Posted on 02/22/2018 10:13:35 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In the wake of the death of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, controversial faith-healing televangelist Benny Hinn, who has often been criticized for his endorsement of the prosperity gospel, said in a stunning confession Wednesday that sometimes he has taken the erroneous gospel too far.
"We get attacked for preaching prosperity, well it's in the Bible, but I think some have gone to the extreme with it sadly, and it's not God's word what is taught and I think I'm as guilty as others. Sometimes you go a little farther than you really need to go and then God brings you back to normality and reality," Hinn, 65, said as he reflected on Graham's death with a ministry colleague in a Facebook Live broadcast.
He admitted that as he has grown older and come to understand the Bible more, he now realizes that some of the things he learned from preachers when he was growing up aren't biblical and the popular interpretation of the prosperity gospel — the teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the "sowing of seeds" through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings — is one of those things.
"The more you know the Bible the more you become biblically based and more balanced in your opinions and your thoughts because we are influenced. When I was younger I was influenced by the preachers who taught whatever they taught. But as I've lived longer I'm thinking wait a minute, you know this doesn't fit totally with the Bible and it doesn't fit with the reality. So what is prosperity? No lack. I've said this before," Hinn said.
He then elaborated on how he believes "no lack" should be interpreted.
"Did Elijah the prophet have a car? No. Did not even have a bicycle. He had no lack ... Did Jesus drive a car or live in a mansion? No. He had no lack. How about the apostles? None lacked among them," Hinn said. "Today, the idea is abundance and palatial homes and cars and bank accounts. The focus is wrong ... It's so wrong."
He said even though he has been accused of living lavishly and flying private jets in the past ,that is not how he currently lives.
"I mean forgive me. People have accused me of things that aren't even real. One guy wrote a comment 'Oh he's worth 40 million.' Oh how I wish. I would give it all to the Kingdom before God Almighty," he said.
"'Well he flies private jets,'" he continued mimicking criticism. "No, I don't. I have not flown private in dear God years. I fly commercial just like anyone else....
"We all sadly make the mistake of thinking that this is what God wants and God says 'No, that's not what I want.' It's time to live biblically. You know it all comes down to one thing. Do we love Jesus, yes or no? If we love Jesus then it's all about Jesus. If we don't love Jesus then it's about other things," he said.
Hinn was one of six televangelists who were part of a 2007 Senate inquiry that raised questions about the personal use of church-owned airplanes, luxury homes and credit cards by pastors and their families, and expressed concern about the lack of oversight of finances by boards often packed with the televangelists' relatives and friends. No definitive findings of wrongdoing were made. Hinn's World Healing Center Church and Joyce Meyer Ministries were the only two ministries that fully cooperated with the investigation and even implemented financial reforms.
Hinn, who was born into a Christian family in Israel, has repeatedly been accused of being a fraud and criticized for living extravagantly while leading a ministry that rakes in more than $100 million annually.
In a 2009 interview on ABC's "Nightline," Hinn denied being a fraud.
"I think if I was fooling the people, over 35 years of it now, I would have been caught already fooling them," he told the network.
Last April, after criminal investigators from the IRS and inspectors from the U.S. Postal Service executed a closely guarded raid on the offices of Hinn's ministry in Grapevine, Texas, he revealed that they were looking into "certain operations of the church."
While he did not go into much detail about which aspects of his ministry federal officials had reviewed, he said in a statement on Facebook that he was confident the investigation will end favorably.
"As has been widely reported, Benny Hinn Ministries is cooperating fully with the governmental entities that are reviewing certain operations of the Church. The ministry has undergone intense scrutiny over the years, and we remain confident that there will again be a positive and speedy outcome in the days ahead," his ministry said.
During the broadcast Wednesday, one of his colleagues, who has known him for 30 years, said Hinn would give every material thing that he has for the presence of the Lord.
As a pastor, Hinn also said he wants his life to end right with God.
"We all want to finish right," he said of pastors. "We all start right. Sometimes we, you know, stumble here and stumble there, but when you come right down to it, we all want to finish right. I'm 65 years old, I surely don't want to blow it at this point in my life and I thank you for praying for me. I really mean that."
Hinn, who began the conversation by reminding his audience of a prophesy he made in 1989 that the deaths of his mentor, Oral Roberts, and Billy Graham would bring about a great revival, said since both men are now dead, the revival has now been set in motion. Roberts died in 2009.
"What we are gonna see is a revival. Three things are going to happen, there's no doubt in my heart and mind because it's in the Bible. If you look at the Old and New Testament you'll see three things happening always at the same time. Number one, evangelism. What was the first thing that happened in the book of Acts? People saved," he responded. "The second thing, miracles, people healed. But the third thing was what? Prosperity. ... Here we are in this season. We're gonna see amazing things happen in those areas of our lives and get ready for your children to be saved in a big way, your families to be saved in a big way, loved ones respond to the Lord in a big way."
He also pointed out that Christians across the world are being persecuted and that American Christians have been spared "up to now" but he wasn't sure if "we will be spared for a whole lot longer."
"I am really praying. I want persecution to come for my sake 'cause I want to get purer before the Lord ... I think persecution ... like fire purifies," he said.
