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Tag Archives: gnostic

Pringle Getting ‘Secrets for Abundance’ In Isaiah

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Nailed Truth in Uncategorized

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10 Qualities of a Great Leader, abundance, false prophet, false teacher, gnostic, gnosticism, major, major secrets, major secrets of abundance, Phil Pringle, Pringle, prophecy, prophet, secrets, secrets of abundance, Top 10 Qualities of a Great Leader

Below we will see the elite Gnostic work of Phil Pringle drawing out “major secrets of abundance” that only a self-anointed prophet like himself could decode from a singular biblical text.

Pringle writes,

“Isaiah prophesies major secrets for abundance: “let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings” (Isa. 54:2). This key unlocks growth for any organization. Unless we let them, the church will not grow.” – Phil Pringle, Top 10 Qualities of a Great Leader, Harrison House Publishers: 2007, pg. 130.

First off, Pringle mistakingly AGAIN conveys his belief that the church is an organisation and not the called-out people of God.

Secondly, do you think Isaiah is prophesying “major secrets for abundance”? Look at the passage in context. You will see this passage is not talking to you or organisations in how to receive “major secrets for abundance”. This is a prophecy about the future restoration of Israel. We have a lot of bible resources advertised on C3 Church Watch. We encourage readers to compare Pringle’s claim and our claim to the bible. You will see this scripture is not about leadership and abundance for you or organisations. Phil Pringle is making it up.

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Ps Prasch: “Pringle Gets Involved In Things Like Amway & Pyramiding Schemes

05 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Nailed Truth in Other

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amway, c3, c3 church, ccc, ccc church, Christian City Church, christian city church global, christian city church international, Christian City Church Oxford Falls, Christian City Church Sydney, gnostic, gnosticism, jacob prasch, Phil Pringle, Phil Pringle's City Church, Pringle, pyramid scheme, pyramiding schemes

[EDIT 08/07/2012: C3ChurchWatch wishes to report Jacobs Prasch’s opinion. We don’t necessarily agree with his views or this article. We met with Jacob Prasch last night – he recommended this article. We simply wish to report what other church leaders are saying about C3Church.]

Pastor and Teacher Jacob Prasch from Moriel Ministries wrote an article on Thessalonians 1 titled ‘The Mixture’.

In his piece, Prasch condemned many of Pringles fellow associates (including Yonggi Cho, Benny Hinn, Morris Cerullo and the Elim church movement) and those who influence him (including John Avanzini, Rick Joyner, Rodney Howard Brown, Paul Crouch, John Wimber and Peter Wagner).

Pastor Jacob Prasch writes (emphasis in bold),

“… Yet because of pop psychology, these biblical truths are distorted, ignored, or have even been heretically rejected. People are just told to ‘confess victory’, or ‘bind the enemy’ not meaning what God’s Word means by those terms, but actually meaning what positive thinking and motivational psychology means.

If one were to go to a secular motivational sales seminar for sales executives, a slick looking motivational speaker with a glossy charisma would prance around on a platform with a microphone saying things like

“There Are Three Steps”. “Step One – realize your vision”. “Step Two- forget the indicators or adverse circumstances, give no place to any negative thoughts – just focus on your goals and on your vision”.

“Step Three – Once you realize your vision and maximize the positive and forget the negative, you will be in a position to get others to invest in your vision”.

Thus , this secular psychology gets into the church masquerading as biblical theology. A hype artist preacher will stand up on Sunday and share “his vision”, and when questioned he will “Reject that negativity in The Name of Jesus”, and tell you “God wants it to be your vision too and you should sow to the vision”.

I have seen more churches get into financial trouble and loose people over this kind of psuedo-spiritual idiocy than I can count. One Kingdom Now/ Toronto maniac in the North West of England who came under the influence of anti Israel Restorationist preacher Rick Godwin literally got his church into massive debt on a massive building program not ordained of God, lost most of his flock , then began selling insurance part time to make ends meet and finally left the country. Another Pentecostal Church of the same denomination a short distance away got into a financial scandal over a scheme involving Christian retirement villas.

When of course the building program or whatever other scheme he cooked up turns out not to be God’s vision, but purely his own and things do not work out then it becomes a matter of “standing in faith resisting Satan”.

When people get fed up with being financially exploited and begin to leave the church, the heavy shepherding takes over and these people are told “they have a spirit of rebellion”.

All of this mess comes from the ‘Mixture’ of secular psychology and the vain philosophies of the world with biblical psychology and Christian doctrine. This same mixture is why we see so many Christians in churches like . . .  Preacher Phil Pringle’s City Church in Sydney get involved in things like Amway and in pyramiding schemes. Psychologised Christians are prone to such things because such schemes are based on psycho babel disguising itself as biblical principles. While there are ex-alcoholics who dried out through Alcoholics Anonymous groups and then were saved, we see so many people in 12 Step Programs on their way to hell not believing they need Christ because the mixture of biblical principles and pop psychology in such organizations misleading them into a subjective, universalist ‘God as I understand Him’ view of The Almighty instead of to The Cross of Jesus.

The theological root of this mixture is of course gnosticism, where a subjective mystical perspective of scripture ignoring the context is substituted for an objective exegetical perspective. Gnostics always use biblical terms but have different definitions for them. The gnosticism of Roman Catholicism is called sensus pleniore. The Roman Church will be quick to point out that they like classical Protestants believe salvation is by grace. By grace however, they do not mean the Hebrew word chesed meaning ‘God’s covenant mercy’, or the Greek term Charism meaning ‘gift’, nor the English definition meaning ‘undeserved favor’. The actual and sanctifying grace of Rome is not a gift of mercy or unmerited, but an ethereal substance earned by the paganistic sacraments of their spiritually corrupt false religious system. Yet etymologically, they believe in “grace”.

New Agers are Gnostics who also believe in “seeing the light” by which they mean realizing the cosmic illumination of the inner self. Many, copying Hinduism, they also believe in being “born again”, meaning reincarnation. Sufi Islam, Chassidic Judaism, and Mormonism are all false belief systems who use biblical terms with a different meaning. This is all part of the Gnostic maze, and whenever witnessing to such people we not assume that they mean what we do by the same words, but terms need to be carefully and biblically defined…”

From: Understanding “The Mixture” from 1 Thessalonians, http://www.moriel.org/articles/sermons/understanding_the_mixture.htm (Accessed 08/02/2012)

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Pringle Using His Prophecy Of Kong Hee To Elevate His ‘Prophetic Message’

01 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, C3 Scripture Handling, C3 Teaching, Church Sermons, Pringle's Behaviour, Pringle's Doctrine/Gospel, Pringle's False Prophecies, Pringle's Jesus, Pringle's Language, Pringle's Methods, Pringle's Prophecies

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$310, $310 000 million dollars, 000 million, c3 church oxford falls, c3 global, c3 international, c3 oxford falls, c3global, C3i, ccc, ccc church oxford falls, ccc international, ccc oxford falls, ccci, CHC, City Harvest Church, connect groups notes, connect notes, crown, favor, favour, gfc, global financial crisis, gnostic, gnosticism, Hee, Kong Hee, money, Phil Pringle, Pringle, prophecy, prosperity, Singapore, Suntec City

PRINGLE’S PROPHECY OVER KONG HEE TO HAVE SUNTEC CITY

Kong Hee is the megachurch pastor in Singapore who runs City Harvest Church (CHC). Recently, we have been reporting the shocking allegations from Singapore of Kong Hee’s arrest. Phil Pringle is an advisory pastor and sits on CHC’s Advisory Committee.

Phil Pringle is in Singapore supporting CHC, while Kong Hee and others follow court procedures. Kong Hee looks up to Pringle and his prophetic words. It was because Pringle ‘prophesied’ to Kong that he would own the SunTec City in 1997 that influenced Kong Hee and CHC to make the move.

If the charges against Kong Hee are true and he gets the unfortunate life sentence, this means Phil Pringle gave a false prophecy in regards to Kong Hee having SunTec City. Pringle in the past has used Kong Hee and the SunTec ‘prophecy’ as evidence to demonstrate that he is a legitimate prophet of God. This article offers a good example of this.

PRINGLE DEFINING ‘FAVOUR’

Before reading Phil Pringle’s sermon ‘Favor’, we need to let Pringle define what ‘Favor’ actually means:

“This is the grace (unmerited favor) of God – if you are in Christ, you have fulfilled ALL God’s requirements to bless you.” – Phil Pringle, http://philpringle.com/2009/11/01/blessed-not-cursed/, 01/11/09.

The C3 Connect Notes ‘Favour – Ps Phil Pringle‘, were published around the time Phil Pringle gave this sermon. It is from these connect notes Phil Pringle based his sermon on (which we will publish soon):

“God’s favour and God’s grace are interchangeable.” – Phil Pringle, Connect Group Notes: Favour – Ps Phil Pringle, 02/05/2010.

So favour = grace. Keep this at the forefront of your mind!

OVERVIEW OF SERMON

In 2010, this sermon had:

1. Pringle parade himself as a prophet, using Kong Hee’s recent purchase of SunTec City to demonstrate his prophetic ability. This was so members could embrace his ‘prophetic’ office and his ‘prophetic mesage’.

2. Pringle conditioned the unmerited favour/grace of God to people’s works.

3. Pringle conditioned the unmerited favour/grace of God by teaching “the day the set time of favour” is coming. (Everyday we are already IN God’s unmerited favour/grace so we can be assured of our salvation in Him.)

4. Pringle prophesied financial breakthrough’s over people who suffered through the global GFC.

5. Pringle mangles many scriptures and operates within a financial and Gnostic framework. (We shall look at these scriptures in another post.)

6. Pringle preached a false and dangerous Jesus towards the end.

KEY SNIPPETS FROM THE SERMON

Here are key snippets from the sermon. Please listen to the audio of sermon. If there are typos or if you believe anything is out of context, please contact us at c3churchwatch@hotmail.com. We will fix the comments as best we can.

“I want you to come with me to Psalm 102. Psalm 102. This message is – it has teaching in it– but more than anything this is what I would call, ‘message of a prophet’; a prophetic message. A message for a time. A message that wasn’t for January- Isn’t for August- It’s for now- Today.

God has something to say to us today. I’m not good at a lot of things but I’m not bad at getting the timing of the Word of the Lord right. You heard Kong Hee tell you I prophesied over him about five times that he would have Suntek City. He always dismissed it cos it’s an icon of Singapore. It’s in the main. It’s right in the middle. In the heart of the city. And just four weeks ago he signed to purchase that at a price of $310, 000 000. Amen! [Applause] Ahaha! These things come to pass. Ok. So I’m just saying that to ya. And if I get a word, it’s because it’s- and I say this, you know it’s not because I’m trying to bolster the word or anything like that. I don’t need to do that, I’m just letting you know the nature of this message is that, this is something that is a ‘Now!’ word for you and me.

So in Psalm 102:13 it says “You will arise, and have mercy on Zion”. Zion is the church. In the Old Testament it was the hill of the Jebusites inhabited. They were a Philistine/ Canaanite tribe who felt their position was impregnable. However, David and his men conquered Jebus, Mt Jebus, and renamed it Zion where he built the palace and he built the temple and it became known as the City of David. And in the New Testament, Zion is the church.

So it’s interchangeable. “You’ll arise and have mercy on the church, for the time to favour her-” everybody say ‘for the time to favour her’. [Audience: Time to favour her] The SET time! Yes the set time [Audience: The set time] has come! [Audience: has come!]” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (00:27), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“Favour is what you prioritise. What you favour; what you distinguish as going to receive higher attention, higher value then anything else. And so when God says, “I’m going to favour you”, He says, “I’m going to distinguish you as somebody that’s going to be getting more attention and blessing on their life then others”. That’s what favour is.” – Phil Pringle, iTunes: (04:19), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“This is the time we are living in when the church will be built like it never has been before. There is approximately one billion- one billion Spirit-filled people in the world today. It’s about eight hundred to nine hundred million. It is astonishing and it is growing and increasing all around the world in spite of all kind of setbacks and things that happen along the way. It just keeps on growing.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (05:36), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“We are living in the time the last days where the church will rise to become the chief of all the mountains – all the organisations around the world. You are in the power – the most powerful place that you can possibly be in all the earth. Right here in the house of God you’re gonna find yourself under favour and under blessing because of the set time has come, but on a more focused level right here now in this church. I believe it is the time, a set time of favour, is gonna come upon your life.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (06:26), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“What happens when you get favour on your life? You’re going to get some enemies! You’re going to get some enemies on you…” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (09:58), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“If you don’t want to get blessed for your sake then go ahead then just- just- then at least for His sake! Amen! For His glory! For the honour of God, let’s get a little expansive and ruin all those damaging poverty mindsets that have tumbled along with religion for so long and try to somehow make pious and sanctify some lives that are lacking in resources and lacking in abilities and lacking in all kinds of ways, and to put this word ‘success’ back into ‘The lord was with Him’. “And therefore he enjoyed blessing and favour on his life.”

And I know that crinkles some of us! But let it crinkle you! [Pastors cheer] Let it change your mind here this morning. So do you mind to open up a little and say, “You know what? Maybe that is the very reason why blessing isn’t flowing, cos I got the handbrake on in this concept. I got some allegiance to a traditional mindset to a religious concept and I’m just holding back”. Let it go! Here today and say, “You know what? I’m gonna get set free by the Word of God here today and start seeing this Word in a totally different light [crowd applauds] so that blessing and favour can come upon me”.

Don’t be worried what other people think…” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (16:00), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“Why does favour come on our lives? Well number one reason I believe is because you got a great attitude. While I was on the way hear this morning, I was thinking about this thing, “I gotta write a book about ten great elements of a great attitude or something like that”, because sometimes we say [clicks finger] “Have on a good attitude!”, but we don’t know what that is. It’s the ability to forgive people; it’s a thankful heart; it’s worship; it’s a whole bunch of things that I won’t go into right now BUT- When you have a great attitude on you, in spite of the challenges coming against you, you’ll find favour continues to live on your life.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (18:33), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“But let me tell you this also: When our hearts are pure, you can see God.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (20:39), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

“You better get yourself ready for the day the set time of favour, when it’s coming upon you.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (22:42), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.
“Favour on us is a crown on our head. It’s the ability to rule. It’s the glory of God rested on your life in any given circumstance. [Long pause] The way that this crown comes upon you is when you have gone through a trial and you’ve found your whole world getting shaken, but you’ve stayed strong.” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289,iTunes: (24:18), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.
“We have seen a shaking in the financial world over the last two years. The global financial crisis of shaking. Many of you have found yourselves getting shaken in the middle of all this. Some of you your spiritual life- the heavens in your world have been shaken. You wondered where God is. You wondered how it’s all going to work out. Some of you wondered whether or not you would still favour the House of God above others. And those of you who have are gonna find yourself in the time of favour right now. That will exceed any kind of blessing that you’ve ever had in your life before. I believe that the time ahead for our church here and for our movement around the world, right now [whacks hands together] a HUGE door of opportunity and blessing are about to open upon us. Simply because there have been times of shaking. And God shakes things so that what even shakes His church (He shakes His kingdom; He shakes His people; He shakes His servants), because what CAN be shaken He doesn’t want to build on. If it can be shaken it will get shaken out. But what can’t get shaken can only get stronger through the shaking. It puts its roots down deeper. It toughens up and says, “You know what? I’m not going anywhere! Amen! I’m planted in the work of God. I am planted in the House of God. I’m planted in the temple”. And some of you have been through the worst shakings of your entire life.

Well I’ve got good news for you: The set time [crowd cheers] to favour you  has COME! [applause] The blessing of God is going to break through in your life in very real, in very actual, in very physical circumstances [crowd still applauding]. And I believe that if you endure temptation, the trial, the test, that’s the meaning of that word. Means temptation, trial, test. It’s like an examination…

Then it says “Once you are approved”, God looks at us as we travel through the shaking. Once you are approved, you get this crown of life on you. In the middle of that Haggai scripture he says this amazing thing. He says, “I’m shaking everything so that everybody will come to Christ, the Desire of All Nations”. And then He says, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine”, right in the middle of this. He’s talking about shaking!

What’s this for? He’s referring. He’s referring to financial shaking. That’s why He’s saying- listen: “The silver in the earth is mine and the gold in the earth is mine. It is no problem for me to get a hold of it no matter who’s name is on it right now, and put it into your hands.”

And part of the favour you’ll experience in your life is God shifting blessing over into your hands. I mean there are some unusual scriptures! One of them says “The wealth of the unrighteous is laid up for the righteous”. It’s incredible!” – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (25:22-28:10), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

Phil Pringle teaches dangerously on Gnosticism. Is this the Jesus of the bible? Is Jesus incapable of performing miracles? Did he earn God’s favour? Did he earn a crown to perform miracles? Was the devil in the head and heart of Jesus? Did Jesus earn and We encourage you to listen to the audio on this. We believe this is incredibly dangerous doctrine to embrace:

“Let me just talk to you about this enduring temptation. Because I believe it is a lot more specific than a general principle. It says ‘They will receive a crown’.  And I was thinking about this and I thought about Jesus, when he got tempted. And I thought ‘You know what? He was tempted to turn stones into bread… but he resisted.’ He said “No I’m not gonna – I’m tempted to, to prove that I am the Son of God. Just imagine if I just go out there and try make some bread and it doesn’t work. Just, just give myself a little assurance… on the side.” He was tempted to do this on the basis of an ‘if’. He knew it was a wrong motivation so he was just – but it must have been hard! Must have been long! But I believe once He came out of that, he got a crown on His head to work miracles. Cos more than once in the New Testament he makes bread… supernaturally!

He laid down that temptation and he comes out with a gift of miracles that walks on water and multiplies bread…

The second temptation he had was to throw Him self off the pinnacle of the temple. Now I don’t know how he got there. He must’ve crawled up there –the temptation driving him so bad.

“I just wanna see if God will look after me.”

