The Evangelical Universalist Forum

bill wiese has another book.....

well it turns out bill wiese has written another book…amazon.ca/Hell-Separate-Toug … roduct_top in the preview he has a part about universalism… would are one care to take a peek at it… and if anyone did take a peek at it could they tell me what did he say about demons torturing people in hell or his part about testimonies :question: I cant really spend money on this stuff right now cause of university so i am kinda sorry if it wastes anyone money :frowning:

Hello Wiggly

Hope all is good in your hood my friend.

Facts:

Bill Weise is a liar, a charlatan and a chancer who is desperately trying to milk the last few dollars he can out of credulous, gullible or vulnerable people (take your pick) with his previously successful but now utterly played out “I went to hell but Jesus rescued me” schtick. Yeah right.

Ignore it. Throw it immediately in the bin. The guy is full of the proverbial, and the best thing we can do is ignore him.

Shalom

Johnny

well here something kinda funny …Mr. Wiese’s most recent book is called Recession Proof Living… Here is the synopsis:

"Wiese had a successful real estate career spanning over thirty-five years—through both good and tough economic times. Early in his career, he made the decision to carefully study the Bible and apply God’s methods to every move that he made. As a result, he attained success that was unheard of for many other agents, simply because he adhered to God’s plan.

In Recession-Proof Living, he shares these biblical principles along with true stories of his experiences to demonstrate how anyone can achieve success—spiritually, financially, physically, and corporately—by living according to God’s economic system.

Not simply a book about how to make money, Recession-Proof Living shows you how to live a life that guarantees success—God’s way. Even if every effort and method you’ve tried has failed, living by God’s standard won’t."
yeahh no wonder he so popular on that channel which features benny hinn

You said it Wiggly! Bill Wiese, Benny Hinn, they’re both cut from the same cloth - rip-off scumbags of the first water. Hinn is such a crook he makes Jack Chick look like the Archangel Gabriel. :laughing:

right there, that’s all i need to know about “him”.
estate agents are not human. they are loathsome, putrescent parasites. there is no way to apply Godly principles to this “industry”.
if “he” wrote a book, regardless of the subject, it is fit for nothing but to be burned.

Brothers please let us not be so negative in our judgments of others, especially concerning their motives or intent. Though I believe they are misguided in their beliefs concerning Hell, and they might be negative and judgmental of others who believe differently than they do, let us not fall into the same trap that they are in. Let’s walk in grace and mercy and leave the judging of others to God. Personally, I think both these brothers, Weiss and Hinn love God and love people.

My son went through Weiss’ book 23 Minutes in Hell and was amazed to find how much he quotes scripture to support his understanding of his experience, only to look up those scriptures and find that they did not support what Bill thought they did. Assuming Bill is sharing a valid experience, and assuming that the experience was from the Lord, I’d interpret his vision as a revelation of this “present evil age” as Paul calls it in Gal. 1:4. People are in bondage to evil from within and without, needing saving.

estate agents aren’t brothers of anything and are incapable of love.

@Sherman

You are a truly gracious and forgiving man, Sherman. But I have to disagree with you here. Benny Hinn is a parasite, a leech who preys on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society to enrich himself. On the one hand his scurrilously vacuous ministry holds out a forlorn hope to credulous, or desperate, sick and underprivileged folk. On the other it simply serves to reinforce the view of questioning agnostics that Christians are either dumb or crooked.

Hinn himself, of course, is very clever. He is a cunning mountebank peddling spiritual snake oil to the masses. Five minutes on Google will show you the plain truth that he is far more in love both with himself and with Mammon than God or other people.

That makes me very angry indeed. And I don’t think I’m being judgemental, I’m just calling it like it is. After all, when Jesus found the money changers desecrating the temple, He got pretty angry didn’t he?

Wiese I suspect isn’t quite such an out-and-out conman as Hinn. Maybe he even truly believes he went to hell. But there is no doubt that he’s milking every last dollar out of his highly dubious diabolical ‘experience’. He’s also now using his fame to launch a panegryic for prosperity gospel, which puts him right up there with the money changers in my book.

Sorry Sherman, but this sort of stuff just makes me puke.

