Iron Sharpens Iron: JUSTIN PETERS: THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT EXPOSED by a Minister with Cerebral Palsy

Thursday, March 26, 2009

JUSTIN PETERS: THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT EXPOSED by a Minister with Cerebral Palsy

JUSTIN PETERS, an ordained Baptist minister, evangelist & conference speaker, will address the theme: "THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT EXPOSED by a Minister with Cerebral Palsy."

Justin Peters is a staff evangelist at First Baptist Church in Vicksburg, Mississippi . Justin created Justin Peters Ministries to fulfill God's call on his life of full-time ministry.

The influence of two loving Christian parents coupled with the challenges of Cerebral Palsy led Justin to begin inquiring about salvation at an early age. Shortly after a visit with his then pastor, Dr. John G. McCall, God graciously saved Justin at age seven. God's call on Justin's life to vocational ministry came in November 1995 while attending Mississippi State University .

Throughout his years as a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Justin studied at great depth the Word of Faith movement. The thesis he wrote for his Master’s of Theology (Th.M.) degree is entitled "An Examination and Critique of the Life, Ministry and Theology of Healing evangelist Benny Hinn".

In addition to his academic research, Justin also has attended numerous Benny Hinn crusades and has been witness first hand to the harm, both physical and spiritual, that the Word of Faith movement inflicts upon so many. As a teenager, Justin himself attended faith-healing services in hopes of being delivered from his Cerebral Palsy. Though the potential was there to shake his faith in the Lord, in the long run, these experiences had the opposite effect. Says Justin:

"Some have made the charge against me that I am just bitter about not being healed. I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Next to my salvation, my Cerebral Palsy is one of the greatest gifts (an imperfect word to be sure) God has ever allowed me to have. He has used it to keep me dependent upon Him and through it has shown me His 'sufficient grace' and “strength made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

In 2004, Justin was featured as an expert witness for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s documentary on Benny Hinn entitled "Do You Believe In Miracles?".

In 2006 Justin was interviewed for the documentary entitled "Suffer the Children" produced by Trevor Glass. This documentary shows the profound harm, both physical and spiritual, that the Prosperity gospel inflicts upon so many.

In addition to expository preaching, another aspect of Justin's ministry is the three session seminar which he has developed entitled "A CALL FOR DISCERNMENT: A BIBLICAL CRITIQUE OF THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT". This seminar is a fair, comprehensive, biblical critique of the modern Word of Faith movement. Word of Faith theology (WoF) dominates Christian satellite and cable television and is making alarming inroads into our Baptist churches. This seminar contains dozens of audio and video clips (primarily the latter) of various WoF leaders such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Jessie Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, etc. incorporated into a PowerPoint format. This format allows people to see and hear for themselves what these individuals are actually teaching. Everything then is, in turn, balanced with Scripture.

This seminar is being conducted at CENTEREACH BIBLE CHURCH on Long Island June 19-21, 2009. PASTOR SCOTT KRANIAK of Centereach Bible Church is co-hosting today's broadcast.

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