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Joyce Meyer -Are
you paying
attention- Since I have been asked about Joyce Meyer so often I find it necessary to comment on her teaching. She is known as being one of the top women speakers, one who tells it like it is with a frank but challenging way of putting things. She is an enigma in that she has some very good practical information from experience and the Scripture. So there are good portions in her teaching and there are some bad interpretations and experiences from her teachings that are to be avoided. Meyer may not be completely engulfed in word faith teaching but she is yoked with word faith teachers (in fellowship with Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland Copeland’s magazine, The Believer’s Voice of Victory, has carried some of her articles) and her writings and teachings have certainly been influenced by their theology. In her broadcast the first week of January 2005 she interviewed a man giving testimony to Kenneth Hagin who is known for spreading the word/faith heresy to his disciples. Joyce has been honest about her struggle with health and about her fight with breast cancer and getting surgery. Over the years since her popularity has grown her appearance has also changed through cosmetic surgery. She disdains any criticism of her wearing jewelry, having a large and expensive wardrobe and even her teaching men. The rationale is that money spent on her appearance, changing her hair color, etc. is acceptable for her being in the public and should not to be confused with vanity. At 60 years of age she has become a very popular speaker. She certainly is one of the best-known and best-paid TV preachers (especially for women). Her ministry revenues have steadily increased from 1998 where they took in 40 million, to 1999 they brought in 55 million, to 2000 70 million, to 2001 near 80 million, to 2002 near 90 million. Today her Life in the Word organization estimates to take in $95 million this year. The ministry says it spends about 10 percent - $880,000 a month - on charitable works around the globe. Her ministry is now a multimillion-dollar organization with 500 employees with offices in Europe and South Africa. "The ministry's headquarters, built a year and a half ago by Wichita-based R. Messner Construction Co. Inc. for $19 million." Meyer's ministry reaches out to the world Charisma article a number of years ago pointed out she is on 600 radio and television stations -selling nearly three million tapes and close to a million books last year (Charisma). 4 million cassettes are produced annually and at the cost of $6 each, according to a Joyce Meyer Ministries pamphlet, which accounts for $24 million in revenues, her Web site bring an average $8 million a month to her ministry. (Reference-Joyce Meyer's message: Give to me and God gives to you By Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Meyer's house, the largest of the five, is a 10,000-square-foot Cape Cod style estate home with a guest house and a garage that can be independently heated and cooled and can hold up to eight cars. The three-acre property has a large fountain, a gazebo, a private putting green, a pool and a poolhouse where the ministry recently added a $10,000 bathroom." ( Article on Joyce Meyer, 11/15/2003, St. Louis Post Dispatch“I don't want to spend my whole life talking about the promised land without ever getting there. I want to live in it ”(Joyce Meyer, “What Does Your Future Hold” May 21, 2004). This means accumulating wealth and living the good life now according to her own message and theology. So we can see Meyer is living her word/faith prosperity teaching though she may not blatantly teach it. If one listens carefully they will hear sprinkles of it and sometimes get a whole meal of it.
At times she can come off
with a sense of humor and is witty and clever, but other times haughty and even snippy with sharing her life
experiences. One needs their discernment turned on when listening to her teaching, lest
they take in the unhealthy concepts she is delivering. And these are certainly
incorporated in her teaching if one listens carefully. “Now
whether you like it or not, whether you want to admit it or not, whether you
want to operate on it or not, you are made the righteousness of God in Jesus
Christ. Most people who go to One does not have to be part of the
religious world to believe this, the Bible actually says this and it certainly is not from
the pit of hell. The Bibles definition of sin is anything falling short of perfection.
One of the words for sin is Harmatia -- missing the mark or target and hitting
another is the most common explanation. To keep the law perfect means to have a bullseye
every time. No one can do this.
“Everything
that does not come from faith is sin”
(Rom. 14:23).
Knowing good and not doing it is
sin (James 4:17). Not doing what should be
done is sin. To sin means one is a sinner.
