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"During a Spiritual warfare conference in Anaheim Feb.1988 “On his (Paul Cain) first visit to Anaheim (to visit John Wimber) in February 1988 Paul saw powerful lights across the room and a strong sense of the presence of God was accompanied by revelations in the word of knowledge. On that occasion an expensive video camera was short-circuited. This was battery operated and no plugged into any outlet. The next night the telephone system was blown out though no one was on the phone at the time.” (Some Said It Thundered, David Pytches, p.52)
Paul Cain claims that the power and the anointing he has is so strong, when he speaks they experience tremendous power surge. Actually all the Kansas city prophets have such power that it affects the environment around them. This is hardly to be equated with the holy Spirit but more like a magnetic force that interrupts other power sources.
Ptyches writes in
his book some say it thundered, Mike Bickle told me of a particular
night that week when Paul had been prophesying and the power of God
came down mightily. Everyone began to sense the “manifest presence of
God” powerfully in the room. ... A solemn awe fell over the whole
place. Some simply remained sitting still in their seats. Others
tiptoed the aisles in trembling silence. Suddenly there was the sound
of sirens as two fire engines screeched to a standstill right outside
the center. The doors burst open and a number of uniformed firemen with
hoses and axes demanded to know where the fire was. Mike shook his
head, hardly able to cope with such an abrupt and earthly “landing.”
“There is no fire,” he said. “Oh, yes, there's a big one somewhere!
Down at the station all the signals possible are going for this place.
The circuits have blown and set off the alarm system. There are signs
of a tremendous power surge,” said the leading fireman. Hardly waiting
in his frenzied rush to find the fire. ... After the meeting Paul
turned quietly to Mike and apologized. “I am so sorry about the fire
scare. I should have warned you that that does sometimes happen when
there is a lot of divine power about!” (Some Said It Thundered, p.52)"
The nice sermon of
love and forgiveness isnt what New Wine is all about, you must dig
deeper then that trite sermon to find out what is the real message
these men are trying to get across, eventually it will. Everyone should
do their own research on this New Wine, starting with
the founder- David Pytches of the U.K.
code...alpahbits
"7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven,
raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in
Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For
these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of
the day"
The context is that the people heard the Apostles speaking in
actual country languages and were amazed. They couldnt believe what
they were seeing and
some mocked saying they were drunk, which Peter denied. But Randy Clark
of the Vineyard (he started the Toronto Blessing) said " I think
they were
drunk. They were drunk! Blah blah (acts like a madman while people
cheer him on) I gave this tape and many other quotes to the leaders at
Northview
before Alpha started there and before Rees was pastor. They ignored the
warnings again.
Here is another verse they use:
Ephesians 5:
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
These "men of god" say - see they were drunk being filled with the spirit. These verses say nothing of this in fact it starts off saying "do not be unwise" then9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, F14 nor sodomites, 10 nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But
you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 14- are we to act as mad man
like the Toronto Blessing?
23 Therefore if the whole church comes
together
in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who
are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
Some Christian authorities claim
that the unforgivable sin is a ongoing denial of the Holy Spirit's work
and the end result will be to never know Jesus as Lord and Savior thus
hell is the expected conclusion. Anyone who has read commentaries from
popular Christian scholars will admit there are many different
interpretations from so called experts, the best way to study the Bible
is to take a Vines Greek dictionary, a Strong's concordance and look up
the meaning to the verses yourself, with prayer and the intent to know
God's truth. Vines and Strongs are not commentaries but dictionaries so
you wont have their opinion.
Looking at the passage one should
decide- is Jesus talking about an ongoing rejection of the Holy
Spirit or.... speaking evil
of the Holy Spirit's work? Here is the passages:
Matthew
12:22-37 22 Then one was brought to Him who was
demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind
and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the
multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" 24 Now
when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out
demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." 25 But
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house
divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts
out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom
stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom
do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But
if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God
has come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter a strong man's
house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And
then he will plunder his house. 30 He who is not with Me
is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 "Therefore
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the
blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 Anyone
who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but
whoever speaks against
the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in
the age to come
"working with the Anglican Organization called “Faith in the City”. The project was brought to the attention of the Archbishop of the Church of England, and John’s project became their Flagship. John was presented before the Queen of England and Prince Charles to receive recognition for their work. The Lord brought in an excess of a million dollars from mainly the business sector.
In April of 1994, a prophet called Bobby Connor prophesied a new anointing coming to John & Jean, and in November of 1994, John went up to a prophetic conference in Toronto, Canada. In that conference, the Lord overpowered John with His Holy Spirit and with an anointing of intoxication and drunkenness and John was set apart to be a sign & wonder to the church. John now travels extensively throughout the world, imparting the New Wine of the Holy Spirit to those who are thirsty"
Here is what this New Wine looks like, click this link to see John Scotland in actionDr. Gerald L. Bray (Beeson Divinity
School)
Dr. Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ)
Dr. Harold O. J. Brown (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Mr. Charles Colson (Prison Fellowship)
Bishop William C. Frey (Episcopal Church)
Dr. Timothy George (Beeson Divinity School)
Dr. Os Guinness (The Trinity Forum)
Dr. Kent R. Hill (Eastern Nazarene College)
The Rev. Max Lucado (Oak Hills Church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas)
Dr. T. M. Moore (Chesapeake Theological Seminary)
Dr. Richard Mouw (Fuller Theological Seminary)
Dr. Mark A. Noll (Wheaton College)
Mr. Brian F. O'Connell (Interdev)
Dr. Thomas Oden (Drew University)
Dr. James I. Packer (Regent College, British Columbia)
Dr. Timothy R. Phillips (Wheaton College)
Dr. John Rodgers (Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry)
Dr. John Woodbridge (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Above
is a page from the Nazi children's book, Der Giftpilz (The
Poisonous Mushroom). The caption reads, "When you see a cross, remember
the gruesome murder of the Jews on Golgotha..."
Hitler leaving a Catholic Church
Adolf Hitler
converses with the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo, at a New
Year's reception in Berlin. (January 1, 1935)
Catholic clergy
and Nazi officials, including Joseph Goebbels (far right) and Wilhelm
Frick (second from right), give the Nazi salute. Germany, date
uncertain.
[Photo source, Holocaust
Encyclopedia,]
Priests give Hitler salute at a
Catholic youth
rally in the Berlin-Neukolln
stadium in August 1933.
Croatian Ustashi fuehrer Ante Pavelic giving Nazi salute (far
left) with Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac (far right) and other Catholic
Church leaders
A
Cardinal marches with the German Nazis
A religious leader, apparently Cardinal Michael Faulhaber, marches between rows of SA men at a Nazi rally in Munich.
In the early 1940's, a young Polish salesman, employed by
I.G. Farben Chemical Company (manufacturer of cyanide gas) 1 sold cyanide to the Nazis, for use in
Auschwitz. He also worked as a chemist manufacturing the cyanide gas
that exterminated millions of Jews and other peoples in the very heart
of the Auschwitz extermination camp. Fearing for his life after the
war, he took refuge in the Catholic church (cult) and was ordained a
priest in late 1946. In 1958, he was ordained Poland's youngest bishop.
After the thirty day reign and assassination of his predecessor, he
assumed the papacy as Pope John Paul II 2
He controlled an organization in America, called the Jewish Federation
and one of its many branches, the Cult Awareness Network which kidnaps
and "deprograms" Christians and other victims. The Pope's Cult
Awareness Network is a continuation of Hitler's "Ministry of Cults" 3 during World War II, designed to destroy
Judaism, Christianity and other religions, other than Catholicism.
Hitler and his entire staff, including the S.S. were all Catholics.
Their desire - a world for Catholics only. Why is the Pope so friendly
with the former Muslim leader? If you still have enough awe left to
your shock, here
is a website for you. Keep
The
current Pope Ratzinger was a Nazi Youth and served as a soldier
guarding the BMW plant that was manufacturing warplane
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1113827719517
Just in time for the picking of a new pope, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals decided Monday that Holocaust survivors can
pursue the Vatican Bank for profiting from a Nazi puppet regime.
Introduction
The first part of this site will be my story on what I experienced while
working for Henry
Hinn Ministries in Richmond, B.C. This web site will include
important facts on the Alpha Course, its strong connections to the
Vineyard's Toronto Blessing. There will be a list of
heretical teachers shown that is very long and will be exposed one at a
time, some with quotes, wave files, or even video of what has been
taught. Your author didn't write this to point fingers and make myself
of something in the Church, in fact few people who read this expose
really who I am. Rather your author is a willing "pen" used by God.
Keep
in mind there is no man that is righteous apart from God's grace,
including me. This verse should be in all our hearts; "Let God be true
and every man a liar". Isn't it true that those who we thought were
mighty men of God turned out to be just normal or not as good as we
expected. Looking up to man is always a disappointment.
This book is offered to the reader for free; freely we have received,
freely we should give. Hopefully more Christian authors will offer
their books online for free. With the the internet one can share their
book online for free or at the most pennies--after all if it is really
for the Lord why charge for it, why limit the number of people that can
afford to read it? Honestly there is only one thing I ask in return for
the many hours of data and effort put in this web site- I ask for those
who are close to Jesus and pray often to Him, to remember me and my
family in your prayers. Exposing the enemy doesn't come without
conflict, harsh battles in the spirit realm but also from "Christians"
. Many dont want to believe that they have been living a lie for many
years, its too hard to take. Its easier to ignore the evidence and lash
out.
The Bible does give room for naming and exposing false
teachers. Jesus constantly warned of them and we say this at the start
to dispel the fears of a typical charismatic who are trained to shun
any proof against 'a man of God'. Apostle Paul hadno problem
naming false teachers. Jesus had no hesitation of openly rebuking
heresy. Here Paul mentions some false teachers by name in a warning
letter to Timothy, Jesus also warned about these charlatans:
2 Timothy 2:16-18
16 Avoid godless, foolish discussions that lead to more and more
ungodliness. 17 This kind of talk spreads like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are
examples of this. 18 They have left the path of truth, preaching the
lie that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; and they
have undermined the faith of some."
Matthew 7:15
""Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "
Acts 20: 29-31
"29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in
among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men
will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples
after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years
I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears."
For the
type A personalities that cant wait for proof here is some right now
that clearly demonstrates the Vineyard/Toronto Blessing is
a heresy. Click this following links for a glimpse of what is going on
in the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF):
Preaching
while "drunk in the spirit" and making chicken sounds
Go
to www.bible.ca for more video and audio links
A new Vineyard CD
is out called 'Winds of Worship Vol.3: Live from the Toronto Airport
Christian Fellowship. Why would the Vineyard cut a CD with this crazy
group? Because Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship used to be
called the Toronto Airport Vineyard until things got out of hand with
the people barking, shaking, slain. They thought it was a move of God
and called it "The Toronto Blessing". Things got out of hand so the
Vineyard tried to make it look like they separated from the Toronto
Church however, there really was no separation at all.
Previously to this
release the Vineyard tried to make it look like they had nothing to do
with the controversial Toronto Church, yet easy research proved strong
ties between the Toronto Church with the rest of the Vineyard. Several
Vineyard Churches invited "Toronto Blessing preachers" as guest
speakers, this has been going on for years. In turn, the Toronto
Church invited Vineyard Pastors as guest speakers.
Now, the Vineyard
cut a CD with the Toronto Church clearly showing that they still are
linked to the Toronto Blessing Church. The CD features
popular Vineyard artists like David Ruis from Vineyard Christian
Fellowship Kelowna, B.C. This project was the work of the national
Vineyard Music Group.
Remember
people making animal noises,
shaking, uncontrolled laughter, drunkenness are practiced
in this Church. To be linked to it even remotely should be of great
concern. Its necessary to repeat as many cannot make the connection
between these groups, it seems too bizarre.
If you
clicked on the video links who would see Toronto Blessing "Pastors"
acting like a chicken, screaming "I shot the sheriff", saying "You would think you walked into a
mad house or something" ...people shaking on the ground ecetera.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Alpha Course is
linked to the Toronto Blessing as well!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nicky Gumbel, who wrote the course, is a guest speaker at the bizarre
Toronto Vineyard and he fully endorses the Toronto blessing movement as
of God repeatedly in
his videos and preaching, even going as so far to claim God threw a man across the room in
a meeting--evidence given later. Gumbel's home church, Holy
Trinity Brompton (HTB), is known for strange phenomena such as slain in the spirit, drunk in the
spirit, laughing....to the point of providing taxi service for the one
who are too "drunk in the spirit" to drive home.
Gumbel's call to
ministry happened when the Late John Wimber ( Vineyard pings in again)
anointed Gumbel. Wimber prayed "more power" on Gumbel. He couldn't take
anymore power and prayed "no more power". A prayer shouting match
occurred in the church between the two. The senior pastor of the
Toronto Vineyard, John Arnott, spoke twice as a guest speaker in
Gumbel's Church-Holy Trinity Brompton.
Why dont
people in North America know about this? In the past, the Alpha books
and videos from the UK include the Toronto Blessing and strange
behavior such as the man being thrown across the room, however these
videos and books were scrubbed,
then sent to Canada and the United States. It has been said that Gumbel
is simply spreading the Toronto Blessing into North American Churches
by means of the Alpha course, much like the Trojan Horse.
The Alpha course
initially looks like a great Bible Study that the unchurched could feel
comfortable in, however at the end of the course the Toronto Blessing
start to show up during the last phase of the course-The Holy
Spirit Weekend. During this time many people have reported the "Holy Spirit" causing 'feelings of
electricity', 'heat flashes' , 'uncontrolled laughter', 'uncontrolled
crying', 'shaking', 'chest being pulled up'.
With no doubt, the
Canadian and USA Churches are being conditioned to accept the Alpha
course, and the Alpha course fully accepts the Toronto Blessing.
This path is leading to a new era in the Church, one that will be open
to the bizarre behavior as mentioned above as from the Holy Spirit.
Some questions must be asked, what is the only sin not forgiven?
What does the Toronto Blessing say the Holy Spirit is doing? Is
the enemy dressed as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11) in these
strange new doctrines? Gumbel might be confident that his "10,000
volts" electrifying anointing he received from Wimber is evidence of
God's power, many-like us, would say he is deceived.
The Holy
Spirit is not a energy force, the Holy Spirit of the
Bible is a Person, part of the Holy Trinity. Interestingly enough
to include is that Gumbel claims former New Age proponents
grasp the "Holy Spirit" part of the Alpha course quicker
then people from traditional Churches (quotes
from Gumbel on this statement and others given later). When you
check out what Alpha graduates say about the Holy Spirit- "feelings of
electricity" , "heat flashes" etc we start to see one piece of
the puzzle. Isn't it odd that there are no Biblical accounts of this
type of movement from the Holy Spirit, yet we are told that the
Alpha course is safe. A glass of fresh water that has a drop of cyanide
poison in it looks safe as well. We must study the contents.
_______________
Gumbel is heavily into the Toronto Blessing (animal noises, shaking etc) and imported it from Canada to the United Kingdom along with top Vineyard Pastors, the Mumfords who are the head Pastors of the Southwest London Vineyard...the very Church where Brian Doerksen served and cut the CD "Winds of Worship London" a very famous CD that has songs like "Come now is the time to worship".
Nicky Gumbel, talks about Ellie Mumford in the Alpha video series
3, talk 9.
He recalls how someone was THROWN ACROSS THE ROOM when Ellie invited
the "Holy" spirit to move:
"Ellie Mumford told us a little bit of what she had seen in
Toronto...it was obvious that Ellie was just dying to pray for all of
us.. then she said 'Now we'll invite the Holy Spirit to come.' and the
moment she said that one of the people there was thrown, literally,
across the room and was lying on the floor, just howling and
laughing....making the most incredible noise....I experienced the power
of the Spirit in a way I hadn't experienced for years, like massive
electricity going through my body... One of the guys was prophesying.
He was just lying there prophesying. . ."
The main focus for this is the ‘Holy Spirit Weekend-Away’. People doing Alpha are told to expect all manner of things might happen to them. We are told,
"Sometimes, when people are filled, they shake like a leaf in the wind. Others find themselves breathing deeply as if almost physically breathing in the Spirit" (Gumbel 1994:136).
It is not restricted to this. however.
"Physical heat sometimes accompanies the filling of the Spirit and people experience it in their hands or some other part of their bodies. One person described a feeling of ‘glowing all over.’ Another said she experienced ‘liquid heat.’ Still another described ‘burning in my arms when I was not hot’" (Gumbel 1994:136).
It is very interesting the Gumbel admits that new age enthusiasts are "more at home" when they experience the weekend away with these manifestations. These points alone should be enough to warrant a red alert among leaders.
Shame on you Pastors and leaders for not standing for truth!
Connections with
Benny Hinn?
Gumbel's Church
(HTB) is linked with Benny Hinn's TV station "The God Channel" in the
UK, they place programs on that station. These facts alone should
cause alarm siren to go off. Its a sad time friend, the enemy has
infiltrated the Church. When pastors are warned they ignore the facts
and steam roll ahead with these programs, no matter what damage
is done to people. I warned Pastors with exhuastive evidence on
the Alpha course, yet not one responded. Does your Church host Alpha?
Do you love Jesus enough to stand against these heretical movements, or
do you love the movements more then Jesus? Its time for people to
put their money where there mouth is and stand up for truth. After
reading the evidence there will be only one reason for not taking
a stand- fear of man over fear of God.
From studying these false movements the thing that is outstanding
is the way the enemy
will look like a Christian . No pitch fork,
no satanic bible but a smiling clean cut person who will quote
scriptures from time to time yet lives a lukewarm Christian life
is a good candidate. These are some clues but not all: * Foolish talk
or obscene jokes * Greed, love of money* Cold
personality * Seems nice but doesn't hold scripture as authority.
Here are
some pictures of satanic rock bands using the satanic symbol. One time
while I was trying to cast a demon out of
a man the demon would growl and make the satanic sign in my face with
his hand. Beside the
Ill place "Christian" preachers who teach prosperity, "holy"
laughter and drunkeness, and other blasphemes:
All photos with the satanic sign are compliments of torontoblessing.com
In fact,
if you dont believe the author of Alpha is connected to these heresies,
just type in "Nicky Gumbel Toronto Blessing " on any search engine and
youll get tonnes of reading material unequivocally exposing Gumbel as a
heretic in Pastors clothing.
A
epidemic of lukewarm Christianity has hit the Church so to sharpen your
faith a little here is a list of verses that itching ears Pastors dont
preach on anymore :
v) Well I dont do those things but I will hang out or eat with a
brother who does, out of love :
1
Corinthians 5 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually
immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not
mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the
covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to
go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to
you not to
keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or
covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.
vi) Dont judge or you will be judged...youre so judgemental!:
12 For
what have I to do with judging those also who are outside [unbelievers]? Do you not judge
those who are inside? 13 But those who are
outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil
person."
I can
freely admit that Im not perfect and sin everyday but despite popular
beliefs there are some sins that condemn a person to hell. ( 1
Corinthians 6 above is one. Ill give more Bible verses
later) Jesus said "be perfect just as your heavenly Father is
perfect". He wants us to strive for holiness, to get there as
high as we can...not as a payment for our sins but in gratitude for all
Jesus has done and is doing for us. If Jesus warns against sin and
someone suggests to do a sin, obviously we are going to side with
Jesus...even if it means offending some people. Im going to offend a
lot of people but its only because there is a lot of false teaching not
because I want to cause a raucous. As a man who sins, this is a
hard tight rope to balance on- I cant agree with the heretics and I
dont want to judge unmercifully as to put myself in judgement for the
way I judged. Most importantly- I cant back down as we are called to
warn others if they are in danger.
Be warned-
The church is the number one target of the enemy.
Jesus
intent on judging verses become clear as one reads the whole Bible-
i) we are not to condemn people, that is God's job
ii) we are to avoid eating with a brother who is walking in unrepentant
sin and we are even called to
rebuke them (2 Timothy 3:15) How many people did you rebuke
this year? If the Bible claims judgement on a sin should we
pamper it? We can not, anymore, go along with something God
Himself condemns. To respect a command of God is not being judgemental
rather it is being obedient. These verses are shocking to most
Christians as they are used to 'warm fuzzies' preaching but it is a
fact that Jesus
warned about
hell
more then He talked about heaven; there are many verses in the Bible
that seem negative and very hard to read. So what will you do with
them? If you ignore them out of disdain you may have a false gospel in
your mind, or even a false religion.
Sure God is
love, but lets not forget that He did create hell and He will cast
people into a real lake of fire for eternal torment. Is this the God
you serve? If you make up your own god and worship it then you would be
guilty of idolatry. We must be certain we are not in a false religion.
Even if the Church you attend has a cross on the building you can still
be worshipping a false god that was made up.
we are
guilty of sharing a gospel that doesn't include that they are sinners
and need to repent. Jesus and the Apostles made clear in their
presentations that repentance from sins must be made. We dont talk
about hell either because we are ashamed to mention it. This is what we
say ; "God has a awesome plan for your life. Ask Jesus into your heart
and you will be saved".
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear reader, we must accept
humbly God's word. To hate His word is a caution to be stepping
on the enemy's ground or an indication that a belief in
a 'gospel' that isn't the gospel. The true gospel
includes repentance of sins
and commitment to Christ.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The
battle rages right now, at this moment
Spiritual
battles take place in the heavenlies but we can only deal with the
earthly realm therefore we must use the Bible as our weapon to cut
between doctrines of demons and truth. For some this may be a struggle
depending on where you are at in life. For those who have accepted
false teachings the battle will be greater. Looking back at the time
line from my research on Church history and thinking of how the
devil is operating behind all this one can see
that it was a very clever plan. This plan works
on decades and even centuries to effect the
believers in Jesus to steer them off the narrow
road. If you are looking for deceit to be as obvious as bearded man at
the airport with a ticking sound coming from his suitcase with the
words 'Al-qaeda' on his pyjamas then youre looking too shallow. Deceit
from the enemy is more clever than any plot from any agency. It takes a
very sensitive radar, it takes looking at the clues thoroughly..not
just on the surface level. Also it takes taking these clues seriously
in light of what God's word says about their doctrines. We must be
deeper thinkers when it comes to this subject as deceit from the enemy
doesn't look evil, rather it looks holy at first and we know that he
parades as a "angel of light" 2 Corinthians 11.
With the many deceits trickling in
the Church it is like a large dam wall that is
breaking in certain areas and deceit has started to flow into the
Church. Your author fears that it wont be long til huge chunks of the
wall will cave in- many examples of why will be given on this web site.
The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church, this is true but
remember during the Dark Ages there was very little truth. It
was a time for a famine of truth and when the Catholic
Church reigned many thought salvation was only achieved by following
the sacraments. Your author strongly feels we are entering a
another time of dark ages though this time it will end with the Lord's
return.
Anyone
who has ever written a story in the first person knows how difficult it
is not to write "I" all the time. Your author tried to substitute as
much as possible. Until a professional writer is hired, the reader has
to put up with the writing, spelling and grammar of a house
painter. My deepest apologize for this.
How close are we to the end? We strongly suggest that these are in the
last days. Waves of false prophets flow in the Christian main stream,
Churches open the doors to wolves in sheeps clothing. Many would say-No
way, today the church isn’t doing too bad.
Please look at the first piece of evidence here that undeniably prove
we are in a mess right now. Before we do that we should look at the
devil's scheme a bit. People become deceived when they don't closely
examine scriptures and what the "Pastor" is saying. A nice suit and a
Bible is all it takes for some to be deceived. We must examine i) the
message ii) the attitude iii) the outcome. It is not enough to say that
you have good feelings about a preacher. Many had thought they had the
gift of spiritual discernment but when the soft tinker bells came on at
Benny's crusade and the atmosphere, it all seems holy at first.
In Matthew 24, Jesus tells of the signs that will happen during this
amazing time of deceit, here is a portion of it:
Matthew 24:23-29
. 23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or
'There!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets
will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible,
even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if
they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look,
He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning
comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of
the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles
will be gathered together. 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of
those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the
Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
NKJV
Remember Jesus statement, “ Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is
in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do
not believe it."
There is a famous preacher who recently prophesied this very thing,
that Jesus would return in the inner rooms physically. His meetings can
be viewed around the globe on worldwide telecasts and many Christians
listen to his teachings and even give money to his ministry. He has got
us so fooled that when you suggest that he is a false prophet, most
Christians defend him automatically.

He prophesied that Jesus would return physically in churches around the
world. The name of this man is Benny Hinn and he prophesied this on TBN
April 2, 2000 before his crusade in Nairobi, Kenya. Here is the actual
prophecy:
“He appeared after His resurrection and He is about to appear before
His second coming. You know a prophetess sent me a word through my wife
and she said, ‘Tell your husband that Jesus is going to physically
appear.' IM expecting to see, IM telling you that, I feel its going to
happen. I I I I (stutter) IM careful of how IM saying it now because I
know that the people in Kenya are listening. I know deep in my soul
that something supernatural is going to happen in Nai...Nai...
(stutter) Nairobi Kenya. I feel that. I may very well come back, and
you and Jan are coming to, Paul and Jan are coming to Nairobi with me.
Paul we may very well come back with footage of Jesus on the platform.
Now hear this; IM prophesying this: Jesus Christ the Son of God is
about to appear physically in some churches and some meetings and to
many of His people for one reason to tell you He’s about to show up.”
Click here
to see the video of Benny Hinn's false prophecy
The quote sounds obviously heretical in writing however mixed with soft music, a Bible in hand, Christians with their hand's raised it is more palatable to consume. How could Benny say such a thing? Let us make this as simple and clear as possible: Benny doesn't fear God's word. His ministry is based on deviant experiences, not truth. Often Benny and Henry will proclaim: "The letter kills but the spirit gives life", the implication is that the Bible, written letters, are not to be taken as serious as the anointing. This montebank theology steers your trust slightly away from the Bible and then to their heretical preaching.
The
letter, as referred to in the Bible , is the Law of Moses not written
alphabets. That passage in scripture is simply stating the obvious- You
cant be saved from obeying the Law, you can only be saved by belief in
Jesus by the convictions of the Holy Spirit. The passage is not
saying to put the anointing above the written word rather the
Bible repeatedly warns agaisnt scripture twisting...the written words
are to be in first place. They monopolizes the 'anointing', wave their
magic wand and voila people are left standing in a trance
dishing money out of their wallets. What Benny Hinn teaches does effect
the entire global Church as many listen to him in the comfort of their
easy chair, they fellowship with you on Sunday, deal with you in
business and you are effected whether you realize it or not. Yes even
in conservative Churches.
I met a few of Benny Hinn's former workers so there will some important
facts given later from their experiences, first hand, with Benny. For
those of you in the faith movement or if you are undecided about it I
ask you to read the book and examine the evidence I give which is
pretty detailed and then come to your conclusion. Beware that you don't
be stubborn as a mule, not wanting to change your ways even if the
truth about it becomes clear. Many minds have locked in
pre-suppositions that they hold on to even when the truth makes them
see a little bit of light. Remember above all family, friends, and
pursuits that we will face God on judgment day...we all will be
required to answer to Him for any disobedience.
