Thursday, November 29, 2007

Richard Roberts - God Told Him....

According to an Arkansas Newspaper and Associated Press:

Bible Belt Blogger: Richard Roberts: God told me to quit

Roberts Says God Forced His Resignation

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS
Associated Press Writer

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Richard Roberts told students at Oral Roberts University Wednesday that he did not want to resign as president of the scandal-plagued evangelical school, but he did so because God insisted. Roberts told students in the university's chapel that God told him on Thanksgiving that he should resign the next day.

Roberts said he resisted the idea, and that "every ounce of my flesh said 'no,'" but he prayed over the decision with his wife, Lindsay Roberts, and his father, Oral Roberts, and decided to step down.

A lawsuit accuses Roberts of lavish spending at a time when the university faced more than $50 million in debt. On Tuesday, the founder of a Christian office and education supply store chain pledged $70 million to help the university.

Roberts has previously said that God told him to deny the allegations. The week the lawsuit was filed, Richard Roberts said that God told: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

I suppose I could believe that God told him to quit until the whole thing was cleared up, but why would God have to tell Richard Roberts to deny the allegations if he was innocent anyways? Does Roberts really think God might have told him to plead guilty even if he was innocent?

Labels: ,

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Paula White: God Wants You To Prosper

This video should refute Paula White's claim from last night's Larry King show that her teachings aren't about materialism. In fact, her teaching in this video is straight from the teachings of the popular "The Secret":

Larry King: Do you have any qualms about having a great deal of money?

Paula White: Do I -- for me personally?

King: Yes.

White: Or for other people?

King: For you.

White: You know, to me, it's never been about money. I mean and it's not -- so when you say I don't look at it and say -- I don't sit down and say, boy, I'm thinking about getting a great deal of money or I'm not going to have any money.

I believe that prosperity has a purpose. And my definition of prosperity would be quite different than what most people probably imagine or think, because I think that a wholeness word that means nothing missing, nothing broken. It's not finances or materialism.

So let's say financially. Financially, I personally believe that you should have enough to do the assignment that you feel is part of your life. And whatever that is to do, you're going to need. Like, this is quite expensive to do -- what it is you're doing, but you're doing it effectively and bringing information to the world.

Labels:

Friday, November 23, 2007

Kim Clement - Death to Billy Graham and Oral Roberts


Prophet Kim Clement is rapidly in danger of proving once again that he's a false prophet. Back in January I reported that he had prophesied the deaths of Billy Graham and Oral Roberts for this year (see link). While some televangelists have died this year (Falwell, Humbard), Kim has only 38 days left to save whatever is left of his reputation as a genuine prophet of God.

Labels:

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Kenneth Copeland

Perhaps someone should forward this to Mike Huckabee - see Time Magazine.

Labels: ,

Friday, November 16, 2007

More on Joel Osteen - God's Best

Wolf Blitzer: All right. What about many evangelicals would call the moral issues whether abortion or gay rights? Do you get involved in trying to express your opinions on those sensitive issues?

Joel Osteen: You know, I would say this, Wolf, I don't crusade against them or crusade to make my opinion known. Again, I feel like my calling is to bring hope and encouragement and teach people how to live their everyday lives. But I'm not for abortion and I don't think homosexuality is God's best but I just try to stay in my calling and the main thing is we're for everybody to bring them hope and encouragement and not to exclude a certain group from our following.

Wolf Blitzer: Explain why you think homosexuality is not God's best because homosexuals believe that was the way God created them. They were born this way to either love women or love men and they had no choice in the matter and this is simply the way, the way God created them.

Joel Osteen: You know, Wolf I can't say that I understand it all. I don't. When I read things like that, I don't know that I understand it all. I just go back to the foundation of my faith. It's based on the truth that I found in the Bible and I only see, you know, relationships between men and women is the way God created us to be. I'm not saying I condemn them. I'm not saying I understand it all, but I just, I have to say this is my core belief on the inside.

Wolf Blitzer: And what about same-sex marriage or same-sex unions. If two men love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives with each other or two women love each other, should they get the benefits, the rights that heterosexual couples have?

Joel Osteen: You know, Wolf, I'm not up to speed on all that. I just - I don't believe again that it's God's best for us to say that a marriage is between a man, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I don't know about all the technical issues. I'm certainly for everybody having a chance in life and being kind and respectful to everyone. But I just don't know if I'm up to speed on it all. (CNN, The Situation Room, November 9, 2007)

I'm glad he opposes gay marriages and abortion, but to say it isn't "God's best" is like saying murder isn't God's best. When did "sin" become a four-letter word?

Labels:

Joel Doesn't Teach Prosperity?

Joel Osteen has repeatedly denied that he teaches a prosperity, name-it-and-claim-it gospel. From "Today's Word with Joel & Victoria," November 15, 2007:

In the natural realm, we exchange money for the things we want and need. But in the spiritual realm, faith is what we exchange. The Bible tells us that when you pray, have faith, and you will receive it. Faith moves mountains. Faith pleases God. Faith is what opens doors. What is faith? It’s believing in God and His goodness. It’s knowing that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Faith is believing that the promises of God are true. It’s obeying His Word. Faith causes you to act. Where does faith come from? Everyone is given a measure of faith. Romans tell us that faith grows by hearing the Word of God. The more you hear the Word of God, the more real it becomes in your life and the easier it is to believe His promises. It doesn’t matter how much faith you have today, begin investing your faith by choosing to obey God’s Word. As you hear and obey the Word, you will be empowered by faith, and you will move forward into the abundant life God has in store for you!

So Joel is clearly teaching that if you have enough faith while praying for something God will give it to you. In addition it seems as though he adds works as part of the definition of faith when he says faith is "obeying His Word." John makes it clear that God knows better than us what is good for us and what isn't and that if what we pray for is in accordance with His will then we will receive it.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." (1 John 5:14-15)

Labels:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Here Comes the Muslim Car


Auto Business News reports:

"Proton, a Malaysia-based automaker, is planning to collaborate with companies in Iran and Turkey to manufacture 'Islamic cars' for the global market, according to CNN.

The collaboration is aimed at producing cars that will feature a compass to determine the direction of Mecca for prayers, and compartments for storing the Quran and headscarves."

Let's hope the cars never make it to North America - especially the Carolinas, where people don't know how to drive anyways! The last thing we need is cars stopping in the middle of the freeway at prayer time and pointing their cars toward Mecca!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

The Reformation Polka

In case you didn't see this on the Cranach blog.

Labels:

Bad Apples


On The Early Show (CBS) yesterday Creflo Dollar, who denies that Jesus came as God and that He came perfect, was asked about the current investigation into several televangelists, including himself. He was asked this question:

Julie Chen: Let me ask you this. Do you think that there are televangelists out there who abuse the faith of people who believe in them and misuse church funds?

Creflo Dollar: I'm sure you'll be able to find some. I mean, there are some bad apples out there. But we've got to make sure that in our fear to try to locate those bad apples that we don't put everybody in that same bucket and automatically assume, because of that fear, that everybody is the same.

I wonder what a preacher would have to teach to be considered a bad apple in Creflo's eyes? Things like the creeds or the need for discernment, maybe?

Labels:

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The Real Exorcist

Rejoice, folks! Bob Larson's new reality TV series is nearly here! According to an e-mail I received:

Get ready for the most exciting hour of television EVER broadcast on a prime-time secular network! This is exciting news that will encourage your faith today!

By the time you receive this letter, we'll be shooting the first-ever, prime-time, Christian-based reality TV series: "The Real Exorcist!" For one hour each week, millions around the globe will witness the power of God in action. They will see people led to Christ and souls dramatically set free from Satan. It will be advertiser-supported and broadcast on secular television networks in England, Europe, America, and worldwide. This is a supernatural breakthrough for Christians everywhere! We're going to need your prayer support for victory in the name of Jesus.

We've already shot the first episode. It features a young married couple who came to Christ and were taken through an amazing healing and deliverance. The battle was between demonic strangleholds and the power of Jesus. YOU KNOW WHO WON!

The couple, Eric and Traci, had struggled to save their family and their two young children. They felt the dead weight of hopelessness from years of fighting the forces of evil that hit hard and retreated into the shadows. God allowed me to expose Satan and wage war against the enemies of anger, violence, drug addiction, and suicide. God showed me how to heal the areas of pain and hurt in their lives brought on by abandonment and family curses. We forced the demons to leave because their rights were removed. They screeched as they were commanded to go back to the Pit. The final scene shows Eric and Traci and their children, reunited and rejoicing in their hard-won battle against Satan's plans. Their beaming faces testified to God's miraculous power to set the captives free. The first time I saw this episode on screen, I wept. I was so overwhelmed with the anointing of God upon this series.

Each week will feature dramatic stories like Eric and Traci, good people trapped in bad circumstances, cursed by their ancestors, wracked with pain from abuse, and confused by deception from the devil. These people are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. As you watch, you will recognize people just like ones those you know and love.

What a relief! All the Holy Spirit-filled Christians who are also inhabited by demons are about to be set free, Bob is going to send those demons back to Hell where they came from and finally the curse your great-great-great Uncle Herman put on you can be lifted. Hey, I didn't even know the demons had ever been in hell previously, but what do I know compared to an expert like Bob Larson?

Labels: