So now, to be 'non-WoF' is to be part of a cult?
Simon Peter,
I was amused by the icon of the jet flying over that palatial home but I wonder how many on this particular forum wonder when they were going to get theirs or even if the jet was big enough. Of course they could always wait a bit and do a Creflo Dollar and say “Hey, why should I turn the jet down - it was a gift from my church!”
The remark by one poster which was laid against mainstream Pentecostals which said,
“They are willing to deny the works of Jesus...”;well this was probably even more bemusing as I have never heard anyone equate financial, spiritual and emotional abuse as being ‘works of Jesus’ and as for the way in which the Word is misconstrued and abused by the numerous celebrity woffers I would hardly call such things a work of Jesus either. As for the immorality that seems to be rampant within the senior elements of the wof movement one could presume that many on this forum believe that such activity is a legitimate form of walking in the Spirit...but silly me, surely all the adultery, financial deception and emotional abuse that we see coming from within the wof movement is only a conspiracy hatched by we ‘hateful mainline Pentecostals’ and for that matter by the many US law courts and the media.
Have you also noticed how so many woffers rather naively presume that they have some stranglehold on the blessings of God as if only they received financial blessings. What they fail to understand or choose to ignore is that Christians of all Full Gospel persuasions have been blessed by the Lord in many ways and we all regularly walk in these blessings though we don’t try to manipulate the masses by tricking them into giving money to ministries who are only there to line their own pockets. Unlike our OT forebears where financial or material wealth was the only real way of showing that one was ‘blessed’, for those of us who are now in the New Covenant we realise that there are even greater ways of showing how one is being blessed by God and this doesn’t require that we have a row of Roll Royces and a couple of Lear Jets attached to our palatial homes – I wonder if any woffers who read this will have even the slightest clue as to what I am talking about.
We should be a bit even handed by saying that such things are not merely the foundation stones of the wof movement as such shameful things are also found within mainline Pentecostal and Charismatic circles; but when they do occur we usually find a sense of shame (but not always) on the part of those who committed these acts but sadly the senior practitioners of the wof movement have made such things into a veritable science and they must roll on the ground laughing when they meet together knowing that they have conned and fleeced many of their devotees for another year.
I thought that probinsons statement #41 (you know, the person who had earlier used the excrement analogy) to be of some interest
“What absolutely amazes me is that you honestly believe that all of the disparaging bile and empty fluff you've posted is somehow approaching this discussion "in a reasonable manner", when in reality, all you've really done is rant and rave.” I suppose that this might be symptomatic of a public forum in that it shows a complete lack or at least a complete lack of desire to acknowledge the incredible amount of both Christian and secular material that has addressed the litany of emotional, financial, spiritual and sexual abuses that seem to be a normal day to day part of being a senior wof practitioner. As if any of us needed to provide thousands and thousands of pages of material on the various and ongoing abuses that are perpetrated onto the Body of Christ by these senior wof celebrities – maybe we should ask them to simply open up a newspaper; I presume that they are aware of what’s been going on around them or maybe they are content to accept the frequent base behaviour of these wof celebrities as being ‘normal Christianity’, what a scary thought.
Even though I couldn’t find the remark when I did a quick search, I thought that someone equated wof teachings as being the hallmark of good Biblical doctrine and that we mainline Pentecostals and Charismatics are in some way heretics. What does intrigue me is that as I spend a fair amount of time looking into the material that is produced by the best Full Gospel academics along with those who would class themselves as being
open-but-cautious, I cannot recall ever encountering any wof promoters who are a part of the Christian academic community, there may be some I suppose (well not really) but as the view of Christian academia runs along the lines that if someone were to refer to themselves as being a wof-academic that such a claim would be deemed to be an oxymoron – the two words simply cannot be used in the same sentence.
As an aside, about a month ago I stopped capitalising the acronym WoF where I now use wof as I felt that by employing capitalisation that even though it followed grammatical rules that it may be falsely implying that this movement was about the Word and about Faith instead of human precepts and faith in their own faith.
I should point out that my remarks about the wof industry in this topic have been fairly and reasonably directed towards the senior practitioners of this aberration of the Full Gospel movement, particularly as they relate to the incredible wealth of documented material that is freely available on government and non-government sites including many Christian and secular media sites; even so some have tried to imply that I am attacking them personally but this is probably just a desperate smokescreen that some when they realise (well I hope that they do) that they do not have a leg to stand on.
As I mentioned earlier, what was the particular topic about anyway...
That’s right, even though I think that it is best to avoid wof topics which is why I don’t go onto the wof forum or for that matter with the Roman Catholic Charismatic forum, I did find it hard to ignore the following opening statements of this topic:
#1
- What prosperity is not: get rich scheme, sin, not part of the gospel, something preachers shouldn't have, something not to be desired, or a gimic.
- First let me say that the prosperity message has been abused, but not to the extent as some proclaim. There a very few preachers that are stealing from people. Usually the ones who are you have never even heard of.
- The fact is you support the prosperity message two ways or one way. Either you agree with it on vocally and with actions
And my absolute favourite:
Even though I suggested to the OP that he maybe delete some phrases or even reconsider his wording, the following was then posted in reply;
#3
- I like it how it is. Don't know any well known ministers currently who are Word of Faith doing things unscriptual.
So far I have not seen any interaction regarding my concerns with the OP remarks but as with most wof topics they soon dissolve into banality and insults so maybe I will leave this ridiculous topic and engage in those that have some value.
At least I have made one thing very plain, I have absolutely no tolerance for the spiritual, emotional, financial and moral abuses which seem to be a normal part of the life of a wof celebrity and I trust that I will live to see the day when the Lord will purge this wof aberration from within our midst.