Can Christians Buy A Miracle Like So Many "Christian" Leaders Teach?

"But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." Acts 8:20-21

In the book of Acts, chapter eight, we have a very insightful incident that happened to Peter and John in Samaria. Peter and John were laying their hands on the Christian believers and they were receiving the Holy Spirit as a result.
There was a certain man, Simon, who had just become a believer, and after he had seen this gift of God that was given to the new believers he asked Peter and John if he could also have this gift of God by giving them money. Peter answered Simon, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God."
This has particular significance today because so many "Christian" television stations use the very tactic that Simon used to get people to give money during their telethons. These false teachers lure babes in Christ into believing that we could actually buy a miracle from God. They teach that we give to God expecting a blessing, miracle, healing, or a 100 fold return on our investment.
This of course is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, "And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." 2 Peter 2:2-3

I have seen with my own eyes TBN, Daystar, and LeSea all use this tactic. Their favorite false teachers that play the role of Simon are; John Avanzini, Steve Munsey, Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley, Paula White, Joyce Meyer, T. D. Jakes, Jentezen Franklin, Mark Chironna, Paul Crouch, etc., etc., ad naseum.

For the most part Christian leaders are not outraged at this fleecing and manipulation, rather, they continue to support and endorse these "Christian" stations and false teachers, all to the detriment and hurt of God's precious children. I pray that God will raise up men that truly care for the sheep more than they do for their own carnal influence.

I would like to thank God for men like John MacArthur, Hank Hanegraaff, Norman Geisler, Ron Rhodes, Jeff Spencer, and the others who speak out against this deception in the church, they pay a heavy price for caring for the sheep. If only more men would weep as Paul did over the coming wolves in the church (Acts 20:26-31).

Here are some outrageous examples of this blatant fleecing and deception:

"God spoke to me clearly and said, 'Did I give my son Jesus on the cross expecting nothing in return?' God bankrupted heaven and gave the best gift he could give. He gave the best offering he could give. What did God need? He needed sons and daughters, he gave the very thing he needed. You can bring God a gift fully expecting something in return. Get to the phone!"
(Paul Crouch, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"Have you got something that you have been praying about 10, 15, 20 years? You have been praying for it and haven't gotten it...It could be that you haven't gotten it because you are a tightwad and you haven't given your 10%."
(Paul Crouch, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"If you have been praying 10, 15, 20 years for a secret desire of your heart, get to the phone right now!"
(Paul Crouch, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"If You don't have faith for $1,000 give the tithe of $100. You can't claim God's promises if you don't keep your part of the contract."
(Paul Crouch, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"People ask me sometimes, 'I have been asking from God and not receiving anything.' I have to ask them some hard questions, 'Are you giving anything?'"
(Paul Crouch, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"Ask your biggest need, go to the phone and put a seed to your need!"
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"You're on the brink of a miracle. Go to the phone and give $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 and $1,000,000, go to the phone...God has a miracle waiting on your response."
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"God gave His best at Calvary, He told me, 'Don't you dare come before me if you don't give your best!'"
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"You are missing your miracle, there is an annointing here right now. Sow a seed towards your need. Go to the phone and give your best."
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"God is not only teaching you about your seed, He is teaching you to listen to His voice."
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"I'm ready to exchange what is in my hand for what's in God's hand...Give! Give! Give! Sow! Sow! Sow!"
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"To reap a perpetual harvest you need to sow a perpetual seed. I got a need for seed."
(Rod Parsley, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 31, 2004)
"I spoke to the Lord this morning and 3,000 people need to sow a $55 over the next 6 mnonths."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Sow a $55 grace seed, go to the phone now."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"David put 5 stones in his bag, we would call it a purse. 5 is the number for grace, he put grace in his pocketbook. Grace was put into his finances."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"The Lord told me to tell you that 3,000 people that are watching, a miracle is about to begin again. Go to the phone now and say, "I'm sowing a $55 seed."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Some of your ministries are at a standstill, sow a $55 seed and see what God will do."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Sow a $55 grace grace seed (Double Portion), some may criticise and not believe me. Well, just sit there. Some of you may get a blessing, but you won't get no money."
(Jentezen Franklin, TBN, Share-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Just like Bishop Long said, 'You need to bring your report, you need to bring your spoils (Give to TBN) to God.'"
(Paula White, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"When God speaks to you, you better praise Him, you better go to the phone and sow $71.21. Believing God will increase your greatness."
(Paula White, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"I know the phones are jammed right now, but go to the phone and sow $71.21 for the next 12 months according to Psalm 71:21. Believing God will increase your greatness."
(Paula White, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"I believe tonight that God will do a master breakthrough in your life. When God speaks to you go to the phone and give $71.21 for 12 months and God will increase your greatness and do something great in your life."
(Paula White, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"What you do for God, God will do for you. Just get 10% of the $700 seed in the ground. This is what the Spirit of God told me on the way here tonight."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"On the way here the Spirit of God told me that there are 7,000 people that will sow $700 for a transmission of a new annointing around the world."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"It's payback time! I'm going to get what I'm sowing for."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Something is being released in the spiritual realm, when it does go to the phone. When the mantle gets passed to you go to the phone and sow a $70 tithe to the $700 pledge."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Get that $70 seed in the ground, there are 7,000 people that will sow $700 and receive a fresh annointing from God."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"7,000 people that are watching, God is going to hit with a fresh annointing. I got a word for you, it's payback time!"
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"When you catch the mantle sow a $70 tithe to the $700 pledge. When the moment hits you don't wait."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"Get on that phone, get your seed in the ground. Hit the redial button, a mantle is being passed."
(Mark Chironna, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 30, 2004)
"God spoke to me that there are 1,000 people that will give no less than $100, I got this word! Get up! Get up! Get up! Go to the phone...The Spirit of God promised me that He would bless your seed! Go to the phone right now! If your sowing $1,000 do it now! If your sowing $100 do it now!"
(Bishop Clarence Mcclendon, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"Some of you are wrestling with debt that you cannot pay off. God told me this morning to tell you to take that credit card, God spoke expressly in my spirit, for you to sow a seed on the credit card that you want God to pay off, God said, 'let me touch that situation.' God said, 'to tell them to put it on the card, and in 30 days the can deal with the debt and pay it off,' I am speaking a prophetic word right now...Get Jesus on that credit card, make a pledge on that credit card."
A note from me: Bishop Clarence Mcclendon claimed numerous times that God told him etc., yet when he was done Paul Crouch told the audience that what he said was true about giving money on a over extended credit card, but that they could not use the phone because it was not secure, they had to go on the internet. Shouldn't God have known this? This proves two things, that Bishop Clarence Mcclendon is a false prophet and God was not speaking to him. It also proves that Paul Crouch endorses this type of blatant fleecing!
After Bishop Clarence Mcclendon finished his preaching for the night, Paul Crouch said this, "Oh! Thank you pastor Mcclendon, This was a Rhema word...This is a Rhema word from the Lord." Not only does Paul Crouch endorse this type of heresy and fleecing, he attributes it to God!
(Bishop Clarence Mcclendon, TBN, Praise-A-Thon, March 29, 2004)
"Go to the phone, dial the number on the screen as fast as you can. Give $50 dollars a month for 10 months, God will do a now miracle...Wooo! I feel the Holy Spirit...We are not talking hocus pocus, this is a word from God...I have come to Dallas and Daystar with a word from God...God is speaking to people to give $5,000."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"The Spirit is speaking strongly to me for you to place a $50 offering on the alter, when you do, God will do a now miracle."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"The Holy Spirit has told me to tell you to place a $50 offering on the altar for the next 10 months."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"When God had seen what Hezekiah had done for him, He could not deny him." Steve was alluding to King Hezekiah and insinuating that if we give some money God will have to answer our prayer!"
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"God has put Daystar on your television to restore order in your life." Really, is God using the parade of heretics on Daystar to bless us?"
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"Most of you cannot wait for a Benny Hinn to come to town, you need a now miracle."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"There are buisnessmen watching who need to give $5,000..God is speaking to me..This is a word from God."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"I'm giving you a prophetic word, when you give me your name and we pray for you, and I pray a prayer of now, God will give you a miracle. God is going to touch your body, finances, health, and your children."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"Your miracle is about to happen, not tomorrow, not next year, God is going to answer now! Your finances will be fixed now, your children and grandchildren will be saved, your sickness will be healed, now! God is going to add 15 years to someones life."
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"Your grandchildren, children, finances, and health, God is going to touch them now!"
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"Your not going to have to wait, 30, 50 days, God is going to do it now!"
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
"You want your children touched? You want your finances touched? You need to be healed in your body of cancer? You need a miracle? Call now!"
(Steve Munsey, Daystar Share-A-Thon, March 6, 2004)
“The wicked are piling up the funds and I love the way John [Avanzini] teaches on this. He's the best there is on how to get the wealth of the wicked. Man, I like it!”
(Benny Hinn, Praise-a-Thon, TBN, Nov. 6 1990)
"Cause it dosen't take brains to figure the thing out, you give to get!"
(Benny Hinn, This Is Your Day, October 28, 1999)
"A man said to me, 'How much do I sow?' My reply was, 'What kind of harvest do you want? If you have big debt, sow a big seed.' Thats just the way it is!"
(Benny Hinn, This Is Your Day, August 14, 1996)
"Say after me, all of you, everybody say it, 'The wealth of the wicked is mine.' [The audience repeats.] One more time. (The audience repeats) One more time. (The audience repeats it again)"
(Benny Hinn, Praise-a-Thon, TBN, April 1990)
"God multiplies the seed you sow, the supernatural power of God hits after you sow, not before, after."
(Benny Hinn, This Is Your Day, August 19, 1996)
"Giving dosen't cost, it pays!"
(Joyce Meyer, Daystar Spring Share-A-Thon, March 2, 2004)
"After telling christians to, "Sow their $2,000 seed," he said, "listen to the man of God,"
(John Avanzini, LeSea telethon, Fall 2003)
"Jesus was handling big money because that treasurer He had was a thief. Now you can't tell me that a ministry with a treasurer that's a thief can operate on a few pennies. It took big money to operate that ministry because Judas was stealing out of that bag. If you have a treasurer, that means you have a lot of money."
(John Avanzini, Praise the Lord, TBN, September 15, 1988)
"While on earth Jesus was wealthy. He lived in a big house, had a great deal of money, and wore the finest clothes"
(John Avanzini, On two different TBN broadcasts, quoted in Hanegraaff, Crisis, 381-82)
"Jesus was handling big money"
(John Avanzini, Praise The LORD, TBN, videotape, Sept. 15, 1988)
If people make the 2000 dollar faith pledge to TBN, not only will God give them the 2000 dollars before the year 2000 but he will also make them totally debt free AND their WHOLE family will be saved before the year 2000.
(R.W. Shambach, Praise The Lord, TBN, Nov. 2, 1999)