the Gospel was inclusive of all of Humankind and not confined to a so-called ‘faithful few.” Subtly trying to compare is situation with the apostle Paul, he intimates that the claims of heresy brought against his teachings are similar to those in Acts. However, he misrepresents the charges of heresy brought against Paul, because they were not charges from within the Christian community, but from the old Judaistic religious system that was abolished on the death of Jesus Christ.

“A careful study of early church history will show that the doctrine of universal reconciliation was the prevailing doctrine of the Primitive Christian Church.” It is clear from the Scripture that this was not the prevailing doctrine of the early church. To claim otherwise is simply a perversion of the Scriptural record and the historical record as well.   Carlton Pearson’s approach is mirrored by the claims of Joseph Smith in Mormonism, who is considered to be “The prophet of the restoration, “John Thomas of the Christadelphians and Charles Taze Russell of the Jahovah’s Witnesses, who all claim that the Christian Church has been wrong all along, but they and only they, by their own brilliance or by a revelation uniquely given to them, have discovered the truth. The absurdity of Carlton Pearson’s claim, according to its own system of theology, is, it does not matter what a person believes; they are going to heaven anyway. So, even if the orthodox church got the message wrong, everyone is still going to heaven. In point of fact, it is not even necessary for there to be preachers to give a message, a church to attend or a religious belief to hold, since all men are going to heaven regardless of what they may or may not believe. If Carlton Pearson were true to his theology, he would have to admit that his job as a pastor or evangelist is completely unnecessary.

Carlton Pearson wishes to preach about a kinder, gentler God than is actually revealed in the Scripture. He wishes to redefine God in a manner that suit’s the message that he wishes to preach, rather than reveal the true character and nature of God. He wishes to do the same with Jesus Christ, so he states, “It is my objective to simply represent Jesus in a softer and more loving way, being less excluding and more “inclusive” in His love, tolerance, acceptance, and glorious promise to all.”

Redefining God in the image of Carlton Pearson is his goal, in order to present a gospel that people want to hear. It is a gospel in which they can go to heaven just like they are. It is a gospel in which people are presumed to be worthy of heaven in the condition that they find themselves. It is a gospel in which they can excel to higher levels through the message of sanctification by faith, never dealing with the sin and depravity in their soul.

Carlton Pearson is adopting a gospel that is strangely reminiscent of Robert Schuller and his positive thinking theology. Robert Schuller took a survey and asked people what message they wanted to hear. They told him what it was, and he now preaches the comforting homilies of a positive self-image and high self-esteem. Salvation, according to Robert Schuller, is the adoption of a gospel of self-love, a positive self-image and high self-esteem that is sufficient to approach God. This is a gospel of arrogance, presuming that a person has the right to stand before God based on their own definition of adequacy. Claiming that the apostle Paul taught a negative message, Robert Schuller states that he does not preach the message of the apostle Paul. He takes upon himself the authority to determine what is important to preach from the Bible, and as such, he places himself in a greater position of authority than God, who is the author of all Scripture.

Carlton Pearson has adopted Robert Schuller’s popular approach, wishing to eliminate from his theology what he considers to be a negative message. The gospel message that repentance of sins and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior will deliver a person form the judgment of God, is hard to understand. However, when salvation is given to every human being at birth, there is not much of any other message that can be preached.

Placing himself in the position of authority over the message of the gospel established by God, he assumes that he has the power to redefine God, Jesus Christ, and salvation in the manner that best suits his true ultimate goal of extending the boundaries of his ministry. His new “doctrine” came about, not as a result of a desire to present doctrinal purity, but in order to extend the appeal of his ministry to a vast group of people who do not wish to hear or know about a gospel in which sin must be realized and confessed in their lives. As such, he teaches a gospel that says, “I’m ok. You’re ok. We’re all ok.” To that end, Carlton Pearson has created his own gospel, just as Robert Schuller has created his. He is taking a calculated risk, willing to lose some followers now in order to appeal to a greater number as time goes on.

Carlton Pearson wishes to see himself as the leader of a new theological approach, redefining God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation and sanctification. He looks to himself as the head of the movement and to others in order to provide a foundation for his beliefs, pointing toward those who call themselves “Universal Reconciliationists,”  with similar views. He uses the trendy terminology, that is so overused in charismatic circles today, that is supposed to assign a high level of importance and intellectual credence to what is being stated, indicating that a “paradigm shift” in thinking identifies his theological system, hoping to convince other people that he is doing great and mighty things.

Paradigm shifts, no matter how they are defined by their proponents, must adhere to the teachings in the Scripture, otherwise, like Carlton Person’s “new” theology, they are simply the old heresies wrapped in another package.

Today, Mr. Pearson speaks in a rented hall, his mega-church property having gone into foreclosure. Seated before him are no long thousands of sign-seeking WOF cultists. Instead his “congregation” includes people dressed in Muslim clothing, openly homosexual people, some Unitarian cult members and just a handful of people from HDFC who sadly have been thus far deceived into believing the apostate Pearson’s seemingly kinder false gospel.

I cannot say whether or not Pearson was ever a genuine Christian, God only knows. I can say that one cannot deny the unique redemption that is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to be a member of Christ’s Body. On the following page I have cited just a few of the biblical texts that Mr. Pearson seems to have either forgotten or has attempted to redefine. Like we used to say “there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.”

A Few Biblical Verses to Share With Those Who Believe In Universal Atonement

Psalm 21:9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Matthew 3:21 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 23:23   Ye serpents ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Matthew 25:33,41   And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on is right hand, but the goats on the left…Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Romans 12:2 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

1 Cor. 6:9-10  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

2 These 2:10-13 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that the should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:  ♦

Copyright ©  2006 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes:

1. The interview is available on the internet on various web sites. The program is called “This American Life” hosted by Ira Glass. To hear it one can go to http://www.audible.com or other sites.

2. Mr. Jakes, as DMI and other ministries have been warning the Church, is an anti-Trinitarian and teaches a unique syncretism of WOF error, prosperity nonsense and feel-good psycho-babble. Mr. Jakes leads The Potters House in Dallas, TX. A congregation with over 15,000 members.

3. Obtained from http://www.evangelizeamerica.org/general/carlton%20pearson.htm.

4. Charisma magazine, Feb. 2000, People & Events section.

5. Obtained from an article on Pearson found at http://www.letusreason.org/Curren35.htm on 12-31-05

6. Charles Finney was a heretic who, unfortunately, has had a great impact on today’s so-called evangelical movement. Truth Matters has exposed him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing and there are many web sites devoted to demonstrating that Finney was not a genuine Christian.

7. Transcribed from the audio version of This American Life by Dominique Liichow who labored long over her Christmas vacation to help with this edition of the newsletter.

8. We have Finney to thank for the concept of the anxious bench” and “altar calls.” According to Finney, man has totally free will to receive or reject Christ it is up to the skill of the evangelist to make the message as appealing or powerful as possible. I have seen coffins on the platform with people laying in them, a bugle is blown and only 1 man rises, and then the evangelist shouts “I’ll count to 10 and if you want to rise when Jesus returns like this man run to the alta…” Other evangelists will literally turn up the heat in the building as they preach about hell and the need for Christ. Such tactics leave no place for the true work of the Holy Spirit.

9. From This American Life radio interview and it can also be found at http://www.letusreason.org/Curren35.htm as of 12-30-05

10. http://www.evangelizeamerica.org/general/carlton%20pearson.htm obtained on 12-30-05.

11. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/127/story_12772_1.htm#cont  obtained on 12-30-05.

I Am OUTRAGED

Truth Matters Newsletters – November 2006 – Vol. 11 Issue 11 – I AM OUTRAGED – by Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

I AM OUTRAGED

                                By Robert S. Liichow

Outrage Defined

indignation a feeling of righteous anger Shock: strike with disgust or revulsion re: “the evangelists scandalous behavior of his ministry shocked the church” desecrate: violate the sacred character of a place or language: “desecrate a cemetery”, “violate the sanctity of the church.” “profane the name of God.” (1)

As an individual I generally run on a fairly even keel emotionally as much as any adult dealing with being ADHD. Even with my disability I strive to live a disciplined and organized life in may areas including emotionally. Yet within about a weeks time four incidents have taken place that literally burned my bacon in such a righteous manner that I have not even felt a twinge of remorse over what I have written or the way I felt at the time of writing you this newsletter. Some of these outrages you may be familiar with, others may not have hit your “radar” yet. In any event, consider this the “Outrageous Issue” of Truth Matters.

Ted Haggard

The title of this months article reflects a bumper sticker on the car in front of us as my wife and I pulled out of the movie theater a few nights ago. It sums up perfectly my emotional state concerning what is transpiring within the Church. There are four specific “cases” each of which has stirred up my righteous indignation and I hope that you are equally appalled over them too. Before I drop the hammer on these folks let me make it very clear that we are praying for all these individuals and the ripple effects their actions are having on their family, many Christians in the Body of Christ and the world’s view of the integrity of Christian leaders both morally and doctrinally.

By this time you already know about the growing scandal concerning Haggard. If you are not aware of it then here is what has currently been brought to light. Ted Haggard was the senior pastor of New Life Church, a mega-church of 14,000 members in Colorado Springs, CO. He was the Presiding President of the National Association of Evangelical (NAE) which represent around thirty million evangelical Christians. He is a husband, a father of five children and a charismatic/sign-gift believer. In short, Haggard was a player in both the Church Growth Movement and conservative politics.

News of Haggard’s dismissal rocked the Christian world. Haggard was one of the evangelical movement’s most powerful leaders, and helped Colorado Springs earn the moniker of “evangelical Vatican.” He had the White House on speed dial, and Harper’s Magazine called New Life “the nation’s most powerful mega church.” Haggard had served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an organization that represents more than 30 million evangelical Christians, until he resigned. (2)

It was the latter arena that brought to light his hidden sins. As you know America had an election Tuesday, Haggard was a staunch and vocal advocate against same-sex marriage. That stand is one I and DMI give a hearty “amen” to. The problem in Haggard’s case was that he had been living a double-life for at least three years according to his accuser, a homosexual prostitute whom Haggard is alleged to have been having sex with:

The scandal began Wednesday when a male escort in Denver said he had an ongoing sexual relationship with an evangelical leader. By later that day, Haggard had been named as that leader. (3)

Mike Jones is the homosexual escort who “outed” Haggard not only for his homosexuality but also Jones admitted that Haggard had used and bought methamphetamine from him. The reason Jones came forth at this point in time was because he thought, rightly so, that Haggard was being a hypocrite due to his vocal stance against homosexuality while being actively engaged in it!

What is outrageous to me is that when Haggard was confronted with the allegations Jones was making he lied about it! He is on record denying the charges. In one interview he acted like he had never even heard of Mike Jones. However, Mr. Jones has Haggard’s voice on a voice-mail (which is now available for the world to hear on the Internet). Then when pressed Haggard admitted that he had purchased crystal meth at some point but threw it away.

Finally more truth was revealed when his church leaders asked him to step down due to sexual immorality (the did not mention the drug abuse). It seems at this point that many, if not all, the charges made by Jones concerning Haggard are true.

What is equally outrageous to me is that Haggard’s case response echoes three other cases of homosexual immorality within the sign-gift segment of the Church. In December, 2001 Mr. Robert LIARdon was exposed for his ongoing homosexuality with the Youth Leader of his congregation. (4)

Three months later Robert Liardon was back preaching again. In February, 2004 Latter Rain false prophet Paul Cain was exposed for his life of homosexuality and alcoholism by fellow so-called restored prophets. Lastly, on September 18, 2004 the Los Angeles Times ran a story with allegations of homosexual behavior and drunkenness on the part of Paul Crouch Sr., the Founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN paid the accuser in Crouch’s case $450,000 in hush money as you may remember). (5)

In each of these cases, including Haggard, there are several outrageous similarities: (1) NONE of these men came forth voluntarily and confessed their sins. It was only when they were caught that any admission of guilt came forth. In the case of Mr. Crouch he denies to this day that any type of homosexual behavior went on, yet why then did TBN pay close to half a million dollars of donors money to the man making “false” charges? (2) Each of these leaders were and still are members of independent charismatic organizations which they ran. They had little to no genuine accountability to others around them or to any denominational affiliation. (3) “The “Flip Wilson Defense” was invoked in LIARdon’s case and now Haggard’s. For those readers too young to remember the Flip Wilson Show, he had a segment where Mr. Wilson would appear in drag before a judge and say “the devil made me do it.” Here is how one of Haggard’s members cast this sordid situation:

Some people cast the situation as a struggle between good and evil and Haggard as the victim of a religious battle. “Satan may have won the battle, God will win the war. Satan is like a hunter. Satan goes for the big trophies. This is spiritual warfare, and Ted is under something the average person can’t fathom,” said Earl Beatty, who knelt at the church Saturday night. (6)

Note how Beatty views Haggard immorality —he is simply a victim of a Satanic onslaught. You, Mr. Haggard, are a “big trophy,” whereas if you or I fell into such immorality we’d be kicked to the curb immediately. I have seen this happen on numerous occasions within the sign-gift movement. The rules simply don’t apply to these superstars. If they get sick and die then it was the devil trying to stop the advancement of God’s kingdom. You or I get seriously ill and die, then we had some hidden sin or unbelief in our lives. They get divorce and remarried on other than biblical grounds; they are given a pass whereas other lowly sheep usually can’t even serve as a church janitor after a divorce.

Isn’t what the Bible teaches in James a little more plausible than Beatty’s comment regarding Haggard?

James 1:13-15: When tempted, no one should say “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Let me cite a few of the statements given by Mr. Haggard in a letter read to his congregation on Sunday, November 5, 2006: (1) “Please stay faithful to God through service and giving.” The first thing on his list is that he asks his former congregation to continue to give MONEY!! Hopefully Haggard’s people have had their faith in Christ all along and thus naturally will stay faithful to Jesus.

(2) “Please forgive me. I am so embarrassed and ashamed. I caused this and I have no excuse. I am a sinner. I have fallen. I desperately need to be forgiven and healed.” Note the order, money first, then he confesses he is a sinner. Perhaps it took a fall from so lofty a height for him to realize something most biblically based Christians readily acknowledge, I.e. that they are sinners at the same time as being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

(3) “Please forgive my accuser. He is revealing the deception and sensuality that was in my life.” Why should we forgive Mr. Jones? He did the right thing in exposing Haggard. Most certainly Mr. Jones needs to be brought to faith in Christ and delivered from homosexuality. It seems to me like Haggard is saying something akin to “forgive the police officer that caught me.” He should have asked his former congregation to pray for the redemption of Mr. Jones, not for them to forgive him!! Lastly, in point  (4) Haggard tries to make lemonade out of lemons by saying “Because of the negative publicity I’ve created with my foolishness, we can now demonstrate to the world how our sick and wounded can be healed, and how even disappointed and betrayed church bodies can prosper and rejoice.” (8)

See, Haggard’s immorality is really a blessing in disguise because we (the Church) can now demonstrate to the world how our sick (Haggard) and wounded can be healed. I have news for Mr. Haggard the Church has been healing its sick and wounded for 2,000 yeas by the discipline and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Haggard has not committed the unpardonable sin and he has asked for forgiveness, even if it did not come voluntarily, and so it must be given to him. I will not doubt his contrition, for I cannot judge his heart. Nonetheless his immorality, denials, lies and attempts to deflect what he did from himself is outrageous in my eyes. Not to mention the blight he places on the rest of God’s genuinely faithful ministers who the world will tar with the same brush due to Haggard and all the other recent scandals rocking the Church.

We do pray for his restoration, but especially we pray for his wife who is understandably devastated, their five children who have to face their peers, the thousands of congregational members, many of whom were babes in Christ and without doubt “star stuck” by Haggard and may become shipwrecked due to his moral failure.

Haggard’s fall is simply more proof that allegedly possessing the sign-gifts does not make a person more anointed, powerful in Christ or holy. The fact of the matter is that the most egregious scandals to besmirch the name of our Lord have come mostly from “charismatic” believers such as Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, Larry Lee, Jimmy Swaggert, Roberts LIARdon, Paul Cain and Paul Crouch. All of these leaders claimed to be special due to their alleged spiritual gifts, but in reality they were shown to have feet of clay, like the rest of us.

Katharine Jefferts Schori Installed As Head Of 2.3 Million Member American Episcopal Denomination

This is the next item to outage me, not because a female being ordained to lead a denomination, which in itself is unbiblical. Women have often been misplaced or taken place of authority within the Church since the false prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla around 155 AD. It is not an outrage to see a woman holding the office of a bishop, which again biblically has been given to men. (9)

1 Tim. 3:2-5 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

What is outrageous is her blasphemous and heretical statements concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Before we get to her comments you should know that she endorses the ordination of homosexuals and also approves of same-sex marriages. (10) Do the following comments outrage you?

But in an interview this week with Associated Press, Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori — who is to be installed on Saturday as the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA — stated that Christians should not say that Jesus is the only way to God. “If we insist we know the one way to God,” she said, “we’ve put God in a very small box.” (11)

Jefferts-Schori says she views salvation as the healing of all Creation through holy living. “I understand salvation as being about the healing of the whole creation. Your part and my part in that is about holy living.” she offered. “As Christians we understand [salvation] as relationship with God in Jesus, but that does not mean that we’re expected to judge other people’s own commitments. (12)

Katharine Jefferts Schori preached her first sermon to the Episcopal Church General Convention as presiding bishop-elect, she announced, “Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creaton and we are his children. (13)

How a historical mainline Protestant denomination could elect a pro-gay female bishop who denies that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life is an outrage. If she is allowed to remain in that position then all those congregations that submit willingly to her authority can no longer be considered part of the Christian Church.

We disagree about many things within the Church visible, but one thing about our belief that cannot be compromised is that salvation is found through grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone and to God alone be all the glory. Any deviation from these obvious Apostolic doctrines places an individual, congregation or even denomination outside the orthodox Christian religion.

Katharine Jefferts-Schori, I do insist that Jesus Christ is in fact the only way to God simply because this is what God the Son Himself stated:

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

JN 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

We can disagree over the mode of baptism, how often to celebrate the Lord’s Supper or which translation of the Bible to use…but salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone is NON-NEGOTIABLE. What part of Acts 4:12 is the presiding Bishop so obtuse to not understand? If this is the last thing I ever write you please understand this simple fact:

Two Statements Can Be Untrue, But Two Contradictory Statements Cannot Both Be True. “A” Is “A” And Cannot Be Non “A”

Truth by its very nature demands the exclusion of all other claims which contradict it. Either Jesus is who He said He was or He is not.  DMI chooses to draw a line in the sand right here. This issue right here is a make or break fellowship issue for us. I have a pastor friend in Detroit whose congregation is part of the American Episcopal Church, in fact, my mother-in-law’s funeral was held in his congregation’s sanctuary and if he agrees to submit to this heretic’s authority, then we will have no further fellowship, it is that serious to me personally and it breaks my heart but I and DMI fears God more than seeks the applause and friendship of man. The Apostle John is quite clear as is Paul in his letter to Titus on this matter and his admonition to Timothy:

2 John 1:9-11 Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your home, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deed.

Titus 3:10-11 A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

2 Tim 3:5: Having the form of godliness, but denying the power: from such stay away.

Many American Episcopal Churches have the outward form of godliness, I.e. they sing the hymns, pray, follow some form of liturgy, but deny the power of God which is found in the proclamation of the Gospel (see Rom. 1:16) by teaching that there is another pathway to eternal life apart from faith alone in Jesus.

As outrageous a stance as this woman has taken it is gratifying to report that several other bishops in the United States are appealing to the Archbishop of Canterbury seeking to come under his authority. Other American Episcopalians have placed themselves under the spiritual oversight of the African Archbishop. Both of these Archbishops represent conservative wings of the Anglican faith. The African Archbishop being the more conservative of the two, but neither one accepts homosexual ordination nor agrees with the comments of Katharine Jefferts-Schori. Please join with us in prayer that the American Episcopal Church will come to its senses and reconsider whom they’re currently elected and replace with a brother who at least abides by the original confessional stance of the Episcopalian Church. If they do not remove her, then let her and those who follow her be anathema to you.

The “Father” Fenton Fiasco

The first two attacks on the Church that outraged me (and I hope at least concern you very deeply) are issues that possibly touch closer to your home than my third “outrage.” This one is far more personal to me in my journey from heresy to Christian orthodoxy. John Fenton was previously a confessional evangelical pastor within the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). As of Sunday 11-05-06, he had left the LCMS to join himself to the “Orthodox Church.” By Orthodox I mean as in the “Eastern Orthodox” branch of the Church. You might be saying to yourself, “ok, so what is the big deal? Didn’t Frankie Schaffer do the same thing after his illustrious father, Francis Schaffer died?” Some of you may be thinking “well aren’t Lutheran’s just Kissing-cousins of Roman Catholicism and the Eastern/Greek/Russian Orthodox Church just the stepbrothers of Roman Catholicism?” There is no short succinct answer to these questions. Let me just say that the Evangelical Lutheran Church (14) is not doctrinally related in many significant ways to the Roman Catholicism, the various Eastern Churches or the various Reformed and Protestant denominations. You’ll have to do your own sleuthing on this matter to see the clear distinctions between these branches of the visible Church. That said, confessional Lutherans readily and joyfully admit that God has His children scattered hither, thither and you, i.e. biblical Lutherans do not view themselves as the only genuine believers, nor do we consider the Evangelical Church to be the only true visible Body of Christ on earth.

What is outrageous about brother Fenton is that he is an intelligent man with a solid conservative seminary education; in fact, he is a graduate of Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. He has served as a pastor within the Missouri Synod for eleven years and as of October 29, 2006 he resigned as pastor at Zion Evangelical-Church of Detroit to join the Orthodox Church of America (OCA). I will cite statements he made in his resignation letter:

However, I am convinced that the Book of Concord contains defective or deficient doctrines not in accord with the faith of the apostles. In simple terms, these deficiencies include the acceptance of an amended Nicene Creed, the notion that Jesus died to appease His Father’s wrath, a man-centered understanding of the church, the denial of prayers to the saints, and the idea that the liturgy is a man-made product. (15)

No Lutheran seminary professor or pastor I have met (and I have met quite a few over the last several years) proclaim the Book of Concord to be infallible. The LCMS does teach, believe and confess that the teachings within the Book of Concord do accurately represent biblical doctrine and orthodox Christianity. It is however never placed on the same level as the Holy Bible, nor are its contents ever appealed to over the plain teachings of the Bible.

Naturallly, the OCA, like all branches of the Eastern Church, disagrees with the western understanding of the Nicene Creed. Here is the argument in a nutshell (more or less):

The Nicene Creed introduced the word “homoousious” or “ consubstantial” meaning “of one substance.” This word was not invented at the council Eusebius writes that some of the “most learned and distinguished of the ancient bishops had made use of consubstantial in treating of the divinity of the Father and the Son. (16)

The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeco-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism. These heresies, which disturbed the church during the forth century, concerned the doctrine of the trinity and of the person of Christ. Both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) church held this creed in honor, though with one important difference: the Western church insisted on the inclusion of the phrase “and the Son” (known as the “filioque”) in the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit; this phrase still is repudiated by the Eastern Orthodox church. In its present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (AD 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (AD 381). It was accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but the “filoque” phrase was not added until 589, However, the creed is in substance an accurate and majestic formulation of the Nicene faith. (17)

All of the historic creeds were developed by the early church fathers as a means of refuting heretics and their false teachings. A simple working definition of creeds is as follows: “A creed is a brief statement of faith used to enumerate important truths, to clarify doctrinal points and to distinguish truth from error. Creeds are usually worded to be easily memorized. The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, meaning, “I believe.” (18) Creeds are simply statements of what is commonly accepted as genuine Christian dogma. Virtually all Christian bodies do accept the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Creed of Chalcedon as well as the Athanasian Creed. (19) Apart from the Church of the Brethren, a small Anabaptist denomination whose statement is “no creed but the Bible,” this sounds pious, but actually demonstrates their ignorance of why the aforementioned creeds came into existence. It also highlights their misunderstanding regarding the place and use of the various creeds in liturgical confessional congregations.

What is the OCA (which is submitted to the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church) and Fenton’s issue with the Nicene creed as we confess it in the west? It boils down to western theologians adding a few words to clarify the Trinity because the original writing of the creed was a little fuzzy in this area:

“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son” the debate concerned whether the Holy Spirit proceeded fro only the Father, or from the Father and the Son [filioque in Latin]. The phrase “and the Son” was not in the original Greek version of the Creed accepted at Nicaea and Constantinople. It was added in the Latin versions used in the Western (Roman) church in AD 589 as an attempt to clarify the relationship of the three person of the Trinity. The concern was that the original wording made Jesus the Christ subordinate to the Father, a view that the Western church felt endangered the doctrine of the Trinity. (20)

The Episcopalian Church has recently reverted back to the eastern version of the Nicene creed in their latest printing of the Book of Common Prayer (anything the Episcopalians do no longer surprises me).

Fenton’s next statement is equally outrageous to me when he blithely writes in opposition to “the notion that Jesus died to appease His Father’s wrath.” I am sure you have all seen the famous painting representing our Lord knocking on the outside of a cottage door? Now visualize that same painting with me standing there knocking on brother Fenton’s head!! Who does Fenton think Jesus was appeasing in His substitution death on the cross? The ransom view of the atonement is thankfully, not widely held these days (apart from the Word of Faith cultists). In this view Jesus died to purchase us back from Satan, this concept had its roots in the teaching of an early theologian named Origen, who was later condemned by the Church as a heretic not due to this teaching alone, but several others that went far beyond the pale of orthodoxy. (21) The problem inherent in Origen’s doctrine of the atonement deals with the issue of why does God owe Satan anything, especially His own Son?

The teaching of the LCMS and other truly evangelical bodies is that God sent His Son into the world (John 3:16) because of His great love for all humanity to suffer as our substitute, bearing the full brunt of God’s divine judgment that we owed due to our sin against a totally holy God. The words of an old hymn we used to sing, who name escapes me goes something like this: “I owed a debt I could not pay, He paid a debt He did not owe.” Jesus suffered and died in our place to appease the holy wrath of God by bearing in His own body the penalty for our sins. How brother Fenton could discard such an obvious truth of the Bible and embrace a heterdox view is to me outrageous.

Fenton’s next reason for departing from evangelical Christianity and going east is because Lutherans and others within Protestantism do not believe in praying to “saints.” He sure got that point of his letter correct. Lutherans and millions of other Christians do not pray to dead saints (including Mary) for one simple reason — THE BIBLE NEVER REMOTELY SUGGESTS THAT WE DO SO. Contrary to Fenton’s belief, the Bible teaches us the following:

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 7:11 how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Luke 11:2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name your kingdom come.’

John 15:16…Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

These are merely four verses from the Gospel that I have cited. In each case we are told by God the Son to pray to the Father, to do so in the name of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Why didn’t Jesus say “when you pray, ask my mother, who in turn will ask Me, and I will then ask the Father.” Or why don’t we read of any of the writing Apostles saying “when I have gone on to glory, I’ll be listening for your prayers in order to intercede on your behalf before the throne of Almighty God.” What we do learn from apostolic writings are directives such as these:

Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not . And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Christ Jesus Himself makes intercession for us and as for me and my household we’d much rather have the Son of God standing in the gap for us than His mother, blessed woman that she was or even Peter and Paul. We are also told quite plainly that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us (Rom. 8:26). As God’s own dear children in Christ we are told by the author of the book of Hebrews to come BOLDLY to the throne of grace, not to ask some dead “saint” to do it for us.

This brings me to another “outrage” concerning brother Fenton’s deflection from the pure light of God’s Word into the shadows caused by man-made doctrine…the whole eastern (Roman Catholic too) stress on “saints.” Folks we are all saints, set apart by the blood of the spotless lamb of God. No one in the New Testament is especially noted as a “saint” and the rest of the Church is full of ain’ts. Such a distinction is never made biblically, that is the impure invention of sinful man.

I close this last outrage with Fenton’s comment that he is now seeking membership in the “true visible church” on earth, I.e. the Orthodox Church of America. This is very prideful on the part of Orthodox Churches to make such a statement. If words mean anything, then every other expression of the Church visible is in fact not the true visible Church, only the Orthodox Church holds that position!

Some reading this may ask why is it that some fellow believers turn to Roman Catholicism (RC) or Eastern Orthodox (EO) expressions and jettison their former evangelical beliefs. I think the answer is both complex and simple and may differ from case to case. Over all, I believe what takes place is that people get deceived into thinking that either expression is the closest thing to New Testament Apostolic Christianity. Both of these historic expressions make this claim regarding themselves, but it is not true. The Great Schism between Eastern and Western branches of the faith were due to doctrinal issues.

Here are a few beliefs brother Fenton now embraces as “Truth”:

About Mary: “The Mother of God is often referred to as the “New Eve,” for she said “yes” to God whereas the first Eve said “no” We believe that the Mother of God was sinless of her own free will, that she remains ever virgin, and that she is the “living tabernacle” of God inasmuch as her womb, as one hymn states, becomes “more spacious than the heavens” by carrying within it the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. (22)

Psal. 51:5 Behold, I was sharpen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Rom. 3:1 As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one:

1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

So much about Mary’s perpetual sinlessness and perpetual virginity (Matt. 13:53).

About Icons: Orthodox people kiss them, bow to them, pray to them, Why? Inseparable from the liturgical tradition, religious art is seen by Orthodox Christians as a form of pictorial confession of faith and a channel of religious experience. this central function of religious images (icons) – unparalleled in any other Christian tradition – received its full definition following the end of the iconoclastic movement in Byzantium (843). The Orthodox theologians, on the other hand, based their arguments on the specifically Christian doctrine of the incarnation: God is indeed invisible and indescribable in his essence, but when the Son of God became man, he voluntarily assumed all the characteristics of created nature, including describability. Consequently, images of Christ, as man, affirm the truth of God’s ral incarnation, Because divine life shines through Christ’s risen and glorified humanity, the function of the artist consists in conveying the very mystery of the Christian faith through art. Furthermore, because the icons of Christ and the saints provide direct personal contact with the holy persons represented on them, these images should be objects of “veneration” (pokiness), (22)

Regardless of tradition, where is this commanded in the Bible? Our Bible commands that we make no graven images (see Deut 7:5-6)

Praying to the Dead: The saints are regarded as those who have reliably finished the course of their lives in the path of theosis. Those that are known to the Church are glorified (canonized) by incorporating their lives into the Church’s liturgical life, a recognition of Christ in them. They are venerated (shown great respect and love) but not worshiped, for worship is due to God alone. In showing the saints this love and requesting their prayers, it is believed by the Orthodox that they thus assist in the process of salvation for others. (23)

The reformation came about because Dr. Martin Luther and others wanted to reform the church and bring it back into line with the Scriptures. He, nor any other reformer ever taught that we should seek the dead on behalf of the living.

Please re-read carefully the Book of Acts and you will not find a blueprint on how to “do” Church. God by His wisdom left us a great deal of latitude in how local congregations function administratively, musically, and yes, even liturgically. For instance nothing is mentioned about wearing a collar, robes or vestments with specific colors for specific seasons of the Church calendar. Nothing is mentioned about incense, how long a sermon is to be, should candles be used or not, length of a service. Nor are we commanded to have a specific number of deacons or elders. Must we sit in pews or are folding chairs ok? Should the pastor speak from behind a pulpit or walk around the congregation as he preaches? These and a whole host of other issues are considered adiaphorous (or non essentials) by the Evangelical Church but unfortunately some portions of the church have elevated these and other non-essential traditions to having equal status with the Holy Bible.

Pray for brother Fenton, I fear he has jumped out of the pan quite literally into the fire. He will find that the Orthodox Church of America is run by sinful men, just like the LCMS, the Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptist confederations, et al. There is no perfect Church on this earth, at least as long as you and I are alive.

Paula White

While the prior events were taking place I was doing a bit of morning surfing on the television and happened across the Christian program sponsored by Paula White Ministries. Paula, when not screeching and running around a platform somewhere like a chicken on crack she has decided to try her hand at a sit-down television studio set similar to other televangelists. Some of you may not know anything about White, so allow me to cite her own PR from her website:

Paula White is a Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, Pastor, Preacher, Author, Humanitarian, Philanthropist, Teacher, TV Personality, Wife and Mother. Beneath her unassuming beauty, lies a gentle and girlish charm. (24)

Note the order of importance that she describes herself: (1) Life Coach, (2) Motivational Speaker, (3) Pastor, (4) Preacher, (5) Author, (6) Humanitarian, (7) Philanthropist, (8) Teacher, (9) TV Personality, (10) Wife and (11) Mother.

Her husband and children are last on the list. The first two are accurate, especially after what I witnesses on her television program.

What was outrageous to me was that her guests were no less than Mr. Donald Trump and his co-author, Robert Kioysaki hawking their latest best selling book entitled “Why We Want You To Be Rich.” In fact, Mrs. White had these two men for several days. During this time (paid for by Christian donors) she never once confronted them in a loving manner with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. that they were lost sinners in need of a Savior. What shocked and appalled me was that an internationally known woman “preacher” and a TBN regular would have two unrepentant heathens on her Christian program for the sole purpose of making money off the success of their book which she offers on her website ( anyone can buy it cheaper at Amazon.com). Trump has been married three times, after jettisoning wives number one and two on totally unbiblical grounds. He is well known for making much of his fortune from the gambling industry (casinos) and in short is a “prime candidate” for salvation. I do not know that much about his co-author, but he too is a multi-millionaire due to his other books and games he has created.

Brothers and sisters, there is something terribly wrong when someone who calls themselves a Christian and yet does not share the Gospel message with sinners sitting right next to them! Equally it is appalling to see irredeemable time wasted talking to men about how to get rich! The Bible plainly teaches that “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Tim 6:10). Sadly, Trump, Kioysaki and White’s goal seems to primarily self enrichment and not gaining wealth for the purposes plainly set forth in the Bible.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having wealth or making a great deal of money in this life time if biblical realities are kept in mind:

FIRST we all need to remember that it is God (not Trump’s schemes or our own abilities) that gives us the power to get wealth (Deut. 8:18). The purpose for our wealth is NOT to buy bigger homes, fancier cars, more expensive clothing or more jewelry. God gives people the ability to get wealth to establish His covenant. The Lord knew then as He does now, how easy it is for His people fallen human beings that we are to wrongly take credit for what we have and to grasp onto it tightly as if the money He has entrusted us with was as precious as life itself.

SECONDLY, We are to use a portion of our wealth to support (25) the work and workers in the ministry (1 Cor. 16:2). In fact, the Holy Spirit has Paul remind God’s people on two occasions that they need to set aside a portion of their finances for ministry support. (1 Cor. 9.9 , 1 Tim. 5:18). In another place he says that those who preach/teach the gospel ought to make their living by their ministry work (1 Cor. 9:14). This doctrine is echoed again by Paul to Timothy especially regarding leaders who teach (1 Tim 5:17). (26)

THIRDLY We all gain wealth to some degree through the work of our hands, some make more, others less that is not the issue. What is paramount to remember is the purpose of our work. Again, we do not work to get ahead of the “Jones” or keep up with the “Copelands.” No, the purpose of our labor is so that we may have something left to give to those who lack, I.e. the poor. (Acts 10:2, Eph. 4:28).

