This is one of the most interesting articles I have read in a while, so I will post a link to it HERE.
I am particularly tickled that he got, well, got “saved” I think is the appropriate term, by simply reading his Bible.
The so-called Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, Rhema Doctrine, Decreeing, whatever, is vitiating the church in my region, Central America.
Costi Hinn, a survivor of the Prosperity Gospel
Companion essay: “Why would a hurricane hit Texas and Florida and not, for example, Alabama?”
As Hurricane Irma approached Florida in September 2017, Latin America awoke to hear a number of its anointed prophets and apostles shouting, “You, Irma, go away!”
This is a manifestation of the doctrine known as the Prosperity Gospel, the Rhema Doctrine, the Word of Faith, and more recently, “Decreeing” = I decree such and such to be so, and it will come to pass.
Decreeing a thing and asking God to intervene in a thing sometimes sound alike, but they couldn’t be more opposite.
I have seen videos of a half dozen of these “apostles” commanding Irma to go away, but perhaps Miami pastor Guillermo Maldonado is the best example, and it’s in both Spanish and English. He ordered Irma not to cross the shores of Florida and told it: “as an apostle with authority over this territory…I command to the winds of the east, I command the hurricane Irma…I command you disintegrate, dissolve.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW. He gets to the meat of the thing around 2:00
Now, what happens if Irma turns away from making landfall?
Let’s add one thing: people have, as we did here, pointeded to these videos, after Irma hit, in the forlorn hope that at long last God’s people will see through this charade and stop giving these fakes the attention they crave. Or maybe these leaders will repent, go on TV, admit to being stymied, and give back your money.
I think I know human nature enough to guess that that will not happen.
What will the false prophets claim now? Some version of, “I, your anointed prophet, was right all along! So don’t blame me!” Perhaps one of the following:
Of course, some people will combine many or all of the above. Ruddy Gracia hit 3, maybe 4 of them, now that I look at his post-Irma post, as does Ana Mendez. And people who point out the failure of their prophecies are hypocrites, liars, apostates. As in my prediction #3, above.
When a hurricane hits, it does a lot of erosion. But what storm, even a Category 5, can erode the arrogance of the human heart?
“False Apostles are Smacked Down by Hurricane Irma!” by Gary S. Shogren, Professor of New Testament, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica
“HEAR OUR PRAYER, O LORD!!!”
Who dares to issue demands to God? Who dares command God to do a miracle? Not I, mister, I know my place: God is my King: he gives orders, I’m supposed to follow them. And God is my Father: when I need something, even a miracle, I ask him for help, sometimes over and over – as the Lord Jesus said was proper, in fact, commendable – and trust him to take care of me. But I won’t be issuing any orders to my King or to my Father any time soon.
Not everyone agrees. On more than one occasion (Matt 12:38 and Luke 11:29; Matt 16:1 and Mark 8:11) the religious leaders insisted: Jesus, show us a sign that proves without a doubt that you are God’s Son! Jesus refused to grant their demand, for they were testing God, coercing God to do a miracle in their presence in order to satisfy their own needs. (more…)
A friend writes asks about 1 Pet 2:24-25, where Peter alludes to Isa 53:4-6 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” He states: I have always taken this to mean that by His stripes we are “forgiven”, not “physically” healed of some infirmity, though certainly, by being forgiven of something, especially of our sins, there can certainly be a physical healing as well. I have always bounced this verse off the verse in Isaiah 53:5 where it says that “by his wounds we are healed”. I’ve been hearing a lot of teaching where our physical healing comes through His stripes that He bore for us….
Thanks for the question! I know of three perspectives on this question of “healing in the atonement.” I agree with one, partially affirm the second, and wholly reject the third. (more…)
