The reality of women's ministry today

Opponents of women's ministry appeal to the Scriptures in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35. On the basis of these passages women have been forbidden to teach, preach and take on leadership positions in the church.

There are problems in prohibiting women preaching, teaching and leading because there are clearly some very gifted women preachers and ministers in the church today. Do we deny that God has called and equipped them? There are certain verses which indicate that women, in the New Testament, prophesied in the church, taught and exercised some sort of leadership positions. I would ask you to consider the following texts:
Acts 2:17-18
Acts 18: 24-26
Acts 21:9
Romans 16: 1-4, 19
Philippians 4: 2-3.

The Bible tells us of women who had various leadership roles: Sarah, Deborah, Esther, Abigail, Mary, Phoebe, Priscilla, Euodia and Syntyche.

Church history has many examples of women in ministry. It is a fact that not all good preachers and evangelists are men!

In defence of theology

There are some preachers and Christians who claim that theology is of no value. They do not understand that theology is the study of God. In preaching, teaching and talking about God they are involved in theology, in theological discussion! Once you start talking about God then you enter the realm of theology. There is no getting away from that. Once you start commenting on Scripture and what is found in the Bible then you are involved in theological matters. All the authors of the books in the Bible were therefore theologians.

Through the help of theologians we have had accurate translations of the Bible, helpful commentaries, sermons and messages. Through theologians we have had creeds and doctrinal statements that have kept us from heresy and false doctrine. Our understanding of the Trinity has been helped considerably by the work of theologians. The Holy Spirit has worked through theologians.

Through theology we can understand our theological heritage, our doctrinal position and historical church perspective. Whatever theological position you hold it comes with a historical and cultural context, though you may not be aware of it through ignorance and lack of understanding. The Christian doctrines and practices that you hold dear have been shaped by certain theological developments and traditions. Theology can help you to discover how these doctrines were formed and how they have developed. Every Christian is therefore a theologian, though not every theologian is a Christian.

There is sound theology and there is bad theology. Not all theology is good and helpful.
But good theology will lead you into the wonderful truths of God.

What happens when we die?

It has been said that we can all be certain of death and taxes. But what happens after death?

For Christians there is the blessed hope of the resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Without Christ there is the fearful prospect of judgement, punishment and peril. Jesus saves us from the coming wrath. See 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.

The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable. A mystery has been revealed and we shall not all sleep, but God's people will be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The dead will be raised imperishable.

What a great hope! HOPE - happy outcome patiently expected. We have faith in Christ and in His second coming in glory to reign over all. FAITH - finding assurance in trustworthy hope.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

The state immediately following death will consist of fellowship with Christ. We may be concerned and aware of our present time-consciousness and the time-interval between death and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it may be possible that from God's point of view there will be no time interval at all and so the resurrection at the return of Jesus, the parousia, will be immediately after the believer's death. We now see in a glass darkly but one day we shall see clearly in the light of Jesus' glorious appearing.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

Precious stones of the New Jerusalem

Recently I preached on the Christian hope of a new heaven and a new earth. When I was preparing my sermon I came across a message from David Pawson and I thought it was well worth sharing with others. It is on You Tube under the title of Dark Diamonds. It refers to the twelve precious stones in the New Jerusalem mentioned in Revelation 21. I have put the link here so that you can see the presentation.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kXfCdcNRN60&feature=related

Rapture but no secret rapture

There are those who deny the rapture. Some do so because of the mistaken and erroneous belief in a secret event when Christians are mysteriously removed from the earth prior to the tribulation.

The word rapture comes from the Latin rapio which means catch up or snatch. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Paul tells us that Christians still alive and left on earth will be caught up (αρπαγησομεθα) together with the risen dead in Christ in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It can therefore be argued that at the second coming of Christ, when the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with the loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, Christians will be caught up or raptured!

Let us be clear that this is no secret or hidden event. The loud command, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God will herald the clearly visible second coming. Yes, He is coming with the clouds and every eye shall see Him! Revelation 1:7.

Somehow since the 19th century a doctrine of a two stage event has been introduced in which the rapture is separated from the visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The rapture is wrongly understood as a secret event when true Christians are suddenly and mysteriously removed from the earth.
According to this view, Christ is not seen and the elect disappear. Although this doctrine is very well publicized and has been popularized in the Left Behind books and film, its historical background goes no further back than the first half of the 19th century, about 1830. It has been spread through the teaching of Edward Irving, JN Darby, the Scofield Bible, dispensationalism, Hal Lindsey and a host of other preachers and authors.

The last trumpet must clearly refer to a public and visible event. It rules out a secret and hidden rapture.

I would recommend the You Tube video by Bezel333 on this subject under the title The rapture of the church... yes, and no. I have inserted the link so that you can see it.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QxA_LlQC_is

Contra Benny Hinn

Benny Hinn predicted " right after the year 2000... financial disaster will hit and only those who have been giving to God's work will be spared." This was used cleverly, in the context of the meeting, to get people to give to Benny Hinn! It is very deceitful to say only those who have been giving to God's work will be spared. It is a lie! Anyone with some basic understanding of economics would know that. Look at the greedy hedge fund entrepreneurs and capitalists who have done well out of the current economic problems. They have been spared through clever investments and not by increasing seed i.e money for Benny's ministry. Benny is not, therefore, interested in the truth of the situation but he is playing on people's fear of economic hardship. He exploiting the situation to get people to give. He seems to have convinced many to fund his lavish lifestyle.

It it depressing to find that Christians still support the ministry of Benny Hinn. There is clearly a lack of discernment and intellectual rigour. If people did some proper research into this man's ministry then you will find deceit and dishonesty. Welcome, Holy Spirit contains untruthful reports about events in Canada. When these events were independently investigated it was found that Benny had been very economical with the truth.

Lois C. Krause, director of community relations for Sault Sainte Marie General Hospital, denied all that Hinn claimed. She said it could not have happened in the way Hinn's book describes. She laughed after reading a copy of the story. No miracles occurred in the hospital as Hinn claims, she said, adding that "no patients left that day" due to miraculous occurrences. Some older staff members did recall Hinn's name, but did not remember anything as extraordinary as his book describes. They did not deny the possibility that the chapel meeting was held, but did not recall the meeting as recounted in Welcome, Holy Spirit. Mother Superior Mary Francis, of the Gray Sisters of the Immaculate Conception order, also disputed Hinn's account. She said she did not invite Hinn, but reluctantly allowed his chapel service in deference to the pastoral care department, which initiated the service. The hospital then released a statement, which included the following remarks: "No such events have ever occurred at General Hospital. His pronouncement can neither be verified through the medical records nor by testimony from past or present personnel of this hospital.
http://thetruth.atspace.com/ A summary critique: Welcome, Holy Spirit. The critique is, in fact, written by G.Richard Fisher and M. Kurt Goedelman.


Hinn lied and these lies are in the book. His claims do not stand up to honest scrutiny. This is true with regard to Benny Hinn's claims about healing. God's truth will stand up to every form of scrutiny.

If people took the trouble to look into the way money has been spent, the lack of medical evidence for the alleged healings, the weird prophetic statements (such as the one about the gay community of America) and the broken promises (see the CBC documentary The Fifth Estate in five parts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgDHuHhX43U&feature+related ), they would not give a penny to this man. He seems to have the spirit of Gehazi! Please see my essay on the abuse of the Bible by prosperity teachers on my blog. We need to pray for Benny Hinn and his ilk.


The Bible clearly condemns living in luxury and self-indulgence. There is no question about that and if you need a proof text then James 5:5 will do and the whole context leaves us in no doubt about it. So when my research into the spending of one high profile prosperity preacher revealed that he had stayed in the most expensive suite in the most expensive hotel in Milan, well I find that very difficult to justify as a necessary ministry expense, don't you? Furthermore, it was revealed that he had made various trips in his private jet, which from a forensic accounting point of view, were also hard to explain. When the money obtained in this man's ministry comes from very vulnerable, poor and very needy people, some of whom cannot afford the gifts they have put into the offering, then I think I am justifiably filled with indignation. The Word of God condemns this behaviour, does it not? Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their treatment of needy widows. This behaviour damages the work of the Gospel. It is a stumbling block to unbelievers. The Elmer Gantry character and The Leap of Faith film do resonate in the USA. They do strike a chord and make a point. Some of these prosperity preachers are doing serious damage and they should be accountable. It is sad when they operate without transparency and integrity.

The following documentary is worth watching in six parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEvHflzKStU&feature=PlayList&p=84C8B76B751EBDCA&index=0

By the way, I am not anti-charismatic at all as I am charismatic by experience and believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit and miracles of God operate today. I am, however, strongly against certain ministries that exploit the charismatically inclined Christians and use these ministries as a means of gain and self promotion.

The abuse of the Bible by prosperity teachers

It is my contention that prosperity teaching is not biblical but an abuse of the Bible. Prosperity teaching is a false gospel and is based on false foundations. It exploits the vulnerable and it promotes an unhealthy materialistic outlook. It has the spirit of Gehazi rather than the Spirit of God. Those who profit from it often live luxuriously without real concern for the needs of others and without a commitment to a true Christian life of discipleship and taking up the cross daily to follow Christ Jesus as Lord. The prosperity preachers seem to be more concerned about their own bank accounts, cars, mansions and even private jets.

