Jesus Culture's New Apostolic Reformation is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Recently Bible teacher and pastor, John MacArthur, said that the false teachings and practices of Jesus Culture's New Apostolic Reformation movement were "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit", a "work of Satan" and "not Christian."

These comments, his teaching on the role, purpose, and worship of the Holy Spirit - as well as the dangerous misunderstandings that lead to blaspheming Him -- can be viewed in full here:

Exposing the Darkness at Bethel Church - Have no Part With it

 

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Strange Manifestations in 'Christian' Circles - from God or not? Feathers in Church? Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, Redding California...

by Anne Heers

"...for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness"? (2 Corinthians 6:14)  

In chapter 12 of When Heaven Invades Earth: A Practical Guide to a Life of Miracles, Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California writes:

I have seen the small gems that suddenly appeared in the people's hands as they worshipped God. Since early in 1998, we have had feathers fall in our meetings. At first I thought birds were getting into our air conditioning ducts, but then they started falling in other rooms of the church not connected with the same ductwork. They now fall most anywhere we go - airports, homes, restaurants, offices and the like...He [God] wants to take us farther, and we can only get there by following signs. Our present understanding of scripture can only take us so far. (Page 204,205)

Johnson convinces people that these signs are from God and the Holy Spirit and our present understanding of scripture cannot take us far enough. On the same pages, he says that laughter, gold dust, oil and a cloud (appearing in the church building) are also signs of God's presence. He further explains in the same chapter that these signs and manifestations "are simple indicators of God's presence and purpose". He calls these signs God's "personal notes" to us. He clearly links these signs to our holy God and the Holy Spirit.

But are they? In scripture, believers are commanded to be scrutinizing (not blindly accepting) by putting what they see and hear to the test instead of accepting a teaching, sign or wonder right away, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

Are all signs from God? Clearly scripture teaches that the apostles did signs and wonders. God is still powerful just like He was back then: "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders done among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch" (Acts 5:12).

However, scripture also contains warnings about following signs and wonders: "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him" (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).

Johnson preaches this about Jesus: "He laid his divinity aside" (When Heaven Invades Earth; chapter 7; page 110). Johnson also preaches that Jesus did His miracles as a man and not as God. Remember in John 10:30 when Jesus said, "I and the Father are one"? What about the immaculate conception and the virgin birth? That was divine, so Jesus had to be divine since conception, even before that - and forever for that matter! In an article from Charisma Magazine dated February 23, 2012, Johnson writes: "While Jesus is eternally God, He emptied Himself of His divinity and became a man...it’s vital to note that He did all His miracles as a man, not as God. If He did them as God, I would still be impressed. But because He did them as a man yielded to God, I am now unsatisfied with my life, being compelled to follow the example He has given us. Jesus is the only model for us to follow". The proof text he gives is Philippians 2:7 (which does not state that Christ's divine nature ceased, but basically that Jesus humbly became a servant despite His divinity).

Is this the same Jesus of the Bible that is preached here - a Jesus who was a non-divine man? I personally believe that Jesus was and is always divine in nature and never ceased to be divine in nature and one with God (because God is divine) for a split second. If someone is divine, it is in their nature and cannot be changed. Divinity cannot be laid aside or stopped. I am human in nature, and I cannot lay that aside. Jesus was and always will be divine in nature, so how could He lay His divine nature aside as He has always been divine, Godhead and deity forever?

Interestingly, there are no records of feathers falling on the apostles in the Bible, though this is an occurence happening in occultic religions and practices. According to a new age ministry calledKrysalis Training Academy, which supports the Dalai Lama, psychic practices, reiki, new age spiritual healing, hypnotherapy, eastern meditation, shamanism, wicca, mysticism and more - feathers are indeed a sign.

Angels often send us little reminders of their presence as angel feathers, which are small white feathers. These seem to appear from nowhere when we are down and in need of comfort. I remember sitting in a café, watching the rain falling on the pavement outside and feeling blue. Suddenly, a small white feather floated down in front of me and landed on my table. I smiled, knowing the angels were around me, with their comforting presence.

Feathers falling - from God or not? As we see here, feathers do appear as signs from other spirits of the occult.

The Apostle Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 11:4 on "another Jesus" and "another spirit". Could this be?

Another peculiar manifestation in professed Christian circles these days are uncontrolled animal sounds, laughing and drunkenness. Bill Johnson endorses John and Carol Arnott (Catch the Fire Ministries and Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship) on his own website's friend list. In fact, Johnson and the Arnott's are together having an upcoming conference in the UK in August 2012 called theRevival Alliance Conference. The Arnott's promote jungle and barnyard animal sounds as a manifestation from the Holy Spirit on their official website. Interestingly, we do not see any apostles being "overcome" by a lack of self-control with animals sounds in the entire history of Christianity nor from our plumbline, the Word of God (remember, self-control is the fruit of the Spirit, not a loss of self-control; see Galatians 5:22).

According to the same occultic ministry mentioned above, animal sounds are characteristic of spirits of shamanism.

The Arnott's, friends of Johnson, explain:

The Toronto Blessing is a transferable anointing. In its most visible form itovercomes worshippers with outbreaks of laughter, weeping, groaning, shaking, falling, 'drunkenness,' and even behaviours that have been described as a 'cross between a jungle and a farmyard.' Of greater significance, however, are the changed lives.

Bill Johnson attributes these manifestations to the Holy Spirit when he states:

Our new list includes falling, shaking, laughing, etc...we must learn to recognize his move by recognizing his presence. (When Heaven Invades Earth; chapter 12; page 205)

The Apostle Paul said that if all spoke in tongues and an unbeliever walked in, they would think everyone was crazy (and turn around and walk right out!). "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 Corinthians 14:23; NIV). Are these manifestations from God? If you walked into a church and one or more people were barking uncontrollably like a dog, hissing like a snake, moo-ing like a cow, or jumping around like a monkey, would you stay to hear the message? What would God say about this? What about the Apostle Paul? Some things to ponder.

The Apostle Paul said, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:12-17).

Have you ever looked up the Greek meaning for seducers ('imposters')? This word is translated from the Greek word "góēs". Here is how the HELPS Word-studies defines the word 'imposter':

Originally, a sorcerer (in ancient Greek literature); in New Testament times, 1114 (góēs) is a swindler – a shameless cheat pretending to use supernatural power; an actor (cheap imposter), looking for self-gain, i.e. posing to be someone he isn't. "A charlatan", used only in 2 Tim 3:13, refers to a seducer (properly, a wailer) – a fraud who "sounds off" like a whining enchanter. This person uses their verbal spells and incantations to give the (false) impression they can do miracles.

Are these signs and wonders from the real Jesus and the real Holy Spirit? Or is this another Jesus and another spirit bringing "lying signs and wonders" as prophesied? What do you think? I know what I think, and that is based upon the scriptures.

Thanks for reading.

Test the Spirits of Jesus Culture || Don't Be Deceived

• Did Jesus Christ really “lay His divinity aside”? 
• Was He always God, or just sometimes?
• Did Jesus Christ come so that Christians would rule the earth?
• Was Jesus Christ "born again" after His death on the cross?
• Did Jesus Christ come so that we would become sinless and divine while on earth?
• Did He come so that we would "walk in the supernatural", "rise up out of the earth" and "decree things into existence," and overcome every sickness by the "spirit of prophecy"?
• Is the Holy Spirit evidenced by barking, twitching, howling, hiccupping, twitching, shaking, rolling on the floor, moaning, rocking, and falling down?
• Was Jesus Christ's mission primarily to do supernatural feats?

We raise these questions, because these are the teachings of Bethelism that you will hear at Jesus Culture conferences, from teachers like Banning Liebscher and Bill Johnson. They present a version of Jesus Christ. It is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible. You will also hear--and see--another Holy Spirit at Jesus Culture. He is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible.

The apostle John, one of the original disciples of Jesus Christ, faced the same problem in his day. There were different ideas going around about who Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were. Only one was true, and the rest were false.

In John’s first letter, he addresses this problem to followers of Jesus to warn them. God has preserved His Word for us, so that we, too, would be warned, about false christs, and false spirits, and not to follow them.  The commentary is provided by David Guzik, a pastor in California. 

One of the great characteristics of the end times is described in the New Testament as deception, or delusion, on a grand, perhaps unprecedented scale. The Lord Jesus warned that the deception that is coming in His Name and accompanied by great shows of power will be so convincing that even the very elect, that is, those who truly know Him, stand in danger of being carried away in the deception (Matthew 24:24).

The Apostle Paul discusses the same idea. In explaining the end-time delusion that will go along with the world's acceptance of Satan himself as the savior of the world, he points out that when this "man of sin" arrives on the scene, he will be accompanied by great signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

When looked at alonsgisde the Lord's prediction in Matthew 24, there is no reason to believe that this entrance by Satan on the world stage will be accompanied by anything less than healing, casting out of demons, and raising the dead in the name of Jesus!

Such a situation might have seemed impossible a decade or so ago. But with the acceptance by the world--and particularly of youth, who are the next generation of Christians--of some of the current beliefs taught by Jesus Culture and similar ministries, it is not difficult to imagine that such total, world-wide delusion could take place.

Much of the "church" is not Biblically trained. Many do not even believe that they can be deceived, although Scripture warns about this many times. Many have come to believe that the purpose of our lives is to "get" what we can from God, and to live out our grand destiny of conquering adventures for Him, our toy holsters equipped with supernatural powers like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. 

Many "seek signs" although Jesus tells us not to (Luke 11:29, Matthew 16:4, John 6:26, 1 Corinthians 1:22) And many seem to be obsessed with the subject of  "signs and wonders," healing, and the "greater works," totally beyond the magnitude and scope of what occurred during the time of the New Testament when the church was established. 

Paul worried that this very thing would overcome the believers in Corinth. He wrote, 

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your

minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached,
or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different

gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

(2 Corinthians 11:3-4) 

This generation's "signs and wonders" fixation may be nothing less than a set-up to prepare the way for the one "whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders..."

1 John 4 New American Standard Bible     1Beloved, 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. 2By this you know the Spirit of God:   every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the   flesh is from God; 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus  is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you   have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Commentary by David Guzik:

A. Protection against the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1. (1) The fact of false prophets and the need to test the spirits.

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.

a. Do not believe every spirit: John warned against believing every spirit; that is, we are never to assume every spiritual experience or every demonstration of spiritual power is from God. We must test spiritual experiences and spiritual phenomenon to see if they are in fact from God.

i. Many, when first encountering the reality of the spiritual world, are too impressed and amazed to ask whether they are of God. This leads to easy deception.

b. But test the spirits: This is important because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Even though the early church had a strong life, and a large measure of purity, John still knew the danger false prophets and their message was real in the early church.

c. Test the spirits, whether they are of God: This is the responsibility of every Christian, but especially of congregational leadership. According to 1 Corinthians 14:29 (let the others judge) and 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 (Test all things; hold fast what is good), testing the spirits is the work of the body of Christ. This job is to be done using the gifts of discernment God has given to Christians in general, especially the leadership of a congregation.

i. All prophecy is to be judged by Scriptural standards. It is never to be received just because it is dramatic or given by a certain person. We trust in the principle that God will never contradict Himself, and we know what He has already said in His Word.

ii. 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us true prophecy is never of any private interpretation. This means that there will be agreement and confirmation from the body of Christ, though perhaps (or probably) not everyone will agree or confirm.

2. (2-3) How to know when a false prophet speaks.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

a. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God: True prophecy, and true teaching, will present a true Jesus. In John’s day, the issue was about if Jesus had truly come in a real body of flesh and blood. Many Gnostic-influenced teachers said that Jesus, being God, could not have actually become a flesh and blood human, because God could have no partnership with “impure” material stuff.

i. “This statement would be directed against some form of Docetism, the view that Christ was a spirit who only seemed to be a true man.” (Boice)

ii. Today, some groups deny that Jesus is really God (such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Muslims). But way back in John’s day, in this time closest to the actual life and ministry of Jesus on this earth, people didn’t have a hard time believing Jesus was God. They had a hard time believing that he was a real man. This false teaching said Jesus was truly God (which is correct), but really a “make-believe” man.

iii. Today, we are passionate about saying, “Jesus is God,” and we should be. But it is no less important to say, “Jesus is a man,” because both the deity and humanity of Jesus are essential to our salvation.

b. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God: Some think that this is the only test of false doctrine. This is not the only test, but it was the significant issue challenging the church in John’s immediate time. Today a person might confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh yet deny that He is God as the Bible teaches He is God. They also are giving false doctrine because they are not presenting a true Jesus.

i. The principle of presenting a true Jesus is essential to the testing of spirits. No one who presents a false Jesus, or one untrue to the Scriptures, can be regarded as a true prophet.

ii. Today, there is a lot of curiosity about the “true Jesus.” Many modern academics say they want to discover the “true Jesus” and when they say this they often mean, “The true Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. The Biblical Jesus is make-believe. We need to discover the true Jesus behind the myths of the Bible.”

iii. Not only is this position ignorant (ignoring the confirmed historical validity of the New Testament) it is alsoarrogant. Once any academic throws out the historical evidence of the New Testament and other reliable ancient writings, they can only base their understanding of Jesus on their own personal opinion. These academics present their baseless opinions as if they were scholarly facts.

c. This is the spirit of the Antichrist: To deny the true Jesus is the basis of the spirit of the Antichrist, which John has already mentioned in 1 John 2:18-23. It is the spirit which both opposes the true Jesus and offers a substitute Jesus.

i. The devil doesn’t care at all if you know Jesus or love Jesus or pray to Jesus – as long as it is a false Jesus, amake-believe Jesus, a Jesus who is not there, and who therefore cannot save.

d. Is now already in the world: Though it will have its ultimate consummation in an end-times political and economic ruler, the essence of this antichrist spirit is present with us today. It is found everywhere a false Jesus is promoted in place of the true Jesus of the Bible.