{"id":2304,"date":"2022-06-17T19:10:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acfar.org\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2022-06-29T20:37:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T20:37:14","slug":"beware-the-teachings-of-andrew-wommack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acfar.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/17\/beware-the-teachings-of-andrew-wommack\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware the Teachings of Andrew Wommack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PDF Version<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Wommack is the founder of the Colorado-based Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis Bible College. He spreads his message across the world through \u201cthe power of radio and television\u201d and ample use of the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is Wommack\u2019s message biblically sound? Because Scripture warns Christians to beware of false teachers, we must carefully examine and answer his potentially devastating doctrines in two key areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEALTH AND PROSPERITY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wommack says…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s \u201cfalse teaching\u201d to claim that \u201cGod is the One who causes people to die\u201d or that He \u201cputs sickness on you to humble you for some redemptive purpose and to perfect you through all this suffering.\u201d1<\/strong> Instead, Wommack claims that \u201cGod\u2019s Word is very clear that sickness and disease are oppressions from the devil.\u201d2<\/strong> He also tells Christians that \u201cIf you\u2019re depressed, you\u2019re demonized. Satan is messing with you.\u201d3<\/strong> Wommack claims that God \u201cwants every person healed every time.\u201d4<\/strong> More so, he claims that the cross of Jesus has\u00a0already<\/em>\u00a0redeemed believers from all sickness and disease. \u201cHealing is a done deal, and is available to us now exactly the same as forgiveness of sins\u2026.God\u2014by grace\u2014has already healed everybody.\u201d5<\/strong> Also, believers are redeemed from financial poverty. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul says that Jesus \u201cbecame poor so that you through His poverty might become rich,\u201d and this applies both spiritually\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0materially. Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection provide not just pardon for sin, but \u201chealing, deliverance, and prosperity\u201d6<\/strong> for Christians in this life. To access this material prosperity, believers must use their authority (see below<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Bible really <\/strong>teaches\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although sickness and poverty sometimes come from demonic sources, it\u2019s clear that God can also be the author of such trials. For example, in Exodus 4:11 God says to Moses: \u201cWho gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?\u201d James 4:15 cautions believers that \u201cyou ought to say, \u2018If it is the Lord\u2019s will, we will live and do this or that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean that God is cruel and uncaring? No! And though we can\u2019t always understand His specific purpose in each time of suffering or sickness we endure, God can use these situations for our good. The Psalmist confesses, \u201cBefore I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word\u2026It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees\u201d (Psalm 119:67, 71). Like the Psalmist, many people turn to the Lord during hardship, not prosperity. For this reason it makes good sense that God would use such means to draw people to Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After someone is saved, God continues use any means necessary to deal with him or her. The author of Hebrews explains that \u201cthe Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?\u201d (Heb. 12:6\u20137). A good father doesn\u2019t discipline his child just to be cruel\u2014and neither does the Lord. Instead, His discipline has a loving goal: to teach His child valuable lessons he or she might not otherwise learn. Peter advises us: \u201cSo then, those who suffer according to God\u2019s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good\u201d (1 Pet. 4:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the Bible does <\/em>teach that God will one day heal all of His people\u2014but not in this present life. The Apostle Paul observes that here on earth our physical bodies are \u201cwasting away\u201d (2 Cor. 4:16). Only when Jesus returns will we receive resurrection bodies that won\u2019t wear out or suffer sickness. In 1 Corinthians 15:42\u201343, Paul describes our current bodies as perishable, \u201csown in dishonor and weakness.\u201d But after the resurrection our new bodies will be imperishable, sown in glory and power. The same is true of prosperity. Some of us may be poor in this life, and others wealthy. In the next life, all <\/em>of our needs will be met! For now, we need to be content with our life circumstances while we seek to grow closer to God (Phil. 4:11\u201312). This doesn\u2019t mean it would be sinful for us to seek a better-paying job or some other means of improving our finances. The danger comes when we focus on becoming rich instead of on God. Paul warns us that this can lead to \u201cruin and destruction\u201d (1 Tim. 6:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AUTHORITY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wommack says\u2026<\/em>

God gave Adam and Eve \u201cdominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth\u2026\u201d (Gen. 1:26 KJV). Wommack claims they had complete, unrestricted authority over this world.7<\/strong> This \u201cauthority\u201d is the use of God\u2019s power, which is released through their words. As soon as God gave His authority away to Adam and Eve, He had none\u2014and He could no longer use His power in this world unless someone spoke His words from the Bible! But when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they yielded\u00a0their<\/em>\u00a0authority to Satan. People today have the same problem: Satan fools them into believing and saying things that oppose God\u2019s will.

Wommack says this is why Jesus had to be born: \u201cGod didn\u2019t have a physical human body, so He wasn\u2019t free to just operate unrestricted on this earth. He had to become a man. Jesus\u2014the Word made flesh, the God-Man\u2014had to become a physical person so that He could have authority on this earth. (John 1:14.)\u201d8<\/strong> But Jesus couldn\u2019t just come anytime He wanted. Authority was needed for Him to be born, and He had none. Wommack writes: \u201cIt literally took God four thousand years to find enough people who would operate in enough faith to speak forth and prophesy the things that needed to be spoken for Jesus\u2019 body to be created.\u201d9<\/strong>

But the Bible\u00a0really\u00a0<\/strong>teaches\u2026<\/em>

God\u00a0did<\/em>\u00a0give Adam and Eve dominion over all the earth. But this \u201cdominion\u201d wasn\u2019t releasing God\u2019s power with their faith-filled words. Instead, it means that God put humans in charge over His creation. Our having that kind of dominion also doesn\u2019t mean that Almighty God has no right to act in this world. If this were true, God couldn\u2019t have cursed Satan (the serpent) or mankind in Genesis 3:14\u201324, because\u00a0He would have needed Satan to pronounce the curses so they could be carried out<\/em>. Instead, the sovereign Lord personally drove Adam and Eve from the garden and banished them forever (vv. 23\u201324). Hence, any limited dominion or authority God gives to people is still under His infinite power and control. This is why He could confuse the languages at Babel (Gen. 11:1\u20139) and cause the walls of Jericho to fall (Joshua 6:1\u201320). This is also why ancient Israel didn\u2019t find peace when the many false prophets proclaimed prosperity in Jeremiah 14:11\u201314. God wasn\u2019t in subjection to\u00a0their\u00a0<\/em>words;\u00a0they<\/em>\u00a0were subject to\u00a0His<\/em>\u00a0words. This is also why even though people try to \u201cplan their course\u201d for their lives, in the end \u201cthe Lord establishes their steps\u201d (Prov. 16:9). The Almighty God of Scripture is in control\u2014not just over the world, but the entire universe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONCLUSION<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Because Wommack\u2019s teachings contradict Scripture, they cause confusion and harm. He describes an unbiblical God who can\u2019t even accomplish His own will. For instance, Wommack tells the story of two teenage boys who entered their school in 1999 and murdered a dozen students, a teacher, and finally themselves. Wommack tells us that God didn\u2019t want this to happen and did everything He could to stop them. God even spoke through a youth minister shortly before the tragedy and attempted to \u201cput restraints on [the killers] and obstacles in their way.\u201d10<\/strong> But according to Wommack,\u00a0God failed<\/em>, so the two boys successfully carried out their bloody plans.

Wommack also offers callous counsel to a grieving mother whose seventeen-year-old boy accidentally shot himself at a friend\u2019s house. Based on his unbiblical doctrine of the supernatural power of spoken words, Wommack says the real source of this tragedy was an argument between the boy and his mother before he left home that day. Wommack pronounces the mother guilty of causing her son\u2019s death.11<\/strong>

Instead of a false faith that focuses on prosperity and denies His absolute sovereignty, God calls His people to have the\u00a0true<\/em>\u00a0faith and that they will trust Him in all situations.<\/strong>\u00a0The Apostle Paul learned \u201cto be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want\u201d (Phil. 4:11\u201312). Paul also explains that \u201cgodliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction\u201d (1 Tim. 6:6\u20139).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Wommack preaches a false God and promises false hope to his hearers. Let us trust in the\u00a0true<\/em>\u00a0God and His Word. \u25c6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Notes<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/strong> Andrew Wommack (2010-07-02).\u00a0God Wants You Well\u00a0<\/em>(Kindle Location 309). Harrison House LLC. Kindle Edition.
2<\/strong> Andrew Wommack (2010-08-10).\u00a0You\u2019ve Already Got It! So Quit Trying to Get It\u00a0<\/em>(Kindle Locations 1282-1283). Harrison House LLC. Kindle Edition.
3<\/strong> Andrew Wommack (2010-06-13).\u00a0A Better Way to Pray,\u00a0<\/em>78. Harrison House LLC. Kindle Edition.
4<\/strong> Andrew Wommack Ministries, \u201cFaith for Healing Is Based on Knowledge\u201d (www.awmi.net\/extra\/article\/healing_knowledge<\/a>). Accessed Sept. 25, 2014.<\/td>		5<\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019ve Already Got It!\u00a0<\/em>(Kindle Location 203, 606).
6<\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019ve Already Got It!\u00a0<\/em>(Kindle Location 274).
7<\/strong> Andrew Wommack (2010-06-13).\u00a0The Believer\u2019s Authority: What You Didn\u2019t Learn in Church,\u00a0<\/em>42. Harrison House LLC. Kindle Edition.
8<\/strong>\u00a0The Believer\u2019s Authority,<\/em>\u00a057.
9<\/strong>\u00a0The Believer\u2019s Authority,<\/em>\u00a058.
10<\/strong>\u00a0God Wants You Well\u00a0<\/em>(Kindle Location 423).
11<\/strong> The Believer\u2019s Authority,\u00a0<\/em>18.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PDF Version Andrew Wommack is the founder of the Colorado-based Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis Bible College. He spreads his message across the world through \u201cthe power of radio and television\u201d and ample use of the Internet. But is Wommack\u2019s message biblically sound? Because Scripture warns Christians to beware of false teachers, we must carefully… <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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