False teachers will receive the greater condemnation

[biscuit1953]

In 1992 my wife and four-year old son were in a terrible car accident and when I got to the hospital I didn’t even recognize my wife while my son was in ICU with a skull fracture being treated by a neurologist. My wife eventually recovered but my son laid in the hospital for several days before they declared him brain dead. While my wife was still wrapped up like a mummy we were making plans for the funeral and grappling with the decision of allowing his organs to be used for transplants.
While in the middle of that decision a couple which were friends with my wife from a Pentecostal background was visiting us in the hospital room and the husband asked us if he could pray. This is what he said, “Dear God, please don’t let this child die (he had no brain activity). What kind of testimony would it be if this child died? I ask you in the name of Jesus to raise him up.” He went on and said a few more things and after he prayed he told us about a man named Wigglesworth who had raised people from the dead. I believe the man was sincere but he obviously was no Wigglesworth. I said that to say this. Many modern day faith healers will one day stand before God and give an account for their hypocrisy claiming to have the gifts of the apostles while giving false hope to innocent people that are hurting. I was greatly touched watching what this young lady was going through with the lie that God doesn’t want anyone to be sick or dying. Go watch the testimony of Joni Eareckson Tada and countless other saints that have brought glory to God through their suffering, knowing that one day their corrupt bodies would be made whole. Until then God is sovereign and can do with us as he so chooses.

 

[ALAYMAN]

Thank you for sharing part of your faith journey and an unimaginable valley that God brought you through. I’ll share something in a bit (though nowhere near your tragic circumstances) about a faith healer I encountered while going door to door years ago, but I’m pressed for time right now so gotta get to work.

 

[illinoisguy]

I'm not sure if I would care for Smith Wigglesworth's bedside manner:

"Wigglesworth’s real calling card was something that’s all but lost in the modern Pentacostal faith: healing, which, for him, was a combination of prayer and violence. Wigglesworth believed that any sickness was actually the Devil inside of you, which meant that prayer was needed, but also, frequently, a physical assault. There are many such stories: the time Wigglesworth punched a sufferer of stomach cancer in the stomach, the times he violently shook those on their deathbeds, or, more commonly, the times in front of crowds when healing was in part dependent upon delivering a good hard slap."

The Unverifiable Legend of the Early 20th-Century Preacher Who Raised 14 People from the Dead

Meet Smith Wigglesworth.

www.atlasobscura.com

"A couple of years before Mr [Todd] Bentley graced the Evangelical scene, there was a like minded charismatic man called Smith Wigglesworth. No, he didn’t knock people around with his coat like some famous televangelists do on television or huff and puff a glory cloud to make people drowsy 'in the holy ghost.' Mr. Wigglesworth is said to have punched a man so hard during one of his 'revivals' that the man died. He then went on and raised him back to life, or so the legend goes. . . .

"He claimed that the Christian has the power to speak things into existence. . . . Wigglesworth also taught that the Christian can operate in the same omnipotent power that Christ exercised. . . . This is very similar to the false Manifest Sons of God theology of the perfectibility of certain saints, and it is the same heresy as that taught today by Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and other Word-Faith teachers. . . .

"If you digress from Scripture and start listening to new voices and revelations, do not be surprised when you get kicked in the guts by hirelings, snake oil sales men and heretics."

What did Smith Wigglesworth really preach?

It’s a while now since we last saw Todd Bentley warn a bewildered chap that he was just about to leg drop him so that he could earn a “revival” in his church. Another time he supp…

atwistedcrownofthorns.com

 

[abcaines]

While comparison to any tragedy alluded to here isn't even warranted, the journey Mrs abcaines and I went through a dozen years ago still brought us face to face with God's grace and how sufficient it is.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

 

[AverageJoe]

When my wife was in the Vanderbilt Trauma Center from being rear-ended by a foreigner at over 100 mph, we had a "chaplain" from the hospital come in to pray for her and to attempt to give her comfort. The doctors had given my wife less than a 10 percent chance to recover. The chaplain was an Episcopalian female pastor who encouraged my wife to be sprinkled to be forgiven of her sins and "secure" a place in heaven. I had the opportunity to speak to this chaplain after she had visited, and she told me that was what the Bible taught. I asked her to prove, SCRIPTURALLY, what she was telling the patients in the TC. She asked me why I was questioning her teaching, and I told her that I was a Baptist preacher. She refused to speak further. I went to the administration offices and requested that Vivian no longer receive visits from any chaplain other than an SBC or IFB chaplain. I was told that they didn't allow those "denominations" to be chaplains at Vandy. I explained to them what this chaplain had told my wife, and he told me that this was what the Bible taught. I showed him that it wasn't. He requested that I not return to his office again. I made a formal complaint and notified several prominent IFB and SBC pastors in the area of what was going on. They started requesting information about incoming patients who were "protestant" or Baptist. It's been nearly 11 years, so I don't know how many followed through on their promises to visit new patients. The one gunshot victim who was in the Trauma unit while my wife was there received the "baptism" from the chaplain that night, believing that it would save him. He knew he was dying, and he passed just 20 minutes later. I truly believe he is spending eternity in hell for believing a false gospel.

 

[abcaines]

When my wife was in the Vanderbilt Trauma Center from being rear-ended by a foreigner at over 100 mph, we had a "chaplain" from the hospital come in to pray for her and to attempt to give her comfort. The doctors had given my wife less than a 10 percent chance to recover. The chaplain was an Episcopalian female pastor who encouraged my wife to be sprinkled to be forgiven of her sins and "secure" a place in heaven. I had the opportunity to speak to this chaplain after she had visited, and she told me that was what the Bible taught. I asked her to prove, SCRIPTURALLY, what she was telling the patients in the TC. She asked me why I was questioning her teaching, and I told her that I was a Baptist preacher. She refused to speak further. I went to the administration offices and requested that Vivian no longer receive visits from any chaplain other than an SBC or IFB chaplain. I was told that they didn't allow those "denominations" to be chaplains at Vandy. I explained to them what this chaplain had told my wife, and he told me that this was what the Bible taught. I showed him that it wasn't. He requested that I not return to his office again. I made a formal complaint and notified several prominent IFB and SBC pastors in the area of what was going on. They started requesting information about incoming patients who were "protestant" or Baptist. It's been nearly 11 years, so I don't know how many followed through on their promises to visit new patients. The one gunshot victim who was in the Trauma unit while my wife was there received the "baptism" from the chaplain that night, believing that it would save him. He knew he was dying, and he passed just 20 minutes later. I truly believe he is spending eternity in hell for believing a false gospel.

Wasn't it Vanderbilt that was requiring nursing students to participate in abortions in order to complete their clinicals?