New Series on the Holy Ghost movie, False signs and wonders and much more

False signs and wonders series on Bill Johnson, Holy Ghost movie, Heidi Baker, Ken Copeland , Beth Moore, Dan Bohi. and a ton of biblically solid information.

False Signs and Wonders Series.

Is Our Music In Church Pleasing To The Lord?

Well to answer that is easy but you will have to do that yourselves because you are the best judge of your individual church. Before I start the article I want to share a bit of background and information about myself. God has been very good to me in my career and jobs I have done in my live. Funny what’s out on the internet about you these days though. Someone earlier asked me if I worked in a lumberyard. Funny I had to laugh because I have never worked in a lumberyard in my life. Crazy what’s out on the net about people. I’ve been playing music all my life and have been blessed. I started out in the secular industry playing with Gary Lewis and The Playboys as well as many other famous oldies acts such as Chuck Berry, The Coasters, Steve Marriot and many others. I also come from a family of bakers and chefs. I was a chef as well as managed some full service places. My nephew Justin is a chef as well at Disney’s Grand Floridian Hotel. I stopped actively touring when I had my first child so I could be at home with my children to see them grow up. I still stayed active playing in theater pit orchestra as well as regular orchestra work. I also have a ministry to the troops which we get them free music; we are expanding that this year to help the Wounded Warriors project to get them free music as well. I recently went to London as well as Paris in April of this year and hope to get free music to our allies as well. I’ve been blessed to be taught and record and produce with the world’s best musicians. I received my credentials as a worship leader from Integrity Music's Worship Institute. I also am deeply involved with the travel and cruise industry and have an audience of about 40 thousand who read my articles on how to save money. I’ve been blessed to go on a number of cruises as well as have traveled most of Europe with my ministry. Funny again what’s out there on the web about people. But being in ministry you expect that and if your not getting attacked you probably should check your faith. I’ve debated Richard Abanes online as well as had shots taken at me from a spoof site called Biblical Nazarenes and unbeliever Greg Horton. Horton reflects the fact that there are unbelievers in the pulpit. Greg Horton makes no bones about being an unbeliever and was actively doing radio with Nazarene leader and pastor Jon Middendorf on a show called Wired Parish. Horton also taught at Jon Middendorf’s church. This should not surprise anyone since there are still many unbelievers in the pulpit today in the Nazarene denomination as well as the rest of the Body of Christ. So again nothing should surprise us and I really don’t have time to fight battles with unbelievers anyway. Ok so on to music in the church. I still play music in church as well and was researching a song called "In the secret” I want to know you more. I broke out my old WOW worship CDs which are now pretty dated. I listened to Sonicflood’s version of the song and was amazed at how much the hook sounded like a Spin Doctors song. Now I enjoy the Spin Doctors drummer and music but can’t we in the church do better at being inspired by the Holy Spirit instead of the culture? I also listened to a Maranatha Praise band song and it was a direct ripoff of both American Band by Grand Funk and Hot Blooded by Foreigner. Now again I don’t hate certain rock groups or anything like that but church, can’t we do better? Its a matter of history that the church used to set the standard for the world’s culture. Now it’s exactly opposite. And they are usually poor ripoffs. We know from the Bible that Cain did not present a sacrifice that God honored or accepted. Is there any hint in scripture when God no longer accepts the music we sing to Him during the week? Yes, it details this in the book of Amos. Amos 5:21-23 "I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them , Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. Amos 6:5-7 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed. (note-The ruin of Joseph may refer to the societal disintegration in Israel, or to the effects of the impending judgment.) This could also be in line with Gods judgment on His church which has strayed far from Him. There are many factors to address here. We know that Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God because it was not the right sacrifice. But in Amos’ day we see God not even accepting the right sacrifice because God’s people had their priorities out of line. Now the current praise and worship movement has only become a thing popularized in the 90's by companies such as Integrity music which makes a ton from all the worship seminars they teach all over the world. Integrity also bought out a bunch of world famous musicians such as Alex Acuna and Abe Laboriel SR to pair them up with their contracted worship leaders to give their tapes STAR power. Now I do believe that Integrity's heart was in doing the right thing. But was it the biblical way to do things? We now have salaried praise and worship leaders as a result in many churches across the world. Salaries range conservatively from 28 to 30 thousand per worship leader. Most are paid around 45-50 much more in the mega churches where responsibilities are often a very big load. Most medium level churches usually just need the leaders to put together a 20-30 minute set of songs. Usually practice is about 1 hour per week plus a run through before service. Most rehearsals include songs we have been playing forever because pastors are often afraid of making the congregation learn something new (this puts the congregation into a compromising level of laziness as well). Plus we have been feed the unholy mantra of Rick Warren who chooses not to honor God through music because of not wanting to offend unbelievers who of course do not understand what it is to worship God through music. I know from experience that most medium level churches (like the one I currently attend) have poor practice habits with singers rarely practicing with the band. And then there are people allowed on the platform with little to no talent. (Not talking about my church here where most musicians and singers are pretty good at what they do). There are however many exceptions where at the Sunday night service people just come up and sing, some who do not attend practice. Does the Bible state what level the musicians and singers need to be at? What was acceptable to God is plainly listed in the Old Testament. David was a skilled musician. And the Levites (the musicians and singers) were skilled at their craft as well not just hobbyist. By employing professional musicians (modern day Levites) you fulfill the principles established by King David when he formed the praise teams for the temple in I Chronicles 