#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Joe - Austin (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, October 04, 2006
POSTED: Wednesday, October 04, 2006
KENNETH COPELAND has been around for a while. I would hesitate to call him a Pentecostal because the last I heard he was licensed by the Assembly of God and NOT by the United Pentecostal Church for those who make those sort of distinctions. He is definitely a Charismatic practitioner!
Here's a little bit about him:
Kenneth Copeland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kenneth Copeland (born December 6, 1936 in Lubbock, TX) is a Pentecostal (?)Word of Faith preacher and televangelist.
Kenneth Copeland claimed to be a successful pop singer before turning his life over to ministry work following his conversion on November 2, 1962. In the 1960s, he was a pilot for faith healer Oral Roberts. Copeland attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but never graduated. Later he studied under another Pentecostal evangelist, Kenneth E. Hagin. His ministry grew through the 1970s, and in 1979, "Believer's Voice of Victory" first appeared on television.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries has its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Since 1991, Copeland and his wife, Gloria, have been holding annual week-long "Believers' Conventions" in both California and Texas. His recent regular preaching partners at these events have been Creflo A. Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, and Jerry Savelle.
He is considered one of the founding members of the Word of Faith movement.
Teachings & controversy
Copeland's teachings incorporate both "Classical Pentecostalism", with its emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues, as well as elements of Faith theology.
He teaches that prosperity and riches are promised to every believer, and can be gained by faith. Faith is a "force", activated by "confession", i.e. speaking the words of God.
Following E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth Hagin, Copeland has taught that Jesus had to suffer in Hell for three days and three nights in order to atone for sin. Some critics have labelled this heresy, claiming it denies the sufficiency of the blood of Christ. His teaching that believers are "little gods" has also been heavily criticized (see D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, updated edition, Hendrickson, 1995).
KCM Prison Outreach
Kenneth Copeland Ministries send over 1,000,000 books, bibles and products to people in prisons every year [Kenneth, BVOV broadcast, Aug 03 2006]. In 2002, KCM received and processed 276,000 pieces of incoming mail from prisoners [kcm.org]. Partners around the world of KCM who either work or already minister in prisons request materials as they minister inside prisons in England, Italy, North Africa and Pakistan [Andrew Prescott, overseeing KCM Europe Prison Ministry, BVOV magazine, June 2006].
Teaching Articles in 'Believer's Voice of Victory' magazine
August 2006 main article heading - 'Dream On'
subheading: "Faith is what clothes our God-given, Bible-based hopes with natural substance. It's what makes them become a reality in this material world".
August 2006 secondary article heading - 'Dealing with People you find Difficult'
subheading: "Every time you say "I love You Father," the Holy Ghost - the Spirit of Love - is knocking the old walls down, stretching you on the inside, and you're learning things you didn't know you knew".
July 2006 main article heading - 'The Name above all Names'
subheading: Do you receive whatever you ask of God in prayer? You can. Many Believers don't know that, but it's true. Jesus Himself said so. He didn't say it just once, either. He said it again and again. In John 14:13 He said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." In John 15:16 He said. "I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, HE may give it you".
July 2006 secondary article heading - 'The Heavenly Protection of Earthly Authority'
subheading: "In the face of a battle, whether it be a terrorist attack, an all-out war or an attack of nature, mankind usually rises to the occasion. Christians especially step up to the challenge and Christ shines through His Body. When we love all men and pray for those in authority, we place ourselves squarely inside the realm of His governorship".
June 2006 main article heading - 'Jump into the field of faith'
subheading: "Lord increase our faith!" That was the cry of Jesus' first 12 disciples... and it's been the heart cry of untold millions of believers ever since. And why shouldn't it be? Again and again in the New Testament we see people receive miracles from God... according to their faith. We hear Jesus say, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed... nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matthew 17:20). We read the words of the apostle John who wrote, "...this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4) The Bible makes it absolutely clear: Faith can overcome anything in this world order. There is literally no limit to what faith can do.
June 2006 secondary article heading - 'The Road to Excellence'
subheading: "Recently, God has been raising up ever-growing numbers of people who are hungry. Hungry to know their Lord in a deeper way. Hungry for all He planned them to be. Hungry to serve Him - in pulpits, on mission fields, in homes, in office buildings, and anywhere else He might choose to send them"
May 2006 main article heading - 'Let God do the impossible in your life'
subheading: What do you do when you're facing the impossible? How do you respond when you encounter a problem so enormous, an obstacle so overwhelming, that it essentially becomes the biggest thing in your life? It's all right to pray on the run because you ought to pray continually, but if that's all you do, you'll miss about 90 percent of what God wants to tell you.
May 2006 secondary article heading - 'God's Wisdom - Your Priority!'
subheading: "Every one of us has been faced with a crisis or decision that baffles us. The situation may be simple or it may be complex. It may be relevant for a moment, a day or a lifetime. Regardless of the situation, the solution is always located about 18 inches below our heads. It's tucked deep within our inner man, in our born-again spirit. All we need to do is get it from our hearts to our heads. How do we do that? Ask the Lord for wisdom".
2006 statements on key issues and doctrines
ON NATURAL DISASTERS IN THE WORLD
[BVOV broadcast, week of January 2nd] KC: "...in that Tsunami in December of '04. That was the heaviest area on earth (as far as I know) of persecution against Christians and their churches and killing 'em and burning their churches and so forth. And the weight of sin can get so strong in any given place that it actually damages the earth and its structure and that happened there. The Scripture says that... in several... well the eighth chapter of Romans says the whole creation moans and groans for manifestation of the sons of God... and the wages of sin is death and once it breaks, man! Well, just havoc takes place. God perfected and protected His own in that Tsunami and the only thing left standing were the churches. And so here, and thank God they were full of the love of God and we were able to get finances in there and help people. And when they did, then, uh, the people that had been persecuting them had to come over to the church to get food to live. And they were lovely about it, they didn't say 'Uh Uh, now you hurt us, we're going to hurt you' - no, they said 'Come on man, we've got enough to eat...' And one pastor I'm thinking about, he had a bunch of tents set up - he said 'I got a place for you to live until you get your house put back'. And this one fellow standing there, was a... a Muslim, and he's standing there with tears running down his cheek, man, he said 'My God, my God, these people are full of love'. That's what we're supposed to be"!
"That's a spiritual fact. This thing ain't getting any better 'til after it's over. This thing is going downhill on skids, but we're going up".
ON HOLY COMMUNION
[BVOV broadcast, week of August 28th] KC: "The Body of Christ has made a religious tradition out of it, you know - it's the second Sunday of the month - or whatever - but not realising that you are qualified to serve communion to yourself. Your pastor doesn't have to do that - it's wonderful if he does take advantage of it, but the Body of Christ needs to learn to RUN to that communion table for healing, for deliverance, for protection. I mean, man! Take the covenant in hand and stand before the Throne of God. I tell you, man! It's powerful".
"When you begin to really get an insight into what you're doing here - Jesus said 'This is My Blood of My Covenant - you drink it'. Man! That's just, I mean that's pregnant with revelation. When you take the time to spend there and think about His Blood that was shed and His... sometimes in my mind, the most important drops of Blood were the first drops. Those drops that were pushed through the pores of His skin rather than to break the covenant of love and rather than to violate this test that had come on Him, that came on the first Adam (and he blew it off) and Jesus was not about to let the devil in HIS garden and it came in the Garden of Gethsemane, man! When Blood ran down, out of the pores of His skin, and out His forehead and down His face and into His beard... those drops".
ON CHRISTIAN FINANCIAL PROSPERITY
[talking with Leroy Thompson, BVOV broadcast, week of January 2nd] KC: "Let's go back and think about, a moment, what happened in 'Katrina' and those hurricanes. The devil's worst nightmare is a man of the Word, full of faith and prayer, knows how to pray and he got money; because he's walking in the Anointing, he is walking in a fellowship with God through prayer and then God says "You go do this" and he says "Yes, Sir. Well, when?", "Right now", "Okay." And he launches out instead of saying "Well, God, I need some gas for my car [etc.]" Well God can provide all that but all of that should have been provided before the instruction came. Now what happened in those hurricanes down there, the government failed, the city government failed, the state government failed, the U.S. government failed and a lot of people died because of it. Now, I'm not in position to judge and blame those people in government. God didn't anoint government to do that in the first place. And people have forced the government into a place of provision and that's not their role to start with. So what happened then - man, the Church stepped up! ...We had a situation... where we had an airplane that would haul 8,000 lbs of stuff and you could land it in short runways. And we went in down there in one of the closest airport that was still, where you could still land on the thing (well, you know where Slidel is?) and right on the edge of that thing. And there were hospitals crying out, they had people about to die, they had little... diabetic babies that were in insulin shock and it was going to be a month before they could get anything in there by truck! So... we took their orders, what they needed, and flew back up here to a medical supply company and went in there and got all that stuff and we had it in there by dark and there were 1,000 people that did not die that would have died before the evening of the next day, had we not had the money, and the equipment, and had it ready, and somebody to fly it and somebody to get this job done, man! I mean, we didn't have time to pray and get an aeroplane - people are dieing before morning"! [LR: "Right you need it now"] KC: "We need it right now! And God directed that thing and told us exactly where to go and exactly what to say and exactly what to do and we did and said exactly what the Spirit of God said to do and filled that aeroplane up and flew that thing in there and those doctors and nurses just stood and wept, man". [LR: Suppose you'd just had the Word and prayer?"] KC:"Well, we could have done it, but we'd have had to pray in an aeroplane, prayed in some fuel, prayed in the money, prayed in the medicine - well what's the difference, I mean, the Government would have been there by then, but of course there'd have been a thousand people dead - but I mean, that's the way the world functions. And the Church ought to be ready all the time. And they couldn't get any food and here come 'Operation Blessing' from the 700 Club, Pat Robertson and that fabulous ministry come driving up in their... and people already cooking, already feeding. Didn't ask the Government for nothing - we were there to help the Government... [LR:"God's people, they rising up and that's what needs to be done".] KC:"And we ain't scratched the surface yet".
Controversial statements
"God's reason for making Adam was his desire to reproduce himself. I mean a reproduction of himself and in the garden of Eden he did that. He was not a little like God, he was not almost a lot like God ... he was not even subordinate to God even. Now this is hard on the human mind, but I am telling you what the Bible says. The Bible says let us make man in our image and give him dominion....
"This is all a copy, it's a copy of home. It's a copy of the mother planet, where God lives he made a little one just like his and put us on it. And Adam is as much like God as you could get, just the same as Jesus when he came into the earth he said that if you have seen me you have seen the Father. He wasn't a lot like God , he is God manifested in the flesh. And I want you to know something, Adam was God manifested in the flesh, he was God's very image, very likeness everything he did, everything he said, every move he made was the very image of allmighty God"
"This is all a copy of home, it's a copy of the mother planet...and Adam is as much like God as you could get .... Adam in the garden of Eden was God manifested in the flesh"
Following the faith of Abraham,1989, side1 audio tape (01-3001) by Kenneth Copeland
And from Apologetics index.org
Kenneth & Gloria Copeland are mentioned here together only because they are man and wife and both believe in the same doctrines and principals and beliefs.
The Copeland's are Word of Faith preachers/teachers. Their "name it and claim it" fame have deceived millions around the world. These Word of Faith preachers all pretty much adhere to the same philosophy. They believe that you can become a little god. That you can proclaim your own health and wealth just by speaking it. That Jesus did not pay for our sins on the cross but went to hell for our atonement. They also say that its all your fault if you are not healthy and wealthy because you lack in faith.
These preachers teach that you have no reason to be poor because Jesus was not poor therefore if you are a follower of Jesus, you can and should be rich also. They claim that Jesus lived in a rich house by the sea and had so much money that He needed to appoint a treasurer to hold it all. They never once will say that maybe all the money Jesus and his followers had was a small amount and they kept it all together to keep it safe because they needed it so badly. Their claims are definitely one sided with prosperity being on their side of course.
About the Word of Faith movements the following had this to say:
Walter Martin of the Christian Research Institute said the following:
"The study of the Kingdom of the Cults has taught me many profitable lessons, and this is one of them--error begets error; heresy begets heresy and always in the name of truth, always in the name of the gospel. Those who propagate these erroneous views ('little gods,' the 'born again Jesus,' and so on) have sadly crossed over into the kingdom of the cults and stand in need of genuine repentance, lest they come under the inevitability of divine judgment. It is dangerous, in the presence of God, to affirm oneself as a deity--even with a small 'g.' It is blasphemous to speak in the name of God and utter false prophecies. It is the height of theological folly to reduce God the Son, second Person of the holy Trinity, to a lost sinner with the nature of Satan and then send Him to hell with the requirement of regeneration before He can complete the work of redemption." (Walter Martin, "You Shall Be As Gods," Agony of Deceit, page 92-93)
John F. MacArthur, Jr. said the following:
I received a mailing sent out by one rather extreme Word-Faith teacher named David Eppley (sp.). A brochure was included with a bar of prayer-blessed soap, quote,
We are going to wash away all bad luck, sickness, misfortunes, and evil! Yes, even that evil person you want out of your life. Jesus helped a man wash blindness from his eyes; I want to help you concerning hexes, vexes, home problems, love, happiness, and joy. (the brochure said).
Inside the brochure were testimonies from people who had been blessed by that ministry. "Door opens to new job!" said one. "An $80,000 dream comes true!" said another. "Couldn't use my hand for twelve years!" said another. Also inside was a personal letter from the pastor closing with a full page of instructions on how to use the soap. If you used it right it would bring you healing and money,
Now, after you wash the poverty from your hands, take out the largest bill or check you have. That $100, $50, or $20 bill, hold it in your clean hands and say, "In Jesus' name I dedicate this gift to God's work and expect a miracle return of money."
And of course, your largest bill or check must be sent to David Eppley (sp.).
The last paragraph said,
Through this gift of discernment, I see someone sending a $25 offering and God is showing me a large check coming to them in the next short while I mean "large;" it looks like over $1,000! I know this sounds strange but you know me well enough to know that I have to obey God when He speaks. I'll be here waiting for your answer.
Frankly, that sounds more like Black Magic. Certainly a more outrageous example than most, but still it reflects a style that is typical of nearly all Word-Faith ministries. If it was just plain hucksterism that would be bad enough. I guess I could tell you honestly, I could take Reverend Ike. I could take Reverend Ike because . . . (I don't know if you know who he is, but if you don't, don't worry about him)--but, I can take Reverend Ike because he uses the same gimmick, but he doesn't make it Christian! What corrupts so devastatingly is to tie this kind of con game into Christ!
Word-Faith teachers have corrupted the heart of New Testament Christianity. They have moved the believers' focus off sound doctrine, worship, service, sacrifice, and ministry; and they have shifted it instead to promised physical, financial, and material blessings. Those blessings are the cargo that God is supposed to deliver to those who know and follow the Word-Faith formula.
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Below I will show some of Kenneth Copeland's comments and the resources they came from. Please take time to study this carefully and thoughtfully so you truly understand what he teaches.
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"Jesus went into hell to free mankind from the penalty of Adam's high treason...When His blood poured out it did not atone. Jesus spent three horrible days and nights in the bowels of this earth getting back for you and me our rights with God." (Ken Copeland, Personal letter from Ken Copeland, Ft. Worth Texas, March 12, 1979. (D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, page 118)
"The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, 'Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don't let your tradition trip you up.' He said, 'Think this way - a twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain.' And I threw my Bible down...like that. I said, 'What?' He said, 'A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him.' He said, 'You are the very image, the very copy of that one.' I said, 'Goodness, gracious sakes alive!' And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, 'Well now you don't mean, you couldn't dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?' He said, 'Oh yeah, if you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could have done the same thing, 'cause you're a reborn man too."
(Dr. John MacArthur, "Charismatic Chaos," page 337. Kenneth Copeland, "Substitution and Identification")
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is...The biggest one in the whole Bible is God...I mean, He lost His top-ranking, most anointed angel; the first man He ever created; the first woman He ever created; the whole earth and all the fullness therein; a third of the angels, at least - that's a big loss, man....Now, the reason you don't think of God as a failure is He never said He's a failure. And you're not a failure till you say you're one." (Ken Copeland, Audio-Clip "Christianity in Crisis," Hank Hanegraaff)
"God's purpose and plan--the deepest desire of His heart--is coming to pass. God is going to have a family of equals!" (Kenneth Copeland, "Fullness: God's Plan For His Family," BVOV Magazine, July & August 2004, page 32)
"If you stood Adam upside God, they look just exactly alike....If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and act and sound exactly alike....The image is that they look just alike, but the likeness is that they act alike and they are alike....All of God's attributes, all of God's authority, all of God's faith, all of God's ability was invested in that man."(Kenneth Copeland, Authority of the Believer IV (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987, audiotape #01-0304), side 1
"You can have what you say! In fact, what you are saying is exactly what you are getting now. If you are living in poverty and lack and want, change what you are saying. It will change what you have...Discipline your vocabulary. Discipline everything you do, everything you say, and everything you think to agree with what God does, what God says, and what God thinks. God will be obligated to meet your needs because of His Word....If you stand firmly on this, your needs will be met." (D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, page 172. Ken Copeland, "The Laws of Prosperity," page 98, 101)
"He [Jesus] allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell....He allowed Himself to come under Satan's control...every demon in hell came down on Him to annihilate Him....They tortured Him beyond anything anybody had ever conceived. For three days He suffered everything there is to suffer." (Kenneth Copeland, "The Price of It All," page 3.
"It takes money to preach the gospel. Jesus Himself knew that, and contrary to what some people think, His ministry was not a poor one. He had so much money coming in and going out through His ministry that He had to appoint a treasurer. His name was Judas." (Kenneth Copeland, "From Faith to Faith A Daily Guide to Victory," December 5)
"Jesus is no longer the Only Begotten son" and his Latter Rain teaching
Copeland has been known to shock his listeners with his supposed prophecies from God, such as: ?Dont be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you are God...They crucified me for saying that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in me? (prophecy from Take Time to Pray article Believer's Voice of Victory,1987, p.9 )
In the above prophecy, Kenneth Copeland accomplished at least two things: 1) he denied the deity of Jesus Christ and 2) he promoted doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1).
Kenneth Copeland was a guest on Benny Hinn's January 28, 2004 broadcast This is Your Day telecast. Hinn says the lord has a word for you today. Copeland thanks Hinn for continuing in the healing ministry. Benny Hinn asked Kenneth Copeland what he sees happening in 2004. In turn, Copeland responds by reading his prophecy, to which Hinn says, ?Amen?: ?Right now the healing ministry of Jesus is coming into a place that no human beings has seen before. And it, we' all going to be glad we stayed where he put us because this is our time? (Benny Hinn- Amen). (This is a Prophecy delivered by Kenneth Copeland at Eagle Mountain International Church December 31, 2000) Complete prophecy at http://kcm.org/studycenter/prophecies/2004_yearoffullness.php
Copeland continues: ?The lord began talking to me about fullness of ministry and fullness of his callings and so forth oh 25 years go, but then in late November and all the way up to new years eve, and I had a visitation of the Lord new years eve afternoon, he began to talk to me about this year, and if you, you permit me I'll read you what he said to me, Hinn responds please:
? the year of 2004 will be known as the year of fullness. By the close of 2004, all callings will come to fullness. Apostles ministry, prophets ministry, evangelist ministry, pastoral ministries and teaching ministries that will obey me will come into full manifestation. The gifts of the spirit will be manifested in fulness as they were when Jesus was on the earth.? (Copeland says, ?We've not seen that, we've seen little pieces of it but not like this?)... ?Families will come into their called places and know the fullness of joy on earth as it is in heaven.?
If this is true, who needs heaven? Jesus said the very opposite for the last days, and spoke of perilous times, apostasy, the love of many growing cold, and itching ears that do not want to hear the truth but what they want to hear. The only time we will see this fullness is in the Millennium, but first comes the Great tribulation.
So according to God speaking to Copeland The gifts of the spirit will be manifested in fulness as they were when Jesus was on the earth. We will see all healings, all the gifts will be working at their height beyond what we saw with the apostles by those ministries like Copeland's. Blind eyes, legs growing out, resurrections taking place, multiplication of food for thousands to be fed by what would feed only a few is what people saw when Jesus was on earth; this he says will ALL take place in 2004.
It seems these prophets receive revelations on cue at the years end, and are regularly told by Jesus what's in store next year. This time, Copeland is being told what the Latter Rain (ie. Bill Hamon and others in the Prophetic movement) has been saying for some time now. No, we have not seen this and the Bible never says we will see this. Not even the apostles repeated what Jesus did in all his miracles, but that is only what the Bible says, we are beyond that now. Now we are into new direct words dictated by men like Copeland that give false hope and mislead many under the guise of prophecy.
Copeland continues ?All forms of prosperity, to excel, to go to the high places in God, will come into fullness of manifestation spirit, soul and body, health, wealth, assets and influence to the glory of God the Father. (Hinn responds Amen.)
Follow My leading. Listen to Me. Listen to My Spirit. Things are changing. Things that now look impossible and unchangeable will suddenly turn around. To the world for no apparent reason. But you will know the reasons, for your knowing what I am doing will increase and also come to fullness.
Many who have never head the voice of My Spirit will be hearing and following fully by the end of 2004.?
To that Benny Hinn says, ?dear God.?(audience claps)
?Now let me ask the Lord something? Copeland said ?I'm going to need his permission to read this ?(Copeland pauses, as if God gives him an immediate answer he says, all right acknowledging God's permission)
?I have taken over the politics and the politicians. (Copeland says, he's talking about all over the world) ?Listen to My voice. Vote the way I say in all elections.?
Has God taken over politics? Which party? How did God do this all of a sudden? The only change taking place is in the minds of those who are NOT living in reality.
?One thing he stopped me and said to me then, He said ?I'm telling you to vote in all elections and I'm telling you in all elections you vote the way I tell you to vote. And another thing was your ballot is your seed a ballot is your, its not just a vote, your ballot is your seed to do well under any administration, I don't care what they do. If you vote with God and do what he says your gonna come out well even if the rest of them go down the drain. And that's your seed.?
Your ballot is not just a vote it is your seed? Where's that mentioned in the Bible? This is beyond ridiculous. Remember, Copeland claims to have received a prophecy from God. If politics and the politicians are now in control of God then why would they go down the drain? How can your ballot do well under any administration no matter what they do? Does the way we vote now have us receive a blessing from God?
?This is the time you've been waiting for, hoping for, and believing for. You will know Me ways that up to now you've never heard of before. Stay close to Me. Keep yourself in love. Obey My every command. Stay in My Word continually. Keep yourself and your prayer life fresh daily. Live by faith. 2004 will be the fullest year of your life. 2005 is the year of overflow. How much overflow depends on how much you sow towards it in 2004.?
So then God blesses us now according to our work of sowing? this sounds more like karma, what you give in 2004 will pay its dividends in 2005. Actually, the new covenant is operated by grace, Christ's work and His unmerited favor toward his children. These are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SYSTEMS presented. The Bible has nothing to say about sowing one year will be seen the next. The Bible speaks more of sowing to the flesh or the Spirit, which is not the kind of sowing (money or voting etc.) that Copeland is talking about. (See Galatians 6:7-9) It is about receiving rewards afterwards.
?So All the things that I have studied over the last years since I first started hearing this, I, I heard brother Hagin mention it uh back in the 70's...Fulness, We've never seen the gifts of the spirit in their fullness. Everything that God can do, we never seen that?... ?God has made a decision, now once he makes a decision Benny, remember he's a sovereign God. But when he makes a sovereign decision he never changes and that decision then in a way really becomes his own boundaries. If he has decided to do it a certain way, he has made a sovereign decision that he will not and therefore he cannot express himself in fullness in the earth without us.?
Where does the Bible ever say such a thing? This is certainly founded upon the Latter Rain teachings, it is a modified version of the Manifest Sons of God doctrine. Are we going to see EVERYTHING God can do?
? But then the lord referred me to the book of Ephesians, there's a prayer in the first chapter, there's a prayer in the third chapter and then the results of those prayers are outlined in the fourth, fifth and sixth chapter.
We start with the prayer in the first chapter 16th verse ?Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, The anointed one, Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints... what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward who believe, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.? What is the exceeding greatness toward us who believe? And he raised him from the dead and placed him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principalities, all power, all might all dominion... Appointed him, placed him as head over his body gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills or fulfills all things, Jesus is the filler upper he is the fullness of the father but not without us because he's only the head.?
What is Copeland saying? The Bible says before the church was made (indwelled with the Spirit) that He, Jesus, was the fullness of God by Himself. Col 1:19 ?For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell? Col. 2:9 ?For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.? Notice the word ALL, meaning all that makes God who He is, every attribute and characteristic, the complete nature is found in Christ Jesus in bodily form (only) when He became man. Christ does not need the church body to have this fullness, as if only the head is in need of something .This is serious error but it only gets worse. As Copeland continues, he denies Christ having the fullness alone and other core teachings:
Copeland pauses and says I thought how can that be to Hinn and the audience (relating back to the 70's when he first heard this message) But then, ?Well let's stop and lets track some things for a moment. God created Adam and Adam was the fullness of God, he was not a little example of God he was the likeness of God, and God put his own hands on him and crowned him with his gory. And put his power inside him to bless the entire earth. He said I bless you. YOU multiply you bless the earth. Now the earth that came upon the earth did not come from heaven it came out of Adam. (Hinn is impressed) ?There was enough spiritual power and capacity to curse this whole planet. With death, the devil didn't have that kind of power. But this man like God did. But when he disconnected from God he connected with Satan and that's where Satan got his power, he got it out of Adam. Now, then comes Adam the second, Jesus, is he the fullness of God, is he the full expression of God himself, (Hinn says amen he is) but then comes the new creation created in Christ Jesus your and my and your recreate human spirit. Recreated in the very likeness of the one who went before us. And suffered and died and raised again?And his spirit went through torture and torment .The firstborn from the dead, he's no longer called the only begotten son of God.? No, no, he's called the firstborn son of God, the first begotten of many brethren and we are the fullness of him ?
This is false, but Copeland always twist the Scripture ever so slightly to make his own unique point, which happens to be a interpretation completely outside the Scripture.
Copeland is saying that Jesus is just like Adam. Think this through, this means either Adam was equally God or that Jesus was not God. But Copeland is saying Adam was God and he stated this position many times:
?if you stood Adam upside God they look just exactly alike?Now here's Adam in the image of God, and in the likeness of God. All of God's attributes, all of God's authority, all of God's faith, all of God's ability, was invested in that man." (The Authority of the Believer IV, Tape #01-0304)
"Adam was just as much the Son of God as Jesus, Jesus just as much the Son of God as Adam. " (Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory, January 29, 2001 [GOD TV]
?Adam was as much like God as you can get, just the same as Jesus when he came to earth, he said if you have seen me you have seen the father. He wasn't a lot like God he's God manifested in the flesh, I want you to know something Adam in the Garden of Eden was God manifested in the flesh??(Kenneth Copeland, Following the Faith of Abraham I (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1989), tape #01-3001, side 1)
According to Copeland this means that Adam, who was God, sinned. Jesus, the second Adam, was God, was just like Adam and did not sin.
Adam was not the fullness of God no creature can be this. Jesus is God, He is the only human being God came in the flesh: 1 Tim.3:16 ?God was manifested in the flesh,? ONLY ONCE, in Jesus. To say God came in the flesh (incarnate) in any another creature (like Adam) is denying that Christ was the only God come in the flesh (1 John 4:2). This is not God's Spirit that is prophesying through Copeland. Besides being unbiblical, it's not even logical. Adam did not pre-exist as an eternal being as the Son of God did before He came to earth. This denies the uniqueness of Jesus being the only begotten Son. If Copeland's teachings were true, then Jesus is the second only begotten and we are third, fourth, fifth ad infinitum.
Copeland also states, ?he's not longer called the only begotten son of God.? If we listen to Copeland, then the apostle John is wrong when he, led by the Spirit, wrote the eternal word of God?
I Jn. 4:15 ?Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.?
I Jn. 5:5 ?Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God??
I Jn. 5:12 ?He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.?
I Jn. 5:13 ?These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.?
Then we no longer need this confession! We should believe just as the Scripture states: ?Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession? (Hebrews 4:14).
John's teaching that he is the Son of God MEANS HE is the ONLY begotten Son of God. Unique, one of a kind, no other like him.
Is Jesus no longer called the Only begotten Son of God?
Jesus is the only begotten because he is a Son by his eternal nature, being God. The Son is the same nature as the Father, which is a position occupied by no others. We are sons by adoption and are given the divine nature. Yet Copeland makes no distinctions. There are two Greek words that are used for ?Son.? Those who have experienced the new birth are sons of God by an adoption (Jn.1:12). The Greek word is teknon ( Rom.8:14-15, 19:23; Gal. 4:5, Eph.1:5). We find that this word for ?Son? is never used for Jesus. Instead the Greek word huios is used. This word is exclusively applied to Jesus as the Son, which refers to his position of nature, as the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. Copeland is promoting the Manifest Sons of God doctrine of the Latter Rain heresy. This is nothing new. Copeland has been teaching these heresies for years.
Even John, the last apostle to write New Testament Scripture, states, ?God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him? (I Jn. 4:9). He doesn't think he is no longer called this. So exactly when did this happen?
John 3:18: "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.?
We are told to believe on the name of only begotten Son of God to be saved. Furthermore, when did Jesus stop being the Son of God? After his resurrection?
After the resurrection Paul preached Christ in the synagogues saying, ?He is the Son of God? (Acts 9:20). So when did He stop being the Son of God?
John disproves this also: Rev. 2:18 ?And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, 'These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass? Jesus is still the Son of God (only begotten) and always will be.
In referring to the eternal Son, A.H. Strong wrote ?That Sonship of Christ is eternal, is intimated in Psalm 2:7 ?This day I have begotten thee? is most naturally interpreted as the declaration of an eternal fact in the divine nature.? Notice what he says next that is most important. ?Neither the incarnation, the baptism, the transfiguration, nor the resurrection marks the beginning of Christ's Sonship, or constitutes him Son of God. These are but recognitions of manifestations of a preexisting Sonship, inseparable from his Godhood.? ?This sonship is unique- not predictable of, or shared with, any creature. The Scriptures intimate, not only an ETERNAL GENERATION OF THE SON, but an eternal procession of the Spirit.? (Systematic Theology p.304)
In other words he always was God's only begotten Son, past -present- and future.
This certainly is not the first time Copeland has stated this, though his followers may have missed it, he has been saying this teaching for over 24 years. ?Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God....? (Copeland: ?Now Are We in Christ Jesus?, p.24, Kenneth Copeland Publications, Texas. 1980)
On Hinn's telecast Copeland says he's not longer called the only begotten son of God.? No, no, he's called the firstborn son of God, the first begotten of many brethren and we are the fullness of him?
Copeland is making up terms that do not exist--except, through Copeland's faulty revelation knowledge. He is not called the firstborn son of God anywhere in Scripture as Copeland claims, but the firstborn son. There is a difference because this accentuates his humanity.
Matthew 1:25 ??and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.? Luke 2:7 ?And she brought forth her firstborn Son.? NOT firstborn son of God because the phrase Son of God refers to his deity.
The only Scripture that comes close to this is ?that He might be the firstborn among many brethren? (Romans 8:29). That He, Jesus was raised to eternal life bodily first, then others will follow.
Jesus is called ?the firstborn from the dead? (Col. 1:18). ?But when He again brings the firstborn into the world? (Heb. 1:6). ?And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead? (Rev. 1:5).
The Greek word for firstborn is prototokos, which means first in rank, a heir, to have preeminence in position, the first to bring forth. It is not about His origin. The other Greek word for created is protoktisis, which is not used for Christ, but used for created things.
?He is not called the firstborn Son of God? at all, anywhere! And I challenge anyone to find this in Scripture. Copeland is using the method of diaprax, to convince the church into another doctrine, he wants us to believe that we are just like Jesus (as Sons) and Jesus was only the first and God is soon to have on earth numerous Christ's just like Jesus.
This is rank heresy, and it needs to be recognized for what it is. Copeland has twisted the Scripture and has denied Jesus is still the only begotten Son, unique among all men as the ONLY God/man. This is Manifested Sons of God teaching straight out of the Latter Rain heresy and perpetuated by so many others today. Hinn accepts it. Copeland teaches it, and so do many others.
And it is very similar to other statements that are non Christian, occultists. ?It is far more important that men should strive to become Christs than that they should believe that Jesus was Christ? (Mystic Masonry, by J. D. Buck, p. 62).
If this isn't enough. Copeland further states in Ephesians ?Now go over to the third chapter here's the 2nd prayer beginning with the 14th verse well I really can't ?let me read the verse in the 2nd chapter first, you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin, now the same action when you got born again when your human spirit was recreated in Christ Jesus it was exactly the same work that the holy ghost did on Jesus when he raised him from the dead. Not one small bit less but exactly the same.?
This is false! Jesus' spirit was not dead in sin needing to be reborn, but alive and sinless; His spirit was NOT recreated. Herein is the false teaching of the ?born again? Jesus after the cross that Copeland has upheld for so many years. And Hinn agrees with it. Besides, Jesus raised from the dead also means he cannot die anymore, but we can.
This teaching can very subtle unless one pays attention they will not be aware of the turnaround he is doing to the Scripture
Why should anyone believe what Copeland says will come to pass? This fails in two ways; first and most importantly from the Bible. Second he's been wrong many times before.
One of the more outrageous and obvious times was spoken at Word of Life Christian Center Honolulu Hawaii when he addressed Islam: ?But There are going to be multiplied millions upon millions there's going to be close to a billion people that have been trapped in that religion, that over the next few months are gonna come into the kingdom of God. That's gonna happen, you watch and see what I'm telling you (cheering)? (Word of Life Christian Center Honolulu Hawaii, dedication service, evening service, December 2, 2001.)
Three years later, more than a few months have passed. But Copeland's followers are still cheering, as Copeland is about to return again.
We are reminded of what Paul said, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The deception grows worse on a daily basis.
Keep in mind that in the past, Copeland also said, ?By the end of June you will begin to hear of super-miracles, mega-moves of God that startle human minds and thinking? And before the end of the summer it's going to be an absolute outpouring of the glory of God. There will be manifestations of the Holy Ghost suddenly appear on streets and in stores and in churches and different places around the world? (Prophecy delivered by Kenneth Copeland to the Body of Christ at the Helena, MT Victory Campaign on May 10, 2002 ) [This has also been repeated by Rod Parsley and Cindy Jacobs etc.)