The following theological reflections may be helpful.

The definition and background of the Health and Wealth Gospel Groups

The key teaching can be summarized as follows: it is God’s will for all Christians to be prosperous, spiritually and materially, and to experience health and miracles in their walk with God. An important aspect of prosperity teaching is the doctrine of seed-faith.

According to Hummel, the four main teachings of the Faith movement are revelation knowledge, positive confession, divine healing, and material prosperity. McConnell believes that in its infancy the Faith movement was known for its radical emphasis upon healing, but today the Faith movement is one of the major sources of prosperity teaching among modern charismatics. Those in the Faith movement therefore believe that God works miracles in providing healing and finances.

The movement’s roots have been traced back to E.W. Kenyon, and through to the healing evangelists of the post WWII era and twentieth century materialistic American Protestant Christianity. In some ways the doctrine of prosperity seems to be a gross example of the Church’s cultural accommodation to the worldly values of American materialism.
It is my contention that these Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians use, and abuse, the Bible as a source, inspiration and ultimately an authoritative text to endorse their teaching. All the leading exponents in the Word of Faith movement, those promoting the prosperity teaching, would claim to be preaching a truly Bible based message and would claim to be faithful ministers of the Word of God, the Bible. They would all maintain that they are correctly handling the truths of scripture and God. All of them quote the Bible as a proof text and supreme authority; they normally operate in an environment where the Bible is believed to be the rule of faith and final court of appeal in matters of doctrine. They usually have a very high view of scripture and are brought up in a tradition of Bible proof texts, which amounts to quoting Bible verses, arguably often out of context, to strengthen a point or to back up a doctrine. It is expected that any “anointed” preacher will be able to refer frequently to Bible texts and quote relevant portions from the Bible. In some cases it is claimed that the teaching comes by special revelation and direct inspiration from God.



A key text in support of the prosperity theology is 3 John 2:

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

The Authorized Version is preferred because it has the phrase “above all things” which prosperity teachers use to stress that health and prosperity are God’s highest wish and priority for his children. However, to extend the author’s wish for Gaius to refer to financial and material prosperity for all Christians is totally foreign to the text. What was in fact a standard form of greeting in a personal letter in antiquity[1] has been twisted to support a prosperity theology.


The spread of the Gospel does not necessarily involve huge sums of money or extra wealth among Christians. It can be spread in the normal course of daily living and personal testimony. It does not have to involve expensive methods, miracle wealth transfer and mass evangelism. In Latin America and parts of Africa the advance of the Church has occurred among the poor and by the relatively poor; the history of Christianity does not link wealth and the success of the Church. The end-time wealth transfer teaching seems to be based on the prosperity gospel’s obsession with finances and money rather than sound Biblical teaching. One prosperity preacher believes that according to Deuteronomy 8:18 there is an end-time transfer of wealth coming to the people of God.

He asserts that it can be brought to pass through good will gifts, but there is nothing about an end-time transfer of wealth in the New Testament. It is another case of the prosperity preachers finding their pet doctrines in ambiguous texts, and then claiming that it is a legitimate use of the Bible because of a revelation or prophecy. It is also coveting the world’s money and wanting to operate in a materialistic way.

There seems no good reason to link rather obscure texts in Proverbs and Deuteronomy with eschatological doctrines and prosperity. Richard Roberts claims that God gave him “a powerful revelation concerning breaking the spirit of debt”. He bases his revelation on the story of the miracle of the floating axe head in 2 Kings 6. According to Richard Roberts, the passage teaches us principles to remove debt, finance the end-time Gospel, and remove people from the devil’s kingdom. Roberts makes the connection that debt is borrowed money and the axe head was borrowed and lost. To find the missing item the young man had to be specific about the location, tell the whole story and then put something in (a stick) to retrieve the axe head. Roberts sees seed-faith as the answer. He writes:
… Elisha realized that you must put something in first as an act of your obedience, as God directs, if you want to get something out. You must sow a seed to God.

When you put something in and add your faith to it, God can take those things that have sunk to the bottom of your life and cause them to float to the TOP!