All of these outrages seemed to occur within a week of each other, it really has caused me to consider the seriousness of the times we are living in and the need to be all the more faithful in teaching truth & exposing error.

On behalf of Discernment Ministries International let me again express my heartfelt gratitude to our Lord for raising up those of you who faithfully support our ministry. We thank you for being both obedient to our Lord with your support and generous in your giving. It continues to be our prayer that everyone who reads Truth Matters, makes use of the website or uses our materials would give some amount each month. In all honesty, DMI really has need of more financial support.

With the passing of my mother-in-law things got backlogged on every front, both in ministry and our personal lives as a family. It may be a negative confession, but all of my immediate family not only went through a period of grieving, but my wife and I also suffered from a low grad depression, which thankfully has now lifted.

With this in mind please forgive the lateness of the last issue of Truth Matters, a few folks might still be waiting to receive a book or CD (they are on the way!), not to mention the delayed sending out of quarterly giving statements. If by the time you read this letter and you have not received something you did order PLEASE let me know (call me collect, and I will rectify it as quickly as possible.

I realize that some ministers would never publicly admit to such things, but I learned a great lesson from Kevin Butcher, a friend, fellow pastor and mentor who taught me that value of taking the risk, of being transparent to those you love and serve along with the truth of striving to be a human being versus a human doing. Thanks Kevin, those are lessons I will not forget. ♦

Copyright © 2006 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes:

1. Obtained from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=defineoutrage&sa=X&io=glossary_definition&ct=title.

2. Colorado Springs Gaette, by Paul Asay, Bill Vogrin and Deedee Corell, Haggard Dismissed, 11-03-2006

3. Ibid

4. DMI was one of the first Apologetic ministries to expose Mr. LIARdon the date for his outing was obtained from http://www.christian-witness.org/archive/van2003/bilby_restor16.html

5. Los Angeles Times, Andrew Gumbel, September 18, 2004

6. Ibid. Bold type added for emphasis.

7. Please understand that I cite “church janitor” as merely an example of a lowly position (in some people’s eyes) as opposed to that of the pastor/prophets/apostle. I am in no way denigrating the often unseen and thankless task of those who keep the church buildings clean.

8. Colorado Springs Gazette, Ted Haggard’s letter to New Life Church, November 5, 2006. Underlining added for emphasis.

9. It is beyond the scope of this article to consider the roles of men and woman within the church. I know many women who are very gifted and I respect them. Yet God’s Word is the guide by which all our faith and practice is to be judged by and women simply are not called to serve as pastors, elders, bishops, or teachers over men.

10. This is according to an article on her ordination located at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/04/national/main2153338.shtml

11. Agape Press, by Jody Brown and Allie Martin, Comments by Jefferts-Schori During Interview Appear to Contradict Scripture, 11-02-06. Bold type added for emphasis.

12. Ibid

13. Quote from Jim Tonkowich, Religion Without Foundations, writer for the Daily Standard.

14. Please understand that the Lutheran Church was originally called the “evangelical” church and was not a part of the Roman Catholic church, nor is Confessional Lutheranism a part of the Protestant reformation nor a “Reformed” church/

15. Taken from John W. Fenton, M Div., S.T.M. Letter of Resignation submitted on 10- 29-06. Underlining and bold type added for emphasis.

16. Obtained from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/sbrandt/nicca.htm

17. Obtained from http://www.crcna.org/pages/nicene_creed.cfm Underlining added for emphasis.

18. Obtained from http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/pamphlet/3creeds.htm

19. For more insight into the interesting history surrounding these and other classic statements of the Christian faith you might pay a visit to the following websites: http://www.creeds.net/; http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/pamphet/3creeds.htm or http://www.cresourcei.org/creedsearly.html.

20. Statement obtained from http://www.cresourcei.org/creedsearly.html Bold type and underlining added for emphasis.

21. If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomisu, Macedomius, Apollinaris, Nestorius, Eutyches and Origen, as well as their impious writings, as also all other heretics already condemned and anathematized by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and by the aforesaid four Holy Synods and [if anyone does not equally anathematize] all those who have held and hold or who in their impiety persist in holding to the end the same opinion as those heretics just mentioned: let him be anathema. This quotation was obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/widi/Origen#Christology.

22. The Evangelical position is stated as follows: Lutheran teaching of the atonement stresses that God’s act is objective, taking the imitative (cf. the OT concept of the Covenant) in reaching out toward man, and that Christ’s work is vicarious in that He bears the burden of sin, which is rightfully man’s (GI 3:10-13, cf. ls. 53). Obtained from http://www.lcms.org/ca/www./cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=A&t2=t.

23. Obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church#The_Theotokos_and_the_saints on 11-08-80.

24. Obtained from http://www.oca.org/QAasp?ID=6&SID=3.

25. Obtained from http://www.paulawhite.org/about.htm.

26. When DMI and other Apologetic ministries refer to financial support please understand that we mean just that I.e. receive enough financial help to pay or feed or families, pay our bills and run our small ministries. I do not know one Apologetic or Counter-cult ministry that lives above a “middle-class” financial level, most of us, DMI most assuredly lives just above the poverty line economically speaking. I find it shameful when “ministers” receive millions of dollars personally I don’t care how “big” they are.

27. Those who preformed their functions well were worthy of “double honor [GK G5507}.” Since this word was often used in the sense of a price paid for something, it had been suggested that here it might be translated “honoraruim”. Perhaps we should allow both “honor” and honorarium” Highest honor is to be given to “those whose work is preaching and teaching.” 18. This verse, a well as the proceeding discussion of support for widows (vv. 3-16), suggests definitely that the “double honor” for elders was to be a financial remuneration. Quoting Dt. 25:4 (cf. 1 Co. 9:9) and Lk 10:7, Paul makes the point that a worker should receive compensation. Obtained from the Zondervan Reference Library CD, ver. 2.6. The New American Commentary Module.

Do Miracles, Signs & Wonders Create Faith?

Truth Matters Newsletters – September 2006 – Vol. 11 Issue 9 – Do Miracles, Signs & Wonders Create Faith? – by Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Do Miracles, Signs & Wonders Create Faith? 

By Robert S. Liichow

 

Bonnke claims that “miracles are proof of the presence of the power of God (1) Bonnke emphasized the date of June 11 separately, at which time Christ would in a special way point Himself. In Bonnke’s Language this announcement meant that Christ would evidence Himself by unusually numerous miracles during the service. (2) The supernatural will occur differently; maybe out in public is valid. I believe it can be kind of God’s calling card. (3)

In the past as a charismatic extremist if I heard this statement once I heard it a hundred times, “miracles are God’s calling card.” We heard this uttered in person at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship by John Arnott, former senior a few years ago.

 

What is meant by this statement and other similar statements is that the Lord is supposed to be working miracles through His anointed vessels as a means to bring people to a saving faith in Christ Jesus. Lester Sumrall, now deceased made the following statement in his book Miracles Don’t Just Happen:

In the Acts of the Apostles we read of ‘all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.’ His doing preceded His teaching.

Every sermon that Christ preached was prefaced by a model miracle. We are going to follow His example. (4)

To begin with Lester makes the assumption that the “doing” of Jesus was always a miraculous event which was then followed up with His proclaiming of the Gospel, ergo we should expect to work miracles first and then preach the Word. Sumrall is reading into this text more than there is, he is guilty of eisegesis versus exegesis.

There are a great many sermons where Jesus did not perform miracles “first” and then proceed to teach the people. Frankly, just about anytime Jesus spoke it was a sermon of one type or another. Here are a few examples:

Matthew 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.

Here Jesus preached first then we read of Him healing several people, the leper (8:2), the centurion’s servant (8:7), Peter’s mother-in-law (8:15). In all of these cases we find examples of healing and not miracles. In fact, these texts in places state “and I will come and heal him” (8:7). We read in Mark 1:39 “And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.” Jesus again is shown preaching the Gospel then performing signs and wonders.

Mr. Sumrall was simply wrong in his teachings about miracles. Unfortunately his views have been part-n-parcel of early Pentecostalism and today’s Charismatic movement. Almost every major sign-gift SINister has written books or produced tapes or videos on how to become a miracle worker or how to receive a miracle. * Here are just a few examples:

Oral Roberts —Expect A Miracle / and Still Expecting Miracles (2 tapes)

Kenneth Copeland — Walking in the Realm of the Miraculous

Benny Hinn — Miracles DVD

Steve Hill — Operating in the Miraculous (God wants to use you in his miraculous!)

Marilyn Hickey —Your Miracle Source

Charles & Francis Hunter — Impossible Miracles

Kenneth E. Hagin — Miracles of Healing (tape series)

Kathryn Kuhlman — I Believe in Miracles

Robert Tilton — Faith Aid Miracle Healing Kit

Prophet T.B. Joshua — Divine Miracles (DVD)

Don Stewart — Miracle Seeds for Success and Prosperity

John Wimber — Power Evangelism, Signs & Wonders Today

Signs and Wonders and Church Growth

Pat Robertson — Miracles Can Be Yours Today

Paul F. Crouch and R.W. Schambach —Miracles II “Greater Miracles”

R.W. Schambach — Miracles: Eyewitness to the Miraculous

The Price of God’s Miracle-Working Power

T.L. Osborn — Receive Miracle Healing

How to Receive Miracle Healing

Modern Miracles in Mombasa

Ruth Heflin — Miracles that I have Seen

WHEN THE MIRACULOUS BECOMES COMMONPLACE IT CEASES TO BE “MIRACULOUS”

These are just a few of the better known authors of books about how to obtain a miracle, how to develop spiritually to work miracles, etc. All of the books that have been cited are available on the Internet by simple googling the name of the author. Most of these books and many others are available in almost all “Christian” bookstores too.

It is one thing to write about miracles, but it is quite another to proclaim yourself a miracle-worker as many SINisters do today. Mr. David Hogan is possibly a bigger prevaricator than Benny Hinn. The following is a direct statement from his website:

The ministry has become known for some amazing miracles through the Holy Spirit. They report to have witnessed over 200 people being raised from the dead! When David is not in Mexico he ministers under a strong anointing for preaching and healing. (5)

On his website you can watch a series of videos entitled “Faith to Raise the Dead.” The Statement made before the links to these videos says “These videos may be some of the most viewed and listened to around the earth in our time.” This is simply not true, in fact, I’ll wager that the majority of Christians have never even heard of Mr. Hogan. Hogan has never brought one person forward to be examined or interviewed who he is supposed to have raised form the dead. One would think that TBN or the 700 Club would love to have an “exclusive” interview with one such person. Surely out of over 200 people Hogan could produce one or two resurrected folks….who no doubt could write books on what they experienced while dead.

Peter Popoff is another proven fraud and liar. His website’s front page says “Peter Popoff Miracle Ministry.” (6) His site is filled with unsubstantiated testimonies of alleged miracles due to Mr. Popoff’s direct connection with God. Unfortunately his video clips of his healing services are not working on his site, so you’ll just have to take his word about what God is doing through him. You can order free “miracle spring water,” which I encourage all our readers to do and get on his mailing list as well so you can receive monthly point-of-contact fetish items each month!

The best known miracle-man today is naturally Mr. Benny Hinn. Here is a copy of a ticket I received from him:

Hinn knows in advance that “God’ will be working miracles through him; he also is an astute observer of the desperate plight of multitudes of people who are willing to drive hundreds of miles, wait in long lines for hours, and donate money they can’t afford to give; yet do so in the hope that God is indeed working miracles through Hinn and that they will be the recipient of God’s miraculous power.

It is the height of presumption and hubris to declare God will be working miracles tonight or that He will be healing the sick during this revival. Yet even with his abysmal track record of healing failures, i.e. people who his ministry declared “healed” who died either a few weeks, or months later multitudes still flock to this man’s so-called “Miracle Crusades” all over the world. (7) After close to twenty years of miracle crusades one would imagine that the offices of the Benny Hinn Ministries (BHM) would be overflowing with medical records, legal affidavits, and notarized statements from thousands of people who have either received divine healing or a genuine creative miracle. Yet BHM cannot produce any such proof of the bold claims Hinn makes.

My wife and I participated in several of Mr. Hinn’s crusades. At first we went as part of the mob, later we became part of the mass choirs (that got us closer to the “anointing”).

The flow of the services go something like this: the song leader would lead the crowd in a few songs, then we’d sing “How Great Thou Art” and it was always during the singing of this song that Mr. Hinn, usually in a bright white suit, would appear on the platform with a spotlight on him. Folks, it was no accident that we were singing about how great God was, but Benny knew psychologically that the mob was there because they believed he, Hinn himself, was “great” too, certainly greater and closer to the Lord than they were.

Then Hinn would cite a few healing texts, reminding people that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He would proclaim how he felt a strong anointing or how he had been told by God in prayer that many miracles and healings would take place during that specific crusade. All that the people had to do was to have faith in God. Hinn never preached the Gospel in any of the crusades we attended; he simply cited texts on healing and especially on the blessings of giving.

How better to show ones faith than to put it into action by making as generous a donation as possible? The people were encouraged to “sow” a financial seed into BHM thus proving to God and themselves that they really believed. Hinn would pray God’s blessings on those who gave. Ushers mystically appeared with buckets which looked like the large family sized KFC buckets. Then with the precision of a Rolex ® watch and the speed of a Japanese bullet train thousands of sheep were sheared of their money.

Once the money was collected then the real show began. Hinn would lead the choir in some simple songs, often having us sing the refrains over and over. Then he would suddenly stop and point out into the crowds (nonspecifically) and begin to declare that God was healing someone with cancer in the balcony or He was healing backs etc…Then a chosen, vetted few, would be allowed onto the platform where Hinn would either blow on them, hit them with his suit coat or lay hands on them and like domino’s they would all fall down. At times Hinn would knock down the same person several times saying “pick him up,” and laugh at them as they lay spastic at his feet.

Those lucky enough to be interviewed by Hinn always reported they were healed or received a miracle of a type which was non-verifiable. In other words, no arms grew back, the twisted bodies of the people in the “wheelchair section” remained as twisted. No visible tumors dropped off in front of the cameras. Then a few more songs would be sung while Hinn was led away by his henchmen. The MC for the evening would exhort people to not give up if they did not receive their miracle that evening, because tomorrow evening there would be another “miracle” service. They were also encouraged to purchase the “faith building” materials at all of the tables surrounding the arenas.

On Friday night the people got to see and some believed they felt the power of “God.” On Saturday morning (at least at the last crusade we sang in) an aging Rex Humbard toddled out onto the platform and gave the standard decision-based Gospel appeal to those faithful few who got up early enough to come back to the arena.

What I want to emphasize is the formula Hinn and basically all the other so-called healing evangelists and miracle workers use —perform the signs & wonders shtick, then make an appeal to the unconverted to answer the altar call and make a decision to receive Christ. Is this the biblical pattern for salvation? This is the position that needs to be rebutted biblically in order for us to come to the biblical truth.

Has God Appointed Modern Miracle Workers Today?

It is important for you to understand clearly that DMI firmly believes that our Lord Jesus Christ does still heal His people. However, He does so according to the good pleasure of His will. There are no steps, laws, or principles that we can enact in order to cause our Lord to heal anyone.

The belief in the so-called ministry of the Healing Evangelist aka Miracle-worker came about in the mid 1800’s with the holiness movement and got firmly rooted in many Christian’s minds after 1906 after the neo-Montanist revival at Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California.

The reason the Church has been plagued by people such as Maria Woodworth-Etter (the trance evangelist), Smith Wigglesworth, F.F. Bosworth, Aimee Semple McPhearson, A.A. Allen, Kathryn Kuhlman, Jack Coe, Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, William Branham, Robert Tilton, Leroy Jenkins, Peter Popoff, Benny Hinn, Jim Wittington and a host of others is because their initial presuppositions were wrong.

Once people began to believe that God had “restored” the gift of other tongues supernaturally then it logically followed that they would also believe the other supernatural gifts either were restored or in the process of being restored, including the gift of the working of miracles (1 Cor. 12:10). It did not take the fledgling neo-Montanist movement long to continue down their slippery slope by believing that since “God” had restored the sign-gifts to the Church He is also restoring the office of the Prophet and the Apostle. To them the Book of Acts became a blueprint for how the Church is supposed to be organized and that miraculous signs and wonders are to be normative in local congregations.

A new magazine came to our office entitled The Voice of the Prophetic and it is filled with nuts, fruits and flakes to be perfectly blunt about it. Here is a quote from a “restored” prophetess by the name of Patricia King:

His voice repeatedly speaks to my heart, ‘I am waiting for My church to move in My authority, to conquer the works of darkness that are manifesting unrestrained. I am waiting for My mature sons and daughters to manifest My glory and My authority. All creation is waiting; all creation is groaning. (7)

Obviously, Ms. King does not place value on the work of Christ Jesus on the cross where He defeated Satan:

Col 2:13-15: And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

I am not denying that there is legitimate spiritual warfare and conflict with Satan and his demons. Yet today’s extremists hold to a view that Satan and demons operate freely in this world unless the Church uses its divine authority to bind the devil and his imps up. I have personally heard the late Kenneth Hagin share how the Lord Jesus appeared to him but an evil spirit jumped up between them and Hagin could not hear Jesus. Hagin waited patiently for Jesus to do something (you see the cross was not enough). Then Hagin finally got angry and rebuked the demonic imp in Jesus name and it scampered away. Hagin asked Jesus why He didn’t do something about the evil spirit. Hagin’s Jesus said He couldn’t because He had given His authority to the Church and unless we do something about Satan and his works, well then, they just won’t get done! You can read about this encounter in Hagin’s book I Believe In Visions.

In the minds of the extremists today it is the mature believers within the Church who wield the true spiritual authority over the devil and demons, not Jesus Christ. Patricia King also misspeaks when her voice tells her that dark works are “manifesting unrestrained.” Yet again the Bible plainly teaches in Second Thessalonians:

2 Thess. 2:2-6: not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.

The evil one is currently under divine restraint and always will be. He is not manifesting anything in an unrestrained mode of operation at all. Satan is a created being who, although rebellious, is still completely subject to the sovereignty of God. He and his minions can do only what the Lord allows them to do. This is clearly seen in Job 1:10-12 or when the demons asked Jesus to allow them to enter into the swine (read Matt. 8:31-32).

Yet King rattles on in her article buttressing Hagin’s heterodox teaching by saying:

He is asking us to take up the authority He won back for us on the cross and move in His supernatural power to confront the powers of darkness, turning the attention of the people back to the One True God. (8)

NEWSFLASH !

Ms. King the world has never been focused on the One True God since the fall of Adam. The example she cites is that of Moses standing up against the Pharaoh’s magicians. The signs and wonders God wrought through Moses did not make the Egyptians believe, in fact, God hardened the heart of the Pharaoh as opposed to giving him faith. Through His work on the cross Jesus did not win back for us the “lost” power to move in the miraculous. He did give us a method to confront the powers of darkness, but that power comes in a completely different form then that which was given to Moses. The entire philosophy of those practicing what is called “strategic level spiritual warfare” is based upon the belief that we, the Church, must enforce Satan’s defeat and take back cities and even nations he has “owned.” This is why people like Dr. C. Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Schultz and others go to places like Ephesus and march around casting down the “spirit” of Diana which they had discerned had ruled over that area for centuries! (9)

Once a neighborhood or city has had the principalities and powers cast down and bound up by the mature saints…then there is what they call an “open heaven” where their prayers are unhindered and revival can come. Once these warriors have done their work people’s ears are now free from demonic blockage and they can and will receive Christ as Savior. In their view people cannot come to faith in Christ until the demonic forces are driven out or bound up by human agents! This is a blasphemous doctrine because it places both Satan and sinful man as ultimately in control of individuals eternal state before God. It is no longer God who draws, nor is it the Spirit who calls, but men.

This magazine goes on to state in another article concerning how the glory realm is getting thinner, i.e. nearer and more accessible to us. This article is written by Cindy McGill who says:

Already, we are experiencing manifestations of gold, jewels, instant miraculous healings and deliverances. God is flooding lives as He has given the invitation to come in and take over. These things are only the beginning of unbelievable things we are about to see. (10)

DMI was among the first Apologetic Ministry to debunk the myth of gold teeth and gold dust, in fact, we may have the only book in circulation exposing this alleged phenomena. Most importantly, note how “God” through these miraculous signs & wonders is inviting us to come in and take over! The role of the Holy Spirit is not mentioned, nor the proclamation of the Gospel. Just non-biblical signs &wonders and presto the Church is just supposed to come in and take over. Take over what? Why the world of course. The Prophetic/Apostolic movement is almost exclusively one of Christian Dominion or what is also-called Kingdom Now Theology.

Moving in the miraculous is the new wave of evangelism.  Stacey Campbell says in her article: Prophecy is for Unbelievers:

Of all the evangelism I have ever done—from surveys, to door-to-door, to street preaching, to church dinner, to friendship evangelism—prophetic evangelism is by far the most effective form of evangelism I have ever engaged in. (11)

Stacey seems to have literally been around the block when it comes to sharing the Christian faith. Yet out of all the methods she has tried what has proved most successful? Not the foolishness of preaching (read 1 Cor. 1:21) the Law & Gospel to the lost. Even though the Apostle Paul himself told the sign-saturated Corinthians—-

1 Co. 2:2: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

The Bible is completely silent about this so-called miraculous prophetic evangelism. Nowhere are God’s people exhorted to go out and win the lost via the use of the spiritual gifts (which we all possess in some fashion) given by the Holy Spirit. This concept is merely an outgrowth from what has become known as the “Third Wave” with Dr. C. Peter Wagner and John Wimber as its fountainhead. Wimber’s book Power Evangelism is where much of this unbiblical nonsense gained a foothold in the sign-gift movement. In his confused mind the simple preaching of the Gospel was not getting the job done. He believed and taught that people needed to see some demonstration(s) of wonder-working power before they would believe the message {according to Wimber and his followers}. In Wimber’s theology “seeing was believing,” yet is this the teaching of the Bible? Does God use miracles/miracle-workers to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Probably one of the strongest biblical proofs from the Old Testament that signs and wonders do not create faith is seen in the lives of the Jews following Moses in the desert. They were brought out of Egypt through a series of miracles and the Lord sustained them for forty years by providing manna and quail for them. Yet what does the Bible have to say about this generation of sign-seeking people?

Heb 3:1-19 But with whom was he grieved forty years? [was it] not with them that had sinned, whom carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

After a lifetime of seeing miracles these people were unable to enter into the land God has promised to give them because of their unbelief. Signs & wonders did not cause them to believe; it did not engender faith in their hearts at all.

Another instance is that of Nebuchadnezzar. He personally saw miracles (read Dan. 3:14-25, Dan. 6:22) yet these demonstrations of God’s power did not bring him to a saving faith in the God of Israel. Later on in the book of Daniel the miraculous hand that wrote on the wall (read Dan. 5:22) to Belshazzar did not bring him to repentance. The wondrous sign was in fact his death warrant, much as was the last great sign in Egypt, the slaying of all the firstborn makes. Or, how about the time when the ark was taken captive by the Philistines and placed in the temple of their god Dagon (read 1 Sam. 5:2)? After finding their god on his face, broken before the ark of the Lord, they decided they’d better send it back to Israel (1 Sam. 6:6-15). The signs God worked among the Philistines did not bring them to cast aside their false gods and embrace the true God in spite of His judgments upon them as long as they had the ark. The uniform testimony of the Old Testament proves that signs and wonders do not cause people to believe in the Living God. What about in the New Testament?

Maybe here we will find evidence of God moving in a new dispensation, one of signs and wonders to produce saving faith in people who witness or experience them.

In John chapter six our Lord feeds thousands in a miraculous way. The multitude wanted to immediately make Him their King and some did declare He was a prophet (see John 6:14). Jesus knew what was in their hearts and left by boat, yet the crowd followed Him and He rebuked them by saying:

John 6:26-27: Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

The miracles of the loaves and fishes did not cause the people to believe He was the Savior. Some did think He was a prophet, others thought He’d make a good King, after all, He could feed them with little of their own labor,. So this great miracle did not produce saving faith. The people did want to know how they too could “work” the works (miracles) of God. Jesus’ response is very telling to our brethren who are besotted with so-called signs & wonders today:

John 6:28-29: Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Sorry folks, Jesus did not give the crowd three steps to miracle working power, nor did He provide six keys to the supernatural realm. Instead He pointed to His Father and said “this is the work of (from) God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Our Master refocused the people AWAY from the signs & wonders (food that perishes) and said that it was God who would do the work and that work was to draw whomever He would to faith in Hs Son. Jesus had a poor view of those who ran after Him seeking signs and wonders:

Matt 12:38-39: Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Today’s sign seekers are an equally evil and adulterous in my opinion because they have misplaced their faith. Their faith is resting in what they can see or in some cases what type of “power” they can manifest and not in the Word of God first and foremost. In the account of the rich man who went to hell Jesus again warns that a miracle will not create saving faith, whereas God’s Word will:

Luke 16:29-31: Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Note the emphasis placed on hearing the Word of God and not seeing the powerful miracle of one being raised from the dead. The point is — if people will not receive the Word of God, then miracles will be of no help to them. So I repeat myself and state that miracles do not produce saving faith.

The extremist movement is hungry for spiritual power, yet seems to have little appetite for the simple teaching of the Bible. The Apostle Paul makes it very plain where the true power is when he writes:

Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The accurate proclaiming of the Law & Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; not signs and wonders. The Gospel of John shows this power in operation:

John 1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

Many of our brothers and sisters around the world have become fascinated concerning the signs, wonders, and miracles. Let us be cautious of many of the claims being made. The Bible warns us in several places about lying signs and wonders whose only goal is to deceive people and lead them AWAY from Jesus, not bring them to a saving faith in Him!

Matthew 24:11: And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Mark 13:22-23: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

2 Thess. 2:9-12 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The Church has been warned repeatedly to be on guard against people who come saying they have the “power” of God. Those who are not grounded on a solid doctrinal foundation may be deceived by these clever counterfeits. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians seems to indicate that people will love the lying signs and wonders which will lead them to NOT love the truth (“They word is truth” Jh 17:17).

Obviously, these miracles did not and will not bring people to faith in Jesus Christ…no miracle ever has apart from the sovereign working of God in the hearts of those He draws unto Himself.

On closing one of the most frightening warnings given by Christ in the Bible, at least to me when I was a former charismatic extremist myself is the following

Mt. 7:21-23: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. As many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in they name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Working or possessing supernatural (often confused with paranormal powers) gifts and using them in “Jesus” name is not the guarantee to enter into heaven. Jesus states quite emphatically in the Greek that He never at any time knew these people. What is the work God finds acceptable?

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.

The “work” is faith in God the Son and this work is really not ours per se. Faith to believe is a gift from God and it comes to us by grace alone (read Eph. 2:8). All the power the Church needs is found in the Gospel. It has the power to literally take people and translate them from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s Dear Son. The Gospel makes the spiritually dead alive with life eternal and grants them an inheritance which is unfading.

Please pray for all of those who’ve been misled, often by well intentioned but ignorant leaders. Millions are seeking for God in all the wrong places chasing after the latest reported sign, wonder or revival…when all the time God’s true power, His Word sits gathering dust in their homes. Selah.

Copyright © 2006 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes

1. Simpson, Sandy. Reinhard Bonnke Out of Sight Out of Mind 04-24-01.

2. Ibid. Underlining added for emphasis.

3. Obtained from http://desertpastor.typepad.com/paradoxology/2006/signs_and_wonder.html on (08-20-06)

4. Sumrall, Lester, Miracles Don’t Just Happen, Plainfield, N.J. Logos International, 1979, p. 15

5. Obtained from http://www.fathersglory.com/insp/David_Hogan-1.htm. Underlining, italics and bold type added for emphasis.

6. Obtained from http://www.peterpopoff.org/

7. These “failures” have been well documented by the television exposes on Mr. Hinn, not to mention the research done by the Trinity Foundation and Personal Freedom Outreach.

8. King, Patricia, The Voice of the Prophetic, The Clash of Kingdoms by Patricia King, Oct. 2006, p.9 Underlining added for emphasis.

9. Ibid. p. 35 Underlining added.

10. The whole aspect of spiritual warfare as taught by Wagner, Jacobs and others is nothing but an attempt to justify their own theological views of Kingdom Now.

11. McGill, Cindy, The Voice of the Prophetic. Eye Has Not Seen, Nor Ear Heard the Veil to the Glory Realm in Getting Thinner, Oct. 2006, p. 23. Underlining added.

12. Ibid, p. 27. Underlining added.

13. John Wimber who died at age 65. John Wimber said that he picked up a “Chinese cancer spirit” while visiting China. Apparently he and his elders lacked the miracle working power and could not either cast out this cancer spirit or bind it up. Eventually he succumbed to it. This, sad as anyone’s death is, has always stuck me as rather strange, especially in light of the fact that he also penned a book entitled Power Healing!

Part Two – The Heretics Promises Of Long Life Fall Short As They Age – Time for A New Paradigm

Truth Matters Newsletter – August 2006 – Vol. 11 Issue 8 – Part Two – The Heretics Promises Of Long Life Fall Short As They Age and Die So Time for A New Paradigm – By Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Part Two – The Heretics Promise Of Long Life Fall Short As They Age – So, Time for A New Paradigm

In the July Issue we began to consider the claims made by many of the charismatic extremists regarding their teachings on longevity. Many make the claim that it is God’s will that His people all live to be 120 years old. They base their claim on the fact that Moses lived to be 120 and when he died his eyesight was perfect and he had the strength of a young man (read Deut 34:7). Since we have a better covenant based on better promises, then we should obtain at least as much, if not more, than Moses!

Towards the end of July I had the privilege to have a radio interview conducted by Pastor Emory Moss of Strictly Biblical Teaching Ministry. Pastor Moss is not only a friend of mine, he is one of the few voices boldly speaking out against biblical error and heresy on the radio in the Metropolitan Detroit area. Before the broadcast he asked me to be prepared to answer the Word of Faith claims to the right to live to be 120.

Let me answer his question now (in case you are also asked “why not” by some extremist). The answer is simple. Why just pick on Moses? Since when did His life become the cornerstone for marking longevity? Without a doubt Moses lived to be 120. Why not chose our first father Adam? He lived to be 930 years old (Gen. 5:5). Or why not chose Enos who lived at least 815 years (Gen. 5:10). The fact is there is nothing in the New Testament that guarantees God’s people any certain length of days. People are free to make any claims they wish as long as they do not twist Scripture to make their point. An example of one person known to many of our readers was Jamie Buckingham who received a “divine” revelation from Oral Roberts:

In July 1990, Roberts gave a special “word of wisdom” to Jamie Buckingham who was suffering from cancer, assuring him that he would not die but live to continue his ministry. In 1991, Jamie Buckingham, encouraged by Robert’s “word of wisdom”, claimed that God had told him that he would be given at least another 50 years of life. However, Buckingham died one year later. (1)

Not surprisingly Mr. Roberts was wrong again regarding what he thought was a word from the Lord. Buckingham did not live, he died. If I had been Jamie I would have been highly suspect of anything Roberts uttered because of his abysmal track record of spouting false prophetic words. Then Jamie goes on to say that the Lord told him personally he would live another 50 years, making him 100 years old (not quite hitting the 120 mark). Yet he perished of his illness the next year.

It is this glaring lack of success among the leaders of charismatic extremism that has led to what I call a “mega-shift” in practice within the charismatic camp. Years of positive confessing and not possessing accompanied by the many deaths of charismatic leaders has led many to look for other “keys” to anti-aging and longevity. As we explore some of the ingredients in the new approach please keep in mind they are not negating the former practices. It is simply that positive confession alone was not enough, it seems it was only one side of the long life coin. Today sign-gift believers are being given the missing ingredients. Now we will begin where we left off in July:

PART TWO

It is easy when you are young to boldly declare that doctors exist for the weak in faith as Fred Price teaches. Price continues to teach that true believers can and should live to be 120 years old:

Price boasts of himself “When you have developed your faith to such an extent that you can stand on the promises of God, then you won’t need medicine. That’s the reason, I don’t take medicine.” While he says we don’t allow sickness in his home (Is healing for all?  p. 20 Harrison House 1976) and condemns others for having it. Nor does he personally take medicine somehow it snuck in on his wife. In 1990 she developed cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It was by God’s grace not the law of faith that she was cured. (2)

As all of these people have begun to age and many are in into their middle to late 60’s, some are older a “new” thrust has been added to their agendas, one that is proving very popular. The new thrust is really nothing more than common sense healthy living with a thin veneer of charismatic “dust” sprinkled over it.

Back in the day, no self-respecting televangelist would have medical doctors on their shows, unless they were shilling a fake miracle. TBN has Dr. Reginald Cherry on their network as a regular program. Cherry is a real Board certified medical doctor who heavily endorses alternative forms of treatment. (3) He is the doctor to the charismatic elite, especially Jan Crouch. Naturally on his program and web site he panders his brands of nutritional supplements and makes the following claims concerning them:

God has now given us the knowledge to take extracts from the various substances He created and formulate advanced nutritional supplements to address the major health concerns that threaten us today. God has instructed me to formulate a daily, high potency nutritional supplement along with a family of specialty supplements based on specific conditions to help the body of Christ in these last days. (4)

These are not your average One-A-Day vitamins Cherry is selling, oh no, “God” told him how to formulate each product by divine insight. Statements like these coming from a real Board Certified medical doctor who is on TBN must be true! If God did indeed reveal to Dr. Cherry some form of supercharged vitamin complex then they should work every tie and in every case produce positive results. So far, this does not seem to be the case.

I am sure if tested, Cherry’s products would contain the same ingredients that LifeSource Nutrition offers in all its products. They place a full page advertisement in Charisma magazine almost every month… (5)

The LifeSource people place their tag line “Can Cancer and Disease Be Prevented?” Obviously, the answer to their rhetorical question is yes if you buy and take their products.

Books are now coming out by the score written by some well known authors, like Joyce Meyer and her latest book entitled Look Great and Feel Great 12 Keys to Enjoying a Healthy Life Now. (6) Another title sweeping the land is called The Maker’s Diet written by Jordan S. Rubin. Naturally Rubin has a website and sells products that go along with his instructions on how to eat biblically. Who is Rubin and why should anyone listen to him?