False teaching and false prophecy never matter to those not walking in the truth.
Hinn concludes by saying ?What Kenneth Copeland is saying is straight from heaven.? Is it??? We cannot afford to overlook what these men are teaching. The church is in desperate need to recognize what these teachings are - FALSE. And we need to speak up about where these men are leading the church, because it is certainly away from the revelation of the apostles, not in it.
Copeland's teachings are not ?from heaven,? as Benny Hinn maintains. They are whole lot more south.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1).
To test preachers and their message carefully by God's Word is not a matter of divisiveness, but wisdom and obedience to the word. It is holding to the unity of the faith and pursuing love. I can only hope more people will do so (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Special Thanks to Let Us Reason for this article.
KENNETH HAGIN, SR aka DAD HAGIN
WHICH KENNETH HAGIN DO THEY MEAN?
DAD HAGIN was probably KENNETH HAGIN, SR.
who influenced several prominent charismatic preachers and teachers passed away in 2003.
Here is what was written about him:
Weblog: Kenneth Hagin, 'Word of Faith' Preacher, Dies at 86
Compiled by Ted Olsen | posted 09/22/2003
Kenneth Hagin, controversial Pentecostal preacher, dies
Kenneth Hagin, one of the most influential and controversial leaders of charismatic Christianity over the last half-century, died Friday at age 86.
But according to his biography and often-told life story, it wasn't his first time.
Diagnosed with "a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease" from birth, Hagin was partially paralyzed by age 15, confined to bed, and told he had little time to live.
In April 1933, Hagin said, his heart stopped beating, and his other vital signs failed three times. In each of these instances, Hagin said he felt himself being dragged to hell. In the third instance, he prayed for Christ's help and forgiveness?and came back to life.
The miracle would define the rest of his life, and he took as one of his life verses Mark 11:24: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." By 1934, Hagin said, he had believed that he would be fully healed, and he was. At age 17, after his high school graduation, Hagin began preaching in a predominantly Southern Baptist interdenominational church in Roland, Texas. But Hagin's emphasis on miracles and divine healing soon led him to the Pentecostals. He became an Assemblies of God minister in 1937, pastoring six churches until deciding in 1950 (after what he said was an appearance by Jesus) to become an itinerant healing evangelist.
Hagin claimed the gift not only of healing, but also of prophecy. "When the word of knowledge began to operate in my life after I was filled with the Holy Ghost, I would know things supernaturally about people, places, and things," he wrote in 1972. "Sometimes I would know through a vision. Sometimes while I was preaching, a cloud would appear and my eyes would be opened so that I would see a vision concerning someone in the congregation."
Through the Kenneth E. Hagin Evangelistic Association (now Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc.), he launched a radio ministry, school, and magazine (now with 250,000 subscribers) to promote his teachings. According to his official obituary, Hagin's Faith Library Publications has circulated more than 65 million books, mostly written by him.
Such teachings have been very controversial, both in charismatic/Pentecostal circles and in the wider evangelical community. He is considered by many to be (after E.W. Kenyon) a father of the "Word of Faith" and "Positive Confession" movements, which critics summarize as "name it and claim it." Hagin put it differently: "Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
"Often you create your own negative situations yourself with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong speaking," Hagin wrote. "So start believing according to God's Word. Then begin making positive confessions of faith and victory over your life. ? If you don't like what you have in life, then begin to change the way you are thinking, believing, and speaking. Instead of speaking according to natural circumstances out of your head, learn to speak God's Word from your spirit. Begin to confess God's promises of life and health and victory into your situation. Then you can begin to enjoy God's abundant life as you have what you say!"
Such teachings, critics said, subordinate God's will to man's, and lead to a prosperity theology that puts an emphasis on temporal wealth.
Critics also assailed Hagin for his comment that "The believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth."
Hagin denied that his teachings were unbiblical, and said Christians should be careful to pray only as the Bible teaches. "I do not understand how some people can go around spouting off things, endeavoring to believe, and calling it faith, when it is only presumption and folly," he said.
Kenneth Hagin Jr. will take over duties at Rhema Bible Church, which now has 8,000 members, and Kenneth Hagin Ministries.
(Weblog usually sticks to online sources in compiling the news, but few solid biographical sketches of Hagin are available online. Sources consulted for this obituary include The Dictionary of Charismatic and Pentecostal Movements, IVP's new Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, and Randall Balmer's Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism.)
HERE IS SOME MORE INFORMATION ON KENNETH HAGIN,SR.:
Tongues-speaking charismatic Kenneth E. Hagin died September 19, 2003 at the age of 85. (Because his influence in charismatic circles will never die, and because his son and grandson carry on with Kenneth Hagin's teachings, this report will remain posted.) He was well known as the father of the "Word-Faith"/"Positive Confession" movement. (See endnote for a detailed description of the Hagin ministry empire.) In his The Word of Faith magazine, Hagin taught the following heresies: Receiving healing, just as receiving salvation, is simply a matter of appropriating what already belongs to us (6/90); healing is included in the gospel (8/92); God does not afflict people with sickness and disease (12/90); he (Hagin) went to heaven and talked with his sister (6/91); Jesus appeared to him in a vision in 1950 (8/91); he once went to hell in an out-of-body experience (9/91); he does not believe in sickness and disease (7/92); it is always God's will to heal the sick (12/92); believers have a legal and redemptive right to divine healing (1/93). Hagin says: "Your confession of faith in God's Word will bring healing or whatever it is you need from God into the present tense and make it a reality in your life!" (12/92). (Reported in the 2/1/93, Calvary Contender.)
- As the name "Word-Faith" implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more that whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts. A favorite term in the Word-Faith movement is "positive confession." It refers to the Word-Faith teaching that words have creative power. What you say, Word-Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your "confessions," that is, the things you say -- especially the favors you demand of God -- must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (Charismatic Chaos, p. 281). Word-Faith believers view their positive confessions as an incantation by which they can conjure up anything they desire: "Believe it in your heart; say it with your mouth. That is the principle of faith. You can have what you say" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285).
- Word-Faith is the fastest-growing movement within the professing church. It has involved two distinct but closely related factions: the Peale/Schuller-Positive/Possibility thinkers, with their roots in New Thought, and the Hagin/Copeland Positive Confession and Word-Faith groups, which have their roots in E.W. Kenyon, William Branham, and the Manifest Sons of God/Latter Rain Movement. In Hagin's book, Having Faith in Your Faith, he teaches that anyone can develop universal "laws of faith" to get what he wants. Hagin teaches that for a pastor or anyone to drive a Chevrolet instead of a luxury car isn't "being humble, that's being ignorant" of God's "law of prosperity" that works for "whoever you are," saint or sinner. "Having faith in your faith" is a far cry from what Jesus taught: "Have faith in God." [Other Hagin books that clearly detail his "theology" are How to Write Your Own Ticket with God (Tulsa: Faith Library, 1979) and Godliness is Profitable (Tulsa: Faith Library, 1982).] Hagin claims Jesus told him, "If anybody, anywhere, will ... put these [positive confession] principles into operation, he will always have whatever he wants from Me or God the Father" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 281).
- In an early-1990s edition of his magazine, The Word of Faith, Hagin clearly delineated his heresy of "positive confession." The article was entitled, "You Can Have What You Say":
"Often you create your own negative situations yourself with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong speaking. So start believing according to God's Word. Then begin making positive confessions of faith and victory over your life. ... You will never receive anything from God beyond the words you speak. ... If you don't like what you have in life, then begin to change the way you are thinking, believing, and speaking. Instead of speaking according to natural circumstances out of your head, learn to speak God's Word from your spirit. Begin to confess God's promises of life and health and victory into your situation. Then you can begin to enjoy God's abundant life as you have what you say!"
This was not a slip of the tongue or some new doctrine. This is at the heart of the Positive Confession (PC) movement today, also known as the "name-it-and-claim-it" gospel. The Positive Confession movement is a charismatic form of Christian Science. This can be substantiated by simply comparing the similarities in their common beliefs. Positive Confession is basically warmed-over New Thought dressed in evangelical/charismatic language. (Other well-known PC'ers besides Hagin's most successful prot駩, Kenneth Copeland, are Charles Capps, Frederick K.C. Price, Robert Tilton, and David Yonggi Cho. Many of them are graduates of Hagin's RHEMA Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.)
- Hagin went a step further when he said, "The believer is as much an incarnation of God as Jesus Christ" (Hagin, "The Incarnation," The Word of Faith, 12/80, cited in Christianity in Crisis, p. 175,397). He has also said, "If we ever wake up and realize who we are, we'll start doing the work that we're supposed to do. Because the church hasn't realized yet that they are Christ. That's who they are. They are Christ." This is a gross heresy. The Lord Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. He is the eternal Son of God. Nowhere is the believer said to be an incarnation of Almighty God. The Lord Jesus Christ performed miracles to demonstrate that He was the Son of God, the promised Messiah. No Christian can do the things that Christ did. Not one Pentecostal ( Shouldn't that be Charismatic ) preacher has ever been able to perform the miracles that Christ performed. It is blasphemous confusion to claim that the believer is an incarnation of God like Christ was.
- Hagin obviously did not believe God is sovereign. Jesus, according to Word-Faith theology, has no authority on earth, having delegated it all to the church. He developed this point in his book The Authority of the Believer (Tulsa: Faith Library, 1979). And though most Word-Faith advocates would affirm the personality of the Holy Spirit, their teachings, in effect, depersonalize Him by consistently speaking of Him as a power to be drawn upon rather than it is we who are to be His instruments (Charismatic Chaos, p. 267).
- When one starts believing that he is Christ, with the power of Christ to create reality, the stories become ludicrous. Surely Hagin had the most unusual story of all. He said that when he was younger and still single, God led him to break off a relationship with a woman by revealing to him that she was morally unfit. Hagin claimed God miraculously transported him out of church one Sunday, right in the middle of the sermon. Worst of all, Hagin was the preacher delivering the sermon! (Charismatic Chaos, p. 49.)
- In How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, Hagin saw a vision of Jesus, and said to Him, "Dear Lord, I have two sermons I preach concerning the woman who touched Your clothes and was healed when You were on earth. I received both of these sermons by inspiration." (Emphasis added.) Later, Hagin quoted what Jesus told him in reply: "You are correct. My Spirit, the Holy Spirit, has endeavored to get another sermon into your spirit, but you have failed to pick it up. While I am here, I will do as you ask. I will give you that sermon outline. Now get your pencil and paper and write it down." (Emphasis added.) Hagin claimed to have received numerous visions, as well as eight personal visitations from Jesus (see below). Hagin wrote, "The Lord Himself taught me about prosperity. I never read about it in a book. I got it directly from heaven" (How God Taught Me About Prosperity, Tulsa: Faith Library, 1985). That claim, of course, is a lie. (Charismatic Chaos, p. 268.) [Hagin also claimed that he knew that Paul wrote Hebrews because Jesus appeared to him (Hagin) and told him so!]
Hagin claimed that of the eight times Jesus appeared to him, seven times Jesus was barefoot; the other time Jesus was wearing Roman sandals, and came into Hagin's room, sat down by his bedside, and talked with him for about 30 minutes. During that time, Jesus allegedly taught Hagin how to be led by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. Hagin described Jesus as 5'11" tall and weighing about 180 pounds. This is of course impossible (cf. 2 Cor. 5:16). If the resurrected, ascended, glorified Christ chose to visit Hagin for a midnight chat, He would not be wearing sandals, and Hagin would be toast (3/4/96, Christian News, p. 12).
- Other examples of Hagin's false teachings (Source: "Hagin Drunk 'In The Spirit'," David Cloud, 10/4/98, FBIS report):
(a) Hagin claimed that his teaching was given to him by God, but in fact he plagiarized heavily from the writings of Kenyon (1867-1948). D.R. McConnell, in his book A Different Gospel, documents this with pages of comparisons proving beyond question that Hagin plagiarized Kenyon's writings. McConnell introduces this section of his book by saying: "Hagin has, indeed, copied word-for-word without documentation from Kenyon's writings. The following excerpts of plagiarisms from no less than eight books by E.W. Kenyon are presented as evidence of this charge. This is only a sampling of such plagiarisms. Many more could be cited."
(b) Hagin taught that Christ's physical death did not remove sin. Rather, it was Christ's alleged "spiritual death" and struggles in hell that removed sin. Hagin taught that Christ was sent to hell and there struggled against Satan and demons, and by his victory over them was born again. This is heresy of the greatest sort. The Bible plainly states that we are redeemed by Christ's death and blood (Acts 20:28; Heb. 9:14; 10:10). The atonement was finished on the cross. When Christ dismissed His spirit from his body, He cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The Lord Jesus Christ was not born again; He was never lost. He bore our sin, but He was never a sinner. He was never tormented in hell by Satan and the demons. Nowhere does the Bible say that Satan is in hell or that he has any influence in hell. One happy day in the future, Satan will be bound for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1-3) and ultimately he will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10), but nowhere does the Bible say Satan is the master of hell.
(c) Hagin claimed he was guided by alleged visitations of angels and of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His book I Believe in Visions describes eight of these. The seventh occurred December 12, 1962. Hagin claimed the Lord prophesied to him in this visitation that He would soon begin to move among all denominations to "bring them into a full salvation and into the baptism of the Holy Ghost." Hagin claimed that Jesus Christ told him that he would play a part in this ecumenical miracle revival. (A similar prophecy was given to David DuPlessis by Smith Wigglesworth in 1936. The ecumenical-charismatic movement, which has since swept through the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant denominations, would appear to be a fulfillment of these prophecies. DuPlessis was the first to carry Pentecostal experiences to the Roman Catholic Church. He was the only Pentecostal to attend Rome's Vatican II Council in the mid 1960s.)
(d) Hagin taught a health-prosperity gospel. He wrote: "Like salvation, healing is a gift, already paid for at Calvary. All we need to do is accept it. All we need to do is possess the promise that is ours. As children of God, we need to realize that healing belongs to us" (Hagin, Healing Belongs to Us, p. 32). He further said: "God is glorified through healing and deliverance, not sickness and suffering" (Hagin, The Key to Scriptural Healing, p. 17). Hagin's claims do not match reality, though. A few years ago he claimed that he hadn't been sick in 60 years, but actually he had several cardiovascular crises, one lasting six weeks (and the final crises being his cause of death).
(e) Hagin claimed that the Lord spoke to him in a vision in 1959 with the words: "If you will learn to follow that inward witness I will make you rich. I will guide you in all the affairs of life, financial as well as spiritual" (Hagin, How to Be Led by the Holy Spirit). In an article "How God Taught Me about Prosperity," Hagin claimed that Jesus Christ taught him not to think that it is wrong to have riches. Allegedly Christ told him not to "pray about money anymore; that is, the way you've been praying. CLAIM WHATEVER YOU NEED." Christ allegedly further taught Hagin that he had personal angels who could be commanded to do his bidding. Hagin said Christ told him in 1963 that the angels were waiting for his command to provide his material desires: "They are waiting on you to give them the order, just as the waitress cannot do anything for you until you give her the order" (Hagin, I Believe in Visions, p. 126). [Wasn't it then exceedingly contradictory and hypocritical that at least 20 minutes of Hagin's meetings were given over to fund raising?]
- Here is just a sample of some of the direct revelations and/or direct "anointings" Kenneth Hagin claimed to have received from the Lord. (All quotes from The Word of Faith magazine.):
(a) "'... You have learned faith both through My Word and by experience. Now go teach my people what I've taught you. Go teach My people faith.' These words, spoken years ago by the Head of the Church to Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, have never lost their sense of divine urgency, Decades have passed, and that heavenly commission still stands" (11/96).
(b) "In March 1945 ... On Sunday afternoon I was lying on the living room floor. The Holy Ghost said, 'When you're in your sixties, the two main thrusts of your ministry will be radio and the printed page'" (11/96).
(c) "Then almost twenty years later in 1963, during an unusual time of prayer at a meeting in Houston, the Lord told me four things to do: Go to neutral places to hold my own 'All Faiths Crusades' and invite everyone to come; put all my teachings from my daytime teachings on tape; and get on the radio and teach -- don't preach" (11/96).
(d) "Waves of God's glory swept through the sanctuary, and people broke out in Holy Ghost laughter or dancing in the Spirit. Then Brother Hagin began laying hands on various people in the audience, telling them to 'Be blessed!' He was operating under such a strong anointing that ENTIRE ROWS OF PEOPLE WOULD FALL UNDER THE POWER OF GOD when Brother Hagin touched the first person in the row -- or at times just walked by the row! Afterwards, Brother Hagin began to close the service -- but the Holy Ghost arrested him, striking him dumb or mute by the power of God! For the next hour, Brother Hagin, unable to speak himself, walked throughout the audience, handing various ministers the microphone so the minister could speak as the Lord led him. But the moment Brother Hagin gave the microphone to someone, THAT MINISTER WAS EITHER STRUCK DUMB, FELL UNDER THE POWER OF GOD, OR WAS OVERCOME BY HOLY GHOST LAUGHTER" (5/96, Description of a meeting conducted by Kenneth Hagin at the Winter Bible Seminar '96 on the RHEMA campus). [Hagin had been in the center of the current Laughing Revival. It was during a Rodney Howard-Browne crusade at Hagin's church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that Vineyard Pastor Randy Clark received the "anointing" which he subsequently carried to Toronto.]
