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Author
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Topic: 10 Reasons To Reject Word Of Faith
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Caretaker
Advanced Member
Member # 36
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posted
Those who reject Christ, who deny the Word of God are lost in deception.
Jesus is the ONLY Way, the Truth, and the Life. None come to God except through Jesus. Any other pathway is a deception of Satan.
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A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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sweetalison
Community Member
Member # 5153
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posted
PleaseMarantha
What a sad tale. I do hope you have more joy with you today than you had when you discovered that.
I have no advice to give, and indeed do not believe in giving such unless requested, but you do have my sympathy.
Posts: 8 | Registered: Oct 2005
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^AngelofLight^
Community Member
Member # 5152
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Caretaker:
The ONLY way the True God indwells the hearts and lives of His children is through Christ Jesus our Lord. Those who reject Christ, who deny His Word and seek the pathways of their own choosing are the children of deception.
Those who reject CHRIST. Those who deny HIS word. I reject the words of deceptive men. All through this history god has been used as the reason behind mass killing, from things that bible readers gleaned and misconstrued as "HIS WORD". In this day families are torn apart by the treachery of churches. Maranatha gave all she had practically, nearly down to her wedding ring even. What a fleecing. My own pathway is my heart, and believe me, its a much quicker way to Jesus than the pathways paved with the cement of ill intent. You go right ahead and call me evil, if it helps you sleep at night. Slap the evil stigma on each individual who doesnt have a clever bible quote to misapply at every juncture. I have my faith, I have my peace. It was never instilled by man.
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If it be your will.
Posts: 13 | From: Heaven or is it Hell? | Registered: Oct 2005
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Caretaker
Advanced Member
Member # 36
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posted
The ONLY way the True God indwells the hearts and lives of His children is through Christ Jesus our Lord. Those who reject Christ, who deny His Word and seek the pathways of their own choosing are the children of deception.
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A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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^AngelofLight^
Community Member
Member # 5152
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pleasemaranatha:
I think I better not write about that anymore. Even though I didn't tell the name of our church or have the correct initials of the visiting preacher it was wrong. Who am I to judge them. I did get closer to the Lord at that church and many of my family, friends, etc. got saved. The visiting preacher's cassette tapes fed me too. God didn't tell me for years to stop. Who am I to judge. Instead, I will say I am sorry and pray for them. I think that I was wrong to post that.
You were misled by the money hungry pretender, who preyed on your confusion and took advantage of your lost soul. Is this not the mentality of a cult? How may confused souls will fall into the hands of cults in the name of god before they stop searching for god through others and find him in themselves.
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If it be your will.
Posts: 13 | From: Heaven or is it Hell? | Registered: Oct 2005
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Pleasemaranatha
Advanced Member
Member # 5150
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posted
I think I better not write about that anymore. Even though I didn't tell the name of our church or have the correct initials of the visiting preacher it was wrong. Who am I to judge them. I did get closer to the Lord at that church and many of my family, friends, etc. got saved. The visiting preacher's cassette tapes fed me too. God didn't tell me for years to stop. Who am I to judge. Instead, I will say I am sorry and pray for them. I think that I was wrong to post that.
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My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. Psalms 130 verse 6
Joyce
Posts: 308 | From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2005
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pleasemaranatha:
30 years ago or so I was glued to faith cassetes to my ears everyday. I was always going to faith churches. For some reason in 1983 or 1984 at the washer and dryer in the basement God talked to me about it. All HE said was, "Before Abraham was, I AM!". I stopped everything then. He is the king. I can't put into words what that meant to me. My eyes were opened though. When the pastor spent 10's of many thousands to redecorate the church and buy new vehicles for the arrival of K.K. everything smelled fishy. Then K.K. was ushered around like he was afraid of germs. No one could get near him. A week later our paster acted the same way with people guarding him. Months later, the church became empty. Everyone quit. The pastor got the boot. It is a sad story. One time I almost gave my wedding ring for extra blessings in the offering. God stopped me. I have faith in God and in no other man.
Thank you for this Testimony ![[Smile]](smile.gif) Amen!
