The Dark World of Megachurches

Megachurches, Televangelists, and the Prosperity Gospel… those were things that I had never heard of before… until I stumbled across an infamous interview with Kenneth Copeland by Lisa Guerrero from Inside Edition. What ensued after was a dive into rabbit hole unlike any other, from corrupt preachers, to lavish lifestyles, to claims of miracle healings, to cult-ish followings, and New Age/New Thought concepts. This… is the dark world of Megachurches.

Is Poverty a Curse? Lessons from the Widow’s Mite

Do the poor have the curse of God on their lives? Some seem to think so, and that if they are full of the world’s goods then God must surely be pleased with them.

Please consider what the words of scripture have to say about these things.

Proverbs 28:27 – He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

\Luke 12:33 – Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

Acts 20:35 – I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

1 John 3:17 – But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

2 Corinthians 9:7 – Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Matthew 5:42 – Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Proverbs 14:21 – He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy [is] he.

Galatians 2:10 – Only [they would] that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Luke Chapter 21

1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Matthew 19:21 – Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me.

Isaiah 41:17 – [When] the poor and needy seek water, and [there is] none, [and] their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

Proverbs 22:9 – He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

Proverbs 22:7 – The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower [is] servant to the lender.

James 5:1-6 – Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you]. (Read More…)

James 2:5 – Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

James 1:27 – Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Hebrews 13:16 – But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Hebrews 13:3 – Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Proverbs 29:7 – The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: [but] the wicked regardeth not to know [it].
Luke 6:38 – Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Luke 6:24 – But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

Luke 6:20-21 – And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed [be ye] poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. (Read More…)

Luke 4:18 – The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Ezekiel 16:49 – Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Jeremiah 22:3 – Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

Jeremiah 5:28 – They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

Isaiah 58:10 – And [if] thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday:

Isaiah 25:4 – For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall.

Psalms 12:5 – For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set [him] in safety [from him that] puffeth at him.

Deuteronomy 15:11 – For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

Deuteronomy 15:10 – Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 – If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: (Read More…)

Deuteronomy 15:7 – If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

Leviticus 25:35 – And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

Leviticus 19:15 – Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Exodus 23:11 – But the seventh [year] thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard.

Leviticus 19:9-10 – And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. (Read More…)

Beware of Cash Cow “Ministries” and “Fat Cat” Money Changers

Since when did the Church become a Business anyway?

Thought you’d heard it all when it comes to the false “Prosperity Gospel” ? Well, think again. It seems these money grabbing charlatans never come to an end of schemes they can come up with to fleece the flock out of their hard earned money. PLEASE! For your own sake,  and that of your Christian brethren, read the brilliant, blockbusting article below exposing the latest rash of get rich quick, (on your money) these wolves in sheep’s clothing have come up with! Jesus never said anything that wasn’t TRUTH, and when He said, “Money is the root of ALL evil”, it was a very serious warning. We know the world system is corrupt and out to steal everything they can, but folks, this sneaky thievery concerns the Church, His Body. Do not be deceived!
http://www.christianresearchservice.com/the-cult-of-evangelical-leadership-part-2-cah-cow-fat-cat/

 

Ministry Watch does a good job….as far as it goes, but unfortunately doesn’t even scratch the surface of the plethora of the latest para-church groups that have sprung up since this video was released. Groups that operate seemingly under the radar, as opposed to most of the large mega “prosperity gospel ministries”.

One of these may have recently hung up their shingle in your town as it did mine! About 8 years ago, I happened to be invited to a get acquainted banquet of a new church that had come rolling into the city where I live. The price was $10 for the food, and the guest of “honor” was some other guy who was the main speaker that evening. What I remember so vividly is that the church “leadership” was all grouped at the head of the main table, then the  guest speaker began his speech by dropping a bunch of names he had met personally…one of which was Rod Parsley. That was the first red flag.  You know you can often tell a lot about a person’s eyes, and I can still remember his eyes, not having the soft light of the love of Christ in them, but even in a rather darkened banquet hall, they were glittering and black as pitch. He went on to tell how he was going to “grow” his own new church in another town, on the required tithes of the members he was going to get to subsidize his operation. His entire talk consisted of not one word about Jesus Christ and the gospel, but instead of money, money and more money. This all seemed to meet with the approval of the new local “church” leadership.
I don’t remember now whether the buffet was served before or after his pitch, but I do remember that when it was…the new church bunch and their guest speaker served themselves first. There were a couple of Christian friends who came with me, and collectively, we were shocked and saddened at this entire display of greed and outrageous flaunting of wickedness done in the name of our precious Lord and Savior. What was especially sickening about the entire thing is that this “new church” that had set up camp had as it’s proclaimed ministry purpose, “Reaching the Unchurched for Jesus”. Reading between the lines…or, translation if you will…conning a bunch of babies who didn’t know better, scripturally, into joining up with a “church” who’s real purpose was in enforcing the tithe to support themselves and their greed.

