Guest
Articles by a personal friend, Don Hiers
A good friend, Don Hiers, sent me his response to an email he had
received. I asked to use it on bible
Study Net. I hope that it blesses you as
much as it did me.
Shameful greed by televangelists.....
It seems to me that the
prosperity message presented by many preachers and teachers is well off the
mark. Appealing to the emotions, the Christian faith is reduced to a 'what's in
it for me' religion. Obviously, there's plenty in it for several
televangelists.
David Cerullo,
son of Morris Cerullo, and president and CEO of the
Inspiration Network, has built a two million dollar lakefront home in South
Carolina. The Cerullos also live in a reported
12,000-square-foot, $1.7 million home in Charlotte, NC.
Televangelist Jesse Duplantis is building a $3 million dollar 35,000 square
foot mansion in Louisianna. He also owns luxury
vehicles, motorcycles, and a personal jet to get around the country.
Creflo Dollar owns a Rolls-Royce, a private jet, a million
dollar home in Atlanta, and a 2.5 million dollar home in New York City.
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland
knows a thing or two about material opulence. The Fort Worth area
multimillionaire flies around the world in a $20 million dollar jet, one of
five planes that he owns. He makes plenty of use of his own private airport. He
drives luxury cars and owns a fleet of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He relaxes
in a $6 million dollar 18,000 square-foot lakeside parsonage. His bedroom has
an eight foot television screen that retracts into the ceiling. It is said that
his home furnishings are worth more than the average price of a middle class
residence.
Benny Hinn
runs the largest evangelistic organization in the world. He is worth many
millions of dollars. Like most other evangelists, he is not a member of the
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. He lives in a $12 million
oceanfront hacienda in southern California, travels by private jet, and stays
frequently in presidential suites costing thousands of dollars a night.
A believe it and receive it
or name it and claim it theology works quite well for these preachers!
A prudent and common sense
lifestyle is spurned by these men who wallow in opulence. The mature wise
Christian knows that true Biblical prosperity has very little to do with money.
Indeed, no Bible Scripture instructs Believers to pray for money and riches!
The genuine humility of a
mature saint of God is the greatest testament of the true character of the
Christian faith!
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Subject: Personal
Relationship/Salvation Experience
James,
It's nice to hear from you. You truly are
a deep thinker. I have asked myself some of these same questions. For what it
is worth, here are my opinions about the “Salvation experience and a Personal
Relationship with God”.
The “Salvation experience” greatly varies
from individual to individual in regard as to whether its
in public or private and in with respect to emotion ( crying,
shouting, dancing) or a subdued reaction displaying a calm decision to follow
Jesus. Factors include the age of the convert and background and culture.
Obviously, there's very likely to be a big difference between a twelve-year old's Conversion and one by a converted thirty year old who
might be an alcoholic or drug addict or a victim of abuse from the past.
To some extent, I think many Christians
have a secret 'envy' of other Christians who receive Christ and 'come out of
the gate' on fire for God. Many of these folks also seem to receive more of the
Gifts of the Spirit, such as being ''''Baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking
in Tongues'.
We must remember that God didn't form us
to be exact mirrors of each other.
Psalm
33:16-15 From
the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He
fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.
Personally, other than the Bible, the most
important book I ever read was “My Upmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.
He firmly believed in having a personal relationship with Jesus. He also
emphasized the importance of God's Mercy and even Pity, more than His
Blessings. The following are a few of his statements:
Guard jealously your relationship to
God......Paul was devoted to a Person, not to a cause......The comradeship of
God is made up out of men who know their poverty....Being born again from above
is a perennial, perpetual and eternal beginning; freshness all the time in
living.....It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world and to
know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have
the basis of a personal relationship to Him.....
I have often wondered if highly educated
people don't over-think about theology. John ---- might be doing that. Even
with the best intentions, I think that people can “grasp at straws” over
something that they might not completely understand. Someone once said, “The
most simple truths of the gospel, as to man's sinfulness and God's
mercy, repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, stated in
the plainest language, suit the people better than deeper mysteries.
Our salvation comes to us, through the
Holy Spirit, individually/personally by the Grace and Mercies of God. Since He
chooses us individually, we should seek a close/personal relationship with Him.
The greatest joy and praise is always personal.
Someone said, “The Lord's watchful eye is
over those whose conscientious fear of His Name proceeds from a believing hope
in His Mercy.” In my own life, I've prayed for God's Mercy and Pity more than
anything else, by a wide margin.
James, I trust that this message touches
your spirit man. Thank you for your e-mails from time to time. God bless and
love to you.
In Christ,
Don
=================================================
Don’s Parable (Don Hiers): This was
written by a friend of mine. I thought
it should be offered to you. DE
The following is a
story about a prison warden.......or is it?
Disguised as one of the
prisoners, the prison warden had been living in the general prison population
for some time. While taking a walk one day in the prison yard, he called a
young prisoner over to him.
He said, "I'm much
more than who I appear to be. I am the prison warden. I've been watching
everyone and you seem to want to straighten out your life. My records show that
the rest of your family are also in prison." He
held up a document. "This is both a pardon and an adoption. I would very
much like to make you a part of my family. "The document was read,
highlighting the forgiveness for crimes and the freedom to start a new life in
a new family. The warden said, "Before this document can be placed in my
official book of records with your name written in it, there are several
important things that I need to explain."
"First, you have to
believe that I am who I say that I am!" Then he took off his disguise. He
continued, "Many prisoners will recognize me as being the warden but they
will not honor me or fear me or willingly obey me. It is vital that, in your
decision to believe, you accept my word as truth and receive it into your
heart. Only in that way can we truly have a relationship. I have to know that
you are repentant. I need to know that you will turn away from crime."
"Secondly, as both your
warden and your father, I would give you my family's book about how to live in
the outside world. In it, you would find that, as I have forgiven you, so you
must forgive others. You would learn that the pride of life and of self only
leads back to prison. You would find that a humble and contrite spirit ushers
in a life of peace and contentment and a love that passes understanding."
"Thirdly, you need to
understand that responsibility would accompany your freedom. I'd expect you to
follow both the laws of the land and obey my instructions for living. You would
be expected to work for your food, clothing, and shelter. You would be expected
to bring honor to me through your daily choices and actions. You are not set
free to do nothing!"
"Lastly, I'd like to
hear you say that you would communicate with me regularly about any problems
you might have or progress that you are making. My door would always be open to
you. Just knock. Keeping in touch is very important."
"Finally, assuming we
come to an agreement on the above conditions, there is a very important obligation
on my part.
Since I adopted you, I make a
covenant to help you in any way that I can. I'll never leave you or turn my
back on you. I'll help provide your physical needs and be there for you in
times of distress, especially in sickness and in death. Forever!"
================================================
Over
simplified message of Salvation...
This short message was
written by my friend Don Hiers. Don gets to the point very quickly and very
accurately (D.E.):
It is my opinion that, in the
last sixty years or so, an over
simplified salvation of 'belief' has been preached and taught. It
has been called 'making a decision for Christ'. However, it seems to me that
for a person to be adopted into the family of God, a genuine conversion of the
heart is required. Millions have joined churches but the great question is
how many truly received the 'Spirit of Christ' into their hearts. Almost
everyone in our nation believes that there is a God and that there was a
man named Jesus. But using the intellect is not enough. The bible talks about
accepting and receiving Christ with a child-like faith. It is about
'relationship'.
The Christian faith has to be
the toughest religion on earth
to try to understand. Even followers of Christ wrestle with some of
its concepts and precepts. Perhaps hardest of all to understand; our actions
and reactions to the world around us is expected to be the exact opposite of the
unbeliever/pagans among us.
If asked, the
vast majority of the people of our country refer to themselves as
being Christians. Millions have their names on church rolls.
However, multiplied thousands are indifferent, silent,
and saltless.
Sadly, because 'self' is still on the throne of the heart,
they are ruled by their feelings and follow the 'prevailing winds of
opinion'. Having a foolish pride/ego, they can be very easily
offended. Many are unconcerned about sodomites parading in the streets
demanding marriage rights. The killing of innocent human babies may not
bother their conscience or influence their vote. If upset, many use the
same vile profanity of the world. Many others live together in 'open'
fornication.
The true Believer will honor and fear and willingly obey the
Word of Truth. He'll also be repentant for sins. He'll hunger for God's
wisdom, acquired through prayerful bible study. Salvation is an ongoing maturing process that
never ends, quite beyond the initial conversion experience. May we
ask God to enable us to prove ourselves his children.