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Posts: 3465 | Registered: Nov 2003
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Pleasemaranatha
Advanced Member
Member # 5150
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posted
30 years ago or so I was glued to faith cassetes to my ears everyday. I was always going to faith churches. For some reason in 1983 or 1984 at the washer and dryer in the basement God talked to me about it. All HE said was, "Before Abraham was, I AM!". I stopped everything then. He is the king. I can't put into words what that meant to me. My eyes were opened though. When the pastor spent 10's of many thousands to redecorate the church and buy new vehicles for the arrival of K.K. everything smelled fishy. Then K.K. was ushered around like he was afraid of germs. No one could get near him. A week later our paster acted the same way with people guarding him. Months later, the church became empty. Everyone quit. The pastor got the boot. It is a sad story. One time I almost gave my wedding ring for extra blessings in the offering. God stopped me. I have faith in God and in no other man.
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My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. Psalms 130 verse 6
Joyce
Posts: 308 | From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2005
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WhiteEagle
Advanced Member
Member # 3728
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by TEXASGRANDMA:
Very Good!
I remember years ago, at our Assembly of God Church, new people talked about this grab it and claim it theory. Our Pastor soon put a stop to this theory.
Grab it and claim it is an attractive theory. Right now, I am sitting here in pain. It would be easy to claim a "healthy" body and reject this broken body. But, my place is not to tell God what to do. I am God's servant not His keeper.
I have accepted God's will for me health wise. Yes, I have prayed for healing, but I have accepted His will not mine. Not because I am better than anyone else. My illness has come on slow over 10 years at each stage God has given me the grace and strength to handle it. I would be a liar if I did not say that are days when the pain is extreme and I do get discouraged, but God has not failed me. I remind myself on these days that I am still able to walk with my cane and am not in a wheel chair. I am blessed that I do not have to work so when my ability to move is low, I can read and surf the web and rest my body.
This grab it and claim theory is insulting to those of us who are handicapped. I have been told that my illness proves I am not a Christian.
To be made to feel that because it is God's will for us to bear this burden, we are some how less faithful, or have less faith than others, cuts people like me to the core. I honestly don't think people realize when they say if you have enough faith you will be in perfect health, how much that can hurt someone like me. In my own family those who had the most faith and walked closer to God then the rest of us where afflicted with illness. I watched my Uncle die of a brain tumor. He was witnessing and singing of God's praises in the VA hospital for a year as he slowly died from the affects of his tumor. I know that being ill is not an indication of one's spiritual health or lack of it.
We need to stop telling God how to do things and start asking God to tell us what to do.
God bless you, watcher,
betty
Betty you are correct, we can't tell God how to do it. But He did tell us how to do it. He instructed us how to reach up to Him.
Remember that woman who had the "issue of blood" for 12 years? She had been to every doctor, magic man, and preacher and she spent all the money she had for cures.
One day she SAW Jesus walking by in a crowd. She didn't even feel bold enough or confident enough to directly go up to Him. Her faith told her "only to touch the hem of His garment."
She was a BROKEN, HUMBLED PERSON with no hope. Her self-esteem so shattered, she was ashamed of her disease and weakness. But she KNEW one single fact. "If I can but Touch even the hem of His garment."
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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WhiteEagle
Advanced Member
Member # 3728
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Watcher:
1. It requires 'revelation knowledge'.
Like the gnostic heresies all through the ages, Word-of-Faith needs special knowledge in order to be effective. Leaders see themselves as having a commission to bring new spiritual revelation to the Body, and they condemn 'sense-knowledge' as inadequate. In this scheme, it is not sin and disobedience that causes us to fail, but ignorance of the Word. Moreover, this revelation knowledge is limited to the few who can receive it; the less intelligent are at a disadvantage. This is elitism.
- faith in God and in His Word, belief in divine intervention in our affairs, a positive outlook based on the promises of God, and a knowledge of the defeat of satanic powers in Jesus - all this and more is good and sound, but the Word-of-Faith movement today has gone far beyond these boundaries and created a monster that is devouring both its leaders and followers alike.
It is not necessary to buy into a Word-of-Faith system in order to benefit from the plain teaching of scripture. Any who are followers of Word-of-Faith ministers should think very carefully about their position as followers of men and of a dubious man-inspired system of formulas, and also should be wary of the manipulation to give gifts and tithes to these ministries. It would be better to support your own church, or more humble and doctrinally sound Christian works, and to seek for scriptural inspiration from the Holy Spirit who is our only Guide and Teacher.
http://www.bereanfaith.com/articles....=article&id=12
__________________
I must wonder how much of this article has twisted what Word of Faith really teaches.
I only selected the section on "revelation knowledge".
Has the writer misunderstood WOF preachers? Is she putting her own definition on getting knowledge? I don't follow the WOF enough to be an expert, but the little I've watched them, I never saw that they felt knowledge was elitist.
