The Year of the Woman

At a recent "Glory, Signs and Wonders conference" Prophet(1) James Goll declared that this is "The Year of the Woman." This “word” was featured in a Charisma Magazine column on June 4 and was presented as a "timely and relevant" message for the body of Christ from a "recognized prophetic voice." In actuality, Goll has been proclaiming this "prophetic word" for several months, and as to its timeliness, the year is about half over. The ever-popular "Elijah List" published such a proclamation on February 29. 2009:

It is the Year of the Woman

Women in ministry and leadership will be released globally across the Body of Christ. The two righteous seeds of Michal Ann Goll and Jill Austin have been sown into the ground and there will be a harvest of women in both spiritual and secular leadership arising to be champions of the poor, in justice, prayer and creativity flowing freely as the prophetic anointing increases in Jesus' name.

Lest there be any confusion - some would say that these are just word-faith style proclamations and not presented as propehcies - Goll, in his preface to his Elijah List article states:

The Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about some Declarations for 2009 and beyond, so I have composed a portion of what He has been saying to me.

OK, so we have established that Prophet Goll has declared a "thus saith the Lord." What do we do with it?

* * * *

I've not seen such a knee-jerk reaction to the "prophetic church" since the Lakeland fiasco last year. To be fair with some who have reacted with outrage or bitterness in the blogosphere, Goll did appear at Lakeland, an event which sadly included "prophetic" proclamations of his now-deceased wife's healing. But that should not make Brother Goll a target for anyone’s animosity. We should take pity.

I for one am emphatic about not speaking on behalf of the Lord when He has not spoken. But I also think that we too-quickly attribute "False Prophet" status to our brothers in the Lord when a better way of stating that would be to say that one has falsely prophesied. If we are to judge prophetic words in the congregation, does everyone who falls short of the mark instantly become destined for eternal damnation? Can we add preachers who mess up on a sermon to that group? If so, the safe thing would be to get saved and never open your mouth again.

Actually, I think the intent of the scriptural injunctions to 1) judge all prophecies and to 2) not despise prophecies is that we thoughtfully consider the so-called "prophetic word" and make a judgment as to if it is indeed from the Lord. Note that the goal here is to judge the word, not the word-giver. And so I say to James Goll, bless you brother, but I think you are wrong to attribute your exhortation to the Lord (2).



Background

Much of the visceral reaction to this word is attributed to the silly prophetic church practice of "year of" proclamations(3). Perhaps some think that if it is good enough for the Chinese (this is the "Year of the Ox") then it is good enough for the rest of the world. But seriously, I think much of this stems from the Word/Faith movement practice of declaration. You know, speaking things into being, a.k.a. a "creative word."

Here's one such reaction to Goll's word that reflects this: "While we have the choice to receive a word spoken over us, it holds no power unless it comes from our mouth. So you women out there that so desire, take that word and speak it into your life...A prophets words have no power until we speak them over our life!"

Here we see two things that I find interesting. First, the writer seems to think that this is not necessarily a word from God, but she call's it "a prophet's word." I don't want to try to find something in this that isn’t there, but this seems to reflect the general understanding in the Word/Faith movement that we can speak things into being with our declarations (apart from God’s instigation).

Second, the theologically bankrupt concept that a prophetic word "holds no power unless it comes from our mouth." I call this concept theologically bankrupt because it directly contradicts God's Word which states in Isaiah 55 "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

I will be the first to bring up the importance of what we speak, and what comes out of our mouth. But, PLEASE, let's move past the Word/Faith voodoo concept that God can do nothing unless we speak it. Quite frankly, we just are not that important in the overall scheme of things. God is sovereign, and by golly, He will accomplish that which He pleases.


Mammon

We can never know that real motives of those prophesying. And we need to be careful. The NAR obsession with "Wealth Building" and the “Great Transfer of Wealth" does not make it easy to resist the temptation to attribute base motives to everything they do.

One commenter on Goll's word states "Now I get it: After going to Goll's website I saw why he proclaimed this special year: he's having a women's conference with nice hefty registration fees and needs to promote it." In Goll's defense, I would have to mention that this is his 12th annual Women's Conference. And that if this indeed is a word from the Lord, that hosting a themed conference (and the fee's are not that “hefty”) would be a natural thing to do.

On the flip side, It must be noted that Goll's extended prophetic word regarding 2009 also states:

It is Time for Property Procurement

For some, it is time to purchase property, land and gold. It is a time when wise investments now will pay off later. Whole strip malls and department stores will go up for sale and the discerning and wise will purchase property (in certain situations) for a dime on the dollar.

So here we have God giving us investment advice. And its kind of a duh! type advice, except I'd like to know which strip malls. As long as the NAR remains fixated on wealth, the criticism from many about perceived greed will continue. That's not a "thus saith the Lord," but rather a "you can bank on it."


The Word

I wanted to place up-front some of the visceral reactions to Goll's word just to get them out of the way, and now I would like to suggest some more valid ways of judging prophecy in general, and specifically this word. Because in the overall scheme of things, the objections outlined so far really don't matter.

Most importantly, a prophetic word must stand in light of the scriptures. It must not contradict the scriptures. For many years the charismatic church has promoted "new revelation" as a license to stray from scripture. The lastest twist on that scheme is to redefine it as "hidden truth." Apostle Bill Johnson will tell you that the Canon is complete - no new relevation - but will condition that by stating that God is now "unveiling" what is already there.
Friends, God will not contradict his Word.

In evaluating Goll's word two scriptures come to mind- both from Galatians. In many respects the term "Foolish Galatians" could be applied to much of the "prophetic church" today. In Galatians 3 we learn that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." What would our reaction be to a so-called prophetic word that stated "(The Lord Says) This is the year of the Gentile"? In like manner, would we expect God, who has already stated "There is neither..male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" to now state emphatically "This is the Year of the Woman"?

I think this is a legitimate question.

Galatians 4 gives us even more fodder for thought.

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.”

This if course, is the scripture behind the knee-jerk reactions to the "year of" propehcy genre. We see many prophetic words which seems comparable to the Chinese "Year of the Ox" in all of the assorted Elijah List declarations that come down every year. As a biblical principle, I think one should be very cautious about declaring special years. God seems to be.

I have noted elsewhere that I have been unable to come up with any "year of" declarations attributed to God in the scriptures aside from the recurrent "year of jubilee." Of course, there is the "acceptable year of the Lord" mentioned in Isaiah 61 but this does not quite seem to be the same. But as a rule, we do not find God declaring this is the year of the woman, gentile, man, jew, gecko, or any such thing. This, of course, is consistent with God's position stated in Galatians 4.


Women Rising Up

This is not to say that women rising up is an unbiblical principle. At the risk of sounding sexist, I jokingly note that the Proverbs 31 woman rises up "while it is still dark." We read in Judges 5 of Deborah arising. And we read of Esther, who arose to leadership for "such a time as this." Which is probably as close to the concept of "The Year of the Women" as you can get without really going there.


Disney Prophecies

My friend Amanda (a "woman of the year") has observed that faux-prophecy very often involves Disney-esque Characters. I'm not sure why this is, but I have heard of numerous such "words" involving characters such as "Sleeping Beauty," "Snow White" and even the "Wizard of Oz." Goll, in his "prophetic word" says to the women "You're like Tigger, and you have been wound up, and you're going to jump all around." I'm not quite ready to add the Disney disqualification to my criteria, but I'd say to Amanda, as John Wayne said to his Chinese servant in Rooster Cogburn, "You might be right."