(e) "One morning at a recent Holy Ghost Meeting, the Lord asked me a question ... The Lord said to me, 'Do you think I'd ask you to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do?'" (10/96).
(f) The Lord spoke audibly to him and told him when was the proper time to applaud (clap) during a worship service: "The Lord didn't say, 'Don't ever clap.' He was explaining the right and wrong time to clap. ... I'm only telling you what the Lord told me!" (10/96).
- Hagin displayed his hyper-charismatic theology on a regular basis in his The Word of Faith magazine. The following excerpts are from Hagin's "From the Archives" series. This is presented as further proof of the nonsense emanating from charismatic pulpits today:
In the10/01 magazine, in an article titled "Born Again," Hagin recounted his three visits to hell as a 15 year-old boy in the year 1933. The article introduces the visits with: "Kenneth E. Hagin suffered poor health throughout childhood and at the age of fifteen became bedfast. That night, he died and went to the gates of hell three times":
"As I began to descend into the darkness for the third time, my spirit cried out, 'God, I belong to the church! I've been baptized in the water!' ? I came again to the bottom of that pit. Again I could feel the heat as it beat me in the face. Again I approached the entrance, the gates into hell itself. The creature that met me the first two times again took me by the arm. ? I just heard the voice. I don't know what he said, but whatever he said, that place shook; it just trembled. And that creature took his hand off my arm. It was just as if there was a suction to my back parts. It pulled me back, away from the entrance to hell, until I stood in the shadows. Then it pulled me up headfirst."
Hagin's out-of-body experience ends up back home:
"I came up beside my bed in my grandparents' house. The difference between the three experiences was that I came up on the porch the first time; at the foot of the bed the second time; and right beside the bed the third time. When I got inside my body, my physical voice picked up and continued my prayer right in the middle of the sentence. I was already praying out of my spirit."
And quite a prayer it was?a real traffic-stopper:
"? they tell me that between me and Momma praying so loud, traffic was lined up for two blocks on either side of our house! They heard me praying from inside the house, and they heard my mother as she walked the porch praying at the top of her voice. ? That was the very hour I was born again ?"
Arguably, Hagin's fictionalized account of his salvation experience is necessary to give credibility to the hyper-charismatic's claim to prophethood. But to seal the deal, the self-proclaimed charismatic prophet needed a personalized visit from Jesus. And not just any visit would do?one on par with the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John WAS apparently required. In Hagin's November 2001 The Word of Faith magazine, in an article titled "A Sobering Vision," he recounted a 1950 tent revival in Texas where Jesus appeared to him in a vision. Reading like a passage from the Book of Revelation, Hagin actually wrote new revelation:
"As I lay under the power of God, it seemed that I stood on a plain and could see for miles. ? To the west I saw what appeared to be a tiny dot on the horizon. As I watched, it grew larger. It was a horse with a man upon it, riding toward me at full speed. The horseman came to me, stopped, and handed me a scroll?a roll of paper twelve or fourteen inches long. As I unrolled it, he said, 'Take and read.' At the top of the page in big, bold, black print were the words, 'WAR AND DESTRUCTION.' I was struck dumb. He laid his right hand on my head and said, 'Read, in the Name of Jesus Christ!' I began to read what followed on the paper, and as the words instructed me, I looked and saw what I read about. First, I read about thousands upon thousands of men in uniform. ? wave after wave of soldiers marching as to war ? I saw many ? All of the women were bowed together in sorrow and were weeping profusely. ? I looked at the scroll again, and again looked up to see what I had read about. I saw the skyline of a large city. Looking closer I saw its skyscrapers were burned-out hulls, and portions of the city were in ruins. It was not writ?ten that just one city would be destroyed, burned, and in ruins, but that there would be many such cities."
Too bad Hagin didn't reveal this to the FBI before the September 11th WTC attacks. He continued with his vision:
"The scroll was written in the first person; it seemed as if Jesus Himself were speaking. I read, 'America is receiving her last call. Some nations have already received their last call and will never receive another.' Then in larger print it said, 'THE TIME OF THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND.' This statement was repeated four or five times."
Now for the good stuff?Jesus validates the gifts of the Spirit for today. How convenient for charismatic theology!:
"The scroll continued, 'All the gifts of the Spirit will be in operation in the Church in these last days. The Church will do greater things than even the Early Church did. It will have greater power, signs, and wonders than were recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. We have seen and experienced many healings, but we now behold amazing miracles such as have not been seen before. More and more miracles will be performed in the last days which are just ahead (referring to the end of the last days), for it is time for the gift of the working of miracles to be more in prominence. We now have entered into the area of the miraculous. Many of My own people will not accept the moving of My Spirit, and will turn back and will not be ready to meet Me at My coming. Many will be deceived by false prophets and miracles of satanic origin. But follow the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and Me, and you will not be deceived. I am gather?ing My own together and am prepar?ing them, for the time is short.'"
Finally, Hagin got his papers validated as a prophet of God:
"'Warn this generation, as did Noah his generation, for judgment is about to fall. And these sayings shall be ful?filled shortly, for I am coming soon. This is the last revival. I am preparing My people for My coming. Judgment is coming, but I will call My people away, even unto Myself, before the worst shall come. But be thou faithful and watch and pray.' Then the message concluded with the words, 'For the time of the end of all things is at hand.'"
In the December 2001 issue of The Word of Faith, Hagin went back to the time immediately following his "new birth" experience. He was still bedfast when "the glory of God" filled his room with a "bright light -- brighter than the sun shining on snow." Hagin then had another out-of-body experience, hearing Jesus speaking, "Go back! Go back! Go back to the earth! Your work's not done!" Moreover, during the time the bright cloud of God filled Hagin's room, Hagin's 70 year-old grandmother repeatedly tried to enter the room through the open door, only to be repelled by the cloud, "bouncing off of it like it was a rubber ball." Granny couldn't get in the room until the cloud had lifted.
In the January 2002 magazine, in an article titled "Come Up to the Throne of God," Hagin recounted his face-to-face meeting with Jesus. Even the novice Christian can discern the unbiblical nature of this false vision:
"I was conscious of the fact that I still lay flat on my face on the floor, and for a few minutes I remained there, feeling the glory of this miraculous visitation. Again I heard a voice say, 'Come up hither.' And this time the voice said, 'Come up hither; come up to the throne of God.' I saw Jesus standing again about where the top of the tent should be, and I went to Him through the air. When I reached Him, together we continued on to Heaven. We came to the throne of God, and I beheld it in all its splendor. The first thing that attracted my attention was the rainbow about the throne. It was very beautiful. The second thing I noticed was the winged creatures on either side of the throne. They were peculiar looking creatures, and as I walked up with Jesus, these creatures stood with wings out?stretched. They were saying something, but they ceased and folded their wings. They had eyes of fire set all the way around their heads, and they looked in all directions at once. I stood with Jesus in the midst, about eighteen to twenty-four feet from the throne. I started to look at the One who sat upon the throne. Jesus told me not to look upon His face. I could see only a form of a Being seated upon the throne. Then for the first time I actually looked into the eyes of Jesus. Many times when relating this experience I am asked, 'What did His eyes look like?' All I can say is that they looked like wells of living love. It seemed as if one could see a half-mile deep into them, and the tender look of love is indescribable. As I looked into His face and into His eyes, I fell at His feet. I noticed then that His feet were bare, and I laid the palms of my hands on the top of His feet and laid my forehead on the backs of my hands. Weeping, I said, 'Oh Lord, no one as unworthy as I should look upon Your face.' Jesus said that I should stand upright on my feet. I stood up. He called me worthy to look upon His face, for He had called me and cleansed me from all sin."
- Hagin promiseed health and wealth to Christians, and SAID: "All you have to do is visualize it, speak it into existence." Hagin claimed that Jesus appeared to him in a vision in 1950 and gave him a special anointing to minister to the sick (4/96, The Word of Faith). After a 1952 vision, Hagin said: "[N]ow when I minister and lay hands on people, I can tell if there is an evil spirit present either through the word of knowledge or the discerning of spirits." He relateED a time when "there stood Jesus right in front of me" (after a failed healing) and said Jesus pointed His finger at him, almost touching his nose. Jesus supposedly said, "I told you, 'If you feel that fire jumping from hand to hand like heat waves, there is a demon or evil spirit in the body. Call him out in My Name and he will leave.'" (Reported in the 7/1/96, Calvary Contender.)
- Hagin explained his criteria for judging between true and false spiritual gifts:
"When God moves, everybody will be blessed. If something is of the flesh, everybody will have a sick feeling. And if something is of the devil, it seems like the hair will stand up on your neck. That's a simple way everyone can judge, whether they've got any spiritual discernment or not."
There, as explicitly as it can be expressed, is a statement that defines exactly what is wrong with charismatic mysticism. Spiritual discernment is deemed unnecessary. According to Kenneth Hagin, you can judge between what is true, fleshly, or demonic by a process that is really just a simplified system of biofeedback (Charismatic Chaos, pp. 160-161).
- Word-Faith teachers owe their ancestry to groups like Christian Science, Swedenborgianism, Theosophy, Science of Mind, and New Thought -- not to classical Pentecostalism. It reveals that at their very core, Word-Faith teachings are corrupt. Their undeniable derivation is cultish, not Christian. The sad truth is that the gospel proclaimed by the Word-Faith movement is not the gospel of the New Testament. Word-Faith doctrine is a mongrel system, a blend of mysticism, dualism, and gnosticism that borrows generously from the teachings of the metaphysical cults. The Word-Faith movement may be the most dangerous false system that has grown out of the charismatic movement so far. Because so many charismatics are unsure of the finality of Scripture (Charismatic Chaos, p. 290).
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Hagin Drunk "In The Spirit"
The following has been excerpted from a report by David Cloud, relating his experience of attending a Kenneth Hagin "Holy Ghost Meeting":
October 4, 1998 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277) ?
On Thursday, September 17, 1998, I attended a Kenneth Hagin Holy Ghost Meeting at the New Life Victory Center in Huntington, West Virginia. A large portion of the Huntington, West Virginia, meeting was given over to a rock-jazz concert disguised as a worship service. There were no hymns, no Scripture songs. It was obvious that the crowd came to boogie! Even old farmer types were bopping around. The lyrics to most of the songs focused on Word-Faith themes. The song "No More Bondage" proclaimed "no more sickness, no more poverty, no more bondage." The song "I'm Free" stated, "I don't have to be sick; I don't have to be poor; the devil's under my feet; sickness is under my feet; poverty is under my feet; prosperity is complete." Another song proclaimed repetitiously, "Demons are afraid of me." The offertory was a strong jazz number which would have made any Bourbon Street nightclub band proud.
Hagin preached on "The Demonstration of the Spirit" from 1 Corinthians 2:4. There was no Gospel message, no preaching against sin or carnality or worldliness or apostasy; no call to grow in Christ. Instead, the message was a litany of alleged miracles which have been demonstrated in Hagin's ministry. He told of a woman preacher who danced in the air (levitation). He told of another woman who danced during an entire church service; she danced the metal taps off of her shoes, but she didn't make any noise. He told of a girl who fell into a trance during one of his meetings and remained transfixed for eight hours and 40 minutes. He had commanded that she be filled with the Spirit. Two men tried to lift her and move her to a warmer part of the room, but they were unable to budge her. He told of how his wife and two other people were glued to the floor by the Holy Spirit. When someone was levitated in a meeting, Hagin's wife and two other people had questioned whether it was of the Lord. He claims that God instructed him to touch all three of them on the forehead with his little finger, and when he did so, they were knocked to the floor and paralyzed so that they could not get up. They were not allowed to rise until they acknowledged that Hagin's power was of God. When they admitted this, Hagin touched them again with his finger and they were released.
After he had preached for about ten minutes, Hagin began to argue that one of the demonstrations of the Spirit is drunkenness. At that point he stopped preaching and for about 25 minutes, he staggered about, laughing, blowing on people, waving his arms at people, and otherwise acting drunken. He repeatedly tried to speak, but was unable to do so. Large numbers of people in the crowd also began to laugh loudly and some fell to the floor or staggered about and acted foolishly like drunks. Women fall to the floor in all sorts of compromising positions and had to be covered with the assistance of ladies who are assigned that task. Kenneth Hagin Jr. attempted to read from his father's notes, but he could not form the words and staggered all across the front of the church. When Hagin began speaking again, he claimed that this was a fulfillment of Ezekiel 3:26-27. Like most of the other Scriptures which were used, this passage was twisted entirely out of context.
Hagin cited Acts chapter 2 in an attempt to prove that the Apostles were drunk in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This is nonsense. Those who said the disciples were "full of new wine" were the mockers who wanted to debunk the miracle of tongues which was occurring (Acts 2:13). The mockers did not say the disciples were drunken because they were staggering about and slurred in speech and falling to the ground, but because of the many languages which were used to preach the Gospel that day and because they wanted to slander the servants of Christ. In his reply to these mockers, PETER PLAINLY SAID THEY WERE NOT DRUNKEN (Acts 2:15). In Ephesians 5:18, Paul CONTRASTS drunkenness with the filling of the Spirit. The drunk is not in control of himself, but is under the power of a foreign substance. In contrast, the Spirit-filled Christian is entirely in control of himself under the direction of the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no case in the New Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ or the Apostles or early Christians staggering about in a drunken stupor, unable to attend to necessary duties, as those in the laughing revival are experiencing. THE CHRISTIAN IS COMMANDED TO BE SOBER AT ALL TIMES (1 Thess. 5:6,8; 1 Tim. 3:2,11; Titus 1:8; 2:2,4,6; 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7; 5:8).
If for no other reason, one should reject Hagin on this basis alone: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
The only example of "spiritual drunkenness" in the Bible is in the prophets, referring to God's judgment upon sin and apostasy (Isa. 29:9-14; Jer. 51:37-40). These prophecies sound a solemn warning to the Laughing Revival crowd. They have rejected the sound teaching of the Bible; they have refused to be sober and vigilant; they have mocked careful Biblical discernment; they have exalted experience over doctrine; they have gone awhoring after feelings and "signs and wonders"; and they have been blinded by demonic delusions. God warns that those who refuse to obey the truth will be blinded by lying wonders (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
Throughout the rest of Hagin's sermon, various people were laughing hysterically, making it difficult to follow his message. The service could best be characterized by confusion. It ended like it began, with a rock concert disguised as a worship service.
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The Hagin Ministry Conglomerate
Kenneth E. Hagin began his ministry in Texas in 1934 at the age of 17. For twelve years he pastored, then traveled extensively in the evangelistic field. In 1963, the Kenneth E. Hagin Evangelistic Association was incorporated. In 1966, the offices of the ministry were moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kenneth Hagin, Sr., ministers with his son, Kenneth Hagin, Jr., and grandson, Craig Hagin. (Craig is his grandfather's Crusade Director, Special Meetings coordinator, operations manager for the ministry, and the associate pastor of the RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by his father. In a February, 1998 ministry letter, he also claimed that the Holy Spirit led him to preach and teach healing.)
RHEMA Bible Training Center was founded in 1974. In 1978, the name of the ministry was changed to RHEMA Bible Church (a.k.a. Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc.). The Training Center is located on a more than 110-acre campus consisting of 23 buildings, including a 96-unit student housing complex, a 2,000-seat auditorium, and a Prayer and Healing Center (PHC). Since the 1974-75 charter class graduated 58 students, RHEMA has provided training to more than 23,000 graduates. RHEMA's average annual enrollment is 1,800 with graduating classes of 750-800. (Internationally, there are RHEMA Training Centers in 13 countries.) RHEMA Correspondence Bible School has enrolled more than 60,000 students since its inception and offers an extensive curriculum for home Bible study.
"Faith Seminar of the Air," begun in 1966, is RHEMA's radio ministry, airing on more than 250 stations in a 15-minute daily slot, as well as being heard via short-wave radio in over 120 countries and on all continents of the world. In addition, "RHEMA Radio Church," airs its 30-minute program via 93 radio broadcasts weekly in 30 states. All tolled, RHEMA's radio broadcasts can be picked up by 2.8 billion potential listeners.
In late 1995, a videotape ministry was initiated. RHEMA Bible Church sends video teaching tapes to an average of 125 RHEMA missionaries each month. In 1996, "RHEMA Praise," a half-hour television program outreach of RHEMA Bible Church, began airing in the Tulsa area. "RHEMA Praise" is also translated into Spanish and broadcasted into 54 nations covering all of South America and parts of Europe. In August 1999, "RHEMA Praise" began broadcasting into 40 additional countries in Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Since its inception, broadcast locations have expanded to reach a combined potential audience of more than 30 million homes every week.
Kenneth Hagin and his son, Kenneth Hagin, Jr., have authored 147 charismatic-oriented books. More than 65 million copies of these books are currently in circulation around the world, translated into more than 25 foreign languages. RHEMA's efforts support missionaries in 109 countries and The Word of Faith magazine is sent into more than 250,000 homes each month. More than 50,000 teaching tapes by the Hagins are distributed each month. More than eight million tapes have been distributed since the inception of the cassette tape ministry.
Kenneth Hagin, Jr., pastors the 8,000-member RHEMA Bible Church that meets on the campus of RHEMA Bible Training Center in a 4,500-seat auditorium. Father, son, and grandson all minister together and individually in crusades, seminars, and other special meetings. Each July, the Hagin's conduct their indoor "Campmeeting" at Tulsa's Convention Center. It has drawn people from all 50 states, Canada, and 68 other countries.