I just have learned in my own walk with the Lord, that the more I study His word and pray, that many times scriptures will jump out at me, and be more fully understood by me, than they were in the past. Anyone who has a heart for God and to ask the Holy Spirit for help will be able to access this, so it's not just for a chosen few.
The American church has been so dead. It's surviving only on the grace of God due to people who came before us. Many Christians relay on the old staid and true doctrines taught back in the 1950's. They rely on their preachers to expound on the Word, but they never go to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to expound on the Word to them personally.
There are many evidences in America that the church is dead. Yes there are pockets of the truly faithful here and there, just like in the letters to the 7 churches. Some have kept their robes white.
One time I read an article listing the most trusted occupations by people. Nurses were on the top of the list. Pastors were down next to used car salemen. I'm not making this up! So this is how many view the church in America- no better than used car salesmen.
Getting a fresh "revelation" from God is not that truth is changed, but only our understanding of that Truth is changed and enhanced to be able to truly apply it to our lives. That is Christianity in action-Christ in you the hope of glory. It's not we who live, but Christ in us. We die to self and now Christ can live through us.
Yes a "sense knowledge" IS totally inadequate! It's only by worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth that we grow in Christ, it's not by our intellect or quoting Bible verses. In John, we are told about the Holy Spirit and His role and how he can teach us all truth and speaks of Christ, not of Himself. Once we grap onto that, and submit to God, and not our "idea" of what God should do, He can teach us.
Evidences that the church is dead or asleep:
1.Prayer and Bibles banned from Public schools.
2. Abortion is legal on demand for any old reason.
3. Homosexuality is rampant
4. Love of the Body of Christ has waxed cold.
5. American people have NO dignity.
6. Gross materialism
7. American's have priorities on all the wrong things.
8.Churches sit in the back corner and rarely impact their areas.
9.The way we treat our elderly people.
10. sexual immorality is tolerated to the extreme with no shame to those who practice it.
The blood of Christ is not preached from many churches any more. American Christians are blind, deaf and dumb, thinking we have it so much better than the 3rd world countries. We are deceived. Wake UP!
The unsaved who are seeking want to SEE a REAL God, in our lives.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
Amen Watcher I've posted this one before, but it never hurts to read it again! ![[thumbsup2]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Posts: 3465 | Registered: Nov 2003
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bygrace
Advanced Member
Member # 4847
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posted
Thank you watcher, I gleaned from reading this.
bygrace
Posts: 162 | Registered: Jul 2005
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TEXASGRANDMA
Advanced Member
Member # 847
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posted
Very Good!
I remember years ago, at our Assembly of God Church, new people talked about this grab it and claim it theory. Our Pastor soon put a stop to this theory.
Grab it and claim it is an attractive theory. Right now, I am sitting here in pain. It would be easy to claim a "healthy" body and reject this broken body. But, my place is not to tell God what to do. I am God's servant not His keeper.
I have accepted God's will for me health wise. Yes, I have prayed for healing, but I have accepted His will not mine. Not because I am better than anyone else. My illness has come on slow over 10 years at each stage God has given me the grace and strength to handle it. I would be a liar if I did not say that are days when the pain is extreme and I do get discouraged, but God has not failed me. I remind myself on these days that I am still able to walk with my cane and am not in a wheel chair. I am blessed that I do not have to work so when my ability to move is low, I can read and surf the web and rest my body.
This grab it and claim theory is insulting to those of us who are handicapped. I have been told that my illness proves I am not a Christian.
To be made to feel that because it is God's will for us to bear this burden, we are some how less faithful, or have less faith than others, cuts people like me to the core. I honestly don't think people realize when they say if you have enough faith you will be in perfect health, how much that can hurt someone like me. In my own family those who had the most faith and walked closer to God then the rest of us where afflicted with illness. I watched my Uncle die of a brain tumor. He was witnessing and singing of God's praises in the VA hospital for a year as he slowly died from the affects of his tumor. I know that being ill is not an indication of one's spiritual health or lack of it.
We need to stop telling God how to do things and start asking God to tell us what to do.
God bless you, watcher,
betty
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Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
http://www.indieheaven.com/artists/mm (son-in-law)http://www.myspace.com/mireles
Posts: 4985 | From: Washington State | Registered: Jan 2003
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Watcher
Advanced Member
Member # 3589
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posted
10 Reasons to Reject Word of Faith
a hard hitting explanation of this belief
By: Tricia Tillin
When 'Positive Confession' first arrived in this country, it transformed some dead churches and struggling Christians. Many who had fought against the odds to survive as Christians found a new life of victory; the idea that believers were doomed to be the victims of circumstance and helpless in the face of satanic attack was challenged. This was good and useful, and served to increase our faith in the truths of scripture.
However, as so often in Church history, a movement that came to popular acclaim through such supposedly good fruit soon revealed its true nature as something more like a cult, with extremes of belief that brought the Name of the Lord into disrepute. Unfortunately, it seems this was inevitable - the roots of the doctrine were firmly planted in the soil of the metaphysical cults. The errors that produced New Thought and Christian Science had also produced Word-of-Faith as a Christianised version. (for more information, see the tract 'They Want Your Mind'.)
Now, the whole content, goal and product of the various Word-of-Faith ministries has to be questioned. Although there seems to be fruit, in the form of healings and new converts, we have to ask how genuine these are and how sound is the foundational teaching such new converts will receive? We also have to question the need for Ministers to live in great luxury, demanding millions of pounds for an ever-increasing number of projects, some of which never materialise.
The ultimate goal of such ministries also needs to be examined in the light of scripture. Are we witnessing a global awakening that will transform all nations and bring wealth and success to all the Church? Or is this triumphalism a delusion which will ensnare thousands of well-meaning believers in the satanic trap of the New Age, and cause them - unthinkingly - to set up a worldwide kingdom for the Antichrist?
1. It requires 'revelation knowledge'.
Like the gnostic heresies all through the ages, Word-of-Faith needs special knowledge in order to be effective. Leaders see themselves as having a commission to bring new spiritual revelation to the Body, and they condemn 'sense-knowledge' as inadequate. In this scheme, it is not sin and disobedience that causes us to fail, but ignorance of the Word. Moreover, this revelation knowledge is limited to the few who can receive it; the less intelligent are at a disadvantage. This is elitism.
2. It makes the Almighty God and Creator a weak 'faith-being' who is at the mercy of His own universal laws.
Although Word-of-Faith ministers speak of God in a personal way, they treat Him like an impersonal 'energy source' with 'forces' that can be operated by the use of laws - laws which even God has to obey in order to create and run His universe. God, they say, has left the control of the planet in man's hands and is powerless to intervene without a covenant partner. God's omnipotence and sovereignty is damaged by these teachings.
3. It makes the Divine Son of God into a born-again man who had to die in Hell to pay the price for our treason.
Jesus, according to Word-of-Faith doctrine, discarded His divine powers and walked earth as a mere man filled with The Spirit. He had to use the Word and the laws of faith to do miracles. When He died, His blood did not atone, but He had to take upon Himself the very sin-nature of the Devil, causing His spirit to die, and suffer three days and nights of hellish torment AS A MAN before the Father gave the command for Him to be re-created as a re-born man. Thus, they say, Jesus was just the first of many sons, the Pattern for us all to follow.
4. It elevates man to equality with Jesus.
A consequence of the 'Jesus-died-spiritually' doctrine is that all born-again Christians stand in the same place of power and authority as Jesus - not by virtue of their unity with Him, but in themselves, as men filled with the Spirit. This would mean that we have already been resurrected from the dead and it only remains for us to gain 'knowledge' of our new condition in order to discard the trappings of the fleshly body and begin living as spiritual gods on earth!
Thus, the Christian walk is one of education in using the same spiritual laws as Jesus in order to dominate the circumstances and do miracles. In Word-of-Faith teaching, believers do not depend on God's own power, nor submit to His will, but feel they have the right to develop their own powers, and to discover the laws governing creation and dominion on the earth.
5. It makes man a god.
To understand the special position that Word-of-Faith gives to man, we need to know their interpretation of the Creation. In their teaching, man HAS NO NATURE OF HIS OWN but takes his nature from his 'lord'. When God was his Lord, then man had a divine nature - for he was created as god of the earth, they say - but after man's fall, he took the sin-nature of the Devil and became like Satan. (All this, of course, is contrary to scripture). So, Word-of Faith believers would reason that a born-again man has regained his divine nature. Thus, he is entitled to use the attributes of his divinity, such as creative powers and domination of the environment etc.
