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 by Brett Bigg PART 2: Copeland’s ideas on FAITH as a FORCE, the FALL, and FLYING for FORTY million dollars “Faith is not a product of reason … Believers are not to be led by logic. We are not to be led by logic. We are not even to be led by good sense.” ( The Force of Faith, KCP, 1993, P10) TO believe such statements is to deny the very cognitive reasoning skills and analytical abilities inherent in man. The skills God gave us. And it is by this type of Copelandism (sayings, teachings and clichés of Kenneth Copeland, his “ministry” and fellow Word-Faith “ministers”) that Kenneth Copeland fools people into believing his teachings. Let us ask this question: “If we are not to be led by logic, reasoning, or even good sense, then why would a teacher of such a doctrine publish a book — which requires that it be read, thought upon, considered and reasoned — in order for this teaching to be believed and followed?”
Concerning his time at college, Copeland is reported to have said that he “learned nothing during the six months he was at ORU” {Charles Farah, Jr. “A Critical Analysis: The ‘Roots and Fruits’ of Faith- Formula Theology,” PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Volume 3 (Spring 1981), p3-21}. And concerning the messages he preached when he started his ministry, Copeland has said that he preached Hagin’s messages/sermons. So Kenneth Copeland did not get his message from the Bible, but from man; and it is in, and on, this foundation (or lack thereof) that the Kenneth Copeland Ministries “empire” is built. The MinistryConcerning the purpose and goal of KCM, Copeland says:“Now the purpose and the goal of this ministry, this is THE purpose and the goal of this ministry, I want you to turn off your religious thinking a minute. First thing somebody says ‘what’ is the purpose and goal of this ministry’ … ‘ well the purpose and goal of this ministry to get souls saved’…, well that’s true yes, that is the purpose of the body of Christ, that’s the purpose of every believer. But there are different offices of ministry, there are different callings, there are different purposes inside that calling, and the purpose and the calling of this ministry as of this day is to bring the body of Christ to a working, believing, operating, functioning knowledge of the laws that govern abundance in the kingdom of God. When God says I’ll meet your needs according to My riches in glory, I want to know what those are, OK? And that’s where we are, is to share that with the body of Christ. To know what to do how to function, in order to prosper in the earth, to be in line with the earth, in order to win the world and bring the body of Christ to a place where Jesus can come.” The KCM website (“About KCM” WebPage) states: “At Kenneth Copeland Ministries, we take God’s Word as final authority. That’s why for more than 33 years, ever since the Lord told Kenneth Copeland to preach the uncompromised Word of God on every available voice, proclaiming the truth of God’s Word and His unconditional love has been the focus and mission of Kenneth Copeland Ministries.” “… we take God’s Word as final authority. … the Lord told Kenneth Copeland to preach the uncompromised Word of God …”. If this is true then an examination of the doctrine of Kenneth Copeland and his ministry should prove that it is based on Truth - the truth found in God’s Word. Let us now examine these teachings; let us use our brains, use our logic, use our reasoning, and use our good sense (let alone common sense). As Paul says (concerning overseers - yet which can equally be applied to us), “. . . holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” —Titus 1:9
The Fall of ManThe doctrines (teachings) of Kenneth Copeland and Word-Faith are all derived from the same root fundamental misunderstanding of God, man, Satan and the fall in the Garden by Adam and Eve. Word- Faith “Creation/Fall” doctrine is:
In preaching this doctrine, Copeland says: “God’s reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself. I mean a reproduction of Himself, and in the Garden of Eden He did just that. He was not a little like God. He was not almost like God. He was not subordinate to God even. Adam is as much like God as you could get, just the same as Jesus. Adam, in the Garden of Eden, was God manifested in the flesh.” (“ Following the Faith of Abraham I,” side 1) “He [Adam] was not subordinate to God ... [but] was walking as a god with the authority of a god. ... What he said went. What he did, counted. [And when he] bowed his knee to Satan and put Satan up above him, then there wasn’t anything God could do about it, because a god had placed [Satan] there.” ( “The Force of Love,” tape #02-0028) “God had no avenue of lasting faith or moving in the earth. He had to have covenant with somebody.... He had to be invited in, in other words, or He couldn’t come.” ( “God’s Covenant with Man II”, 1985, tape #01-4404, side 1) “the reason that He’s making covenant is to get into the earth.” ( “God’s Covenant with Man II”, 1985, tape #01-4404, side 1) Please note that in Genesis we see God giving the instructions, not Adam. If “he was not subordinate to God … [but] was walking as a god with the authority of a god” — then Adam and Eve’s decision to “eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was NOT sin. If we consider the above statements from a simplistic perspective (i.e. use logic and reason out) we can see the following problems with this doctrine: 1. If Satan was in charge, why didn’t he tell God to, “go take a hike” when he came to walk in the Garden? 2. If Satan was in charge (had the authority) by what right did God curse the Serpent? 3. If Satan owned the World:
And the list goes on! If God lost the earth then did God lie when he said, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.” —Psalm 50:10-12 Indoctrinated Word-Faith and Copeland disciples would cite the tempting of Jesus in the wilderness as support of the “lost earth” doctrine. However if we view the relevant verses of Scripture we will find the truth. “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” — Matthew 4:8-9 “And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” — Luke 4:5-7 Notice that the devil did NOT show Jesus the “world”, he showed Jesus all the “kingdoms of the world”. It was not the world that Satan had, but the Kingdoms — the people of the World. Satan held man captive. Satan is the “god of this world” insomuch that People choose to ignore God and listen to the devil. Christ came to free us from the captivity of sin and from the devil and his devices. “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” — Colossians 2:6-8 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” — 2 Timothy 2:24-26 Statement of FaithIf you visit the Kenneth Copeland Ministries website, you can view their Statement of Faith, which states:• We believe in one God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Creator of all things. • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, was buried, was resurrected, ascended into heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father and is true God and true man. • We believe the Bible in its entirety to be the inspired Word of God and the infallible rule of faith and conduct. • We believe in the resurrection of the dead, the eternal happiness of the saved, and the eternal punishment of the lost. • We believe in personal salvation of believers through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. • We believe in sanctification through the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit, and we believe in personal holiness, purity of heart and life. • We believe in divine healing, through faith in the Name of Jesus Christ, and that healing is included in the Redemption. • We believe in water baptism, in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as distinct from the New Birth, in speaking with tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance (Acts 2:4), in the gifts of the Spirit, and the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit. We believe that all of these are available to believers. • We believe in the Christian’s hopethe soon-coming, personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Kenneth Copeland advertises his ministry as being Christian, even orthodox or evangelical by their Statement of Faith. What is not advertised here is the meaning of some of the words used and statements made in his Statement of Faith. What does Copeland mean by: • We believe in personal salvation of believers through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. • We believe in divine healing, through faith in the Name of Jesus Christ, and that healing is included in the Redemption .
