If it is divisive (and we could all probably see that it
is divisive). The real question is; Why is it divisive?
- Is it because we are not supposed to question a Christian leader, no matter what they teach?
- Or is it because what is being taught by the leader is
divisive by nature, because it erodes the foundations of Christianity?
First of all, know that my heart is a heart of love and
rescue.
Also, I hope you take the time to consider what I am
writing and open to hear what I have to say on this topic. This has
been a difficult topic in our city and within college ministry. My wife and I
have taken a very difficult stand, and our faith in Jesus Christ has grown so
much as we have really started digging into His Word and spending time in
prayer about this.
Just so you know...we attend a non-denominational church. And we
believe in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus Christ and
witnessed on the day of Pentecost, and that it is open to all believers. (Acts
2:4, 4:30, 10:46, 19:6) And is evidenced by the work of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the believer. (Eph 4:11, 1 Cor 12:8-11; Gal 5:22-23; Acts 2:4, Acts
10:46, 19:6; Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:8-11; Gal 5:22-23).
We also know God is a miracle working God… I have
witnessed a friend of mine who was healed from being paralyzed from the
shoulders down, and now he is walking with full function (to God be the glory).
Yes, God used doctors. Most importantly my friend also began his relationship with
Christ in the hospital and he also was a huge encouragement to others in the
rehab while he was there...it was amazing. :)
That being said, we only want the real Jesus and the real
work of the Holy Spirit…and His real miraculous works...which are Holy miracles
(not fleshy miracles that point to men, rather than Christ).
The talent of Jesus Culture and my fondness of them.
There is no doubt that Jesus Culture is made up of very, very
talented musicians (used to be one of my favorites) and I recognize that most
of their songs are even theologically correct. And that is why it is so
tricky. I found within myself, that I immediately accepted an entire church’s
teaching based on musicians. “Their music is great…so yeah, Bethel’s teachings must be
good too”…NOT. And I had come to realize that I was not “testing all things and holding
fast to that which is good” ~(1Thes 5:21).
So, when we were at College ministry conference a while
ago, they did a “prayer tunnel”,(it was not handled the same as a ‘Bethel fire tunnel’
seen in videos), but I thought it was a bit off…but didn’t really know why I had
that spiritual check in my heart about it. Then God showed me as I was
researching something else, that this ‘Fire Tunnel’ concept was a Bethel,
Toronto Blessing, Brownsville revival…etc ‘thing’. And I was deeply disturbed
and saddened by what I uncovered as I researched. And because I have such a
love for youth (and all people) I saw these movements preying on young people
(their target audience), to push their counterfeit revival and counterfeit holy
spirit on them.
By the way, I did not
take anyone’s word for it regarding Bethel’s false teaching...I needed
to do my own research (as you should do as well)...and my own research is from
actual things Bethel puts out there (like videos of services at Bethel, Bill
Johnson books and sermons, Kris Valotton's sermons, Beni Johnson's blogs and
sermons, etc.). And if you read the Bible for all it’s worth, you will find
that the teachings of Bethel are filled with new age mysticism. One does not
even need to go to websites that bash them. Bethel (and the like) put it out
there themselves.
What is the real issue with Bethel teachings? Are they biblical?
Although I thought these movements were/are weird (and
the fact their strange practices are conspicuous by their absence in the life
and ministry of Jesus and the Apostles)… I asked myself, “what was the real
issue with them (are they biblical)?” … So I started reading Bill Johnson books
and it became very clear why this stuff was weird…he practices the “false
kenosis doctrine” which denies Jesus’s divinity and or says He laid aside His
divinity (or some of His divine attributes, such as His omnipotence/power).
This belief lowers Jesus and elevates man to a god-like status, (much like what
is preached by the Word of Faith false teachers)…that you can be “little gods”…
and this lie has literally been around since the garden, and when we look at
human nature, it must be a very tempting lie if people are still swallowing it
- hook, line and sinker.
The kenosis doctrine is very divisive by nature (which
has proven to be true in our city, this has caused division between churches and between people in the same church). Bill Johnson basically is
calling anyone who does not hold to his teaching - that they are of the
anti-christ spirit or (anti-anointing spirit)…this is found in Chapter 7 of
“When Heaven Invades Earth” ~(image attached at the bottom of page). This kenosis doctrine is rather
new, starting in the mid 1800’s. So apparently all of historical Christianity
up until that time has been of the anti-Christ spirit…And all those today who
don’t follow Johnson’s heresy, are of the anti-christ spirit, and that teaching
by nature is VERY DIVISIVE.
And anytime I have listened to a sermon of Johnson’s, he
very often applies his own paradigms (philosophies and theoretical views) to the word of
God. And we should not apply paradigms to the word of God, this opens the door
for any and every false teaching. You will find good quotes and some truth in
Bill Johnson’s teaching, but if you STUDY his Christology…he undoubtedly denies
Jesus…And if he cannot get his Christology right, he has now burred/obliterated
the line of demarcation between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of the
Cults.
What is the correct historical doctrine of the divinity of Jesus?
The correct view and theology of Christ’s divinity is
called the Hypostatic Union. And we believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ
(FULLY God and FULLY man) - Colossians 2:9 For in Him (Jesus) dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily (and many other verses that abound in
scripture). And there is absolutely nothing wrong with the historical Christian
view of Jesus's divinity. Jesus being both fully God and fully man is something
we cannot comprehend on this side of eternity (and maybe not on the other side
of eternity either :) )…we must bow our knee to the divine revelation of Jesus
that we find in the whole of Scripture.
This is Christology 101.
Dr. Walter Martin (perhaps the most recognizable
authority on the cults) defines a cult like this: “A cult, then, is a group
of people polarized around someone’s interpretation of the Bible and is
characterized by major deviations from orthodox Christianity relative to the
cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, particularly the fact that God
became man in Jesus Christ.” So whenever
we see a group denying Jesus’ divinity…that is a huge red-flag.
Following Jesus, not man.
I strive to only follow Jesus and His written Word “the
Holy Bible” (the only divinely inspired infallible Word of God) and honestly I
have not read too many books by Christian authors, I believe ultimately this
has been a good thing because it is easy to spot counterfeits when doing research. I respect and honor men of God who walk the walk and are
encouraging examples of Christians in my life. But I don’t follow men or get
stars in my eyes over ‘superstar Christians’, I follow Jesus Christ…no matter
the cost.
Paul says "follow me as I follow Christ"… (but would you
expect Paul would want us to follow him if he departed from Christ?) Bethel is
part of the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) movement, and this movement is
steeped in false teaching, mysticism and scripture twisting. And by-and-large
has departed from Jesus Christ. Many of them are into modern mysticism,
catholic mystics, angel visitations, trips to heaven, phony unbiblical miracles
(gems stones, feathers falling, gold tooth fillings & gold dust appearing
on them or in their bibles, fake gold dust ‘glory clouds’, new age mystical
prayer practices, awakening angels, prophetic tuning forks, grave soaking and
leg growing tricks…btw, the leg growing trick has been used by hucksters for
centuries)…(also remembering none of
these things are found in the life and ministry of Jesus and the
Apostles).
And if you read Colossians 2 (in its entirety) you will
notice a few things that are indicators that the NAR are some of the very
people that it is talking about. Col
2:6-10 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live
your lives in HIM, 7 rooted and built up in HIM, strengthened in the faith as
you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one
takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on
human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on
Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10
and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every
power and authority.
See there are other spiritual forces that are rather
enticing to Christians…hence the warning Paul gives.
Col 2:18-23 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting
on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions
about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19 and they are
not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body
together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. 20
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of
this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21
“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human
teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem
wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily
discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.
The angel visitations, angel orbs, angel awakening, visions of
trips to heaven, extreme pious self-denial practices done by Bethel, the
Johnsons and the NAR movement is beyond the Bible, and if it’s beyond the
Bible, it’s beyond Christianity. I remember another guy that was visited by an
angel Moroni with a new revelation, his name is Joseph Smith and he started the
Mormon cult. (One of the angels Beni Johnson contacted was named Channel*
(Channel really? #newage). *I found this on Beni’s facebook page. You can also
read her blog about awakening angels, by saying the magic words “wakey, wakey”
(more like “flakey flakey”) (links at the bottom of this page).
We are accountable for what we teach.
If you are a Bible teacher you know we are doubly
accountable for what we teach, and as the Bible clearly teaches none of us are
above sharp disapproval or criticism. I
encourage you take this seriously, and
do some unbiased research into these movements… that prey on mostly young
people and spiritually abuse them… with what looks more like new age eastern
mysticism, shamanism and kundalini (repackaged for Christian consumption),
rather than Christianity.
Also, I would never stand in agreement with Bill Johnson
and Rick Joyner, who fast tracked Todd Bentley back into the pulpit… this is the
Todd Bentley who cheated on his wife and left his family during his Lakeland
revival, as well as claiming that the "Holy Spirit" told him to kick
an ill elderly woman in the face with his biker boot. He said "Just as my
boot made contact with her nose, she fell under the power of God. (Um NO! and
that is just a couple of problematic
things from Todd Bentley)…The point is; it is plain to see that
Bentley’s fruit is rotten, and apparently Bill Johnson & Rick Joyner have
zero discernment…to restore Todd Bentley back into ministry. (Yes, Todd should
be forgiven, but he should never have been in ministry to begin with, let alone
restore him). This is the blind leading the blinder. And anyone who stands for (and with) Todd Bentley MUST be questioned.
Charlatans among us.
2 Peter 2:1-3…they are false prophets among us, they secretly introduce destructive heresies (they don’t announce they are false), they deny the Lord Jesus who bought them, they draw attention to themselves rather than Jesus and exploit the flock.