In the fall of 1979, Hagin, Sr., began the Healing School on the RHEMA campus (the Prayer and Healing Center). Morning and afternoon healing sessions are held daily, at which students are taught the techniques of healing the sick! Hagin boasted that "The highest percentage of healings is among those with incurable diseases, many of which include cases diagnosed as terminal." [If student's really learn how to heal, why are they not then sent into the hospitals of Tulsa and heal all the terminally ill there?]
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Biblical Discernment Ministries - Revised 10/2003
Reverend Kenneth Hagin
Reverend Kenneth Hagin (1917 - 2003) thought that by the time he was nine he had done all that was necessary to get a place in heaven. He was born and raised a Southern Baptist. As a child, he first made his commitment to Christ and was baptized with water. He was a lifelong member of the church. In Christian circles, he was "saved" and on the path for heaven. He was a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and he knew this assured him a place in heaven. He even believed that Jesus and all his disciples were Southern Baptist. It came as a real shock to him when he found out that they weren't. At the age of 15, Kenneth had a near-death experience which resulted from a malformed heart --a condition he was born with. Kenneth Hagin was the pastor of Rhema Bible Church and the Kenneth Hagin Ministries which publishes the Word of Faith Magazine.
Kenneth E. Hagin, world-renowned minister and author, dies after nearly 70 years in ministry
Broken Arrow, OK ? September 19, 2003 ? Reverend Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of Kenneth Hagin Ministries, went home to be with the Lord on September 19 at 7:00 a.m.
Details regarding funeral arrangements were not forthcoming.
On Saturday evening September 13, 2003,Reverend Hagin went to bed feeling well. Sunday morning, he woke up and prepared for the day. Friends came over and cooked breakfast for he and his wife, Oretha. After finishing his breakfast, Rev. Hagin sat at the end of the table, smiled at Oretha, sighed, and his head fell to his chest.
He was quickly transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he was admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit. He remained hospitalized with his family at his side until the time of his passing.
Rev. Hagin was born August 20, 1917 and was in the ministry for nearly 70 years from the time God miraculously healed him of a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease at the age of 17. He was raised from a deathbed in 1934 by the revelation of faith in God's Word.
Known as the ?father of the modern faith movement,? Rev. Hagin was a dynamic preacher, teacher, and prophet known for ministering healing and for the message of faith. His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
?He wrote in his Bible, ?The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it!'? said his son, Reverend Kenneth Hagin Jr., Executive Vice President of Kenneth Hagin Ministries and Pastor of RHEMA Bible Church. ?Brother Hagin was not a man who merely practiced what he preached,? said Rev. Hagin Jr. ?He preached what he lived. His great legacy of faith will live on in the countless lives that have been healed, touched, and changed through his ministry.?
Since its inception, Kenneth Hagin Ministries has expanded to include numerous media outreaches and ministries that will continue to grow and impact the world. These include Faith Library Publications, which has more than 65 million books in print; RHEMA Praise, a weekly television program; Faith Seminar of the Air, a radio program which is heard on scores of stations nationwide and on the Internet worldwide; The Word of Faith, a free monthly magazine with nearly 250,000 subscribers; crusades conducted throughout the nation; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; and the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center.
Rev. Hagin long carried a passion to help those who suffered in pain and sickness the way he himself had once suffered. In 1979, he founded the Prayer and Healing Center to provide a place where the sick could come and have the opportunity to build their faith. Healing School continues to be held free of charge twice daily on the RHEMA campus.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA, which has 23,000 alumni. There are RHEMA Bible Training Centers in 13 other nations of the world: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand.
?Brother Hagin traveled and ministered throughout the United States and Canada as part of his goal to raise funds to underwrite the Training Center. The best tribute we can give him is to keep that going forever,? said Rev. Hagin Jr.
Rev. Hagin is survived by his wife, Oretha; two children, Kenneth Hagin Jr. and Pat Harrison; 5 grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren.
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Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, founder of international ministries dies
By KELLY KURT Associated Press
9/19/2003 11:06:00 AM
TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, who started preaching at age 17 and grew his congregation into an international ministry, died Friday morning at age 86.
Hagin had been hospitalized in a cardiac intensive care unit since Sunday, when he collapsed at home. He died at 7 a.m., a spokesman said.
An exact cause of death was not immediately known.
Hagin's ministry included Rhema Bible Training Centers in 14 nations and been announced.
Rhema churches in more than 110 countries. The Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, where his ministry was based, has 8,000 members.
His ministry began when he said God miraculously healed him of a deformed heart and incurable blood disease.
"He wrote in his Bible, 'The Bible says it, I believe it and that settles it!' " said his son, the Rev. Kenneth Hagin Jr., the pastor at Rhema Bible Church and executive vice president of Kenneth Hagin Ministries.
"He preached what he lived," the younger Hagin said. "His great legacy of faith will live on in the countless lives that have been healed, touched and changed through his ministry."
Hagin's ministry was part of a nationwide healing revival in the 1950s and '60s. A native of McKinney, Texas, he moved to the Tulsa area in 1966.
He founded Rhema Bible Training Center USA in 1974, and it now has 23,000 alumni.
From the start, he used the media of the day to reach his parishioners.
His Faith Library Publications has more than 65 million books in print. The ministry has a weekly television program called "Rhema Praise" and a radio program, "Faith Seminar of the Air," which also appears on the Internet.
In 1979, he founded the Rhema Prayer and Healing Center to provide a place for the sick to come and build their faith.
He was known for his preaching and teachings on faith.
"Our lives personally were changed by hearing him speak and reading his books," the Revs. Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty, pastors at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, said in a statement.
Hagin went to bed Saturday feeling well, according to a news release from his ministry. He sat at the breakfast table Sunday morning, smiled at his wife, Oretha, and then sighed. His head fell to his chest.
Along with his wife and son, Hagin is survived by his daughter, Pat Harrison, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
NOBODY SPEAKS ILL OF THE DEAD AND NEITHER WILL I.
JESSE DUPLANTIS
Another combed back pompador and expensive suit --must be a uniform for these charismatic preachers and teacher types.
I remember seeing him on a TBN show and it was obvious with his slightly just TOO thick Cajun accent that he was trying to be the Justin Wilson of the Charismatic set. Between all the appeals for cash, he was pretty funny. The biggest punchline was when he was asking people like me to send him money. Things had been slow and I just had enough money to pay my rent which was due the next day. IF I sent in all my rent money to him, I would be out in the street and I hadn't seen Jeeeeeeessuuuuuuussssss coming around with rent-free living places or money to pay my rent. With these people, everything is a one-way street, you do all the giving for all of their high living.
READ ON:
Jesse Duplantis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pre-Christian life
Duplantis, a Cajun, was born and raised in Houma, in southeasten Louisiana. He was born in July 1949. Before becoming a Christian, he played in a back-up band for rock groups like Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead[citation. Jesse Duplantis abused hard drugs in the 1970's and was in debt before starting his 'church'.
Popular Books and Sermons
He is known for telling humorous personal stories in his sermons. While some consider him entertaining, others see him as a showboating example of the worst of televangelism. Jesse Duplantis has written many books such as: "Jambalaya for the Soul", "Heaven: Close Encounters of the God Kind"(which feature Jesse's account of infant spirits and a shouting Jesus) as well as "Wanting a God You Can Talk To" and "God Is Not Enough, He's Too Much".
Duplantis' books have been translated into thirteen languages, including Braille, and have sold copies worldwide.[citation needed] In addition, his television broadcast can be seen on major networks in the USA such as ABC, NBC, CBS, TBN, Daystar and LeSEA. His program is also broadcast throughout Australia, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the Middle East.
Criticisms
His critics have called him an anti-intellectual bully (despite his honorary "doctorate") and he has been criticized for his literal views on the Holy Bible. His most serious criticisms revolve around his views on prosperity, preaching a type of "health and wealth" gospel." PROSPERITY GOSPEL
Worldwide Preaching Tour
Dr.(Hon.) Jesse Duplantis is an evangelist who has traveled throughout the world since 1978 preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Actually his preaching generally tends to feature long comedic sketches. He is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries (JDM), which has its international headquarters in America and additional offices in the United Kingdom and Australia. As a result of his efforts, Dr. Duplantis is moderately well known in the evangelical Christian world.
Duplantis' claims about himself
Jesse Duplantis says that he is often told that he is "the only preacher my husband and kids will listen to!" While he likes to be known for his joy and his exuberant, evangelistic spirit, he likes to be "funny" but also "real."
Jesse Duplantis claims that he has always had one vision, one goal and one mission - World Evangelism.
Church founded
In 1997, he and his wife, the Reverend Cathy Duplantis, founded Covenant Church, a local outreach of JDM on the International Headquarters property in Destrehan. In recognition of his "many years of effectively sharing God's message of salvation through Jesus Christ to the world," Jesse Duplantis was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity degree from Oral Roberts University in 1999.
HERE'S WHAT TBN SAYS ABOUT ONE OF THEIR TOP RATED PERFORMERS:
Jesse Duplantis
Jesse Duplantis Ministries
Praise the Lord Host
One of the most unique and loved ministers of our generation, Jesse Duplantis has been sharing his memorable mix of strong, biblical preaching and hilarious life lessons every week on TBN for years. Known throughout the world for his joy and his exuberant, evangelistic spirit, Jesse Duplantis is often told that he is ?the only preacher my husband and kids will watch!? Who watches the Jesse Duplantis program on TBN? People who ?hate preachers? watch the program. Kids who ?don't like church? watch the program. Strong, Bible-believing Christians and people who haven't yet decided where they stand with God tune in to watch Jesse on TBN. Why? It's not just because ?Jesse's funny? and it's not just because ?Jesse's real.? People watch the program because Jesse Duplantis is a true evangelist and revivalist. It's the anointing of Jesus Christ on the evangelist to reach the ?unreachable? and it's the anointing of Jesus Christ on the revivalist to rekindle the fire in believers. People watch because they need the anointing of Jesus ? and Jesus is the message on the Jesse Duplantis program every week. We invite you to tune in whenever you need a touch from God ? or even just a ?face lift? for your soul! You'll be ?uplifted? by Jesse Duplantis' anointed message of joy and faith every week on TBN. "
HE HAS A WEBSITE. His wife is named Cathy.
Strange that almost all of these televangelists have a wife but everyone gets OUTRAGED and SHOCKED if you suggest that Jeeeeeeeessuuuuuus might have had a wife too.
You almost want to believe that this guy might be different than the rest but...
HERE'S WHAT LET US REASON.ORG HAS TO SAY ABOUT HIM:
Jesse Duplantis
A man with a short theology and tall tales
He is known as the ragin cajun coming from Louisiana, and he is a very entertaining and funny man. But when it comes to sound Bible teaching, he is even funnier.
He is a man with more stories than anyone else has in their holster. Unlike his discipler Copeland, there is very little expository teaching from him. Nonetheless, we have another who alters the word to his likin'. Duplantis uses his personal stories to woo his audience into laughter.
And he is funny, but it is not funny what he teaches! Duplantis shows a disdain for doctrine. ?Naturally, the devil tried to shut down this living, breathing Church. He wanted dry bones. He began to take the freshness of God and put Ecclesiastical dogma on it. He used theological understanding to water down the fire.? (Jesse Duplantis, Voice of the Covenant magazine, November 1997, p. 7)
Ecclesiastical dogma is not the same as theology, which means the study of God. The majority of the New Testament written by someone who had great theological understanding, the apostle Paul. Is the Devil using theological understanding to cool us down. Its clear that what you will not hear from his mouth is anything related to theology and consequently understanding. He will mock people who want to be educated avoiding education as a better way to be spirit filled.
Jesse Duplantis encapsulates the radical Pentecostalism (???) of today. He's gone to heaven and received new revelation and has written a book on it. He slays people in the spirit. He yells at the devil and he has never ending tales of the supernatural. He screams ?Jesus. Jesus. JESUS into the convert's ear that any devil would run from the sheer volume. Take the Holy Ghost he says. He speaks in tongues in between stories and yells while he lays hands on them.
He asks -- ?Someone has a liver disorder come forward while the anointing of God is present.? He promises-- ?I guarantee you will be revived after the sermon?(Mar.7, 2000 TBN).
He does not say anything close to being biblically accurate, with statements as-- If God told a lie, it wouldn't be a lie because it would become truth. (Oct. 6, 2000) No a lie is a lie and God ONLY tells the truth, the bible says he cannot lie.
He claims in his plane travels that it has been hit with lightning a number of times. He has quite a story for each one. The Devil was after Jesse and sent some lightning but he missed him. One time it blew a hole in the plane right above him and he got up out of his seat and yelled you missed me Devil. But just to be safe he went out and bought his own plane. Like his discipler Copeland, Duplantis flies to ?protect the anointing.? Go ask someone who flies a plane if lightning can hit a plane and blow holes in them and not affect those on board. This is certainly a story to check out.
Prosperity
He begins by relating the account of Jesus reading from Luke 4:18 and from this text he makes the following comments (taken from The Nov. 1997 Voice of the Covenant magazine, p.5) ?The very first thing on Jesus' agenda was to get rid of poverty! Would you like to know why some people, including ministries, never get out of poverty? Its not because they aren't smart. Its not because they don't have windows of opportunity. Its because they're not anointed. If you're not anointed, poverty will follow you all the days of your life. His first objective was to get rid of poverty.?
Obviously, He consider poverty a worse problem than blind eyes or salvation. And he just condemned the apostle Paul who said he was 1 Cor.4:11-12 ?To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure.? Peter is condemned as being not anointed because in Acts 3:6 Peter said to the man at the gate of the temple ?Silver and gold I do not have.? I guess the apostles did not know yet what Duplantis and the rest of his friends know today. Maybe its just TV story time.
Duplantis has a lot to say about money. Many of his preaching and stories are about money, his.
"People say, ?Well, I believe God. I don't believe in that prosperity stuff.? It's in the Bible. ?Well, people got greedy with it.? Well, that's true, but you don't throw the baby out with the bath water. If poverty is so wonderful, how come Jesus left? He ain't poor no more!? I've had many people say, you can't believe like that! Well, bless God, watch me! What faith will do for one man, faith will do for another. ? You watch me and this Mr. Cessna man here, I'll be the first preacher to buy a brand new, spankin' new, brand new jet that will fly all over this world. Get that sucker out of that glass hanger!...You can say all you want, Jack. I'll fly by your house and tip the wing. I'm gonna get something for Jesus. I'm gonna do something for God? (Jesse Duplantis Show, TBN, 9/ 8/97)
Jesse is approached by someone in the media in Louisiana tells him ?I'm wearing my wealth well.. I'm not a broke man? (TBN Sept.13, 2006). He then tells him that he would not have a job if it wasn't for him.
Jesse also boasts, ?I can honestly say that the Lord has done everything I have prayed for ? (p.44 Heaven Close Encounters of the God kind). One hundred percent answered prayers is quite a feat since there is not one person born beside Jesus that could says this. but nothing stops Jesse from saying what he wants.
His exegesis on mark 4, this is the most important chapter in the Bible, ?Now the Lord told us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, didn't He? It costs billions of dollars to do that, between the satellite communication hookup and everything! Well, how come we haven't done it yet? Because we've lost verse 4, we've lost verse 5, we've lost verse 7. Every once in a while we get blessed on verse 8. But just think if you got blessed 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 4; 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 5; 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 7? every time you give God $50, He gives you $5000. Every time you give Him $100, He gives you $10,000. Every time you give Him $1000, He gives you $100,000. Every time you give him $100,000, $10 million. Before you know it, that building is yours, because they will sell it for the right price. You pick the denomination, God picks the multiplication.? ?So it's up to you what you give. But you see if you forget what you sow and do not name your seed, then the devil will steal your harvest and you don't know - 'God, the devil's stolen' - you can't figure out what is happening...I had a man say, ?You look so prosperous, Brother Jesse.? I said, ?Well, I'm backed by a very rich Jew. Yeah!! Yes, I am! His Name is Jesus. I'm backed by Him.? (Jesse Duplantis, TBN, Sept. 21, 1998) What a deal. Get in line its starts behind HIM. And don't forget to name your money that your giving otr the Devil will get it; sounds biblical doesn't it?
?You are God's child why can't you have God's stuff.? He justifies it by saying ?many people don't like it but that's what you said.? (12/121/99) As God is reduced to Duplantis' servant, like his discipler can ask for anything. And why not, as a Copeland disciple, Copeland states ?The powerful force of the spiritual world that creates the circumstances around us is controlled by the words of the mouth? (The Laws of Prosperity, Kenneth Copeland, Ft. Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1974).
Jesse Duplantis can even lead the people into cooperate decreeing as they repeat after him. ?I declare and Decree the anointing of increase? to his congregation. (12/121/99)
Where does it teach this in Scripture?
Duplantis claims the anointing of increase is so much on our lives that our washing machines don't break down (Apr.29, 2001 TBN). This could be better than no more Maytag repairmen. Duplantis can get away with saying just about anything he wants because he makes people laugh.
So Duplantis can say ?What faith will do for one man will do for another? (Jesse Duplantis Jan. 22, 2000 Lesea). The force of faith is all we need to get what we want. Isn't that wonderful, he will do for you what he did for Jesse. Does Jesus say our desires will be met in everything we want. Or does Jesus teach our needs will be met and ONLY if our desires are God's desires he can entrust us with them. You decide.
Bustin' up the Devil
Duplantis states,?I will not fight the devil, I will walk on him.? Dirt diggin days are over spring up, increase.? ?Even the smallest amount of faith is enough to kick the Devils brains out?(Nov.29, 2000). So if we all have faith we can all be bustin the Devil up. I wonder how all these people that attend these meetings explain they're continuing to battle the Devil all the time, does it mean they don't have faith? Or does it really mean that what Duplantis is saying about faith is not right. Read Jude's warning of people that speak like this. Here's another example of Duplantis putting words in Jesus' mouth when the devil came to Jesus to tempt him to change stone to bread is described by Jesse as ?Jesus said NO! I don't take orders from a low classed most low barely angelic fool? (Aug. 12 2001). Yea, that's how Jesus spoke. Read Jude and 2 Peter 2 that warn about those who speak irreverent of angelic beings, this is not a good example to follow.
Duplantis seems to have a face to face battle with the Devil even when it isn't him? ?The lord spoke to me one time while I was preachin' he said make me laugh, how do you make God laugh Benny (maybe telling tall tales like this one)...he said the gift that I gave you let it come out of you .. so I said ok so I began to minister and I tell you what I have made God laugh.( ed. no comment! You get the point) many many times. One time the funniest was I'm embarrassed to say this, this is when I first started preaching I knew enough to be dangerous (no difference now) you know how that is. We didn't stay in hotels in those days,..Stayed in peoples homes...I got this apartment, I got this bedroom and I always take my bible before I go to sleep? when anyway I fell off to sleep with the bible hit me on the chest and I woke up and there's this big gray object in the corner and it would move. That scared me but I wasn't getting off that bed, I said no I ain't getting off this bed, I said I rebuke you, you devil from hell get out of here get out of here?I spit and hollard and screamed and rebuke all until 5, 5:30 till my throat was horse. And the light began to come through the window and it was a raincoat hangin' over a hat rack. I can't believe I that I actually rebuked the raincoat for 3 hours. Now here's the funny part I got mad at God, I said why didn't you tell me? He said ?Jesse that's the funniest thing I ever saw .Rebuking a raincoat, boy.?
(Nuf said) It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic that people believe this and so does he.
Conversations with God
When Duplantis was a guest on Benny Hinn's program in early 2,000, he got into quite a discussion. ?I'm going to say something that may sound controversial. Not long ago I was in prayer in my own study, and I know the Lord just like you know the Lord. And man I went in there and started off my day with the lord and said 'Lord Lord how you doing today. It's going to be a great day. And I noticed the lord wasn't acting right, ?cause I know God, you know when your child is not felling good, right. Hinn, right! You know when something, you may not know what it is but he wasn't acting right for lack of a better term. I know God I know him and I know the fulness of his presence , and I know him. And I said something' wrong. And this is what I'm saying, it wasn't with me. And then it hit me, I said Lord you had a bad day? Now watch this (whenever faith teacher says this you need to pay careful attention, here it comes) I said and he said ?Yea my children have been disobeying me? then it dawned on me. I said somebody hurt you today, I said lord I don't ever want to hurt you anymore so lord I'm going to cancel all my appointments and all this stuff that we call ministry and I'm gonna sit here and I don't know how to say this God for a lack of better term, till you fell better. Cause so many people hurt him that day? Lord I said I'm just going to bless you I'm gonna praise you I'm gonna just call your name. And it dawned on me and the Lord went ?Thank you Jesse.? (Interview-This is Your day, B. Hinn Feb. 2,000)
This is more than controversial--God is having a bad day! It appears God becomes more human than we are. Jesse is going to console God for everyone's else's disobedience. God is called the God of all comfort, He sent to us the Holy Spirit, who is the comforter for us on earth. But now God needs comfort because he's bummed. And he gets his comfort from Duplantis of all people! God does not need anything to sustain Him, not food, water, air to breath. He does not need help or comfort from anyone, especially Duplantis who himself is disobedient.
(Another time Duplantis relates on his trip to heaven and how Jesus is tearful in heaven and Jesse puts his hand on him to comfort the Lord. Jesse says I didn't realize how much he needs us, I always thought we needed him, God says ?But I need you, boy, I need you Jesse?)
First Duplantis starts with the wrong relationship by asking how the Lord is doing. God searches our heart; we do not search His. He uses the illustration of when a parent knows a child and reverses it. Duplantis is going to solve God's emotional distress personally. Why would God say this to any human? Does God have a bad day or do we? This is so ludicrous to be accepted by those who claim to be SPIRIT filled. Duplantis makes God to have a fallen human character in not acting right. He is the I Am, eternal all sufficient perfect one. I can only wonder who Duplantis is having a conversation with if this is how it works. It was not God-- at least according the HOLY BIBLE.
Duplantis explains how God gives and takes life, ?When someone dies, the opposite occurs. God is there to receive that breath of life back to Himself. When God breathes out, things come alive. When He inhales, that life goes back into Him. Think about that.? ?When my mother died, I heard her breathe her last breath. God spoke to me then and said, ?I just did to your mama the same thing I did to Adam.? God had breathed life into my mother when she was coming into this earth. He then received that life given breath back unto Himself as she was going out? (p.15 Heaven Close encounters of the God Kind.).
So then no one is in hell if there spirit goes back to God? This is not what the Bible describes about death and Duplantis makes no distinction from his story and the truth of the Bible. In the Old Testament they went to Hades, even though what Duplantis is quoting is from the Old Testament. This is not the same as God breathing into Adam; as his life came directly from God, ours does not come from God breathing into us. So who is Duplantis hearing from if it contradicts the Bible?
Here is one of the more serious problems in his book close Encounters of the God kind when he went to heaven he states ?I saw new lives of little babies singing and flying around God's Throne. It seemed to me that babies just came out of the breath of God. They looked like they were wearing nightgowns. They flew into the presence of Jehovah. I realized they were new souls who came from the thoughts of God. God thinks kids. Now I know why those newborn babies are so precious. Babies are gifts given to us directly from the Throne of God. I heard them saying to God, "Can I be a spirit? Would you send me to the earth so I can be a spirit? I want to be a redeemed person. Can I be a spirit?" And while I watched, I heard that mighty sound of God's power, Whooosh! I saw these babies leave the Throne by the power of God. (Heaven Close encounters of the God Kind p.119).
If they are life then they are spirit, human spirits. Are we to believe that those being brought into existence can ask this. Not only is this on a fairy tale level, but this is Mormon doctrine where we all exist as spirit before we incarnate on earth. His Throne room revelation of babies asking to be sent to earth to be redeemed people is contradictory to reality. Obviously not all are saved on earth, yet if God is sending them to earth he is damning them purposely. Because they have asked to be sent to earth to be redeemed, and are not. In Jesse' imagination there is no problem with this but the Bible is quite different. It is the Kabala a Jewish mystical book that teaches that the soul is pre-existent, before conception (The Kabalah, p. 17). What is even more unfortunate is that this does not bother those who are entertained by Duplantis and they will purposely ignore these made up myths for what ever reason.
Jesse Duplantis' Journey to Heaven?
An angelic encounter or a Biblical one.
Duplantis' has a story beyond all others. He has gone to heaven and has quite a tale to tell. Unlike the apostle Paul who kept quiet for 14 years Jesse stays quiet for 9 years after the Lord tells him to tell everyone, and he agreed, he then disobeyed. Do we need Duplantis to tell us Jesus is coming back? But he says this is the very reason he was brought to heaven, to let us know he's really coming.
Duplantis is one who believes what you say is what you get. Prior to his trip to heaven Duplantis says in his book ?I had read in the Bible where God had shown himself to people, so I decided I wanted to see the Lord? (p.36, Heaven Close Encounters of the God Kind). He was later told by a minister that God was going to grant him a visitation. It happened one night when he went to bed he felt wind blowing out his eyes and under his fingernails and out the pores of his skin. Duplantis says ?I lost all strength and felt pinned to my bed.? Then a voice spoke audibly ?You asked to see me now turn around? this was said a few times because he did not look. His wife was still asleep beside him while he carried on a conversation with this being in his room.
Are we to believe that Duplantis prayed two years for this experience, God answers by personally showing up in his bedroom and Jesse won't look to see the answer to his prayer! He even disobeyed the audible voice of God when he was present -so God just shows up and leaves. Latter he went down to the kitchen to make a sandwich from the fridge and carried on a conversation where God said he was glad he did not turn around, ?because you wouldn't be able to handle my glory?(p.42). So here we have God who showed up for Jesse to see him, telling Duplantis to turn around to look and then He then contradicts himself by saying He was glad He didn't. Then why show up in the first place? Who is Jesse hearing from if it contradicts the Bible .
How different this is from the saints who did see the Lord such as the prophet Isaiah who said ?Woe is me for I have seen the Lord.?
Duplantis has had numerous visitations, there are times when angels visit him, one time they filled the seats where the choir usually sits, he describes them as shafts of light (p.54) he goes on to say ...They walked down out of the choir section and off the platform. . .As they walked down through the church, everybody just fell on the floor under the power of God. Boom! I was the only person left standing.? What does this mean that he is the only not falling under God's power? Duplantis gives no reason for the angels manifesting themselves, they brought no message from the Lord, there only mission was to slay the people in the church, all except Jesse.
How do we test a spiritual experience to see if it is from God, by the spirit? No. The Bible tells us to test the spirits, but not just by the spirit, we test the spirits by the objective word of God. And if someone does not speak according to this word they have no light in them. Does God still speak today, certainly, but he does not give new doctrine or more information on a subject that even the apostle Paul dared not speak on. This does not stop Jesse Duplantis or a host of other Charismatics to write books on their special tours from ?the other side.? Paul says it was crime to speak of the things he saw in heaven, Jesse goes out and tours the country and writes a book. So did he see what Paul did?
When Isaiah saw the Lord in a visions he was undone, when John the apostle saw the Lord he fell at his feet as if dead. When Paul went to heaven he kept his mouth shut, when Duplantis sees the Lord it is like any other person.
In his hotel room on August 1988 he ?felt a suction as if I was being pulled up out of the room? which he describes as? zooming along at a phenomenal rate of speed, being carried in something like a cable car. It was a chariot without a horse? He notices a ? blond-headed angel? and asks, ?Where are we going?? He smiled and said, ?You have an appointment with the Lord God Jehovah?(ibid. p.69).
From his trip to heaven he says heaven is a planet. And why not, being a Copeland disciple Copeland says ?You don't think Earth was first, do you? Huh? Well, you don't think that God made man in His image then made Earth in some other image. There's not anything under this whole sun that's new. Are you hearing what I'm saying, This is all a copy. It's a copy of home. It's a copy of the mother planet.?(Following the faith of Abraham #01-3001 Audio tape side 1) So God lives on a planet, just like earth. Duplantis also finds children singing and carrying little harps. Flowers stepped on that don't crush; we find there are horses and dogs, cats there. The whole scene is like an improved earth.
Duplantis is ?still dressed in my regular clothes, jeans and a shirt, but I noticed that many people coming from those vehicles were wearing beautiful, glorious robes? He notices that ? some leaves off those trees, put the leaves up to their faces and breathed in, smelling them.?Then I saw other people who didn't have on robes; they were wearing gowns. They started walking toward the city, but they seemed to get weak.? He asked the angel, ?What's happening?? ?He said, ?Some of them have not lived the life they should. They believe in God and love Jesus, but they didn't live to their fullest potential.? Then I asked, ?Will they still be able to go before God's Throne?? ?Yes, God is merciful to them,? he said. ?But they have to be prepared to stand in the presence of the Almighty.?(p.72)
People are weak and will have to work to make themselves ready to stand in the presence of God in heaven! Was not Christ's perfect work sufficient for us to be changed and be able to come into the presence of God with no guilt. Instead some of us will need to make ourselves ready to face God as we are in heaven. The Bible says we will be like Him when we see him. One scripture should be sufficient to dismiss this notion presented, Hebrews 12:23 ?to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.? All who are in the book of life will be perfected. However even Jesse is told by the angel to ?Eat this fruit so you will be able to withstand the glory of God.? The angel who brought him picked him up and said, ?Come, come, my son.? Then he took that Man over to those trees and said, ?Eat of this fruit. and smell these leaves.? I realized that those leaves were for the healing of the nations that the Apostle John spoke of in Revelation 22:1,2.? I take this to be the tree of life, imagine an untransformed man who is not staying in heaven doing this.
He later meets Abraham, Abraham walked over to us. He gave the goblet to me and said, ?Hey, Jesse! Drink this.? ?Then he told the angel, ?Take him. He must stand before the Most High God.? There was a fragrance in the air, so I asked the angel, ?What's that smell?? He said, ?It's the fragrance of God. He's in everything here.? I believe he meant the fragrance was all through heaven?(p.81) Now we have goblets to drink from and a God fragrance. The only fragrance the Bible mentions is ?the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God? (Rev 8:4)
Ever wonder what the Book of Life would be like? Here Jesses describes it for you, ?Right inside the city I saw the Book of Life. It is huge, about five feet five inches vertically and one and one-half inches thick. It looked like it is bound in a gold lame cloth. It has an inscription in it, etched in deeply? (p.87)
Duplantis decribes Jesus as a ? shaft of light. He was so glorious! He turned toward me, and I fell at His feet. I said, reverently, ?Oh, God!? He said, ?I'm here.? As I was kneeling down, I noticed Jesus' feet looked like burnished brass. I thought there would be scars in His hands and feet. But it wasn't like He had been cut and scarred. I could see the holes in His feet. They were so big - about the size of a nickel (Heaven Close encounters of the God kind p.88).
Duplantis comments ?Jesus was taller than I thought He would be. I would guess Him to be from five feet eleven inches to six feet one inch. I thought at first His hair was white; but when He turned His head, I caught a glance and saw that it was light brown. When He looked at me, the glory of God was emanating from Him.I said, ?Jesus!? He said simply, ?Do you like this place?? I said, ?Yes, Sir?(ibid. p.89).
Why are You doing this?? ?I want you to go back and tell My people I'm coming.? ?But they won't believe me,? I said.? They didn't believe it for centuries, but I came, and I am coming again.? Then He put His hand on my shoulder. I'll never forget it. He looked at me and said, ?There are many things you shall see and learn here, but I have brought you here so that you will go tell My people I'm coming.?I said, ?They know that.? ?No, they don't know that. I brought you here so that you would go tell them I'm coming. Do you hear Me? I'm coming. Go tell them? (ibid. p.90).
Jesus put His arm around me as He watched a man walking toward us who was wearing a crown. Then He said to me, ?I want you to meet another king.? ?I recognized him as the man that I had seen earlier. He had reddish hair and a red beard. I knew immediately it was David. As he approached us, he spoke to Jesus, ?To the great King of kings I bow? Jesus said, ?Jesse, I want you to meet the king of Israel.? The Lord said, ?Take Jesse to his home. Show him what I have prepared for him. Then bring him to My Throne. I must go. My Father wants Me.? Then He turned and walked off.? I looked at the man Jesus had introduced and said, ?Hello.? I didn't know what else to say. ?Your name is David, isn't it?? (ibid. p.93) Jesse describes David as ? the only one I saw with a crown on his head other than Jesus? (ibid. p.99).
Yet the Bible mentions crowns for all (2 Tim. 4:8; Jm.1:12; 1 Pt.5:4; Rev.2:10, 3:11) Whether these are literal or symbolic can be discussed but to say David is the only one besides Jesus is a little bit of a stretch from the truth.
In a conversation with Jesse King David ends up saying to him ?that when he allowed God to come through him, he was able to write anointed messages like, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He did use Psalm 23 as an example as he explained, ? I allowed God and the anointing to come through in that song. In other songs I sang strongly about my troubles. I think I should have allowed more of the answer to come through, instead of the complaining. Those weren't his exact words, but I knew that was what he meant. Then he added, ? I wish I had written more songs about God's answers than about my problems.?
David could have allowed more of the answer and the anointing to come through his songs instead of his complaining? Does this mean all that David wrote was not as inspired. This is all philosophical babble having nothing to do with the truth God's word is to be. What I see is a consistency with all those who have visitations or supernatural encounters, they all end up demeaning God's word by adding or changing the intent. For the Bible says in 2 Tim. 3:15-17 ?All Scripture is inspired by God?, so if David was wrong in what he wrote so was God. This sounds more like a charismatic friend Duplantis is having a conversation with than David.
?Then he took me to my house. When I walked up, I looked at the grounds. There was a water fountain in the front yard and manicured grass.? ?Everything was decorated and the furniture was just the kind I liked.? I wonder if there be refrigerators in heaven and stoves too. After all Duplantis has described animals trees flowers, that heaven sounds just like earth except with improvements. Obviously we won't have to pay for the electricity. David then tells him ?Jesse, the earth is God's creation. His taste there is His taste here. Every desire you could possibly think of has been met to your specification for your home, plus God put a few of His own (Heaven Close encounters of the God kind p.103)
Jesse's view is that we get what we want on earth and in heaven. Jesus went to prepare a place for us just the way we like it.
As Jesse near the throne hears a ? massive sound, Whoosh!? ...?Then I saw God's finger barely move and when it moved, an angel that was flying near Him was thrown up against a wall. Bam! It didn't hurt the angel, but I felt if God just barely moved, a universe could be annihilated (ibid. p.115) I guess God better not move otherwise angels and people will be flying everywhere. Looks like slain in the spirit goes on in heaven in even a greater calamity' than earth.Clearly this is a justification for their own meetings.
