The strange mixture

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FOR some time now CWM has been canvassing the links between the ecumenical and the charismatic apostasies. In our view this is one of Satan's masterpiece deceptions of the End Times. When did it start? Some say it was there from the beginning and maybe that's true. It would certainly fit with the biblical record of Satan's intrigue at the beginning of creation. He always seeks to corrupt the stream at its source, which, to change the metaphor, raises interesting questions about "roots" and "fruits". Was "Adam" a bad root or were the pair in the garden essentially something good that got corrupted? Going further back, was Lucifer, as God made him, good or bad? To bring the issue right up to date, "Are the roots of Pentecost and charismania essentially good or bad? Were the streams corrupted at or near the fountain head or somewhere down river?"

Someone said that the seeds of corruption are sown at the inception of every human organisation. I think a good case can be made for that proposition, but it's futile to try to identify the historic source of the corruption that is now evident in Christendom. There are, however, major moments when it becomes evident and increases its impact. These are defining times when the true church takes warning and the false harlot "church" gets swept along in the rush to judgement.
Take for example the false signs and wonders, which our Lord said would deceive "if it were possible even the elect" (Mark 13:22). The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) has long since made claims of amazing Signs and Wonders — statues bleeding and crying; miracles at Lourdes and Fatima; visions of `saints" with consequent healings of cancers and other incurable diseases. Then in the 50s David du Plessis took "Pentecost" to Rome. What was the result — the purifying of the false doctrine of Rome as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit of Truth? Not a bit of it. Rome adapted and added another miracle sign — speaking in tongues — but NOW a justification for the miracles that she claimed! "They are by the Holy Spirit of God," she affirmed and some Pentecostals and most charis-matics agreed. Du Plessis' audience with the Pope and his visit to the Vatican was a defining moment in modern church history. Those who saw it as something GREAT were candidates for further deception. Those who saw it as essentially BAD were dubbed pessimists and lacking in faith, but they showed signs of those who are ELECT not to be deceived.

ENTER Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard-Browne, Toronto, Pensacola and the revived LATTER RAIN as the 20th Century draws to a close.
No-one will dispute the incredible increase in so called `signs and wonders". Equally none can dispute the merging of the two streams — ecumenism and Pentecostalism and those who are pro-Rome are manipulating both. We have reached another defining moment. Where will you cast your vote? If you remain in the stream that is corrupted you will most certainly be swept along by it towards the ultimate destruction of the harlot "church" as described in the last book of the bible.
The following is an important feedback just received by our web master at CWM
"God bless you for exposing Benny Hinn. I would not even go so far as to say that he is a "brother." He is a heretic and he has not truly repented of his ways. Just last night (November 1) I watched his show on the Internet, "This Is Your Day". On a clip of one of his conferences, a lady from Abu Dabi was supposedly healed, and Benny Hinn put his arm around her and looked into the camera and said, "This woman came from Abu Dabi. I don't know what faith she's of, and I'm not going to ask her. It doesn't really matter. Because the important thing is that God has healed her. That's all that matters". He then proceeded to tell the woman that she could go, saying, "God bless you."*1
What do you mean it doesn't matter, Benny Hinn!!?? Our eternal destinies don't matter? What a horrible event! He did not tell her the gospel and the destiny that awaits her if she does not repent of her sins and believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. This should tell us all something.
All those who criticise those who expose Benny Hinn—open your eyes and read what the scriptures say. We are not supposed to support these heretics! In doing so, we are taking part in their evil works! Do some research on Benny Hinn and his claims. The man lies and constantly blasphemes. He is a false prophet. False prophets were killed in the days of the Old Testament, but people insist these days, "But, we have to love them..." We can pray for Our Sovereign Lord to deliver them from darkness and open their eyes, but we are to expose heretics for what they are!!!
This is not a man of God!!! TRUTH IS THE ULTIMATE CRITERIA, NOT MIRACLES, AND THE TRUTH WE FIND IS IN THE WORD OF GOD!!! Stop making experience the test of truth—IT'S NOT!!! STUDY THE WORD!!!" (Emphasis in original).
Meanwhile there are more warnings along the way. At defining times there are always warnings for those with "eyes to see and ears to hear."

UNITED BY MYSTICISM AND MAGIC

Here's a pertinent letter that just arrived from Kevin Millican of Lowestoft, UK, an engineering metallurgist whom we quoted in a previous article — see the URL at ../archives /cetf1999/newsandmore.html about the false "signs" of gold teeth and gold dust that have deceived multitudes of people. Kevin gave us permission to quote him:
"Since we corresponded some time ago, I have had a few people prepared to send me dust samples but no filling material—perhaps this says quite a bit in itself. I have looked at a number of samples of `gold dust' but as I explained to those sending them, they're not really worth testing; even if I proved it was gold this would say nothing about the material's origins. As I have stated before, the really interesting material would have been the fillings. I never actually explained why this could have been so convincing if it were true (mainly to avoid the possibility of deliberate hoaxes), but I will explain now in layman's terms.
Mercury amalgam fillings are made by crushing particles of silver (with smaller quantities of copper, tin, and zinc) with mercury — which, as most people will know, is liquid at room temperature. When you do this, the mercury starts to dissolve the other metals. As it does so, and uses up these metals, the melting point of the new mixture rises so the overall effect at body temperature is for the material to solidify. The resulting material is far from homogeneous and will contain many fine lumps of the original metal particles. Filling material will therefore have very definite characteristics under a microscope. Scanning electron microscopy can reveal the distribution of these elements by analysing the x-rays given off in each area. You would expect to find little if any mercury in the un-dissolved lumps remaining from the largest original particles.
Now, if God were to change this material into gold, or a gold alloy (I have no doubt that He can, but many doubts that He actually has), is it likely that this material would just be a gold amalgam similar to that which you could obtain by dissolving gold powder in mercury? My guess would be that it would be the very best (John 2:10) and `out-of-the-ordinary'. Hence the tantalising prospect of seeing material that couldn't ordinarily be in an amalgam filling. For example, if the mercury constituent were changed to gold, the resultant filling couldn't possibly have been put it by a dentist (unless you can find an individual prepared to have molten alloy at several hundred degrees celcius poured into a tooth cavity!). Mercury would be a good constituent to change to something better because it's not terribly good for the body—although I have to say the quantities released over time from fillings that you already have are pretty insignificant compared with other risks to your health.
This was what sparked my initial interest and my confidence that this was a verifiable phenomenon. My reaction and first posting on IRN reflect this. With no one prepared to come forward with their dentist and test it out, I have to say that the claimed phenomenon of gold fillings is either untrue or a missed opportunity. All the best, "Kevin."< metallurgist@chch.co.uk>

THE LINK

On Monday October 2, 2000 Jill Austin, a charismaniac mystic if ever there was one, issued an email in which she wrote:
"I believe the Lord wants to up-cap (sic) the ancient wells of the Catholic mystics and desert fathers and bring them into the Protestant church. Fiery forerunners such as John of the Cross, Bernard of Clairvoux, Catherine of Sienna, and Teresa of Avila can inspire us. They possessed powerful keys to unlock the heavens. These mystics have inspired prayer movements throughout the centuries affecting generations from the common people to politicians and rulers. These mothers and fathers of the church are a part of our genetic DNA and had powerful revelations and visitations. Prayer furnaces have started all over the world whether they are called, IHOP, The Burning Bush, The Lighthouse, etc. This fire of intercession and travail is moving across all boundaries and bringing healing and unity to the body of Christ."
So there you have it. Could the link be any clearer? Jill Austin was an ordained minister with the Vineyard, who profoundly influenced Pentecostals in New Zealand, including the AoG. When we lived in Hamilton (NZ) Steve Hirst, then senior pastor of the large AoG church invited me to go to hear this woman preach. It was appalling. She commanded everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes while she talked them through a "spiritual journey" with Moses up the mount to strains of new age type music. I sat at the back and fixed her with my eyes. Looking straight at me she demanded that I close my eyes but I steadfastly refused. I wasn't going to fall for her mystical tricks. Now she has revealed her hand.
In the above referred to email she recounts her invitation to minister to the International Catholic Program of Evangelisation in the Black Forest region of southern Germany where the vision is "that every believer will be awakened to the call to prayer and that there will be flames of adoration and intercession burning in every nation. The name of their international prayer centre is "The Burning Bush," which was founded by Kim-Catherine Marie Kollins ... a leader in European and international charismatic groups" and the woman who invited Jill Austin to their centre.
"I first met her in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer last year. This American woman was saved and spirit filled in 1978. She was established in a full-time ministry by 1980 and moved to Europe in 1982 becoming a charismatic Catholic in 1984. I'm so impressed by her hunger and passion for Jesus and her heart to see the bride healed. Do you love the bride? As Protestants we have judgments against the Catholics. Mainly, that they're not saved or if they are, there's only a few. I was exposed to a group of leaders living sacrificially, radically impacting their world with the gospel. The Lord is healing the schism between the Protestant and Catholic believers. We need to put our focus where there is unity; the Cross and the Blood.
I was asked to teach one week during the initial launching of the Burning Bush. What was so exciting was to see the manifest presence powerfully grip and touch people throughout the meetings. Most of them had never experienced a move of the Holy Spirit and knew it was sovereign as they went through deliverance, inner healing, and radical impartations. It was evident to all, as people wept, laughed and prayed for each other with anointing and power."

Jill Austin
Master Potter MinistriesOffice@jillaustin.org
<www.jillaustin.org>

Well Jill Austin certainly has a good command of new age terminology intermingled with enough spiritual jargon to aid deception. I wonder what she means by the terms "manifest presence" and "radical impartations"?
Naturally CWM does not recommend her website but maybe you should visit it and then drop her a line at her email address to tell her what you think and the source of your information?
Tell her that 1 Thessalonians 1:9 and 1 John 5:21 list some of the things required of real Christians — "how you turned to God FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God;" "Little children, keep yourselves FROM IDOLS. Amen."

What's Happening to Protestantism?

Written by Robert J. Nicholson, (Ed),
`Awarezine' Australian Reformed Network
http://www.users.bigpond.com/farel/index.html Published by permission.

There has been a growing sense of unease within the Protestant-Evangelical community for some years now over apparent compromises on key components of the gospel of Jesus Christ during ecumenical dialogues led by men of reputation and learning. "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration" has been produced under the auspices of the Committee on Evangelical Unity on the Gospel (CEUG).
This group was formed just over a year ago under active associate sponsorships with a number of `leading lights' in popular evangelicalism, including Dr Billy Graham, Dr J.I. Packer, Dr James Kennedy and Dr Chuck Colson to name but a few. *3 The document itself is meant to present a unified and authoritative testimony on core elements of the gospel from this perspective. Its genesis and development as a completed and signed statement was aimed at addressing specific serious concerns. Hence it has focussed on the clarification and restatement of key biblical doctrines like `justification by faith alone'.
It is being promoted widely by CEUG as "a new statement" by "over 225 evangelical Christian leaders ... affirming their common commitment to the central message of the Christian faith". Hence, it is designed to both regain the confidence of the evangelical public, and establish a firm basis of testimonial unity. It is therefore a public document of some importance. A brief critical notice of it is presented below. The CEUG statement and its promotional advertorials can be viewed on the world-wide-web at: http://www.ceug.org/

Evangelical Unity?

Restating the Obvious

Finally the `Committee on Evangelical Unity in the Gospel' has produced its long awaited confession. Couched in the usual neo-liberal stylised format of "Celebration", the effort is completely banal. It is also utterly devoid of the kind of precision in speech and profound biblical-theological insight characteristic of the historic evangelical confessions such as the Westminster or Belgic. It is in very truth, a minimalist statement. Though intellectually flatulent and spiritually disappointing, the overall effort might be positively interpreted as relatively heart-warming, were it not for simmering questions related to belief and practice. One of these can be drawn from the old adage "Truth unapplied is the gospel denied". We will only be convinced of the sincerity and integrity of the individuals' concerned when they post a copy off to Rome, break all wicked and sinful ecumenical dialogues that compromise the principles they have just asserted, and then stand by to join the persecuted minority of believers who have always held to these truths without any compromise.
Of course if they don't, [and honestly, at this stage of their apostasy who would expect them to], then it is safe to assume that the whole exercise has been an insincere attempt to rescue their soiled reputations and keep the cash coming in from an ignorant and deluded constituency that likewise will not suffer holy scripture to be an authority for faith and practice. Profession with the mouth is one thing, biblical obedience is another. So the scriptures .... "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
"And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness" (Ezekiel 33:31).
Further, even a cursory review of the parade of self-exalted signatories suggests this may be a serious attempt to drown the devil in an ocean of doctorates. It is hard to see how Beelzebub could withstand such a flood tide of raw human authority and academic power. We may now change the old hymn from: "Satan trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees,"
to:
"Satan trembles when he sees, a raft of academic degrees"
But there is a verse lingering here in the back of the mind that might disturb this pretentious nonsense: "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity" (Psalms 62:9).
In which case we remain committed to "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God".

TORONTO:

The name keeps cropping up. How come? For some time now I have been receiving a free weekly newsletter on Christian history written by Elesha Coffman. I can't find time to read every article, but even the titles and leading paragraphs plus "This Week" in CHRISTIAN HISTORY online at http://www.christianhistory.net stimulate thought. The following three titles grabbed my interest and may encourage you to visit their site where you can see the full articles in the "Newsletter Archive" section (refer In Brief).

Case of the Missing Relic
"Big news out of Toronto this week: a tiny fragment of Christ's cross was stolen from the base of a statue in St Michael's Cathedral. Monsignor Sam Bianco chose not to call the police, because he doubted they could help, but he has offered amnesty if the thieves repent.
Odd as this caper is, the stranger story is how a church in Toronto—or anywhere—obtained a piece of the true cross in the first place.
Around the year 326, Constantine's 71-year-old mother, Helena, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Constantine had recently killed his wife, Fausta, and Helena's favourite grandson, Crispus, so Helena probably sought spiritual comfort and a respite from imperial intrigue. Whatever her reasons for the journey, she made the most of it, visiting places where Jesus had walked, committing her son to building numerous churches, and engaging in some amateur archaeology. In fact, she thought that she was able to identify every important site from Jesus' life."
The writer in humorous and sometimes cynical vein explains how apocryphal stories about relics may arise from historic accounts by writers as respected as the great Eusebius (c.260-c.340) sometimes called the "Father of Church History". She concludes the article thus:
"According to the Catholic Encyclopaedia, the church has never "pronounced any particular relic, not even that commonly venerated as the wood of the cross, as authentic; but she approves of honour being paid to those relics which with reasonable probability are believed to be genuine and which are invested with due ecclesiastical sanctions."
Apparently this uncritical stance is safe because the stakes are low: "On the one hand no one is constrained to pay homage to the relic, and supposing it to be in fact spurious, no dishonour is done to God by the continuance of an error which has been handed down in perfect good faith for many centuries."
So it's okay to continue an old error—just don't steal it.
-- The Toronto Star broke this story at http://www.thestar.com/editorial/news/20001017 NEW02_SLINGER.html
-- The fascinating "relics" entry from the Catholic Encyclopaedia is available online at http://newadvent/org/cathen/12734a.htm

Hmm—our questions are, Why Toronto? Didn't I hear about that place somewhere else?

The Politicians' Patron
"On November 5, just in time for our [USA] presidential election, Pope John Paul II is set to propose Thomas More [Sir] (1477-1535) as the patron saint for politicians, making him "a model and intercessor for all those who consider their political commitment as a choice of life." While exemplary in many respects, More is not quite a model for all seasons.
Aside from being the author of the satire "Utopia", More is best known for opposing King Henry VIII's demand to be recognised as head of the English church. But that decision came at the end of a long and brilliant career. In his youth he was a bright student at Oxford, then a promising lawyer at Furnival's Inn, and almost a candidate for the priesthood; his good friend Erasmus wrote that "the one thing that prevented him from giving himself to that kind of life was that he could not shake off the desire of the married state."
More did marry (twice; his first wife died), and he pursued his legal career zealously, gaining royal favour along the way. He hit the top in 1529 when Henry named him chancellor, a position no layman had ever held."
The article goes on to describe how King Henry VIII forged a friendship with More who defended the King by responding "to Luther's attack on Henry, publishing what one eighteenth-century divine called "the greatest heap of nasty language that perhaps was ever put together." ("The Catholic Encyclopaedia" notes only "a certain amount that tastes unpleasant to the modern reader.") More called Luther an ape, an arse, a drunkard, a lousy little friar, a piece of scurf, a pestilential buffoon, and several other names I can't repeat for fear of tripping your Internet filter. For a time, both king and chancellor were equally alarmed by the encroachment of "evangelycalls" in England".
Elesha Coffman continues: "With the 1534 Act of Supremacy, Henry broke with Rome and with More, who immediately resigned as chancellor. More tried to avoid the inevitable, dodging questions about his stance by simply declaring loyalty to the king, but he couldn't escape the charge of treason. Henry's last nod to their friendship was commuting More's sentence from hanging to beheading."
The article concludes: "Current politicians and observers give only slightly more qualified respect. As Clifford Davies, history fellow at Oxford's Wadham College, said, "In standing up for his principles he did quite a lot of nasty things including torturing heretics. He was a lawyer and he did use every trick in the book to try to avoid the consequences. Actually, he was quite an adept politician. But the fact is, he was executed for his principles, so why not make him a patron saint?"
-- The choice of More as patron saint has been covered by BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk), the Telegraph (www.tele graph.co.uk), and the Chicago Tribune (http://chicagotribune.com)
-- "The Catholic Encyclopaedia" entry on More is available at http://newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm

Olympia Revisited
In this article the writer traces the pagan origin and links of what the modern world has just been celebrating. She starts with the following poem and opening paragraph:
"Ancient Immortal Spirit, chaste Father of all that is Beauty, Grandeur and Truth Descending appear with Thy presence Illumine Thine Earth and the Heavens. Shine upon noble endeavours wrought at the Games on Track and in the Field ... To Thine Temple, to Thy Worship, come all. Oh! Ancient Eternal Spirit!"
"Whatever religion the Olympic anthem espouses (some nineteenth-century version of the cult of Zeus, it would seem, though he was anything but chaste), it sure isn't Christianity. Yet members of the Christian tradition were involved at the inception of the modern games, and Christians have tried in various ways to redeem the event or infuse it with orthodox religion ever since."
-- For an article from the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting why Protestant countries win more medals, see http://www.smh.com .au/news/0009/19/text/features12.html This week in CHRISTIAN HISTORY online at http://www.christianhistory.net

In Brief
Here's a sample to whet your appetite:
October 13, 1670: Virginia bans slavery for Negroes who arrive in the American colonies as Christians. The law was repealed 12 years later (see issue 62: Black Christianity before the Civil War).
October 14, 1066: William the Conqueror leads the Normans to victory over the English Saxons in the Battle of Hastings. William is also considered one of England's most important religious reformers; he spent his last days in intense Christian devotion.
October 14, 1735: John and Charles Wesley, co-founders of Methodism, set sail for ministry in America (see issue 2: John Wesley).
October 15, 1932: A small party of supporters gathers in Liverpool, England, to send Gladys Aylward, a 28-year-old parlour-maid, off on a dangerous missionary journey to China. Though she'd been turned down by the mission's agency she applied to, she went on to become one of the most amazing single woman missionaries of modern history. Her dramatic rescue of a hundred orphans is told in the movie "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness", starring Ingrid Bergman (see issue 52: Hudson Taylor & Missions to China).
October 16, 1555: English reformers Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley are burned at the stake at the order of Roman Catholic Queen Mary Tudor (see issue 48: Cranmer and the English Reformation).
October 21, 1692: William Penn is deposed as governor of Pennsylvania. His grateful overtures to James II for permitting religious freedom for Dissenters from the Church of England led William and Mary to charge Penn with being a papist. They were also troubled by his pacifism.
October 21, 1663: Virginia colonist John Harlow is fined 50 pounds of tobacco for missing church.
October 22, 4004 BC: According to James Ussher, the well-respected and scholarly Anglican primate of the Irish Church in the early seventeenth century, God created the universe on this date at 9:00 a.m. GMT.
October 22, 1844: Between 50,000 and 100,000 followers of Baptist lay preacher William Miller prepared for "The Day of Atonement"—the day Jesus would return. Jesus didn't, and though Miller retained his faith in Christ's imminent return until his death, he blamed human mistakes in Bible chronologies for "The Great Disappointment." Several groups arose from Miller's following, including the Seventh-Day Adventists (see issue 61: The End).
October 25, 1400: English poet Geoffrey Chaucer dies in London, having abruptly stopped writing his famous "Canterbury Tales" some time before.
Though not a religious writer, his characters aptly illustrate the best and worst of the church in his day. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey, a high honour for a commoner, and became the first of those entombed in what is now called Poets' Corner (see issue 49: Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages).
October 26, 899: Alfred the Great, ruler of Wessex, England, from 871, dies. His defeat of the Danes ensured Christianity's survival in England, but he is also known for his ecclesiastical reforms and his desire to revive learning in his country.
October 26, 1633: The Puritan congregation at Newton (now Cambridge), Massachusetts, chooses Thomas Hooker as its pastor. Hooker, like many Dissenters, had earlier fled persecution in England by travelling to Holland.
He then sailed to America with preachers John Cotton and Samuel Stone, leading grateful Puritans in Boston to quip that they now had "Cotton for their clothing, Hooker for their fishing, and Stone for their building" (see issue 41: American Puritans).

© Copyright 2000 Christian History.

*1You can view the clip on Benny Hinn's main web site _ "This Is Your Day" link _ November 1.
*2 You can subscribe to the free CH newsletter by visiting the Christian History web site, http://www.christianhistory.net, or by sending an e-mail to listserv@listserv.aol.com and typing the message as SUBSCRIBE CHRISTIAN-HISTORY
*3 Full list of dignitaries at http://www.ceug.org/endorsers.html

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Appeared in Issue CETF 6.2 December 2000

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-Last revised-Wednesday, 27 December 2000