@James

Man, you *really *don’t like estate agents do you? :laughing:

All the best

Johnny

Well Johnny, I don’t know Hinn personally, but have been in several of his meetings, even attended his church in Orlando a few times and seen many people healed. And at one point I was having some minor back problems and experienced healing in one of his meetings. He has a gift in that area. I was also impressed several years later when a noted theologian, a professor of mine, contacted him regarding something Hinn wrote that was erroneous. Hinn responded humbly, acknowledging that he was wrong and even wrote a retraction. He even noted that he was not a “theologian”, but was primarily gifted in healing.

Hinn having a gift, does that mean that I think he’s perfect or beyond reproach? Of course not, and it’s likely he has issues, like we all do. And his flamboyant style of ministry does tend to, well, irritate me; but I consider that personal preference. And what one sees on TV doesn’t do justice to what can be experienced in the meetings. Hinn facilitates an extended and powerful worship service, being very sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. And from my understanding of scripture and experience, worship helps to bring in the manifest presence of the Lord. And the presence of the Lord brings healing and deliverance to those who are desiring such.

I’m curious Johnny, have you ever met Hinn? Do you know him personally? Have you ever attended any of his meetings or his church? How many people do you know who know him personally? Or is your judgment of him based on some clips you’ve watched on the net? What do you base your judgments against him on?

Does he come across flaky to me some times? Frankly, yes; but then I bet I come across flaky to some people too, especially in that I am very passionate and expressive in my worship of God! Shoot, if I was watching me dance before the Lord, I’d think I was kinda flaky too! And when I teach, I tend to be very expressive also, leaning more towards more of an African American style of ministry.

In fact, a dear friend of mine once told me that when he first knew me he figured that we would never be close friends because to him I seemed to have my “head in the clouds” because I was so expressive in worship. It took him a while to find out that I also had my “feet on the ground”. When he told me this, I said, “Well thanks, because that makes me a giant of a man” (head in the clouds but feet on the ground). It was a good laugh, especially considering I know how big of a mess I am.

I attended a Hinn meeting probably 15 years ago. Poor little baby Christian had such high hopes and expectations. I thought for sure God had something for me there. NOTHING. I felt very discouraged and alone. It seemed like everyone was getting “touched”, healed, giggling, getting a “word” etc. I left very much thinking something must be wrong with ME. No, I don’t put much stock in those types myself.

Sass

Not everyone gets healed. Not everyone gets saved. Not everyone gets their prayers answered. In fact, many don’t. And frankly, the primary reason I attend such meetings is because of the extended worship services. I love to worship our Lord, especially with others who love to worship our Lord passionately and for extended periods of time. During worship, whether personal or coorporate, I often encounter the Lord; He speaks into my life and does things in me, not always, but often. But I love to worship Him whether I get anything out of it or not because I love Him. Benny has a gift and much experience in facilitating such worship services. And worship draws in the manifest presence of the Lord which often, if not usually, results in signs and wonders, healings and miracles. And I find that God does such miracles in people because He loves us, often inspite of how big of a mess we are or how big of a mess the minister is. And such gifts of the Spirit are not contingent upon how good or correct in theology is the minister, but upon the sovereignty of God.

Amen, Sherman. Whether Benny Hinn is a charlatan or a devoted man of God or, like many of the rest of us, something in between, I believe good things can and do happen whenever people sincerely and lovingly gather together in Jesus’ name. It isn’t ministers who heal; it is always the Holy Spirit at work whenever anyone is healed. To his credit, Benny Hinn says that very thing.

I think many people’s issues with Hinn, and whatever mega-ministry one could mention, are really about the trappings of wealth… the private jets, the mansions, things in general… that one associates more with Hollywood or entertainment celebrity than with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For many, it lends an aura of phoniness and flim-flamminess to those who lead such ministries. I confess that I feel that way myself.

