Have you ever heard of Justin Peters? He is a Baptist evangelist who wrote his Master’s of Divinity thesis on Benny Hinn. Furthermore, he is an expert on the Word of Faith preachers and an outspoken critic who has appeared in documentaries and TV news stories covering this controversial movement.
It’s important to point out that Justin Peters has Cerebral Palsy. There can be no doubt that his handicap influenced his decision to investigate Hinn. If you’d like to learn more about Peters (and we highly encourage you to do so), click on this link:
http://justinpeters.org/background.htm:
Here’s what Justin has to say about his handicap (from above link):
“…I do suffer from a relatively mild case of Cerebral Palsy. God has used my handicap to keep me dependent upon Him and to help shape me into the man He wants me to be (a work in progress for all of us). That my Cerebral Palsy is a part of my ministry, there can be no doubt. However, it is not the center of my ministry. As an invited guest to your church or ministerial endeavor, I pledge that I will never under any circumstances use my handicap to emotionally manipulate your people for money and/or decisions. I have seen this tactic employed by some; it will not be employed by me. Any decision based upon emotion alone is a false decision.”
We greatly admire Justin Peters because he demonstrates tremendous courage in speaking out against the Word of Faith proselytizers. Please watch this excellent video, which features Justin criticizing the prosperity gospel.
A CALL FOR DISCERNMENT DVD: A Fair Biblical Critique of the Word of Faith Prosperity gospel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21YYN2E7xkY
Last week we discussed the concept of “little gods”. If you watched the final video in that post, you heard “context, context, context”. This is often the problem with the Word of Faith preachers. They are famous for taking Bible verses out of context and twisting them to their own advantage, and their followers wouldn’t dare question their interpretation of the Bible!
“Positive confession” is another false teaching by the Word of Faith proselytizers. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on this topic that explains “faith and confession”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith
“Within the Word of Faith teaching, a central element of receiving from God involves “confession”. This doctrine is often referred to as “Positive Confession” or “Faith Confession” by practitioners, and “Name it and Claim it” or “Blab it and Grab it” by detractors. Noted Word of Faith teachers, such as Kenneth E. Hagin and Charles Capps have argued that God created the universe simply by speaking it into existence (Genesis) and that humans have been endowed with the ability (power) to speak things into existence. Thus, making a “positive confession” (by reciting a promise of scripture, for example) and believing that which one says, generates power which enables those things to come to fruition. This teaching is interpreted from Mark 11:22-23. Word of Faith preachers have likened faith to a “force”.
Likewise, according to Word of Faith teaching, “negative confession” can yield negative results, and hence believers should be conscious of their words. This is argued on the interpretation of Proverbs 18:21: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and they that love them will eat the fruit thereof”, also Numbers 14:28 “…saith the Lord, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do” among other scriptures.”
Now, let’s get back to Justin Peters. According to the Word of Faith preachers, all Peters has to do to be healed from Cerebral Palsy is make a positive confession. After all, God wants him “healthy”, right? And if Peters confesses with his mouth that he will be healed and nothing happens, he is condemned by this crowd as either having sin in his life or “not having enough faith”.
We have previously written about a family we both know well who followed the teachings of these Word of Faith preachers. Their child had been diagnosed with a form of cancer, and only positive confessions “were allowed”. Sadly, the child died four years after being diagnosed.
Folks, we MUST understand that God is sovereign. We do not have the mind of God, even though the Word of Faith crowd believes they are “little gods”. One day they will learn the error of their ways.
We must place our faith in Jesus Christ and trust Him completely. Don’t be fooled by the proclamation “Jesus is Lord”. These “prosperity pimps” are just using God for their own selfish gain, and it’s time to hold them accountable for the damage they have done and continue to do within the body of Christ.