Being an upright and faithful messenger in the church systems of men doesn’t qualify one as a servant of God. The servants of God walk in His righteousness, not their own, and have nothing to do with the works of men, the paths of the destroyer. “Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah” (Psalms 39:5 KJV).
You say in your letter:
“I have only found one man so far who preaches what he believes & does not ask for money…Zac Poonen.”
Many preach what they believe (though there are some outright shysters who knowingly preach whatever serves their ambitions without any convictions whatsoever), but who preaches the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Zac doesn’t.
To begin with, he preaches another god, the trinity, an abominable doctrine that desecrates the One True God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Read our section on this – The Trinity, starting with The Gospel According to Trinitarians.
Zac also preaches the most blasphemous of diabolical doctrines coming out of false Christianity, never-ending torment.
As for not asking for money, that certainly separates Zac from the crowd of beggars who populate false Christendom, but it isn’t a mark of true faith in Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1st letter, chapter 13) that you could give all your goods to feed the poor and lay down your body to be burned, yet still not have the love of God (faith in action).
There are some indicators that Zac’s “financial policy” isn’t of faith. He asks these questions of those who wish to give to his work. I’ll take them one at a time:
“1. Are you a born-again child of God? It is a great honour and privilege to support the work of God on earth; but that privilege is given only to His born-again children (3 John 7).”
It’s true that offerings in the Body of Christ are made by those who receive the ministry of God, but is it only limited to those? Not necessarily. Didn’t the queen of Sheba and other heathen bring offerings when Solomon was building the Temple, which the Lord said was a “house of prayer for all nations”? Who is Zac to limit who can give, if the Lord moves their hearts?
“2. Do you have enough money for your family’s needs? Are you sure that your giving will not put your family under any financial strain? You must take care of your family’s needs first (1 Tim.5:8). Our Father in heaven is very rich and He (like any rich earthly father) does not want any of His children to starve or suffer in any way, just because they gave Him money for His work.”
What about the poor widow the Lord commended?
Mark 12:42-44 ESV
(42) And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.
(43) And He called His disciples to Him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.
(44) For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Do you think she went without, because she honored God before her own needs? That will never happen.
“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing” (Psalms 37:25-26 ESV).
What do these words mean to you?:
Matthew 6:31-33 MKJV
(31) Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “With what shall we be clothed?”
(32) For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
(33) But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
And what about the widow in the days of Elijah, during the drought?
1 Kings 17:8-16 MKJV
(8) And the Word of the LORD came to him, saying,
(9) “Arise, go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon, and live there. Behold, I have commanded a widow to keep you there.”
(10) And he arose and went to Zarephath, and came in to the entrance of the city, and, behold, the widow was gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please, bring me a little water in a vessel so that I may drink.”
(11) And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Please, bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
(12) And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have a cake, but only a handful of meal in a pitcher and a little oil in a jar. And behold, I am gathering two sticks, so that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
(13) And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear, go. Do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it, and bring it to me. And then make for you and for your son.
(14) For so says the LORD, the God of Israel, The pitcher of meal shall not be emptied, nor shall the jar of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.”
(15) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house ate many days;
(16) the pitcher of meal was not consumed, and the jar of oil did not fail, according to the Word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.
Zac speaks man’s reasoning and not according to the faith of Christ.
“3. Do you have any large debts to repay? If so, do clear those debts first. God wants His children to live restful lives, free from all debt. We must first give to Caesar what is his, before we can give anything to God, because God does not want us to give Him Caesar’s money, or anyone else’s money (Matt.22:21; Rom.13:8).
(Note: A house-loan is not a ‘debt’ (in the meaning in these verses), because the house is an asset that you posses that is equal in value to the loan taken. For the same reason, a vehicle-loan is also not a debt – provided the vehicle is insured for the value of the loan taken).”
Our first debt is to God, not that we can pay for our salvation, but we all owe Him big-time. Honoring Him comes before all other obligations, for those who believe.
Malachi 3:8-12 MKJV
(8) Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, “In what have we robbed You?” In the tithe and the offering!
(9) You are cursed with a curse; for you are robbing Me, the nation, all of it.
(10) Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says the LORD of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.
(11) And I will rebuke your devourer, and he shall not decay the fruit of your ground against you; nor shall your vine miscarry against you in the field, says the LORD of Hosts.
(12) And all nations shall call you blessed; for you shall be a delightful land, says the LORD of Hosts.
“4. Do you have a clear conscience? Have you done your best to be reconciled with those whom you have hurt in any way? God will not accept any offering from anyone who has hurt someone and still not apologised to that person (Matt.5:23, 24)”
The problem here is that Zac’s guidelines can be understood in whatever way the carnal man is inclined, whether through the lusts of the flesh or a faulty conscience that lacks the knowledge and faith of Christ.
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6 MKJV).
Shall you apologize for inflicting hurt as a friend? Will you be justified before God if siding with the flesh and strengthening others in sin?
“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10 MKJV).
If one has the faith to give, should he be burdened with trying to figure out his motives and stance with God? Yes we need to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith or not, but this is God’s judgment and work, not our own.
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self. For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but He Who judges me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:3-4 WEB).
“Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of this mind. And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you” (Philippians 3:15 MKJV).
“5. Are you giving freely and cheerfully – and not under pressure from any man or even from your own conscience? God loves cheerful givers, not reluctant givers. He does not want gifts from those who give under pressure, or who give in order to fulfill some obligation, or who give merely to ease their conscience, or who give in order to get some reward from Him in return (2 Cor.9:7).”
Some good things to consider there, but once again, one needs to walk by faith and recognize the battles we must fight as believers. Why shouldn’t we listen to our consciences, if we’ve purposed to give in our hearts? Being cheerful isn’t the goal, but living by faith and obedience. Overall, Zac goes by carnal sight and teaches others to do so.
You continue:
“Now he may make mistakes b/c NONE of us has all the truth but I do admire the Spirit of the Lord in him.”
Speak for yourself and your teachers. True believers with God’s Spirit have all the truth, because they have the Lord Jesus Christ. If Zac Poonen spoke by the Spirit of Truth, he wouldn’t be teaching falsehoods as a presumed man of God. Share this with him (if you can reach him) and see how he reacts. You will see he won’t receive correction or change his ways – he’s too rich in himself. That’s not the Spirit of the Lord you’re admiring, Donna – it’s Zac’s righteousness.
You say you know that “the church system is a mixture,” yet here you are giving kudos to one of its promoters. What kind of influence is that on the naïve and ignorant? Don’t you realize that mixture is a destroyer that invites God’s wrath on those who take His Name in vain? Read Incompatible Mixture. [End of Letter]
Then there’s this astounding quote and piece of confusion from Zac Poonen, where he openly admits he doesn’t know the Lord by revelation, and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when trying to understand God as the trinity:
“A dog cannot understand multiplication – how three ones when multiplied can still be one: 1x1x1=1. Neither can we understand how God can be Three Persons and yet One God. A dog can understand only another dog. He cannot understand a man fully. In the same way, a god that could be explained and understood by our human reason would only be another man just like ourselves. The very fact that the God of the Bible transcends our reason is the clearest evidence that this is indeed the truth.”
The apostle Paul clearly addressed this matter with the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 2:11-16 MKJV
(11) For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of man within him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
(12) But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.
(13) These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
(14) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.
(16) For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Paul’s words to the Athenians also apply to Zac Poonen and his followers:
“You men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you” (Acts 17:22-23 KJV).