On the Darren Brown Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuP5uOI7Xwc,
Darren trained an unbelieving actor to be a faith healer and performed the same
tricks on the street (like how street evangelists do it), with the same
success. This is because signs and wonders don’t save you…the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes (Romans 1:16) one must be
born-again by the Spirit to be saved (John 3:1-5).
Check out the Marjoe Gortner documentary (made in 1972)
https://archive.org/details/Marjoe.1972.Legendado ...he could really work the
crowd; he was raised as a Pentecostal preacher who could pray in tongues and
everything…and was the world’s youngest ordained minister (at age 4). He walked
away from preaching, but later in life he decided to start preaching again…
Marjoe once used sweat activated paint and painted a cross on his forehead and
while he preached (very convincingly and charismatically)…the people were
amazed as the cross showed up on his head and thought he was really anointed.
However Marjoe was just a rather good showman, who could preach up a storm …but
later he would mock the Christians back stage as he counted the money on camera
to show how easy it is to fleece the flock, and impart the gift of the Holy
Spirit.
Sadly many ministers today are still using gimmicks (false
signs and wonders, just not on camera) and the people are still falling for it
because they don’t want to be of accused of having no faith, what a sad truth
:(. Mainly because they have the wrong view of faith to begin with. Some define
faith as a force, and words are containers of that force and through the force
of faith we can create our own reality – like conjuring up enough faith for
health and wealth… (very ear tickling,
who doesn’t want to be healthy and wealthy?)
However, biblical faith is
a living trust between a person and their God, and our faith is only is as good
as the object in whom it is placed. And when we place our faith in Jesus
Christ...that is well placed faith.
Not all Charismatics are false teachers.
There are many God fearing ‘clear thinking Charismatics’
out there, and not all Charismatics are false teachers, but when one denies
Jesus’ divinity and/or exploits the flock…basically when the bulk of their
ministry is based on gimmicks, promoting
a counterfeit revival, selling prayer sessions and prophesy, and unbiblical
signs & wonders…these are red flags! And as watchmen, we should take this
seriously and take a closer look at what they are really teaching.
Yes, sometimes these teachers say things that are correct
and Biblical, however many times they are taking verses out of context and
imposing paradigms onto the biblical text. They sprinkle in enough truth (that
people want to hear) to legitimize their lies and gain credibility to undermine
the gospel. How else would they get Christians to buy into these repackaged new
age mystical teachings? False teachers wear the finest sheep wool.
I try to keep things in balance, and I have learned that
just because something is new or different doesn’t mean we have to throw it
away. Also, just because we have always been around something, doesn’t mean it
is correct either. That is why we must weigh everything carefully in light of
Scripture.
As far as I can tell God is no respecter of person’s and
there are no church leaders today whose authority cannot be questioned, or
through whom new doctrinal revelations are given to the church, or whose
teachings MUST be accepted by ALL Christians. I encourage everyone I teach to
always test what I say, I am not their final authority and the moment I say “do
not question me” or “God has given me this new foundational teaching” is the
moment I am in error & have over stepped my bounds as a follower of Christ,
while simultaneously losing humility (thinking I am more spiritually elite than
other believers).
The Lord has dealt with me a great deal about following
Him only, and not looking at Him through someone
else’s lens (or reading the Bible through someone else's lens).
We really need to be watchful as the day of the Lord
approaches, and we need believers to be exercising the gift of discerning
spirits (one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit). ~1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Hope you understand our heart of love for people, and
especially young people whom we have ministered to and invested in faithfully for
over 13 years. :)
Jesus has shown Himself faithful and True…He is SO Good
and SO Mighty and I am simply in Awe of Him! I love Him, and I love those He
loves…more than ever!
May the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth & may God
bless you all! :)
Here are some links to start your research.
Check out equip.org for some balanced apologetic
teaching.
Beni Johnson blog about awaking angels
Video of Beni Johnson talking about her mystical
experiences with angels and wakey wakey thing.
Beni Johnson post about an angel named ‘Channel’.
Disturbing spiritual impartation at Bethel (imparting
false ‘holy’ spirit).
Video of strange ‘false holy spirit’ manifestations at
IHOP (related to Bethel)…(if these were my children being spiritually abused, I
would be rather upset with IHOP and Mike Bickel).
Bethel shares their platform with some suspect teachers
(Heidi Baker); this video is at Bethel church and is rather disturbing to us,
not just because she is giving the credit to the Holy Spirit for this
manifestation, but because this guy needs help.
Fire tunnel Bethel version (imparting false holy spirit)
‘Glory/glitter cloud’ at Bethel (this not a biblical
glory cloud).
Todd Bentley´s "restoration" with Rick Joyner & Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson’s Alabaster House audio. Clearly lowers
Jesus, and further explains his heretical Christology.
When heaven invades earth commentary
‘Kundalini Warning - Are false Spirits invading the
church’ By Andrew Strom. This video is a bit ‘dramatic’ but he seems rather
balanced as he is not against the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But he shows the
connection of new age practices tied with Bethel, Toronto Blessing, Todd
Bentley, IHOP…and the like.
And on and on…..