Although
Benny Hinn is a proven heretic he did repent of having the holy
laughter prophet, Rodney Howard Browne, preach at his Church when in
Orlando. Benny also said that barking and animal noises are not from
God. Does this make Benny Hinn reliable? Not at all, but those who
accept animal noises and holy laughter are less discerning then Benny
Hinn! Those who attend and accept the Toronto Blessing ,ie. many
Vineyard goers, are more heretical then Benny Hinn. Not only
that, the Alpha course is setting the stage up for future
Toronto Blessing manifestations in your Church. Im writing
this in December 2003 and my speculation , not a prophecy , is that
before the year 2015 that there will be shaking, laughing, animal
noises and other strange heresies in many Churches that now host the
Alpha course.
How
could this happen? One example is Peace Portal Alliance Church. They
are very pro-Alpha and even sent a group of youths to Holy Trinity
Brompton (HTB) where these bizarre manifestations are happening. When
the youth group came back they gave a exciting report, as the ball
keeps rolling the infactuation with the esoteric movement will deepen
and its true axiom will appear. The long awaited "outpouring" can then
start to take place.
As many
graduate from Alpha they will read about these strange happenings to
Gumbel and others in books and videos and many will be effected in this
manner. It wont happen overnight, deceit takes time and
opportunity to strike when the "iron is hot" at the right time in the
future it will start to unfold. Northview is now moving full speed with
the Alpha even after documents that were given to
influential Pastors and elders there starting in 2001, they
refuse to heed any warnings. Again, Nicky Gumbel accepts barking/
shaking/ slain as from God and is the author of Alpha. His videos
slowly introduce these strange manifestations to Churches.
Northview even had a world famous Elvis impersonator perform at Alpha.
Now, they are offering two Alpha courses in the Spring due to high
demand and a Alpha marriage seminar to boot! Sounds like Alpha is
taking Churches over one at a time and they are more then willing buy
their prepackaged programs. An Elvis is just what Alpha needs to add
their charm and to get people ready for the deceit they are about to
take in. Northview has been shaken up since they took in Alpha with
some Pastors and Elders either quitting or getting fired. I personally
believe Northview is going to see much more turmoil with great
intensity and the Pastors will be judged now and more so on judgement
day (The Bible says that teachers of the Bible will judged more
severely). Anyone who faces the Lord would wish that they ignored men
and popular movements and stood up for truth, with out caring at all
about being accepted.
Breaking
it down, its as simple as this: A man walks in your Church and tells
you that he thinks barking, shaking, slain is from the Lord-even that
God could throw a man across the room, tells you that the Holy Spirit
can cause bizzarre manifestations such as these. Later this man offers
a course to draw in the unchurched. One would think people would ignore
this man or try to get him some help for his warped thinking. But no,
the Churches prop this man on the stage, applaud him and follow his
teachings. I dont care how 'Christian' his message sounds at first,
Nicky Gumbel's stand on bizarre experiences is clear. Churches
have rejected courses in the past that dont have this heretical twist
to it, why do they accept this one?
" Its not what is taught, but what is
caught." Alpha offers a sense of enchantment and maybe your
Church will grow in numbers. There is something about this course
that attracts people.
This is a troubling fact but people who are caught up in these
movements are not concerned at any evidence quotes or truth but they
have already made up their mind before looking at any evidence. It
could be because they hold a position in the movement or desire one. It
could be that they don’t want to lose their friends or it could be that
their pride would be crushed. It takes a person who really wants the
truth and loves the Lord so much that they will do anything to make
sure they are right with Him. I feel the main reason for them refusing
to discern the truth is that it would be too hard to deal with, admit
that they were very deceived then re-learn the basic Biblical truths
again. At the same time they would be wrestling with the teachings that
are already installed in their mind by these teachers. Its a wretched
place to be in, but far worse is to never see the truth of the deceit. Some in these movements actually
know its a circus full of greed, lies, sin but the atmosphere is
exciting so they want the lie instead of the truth, just as people have
done in the past:
Isaiah 30:9-11
9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the Lord; 10 Who
say to the seers, "Do not see," And to the prophets, "Do not prophesy
to us right things; Speak to
us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way, Turn
aside from the path, Cause
the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us."
There is a whole dynamic that we have to deal with in exploring why
people have chosen these new movements. Others like me in the past,
have let the guard down on false teachings and accepted it because it
looked Christian and also the lure of a Delilah..so and so attends so I
got to.
Friends who get involved in these movements show some excitement in their life, that draws friends in. Or some have gave up on truth subconsciencely out of consequence from a hurt that they blamed God for and since "God did that to me" Im not going to care as much about my faith in Him. Others have doubts of creation or the supremacy of God due to the wicked onslaught of evolution theories (the great debate) and buying into humanistic thought. The thought is; take a little of God's word and believe it but not the whole enchilada. That space in-between doubt and a solid trust in God's word as divine truth leaves a open area that the enemy moves in as the person doesn't vigilantly guard truth as precious.
This expose was published so people can come back to Jesus and solid
doctrine. Many Christians are confused today and we need to examine the
Church at every level to see what is culprit. Then can we have peace in
our lives again in knowing we are walking in truth.
How does deceit look like?
In North
America we have enjoyed a fortress of safety until airliners where
hijacked systematically and used as huge missiles to down the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon. September 11 , 2001 left us all feeling
vulnerable to more attacks. The world as we knew it is no longer here
and will never be here again. The Taliban trained for years to do this
mission. They smiled at security officers and looked as if they fit in,
all along knowing they want to kill. Even to the last minute they
deceived Americans. One report of a Taliban relaxing the people on
United Airlines flight 93 by announcing on the speakers "This is your
captain. There is a bomb on board. We are returning to the airport".
Just on the news today Saddam's faithful army used an van painted as a
ambulance to get close to their target. These are examples on
deceit.
The
enemy will use look like Christians to deceive. 'Spiritual' music is
also used but we will get more into these subjects later. The
connection of the Hinn's being Arabian isn't the issue, there are many
good Arabian Christians. Benny and Henry are bad apples smiling at you,
acting holy as they take your money and faith away. Wolves come dressed
in sheep clothing-- Benny likes to where white on the stage.
The enemy's objective? he wants to get into the church really bad. This
is his main objective: to deceive Christians.
Exposing false teachers is a battle that is to be fought in accordance
to Jesus command. This battle is raging presently; waged by very few,
and what we found is that the church today shoots "friendly fire" at
the very ones trying to stand against the flood of deceit pouring into
the church today. Instead of encouraging the discerning person we label
them as “divisive” and “judgmental”.
Each man does today what is right in his own eyes.
Christians have become more tolerant on sin than the Bible is and we
have strayed off the narrow way. Instead of seeking the Kingdom of
heaven we are seeking the Kingdom of pleasure and money. Instead of
preachers teaching the fear of God with sobriety we have CEO's who
preach with a proud, boastful spirit that put on a great show. Doesn't
God say that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord? If a
person doesn't fear the Lord then the Bible will mean nothing,
obedience will mean nothing to them. The new fast and easy gospel
preached today produces "No fear Christians". One "Pentecostal
Christian" who was part of a gang always used to boldly say "Only God
can judge me"... and that He will.
What
kind of gospel are these people hearing? "I can do anything I want and
Jesus will still love me". But why are Jesus' words more sobering; "If
you love Me you will keep My commandments" We don't hear that
much anymore do we? Like the song says, "We pat God on the back
like a buddy from out of town, we thank the man upstairs..". These
modern preachers know how to win friends and influence people. Does
this style of preaching make the church strong?
According to data from focus on the family, Christian couples have a
higher divorce rate then non Christians. People have made rebuttals
about this data like it doesn't include the non Christians who live
common in law. Even so, the Christian couples who actually took the
plunge and said "I do" at the altar will likely get a divorce before
the non-christians who take the same plunge at the altar of marriage.
The data should be NO WHERE near the unsaved rate of divorce. Where are
the Promise Keepers now? A few years ago 1 Million PK men joined on the
White House lawn to demonstrate they stand for family values so what is
going on with the divorce number? PK is a feel good men's group full of
hype and nonsense. Promise Keepers is riddled with false
prophecy and heretical teachings from the top leaders down. Accepting
Catholics and Mormons as in Christ. (http://www.equip.org and type in
promise keepers in the search box)
The divorce data reveals something is very wrong. Is it loss of love in
general or the lack of fear in God's Word? An attitude is in the
Church, one that will not go away easy. Are you willing to roll up your
sleeves to find out why, and when you do find the answers will you do
what it takes to stave off corruption in the Church?
We hope Christians don't get the idea of marrying a nonchristians from
that data above, this is another huge sin. The Bible speaks of not
being yoked together with a unbeliever:
2 Corinthians 6
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has
light with darkness?
Bakers Evangelical Dictionary:
For marriage to function now according to God's ideal, believers in
Christ need to marry only believers. Whenever God directly brought a
man and woman together in marriage, both were believers. Although pagan
customs encouraged marriage with anyone (cf. Gen. 16), Israel was given
explicit commands not to marry foreigners who would lead them to
worship foreign deities (Deut 7:1-4; 13:6-11; 17:1-7; 20:17; 23:2). New
Testament believers are also not to be "unequally yoked" with
unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14), meaning any action causing the union of
believer with nonbeliever, or nonbelieving ways, must be avoided.
So with that we'll finally get on with the story.
Your author had a very good friend named Chris with whom the first
years of being a Christian were spent. We had many good times and
were excited about serving the Lord. Your author owned a
painting company , at times Chris would be employed doing odd jobs. At
one house we painted we met a bravado "Christian" tile-setter that
attended Victory Christian Center in Surrey, B.C. He would
belittled traditional churches and had some interesting things to
say about faith. He proclaimed that if we wanted to get things from God
then we must manipulated God in prayer. The tile-setter said, “Let me
give you a acorn of wisdom…” To which your author replied “Just don’t
give me any nuts.”
Those days were full of excitement and joy. We would listen with
amazement to Bob Larsen on the radio as he “took on” demons. After
about six years of friendship we heard that Bob was coming to do a
workshop in Seattle, Washington and we made plans to attend. When
Bob called people forward who had marital or spiritual problems some of
them fell to the ground and started moving wildly. Even people who
looked normal at the beginning of the service started manifesting on
the ground, shaking, roaring, and moving out of control. When Bob got
control of the people he had asked them some questions and to my
amazement some of the people said they were Christians.
Later our friends where told on what we saw at Bob’s convention, they
too were amazed when they heard that Christians where demon possessed.
Soon after this your author felt it was time to leave the old
traditional church namely, the Apostolic Christian Church ( http://www.apostolicchristian.org/
ACC from Europe not
the Charismatic ACC). Northview Community church was chosen in October
1994. Chris made new friends and your author started dating for the
first time as the ACC didn't allow that.
Northview Community Church is Mennonite affiliated but you wouldn’t
have known it was unless someone told you. It was complete with a
contemporary worship band full of talented artists who had their own
music on CD and some of the music could be heard on Christian radio.
The college and career group was called “Roaring 20’s” at the time and
it had anywhere from 300 to 600 college and career age people on
Wednesday nights. It was a bit of a wild group as you can imagine from
the name. They had fun but also the Pastor of the group, Dr. Dave
Currie, strongly encouraged the group to go on short-term mission trips
to experience Jesus in a radical way. The group had many positive
aspects to it but there also some negatives as well. Friends confessed
of sexual impurity. In the ACC a Christian who commits
fornication was put under punishment until the person repents of the
sin and it was hardly an issue.
I
recall one particular character from Roaring 20's so clearly due
to the sheer lunacy of his actions. He had the hots for a girl so he
made up a tape of him talking to Bill Clinton and some celebrities-
altering his own voice to mimmick the celebs. He gave her the tape and
we had a big laugh. One girl named Dominique would grope my face with
her hands in view of all the girls in the sanctuary, I had to tell her
to stop that nonsense. She was later invited by a Roaring 20's leader
to his hut tub...and more. Jen, who I was very interested in blew
me off my feet when we were square dancing and I asked her how it was
going and she replied, "Fine now that Im with you". That was a lot for
a boy who was brought up in a no dating Church. Jen later
resigned from the executive team and called Roaring 20's a "meat
market".
The
Revival Center’s meetings were strange. People would fall down on the
ground “under the power” and they encouraged everyone to speak in
tongues. They would dip their finger in oil and put it on people to
“anoint them”. The people would go to the front stage to get anointed
then they would lie down on the floor. Some would laugh and claim that
God was making them laugh. Some would describe that they are feeling
warm burning sensations. Your author thought that this was very strange
but they were helping people on the streets so maybe it was for real.
Chris was at a revival meeting at Christ for the Nations and fell
"under the power". As he was laying there a big black women, a fellow
class mate, started to grab his heels and drag him out of the room
while mumbling something like "Im going to get me some..." When Chris
realized that he was being dragged outside the gymnasium doors he asked
her what she was doing. Chris told all his class mates and they all had
a big laugh. One of the teachers there, who I remembered as very stern
and serious as he spoke on the stage, was found out to have an affair
with a student of his...he resigned later. At first, one would
think these meetings where holy until closer
examination. At a missions conference years ago called 'Missions
Fest' a Christ for the Nations student urged me to check out
their college and worship events, she said that they have awesome
worship. Thank the Lord your author didn't feel led to. Chris and other
students went to see Rodney Howard Browne speak at a large
Charismatic Church in Vancouver (Not that Im afraid to mention the
name, I forgot which one it was) Chris and Suzy ended up laughing on
the floor and rolling on each other under the pews. Soon Chris tried to
get me
to "laugh" in the spirit. If he tried that today I would rebuke him
harshly and immediately but back then I was conditioned from
Northview's "love and dont judge anyone" attitude. This attitude is
very dangerous for the climate we live in today which is full of
doctrines from the pit of hell. We were friends for 7 years and there
is something about being a friend that wants to keep it together
at almost any cost. Not for me today, I found out rebuking
is the most loving things you can do much like slapping the childs hand
to keep it away from the hot stove. To sit there and watch "out of
love" is not love...its hateful and evil.
Missionaries set up booths at Northview, one particular gentleman
didn't want to accept your author for long term missions, why? No
B.A. in Theology or any degrees. All the Apostles wouldnt be accepted
by them ! (Including Paul...he was trained under Jewish Law not N.T.
Theology) Your author prayed to this effect, "Lord if you ever give me
my dream of starting a no compromise mission outreach, I will never
link up with these political ministries"
One night during street evangelism Chris wanted to go into the
dirtiest and darkest alley and preach but your author was a little
apprehensive. After some cajoling from Chris we walked down the
alley saw a man lying on the pavement motionless. There was a
hypodermic needle stuck in his arm with blood coming out. We ran up to
him and Chris checked his pulse. “There is no pulse,” Chris said, “
Should I give him mouth to mouth”? Right then a lady who looked high
staggered toward us and said, ”Move out of the way I’m a nurse.” So she
started to give him CPR but she wasn’t successful in reviving him. Your
author immediately ran to get some help and found a phone at this old
hotel beside the alley and called 911. Back at the scene and Chris was
holding him and praying for him. It was very touching to see Chris care
for this stranger. Just then the ambulance arrived and took the
man away. As the ambulance drove away, a man named Dwight
approached and asked for money. We didn’t give him money right
then but asked him to consider what he just saw, the next one to die
might be him. He told us that his wife left him with his royalty money
from writing the song, "Play that funky music White Boy". He told us
how he used to travel to the tropics and live in luxury. He got hooked
on drugs and his money went to keep his habit. He told us that he wants
to change and come to church. We thought Dwight would start coming to
church so Chris met him later on gave him some money. Chris told me
that night when your author prayed for the man in the alley his
pulse came back. " Why didn’t you tell me when it happened in the
alley". "I was too shocked at the time to tell you".
We were upset that Dwight didn’t show up at church at the next
services. Later we met Dwight again on the streets and he expressed
that this time he really wanted to go to church and change his life. He
came along with us to the Revival Center that night and as the service
was starting Dwight started to growl and make strange noises. He would
bow down his chair. He kept leaving the meeting and coming back in. He
told us that he had something evil in him that was scratching him.
Chris brought him to the front of the church and the pastor
(Harry) prayed for him to "cast out" the devil. Afterwards we had
donuts and coffee at the church but Dwight said he still feels
something wrong inside him. We told Harry and he said, in his simple
manner, " it will come out in time", then Harry walked away speaking in
tongues with jelly from the donut on the side of his mouth. That night
as we drove him home, Dwight spotted another one of his friends on the
street and asked us if we could share Jesus with him as well. We gladly
picked up his friend Dave and we resumed our drive to Dwight’s
apartment. As we drove Dwight’s voice changed and he started to act
very strangely. Chris pulled the car over and we prayed over Dwight and
he started to scream and roar loudly. Finally after a few minutes
Dwight stopped roaring and relaxed. He looked up and said that he felt
wonderful. Dwight's friend Dave was freaking out in the back of the car
and we asked Dave if we could pray over him as well. It turned out that
we prayed for Dave's deliverance as well and he said that he felt as
light as a feather. Both of them were full of joy and Dave was hugging
the Bible while shouting that he loves the Bible. They thanked God and
were excited about life. We were very overwhelmed at the phenomena we
saw that night.
A lot of interesting things were happening. One night as we drove from
street ministry to go back home Chris started to freak out and told me
that God had written on my face and as Chris read it out loud your
author started to believe the message and your author started to wonder
what was going on. your author never experienced God like this before.
Chris had “words from the Lord” to give to me and we were experiencing
new phenomena such healing and other miracles. During this time Chris
was working for me doing the scraping and painting of exterior wood at
a town house complex in the summer of 1998. Even though he had little
experience, it was fun having him around as we would sing praise songs
on the roofs of the houses and talk about the things that happened on
Hastings Street and at the Revival center.
There were some questionable moments that your author had with Chris.
After evangelizing on the street the Revival Center wanted to hear what
happened that day during the sharing time in the church service. Some
stories that Chris had told the church was quite stretched,
embellished at the least. Chris had moved back home as his dad and him
were now at peace. On one of my visits Chris started to watch Kenneth
Copeland on his TV. Your author looked at the preacher and said, “That
guy looks scary, his eyes look evil.” Chris continued to watch with
excitement. Here is a wave file from Copeland saying that we are god,
thats what satan said to Eve- You will be like God, the oldest trick in
the book still works:
"You don't have a
god in you, you are one"
Here is
Copeland saying Adam is God click here
PS you
can find Copeland's books at the House of James or Blessings Christian
bookstore. Your author wrote the owner of the House of James and warned
him but I doubt he will take the books off the shelf.
Here is House of James inventory of Copeland books http://houseofjames.com/store/search.html?searchfor=copeland
Your author was still hesitant to speak in tongues or accept the
Revival Center’s teachings. Ron Ward was the pastor of the center and
he also would quote Kenneth Copeland now and then from the pulpit.
Another time at Chris’ home he told me that he talked with Moses and
Elijah last night. Chris also said that he had enough faith to
walk through his bedroom wall, he got up and tried with eyes closed. Of
course he stubbed his toe in the wall when he gave it a try but he made
excuses of why nothing happened. “I almost did it” Chris said, “I
doubted at the last second.” Chris tried to walk through the wall
because his friend, Tim in Edmonton tried to ride a dirt bike through
the church wall. "By faith" Tim was going to go through it and not be
scratched. Tim attended Kenneth Hagin's Bible college called "Rhema**" (**Important to
remember this name for later). Kenneth Hagin is a 'name it and claim
it' preacher. They teach that you can visualise miracles and 'speak
them into existance'. They claim that since God spoke and there was
light, we as children of God can speak and create things. They claim we
have a divine right to claim such things. Hagin, who died in 2003, was
one of the first to revive slain in the spirit and drunk in the spirit,
these esoteric manifestations had not occured into the mainstream since
the Azusa Street Revival. Im sure Hagin knows where God stands on these
topics now. Tim tried to ride his bike through the wall but ended up
almost dead in the hospital. His family tried to keep him in the insane
ward however Tim checked himself out. Chris found out that Tim was
wearing a helmut and had the gas tank close to empty before doing the
stunt. Chris scoffed "If Tim really had faith he wouldnt have wore his
helmut or drained the gas tank."

2. Marci from New Mexico
One
night your author was on Yahoo Christian chat and met a female
named Marci. She was very compassionate and had a warm heart for
the souls that didn’t know Jesus. We started to email and it was
clear she was very charismatic. She would talk about how much she loved
Benny Hinn and his ministry. She had women’s prison ministry and she
loved to evangelize. After some time she mailed me her picture, she won
two beauty pageants. We would chat real time on ICQ till the early
morning. Our eyes would be so tired but we would still write. After
hearing her soft voice on the phone your author was hooked. She would
encourage me to speak in tongues and Chris had already pestered me many
times before to try. Chris would tell her stories about me to get her
excited. One day we were driving on highway one and Chris
kept explaining the benefits to the believer for speaking in tongues.
Your author finally gave it a try and mumbled something, Chris
went nuts.
Chris would tell Marci that your author raised the dead and evangelised
with signs and wonders. It seemed all so exciting with all that was
going on. Chris had a healing story everyday when we went on the
streets. After being in love with Marci the resistance started to fade
on “falling under the power” and “anointing” practices. After some time
the teachings got deeper into the mind and eventually your author
started to teach the anointing to others.
One day Chris called me, “David, did you know Benny Hinn’s brother has
a church here in Vancouver and they have a healing service tonight?
Come to my house right away we’re going!”
We walked into the service at Vancouver Christian Center and there was
a strange power in the air. A beautifully tanned young lady
(Rachel) stood very still on the stage while she sang. The
synthesizer blended in soft waves of hums. The people were
singing and swaying in almost a trance. “These people are worshipping
so seriously. This is awesome.” There was such a stillness in the air.
While the singing continued the ushers came forward in great pomp and a
short but large man with tanned skin strode up the platform and gripped
the microphone. “Come on people lets give the Lord better than that!”
and everyone worshipped louder and with fear. He would close his eyes
and sing fervently and lead the people in worship. Then when all the
songs were sung he whispered into the microphone gently and as the
synthesizer still played softly he would say something to this effect:
“Something wonderful is going to happen here tonight ladies and
gentlemen,” he would say. “ Many of you have cried to the Lord, ‘ how
long Lord must I suffer! Then he would raise his voice, " When will I
get my healing!’. Well tonight is that night, come on choir stay with
me!”
Later he read a short story out of the Bible on the women with an issue
of blood that couldn’t be healed. She touched the hem of Jesus garment
and was healed. He told the people, “ It was her faith that healed
her”. Then he told the crowd that he feels the “anointing” really
strong and its time for the healing to start. He would command the
organ player to keep playing and to stay with him. He told the people
to come forward and the ushers were in a scurry to rush the people
forward because God’s anointing was there and they didn’t have time to
waste. People would come forward on the stage and he would touch then
and ask them, “What did you feel?” Many people that night said they
were healed and Henry Hinn would give Jesus the praise for the healing.
Then there was the offering time. Two offerings were taken that night
but your author was so overwhelmed to think anything of it. It all
seemed so holy and so powerful. Chris whispered his approval and
amazement to me while the service was going on. While Henry was praying
for healing Chris told me to take off my glasses. Nothing happened.
After the service we were excited Chris stopped the car at
a dumpster and told me to throw the glasses away. After considering it,
the gesture was refused. It didn't seem legitimate to place God in a
position of where He had to heal me, forcing Him to do my will.
The next Sunday we came back and during the evening service, Henry told
the people if they want God to touch them then come forward to get
“anointed”. Chris practically ran forward and your author came forward
later. When Henry put his hand on Chris’ forehead he said, ”You have a
evangelistic anointing”. Chris started to praise God and Henry said,
“What do you do for a living?” Chris told them that he was a painter.
Henry proclaimed, “Good! You’re going to paint my house! Nobody wants
to paint my house!”. Then it was my turn to come on the stage. “You
have a evangelistic anointing too”. Chris freaked out on the stage and
told him that we preach on Hastings Street. Henry asked Chris , “ Where
do you attend church?” Chris told him that from this moment on he was
now going to attend his church. Henry smiled as he announced from the
stage, “If you guys stay three months…we will support your ministry.”
We were ecstatic. On the way home we were just praising God for all
that was happening and now we are hooked up with a televangelist who
was Benny Hinn’s brother! We thought it was God had big plans for us
and things were going to get better from here on.
Chris called ," Henry wants a quote for painting his house", he
needed help on account of the limited experience he had. As
we drove near his gated entrance the area was familiar, your
author was suppose to paint Henry's home in the past but the builder of
the house [Rene Desrosiers Construction] said some Arabian guy couldn’t
pay, there was money scandals. We lost the contract. “ Do
you know Rene the Builder?” was te question. Henry knew Rene and that
he wished he never fired him because the "next builder"
took off with all the money, the tradesmen didn’t get paid. The
newspapers came out to the house and there was a helicopter taking
pictures. He was on the news as a scam artist. He went on with a sob
story, After feeling sorry for him a cheap quote was given, one
that even surprised Henry. After seeing all those people being healed
at Vancouver Christian Center (V.C.C.) there was no way this guy could
have been a scam artist, was the thought.
When Marci heard of all this she was in awe. She shared in the
excitement that we were in at the time. Things started getting very
serious with Marci after this your author eventually spoke with her
mother. Later and invitation was given by her family to spend some time
in New Mexico. The plans were set. Her mom called left a message on the
answering machine about the trip, she had concerns and wanted to lay
some rules. Not wanting to trouble anyone, your
author told Marci that it should wait. At this she was very upset
and tried to sway me to keep the plans. My dad also wondered what her
mom was thinking.
After some time Henry asked us to join his ministry , soon we
knew many of of the leaders at VCC. The house took so long to paint
that we got aquanted with the Hinn family and even
ate with them on different occasions. Mrs. Hinn was a excellent cook.
Chris fell in love with Henry’s daughter, Rachel and he boasted ,
“ Imagine me marrying Benny’s niece!” We both thought that Rachel was
in her early twenties but it turned out that she was only 16, Chris was
18. We started working in Henry’s "valet parking ministry". We had to
make sure that Henry’s parking spot, right in the front, wasn’t taken
and then open the car doors when Henry pulled in. My aunt Maria has
severe arthritis and we made plans to take her to a healing service. We
thought if we can only get Henry to pray for her then she would be
healed. The service was long and it took a long time before Henry felt
the "anointing". Henry started to pray for the sick and finally
Henry prayed for her. The ushers in the front took her out of the
wheel chair quickly and she yelled in pain. We were expecting her to
leap for joy after Henry prayed over her but nothing happened. Chris
and your author were discouraged and blamed her for not
having enough faith. Our attitudes started to change after hearing many
sermons on the anointing and faith. They teach if your faith is
weak then you won’t be healed. The anointing was a power and a blessing
that can be transferred from Henry Hinn to the receiving recipient. He
also taught that if you were around people that didn’t believe in the
anointing then it would effect you negatively. We both stopped hanging
around anyone who didn’t believe in the teachings of the faith
movement. Despite family warnings we continued to work for Henry. After
some time Henry told the head usher to promote us to an usher position;
so now we were in. We ushered, collected the offerings and caught the
“slain.” Chris was called up to catch more frequently- your
author is grateful for the limit on that deceit.
So Chris was in love with Rachel and your author was in love with
Marci. We agreed to meet in California as she is from New Mexico. She
wanted to meet at 312 Asuza Street where the “Asuza Street Revival”
began. This event is said to be responsible for the restoration of
tongues and the beginning of the Pentecostal movement as know it today.
In one of Carmen’s songs about revival he mimicks a devil saying that
the Asuza Street revival as something the devils didn’t like very much.
312 azusa street
Our
plans to meet at Azusa fell through and then we made other plans to
meet. The next planned meeting failed to take place and the
disappointments blew out the excitement in our relationship and we
started to drift apart.
A few people from the VCC youth group joined Chris' street
evangelism team and even Rachel, Henry’s daughter joined in to express
our beliefs and joined us for dinner at Milestones on Robson after.
There were quite a few peculiar events happening around the Henry's
house. One was that the house manager, Brent, was frequently over and
he his duties around the house (Approx. 8000 square feet) included
cleaning the pool, changing the light bulbs, paying the bills and light
maintenance. His day job was a Bubble gum and candy vending
route. One time Brent peeked around the corner at me while
painting the exterior. He quickly moved his head back behind the corner
of the house as not to be seen. Also the pastors of the church would
come and take Henry’s cars, get them washed and filled with gas and
return them at the house. Two ladies at church would volunteer and
clean his house twice during the week. .
When Henry was given the first bill for painting he waited a long
while and then only paid a small amount. This was the pattern for
the rest of the billing on his home. There was always an excuse on why
he couldn’t pay. One day my car broke down and with no money to
fix it because of the slow payments but at the same time Henry managed
to buy a brand new Mercedes Benz. He gave me this sorry excuse that he
was to get two "gifts" of 40,000$. One gift came in and the other
didn't. He put a down payment on the Benz with the first 40,000$ but
the second gift didn't come in, which he was going to pay me out of.
Your author stopped going to VCC and of course stopped painting his
house. Henry's Mansion:
Back at Northview Community Church, on the first Sunday Pastor
Vern Heidebrecht explained how he was painting his own house during the
week and he had a story to tell but all that your author remembered was
that he painted his own house. Chris would call and
warn to get out of Northview right away. He would say that " they
don’t operate in God’s gifts... There are no miracles happening there
and its dead". Chris assured me that Henry will pay eventually.
My brother-in-law Jim gave me a book on the faith movement and two
audiocassettes of quotes from various faith teachers. The quotes were
very heretical and shocking. Chris rebuttle,".. the author just
twists the words from these teachers.... Benny repented from most of
those quotes". Benny wasn’t mentioned many times in the book and in one
statement Benny even admitted that he made a mistake for letting Rodney
Howard Browne ( the "holy" laughter preacher) speak at his church. It
seems Benny Hinn has one up on "Christians" who go along with the
laughter prophet, yet slight morals add to the disguise.. Chris would
often call on me to encourage me to come back to VCC and after some
time Henry Hinn’s house manager called and told me that Henry feels bad
about not paying me, he promised me a check. Brent was told to have the
cheque ready to be picked up Sunday night at VCC
Your author was nervous about returning especially after hearing the
tapes on what the faith teachers were preaching. Once again
people praising with more fervor than other churches. There was a
strange power in the air , Henry was “healing” people. Henry had his
youngest daughter, Hannah, on the stage talking and laughing..it was a
cute scene. Later people were praising God for their healings and
my resistance faded. Henry taught on the anointing and he would hit the
olive oil bottle with his hand and as he did his ring would make a ting
sound. He went on to explain that without the anointing we are weak.
"Maybe Henry was different from Benny" was the thought. Friends came by
and Henry gave me a big hug, apologized for forgetting the check.
He then introduced me to his mother, Clemence, she held on my
hand for a long while as she spoke Arabic to Henry. Henry was smiling
and hugging me. Then he asked Hannah to give me a hug. your author felt
like close relatives from the country were near with all the
hospitality. He promised to pay the following week and asked me to
start painting in Rachel’s room. The People of Vancouver
Christian Center commented on lucky I was to be close to the Hinn
family.
3. From reality into fantasy.
Chris started to date a girl named Suzy from Christ for the Nations
Bible College and started to slow his pursuit of Rachel. On my
way to work one day your author saw a girl jogging
from Northview. Lisa is a very bright and attractive Christian
who was admired for her work with Trinity Western University’s
street evangelism and all her volunteering at church-- all this during
her full-time studies at Trinity. But Lisa was owed a huge
apology from something that happened years before:
A few years earlier Lisa accepted a date invitation on the
condition we go in a group. I was nervous about the date- being
brought up in a church that didn’t allow dating. The way people met and
married in my old church (ACC) was to talk at church and if you liked
the girl you told her pastor that you wanted to marry her. The pastor
then would meet her and her parents and relay the message. The answer
was given to the pastor and then eventually to the asking brother. This
kept the sin of sex out of marriage out of the church but the downside
was that the couple hardly knew each other before the marriage, with
this, to ask out a girl on a date was a huge thing for me, not only of
the normal emotions involved.
I prayed
about Lisa while listening to my favorite praise and worship music -
the Vineyard. They are held as as the epitome of spiritual music.
At this time in prayer a bizarre thing happened; Lisa’s friend Jody
came to mind. Wondering why this happened I prayed further that
if Lisa didn't show up at church on Sunday (as she usually did)
then Jody is the one for me. Lisa didn't show up and she was seen
with a guy at the following Wednesday Roaring 20's. Your author
sent flowers to Jody, then later a letter but it was ignored.
When the whole drama ended it became clear that the vision was
not from God.
..to continue... Lisa was owed a very late apology so your author
skipped a morning service at Vancouver Christian Center to talk to Lisa
at Northview.
She took the apology very well and with tonnes of grace, though it
became evident that my track record with her was tarnished too severely
for a second chance. Your author wrote Chris an email about liking Lisa
and accidentally clicked on Marci's email address box instead. My
relationship with Marci took a turn for the worse. Chris
said Marci was upset and crying because of that letter. Stop me
if you heard this one before; We drifted apart and agreed to be “just
friends” but it turned out for the good as it was a distraction from
VCC and other events that could have happened.
4. The agony of deceit.
Henry’s payments were still slow but he managed to somehow make
payments for a large home, two Mercedes Benz, and many other fine
luxuries. Henry taught that if you gave financially to an
anointed ministry then God would increase your finances by 30, 60 or
100 fold! He told many stories of how people on their last dollars gave
to his ministry and they received a financial miracle. The stories were
so juicy that people couldn’t wait to give in the offering. Henry often
would "visit" with the church before the preaching began. He would just
talk or joke around a little bit. One time he said that he really
doesn't get paid much for all his hard work. He went on to say that if
he could make more money in sales and he admitted that he could sell
sand to the Arabians. He actually told the church that a man from the
Sikh temple called Henry and asked him to preach there so he could take
up an offering, as they heard Henry is good at persuading a large
offering.
Henry taught that you can “speak things into existence”. Just as God
spoke “let there be light”, as a child of God you can speak things in
faith and it will appear eventually. On healing nights Henry sometimes
anointed some offering envelopes and told the people that if they give
in this particular offering then they will be blessed and anointed by
God. What he means by anointing is that it is power from God and that
it can be in different types. It could be a healing anointing, a
financial anointing, a preaching one or a evangelizing one. Henry also
taught that if a person stays near him then Henry’s anointing can “rub”
on that person in that it can be transferred to another person.
During this time your author's life took a turn for the worst. I was
still involved in street evangelism and singing in the choir but
also started to pick up bad traits like being shifty with payments and
teaching the same doctrines Henry taught. Chris was now telling the
street people that Jesus became poor that they might become rich. Chris
was so tired of the street people asking him for money that he said he
was going to tape a thousand dollar bill on his forehead and tell them
in their face that he didn’t have a dollar for them. We started praying
for riches and speaking amounts of money “ into existence”. We would
encourage each other to “believe and you will receive” and we acted
like we already have what we asked for. No wonder many poor
people think that they are rich.
One time Chris believed that he could make an offering by faith. He
closed the empty envelope believing- by faith- that there was now 100
dollars in it. I asked him- why don't you believe then, for 1 million?
He said that he didn't have that much faith. If everyone practised this
sort of faith that they teach, it wouldnt be long that Hinn's doors
would be closed due to the unpaid bills. Since they do teach this, here
is the challenge: Every reader who believes Hinn or Copeland are good
teachers, follow what they say to the T. Go for the gusto...close
the empty envelope and do what Chris did- believe it with all your
mind, by faith you will receive what you believe right? Come on now!
Claim your miracle! Cant you feel the power?, By faith pray that there is a
million dollars in the envelope. Oh hallelu..it lifts me high, up
to to the sky . (god's property song "stomp"
starts playing...with screaming in the background. You can hear a
sample of the noise by hitting the link to music page then scrolling
down to stomp)
Muster
all the energy you can and 'by faith' there will be money in
it. If its doesn't work then its Copeland's and Hinn's fault, not
yours. Henry would have to sell sand to the Arabians I guess. ("Stomp"
used to play on 106.5 since then they sold out to Apple computer, the
song now plays in the background during corportate demonstration
commercials...also notice the screaming in the backgorund which sounds
like mayhem)
Around the month of January 1999 Henry hired a bodyguard / Crusade
Manager named Dennis that was trained under Benny Hinn's ministry as
Benny’s bodyguard and Crusade manager for seven years. Dennis was
a poker faced tough guy, I dont think I saw him smile once. He would
walk with Hinn with long strides and chin up in the air. He told
us some Benny Hinn stories including that Benny listens to Hank
Hannegraaff of the Bible answer man show and that Benny calls Hank "a
jerk".
Henry also doesn't hold marriages very highly either. This attractrive
stewardess named Rhonda would attend VCC from time to time and her
husband had a depression problem. ( being around that church is a good
way to get depressed) I remember Henry tried to cast a devil out of the
poor guy, he didn't fall or shake or anything bizzarre- then Henry
warned him to shape up because thats the last time he will get prayer.
Interestingly enough a couple years after leaving VCC your author was
emailing a women from a Christian online dating site who knew Rhonda
and her husband. She told me that Henry was trying to help his single
friend date Rhonda while she was still married!
One time a Pastor from Korea was invited to preach and on my way to VCC
to hear him speak my car stalled. It happened to break down only a few
blocks from the Hinn’s home. Managing to push the car up a hill and
then down a side road. For about 2 hours your author sat
there wondering why things were going so wrong. Volunteering in the
choir, operating in the gifts, and believing for miracles left me now
wondering if God loved me and why His favor was on others. Chris
was engaged to be married to Suzy, everyone around me seemed to
be blessed .
Chris
called me later and told of Pastor Hahn from Korea, claiming it was
amazing with everyone falling on the floor “ under the power”. The next
day Chris drove all the way from Port Coquitlam to Abbotsford to take
me to the meeting in Richmond (about 3 hours total driving time for
Chris by the time he got back home, he really wanted me there)
The visiting pastor had some interesting things to say while he was
preaching under the "anointing". He taught that Judas Iscariot didn’t
betray Jesus. your author questioned that "revelation" but I was told
that I shouldn’t question things because God anoints the Pastor and he
knows more than me.
In January 1999 Henry Hinn Ministries held a local crusade at the
Vancouver Hyatt. Dennis was in charge of security at the crusades and
since they were short on ushers they asked me to help. After Henry’s
message he prayed for the sick and people were falling everywhere. The
catchers had a hard time catching the “slain” due to the speed of Henry
touch on people and many went to the floor in a free fall. Henry yelled
at me for being slow to catch the falling. Henry was going
bizzirk hitting people on the head in a fast frenzy and even walking on
chairs to reach people. Henry then "anointed" people on the stage
then he called up Rachel. He told Rachel -this isn't Daddy, think of me
as God's anointed. He told her to raise her hands and 'touch Jesus
feet', Chris then caught... most of her...ahum...as she fell. After the
service we had to pack the equipment up in the VCC van and deliver the
equipment.The people left the auditorium, Henry stayed at the Hyatt
even though his house was about a half hour drive away. There was a
party held in his room but only the secret core group would be trusted
with the money counting. Like giving the dog a bone to keep it happy he
gives them some recognition on the stage to appease their egos and that
will be all to win thier allegiance to heresy. Like Esau many still
sell their soul for pottage or megar pittance.
Chris had the auditorium stage to himself starting to act like he was
preaching and began to mimic Henry’s preaching on the empty
stage. Chris threw and kicked things around the room as he was
preaching madly, pretending to anoint people and then throwing some
more things around still yet. No doubt, this is how Chris saw the style
of the faith preachers. Chris went on to say that one day he will have
a bigger ministry than Henry’s. As we drove the van and equipment away
we jokingly made plans to steal the van right then and start our own
ministry with the stolen goods. We laughed madly just as blundering
fools and joked on further. This is how we seriously took the whole
scene at VCC. We went from being God fearing Christians to this.
A incident that occurred inside the church really shook me up;
after a church service when some were conversing your author went to
join in a conversation between two men. One of the men, George Costea, who was a
old faithful friend of Henry's who has been involved with his ministry
from near the beginning. George put his hand around my neck and dragged
me to the sidewall, this all happening inside the church. He held his
hand to my neck tightly, half choking me he sternly warned me to never
interupt his important conversations.
The attitudes in the church left a sick feeling inside and I was
ready to leave that whole scene. I still had "word faith"
doctrine in my mind and it seemed that attending a
less intense Church would be the right thing to do. Friends that left Northview
started to congregate at word faith
Churches and your author was invited to join in. This Church, "The
Father's House" was located in Abbotsford. By faith the Pastor Sean
Upshaw, resolved to sell his home and rent so that he could free up
funds to minister full-time. We chatted in his hot tub about faith and
prosperity and about Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian
Research Institute and the host of the Bible Answer Man program. Sean
would name call him; "Hank Hinder-God" and his program, "The Bible
cancer man". Sean wanted me to take the leadership course and
become involved in his ministry. Sean said "Dave you have a Joshua
spirit". I just wanted to work things out in my life so I dropped out
of the leadership course. (Father's house is now shut down-- thank the
Lord!)
I started to recall Henry’s teachings and prophecies. I
remembered Henry Hinn prophesying in 1998 that the year would be the
"Year of Jubilee" and it would be a time of prosperity for him and the
Vancouver Christian Center church. What happened later that year was
far from a Jubilee; The piano player Charlene wrote a song about the
year of Jubilee and the words went “This is the year of Jubilee, all of
God’s blessings we will see”. Unfortunately for Henry, Charlene ended
up leaving the church that year with the synthesizer player Gerard,
after a money dispute. This shocked the church and they quickly found a
replacement from Hawaii. In a short time this new replacement also left
the church for drug related reasons. Gerard and Charlene got married
soon after they left VCC and they were hired at another Word Faith
Church (Royal City Christian Center, New Westminster, B.C.-Pastor Don
Gosset) for a substantial amount of money. Chris' dad Nick, was in
charge of sound mixing at Henry's church and Gerard called Nick to
offer a tempting amount of money to be his mixer. Nick soon left
Henry's church to work with Gerard. Chris joined later on...
Another one of Hinn's prophecies that was said in the following year,
1999 where Henry proclaimed that 1999 is the year of “debt free for
VCC” (Vancouver Christian Center). He would tell the listening audience
to repeat the phrase--, “99 is the year of debt free for VCC!”--. That
prophecy also did not come true and in fact I did not see any of his
prophecies ever came true in my time at Vancouver Christian Center.
Henry was the only one increasing in riches. I saw no one in a wheel
chair healed during my time there as a choir member, usher. The only so
called miracles are the easy ones to fake like asthma, cancer...how do
you know its healed for sure? Someone with cancer can say they feel
healed but it still might be there. Only a C.A.T. scan would verify it
not Henry asking if they felt
anything. Of course they feel
something with bright lights, being on the stage in front of a
crowd in a built up atmosphere that took Henry and the choir about a
hour to create. One of the head ushers, Gustov would bring his dear
handicapped girl to VCC faithfully but she was never healed. Henry kept
telling the church to pray for her.
I started to listen to the tapes that my brother-in-law gave me about
the faith movement once again. The tapes with recordings of Benny Hinn,
Copeland and others and this time I was willing to really listen. I
knew the movement was different than other Christian churches but I
thought the difference was that they had more knowledge of spiritual
gifts than the traditional churches. My visits to Henry
Hinn's Church became once a month to see friends.
The
final straw for me was when I attended a healing service that
summer (1999). Chris just got married and was on his honeymoon so he
was not ushering at this service. I was watching Henry- closely. At
that time of repentance in my life I was reading the Bible and praying
often. I noticed I got a strange feeling when I entered VCC, it was
like a warning. I havent been keen on these warnings in the past but
after reading what Benny and others preached I was cautious.
When it was time to collect the offering and He asked the people to
come forward who could give large amounts of money the verse came to
mind that Jesus taught on not making a show of giving.
1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by
them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2
"When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may
be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your
right hand is doing 4 that your alms may be in secret; and your Father
who sees in secret will repay you. Matthew 6:1-4 NAS
Henry told the crowd not to get religious and worry about people seeing
them give in front of everyone. I knew now what he meant by being
“religious”. The Lord opened my eyes to the deceit at VCC and I
decided that no matter how great
friends claimed Henry Hinn to be, according to the Bible and from what
I saw he was not a true preacher of the Bible but
a heretic that taught the same doctrines of demons as Copeland
and his brother Benny.
Later I found out that night it was exactly one year of attending VCC
when the blinders came off, praise God for His goodness! These faith
preachers all claim freedom but all the while they are in bondage
themselves.
-__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for
whom the black darkness has been reserved. 18 For speaking out arrogant
words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those
who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they
themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is
overcome, by this he is enslaved. 2Peter 2:19 NAS
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Are friends really friends forever? I know they
are not.
After that night I never returned to Vancouver Christian Center. I
finally had no doubt that Henry was teaching false doctrine, I accepted
the fact that I was deceived. My mind and emotions didnt feel the same
and I felt very weak inside.
Chris heard that I left Vancouver Christian
Center and he came to visit me right after he came home from his
honeymoon. He tried to convince me not to leave the faith movement with
examples of how God blessed him by believing it. He gave me examples of
God’s blessings on his life to prove that the faith movement is not
heretical but true. He asked me to look at his life, “Look at me Dave!
I have a new house (helps when granpa gave him a $10,000 wedding
gift)... I just got married to a very beautiful and anointed girl. Look
at my nice clothes. I got all this because I believed for them!”."Dave
I care about you, ask Suzy I talked about you all the time while on our
honey moon. I came here right away we just go back- all to help you"
This time Chris’ words didn’t sway me from the truth. The Bible became
more important to me again and my eyes became open on how Henry's
teachings go against Jesus’ own and that of the Bible. I could never
believe it again and to do so would be denying Jesus and the truths of
the Bible. I saw that the movement’s teachings are in direct opposition
to the Bible in that they appeal to the lusts of riches, pride of life,
and a “anti-suffering” gospel. Instead of seeking the kingdom of heaven
I saw that they teach how to get riches and perfect health from God.
They promised Revivals and new, powerful moves of God, which only built
up false hopes based on human ability to create a miracle and
by-passing that resting trust in God.
Chris admitted that he saw many money scams at VCC while he worked in
the office but he told me to just attend another faith movement church.
I told Chris of the scams and gross sins I knew of. Even what Brent
told me about Henry, Chris was floored. Yet, the persuading went on to
not leave the movement.
*********A little side note, Jesus said, -an adulterous generation
seeks for a sign. What is Henry's Bible school course called? (its only
a couple a months long too) its called "Signs and Wonders!".
I told Chris that I could never go back to Vancouver Christian Center
and he got upset, “You’re never going to grow. So now are you going to
stop speaking in tongues?” I told him that for now on I’m not going to
force any gift to happen. If God gives me the gift its going to have
happen just like it did in Acts. Chris was frustrated with me and he
thought I was going pass up all the wonder and power of the faith
movement. To make my point clear I held up the Bible and told him that
for now on I’m going to stay close to the teachings of the Bible and
I’m going to attend Northview or a church that is stable.
As we ended our debate Chris told me that if I was going to be like
this then he wouldn’t hang around me anymore. I put on the tape that
exposes these false teachers so Suzy and Chris could hear the quotes
from these various faith teachers but they quickly left. Suzy was
listening seriously but Chris grabbed her hand and led her out.Some
people don't want to hear truth, they love the lie they are living too
much. We never talked since and that was the end of seven years of
friendship.
I went to see a old friend of mine Rob, who went through some trauma
previously in his life and he spoke highly of a counselor who had
helped him. Rob also invited me to a meeting at his Church in Surrey,
Victory Christian Center. I have visited that church before his care
group meeting in junction with the church. The care group leader was
into faith teachers such as Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantes
At this point I still had some faith movement doctrine in my mind and I
thought that maybe my confusion was because I left the faith movement.
I thought of going back to Henry Hinn’s and begging him to forgive me
for thinking he was a false teacher. My mind was very manipulated with
the warnings of punishment of those who slander a man of God. They
strongly warn,“ do not touch the Lord’s anointed”. I went to my
friend’s church in hopes of getting my mind healed from confusion.
The atmosphere of the Church service was very similar to Vancouver
Christian Center except they had more hype in the beginning, even more
then the Hinn's . At the beginning of the service the praise band was
jumping all around the stage. One guy was jumping everywhere while
paying his electric guitar as the people cheered him on. It seemed like
a big party. After that the band played slower worship songs and
everyone started to praise with high intensity. They had a guest
speaker and his preaching style was the same as any other faith
teacher. After he built up everyone’s expectations he asked the people
that if they wanted a touch from God they were to come forward. I
didn’t want to go to the front but the care group leader insisted and I
was too weak to refuse so I went forward. The people lined up and fell
one by one on the ground after they got their “touch from God”. I got
touched but I still felt lousy. Rob and I used to be room-mates and he
always wanted to hold a morning Bible Study ( I like to pray and study
on my own with no ones "opinion") So dragging myself out of my bed
early in the morning frequently until I started questioning him on his
relationship with his girlfriend (she ministered at Northview on the
stage frequently at that time) "Rob, how far did you go with
her" "We just did the
'Mennonite Bundling' where they wrap clothes and blankets on each
person seperately, hahahha." ... "Were you on the bed with her
last night?" " Yes, but I had a board between us , seperating
us....hahahhaha" . He wanted to join a mission organisation at the
time, thats why he frequently asked for the Bible Study and prayer
time. I stopped going to his Bible Study in the living room because of
his questionable activities with his girlfriend. Later he admitted he
sinned with her sexually. Rob was always trying to sell something to
make money, when he visited Victory Christian Center that was just his
style- God wants you rich and famous, perfectly healthy, without
trials, trials are from the devil etc.
********************
Why am I
so upset at these movements? If I can effectively warn one person from
one heresy then all the research and effort was worth it. I visit
Northview from time to time and let me say that they are on the edge,
its so close the devil might be getting anxious about it. Individuals
in Northview have dabbled into these false movements but not all the
way. The safety net is a sermon on doctrine, or once in a blue moon-
the fear of God. It catches them everytime, but it may not always. When
the safety net of doctrine, solid preaching is removed then the events
will start to take place as a chain reaction. Many are pushing for more
"freedom" away from "religion". What they call religion often is the
safety net that is saving them, yet in their stubborn agenda they dont
see it.
When a Christian ignores the Holy Spirit and goes along with deceit it
because its popular or for what ever other reason, he/she lets the
guard down and removes some restraints in the mind. This level gets
looser and looser until you are not defending any sin in your mind...or
very little. Over time it becomes a pattern and you don't even realize
it.
The only preachers/ministries I can say are good are: J. Vernon
McGee.
For preaching that will encourage you to keep walking with Jesus go to David
Hockings web site.
Billy
Graham said on Larry King live, Dec 25, 1998 discussing about Mormon's
beliefs. King asked if there will be sex in heaven, Billy said that
there would be if it would make us happy.
On January
21, 1997 Graham told National Television
about his acceptance of all religions, here is some of
the interview with Larry King:
This
atrocity will only get worse as Evangelicals are linking up with
Catholics in every area of Christianity, and hey..."if Billy Graham
accepts them then why shouldnt I? Im no better then Billy
Graham". Thats not the right question; the one to ask
is "Will I please God or man?" or " am I really a follower
of Jesus or a compassionate reader of His
stories?" Are they nice stories to you or do you really believe the
Bible?
What if you were tortured for your faith and looking down from the
Paradise side of Abraham's bosom ( Hades on the other side) and seeing
these over paid, fat cat preachers who care little about truth but a
lot about their salary preaching and leading people astray- even to the
point of making a mockery of your torture. Many preachers think that
the martyrs didn't have to die as the Catholic doctrines, so they say,
are very close to Christianity.
The Passion of
the Christ
Im all for movies that could lead a person to
faith in Jesus and there is no doubt a Christian could use the movie as
a opportunity to share Jesus with someone but the concern I have is the
religion Mel Gibson chose and the personal message he is getting across
to the audience. What message? Well we know Catholics believe
that Jesus is not the only way into heaven, here
is a quote from Mel Gibson when being
interviewed by Diane Sawyer- remember millions of people saw this
interview and will be effected by what he says:
DS: So when we talked
with Gibson and his actors we wondered, does his traditionalist view
bar the door to heaven for Jews, Protestants, Muslims?
MG: That is not the case at
all—absolutely not. It is possible for people who are not even
Christians to get into the kingdom of heaven. It’s just easier and I
have to say this because that’s what I believe..."
Mel
Gibson started on the right track, seeing his life waste away he
wanted to commit suicide in a Las Vegas Hotel then he read some
scriptures and they helped him renew a zeal for life. He started out
right but got then distracted. Anyone who aproaches the narrow gate
(Jesus) will have to ignore the strong men wooing the person away from
entering the gate, they stand at the gate offering a "better" deal. It
could be pride, a career, or false religion. Just before he entered the
narrow gate of Jesus he was drawn into a false religion that doesn't save and Ill
explain here.
Mel
Gibson is a Romanist- a pre-Vatican sect
known to be very conservative. One Romanist Father Feeny, of
Sede-Vacantist claims there is no salvation outside of the Roman
church. A devoted follower of the Venerable process of sainthood,
Anne Catherine Emmerich and her book, "The Dolorous Passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ," which is the true inspiration for his film and some scenes of the movie are
from that book, not the Bible.
Steve Camp writes:
"Let's
be abundantly clear: Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life;
no one comes to the Father, but through me' (John 14:6). There is only
one way to heaven beloved; it is not through the teachings of the
prophet Mohammed, or through Judaistic law-keeping, or by strict
adherence to the Roman church and its dictates. It is by grace alone,
through faith alone, on the Word alone, because of Christ alone, to the
glory of God alone. Can it be any clearer?
I will be going to see the movie this next Monday evening. Though I am
confident that this film will be very moving, it, however, was not
designed to share the gospel or present the gospel. But what it does do
is give each of us a wonderful opportunity to share the true gospel
with one of our friends or family members and I hope you will take
advantage this situation affords us.
Please pray that we may all be discerning Christians not reacting with
just our emotions to this film, but examining it faithfully with the
Word of God."
Dr.
James White's comments on the movie:
"What
is perplexing is that so many churches and evangelical leaders have
welcomed Mr. Gibson as a genuine brother in Christ in spite of such
dramatic theological inconsistancies of basic gospel doctrine. "Even
though Mr. Gibson may pray to saints, and pray to Mary, and he may
believe in the fifth Marion dogma, and he may hope for her
intercession, and he may think he’s going to purgatory, and he may
believe in indulgences, and he may believe in the mass of perpetual
sacrifices, and he may deny sola scriptura and deny justification by
faith... but he’s my brother anyway?"
This movie will cause people to reflect on Christ,
but then what? What direction will they go? Mel Proclaiming that
Jesus isn't the
only way to heaven and performing sacraments for salvation isn't
a good start for the person seeking truth. The movie is not Biblically
accurate but has Catholic assumptions added in. ( see
errors of the movie here) So what is really is the big deal here? This
movie will draw Catholics and Christians together even though they have
totally different views on salvation- Christians believe salvation is
by faith in Jesus alone apart from works- Catholics believe salvation
occurs through the sacraments. During the Reformation when Christians
were martyred for their stand "by faith in Jesus alone, by God's grace
not of works"
"The beast is the Romish papacy. This manifestly follows from the third and fourth propositions: the beast has a strict connection with the city of Rome; and the beast is now existing. Therefore, either there is some other power more strictly connected with that city, or the Pope is the beast."
Many Christians laugh at this accusation, some due to ignorance of history and some due to ignorance of Vatican cover ups. The Vatican
has been reponsible for almost every world war including the Jewish holocaust of which the Pope apologized for not speaking against in 2000. They set the whole thing up to get established in the Holy Land, Israel. The Vatican even set up Muhammad's marriage and later introduced teachings such as Christians and Jews are infidels but the Catholic Church is holy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CATHOLICS LIKE ALPHA COURSE—The Roman Catholic hierarchy in the USA and Great Britain is accepting, with increasing favor, the "Alpha" evangelism course. 50 parishes in Baltimore have used its curriculum. "Alpha for Catholics" North American coordinator said "while Alpha is not a full presentation of the RC faith, there is hardly anything in the 14 videos that Catholics would find objectionable." Fundamentalist Digest editor Dr. Don Jasmin notes: "Alpha is 'pseudo' evangelism using some Biblical terminology but deleting/subtly changing imperative Bible truths regarding Salvation."
.
Although
CRI has helped lots of people come out of cults I dont agree with
Hank on some contentions. Hank's friend and repeated guest on his show
is Lee Strobel, Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church who wrote
the famous book, "The case for faith". Bill Hybels is the Senior Pastor at
Willow Creek Community Church, a near-Chicago megachurch of about
17,000 who attend its seeker-friendly services. Hybels frequently
speaks at Robert Schuller's church. From Calvary
Contender:
SCHULLER COZIES WITH MUSLIMS—Islam
rejects the Jesus of the Bible. Yet Robert Schuller’s compromises with
Islam are notorious. From personally preaching in the mosque of the
Grand Mufti in Damascus, to allowing the Islamic leader’s cleric son to
preach from his own pulpit, these things are nothing new for someone
who sponsors Christians and Muslims for Peace at his Crystal Cathedral.
He stated to an official of the Muslim American Society that if he
[Schuller] came back in 100 years and found his descendants Muslims, it
wouldn’t bother him…. (3/02 Berean Call) He was also a keynote
speaker for the Unity School of Christianity’s (New Age) conference
ridiculing evangelical Christianity; at Unification Church (Moonies)
functions with Sun Myung Moon, and at Mormon Tabernacle where he
addressed an interfaith event and saluted the Mormon
Church (Vantage Point).,
The Calvary Contender wrote an article with information from insider Mary Fairchild who revealed the new path Willow Creek Community Church is taking. She writes: “I went back to Willow Creek earlier this year only to discover my plans to be serving in the women's ministry as a 'Biblical Titus 2 woman' were, in actuality, going to be serving as a 'New Age spiritual guide.' Mystic ways of praying (repeating and meditating) were being taught along with frequent references to Quakers and Catholics. New Age authors like mystic Quakers Parker Palmer and Renovare founder Richard Foster were quoted frequently…” Foster, a Fuller Seminary psychologist, teaches quietism, mantras, centering, Buddhism, Yoga, etc., yet is promoted in thought and books at Willow Creek. You may access the 12-page report at the Web site http://home.attbi.com/~mfairlady or e-mail the author at mfairlady@attbi.com for more information.
Yves
Brualt says that the founder of CRI ( Dr. Walter Martin) widow
claims that Hank elected himself to be the new president of CRI. She
claims Hank handed her a letter to be read while she approached the
pulpit at her husbands funeral, she read it not knowing what she was
doing. The letter stated that Hank was now the President. Brault
furthur claims that Hank stole his idea of 'messmerism' in the faith
movement and that Hank makes a laivsh salary.
****************
Just reflecting on visiting a large
baptist church in Delta, B.C. The Christian radio ( 106.5) "listener supported
radio" "safe for the whole family" advertised a presentation by a well
known Physicist on the subject of creation/evolution. This
man stated that the six days in Genesis are not literal 24 hour
days but rather thousands of years but Genesis says "So the
evening and the morning were the first day." - a literal 24 hour day not
millions or thousands of years. It seems that no matter what event at
any given Church, there was usually some sort of false teaching
presented. What is a Christian to do? 106.5 advertises for Henry
Hinn at times, play songs from Oneness Pentecostals that deny the
Trinity, songs from artists who committed adultery for a better lover
remarried without Biblical grounds, Saturday nights they play
irreverent grundge but its "safe for the whole family".
*****************
Warren teaches that your a Christian as long as you believe in
Jesus.
'Youre
my brother youre my sister, come take me by the hand...But I, I don't care what label you may wear
If you believe in Jesus you belong with me" Mormons
and JW's believe in a jesus. So do Catholics.
Phillip Yancey thinks Catholics are saved, so does
Elizabeth Elliot.
***************
I started to warn my friends in the faith movement about the false
teachings. I gave them tapes so they could hear the teachings
themselves. Very few of them cared to listen to the tape or study the
evidence that I presented. One friend, Mike told me that he "feels
good" at his church and the people are loving. I asked him, “What about
sound doctrine?”. I played the tape over the phone but he just ignored
it and started to speak in “tongues” as I played it. I would tell them,
“do you know Benny told his whole church that there are not three but
nine in the Trinity!
None of them cared. Ron slid the tape back to me and said, “No
thanks.”. I told him that one of his favorite preachers, Copeland is on
it saying Jesus became a demoniac on the cross, "maybe He did" Ron said
sternly. Ron had no freedomw, so he explained, at Mennonite
Churches. It was only when he came to Word Faith Churches that his
freedom came. And yes, the demons will attack when you are on the
narrow raod, as soon as you give in to demonic doctrine there will be
a sense of freedom- freedom from fighting the enemy as you join his
camp.
After
being rejected by my friends I blitzed more tapes to the leaders in
Vancouver Christian Center within two days to prevent tapes being
thrown out. One leader wrote back, What is this about? I told him
to listen to the tape then it will be obvious.
Here is
Ozzy and Kenneth Copeland making the satanic sign. Remember Copeland
teaches doctrines of devils.
6. Letter to Henry Hinn
After leaving his church I wrote Henry a letter in hope that he would
repent, here it is. It has been edited after I sent him the original
letter and I edited out some personal items about Henry in March 2004,
concentrating more on his teachings. I have included some links so
readers can hear the heresies right from the horses mouth:
Dear Henry Hinn:
Please read the following quotes and compare with the Bible:
," Did you know that from the beginning of time the whole purpose of
God was to reproduce Himself? … who are you? Come on who are you? Come
on, say it! ; ‘Sons of God "! Come on say it; ‘ Sons of God’! Come on
say it! And what does work inside us, brother, is that manifestation of
the expression of all that God is and all that God has. And when we
stand up here, brother, you’re not looking at Morris Cerullo; you’re
looking at God. You’re looking at Jesus. ("The endtime manifestation of
the Sons of God". Audio tape 1. Sides 1 & 2. Morris Curello.)
Here is a
different quote from Curello, same message
"God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went
back to heaven as a man. He faces the Father as a man. I face devils as
the son of God…Quit your nonsense! What else are you? If you say, I am,
You’re saying I’m a part of Him, right? Is He God? Are you His
offspring? Are His children? You can’t be human! You cant ! You cant!
God didn’t give birth to flesh…You said, "Well that’s heresy. No that’s
your crazy brain telling you that. (video tape#255, "our position in
Christ #2-The Word made flesh. Orlando Christian Center, 1991)
"The believer is called Christ…That’s who we are; we’re Christ! ("Zoe:
The God kind of life". Pages 35-36, 41. Kenneth E. Hagin) Hagin:
Teaching of deceiving spirits:
"Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Lift your
hands. Something new is going to happen here today. I felt it just as I
walked down here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus…God the
Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person.; and He is a triune being by
Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say what did you say?
Hear it! Hear it! Hear it! See, God the Father is a person. God the
Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by
Himself. If I can shock you-and maybe I should-there’s nine of them.
Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and
gentlemen, is a person with His own personal spirit, with his own
personal soul, and His own personal body. You say, huh, I never heard
that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard
for the last fifty years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s
all in the Word. (Benny Hinn, TBN, October 3 1990)
Cant believe Benny would say such a thing? Here it here it for yourself -
Benny saying there
are not 3 but 9 in the Trinity
Benny speaking in tongues...after you hear this you will know
what is inside Benny:
"Demon,
demon, demon ... glory, glory, glory!"
http://www9.50megs.com/ditc/demon!.wav
"You see, frankly, that's the way
I think about it. I'm sorry, I'm not exactly the normal kind of guy,
you know, I'm from Israel. Sometimes I wish God would give me a Holy
Ghost machine gun, I'd blow your head off."-Benny Hinn
"Don't tell me you
have Jesus. You ARE everything He was, and everything He is and shall
be."
Benny Hinn
prophesying that Castro will die in the 90's
There is one quote that I couldnt put on this site from Benny's wife.
This quote was so gross, and blasphemous that I could not
include it. She most likely committed the unpardonable sin.
"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible
actually is…The biggest one in the whole Bible is God…Now, the reason
you don’t think God as a failure is He never said He’s a failure. And
you’re not a failure until you say you’re one" (Praise-a-thon, TBN,
Kenneth Copeland, April 1988) Sound bite of Copeland saying this: "I was shocked when I
found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is.
Copeland stating the obvious in word faith theology, much like the new
age they believe faith is a force( The Bible says faith is TRUST in
God):
"..the force of
faith, is in the spiritual realm, a great deal like certain forces in
the natural realm. It's a spiritual force like gravity is a natural
force, electricity is a natural force of power ... it's a measurable
force, it's conductable, percept
Copeland speaking in tongues ,letting it all out, it sounds like he is
saying:
"Take the mark of
the beast."
"He is very much
like you and me. A being that stands somewhere around 6’-2", 6’-3",
that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of a hundred
pounds, little better, has a hand span of nine inches across" (Kenneth
Copeland, audio tape#01-0601. Side 1. "Spirit ,Soul, and Body" 1985)
House of
James Copeland books for sale. http://houseofjames.com/store/search.html?searchfor=copeland
Suddenly, in front of this tremendous multitude of people, the Glory of
God appeared. The form that I saw was about the height of a man six
feet tall, maybe a little taller, and twice as broad as a human
body…"(Morris Cerullo, " The miracle book". 1984)
God is doing a lousy job of running the earth:
"God’s on the outside looking in. He doesn’t have any legal entrée into
the earth. The thing don’t belong to Him. You see how sassy the devil
was in the presence of God in the book of Job? God said, Where have you
been? Wasn’t any of God’s business. He didn’t even have to answer if he
didn’t want to…God didn’t argue with him a bit! You see, this is the
position God has been in…Might say, "Well , if God’s running things
He’s doing a lousy job of it." He hadn’t been running ‘em , except when
He’s got, you know, a little bit of a chance" ("Image of God in you
III".Audio tape#01-1403. Side 1. Kenneth Copeland Ministries)
As you noticed I have not been attending VCC for a long time. After I
studied the faith movement more deeply, I found it to be full of false
teaching and I have proof, right from their mouths and books. Since
what we believe spiritually is the most important detail of our lives
it is worth it for you to see if what you teach is truth. It is not a
sin to expose false teachers. Apostle Paul wrote about two of them, "
Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and
Philetus, who have wondered away from the truth." 2 Timothy 2:17-18. So
warning people and naming the false teachers’ names is not a sin if it
is done with the Bible, witnesses and careful research. I ask you to
study these quotes stand or fall against the rule of God’s Word.
Christian tried to stop me from my decision to leave the faith movement
but my convictions and fear of God and His Holy Word is why IM staying
away from it. One of the last things he said to me is, David , you are
never going to grow in faith if you stop . As I raised the Bible I
replied,- What’s your problem, I said for now on that Im going to fear
God and His Word. This is a very hard letter that I have to write you
and I didn’t want to bother but to love your neighbor as yourself also
means to warn them if you see them in imminent danger. I did some
reading and listening to tapes and reading by various teachers and
found their teachings to be in great error. An example is one teacher,
that you regard highly, said that the doctrine of the Trinity is from
the devil (tape #61-0108, side 2. "The Throne of Mercy and Judgement".
Voice of God recordings, 1961. William Branham)
William Branham saying the Trinity is of the devil. The cult group Bible Way loves Branham.
So does Benny Hinn. Here are Benny's remarks about Branham:
Benny says
Branham is a man of God
House of
James inventory of Benny Hinn books for sale http://houseofjames.com/store/search.html?searchfor=hinn
Another teacher says that God stands 6’1"-6’2" and has a hand span of
9". But the Bible says that God is a Spirit and worshippers must
worship Him in spirit and truth. So am I being too critical? That is
the question some might ask. But the real question is- are these
teachers really getting their truth from God? We all know that the sure
way to test a teaching is to compare with the Bible and then and only
then can we be safe and assured about it. Feelings and listening to a
voice for direction are not too reliable as we see men, including
myself, making wrong decision based on what we felt like or thought we
heard. God’s Word is the final authority on truth.
God is 6 feet tall?
Copeland
I would like to ask you please read the info to make sure it is
accurate b/c I am going to submit to the internet search engines. To be
fair I have not submitted it to search engines yet until you have a
chance to respond, so it’s a private file right now. A preview can be
found at : http://freefountain.tripod.com/heresy4.html
You can reply to me at: qqqputs@yahoo.ca
I do believe that God heals and does miracles today, I know He does
first hand. There are missionaries and you would find it hard to
believe that the Mennonites pray for the sick and anoint people with
oil. They never lost the fear of God; they do it publicly, and
privately. The problem I found is this;
There is a new Movement that emphasizes experience over truth, feelings
above facts. I found that people in this movement aren’t concerned or
brush off sin and it doesn’t matter much as long as miracles are being
performed. To speak against a teacher who is sinning yet doing "signs
and wonders" is to cast him off as "religious" and not understanding
things of the "spirit". The truth is that all these teachers have flesh
and as long as they do they can be tempted, deceived and led away from
God by following passions.
We are commanded to put to death the things of the flesh and then the
Holy Spirit can work through us b/c the flesh wars against the Holy
Spirit and are contrary. The only way Jesus fought against the devil
was to quote scripture and so the Word of God is the only way we can
test against false teachings and anything that goes clearly against the
Holy Word of God is to be abolished with all diligence and in the fear
of God. May God bless you as you read this letter.
The plan that God had made to save men is the most awesome and loving
thing that has been ever heard or done. Jesus came in the flesh, lived
a perfect life, died on the cross , as a sacrifice and the only
sacrifice that would pay the price of All sins and after 3 days rose
again in victory . A true realization of this is to be always in wonder
of the love of God. It is so awesome that A person who really
understands and follows Jesus will do anything that Jesus says. To
truly meet Jesus has a dramatic impact on the person, so much that
Simon and Andrew left all they had in a moment after meeting Jesus and
followed Him. Jesus said that Many will follow the broad road and only
a few will enter the narrow gate. He pleads with listeners to follow
the narrow road and strive to enter in.
We find that not all make it on the narrow way, one Example is the rich
young ruler who approached Jesus and asked Him what he must do to be
saved. Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor and
follow Him. Since the young man held his riches higher than Jesus he
didn’t follow , and Jesus said- how hard it is for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of heaven, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye
of a needle Than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus
knows our hearts and knows any "gods" that Might be before Him.
Jesus made it clear that no one is saved unless true faith in Him is
granted by the Father ( John 6). The Father must draw that person
first, then the person's eyes are opened to salvation. Jesus also made
it clear that drawing in will cost something; not that we must pay for
our salvation but people who chose to follow Christ will suffer. If
they crucified Jesus, evil people will harm us. In His fairness, Jesus
had to prepare believers to the cost of discipleship in a statement
that shocked the hearers, it was a statement that wasn’t easy to listen
to ;
"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it for
a man to gain the whole world , and yet lose or forfeit his very self ?
If anyone is ashamed of Me or My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed
of him when He comes in His Glory and in the Glory of the Father and of
the holy angels" Luke 9:23-28
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his
wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes even his own life-he
cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow Me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a
tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he
has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is
not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying,
"This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or suppose a king
is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down
and consider whether with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming
against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a
delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for
terms of peace. In the same way anyone of that does not give up
everything he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:26-33
Either the Lord really commands complete obedience to Him and His word
or He doesn’t. Either He is just joking when He told us about
commitment to Him and His Word or He is very serious. Are there verses
In the New Testament that say if a Christian is in sin and not
repenting and stopping it; lets say adultery, drunkenness, greed,
lying, will that Christian still be alright in God’s eyes.? Well today
preachers are saying yes , that Christian is under liberty and is still
justified:
" Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves
from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness
out of reverence for God" 2 Corinthians 7:1
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men for without holiness
no one will see the Lord" Hebrews12:14
" See that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau, who for a
single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son." Hebrews
12:16
"..continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling"
Philippians 2:12
"Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are
some who are ignorant of God- I say this to your shame" 1Corinthians
15:33
Since Apostle Paul and Jesus said these words, it is a sin to call
these verses legalistic. Also they are not from the Law in the Old
Testament, these are commands that God has for any believer. It seems
to me that God wants Holiness from us and to obey His Word and if you
stand up and quote this or other verses like this, you are labeled
"religious". Is it really religious? Or is it obedience and those who
claim to be spiritual are leading people into a mindset that is sinful,
yet they justify it by saying that the spiritual person isn’t bound by
this verse or others. They will find out on the last day.
So what happened to sound teaching and doctrine?. What happened to the
value if a good conscience before God? False teachings have hit the
church and people with itching ears don’t test the teachings by the
Word of God, they accept anything coming to them. They are easily led
astray.
"There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, even denying the Sovereign Lord who bought them… many will
follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute.
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have
made up"2 Peter2:1-3
The truth has been changed ever so secretly and with no testing from
God’s people. The Bible teaches that true faith is simply-trust in God.
True faith in God is demonstrated in Hebrews 11; they didn’t visualize
or speak things into existence; they chose, blessed, obeyed, built,
offered, understand by faith:
"By faith Moses chose to be mistreated."
"By faith Isaac Blessed Jacob"
"By faith Abraham obeyed"
"By faith Noah built an ark"
"By faith Abel offered"
" By faith we understand that God created the world"
False faith puts faith in your faith, which leads the person to rely on
their Words, their visualization , their faith instead of- faith in God
-it’s a faith in ones own ability to have faith. It’s a formula that
gets a person lost in a quandary of his ability to do the faith formula
right. It’s a life of perfecting that "formula" and if the person
didn’t -…, shoot " I have to renounce that word I spoke before it comes
to true" and if the person followed the formula he is quite happy of
his efforts and awaits the thing to become into existence. Is this
faith in God, or is it faith in faith? Just because I say "IM saved"
and receive it actually doesn’t mean IM saved. What is it that
justifies me?- My rest and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for
my sins, this is my way to heaven.
If the faith formula really worked, God would be a slave to our
confessions and words, which He is not, God is totally Supreme and
Sovereign. There is not a word uttered that will do anything except what
God approves or wills, which brings us back to trust in God as true
faith. Here is a shocking quote worth looking at:
"Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in
this earth realm on behalf of man…Yes! You are in control! So, if man
has control, who no longer has it? God…When God gave Adam dominion that
meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything in this
earth unless we let Him. And the way we let Him or give Him permission
is through prayer."
(Frederick Price, p 1178, "the Word Study Bible" section on prayer " Do
you know what prayer is…and how to pray?)
James 3 gives a warning for any shepherd who teaches false doctrine.
How will a person stand before God on judgment day after teaching this?
Is it really true that faith teachers think this and that faith in God
is not true faith but rather faith in faith? And by vain repetition and
ramblings will produce the true faith God is looking for? Read this for
A jolt!;
"…It would help you to get faith down in your spirit to say out loud,
‘Faith in my faith!’. Keep saying it until it registers on your heart.
I know it sounds strange when you first say it; your mind almost rebels
against it. But we are not talking about your head; were talking about
faith in your heart"- E.W. Kenyon, later repeated by Kenneth Copeland
and Kenneth Hagin. Book- "Having faith in your faith" Tulsa, Kenneth
Hagin ministries, 1988.
Teaching to put faith in your faith puts the person in a confusing loop
that left God out of the cycle. God, is now replaced by the person with
faithmovement faith, making that person -god.
True
faith is trust in God. Mark 11:22-says this; "Have faith in God" Jesus
answered." I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go
throw your self into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart but
believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, what ever you ask for in prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, If
you hold anything on anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven
may forgive you your sins."
By reading this passage it is clear that we are to put our trust in
God,-"Have faith in God", not our words. Also it is clear that God
brings about the end result, i.e.- it is Him who determines where the
mountain will land. Also it is clear that He is the one doing it –"it
will be done for him", not "it will be done by him". It is not our
words or effort but by faith in God’s ability and Mighty Power. It is
clear God gives the request, it is not us who take it- "believe that
you have received it", not " believe you have taken it". Lastly, this
will only happen when we pray and according to His will:
" This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14.
Sadly, Benny Hinn teaches that we should never pray to God and say, "If
it is your will." Even Jesus prayed, “…not My will but Your will be
done” in the garden of Gethsemane before suffering and dying on the
cross for our sins.
Before leaving the passage of praying with faith in Mark 11, I found it
interesting that a faith teacher deliberately changed one word in his
own Bible edition .That word is "in".
"Have faith in God" (v.22) . In the Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition
of the Holy Bible, he adds a little note stating that the verse should
say, " Have the faith of God". If Copeland is right then we would
have the same amount of faith as God does, we could do what God can do,
making us God. This is right from the pit of hell and I saw Copeland
books for sale at House of James in Abbotsford, even after sending a
warning letter to Lando he ignores the warning. The rich established
Mennonite pampered , easy living, businessmen dont regard a poor
painters request to stop selling these books that contain doctrine of
demons. Fiesen, Froesen, Toews and Freezen frozen hearts that have the
blessings of generations who bought land for cheap and sold off to
developers and their descendents came into a pile of money thereafter.
Many in this group are known for hiring cheap labour and lining their
pockets but claim they love their neighbor as themselves. When they do
give its to the wrong ministries that promote Alpha or to a relief
effort that money is diverted to rebels since they dont have to use
the money that was reserved for rebuilding in case of a disaster.
Many have even given to faith teachers who teach doctrines of demons.
This gross error in translating the verse
is typical with faith teachers as they often "shoot from the hip" when
interpreting scripture. All Greek scholars agree, including A.T.
Robertson who is the most respected Greek scholar-they all agree that
the proper translation is "Have faith in God."
The other gross mistranslation is Hebrews 11:1 " Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".(KJV).
The more accurate translation is the NASB, which reads," assurance"
instead of the word "substance". Kenneth Copeland states , " Faith is
the raw material substance that the Spirit of God used to form the
universe". The word "substance" in Greek is hypostasis, if you refer to
A Greek dictionary it means " being sure " and "assurance", which is
far from the meaning "tangible stuff" As translated by Copeland, hardly
a Greek scholar.
Assurance in God is the basis of true faith not sssurance in words. In
Charles Capp’s book,("God’s Creative Power" p.2-3) he says precisely
the same thing as Copeland, mistranslating "Have faith in God" to "Have
faith of God". Simply put, its amateurs messing with a language they
can’t translate. The Jehovah witnesses and Mormons do the same. The
lack of fear for God and the outcome of mistranslating His Word is
rampant in this movement.
The deification of man, demotion of God, deification of satan,
redemption in hell, cons, prosperity as true blessings, no suffering
for Jesus and the gospel are also taught among faith teachers, but the
teaching stems far back.
Cult leader Rajneesh took the title of Bhagwan Shree (meaning "Sir
God") He had the arrogance to announce," When You call Jesus, you are
really have called me. When you call me , really you have called
Jesus". Another Cult teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi mistranslated the
famous verse to say , " Be still and know that you are God". Jim Jones
yelled out," It is written that ye are gods. IM a god and you’re a god.
Willy Hinn teaches the same thing as I heard him last summer (1999).
The true meaning is ye are "judges". What is the root of these
teachings then?
Phineas Quimby (1802-1866) A New age guru who taught that Through the
power of positive confession and visualization, a person could be
healed. Metaphysical Practitioners have long taught to visualize health
and wealth and to confess it with all energy. Teaching the law of
"attraction"- negative thoughts attract negative circumstances,
positive thought attracts positive circumstances. Thoughts can be
either creative or destructive. (page 149-The Counterfeit Christ of the
New Age Movement" Ron Rhodes ,1990) Does this sound familiar?
"I had a witch tell me this…She said," You know that we are taught in
witchcraft how to kill birds with words and how to kill people with our
mouth…We are taught with words to bring disease on, on, on men…by
speaking certain words that defeat them." She can actually cause
sickness that could very well kill. She said, "With words, I used to
kill birds, I used to kill birds." She said she said she would speak to
a bird and the bird would drop dead…I said ,"Dear God, I didn't know
the devil had such power." And the Lord spoke to me, and He said," The
Devil can kill with words, then you with your words can bring life."
And it just come and clicked inside of me, brother…And we Christians
don’t realize the power in our mouths. (Benny Hinn, Praise the Lord"
Program on TBN June 1 1989)
Isn’t it interesting that he compares what he teaches with the
teachings of the witch. Benny Hinn also admits to visit the grave site
to get an anointing. This is also a cultic practice believing that
energy flows from the bones of the dead. I know the story that he uses
to justify this practice of the ‘prophets anointing in his bones’ .
First, Khulman has been proven to be a false prophetess and was
involved in a sexual scandal that made a married preacher divorce his
wife to marry Khulman. Second, if Benny knew scripture he would know
that woman are not to teach a man in reference to preaching the Word of
God. He was lead astray from day one and you followed Benny and so on.
The teaching that faith is a "force" and to visualize your miracle are
not rediscovered at all, they have been with the new-age and
metaphysical cults a very long time ago. True faith is more than words
or visualization, true faith is simply-trust in God. Hebrews 11 , not
in our words. Kenneth Hagin says;
" Man… was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in
front of God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority…God
has made us as much as Himself as possible…He made us in the same class
of being that He is Himself…Man lived in the realm of God. He lived on
equal terms with God…The believer is called Christ…that’s who we are;
we’re Christ!" ( Kenneth E Hagin, "Zoe, The God kind of Life"p.35-36,
41.)
Here comes Morris Cerullo-"Did you know that from the beginning of time
the whole purpose was to produce Himself?…Who are you? Come on, who are
you? Come on say it!: ‘Sons of God’ , Come on ,say it! And what does
work inside us ,brother, is that manifestation of the expression of all
that God is and all that God has. And when we stand up here , brother,
you are not looking at Morris Cerullo; you’re looking at God. You’re
looking at Jesus.( the end time manifestations of the Sons of God,
audio tape 1, sides 1 and 2) John Avanzini preaches the same stuff as
well.
I sadly admit, I have believed this false teaching myself. I used to
listen to Copeland’s tapes over and over and adapt the kind of faith he
was teaching.
Now that I am away from false teaching I am thinking more sensibly.
First, she was too young for me. Second, it wasn’t God’s will for me to
marry into a preacher’s home that is a false teacher. I have to admit
with shame that I was not using my brain or conscience that God gave me
but I was half crazed listening to Copeland, Dollar, Benny and
yourself. During my stay at VCC I learned to put off and not even
caring about paying bills, being sly with money and greed , ‘deceiving
and being deceived’. I was running with friends that were unstable and
feared you more than God’s Word, clearly seeing scams but unwilling to
heed warnings from God’s Word. It’s such a freedom to be released from
that bondage. I thank the Lord that I have my sanity back again and my
fear for the Lord and His Word. I learned a huge lesson; Do not take it
lightly when someone is showing fruits of a false teacher.
In 2Peter 2, the Bible gives the characteristics of false teachers:
Verse 1.
"But there were also false
prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among
you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the
Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction"
Verse 2-
"..the way of truth will be
blasphemed".- They will bring the way of truth into disrepute
and give a bad reputation for Christ because of a ministry of sins done
in Jesus name. Ex. Shifty money handling and loose morals, indecent
jokes that cause unbeleivers to look and be disgusted at "Christianity"
on TV. They will exploit people, use new Christians with little
foundation in the Word.
Verse 3
In their greed they will make up stories to get a large money offering.
" By covetousness they will
exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has
not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber"
Verse 10
-" and especially those who walk
according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise
authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to
speak evil of dignitaries,"
They are bold and arrogant (Henry yelling at the staff frequently),
calling all the shots (he directs the whole show) and not accountable
to anyone. Speaking evil of dignitaries- Charasmatics put down Moses,
David, the disciples in effort to make them look even more holy then
the dignitaries of old. "New wine" "End time restoration" "Third
wave" "Prophetic movement" "Signs and wonders" they claim greater signs
and wonders then the Apostles.
Verse 14
They love to entice unstable souls and have eyes full of adultery-" having eyes full of adultery and that
cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart
trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. "
Verse 17
Wells without water, the facade is that your soul will get refreshed by
them but its a illusion-"These are
wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved
the blackness of darkness forever."
Verse 18-22
They have mastery in alluring through lustful words." For when they speak great swelling
words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through
lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in
error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves
of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is
brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter
end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having
known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But
it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns
to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the
mire."
I learned that when you hear scripture twisting, don’t wink and ignore
it. Take it very seriously b/c the preacher claims to be hearing from
God. God is not going to come down and warn us to our face, He already
gave His Holy Word for us to read and obey it and if I knew my Bible
better, I would have ran out and stayed out. This next part is for you
and I will edit it out on my web page b/c some of it could get you into
trouble with ******* My goal is not to get you in jail but to give
evidence that the movement you were "saved" in and believe is full of
false doctrine and it is not the same Gospel as Christians believe. It
is a different gospel altogether. So with out further delay, here is my
findings;
1) You are in danger of disobeying God and false teachings. This
regards your handling of God’s Word:
"we must obey God rather than men" Acts 5:29
"whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant" Matthew
20:26
"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields
are crying out against you. The cry of the harvesters the ears of the
Lord Almighty" James 5:4
2) Prophecies you gave did not come true (regarding the relocating of
your church, the year of Jubilee and promises of 99 being the year of
"debt free" for the VCC members.) The Bible says to test a prophet by
what he prophesied. If it comes true than he is a good prophet (if he
doesn't lead people away from the Lord), if it doesn’t than he spoke
from his own belly and is a
false prophet.
3) You don’t even believe what you preach; You confidently proclaim that if you give sacrificially, then
you will receive and will have no lack. Is this the kind of
faith it takes to want to avoid paying your workers? If you really believed that
if you gave sacrificially that you might even gain 100 fold than you would be giving money away
quickly to get the return. I can attest that workers didn’t
even get paid or if they did it was only a fraction and it was late.
This teaching is another ploy of the faith teachers to fill up their
wallets. Instead of feeding the sheep, they are fleecing the sheep.
Jesus was talking about spiritual blessings and yes the Lord may choose
to also bless financially but that’s not His main concern for us- its
first spiritually than in other areas. The Apostles often went cold,
hungry, persecuted, and knew how to be content in all
situations. If we have food and clothing we are told to be content, why? This earth isn’t our home
and if we forget that then the Father has to remind His children. I’m
looking forward to heaven. Those who seek to gain riches fall into many
snares, the Bible says and the parable of the seed choked in the
thorns is from the cares, riches, of this life. Why are these
teachings not taught be faith teachers? Are they afraid of these verses
b/c it contradicts their theology?
They believe a "different gospel" and some believe a "different Jesus"
(2 Corinthians 11:3-4) A false Jesus. The Jesus in the Bible has a
totally different character than what these teachers boldly proclaim.
4) The final straw. After exactly one year of attending VCC, it was
last summer at the Sunday evening service (healing service July99)
which would be my last. You had the people make an offering as you were
"under the anointing", you clearly had no regard for Jesus command when
giving,- and when you give don’t let your right hand know what your
left hand is doing". You asked anyone who could give 1000.00$ to get up
to the front, then you went on and told the church not to get
religious -don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is
doing -and just come in front, in a sarcastic tone. By then I heard
enough and my eyes were totally open after exactly one year of
attendance. Can you really justify going against Jesus’ Words and be
even bold about it?
5.) Inviting false teachers. Some guests were good like the missionary
that worked the streets in LA, and maybe 1 or 2 more. Pastor Hahn
taught VCC that Judas Iscariot was doing Jesus a favor by turning Him
in to the Sanhedrin b/c he wanted to prove every one that Jesus, being
God’s Son, couldn’t get arrested. When it failed he hung himself. (The
Bible doesn’t teach this, Judas wasn’t trying to do Jesus a favor but
rather "satan entered him" and then Judas went to the Sanhedrin). The
"Pastor" was under the "anointing so much that "everyone fell and the
chairs had to be removed" according to Chris . Thank God my car broke
down on the way to VCC so I missed that night, since I didn’t get paid
from you for working on your house I couldn’t fix my car. Isn’t God
good? I know the answer now. He saved me from nights of heavy false
teaching. Its true, everything does work for the good for those who
love Jesus.
I thought about you and the question: does Henry really know that he is
teaching false doctrine? I believe you don’t realize it. You
were taught under your brothers ministry and he was taught by others
(quotes above). You listened to Hagin’s tapes over and over to get the
message deep in your mind.I
believe this is the strongest warning you will get and
you know me pretty good and you know that I care enough to write. Test
the quotes with God’s Holy Bible and don’t be deceived. You will have
to publicly renounce false faith teaching and repent.
I always wondered what was your reaction when you happen to read the
verses that speak about the deceit of riches, suffering, holiness in
all aspects of life, etc. We are to be rich in our heavenly account,
not our earthly one and to share with those in need. The love of money
is the root of all evil and when someone is in this snare, they cant
even see it until the Lord has to ‘pull the rug’ from under them to
awake them. This is my prayer for you that you may be able to stand in
front of God on that day.
The checks were small and delayed. Later I didn’t get paid enough to
fix my VW Rabbit (if you see a brother in need and turn away can the
love of God abide in that person?) but you made excuses and bought a
new Mercedes. I left the church b/c I knew that the way a person
handles money speaks about the person. Christian called me and told me
that I made a mistake by leaving and I left the "anointing". Since I
believed this I wanted to come back. Brent called and said, "Pastor
said he will pay you if you come back" I came back and we hugged and
you said that you were sorry you forgot the check but will bring it
next week. Empty promises lingered the check never transpired and after
a few weeks I just said to ‘forget it.’
Shifty business practices were clearly seen by all including your
leaders who fear you more than God’s word. If they feared God’s word
they would have did you a favor by reproving you with God’s Word, why
didn’t they? They did not do you a favor by their silence. After
reading this letter, I believe there will be no excuse and I hope you
get humbled by the Lord b/c the Lord will discipline all who are truly
His as a father disciplines His child. I hope the leaders of VCC
will finally fear God more than you and leave. A true man of God fears
God’s Word more than any man including you. They just kept on
supporting and encouraging you into more deceit.
Jesus said whoever is unfaithful in the least things Will be unfaithful
in much. In my presence, at your home I heard and saw such things that
grieved my soul. We are saved by God’s grace but a person becomes new,
-old things pass away. If Jesus wasn’t serious about holiness He
wouldn’t have said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny
himself daily and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to
save his life will lose it.." Jesus commands daily self-denial. True
blessings that where taught by Jesus were not materialistic. Here’s
another part of the Bible brushed off by false teachers:
Blessed are you who thirst for righteousness
Blessed are you when men speak evil of you on account of Me (not false
teachings but for Jesus)
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the peace makers
A person is not religious if he obeys and fears the word of God enough
to leave when he sees false teaching. A person doesn’t have a
"religious spirit" just b/c they want to be obedient. That’s a tactic
false teachers to avoid getting rebuked for unrighteous actions. In
your circles, a man is called religious if he fears God and His Word
and flees from anyone professing freedom but they themselves are a
slave to sin. ( love of money, pride, boasting, false doctrines) 2
Peter 2.
The fact that under your own testimony you were saved in one of your
brother’s meetings is scary for all the evidence points to Benny as a
deceiver. The simplist way to see the truth is to see how the teacher
lives their lives and listen to see if they teach stuff that goes
against God’s Word.
Matthew 7...the fruits of a false teacher and they still think they are
serving Jesus:
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad
fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear
good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore
by their fruits you will know them.
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many
will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Who will these people be on that day? Well we know:
1) They thought they were doing mighty works in Jesus’ name
2) At the same time they worked “lawlessness” and somehow thought that
they were still saved and even justified their sin. This is the perfect
recipe for what I found to be true in the faith movement, which isn’t
really faith in God.
If you can build up the "anointing" to a point where people can start
getting healed either by a touch on the forehead, a punch in the
stomach (Copeland), a Slap in the face. Jesus gave all men the rule of
thumb to use to determine false teachers- their fruit, that’s all we
really need To see is how a teacher lives his life everyday. I believe
God heals but not under the umbrella of greed, false teaching, and
mysticism. There is a classic illustration of this found in the Bible:
"I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make a
carved image and cast an idol. I will give it back to you" ( Judges
17:3 )
This lady actually thought that she was spiritual for dedicating silver
to build a idol. In her delusion she was disobeying God and worshipping
an idol. She couldn’t see what she was doing, as all that are in this
deceit are blinded. This is what the faith movement does today, finding
the verses that will make people sacrifice but they do it as to an idol
of greed and an attitude of "give to get".
In Summary:
In the circles of the faith movement they teach that
a)God is
a physical being, about 6’ tall (Bible says that God is a Spirit).
b) That He is a slave to our "words" spoken in faith, the request must
be granted and "He has to get permission from us" to do the miracles (
the Bible says that God is the Ruler and Sovereign over all. He is not
subject to any of our words or prayers and only answers "according to
His will" )
c)That "God is the biggest failure" ever.(Copeland)
d)There are really nine in the Trinity, not three. (Hinn)
e) We are little gods and we have deity.(many)
f) Faith is a "force" that creates miracles. ( The Bible say that faith
is trust in God, assurance and rest in Him.)
g) The teachers are usually cold to people who don’t get their miracle.
They will even mock them. They are bold, arrogant, and haughty. (Not
like the Jesus of the Bible- humble, loving, meek, strong, Holy and
gentle.)
h) They run from hardship and seek health and wealth, always coming up
with a new story with manipulating teachings of tithing and giving. The
money is usually squandered on luxury and expensive cars. When Jesus
told the disciples that He was going to suffer much and be crucified, Peter rebuked Jesus for talking
about suffering-
Matthew 16:21-23 21 From that time
Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and
suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside
and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall
not happen to You!" 23 But
He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense
to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of
men."
False brethren also run from persecution of the cross of Jesus and
teach the gospel of indulgence instead. Jesus rode on a donkey (poor
transportation at that time ), didn’t have any place of His own to rest
His head. He was despised and rejected. A Man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. He taught self denial not self -indulgence. One cannot read
too far in the New Testament to see the Jesus of the Bible is not the
same Jesus as taught by faith teachers. One would only continue in this
movement if they don’t have any fear of God.
The quotes given are from the faith teacher’s own books and tapes that
are listed in the glossary of the book, ‘Christianity in Crisis’
The attitude of Jesus and the apostles was humble service. The Bible
says that Jesus was meek and gentle in heart. In your meetings there
was little respect for God’s word on church order such as tongues and
interpretation. If someone speaks in tongues and there is no
interpretation, its not according to God’s Word. Every good deceit has
a lot of truth, it takes much study and prayer to be sharp and
discerning spirits and truth. I pray that God will give you this so you
can escape the destruction waiting everyone who doesn’t follow Jesus,
the true Jesus. Not a designer Jesus with tons of cash and a arrogant
attitude like the one that the faith teachers made up.
"The Agony of Deceit" song by Steve camp (CONSIDER THE COST CD)
They are wolves in sheep’s clothing they will try to seduce your soul,
Teaching doctrines of demons, lies are all they know.
They are prophets of destruction, these are new age heretics.
They say they will show the way of salvation.
but their cross is a bloodless stick.
They are clouds with out water, they have hearts trained in
greed. They are like wild animals and you are the food they eat.
Depraved
in their minds, Deprived of the truth they promise prosperity but the
cash they steal from you will buy the coffin to seal their defeat.
They
have eyes full of adultery, never cease from sin.
Exalted in heresy, deception is their friend. Speaking out prideful
words of vanity, they entice by fleshly desires.
Like a
dog goes back to its vomit you see, like a sow wiles in the mire!
This is the agony of deceit, promising truth with lies they teach, o
they come in Jesus name but are sons of Hades-this is the agony of
deceit.
7.
Coming back to the Father's arms.
I was slowly healing and just lived a recluse life of working and
trying to make sense of Christianity today. My main priority was to get
back to the basics of true Christian doctrine and to get the life I had
before the faith movement.I just wanted those good old days back when I
had a strong assurance in God and I didn’t know the deceit that was out
there in the other churches. Going back to my roots I started attending
the traditional church that I was brought up in. Over time my mind
started to heal again being away from heretical preachers and lukewarm
influences.
The more I studied the faith movement, the more I was shocked to learn
that it is gaining popularity very rapidly with Christians today. Time
after time I saw Christians accepting this movement as of God. One day
I received a email from Mildred, a African internet friend that I
haven’t for about half a year. The last time I mailed her was when I
was still involved in the faith movement and Mildred finally wrote me
with excitement about being a counselor at Benny Hinn’s crusade in
Africa. The timing was outstanding because I had recently listened to a
clip of Hinn on the radio where Benny prophesied that Jesus will appear
physically in churches and he also told the audience that Jesus might
show up on the platform in the upcoming Africa crusade. Mildred was
there and she said that it was wonderful. She prayed with Africans to
received Jesus.
I mentioned the prophecy to Mildred and she said that she remembered
him saying that before he came to Africa. I asked her if Jesus showed
up on the platform and she said no. I asked her to read Mathew 24 where
Jesus warned that false teachers will say that the Christ is in the
desert or that He is in the inner room:
Matthew 24:23-29
. 23 Then if anyone says to you,
'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. 24 For false
christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you
beforehand. 26 Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the
desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not
believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to
the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever
the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. 29
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the
sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes
of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. NKJV
I asked her that if I send her proof of Hinn prophesying that Jesus
will return physically in churches, would she heed Jesus warning or
Benny’s prophecy. I sent her the tape to and she realized that it was
the quote she heard and that Benny was a false prophet. She didn’t know
what to tell the new converts that accepted Jesus at the Benny Hinn
crusade. I advised her to keep holding Bible studies and be more
cautious in the future. I pray that those people in Africa believed in
the real Jesus and the real gospel.
During my whole healing process after leaving the faith movement I met
a young lady at Roaring 20’s, Janalle. After talking with her a little
I found out that she had stopped attending Northview and was attending
a Pentecostal church called Christian Life Assembly. I asked her out
for the Friday but she had plans to attend the meeting there, so we
agreed to meet at the meeting. That church was having a “Fire and
freedom” Revival and was going on in Asuza street fashion. I wasn't so
worried about finding her any longer as I started to think of this girl
as a trap like the other Charasmatics I was interested. The singer was
repeating verses over and over and some of the people were swaying in
the pews in a semi-trance state. A teen came forward with a white
plastic bag and the singer asked him about the bag. The teen said that
there was calendars, videos and CD’s that God wanted him to throw away.
The singer went on and praised God for the repentance and tried to put
his hands on the teen to pray for him but then the teen put his hands
on the singer and started to pray for him! Then the teen turned to the
audience and boldly looked around sternly at everyone. I thought about
this verse:
Matthew 6:1
"Beware of practicing your
righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no
reward with your Father who is in heaven.
When God convicts you to throw away pornos, just smash the tapes
and rip the pictures,throw it in the trash and make it private, at
least I think that would be the right way.
I found out from my friend Evie, a pastors daughter who used to attend
that church, that Christian Life Assembly invited pastor Steve Hill from the
“Pensacola Florida out-pouring”. He spoke at one of the “fire and
freedom “ rallies that the church held. The connection started to come
together for me. I read about Steve Hill before and heard him make
false statements on the doctrine of Jesus atonement on the cross.
During one of Steve’s meetings a young man fell to the floor and
started to moan and groan and this is what Steve said about it:
“Now some of you are watching this young man up here. I want to tell
you exactly what he is doing, and then I want you to turn your eyes
from him. He’s interceding for your soul. Some of you are on the verge
— it’s like we’ve got you with a thread and you’re hanging over hell.
Its intercession in the deepest form right here. It’s moaning and
groaning, words that can’t be uttered. God’s put it on him. You can’t
tell me God doesn’t love you, friend. You can’t tell me God doesn’t
love you when He will stricken[sic] another young man who loves God
with all his heart, cause him to fall to the ground and experience the
moaning and groaning and the birth pains. He’s giving birth to you,
friend. He’s giving spiritual birth to you. He’s dying for you right
now. He’s dying that you might have life.
(Steve Hill, Brownsville Assembly of God, 30 May 1996; videotape.)
Now, we know that only Jesus died that we may have life so it’s clear
that Steve has a problem with sound doctrine and interpreting phenomena
that happens in his church. The “Pensacola Revival is known for other
strange manifestations in the church like people shaking with
intensity. John Kilpatrick, the senior pastor of the Pensacola Church
warned Hank Hanegraaff to not speak against this out-pouring anymore.
He warned Hank with a stern prophecy that if he continued to speak
against the Revival then “in 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you
down!” That prophecy was made in 1997 and nothing has happened to Hank
and he never stopped warning Christians about the false doctrine at
that Revival.(Kilpatrick false prophecy. Evie claimed that Steve’s night at
the “fire and freedom” revival in Langley was the most powerful one of
the whole summer. This just confirmed to me that Christians are looking
for wonders and feelings and not watching out for false doctrine.
Buddies that frequent CLA tell me of some gross stuff going on
there...sex in the bathroom, oral sex by the stairs. I doubt there is a
revival there. Its something else. I left the meeting without even
talking to her and didn't care to talk with her anymore.
When
someone is on this path its like they are stuck on a rail road track.
You can try to help them see the truth but few care about truth once
they have 'caught the fire'. From my experiences with people very few
will repent once they are into a movement or a vision of the Church
that isn't from God. People, including me, are very stubborn creatures
and they dont even see it. You can send proof of heresy of Alpha to
leaders and elders but they just ignore it. The vision of the Church is
what counts to them, the collective agreement on doctrine and popular
issues is the standard, not the Bible. The friendly people they meet,
the worship they love, the atmosphere is more important then the truth.
God will
warn during their life time but if they ignore the warnings then
serious consequences follow. A person can ignore God to the point of
making many bad decisions in life on worship, books to read, career,
even marriage. Can a person really marry someone out
of God's will? Certainly yes. Its like the person who
thinks God will stop them from jumping off a bridge. God will convict,
yes...God will try to reach the person yes... A person may warn them on
their way to the deck, but only to be ignored. Then the person stands
there, "Well God Im going to do it, you seem to approve so now catch
me". God set the rules of gravity down and wont catch that person due
to their stubborness
No
God didn't approve of it and He tried to reach the person but stubborn
will always gets in the way. Its important to be humble and sensitive
to God, this means reading His word not hearing voices or any
other switch for truth. So did you marry the wrong one? Maybe you
did...but maybe you didn't. A bad marriage could bring you closer
to God and that might have been His will. In any case divorce is not an
option. We have many trials in life and blame God for them but do we
divorce Him for the pain? No , we stay and keep trying to serve even in
deep pain because we look forward to a perfect place where pain is
something obsolete.
This is
a toughy because many go through tremendous pain and I dont want to
paint everyone in with the same brush but there is only one reason I
can make any sense at all about trials. If the person never had a trial
and lived the dream life like say Carmen Electra, who has a seemingly
perfect body, married celebrities, has enough cash to keep her in
luxury for the rest of her life, but this is the clincher: What if she
is going to hell? Is all the beauty and fame and health worth it? Fast
forward it to when a person is getting cast into that huge lake of fire
for eternal torment. I bet Carmen would trade in her beauty and health
for eternal life in heaven. Yes, if you havent been gifted with health
and beauty then your life will be a torment-for now. This time on earth
is short, it will pass away soon. When I was kid I wanted to grow up
fast to experience life to the fullest. When I was in my 20's it was
like one party after another, then you hit 30 and realise life is
passing fast and you want it to slow down but time doesn't stop. We are
all fast forwarding to grey hair, wrinkles, health problems and death.
If this is all there is in life, no God , no heaven, I can see why
suicide would be the best option. But thank God there is a life
after death and there is a God to please. Get to know Him and your life
will be full...but not without trials, however He will be there for
you.
Some go
through tremendous pain that would make the average Christian
trial seem like a drive through the mountains. Remember Jesus in pain ,
taking on all the sins of the world, also remember Martyrs were
tortured, being in pain for Jesus isn't only for you, its for
many. The typical Christian in Abbotsford
has been insulated by parents, Christian
School, and live a very blessed life- but not everyone is
this blessed. Thank God if this is you because only a small fraction of
the world is that blessed, be careful on how you live because you could
jepordise all your peace and joy in a brief moment of wrong decisions.
The
handicapped person may blame God and live in deep pain everyday
of their lives but the trials kept them from a sinful lifestyle. Before
I got sucked into the movement a dear hadicapped brother who couldnt
move without the control stick on his wheel chair and he could
barely speak. We were sitting at checkers
(Northview's cafe) after Roaring 20's with many
attractive females around he barely got the words out and I could hear
the pain in his voice, "Why did God allow
this for me". I was stunned and couldnt speak at first.
I thought about it and said something like, "To tell you the
truth I dont know why and no one here can know for certain, but I do
know that you have more faith in God then anyone here in this room".
Just who else would keep attending Church while everyone around was
living the dream? Handicap people face pain that many will never know.
It may sound like a blanket statement but the Christian handicap person
is usually more spiritual then the Pastor preaching on the stage. Its
the truth. The Pastor may go in a fury when stuck in traffic, the
handicap person would tell him; " Be thankful you can drive". The
Pastor may shun a person who is trying to send them info on deceit in
their Church (ahem.. like Northview) Northview Pastors, for your
information minister means to serve, not to get a high pay for six
months work (if that, all hours totalled)
During my repenting from the faith movement those words I said to that
dear handicap brother seemed so foriegn to me that I could hardly
believe that I spoke them. I wondered what my life would be like if I
never strayed. Im sure I missed many opportunities and I know in my
stubborness I rejected some who didn't have faith movement "faith".
Looking
back I can now trace my straying from truth during a time of lukewarm
Christianity in my life. I dabbled into a sinful lifestyle, though not
full blown- still enough to keep me from being sensitive to God.
Lusting after females, laughing at foolish jokes, drinking one too many
beers, though never losing control it was enough to keep me weak. I
knew I had to change and the promises of the faith movement with the
mighty miracles, intense worship, at first seemed to be the answer. I
see now they were the part of the slide that turned steeply down to the
slime.
If this
lukewarmness sounds like your life dear friend, there is no
Alpha or movement that will set you free. Humbly repenting of sins,
reading the Bible, zeal and obedience to the Lord will get you out of
that mess. Dont get distracted from reading the Bible and staying in
truth for there are many lies out there.
After I saw all these false teachings creeping into the local churches
I went on a campaign to warn Christians about the faith movement and
false revivals. I sent email letters of my story to about 8 of my
pastors at Northview. Then I placed tapes in their slots to give them
evidence of what I wrote in the emails. I got no response at all. I
heard that the large Church has a gag rule on contrevorsial subjects.
Obviously I felt like they didn’t see the faith movement as harmful.
The letter gave details of my straying from the church and I mentioned
another 5 full-time attendees of Northview leaving to be involved in
the movement. That didn’t raise enough concern for them to write me
....not even one sentence and needless to say I felt betrayed. If my
pastors have no time for me then they arent doing their job.
Ken is one of the brothers that left Northview for the faith movement.
Ken started to attend the Father's house Christian center, before this
he used to operate the camera at Northview.
He went on to tell me that he was very depressed the other day because
it was his daughter's birthday and since his wife took off with the
kids he hasnt seen her since. He said that all of a sudden he started
to laugh and getting "holy laughter". He asked the Lord for
confirmation in the Bible " I turned to the story of Hannah praying for
a son as she was barren. As she prayed in the temple she got holy
laughter!"
I didn't buy his explanation because I have heard this type if loose
interpetation so many times I was getting sick of it already. I warned
him not to mis-translate the Bible like that. In fact, had just
finished reading the story the other day to my nephew and niece as a
bed time story. "Dave! even the priest in the temple even said she was
'drunk in the spirit'". "No, thats not true Ken, the priest thought she
was drinking because her lips where moving but with no sound and he
thought she was drunk but she replied- no but Im sorrowful thats why Im
praying this way.". "Well my Bible says she was drunk in the spirit".
"Are you sure Ken? Which Bible do you have". "The New Living
Translation". "Dave you are so mean..here I am telling you how sad I
was about my daughter's birthday and you are debating with me" "Ken, I
feel sorry for you but Im not taking anymore false teachings from
anyone. Ken you better fear God more than that to misquote His Word",
"No Dave! You better fear God for saying there is no holy laughter"
Years later Ken really fell into the sin of drunkeness, he became an
alcoholic.
I went
to the house of James and checked out the translation he told me he
had. It didn't say that she had holy laughter at all. Ill give you the
story now from the Bible, it is important to include this because you
too will face the challenge of confronting heresy and we all need to be
aware that even our friends can throw a fast one at us. Here is the
story in the New Living Translation , read it and see if holy laughter
or drunk in the spirit is in the text:
1 Samuel chapter 1
9 Once when they were at Shiloh, Hannah went over to the Tabernacle
after supper to pray to the LORD. Eli the priest was sitting at his
customary place beside the entrance. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish,
crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made this vow: "O
LORD Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my
prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be
yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated
to the LORD, his hair will never be cut." 12 As she was praying to the
LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound,
he thought she had been drinking. 14 "Must you come here drunk?" he
demanded. "Throw away your wine!" 15 "Oh no, sir!" she replied, "I'm
not drunk! But I am very sad, and I was pouring out my heart to the
LORD. 16 Please don't think I am a wicked woman! For I have been
praying out of great anguish and sorrow." 17 "In that case," Eli said,
"cheer up! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of
him." 18 "Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and
began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
. It is
my personal belief that many others will be tested just as these former
friends of mine, no one has any idea of what Gord or the others went
through, it could have been a living hell, but we know the end
result...failure. We all must be vigilant against the enemy and pray
for God's protection from straying. As the fire heats up some will face
extreme pressures of testing like standing behind a jet fighter that is
ready to take off from the runaway apron, whatever the test only those
who place Jesus above all will last. Many will be knocked down and you
wont see them again. I personally believe we will all go through at
least one shadow of death experience so bad that even suicide seems
like the best option.
If this is you dear friend, remember a trial years ago that seemed
unbearable yet you lived past that, this storm too will pass in time.
Number one is to make sure you are on track with God, if life is still
going crazy at least you know you are in God's will.
*****************************************************************************************************************************
8. Tactics of the faith movement.
Financial Blessings.
These teachers claim that if you give money to a anointed ministry then
that money you gave will come back to you in multiple amounts. They
claim that your money is a “seed” and when you plant it in their
ministries, it grows miraculously. As dumb as this sounds, these
teachers present the message with such enthusiasm and exuberance that
by the end of the sermon people are literally throwing their money into
the offering. They even teach that the more it hurts you to give, the
more the blessing will be. So if you give all your wealth, your rate of
return will be compounded. Some thirty fold, some sixty and some one
hundred fold. Do you know how these teachers can afford the Lear jets
and exotic cars? Many people gave at VCC and most gave till they were
broke and the ones I knew never got the financial huge return. The only one who was rolling in
the dough was Henry Hinn. No matter how hard they try to mask
their greed, there are tell tale signs that the Lord gives us out of
mercy but its up to us to choose if we heed the warnings or not.
We are not to seek the Lord for financial gain, but many people only
want to follow the Lord for what they cant get out of Him:
John 6:25-27
25 And when they found Him on the
other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come
here?" 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you
seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the
loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which
perishes, but for the food
which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will
give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." NKJV
Isnt it amazing how fooled we have become. Jesus' Gospel message was to
deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Him. Jesus said if they
hated Me then they will hate you, if I am your Master and they do these
things to Me, just what will they do to the servants? One who wanted to
follow Jesus said "I will follow you but first let me bury my dead"
This is how committed Jesus wants us to be: Follow Me and Let the dead
bury their dead, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looking back
is fit for the kingdom of God. If you decided to follow Jesus you have
to follow no matter what the persecution. But look at what we are
preaching today:
Hi! God
wants you wealthy and to bless you in everyway. Just invite Jesus in
your heart. (Big smiles and hugs)
This is
not the Gospel Jesus preached and its not the truth. If you want to
start a cult that message would be a good start to get the crowds into
your group, later you can ask for donations and make a huge salary but
all the while time is ticking away and the immanent Judgement from God
is approaching.
The Anointing.
On healing nights sometimes Henry would “anoint” the offering envelopes
and say that if you give in
this offering, God will bless you with the anointing. I’m
reminded now of the story in Acts 8 were a ex-sorcerer saw that God had
given the Holy Spirit to the people when the Apostles laid their hands
on them. Simon approached Peter and offered him money to buy this power
so that anyone he laid his hands on will receive the Holy Spirit. Peter
answered:
19 saying, "Give this authority to
me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the
Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with
you, because you thought you
could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 "You have no part
or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22
"Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that
if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 "For I
see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of
iniquity."
Today preachers are telling their listeners to give money for the
anointing. Christians are falling for it today but if they knew the Bible better
they would be rebuking the teacher instead of giving money.
Read Peters rebuke again if you are one that has given to a preacher
for a anointing and still think it was a good decision.
Henry
teaches that his anointing can transfer on a person who is close to
him, saying it is just like Elijah transferring Elisha. Elijah
didn't tell Elisha that would happen for sure, the condition was only
if Elisha saw him leave that the anointing would rest on him.
Also, Henry is interested in Mercedes Benz, money, and fancy
stuff...Elisha wasn't
and the proof of this is in this next part of scriptures, here is some
background on the story. Naaman was a leper and came to Elisha for
healing. After being healed Naaman offered the prophet gifts but Elisha
refused to take any money from Naaman. Elisha's servant was quick
to run after Naaman and lie to get clothes and money from him.
Notice how the servant, Gehazi, jutifies his craving for worldly goods
and spiritualizes it "As the Lord liveth" :
2 Kings 5:20-27 20
"But Gehazi, the
servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared
Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he
brought: but, as the LORD
liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21 So
Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after
him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all
well? 22 And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me,
saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two
young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent
of silver, and two changes of garments. 23 And Naaman
said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two
talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid
them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 24 And
when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand,
and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they
departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master.
And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy
servant went no whither. 26 And he said unto him,
Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his
chariot to meet thee? Is it a
time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and
vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27 The leprosy therefore of
Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And
he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
From what we know of these faith teachers in how they handle money the
question is; Do they resemble Elisha or his servant Gehazi? "As the
Lord liveth" they think they are spiritual as they fleece the
sheep. Im sure we all want to be comfortable in this life, no one wants
to go hungry and without shelter -including me. From looking at the
punishment of the servants attitude we all must be cautious on our
attitude towards worldly possessions.
Do not touch the Lords anointed.
Unfortunately most of my friends were either in the faith movement or
they thought the movement was Christian and we shouldn’t “Judge” them.
I agree that we shouldn’t judge people but that doesn’t mean we don’t
use our minds or stop exposing false teachers. God gave us rational so
we could make wise decisions based on facts. If the facts point to a
deceit then the rational thing to do is leave the movement but this
only works if the individual’s mind hasn’t been manipulated by false
teachings. They use warnings like, “ Do not touch the Lord’s anointed”.
Are they really God's anointed
or imposters? Any athiest could set up a money making gospel and start
a Church, with what I have seen Christians accept, it would probably
work. Would the athiest be God's anointed? Of course not- the same goes
for false teachers, they are self-appointed.
What
they mean by this is that when Saul was pursuing King David, the Lord
gave David opportunities to kill Saul but David didn’t because God had
chosen Saul. David told his men that he wouldn’t lay a hand against the
Lord’s anointed. If you read the story it is clear that David
didn’t trust Saul after he attempted to kill him with spears and other
means. David also didn’t understand what came over Saul. David ran away
from Saul and when he spared Saul the second time, Saul admitted that
he was wrong about David and asked him to come back home. David still
didn’t trust Saul so he went to the land of the Philistines:
” Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of
Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of
the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in
all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." 1 Samuel
27:1
The context is that even though David didn’t kill Saul when he had the
chance to, he still saw Saul as someone that is not trust-worthy. The
faith teachers take this story and say, “ Do not touch the Lord’s
anointed”. If it can be proven that the teacher is preaching false
doctrine , he is far from anointed and therefore can not be trusted.
What does the New Testament say about this? In the Testament Paul warns
the believers about false teachers and he even broadcasts the names to
the Churches so that they will be warned against them. He also explains
what they were teaching:
“ Be diligent to present yourself
approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling
accurately the word of truth. 16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter,
for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread
like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the
truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus
they upset the faith of some.”
2 Timothy 2:15-18
I’m certain that these two men had devoted followers of their teachings
and they were warned. They could have told the Church- dont listen to
Paul because he is touching God's anointed. Every preacher thinks they
are God's anointed but their lifestyle and message will tell if they
are possibly called by the Lord. You know what I hear today from
Christians when I mention the names and teachings of deceivers? They
reply, “ He is a man of God, don’t slander him!” Or , “ You don’t have
the right to judge!” or, “How come I feel good then when he preaches? I
get the anointing when he speaks.”
We are called to test the spirits to see if they are from God for many
false teachers are out there and they look so Christian:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.”
1 John 4:1
Here are pictures of Benny Hinn on the stage with Steve Brock. Steve
uses the satanic symbol then Hinn moves his hand on Steve's to hide it:
The gifts of God are with out
repentance.
Henry slightly twists the meaning in verses. A example is he taught
that no matter he did, he will never lose the anointing. He uses this
verse to support his teaching:
“ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” Romans 11:29 NAS
. From reading the whole chapter we can see that the subject of that
Chapter is Israel,
how they rejected the Messiah by Israel and the reconciliation of
the Gentiles because of Israel’s unbelief. This Chapter does not deal
with taking or not taking our spiritual gifts away rather it deals with the nation Israel.
In the future Israel will accept the Messiah and the Lord will fulfil
His covenant concerning the restoration of Israel. God will make good
on His promises to Israel is the proper meaning of the verse.
In the New Testament there are many examples and warnings of believer's
rewards taken away:
2 Peter 3
17 You therefore, beloved, since
you know this beforehand, beware
lest you also fall from
your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. NKJV
Col. 2:18
Let no one cheat you of your reward,
taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into
those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind, NKJV
2 John 1:7-9
7 For many deceivers have gone out
into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we
worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever
transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have
God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and
the Son. NKJV
Isnt it
interesting that Benny Hinn's Church was located in Orlando Florida
where Disney World is located and Henry Hinn had his beginnings in BC
at a theme park named Fantasy Gardens (mini Disney Land). They both
chose areas where 'wonder and enchantment' are in high regard. People
are fooled easily with fantasies.
The
Bible is clear that only one
person may speak at a time and there must be no more then three people speaking
tongues, one at a time, waiting their turn. Plus, there must be an interpeter after
each time. Anything other than this is disobedience to God's
word...exactly what you see in most Pentecostal churches today:
"26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you
has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an
interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone
speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in
turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him
keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God." 1 Cor.
14.
The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible- so too, the Holy
Spirit would not contradict Himself and let the meeting go into
confusion with many people speaking in tongues, and with no interpeter.
One Romanian guy tested a Pentecostal Church. He stood up spoke some
Romanian words, then sat down. The interpetation was phoney. Do you
know a language that few know? Try it...speak some plain words and
youll most likely get a false interpetation. Many people claim to
be "in the Spirit" with their bizzarre behavoir, do you really want to
get "into the Spirit" then read the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired the
Bible so you know for sure that you will be close to the Holy Spirit by
reading God's Word. Oh but thats not good enough? The other option is
listening to "teachers" and "worship" music but how do you know
it they arent false? We know the Bible is for sure the truth of God.
The problem today is that being spiritual is equated with drunkeness or
strange activities. God is merciful to put up with these lunatics but
He wont always be. Simple Bible reading seems to boring for some but
this is what God wants us to do, study the Bible, pray, be faithful to
Him. If that sounds boring then maybe you missed the whole idea of what
real Christianity is all about. How many people across the world are
being duped by fake tongues and interpetations? God set down these
rules for the Church so that an outsider will not walk in the Church
while everyone is speaking in tongues and think they are all mad:
1 Corinthians 14 "23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
Why is
it then with these Biblical guidelines that most Charismatic meetings
are not decent and in order? There usually is well over 3 speaking in
tongues, and not in turn but at the same time. God is not about
confusion but order:
1 Corinthians 14-"33. For God is not the author of confusion
but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."
James 3 " 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."
So the
next time you see mayhem and disorder in a Christian meeting , you know
its not from God.
God set down these rules in the Bible and those who are really
spiritual enough to speak in tongues, perform a miracle will be
following the Bible, if its not the Bible they are following then its
disobedience to God and the only rational conclusion is a fake is on
the stage.
Dateline's Expose on Benny Hinn.
9. Things need to change.
With all the Revivals and new, powerful moves of God that we hear about
one would think that the church is strong and healthy. There is no way
of measuring a national average on Christian’s spirituality or Pastor’s
commitment to sound doctrine but there is one data that give a hint on
just how we are doing today. On November 12, 2000 I was listening to
the Focus on the Family weekend edition and the data they shared over
the radio was shocking and revealed just how far we strayed from God.
They released new data that states Christians have a higher divorce
rate than unbelievers. For the first time in the Churches history we
have failed to the point that the world follows God’s standards more
than we do. Something has to change and fast.
So what went wrong, how is it that the world has a better grasp on
following God’s command for marriage then Christians? I have found that
people from the world treat me better than most Christians have.
“Christians” have ripped me off more in business then unbelievers. Many
other honest Christians have said the same thing. The feedback I get
from the unsaved is that Christians are jerks and treat people rudely
and I dont have much to rebut that. Just the other day I was chatting
with neighbor who is quite the party girl and her boyfriend "So when
did you start smoking" I asked, he replied "Actually at church
camp...the pastor's daughter brought the smokes". If I wasn't a
Christian I too would be turned off- If that is what Christianity is
about then Ill have nothing to do with it, but we know its not
Christianity but greed and self-centeredness. If these Revivals we here
about are from God then you would see a Holy and strong Church. In
reality we don’t see this. I strongly feel that we need to change in
the following:
i) We need to read the Bible more and take it seriously. When I don’t
take time to read the Bible daily, the truth becomes hazy. I forget
about God’s commands and desires for my life. It is true that we are
saved by grace but we are also commanded to be faithful to Him. We test
God’s patience and push the envelope of grace to the extreme. We are
starved for Jesus’ teaching on self-control and commitment to the
gospel. One only needs to read the first few chapters of Revelations to
see how Jesus feels about sin in our lives. These next verses will
remove any clouds in your mind:
Revelation 3:14-22
14 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,'These
things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of
the creation of God: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold
nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked-- 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the
fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be
clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and
anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To
him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' " NKJV
Many Christians have lost their commitment to Jesus, true many still
attend church, the functions but in their lives they let subtle evils
invade like bad music, movies, internet porn..they attend church and
our well accepted hey, after all arent we all doing it? Lighten up. But
this is exactly what the devil wants you to be so he can take away your
effectiveness. At work, are duties being done in a professional manner?
Is the price charged too high? Are the company's supplies stolen? Is
there laugh time when the boss is away. "Well Im laughing with them you
now, getting to know them, showing them Christians arent stiffs". We
are well too concerned about unbelievers thinking we are lame then what
God thinks. Too often we parrot the world (its ok to parrot something
godly though) thinking it is effective. Its a losing strategy- what
starts out lukewarm continues to be lukewarm and ends lukewarm. If God
gets the bad name in the end was it really witnessing?
ii). We love what God hates. One example is folly. I believe that it
pleases God to see us laugh but it also makes Him upset at some of the
content that we laugh at. We love entertainment that is hurtful to our
consciences and thought patterns. We laugh at indecent jokes and
comedians and we hold them in high regard and think that it’s alright
to enjoy a indecent jokes. I too struggle with this one...there is so
much comedy out there and if Im not on guard I find myself laughing at
them. When Jesus told the disciples what makes a person unclean I was
surprised to find that folly was included in the list of sins that
defile a man:
Mark 7:20-23
20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For
from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from
within and defile a man." NKJV
I noticed that Christians didn’t have any reservations on telling
indecent jokes. If there is a passage we desperately need to hear, it’s
this one:
Ephesians 5: 1-11
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love,
as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even
be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather
giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty
words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons
of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. 8 For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children
of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the
Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather expose them. NKJV
This study on folly was a sobering experience for me. To further the
point on how we should talk the Bible states that even idle words--
words we dont give much thought of but spoke them anyways, will be
judged:
Matthew 12-
34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of
the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil
man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to
you that for every idle word
men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your
words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned."NKJV
Today comedy joke on gross evils such as beastiality and other sodomy.
All of these we should abhor but if we ignore the Holy Spirit's words
in Ephesians Chapter 5, we will grow dull to these evils and even laugh
with along with them.
If you
are one that loves folly then how is it that you can read the Bible
with a straight face? A person into joking around all the time seems to
have a one liner at whim. They think of folly and future jokes, but how
about when you read the Bible? There are many parts that cant be read
unless you are very serious or a evil thought will come to mind. God
knows our thoughts and thats why folly is considered evil in the
Bible, God wants us to be reverent towards truth and life
that He has provided.
Let us fear God in our lives to the smallest detail, even in our choice
of movies and our idle words. These verses prove
that
God is very serious about what we say and that folly is a sin.
iii. We changed the gospel .
I have seen many tracts that say nothing about commitment to
Jesus or repentance from sin. We tell them that God has a wonderful
plan for your life, we tell them to say a prayer and they will be
saved. Truly we are saved by believing in Jesus alone but if the
person thinks that believing means to “know about” Jesus, this is not
the intended meaning of the word in the Bible. The true meaning of the
word believe is “to trust wholly”. We don’t tell them about repenting
from sin because we fear that they might try to work their way into
heaven. Meanwhile Jesus and the Apostles had no qualms about telling
people to repent. Hell is not mentioned for fear that they might think
we are saddists. We are guilty of preaching a fast and convenient
Gospel that leaves out essential truths
I don’t think we should rush the message of Jesus. This gospel we are
preaching draws people in who don’t know that they have to repent from
sin. They are not aware that Jesus wants us to be committed and taking
up the cross to follow Him. I had a Pentecostal friend named Azim who
said that the way he evangelizes is to walk up to people and pleads
with them, “Just say ‘Jesus is Lord’ and you will be saved”. He got
that from Romans 10 where it says that if you confess with your mouth
then you are saved. He told me of a story that happened on the city
bus, he told some teenage girls to say “Jesus is Lord and they will be
saved. They refused to and mocked him but he persisted in getting a
confession out of them after sometime one of the girls said “Jesus is
Lord’ are you happy?!” Azim assumed that she was saved. I hope so but
if the gospel isn’t clearly presented then she may just have spoken
words.
He forgot to tell her what she was saved from and how she was saved.
Jesus said that following Him will mean self denial and "considering
the cost". We dont work for our salvation but Jesus said that if the
hated Him they will hate us. Some Christians will be martyred. This
isn't a cake walk and we shouldnt present it as such.
At the same time, it need not take hours to thoroughly explain the
gospel. The person should have a understanding that they are sinners
and in danger of a eternal hell. That God is loving and didn’t want us
to go there so He sent His one and only Son to suffer and die on the
cross as the payment for our sins. He arose from the dead and He showed
Himself to a number of believers. He ascended up to heaven and said
that He would return the same way that He left, In the sky. This detail
will prevent them believing any false teacher’s claim that Jesus is “in
the inner rooms” or “in the desert”. It also wouldn’t hurt to explain
the deity of Jesus as God the Son and the Trinity since the cults are
working hard to distort the Trinity today and we don’t want to lose the
person to them. Remember we are not trying to rush a decision from the
person, let them consider the cost of being Jesus’ servant. Jesus said
that this will be the normal thought before making a commitment to
following Him, the thought of total commitment, considering the cost of
following and the outcome of not following Jesus:
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he
cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come
after Me cannot be
My disciple.
Luke 14: 25-27
We have evangelical meetings that present a short and uncomplete gospel
message and then the audience is asked to ask Jesus into their heart.
All this can take place in a minute, but hardly any preachers tell the
audience to consider the cost. No one gets married without considering
whether they love that person and will be committed, they think about
it seriously and make a decision. Even though committing to Jesus is by
far more serious then marriage, many preachers go through the salvation
process in a "fast food" process. What is the outcome of this? If you
are a Christian and have been involved in the church for even a little
time, you know the answer.
The unsaved should know that God wants them to live a holy life so
repentance is a very important and should be mentioned.
This new gospel tells the person that you don’t have to have Jesus as
your Lord to be
saved, He just has to be your Savior.
They say that there are two types of Christianity; The first type are
those who just believe in Jesus but are still living the same way as
before, they were saved with no repentance at all. These are "carnal”
Christians. The second type are committed to Jesus and obey the
teachings of the Gospel, said to be on a higher level, this type follow
Jesus commands in scripture, they are sometimes called 'religious' or
'fundamental'.
"If you is, what you was, then you ain't." (speaking of the surety of
salvation and the evidence of our new life in Christ.)
JOHN JASPER
But by
reading the New Testament one cannot evade the many verses that command
obedience, holiness, out of a deep love for Jesus. One example is the
parables of the servants waiting for their master as in the case of the
ten virgins, five didn't make it into the wedding banquet (heaven) even
though they were waiting with the other five. Then there is the parable
of the unfaithful servant who hid his "talent", the measure of money he
was to trade and make a profit for his master, this servant hid the
talent under the dirt. Not too bad when you compare the servant to
today's "servants" of Jesus, or one would think - many go way deeper
into sin then just hiding their talent.
One just
needs to look at the local Church to see examples. Jesus said that
weeds will grow with the wheat, don't let that surprise you. The weed
might be sitting near your pew at Church. Oh...just in case you were
wondering, what was the servants punishment for hiding his talent?
"30 And cast the unprofitable servant
into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
Matt. 25
God have mercy on us all.
2 Corinthians 11
. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as
the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be
corrupted from the simplicity* that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes
preaches another
Jesus whom we have not
preached, or if you receive a different
spirit which you have not
received, or a
different gospel which you
have not accepted--you may well put up with it! NKJV
The outcome of preaching this new gospel is that we have people who
call themselves Christians but didn’t repent, and they live like
sinners. When the first trial comes into their life they are gone and
you never see them again. The only ones that last are the ones who hold
on, staying committed no matter what happened:
Luke 8:11-15
11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by
the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away
the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13
But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in
time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns
are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares,
riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But
the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the
word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
NKJV
We see in this parable four different responses to trials. There was
not one case that had the “easy life” Jesus never said that being
His servant would be easy.
The first response is they heard a incomplete Gospel or didn't
understand it fully. As they thought about it and about changing for
God, the devil put thoughts about it and they turned from considering
Jesus. They started contemplating following Jesus but quickly turned
back.
Notice that the second response was received with joy but with no root.
I think of this as the one who was told a quick gospel, that they don’t
need to repent at all or worry about learning more about Jesus. Friends
might have brought them to a Christian rally or camp, made friends and
want to go along with it. After camp is over and life starts again
thats when true commitment gets tested. They wanted the peace of
salvation but didn't study the Bible or seek God furthur- they had no root and fell away.
The next response the one that lasted through some trial but they got
caught up with riches and cares. Since Jesus wasn’t first place in
their lives they chose riches and worldy things and got entangled in
daily trappings just like the next person. Their life was probably full
of unrest and quarreling about things that don’t really matter like who
left the tooth paste cap off, credit card and home equity loans,
career. Spiritual things got left to the second or even third place in
life as riches took first place. Their fruit got choked and
withered away.
"It is one thing to have sin alarmed only by convictions, and another
to have it crucified by converting grace. Many, because they have been
troubled in conscience for their sins, think well of their case,
miserably mistaking conviction for conversion."
JOSEPH ALLIENE
Often
many mistake convictions for salvation. They will dwell on the moment
when they felt the conviction as proof as being saved and this
gets complicated as the mind has over 10 billion connections. True, we are saved by faith in Jesus
alone but a repented changed life will be the fruit to prove the tree
isn't a weed any longer. If you are doing the same sins as
your non-believing friends then you share their fruit and most likely
their destination.
Feelings
can only take you so far. This is another reason why worship is so much
more touchy feely, puffy cloudy. Many can get into emotionalism
experience but not obedience. This is the reason why gross sins can be
done before and after the service, one can get deeply emotional in the
worship to bypass the brain which would recall verses on holiness. One
can sing "Holiness, holiness is what I long
for" and not even think of things in their life
that need repenting, they'll push on in the song, get into the
atmosphere of the place. In effect getting into the song itself then
becomes the focus, not obedience to the Lord . Afterwards they
will talk with friends, meet a girl and forget about
holiness. The songs then become a source of nostalgic bonding in a
social circle but not of any effect to change sin in the person's life.
Theyll play the song in the car, at home and bring back the emotions
and memories. People their sphere of influence do the same thing and
all the while not thinking of " Holiness, holiness...."
Its
very easy to "catch" an attitude and not even realise that you have
changed. Many dwell on the feelings they had during a time
conviction but thats as for as it goes. They dont stand for truth, they
fall for error. They dont take up the cross, they are worldly.
The ones who heard the full gospel, of commitment to Jesus and
repentance of sins, endured through all the trials made it through all
of life’s storms. They studied the Bible to learn more about God, of
Whom they love. They considered things of this world not worthy of
effecting their relationship with the Lord. They understood the
commitment, the challenges. They counted the cost and took up the
cross. When asked to sell all for Jesus, they obeyed. When Jesus asked
them to give up anything that made them weak spiritually they cast it
away as worthless. They knew the call and the reward and they pressed
on to please their Lord, even through tremendous pain.
Some might say, “If this is the case then who can be saved?” or “I
thought it was easy to be saved and you are making it so complicated.”
It is not that the gospel is complicated, rather it has been picked
apart to only include the 'easy to listen to' verses. Harder verses
such as commitment, self denial are left out for it to be more
appealing. Like the cheap pharmacist who dispensed little medicine with
lots of powder we too give the lost a watered down, lots of fluff
gospel. Evidently, from what we see happening in Churches today, this
gospel is producing weak followers of Jesus...and that is if they
really did repent and come to Jesus for the cleansing of sins with a
repentant attitude.
"Make every effort to enter
through the narrow door, because many, I tell you , will try to enter and not be able" Luke 13:24
"every effort"..."will try and not be able"- What Jesus is saying is
that many will not make it into heaven. Other translations read "strive
to enter". They will push, make some attempts to follow Jesus but if
only to fail. "I thought we arent working our way to heaven". These
verses have nothing to do with us working to be saved, Jesus did the
work on the cross already. It is finished, then what do those verses
mean- it is our stubborn will
and the temptations that distract us from entering in the narrow gate,
which only a few will make it through.
Many
cleverly found a solution to the problem, since they dont want to give
things up for Jesus they simply twist the gospel message, pick and
chose the easy to read verses- "Im saved by grace alone, those are work
salvation verses so Im fine with my life". Wrong, those are verses spoken by Jesus
they are not works salvation.
The gospel of Jesus declares to the world that the God who made all
things really does love mankind. The person craving for truth will be
grateful to find out that the God they have been searching for has
actually been seeking them, drawing them in (John 6). They will also
find out that God is not some power hungry being but gentle and humble.
They will find out that He sent Jesus His Son to pay for all sins.
Jesus was born of a virgin. He lived through childhood, adolescence,
and experienced aging. The Bible says that He was tempted in every way
we are, yet He resisted them and didn't sin. He cared for the
needs of people and acted toward the needs with divine miracles. He
spoke the truth in love, even to evil men who wanted to kill Him. The
religious leaders falsely accused Him and enchanted the Roman
authorities to kill Jesus, though He did no wrong.
In Isaiah there is a description of Jesus suffering in humbleness for
the sins of the world. He was mocked and humiliated, beaten and whipped
so badly that the chapter says that you couldn’t tell that He was a man
anymore. Jesus was nailed to a Roman cross and just before He died, He
cried "It is finished". It is finished meant that all sins for evil men
where paid for in full.
God, the
Father, could accept this painful yet perfect sacrifice of His only Son
as atonement for the countless tonnage of sins commited by mankind.
There is no other sacrifice or payment or pain that could satisfy God
for payment of sins for you see, God is a Holy God and requires that
all sin be punished for. In God's eyes sin is horrifying and
abominable. No one can enter heaven with any sin, not even with one
little sin can a person stand in front of God for He cant stand the
sight of any sin. This is the reason Jesus is the only way into heaven
(John 14:6) all other religions dont wash sins away, only Jesus
sacrifice can do that. A person may have great manners and do great
deeds for humanity but if their sins are not washed away they can not
enter heaven. The fate of all men would be hell if not for Jesus
sacrifice. The intense pain that Jesus suffered for us and His
death would be the only love payment acceptable.
Many
songs say" You died in my place". No thats wrong, Jesus didn't die in
your place. Your place on the cross would have did nothing for payment of
your sins. We are all sinners, that would be a imperfect sacrifice.
God saw
our evil wretchedness but He also sees the sacrifice of His Son, and
for that He is willing to forgive all mankind for that act
of love Jesus did for us. We cant imagine the
pain that the Father felt during the atonement of His Son with the deep
love He has for Him. Allow me to make a segue, to be irreverent about
Jesus sacrifice- living as you chose, worship music that is done in a
worldy manner must frustrate God. Here is the answer for all those
commands in the New Testament- If you respect and love Jesus for what
He did for you then a holy life pleasing to God will be lived. You will
live out what you believe, so only you would know if you really believe
the truth or not. Many with confusion from the world and the popular
compromising gospel many preach will find out on Judgement day that
their attitude of using God's grace as a license to sin is abhoring to
God. A holy life isn't lived out of obedience to a law but its for the love one has for Jesus.
Romans
Chapter 6 clean sweeps all this up for us, we are baptized into His
death and we are dead to ourselves (or should be):
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Will all be saved since Christ died once for all? Those who
reject Jesus' love, His death, would then not have their sins washed
away and therefore unfit to enter a perfect heaven to dwell with a
perfect and Holy God, He cant tolerate the sight of sin, therefore hell
awaits those who hate God...in essense they hate love. Jesus sacrifice
has made the payment for those who believe in Jesus as no one comes to
the Father except through Jesus. John 14:6- Jesus said to him," I am the way, the
way, the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me".
Yes its exclusive.
Acts
4:12-12 Nor is there salvation in any
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which
we must be saved."
"Good
people" from other religions will not make it, according to the Bible.
Evil men will not accept Christ and are condemned:
John
3
18 He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
The
Bible is clear on this issue, those who reject Jesus will not be saved
and out of God's love for us some will be saved- though Jesus said only
a FEW will find the narrow road.
It is
out of God's love that a few will be saved. One fact we must include in
sharing the Gospel is that Jesus rose from death after three days. A
Jewish day refers to day
light -Gen. 1:5 'And God
called the light Day', Friday would be considered a day, Saturday a day,
Sunday a day..."on the third day". Jesus showed Himself to as many
as 500 of His followers, even to the doubting followers. After many
days He ascended up to heaven while in their sight. He said that He
will come again in the same way, with the clouds and angels attending
Him to judge the world.
Anyone who really understands the gospel has no qualms of giving their
life to Jesus. The wonder of God’s love sweeps the understanding person
off their feet and there is no other romance that could compare. Jesus
knew those who would understand the message would be swept away by the
call and that they would give up anything to follow. The elect would
follow even when Jesus’ teaching sometime seemed impossible to obey,
just like what He said to the young ruler:
Matthew 19:21-26
?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me." 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus said to His
disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God." 25 When His disciples heard it, they were
greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus
looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with
God all things are possible." NKJV
How many Rich young rulers do we have in the church that do not put
Jesus first? How many rich young rulers are "Pastors"? We look for
successful, motivatonal men to lead in the Church today, in fact most
Pastors chosen are rich, young, and many times were rulers in business
before the pulpit. This doesn't imply that business men cant be good
Pastors but why is that Churches pick the wealthy and most esteemed men
to lead? I wonder if the Apostles could apply for Church positions how
many would get hired? Apostle Paul said he did not bring his message
with eloquent speech so that the cross of Christ would be made void (1
Corinthians 1:17) in fact in the next Chapter Paul said that he
preached in meekness and fear and trembling so men wouldnt give
Paul glory:
How refreshing it is to hear a preacher speak with the fear of God on
his conscience knowing people's lives are in jeopardy if the message he
gets across is a false one. When we preach the gospel we must be fair
to the person and give them the whole story. Many hear a peaches and
cream gospel and think that the Christian life is going to be a sunny
Sunday picnic. Keep the whole gospel in mind when sharing the good
news. Tell them of God’s love and Jesus payment of sins on the
cross, His resurrection and judgment to come. Repentance from sin
must be preached...how many of you, who just sinned, feel like
preaching to others? When you sin you feel defeated, worn out, good for
nothing. Repent from sin and be ready to be used for Jesus.
I remember one Switzerland woman who kept asking my family questions
about Jesus and salvation. It wasn’t until a couple months later that
she made her commitment for Jesus. When she did, tears came pouring out
of her eyes and when we asked her what was wrong. She said that she
loved Jesus so much that she never wanted to sin again. We told her
that all Christians sin but we try to stay away from sin. Her love and
commitment is a beautiful response to the love that Jesus showed her.
She understood God’ love and wanted to give all for Him.
If there is any doubt in your mind of how dedicated we should be as
Christians, here are some verses that will clearly explain:
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew
them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the
Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. NKJV
Matthew 10:31-39
31 Do not fear therefore; you are
of more value than many sparrows. 32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me
before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My
Father who is in heaven. 34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on
earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to
'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies
will be those of his own household.' 37 He who loves father or mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more
than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and
follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose
it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. NKJV
Satanists use mind control and "time bombs" on the victim, a time bomb is where they will induce the victim into a subconciense state through vulgar means and insert messages subliminaly, so if a certain word or date is said- the brain triggers them to do their activity.
They
have this done to a science where they even call it "code" and it is
very difficult to decode once they program the person. See how the
devil works? Subliminaly and with vulgar. The same goes for the gospel
they preach. They will push
certain definitions such as "faith", after you hear them preach on
faith for sometime you think "force". Or they will
preach a different "Jesus" and when they say "Jesus" the trained mind
thinks "force". They will say "Gospel" and your
mind will trigger "health and wealth". The list goes on, after spending
some time in the movement you are now induced into a different Gospel,
believing in a different Jesus, obeying a different "spirit"
Once saved always saved?
John
Calvin is said to have coined that phrase. On this website there is
evidence of Calvin approving the death of a heretic and some
anabaptists, Calvin held to infant baptism not baptism after salvation
or as an adult as in the case of Jesus, He was about 33 years old when
baptized.
In other
wordsabout Calvin- ' he isn't all that'.
There
are verses that claim that the Father draws the person in (John Chapter
6) and convicts the person of sin. Granted, but once God does all that
work of electing (Romans 9) , drawing and saving the sinner, can
the believer turn his back on God and lose his salvation? Just because
God elects you doesn't mean He took away your freedom of choice. Jesus
did say that those who come to Him , He will never pluck out...but we
can walk away from His hand. Many teach- Oh I have been elected, Im
saved forever even if I walk away from God. Those who leave God and
dive into a lifestyle of sin they say ,"Oh those are they who really
werent called or they are just temporarily out of His will". It amazes me how a preacher will
sound logical and polite until he preaches on eternal security and
claim this ; "If someone claims they can lose their salvation then they
reject Jesus sustaining power".
There is no doubt in my mind that we are only saved by trusting in Jesus' sacrifice only for the remission of sins. There is no other way to be saved then to trust in Jesus work on the cross. Nothing else can. But, we have free will and I believe we can chose to turn our back on God.
Is it so
clean cut as they make it ? Or is the life of a Christian more
complicated then they make it, with more freedom- which they do not
allow in their equation of "once saved always saved." Well my
words mean nothing if I dont have scripture to back me up so here we go:
Here are
some verses that indicate we can turn our back on God and lose our
salvation:
John
Chapter 15:
4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned
If those branches that were thrown into the fire were never saved to begin with then why did it "wither"? The only reason why a branch writhers is because it was once attached to the life giving vine then got choked. This sounds much like the parable of the seeds, the seeds that fell among thorns got choked by the cares and riches of this life and died.
Jesus said that in the last days this will happen:
Matthew 24:12
"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
It should be that you can rely on your brother without fear. The
church should be the most loving and comfortable place in the world but
I can attest of being hurt more by Christian friends then my
unbelieving friends and I’m not alone. My sister belongs to a “care”
group at church and she told me that sometimes she doesn’t get invited
when they have a social event. Apparently there are some in that care
group that get along better and they keep some of the outings secretly
to themselves. I used to belong to a care group myself until I went out
for coffee with the leader of the care group and he confided in me how
much he couldn’t stand one of the people in his group. After our
conversation I noticed that the care group sometimes got uncaring and
when that particular person would make comments, he was ignored by the
leader. Many of my friends have shared the same hurts I have. One girl
said that when she was a new Christian, a guy at Roaring 20’s told her
that she was ugly and he told her boyfriend to break up with her. She
is still struggling with those hurts caused by a “brother” who should
have been encouraging her and caring about her emotions. Do we really
care about each other? How many of us would give money or time to a
brother in need ? Sure we have a lot of phonies pretending to be in
need when they really aren’t but what about the one that really does
have legitimate needs? We have problems getting along and we are
competitive towards each other.
I also gave a tape to a YWAM group leader who is working in Las
Vegas. This native of the UK trains young missionaries and other
various duties. I gave her a tape and she had nothing positive to say
about Hank or the tape. I hoped that she would be grateful to Hank for
the exposing of heresy and hearing what these teachers are preaching.
She said that Hank was said to be "just as controversial as Benny
Hinn". Even though there questionable associations with Catholics
still, he did not preach that there are 9 in the Trinity or that
Jesus became the "totality of sin" on the cross, "Jesus Christ knew the only way he
would stop Satan was by becoming one in nature with him" or his many false prophecies. Its
not fair to place an equal sign between the two. Doing some more
research found that YWAM actually supports Benny Hinn, can you believe
that?
Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, was also on the Benny Hinn "This Is Your Day" TV program for 5 days in a row (a record for one individual) from 2/4 to 2/8/02 where he also endorsed Hinn's ministry.
Plans were made, during the Honolulu crusade, by Joy Dawson (a top YWAM leader) and Benny Hinn for a youth crusade in April 2002 to be held at the First Assembly Of God, Red Hill, HI.
vi) We have become worldly.
The
Bible warns not to love the world, the interests and attitudes that it
has. It’s none-sense to say that we cant love the things that God
created such as mountains, trees, the sky, and people. We are not to
take on the attitudes and interests of the world but we are to be the
salt and light of the world; we are the changing elements in the world
by Jesus' power however its sad that it seems that the world changing
us, at least this is the case in the churches I have attended. Whatever
movies, clothing, or music is popular with the world then Christians go
for it as well. If it’s cool to get a body pierce or tattoo then we run
to get one. If a music group is the rave with the world, we are their
fans as well. It should be that the world is so drawn to us and so
facinated with our attitudes that they want what we have inside. In
fact, many so called Christians live and look just as athiests. Of
course we all have our bad days, I'll raise my hand and say that I have
been rude to some, though it was usually during a time of stress.
The
Bible says that when someone is born again they become brand new, a new
creation, old things have passed away. Sure we still have the flesh but
that excuse shouldnt define what we are, Christians have the Holy
Spirit as well. I dont want to go around and tell some that they arent
saved, but according to the Bible those who live like sinners are not
going to heaven, but Ill let God judge them.
=========================================================================================
It shouldnt be strange for anyone who wants to please God and
live a holy life to be upset at evil infiltating the Church, so also it
shouldnt be strange to take a stand against it.
==========================================================================================
I
remember one time at Northview during a college and career night, the
staff was showing a stunt that they had filmed earlier that week. The
stunt was done like the Super Dave Osborn theme complete with a Super
Dave and the imitations. They accelerated a vehicle over a large ramp
and the car got trashed. I needed a car at that time and the one that
they totalled, I would have loved to have. The back ground the music
they played was Coolio, a gangster rap star who wrote another song that
described him making love to a girl with the barrel of a pistol. Thank
the Lord they didn’t play that song however the church leaders had the
coldness to play Coolio in the church sanctuary, on the speakers.
For those of you who think that God isn’t concerned with the church
building at all, go and read what Jesus did when they compromised in
the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus over threw the tables and whipped the men
who were selling. God DOES care about what goes on in church.
At one baptism, at a different Church, beside the water tank was a
change room on the left for the males and a change room on the right
for females. A large group were baptized that day and when the girls
left their changing rooms, one of the guys came out behind them
smiling. He played a joke on his day of baptism, after he was immersed
he went to the guys change room but then crawled behind the tank to the
females side, one female opened the door and thats how he ended up
walking out with them.
Baptism
is an command from Jesus to show the world you live for Jesus now, that
you have been saved. To be irreverent during a bpatism is showing
contempt for the Holy ordinance of God. The Apostles also prayed and laid their hands on the person
after they where baptized, I wonder why hardly any Churches do
the same now.
How did we slip this far? Even at Christian parties I’m not free to be
Christian. Can you believe that? Chris and I put in a Jesus video on
during a Roaring 20’s party and other Christians mocked us for it. One
guy told us to put our volume down because they could hear it mixed
with their secular rock and roll. Chris made a remark about their
choice of music and the guy replied, “Don’t judge or you’ll be judged’
to which Chris replied, “IM not the one with the beer in my hand”.
During the same party that same person was standing in a circle of
Christians that were smoking and he made this joke as he waved his
smoke, “Look, were Christians on fire!” I call them the "Roaring 20's
Rabble". While Roaring 20's was still
in operation they offered missions opportunities from time to time.
Interesting in one mission, I asked my closets friends
during a get together, probably ten people where there. "Im going on a
mission trip, does anyone here want to support me
financially". They paused, but without one word, then the babble and
small talk continued.
My
brother and I had a work out buddy who wasn't saved and we tried to get
into Northview. Finally he came and on his first visit after Roaring
20's
I asked him "Nice Church right? The females are very pretty too
eh?" ..his stern reply "I didnt come for the females". I was
humbled and thought to myself "Dave next time dont assume". Within a
few months he admitted having sex with a Roaring 20's who just came
back from a missions trip not long before-get this- in Northview's
parking lot. She later got pregnant. Do you see why I have such a
attitude towards Northview? I could tell you lots more but I will spare
you.
One time
I wrote the Senior Pastor of my church and complained of one of the
services we held. It was at a “home-coming” event in September when all
the members where back from summer holidays and it was time to get back
into the regular church schedule. The theme they had was done after the
block buster movie that just came out that year called “Mission
Impossible”. Since we usually have 4 services on the weekend we had to
rent a stadium in order to fit all the people in at one big service for
Home-coming. The Pastors all dressed in black pants and T-shirts and
were escorted to the stage in espionage style with the music included .
One Pastor was driven in a convertible sports car. One came on a motor
bike and after a ramp jump, it disappeared behind the stage and then
the Pastor came out. Then from the roof above us a few Pastors came
repelling down from the high rafters sliding down on ropes. The grand
entrance was done by the Senior Pastor in a helicopter that landed
right in the auditorium. At this time I was getting sick of the Roaring
20’s attitude and I didn’t think it was right to mimic a Hollywood
movie, even if it was done in a small way. I believe the gospel of
Jesus is powerful enough to reach people without stage shows. At first
glance this may not seem to be so bad and I too was caught up in the
excitement at first. I was taught at church to think WWJD. In long
form, What Would Jesus Do. We can think about what Jesus would do but I
like this one more: DWJD --- Do What Jesus Did. I thought of Jesus
sitting beside me as the show was going on and wondered what He thought
of the whole event. I think Jesus would have stood and cried out, “What
are you doing my people? Is this what you do when you come together to
worship Me? Is this the way you see Me, accepting the evil in Hollywood?
The Bible warns us not to get entangled with the trappings of this
world and to not love the world’s ways. Jesus said what is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination to God. Jesus turned over tables
in the temple because of compromise and I wanted my voice heard. I
wrote my pastor and I told him that I liked most of the message but not
the one that wasn’t spoken.
One time I was invited to watch a video at a friend’s house and his
family attends the same church (Northview). As I looked at their video
library I found all sorts of rated “R’ videos but only one Christian
video. It was Veggie Tales. I used to buy the videos for my neices and
nephews but now after closer examination the videos joke about the
stories in the Bible all done by hard to believe vegetable characters.
I think there should be more reverence to make sure we are getting
across the right message to the children. We need to be a shade for
them in this time of storm.
During one Saturday night service at Northview a ceiling light came on
fire and the alarm went off. Most were just sitting there looking at
the fire, stunned as fiery plastic drippings fell. Someone grabbed the
fire extiguisher and tested it down the aisle to see how far it could
spray and it sprayed all the way to the front from near the back doors
of the sanctuary.He then aimed it at the fire and a very large man
yelled, "Put that down". From that experience it showed me the apathy
people have today.. There will be a urgency in the church but most are
too comfortable, we pick up attitudes and then try to act within that
standard. My advice is get out of that mold, don't copy it. We follow
Jesus. Many Christians look for a book or a speaker to help them but we
have a book, the Bible. God doesn't want you to spend lots of money
looking for peace, He has readily provided it if we are obedient and go
against our sin nature to read it often. Some people do read the Bible
and it does nothing for them because they read only favorite easy
verses and then they are not obedient to the harder verses. We have to
take the whole Bible as truth- a engine with half the parts missing
doesn't run very good. Many turn to chicken soup for the Christian
soul, or Chicken soup for the parent- someone should write a book
called chicken soup for people who read chicken soup.
When I
share my testimony with 'stronger' believers and they condescend and
listen to the 'weaker' brother, and they must because he can take only
vegetables but they can handle any meat but they have to bear with me
as I admonish to take up the cross and reject sinful lifestyles. "All
things are lawful to me". The condencending often feel the bravado of
putting up with the 'weaker' brother. Maybe the 'weaker' just
might know a little of the Bible and didn't twist it out of context.
Vegetables in that passage are real vegetables, meat sacrificed to
idols was sold was talking about real meat- these verses arent talking
about swallowing sin, the context is swallowing food. Many
mis-translate 'meat' to be sinning under grace that the weaker brother
cant take. On judgement day God will give us the meaning in context if
we cant read and understand what it is clearly saying in scriptures
today. They swallow sin and think they are stronger yet then the
'religious' brother. I dont how they got to this conclusion when the
Bible speaks on holiness over and over in scriptures, even if you read
the bible upisde down or backwards you cant escape it. Its typical
though that most claim freedom in Christ yet they trampling on His
sacrifice, God wont spare the unrepentant but they think He will. Read
the Bible if you dont believe me but your mind might lock or freeze
when you hit those verses because its not your world view, but if its
God's accept it, obey it. Jesus said if you love Me then what? ...obey
My commandments. The confused gospel in your mind is your problem, not
God's. He will help you if you stop reading the Bible with your
theology screen on the pages. Remove it, let God's Theology renew your
mind.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Did it ever occur to you that the
"religious" brother might be following God's commands?
We
shouldnt entertain lustful thoughts, we are to obey Jesus commands and
to follow Him with a perfect heart. When Jesus says jump we should ask
"How high Sir?". Jesus commands us to keep pure (Romans 12:1) yet many
Christians are living half an existance, spending half their time
battling temptations of which many where self inflicted from movies
, music etc. Get that sin out of you, its clogging everything up-your
mind, ambitions, attitudes. Guys, when a girl tempts you, the first
thought should be "Yeah right, it wont work Delilah..Im Jesus'
servant" The true test of love for Jesus is how you handle
difficult temptations. Do you love Jesus more then that?
Now lets look further into the seriousness of the sin. In the
Law, if a married person was caught in adultery both of them were to be
stoned to death. If a single guy raped a single girl in the country
(out of the city for the Law assumes she cried and no one heard her)
then the punishment for him was to pay the bride price and he had to
marry the girl. He was never allowed to divorce her all his life
because he humbled her. So we see the two penalties are extremely
different, the sin of the marriage required death, the one sin between
single people required a bride price.
God is trying to tell us something about the importance of
marriage by the punishment. I think the bond of marriage goes deeper
then we credit it.
It is
not impossible to stay faithful to your spouse. In the past I gave
details of the temptations I faced but the details might have have
aroused passion in some so I erased them. Lets just say I have been in
the most bizzarre situations where sex with very attractive women have
been so easy.
God
isn't going to control us to do His will, He will provide a way out and
allows us decide- totally on our own. It is the luxury of choice that
He gives us. There is no "set up to fall" or "it was destiny" we
cant hide behind theses excuses because they arent true. One 'brother'
named Mikey who had an affair on his wife told me something like: "Well
I kept running into this blonde girl at the store and we eventually
started having an affair. My wife and I broke up but then eventually we
came back together. Now our marriage is stronger so it was meant to
happen"
Not
unless the Bible is wrong because the book of James says that God will
not lead anyone into sin;
13 Let no
one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He
Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (Author
Underlined point)
According to God's word, not
Mikey's, we are enticed and then digress into sin if we chose to.
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Worship
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This is a hot subject and we will
take a look at worship today in detail as there is strong evidence that
the enemy has influenced worship. Worship is moving in a different
direction, one that is not focusing on God but on a experience or
feeling.
Mormons and other cults have praise and worship and the words seem to
be glorifying God so why wouldn’t it be beneficial for a Christian to
listen to Mormons CD’s? I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t
voluntarily listen to any faith movement CD’s including the ones
offered by Benny Hinn Ministries.
The reason any discerning Christian wouldn't buy a Mormon, JW, or faith
movement CD is because the god they sing about and glorify on the CD
will be a different god and not the God of the Bible.
With any deceit one must measure it against the rule of the Bible and
see if it lines up. So in modern praise and worship, are they singing
about the God that is written in the Holy Scriptures?
This is a hard subject to write about due to artistic freedom of
writing songs, few question where the praise is going to. We have
beautiful worship songs and I love many of them but on the same note I
have found that most of the modern praise songs emphasize on getting a
touch from God or our fulfilling our desires.
Praising with the right spirit is a important and very few discern or
test songs to see if the words are truthful, meaning that they
are doctrinally sound. Many will accuse me of “splitting hairs” but
with what is going on in the Church today we must see where the Church
has been led astray and lets be real, the church is in a mess right
now. To just go along with life as before will prove to change nothing.
In churches today I will be attending a service and everything will be
fine and then all of a sudden the singer changes his style of worship.
The synthesizer will be more drawn out, the notes will go on and thats
the time to ask; Is this emotion to worship the Lord or is this
irreverent hypnosis. I cant really explain it in words at what happens
but any discerning Christian can pick it up. Remember the enemy is very
sneaky, don't think your local congregation cant be deceived. Be fair
and test it out before giving in to the moment.
We are called to worship in spirit and truth:
John 4:24
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and
truth."
What does that mean? On watching sports we often hear a term said that
describes the team’s character, goals and style. They call it team
spirit. The term used in the Bible is harder to describe but you can
safely believe that God wants us to praise with the right attitudes,
motives, and to Him. Here is an example how this word "spirit" is
used...the same Greek word used in a different verse to explain the
depth better (Strongs Exhaustive Greek reference):
Philippians 1:27-30
27 Only let your conduct be worthy
of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am
absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for
the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your
adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of
salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on
behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for
His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear
is in me. NKJV (underline the same greek word for "spirit")
Now with the false doctrines of the faith movement, one can safely say
that people there are not in the right spirit. The name and claim it ,
blab it and grab it doctrines, the heresy that faith is a force or
energy is a different gospel. If a person thinks that they can listen
to false teachings, go along with them and not be effected by the
spirit there, it is under estimating the enemy's power to deceive. It
doesn’t take long to sing in the same spirit (definition above) of the
crowd around you. Not only this factor but the pressure to conform with
the crowd will draw you further in to that spirit. Im not talking about
a 'being' spirit but more of a atmosphere, or ambience with that
particular group. In short, the songs can have good words like 'Jesus"
"worship" "holy" but their definitions from that group are different
that what the Bible describes. Watch out if you feel a trance coming
on, or "power evangelism" styled worship which results in hype
and esoteric experiences that are not Biblical. Many modern worship
pumps up the singer with the use of energy or power built up in
it. It takes a sensitive spiritual radar to catch
what is happening in the Church today and to spot a "different spirit".
The Jehovah Witness have a team spirit , the Mormons have a different
team spirit and they will sing about Jesus but the Jesus they sing to
is not the same Jesus as the Bible, therefore we warn Christians that
they are a cult:
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have
not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you
have not received, or a different
gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!
NKJV
What Paul is saying here is that there are false christs and false
gospels and he feared that the people that he ministers were in some
way deceived. He warns them not to receive a different Jesus or a
different spirit. He also knows that they may easily accept these false
teachings. It’s the same today,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We see here this deceit is very difficult to spot. Do we really think
that we can outwit the devil when it comes to knowing what deceits he
placed in the church today? We have only scratched the surface on the
work the enemy is doing. Remember that the devil has been doing his
work of deceit for about 6000 years and we live for maybe 100. Most of
our lives are spent trying to learn about life and God; how we got
here, what is proper conduct, what are the best principles to live by,
fulfilling our dreams and raising children. Even something that looks
as innocent as the Gaither's band. Many listen to them to bring back
nostalgic memories. "We are standing, on Holy ground. And I know that
there are angels all around". Later in the song Mrs Gaither boldly
sings "So if you have a need I know He has the answer. Just reach out
and claim it for you
are standing on holy ground." Oh How nice. The Gaithers are good
friends with Paul and Jan Crouch and that song is sung at Hinn's
crusades frequently. Remember the devil is sneaky on how he fools us.
Don't let your guard down for any warm fuzzies.
The devil has only one goal for about 6000 years , that is to deceive
God's chosen ones. We are after all, the apple of God’s eye and
precious in His sight.
Looking back in the history we see examples of the masses giving in to
a Charismatic leader or powerful movement. One example is Hitler. How
is it that the masses followed such a mad man but praised him at the
time? Hitler was the hero at the time, people trusted him as the one to
bring prosperity and a new powerful Germany. There was a evil energy
behind it. How about the crucifixion of Christ? They saw the miracles,
they heard the wonderful teachings, but the leaders convinced the mob
to shout "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!". Jesus previously told them this
would happen;
He told them about a
vineyard owner who sent servants to retreive some of the yeild from the
grapes. The men who tended the vineyard mocked and abused the ones who
where sent to collect. Finally the owner sent his son thinking that the
Vineyard workers would respect him. But the Vineyard workers said to
themselves-lets kill his son then the inheritence will be ours! The
blood thirsty crowd shouted to crucify Jesus and there must have been a
moment of complete evil madness as they chose to release a murderer
rather then the Giver of life.
Sinners dont realise that
gratifying the flesh brings little satisfaction, it also brings
the intense wrath of God. The wonderful thing is that God loves them.
