Thought of the Day (Kenneth Hagin)

One of the greatest causes of error in modern Christianity is to attempt to use prayer to do something only the Word of God can do.

– Kenneth Hagin

Opinion of 2008 US Election (Dave Duell)

We all have different opinions. These varying opinions caused our country to elect Barack Obama to be our next president. Yes, many of us are disappointed that a president was not elected who has the same values as many believers have. Yet, it is a fact that Obama’s victory has filled most African Americans and many others with a deep sense of joy. Contrary to some opinions, God is not in control. He did not control the outcome of this election. He does not do whatever He wants because of his “sovereignty.” He has not made us puppets. He allows us to choose. But God promised to bring good out of everything for His children (Romans 8:28). We are expecting that to happen on a daily basis. We do not believe our nation will be destroyed by this election. It is not a time to despair; it is a time to pray with vision and with hope. We cannot look to a man or system to supply our every need. Many have done that in this election. Only God can be our Source. God wants us to live in victory regardless of what is going on around us. He has infused us with His Holy Spirit, with His strength, and we can do anything that He calls us to do. Paul, the apostle, instructs us to pray for all in authority “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:2, NASB). God’s will is for America to experience peace and prosperity so that we can continue to impact the nations with the Good News. We pray that the Holy Spirit will soften Obama’s heart, so that he will be willing to hear and be guided by His voice. We pray that Obama will govern with wisdom from God. We pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during the Obama administration. As our pledge of allegiance so aptly says, we are “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Thought of the Day (Paul Arden)

Old golfers don’t win.  (It’s not an absolute, it is a general rule).

Why?

The older golfer can hit the ball as far as the youner one.

He chips and putts as well.

And will probably have better knowledge of the course.

So why does he take the extra stroke that denies him victory?

Experience.

He knows the downside, what happens if it goes wrong, which makes him more cautious.

The young player is either ignorant or reckless to caution.

That is his edge.

It is the same with all of us.

Knowledge makes us play safe.

The secret is to stay childish.

– Paul Arden

You Are Called To Populate Heaven

You who are reading this blog and watching this film – it is no coincidence! Preach! Preach! Preach! Be bold, be strong… I believe the evangelists of this generation are being inspired and challenged to step out in faith and follow in the footsteps of men like Bonnke right now.  Get ready for the largest harvest the world has ever, ever seen!

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Run Through Romans (chapter 2)

If you have to sum up Romans 2 in one sentence it would be this: religious people are filled with unrighteousness. We operate in the misconception that religious acts and rituals make us better than everyone else. Let’s look at the text and examine it:

1Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

At the end of Romans 1 we find out that all nations have fallen to some degree or another into a spiral of unrighteousness, their minds becoming darker and darker.  The natural response of a religious person when they see the nations and their communities acting unrighteously is to judge them

Paul is saying here something very powerful: he is saying that religious people who judge the unrighteousness of others are just as unrighteous and do the same sinful acts.  Why do religious people judge others then?  They think that their religious acts and deeds make them righteous even though they have committed unrighteous acts.  Even though they have been selfish, ungrateful, they have lied, they have stolen, they have lusted after women and men in their hearts, they actually believe – and many people believe this today – that performing religious rituals makes them righteous!

We need to realize that righteous and unrighteous are legal terms.  We could replace them with innocent and guilty.  Do we honestly think that a man in a court of law who has brutally murdered a child could be found innocent because he has read a nice poem?  That because he goes to church every week he should be innocent?  No – we know that a court of law is not based on ritual but on actions.  Paul is saying that the court of heaven is the same: merely being religious and going to church and reading your Bible is not going to make you righteous.  If you have done unrighteous deeds, you are unrighteous, and God declared you guilty.  You will endure hell on earth and go to hell when you die, and religious can not and will not save you.

2But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Paul is saying that God judges fairly – according to truth.  You do not become God’s buddy because you read your chapter today and therefore God will let you off from your actions that have made you guilty.  God is not a corrupt judge but a pure, honest and truthful judge.  If you are guilty of breaking God’s law on even a single point, you are guilty.  You are unrighteous.  And a religious ritual cannot mean you can avoid God’s judgment. Let me say this unequivocally: there is NO religious ceremony that can make you innocent before God.  In fact, there is no action you can take, religious or otherwise, that can make you innocent before God.

4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

I love reading Paul’s writings.  He is a man with such a passion for the Lord.  Paul is trying to make a logical argument.  This step of the argument involves Paul teaching us that religious ritual cannot make you righteous before God.  But two whole chapters before he introduces the solution, Paul cannot help but blurt out: “the answer is in the goodness of God.  That makes us change.”  It is wonderful to know that God, in His goodness, has provided a solution for man’s unrighteousness.  We shall examine that solution in Romans 4 and 5, but for now just know: the solution to the universal, inescapable unrighteousness of mankind is found in the goodness of God.

5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

Even your rituals cannot save you if your heart is hard.

6Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

God is not judging you by your rituals or your religiosity but by your actions.  If you have committed one unrighteous act, you are unrighteous and you will be found unrighteous.

7To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

10But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

11For there is no respect of persons with God.

God rewards good and punishes evil.  He does not play favourite.  Being Jewish will not make you righteous.  Going to church will not make you righteous.  Only consistent good actions will make the grade, and no-one has ever lived according to that standard – even religious people.

12For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

13(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

If you have never been told about God’s law, will God be fair in judging you according to it on the day of Judgment?  The answer is yes because God has put a law in your hearts and will judge you according to that.  Every time you do something you know in your heart is wrong, you are unrighteous and will be judged by God on judgment day and no amount of religious ritual will count for you.

God does not have a giant set of scales in heaven and He weighs all your good deeds against your bad deeds.  That is heresy.  Muslims believe that, some Christians believe that, but it is the exact opposite of the Biblical teaching.

One act of unrighteousness makes you unrighteous, and no amount of religius ritual can change that.

17Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

18And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

19And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

20An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

And those that have heard the law of God will be judged according to the law.  If you have the law of God and think it makes you better than other people, actually all you are admitting is that you had more knowledge of right and wrong than other people and yet you still acted wrong.

21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

24For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

In fact, doing religious acts while being unrighteous simply makes you a hypocrite.  You steal and then go to church.  You lust and then pray, you make idols and worship them and then worship God.  Not only that, but your hypocrisy blasphemes God’s name because everyone realizes that religious people are just as bad as anyone else.

25For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

Here Paul is specifically dealing with circumcision and saying it is worthless if you have ever broken the law of God.  But his argument could apply to any religious ritual.  You understand if you are unrighteous, and you go to church, going to church is worth nothing.

Think about it: if someone picks up something you have dropped and is kind to you, that will mean something to you.  If you later find out that the person who was kind to you is a serial killer and worse, their act of kindness is meaningless to you.  It is the same when someone who lies or steals goes to church to worship God, it is meaningless.

26Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

27And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

28For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

I am not going to engage the question what is a real Jew because I want to run through Romans not crawl!  If you want to discuss that issue, leave a comment and we can do it there.  However, let me say this: Paul concludes this chapter by saying the single most important religious ceremony of the Jewish faith is of no value at all if you are unrighteous.

And we know from Romans 1 that every human is unrighteous.  Soon we will find out the solution of God, but like Paul does in Romans, we need to realize how precious that solution is.  The only way we can realize how great our salvation is, is to realize how great our unrighteousness is and how futile religion is at dealing with unrighteous.  Too many Christians have failed to realize that it is essential that we know that we by our actions are unrighteousness and that religion is no solution to the problem of unrighteousness.  Therefore their salvation is shallow and their lives are unfruitful.  So many Christians who love Romans 5 and Romans 8, but don’t know how Paul logically took the Romans to those chapters.  By going through the book like this, we are forced to follow Paul’s argument.  It will make us stronger Christians, and more effective witnesses.  It will also make us more peaceful and more joyous.

There will be many people on Judgment Day expecting their rituals, their rites, their religious acts to weigh against their bad deeds.  They are so wrong.  There are many people judging themselves against other people, saying they are so bad, but I am not so bad.  But Paul’s words are as true today as they have every been: you do the same things.

James says it like this: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2.10).

Imagine that: you break one law and you are unrighteous, as guilty as if you had broken them all.  That is the truth of the Bible.  God will judge you on Judgment Day and your punishment will be eternal hell unless you know the answer to the question: how can a man be made righteous.  Unless you realize that Romans 1-3 shows that conclusively there is none righteous no not one, then the righteousness that you will see in Romans 4-5 wil be meaningless to you.

In the next couple of studies we are going to examine this in detail.  You will not ever be able to say you do not know how to be made righteous.  And you will not ever be able to say you did not know how unrighteous you were.

Every blessing,

Ben

And Can It Be that I Should Gain

A beautiful hymn of worship and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Majestic and awesome. I love it!