"The early church was persecuted. There is no respecter of persons and persecution is a part of our life. All who live godly will suffer persecution and we've been spared in America but things already are turning against us. No, you know what? For us, that's really a better way to say it. They're against us in the natural but who cares the natural? Think what God will do with it for our lives. What glory it will bring, the power it will bring," Hinn said.
In 2015, Hinn was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation, an issue he said he has been dealing with for more than 20 years.
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, atrial fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia, which refers to a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. This can result in the heart beating too fast, too slow or just irregularly altogether. If the problem goes unnoticed, it unfortunately can lead to increased risk of stroke, chest pain or heart failure.
The enemy can certainly fake miracles and if it’s in his best interest to make someone think they’ve been healed so that it ends up leading them into more false teaching, then it happens.
I’ve been reading through a book called *Healing Through Deliverance* by Peter Horrobin, and he discusses that very issue.
And CS Lewis even alluded to the idea that while the enemy would rather have miserable, if it takes being comfortable and prosperous to ensure our damnation, he would accommodate it.
Whatever it takes. The comfortable lifetime of health, wealth, and prosperity that some people have is just collateral damages in the enemy’s eyes if ultimately the person spends eternity in hell.
Er, you might want to read my post again bud. I share your beliefs and have nothing but utter contempt for Benny Hinny.
Jesus will explain this to you. Hint: when Peter asked Jesus what was going to happen to John, Jesus told Peter to mined his own business.
His affected millions, mine affected me.
We need to repent, as well.
You go ahead. You don't speak for anyone but yourself.
We do NOT need to keep the law to be saved.
Yes, we are expected to bear fruit, but do you really think that bearing fruit is Law keeping?
He said something like “God isn't Santa Claus that gives you want you want. He asks us to do HIS work. Tell the prosperity gospel to the first several thousand missionaries to Africa that were killed out-right before a single conversion. BUT - today Africa has the highest rate of conversions to Christianity. With a large part of it due to the persistence of those early missionaries. It isn't OUR desires - it is what God desires.”
Got a chapter and verse on that?
Not quite true.
Yours just affected far fewer.
No man is an island and everything we do affects someone somehow.
FAR fewer, as I wasn't hopping around in front of people
proclaiming this and that "truth" to the masses.
Me, I never tried to cause anyone to think one way or the other.
Yeah, I'd say there is a significant difference.
You know, you Catholics always like to show that .gif of people running into a giant abyss, when ironically that’s what you church of Romers are doing when you cling to your cult.
Sure, here is the main “chapter and verse”. It also, conveniently, covers not judging one another.
Romans 14
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: “ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
Here is the context for this statement:
Romans 14
The Law of Liberty
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.
He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died band rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: “ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another danymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (pp. 1103-1104). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Here is one of the places that Jesus, Himself, says it:
Luke 21
The Importance of Watching (Matt. 24:36–44; Mark 13:32–37)
34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
35 “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 1023). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Here are some of the main verses on the Faith-Works duality. See the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8) for Jesus parable about faith and works. Be sure to read each chapter completely, because this is so important Jesus actually explains the parable so you don’t have to guess what it means.
Hebrews 11
Faith at the Dawn of History (Gen. 4:1–16; 5:18–24; 6:5—8:22)
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 1165). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Doers—Not Hearers Only
James 1
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone eamong you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 1169). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
James 2
Faith Without Works Is Dead (cf. Gen. 22; Josh. 2)
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, †and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by †works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (pp. 1169-1170). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
More on the concept of “reward”:
Colossians 3
The Christian Home (cf. Eph. 5:21—6:9)
18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, †as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
20 Children, obey your parents †in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (pp. 1143-1144). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Followers of Benny are always without exception hermaneutically challenged.
What part of “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” don’t you understand?
That’s the second thing I’ve seen recently from Hinn that gives me some hope that as he sees the end, he is becoming more orthodox.
Do a word study on judge and judgment throughout the Bible. I don’t think Benny served you well in developing that doctrine.
Acts 15 deals with the Judaizers who tried to demand law keeping.
Our Christian walk is not so much about what we do but what we are.
Legalism is bondage, even when cloaked as *obedience* to Christ.
Gamecock is NOT a Catholic.
I’m not quite sure how you missed that one, but he is about as far from Catholicism as you can get.
When you stand before Jesus to get your reward, the standard you are applying to the works of others will be applied to you.
The verses you posted do not answer the request.
But we are to judge others.
John 7:24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
1 John 4:1- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
And just how is one to determine if someone is teaching error if they don't judge?
Our Christian walk is not so much about what we do but what we are.
- - - - - -
That kind of thinking quickly leads to the Gnostic Heresy that says you can do anything because it is just your body doing the abominable things, while your Mind is pure.
The Lord your God is One, and you were made in His image. You can not separate your Faith from your Works.
In the Resurrection, we all get new bodies, and the Law is written on our Hearts.
Jesus said He came to FULFILL the Law, not to end it. He kept the Law because we can’t. When we believe in Him, it is accounted to us for righteousness. The same as with Abraham.
Thanks for reminding me. Here is Jesus talking in Matthew 7 on exactly this topic:
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.
2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
5 “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (pp. 941-942). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
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