Demonic Fruit

Demonic Fruit

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INTRODUCTION

by ACMTC



WE WOULD LIKE to clarify, first of all, that we DO believe in miracles, signs, wonders, healings, and the gifts and workings of the Spirit. We have seen God do wondrous miracles and healings, time and again, and He continues to move in our midst and around the world.

However, we also believe that, unfortunately, some people in the “Charismatic Movement” have welcomed in “demon seed” and have taken things too far. They have not been alert in the war nor have they discerned the workings of satan in their midst.

Todd Bentley certainly functions in the realm of the demonic, yet this does not discredit all miracles and workings of the Spirit of God.

The following article was sent to us and is a contribution of an outside (non-ACMTC) source.

Truth or Consequences

Safeguards to protect the Body

from the falls of ministers

Jim Croft

SUBSEQUENT TO THE EXPOSURE of Todd Bentley’s marital problems numerous high profile ministries have issued statements about it. Most have been merciful and have offered reasonable explanations about the issues. Those who were unaware of Bentley’s past indiscretions statements are appreciable. Those from those who were aware of his history have unwittingly done a disservice to the Body of Christ. In response to those who decried Todd, it would have been far better for those in the know to issue statements early on in the Lakeland Revival. Such might have served as deterrents to protect Todd from himself and to better insure that the Body did not again suffer embarrassment and hurt by the failures of one of its champions.

His board and some well-known ministers that appeared on stage with him knew the following: Prior to the current dilemma of some form of unholy relationship with a female co-worker, he had another in the past 3 years. 2 years ago, he had a nervous breakdown. While in recovery, he got the body tattoos and piercings. He was loosed to minister again by his board while some reputable outside advisors declared it premature. He is known to frequently over imbibe in alcohol. Prior to his salvation, he was incarcerated for some sort of lascivious behavior with an under aged male. Of course, his BC sins are forgiven. But, most saints have painfully learned that BC sin leakages into AC life are all too common with high profile ministers.

Close on the heels of the revival’s global Internet webcasts and the GodTV broadcasts, many sensed something was amiss and voiced the same. The discernment was on target. Unfortunately, such were written off as unfounded by many including Jim Croft. It appeared to us that subjective speculations were being made due to his style and appearance as opposed to the Spirit’s discernment. Unless there is objective evidence indicating the negative vibes might be well founded, those who honor the Word, have a heart for revival and love the anointing tend to err on the side of mercy. Beyond pointing out his obvious doctrinal flaws, many like me felt obligated to flow with the visible proofs that God was doing extraordinary miracles through the Lakeland Revival. Thus we defended the man and his ministry from the naysayers.

All the while, there were notable ministers who knew the discernment coming forth had foundations and chose to say nothing. Todd’s authority figures had opportunities to institute deterrents against his potential to fall yet again. Publicly informing Christians of his past and then giving an apologetic for God using him could have served as a substantial check against further sin. Such might have given the revival a better chance to continue untarnished. Most believers are very willing to forgive and forget once informed of weaknesses, especially when God is mightily using a person. In the event Todd opted for carnality regardless of the precautions, the alerts about his past might have softened the blow for many who are now seething in scandalized hurt.



Promotions Bring Increased Responsibilities

PAST SITUATIONS and this one, call for new initiatives to be put into place. Such should be enacted when ministers escalate from relative obscurity to national acclaim. Scripturally leaders are to be held to higher standards of exposure than other believers. Along with the accolades that come to the gifted, so come greater consequences should they fall. When sins are verified they are to be rebuked in the presence of all. (1 Tim 3:1-7, 5:19-29, Jam 3:1) We are not under the Law of Moses, but we can gain helpful insights from it. When a ordinary citizen sinned, he/she could be seen heading toward the place of sacrifice with their sin offerings, reflecting their ability to pay; a dove, a lamb and so forth. Priests were required to offer a bullock. (Lev 4:3) The practice had dual functions. The embarrassment of having entire communities seeing a leader leading an ox served as a caution against future temptations. The costly offering cleansed them until they gave way to future sins. Most would think twice before further ventures into rebellion as they didn’t enjoy the exposure and the price tag. Of course, the thought of failing God should have been an ever present deterrent.



Safeguards

IT WOULD be helpful for ministers to be required to submit to occasional reviews by those to whom they’re accountable. It would be beneficial for his/her spouse to be present to give their perspectives when necessary. The format could have several components: Confessions of marital difficulties and habitual sins with the goals of repentance and restoration. Specific inquiries about past sins popping up again could be part of the agenda as well. In circumstances in which the transgressions could bring dishonor to the Lord’s name, the weight of sobering consequences might be inserted into the equation. Permission to resume public ministry could be contingent upon the minister confessing his failings to his constituents and informing them about his repentance and any disciplinary measures that are in progress. In most instances such candidness with requests for prayer would draw approval from all. The knowledge of refusals to walk in truth carrying consequences could safeguard all concerned from worlds of hurt.

Note: The article following the photo is not an ACMTC contribution.

Faith Healer Separates From Wife, Draws Criticism From Charismatics



by David Roach



WITH CONTROVERSIAL FAITH HEALER Todd Bentley announcing that he is separating from his wife, charismatic leaders J. Lee Grady and Stephen Strang have reacted by saying someone should have raised questions about Bentley earlier.

Grady, editor of the popular charismatic magazine Charisma, said the way thousands celebrated Bentley despite his moral and theological shortcomings demonstrated a lack of discernment that pervades the charismatic movement.

“We’re spiritually hungry—which can be a good thing,” Grady wrote in an Aug. 13 column. “But sometimes hungry people will eat anything.”

Bentley, who led a heavily publicized revival in Lakeland, Fla., beginning this spring, announced in a statement Aug. 12 that he and his wife Shonnah were separating. The staff of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries said “an atmosphere of fatigue and stress” created by the daily revival meetings “exacerbated existing issues in [his marriage],” according to Charisma. On Aug. 15, the board of Fresh Fire released a statement saying it had learned Bentley had been involved in “an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff.” The statement said Bentley had agreed “to refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life.”

Bentley and his wife had been attending counseling for the past three years, but the counseling was suspended for the last four months while Bentley was away from his home in Abbottsford, British Columbia, Charisma reported. The Bentleys have three children.

Bentley is known for his multiple body piercings and tattoos, his violent healing techniques, his claims of angelic visions and “holy” laughter and “holy” vibrating shakes. He even claims to have raised dozens of people from the dead.

Bentley claims to be visited regularly by angels, including a 20-foot-tall angel in his apartment on one occasion and on another occasion an angel that knocked him out of his body. One angel’s name supposedly is Emma. Bentley also says that Jesus Himself appears to him.

Charismatic leaders who endorsed Bentley, Grady wrote, should have known better than to thrust him into the spotlight prematurely and owe the public an apology.

“Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study,” Grady wrote. “Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.”

God TV, the network that televised the Lakeland revival meetings, is particularly blameworthy because it told viewers in a pre-revival segment that “any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic,” Grady wrote, adding that the network’s hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

“This is cultic manipulation at its worst,” Grady wrote.

Though America needs true revival, any leaders who wholeheartedly endorsed Bentley promoted heresy rather than revival, according to Grady.

“Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy,” he wrote, “not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated.”

Charisma publisher Stephen Strang also took aim in a column at Bentley and those who supported him. Strang said the charismatic leaders to whom Bentley submitted himself in an accountability relationship—John Arnott, Ché Ahn and Bill Johnson—“should have seen it coming.” He listed several indications that Bentley’s ministry was not of God.

“Anyone who is in services 4 to 6 hours a day, 7 days a week for weeks on end is bound to have some type of breakdown,” Strang wrote. “Anyone who covers himself with tattoos while in the ministry raises questions about his stability.

“...Anyone who baptizes people in the name of the Father, the Son ‘and BAM’ is playing lightly with the Holy Spirit and is bordering on blasphemy.”

While God uses flawed men to do his work, Christians must hold spiritual leaders to the highest standards of conduct, Strang wrote.

“Perhaps some of the problems would have been prevented if men had spoken into Bentley’s life several months ago,” he wrote. “As good as it is to have an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to help the injured, it is much better to have a fence at the top of the cliff to prevent someone from going over.”

Chad Brand, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that while all denominations within Christianity have been touched by divorce, the charismatic movement is particularly susceptible to overlooking its leaders’ moral failures.

Brand is the editor of “Perspectives on Spirit Baptism,” a book detailing the charismatic and non-charismatic views of baptism in the Holy Spirit. He published several additional papers and articles on issues related to the charismatic movement.

“There is a dynamic that makes charismatic leader situations sometimes treated differently, and it is partly tied to the very term, ‘charismatic,’” Brand said. “Because this person is perceived to have charismatic power or anointing, his or her failure in marriage is often easily forgiven and overlooked. So, while in many traditions, a divorce for a pastor or key leader means a loss of prestige or influence, it is not necessarily the case in charismatic circles.

“John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio divorced his wife of 15 years in 1975 and the next year remarried, but his ministry and influence only grew in the years after that. Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, also divorced his first wife after 11 years of marriage, and 10 months later remarried. Paula White and her husband Randy divorced last year. It was Paula White’s second marriage. While these divorces have had ramifications for their ministries, in every case the ministry only flourished afterwards. In most other evangelical traditions, the impact of divorce has been more deeply felt by the ministers in question.”

More important than focusing on Bentley’s marital difficulties is noting the fact that he is a false teacher, Brand said.

“We do not know all the details of Bentley’s marital situation, and so we should withhold judgment on that matter,” he said. “What is plain is that he is teaching false doctrine and that the claims to his ministry’s ‘successes’ seem pretty spurious.”

Brand speculated that . . . Bentley relies on hype to promote his meetings but has few real healings.

Pictures from the Christian News:

PRAISE GOD! I am humbled today as I share with the Body of Christ my personal testimony. I would like to say that I am so blessed to be numbered among those who are truly following Jesus and seeking to please God, not man. I want to share with you my own personal experiences in the Charismatic “Move” in the Christian churches.

In 1981, I was born again and filled with the Spirit of the Living God. I immediately began praying in tongues, according to I Corinthians 14:2 which says, “For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding.” My new life in the Holy Spirit led me to fellowship with like believers in a church called New Life In Christ Church, which called itself Charismatic. There I found other believers in Jesus who also spoke in tongues, and I felt I had found a church home.

It was at this church that I was introduced to being “slain in the Spirit”. My first experience of this phenomenon was unusual, to say the least. I had spoken with the pastor about it, and he admitted to me that most of the people in his congregation just took a “nose dive” backwards into the arms of the designated “catchers” and were faking it. I did not want anything fake and I told God I was not going to fall backwards. When the time came for the elders to “lay hands” on me for the work of the ministry as a worship leader, instead of going backwards, I just collapsed in a heap on the steps of the altar. When I returned to my seat on the front row, the pastor’s wife came to me and told me I was injured. When I looked down at my right knee, sure enough, I had landed on a nail in the carpet and it had torn open the skin, of which I still carry a scar to this day.

The funny thing is...I never felt a thing. The blood was running down my leg, I was laughing and crying at the same time, but there was no pain or sensation of any kind. Of course, I attributed the whole experience to the miracles of God.

To make a long story short, the fruit of this Charismatic church was that the pastor resigned, his wife became a nurse, and he returned to the business world because they felt that God wanted them to make more money in order to take care of their large and growing family. The church eventually split up over the choice of a new pastor and I moved on. I did not question the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the form of being “slain in the Spirit” because I had read in the Bible in Hebrews 2:4 that God endorsed and showed His approval by signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of His power by imparting gifts of the Holy Spirit to believers. I was taught that falling down in the Spirit was part of those manifestations.

I also knew that satan could perform lying signs and wonders as well. In 2 Thessalonians 2:9 -11 it says, “The coming of the lawless one, the antichrist , is through the activity and working of satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of pretended miracles and signs and delusive marvels—all of them lying wonders and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false.” But I believed that only God performed in church and the devil performed outside the church. This is the deception. Matthew chapter 7 refutes this theory in verses 22 and 23, where it says, “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works (wonders) in Your name?” The next verse tells us that God rejects them and tells them He never knew them. Why? Verse 20 is the answer. It says, “you will know them by their fruits.” That’s why I’ve entitled this message, “Where’s The Fruit?”

Going on with my personal testimony, I had many other “slain in the Spirit” experiences with the same results...no fruit, or in some cases, bad fruit.

One missionary friend from Kenya who had started a church in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, took his congregation to Canada where they all were “slain” in the “laughing spirit”. When they returned from their trip, this little church began to deteriorate. The pastor even ended up having an adulterous affair with a married woman in the church and they ended up leaving their spouses. The fruit resulted in the sheep being shattered and scattered, some never to return to God because of it.

My most recent experience with this lying wonder in the church occurred in Florida following a visit to the latest so-called outpouring of “fresh fire” in Lakeland. There I had witnessed tattooed, pierced, drunken “saints of God”, acting out all sorts of weird behavior and calling it a “move of God”. They were supposedly drunk on the “new wine” of the Spirit and “impartations” were being given to all who wished to receive.

A certain man who was once associated with the ministry which started the laughing manifestations in Canada, came to visit my husband and I in our hotel room where he proceeded to “impart” to me this same spirit. I fell down and hit my head so hard on the floor that I was almost knocked unconscious. Needless to say, there was no “catcher”. I then proceeded to try to get up off the floor and could not. It felt like something was pinning my shoulders to the floor and I could not raise myself up. I was crying and trembling and believed this to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. What was the fruit of this? When I returned home, I went into a rage and began shouting curses and obscenities and then became grieved to the point of wishing I could die. Was this God? I think not! The fruit was rotten and I ended up in deliverance to get the demons cast out of me by Generals Jim and Deborah Green. Praise God!

Another past experience with a well-known television evangelist who began prophesying over me in his church in Orlando, Florida, also ended badly. I was again “slain in the Spirit” and crying and praying in tongues while on the floor, and never was able to hear the “Word” he was giving over me. Looking back, I believe it was God’s protection and mercy. Anyway, the end result was that I ended up becoming involved with the Charismatic “move of God (?)” in the Catholic Church and became deceived once again and joined the church where I was attending these prayer meetings. Not long afterwards, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had to get out of that, and I obeyed.

What is my point?...you might ask. This is what I am saying. Jesus taught us that if we follow Him, signs and wonders will follow us. We are not to follow signs and wonders. We have been putting the cart before the horse and we have it all backwards. Jesus Himself said that a perverse generation seeks signs and wonders, and I believe it because I see it happening in the Church today. I have been deceived myself. The fruit of such behavior is rotten, rotten, rotten! Jesus condemned such behavior in John 4:48 when He said, “unless you people see signs and miracles happen, you people never will believe, trust or have faith at all!”

In conclusion, I would like to say that God is sick of this childish behavior in His people. Isaiah 19:14 says, “The Lord has mingled a spirit of perverseness, error, and confusion within her; her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all her doings, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.” Could this be a picture of Christ’s Bride, the Church of today? Have we become a Harlot Church, staggering on the drunken wine of false signs and wonders, producing rotten fruit?

Let us repent and seek God, not the miracles. Let us return to our first love, Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Let us cry out in shame and beg His forgiveness for falling for such stupid and outrageous antics designed by satan to deceive even the elect, if possible. I say it not only is possible but is probable, if we continue to seek the gifts instead of the Giver of gifts.

Finally, I wish to leave you with one more Scripture which sums up all this nonsense into something we can depend on. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Thank you, Lord, for sound Biblical teaching and for teachers who still walk in the ways of God without compromise and without gimmicks and trickery. This is the eternal path that leads to eternal life. The broad and spacious one, full of deceived saints, leads to physical and spiritual death. Next time you follow signs and wonders, ask yourself...“Where’s the Fruit?”



Dream Come True?

ABOUT twenty years ago I had a dream that was so real and so spiritual that I never forgot it and I’m sure it was a warning from the Lord. I would like to share this dream with all who have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church of today.

The Dream: “Many were inviting me to come hear a Charismatic evangelist who was drawing a record number of people to his meetings. I was reluctant, but finally gave in and attended. I sat in the back and observed as a spirit of hypnotism overpowered the people. It was so strong that I had to fight to stay sober myself. As he was speaking, I stood up and rebuked him, saying that what he was preaching was contrary to God’s Word, the Bible. At first, he prevented the guards from escorting me out, but as we continued to argue and the people were coming out of their trances, he ordered his men to kill me. I escaped into the parking lot where the Lord spoke to me and told me to hide. He said not to worry because he would ‘cloak’ me. Then I awoke.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, let us not seek after “strange fire” but rather, let us seek to be washed by the water of your Holy Word and be cleansed in the precious Blood of Jesus. Amen.



Rich Man, Poor Man

PRAISE the Living God! Today in my prayer time I asked God to show me whatever He wished to show me, and the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance a film I had recently seen, entitled ”Raised From the Dead”. In this film, an African pastor from Nigeria was raised from the dead after having been dead for 3 days, and even after having been embalmed. When he was in Heaven, God told him He was answering the request or prayer of the rich man in the parable found in Luke 16:19-31, as a sign to this generation.

In the film, the evangelist (who made the film) misinterpreted the message entirely by saying the reason the rich man went to Hell was because he said “No!” to Jesus. This cannot be true because the rich man had never met Jesus. Jesus was telling the parable Himself. If you follow this line of thinking, you would have to infer that the reason the poor man went to Heaven was because he said ”Yes!” to Jesus. This is adding to Scripture and missing the whole point altogether.

This whole chapter in the Bible is talking about false riches and the love of money versus the love of God. This evangelist made a big show out of pointing out that the rich man did not go to Hell because he was rich, and the poor man did not go to Heaven because he was poor. The Holy Spirit said this evangelist is totally wrong in his interpretation of Scripture. His erroneous teaching had nothing to do with the message God is trying to get to this generation by the raising of the dead pastor from Nigeria. The real message, as revealed to me by God, is this: “This parable of the rich man and the poor man is a picture of the Church in this generation. The poor man represents those who are suffering for the sake of the Gospel. The rich man represents those who are seeking to get rich off the Gospel. Thus, the poor man suffering for Christ goes to Heaven and the rich man getting rich from preaching Christ goes to Hell.” Just as Abraham said in the parable, that even if the dead are raised, this wicked generation will still not hear or see the truth, so it is today. May those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, understand and be saved. To God be all the glory. Amen.



[All scripture is quoted from the Amplified Bible.]

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HC 60, BOX 11
FENCE LAKE, NM 87315




ACTUALLY THERE WERE TWO COUNTERCULTURES back in the 60s: The political, those who engaged in the politics of “democracy”; then there was the cultural radicals, above all, the Rock-N-Roll bands and their fornicating audience, as one writer states, “for whom the erotic revolution was a political movement.” Nevertheless, both overlapped and there was heated hostility between them.

The “New Left” was well underway to MAKE REVOLUTION!! The early part of the 60s got underway with the SDS at the lead. Tom Hayden (who later married the movie actress Jane Fonda) was then the editor of the Michigan Daily and was organizing college newspaper editors for the Civil Rights Movement.

It was Hayden who wrote the SDS’s political manifesto and also wrote for the Civil Rights Movement. His writings became a tribune for the movement for university reform and were also a catalyst in the Student Peace Movement. Some consider Hayden’s writings and speeches the leading theme of the ideology of the 60s. His writings resounded “with the rhetoric of economic and social justice”. “Participatory democracy”, as it was called, meant fighting for the people to have control over their own lives, not the government; this became useful to demobilize existing political power.



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LOOKING BACK now after all the smoke has cleared, did the New Left accomplish its goals? We still have “Big Brother” (even BIGGER NOW!), watching over us; we have countless dreams and utopias crashed; bitter disillusionments and capitalism/materialism is literally suffocating us...the very nemesis that the 60s radicals tried to rid themselves of.

In the 2000s, we have a new breed of radicals that have found new reverberations to “grove on”.

The 60s radicals, if still alive, are aging. Many have switched sides, some still chasing the pipe-and-flower dream—all view the 60s with both a sense of loss and accomplishment.

As one Sub-Genius stated, “...we had a whole new breed of long haired people in the ‘70s, a white-washed promiscuous breed that reduced the boiling point of the 60s down to simmer...”; also, “...the conspiracy...had those soon-to-be disco beatniks under control...it isn’t the pressure of NOCO that’s responsible, it’s our own post negligence: it’s because those PINKS buried their heads in the narco-sand of the 70s and procrastinated coping with a hostile environment that won’t slow down and stop changing...” (The Stark Fist of Removal, 1982).

Now we have the 2000s with no hair!, multi-colored hair, tattoos, piercings on almost all parts of the body (forgive me, they are even in and on their private parts too!!)...grooving on capitalism/materialism, AIDS and mental sickness to boot. Some consider the 60s as the LOST DECADE! I consider the 2000s worse by far—STARK RAVING LUNACY! Even the average Jane or Joe is some sort of a morbid weirdo, but this is my personal opinion.

—General James Green
EVIDENCE” MINISTRY CONDEMNS GLAAD'S
ATTACK ON CONCERNED AMERICAN CITIZENS

October 22, 2009, Palm Coast, FL, USA -The Evidence Ministry, Inc., an organization leading lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender (LGBT) and questioning persons to true change and deliverance from homosexuality through Christ, today condemned GLAAD's, (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's) attack on concerned American citizens.

"Gay activists are painting themselves as victims while our nation's school children are being assaulted," said Charlene E. Cothran, founder, former lesbian activist and former publisher of VENUS Magazine. "Parents and citizens have every right to express concern about the appointment of Kevin Jennings as assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools."

"As a former supporter of Jennings' work, I agree that he is a committed public servant; but committed to what? Kevin Jennings has NOT worked to make schools safer for all students. He has worked to make schools safer for gay students, at the cost of all students. The result of Jennings' body of work is that any student who does not completely embrace gay culture is himself condemned by liberal classmates and teachers," Cothran adds.

"I support that no one should be subjected to anti-gay witch-hunts but that is NOT what is happening here as concerned American citizens raise questions about Jennings's appointment and how his anti-Christian views affect the quality of their children's education.

"It is deplorable that GLAAD would suggest that Christian activists would have Kevin Jennings fired from his job simply because he is gay. Jennings is WRONG for the job because it is WRONG to introduce and fund programs to normalize homosexuality in the school system as such programs are not only designed to support gay students but are clearly aimed at having impressionable youth to question heterosexuality as an absolute norm. The result of Jennings' work is not merely a change in student attitudes toward accepting homosexuals, but a dramatic increase in school-aged children experimenting with homosexual activity," Cothran said.

"No one is born gay. Homosexuality is a choice. It is a spiritual issue. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and questioning people decide every day to leave their former lives behind. Countless former gays & lesbians have walked away and NEVER looked back. Change is not only possible, it is a beautiful reality for many of us who have made Jesus Christ Savior AND Lord," Cothran said.

About The Evidence Ministry, Inc.
The Evidence Ministry, Inc. is a global teaching ministry dedicated to assisting those who desire to leave a life of homosexuality through a committed relationship with Jesus Christ. For more information please visit http://theevidenceministry.org.



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THE WHOLE PICTURE

It all started the other day, just happened to be out in the yard, minding my business, doing yard work (actually knocking down some weeds in the sand, rocks and wind blown trash; but hey, it sounds “nicer,” more, uhh, you know, middle class).

So, what was I doing...oh, yeah, that’s right—yard work. I love the images that word conjures up: grass clippings, neatly-trimmed lawns, trees WITH leaves, new cars in driveways, cookie-cutter homes not even paid for, complete with folks that come with vacant stares and beautiful plastic smiles.

But I digress, back to what I was doing when I saw THEM. I was bending over when I saw THEM out of the corner of my eye. Well, I saw the mother first. Thought I saw some movement over behind the cactus hedge. Straightened up and took a closer look, not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Had to make sure I had actually seen some living thing move over there and it wasn’t just one of the assorted shredded plastic Walmart bags that elegantly adorn so many of the cacti around these parts.

I walk over by the hedge, very carefully, making sure I don’t disturb any of the wind-blown treasures that our gentle southwest breezes bring in periodically, namely, “aged” (sounds more elegant) sun-bleached cardboard boxes, various assorted bags, both paper AND plastic. Remember, diversity is the name of the game. Oh wait, sorry that was a 90's buzzword I just happened to find laying around. You know, the one that was left laying next to “It takes a whole bloated bureaucratic government to raise a child” cliche. No, wait, I think it took “a bunch of hollow politicians to raise a child” is how it want. No, I remember, it went, “It takes a......” Forget it, never mind.

Old beer and soda cans, plastic bottles, wrappers, tumble weeds and of course lots of sand.

As I step around a bush, what assaults my eyes leaves me shocked, astounded, outraged. I can hardly believe it. Yes, I did see something; no, my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. There she stood, not only that, but she was camped out in my yard (correct term?). She had just made herself at home. As I’m staring at the situation, dumbfounded, my mind momentarily numb, it slowly starts to sink in. Yes, this is for real. I mean look, I know we are supposed to be in an economic, umm, downturn right now, or whatever our economic Czar has christened it at the moment. But this is just too much, it all seems so unreal.

I shake myself, mentally of course. I wouldn’t want to do anything physical right now because I don’t know how excitable she is, she might react, call me bad names, attack me or do something really dangerous like call her attorney. So for now I keep everything in the mental stage.

As I advance toward her slowly, I quickly put one of those sickly fake smiles on my face. You know the type—the ones the politicians and preachers love to wear. The ones they seem to think make them look so happy yet so caring at the same time. But in reality, they look like they never heeded their mom’s advice to “quit making those stupid faces or your face will freeze like that.” Either that or they look like they’re actually feeling ill and grimacing.

Standing there, armed with my “public servant, preacher/adolescent freeze face, sick grimace look,” I feel a little more prepared to tackle the situation. But inside, my mind is still reeling, staggering, by now it’s starting to go postal. No, this can’t be happening, I’m an upright, outstanding citizen. I’m a red-blooded, registered to vote, tax-paying, “globally concerned,” (don’t ask me what that is, I don’t know, just thought it sounded trendy, appropriate for this current political clime) citizen. I mean, this is what I pay my taxes for, is to keep things like this from happening. You know, to get “my” public servants to “protect” my private property rights.

A torrent of thoughts come all flooding in at once, can’t even fish a coherent stream out of any of them. Just see phrases with the words, “Constitutional rights,” “civil rights,” “inalienable rights,” “justice,” “laws” go rushing by. Something snaps. I slap myself back into reality. How could I be so stupid. What was I thinking, I pay taxes so we can stick our noses in people’s business half way around the world, start wars and bail out poor banks who have swindled millions of people. Yea, that’s right, whew, that was close. That does give me an idea, though, if things don’t work out for me by myself, I can just disguise myself as a failing bank or pretend I’m a large corporation and see if I can snag a bailout too.

Advancing forward, armed with my “look,” I say, “Hello.” She just glares at me with head cocked to the side. The look she’s carrying is a cross between extreme nervousness and defiance. Her fight or flight response looks like it’s coming on. I say, “Hello,” again, trying to get a hold on the whole bizarre situation. Still no verbal response, just tension so thick you can cut it, and a glittery vacant stare.

She looks so nervous, by now I know she’s up to no good. The thought pops in my mind, she’s a drug dealer. Has to be, as an aside, I’m just minutes from the border, there’s lots of, you know, those types around here. So it all makes sense. I just know it does. Besides, why else is she looking so nervous?

I rapidly start to try and formulate a battle plan. Dang, where’s Sun Tzu when you need him. I think about calling the police, no, maybe the DEA. La Tuna, the Federal Pen is just down the street from me, there’s gotta be some of those guys (whoa, stop, insert—“peoples”—that’s better, “DEA peoples.” Wouldn’t want any of the liberated female vocab police issuing me a citation) around here.

As I look closer, something looks vaguely familiar. Ah ha! Yes, I’ve seen here type before, south of the border. Was just down there earlier this year, running down their streets in broad daylight. Ducking and dodging, the gangs of cops with their bulletproof vests, cradling their sub-machine guns, trying to make myself invisible to the army commandos with the berets and full automatics that are manning the streets and border. Sprinting down the broken and heaved sidewalks that reek of hot stale beer, old vomit, and warm urine. I arrive at my destination, out of breath, chest heaving, in extreme pain. I burst through the door, the lady at the front desk looks up in alarm. I ask her in English, since I don’t speak much Español, “Do you folks fill cavities?” She assured me the dentist does, much to my immense relief.

I now think of calling homeland security, no, the border patrol. (I’ve always wondered about that name, I mean, I’ve seen these folks 200-300 miles up from the “border”(?) semantic nit-picking, perhaps), then I remember the border patrol is part of Homeland Security. I go one further and think maybe if I could just get a hold of “O,” maybe I could get some troops sent in as backup or, at a minimum, I might be able to get an airstrike called in. Then the confusion starts to set in. It’s no secret that in hot battle situations like these, that things can start to unravel and get really confused.

First I can’t remember which “O” to contact...the larger gal who’s always battling her waist line, launching preemptive strikes on her diets, gives away cars on TV—tough when you’re a billionaire—and is always crying with her guests on her show. Or the other “O,” you now, the one who’s battling world hunger, despotic dictators who want to take away every American’s right to “Have a pool in every yard, access to a limitless credit card, and a solar powered earth-friendly green toaster in every kitchen.” The one who has to work tirelessly to fulfill the obligations set forth when donning the mantle of the world’s only Super Power Messiah. I’ve heard it’s a tough job. But someone’s gotta do it.

I stop, start breathing very slowly. In, out, in out, I draw within myself, trying to tune the vibrations of the situation. Hey, don’t knock it, brother, I live in the same state that contains Santa Fe, albeit a few hundred miles south of it. I find I don’t quite have the tools to tune, I know, I probably just need a crystal, the type that is certified to have come with a sacred feather-dusting. I realize I’m not going to be able to go that route either, Santa Fe’s too far, and the only type of crystals around these parts are the meth variety. No worry, I keep breathing slower and slower, I’m getting relaxed. The confusion is starting to finally clear, it comes into razor sharp focus, I want to go take a nap.

No, I push that thought aside, I will save that for my reward later. After this grueling ordeal.

Now I remember, I need to contact big “O,” no not big “O,” the other “O” is “big.” I make a mental note to identify “BIG ‘O’” as mamma “O” and skinny “O” as “the O.” There, that’s settled. Shoot, I realize I don’t have my i-phone or my blackberry on me. With a sinking feeling, I realize the plan isn’t going to work either. Besides, what if I did get my airstrike and it went wrong and they missed, which I doubt would happen, I mean, heck, how many times have I read on the web about “surgical precision bombing.”

But just if by a fluke they did miss and ended up hitting my cactus and Palo Verde Trees—that’s “Green Stick” in English. A unique species of tree we are quite fond of down here in the Southwest. Literally, it looks like a green stick, no leaves. We aren’t ones for excess down here in the desert. Besides, if it had leaves, then I would need a rake. One less thing to get stolen—do you think the military would own up to its destruction of the eco setting? No, they would just issue an internal report with lots of acronyms and write it off as collateral damage.

That gives me an idea. I shift gears and decide to make an opening using the bureaucrat role. I will ask her if she has an environmental permit to camp out here, then ask to see a copy of her EPA Environmental Sustainability Impact Study.

Yessir, that’s the ticket. I straighten my shoulders and swell with the air of bureaucratic importance. I step forward and say this time, “Hola.” I know I will get a response now, now that I’ve got her figured out. She glares at me and finally responds. Not exactly the response I was expecting, but a response nonetheless. A positive sign. She leaps up, I feel the blood draining from my head, I stumble backwards. I scramble to regain a position of dignity, this is totally ridiculous. She takes off running like lightning, her two “offspring” following close behind. I stand there shocked. They had been hiding right behind her the whole time. I know it! She’s a drug dealer and she has to be using her “brood” to get welfare on top of it. I’m angry, fuming, I shout after her, “¡Alto! ¡Esperaté!” They all give no recognition that they even understand anything I’m shouting after them. I stand here shaking, I’m so angry. What’s this stupid country coming to, these people don’t understand English, they didn’t even understand Spanish. DANGEROUS FOREIGNERS, alien hordes, dragging their whole families with them. Hmmph, never did even see her “husband” (if she even has one), probably locked up in the pen somewhere. Dirty drug dealers, squatters. I’d better quit now before my blood pressure goes through the roof. Too many Mountain Dews, bags of chicharones and greasy tacos consumed on a regular basis + explosive situations like these aren’t conducive to good health.

I decided to talk to a friend of mine, relate what happened, ask for advice. He just sat there quietly, asking a few questions now and then. Mostly listening. One question he asked me struck me as odd. He asked, “What was she wearing...What were her kids wearing?” I replied, “I can’t really remember totally, I mean, the whole thing was pretty stressful. But I know she looked pretty sleazy, if I recall correctly, she wasn’t wearing much. What were her kids wearing? The kids, not much of anything either,” I smile to myself, “Dirty little streakers.” After I said it, I know it didn’t sound right, but my friend didn’t look shocked, so I let it slide. Besides, a lot of the details are a bit fuzzy.

It’s silent, I look at my friend, “So who do you think they were?” He’s staring at the ceiling, feigning deep thought. He looks at me: “What?” “I said, who do you think they were, you know, what nationality? What race, what country you think they’re from?” He says, “You know, from the description and what you’ve told me, I think they’re probably Geococcyxes.” I just nodded my head sagely in assent. I’d never heard of that country before. Besides, with all these tin-pot dictators running around these days and this group revolting and that group fighting for liberation, you never even know if the maps are current. I’ve never been one to enjoy looking like an idiot. So I just said, “You know, now that you mention it, I think you’re right. As soon as he left, I ran over to my computer, got on the web, looked up Google Earth. No luck, couldn’t find any country with that name. Decided to Google the name directly. As I sat there, staring at the screen, I could feel the heat creeping up my ears, everything started to fall in place.

Well, well, he was right after all, it all made sense now. The nervous looks, the scarcity of clothing, the lightning fast escape, them not paying any attention to what I said to them. I guess they DIDN’T understand me. Their “nest” under the Yucca bush.

I shook my head, I had just seen a family of genuine Southwest Road Runners.

* * *

Clever you say, perhaps. Funny, maybe, it depends on your tastes in humor. But I will say that, that’s how it is with Satan so many times. He doesn’t give us the whole picture. He paints his own picture to us but leaves out the most crucial details. Namely, that if we listen to him and go along with what he is suggesting, we will end up burning with him in the Lake of Fire. That’s the truth! Or, if we follow Christ, we will “have it rough, no fun, boring,” blah, blah, blah. He leaves out that if we follow Christ, our reward will be eternal and we’ll have His forgiveness for our sins. That’s the truth.

Before you decide to go Satan’s way, LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE.

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AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
HC 60, BOX 11
FENCE LAKE, NM 87315






WE ARE LIVING IN AN AGE when many, especially the youth, have made an idol of thuggery. The word thug is, by definition, “one of a fraternity of robbers and assassins in India who practiced secret murder as an act of propitiation to the goddess Kali”. The word thug also means “a ruffian and an assassin”. The word ruffian means “a brutal, boisterous fellow; any base, low character, as a robber, etc.” Then the word assassin means “one who slays treacherously or by covert assault; one who kills, or attempts to kill, secretly as the agent of another or others, or for reward”. The word assassinate means “to kill”.

So we see that in all of these definitions of the idol of our age, is nothing but the end goal of murder, robbery, brutality, low character and boisterous vileness. While the youth of today are led about by rap music in all of its variations and think that they have discovered something new, they are simply dupes for demonic powers which have nothing in mind but to kill, steal and destroy.

The mesmerizing powers of the demon goddess Kali are well known worldwide, as the adherents to Kali’s demand for blood sacrifice are still in action today. Having been to India, I remember I was shocked when I first saw men, countless men with their fingernails painted bright red. When I inquired what the reason for this was, I was told that the followers of Kali must offer her blood, and human blood is her first preference. Of course it is claimed that no longer are her followers allowed to commit their murders in order to appease the demands of this wicked and cruel goddess. Now it is stated that her followers offer her goats. However, there is plenty of evidence that thuggery is as common now as it has ever been in that her known followers are still committing murder to appease her demands for blood.

Now, since this type of murder stems back to Hinduism and this goddess, one would think, how in the world could such a thing have anything to do with the passion for murder and bloodshed that is prevailing in the western nations and even worldwide? The truth is that satan has one agenda and he repeats that agenda for all who will fall prey to his wicked devices.

The fascination of the youth with death, the absorption in crime and murder is only too evident that the roots of rap are evil and those who adhere to the ultimate messages are adhering to the demands of goddess spirits every bit as cruel and blood thirsty as Kali, goddess queen of Hinduism.

While youth proudly parade in their shirts and other clothing items which symbolize their faithfulness to their idols, do they ever stop and consider that the thugs they are worshiping are taking them into a lifestyle that can only end in imprisonment, harm to others as well as one’s self, and death? Does anyone stop and consider that the thugs who are enticing them to follow in the same lifestyle are often the victims of the very murder they are enticing others to commit?

How deceptive are the ancient demons that have invaded through the music which is so base and thrilling in its message of destruction whereby the unsuspecting give themselves to demonic powers that are base, vile and completely boisterous in the message they give forth. It does not take much mentality to kill, to steal, to hurt and harm others, it simply takes a fool who will follow the commands of demons who are devising evil on every hand.

Has anyone really stopped to consider that the idolatry of thuggery, which so many have given themselves unto, is nothing but the work of demons under the command of satan? And that while the youth and even some beyond youth are giving themselves over to murder, to robbery, to vileness and rottenness, that they are nothing but the fools who will perish in their sins? The Bible strictly forbids the very things which those involved in thuggery see as their goals in life. When they burn in Hell, will they boast of how many they have murdered, how many they have robbed and violated? Or will they be too absorbed in their own agonies, which will cause them torment, and the burning in the flames of Hell as their evil deeds are replayed over and over before their eyes and they will never escape the judgment they have received for the same?

If you have been deceived by the idolatry of thuggery, you can confess your sins and repent before the Lord Jesus Christ today. He desires to free you from the burden of your sins, and if you repent He will set you free. It is stupid to go in a way of destruction when you could turn from idolatry and turn to the Lord. The Lord will hear you as you pray simply, “Jesus, I ask you to forgive me for my sins and the idolatry of thuggery which has caused those sins; please come into my heart and be my Savior and guide my life.” Amen.

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Demonic Fruit

Demonic Fruit

* * *

INTRODUCTION

by ACMTC



WE WOULD LIKE to clarify, first of all, that we DO believe in miracles, signs, wonders, healings, and the gifts and workings of the Spirit. We have seen God do wondrous miracles and healings, time and again, and He continues to move in our midst and around the world.

However, we also believe that, unfortunately, some people in the “Charismatic Movement” have welcomed in “demon seed” and have taken things too far. They have not been alert in the war nor have they discerned the workings of satan in their midst.

Todd Bentley certainly functions in the realm of the demonic, yet this does not discredit all miracles and workings of the Spirit of God.


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The following article was sent to us and is a contribution of an outside (non-ACMTC) source.

Truth or Consequences

Safeguards to protect the Body

from the falls of ministers

Jim Croft


SUBSEQUENT TO THE EXPOSURE of Todd Bentley’s marital problems numerous high profile ministries have issued statements about it. Most have been merciful and have offered reasonable explanations about the issues. Those who were unaware of Bentley’s past indiscretions statements are appreciable. Those from those who were aware of his history have unwittingly done a disservice to the Body of Christ. In response to those who decried Todd, it would have been far better for those in the know to issue statements early on in the Lakeland Revival. Such might have served as deterrents to protect Todd from himself and to better insure that the Body did not again suffer embarrassment and hurt by the failures of one of its champions.

His board and some well-known ministers that appeared on stage with him knew the following: Prior to the current dilemma of some form of unholy relationship with a female co-worker, he had another in the past 3 years. 2 years ago, he had a nervous breakdown. While in recovery, he got the body tattoos and piercings. He was loosed to minister again by his board while some reputable outside advisors declared it premature. He is known to frequently over imbibe in alcohol. Prior to his salvation, he was incarcerated for some sort of lascivious behavior with an under aged male. Of course, his BC sins are forgiven. But, most saints have painfully learned that BC sin leakages into AC life are all too common with high profile ministers.

Close on the heels of the revival’s global Internet webcasts and the GodTV broadcasts, many sensed something was amiss and voiced the same. The discernment was on target. Unfortunately, such were written off as unfounded by many including Jim Croft. It appeared to us that subjective speculations were being made due to his style and appearance as opposed to the Spirit’s discernment. Unless there is objective evidence indicating the negative vibes might be well founded, those who honor the Word, have a heart for revival and love the anointing tend to err on the side of mercy. Beyond pointing out his obvious doctrinal flaws, many like me felt obligated to flow with the visible proofs that God was doing extraordinary miracles through the Lakeland Revival. Thus we defended the man and his ministry from the naysayers.

All the while, there were notable ministers who knew the discernment coming forth had foundations and chose to say nothing. Todd’s authority figures had opportunities to institute deterrents against his potential to fall yet again. Publicly informing Christians of his past and then giving an apologetic for God using him could have served as a substantial check against further sin. Such might have given the revival a better chance to continue untarnished. Most believers are very willing to forgive and forget once informed of weaknesses, especially when God is mightily using a person. In the event Todd opted for carnality regardless of the precautions, the alerts about his past might have softened the blow for many who are now seething in scandalized hurt.



Promotions Bring Increased Responsibilities

PAST SITUATIONS and this one, call for new initiatives to be put into place. Such should be enacted when ministers escalate from relative obscurity to national acclaim. Scripturally leaders are to be held to higher standards of exposure than other believers. Along with the accolades that come to the gifted, so come greater consequences should they fall. When sins are verified they are to be rebuked in the presence of all. (1 Tim 3:1-7, 5:19-29, Jam 3:1) We are not under the Law of Moses, but we can gain helpful insights from it. When a ordinary citizen sinned, he/she could be seen heading toward the place of sacrifice with their sin offerings, reflecting their ability to pay; a dove, a lamb and so forth. Priests were required to offer a bullock. (Lev 4:3) The practice had dual functions. The embarrassment of having entire communities seeing a leader leading an ox served as a caution against future temptations. The costly offering cleansed them until they gave way to future sins. Most would think twice before further ventures into rebellion as they didn’t enjoy the exposure and the price tag. Of course, the thought of failing God should have been an ever present deterrent.



