I suppose the question I’m asking is this: should we go out and rent a room on a weekly or fortnightly basis (depending on what we can currently afford) – even though there might only be two or three of us there! Or should we wait until the Lord tells us to rent a room? Or what are the other alternatives?

There are plenty of born again Christians in our area, but many of them were involved in the Toronto nonsense and when we tried to point out the errors 12 years ago we were rebuked by them. We wouldn’t be accepted in those churches even if we chose to go. We are currently praying about whether to start attending another local AOG where we’re sure the pastor loves the Lord, but my hubby attended a few of the meetings last year and was a bit troubled by some of the things he heard – e.g. Christians aren’t allowed to listen to secular music, and they go prayer-walking in order to ‘claim the ground’, and people give suspicious visions which are accepted without question by the pastor. It’s possible that we can show grace and overlook these things, but the point about going to church is in order to encourage each other (1 Corin 14) - and we’re not convinced we’d be encouraged by listening to either milky sermons or unscriptural stuff.

Going back to starting a church, part of me thinks that if we don’t need to rent a room (i.e. if the number of people wanting to meet didn’t exceed the capacity of our front room), why rent one? But on the other hand, not many people today like going into the homes of people they don’t know. So if people did get saved as we go out witnessing, it’s perhaps more likely that they’d turn up for a meeting in a rented building, which is more public, rather than turn up for a meeting in a stranger’s home. But even if new converts were willing to meet up in our home, we still wouldn’t be able to worship the Lord in song because of our problem with the neighbour.

In the last 2 years my hubby and I have tried to make a point of going out witnessing on the streets on a fairly regular basis (sometimes with a microphone, on the approval of the council; or sometimes on a one-to-one basis with gospel tracts), and in the last year and a half or so 2 adults have made a commitment to Jesus. However, one lady didn’t want to give her phone number to us; and my hubby didn’t exchange contact numbers with the man. On another occasion 4 teenagers who went to a Church of England, but who had never heard the gospel there, also listened to the gospel and said they would go home and get right with the Lord. So, potentially the Lord may have saved 6 souls in the last year or so in our area, but at the time when these souls got saved we were attending a Pentecostal church (we had a go at going back into a denomination) but we didn’t feel comfortable directing these new souls to the church we went to, as we were still sounding out its doctrines, and we weren’t wholly comfortable with some of the things being taught.

Anyway, we’ve prepared ourselves to some extent by getting a Bible Basics study course together, based on Hebrews 6: 1-2: the foundations of the faith. So if we come across any new converts we’ll be able to ground them in the basics. But here’s the other problem, we don’t feel equipped or gifted to start a church. We’re comfortable with going out and witnessing and we’re comfortable and confident that we’re able to lay the foundations of the Christian faith in the life of new believers – but we don’t feel equipped to go out and ‘start a church’. We realise it’s not us who starts churches, it’s the Lord. But His people have to make a move in doing something, don’t they, before the Lord will do His bit? Are we supposed to just step out and do? E.g. if we continue going out to witness, should we rent a room anyway then if anyone gets saved we can direct them there? Obviously, if such a scenario got off the ground there’d have to be a man or group of men able to oversee right doctrine, but my hubby says he doesn’t feel gifted as a leader – even though a friend (a man) and myself see in him a basic ability to oversee in the sense that he’d provide everyone with the opportunity to contribute in meetings, and he’s capable of testing and addressing false doctrine if it arises – but I wouldn’t say he has the pastoral/shepherding gift.

Anyway, I think I ought to end this post and hope that someone who has perhaps walked this path before can offer any insight which we can’t currently see.

Best wishes in Him,

Marisa

http://christian-witness.org/pdf/thejudgmentwasset.pdf

Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you - 2nd Corinthians 6: 17 (NKJV).

Ultimately the biblical mandate is clear, –Come out from among them–the present danger is stated,–Do not touch what is unclean–the method of escape is explained–And be separate–and the end result is promised–I (the Lord) will receive you.

THE FOLLOWING IS AN INTERESTING EMAIL EXCHANGE

(Both parties have approved this being published here and in CETF # 47)

FROM Wayne Capell Brisbane

Dear Philip, I have intended to ask you about a comment in your book “Gathering the Faithful Remnant” since first reading it several years ago. On page 4 you state “Undoubtedly, The Pentecostal revival produced one of the greatest movements of church history being rightly described as the third arm of Christendom.” I recall being quite puzzled and indeed perplexed when I heard the late Tom Evans make this statement in a sermon many years ago. He seemed to give Roman Catholicism much greater credibility within the Christian church than the Bible and church history and indeed Roman Catholic doctrine indicates is warranted. I recently had reason to express my concerns to my Pastor, Ian Parker, about support for the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church expressed by Andrew Evans in a meeting at our church. Ian agreed with me and discussed this with Andrew. Andrew subsequently contacted me to discuss his position. In effect, Andrew Evans indicated to me that he believes it to be “politically expedient” to be “in big” with the Roman Catholic Church and other false religious groups for political, or what I can only describe as worldly, purposes. He talked to me of the advantage to be gained from political compromise and how he can speak differently as a politician or in political circles to how he might think or feel as a Christian pastor. (I have enormous difficulty with this.) He spoke of how rapidly the AoG, for example, had grown as a result of the leadership being willing and open to engage in these practices. Andrew spoke of the difference between biblical principle and political expedience for purposes of worldly advancement. He said the AoG receives significant grants (such as prime land) from governments on the basis of this willingness to be “politically correct.” Popularity is much more important than principle according to the Andrew Evans plan for church growth. He informed me that there are “political” advantages to be gained by being in harmony with other religions and philosophies and he would have no trouble in attending meetings of endorsement for not only the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church but also a range of other religious and political groups. He was effectively endorsing people such as Bill Hybels and Joel Osteen and their support for Moslems and Mormons as he claimed he would do the same things without hesitation. To this end Andrew told me that he believes Brian Houston has nothing to be ashamed of in his statement about the Pope and the Roman Catholic church and that he saw Brian “preach the Word of God on TV the other day.” Andrew used the anti-pope position of Frank Houston as an example of how Brian was effectively playing this political game he was describing to me. He obviously assumed that I was unaware of the moral failings of Frank. In this context I am puzzled and perplexed by your reference to the Pentecostal revival as “the third arm of Christendom” in a book about declining biblical, spiritual and moral standards within the so-called Christian church. Please explain what you mean by this statement. Christian regards, Wayne Capell Brisbane

RESPONSE BY PHILIP POWELL

The way I see things vis a vis “the third arm” quote is:1) First Arm - Pentecost (Acts 2) - Starting at Calvary realised via Resurrection mobilised by descent of the Holy Spirit, resulting in “these that have turned the world upside down” their witness going throughout the earth without any carnal emphasis on “church growth” and no element of Roman Catholicism.  2) Second Arm - Reformation - the answer to the corruption that had invaded the Church via Roman Catholicism etc. The second arm was not perfect in its inception but it gathered momentum and experienced cleansing as it proceeded so that it was in deed a mighty movement of God - THE SECOND ARM of “Christendom” which should now be more correctly called “Christianity”. (I think we need to be more careful with terms especially now, so may be I have conveyed a wrong impression in my use of the word “Christendom”.)  3) Third Arm - the classic Pentecostal Outpouring of the late 19th early 20th Centuries. I do not see Roman Catholicism as featuring in any one of the three arms except by way of its inevitable corrupting influence. It is NOT an arm of true Christianity but rather a “tare” or a hybrid “mustard” tree or “leaven” in the biblical Parabolic teaching. (Have you read my book on the Matthew 13 parables?)  Andrew Evans is a naturally motivated “leader”. His basic modus operandi is humanism. He readily confessed to me that he adopted the Dale Carnegie (How to win friends and influence people) and Norman Vincent Peale (What you can conceive you can believe and achieve) philosophies which work in the carnal world of men, but will not motivate a true spiritual leader. What he imbibed was contrary to his basic training under our godly CBC principal, the late James Wallace. Sadly Andrew’s approach has had the effect of corrupting the entire AoG movement in Australia with the resulting mess of our time e.g. Brian Houston, Hillsong and the latest Michael Guglielmucci scenarios. AoG links to Rome based on the perceived success of church growth is a natural consequence. By the way, true to his basic humanistic approach (political correctness), Andrew Evans recently issued me with a veiled threat of legal action claiming that I was harassing him by writing to him when he had requested to unsubscribe from my list. I had already de-listed him from the list and then wrote to him based on my understanding of the requirements of Scripture e.g. Matthew 18. In my opinion my personal email to him had nothing to do with his request to be deleted from my list. Rather than appeal to scripture and argue his case Andrew does the humanistic thing of appealing to current privacy and harassment ideas. (I told him that I did not think I had in any way harassed him, but will now of course honour his silly request, hence I cannot approach him directly any more over my thoughts which are herein expressed.)  I would like him to read my thoughts. Do as you will with this.

Every blessing,  Philip L. POWELL

http://www.christian-witness.org/blog
http://www.cwmfellowship.org
http://www.christian-witness.org

What a wonderful opportunity we have to preach the gospel today. The last few years have appeared as though we are really living in Revelation 6 as the Twin Towers destruction in New York saw “peace taken from the earth” like never before. Communism never appeared as such a great threat, though we have lived in its shadow for as long as I can remember. Living in “fortress Australia” has allowed me to see this more clearly. Australians are a proudly independent people who see themselves as isolated from the world’s troubles, and their politicians preach it. I recall being told the things we heard so often happening in other parts of the world, “Will never happen in Australia.” Yet, today Australia finds itself greatly affected by the Twin Towers fallout, worldwide drought and famine, and the now global financial collapse. A people who saw no reason to fear are now living in fear. For more than 40 years I have heard the Church [at least that part to which I belonged] preach that the Bible says these things were coming upon us. Passages such as Revelation 6, Matthew 24, and Thessalonians were used to trumpet the message of Christ’s imminent return. There are many, even from within the church today, who laughed these prophets to scorn, as they clearly proclaimed that the Bible predicted these things – yet they happen today around us as though yesterday carries tomorrow’s news. I believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the rapture of the church. The reason I believe is because those men who proclaimed this also proclaimed that the Bible predicted exactly that which is happening today. I believe that there has never been a more appropriate time for saying, “People, get ready.” What a wonderful opportunity we have to preach the gospel today. Even within the church we have seen the Bible prediction that, “The love of many will grow cold”, and “Some will neglect coming together with the saints”, which was also warned by these prophets of righteousness, come to pass as we have more and more folk leaving the church for a life of spiritual solitude – even declaring that God made them do it. I see no such teaching anywhere in Scripture. Today is the day of the prophetic voice, but I do not see those as prophets who declare visions and dreams; who declare ‘personal prophecies’ [these have their place when the parameter remains the Word of God], but those who go declaring the Word of God. Some of these are evangelists, and some teachers, but wherever they go they are witnesses to the testimony of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ: the Son of God, because the Spirit of Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ. The greatest prophetic declaration that anyone can make is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The word of prophecy is the opening of the word of God: enlightening darkened eyes to receive the light of the truth. Kerry Stevenson - NSW - Australia.

www.christian-witness.org/pdf/thesickenssuntodeath1.pdf

Statement by Philip L. POWELL:

I have met a number of former Pentecostals who have turned away from the faith of their fathers or of their own youth and have renounced everything associated in any way with Pentecostal teaching and practice on account of the extremes of our time. The movements known as the “Toronto Blessing” and/or the “Pensacola Outpouring” with the outlandish manifestations plus the TV “con artists” such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and many others like them, have made major contributions to this state of affairs. We at Christian Witness Ministries (CWM) sympathise with the sentiments of those who have rejected everything associated with “Pentecost” so why then do we still hold fast to Pentecostal tenets of faith?

