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April 21 - June 23, 2018
For so many, the search for the next emotional experience replaced the passion to search the Scripture for direction and guidance from God.
Note, this definition does not assert miracles themselves have ceased (a common misapprehension by opponents of classic cessationism)[18] but only that what qualifies as a biblical miracle is much more robust than often offered by Third Wave/NAR and many charismatic proponents. Clearly, this is not an attack on the supernatural but actually is intended to strengthen respect for the supernatural because if we define everything as a miracle we lose the ability to recognize when a real miracle takes place.
the major defining characteristic of New Testament miracles was that they were used by God to authenticate of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if the glory of God and the Good News of Christ aren’t clarified or enhanced by a supposedly extraordinary act, it isn’t a miracle of God.
If you’re a Christian, determine to view chapters such as these not as historical trash-talking or an “I told you so” moment to shove in the face of friends and family who revere these divergent leaders. Rather, may it be a sobering reminder of how our adversary, Satan, is using false teachers and error to devour those whom we love so dearly. Christian brothers and sisters, arm yourselves with truth and love. The gospel is on the line.
Scripturally, apostles were men commissioned by Christ, witnesses of His resurrection, and able to perform miracles (at-will via God’s power at their command, not through prayer via God’s sovereign choice (Acts 3:6)). Jesus was the Cornerstone of the church, the apostles were the foundation, and all subsequent evangelists and teachers build upon them. Therefore, this special office of apostle was unique to the first century and has ceased.
If Johnson has one thing Hinn doesn’t, it’s the ability to duplicate himself through the thousands of youth who regularly attend his church and his influence over Jesus Culture’s massive following. Johnson has built and maintained his growing empire with his theology and through entrepreneurial projects involving music and the arts.
My uncle Benny Hinn is no anointed prophet; nor should he be considered a man of God.[144] He is a false teacher who needs to turn from his ways.
It isn’t uncommon for someone questioning the unbiblical practices inside these mystical-miracle churches to be threatened with the three C’s: cancer, curses, and catastrophic events. Any of these tragedies “may happen to you” if you dare to speak out against an anointed leader. When you are living under a leader who uses these tactics, it feels a lot more like you are a member of the mafia than a biblical ministry. Johnson and Bethel Church use these intimidation tactics to keep people in the revivalist movement from speaking out against the abuses they see first-hand.
In a press release from the Home [immigration] Office, the following reasons were given: We can confirm that Mr. Bentley has been excluded from the UK. The government makes no apologies for refusing people access to the UK if we believe they are not conducive to the public good. Coming here is a privilege that we refuse to extend to those who might seek to undermine our society. [155]
The connections between Bill Johnson, Benny Hinn, and Todd Bentley, along with Jesus Culture and Bethel Music, should cause Christians to ask serious questions. Does modern evangelicalism need to face the uncomfortable reality that we may lack discernment? Have we been turning a blind eye to Trojan horses infiltrating our ranks? Are we fearful of backlash if we stand up for truth? We must look in the mirror and ask ourselves these (and undoubtedly other) questions. The gospel of Jesus Christ and our witness for that gospel is on the line.
The Pentecostal believed he possessed the gift of prophecy. The Baptist believed that the miraculous sign gifts were limited to the Apostolic era. The Pentecostal believed that a person could possess a private prayer language in another tongue, while the Baptist thought the idea of such a thing was silly. So how did they get along for ten days on a missionary trip? They agreed that none of their own versions of secondary doctrines would be taught on the trip, the Gospel would be delivered through standard Bibles, and they would preach only Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for believers.
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That’s some good old-fashioned missionary work that shares resources, spreads the Gospel, and keeps the focus on Christ’s salvific work on the cross.
One way to detect a false teacher is to observe the fruit in their followers. Are the people being constantly taught but never growing in the knowledge of God or being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word?
False teachers produce shallow disciples.
Obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ will always be a dividing line between people.
Ultimately, the people of God must stand for truth regardless of the consequences.
Johnson is the premier mystical-miracle example. He is one of the most persuasive communicators who preys on the needs of his audience.
False teachers are good communicators who understand how to manipulate feelings without directly addressing the need for individuals to pursue holiness. To do this they use highly stylized preaching and engaging music content that promises people immediate pleasure and prosperity—be it emotional or physical. This is a vital point: if any teacher tells you the Gospel promises prosperity, power, or material reward, their message is not of God.
One of the most notable leaders is Seth Dahl, Children’s Pastor at Bethel Church. The curriculum he employs is another spin off of Bethel’s approach to Christianity.[168] Under his direction, children are taught to take imaginary trips to Heaven, visit with imaginary angels, and hold their own miracle healing services while their parents sit under Johnson’s teaching in the sanctuary.
Johnson begins the second chapter of When Heaven Invades Earth with this outrageous statement: “He (Jesus) performed miracles, wonders, and signs, as a man in right relationship to God . . . not as God. If He performed miracles because He was God, then they would be unattainable for us.”
Johnson goes on to repeatedly state that Jesus “laid His divinity aside” to simply live as a man in right relationship to God.
The Council of Nicaea proved the importance of each word in Holy Scripture and that Jesus was 100% God-man—two distinct and unmixed natures in one person.
The key failure of Johnson’s teaching is to recognize the context of Matthew 16. Jesus in no way suggests that his authority, or the power he was passing on, was the ability to do signs and wonders. In fact, the “keys of the kingdom” represent the authority to preach the Gospel of Christ (v. 19) and thus to open the door of Heaven.
Sometimes God heals based on prayer and His good will. At other times, His plan includes illness and death, allowing true saints to shine amidst earth’s darkest circumstances.
He teaches his congregation: No, two thousand years ago Jesus made a purchase. He does not decide not to heal people today. The decision two thousand years ago was to heal. Either the payment was sufficient for all sin or no sin. Either the payment was sufficient for all sickness or no sickness… The brushstrokes of God’s redemption was to wipe out the root of sin, the root of illness and the root of poverty.”
A common tagline at Bethel Church is: “Don’t keep God in a box” and for Bill Johnson this means God likes to talk outside of His written Word. The fourth error from Bill Johnson is diminishing of the power of God’s Scripture in favor of a personal encounter—assumed to be with the Holy Spirit.
In fact, orthodox Christianity has always taught that the Holy Spirit chose to speak in the form of an objective and immutable canon; the Holy Spirit drives men by conscience and conviction back to those Scriptures for faith and practice.
Does the Holy Spirit speak to believers today? Yes. We think this is an important part of the Christian life. But we also recognize that His voice always leads us back to Scripture which is also his voice; a voice affirmed as our final authority and guide to faith by the Church for more than 2,000 years.
As can be expected, the roots of “experience over truth” date back millennia.
Without the objective truth of God’s written Word to guide each of us, we are set adrift and isolated from one another. If personal experience becomes our final guide to truth, no one is left who can discern what is a gift of God from what is a Trojan-horse attack from the devil, or from what is a lie from within our own heart.
J. R. Miller in his devotional book More Than Cake, offers this personal story how just how important suffering can be to the healing process.
He wants to point you to the person of Christ—not signs and wonders which pale in the light of His glory. He wants you to seek the Giver, not the gifts.
The primary job of the Holy Spirit is to convict men and women of their sin.
If a Gospel message does not involve repentance, it’s not the entire Gospel.
Jesus told His disciples, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit’s revelation of God in the Scripture was, and is, sufficient. No further revelation is needed. The Holy Spirit is not involved in a gospel message that offers extra revelation to special individuals which, in its very existence, subverts the truth once and for all given to mankind. A gospel message that adds guarantees of mystical-miracles, faith-healing and financial prosperity to Scripture is a false gospel.
His purpose on earth is to see Christ glorified above all else.
In fact, the Bible depicts the life of those faithful to the Gospel as likely to lead to poverty, abuse by authorities, and persecution.
