The Wartburg Watch » Health and Wealth Gospel

Pastors: Your Silence on Faith Healers Is Harming the Desperate

dee — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:15:30 +0000

"This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted." -CS Lewis US Sheepherding Experiment A few years back, I attended a medium sized SBC church with a very conservative approach to Scriptural interpretation. In other words, the teaching in this church didn’t begin to approach anything that remotely resembled the health and wealth gospel. As time went on, I was stunned that a number of people in this church followed such charlatans as Benny Hinn. When I would ask them why, I was flummoxed when they said they believed that Hinn and others like him actually heal people. These folks donated money to his enterprise (I refuse to call it a ministry) and would attend his gatherings. And they also attended BSF, led Bible studies and were involved in leadership in the church. I happen to know a great deal about Hinn because another former pastor had asked me to do some research on him so in order to address it in a sermon. In 2009, TWW did two posts on Hinn, his lies and his refusal to prove even one of Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Thu, May 19 2011.

Categories: Benny Hinn, Health and Wealth Gospel, Theology

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A Christian/Legal Response to Children Who Die or Are Seriously Harmed Due to “Faith Healing”

dee — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:49:56 +0000

Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. -Charles Reade LINK Sunset over the Sahara-Courtesy of NASA Approximately 6 weeks before my daughter’s diagnosis, I randomly (or not…) picked up a book called Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey. Here is a LINK to the book on Amazon. I believe God was preparing my heart for what was to come. Through the book, I came to realize that our faith in God is not dependent on miracles. Look at the Israelites. God performed miracle after miracle and they would marvel at His power. However, within short order, they were back in the golden calf idol market. The miracles did not change their internal lives in any significant fashion. The reason is that man was desperately sick with another problem known as sin. And a miracle was needed to cure that predicament. And a miracle came in the form of Jesus. However, some were none too pleased when He broached the problem of sin. In Luke 5:17-26, NIV Bible Gateway LINK "17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Tue, May 17 2011.

Categories: Health and Wealth Gospel, Theology

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Death By Faith Healing

dee — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:40:21 +0000

“I believe that God really has dived down into the bottom of creation, and has come up bringing the whole redeemed nature on His shoulder.” (CS Lewis, God in the Dock, p.87). LINK Storm Clouds-freefoto.com I plan to look at the complex issue of faith healing. I apologize for beginning with my personal experience. However, I believe that my situation offers some insight into the matter and also shows my empathy for those struggling with medical issues. Nineteen years ago, at the age of three, my daughter was diagnosed with a large, malignant brain tumor. (For those who interested in this stuff, it was a juvenile pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma- the pleo part makes a normally benign astrocytoma malignant). At the time, there were only about 12 cases of this tumor documented in the literature and the prognosis was really, really poor. I was also 7 months pregnant at the time and newly arrived in Dallas where we had no family. She proceeded to require two very long neurosurgeries within 5 months because the tumor reoccurred after the first surgery. She was also bleeding very badly during the first surgery, which was an ominous sign. Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, May 16 2011.

Categories: Health and Wealth Gospel, Theology

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The Offense of the Nativity, Iraqi Christians Cancel Christmas, Killer Candy Canes and Osteen Blows It

dee — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 04:17:25 +0000

"God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form…” CS Lewis TWW will be taking a break until next Tuesday to celebrate, worship, wrap, bake, eat and visit. Merry Christmas y’all. Thank you for blessing our blog with your presence. 1. Let’s start with an amusing example of Christmas political correctness gone amuck. I heard the following story on the radio today while trying to get into the Honey Baked Ham parking lot to buy my Christmas ham. There is a group of kids at Battlefield High School known as the “Christmas Sweater Club” because they wear wild Christmas sweaters during December. They often spontaneously sing Christmas carols and look for ways to celebrate the season. One day, before school started, they decided to bring tiny 2-inch candy canes (the ones in the plastic wrappers that always break) and throw them to the students who were arriving at school. But, the “grownups” got involved. Some of the kids got in trouble and were given detention and forced to do community service for their display of merriness. Why, you may ask? You can read about it at this link. “They said Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Thu, Dec 23 2010.

Categories: Christmas, Christmas Wars, Joel Osteen, Persecution, Politics and faith

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Buffalo Bills’ Johnson Drops Touchdown: Blames God

dee — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:41:05 +0000

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way” CS Lewis Living History Well, well, well, the chickens are coming home to roost. The years of “name it and claim it” are taking their toll. Joel Osteen, here is your legacy. Ed Young Jr., here is the result of giving to get. “If you confess it, you must possess it”. (Didn’t know that meant the football). If we throw some prayers in His direction, we’ll catch the ball. God must be gratified that we are condescending to tell Him what we need and when we need it so He can put it on His calendar. Let’s see what one of America's deep theologians, Stevie Johnson, Wide Receiver for the Buffalo Bills, has to say about God and His grand mistake this weekend in a game against the Philadelphia Steelers. Take a look at the play (Updated 9PM 11/30 with new video) Here is what he tweeted after the game as posted on TMZ.com. I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Mon, Nov 29 2010.

Categories: Culture and the faith, Doctrine, Health and Wealth Gospel, Joel Osteen, Uncategorized

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David Platt and Ed Young Jr. Live in Alternate Universes

dee — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 23:17:36 +0000

"When humans should have become as perfect in voluntary obedience as the inanimate creation is in its lifeless obedience, then they will put on its glory, or rather that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch." CS Lewis From Biblical Recorder Today, we want to leave you with a challenge. Well, at the minimum, you can read about my challenge. I believe that some in the evangelical church in America have gotten the Bible mixed up with the American definition of success. This definition of success includes lots of money, lots of toys and lots of fame and a chronic sense of entitlement. If anyone steps on the toes of Mr. Success, who is in pursuit of the dream, they are to be crushed. Said smooshing can take the form of dressing down a waitress who doesn’t bring our eggs fast enough or giving a lowly church member a well deserved swat when he gets out of line. Many in the church define success in a decidedly unbiblical fashion. For example: My church has 5,000 members. My pastor is in demand all over the world. Do you know how many books Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Fri, Nov 12 2010.

Categories: David Platt, Ed Young Jr., Joel Osteen, SBC pastors, Southern Baptist Convention, Wealth/ church/pastors/leaders

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Ed Young Jr. – We Suggest a Radical Solution

dee — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:36:51 +0000

“Shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from being nobody has become a celebrity.” —Jerome Hillsong I remember the first time I heard Ed talk at the Fellowship of Las Colinas (That was the previous name of Fellowship Church). He told a story that charmed me. He recounted the first time he stepped into the pulpit, as a new pastor, in his dad’s church Second Baptist Church, Houston). He was supposed to say the Lord’s Prayer. As he opened his mouth to lead the prayer, he was so nervous that he actually forgot it in the panic of the moment. He said that he never stepped into the pulpit without his copy of the Lord’s Prayer again. I smiled and thought how I could have done something just like that. It demonstrated what I thought was a glimpse of transparent vulnerability which I thought spoke to a humility of spirit. He was one of us. Soon after that, I took my two daughters out in our neighborhood for trick or treat. Yep, I am one of those “worldly” Christians who enjoy that tradition. I rarely told Continue reading →

Written by: dee on Thu, Nov 11 2010.

Categories: Ed Young Jr., Health and Wealth Gospel, SBC pastors, Southern Baptist Convention, Wealth/ church/pastors/leaders

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