Charismatic Confusion Over Knowing the Will of God – Part Two

Truth Matters Newsletters – March 2012 – Vol. 16 Issue 3 – Charismatic Confusion Over Knowing The Will of God – Part Two

Part One – https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/charismatic-confusion-over-knowing-the-will-of-god-part-one/

Discernment Ministries International

Charismatic Confusion Over Knowing The Will of God

Part Two

By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Last month we began to consider a common belief that there are degrees of being in or out of God’s will. It is also commonly taught that God has His own unique personal “perfect” will for each of His children. This belief is held by thousands of sign-gift devotees and Christians of every evangelical stripe.

We specifically considered the false teaching that it is the will of god for all His children to be financially wealthy. However, we also learned that God’s will simply does not come to pass by His divine fiat. In order to enter into His will for one’s prosperity there are various laws which the believer must work in order to be blessed financially. The dirty little secret is this; these blind guides are promoting nothing less than a Ponzi scheme with their names at the top of the pyramid. People who have been donating to these frauds and their SINistries faithfully for years are not any more finically prosperous than the rest of us who do not work their laws.

Copeland has however (as the “top” of the Ponzi scheme) raked in an estimated one billion dollars over the last forty years because of televangelism, books, tapes, investments. When you add the financial take from Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Fred Price, Benny Hinn it is billions of dollars. What have they done with the money they have siphoned off from the Church? Where are the schools, hospitals, the feeding & clothing programs, orphanages or other visible expressions of the love of Christ for a dying world? The reality is, these people suck in huge amounts of money and yet a very small percentage is ever given away (most ministries these folks support are run by volunteer staff with little overhead).

As a pastor I know this false belief about God’s will is very destructive to the spiritual wellbeing of Christ’s people. The very concept of law keeping and/or doing some works in order to receive (merit) something from our Lord is a horrid and retched belief which can, at its fullest foul flowering lead to the damnation of the individual due to a reliance upon their own works (pride) to merit salvation. Others are led to despair and some become destitute after giving their last farthing in “faith.” After being slavish workers of the various laws, principles and Kingdom rules for prosperity they believe they have failed to enter into God’s will and they fall away, discouraged and usually angry at the Church in any form. Thus Satan wins, he has gotten these deceived sheep to give sacrificially and pour their hard earned money into to these dry wells, wells that never produced the promised results.

It is not just this view on financial prosperity that is wrong, it is the faulty foundation of God having a specific will for each of our lives and that it is up to us to enter into it by our conscious efforts. The other insurmountable problem is that their endeavors are all attempts at uncovering the hidden will of God.

Because God is sovereign He does have an overarching plan for all of His creation, much of this plan is “hidden” from our knowledge. On the micro-level, how our individual lives exactly fit in to His macro plan is not revealed in Scripture to us.

This obvious fact (one only has to read) has not stopped people from teaching that we can and should know God’s hidden will for our lives in spite of the deafening silence of the Scripture. There are many methods people use to try to discern God’s hidden will for their lives. Some hidden areas that people commonly try to bring into the “light” are issues such as who should one marry, what school to attend, which job to take, where to work, buy a home, which local church to attend, etc. See if from time to time you have relied on the following techniques in the past (I admit I have).

Putting out a “fleece” we piously base this on the example of Gideon’s fleece in Judges 6:33-40. The problem with us using Gideon as our example as we put out our “fleeces” of prayer, weather, circumstances or whatever we are using to divine what the Lord’s will is that this example was an unrepeatable event. Another instance of making an “event” a doctrine is seen in the example of the Apostle Paul use of prayer clothes (Acts 19:11). There is no biblical support for such a doctrine or practice in the Church.

I was guilty of doing this when I first met Tracy. After we met, had gone out a bit, I went before the Lord in prayer and said “Lord if You want her to be in my life have her call me.” that was my fleece, the phone call – – – I was dead serious about it, I was at the time one of a small group of self-named brethren “the intense brethren” and was one of “the bachelors till the rapture.” God had mercy on my foolish ways and Tracy did call me within fifteen minutes of my prayer and we have been very happily married for almost thirty years. This is an example of God’s mercy, not a method to determine His will! What if she had not called me? What if my phone went on the blink? I guess we will never know (but I do know this, I would have chased Tracy to the ends of the earth).

Inner-Witness of the Spirit

After a (short) period of time Tracy acquiesced to become engaged to be my wife. This caused no little ripple among the members of our congregation (not to mention my family), where I was serving as the Associate Pastor. Another sister was positive she had heard from God and that I was out of His will because I was supposed to marry her. She shared her belief among the congregation and so I was faced with a decision, had I missed God? This is no small charge when considering marriage coming from the strong belief that you only get one bite at the marriage apple. Was Tracy the one, or this other one? In all honesty I could have chosen either handmaiden of the Lord, but which one was God’s perfect will for my life and here? If I choose wisely then I will have a good life with a loving mate. Miss God and I am (1) out of His will, (2) thus out of His umbrella of protection and subject to demonic attack, (3) open to the possibility of divorce since I/she am out of His will, (3) open to the possibility of divorce since I/she am out of His will. Let me stress the divorce aspect, many evangelical Christians we know have sadly gotten divorced, some will blithely say “well he or she was not God’s will for my life.” So due to this false teaching, they actually believe that their divorce was pleasing to God since now they are united with His best choice for them!!

Faced with a decision like any good charismatic extremist I turned within. Is not my body a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and as such I am filled with “God” and I can thus expect that He will lead me (Romans 8:14). Since I am one of Jesus’ prized sheep I will hear His voice (John 10:27). Having already had my fleece answered previously, it was not too hard to discern His voice regarding who should become my smoking hot wife, giggity giggity giggity. Naturally the other sister was sure we had missed God, but she did attend the wedding and gave us a nice frying pan that Tracy and I have used for years.

When it comes to using our inner-witness as the means to determine the will of God is that 99% of the time the Spirit” seems to lead us in the direction we had already pretty much determined to go in. Also, is there anything more subjective than listening to a voice only you can hear? People end up with arguments going on in their minds, sort of like the cartoon figures with an angel and demon on each shoulder whispering in the ear of the listener. You respond one way and it is a path of blessing, go with the wrong voice and become cursed. The inner-witness of the Spirit is tricky at best and potentially fraught with danger. That still small voice (1 King 19:12) many rely upon is in no way representative of how God leads His people. Here is an example of how wrong people can be following that inner-voice:

The Findhorn Community was begun in 1962 by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean. All three had followed disciplined spiritual paths for many years and had been specifically trained to follow God’s will. Eileen received guidance in her mediations from an inner divine source she called ‘the still small voice within’. Peter ran the hotel according to this guidance, following to the letter the instruction of the “voice” in complete faith. In this unorthodox way – and with many delightful and unlikely God-guided incidents – Cluny Hill swiftly became a thriving and successful four-star hotel.

Where did this inner-voice lead these people? Findhorn became one of the world’s leading centers of New Age occultism mixed in with some heretical esoteric form of pseudo-Christian concepts. This particular inner-voice did not lead them closer to Jesus Christ, but they are in fact are His enemies.

Open or Shut doors

God can open a door that no man can shut (Rev. 3:8). You got the job? Great, God opened the door!  Did not get hired, then He closed that door, look for an open one somewhere else! This is sort of a pragmatic approach to God’s will. Sometimes it is required of us to knock (Matthew 7:7) and keep knocking on a “door.” Work is something god has given man to do, it is honorable to work and whatever we do we are to do to the glory of God in Christ’s name (Col. 3:17). There is nothing in the bible which indicates that god has a specific dead-center of His will “job” for you or I. Sometimes persistence is required of the saint. Daniel’s answer to prayer was withheld by a demonic struggle in the heavenlies (Daniel 10:2) for three weeks, sometimes repeated knocking is required (Matthew 7:7). An example of this would be in my own life, I am still “knocking” at the Synod’s door for a call.

Dreams & Visions

Yes God revealed His will to Abraham, Joseph and Daniel and several others through dreams and visions. Is there any promise where God has said He will reveal His will for your life to you via dreams and visions (please don’t abuse poor Joel)? If you do have a dream or a vision how do you know it was from the Lord? Often the divine dream required someone else to interpret t for the dreamer (Genesis 41:8). Regarding important decisions there is nothing wrong with “sleeping on it,” as long as it is for simple mental quietude and refocusing versus seeking God’s will in a dream. Many cults have been founded on dreams, visions or apparitions of demons appearing as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:4). Any dynamic or seemingly prophetic dreams in/for your life demands a thorough biblical examination and virtually all of them can probably be traced back to some tainted mushrooms on that Domino’s extra meat pizza you ate the night before.

Personal Word from the Lord

One of the huge draws to the prophetic wing of the diffuse sign-gift movement is that these men and women claim emphatically to be in direct communication with the Ancient of Days. This is a “field” ready to be harvested financially by the wolves due to the endless stream of people seeking God’s hidden will.

We live in uncertain times politically, socially and economically things are not good and the future is unclear. People want to know the future and more specifically they want to know their own personal future and how it fits into God’s plan.

{An Aside} – It has always amazed me how the evangelicals decry the belief in the need for Mary or deceased saints to pray for the living (understandable) BUT they wholeheartedly believe in spiritual mediations in the form of the living, such as the need for Benny Hinn to lay his hands on you, an Oral Roberts to pray for you, or how you MUST be at the next meeting, etc.

Prophetic conferences are scheduled with the guaranteed promise that those who attend the prophetic breakfast or dinner (for an extra cost) at the conference will receive a word from the prophet or prophetic hosts who are there! Profit E. Bernard Jordan can be seen on cable television with his school of the prophets lying over people regarding their future marriage, jobs, income, family members, vocations, etc. Christians people pay BIG MONEY to hear from these blind guides. Although it would come as a shock to some of these Christians, but this is really nothing less than giving a fortune teller some money and having her read your palm.

The whole idea of “personal” prophecy being a means to determine where one works, whom one marries, what church to attend, how to “save” your loved ones is a fairly recent addition to the biblical concept of a prophetic utterance. It should come as no surprise in our “me” centered culture that the words flowing from darkened hearts and through the seared lips of these liars that their words would mirror our fallen culture (Luke 6:45). Great spiritual harm has come to many lives through following these revelations of God’s hidden will.

Perhaps all of us have fallen into using one of the methods in the past trying to distinguish what is and is not God’s will for your life. The problem again is in misunderstanding the concept of the will of God. As I have already alluded to earlier in this article first and foremost God’s will is sovereign. He is God and as God He is in control of all of His creation and He is under no obligation to explain His way to us. Nothing exists outside of His sustaining power. As a former Presbyterian I would cite question twelve from the Westminister Large Catechism:

Q. 12 What are the decrees of God? A. God’s decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of his will, whereby, from all eternity, he hath, for his own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time, especially concerning angels and men.

As a Lutheran I can say “this is most certainly true” regarding the tapestry of history I can attest that God is indeed in complete control, He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), nothing takes Him by surprise. This aspect of His overreaching will is often referred to as “the hidden will of God.” God has not revealed everything to us, but what He has revealed to us belongs to us and to our children (Deuteronomy 29:29) that we may fulfill His law, in the Christian’s case, fulfill His law of love (Romans 13:10). Examples of His sovereign will can be seen in Ephesians 1:11 and Job 42:2.

Before moving on in all fairness to our Reformed brethren an important distinction must be made regarding the Reformed catechism – – – it is not saying that God “causes” everything that happens to happen; if this were the case then God would indeed be the Author of sin, which he is not {James 1:13, 1 John 1:5} A succinct way to put it follows:

Rather, it acknowledges that because He is sovereign, He must at least permit or allow whatever happens to happen This aspect of God’s will acknowledges that even when God passively permits things to happen, He must choose to permit them, because He always has the power and right to intervene. God can always decide to either permit or stop the actions and events of this world. Therefore, as He allows things to happen, He has “willed” them in this sense of the word.

God has not called His people to grope about trying to determine what He has plainly hidden from us. God has revealed to us in the Bible what His will is for our lives and yet apparently this is not good enough for the Pharisees in our midst, they need to peer behind the veil. It is this type of seeking that has caused so many people great confusion in their Christian lives. Why not examine what the bible does teach is God’s will for our lives and seek His grace to enable us to be doers of what we have heard and not mere hearers only (James 1:22). In doing so what we will discover is that the false teachers proclamations, such as; “God’s will is prosperity” or “God’s will is healing” are not mentioned as part of God’s revealed will for all His children. One way to easily “spot” a false biblical teaching is when it declares a promise to only Christians who attain to it by their efforts; such a notion of a works based system is antithetical to the Gospel. Fundamentally people err in two ways regarding the will of God. First they teach that we can know and walk in the hidden will of God, others err in teaching things which are not God’s will for all His people, such as financial prosperity, physical healing and divine health.

The Revealed Will of God

I could start with the Ten Commandments (Deut. 10:4), as a revelation of God’s will, but for the sake of space, let’s accept them as a given. Any of the laws given by God in the Old Testament are examples of His will for His people. We know that the Israelites could not keep it, that in fact, no flesh will ever be justified in God’s eyes by working the law (Romans 3:20, Gal 2:16). We also know that our Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law for us (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4). With this understanding we know that walking in the revealed will of God does not involve trying to fulfill various O.T. laws. Theologically speaking we always begin with the “plain” texts and use them to help determine the meaning of more “obscure” texts. In the case of God’s revealed will al the texts are “plain” texts, easily understood by anyone who can read. Let us focus on what we know for sure.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to posses his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not god; That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy spirit.

Here is a perfect example of an in-your-face truth – – – God’s will for ALL Christians is that we ABSTAIN from fornication. Fornication in the Greek is which we transliterate into from which we derive our word for pornography. Naturally, Christians should abstain from viewing pornography but the term has a wider meaning. It coves all manner of sexual activity outside of marriage, not just looking at sexual images. Abstaining from fornication entails all of the mental activity that precedes the actual sexual activity. It encompasses what we think about, what we read, what movies we watch, and our verbal conversations with others (Ephesians 4:29). “Christians are to avoid and abstain from any and every form of sexual practice that lies outside the circle of God’s revealed will; Christians are to avoid adultery, premarital and extramarital intercourse, homosexually, and other perversions.”

The walk that pleases God is first defined with the words, “the will of God,” and then as “your sanctification.” With the statement, “This is the will of God,” Paul brings into focus the constant battle and a key issue going on in the hearts of men. “Will” is thelema, “what is will.” It points to the sovereign will and plan of God for the Christian. But all men by nature tend to follow the desires, thelemata, of the flesh and mind which are opposed to the will of God (see Eph. 2:3) and which can never please God (Rom. 8:8). It is not that all of those desires are evil, for many of them are God given. Sex is not evil. From the beginning God created marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman and sex was to be a part of the union for the continuance of the race and for pleasure in marriage. What makes many of man’s desires (thelemata) evil is his self-centered commitment to follow those desires contrary to God’s will (as in adultery) and at the expense or exploitation of others. The specifics of God’s will are clearly set forth in many places in Scripture, even though Christians often seem to have a great deal of difficulty applying it in everyday decision-making (cf. 5:16-18; 1 Peter 2:15). Nevertheless, Paul describes this in general terms as “your sanctification.”

In our sexually obsessed culture God’s will for His people is sexual purity before and during marriage period.

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not ever be named among you, as is proper among saints. Ephesians 3:8

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual-immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

How many para-church ministries are devoted to setting people free from pornography within the Church? Immortality among some of the best known televangelists and revivalists is scandalously well known in the world. The divorce rate within the Church mirrors that of the world, when we ought to have next to zero divorce among us if the love of Christ indeed rules and reigns in our lives. It is painfully obvious that this seemingly simply aspect of God’s revealed will takes great faith, patience and grace to walk out daily. The Holy Spirit via Paul given us further revelation of God’s will for our lives.

Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Chjrist Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:18

Sandwiched in between “pray without ceasing” and “quench not the Spirit” is the clarion call to give thanks in every thing. Why? Because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us! Note that the verse says “in” and not “for” everything which makes all the difference in our lives. Nowhere are we told to be thankful for the evil, wicked and sinful things that we bring on ourselves or that befall us. However, it does take faith true biblical faith to look up to the heavens and give thanks to God in the midst of the fiery furnace. It is easy to be thankful when things are going very well in our lives which is why I believe the Holy Spirit had Paul write in “every thing” knowing our tendency towards being only partially grateful some of the time. This is not “deep” present day truth received through praying in other tongues, but it is the stuff that sets us apart from the world; it is also a sign of spiritual maturity to exercise child-like-faith.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind; that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

As we saw last month, this is the text that is often cited as proof that God has three levels of His will. Without laboring the point again, the Greek simply does not support this assertion; it is an example of hyperbolic speech. One of the points of this pericope (there are several really) apart from presenting our bodies to God as a “living sacrifice” a conundrum in Paul’s day; we are as God’s people not to be conformed to this fallen world age. How? Through the practice of renewing our minds by the power of the word of God. As we feed regularly (hopefully daily) on God’s Word, hearing it proclaimed from the pulpit as well as personal study our minds begin the process of transformation. Our minds will not be fully “transformed” into the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) until we receive our glorified bodies, however we are to start the process now in this life as disciples.

The entrance of God’s Word gives us light (Psl. 119:130) and as God’s Word renews our thinking we are enabled to deal wisely (Matthew 10:16) in this fallen world. To know God’s Word is to know His will (but (but you have to know it before you can do it, right?). Obviously the bridge between “knowing” and “doing” is the grace of God, as our Lord said “apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5) yet let your heart rest assured in the fact that Jesus also promised to “never leave or forsake you” (Deut. 31:8; Matthew 28:20).

In Christ Jesus we are now the children of God (1 John 3:2) and we have freedom in Christ, for it is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1) – – -you are free to make the choices you want to make. God has given us His Word and the Great Teacher (John 14:26) has come to dwell within each of our hearts and we are free in Christ to either deal wisely or unwisely in the affairs of this life. I suggest you take the path of wisdom which can only be gained through the fear of the Lord. (Psl. 110:11) this golly reverence will unavoidably lead to the study, contemplation, ingestion and incorporation of the Word studied.

Brothers and sisters God has not revealed to us in His Word the specifies for our individual lives, not because He does not “care” about you individually, but because we are free to choose. Out of His great love He has given us His Word and Spirit, what more do we need to walk in God’s will? Jesus had paid the price for our sins on the cross. Now through faith in Him, He is not ashamed to call us His brothers (Hebrews 2:11) and He ministers before our Father as our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) ever living to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25) so we do not have to live in fear of making the “wrong” choice. It is not called a walk of faith for nothing (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Let me close with another personal example. Tracy and I just purchased our first home last month. Many people are having mortgage problems, losing their homes, loan money is tight etc. Buying a home is a big decision with a ton of variables, such as the neighborhood condition currently and potentially in the future; type of homes, distance ot our church and work, utility cost, monthly mortgage payment on and on. How did we decide?

First, we prayed and asked for God to grant us wisdom (James 1:5), we’ve never bought a home, what do we know? Secondly, we researched the different variables. How much house can we afford? What do we really need in our home? What style? Then we found a Realtor who then showed me over sixteen homes. Of those I narrowed it down to 2 or 3 possibilities. Next Tracy visited the homes selected and then we decided on the one we wanted.

God did not speak to us and say “thou shalt buy this home and not that one,” nor did we have any visions or dreams. We did not “fast” over our decision. We took it to the Lord in prayer and then we stepped our trusting our Lord and purchased our home.

There is tremendous liberty in Christ, don’t let the false teachers and false brethren place you back into bondage. Allow the principles for wise living as found in the bible to be incorporated into your study and live in the liberty of our Lord.

Copyright © 2012 Robert S. Liichow

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MORE of…The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

Truth Matters Newsletters – April 2010 – Vol. 15  Issue 4 – More of …The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

More of …The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

By Rev. Robert Liichow

Ah, more has been revealed regarding the divorce of Benny Hinn. Last month various scenarios were posited as potential future realities and out of these one is emerging as the frontrunner.

I foretold how one possibility might be the tried-n-true defense of “the devil made me do it.” This maneuver resonates especially well in the ears of the sign-gift crowd. Most of whom have been well schooled in the wiles of the evil one and know what he is capable of. There is after all, a well established track record of Satanic victories over the internationally know sign-gift leaders. This track record of moral defeats begins almost at the start of American Pentecostalism.

The generally accepted founder of America Pentecostalism is Charles Fox Parham, a member of the KKK and a man later charged with sodomy. (1) If time permitted I could speak about Finis Dake, author of the “Dake Bible” used by numerous Pentecostal people for over 50 years. Dake was convicted and imprisoned for taking an underage girl across state lines and staying in a single hotel room with her. (2)

Dake took over Zion, II that was founded by John Alexander Dowie; who upon announcing that he was “John the Baptist” returned and was stricken with a soon fatal stroke. (3) Time rolls on leaving in its wake the sad doxologies of Amiee Semple MacPherson (died of a drug over-dose, adulteress), (4) A.A. Allen (drunkard, died of a drug overdose), (5) James Cleveland, internationally known Gospel recording artists, (died of AIDS, a homosexual), (6) Robert LIARdon (exposed as a homosexual), (7) Prophet Paul Cain, honored as the greatest living prophet by charismatic folk (exposed as a drunkard and homosexual, (8) Paul Crouch, founder of TBN paid hush money (close to half a million dollars) to a man who accuses him of homosexuality. (9) Space does not permit me to cite but a few of the divorces among major sign-gift leaders: E.W. Kenyon, Robert Tilton (3 times) Jim Bakker (adulterer), Kathryn Kuhlman (adulteress), Leroy Jenkins, W.V. Grant, Richard Roberts, Paula White, Juanita Byrum, John Hagee, “apostle” Todd Bentley (right after his upward exalted call to apostle) Larry Lea, Amy Grant and many others.

Now the illustrious and always dapper Mr. Benny Hinn can add his name to the Hall of Shame in both categories. He now is qualified to join the “divorced” column and what is more he is also provisionally qualified to be placed in the sodomite column also. For it has come to our attention (due to arduous research) that Mrs. Hinn’s irreconcilable differences may run a bit deeper than was originally revealed:

The headline in the online edition of Ugandan Tabloid Red Pepper screams, “Pastors Name Benny Hinn Sodomy Bonk-mate.” that headline appears to be in reaction to the news that American Pentecostal prosperity evangelist and faith healer Benny Hinn is unable to heal his own marriage and is seeking a divorce. (2)

The bottom line is simply this, according to some African newspapers the reason Mr. Hinn is getting divorced by his wife is because of his homosexual escapades with other men was uncovered to her and then she filed for divorce, as would any right thinking person (especially when they look back over the years and begin to add one+one together). Although at this point, the exact specifics of the divorce have not been made known (we will let our readers know) we can rest assured that Benny will not go away without a fight!

The perennial question has been and still is “how can this happen to such highly anointed people?” Every person I have cited has made documented claims either about their unique and close fellowship with God, their special gift(s) given to them by God and or their singular importance to God’s end time plans, etc. Since these people walk on such an exalted spiritual level, one not experienced by us {the hoi polloi } what is their excuse for falling? Us mortals sin because we are still ignorant babes still suckling 1% milk if and when we can, like blind kittens, find the celestial spigot to nurse from.

The answer is simple—”the devil made me do it.” When it was revealed to DMI that Roberts LIARdon was a homosexual, we researched the information and found it to be true. How could this happen? Then Pastor Roberts mother told the church that her son fell into sin because the people did not “cover” their pastor in prayer. So you see, it was not really Roberts fault nor the Sunday School teacher (who fled America), the real problem was the Devil…But actually it was the peoples fault. The devil will do what he does, but when he impacts God’s leaders, that is because those flocks let down the barrier to the devil’s attack, got it? Look forget all that stuff about young David protecting his flock (see 1 Sam. 17:36), forget about the lessons on shepherds laying down their lives for the sheep (John 10:12) as opposed to being a hired servant. Please understand, it is the role of the sheep to protect “cover” the shepherd, not vice versa, right? [WRONG !]

Flip Wilson and all others please understand and accept the FACT that the Devil cannot make you do anything!! If he could then Satan would be the cause of all sin. No the best he and his minions can do is tempt us at our weak points or offer to us something new and see if we take the bait. A man’s sin ultimately is his own and he must acknowledge his own culpability. Blaming others, which began with Adam (re-read Genesis 1-4) has never been the answer. Sin is always personal matter between the individual and God, no one can make you sin, you chose to.

Mr. Hinn can blame his wife, the demands of SINistry, an absent father, society, Satan and his minions yet in the end Hinn has to answer face-to-face to a holy God who simply asks “why?”

As I admitted last month, I am no prophet and not much of a swami, but this much I am sure of — please pray for Mr. Hinn, his former wife and their children. These are real people with potentially eternally serious problems; people for whom Christ died.  ♦

Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

** See our previous articles March 2010 – The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada here: https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/the-inscrutable-un-screwed-the-un-thought-of-thought-of-by-swami-bobby-beyondanada/

He didn’t “see” it Coming: The Divorce of Benny Hinn:

 https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/he-didnt-see-it-coming/

I Am Out Raged:

https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/i-am-outraged/

Paul Crouch Possible Peccadello – (see video)http://www.archive.org/details/Fox4InvestigatesTrinityBroadcastNetworksPaulCrouch

https://discernmentministriesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/paul-crouchs-possible-peccadillo/

End Notes

1. Obtained from www.spirithome.com/hispen1.html on 03-21-10

2. Obtained from http://dangerouscults.com/dake-federal-trial.html

3. Obtained from www.brainyhistory.com/events/1847/may_25_1847_52017.html 

4. Obtained from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/protestant/a/aimee_mcpherson.htm

5. Obtained from www.cephasministry.com/a_a_allen.html

6. Obtained from www.keithboykin.com/arch/2002/11/19/confessions_of

7. Although DMI broke the story here is a web site to validate what we originally said: www.bibleman.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=145

8. Obtained from www.deceptioninthechurch.com/orrel19.html

9. Why did Paul Crouch pay extortion if the charges were false and he was unafraid to go to court? He has never explained the use of donor funds to do so either. Visit: rickross.com

He Didn’t “See” It Coming

Truth Matters Newsletters – March 2010 – Vol. 15 Issue 3 -He didn’t “See” It Coming -The Divorce of Benny Hinn – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

He Didn’t “See” It Coming

The Divorce of Benny Hinn

By Rev. Robert Liichow

Let me begin by stating that DMI does not support or endorse divorce apart from the more extreme circumstances. Nor do we rejoice when someone falls (see Prov. 24:17) Having given that caveat, please allow me to make some comments on beginning with the statement of Mr. Hinn’s own people

I come to you with a broken heart. You may have heard by now that my wife, Suzanne, whom I love very much and always will, filed for divorce on February 1.  Even though Suzanne has been under great stress, the children and I never expected this to happen. Divorce was the last thing on my mind and theirs. It was a total shock when her lawyer called me the morning of February 17 to inform me that she had filed 16 days before. Suzanne never gave the family even a hint that this was on her mind. Even to this moment, the children and I don’t know why she did it. Neither did her parents know, until I told them myself on the 17th….My wife had no biblical grounds for what she has done. We both have kept our covenant with God and stayed pure before him, and I am praying with all my heart that our precious Lord Jesus will heal my family and protect His work for His glory.   (1)

Benny and Suzanne have been married for thirty years. Then suddenly, out of the blue, completely unknown to Benny, their children, his or her parents or siblings, BOOM she drops the big “D” word on unsuspecting, innocent, humble Benny.

In reaction to the news, Benny Hinn Ministries said in a statement: “Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice. Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to that relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice. (2)

Even the newspapers in Uganda are commenting on the fact that Benny Hinn was obviously sandbagged by his wife in this whole episode. Poor bloke blithely going through daily life without a clue, a hint, a mere whiff of a problem seems like a rather “normal” unsuspecting Christian man.

Ah, but there is the rub. Mr. Hinn does not claim to be just any regular normal Christian. Quite the contrary, Mr. Hinn has built a religious machine which brings in an estimated $100 million per year tax free. (3) This machine has been built over the years through carefully grooming an image, an image of a man especially visited and anointed by God Almighty Himself. An image of a humble immigrant, who stuttered severely (just like Moses) (4) and was personally taught by the Holy Spirit the meaning of the bible and other mysteries, simply read Good Morning Holy Spirit (an international best-seller).

One quickly gathers from the above mentioned book and Welcome Holy Spirit another tome proving that Benny Hinn has a deeply personal and abiding fellowship I.e. a sentient ongoing personal unique one-on-one communication with the Indwelling Spirit of God. This union is so complete and unhindered that Mr. Hinn regularly calls out specific ailments as revealed to him via his Divine Friend, the Holy Spirit. On virtually all of his television programs one can see Hinn standing before the multitudes saying things like “The Lord is showing me a woman, a lady with back pain, pain in the lower back…you are feeling heat right now on your body, the Lord is healing you.” At times Hinn yields to the “Spirit” to prophesy throught him. Sadly, all of Hinn’s prophetic pronouncements have failed to come to pass. [A RATHER LONG LEARNING MOMENT {AKA: RABBIT TRAIL} ].

 

Although well documented Mr. Hinn has never accounted for his many false prophetic utterances. Frankly, unfulfilled prophecies are sort of the elephant in the room that sign-gift people prefer to ignore. In Mr. Hinn’s case all of his divinely directed prophetic words failing to come to pass has not yet tarnished his reputation of “God’s man of faith and power for the hour” {ok, that is my little saying regarding Benny}.

Forgive the slight foray into the vagaries of false prophecy, when what I want you to focus on is Hinn’s alleged ability to supernaturally see what is currently transpiring in peoples’ lives, especially regarding their physical condition. Among the ranks of the Pentecostal and sign-gift folks such an ability is relegated to being one of the nine “sign-gifts” of the Holy Spirit.

For the uninitiated these gifts are found in the following text:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1 Cor. 12:1-11 (KJV)

These nine sign-gifts are then broken down by sign-gift folks into the following three categories and honestly, they seem to make some sense:

 

As I stated I have no problem with this demarcation however we must admit our limited understanding of these gifts and how they were (1) bestowed, (2) defined and (3) used in the Church. It is generally greed that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Eleven (11) while they tarried in the Upper Room. We know they came out and spoke in other languages supernaturally as the Holy Spirit gave them the utterance (reread Acts chapters 1-3 carefully). We read that the Apostles laid their hands upon others and imparted spiritual gifts to them—as the Spirit wills (1 Cor. 12:11) not according to the disciples desires. We read of the occasional miracles in the Book of Acts (miracles were not commonplace) and healing here and there. However, when it comes to the sign gifts of the word of knowledge and word of wisdom we are given no definition of what these two gifts are, other than their names and no clues are given as to how these gifts operated. This being the case, and I assure you it is, then how can anyone claim to possess these two gifts today, as does Mr. Hinn!

Anyone who has been involved in the sign-gift movement for any period of time can recite (more or less) the following are simply three representative definitions of the word of knowledge:

The definition of The Word of Knowledge is: A Supernatural revelation of certain facts in the mind of God that deal with the past or present….The gift of the Word of Knowledge in Demonstration: ‘Normally, A Born Again believer who has asked for & received The Baptism in The Holy Spirit & this Gift will suddenly know, hear, see, smell, taste, or become aware of a single bit or piece of information that is suddenly revealed to him/her that deals specifically with the past or present. The information can come through inward revelation, outward revelation, dreams, visions etc. The individual receives a piece of supernaturally revealed information that is coming directly from God.   (5)

The spiritual gift of the WORD OF KNOWLEDGE is the bestowal of certain facts from the mind of God which He sees fit to reveal to one of His servants supernaturally by His Spirit. It is only a word, or a portion of God’s endless storehouse of knowledge. (6)

The Word of Knowledge therefore, is knowledge received from the Holy Spirit to enable us to more effectively minister to the needs of people, to know and understand situations, circumstances, stategies of the enemy (kingdom of darkness) etc. It enables us to know how to speak in the above situations with a knowledge that can surprise, baffle, dis-arm, open-up, bring answers, healing and understanding. (7)

Where did Pentecostal leaders come up with its now widely accepted definition? After all, a room full of intellectually honest Christians reading the same KJV verses could never piece such a definition together.

Since this is not a biblical definition, where did it come from?

The working definition used by Benny Hinn and millions of others came from the somewhat tortured mind of a Mr. Howard Carter, a British missionary. While in prison for an anti-war position in 1916 he engaged in a study of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. In the end the book was published titled: Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts which is in reprint today. (DMI has a copy in our library). Carter declares that while incarcerated the Lord divinely revealed to him the nature and operation of all nine spiritual sign-gifts and what is more, Carter is supposed to have been used by the Spirit in all nine of them throughout his ministry. Now you know —the definitions we read about are simple regurgitations of Carter’s original explanation.

Next time you are trolling through the channels and happen to see Pat Robertson with eyes closed pointing to the camera and saying “someone has a bad left knee and God is healing it right now,” you will know you are witnessing the word of knowledge along with the gifts of healing in operation (at least in theory). Or when you gaze upon Benny as he intones “right now in the balcony someone’s ears are being touched” you’ll know you are in the presence of the supernatural revelatory power of God flowing through His vessel. Right! If you believe that, I have some land you might be interested in.

Now back to the illustrious Mr. Hinn. What ought to amaze everyone is not only the abysmal track record of non-healing but also the complete lack of touch with those closest to him. Case in point:

Then in December, revelations of the heroin-overdose deaths of two of Hinn’s employees hounded his ministry. The deaths which occurred in late 1997, finally came to light in a report in the Dec 2, 1998 edition of The Orlando Sentinel newspaper. Up until the newspaper’s report, details of the fatalities were know only by law-enforcement and church officials. The newspaper disclosed, ‘A longtime aide to Orlando minister Benny Hinn died of chronic heroin abuse last December, a month after coming under suspicion of supplying a fatal heroin overdose to another church worker.” David Delgado, who served the televangelist for a decade, was found dead in New York City after returning from Hinn’s crusade in Jordan. According to the newspaper Delgado, 45, began as a ‘catcher” (one who keeps those being “slain in the Spirit” from hitting the stage floor) at Hinn’s healing campaigns and escalated to become a friend and personal assistant to the faith healer. He would help organize details such as Hinn’s “schedule, meals and grooming.” Delgado’s widow, Mary, revealed that her husband knew he was dying from cirrhosis of the liver, which can be a side effect of heroin abuse. According to Orange County Sheriff’s records, at the time of his death, Delgado was under suspicion for the heroin-related death of Joshua, and later drove a truck for the ministry, died Nov. 15, 1997 at his Florida home after injecting himself with a massive dose of heroin. Delgado was being investigated in the death because Williams appeared to have been drugged following a visit to Delgado’s home. (8)

How can two of Hinn’s closest aides die from heroin overdoses without Benny even knowing they were stone cold hypes? From what can be learned it seems that these men were fairly long-time users and even more shocking is that we read that Williams was taking care of Hinn’s small child while a heroin addict! How can these things be? How can a man whose written international bestselling books on developing an intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit not receive divine insight into some problems being faced daily by those around him? Where was the word of knowledge for Benny when his close friends needed it the most? Why didn’t Benny know what danger he was placing his small child in by leaving him attended by a junkie? The bottom line of this sad episode in the Hinn saga is that Hinn sold his church in Orlando and moved operations to Texas. Hinn at least got the “get out of Dodge” revelations clearly enough.

Now we come to this most recent segment, Suzanne Hinn pulling the marriage plug after thirty 30 years. Again we find the man of faith and power dumbfounded and shocked completely blindsided by a woman he now describes as “under great stress.” Is Hinn totally clueless when it comes to people? Ok, maybe he did not divine how to spot a couple of hypes, but his wife? Thirty years? No one had any idea of what she was contemplating? “I still have a few choice parcels left for just the right family, sir…”

Benny declares that there has been no infidelity. Ok, love believes the best (1 Cor. 13) and until proven wrong I will accept his statement. However, could it have something to do with Mr. Hinn’s practice of having his wife and family stay on another floor when they travel with him during his “miracle crusades.”? That gets pretty old fast after years of monthly crusades. Could it be that she is simply fed up with the hypocrisy and trying to live the lie KNOWING full well her hubby has never healed a soul and has made a living off of selling false hope to the desperate and dying on every continent! It was brought to our (DMI’s) attention at an apologetic conference when several teachers were discussing Mrs. Hinn’s face dive & belly flop at OCC shortly before the Hinn’s blew town. The clip (on Youtube.com with over 100,000+viewings) shows Mrs. Hinn berating the congregation and I quote “you all need a Holy Ghost enema, right up your rear end” she does a flop on the state and is cartel off by staff/henchman/body guards. The discussion was whether or not Suzanne was bi-polar and unstable. No definitive information is available on her mental state as of today, however, she comprehends it is time to jump ship.

One would imagine that this is now perhaps the icing on the cake for Mr. Hinn and his SINistry. With the years of false and unfulfilled prophetic (pathetic) words; the millions of people crowding stadiums around the world to listen to his every word and receive his healing touch who’ve got away unhealed, financially poor and disheartened must be asking themselves how could they have been so deceived. The lack of insight into the addiction of his close friends, the “unexpected” divorce of his wife—all should make anyone wonder about the stability of this man. All I can say is that we must pray for the Hinn’s. Benny Hinn while alive is a candidate for repentance and so I pray God grant him repentance and that He open the eyes of those still following this blind guide. ♦

Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes

1. http://www.bennyhinn.org/emailleters/pbhletter.cfm?referrer+na_eb022510  obtained on 02-26-2010 Underlining added for emphasis.

2. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/865076/-/wikt0b/-/index.html 02-26-2010

3. It is unknown exactly how much money Mr. Hinn takes in due to our current tax laws. However from interviews, book sales, crusade attendance it is easily estimated that Hinn brings in at least 100 million a year, if not more. Much of it collected overseas in foreign nations. We have no way of knowing how much money Mr. Hinn may have salted away overseas. Please keep in mind that all of these SINistries receive tremendous amounts of currency (cash) from their meetings locally & abroad and it is very difficult to track that currency especially when it is collected and counted overseas in some hotel room.

4. Hinn, Benny. Good Morning Holy Spirit, Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nashville, 1980, p. 10

5. http://seatedprophetic.org/the-holy-spirit-his-gifts/gift-of-the-word-of-knowledge-the-word-of-wisdom-the-discerning-of-spirit/ obtained on 02-25-2010.

6. http://www.joywell.org/Gifts/wordknlg.html, obtained on 02-25-2010

7.http://www.gospel.org.nz/FreeArticiles/Rodney’sArticles/THE%20WORD%20OF%20KNOWLEDGE.htm

8. http://www.pfo.org/nuscandals.htm, obtained on 02-27-2010. Underlining

YouTube Video – Benny Hinn – “It’s Time for me to tell it all.”

The Inscrutable un-screwed, The un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada

Truth Matters Newsletters – March 2010 – Vol. 15 Issue 3 -The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami” Bobby Beyondanada – By Rev. Robert Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

The Inscrutable Un-screwed, The Un-thought of Thought of by “Swami”

Bobby Beyondanada

 By Rev. Robert Liichow

The prophetic voice is dim in my ear today, so no charge for these insights. Allow me to run a few possible Hinn scenarios by you: (1) Victim Scene: First of all he is already positioning himself a victim, a close reading will show Benny totally guiltless and Susanne “under great stress.” (2) Devil Scene: Easily sold to sign-gift people, we blamed Satan for everything, even our own sin!! The devil got into Susanne, remember Eve folks, yup he strikes those closest to us. (3) Crazy scene: A little harder push, but not much of one. After all, Hinn is the superstar of our times why leave someone at the “top” of their game, you’d have to be crazy, right? Benny already has floated the “stress” she is under, i.e. she has had a mental collapse. Will Benny survive? That depends on how well he can spin the divorce. Most hard-shell Pentecostals are, and rightly so, very opposed to divorce and terms like “irreconcilable differences” simply don’t compute in their sanctified minds (mine neither for that matter). How can a pastor who alleges such a close walk with the Spirit not be reconciled to those around him? Benny the humble, meek, mild, servant be difficult to live with? How can these things be?

Charismatic sign/gift folks are far more urbane and used to divorces among their stars. In the past both Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman got divorces and kept up their SINistries for many years afterwards, why not Benny? More recently, Todd Bentley, the latest sight-gift “apostle” (I call them “opossums”) divorced his wife not long after his installation and he now rehabilitated and ready to bilk more folks! Plus if Benny can paint his ex-wife as the problem then he will skate away with little damage.

Last speculation regarding the Hinn’s, I’m pretty sure Susanne will have to sign some major non-disclosure agreements before she see a penny of a settlement. Legal fact: a wife cannot testify against her husband, but an ex-wife can. I’d love to read a tell-all-book by Susanne, but it will not be coming (unless Benny really ticks her off, maybe not a good idea Benny)…who knows what stones will be unturned and what dark happenings will be exposed by the light of Day our Lord knows and one day Hinn and all of us will stand before Him. May His grace enable us to stand both now and surely on that day.  ♦

 Copyright © 2010 Robert S. Liichow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLYQ8oFvMBg

Does the Bible Support A Doctrine of Being Slain in the Spirit? Part 2 of 3

Truth Matters Newsletters – November 2009 – Vol. 14 Issue 11 – Does the Bible Support A Doctrine of Being Slain in the Spirit? Part 2 of 3 – by Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

Does the Bible Support A Doctrine of Being Slain in the Spirit?

Part 2 of 3

By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

The “Ministry” of the Catchers

This phenomena has caused the need to develop a “new” ministry within the church, that of the Catcher. No matter where you go, whether it is to a revival service at Toronto, Pensacola or a Vineyard Fellowship you will encounter the ministry of the Catchers. This is an actual “ministry” within charismatic fellowships and people are trained in how to fulfill this duty (it is often done by the ushers within a local assembly).

A catcher is a man who stands behind those receiving prayer. Their job is to “catch” the people who are being slain in the spirit. The catchers job is to make sure the person being “blessed” does no harm to themselves or those around them. Charismatic congregations even have written guidelines for catchers:

Tips For Catching People:

1. Do not touch the person being prayed for, but reassure them that there is someone behind them.

2. You don’t have to take a hold of their shoulders as if you are going to help God.

3. As the person moves down, move back and then facilitate their move.

4. Men- be careful when touching women.

5. Get them to fall back, not forward.

6. Catchers – ONLY catch, do not pray. Do not wave your hands only stand and be ready to catch.

7. Please do not push or pull anyone over. God does not need any help and it will ultimately backfire.

8. Do not hold anyone up by grabbing their shoulders or upper back.

Let me begin by asking a rhetorical question. If the power of God is knocking people down and placing them in an altered state of consciousness for the purpose of spiritually blessing them, then why do these churches employ the use of catchers?

The answer is quite simple —- if people are falling flat on their backs from an upright position they are very liable to hurt themselves or others.

We previously read that extremists explain this manifestation as being the result of encountering the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. If this is so, He is not mighty enough to see to it that those He sovereignty knocks down are unhurt by His blessing?

These churches employ catchers because: (1) they know people fake being slain many times. (2) They lack faith in their own stated beliefs. Obviously God is not big enough to safeguard His people.

In our former church along with the male catchers we had sisters who came along beside or behind the catchers with large sheets of material. Their ministry was to place these sheets over the women’s legs and bodies. Why? Because many times when women would be slain in the spirit they would fall in very immodest positions.

We had events where when some unfortunate women fell their dresses would be hiked up their bodies quite a bit, and their legs would be splayed out at inappropriate angles. When the Lord choose to embarrass His daughters in this manner we had to be there to quickly cover up their shame. Does this really sound like something the Lord God would do to His daughters?

Not only can being slain in the spirit prove to be embarrassing to a woman, it can prove deadly as well. Mrs. Ella Peppard died as a result of someone falling on her who had been slain in the spirit.

The ushers quickly pulled her off the stage and sat her in a pew where she cried out in pain for 20 minutes….The woman’s family alleged the ushers refused to call an ambulance because an ambulance would not look good at a miracle service. A lawsuit was settled out of court. Hinn says he never knew the woman was injured or he would have sought medical help.

According to charismatic theology the Holy Spirit will place women in morally embarrassing positions, and at times allow some people to be hurt and/or killed.

I know from past experience (I used to be a catcher) that when there was no one standing behind a saint receiving prayer nine times out of ten they would not fall down. This alone is proof to me that what is taking place is not a sovereign move of the power of God. There is a power involved at times but it is not of God.

3

The Historical Roots of the Phenomenon

I began by citing Stanley Burgess’s definition in the first chapter and it is a good one except for one point – he says it is a relatively “modern” expression. His statement is not correct. People have been allegedly falling under the power in the United States since the early 1760’s. It was a common expression among the Shakers. There were groups before the Shakers in Europe, which had this same manifestation:

The Convolutionaries

The extreme exercises of the “convolution Aries” startled Belgium and France. The grave of a young Jansenist clergyman, Francois de Paris, in the cemetery of Saint-Medard in Paris, because the scene of reputed marvelous cures. Multitudes flocked thither for healing. Strange bodily agitations seized the devotees. They fell in shakings and convulsions, threw themselves about on the ground, screamed, and assumed unusual and often unseemly postures.

The Shaker’s

Later on in the mid seventeen hundreds in America the Shaker cult also had people falling under the power. Their bodily agitations or exercise were various and called by various names, as the falling exercise…The falling exercise was very common…The subject of this exercise would, generally with a piercing scream, fall like a log on the floor, earth, or mud, and appear as dead.

The Shakers were a cult group led by a woman named Ann Lee. Many of the manifestations which are common to charismatic extremism, were first practiced by the Shakers. Since the Shakers were a pagan cult the source of their manifestations could not have been the Holy Spirit.

The Shakers were very evangelistic in their zeal to propagate their false doctrines & practices. Shaker evangelists were involved with the Cane Ridge “Revival,” and brought their manifestations (which they called “signs”) with them and infected the meetings.

People Were “Slain” During the Cane Ridge Revival

It was during the Cane Ridge meetings that we see more examples of the manifestation of being slain in the spirit. The underlining is added for emphasis:

The scene to me was new and passing strange…Many, very many fell down, as men slain in battle, and continued for hours together in an apparently breathless and motionless state sometimes for a few moments reviving, and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan, or piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy most fervently uttered…Then the woman who had first stated shouting let out a shrill of anguish. Methodist John McGee, seemingly entranced, made his way to comfort her. Someone (probably his Presbyterian brother) reminded him this was a Presbyterian church; the congregation would not condone emotionalism! Later John recalled, “I turned to go back and was near falling; the power of God was strong upon me. I turned again and, losing sight of the fear of man, I went through the house shouting and exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy, and the floor was soon covered with the slain” people were falling in ecstasy.

This eyewitness of the Cane Ridge excess described the people falling in “ecstasy,” but is this necessarily a good thing? Pagan religion has long been given over to ecstatic forms of worship (see 1 Kings 18:28). The Oracle at Delphi breathed in the fumes which rose from the ground and in an ecstatic state uttered prophecies which directed the lives of many people.

ECSTASY The state of being in a trance, especially a mystic or prophetic trance. The derivation of our word “ecstasy” (from the Greek ek, out plus stasis, state) suggests an out of body state (2 Cor. 12:2,3) or the state of being out of control.

From what I have personally witnessed and experienced being slain in the spirit is a condition in which the individual’s normal rational mental state is suspended, and that person is for a period of time literally out of control. During the Shaker meetings and at Cane Ridge we find multitudes of people capitulating their volitional sensibilities over to an experience which was so great it physically overwhelmed them. However, it was also noted by the orthodox Reformed ministers at Cane Ridge, that a person simply getting slain was not a true indicator of spiritual regeneration, “They noted that some who “fell” had within six months gone back to the world.”

The Ministry of Charles Finney

After the Cane Ridge revival the experience of being slain in the spirit became common in many revival meetings. One evangelist in particular whose revival meetings were patterned after the emotional excesses of Cane Ridge was Charles Finney. In many of his meetings people were slain in the spirit:

Before the week was out I learned that some of them, when they would attempt to observe this season of prayer, would lose all of their strength and be unable to rise to their feet, or even stand upon their knees in their closets.

The congregation began to fall from their seats in every direction, and cried for mercy. If I had had a sword in each hand, I could not have cut them off their seats as fast as they fell

Finney was not particularly concerned with scriptural precedent, he was interested in getting result and fostered the belief that revival was not a sovereign move of God’s Spirit, but that revivals could be planned and worked up by the use of what he called new measures.

The Ministry of Maria Woodworth Etter

Being slain in the spirit was one of the ordinary signs in the ministry of Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844-1924) the trance evangelist.

Yesterday during the afternoon meeting the Lord Jesus bowed the heaven and came down. Many went under the power. Two women and a girl were struck down unconscious, and lay on the floor…The second woman lay unconscious for about two and one-half hours, with both arms raised to heaven. When she was recovering she sang praises unto God in the spirit.”

Her ministry manifestations began in 1885, 21 years before the Azusa “revival.” She received a spiritual renewal at a Friends meeting in 1879. Here is a woman, who received some type of spiritual power from a Quaker meeting. Keep in mind that the Society of Friends, the Quakers, were originally a non-Christian group (although many people unknowingly lump them in with Christian groups).

Maria would go into trances, people came to her while she was in a trance state and allegedly got “saved.” She would lay hands on others and place them in a similar trance-state.

The Ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson

The practice of people being slain was not widespread in Pentecostal circles after Etter’s death. It became more commonplace through the ministry of another woman minister named Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944). Sister Aimee was also a traveling evangelist and she too had people fall out under the power in her ministry—

One of these was a Sunday school teacher at the city’s largest Protestant church. After Aimee touched him, he dropped to the floor trembling and speaking in tongues. The next day, the wife of a leading citizen had a similar experience, and scores of people came to the altar for counseling. The day after that, “Three were slain under the power and through speaking in tongues,” Aimee said.

Aimee was very controversial to say the least. She is the Founder of the Foursquare Gospel denomination. She later died of a barbiturate overdose in 1944. To this day charismatic believers ignore the fact that she was a divorcee and most likely faked her own kidnapping in order to spend time in an adulterous liaison in 1926. Yet the power of God is supposed to have flowed mightily through during her life!

The Ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman

The next major figure whose ministry is responsible for making the practice of being slain in the spirit part-and-parcel of charismatic healing and miracles services was Kathryn Kuhlman (1907-1976).

Kathryn committed adultery with a married man, who left his wife and children to marry Kathryn. A few years later Kathryn divorced him and never remarried. She died of heart disease in 1976. I bring these distasteful facets up because it show some of the character of these mighty Pentecostal/Charismatic giants of the faith. I am not saying these people were not saved, nor that they did not sincerely repent of their sins. However, character does matter in ministry.

Apart from the well-documented healings, the most sensational phenomena associated with Kuhlman was “going under the power” (sometimes referred to as “slain in the Spirit”) as people fell when she prayed for them. This sometimes happened to dozens at a time and occasionally hundreds.

Her ministry was international in scope. Well received by many Pentecostal’s and the fledgling charismatic renewal movement of the 1960’s.

I have witnessed Mr. Kenneth Hagin have a long line of people hold hands and he lay hands on the head of the first person and then the entire line fall down. I have personally seen Benny Hinn whirl around and “throw” a wave of anointing in his meetings and multitudes have fallen, as if shot on several occasions. As recently as August 1, 1997 my wife and I were at the Toronto Airport Church and we witnessed multitudes being slain in the spirit as John and Carol Arnott laid hands on people.

The Phenomenon Is Universally Accepted By Charismatic Christians Today

This experience is almost universal to all charismatic’s. If you know any, ask them if they have ever been slain in the spirit and what it was like.

This practice and manifestation is accepted de facto due in large part to the following:

• The long history behind it, i.e. God has always done this.
• Their own subjective experience of it, they got “blessed.”
• They have been taught that the Bible clearly teaches this is a legitimate experience of what takes place when God’s power comes on an individual.

Slain- Carol Arnott

As with holy laughter today’s revivalists strongest case is that of historical precedent. Yet when anyone takes an honest look at the history of this manifestation, they see a historical background of occultism (with the Shakers), aberrant mystics like Maria Woodworth-Etter, and ministers of dubious character such as Aimee McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman. The historical case is not sufficient, nor will it ever be, to overrule the plain teachings of the Bible.

From an exegetical view point the revivalist have even less support. None of the texts they cite as “proof” for this practice can be legitimately applied. All of the texts have to do with divine encounters which were extremely important to the plan of God either for Israel as a nation or for the Church. It is not enough to locate texts which denote someone falling and then interpret them to refer to being slain in the spirit. All of their comparisons are at best apples-to-apples. None of the writings of the Early Church Fathers indicate any such manifestation as part-and-parcel of normal Christian experience, in fact, they never mention it at all. One would think that these writers would have recorded some evidence of this manifestation in their writings if it was a genuine experience given by the Holy Spirit, especially one that alleges to bestow ministry calls, visions of the Lord, emotional and physical healing. Yet the historic record of the Church for almost 1,700 years is totally silent on this matter.

As I have already stated the history behind this practice is extremely questionable at best. The earliest references we have of it in America come from the Shakers, a non-Christian cult of necromancers. The familiar spirits (demons) told the Shakers at the same time in their various communes that they, the spirits, were leaving the Shakers and going to visit the “world’s people,” and would do so by various manifestations. This did occur and many Christian sects, unsound in doctrine were open to such forms of enthusiasms, and this deception continues to this day. The practice of being slain in the spirit is less than four hundred years old, and has had only marginal acceptance at best in the past. However, this has changed in our time.

Now with rapid growth of neo-Montanism with the Church this practice is now a common, sometimes weekly experience for literally millions of people professing the name of Jesus Christ.

The sheer numbers of people submitting to an experience does not validate it as biblical. Truth is not determined by consensus. Truth is revealed to us by the written Word of God. The Westminster Confession of Faith states what the Christian’s relationship to the Bible ought to be:

IV. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

VI. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word:

God’s Word along is the standard by which we live. His Word contains all things necessary for salvation, faith and life. These things are expressly set down in the Bible, or “by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” This deduction however is not accomplished by violating the principles of hermeneutics and wresting the texts from their context in order to attempt to make them fit one’s experience.

This is exactly what today’s revivalists have done regarding being slain in the spirit. This experience is not mentioned once contextually in the entire Bible. Every text the revivalists site as proof of their non-biblical practice has been taken from it context and misapplied.

The revivalists have failed both historically and biblically to make their case that this manifestation is the result of the Holy Spirit or the glory of God coming upon an individual to such a degree their physical bodies cannot withstand it. And thus fall to the ground in some form of a trance-like condition. With this in mind we must seek other explanations.

Learned Behavior

There is an undeniable element of learned behavior with this phenomena. A minister gets up and preaches, towards the end of the message he or she will begin to make allusions to what people may see or experience while being prayed for. Often some of the texts we have considered will be sited to validate what the congregation will see or personally experience. The catchers are called forward and then an alter call is given. The first people are lined up with catchers behind them. Hands are laid on the people and some of them begin to fall into the arms of the catchers. The other people are observing this behavior. When their turn comes, they too fall down.

This is the basic pattern of ministry I have personally observed for over fifteen years, it was the pattern I also used while in full-time charismatic ministry. Although not done consciously, I and other ministers, were setting the state by psychologically preparing the people in advance. On the part of the people, they wanted to get blessed, they wanted a stronger “anointing” or deeper walk with Christ. Seeing others fall, they too fell. Many times I knew as a minister that people were simply “faking it.” How? When people came up for prayer I would notice them quickly look behind them to make sure there was a catcher there to “catch” them when they fell. These fakers, came knowing in advance that they were going to fall, and they wanted assurance they would be caught.  ♦

(TO BE COMPLETED NEXT MONTH!)

Copyright 2009 Robert S. Liichow

* Color-highlight and some bolding are not in the original book by Robert S. Liichow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where’s the Love Ladies – (and the Discernment)

Truth Matters Newsletters – October 2007 – Vol. 12 – Issue 10 – Where’s the Love Ladies (and the Discernment?) By Rev. Bob Liuchow & Jackie Alnor

Discernment Ministries International

Where’s the Love Ladies (and the Discernment?)

By Rev. Bob Liichow & Jackie Alnor

As you probably know by now both Paula White & Juanita Bynum have both trotted off to the divorce court. Divorce is always troubling to me especially in the marriage of Christians. One would image that since we’ve been forgiven in like manner what excuse can there be to proceed with divorce? After all the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) and this love comes directly from God and we know its character and the fruit of it in our lives.

Love is patient love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

Robert Tilton personally taught me (and others) that the “God” kind of faith Only produces when we walk in love…But then Mr. Tilton is currently in marriage number 3, so where’s the love Bobby? How’s that God kind of faith working for you these days I wonder?

The following televangelists have all gone through divorce: Bob Tilton, Richard Roberts, John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, Bishop Noel Jones, Bishop Clarence McClendon, and Robert Schuller. Now we can add to this sad list Paula & Randy White along with the “prophetess” Juanita Bynum.

Randy and Paula just decided to “go their separate” ways and got divorced for purely selfish reasons, nothing even remotely biblical. Will this effect their impact and future in ministry? If history has taught us anything the answer is “no” it will not effect them in the long run. What is even more curious to me is the case of Juanita Bynum (who we were exposed to in Detroit long before she became a superstar). She calls herself a “prophetess” of the Lord and says she hears from God for the Church and even the nations! If this is true then why didn’t she hear God tell her not to marry “Bishop” Weeks because he was a wife-beater? If she cannot obtain direction from God for her own life, then how can she expect anyone to believe her when she spews forth the word of the Lord to guide other peoples lives?

The following is an excellent article written by a fellow truth-teller and friend, sister Jackie Alnor. If you have a computer you can visit her website at http://www.apostasyalert.org

Jezebel & the Frog Prince – by Jackie Alnor

“Jezebel & the Frog Prince” – sounds like an Aesop’s fairy tale where the loving couple lives happily ever after. But not in the corrupt kingdom of televangelism where lowly church people are transformed into famous starlets whose role models are the rich and famous seen on the primary channels of the boob tube. The big difference between the secular and the religious celebrities are that the secular ones got to the top because of their talent and the televangelists rose to fame on the backs of the poor widows’ mites. ‘

This sad episode began in 2003 when the Trinity Broadcasting Network aired the wedding of Bishop Thomas Weeks to “prophetess” Juanita Bynum. The net cost for the event exceeded one million dollars and was one ugly display of conspicuous consumption with a big load of bad taste thrown in. Newsweek reported in an article called “Evangelist with a Big Stick”.

“The ceremony featured a wedding party of 80, a gown with a bodice covered in crystals and a 7.76-carat diamond ring…Bynum had waited all her life to have a fairy-tale wedding, she says. ‘It started out with a $500,000 budget, and then it just started growing like the blob,’ she says, adding, ‘I didn’t think it robbery to celebrate my day.’ “

The fairy tale ended just four years later in an Atlanta hotel parking lot in a scuffle in which the fairy tale prince Weeks went ballistic all over his Jezebel bride. Charisma Magazine’s Editor Lee Grady expressed the outrage so many Christians felt:

“Bishop Thomas Weeks III was arrested after being accused of kicking, choking and hitting his wife, prominent preacher Juanita Bynum, in a hotel paring lot in Atlanta on Aug. 22. We did not need another embarrassing display of religious hypocrisy played out in the national media. The incident gave the whole church a black eye and bruised our reputation. When I first heard that Weeks excused his actions (the devil made him do it, he claims) and that his congregation cheered his return to the pulpit (after he fled from police and then posted $40,000 bail), I was riled. What was this guy thinking?”

After the incident, Bishop Weeks gave a statement to the media via his attorney that seemed to imply that he isn’t the only one in the marriage that uses physical violence. The statement read on Fox News Atlanta, stated that they agree with Bynum that “any violence is a very important social issue.” The female lawyer completed the statement saying emphatically, “In fact, any violence in a relationship is an important social issue!”

Now evidence has come forth that demonstrates Bynum’s violent temper. Grady’s editorial called Juanita Bynum on her bad behavior leading up to the incident:

“I’m all for rousing sermons, but what Bynum often offers her audiences is downright mean. Eleven days before the Atlanta incident, Bynum told women at a large conference that they needed to learn to become harsh. Shocking clips of her comments were then posted on YouTube. Bynum told of how she corrected an unnamed assistant for being too nice when carrying out her orders. ‘I’m trying to teach you to be a bulldog!’ she declared with gritted teeth and a hateful expression.”

“When women did not shout loud enough after her comments, Bynum threatened them too ‘If somebody don’t start praising God right here, I’m gonna have to hit somebody with this microphone,’ she said. She also implied that women who treat others with polite restraint are ‘too suburb’ and need to learn the street-wise tactics of the ghetto.”

“Is this the new face of domestic violence? An angry woman preacher who threatens to hit people? A ‘bulldog’ who barks orders and teats subordinates rudely? Please.”

Another clip from YouTube shows Bynum laughing about how she handles men who give her trouble – she just threatens violence upon them. In this clip, she talks about threatening her man with a brick while Bishop Weeks looks on chuckling.

TBN: An Enabler of Evil –

Days after Bynum announced that she had filed for divorce from her second husband, the Trinity Broadcasting Network gave her a platform — the entire Praise the Lord program on September 4th – for her to announce that she was not going to lose a day doing her own brand of “ministry.” the TBN announcer, introduced her as “Prophetess Juanita Bynum,” a blind endorsement of her self-appointed spiritual greatness. The show opened with the most shameful display of celebrity idolatry imaginable, as Bynum pranced around shouting while an organ played a dramatic refrain in the background. As is TBN’s custom, when one of their own on-air celebrities gets bad publicity – due to their own outrageous behavior — TBN gives them a quick platform on the airwaves to do their damage control. So it has been this past week with Jezebels Paula White and Juanita Bynum.

Paul White, like Bynum, after announcing divorce plans from her second husband, Randy White, showed up on TBN’s Praise program hosted by singer Carmen. She too announced that she was going to just keep on going as if nothing was wrong as she makes money rubbing elbows with the likes of Donald Trump. Both women have followed in the steps of Tammy Faye Bakker Messner whose love affair with the television camera was apparent from the fact that she would agree to be on any TV program, no matter how undignified it made her look.

These women flaunt their carnal desires for wealth and success in the most nauseous manner imaginable and TBN lifts them up to the world as role models of Christian behavior. Grady pointed out that “the American church is hijacked by carnality” by these women.

In the bulldog video on YouTube referred to above, it opens with Juanita Bynum screaming out at the top of her lungs: “When I get out of this conference this year, I’m going to possess my place in the world, not in the church!” Bynum had already told Fox News of her plans to trade in her ministry to be a secular spokesperson for domestic abuse. She said she would begin her new crusade the following weekend at a campaign party for Illinois Sentor Barack Obama. She said the 2,000-person affair will be held at TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey’s home in California. Bynum’s followers have often called her a “Christian” version of Oprah. Apparently, she is quite comfortable with the African-American rich and famous. So what if Obama supports partial-birth abortion and Oprah is an open new ager. Bynum has shown her true colors –what matters to her is not spiritual truth or faithfulness to God, but her own success and wealth. The most despicable example of this fact can be seen on Bynum’s own website in a video announcement of her greatness.

The Tribute to Bynum begins with her dancing around in a variety of robes and holy attire. The announcer’s voice is dubbed over her antics saying:

“In every generation God raises up a revolutionary, a chief commander, a force who’s not afraid to cry aloud and spare not on behalf of his people [sound of a trumpet blast]. We call her ‘the prophetess to the nations’, whose very presence invokes a tangible anointing, fills stadiums, and changes lives. With transparency and brokenness, she ushers people into the presence and glory of God. Prophetess Juanita Bynum is an awesome teacher who delivers God’s word in season with brokenness, freshness, and authority. Juanita Bynum Ministries is world renown and has been marked with signs and wonders since its inception. From the war sheets to the threshing floor, the power of God has been unquestionable on Juanita Bynum’s life and ministry…”

The announcer highlights her attributes (comments in parenthesis are my observations):

• Best-selling author (thanks to Charisma Publishers and TBN)
• Popular television personality (courtesy of Jan Crouch)
• Ambassador to world leaders (thanks to T.D. Jakes)
• National recording artist (glory to her role models Aretha Franklin & Donna Summer)
• Executive producer, playwright, and “powerful actress” (by way of idolatrous church members)

Announcer: “Though she has crossed denomination lines, is respected as a spiritual leader in this generation and as one of the most admired African-American women of today, still the totality of Juanita Bynum has yet to be revealed!”

• Upcoming ventures include:
• New magazine – Ethme
• Her own reality show
• Opening of the Country Spa
• Mount Olive line of candles & tea
• Her own make-up line also called Ethme

Then the final rallying cry:

“From the preacher, teacher, ambassador, entrepreneurial mastermind herself – Juanita Bynum!”

The shameful display of self-promotion and her calling herself a “prophetess” is what makes it biblical to refer to her as “Jezebel.” Every Christian in America should write a heartfelt letter to Paul Crouch Jr. at TBN rebuking him for allowing such wickedness to be displayed on the public airwaves when he has the power to stop it. This fairy tale of Jezebel and the Frog Prince puts all of Christianity up for ridicule — what an unhappy ending for all of Christendom. The enablers are just as guilty as the perpetrators in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to public scorn.

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that women Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” (Rev. 2:20)

Obtained from : http://www.apostasyalert.org/REFLECTIONS/jezebel.htm on Sept 26, 2007

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Folks I understand that in extreme cases divorce is the only way out for some couples, but I believe that is the exception and not the rule. Today in the Church the rate of divorce is a little higher than in the world and this simply should not be. The majority of divorces are due to selfishness, pride, and unforgiveness.

Certainly it is not the unforgivable sin and I am not judging anyone who has been divorced. I do know this, God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) and I pray for all Christian marriages that they by God’s grace withstand the pressures of the world which seek to split up couples and families to the greater detriment of society. ♦

Copyright © Robert S. Liichow