After winning his battle with Crohn’s colitis, a disease initially diagnosed as incurable, Jordan has devoted his life to developing solutions to help those who suffer as he did by developing and educating on ways to naturally and nutritionally overcome health challenges. Jordan is also a best selling author, including Restoring Your Digestive Health and The Maker’s Diet. Additionally, Jordan is founder of the nationally reputed Garden of Life and GPRX products available on this website, including outstanding products such as the probiotic, Primal Defense…A faith-filled life is a strong and mighty force against disease and sickness, resulting in significant, long-term health benefits. (7)

This book and the accompanying line of nutritional supplements is taking off like wildfire not only among Christians but in the secular “diet-crazed” world too. What is Rubin’s basic belief and practice? Rubin bases his nutritional concepts on Old Testament teachings about what we should and should not eat. Bacon and pork products are avoided, as are all types of shellfish, etc. There is a long list of required nutritional supplements that must be taken by the dieter. Rubin got into some legal hot water with the FDA over the claims he was making about himself and his supplements:

“Maker’s Diet” author tied to illegal supplement marketing. The FDA has ordered Garden of Life of West Palm Beach, Florida, to stop making unsubstantiated claims for “Q-Zyme, “ “Primal Defense,” “Virgin Coconut Oil,” “Fungal Defense,” FYI (For Your Inflammation),” “RM-10,” “Revivall Classic,” or other products. [Singleton ER Warning letter to Robert U. Craven. May 11, 2004] The company was founded by Jordan S. Rubin, “NMD, phD, CNC,” who claims to have cured himself of “intestinal parasites, severe Candida, extreme anemia, food allergies, diabetes, excruciating abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, poor circulation, liver problems, chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, arthritis, insomnia, hair loss, prostate and bladder infections, irregular heartbeat, eye inflammation, and chronic depression.” Rubin’s credentials have no legitimate academic or professional standing:

His NMD (naturopathic medical doctor) is from the Peoples University of the Americas School of Natural Medicine, a non-accredited school with no campus.

His Ph.D is from the Academy of Natural Therapies, a non-accredited correspondence school that the State of Hawaii ordered to close last year.

His CND (Certified Nutritional Consultant) comes form the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, whose only requirement for “professional members” status has been payment of a $50 or $60 fee. The CNC requires passage of a test based mainly on the contents of books that promote nutrition quackery.

Rubin’s book, “The Maker’s Diet,” is number 14 on the New York Times list of hardcover advice books. The book’s Web site states that Rubin “uses Biblical and scientific resources to provide a uniquely holistic wellness program.” Entrepreneur Magazine listed Garden of Life as the fifth fastest growing company in America, with 2003 sales of $43.2 million. (8)

In short, Mr. Rubin is a fraud. His degrees are fraudulent, and the claims he was making about his supplements are proven unscientific. Regardless of the facts, his book is number 14 on the New York Times best selling hardback list and it can be found in virtually every Christian bookstore. Why is his book so popular among Christians? Because we are all growing older and if getting back under the yoke of the Old Testament dietary laws will bring health then so be it! If keeping kosher was the answer to long-life then Hasidic Jews ought to be outliving us all, but they are not.

Even the aging charismatic wacko Pat Robertson offers his “age defying shake” on the CBN website:

Where does Pat find the time and energy to host a daily, national TV show, head a world-wide ministry, develop visionary scholars, while traveling the globe as a statesman? One of Pat’s secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients. (9)

Inside the “health clinic” aspect of the website he is currently offering two books: 1.) Aging Without Growing Old, by Mary MacFarland, 2.) Health For A Lifetime, by Dr. Julian Whitaker. His age-defying shake although originally offered for free and the recipe can still be obtained for free, he decided to turn it into a profit making venture:

Seems his “age-defying” diet shake isn’t just a philanthropic endeavor anymore. The televangelist is looking to turn a profit from it. After four years of touting the benefits of his weight-loss shake via his nonprofit Christian Broadcasting Network and sending the recipe to any viewer who asked for it, Robertson has licensed the shake for national distribution by General Nutrition Corp. , a Pittsburgh-based health-food chain…Robertson’s weight-loss shake had been turned into a powdered mix in a can: nine servings for $21.99. In large type on the front of the can, the product is labeled “Pat’s Diet Shake.” In smaller type on the back, it is identified as “Dr. Pat Robertson’s Diet Shake.” Robertson is not a medical doctor, but he has a law degree, known formally as a juris doctor, from Yale Law School…The commercialization of Robertson’s shake drew fire from the Trinity Foundation, a Dallas-based religious media watchdog organization. Trinity has been critical of past Robertson business ventures, such as his African gold and diamond mines and Kalo-Vita, a multilevel marketing company that sold vitamins and cosmetics. Ole Anthony, Trinity’s president said Robertson improperly used his tax-exempt, nonprofit ministry to create a market for his shake. “It wouldn’t exist unless it was promoted on the donor-paid-for airtime,” he said. (10)

Robertson’s co-host on the 700 Club, Mr. Ben Kinchlow also got into the healing crazy by serving as an advocate for bee pollen and royal jelly (the bee food only the queen bee eats, and as we all know the queen lives the longest!). Well the company Ben was shilling for suffered the same fate as Mr. Rubin’s regarding the FDA:

In 1992, a federal court ordered destruction of quantities of Bee Alive, a royal jelly and herb combination in honey seized from Bee-Alive Inc. , of Valley Cottage, N.Y. In 1989, the FDA had warned the company that promotional material distributed with a similar product had made illegal statements that the product was useful in treating or preventing chronic Epstein-Barr virus syndrome, gastrointestinal ulcers, colitis, low blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, nervous breakdowns, infertility, impotence, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, anemia, asthma, hemorrhoids, migraine headaches, and other problems.

Despite a promise to stop distributing literature making these claims, the company continued to advertise that Regina Royal Jelly could help children resist childhood ailments, “offers daytime vitality and nighttime tranquility,” increases mental and physical stamina, and “seems to improve the immune system.” Company president Madeline Balletta still promotes Bee-Alive as a “super-food” whose users (including herself) have been relieved form severe fatigue [22,23]. (11)

What is amazing to me is that both Pat & Ben are still avid believers in the charismatic doctrine concerning divine healing. Pat still gives out words of knowledge for healing his viewers on television. (I guess he is hedging his bet by drinking his age defying shake and taking his supplements). After all, one never knows when ones faith might falter.

For a mere $23.00 you can purchase the latest Joyce Meyer book which is also a New York Times best seller. On her website store about this book it says:

You are valuable to God! He has a great future planned for you, and you need to be ready for it. In this exciting new release, Joyce shares twelve practical keys that will help you look and feel great. Working these principles into your life is not as hard as you might think and can make all the difference in the world. (12)

Joyce is getting older too. She has medically battled breast cancer and is cancer free today. Yet she looks in the mirror too and knows in her heart-of-hearts that positive confession will not make those age lines go away. There are other methods used to make that happen along with a whole host of techniques used by the leaders in the extremist movement to make their claims of divine life flowing through their veins appear to be true.

Dear brothers and sisters when you see many of these charismatic superstars on television realize that they use the same treatments that Hollywood stars use to keep up a youthful looking façade. Mr. Copeland dyes his hair to keep it that jet black. T.L.Osborn has worn a full wig for many years (at least 20). These folks use liposuction (Jan Crouch even offered a seminar on lipo a few years back). They get laser work done on their eyes. They wear wigs (Jan Crouch and T. L. Osborn). Benny Hinn is the master of the comb-over and hair dying techniques. Tilton admitted to having had a facelift done (a close look at many of the television gals will prove the same is true for them, but those neck lines always give them away). Jan Crouch had a pair of silicon breast implants for that “fuller figure” Dolly Parton look she covets, not to mention the massive amount of make-up she wears. 

We all remember Tammy Faye Bakker, she was the original “queen” of too much make-up. Both Jan and Tammy have battled cancer and could use our prayers.

Now it seems they have come full circle from once declaring that all we needed was faith in God’s promises of health and long life and we’d have it, to now having faith in eating a kosher diet, taking plenty of expensive nutritional supplements to produce health and a long life. The trick is to confess God’s promises as you take all those dietary pills and thus you’ll be releasing faith in God to use them to bring you to a long long long healthy, wealthy life. In the end hopefully leaving behind a beautiful 120 year old corpse!

This mega-shift towards long life goes beyond mere nutritional supplements. Charisma magazine but a very long article on “Christian Yoga” in the July 2006 issue. Yoga in all its forms comes directly from Hinduism and have no place in the Church. The theory behind every form of yoga is to “yoke” the devotee with their specific god or goddess they are serving. Here is what the leader says in Charisma:

Susan Bondenkircher, developer of a Christian yoga-video series called Out-stretched in Worship (www.Christianyoga.us) says her Christ-centered yoga classes direct participants toward God, not false gods. And the instruction can serve as an evangelistic tool. If someone who’s not a Christian is practicing yoga, we can give them the opportunity to see God through what we’re doing. (13)

“That dog won’t hunt,” in other words her statement is false. You cannot take pagan practices and make them “Christian.” What fellowship has light with darkness (read 2 Cor. 6:14)? The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is —NONE! Yet this does not stop Charisma magazine from promoting Christian-yoga as a valid means for communing with our Lord. The Bible never mentions any form of yoga as being a means of divine communication or a tool for meditation.

I believe it is potentially dangerous for Christians to meddle with eastern practices; possibly opening themselves up for demonic attack.

If yoga is not your thing there is yet another way to climb the ladder of health and long life. I was sent a book by a good friend and ministry supporter some months back (thanks Tom) called “The Holy Movement: Matters of the Colon.” Once I had stopped laughing at the title I realized that Debora Lee Meehan was serious about the astounding benefits of high colonics and enemas. The book is printed by New Century Press, Chula Vista, CA. Here is a blurb from the back cover of her book:

The Holy Movement is the hottest historical and biblical presentation of Colon Hygiene for this new millennium. Presented boldly and quite humorously, Debra Lee Meehan possess the ability to communicate real life situations in a fashion that is easily understood as helpful truth for all. The Holy Movement shows how spiritual principles may be manifested into the physical plane for the purpose of healthy and abundant living. (14)

The book is filled with New Age techniques and lingo, none of which have anything to do with the Bible. There is not one text that directs us to get a high colonic! There may be a medical reason when such a procedure is necessary but it does not help manifest spiritual principles into the physical plane.

I hope this article is opening your eyes to seeing how far out people are willing to go when they begin to realize they are growing older and are seemingly unwilling to meet their Lord in a genuine face-to-face encounter.

Let’s close this article out by considering a few biblical truths. To begin with God is Sovereign, He is the One who is in complete control of our lives and how long we live. James makes this truth plain when he writes:

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appearth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. James 4:13-15.

What many of our extremist friends have forgotten is that we are the clay and God is the Potter. The Apostle Paul makes the following statement regarding our physical lives:

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; 2 Cor. 4:16-17

In context Paul is speaking about the reality of heaven when our earthly bodies perish. Try as we might to push back the forces of the fall we must admit that every day we ar a day closer to the grave and our reward. Frankly, we should be living every day or Christ as if it is our last instead of projecting into the future.

Brothers and sisters there is nothing wrong or sinful about taking care of the body God has entrusted to us. We are to be good stewards over it just as we are called to be good stewards over any other possession. I believe the problems begin to enter in when claims are made almost guaranteeing us long life if we will such as Dr. Cherry’s supplements or drink Pat Robertson’s life enhancing age defying shakes.

Really all that is needed is very simple —-eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and meat. Get some exercise daily, which can be as simple as walking in the morning or evening. If you are overweight, lose the weight. If you smoke, stop smoking. Live a life of moderation and dedicate each day to the Lord and strive to serve Him however you can. You may live to be 120, you may live to be 54, it really is immaterial assuming you have lived your allotted time on earth to bring Him glory.  ♦

Copyright © 2006 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes

1. Obtained from http://www.fundamentalbiblechurch.org/Foundation/fbcwhere.htm

2. Obtained from http://www.letusreason.org/Wf27htm on 07-17-06. Underlining and bold type added.

3. To learn more about his history, beliefs, education go visit his web site at:

http://www.drcherry.org/drcherry_bio.htm

4. Obtained from http://www.drcherry.org/supplements.htm

5. Charisma April 2005 p. 15 full page ad for LifeSource Nutrition

6. Charisma, April 2006, p. 21.

7. Obtained from http://www.gprxstore.com/catalog/product-theParentId11id82.html

8. Obtained from http://www.ncahf.org/digest04/04-25.html

9. Obtained from http://www.cbn.com/communitypublic/shake.aspx

10. Sizemore, Bill – Is Anything Wrong With Pat Robertson Making a Killing? The Washington Post, August 25, 2005.

11. Obtained form http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/bee.html

12. Obtained from http://shop.jmmestore.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1327.

13. Obtained form http://www.joycemeyer.com on 08-01-06.

14. Charisma, July 2006. P. 30

The Jet Set

Truth Matters Newsletters – August 2006 Vol. 11 Issue 8 – The Jet Set – by Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

The Jet Set

In the rough-n-tumble world of televangelism it seem that to be a “player” you must own your own private jet. Simply flying first class in a commercial jet is not good enough. These men and women of God are too important to stand in line and be searched like the rest of us. Here is a short list of those who need millions of dollars a year just to keep themselves in the air:

Copeland protégés Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle, and Florida’s Mark Bishop, each fly their own Cessna Citation 500. They cruise at 400 mph with a range of 1,400 miles and carry a price tag of about $1.25 million each.

Fred Price, Creflo Dollar and Benny Hinn all have their own Grumman Gulfstream II’s. With a two-man crew and 19 passengers, these babies cruise at 581 mph with a range of 4,275 miles. Used, they’re worth about $4.5 million each.

Paul Crouch owns the current Queen of the Flying-Televangelist Fleet – a Bombardier Challenger 604. Carrying a crew of two plus 19 passengers, she cruises at 529 mph with a range of 3,860 miles. She’s valued at $16.5 million, not including Paul’s “special interior remodeling.” The late Ken Hagin’s Challenger 601, about 10 years older than Paul’s is “only” worth about $9.6 million. Joyce Meyers has her own Challenger 600. A full 18 years older than Paul’s this one’s only worth a paltry $4.5 million.

Mr. Copeland owns a Cessna Citation 550 Bravo (valued at $3.4 million), PLUS his Grumman Gulfstream II (worth $4.5 million) AND his Cessna Golden Eagle AND his Beech E-55 AND his assorted less aircraft AND his own airport all add up to untold millions of poor folks’ dollars. But Kenny’s masterstroke is the fact that he’s now telling the faithful that God wants him and wife Gloria to EACH have their own Cessna Citation Ten super-jets.

Video – Kenneth Copeland: God told me to buy a Citation:

Flying just below the speed of sound, these state-of-the-art flying palaces carry a base sticker price of $20 million! That means when “God” has his way, the widows and orphans will have “invested” just about $50-60 million in Kenny’s Heavenly Air Force. Information obtained from http://www.wittenburgdoor.com.

Kenneth Copeland’s Jet Denied Tax Exemption:

 

Copyright  © 2006 Robert S. Liichow

The Dreaded Curse of the charismaniac

Truth Matters Newsletters – December 2005 – Vol. 10 Issue 12 – The Dreaded Curse of the Charismaniac – By Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International 

The Dreaded Curse of the charismaniac

The content of several recent e-mails to our ministry expose an untaught but often practiced doctrine within the charismatic extremist movement from which I was delivered, the dire practice of “cursing” those who oppose charismania for one reason or another.

Cursing someone is basically invoking the name of a deity or using supernatural power to cause destruction, harm or calamity to another person. Normally one associates cursing with voodoo, Santeria (1) or some other form of witchcraft and not with Christianity, especially not with folks who claim to have a higher “dose” of the Holy Ghost whose love is alleged to be shed abroad in their hearts. (see Romans 5:5) !

What is sad is that some professing Christians couch their curses in the name of our Lord Jesus. The usual manner for curses to be unleashed by charismaniacs (2) occurs in two basic ways. First, curses are proclaimed as an alleged prophetic directive from the Lord. The example I will shortly site from Mr. Hinn is a manifestation of this type of curse. Secondly, curses are uttered in the name of the Lord against those who disagree with someone, usually over doctrinal issues or against those who call into question not only the biblical teachings of someone but also their lifestyle. This second form is often simply unmasked anger or hatred for someone, but done in the name of Jesus to sanctify it. This variety is seen by the Charismaniac as a legitimate form of righteous anger as typified by Jesus overturning the tables in the temple (see Matthew 21:12) or His verbal excoriation of the Scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23:27). My first example is of the second type and was uttered by Mr. Paul Crouch, the Founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) against all the Christian Apologists who dared question Mr. Crouch and his cronies about doctrinal issues being transmitted globally via TBN.

