Hi everyone,
I’m sure many of us are aware of the conversation that started when an invitation was made to attend Jason Westerfield conference in Christchurch couple of weeks ago. During one of the post discussion, some of us were convinced that Jason’s teaching, anointing, signs and wonders were from God, and some of us believed otherwise. I feel that this is a serious issue that we need to address as the body of Christ.
The purpose of this blog post is to explain to you my concern about some of the mystical things a few of us still believe it’s true and to provide you with substantial evidence, including why I’m against this belief and the endorsing of Jason Westerfield and his spiritual father Bill Johnson.
The reason why Bill Johnson was also mentioned here is because he has been highly regarded in the US churches, house churches in NZ and some of you as well. There is also a very strong connection between Bill and Jason Westerfield. So I feel it is necessary for you to understand their background and their involvement in the questionable prophetic ministries they are in.
This is not a small matter that we should put aside because it will eventually damage the body of Christ. So I may ask that if you were involve in their ministry or still believe that the anointing of these people are true, please, please stop until you’ve read the following message, including the video clips. You will soon find out why.
The reason why Bill Johnson was also mentioned here is because he has been highly regarded in the US churches, house churches in NZ and some of you as well. There is also a very strong connection between Bill and Jason Westerfield. So I feel it is necessary for you to understand their background and their involvement in the questionable prophetic ministries they are in.
This is not a small matter that we should put aside because it will eventually damage the body of Christ. So I may ask that if you were involve in their ministry or still believe that the anointing of these people are true, please, please stop until you’ve read the following message, including the video clips. You will soon find out why.
During a two weeks period, I’ve read, research everything I can find about false anointing, kundalini, false teaching, and have spoken to friends in the US and Australia whom the Lord had called them to be watchdogs to the body of Christ. From the information I provided them they had confirmed that I’m right on target. It is believed that both Jason Westerfield and Bill Johnson have strong connection with the new age movement, and the church at Bethel are involve in the false anointing, known as Kundalini.
I was brought up in an environment where experiencing the supernatural is acceptable. My sister and I were encouraged to worship eastern gods and seek blessings for our life and our soul protection. During our childhood days, we often visit spiritualist and always curious in what they were doing. We saw a man manifesting in the form of the opposite sex or an animals, speaking in an unknown tongue and shaking and jump around, imparting power to whoever willing to accept the “false anointing” from the gods. So when I see such manifestation occurs in the christian church, my “inner alarm” tells me something is not right. Even if everyone claims to be from God.
As you know, I came from charismatic background and I also believe in signs, wonders, miracles, healing and I speak in tongues. I believed there are real signs and wonders perform by God’s mighty power. Like most of you I like to see God do things supernaturally with true signs and wonders. Sad to say, like most things in life, whenever something that is Real, there’s always a counterfeit and we have to be vigilant to identify them.
I hope that I never have to share these information with anyone fearing that I may offend people. But having together with you all for so many years, I feel obligated to share my part in how I feel and shed some light in what I’ve discovered as I don’t think many of you know about.
But with great respect and the love you all have shown towards us, I’m truly honoured that you allowed me to share these things with you without any reservation.
I do apologize for this long post. I wanted to summarize and make it short and address only few key points. But I know it will create lots of questions due to some things not covered properly. So I’ve made a rather lengthy post hoping that it will give you enough facts about all the things I found so far including lots of references & materials, extraction of thoughts from some of the very respected ministers of the Word as they share their view regarding deceptions in today’s churches.
If there’s anything I say that offend anyone, please know that it is not my intention as I was trying to bring across important points.
I hope that after reading and watching all these, you will begin to look at things differently.
But first, I like clarify some things before we go ahead.
What This Email Is Not
- It is not to intimidate or create unhealthy fear
- It is not to provide a topic for us to engage in an endless discussion
- It is not to convince you of anything. Only God can do that.
- It is not to prove that I am right or someone is wrong
What This Email Is
- To give us an understanding of the kind of deception that we are against.
- To provide facts, background, resources from authority sites.
- To help us understand we need to do our due diligence before approving any “preachers” or so called prophets and promote them to the church.
- To help you understand the effect of allowing deception/false spirits into the body of Christ. (look at the testimonies)
Before We Start, Here’s How To Benefit From The Information Below
- Give yourself at least 1 hour and not be interrupted.
- If possible, read every word here and watch all the videos without skipping them.
- Make sure you have a broadband internet connection so you can view the streamed YouTube videos.
- Turn up your speaker volume or put on a headset
- Prepare your heart and do not say in your heart that this can’t be true. This will immediately hinder your discernment.
- Pray and Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal this things to you.
- Listen to the inner prompting in your heart, ask yourself, can this be true, does God behave this way, etc...
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WHAT IS DECEPTION? IS IT BIBLICAL TO DISCERN THEM CAREFULLY?
Deception is unlike witch craft or false religion where you can easily tell them from a naked eye. If deception is obvious, then it is not deception. The problem is deception is neither black nor white, but a mixture of truth and lies.
Having partially incorrect doctrine can be corrected and may probably end up in endless debate/discussion. But my fear is that allowing false signs and wonders into the church and introducing false anointing into the body of Christ potentially open a doorway for false spirits to enter..
As someone said to me recently “ If a preacher comes up to us and we figure half of what he said is true while the other half is dubious - I think I can forgive that - I'd probably come up to him (personally) and talk to him about the dubious part.
But if I meet a preacher that brings with him signs and wonders, my only options are either: he's true or he's false - no in-between (no 50/50).
As the bible clearly pointed out
1 John 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works
Matthew 24:5
"For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will mislead many.
2 Thessalonians 2:9. That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
Matt 24:23
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Revelation 13:13-14
13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:22-24
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 24And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Paul also warned us in 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 about the nature of this deception: It is being deceived by another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel.
“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
• "Another Jesus" – who does not ask anyone to take up his cross and to die to his self-life daily.
• "Another spirit" – who gives people thrills and exciting feelings but does not give them power to be holy.
• "Another gospel" – that requires no repentance and that caters to people’s earthly needs but does not deliver them from sin (which is the root-cause of ALL their problems).
A Quick Background On Jason Westerfield, Bill Johnson and Bethel Church
Jason Westerfield and his spiritual father, Bill Johnson comes from Bethel church which identify it as being part of a larger movement known as the Word of Faith movement. Connected to prominent revivalists and prophets including Todd Bentley, Patricia King, Bob Jones, and the leadership of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, the Word of Faith doctrine teaches that faith is a force through which anything can be done.
Word of Faith movement, which is closely intertwined with the Third Wave movement, blends mysticism and teachings from metaphysical cults. Mysticism is the pursuit of a divine connection with God through direct experiences and usually revolves around a practice to encourage and facilitate the experiences.
The Third Wave movement is based on the belief that there have been three distinct historical periods in which the Holy Spirit has been extensively active. The first was the Pentecostal revival around 1906, the second was the Charismatic movement of the 1960s and the third began in the 1980s with a new commitment to signs, wonders and supernatural experiences with God.
(* To read more about Heresies Evident in the Latter Rain/ Third Wave Movement., go to References at the end of this email.)
Many people have testified that they have experienced very strong Kundalini practice at Bethel church and the church also have close links with Toronto movement with mystism of all kinds. People who are prayed for begins to shake, jerk, unnatural laughter, squim or hop uncontrollably as though they reach an estatic high.
Here’s Kundalini manifestation at Bethel Church In Redding
Bethel church also practice what is called the Fire Tunnel. A Fire Tunnel occurs sometimes at the end of a meeting. Leaders and prayer teams form two lines facing each other ready to pray for, lay hands on for impartation, and to bless the people who walk through it. The idea is move people through fairly swiftly, so you don’t want one person bunching up the line with a long ministry session while the others stand by watching. The goal is move people through as others speak healing and blessings upon them in a rather quick fashion.
Click the link to watch the video. As you watch, ask yourself honestly.. Are you sure this is really power from God?
(This one from Bethel Church)
Some years ago, "angel feathers" also started to fall at Bethel Church, Bill Johnson thought birds had nested in the air conditioning ducts, he said. Johnson said he bases his belief that the feathers are a sign from God on a Bible verse that says, "there is healing in his wings," and he doesn't try to explain it.
"I don't want to be able to explain everything," he said. "Then I'll have a God that looks like me. That's not very impressive."
It is no surprise that Jason Westerfield being the spiritual son of Bill Johnson came from the same church could bring along the same false anointing to churches around the wolrd and you’ll see what I mean very soon.
**** But before we can go on further, I like you to see the resemblance of the manifestation that comes from the "False anointing" and the pagan "Kundalini Awakening" in modern Hinduism.
Watch this video
(this is an old video and the quality is not very good, but it should show you the similarities between the two)
What Is Kundalini Awakening?
KUNDALINI ENERGY is typically described as a powerful energy source lying dormant in the form of a coiled serpent at the base of the human spine. When freed it reputedly has the capacity to effect great physical healings. Christina and Stanislov Grof, New Age authors of the book "The Stormy Search for the Self," describe how the awakening of Kundalini energy can be triggered by an advanced spiritual teacher or guru. And how the awakening can bring up memories of past psychological traumas. The Grofs state that "individuals involved in this process might find it difficult to control their behavior; during power rushes of Kundalini energy, they often emit various involuntary sounds, and their bodies move in strange and unexpected patterns. Among the most common manifestations . . . are unmotivated and unnatural laughter or crying, talking tongues . . . and imitating a variety of animal sounds and movements" (p. 78-79). The Grofs state that "careful study of the manifestations of Kundalini awakening confirm that this process, although sometimes very intense and shattering, is essentially healing" (citing Warren Smith by permission in an article for Spiritual Counterfeits Project entitled "HOLY LAUGHTER or Strong Delusion" (Fall, 1994, Vol. 19.2), p. 14).
If you search for Kundalini and Shakti on the Internet, you will find that multitudes of people in the New Age and Eastern religions still experience these powerful manifestations. Often this is with the help of a Guru, who touches them on the forehead so that they can experience a “Kundalini Awakening”.
As researcher Robert Walker wrote in 1995:
“The meetings which mystic Hindu gurus hold are called ‘Darshan’. At these meetings devotees go forward to receive spiritual experience from a touch by the open palm of the hand, often to the forehead, by the guru in what is known as the Shakti Pat or divine touch. The raising of the spiritual experience is called raising Kundalini. After a period when the devotee has reached a certain spiritual elevation they begin to shake, jerk, or hop or squirm uncontrollably, sometimes breaking into uncontrolled animal noises or laughter as they reach an ecstatic high. These manifestations are called ‘Kriyas’. Devotees sometimes roar like lions and show all kinds of physical signs during this period. Often devotees move on to higher states of spiritual consciousness and become inert physically and appear to slip into an unconsciousness…”
And as the guru Shri Yogãnandji Mahãrãja wrote:
“When Your body begins trembling, hair stands on roots, you laugh or begin to weep without your wishing, your tongue begins to utter deformed sounds, you are filled with fear or see frightening visions. the Kundalini Shakti has become active.”
[For more information on Kundalini, check this website http://www.kundaliniawakening.com/about-kundalini-awakening.html]
Here’s Some Real Encounter By Christians Who Were Involved In Kundalini
I have personally witnessed many many christians needing and receiving deliverance from the kundalini spirit ever since The "Lakeland Revival" came in spring 2008. It can do terrible things to your life and especially your mind. It is essential to protect yourself from this spirit which is easily transferred and seems to be creeping into all kinds of churches. We are truly living in the days of the false church arising and deception taking over people's minds.
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A very dear friend of mine who has been my prayer partner for
years were lured into the enemy's web of deception about many
of the ministries and manifestations that you spoke about. After
reading and listening to your web broadcasts we had a powerful
prayer session repenting, renouncing, and commanding any spirit that we had picked up from these false prophets/doctrines of demons, etc. to go from us in Jesus' name. We broke all kinds of things off of us. Most of it was deep repentance and renouncing - thank you for exposing the enemy and his tactics and all the deception that the church body has fallen deeply into...
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I'm just about in tears over all of this...
May and I watched the very first nights of the recent "outpouring of the Holy Spirit" on the IHOP [International House of Prayer] webstream and boy, did that turn sour fast. Aside from the singing on the first night, everything was just messed up. AHH! It's breaking my heart! How many people do we know and love in Kansas City?!
I've watched my beloved siblings laugh uncontrollably, jerk as though sick, stumble and speak as though drunk, and "sing in tongues" in complete chaos and without interpretation. I've raised the issue among friends of being "drunk in the Spirit" and even though I prove over and over that God is for self-control, which they agree with, they continue to act like drunken fools! See Titus 1:8 and 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7 which compared in the NKJV and NIV relates self-control with being sober, pointing to the fact that the Holy Spirit is not one who takes delight in being drunk at all, but in being sober-minded - fruit of the Spirit, what? Drunkenness is the complete opposite of being filled with the Holy Spirit! For sober-mindedness is a filling of Him!; 1 Peter 1:13, 4:7, and 5:8 ...
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I can testify that I was infested with this foul eastern spirit, the kundalini. I was in a movement from 1992 - 2000 which had close links with the Toronto movement. From 2000 - 2006 I joined a church with links to Bill Johnson.
I was desperate for God to move in my life and change situations and heal hurts and was very open to ministry - I had many in this movement touch my forehead and experienced the manifestations you describe - drunkenness, laughing and crying, shaking. I got dreams and visions and just before I left the structure (church) I had a vivid dream of a huge python that came through the back door and ttached itself to my car, and also to rooms in my home. I was very disturbed and sought the Lord for an answer.
It took about 6 months before I was delivered, but God brought a couple over my path who God had trained and had victory over spiritual entities. Every time I was in their presence, I would get very anxious, and they would calmly pray for me and I could feel darkness leaving and my sanity restored. It was only after 6 months of these episodes, I was again in their presence and sensed a fight ensue in the Spirit.
I was very anxious and fearful and could feel a huge snake in my spine - I was rigid and very uncomfortable - It felt as if this thing wanted to throttle me and rob me of my life. I called out to God and they quietly prayed - then I asked the lady to pull this serpent out of my head - it felt as if it could exit near the top of my crown. She continued to pray and I got the word "kundalini " in my spirit and just commanded this thing by its name to go in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I pled the blood as it was very frightening, and it left. I felt like a washed out rag, but I was free!
That was the last lime I had deliverance and my spiritual eyes have since opened and God has done a mighty work in me outside of the structure... Afterwards they were amazed and asked me what strange term I had used and where it came from - I had no idea except that it was God who gave me knowledge in that situation.
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Many years ago I started attending a local Apostolic/Prophetic church that began to toy with these spirits. After a while these Kundalini spirits took over the church. At that time I was deeply involved in leadership within the A&P move here in my city.(Tulsa, OK) I was approached about 5 years ago by those above me in leadership (Colorado Springs) who wanted me to be a "House Prophet" with all of the benefits that come with such a high position.($$$) I was even told to make up prophecies if the Lord didn't give me anything, so that the people would be moved. After they asked me to do this, I was driving home in my car and had to pull over to the side of the road to cry. I cried for an hour that day in my car. I called them the next day and told them, "I don't do a dog and pony show for anybody!" This same group have been the ones to bring in the Kundalini spirits as well as the New Mystics garbage. The current "revival" at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City is leading thousands of young people off the cliff and into the Kundalini experience. Here in Tulsa it has invaded almost every aspect of the Charismatic Church to one dgree or another, and has poisoned it so bad that many are completely under its spell.
I have been a pastor now for almost 3 years and I continue to warn as many as I can about the dangers of the A&P move, the New Mystics, and the Kundalini spirit. It has not made me very popular in my city but I don't answer to men, I answer to God. Some have walked away from this movement after educating them concerning the error. I thank God for Andrew who has had the courage to stand in the face of fierce Gnostic opposition to biblical truth.
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A rising prophetic star, originally based at Bethel Church, and a ‘spiritual son’ of Bill Johnson. Many claimed his knowledge for his intimacy and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. He is known to possess keen prophetic insight, through demonstrations of signs, wonders, and creative miracles.
In the following video, you will see Jason says he loves Transportation....he says it's normal to God and its normal to men.
Here he also shared his testimony on how he was transported in the spirit to high level meetings in the White House and the Pentagon. Does this sounds weird to you?
The following video shows that he blabbered about something at the speed of light. Not sure what he was getting at... he seems to be repeating himself by using a lot of powerful verbs and various synonyms, and throw in lots of scripture verses everywhere...(Don’t need to watch everything, just 2 mins will do)
On his website, Kingdom Reality, you’ll find another disturbing situation half way through the video http://www.kingdomreality.com/videos/?mediakey=4c35e921490f9 where he shows people in his church manifesting some kind of Kundalini movement. He was also shaking non stop and scream all of sudden while praying for a lady... Even though I was involved in the Toronto movement back at my home church in Singapore, seeing this video really scared my socks off..
One of the testimonies from Jason's Westerfiled site says "It's been a supernatural time since you left. Two nights I was woken by a wind blowing in my face and on my body. There have been flashes of light in the house and one day I went into a trance like state for over and hour. It took a long time to come around afterwards. I'm excited about this. I realize now trances are a door to the mystic realm. I want it. I'm so hungry for everything Daddy has for us."
Another one shows that this guy was levitated from the ground and saw Jesus calling for him.. This is definitely a scary thought as far as levitation is concerned.
Other weird testimonies on his website includes
Transportation
http://www.kingdomreality.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99:transportation&catid=29:testimonies&Itemid=58
Levitation - Being lifted off the ground by the Holy Spirit
http://www.kingdomreality.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=101:levitation--being-lifted-off-the-ground-by-the-holy-spirit-&catid=29:testimonies&Itemid=58
Trance
http://www.kingdomreality.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=29&Itemid=58&limitstart=12
There are probably hundred of weird ones on his website which I don't have time to dig out everyone of them. I just wondered if someone are not concerned about these weirdy testimonies but treat these as biblically sound, then I have nothing to say. An unbeliever would be really scared when they see such abnormal manifestation.
Jason Westerfield was also seen being closed affiliation and promoted by Extreme Prophetic led by Patricia King.
In his book, God comes to me.. or I’m coming to you, Westerfield also explain about his trips to heaven, teleportation, encounters with Jesus, the heavy, palpable blanket of God’s presence, being burned alive by the spirit of God and his ability to dance salsa in public at a restaurant…even when he didn’t have a clue how to dance salsa.
Who Is Bill Johnson?
Occupation: Senior pastor of Bethel Church.
Background: Fifth-generation pastor, was the pastor of Mountain Chapel in Weaverville from 1978 to 1996.
Education: One semester at Shasta College, one year at the Genesis Bible Training Center in Santa Rosa.
Family: Married to Brenda "Beni" with three grown children: Eric, Brian and Leah.
Nonprofit: Bill Johnson Ministry.
Income: Compensation as president of Bill Johnson Ministry was $372,037 in 2007 (most recent figure available); salary as pastor of Bethel is not known.
Travel: Johnson is scheduled to travel outside Redding a total of 106 days in 2010, which includes trips to South Korea, Canada, Australia. Norway and England.
Bill and his wife Beni are the Senior Pastors of Bethel Church,Redding, California. He is the fifth generation pastor with a rich heritage in the things of the Spirit. Bill is a
Background of Bethel
Established as a small Assemblies of God Church in Redding 50 years ago, Bethel Church has become a household name in this north state community in a little more than a decade since Johnson became pastor. The church, much more than a house of worship, reaches out to an estimated 3,000 congregants, brings in millions in revenue to the community with its conferences and schools, and has more than 30,000 people tuning in to its new online media business venture.
Bethel has fed off a sometimes controversial national movement of Christian Pentecostals from the mid-'90s whose central messages focus on miraculous healings, bringing heaven to earth, speaking in tongues, prophecy and learning to release the supernatural powers of God. Bethel now has several successful businesses, large local land holdings and its own multimedia production center.
Johnson, describes himself as a simple man and a simple pastor. His signature look is dressy casual: Button-up collared shirts - untucked - paired with fashionable blue jeans and shiny shoes with black rectangular-framed glasses and slicked-back gray hair.
The Business of Bethel
Atop a hill off Highway 299 just east of Interstate 5 at the end of a drive flanked by colorful national flags, abides a sanctuary at the heart of 70 acres - and a worldwide mission.
With close to 360 employees, Bethel is one of Shasta County's largest private employers. It draws thousands to Redding each year, hoping to see miracles, have a supernatural experience or learn to unleash the power of God through conferences or visits to the Healing Rooms Ministry. A successful online media venture has also garnered followers around the globe looking for spiritual guidance on how to bring heaven to Earth. The Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) pulls in more than a thousand students a year seeking faith-healing techniques.
Bethel is more than a church - it is a conglomeration of various businesses, varying from a coffee shop to an online multimedia production and distribution company.
In his father's footsteps
Bill moved to Redding with his family in 1968 when his father, Earl Johnson, became pastor of Bethel Church, which at the time had a congregation of fewer than 200.
As a child, he loved sports, especially baseball, and was a good athlete. Though he didn't like school, he earned decent grades. Music had a huge place in his life, thanks to the influence of his parents, he said.
After attending the Genesis Bible Training Center in Santa Rosa and spending five years on the Bethel staff, Bill Johnson became pastor of Mountain Chapel in Weaverville from 1978 to 1996.
Johnson returned to Bethel in 1996 as pastor, taking over the position his father held from 1968 to 1982. Ray Larson was the pastor of the church from 1984 to 1996, and under his leadership, the church grew from 200 congregants to more than 2,000.
It has another 1,000 members and a decade of healthy growth under its belt, Bethel Church receives between $3 million and $4 million a year in tithes and offerings.
Bethel Vision
Johnson's vision for creating a culture through a church has made Bethel an economic force in its hometown and its expansion over the past decade has been continuous.
"We're in a process right now with an architect that has designed a building," Johnson said of the latest plans for the church's $10 million main campus on College View Drive.
In an iBethel.TV interview, Johnson said church leadership had been given the prophetic word to create what he called an apostolic resource center. The new center would include a larger sanctuary, 900 parking spaces and more buildings to house the church's ministries. The new center will cost an estimated $7 million and be completed sometime in 2012.
Bethel Church has seen extensive growth over the past decade as the focus of the church has shifted to training people in prophecy, healing and other "supernatural gifts of God" taught under the leadership of Pastor Bill Johnson.
Though about half the estimated 2,200 people attending Bethel left when he took over in 1996, Johnson said now nearly every church service is full each week, including the Twin View campus and an overflow room, which could easily add up to more than 3,000 congregants.
Ask Johnson about the affiliations, goals and purpose of Bethel Church, and he'll say the church has lots of "friends" who share in the pursuit of affecting the Earth with heaven, especially Pentecostals and those in the Association of Vineyard Churches.
Bethel Terms and Phrases
Come on Jesus: A phrase generally used when testimony of a miraculous event is shared or when someone is believed to be healed.
Drunk in the spirit: To exhibit signs of drunkenness while under the power of the Holy Spirit. Also known as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Fire tunnel: A common practice at Bethel Church in which two rows of people line up as sides of the "tunnel" and a line of people file through to receive anointing of the Holy Spirit, similar to impartation.
Holy laughter: When one is overcome by laughter for no obvious reason, due to the power of the Holy Spirit. Also known as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Impartation: To lay hands on, or otherwise form a connection with, someone to bestow spiritual gifts upon them.
Shofar: A horn fashioned after the ram's horns used in Jewish ceremonies. Commonly used for healing and impartation.
Slain in the spirit: When one falls to the ground under the power of the Holy Spirit. Also known as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Speaking in tongues: When one speaks in a language unknown to others through the power of the Holy Spirit. Also known as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and is taken as a sign that the person has truly received the Holy Spirit.
Whacked: To be filled with the Holy Spirit and exhibit manifestations of the Holy Spirit as listed above. Also referred to as "whacked by God," "whacked by the Holy Spirit" and "whacked up on Jesus," etc.
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Scroll pass the video to 1:51seconds and you’ll see Bill Johnson appearing and mentioned about the fire tunnel practice in Bethel Church
His sites links to many of the false prophetic ministries. Does that tells you something? I leave it to you to decide. http://www.ibethel.org/site/bethel-websites/friends-of-bethel
There are a lot but I only highlight some that are very prominent ones.
Rodney Howard Browne ministered so much spiritual drunkenness, he dubbed himself “God’s Bartender” and he called places where he would “minister”, “Joel’s place”. These meetings popularized the irreverence, hilarity, madness, and irrationality as being “a genuine revival”, or “a great move of God”. Sermons on Hell, were interrupted by hysterical laughter, ministers were put into trance states and never taken out of them, preachers began boasting that they never had to preach anymore, and Rodney and his imitators would open services with “have another drink”!
1. Bill Johnson was also responsible for travesty because he relied upon Bob Jones‘ false prophecies and demonic visions about Bentley
2. Bill Johnson decreed that Bentley ―needed to be commissioned‖ by people as a REACTION to the criticism and Berean stance that many charismatics, myself included, had with Todd Bentley‘s Emma angel, etc
3. Bill Johnson has said that he made phone calls to Bob Jones, Peter Wagner and Che Ahn in order to counteract the criticisms of Todd Bentley at Lakeland and then, using specious reasoning, divined that the right thing to do would be a public commissioning ceremony that Johnson somehow thought would stop the discernment and criticism of Bentley.
4. Bill Johnson failed to see the sin on Todd Bentley because they no longer understand that it is, and always has been, a problem of SIN on the earth, not a failure to ―pray correctly or having commissioning ceremonies. None of that mitigates SIN. Bill Johnson deviously covered up the sin of Todd Bentley muscled forward with a ‘show of force‖ at Lakeland to SHUT DOWN TODD‘S CRITICS
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SOME RESPONSE/COMMENTS
Comment#1: Be very careful on how we pass judgement on prophetic people. We never know if God might be speaking to that person.
Reply#1: Here’s An Extract From Andrew Strom from "THE 5 KEYS TO DISCERNMENT "
Just because we are told in the church- “Do not judge”, ‘Touch not the Lord’s anointed’, “You have a critical spirit if you do not join in”, etc, etc. This is the very reason why Christians are often the most gullible and easily deceived. We need to realize that the Bible says to “test the spirits” and warns very strongly that the Last Days will be a time of “seducing spirits” and great deception. So if we don’t step out and be vigilant, how can we become more alert to these things?
I believed God has placed within every human being at least a measure of an inner “warning system” to protect us from being easily deceived – just as He has given us all a conscience. It is something that He has built into every one of us, in His mercy. (I guess a lot of it is simply ‘common sense’). However, Christians should have an even greater advantage in this area, because we have the “inner witness” of the Holy Spirit, and the ’still small voice’ of the Lord speaking to us every day.
People who give themselves over to some form of deception is that they often “override” these inner alarms. They go against their ‘better judgment’. They ignore the little voice deep inside them that is telling them that there is something wrong. Christians today do this all the time. That is how they get themselves involved in such foolish deceptions.
The Bible is very clear that the Last Days are a time of such widespread deception that it would “deceive if possible the very elect”. It also shows that much of this deception will arise from WITHIN the church – luring believers who have “itching ears”.
Do we see evidence of this kind of thing taking place today? Absolutely! In fact, some of it is at a level that is truly shocking. And yet it is all accepted as perfectly “normal” by many Christians.
One of the problems, of course, is that those who bring in these deceptions are ‘trusted’ by the congregation. They have a reputation and they put across some very convincing-sounding arguments and surround the whole thing with Biblical terminology. And thus the deception is harder to spot. (After all, if it were not “deceptive” then it would not be called ‘deception’!) People see spiritual power operating and assume that it “must be God”. But this is a very dangerous assumption to make in these days.
There is also a lot of “peer pressure” involved as well. For if everyone in the church is getting into something, then shouldn’t you just ignore those little ‘alarm bells’ and jump right in? This is what is happening all the time in the church right now. And some preachers are very good at making people feel that they are ‘hindering the Spirit’ if they do not get involved.
Comment#2: Unusual manifestation like Laughing, Jerking,etc.. happens even in days of true prophetic movement back in Wesley’s and Finney's days. So we can't say it's not of God.
Reply#2: Here’s An extract From Derek Prince Sermon “Protection From Deception” and what he thinks
Some of these unusual manifestations have been compared with unusual manifestations that accompanied the ministry of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney. Undoubtedly there were unusual manifestations in the ministries of those four men, and I have studied some of them myself, but I think the differences are greater than the similarities with the present situation. Let me point out to you three differences:
(a) First of all, all those men majored on the strong preaching of God’s Word. They hardly did anything until they had preached the Word of God, or apart from the preaching of the Word of God. Finney, himself, commented somewhere about his ministry, “I usually spoke an hour or two.” I do not know how many contemporary Christians in the West would listen to a two-hour sermon, but Finney gave the Word in its purity and in its power.
(b) Second difference: All those men made a strong call for repentance. That was their primary demand on the people to whom they ministered. Some people call what we are seeing today “a refreshing,” but in Acts 3:19 Peter says that refreshing must be preceded by repentance. Any refreshing that bypasses repentance is not scriptural.
(c) The third difference is that in the ministry of those men, there is no record as far as I know that any of them laid hands on people. I am not saying that it is unscriptural to lay hands on people, but there is a difference. There is a situation in which people receive directly for themselves from the preached Word and another situation in which people have hands laid on them by others. If I could take a simple example. It is like rain. If you are out in the open and the rain falls upon you, you have received your rain direct from heaven. But, on the other hand, if rain is caught and stored in some kind of a cistern, then you are not receiving that rain direct from heaven. You have to take into account the cistern and the pipes through which you receive the rain. This is very vivid for me, because my first wife, Lydia, and I lived in Kenya for five years in a house where our water came from rain caught on the roof and channeled into concrete cisterns. Although the water came from heaven, we quickly learned by experience that if it stayed for any length of time in the cistern, worms developed in it and, consequently, we always had to boil our drinking water. There was nothing wrong with the rain as it came down, but something happened in the channel through which the rain came to us, and it was no longer pure. I think this can be true of laying on of hands. It is a channel which is not always pure.
Recently some ministers have moved from actually laying on hands to some other action of the hands – such as waving or pointing. However, this does not change the fact that something is being transmitted through the hands. Otherwise, there is no reason to use the hands at all. The important question still remains: Are those hands pure channels through which only the Holy Spirit can flow?
Comment#3: Deceptions are everywhere in the entire church history. There are no perfect church. There are mixture of deceptions and truth everywhere even in today's churches. Besides we should be gracious to ministries that are losing the plot. As long as we focus on the truth side of things, and ignore the deception, we are ok.
Reply#3: Here’s An extract From Derek Prince Sermon “Protection From Deception”
Mixture Produces Confusion and Division
Now, I would like to give briefly my summation of this whole phenomenon /movement/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, based partly on personal observation and partly on what I believe to be reliable reports. My summation is very simple: it is a mixture of spirits, both the Holy Spirit and unholy spirits. They are mixed together.
In Leviticus 19:19, God warns us against mixture. He is opposed to mixture. God says this, “You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.” So, God warns against three things: breeding mixed livestock, sowing with mixed seed and wearing a mixed garment.
We could say that sowing with mixed seed represents the message that we bring, when it is partly truth and partly error. Wearing a mixed garment would be like a lifestyle that is partly scriptural and partly of this world. And letting livestock breed with livestock of an incompatible kind would be equivalent to a Christian ministry or group aligning itself with a group or ministry that is non-Christian.
It is an interesting thing about such breeding; its product is always sterile. For instance, you can mate a horse with a donkey and the product is a mule. But a mule is always sterile; it cannot reproduce. I think that is one reason why there are so many “sterile” operations in Christendom – they are being bred with the wrong mate.
Now, I have observed this carefully, and I have had grievous experience of this condition of a mixture of spirits. I find that it is something which the Scripture warns us against. For instance, there is a character in the Bible, King Saul, who had a mixture of spirits. At one time, he prophesied in the Holy Spirit; at another time, he prophesied in a demon. His career is really a warning. He was a king who ruled for forty years. He was a successful military commander. He had a lot of successes. But mixture was his undoing, and his life closed with tragedy. On the last night of his life, he went to consult a witch, and the next day he committed suicide on the battlefield. Surely that offers no encouragement to any of us to cultivate any kind of spiritual mixture in our lives.
I have observed that the result of mixture is two things: first of all, confusion; and then division. For instance, we have this mixed message, part of which is true, part of which is false. People can respond in two ways. Some will see the good and focus on it, and therefore accept the bad. Some will focus on the bad, and therefore reject the good. In either case, it does not accomplish God’s purposes.
Once upon a time I was a pastor, a long time ago, but I remember that the most difficult kind of people to deal with were people who were a mixture. I will give you a little imaginary example. We have Sister Jones in our congregation. One Sunday she gives a beautiful, prophetic message and everybody is uplifted, excited. But two Sundays later, she stands up and gives a revelation which she had in a dream. The further she goes with this revelation, the more confused and confusing it becomes. Eventually, as pastor, I have to say to her, “Sister Jones, I thank you, but I really don’t believe that is from the Lord,” and she sits down – but that is not the end. After the meeting, Sister White comes to me and says, “Brother Prince, how could you talk to Sister Jones like that? Don’t you remember that beautiful prophecy she gave two Sundays ago?” And when Sister White is gone, Brother Black comes to me, and he says, “If that’s the kind of revelation she has, I won’t listen to any more of her prophecies!”
So, you see what we have? Confusion, and out of confusion, division. I believe that is exactly what is happening in the church: confusion resulting in division. Certainly there is tremendous division! I believe confusion will always produce division.
The Bible gives us no liberty to tolerate the incursion of evil into the church. We are not to be passive; we are not to be neutral. Proverbs 8:13 says, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. It is sinful to compromise with evil. It is sinful to be neutral toward evil. In John 10:10 Jesus spoke about the thief, the devil, who comes: to steal, to kill and to destroy. We always need to remember, whether it is in an individual life or in a congregation, the devil only comes with three objectives: to steal, to kill and to destroy
Comment#4: One shouldn't worry about being deceived. As long as we walk right with God, obey His commandment, we will be protected from Deception.
Reply#4: Didn’t God warned us in the scriptures that we have to be vigilant and do not believed in every spirit? Did He warned us the false prophets shall comes with great signs and wonders and shall deceived the elect? The question is should we passively await the signs from heaven to tell us “here is false prophets”, “there is the false christ”? Did not God warned us to be on our guard?
Comment#5: If We Have Been Told That’s It’s In The Bible, Then it’s ok.
Reply#5: Here’s An Extract From Andrew Strom from "THE 5 KEYS TO DISCERNMENT "
Some people say that knowing Scripture is the only real key to discernment that we need. And yes – Scripture is very important – especially in exposing false doctrine. But it is not only doctrines or teachings that are the greatest danger today. It is just as likely to be false ‘anointings’ or spirits – perhaps even “lying signs and wonders”. And we may need more than just a good understanding of Scripture to spot these things. Remember, a lot of the people caught up in the “manifestations mania” actually know their Bible quite well. And yet they could still be deceived. So what are the things that can help us avoid deception in similar situations?
It is very important to be able to spot teachings that are either extra-biblical or directly opposed to what the Scriptures teach. However, it is important to remember that the Scribes and Pharisees were extrememly learned in the Scriptures and yet they missed the very Messiah that was prophesied! So knowing the Bible is important – especially for doctrinal issues – but we need to be able to “discern the spirits” also.
(1) Be a “lover of truth”. This is very crucial. Are you someone who will actually stand up for Truth – even against the crowd? Or do you remain silent even when you are convinced something is very wrong?
(2) Purity of heart and Humility. Many deceptions only appeal to us because there is something inside us that “wants” to believe them. They are seductive because of darkness and wrong motives in our own lives. We must search our hearts and root these out.
(3) The ‘inner witness’ of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to never over-ride this “still small voice”, as it will save us from deception again and again. (More on this below).
An unbeliever can often spot a con-man or a snake-oil salesman? They get a kind-of “gut feeling” about such things. And they are often right! In fact, they are often less gullible than the Christians!
Comment#6: So Are You Trying To Say That Paul's Third Heaven Experience Proof was a Mystic?
Reply#6: There is no such thing as a “Christian” mystic. Many who make this assertion do so on the basis of II Cor.12:2-4, which describes an isolated incidence of Paul being carried to the Third Heaven.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
In verse 2 the term “caught up” is the Greek work harpazo which is translated as seizing something by force. In this instance, the word harpazo is in the aorist tense, denoting a one time occurrence. This was a one time occurrence that God himself initiated.
We must actively seek to separate Christianity from the mystery religions. Our communion and connection with God comes through divine grace and the shed blood of Jesus and not through any spiritual exercises that we ourselves perform! Reacting to revelation is far different than conjuring these spiritual experiences through the practice of any of the mystic disciplines or contemplative traditions. If our spirituality is dependent upon anything that we ourselves perform then we are basing it on works and not on faith!
It is imperative to state that Paul did not embrace a works based faith. Paul’s spirituality was squarely focused on grace and in no way did Paul promote experiencing God in a mystic way. When you compare Paul’s third heaven experience to the rest of his ministry it becomes an obscure and isolated event. He had this experience only once in 14 yrs of ministry. Modern day seekers of third heaven experiences would have us believe that they can visit the third heaven on a daily basis. Indeed, they must be more “spiritual” than the Apostle Paul!
It is important to emphasize that Paul did not initiate this encounter nor did he in any way point to this experience as something for us to emulate. He most certainly did not teach others, how to take the journey! Self styled apostles and prophets operating in the contemplative and mystic traditions not only claim to have made multiple trips to the third heaven but also teach others through conferences, books and tapes, how they too can have similar encounters! Seeking third heaven experiences “by faith” is not biblical and should under no circumstances be engaged in.
These experiences as they are being taught today are no different than the occult. What they report and engage in is astral travel (astral meaning heavens). A true blood-bought child of God has Christ residing within and does not need to seek him through mystical third heaven experiences.
So How Do We Discern God's True Presence from a Counterfeit?
THE REAL AND COUNTERFEIT PRESENCE OF GOD
The New Age does believe man can experience a presence as an "invisible energy field." Taken from The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary June G. Bletzer (West Chester, PA: Whitford Press, a division of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.), 1986, we read:
"A PRESENCE: 1. any invisible energy field that is psychically sensed and felt to be a life-form (as man knows life) as opposed to an inert energy field, . . e.g., a dead bird in one hand and a live bird in the other hand give two distinct feelings" (Donning, p. 1).
In "War on the Saints," Jesse Penn Lewis ran this interesting comparison about the presence of God and of evil spirits:
COUNTERFEIT MANIFESTATION: "The counterfeit of the Presence of God is mainly felt upon the body, and by the physical senses, in conscious 'fire,' 'thrills,' etc. The counterfeit of the Presence in the atmosphere is felt by the senses of the body, as 'breath,' 'wind,' etc., whilst the mind is passive or inactive. The person affected by this counterfeit "presence" will be moved almost automatically to actions he would not perform of his own will, and with all his faculties in operation. He may not even remember what he has done when under the 'power' of this 'presence,' just as a sleep-walker knows nothing of his actions when in that state. The inaction of the mind can often be seen by the vacant look in the eyes." (p. 153).
TRUE MANIFESTATION: "The Presence of God": Known in and by the human spirit, through the Holy Spirit. When He fills the atmosphere of a room the spirit of man is conscious of it, not his senses. The faculties of those present are alert and clear and they retain freedom of action. The spirit is made tender (Psa. xxxiv.18), and the will pliable to the will of God. All the actions of a person moved by the true and pure Presence of God are in accord with the highest ideal of harmony and grace" (P. 152).
1 Corinthians 14:33, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." And in verse 40, Paul says, "But EVERYTHING should be done in a fitting and orderly way" (emphasis mine). Comparing the two definitions above from Penn Lewis should serve as a means of building discernment. James 3:14-16, the devil's wisdom, and verses 17-18, God's wisdom, should not be left out of such a comparison either:
"But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and EVERY evil practice" (vv. 14-16).
"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness" (vv. 17-18).
Envy and self-ambition are matters of the heart, and only God can see the heart, but wisdom manifests the character of the spirit from which it comes. In the devil's case, "disorder and every evil practice" are manifested. In contrast, God's character is manifested through his wisdom as peace resulting in righteousness. The "every evil practice" are those manifestations that deny God's presence, which brings about things done in not an orderly way, while God's presence manifests in a way that is befitting the peace that He is and is therefore inherent in His wisdom
The Distinctive features of true Christian experience
(i) A true Christian experience of God's love is not transmitted physically by touch, or by a man "calling down" the Holy Spirit on people. Human beings, however godly they may be, have no power to unleash the Holy Spirit into the souls of other believers. The Spirit is not some sort of force at man's disposal, to be thrown at people or blown onto people. There is nothing in Scripture to support such an idea. Yet this is how people like Benny Hinn and Rodney Howard-Browne behave, as if the Holy Spirit were some kind of liquid they can dispense to people by physical means, like alcohol. Indeed the Holy Spirit is often compared to alcohol in the TB. "The bar is open," TB leaders proclaim. "Come and take a deep drink of the Holy Spirit." And when people do come and drink and then exhibit the various bizarre forms of physical response, they are often said to be "drunk on the new wine." Rodney Howard-Browne has brought this approach to dispensing the Holy Spirit to its most extreme form; one often hears him commanding the Lord Jesus Christ to zap people with the Holy Spirit. "Go get 'em, Jesus," you hear him saying. "Go get all those stuffed religious faces and make 'em laugh. Fill 'em up, Jesus!" It seems quite clear that Rodney Howard-Browne thinks that he has Christ and the Holy Spirit at his disposal.
By contrast with all this, Scripture does not teach any idea, or give any example, of people being able to (as it were) transplant the Holy Spirit by physical means into the soul of a Christian. The nearest we get to anything even remotely resembling this notion is that on two occasions in Acts, the Apostles laid hands on people that they might receive the Holy Spirit. These two occasions are found in Acts 8, where Peter and John lay hands on the Samaritan believers, and Acts 19, where Paul lays hands on the Ephesian disciples of John the Baptist. But in both these cases, these were people who had not yet received the Holy Spirit at all; neither the Samaritans, nor the Ephesian followers of John, had in any sense been made partakers of the gift of the Holy Spirit, until the Apostles laid hands on them. This was the very first giving of the Spirit to these people to indwell them as believers in Christ. So It is a totally different situation from the TB, because in the TB the people to whom Rodney Howard-Browne and others allegedly transmit the Holy Spirit are already professing Christians—indeed, they are charismatic and Pentecostal Christians, who would claim to have already received the Holy Spirit in a special fashion anyway. Yet apparently Rodney Howard-Browne is able to give the Holy Spirit to them all over again by tapping them on the forehead. [Editor's note—the Scriptural passages cited here by our author refer to the Mystery of Chrismation, see The Shepherd (Volume XV, Number 11, August 1995, pages 11-13 Saint Nicolas Varzhansky's "The Whole Armour of Truth " chapter 9, Concerning Chrismation). What he writes in no way contradicts such an Orthodox inference, although of course, writing as a Protestant and primarily to Protestants, he does not begin to address, and perhaps does not admit, the Church's sacramental theology.]
So even on the two occasions where Scripture does show us the Holy Spirit being imparted by the laying on of hands (which is not the same as tapping someone on the forehead), it is very different to the TB, because in Scripture it refers to the first ever reception of the Holy Spirit into the life of believers to indwell them, rather then some subsequent so-called blessing. And of course, in Scripture, it was the Apostles alone through whom God worked in this way. See Acts 8:18-19. The Apostles were unique; no-one today can claim the status and power they exercised. (In Acts 8, if Rodney Howard-Browne rather than Philip had been evangelising the Samaritans, he would not have waited for the Apostles to come from Jerusalem to lay hands o n the new converts. He would have It zapped" the Samaritans himself) [Editor's note: again our author's interpretation is not an Orthodox one, because he does not admit the Church's teaching on the Priesthood, and the grace granted to the successors of the Apostles to impart grace to the faithful throughout subsequent ages and unto the end of time. This is made even clearer in a long footnote which he appended here regarding Ananias and the baptism of the holy Apostle Paul, which we have omitted because it confounds his error, rather than elucidating the situation. The reason why St. Philip, one of the first seven deacons, did not minister the Mystery of Chrismation to the Samaritans was that, at that time, he was not a Bishop. However, Dr Needham’s essential point here is a true one. The TB leaders usurp powers that they do not have; they do not employ the Scriptural and traditional rites, and treat the "Holy Spirit" as if "He" were some personal commodity of their own—an idea which no minister within the Church would entertain and one which blasphemes the Sovereign Spirit, Who is our True God.]
To sum up: there is no Scriptural evidence that anyone can impart the Holy Spirit by physical methods into the soul of a believer who is already indwelt by the Spirit. Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard-Browne and their imitators have embraced an unScriptural practice which has degraded the Holy Spirit from being the sovereign and almighty God into a mere electrical force or power that they can automatically channel into people.
(ii) In true Christian experience, the Holy Spirit is not channeled into our souls like some spiritual force by physical means such as touch. The second difference is that a true Christian experience of God's love comes by means of the truth. The Holy Spirit works in and through and by means of the truth. Let's go back to Romans 5:5, and also read the next three verses. Notice how after Paul says that God's love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, he immediately goes on to say that God's love has been demonstrated or made known to us by the death of Christ. God commends His love to us in this, that while we were sinners Christ died for us. So when the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with this wonderful sense of God's love, it is not some instant zap experience that bypasses the mind. What the Holy Spirit does is to bring home to our minds this great truth, that Christ died for us; He takes that truth and impresses it upon our minds, giving us a clear and vivid spiritual understanding of it; and by that means He fills us with a wonderful sense and feeling of how much God loves us. Our experience of God's love is a response to the revealed truth of God's love. The Spirit of God works through the Word of God; true spiritual emotions and experiences arise out of God's Word, as our minds are opened up by the Holy Spirit to see and grasp and understand the Word.
Let's consider some verses that show the centrality and importance of the mind, the truth and the Word of God in imparting life, blessing and sanctification to the believer:
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes (Ps. 19:7-9).
It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life (St. John 6:63).
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (St. John 8:32).
Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth (St. John 17:17).
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides for ever (1 Peter 1:22-3).
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of truth... The anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him (1 John 2:20-21 & 27).
These verses show that the Holy Spirit does not bypass the truth or short-circuit our understandings when he works in us, sanctifies us, awakens holy emotions, or brings us into fellowship with God. The Spirit works through the truth, through the Word, teaches us, enlightens our minds with true understanding, and in that way kindles and awakens genuine spiritual feelings and experiences.
Jonathan Edwards [a renowned American Protestant theologian, 1703-58—note supplied by the author] makes this point with great force in his Treatise Concerning Religious Affections:
Holy affections are not heat without light; but everymore arise from some information of the understanding, some spiritual instruction that the mind receives, some light of actual knowledge. The child of God is graciously affected, because he sees and understands something more of divine things than he did before, more of God or Christ, and of the glorious things exhibited in the gospel. He has a clearer and better view than he had before, when he was not affected; either he receives some new understanding of divine things, or has his former knowledge renewed after his view was decayed. [Edwards then quotes 1 John 4:7, Philippians 1:9, Romans 10:2, Colossians 3:10, Psalm 43:3-4, and St. John 6:45 to prove his point] Knowledge is the key that first opens the hard heart, enlarges the affections, and opens the way for men into the kingdom of heaven; Luke 11:52, "Ye have taken away the key of knowledge." Now there are many affections which do not arise from any light of understanding; which is a sure evidence that these affections are not spiritual, let them be ever so high. [7]
What Edwards warns against here is what we see going on in the TB. Here, the Holy Spirit supposedly works without truth as His instrument. He directly zaps people into a state of joy or peace or feeling loved. But there is no truth involved; there is no enlightenment of the mind to understand truth. Truth is bypassed in favour of this instant zap experience. So the emotions and experiences that arise are not a response to truth, but a mindless explosion of feeling that has no basis in truth, or in a mind being enlightened to understand the truth. This is not the way that the Holy Spirit works; this mindless spirituality is not Biblical. The mark of true Biblical spirituality is that it flows out of the truth and is based on a proper understanding of truth. Our Christian feelings and experiences come to us in response to the truth, as that truth is found in God's Word, and as the Holy Spirit applies it to us with sanctifying power. That is why preaching and teaching are so important in the life of the Church. And that is why preaching and teaching have so little place in the TB. Truth to them is not important. The all-important thing is the instant zap experience. That is why it does not bother most of them that the TB originated in the dreadful heresies of the Faith Movement. That doesn't matter, because truth is not what is important to them; what matters is the feelings, the joy, the mindless experience. This is directly opposed to genuine Christian spirituality.
These facts sap the credibility of all the claims we hear of Christians being spiritually renewed by the TB to a deeper holiness. The kind of experiences we have been examining could not renew anyone to true holiness. They might (for a time) make someone more aggressive and confident in whatever beliefs he already held, whether Christian or not. And therefore it might lead to more religious activity—more praying, more Bible studying, more evangelising. But these things are not convincing proof of authentic growth in holiness. Where is the increased reverence for God? The chaotic clowning of the TB is calculated to destroy, not promote, reverence. Where is the submission to Scripture? Studying the Bible is not the same as submitting to it. Jehovah's Witnesses study it. But where has any TB advocate shown a willingness to submit his experiences to Scripture? I would also have to add, from personal encounters and conversations, that the claims to spiritual renewal made by the TB seem grossly hyped-up to the point of fantasy, if not deception. None of my friends who have been zapped display the slightest noticeable increase in holiness. And I have heard too many stories of people's moral and spiritual experience actually suffering sharp reverses after receiving the TB. The only fruit of the TB in a friend of mine in Kent was that she started to hear inner voices telling her to kill herself. (She has now renounced the TB and joined a non-TB church.) So let us not be taken in by these overblown TB claims to spiritual renewal. Like claims to instantaneous and perfect miraculous healing, few if any of them will stand up to careful Scriptural scrutiny.
At this point it is worth saying that many defend TB experiences, even the most bizarre and degrading ones, by appealing to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 11:11-13:
Which of you fathers, if a son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
The argument is that TB experiences must come from God, because He would not allow His children to receive false experiences when they ask Him for the Holy Spirit. But this argument really cuts no ice. What exactly are people desiring or asking for or expecting in a TB meeting? The answer is, a certain experience. In their own minds they have identified the Holy Spirit with certain types of experience, usually involving physical manifestations, So when an anointed leader "calls down the Holy Spirit," what he means is that he wants certain experiences and manifestations now to take place in the meeting. This is what people are "asking God for." The very asking, in other words, takes it for granted that the various emotional and physical experiences of the TB are the Holy Spirit at work. But we have seen many reasons to think otherwise. This kind of "asking the Father for the Spirit" is therefore a religious delusion from the very outset. It is therefore not very surprising those who open themselves up to the Spirit," on that false understanding that he will manifest His power through a certain experience, then undergo that false experience. Why did god not protect His child from the counterfeit experience? Because the child was already deceived. Well, we ourselves have the personal responsibility to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). If we do not carry out that responsibility by searching the Scriptures carefully and submissively, and testing everything against what Scripture clearly teaches, we cannot blame God if we then fall into deception and bogus experiences. That would be like blaming God for not protecting us against electrocution if we fooled about trying to fix a generator, without carefully studying the technical manual. Editor's note: essentially Orthodox teachers would reiterate what our author says in this paragraph, however, they would say that he does not go far enough and would doubtless insist on a more careful testing of the spirits, not only in the light of "what Scripture clearly teaches," (which, as we can see from the example of the misuse of the Lord's words from Luke 11:11-13, can also he "clearly" misinterpreted too), but by also applying scriptural teaching in the light of Holy Tradition and, if at all possible, by taking advice from a spiritual director.]
HEAR WHAT DAVID WILKERSON HAS TO SAY ABOUT UNUSUAL MANIFESTATION
David Wilkerson's view about about Toronto Blessing type manifestations and other weird behaviour in today’s church. The end of the video is particularly powerful.
Let's hear what Zac Poonen says in his article "Deception Through False Signs And Wonders".
In the Gospels, we do not read of Jesus preaching even one sermon on how to receive miracles or healing. But He actually healed thousands of people.
In Acts of the Apostles, we do not read of the apostles preaching even one sermon on how to receive miracles or healing. But they actually healed many people. (The 21 epistles in the New Testament also make no mention of physical healing at all – except for one passage in James 5:14,15, where it is the elder who is urged to have faith and not the sick person!)
But what we find today (especially over Christian TV) is the exact opposite of this: We hear hundreds of sermons on miracles and healings – but we hardly ever see any genuine, miraculous healings. Most of the so-called “healings” shown over TV have proven to be fakes or unsubstantiated by independent sources.
Jesus and the apostles did however speak a lot about being free from sin. But we hardly ever hear a sermon today (over TV or from church pulpits) on how to be free from sins like anger, lusting after women and the love of money (as Jesus preached in Matthew chapters 5 and 6).
In Scripture, there is a name for anything that is the opposite of what Christ did: “anti-Christ”. Today, this spirit of antichrist has spread widely in evangelical Christendom. This is one proof that Satan has penetrated Christendom deeply with deception.
Why does God allow deceivers among His people?
In Deuteronomy 13:1-3, we are told why God allows such deceivers to move freely among His people:
“If a prophet arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, `Let us go after other gods and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul”.
God allows false prophets to do real signs and wonders and to prophesy things that come true, in order to test His children – to see whether they love Him or the gods that the false prophets invite them to follow. Two of the main gods that false prophets invite Christians to follow these days are the gods of “money” and “entertainment”.
• Money. People are urged to seek for wealth and health by giving money to the preacher’s ministry. Peter however rebuked the magician Simon when he tried to give Peter money in order to purchase God’s gifts (Acts 8:18-23).
• Entertainment. Churches have become places of entertainment where worldly music styles and other worldly programs are promoted to attract people. Thus Satan (the ruler of this world system) has succeeded in making Christians worldly-minded and ineffective for God.
Millions of Christians follow the teachings of these false prophets today because such teachings satisfy their fleshly lusts. Thus these false gods have become the idols that Christians worship in most churches today.
He who has ears to hear let him hear.
Truth, False or In Between
By now the deception is clear and without question. But the real question the house church needs to address is, is it ok to God if we try to accept 30% truth and knowing that 70% are false. Besides there's a lot more we can learn from the 30%, right?
In a time of natural crisis, I believe we will continue to attract a lot of so called "prophets" from all parts of the world to give us a message we need to hear. Yes, the message can be sound, but it can also open the door to bring in other false teaching/movements or spirits into the church. They know we are vulnerable and our defenses are down and we are willing to accept anything that will lift up our spirit.
I hope this message will give you substantial information to acknowledge that these are false anointing. Certainly there is no advantage to me to spend over 20 hours trying to find out all these information on your behalf. If I don't share this with you, then the judgement will be on my head.
I sincerely hope that you will think and pray about what you've saw and if you still believe all these are still the work of God, then I have nothing else to add and will respect your decision. It is my prayer that we become vigilant and not believing in every spirit that claims to come from God without testing
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References
Heresies Evident in the Latter Rain/ Third Wave Movement.
Dominionism Latter Rain New Age Agenda
The following ideas and beliefs are characteristic of Latter Rain movement also known as Manifest Sons of God, The Melchizedek Order, New Apostles, The Third Wave, Manchild Company, and other names. These ideas and beliefs are steeped in new age philosophies, mysticism, gnosticism, and outright occultism and are being propagated in the church as a whole.
The following ideas and beliefs are characteristic of Latter Rain movement also known as Manifest Sons of God, The Melchizedek Order, New Apostles, The Third Wave, Manchild Company, and other names. These ideas and beliefs are steeped in new age philosophies, mysticism, gnosticism, and outright occultism and are being propagated in the church as a whole.
The following was taken from the Book Strange Fire, The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church written by Travers and Jewel van der Merwe.
See whether you can identify any of the following heresies:
1. Have an "elitist mentality".
2. Consider themselves essentially Divine, equal to Christ.
3. Believe they are the Manifest Sons of God. 4. Believe their Divinity comes from within themselves. 5. Reject the literal Biblical view of the resurrection and the "rapture" of the church.
6. Are Overcomers and Conquerors of evil and the world.
7. Are in the process of becoming perfect and immortal in this age.
8. Claim to be members of the Melchizedek Order - High Priest with Christ.
9. Will purge the world of undesirables.
10. Will reign on the earth as gods.
11. Attribute their revelations to the Divine Gnosis (knowledge) located in them.
12. Share the same political ambition to establish the government of the "Sons of God" to the exclusion of the personal presence of Jesus Christ.
13. Insist the Bible should be interpreted allegorically, symbolically and spiritually.
14. Believe it is wrong to interpret the Bible literally.
15. Reject Israel as a chosen nation of God.
16. Are anti-Semitic.
17. Reject the written Holy Scriptures as the final, inerrant and infallible Voice of God above all other voices or experiences.
18. Stress love and unity with little or no regard for sound doctrine or a sound mind.
19. Reject the resurrection and redemption of the body.
20. Spiritualise the resurrection and redemption of the body.
21. Reject the personal coming of the anti-christ.
22. Look forward to the dawning of the New Age on earth, ushered in by a select group of Overcomers, the Sons of God.
23. Reject Orthodox Christianity.
24. Are always receiving "new deep truth" apart from Scripture.
25. Are essentially into "mysticism".
26. Believe in the attainment of perfection and immortality here on earth without a literal resurrection and Rapture.
27. Rejects redemption by the blood of Christ.
The spirit of man is the god-man. These heresies project the following picture: The New Wave "Mystery Babylon" (New Age Religion) riding on the back of orthodox Christianity fulfilling the age long dream of the "Church of Illumination" (Rosicrucian/Gnostic church) i.e., the uniting of the Church founded on "love" and "godhood" - Satan's fruit. THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION has been steadily at work with the idea that ultimately the various churches would merge for the benefit of all religions as well as of all mankind. THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION looks forward with confidence to a constantly increasing feeling of good will and religious tolerance among the various creeds, so that some day in the not too distant future the dream of unification can be realised and one all-embracing religion taught to all the peoples of all the earth. [The Church of Illumination by Rev. R. Swinburne Clymer, M.D., Quakertown, PA, USA.] This is the vision the Church, for the most part, is accepting and upholding, above the Scriptures. This is the "elitism" that fundamentalists, charismatics, pentecostals and evangelicals are now opening to. This is the mysticism that enshrines the new age form of "elitism" in the Church.