Itching Ears

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that God cannot speak a prophetic word that we would not get excited about. However, too much of what passes for prophetic today is the ear-tickling stuff referred to in 2 Timothy 4:3.

I found the reaction of Goll's audience at the "Glory, Signs and Wonder's conference quite telling. First, for a movement in which women have been held back, it sure was disproportionally attended by women. It looked like about 70%, or more, of the people in attendance were of the distaff side of the church. Second, note the standing applause by those women. It causes one to ask, if this was indeed a word from God, why were so many men sitting down?

I have often noted that the most profound words given by God through his prophets are seldom received with enthusiasm. Leonard Ravenhill, in his seminal work "Picture of a Prophet" makes this point when he states "The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men."

One other aspect of judging a prophecy is to try to determine if indeed it is something God has spoken, is it just a much needed exhortation, or is simply something that is stirring within the "prophet." This is really a question the prophet should be asking him/herself before giving the word. One must seriously consider if there are externals - life experiences as it were- that are clouding your own hearing of what God may be saying.

Goll himself stated: "this is the year of the Woman. Now one of the reasons I say that is because of a hard deal in my life." He goes on to speak of his wife's passing. Goll is wrong - he should not be saying "(thus saith the Lord) this is the year of the woman" because his wife died, he should be saying this ONLY (if) God spoke it. I would suggest that a proclamation from the Lord should not be tainted by one's own feelings, ideas and perceptions. The ideal should be God speaks it - we pass it on.

Goll seems to imply that after 2000 years of the church that finally it was the year of the woman because his wife and Jill Austin passed. I'm not trying to be unkind, but as much as Michal Ann Goll and Jill Austin were "righteous seeds sown into the ground" so also were the millions of Godly women who preceded them in death. Not a few, or dozens, but millions. Surely at least a few of them were of such spiritual status as to warrant a "Year of the Woman" proclamation.

Which brings me to my last point - be very wary of any so-called prophetic word that implies that somehow THIS generation is in some manner far more spiritually significant than any of the previous generations that followed hard after the Lord. It is demeaning to their faith - bought with the same precious blood as ours. This great end-times army concept of course ties in with the Latter Rain foundations of the NAR.


Does the Word Apply?

An Exhortation may not be a prophetic word from the Lord but still have application. What this means is that the truth of the "prophecy" does not necessarily validate the prophecy. Perhaps, as I am now old-school Pentecostal, I have been too long removed from the Charismatic Church. Or what today is called the Prophetic or Apostolic church (NAR). Are women so oppressed in that movement? Judging by the reaction at the conference, I'd say they must be. Goll states:

We (men in leadership) can no longer hold you down....This is now the appointed hour of the release of women in leadership.

And so this sounds almost a like a Word/Faith "binding and loosing" thing. I find it unfortunate that women have been so repressed in the NAR churches. Since the rest of Christendom has never even heard of James Goll, nor will they ever hear his word, I have to assume the target demographic was the prophetic/apostolic church. He certainly got a reaction from that audience.

So I would have to concur with Goll that it is a time for women in the NAR churches to rise up and take a place of leadership. Alternatively, they should seek out places where they are not repressed. That's just plain good advice. I would not go so far as to say "(Thus saith the Lord) This is the Year of the Woman." The proclamation of freedom from repression, and the fact that each of us (regardless of gender) should be striving to move in our gifts and talents is never limited to a year, to a generation, or even to a dispensation. It is, it has, and it will always be part of the timeless gospel message.

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands."




Footnotes:

1 Matt Sorger's "Power for Life" televison program June 1, 2009. Sorger introduced his guest as "Prophet James Goll."

2 Jim, you are still welcome to stop by for a tomato sandwich the next time you come through the Shenandoah Valley on I-81. I should have some good ones in late August.

3 A useful discernment exercise is to search the Elijah List prophetic word index for the phrase "year of," and evaluate those words, especially in restrospect.

Spiritual Dishonesty

I suppose we've all heard of "Intellectual Dishonesty." I would like to propose a new term: "Spiritual Dishonesty." Although the term sounds a lot like "deception" (it may be), I would like to coin this phrase to refer to a special type of prophetic utterance.

Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

2 Thes 5:19-22 The Message

We are instructed in 1 Corinthians 14 to let the prophets speak (one at a time) and to let the others judge. The NIV puts it this way: "Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said."

And to, without belaboring the point, the expectation in the New Testament church is that 1) Prophecies be given and 2) Prophecies be judged.

I've heard it said that "If you are a prophet you don't need to say so." Indeed, it should be evident. However some must have slept through that class in Prophecy 101.

As an exercise, go to the Elijah List prophecy search box and type the phrase "my prophet" (no quotes) and see who comes up 80% of the time. Funny, I could have prophesied the result. Is it style or does that person have some serious issues?


How to Craft a Non-judgeable Word

The Lord Says - Hear the words of My Prophet. If you do not heed his words, I will not bring it to pass.

Ok, I just made that up. Its not funny- it happens all the time. Popular embellishments include "if you do not hear the word of my servant than I will strike you dead" and the all-time favorite "plague of boils."

This, of course, puts the recipient of the word in a peculiar position. In effect the prophetic word contradicts the Word of God- which tells us to judge all words. For those of you who don't get this yet, it is as if God is saying "The Lord says, I know I said in my Word to judge all words, but I am telling you to not judge this word." Seriously.

And it happens all the time. Here's a gem delivered at the Albany Vineyard on January 17, 2009:

"This night the Lord says, If you receive My word, if you receive My prophetic word, if you receive the prophet and you say 'yes,'... then it shall happen."

To further the deception, there was a set-up teaching earlier in the "prophetic" word:

"And so the promise remained for some other person, some other generation. Maybe He has said to us before He would bring great restoration, and maybe because of the hardness of our heart it didn't happen, not because of the inaccuracy of the prophet or prophetic word."

In other words- "my prophets are not inaccurate, the word did not come to pass because of the hardness of your hearts." One would have to ask if an omniscient God wouldn't have known that before the word was given. Ohhh, that hurts my head. We'll save that one for another day.



A Practical Application

I bring all of this up as background to comment on a current situation. Yesterday I received an e-mail promotion about a "prophetic dream" given to the president of a Bible School and leader of a world-wide youth prayer movement. He stated "Over the weekend I had a long, vivid prophetic dream about the victorious Church during a very specific biblical event in the coming end-time trouble. I woke up with a deep sense of reality and urgency, and I feel it is important to share this dream..."

As an aside, there was a link that would allow you to purchase the MP3 recording of this word freely given by God to this person (Mt 10:8). But I digress. Fortunately, the print version was free so that one could judge the word without an admission price.

The gist of the word was eschatological and revolved around Revelation 12. Now, understand that the time frame of Revelation 12 has been in dispute even amongst mainstream protestants. Fortunately, that issue has now been resolved by this prophetic dream.

But to focus on my thesis of "spiritual dishonesty" I would like to examine a certain portion of this "prophetic" dream.

I felt strongly that IHOP and other streams in the Body of Christ have “empty” arguments about power and their insight into the end-time drama. Most arguments, in either direction, do not actually prepare people to go deeper in Jesus, His Word and Spirit. They are not helpful—rather, they are empty.

In this dream, the Lord was warning me to set my face toward Him and His Word and to refuse the temptation to invest time in seeking to look wise to others. What is coming is so much more intense than we imagine. Even those with the most insight do not understand the intensity of the events in Revelation 12:7-12.

The point of the dream: neither the IHOP leadership nor I are mature enough in our understanding to entertain debates and casual arguments that will arise much more in the Church in the future.

Here we have a Bible School president, the author of at least 10 books, a man who has in the past generated more controversial commentary on the "Song of Songs" then perhaps any man ever, a man who has turned his teaching attention to the exposition of the "Book of the Revelation", and the leader of a worldwide youth prayer movement telling us that his ideas are no longer up for debate.

Well since God said it, I guess that settles it.

If the truth be told, I'd have to agree, to a point, with the first paragraph quoted above. But Mike, if you are serious about the "point of the dream" then (to paraphrase President Reagan) "Mr. Bickle, tear down those teachings."

I'd love to see IHOP focus in on prayer and move away from questionable teachings, which now, at the Lord's behest, can no longer be discussed. But you can't have it both ways. Teaching, at least in the past, seems to be one of their core missions.

"There is a dire need to call forth and train a generation of forerunners who have clarity as to what the Holy Spirit is saying, but also the boldness to confront and expose the lies that many leaders in the Body of Christ, even those with a 5-fold ministry calling, are attributing to the Holy Spirit."

Those were Bickle's words just 2 months ago. How does one confront (pre-trib)"liars" without entertaining debate? Is the new mode of training to simply state your own personal revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21) and refuse to entertain debate - because God told you so? Or will they move from training (which involves discussion) and simply spend more time in dark rooms praying in preparation for the end-times. We'll see.





"Cult members are usually very fearful of disobeying or disagreeing in any way with their leadership. Healthy organizations however are not threatened by openly debating issues." Cultwatch Website

A Profane Bride?

Is the Church the bride of Christ? Emphatically, Yes.

Is an individual believer the bride of Christ? Emphatically, No.

There is much confusion in the Bride, uh, the Body of Christ, concerning this issue. A significant "stream" of the Charismatic church has adopted a system of beliefs (doctrine) that suggests that we, individually as well as corporately, are the Bride of Christ, and in fact that we can or are somehow, symbolically, be married to Christ. This teaching is generally referred to as the "Bridal Paradigm," and as the title suggests, everything is seen through the lens of this belief.

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines Bride as a "woman new married" but notes that the "name is applied to a woman at the marriage festival, before she is married, as well as after the ceremony." The secondary definition tells us that a bride is "a woman espoused, or contracted to be married." This is plainly the sense in which the Holy Scriptures uses the word Bride when referring to the Church (or Israel).

In the Book of the Revelation, Chapter 19 and Verse 7 we read "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready." Regardless of your eschatological leanings, no reasonable person would suggest that this has already taken place. More precisely, the Church is the bride, betrothed to Jesus.

"The story has a happy ending! The Bridegroom and the Bride are married and live happily in a beautiful city forever." Introduction to the Book of the Revelation in The Visualized Bible.

Background

The concept of being married, symbolically or figuratively, to Christ predates the heterodox Bridal Paradigm viewpoint. The concept of a "mystical marriage" was promoted by Roman Catholic Teresa of Avila who through this experienced "spiritual ecstasy" which was defined as "divine intimacy." Not coincidently, many elements of Catholic Mysticism have been incorporated into the beliefs of those espousing the Bridal Paradigm today(1). The rejection of these aberrant Roman Catholic beliefs has been, until today, one of the distinctives of Protestantism.

Pope John Paul II, in an "Apostolic Letter" (Vita Consecrate no. 34)(2) noted that some aspects of this thought is "taking root or reemerging in the Churches and Ecclesial Communities which originated in the Reformation and is the sign of a grace shared by all of Christ's disciples. This fact is an incentive to ecumenism, which fosters the desire for an ever fuller communion between Christians 'that the world may believe'." John Paul goes on to say "In the consecrated life particular importance attaches to the spousal meaning, which recalls the Church's duty to be completely and exclusively devoted to her Spouse, from whom she receives every good thing. This spousal dimension, which is part of all consecrated life, has a particular meaning for women, who find therein their feminine identity and as it were discover the special genius of their relationship with the Lord."

I mention this to illustrate the point that the Roman Catholic viewpoint is that BOTH the corporate Church and the individual believer are the Bride of Christ. To their credit, the Roman belief outlined in John Paul's letter, suggests that they do adopt the understanding of Webster's second definition, which is that the Bride is betrothed, not married to Christ.


The Current Emphasis

In 2007, an acquaintance of mine, Rev. Keith Gibson, of the Apologetics Resource Center, wrote an excellent article on the Bridal Paradigm as it is emerging in the Charismatic church today (3). His thesis is that "Truth, taken to an extreme, becomes heresy." I'm going to quote his article in depth, because I really can't improve on it.

The bridal paradigm is a teaching that the image of the Bride is the primary identity for the church, especially the church of this unique end-time generation. This teaching has strong dominion theology undertones as there is a strong emphasis on the Bride co-reigning with Christ. Esther is seen as a type of the end-time Church. The bridal paradigm becomes the grid through which all Scripture is interpreted and through which all spiritual activity is engaged. Thus we have teachings like Bridal intercession, the Global Bridegroom fast, the cross in the bridal paradigm etc. All of the scripture is seen as the relentless pursuit of the heavenly lovesick groom for the bride of His hearts desire. This message truly stands the gospel on its ear. No longer is the emphasis on a God who is working for His own glory and displaying His majesty in redeeming a lost and unworthy humanity. Now the story of redemption is on God seeking a suitable mate for His Son with the cross being the dowry.

God is described as ”in-love”, lovesick, the passionate Bridegroom, or having a ravished heart. He is the Lover with fire in His eyes for His bride. The church is to respond in similar manner as we pray for our love to be awakened, to be ravished by the love of the Bridegroom etc. etc. Images and language from Song of Solomon abound.

This teaching, while drawing upon a legitimate metaphor and the language of Scripture, pushes the metaphor beyond the boundaries of its proper understanding leading to an improper and unbiblical picture of God and His relationship to the Church.

The first problem is the emphasis on the metaphor of the Bride to the exclusion of all other images used to describe the Church. Yes, the church is the Bride of Christ, but that is not all that is said of the Church. The Church is also called the Body (1 Cor. 12), the children of God (Eph 3:14, 1 Jn 3 and others), an olive tree (Rom. 11), a field (1 Cor. 3:6-9), a temple (1 Pet. 2:5), a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9), God’s house (Heb. 3:6), the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:2), and an inheritance (Eph. 1:18). And this is just for starters!! Consulting any good systematic theology book will yield a veritable host of metaphors, titles and images of the church. Therefore right from the beginning we should understand that any teaching that focuses almost exclusively upon one metaphor is necessarily out of balance. Each of these titles is meant to teach us some important truth concerning the people of God. We simply do not have the right to fixate upon one to the neglect of the others. We do not have the right to elevate one to the place of primary position and evaluate all of Scripture through this lense. In like manner, Jesus is the Bridegroom but that is not all that is said about Jesus. This teaching is out of balance.

The second issue is that, while it is true that the metaphor of the Bride is used for the church as a whole, this same metaphor is never used for the individual believer. This may seem minor at first but it is actually very significant. It is the entire church that is the Bride of Christ. Each believer is a part but is not the Bride. It would appear that many of the prophetic teachers either misunderstand this or choose to ignore it. Due to this confusion, many of the statements of the prophetic teachers cause Jesus to sound like our personal boyfriend instead of our Lord. I have shared before of the man who claimed that he held Jesus for the first 30 minutes of his quiet time and then had Jesus hold him for the last 30 minutes. Jesus is not your boyfriend or lover. It is inappropriate to consider Him in this way.

A third issue is that the statement is a metaphor. It is not a literal statement. The metaphor is meant to teach us the truth about God’s love and commitment to us and our need for holiness and submission and yes, love for Him and a number of other things. But it is not meant to be literalized and physicalized (If that’s not a word, it should be.) This third issue brings a host of problems into play. It should be noted that, as with teachings on Contemplative Prayer, the source of much of this teaching is Roman Catholic mysticism. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and Madam Guyon, along with many others, have provided the foundation for this thought. This, in and of itself, should be a problem. Why would we go to those whose overall understanding of God is so poor expecting to find truth? Why would we draw from the polluted well of Roman Catholic mysticism hoping to find pure water? I have been told that it is because of their passion and certainly these authors can write passionately about God, but they can and did write just as passionately about the virgin Mary! This indicates to me, that the emphasis of the leaders of this movement is not at all grounded in a desire for truth but merely a desire to feel. And many of the “passionate” statements written by these mystics are squarely unbiblical. Consider the words of Catherine of Sienna who used to pray:

”O divine madman, you are crazed with love and drunk with love for me.”

Surely a less Biblical picture of God could not be painted than that of a crazed madman drunk with love.

This literalizing of the metaphor can be seen in the abundance of overly romantic phrases used to describe God’s love for us and ours for God. We read that God is “lovesick” or ravished for us. These phrases portray a God who simply cannot find true joy apart from us, who will never be satisfied without us. These statements are more appropriate for an adolescent than Almighty God. These phrases portray God looking longingly at the individual Christian and saying, “You…..complete me.” Jesus is finally sent to earth “When He couldn’t take it any longer.” This is a far cry from the God of the Bible who is completely sufficient within Himself and needs nothing. (Ps. 50, Isa 40) The triune God is complete within Himself, lacking nothing including relationship.

Certainly Christ does love us. He loves us with a love that is beyond comprehension in its height, depth, width and breadth (Eph 3:18-19). But He is not romantic about us. He is not attracted to us. He does not get sweaty palms, or stomach flutters. He is not “in-love” with us as we commonly mean that term today. There is a difference. (end extended quote)

Marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship to the church. The Bridal Paradigm turns the biblical view on its head. The Bridal Paradigm teaches that we look at marriage to get a view of what Christ’s relationship to the church is. The biblical view is that we look at Christ’s relationship to the church and let that color our marriages with God-honoring truth. -Drew Blom (4)

Contemporary Illustrations

In 2002 CBN news reported "Some 20,000 mostly young people packed the Kansas City Convention Center on New Year's Eve for a wedding ceremony unlike any other... as each person who came embarked on a marriage covenant with the Bridegroom of Heaven... From noon until midnight they danced and sang, fasted and prayed, and got ready to get married to Jesus. One by one, thousands of men and women, young and old, made their vows and walked under the prayer shawl symbolizing their commitment to Jesus." (5)

Walking under a marriage canopy, known in Hebrew as a huppah, is part of the covenantal Jewish wedding ceremony. (6)

This ceremony took place at a meeting known as "The Call" which has strong ties to Lou Engle and the International House of Prayer (IHOP). The CBN report goes on a quote Steward Greaves (who is currently a lead teacher at IHOP) who said "I really feel like the Lord is calling young people to fall madly in love with Him. I've always felt that the difference between religion and relationship is intimacy with Jesus". (7)

While no one would argue against (righteous) intimacy with Christ, I can't help but contrast that statement with one made by evangelist Steve Hill which illustrates true intimacy.

Religion is hanging around the cross, Christianity is hanging on the cross.

CBN went on to note that at IHOP "there has already been a tremendous focus on the bridal love of Jesus... where for three and a half years, a team of prophetic singers, intercessors and others have held 24-hour-a-day praise and worship focusing on Jesus as the bridegroom." This practice has continued on to this day.

Mike Bickle, the leader of IHOP, is well known for his over-allegorization of the Song of Songs, by applying it literally to the individual believer and Jesus. While few would be willing to criticize anyone with a passion for prayer, the words of Gibson resound loudly: "Truth, taken to an extreme, becomes heresy."

Here is an illustration of the teaching coming out of IHOP. "He [God] has given Himself to both the exhilarations and the woundings of a lovesick heart. When He gazes upon me, He sees through the eyes of love and desire. He comes before me and says, 'I am a Man in love. I am a God that burns with desire, and I have set My affections on you. I am an all-consuming fire of love, and you are the inheritance that My Father has promised me. Will you receive My love?'" (8)


Passion in the Arts

Although it would be nice, no one expects musicians in the church to be theologians. So on one hand, I am hesitant to criticize the musicians in the church who are simply reflecting what they are hearing from the pulpit. However, we are aware that music has a very strong influence on people and much theology is gained through music.

John Mark Mcmillan, who has been featured at "The Call" meetings, wrote a song "How He Loves" which had gained some popularity. He writes:

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain this regrets,
When I think about, the way He loves us,
Oh how He loves us... (9)

Or consider some verse from Kansas City:

"O Gaze Eternal,
How penetrating are Your Fires
Rushing through my darkest places
With the burning streams of Desire
Leaving me naked, purged and bare
... Yet embraced...
You take hold of my weakest places
And kiss them with Your mercy
Lifting up my low grounds
With your mighty love so holy..." (10)

And this is a Misty Edwards favorite, the worship leader at IHOP-KC

I am lovesick, for my Beloved
My Beloved and my Friend
Only YOU can satisfy

Try as I may to chase another Lover,
I find there is, there is no other
For only YOU can satisfy (11)

Let me emphasize again that "Truth, taken to an extreme, becomes heresy."

It is not uncommon for those at IHOP to speak of being ravished by Jesus. This goes on much further than what could be deemed appropriate. Here's another quote from some required reading for students at IHOP: "She lifted her arms wide to the Lord and said with all of her strength and her love, 'Enjoy me. Right here, right now, in my absolute weakness, enjoy me.'" (12)


Spiritual Ecstasy

Sensuality, common in society, has indeed invaded the church. As noted previously, Teresa of Avila experienced "spiritual ecstasy" which was defined as "divine intimacy." Many in the charismatic church, in a practice known as "soaking prayer" where one is directed to empty ones mind completely and trance-like states are not uncommon, have reported such experiences. According to Paul Gowdy, Carol Arnott, a leader at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, reports that "she had her bride experience where she was taken into the very presence of Jesus and said that the love that she experienced was even better than sex" (13). Gowdy, an acquaintance of mine, was formerly pastor of a Vineyard church in Toronto which was a sister church to TACF, then known as the Toronto Vineyard.

Others involved in this practice have equated the experience to orgasm. My wife has heard women in mainstream Charismatic churches talk about these experiences in these terms. An anecdotal story, posted in response to the aforementioned CBN report, states : "A woman whom I see to be very Spirit filled, was talking to us at the dinner table about being taken into the "upper chambers" where Jesus laid her down on a bed of roses (because He is the Rose of Sharon He can do that, she said), and that He made love to her. She described to me this whole scene as if it were out of a romance novel. The thought of Jesus actually making love to me made me sick... I was actually disheartened, grieved and shocked that she was talking about this. What gets me is that her friends who were with her all agreed as if this was sound biblical doctrine."

I've heard reports from Kansas City of men being speaking of being "ravished in their hinder parts" by Jesus. While this may not be the viewpoint of leadership there, it reflects the sordid depravity behind the doctrine, and the logical end of such thinking.

Lee Grady, in a recent Charisma Magazine article, writes of the charismatic craze of Spiritual Ecstasy (14) which often involves drug imagery such as "tokin' the Holy Ghost" (15). He states "it won't be long before we see some Christians having sexual experiences at the altar. "It's already happening," my friend said. He described a recent "worship concert" in which one of the musicians simulated sex while stroking a microphone and whispering sensual phrases to Jesus. What is next-orgasmic worship? God help us." (16)


Profanity

Years ago I constructed a teaching on profanity. Many people are under the mistaken idea that profanity has to do with cuss words. A biblical definition of "profane" would be to make ordinary that which God has called Holy. Esau, by virtue of selling his birthright, was deemed profane (Hebrews 12:16). Psalm 89:39 speaks of one who has "profaned his crown by casting it to the ground." The leaven of the Bridal Paradigm, which starts with the innocuous premise that we, individually, are the bride of Christ, has blossomed into full blown profanity. Their over-allergorized Song of Songs even warn us of the little foxes that spoil the vines.

We are admonished by the Lord to touch no unclean thing. The Lord says "Therefore come out from them and be separate" (2 Cor 6:17). The call to walk in holiness and to not deviate from the counsel of the scriptures has never been easy. It is perhaps harder but even more important in these last days when the time has come that people will "not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

“Lord I ask that you would create in us a pure heart and renew a right spirit in us and in the church.”



Endnotes

(1) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09703a.htm

(2) http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2VITA.HTM

(3) http://signofjonah.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/bridal-mysticism/

(4) http://signofjonah.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/bsv-4-the-bridal-paradigm/

(5) http://www.hishousemedia.com/docs/BreakingNews.htm

(6) http://www.myjewishlearning.com/lifecycle/Marriage/LiturgyRitualCustom/Chuppah.htm

(7) http://www.hishousemedia.com/docs/BreakingNews.htm

(8) ibid

(9) http://www.seekalyric.com/song/John_Mark_Mcmillan/How_He_Loves

(10) http://www.hishousemedia.com/docs/BreakingNews.htm

(11) http://www.ihop.org/Shop/Sections/Items/Item.aspx?item_id=1000002501

(12) http://www.hishousemedia.com/docs/BreakingNews.htm

(13) http://www.discernment-ministries.org/NLMarchApril_2007.htm

(14) http://www.deceptionbytes.com/PatriciaKing-Ekstasis

(15) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfjcER2WyA see also
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-new-mystics-drunken-glory-tours/1670643694 Note Jim Goll “toking the ghost” at 04:03 time stamp.

(16) http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/fire-in-my-bones/18454-strange-fire-in-the-house-of-the-lord

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds"

In a previous post, I spoke about the "anointing" and blatant sin. Lest any should think that perhaps I stepped over the line in illustrating this with a contemporary example, I would like to comment further.

The topic at hand certainly is someting to think about. The question not only brings up the anointing issue, but also questions about church discipline. Situations involving what some would call "wandering stars" are not easy because of the constant shopping for those he/she will be acountable to (Haggard, Cain, Traut, et al).

I wonder if Todd Bentley will eventually make it to Fort Mills for his "restoration" process with Rick Joyner. As an aside, Joyner has recently proclaimed that 2008 was the beginning if the "last-days church" era, an event that was kicked off by Todd Bentley on 08/08/08 (ohhh- spooky numbers!) at Heritage, with Joyner having at least partial knowledge that something was seriously wrong.

On 8/8/08, we had a gathering (with Todd Bentley) to celebrate this new beginning. It was an outdoor event on the grounds at Heritage and it drew thousands.
-Rick Joyner

Based on the reopening of the Bentley facebook/myspace pages, along with the ramping up of an online store featuring his book published in December I'd guess he is no more serious about setting the ministry aside than he is about leaving his current girfriend. At what point is he considered unrepentant? And if he continues in his public ministry should people be warned?

From an academic standpoint these issues are worth consideration- because they will happen again. Although Jimmy Swaggart or more recently Ted Haggard are good case studies, the Lakeland "revival" with Todd Bentley is certainly the most documented - thousands of hours of video and over 300 published "teachings."

Of particular interest is the question "can you be in blatant sin and function in the anointing?" My purpose of citing those Lakeland videos featuring Todd and Jessa is to illustrate that problem in a very real way. To my way of thinking, the root problem was arrogance. Having your girlfriend at your side while ministering seems to rate pretty high in that category.

Again, contrast the baptismal service seen in those videos with those hour-long videos of baptisims in the early days of Brownsville. Much of what you will see is to be expected- Brownsville was a revival of repentance, Lakeland was a "revival" of "kingly anointing."

Both had interesting physical manifestations. Those are not the issue. Without judging the motives of any who were baptised at Lakeland, I think we can safely say that generally most who "testified" at Lakeland stated that they were getting baptised to launch THEIR ministry, or to receive more power or something like that.

At Brownsville, there was a real humble attitude of repentance. And the general explanation of "why?" typically had something to do with obediance to the Word.

Based on this simple observation, I would have to say that there was an anointing at the Lakeland service, but it was an anti-anointing. What else could one expect?

As a side note, July 4 was about the time that things really started to fall apart at Lakeland. Cause and effect.

Another thing relating to arrogance is the alcohol use. I understand there are different takes on the alcohol issue. Although a tee-totaller by choice, I certainly believe that Jesus turned the water into alcoholic wine at Cana, not just really good grape juice, based on the "save the best for last" observation.

While at Lakeland, Bentley was ministering under the leadership of an A/G pastor. With the well-known tee-totalling stance of the A/G, I would guess that it might be somewhat disrespectful to indulge excessively - in public - while in that situation - ministering under an A/G "covering." I also have real trouble understanding those with Bentley who knew of his excessive drinking and "inappropriate relationships" with staff members of the "opposite sex" while at Lakeland, and I wonder how much Steven Strader knew or sensed. Somebody should have confronted or spoken out earlier.

As with the girfriend issue, the alcohol issue seems to be overshadowed by the arrogance problem. This was illustrated by the false prophecies given while taking up the offerings, and in so many other ways. Theologically, I think the Manifested Sons of God doctrine is the most arrogant heresy ever, well at least equal to Lucifer and his "I will" proclaimations (Isaiah 14) - and significantly enough that (MSoG doctrine) is what Todd Bentley preached on 08/08/08 at Fort Mills.

In light of this new information and in consultation with his leaders and advisors, Todd Bentley has agreed to step down from his position on the Board of Directors and to refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life.
Freshfire website, August 15, 2008

And it is this arrogance that seems to continue today- while saying he will receive counsel, continuing in sin (Freshfire website finally calls it adultery) and blatantly refusing to step down from "all public ministry" at least for a season.

Is there room for a voice that will speak out against such, or do we continue in silence, hoping things will sort themselves out? Both are legitimate arguments- what do you think?

Gross Sin and the "anointing"

A while back (August) a friend of mine did a radio show entitled "God's Anointing and Blatant Sin" where he asked the question if you could function in "the anointing" while involved in blatent sin.

This is a video of Todd Bentley and his girlfriend Jessa (holding the microphone) at the July 4 Lakeland “baptisim” festival.



The video evidence suggests, as I see it, that NO, you cannot function in the anointing while living in blatent sin such as John Arnott described in Bentley's case.. It also suggests that the manifestations / anointing shown in these videos was a false anointing or an "anti-anointing." If one believes in defilement (by the laying of hands on suddenly) that it might be reasonable to suggest that those folks get rebaptised.

One of the evidences of "the anointing" in the charismatic realm is demonstrated through "manifesting" (in the bible it was often a sign of demon possession). You can see Jessa “manifest” in Part 2 of the baptism video at about 4:20.



Bentley, in defiance of his so-called restoration process, has opened up shop once again, hanging out the myspace shingle in mid December 2008.

Well, I’m sort of sorry to bring this all up. It reflects the sorry state of the so-called apostolic/prophetic church, and in spite of Peter Wagner’s promises, its inability to deal with arrogance.

Be certain of this - the affair was simply a "manifestation" of a far bigger problem. A problem which extends to the many leaders and co-workers who helped to cover the whole thing up.

Now, watch this video by David Wilkerson and I’m sure you will feel much better.



That, my friend, is the anointing.

You just don't "get it."

With the advent of IHOP's "onething 08" conference, Mike Bickle is recruiting followers for his elite band of believers. Quoting Bickle:

There is a dire need to call forth and train a generation of forerunners who have clarity as to what the Holy Spirit is saying, but also the boldness to confront and expose the lies that many leaders in the Body of Christ, even those with a 5-fold ministry calling, are attributing to the Holy Spirit.

Recall that back in the early 90's, a pastor named Ernie Gruen exposed Bickle and his elitism. After a major confrontation, involving leaders from all over the country, Bickle finally repented. In 1993, Charisma magazine reported that Bickle said:

We had an elite spirit. That's become more and more real to me - it's so repulsive.

Fast forward to December 2008. Here's Mike Bickle again:

I feel like the shepherds in the body of Christ are lying on so many levels - they're lies- and I don't mean that there insidious lies where they're in backrooms thinking it through and coming out saying "I'm going to lie to people." I mean there's lies at so many levels, there's lies about how to get saved, there's lies about what the mandate of the kingdom is, there's lies about how the kingdom is supposed to be built, there's lies about what God wants to do with the generation that's emerging. Video.

Calling a brother or sister in the body of Christ a liar is a serious thing. Here's what God has to say about liars:

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8).

As I mentioned, Ernie Gruen, in his report charged that Bickle & Company had an elite spirit, and that they were part of the Latter Rain Heresy. According to Don Clasen in his treatise on Kansas City, a critical part of Latter Rain is the "idea that the Church is founded upon modern-day apostles and prophets , and the belief the denominational system will be destroyed before the Second Coming and be replaced by a whole new Church structure governed over by these apostles and prophets."

So when Bickle states that "shepherds in the body of Christ are lying on so many levels" he is enticing young people to follow his special elite band of forerunners- (a.k.a. "new breed" or ""elected seed") - the ones who "get it." And the ones with a plan not to overcome the world, but to overtake the church.

It seems to me that Bickle just cannot change. Perhaps one cannot teach on a "new breed" and an "elected seed" without sounding (and being) elitist. If that's the case, why the faux-repentence? I'm sorry, but this just isn't right.

Whaz Supppp?

Well, its been two months since a post. Like life, apologetics has its ebbs and flows. I think many of who worked overtime on the Lakeland fiasco are taking a break.

So I've been working my bird dogs, and spent a few weeks on the political blogs. Interesting times there are..

On the apologetic front, it seems that C. Peter Wagner has outsourced his Todd Bentley restoration project to Rick Joyner and his review of the state of the prophetic church to Dutch Sheets. Concerning the review, I'd like to really study that situation before making any comment.

Arnott, Ahn and Johnson were originally charged with Bentley's discipline. Of Joyner, they state:

Rick Joyner’s wisdom, along with the strength of the Morningstar community of believers, will be a great support to Todd as he deals with the heart issues that brought about his failures.

Rick Joyner, as you may recall, is the one who came to Bentley's defense AFTER things started falling apart in Lakeland. He wrote, on August 8:

I did not hear that Todd was going through a personal crisis until the day before our meeting with him here. When I saw him Wednesday night, he immediately wanted to share with me about his personal problems—especially about his recent separation from his wife. Todd did not share this in a way to try and justify himself, but he wanted me to know what was going on with him to give me an out if I did not think he should minister the next day. I greatly appreciated this.

I still do not know all of the details of his separation, but I did ask him if there had been any immorality on his part, or if he had affections for someone else that was causing this. He assured me that he had never committed adultery, and that there was no “other woman” that caused his separation. Some of his leaders who I talked to also confirmed that Todd had not been in any immoral relationship, though they were all grieving over Todd’s marital problems.

A few days later, it was revealed that there was another woman; apparently Bentley BS'ed his way through his little heart-to-heart with Rick Joyner.

Most troubling is Joyner's take on divorce, spoken regarding Bentley:

So, should someone who is divorced be disqualified from ministry or from leadership in the church? How can we disqualify someone from ministry or leadership for something that would disqualify God? In Jeremiah 3, we are told that God gave Israel a certificate of divorce. God is divorced. Nearly half the people in our churches have been divorced. A good many Christians now stay away from the church because they have suffered a divorce, and they feel condemned by the church for it. This is an issue that we need to address for the church, not just Todd.

All I can say is "This is the man charged with restoration?"

Quoting Dutch Sheets:

We, the leaders of the charismatic community, have operated in an extremely low level of discernment. Frankly, we often don't even try to discern. We assume a person's credibility based on gifts, charisma, the size of their ministry or church, whether they can prophesy or work a miracle, etc. (Miracles and signs are intended to validate God and His message, not the messenger; sometimes they validate the assignment of an individual, but never the person's character, lifestyle or spiritual maturity.) We leaders in the Church have become no different than the world around us in our standards for measuring success and greatness. This has contributed to the body of Christ giving millions of dollars to undeserving individuals; it has allowed people living in sin to become influential leaders—even to lead movements, allowing them influence all the way to the White House. Through our lack of discernment we built their stages and gave them their platforms. We have been gullible beyond words—gullible leaders producing gullible sheep. When a spiritual leader we're connected with violates trust, is exposed for immorality or falls below other accepted standards of behavior, it does not exonerate us simply
to say we don't condone such behavior.

Certainly Bentley should get help from those he can respond to. I hope he does. I don't care if he ever ministers again, and I suspect God Himself is less concerned with that as opposed to the excessing drinking and inappropraite behaviour. We esteem ourselves too highly when we think that God cannot raise others up as He wills.

Joyner will be working with Jack Deere and Bill Johnson. Joyner and Deere, of course, are already know for their successful work with Paul Cain.

And then there this one last issue that few have raised. A lot of people "sown into revival." About 500K of that money was spent on a residence for Bentley in Lakeland - away from his wife. When will the biblical principle of "restitution" come into play? Talk about an economic stimulus package for the church!

Wagner's Lakeland Update
Joyner on Bentley - August '08

Ahhh, the sound of Black Helicopters whomping.....

Kim Olsen has been hosting an inane discussion on her blog trying to link Sarah Palin to Dominionisim. By now she probably wishes she had not delved into the political arena on her blog - which I may too regret within a few days of posting this.

The source for her information comes from the "Bush caused 911" crowd, who also seem to object to anyone who belives that Jesus is the only means by which man can be saved. They recoil in horror at this quote:

“Those who don’t accept Jesus as their savior will burn in Hell, according to Palin’s brand of theology.”

Palin's "brand of theology" ?!?!?!?!?

Anyhow, one should not encourage the conspiracy theorists. Naturally, the slippery slope to total nutdom gets steeper and more slippery with every comment. As evidence, here's a most recent comment on Kim Olsen's website.

I still think the fact that she has to have illuminati connections is bigger than where she stands on all of this other stuff. Anyone who is in high office is a pawn of the higher ups. This from Cutting Edge: “Todd Palin IS MOST DEFINITELY Flashing A Masonic Handsign During The August 29 Photo Shoot With Governor Sarah Palin and Their Children!”

As we demonstrate through pictures, Todd Palin is clearly inserting his hand into his coat in a typical Masonic handsign gesture. This gesture sent a message throughout the occult world that Illuminized Masonry is in control of the Republican Presidential Ticket, including the selection of Governor Palin as McCain’s V.P. candidate

Elsewhere, another charge leveled against Palin is that in one staged picture she strikes an "illuminati pose." I guess I'd better learn what that is, so that I never am seen doing it.



As much as these fine folks would like to cause us to believe that Palin is involved in some theocratic take-over scheme, I think some sanity is in order here. Here's some background to chew on. At no point am I endorsing these sources, I simply want to illustrate that websites that want to make a point in the other direction can easily do so.


Sarah Palin

Virtually unknown to the American people about Governor Palin, these reports say, is her family genealogy relating her to one of the most important factions of the American Revolutionary War led by Major-General William Heath, the last surviving Major-General of the Revolutionary Army.

Though Major-General Heath was lauded for his actions during the battles of Lexington and Concord in April, 1775, he was never trusted by the American Revolutionary War Commander, and later President, George Washington, and who utilized General Heath sparingly for the remainder of the war.

General Washington’s mistrust of General Heath was reported to have been because Heath was not a member of the Freemason Secret Society which Washington and almost all of the American and British War Commanders were members of, and which many still assert maintain a secret leadership role in governing the United States.

The continued efforts of General Heath and his descendents against the Freemasons led to the near destruction of the Masonic Order in the United States in the 1820’s and 1930’s over what is termed as the William Morgan Affair, and whose monument in New York State reads:

“Sacred to the memory of Wm. Morgan, a native of Virginia, a Capt. in the War of 1812, a respectable citizen of Batavia, and a martyr to the freedom of writing, printing and speaking the truth. He was abducted from near this spot in the year 1826, by Freemasons and murdered for revealing the secrets of their order. The court records of Genesee County, and the files of the Batavia Advocate, kept in the Recorders office contain the history of the events that caused the erection of this monument.”

Source: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1137.htm

Yes, I'm sure they would invite her into the club.
For the uninitiated (pun intended), Tha illuminati is a secret society who share the same bloodline. Sarah is in real trouble when they find out about her kinfolk.

Todd Palin

The McCain camp today disputed rumors that presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was ever registered with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party by releasing years of voter registration history . . . but it looks like that doesn't apply to her husband.


source: http://tinyurl.com/toddnot

The Alaskan Independence Party historically has had strong objections to the various secret societies holding sway over the United States. Was Todd Palin a mole for the masons? Or is it possible that he actually holds objections to freemasonry?

Note: the rumors about Sarah Palin and the AIP were "astroturfed" by Obama operatives. We cannot verify Todd Palin's involvement in the AIP, but that's not the point anyhow.

Sarah and Todd Palin

Much ado has been made over their connections to the jihadist "Assemblies of God" (see Olsen’s article on Sarah Palin and Dominionism). What few people know about the A/G is its outspoken rejection of freemasonry. I guess its not spoken about enough. Ok, here's a source I do endorse.

Secret societies are in conflict with the teachings of Holy Scripture. A Christian must never affiliate with any organization that 1) yokes together believers with unbelievers in unholy alliances (2 Cor. 6:14-18); 2) requires a pledge to unscriptural oaths which are sealed by using the name of God improperly or in vain (Ex. 20:7, Lev. 5:4-6, Matt. 5:34-37, James 5:12); 3) represents itself as providing teaching in harmony with the Bible when in fact it does not (2 Peter 3:16); 4) represents itself as being religious and offers a false hope of salvation through works, yet dishonors the only true God and our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3, 1 Tim. 2:3-6, Col. 2:8-10, Eph. 2:8,9).

Secretively meeting behind closed doors in a "lodge" where activities are carried on behind a cloak of secrecy, in favor of fellow members, usually for economic, social, or political advantage hardly describes doing what is right in the eyes of everybody. "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord" (2 Cor. 6:17). This is God’s advice for Christians and is certainly applicable in regard to secret societies.

Since the statement in the Assemblies of God bylaws on Secret Orders does not mention any organization by name, some have felt that their involvement in Masonry is not what the statement is about. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the original statement was drafted primarily because of concerns about Freemasonry.

Source: http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/charctr_16_secret_societie.cfm

Food for Thought

Here's what I find fascinating- I think we can all agree that we are now closer to the Lord's return than ever (duh!). We read about many things in *Biblical* prophecy that will happen. If the so-called new world order - one government - is a precursor to the antichrist -- things the bible tells us will happen at the end -- why would anyone want to STOP this?

At best, I'm out of here before the feces hits the fan, at worst I have to put up with 7 years of tribulation - and avoiding taking the mark - but then its "goodbye, world goodbye."

Either way God is in control and has a plan for me- and has made a way for me.

So why the concern (I think unwarranted concern) about things that we already know are going to happen?


Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not to thine own under standing.


Or the understanding of 90% of the stuff out there on the internet.

The Slippery-Slope of "Greasy Grace"

Once again, we will turn to current events in order to understand the Charismatic concept called "Greasy Grace." C. Peter Wagner recently stated (concerning Todd Bentley:

I am delighted that they are not buying into typical charismatic soft morality, also called "greasy grace" or "don't touch God's anointed" or "mercy must triumph over judgment," phrases that have been used on other similar occasions as convenient religious cop-out excuses.

For those of you not familiar with this longstanding practice, this is when churches "wink at sin" because they somehow think a certain man or woman is so "used of God" that they must get a free pass. Wagner, elsewhere refers to this as "sweeping under the rug."



Somehow church leaders have come to the conclusion that they must protect those who have ripped off the body of Christ- those who live double lives with secret, or in some case, not-so-secret sins. And with Bentley, the coverup started before he was exposed.

For those on Todd Bentley's board who had previous knowledge of his marriage problems and said nothing, it was more than a mistake—it was reckless, foolish, and irresponsible.

-Dutch Sheets

It is now common knowledege, having been reported in both the sacred and secular press, that Reverend Bentley is a "liar and deciever," has been in an "emotional relationship" with one of his staff members that "went beyond hugging, kissing and holding hands" and has a drinking problem. While we are grateful that he has been removed (for the time being) from ministry, here's what you will see if you go to the website formerly known as Todd's.

