But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. -- 2Peter 2: 1-3 (NLT)
The poster child of false prophets, Benny Hinn, claims God wants to give us all an opportunity to give 2.5 million dollars to Hinn's ministries. Normally I do not spend much time on Benny because he is such an obvious liar but I often forget how many people fall for his shtick. I believe in these end times we have two types of false prophets and teachers. The first kind does not believe they are false teachers. They believe they are being sincere. Yet their teaching is filled with poisonous doctrinal errors which they turn a blind eye to or excuse away with trite sayings like they are trying to "reach as many for Jesus" as they can. You can find these across this land, even in seemingly successful mega churches. We must understand things on a spiritual level. When you treat God like a product to sell, you can have carnal success if you are a good salesperson. You can convince people to come back and sit in your pews and even turn over their money to you. There is a stark difference however between carnal success and spiritual success. There is a stark difference between building a church and building the Kingdom of God.
The other types of false prophets are those who know full well that they are charlatans. People who use the Gospel for their own gain, usually financial. People who shameless hock their wares and make a mockery of God and His Word. Of these, Benny Hinn is the leader. If you go to Hinn's website you will find his latest plea. He claims to have a mysterious donor who is willing to give 2.5 million dollars into his ministry but only if Hinn can get his "partners" to match the amount in 90 days. His partners of course are the poor saps who watch his nonsense on television and have been duped by the prosperity doctrine that is contributing to the ruination of modern American Christianity. The master of deception, Hinn explains the alleged selfless rationale from his anonymous donor by claiming that he wants to provide the opportunity for Christians to take part in " the wealth transfer" that God intends to bestow upon believers around the world. As if this is not shameless enough, the letter sent to his followers tries to convince them that this is their opportunity to get out of debt because God intends to double their investment!
"Your Double Harvest Miracle - Are you ready for God to do the "impossible" in your life! Are you ready to see your harvest doubled? Are you ready to see your debt cancelled in the next 90 days? Imagine not dreading going to the mailbox, no bills piling up on your counter, and no calls from collectors coming to your home. God wants to wipe your debt out! Every bit of it"and in the next 90 days! This is an appointed hour. Imagine: Your $100 gift immediately doubles to $200. Your $500 seed literally becomes $1,000. If God leads you to plant $10,000, it instantly grows into a $20,000 seed! And your double seed, sown bountifully, will reap bountifully through the supernatural law of multiplication! Only God could provide something like this--a double harvest for you. And the more you plant, the more you will reap! The anointing for biblical abundance is being released. As you step into this miracle by faith, it will be poured out upon you, too! Your giving is literally the weapon that breaks the bondage of debt in this ministry and in your home during the next 90 days. Plant your seed-gift now, then begin confessing over every bill, every debt, and every area of financial struggle in your life: "With God I'm coming out of debt in 90 days!!!" These repeated confessions will be constant reminders of the financial breakthrough that is coming to you.
This seed talk heresy is usually at the heart of prosperity hucksters who are seeking your money and do not care about your relationship with God. The implicit claim is that God wants to bless you but can't until you plant a seed, which is always money. There is no supernatural law of multiplication. There is no seed doctrine in the Bible. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. Our blessings are what God has already given us -- not what we think we want materially.
"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. -- Matthew 6: 19-21 (NLT)
Can this teaching be any clearer? Money is only a treasure here on earth. I have yet to see a hearse with a luggage rack. He who dies with the most toys is still dead and facing the judgment of Almighty God. The key here however is that this reveals where our heart is. A heart cannot be divided. The heart that seeks after the material blessings on earth is not heavenly minded. The key verses today seem to be written specifically to warn us about Benny Hinn. He is clearly teaching destructive heresies, preying on people in financial need and using God as his insurance for them. Heresy? He only tried using one Scripture reference:
