March 13, 2010

Is Steve Camp Foolish?

…evidently not when it comes to the prosperity gospel.

Here’s a snippet:

I was on a famous Christian TV show several years ago before their demise. During a ‘commercial’ break, the host of the program told me if I would give $100 to his ministry the Lord would give me back $1,000… I asked him politely, “Sir, where does it say foolish written on me?” He was a bit shocked and asked me, “don’t you believe that the Lord will bless you by giving your money to our ministry?” I told him, “No I don’t.” And that furthermore he didn’t even believe such a thing. He was again a bit surprised by my response and said, “Yes I do.” I answered, “No, you don’t.” He said, “YES, I do.” I said, “NO… you don’t.” With a puzzled look on his face he frustratingly said, “Why do you keep telling me that I don’t believe this?” I said, “Simple. If you really believe this, then why don’t you give your $100 to God, He’ll give you a $1,000 back, and you’ll quite asking me for mine?” He looked at me with that dumbfounded kind of quasi pseudo-theological televangelist deer in the headlights don’t bother me with doctrine look, and replied, “I never thought of that before.” I quietly muttered, “I think that’s the problem.”

Steve continues to provide his take on what the Scriptures say about prosperity.

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February 19, 2010

Benny Hinn’s Wife Files for Divorce

…according to the Los Angeles Times.

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February 17, 2010

Tim Challies reviewed Brian McLaren's "A New Kind of Christianity"

…and this is what he thinks.

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February 12, 2010

Video: Justin Peters Rebuked for Naming False Teachers on Revelation TV

According to Alan Higgins, Justin Peters (a prominent critic of the Word of Faith movement) appeared this week on Revelation TV. Apparently he was told that he was allowed to “name names” while being interviewed; however, the manager of Revelation TV was not impressed. See the following video. Update: I believe the video has been taken offline.

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January 13, 2010

"Preach the gospel; if necessary, use words."

Popping up all over Twitter has been the following:

“‘Preach the Gospel; when necessary use words’ is like saying ‘Tell me your phone number; if necessary, use digits.’”

I thought it helped show the fallacious nature of the title of this post (often attributed to Francis of Assisi) but I didn’t bother posting it here as it had made the rounds and it appeared everyone was “re-tweeting” it. I also thought it was a clear “open and shut” case. It appears for many Christians it isn’t.

Brian Thornton got himself in some hot water over on Facebook for posting it:

“My tweets automatically post to my FB page (thereby killing two birds with one post), and that comment has sparked a controversy over the nature of the gospel.”

In one comment on Thornton’s blog Scott Autry offered another analogy that may be closer to home for all those that want social-justice but aren’t keen on verbally speaking the gospel:

“Feed starving children, when necessary use food.”

My thoughts – preach the gospel and by God’s grace don’t live a life that’s contrary to the gospel you proclaim. When you do miss the mark, don’t justify your actions, but use it as another opportunity to proclaim the amazing grace of God. He saved even a wretch like you.

Oh, I’d ask you to comment but I’d rather you just look at my life and “know” that I’d like you to. ;-)

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December 23, 2009

Christianity = “A Personal Relationship with God”

How many times have you heard a sincere Christian try to explain to an unbeliever that Christianity is all about having “a personal relationship with God”? Well, as sincere as that may be, it is simply not the case and is a distortion of the truth. Michael Horton (I know I’ve already quoted him this week, but this is the problem with reading a good book) aptly puts it this way:

“It is simply not true that unbelievers do not have a personal relationship with God. Paul here in Romans 1 says they do! It is not just that God’s existence can be discerned by his works, but that everyone already knows God – at least as judge. “So they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). It is precisely because unbelievers–even professing atheists–do have a personal relationship with God that, as creatures obligated to keep his law, they are under his wrath.”

Quote by Michael Horton, taken from The Gospel-Driven Life (p. 53)

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December 18, 2009

John MacArthur on the Death of Oral Roberts

John MacArthur, author of Charismatic Chaos, comments on the death of Oral Roberts:

…Oral Roberts’ influence is not something Bible-believing Christians should celebrate. Virtually every abberant idea the Pentecostal and charismatic movements spawned after 1950 can be traced in one way or another to Oral Roberts’ influence…

One thing all the obituaries agree on is that Oral Roberts paved the way for all the charismatic televangelists and faith-healers who dominate religious television today. He did more than anyone in the early Pentecostal movement to influence mainstream evangelicalism. He parlayed his television ministry into a vast empire that has left a deep mark on the church worldwide. In many places today, including some of the world’s most illiterate and poverty-stricken regions, Oral Roberts’ Seed-Faith concept is actually better known than the doctrine of justification by faith. The message of prosperity is now the message multitudes think of when they hear the word “gospel.” Countless confused people worldwide think of the gospel as a message about earthly, temporal, and material riches rather than the infinitely greater blessings of forgiveness from sin and the eternal blessing of the believer’s spiritual union with Christ.

All of those are reasons to lament rather than celebrate Oral Roberts’ fame and influence. My prayer is that future generations will see the folly of those doctrines, renounce and turn away from them, and cling tightly to the sure word of God and the glorious, eternal promises of the true gospel.

You can read all of MacArthur’s thoughts over at The Shepherd’s Fellowship Blog.

 

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December 11, 2009

More Pluralistic Propaganda

Aaron Armstrong pointed me to a new video documentary that has what I consider to be a blasphemous title. Not a clever marketing decision if you want to reach people who are careful how they use the name of God. Anyway, from the video trailer it appears to be, simply put, pluralistic propaganda.

Consider these words by Australian actor Hugh Jackman:

If you put Buddha, Jesus Christ, Socrates, Shakespeare, Arjuna, Krishna at a dinner table together, I can’t see them having any argument.

And with the power of multimedia, Ringo Star then declares:

God is love…

It might seem rational to travel the world to ask people “Who is God?” in an attempt to find truth. However, if you believe Romans 1:18 that men “suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” then all you’re going to find with that method is a collection of non-truth.

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December 10, 2009

Prosperity Gospel Poster


I found this Motivator (Demotivator?) poster over at Εις Δοξαν. I can laugh at it, but at the same time it grieves me so much as I know there are many today who would not see a problem with what this poster says.

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December 7, 2009

Why Would Anyone Want to be Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian?

I was talking with some men recently and we were discussing Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. One man who had the privilege of growing up his whole life with sound Reformed (Biblical) teaching found it difficult to understand why anyone would want to be a Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian. In light of the amazing gospel of grace it is a fair question and we tossed around several answers. However, last night I listened to Michael Horton on Covenant Radio and I thought he summed it up well:

“We fail to realize that our default setting is Pelagian; that’s what we go back to as a “dog returns to its vomit.” (Pro. 26:11) …that is our human nature. We have to be preached out of Pelagianism every Sunday.”

Preachers, remember this next Lord’s Day and every Lord’s Day. Preach the gospel to your hearers! As Horton said, “[preach them] out of Pelagianism every Sunday.”

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