If Jesus still loved those who crucified Him, how much more those who
at one time praised Him, adored Him? I believe straying sheep are
always welcomed back home. How many times must we face the pain of sin
before we learn to stay close to His loving side.
There are many dynamics that are
used to convince and keep people in these heretical movements. In
general, to be committed to a cult or group the person must believe
that the group in question has one up on other groups. Feeling that you
belong to group more into "truth" then other groups keeps the person in
the group. "Dave, that church doesn't operate in the gifts of the
Spirit...thats why you should stay here". Or, "The pastor gives such
depth in the message, you wont hear this anywhere else."
Cults such as Mormons, Jehovah witness, faith movement keep the
people devoted by making them think they have the real truth. These are
very powerful tools of persuasion. The only way to escape deceit is to
stidy the Bible alone, with no tapes, books, just the Bible alone.
After much study you will notice any error with your pastors teachings.
If a Mormon or JW is reading this, find a King James Bible and read it
from cover to cover at least 7 times. Then compare it with the "extra"
books that are printed by your group. Fear God more then your freinds
or family and leave when you find the real truth.
A strong way to deceive is to get the people in a semi-trance and
condition their minds so they will accept the teaching that is coming
up. Hypnotists carefully speak in deliberate tones and timing to aid in
putting the person in a trance. Yves Brault writes about how Benny Hinn
uses the same technique as the famous hypnotist Messmer, where we get
the term "mesmerized" from. Messmer used a lead glass flute ( now
banned due to lead poisoning) the flute had a unique sound and Messmer
would play it in such a way that it would lull the people into a
trance. He would use persausive words and the power of suggestion to
get the people in a trance. Brault has a old picture of Messmer placing
his hand toward a lady as she is falling and right beside that picture
he has another one of Benny doing the exact same thing. Don't under
estimate the power of music. Also remember that the people in the
meeting are already conditioned from what they saw on TV and the
reactions of the whole crowd in the meeting. Its very powerful.
Brault also knows one of Benny's brothers, Chris Hinn in Florida. Chris
was a travel agent that took care of Benny's crusade travel aragements.
He took Benny to court over not getting paid for airfares and Benny
settled out of court. This brother of Benny's called him "the Christian
maffia" and I couldn't agree with him more.
If you carefully watched the speaking style of faith teachers and they
use the same manipulation. Being a member in the VCC choir I
experienced first hand the differences in styles of the singing.
Sometimes Henry would practice with the choir, informing us on the the
hand signals to speed up or slow down, all this done in orchestration
from the synthesizer and his own voice to create that atmsosphere he so
wants.
The words of the songs chosen usually have connotations that invite an
experience. Words like “Breathe on us” or “Fill this place with your
presence” “There’s going to be a mighty Revival”. They even sing a song
that shouts to the devil, the words go, “ Satan, the blood of Jesus is
against you”. These words effect the mind and prepare the people to
soak up what is coming next.
Faith movement churches feel that God is moving powerfully there and
are always speaking of a mighty revival to come, they build up hype
like multi-level marketing meeting and it shows through during the
praise and worship. he general feeling I got was that, “ we are the
elite, we have the truth, forget about those conservative and stale
Chruches! Move out of our way because a revival is about to come”. It’s
a hype hard to describe and one will not totally understand unless they
spent some time in this movement, which I do not recommend for a second.
I have asked myself the question, “Am I being too critical on this
topic?” I do have concerns because I know that I can be deceived easily
. You may be a strong Christian, a leader, a evangelist it doesn't
matter. If you give in to the casual Christian attitudes you will fall
for deceit if it presented itself. I seem harsh with my words at times,
why? If you don't hate deceit with a passion then you will agree with
wild heretical interpetations when they come your way. Just as a friend
proclaimed- "Well I got slain in the spirit so don't tell me its not
from God." If you don't rebuke them then you have only one other
option- to go along with it. You must know what is false and what is
truth. To rebuke your friend that is in error is actually commanded,
the Bible implies that if you don't warn its actually showing that you
hate them:
Lev.19: 15....In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor...
17...You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely
rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
According to that verse we
bear the sin if we don't rebuke. I ask for God's mercy on me for all
the times I didn't rebuke when I should have. 1 Corinthians 5 says we
are to judge those inside the church, not those outside. When we just
smile at friends that talk about the anointing, Benny Hinn, or any
other heresy, we are not loving by being tolerant to their beliefs.
Again, the Bible calls it hating them but today rebuke is equated with
a judgemtal attitude- even though it is commanded in the Bible.
This web site gives plenty of evidence against these movements...why do
people still cling to them after seeing the truth? Its not obeying God
thats for sure. Dear reader, if you read this whole site and still
cling to Alpha, the faith movement or other groups mentioned...do
yourself a favour, don't think you are still right with God. "But Im
witnessing to people, praying with them, reading my Bible and trying to
serve the Lord don't tell me...."-one lady evangelist protested. You
can have all the ministry in the world but if you allow heresy in your
life then the service isn't for God. Want the hard truth...this might
hard to swallow- in that case, the ministry is for yourself and the
motives would be too deep for me to
understand.
I don't relish the thought of rebuking someone, in fact I usually
struggle with the Lord about rebuke as I don't like to meddle in others
business. As time goes on people are getting colder and that makes it
harder to share scripture with.
Even to write this expose was hard, if it wasn't for God's grace I
would
still be in the movement as some of my friends are. I dont see many
brothers standing up for truth today and often this goes through my
mind " if Im one of the few that are left standing, then the Church is
in huge trouble"
If we warn with the right
attitude- with love, but without compromise, that person will repent
and get back on track with God. The risk is worth it. The enemy is so
in the church that there should be warning alarms sounding off at every
street corner but we just go on without realising how serious the
situation is. Wrong attitudes, worship are just some avenue the enemy
is using. When "hell breaks loose" or Jesus return I wonder how many
will be ready servants.
Are you a strong Christian beloved? Do you pray, evangelize, are you on
fire for Jesus? Watch out below if you say so. The strongest Christian
can be fooled by these subtle teachers and I lately I have been seeing
many popular Christians on TBN endorsing the movement. One 'brother'
named Mikey scoffed, "Dave don't get me wrong but how could you be so
stupid as to listen to Henry Hinn". Later the same guy fell into the
Universal movement.
Bill Bright, though he did many great works for Jesus and the founder
of the largest Christian Evangelism Organization in the world, fell
into the trap and accepted Jan and Paul Crouch as friends in Jesus. I
failed miserably as well. Anyone else need humbling? It will happen,
maybe not into the faith movement but something else.
I can only see one type of Christian not falling- a humble person who
fears God's word, will reject 'friends' invitations to something new
(and even reject their best friend if they are a spiritual hazard to
them). They would not get trapped into worldy pleasures, ambitions,
modern Christian politics. They would love Jesus more then all.
Remember that any deceit that is easily seen is NOT a strong deceit. A
strong one is one that SEEMS to be from God and the person who involves
himself in it thinks that he is doing God’s will. It is very hard to
spot what is true worship and what is not, we often accept things as a
spiritual work of God when really it was the enemy doing the act:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into a angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as
the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their
works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We have become very gullible to accept any ‘revival’ or “out-pouring’
as from God. Christians accept them as from God with little or no
testing the teachings with scripture. Not every act of worship is
accepted by God, the Bible states this. A person can be singing and
depending on the circumstance, the Lord sometimes rejects it as noise:
Amos 5:21-27
21 "I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred
assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain
offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened
peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I
will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24 But let
justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Notice in these verses what God wants from us, justice and
righteousness. In just the last ten years I have noticed a huge change
in the church. It was never perfect but there was a fear of God in the
church and usually anyone who called themselves a Christian were
obedient to God’s word. These times are very different then before,
after listening to "motivational" speakers (many just give away secrets
on how to rip others off for your benefit) and acceptance of many
evils in the Church we have become like the unregenerated...and in some
areas even worse.
I deal with many Christians in
business and lately most have been shifty with me. Do you really love
your brother as yourself? Many business owners pay their workers so
cheap that they would never consider that wage for themselves...but
they treat their neighbor as they would treat themselves...right. I
shouldnt even have to write this but the worldiness had crept in the
Church and many want the gusto without paying for it, but it will cost
someone- if not you then your brother. Dont line your pockets with
money at the expense of someone else. God sees all this and I believe
harsh judgement will be handed down but to them it will be a complete
suprise. Many act good but by thier actions they are not. Of course for
friends and family its only right to give them a deal . Im speaking
about it business dealing with business or Christian employer paying
workers cheap. I know some that own gas stations, shops,
construction crews and they are lining their pockets with money that
should go to the workers and yes there are times when we should cut a
deal for friends or family.
As the Church loses its
faithfulness to Jesus the world around us falls apart, we are the salt
and light to a dying world. But our light has become dim, our
salt has no taste. Even a Judge of no religion summized the immoral
delimma to liberalism in religion:
WISDOM FROM BORK - Judge Robert Bork (1/99 Charisma) says: "I am not a religious man, but America is now in moral anarchy! I do not believe it even can survive without a sweeping spiritual revival." In his 1997 best-selling book, Slouching Toward Gomorrah, he cited religious liberalism as a major cause for the virtual decline of decency, integrity, and traditional morality in many sectors of American life (4/15/97 CC).
WORLDLY
MUSIC—Gordon Sears
(6/25 Sword of the Lord) says: "It is surprising to me how
many Christians ask 'what do you mean by worldly?' when speaking of today's music. Only
a few years ago Christians didn't ask that question—they knew exactly
what worldliness meant. The entrance of Contemporary Christian Music
has brought a great amount of confusion as to what worldly means….Worldly simply means 'of or
like the world.' Satan is called 'the god of this world.' It is his
purpose to blind the minds of people so that they do not understand nor
receive the truth of the gospel of Christ."
On the tapes that I gave to almost
all the Northview pastors and my friends there are quotes from the
famous Vineyard movement, known for their music. In 1990 John
Arnott and
Randy Clark were very influential pastors of large Vineyard
churches. Both of them admitted that they were involved with the faith
movement. Randy Clark got anointed by Rodney Howard Browne at a meeting
in Rhema (Hagin's
College where dirt bike Tim from Edmonton attended). John Arnott openly
claims that he and Benny Hinn are old friends and that Benny anoints
him from time to time. After Randy Clark got anointed at Rhema he came
back to his home church and shared what happened at Rhema with his
congregation. He asked his church if anyone wanted to get that
anointing- wall to wall people lined up. People started to fall down
everywhere. John Arnott from Toronto, Canada heard of what happened to
Randy and the new move happening in his church. Arnott asked Randy if
he could come to Canada and bring that anointing to his church. Clark
came and shared this anointing with the people and soon the church in
Toronto started to get other manifestations such as barking, roaring,
shaking, and laughing. Many from around the world went to experience
the revival in Toronto, which is known as “The Toronto Blessing” (TB).
After some time it got really crazy and the Vineyard tried to maintain
integrity by cosmetically seperating themselves from it. Though they
claim
that they separated themselves from the Toronto Blessing (TB) wave,
from Randy Clark's web page
(www.globalawakening.com) they are still in full fellowship with each
other. Clark his former position as a
Vineyard pastor, he now travels from church to church spreading the
revival that started in Toronto (TB) of which his web site claims has
never stopped...and just who is inviting Randy Clark to share TB with
them? None othere then the Vineyard itself.
On the scedule link (March 9 2002) Clark still visits Arnott's church
in Toronto and ALSO on his schedule he has a number of Vineyard
churches:
Coastal Community Vineyard, Pastor Steve Mattis,
(910)392-2899 ; Cambridge Vineyard Church, Pastor Dave Smeltzer,
(617)252-0005 ;
Vineyard Christian Church, Pastor David Young,(716)454-1690;
2003, March 7-9 Tentative Hood River, OR VCF of Hood River Pastors Sue
& Denny Anderson 541-386-7070
May 2-4 Confirmed Laguna Nigel, CA Vineyard Christian Fellowship
Todd Bentley from fresh fire ministries is travelling with Clark to
Seattle in March 2003 for a circus
act. Bentley was recently in Abbotsford for a "revival" an Abbotsford
news paper had a huge front page photo of people being slain. Bentley
web page has Holy Trinity
Brompton as one favorite link (Alpha course started there).
Randy Clark's web page heavily promotes the late John Wimber style
called "Power Evangelism", or signs and wonders (the style Alpha
preaches). Its no wonder as Gumbel points the call to his ministry was
John Wimber anointing him and prophesying over him (evidence given
later). You may hear about Jesus and Christianity in Alpha but what
kind of Jesus? What kind of Christianity?
Also one Vineyard guy from Illinios admitted in a email that Clark was
invited to his church and they had the 'Toronto Blessing'
manifestations there.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The evidence clearly states that the
Toronto Blessing is far from over in the Vineyard, its very much alive.
The separation was only a spoof.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A new Vineyard CD is out called 'Winds of Worship Vol.3: Live from
Toronto, Canada' from the airport Vineyard. The CD is considered a
carry over volume in which the Winds of Worship London belong. Its
really clear that the separation was a spoof with these CD's coming
out, its like the Vineyard had a re-union or something after 10 plus
years. It features popular Vineyard artists like David Ruis from
Vineyard Christian Fellowship Kelowna, B.C.
The lines in the sand are becoming clearer as the days pass by. Dear
reader, you must make your decision on which side you will stand on.
The next time you pop a winds of worship CD in, or sing a Vineyard song
at Church, remember what they have done and are doing at the Toronto
Vineyard. No apologize , no regrets from that club at all. Before these
new releases it was hard to expose the Vineyard as many would stand,
"The Toronto Vineyard has nothing to do with them any longer". I knew
they did but it was hard to prove, now its all out in the open.
I was shocked when I the Vineyard link came together because I loved
their music and I considered the Vineyard to be the epitome of
spiritual music. Often I would listen to he songs over and over and get
lost in moment. I started to ask tough questions about the Vineyard
movement. I thought of all the Vineyard attendees I know and all of
them have a optimism that the Vineyard is free from “religion” and that
it is the pattern for worship and Christian living. One of them told me
that they never had any manifestations like barking in his church. I
met another girl from the Vineyard while I was painting a house that
she was renting in. As we talked, she admitted to me that witchcraft
intrigued her and even though she knew it was bad she felt tempted to
try it.
The early years of the Vineyard attitudes were the same as they are
today. In the book, “No Compromise” the story of Keith Green, the
Vineyard is mentioned a few times. During Keith’s early years of
seeking the Lord and conversion he met some Christians who said that
they were involved in a movement called the Vineyard. They invited
Keith to Bible studies and Keith and Melody were amazed at the nice
spiritual music:
"...Kenn led the group in some songs we'd never heard before. Not
knowing any of the words, we just listened:
Father, I adore you
Lay my life before you
How I love you
The words just flowed over me. People broke into gentle harmonies that
all seemed to weave in and out of each other. I felt a strange sense of
peace start to wash over me" Page 89
Melody and Keith started meeting and making friends with Vineyard
people:
"We also told Todd about our experiences with the Vineyard fellowship
and all the neat new people we were meeting" Page 96
"we go to church on the beach! It was non-tradtitional, and that had a
strong appeal. However, we found that there were some rules we didn't
want to see broken.
One day we overheard some of our Christian friends talking about a
party. We were immediately curious. One of them said,'Keith, we don't
think you'd be interested in going. It's pretty wild.''What do yo mean
wild?' It's at Leo's house. Sometimes he has lots of booze and dope
around. Some people from the study will be there.'
We knew Leo had a drinking problem, but we thought he was fighting it.
We didn't believe he would throw a party and invite other Christians.
The next night, Keith and I decided to go and see for ourselves. As we
walked up the stairs we heard blasting music. Inside, it was
wall-to-wall people most of them lying on the floor or on big pillows.
Carefully stepping over the guests, we took one sweep through the
house-there were a few kegs of beer, some people smoking dope and, sure
enough, there were a few people there from the Bible study-and they
weren't just passing through. We left right away feeling very upset."
Pages 107-108
They had strong feelings against Christians getting loaded but they
didn't know what to do. They read in Ezekiel to warn others of their
sin.
They called of friend of theirs, Tom, who sometimes helped lead Bible
studies and attended the Vineyard yet he was having sex with his
girlfriend! Worried for his soul, they cast lots to see who should call
him. Melody was chosen. She did it nervously
but they were all happy when it was finally done. They told the
Vineyard Pastor that they warned Tom and his reply was:
"You know, you probably shouldnt have called... maybe it would have
been better if you just prayed"...as we drove home that night we were
really confused. Just prayed? What kind of advice was that?...First the
wild party at Leo's. Now Tom" Page 110
"...Its not just Tom. It's alot of people. They know the right words to
say, but their lives don't match up...All we knew was that we were
getting really frustrated with what we were seeing all around us" Page
111.
They met a girl named Feather who was really skeptical of Christians.
She gave Keith a run for his money. Keith told her that not all
Christians are hypocrites. She eventually gave in and prayed with
Keith. They took her to the Cramer's house so she could meet some REAL
Christians. The Cramer's lived next door to Leo's. The Cramer's were
not home but they heard some noise in the backyard at Leo's so they sat
down in chairs at the pool side to talk:
"...the sliding glass door flung open wide. A new Christian we met at
the Cramer's home came charging out at full speed. He ran across the
concrete with his hands raised over his head, yelling-'Praise the
Lord!'-and dove into the pool. There was only one problem. He was
totally naked." Page 113
They never saw Feather again and now Keith was questioning Christians
altogether due to their conduct:
"Something's really wrong here,' he said. 'Ive struggled too hard and
too long to find Jesus." Page 113 .
Do you get the same feeling-something is really wrong? I met Vineyard
goers and it is much the same as the faith movement the only difference
is that the faith movement preaches more on financial giving and
positive confession. The Vineyard is all for new manifestations and
experiences from God but they are NOT known for sound teaching. Some of
the things they accept in their churches, such as anointing from the
faith movement, is distorting the true gospel of Jesus. They also feel
that they are on a new wave and that they have been blessed with
wonders from God.
I wrote that they are spreading the Toronto Blessing still in North
America but it is spreading further than that. The Vineyard is still
promoting the Toronto Blessing in the UK and here is some evidence that
was promised, still more to come later. Lets not forget the thousands
of people who were at the Toronto Vineyard who were caught up in
shaking, barking, slain, drunkenness. The deceit by involvement in this
thing just doesn't go away easy.
Ellie Mumford, wife of Southwest London Vineyard Pastor John Mumford, is
repsonsible for being a catylist to spread the Toronto Blessing in the
UK.
Nicky Gumbel, who wrote the famous Alpha Bible study Course, talks
about Ellie in the Alpha video series 3, talk 9.
He recalls how someone was THROWN ACROSS THE ROOM when Ellie invited
the "Holy" spirit to move:
"Ellie Mumford told us a little bit of what she had seen in
Toronto...it was obvious that Ellie was just dying to pray for all of
us.. then she said 'Now we'll invite the Holy Spirit to come.' and the
moment she said that one of the people there was thrown, literally,
across the room and was lying on the floor, just howling and
laughing....making the most incredible noise....I experienced the power
of the Spirit in a way I hadn't experienced for years, like massive
electricity going through my body... One of the guys was prophesying.
He was just lying there prophesying. . ."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ellie
is a Pastor for Southwest London Vineyard, the Church where the Winds
of Worship London came from
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When Ellie speaks, people listen...then spaz out:
"Mumford spoke at the morning service … at the end, she prayed for the
Holy Spirit to come … Members of the congregation began to laugh.
People began to fall . Soon the whole church was affected. There were
scenes that few had ever seen before . At the evening service the
scenes were repeated" (The Impact of Toronto, p21); "Mumford asked the
congregation to stand while she prayed … Immediately people began to
laugh hysterically, weep, shake, jerk, bark and roar" (The Toronto
Blessing, p13, as quoted in Roger Oakland, New Wine or Old Deception?
(The Word For Today, 1995), p19).
Nicky Gumbel , (the author of Alpha) states that the Toronto Blessing
and Alpha are of the same move of the "holy spirit":
"I believe it is no coincidence that the present movement of the Holy
Spirit [TB] has come at the same time as the explosion of the Alpha
Courses. I think the two go together." [Nicky Gumbel, 'The Spirit and
Evangelism', Renewal, May 1995, p15].
Gumbel also says that people who were into New Age grasp the Alpha
course better than the fundamentalist during the "holy spirit weekend".
Near the end of the course, the group goes to a secluded location and
then they are persuaded to speak in tongues and there are stories of
strange things that happen during this week. No doubt due to its
connection to the TB ideals that are in the author it eventually spews
out as evidence that they do catch what he is trying to say:
"I have found on Alpha that those from an essentially enlightened
background feel at home with the parts of the course which appeal to
the mind, but often have difficulty
in experiencing the Holy Spirit. Others coming from the New Age movement find that
rational and historical explanations leave them cold, but at the
weekend away they are on more familiar territory in experiencing the
Holy Spirit." [Telling Others, p19].
Randy Clark's web site DEC 2002 www.globalawakening.com has some links
to favorite sites. The links include Holy Trinity Brompton, various
Vineyard churches, Todd Bently of fresh fire ministries who just put on
a show in Abbotsford recently where people where falling down and
manifesting. As I was painting a home for people who attend Northview,
they had the Abbotsford paper with the front cover showing people
slain. I remarked "coming to a Church near you". That was in 2002 and
if Northview continues its path, these things will start to happen
there.
These guys are linked more
closer then just their websites-the teachings are very similar. Gumbel
credits his call to ministry after getting anointed by the late John
Wimber (of the Vineyard who popularised the "signs and wonders"
movement") Gumbel and Wimber had a shouting match as he was getting
prayed over:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~emcd/index30.htm
"A man called John Wimber
came to speak at the church … After the talk a very nice
American came over to me and said … "Well, is there anything else that
you would like us to pray for?" So I said, "Well, what I would really
like to pray for is the power
of the Spirit in my life" … After he had been praying for about
30 seconds, all I can say is I felt this incredible power - it was like
10,000 volts ….......{Gumbel, is the Holy Spirit a force or a
Person? Because if the Alpha's holy spirit is a Power force then you've
got a cult happening; The trojan horse that the Church let
in}.......... going through my body. In fact, it was so powerful that after a bit I
couldn’t take it any more but I think he had only just got onto
the ministry team because he only had one prayer and it was "More power, Lord!" And every
time he prayed this prayer, the power increased! So after a
bit I couldn’t take it any longer and I started praying against him! I
started saying, "No more power,
Lord!" But he carried on praying, "More power, Lord!" So eventually
there was this shouting match going on in the middle of the room. John
Wimber … said, "Take that one out!" So they carried me out through the
French windows! And as I was being carried out John Wimber said, "God
is giving to that man power
to tell people about Jesus Christ". And I have often looked back at that as
a very significant moment in my life."
Was John Wimber such a man of God that he could give
powers, this sounds like a cartoon; I give you the power! I got the
power! No my power is stronger!? Click here for how Wimber started his ministry----.
Gumbel has been invited as a guest speaker in 2004 at Toronto Airport
Vineyard (Again known for barking, shaking, laughing, drunkenness ect.
repeated to drive the message home). It is clear that Gumbel's theology
is based on esoteric experiences, not on sound doctrine. Every
Christian must ask why Alpha is taken off so rapidly in the Church, why
do we see it as a great program to draw in the unsaved? Are we on the
narrow road or on the broad road? Is the enemy infiltrating the Church
by these programs?
At the end of the Vineyard song,
"Lord reign in me" there is a person- or a few- making what sounds like
a hyena.
At the end of one of Hillsongs
Australia song, " I worship you" someone lets out a screech or a very
weird animal noise that they tried to fade out with the mixer.
Remember the Toronto Blessing
started from Vineyard pastors who got the anointing from Rhema faith movement , this
was the root of the
Toronto Blessing. Gumbel claims that the TB is the 'same spirit
as Alpha'. Look at the roots and youll have your answer. The fruit?
10,000 volt anointings, strange occurances barking, roaring , laughing,
shaking is the fruit. Want to take a bite? Many claim to be saved at
Alpha but the jesus and the holy spirit Gumbel talks about is not the
same as scriptures. A different gospel, a different Jesus, power
encounters= the enemy has sucessfully moved into the Church and big
time in Northview. My last visit there the atmosphere felt like a dark
new age meeting with Gumbel talking on the TV monitors...if the people
there only knew what they are being fed.
I will come back to Alpha later in the story.
I belong to a Yahoo ex-charasmtic web ring , its a place where people
share their hurts, confusion and stories of being manipulated by these
false teachers. There are couple of former Vineyard people in this
group and they tell of the loose morals that was rampant in his
Vineyard church. Guys would watch pornos and then go to church
prophesying, dancing, speaking in tongues and then afterward they would
go back to their sinful lifestyles. A lady wrote and said that if you
tried to speak about God after church then you were mocked. It is very
evident that what Keith and Melody saw in the 70's is still strong in
the Vineyard today.
One ex-charasmatic wrote in saying his sister is into Unity ( New Age).
His New Age sister actually likes Joyce Meyers and points out that
essentially her teachings are New Age:
Hi, Laurel,
It is with much concern that I share my experience with you, as it
pertains to Joyce Meyer Ministries. I'll try not to make it long; I
only want to point out that it is incredibly deceptive.
I have a sister who is into Unity (I'm sure that you can find all kinds
of information on that "heretical/cultic sect" on the internet,
so I won't try to explain what all their heresies are. I only state
that they are a mind/science, metaphysical, nonchristians group, who
pray to the God within and create their own reality by willing it.
My sister recently (last week) asked me if I watch Joyce Meyer. I
assured her that I do not, except that I have seen her briefly. My
sister assured me that she does watch her, and the implication was that
she is in agreement with what she (Joyce Meyer) says. She quoted
a statement that Joyce Meyer had made that was very much in concert
with the beliefs and teachings of Unity. I don't remember the quote
but I do recognize that Word-Faith and the mind/science religions are,
indeed, bed-fellows. They are hatched from the same pit. The things
that they believe and teach are utterly heretical, without regard for
their use of the same, or similar, terms and phrases, as
bible-believing Christians. They, and that includes Joyce Meyer,
believe that faith is a force and words are the containers of that
force; if you say (it), in faith, you literally speak it into
existence. You create your own reality by the words of your mouth, thus
Word-Faith. Why, you don't even need God! You only need faith! (Anthony
Robins/ new age Chopra)
You can do the same thing God did when He created all that is, by the
sheer exercise of His faith/force. Welcome to the "God class"! False,
false, false! Jesus said, "if you continue in my words, then you are my
disciples, indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth will
make you free"; FREE TO FOLLOW HIM, not Joyce Meyer or any of the
myriad of "pied-pipers" that pipe their perversions.
Harold Parton
If you like John Hagee ( large, loud and in charge preacher from Texas)
check this out-
a) He has been on Benny Hinn's stage as a welcomed guest.
b)He preaches Jews don't need Jesus, its a waste of time trying to
convert them as they are under the Abrahamic Covenant
c)Promotes Health and Wealth gospel
d) Committed adultery, divorced and remarried.
Back the the Vineyard....
Brian Doerksen who wrote the song "Come, Now is the time to worship"
was the music Pastor at Ellie and John's church in London and the story
gets more dark as we go on from here.
Roy from from Kitchener, Ont