I find it ironic that a magazine, from Oral Roberts University (ORU), offered a revelation concerning breaking the spirit of debt, and advertised a tape and book about “blasting debt out of the body of Christ”, yet also mentions in another article that a man had pledged $1,000 towards debt reduction at ORU. The man asserts, “God delivered me from debt as I gave toward ORU’s debt!” Surely this “powerful revelation” should have removed the debt from ORU! This revelation was not powerful enough to help ORU miraculously, or by other methods, to remove their debt. Perhaps these “miracles” take time for the gullible to buy the books and tapes, and to make sufficient donations in seed-faith giving to remove the debt. The use of 2 Kings 6 to teach miracle debt reduction principles is an example of eisegesis, where the obsession with the seed-faith concept has been transported into passage in the Bible. It seems that this teaching, in the context of the magazine, plays on the many vulnerable people who have debts. It puts pressure on them to give to Oral Roberts Ministries in the hope that through this giving they will get money miraculously, as the testimonies in the magazine allege. No doubt those who read the magazine will be finding testimonies by people who will allege that they have had their debts miraculously removed through applying this teaching through seed-faith giving - probably to ORU or Oral Roberts Ministries. The magazine has regular accounts of money coming to people after seed-faith giving.

The Faith teachers are now promising freedom from poverty and sickness. This is certainly the message of Oral Roberts’ book on the subject. In it he proclaims, in a catchy sentence: Sow a seed against the need.

Hickey, Roberts and Osborn have all been key expositors of “point of contact” miracles. This controversial teaching is based on their use of Acts 19: 11-12:
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Handkerchiefs and aprons that had been touched by him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Faith teachers claim that healing and other miracles can take place through a point of contact with the healer/miracle worker. The passage in Acts 19:11-12 refers to extraordinary miracles yet the practice of using items like handkerchiefs for healing and working miracles is seen as normative in some healing ministry today. It has been used to justify some unusual practices and fund raising methods. Hickey has claimed that her mother was healed of breast tumour by a point of contact miracle by putting her hand on the television set.

Marilyn Hickey has since used the text in Acts 19 to raise funds for her ministry through various “point of contact” articles, which are given to effect healing and miracles. For example, the healer asks for a donation, a seed sown in faith, to be sent for articles, such as a cloth or handkerchief, which are then forwarded to the person requiring healing. Hanegraaff gives details of Hickey’s manipulative methods:

In one letter, Hickey promised to send a special anointing if the enclosed prayer cloth, along with money, was sent back to her immediately. Hickey promised that if it was returned “right now,” she would have it “anointed with an Acts 19 kind of anointing for ‘special,’ ‘unusual’ and ‘extraordinary’ miracles.” Hickey assured the reader that the Holy Spirit had been dealing with her about the entire matter and that she was excited about it.

Looking at the evidence from Hanegraaff and the Internet, this point of contact teaching seems an appalling example of exploiting the sick and making money out of the needy. It is abusing the Bible, preying on the fears and vulnerability of people needing healing and help. To exploit these people financially seems totally against the spirit of the Gospel of grace, alien to the New Testament teaching and closer to promoting a form of magic and superstition than genuine Christianity. These activities bring dishonour to the Church and are a disgraceful attempt to merchandize “miracles”. This form of religion has more in common with the Temple moneychangers than Jesus and the Apostles. It is more in tune with the spirit of Gehazi than the Spirit of God. It is utterly repellent to people outside the Church who see it for what it is, an attempt to gain money easily. There is really no honest endeavour involved. This abuse of the Bible has made the Faith teachers richer and the poor and the sick financially poorer, though I have met a few who have claimed to have prospered through seed-faith but not as much as the Faith movement leaders; they have the best cars in parking lot and some have their own jet planes!

There is no mention in Acts 19:11-12, or anything other passage, that healing miracles involve any financial arrangement or giving generously to a ministry or a minister. Paul the Apostle never asked for funds to be sent back to him with the handkerchief as a point of contact. Yet this text is used to promote healing ministries and the appeals for money when various items are sent out to heal the sick. In Acts 2 the crippled beggar at Beautiful Gate was not asked to sow a seed-faith gift to Peter and John before healing took place. Unlike the Faith teachers, Peter’s confession was “silver and gold I have not.” It was, ironically, a negative confession that certain Faith teachers condemn.

Some Faith teachers are now urging their followers to utter the positive confession “Money cometh to me, now! I’m a money magnet.” This seems more like using a mantra or magic spell, not genuine Christianity. These “faith confessions” are based on a verse from Isaiah 55: 10-11 where it says:
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I send it.

Clearly this text is taken completely out of context to be used to teach positive confession and a seed-faith approach. It is quite false to use this verse to suggest that our words are invested with some power from God to accomplish what we confess.

The health and prosperity gospel promises so much but on closer inspection it delivers so little, because it is based on two false premises:

It is always God’s will to heal everyone.

God intends every believer to be wealthy, to prosper financially.

It tells people what they want to hear, that they can be wealthy and healthy, rather than what the Bible actually says.






[1] Gordon D. Fee, The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels, Vancouver: Regent Bookstore, 1996, p.6. Fee refers to the collection of ancient letters in Select Papyri, New York: Putnam, 1932, pp. 269-395.