6. It makes the redemption into a restoration of dominion for mankind.
Word-of-Faith teachers stress the loss of dominion over the earth, not sin, as the root problem. So, salvation becomes a matter of re-discovering one's place of godhood and learning to rule as kings on earth. The role Jesus had to play in redemption was that of a substitute Adam, coming to earth to fulfill all that Adam failed to do, demonstrating the possibilities of dominion, and then taking Adam's place in Hell to let mankind 'off the hook'. The worship given to Jesus by Word-of-Faith believers is more from a sense of gratitude than a recognition of His divinity. It also misses the whole point of redemption: that Jesus HIMSELF is the Life and Salvation of mankind and that we are only saved in union with Him.
7. Its goal is the transformation of the earth by spiritual dominion.
Because Word-of-Faith believers see themselves as having returned to their god-like dominion of the earth, they foresee the time coming when - by sheer force of numbers, probably - all mankind has to bow the knee to God. They teach that all the wealth of the world will flow to the Church, and that the laws, government and entire social structure of the world system will have to change. Despite scriptural warnings of apostasy and increasing wickedness in the end-times, they foresee a great victory for the Church in the future, as the Spirit sweeps millions into the 'kingdom' on earth. Whether or not they claim to believe in the end-times plan of Revelation, the Rapture, the Millennium or any of these things, they still seem to be able to fit a scheme of global Church unity and triumph into the plan of the ages.
8. It replaces prayer with confession, and God's will with the manipulation of 'forces'.
Word-of Faith teaches Christians to draw upon powerful 'forces' that reside in the human spirit - such as the force of faith - to bring certain laws into operation. They emphasise the word (not the Son of God, but the scriptures) as the power used to operate all these spiritual laws. So, learning and confessing the Word continually is the method used to obtain anything we want. This self-rule leads to pride and greed. But a Christian must deny himself and submit to the entire will of God, as revealed moment-by-moment by the Holy Spirit.
9. It denies the reality of sin and sickness.
Word-of-Faith ministers teach that the only true reality is spiritual, and the earthly senses are deceptive. Thus, believers are led to deny that they are ill, poor or in any way below par. They are taught to overcome adversity by confessing a suitable 'positive' scripture, instead of seeking God's guidance. Also, the reality of sin, and the need for forgiveness is glossed over by teaching that a simple confession of the Lordship of Jesus will effect a change of lifestyle.
10. It focuses on self and the world instead of God and Heaven.
The emphasis in Word-of-Faith doctrine is all on success, prosperity, advancement, gain, health and strength. There is little compassion for those who fail to come up to these exacting standards. Any adversity is said to be a 'lack of faith' to confess the appropriate Word. This is a great misunderstanding of the wisdom of God, and His plan to bring his children to glory, for if we refuse to share in the trials, setbacks and persecutions of Jesus, we are not ready to share His glorification. [Rom 8:17]
Some of the Word-of-Faith teachers and ministries have been the worst offenders in bringing the Name and the cause of Jesus Christ into disrepute. Ministries that emphasise prosperity have ended up in greed, manipulating believers into giving money they can little afford. Over-emphasised teaching about God's healing has led to extravagant claims for miracles that have been exposed as hyperbole and sham. Doctrines about man's godhood and superhuman abilities have led to arrogance, self-will and the use of psychic powers to perform miracles instead of a simple dependency on the Holy Spirit. Also, teachings about faith have become rituals and formulas for producing instant result; and many who could not or would not go down this road were derided and rejected as "having no faith".
Legions of hurt people have testified to their bad experiences, both personally and corporately, with Word-of-Faith extremes and excesses. Indeed, the very root of this teaching is bad, coming as it does from Christian Science and the metaphysical schools of thought.
CONCLUSION:
What we can learn from the Word-of-Faith doctrines is really no more than straight-forward biblical teaching in the first place - faith in God and in His Word, belief in divine intervention in our affairs, a positive outlook based on the promises of God, and a knowledge of the defeat of satanic powers in Jesus - all this and more is good and sound, but the Word-of-Faith movement today has gone far beyond these boundaries and created a monster that is devouring both its leaders and followers alike.
It is not necessary to buy into a Word-of-Faith system in order to benefit from the plain teaching of scripture. Any who are followers of Word-of-Faith ministers should think very carefully about their position as followers of men and of a dubious man-inspired system of formulas, and also should be wary of the manipulation to give gifts and tithes to these ministries. It would be better to support your own church, or more humble and doctrinally sound Christian works, and to seek for scriptural inspiration from the Holy Spirit who is our only Guide and Teacher.
http://www.bereanfaith.com/articles....=article&id=12
__________________
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Watcher
Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
Proverbs 17:13,15
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