And so he’s up there – It’s not like there’s a devil out here. It’s in His head and in His heart He was thinking ‘Just to make sure…’. He’s up on the pinnacle of the temple thinking “I’m going to throw myself down”, but he resisted. He pull’s out and says ‘No. I’m gonna- I’m gonna trust God’. Right then he got the Crown of Resurrection on Him, cos eventually he lays his life down and He’s raised from the dead.

And out of the resurrection comes every other miracle. If you can raise a whole body from the dead, you can heal a blind eye, you can open a deaf ear, you can make broken limbs walk again.

And the final temptation was to bow down to the devil and he said he would give him what? All the kingdoms of the world! So He resisted that as well. It was a feeling inside of him, a temptation to do this. But he pulled out of that. After the resurrection he ascends and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God and He’s got the crown on His head that all the kingdoms of the entire world are put into his hand. He got all those things that the devil was trying to make Him do. It might have been a right result, but it was going about it the wrong way – which is always a temptation of the devil.

So whenever you are going through a trial there is a purpose in it. God wants to put a crown on your head at the end of a trial. And it’s a crown of favour so that whatever you put your hand to, you’re going to find blessing comes through you. How is it that you look at some people and it works and you do exactly the same and it doesn’t work? Something’s on their head. Some kind of crown. Some kind of authority. Some kind of ruler-ship in this life.

Abraham went up to Mt Moriah and God said “Put him through a test”. He said “I want you to give me your son, your only beloved son”- he waited a hundred years for. He was a miracle child! And he’s prepared to do it. He goes almost all the way. And God only- It was only God who stopped him. He pulled through that test and he became the father. He got the crown of nations on him that day. Not just one child back but a family; a nation. And not just one nation but MANY nations. We’re even called the children of Abraham today cos of one act of sacrifice. One act of surviving a temptation of trial.

Moses. His temptation was to- was to stay in the courts of Pharoah or else become associated with the Hebrews: the slaves. He so wanted to stay in the comfort, in the riches, in all the power of the glory of the court of Pharoah. But he resisted that. And he went out there. And he got on him a crown of leadership. Forty years later he becomes the king of the nation of Israel. He becomes the founder of the nation through whom the Saviour of the world would come. He delivers the Law from the mountain, inscribed with the finger of God. This man got a crown on his head because he survived a temptation- Whatever trials you have been travelling through, there’s going to come an end. There comes an end to a trial. It’s over in Jesus name. [Pastors start getting excited] You’re gonna come to the end and as you come to the end you come out of it approved by God and he puts a crown on your head and says: “Today I am going to give you authority. I’m going to give you favour and I’m going to give you glory. In all these circumstances that you have managed [Audience applause] to be victorious in, you’re going to find the favour of God- the crown of heaven, living on your head, in Jesus name!

And do you know the amazing thing is, after Jesus survived all of these amazing temptations, it says in Revelations 19:12, “On His head were many crowns”. He rules in so many dimensions. And even on your head there might be more than one crown after you go through one trial after another. But this is what I believe: the set time to favour you; to put a crown on your head; to bring you out of the trial as somebody’s approved and who can now put their hand on circumstances and see blessing and favour run wild through your life- that time is right now in Jesus’ mighty name. And everybody said! Amen! … Thank Him! Jesus in this hour!”  – Phil Pringle, http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/favor/id129622905?i=83970289, iTunes: (29:23-35:07), C3 Oxford Falls, 6pm Sermon: ‘Favour’, Released 10/06/10.

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What’s So Severe About Bevere?

26 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, C3 Ministry, C3 Values, Pringle's Influences

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2012, bevere, c3, C3 Presence Conference, C3 Presence Conference 2012, C3OF, ccc, ccc Presence Conference, ccc Presence Conference 2012, cccof, gnostic, gnostic principle, honor principle, honor's reward, honor's reward: how to attract god's favor and blessing, John Bevere, principle

Buying The Blessings of God’s Grace By Obeying Bevere’s Spiritual Laws

John Bevere is speaking at Phil Pringle’s 2012 Presence Conference. This article will look at John Bevere and a sample of his teaching. The last half of this article is an excerpt from his book, ‘Honor’s Reward: How To Attract God’s Favor And Blessing’, chapter 11, ‘Double Honour’. The first half is examining the scriptures he used in the excerpt of the above mentioned book.

If the title of his book is not concerning enough, Bevere writes how one can earn God’s favor and blessing by giving people like himself honor, luxury and money. He mishandled every passage in this excerpt. He reads his ‘honor principle’ into every scripture, mangling the word of God in the process.

