DAILY BREAD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007
"BENNY HINN'S TRANSLATOR"
Neal Pollard
Neal Pollard
Early this morning, I caught a few moments of Benny Hinn's program. It was taped in Mombai, India. Throngs of people filled the audience. As Benny was speaking to the crowd, he followed his usual format of talking about specific people in his live audience as well as those watching him at home. He spoke of specific ailments and even boldly spoke about specific individuals, calling them by name and mentioning very specific struggles with which they dealt. Apparently, this approach of Hinn's has proven very successful. A cohort of his, taking the microphone, spoke of the Hinn Ministry's ten satellites and worldwide thirty city tour that even included Jerusalem. The people in the audience were paying rapt attention, hanging on both men's every word. Of course, they could only understand Benny and his fellow-laborer through the work of an articulate, but unseen, translator. The man who purports to heal diseases, speak in tongues, have Spirit-led abilities to identify specific people and problems, and to have a supernaturally-given message...needed a translator.
1 John 4:1, talking about the false message of the Gnostics, urges, "Beloved, 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 could tell that Gnostics were false teachers because they denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. A broader point is that the Bible is always an accurate "tester" of any person's assertions or doctrine. If there is inconsistency or contradiction, be careful! A man claiming so many gifts of the Spirit should not need an interpreter, should he?
Several websites exist that give line by line proof testing the claims and teaching of Mr. Hinn (see, for example,http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/tbn.htm, http://www.rapidnet.com/ ~jbeard/bdm/exposes/hinn/general.htm, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/bhinn.html ad nauseum). Untold numbers of people offer financial support to false teachers, never once testing their message or assertions by God's Word. Whoever the teacher is and whatever his professed religious affiliation--and that includes even those among us--he should be measured against the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The Bible is the ultimate measuring stick, and nobody's practice or profession should be in conflict with it.
1 John 4:1, talking about the false message of the Gnostics, urges, "Beloved, 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 could tell that Gnostics were false teachers because they denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. A broader point is that the Bible is always an accurate "tester" of any person's assertions or doctrine. If there is inconsistency or contradiction, be careful! A man claiming so many gifts of the Spirit should not need an interpreter, should he?
Several websites exist that give line by line proof testing the claims and teaching of Mr. Hinn (see, for example,http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/tbn.htm, http://www.rapidnet.com/ ~jbeard/bdm/exposes/hinn/general.htm, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/bhinn.html ad nauseum). Untold numbers of people offer financial support to false teachers, never once testing their message or assertions by God's Word. Whoever the teacher is and whatever his professed religious affiliation--and that includes even those among us--he should be measured against the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The Bible is the ultimate measuring stick, and nobody's practice or profession should be in conflict with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment