surprising teaching from kenneth hagin sr.
pablo
it is the end of the except where he exposes false and wrong methods
and claims used by people to raise money.
i am posting these in installments -- simply because it is long (and
yes, i am posting it in pieces - this one being the last part as
opposed to his opening comments).
in this piece he tackles the erroneous missuse of scripture concerning
the hundred fold return.
even posted in installments this is long. but i think it is well
worth the read.
the implications are not only the exposure of false practices - but
the importance of the true teaching of the word is couched within this
message.
peac3e.
pablo
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Hundredfold Return
The idea that God will reward our giving by paying a
one-hundred-to-one return on what we give to His work has become a
very popular concept. It is almost commonplace to hear ministers refer
to it at offering time, urging people to "give generously and believe
God for a hundredfold blessing."
The basis for this concept is a passage of Scripture included in the
Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have
followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you,
There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and
the gospel's, but he shall receive an HUNDREDFOLD now in this time,
houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and
lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark
10:28-30)
Notice that there is nothing said in this passage about tithes or
offerings. The context refers to people who have made an absolute
commitment to follow the call of God upon their lives, leaving their
former possessions, families, and lifestyles behind (see also Matthew
19:27-29 and Luke 18:28-30).
Jesus responded to Peter by saying, "Every man who sacrifices his all
for My sake, and the Gospel's, shall receive a hundredfold in this
life of houses, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, children,
lands, and persecutions" (Mark 10:29-30).
What did Jesus mean? Was He literally promising each disciple a
hundred pieces of real estate for each one they had forsaken, and a
hundred brothers or sisters for each sibling left at home, and a
hundred fathers and mothers or wives and children? In studying the
lives of the disciples, we find no record of any of them ever
acquiring such possessions—except for persecutions.
Did Jesus' words fail to come true? Was He exaggerating? I don't think
so. There is no account of any disciple ever complaining about the
Lord's broken promises. Instead, they testified that His record was
true!
What did Jesus mean when He said that they would receive a hundredfold
of houses and family? Wiser men than me who have spent lifetimes
studying the Scriptures and the life and times of Jesus have given
their interpretations. To these itinerant evangelists who would become
missionaries to the world traveling alone with little more than the
clothes on their backs, He promised that houses in strange lands would
open their doors to them—a hundred, if need be. He promised that as
they preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and won souls to Christ, they
would enjoy fellowship with countless brothers, sisters, mothers, and
fathers — a multiplied family of faith.
Is the hundredfold return available for us today? Yes, of course it's
available for all who have left everything to commit their all for the
sake of Christ and the Gospel!
Does the hundredfold return mean that when we give an offering, we
should get out a calculator and compute the monetary payback we expect
to receive at the rate of one hundred to one? In other words, if we
give a dollar to God's work are we promised that He will give us a
hundred dollars back?
Let's consider a hypothetical example of what would happen if an
individual actually had this happen just seven times in his life.
Since the purpose of prosperity is to provide believers with the
resources to do God's work, we'll assume that once this individual
began his giving with a dollar and received his multiplied return, he
"reinvested" the total amount back into the Kingdom of God by giving
again.
Here's how that scenario would play out with the hundredfold return
working a mere seven times:
1. $1 x hundredfold return = $100
2. $100 x hundredfold return = $10,000
3. $10,000 x hundredfold return = $1,000,000 (Note: If the hundred
fold return worked just three times from an initial dollar offering,
the donor would be a millionaire!)
4. $1,000,000 x hundredfold return = $100,000,000 (That's a hundred
million dollars!)
5. $100,000,000 x hundredfold return = $10,000,000,000 (Ten billion
dollars)
6. $10,000,000,000 x hundredfold return = $1,000,000,000,000 (One
trillion dollars)
7. $1,000,000,000,000 x hundredfold return = $100,000,000,000,000
(One hundred trillion dollars!)
At the time of this writing, the man with the most financial wealth in
the world is considered to be Bill Gates of Microsoft; his net worth
is estimated to be as much as $85 billion. So a person for whom the
hundredfold return worked as described above would have 1,176 times
more money than Bill Gates!
Perhaps you know of a Christian who has been very generous in his
giving and has strong faith in God's ability and willingness to give
prosperity to His children. Let's say that over the years this person
accumulated a net worth of ten million dollars. Most people would
agree that this individual is quite wealthy—that financial prosperity
is a reality to him.
However, this wealthy Christian's ten million dollars is a microscopic
fraction of what could be realized on the hundredfold return on an
initial dollar offering reinvested seven times as described above. In
fact, that ten million dollars would have to be multiplied ten million
times to equal the hundred trillion dollars hypothetically received by
the individual who had his single dollar returned a hundredfold just
seven times over.
Consider also that almost any Christian who is faithful in tithes and
offerings would not have begun with a single dollar, but hundreds of
dollars! If the hundredfold return worked literally and mathematically
for everyone who gave money in an offering, we would have Christians
walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but
quadrillions of dollars!
God wants you to have all the information and knowledge you need to
walk in victory and power. And He said in His Word, "Call unto me, and
I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou
knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).
I encourage you all to call on the Lord today. Let Him give you
knowledge and understanding concerning His Word. Walking in the light
of God's Word is what will keep you balanced in the area of prosperity
and in every area of life.
Excerpt taken from The Midas Touch, by Kenneth E. Hagin. Copyright ©
2000 RHEMA Bible Church (1-888-28-FAITH).
Griz
>Does the hundredfold return mean that when we give an offering, we
>should get out a calculator and compute the monetary payback we expect
>to receive at the rate of one hundred to one? In other words, if we
>give a dollar to God's work are we promised that He will give us a
>hundred dollars back?
And excellent article. Thanks for sharing it.
Anyone who would try to operate their finances by taking the above as a
Scriptural assumption, are still operating with the god of money firmly
seated on the throne of their lives. I cannot see this a financial axiom as
much as an axiom of whatever we have to leave behind to follow Christ it is
worth it -- for we will never be lacking in the things that we truly need.
Mat 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field,
which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all
that he has and buys that field.
Mat 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine
pearls,
Mat 13:46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all
that he had and bought it.
Even if we should be called upon to sacrifice "all" (litteral definition
here) to follow Christ, we would not be found as needy in any area for God
will supply abundantly for our needs, and sometimes even for our wants.
Yours in Christ,
Griz
David Matthieu P.P.
"pablo" <ba...@sushi.co.jp> wrote in message
news:2d487387.03061...@posting.google.com...
> below is an excerpt from kenneth hagin on fundraising in the church
http://www.bible.ca/tongues-copeland-rodney-brown-tongues.ram
pablo
concerning money and it's dangers in the church.
it is long but well worth the read.
peac3e.
pablo
as i noted, i am posting this article in pieces, this is the opening
remarks of the piece:
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Money is a necessary commodity in today's civilization. For the
overwhelming majority of people, the days in which the members of a
family worked together to be largely self-sufficient - building their
own house, growing their own food, providing their own water and fuel,
creating their own clothing, and using "natural" means of
transportation - is a distant memory.
Today all the products and services for even an ordinary lifestyle
must be purchased. Going through a single day without spending money
for something is difficult, if not impossible. Just as this dependence
on money affects the way most people live their day-to-day lives, it
also has a major impact on the way churches and ministries carry out
their work.
Finding Money for Ministry
Fundraising has become a fact of life - a necessary part of every
effective Christian organization if it is to survive.
Gordon Lindsay was one of the leading ministers of the Pentecostal
movement and the healing revival in the twentieth century. He was also
the founder of the ministry organization now known as Christ for the
Nations. A prolific writer and publisher, Rev. Lindsay often spoke out
about the perils and problems ministers face in finding money for
ministry. In his book The Charismatic Ministry, he wrote the
following:
[Money] is an important element in promoting Christian work. Its
availability to a considerable extent governs the scope of our
activities. It is, therefore, natural that a minister looks for ways
and means by which he can secure necessary funds for the work that he
feels called to do.
But here lurks many pitfalls in which the unwary may stumble. The line
between the permissible and the objectionable is sometimes very thin.
Some men have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for missions,
and their work is to be highly praised. Others have raised
comparatively insignificant amounts, and the manner in which it was
done or the way they used it, has called forth strong condemnation.
If people are told that the money is to be used for a certain purpose,
and it is spent largely for other things, such as for promotion, then
it is being raised under false pretenses. This is a sore point.
Certainly there are costs in raising missionary money. Anyone who says
otherwise doesn't speak the truth. But if the greater proportion of
the funds so raised are used for overhead, then something is wrong....
- -
The manner of taking offerings in a campaign is extremely important.
If every service or a considerable number of services is occupied with
a lengthy appeal for large offerings, the effect upon the people of
the community is likely to be unfavorable. The ministers so engaged
will soon be regarded as employed mainly in money raising.
Lindsay also commented on the use of "gimmicks" he had seen over the
years that were used by various religious groups as a means of
fundraising. He stated the following:
Gimmicks which included relics, bones, holy water, indulgences, etc.,
cursed the Medieval Church. They were widely used at that time as
money-raising devices designed to appeal to people's ignorance and
superstition. Today certain preachers are resorting to gimmicks to
entice people to part with their money....
What we are referring to as gimmicks is the use of articles that
purport to have some mysterious power or supposed virtue in them - a
sort of charm or fetish - the use of which has no Scriptural
foundation....
What are some of these gimmicks? The number apparently is endless, for
new ones are heard of frequently. The partial list includes such
things as follows: a "blessed purse" that causes money to multiply
"supernaturally"; the "gift" of prosperity; "magic pictures" in which
the image reappears after the person has closed his eyes...; a special
"prayer carpet"; "holy oil" or "holy water" that is supposed to carry
a special virtue; cloths which "supernaturally" changed color;
"blessed nails"; "blessed pictures;" "blessed sawdust" on which an
angel is supposed to have walked; a barrel of water in which an angel
comes down and "troubles it"; "bottled demons," etc. These are only a
few of the long list of gimmicks which have been offered to the
public.
The Reformation actually had its beginning when Martin Luther became
convinced that all the gimmicks the church used - the relics, the
saints' bones, splinters from the "true cross," etc. - were phony and
had no virtue. May God help the minister to abide in the simplicity
and purity of the gospel and not attempt to mislead people with such
things.
Lindsay was also quoted by the respected author, David Edwin Harrell,
Jr., in his study of the Pentecostal movement, All Things are
Possible. Noting the concern of responsible leaders of the healing
revival over the "improper emphasis on money," the book recorded
Lindsay's warning against a covetous spirit.
But this revival can be greatly retarded if there is a continual
auctioneering for money in the campaigns. There are some who are
short-sighted enough to have destroyed their usefulness to the kingdom
of God by an offensive handling of finances.
Harrell also quoted Donald Gee, who was an influential British
Christian editor who came to believe that the healing movement had
harbored frauds and promoted exploitation. He declared, "It has to be
confessed that in a few regrettable cases commercialism vitiated
[debased] the testimony."
In his own book A Way to Escape, Gee said, "Good and faithful
preaching of the full gospel has been weakened by unscriptural appeals
for money, to the stumbling of many."
The warnings of these and other Christian leaders need to be heard and
heeded again by every honest minister and Christian organization
today. Unfortunately, the same kinds of abuses and mistaken practices
involving money that have plagued the Church since the days of the
Apostles are still flourishing today.
No minister is immune to temptations regarding money. The devil is
sure to come around when there are opportunities to compromise
scriptural standards and our personal principles of financial
integrity. It would be easy to rationalize and make excuses for
improperly seeking support when we're under financial pressure or when
an admiring crowd could easily be influenced into giving a substantial
personal "love offering."
The spiritual dangers of giving in to this kind of temptation are
tremendous. The Bible issues a stern warning that could apply in such
a situation: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).
There are a number of teachings and practices in the Church today,
particularly among Charismatic groups, that can lead to
misunderstandings and hurtful problems. Many times, these errors are
the result of people taking a Bible verse, or part of a verse, out of
context or by carrying an application too far. Sometimes there has
been an overzealous attempt to make a New Testament application of
some Old Testament phrase or technicality that absolutely does not
apply. Taken to the extreme, these teachings can become abuses and
false practices.