Spiritual Warfare and Territorial Spirits (~5.5 MB) - Moriel Ministries

Jackie AlnorLIFESTYLES OF: THEGuest AuthorRICH & FAMOUSCHAPTER 7By Jackie AlnorThe prosperity gospel has evolvedover the past fifty years of its existence.Televangelists have adopted various elementsof it from each other, customizingit to fit their own peculiar vision.There is much debate as to where itall began and who came up with variousinterpretations of pet verses dueto the consistent boasting of preacherswho claim each element as divine revelationgiven to them directly by God.Though Oral Roberts takes the creditfor the idea of seed-faith -give to get -revelation,others say it was given to him by anassociate, Gene Ewing, who built a reputationfor successful fundraising strategies.One historian points to 1950s faithhealer, A. A. Allen, as an early innovator ofmixing faith with prosperity. “Allen wasone of the first in the revival to gain supportby appealing to the financial dreams ofhis followers. Implicit in the revival wasa conviction that God could grant not onlyphysical but financial healing to His children.Allen early indicated that there wasa scriptural secret to financial success.”1Apparently, it was during the healingrevival movement of the post-war, mid-20th century that the Gospel of salvationfor man’s souls was changed into a falsegospel of prosperity. And this at a timewhen America was beginning to live theAmerican dream of a car in every garageand a television set in every livingroom. As one teacher put it, “The moneypreachers -- they’re simply rewriting theGospel as a religion of Western consumerism.”2This was not a movement ofGod, but a worldly inspiration for a betterlife and success in the here and now.Whether or not it was Oral Robertswho came up with the seed-faith secret toprosperity, it was Roberts who popularizedit and utilized it for his own financial benefit.But it was the preaching of seed-faiththat worked for Roberts, not the method ofsowing and reaping itself. Roberts wouldpreach his new gospel and really lay it onthe audience who came to his tent revivalsseeking a healing touch from him. At offeringtime, if you didn’t sow money intoRoberts’ ministry, you weren’t about tobenefit from his so-called healing virtue.And because it seemed to work forRoberts, other Pentecostal ministers adoptedthe concept and put it to work forthemselves. Word/Faith teacher CharlesCapps said, “Several years ago oneof Oral Roberts’ books came into myhands, entitled Miracle of Seed-Faith. Isuppose this book transformed my lifeas much as any book I have ever read .. . Oral put it in understandable form sothat I could put it to work in my life.”The late Jamie Buckingham, a formercolumnist for Charisma magazine, testifiedthat it was Roberts who introduced him toSeed-Faith also. “I remember the afternoonI sat in the audience as Oral spoke.I was still struggling with his ‘Seed-Faith’message, and what I felt was an over-emphasison materialism, but I knew I had tobe intellectually honest. That meant lettingGod flush from my mind all preconceivednotions and listening with a clean slate.”What that really meant was drowning outthe voice of his conscience and the convictionof the Holy Spirit that the Seed-Faithmessage was indeed carnal and unbiblical.Oral Roberts has had a number ofdramatic fund-raising appeals over theyears to raise money for ministry projectshe claimed were God-ordained. But hisCity of Faith hospital that was supposedto come up with a cure for cancer is nowdefunct. The university he named afterhimself has lost both its medical and legalstudies programs and is over 33 milliondollars in debt. Roberts’ record for hearingfrom God has proven to be pretty bad.“How about Oral Roberts?, askedauthor, Dave Hunt. “You know he had aseven-hour conversation with a 900-footJesus who told him to build a hospital inTulsa that anybody knew wasn’t needed.Promises that there will be miracles, acure for cancer. 777 beds. You knowthree 7’s -- that’s terrific! I don’t thinkthey ever had more than 246 of them occupied.The thing went bankrupt. Nocure for cancer. No miracles. Is that afalse prophecy? You have to ask yourselfseriously. Was Oral Roberts just lyingto us or was he hallucinating or didhe really have this conversation? I meana 7-hour hallucination? That’s prettylong. Did he really have a conversationwith some 900-foot being that claimedto be Jesus? That’s quite a delusion!But he continues to be quite popular.”His “900-foot Jesus” campaign in1980 appealed to his supporters to donate$5 million a month to build the unnecessarymedical complex and according tothe Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association,it worked. Then in 1987, when Oral RobertsUniversity was in financial trouble,Roberts announced that God spoke to himand warned him that if he didn’t raise $8million by the end of the month of March,God would “take him home.” The secularpress jumped right on the story with headlinessuch as: “God Will Kill Oral Without5 Mil,” and “Roberts Hustles People.”Right away other televangelistsjumped to Roberts defense. “We’rehere, Oral, to say we love you,” saidJames Robison, whose daily TV programis seen on TBN. “I’ve had enoughof the media flak to know it’s painful.”My own elderly aunt, a long-timeOral Roberts supporter, tried to empty outher savings account, but was fortunatelystopped by her grown children just in thenick of time. They could not afford to takeon the expense of her retirement homeall by themselves which is what wouldhave happened had they not caught herin time. She had already signed over allthe oil rights to the family farm in Oklahomato the Oral Roberts Association. Nodoubt many other shut-ins were not sofortunate, and many lost their nest eggs.The final $1.3 million that Robertsneeded by the deadline of March 31, 1987,was met by a Florida man, Jerry Collins,who owned two greyhound dog racingtracks. Here is a summary of Oral Roberts’record of hearing directly from God as compiledin 1990 by “O Timothy” magazine:“In 1983 Oral said that Jesus Christappeared to him and told him to find acure for cancer. So far, he has not founda cure and it is certain that he never will.In 1986 Oral said that God told him, “Iwant you to use the ORU medical schoolto put My medical presence in the earth. Iwant you to get this going in one year or Iwill call you home. It will cost $8 millionand I want you to believe you can raise it.”In January of 1987 Oral said that Godtold him that he had not sent out any medi-June 2007 • Moriel Quarterly