the redemption of manIf you look at the Cross, what do you see? From the arrest at the Garden of Gethsemane to the resurrection of Christ, what do you understand to have happened? What does Copeland believe happened?Below you will find some of the many expositions by Copeland on what transpired — from Jesus’ arrest to His resurrection; and yes there are many, and I must repeat many lest anyone say that Copeland is anything but consistent in his heresies and blasphemies. “He [Jesus] allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell as if He were the most wicked sinner who ever lived ... Every demon in hell came down on Him to annihilate Him … Every demon in hell tortured Him beyond anything that anybody has ever conceived. For three days He suffered everything there is to suffer. Some people don’t want to believe that. They want to believe that after His death, Jesus just stayed in the upper region of Sheol that the Bible calls paradise - where the saints waited for redemption. But they’re mistaken! If He had simply stayed there, there would have been no price for sin. What then would have been the use of shedding His precious blood? ... In a thunder of spiritual force, the voice of God spoke to the death-whipped, broken, punished spirit of Jesus ... That Word of the living God went down into that pit of destruction and charged the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! Suddenly His twisted, deathracked spirit began to fill out and come back to life. He began to look like something the devil had never seen before ... He [Jesus] was literally being reborn before the devil’s very eyes. He began to flex His spiritual muscles. Jesus was born again—the firstborn from the dead the Word calls Him—and He whipped the devil in his own backyard. He took everything he had away from him. He took his keys and his authority away from him ... Jesus Christ dragged Satan up and down the halls of hell ... Jesus ... was raised up a born-again man ... The day I realized that a born-again man had defeated Satan, hell, and death, I got so excited ...!” ( “The Price of it All,” Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine [BVOV], Sept 1991) “He [Jesus] is suffering all that there is to suffer. There is no suffering left apart from Him. His emaciated, poured out, little, wormy spirit is down in the bottom of that thing [hell]. And the Devil thinks he’s got Him destroyed.” ( “Believer’s Voice of Victory” program, 21 April 1991. This message was originally delivered at the Full Gospel Motorcycle Rally Association 1990 Rally at Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas.) “It wasn’t the physical death on the cross that paid the price for sin, anybody could do that. Every prophet that walked the face of the earth under the Abrahamic covenant could have paid the price if it were a physical death only.” ( “What Happened From the Cross to the Throne?” 1990, tape #02- 0017, side 2) “The righteousness of God was made to be sin. He accepted the sin nature of Satan in His own spirit. And at that moment that He did so He cried, `My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?’ You don’t know what happened at the cross. Why do you think Moses, upon instruction of God, raised the serpent upon that pole instead of a lamb? That used to bug me. I said, `Why in the world would you want to put a snake up there - the sign of Satan? Why didn’t you put a lamb on that pole?’ And the Lord said, `Because it was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross.’ He (Jesus) said, `I accepted in my own spirit, spiritual death; and the light was turned off.” ( “What Happened From the Cross to the Throne?” 1990, tape #02-0017, side 2) “Satan didn’t realize He [Jesus] is in there [hell] illegally. This man had not sinned. This man has not fallen out of the covenant of God, and He had the promise of God for deliverance. And Satan fell into the trap. He took Him into hell illegally. He carried Him in there [when] He did not sin.” ( “What Happened From the Cross to the Throne?” 1990, tape #02- 0017, side 2) “When He said ‘It is finished’ on that cross, He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. The plan of redemption had just begun, there were still three days and three nights to be gone through...[Jesus] accepted the sin nature of Satan in His own Spirit, and at the moment that He did so, He cried ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He [Jesus] was down in that pit and there he suffered the punishment for three horrible days and nights for Adam’s treason. There is a new birth takes place in the very depths of the earth, when the command of God says ‘That’s enough, loose him and let him go.” ( “What Happened From the Cross to the Throne?” 1990, tape #02- 0017, side 2) “When Jesus cried, ‘It is finished!’ He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne...Jesus’ death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption.” ( “Jesus - Our Lord of Glory”, Believers Voice of Victory (BVOV), April 1982) “The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, ‘Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don’t let your tradition trip you up.’ He said, ‘Think this way - a twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain.’ And I threw my Bible down...like that. I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him.’ He said, ‘You are the very image, the very copy of that one.’ I said, ‘Goodness, gracious sakes alive!’ And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, ‘Well now you don’t mean, you couldn’t dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, if you’d had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could have done the same thing, ‘cause you’re a reborn man too.” ( “Substitution and Identification”, tape #00-0202, side 2) “Let me tell you something folks. Anybody in here that’s ever been sexually abused, listen to me right now. Listen to me very carefully. The bible’s very careful about the way it says these things. But down there in that dungeon, Romans, ungodly men, ungodly men, put him (Jesus) to every kind of abuse that you can think of. There is no sin that Jesus didn’t bear. There is no thing, there is no such thing as a sexual abuse on somebody that Jesus doesn’t know first hand what it’s all about. He’s been where you are, I don’t care what you’ve been through, Jesus has been through it. And everything’s done to him that we couldn’t even speak of.” ( “The Resurrection Truth”, audiotape)
