The following clarified some things for me…  Pastor, What say you!

Question: “What is the Latter Rain Movement?”

Answer: The Latter Rain Movement is an influence within Pentecostalism which teaches that the Lord is pouring out His Spirit again, as He did at Pentecost, and using believers to prepare the world for His Second Coming. The Latter Rain Movement is anti-dispensational and amillennial, and many leaders of the movement embrace aberrant teachings.

The term “latter rain” was first used early in the history of Pentecostalism, when David Wesley Myland wrote a book called Latter Rain Songs in 1907. Three years later, Myland wrote The Latter Rain Covenant, a defense of Pentecostalism in general.

The name comes from Joel 2:23, “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.” Pentecostals interpreted the “rain” in this verse as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The “latter rain” (the end-times outpouring) would be greater than the “former rain.”

In 1948, a “revival” broke out in Saskatchewan, Canada, and the teachings of the Latter Rain movement were clarified. Those involved in the revival were convinced that they were on the verge of a new era, one in which the Holy Spirit would demonstrate His power in a greater way than the world had ever seen. Not even the age of the apostles, they said, had witnessed such a movement of the Holy Spirit.

Latter Rain teaching is characterized by a highly typological hermeneutic. That is, the Bible is interpreted in a symbolic, extremely stylized manner. An emphasis is placed on extra-biblical revelation, such as personal prophecies, experiences, and directives straight from God. Latter Rain doctrine includes the following beliefs:

- the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues, are received through the laying on of hands

- Christians can be demonized and require deliverance

- God has restored all the offices of ministry to the Church, including apostle and prophet

- divine healing can be administered through the laying on of hands

- praise and worship will usher God into our presence

- women have a full and equal ministry role in the Church

- denominational lines will be destroyed, and the Church will unify in the last days

- the “latter rain” will bring God’s work to completion; the Church will be victorious over the world and usher in Christ’s kingdom

Many “apostles” in the Latter Rain Movement also teach the doctrine of “the manifest sons of God.” This is a heretical doctrine which says that the Church will give rise to a special group of “overcomers” who will receive spiritual bodies, becoming immortal.

It is important to note that the Assemblies of God deemed the Latter Rain Movement to contain heresy from the very beginning. On April 20, 1949, the Assemblies of God officially denounced Latter Rain teaching, nearly splitting the denomination in the process. Other established Pentecostal groups have passed similar resolutions.

Today, the term “latter rain” is rarely used, but the theology of Latter Rain continues to exert an influence. Most branches of the Charismatic Movement adhere to Latter Rain teaching. Modern movements such as the Brownsville/Pensacola Revival, the Toronto Blessing, and the “holy laughter” phenomenon are a direct result Latter Rain theology.

Documentation

 The following websites have useful profiles and documentation regarding William Branham and the movements in which he and his teachings have played a significant part. Some have a number of relevant articles. Most such websites have a search function that you may use to pinpoint articles on the site related to the topic or person for which you are seeking information.

 William Branham and His Message   This site is the most comprehensive source of detailed information on Branham available on the Web.

http://people.delphiforums.com/JohnK63/home.htm

Examining the Message of William Branham   This is a discussion group provided for current and former “believers” of Branham’s teachings.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/kennah/start

The Apologetics Index
http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/b05.html

Banner Ministries’ Cross + Word Website
http://www.banner.org.uk/

Religious Movements Homepage
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/bram.html

Great article written about the source of Dominion Theology in the church

Source

Historically Dominion Theology emerges whenever the Christian Church enters into covenant with a political power that is either at the apex of international wealth and power or about to make a play for it. The first Church-State deal was seen in the 4th Century. This was the prototype for all the Church-State accords which were made with the European princes in the following 17 centuries. Here is how it happened.

After the sickening persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the late third century the Roman powers faced a fact that was becoming quite obvious. Using their cruel methods of direct persecution they were unable to halt the Christian witness. Diocletian’s successor Caesar Constantine came to power early in the 4th century. He soon saw the writing on the wall. The persecutions against the Christian Church were clearly counterproductive. Accordingly he issued the Edict of Milan in 308 A.D.. This halted the persecution of Christians. What had happened?

As the 3rd century came to an end the Church was spiritually victorious against the powers of Rome. The Roman powers, realized that the direct persecutions of the Church were actually hurting them. Persecution of Christians led to martyrdom, which is the very same Greek word “witness”. For the early Church “witness” for Christ meant “martyrdom” for Christ. This is the way it is for Christian believers in China and in the Muslim world today.

The facts were quite straightforward. Roman persecution was creating Christian witnesses. All the efforts to stamp out Christianity were a waste of time. They were just adding to the numbers of Christians. So early in the 4th century the Roman powers realized what was going on. And so they decided to take a different approach. They decided to take the advice of Balaam. Their new goal was to get the Church compromised. In short, they had adopted a Fabian approach to conquest.

Under the Emperor Constantine the icy relationship between Imperial Rome and the Christian Church began to thaw. In 325 A.D. it broke out into a veritable love-fest. The invitation was there before them. What to do?

Many of the Church elders saw the opportunity for advancement and seized upon it. They accepted the invitation to “go up” to Nicene to meet with Constantine. They did not go. They stayed behind. (And they suffered for it afterwards). But it was right here that the Christian Church began to enter into power politics. Christians were all abuzz with talk of an accord with Rome. For politico-religious opportunists their hour had come. Finally, they had their chance. They packed their bags. Soon they were off to make some lucrative and power garnering deals with Rome, the worldly power of the day. This is how the Christian Church became “established”.

And what was the result of all this of this power play?  History bears witness to the tragic outcome.  Dalliance with a pagan world system led to corruption of the Church. The Christian Church fell from grace into a pit of spiritual debauchery.

The spiritual collapse of the Church led to grievous consequences. Western Civilization went down with the Church.  This first blush of Dominionism took us into the Dark Ages. And there we stayed for a thousand years.

The course of events here is not hard to follow or complicated.  Christians are called to a life of holiness before God. Our devotion is to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. Jesus said the “No man can serve two masters”. He went on to say “You cannot serve God and Mammon”.

There is an inherent corruption that comes whenever the Church, the people “called out” to be the Holy Congregation of God, forget the way of the cross. When Christians enter into a blood covenant relationship with the princes of this world it gets worse. There is Hell to pay. The Anabaptists finally realized this important truth. Whenever Christian believers embrace the power of the sword it always corrupts the Christian faith.

Dominion Theology is not Biblical. It is not a doctrinal belief that emerges from a careful study of the Holy Scriptures. Typically it emerges in the heady milieu of a wave of success in a nation’s economic, political, and military successes. Religious enterprises soon follow this. So in this sense Dominionism is really a form of religious populism.

Dominion Theology was showcased in the history of the former British Empire. It rose up in the Edwardian period during those heady early years of the 20th century. We shall be looking at the British experience with Dominion Theology further down in this article.

National pride and hubris is a great spiritual danger. The temptation is to assume power and authority over others instead of being a servant before God. This is inclined to happen when a nation comes into great blessings. The prophets of Israel warned God’s covenant people about this danger. Indeed this theme of corruption right in the midst of God’s blessings is a theme that recurs throughout the Old Testament.

King Solomon was a classic case of corruption coming in with great wealth and power. His peaceful rule took the nation of Israel to the peak of economic and national greatness. But in doing this he compromised the glory of the God of Israel. Solomon defiled Israel with the paganism of the world. He intermarried many hundreds of women of power from neighboring nations. He did this on a grand and opulent scale.

The result of Solomon’s bid for power with the world was soon plain to see. The following generation saw Israel going into steep economic decline. The once proud nation lost its glory and its power. Soon afterwards it lost the Kingdom. Israel was divided and separated into two kingdoms. The northern ten tribes went off on their own to end up in subjugation 200 years later. They were carried off captive to Assyria in 722 B.C.. Later the royal southern kingdom Judah was taken off captive in 605 and 587 B.C.. Judah went into Babylon to return 70 years later. The lost ten tribes are still lost. Or are they?

The sad reality of Dominionism is that in order to achieve power and control over other men some sort of accord or treaty must be established with the world system. Biblical Christians of the devotional evangelical variety are fully aware of this danger. They see any bid for power and authority in this world as a very dangerous move. The gathering and the “unity” that is achieved by this means is artificial, cheap, and short-lived. The reason for this is quite simple. Any bid for power is based on compromise with the spirit behind that power. Dominionism is achieved by playing games with the systems of this world. And when they use the ways of this world to establish authority the Church that becomes established finally ends up running counter to true Christianity.

History bears this out. The recurring pattern is as follows. Establishment Christians make deals with the worldly powers. Then they always end up beholden to these worldly powers. Compromised Christians then find themselves, (through fear of their worldly masters), being forced to persecute their uncompromised fellow Christians. Church history is absolutely full of strange stories based on this corruption. Sadly, it continues today.

There is a resurgence of Medieval church Politics.  The crusades were a classic case in point. Whenever we see the Church departing from the pathway of Christian grace to embrace the sword it is an ominous sign. Because at that very point the glory of God is departing. And the Presence of God, the foundation of any true national greatness, is already heading out the gate.

To see the Christian Church compromise the faith is a very sad thing to see. They do this in order to gain “pull” with the temporal political power. But Christian Dominionists will do this. They will do a lot of terrible things to fulfill their dream to dominate the world.

The cycle of events is quite common. A nation begins to realize great blessings from God. This is when dominionists arise. Call it the “deceitfulness of riches” or call it “religious jingoism” this high minded controlling spirit is suddenly front and center. Dominionists are bound and determined to make a lunge for power. This aggressive power hungry spirit is foreign to true Christianity. The Dominionist spirit and Dominion Theology does not have a foundation in the Gospel. But militant Christianity takes up the sword anyway. And why? They will say that the sword is to be used to advance the Kingdom of God.

Dominion Theology does not really belong in the church. It crosses over from national politics. Or it may come from the prosperous merchant world that burgeons up in a superpower. At that point this Dominionist dream and mindset gains entry into the church.

The spirit of Dominionism is highly intrusive. It infiltrates the Christian Church of the land. It seduces and dominates church leadership. Then it proceeds to set up shop inside the church. The Church, and all it stands for, is then “re-engineered”.

This is so sad to see. Gospel outreach and overseas missions are often neglected. The Great Commission is sidelined in favor of the new political agenda. Christian offerings, funding that should be going to missions and the Gospel outreach is used to pay politicians, fund-raisers, lobbyists, and lawyers. The church attempts to buy favor with government officials. She tries to extract promises of consideration in governmental affairs.

Dominion Theology is very persuasive and quite successful in seducing nominal Christians. Traditional evangelical endeavors are sidelined in favor of political action programs. Christians who do not embrace the evangelistic Gospel mission can be very easily drawn into these projects. Dominion Theology appeals to those who believe that the nation’s woes can be solved when “good Christian men” “rise up” and “take control.

Dominion Theology is not a child of the Bible. Nor is it spawned in the seminaries for that matter. It slips into the Church from the world. Political and economic realities are mixed in with this as well. The church is wowed with special political rallies, loud music, and a drumbeat for concerted political action. The new optimistic politico-religious mindset for world takeover is presented as the main option. It is phallic in spirit, energizing the lower carnal nature of man. Dominion Theology brings with it a new aggressiveness and pugnacity. This changes the character of the church. True worship and reverence for the Holy Scriptures takes a back seat to politics. And the Gospel, missions, and the devotion to the true Spirit of Christ suffers.

Dominion Theology can be brutish.  It always was a forceful militant sort of Christianity.  Dominionism embraces the methods of worldly power, including the use of the sword and the gun. It is not new. It is the same sort of “crusader mindset” that was seen 900 years ago. When Pope Urban preached the First Crusade the whole of Christendom began to rise up in Edomite anger.

The crusaders were, in fact, Christian dominionists. Some evangelicals would doubt that they were really ‘Christian’ at all. Most people, unfortunately, do not know the difference. After the crusades, came the Spanish Inquisition, the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France, the Pogroms of eastern Europe, and the Holocaust. Unfortunately they have left a bloody legacy. Most Jewish authorities believe to this day that all Christians are capable of bloody mayhem and anti-Semitism. This is not true of Bible believing Pilgrim Christians. But sadly, these shameful events keep recurring in Christendom, (so-called). They happen whenever economic conditions deteriorate and the superpower of the day rises up in anger.

As Dominionists the crusaders were a very diligent lot. They were fully committed to their task. After selling their lands, entrusting their funds to the international banking system of the Knights Templar, and locking up their wives in chastity belts they strapped on their sword and headed out. They began in Europe by killing “Jewish infidels” in their own home towns. Why did they start their crusade by slaughtering their Jewish neighbors?

Their thinking went along these lines. Why come back from a crusade to find that the “infidel” Jews owned the land and had taken their wives? “Good Christian men” headed off on the crusades in a high state of religious excitement . The first crusade was not a governmental thing. It was preached into existence by Pope Urban. The spirit of Dominion Theology arose from inside the Church.

This was a disaster for Christendom. The Crusades were shameful, bloody, and tragic affairs. They destroyed any hope of true Christian witness. The cross of Christ was whisked away. It was magically transformed into the Excalibur, the “sacred” sword of the crusaders.

So what was actually achieved for the cause of Christ by the crusades? . . . . . The answer is, ‘precious little’.

Source

The latter rain movement as it has come to be called actually began in 1948 from a Pentecostal Assemblies of God revival in a ministry school in Saskatchewan Canada. The terms “New Order” and “Latter Rain” were coined from this movement. One of the main tenants of this new Latter Rain theology was the belief in the restoration of the ministry of the Apostle and Prophet to the modern day church. From that time on the idea that God was restoring these offices began to be disseminated first in the mainline Pentecostal churches and then in evangelical spirit filled churches as a whole.William Branham was connected to the revival in that the men who started the revival had been ministered to and spiritually affected by Branham’s ministry. In 1948-1950 some took the title of Prophet and set out preaching, teaching and prophesying. In so doing, they spread the seeds of this movement into mainline Pentecostal churches. The following was taken from the website www.discernment.org “It is readily acknowledged by many charismatic leaders that Branham taught heresy but they still believe he was a true prophet. How can a person teach utter lies and nonsense on the one hand, yet hear so clearly and accurately from the Lord on the other? Branham was asked if the Holy Spirit did the supernatural works in his meetings. His response was, no his angel did these things! He denied the Trinity of God, believed in UFO’s, and gave out many predictive prophecies which were proved to be false. He thought he was one of the two witnesses found in the book of the Revelation. At his death many Latter Rain ministers prayed for him to be raised from the dead for days (he is still dead). Branham had literally no education at all, not past the eight grade at most.”

Might I add here that Todd Bentley who touched off the Florida outpouring (also known as the Florida Healing Revival) holds William Branham in high regard. In fact Todd Bentley claims that he now has the angel of William Branham! This must be the same angel that Branham claims did all the supernatural works in his meeting. Did you catch that?

It is not the Holy Spirit who is responsible- it is an angel!

 “Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself and worship angels. Such people enter into visions, which fill them with foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow.” — Colossians 2:18-19, NCV.

The reason Paul wrote this scripture to the Colossian church was that it was being infiltrated with Gnostic teachings. The Gnostics valued what they experienced and what they learned from ‘angels” over Holy Scripture. (Is any of this sounding familiar?) These Gnostics claimed they believed in scripture but did not depend on it as their source!

The following explanation of modern Gnostics come from “Angel Worship” taken from www.bibletools.org and sums up Gnosticism beautifully. Modern Gnostics who believe in “progressive revelation” have also succumbed to this first of Satan’s ploys. While God does reveal things to us, the critical point is that what is revealed—if it truly comes from Him—will never contradict what He has already revealed in His Word. “God is not a man that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19).

Progressive revelation advocates believe that their revelations are more authoritative than the Bible, rather than complementing and harmonizing with it, making them ripe for satanic influence under the guise of God revealing something new to them. They may sincerely believe that God speaks to them, yet they simultaneously mistrust what He has already said in inspired Scripture. They tend to shy away from Bible study, concluding that they do not need it since God speaks directly to them, and if there is anything important, God will let them know.

Now remember this tactic of sowing seeds that God is untrustworthy, and that His Word is suspect, is not new! In fact, Satan’s very first words to Eve were, “Has God indeed said. . . The following excerpt was also extracted from the website Discernment.org Paul Cain was part of the healing revival of the mid 1940’s when he was 18 years old. During that time his fellow ministers were William Branham, Jack Coe, T.L. Osborne, and A.A. Allen, etc. He saw the excesses of that movement and backed away from it until 1987 when the Kansas City Fellowship’s leaders Mike Bickle and Bob Jones felt impressed to serve Paul Cain and his ministry in any way they could. Bob Jones said “the Lord named Paul Cain’s ministry, “The terror of the Lord.” Why this name? Paul Cain is reported to be able to reveal peoples hidden sins and details of their lives supernaturally. He predicted an earthquake and it happened! Also people report surges of electrical power that blow out circuits.

The following was taken from the website www.deceptioninthechurch.com “Paul Cain cryptically has taught the Latter Rain teaching of the “Manifest Sons of God.” This teaching simply affirms that in the last days a “new breed” of believers would attain to immortality and conquer the last enemy of death. Latter-Rain prophets look forward to the appearance of an end-time glorification of a remnant church which will become perfected and thus qualify for immortality here upon the earth prior to Christ’s return. In fact, they believe, prior to the Lord’s physical return, Jesus comes again spiritually and invisibly to a corporate body of believers. God’s glory re-inhabits His temple, referring to the endtime new breed of believers. The prophetic movement teachers identify this great endtime company as the ”Man-child” of Revelation 12, which will rule and reign the nations with a rod of iron. This indestructible and immortal company becomes impregnated with the presence of the “Christ” and they will put all things under their feet.

These Manifested Sons of God, or Man-child Company then according to Cain is the really the “Man-child” of Revelation 12 which will rule the nations with a rod of iron. , they will receive divine gifts, including the ability to change their physical location, to speak in any language, and be able to perform miracles such as divine healing and the raising of the dead. According to proponents of this theology we are not to look for Jesus to come back physically but rather to come to his body corporately and invisibly through the glorification of these manifest sons of God who will be perfected here on earth.

This man-child company is also the prophetic fulfillment of the is commonly referred to as “Joel’s Army” in Joel 2 and Revelation 9. This army will put all things under its feet as it rides forth as Gods agent of judgment to rid the world of evil by overseeing drastic judgment on all who remains in the ‘old generation’. This latter rain, manifest sons of God, Man-child Company, also goes by other names, such as Dominion Theology and Kingdom Now. Latter Rain teachings include: Progressive Revelation, Revival/Harvest, Joel’s Army, Replacement Theology, Post-Millennial Eschatology, Signs and Wonders, Territorial Warfare, Ecumenism, Restoration of Apostles and Prophets, Jubilee/Feast of Tabernacles, the Post-denominational Church, and Kingdom Now/Dominion Theology.

 According to Wikipedia, Kingdom Now proponents believe that God lost control over the world to Satan when Adam and Eve sinned. Since then, the theology goes, God has been trying to reestablish control over the world by seeking a special group of believers. Through these people — known as “covenant people,” “over comers” or “Joel’s army,” depending on the source — social institutions (including governments and laws) would be brought under God’s authority. These “covenant people” or “over comers” are “little gods” — God’s “extension” in the world to regain authority from the devil. The church, under the leadership of “restored” apostles and prophets, therefore must take over the world and put down all opposition to it before Christ can return. Anyone who rebels against the church, along with other “evildoers,” must convert or be punished. This is alarming to me personally because the only one world church mentioned in the Bible is certainly NOT God’s!

Now consider the source of the aberrant theology. Branham received his knowledge from Angels not the Holy Spirit and admitted this! Cain has stated that Branham was “The greatest prophet that ever lived in any of my generations or any of the generations of revival I’ve lived through.” (Paul Cain, Selections from the Kansas City Prophets) I have always found Paul Cain’s last name to be particularly intriguing. He called this end time company that he believes will rule the nations with a rod of Iron, the “man-child company”. He believes that Christ will impregnate them and they will put all things under their feet. In scripture, when Eve conceived Cain she said I have gotten a “man-child” with the help of the Lord. These men love double meaning. I believe Paul Cain is taking the “man-child” of revelation who is clearly Jesus Christ and substituting it for the “man-child” of Genesis who is the spirit of Cain. Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a man-child with the help of the LORD.” As you will recall Cain, a farmer, commited the first murder by killing his brother Abel, a shepherd, after God rejected Cain’s sacrifice but accepted Abel’s.

I am left to wonder who this end time man-child company really is. It most certainly is not God’s army. Lucifer the “Morningstar” is still speaking the same words he spoke to Eve all those centuries ago. Ye shall not surely die- Ye shall be like God. There is nothing new under the sun and Satan never changes his tactics. Isaiah 14 vs. 12-14: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High”. 

Interesting article; it is worthing quoting, but we may not agree with everything written.

Source

Part One

I don’t recall exactly how it started or when the decisive moment was. I do not know how I got to the point of being so deeply entrenched in apostasy and deception. I can not definitively point to one moment and declare that that is when the deception began and my destructive course was charted. I simply don’t know. What I do know is that I was convinced. I was convinced of my being on the right path. I was one of God’s chosen, His elite, His enlightened ones.  “Get into the River” was our mantra and our manifesto.   In my home church they called us the River People, and I was hopelessly immersed. Those that loved me enough had tried to warn me.  However, I did not want to listen to those I perceived as being beneath me spiritually.  They simply did not understand the river’s flow, I reasoned.  No, I wanted nothing to do with their life-vests; I was happy being adrift.

In the beginning, I was deeply involved in a Large Pentecostal Church in town. I sang on the worship team and also sang for a small- start Vineyard church in the same city. There were whisperings at that time of a movement in Toronto, a “blessing” of epic proportion; or so I thought. Toronto was only a few hours drive from my city and so it began. We would pile into cars like hungry pilgrims and make the frequent trek to Toronto. In the winter we would brace against the cold in our heavy coats not complaining about the long lines and torturous waiting. There was always someone that we knew that was going. There was always someone we knew coming back.  The returning pilgrims would laugh and jerk and shout and always seemed to have plenty of “fresh fire” they were eager to share. Those that did not understand we scoffed at. They did not want the things of God as we did. We were special.

Things began to change in my church. A split began to form. They called us the “river people” we called them religious zealots who refused to let loose of the old wine skins. There were long ministry times at the altar at every service complete with violent jerking, animal sounds, shouting, laughing and vibrating. Then there those long periods of “soaking” which we fondly referred to as “carpet time.”

The “Old Wineskins “of our church did not like the constant emphasis on the supernatural. However, we felt above reproach never realizing that sliding underneath it all with stealth precision was the sin that was now running unchecked through the church. Scandal ensued and the ministry team split. It was amidst this chaotic crumbling of a once mighty church that I packed my suitcase and went to Charlotte North Carolina to spy out Morningstar. This was to begin a dizzying spiral decent into darkness and deception. Deception so sly and insidious it would take 15 long years to recover and find the truth.

I remember the first time I read anything from Rick Joyner. I was in a church pew and my pastor’s wife handed me a dog-eared photocopied chapter from Rick Joyner’s, “The Quest.”   She was enchanted by it. “It is the most wonderful, most anointed, most inspired thing you will ever read” she gushed. Far from the most anointed thing I had ever read, I regarded it as the rantings of a lunatic. However, it had soon circulated the church and had won the hearts and captured the attention of those I deeply respected. They thought this man was a true prophet.

With the church in its death throes I set off in search of God.   I wanted to be where the river was moving. I packed a small suitcase and hitched a ride with a friend who happened to be going to Charlotte. My faith was about to be sorely tested. I was a Canadian with no legal right to work in the United States. I had nowhere to live. I found out very quickly that I could not rent an apartment or get a bank account without an American job, license and social security card. The friend I was with had been born in the States. We had left Canada with nothing but our suitcases. She was able to get a job and secure an apartment.   I slept on the hardwood floor in the living room, and she on the floor in the bedroom. I had a thin sheet to cover myself with. I was frightened and worried. Even though our apartment was nice we did not realize that we were in a bad area. I heard gunshots at night and also heard the horrific screams the night my upstairs neighbor got her throat slit. It seemed so surreal – like a nightmare I could not wake up from. I did not know then, but my money supply was soon to be exhausted. I would be there 6 long months, living from a small suitcase, sleeping on the floor, before I would obtain a  U.S. work visa.

I had only been in Charlotte a short while before tracking down and attending Morningstar. I will never forget it. When I got to the entrance door I started to shake. I was trembling from head to foot and could not talk. I remember one of the greeters asking me if I was alright. I tried to talk but could not. “It’s the Glory,” one of the church members cooed, firmly pushing me through the doors. The church was in a warehouse off of Pressley Road in Charlotte. There were chairs set up and also round tables lining the walls off to the side. People milled about in the back drinking coffee and browsing the bookstore. They were mostly young people in wrinkled, unkempt clothing. It had a hippie- modern grunge feel. It was evident that many of them had not washed for the occasion, or for any occasion in a very long while. Strangely enough, it did not seem odd that there were barely-sober homeless people lolling on the floor in the back drinking coffee. They seemed to blend and homogenize themselves into the atmosphere there. It almost seemed normal, like what you would expect to see there. I was both appalled and intrigued by it all. The commotion and carnival atmosphere was like a train wreck that you could not for the life of you, pull your eyes from.    I had the feeling I had entered through the looking glass and nothing would ever be the same again.

Noise and confusion were everywhere. It was before service and the place was literally in an uproar. People rushed to and fro running and throwing things and laughing. Some sat at tables trying desperately to talk above the din while others had food spread out enjoying a meal before service. When the music started it was reminiscent of an outdoor rock concert. No one sang but the performers. Many had arms raised their hands snaking through the air like Indian belly dancers, eyes closed in complete abandoned ecstasy. I was uncomfortable.

Surely it must be me, I kept thinking. I mean after all- what makes me think that all of these people are wrong. That would make my pastor and friends and everyone I love and respect wrong too! No, that is not possible- it must be me. Sensing my inner struggle a woman beside me told me I would get used to it. “You are not used to being in this level of anointing” she yelled above the pulsating music.   I told her it felt foreign to me- wrong even- but she admonished me and told me to relax into it.   I waited for the preaching; there was none. No bible, no scripture, nothing but dreams and visions and what God was showing Rick Joyner.

When the service was over the women leaned over to me and told me to go forward to get a number for the prophetic booths. The booths were a regular part of every service and I came to depend on this. If I was struggling, needed an answer, or just needed a lift I would go into one of the booths and have the prophetic team prophesy over me. In time I would be on the prophetic team and prophesy over others in the services and conferences.  It was not long before the prophetic ministry replaced my reading of scripture and study. I did not need to read the scriptures; I was always told everything I needed to know through prophesy. No one talked about the Bible or even brought one to the service. Certainly I never saw anyone actually read or preach from one.

Well, there was once when I recall a Bible being in service. A visitor had brought it; a small framed, nicely dressed man, who looked to me to be quite innocuous. He had it open on his lap and was reading it silently.  Suddenly two of the ushers came rushing down the hall and standing one on each side, strong armed him out the door. He asked what he had done but his pleas were to no avail. It left me unsettled but I reasoned that they must have had a reason. It was curious to me though that they did not have a problem with the homeless drunks coming to drink coffee and loll on the floors, or even with the witches that seemed magnetically drawn to the services, but a man reading his Bible threatened them.

Rick Joyner seemed pleased that the witches were there and we were told to make them feel welcome. The witches need to hear about Jesus. While that was certainly true, the message of the gospel was not being preached. No true disciple of the occult would feel comfortable enough in a church where the true Gospel was being preached, to come back week after week with no conversion.

Joyner made it plain to us that he was not in the business of casting out demons. In fact in one service he told us he did not want us going to him for prayer. “It is not my job to cast out your demons” he said to an incredulous audience “In fact; I like to keep a few demons in people to keep things interesting.” Years later I asked a friend of mine who had made it out of Morningstar if he remembered Rick saying that to us. “Yes” he said, “I remember it well” he paused and thoughtfully added “What was wrong with us.”

Part Two

After my first summer at Morningstar I enrolled in their ministry school. As Joyner was quick to point out, it was not a Bible school per se. The emphasis was on prophesy, dreams, visions, and the supernatural.  We were being trained for the coming harvest and what Joyner referred to as the coming civil war in the church. He was quick to tell us that we represented the blues. Like the ocean and the sky, blue stood for revelation and expanse, spiritual enlightenment, and openness of spirit. We were special, a new breed. We were Joel’s army who would go forth victoriously to build the kingdom of heaven on earth.

The grays were spoken of with disdain and derision. Gray represented the brain and those who lived in their minds without regard to the higher life of the spirit. The grays were the legalists, the old wineskins, those seeking to trap and keep God in a box. They were painted as the staunch, stuffed and sterile church that had long since faded into antiquity and outlived their usefulness. It seems to me, looking back, that anyone that opposed Joyner and his teachings was considered a gray and not open to the “moving of the spirit.”  The grays, Joyner was quick to tell us would be overcome and destroyed in the fight for the “true” church to evolve to the next level. Of course, in his estimation, the grays would not go quietly into that good night so it might be necessary for us to assist God in finishing up the job. Let me put that in plain English. We would help God kill them. Looking back, it should have all too been clear to me but it wasn’t. 
 
The atmosphere at MorningStar was more like a crack house than a church with stupefied trance-like zombies bouncing to the pulsating music; not caring what was being fed to them. It felt good- it made us high and anesthetized us to the pain of anything unpleasant. In this world, we were special, separated, called. There was no sin discussed here, only visions of the glorious “lands” we would take for Christ.
 
The prophesies we received were always positive and we were instructed to only prophesy positive things over others. As part of the prophetic team we did not even ask if one was saved before prophesying over them. Indeed, it did not matter, for this was what came to be known as “prophetic evangelism.” We were encouraged to prophesy over strangers in the street and market-place and many did. It amounted to fortune telling and the accuracy was often chilling. Often I would shock myself as I would accurately tell things to strangers that I had no earthy way of knowing. However, even back then, there were things that bothered me about the constant emphasis on the prophetic. It started with an incident that happened while working the prophetic booth for a conference in Charlotte. A young lady came in and sat before us in the booth. There were usually three of us to a booth who would prophesy in turn. One of the three would always be a team leader. In this case my team leader was an instructor at School of Ministry. While we were prophesying over her I saw something ominous. I knew that we were to speak positive and encouraging things and I started to wrestle over what I should do. I felt responsible to warn her of what I had seen and pray with her. She left and the instructor turned to me and said, “What is it?” I told him what I had seen and he nodded his head saying, “Yes, that is correct, I saw the same thing.” I pleaded with him saying “We have to tell her and pray with her- this is not right!” He responded that we were to only to speak positive and encouraging words. I reasoned with him that it would be a positive word if we saved her from harm, but he would not be moved.  I reluctantly obeyed, but in my mind a curtain had been pulled back and I began to question. Did I have a gift? Was this gift truly from God? If this gift was from God, was this the way He wanted me to use it? What if the gift was not from God? What if I had been engaging in soul reading or fortune telling?  I believed in the gifts of the Spirit but something suddenly felt very wrong.
 
The people in the church, and the throngs of people who streamed into the conferences depended on prophesy.  They gushed and cooed over it and it was the topic of almost every conversation. If it would have been possible to stand silent in the crowd and listen, the words “Rick said” would have been sprinkled into almost every conversation. We did not read and study to show ourselves approved but depended on the extra-biblical revelations and prognostications of others we deemed as more spiritual.  The same people were in the prophetic booths week after week after week and most of their lives, including mine, were shipwrecked beyond repair. I felt like a pod; like everything of substance had been suctioned out of me and I was left a lifeless shell with hollow eyes. I could feel myself staring out from the emptiness. I needed the next fix; the next prophesy or trance producing worship session to feel something-anything. It became obscene to listen to them prophesy that I would stand before Kings and conquer nations, when my life had spiraled into such abject ruin and despair. Had I missed God? Had I done something to displease Him? Why had He forsaken me? I was not quite ready to make the connections yet between my poor spiritual health and my steady diet of false doctrine and fluff. After all, I had such an “intimate” relationship with God surely he would tell me or send someone to prophesy over me if I was on the right path. Wouldn’t He?
 
Intimacy seemed to be the buzzword at Morningstar. Holiness and standards were not preached.   We left that to the grays.  Intimacy was all we enlightened blues needed and we were encouraged to pursue it with passion.  One would hope that such an “intimate” relationship with God would tend to make us better people.  After all, hanging around with “greatness” in the natural world tends to produce greatness. We rise or fall to the level of our associations. Would we not expect to see this all the more so in the supernatural realm? If we do in fact rise or fall to the level of our associations, then what would we expect to see from those who “hang out” with God?  It is ironic that the very people who had the deepest “intimacy” with God were the ones whose lives were so out of control. They could “touch the heavens” and “bring down God” but they could not balance a check-book or keep a job.
 
Morningstar was in fact, rife with those who either would not work, or could not keep a job. Although there were exceptions, most people lived in self-induced poverty.  Many would claim that God had told them not to get a job and to live in faith. Many simply were waiting for “their ministry” to materialize. Visions of grandeur had been prophesied over them so many times that lowering themselves to packing groceries or being someone’s secretary seemed beneath them. They had bought the lie. Everyone had a shingle out so to speak, advertising their ministry for any who would listen. Some had primitive business cards, while others presented a more professional front and started websites. I ran across one of these sites recently and saw a woman I recognized offering to prophesy over people for a “donation.” It brought a rush of sadness.
 
There were a few who had arrived at MorningStar in good financial shape but it never lasted.   I watched one woman blow her savings of over a hundred thousand dollars flying from conference to conference buying books and tapes. She refused to work insisting that God had told her not to. She went through her money in short order and was left penniless. Refusing to admit her folly she slid into depression demanding to know why God had allowed this to happen to her. 
 
I knew another lady who was on the “healing” team. Her refusal to work resulted in homelessness. She slept in her car and lived off the kindness of strangers. She showered at the house of a friend of mine who eventually took her in. However, my friend was raising three children on her own and could not afford another mouth to feed. Evidently, this once homeless woman had no intention of finding work and preferred to live from the handouts of others. She insisted that she was in full time ministry and that God wanted her to live in faith. I wish I could tell you that these were isolated cases but they were not.  Unfortunately, I could write of dozens more.
 
Of course the people who worked for the ministry were barely better off than those who would not work. Joyner was proud of telling people that he did not pay his workers enough to live. Most of the workers received minimum wage. They were told they needed to suffer for the ministry, sacrifice and trust God. They exploited their workers and treated them poorly. They also exploited the students who did everything from moving them to painting their personal houses, convincing them they were ministering unto the Lord.
 
Many of the students spent a great deal of time downtown in what is now known as the NoDa Arts District in Charlotte. Although it has been cleaned up considerably and is now an expensive and trendy place to live, it was far from desirable in the late 90’s. A few alternative type galleries had store space among the old abandoned and decaying buildings, simply because rent was cheap. On Friday evenings these small galleries would hold “Art Crawls” for those brave enough to visit the area after dark. Gunshots were common. Someone had started a Coffeehouse in one of the old corner buildings and it quickly became the favored hang-out among the students and 30-something crowd from MorningStar. It was common to see the young people from the church drinking, smoking and groping one another on North Davidson Street. However, to say all behaved this way would be grossly unfair. There were some who truly loved God and wanted to please Him. They never lasted though.  MorningStar’s door seems to be a giant churning, turn-style. The broken, empty and disillusioned leaving on one side, and the bright-eyed, initiates coming in the other.
 
Interestingly enough, the wife of one of the worship leaders worked down there. She was an attractive and unique young lady, whom Rick had called out on many occasions as being a gifted prophet. It was evident that she had most certainly won the favor of the ministry. Her husband was gifted and I have always believed his music sprung from true relationship with God. When a dispute over promised music royalties ensued, and this young man’s wife took a stand, Rick publically disgraced her. He called her out publically, labeled her a witch, and forbid anyone from the ministry to fellowship with her in any fashion. This included frequenting the coffee house. Oddly enough, she was the darling of the ministry while she was compliant, and was not called a witch until after a disagreement with Rick. Exposing as witches, those who were non-compliant was not uncommon. It was usually the ones who had been praised and held up as an example before the congregation just a short while before. In my mind this made Joyner look foolish. He was the great and terrible Oz kicking at Toto so as not to reveal the man behind the curtain.   Of course once the curtain is pulled back, what do you do with the revelation? Reality is bitter, especially when one wants so desperately to believe.   Do you pretend you haven’t seen? I did.

Part III
The Moravian Falls Project:

When I arrived at MorningStar in the 90’s the fellowship was abuzz with talk of a prophetic retreat being built in the rural North Carolina Mountains. It was spoken of often by Joyner and his sentiments about the project were openly shared. It was affectionately referred to by Joyner as “The Moravian Falls Project.” He had purchased 400 acres of rural mountain property near the whistle-stop village of Moravian Falls which he claimed possessed a unique spiritual destiny. Joyner had a fascination and love for the Moravians and the area had distinct historical value. According to Joyner, the rural community of Moravian falls had been an epicenter for Moravian newspaper publishing in the area. Their local paper had reportedly been called “The Morning Star.” Naturally this was a sign from God for Rick.

Although I digress, I must assert the fact that for Joyner and his followers, everything was a sign from God. I can still vividly remember Robin McMillan, a member of the MorningStar leadership team, picking up trash from the street, on his way to a meeting. I remember sitting there incredulous as he held up each item of trash and told us its’ prophetic interpretation.

In the mind-bending environment cultivated by the experience-seeking MorningStar crowd, everything became a sign. Seeing leaves blowing in the wind might be a sign that God wanted us to turn over a new leaf. Finding a penny in the street might cause us to believe it was time for change.   We lived like this! Of course, when you are living in the Land of Oz, seeing colored horses or tiny men singing Ooompah, is not at all strange. What is common place in your environment is never viewed as peculiar. This is why women stay with their abusive husbands and why we choose to stay with abusive ministries. I was terrified that now, having discovered that the Great and terrible Oz was just an illusion, I might in time discover that God Himself was an illusion. If I left the false to find the God of the Bible, would I in turn find just another man behind another curtain? It was tyranny of the familiar. The tyranny that you “know” is always less frightening than the tyranny of the unknown.
 
 Joyner was very adamant that God had instructed him to build the Moravian Falls Project. He stated publicly on several occasions that he had been told by God to construct it out of quality material and craftsmanship because it “had to last.”   In Joyner’s mind all signs had pointed to confirmation of these instructions. One of these confirming signs was the fact that the area had been the focus of the longest running court battle in United States history. The Moravians, who had settled there, had wanted the land deeded to God. . Whether this is true or not, I do not know.   However, the fact that Joyner attached special significance to this land is unquestionable.
 
 The retreat was to be place where the misunderstood prophetic community could gather and be fed and restored. One of the aspects most often talked about was the 24 hr worship center where they planned to offer non-stop worship “before the Lord” twenty- four hours a day. There would be lots where people could live full time and also cottages where people could come for “a season” to be refreshed and restored. Rick petitioned donations from his Charlotte fellowship, from his Morningstar conference attendees, and from his international base of supporters. “I go to prepare a place for you” Rick would say, and we would smile and clap. This vision of a prophetic utopian community was certainly no secret. He talked about it frequently and openly. Many people were eager to give towards and invest in the vision for this community trusting that Joyner would do as he said.
 
Many people from MorningStar bought land for personal homes in the area while others bought land to develop and sell as lots. The land prices in this small farming community sky-rocketed. However, the locals were not happy. The land was being priced out of reach for most locals and whisperings of MorningStar’s mysticism made this highly conservative church-going community nervous. MorningStar’s later refusal to pay land taxes did nothing to help the way most locals viewed this “ministry.”
 
Male students from the ministry school were often petitioned to go and help “Build the Kingdom.” Those with carpentry or painting skills were especially “encouraged.” Pleas for hands-on help were often given to the Charlotte fellowship and there seemed to be a steady stream of people going up and coming back from the mountains to help. There was no remuneration. They were expected to serve and many starry eyed students were happy to do so, gushing over the fact that they were helping Rick. If Joyner had “need” of them they were happy to serve whatever the personal cost might be. There were murmurings and mumblings among the ranks of those returning, however, it was difficult to get anyone to speak openly about “The Project.” No one wanted speak against the Lord’s “anointed” or question Rick.   I remember once asking one of the men who had been there and he quickly changed the subject. The curiosity was too much for me – I had to know.
 
I asked several people where Moravian Falls was located and how I would get there but was always met with the same response. It was in fact very difficult to find unless you knew the area and knew exactly where to go. It was well over an hours drive and getting directions from anyone was near impossible. I soon discovered that few people in the Charlotte fellowship even knew how to get there and the amount of people who had been was in fact very small. This was curious to me considering the fact that it was being built as a public retreat and funds for the project were being raised on an ongoing basis.
 
It was almost a year later that I finally made it to the area. A sister church of the Charlotte fellowship was holding a women’s conference at Apple Lodge in Moravian Falls. I thought of it as the perfect opportunity to see this mystical land that they claimed held such infinite spiritual energy. When I saw “The Moravian Falls Project” my jaw dropped. There was nothing there.   I could not believe it I could see Rick Joyner’s home, another personal home on the property and a privately owned lodge. That was it. All the talk, all the hype, and there was nothing there. Nothing! I was unconvinced, and kept asking others where it was. Even though I was seeing it with my own eyes, I was slow to believe. I had been told it existed so many times that not even the facts could convince me it was not true.
 
Apple Lodge was always spoken about as if it was part of the “Moravian Falls Project” but in actuality it was independently owned by Harry and Louise Bizzell. They were a pleasant couple, who were well spoken and had an unusual mixture of worldly sophistication and down home Southern hospitality. Harry was a kindly man with warm eyes and voice that inspired trust. Louise was a perfect hostess whose cooking would leave you talking for days. They had built a breathlessly beautiful bed and breakfast type lodge on Apple Hill which was open to the public. Listen to Rick Joyner as he explains how both he and the Bizzells came to live in Moravian Falls.
 
“A couple of weeks after I met Bob Jones, I received a call from him. He told me that the Lord had called me to “the mountains of North Carolina” and that he had seen the place that I was to go in a dream. Having been told myself to go to the mountains of North Carolina, but seemingly not being to get past Charlotte, I was more than a little interested in this dream.
 
