Quotes from John Piper, J.C. Ryle, and The Valley of Vision. These are what I usually see in my Facebook news feed. The insights they offer are truly edifying; truly soul-nourishing.
I wonder what if the Lord has not enlightened me on the evils of the Word-of-Faith Movement? What if I was left in darkness listening and reading these dangerous teachers? What would appear on my news feed if the Lord has not kept me away from their clutches?
I wonder what if the Lord has not enlightened me on the evils of the Word-of-Faith Movement? What if I was left in darkness listening and reading these dangerous teachers? What would appear on my news feed if the Lord has not kept me away from their clutches?
On March 30, 2012, I decided to visit the Facebook Walls/Timelines of some of the big names in the movement.
Their Facebook posts appears in red in this series.
"Today’s faith confession- ”Father, I believe and receive my right to be healed, whole, and prosperous in my body, spirit and soul according to 3 John 1:2.” After you have confessed, believed and received, click “like” and leave a comment below letting us know that you have come into agreement with today’s faith confession."
The originator of the use of 3 John 2 as a proof text for prosperity teaching is the late Oral Roberts (1918-2009). Through this verse, Oral and his wife Evelyn discovered that God's "highest wish" for believers is "to prosper". And because of this discovery, God gave the couple a brand-new car-- a Buick to be specific.
But as top-notch Pentecostal exegete Gordon Fee has pointed out, 3 John 2 is "the standard form of greeting in a personal letter of antiquity". Fee says further. "to extend John's wish for Gaius to refer to financial and material prosperity for all Christians of all times is totally foreign to the text. John neither intended that, nor could Gaius so understood. Thus, it cannot be the 'plain meaning' of the text" (The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels)
Notice also that in Creflo Dollar's Facebook post, he presents health and prosperity as a right, something you must claim or else, you submit yourself to injustice.
But as top-notch Pentecostal exegete Gordon Fee has pointed out, 3 John 2 is "the standard form of greeting in a personal letter of antiquity". Fee says further. "to extend John's wish for Gaius to refer to financial and material prosperity for all Christians of all times is totally foreign to the text. John neither intended that, nor could Gaius so understood. Thus, it cannot be the 'plain meaning' of the text" (The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels)
Notice also that in Creflo Dollar's Facebook post, he presents health and prosperity as a right, something you must claim or else, you submit yourself to injustice.
This right must be claimed by faith confession. Therefore it follows that when a Christian suffers, it's because he failed in the area of exercising faith through confession. I engaged a fan of Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis and Jerry Savelle in a Facebook thread and this is what he said:
"John 10:10 – Jesus said the thief comes but to steal, kill and destroy but I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.. now tell me sino pumapatay? If a believer is sick, poor, broke, dies, sins… it isnt because of God did it,No, it is because of we did and decide for it.." (~SGBB)There you have it. In this evil belief system...
- Joni Eareckson Tada should never be counted as a hero in the faith.
- Jim Elliot should never be regarded as a model missionary.
- The Foxe's Book of Martyrs should be retitled as Foxe's Book of Faith Weaklings
