God Delivers Another from the Cult of Jesus Culture

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

Psalm 91: 2-4

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How God Rescued Me From Bill Johnson’s Cult 

by Shofar B.   From ClosingStages.net  

Last year around Christmas time, I was part of a prayer group where I live. It was a small group that met 1-2 times a week. All of us were DESPERATELY seeking God. It was a good fellowship. One evening after the session ended, I was tinkering around on the drums when one of the brothers, Dan came up to me with a look of soft urgency in his eyes. Seeming not to notice that I was in deep focus trying to perfect a drum rudiment, he proceeded to interrupt me with a question…in a notch above whispering my name he asked me, ”have you ever heard of Bill Johnson??” Still working out drum patterns and attempting to simultaneously reply, I answered…”I ‘ve heard the name before. I know he’s in California but I don’t know much about him.” 

At this response, I saw Dan’s face light up as if he had just received a shot of adrenaline. I knew he was ready to share, so sensing this, my drumming gradually teetered off into a complete silence. It was then that Dan began to advise and enlighten me about Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding Ca. Also he gave me the scoop about the churches School of Supernatural Ministry. [Side note: I hate typing for long periods of time so this is going to be a truncated account and I'll add more details over time.] Okay, so Dan who has no binding ties to Bethel, suddenly sounded like one of their top recruiters/ pitchmen. 

He began to tell me about how the presence of God permeated and saturated the campus at Bethel. He RAVED about the school. He RAVED about the music in the worship services. He RAVED about the teachings of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallatton. He raved about everything from the prayer tower to the coffee shop. After about an hour and a half of what could’ve EASILY qualified to have been a top notch infomercial, Dan made me an offer that two weeks later I found out…”I couldn’t refuse.” Dan told me that he was so confident that my walk with Christ would intensify by leaps and bounds by going to Bethel, that if I agreed to go, NOT ONLY would he pay my transportation there…he would also PAY THE $9000.00 Tuition required to attend the School of Supernatural Ministry.

At the time it really sounded cool, but I was comfy here at home and saw no need to make any rash moves. However, later, some things were being shaken up at home and I began to lose peace. I remembered Dan telling me of the intense peace that was present aroung the Bethel atmosphere. Being that he contacted frequently to pitch me on Bethel after that prayer meeting night, it was during one of the times we made contact…I succumbed. I said okay Dan…I’ll go check it out. The next day we were at the Greyhound station. However, I got cold feet and asked for more time to think about it. After all this was new territory for me, new town, nowhere to live, new people was no big deal…I’m as gregarious as they come.  I LOVE PEOPLE!!! Anyway, after thinking about it, I took the dive.  The next day I was off to Redding.  Set up with a nice motel, I found my way to Bethel the next day, and this would be the beginning of the road to my NIGHTMARE. Please note though, it didn’t start out that way. 

When I attended Bethel for the first time it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!! And that ”love” would continue for the next two months. I immediately called Dan to tell him how right he was about everything. I even went on to tell him that he UNDERSTATED his description. I SWORE that I had died and gone to heaven. People seemed to really love Jesus. The view from the top of the mountain was ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING!!! There was something going on ALL OF THE TIME…LITERALLY 24/7. Being one that’s GREEDY FOR GOD, it was the perfect milieu for me and my insatiable appetite for HIM. There were ubiquitous house groups within the community and I loved attending them. It reminded me of the New Testament church in Acts. 

I went to EVERY possible function that I could, and there were ”ZILLIONS”. During a house meeting I was offered a place to stay…for FREE. And that was just in the nick of time as I began running out of money. A few days later, I began living with students from Bethel’s school. Still floating on a cloud, I just seemed to see God’s hand moving at every turn I made. Even from my first visit, I would get myriad ”words of knowledge” spoken to me by many people EVERYDAY. I still have them written down. I think maybe ONE came true, but I know NOW that it was just a lucky guess..the rest em’?? UN-lucky guesses…lol.

So to make a long story short , I absorbed every thing Bethel offered I dove in seven days a week. I had my first ”fire tunnel” experience at a house…my first impression…OVERRATED!! While everyone else that went through it laughed and convulsed hysterically, I was unaffected EVEN in spite of the countless attempts of others to ”IMPART” (one of their buzz words) into me what they were feeling. 

Also, I found it strange that I couldn’t even communicate with people even about simples matters like the weather or a basketball game without them jerking, shaking or convulsing…these convulsions were so profuse within the cult that for me it QUICKLY became overkill. 

Another idiosyncrasy was the constant belting out of the phrase…”’WHOA” OR ”WOE” This is heard constantly. Still seeing through rose colored glasses though, I overlooked the weird behavior and justified it by concluding that ”God loves it when his kids are having fun with Him” Gradually though, I started deducing that this wasn’t mere fun…it was borderline mockery, the shaking, the jerking, the laughing, the cackling, the convulsing….it just went on TOOOO MUCH!!! If it were done in moderation, it may have gone undetected by me, but this was INSANE!!! 

Later, I started noticing a LOT of name dropping from the pulpit (mostly from Bill Johnson) of false prophets and wolves like Bob Jones, Patricia King, Todd Bentley, Heidi Baker, and a plethora of others… This was constant, and when these names were mentioned, cheers went up with the fervor and magnitude of a Super Bowl touchdown reaction. During my entire time there, I NEVER ONCE heard Jesus get even a fraction of that type of praise,worship, or delightful frenzy. I might add that NEVER ONCE did I hear salvation, repentance, holiness, righteousness, judgment, or wrath preached, neither from the pulpit nor when I’d travel the streets with them. The whole business plan (because it’s NOT a ministry) is to focus on LYING signs and wonders….impotent magic tricks. I’ve always wondered why Bill would rave about all of these so-called and UNDOCUMENTED ”miracles” happening through Bethel around the world, YET, when it comes to home, we never get to see any of em’ manifested. For instance, Bill and his wife both wear prescription glasses…where’s the healing?? Bill had a hernia surgically removed…WHAT??? No miracle?? Bill’s son Eric is deaf and has a speech impediment…C’mon Bill…that’s your son..HEAL HIM!!!…Bill and his wife have gray hair (a sign of zinc deficiency)…but no ”supernatural” intervention has taken place, yet all of this GREAT stuff is happening EVERYWHERE ELSE EXCEPT HOME ON BETHEL’S TURF!!! Gimme a break!!!.

The real thing that got me though was the death of little J.C. the infant of two dear Korean friends of mine. He died from cancer at two years old. Prayers went out for him every second of the day. People jerked, shook, laughed, convulsed, spoke in (FAKE/DEMONIC) tongues over him…the works…and when he died, we were left with feeble excuses like ”God needed him more” kind of CRAP!!! Around this time I had already stopped going to the church. When I first got there, for the first two months, because God gifted me with charisma, celebrity looks (and I don’t say that arrogantly) and the ability to draw people, I instantly became EXTREMLEY popular. By the time I left Redding, I was considered a pariah in some circles and cliques within. Even though I lived with Bethel students, I began to expose Bethel, Bill Johnson, Kris Vallaton, Danny Silk, and ALL of the celebrity WOLVES in their within their evil and deceptive cabal. People that used to ”love” me (so they said), snubbed me on the streets. They unfriended me on facebook. They’d give me looks of sheer disdain whenever we’d cross paths…we’re talkin’ some of the same people that I’ve prayed with, broke bread with, and had gotten venerably intimate with. When I stopped going to the church and began staying home and listening to REAL MINISTERS OF GOD like Michael Boldea and Mike Hoggard, Paul Washer and David Eells, I got flack from my roommates saying that those guy were mad and didn’t know God.They asked me not to play their sermons But I’d ignore their comments and continued to feed on what was REAL GOSPEL. I would often challenge my roomies and other Bethel ”robots” on Bill and Kris’ theology and their twisted new age ”sermons” WITH SCRIPTURE and it ceased to surprise me anymore that they’d rebuttle my challenges with quotes from one of Bill or Kris’ books. IMAGINE THAT!!! They ALWAYS tried to refute GOD’S WORD with quotes from books written by their false teachers. Can you say MIND CONTROL???

So after 2 months, I stopped going. I continued to live with the students because it was a ”phat crib” OR, a nice house for those who are linguistically challenged in ”SLANG”…LOL  I was paying rent by this time in a new home and different students. The landlord approached me one day while shooting ball in the yard and told me that if I didn’t start attending Bethel and doing what they call ”SOZO” classes (which is simply /new age mysticism/chanting/ contemplative prayer or ”soaking” kinda stuff) that I would have to find somewhere else to live. It was my 4th month in Redding and that was my ”Q” to leave. My wife was on the phone when this happened. I had my bluetooth in my ear and the landlord wasn’t aware that I was on a phone call at the time. My wife COULD NOT BELIEVE HER EARS!!! We both knew it was time to ”GIT OUTTA DARE”.

I became good friends with Mike Hoggard while going through that trying period, and he REALLY helped sustain me in prayer and encouraging words. I initially was going to relocate to where he is and get some discipleship and restoration. But God led me home. Let me give you one more story here before I close. There was a class held every Sunday called ”Fire Starters” birthed out of the Toronto Blessing movement. This class was supposed to ..get this…”TEACH” PEOPLE HOW TO PROPHESY…LOL!!! Yes…I laughed too!! So anyway, every class people were randomly called to the front of the room, they were lined up, and asked to pick someone in the room and give them a word of knowledge…BUT THERE WERE RULES…WHAT EVER YOU SAID HAD TO BE SWEET, KIND, AND MAKE THE PERSON ”FEEL” GOOD…Those are the rules verbatim!!! 

After weeks of seeing this nonsense and people stating the obvious and touting it as hearing from God, out of frustration, one Saturday night, I decided to MAKE UP, FABRICATE a ”word of knowledge” just in case I would be picked out to prophesy in tomorrow’s class. And whaddaya know…I get picked. When my turn came, I shared my FABRICATED ”word’. It was this, ”there’s someone here who’s been strategizing suicide, and the devil is tormenting you. If you’ll raise your hand, we can pray for you and you can be released.” Much to my surprise, a hand went up…WOW….I’m like okay God, you used my prank to REALLY get someone’s attention. ”Praise You”. 

But I was about to get an even BIGGER surprise, because, I immediately thought the room would shut down and people would bombard this poor girl who planned to take her life, so they could pray and labor over her soul, but NO!!! That’s NOT what happened. Instead, I got reprimanded by Kevin Dedmond, one of the ”leaders” (you can see his crap on you tube w/Sid Roth),and I was told that I’m to only say things that make people feel good. And they resumed right back into letting people perform their exercises of divination, cause that’s what it REALLY is. 

More upsetting is that when class dismissed, out of a room of about 150ppl, I only saw 2 people (excluding myself), a couple go minister to that girl…everyone else??? Well, they were too anxious to go through the FRUITLESS ”fire tunnel” so that they could appease their flesh…and so they did…THEY LAUGHED, THEY JERKED, THEY SHOOK, THEY CONVULSED, THEY WRITHED IN THE FLOOR, and to this very day…they call it GOD. 

When they finally DO meet God they’ll not be laughing anymore!!! I’d like to thank Pat Rogers from ”ANGRY SHEEP” for encouraging me to share this with you all. Believe me, there’s soooooooooo much more to share and I’ll add on as things come to mind. You have to realize that I only hunt and peck 20 wpm, so typing , for now anyway, isn’t my forte. Getting ready to take classes though. Please forgive any type-o’s. Love You All in the Lord and I pray that in some way you were blessed, edified, or educated through this writing. God Bless You, Shofar 

Why I Left Bethel Church - Ryan

Why I left Bethel Church

Bethel’s Jesus Culture Awakening - Review from Personal Testimony

Posted on August 3, 2011 by mkayla

Jesus Culture Awakening – Bethel (from Inerrant Word)

Well, there is an event starting today called the Jesus Culture Awakening in Chicago. Jesus Culture are essentially the worship band from Bill Johnson’s Bethel church. This is a dangerous group to be associated with and to be caught up in – I know!

I have had personal experience with the effect of Jesus Culture and Bethel when my wife was caught up in their music and teaching. You can find her testimony (4 parts) of how she got out from under their influence here, here, here, and here.

There is something insidious about Bethel and its associates. Often they appear at face value, to say Christian things and they even appear convincing (though there are some so ludicrous that it is a wonder anyone buys into them). But, for me, I was often left with a very ill feeling in my gut. Then when you start hearing some of the quotes from people like Bill Johnson who say that if we preach a message which allows for sickness, we preach another gospel (in reference to Galatians 1:8). There are plenty of youtube videos which show this.
For the message of Bethel is this: health and wealth, sign and wonders are what God does for you. You should be seeking after these things and if they are not abounding in your life, then something is desperately wrong! They will deny it of course: “we never say such a thing!” Not outright but it permeates their sermons, and messages. It is clear, unless you are experience all manner of odd things and signs and wonders etc, then you are in trouble.

Their ministry has such things as “healing rooms”, soaking, etc. You can read some very interesting reviews of these here.

I know that my wife turned from being a joyful, contented mother and wife into an aggressive, belligerent, and antagonistic woman. I have had people say, “oh, she must have just got carried away” or the like. The fact is, she was not alone. I know several other people personally who got caught up with this sort of thing. They acted and changed in the same way. The fruit of the Spirit goes out the door. Jesus and the Word being the sufficient and satisfying saviour and focus has gone too. Instead this obsession with miracles, angle feathers, gold dust etc replaces it. There is no contentment – only a desire for greater and more fantastic “miracles”. A desire which becomes absolutely consuming.

Now some of the people whom they associate with are very dangerous. People like Todd Bentley, John Crowder, Joshua Mills etc. If you have not heard, Todd Bentley has been involved in a crazy, signs and wonders revival in Lakeland in the recent past. During which it turned out he had an inappropriate relationship with one of his staff (while he was married) and then he ended up divorcing quickly and marrying this girl. I believe there were other issues he suffered with at the same time. While this was happening (and before it was publicly known), Bill Johnson and other extreme Pentecostal heavyweights laid hands on him in service and proclaimed God’s anointing on him and how he was doing great things for the Lord and would outshine Moses etc. Well, if they were speaking for God (which clearly they were not for they are false prophets) surely He would have warned them to provide Todd help in the very least? But no, it appears they use God as a means to gain.

John Crowder is as weird as they come. He refers to himself as a “new mystic”. The only word I can use to give him justice is blaspheming heretic. I have seen him do things which would make your hair stand on end! Things like sucking the anointing from people in graves like a vacuum, smoking “holy ghost” drugs (toking the ghost he calls it), falling around like a drunkard (calling it the drunken glory of the lord). He speaks heretical trash and the most shocking thing is not necessarily the things he says and does (for we have always had nutcases around) it is the fact that so many people follow him and show themselves to be undiscerning, ignorant, and deceived. One day, he will give an account to the Lord and it will not be pretty! You can look up multitudes of videos on you tube which show off the show that is John Crowder. Here are some interesting reviews of this man, his ministry, and his behaviour (there are many more if you type his name into Google): Apologetics Index, Slaughter of the Sheep, and Apprising Ministries.

So these are the people that Bill Johnson relate with and associate with. Dangerous people who would lead the flock astray and bring them to calamity.


But some great sites which have a lot of information about Bill Johnson, his associates and their teachings are Heralding Truth, M’Kayla’s Korner, Closing Stages, Apprising and Crosswise. There are multitudes of articles, reviews, comments, and testimonies.

All I can say, is be careful of this ministry and his teachings. Make sure that you test the spirits (1John 4:1) and do not let anyone tell you to let go of your mind etc. God created us a rational, thinking, creatures whom he commanded to worship in spirit and TRUTH (John 4:23). He tells us many times to test what we hear (Acts 17:11, Rev 2:2) to know if it is truth or heresy. My wife’s testimony provides some links in there to a post on a blog which helped her incredibly when she realised what was happening to her. I pray that you also will benefit from this.

The best thing I can encourage surrounding this event is that even if you are curious or you have friends of family going, run! Do not go. I beg you to avoid this event at all costs for it is dangerous. I am not someone who has taken these people out of context – their ministry, life and teaching is out of context. You can find multitudes of material on them and what they teach in proper context in their books, sermons etc which are easily accessible. The mounting evidence of their false teaching is damning.

I pray God gives you wisdom and discernment and if you are caught up in this stuff, I pray He would open your eyes and draw your heart back to Him!

An Escape From Bethel and the False Prophetic

Posted on July 16, 2011 by mkayla

Just received this as a comment. Please, if you are involved with Bethel, Crowder, any part of the charismatic/word of faith movement, the healing rooms or the prophetic, check these methods with the word of God. They may seem right, but they are occult at the core. I know this is so because I used to be a part of it all. Praise God for His saving grace!

I really wanted to share my story too as my church in the UK has become well & truly Bethelized, the transition into it has been a subtle & underhanded invasion, swapping of truth for error, what Im posting is about that journey of utter deception & how it gets in.

late 2009- Bill Johnson comes to my town in a big church wide event…. some time after that mtg (I didnt go to it because I really dont like big events) our senior pastor sat down with some leaders & discussed the audacity of bethel people visiting mind/body/spirit./psychic type fairs & setting up stalls that would offer to pray for healing & prophesy over people that would frequent such a place… 1st red flag no gospel preached/ & irresponsible – how on earth do people who are mostly drawn to occult practices discern & distinguish & make appropriate responses to that which is reportedly from a Holy God in that type of setting. ok I know god can reach anyone anywhere anyhow – but his “method” promotes spiritual confusion I believe in people who are dead to sin & lost to HIM.

May 2010: a group of leaders form our church & around the town visit Bethel… they return “odd’ different but not in a good way – immediately there is a lot of praying for individuals in the church by laying a hand on the forehead without the individual’s permission – these leaders just go up & “minister”- shouting & whooooaing in prayer times… also wafting hand movements during prayer times. my ” mentor’ who I love dearly & know very well now exhibits a subtle change in personality & has experienced a range of ill health ever since.

Red Flag 1: the language begins to change – we hear about impartation/intoxication of the spirit & relationship with father/ the work of Jesus on the cross becomes lessend as we focus on a culture of developing the prophetic/miracles & concentrate on being family

we see for the first time the practice of “fire tunnels”

rest of 2010…. we begin to immerse in Jesus culture music – begin preparing plans to launch our own healing rooms.. the “culture of honour” is widely talked about promoted from the senior leadership team.

Red flag 2: even though a culture of honour & doing everything from a place of loving relationship/family is promoted big time – various circumstances present themselves where honour should have been highly practiced – where in fact the opposite could be said

2011- senior leadership from Bethel visit the church. its obvious people form other places in the UK flock to hear the latest word.
healing rooms begins
Students from Bethel BSSM visit the town: we actively see for the first time prophetic art & the interpretation of it in our service time- soaking or what they would call “carpet time” is evident & other new phrases begin to pop into our language
* being whacked by God – get whacked – stay whacked – never go back
* get activated in the spirit/prophetic
* we want Jesus to get what he died for ( in relation to miracles)
* release & freedom become Big words
* Host the prescence
* More More & More

Red flag 3: senior leaders are imparting drunkeness to each other (& everyone else)- rolling around on floor – throwing love/bliss bombs at each other. & stating that they feel so drunk they are not sure how they could drive home. some of the behaviour they exhibit & allow would have been considered demonic & or worthy of discipline 20/25 years ago

present:

*church decides to set up its own supernatural school of ministry
* other leaders visit to Bethel & other conferences around the uk & return using odd & confusing language – mostly pointing to the idea that Gods word was for then & the spirit or the flow (of the new wine) is for now
* we go totally overboard on the prophetic – with instruction form the senior leaders to develop, be ready & willing to give a prophetic word to literally anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Red flag 4: the occult creeps in: we now use Bethel’s offering readings ( look it up on their website) when we collect our tithes & offerings – this to me is nothing short of an incantation – a list of demands to get what WE want from God including “divine manifestations” & angelic visitations.
people are encouraged to place a cloth on their head during prayer at HR
& we are also offering people ” spiritual readings” this is where various prayers are written on cards & people are encouraged to randomly select one & have a leader pray over them for fulfillment in that area – just feels like home grown Tarot.

After all of this I have to say IM OUT – they will have my resignation by the end of the week !

I just felt I wanted to post all this so that others can see how this has happened chronologically like a drip drip drip effect of Blurrgh! which has sucked many in.

http://mkayla.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/an-escape-from-bethel-and-the-false-prophetic/#comment-4916

Testimony and Book Review: The Other Side of the River

"This book is a "must read" for anyone who has come to their senses within an apostate church and wondered what to do and how to do it.  The Bible is clear that we are to mark and avoid false teachers (Rom. 16:17) and separate ourselves from those involved in sin (1 Cor. 6:17) while continuing to pray for them. 

But the issue of rejecting heresy and false prophesy becomes a matter of personal fortitude and deep emotional hurts when it involves close friends who have been brainwashed by "The River".
My testimony is similar to Kevin's in certain ways, though the Lord saved me from deep involvement in the Third Wave. 

I lost a number of close personal friends when I found myself in the position of either obeying the Lord and His Word or coming to consensus with men.  But the Bible does not give Christians an "option".  We are to stand for the truth whenever and wherever it is demanded of us, whether in the world or in the churches.  We must stand for unity, but that means we are to put on the unity of the Spirit and strive for unity in the Faith (Eph. 4). 

When unity of the Faith (unity in the core doctrines as taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles) is not being upheld and taught, then the individual Christian is duty bound to reject that heresy and seek fellowship elsewhere.  The Bible is clear that those who obey the Lord prove they love Him, and conversely those who disobey Him prove they do not love Him (John 14:15, 23, 24). ...

Staying in a church that is teaching heresy, participating in false prophecy, and promoting false anointings (which are of another spirit) is putting yourself in a position where you are violating both of the above criteria for staying in the love of Christ. 

Remember that many will come saying "Lord, Lord" in the end but they will go to hell.  They are those who think they will be justified by their many works of doing miracles, prophesying, casting out demons, etc.  Today we have a whole generation of Christians who are enamored with works, and defend those they follow by constantly referring to them.  But the Lord says this:

Matt. 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

What is the will of the Father?  That we obey Jesus Christ.  Jesus says we are to reject heretics by marking and avoiding them.  The commands of the Lord are simple, but the reality of obedience is not.  But we cannot be blessed by the Lord and gain eternal life without obedience.

Read FULL ARTICLE

Leaving the Signs and Wonders Movement : A Testimonial Book Review (The Other Side of the River)

The Other Side of the River
Authored by Kevin Reeves - Reviewed by Ralph Lavallee

SUMMER 2001 MEDIA SPOTLIGHT• VOL. 30- NO.2

" "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you." Jesus of Nazareth

This book is a troubling read. It is troubling because of the indictment it brings against the modern Body of Christ, Conservative Bible teachers today are increasingly lamenting the lack of basic Biblical discernment among those who profess to love the Word of God. Kevin Reeves, in this personal, and passionate narrative, has attempted to pull back the curtain, and share with the reader some of the mystical experiences commonly taught, practiced, and encouraged by many churches which at the same time profess to follow Christ and his Word.

When one begins to read The Other side of the River, it becomes apparent quite quickly that this is not just another "I came out from among their" book. All too often a disgruntled disciple of this movement or that, within "Christendom" breaks free and feels that it is his calling to write on his experiences. The result is little mote that axe grinding--light camouflaged as an expose of the movement. Used book stores have shelves of these "Christian" books.
One is immediately struck by the grace with which Reeves writes. Although we can sense the hurt, and frustration experienced by the author, he goes out of his way to avoid questioning the motives or intentions of those in teaching and leadership positions. The book winds it's way from the entrance of the Reeves family into the "River" of these teachings, follows his rise to leadership, his gradual and growing convictions as he approached a crossroad in his relationship with Christ, and climaxes with his decision to follow the Lord and His Word. The narrative draws the reader in, as one is walked through the consequences that Reeves is then faced with.

Modern Christian mysticism is generally considered to have been birthed (at least here in North America) through the Latter Rain movement of the mid l900’s, mainly through the efforts of men like William Branham and Franklin Hall. Reeves gives us valuable documentation as a backdrop to his story, and shows how little things have changed in spite of the passage of time. The book documents the many faces of modern mysticism, bravely dealing extensively with topics such as: whether or not Christians can be demon possessed; spiritual warfare; "holy laughter"; slaying and drunkenness in the Spirit; visions; healings; prophecies, and many other such practices undertaken and taught, not as Christ and His apostles did, but as modern mysticism would dictate.

This book is not for everyone. The novice brother or sister in our Lord will no doubt he horrified and wonder what they are getting into. At very least they might question the sanity of the rest of us. And well they should. If only we would all question a little more, That is one of Reeves’ underlining themes as the narrative moves along. He maintains throughout that we have a sure foundation in Christ and His Word. David Wilkerson is quoted as saying, "Anything that cannot be found in Scripture is to be rejected outright--totally rejected." Reeves concludes, "David Wilkerson had said what I'd been feeling for a very long time."

The Other Side of the River is written is such a way that it offers hope in the form of a ready defense to the confusing maze of modern mysticism. It points the reader to our sure foundation in Christ and his Word, and gives the reader a working model for clear biblical discernment by making the argument of the principle of precedent convincingly. Namely: If (fill in the blank) was not commonly taught and practiced by Christ and His Apostles, we are wise to avoid it today.

This book packs a wealth of information in its 228 pages, is thoroughly filled with references to the numerous quotes, and, surprise! has a very helpful index. I highly recommend this volume as a valuable reference resource for anyone wanting to get balanced documentation on this troubling movement." 


(Review appears here; can be purchased here)

My Experience in the Bethel-Prophetic Movement (Testimonial)

" For 2 ½ years I was involved in a healing room ministry under the International Association of Healing Rooms by Cal Pierce and before him, John G. Lake.  There are 1,000+ healing rooms throughout the world at my last notice.  Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding CA is on their board of directors.
I became involved with them knowing there was a power of God stronger than what I was seeing in my church and because I truly wanted to help other people. Much of what they did was new to me, but I wrote it off thinking they knew more than I did about the word of God and one day it would make better sense to me as I learned. For the last year I was known as their “intercessor” and the last six months their Associate Director.

After I took the leadership position I started to really think about some of their methods and teachings such as word of faith, which means our words having the power to create, that we could actually speak things into existence, teaching about generational curses, Christian curses, word curses, soul ties, authority, and a whole mess of other weird stuff.

Before I was involved with them I had started taking mail correspondence courses through Ken Hagin’s Rhema.  I had also been an online intercessor for Cindy Jacobs’ 40 days of prayer and fasting that took place several years ago.  I remember my parent’s involvement in the charismatic long ago even though it was slight and short lived, and how they often had Praise the Lord playing on the TV.  Whenever I went to their house I got a little bit of the lies and so little by little, and even though I was not walking with the Lord, it sunk in.

When I came back to the Lord after 30 years or so, I had that PTL and Jesus Movement stuff in my head, thinking it was all good and true. (I was originally saved when I was 9 years old. We attended a little Baptist Church, which my grand parents also did.)  When the Jesus Movement hit, we got it too and the entire church changed. Some time later the church fell apart and the youth became so angry that we just turned from God.)

Some time ago when I was still very new to the healing rooms I was given a word that I was a seer.  I had asked the Lord for this gift, because I was told you could do that.  No one knew about this and so when I received that prophecy I was astounded.  He said, “The Lord calls you a seer”.  Quite a bit of that prophecy was about writing down the dreams and visions and allowing others to help me understand them and how this is such a vital gift to the Body of Christ, and that I could be kicked out of churches and misunderstood, blah, blah. But, I believed this word and held it close to my heart as I felt I finally found my purpose in life!  (The seer/prophetic gift has been the hardest for me to come to terms with after having come out of all the falseness!)

After that word I learned about John Paul Jackson and was happy to pay him tons of money to teach me to interpret dreams and visions and learn about all the whacky supernatural stuff we were created to do.  Truly, I had a very hard time with his teachings, but again, I wanted to learn. I thought I was going to him to learn how to biblically interpret, but instead it was his own method, which is based on lies.  He also endorses, encourages and experiences many out of body and throne room trips to the “third” heaven.

I was involved in reading the Elijah List constantly and yes, I went to see Kim Clement a couple of times. The first time he prophesied about my brother and had the whole building praying for him. I was an extremely powerful night and convinced me Kim was a true prophet, how else could he know all that he did about someone he has never met?

Shortly after this time I was invited to join the prophetic team at the Vineyard church I started attending with my husband about a year before. I was involved in learning the prophetic and going on retreats, giving word after word after word.  On these trips you were eating, sleeping or giving words – nothing else!  For instance say 60 people would be attending and only 3 or 4 of us were on the team, from the math you can see the demand because every one was supposed to get a word!

So, last October during intercession with the healing room team I just seemed to have run into this very ugly thing, like I hit a wall.  I could no longer pray with them or for them and I no longer wanted to.  Earlier in the summer I began researching things on the internet. I had spoken out against Todd Bentley; I could see his folly but not my own!  I wanted to know what had been going on and where it had all come from.  Not just Bentley’s but the healing rooms and the whole prophetic – charismatic thing.  And, I wanted to know what God had to say about it all...."
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Saved from Bethel Church | Jesus Culture Deception (Testimonial)

GOD SAVED ME AND BROUGHT ME OUT OF THE SIGNS AND WONDERS MOVEMENT


  " God saved me, and brought me out of the Signs and Wonders Movement, after being involved in it for nearly twenty-two years; I am now twenty-three years of age and have been saved for about a year and a half. This is my testimony, and in writing this I pray that God would use this to save others out of the movement that I was so heavily involved in, and that above all else, Christ will be magnified and made much of!

    I was born and raised in the “Prophetic Movement” (which is now in the process of morphing into the “New Apostolic Reformation”), and I grew up completely oblivious to what Biblical Christianity is meant to look like. Some of the leaders who had an influence on how I perceived what the church is to look like, have included John and Carol Arnott of the “Toronto Blessing”, Rodney Howard Browne of the “Brownsville Revival”, and others such as Kim Clement, Benny Hinn, Chris Harvey, Todd Bentley, Bob Jones, Randy Clark, Patricia King, Georgian Banov, Bobby Conners, Mike Bickle, Lou Engle, and Bill Johnson.

   In the fall of 2002 I ended up moving to Redding, California to get “plugged-in” to Bethel Church, which Bill Johnson (a self-proclaimed “apostle”) oversees. It was here where I ended up jumping into and entertaining the supernatural phenomenon, signs and wonders, and mystical experiences (which were falsely attributed to God) in a much greater way then I did when I was a kid growing up. I soon got involved in the youth group, which was heavily influenced by Lou Engle who heads up “The Call” and Mike Bickle who heads up “IHOP” (International House Of Prayer). I later enrolled in Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry in 2006, and went through the whole three-year program. I was heavily engaged and supportive of many of the things, which were being taught and practiced. When Todd Bentley and his, “Lakeland Revival” began to take place, I jumped on board with that as well, and became a full supporter and advocate for it. I was gladfully defending it against all the, “Religious Pharisees” (or so I called them at the time). It was also at this time that I noticed the, “Toking the Ghost” movement and became a “Toker” myself, and a full supporter of John Crowder and Ben Dunn.

   However, when Todd Bentley’s affair was made public (August ’08), I ended up becoming grieved by what happened and by the poor response that was to follow. Shortly after the crash of the “Lakeland Revival” I received some severe rebukes for being involved with John Crowder’s and Ben Dunn’s “Toking Mania”, and so I withdrew myself from this aspect of the chaos. It was also at this time, while I was in my third year internship with Bethel, that I was starting to notice that things didn’t line up and I began to question the legitimacy of the Prophetic Movement.

   First off, before I share my testimony of how God saved me and brought me out of this movement, I want to explain why I believe that Bethel is a cult, and not just on the charismatic fringe. Labeling someone or a group a “cult” is not a thing to take lightly and so I hope to explain why I believe this to be true with the Word of God. The following statements are examples of the beliefs and practices of Bethel, their school of supernatural ministry, and other ministries who they consider to be their friends and partners in revival. I will not be able to share everything that I was involved with, but in sharing some things I hope to bring some awareness to the dangers that this movement possesses, and bring encouragement to those of you who are praying for friends and loved ones who are entangled in this deception...."

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An Insider's Warning of the Signs and Wonders Movement - (Video)

My Testimony of Deliverance from Signs and Wonders Movement - 4 Pt Series

 

A Dangerous Journey – My Wife’s Deliverance from Extreme Pentecostalism (Part 1)

SOURCE: http://inerrantword.wordpress.com/

Posted on March 26, 2011 by inerrantword| 2 Comments 

My wife was, until last year, dangerously involved in Bethel and their music. Thanks be to the grace of God, she was able to move away from it and realise what happened to her.
 She has decided to write her testimony of this time in the hope that others may realise how dangerous this can be and as a reminder to please not turn of your discernment switches.
 Because it is rather long, we have split it into 4 parts. Part 1 is below and the others follow shortly after in separate posts. These have also been published on her blog which is found here.
Here is the testimony of my wife:
At the beginning of 2010 I decided I wanted to get involved in a more passionate “Christianity”. I have always thought of myself as a worshipper & I craved being around others who lived & breathed worshipping the Lord. 
Our church had been *pushing* & wanting revival to break out. So naturally I went home one day and decided to research about what “revival” actually was and how we could get it!  Through my discoveries I found out about The Welsh Revival, Charles Finney and others.
I wanted *revival* to break out in our church. The more I read about the “amazing” things that happened in Wales, the more I wanted that to happen to us.
A member of our church had been involved in the Brownsville Revival.  She told me many stories about the revival that happened there & the anointing that she received from there.  Whenever she went up for prayer her body would shake & eventually she would, fall to the floor.
I was curious and started looking into the information surrounding the Brownsville revival. Like the Toronto blessing, the Brownsville revival had similar manifestations of the holy spirit, and following that was the Lakeland revival.
At that time I was initially very cautious. It didn’t seem to line up with the God of the Bible I knew and I couldn’t find anything in the scriptures to back up what was happening in these places. BUT I so desperately wanted to feel God and being among passionate Christians, I thought that this was where those sorts of people were.  Some of the manifestations, including the prophetic seemed exciting and it drew me in.
Despite my initial caution & a nagging feeling of unease, I started listening to the answers that these extreme prophetic people would give to the sceptics.
Here are some of the things they said/say:
 - God was revealing new things to the church today.
 - God was moving in a way that was different & more relevant to the world now.
 - How could these things not be of God, when people were singing his praises all within the safety of a church?
 - No one can judge or dismiss the manifestations of the holy spirit, if you did then this then you were quenching the Spirit.
 - David danced in the streets and people then thought he was crazy, but he was a man after the Lord’s heart.  This meant that even though manifestations were similar to David’s dancing (disorderly behaviour) they were of God.
 - The church at Pentecost had exactly the same spirit manifestations (like drunken behaviour…because in the Bible the mockers thought they were acting drunk therefore the early church must have had drunken spirit manifestations.
 - Bill Johnson is such a kind, quietly spoken & gentle man therefore he must be a man of God.
 - People from all over are coming in droves to these churches, so its has to be good.
 - In the last days, God’s spirit will pour out on his people and this is that.
 - No-one can judge the holy spirit. If something is done in the name of the holy spirit then it must be the holy spirit.
 - Those who think that these manifestations are not of God are Pharisees (& are not open to things happening in the spirit outside of the Bible).
 - People who were outside of these movements were missing out on a special anointing from the Lord.
I became convinced by these sorts of answers. I was drawn to it, I wanted to be around enthusiastic worshippers of God and I did not want to act like a so called Pharisee. It also looked exciting.
So began my journey into the world of extreme Pentecostalism, the teachings of Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, & the music of Jesus Culture.
(Little did I know how dangerous this path was going to be)…

Hidden Dangers – My Wife’s Deliverance from Extreme Pentecostalism (Part 2)

Posted on March 26, 2011 by inerrantword| Leave a comment

This is the 2^nd of 4 parts about how my wife was delivered from the extreme Pentecostal teachings out there. The first part can be read here. These have also been published on her blog which is found here. Part 2 follows:
 I spent months immersing myself into the Bethel Church teachings and music of Jesus Culture.
 I started engaging in what is called ‘soaking’. Soaking is a practice of opening your mind and spirit to the “lord” whilst listening to loungey “Christian” music.  I gave up reading my Bible…because I wanted new revelations from God.  I had heard mentioned in so many sermons (including writings by Rick Joyner) that the Bible was being superseded by new revelations.  The people who only read the Bible were called “wordies” and these people (the “wordies”) were setting themselves up against the new spiritual move of “god”.  The new spiritual movement was more important than the information in the Bible.  So I gave my regular bible reading and embraced soaking.
I wanted to encounter God.  I wanted something dramatic to happen, something exciting. During my soaking I would sit quietly opening my mind and heart up to the ‘presence’. I would focus on this little warm fuzzy I had in me and eventually this feeling started to get bigger and bigger. I would have this almost ecstatic feeling on call anytime I wanted it. Eventually I would just begin to start a soaking “prayer” and this feeling would come over me immediately. It made me feel “in love” with jesus. He was no longer in a position of authority or a lord on a throne, but someone I was in love with.  Someone who made me feel really good and superior.  This feeling made me feel good and I wanted more of it.
My whole world started to change…in fact I was changing more than I really knew…and not for the better.
The more I engrossed myself into Bethel church’s teachings the more passionate I became about “us” being ‘right’ and those that only followed the Bible being wrong. This set me up against my husband. My husband is a fervent student of the Word of God – quiet and humble – and so he did not embrace what I was now into.    I resented this and felt he was not good enough anymore. I wanted him to be more passionate and open to the spirit like I was. My main goal in life now was to save our money to get to a Bethel Conference so I could receive these special anointings. I was increasingly unhappy with my life the way it was. It was too boring, it didn’t excite me or make me outwardly more passionate for God. I wanted this anointing. I wanted to see the gold glitter and jewels falling from heaven. I wanted to move in the prophetic.
As you may have noticed…it had now become all about ME.
I wanted the new anointings. I wanted to be blessed by God. I wanted to give up my entire life and get into one of these churches…I even wanted to get my husband to move our entire family to Redding (where Bethel is based) so that I could be apart of this new move of God.  All I wanted was to have these good feelings I had inside all the time. The ones that made me feel “in love” and passionate about jesus. I loved how those feelings made me feel, and I wanted more of it.  No one was going to stand in my way. I knew what was right for me! I had become a loud, aggressive woman, extremely impatient and completely caught up in my own selfish ambitions. 
I could not see that this was happening.  I no longer had any time for my family, I needed this and that what was all that was important.  I couldn’t understand that my husband wasn’t able to see the great *change* in me. I needed to be soaking and listening to my Jesus Culture music.  As time went on, I started to get exceedingly rude towards my husband. I grew to be resentful towards him and completely disrespected his walk with the Lord.  I wanted him to become “great” for God by receiving the new anointing.  I was in a superior place with the Lord and I thought his bible studies were a waste of time. 
One day however I did pick up my Bible and read it.  It was during that time that I noticed something very different from what I was experiencing.  I became aware of this quiet still voice. This had become very foreign to me. It was no at all like the excited, loud experiences I was having in my soaking time. It concerned me as I could not work out in my head why this gentle, quiet voice was so different from my other experiences.
Then something happened that completely opened my eyes.
At a church gathering I started chatting to the same member that I referred to in part one on my story.  We started talking about all the amazing anointings and manifestations that were happening overseas, like the gold dust, glitter and jewels and how we wanted these things to start happening in our church.  We longed to go and attend these conferences and receive “more”. 
Then it happened.  She started telling me about this amazing “anointed” man of god, who received the glory of god.  His name was Joshua Mills.  At his conferences were all the same manifestations…she started telling me that the glory of god was so strong on this man that he had oil that drips from his body as a show of his anointing. She was amazed by this. But for I suddenly started to realise that something wasn’t right. In fact there was something very wrong with this.
I felt very uncomfortable with this. I had been raised in the Catholic church, before I became a born again believer. When I became I believer God opened my eyes very clearly to the satanic influence in that church.   The Catholic church is full of visitations from “mary”, oil dripping from their own “anointed” people, the stigmatas etc.   So when my friend started telling me about Joshua Mills and his oil dripping from this body as a sign of the glory of god, alarm bells starting ringing inside my heart!
As soon as I got home I started looking up Joshua Mills to find out more about this.  Joshua Mills is part of the Elijah List, a list of special “prophets”.  On this list included Bill Johnson, Kim Clements, Rob De Luca, Randy Clark, Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner, Todd Bentley, Patricia King, Rodney Howard-Brown, Carol and John Arnott and so on.  Joshua Mills was a man who ran conferences and teaching classes (which you pay huge amounts of money to attend).  He ran these classes so the students could receive from him and take home his special anointing.  And sure enough, just as my church friend had said, Joshua Mills was producing oil from his skin, that was sign of the glory of god upon him.  And if it wasn’t bad enough – he was collecting his drips of oil on rags and selling it…so that people could buy and get his special anointing from the rag.
All of a sudden, like a lightning bolt, I realised what I had got myself involved.

Uncovering the Dark Deception – My Wife’s Deliverance from Extreme Pentecostalism (Part 3)

Posted on March 26, 2011 by inerrantword| 2 Comments

This is the 3^rd of 4 parts about how my wife was delivered from the extreme Pentecostal movement. She was particularly involved in the teachings of Bill Johnson and Bethel and the music of Jesus Culture among others. Part 1 can be read here and part 2 can be read here. These have also been published on her blog which is found here. Part 3 follows:
After reading about Joshua Mills on the internet I started to realise exactly what I have allowed into my spirit, my heart and my life. It hit me like nothing I have ever experienced before! I had allowed a deceiving spirit into my life. A false spirit, a false jesus.
All of a sudden everything that had been covered up was uncovered.  The truth of what was my reality, my darkness was exposed. The moment of this is like nothing I can explain or give a full account of. I became completely aware of this sick, filthy darkness that had been in my life. The heaviness of the reality on my spirit was awful.  To give you an idea of what this felt like I can only explain it like this: There have been times in my life when I felt a deep darkness. Times like when I had a life before Christ. Another time was when I was a born again believer but started living in the world for myself. I got involved in immorality and it was awful and caused a deep wound in my spirit then. When I realised I had allowed a deceiving spirit into my life, it was far, far greater than anything I have ever felt when I was not a believer and when I was engaging in full blown sin as a believer. The intensity and depravity of what I had done and allowed in was so great I simply just cannot explain in words. Perhaps for me I can only liken this to what is the actual reality of the dark evil spiritual realm. What it may feel like to be in alliance with satan. One thing is sure, when the Light of God and His Truth uncovers deception nothing can hide from His glory.
I came before my husband and confessed what I had allowed into mine and our lives. I explained to him exactly how I had been deceived and the burden and heaviness on my spirit that had come from allowing this false spirit in my life. I had spent so many months desperately trying to get him into this “world”. He told me that he had been praying to God intensely for Him to reveal to either one of which of us was wrong. God answers prayer and He came through for us!
When I realised what had crept into my life, all I wanted to do was get rid of this thing as fast as possible. I was absolutely desperate to get rid of this darkness, this filth! (One can only imagine what it will feel like in hell for people who will live an eternity with this constant desperation and never be able to get rid of it and get peace).
Praise the Almighty One. Earlier that year I had visited a blog about a woman who had gone through a similar experience (visit M’Kayla’s Korner), but I thought I knew better and had not heeded her warning. Thankfully I had bookmarked her blog page and that night Nick and I sat down searching through it to help us work out how to get rid of this darkness and filth that was in my spirit. God had given this woman the insight to put an extremely helpful link to getting rid of these false spirits if you had allowed them into your life (read this here).  We printed off the pages and followed each step.  I spent a few hours in our bedroom on my own paging through the advice and looking up bible verses. 
That night I spent those hours confessing my sin and disobedience to my Lord. I confessed my lack of discernment and my own sinful willingness to expose myself to this deception and false spirit.  I was able to see that after I confessed this from my heart and made a decision to never expose myself or my family to these false spirits again I was set free! The Lord Jesus took the darkness away from my life and in place the sweetness of His Spirit returned.

 

What is a False Jesus? – My Wife’s Deliverance from Extreme Pentecostalism (Part 4)

Posted on March 26, 2011 by inerrantword| 10 Comments

This is the 4^th and final part of my wife’s testimony of how she managed to get out of the influence of the extreme Pentecostal movement. Make sure you also read part one, part two, and part three. These have also been published on her blog which is found here. The final part is as follows:
 This false spirit, a false “jesus”, one that pleases the flesh, had been given permission by me into my life. If I knew the character of the Lord well or knew my Bible basics I would have recognized the false spirit simply by looking at what type of behaviour I was displaying when I was experiencing this “spirit”.  I would have know that the fruit of the real and true Holy Spirit  is peace, love, real joy, gentleness, self-control, humility, patience, kindness, faithfulness and goodness. If I had done this little test I would have clearly seen that I lacked gentleness, self-control, patience, peace and real love. This false spirit is very easily recognised when you do this little test. What I had allowed in my life brought out impatience, anger, rudeness, complete lack of Self-Control, chaos, flesh seeking madness, self ambition and selfish desires.
The next way to determine a false spirit is to do a quick comparison with what the God of the Bible is like in character versus the spirit you have opened yourself up to. Does it match up with what the Word of God says?
 - Who God is (a God of order and peace)
 - The order of a Church service (no chaos, no un-interpreted tongues, no more than 2 or 3 people talking in tongues and in turn (not over each other)
  – That these manifestations are similar if not the same to the strange fire offered by Aaron’s sons in Exodus
 - Leadership in the church (should be characterised by godly character: men of peace, self-control, peace, gentleness, quietness and of humility).
 - The focus of godly teaching (is leading one towards complete reliance on Jesus Christ and not on yourself or a person or a ministry)
 - People under the authority of the Lord (will display a peace, calmness, quietness and gentleness about them).
 - Dying to self and dying to flesh. The entire false spirit movement is characterised by satisfying your own flesh and carnal nature. Rather than bowing down before the Lord, it is about getting as much out as you can for yourself, getting the “anointing” for yourself, getting the “manifestations” for yourself, seeing the signs and wonders for yourself. This is completely the opposite to the life of Jesus Christ, one of complete self sacrifice and in turn the life Christians are to live. We are to beat our body/flesh to make it our slaves (1 Corinthians 9:27).  
 - The real gospel of the Lord is unpopular. I have realised that wherever there are huge crowds and no real genuine repentance (followed by no major changes in the person’s life) then one needs to proceed with extreme caution! The way of the Lord is a narrow way, not a popular one.
 - We need to be very careful of false teachers and false prophets in the end times. There are no arguments that we are in the end times, so why would we switch off our discernment buttons because we are too scared to be wrongly called Pharisees.
Will we be accountable to God for being easily deceived?
We have access to the Truth, the Word of God. The Word of God specifically warns us in detail about what deceptions there will be in the end times and yet we are still easily deceived.  I was warned by earnest believers, but still chose to be lead astray.  And in turn we have earnestly warned others but they choose to defile themselves with these false spirits too.
Why are we caught off guard by so called “men of god” that are bringing these false spirits into the church?
Most likely they are completely deceived themselves and are themselves, in turn, deceivers. The whole purpose of deception is that is going to come in and trick us! Why does it surprise us that this is happening in the church? Satan has had over 7,000 years to work out the best ways to deceive and cheat people, of course he is going to influence people in the church today. It is naive to think he wouldn’t. There will be no excuse for us on our day of judgement when we face our Lord and King and we realise we have been tricked into allowing false spirits into our hearts. We should know better and be prepared for this.
How do we know and recognise satan?
Satan will deceive us by enticing our flesh! It is not surprising them to find that these so called movement of the “holy spirit” are about ‘making us feel good’, ‘hyping up our emotions’ and ‘satisfying our carnal desires’ into chaos, uncontrolled disgusting behaviour and acting like mad people.
Is it any surprise why we are so desperate for the next “fix”?
This behaviour is not found anywhere in the Word of our God. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and then they went out with their purpose, to spread the gospel NOT to  run from conference to conference, meeting to meeting to get *more* of the “anointing”.
When I look back over my darkest days I can now very clearly recall some of the behaviours of these people and even friends who are in these “movements”. Their behaviour (including my own) was some of the most selfish, prideful displays I have ever seen. We were desperate to have our next “fix”, the next manifestation, the next drunken moment in the so called holy spirit, and the next “loved up” feeling. The longer I was involved the greater my drive and motivation was to fulfil my flesh and carnal desire. This selfish, flesh seeking drive is intensely stronger than the motivation to go out into the world and spread the gospel and to save lost sinners in the name of Jesus.  I only cared about myself and truthfully I had no real genuine care or love for other believers during that time. It was all about me.
I also have noticed and experienced the anger of these people when they are questioned about the truth behind these movements and any mention of false spirits. It is like they turn into monsters defending their prey. There is an awful ugliness that emerges and it is quite frightening (that is why I used the word monster). I displayed this ugly behaviour myself so I speak from first hand experience…these people have sold themselves out to a false spirit, a false jesus. The devil has a hold on their heart and their desires. This false spirit makes them feel good and they will hold onto it like nothing else! Their flesh fights to hold onto it and fights against the truth being revealed.
If you are concerned about this false spirit that is creeping into the church please go to my sister in Christ’s Mkayla Kelly’s blog.

FULL ARTICLE

Deliverance from the Counterfeit Revival (Testimonial)

"...Since coming into the truth concerning Toronto and my subsequent ministry, I have had such a desire to walk in truth and holiness before the Lord, and to set no unclean thing before me. Nothing less than this will do. Since then there has always a “check” in my when something is not of God, even though there are occasions when I cannot find the reasons why in my Bible.

The Lord has also made it very clear to me that, having come into truth and having been set free (Gal. 5:1) that I am no longer to go to churches or associate myself with ministries where Toronto and indeed other false teachings, are promoted and accepted. This has meant that I have had to leave my previous church where I had worshipped for seven and a half years.

Toronto was in evidence there, as well as other false teachings such as Replacement and Dominion theology to name but two.

I thank God that, in the midst of this, He promised me that He had “prepared a place for me, a place where I would continue to be nurtured and fed and where the things that were now dear to my heart were practiced and taught.” In June 1996, he led me to this place, a little independent chapel in nw London where the teaching is sound, the ministry balanced and without excesses and where I received a warm welcome and became part of a close-knit church family. I AM used of the Lord there, but not in any of the supposed “anointings” I received when I was caught up in Toronto. I got nothing from these “anointings”, despite all their promises of equipping for ministry. Instead, I still have the gifts I have always had since being baptised in the Holy Spirit.
~ Sally Richardson June 2006

Epilog

11 years on, and I am still at the same independent fellowship that the Lord led me to in 1996. It is a precious little fellowship where the things of God are faithfully taught and where the truth of Scripture is paramount. I am reminded that it was at Shavuot (Pentecost) 11 years ago that I first attended a service at this little church, and it was Shavuot last weekend. I owe so very much to the Lord, and am grateful too for those dear folk who prayed for me and helped me to come out of deception. Sadly, although our church has been extremely careful to uphold Biblical practice and teaching, much of the church has not, and in the last 11 years, I have seen error and deception proliferate and multiply.

The Lord has spoken to me much out of Ezekiel 13. Read it for yourself and you will see how relevant and pertinent it is to the situation in much of the Church in these days. When I look at verse 5, which reads YOU HAVE NOT GONE INTO THE GAPS OR BREECHES, NOR BUILT UP THE WALL (FOR THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL – parantheses mine) THAT IT MIGHT STAND IN THE BATTLE OF THE DAY OF THE LORD, it reminds me of David Noakes’ warning on that tape I listened to all those years ago where he said that the walls of Scripture were being broken down.*

Much of the church is in ruins because of false teaching, false prophecies and deceptive practices, and yet they seem unaware of their wretched state. People tell me that Toronto is over, but it has surely left its legacy. So too, will the latest fads and teachings that many are so taken with, the latest being Purpose Driven.

I can only pray for those caught up in false teaching and deception and especially pray that He might open their eyes and bring them out as He brought me out. Will you join me?

Read FULL ARTICLE

Counterfeit Revival : An Insider's Warning of the Signs and Wonders Movement - (Video)

Testimonial: Son Lost to Bethel Church (Jesus Culture)

1. Jeanette Caruso on January 18, 2011 at 8:53 am said:

   Thank you so much for this post, and for this whole blog. I found because we’ve been doing a lot of research on Bethel and this whole New Apostolic Reformation. My 18-year-old son went to a summer conference at Bethel last summer and since has been reading all their books and has even applied to their Supernatural School of Ministry. Unfortunately, we didn’t check it out thoroughly enough before he went. Once we started hearing him talk about things that didn’t line up with Scripture, we started an all out investigation.

   We’re convinced this is not from God, but there’s always that little bit of doubt which says maybe we’re wrong and just putting God in a box. We’ve had such a division in our household since my son brought all this in — he and my husband are hardly speaking. My husband is deeply hurt that my son no longer holds the Word of God in proper perspective and thinks it’s only one version of God’s Word to us — more will be revealed. My husband feels that he has failed as a father. My son also now believes that man is basically good — fearfully and wonderfully made — rather than basically sinful. We’ve been pushing on him pretty hard with all the stuff we learned yet he still seems to really want to pursue becoming a prophet and leading a generation. One of the big reasons he can’t dismiss what he’s learned about this “new move of God”, is because of all the “good” they are doing in other countries, i.e, Heidi Baker in Africa, etc., and because the one family that’s been exposing him to all this is really on fire for the Lord right now. So he sees them as having “fruit” in their lives and us as being “religious”.

   Do you have any wisdom for us at this point just relationally? Like what you’ve seen work best in your life when trying to reach someone in deception? I know praying for him is the most important. I’m worried we’re in danger of losing the relationship altogether if we keep pushing, however, we’re afraid he’s in danger of losing his soul which is why we’ve been so passionate about coming up against this whole thing. At this point, we’re wondering if he was really saved in the first place because of his lack of discernment here. We would think the Holy Spirit within him would be bearing witness that something is gravely wrong here, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.

   Do you believe there are Christians in this movement that will be saved? I guess what I’m asking is if you think the doctrinal errors are forgiveable if they believe and love the Lord?

   Thanks for your time.
2. mkayla on January 18, 2011 at 2:25 pm said:

   Jeanette, I am so sorry to hear about your son. I know it must be heartbreaking for you both because reading this has shaken me up quite a bit. I see the destruction Bethel is causing families; young people like your son who have been deceived into believing the lie. There are many other organizations doing the same – IHOP, theCall, Morningstar, Generals International, Aquire the Fire, etc. I wonder what lies in store for those who have succeeded in turning children from their parents when it was God who set up families. I am not alone in wondering why these places don’t get swallowed up into the earth.

   As far as I can tell we are forgiven of our sins, that God is faithful to forgive us. I had quite a scare in thinking I had committed the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I still have moments when that scares me, but I don’t think it is correct. And if upon my death I find out differently, who can argue with God? I do know that I loved the Lord and believed I was following His direction. I believe that to be true of the people I was involved with. I know that there were things I spoke that were not of Him. But I also believe there were times that He spoke to me and that is why I am encouraged that charismania is forgivable. Why would God call us out of something and then send us to hell later on? I don’t find that in scripture. If we truly love the Lord we will do what He has said. I don’t know where the dividing line comes in. I don’t know what happens to people who are false teachers or prophets and die in that sin. It is enough for me to know that God is fair and just in those decisions. But I find it important to warn as much as I can of the apostacy filling up our churches.

   I can’t counsel you in how to deal with your son. I am not qualified. Some days I don’t feel qualified to say anything to anyone. I do know God is faithful, ever so more than we could ever know. I have no success stories to tell you about. I do know of one woman who I spoke a “prophetic” word to during a woman’s conference. She later contacted me for “another word” and I began instead to tell her what I had learned. She saw the truth and came out of it! However, the Lord was teaching her before my conversation came about. He had to have been!

   I have stories here written in comments and testimonies of others who have come out. I don’t believe it happens because of nagging. I believe it happens because it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth. I think all we can do is speak the truth and leave it to the Lord to open the eyes of those who will listen to it. That would be my experience. That is what we see Jesus doing and that is what He taught His disciples. And I would say it could be that the Lord is speaking to your son – why would He not? I would also be aware that this could be creating in him a huge conflict and if so his desire would be to get away and be with those who he is currently trusting. I say this because I was in a huge conflict and have noticed that when people don’t want to hear the truth, they just want to end the conversation and get away as quickly as possible.

   I gave lots of prophetic words to people, I walked in the belief that it was my gift and I was growing and doing more in that as time went on. Then one day I began to see differently. There was always a nagging “something is wrong here” kind of feeling. I ignored it because I believed others were more educated in the word and in spiritual matters than I was and went on with it. One day I sat down in my living room intent on seeking the Lord’s direction to lead other intercessors and the Lord gave me a scripture that had nothing to do with my question. I laughed it off and went on praying the same way. He gave me another scripture much like the first one. So there I was in the middle of asking the Lord for help in continuing to deceive others and He spoke truth back to me. It was the beginning of a time of research and eventually I saw the truth. It was horrifying and the journey out was not fun either and there were times I thought I would die.

   Your son is in the midst of some very dangerous people. He is in a place where he will be imparted with all kinds of demonic teaching and maybe even the manifestations. He has been taken in by the “wow” factor, caught up in the emotions of “who God has called him to be, living out his destiny”. We think that it is our humility speaking when we state “God would use a sinner like me” and from that goes the “fearfully and wonderfully made” which the false prophetic just loves! In truth it is our pride speaking because we get taken in to all kinds of devious teachings and practices – God said this and showed me that in this vision and that dream, blah, blah. And none of it ever amounted to a thing!

   I have been involved in a healing ministry, the same as Bill Johnson. They give great stories yet, my experience during those years lacks of wonderous healings or deliverances. We had demon possessed that could not get free. Everything is given a positive spin. Those who are not healed report feeling better, or feeling something. But this is not healing! Satan can imitate to an extent as we saw in the conversations that took place between Pharoh and Moses.

   I too loved Heidi Baker and went to hear her speak. She was all over the floor, could hardly stand as is normal for her. There were many strange manifestations going on that night. I always wondered why in some places and not in others. Now I believe it is the power given over to satan. And of course, Heidi has all kinds of stories she tells of people being healed. I am in the USA, she is in Africa. How do I know it is the truth. And the reason why I ask is because I have not seen. And if you ever listen to conference speakers it is always about the radical miraculous in other countries. Why not right then and there? They are quite good at their manipulation! Maybe he would like to talk to another false prophet who has found the truth?

   Hebrews 1 tells us God speaks to us through His word. There is not going to be any new revelation as His plan has already been laid out throughout scripture ending with the Revelation of Jesus Christ. I am sure you are aware of these truths along with many others. My only advice to you would be what you have already said and that is to pray. Love your son and pray for him to have eyes to see the lies. He could very well end up with a story a lot like mine. If there is one little place of doubt in his mind in what he is being taught via Bethel, it could be an opportunity to blow the whole experience wide open.

   Be encouraged that what we are seeing is no surprise to God. The Father knows who are His.

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