Jesus told The Twelve in Matthew 10:8, ‘Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely you have received freely give.’ But today’s TV evangelists are saying something entirely different. They are saying, want a miracle? Well it’s going cost you! To those of you who are trying to buy these miracles, at whatever price they’re going for these days, I would like to caution you about what you’re doing.
But first, bad news! The TV evangelists are at it again. And another one has fallen into the same ditch the others have already fallen into. It seems he hasn’t been able to pay his ministry bills lately. And although he isn’t begging for money, which of course I disagree with, he is trying to sell miracles, which I disagree with more. But personally, I think he would fair much-better if he would just ask for the money. Asking isn’t begging. If he would say, hey, I am in a little bit of trouble here, could you help me out? I believe more would give to his ministry.
It is sad to see any man, or woman of God, get caught up in this type of false doctrine. But they let the pressure get to them I guess. I just wish someone among them would step up and say, hey, this is wrong. We need to stop doing this. But it seems like that is never going to happen. Most of them are in on the idea of selling miracles so they back each other up! Now, I’m not saying that every evangelist on TV is a money grabber. But, the numbers are alarming.
The Money Grabbers
and
Their Money Grabbing Ways
The money grabbers are teaching people to stay in the spirit of expectancy, always keeping them in a state of want. But hey, whatever happened to being content with what you have? Isn’t that what the bible teaches anyhow? I believe so. Hebrews 13:5 says this.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Did I read that right? Be content with such things as you have? Oh my. That is a far cry from what is being taught on Christian TV today. I haven’t heard a message about contentment in a very long time. Have you? I guess they’re afraid to teach on contentment for fear people will stop giving to them. Let’s face it, if people ever became content with what they already have they wouldn’t be so quick to buy into the message of giving to get. Miracle sells would drop, and the money grabbers would be out of business.
But, as it is now, the poor keep trying to buy their way out of proverty, the sick keep trying to buy their way in to receiving healing, and the money grabbers just keep on grabbing for their money.
This is wrong and those of you who are buying into this hype need to wise up! When they get on their programs and say such things as, God told me to tell you if you give such and such amount, He will heal you. If you give such and such amount, He will save your lost loved ones; you best not believe it. These provisions have already been bought and paid for by the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prosperity and Healing
Are Their Biggest Sellers
Prosperity
TV Evangelists take people’s money under false pretenses. Frankly, I don’t see how they stay of jail. They promise people the moon just to get them to give. Folks, don’t fall prey to the messages they preach on prosperity. Which, by the way, can only be received if you give to them. They never encourage people to give to their local church or any other organization. It’s only if you give to them that you will be blessed. This is ridiculous and why people fall for this stuff is beyond me.
Healing
Don’t allow these ministers to talk you into believing you have to pay for your healing. As I said above, and worth repeating again, this provision has already been bought and paid for by Jesus. They can’t provide one verse in the bible that backs up their doctrine. Jesus never associated money with healing. All those that approached Jesus were instantly healed and not once did He say, sow $100.00 into my ministry and then I will heal you.
Sometimes to justify taking money for healing a minister may refer to Matthew 8:4, which says, ‘…and offer the gift that Moses commanded.’ However, the word gift in this particular verse is not referring to money. (Read Leviticus 14:4-32 and Deuteronomy 24:8)
I just don’t believe for one second that God is telling these ministers to get on the air and auction off miracles like they are doing. I just don’t believe it! Remember the scripture we started out with at the beginning of this article? Matthew 10:8, ‘Freely you have received freely give.’ Jesus warned his disciples early on, don’t preach for money. And, 1st Peter 5:2 also warns against preaching for filthy lucre or dishonest gain. I wonder sometimes if these evangelists ever read their bible.
We are to Give to the Poor
Not Take From the Poor
The Word of God instructs us to give to the poor. However, today’s rich TV evangelists are telling the poor, if you don’t have anything to give, go out and borrow it. They often encourage people to use their credit cards just so they can be sure to get their money. Credit cards are better than a check because they don’t bounce. How do they sleep at night after preaching this stuff? Give your way out of proverty, they say. But hey, wait a minute, aren’t the rich supposed to give to the poor and not the other way around? Something is terribly wrong with the way people think these days. Many think, if I give to brother so and so, I’ll receive a big house and a nice car like he has. If I give to sister so and so, I’ll receive the same Anointing she has. Let me caution you, if you’re one of those that think that, you better think again. The gifts and callings of God cannot be purchased with money. I don’t care what anyone tells you. (Acts: 8:18-21)
If you want to be blessed then you must give biblically otherwise it won’t work. I heard a minister say the other day, if you have sown a seed (gave money) and haven’t received anything back, sow again. Whatever the problem may be that you’re not receiving back is quickly eliminated by giving again. What a lame way of trying to make a buck.
We are to give to the poor not take from them. Luke 4:18 says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
In the above verse, we are instructed to preach the gospel to the poor. Yet, I know someone who charges a fee to get into the many services he conducts in and around the United States. As you can see, this is clearly and biblically wrong. It is wrong to charge a rich person to get into a service much less a poor person. This particular evangelist is an excellent teacher but he is in serious error. He has stumbled a long the way yet many are patting him on the back as if to say, good job! Money does strange things to people. The love of money is the root of all evil and it will take you to hell if you let it. (I Timothy 6:10)
Conclusion:
I see my article is running a little long. Let me close by saying this, Christian TV can be a wonderful asset to our Christian walk. However, we must be careful. I believe what I have said in this article can be summed up with this verse. 1st Thessalonians 5:21, ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.’ If we prove all things by the bible, instead of, believing all things just because someone said it, none of us will ever go wrong.
The next time you need a miracle, and some evangelist says, it’s going to cost you. Say, no, it’s going to cost you your soul if you don’t wise up.
Until next time remember, I said it and you read it, right here at The Christian Online Magazine
Copyright 2008 by Darlene Osborne (All Rights Reserved) To use my articles, contact me darlene@christianmagazine.org
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