The Apostle Paul says,

“… did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone. . . But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” – Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:7-9, 12-13 (emphasis mine)

 

1. John Bevere’s Gnostic Principle Redefines Scripture

Bevere uses Matt 10:40 to imply that if you receive John Bevere you are receiving Jesus. And how we treat John Bevere is we will be treating Jesus and treat our Father in heaven [pg. 141]. Bevere is elevating himself to be equal in ministry and teaching with the Apostles of Jesus. It’s odd that the Apostles never taught Bevere’s ‘honor principle’ anywhere in scripture – they seemed to focus their message on Jesus.

Bevere tells us to apply his honor principle to the Old Testament scripture of 1 Sam. 2:30. However he is twisting the words of God spoken by a prophet out of context that was condemning Eli saying, “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel”. Bevere in his book is not focusing on Jesus’ sacrifice and offering, which is commanded to be preached in the church. In his book, Bevere actually alludes to getting fat off people’s offerings for luxury and personal reasons (for ministry reasons of course!). Back to the verse Bevere uses, we can only live under the truth of the cross and uphold that. We will always be falling short if we ever think we can honor the Lord faithfully. That’s what Jesus did on our behalf: honor the Lord perfectly to death. Now we live in the fulness of every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3.)

Bevere uses three different translations for us to ‘understand’ Proverbs 3:9 (ASV, AMP, CEV). He would have us read the passage as, “Honor the LORD by giving [John Bevere] your money”. (Read the context below.)

Bevere twists Paul’s words, abandoning the context of 1Cor 9:11,14. Bevere’s book is teaching Christians about the honor principle so that ministers like himself can gain from the gospel. He is not preaching the gospel, in fact – watering it down with his made-up principle. Paul is asking for the church to reap just a little because of the work he has done in the churches of Corinth (a very rich city). He didn’t wish to do so because he wants to show that his motive was to receive man’s money, power, influence, fame, etc. He didn’t ask for money so that none could accuse him and the gospel he preached was for filthy lucre’s sake. I purposely put no burden on people to give, as he says in vs 17-18, “If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.” Bevere is doing the opposite to Paul and is expecting to be honored financially as one sent by God.

Bevere uses Philippians 4:15-16 (jumps 17) and vs 18. It’s a convenient verse for him to jump as he states he is unhappy when a church doesn’t offer him luxury or proper honour. Vs 17 has Paul say, “Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account”. Gils commentary observes, “he [Paul] was fully satisfied and highly contented with what he had; he was not like the false teachers, that made merchandise of men; he sought not theirs, but them”. Considering that Paul would be happy sleeping in a car or a luxurious hotel, Bevere would only expect the ‘honor principle’ would work if a church supplied with luxuries so God could bless the church.

John Bevere uses Deut. 26:12 and Gal. 2:10 to suggest that his ‘honor principle’ is somehow imbedded in these verses and that money should be showered on ministers like Bevere so that people can be blessed back. These scriptures in context do not support his claims.

Bevere teaches that Elijah and the widow lived by his newly discovered ‘honor principle’ in 1 Kings 17, which is not true. Bevere misuses Malachi 3:8,10 as most prosperity preachers like himself do. He reads things into scripture and adds to scripture what isn’t there (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Bevere implies you can “buy the blessings of God” as “it is a spiritual principle God has weaved into His grace” using 2 Cor. 8:1-3. Paul is praising the Macedonians as being used BY the grace of God to not bless Paul’s own personal needs (8:20-21). It is by God’s grace he is using the Macedonians to help the church in Jerusalem- Paul and others being the instruments used to accomplish the collection for this cause.

2. Excerpt From John Bevere’s Book

Here is the excerpt from John Bevere’s book ‘Honor’s Reward: How To Attract God’s Favor And Blessing’.

In Our Meetings

In traveling and ministering in churches around the world, I’ve observed the results of ministry are vastly different in those that take care of our team with exceptional hospitality, and those who treat us as common travelers.

I’ve gone to places where I wondered why they asked me to come. They put us in run-down hotels or outside-entrance hotels; they have no bottled water or snacks in the room, and no service available. I’m greeted in the pastor’s office not with warmth and gratefulness for coming, but with more of an attitude of: I’m expecting this out of you. I’ve been treated by a few with the attitude [pg 138] of, “What we are doing here is important and you’re privileged to speak here.”

When I’m introduced the people sit and stare at me with a disinterested look. You can almost hear their thoughts: We’ve heard them all, what do you have that is any different? As I speak I feel as if I am on trial.

I come out of these meetings feeling worn out. I’ve spiritually plowed through the resistance the entire time, rather than being drawn from hungry hearts. Then the pastor will hand me an offering check so small that if his church received this amount every week they could not survive. I’m happy to report this doesn’t happen frequently.

I recall one specific incident: I was asked to speak at a conference with another minister for an entire week. The pastor shared that they had taken in over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the meetings. I was very happy for them. However, when I left they handed me a six-hundred-dollar check for our ministry. Barely a tip, and not a good one either; just 10 percent would have been twenty-five thousand. So it was a little more than two-tenths of a percent (that’s 0.2 percent).

I’ve learned it doesn’t affect our ministry, because God always gets us what we need through some other avenue. Every time in the past when churches have tipped us in this manner (I guess I really can’t describe that as a tip, because it is far below tipping standards) we get a huge gift in the mail the same week from an individual or we’ll go to the next church and they’ll give us an enormous offering. I love it, because it is as if God is saying to us, “I know.”

I’ve seen the faithfulness of God to supply for us, and I’ve never lost and sleep over it. My grief is for those who gave the crumbs; they’ve missed out on an opportunity to receive a great reward by honoring the one Jesus sent them.

On the flip side I’ve gone to meetings where from the moment I [pg. 139] was picked up at the airport until the time I was dropped off again, I was met with excitement and treated with extreme kindness and genuine hospitality.

I arrive in my hotel room and am welcomed with a large basket of fruit, drinks, and snacks that I could feed on for a week. The church checked with our office for what types of foods I like to snack on. I’ve even arrived to find presents awaiting me in my hotel room, such as a candle, nice pen, shirt, or cologne. They put me in the nicest hotels in the area and make sure I have room service and other amenities that make living on the road more like home. Not only do they do this for me, but for my traveling assistants as well.

When I step in the pulpits I’m greeted with the people standing and giving a loud applause. They are thankful to God for sending them one of His messengers, and are excitedly anticipating hearing the Word of God. They listen to the Word attentively; no one moves or talks during the service, because they don’t want to miss one point. They welcome the presence of God during ministry time, and finally rush our resource tables to glean more from the books and curriculums.

These churches will talk with our office or me months and even years later and make comments like, “We turned the corner when you came,” or “Our staff and church has never been the same. It was as if we went up to another level.” I sometimes laugh inside, because maybe just the week prior I went to a church that treated us as common travelers. I ministered on the same subject and came with the same purpose, but the results were very small, and no comments were made after I left. It again shows it has nothing to do with me, but how I’m received.

Jesus says, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” How would you want Jesus cared for if He was the pastor of your church, or if He visited your church to minister on a certain weekend? The fact is, the way we [pg. 140] treat those He sends us is exactly how we treat Him, and it is exactly how we treat the Father.

Honor The Lord

Let’s look again at the honor principle. God says, “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam.  2:30).

The scripture needs to be etched in our souls. Those who honor God, He honors in return. Say it loud: “If I honor God, He will honor me.” Recite it over and over, ponder it, and let it sink deep within your heart. To honor God is to attract His honor toward you. It’s an amazing reality! Let’s take this truth further; we read,

“Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase.” – Prov. 3:9

We are told to honor God with our possessions. The Amplified Bible reads, “Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labors] and with the firstfruits of all your income.” The CEV reads, “Honor the LORD by giving him your money.” One way we honor God is by giving Him our money. My question is, how can we give Him money? He doesn’t use our currency. The answer is simple-in giving it to the one He sends you.

If you study tithes and offerings carefully throughout the Bible you’ll find they are given for three main purposes. The first is to provide for the appointed servants who minister to us, and as we saw clearly earlier in this chapter, they are worthy of “double pay.” Secondly, to provide for the minister’s needs to do the work of the ministry; and third, so that they can help the poor, the widows, the orphans and the outsiders.

I’d like to give you just one of the many scriptures relating to [pg. 141] each purpose. The first is seen in Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? . . . Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:11, 14).

The NLT reads as follows: “The Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.” This principle is also seen in the Old Testament. The priests’ and Levites’ inheritances were to come from the tithes of the people. They were not given land to work as the other tribes.

The second point is seen in Paul’s words to the Philippian church:

And you Philippians yourselves well know that in the early days of the Gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church (assembly) entered into partnership with me and opened up [a debit and credit] account in giving and receiving except you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent [me contributions] for my needs, not only once but a second time. . . . But I have [your full payment] and more; I have everything I need and am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. [They are the] odor of an offering and sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights. – Philippians 4:15-16, 18 (AMP)

You can see their financial gifts enabled Paul to accomplish the work to which he was called. Simply put, it takes money to conduct a public ministry. In his own words, Paul was “amply supplied.” Through giving they entered into a partnership with him in reaching others.

As for the third point, in the Old Testament God instructed that the tithe was to be given to the Levite (minister), stranger, fatherless, [pg. 142] and widow (see Deut. 26:12). In the New Testament the leaders all agreed: “They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do” (Gal. 2:10).