We must seriously consider where Copeland’s doctrine leads us. Did Christ redeem us, or did the devil, or both? If, as Copeland claims, that Jesus had to be tortured by the devil and his cohorts in order for the Plan of Redemption to be completed, then Satan is our Co-Redeemer with Christ. For had he not tortured Jesus enough then “the plan” would have failed. Funnily enough, Paul does NOT believe this - for if he did he would have preached it, and taught it; but he didn’t. Paul says (emphasis added): “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” — Galatians 6:12-15 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” — 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Notice that Paul qualifies the statements he makes about the Gospel by saying, “according to the Scriptures”. The Gospel according to Kenneth Copeland is anything but “according to the Scriptures”. You will NOT find Copeland’s Gospel anywhere in the Old Testament. And if Copeland’s Gospel is not Paul’s Gospel then we are left with NO CONCLUSION WHATSOVER but to agree with Paul in saying, concerning Copeland, “Let him be accursed”. If Kenneth Copeland’s “gospel” is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then what is he a minister of? Obviously, not the Gospel! If he believes and teaches a false gospel; then he is not in-Christ. And if he is not in-Christ then he does NOT have the Spirit of Christ. He claims the titles of “prophet” and “teacher” — and to some extent “apostle”. But if he isn’t sealed by the Holy Spirit, then he can’t have any gifts of the Spirit. If he prophesies then whose voice is he hearing? God’s? I think not! Teachings In-BetweenIt is because of the simple fact that Copeland does not know God, and is not known by God (in the sense of Galatians 4:9) that he teaches what he does.Devoid of any true knowledge of God, Copeland can do nothing else but preach his perversions. He holds distorted views of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, creation, man and Satan. Therefore any and all things that he subsequently preaches and teaches is based upon this foundation of refuse (rubbish, trash, dung). Copeland and Word-Faith adherents talk about being “led by the Spirit” as opposed to reason, logic or even theological studies. Jesse Duplantis, who has regularly accompanied Copeland on his campaigns and rallies, belittles theologians (i.e. a person who formally studies God and His Word) with sarcastic jibes about their “homiletical, hermeneutical, exegetical speech”. And though theologians may use such terms, which may seem foreign to persons without any formal Bible training; what they (Copeland and company) don’t say is that these terms can be applied, in varying degrees, to all who preach and/or teach. For example, “homiletics” is the art of preaching, “hermeneutics” means to interpret or to explain; and “exegetics” is the critical explanation or examination of Scripture with the intention of determining what the original intention of the author was. Anyone who has stood before a congregation and led Communion has practised homiletics and has probably utilised hermeneutics or exegesis or both. The mockery of these terms is not a mockery of the function of the terms — but is used to belittle, mock and discredit formal studies of the Word of God — and especially those that would show the disgraceful teachings of Copeland et al. With NO Holy Spirit to guide him, disdain for formal theology and studies; and with the heresies of Kenyon and Hagin as his foundation, is it any surprise to find Copeland teaching the following: Faith is a Force “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.” — Hebrews 11:1-2 (KJV) Kenneth Copeland Ministries publishes their own KJV Bible (Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition). The reason they use the KJV is that it is public domain material; i.e. there is no copyright owner and therefore it is free to reproduce. In utilising this version Copeland applies modern understanding to words, which were chosen for the interpretation of Greek and Latin manuscripts some several hundred years ago. Consequently, Copeland uses the word “substance” to justify his interpretation and application of Faith being a Spiritual Force. If we use a little logic, reason and common sense and look up the word “faith” in the Strong’s Concordance we find that the word translated was the Greek word “pistis” which means a conviction of truth, and is derived from the Greek word “peitho” which means to persuade, be persuaded or to believe. Also, if we look up the word “substance” we find that the Greek word “hupostasis” means “foundation, steadfastness, resolution, confidence and assurance”. Comparatively, if we look at a modern translation with a modern rendering of these words we read: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” — Hebrews 11:1-2 (Updated New American Standard) No “substance”, nothing “physical” or even “super spiritual”. God moves in response to our faith — not because I have attained some force (like in Star Wars, where Luke Skywalker is told to practise the use of his “[faith] force”); but because I believe, trust and truly rely on His Mercy, His Grace, His Power, His Ability and His Love — to help me.
