Positive thinking, which in one form can be said to be biblical (Philippians 4:8) has become as twisted as the prosperity ‘gospel’ itself. Both (which today are actually one and the same) teach if we do “A” & follow it up with “B”, God is obligated to produce “C”. Those who teach these principles call it faith–I have always viewed it as false presumption. This kind of thinking is dependent upon what we do..our power to “move God”. That’s not faith.
Anyway, I came upon two items this evening, one a news item about Joel Osteen’s newest book, the other, a message written by Gary Gilley concerning a few past and present prosperity teachers, including Osteen; its well-worth reading.
Pastor Joel Osteen’s 2004 book “Your Best Life Now” has sold more than 4 million copies — buoyed in part by one uplifting and irresistible message: Positive thinking and faith will lead to material success and happiness. Now he’s back with a new book and a new message for a new era: patience.
Back in 2005, he told BusinessWeek that “God’s dream is that we be successful in our careers, and that we be able to send our kids to college. I don’t mean that everyone is going to be rich, and I preach a lot on blooming where you’re planted. But I don’t have the mindset that money is a bad thing. . . I think we should have a mindset that God wants us to prosper in our relationships, our health, and our finances. God’s desire is that we excel.”
But there’s just been just one problem: for all the talk of the prosperity gospel and God’s tendency to impart material gain on those who have faith in him, no evidence has emerged that suggests that people who believe in God were less likely to lose their jobs, their homes or their retirement funds to the financial meltdown.
Enter Osteen’s latest book — sure to be a bestseller -- “It’s Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God’s Favor.” (source, Joel Osteen serves up recession-themed positive thinking)
The New Age book and video by Rhonda Byrne, The Secret, which gained popularity recently due to Oprah Winfrey’s strong promotion, teaches that we can “create [our] own happiness through the law of attraction.” Whether it is cash, health, prosperity or happiness, all can be ours if we will just learn to use “the secret.” Byrne tells us, “Disease cannot live in a body that is in a healthy emotional state.” But be warned: “If you have a disease and you are focusing on it and talking to people about it, you are going to create more disease cells.”[1]
Such rhetoric should sound familiar to anyone even faintly aware of the Word of Faith Movement, often termed “the prosperity gospel.” This group has been infiltrating evangelicalism for decades and is now the fastest growing segment of Christianity in the world. Some have estimated that up to 90 percent of those claiming to be Christians in Africa are of the prosperity gospel variety.
Well-known personalities within the movement include Kenneth Hagin (deceased), Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton, Paul Yonggi Cho, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Frederick Price, John Avanzini, Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo, Joyce Meyer and Paul and Jan Crouch.
As implied by the title “Word of Faith,” the supporters of this movement believe that faith works like a mighty power or force. Through faith we can obtain anything we want — health, wealth, success, or whatever we please. However, this force is released only through the spoken word. As we speak words of faith, power is discharged to accomplish our desires.
In Christianity in Crisis, Hank Hanegraaff summarizes the theology of Kenneth Hagin (considered by many to be the father of this movement) as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God:
In the opening chapter, titled “Jesus Appears to Me,” Hagin claims that while he was “in the Spirit,” Jesus told him to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to “write down: 1, 2, 3, 4.”
Jesus then allegedly told Hagin that “if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father.” That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: “Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it.”
- Step number one is “Say it.” “Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive.”
- Step number two is “Do it.” “Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving.”
- Step number three is “Receive it.” We are to plug into the “powerhouse of heaven.” “Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in.”
- Step number four is, “Tell it so others may believe.” This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program.[2]
Kenneth Copeland states the faith formula this way: “All it takes is 1) seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) speaking it into existence.” [3]
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Are you familiar with a group of religious people who were alive at the time of Jesus’ ministry? They were called the Pharisees.
OK, I’m strange, but this struck me funny. 
How sleazy, offensive, and xenophobic.
Nonresistance is a principle taught in the Scriptures. The word “nonresistance” is coined from the words of our Lord, when He said, “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever smites thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
