The Scam

The Nine Week Timetable
Recently, I was watching a TV "ministry" (hucksters) who were urging people to send them money and they were guaranteeing a 100 fold return on the seed-faith money. Well, if I took them at their word and started with "sowing" $10 a week, I should start expecting to receive a $1000 a week in return. If after that I gave 10 percent of the $1000 ($100) I received per week, I could then expect to receive $100,000 per week. If after that I gave 10 percent of the $100,000 ($10,000) per week, I could then expect to receive $10, 000, 000 per week. In nine weeks I would be richer than Bill Gates (net worth ~ $30 billion) who is an atheist and does not give anything to the Lord's work. The following table summarizes the results:
Period
Amount Given ($)
Amount Received ($)
1
10
1000
2
100
10,000
3
1000
100,000
4
10,000
1,000,000
5
100,000
10,000,000
6
1,000,000
100,000,000
7
10,000,000
1,000,000,000
8
100,000,000
10,000,000,000
9
1,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
If instead I gave this amount once a year, I still would be the richest man in the world in ten years. If this is really what Jesus meant, then why do these "ministers" have to ask for money at all? Could not they apply the same principles and reap the money themselves?

Quotes From Teachers of the Prosperity Doctrine.
..useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain...I Timothy 6: 5..
Marilyn Hickey:
"What do you need? Start creating it. Start speaking about it. Start speaking it into being. Speak to your billfold. Say, "You big, thick billfold full of money." Speak to your checkbook. Say, "You, checkbook, you. You've never been so prosperous since I owned you. You're just jammed full of money." (Marilyn Hickey, "Claim Your Miracles" (Denver: Marilyn Hickey Ministries, n.d., audiotape #186, side 2)
Benny Hinn:
"Poverty is from the devil and that God wants all Christians prosperous." (Benny Hinn, TBN, 11/6/90)
"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) (Its an old practice that if you hear something said by your own voice long enough you will believe it).
"The Lord giveth and NEVER taketh away. And just because [Job] said, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord,' don't mean that he's right. When he said, 'Blessed be the name,' he was just being religious." (TBN, Nov., 1990).
I’m sick and tired of hearing about streets of gold. I don’t need gold in Heaven, I gotta have it now. I mean, when I get to glory, all my bills will be paid, brother. I won’t have bills in glory. I gotta have it here. You say, ‘Well, Benny Hinn, isn’t it woderful to have streets of gold i heaven?’ Well, of course, but if I hear the thing one more time of how it will be and how it was, I’m gonna kick somebody” (Benny Hinn, “Praise the Lord”. Nov 8th 1990. Audiotape.)
Juanita Bynum:
"Your miracle is attached to what's in your pocket right now! You're trying to hold on to it, but God sent me to tell you to, 'Let it go! Let it go!'" (Juanita Bynum, TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 1, 2004)
"God said, 'Pick up the phone right now!' He said, '1,000 persons, you are going to sow the $1,000 seed.' You got to! You got to tonight! There is a miracle on it! I know what I'm talking about! He brought me in here to tell you that!" (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 1, 2004)
"Somebody right here in television land, God said, '$1,000.' You're sitting there saying, 'You know what? All I got is $1,000.' If that's all you got, oh Jesus! Then you got the miracle seed in your hand!" (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 1, 2003)
"You need to send a thousand dollars. If you can’t send a thousand, send five hundred...if all you have is a nickel, wrap it in tissue and put it in an envelope. If all you have is your clothes, send them." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"If all you have is $79.36, I double-dare you to empty your bank account. Close your account." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"If you want the power, you have to sow the seed." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"You’ve got three days to get that into your mailbox. I’m not afraid to say this. I am walking in my authority…if you don’t postmark it by the tenth, we will not accept it. God says you have three days to get your thousand-dollar seed in the mail." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"You cannot violate the principle. You have to give. If you don’t have any money then you’d better get a penny in your hand or something." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"The Lord told me to give you these socks…In your time of prayer, you are to wear them, and you will walk in authority. Be careful what you say, because what you say will come to pass." (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 8, 2003)
"Some of ya'll sitting there holding your wallet...God said, 'Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me! Show me how much you love me! Give it to me! I want to know if you're mine! If you're really mine. How come you can't hear me say, write the check?'" (TBN, Fall Praise-A-Thon, November 1, 2004)
"Some of you watching and you might be saying, 'Let me pray about it and see if God is talking to me.' You don't have to see if God is talking to you if you got a $77.00 seed offering in any bank account or pocket. He is talking to you. You need to pick up the phone because I'm telling you, tonight there is an anointing in this studio with your name on it. You need to get a seed into the network tonight." ("Daystar Fall Share-A-Thon," September 21, 2004)
"I'm going to get my seed in the ground because what I make happen for somebody else, God is going to make happen for me. Pick up the phone! I don't care if the lines are busy for half the night. Keep on trying! Put it on redial! Put it on redial! Tell the Devil that, 'I got an emergency! I need something! I need something from God and God needs something from me!'" ("Daystar Fall Share-A-Thon," September 21, 2004)
"Pick up the phone! It may be your last $77.00 seed offering. But you pick up the phone and you make that pledge. Because God is ready to turn some things around for you!"("Daystar Fall Share-A-Thon," September 21, 2004)
"If you're one of those three people that the Lord spoke through me moments ago about a million dollar gift. Whether you're that professional athlete, whether you're that successful businessman or whether you're that woman that has been blessed. You do what the Lord is telling you to do. Because, when God speaks about a significant seed, He has a significant miracle on His mind. [Jaunita Bynum: "Yes!"] God doesn't play games! And that's serious business when you start talking about levels like that. [Jaunita Bynum: "That's Right!"] That's because God has a significant miracle on His mind." (Marcus Lamb, "Daystar Fall Share-A-Thon," September 21, 2004)
Bishop Neil Ellis
“in ten months” there will be a revival, and “souls will be saved”, but “in the midst of this there will be an economic revival”. (Bishop Neil Ellis, TBN, September 16th 2002)
He will pastor a church “That has to be, has to be, poverty free”. This “has to happen”. He added.. Because of the ‘anointing’, (His Emphasis). “I am not supposed to be pastoring poor people”. (He did add that God will send poor people to him but only so they get a release from poverty).
Bishop Harold and Brenda Ray
Our goal is as simple as it is strategic: To create wealth! And empower our people to steward that wealth for the purposes of the kingdom, the strengthening of their communities and for the economic well being of their children's children! (Emphasis in red on their official web site)
Fred Price
“most employers at least have enough common decency about them that they don't ask somebody to work for them for free.... If a man has enough nicety about him to do that, can't you at least believe that the Father God is not asking you to serve Him for free either?” (D.L. McConnell p.170 op. cit. F. Price Faith, Foolishness, presumption p.7)
The whole point is I'm trying to get you to see - to get you out of this malaise of thinking that Jesus and the disciples were poor and then relating that to you - thinking that you, as a child of God, have to follow Jesus. The Bible says that He has left us an example that we should follow His steps. That's the reason why I drive a Rolls Royce. I'm following Jesus' steps. Fred Price. (Ever Increasing Faith on Trinity Broadcasting Network, December 9, 1990.)
You can talk about me all you want while I'm driving by in my Rolls Royce that's paid for, and I got the pink slip on it. Talk all you want. Bad mouth all you want. Don't hurt me in the least. Doesn't bother me. It's a whole lot easier to be persecuted when I'm riding in my car and I got the pink slip than it is when I'm riding in a car and owe my soul to the company store. Fred Price. (Ever Increasing Faith program, TBN, March 29, 1992.)
“Yeah, God has pleasure in the prosperity. So he must have displeasure in the poverty. So if he does, then poverty couldn't be from God. Yeah, but Brother Price, but God allows it. God lets it happen. You're right, he does. He does, because you do. He can't do anything about it” (Ever Increasing Faith 11/16/90).
“The Bible says that He [Jesus] had a treasurer-a treasury they called it “the bag”); that they had one man who was the treasurer, named Judas Iscariot; and the rascal was stealing out of the bag for three-and-a-half years and nobody knew that he was stealing. You know why? Because there was so much in it, He couldn't tell. Nobody could tell that anything was missing. If He had three oranges in the bottom of the bag and he stole two of them, don't tell me He wouldn't know that some was missing. Beside that, if Jesus didn't have anything, what do you need a treasury for? A treasury is for surplus. It's not for that which you're spending. It's only for surplus-to hold it until you need to spend it. Therefore, He must have had a whole lot that needed to be held in advance that He wasn't spending. So He must have had more than He was living on.” (“Ever Increasing Faith” program TBN Nov.23, 1990)
John Hagee
"Jesus was not poor...Jesus had a nice house! John 1:38 says that Jesus turned to those that were following him and said, 'Come with me.' And they said, 'Where dwellest thou?' He said, 'Come and see.' And Jesus took that whole crowd home with Him to stay in His house. That meant it was a big house! Jesus wore fine clothes! John 19:23 says, 'He had a seamless robe.' Roman soldiers gambled for it at the foot of the cross. It was a designer original! It was valuable enough for them to want it!...And then there are christians that have a poverty complex that says, 'Well, I feel guilty about having nice things.' Jesus didn't!"(John Hagee, Praise-A-Thon, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), November 5, 2004)
"The anointing will do these things, Luke 4:8 says, 'He has annointed me to preach the good news to the poor.' What's the good news to the poor? The good news to the poor is this, Christ took our poverty at the cross, and he gave you the riches of Abraham. Brother, that's enough to make a baptist get in the aisle and start dancing. If you have the anointing you don't have the curse of poverty."(John Hagee, Audio-clip, Bible Answer-man, February 25, 2004, Hank Hanegraaff)
"This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth' [quoting Josh. 1:8 KJV]. That's the spoken Word of God. 'And then thou shalt prosper and have good success.' When? After you speak and act upon the Word of God. And you've been hearing that tonight out of the mouth of [well-known Faith teacher] John Avanzini."(John Hagee, Praise-A-Thon, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), 4 Nov. 1992. Christian Research Institute Article on John Hagee)
"Poverty is caused by sin and disobeying the Word of God."(John Hagee, Praise-A-Thon, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), 16 April, 1993. Christian Research Institute Article on John Hagee)
"Poverty is a curse."(John Hagee, Praise-A-Thon, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), 4 Nov, 1992. Christian Research Institute Article on John Hagee)
John Avanzini
"...Jesus lived in great prosperity..." (John Avanzini, Was Jesus Poor?, Believer's Voice of Victory, January, 1996, p. 8)
"The fact is, Jesus had a nice house." (John Avanzini, Was Jesus Poor?, Believer's Voice of Victory, January, 1996, p. 9)
"Another thing you may not realize is that Jesus wore designer clothes...Why do you need to know that? Because until you know that Jesus was prosperous, you won't be either. You may have His kindness, you may have His gentleness, you may have all His other attributes, but you'll never have His prosperity." (John Avanzini, Was Jesus Poor?, Believer's Voice of Victory, January, 1996, p. 8)
Gloria Copeland (Kenneth Copeland’s wife)
"Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal" (in her book God's Will Is Prosperity: p. 54).