That old rotten Sanhedrin crowd, twice dead, plucked up by the roots…they’re damned and on their way to hell and I don’t think there’s any redemption for them…the hypocrites, the heresy hunters, that want to find a little mote of illegal doctrine in some Christian’s eyes…when they’ve got a whole forest in their own lives…” I say, to hell with you! Get out of my life! Get out of the way! Quit blockin’ God’s bridges! I’m tired of this!…This is my spirit. Oh, hallelujah!” …There’s a spiritual application here….I want to say to all you scribes, Pharisees, heresy-hunters, all of you that are around pickin’ little bits of doctrinal error out of everybody’s eyes and dividin’ the Body of Christ…get out of God’s way, stop blockin’ God’s bridges, or God’s goin’ to shoot you if I don’t… let Him sort out all this doctrinal doodoo!….I refuse to argue any longer with any of you out there! Don’t even call me if you want to argue doctrine, if you want to straighten somebody out…criticize Ken Copeland…or Dad Hagin. Get out of my life! I don’t ever want to talk to you…I don’t want to see your ugly face! (3)

See a Video here :

According to my research Mr. Crouch has never recanted or repented for such hatred and anger. Crouch says that those of us who question him regarding doctrinal issues are “damned and on their way to hell.” Obviously, Crouch has become the one who holds the eternal life and knows who is damned and on their way to hell (and he is not even a Calvinist!!). “There is no redemption for them,” my Bible says that God so loved the world that He sent His Son to die for sinners (read John 3:16) and in another place the Holy Writ says that our Father desires that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (read 1 timothy 2:4). So how can there be “no redemption” for us po’ heresy-hunters? “To hell with you…” when was the last time you pointed your finger at Christian brothers and sisters (or even outright sinners) and said “go to hell”? Hopefully never, but Mr. Crouch is on a higher spiritual plane than the rest of us and so the following dictum does not pertain to him:

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Eph. 4:29

Crouch brings God into his tirade by declaring that those of us with legitimate doctrinal concerns regarding orthodox Christian dogma are blocking God’s bridges (aka TBN) and says we are guilty of dividing the Body of Christ. What is more if we do not stop challenging Crouch, Copeland, Hagin and others then “God’s gonin’ shoot” us if Crouch does not first.

See Video here – Paul Crouch: God’s gonna shot you if I don’t:

It seems various Christian Apologists were contacting TBN and contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints (read Jude 3) and Crouch was fed up with our calls, letters and e-mails. I say this because he mentions doctrine four times in his curse along with Copeland, Hagin, two unabashed heretics.

To the charismatic extremist the battle cry is “doctrine divides.” As long as one calls Jesus his Lord and believes He ascended back to heaven is all the doctrine one needs to inspect. Crouch is not upset by a little illegal doctrine in a Christian’s life, but he is upset by anyone who would dare to try to lovingly correct those who are in error. Crouch has obviously lost sight of what Jesus warned when He said —

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees…How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:6,11-12

No one has perfect doctrine and no one in the Apologetic arena of ministry I know has ever made such a claim. Speaking for myself, the more I study God’s Word the more I learn how little I do know. However, there are cardinal doctrines which must be universally agreed upon in order to be considered a genuine Christian. These are the issues we are chiefly concerned about.

Jesus warns His disciples about the danger of false doctrine and we echo His warnings today to our brothers and sisters. There is no such thing as harmless false (illegal) doctrine. True, none of us is 100% doctrinally pure, but it is one thing to lack understanding concerning some facet of biblical truth and quite another to embrace something that is erroneous. The Apostle Paul rebukes the Galatians who were being bewitched by legalism. He reminds them—

Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion [cometh] not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Galatians 5:7-9

Crouch is very willing to “wink” at a little leaven (illegal doctrine), DMI is not. Truth Matters to God and His truth is worth fighting for. When you know God’s truth in a certain area and keep silent knowing your brethren believes a lie how are you walking in love towards them? Paul understood that everything produces after its own kind and thus he knew the danger of allowing the Galatians to cling to anything, no matter how small that was unsound biblically.

The following is another example of this type of curse directed at me personally in a recent missive of “love” from an alleged brother in Christ. Note the tone and language. Not only does this misguided soul violate the Holy Scriptures, he does not even take time to use his spell and grammar checker! Nor does he cite any specific examples of where our ministry has misrepresented Mr. Hagin. We stand by the well documented fact that he stole intellectually from E.W. Kenyon Finis Dake and other authors. We also do not recant that he was a false teacher and false prophet, all of which is well documented on our website and other websites and books if anyone cares to take the time to research. So enjoy the following e-mail and I believe it speaks for itself and helps answer why I am glad to consider myself an “X-charismaniac.” (Bold type and underlining are added for emphasis on my part- spelling corrected).

“Dear Robert, I just read your article on the web. It’s great that you are investigating religion, but you got the Kenneth Hagin situation wrong. I’m a born again Christian and realize that some people do not understand Kenneth’s ministry. I have an organization speaking against you since you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about.  He is not a false prophet at all. These things were revealed to him. No I will not argue with you, there are plenty of people on the forum who already think you have this all wrong. He was not a part of TV or TBN after the 80 since he was told not to go on TV by the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Your judgment is coming as well and you who don’t really know what you’re talking about. You have started a war—- but not with sweet innocent children but ones that can go into the spirit realm and destroy you. Think about it Jesus Christ won’t help you once the curse is upon you. PS we are born again Christians too.

This e-mail would be funny if this guy was not trying to be serious. It appears this man has an entire organization “speaking against me” (keep in mind curses are generally verbalized in order to be effective). It seems my judgment is coming due to the powerful curses released by these unsweetened negative nabobs of doom, despair and agony. Gee whatever happened to being harmless as doves (read Matthew 10:16) ?

Due to our exposure of Mr. Hagin we have started a “war” with bitter (as opposed to sweet), guilty (as opposed to innocent) Christians who can ascend into the spirit realm and destroy me.

Let me address his first accusation regarding my not understanding Mr. Hagin’s SINistry. Oh really?  We have almost every one of his books, untold numbers of his cassettes, videos and I have seen him in person, up close and personal, even been in prayer lines where he was imparting his special ‘anointing” so special it is not even mentioned in the Bible! No, quite the contrary, as a former Word of Faith Pastor/teacher I am extremely familiar with his doctrine and it is unsound biblically. His so-called visions and out-of-body experiences with Jesus are farcical.

What kind of a dolt is this guy?  Doesn’t he realize that after Crouch, and as you will shortly read ‘Benny the healer Hinn’ have cursed you…you’ve been cursed?  All I can say is, “hey take your best shot pal.”

I wish I had a dime for every time somebody was going to go up to the spirit realm (he must have been reading too much Mary K. Baxter or Howard Pittman) and destroy me, my family and marriage. Sounds more like witchcraft versus the character of Christ Jesus, who commanded us to turn the other check when struck (read Matthew 5:39). Golly, even Jesus Christ, God the Son Himself won’t help me (and by inference others) who dare to speak out against what we know to be false doctrine. I guess since “dad” Hagin assumed room temperature, speaking out against him has been elevated to the status of blaspheming the Holy Spirit (I think not).

I on the other hand must and do bless these misguided souls. We pray for all of them as well as the remaining Hagin family that our gracious Lord Jesus Christ will open their eyes to the truth of the Gospel and they will recant their false doctrines and pull the books that contain them from the shelves.

I wrote this man back and here is the less than godly response from our so-called brother. His language and hatred betray him. Read with sadness the following:

“We are human Christians not sweet get your –ass –kicked –by —religion–and the — Gov’t don’t care what you write about us. GET IT? And we still gave our lives to Jesus Christ. Even the devil was mad for the day of vengence, write more and get destroyed more. We do not accept your fake ass apology as PS ask the Lord Jesus Christ if we are not of HIM? You’ll be more than surprised and ‘17 million of us know you will not reveal when He truly answers you.’ Some people need to keep their mouth shut and their websites. The demonic attacks are ones you and your church can’t fight off,  judgment starts in the house of the LORD “

Uh, what planet is this guy from? I guess we counter-cult apologists, myself in particular, are sweet non-human Christians [sic] who get our “ass kicked by religion.” I readily admit that I am sweet, which beats being sour and bitter. I also confess that I am an alien and pilgrim on this planet (read Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). I guess he did not read about the Apostle Paul getting his “ass kicked” by religion—

I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? So [am] I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; [in] journeying often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, in perils by [mine own] countrymen, [in] perils by the heathen, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:21-28

Paul must have been too sweet, innocent and passive when faced with such opposition. Why didn’t he go into the spirit realm and hurl down curses on those who withstood him? Maybe Paul was emulating the faith of those we read about in the following text:

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of [cruel] mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy;) they wandered in deserts, and [in] mountains, and [in] dens and caves of the earth. Hebrews 11:35-38

Could it be that Paul had heard James or John recount their experience with the Samaritan villages who rejected Jesus?

And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw [this], they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save [them]. And they went to another village. Luke 9:53-56

Mr. Crouch and others who proclaim curses desiring the destruction of their enemies do not know what spirit they are of. These folks have lost sight of the mission of Jesus which is salvation and not destruction.

Back to the e-mailed curse! In our response DMI did not apologize for anything we have written regarding the false prophet Kenneth Hagin Sr. What we did say was that we would “bless” him, and we did in our prayer time, I guess those coals get pretty hot when they get heaped on his head, ergo the vitriolic response. I need not ask our Lord if he is “of Him,” his fruit speaks loudly enough so we have no need to bother the Ancient of Days with such a question. If he wants to reject our prayers and blessings that is his right, but the bible says that “love believes the best” and obviously he is not walking in love because he doubts our sincerity. Again, pray for this misguided soul and may God have mercy upon him and those caught up in calling darkness light and light darkness. I pray God has mercy on the individual who sent the above email to us. Feel free to express your love to him; it seems he really needs a hug or something! His email address is atiragepro@gmail.com.

Let’s consider the type of curse that is given in the quasi-prophetic form. This one is very popular among the so-called restored prophets for obvious reasons. I will cite an example given by Mr. Hinn since he is one of the most widely known and accepted false prophets plaguing the church today. The following curse was literally growled by Mr. Hinn at a miracle crusade held in Denver, Co.

“Yes Lord I’ll do it! I place a curse on every man and woman that will stretch his hand against this anointing I curse that man who dares to speak a word against this ministry.”   (4)

See Video Here: Benny Hinn puts a curse on people:

Hinn would want us to believe that our Lord (the One who came to not destroy but save, the One who on the cross said :Father forgive them”) told him to curse every man and woman who comes against Benny’s alleged anointing and ministry! It is sad to think that people actually believe that Hinn has been sanctioned to curse people and since God is no respecter of persons other lesser “lights” in the extremist movement have taken to placing curses on those who disagree with them. This is a perfect example of the “little leaven“, (cursing in this case,) spreads to others in the Body if it is not dealt with biblically.

The Biblical Attitude Regarding Cursing

The Bible does have quite a bit to say regarding the matter of cursing our enemies. We read the following comment from the lips of Job:

If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. Job 31:29-30

We all know what happened when Balak tried to pay Balaam to curse God’s people:

…Balak the King of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel, How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? Num. 23:7-8

Furthermore, we are commanded by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:14 to “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.” Mr. Crouch, Hinn, the e-mailer and others are in direct violation of God’s Word when they attempt to proclaim and place curses on others. In Luke 5:44  Jesus commands us to “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,”

What a shame that many in the sign-gift movement have spiraled down to this level of unbiblical diatribe and unwillingness to admit that many of their leaders have feet of clay and sinful hearts, like the rest of us. They too are in continual need of God’s forgiveness and mercy.  ♦

Copyright © 2005 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes

1. Santeria is one of the many syncretic religions created in the New World. It is based on the West African religions brought to the new world by slaves imported to the Caribbean to work the sugar plantations. These slaves carried their own religious traditions, including a tradition of possession trance for communications with the ancestors and deities, the use of animal sacrifice and the practice of sacred drumming and dance. Obtained from http://sparta.rice.edu/~maryc/Santeria.

2. Charismaniac, a term I believe I coined but I could be wrong is meant to refer only to those people who embrace the latest pseudo-spiritual beliefs and practices such as holy laughter, strategic level spiritual warfare, being druck in the spirit, the heresies of the Word of Faith cult, aberrant faith healing practices and the like. DMI is not lumping all Pentecostals and charismatic/sign-gift believers into this category. DMI works with both Pentecostal and biblically sound sign/gift people who have not been carried away by the prevailing winds of false doctrine swirling around in their circles.

3. This is only a portion of a rather long rant by Mr. Crouch one can view him in action on various websites and videos. Transcripts of all he said zre also widely distributed on the internet. This portion was obtained from http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/paul_crouch_curses_those_who_contend_for_sound_doctrine.htm.

4. Obtained from http://www.christian-witness.org/archives/cetf1999/bhinnlower.html. There are many websites which show the actual video clips in which Mr. Hinn’s demeanor changes, his voice changes and he hurls his “Spirit-led” curse at those who oppose him and his ministry. The underlining has been added for emphasis.

Sacred Cow Number Five – It Is God’s Will to Always Heal

Truth Matters Newsletter – June 2005 – Vol. 10 Issue 6 – Sacred Cow Number Five – It is God’s Will to Always Heal – by Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Throughout this series I have been focusing on the major beliefs of the Word of Faith (WOF) cult. It is appropriate to delve into this topic due to the fact that the cult is also known as the “Health and Wealth” movement. This month I will consider their views on divine healing as oppose to what the Bible teaches and next month I will close this series out by exposing their twisting of biblical texts concerning God’s will and financial prosperity. But what good is money if you don’t have your health, eh?

It is vitally important for you to understand Discernment Ministries International (DMI) position regarding divine healing. DMI does not doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ still heals His people. Where orthodox Christians diverge from the WOF cult is that we believe that God heals people according to His sovereign good pleasure which is based upon His will for us as individuals. The Lord is the Healer and frankly, it may or may not be within His plan to heal an individual physically. I have often taught that God answers 100% of my prayers (yours too), however, the answers are not always what I want.

There is absolutely nothing wrong or sinful for Christians to pray for physical healing for themselves, family members, friends or others. It is doctrinally correct for the elders of a congregation to anoint the sick with oil and pray for their physical restoration (read James 5:14,15). Our Lord can and does heal through the proper reception of His grace when we come to the altar and celebrate the Lord’s Supper:

Those guilty of unworthy communion through non-discernment of the body and/or failure to examine themselves commit sacrilege against the most holy things, for which reason they are weak or sick or have even died (1 Cor. 11:27-31)…In the Large Catechism Luther confesses the other side of the coin presented by the Apostle in these verses. ‘We must never regard the sacrament as a harmful thing from which we should flee, but as a pure, wholesome, soothing medicine that aids you and gives life in both soul and body. For where the soul is healed, the body is healed as well’ (LCV.68). Positive bodily benefit may accrue, even in this life, to those who worthily (I.e.., contritely and with faith) partake of the Holy Supper. For it may please Almighty God to hold back the progress or even to drive back the depredations of bodily and mental disease through the life-giving body and blood of Him “by [whose] wounds we are healed (Is 53:5c; 1 Pt 2:24) (1)

It is with these texts in mind that we know that our Lord can and does heal His people. DMI is not anti-healing, we are against any teaching which takes something God may graciously do for one of His children and turn that grace into a work wrought by man and thus available to anyone who knows how to work the work, which is essentially what the WOF cult has done.

The WOF Teaching on Divine Healing

The problem with the WOF view of divine healing is that it is based on false premises, shoddy exegesis and is being propagated in many cases by wolves masquerading as genuine Christians. Their belief promises healing to all yet provides healing to none. The only ones who truly benefit from this deadly error are the so-called healing evangelists, all of whom have gotten extremely wealthy from presenting false hopes to the hopeless and desperate. Let’s drive a stake into this particular darkness.

 F.F. Bosworth, an early “healing” evangelist, made the following statement and as you can read Gloria Copeland’s comment echoes Bosworth’s and is now parroted by every WOF SINister on television and in pulpits today:

We see, from almost every conceivable angle throughout the Scripture, that there is no doctrine more clearly taught than it is God’s will to all who have need of healing, and that they may fulfill the number of their days, according to His promise. (2)

The Word of God will establish, without a doubt, that it is God’s will to heal everyone all of the time who will agree with Him. Agreeing with God puts you in a position to receive from God. (3)

There you have it folks, it is God’s will to heal everyone all of the time, end of story. Obviously people who are not healed are (1) out of the will of God for their lives and (2) not in agreement with God. Bosworth moved to Zion, IL a city founded by faith healer John Alexander Dowie (who later claimed he was Elijah returned and died of a stroke). His initial education and training came from his association with Dowie, Parham and E.W. Kenyon. In her healing school tape series Gloria goes on pontificating regarding the condition of the early Church:

In the early Church, they had this revelation. Sickness was no problem to them. They knew how to resist Satan and command disease to leave. They depended on the power of God to put them over in everything. Satan did not control the early Church, the believers kept him under control. (4)

The early Church she is referring to is the Church from its inception to the Dark Ages. The revelation they had was that it was God’s will to always heal people of everything every time. “Sickness was no problem to them.” Oh, really? What does she base that statement on? Paul in 1 Cor. 11 warned the Corinthians about abuses concerning the Lord’s Supper. That due to those abuses many were (1) weak; (2) sickly and (3) some had died. This seems like a bit of a problem to me. If people were not sick then James would not have written about the sick people calling for the church elders. Nothing is written in Acts about the rank and file believer “commanding disease to leave.” Both of Copeland’s statements are unwarranted and in fact, potentially quite dangerous a fact I will address later in this article. This much is certain, at least according to the WOF doctrine— healing is the will of God for all His people.

The fallacy behind their belief is that they teach that physical healing was also obtained for all of God’s children in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. “God heals today because healing is in the atonement.” Tilton is merely quoting Dr. T.J. McCrossan who attempted to write a scholarly apologetic for physical healing in the atonement in his book (read and cited by almost every WOF SINister) Bodily Healing and the Atonement:

Again, all Christians should expect God to heal their bodies today, because Christ died to atone for our sicknesses as well as for our diseases. (6)

Gloria Copeland in her “healing school” echoes this sentiment as well:

When He paid the price for sin, He paid the price for sickness and the chastisement of our peace (mental torment) for us…Forgiveness of sin belongs to you now. Healing of your body belongs to you now. Freedom from mental torment belongs to you now…When Jesus came out of hell, He brought us with Him. We are not bound by sin, sickness or disease anymore. (7)

Some WOF extremists teach that the 39 “stripes” which Jesus was lashed with by the Roman soldiers actually represent categories of disease. Each lash was a disease which is why Peter says that “by His stripes we are healed” (see 1 Peter 2:24).