But I don’t let it bug me too much. Didn’t Paul say something about being happy whenever the Gospel is preached even if he was not exactly thrilled with who was doing the preaching? :wink:

Peace and blessings to you,

Andy

I used to feel that way myself, and still get that feeling regarding some ministries. However, personally knowing some pretty wealthy ministers has mitigated for me such negative assumptions. Of course, some ministers use the Gospel and their gift/talent as a means of personal wealth; but I find more often that the reason the person is wealthy is because they have been and are faithful with what God has given them and I’ve also found them to be some of the most generous, giving, loving people I know. It’s easy to make negative assumptions of both the poor and the rich, the poor – negatively assuming that they are poor because they are lazy, selfish, and addicted, and the rich – negatively assuming they are greedy and devious. I’ve been shown to be wrong in such negative assumptions of others that I’ve learned, usually, to not make such assumptions but to leave such judgments to God, and focus on being faithful with what I’ve been given.

Several years ago I was reading the parable of the talents. When I got to the part where the Lord condemns the lazyness and twistedness of the 1-talent man, the Lord spoke to me and said, “That’s the way you are - except I’ve given you 10 talents.” And His light of judgment shined in my heart and I began seeing the twisted thinking and selfishness that resulted in my being unfaithful with what God had given me. Frankly, this encounter with eternal judgment burnt the hell out of me and I repented. It was the judgment of a loving father, but judgment none the less.

Those who have been forgiven much, love much!

So true, Sherman.

You have a kind and gentle heart, and I am so glad you share it so freely.

Love in Christ,

Andy

Hmm. This sounds a bit suspicious to me; but I’d say that based on the description here, regardless of who wrote it. This sounds like one of the bazillion different self-help ways to live Old Covenant, based in it’s fading glory. God’s principles are not meant to be a success vending machine. I suppose it all depends though on how he defines the “biblical” standard of success. Most believers (genuine or not) get it hopelessly wrong, because they base it (at bottom) on Old covenant and self-effort. The real (New Covenant) biblical standard of success doesn’t look anything like the world’s.

I don’t know anything about Bill Weisse and have no strong opinions. But just a couple of observations -

It does seem to me that the Health and Wealth Gospel is part of the Positive Thinking movement with roots in New Thought and Christian Science - and I have my concerns. It seems to me that this way of looking at life can end up turning a blind eye to evil and suffering and injustice (or at least this is a danger).
A trusted friend has told me that they attended a Bill Weiss rally where he shouted rudely at a woman who had to leave because she had diahorrea - and this sounds a lot like the rudeness displayed by other non-Christian positive thinking gurus like Werner Erhard (and I believe the ‘Conversations with God’ chap has a temper too). Has hits been anyone else’s experience of health and wealth Gospellers?

I’m sure thinking positive has a place but I’m not sure it is the same as true Christian hope.

I believe that healing can and does take place of course - but I think real healing is often a deeper and more mysterious thing than the relief of surface symptoms (though we should be thankful if these are relived).

I worry about how the Health and Wealth gospel affects people who remain poor or who remain disabled. I once read a book by a disabled liberation theologian. They argued that the true miracle of healing that Jesus affected - whether or not symptoms disappeared- was that he touched dumb tongues, deaf ears, haemorrhaging women etc and therefore rendered the unclean (excluded) clean (included). This theologian feared that a Gospel of too plentiful cures end up rendering the disabled and the poor unclean and excluded again unless great care is taken.

Blessings

Dick

well bill wiese doesnt sound like the nice guy that his uspporters on the internets are saying

he couldn’t possibly be. he’s an estate agent. they aren’t real people but empty, soulless shells.

I once knew a very nice estate agent :unamused: :neutral_face: However … the hard sell techniques employed by some (but not those who belong to local firms of long standing anxious to keep their local reputations) must seep in to the soul. But someone has to do it… :frowning:

However… some of the Health and Wealth stuff does strike me as very oriented around salesmanship with its motivational speaking content and displays of personal charisma. The latter is not necessarily a problem - but I am wary of the authority of personal charisma being the main focus of authority in any megachurch or church. Personally I think charisma is a purely natural phenomenon (connected to a person’s emotional makeup) and should not to be confused with the true gifts of the spirit - love, joy and peace. And I think it is something that can be used both for good and for ill - so it’s important not to be too impressed by its workings.

Displays of personal charisma are not necessarily a con trick in my view – people can go away from these uplifted and even with some kinds of medical conditions improved - but these displays do not have any ultimate authority for me anymore.

Dick