Jesse sees Jesus comes out of the glory of the Father and begins to preach to the assembled crowds ?He was a preacher full of victory, shouting and hollering!? and Jesus is a preachin' machine. This is what the prophet Isaiah says of him while he was on earth. Isa. 42:2 ?He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.? Now here we have a description of how Jesus conducted himself. He wasn't a fire brimstone shoutin' screamin' preaching machine as Jesse Duplantis describes. He didn't have to be loud, people were captivated by the content and the attitude He spoke by. And to whom is Jesus preaching too in heaven? Everyone in heaven is supposed to be saved! The Bible says he shall not raise his voice in the street. Duplantis says Jesus is a preachin machine, oh well just another small difference, right! After all it says his voice is like many waters.
Duplantis is privy to things the apostle Paul said was illegal to tell. Because of what God showed Paul, he kept his mouth shut. Duplantis seems to have had a close encounter but hardly a Biblical one. So what was it?
Here is one of the more serious problems ?I don't know how long I was there, but I felt that I couldn't stand it much longer. That's why I think that I was there in the flesh - that my body was physically there? (ibid. p.119). Paul said in the third person about himself he didn't know whether he was in the body or not, he couldn't explain it. But Jesse can.also
If Duplantis was there in his flesh this also contradicts the word of God (The Bible) that says flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom, he is fallen man not transformed to go to heaven in the body, but Jesse enters no problem. Jesse then receives a revelation of the Trinity ?But that form of a Man (who was Jesus) as He walked toward that energy would transform back into Spirit. I understood how the Trinity are Three, yet They are One. Still lying on the floor, I turned my head toward that angel and asked, ?Where's the Holy Spirit?? ?He is on the earth,? he said. Of course! Later when I thought back to the incident, I felt so stupid to have asked such a dumb question at the Throne of God. I'm still embarrassed about it. (p.119) In his interview on TBN he responded ?oh yea I know that, I know that.? When in fact he did not.
Can the One God be separated spatially. In any event, the Holy Spirit is not in heaven and according to Duplantis and we, or he can ask some very dumb questions in heaven.
But David who Jesse met in heaven said ?Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there (Ps 139:7-8). David was near when this was said and had nothing to say contrary. This all makes for good story telling but not bible teaching. Not only this the bible tells us God is unchangeable but Jesse says from direct revelation of being in heaven
I Tim. 6:16: ?Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.? John 1:18: ?No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.?
From the scripture we can see that anyone who claims that they have seen God in the way that Jesse has is not telling the truth.
After Dupantis says to Jesus, ?I'll do anything for You.? He smiled at me and said, ?I chose you. No one else wanted you, and I need you, Jesse.?I said, ?Okay. I'll tell every soul I meet that You're coming.? He said, ?I brought you here for this.? Then He said, ?Now you must go back?(p.131). Does God need us? If anyone dies will God's plan be unaccomplished? Look at how this conversation is framed ?No one else wanted you, and I need you.? Is this how God does his choosing? Duplantis certainly has not lived up to what he told Jesus to his face, as he did not say anything about this for many years, and yet he said he would tell everyone-- hardly a promise he could live up to anyway.
Jesus again affirms for Dupantis to tell everyone he's coming and Duplantis ? My destiny was for this lesson. I thought, That's it? That's why He brought me here? I was disappointed to learn that my trip to heaven was for this lesson. I thought I was going to learn something nobody had ever heard.? He's got to be kiddin', most of his book is things no one heard, and quite imaginative on his part. Personally I don't think Jesse went anywhere but if he did then this is a very serious matter, as he has contradicted the Word of God and his revelation numerous times.
The clincher is when Jesse tells us that the name of Jehovah is used in heaven. As the angel says ?You have an appointment with the Lord God Jehovah? (ibid. p.69). The angel also fell down, saying, ?The Most High God Jehovah! Hosanna in the highest!? (ibid. p.70) ?The great God Jehovah!? (ibid. p.81) ?The angels with wings were circling the Throne, singing and shouting, ?The Great God Jehovah!? (p.114) This is a BIIIG booboo on Duplantis' part. The name Jehovah is a made up name, it is a slang word put together by a Roman Catholic monk who took the vowels and the Tetragrammaton and made a new word. Even the Jewish Encyclopedia says it is a mis-pronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is grammatically impossible. The form ?Jehovah? is a philological impossibility.? (The Jewish Encyclopedia p. 160) So when Duplantis is saying the angels are praising and using this name it is just nonsense. So where was Jesse taken to?
Before Jesse is sent back home to earth Jesus explains how He dreads the day when He has to send some of the creation He loves to hell. ?I wanted to reach out and comfort Him, so I put my hand on the Lord. . .I could tell that Jesus was hurting? (p.127). The One who created Jesse and keeps all things by His power (Heb. 1:3) feels sad and is hurting and Jesse is going to comfort God Almighty! That not a comforting thought!
The faith zone
Recently, back on earth, Duplantis says, ?When you hear people preach against faith, you can take it to the bank they're not living in the faith zone.?Duplantis seems to dismiss that he could be teaching something other than biblical faith, so he is beyond criticism in this area. (Interesting that he mentions taking it to the bank, since most of his messages are about money).
Duplantis is able to rebuke Satan for anything he is doing to God's people ( if this were so then all of God's people would have what he speaks, they do not) ?I speak healing today, I also speak salvation today for all those who are watching? (Aug.6, 2001). All means all, but do all get healed and saved?
Duplantis then gives a gospel message, this is about as close as he gets. With no prior teaching related to sin nor why Christ died he says, ?you see when you give your life to God you believe with your heart you confess with your mouth that Jesus rose from the dead, let me tell you something it is imperative that you believe in the power of the resurrection cause if Jesus rose than you rise glory to God that's what its all about.? Is this what someone needs to be saved, does this help them understand God's glorious gospel that saves men from sin? Few are the preachers of yesteryear that thundered true gospel messages centered about the cross and the cost for sin.
?Faith will create attention? in your soul it breaks the piece between what is and what ought to be.!? (Aug 6, 2001) Thy words were heard and I am come for they words, I want to deal with that statement tonight? but if your not sayin'nothin' then the lord has made a trip for nothing.? (much like Copeland's statement that Jesus is the high priest over my words) Duplantis states of God, ?I have come for your words, what, God can't do something until we say it ladies and gentleman?(Aug. 12 2001).
This is rank heresy and the final conclusion of those who are of the word faith denomination. Did God need someone to speak when he created the whole universe by himself? Does God need a creature to make his will happen?
Genesis Revelations
Duplantis has copied Creflo Dollars sermon (Our Equality with God Through Righteousness 1/21/2001) repeating the same false teaching. If one believes where Creflo got it from, it was Holy Spirit revelation to him. Now we have two? faith teachers wrong? as they contradict God's clear word on this. I'm sure more will follow as this revelation spreads like wildfire through the word faith camp as they consistently borrow each others stories.
In joking Duplantis fashion speaking of what God was thinking in the garden ?He didn't have the foggiest idea what a horse was, he said maybe Adam might know what this is. He is made in my image and my likeness lets see what he says it is, because he has a speaking spirit just like God the speaking spirit.? ?He brought them, that means he carried them?what do you call that Adam, do you see that he brought them. He didn't say horsy get down the road and trot down there and find out what your name is, bird fly down there ? no there not living. God is expecting Adam to do the same thing he did, ?speak spirit!?
?Watch this, I don't want you to believe this because I said it, He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them watch this and whatsoever Adam called ever what, say it louder, living creature, that was their name. When he brought them they weren't livin ladies and gentleman, Adam did the exact same thing that God did when he formed him out of the dust of the ground and God said speak spirit. Now he said now your made in my image now you create. And he made Eve he could have made the whole complete universe but he said no you'll create SPEAK spirit! Don't tell me a women can't preach she is speaking spirit.?
My Bible says in Gen.2:19 God brought the animals to Adam to him to name them alive ?And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.? Adam did not give life to the creatures anymore than he did to Eve. Furthermore if we go back to Gen.1 v.20 God calls them living creatures, and let the birds fly. V:24- 25 God said ?Let the earth bring forth the living creatures according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and the beast of the earth made the beast.? These creatures were alive before Adam was even made, as God said for them to multiply on the 5th day (v.22). That would be more than difficult to do if your not alive. But Duplantis goes on to say ?and Adam said horse, cow, sheep and all these manikin looking things became living creatures. Don't tell me you can't do something? your created in the very express image, so let me help you -speak spirit. What are you saying, your words so powerful that God's got to send angels to pick them up.? ?Words are most powerful things upon the earth? (Aug 12, 2001).
Here's how Jesse explains it worked, ?Womens seed spoke just as God spoke Adam into existence as Adam spoke those animals into existence Mary spoke Jesus into existence. Don't tell me a women cannot preach the gospel they got Jesus here without us.? ?And women's seed, what was that. When she spoke a speaking spirit came out of Mary and got Jesus on the ground. I guess we can now change Mary full of grace, to Mary full of power. Like Creflo, Jesse interprets man becoming? a living soul as another speaking spirit? in conformity to the word faith teaching. This is proof these men borrow each others stories as there are many instances that can be cited of how someone's new revelation runs circles through the faith camp as each uses it to further their ministry.
?If you go over to Corinthians Paul says this ?I would like to speak to as spiritual but you are carnal because you are babes, y'know what the word babes mean, ready-- non speaking?in other words babes are non speaking spirits.?
Is Duplantis saying they could not speak? Obviously his intent is to show they can't speak things into existence. Is this what Paul meant? Lets look at how the Bible defines the word in1 Cor. 3:3. The word for babes means fitted for the flesh sarx, one who lives according to the flesh kata (from Robertson's Word Pictures). It means they were simple-minded, immature Christians, childish. They could not receive the spiritual word because they had not grown. Thayer's Lexicon states it means an infant, little child a minor, not of age metaphorically: childish, untaught, unskilled. The word for ?speaking' is used prior to this ?And I, brethren, not could speak in Greek is laleo meaning a prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. utter words: say, speak, talk, tell, utter. It is a completely different word.
What is interesting is the twist on this as Paul is rebuking them for following men and being divisive in this. This is what the word faith movement fosters. By presenting their unbiblical faith formula they make people babes and followers of themselves. Those involved do not see this, anymore than those whom Paul had addressed.
It seems Jesse can speak all he wants but who really are the ones that are babes in spiritual understanding? Those that do not take the word the way it was written, changing it the way they would like it to be.
I have said many times that the whole heresy of the word faith movement begins with the error of what image and likeness in man actually means. We have barely scratched the surface into what this mans teachings are about; word faith would only identify a small portion of what he teaches. I don't think there is much choice in deciding whether this was a real trip to heaven when we look at the Biblical record. Considering that it was Jesus who specifically took Duplantis to heaven, he comes back teaching outrageous false statements of Adam in the garden, and changing the Genesis record. It is amazing that someone can say these things and even write a book and have any portion of Christianity accept this. Yes Jesse is right, Jesus is coming back, as stories like Duplantis' become a sure sign.
ONE LAST PERSPECTIVE ON MR. DUPLANTIS AND HIS TEACHINGS:
JESSE DUPLANTIS
American Television and Audience Evangelist
BIRTH - DEATH N/A
EDUCATION Honorary Doctorate, Oral Roberts University, 1999
MINISTRIES Jesse Duplantis Ministries, Destrehan, Louisiana
Voice Of The Covenant, magazine Jesse Duplantis, TV ministry
MAJOR WORKS The Ministry Of Cheerfulness
Heaven - Close Encounters Of The God Kind
God Is Not Enough, He's Too Much!
Breaking The Power Of Natural Law
Jambalaya For The Soul
Wanting A God You Can Talk To
Beginning his ministry in 1978, almost a generation after Kenneth Hagin and ten years after Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis continues the Positive Confession, Word of Faith, health, wealth and prosperity doctrines originally fostered by his mentors. Considering himself a Christian comedian, he believes, and has stated, that God requested of him, "Jesse, make Me laugh." Apparently Jesse Duplantis considers himself to be so original in comedic thought, that he is able to think of jokes that God does not already know! Jesse Duplantis also continues the tradition of claiming direct revelations and conversations with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. He also claims that he was transported to heaven where he met Abraham, king David, the apostle Paul, Jesus Christ and saw the feet of God as He sat on His throne. He also claims to have seen proto-babies flying around God's throne asking God to make them spirits and send them to earth to be redeemed persons, reminiscent of Mormon "pre-existence" doctrine.
Jesse Duplantis teaches the Positive Confession wordspeak doctrine, teaching that believers have the right to demand that God provide them with their desires and visualizations; most of which are monetary wealth and physical health. Jesse Duplantis claims that God wants all believers to be wealthy, healthy, self-assured and with a positive attitude of self-esteem. He also teaches the concept of planting seed, or a version of Oral Roberts' "Seed Faith," [ Giving and Receiving ] by which a believer contributes a sum of money and receives back a multiple increase from God. Of course it is assumed that the money will be given to Jesse Duplantis and his ministry.
Just like in the ministry of Kenneth Copeland, untold millions are given to Jesse Duplantis by Christians who do not really know what he teaches in relation to the Bible. They simply believe everything that Jesse Duplantis says, not exercising any discernment, because they do not know the Scriptures and do not study the Bible to verify the truth or falsity of what he claims. The Christian church is without discernment and, as such, is unable to see the difficulties presented by the teachings of Jesse Duplantis.
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MAJOR DOCTRINAL ISSUES
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Visions and Transports To Heaven
Jesse Duplantis
THE NIGHT VISITOR
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The Extraordinary Mystical Transports & Angelic Visitations to Jesse Duplantis Word of Faith "Evangelist", by Robert S. Liichow
Copyright ? 1998-2000 by Rev. Robert S. Liichow. All rights reserved
NOTE: Empasis by the author, Robert S. Liichow
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While Rev. Duplantis was ministering in Jonesville, Louisiana. One night just before midnight (he looked at the clock) he was startled by the following experience:
"I looked up and saw standing at the foot of my bed the biggest character I had ever seen in my life. I hadn't heard anybody come into the room. He just stood there looking at me. It was an angel of the Lord! He was huge. He looked about seven feet tall and had blond hair longer than mine. He glowed. It was such a shock to see him standing there, I could have blown a hole in the wall getting out if I could have made myself move. He said, "I have been sent by the Lord. You are under much stress, and the Lord sent me to tell you to sleep."
The Ancient of Days dispatches one of His divine messengers to one of His servants. Is the message about the coming Messiah (Luke. 1:35) or some other world shaking event about to take place? No, this angel has been dispatched to tell Rev. Duplantis to go to sleep because he is under much stress! When I began this section I started by examining the basic tenor of the dreams, visions, and angelic appearances in the Bible. When you consider when and why the Lord moved in such a manner in the Old and New Testaments you see it was always for a very specific reason. All of the Biblically recorded events were profound in importance. These modern "" visitations do not come anywhere near those revealed to us in Scripture. On what basis does Rev. Duplantis know that this is angel and angel of the Lord? Here an angel is sent to tell a man that he is under stress and to get some sleep! A little flaccid when compared to the Bible record, wouldn't you say?
End Of Article By Robert S. Liichow
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ON DOCTRINE COMMENT: What type of discernment did Jesse Duplantis use to determine the validity of the visitation?
1. How did Jesse Duplantis know that the visitor was from God?
2. Was it just assumed that the visitor was from God with no thought that he might be from Satan?
3. Did the visitor present any credentials?
4. Did the reason given for the visit actually correspond with the nature of the problem?
THE TRIP TO HEAVEN
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The Extraordinary Mystical Transports & Angelic Visitations to Jesse Duplantis Word of Faith "Evangelist", by Robert S. Liichow
Copyright ? 1998-2000 by Rev. Robert S. Liichow. NOTE: Empasis and underline by the author, Robert S. Liichow
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In August 1988 Rev. Duplantis was preaching a revival in Magnolia Arkansas. He feels impressed to go back to his hotel room and pray about the service that evening. He notices the clock (again) it was one minute before one o'clock. He gets down on his knees and gets ready to pray then
"Suddenly I felt a suction as if I was being pulled up out of the room. . .I heard a sound, Whoosh! And I was pulled up out of the room. . .I didn't know I had left the room and I was zooming along at a phenomenal rate of speed. . .in something like a cable car. . .Then I looked up. There stood another being. I realized that it was the blond-headed angel who had visited me. . . have an appointment with the Lord God Jehovah."
Jesse has an out-of-body experience and finds himself in an angelic cable car with the same angel who told him to get some sleep. This time we are told why this is happening, Jesse has an appointment with the Lord God Jehovah!
"As I stepped out of the chariot, everything I saw was so beautiful. I had always thought that when I went to heaven I would see only a city. But the first place I saw was Paradise; it hadn't been destroyed. Paradise is a big place, completely surrounding the Holy City. It is like being on another planet."
We are now informed that Paradise has (1) not been destroyed, (2) paradise is a big place, and (3) paradise completely surrounds the Holy City. Not only is this without any Biblical proof, but we seem to have a dichotomy between Mrs. Baxter's revelation in our last section and Jesse's revelation now. Jesus personally showed Mrs. Baxter that Paradise has been taken over by Satan in hell. Yet now, a few years later we find that Paradise is now sort of the suburbs of heaven. Who are we to believe? Which is it? Is Paradise in hell or in heaven? These two nationally known charismatic teachers both claim to have had genuine experiences but their experiences in no way agree! This is a logical impossibility. Even if their accounts internally agreed with each other they are still at complete variance with the Bible, and must be discounted.
Jesse begins to describe the heavenly scene. He sees children, animals, beautiful flowers, the River of life and trees lining the River of life with thousands of people standing around under the trees. Jesse notices something that again is a totally new insight regarding some sort of caste system in heaven:
"Then I saw other people who didn't have on robes; they were wearing gowns. They started walking toward the city, but they seemed to get weak. I saw them walk over to the trees, pick what looked like fruit and eat it. Then they took some leaves off those trees, put the leaves up to their faces and breathed in, smelling them. I asked the angel, "What's happening?" He said, "Some of them have not lived the life they should. They believe in God and love Jesus, but they didn't live to their fullest potential. . . Yes God is merciful to them," he said. "But they have to be prepared to stand in the presence of the Almighty."
Even in heaven some people will have to work to make themselves ready to stand in the presence of God. They did not live up to their fullest potential on earth, so now they have to do some more works in heaven . . .then they can face God. The work of Christ is not enough, it obviously is not a finished work, we still have to do our part to make ourselves ready to face God. Hebrews 9:12 tells us that the work Jesus Christ did on the cross obtained for us an eternal redemption. Yet it appears, according to Duplantis, we still have to work on becoming perfected even in heaven.
"Some people don't live close to God the way they should. They know Jesus as their Savior, but they could do so much better. In heaven they will eventually be able to go to God's Throne, but it takes more time for them."
Duplantis does not explain what it takes to "live close to God" but it obviously involves some type of work(s) on our part. I have no problem with the fact that one can live a dynamic Christian life or a mediocre one on earth. I have no problem with one teaching that people will receive varying degrees of reward from the Master at the Judgment Seat of Christ. I have an extreme problem with people having to do some form of works in order to merit an audience with God! This insight is a lie because it directly contradicts Biblical teaching.
Romans 3:26
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 12:23
to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.
With nothing more than a quick glance through the New Testament anyone can see that the one who has placed their trust in the work of Christ (as opposed to their own works which can never save or justify) are declared to be righteous (2 Cor. 5:17-21). We are exhorted to draw near with confidence (parresia, Greek NAS 3954; from Greek 3956 (pas) and rhesis (speech); freedom of speech, confidence, boldness, boldness of speech, confidently, openly) .
Why then does this change in heaven? Why does one have the eat fruit and smell leaves in (works) in order to approach the throne of our God? The blood of Christ has perfected us in God the Father's eyes. However, Jesse's experience gives us what really takes place in heaven.
"When I began to feel weak, the angel walked over to one of those trees, picked some of its fruit and brought it back to me. . .The angel said to me, "Eat this fruit so you will be able to withstand the glory of God."
It appears that Jesse himself at this point has not been living as close to God as he should have been, even though God appeared to him, he's seen angels, and been teleported to Lafayette, and now is in heaven, he still needs to eat some angelic fruit so he can withstand the glory of God!
After eating the fruit the angel asks if he is thirsty, he is, and lo and behold, father Abraham is close by and he comes with a golden goblet to give Jesse a drink. This wise looking fellow comes over and Jesse asks him who he is. Here is the response:
"I'm Abraham, Paradise is my place. . .I felt I knew him like I knew my father. I fell down on my face before him; but he said, "Stand to your feet. The only One you worship is the Lord God. . .I meet all the people who come here because Paradise is my bosom .
After his drink he and the angel keep heading towards his divine appointment with Jehovah God. Then all of the sudden he hears children singing and praising God. What's more they were carrying little harps (I kid you not). After this insight Jesse and the angel continue their journey to meet Jehovah God. At this point in the story Jesse is given further insight into heavens works system:
"They almost got there; then they stopped, turned around and had to go back. It seemed as if they were depressed. I heard someone say, "There is no depression here. Just eat of the Tree of Life, smell the leaves for healing and let your spirit grow. You shall stand at the Throne of God.""
Like my grandfather used to say "close but no cigar." Obviously these folks had made some progress in their sanctification but still they had to turn back to eating the fruit and smelling the leaves.
"All of the sudden, the angel stooped our chariot and said, "Kneel. He's here." I felt weak then fell to my knees. The angel handed me some fruit and said, "Eat this." So I did. . .Jesus was taller than I thought He would be. I would guess Him to be from five feet eleven inches to six feet one inch. . .He looked at me and said, "There are many things you shall see and learn here, but I have brought you here so that you will go tell My people I'm coming."
Now we know that Jesus is probably just a tad under six feet tall, that He has light brown hair and that He especially wants Jesse Duplantis to tell the Church He is coming. Again, the Bible is not enough, the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy is not enough, we need people to take special trips to heaven and come back to tell us Jesus is coming back for us.
Jesus tells Jesse that He wants him to meet another king, king David. David we learn has a red beard and reddish hair.
"Jesus said, "Jesse, I want you to meet the king of Israel." The Lord said, "Take Jesse to his home. Show him what I have prepared for him. Then bring him to My Throne. I must go."
David begins to take Jesse to see his heavenly mansion. On the way they go into another home and Jesse meets the Apostle Paul. Of all the questions he could have asked Paul here is what he comes up with:
"I said to Paul, you went through great persecution." "Yes," he answered, "but I kept the faith. I focused my life on faith. That's how you get things done. . .Never change the message because of the hearers. Speak what God gives you"
That must have been sweet music indeed to the ears of a Word of Faith teacher like Rev. Duplantis, Paul kept his focus on faith, that is how you get things done! Isn't that interesting? All this time I thought Paul had said he kept his eyes focused on knowing Christ (Phil 3:10-13). Now we see that really Paul kept focused on faith, and that it is by the power of faith that things get done! Well the angel has to move Jesse along, he still has an appointment at the Throne of God. However, King David tags along with them to fellowship with Jesse. What Rev. Duplantis shares next is extreme heresy, King David is speaking -
"He did use Psalm 23 as an example as he explained, " I allowed God and the anointing to come through in that song. In other songs I sang strongly about my troubles. I think I should have allowed more of the answer to come through, instead of the complaining. Those weren't his exact words, but I knew that was what he meant. Then he added, " I wish I had written more songs about God's answers than about my problems.
There we have it! David allowed God and the anointing to come through on Psalm 23. Some of the other psalms in the Bible, I guess we cannot be so sure about. Like a good "faith man" David wished he had written more about the answer than the problem. David wished he had allowed more of the answer, i.e. God and the anointing, to come through instead of complaining.
I really do not think that Rev. Duplantis has thought through the ramifications of his alleged encounter with King David and David's comments. David's comments imply that what he wrote was not equally inspired. Some psalms he yielded to God and the anointing (as though they are separate from one another) and others, he did not yield as much.
Romans 15:4
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
2 Tim. 3:15-17
and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. [16] All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [17] that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Then after this astounding revelation David takes Jesse into his home where here we learn that in heaven "all desires are met here. Everything has been thought of - all your desires and some that you could not even think of."
"I felt weaker and weaker as we approached the Throne room. It looked to me like millions of people were there. . .When the light from the Throne hit me I couldn't stand up; I fell down, and the angel gave me more of the fruit. . .I look up from the floor in the direction of the overwhelming Light, and I saw Him! I saw Elohim, Jehovah God, Yahweh sitting on the Throne! But I saw His feet - only His feet. . . He is so big - you can't describe Him in a dimension. His hand is huge! His body, the form of it, is sort of like energy, spirit. There's a wall around the Throne, but the Throne is higher than the wall - that's why you can see the Throne from every direction, from a distance. And that power, that energy-like smoke of God, covers all around the chair of the Throne itself."
Jesse still needs to eat the sanctifying fruit even though he has made it up to the very Throne of God. Like Moses he just got to see part of God's body, and not His face. Yet all-in-all even getting to see the feet of Jehovah is more than any of the rest of us have seen! Also we get the extra-Biblical insight about some type of wall around the Throne, I guess some sort of restraining wall to keep Him from being mobbed by adoring family members.
"There was a cloud that looked like smoke going up from the Throne and I heard that massive sound, "whoosh! It was power like I've never experienced in my life. Then I saw God's finger barely move and when it moved, an angel that was flying near Him was thrown up against a wall. Bam! It didn't hurt the angel."
I am reminded about the refrain from an old gospel blues song "when the Lord gets ready, you've got to move." That angel must certainly have that as a revelation after getting splattered against the wall. During this time Jesus comes out of the glory of the Father and begins to preach to the assembled crowds "He was a preacher full of victory, shouting and hollering!" Jesse enjoys the sermon and asks the angel "where's the Holy Spirit?" "He is on the earth He said." Then he remembers this fact and feels "stupid" for asking such a "dumb question" at the Throne of God. So now we know that as of 1996 the Holy Spirit is not in heaven He is on earth. Now Jesse will admit that God is Three in One, but obviously the One God is somehow separated spatially. In any event, the Holy Spirit is not in heaven.
"I saw new lives of little babies singing and flying around God's Throne. It seemed to me that babies just came out of the breath of God. They looked like they were wearing nightgowns. . .I heard them saying to God, "Can I be a spirit? Would You send me to earth so I can be a spirit? I want to be a redeemed person. Can I be a spirit? And while I watched, I heard that mighty sound of God's power, Whoosh! I saw these babies leave the Throne by the power of God."
Mrs. Baxter saw baby cherubim flying around the Throne of God kissing his face, feet, and hands while singing holy, holy, holy. Rev. Duplantis does not see these baby cherubim instead he see's some type of proto-babies who want to become spirits. What is more these proto-spirit-babies ask to be sent to earth and they ask to be redeemed persons. Who makes the determination to become a redeemed person? Obviously we did in our proto-spirit condition when we, in eternity past, flew around the Throne of God in our little nightgowns!
What utter drivel and heresy! There is not one shred of Scriptural evidence to even remotely infer this type of theology. In fact, like with everything else Mr. Duplantis sees, the Bible refutes it thoroughly -
John 15:16
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
Romans 9:11
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
I cannot take time to go into the doctrine of election. Yet the Scriptures are plain that it is always God who does the electing, not man! If we take Mr. Duplantis Throne room vision at face value then are we to assume that some babies want to be damned? After all, some ask to be redeemed people, do others ask to be allowed to be damned people? Even Jesse would admit that not everybody is saved, he does believe some folks do go to hell. So if what he saw is true, then those in hell made this choice before they ever came to earth. It is hard to imagine a preacher of the Gospel would write such things, and expect the reader to accept it as truth.
Before Jesse is sent back home to planet earth Jesus explains how He is dreading the day when He has to send some of the creation He loves to hell. "I wanted to reach out and comfort Him, so I put my hand on the Lord. . .I could tell that Jesus was hurting." Can you imagine? The One who upholds and sustains all things by His power (Heb. 1:3) feels sad and is hurting and Jesse tries to comfort the Lord God Almighty as best he can. In these closing discourses with Jesus Jesse comes to believe "we can delay His coming by waiting for a sign before we act on His Word . . ." Through this supernatural gnosis, we learn that people choose their eternal destiny as proto-babies and we also can delay the return of Christ by our actions or inactions. Earl Paulk must be correct then when he teaches that it is up the Church as to when Jesus returns. Jesse continues to humanize God by saying
"I didn't know before how much He needed me to reach out to other people. I have always thought of how much I needed Him, not how much He needs me. . .He smiled at me and said, "I chose you. No one else wanted you, and I need you Jesse."
Jesus Christ needs Jesse Duplantis! I do not doubt that the Lord Jesus love[s] Jesse Duplantis, I love him too, but I doubt He "needs" Jesse. If you, me or Jesse dies tomorrow God's plan will roll on without as much as a hitch.
Jesse returns to his body and walks up to the front of the church. "Look at Brother Jesse. He's shining." There was a light on my face. I had been in the presence of the glory of God." So, like Moses, Jesse Duplantis' face shines with the very presence of God. "I didn't even preach that night. I didn't say anything, but people began falling under the power of God's Spirit! There was ministry throughout the auditorium without me saying any more."
What is the result of this trip to heaven? Mr. Duplantis gets to church but does not even preach the gospel. Instead something even greater transpires, people begin to fall under the power of God's Spirit. We are not told if anybody came to faith in Christ at the service, nor are we informed if anybody rededicates themselves to serving Christ. All we know, according to Mr. Duplantis, is that people see his face shining and fall into unconsciousness.
As with Roland Buck and Mrs. Baxter I must denounce Heaven, A Close Encounter of the God Kind as a work of fiction masquerading as fact. None of the three people's visions and experiences I have examined remotely resemble what is revealed in the Bible. In fact, all of them contradict Biblical teaching and doctrine.
Out of Christian charity I am willing to grant that brother Duplantis had some type of experience but it was not of the "God kind." This leaves me with one of two possibilities, either his experience is demonically inspired or is the result of his overactive imagination. His concept of the doctrine of God, the inerrancy of Scripture, and salvation are aberrant according to what he relayed in his vision.
Mr. Duplantis is a well known international speaker in Word of Faith circles and yet none of his fellow charismatic leaders seem to have any problem with his revelations. The editors at Harrison House Publishers did not pick up any doctrinal errors or question the validity of his experiences as they proofread his text.
End Of Article By Robert S. Liichow
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ON DOCTRINE COMMENT: There are too many problems with the experience by Mr. Duplantis to deal with in the space allotted here. But as to only a few instances which have not already been covered:
What is this business with the "cable car" that he needs to ride in order to get to heaven. Since when does heavenly transport require a vehicle?
Transportation while in heaven is by chariot? Where is that in the Bible and why is another vehicle necessary in heaven?
What Paradise is he talking about - (1) The Paradise of the garden of Eden? (2) The Paradise of the Old Testament Saints or (3) The Paradise which is heaven?
Genesis 2:8 refers to the garden in Eden in which Adam and Eve lived. Luke 23:43 refers to the Paradise of the Old Testament saints. 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Revelation 2:7 refer to the Paradise which is heaven. Presumably he is talking about the Paradise of the Old Testament Saints since Abraham is involved, ie. the "bosom of Abraham".
"It is like being on another planet." With this statement, Jesse Duplantis, ever so subtly, introduces the concept that is so predominant in Kenneth Copeland's teaching, that heaven is a planet where God lives. This is also a variant of Mormon doctrine, in which their god and his wives also live on a planet.
In regards to the dual division of people who have robes and gowns, the question must be asked as to at what point the division occurs?
"I asked the angel, 'What's happening?'; He said, 'Some of them have not lived the life they should. They believe in God and love Jesus, but they didn't live to their fullest potential. . .Yes God is merciful to them,' he said."
It is true that Christians are given rewards in heaven based on conduct on this earth, but since when is a Christian's position in relation to God based on living the Christian life to its fullest potential? How many Christians live their lives to the fullest potential? There are probably very, very, very few, if any. The vast majority of Christians in Jesse Duplantis's heaven would be eating fruit and smelling leaves. Jesse Duplantis certainly will not fulfill that requirement, because to the "fullest potential" means perfection of character and accomplishment. That is a standard of works and is rejected by the doctrine of salvation by grace. In heaven, God sees the believer through the work and character of Jesus Christ, not the work and character of the believer.
Why should it take more time for these "sub-Christians" to eventually appear before the throne of God? If all Christians become transformed to the image of Christ, how can they be any less when in heaven. Apparently Jesse Duplantis' God and Jesus Christ will allow those in heaven who are less than what Jesus Christ claims to own. His bride does not quite measure up to the standard by which it was presented to Him. In what manner do Christians become "weak" while in heaven when they have the power of the Holy Spirit?
What is this spiritual growth accomplished by eating the fruit of the Tree of Life? What is the "healing" accomplished by sniffing the leaves. In heaven, what spiritual growth is necessary (because all are like Christ) and what healing is needed (since all have glorified bodies)? The leaves of the Tree of Life, in heaven, are for the healing of the nations, Revelation 22:2. There is only a single Tree of Life in heaven which bares 12 different fruits every month. There are not many trees as were seen by Jesse Duplantis, cf. Revelation 22:2.
Jesse Duplantis became weak when he saw the light from the throne of God, but where did he think the light came from that illuminated the entire heaven. The Bible says that the glory of God and Jesus Christ will illuminate heaven, cf. Revelation 21:23, 22:5.
Jesse Duplantis returns from his trip to heaven and goes to his meeting. However he does not preach or speak about the incredible journey that he has just taken. Instead, the message is replaced by the audience being knocked to the ground by "God's Spirit". Apparently the Holy Spirit, who was not in heaven at the time of the visit by Jesse Duplantis, did not get the message that was supposed to be given that night, so Jesse Duplantis does not preach the message that Jesus Christ told him to give, "...but I have brought you here so that you will go tell My people I'm coming." Jesus Christ apparently forgot that the same "revelation" has been in the Bible for almost 2000 years. Well, Jesse Duplantis did not live up to his potential by ignoring the direct request of Jesus Christ. After all, that was the only reason that He brought him to Heaven. The sermon ministry that evening was people being knocked unconscious; by what, they did not know, for what reason they did not know.
Questions that need to be answered:
1. When did this incident happen?
2. In what church did this incident happen?
3. Who was the pastor of the church?
4. Who were the people in the congregation?
5. What did the people in the congregation say about the event?
6. Does anyone in the congregation remember Jesse Duplantis speaking about his heavenly trip?
END OF COMMENT
by Gary A. Hand
On Doctrine
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