My thanks to the Bible Belt Blogger for staying on top of this. Evidently Benny Hinn is feeling threatened by the Senate Finance Committee requests for information about how his ministry spends its money. This whole investigation seems to be driven by reports of lavish lifestyles being fueled by tax-exempt organization funds. While I do not want any more government intrusion into the church than we already have, I also do not want hucksters jeopardizing the status of churches because of their greed.
It seems that all of the ministries being investigated teach some form of the Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that God financially blesses the faithful. The allegation seems to be that these folks have taken that blessing to a new level of opulence. Personally, I think this borders on heresy, and it can be spiritually destructive to those who are not rich or healthy. It would necessarily lead those people to believe that they do not enjoy God's favor, which is a horrible thing to put on a person on his/her deathbed.
In the encouraging signs department, the Assemblies of God church seems to be distancing itself from this doctrine. May God put an end to this soon.
Thanks to this site for the ribbon fish graphic.
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3 comments:
If I am the child of the King, I am going to live like it, or so the thought runs.
More government in anything, much less the Church, is a bad idea. Unfortunately, the Church has failed to police itself, so this is what we get.
I do not know if I would call it heresy. It does not go against the dogma teachings of the church. however, It is false teaching that I believe the church needs to step in and stop. If the church cannot do their job maybe the state will. I do not want that to be the norm but the church needs to refocus and hold leadership accountable for the teachings they proclaim.
roy,
Thankyou for the link to justice and compassion I agree with you, and I feel really angry about the whole thing. Part of that is just that I'm in a bad mood today. But part of it is that people claiming to represent Jesus, who was all about power *under*, are totally using that claim to increase their power *over*, which is radically anti-Jesus.
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