The poor would include the stranger, orphan, and widow. By giving to ministers, we can help those in need we may never meet.

As already stated, we honor God with our finances by giving to those He’s selected for ministry. So must ask, how many today dishonor God by withholding more than they should from the work of the ministry? Many don’t tithe, and many don’t give offerings to the laborers who have sown spiritual truths into their lives. They complain of hearing ministers ask for money, and make statements such as, “Why can’t they just preach to me without talking about offerings? Things have not gone well for me lately.” Could this be why they are struggling? They’ve not put God’s work first? So in essence they honor themselves more than they honor God [Haggai 1:5-9 (NLT)] . . . [pg. 143]

How clear can it be? Suppose some of the people we admire in Scripture would have had the attitude many have today in regard to ministers talking about money in hard times. There were many widows who died in the days of Elijah during the great famine. However, one lived because of the honor principle. She and her son had only enough flour and oil to make a final meal; then they would both die. However, the prophet told her to make him a cake first. Wow, would he have gotten persecuted today, both in churches and by the media. Many would criticize, “How could you take anything from a poor woman who is about to suffer starvation? You should give it to her first.” However, the Word of the Lord instructed the prophet to tell her to put God first by feeding his servant; if she would honor him in this way, God would honor her. She did, and God did what He promised; her flour and oil never ran out the entire duration of the drought (see 1 Kings 17).

When we withhold the tithe or offerings from those God sends us, we harm only ourselves because we dishonor the Lord. God Himself speaks through the prophet:

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings.” -Mal. 3:8

If I had to make a choice, I would rather rob a bank than God Himself. Why? Because I fear God more than man. I’m so glad I don’t have to choose; I would never want to rob either. However, God says, “You have robbed Me!” Notice He didn’t say, “You’ve robbed My ministers!” No, we rob God by not tithing and giving offerings to His servants, because to withhold from the servants He sends us is to dishonor Him. Hear what He continues to say: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you [pg. 144] the twindows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it,” (v.10).

Notice God Himself states that the blessing of tithing would be so great there will “not be room enough to receive it.” So in essence, the blessing will be an uncontainable commodity. For years I’ve heard ministers say that God will bless our finances and possessions to such a degree we will not have room enough to receive it. I’d like to contend that point. Money is a containable commodity. If I had all the money in the world I could contain it. So what is God speaking of when He states we will not be able to contain the reward of giving? The answer is found in Proverbs:

“Honor the Lord with your possessions (these are your gifts to ministers or offerings to ministries), and with the firstfruits of all your increase (this is your tithe); so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” – 3:9-10 (words in parentheses and italics are mine)

Your barns represent your storage places. That would be your checkbook, closets, gas tanks, garage, etc. This is where we store our containable commodities. So it is true, He blesses our finances. However, what is the blessing which we will not have room to receive? The answer is found as we continue to read: “your vats will overflow with new wine.” A vat is a large container used to store wine. Notice in this scripture, this is what cannot contain the blessing of God, for He states they will overflow. What does new wine represent? In the Bible new wine represents the fresh presence of the Holy Spirit. God is saying when you honor Him, by giving to church leaders-giving to their churches or ministries, you will receive the full reward of the overflow of His presence! That is the most exciting promise of all.

Time and time again, I’ve witnessed those who are generous in [pg. 145] financially honoring their spiritual leaders are those who are blessed materially, and have enough to do every good work that comes before them. But it goes further. What I’ve also observed is they walk in an overflow of God’s presence. Why should this surprise us-it’s God’s promise? Understanding this truth answered my question of why I couldn’t sense a strong presence of God in meetings where honor was withheld-where the pastor was struggling, or where I’m treated like a common traveler. The people were not generous. However, once they became liberal and continued to do so, the presence of God was so much stronger in their church.

If you take the truths of this chapter and read the entire Bible, you’ll notice whenever the people of God richly gave, miracles, freedom, salvations, God’s presence, and prosperity would abound. We cannot buy the blessings of God; however, it is a spiritual principle God has weaved into His grace. Hear what Paul said of the Macedonian believers: “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability” (2Cor. 8:1-3, NIV).

Paul attributed their generosity as a direct result of the grace of God. God’s grace gave them the capacity to go “beyond their ability.” Just as we can’t buy grace, we also can’t buy favor, but we certainly can position ourselves to receive it. By giving double financial honor to those who bring the Word of God to us, we position ourselves to be honored by God; included in that honor is grace and favor-it’s a spiritual law.” – John Bevere, Honor’s Reward: How To Attract God’s Favor And Blessing, 2007, pg. 138-146.

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