Giving the Devil a foothold…
[History supported with audio and video below]
Word is that the Evangelical Church in
Without a doubt, we see many charismatic-inclined churches leading the way in religious aspects of the nation, giving the impression that they represent the Evangelical Church in Honduras
When my family was part of the Central American Mission Church, still in my childhood I remember certain swirl over the famous preacher Jimmy Swaggart, whose booklets and music tapes started to spread among Honduran churches, while the most experienced elders of our church were hesitant of his teachings and his influence among the congregation. I didn’t understand it then, but now I do: they were just trying to guard and keep their flock from the savage wolves.Sadly, the scene nowadays seems to be much worse. Thanks to the technology in communications, any distorted statement coming from the lips of these false preachers is available the very same second it is uttered through the internet and TV or radio live broadcasting. Therefore, we can affirm without a doubt that we are not only at the doors, but we are already inside of what can be considered a Second “Downgrade” in the Universal Church
We realize this is a grave statement, but we wouldn’t say this without giving proofs of what has been said. Maybe it is hard to conceive how evil and pagan currents originated in foreign places hundreds of years ago can be present in the sermons we hear every Sunday. But having in mind the power of communications, we wouldn’t be amazed by this. Many Honduran preachers are copying the same style and sometimes the very same preachings of men like Guillermo Maldonado and Cash Luna.
These men and others have acquired a highly respected position in the mindset of so called spiritual leaders in Honduran churches, maybe influenced by their persuasion and their big international ministries, regardless of his wrongful teachings.
[Note: these videos have been translated in the most literal possible way, trying to give the accurate meaning to what has been said.]
Guillermo Maldonado
[At the end of it, Maldonado says that the word "name" in greek means "make yourself a high reputation", something that is simply not true]
Cash Luna compared to Jesus Miranda (self-proclaimed Christ on earth)
Ana Maldonado
Men and women like this do not have any scruples to call themselves apostles and prophets in order to be in a high spot so they can demand subjection from their congregations and feel like special anointed ones so they can utter the craziest things without being confronted.
Cash Luna
Ana Maldonado
The same features and attitudes can be easily tracked down to the “guru” of all the charismatic leaders, the big name in Christendom today: Benny Hinn. Recognized as the model to follow, it cannot be denied that Hinn would be to top preacher that most of the churches in Honduras
Benny Hinn at Maldonado's crusade
Maldonado being anointed by Hinn
Benny Hinn
Now, as influential as he has been, Hinn also has been influenced by other men and women who set an example for him and that he defends and even venerates them. Well known is the case of his statement made in 1991, where he says he visits Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman’s gravesites to experience the anointing he claims emanates from their bones (Orlando Christian Center
Also it must be acknowledged that Hinn is not the original author of many of his teachings. The influence of men prior to him is unmistakable. Regarding the dangerous teaching of men being little gods, it is famous Kenneth Copeland’s statements about it.
Kenneth Copeland
Hinn defending Copeland
Now, Hinn goes beyond with statements bordering on the ridiculous
Benny Hinn
Nobody can deny these big influences these two ministries have among Christianity, but it does not stop here. We do not have to dig that much in order to find the next link of the chain… Kenneth Hagin. He was one of the big pioneers of the “spiritual eccentricities” performed in the name of God.
Kenneth Hagin
In the next videos, you can see how Copeland participates in the same bedlam.
Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland
Besides Copeland, Hagin’s influence has been huge among some of the most famous names such as Charles Capps, Frederick Price, Marilyn Hickey, Jerry Savelle and Paul Crouch, being called many times as “dad Hagin”.
Crouch defending "Dad Hagin"
Hinn quoting Hagin and Copeland on his teachings
But, was Hagin’s material and teachings originally from him? Or did he get everything from another source? Some authors and scholars such as John Macarthur, Hank Hanegraaff and D.R. McConnell have identified specifics links and treads that connect Hagin’s theology to the writings of Essek William Kenyon. Moreover, it is considered that Hagin merely popularized and proliferated Kenyon’s publications.
“Kenneth Hagin published a book titled The Name of Jesus. The book was taken from tapes of a seminar where he taught through Kenyon’s book The Wonderful Name of Jesus. He credits Kenyon both on the tapes and in the introduction to the book.”
“One of Kenyon’s books is used in the curriculum at Hagin’s Rhema Bible Training Center
“We consider Kenneth E. Hagin to be a great man of God. If E.W. Kenyon were here today, he and Hagin would probably be good friends. And from his vantage point in heaven, Kenyon is probably delighted that Kenneth E. Hagin has been so successful in getting the message of faith, so dear to Kenyon’s heart, out to so many in the world in this generation.”
D.R. McConnell, in his book “A Different Gospel” chronicles the development of the Word Faith movement, where almost every major of its figures find in Hagin their mentor or disciple. But also, McConnell demonstrates that Hagin’s teachings were not original from him, but from Kenyon, showing several pages of column-by-column text that proves Hagin plagiarizing long sections of Kenyon’s material.
But who was E. W. Kenyon and why is this so important?
He was one of the Word of Faith Movement’s pioneers, recognized as Bible teacher, pastor, author, songwriter and poet who started his public ministry around the 1900’s. His importance in all this sequence lies in the fact that New Thought Metaphysics had an enormous impact on Kenyon. He attended Emerson College of Oratory, which was a virtual hotbed of New Though metaphysics, since it specialized in training lecturers for the metaphysical science cults. Its president - Charles Wesley Emerson - was a collector of religions himself; his belief system was composed of smorgasbord of sources of New Thought metaphysics. Therefore, E. W. Kenyon's thinking was highly shaped by New Thought metaphysics. This became an essential part of his new revelation of the Scriptures.
“What I confess I possess”
E.W. Kenyon, “The Hidden Man”, 98.
Basis of Word of Faith doctrine.
“Every man who has been born again is an Incarnation… the believer is as much an Incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth”
E.W. Kenyon, “The Father and His Family”, 118.
Basis of man being like God doctrine.
“We believe the miracles of the Book of Acts is to be perpetuated”.
http://www.kenyons.org/beliefs.php
Basis of Healing doctrine.
Behind the term New Thought lies the figure of his founder, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby.
Quimby (1802-1866) believed in the power of the mind, popularizing the notion that sickness and suffering ultimately have their origin in incorrect thinking. Therefore, we can create our own reality through the power of positive affirmation. Those who put Metaphysics into practice try to visualize health and wealth and then seal it through confession from their mouths. Intangible images then can be transformed into tangible realities.
How many times we have heard, for example, the following: “if I believe I am sick, I am sick, for my feelings are my sickness, and my sickness is my belief, and my belief is my mind” (Phineas Quimby, “The Quimby Manuscripts”, 186). This is direct quote from Quimby, but Hagin makes echo of this:
“It makes a great deal of difference what one thinks. I believe that is why many people are sick… the reason they are not getting healed is that they are thinking wrong… the thing that makes a believer a success is right thinking, right believing and right confession” (Hagin, “Right and Wrong Thinking, 19,24)
However, Kenyon was not the only famous Quimby pupil. Another system of thought emerged from Quimby’s teachings: Christian Science. Her founder, Mary Bakker Eddy, found a way to describe Jesus healings and teachings as “a coherent science” that can be demonstrable through healing; all this based in the Bible and her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”, a title that could fit well in the Christian Charismatic literature. In there she claims she healed people by telepathy, teaching also people to deny their symptoms. Therefore, the Word of Faith Movement, a very strong aspect of the Charismatic Movement, comes from the same source as of the Christian Science; hence their similarities not only to Christian Science, but also to Swedenborgianism, Theosophy, Science of Mind, etc.
So, when we listen to our modern preachers speak in behalf of Kenneth Hagin, we must not forget what are the real sources of his these teachings, and turn to the Bible.
Kenneth Copeland - called the heir to Hagin's ministry frequently acknowledges Hagin as his spiritual father.
Fred Price - "Kenneth Hagin has had the greatest influence upon my life of any living man."
Charles Capps - "most of my teaching came from Brother Kenneth Hagin."
John Osteen - "I think Brother Hagin is chosen of God and stands in the forefront of the message of faith."
It is amazing how all this secular and mystical garbage came to flood our pulpits over a period of almost 150 years. But that is what happens when we give the Devil a foothold (Eph. 4:27).
“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing” 1 Tim. 6:3-4
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” Jude 3-4
