Why I left Bethel Church

A Call for Discernment, Part 3 - God's Will, Healings, Miracles - Justin Peters, Video

A Call for Discernment - Part 2, False Signs and Wonders - Justin Peters, Video

A Call for Discernment - Part 1, A Critique of the Word of Faith Movement, Justin Peters, Video, part 1

Bill Johnson, IHOP, & Ancient Heresy Reborn

Bill Johnson, IHOP, & Ancient Heresy Reborn

This discussion is based on an article tha that Bob Dewaay wrote for Critical Issues Commentary that he hasn’t yet published entitled “An Invasion of Error: A Review of Bill Johnson – When Heaven Invades Earth“. Johnson is closely associated with IHOP in Kansus City. Much of what Johnson teaches is also promoted by IHOP.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:32 — 27.3MB)

An Outline of the Discussion

• Much of what was discussed revolves around a book by Bill Johnson, a pastor in Redding, California, called “When Heaven Invades Earth.” The book details formulas for performing miracles. Bob contends that once a miracle becomes the outcome of a prescribed formula, it is no longer a miracle, but a natural phenomenon.
• Jesus as portrayed as a person that could only do miracles in His Earthly ministry because He learned all of the proper formulas.
• A heretical view of Jesus is taught that says that He laid aside His divinity while on Earth. This is heretical because divinity, by definition, is not a quality that can be laid aside. If ever there was a time that Jesus was not divine, He never was divine to begin with, nor ever will be.
• Bill Johnson professes a teaching that is shared with IHOP (International House of Prayer) of an “Elijah Generation”, or an elite group of Christians that shows up at the end of the age, is greater than any other group of Christians in history, and do greater miracles than Jesus. Such teaching has its roots in the long-discredited Latter Rain movement that began in the 1940s.
• The ancient heresy of Kenosis is taught. Kenosis doctrine is based on a misinterpretation of Philippians 2, and teaches that Jesus “emptied Himself of diety”, and was merely a man during His Earthly ministry.
  • Deity cannot be gained, lost, laid down, or set aside. It either is or it isn’t.
  • Deity is defined as: non-contingent eternal existence.
• Johnson, et. al. operate under an anti-scholastic bias that downplays the importance of scripture in favor of spiritual experience. He states “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life”.
• The promotion of spiritual experience and special knowledge not found in scripture is a form of gnosticism, a heresy that dates back to the days of the Apostle Paul.
• The letter kills in that the letter is the law, and the law kills in that it points to Christ, but it is Christ that saves, not the law. The law is a schoolmaster as Paul says in Galatians 3:24
• Paul warned about gnosticism in his Corinthian letters, Colossians, and elsewhere.
• Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge, and gnosticism refers to a special knowledge, not found in scriptures, nor available to all Christians.
• Gnosticism leads to a strange form of panentheistic worldview.
• Bob likes to say that “There are no extraordinary Christians, but being an ordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing.”
• The teaching that there are “elite” Christians parallels the Catholic teaching of super-irrigation, or works that go above an beyond that which is required by ordinary Christians.


• “Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know.” (Johnson: 76)
• Docetism is a heresy that says that Christ only seemed to have a body.
• People who follow false teaching, especially of the sort that Bill Johnson teaches, often decry the “cognitive” as antithetical to “walking in the spirit”. However, they don’t realize that they make their own decisions and form their own beliefs based on a “cognitive” understanding of the world that they like. They merely use a different “cognitive” standard than that of Bible-believing Christians. Gnosticism uses a subjective cognitive standard, as opposed to the objective standard of the Scriptures.
• Johnson claims that reaction to error often leads to more error. This stands in contrast to much of the New Testament in which Paul, and other New Testament writers, wrote epistles meant to correct error (Galatians, Colossians, Hebrews, etc.)
• We don’t question a false teacher’s motives or sincerity, we question their doctrine in light of Scripture.
• Elitism is a heretical view that some Christians are more spiritual than others, and somehow better Christians.
• Pietism is a reaction to “dead orthodoxy,” and has a heavy emphasis on experience.
• Fideism teaches faith for the sake of faith. It de-emphasizes the object of faith and replaces it with faith itself.
• Panentheism is often mistakenly adopted by Christians who misunderstand omnipresence. It teaches that God is in everything (as opposed to Pantheism that teaches that God is everything and everything is God.)
• The Emergent Church movement is largely panentheistic, and they don’t necessarily deny it.
• Bill Johnson’s similarities to IHOP (International House of Prayer) in Kansas City include:
  • Common roots in Latter Rain theology
  • Both target young people
  • Elitism – The “Elijah Generation”
  • Manifested Sons of God
  • Bridal paradigm. A sensual relationship between Christ and believers.
  • “Deeper Life.” A gnostic idea that there is a secret that will lead you to a deeper life with Christ.
• Bill Johnson’s connection to IHOP appears to be informal, though he has spoken at many conferences held by IHOP.

Scripture References

• Hebrews 10:7
• John 5:39
• 2 Corinthians 3:6
• John 5:46
• Galatians 3:24
• Acts 17:11
• 1 John 4:1-5

Part 1: False Spirits in the Church

This video is Produced by charismatic commentator Andrew Strom. 

It contains disturbing footage of one of the worst "invasions" of false spirits that the church has ever seen: strong evidence that She has been invaded by counterfeit spirits on a worldwide scale. This is Part One of a documentary tracing this massive invasion - and showing the terrible impact it has had. Please share it with your friends.

Leaders and movements involved:Prophetic; Apostolic; Signs & Wonders; Bill Johnson, Kris Valloton, Kim Walker-Smith, Chris Quilala (Bethel Church/Jesus Culture); Vineyard Fellowship; Todd Bentley (Fresh Fire), Lakeland Revival, Rick Joyner (IHOP), Bob Jones (Morningstar), Toronto Blessing, John Crowder) john crowder, Mike Bickle, Patricia King, the River, New Apostolic Reformation, Word of Faith, New Breed Revivalists, Healing Rooms, John Paul Jackson, Sid Roth, Chuck Pierce, Randy Clark, Peter Wagner, Dutch Sheets, Charismatic. (partial list)

Part 2: Jesus Culture Documentary || Call for Discernment: Are you sure it's Jesus?

This video was produced by Anton at Unison Global
End Time Missions Mobilisation
www.unisonglobal.org

Jesus Culture Theology - Christ not God - Heresy

Bill Johnson’s Christology Explained

In essence, Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA, a recognized “apostle” by some, teaches that at conception, or at least prior to the Virgin Birth, Jesus divested Himself of all His divine attributes thereby living a sinless earthly existence by being totally reliant upon the Holy Spirit while receiving the power to do miracles at His baptism.  

This divine self-emptying is known as the kenosis doctrine as discussed here.  The quotes used in this section are taken from six different books by Bill Johnson (and one sermon) to illustrate that this teaching undergirds his entire theology. 

Jesus did everything as a man, laying aside His divinity in order to become a model for us.⁸           

…Jesus did everything in His earthly ministry as a man who had set aside all His divine privileges and power in order to model the Christian life for us.⁹ 

..Jesus set aside His divinity, choosing instead to live as a man completely dependent on God.¹⁰ 

…He laid his [sic] divinity aside as He sought to fulfill the assignment given to Him by the Father: to live life as a man without sin…¹¹ 

The above quotes can be construed such that Jesus retained all His divine attributes yet chose not to exercise them; however, the following illustrates that He no longer had inherent deity:¹² 

Jesus Christ said of Himself, ‘The Son can do nothing.’…He had NO supernatural capabilities whatsoever!…He performed miracles, wonders, and signs, as a man in right relationship to God…not as God.¹³ 

…Jesus had no ability to heal the sick.  He couldn’t cast out devils, and He had no ability to raise the dead.  He said of Himself in John 5:19, ‘the Son can do nothing of Himself.’  He had set aside His divinity.  He did miracles as man in right relationship with God because He was setting forth a model for us, something for us to follow….Jesus so emptied Himself that He was incapable of doing what was required of Him by the Father – without the Father’s help…¹⁴ 

Given that deity is by very definition supernatural, Johnson has, in effect, reduced Jesus to less than God.  

With Johnson’s claim that Jesus had no inherent ability to perform miracles in and of Himself, it is clear that Johnson means Jesus no longer had his divine attributes to utilize even if He so desired.  He “had NO supernatural capabilities”; He was totally and completely a man but “in right relationship to God” by the Holy Spirit

...Read FULL ARTICLE here

False Spirits at Jesus Culture Conferences

Below is a video from the Jesus Culture Awakening conference, held in Chicago, August 2011:

Paul writes:  

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (1 Cor 14:23)  

and later, in verse 29: 

Two or three prophets should speak, and others should weigh carefully what is said. 

                                              ***
The next video features Winnie Banov, from the Miracle Signs and Wonders conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Winnie and her husband Georgii are frequent co-speakers with Johnson at conferences in and outside the US: 

Finally, Stacey Campbell's false prophesy about fellow false prophet Todd Bentley. 

Bethel Church's Bill Johnson appears in the video on stage right, at this "anointing ceremony" for Bentley in 2008, in which Bentley's ministry as an apostle is announced, and he is "released" for service by the group, which calls itself the International Coalition of Apostles. 


“I believe last night was truly historic and a true sign of unity,” Bentley told Charisma today. “Many streams converged and I know last night’s commissioning will truly help bring God’s outpouring to a much larger part of the body.” 

Participating leaders at the ceremony included Wagner; Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif.; John Arnott of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Canada; Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.; and Rick Joyner, founder of MorningStar Ministries in Charlotte, N.C.

Wagner said to Bentley on the platform: “This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase. 

“I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future.” 

Not long after, it was revealed that Todd Bentley was living in adultery with a woman he became involved with during the Lakeland movement. He later divorced his wife and married his adulterous lover. The only streams that converged that night above Todd Bentley were the streams of counterfeit spirits that continue to fill the Jesus Culture movement today. These so called “Apostles” proved themselves to be ‘false apostles’ without true discernment.


Their practice of peddling deception continues today, at conferences such as this April 2012 Healing Conference at Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries: 
 

What can we say about what we have seen here? Some of my brethren have been caught up in the Jesus Culture "movement" and have been caught unaware because they do not know the truth. Others know the truth but reject it. 

King Ahab had this true prophet, Micaiah, thrown into prison (1 Kng. 22:26,27), because he did not want to hear the truth; he preferred, instead, to listen to the false prophets influenced by the lying spirit.  So Ahab went to battle in Ramoth Gilead in disguise (22:30).  But a random arrow hit the king between the sections of his armor, and later that day he died (22:34a,37).  King Ahab worshiped a God other than the real one, he was a thief, and he listened to a lie by an evil spirit; so he paid with his life.


It is interesting to note that Paul, describing some people in the end times (no doubt, in today’s world), said:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron (1 Tim. 4:1,2).

John also said: 

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

This precisely describes the situation of the lying false prophets speaking to King Ahab the things they were lured to speak by the lying spirit.  People really have not changed throughout the centuries; they still are voluntarily open to deception and often listen only to what they want to hear.  Almost no one wants to hear the truth when it implies that one should change.