T.D. Jakes
“Jakes, who drives a Mercedes, has moved with his wife and their five children to a luxurious seven-bedroom home with swimming pool in the White Rock Lake area of Dallas. He said the home cost more than $1 million. ‘I do think we need some Christians who are in first class as well as coach,’ Jakes said.” (Jim Jones, “Rising-star evangelist ministers to interracial congregation,” The Fort Worth Star Telegram, Aug.)
“Besides, Jakes says — during an interview and in his sermons — Jesus was a rich man. He had to have been, in order to have supported his disciples and their families during his ministry.” (Kaylois Henry, “Bishop Jakes Is Ready. Are You?,” The Dallas Observer magazine, June 20-26, 1996, pg. 22.)
“The myth of the poor Jesus needs to be destroyed, because it’s holding people back.” (Ibid., pg. 31.)
Incidentally Jakes refers to an adulterous man as a “frightened little boy” and a wife beater as a “terrified little boy.” (Jakes, Loose That Man, op. cit., pp. 123-124.)
Robert Tilton
"Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That's chicken feed. That's nothing compared to what God wants to do for you" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285 quoted from a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990).
Jesse Duplantis
..speaking about Mark 4
Duplantis: This is the most important chapter in the Bible, in my opinion, because it deals with sowing and reaping….Now notice this sower here. He sows 4 times. He sows verse 4, he sows 5, he sows verse7, he sows verse 8. This man here loses 75% of his seed! He loses verse 4, he loses verse 5, he loses verse 7. Now he gets blessed on verse 8, thank you Jesus! But he lost verse 4, verse 5, verse 7. I wonder how many you lost?Now the Lord told us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, didn't He? It costs billions of dollars to do that, between the satellite communication hookup and everything! Everything! Well, how come we haven't done it yet? Because we've lost verse 4, we've lost verse 5, we've lost verse 7. Every once in a while we get blessed on verse 8. But just think if you got blessed 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 4; 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 5; 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 7; 30, 60 or 100 fold on verse 8, look out Toronto! Now you could buy it. Because every time you give God $50, He gives you $5000. Every time you give Him $100, He gives you $10,000. Every time you give Him $1000, He gives you $100,000. Every time you give him $100,000, $10 million. Before you know it, that building is yours, because they will sell it for the right price. You pick the denomination, God picks the multiplication.Verse 23 of Mark 4: If any man have ears to hear, how does faith come? So you can substitute to read 'if any man have ears to faith, let him faith."…So it's up to you what you give. But you see if you forget what you sow and do not name your seed, then the devil will steal your harvest and you don't know - 'God, the devil's stolen' - you can't figure out what is happening.…The multiplication system of God that God put into the family. Now I had a theologian tell me one time, "I tell you what, Brother Jesse, if you truly understood the Word of God, you would realize that Mark Chapter 4 is not dealing with economic substance. It's dealing with seed." I said, "Sir, you can't eat 30,000 acres of corn."…I had a man say, "You look so prosperous, Brother Jesse." I said, "Well, I'm backed by a very rich Jew. Yeah!! Yes, I am! His Name is Jesus. I'm backed by Him." (Jesse Duplantis, Trinity Broadcasting Network, September 21, 1998)
Rick Joyner
"I do believe you know wealth in a sense is like energy you can't destroy it, its just transferred, and I believe in a great economic collapse. The wealth of the world will not destroyed it will be transferred, and I believe a lot of it will be transferred to the believers." (Rick Joyner CBN Jan. 3, 2000)
Rod Parsley
"I'm talkin’ about your money. You know one of the greatest things that is going to happen in the year 2,000 were about to see the church rise up with a revelation that only this generation has ever been given of Gods word concerning high finances in the kingdom of God. And we are just about to see the greatest transfer of wealth out of the hand of the wicked into the hand of the just." (Rod Parsley. Jan.7,2000 Breakthrough).
Creflo Dollar
"Well, you need to hear about money, because you ain't gonna have no love and joy and peace until you get some money!" (Creflo Dollar, Praise the Lord, July 20, 1999)