Beware of False Prophets

ABC News reports that Huckabee invokes Jesus Christ in his newest ad in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, set to unveil tomorrow.  See the ad here.

Jake Tapper from ABC News sums up the ad:

With "Silent Night" strumming as soothing background music, Huckabee tells voters he doesn't blame them if they're "worn out" from all the political ads.

As the camera pans to reveal a Christmas tree behind him, the former Baptist minister says that at this time of year "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends."

I cannot remember a presidential candidate ever invoking Christ in a TV ad before.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

I suppose we've already lost the Constitution, so who needs separation of church and state?  Huckabee has been consistently blurring that line throughout his campaign.  Just last month he appeared with a televangelist, Johnny Copeland, for 6 consecutive days.  From an excellent article by Frank Lockwood, the Bible Belt Blogger for the  ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will appear on national television this month with a Texas televangelist whose teachings have been branded “heretical” and whose lavish spending has sparked a congressional inquiry.

Huckabee, a minister and former head of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, will sit down with Fort Worth preacher Kenneth Copeland “for six days of frank discussion on the biblical perspective of character, and the vital relevance true character has to the Church today,” a full-page advertisement in the December issue of Charisma magazine proclaims.

Yes, it turns out that Huckabee is a believer in the "profit prophecy" that Copeland and other televangelists have been preaching as of late.  A bit more on Copeland and his profit prophecy:

Copeland, 70, worked as a co-pilot for faith healer Oral Roberts and took classes at Oral Roberts University in the 1960s, before dropping out to enter fulltime ministry.

Today, he oversees a worldwide religious empire with offices in the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

The Texan teaches that Jesus was a wealthy man, and that all of Christ’s faithful followers are entitled to physical health and financial prosperity. But to receive, you must give first, because “giving is the key that opens the door” to blessings, the preacher states on his Web site. The evangelist also teaches that anyone can be healed of any infirmity — provided they have sufficient faith.

 

It turns out that God wants them to have lavish private jets, mansions, and the highest of living while people die of starvation and disease around the world.  Clearly, it's what Jesus Christ would have wanted.  By Huckabee's own admission, he is good friends with Copeland and seems to be a believer as well:

Earlier this month, in an interview with the Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee said he has stayed at the home of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and considers them friends.

“They mainly are just real encouragers,” Huckabee said.

And how does Copeland feel about separation of church and state?  You won't be surprised that he doesn't seem to recognize a separation:

ONLINE PROPHET

A Charismatic Christian, Kenneth Copeland speaks in tongues and posts dozens of “prophecies” on his Web site, purportedly channeling the voice of God on a range of topics.

Here’s a 2003 prophecy, spoken in the name of the Lord, which is posted at www.kcm. org: “I have taken over the politics and the politicians. Listen to My voice. Vote the way I say in all elections. America’s place as a nation is coming to its fullest and finest hour. Not just as the military power but as the source and supply of the gospel, My gospel, in power and witness to the whole earth.”

Scary, huh?

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

1 Corinthians 5:11

But Malcolm Yarnell, director of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Center for Theological Research, said Huckabee is joining forces with a false teacher who is spreading a “false gospel.”

“Kenneth Copeland is a heretic,” Yarnell said Friday. “I’m not sure it’s wise for [Huckabee] to use Kenneth Copeland’s pulpit to promote himself as a politician. I don’t like that.”

Others compare Copeland to a “snake-oil salesman” and liken his ministry to a cult.

That's some company you keep Huck.  A "snake-oil salesman"?  Could Copeland really be that bad?  In a word?  Yes.

His Web site promises riches to anyone who gives generously — provided they have the right attitude.

“Do you want a hundredfold return on your money? Give and let God multiply it back to you. No bank in the world offers this kind of return! Praise the Lord,” one online article reads.

In Copeland’s terminology, a donation is a “seed,” a $20 bill is a “little green blessing” and a southwest Arkansas vacation home is a “prayer cabin.”

Sounds like a prayer/money pyramid scam, complete with time-share prayer cabins in Arkansas.

Beware of false prophets, indeed.  

Update with video (hat tip to paddykraska):