Re: Best Scam ever...

I don't remember being taught that the sign gifts had ceased by anyone. I just knew, once I started paying attention to what was out there, somewhere in my twenties, that so many of the jokers on TV, for example, were phonies! The tongues I saw people speaking were fake! The Benny Hinns knocking whole crowds of people down and all the circus shows were fake! And I couldn't believe people actually fell for it all. I thought it was an intelligence problem until years later I felt convicted for thinking that, realizing that it had nothing to do with intelligence, but that the smartest of people could be blinded in this way.

Since I left the cult I was in over twenty years ago, I've been in churches where the focus was on preaching the gospel. Cessationism was never brought up that I can ever remember. No one talked against the sign gifts. So I had no bias either way that I learned from any pastor or anything. I just saw all the phoniness out there and compared it to what I saw the scriptures saying, and concluded it did not match, all on my own. I would have loved to have sat down with some of my pastors and discussed all of this and see their take on it, or at least hear their teachings on it in sermons just to see what they believed on the subject, but that just didn't happen. It's kind of like when so many pastors skip over Romans 9 and you don't really know what they believe about it because they just don't want to go there, the pastors I have sat under skipped over the sign gifts subject. Or to be fair to them, maybe they did teach on it, and I just don't remember it.

So accusing me of just following after some teacher to come to the conclusions I have, is the same as accusing someone of believing a certain way about Romans 9 and saying it's because they listened to some pastor, when they have never even heard anyone teach on it, and so they had to come up with their own conclusions based on their own study of the scriptures and praying for God to show them the truth.

And granted, even if I had heard someone preach on this subject, and then compared what they said to scripture to see if what they were teaching was true, that would be just fine too, right? But it just so happens, it didn't happen that way, not on this particular subject we are discussing.

Now I will say that after I had already come to my own conclusions about the sign gifts having ceased, I have since found pastors, and other people that agree with my position and are upfront about what they believe, and I have seen them point out things I missed in my own study.

But what confirms my belief about the sign gifts having ceased even more is when I see over and over someone fight so hard for the continuationist position all the while holding up people like Benny Hinn as men of God. If Benny Hinn and those like him are not wolves doing false signs and wonders, then there is no such thing as wolves doing false signs and wonders and the warnings in the scriptures about all that are there for no reason, which I know isn't true!

I agree, God is the sovereign healer! Amen! And I'd say that Justin and Joni were doing the same thing that millions of other people are doing right now when they chase after the "healers". They were desperately desiring healing and they believed these phonies were "healers" by the power of God like the rest of the people following them do. And I bet most of the continuationists were encouraging them to go as they are still doing, or at least in no way discouraging them. If everyone encouraged all these people to quit chasing after a man, and chase after God instead like you said, all the Benny Hinns would be out of business! What a great thing that would be! :)

I'm not really back Rainy. Just felt compelled to reply to your posts. I know you know how that goes! lol


Tweet