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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

BILL JOHNSON'S LEGACY: "JESUS CULTURE" NEXT GENERATION OF DOMINIONIST HERETICS ON A CRUSADE



EXCELLENT: John MacArthur speaks about NAR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CeW4Itv5Wc


 "JESUS CULTURE"

The Next Generation of Heretics

With a Mission


Published on May 31, 2014
4Discernment Presents: Jesus Culture: The Next Generation of Heretics
http://www.4discernment.com/jesus-cul... 
Jesus Culture is apart of the New Apostolic Reformation Movement.

 Jesus Culture is not just a popular Christian band but a movement which appeals to the younger generation of Christians. Jesus Culture started as a youth group at Bill Johnson's church Bethel in Redding California. Now they travel the world encouraging Christians to seek encounters with God, His love and equipping them in the realm of the supernatural in order to raise up a new breed of revivalists. If this doesn't sound mystical and ring your discernment alarm bells, it should.

 Despite the few beneficial pockets of insight one could glean from listening to a message from Jesus Culture, they promote a Dominion or Kingdom Now Theology with an emphasis on signs and wonders. From their music to podcasts to conferences to curriculum their underlining message is that Christians have a mandate to usher in the reign of Jesus by signs and wonders. They claim to be apostles and prophets who see dreams and visions. Jesus Culture elevates experience above the authority of God's Word, thus opening the door for mystical experiences that no one can question.

 Jesus Culture appeals to young unsuspecting Christians who most of the time are unfortunately unaware of the well known heretics who have infiltrated Christianity and heretical movements which have come and gone. Because of their extreme emphasis of experience over sound doctrine and an unbalanced view of signs and wonders, Jesus Culture can be considered as a counterfeit revival which branched from the Third Wave Movement. 

 For more on Bill Johnson: http://www.apostasywatch.com/Wolves/W...
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/...

 Bethel: http://jesuscultureawakening.blogspot...

 Dominion Theology: http://www.arcapologetics.org/article...

 Reinhard Bonnke: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/r... http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/b...

 False Annointing: http://www.spiritual-research-network...

 John Wimber/Vineyard: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/j...

 TD Jakes: http://carm.org/td-jakes

 Todd Bentley: http://www.gotquestions.org/Todd-Bent...

 Toronto Blessing: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/b...

 Third Wave Movement: http://www.gotquestions.org/Third-Wav...

 How to Interpret the Bible: http://alwaysbeready.com/hermeneutics

 Healing Rooms: http://www.rejoicenow.nl/page/healing...

 Other helpful links and resources: http://www.4discernment.com/links---r...

 View Complete Videos:

 Lakeland: The Movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDEsXV...

 Todd Bentley's Wife and her vision of Wild Elephants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjMYq...

 Chuck Pierce and The New Apostolic Reformation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfkkW...

 Episode 62 No Compromise Radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCG0b-...
______________________________________________________________

The New Apostolic Reformation:
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0S6YR7WQYY


M'Kayla Kelly:

Published on Oct 29, 2013

Escaping & Exposing the trap and darkness of Bethel Church, Bill Johnson and Jesus Culture.

An in-depth testimony by M'Kayla Kelly, a former "Seer Prophet" tells her story and helps to expose the false teachings of Bill Johnson, Todd Bentley, John Paul Jackson and others (http://mkayla.wordpress.com). This interview was from Escape the Lie (http://www.escapethelie.com) and she talks about her time in the false signs & wonders movement. Among the topics: Bill Johnson, Todd Bentley, soaking prayer, healing rooms and more....

An Insider’s View of the 2015 Jesus Culture Conference Themed: “One Encounter Changes Everything”

SEE: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=16933;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
By L. Sharp
Lines were wrapped around the ARC Pavilion, which holds a maximum capacity of about 8,000. There were banners with the UC Davis theme: ONE DAVIS, ONE WORLD. The conference was sold out. 10 nations (aside from the U.S.) were represented. There was much emotional excitement in the air as people were waiting with great anticipation to get into the “Jesus Culture” event. About one third of the attendees were 30-40 years of age. The rest were mostly 20 or younger.
Attendees were also given a conference program. The front page said: “ONE ENCOUNTER CHANGES EVERYTHING” and had an intro section written by director of Jesus Culture, Banning Liebscher (former youth pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, CA).
The intro read:
Throughout history there have been momentous gatherings where the people of God came together to seek His Presence, to see Him show up in power and in love. One thing we know: when God shows up everything changes.
In Acts 9, the Apostle Paul has such an encounter on the road to Damascus, God shows up and surrounds Paul in His light, changing his life and forever making history.
We are believing God to come again like that in these next 2 days. We are believing for such an encounter for you. For your friends. For your family. For Sacramento. We have invited some of the most significant church leaders, speakers, and worship leaders to come to Jesus Culture Conference Sacramento.
Our prayer is that everyone would meet God, encounter His love, and live forever changed. That they would in turn live a life to see their city and region transformed through God’s love and power. This is what will bring revival. This is what we are burning for.
JCSac2015_05The major themes of “burning hearts for Jesus,” “awakening,” “glory,” “burning with passion,” “burning fire,” “revival,” “one voice,” etc. were prevalent throughout the songs of the conference.
Jesus Culture is a “Christian” worship band that began as a younger generation offshoot of Bethel Church’s worship ministry.  It has only been in recent years that the Jesus Culture band has exploded in popularity around the world. Though based in Sacramento, the Jesus Culture band tours the world regularly and draws crowds in the tens of thousands, filling arenas around the world. The Jesus Culture band has also recorded many albums and continues to grow exponentially in popularity worldwide. The Jesus Culture Facebook page has over 2 million followers!
JCSac2015_11Their main draw is their talented young musicians who all grew up in Redding’s Bethel Church spiritual environment, so for them, everything about God is always experienced through the senses. This is seen through the full-on sensory musical experiences provided during each Jesus Culture performance. Also, on occasion, the band leaders may “prophesy,” “declare,” etc. to this young generation and may lead the attendees into “deeper levels of ‘intimacy’ with God” through their musical-leading techniques.
The Jesus Culture band is drawing young people in the California area away from their conservative Bible-teaching churches. They are doing this (as evidenced by their 2015 Sacramento conference) by creating a mentality that “Jesus Culture” is spiritual, experiential, passionate for Jesus, and any conservative Bible-teaching church and its music is “religious,” “unspiritual,” “dead,” and “lacking passion for Jesus.” In September 2014, Banning Liebscher started a Jesus Culture church plant in Sacramento.
Liebscher kicked off the conference with this theme, which permeated the entire conference:
Jesus Culture is all about raising up revivalists, leaders, catalysts . . . In these next 27 hours, God is going to mark things. We believe ONE ENCOUNTER with God will change your lives. I believe God is raising up a generation who is willing to lay themselves down, to exalt Jesus. In the next 27 hours, we are praying that you would be marked, that in 10, 20, 40 years, you would still be marked by what God will do in the next 27 hours. We believe tonight we are here for God, and we are here for God to mark us with His Presence.
The music, combined with flashing colored streamed lights, white blinding lights, and synthesizers brought attendees to a heightened musical-sensory, near mind-altering state. Fog lights were used on occasion to try and create the “sense” of God’s presence in a visual “glory cloud.” There were also rotating circular white or colored lights shone on the walls during some songs (like the hippie days of psychedelic experiences).
The 8,000 attendees embraced it all: lifted up their hands, swayed their bodies to the music, jumped up and down, sang, shouted, and willingly entered into an almost trance-like state at times.
At the end of the first night’s music time, Banning Liebscher concluded with this:
I remember being baptized at age 5. At 17, I encountered Jesus. Everything changed. I met Jesus. I got introduced to revival, where the Holy Spirit gets poured out . . . You will never do this (bring revival) without ENCOUNTERING THIS BURNING, PASSIONATE LOVE for Him. This is not birthed out of obligation or a sense of duty. WE NEED TO HAVE ENCOUNTERED GOD, who passionately loves us, and in response to that revelation, we surrender! I believe we will see revival in cities, in this nation, in the nations! The same spirit that possessed the Reformers, Moravians, and other revivalists will possess you. Lord, I pray You would possess them.
The speakers for the 2 days conference included:
1) JOHN GRAY: according to his own website (www.johngrayworld.com), he currently serves as an Associate Pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas under the leadership of pastor Joel Osteen. In September 2000, while youth pastoring in New, John felt he had found the call of God on his life: to impact youth and young adults with the Word of God through music, comedy, and preaching—all at the same time. John’s talk in a nutshell had 2 main points:
1) John claimed in Matthew 24, ” Jesus said there would be these things (earthquakes, famines, etc.), but before it all goes down, a generation will rise with passion and purpose!”
2) John then went on to “teach” on Mark 2:1-10 (the narrative of the paralytic, whose friends brought him in through the roof, for Jesus to heal him). According to John Gray, the friends of the paralytic were the “they” in the paralytic’s life, because they brought him to Jesus and supported him until he got his healing. The “religious” people who hindered him from coming to Jesus were the “them” in his life. John then said: “You need to identify who the “they” people are in your life, who will bring you to Jesus. Banning, and those in Jesus Culture are my “they.” I need people who can bring me to Jesus. Think about the people in your life . . . Who are the “they” who bring you Jesus? Who are the “them” who prevent/hinder you from coming to Jesus? . . .The “they” are relational and loving. The “them” are religious and judgmental. . . .There is power in having the “they.” There is power in community.”
2) SAM RODRIGUEZ: He is leader of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference representing more than 40,000 churches. He also pastors New Life Christian Worship Center locally in Sacramento. He was announced at the conference as the new Hispanic pastor at the Jesus Culture church plant in Sacramento. In December of 2014, Sam was flown to Washington D.C. to consult with President Obama to discuss Obama’s immigration reform strategy. Rodriguez is also a member of ICAL (International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders) and also part of the NAR [New Apostolic] movement.1 His wife Eva Rodriguez and Sam’s sister were part of Roma Downey’s “Women of the Bible” television 2-hour event in December 2014.
JCSac2015_17Sam began with this: “Gideon, in Judges 6, went in one chapter, from failure, to surviving, to thriving! He emerged as leader of his people . . . I believe this generation will have an ENCOUNTER WITH GOD. Not known for failure, this generation will be known for its cry for His glory. We are in one of these 3 states:
 1) Failure (in Egypt)
2) Surviving (in the desert)
3) Thriving (in the promise)
Sam continued with:
Everyone occupies one of these 3 spaces. Repeat after me: Failure, survive, thrive. Everyone has to go through a process. The idea is not to get stuck. Prophetically I declare that your season of failure is over! You must be defined by the heaven you are headed to, not your past failure. . . .When Gideon in Judges 6 is hiding at the threshing floor, Heaven shows up and says: ‘You are a mighty warrior.’ When you have a legitimate encounter with God, you understand your true identity.
AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD REVEALS YOUR TRUE IDENTITY . . .JCSac2015_12
You are defined by God’s spirit inside of you. Raise your hands and say: “I AM that I AM” says that “I am . . .” ( “I am a mighty warrior, I am a chosen generation, etc. . . .”)
The crowd was starting to get louder and more excited as they cheered loudly . . .
Sam then shared a 2006 testimony of the healing and conversion of an 80-year-old Muslim cleric in Pakistan. Sam said, “In the Bush administration, I was invited to speak in Pakistan to a gathering of about 17,000 people.”
Sam then shared the dramatic testimony of this Muslim cleric’s healing of blindness and resultant conversion, and Sam concluded with: “AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD CHANGES YOU!” Sam had the attendees repeat in a mantra-like fashion: “If you know who you are, and what you have, nothing is impossible . . . If you know who you are, and what you have, nothing is impossible . . .” He then pointed to the guy on stage with an axe, getting ready to cut down a wooden pole. Sam explained the wooden pole represents (for the attendees) the Asherah pole in the Judges 6 narrative of Gideon. That Asherah pole reminded Gideon of his past failures. Sam went on to say: “Gideon had an encounter with God, and he learned: 1) Who he was (a mighty warrior) 2) What he had (God’s strength and favor) 3) His purpose (defeat the Midianites) 4) He realized he had to cut down reminders of what the Enemy had built in his life, and use that wooden debris, to fuel the fire that would propel him forward into his destiny of thriving! Sam dramatically set up the guy with axe with this: “So goes the Asherah pole, so goes Sacramento . . . So goes Sacramento, so goes California . . . So goes California, so goes America . . . So goes America, so goes the world!! Here comes your breakthrough!!”
Right then, the guy on stage used his axe and started cutting down the Asherah (wooden) pole. It took about 5 seconds, and then there was loud cheering and a huge uproar from the crowd of 8,000! This was meant to be a “prophetic” act, similar to when the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were told by God to do certain acts as prophetic symbols of real future events (e.g. pointing to the future invasion by Babylon, destruction of Jerusalem, etc.)
Sam then said, “I have declared your season of failure is over. We will thrive! No more failures.” Then, the “failure” sign on stage was torn. Then the “survive” sign on stage was torn. On stage, the attendees saw visually a threshed wooden pole with its remnants scattered on stage and one solitary sign remaining: “THRIVE.”
“Your failure season is over. Jesus Culture, get ready to thrive!!” And, with this, great shouts and loud uproars from the crowd ensued. Sam then told the attendees to pray: “Jesus define me. It is You in me. We will build shalom. We will cut down the Asherah pole. We will change the world!”
3) BANNING LIEBSCHER
Scott Thompson (who had spoken earlier in the day and runs Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry in Atlanta, GA), spoke quite a bit before Liebscher got up to speak. Here is some of what Scott had to say:
God loves your city, your state, your nation. He wants to bring heaven to earth. He wants fire to fall from heaven. Put a hand on your heart. Let’s pray a dangerous prayer together: “Jesus, here I am. Point heaven into my life. Show off through me, that people would look at my life and glory in my Father. Send me back as a pillar of fire, a fire in my eyes, a fire in my bones, a fire in my belly, that can’t be controlled by my surroundings . . . Jesus, make Your name famous through me . . . We thank You Lord that 2015 is the year heaven is seen on earth.”
Banning Liebscher started the final talk of the conference.  Liebscher highlighted four things that needed to be “accessed” with regards to the Holy Spirit in order to experience revival:
 1) We need to access the Holy Spirit as the seal of our salvation or as the promise of our salvation
2) We need to access the Holy Spirit as the One who takes, guides, and leads us into experiencing the deeper things of God.
3) We need to access the Holy Spirit’s empowerment that enables us to become like Jesus.
4) We need to access the Holy Spirit’s empowerment that enables us to do the works of Jesus.
He continued with: “You have to access and activate all four of these attributes of the Holy Spirit. God calls us to impossible things, but He doesn’t leave us alone. He gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do the impossible. For 20 years I’ve been calling a generation to revival, but we need the Holy Spirit to enable us to become revivalists!”
After a brief alter call, the conference ended. God’s mercy was seen that last night with a good number (several hundred) leaving the conference even before the final talk ended and a larger number leaving even before the final altar call started. Out of the 8,000 attendees, perhaps God will rescue some. One thing is for sure, Jesus Culture is not going away anytime soon, and the band and its conferences are attracting more and more Christian young people around the world . . . Over 2.1 million Facebook followers and growing!
Endnote:
  1. http://apprising.org/2014/05/30/rick-warren-and-nars-samuel-rodriguez-headline-erlc-at-the-sbc
Related Material:

The Apostolic and Prophetic Movement

by  on November 10, 2012 in Aberrant Christianity SEE: http://arcapologetics.org/2012/11/the-apostolic-and-prophetic-movement/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
“ I heard what I call the internal audible voice of the Lord…It was as clear as crystal. I heard the actual words. There was no guess-work. It was not impressions.   It was the word of the Lord came to me.  And the Lord said this, ‘I am going to change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the whole world in one generation.’”[1] -Mike Bickle
The majority of the Church has not taken seriously the claims of the modern apostles and prophets to be introducing a new paradigm into the Body of Christ.  These claims are far more than idle boasts.  Indeed the paradigm shifts have already begun in many segments of Christianity.  To say that the movement has grown rapidly would be a gross understatement.  The issues raised go far deeper than a mere debate over the cessation or continuation of spiritual gifts.  Without intending to be alarmist, it is the contention of this article that many of the statements and teachings of leaders within this movement strike at the very heart of essential Christian doctrine and the nature of Christianity.  This is no longer a Charismatic vs. Non-Charismatic issue.
In this article we will attempt to evaluate this movement.  It is not the intention of this article to insinuate that these teachers are not believers in Christ but only to bring a corrective to much of their doctrine and a warning to the church at large.  It must be noted that space constraints will require this evaluation to be overly general in nature.  The movement itself is loosely affiliated and contains great diversity.  However there are some common themes that may be noted.

A Very Brief Introduction

The roots of the movement go back to the precursors of the Pentecostal Movement.  They can be seen even more prominently in the doctrines of the Latter Rain teachings of the 1940’s to 1950’s.  However for the purpose of this article, we will look at more recent developments.
Though no specific date can be given for the beginning of the prophetic movement, it began to emerge on a world-wide level in the 1980’s.  In 1982, Mike Bickle began Kansas City Fellowship, the home of the controversial Kansas City Prophets.  At the same time, other prophetic ministries were gaining prominence throughout the Church.   On October 23, 1987, Bill Hamon hosted and sponsored the first “National Prophet’s Conference” with over 700 people in attendance.[2]  Today the movement has literally hundreds of thousands of adherents.  The Elijah List, an email newsletter publishing the words of many of today’s new prophets, is received daily by over 130,000 people.[3]
Emerging out of the Prophetic Movement, the Apostolic Movement began in earnest in the 1990’s.  In 1999, in Singapore, a group of apostles gathered and laid the foundation for what has become the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA).  Shortly thereafter, C. Peter Wagner was asked to lead the group.[4]  This organization, which is perhaps the most visible arm of the New Apostolic Reformation, now boasts a membership of over 440 individuals all claiming apostolic status.[5] These apostles claim to have been given their office, not merely on grace alone, but in response to their works for God.  The ICA official definition states the following, “However an office, such as the office of apostle, is not given by grace alone, but given as a result of works that have demonstrated faithfulness in stewarding the gift.”[6]
It is important to understand that these movements consider themselves to be absolutely essential in the preparation of the church for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Notice the role that these modern apostles are to play according to the ICA,” An apostle is a Christian leader gifted, taught, commissioned, and sent by God with the authority to establish the foundational government of the church within an assigned sphere of ministry by hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches and by setting things in order accordingly for the growth and maturity of the church.”[7]  Notice that these leaders are to “establish foundational government within the church”.   In other words, the rest of the Body should be submitting to them and indeed will submit to their leadership as the church matures. 
Apostle Bill Hamon is even more direct when he writes, “…apostles and prophets must be restored before the Church can fulfill its predestinated end-time purpose on earth.”[8]  He continues later in the same work, “The full restoration of apostles and prophets back into the Church will then bring divine order, unity, purity and maturity to the corporate Body of Christ….That will in turn bring about the end of this world system of humanity and Satan’s rule.  The fulfillment of all these things will release Christ, who has been seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, to return literally and set up His everlasting kingdom over all the earth.”[9]
With the roots of the current movement planted firmly in the Manifest Sons of God teaching of the Latter Rain Movement, many of these teachers boldly proclaim that the church will conquer the world for Jesus Christ and establish His government by subduing the nations.  A few, like Hamon, still teach that the church reaches glorification and immortalization (victory over death) before Jesus returns. 

Issues of Concern

Though many red flags should have already been raised, the remainder of this article will examine the teachings of the new apostles and prophets and their ramifications related to several key doctrinal areas.
The Scriptures 
Without a doubt the most pervasive assaults by the modern apostles and prophets occur with regard to the inspiration, inerrancy, sufficiency and perspicuity of the Word of God.  In order to be fair, it must be noted that the vast majority of these teachers are completely orthodox concerning the Scriptures if one only reads their doctrinal statements.  When one examines their actual teachings however, a completely different picture results.
Inspiration and Inerrancy.  In his extremely popular book, “The Final Quest”, Rick Joyner postulates four different levels of inspiration ranging from impressions (lowest), to open visions and trance states (highest).  In this discussion, Joyner places the epistles of the New Testament at only the second level of inspiration.  Concerning this level Joyner writes, “The next level of inspiration is a conscious sense of the presence of the Lord, or the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which gives special illumination to our minds.  This often comes when I am writing, or speaking, and it gives much greater confidence in the importance or accuracy of what I am saying.  I believe that this was probably experienced by the apostles as they wrote the New Testament epistles.  This will give us great confidence, but it is still a level where we can still be influenced by our prejudices, doctrines, etc.”[10]  (emphasis added)  
Notice that Joyner, in this alarming statement, has completely undermined the absolute authority of the epistles.  While, according to Joyner, we can have greater confidence in them than if they were given by mere impressions, these epistles may still contain information that comes from the apostle’s own prejudices and personal doctrines.  This would mean, at least theoretically, that we as believers now have the task of discerning which parts of the apostolic message are actually the work of God and which are the result of the apostle’s flesh.  Technically then, a believer would have the responsibility to set aside those parts of the New Testament that he determines to be from the apostle’s prejudice as opposed to the Word of God.  Not only this, but Joyner claims that this level of inspiration frequently occurs for him when he writes and speaks.  This would mean that many of Joyner’s words are on parallel with the New Testament itself.  But it gets worse, for Joyner will also claim that he receives much of his information from the two levels of inspiration that are higher than that which the apostles received in penning the epistles.  Though Joyner doesn’t draw the obvious conclusion, this would mean that the words of Joyner in works like “The Final Quest” actually possess greater authority than parts of the Bible itself.  The result is shocking for if Joyner is correct, we can no longer evaluate his teachings based on the words of scripture but should actually evaluate some of the writings of scripture according to the standard of Joyner’s visions and trances.
How far are Joyner’s comments from the writings of the true apostles,  “Knowing this, that no prophecy is of any private interpretation.  For prophecy did not originate with man but holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”.  (2 Pet. 1:20)
Joyner is not alone in placing his words alongside scripture in authority.  In her book, “Heaven is So Real”, supposedly based on actual visits to heaven, Choo Thomas claims the following, “Like John, I had been called to write, and my mission was the same as his—to let people know that the marriage supper of the Lamb has already been prepared, and blessed are those who are invited to be there on the last day.”[11]  Elsewhere in the same book she writes, “Every word in this book is true.  The words of Jesus have been transcribed exactly as He said them to me.”[12]
Sufficiency.  In a variety of ways, the modern apostles and prophets attack the sufficiency of scripture.  Obviously, if the quotes already given by Joyner and Thomas are true, then the scriptures are not sufficient and the Canon is not closed.  Among prophetic teachers, doctrines are being invented on an almost weekly basis that have little or no foundation in the Word such as spiritual mapping, heavenly portals, spirit-ties, spiritual inheritances, judicial intercession, soaking and the list goes on and on.  This occurs, despite claims by nearly all the leaders that doctrine should be based on Scripture and not on modern revelation.
In some cases, the attacks are even more direct.  For instance, Choo Thomas claims the following, “He wants me to serve as living proof of the Bible and His prophecies, because many people do not believe what they read in the Bible, nor do they believe that He is coming soon for His people.”[13]  Elsewhere she writes, “He had shown me how desperate many people are to know the truth about heaven, and I realized emphatically that my book would be the means whereby they could really know.”[14]  Examine the words of Thomas closely.  Her words will do what the Bible is insufficient to do.  Those unconvinced of the truth by the gospel will be convinced by Thomas’s testimony.  Those desperate to know the truth about heaven will not find their hunger satisfied in the pages of Holy Scripture but in the writings of Thomas.  Sadly, she is not the exception.
Perspicuity. The teachings of the modern apostles and prophets are destroying the churches traditional understanding of the Bible.  They have, in large part, rejected the historical-grammatical form of interpretation and have substituted a prophetic hermeneutic which allows the Bible to mean whatever the prophet says it means today.  In this way, the Bible is no longer able to fulfill its function as the basis for truth and corrective against error but rather becomes merely the puppet of the apostle/prophet to advance his agenda.  Therefore Mike Bickle can find in Micah 2:12-13 justification for the “breaker anointing”[15], a doctrine completely unknown for the 2,000 year history of the church.  Shawn Bolz can read Proverbs 6:31 and find authority to break off a poverty spirit.[16]  Key doctrines of the new movement such as the restoration of the tabernacle of David, enthroning God through worship, spiritual mapping and countless other examples are all based on a poor approach to interpretation.

The Decline of Doctrine

In addition to the undermining of core doctrines, within the apostolic/prophetic movement there is an overall disdain for doctrine in general.  Doctrine is unimportant.  Doctrine is minimized.  Doctrine is seen as that which divides.  We simply need to follow Christ.  Substantive teachings on the fundamental doctrines of the faith is virtually absent from the works of most of the apostles/prophets.
 What they fail to appreciate is that doctrine is that which is believed to be true.  To say that doctrine is unimportant is tantamount to claiming that truth is unimportant.  While it is certain that some doctrines are more central than others and that the church has been too quick to divide, the answer can not be found in minimizing doctrine altogether.  Surely this is a case of the cure being as bad as the disease.
Additionally, the Christian faith has content.  That is to say that when we affirm, for instance, that believing in Jesus saves, we are also understanding that there is a certain amount of content contained within such a profession.  It is the Jesus of the Bible, the virgin-born, sinless, Son of God, who died and rose again, who saves as opposed to the Jesus of the cults.  Cults and even other world religions may speak of Jesus but the content they attach to the name is different.
Sound doctrine is vital to the health of the individual and the church.  Our relationship with God must be founded upon truth.  It is for this reason that the scriptures place a premium upon doctrine.  Paul writes, “Take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine for in so doing you will save both yourself and them that hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16) 
Yet today’s teachers consistently downplay the importance of sound doctrine.  Consider a couple of examples from Mike Bickle in discussing prophets in general and William Branham in particular.  First, Bickle writes, “Yes, prophetic people must be clear about major doctrines like the person and work of Christ and the place of the Scriptures.  But on lesser points of doctrine, they might be misinformed.”[17]  This statement doesn’t sound too bad, although it should be pointed out that if one were to consistently apply the standard of proper understanding of the place of scriptures to the modern prophets most of them would be rejected out of hand.  But notice how Bickle equivocates as he discusses William Branham,  “Branham ended up in some doctrinal heresy, although never to the extent of denying Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or doubting the authority of the Scriptures.  While affirming the deity of Christ, he denied the Trinity.”[18] 
So apparently to Bickle, the Trinity is one of those lesser doctrines around which a true prophet may be misinformed.  Further study of Branham reveals that Branham taught that God gave His Word in three forms, the Bible, the zodiac and the pyramids.  He taught the serpent-seed doctrine and a host of other heresies.  But none of these issues disqualify him as a true prophet in the eyes of Mike Bickle or other prophetic personalities.
Another example of Bickle’s lack of appreciation for sound doctrine can be seen when he writes, “True Christianity is a dynamic relationship with a living God, and it cannot be reduced to formulas and dry orthodoxy.  We are called to embrace the mystery of God and not to lust after neatly tying up every doctrinal or philosophical loose end that we encounter.”[19]
Here Bickle sets up a false dichotomy.  It is true that we do not want a dry orthodoxy but we should still desire orthodoxy.  It is true that we cannot tie up every loose end but we can know some things for certain.  We are called to a dynamic relationship but this relationship must be based on the truth that God has revealed lest we find ourselves worshipping a God of our own creation.  And given the number of strange practices that Bickle has endorsed in the past such as the Toronto Blessing, one can only wonder how many aberrant things may be covered under the “mystery of God”.

The Nature of God and the Person of Christ

There can be no more fundamental area of doctrine than that of the nature of God in general and the Person of Christ in particular.  Even here one finds problems in the teachings of the modern apostles and prophets.  We have already examined the willingness of those in this movement to endorse those who deny the Trinity.  But sadly this is not all.
The Weak God.  Consistently, the picture of God painted by these new leaders is less than the majestic, sovereign God of the Bible.  Shawn Bolz for instance, tells of a God who has had some of the inventions He intended for His children stolen by those practicing witchcraft.[20]  Spiritual mapping advocates imply that God alone is not mighty to save unless the church first clears the spiritual atmosphere.  Numerous members of this movement subscribe to the faulty views of E.W. Kenyon that God somehow lost dominion over the earth in the fall.
A classic example of this weak God can be found in the writings of ICA member Dutch Sheets.   Sheets writes, “Recently, I believe the Lord showed me what sometimes happens when we come to Him with a need, asking Him to accomplish what He says in His Word.  In answer to our requests, He sends His angels to get our bowls of prayer to mix with the fire of the altar.  Butthere isn’t enough in our bowls to meet the need!  We might blame God or think it’s not His will or that His Word must not really mean what it says.  The reality of it is that sometimes He cannot do what we’ve asked because we have not given Him enough power in our prayer times to get it done.  He has poured out all there was to pour and it wasn’t enough!  It’s not just a faith issue, but also a power issue.”[21]
Pay close attention.  Notice that Sheets indicates that our prayers can line up with what God has already promised in His Word, may be according to His will, and that God may actually attempt to answer our prayer but be unable to do so because we have not given Him enough power through our prayers in order for Him to accomplish His will.  So apparently God is not able to keep His own promises without our help.  We have to give God the power to act.
The Nature of Christ. Modern apostles and prophets show a consistent confusion with regard to the person and work of Christ.  For instance Rick Joyner states, “There is a tendency to continue relating to Him as ‘the Man from Galilee.’  Jesus is not a man.  He was and is Spirit.  He took the form of a servant and became a man for a brief time.”[22]
Joyner’s statement is a complete rejection of the hypostatic union.  Orthodox Christianity has understood for centuries that when the Second Person of the Trinity took to Himself a human nature, this was a permanent union.  Jesus is forever the God-man, fully God and fully man.  Jesus did not come in some sort of rent-a-body that He discarded after the crucifixion.  Either Joyner does not understand this or he is denying it.  Further, Joyner’s statements have serious implications for the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for if Jesus is no longer man then in what way did He resurrect?  Additionally, the scriptures link the ongoing work of Christ as intercessor to his humanity.  (see 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:23-23 among others)

Conclusion

In our brief discussion we have seen that current trends within the Apostolic and Prophetic Movement are undermining the historic Christian faith in regard to the place of Scriptures, the importance of doctrine and the nature of God and Person of Christ.  If space permitted we could document similar issues with regard to the Person of the Holy Spirit, the atonement and the nature of the church.  And we haven’t even mentioned the myriad of false prophecies made in the Name of our Lord.
These are not incidental issues.  The church can no longer be silent.  The new Apostles and Prophets were not speaking in hyperbole when they promised to bring a new understanding of the Christian faith.  If the Church does not begin to respond, the Christianity that is passed on to our children will bear little resemblance to the faith of our fathers.  A.W. Tozer wrote, “The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him.  We do the greatest service to the next generation y passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian Fathers of generations past.”  God enable us to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”
Notes
  1. “Our Prophetic History” CD series.  CD #1.  Mike Bickle, 2002 Friends of the Bridegroom.
  2. Hamon, Bill, “Prophets and the Prophetic Movement”, 1990 Destiny Image Publishers (Shippensburg, PA) page 94
  3. Elijah List website “About Us”,http://www.elijahlist.com/ourhistory.html
  4. International Coalition of Apostles website, “Introduction”
    http://www.apostlesnet.net/index.asp?action=introduction
  5. Ibid.  “Members” http://www.apostlesnet.net/images/Directory.pdf
  6. Ibid, “What is an Apostle?”  http://www.apostlesnet.net/images/What_Is_an_Apostle.pdf
  7. Ibid, “FAQ” What is an Apostle?  http://www.apostlesnet.net/index.asp?action=faq
  8. Op. Cit. Hamon page 57
  9. Ibid page 59
  10. Joyner, Rick  “The Final Quest” 1996 Whitaker House (New Kensington, PA) page 10 On page 133 of this same book, Joyner relates an encounter that he had with the apostle Paul that supposedly took place in heaven where Paul tells Joyner that the words in his epistles do not carry truths as powerful as the words of Jesus in the gospels.  Essentially Paul says that his letters are not as inspired as the Gospels.
  11. Thomas, Choo, “Heaven is so Real”  2003 Charisma House (Lake Mary, FL) page 129
  12. Ibid page 153
  13. Ibid page 177
  14. Ibid page 124
  15. Bickle, Mike “Contending for the Power of God” CD #4 2003 Friends of the Bridegroom
  16. Bolz, Shawn  “The Keys to Heaven’s Economy” 2005  Streams Publishing House (North Sutton, NH) page 88
  17. Bickle, Mike “Growing in the Prophetic”  1996 Charisma House (Lake Mary, Fla) page 51
  18. Ibid page 63
  19. Ibid page 77
  20. Op. Cit Bolz page 73
  21. Sheets, Dutch  “Intercessory Prayer”  as quoted in “The Worship Warrior” by Chuck D. Pierce and John Dickson  2002 Regal Books (Ventura, CA)  page 211
  22. Joyner, Rick, “There Were Two Trees in the Garden”  1992 Whitaker House,  (New Kensington, Pa) page 59 emphasis in the original

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