- “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!“ (Acts 2:40)
- “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Tim 4:16)
- “My brothers if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19,20)
- “And have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire…” (Jude v.23)
This will be the first blog in a series in which I
wish to address a matter on my heart.
In surveying the church scene in Namibia, I
have said on a number of occasions to fellow pastors and elders, “One
of our greatest duties in these
days is to ‘save’ Christians!“
I
am not, of course suggesting at all that
we can add to the great saving
work of Christ. Christ alone saves us and justifies us. PERIOD!
A number of Namibian churches are currently preparing for
the visit of Joyce Meyer to
this country in 2014. If I understand
the above quoted texts correctly, then I
believe that biblical Christians have a
duty to
save those caught in the web of
deceit of these prosperity teachers. I
have studied the roots of the prosperity
movement (The Word of Faith)
movement for more than 25 years, and I conclude with many
others that this is, frankly speaking, ‘a
different gospel’ (Galatians 1:6). I know that
this posting is not going to make me popular, but I have come to the conclusion that if I do not warn you, I will be an
unfaithful shepherd, leaving you in the
hands of these fierce wolves. (Acts 20
:29-35)
The following
material is an
excerpt from a blog article written by Rick Henderson. You can read the complete
blog posting at http://churchismessy.com/2013/08/05/why-i-called-out-joel-osteen-and-joyce-meyer/
My purpose is to alert you to the person and teaching of Joyce Meyer.
My purpose is to alert you to the person and teaching of Joyce Meyer.
Rick Henderson writes...
When I first heard her
tell her story I was deeply moved and impressed. She is an amazing
example of overcoming hurts and abuse. She will forever have my
admiration and respect in that regard. Furthermore, she gives spectacular
advice. If my wife or if one of my daughters went to her in a moment of
crisis, I believe they would return with magnificently helpful advice. If
they went to her for teaching, they would return with deadly heresy.
False Doctrine
1. She teaches
that Jesus literally stopped being the Son of God on the cross: http://craigbrownsreformedtheology.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/clip-6-joyce-meyer.mp3
“He could have helped
himself up until the point where he said I commend my spirit into your hands, at
that point he couldn’t do nothing for himself anymore. He had become sin, he
was no longer the Son of God. He was sin.” Joyce Meyer
2. She teaches that
Jesus went to Hell and became the first-born again man: http://craigbrownsreformedtheology.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/clip-7-joyce-meyer.mp3
“Do you know something?
The minute that blood sacrifice was accepted Jesus was the first human being
that was ever born again. Now that was real it happened when he was in hell.”
3. She teaches that
Jesus paid for our sins in hell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwNfOaxIcOM
“There is no hope of
anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You
cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your
place in hell” Joyce Meyer
(The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make)
4. She teaches that
words have power and you can release the power of Heaven through your words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DInxKmfgts0
5. She teaches that
you need special revelation from God to understand what she teaches because it
is NOT contained in the Bible: http://craigbrownsreformedtheology.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/clip-2-joyce-meyer.mp3
“The Bible can’t even
find any way to explain this. Not really. That’s why you’ve got to get it by
revelation. There are no words to explain what I’m telling you. I’ve got to
just trust God that He’s putting it into your spirit like He put it into mine.”
Joyce Meyer (What Happened
from the Cross to The Throne? audio)
“Now spirits don’t have
bodies, so we can’t see them. Okay? There probably is, I believe there is, and
I certainly hope there is several angels up here this morning that are
preaching with me. I believe that right before I speak some anointed statement
to you, that one of them bends over and says in my ear what I’m supposed to say
to you.” Joyce Meyer (Witchcraft
& Related Spirits (Part 1) – 2 A-27 Audiotape)
6. She teaches that
she is no longer a sinner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmHJdM63hk
I could continue with
examples of her utter misuse of scripture, false teaching and blatant heresy.
In America, Christians have an embarrassment of riches. We can buy
more books, download more podcasts and tune into more helpful teachers than
anyone else on the planet. The lies that she teaches are easily lost in
the hum of all the great teachers we hear. But this is not the case in
the third world.
In many other countries
their resources are far fewer. Uneducated pastors, who are doing their
very best and uninformed Christians have this garbage pumped into their
countries through radio waves and TV broadcasts. Because Joyce Meyer is
endorsed here, she is trusted there. And, she can afford to spread her
message with the money she makes from American Christians who buy her books,
CDs and who attend her conferences. Her
influence is severely disrupting the church in the third world.
Her teachings are the unfortunate starting point for Christians in the
third world and it is birthing even greater heresies.
The devastating reality
that we have to come to grips with is that when we support her here, we support
the churches she is undoing there.
Financial Concerns
There is nothing wrong
with being wealthy. I love it when Christians are rich. That should
mean more money to fund the mission. But there is a line to how much
money we as leaders should spend on ourselves. I don’t know where the line
is, but it is somewhere before the ministry purchasing million dollar homes for
us and our kids. That line is somewhere before purchasing us a $10
million private jet. The line is somewhere before the ministry
spending $261, 498 for 68 pieces of furniture. That equates
to $3,845.56 per item. That line is somewhere before spending
so egregiously that the U.S. Senate investigates us. Joyce Meyer lands on
the other side of that line.
The following link
includes audio from Joyce Meyer. Around 5:30 she is asked if people will
get more money back to them if they give financially to her ministry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWQsoA7D24
Not only does she teach
giving as a way to leverage more money from God, she is reckless with desperate
people. She is not at all concerned if people give to her instead of
paying bills. This is intolerable!
Questionable Example and Lack of Accountability
I challenge you to watch a
typical message by Joyce Meyer. Here are a few of things you will notice:
· She pauses about every 5 minutes for applause.
And if people don’t applaud she is likely to say something like, “I’m
preaching better than you’re acting.”
· She talks about herself constantly. She is the
main character in every story she tells. Even when she talks about
herself in a self-deprecating way, some how it comes across in a way that
causes people to admire her more.
· God talks to her and reveals new information to her…a
lot!
Her ministry lacks real
accountability. Her family and her close friends are the governing board. This is an organization that receives almost $100 million dollars
annually, and with no substantive accountability.
Conclusion
What I wrote and linked in
the first section should have been enough to completely remove her from our
sphere of trust.
· Her doctrine is horrific.
· Her hermeneutics are horrible.
· She is a woman who seems to have an unrestrained love
for money and applause. Her finances are questionable at best.
· Her example is questionable at best.
· Her impact on desperate people here, as well as
churches and pastors around the globe is wildly destructive.
I lament with you a sense
of loss if she was a teacher you trusted. I lament that someone who is so
wrong has so much influence with so many. I do not regret, however,
pointing to her as a false teacher and as one who should be rejected.
