Benny Hinn? unity in the body

As a young believer in Christ I used to watch the Benny Hinn program, read his books, magazines, listen to his audio teachings, etc. My Grandmother is really in to him and has all of his resources. Now first off, I believe that Benny Hinn has alot of truth in what he says, he has a good foundation of authors that he has read: Andrew Murray, R.A. Torrey, Kathryn Kuhlman, etc..But I do realize that he was raised in some questionable charismatic circles, and right now has some very questionable company he keeps. I too, read his books and watched his videos as a young believer. And of course there is some truth in what he teaches, as there is for every cult on the planet. I don't however believe that it is merely the company he keeps or the circles he was raised in that are questionable (although they are) but it is he himself who is questionable.I heard a cassete tape in the early 90s "prophecy for the 90s" by Benny Hinn. It was a prophecy he gave on the last day of the 80s outlining everything that would happen during that decade. It is a lenghty prophecy, but some of the things that are sais to happen are:*The Spirit of God tells me an earthquake will hit the east coast of America and destroy much in the 90s*The Spirit tells me Fidel Castro will die in the 90's. . . Oooh! Holy Spirit just said to me it'll be worse than any death you can imagine."*The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid-90s -- about '94 or '95, no later than that -- God will destroy the homosexual community of America . . . He will destroy it with fireAnd more, but the point is not one of his prophecies came to pass. At the end of the message he said somthing like "I hope someone recorded that because I don't know what I said"His testimoney as given in his books has been shown to be a fabrication; eg. he said his father was the mayor of Jaffa -he wasn't.The reports he gives of fantastical miracle revivals have been proven false under investigation.He is leading people closer and closer to Rome.He says that Jesus will apear physicaly with him on stage. Jesus said Don't believe it(when they say "here is the Christ and there is the Christ")The books he read mean nothing, Joeseph Smith read the bible as did David Koresh.

If you do a search here on Benny Hinn you will get over 30 responses. So rather than rehashing a lot of what has already been stated...And if this is concerning unity in the body...I have some questions and some thoughts.First, I make no apologies. These names that have come up throughout this thread and the other related thread, give me a sinking feeling in my gut, makes me want to cry. To add to the others, I also early on, in fact almost exclusively listened to the likes of these 'teachers', defended them, bought into it all.Nonsense. Still recieve BH's propaganda in the mail; "Sow your best $77 seed...believe for your harvest" based on some wretching out of scripture, prosperity, self-gratifying, flesh feeding materialistic.....NO! NO! NO! A thousand times NO!I have heard some of the most heretical, flippant things said from the likes of these men and women and find no reason to go through the poison spewing from their lip's point by point. Been there, done that.What might we surmise Leonard Ravenhill or A.W. Tozer would have to say if they were alive today?My guess is my comments would be tame in comparison.Thank God for David Wilkerson.This is very difficult to write. This so grieves me. I have no desire to be divisive, no axe to grind. What worries me is the ramifications. I fear for new believers who get caught up in this as I once did, how many have had their faith shipwrecked? How many have had to go through the process of unlearning false teaching as I did? How many still suffer the consequence's of false hopes, false dreams, false promises based on false teaching? Does anybody realize the fallout from all this? To this day the repercussions still abound around me. Twisted ideas about money, give to get, guilt trips about 'a lack of faith' in regards to healing or not being healed. Pressure tactics, misconceptions about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This is serious stuff. Trying to get people out of this mindset can be very difficult, it truly breaks my heart and I write with tears. To this day I have to deal with it and find myself handcuffed financially in many ways, trying to break a material orientated thought process in those I love. This temporal world view laying aside eternal values. It's bad enough that the world has crept into the church in so many ways, but to add injury to insult we have those who encourage it even though it's couched in Christian lingo. I have a strong sense that it is much worse than I think. We in this part of the world have been lulled to sleep in our comfort and ease, while our brothers and sisters are being tortured and killed for their faith in other parts of the world. These are those who truly know what it is to suffer for our Lord.Unity?Would we be willing to be unified with their suffering? Toutured, beaten, maimed for the cause of Christ? Poverty stricken, while we are "prosperity" stricken?Knowing that the wheat will grow up with the tares, what is it that we are to do in this regards to unity? Perhaps we need a better definition of the word.I want to reiterate, as strongly as I feel towards all that I have said, I wish no ill will towards these 'teachers', it's not my place, that their eyes would be opened and ears and hearts. That they would be brought to repentence and a realization of the effects of their words on their hearers. May God forgive them and forgive me if I have mispoke, it is from my heart and it is broken. :-(

The books he read mean nothing, Joseph Smith read the Bible as did David Koresh. I completely agree with Stuart (almondBranch). Didn't Satan try to use Scripture against Christ in Luke 4:9-11? Anyone can read Christian books...only the Spirit will guide them to discern the Truth.It doesn't matter if these false prophets and teachers have an ounce of truth in them, or if they're affiliated with the right or wrong people, or if people believe their claims or can "vouch" for their authenticity. I don't care. They're still false prophets and teachers and nothing and no one can change that unless God Himself decides to do so, which doesn't seem likely, the way Christ spoke on it. And if I knew of a believer who was really into these false prophets and teachers, I'd do as much as God would allow me to get them away from them because Christ commanded us to know the truth well enough to keep well away...it's a command! So really, to foolishly follow the teachings of these blasphemers is to disobey God...to sin! And as their sister, I love them...and I don't want them to sin.

I agree. Ministers who are glamorized or placed upon "pedestals" yet do nothing to dispell this by publically "tearing their robes" have some major ego problems. I, too, have watched Benny Hinn (more out of curiosity). I am not upset that their doctrine is fundamentally flawed. I imagine that some of them are sincere (although sincerely wrong) in what they preach and teach. What upsets me is that there are many people who see the TBN presentation of christianity as being representative of all christians. I am so glad that when the Word of God was written, that God included the flaws of each man of God. I am glad that I know that David, Moses, Samson, Samuel, Paul, Solomon, etc... all failed miserably in some aspects of their lives. It makes me realize that God can still use and reach "flawed" people. Knowing God doesn't seem "unattainable" to me. This is the message that TBN should present -- not the health/wealth/"buyamiracle"/glamourous version that they (and their "star" ministers) present. Any man or woman of God that doesn't publicly attempt to stop such idolizing of christian "superstar" ministers needs to reevaluate their walk with God!I pray that if there is any thread of realness (for lack of a better word) within these preachers (like Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, etc...), that they would finally realize this. Imagine how awesome it would be if they changed -- and warned others not to fall into the same trap that they did! They could humbly point multitudes of sincere people to Jesus!

In the thread on unity started by Scott (sdb), we kinda went on a tangent about Benny Hinn (my fault! Sorry!) and Todd (todd) recommended this thread. I had stated, We watch Benny Hinn and others on television and you KNOW that these people are not Spirit-led nor Spirit-filled! In reply, Todd asked, Will you do this for me? One step at a time? If you will, please start another thread about it. So Greg (wrtbooks) did. Phew! Now that we’ve traced the origin of this response a bit, lemmie get started. :-) I use the New International Version when I quote Scripture.Benny Hinn is a false prophet and a false teacher. He is not a man of God, and he does not hear from God. I’ll tell you what – if he’s hearing from God, then either God is lying or he’s being disobedient and messing up the message. Jeremiah 14:14 says, ”Then the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own mind.’”--- On December 31st 1989, he said God told him Fidel Castro would die in the 1990s. "The Spirit tells me - Fidel Castro will die - in the 90's. Oooh my! Some will try to kill him and they will not succeed. But there will come a change in his physical health, and he will not stay in power, and Cuba will be visited of God."--- This same night, he said the homosexual community in America would be destroyed in the 1990s. "The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90's, about '94-'95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. But He will not destroy it - with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed."In Matthew 24:23-26, Jesus says, ”At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There He is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.”--- On April 2nd, 2000 on a TBN Praise-a-thon, Benny Hinn said that Jesus was physically appearing to Muslims. "Ladies and gentleman, Jesus is shaking the world! Now something else is happening that is to me awesome! Absolutely awesome! The Lord is physically appearing in the Muslim world. I'm telling you, Paul, I am hearing it now more and more and more. Since we preachers cannot go there, Jesus is - just going there Himself. Since we preachers are not permitted to go in, He is just showing up - Himself. You know the Scriptures says clearly that the Lord did appear, did He not? Ah for forty days, isn't that right? And the, and the, and the Scriptures says he, he, he even, he even appeared to Paul. Now we are always thinking, well Jesus can't really preach, preach the Gospel. Who told you that? He was the first one to preach the Gospel. In fact He is the one who came to Paul and said, Paul, I am Jesus. He, He didn't send no angel to do that job. He did it Himself. If Jesus revealed Himself to Paul, why not reveal Himself to a lot more than just Paul? And He is doing it! The reason the Lord had to appear to Paul is because He knew Paul wouldn't listen to nobody else. Now in the case of Cornelius, the angel said send for Peter, 'cause, because Cornelius was, was ready, his heart was right, he'd been in prayer. But here's Paul killing everybody, causing 'em to blaspheme, Jesus said this man won't even listen to an angel, so I'll go do the job myself. So He went and knocked him right off his horse and preached the Gospel to him. He's doing the same thing today in the Muslim world. He's appearing, hear this, He is appearing to Muslims, saying I am Jesus of Nazareth! And they're coming to know the Lord! Why are those things happening? It's the last days! Saints, this is why we need to give to the Gospel now more than ever. You know naively say well I gave last year. Forget it! Last year it's gone! That cycle is over with! Seed time - harvest of last year is gone. Every season is a fresh season. We are in a fresh season. What, what you gave last year will not reap you anything this year. What you gave even a few months ago is gone, you got the harvest for that." ”…’There He is, out in the desert’…”--- On the same program a little later, he said Jesus was also going to physically appear in Nairobi, Kenya.--- Said on April 20th 2000 that Jesus was going to physically appear on the platform during one of his crusades that year. Though this wasn’t his own prophecy, I think the Holy Spirit supposedly within him should have discerned the absurdity. "Ruth Heflin: the Lord spoke to her recently, and she called my wife and told her to tell me, that Jesus said to her, that He will appear physically on the platform in one of our crusades. [Harald Bredesen] My! [Benny] She said, 'Tell Benny, that the Lord told me, that He is going to appear physically, on the platform, and the crowds will see Him, on the platform.' [Harald Bredesen] Jesus! [Benny] Dear God my hair is standing up! [Harald Bredesen] Praise God! [Benny] It may very well happen in Nashville!” … “Think about what's going to happen when the people, thousands, she said thousands will see the Lord on the, on the, on the platform! Lord may it happen in every crusade this year in Jesus’ mighty name."--- And then….hey look! I guess God decided to directly tell Mr. Hinn, too. "Let me tell you something. The Holy Spirit has already told me He is about to show up. And you know, oh, I gotta tell you this quickly, just before we go. I had a word of prophecy from Ruth Heflin, you know who Ruth Heflin is? Ruth prophesied over me back in the seventies and everything she said has happened. She just sent me a word through my wife and said the Lord spoke to her audibly and said that He is going to appear physically in one of our crusades in the next few months. Yeah, she - I'm telling ya - she said, the Lord spoke to her audibly and said, 'Tell Benny I'm going to appear physically on the platform in his meetings'. Lord, do it in Phoenix Arizona in the name of Jesus! And in Kenya too, Lord, please, Lord, in fact, do it in every crusade. In Jesus' name."I’ll type it out again. In Matthew 24:23-26, Jesus says, ”At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There He is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.”Okay, here’s the weird one. I have to be honest and say I didn’t exactly know what this was at first, but looked it up. Necromancy is defined as “the practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future; black magic, sorcery; magic qualities.” Sounds Christian, huh?Divination is simply future-telling. We saw the word in Jeremiah 14:14.Benny Hinn claims to have consulted with Kathryn Kuhlman (he frequently visits her grave for “special anointing”) and Aimee Semple McPherson (visited her grave too). Speaking with the dead warrants a death penalty in the Old Testament; read Leviticus 20:27. Also see Deuteronomy 18:10-13, which specifically speaks of those “who consult the dead”. Not cool. This site really lays out Hinn’s encounters with the dead.Well, if that doesn’t convince you of Hinn being a false prophet, I want to leave you with some other websites to skim through.Benny Hinn - Pros & ConsArticles on Benny Hinn (collection of articles written)You can hear sound clips of Hinn making some false prophecies here. This site is where I found a lot of the transcripts of the Benny Hinn quotes I used, too.Follow God, not a man.

Quote:"And I was watching an Christian tv show where at the end the man started to pray for people to be healed. He called out specific healings and told people to touch themselves where it hurt, and to act and move in faith. And while this was occouring I realized that this show was not on live! So how does that work if they are praying and acting like its live but the shows are actually pre-recorded a few days before??"Good question. I think that there's no time in the Spirit. God knew who would be watching the show and when and He could work through this.

I whole heartedly agree with you in regards to the new believers--but I have also found that many seasoned christians have fallen for such rhetoric and deception--I am talking about those that have been bruised by denominationalism - I have seen many break free from that and through all that they have learned toss it aside and become very distrustful of mainline christianity because of the bruising they had suffered of those in charge. Many had become tired of the Hypocrisy that they saw and discarded everything--accept a desire to know Christ deeper--more purely.. But the enemy has laid waiting, and through his deception has taken captives of honest seasoned believers and appealing through their flesh and desire to be closer and more intimate with Him to seek out a "new" truth, one that has not been tainted by Mans pride and agendas--but they have truly done this blindly...whoa unto them ....God please help us. Give us the desire and direction and the strength to move against the enemy in these later days ...that no one is lost in confusion .... Father may your truth pour out in purity and that we seek that purity with all that we have......our time is short :-(

Thank God for David Wilkerson.Are we talking about the SAME David Wilkerson here? The one who has a Church in Times Square. Of the Cross and the Switchblade? Of the Prophetic book that turned about to all be lies, but told the reader that if you did NOT believe what he had written, you've got a serious problem? THAT David Wilkerson?Ho man I hope not. I hope you're all referring to another.Benny Hinn can't hold a candle to David Wilkerson's false prophecies!Look here for starters.Or just do a Google Search.David Wilkerson's a loony, off with the fairies, a false prophet in the real sense.

CrimsonOfferingSince that was my comment, I would like to clarify. I was refering to David Wilkerson as being outspoken in regards to the bad doctrine that is being taught.As far as prophecy is concerned, I will be fair and state that he should be held to the same biblical standards as anyone else. I also don't know as much about the things he stated in the past so I won't comment on that.From the messages I have heard, I don't see a comparison as far as biblical teaching goes.

Hi coming in late on this thread I know so hope its still alive. I have just downloaded "Gospel of Slaughter" and am completly bombed by it. What a clear a resounding Voice against the False and profane. The Church needs unity of the Spirit, but that never means compromising with the spirit of the world and the devil. Benny Hinn and his likes bring shame on the Gospel of Christ and thank God for brothers like DW and C Conlon who are brave enough to speak the truth. :-D

Amen and welcome Paulus!Hope you are encouraged in your Faith here.Let us know if we can assist you any way.Mike