Bob went on to say that I was called to a place that was 100 miles from where I was (The Lamb’s Chapel) and 40 miles from the Tennessee border. To get to this land we would have to go almost due North on a major highway (which turned to be Interstate 77) and then west on another highway (which was US 421). He then described the property itself, saying there was a mountain overseeing the property that had a rock face, and there was a beacon on another mountain close by that could be seen from the property. He said that the gospel would go out to the world from that mountain. He said the land was measured from oak trees to white rocks, and there was a red roofed building in the middle. I asked Bob if the red roof could be a rusted tin roof, and he said that he thought it could be……I immediately told Harry Bizzell about the dream that Bob had. Harry was excited about this dream, but for me, not him. He and Louise were sure that their destiny was in Charlotte and that they would not leave their present location at The Lamb’s Chapel. As Harry was telling me this, I looked at the picture hanging above him, and I suddenly felt a prophetic anointing. The picture was of a chair that I recognized in the Bizzell’s back yard, but it had mountains in the background. I asked Harry who had painted the pictures. He said that his sister had painted it in their backyard and gave it to them as a gift. I then asked why she put mountains in it, and there was a heavy presence that seemed to engulf us both. I could tell Harry felt it too, but he was adamant that they were not supposed to leave Charlotte. I disagreed, but knew the Lord would have to persuade the Bizzells.
 
Soon after this the Lord spoke to me and said that Harry and Louise’s destiny in the mountains was so crucial that it actually held “life and death consequences” for their family. I felt a terrible burden from the Lord about this, but I did not feel that I could share this with the Bizzells without it really seeming manipulative. Even so, I knew I had to share it with them for their sakes. I was very clumsy when I shared this burden with them, but they took it very graciously but still remained adamant that they were called to Charlotte. I felt that I had done all that I could and would not say anything else, even though the burden did not go away…..As I mentioned, I had been compelled to share a warning with Harry and Louise Bizzells that their calling to move to Moravian Falls was so important that it held “life and death consequences for their family.” A few months later, Harry accompanied me to Kansas City where we spent some time with Bob Jones. When praying for Harry and Louise, Bob saw a death in the family coming before the Bizzells moved into their purpose. Harry and I assumed this would be his mother, who was very old and was advancing into senility. This was sadly not the case. Not long after this, Harry and Louise’s young granddaughter died in a tragic car accident.…..I was shown that Spicer had prayed and offered herself for the purposes of God, even to the taking of her life. She had done this with great sincerity, and in heaven she is a martyr who lay down her life for the purposes of the Lord. Spicer Wallace did not die in vain, and she has a great investment in her family’s destiny and in the Moravian Falls project. Soon after her death, the Bizzells, who had land in Moravian Falls, were living there preceding me by several years.
 
So, in essence, the Bizzells did not feel that they were to be involved in the “Project.” However, Rick warned them that their move to Moravian Falls was in fact the will of God and their disobedience held life or death consequences for both them and their family! When their grand-daughter subsequently dies in a car accident Rick states that God had revealed to him that Spicer had offered herself to God making her a martyr and her death an investment into the destiny of “The Project”
 
It is also interesting to note that Joyner speaks of another man in connection with the “Project” who was supposedly punished for his disobedience. This man’s name was Tom Hess who ran a ministry entitled The House of Prayer for All Nations, near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. According to Joyner, this man had been given a few tracks of US land that he had been instructed (by the donor) to use for a “prophetic” purpose. One of the tracks of land just happened to be in Moravian Falls. Hess met with his board and it was decided that they would give Joyner a 99 yr lease on the property for $1.00 a yr. However, Joyner had apparently been warned by the Lord to not accept anything with strings attached and so he declined their offer. Joyner said that donations for Hess’s ministry immediately dried up. Paul Cain, who Joyner insisted did not know anything about the situation, later prophesied to Hess that he had some land that had a prophetic destiny and that this land was being wrongly tied up. Cain relates to Hess that God showed him that he needs to give the land back to those who had given it to him in order to avoid the Lord’s judgment on his ministry. As Joyner tells it, Hess immediately started receiving donations again once he released the land.
 
It is curious to me that Paul Cain believed that God would judge this man for not giving land freely to Joyner, while he himself was actively involved in homosexual activity and an alcoholic lifestyle. In this strange world I was a part of, you can openly see what sorts of things brought the greatest punishment.
 
Louise and Harry Bizzell were never officially a part of Morningstar and yet Joyner says that they helped lay the foundation. The Bizzels had built their lodge in the middle of an apple orchard in the mountains of Moravian Falls; an orchard which, according to legend, was planted by Johnny Appleseed.  A ridge of land ran above the property owned by the Bizzells and Joyner first purchase here was this 46 acres tract as well as a small cabin below the ridge. It was in this cabin that Joyner penned his mystical New Age epic “The Final Quest.” As an interesting side note, I remember being in a service in which Joyner spoke fondly of the cabin and the spiritually active environment there. He added that he no longer let any one else use the cabin because they were polluting the atmosphere and interfering with the spiritual activity. It had struck me as such an odd thing to say.
 
After getting over the initial shock of learning that the only thing the Moravian Falls Project consisted of was Joyner’s Personal House, the Bizzells privately owned house, and their Apple Hill Lodge, I settled in for the conference. I must admit that the conference was not my motivation in going. I had started to question and research vehemently. However, I had been so steeped in the mysticism and aberrant doctrine of this movement that it was difficult to let go of the ideas and beliefs that had obtained such tenacious stronghold in my mind.    Before leaving Canada, I had gone to two colleges and had also obtained a university degree from a prestigious, world class institution.  Now, I found it hard to even think my own thoughts in a logical and coherent manner. Every thing was a sign and a symbol, even a fortune cookie could be seen as a message from God in my world. What had happened to me?    My mind had truly been made over and perverted by the garbage I was ingesting. Fortunately, my heart was not totally corrupt and there was still a small ember of desire for the true and living God. I thank God that in Isa 42:3 (KJV) He Promises that, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.”
 
 If the flame is still lit, no matter how diffused and ineffective, He will not quench it, but thoughtfully and lovingly watch over it, tend it, and protect it until the flame can once again gain burn with intensity. That is what God did for me. He protected that small smoldering ember inside me, and he tended it until I reached a time where I could receive His Truth. He was faithful to me, even when I was not faithful to Him.
 
I can not remember much about the conference at Apple Lodge but one experience is indelibly etched in my memory. It was a warm sunny day and the mountains looked intoxicatingly beautiful and inviting. A group of ladies were lying on the lawn. I can not quite recall what we were doing out there, but I do remember us holding hands and praying at one point. However, after the prayers, some of us had dropped to the grass and were just lazing around, watching the clouds and enjoying the fresh mountain air. Suddenly, I became aware of the gurgling of a mountain stream. It was unmistakable and I listened with my eyes closed, smiling, and thinking about how refreshing it sounded. I don’t remember how long I stayed like that, eyes closed, listening, but eventually I looked over at a friend and said, “Let’s find it!” She looked at me bewildered and asked me what I meant.  I told her I was referring to the brook or stream I was hearing. She shook her head and said, “There is no stream here.” I looked at her like she had just grown a third eye. There most certainly was a stream because I was listening to it. “LISTEN,” I said, raising my voice a little higher than I had anticipated. She smiled, closed her eyes again, and said nothing. Now I was angry. “I know you hear that. If you don’t want to go then I will go alone, but don’t pretend that you don’t hear it!” To my complete annoyance she said nothing, but got up and walked to another group of women. Within earshot of everyone, she said, “Tell her there is no stream here.” They laughed and nodded their heads vigorously, “nope- no stream here.” I got up, brushed the grass and leaves from my clothing, and started to walk away. “Go find the elusive stream”, they taunted, “Let us know where it is!” How dare they mock me! I stopped in the grass and listened not knowing what direction to go. “What’s wrong”, they shouted. I did not respond. I couldn’t hear it anymore and confusion was starting to envelop me. I went back to the spot where I had been laying and listened intently, but there was nothing; nothing but the sounds of birds and insects and leaves blowing in the crisp mountain breeze. I looked at the women pleadingly. Their mocking turned to understanding and they one after the other explained to me that I was having a supernatural experience. There is no stream, and they reassured me by telling me this had happened to others. Somehow it did not reassure me.  It bothered me on a very deep level. It also spoke a truth to my heart in a deeply penetrative way.
 
I had spent a great portion of my spiritual life chasing after what I had heard. In fact, it was a very common thing in the circles I moved, for people to ask me what I was hearing. They asked me the question and I in turn asked others. When we wanted direction, or confirmation, we asked those we felt were gifted prophetically “what they were hearing.” In fact, I still occasionally have people talk to me about personal things and ask me “what I am hearing.” It is as if they feel that I can hear from God for them and give them direction, or interpret their dreams. My response now to all who would ask, is to seek God on your own behalf, read His word, sit under Godly counsel, and hear God for yourself! It is not that I feel that God can not speak through me, or through anyone in fact, that has submitted their life to Him and is saturated in His Word. However, I refuse to be a fortune- teller or someone else’s connection to a God they are not willing to seek and truly know for themselves.
 
The experience with the water showed me that I could not trust what I was hearing. It may have sounded good, it may have sounded appealing, it may have sounded right, and it most certainly had sounded real, but it was an illusion. Just as the vivid dreams that populate our sleep in the night’s long hours, dissipate with the morning light, it too dissipated with the dawn of reasoning. Light does that.
 
Although this was my first experience with hearing things that did not exist in the natural, it would not be my last. It was only a few months later that I was in a prayer meeting at an associated church in Pineville, North Carolina, and again heard the gurgling of water. It was an infinitesimal church and on this occasion there were only four or five of us present. I got up, mentioning to them that I was going to check the bathrooms. It sounded as if someone had left a tap on. The few who were there remarked that they had not heard anything, but I was undeterred. Like the earlier experience in the mountains, the sound stopped when I tried to find the source.
 
In another experience around this same time, I heard a bell ringing. Lest you think that perhaps I was simply having auditory hallucinations, let me assure you that the bell ringing incident was heard by at least two other people.
 
However, the strangest incident by far, happened in my home. It occurred in my first year at MorningStar and left me very shaken. I had moved to a nice house near Fort-Mill South Carolina, near the old Heritage USA site. I had a house-mate that had left to go to Florida for a few days. She had a regular routine when she came in and it seldom, if ever, varied. I would hear her car crunching up the gravel driveway; footsteps on the porch, her keys jingle in the lock, and hear her call for her dog’s name in a sing-song voice.   She did this every evening. On this particular evening, I had a friend over and we were chatting in the other end of the house. We heard my house-mate’s car on the gravel drive, heard her foot-steps on the porch, the jingle of her keys in the lock, and her familiar sing- song voice calling for her dog. Her dog tore across the house barking wildly, and my friend and I jumped up and scurried through the kitchen to welcome her home. There was no one there.
 
The dog was upset now and barking incessantly. I reached for the door, thinking she had gone out to get her suitcase from the car, but the door was still locked. I flipped the latch, opened the door, and looked out in the driveway, but neither my house-mate, nor her car, were anywhere to be seen. I turned to my visiting friend who by this time had a confused and almost frightened look on his face. He walked outside, looked around the house then stood on the porch starring blankly into the darkness.
 
 “Where could she have gone that fast” I finally stammered. He turned to me with the oddest look on his face and said, “I don’t think she was ever here.” I laughed at him not even willing to entertain the idea. Even the dog was still looking for her, and her voice had been so unmistakably clear! Fear, confusion, and a sense of defilement washed over me. I turned to my friend and asked him if I was crazy. I could feel the prick of tears as I started reaching frantically in my mind for an explanation; any explanation!  I had heard the car and I had heard the keys, I had heard the door open, and I had heard her call  for her dog.   My friend, looking downward, eyes to the floor, whispered haltingly, “I heard it, you heard it, the dog heard it, something or someone was here.”
 
My house-mate called several hours later. I asked her where she was and if she had been home earlier that evening. She said no, that she was still in Florida and would not be home for another day or so. She asked me why I would ask such a thing. I did not want to upset her, so I said that there was no reason, and told her to have a safe trip back.
 
I can not explain why I had these strange experiences or why I had any of the other unexplainable phenomena that seemed to happen so frequently in this river I was now submerged in. Unfortunately,  these auditory experiences were far less troubling then the ones I was soon to have.  However, they did start to open my eyes to the fact that simply believing something to be true did not make it so. Deception of this level was possible, even for someone who loved the Lord and considered herself sincere.   I may have been sincere, but unfortunately I was sincerely wrong. This “River” I had so enthusiastically waded into years earlier, had deceived me. It was now more like a stagnant pond, bubbling in its own putrid filth. I wanted out.

Article By Mishel from here  

“Have you noticed lately that most of the big names in the Prophetic and Apostolic Movement are increasingly sprinkling the term DNA into their vocabulary? No longer content to hide their damnable heresies, they are brazenly flaunting their apostasy to the unsuspecting church through their use of double speak. It is a known fact that nothing is harder to find than something hidden in plain sight.

To understand the seriousness implications of their use of the term DNA, it is important to understand that the Dominionist doctrine embraced by an increasing number of apostate ministries is straight from the occult. From the very seeds of civilization, Gnostic sects and keepers of the Gnostic Kabalistic dogma have spoken of humankind evolving into a God-like being. The Kabbala calls this being the Adam Kadmon, or “God Man.” The name “Adam” refers to the entire human race and the term “Kadmon” refers to completion. Thus, Adam Kadmon speaks of a return to our beginning, with all the knowledge, wisdom, and enlightenment of the first “Adam.” Those who embrace this doctrine firmly believe we can return to the Garden of Eden by becoming the Adam Kadmon and creating Heaven on Earth.

One becomes Adam Kadmon through activation of the divine nature. When enough of man kind has activated their divine nature we will evolve and become the “Corporate Christ.” DNA stands for Divine Nature Activation and it is being tossed around in the Christian community like rice at a wedding. Doing a quick online search using the term DNA activation will return a myriad of occult websites for your perusal.

Adherents of these occultic beliefs claim that the inactivated part of our DNA is preventing us from becoming God. They claim we have the divinity and enlightenment of the Adam Kadmon encoded into our DNA. As more and more of us activate this Divine Nature we will corporately become the Adam Kadmon, return to the Garden, and usher in heaven on earth. Is this starting to sound familiar? It should. It is exactly what the false apostles of the prophets of the New Apostolic Reformation teach. It is also what the New Age teaches. The Dominionists cloak their beliefs and their Luciferian agenda in more palatable terms to appeal to the undiscerning. However, it makes no matter what you wrap cyanide in to make it easier to swallow; it is still going to kill you.

Below is a quote from John Lewis from Age to Age Ministries in which explains the use of this term DNA. Interestingly enough, Age to Age ministries, which I had never heard of prior to my research, claims to be a Christian ministry.

“The 97% of your DNA that’s not activated is GOD waiting to be activated in man. You have the information and intelligence of Adam the son of God encoded in your DNA. Access and activation to this information will cause you to live as Adam the God-man in the Garden of your Be-in.

When Divine Nature is completely activated within man, he will be able to naturally transport himself from place to place without the aid of modern transportation. Elijah and Philip in the Bible were only examples of what will become the norm. Jesus said,

As the 97% of unused DNA is activated the 2-Strand double helix becomes a 12 –Strand DNA. Since science doesn’t understand the 97%, they don’t understand the purpose for the 5 extra pairs of DNA strands (shadow strands).

The 12-Strand DNA represents man coming into his Divineness. Mankind created in the image and likeness of God can be nothing less that God. Every seed must bring forth after its kind. Man is the visible expression of the invisible God. This has been the Creators plan from the beginning to multiply Himself to the point of filling All things.

Organized religion spends time shouting and screaming at their followers convincing them that they are not Gods. It seems to be their mission to deceive their followers into believing they are only human that can not think for themselves. The powers that be realize that if their followers would begin to activate the Divine Nature that would be the end of Organized Religion as we see it today.” www.atam.org/DNA.html  

Now let’s look at some quotes from various leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation.

“We participated in a leadership meeting on Monday prior to the conference where Dutch released the vision of the Apostolic Alliance. It was a powerful three days of God imparting His DNA into this apostolic movement for national transformation.” April 2008 e-newsletter by Prayer Focus Ministries describing the Apostolic Alliance gathering in Colorado Springs, Colorado

In an apostolic network the person in charge of maintaining the DNA of the network is the lead apostle, who consults with those he or she chooses, and no one else.” ["Goodbye, Theologians," C. Peter Wagner, September 06, 2006, "Guest Commentary," Ministry Today]

God is trying to get us to a place of really understanding who we are. The church is having an identity crisis. When the people of God begin to realize that the purpose of Jesus on the earth was to birth a new breed of people who would carry the DNA of God within them and bring heaven to earth daily, we will begin to live with purpose. When the people of God begin to realize their identity as the very offspring of God and that as He is right now, so are we in this world, the church will begin to shake the nations with the power of God.” ["The New Breed - Part 2," Ryan Wyatt, Abiding Glory Ministries, Open Heaven]

Insight is the God given ability for you to know your Identity, your Kingdom ID; your spiritual DNA; your uniqueness in the earth and in the Body of Christ. There is no one like you. You are predestined for Greatness. [Chuck Pierce School of the Spirit, Faith Summit Church, Monday, March 24, 2008]

The Living Word or Bread of life once again desires to be made flesh through a body of people joined with Him in a holy consummation. As we live not by natural bread alone, but by the living Word proceeding from the mouth of God, the bread of abundant life, even so the hidden truth of godliness will become part of our spiritual DNA.”
["Shepherd's Rod, Part 1: Blood and Fire," Paul Keith Davis and Bob Jones: Oct 11, 2004]

I have called the best of every blood line in earth unto this generation…I have elected to bring them forth in this generation… the Elect Generation… even the bloodline of Paul… of David… of Peter, James and John… They will even be superior to them in heart, stature and love for me’…Your children will possess the spirit without measure…They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before… coming into the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ… a Church that has reached the full maturity of the God-Man! This generation…is going to see the beginning of this World-wide New Order.” [Vineyard Prophecy Conference, 1989]

These Gnostic Kabalistic doctrines are not the new revelations that today’s modern false Apostles and Prophets would have you believe. We are not Gods, nor will we ever become Gods through partaking of Lucifer’s secret doctrines and Gnostic illumination. It was this same exact lie whispered by the serpent in the Garden long ago which led to the downfall of man and our need for redemption through Jesus Christ in the first place! Is it not fitting that this lie is now the central theme of the last day’s apostate church?

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (this was in direct opposition of what God said): For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, (the serpent promises higher gnosis or wisdom) and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 4-5

Peter warned Christians of destructive and heretical doctrines being brought into the church in II Peter 2:1-3.

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

In the Greek, the word “Privily” means to bring in alongside. Peter is warning the church that these false teachers will bring in false doctrine into alongside the true doctrine and by so doing will bring the Truth into disrepute! The Truth to them will act as bait by which ensnare the undiscerning. Interestingly enough, the words “make merchandise of you” mean to “traffic” or “trade.” Peter is literally warning the church that these false prophets will use people for money. The word “feigned” in the Greek means to be molded like clay. Their “feigned words” will be molded in such a way as to elicit the greatest response from their audience and manipulate them for their gain.

We are living in a day when a large portion of the church has spiraled into apostasy. In order to avoid deception, we must love and cling to the Truth so passionately that it motivates us to pursue it all costs. We must diligently and prayerfully make studying scripture a priority. We must be concerned enough about what we ingest spiritually to verify it all against His Word. It does not matter who the teaching comes from, or how “right” it might sound, it must be examined in the light of scripture. Dictatorship and tyranny in a natural realm is always been preceded by disarming the people. So it is with the Spiritual. As Christians, our weapon is the Word of God. For many years Satan has been disarming us by slowly removing the Word of God from our every-day lives. Where he has been unsuccessful in complete removal, he has misquoted, twisted and perverted the Word. By so doing, he has brought the Truth into disrepute. Without the Bible we are defenseless against the wiles of the enemy and can easily turn aside to the fables being peddled as truth by the false Apostles and Prophets of today’s apostate church.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. II Timothy 4:3-4?

From a John Crowder emailing, dated January 20, 2009 -

“Dowie’s Bones – The Jesus Trip

Video Impartation from the grave of forerunner John Alexander Dowie!

In this week’s episode of The Jesus Trip, John Crowder releases an impartation of healing revival and apostolic Glory from the gravesite of John Alexander Dowie, founder of Zion, Illinois. Dowie is sometimes remembered as a forerunner who did not finish a strong race, however, during his lifetime he pioneered a powerful move of God. He’s known as the father of modern day healing revivalism. John also writes significantly on the topic of Dowie’s success and error in his book, The New Mystics.”  [end John Crowder advert on email]

Please pray for protection if you decide to watch the video of his graveside ritual here. To follow is a brief transcript so you do not have to endure watching it -

John Crowder:

“We’ve just come to the grave today to release to you an impartation of healing revival, of city building restoration, city taking anointing, master building apostolic anointing and so we just rip it right out of the ground, we just suck it right off his dead bones in Jesus’ name and loose it to you, healing revival glory…

Just as Elisha’s dead bones still had the glory of God resting on them that when they threw another dead body into Elisha’s grave, the other dead dude jumped right back up again as the glory was still resident in him there – do you know the glory of God does not fade away, does not rot, does not rust, is not eaten away by moth? Listen, our treasures are in heaven, and our heavenly treasure is glory, our heavenly treasure  is the presense of God and we honor the presense of God that was on John Alexander Dowie’s life – and right now, father, we just release it, we just pull on it, that glory that rests on that pioneering generation….

I just encourage you now to take a hit of of a controversial glory, take a hit of pioneering forerunning glory… we honor our fathers in the faith, those who have gone before us, pull on that same glory – and I thank you Lord that you are releasing the former rains and the Latter rains on one generation. We’re going to tap into the former glory but also the future glory.”

“Dear Friends of Global Harvest Ministries:

At this Thanksgiving time of the year, it is common to pause and reflect over the past year. It is a time to count blessings and thank God for them and all He has brought us through. We at GHM are especially thankful for each of you. May God bless you, each and every one!

We know that for many of you this has been a year of transition and difficulty. For others it has brought uncertainty. Some have had breakthrough and great blessing, but those that have come to our attention have been few. Many have struggled with serious health issues, including Peter, Chuck and myself.

At this writing we are all better, but Chuck and I still have a few issues with digestion and joint problems.

However, we have been able to carry on in ministry for which we are extremely grateful. Some of you have lost employment and assets, even homes, while others (like us!) have seen retirement funds shrink.”

Article from here 

The following ideas and beliefs are characteristic of the Latter Rain movement also known as Manifest Sons of God, The Melchizedek Order, New Apostles, The Third Wave, Manchild Company, and other names. These ideas and beliefs are steeped in new age philosophies, mysticism, gnosticism, and outright occultism and are being propagated in the church as a whole. 

The following was taken from the Book Strange Fire, The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church written by Travers and Jewel van der Merwe. See whether you can identify any of the following heresies:

1. Have an “elitist mentality”.

2. Consider themselves essentially Divine, equal to Christ.

3. Believe they are the Manifest Sons of God.

4. Believe their Divinity comes from within themselves.

5. Reject the literal Biblical view of the resurrection and the “rapture” of the church.

6. Are Overcomers and Conquerors of evil and the world.

7. Are in the process of becoming perfect and immortal in this age.

8. Claim to be members of the Melchizedek Order – High Priests with Christ.

9. Will purge the world of undesirables.

10. Will reign on the earth as gods.

11. Attribute their revelations to the Divine Gnosis (knowledge) located in them.

12. Share the same political ambition to establish the government of the “Sons of God” to the exclusion of the personal presence of Jesus Christ.

13. Insist the Bible should be interpreted allegorically, symbolically and spiritually.

14. Believe it is wrong to interpret the Bible literally.

15. Reject Israel as a chosen nation of God. 

16. Are anti-Semitic.

17. Reject the written Holy Scriptures as the final, inerrant and infallible Voice of God above all other voices or experiences.

18. Stress love and unity with little or no regard for sound doctrine or a sound mind.

19. Reject the resurrection and redemption of the body.

20. Spiritualize Spiritualise the resurrection and redemption of the body.

21. Reject the personal coming of the anti-christ.

22. Look forward to the dawning of the New Age on earth, ushered in by a select group of Overcomers, the Sons of God.

23. Reject Orthodox Christianity.

24. Are always receiving “new deep truth” apart from Scripture.

25. Are essentially into “mysticism”. 

26. Believe in the attainment of perfection and immortality here on earth without a literal resurrection and Rapture.

27. Rejects redemption by the blood of Christ.

The spirit of man is the god-man.  These heresies project the following picture: The New Wave “Mystery Babylon” (New Age Religion) riding on the back of orthodox Christianity fulfilling the age long dream of the “Church of Illumination” (Rosicrucian/Gnostic church) i.e., the uniting of the Church founded on “love” and “godhood” – Satan’s fruit. THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION has been steadily at work with the idea that ultimately the various churches would merge for the benefit of all religions as well as of all mankind. THE CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION looks forward with confidence to a constantly increasing feeling of good will and religious tolerance among the various creeds, so that some day in the not too distant future the dream of unification can be realized and one all-embracing religion taught to all the peoples of all the earth. [The Church of Illumination by Rev. R. Swinburne Clymer, M.D., Quakertown, PA, USA.] This is the vision the Church, for the most part, is accepting and upholding, above the Scriptures. This is the “elitism” that fundamentalists, charismatics, pentecostals and evangelicals are now pending to. This is the mysticism that enshrines the new age form of “elitism” in the Church.

An article from Herescope.

The next-stage heresy is that the Church can attain immortality, perfection and godhood by taking dominion of the Earth. Its leaders speak of birthing a “Man-Child,” a perfect “seed,” a “New Breed.” There is a “prophesied” end-time Feast of Tabernacles that is yet to be fulfilled, when there will be a perfection of the saints as they take dominion of the earth. And there is a teaching that “Christ and the Church are becoming one in nature and essence, and that the Church, as the ‘on-going incarnation of God,’ is Christ on earth.”  Al Dager, in his book Vengeance Is Ours: The Church in Dominion  (Sword, 1990) explains this disturbing history as “various movements which basically comprise a networking system of individuals and groups” that teach that “man need not die; by taking hold of secret knowledge he can become like God” (pp. 66, 70-71). Dager elaborates:

“A sure sign of religious authoritarianism is a zealousness to rid the world of opposition to one’s peculiar tenets. In the minds of many dominionists the authority of the apostles and prophets must not be questioned. Their rulership in the Kingdom of God (as they understand it) must be free from dissent. Therefore it will be necessary that those who challenge their teachings and their authority be removed.”

“There are differences of opinion among dominionists as to how dissenters will be removed, but there are essentially five ways in which that may occur: 1) God will supernaturally strike dead those who oppose His apostles and prophets; 2) God will send, or allow satanic forces to send, plagues upon dissenters; 3) the Church (or certain ‘overcomers‘) will pronounce God’s judgments upon dissenters, thus moving God to destroy them; 4) the Church will, out of ‘necessity,’ use physical force by which it will judge, sentence, and execute judgment (including death) upon dissenters; 5) all or any combination of the above may take place.“

According to some dominionists, in order to effect this purging of the earth the overcomers must attain immortalization, thus becoming immune to any physical resistance o their program. Becoming immortal, and thus impervious to injury or death, will be the result of having attained spiritual perfection through obedience to the apostles and prophets.” (pp. 96-97)

These heresies are described in the archived newsletters of Discernment Ministries, as it chronicled the rise of these heresies since the 1980s. One can also read about this teaching in the book Strange Fire: The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church,  written by Travers van der Merwe, founder of Discernment Ministries, before he passed away in 1995. This entire book is posted on-line and is a must-read for those who seek to understand the Gnostic doctrinal roots of the New Apostolic Reformation. (This book also explains Gnosticism in an easy-to-understand manner.)

We excerpt “Chapter 5: The ‘Elite’ Concept:”

There are certain groups of Christians that fall into the category of “elitism” notwithstanding their affiliations. They use the same catch phrases: “Come out of your man-made systems”, “Denominational walls are breaking down”, and “Christians need to be ‘delivered’ from ‘Spirits of Religion’ and sound doctrine”. The guilty groups are primarily among the Charismatics. They go by many names and sometimes no name at all. We spot them by the teachers that are involved and by similarities in their teachings. There may be some variations among the different groups; however the common denominator that ties them together is the “elitism” concept.

This is set out as follows:  God is forming an overcoming company within the body of Christ called, among other names, “The Manchild Company”, etc. (Revelation 12:5). The Manchild is the true church. Those that are the real Christians are the Overcomers (Revelation 2 & 3) and are becoming more and more perfected so that they will be able to drive Satan from the world. This must be done before Jesus can return. They believe that the church is not ready for the coming of the Lord. They are not looking for His imminent coming. They believe that Christ must come TO His Church before He comes FOR His Church.

All do not necessarily use this terminology, but the premises are the same. The language is becoming increasingly militant as the “Army of God”, “Gideon’s Army”, or “Joel’s Army” take shape. A common thread is that they are expecting a “New Order”: “In all revolutions there are noisy and dangerous times as the OLD ORDER is replaced by the new . . . after the dust settles, we can proceed to build the beautiful kingdom that the Lord has purposed from the foundations of the world”, says Vinson Synan, one of the leaders of A.D.2000. [Fulness, Jan-Feb 1990, Vinson Synan, p. 24]

Gary North, a leader of the Reconstructionists, proclaims:“We are now witnessing the beginning of a true paradigm shift . . . the Christian community in the United States has at last begun to adopt the intellectual foundations of a new world view, and this is always the first step in the replacement of a dying civilization which is based on a dying world view . . . the rotten wood is ready for burning, and a new civilization is being prepared to replace it.” [Dominion and Common Grace, The Biblical Basis of Progress, Gary North.]

It all has such a spiritual sounding ring. One of the modern day prophets, Paul Cain, calls this elitism the “inner court experience”. He announces joyfully that there is an empty place on Jesus’ bosom for those who can “enter in”. The problem with this “elitism” theory is that Christians are to enter into the “inner court” of God, not by the way of the Cross, through faith, but through a subjective experience of a “nirvana” experience.A Manifest Son adherent says:“But the purpose of God reaches from before the foundation of the world. It plans the transplanting of his sons and his daughters. It plans the creation of a NEW ORDER (the elite) on the earth and thus it transplanted celestial children to a physical world. It brought them forth into being in the bodies of the Adamic race.” [Tape recording by William Swift]

A “prophet” from the Kansas City Fellowship in an interview session in 1988 proclaims that the Lord looked at him and said, “I have called the best of every blood line in earth unto this generation . . . I have elected to bring them forth in this generation . . . the ELECT GENERATION.”

This “New Breed” does not believe in the Rapture eschatology. According to Rick Joyner, one of the “Prophets”:“.. .the doctrine of the Rapture was a great and effective ruse of the enemy to implant in the Church a retreat mentality . . . already this yoke has been cast off by the majority in the advancing church, and it will soon be cast off by all.” [The Harvest, Rick Joyner]

The Scripture, Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left . (Luke 17:34-36) is being construed to mean that the imperfect one shall be taken (removed from the earth) and the perfect one left. Since the Elite (The Manifest Sons) are being perfected on earth, the true Church is to become The Christ – the ongoing Incarnation of Christ. Therefore, the Church as “The Christ” is empowered to drive all demons from the earth, perfect the Church and establish the Elect’s reign. The emphasis is always on the super spiritual race rather than on the person, Jesus Christ. One well known teacher summed it up as follows: “It is time to take him (Jesus) off and move up into the place God has ordained for us.”This is heresy in its diabolic essence . . . .. . . .

Those who are overcomers believe they will never be sick or die and they will be here when Christ returns. They believe they are now living in the prophetic time when the Church is being restored and perfected by the five-fold ministries (apostles, prophets, etc.). The Elite (Overcomers) are now in the process of putting on immortality, perfection and godhood and taking dominion of the earth. The Church is about to birth the Man-child – the Sons of God, the incarnation of Christ and brotherhood of Christ.

