The Midas Touch
 

Before he died in 2003, Kenneth Hagin tried to add some balance to the “Prosperity Gospel” as it was developing into something he never intended. He wrote a book called The Midas Touch” which was released in 2000 and is still available through Amazon.com. Ref http://www.amazon.com/Midas-Touch-Ba.../dp/0892765305
Some time around the Fall of 1999. he invited several ministers to a meeting at Rhema. The topic of the meeting was Excesses and error present within the “prosperity” message being taught by the major Word of Faith ministries.

This article can be found online at
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/chu...rosperitY.ASPX

Another article addressing this can be found at
http://kennethcopelandblog.com/2008/...e-of-copeland/


Kenneth Hagin’s Forgotten Warning
By J. Lee Grady
Charisma Magazine

CBN.com – Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.

Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence.

Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting.

Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.

Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:

1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.”

2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes.”

3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts the very attitude of our giving nature.”

4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.

5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise “supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.”

(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.)

Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,” Hagin wrote.

Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance.

Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma magazine.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

Good article Brother Sam.

When "seed faith money" becomes the greater focus than the Blood, the Cross and Calvary, that ought to tell people where the preacher of "seed faith's" heart is.

I remember being young in the Lord and hearing fantastic stories about Oral Roberts seeing a 900 foot Jesus...that God was going to kill him if he did not raise $8 Million for his City of Faith Ministries. It would have been easy to fall into this sensationalism and promises of wealth, except that the Lord Jesus kept me from that.

What did God promise believers?
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:10-14

Re: The Midas Touch
 

I do believe God will prosper one so that they can sow back into The Kingdom of God,but I do not believe in the prosperity message and the greed it fosters.

I do believe in maintaining a Biblical confession,but I don't believe in name it and claim it. Because alot of these truths have abused many shy away from them.
But many today don't think anything is smoke unless it comes out of their chimney.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

Re: The Midas Touch
 

The Lord will supply our needs according to His riches in glory,but He never promises to make one wealthy.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

Excellent article. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kenneth Hagin realized what was happening in the "prosperity gospel" circles and called it out for what it is.

What is put forth as the "prosperity gospel" message is as much error as snake handlers. What a perversion of the Gospel message.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

Re: The Midas Touch
 

Scott,
I think the main thing is "moderation" with stuff like this.
I believe we reap what we sow and that God loves and blesses a cheerful giver but I do not believe we are to "bribe" God or try to "force" Him to give us any certain amount based on the amount we give Him.

I believe we are to "confess" (agree with) the Word. But the whole confession thing has become distorted into "name it and claim it."

“You can only have what you say if what you say is what God says” Kenneth Hagin Jr.

“Confession translates the Greek word ho mo lo ge o which means to say the same thing with our mouth that God says with His mouth i.e. we must speak what God said in His Word” Jay Snell

Confession is affirming something you believe; testifying of something you know; witnessing for a truth you’ve embraced.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

No we can't bribe God by giving a certain amount just like we can't think giving a tenth is magical when it isn't taught or commanded in the NT. We are to give unto The Lord as we have been prospered to give,cheerful and willing not as under obligation.

Re: The Midas Touch
 

I believe Milton Green had a handle on Confession teaching and maintaining a positive confession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCLbSELlDyg