The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Worldview and You

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)

Guest: Justin Peters, evangelist, JustinPeters.org

TRANSCRIPT

No doubt you’ve seen one on television — a male or female preacher emotionally and convincingly telling you that your physical illnesses can be healed and that God wants you to increase your wealth and be successful in whatever you do (especially if you send them a “seed gift”).

It is known as the Health, Wealth, and Prosperity (HWP) gospel or the Word of Faith gospel and it is a lot more influential than you might think.  Some of the largest churches and ministries in America preach this message.

This weekend on The Christian Worldview, Justin Peters, an evangelist who had personal experience within the HWP movement as a result of his cerebral palsy, will join us to explain who are the key leaders and how much of their doctrine contradicts biblical teaching.  Also, Justin will tell us how biblical Christians can unwittingly take on HWP beliefs in their own worldview.

Additional Articles:
A Colossal Fraud and Unholy Trinity by John MacArthur

The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Non-Gospel

Podcast: Download (14.2MB)

TOPIC: The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Non-Gospel
GUEST: Justin Peters, staff evangelist, First Baptist Church, MS

It says in the Bible that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, right? If you’re sick, just pray and believe and He’ll make you well. If you’re poor, just pray and believe — and give to the church or ministry — and it will returned manifold to you. And if you’re stagnating in your career, just pray and believe and God will give you that promotion you’ve been waiting for. Read more

Scripture Exposes False Prophets (Part 4 of 4)

Both the Old and New Testaments are replete with warnings of false prophets. The following is intended to provide biblical criteria for discerning false prophets and teachers. If a preacher engages in any of the following behaviors, be very wary of him or her:

Repeated immoral, unbiblical behavior. A false prophet may be detected by examining his moral character. If a prophet habitually displays character incongruent with that of God, then the former cannot speak for the latter. In Jeremiah 23:14, God speaks of prophets that “commit adultery and live a lie.” It is important to note that it is spiritual adultery, not marital, that is in view. Evangelist Benny Hinn, for example, has a habitual problem with the truth. He has been caught in numerous lies about his own life and ministry. He has threatened not only his critics, but also their innocent children. He claims to have been visited by Elijah and the late Kathryn Kuhlman (a Word of Faith evangelist to whom he often refers for inspiration), and he reports to get Read more

False Prophets Abound in Word of Faith (Part 3 of 4)

I believe the Word of Faith (WOF) movement is home to many false prophets. Both the Old and New Testaments are replete with warnings about false prophets and, on at least two occasions, the Apostle Paul called out by name men who were teaching false doctrine (1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 2:16-18). There is, therefore, biblical precedent for calling by name purveyors of spiritual error. Such action should not be undertaken lightly, however, so the names that follow are included only after great study and careful analysis:

Kenneth Hagin. Recently passed away, he is considered the father of the modern WOF movement. Hagin claimed that his faith teachings came to him by divine revelation, but they were actually the product of his extensive plagiarizing of Essek W. Kenyon.Hagin’s son, Kenneth Jr., carries on his father’s work as pastor of Rhema Bible Church and head of its school in Tulsa, Ok. Boasting of at least eight personal visits from Christ, Hagin, as did his father, blurs the crisp line between Creator and created as in, “You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was. The believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.”

Kenneth Copeland. Along with his wife Gloria, the Copelands are considered to be two of the movement’s more intellectual leaders. Students of Hagin Sr., the Copelands have built a multi-million dollar “Christian” media empire. Kenneth Copeland is known for his Read more

Benny Hinn and Other H-W-P Preachers Shun Sound Doctrine (Part 2 of 4)

If you do not know him by name, you would almost certainly know him by sight. Toufik Benedictus “Benny” Hinn is one of the most widely recognized individuals in Christian television today.

A self-proclaimed “healing evangelist,” Hinn has achieved almost superstar status. His daily television show, This Is Your Day, can be seen in 190 countries and his monthly miracle crusades are almost always attended by overflow crowds. Tens of millions worldwide believe Hinn to be one of God’s greatest spokesmen.

Undoubtedly, Hinn’s teachings on physical healing are for what he is best known. In short, Hinn teaches that it is always God’s will for the believer to walk in perfect Read more

The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Non-Gospel (Part 1 of 4)

Editor’s note: I’d like to welcome a new contributor, Justin Peters, to TheChristianWorldview.com. Justin has had much experience with the Word of Faith movement (aka Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Gospel) and is a conference speaker on the topic. You can find out more about Justin at his website, JustinPeters.org. In anticipation of his appearance on The Christian Worldview radio program this coming Saturday, December 13th to discuss the Word of Faith movement, we will be posting four articles this week that he wrote for the Baptist Record back in 2003.

Word of Faith Crosses Heresy Line

“Satan conquered Jesus on the cross.” “He died spiritually! …Jesus Christ understood that spiritual death is union with the satanic nature.” “Man was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority.” “He [God] doesn’t even draw a distinction between Himself and us. …I have His name. I’m one with Him…I am a little god! Critics, be gone!”

Shocked? You may have just read the above four quotes from four separate individuals and are wondering, “What blasphemy is this? Who teaches such heresy? Mormons? Jehovah’s Witnesses?” You would be correct in discerning such statements as heretical but, unfortunately, incorrect in assuming that they come from groups considered outside of orthodox Christianity; they come from within. Read more