The essence of this concept is pure Gnosticism and actually accords with the following New Age thought (Gnosticism):

“The real object of man’s life on earth is primarily his self-improvement and his own ultimate perfection. This perfecting process depends upon the attainment of unity within himself, a harmonising between his physical and spiritual forces; the unity of human with the Divine nature, which is the essence and, in a spiritual sense, the NEW BIRTH. This perfection, or unity, becomes a STATE of the Soul, a degree of being, a SENSING and FEELING rather than a mere belief. This condition or state of being is possible only through the development of the divine nature of man from WITHIN himself and is the result of a process by which whatever is evil and unworthy is transmuted, i.e. changed or SUBLIMATED into the higher or spiritual entity – IT IS A BECOMING; the change from the purely animal-human to the human-Divine.“The second object of man’s life on earth is to lead other men VIA the same path so that ultimately all men shall have developed and brought into manifestation and activity this same nature and thus will God’s church or universal Brotherhood become an established fact.” [The Sons of God  by R. Swinburnbe Clymer, Published by The Philosophical Publishing Company (emphasis theirs)]

Secret Coming for the Elite The neo-Gnostic believes the manifestation of the Sons of God comes about in a secret inner coming of Christ TO some Christians which would transform them into “Overcomers”. “Christ should visit the saints . . . and minister His life ‘in secret’ before He is openly manifest.” [The Feast of Tabernacles, George Warnock, Springfield, MO - Bill Britton, 1951, pp 108]. In doing this they reject the literal resurrection and Rapture (the personal coming of Jesus Christ FOR His Church). It is interesting to note they will acknowledge Christ is coming, but His coming is off in the future. The emphasis is not on Christ’s soon appearance but on the great “power” or “new anointing” that is to be manifest in the Church. Again, a subtle change of emphasis. It is comforting for the humble believer to be reminded of this Scripture:

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”  (Nahum 1:7)

After the Latter Rain became somewhat of a scandal within Pentecostal churches in the 40’s and 50’s, ministers were wary of admitting to their beliefs. They hunkered down and got on with their lives, while secretly holding to the new revelations and passing them on to others.   Thus the teachings survived – and now have re-emerged with fresh vigour.

This is the summery of this teaching.  Those who support such beliefs as these follow in many respects orthodox beliefs in other areas.  We can sum up the Latter Rain, the Manifested Sons of God, or Dominion teaching this way:

• The Church must be restored and equipped to rule by the five-fold ministries.
• It must come to perfection and complete visible UNITY.
• Out of the purified church will come a spiritual elite corps, a Corporate Christ who possess the Spirit without measure.
• They will purge the earth of all wickedness and rebellion.
• They will judge the apostate Church.
• They will redeem all creation, and restore the earth.
• They will eventually overcome death itself in a counterfeit of the Rapture.
• The Church will thus inherit the earth, and rule over it from the Throne of Christ.
• Using the laying on of Hands in ways or manners that are not acceptable by the Word of God.
• Exaltation of experiences over the Word of God.
• Placing Apostles and Prophets above the Word of God.
• Accepting the restoration of Apostles and Prophets when throughout history genuine Apostles and Prophets have again and again appeared.
• Accepting Revelations and hidden knowledge above the Word of God.
• The belief in the corporate Manchild.
• The church is only restored by present day Apostles and Prophets.
• New Order teaching about claiming to have powers and rights that belong only to Christ.
• The teaching of the Feast of Tabernacles as describing or showing that God will indwell His people spiritually and cause them to rule before the coming of Jesus Christ.
• A denial of the bodily and personal coming of Jesus Christ except they are able to rule first.
• A Denial of the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine of Imminence.
• The event known as the Rapture is for the Wicked.
• Church is Israel.
• The New Order of the Latter Rain must overtake the Old Order Saints.
• Jesus was the Pattern Son, not Deity, but a man with an anointing.
• Spiritual Warfare focused wrongly as a means of replacing heavenly powers with church rulers.
• Death will be destroyed for those who follow this teaching.
• The House of God in John 14:2 is the church rather than New Jerusalem.

Latter Rain doctrine is a modern version of the classic heresy of  Gnosticism, which taught that a spiritual elite possessed “hidden knowledge” of the divine realm which placed their personal revelations, spiritual experiences, and private interpretation of Scripture above the ordinary revelation of God’s Word. In Latter Rain doctrine, Pentecost was the “former rain” or outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Church must yet receive a second Holy Spirit visitation. At this time, the Sons of God will be glorified and manifested to all as they establish the Kingdom on earth before Jesus Christ returns. Latter Rain prophets are now preparing multitudes for this transformation.

NEW AGE PARALLELS

Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God eschatology agrees on every point with the New Age Movement’s anticipation of the exaltation of mankind to godhood and the establishment of a New World Order. The following appraisal of Latter Rain theology by New Age Unity pastor, Rev. Earnest Ramsey was cited in Constance Cumbey’s book, A Planned Deception, The Staging of a New Age Messiah,

 ”Rev. Ernest Ramsey, an associate pastor at Unity’s Kansas City’s Founder’s Church, Unity on the Plaza, is an enthusiastic follower of the Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme teachings. In his Research Report #2, he tells of something he was led to by a spirit guide – what he terms ‘Neo-Pentecostalism.’ An aberrant branch of Pentecostalism, this is more commonly known as the ‘Manifest Sons of God.’ That movement is also referred to as ‘Sonship’ or ‘Overcomers.’ Ramsey concludes based on even less evidence than I have personally collected that this is part of the New Age Movement.“Ramsey’s work for his organization, ‘Synthesis Fellowship,’ first came to my attention in early 1983. His major report, entitled “An Evolutionary Basis For The Reappearance of the Christ and his Executives, the Masters of Wisdom” was inspired by Benjamin Creme’s appearance and speech at Unity on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. . . The most interesting section of Ramsey’s report dealt with ‘Neo-Pentecostalism.’ Ramsey spent a semester at one of the Neo-Pentecostal or Manifest Sons of God seminaries (in upstate New York). . . Already familiar with the Alice Bailey writings, he was amazed to see that there was a branch of Pentecostalism that embraced the same teachings — albeit using sometimes different terminology.

“Like those seeking the ‘Age of Aquarius’ these people too were seeking a ‘New Age.’ Like the other New Agers, these people taught that ‘The Christ’ was an anointing – not necessarily one man. They taught that Jesus was a pattern son who was to be a sign of something even greater to come – the ‘Manifestation of the Sons of God.’ They too believed the earth was to be cleansed of evil. And chillingly like the other New Agers, they believed they were to be ‘God’s’ instruments to do such cleansing. The New Agers believed they were gods. The Manifest Sons of God likewise taught that if one accepted their ‘new revelation’ that they themselves would actually become Christ at the time of the unveiling or manifestation of the Sons of God.”

At the General Council meeting in Seattle, Washington, in 1949, the Assemblies of God passed a resolution officially disapproving of the practices of The New Order of the Latter Rain, resolution #7, which read:

RESOLVED, that we disapprove of those extreme teachings and practices, which, being unfounded scripturally, serve only to break fellowship of like precious faith and tend toconfusion and division among the members of the body of Christ, and be it hereby known that this 23rd General Council disapproves of the so-called “New Order of the Latter Rain”, to wit:

After a major scandal and dwindling crowds, the Lakeland Outpouring concluded Sunday.

[10.13.08]The Lakeland Outpouring’s final meeting was held at Ignited Church on Sunday—six months after Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley launched daily meetings in the small Lakeland, Fla., community and left without warning Aug. 11 in a cloud of scandal.“None of us knew how long this would last,” said Ignited Church senior pastor Stephen Strader, who announced on a blog Oct. 2 that, with the outpouring ending, he intends to set up a global apostolic base in Lakeland. “Ignited Church has had a vision [for] an International Apostolic Center. The Lakeland Outpouring has catapulted our vision forward.”

Strader said with the support of “dozens of major leaders” for his apostolic center, he envisions a place for hosting conferences, special events and training workshops. He also announced the creation of Ignited Network of Ministries (INM), an initiative to connect Ignited Church with Lakeland-spawned revivals worldwide.

Days after Bentley told his Fresh Fire Ministries (FFM) staff in August that he and his wife were separating, the 10,000-seat air dome used for the revival meetings was taken down. Bentley resigned his position at Fresh Fire, stepped down from public ministry and faded from the public eye.

It was his FFM board in Abbotsford, British Columbia, that later announced that Bentley had confessed to an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member. At the time, a senior board member told Charisma that Bentley’s alcohol consumption also had “crossed the line.”

Rick Joyner, founder of MorningStar Ministries in Fort Mill, S.C., has since taken the lead in helping Bentley find healing and restoration. Joyner appeared on the platform in Lakeland in June when Bentley publicly submitted himself to the oversight of apostolic leaders Bill Johnson, John Arnott and Ché Ahn.

Joyner told Charisma that Johnson and Texas pastor Jack Deere would assist him in Bentley’s restoration. He admitted that the process would not be easy. “Todd does have some serious issues he must deal with, and he knows it more than anyone,” Joyner said.

Observers say that worldwide, via GOD TV and the Internet, Bentley’s involvement in the Lakeland Outpouring sparked genuine renewal among Christians despite criticism of his theology and character stirring among some charismatic leaders.

Bentley’s faith and exuberance impressed seasoned, prominent revivalists while his wild tactics often tempered the enthusiasm of other leaders. When praying for healing, the tattooed evangelist was known to hit the sick in the stomach with his knee in a move more common among wrestlers than preachers. Bentley even recounted kicking a woman in the face in an act of “obedience to the Lord.”

Yet, with the exception of a few ministers, many charismatic leaders chose to overlook Bentley’s peculiar methods for the sake of what they saw as “fruit.” They claimed the revival stirred many Christians worldwide to pursue God with a renewed hunger.

“Personally, I believe that the Lakeland Outpouring was another wave of revival like Toronto and Brownsville,” said Los Angeles-area pastor Ahn, referring to the Toronto Blessing and the Pensacola Revival, both of which occurred during the 1990s. “Each wave has its own life span.”

Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif., told Charisma that many people were deeply saddened over the revelations of Bentley’s moral failings, “but people have also come to grips with the fact that it was never about Todd, it is really about God.”

“The impact of the Lakeland Outpouring is quite significant on a global level,” Johnson said. “There are fires of revival all over Europe that are the direct result of what God was doing in Lakeland.”

The reason so much of Europe was impacted by what occurred in Lakeland was largely because daily meetings were broadcast on GOD TV, a satellite-based TV network with millions of viewers in 200 nations.

More than a month after Bentley’s problems became public, GOD TV co-founders Rory and Wendy Alec issued a statement defending the outpouring and Bentley’s work in Lakeland. “[Todd] was consistently and unrelentingly criticized, maligned [and] persecuted,” they stated. “The attacks grew increasingly violent, and the heartbreaking thing was that so much of it came from the church.”
The couple said they would never regret airing the Lakeland Outpouring because tons of e-mails from people claiming to be healed, transformed or revived inspired a “fear of the Lord” that motivated them to continue the broadcasts. “It was not a mistake,” the Alecs said. “It was not by mistake. We believe it was a clear instruction from the Lord” to air the meetings.

The network plans to broadcast other offshoots of Lakeland, including current revival meetings in Dudley, England.

As repercussions of the Lakeland Outpouring continue spreading across the globe, leaders who are ministering to Bentley said they are not overly concerned with seeing him quickly return to public ministry. “The focus is not of Todd the evangelist; it is on Todd the person,” Johnson said. “We want him healed up, not because of what he can do, but because God loves him and treasures him as a son.” —Paul Steven Ghiringhelli