Of course one can be righteous and be a sinner at the same time, because it
is not our righteousness but Christ's. John makes it clear (I Jn. 1:8-10) “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have
not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
John refutes the error that we have no sin nature, by using the word sin in the singular.
It is not just the committal of sin but the principle of sin, he is referring to sin of
every description. To those who profess to have become perfectly sanctified, and to live
without any sin, John says If we say that we
have no sin, we live in self deception, “and the truth is not in us.” We are called righteous and even saints as Peter points out 1 Peter
4:18: “Now If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner
appear?” Even though we are covered with Christ’s righteousness our sin remains, we
have a sin nature that has not been removed. No saint ever claimed this pure spiritual
condition. Not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Not Job, Moses, David, Peter, John, or
Paul. None were
absolutely perfect, they were all guilty of acts of sin?
They never affirmed themselves as not being a sinner. The Bible does not teach that ALL
Christians are perfect or no longer sinners. Paul said he was the chief of sinners and continued to do what he
did not want to at times. “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in
me” (Rom. 7:17) If what Meyer says is true then this Scripture is meaningless. I Jn.
5:16: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he
will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” To
sin makes one a sinner. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us” James explains in Jms.4:17: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James explains “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren” (Jm.1:14-16). Word
Faith Teaching Meyer, in her book, writes, “Words are containers for power” (The
Name, The Word, The Blood, p. 37). This is typical Copeland/ Hagin faith talk. She has
promoted this as well on her TV broadcast. “Prov.18:21 this could be a life
hanging scripture “death and life are in the power of the tongue. And they who
indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it for death or life.” The ad following for her
audio series “Is your mouth saved.” The advertise says we all have the ability to
speak life or death to not only other people but to ourselves as well. “Will help you to
take inventory of what you’ve been saying and begin speaking faith filled words that
will bring to pass God's good plan for your life.” (May 14, 2000 LeSea broadcasting) “But
you cannot throw out positive confession, and you cannot throw out all the faith
teachers, and you cannot throw out positive thinking. And you cannot get
rid of those kinds of things because they're in the Bible from one end of it to
the other.” Meyer
was at the Mega Fest 2004 with: Creflo Dollar, Paula White, Juanita
Bynum, Bishop Eddie Long, and Bishop T. D. Jakes. She makes her position clear by saying “words are containers for power they carry creative or destructive
power positive or negative power so we need to be speaking right
things over our lives and about our futures if we expect to have good things happen
because what you say then is what you probably
end up having tomorrow. We need to warfare with words. I believe that praise and worship
is warfare. We talked about this last night, how when we are praising and worshipping God
that there's actually a, an odor that comes off of us that is offensive to the enemy. And I
don’t know if you ever had the opportunity to smell a demon possessed person but I have,
and I tell you it is a stench; and I was saying about that this morning and I thought you
know people that are demon possessed have an offensive odor to me and I’m glad because I
am holy ghost possessed that I’ve got an offensive odor to the devil.” (broadcasted on
the Bible Answerman Jan.2003) Despite the concept of words being in control, there have been many who have overcome some very unhealthy lives whether they be words spoken about them or where they came from. There is nothing in scripture that they have an offensive odor except if they have not taken a bath, and those who are not demon possessed would smell the same way without a bath as well. And yes, I have had the opportunity to smell and converse with demonized people and one cannot immediately tell by smell. Her
appeal to money to be given to her ministry is from the prosperity teaching
that originated with Oral Roberts. “Sowing
and reaping is a spiritual law...Sow generously and you will reap generously.” “We
need to claim as much of that inheritance as we possibly can...One of the things
you can do right now is speak positive things about your future right now.” She says “I've got to keep the anointing on my life. I can't keep
it on my life unless I'm a giver” (May 14, 2000) (insinuating money and other things).
Clearly this is a word faith view. Jesus said he would never leave nor forsake us, poor or
rich, giving or not. Speaking about trials she apologizes and states “that’s not a negative confession, I’m not cursing your life” (Life in the Word Mar.6 2003 Lesea Broadcasting)” This shows her word faith influence of not speaking negatively. She also has some interesting views on warfare “Several years ago I
found myself completely worn out from trying to fight the devil. I learned many 'methods'
of spiritual warfare; however, they did not seem to be working ... I had fallen into the
trap that many Christians fall into. I had the right teaching, but the wrong order ... I
was feverishly applying methods I had learned - like fasting and prayer ... rebuking and
resisting evil spirits ... empty formulas which wear us out and produce no results except
maybe a sore throat” (The Word, The Name, The Blood, pp. 28, 32, 33 reference PFO
article January-March 1996). “Our warfare is a supernatural warfare you don’t fight the devil
the same way you would a natural war. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal they’re
not natural weapons but their mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. One
of the reasons why I tell you talk back to the devil is because the word of God is
supernatural weapon it is a spiritual weapon…” Do we fight the devil or do we stand in Christ and he is to flee? “Now spirits don't have bodies, so we can't see them. Okay?
There probably is, I believe there is, and I certainly hope there is several
angels up here this morning that are preaching with me. I believe that right
before I speak some anointed statement to you, that one of them bends over and
says in my ear what I'm supposed to say to you.” This is more than concerning and not comforting to hear that Joyce has spirits (angels) speak to her. When she is supposed to be hearing from the Holy Spirit who leads a teacher into the word She also practices “Pain is a spirit. When it gets on your body, tell it to
leave” ( Joyce Meyer, From the Cross to the Throne, audio tape, sermon recorded
at Life Christian Center in Saint Louis, Mo -referenced from Personal
Freedom Outreach). Jesus made it clear that not all sickness or pain are from unclean spirits, some were - some were not. On the subject of the blood of Jesus she does say some things that
are correct, but she also uses the blood in an unbiblical manner. She writes, “One of
the ways we can honor the blood is by singing about it, talking about it, studying about
it and meditating on it” (p. 100). Where does the Bible teach or even hint as such a
thing, we don’t honor the blood apart from the person we honor, the person it
flowed from. While it is good to study what the blood can do and the Old Testament types,
she goes beyond anything the Scripture states. For example This is wrong use of the blood of Christ. Jesus is our high priest who already applied the blood to our lives when we believe in faith on his Atonement that took place nearly 2,000 years ago. (Eph.1:7; Col. 1:14) We cannot apply the blood over anything. We do not handle the blood, our high priest Jesus does. It is applied to those who are recipients of salvation (Heb.10:19-22). His blood was applied only to those who have faith in the atonement of Christ for their SIN, not anything a. It has to do with our forgiveness and cleansing of sin and a guilty conscience, not to fight demons. (for more on pleading the blood) We don't see any Christian plead the blood against demons in the Scripture. This is strictly a modern Charismatic tradition that was not taught by those who gave the teachings to the church. The Word/ Faith Jesus “And in Luke 23:43, Jesus said unto him, ‘I say unto you today you shall be in paradise with me.’ There’s no punctuation in the original translations of the Bible. We have punctuated it and in this particular Scripture it was punctuated wrong. They put in there: ‘I say unto you comma today you shall be in paradise with me’ making it appear that the minute Jesus died on the cross He went straight to paradise. No, no, no. He did not. The way it should read is: ‘I say unto you today comma. I’m telling you today. Today I’m telling you that you are going to be in paradise with me.’ But He didn’t say, ‘You’re going to be there today.’ He said, ‘I’m telling you this today.’” (Joyce Meyer, From the Cross to the Throne)This is the same wrong argument you get from a Jehovah’s Witness, except she is trying to prove that Jesus went to hell, not paradise (the good side in Hades). “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ And He meant the Old
Covenant. The job He had to do was just getting started. He really did the job
the three days and nights that He was in hell. That’s where the job was done”
