[UntoHim]

I received the following email (errr...spam) from Hank Hanegraaff and CRI. (Quite a while back I tried to get in contact with Hank about why he has never made even the slightest attempt to interview ex Local Church members before he gave his knee-jerk "endorsement" of The LC/LSM. Instead of a thoughtful reply, I got a "form letter" from one of his flunkies, and then I got put on his spam list) So now, several times a week it seems, I get pleas for donations and/or to buy one of Hank's books. Usually I just delete them, but I'm glad I took a closer look at this one.

So Mr. Hank, let me get this straight. You wanna tell the world that the Local Church of Witness Lee is nothing close to a cult (not theologically or socially), and that the teachings of Lee are orthodox and in line with the historical Christian faith.... Yet you wanna tell us that Paula White, TD Jakes, Joyce Meyer, John Hagee, Joel Osteen and "a cast of characters" are "a cultic movement within Christianity that threatens to undermine the very foundation of the faith once for all delivered to the saints"?

Hank, your credibility (what little is left) is leaking like a sieve. Far be it from me to come to the rescue of the likes of Paula White, TD Jakes and the others listed here... but you're going to slap the "cultic movement" tag on these guys, all the while singing the praises and yukking it up with some people who tell their members that "the process of sanctification" is only taking place in their tiny little sect? Did Yu or Wilde get around to the part where they tell you that "James was devoid of the divine revelation"? Were you in the little boys room when they covered the part about "Judaism is satanic, Catholicism is demonic and Christianity is Christless"?

Really Hank... You're "research" is leaving a lot to be desired.

Dear Partner in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
In the twenty-first century a host of prosperity preachers ranging from Paula White to T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer have created a crisis in Christianity and the culture that I could scarcely have imagined two decades ago.
And that is precisely why I have decided to launch a major new release titled Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century.
Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century unmasks the fatal flaws of a cultic movement within Christianity that threatens to undermine the very foundation of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”
It provides comprehensive information as well as biblical evaluation of the newest luminaries in the Faith constellation—virtual rock stars who command the attention of Presidential candidates and media moguls.
It exposes a cast of characters who uniformly traffic in make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological pretexts including:
“God cannot do anything in this earth realm unless we give Him permission.”
“Keep saying it—‘I have equality with God’—talk yourself into it.”
“Being poor is a sin.”
“There is no sickness for the saint of God…not even a headache, sinus problem, not even a toothache—nothing!”
Televangelist John Hagee goes so far as to shamelessly promote the pretext of a prosperous Jesus—who lives in a “big house” and wears “designer” clothes—and brazenly depicts a sectarian Christ who “refused to be Messiah to the Jews.”
The progression from bad to worse continues with the pretexts of prosperity preachers ranging from Benny Hinn to Creflo Dollar.
This modern-day crisis continues to deepen as an ever-increasing number of such prosperity preachers convince devotees that what happens in their lives—whether good or bad—is a direct result of what they say. If you, like they, are healthy and prosperous, words created your reality. Conversely, if your baby dies or your wife contracts cancer, you are the prime suspect.
Says Joel Osteen, “The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it. This is a spiritual principle, and it works whether what you are saying is good or bad, positive or negative.”
Osteen’s words are eerily reminiscent of those of New Thought practitioner Joe Vitale—contributor to Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. When asked by Larry King whether a nine-year old Florida girl who was brutally raped and murdered attracted this horror to herself, Vitale responded, “We are attracting everything to ourselves and there is no exception.”
While Osteen and Vitale have noteworthy differences, they are united in the belief that the force of faith is so powerful that even God (however you define him) is bound by its irrevocable reality.
My heart aches for the parent who put his dead baby on ice and in the midst of tears and desperation drove three hundred and fifty miles to a counterfeit revival center because he trusted the testimonies of Faith preachers who were touting resurrections from the dead.
I equally grieve the millions who have left Faith churches in the midst of failed faith formulas. Some conclude that God must not love them; others question the integrity of the whole Christian enterprise.
The tragedy is that all too often they have been deluded into looking for God in all the wrong places. The real experience is not found in counterfeit formulas but in Christian fundamentals.
Thousands have been helped out of the Faith movement by the Christian Research Institute, but many more must be rescued. Your gift today is not just to the Christian Research Institute and the Bible Answer Man broadcast—you are giving through CRI and touching the lives of men, women, and children— the majority of whom we will never know this side of eternity.
P.S.- For your gift of $250 or more I will sign a copy for you. And for your gift of $500 or more I will personalize a leather-bound, numbered, limited edition of Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century. Considering the ferocity of the battle and what is at stake, please send your most generous gift to keep the Bible Answer Man broadcast on the air, and CRI standing strong.