Of course, my friends and I left, and never went back, hearts broken for those innocent babes who were being led like lambs to the slaughter. Prayers went up, and I haven’t checked recently, but I believe this bunch has folded up and left town. Some fly by nights just aren’t as well organized as others…but rest assured, there are still many proliferating, and all under the handy tax exempt 501 C-3 status .

Maybe they all aren’t as obvious and blatant as this group of thieves and money changers, but the point is, we wouldn’t enter into a business deal without first checking up on the other persons character and background, and all the more so, of any “ministry”  with whom you are considering placing you and your family under. And, by the way, that would include the Internet ministries that populate the Internet that are asking for money, even less innocuously, with a PayPal account. I’m not saying all of them are bad, but just suggesting to use godly wisdom and discernment. The following wisdom as stated on the article holds true for any of them!

You don’t know if he’s a gambler, a prescription drug addict, or an abuser of children. You know nothing about the man save for the image that is meticulously crafted, cultivated and finally “beamed” to your campus for your spiritual consumption. Consequently, you don’t truly have a pastor. Instead, you have a pleasing “image,” an “image” that knows how to turn a witty phrase as he delivers a sermon he often didn’t even write by his own hand. 

 

Be as Jesus admonished his followers, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves”.

 

 

Kenneth Hagin-Spiritual Gifts-Word of Knowledge-Move of the Spirit?

 In times past, I’ve been blessed by Kenneth Hagin’s teachings.  However, in recent years I have come to believe that even very godly men and women can succumb to seducing spirits. As the Bible says…. that “even the very elect can be deceived, if it were possible”, and believe me brethren when I say it’s not only possible; it happens. I have come to believe that this happened to Kenneth Hagin in the later years of his life, a man I admired and trusted BEFORE these weird manifestations began to appear in His life. I once found his teachings to “work” in the area of healing and faith. I never adhered to the “prosperity doctrine” and I don’t believe that’s what Hagin taught or believed, as some critics have claimed. I simply did not want to believe that Kenneth Hagin could fall from grace, but then neither did the followers of Oral Roberts,  Jimmy Swagart and others. Nevertheless, it is important to separate the precious from the vile. We must all learn in our spiritual walk to learn to discern accurately what the bible teaches. That said, there are good teachers in Christianity, but we must first and foremost learn from our own bibles, practice holiness, not just talk it, and follow the Holy Spirit, not any man. Would I still watch Kenneth Hagins videos and teachings. Yes, the older ones, but I will no longer post this type of video. I was very opposed to the Rodney Browne manifestations, which is where this type of false annointing began in recent times.

 

The following text is from the Rich Vermillion blog which contains the rebuke Kenneth Hagin gave to those ministers who were corrupting his teachings in the Word Faith ministry, and perverting it over into a false prosperity doctrine of greed and covetousness.  The ministers Kenneth Hagin called to this meeting were included in the text below. The shame is that none of them listened to their mentor’s godly counsel. Unfortunately, the reputation of the early years of godly ministry and life of Kenneth Hagin has suffered because of these greedy men. Worse still, is that the godly teachings of Kenneth Hagin also have suffered. That is just like the devil to try to destroy what God has raised up, but I am praying that God will resurrect the true message and power of the healing ministry he began with powerful men of God…..men such as Kenneth Hagin and a few others such as Smith Wigglesworth,  and Lester Sumrall. Such men of God are like rare gems in the crown of the Body of Christ.

 

It took a lifetime of obedience and faithfulness to Jesus and the Word of God for Kenneth Hagin to attain to the power the Lord entrusted him with, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that flowed through him in power at one time,and in many of his meetings. Yet, today, the Body of Christ is so weak  and powerless they deny that Brother Hagin was ever real, because they have no evidence of it in their own lives. The reason why? It’s because they would have to take the same steps that Hagin did to get the same results. Steps of faith, obedience, faithfulness.  Like the saying goes, salvation is free, but it’s not cheap. There will be a price to pay. Jesus told us what that price would be, and what He requires of us, “Take up YOUR CROSS, DENY YOUR SELF, AND FOLLOW HIM”. Are you willing to do that? Are you desperate enough? Are you hungry enough for more of Jesus that you will forsake all, to do all that He requires like Kenneth Hagin did? Then changes are that God will raise you up in a new fresh anointing.

