In 1999 a video called Transformations quite literally took the Christian world by storm.
By April 2001 this video had already been translated into 25 languages and it was estimated that 35 million people had seen it in over 150 countries. These figures have increased greatly since then, especially with the production of a second video in the series called “Transformations 2 — The Glory Spreads!” This was released in May 2001.
Both videos are professionally and impressively made. From speaking to many Christians, it seems that the second video has received a far wider acceptance. Why is this?
Whereas the first was overtly charismatic and majored on the promotion of spiritual warfare, the second shows some historic events and seems to promote prayer that leads to revival. However George Otis jr., and the Sentinel Group, as the producers, are pursuing one aim through them both.
If only people had ears to hear and were not so influenced by visual imagery they would realise that the foundational message promoted by both videos is thoroughly unbiblical.
Much has been written about the first video and many of its claims have been refuted. However “Transformations 2” comes from a different angle and seeks to put the wider evangelical body at ease by concentrating on the more classic concepts of prayer and revival. People feel more at home with terminology they are used to and do not realise that “Transformations 2” is just like a juicy worm on a hook.
Invariably this second video will draw many more people into a misguided movement.
”Transformations 2" begins with an introductory talk by George Otis jr. Here he mentions those who queried the claims of community transformation made in the first video and offers this explanation:
”Transformation is not synonymous with perfection. In this present evil world there are no perfect communities. Transformation is more accurately related to sanctification. It is both a state and a process. How we define a community depends on our perspective. Is the proverbial glass half full or half empty? I believe that a community’s distance from perfection is less important than the distance it has migrated from its former state. Community transformation is not about great meetings or even church growth. It is about the gospel making a tangible impact on society as a whole, how long the condition lasts depends upon the individual community”.
The full impact of what George Otis is saying here will be seen later, but we need to bear in mind that Otis’ primary concern in both videos seems to be community transformation and not new birth in individuals. In order to promote this he has somewhat emptied many words found in Scripture of their original meaning, and created his own usage of these words.
This can lead to confusion, as for example not all that is called prayer, is prayer, as we know it, nor indeed is the frequently referred to “presence of God” what the NT teaches should be our experience of His presence.
Altered meanings of words can be seen further in the use of the word ‘gospel’. If the true Gospel made a tangible impact upon society as a whole, then, that society would cease to be a society and would become the church, yet Otis is careful to point out that community transformation is not necessarily to do with church growth.
So what gospel is he talking about?
What Otis is saying here in some ways resembles the impact of the giving of the Law on the Hebrews, which certainly had a tangible effect upon the whole of their society. However we are under the New Covenant in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world. The NT gives us no instructions for the transformation of society, nor does it even hint that this can be achieved through our prayers. Instead the NT presents us with the glorious hope of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, which will indeed transform society.
There is something fundamentally flawed, deficient and in effect deadly in the doctrinal basis coming through in these videos. So viewers beware! ”Transformations 2" continues with the stories of Christians in three places — The Canadian Arctic, The Hebrides, and Uganda. The theme of revival as a consequence of united prayer is promoted.
Some of what is shown is surely the Lord’s gracious working and blessing on those who called on His name. However it becomes clear from the outset that the producers of this video have an agenda to fulfil as all the material shown is presented in such a way so as to back up the concept of “community transformation”.
Before we look at what is meant by a transformed community, from the video we can work out the elements found in an untransformed community.
These are crime, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, wife abuse, suicide, rape, hopelessness, heavy metal music, pornography, religious pride, legalism, lack of unity amongst churches, idolatry, lack of productivity of land, sparse natural food resources, disease, corruption, persecution and injustice etc.
From this list it can be assumed that the converse is true of a transformed community, even if “the glass appears to be half empty”, as Otis seeks to explain. It seems that what is sought is a return to morality and ethics. Without doubt every Christian would desire to see communities transformed in this way, even in part. From this perspective these videos seem to offer a hope that things can get better on this earth. The undiscerning will fail to realise that the changes sought are all on the temporal plane, and the hope is a hope that Scripture does not offer us prior to the return of our Lord Jesus. Here we should consider where the producers of this video are coming from.
Otis in his book “The Last of the Giants” says the following:
“That God would in the end lead His Church full-circle back to Eden is more than just poetic; it is also logical. For it is from this site that Satan’s original lie has resonated throughout the earth for thousands of years. Having usurped the paradise originally intended for mankind, it makes sense that the serpent will eventually be defeated on that selfsame soil by the offspring of God’s banished children — back to fulfill, in inverse fashion, their original mandate to extend God’s Kingdom throughout the earth.” — p.161, Chosen Books 1991.
I wish that every reader were arrested by these words and would realise that this is not the wishful thinking of a poet, but a definitive statement of one of the fastest growing movements in Church history. (By this I mean Church in the religious sense). Even a brief consideration of these words should leave the reader dumbfounded at the heretical nature of them.
The Lord Jesus, the prophesied Seed does not figure in this at all because it is mankind who is to defeat Satan. What of the Lord Jesus’ full and final defeat over Satan on the Cross, and His words, “It is finished”?
It must be understood that this movement, and it is a vast international movement, promoting this “community” (through to national and global) transformation is diametrically opposed to the teaching of Scripture. Indeed those from this camp have become “wiser” than Scripture, as can partly be seen from another quotation from the above mentioned book:
”The Church of Jesus Christ is God’s primary instrument of revelation on earth today. And while we

	It was the vision of people coming into a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then growing in the grace and knowledge of Him.

	Most of the people involved in those works of the Lord now more than 50 years ago would have been appalled at both the teachings and practices currently promoted.

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Appeared in Issue CETF 9.1 September 2003
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3