Safeguards

IT WOULD be helpful for ministers to be required to submit to occasional reviews by those to whom they’re accountable. It would be beneficial for his/her spouse to be present to give their perspectives when necessary. The format could have several components: Confessions of marital difficulties and habitual sins with the goals of repentance and restoration. Specific inquiries about past sins popping up again could be part of the agenda as well. In circumstances in which the transgressions could bring dishonor to the Lord’s name, the weight of sobering consequences might be inserted into the equation. Permission to resume public ministry could be contingent upon the minister confessing his failings to his constituents and informing them about his repentance and any disciplinary measures that are in progress. In most instances such candidness with requests for prayer would draw approval from all. The knowledge of refusals to walk in truth carrying consequences could safeguard all concerned from worlds of hurt.


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Note: The article following the photo is not an ACMTC contribution.



Faith Healer Separates From Wife, Draws Criticism From Charismatics



by David Roach



WITH CONTROVERSIAL FAITH HEALER Todd Bentley announcing that he is separating from his wife, charismatic leaders J. Lee Grady and Stephen Strang have reacted by saying someone should have raised questions about Bentley earlier.

Grady, editor of the popular charismatic magazine Charisma, said the way thousands celebrated Bentley despite his moral and theological shortcomings demonstrated a lack of discernment that pervades the charismatic movement.

“We’re spiritually hungry—which can be a good thing,” Grady wrote in an Aug. 13 column. “But sometimes hungry people will eat anything.”

Bentley, who led a heavily publicized revival in Lakeland, Fla., beginning this spring, announced in a statement Aug. 12 that he and his wife Shonnah were separating. The staff of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries said “an atmosphere of fatigue and stress” created by the daily revival meetings “exacerbated existing issues in [his marriage],” according to Charisma. On Aug. 15, the board of Fresh Fire released a statement saying it had learned Bentley had been involved in “an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff.” The statement said Bentley had agreed “to refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life.”

Bentley and his wife had been attending counseling for the past three years, but the counseling was suspended for the last four months while Bentley was away from his home in Abbottsford, British Columbia, Charisma reported. The Bentleys have three children.

Bentley is known for his multiple body piercings and tattoos, his violent healing techniques, his claims of angelic visions and “holy” laughter and “holy” vibrating shakes. He even claims to have raised dozens of people from the dead.

Bentley claims to be visited regularly by angels, including a 20-foot-tall angel in his apartment on one occasion and on another occasion an angel that knocked him out of his body. One angel’s name supposedly is Emma. Bentley also says that Jesus Himself appears to him.

Charismatic leaders who endorsed Bentley, Grady wrote, should have known better than to thrust him into the spotlight prematurely and owe the public an apology.

“Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study,” Grady wrote. “Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.”

God TV, the network that televised the Lakeland revival meetings, is particularly blameworthy because it told viewers in a pre-revival segment that “any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic,” Grady wrote, adding that the network’s hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

“This is cultic manipulation at its worst,” Grady wrote.

Though America needs true revival, any leaders who wholeheartedly endorsed Bentley promoted heresy rather than revival, according to Grady.

“Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy,” he wrote, “not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated.”

Charisma publisher Stephen Strang also took aim in a column at Bentley and those who supported him. Strang said the charismatic leaders to whom Bentley submitted himself in an accountability relationship—John Arnott, Ché Ahn and Bill Johnson—“should have seen it coming.” He listed several indications that Bentley’s ministry was not of God.

“Anyone who is in services 4 to 6 hours a day, 7 days a week for weeks on end is bound to have some type of breakdown,” Strang wrote. “Anyone who covers himself with tattoos while in the ministry raises questions about his stability.

“...Anyone who baptizes people in the name of the Father, the Son ‘and BAM’ is playing lightly with the Holy Spirit and is bordering on blasphemy.”

While God uses flawed men to do his work, Christians must hold spiritual leaders to the highest standards of conduct, Strang wrote.

“Perhaps some of the problems would have been prevented if men had spoken into Bentley’s life several months ago,” he wrote. “As good as it is to have an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to help the injured, it is much better to have a fence at the top of the cliff to prevent someone from going over.”

Chad Brand, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that while all denominations within Christianity have been touched by divorce, the charismatic movement is particularly susceptible to overlooking its leaders’ moral failures.

Brand is the editor of “Perspectives on Spirit Baptism,” a book detailing the charismatic and non-charismatic views of baptism in the Holy Spirit. He published several additional papers and articles on issues related to the charismatic movement.

“There is a dynamic that makes charismatic leader situations sometimes treated differently, and it is partly tied to the very term, ‘charismatic,’” Brand said. “Because this person is perceived to have charismatic power or anointing, his or her failure in marriage is often easily forgiven and overlooked. So, while in many traditions, a divorce for a pastor or key leader means a loss of prestige or influence, it is not necessarily the case in charismatic circles.

“John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio divorced his wife of 15 years in 1975 and the next year remarried, but his ministry and influence only grew in the years after that. Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, also divorced his first wife after 11 years of marriage, and 10 months later remarried. Paula White and her husband Randy divorced last year. It was Paula White’s second marriage. While these divorces have had ramifications for their ministries, in every case the ministry only flourished afterwards. In most other evangelical traditions, the impact of divorce has been more deeply felt by the ministers in question.”

More important than focusing on Bentley’s marital difficulties is noting the fact that he is a false teacher, Brand said.

“We do not know all the details of Bentley’s marital situation, and so we should withhold judgment on that matter,” he said. “What is plain is that he is teaching false doctrine and that the claims to his ministry’s ‘successes’ seem pretty spurious.”

Brand speculated that . . . Bentley relies on hype to promote his meetings but has few real healings.


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Pictures from the Christian News:




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PRAISE GOD! I am humbled today as I share with the Body of Christ my personal testimony. I would like to say that I am so blessed to be numbered among those who are truly following Jesus and seeking to please God, not man. I want to share with you my own personal experiences in the Charismatic “Move” in the Christian churches.

In 1981, I was born again and filled with the Spirit of the Living God. I immediately began praying in tongues, according to I Corinthians 14:2 which says, “For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding.” My new life in the Holy Spirit led me to fellowship with like believers in a church called New Life In Christ Church, which called itself Charismatic. There I found other believers in Jesus who also spoke in tongues, and I felt I had found a church home.

It was at this church that I was introduced to being “slain in the Spirit”. My first experience of this phenomenon was unusual, to say the least. I had spoken with the pastor about it, and he admitted to me that most of the people in his congregation just took a “nose dive” backwards into the arms of the designated “catchers” and were faking it. I did not want anything fake and I told God I was not going to fall backwards. When the time came for the elders to “lay hands” on me for the work of the ministry as a worship leader, instead of going backwards, I just collapsed in a heap on the steps of the altar. When I returned to my seat on the front row, the pastor’s wife came to me and told me I was injured. When I looked down at my right knee, sure enough, I had landed on a nail in the carpet and it had torn open the skin, of which I still carry a scar to this day.

The funny thing is...I never felt a thing. The blood was running down my leg, I was laughing and crying at the same time, but there was no pain or sensation of any kind. Of course, I attributed the whole experience to the miracles of God.

To make a long story short, the fruit of this Charismatic church was that the pastor resigned, his wife became a nurse, and he returned to the business world because they felt that God wanted them to make more money in order to take care of their large and growing family. The church eventually split up over the choice of a new pastor and I moved on. I did not question the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the form of being “slain in the Spirit” because I had read in the Bible in Hebrews 2:4 that God endorsed and showed His approval by signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of His power by imparting gifts of the Holy Spirit to believers. I was taught that falling down in the Spirit was part of those manifestations.

I also knew that satan could perform lying signs and wonders as well. In 2 Thessalonians 2:9 -11 it says, “The coming of the lawless one, the antichrist , is through the activity and working of satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of pretended miracles and signs and delusive marvels—all of them lying wonders and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false.” But I believed that only God performed in church and the devil performed outside the church. This is the deception. Matthew chapter 7 refutes this theory in verses 22 and 23, where it says, “Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works (wonders) in Your name?” The next verse tells us that God rejects them and tells them He never knew them. Why? Verse 20 is the answer. It says, “you will know them by their fruits.” That’s why I’ve entitled this message, “Where’s The Fruit?”

Going on with my personal testimony, I had many other “slain in the Spirit” experiences with the same results...no fruit, or in some cases, bad fruit.

One missionary friend from Kenya who had started a church in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, took his congregation to Canada where they all were “slain” in the “laughing spirit”. When they returned from their trip, this little church began to deteriorate. The pastor even ended up having an adulterous affair with a married woman in the church and they ended up leaving their spouses. The fruit resulted in the sheep being shattered and scattered, some never to return to God because of it.

My most recent experience with this lying wonder in the church occurred in Florida following a visit to the latest so-called outpouring of “fresh fire” in Lakeland. There I had witnessed tattooed, pierced, drunken “saints of God”, acting out all sorts of weird behavior and calling it a “move of God”. They were supposedly drunk on the “new wine” of the Spirit and “impartations” were being given to all who wished to receive.

A certain man who was once associated with the ministry which started the laughing manifestations in Canada, came to visit my husband and I in our hotel room where he proceeded to “impart” to me this same spirit. I fell down and hit my head so hard on the floor that I was almost knocked unconscious. Needless to say, there was no “catcher”. I then proceeded to try to get up off the floor and could not. It felt like something was pinning my shoulders to the floor and I could not raise myself up. I was crying and trembling and believed this to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. What was the fruit of this? When I returned home, I went into a rage and began shouting curses and obscenities and then became grieved to the point of wishing I could die. Was this God? I think not! The fruit was rotten and I ended up in deliverance to get the demons cast out of me by Generals Jim and Deborah Green. Praise God!

Another past experience with a well-known television evangelist who began prophesying over me in his church in Orlando, Florida, also ended badly. I was again “slain in the Spirit” and crying and praying in tongues while on the floor, and never was able to hear the “Word” he was giving over me. Looking back, I believe it was God’s protection and mercy. Anyway, the end result was that I ended up becoming involved with the Charismatic “move of God (?)” in the Catholic Church and became deceived once again and joined the church where I was attending these prayer meetings. Not long afterwards, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had to get out of that, and I obeyed.

What is my point?...you might ask. This is what I am saying. Jesus taught us that if we follow Him, signs and wonders will follow us. We are not to follow signs and wonders. We have been putting the cart before the horse and we have it all backwards. Jesus Himself said that a perverse generation seeks signs and wonders, and I believe it because I see it happening in the Church today. I have been deceived myself. The fruit of such behavior is rotten, rotten, rotten! Jesus condemned such behavior in John 4:48 when He said, “unless you people see signs and miracles happen, you people never will believe, trust or have faith at all!”

In conclusion, I would like to say that God is sick of this childish behavior in His people. Isaiah 19:14 says, “The Lord has mingled a spirit of perverseness, error, and confusion within her; her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all her doings, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.” Could this be a picture of Christ’s Bride, the Church of today? Have we become a Harlot Church, staggering on the drunken wine of false signs and wonders, producing rotten fruit?

Let us repent and seek God, not the miracles. Let us return to our first love, Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Let us cry out in shame and beg His forgiveness for falling for such stupid and outrageous antics designed by satan to deceive even the elect, if possible. I say it not only is possible but is probable, if we continue to seek the gifts instead of the Giver of gifts.

Finally, I wish to leave you with one more Scripture which sums up all this nonsense into something we can depend on. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Thank you, Lord, for sound Biblical teaching and for teachers who still walk in the ways of God without compromise and without gimmicks and trickery. This is the eternal path that leads to eternal life. The broad and spacious one, full of deceived saints, leads to physical and spiritual death. Next time you follow signs and wonders, ask yourself...“Where’s the Fruit?”



Dream Come True?

ABOUT twenty years ago I had a dream that was so real and so spiritual that I never forgot it and I’m sure it was a warning from the Lord. I would like to share this dream with all who have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church of today.

The Dream: “Many were inviting me to come hear a Charismatic evangelist who was drawing a record number of people to his meetings. I was reluctant, but finally gave in and attended. I sat in the back and observed as a spirit of hypnotism overpowered the people. It was so strong that I had to fight to stay sober myself. As he was speaking, I stood up and rebuked him, saying that what he was preaching was contrary to God’s Word, the Bible. At first, he prevented the guards from escorting me out, but as we continued to argue and the people were coming out of their trances, he ordered his men to kill me. I escaped into the parking lot where the Lord spoke to me and told me to hide. He said not to worry because he would ‘cloak’ me. Then I awoke.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, let us not seek after “strange fire” but rather, let us seek to be washed by the water of your Holy Word and be cleansed in the precious Blood of Jesus. Amen.



Rich Man, Poor Man

PRAISE the Living God! Today in my prayer time I asked God to show me whatever He wished to show me, and the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance a film I had recently seen, entitled ”Raised From the Dead”. In this film, an African pastor from Nigeria was raised from the dead after having been dead for 3 days, and even after having been embalmed. When he was in Heaven, God told him He was answering the request or prayer of the rich man in the parable found in Luke 16:19-31, as a sign to this generation.

In the film, the evangelist (who made the film) misinterpreted the message entirely by saying the reason the rich man went to Hell was because he said “No!” to Jesus. This cannot be true because the rich man had never met Jesus. Jesus was telling the parable Himself. If you follow this line of thinking, you would have to infer that the reason the poor man went to Heaven was because he said ”Yes!” to Jesus. This is adding to Scripture and missing the whole point altogether.

This whole chapter in the Bible is talking about false riches and the love of money versus the love of God. This evangelist made a big show out of pointing out that the rich man did not go to Hell because he was rich, and the poor man did not go to Heaven because he was poor. The Holy Spirit said this evangelist is totally wrong in his interpretation of Scripture. His erroneous teaching had nothing to do with the message God is trying to get to this generation by the raising of the dead pastor from Nigeria. The real message, as revealed to me by God, is this: “This parable of the rich man and the poor man is a picture of the Church in this generation. The poor man represents those who are suffering for the sake of the Gospel. The rich man represents those who are seeking to get rich off the Gospel. Thus, the poor man suffering for Christ goes to Heaven and the rich man getting rich from preaching Christ goes to Hell.” Just as Abraham said in the parable, that even if the dead are raised, this wicked generation will still not hear or see the truth, so it is today. May those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, understand and be saved. To God be all the glory. Amen.



[All scripture is quoted from the Amplified Bible.]

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