 

http://kennethcopelandblog.com/2008/11/11/rev-hagins-previous-rebuke-of-copeland/

 Reverend Hagin’s Previous Rebuke of Kenneth Copeland

_______

.

Rich’s Note: Before our post Kenneth and Gloria Copeland: The Untold Story became our most highly viewed article, this post about Kenneth E. Hagin was by far the most popular post on KennethCopelandBlog.com. In fact, it still garners a very high traffic rating today. Consequently, let me please point out that there is additional important information contained in the new FAQ page of this blog that relates (either directly or indirectly) to this very same topic. Thus, in addition to reading this important post about Hagin’s efforts to correct “prosperity gospel” excesses, I encourage you to review that FAQ data also, as well as the several other informative pages which you can find listed on the Table of Contents page.

_

Many people have enjoyed the teaching of the Word of Faith message through the years, while many others have been quite critical of that message. Some have actually been hurt or traumatized by professing “Word of Faith ministers” who pushed their doctrines to self-serving extremes (and unfortunately, some of these false-ministers are so-called “leaders” within the movement). Meanwhile, many other believers have found sound principles within balanced teaching of faith as taught by some of God’s honest ministers, applied it to their own situations—and have experienced tremendous blessing and victory as a result.Regardless of the type of exposure, however, most people at least familiar with the “Word of Faith message” are also quite familiar with the fact that the late Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin is considered the proverbial “father” of the movement. However…

Few seem to be aware of the fact that Brother Hagin (aka, “Dad Hagin”) had convened a special meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the campus of RHEMA Bible Training Center, circa the Fall of 1999. The topic: Excesses and error present within the “prosperity” message being taught by the major Word of Faith ministries.

My own former senior pastor was one of those in attendance. The first Sunday following that special meeting, he detailed publicly to the entire congregation (in both services) what had occurred. I was present to hear those details (in both services) since I was one of the Associate Pastors on staff there (in addition to hearing this same information privately as well). Thus my recollection of these events is confirmed by the memories of my fellow ministers and the many Christians who heard these same facts.

Among those whom the pastor reported to have been in attendance at that meeting were:

Kenneth Copeland
Creflo Dollar
Jerry Savelle
Jesse Duplantis
Mac Hammond
and Steve Parson (my former senior pastor)

Also summoned to the meeting was the “money cometh” preacher himself, Dr. Leroy Thompson. He refused to attend, however. Steve Parson explained to us that Mac Hammond reported to the group in attendance that he had previously called Leroy Thompson to find out why he was refusing to attend. “God told me not to come,” he replied. “That’s funny,” reportedly answered Mac, “God told me to call you and tell you to come. So one of us is missing it.”

_
Wisdom Speaks

When those who had agreed to attend were present in the room, Brother Hagin explained (and I paraphrase), “I called you all together to this special meeting because I need to address some error and excess in within the Word of Faith ‘camp’ regarding the prosperity message. I have written a book entitled, The Midas Touch: A Balanced Approach to Biblical Prosperity, and it will be coming out very soon. In order to avoid strife and confusion among our ranks, however, I wanted to convene this meeting and address these issues with you—the major Word of Faith ministries teaching this doctrine—in person first. That way, you all can adjust your messages accordingly before the book comes out, and there will be no contention among us.”

Reportedly, Kenneth Copeland then responded before the group, “If I am in error in any way, please feel free to correct me.” However, as we will soon learn, Copeland’s profession before the group to his own personal mentor and one of his “fathers in the faith” (along with Oral Roberts) would seem to have failed to manifest in full.

Unfortunately, Copeland’s own protégé (i.e. Creflo Dollar) seemed to do a better job than Copeland in following is own mentor’s lead. He has apparently followed Copeland back into the same errors previously addressed by Brother Hagin—rather than the sound and seasoned counsel given by the senior leader of the Word of Faith movement.

Regardless, Brother Hagin did share with those ministers that day his biblical counsel. Further, he gave them all advanced copies of the paperback edition of the book, which was subsequently released in 2000. In 2002 the hardback edition of The Midas Touch came out on the market, and is now the only version available “new” at the time of this writing.

So what did Brother Hagin have to say to them in that meeting? Well, exactly what was written within that very book that they were all given. Consequently, we will examine in the next video the details of what that book clearly articulates—which are the same corrections ministered that day by Rev. Hagin to those ministers present:

This is video 7 of many, from the KennethCopelandBlog.com exposure project by Rich Vermillion (who actually knows the man and wrote a book with him). Please visit the blog to see all the information (including text/downloads) as well as all the videos.

KennethCopelandBlog.com