You are a little god / The Deification of Man (and Kenneth Copeland)“Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God.”( “Now We Are In Christ Jesus”, BVOV, 1980) {Note this contradicts the KCM Statement of Faith} “You are not a spiritual schizophrenic — half God and half Satan - you are all God.” ( “Now We Are In Christ Jesus”, BVOV, 1980) You’re all God. You don’t have a God living in you; you are one! ... When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!” ( “The Force of Love,” Tape BBC-56). “I say this with all respect so that it don’t upset you too bad, but I say it anyway. When I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, ‘I Am,’ I just smile and say, ‘Yes, I Am, too!” (Kenneth Copeland, Believer’s Voice of Victory program, TBN July 9, 1987) This teaching is the same lie that the Serpent told Eve in the Garden! Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” — Genesis 3:1-6 Firstly, we must note that the Serpent’s tempting of Eve included the deceptive comment that if she ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil she would “be as gods”. Now if Adam and Eve were already in the God class, as Copeland teaches, then such a statement is redundant and ridiculous. Furthermore, the “to make one wise” in the original Hebrew includes the understanding and action to be able to make decisions on one’s own volition and will, and stresses the underlying concept of ‘prospering’ or ‘having success’. That Hebrew word is “sakal” and is defined by Strong’s as: “to be (caus. make or act) circumspect and hence intelligent:—consider, expert, instruct, prosper, (deal) prudent (-ly), (give) skill (-ful), have good success, teach, (have, make to) understand (-ing), wisdom, (be, behave self, consider, make) wise (-ly), guide wittingly.” Eve’s motivation here is the wisdom to be able to make a decision independent of God; a desire which does not originate in God. “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.” — 1 John 2:16 Notice Eve, in her pre-fallen state, doing exactly what John warns about:
“Then, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” — Genesis 3:6 Copeland offers the same “fruit” — “you’ll be like God”. FLYING FOR $40 Million:“His” and “Hers” – “PLANE-TRUTH” The October 2003 edition of the Believer’s Voice of Victory magazine [BVOV] includes the article “Become Part of the Elite CX Team”, in which Mac Gober (of Canaan Land Ministries) talks about his desire to assist KCM in getting, not one, but two, Cessna Citation X’s. The article includes some of the performance characteristics of these planes, namely, they are “the world’s fastest mid-size corporate jet”, “can reach 43,000 feet in a mere 30 minutes” and “can make the flight between Los Angeles and New York City in an impressive four hours and 10 minutes”. Subsequently, Gober is calling for 10,000 people who are “willing and able to give” to become members of the “Elite CX Team”.Gober says, “God has put something on my heart, I have a mandate from God to share it with you. Kenneth and Gloria Copeland need two Citation X’s … to take the Word of God to more places in less time.” The article also includes a supporting word from Copeland, “Gloria and I have prayed about it, and we are behind him [Mac Gober] 100 percent. We would never hinder a Partner from doing what God has called him to do, and we believe that Mac has heard from the Lord about raising up an Elite CX Team”. So what’s the catch, to become a member of this Elite CX Team? The Citation X aircraft cost US$20,000,000.00 (twenty million US dollars), so to be eligible for entry into this “elite” Team, you will need to “sow” or “give” $2,000.00; and that’s just for one aircraft. Anticipating your “faithfulness”, BVOV has included a response form insert for you to identify your desire to “be on the Elite CX Team,” and as such “I am enclosing $US2, 000 and believing for the hundredfold return.” The article concludes with a list of “benefits” which each “Elite CX Team Member” will “enjoy”:
This is nothing more than materialism gone mad: his and hers “ministerial” corporate jets. The difference between Paul (and other true missionaries) and Kenneth Copeland is that Copeland will never be able to say: Are they servants of Christ?— I speak as if insane— I more so; in far more labours, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labour and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.” — 2 Corinthians 11:23-31 How much more could be done with $20,000,000.00 dollars (U.S.) than buying non-essential aircraft; and non-essential they are. On the ‘elitecxteam.com’ website (specifically the “It’s all about souls” page), KCM says, “When God tells Kenneth to travel to South Africa and hold a three-day Victory Campaign, he won’t have to wait to make commercial travel arrangements. He can just climb aboard his Citation X and go! He will be able to hold more meetings each year and go more places—places he couldn’t go before. Each Citation X will be another tool in the hands of God’s people.” Considering that the itinerary of Copeland is planned months in advance the idea of having to “wait to make commercial travel arrangements” is outrageous. To encourage people to give into this egotistical and materialistic project, Copeland and Gober use the secular/humanistic characteristics of modern marketing: that is, appeal to people’s selfishness and pride. After all, “you could”: • Pridefully/Boastfully be “one of only 10,000 people”. • Pridefully/Boastfully be “an EXCLUSIVE member of this ELITE team” • Boastfully show off your “member apparel, mugs and bible cover” • Pridefully know YOU have a special internet site. If, as Copeland implies, things are so bad (and Copeland so right) that such speeds for transit were a necessity (as if satellite communications isn’t fast enough), then God could raise up more people to do the job; or alternatively God could (in His sovereignty) instantly transport them (Copeland et al) to where He wanted them. For instance, Philip the Evangelist (Acts chapter 8) did NOT market the believers at Jerusalem so that he could purchase the fastest available chariot - so that after he had witnessed to the Ethiopian, he could quickly get to Azotus (Acts 8:40) before travelling to Caesarea. God took him to where God wanted him. And likewise with Saul (Paul), he travelled by moving his legs and taking commercial transport such as boats.
As you pray about the call to be an Elite CX Team member, consider this passage of Scripture that will help explain in more detail what we’re called to do. “During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said,‘Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.’ So the three mighty men [or you could say the 10,000 Elite CX Team members] broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David.” — 2 Samuel 23:13-16 When I read this, it summed up the Elite CX Team in a nutshell—men and women willing to go the extra mile to help a man of God. If that’s you, be obedient and join me as a member of this special forces team. (As at 17 October 2003) http:// elitecxteam. org/scripture/) If we look at this incident in 2 Samuel we see that David desired to drink of the this water from the well near the gate. However David did NOT formally ask anyone to get him the water — these men acted without prompting. Secondly, Copeland’s paraphrasing above omits the second half to verse 16, which says, “Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD”. David did not partake of the efforts of the “three mighty men [or you could say “the 10,000 Elite CX Team members”]; whereas Copeland, with his prompting for “mighty men”, desires to partake and intends to partake. How much more an impact would there be if the money were to be used to buy Bibles for China, Vietnam and third-world countries; or sponsoring TRUE missionaries to reach the lost in these countries and the middle-east? Is there any wonder why the world thinks that tele-evangelists are in it ‘just for the money and the prestige’? The call for Elite CX Team members and the giving of money is also used to distract us from the obvious on-going costs associated with these aircraft. Though the aircraft themselves will be purchased outright, you have to consider the following costs, which KCM (and it’s partners) will have to “find” money for:
These are the very reasons why people, in general, don’t have their own aircraft — but take the airlines. Money will have to be taken from other ‘services’ to fund these. Finally, one could propose a reason for Copeland to own his own jet. To avoid being “caught” by future terrorist attempts on commercial airline, the Word-Faith positive confession (escapist) attitude (of it’s leaders) is not to pray against terrorism but to “believe” for their own aircraft. Doesn’t that sound rather hypocritical? You can contact Brett Brigg by email brett@bvov.net. Website (www.bvov.net). NEXT: PART 3 — KENNETH COPELAND: JOB’S FEAR, GOD’S FAILURE AND FAVOURING TORONTOISM [ TOP ] ... [ Part 1 ] ... [ Part 3 ] ... [ BACK ] Appeared in Issue 27 Volume 9.2 December 2003 |
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