Benny Hinn--Fox News: Oct 2009

TBN, Pentecostals, Emergents, Megachurchers: Acts 3 and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s “A Commentary," 17-22

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=15980&post=94562&uid=308173344359#post94562

1. Some observations on Acts 3 and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s “A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical” (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978), 17-22.

2. Benny Hinn. He has about 50 to the stage with minimal ailments from headache to minor fiber myralgia. Never quadriplegics. There are usually about 20,000 in attendance. Let us assume for the sake of the argument that: 1) that 500 come for healings and 2) only the 50 are healed. That’s a 1% cure rate. The NT miracles are 100% cure rate. Even with our assumptions, Hinn is a liar, charlatan and phony. This scribe intends, God willing, to attend Hinn Crusades in the future for investigation and coverage for these forums. We intend to develop this point in the years to come, Lord willing.

3. Peter heals a lame man in Jerusalem and preaches a sermon to the marveling multitudes.

4. The length after Pentecost is unknown. Peter and John are in the scene. In fact, they appear together routinely in the early chapters of Acts. Notice that they two are in attendance at “prayers” for the evening sacrifice, 3 PM. The man in question was “lame from his mother’s womb.” His inability was visible and marked. Noted by all. He required a physical escort to the “Gate of the Temple.” The man is not expecting a miracle. Peter commands the man to look at him and John. Peter says with 100% accuracy and power, “In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” The NT miracles know nothing of a 99% failure rate, unlike Hinn. The cure is not temporary. The man arises and follows John and Peter into the temple. “All the people saw him.” There was verification, unlike what is offered by faith-healers, including Hinn. Hinn has claimed he is not a doctor and does not do verification, unlike the NT record.

5. Of greater interest (and it is great) is that Peter proceeds to preach. The miracle focuses on Christ and the preaching of the Word. Notably, as well, the language is understandable to the people. This also cannot be understated---preaching in a known tongue here as well as the centrality of the sermon after the 100% miracle and 100% verification. We offer notes on the sermon.

6. Peter asks why the people are marveling? This God is sovereign. Jesus is sovereign and the sermon will focus on Christ. Peter, as a Jew, in a Jewish Temple, speaks like a Christian Jew, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified His Son Jesus.” Behind this lies the covenant of grace through history with the sign and seal of the covenant, e.g. Gen.17. The term “Son” merits wider review: Son of God, Son of Man, Servant, Messiah, Lord of Glory, Christ, and Prince of Peace, Governor, Shepherd, Lord, King, Prophet, Son of David and others exist. He was the Light of the world, the everlasting water, the way, truth, life. Peter says He was glorified. Christo-centricity is written all over this sermon, including the resurrection.

7. Peter, true to his commission, preaches repentance and pins the death of Christ on the listeners, “whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate.” They denied “the Holy One.” They desired a “murderer” be offered up in Christ’s place so that He might die. They killed the “Prince of Peace.” But Christ was He “whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

8. Let us pause. We also, as wicked sinners, as justified and beloved saints of Christ, put Him to the Cross. He died for us, even when we were enemies, like the leaders in Jerusalem. Application: Crouch? Hinn? Paula White? Copeland? Price? Arthur Blessitt? Joyce Meyers? Joel Osteen? Robert Schuller? Brian McClaren? Rick Warren? Once one ponders this sermon by Peter, one sees that these teachers have lost it. There is no parallel between these false teachers and Peter's sermon.

9. Peter tells them to repent. There will be a future restoration of all things. Jesus has ascended until that time of restoration. Peter is at pains to demonstrate from the Old Testament that Christ was preached from “the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Hence, that same effort should characterize all preaching from the Old and New Testaments. For the honest listener of TBN and other outlets, does this characterize preaching?

10. We stress. 100% cure rate. 100% verification. Preaching in a known tongue. Theocentric preaching. Biblical preaching. Good benchmarks for evaluation of TBN, Pentecostals, Emergents and Churchgrowthers, e.g. Warren.

Dr. Michael Horton’s “Agony of Deceit," 11-20.

1. Some observations on Dr. Michael Horton’s “Agony of Deceit” (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1990), 11-20. As usual, Dr. Horton is always readable, accessible to the layman, and profitable.

2. An interesting lineup: Mike Horton, R.C. Sproul, Art Lindsey, Henry Krabbendam, Rod Rosenbladt, Robert Godfrey, C. Everett Koop, Quentin Schultze, John Dart, Ken Curtis, and Joel Nederhood.

3. 277 pages with three appendices. App. A: Ecumenical Creeds. Appendix B: Seven Rules for Testing Prophets. App. C: Ready Reference Guide. The latter appendix is a collection of the bizarre comments made by TV evangelists: Tilton, Copeland, Hagin, Paulk, Avanzini, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson. An update and expansion of Appendix C is essential. We would suggest a title like "The Outer Limits."

4. The book is dated. 1990 and much water has passed under the bridge. We note that TBN was still in development. Hinn was around, but not like today.

5. Curiously, Dr. Mike Horton, Professor at Westminster Seminary, California, references himself as a “Minister” of the “Reformed Episcopal Church,” a once-honorable Reformed and Anglican group but now defective, cowardly, compromised and compromising. That’s another story; I was educated by them and once served as a minister with them.

6. Horton tells us the book is not about success or numbers. Otherwise, one might become a Muslim, one of the fastest growing faith groups.

7. Mike notes that many may well have been helped, uplifted, and even converted under these ministries. God’s sovereign and electing grace operates in spite of the errors. Of course, we say the same thing about Romanists and others caught in false doctrines, like American Arminianism.

8. Mike notes that the book is not about charismatics and that even the authors themselves have differing views about them. He observes that many devotees of the Assemblies of God and Pentecostalist traditions will welcome the work. Mike is too accomodating here about these neo-Montanists and Frenzy-ites.

9. The book is about truth. “Truth does have consequences--eternal ones--and our prayers join yours for the struggle before us.”

10. Donald Campbell (retired Dallas Seminary Professor), Richard Halverson (former U.S. Senate Chaplain, now deceased), Harold Lindsell (former Fuller Seminary Professor), Jay Adams (Westminster Seminary) and David Breese (??) provide endorsements. Breese says that “twelve scholars have shown that much on television that passes for Christianity is a new Gnosticism, a revived pantheism. The authors of the book have recoiled from that and deplored the media message, and they have analyzed it. They have told us why and wherein it is heretical.”

11. With correctness, Mike disavows pride and arrogance. “Since God has shown pity on us, we can hardly fail to identify with fallen brothers and sisters…Being sinners ourselves, we are hardly qualified to point fingers of condemnation. Rather, it is about the rotted foundation under so many of the popular ministries: errant beliefs, distorted doctrine, and unsound convictions…”

12. True as it goes. We are born apostate, wicked, lawless and are ungovernable, proud and insolent creatures. God sovereignty regenerates His people, former enemies, aliens to His Majesty, giving them justifying faith and repentance unto life, adoption unto life, and imputes to wicked sinners the impeccable, availing, transcendent and efficacious merits and righteousness of Christ alone. Gratitude and obedience are the consequences. This paragraph won't sell on TBN, with Osteen, Hybels or Warren. In (11) above, Mike is spot-on. Nonetheless, as (10) affirms, we have our duties of love to speak the truth about Arminian Montanists, wolves in sheep-garb.

13. At the wall we are "Exposing the False Prophets—Reformation Christians Against TBN Discussions." Join us and invite your friends as we read, research, and "proactively confess" our Confessional faith. Facebook wall: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=308173344359&ref=ts

Wolf Report: Benny Hinn

http://www.apostasywatch.com/Wolves/WolfReports/BennyHinn/Hinnsgreatestmisses/tabid/185/Default.aspx

Benny Hinns Greatest Hits Misses
Some of Hinn's biggest lies and false prophecies

Hinn has told so many lies and made so many false prophecies it's hard to know where to begin. I'll highlight of few of his most outrageous examples here and below I'll provide links to several more comprehensive sites.

Hinn has a long history of false prophecies. On December 31st 1989 at his church in Orlando Fla. Hinn, while speaking to his congregation, went into a kind of a trance, appearing to be "drunk in the spirit." and spoke the following "words from the Lord"

"The Spirit tells me - Fidel Castro will die - in the 90's. Oooh my! Some will try to kill him and they will not succeed. But there will come a change in his physical health, and he will not stay in power, and Cuba will be visited of God."

As of today (January 2010) Castro seems to be in pretty good health for a corpse.

The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90's, about '94-'95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. But He will not destroy it - with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed."

As of today (January 2010) homosexuals still seem to be a part of many communities in America. If God had destroyed any of them with fire, I'm pretty sure it would have been in the newspapers.

"The Spirit of God tells me -- an earthquake will hit the east coast of America and destroy much in the 90's."

I've Googled and Googled but I can't seem to find any information on a destructive east coast earthquake during the 90's.

These are just a few of the "prophecies" Hinn made that evening. When he was finished he said, "I'd like to know what I said. I was totally gone."

I'll give him that one, he was "totally gone"!

A more recent example of a false prophecy occurred on April 2, 2000 when Hinn claimed on TBN that the Lord had revealed to him that Israel would soon sign a peace treaty with Syrian dictator Hafez Al-Assad. Hinn of course tied this prophecy to money by declaring that this would be a sign that the of the wealth of the wicked would soon be released unto the righteous.

After Assad died on June 10, 2000 (with no peace treaty forthcoming) Hinn claimed again on TBN that "...it was God's plan for it not to happen, really."

You don't say!

April 2nd 2000 was a huge night for Benny on TBN. After the Assad prophecy he held forth with this whopper

"I believe - here this, hear this! I believe, that Jesus, God's Son, is about to appear physically, in meetings and to believers around the world, to wake us up! He appeared after His resurrection and He is about to appear before His second coming! You know a prophetess sent me a word through my wife, right here, and she said 'Tell your husband that Jesus is go'n to physically appear in his meetings.' I am expecting to see, I am telling you that - I feel it's going to happen. I, I, I'm, I'm careful in how I am saying it now, because I know the people in Kenya are listening. I know deep in my soul, something supernatural is going to happen in Nai - in Nairobi Kenya. I feel that. I may very well come back, and you and Jan are coming, to - Paul and Jan are coming to Nairobi with me, but Paul, we may very well come back with footage of Jesus on the platform!"

The "prophetess" Hinn mentioned was a woman named Ruth Ward Heflin. At another time Hinn claimed that she had prophesied over him when he was younger and "everything she said came to pass"

Would you like to see the Lords response to Hinn and Heflin's prophecy

Math 24:23-27
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

What kind of prophet directly contradicts the words of Jesus?

Could the scriptures be any clearer? Jesus might as well have said "When Benny Hinn says I'm appearing in Kenya, don't believe it".

As a post script to this story I should tell you that not long after this, on Sept. 15th 2000 Ruth Heflin died of breast cancer. She had claimed that the Lord had healed her and told her to stop her treatment.

I don't know where Ruth Heflin is spending eternity but I do know that I would not want to face the Lord Jesus Christ with a false prophecy like that fresh on my lips.

Math 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Who do you suppose the Lord is speaking of here? Is it just possible that Hinn fits the category of one who prophesies in the name of the Lord but doesn't really know him?

How can you tell a true prophet from a false one

Deuteronomy 18:20-22
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message that Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Don't be afraid if this man!

1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

You, my friend, are responsible before God to test every spirit to determine if it's from God. The way we do that is by comparing what the spirit is saying to the Word of God.

Jer 5:30-31
An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? NKJV

What will you do?

Rev 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Steve Lumbley 2004
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