A friend asked me what TV preacher I was referring to in my Profile section and that credit goes to Mr. Mike Murdock. He's frequently on Daystar during the telethon periods and is famous for chanting into a sincere-camera-close up, "go to the phone, go to the phone," over and over while he's praying. He has a tendency to brag about the fact people give him money, expensive cars and gifts of all sorts. At the time in 2002 he had just purchased his own personal plane and felt the need to justify why he needed that so badly.
He'll come up with a random number like 58 and tell you that God told him this was perfect dollar amount to sow a seed with to get a double portion. At the time being a fledging Christian this sounded good to me and I pledged to pay $58 for so many months. In a matter of months I realized how silly this was from reading the Bible for the first time and attending a Bible-based church. But I finished out my pledge period figuring I had prayed to God I would give this money, and it's on Daystar's head what they do with it.
At the time I came to Christ I was also going through a period of wanting to get rich. I was reading a lot of the get rich type business books. I had my own company which was driving me nuts and dreamed of making big money to get away from the woes of the world so it's understandable why I would not have a problem with Mr. Murdock's method of prosperity teaching (name and claim it). Fortunately for me, I kept digging to find people who preached the true gospel reflected in the Bible. I have heard stories of many people who don't get that far, gave away a lot of their money and become bitterly disillusioned enough to join the group of folks that believes that all of Christianity is run by frauds and believers are easily mislead sheep.
I can't help but think of Matthew 7:22-23 when I come across teachers like Mike and the infamous Benny Hinn (both live in north Texas BTW). I would hate to stand before God knowing that I took money from people in the name of Jesus so as to advance a life of luxury for myself. But I guess only they know if they are being good stewards of the treasures God has given them. To a certain extent we will all be subject how we spent our wealth on that last great day. I know I've been guilty of wasting money on silly things that could have helped feed a starving child somewhere in the world or helped someone hear the gospel.
Matthew 7:22
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
A confession: I love Internet search engines because it makes me appear like I can recite Bible verses from memory. In reality I can remember part of a verse and then search on that phrase to find it the rest of it and it's book and numbering.
Mike Murdock in action:
What some people say about Mike Murdock:
