UNQUOTABLE QUOTES - Lindsay Roberts - "Overgrown Cucumbers"

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un-QUOTABLE QUOTES

LINDSAY ROBERTS

DAILY GUIDE TO MIRACLES from Oral Roberts Ministries
Wednesday, July 5th, 2006
www.orm.cc

OVERGROWN CUCUMBERS
Lindsay Roberts
Oral Roberts Ministries
www.orm.cc

"Recently I gathered a bushelful of cucumbers I'd planted in my garden, but they were not very impressive. They were overripe and all tangled up with overgrown vines. I asked my mom to cut one open, but she said, 'No, these cucumbers are not good.' We couldn't eat them.

I could have picked the cucumbers when they were ready, but I procrastinated. I said, 'It's hot; I'll wait a little while.' then the rains came, and I said, 'When the ground dries up, I'll go out and pick them.' But by the time I finally went to the garden, the weeds had grown up and my cucumber crop was ruined.

Then it hit me! God multiplied my seed and gave me a beautiful harvest, but I failed to receive it because I didn't go out and bring in the harvest when it was ripe! I missed the harvest season!

Similarly, we can miss our harvest from the seeds of faith we have planted if we're not looking for it and expecting it. Many people say, 'I give, but I don't expect anything back from God.' The Bible says, God... gives the increase )1 Corinthians 3:7 nkjv). He causes the seeds we plant to grow. Our part is to watch for the harvest season and reach out and receive the increase when it comes. Like a gardener, we can reap the rewards and blessing of out labor and our investment in God's work if we live in expectancy and gather up the harvest."

ON DOCTRINE NOTE:
In this teaching, Lindsay Roberts violates her own beliefs about the "Seed Faith" doctrine and proposes a contradictory scenario that cannot happen in that belief system.

Word of Faith doctrine asserts that a person can give their "Seed" (money) in faith to God, believing for their miracle and God is bound by some type of immutable law to honor the faith expressed and grant whatever has been requested, and, additionally God will return the "Seed" gift to the giver with a hundredfold multiplication of the original gift. The answer and return from God is predicated on two things:
1. Belief - confident belief without any doubt that God will provide the answer.
2. Faith - action based on a confident knowing, giving the "Seed Faith" offering and claiming that God will provide.

However, in Lindsay Roberts' teaching above, God provides a harvest (the return of the "Seed Faith" money with a hundredfold interest payment and the answer to the request) even though belief was not part of the original "Seed Faith" gift: "Similarly, we can miss our harvest from the seeds of faith we have planted if we're not looking for it and expecting it." If a person gives their "Seed Faith" gift, why does God provide a harvest if a person is not expecting or looking for a return?

There are basically two answers that Word of Faith theology presents in relation to why people are not healed or why they do not receive the harvest of what they claim that God has provided for them.

FIRST: People have weak faith. They have given their "Seed" but it is accompanied by doubt, which Word of Faith teachers claim equates to fear and thus invalidates the request, because it is faith expressed without doubt that causes God to act. So, healing and blessing do not accrue to a person's account if they do not express a full, confident and active faith. Failure to be healed or receive a harvest is the fault of the person.

SECOND: The teaching by Lindsay Roberts states that a person can give their "Seed Faith" offering and God provides a full harvest and credit to a person's account, but they are not healed and do not receive the harvest because they have not expected it or gathered it when it came. So, not only must the person expect the harvest, they must watch and be aware of the time in which they are to go out and gather it. However, what this actually means is not explained by Lindsay Roberts. How does a person gather their healing? Either a person is healed or they are not, and if the healing comes as a result of a "Seed Faith" offering and God heals, how could a person miss a healing or not expect it?

Some years back, Oral Roberts was pleading with his followers to give him 8 million dollars that he claimed God commanded him to raise, or else God was going to kill him. Now, that is a serious issue, but all Oral Roberts had to do was write a check for $80,000.00 and give it to some deserving Word of Faith ministry and God would have been obligated to provide the one-hundredfold return of 8 million dollars Himself, according to the "Seed Faith" doctrine. But, that never happened and Oral Roberts continued to plead and cry until undiscerning supporters finally came through with the money, which was promptly squandered and not used for the purpose for which Oral Roberts said it was being raised.

Some months ago, Richard Roberts was making plea for donations in order to replace an old air conditioning cooling tower at Oral Roberts university. Apparently, like his father, he had forgotten about the "Seed Faith" doctrine and failed to connect the concept with his ability to have a check written in the name of the university and give it as a "Seed Faith" offering to some deserving ministry so that God would be obligated to provide all the necessary funds.

Just recently, Richard Roberts was on television with a special program, pleading for donations to the Oral Roberts University scholarship program in order to fund the tuition for deserving students. Where was the teaching about "Seed Faith" giving in relation to the students, who could provide their own tuition by giving their "Seed Faith" gifts to the Oral Roberts Ministries and receive the one-hundredfold return on their gift?

Basic Word of Faith teaching is that if you give, you will receive, but Lindsay Roberts' teaching is that if you give, you may not receive and in that case it is your fault. It is your fault if you give but don't have sufficient faith to make things happen and it is your fault if you give and do not reap the harvest your self. God is the magic genie in the equation, but He does not speak to the seeker, only to the master teachers who are receiving their monetary rewards from undiscerning givers who do not realize or understand that organizations such as Oral Roberts Ministries do not obtain their funding by means of the application of the "Seed Faith" principles of giving by themselves, but from the gifts by followers. Now, that is a deal for the ministries that just will not quit.

SEE:
Prayer Of Agreement - Matthew 18:19

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