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E. W. Kenyon on Tithing

TITHING

God is the original giver.
He so loved that He gave.
All giving is a love affair.
When people love the Master they will give to His cause.
When they love the message they will bear the burden of its Broadcasting.
No one has close fellowship with the Father who is not a giver.
The relation of giving to prayer is shown in Jn. 3:13-24. By closing up your heart to the needy you close Heaven to your prayers.
The reason for many unanswered prayers is explained in this scripture.
When we call for the doctor we expect to pay him; when we get medicine at the drug store we expect to pay.
We should share with the Lord when He answers our prayer as we share with the doctor and druggist.
His blessings will always match our giving.
I have found that the measure of my giving is the measure of my receiving.
If we give largely, we will receive largely.
Mal. 3:10, “Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, and there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
This is a warning to the careless giver.
It is a challenge to the earnest giver and it is a promise to the real givers. He says to us to bring the whole tithe into the store-house. Sometimes it is very hard to give the whole tithe.
I remember a man telling me that he was always a tither and had been greatly blessed because of it while he worked on a salary.
He had saved up money enough to go into business and his business was prosperous from the beginning. Instead of being able to give twenty-five or thirty dollars a month, he was now enabled to give several hundred and the temptation was strong to cut his giving down.
He was an honest man and he prayed much about it.
Finally he caught the vision and promised God he would give a tenth and then he began to give offerings beside the tenth. When I last saw him he had instead of one small store, three large stores.
The hand of God was upon him in a very rich way.
I knew of another that received several thousand dollars from his mother’s estate. He had tithed in his small way until this large amount came. He and his wife discussed it and prayed about it much until finally they decided that this was a gift and they dared to give God His share.
Then He became their partner in a sense they had never known.
He tells us that He wants us to bring the whole tithe into the store-house that there may be food for the poor, for the needy.
He says I want you to prove me if I will not pour you out a blessing that you are unable to receive.
In the next verse (Mal. 3:11): “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts.”
Most of God’s people put money in bags with holes. They often lose their investments because they will not share with the Lord.
It will be to the Lord’s interest to back you up, to protect you from losses if He is to be a sharer in the income.
Do not use your tithes for any other purpose; give it to the Lord.
You cannot pay bills with it. You cannot support your own children with it. It is to be given to the Lord and His work.

Prophecy by Kenneth Hagin (from 2003)

Many are concerned about the future and they wonder what will happen. Will darkness overtake, or will the light shine bright?

Yea, saith the Lord of hosts, remember that you’re in My hands. And remember that I know the future better than you know the past–and all is well!

I will alert you concerning that which will affect you. I will show you the way to go, and you’ll walk in it and be blessed. Above all the people of the world, upon the earth, you shall be blessed. For thou art My people, and My people shall rule and reign. And the blessings of God will fall upon them.

The latter rain shall be poured out. Yea, upon nations that are now barren and void. But the rain will be poured out. The seed will be planted. The harvest will come. The glory of God will shine upon the earth.

And they of the world will walk on in the way in which they’ve walked! And the darkness shall overtake them.

But ye shall walk in the light! The entrance of His Words giveth light! Walk according to the Word. Walk in the Word. Walk in the Spirit.

And the power shall rest upon you. And the glory of God shall be seen upon your face! Many shall turn to the Lord. Great days, great times, great blessings are ahead. So rejoice and be glad.

Many are concerned about things that have happened, the terror that has taken hold of the hearts of many. Many are concerned about war. Many are concerned about the future. Darkness seems to be developing. Dark clouds are on the horizon of time.

But, yea, saith the Lord of hosts, walk not by what you see with the physical eye. But walk according to what My Word says. Walk according to what the Holy Ghost is saying unto you!

For He’s speaking unto many hearts. And they walk on in the natural and pay no attention to their heart. He’s speaking to many spirits! They walk on in the realm of the mental, thinking their own thoughts, planning their own way.

But, yea, saith the Lord of hosts, listen to what the Spirit is saying to your heart, to your spirit. And what He said to you, act upon it! Act upon it! Act like it’s so!

Rejoice and be glad. In the face of adversity. In the face of seemingly natural defeat! Because you have inside information, information inside the Word, information given by the Spirit.

And it shall all come to pass. Amen.

Deal With Your Unbelief – Don’t Excuse It!

If you read Matthew 17 where the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t heal the boy his response isn’t “Because of my divine will” or “it simply isn’t the right time” or “we need to bind the demonic strongholds over the town for several days” or “the gifts passed away with Elijah” or “you never know what God is going to do.” His response to the question “why couldn’t we heal” is “because of your unbelief”.

The contemporary church cannot deal with that answer. Psychological and new age ideas have convinced us that we should never take responsibility for anything. Calvinism has taught us erroneously that our destiny is simply the tapestry of God’s will being played out and we are helpless pawns in the game of life.

However there is a rise of people who realize that the reason the church is not doing the works of Jesus is because it does not believe in Him according to the Word. A people who are pulling down the strongholds not over their city but between their ears so that their minds are renewed to the Word of God. A people who will do signs and wonders and preach the gospel to the nations. A people who will obey the Lord no matter the cost, no matter the persecution. A people who will deal with their unbelief and through faith will subdue kingdoms, work righteousness and win nations.

Kenneth Hagin’s Forgotten Warning (J. Lee Grady)

Kenneth Hagin is a phenomenal Bible teacher.  His ministry was Scriptural, faith-filled and balanced.  Although he knew that Jesus was not poor and that we are redeemed from poverty, Kenneth Hagin did not agree with some practices making the rounds today.  This article by J. Lee Grady explains exactly what:

Before he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with their message of prosperity. Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven. Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence. Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting. Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again. Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch: 1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.” 2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes.” 3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts the very attitude of our giving nature.” 4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate. 5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise “supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.” (Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.) Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,” Hagin wrote. Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance. Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?

The Midas Touch is available from Tree of Life Bookshop.