Undoubtedly the big News breaking thing in Christendom is the Gold Phenomenon. It's worldwide. First gold tooth fillings, sometimes replacing amalgam and at others appearing from nothing, then gold dust, then gold tooth-fillings with crosses. It's amazing stuff and the world is looking on and pouring scorn on Christianity, while not a few discerning Christians are leaving their churches in horror that leaders and members can be so stupid.

Where and how did it all start? 

Thar's gold in them thar mouths !

According to British journalist Steve Adams the gold filling phenomenon happened in the 50s among America's beggars and 20 years later in Chile also among the poor under the ministry of Puerto Rican evangelist, Gigi Avila. Another 20 years on and it's claimed to be happening all over the world, but now it's no longer just the underprivileged. People from all walks of life are getting in on the act.

So when and how did the recent spate of "divine dentistry" commence?

Steve Adams writes: " Ironical?? perhaps, it can be traced to the world's gold capital, South Africa. It was there in late 1998 that Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship's (TACF) John Arnott witnessed what he termed miracles. In early March 1999, a subsequent outbreak at Arnott's own church during an intercession conference saw 300 people coming forward over a series of evenings, claiming to have had some sort of dental miracle. On returning to their various countries, conference attendees reported that the phenomena had travelled with them. A TACF press release reported that, some are testifying that these miracles happened while watching conference sessions on video tape. "Suddenly the possible manifestation of the power of the Spirit was obeying no boundaries. Reports of occurrences came thick and fast from Australia, Mexico, the USA and Switzerland." *1

South Africa to Toronto! Haven't we seen that connection before? John Arnott, you might have guessed. I have an email written by Petra Drnovscek PA to John Arnott on 18 March 1999:

Subject — Press Release

"John Arnott has asked me to forward this press release to you for distribution. Even as I type this, people are sending in testimonies of how their fillings are turning into gold! God is good!"

Then from the gold guru himself, John Arnott: "Why would God fill people's teeth with gold? Perhaps because He loves them and delights in blessing His children. Perhaps it is a sign and a wonder to expose the scepticism still in so many of us. Perhaps His glory and presence are drawing very near."
Petra Drnovscek

As Robert Liichow of Inner-City Christian Discernment Ministry (ICCDM) points out it's all perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. ICCDM's web site is well worth a visit — http://www.discernment.org

Bob's book The Two Roots of Today's Revival *2 is also worth reading and will hopefully be available soon from our offices in NZ and Australia.

It's the same old story of orchestration that occurred with TB and the same group of people behind it. In NZ it was Kerry Sharp of Palmerston North, New Zealand — ksharp@manawatu.gen.nz who was one who circularised John Arnott's press release and of course Tony Black of the Ken Gott "Revival Now" connection in UK and the Houstons "down-under" did his bit too, plus those of the Rodney Howard-Browne connection, such as Richard Riss et al. It's called auto-suggestion.
John Arnott is quoted as praying at his TACF, (remember the former Vineyard Church which became so wild that even the late John Wimber distanced himself and his organisation from them) "Lord grant us dentistry miracles like they have in South Africa" or some such request. Now you tell me that's not brain-washing and auto-suggestion? And then they'll tell you it's a sovereign move of God. Yes I'm sure — motivated by emails, web-sites and other means in our "global village" world!! Some people may be gullible. We're not all stupid.

But could there be something more sinister than mere "auto-suggestion" and what is the Biblical position on all these "tooth filling" claims?

If our understanding of Bible prophecy is correct — and the longer this
"revival" goes on and the more bizarre it becomes the more I am convinced that it is correct — then the biggest contributing factor to the apostasy will be "lying signs and wonders" — c/f 2 Thess 2:9 with Matt 24:24.

Of course in a sense this has always been the case. The mystical miracles of the Roman Catholic Church, for example, have deceived millions throughout church history. But the sinister thing about this is that now these "mystical miracles" — gold in mouths and gold in the air (dust) and the hair (see below) — have entered the evangelical, pentecostal, charismatic section of christendom with devastating effect.

The "church" is hell bent on the road to Rome and many sincere church leaders can't or won't see it. That's the sinister aspect and of course it's linked to bible prophecy so we can do very little about it except take heed ourselves and warn others. It's hard to even pray about it for the divine die is cast.

The biblical position about "gold tooth filling" is really very simple. God will NOT do it — at least the God of the Bible won't! Psalm 18:30 states: "As for God, HIS way is perfect" i.e. "absolute", "the ultimate", "nothing beyond it". Men may fill teeth with gold — or more accurately put gold caps on teeth that are badly damaged — but God won't. God won't use inferior material and yes, gold is inferior to the ivory which God put in our mouths at birth. It's an absurd notion and completely contrary to the nature and character of the God of the Bible.

Just as God won't give a person a wooden leg or a glass eye, so He won't cap or fill a tooth with gold. It is idolatrous to suggest that He will or does. In the mere suggestion of such a thing we are creating a "god in our image", which is the process that leads to paganism. I repeat — it is idolatrous and it's unreasonable to boot.
Reason is both a human and a divine faculty. God invites us to reason (Isaiah 1:18). Faith is not based on reason, but nor is it unreasonable. Faith is not believing something that you know is not true. That's credulity. It's not faith. Reason is part of the equation in this whole issue of "gold materialisations" and
reason is a faculty given to us by God. We ignore it to our detriment and
dishonour.

With this in mind I put my ear to the ground, kept my head on my shoulders and guess what? The following surfaced and ironically enough from the Revival Now camp itself. Didn't we tell you that God would cause them to reveal their folly?

The challenge of a metalurgist

Kevin Millican <kmillican@csi.com> has an honour's degree in engineering metallurgy from Salford University in Manchester. The course was 4 years full-time with two 6-month periods in industry in the second & third years. When he graduated in 1984 he began work at a testing laboratory in Great Yarmouth and was promoted to Test Laboratory manager conducting more than 100 failure/metallurgical investigations. He is also a chartered engineer.

Kevin has made his services available to the Christian church. He is willing to test people who claim that their amalgam fillings have turned to gold. Why? Kevin says, "Don't under-estimate this sign; if it can be verified, then it is more spectacular to the scientific community than a virgin birth, medical healing, or even the parting of the Red Sea".

When I challenged him Kevin responded: "I said `if it can be verified...'. My contention is that if this had really happened then it would be verifiable and that a dentist and metallurgist could work together to achieve this. If this were the case then the changing of one element into another would be beyond scientific explanation whereas a virgin birth or rapid movement of water would not be. If this is a real miracle then it should be shared with the whole world and put up for scientific scrutiny. If it isn't, then people are being deceived and it should be shown up as a mistake, hysteria, or fraud. Either way, I am making my skills available to try and find out."

In his original offer, circulated by
INTERNATIONAL REVIVAL NETWORK — IRN NEWS DIGEST — Coordinator: Tony Black http://www.revivalnet.net> or Email on 11 May, 1999 Mr Millican appears to take a position quite different from mine and in support of the phenomenon. He writes:

"This is not (necessarily) a word from God but an observation by a metallurgist. I've been reading about these gold fillings/crowns and wondered about it's significance as I expect many other Christians have. The only explanation I have heard so far is a sign of blessing. I probably wouldn't have thought much more than this if it weren't for the fact that I have just heard of it happening to someone I know locally. This is in the process of verification so enough of this example for now.
The significance of this sign to the world is far more (sic) greater than a "blessing". If it can be verified that mercury amalgam fillings have changed to gold, then this is a sign that God has taken the gloves off with regard to the world of science and the world's preoccupation with it as the source of truth. To change one metal into another was for some time the scientific "holy grail". As science developed it became understood that this was virtually impossible (you need a nuclear reaction and it only works in the direction of a more expensive metal to a cheaper one); gold is an element and can't be changed into or from any other by chemical reaction.
Changing a filling is an excellent way of demonstrating God's sovereignty over the very fabric of the universe and the fundamental principles of science:-
1. That a change has occurred can be verified by a dentist. If a filling was drilled out, it's shape would change. Dental x-rays before and after can be used to determine if this has happened.

2. The material used for dental fillings is documented.

3. That the fillings are really gold is verifiable by a dentist working with a metallurgist/chemist.

4. Fillings are a good choice for a sign because sleight-of-hand or other fraud would be virtually impossible.

Don't under-estimate this sign; if it can be verified, then it is more spectacular to the scientific community than a virgin birth, medical healing, or even the parting of the Red Sea".
Kevin Millican CEng BSc (eng.met.) MweldI Lowestoft, England.

At least the man is honest and reasonable, which is something that cannot be said for many of christendom's leaders who promote this silly nonsense. If Kevin or any expert like him comes up with real evidence we will publish it.

The sad thing about all of this is the poor reflection that is being made upon the "church" and its leaders. For example The Canadian Press of Wednesday May 12, 1999 "http://www.nationalpost. com/network.asp?f=990512/2587127. html" carried the following heading

TV evangelists forced to recant claims of God's divine dentistry `An honest mistake'

And reported as follows: (Full Report)

WINNIPEG — God works in mysterious ways, but two high-profile evangelical Christians in Western Canada have been forced to back down from claims that He gave them gold teeth. A chastened Willard Thiessen, host of a daily religion program on Winnipeg television, admitted yesterday he was wrong in telling his tele-flock that God had inexplicably planted a gold tooth in his mouth.

It turned out the gold tooth had been implanted by his brother Elmer, a dentist in British Columbia.

"I'm embarrassed to tears about this," said Mr Thiessen, president of Trinity Television. "I thought I had a miracle."

"There has, in fact, been a rash of gold-teeth claims by evangelical Christians of late," said Mr Thiessen.

"I told people to please check their dental records before they declare a miracle. Please check with your dentist," he said.

Mr Thiessen is not alone in his embarrassment. Dick Dewert, a religious broadcaster in Lethbridge, Alta., told a CJIL-TV audience during an on-air fundraising marathon in March that God had implanted a gold tooth in his mouth after a bout of intensive prayer. But Dr Jack Sherman, Mr Dewert's longtime dentist, said he had put it in about 10 years earlier. "It was an honest mistake," Mr Dewert said at the time. "I was sincere in what I said. When miracles appear to be happening, it's easy to get excited and, in my case, jump to conclusions."

"Praying to God to repair teeth is just another way of asking God to reveal himself through healing," said John Arnott, senior pastor for the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, a charismatic evangelical Christian group.

Mr Arnott said about 20 of his flock of 2,000 believe God polished their fillings or replaced them with gold after praying for such healing in March.

"You're sceptical at first. It takes us a while to learn that, really, God can do everything," he said. "Verifying the claims has proven inconclusive, but that doesn't matter," he added.

"It's just the Father saying `I love you, I know all about you.' That's precious to the person."

Mr Thiessen also maintains that God does work through dentistry. "In the 1970s, my wife, Betty, had two large cavities in her back molars," he said. "We were poor as church mice and couldn't afford to see a dentist. We were travelling and at a meeting, and, when it was done, they were filled."

Meanwhile in Britain the Daily Mail of Tuesday 15 June, 1999 carried a full page report (page 11) about this new phenomenon that is sweeping Britain's charismatic churches. Other newspaper tabloids have reported it too. They actually poke fun at the Word of God in misquoting Psalm 81:10 ..."open my mouth wide, and I will fill it" and report — "The result has been mouths filled with gleaming molars at church meetings throughout the country."

Guess who the papers identify as being behind it all in UK? Gerald Coates of the Pioneer Church, who promoted the Diana Prophecy from which thousands of Christians began to attend his services and rallies throughout the UK; David Pytches, former vicar of St Andrews Church, Chorleywood, who was one of the first to import the Toronto phenomenon from Canada, to Holy Trinity Church, Brompton; and you've guessed it, the UK Press also makes reference to John Arnott, who is the pastor of the former Vineyard Church at Toronto Airport.

In New Zealand, WELLINGTON businessman Lawrie Cornish offered a reward of $1000 to anyone who received a miraculous gold tooth or filling that was verified by dental records. Wellington's daily newspaper The Dominion, Thursday, July 29, 1999 reported, "Despite extensive inquiries and the help of other investigators, he had not been able to find anyone." The phenomenon hit the news "down-under" following a congress held in the Wellington Elim Church in June ('99) as a result of members of the congregation claiming dentistry miracles.

According to the Dominion Mr Cornish was asked by Elim Church officials to stay away, but he continued to attend and said that the miracles were being faked in the name of the church, and that they were obviously fooling some of the faithful. We understand that no-one has yet claimed the reward of $1000 for a verifiable dentistry miracle.

And NOW:

Thar's gold in that thar gals' hair !

Even more bizarre than the "gold dentistry" are the claims about gold dust. By all accounts this started with a woman from Brazil called Silvania Machado, who had definite "spiritistic" and "occult" connections. According to Cult Awareness Ministries (CAM) Jan Groenveld , Jan.Groenveld@uq.net.au You can see "pictures of God producing gold dust in church — or so they claim" on web site <http://www.revivalglory.org/camptest.htm> then Jan adds,"Look carefully at the pictures enlarged ..... You can see how it is done."

CAM are quite correct when they claim "THE MOST DANGEROUS LIE IS THAT WHICH MOST CLOSELY RESEMBLES THE TRUTH" — Cult Awareness Web Page: http://student.uq.edu.au/~s101663 Personal Page: <http://www.uq.net.au/~zzjgroen>

As with the "gold tooth" phenomenon so with this extension to "gold dust" the thing has been orchestrated onto the world stage. During my recent tour of Australia I was told of an AoG pastor from Tasmania who had exported the idea from his own church near Hobart to Victoria on the Australian mainland. A similar thing has happened in New Zealand where, in a number of cities and towns, gullible Christians are claiming "gold dust". Usually it disappears as suddenly as it came and cannot be collected as it's only there in appearance and not in reality. As with the strange animal sounds associated with "Toronto" and "Pensacola" so with this latest "Revival Now" gimmick there are all sorts of weird and wonderful explanations such as:

"God is showing that He loves us." Well I thought He did that in sending His Son to die for us. Wasn't that sufficient?

Or "Gold is the wedding gift from Christ to His Bride. The church is going to be raptured soon and Christ is now giving her gold to make herself ready." Fantastic — isn't it! The Bible says the Bride's going to walk on gold in heaven. I would have thought that was enough. And anyway where did this idea about Christ giving gold to His Church come from? Not from the Bible that's certain.

I and all those associated with CWM reject the entire nonsense. It is not aiding faith. It is undermining the faith of some and acting as a stumbling block to unbelievers. One of our associates recently wrote to me: Do you think it would be possible to get a sample of this stuff? Just a visible trace? Privately, I always like to test things out a bit; just for the sake of personal curiosity. I have connections who would like to pop this material through a mass-spec or GC machine — and also, to examine a trace under high power microscopy — forensic gear. If you know of a possible source through which to obtain a specimen, let me know. We'll pay lab costs. Be funny to identify the gold as "machine contrived" or "a product of human intervention". Provable evidence of fakery would make a nice headline in CWM remembering, that "forensic science derives from the knowledge of God given to man, so that man would know when he's being had."
Shane Hammond <shaneph@powerup.com.au>

Well it looks like Shane's idea has been pre-empted, at least to a degree. Charisma, one of the most confused and deceived magazines in christendom has already blown the whistle and, AMAZINGLY, John Arnott has taken some notice, though his position remains very weak. Didn't we tell you that such would be the confusion among the ranks of those who have turned from the Truth that they would reveal their own folly?

So for this reason and to avoid reinventing the wheel we have decided to publish the following, which was distributed by email from The Belfast Berean 11/09/99:

——Original Message——
From: The Belfast Berean belfastberean@belfastberean.freeserve.co.uk Date: Saturday, September 11, 1999, 7:16pm

Subject: Belfast Berean News Desk —Charisma News article

Gold Dust Phenomenon Stirs Up Questions Among Christians

While gold dust keeps appearing in charismatic meetings in the United States and abroad, metal tests puzzle those who say the substance is falling from heaven.

Gold Dust Phenomenon Stirs Up Questions Among Charismatics

By Andy Butcher

A Brazilian evangelist at the center of the "gold dust" phenomenon being reported at charismatic churches across the United States and Europe says she is unfazed by scientific reports suggesting that all that glitters is not what it seems.

Two independent tests on samples of the gold-coloured dust that falls from Silvania Machado's head during services have found the substance to be more like plastic glitter, with no gold content.

But Machado, who attributes the manifestation to her divine healing from cancer, is untroubled by the conclusions of the analyses carried out on behalf of "Charisma" magazine.

"To me, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it's from God," she said. "Some people focus on the signs instead of the fruit. I must continue to share with the world what God has done in my life and the life of my family."

Speaking through an interpreter, Machado tells packed churches how after more than 10 years of sickness, during which she desperately sought a cure through a spiritualist, she was finally healed after being prayed for by Christians. Now when she prays for others, gold-colored flecks start to rain from her head.

The curious occurrence is happening elsewhere. Revivalist Ruth Heflin—who first brought Machado to the United States after hearing about her ministry—regularly sees the same manifestation at her meetings. She believes the dust is a sign of God's glory.

"The Lord loves for us to show off the gold dust because of His relationship with us," said Heflin, whose ministry is based in Ashland, Va. "We couldn't do this ourselves. He is doing it because His coming is so near."

In May, John Arnott of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) cancelled a scheduled four-day appearance by Machado after sending a sample of the flecks that cascaded from her head on the first night for testing. A geochem-ist at the University of Toronto concluded the specks did not contain any gold or platinum but were some type of plastic film.

Machado and her team were "sweet as could be" when Arnott presented the findings, he told "Charisma".

"I just threw up my hands and said, `I don't know,'" Arnott said. "It is not up to me to judge them, but I couldn't reconcile the two, so I just said, `We're not going to proceed with the meetings.'"

"Charisma" had two samples of Machado's gold dust analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington, D.C. Both were deemed to be plastic film with no traces of gold, platinum or silver.

These days Machado avoids carrying a handbag to or stepping down from the platform at her meetings to avoid accusations that she is faking the phenomenon, reported "The Richmond Times-Despatch" recently. One of those attending a meeting at Heflin's Calvary Pentecostal Tabernacle told the newspaper that chemical components of the dust were meaningless to her faith.

"The gold doesn't have to do with how man measures metal," said Debbie Kendrick. "It might not be anything we've ever seen before. It's more like manna from heaven."

Meanwhile, churches also are reporting incidents in which people's silver fillings are being miraculously renewed or even replaced by gold ones. A number of cases have been documented and verified at TACF, reinforcing Arnott's decision not to continue the Machado meetings. "I didn't want to have her here because we have had far too much of the real thing—gold teeth and gold dust—to have something suspect," he said.

But Heflin stands by Machado. It was God's presence, not the gold dust, that first convinced her Machado was genuine, she said. "I began to weep because of the wonderful sense of His presence," Heflin said of Machado's meetings. "Perhaps we should call it `glory dust' instead of `gold dust.'"
A full report on the gold dust and gold teeth phenomena will appear in the November 1999 issue of "Charisma". The article contains an account—documented by dental records—of an Oklahoma woman who received seven gold crowns during a healing service in Tulsa six months ago.

Another big thing that has come and gone in the "Revival Now" camp is Rodney Howard-Browne's Good News New York (GNNY) series of meetings in Madison Square Garden, Manhattan. Our report on page 11 by Jackie Alnor, an American journalist, shows that the event which RHB "dreamed" was going to change the face of New York, the USA and in fact the world, turned out to be a fizzer with an average nightly attendance of between 3,000 and 4,000 people, of whom, most must have been his trained workers — some 2,300.

The report speaks for itself.

*1 July edition of CHRISTIANITY (was called Alpha). Cover Article. ICCDM — PO Box 15639, Detroit, Michigan 48215, USA Fax +1 313 882-3987
*2 Contact your nearest CWM Office.

Appeared in Volume 5.2 September 1999