Creflo Dollar Is Guilty

Post Subtitle : Guilty of preaching a false gospel

Lots of talk the past few days about Word of Faith “preacher” Creflo Dollar. Seems that he is accused of battery and cruelty to children in an alleged attack on his 15 year old daughter. I will not go into the details of the alleged happening, but you can find it all over the internet at any news source. Also, you can find a scan of the actual police report here. My prayer is that this situation will be used to bring interest on Dollar and thus exposing his false gospel, regardless if what the criminal charges are.

First off, I did post the story on my Facebook page along with a comment that pretty much said Creflo was guilty. It is true that in this country we are innocent until proven guilty. So, for that I was wrong and not giving Creflo his due diligence in making his case before a judge and/ or jury. However, I do not believe this will reach that phase of the judicial process, so we may never know if he was guilty or not. Actually, does it really matter anyway? After all he has been abusing scripture and his listeners for decades and people still flock to him.

Dollar has a long history of being a Word of Faith teacher. This in itself is a heresy that has run rampant on the world for a few decades now, with other WoF (Word of Faith) preacher/ teachers like Oral Roberts, Jessie DuPlantis, Kenneth Copeland, T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer being some of the more well known. Not that there are actually “bigger” heresies than others, but the more prominent in this movement are the “little gods” statements, name it and claim it speak, your faith is what can cure you, sow your seeds into “my” ministry to receive your blessings, if your not being healed then your faith isn’t strong enough and one I just came across today - that Jesus “grew” into His Sonship and “Godness”.

Actually, I have listened to a few of Dollar’s messages over the past few days, taken directly from his website so they wouldn’t be “out of context”. In those messages I found not one single solitary shred of the true Gospel of Christ. I heard a lot of prosperity and a lot of “me” and “I”, even saw Dollar do a “thus sayeth the lord” as he closed his eyes and proceeded to act as a direct oracle for God. So, what is Dollar’s message all about? It is all about self, to the core, through and through.

I’ll clear the air here. I am in no way against a pastor of God having money. I don’t think it is beyond belief that God could bless His children abundantly. Only thing is, Creflo’s not a minister of the Gospel. Creflo feeds his congregation steady doses of “me” and “I”. He even expounds when preaching and calls what he says THE gospel, but not a single word of the Jesus of scripture, not one word on His blood, not one word about sin, not one utterance of repentance, nothing about sanctification, nothing at all resembling the true Gospel of Christ. Admittedly I did not listen to each and every message the Dollar has preached over his career, but shouldn’t the primary reason to preach to people be to glorify God? I mean I heard a few verses ripped out of context, but other than that it was an all out motivational talk/ sales pitch.

It really saddens me that so many people are on their way to hell because of this type of message. This false gospel has man as its central point, what can God do for me type of attitude. I suppose that is why it is so popular. I know there are a few prominent Christian voices out there that are calling these carlatans out. Justin Peters, Voddie Baucham, Hank Hanegraaff, John MacArthur and rappers IV Hisson and Jovan Mackenzy all speak out against the heresies that are spewed from pulpits every Sunday morning. I praise God that these “voices in the wilderness” are there, but I also pray that all pastors and followers of Christ would also take a stand for the true Gospel and push to expose these workers of darkness and of a false gospel. These workers of iniquity are actually to be anathema/ accursed according to Galatians 1:8-9. Instead they have their wears and false messages peddled on TV networks like TBN and TCT, their books and study guides displayed on “Christian” bookstore shelves and people ingest their poison all the way to the grave. Why is that? It is the human nature of self, the greed factor, the lust of money, the lust of a comfortable lifestyle, the desire to be healthy above all else. It is the “perfect” anti-gospel, relayed by prosperity preachers who flaunt their millions to the poor people they are ripping off.

I get infuriated at the state of what people see as Christianity today. It is not really hard to see why so many people are turned off by what they see on TV and read about in the news about the “church”. The secular world sees the hypocrisy of what passes for the gospel these days. The even sadder fact is that when the True Gospel is proclaimed people shake their heads and want nothing of it. They think it is extreme to actually taking up your cross daily, serving those in need, preaching to others, witnessing to those in your life, talking about being a slave to Christ, actually doing what the bible says a true follower of Christ will do - FOLLOW HIM.

Probably the most troubling part of the current issue with Creflo Dollar is those professing Christians that are saying Dollar is a brother in Christ, a fellow Christian. They see the name “pastor” and see that he “preaches” but beyond that they are ignorant of what Dollar actually preaches. They come to his defense (judging ‘for’) and admonish those that are opposing dollar (judging ‘against’). As I stated, I did unfairly judge Dollar guilty of the crimes he is charged with. I apologize for that and learned I should not, but I will not apologize for using this newfound spotlight in the public eye for Dollar to expose his heretical preaching. I wait to see how this all plays out - who will rush to his defense in judging him not guilty, those that judge him guilty and those that use this as a catapult to expose his lies to the world and use it to proclaim the true Gospel of Christ.

I also would like for anyone that may happen upon this posting and says that Dollar is a true preacher of the Gospel to please leave a comment for why you think that. Please leave any link to any message that is the true Gospel. Please explain how he can preach a heresy so much and still be a true child of God. I am always open for correction and will admit if I am wrong.

God has shown His grace on me. After 30 years as a false convert, willing to call anything and everything “Christian” that professed to be, God opened my eyes to the false messages. God showed me how utterly sinful and how much under His wrath I was. He showed me the true Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His atonement for my sins, His blood shed on Calvary for me, His death, burial and resurrection, being my Propitiation, my Advocate, my Savior! Know what else? He can be yours as well. All you must do is repent and believe in Him. Turn from your sins and to the Holy God. Cry out to Him and fall at His feet and follow Him, wherever He leads, however the road turns. See God as He is - Holy and how you are not - a sinner. Cling to Christ. Deny yourself. Leave all behind and follow Him.

Day 190: Oh, You Shouldn't Have.

Saw this fine example of what not to do to a car today. Its a Camaro, not sure what year, but it is somewhere in the early 90s through the early uglies, uh, sorry, early 2000s. If the picture is not good enough to tell, the wheels are a lot larger than factory with low profile tires on them with red spokes. There is also some red highlights around the convertible top at the window. If you look close, it looks like the wheels on the car are larger than the ones on the Avalanche on the opposite side of the car. One question - What were they thinking?

This is the same question I want to some times ask people that willfully participate in sinful activities. Those that profess Christ that is, not the lost because that is their nature. But, if someone is truly born again, filled with the Holy Spirit and living a life focused on God shouldn't they be able to see the blatantly ungodly things in their life? I'm not talking about the gray areas that the bible does not cover, but things like lying, excessive drinking, dabbling in the occult, stealing, cussing, gossiping, etc. The list is long, but I think you catch my drift.

Often times when and if you do confront them in love, you are immediately classified as judgmental and maybe even a Pharisee. We are to help brothers and sisters to see their sinfulness, but in the right spirit of course. If they are truly a child of God as well, they may initially react in a defensive manner (the flesh) but they will soon see and understand what you were doing. If we do not let those that profess Christ know what they are doing is damaging the body, then we, too, are taking part in their sin. So, it is a peculiar position to be in. Do we risk a friend being mad at us? Or do we defend the body and our God? I think it is a plain and simple answer, even though I fail at it miserably a lot. So, I am preaching to myself too.

I think the true body and Bride of Christ need to take a stand within itself. Help a brother stand tall and proudly in service to the Lord. Call out those that claim to be a part of the body, but are impostors like the false teachers and prosperity pimps on TV. The charlatans are deceiving millions while raking in their millions. Call to your brothers and sisters to stand with you, me and the others that are sickened by the state of the perceived church. We are all members of the same body and we should all want to preserve the Glory of our Lord.

Oral Roberts Pioneer of The Prosperity Gospel - Dead At 91

Recent news reports state that Oral Roberts has passed away from complications of pneumonia. Roberts was known as the inventor of the prosperity, name it and claim it, “Seed of faith” message so prominent today. He was 91.

Was this man a born again believer? Who knows, except for the Lord and now Mr. Roberts? I will not labor to prove either way, yea or nay, if he was truly converted. His “gospel message” was not one of the bible, so what he personally believed was not biblical, but pandered to flesh.

I’ve never really delved into Oral Roberts and his legacy, but I do know that the American prosperity “gospel” would not be the same without his declarations many decades ago. He paved the way for the likes of Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn and even Joel Osteen to fill their deep pockets.

So, what does this mean to me? It means that Roberts just became part of the ultimate statistic, 10 in 10 will die. Was he ready? I’m not sure, but I can only speculate that if he did not turn from the message he proclaimed that he was not truly converted. His message lacked the actual Good News that Jesus Himself as well as the Apostles proclaimed.

It will be interesting to see who offers up posthumous accolades to Roberts. I am sure that those mentioned above will have some very positive words about him. I really don’t expect anyone to come out and say he was a heretic, at least not in the near future. I will leave it like it is, Roberts did not proclaim a biblical gospel but instead one that had flesh as the centerpiece instead of Christ.

I pray that Oral Roberts did recently repent of his sins and trust in God as his Savior instead of his accountant. Did he? I have no idea and will not know until I pass into eternity myself, also becoming part of the ultimate statistic.

In closing I will say that if anything does not have God as its focus, then it is sin. Plain and simple. So examine what your preacher is saying on Sunday mornings, search the scriptures John 5:39 and make sure you are not just having your ears tickled 2 Tim 4:3 with a false message of prosperity and health. A Christian is never promised either in scripture, we are offered to be the scourge of the Earth, to be persecuted for our faith 2 Tim 3:12 . Chances are if the World applauds you, then you are probably not living a biblical lifestyle which is on the wide path of destruction James 4:4, John 17:16, . Examine yourself 2 Cor. 13:5 and make sure your faith is in Christ and His Word instead of a mans.

Here is a brief history of Oral Roberts

So, have you experienced? What? You ask. I suppose it depends on which side of the charismatic line that was drawn you stand on. Do you believe that “experience” trumps scripture? Do you know that scripture is the litmus test for everything? Do you believe that speaking in tongues refers to speaking in an actual language or incomprehensible gibberish? Have you ever been “slain in the spirit”? Do you follow leaders such as Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard Brown or Benny Hinn? Do you test every spirit as required by 1 John 4:1?

I have always been fascinated by the “faith healers” that are on television. Even as a young child, when cable TV first came to Paducah KY and I got my first glimpse of Ernest Angley. He was quite peculiar to my brother and me. He was very different than the pastor at the church we attended. Our pastor never smacked anyone on the forehead or stuck his fingers in anyone’s ears and said they were healed of deafness. Angley was actually one of our favorite characters to imitate when we were playing. My brother would smack me across the forehead (probably just to inflict pain) and I’d fall back and act like I was healed of whatever ailment I professed. We didn’t know any better we were kids. What we did know is that something wasn’t quite right with what was being portrayed on “The Ernest Angley Hour”.

Fast forward several years to Peter Popoff and his miracle water and gloves or whatever he was peddling at the time. He had people throwing walkers into the air and old ladies jumping up from wheel chairs and doing a Luau. Yet again, I was awestruck at what this man was claiming; a few years older and still unconverted I knew this man was a fraud. Something was very similar to me between these 2 men. Maybe it was the theatrics, maybe it was the constant asking for money for healings and blessings.

Now that the Lord has chosen the convert my soul, He has also been glorious enough to open my eyes to a lot of things that do not stand up against scripture, one being these false prophets that claim “signs and wonders” take precedence over scripture. In other terms, it doesn’t matter that the bible says to test everything against scripture. The newest breeds of these false prophets claim to have regular meeting with Jesus, face to face. Claims of day trips to heaven are common as well as “miracle gold dust”, miracle gems, miraculous dental work and oil appearing from nowhere. All I can say is….. WOW! What is really troublesome are the countless thousands of people with itching ears that are sending their welfare checks to these men in hopes of healings or financial gains. I pray that these people will realize that these men (and women as well) are charlatans and are out for nothing but monetary gain and doing the devils work of deception and sending these people to an eternal hell.

One major question. Where is the Gospel? Why do these people say “Lord, Lord” and deny His Word? Why do they claim to do the Lords work in healing and casting out demons, but deny the power and never say anything about a repenting, saving faith in Christ? To me these false prophets are very obvious, but to countless thousands they are what they have been waiting for; someone to tell them what they want to hear, that they can be healed, that their marriage can be fixed or that their bad back can be mended and they’ll be doing cartwheels this very night. Why can people not see this? Why are these people looking for this type of message? I just speculate when I say selfishness, but it all points to that. People seem to have a “me” complex and want what is good for them only. But this “good for them” is usually heal my headache, heal my flat tire, make my bank account larger, fix my cars engine, let me win at bingo tonight, give me the winning lottery numbers. Nothing about healing ones sinful ways, giving them a heart of repentance, showing them how sinful they are and how in need of a savior they truly are.

I received and email today of one of these healing ministries setting up camp here in Paducah on Fridays starting this weekend. I am a skeptic at best, but I am at least not going to pass judgment without first testing the spirit in which this is being held in. I am skeptical because of the false prophets I mentioned earlier and really want to believe that people are not being deceived, but I will go into these meetings with a discerning eye and ear and will be testing what is taking place against scripture, not experience. It is being billed as “healing meetings” so it already has a mark against it. Why? Because they have already said God will be there and will be doing their bidding of healing. They have made a demand of the Lord and a promise that He will be there to do what they have planned. I just see a lot wrong with that. I never go anywhere knowing that the Spirit will show up, although that is what I pray for, that God will manifest Himself and His presence felt, but I never go into any place or any situation expecting Him to do anything. To do so is very arrogant and does make demands of God and I am just not going to do that and see it as wrong by those that do.

So what is my point in this rambling? It is to test everything against scripture. 1 John 4:1. We are even supposed to test ourselves 2 Cor. 13:5. That would be a good starting place for anyone that is reading this. Test where your faith lies, in God or in an experience, in a profession, in a pastors words. Has the Lord saved you from your sinfulness as well as hell? Do you still live a life that is sinful to God? Can you steal from your employer and it not phase you in the least? Paperclips may be cheap, but then it’s not the price of something that dictates the sin, it’s the motives. Do you lie on your taxes? Have you created a God in your own mind that you think turns his eyes from your blasphemy or your promiscuity? Do you hold a hatred for someone? If God has saved you, you will be changed. You will not continue on a path of sin to a fiery pit. God will finish His work in you and will not allow one of His to live a sinful, blasphemous existence. It is not possible. That is a starting point, once you have a saving faith in God and not anything else and then you can start to examine other things in light of scripture and Gods revelation in the Bible, not by experience that doesn’t align with His Word.