"We want to affirm that there has been no sexual immorality on the part of either Todd or Shonnah, nor has there ever been."

This was posted on 8/12/2008 and remains on the homepage as of 9/3/2008. Rather odd to state that Todd has never been sexually immoral based on his well know status as a convicted (homosexual) child molester. In all fairness, they have at least acknowledged the "other woman" in a later letter but now simply call it and "an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level." If it goes beyond huggging, kissing and holding hands (which is bad enough) and its not sexual, then you must be talking to Bill Clinton.

Earilier in the summer, as some of us sensed that something was drastically wrong, many with self-righteous remove-the-plank-from-your-eye indignation told us to let those who are in relationship with Reverend Bentley handle the situation and "speak into his life."

One of Bentley's close friends in Rick Joyner of Morningstar. Apparently Bentley even told Joyner his marriage was falling apart and Joyner let him keep his scheduled "outpouring" meeting where Todd gave an "impartation" to the congregants.

Here's what Joyner is still saying, without retraction on his website as of today:

I still do not know all of the details of his separation, but I did ask him if there had been any immorality on his part, or if he had affections for someone else that was causing this. He assured me that he had never committed adultery, and that there was no “other woman” that caused his separation.

Joyner goes on to basically blame Todd's wife for the separation (for which Todd filed papers) and to tell us that God is divorced, therefore its ok for Todd to get divorced. So the one who is in close relationship, who can "speak into his life" is either a total bozo, or totally decieved.

Other leaders just try to rationanize it away. Mike Bickle, speaking of the Florida Outpouring back in May, stated "God uses weak and broken vessels of clay so that no one glories or boasts in man."

Please don't ever tell me not to speak up again. In public. IT NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED SO THE BODY OF CHRIST CAN BE HEALED. Squeeze the zit!

As a side note, in my estimation the fact that Todd swore some associates to secrecy concerning his moral failure is more eggregious than the sins being covered. That is an abuse of power (his "kingly anointing") and is the ultimate in arrogance.

If you will watch events as they unfold, you may see more examples of "greasy grace." Those of us who have been around for a while have seen churches "support" fallen pastors with 6-month severance packages (and only prolong the damage), and have seen fallen prophets pick and choose those whom they will be "accountable" to.

Will anything change? Wagner says that "we have a list of 24 serious issues that have emerged from that unpleasant experience (Bentley) which need to be thoroughly discussed with the conclusions circulated in the body of Christ. If you have seen Dutch Sheets' recent "A Statement and Appeal Regarding Lakeland" you will get a glimpse of some of the things that we agree need to become standard operational beliefs and practices, particularly in our charismatically inclined evangelical segment of the church."

The issue of "greasy grace" is one I've been harping on for many years. This website is called "Beyond Grace." I would like to draw your attention to the statement at the bottom of the right hand cloumn of every page on this website:

Why the name "Beyond Grace"?

"In the Christian life, holiness is not optional. Many Christians seem to think about holiness as if it is like something added to a car, such as fancy leather upholstery instead of the normal kind of plastic. But that is not true. Holiness is an essential part of salvation. In Hebrews 12:14 the writer says, Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. What salvation do we have that does not bring us to see the Lord? But without holiness, no one will see the Lord. We have in our contemporary Western Christianity a very incomplete picture of salvation. 'If I get saved and born again, and then I want to go on and be holy. I can do it - but it is an option.' I want to tell you that your salvation depends on your being holy. And holiness comes only from the Holy Spirit." -Derek Prince

The extravagance of God (His "surpassing grace" 2 Corinthians 9:14) is so unmeasurable that it takes us "beyond grace". It is this extravagence that allows up to live a life that is holy and pleasing to Him - this is our reasonable act of worship (Romans 12:1).

Thank God for grace.
It's time to move "Beyond Grace."

School of the Prophets -The Kingly Anointing

OK, Todd's picture has been removed from his website, and it seems like everyone is ready to move on. Today, I'd like to propose another prophetic exercise, in the spirit of the school of the prophets. Now please don't accuse me of having 20/20 hindsight- I was offended by these prophetic words when they were given at his coronation a few months ago.

Rather than comment on them individually, I'll just throw out some quotes and see if you can figure it out. Remember, there will be a quiz on Judgement Day.


Prophesy #1 - Apostle & Prophet Richard Madden

"For the Lord would say unto thee that this day you have loosed upon this earth what I have wanted for centuries to come forth -- a kingly anointing which will bring in money, money, money."


"Our alms and offerings open the heavens! Tabitha's good works and charitable deeds caused God to raise her from the dead...That's one reason God does miracles today--charitable giving."

-Todd Bentley


"Some people have even ventured to say that my visions and visitations are false....Some may not find my experience doctrinally sound, and liken it to speaking to the dead, and unbiblical, citing the apostle Paul's warnings in Galatians 1:8, and 2 Corinthians 11:14, of which I'm very aware. My accountability team and I, through careful examination, determined that this vision was not outside of God's realm."

-Todd Bentley



Prophesy #2- Apostle & Prophetess Stacey Campbell

“Todd, I chose you BECAUSE of your background. For you to release my nature when you release my gifts.”


"The truth is, his most serious crime was more heinous: the molestation of a seven-year-old boy." "They were sexual crimes," Bentley admits. "I was involved in a sexual-assault ring. I turned around and did what had happened to me. I was assaulted too." "I don’t like to talk about it publicly because it would hurt [my ministry ]." he concedes. "I don’t whip it out in the newspapers or on TV because people will go Whaaa?"

-The Report Newsmagazine quoting Todd Bentley


"Bentley, who is now married and has children of his own, said he has feared Christians would be afraid to leave their children around him if the juvenile sex-offense were known."

-Charisma Magazine


"Todd Bentley says he has been told by a prophet, Bob Jones, that 13 wise virgins would carry the revival forward. So Bentley calls teenagers up to the stage and "anoints" them, touching them and watching many fall.."

-Cary McMullen - The Ledger



Prophesy #3 - Apostle & Prophetess Sharon Stone

"God says to His church, I have used the most offensive means to break religious taboos."


"Todd Bentley now carries the label of a liar and a deceiver."

-C. Peter Wagner


"Todd Bentley has entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff."

-Fresh Fire Website


"Furthermore, it has now come out that there has been some inappropriate behavior, both with excessive drinking and also with a female member of his staff."

-John Arnott


"Their marriage has been torn for years by his emotional attachment with at least one other female whose physical contact went beyond hugging and kissing and holding hands. Enough said-maybe more details will be revealed later-but it was clearly immoral."

-C. Peter Wagner



Prophesy #4 - Apostle & Prophetess Clarice Fluitt

"No longer, no longer, no longer will men call unclean what I have called clean."

"So, should someone who is divorced be disqualified from ministry or from leadership in the church? How can we disqualify someone from ministry or leadership for something that would disqualify God?.... God is divorced....When God got a divorce,
was it His fault?"

-Rick Joyner


“I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity across the earth in one generation.”

-Mike Bickle


"Many mature ... graduated interns (are) filled brim-full with the DNA and fire of this ministry."

-Fresh Fire Website


"Revival is often messy because there's a lot happening and sometimes it's hard for people to take in everything they see in the natural. Many come and some do manifest fleshly things, but for the most part, everyone is sincere and of good intention at a revival. Trust it's better to be full of life with a little untidiness than to be dead."

-Todd Bentley


"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

-Folk Proverb