The following is an email which was mailed to our CWM site in late June 30, 2008 followed by responses. The author agreed to these being published in the hope that the paper trail would help other people in these confusing and faith denying days.

Response to A Different Movement with the Same Name

I read your article entitled The UK Assemblies of God - A Different Movement with the Same Name. I appreciated your honesty. In many ways I related to your frustration at the blindness of fellow Pentecostals. But I have taken my own journey one step beyond…I have renounced…

I was born and raised Pentecostal…I read every Word Faith book I could get my hands on, every new book about visions, people taking trips to heaven, every healing ministry and anything else in the supernatural realm. I could never quite reconcile many of these stories with the Bible, which I read very regularly.

And then one day a false prophet came to town. When he took my hand and prophesied over me, I felt ecstasy for about 2 hours… and then reason returned.

I started analysing the prophecies and realized that the man was totally blasphemous, and he was twisting and manipulating the Word to flatter everyone…oh and he charged for his prophecies…$5 per person, I believe, although someone else paid the bill.

Anyhow, I was astonished that the church elders were immovable in their acceptance of this man…their criteria? One of the elders said that he had told him something that not even his wife knew and that since only God can know our thoughts, he had to be of God. So in the end, humiliated, I left the church. But not Christ…

My life as I had known it went up in smoke. And after the smoke settled…there was only the Word of God which I could trust…still standing strong in the midst of it all.

I have put 10 years distance between me and that experience, and ten years of unlearning so many erroneous teachings. I have decided that I was just a product of what the Pentecostal Assemblies taught me…very little Word and very much mysticism. I didn’t even really understand mysticism until I got away from it.

And one mystical experience is no different from another. I had to face the hard fact that I had to give up ALL that false teaching because we now have a more sure word of prophecy…in Christ…I determined to know nothing but Christ crucified… No more tongues, prophecies, visions, dreams, 5 fold ministries, Word Faith nonsense, Morning Star occult practices, falling under the power and you name it, I read it, I’ve done it…stuff…and yes I have also read all the Azusa Street beginnings and followed Oral Roberts, Morris Cerullo, William Branham and a hundred others. I am not a young chick…but much wiser now.

My point? In my book, Pentecostalism is as much a cult as Todd Bentley’s charismatic movement… and yes there are Christians among us…but God is not in these movements…he is in his Word.

Whatever we discern, we discern by the Holy Spirit speaking through His Word and that gives a stability and confidence that no vision or supernatural experience could ever give. For what it’s worth…I give you my conclusions.

Sincerely, CG – USA.

Response by Philip L. POWELL:

Thanks CG for your email:

It appears to me that you have confused the extremes and the sheer cons of the Word of Faith Movement with true classical (traditional) Pentecostalism. I can understand this living as you do in USA which is a hot-bed of sorts for the Faith Prosperity movement and similar false movements which are really not Pentecostal at all. If you read Dave Hunt’s books (Dave is a moderate Pentecostal as witness one of his earliest books entitled “The Confessions of a Heretic” in which he shows how he was tried and judged on the basis of his acceptance of the essential doctrine and practice of classical Pentecostalism. To my knowledge he has never retracted from that position. I know him well and have sponsored his visits to Australia and New Zealand. We are good friends.) Hank Hanegraaff’s “CHRISTIANITY IN CRISIS” also shows very clearly that what has been projected by Hagin, Copeland, Hinn et al bears no resemblance to biblical or historical Pentecostalism. I refuse to surrender to these false teachers who have high-jacked true Pentecostalism and I will not relinquish the truth of what the Bible teaches about the Pentecostal position and doctrine.

I know there are those who, in my opinion, have denied the TRUTH because of the error. I will NOT do that. If you want to know more about our position which I assure you has been well thought out, clearly defined and well researched you may care to go to the search engines on our main web site and just punch in a topic or a name and read what comes up. You may care to start with “CESSATIONISM versus BIBLICISM” which should allow you to read my 20,000 word article (in three parts) on the topic. This article has been slightly “edited” in the first book we produced entitled “Gathering the Faithful Remnant” which is obtainable from our Resource Centre in Australia. The search engines are at:
http://www.christian-witness.org/search.html

Please try both search engines as each bring up different material. God bless you and thanks for writing.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Philip L. Powell.
http://www.christian-witness.org/blog
http://www.cwmfellowship.org
http://www.christian-witness.org

Cessationism versus Biblicism – Reply by CG:

Hi Philip:

After reading your 3 part series on Cessationism vs Biblicism here are my comments.

I did appreciate your article. It made me think. And it brought some things to mind from the past that I had buried. Scripture does give a description of the gifts, so they are a reality. The problem comes when we build ministries around the acquisition of the supernatural gifts. Yes, we the spirit filled Christians can be deceived…or Christ would not have mentioned it several times.

Here are some examples that stand out from my childhood… and against this backdrop I demonstrate how experientially oriented we were.

When my mother was “filled with the Spirit and began “speaking in tongues” (1950’s), her problems just began. And the Pentecostal church that we attended thought that this was the norm. She had knocking in the walls that she had to rebuke and she had stink bugs coming out of the cracks that she had to rebuke and she had lights coming on for no reason. All this was thought to be proof that we were now battling the spiritual realms because we had arrived on a new spiritual plane of Holy Ghost infilling and tongues speaking (all in one breath).

Then one day, we had an addition to our family. My sister was born with Down’s Syndrome. My mother and sister flew down from Ontario to Chicago to see William Branham. She was determined for my sister to be healed. She wasn’t. And eventually my mother accepted the “no”.

Every summer we would go to a Pentecostal camp. As I look back, the alter calls were purely experiential…after the sermon we would all make our way to the front to be filled with the Spirit and seek for the gifts of the Spirit especially speaking in tongues…see how we had it backwards?

Spurgeon seemed to have it right. He was there to bring the Word of God…and God therefore demonstrated his power and manifested his gifts. Anything that I have read by Spurgeon is thirst quenching spiritually sets the mind toward heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Like you said, we need to build our foundation on Christ and Truth. The foundation is what everything else rests on.

If we would build on the Word, like Spurgeon, we would see genuine prophetic ministry. When God gave those supernatural words of wisdom, it was for His own purposes to turn men back to Himself and to expose sin and to demonstrate his own approval of the simple preaching of the Word.

When we try to manufacture the gifts, we are in serious danger. We are sailing our own ship and floating on our own sea of peril…and thus we have our perilous times when men and women will not put up with sound doctrine. Self gratification is the rudder that guides us into error.

The power of God is not in the gifts, those can be counterfeited too easily. The power is in the Son who has bought us. The power is in us dying to ourselves. The power is in God revealing his Word to us. The power belongs to God. If and when He chooses to manifest the gifts in response to our belief is entirely up to Him.

In fact, the real cessation has to be from ourselves. And perhaps that’s where I am…I am done with my own carnal aspirations to bring glory to God by supernatural means. And the cross will always be an offence to those who prefer personal achievement.

The question is now, am I growing in the stature and fullness of Christ or am I growing in the stature and fullness of my ministry? of my own self?

Does the preaching of the gospel bore me? Or does it fill me with amazement for the character and grace of the Lord consequently putting praise on my lips and boldness in my witness? Unlike the supernatural thrills, the Lord speaking to us through His Word brings life and freedom (a lightness and brightness in our heart). It brings richness and meaning (and not from gold dust). And it becomes our drink of choice…we no longer need thrills and spills to satisfy us.

So, you can see where I have come from. And where am I going? I am abiding in the Vine…the Word… and so wherever the vine goes, I go.

Cessationism is not the answer and Pentecostalism is not the answer. Ceasing from our own works and returning to Pentecost…refreshing life in the Spirit. That is the answer.

In Christ, CG.

Summation and what do others think?

Amen to that. I personally am grateful for the fact that my father and my mother, Pentecostal pioneers in UK protected me as a child from the “extremes” of Pentecost and I readily acknowledge that were many extremes and extremists even in those days. I well remember my father responding to the leader of a so called “seeking meeting”, who asked him what “gift” he was seeking, responding something to the effect: “I am seeking God and anything He desires to give to me.” There was no demanding or commanding—just a simple submission to the Will of God. That was my upbringing. In all the meetings Christ Himself was central and the Word of God was major. Sadly when Toronto came many rejected years of practice saying it was boring. One major AoG pastor in Australia called Alun Davis actually said that he would never return to previous practices and he gave the reason as being “because it was BORING.” To think that the centrality of Christ and the preaching of the Word of God is boring is an indictment on God and on the Scriptures. This is why I have called for all those who supported and promoted “Toronto” to publicly repent. They opened the door to this abomination called the Florida Outpouring which is just about as occult as you can get.

That a spiritual plague has broken out in the Church there can be little doubt. It is everywhere. The True Church is being decimated while the false Church multiplies through Church Growth, sensational appeal to the so called supernatural and by other means. The most recent demonic expression of The Plague is manifest through Todd Bentley and his so called Florida Healing Revival, the latest disclosures about which reveal it as a conception from hell to take the “ministry” into expressions of violence.

Every PLAGUE among God’s ancient people was caused by five things which Paul alludes to in 1st Corinthians 10:5-14 - LUST, IDOLATRY, IMMORALITY, TEMPTING GOD, and RESENTFUL MURMURING. There Paul tells us that the record of these things are “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” In other words they relate to OUR time—the END TIMES.

The prophetic Psalm 106 summarises the judgments of God relating to the departures of His people. Verses 28 to 31 are particularly pertinent to our time and the situation we face:

Psalm 106: 28-31: They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. (29) Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. (30) Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. (31) And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

BAALPEOR and PHINEAS

Baal-peor was an idol of the Moabites, in whose worship females prostituted themselves. 1

The people of God joined in their devotions with the Moabites and shared in the rites of idolatrous worship (Numbers 25). The Psalmist passes over many other instances of a similar kind selecting this because of its special significance and prophetic application to the end time. What Phinehas did summarises the way every plague among God’s ancient people was terminated and it symbolizes the way we should now deal with this latest demonic attack that is spreading like wild fire among the churches throughout the world—in Wales (UK) and in Victoria (Australia) and in many other places. It is a demonic plague with a particularly virulent and violent “theology” as the many news items on the internet, e.g. compare here and here and here testify.

Just as the cause for the outbreak of the plague among God’s people is always the same – LUST, IDOLATRY, IMMORALITY, TEMPTING GOD, and RESENTFUL MURMURING - so the remedy and removal is also always the same — ISOLATION, DEDICATION, IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT, TOTAL OBEDIENCE without fear or favour. What Phinehas did is remembered as an act of righteousness to “all generations for evermore.”

Today’s situation is so serious it calls for a whole “generation” of “Phinehas-like” people to stand up and say to those who introduced this thing, and/or who supported and promoted it, beginning with the equally virulent deception known as Toronto and Pensacola:

We will not be a part of your organisation or what you are now doing until and unless you isolate yourself from it, openly admit that you are responsible and publicly REPENT of what you did in opening the Church to this demonic deception.

My new article, THE UK ASSEMBLIES OF GOD - A Different Movement with the same Name seeks to discuss some of the history and to attribute blame where it is due. Below is the first paragraph … we hope you read on.

Having grown up as the son and nephew of British Assemblies of God pastors, [born 1939] and having entered the Assemblies of God ministry as a student-pastor [circa 1959 in Brisbane, Australia] and a credentialed AoG-UK minister [circa 1961], becoming General Secretary of The Australian Assemblies of God [1989-1992] after pastoring in Britain (16 years) and Australia (10 years), I and others found ourselves in a quagmire. The original Assemblies of God had never been a denomination with a hierarchy. It was designed as a movement of autonomous local congregations held together by common doctrine and biblical practice with “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). However things had changed and with the election of carnal ambitious men as part of the hierarchy, over the years, the emphasis had moved away from Bible based doctrine and holy living to pragmatism and a plethora of false teaching with inevitable consequences.

I witnessed one deception and counterfeit “revival” after another bearing no resemblance to the biblical Pentecostalism I knew from my childhood. Doctrines alien to the Word of God, that traditional Pentecostals would have dismissed as heretical, were being embraced and promoted. For me it started with the 2nd visit of Mr Paul (later changed to “David” in typical cultic fashion) Yongii Cho to Australia [Adelaide circa 1979]3 . He taught “incubating” as part of his Fourth Dimension heresy.

Continue Reading (PDF)
or
Continue Reading (Word Doc)

______________________
1 From Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible cf. Numbers 25:1-3
2 Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron and head of a Levite clan cf. Exodus 6: 24.
3 Philip and Kathleen Powell and family arrived in Australia November 1978 after Yongii Cho’s first visit (Sydney).

Todd Bentley is great! If you don’t believe me just ask the multitudes who have been astonished by the “miraculous revival” in Lakeland Florida! Or just check out the Christian television show “Xtreme Prophetic” featuring Host Patricia King, which I saw on YouTube. Bentley was featured on the show as one of the new prophets of the younger generation. Patricia King the host spoke for many when she proclaimed Todd as an “awesome man of power who is a Seer’. She also announced that Todd has brought “a million people into the Kingdom of God in the last eight years”. Todd was guest on the show with his mentor, another great prophet - Bob Jones. His resume was equally impressive- King described Him as “a champion of the Seer realm”, and “one of the most accurate of prophets of our generation”, and she thanked him for being a “father of the faith”, as well as a seer-prophet.

Continue Reading

Assemblies of God was established originally as a fellowship of autonomous churches (assemblies) in voluntary association for the purposes of worship, evangelism and mission. Our founders and forefathers strongly resisted any denominational tag. They resented the application of the word, arguing that Assemblies of God was a movement not a denomination. Gradually, through the ambitions of carnal, self seeking leaders and an overemphasis on hierarchical structure, local autonomy has been over-ridden. National expressions of the denomination in USA, UK and Australasia and a number of other regions and countries, have effectively become fellowships of ministers not of assemblies. This inevitably leads to modern day Nicholaitanism<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–>, which in turn leads to modern day Baalamism<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[2]<!–[endif]–>. False doctrine always leads to immoral living and vice versa. The two work hand in hand actually feeding on each other.

AG-USA stood for a number of years at the cross roads. For many years it was the fastest growing evangelical Church in the USA. Then it began to stagnate, partly due to reaching a statistical optimum that inevitably occurs with all “revival” movements. Sadly their leaders could not or would not accept this situation and began to “organise” growth through humanistic endeavour and by human means. Truth was jettisoned as if it didn’t matter! Biblical warnings and predictions were ignored as if they were never written! False teachers and false teaching proliferated almost without precedent. Now with the former AG-USA General Superintendent, and the incumbent, supporting Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Robert Schuller et al with their false purpose-driven, seeker-sensitive and emergent new age gospels, the question that begs an answer is: “Has Assemblies of God world-wide reached a watershed?”

Please read what CWM published long ago on this trend - here, here and here and in many other articles that are accessible on our website. Use the search engines search

When you have done your research please look again at our question, return to this blog and make your comments pro or con. We will do our best to respond.

Proverbs 11:14 “Where no counsel [is], the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors [there is] safety.”

God bless you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Philip L. POWELL

December 7, 2007

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–> The false doctrine which establishes a divide between the clergy and the laity cf. Rev 2: 15

<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[2]<!–[endif]–> Financial fraud leading to immorality cf. 2 Peter 2: 15 and Jude 1: 11 with Rev 2: 14