“He was pronounced guilty on the cross but He paid the price in hell.” (From the
Cross to the Throne Joyce
Meyer, audio tape) In her book The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make - August,
1991 edition First Printing “Jesus paid on the
cross and in hell.” “Jesus took your place in hell.” “Jesus went to hell for
you.” While the Bible teaches Jesus descended into Hades (not
hell) he
did not pay a price there, he descended victoriously. She goes on to say
this emphatic statement “There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe
this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart
that Jesus took your place in hell”
(Joyce
Meyers, the Most important decision You will ever make 1991). Either Jesus' work was finished on the cross or he has lied and
should have correctly stated “it is continued” and said after he raised it is
finished. If Jesus finished his work of salvation in
hell and not on the cross then we have a different gospel presented. When we take
communion it is pointing to the work of our salvation paid at the cross. Personal Freedom
Outreach reported that, “A pastor at whose church Meyer was to speak told her
about serious concerns he had about her booklet. As a result, she has revised parts of
it.” But the revisions did not affect this teaching of the Born Again Jesus. In the the second printing of the book she deleted the
following words: “...the Father filled His spirit again. For three days He was alone paying for our sins as “only a man.” The price had to be paid by someone just like us.” (p. 38,) “He went to hell to pay the debt you owed.” (p. 41) Her view has been held for some years and is not new “Jesus died as our substitute. He who knew no sin was made to be sin. He took upon himself our sin nature. And he died- he was separated and cut off from God. He went down into the prison house of suffering in our place. He was there for three days and nights” (Made Alive, The word of faith Apr. 15, 1982) To make matters worse she strangely echoes Kenneth Copeland's view “…All the hosts of hell was [sic] upon Him. Upon Him. They got on Him. They got Him down in the floor and got on Him. And they were laughing and mocking.” “Sunday morning, here comes the Son. Sunday morning, God gets Himself together. Ho, hoooo. Justice has been met, somehow the thing's been taken care of. And ol' God gets His voice together and He hollers out three words and they go roaring through the universe and entering the gates of hell. He said, 'It is enough! It is enough!” (audio tape, From the Cross to the Throne, sermon recorded at Life Christian Center in Saint Louis, Mo.] reference1999 - Personal Freedom Outreach). Anyone who removes our salvation by the way of the cross is teaching another gospel. Doesn’t matter how much wisdom they appear to show.
If Meyer would remove herself from the faith movement she may have a healthier and more correct teaching on the core doctrines.
“It amazes me, and not only does it amaze me, it aggravates me. These people who think they've got a ministry of exposing what's wrong with everybody else...Why is it that people think that it's their call to go around and find out what's wrong with everybody else and print it? Do you know when people were try to stop Jesus, finally some very wise man said, 'Why don't you just leave us alone? If it's of God, you're not gonna stop it. And if it's not God, it won't last too long anyway.' Hallelujah! I mean, that's just the way I feel about it” (Like a Mighty Wind, Joyce Meyer). Let me answer her statement by saying that some people do ask questions and we have every right to examine ones teachings that are spoken publicly to see if they are right or wrong. Its not that ministries are looking for what is wrong with everybody else but are trying to watch for the brethren who are babes in Christ and those who are naive and don't know any better, especially in this time of deception. Let me put this another way, what is with these teachers that think they can sat ANYTHING they want publicly and not allow anyone to examine whether it is correct or not. If she spoke what is right (such as on the atonement and word faith teachings) there would be nothing she needs to be concerned about. However, her using Gamaliel's argument shows how non-biblical her source for validation is. Gamaliel did not maker up his own mind on following Jesus as the Messiah. Gamaliel was not a wise man, he was not saved nor was this Godly wisdom, for God tells us to test all things not let them be. Joyce should know this. But maybe she doesn't want to know this because of what she already believes. pt.2 Joyce Meyer and her prosperity message
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