I continued and said, ‘How many of you believe that Jesus took all our diseases on himself at Calvary? Every one of those 39 stripes he had on his back was a different disease…Can you imagine all the brain damage in the world on him? Can you see all the crippling disease on him? Millions of all kinds of diseases, all on Jesus at one time? (8)

He suffered in our stead because He did not want us to suffer disease. He took our specific diseases and infirmities upon His own sinless, perfect body in complete payment of the penalty of our sin. (9)

The Bible says in Isaiah, that on Calvary He was so disfigured, His body was so bent out of shape, His Spirit was so twisted, that He didn’t even look like a man any more. Sin had crushed Him in His Spirit; sickness and disease had taken hold of His body. He had cancer, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, and everything else all at one time. All of this from the whole world, came on Him, and He took everybody’s sickness, everybody’s disease upon His own body. (10)

The obvious error here stems from their belief that Jesus literally became a sinner. He did not bear the penalty for our sin, but He actually became sin. Even so regarding our sicknesses; He was not punished for sickness (which is a result of sin) but actually bore/became literally plagued with all the illnesses of humanity past, present and future during His scourging.

Jesus our Lamb suffered in two ways. He shed His blood on the cross for our salvation from sin, and He bore the stripes on His BODY for our healing from sickness. In the intense spiritual and physical agony of Calvary, which Jesus suffered principally in His spirit…But in the excruciating physical agony of the Praetorium, where Jesus suffered in His BODY from the terrible Roman lash, He bare our sicknesses; for it was there by His stripes that He was made sick for us (Isaiah 53:10), and by His stripes we are healed. (11)

When Jesus bore away our sins, He also bore away our diseases. The cross pronounced a double cure for the ills of mankind. The church of Jesus Christ has been made as free from sickness as it has been made free from sin. A Christian may continue to sin after he has been born again, but he does not have to…A Christian may continue to be sick after he has been born again but he does not have to. He has been redeemed from sickness. The price has been paid for his healing. Sickness can no longer exert dominion over him unless he allows it. (12)

When the Bible talks about suffering, that doesn’t mean ‘sickness.’ We have no business suffering sickness and disease, because Jesus redeemed us from that…Yes, there is suffering, but not sickness and disease. Thank God you don’t have to suffer with that, because Jesus bore our infirmities. (13)

The reason I cited all of the above individuals is to show you (and anyone you may share this with) how widely this error is taught. No one can claim that DMI is setting up a straw man argument. On the contrary, I have in fact only referenced a few examples and could have easily added an additional twenty quotes from our library concerning divine healing.

It is the WOF cult’s contention that divine healing is part-n-parcel of our redemption. I have heard Kenneth Copeland on numerous occasions say that it is as easy to get healed as it is to get saved. It simply requires an individual to use the same force of faith for both. This only shows their ignorance concerning salvation, but since they are at best semi-Pelagian and at worst full blown Pelagians (as was Charles Finney) it is understandable. Let me remind you of what Dr. Martin Luther said regarding salvation in the Third Article on Becoming Holy in his Small Catechism:

A. I believe that I cannot come to my Lord Jesus Christ by my own intelligence or power. But the Holy Spirit call me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as He calls, gathers together, enlightens and makes holy the whole Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus in the one, true faith. In this Church, He generously forgives each day every sin committed by me and by every believer. On the last day, He will raise me and all the dead from the grave. He will give eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. Yes, this is true!

Salvation is not by our own efforts it is by grace alone through faith and the faith to believe in Christ Jesus is a gift from God (read Eph. 2:8). This is in direct opposition to their view where they have the lost man making a decision to receive Christ and in the same manner to make a decision to be healed as well. Yet if salvation is the gift of God and physical healing is indeed included in the atoning death of Christ, then divine healing would have to equally be a gift. Naturally, they do not see it this way. In answering their claim of divine healing being in the atonement I will cite Dr. Crenshaw:

Is there healing in the atonement? Certainly, and in exactly the way Matthew used the Isaiah passage. From Isaiah we learn that Jesus definitively and once for all removed the cause of sickness by atonement in bearing sin. From Matthew we learn that He occasionally removed the effects of sin during His earthly ministry by miracles. We have already seen that He did miracles to demonstrate Who He was, and once this was done, there was no reason to expect them to continue. The purpose had been completed. Since the healing aspect of the Isaiah passage was “fulfilled” in the life of the Lord, why should we look for it to be fulfilled again today? (14)

Christ died because we were sinners in need of redemption, not because we were sick in need of healing. The focus of the atonement is our being made righteous before the Father by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. Crenshaw goes on to say:

The Word of Faith leaders, however, make one of the fruits of His death, healing disease, the essence of the atonement. They miss the whole point of sin, judgment, and Jesus’ death, for God has not charged us with diseases but with sin, with disobedience to His moral laws. Diseases are the result of sin, not the sin itself, and Jesus bore our sin, not the result…While in this life though, we shall always have some sin and thus some sickness. It is only when we are glorified that we shall no longer sin (1 John 3:2). Just as we do not expect sinlessness in this life, neither should we expect perfect health.

One day we shall be sinless and free of sickness, and one day the curse from the earth shall be removed, all as a result of the atonement, but not now. (15)

In the April, 2005 edition of Truth Matters the article dealt with the WOF heresy concerning the atonement of Jesus and it is obvious to any genuine Christian that the leaders of this cult are totally ignorant of the biblical Jesus and the biblical account of His death for us on the cross. So it is no wonder they are equally confused regarding healing and the atonement. They all teach that sickness comes from Satan, they do not teach that we live in a fallen world, thusly much of our woes stem from this fact. They give far too much credit to Satan while ignoring texts such as—

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 2 Cor. 4:16,17

If one reads the prior verses and the following ones the meaning becomes clear. Our body is dying, yet spiritually we are growing daily by the grace of God. The WOF leaders and their followers are dying physically daily, as are we all. Those who propagate faith healing ministries are no less prone to disease than anyone else in the Body of Christ.

The danger of this specific error is that those who hear these leaders actually believe what they proclaim and follow their so-called spiritual laws and principles often at the cost of their own lives. Meanwhile, the faith healers keep their own physical ailments out of the spotlight as long as possible and when they are sick they make use of the best medical facilities money can buy.

How Do We Tap Into God’s Healing Power?

(All you Need is Faith, Everybody Now, All You Need is Faith)   (16)

 This is really the $64,000 question the WOF pundits claim to have the answer to. But first allow me to give you a short history lesson. Prior to the formation of this cult (17) belief in faith healing was around for many years. Individuals traveled under the aegis of “healing evangelists.” Some of the more notable characters include: John Alexander Dowie, John G. Lake, and Aimee Semple McPherson. These and other people laid the foundation for the so-called “healing revival” of Post World War II. The healers of the late 40’s and 50’s took their cues from the healers which proceeded them. In the Post War days healing evangelists roved the nation. Names like William Branham, Oral Roberts, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe, T.L. Osborn, O.L. Jaggers and Franklin Hall were (and are) commonplace in Pentecostalism and the early Charismatic renewal movement. There was extreme competition (18) among these healers and each one claimed a stronger “anointing” or more dramatic miracles in their meetings. From Dowie up to the present day those seeking divine healing were led to believe that they needed to be in the presence of the man or women especially anointed by God to heal the sick. These charlatans (as history has proven) usually laid hands upon the sick and commanded evil spirits (the cause of sickness they claimed) to leave the infirmed. All of these former faith healers obtained both fame and great fortunes from those in need.

Due to the tremendous wealth which these fake-healers accumulated it caused many others to take their place when death or exposure ended their time in the spotlight. Today we have a host of individuals who teach that Christians need to come to them specifically for healing, that they (the healers) are the mediators of God’s power for those who will but “believe.” People such as Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman (deceased), Benny Hinn, R.W. Schambach, Leroy Jenkins, Peter Popoff, Robert Tilton, W.V. Grant Jr., Jim Whittington, Don Stewart and other healing evangelists can be seen regularly on television. Hagin and his clones took a different and less risky route then the healing evangelists. It was the WOF cult that began to write and teach about divine healing apart from needing to go to the big tent, traveling healing revivalists which have dotted the spiritual landscape. Divine healing began to become codified into a guarantee from God if people simply applied the correct spiritual laws or principles.

During the great healing revival, evangelists would hold short meetings, and I’d come along behind them with longer meetings. By the time I got there, I often found people who had been healed in those meetings already had lost their healing. This happened in my meetings, too, but I learned how to get them healed and keep them healed. (19)

Even though Hagin attempted to lump himself in with the “big” healing revivalist he never was seen as one of them. In fact, Hagin is not known for even having a divine healing ministry per se. Hagin would show up after the “big-boys” had left town and hold smaller meetings in which he would pray for those who had lost their healing and teach the attendees how to receive divine healing. The important point to remember is that Hagin states he ’learned how to get them healed and keep them healed.” In essence he is saying that he is really more powerful than the huge tent revivalists in that he had the needed revelation of how one can remain healed. Before considering how to keep divine healing, let’s get down to brass tacks and see what is taught on how to receive it in the first place!

Faith healing is exactly what it says it is: you are healed by faith, and you keep your healing by faith…Miracles and healing happen through faith: so if it happens through faith, then we need to find out about faith. (20)

Everything within the WOF cult is predicated by their concept of faith, (21) which as we studied last month does not mean a believer’s simple reliance and trust in God, the object of our faith as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. To these people faith is a mystical force which when properly use according to set spiritual laws will create and change spiritual and physical reality, including physical health and healing. So the initial piece to the healing puzzle is that people receive healing by releasing the force of faith within them for healing.

Your faith will cause the power of God to be manifested in your life. His power is always present. It will do what you need it to do. (22)

Notice how depersonalized Copeland’s statement is; “your faith will cause….it will do what you need it to do.” God’s power is separated from Himself (something the Bible does not teach). The power of our faith, i.e. our ability to conceive in our spirits what we desire will cause this power to be activated. God’s power is at our command and is only limited by the strength of our faith. If a person believes this way about God and faith, then when they fail to receive their healing by “faith” it can have some very dire implications for that individual, or their families.

“If Christ is our Passover lamb, His blood was most assuredly shed to save us from the wrath of God through the forgiveness of our sins, and His flesh was bruised and broken for our physical benefits.’ The logical conclusion to such reasoning is that if one gets sick, he really has not had his sins forgiven. To evade this logic, they make a distinction between forgiveness and healing, which is the Gnostic dualism… (23)

The Copelands assert that the faith that saves is the same faith that heals. It is only logical to believe if one is not healed, then one must not be saved either. Admittedly, the WOF cult does not make this distinction, but then logic is not their strong suit.

Let’s consider just a few of the biblical examples of people who received divine healing from God apart from exercising faith on their part. How do they explain the FACT that ten lepers were healed by Jesus, yet only ONE had faith (read Luke 17:12-19). How much faith did Lazarus exercise when Jesus raised him from the dead, death after all is a permanent result of sin & sickness (read the crippled beggar in Acts 3:3-8 ? The cripple asked for money, Peter and John had none, instead the man got physically healed, something he obviously did not believe for! I could mention the case where Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law in Mark 1:31. Nothing is mentioned of her faith in Christ, yet Jesus healed her. Most of you are familiar with the case of the man who was born blind. Jesus healed him and in this case the man had faith in Jesus AFTER he was healed, not before (read John 4:16).

Failure to Receive Divine Healing

All failure to receive the promised blessings falls squarely on the shoulders of the individual believer. It is never the fault of the healer. In closing I will cite seven of the most common excuses used to attempt to explain away the lack of success in the healing business. Space does not permit me to give direct citations, but I will list works which detail what I am sharing in the end notes. (24)

#1. The individual only had head knowledge of God’s will for healing and not a revelation from the Spirit to their spirit. The individual only had mental assent, which will not heal anyone. Remember the only way you can know if you have a spirit versus soul revelation is by the manifestation of what you have believed for.

#2. Hidden sin in a person’s life can block the flow of divine healing. Naturally this excuse does not explain why God allegedly heals unbelievers and admitted sinners in healing revivals. This mystery is attested to by Kuhlman and Hinn.

#3. A lack of tithing (off the gross vs. the net) will open the door for demonic attack. God will rebuke the devourer (I.e. Satan & demons in the WOF cult) on the behalf of the faithful tither (read Mal. 3:11). This is a frequently twisted text used by SINisters to bilk money from God’s gullible and often desperate sheep.

#4. A lack of knowledge concerning divine healing is a major cause of sickness in the Church. After all, doesn’t the Bible teach us that “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge” in Hosea 4:6? How can one exercise faith for healing when one does not know it is God’s will to heal them?

#5. Sicknesses that come form unknown causes. This is a major source of confusion and depression among WOF cultists. Marilyn Hickey is well known for teaching that “the curse causeless shall not come” from Proverbs 26:2. So when sickness attacks the WOF devotee they immediately begin to search their lives and see if thee is any hidden sin, lack of giving or strife with others. There is always a cause for sickness and its root is to be found in Satan and the believer who has left the door open for him to attack them.

#6. An attack from Satan to hold back God’s plan. This excuse is usually reserved for the leaders in the movement itself. If the sheep get a disease, then it is obviously their fault in some way. If a leader gets a disease it is an attack from the Enemy to hinder the expansion of the Kingdom of God. For example, when Jan Crouch gets cancer it is because Satan wanted to stop her from giving donated toys to poor children in Haiti.

#7. The individual was healed, but lost their healing. This is a common excuse favored by the healing evangelists. They claim people were healed in their meetings and when they die later on, it is because they “lost” their healing. This is why so many books have been written on how to Keep your healing.

When you read the books published by individuals cited in this article do not be deceived by the testimonies they share. No information is ever given that will enable the reader to verify the claims being made. Anyone can write “ten people, born blind were healed in my Calcutta crusade’ or “Mrs. M. wrote us and said that after she sent in her last $100 God delivered her completely from the demon of stomach cancer.” Also, realize that the level of sickness and disease is as high, if not actually higher among the WOF leaders. The rate of cancer among their international leadership and their families is off the scale. One would expect to see a large (and growing larger) group of extremely healthy individuals and yet they are no better off than anyone else in the Church.

They promise much but they deliver nothing but false hopes and empty promises. I believe Jude must have know people like this in his day:

Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. Jude 1:11-13 ¨ ♦

Copyright © 2005  Robert S. Liichow

 

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Kenneth Copeland (*But were Afraid to Ask)  By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

This Booklet is Only  Available from DMI – $15.00

 

 

 

 

 

End Notes

1. Stephenson, John R. The Lord’s Supper (Northville, SD: The Luther Academy), 2003 p. 200. Bold type added for emphasis.

2. God’s Word for Your Healing (Tulsa, Ok: Harrison House) 1993, p. 9 This comment is attributed to F.F. Bosworth by the unknown author of this book. F.F. Bosworth is best known today for his book Christ the Healer. The following comments were obtained from http://www.christianheroes.com/ev/ev014.asp: “Little is known of the early life of F.F. Bosworth. His family moved to Zion city whilst he was young and both he and his brother BB were to become preachers. FF Bosworth strongly influenced many of the early healing evangelists. This list includes Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborn, J.G. Lake and many others. His book ‘Christ the Healer is a tremendous book on the principles of healing through the finished work of Christ on the cross at Calvary. Bosworth worked with John Alexander Dowie for a number of years before starting his own healing ministry. Bosworth embraced Pentecostalism as a result of being influenced by Charles Parham in 1906. Bosworth was also influenced by E.W. Kenyon and his teachings on divine healing…In 1948Bosworth met William Branham. Bosworth supported Branham until his death. (Bosworth’s) in 1958” The underlining and bold type has been added.

3. Copeland, Gloria, Healing School (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries), 1988, p. 5.

4. Ibid. p. 10

5. Tilton, Robert How to Receive & Keep Your Healing (Dallas, TX: Robert Tilton Ministries) 1987, p. 22 bold type added.

6. McCrossan, T.J. Bodily Healing and the Atonement (Tulsa, OK. Rhema Bible Church). 1982 p. 10.

7. Copeland, Gloria, Healing School (Fort Worth, TX; Kenneth Copeland Ministries 1988 pp. 28,29,30

8. Hunter, Charles and Francis, How to Heal the Sick, Kingwood, TX: Hunter Books), 1981, 9.85.

8. Roberts, Oral How I know God Wants to Heal You, (Tulsa, OK ; Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association) 1970 p. 3 Underlining added.

9. Price, Frederick K. Is Healing For All, (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House) 1976, p. 119. Underlining added.

10. Osborn, T.L. Healing the Sick and Casting Out Devils, (Tulsa, OK; The voice of Faith Ministry), 1950, pp. 179, 180.

11. Copeland, Gloria, God’s Will For Your Healing, (Fort Worth, TX; Kenneth Copeland Ministries) 1972, p. 30

12. Hagin Kenneth E. Must Christians Suffer?, (Tulsa, OK Kenneth Hagin Ministries). 1990 pp. 2, 41.

13. Crenshaw, Curtis, Man As God The Word of Faith Movement (Memphis, TN; Footstool Publications), 1994 p. 139

14. Ibid p. 133

15. Hum this to yourself using the Beatles tune ‘All you need is Love”

In saying ‘formation’ I am referring to the establishment of actual Word of Faith congregations. This did not really begin to occur until Kenneth Hagin had graduated his first class from Rhema Bible Training Center outside of Tulsa, OK. In the late 1940’s up to this day there have been many formerly Pentecostal congregations which separated themselves from their denominations and became independent charismatic churches, many of which began to teach WOF concepts as they became popular. One of the largest and most enduring WOF “denominations” was started by Buddy Harrison, Hagin’s son-in-law called Faith Christian Fellowship which has 100’s of congregations throughout America and overseas.

16. For many years there was an ongoing “battle” between A.A. Allen and Jack Coe over who had the largest healing revival tent. Branham claimed to see an angel feel demons in his right hand, Roberts said God had anointed his right hand with healing power. Jack Coe would inflate the results of his meetings and make outlandish claims. Each healer tried to find a “nitch” market among the sick seekers.

17. Hagin, Kenneth, How to Keep Your Healing (Tulsa, OK. Kenneth Hagin Ministries). 1989, p. 19

18. Tilton, Robert, How To Receive & Keep Your Healing, (Dallas, TX: Robert Tilton Ministries ) 1987, p. 18 Underlining added.

In Last month’s Truth Matters (May 2005) I delved into the WOF concept regarding faith and it would be redundant to devote much space re-explaining it in this issue.

19. Copeland, Gloria, Healing School (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries) 1988 p. 4 underlining added.

20 Crenshaw, Curtis, Man As God The Word of Faith Movement (Memphis, TN. Footstool Publication) 1994 p. 143. In the beginning of this citation Crenshaw is quoting from McCrossan’s book on healing and the atonement. Bold type added.

21. Here are some titles which cover these excuses and many others: T.L. Osborn. One Hundred Divine Healing Facts; Gordon Lindsey Twenty-Five Objections to divine healing and Bible answers; K. Neill Foster Twenty-three Reasons Why Some Are Not Healed.

22. I have mentioned in many previous articles and on our website the fact that the rate of cancer among WOF leaders and their families far exceeds that of other international Christian leaders and their families.

Paul Crouch’s Possible Peccadillo

 

Truth Matters Newsletter – Oct 2004 – Vol 8 Issue 10 – Paul Crouch’s Possible Peccadillo by Rev. Robert S. Liichow

To my knowledge our ministry is the only one to have put together a book on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and their founders Paul and Jan Crouch. DMI has been keeping our eyes peeled on the Crouches and the goings on at TBN and so it came as no big shock to me when we began to receive reports about Mr. Crouch’s possible homosexual activities. The reason I was not shocked by the reports was because I remember years ago when Paul used to come out from behind the curtain dressed in clothing that must have been purchased from the same tailor Liberace used. This combined with the sad fact that the other “Christian” superstars of the cathode ray tube all fell into some form of immorality or another. The Church has had to suffer the shame of the sexual escapades of Jimmy Baker and Jessica Hahn, if you will remember men came forward and spoke that Mr. Bakker had also made homosexual advances to them as well. (see http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fridaynews/fridaynews030606.html ). Who can forget the saga of Jimmy Swaggart with the prostitute Desiree Dupree. America watched Jimmy’s tearful confession (only later to be caught again soliciting) and the Church saw another megastar bite the dust. Of Course before Swaggart was forced to confess his sin, it was not voluntary, he expose a fellow minister, Martin Gorman:

Swaggart that Marvin Gorman had been having extramarital affairs. Swaggart saw Gorman’s small but growing ministry as a threat to his own and made Gorman’s indiscretions public. This led to Gorman’s downfall and subsequent defrocking by the Assemblies of God… Swaggart, who initiated the complaints against Gorman, had the favor returned when Gorman hired a private detective to follow Swaggart and caught him on film leaving a cheap motel with a prostitute outside of New Orleans. Although the Assemblies of God voted to put him in therapy and relieve him of his ministry for one year, Swaggart refused this directive and demonstrated his staying power by continuing his ministry, claiming to retain his international audiences as well.

Robert Tilton’s  fall from grace occurred at about the same time as these other highly anointed men of faith & power began to fall. Currently Mr. Tilton is on wife number three. Time does not permit us to delve into Mr. W. V. Grant’s jail time or Larry Lea’s downfall all three of which were exposed nationally on Prime Time hosted by Diane Sawyer. When we consider the sordid past of charismatic religious leaders with great wealth, large viewing audiences, multitudes of devoted followers and little or no personal accountability we see the old adage coming true “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

It seems that history may be repeating itself in the life of Paul Crouch, the “last-man-standing” in the fight for televised glory. The following is taken from the Los Angles Times:

Televangelist Paul Crouch Attempts to Keep Accuser Quiet-

By William Lobdell LA Times Staff Writer

Televangelist Paul Crouch, founder of the world’s largest Christian Televangelist Paul Crouch, founder of the world’s largest Christian broadcasting network, has waged a fierce legal battle to prevent a former employee from publicizing allegations that he and Crouch had a sexual encounter eight years ago.

Crouch, 70 is the president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, based in Orange County, whose Christian programming reaches millions of viewers around the world via satellite, cable and broadcast stations. The source of the allegations against him is Enoch Lonnie Ford, who met Crouch at a TBN-affiliated drug treatment center in 1091 and later went to work for the ministry.

After Ford threatened to sue TBN in 1998, claiming that he had been unjustly fired, Crouch reached a $425,000 settlement with him. In return, Ford agreed, among other things, not to discuss his claim about a sexual encounter with the TV preacher.

But in the last year, Ford has threatened to go public with his story, prompting a flurry of legal maneuvers–conducted in closed court hearings, sealed pleadings and private arbitration.

In court pagers, Crouch has denied the allegations, and ministry officials have described Ford–who has a history of drug problems and has served time for a sex offense–as a liar and an extortionist. At stake are the public image of one of the world’s most successful televangelists and, potentially, the fortunes of the broadcasting empire that Crouch and his wife, Jan, built over the last 31 years. TBN and Crouch went on the legal offensive after they learned that Ford had written a book manuscript that included an account of the alleged sexual encounter.

In a dramatic flourish, Ford had appeared at a TBN broadcast studio in Costa Mesa, minutes before the start of a “Praise-a-thon” fundraiser, and without comment, handed Crouch a copy of the manuscript.

Ford’s lawyer later told ministry officials that they could keep the work out of public view by buying the rights. After some discussion, he suggested that $10 million might be a reasonable price.

While negotiations continued, Crouch sued to enforce the 1998 secrecy agreement and obtained a restraining order barring Ford from seeking a publisher for his book.

Orange County Superior Court Judge John M. Watson also granted Crouch’s request to conduct the case in secret, sealing all documents and expunging any mention of the suit from public court records. Both side eventually agreed to let a private arbitrator decide the matter. In June, the arbitrator ruled that Ford could not publish the manuscript without violating the 1998 settlement – an act that could subject him to monetary damages.

This account of the controversy is drawn from interviews with friends of Ford’s unsealed court records, correspondence among TBN lawyers and a copy of the arbitrator’s confidential ruling. The arbitrator’s decision contains details about the 1998 settlement and Ford’s manuscript – both of which are under seal. Records and interviews show that even as they battled to keep Ford’s story from leaking, TBN lawyers worried that details would eventually come out.

I am absolutely amazed that Lonnie hasn’t gone to Penthouse or Dianne [sic] Sawyer with his manuscript, notwithstanding the [judge’s] injunction, “TBN attorney Dennis G. Brewer Sr. wrote in a March letter to the network’s other lawyers.

In a subsequent letter in May, Brewer mentioned the anguish that Ford’s accusations had caused Crouch’s youngest son, Matt, when he learned of them in 1998. Brewer wrote that the younger Crouch had told his then-law partner, David Middlebrook: “I am devastated; I am confronted with having to face the fact that my father is a homosexual.” Middlebrook and Matt Crouch have denied that there was such a conversation.

Millions of Viewers

Paul and Jan Crouch started TBN in 1973, using a rented studio in Santa Ana. Over the next three decades, they built a worldwide broadcasting network by buying TV stations and negotiating deals with cable systems and satelite companies. Today, TBN’s 24-hour-a-day menu of sermons, faith healing, inspirational moves and other Christian fare reaches millions of viewers from Spain to the Solomon Islands.

Paul Crouch is the driving entrepreneurial force behind the network and one of its most popular on-air personalities. He and Jan, his wife of 46 years, have cultivated a folksy on-screen image as a devoted couple. TBN officials have long been concerned about how Ford’s allegations could affect the network, which relies heavily on donations from viewers. Officials said they were particularly worried about possible comparisons to the scandal that brought down televangelist Jim Bakker in 1987.

Bakker resigned from his PTL Ministries in 1987 after admitting to paying a secretary $265.000 in ministry funds to be silent about an earlier affair. Bakker later went to prison for bilking donors.

TBN officials said they were careful not to pay Ford with ministry funds in 1998. They declined to say whether the money came from an insurer, Crouch personally or some other source.  Ford 41, said he could not discuss his manuscript or his allegations against Crouch but he did provide basic facts about his background and his time at TBN.

Ford, whose father and grandfather were ministers, grew up in Fairfax County, VA., moved to California in 1989 and worked in a string of jobs that included jewelry salesman, produce clerk and gas station attendant. For years, he struggled to kick a cocaine habit.

In 1991, he checked into a Christian drug treatment program in Colleyville, Texas, on a TBN-owned ranch. It was there that Ford met Crouch. In 1992 the network hired him to work on a phone bank in Orange County. Ford said he also ran errands for the Crouches and drove Paul Crouch to appointments.

Ford repeatedly ran into trouble with the law, but TBN stood behind him. In 1994, he pleaded no contest in San Bernardino County to having sex with a 17-year-old boy and served six months in jail, according to court records. TBN took him back after his release. In 1995, he pleaded guilty in Orange County to possession of cocaine and served about 30 days in County Jail. Again, TBN took him back.

Lake Arrowhead Cabin

The Alleged sexual encounter between Ford and Crouch occurred in the fall of 1996, according to Sandi Mahlow, a Tustin housewife who met Ford in a Fullerton church 10 years ago and became a close friend. Mahlow, 50, who helped Ford write his manuscript, said he broke down in tears after returning from a weekend spent alone with Crouch at a TBN-owned cabin near Lake Arrowhead. Mahlow said Ford told her that he and Crouch had engaged in sexual acts.

Lonnie had a lot of bad traits; one thing he isn’t, and that’s a liar,” Mahlow said. She said she helped Ford with his manuscript for no pay, as a favor to a friend, and has no financial interest in the book. After the alleged encounter, Ford continued to work at TBN. For a time, he lived rent-free in an apartment at the network’s Tustin headquarters, according to Mahlow and another friend of Ford’s, Diane Benson, who met him at an Anaheim church 14 years ago.

A third friend of Ford’s said that in October 1996, about the time of the alleged Arrowhead encounter, ministry officials gave her a $12,000 check to pay back money Ford owned her. The woman spoke on condition that she not be named, saying she feared retaliation.

TBN officials acknowledged that the ministry paid some of Ford’s debts. They said the network commonly extends such generosity to employees in financial trouble. Within weeks of the Arrowhead trip, Ford tested positive for drug use and was arrested for violating terms of his probation. While Ford awaited sentencing, the ministry again came to his support, urging the judge not to impose more prison time.

Ford “has continuously shown a very positive attitude regarding whatever we have asked him to do,” wrote Ruth M. Brown, Paul Crouch’s sister and TBN’s director of personnel. “He carried out his duties cheerfully and always tries to do more than asked.”

The judge sent Ford to the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, a drug treatment facility in the state prison system.

In August 1997, Jay Jones, TBN’s director of telephone ministry, wrote prison officials that Ford would have a job with the network after he got out, despite his “extended leave of absence.” But Ford said that after he was released in February 1998, he was told he no longer had a position at TBN. “There comes a point in time when you have to say, ’Enough is enough,” said John Casoria, a TBN layer who is a nephew of the Crouches.

Ford responded with his threat to sue. The settlement followed.

Despite TBN’s efforts to keep Ford’s charges secret, they surfaced in an unrelated 1998 lawsuit. A former bodyguard for TBN personality Benny Hinn testified in a deposition that during a European bus tour that year, Hinn had told a group of associates about a sexual relationship that Paul Crouch had with his chauffeur.”

The witness, Mario C. Licciardello, quoted Hinn as saying: “Paul’s defense was that he was drunk.” Hinn and six others mentioned by Licciardello, who died in 2000, told The Times that Hinn never made such remarks. However, Rick Jones, a retired police officer and ordained minister who worked for Hinn, said he heard Hinn talk about Crouch’s alleged homosexual relationship on that bus.  Jones said he was disgusted by the talk and “got up and walked away. I didn’t want to hear gossip.”

Asking $10 Million

Meanwhile, Ford began to have second thoughts about keeping silent. Last year, with Mahlow’s help, he wrote his manuscript, titled “Arrowhead.” Friends said Ford wanted to expose what he viewed as Crouch’s hypocrisy.  They said he also needed money and hoped to earn some by selling the manuscript. It’s unclear how Ford spent his 1998 settlement, but today he leads a modest existence, living in a room of a Lake Forest home and working as a mortgage salesman.

Ministry officials learned of the book in April 2003, when Ford walked onto the set of TBN’s Costa Mesa, broadcast studio and handed a copy of the manuscript to Crouch.

Ford’s attorney, Eugene Zech, said that Brewer, the TBN lawyer, called him the next business day. In court papers, Zech said that Brewer asked “if Ford might be willing to accept $1 million in exchange for the manuscript.”

Zech said in the court filing that he suggested $10 million. When the parties went to arbitration, Crouch’s lawyers argued that publication would violate the 1998 settlement and cause irreparable damage to Crouch’s reputation. Ford’s lawyers argued that the secrecy agreement was overly broad and violated his free-speech rights. Arbitrator Robert J. Neill ruled that Ford’s right to make his allegations public “was sold to [Crouch] for $425,000.” Ford “bargained away his right to speak on certain matters and now suggests that his right to free speech trumps that bargain…[His] right to discuss these matters was bought and paid for. He relinquished that right.” Paul Crouch Jr. , a TBN executive and the televangelist’s oldest son, said that despite the favorable ruling, he wished his father had never entered into the settlement with Ford. Crouch said advisors persuaded his father that it would be cheaper to settle than to litigate. He said TBN was particularly anxious to avoid negative publicity because the ministry was celebrating its 25th anniversary that year. “In hindsight, we should have fought Lonnie tooth and nail, “the son said in an interview. “We should have drawn the battle lines right there.”

Upon receiving this article I contacted TBN with some questions. I wanted a clearer explanation as to why TBN would pay $425,000 to “a liar.”? I have trouble accepting the TBN version that it was their 25th anniversary and they did not want any bad publicity. If Mr. Ford is lying then TBN has a whole team of lawyers with which to nail his blackmailing behind to the door, so to speak, so why didn’t they do it? After all, Paul merely has to tell his devoted fans that this is just another of a series of attacks by the devil against the mightiest tool in God’s arsenal, i.e. TBN and himself as the captain of the ship. Also, why did TBN continue to rehire Mr. Ford who in the words of the TBN ministry officials have described Ford–who has a history of drug problems and has served time for a sex offense–”as a liar and an extortionist.” Also, why did TBN pay off a $12,000 debt that Ford owed? TBN responded that it “commonly extends such generosity to its employees.”  Oh really?  I have read every written article about the Crouches and TBN and I have never come across anyone else who has experienced this largess TBN!

In my letter to TBN I also asked them about the comments attributed to Mr. Hinn, First, I wanted to know how Benny leaned of the incident. Did Paul “confess” his fault to him? If so, then why did Hinn break his oath as a pastor and tell others what was confessed to him? Or were Paul’s homosexual dalliances common knowledge among the upper echelon at TBN? Worse yet how do they answer Mr. Hinn’s charge of Crouch being “drunk,” as if it was an acceptable excuse for this moral slip? It is well documented that the latest and biggest of the 30 homes owned by TBN comes complete with a temperature controlled wine cellar. Why would any self-respecting Pentecostal have a wine cellar? There is no known Pentecostal denomination that approves of the use of alcohol even when celebrating the Lord’s Support!

Lastly, I find it curious indeed that the TBN lawyer offers Ford a million dollars for the manuscript, his attorney seemed to think it was worth closer to 10 million and off to court they went.

In all fairness to Mr. Crouch, he is innocent until proven guilty and the burden of proof is on the accuser. Yet if I were in his shoes, which I thank God I am not, I would have never agreed to pay a blackmailer. I’d demand my day in court and turn around and sue the accuser for slander. The fact that Crouch did not respond in this manner makes me believe there is more than a modicum of truth to Mr. Ford’s story. It has long been rumored that the Crouches do not sleep in the same bed and often not in the same house. In the September issue of  Truth Matters  you might have wondered why Paul was not awakened when Jan was being mystically levitated in her bed. She did not even make mention of Paul being there in bed asleep next to her.

We heard a saying in seminary “bad theology makes for a bad doxology,” which simply means bad doctrine leads to bad lifestyle and even worse endings. I end this article by directing you to http://www.google.com  where you can find and read the TBN response. You are free to come to your own conclusions regarding Mr. Crouch. For me and my house, we would not trust Crouch as far as we could throw him.  ♦

The YouTube video has been removed, but you can still see the video here:  http://www.archive.org/details/Fox4InvestigatesTrinityBroadcastNetworksPaulCrouch

See YouTube video report on the Scandal here:

End Notes

1. Obtained from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthis/hi/dates/stories/february/21/newsid/_2565000/2565197.stm

2. Obtained from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Televangelism.htm

3. Obtained from http://www.wchstv.com/abc/primetimethursday/dianesawyer.shtml

4. Taken from the Yahoo News at http://www.yahoo.com  Bold type and underlining added for emphasis.