Todd Bentley and the Police

Here is the latest on the situation that occured last week at MorningStar when police were called to remove critics from a meeting there.  This is posted at Bene Diction Blogs On, and was written by Rick Hiebert.

On Friday, February 5, as Todd Bentley was starting to collect an offering at the Morningstar sanctuary in Fort Mill S.C., men who have a serious disagreement with the evangelist and his theology started to cry out from the crowd. Not only were Bentley’s own security involved, the police were called to deal with and remove the protestors.

Over the past couple days, although there has been apparent silence from Todd Bentley and the local media on this, enough has come out on the Internet that we can now safely say that Bentley, or one of his friends, or admirers, summoned police to ensure that the protestors, who were apparently peaceful, were taken away.  Read more…

(HT:  Bud Press)

1910 to 2010: A Worldwide Outpouring

In 1910, William Seymour, of Azusa Street Mission fame, prophesied that in 100 years a worldwide revival would sweep the earth.  According to that prophecy, there would be an outpouring of the Shekinah Glory of God that would surpass even the Azusa Street revival.

Rick Joyner knows this.  Watch this video, and at roughly the 78:25 mark you will hear Jason Hooper, Revivalist and Media Director at MorningStar Fellowship Church, reference this prophecy.

Randy Clark of Global Awakening knows about this prophecy, and they’re hoping you will come out to join them in one of their healing and impartation schools, and, no doubt, Mike Bickle and many others know about it as well.  It’s no secret that these men and their followers are waiting to experience the next big outpouring, and many look back to Azusa as the example of what a revival should be, only greater.

Is it any wonder that Bickle and Joyner suddenly announced they were having a move of the spirit on their campuses?  Bickle’s began in November, with Joyner’s beginning shortly after new year.  Just in time to get it revving and hot for the 2010 year.  At roughly 108:20 into the video linked above, Bentley says there have been numerous prophetic promises which say that this thing at MorningStar is going to explode in February.  However, Bentley says, what they do in the next few days and weeks will determine what exactly they are going to get, but he has cleared everything so he could be there for what is birthed out of their meetings.  He says, “I don’t think you yet realize, and the people watching, what this can become.”  It sounds suspiciously like Bentley is priming the crowd and motivating them, for without the crowd following along and reaction to the primers being thrown out by him, there will be no revival.  Will they take the bait?  Will charismatics all over the earth jump on the bandwagon and embrace the fire?  We’ll see.

What we see here is a smattering of false teachers attempting to make a 100-year-old prophecy come true.  False prophecies working on minds and hearts not grounded in God’s Word will be led down the many paths of deception that lead straight into the ditch.  The final result is that the misled people in the church are looking for a specific experience, and are not looking to the author and finisher of our faith, Christ Jesus, our Lord.  That is the fruit of exeriencial theology.  It’s adherents do not grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, they are motivated by the next big experience to dot the radar screen.

Men and women need to check their motives and do a spiritual inventory in comparison to Scripture.  Looking into the mirror of God’s Word will illuminate our darkened minds and lead us into the paths of truth and righteousness.  That comes only through careful study of God’s Word and submission to His will.  That comes only through humble submission to living a repentant life and following the first and final authority of truth… the Bible.

One-hundred-year-old prophecies should not guide or motivate us.  We should be guided and motivated by the truth of God’s Word. 

If only they would seek God instead of experiences.

Winnie Banov: The Bible Has a Blank Spot

When watching the video below, I didn’t think it would ever end.  This is a prime example of what happens when gullible sheep put their faith in teachers who are very blatantly false.

In case you’ve never heard of her, the lady in the video is Winnie Banov, of Global Celebration.  If you’re still not familiar with her, just think along the same lines as Patricia King and Joshua Mills.  In the video, she shows a lady’s gemstone that she claims fell from Heaven.  The lady was sitting on the toilet when she found it on her bathroom floor.  Another lady in the congregation found one in her garage.

Afterwards, she begins to explain why Moses didn’t get to go into the promised land after smiting the rock when he was supposed to have spoken to it.  Her explanation is that God punished Moses because when he didn’t speak to the rock and struck it instead, and as a result, he hindered a new song about Christ from being spoken.  Because of this transgression, there is now a blank space in the Bible where that song should have went.

Yes, people actually put credence in these utterances.  Anyone with remedial Bible knowledge would flatly reject Banov, yet they allow themselves to not only be deceived by her, but to be indoctrinated by her as well.  What Banov is teaching is so far out that no one would be expected to believe it’s in the Bible.  Yet many do.  We have many who twist and convolute Scripture, but this woman is injecting “blank spaces” into it that really aren’t there.

There comes a time when it’s almost hard to feel pity for those who are deceived by such as Banov.  I’ve heard the expression, “People get the leaders they deserve.”  Wouldn’t you say that there’s a point that people get the Bible teachers they deserve?

People, wake up!

Todd Bentley: God Bless Those Who Persecute Us

Over at Todd Bentley’s Twitter page he left this tweet:

IamToddBentley

Thanks for the Love. God is blessing his people. Tonite the presence was so sweet and God bless those who persecute us

Note:  By now you’ve heard that Bentley’s service at MorningStar was interrupted last night by some people who decided to go and confront Bentley in his adultery and false doctrine.  A bit of a fracas broke out when they began shouting during the offering, and the police were called to escort them out.  Is that a tactic I would have chosen myself?  No, perhaps not, but, it’s making for good blogging press today.  It also gives Bentley a bit of a persecution complex.  More on this as it continues to break.  But for now, let’s move along to the matter at hand…

As with the Lakeland Revival, the bloggers and watchmen on the wall are standing against this false move that is going on at MorningStar.  When it first broke out, there was a dread that this would blow up like the Lakeland Outpouring, but instead, it seems that Rick Joyner, Todd Bentley, and others are just spinning their wheels.  There’s nothing more frustrating than a so-called outpouring that goes nowhere.  Don’t get me wrong, the word has gotten out and charismatics are traveling to MorningStar to get a “piece” of the pie.  But, as far as a major move is concerned, this one has simply fallen flat so far.

Rick Joyner continues to say, “Something is happening here.”  Yet that something seems to be sputtering and getting stuck in the mud.  Perhaps if he says it enough times people will believe it, but so far, there’s not much traction or push behind it.  It has to be awkward and embarrassing that they said they were having an outpouring that no one seems to be very interested in.  Oh, sure, some will show up, but the masses are staying away.  In fact, the revival videos that were donning the Fresh Fire USA website have become more sparse, and they have been replaced with the “Healing, Signs, and Wonders” videos from the “Healing, Signs, and Wonders Equipping School” that is being led by none other than Todd Bentley himself.

Here are some updates from the updates posted by Bentley yesterday:

02-05-10 10:00AM – Word of Knowledge – Todd Bentley

Todd Bentley teaches how the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the discerning of spirits work together. He elaborates on the definition of each as well as explaining how the word of knowledge and the spirit of the word of knowledge are different including typical ways of how to operate in the word of knowledge.  Todd ended the service by bringing up students whom had never operated in words of knowledge to minister to the rest of the students.

Okay, let’s say just for the sake of argument that these people truly were operating in words of knowledge.  He is bringing up students who have never done that and is forcing them to minister to the rest of the students in this way?  I guess this is an example of the expression, “do or die.”  If you want to operate in this gift, you’ve got to throw all reservations to the wind and just get up there and do it, buckaroo!  So much for the leading of the Spirit, huh?

Here’s another update from Bentley:

2-05-09 7:00 PM – Maintaining Your Healing – Todd Bentley

Throughout this session Todd Bentley talked about how to maintain your healing. Todd shared many testimonies of people he knew who lost their healings, and explains why they did providing over thirty biblical truths of why people lose their healings. The service ended with a Holy Spirit breakout and many of the students were given opportunities to minister to people needing healing.

Aside from just how Scripturally unsound this is, it’s completely ludicrous.  Oh, I know I’ll hear from people who say they know of many who have lost their healing, just as they know of many who have been healed.  Not only do charismatics testify of their granny’s cousin’s best friend’s mother’s daughter-in-law who was healed, but they also know of their father’s nephew’s son’s girlfriend’s best friend who had a grandmother of the cousin of their niece’s mother-in-law who lost a healing.

Scripture does not show that people lose their healings.  When Jesus healed the blind man, He told him to go and sin no more lest a WORSE thing come upon him (John 5:14), but I find it quite compelling that people didn’t walk around in a perfect healing and then have the disease come back upon them if they failed to act or have faith in the proper way.  Some could argue that those types of healings are temporary healings, and given that someone has a disease come back on them after supposedly being healed, they were never truly healed at all.  I would be one of them.

Rick Joyner was one of the people who prophesied over Bentley at his commissioning service, which was held shortly before Lakeland ended.  He has a lot at stake in the failings of Todd Bentley, for if Bentley fails, Joyner is publicly proven a false prophet.  Here are the words spoken by Rick Joyner at Todd Bentley’s commissioning service at Lakeland:

“Todd, your ministry is very appropriately named – Fresh Fire – and, uh, you’ve certainly been bringing fresh fire, and even when you were going through the dark night of the soul I thought you had more fire on you than, than uh, many, I’ll just say.  But, uh, you know, the worse state we could ever fall into is lukewarmness, and God has sent you as an antidote for that lukewarm spirit.  And, uh, the fire has been birthed here, it’s been released here.  You’ve unstopped a well, you have, you have other wells to unstop in other cities, in other places.  This is just the beginning.  And uh, there is longevity too.  There is increase, but there is also longevity coming.  There are many wells, but they’re also oil wells, and they catch on fire when you unstop them.”  (Transcript taken from this video.)

Shortly after speaking of Bentley’s longevity, Todd Bentley excused himself from the Lakeland Revival and fled in disgrace.  From the very beginning of that period in Bentley’s life, Joyner persued him in an aggressive attempt to restore him and put him back out there center stage.  His prophecy can’t come true if Bentley is disqualified, right?

However, there will always be watchmen who stand on the wall who sound the alarm when false doctrine enters the camp.  Todd Bentley and Rick Joyner call it persecution, and by token, we are persecutors.  But, God’s Word calls us Bereans.

Let’s keep sounding the alarm.

It’s Just a Game, Isn’t It?

Years ago, a local christian radio station began selling advertising slots to businesses to meet the financial demand for operation.  Up until that time the station had been completely listener funded.  As I lay in bed one night I heard a commercial for a Ouija board on that station.  I was shocked!  The tag-line for the commercial was, “It’s just a game, isn’t it?”

Hasbro, who has sold the game since 1967, is now marketing their “game” to young girls.  Coming in a slick new hot-pink design, the young female population is clearly being targeted by the toy maker.  However, according to an article at Fox News, it isn’t just teens that are being targeted, but the intended target group is girls age eight and up.

The Ouija board is used during a seance, when the morbidly curious are attempting to contact spirits for answers to those pesky and puzzling questions of life.  Divination is strictly prohibited in the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:9-12), and those who practice it are seeking answers and guidance from demonic spirits.  The source is not the God of the Bible, but demons.

God gave His will to us in His written Word, and His Word is authoritative and final.  Should we seek guidance outside of that, we are turning away from the truth of almighty God and seeking knowledge that was neither given nor approved by Him.

Speaking of divination, Bob Dewaay has written a wonderful article which cuts to the heart of why divination is sinful, and is strictly prohibited.  (Please click here to read that.)  Perhaps those words are too mild… God actually refered to divination as an abomination.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12:

9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Pretty strong words in conveying His thoughts on the matter, wouldn’t you say?

Additionally, Jan Markell sent out a stern warning this week regarding this subject.  I would like to defer to her now because she not only covers the specific reasons why the Ouija board is dangerous, but gives her own experience with it as well.  Please click here to read.

Are We Picking Fruit or Pulling Roots?

This is from Mike Ratliff of Possessing the Treasure:

During the latest escalation in the Truth War, it has been noticed by many of my good friends who watch these things that as we have brought into focus many of the things pertaining to outright heresy and the blending of pagan with Christian practices within the Emergents’ “ministries” as well as all those who are attempting to minister pragmatically, certain incriminating book references and articles on their blogs and websites have been taken down. Also, in discussion with other comrades in arms in the trenches it has come to the fore that even though it is good that we shine the truth from God’s Word in the dark corners of this movement, there are still hidden things that are actually the roots of all of the apostasy and heresy against which we contend. As we deal with the present evil, the even deeper evil behind it remains.  Read more…

Kim Clement Says Haiti Quake Was Actually Meant for America

 Jeremiah 5:31:

31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

On January 20, 2010, false prophet Kim Clement appeared at Pastor Steve Munsey’s church, Family Christian Center.  The night was filled with repetitive music and prophecies he claims came straight from the lips of God.  But, on this night, Clement claims that God told him that the Haiti earthquake was actually intended to hit America, but was diverted to Haiti because of the prayers of, well… just read it for yourself…

“Come on, just praise!  Just pray.  For, even as the earth shook in Haiti, and some have cursed and some have said, ‘This is the judgment of God,’ God said, ‘Be careful what you say!  For you see, I diverted,’ now listen carefully, ‘I diverted the earthquake, for it was due to happen in this nation (meaning America).  The Davids of the hour, and Daniels who fasted for twenty-one days prayed and prayed and My hand was stayed.’ “  And God said, “Many would say, ‘But why would this happen?  Why did He not even remove it?’ ”  God said, “It was to happen, and therefore I removed and took the course another way.  It is not something that they will understand,” but the Spirit of God said, “There shall be a shaking like you’ve never seen before in this nation but it shall not be one like unto that (meaning Haiti).  For there shall not be deaths… it’ll shake the political powers… it’ll shake the laws that have been made.  There will be a shaking this year … a fiscal shaking (money, naturally).”  And the Spirit of God said, “Your finances will suddenly have a shaking as well, for the discovery of the new source of energy shall emerge in 2010,” says the Spirit of God.

So, our nation is so worthy and righteous that God diverted a deadly quake away from us and put it on a nation more wicked?  Is that what Clement is saying?  How tired I am of this man’s presumptuous and ridiculous words when he claims to speak in the name of God.

The video is below.  If you can stomach it, please take time to watch.  The Haiti prophecy is roughly 1:57 into the video.  The rest of the video is filled with prophecies concerning a new energy source that will free America from reliance on the middle east, and prophecies over Steve Munsey and his son as well.

Cessationism vs. Continuationism

Apparently, the Grace to You blog has been seeing the same type of question that has happened in a few of the comments here.  There is a question among believers as to whether the gifts are operating in the same manner as they were in the apostolic era.  If any charismatic would be honest with themselves, they would have to say no.  Charismatics will always fight back with, “I know someone who was healed.”  Or, “I know a friend of my cousin who was healed.”  But rarely do you ever see verifiable and credible evidence that signs and wonders, or attesting miracles, are being performed today.

I know when I publish this I will hear from people who say the same statements I cited in the paragraph above.  But if you will be really honest with yourself, hearing of the great granny of your best friend’s cousin being healed isn’t the type of vague gift that was operable in the church in the apostolic era.  Do we see clear cut healings?  No.  (That’s not to say God in His mercy doesn’t heal.)  Do we see people being raised from the dead on the nightly news?  Do we hear about mass signs and wonders (of a strictly Biblical nature) being reported today?  No.  It’s always stories, but never out and out miracles.

Ephesians 2:18-22:

18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

What charismatics don’t understand is that Jesus is our cornerstone, the apostles the foundation, and the believers in Christ are the stones being built upon the the foundation laid by the apostles.  For the charismatics who claim they are apostles today I ask you:  Why would God need to relay the foundation?  There’s a conflict in logic here.  You can’t lay a foundation on top of the foundation that has been laid, nor on top of the stones already present within the church.  C. Peter Wagner and his “New Apostolic Reformation” would have you believe that God is either re-laying the foundation, or that God is laying a foundation on top of the stones that have already been laid.  It just won’t work.

Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You, addresses the debate of cessationism and continuationism.  I very rarely post someone else’s work in it’s entirety, but will do so this time.  I tried to post just a snippet, but it was all pertinent to the matter at hand.

Here is what he has to say:

Throughout our series on the Prosperity Gospel, a number of people have steered the comments toward thecessationism vs. continuationism debate. I asked Phil Johnson (GTY’s Executive Director) about the issue—here’s what he said…

If you believe any of the miraculous spiritual gifts were operative in the apostolic era only, and that some or all of those gifts gradually ceased before the end of the first century, you are a cessationist.

If you believe all the spiritual gifts described in the New Testament have continued unabated, unchanged, and unaltered since the initial outpouring of tongues at Pentecost, you are a continuationist.

It’s pretty hard to find a real continuationist. Absolute non-cessationists exist only at the bizarre fringe of the charismatic movement. They are the sort of people who like to declare one another “apostles,” claim (and inevitably abuse) all the apostolic prerogatives, sometimes invent fanciful stories about people raised from the dead, and twist and corrupt virtually every category of doctrine related to the gospel, the atonement, or Christian discipleship and self-denial.

But evangelical charismatics (especially the Reformed variety) do not really believe there are apostles today who have the same authority as the Apostles in the early church. Some may use the term apostle, but they invariably insist that the apostleship they recognize today is a lesser kind of apostleship than the office and gift that belonged to the apostles in the first century.

Now, think through the implications of that position: By arguing for a lesser kind of apostleship, they are actually conceding that the authentic, original New Testament gift of apostleship (Ephesians 4:11) has ceased. They have in effect embraced a kind of cessationism themselves.

Note: There is no more or less biblical warrant for this view than for any other kind of cessationism.

Nonetheless, every true evangelical holds to some form of cessationism. We all believe that the canon of Scripture is closed, right? We do not believe we should be seeking to add new inspired material to the New Testament canon. We hold to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3)—delivered in the person of Christ, and through the teaching of His apostles, and inscripturated in the New Testament. We believe Scripture as we have it is complete. And those who do not believe that are not really evangelicals. They are cultists and false teachers, who would add to the Word of God.

But notice this: if you acknowledge that the canon is closed and the gift of apostleship has ceased, you have already conceded the heart of the cessationist argument.

That’s not all, though. Most leading “Reformed charismatics” go even further than that. They freely admit that all the charismatic gifts in operation today are of a lesser quality than the gifts we read about in the New Testament.

For example, in Wayne Grudem’s book The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Wheaton: Crossway, 1988)—probably the single most important and influential work written to defend modern prophecy—Grudem writes that “no responsible charismatic holds” the view that prophecy today is infallible and inerrant revelation from God (p. 111). He says charismatics are arguing for a “lesser kind of prophecy” (112), which is not on the same level as the inspired prophecies of the Old Testament prophets or the New Testament apostles—and which may even be (and very often is) fallible.

Grudem writes,

there is almost uniform testimony from all sections of the charismatic movement that [today's] prophecy is impure, and will contain elements which are not to be obeyed or trusted.

Jack Deere, former Dallas Seminary prof-turned charismatic advocate, likewise admits in his book Surprised by the Power of the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993), that he has not seen anyone today performing miracles or possessing gifts of the same quality as the signs and wonders of the apostolic era. In fact, Deere argues vehemently throughout his book that modern charismatics do not even claim to have apostolic-quality gifts and miracle-working abilities. One of Deere’s main lines of defense against critics of the charismatic movement is his insistence that modern charismatic gifts are actually lesser gifts than those available in the apostolic era, and therefore, he suggests, they should not be held to apostolic standards.

Again, consider the implications of that claim: Deere and Grudem have, in effect, conceded the entire cessationist argument. They have admitted that they are themselves cessationists of sorts. They believe that the true apostolic gifts and miracles have ceased, and they are admitting that what they are claiming today is not the same as the charismata described in the New Testament.

In other words, modern charismatics have already adopted a cessationist position. When pressed on the issue, all honest charismatics are forced to admit that the “gifts” they receive today are of lesser quality than those of the apostolic era.

Contemporary tongues-speakers do not speak in understandable or translatable dialects, the way the apostles and their followers did at Pentecost. Charismatics who minister on the foreign mission-field are not typically able to preach the gospel miraculously in the tongues of their hearers. Charismatic missionaries have to go to language school like everyone else.

If all sides already acknowledge that there are no modern workers of signs and wonders who can really duplicate apostolic power, then we have no actual argument about the principle of cessationism, and therefore all the frantic demands for biblical and exegetical support for cessationism are superfluous. The real gist of our disagreement boils down only to a question of degree.

In a very helpful book, Satisfied by the Promise of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996), Thomas Edgar writes,

The charismatic movement gained credence and initial acceptance by claiming their gifts were the same as those in Acts. For most people this is why they are credible today. Yet now one of their primary defenses is the claim that [the gifts] are not the same [as those in the New Testament.] Faced with the facts, they have had to revoke the very foundation of their original reason for existence. (p. 32)

As for biblical arguments, in Scripture itself, there is ample evidence that miracles were extraordinary, rare events, usually associated in some significant way with people who spoke inspired and infallible utterances. It is obvious from the biblical narrative that miracles were declining in frequency even before the apostolic era drew to a close. Scripture says the miracles were apostolic signs (2 Corinthians 12:12), and therefore by definition they pertained specifically and uniquely to the apostolic era.  (Online Source)

Christian Research Service: Brandon Barthrop – Proceeding from Bad to Worse

No doubt you have heard of Brandon Barthrop of “toking the ghost” fame.  He is a “new mystic” and “hypercharismatic” who doesn’t open his mouth without blaspheming.  Bud Press of Christian Research Service gives you the latest on the false teacher and his blasphemy.

Brandon Barthrop: Proceeding From Bad To Worse

‘Apostolic Pirate’ captaining a sinking ship
by Bud Press, Director
Christian Research Service
January 19, 2010

Give a false teacher an inch of approval and he’ll take a mile of advantage.

Such is the case with Brandon Barthrop, self-proclaimed “judge, king, apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, pastor,” and founder of Red Letter Ministries  (“History & Testimony,” http://www.redlettermin.com/history.html”

Bathrop’s strange behavior and statements on YouTube have garnered laughter and cheers from his followers, and righteous indignation from discerning Christians.

How funny is it?  

While some may find Brandon Barthrop humorous, what seems comical on the outside may be deadly on the inside. As a major player within the “huffing the Holy Ghost” movement, one of Barthrop’s specialties is twisting Scripture out of context to suit his brand of religion; another is shocking his audience and mocking Jesus Christ.

In his YouTube video titled, RLM Prophecies for 2010, Barthrop informs the viewer to expect great things for this year. At 1:04 into the video, Barthrop says the Rhema word of God will be sown globally, then states, “and it will not be the gospel of salvation…” And, at 1:54, Barthrop states that, “When you are saved you get the same gift that Jesus got when he was born again at age 30…” ( http://tinyurl.com/ygmb5zd ). Read more…

Bethel’s Signs and Wonders Include Angel Feathers, Gold Dust, and Diamonds

I got a link to this article in e-mail.  It focuses the spotlight on Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding, California.  Much has been said lately about Bill Johnson, but if you will look at the beliefs of Johnson and others like him, you will see that he has many commonalities with people like Rick Joyner, Todd Bentley, Patricia King, etc.  No, not just commonalities, they share the same erroneous doctrine of signs and wonders at the expense of the truth.

Also of note is the fact that Bud Press, director of Christian Research Service, and a dear friend, was interviewed for the article.  Thank you, Bud.  Keep up the good work of raising awareness of these lying signs and wonders.

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.

Johnson said Bethel members believe Jesus is the son of God and died for the sins of humankind, which is the basis of Christianity. Bethel also believes in the second coming of Jesus when those who are saved will go to heaven and those who do not believe in him will go to hell, as it says in the church’s “We Believe” statement.

Bethel was part of the General Council of the Assemblies of God until January 2006 when the church membership voted to withdraw their affiliation, and today Johnson hesitates to link Bethel to a specific movement or group.

Those who examine the practices of Bethel 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, said John Wolf, founder of the Church Education Resource Ministries.

Wolf is one of Johnson’s many critics and is no stranger to Bethel Church.  Read more…

Birthing the Kingdom

The video below is a prime example of what happens when hypercharismatics take Scripture out of context and warp and twist it to mean things it was never intended to mean.

I was going to type a short transcript but thought better of it.  It’s a seven-minute video; watch it all if you can stomach it.

Help for Orphans in Haiti

I would like to thank truthinator for sending me this.  He said he checked it out and it is legit.  Please, if you can spare even a little, I know it will help.

CANAAN ORPHANAGE – A LIFEBOAT TO RESCUE ORPHANS IN PORT AU PRINCE

January 19th, 2010

Canaan has 90 acres of property, intact infrastructure, and over 100 Haitians and some American missionaries living there able to help. Many of the Haitian residence also speak English there as well. This 90 acre Christian community is situated about 1 hour to the north of Port au Prince; far enough from the chaos, yet close enough to be a lifeboat to some. This situation is not much different from the Titanic tragedy – many children (and adults) will die. We need the backing of a large organization to beef up the infrastructure in Canaan and supply them to rescue these children. The more we beef up their infrastructure, the larger the lifeboat. Canaan’s immediate needs are Diesel fuel, communications, and food. HELP! Forward this website to every person you know. Talk to every connection you have. Your connection might be the very one the directly saves lives. We need people to find out about this.

Jim Seidel – President and Founder

Never Thirst Again, Inc.
11411 SW 49 PL
Davie, FL 33330      Phone: 305.877.4494

Prayer Request

M’kayla, a fellow blogger, faithful warrior for truth, and frequent poster here, needs your prayers.  I really don’t know what to say other than my heart goes out to her and her husband, and I sincerely want to express my deepest sympathy.  Please click here to learn more.

Praying for you, M’kayla.

Charles Spurgeon: “False Professors Solemnly Warned”

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” – Philippians 3:18-19

Paul was the very model of what a Christian minister should be. He was a watchful shepherd over the flock; he did not simply preach to them, and consider that he had done all his duty when he had delivered his message; but his eyes were always upon the Churches, marking their spiritual welfare, their growth in grace, or their declension in godliness. He was the unsleeping guardian of their spiritual welfare. When he was called away to other lands to proclaim the everlasting gospel, he seems always to have kept an eye upon those Christian colonies which he had founded in the midst of heathen darkness. While lighting up other lamps with the torch of truth, he did not fail to trim the lamps already burning. Here you observe he was not indifferent to the character of the little church at Philippi, for he speaks to them and warns them.

Note, too, that the apostle was a very honest pastor—when he marked anything amiss in his people, he did not blush to tell them; he was not like your modern minister, whose pride is that he never was personal in his life, and who thus glories in his shame, for had he been honest, he would have been personal, for he would have dealt out the truth of God without deceitfulness, and would have reproved men sharply, that they might be sound in the faith. “I tell you,” says Paul, “because it concerns you.” Paul was very honest; he did not flinch from telling the whole truth, and telling it often too, though some might think that once from the lip of Paul would be of more effect than a hundred times from any one else. “I have told you often,” says he, “and I tell you yet again there are some who are the enemies of the cross of Christ.”

Beloved, I have a message to deliver to-night which is to the same effect as that of the Apostle Paul, and I am afraid it is as necessary now as it was in his time. There are many now among us, as there were then, who walk in such a manner that we recognise them at once as the “enemies of the cross of Christ.” I do fear that the evil, instead of having decreased, has multiplied and grown in danger. We have more profession now than there was in the age of Paul, and consequently we have more hypocrisy. It is a crying sin with our churches that there are many in their midst who never ought to be there, who would be fit members of an ale-house or any favourite resort of the gay and frivolous, but who never ought to sip the sacramental wine or eat the holy bread, the emblems of the sufferings of our Lord. We have—O Paul, how wouldst thou have said it to-night, and how wouldst thou have wept while saying it!—we have many in our midst who are the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” because “their God is their belly, they mind earthly things,” and their life is not consistent with the great things of God.

I shall endeavour, for a short time to-night, to tell you the reason of the apostle’s extraordinary sorrow. I never read that the apostle wept when he was persecuted. Though they ploughed his back with furrows, I do believe that never a tear was seen to gush from his eye while the soldiers scourged him. Though he was cast into prison, we read of his singing, never of his groaning. I do not believe he ever wept on account of any sufferings or dangers to which he himself was exposed for Christ’s sake. I call this an extraordinary sorrow, because the man who wept was no soft piece of sentiment, and seldom shed a tear even under grievous trials. He wept for three things: he wept on account of their guilt; on account of the ill effects of their conduct; and on account of their doom.  Continue reading…

Did Todd Bentley Plan This?

On January 9th I said:

“With the power of suggestion being so strong over charismatic believers, Joyner’s suggestion of another outpouring primes the crowd with the expectancy that a revival is upon them.  They’ll bite and buy into it hook, line, and sinker.  In fact, like good little followers, they have started showing up in droves.”  (Link)

If a leader has a strong enough hold over people, they can simply say there is an outpouring and voila!  There it is!!!  Todd Bentley holds such sway over people.

With all of the evidence mounting up, I’m starting to believe that Bentley and maybe even Mike Bickle planned this.  Bear with me just a moment while I look at the evidence.

• In August of 2009, Bentley visited IHOP and was given the grand tour by Mike Bickle himself.
• Bentley begins experiencing trance-like visions in October of 2009 where he claims to have seen Jesus Himself, and he says that the Lord is preparing him for a season of visitations, and while the purpose of these revelations was not revealed to him at the time, he is convinced that a deep time of intimate revelation would come.  What better way to “prepare” for a move of the spirit?
• Mike Bickle’s IHOP started experiencing a “Student Awakening” on November 11.
• In his December 15th webinar entitled “The Secret Place,” Bentley announces that on January 12 he will be doing a “Revival” webinar.  He mentions Lakeland and says, “I’m claiming that it’s not over.  We may not be in Florida, it may not be Lakeland as we know it, and I may have not been in the last year, the last year and a half in the center of what God’s doing, but God’s breaking out.  He’s breaking out in renewal, in Kansas City, He’s breaking out, He’s on the move in a revival culture in California – there’s many places.  And, and, you know, we’re just getting ready right now for a next wave, we’re praying for an outpouring right here.  Gonna visit us in Charlotte.  Gonna visit us here at MorningStar at HIM (Heritage International Ministries) … I’m askin’ for it.  We’re excited, and, and I’m sayin’ it’s, it’s, it’s continuing on.  And, and, why not believe that you’re gonna get that impartation?  I get people talking about the outpouring and how they’re having outpouring meetings.”  (You can find this at approximately the 6:05 mark.)
• On January 5, Bentley announces on Twitter that “God” broke out on the MorningStar University students and it lasted 12 hours.
• January 7, 2010, Bentley posts the video of Bob Jones breaking the curses off of him so he can minsiter more effectively and his gift of faith, his gift of miracles, and the spirit of revival could return.
• January 8, 2010, Rick Joyner and Todd Bentley announce in a video that “something” is going on at MorningStar, and even though he was hesitant to call it a revival, the name of the video calls it an outpouring service.

See the link?  Perhaps it’s all a coincidence?  Maybe?  Maybe not?  I don’t think so.

So much for a spontaneous outpouring of the Holy Spirit, huh?