Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. -- James 5: 14 (ESV)
https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/70569-why-you-should-keep-running-toward-your-healing
I was monitoring the responses on an article the other day and someone correctly stated that we should not cry heretic over minor doctrinal matters. Then they listed some examples and while many were spot on one leaped out to me. They listed divine healing in the atonement as a minor doctrinal disagreement to which I cannot disagree strongly enough. For the unaware, divine healing is the belief that God is required to always heal us. That Jesus purchased this right for us in the atonement upon the cross. It is preached by the most egregiously false cesspools on the planet such as Bethel and IHOP. It is rapidly becoming a hallmark of the up and coming youth false teachers such as Todd White and Hillsong. Make no mistake about it beloved. It is pure evil heresy. First of all it usurps power that belongs strictly to God. This is why word faith preachers fall for it so easily. It is completely contradicted throughout scripture. Why did Paul tell Timothy to drink wine for his stomach ailments if healing as always available? Why did God tell Paul that His grace was sufficient for him when he begged for the thorn in his flesh to be removed? Why even include the key verse today at all? Why instruct that church to have the elders pray and anoint with oil if we can just magically snap our fingers and demand healing? Because we can't. One of the staunchest advocates for this false teaching is named Becky Dvorak from Charisma News. Becky fancies herself a "prophetic healing evangelist." If you are wondering where in that came from you can rule out the Bible. May as well since Becky pretty much rules the Bible out when she writes. Her latest two articles are linked above. Let us reason once more beloved as we watch someone so desperate to prop up her false teaching niche that every bible verse she touches becomes a victim to her own false doctrine.
"The winner of the race is not sitting down on the sidelines. This person is not hidden from view, asleep, or complaining because the race is so difficult, but actively running. And the people watching knows this person is running. This person is the leader of the pack and is being highlighted to show others how to run their race successfully, how to run through and past that finish line to victory. Do you not know that all those who run in a race run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain it. Everyone who strives for the prize exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. So, therefore, I run, not with uncertainty. So I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I bring and keep my body under subjection, lest when preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27)." -- Becky Dvorak
Beck Dvorak has a false teaching to sell. She has written multiple books on the subject. She travels the world putting on conferences and church services; all surrounding her niche -- healing. Some people make merchandise of the sheep by selling prosperity. Others by selling the same sin that cast Lucifer from the heavens -- to be God. Still others are in the Christian entertainment business. Dvorak's niche however has always been healing. Now let me be clear up front. I am not a cessationist. I do believe the gifts are for today even though Charismania has warped them. I believe the God we serve can still heal and I have seen Him do so miraculously. I believe the decision to heal is a sovereign choice made by God based on each individual situation. Becky usurps that sovereignty and says God must heal you always and if you are not healed it must be some faith deficiency on your part that is preventing your own healing. I do not know why some live and some die but what I do know is we value the wrong life. This is why mandatory healing is part of the core of NAR teaching, which also values this mortal life above everything else.
So in this first article, Dvorak tries to lay a foundation regarding running the race. The implication here is that if you want your healing you have to pursue it, or run after it. You cannot get weary, slow down or give up. It sounds so pious and right doesn't it? No offense but I do not need to hear what Becky Dvorak thinks. I just need to know if this is what God has said. The really good news here is that whenever someone false tries to leverage Scripture they end being transparent and easy to debunk. Is 1Corinthians 9 a portion of Scripture where Paul addresses healing? No. Is it a portion that speaks to the atonement at all? No. The entire chapter is about self-discipline. Specifically about self-discipline to win people to Christ. This is the chapter where Paul says that he became all things to all people so that some might be saved. The portion referenced by Dvorak is about finishing the race strong. We are servants of the Gospel until the day He takes us home beloved. If you want some examples of what Paul is saying to avoid we need to look no further than people like Francis Chan or Harold Camping or Dr. Michael Brown. Chan was once the poster child for solid biblical preaching and then one day he fell in love with Mike Bickle and IHOP. Those seeds of rotten fruit have brought forth a harvest of even more reprehensible wolves that Chan now embraces publically including Rick Warren and Mark Driscoll. Camping was one considered sound but then he started predicting the end of the world. Dr. Michael Brown built up a reputation as a Biblical scholar over decades only to throw it away supporting Benny Hinn, Joseph Prince, and Bill Johnson, for example.
"What is the victory you need? For many of you, it is physical healing. Then you need to learn how to activate your faith and run your race all the way through the finish line--the manifestation of that healing and beyond. You need to stay focused on the goal and not be sidetracked by the voices of the doubters sitting on the sidelines, encouraging you to fail. Yes, in the Christian world, there are those who have aligned themselves with the team of Doubting Thomas. Don't listen to them. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little yeast leavens the whole batch. I have confidence in you through the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But he who is troubling you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is (Gal. 5:7-10)." -- Becky Dvorak
