The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. -- 2Corinthians 9:6 (ESV)
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." -- Luke 6:38 (ESV)
The purpose driven industrial complex generates million of dollars each year by spreading a false gospel and doing the bidding of Satan. One pronounced heresy is known as the prosperity gospel, which promises riches beyond measure if you would just give your money to the preacher-man. Sow a little seed and reap a bountiful harvest. When I think about the premier shills in this area I think of Mike Murdock, Creflo Dollar and Benny Hinn. Now mind you, Hinn has plenty of other heresies he loves but prosperity is right up there for him. He has made 42 million dollars from robbing the flock of God. Recently however, perhaps out of guilt for being called out by his own nephew, Hinn has claimed to repent of the prosperity message. As we will see, this is untrue but the larger point is now the complex must get into spin mode and protect the brand. So we come to the article linked above from Stephen Strang about comments from someone named George Bloomer, who is presenting a "heresy lite" version of prosperity but as we examine it and reason together we will find it is no different than the primary prosperity message.
"Last week, Benny Hinn shared some strong words against the extreme prosperity gospel during a sermon. He says putting a price on the gospel is an "offense to the Holy Spirit" and even makes him sick to his stomach. A video of his comments went viral, causing many to wonder what caused his change of heart regarding prosperity--a teaching he has been known for over the years. I interviewed Benny Hinn last week about his comments, and he told me he wants to be known, not for prosperity teaching, but for pointing people back to the cross of Jesus. He explained why he has changed his mind about prosperity (and assured me it was not a response to his critics). Click here to read more about Hinn's comments and listen to our interview. Many applauded Hinn's boldness in rejecting the abuses in the prosperity. But my friend Bishop George Bloomer--founder of G.G. Bloomer Ministries, the Word Network and Bethel Family Worship Center, a multicultural ministry in Durham, North Carolina--tells me not all the fruit has been positive. He was at the Word Network's studio when he found out about Hinn's comments. After the video went viral, people started challenging his network. Many even called to demand money back that they had donated." -- Stephen Strang
Now let's be honest. Benny Hinn has not repented. A friend of mine suggested that perhaps he was looking for some cover with his nephew Costi so vehemently opposed to him. The bottom line is one visit to his website and you will find three upcoming "miracle healing" services still on the calendar for September! When the news first broke we wrote about our concern regarding the overreaction. Hinn said some things about the prosperity gospel but stopped short of actually changing anything. Where was the commentary on the 42 million dollars he has fleeced from God's people? Where is the Zacchaeus realization that he needs to make restitution? Where is the repentance for all of the fake healing services and pretending to knock over swaths of people with his suit coat? Sorry Benny but you will be known around the world as false but more importantly, when you stand before Christ you will be judged as such. So enter into this story someone who fancies himself a bishop, which is a red flag already. Now, I have never heard of George Bloomer but the early returns on Google are not promising nor is his defense of the indefensible regarding prosperity; as we will soon see.
"In response, Bloomer gave a statement, which he posted on YouTube, regarding what he believes is a biblical and balanced view of the prosperity gospel. I invited Bloomer onto my podcast to talk about this and to share both the good and the bad of the prosperity message going around today. He says God gave Hinn a real and personal conviction about the prosperity message, including in his own preaching. But since Hinn has so much influence, many have not known how to respond to it. Because of that, Bloomer says, it's important that we have a balanced understanding of biblical prosperity. "I've seen the prosperity message work in the black church, and I've seen it at its worst," Bloomer tells me. "... The Scriptures teach us that if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. So what do we do with that? The Scripture says to give and it shall be given unto you in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. So what do we do with that?" -- Stephen Strang
So what do we do with them? We make them our key verses and look at the context of course! To George Bloomer these verses give him free reign to practice the heretical and abusive "seed faith" theology in his church. This essentially turns God into a blessing dispenser who only responds to cold hard cash. Now, it is true that there is a universal principle of sowing and reaping that is stated in 2Corinthians and supported elsewhere. Reading the context in 2Corinthains we see Paul is taking an offering for fellow believers in Jerusalem who were in need. The early church took care of each other. That was the design of God. So Paul asked the congregants at Corinth to support their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. What Bloomer advocates for is his congregants giving HIM money and in return he promises God will prosper them. The pressed down shaken together verses have also been historically abused. God is trying to teach us something beloved and a quid-pro-quo is not it. There are always people in need and we ought to not be stingy when it comes to helping them. The measure that we use to help people is the same measure that will be used to help us. That is the principle of sowing ands reaping; not this ATM bastardized version of prosperity. The prosperity of God rarely deals with cash. Perhaps it is measured when our children return to the Lord. Perhaps it is measured when we have a job to put food on the table. Perhaps it is measured when we have a good church and pastor who preaches the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ. I often ask, was Calvary enough? Is that the height of prosperity in your life or are you like George Bloomer, looking for the second car or bigger house? Are you like the rich fool whose life was demanded if him before he could enjoy any of his riches? Bloomer reports he has seen the prosperity message work? What does that even mean? Why would a Gospel work only some of the time? The lies of the prosperity gospel are wicked. They condition people to assign anything positive in their lives to the tithe and anything negative to an attack from the devil.
'"I've seen the knuckleheads run around here and say, 'If you give this amount, this is what's going to happen for you in 20 days' or what have you. Well, that's perverting the gospel. It's trashy." Bloomer has seen his fair share of charlatans, but that doesn't mean the biblical principles of sowing and reaping are not true. Bloomer tells me several stories of people who have sown a financial seed in faith and reaped blessing as a result. He tells me he used to weigh 414 pounds. At the same time he was battling his weight, he was also struggling with cancer. But he experienced a healing breakthrough when he gave a financial gift out of faith. "My mother said to me, 'Son, give a seed, sow a seed and place a demand on the seed,'" he says. "I believed that, and I did it. So what do you say to the people who--forget the doctrine of prosperity or the doctrine of giving--what do you do with people who, through faith, believe the promises of God and, according to their faith, so be it unto them?"' -- Stephen Strang
Seed faith is pure heresy. It is a gross distortion of the principle of sowing and reaping. Look at the nonsense he ascribes to his mother. That we can place a demand upon the seed! Translation? We can place demands upon God! No beloved, we cannot. Are the promises of God contingent upon payment first? Is God a prostitute? If no, then why does George Bloomer whore Him out like this? I agree the people that say give X and God will give Y in 20 days are knuckleheads and charlatans but Bloomer's beliefs simply remove the time element. By claiming we can place demand for return on our investment, we are essentially saying the same thing the knuckleheads are saying, no? He decries perverting the gospel and them presents a story about a 414-pound man with cancer, who received some vague sense of relief, but only AFTER giving money to God? What is the inference? That God would never have healed him without the money first? Is God some gangster who is going to kneecap us if we don't pay Him his tribute first? The answer to the last question here is simple. You do not need to introduce the element of money into faith. In all of the healings Jesus performed, after which He always said it was done according to the person's faith, I never heard him charge the person who got healed. By the way, one can be generous and a cheerful giver if the healing comes or does not. The abomination is when people like Bloomer ties God's hands and demand the money before the miracle.
"I appreciate Bloomer's stance and his willingness to speak up and bring balance in the midst of the uproar after Hinn's comments. It's interesting he brings up this message now, because Bloomer isn't really a prosperity teacher. He calls himself a "spiritual-warfare preacher." He also has a prophetic gift. During our conversation, he told me that if the church doesn't handle this argument about the prosperity gospel correctly, we will experience a lot of spiritual attack in the area of kingdom economy. Hopefully, with balanced views like Bloomer's, the church can safely and biblically navigate this conversation about prosperity. It all goes back to the pure gospel, he says. If we can keep our eyes fixed on the truth of God's Word and the purity of the cross, we can come to a healthy understanding of how to give out of faith and see blessing come as a result." -- Stephen Strang
Ugh. The kingdom economy is a sure-fire sign of the NAR code-speak. The purpose driven industrial complex however relies upon preachers like Bloomer. They had relied heavily upon Benny Hinn and they still will despite the momentary prick into Hinn's conscience. Like I pointed out earlier, Hinn has three more false miracle healing services scheduled this month alone so the tales of his repentance have been greatly exaggerated. The industry had to protect the brand at all costs however so spin control was vital after Hinn publicly spoke out. Strang is a primary gatekeeper as publisher of Charisma News. He presents Bloomer, someone no one knows, as a way of shielding from typical criticisms as he reestablishes prosperity as a viable and biblical gospel when it most certainly is not. Bloomer's views are not balanced! In fact they are only off from the people he calls charlatans based on setting a time demand on God! There was nothing pure about this mess. Outside of it being pure heresy.
Rev. Anthony.