http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html Looking for the 1st century Church in 21st century America Tue, 22 May 2012 03:53:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-47067 Mike Fri, 21 May 2010 06:18:29 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-47067 Thanks for posting this. I can't say that I am totally in the Wof camp although I was raised in a WoF background. In my 20's I began to seriously inquire into what I really believed and what I found to be true from the Bible. I went on the quest for the "correct" way and to some extent I am still on it in my 30's. I didn't care what denomination someone came from or what theology they had as long as I could see that it lined up with the Bible. I don't have any agenda to prove a certain theology. At first I was shocked to find that people claimed that WoF folks were "heretics". I was raised in the "old school" WoF teachings, primarily Hagin. I don't pretend to know what the "new school" preaches. The criticisms that I would read on something Hagin supposedly said or wrote were nearly always twisted so far out of context I would have to laugh. As someone else said, I never saw much in the way of backing criticisms with scriptural references. I never saw critics give an alternate interpretation of some of the "in-your-face" scriptures like James 5:13-18 or Psalm 91 besides the "spiritual healing" explanation as you mentioned. Critics would say that you can't build a theology on a handful of verses but yet they seemed to build plenty from Paul's thorn. When I read the Gospels I see Jesus constantly mentioning the amount or quantity of someone's faith. I can't believe this is not important. Then there are the 7 verses of "your faith has...." which is a rather large thing to go unnoticed. A little off subject but, I have seen the gifts in operation in WoF folks. Once I was at a terrible spot in my life. A long relationship had come to an end and I was considering quitting my job. I don't think anyone knew these things besides possibly my mother. I spent nearly a whole day in prayer one day begging God to just show me that He was there. That evening I got a phone call. This pastor asked me to breakfast. I accepted and the next day he told me the Lord had spoken to him and told him I was thinking about quitting my job and to tell me not too. My mouth dropped. I said, "Wow! That is exactly right! I've been praying about that" He didn't seem to think that this was unusual and went on talking about other things. The Lord answered two prayers in one there. Is this not a gift in operation? I have known a few older non-famous WoF preachers very well. They live some of the most fruitful, holy, Christian lives that I have seen. There are no mansions or Mercedes in their backyards and they don't seem to be seeking those things. One of these folks told me they were at a conference with Hagin and some of the "new school". Hagin overheard a conversation about cars, jets, mansions or something like that. This person said that Hagin hung his head down and said something like, "They have totally missed it". It has been a long time since I have read Hagin or listened to him. As I understood it, the main emphasis of his prosperity teaching was as a side effect of seeking first the kingdom. Prosperity means having enough to take care of your family and help others, not jets and mansions. I think many of Hagin's critics never took the time to honestly investigate what he taught. It is good to see a more balanced perspective as you have written here. It seems you are a truly honest judge and I will be reading more of your work. As I mentioned above, so many prosperity criticisms are so uninformed or disingenuous I can rarely manage to read through them. Thanks for posting this. I can’t say that I am totally in the Wof camp although I was raised in a WoF background. In my 20′s I began to seriously inquire into what I really believed and what I found to be true from the Bible. I went on the quest for the “correct” way and to some extent I am still on it in my 30′s. I didn’t care what denomination someone came from or what theology they had as long as I could see that it lined up with the Bible. I don’t have any agenda to prove a certain theology.
At first I was shocked to find that people claimed that WoF folks were “heretics”. I was raised in the “old school” WoF teachings, primarily Hagin. I don’t pretend to know what the “new school” preaches. The criticisms that I would read on something Hagin supposedly said or wrote were nearly always twisted so far out of context I would have to laugh. As someone else said, I never saw much in the way of backing criticisms with scriptural references. I never saw critics give an alternate interpretation of some of the “in-your-face” scriptures like James 5:13-18 or Psalm 91 besides the “spiritual healing” explanation as you mentioned. Critics would say that you can’t build a theology on a handful of verses but yet they seemed to build plenty from Paul’s thorn. When I read the Gospels I see Jesus constantly mentioning the amount or quantity of someone’s faith. I can’t believe this is not important. Then there are the 7 verses of “your faith has….” which is a rather large thing to go unnoticed.
A little off subject but, I have seen the gifts in operation in WoF folks. Once I was at a terrible spot in my life. A long relationship had come to an end and I was considering quitting my job. I don’t think anyone knew these things besides possibly my mother. I spent nearly a whole day in prayer one day begging God to just show me that He was there. That evening I got a phone call. This pastor asked me to breakfast. I accepted and the next day he told me the Lord had spoken to him and told him I was thinking about quitting my job and to tell me not too. My mouth dropped. I said, “Wow! That is exactly right! I’ve been praying about that” He didn’t seem to think that this was unusual and went on talking about other things. The Lord answered two prayers in one there. Is this not a gift in operation?
I have known a few older non-famous WoF preachers very well. They live some of the most fruitful, holy, Christian lives that I have seen. There are no mansions or Mercedes in their backyards and they don’t seem to be seeking those things. One of these folks told me they were at a conference with Hagin and some of the “new school”. Hagin overheard a conversation about cars, jets, mansions or something like that. This person said that Hagin hung his head down and said something like, “They have totally missed it”. It has been a long time since I have read Hagin or listened to him. As I understood it, the main emphasis of his prosperity teaching was as a side effect of seeking first the kingdom. Prosperity means having enough to take care of your family and help others, not jets and mansions. I think many of Hagin’s critics never took the time to honestly investigate what he taught.
It is good to see a more balanced perspective as you have written here. It seems you are a truly honest judge and I will be reading more of your work. As I mentioned above, so many prosperity criticisms are so uninformed or disingenuous I can rarely manage to read through them.

]]> http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-36931 Banking on God: Series Compendium and Final Thoughts | Cerulean Sanctum Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:03:08 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-36931 [...] Banking on God: Theology, Part 2 [...] [...] Banking on God: Theology, Part 2 [...]

]]> http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-36746 Dave Block Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:46:00 +0000 http://ceruleansanctum.com/2008/03/banking-on-god-theology-part-2.html#comment-36746 My apologies, I got my commentaries mixed up. The one I read was The Bible Knowledge Commentary, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary. My apologies, I got my commentaries mixed up. The one I read was The Bible Knowledge Commentary, edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary.

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