Such manipulation can border on witchcraft

Apostles, Prophets, and the Ministry of the Saints
By The 700 Club

CBN.com – The Coming Saints

Dr. Bill Hamon believes that God is changing our perspective in the 21st century from seeing the church as a building with four walls to the Church as a people. "The Church is wherever the saints are. The people of God will do ministry and miracles as God directs in business places also."

"It takes the same Holy Spirit, the same anointing, the same blood for the full-time Christian worker as it does for the Christian businessman," he says. "We need to know how to pray and intercede. God will raise up a great company of saints in the marketplace to demonstrate the power of God in the Kingdom of God."

According to Hamon, founder of Christian International Ministries, Christians will move in government and in the marketplace like Daniel and Joseph, in key places at key times. "Christian businessmen will see this move as not another way to get rich, but as a way to demonstrate the Kingdom of God on earth. They will be salt and light."

He believes that some business people will have daily staff times to train their people in the principles of God. "God is getting ready to invade the earth. According to Daniel 7:18, 22, 27, the saints will take the Kingdom."

Great Move

Dr. Hamon says that within the last 50 years of the 20th century God has reset, re-positioned, and restored all of the five-fold ministries. "God uses each decade to clarify, magnify, and reposition the church in a place to fulfill the vision," he says.

* In the 50s, the church saw the restoration and rise to prominence of evangelists like Oral Roberts and T.L. Osborn.
* In the 60s, great churches arose led by pastors such as David Yonghi Cho. Once a church of 500 was considered large, but today churches of 5000 or more are not uncommon.
* In the 70s, the charismatic teacher renewal was led by people like Derek Prince, Kenneth Hagin, and Dennis Bennett. These were not Pentecostal expounders. There was no prophecy nor praying for the sick. They taught and people came by the thousands. Prior to this move of God the teacher was seen as someone only in a Bible college.
* In the 80s, the prophets were restored to the Body of Christ; men like Bill Hamon and Paul Cain. Many denominations had not recognized the prophets, saying they were not for this dispensation, that there was no need for them since we had the Bible.
* The 90s, saw the emergence of the apostles, or the apostolic ministry. This ministry includes leaders like Peter Wagner and John Eckhart. Most Pentecostals have questions about the apostles; evangelicals practically have no place for them at all. They had to be restored to the Body per Ephesians 4:11-13, "And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers…."

"When all five ministries have come together, we will relate together and equip the saints," Hamon declares. "Then we will see the 'saints movement' and they can go forth and compel people to believe with supernatural signs."

Prophetic Prayer

"Prophetic prayer is praying with the mind of the Holy Spirit," Hamon says. When intercessors pray, sometimes they pick up and see things in the spirit. They are watchmen on the wall, and God will share things with them."

According to Hamon, once God shares His foreknowledge, the intercessor must use wisdom on how to share that. "If they must share it with the leadership, they should 'give it and forget it,' and move on to something else," Hamon says. "They should not try to influence or impact the pastor or leader more than they should. Trust God to work it out. It is possible to make warfare in prayer."

Hamon believes that the prophetic warrior gets into trouble when he tries to manipulate and control the reaction or obedience of others. Such manipulation can border on witchcraft. "They are not the conscience of the leader or the Holy Spirit. They are a vital part of the ministry if they stay in their proper place."

"An ear should stay an ear, an eye should stay an eye," Hamon says. "Do what you are called to do. All leaders need prayer. Prophetic prayer can be some of the most effective prayer there is," he says. "Just know the power and the pitfalls.

virtual deification of human faith

Faith in Faith or Faith in God?
Hank Hanegraaff
Bible Answer Man


In 1980 Harvest House published a book by Larry Parker entitled We Let Our Son Die. The book tells the tragic story of how Larry and his wife — after being influenced by one of America's numerous "word of faith" (or "word-faith") teachers — withheld insulin from their diabetic son, Wesley. Predictably, Wesley went into a diabetic coma. The Parkers, warned about the impropriety of making a "negative confession," continued to "positively confess" Wesley's healing until the time of his death.

Even after Wesley's death, the Parkers — undaunted in their "faith" — conducted a resurrection service instead of a funeral. For more than one year following their son's death, they refused to abandon the "revelation knowledge" they had received through the "word-faith" movement. Eventually, they were tried and convicted of manslaughter and child abuse.

Many other similarly tragic stories could be recounted. And yet, the carnage unleashed by this movement is not limited to physical death. Literally thousands are swallowing the spiritual cyanide dispensed by the word-faith teachers, leading to the shipwreck of their faith in God.

Much has been written over the past few years about the New Age movement and the threat it poses to historic Christianity. As real as this threat is, I have become equally concerned about the ominous threat that the word-faith movement poses to the body of Christ. If the New Age movement is the greatest threat to evangelical Christianity from without, I believe the word-faith or "positive confession" movement may well be considered its greatest threat from within.

No doubt many believers will contend that in writing about this subject, I am doing nothing more than splitting theological hairs. Yet the extent of the controversy is not merely an honest doctrinal difference among orthodox believers; it rather entails a confrontation between the gospel preached by the Lord Jesus Christ and another gospel.

Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). In sharp contrast, the word-faith teachers promise unlimited health and wealth to believers who can conjure up their brand of faith.

Jesus exhorted His followers not to "labor for that which perishes" but to "labor for that which is eternal" (John 6:27). The prosperity gospel, by contrast, encourages Christians to focus on what they can receive from Christ in the here and now.

Much so-called Christian TV and radio programming today panders to what peoples' "itching ears" want to hear: the promise of earthly gain. Over and over again we hear the testimonies of businessmen who "turned on to Jesus" and saw their businesses double, or athletes whose statistics improved as a result of their faith formulas and Christ. Sacrifice and service have been traded in for self-fulfillment and self-aggrandizement. And while there is an element of reality in the message (e.g., faith is essential to effective prayer; Christ does meet our needs), sadly, the emphasis renders it merely the skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. Christ has become merely a means to an end, and believers are induced through slick Madison Avenue manipulation to come to the Master's table, not to experience fellowship and intimacy with the Master, but to enjoy what is on the Master's table. In sharp distinction to this message, the Jesus of the Scriptures is not a means to an end, He is the end (e.g., Phil. 3:7-8).

Jesus predicted for His followers poverty, rejection, and persecution. His disciples were willing to face the tyrant's brandished steel, the lion's gory mane, and the fires of a thousand deaths because they knew that they were not of this world. They were merely pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign land.

In Hebrews 11, often referred to as the "Faith Hall of Fame," we read of those who were commended for their faith, yet were destitute, persecuted, imprisoned, and suffered torturous deaths. These men and women set examples for us, and yet their lives were characterized more by perserverence than by prosperity.

Certainly, this message will not sell well in a self-indulgent age. Nonetheless, we had better be glad that our heavenly Father decides what is best for us and not we ourselves, because only He truly understands what we need and what we can handle. One shudders to think of what would happen if God gave us everything we clamored for.

I do not wish to be misunderstood: I believe in divine healing and in God's provision for every detail of our lives. In addition, I do not associate piety with poverty. I thank God for those He has prospered who are dedicated to using their resources for the extension of His kingdom.

But for the word-faith teachers, healing and prosperity became so important that they had to find some way to guarantee them, and they did this by exalting man's faith at the expense of God's sovereignty. Thus, they developed the doctrine that God created the world out of nothing by faith, and that He created men as "little gods" to exercise the same kind of faith. Faith therefore becomes a powerful force that gets results, whether in the hands of a believer or a nonbeliever.

On the basis of this virtual deification of human faith, the purveyors of the word-faith message promise health and wealth to those who exercise faith in their faith rather than faith in their God. As has been well said elsewhere, faith is only as good as the object on which it is placed.

Walter Martin used to say, "All faith is subsumed under the overarching biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God." The Creator is the Lord of the universe, not a cosmic "gofer" at the beck and call of His creation. It is not our faith that sits on the throne, but our sovereign God (1 Chron. 29:10-12).

Original publication date: February 3, 2009

Questions about Holy Spirit etiquette

BAM! POW! WHEN PRAYER MINISTRY Gets VIOLENT
-by J. Lee Grady (Charisma).

Lakeland Revival leader Todd Bentley’s unusual prayer methods
have triggered questions about Holy Spirit etiquette. For weeks the
blogosphere has been sizzling with comments, pro and con, about
the unusual ministry style of Todd Bentley, the leader of the
Lakeland Revival in Florida. Thousands of people have watched the
tattooed evangelist shout “Bam! Bam!” as he prays for the sick and
interviews those who say they were instantly healed.

Nobody could ever accuse Bentley of lacking zeal. And he always
gives Jesus the credit for the healings he announces on God TV
every night. But he has come under fire because of video clips
from a sermon in which he says the Holy Spirit told him to use
violent means to heal people.

The sermon, preached in Lakeland and posted on YouTube,
features Bentley demonstrating how he (1) banged a woman’s
crippled legs “like a baseball bat” on a stage; (2) tackled, mounted
and choked a man to free him from a demon; (3) shoved a Chinese
man to the ground to pray for him (causing the man to lose a tooth);
(4) kicked an older woman in the face with his biker boot to heal
her; and (5) “leg-dropped” a pastor—a professional wrestling tactic,
popularized by Hulk Hogan, in which the aggressor jumps in the
air and lands on his opponent with one leg outstretched.

When we asked Bentley about his unorthodox methods, he
assured Charisma that none of the people were hurt and that
many were healed. He also explained that British evangelist Smith
Wigglesworth, a legend in the hall of fame of Pentecostal
preachers, used similar methods.

So if Wigglesworth healed a man by punching him in the stomach,
and Bentley sees similar results by using techniques borrowed
from the World Wrestling Entertainment, does that mean we
should teach all altar workers to become more aggressive?

I know that people have been healed in the meetings in Lakeland. I
know of a woman from South Carolina who was healed of cystic
fibrosis while sitting in one of Bentley’s services. (She was never
touched by anyone.) I also know a man from California who was
healed of sleep apnea while watching the Lakeland revival on
television. Jesus is most definitely still in the healing business.

I also know that Bentley is not performing Hulk Hogan stunts from
the stage in Lakeland every night. But because his comments
about violent prayer have been so widely broadcast, we need to
call a timeout and make it clear that hitting people is wrong, period.
Bentley’s teaching on unorthodox prayer methods should include a
disclaimer: “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.” Here are three reasons why:

1. The Holy Spirit is gentle. Jesus boldly drove the moneychangers
out of the temple with a whip. But when He prayed for sick people,
there is no record of Him head-banging or leg-dropping anyone. He
rebuked evil spirits authoritatively, but He never hit, slapped,
choked, mounted or kicked a person. He was meek, which means
He knew how to control His strength, and He never threw His
weight around.

When He commissioned His followers to heal the sick, Jesus told
them to “lay” hands on them (Mark 16:18). Since gentleness is
part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (along with kindness—see Gal.
5:22-23), any ministry we do should be tempered with mercy and
concern.

2. If we minister in the flesh, we will reap flesh. Several years ago I
was standing near the stage in a large meeting when a visiting
evangelist said he wanted to pray for all the ministers in the room.
Immediately some ushers yanked me up to the platform and the
man of God raced over to “pray” for me. Before I knew it, I was
assaulted in the name of the Lord.

Whack! The guy hit me so hard that I fell down and held my face in
my hands to hide my grimace. The skin on my neck was stinging.
When I finally went back to my seat, a friend ran over to
congratulate me, saying, “Wow, I saw you go down under the
power!” I had to grit my teeth and ask the Lord to help me forgive
the preacher who inflicted pain instead of a holy impartation.

Why do we think that more bodies on the floor equals “more
anointing”—especially when the evangelist shoves people to the
ground or slaps them silly? To build a ministry on such foolish
theatrics is to trust in the arm of the flesh.

3. Somebody’s going to get hurt. We reported last week that a
Tennessee man sued his charismatic church because its pastoral
staff did not provide the proper “catchers” when he fell down during
a prayer meeting last year. Matthew Lincoln of Knoxville said he
struck the hard floor of the sanctuary with his head and aggravated
a disc problem in his back, resulting in the need for surgery.

I don’t know the specifics of the situation in Knoxville, Tenn., and
it may be that this church has done everything possible to provide
a caring atmosphere in their meetings. Plus, the man suing the
church does not say anyone hit him or knocked him over. But
serious accidents are bound to happen if we don’t stress the
importance of ministering with gentleness and wisdom.

In our zany charismatic world we often let our zeal run wild. I’ve
been in services in which all kinds of injuries happened. Once I
watched a 300-pound man fall on a frail woman. I’ve seen heads
hit metal chairs. I’ve seen evangelists step on people’s arms and
legs. We may say the Holy Spirit is moving, but—more often than
we want to admit—our chaos may be a sign of our immaturity.

Please understand me. I desperately want the power of God to
invade our churches. I’ve been in meetings in which the Lord’s
glory was so thick that no one could stand up. I have felt the
weight of His presence fall like a blanket on a congregation. And I
remember falling to the floor when I got within four feet of a humble
Indian preacher who barely touched people on the forehead when
he prayed for them.

We don’t have to force things to happen. God’s power is real. May
we never settle for a man-made imitation.

~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
SOURCE- http://www.charismamag.com/fireinmybones/

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit?

Whatever Happened to the Fear of God?

If we want the same level of supernatural anointing that was evident in the New Testament church, we should also pray for a higher level of holiness.

We charismatics yearn for a return to the raw intensity of the early church—the angelic visitations, power encounters, prophecies, mass conversions and missionary adventures. I want all of that! The book of Acts is the gold standard for normative Christianity, and we shouldn’t rest until we see it manifested in our generation.

But those first-century miracles didn’t happen in a vacuum. They flowed from a praying church that was bathed in humility and holiness. The early disciples had not only been baptized in the Holy Spirit; they had also been baptized with fire (see Matt. 3:11). And the fire of God is a cleansing flame that burns up sin and produces the fear of the Lord.

We tend to forget that the same people who experienced tongues on the day of Pentecost, and then witnessed the healing of a lame beggar in Jerusalem, also watched in horror as Ananias and Sapphira—two influential but compromising church members—dropped dead because God’s presence was so strong. When their bodies were carried away, the Bible says, “great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Do we want that level of God’s presence? The fear that came on the early church is also called a “sense of awe” in Acts 2:43. We often downplay the fear of God by saying that it really means “reverence.” But the Greek word used in Acts 5:11 and Acts 2:43 is phobos, which can be translated “exceeding dread, alarm or terror.”

We love the ecstatic joy and the goose bumps that accompany revival meetings. But revival is not fun and games. Are we ready for the terror?

As I pray for revival in my own life and in my nation, I have started praying regularly for the fear of the Lord. And I think it will manifest in some key areas:

1. Truthfulness. When we walk in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit we will feel an immediate sense of conviction if we say anything false or misleading. That conviction will hound us until we repent and repair the damage we have done with our mouths. We will hear the word of the Lord echoing in our conscience: “Do not lie to one another” (Col. 3:9).

I realized a few years ago that I sometimes lied when someone asked me if I had read a certain book or knew of a certain celebrity or sports figure. Even if I did not know anything about the subject of the conversation, I would nod and pretend that I was informed. I recognized later that I did this out of insecurity, hoping to appear knowledgeable. I had to repent of pride and ask God to help me be honest.

This may seem minor, but little white lies breed serious deceit. If we have no fear of God, we will exaggerate and think nothing of it. This can become a crisis when church leaders, in their zeal for revival, are careless when reporting miracles, healings or numbers of conversions. Exaggeration is lying. If we build a ministry by stretching the truth, we stand on shaky ground. Christ’s kingdom cannot be built on hype.

We often assume that the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was greed. But the Bible actually says they were struck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 5:3). They sold a piece of property and pretended to give all the money to the apostles when in fact they had kept some of the proceeds for themselves. They were trying to look good in the eyes of church leaders. They were attempting to buy favor and influence—and God caught them in the act.

2. Sexual purity. All of us know that the American church is facing a sexual crisis. Some denominations, such as the Episcopal Church, have bowed to the spirit of Baal to embrace homosexual practice as acceptable behavior. Recently, Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully the charismatic world hasn’t slipped to that level of depravity. But we have never witnessed so much moral failure in our ranks. Many ministers are living double lives and hiding their girlfriends and out-of-wedlock babies. In my city, one prominent minister had an affair with a stripper and went right on preaching from the same pulpit without skipping a beat.

If I am walking in the fear of God, I will not peek at pornography, entertain fantasy or cross a sexual boundary. And if I am in church leadership, I will never allow ministers with questionable sexual reputations to defile the congregation by allowing him to lay hands on them or impart his defilement. I don’t care how “anointed” a man of God is or how accurate his prophecies are. If he has been engaging in immorality and has not been restored properly, he will infect people with his sin if we give him a platform.

3. Financial integrity. We should learn from the example of Eli’s reprobate sons, Hophni and Phinehas, that God does not wink at extortion — especially when it involves money that has been given to God. These “worthless” men were judged severely because they had their hands in the offering plate (see 1 Sam. 2:12-17).

The eighth commandment forbids stealing. Yet in the “Spirit-filled” church today, ministers think nothing of robbing the saints. Too often the collection of the offering turns into a circus involving manipulation, theatrics and the twisting of Scripture—as well as arms—to meet a budget goal. Why should we be surprised when God’s presence lifts at that point in the service?

If we truly fear the Lord we will be conscious of the fact that He watches how we handle money in His house. He sees every dollar that is given. Heaven keeps accurate accounting. God knows how we word our financial appeals and if we use the money for one thing when it was pledged for another.

4. Reverence for God. In some charismatic churches today, leaders have introduced a trendy new teaching that compares God to drugs. They proclaim that “Jesus is my D.O.C.”—my “Drug of Choice.” In a bizarre attempt to be relevant with our culture, they compare a spiritual encounter with God to a heroin overdose. In one instance, a group of people pretended to shoot invisible needles into their arms as they prayed for one another and asked God for His anointing. And this was in a so-called “revival service”!

One minister in Oregon refers to God as “Jehovahjuana” — implying that the Lord can give you a marijuana high. Another conference speaker in California put a plastic Jesus from a nativity scene into his mouth and encouraged a group of teens to “smoke baby Jesus.” The kids all laughed and everyone thought this was a hoot.

Actually, mishandling the name of the Lord in such a flippant manner, and comparing God to an illegal drug, is what the Bible calls blasphemy. We do not have permission to dishonor His character by changing His name to something sinful and degrading.

How desperately we need the dreadful fire of His holy presence! I hope we will all cry out together the prayer of David in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.”

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. You can join him next week for a live conference call with Mark Hall, lead singer of the band Casting Crowns, when Lee interviews Mark about how we can reach the younger generation for Christ. Sign up for the call at connect2leaders.com.

No spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes!

KENNETH HAGIN’s FORGOTTEN WARNING
-by J. Lee Grady.

Before he died in 2003, the revered father of the Word-Faith movement corrected his spiritual sons for going to extremes with their message of prosperity.

Charismatic Bible teacher Kenneth Hagin Sr. is considered the father of the so-called prosperity gospel. The folksy, self-trained “Dad Hagin” started a grass-roots movement in Oklahoma that
produced a Bible college and a crop of famous preachers including Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, Jesse DuPlantis, Creflo Dollar and dozens of others—all of whom teach
that Christians who give generously should expect financial rewards on this side of heaven.

Hagin taught that God was not glorified by poverty and that preachers do not have to be poor. But before he died in 2003 and left his Rhema Bible Training Center in the hands of his son, Kenneth Hagin Jr., he summoned many of his colleagues to Tulsa to rebuke them for distorting his message. He was not happy that some of his followers were manipulating the Bible to support what he viewed as greed and selfish indulgence. Those who were close to Hagin Sr. say he was passionate about correcting these abuses before he died. In fact, he wrote a brutally honest book to address his concerns. The Midas Touch was published in 2000, a year after the infamous Tulsa meeting.

Many Word-Faith ministers ignored the book. But in light of the recent controversy over prosperity doctrines, it might be a good idea to dust it off and read it again.

Here are a few of the points Hagin made in The Midas Touch:

1. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God’s blessing. Hagin wrote: “If wealth alone were a sign of spirituality, then drug traffickers and crime bosses would be spiritual giants. Material wealth can be connected to the blessings of God or it can be totally disconnected from the blessings of God.”

2. People should never give in order to get. Hagin was critical of those who “try to make the offering plate some kind of heavenly vending machine.” He denounced those who link giving to getting, especially those who give cars to get new cars or who give suits to get new suits. He wrote: “There is no spiritual formula to sow a Ford and reap a Mercedes.”

3. It is not biblical to “name your seed” in an offering. Hagin was horrified by this practice, which was popularized in faith conferences during the 1980s. Faith preachers sometimes tell donors that when they give in an offering they should claim a specific benefit to get a blessing in return. Hagin rejected this idea and said that focusing on what you are going to receive “corrupts
the very attitude of our giving nature.”

4. The “hundredfold return” is not a biblical concept. Hagin did the math and figured out that if this bizarre notion were true, “we would have Christians walking around with not billions or trillions of dollars, but quadrillions of dollars!” He rejected the popular teaching that a believer should claim a specific monetary payback rate.

5. Preachers who claim to have a “debt-breaking” anointing should not be trusted. Hagin was perplexed by ministers who promise “supernatural debt cancellation” to those who give in certain offerings. He wrote in The Midas Touch: “There is not one bit of Scripture I know about that validates such a practice. I’m afraid it is simply a scheme to raise money for the preacher, and ultimately it can turn out to be dangerous and destructive for all involved.”

(Many evangelists who appear on Christian television today use this bogus claim. Usually they insist that the miraculous debt cancellation will occur only if a person “gives right now,” as if the
anointing for this miracle suddenly evaporates after the prime time viewing hour. This manipulative claim is more akin to witchcraft than Christian belief.)

Hagin condemned other hairbrained gimmicks designed to trick audiences into emptying their wallets. He was especially incensed when a preacher told his radio listeners that he would take their prayer requests to Jesus’ empty tomb in Jerusalem and pray over them there—if donors included a special love gift. “What that radio preacher really wanted was more people to send in offerings,” Hagin wrote.

Thanks to the recent resurgence in bizarre donation schemes promoted by American charismatics, the prosperity gospel is back under the nation’s microscope. It’s time to revisit Hagin’s concerns and find a biblical balance.

Hagin told his followers: “Overemphasizing or adding to what the Bible actually teaches invariably does more harm than good.” If the man who pioneered the modern concept of biblical prosperity blew the whistle on his own movement, wouldn’t it make sense for us to listen to his admonition?

~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. The Midas Touch is available from Kenneth Hagin Ministries at- www.rhema.org

~SOURCE: http://www.charismamag.com/fireinmybones/

Spiritual vs Foolish

Extreme spirituality

by Jacob Ninan

Solomon gave a piece of advice to people that they should not be excessively righteous (Eccl.7:16). What does this mean except that we should not take righteousness to extremes? Isn’t it true that some well meaning people foolishly extend themselves beyond what God requires and, as a result, end up in an unnatural, unrealistic and impractical approach to righteousness or spirituality? Do you remember how Eve narrated to the devil how God had told Adam and Eve not to eat or touch the forbidden fruit? (Gen.3:2,3). There is no record of God having said anything about ‘not touching’ the fruit! (Gen.2:16,17). This may have been an extrapolation she made without thinking. She may have thought about herself that she was not the type to take God’s word casually and that she wanted to be quite radical about God’s commandments! Anyway, finally she not only touched the fruit, but she also ate it!

It seems that the original Pharisees, when they started as a group, were godly people who sincerely wanted to be pleasing to the Lord in every detail. But in seeking to be really godly, they went beyond what God wanted, and they got sidetracked with silly little issues (e.g., “not touching”), missing the main point (Matt.23:23-25).

A good intention is not a complete safeguard against error. Nor is a desire to be radical in following the Lord necessarily a protection against compromise. A ‘no compromise’ stance appeals to our ego, and it also seems to fetch us a great reputation. We like to think we are better and more spiritual than the others, and then we may go beyond the normal and the reasonable, and become somewhat crazy, spiritually. Once this happens we may think that anyone who tries to correct us or point out our error is blind and un-spiritual and has no revelation or understanding of the truth, or is trying to oppose or persecute us who are standing up for the truth. This is ‘spiritual psychosis’ - a disconnect with reality.

Unfortunately the Church has seen many cases of extreme spirituality. Let us look at a few of the typical ones of today, in order to get a general understanding of what it means. Let us also remember that it is not difficult for any of us to fall into such snares.

Refusing to use medicine
Does anyone doubt God’s ability to heal? Hardly any believer does. Has God promised to heal every sickness? Some people seem to believe that from verses like Isa.53:5 and Matt.8:17, even though there are other possible interpretations and examples in the New Testament of people not getting healed. Does God heal miraculously these days? He does. But does it mean that God heals every time we pray, and also that whenever He heals it is without the use of medicines? Does He always want us not to use medicines but to simply trust in Him?

While we recognise the fact that sometimes God does heal without medicines, the problem is in insisting that it should be the only way. Neither the history in the New Testament nor present experience supports such a claim. Unfortunately some people hold such a belief and suffer, and also cause others to suffer, even to the point of death, things which could have been dealt with medically. This seems to be a case of tempting God by jumping off from the pinnacle of the temple and expecting God to preserve them (Matt.4:5-7).

Refusing to use reason

The saying goes, “Reason is the enemy of faith.” There is some truth in this statement, and yet it is not the full truth. If we are willing to believe what God says only if we can first understand it by reasoning, that kind of reasoning is an enemy of faith. God wants us to believe His words because they are His words. If we believe in Him and also His words, then we can also begin to understand (Heb.11:3). If we hesitate to take some action which God clearly asks of us because we aren’t sure how it would turn out for us, that would be refusing to walk by faith (Prov.3:5). Certainly, God understands us if we are genuinely perplexed about what exactly His will is in any situation. Jesus Himself asked the Father three times if ‘drinking the cup’ was really what the Father wanted Him to do. But once it was clear, there was no hesitation at all.

Reason by itself is not wrong. It is a faculty that God Himself has given us. We find in the Bible a large number of times when God explains to people the reason why He was doing something. God says that we are not like the horse or the mule which have to physically directed (Psa.32:9). God expects us to understand, reason things out and make our own choices. It is wrong to question God as if we know better than He, but is it wrong trying to understand God better with a questioning mind? Is it wrong to analyse different choices with reference to God’s ways before we finally decide? Is it wrong to look back and try to understand where others or we have gone wrong? What about examining different possibilities of interpretation when we read the Bible before accepting the truth? If general experience doesn’t fit with our interpretation, shall we not re-examine our interpretation? Perhaps we have not understood things rightly.

If we stop using our reason, we are in danger of getting into various forms of error, based on our own lack of knowledge or ‘simply trusting’ what some ‘great’ man has said. We seem to be scared of even examining what some ‘prophet’ says because we have been taught ‘not to touch the Lord’s anointed’ in spite of the Bible telling us to judge and sift whatever prophets speak (1Cor.14:29;1Thess.5:19-21).

Isn’t leaning on God the same as making ourselves subject to Him, and letting Him have the control over our life? Even when we are analysing various options or possibilities by using our reasoning power, when we do that recognising His lordship over us and we are willing to let Him guide us to our final choice, isn’t that leaning on Him?

Denying feelings
Some people think that only our spiritual life is important, and neglect the physical part of life. But we are not spirits. Our spirit dwells within our bodies. Some other people think our life is all about our will and what we do, and that we should not give heed to our feelings. People who don’t show any emotions are considered to be mature, strong and spiritual. As a result feelings are neglected and looked down upon as a sign of spiritual weakness. It is a fact that our feelings can be very unreliable by themselves as a guide to lead our actions. But to ignore our feelings altogether is foolishness!

Feelings are things God has created us with. Good feelings are part of what helps us to enjoy life. For example good feelings are involved when we sing praises to God from our heart and worship Him, or when we are in the company of friends.

But just as pain in the body indicates that something is wrong physically, bad feelings are also good indicators of something being wrong in our thinking. When God asked Cain why his face was fallen, His implication was that getting upset was an indication that there was something within Cain’s mind that needed to be set right (Gen.4:6). Things may be wrong in themselves or we may be responding to things in a wrong way, and either way we feel bad. If we take note of these bad feelings we can then do something to set things right. But what happens if we deny or repress our feelings?

Extreme spirituality that negates feelings, and looks down on anyone who shows feelings is so unnatural and artificial! Do we forget that Jesus was angry many times, He wept, spoke sarcastically at times, spoke in humour, etc.? Didn’t He withdraw and try to be alone when He heard that His cousin John the Baptist had been killed? Didn’t He recognise that His soul was greatly troubled when He thought about what was going to happen to Him? (Jn.12:27). Wasn’t it with feeling that He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Of course we cannot afford to let our emotions control us, or lead us. But we do need to pay attention to them and keep them in their proper place. We must be aware of our feelings as well as those of people we deal with, and we must also know how to deal with them.

What about the effect our words or actions may have on other people’s feelings? Can we afford to just go ahead and do what we think is right without bothering about others? It may look as though we are free from the opinion of men. But what would happen to our relationships? How many people can we win for Christ in this way? Should we not rather take care not to offend the least of our brothers or sisters? (Mt.18:6;1Cor.10:32;2Cor.6:3). Of course there will be people who get upset with us no matter what we do. But that does not mean that we need not be careful how we conduct ourselves.

Thinking all human wisdom is foolishness
The Bible says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God (1Cor.3:19). This is enough for extremists to denounce all wisdom that unbelieving man has as being foolishness in the sight of God. When worldly wisdom leads a man to make himself independent of God or leads him away from God, that becomes foolishness (Rom.1:21,22). Many ‘great’ men of this world think that God doesn’t exist, they don’t need God, they don’t like Him the way He is, they know better than God, etc. But to react to this and think that any opinion or idea that an unbelieving man has must be foolish is to go berserk.

There are some Christians who tear many servants of God to pieces with criticism because these people think that if a preacher or writer mentions anything outside of the Bible or gives his own opinion he is relying on ‘human wisdom.’ If he uses anything from psychology or quotes from some management guru he is gone astray! The assumption seems to be that anything that is not explicitly taught in the Bible cannot be right.

Generally speaking, people who hold to a “Bible only” view have no problem using wisdom and knowledge related to the earthly life such as science, engineering, medicine, etc., because they feel that this will not interfere with their spiritual life. But when it comes to matters related to human behaviour, such as philosophy and psychology, they tend to outright classify all such things as foolishness. Of course there is need for utmost caution in looking at worldly viewpoints, values and approaches, because Satan is the prince of this world (John.14:13), and he achieves his deception by cleverly mixing error with truth. At the same time, if we sift through things and accept what is acceptable to God and in conformity with the principles revealed in the Bible, we stand to gain.

“God spoke to me”
God does speak to us. But someone has said that while we have the best Teacher in the Holy Spirit, we are hardly the best of students ourselves. We have limitations about how clearly we are able to hear and understand, how much we are able to distinguish the voice of the Holy Spirit from other voices, how willing we are to deny ourselves and obey Him, etc.

While we are learning to listen to the Holy Spirit, we do make mistakes, thinking that our own ideas or even the ideas that Satan places in our mind have come from God. If we are aware of this possibility, we would not be adamantly confident about the so-called leading of the Holy Spirit, or simply trust every dream or vision that we have, but we would check it with the revealed truths in the Bible. The Holy Spirit can certainly guide us into new directions in which we have not travelled before. But if we are going to go into new areas it is all the more necessary to make sure that what we have heard is from the Holy Spirit. Isn’t it also helpful if we can listen with an open mind to more mature people who point out our errors?

Not recognising human relationships
When we recognise that God has caused us to be born again and become children of God, some have a tendency to go to an extreme and relate only with other “brothers and sisters” in Christ, especially in the local church. Their own kith and kin are relegated to the earthly realm and their relationship with them boils down to witnessing to them, praying for them, warning them, etc. This, of course, puts them off from coming anywhere near a church, or at least their brand of the church. And then they wonder about how blind the others are, etc.! Some even go to the extent of relinquishing their marriage partners or live with them as though they were not married, because they imagine that this is the way to become a part of the bride of Christ (Rev.14:4)!

Like in all similar cases, we can find verses to support our stand. Doesn’t Paul tell us that we should recognise no man after the flesh? (2Cor.5:16). What he meant was that whatever position a man had on earth was immaterial to his new status in the kingdom of God. A man of prominence or of lowly position in the world should not receive any distinction in the church.

But it is not that when we become children of God we cease to be children of men! We are still on the earth, doing earthly things and relating to people in earthly ways. We still get married, have children, and have many other earthly relationships. The need for us to honour our father and mother does not change even if we are born again and they are not! A husband needs to love his wife even if she is an unbeliever, or vice versa. If we do not provide for our loved ones we become worse than unbelievers! (1Tim.5:8). If we love our earthly brothers and sisters less because we now have brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to go and learn from the Good Samaritan story that a despised outcaste may be actually be more ‘spiritual’ than some so-called spiritual brothers and sisters! Even though we are not of the world we still are in the world (John.15:19;17:11). To imagine otherwise would be unrealistic in the least and spiritual fanaticism in the worst case.

Having nothing to do with the world
What do we do when we read the verse that tells us that all that is in the world is not from the Father but from the world? (1John.2:16). First of all we must note that ‘all’ is not literally referring to everything that is in the world because it was God who created the world and everything in it, but to ‘the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.’ It is a mistake if we extend this to mean all things of this world. As a result of this type of approach, we can withdraw from the world and its activities. This is unrealistic, not to mention impossible.

Because our values and goals are higher than those of the world, we are different from people of the world. But we are still in this world, and we have to live here just like all the other people in this world, caring for our bodies, working for our living, bringing up our children, etc. What we need to avoid is not contact with the world or association with the people of the world, but allowing ourselves to be moulded into the world’s values and practices.

Earlier in church history those who wanted to live close to God used to withdraw from the world into monasteries. Nowadays such people draw back from the different activities of the world into a life of ‘Not permitted.’ They try to avoid compromise by shunning things altogether without making efforts to understand the principles behind the compromise. They avoid movies because there are many bad movies, give up TV because there are many bad programmes, avoid the internet because there are many dangers out there, avoid contemporary music because it could be from the devil, don’t read worldly novels or magazines, don’t go to parties or special occasions, etc. Their activities are only Bible studies, prayer meetings, conventions, evangelistic campaigns, worship concerts, etc. The ‘advantage’ of this approach is that it is easier to distinguish between black and white rather than among shades of grey. But the problem is that such people become naïve with respect to earthly matters, unable to connect with people (especially teenagers), and derided by the people around (justifiably!).

Just as salt cannot give taste to food if it will not come into contact with food, our witness to the world cannot be effective if we keep ourselves outside of the world. To be inside the world without becoming defiled by the worldly values or becoming a part of the world needs a finer level of discernment that comes only through an exercise of our spiritual senses (Heb.5:14).

Not saving anything for the future
There have been people whom God has called with a special calling, in order to make them examples of some lesson He wanted to teach the rest of us. Some of them have demonstrated how God is able to provide for all their earthly needs as they simply depended on Him. But to extend this as a doctrine to the point that it is considered a lack of faith to save anything for the future is ridiculous, especially when the Bible teaches us to learn from the ants how they save up their grain during the harvest in order to have something to eat during the winter! (Prov.6:6-8). Let us also not make this ‘faith’ an excuse for lack of discipline and carefulness in the use of money.

Equating fun with sin
I suppose it is as a reaction to the predominance of sinful pleasures that are enjoyed in the world that some Christians have learned to associate all pleasures with sin. In an apparent attempt to keep away from anything that is sinful, they have become allergic to any form of fun. This is a mistake among some believers, whose lives are so full of don’ts that they are scared of enjoying anything. Their view of God is as a hard taskmaster who jumps with glee every time He catches them slipping up somewhere, such as when they are enjoying themselves. They don’t realise that God supplies us richly with all things for us to enjoy! (1Tim.6:17). It is when our pleasure is derived from activities that are outside God-given boundaries that they become wrong.

Considering wealth as being contrary to godliness
Following up on the truth that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1Tim.6:10), and that we cannot serve God and mammon (Matt.6:24), some Christians conclude that to have money or wealth is wrong. But money in itself is not wrong, but only craving it in such a way that it becomes a strong driving factor in life. Why did Jesus refer to mammon as ‘unrighteous’? Perhaps because wealth has a tendency to corrupt. Jesus said that we need to learn to be faithful in the use of mammon (Lk.15:11). He also said that the rich find it difficult to enter the kingdom of God (Matt.19:24), because they tend to put their trust in their wealth and all that money can buy than in God. But He never asked rich men in general to give up their wealth. Paul did not tell rich people not to be rich, but only to place their trust in God instead of money, and to be generous in good deeds (1Tim.6:17,18).

Expecting all people to be prosperous and healthy
This is the opposite error to the one above. It is good to be prosperous and healthy too, and it is all right to ask God for these. But it is wrong to proclaim that God will prosper everyone on this sin-corrupted earth and downright callous to insist if believers are not prosperous or free from sickness that it must be due to lack of faith or some secret sin. This is unrealistic, and it is also not warranted from Scriptures. Jesus and His disciples were not all wealthy, and some of the believers were sick (Php.2:26,27;2Tim.4:20). Freedom from pain and sorrow is something that is promised only in heaven, even though we might get a taste of heaven even on earth (Rev.7:16,17).

Equating humility with self-abasement
In an attempt to avoid pride, people go to the extreme of considering themselves as being of no worth, allow themselves to be trodden down, tell themselves that they deserve all the insults and unjust treatment that come their way, deny every desire connected with ‘self’, take on a ‘humble’ posture, give up all attention to personal appearance and dressing, avoid going for ‘higher’ studies or well-paying jobs, etc. To talk of self-respect or dignity is like heresy to these people. The most humble Man who lived on earth never behaved in any such way. There was a self-respect and dignity about Him that even Pilate had to recognise. To be humble is to have a sober estimate of oneself first of all before God and also in relation to people (Rom.12:3;Jas.4:10;Php.2:3).

“We are the Body of Christ”
While the Church in general needs to recognise more clearly in practical terms that it is the body of Christ and we are individually its members, some churches proclaim and act as if they were exclusively the body of Christ. This is mostly based on the some special doctrine, which makes them feel that they are a cut above the others. If someone wants to be a part of the body of Christ, he has to join this church. Apart from thoroughly deceiving themselves, they also cut themselves off from the other parts of the real body of Christ and lose the blessings they could have had.

“Touch not the Lord’s anointed”
This is a common teaching among churches where the leaders are prominent because of their gifts or personality. They make themselves beyond questioning or correction by providing such veiled threats of calamities if anyone dared to question them. In this way they not only protect themselves and their position, but they also wield such authority over the people that they simply obey whatever these leaders tell them. Unfortunately neither they nor the people realise that ‘anointed’ in 1Chron.16:21,22 was referring to the people of Israel and not their leaders! They also don’t realise that only those who serve, and not those who lord it over others are the real leaders in God’s eyes.

Conclusion
Like Paul said, all these types of foolish ways look as though they will make us godly (Col.2:23). But they are deceptive. Generally speaking they make us feel superior to others around us. When we begin to go in these directions it does not look as though we are making a mistake. We think we have found a secret of godliness. But even though the deviation may be small in the beginning, ultimately it leads us far away from the goal.

-- Published in the Light of Life magazine, August and September 2007

Who is the Anti-Christ?

BALAAM and THE PROPHETIC MOVEMENT
-by Terry Somerville. (Sep 7).

"Stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (I John 4:1)


I stopped reading the prophetic bulletins and websites several years ago. I found many of them did not "taste right", and I didn't know why. But, I still have one or two in the in box every week and I've watched the trends, and there are two trends that should concern all of us. We may not have noticed them because, like the "frog in the kettle" we adjust to the rising heat and don't realize we are slowly cooking to death. The scripture warns us about two dangers for prophets. One warning is about the "spirit of Antichrist" and the other is what I could call "the spirit of Balaam".

Now, I'm not saying God is not powerfully working in the prophetic movement. We are seeing a great transition from a church focus to a Kingdom focus, and the Lord is using many prophets to help usher this in. I've been a part of it myself. But this also means we are more vulnerable as we press into new times and seasons.

The Spirit of Antichrist Slips In

"But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world." (I John 4:3)

The word "Anti-Christ" does not mean "against" Christ, as it would in English. The Greek word actually means a replacement, or "instead of" Christ. Christ means "the anointed one". The reason John warns the church about the spirit of Antichrist is NOT that a prophet comes speaking against Jesus, but that their attention is taken away from Him. Instead, it is given to a man, a doctrine or to something else that is anointed.

When something subtly replaces Jesus Christ as the focus, it is the spirit of Antichrist at work. In todays prophetic movement, it seems the attention has moved away from Jesus. The focus on signs and manifestations is increasing, and the signs are getting stranger. The appearances of angels, (which is biblical), has given way to gold dust, falling feathers and gemstones, glowing orbs and...whatever. A large proportion of the prophetic words now focus on the signs and the glory that's coming. Does it sound like it's all going in one direction?

I'm not saying there are not signs from God in the prophetic movement, but you can read hundreds of these prophecies and there's hardly a reference to Jesus. Also, the fruit of these signs and wonders seem to point only to themselves, personalities and meetings. We aught to be concerned that the spirit of antichrist is subtly at work, changing the temperature, and replacing Christ."

Remember, John didn't say a spirit or prophecy would speak against Jesus. Jesus is simply being replaced by a different focus. A new love develops in the heart. We are in danger of the spirit of Antichrist becoming well mixed into the prophetic movement. It's time for Jesus to once again be the main focus.





The Spirit Of Balaam Takes Over

"How terrible it will be for them! For they... rushed headlong into Balaam's error to make a profit, and destroyed themselves" (Jude 1:11)

In Numbers 22, Balaam appears to be a genuine prophet who gives the word of the Lord concerning Israel. But, he was greedy for King Balaak's reward and so he caused Israel to sin and be defeated. (See Numbers 31:16)

The "spirit of Balaam" as I have called it, is at work when the love of money overtakes a prophet. As with "the spirit of Antichrist, this Balaam spirit is subtle. A prophet could easily resist outright greed, but when expenses or financial gain is a possibility, the Balaam spirit moves in. If success and recognition comes, the desire for riches can become a very real problem. Today, there are serious indications that the "spirit of Balaam" has entered the house of the prophets.

Psychic Chat Lines Move Over

I just visited one of the most popular prophetic websites and I was astonished. The sale of "prophetic product" has truly reached an all time high. In fact it's taken over and the pages are jammed. Most of the links are about books, and quotes of prophets recommending them. I had trouble finding any ministry. When I finally clicked on some teaching and prophetic words. I got a few sentences then a "click here to buy" link! I needed to pay $3.00 to download the prophetic word. God help us! Are the prophets selling out to greed? Whatever happened to Jesus command "freely you have received, freely give." It's merchandise in the temple.

"Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8)

Conclusion

"The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us." (Micah 3:11)

PROPHETS WAKE UP! The word of God has a multitude of scriptures about corrupted prophets. Satan wants to derail this generation from entering the Kingdom, and will replace our focus on Jesus with anything that works. But the Lord has given us the tools to stay on track. It's time for us to use them, especially in the prophetic movement. As the Kingdom of God draws near we need to be wise.

~Terry Somerville,
"totalchange.org"

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