The Lot Syndrome
THE
LOT SYNDROME
Greed permeates our culture—not only outside the church, but
within it. Somehow, we have found ways to justify it, “scripturally”. There are
movements among the Body of Christ that have a mantra which speaks to our desire
for more. One catch phrase of these groups is: “You
possess what you confess”. In other
words, what we speak, we have. If we desire more money, a bigger home, a better
car, or wardrobe—career, etc. it belongs to us, all courtesy of our words. We
embody that power in our tongues. And, it sounds good, too. Scriptures such as
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and
they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” [Proverbs 18:21] and others are
used to rationalize the theory that God wants us to have whatever we desire,
right now, in this life—that’s the Lot Syndrome. It’s “green grass” all over
again. It’s not seeing the forest for the trees.
It is a trap and it is an easy deception
that the adversary has used rather skillfully against God’s people. Many of us have not had advantages of
education, careers and the comforts of life so we now are finding ways to
justify and rationalize greed, scripturally.
There is nothing wrong with hard work, and there is nothing inherently wrong, with
having nice things—even the finer things in life, but there is something wrong
with having them, before meeting the basic needs of our brothers and sisters.
Instead, we use these mantras and twisted scriptures to blame them for the
fault that belongs at our feet. Real Kingdom living, is not having whatever you
want, it is investing back into the Kingdom—and into people that God calls so
that they can invest in others, and so on, so that the Kingdom can continue to
grow. It isn’t, nor has it ever been accumulating vast amounts of wealth for
one’s self. That was never God’s plan—He always
made provisions for everyone—including “the poor, the widow, the fatherless,
and the stranger among you”. God’s command to provide for the disenfranchised
was always without strings, “bootstraps” and expectations but simply a command
to give because He has blessed you with
the ability to give.
God never promised any of us that we could
have whatever we desire, unconditionally. The problem that we are confronting
today is a lack of scriptural context.
The other problem that we have is a lack of understanding of the origins of the
current doctrine of the “Name It, Claim It Movement”. For those who believe its
foundations are scriptural, they are not; its foundations are medieval, and
skillfully woven by satan who watched and waited for opportunities to trap the
apple of God’s eye—and we fell (and continue to fall) for his tactics hook,
line and sinker, because they appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eye—and the pride of life. It works, and it is easy. It works well on people,
who have come through the ravages of slavery, Reconstruction, the Depression, and
more recently a sagging economy, and a fiscal crisis. With a twinkle in our
eyes, we grasp eagerly at the magic of an incantation that will get us whatever we want.
Some years ago, I read two Christian novels
by author Frank Peretti, Piercing the
Darkness and This Present Darkness.
When I read them, I thought that they were powerful; but I also had the
mistaken idea that it could never happen in the African American church—that
somehow, we would see through that trick and not be so gullible. I was dead
wrong. We have actually been the most
susceptible to the trick for the above reasons. In America, because African
Americans have (for the most part) been the race who has lagged behind
economically for centuries, we were most at risk for the deception. We were the
ones who had the greatest desire to acquire more, simply because we never had
it—our insight into the “good life” was limited to the images on television
until the 1960’s, in general. And, it was right around that time, that the Word
of Faith Movement began to explode on the scene in America—it had been there,
but into the early 70’s it became more prominent. And, it appealed to us, with
promises of health, wealth and prosperity. Still, the deadly plan was conceived
long before that time, and here is a timetable to depict that:
Emanuel
Swedenborg: “Grandfather of New Thought”
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1688-1772
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Belief
in God as a mystical force, the human mind has the capacity to control the
physical world, works-based salvation scheme—ideas that later became core
doctrines of New Thought
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Scientist
and inventor. Born in Sweden; relocated to Holland in 1770 after his
doctrines were condemned by the Royal Council. Later he emigrated to England.
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Phineas
Quimby: “Father of New Thought”
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1802-1866
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Theory
that the mind possesses the ability to create and influence. “If I believe I am sick, I am sick, for my
feelings are my sickness, and my sickness is my belief, and my belief is my
mind. Therefore, all disease is in the mind or belief.”
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Clockmaker.
Born in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Moved to Belfast, Maine and had an office in
Portland where he practiced his healing arts.
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Warren
Felt Evans
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1817-1889
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Student &
patient of Quimby. Prolific writer of New Thought material. He wrote: Mental Cure, Mental Medicine and Soul
and Body . He was known as "the recording angel of
metaphysics".
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Born in
Rockingham, Vermont. Writer and founder of a mind-cure sanitarium in
Salisbury, Massachusetts
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Ralph
Waldo Trine: “Evangelist of New Thought”
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1866-1958
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Rejects
the uniqueness of Scripture by claiming that Buddha’s writings were duly
inspired. Trine advocated theological
pluralism, (Jesus Christ is not the only way to salvation, and every
religion is the same; further all organized religions possess the truth and
one must find unity in the “Infinite”). Trine focuses on the moral teachings
of Jesus Christ rather on the work and person of Jesus Christ and the
cross—he rejects the cross and the Gospel as archaic and irrelevant. For Trine, peace with God
and higher knowledge are obtained by tapping in to universal laws and
becoming conscious of of man’s oneness with the Father.
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Born
in Northern Illinois, Trine became involved with metaphysics after marrying
and relocating to New York. He wrote more than a dozen books and became a
leader and visionary in the New Thought Movement, eventually settling in
Claremont, California with his wife, Grace, a poet.
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Mary
Baker Eddy
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1821-1910
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Founded the First Church of Christ
(or Christian Science) and published the Christian Science Monitor. Eddy
started the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, in Boston. She was also a
Quimby patient and shared his view that disease is rooted in a mental cause,
but differed theistically.
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Born in Bow, New
Hampshire. Taught over 800 students in Boston her theory that God never meant
for humans to employ medicine, medical intervention or hygiene. Her case
being that Jesus never used them.
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Charles
Emerson
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1837-1908
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Founded
Emerson College after attending Boston University’s School of Oratory where
New Thought flourished and many of the
leading proponents both attended and taught. There he studied Delsarte and
Swedenborg. Emerson was a minister in the Unitarian church.
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Born
in Vermont, and raised as a Congregationalist, he began preaching in the
Congregationalist church at 19, then later in the Unitarian church at Chelsea
Massachusetts while attending the Boston School of Oratory and studying under
his mentor, Lewis B. Monroe.
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Charles
Fillmore
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1854-1948
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In 1889, he started the publication, Modern Thought. Later he founded Unity
Church and organization with his wife, Myrtle and they became the first
ministers in the metaphysical church. Fillmore believed himself to be the
reincarnation of Paul of Tarsus. He authored several books, including: Atom-Smashing
Power of Mind, The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, Prosperity, and The Twelve Powers of Man.
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Born in St.
Cloud, Minnesota, and having very little formal education, Fillmore was
intrigued by mysticism at an early age and read many books on spiritualism,
Eastern religions, and metaphysics. Later, he moved his family to Kansas
City, Missouri, and he and his wife New Thought classes taught by Dr. E.B.
Weeks.
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Wallace
D. Wattles
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1860-1911
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“Whatever
may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to
live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich”. Wattles wrote The Science of Getting Rich after
studying various New Thought writers and formulating his “monistic theory of
the cosmos”. Wattles practiced and taught creative
visualization in which one uses
his or her imagination to visualize specific behaviors or events (desired)
occurring in one's life.
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Born
in Illinois, and lived in Indiana and Tennessee, in addition to authoring two
books Wattles made an attempt at political office running on a Socialist
Party ticket, in Indiana.
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E.
W. Kenyon: “The Father of the Prosperity Gospel”
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1867- 1948
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Kenyon was an evangelist, pastor and
founder of Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer Massachusetts. Kenyon is the
link between New Thought and today’s Word of Faith Movement. Kenyon combined
New Thought philosophy with what was then contemporary theology and the
Prosperity Movement was birthed. Although Kenyon’s writings reveal a level of
critique against new Thought philosophy, they also demonstrate that,
consciously or not, he incorporated New Thought teachings into his
theological system. This is evidenced by Kenyon’s advocacy of positive
confession theology, his deficient view of the atonement, and his elevation
of human beings as well as his explicit teachings on health and wealth”. D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel: A
Historical and Biblical Analysis of the Modern Faith Movement (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson, 1988, p. 45).
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Born in Hadley,
New York, Kenyon attended the Boston School of Oratory where New Thought was
predominate.
“What I confess,
I possess”.
John Kennington,
who knew Kenyon stated that he recognized the strong similarities between New
Thought (New Age) teaching and Kenyon’s teaching, and also stated that Kenyon
admitted his leaning toward the philosophy. (McConnell, A Different Gospel,
p. 25).
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Norman
Vincent Peale
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1898-1993
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The Power of Positive Thinking; Guide
to Confident Living were among the books written by Dr. Peale. Peale had
no problem admitting his New Thought influence. His books were widely read by mainstream
Christians. Chapters such as: Believe in Yourself, Expect the Best and
Get It, Inflow of New Thoughts Can Make You, How to Draw Upon that Higher
Power, How to Achieve a Calm Center of Your Life, How to Think Your Way to
Success, and Change Your Thoughts
and You Change Everything reveal
his New Thought philosophy on life.
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Born
in Bowersville, Ohio, Peale was the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New
York City, a Dutch Reformed Church
(Calvinistic).
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Kennneth
Hagin: “Evangelist of the Prosperity Gospel”
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1917-2003
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Hagin mixed Kenyon’s
teachings with Scripture to make his revelations acceptable to the church; the
danger lies in the authority assumed by leaders within the movement. Because
of their special and personal revelations they become immune to criticism to
those who might be skeptical or have questions. In his book How to Write Your
Own Ticket with God, Hagin claims that Jesus’ appeared to him with the
message: “Say it. Do it. Receive it. Tell it.” He reported various incidents
of encounters with Jesus, as well as dying and seeing the horrors of hell, in
1933. He was so immersed in the teachings of E.W. Kenyon that he was accused
of plagiarizing his writings. Hagin believed that Jesus wasn’t unique in His
designation as God incarnate: stating, “Every man who has been born again is
an incarnation and Christianity is a miracle. The believer is as much an incarnation
as was Jesus of Nazareth”. |
Born in McKinney,
Texas; moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966. Evangelist, pastor.
Founded Rhema
Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Rhema Correspondence Bible School;
Word of Faith magazine; established the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center and Kenneth E. Hagin Ministries.
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By the standards of the current Prosperity Movement, those listed among the most faithful in the 11th chapter of Hebrews would be faithless--with so much suffering. Peter's very elect saints by today's standards, would be condemned as unbelieving, being oppressed, enslaved, and often tortured, too. How different is today's gospel, in contrast!
It isn't a new "revelation"--just post-biblical (and anti-biblical), nor is it godly.
1 John 2 King James Version (KJV)
1 My
little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
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