Word of Faith movement. (WOFM)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. 2 Timothy 4:3

The word of faith movement (WOFM) is rooted somewhere back in the early 20th century. It gathered momentum back in the 1980s and has since exploded onto social media platforms, television stations, (TBN/daystar etc) radio broadcasts, books and podcasts.

This most peculiar charismatic movement that uses evangelical and Pentecostal terminology, cons and deceives many decent and kind people into believing in a false gospel by twisting scripture and promising healings and prosperity in this life. Part of it's ideology renounces poverty and suffering attributed only to those that are somewhat lacking in faith and teaches Christians can access power of faith through speech.

WOF preachers speak very eloquently, and without doubt are preaching the most attractive message in the church today. Their message of 'health and wealth' or 'name it and claim it' confers an authority with which the believer can apparently exercise almost complete control over their own environment.

The foundations of this movement can be traced back to E.W. Kenyan who studied the 'new thought' teachings of Phineas Quimby promoting the law of attraction. This heterodox metaphysical ideology was adopted by the preacher Kenneth Hagin who pioneered the word of faith movement. These modern day high profile preachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Fred Price, Paul and Jan Crouch, Creflo Dollar, Bill Johnstone, Joyce Meyer, Paula White, T.D. Jakes, Joseph Prince, Jim Bakker and many many more are at the forefront of this movement and very successfully peddling a prosperity gospel to an emotional and easily influenced Christian audience.

Prosperity preachers convey to their audience a promise of health and wealth and abundance of life. 'Why would God want us to be poor and unhealthy they say '?

They use their own status/success as a demonstration of what God has allegedly done for them because they simply believed it would happen through their 'substance faith' and positive thinking. Then they ask you to donate more than you can afford to their cause claiming that God would be somewhat pleased; the higher the tithe, the more the Lord will fill your barns. The passage in the bible some focus on is proverbs 3:10. This verse promises the Lord will reward faithful giving, which echoes another passage in Deuteronomy 28:11 affirming the Lord will grant us abundant prosperity.

Although the Lord does in fact prosper people's lives, these passages don't mean that by giving foolishly to their ponzi schemes will guarantee we will be blessed with wealth and health. They simply mean that if we give generously and thoughtfully to good causes (that progress Gods kingdom), that the Lord will bless us and take care of our basic needs. It should be noted that the WOF charlatans are all multi millionaires, they live in parsonages, drive fancy cars and some of them even own personal jets. So be assured that God will not be pleased with this kind of offering as your donation is going straight into the false preachers bank account to fund their lavish lifestyles!

So does God heal people today ? Of course he does, by his divine will God can heal us. What the fancy faith healer or prosperity preacher will tell you is that the power of healing is guaranteed and that this power lies within, and if we have enough of their 'substance faith', then we too can be healed. However if you don't get a healing, then your lacking in faith, and its simply your own fault ! This is of course completely unbiblical. I would posit, even someone of a secular nature could see how preposterous this sounds.

I can tell you that I prayed over a close friend of mine some years ago who had cancer. My friend didn't survive as it was the Lords will to take him. However, it did enable me to witness to him the true gospel of Christ and as a result, it brought both me, and him, closer to the Lord in so many ways. To this end I feel that this was the true will of God. It also taught me something vitally important; that the fact that my friend died had nothing whatsoever to do with my lack of faith or his lack of faith. Personally speaking, If I knew for sure I had the spiritual gift of healing, I would be visiting sick people in hospitals every single day of the week!

When Jesus walked the earth, he healed many people for the glory of the Father. He opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk and even brought Lazarus back to life. Christ performed these miracles out of agape love and of course he had the power to do this as he was God in the flesh. Never at any time did Jesus means test anyone as to how much faith they had. So although a strong faith is absolutely vital to God, he doesn't necessarily heal people in accordance with their level of faith. The Lord heals out of love and compassion in his own time and for his own sovereign glory! The healings that Christ performed were of course a clear demonstration of his divinity and proof he truly was the begotten son of the living God.

After the death and resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles with many gifts of the spirit which of course included the miracle of healing. St Peter and other apostles healed many whilst spreading the gospel of Christ to the Jews and Gentiles. However, there is evidence to suggest that after the apostolic work was complete, (around 70 AD) some of these sign gifts, (including healings) have since faded. This view is a secessionist point of view. We must remember that throughout bible history, miracles and wonders were generally grouped around very special events, and Pentecost was indeed a very special event. (The beginning of the church).

The sign gifts were always a confirmation of Gods message and his messenger in order that the people could witness and believe. Once this message was confirmed, the signs tended to faded away. For eg: Tongues were a sign for unbelievers, not actual believers 1 corinthians 14:22. There is no reason whatsoever for believers in church circles to speak in tongues to one other, and also it does not edify the church. Lets not forget the Apostle Paul also predicted that the gift of tongues would in fact cease. 1 corinthians 13:8

The continuationist view is that these gifts of healings, tongues and miracles are very much active today and the prosperity teachers also embrace this view with great hyperbole. It's my own view that these sign gifts have in fact somewhat faded, and today the inerrant word of God (the bible) and the miracle of salvation through the Christ's church is Gods main focus and gift to us. So does God heal people and still do miracles? absolutely he does. Does God bless individuals or 'prosperity teachers' with these gifts, absolutely not!

At the core of prosperity theology is the warped idea that faith is some kind of universal substance that can be accessed at will. If your faith is strong enough, just throw your hands in the air, call down some fire from heaven and command your ailments be gone and wait for God to make you rich ! If things don't go your way, then your faith must be weak, but don't worry, keep donating and try try again ! This 'little gods' doctrine says that universal laws operate independently of Gods sovereign will and that God himself is subject to laws of the universe.? This demonic doctrine says that God created us in his literal image and from this, they assume that they too must be 'little gods' with some sort of devolved divine power. This is of course the deification of man which we see in Genesis in that man is exalted and promoted to deity, and Gods sovereignty is somewhat diminished.

Some in this whacky junk gospel state that before the fall, we had the power to call things into existence using the faith force, and apparently Jesus, (they say never claimed to be God) surrendered his divinity, became man, died spiritually, took on the nature of Satan and was dragged off to Hell ? He was then born again and rose from the dead and got the nature of God back! Did Jesus need to be born again? The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the giver of salvation needs to be born again ? Then apparently he sent the holy spirit to replicate the incarnation that we should be restored as little gods ?

Surely these must be the rantings of egotistical, confused, and deceived preachers who twist scripture by mixing in truth with lies. I read somewhere that someone even said that when Jesus walked the earth, he had a nice house, handled big money and wore fancy clothes. ? I guess they would they that, as that would only give them more credibility.

The Word of faith preachers stock in trade is to get busy leading us down the garden path of prosperity only for their own financial gain. What gives them away is their twisted theology which proves categorically that they do not possess the Holy Spirit, but in fact the spirit of this age. They are robbing you of your cash and stealing your identity and much worse, if you allow them, they will lead you to a place of outer darkness and eternal destruction. Take a look at the passages below which warns against these deceivers:

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16: 17-18

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 2 Peter 2:3

The creator IS NOT subject to any universal laws or anything else he has created. God is sovereign and in complete control of everything.

We ARE NOT 'little gods', we will never be gods or divine in nature, however if we are obedient to God he will bless and sanctify us and we can become eternal saints in heaven after we die.

When Jesus walked the earth, HE DID NOT have a nice house, plenty of cash or even fancy clothes. Jesus never said the words, 'I am God' but he does proclaim himself the son of God in John 10:25-30.

God did create us in his image as men and woman with a soul and with the promise that we can be adopted and welcomed into his heavenly kingdom by salvation through Christ by HIS GRACE alone.

Before the fall (Adam and Eve) , we had no power and could call nothing into existence. Jesus did not surrender his divinity and become an ordinary man and he did not go to Hell to be tortured and most certainly did not take on the nature of Satan.

Christ in fact did descend into the lower parts of the earth (sheol/hades). Hades is divided into two areas, paradise (the saved) and Hell (the unsaved) and its separated by a great chasm. The saved in paradise or sometimes called Abraham's bosom, is where Jesus went and ascended on high, and led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. Eph 4 8:10. The lost in Hades is where the unsaved remain until Final judgement.

Christ DID NOT send the Holy Spirit to replicate his incarnation that we should become 'little gods', he sent the Holy Spirit (comforter) to strengthen us, to regenerate our hearts, that he should live within us, to guide us and bless us with gifts of the spirit.

We don't possess every spiritual gift, but perhaps one or maybe a few. The gifts of the spirit brings the providence and stewardship of God deep into our lives, that we can understand his ways, live decent lives and edified by the church through the Holy Bible.

Simply put, we need God, he doesn't need us! Has has all the power, and deserves all the glory, and without him we are just about nothing!

These WOF preachers are liars, cheats and charlatans and they are of their father - the Devil. They prey on the sick, poor and vulnerable and like to trump their own personal revelation which is an abomination to the Lord. This twisted charismatic theology is completely heretical and unfortunately there seems to be no end to what some people will believe in, so long as there's a false promise of a pot of gold and some kind of super powers! The new age gobbledygook gospel has very little biblical foundation, no talk of the trinity, sin, or repentance and no sound preaching on eschatology or the true gospel. The WOFM denies the authority of the Bible, denies the person of Jesus Christ and denies the work that was carried out at Calvary. Word of faith theology will be cast into the pits of hell by the Lord and in the meantime I denounce it as a doctrine of demons and cast it into the deep sea.

I have nothing personal against any WOF preacher as the Lord commands we speak in love and peace. I truly pray that the Lord brings them to true repentance. However,

those that are involved in WOF in any capacity, must re evaluate this flawed theology and re-examine themselves. There are millions of decent loving Christians being seduced by this theology and It's my hope and prayer that the Lord takes them out of it. Although It's a wonderful blessing in life to have a strong faith, God would not be pleased at people blindly chasing after money and power in this life. For a true Christian, this is a life of brokeness, repentance and quite often deep suffering.

If you are truly seeking the Lord, then you must look to him and him only, this must be your only motivation. If your looking for miracles or healings , then what about the miracle of life itself, or the miracle of creation and everything beautiful around about us. What about the miracle of children in our lives or the miracle of Love. Every breath we take and every heartbeat is a miracle from the Lord, and as if all that is not enough, the Lord offers us the greatest miracle of all; Salvation. A chance to be saved from a fallen world, to have a regenerated heart full of love, wisdom and understanding, and a promise of eternal life in his kingdom with a perfect and imperishable body.

Now that's what I call a miracle!

The Lord has spoken to us through the scriptures, not just in a few sentences, but he is the author and architect of the greatest book ever written, the Holy Bible itself. This book the Lord holds above the stars of heaven, and unlike WOF theology, his words will never fade away. Seek out the Lord first, seek him with humility and repentance, then he will find you. When the Lord does find you, then and only then ...

will you truly understand the real meaning of prosperity.

In Jesus name Amen.