25. Let's consider King David's discourse with Ornan over a plot of land for an altar (see I Chronicles 21:24). David refused to accept Ornan's free gift of land for an altar of sacrifice because David would not submit an offering to the Lord which cost him nothing. In fact he insisted upon paying Ornan the full market value of the land. It truly was a sacrifice of praise by the Davidic temple when they employed skilled musicians (see references to skilled musicianship in I Chronicles 25:6-7 and Psalm 47:7) to lead worship. Because it did cost them something (see I Chronicles 21:24), they could truly consider the sacrifice of praise to God an offering from the entire temple. Had the musicians not been compensated for their part in leading worship, the sacrifice of praise would have belonged to the musicians themselves. We also have writings in the New Testament on the subject of the church body providing for those who work on its behalf. Now we have condensed this all into only paying the worship leader. This is not the biblical method and if you choose this route of don’t have good musicians; perhaps lead worship by everyone singing to taped music. This will not only be cheaper in cost but everyone on a CD will show up on time and always sing and play in key. Ask yourself this question-Why has the church been pressured into having a live band which is more often than not distracting for one reason or another (lack of skill or showing off). Again I bring up the secular ungodly methods fed to the church in Rick Warren’s book "Purpose Driven Church". An undiscerning church who's main focus was to fill the seats instead of filling souls through the Holy Spirit bought this hook, line and stinker. Here are some direct quotes from Purpose Driven Church. Each week at Saddleback, we remind ourselves who we’re trying to reach. . . . Once you know your target, it will determine many of the components of your seeker sensitive service: music style, message topics, testimonies, creative arts, and much more. (253-254). “The style of music you choose to use in your services will be one of the most critical (and controversial) decisions you make in the life of your church. It may also be the most influential factor in determining who your church reaches for Christ and whether or not your church grows. You must match your music to the kind of people God wants your church to reach. . . . If you were to tell me the kind of music you are currently using in your services I could describe the kind of people you are reaching without even visiting your church. I could also tell you the kind of people your church will never be able to reach” (280-281). “At Saddleback we categorize songs according to target. Songs on the crowd list are appropriate when unbelievers are present (at our seeker services). Songs on the congregation list are songs that are meaningful to believers but wouldn’t make sense to the unchurched (we sing them at our midweek worship service)” (286). “Use more performed music than congregational singing in your service for seekers. Visitors do not feel comfortable singing tunes they don’t know and words they don’t understand. It is also unrealistic to expect the unchurched to sing songs of praise and commitment to Jesus before they become believers. That’s getting the cart before the horse” (291). “The style of preaching that I use in our seeker service is very different than the style I use to teach believers. . . . When preaching to believers I like to teach through books of the Bible, verse-by-verse. . . . Verse-by-verse, or book, exposition builds up the body of Christ. It works great when you’re speaking to believers. . . . But what about unbelievers who are not yet motivated to study Scripture? I do not believe verse-by-verse teaching through books of the Bible is the most effective way to evangelize the unchurched” (294). [By the way, Saddleback no longer has a mid-week believers’ service]. If you buy into this you are unfamiliar with scripture and what Gods word teaches as well as the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. But again Rick does not rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance but relies on his own wits. Here is the kind of wisdom Rick Warren uses. James 3:14-16 "But if you have bitter envy and self–seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self–seeking exist , confusion and every evil thing are there." The real purpose that drives Rick Warren I believe is his own ambition. What about the Christian Music Industry we get our songs from. They are owned and controlled by the world who lets them sometimes uses the name of Jesus because at this point in time it is still profitable. We don’t see much evidence that CCM is influencing the world, but there is considerable evidence that the world is influencing CCM. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14) “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17). POINT: The worship team should play and sing skillfully for two reasons. 1) It is what God desires and deserves. 2) It can be an awful distraction to someone's worship experience when musicians make terrible mistakes. We want to keep the congregation in a vertical posture toward God's throne. The music serves as a vehicle for our praise offering to the creator of the universe, and thus it should not be a "blemished lamb." But how many of today's churches, in the good name of stewardship, use amateur volunteers or poorly compensated professional musicians to prepare the praise offering? David insisted on paying the full market value for his offering to God. Consider this, the sermon/message/teaching is a horizontal (i.e. man-to-man) event. The praise and worship is a vertical (i.e. man-to-God) event. God really tunes in when His people begin to praise Him. He actually inhabits the praise of His people (II Chronicles 5:12-14). May we seek to offer Him the unblemished sacrifice of praise that He desires and deserves. And may we offer it with a clean heart amidst musical excellence. NOTE: The principle of using only professional musicians remained in place as late as Mozart's day. The bottom line is that, as long as a Christian musician is a minister and not simply in it for the sake of entertaining, fame, etc., he/she should be supported by those who benefit spiritually from his/her ministry and those who will share in the credit, perhaps a church or group of churches, and individuals to wish to give freely as a "love offering" (Galatians 6:6). In fact, that being said, concerts should be paid for and hosted by churches, not ticket sales. Look at I Corinthians 9:18 about offering the gospel without charge. We have a lot to learn today with regard to the church and its relationship with true Christian musicians. When we choose to just use volunteers we should at least choose musicians and singers who are willing to sacrifice their time to give unto the Lord; not just take the scraps and leftovers who often crowd the platform in churches these days.

Responding To Dan Bohi's "The Voice" By James Scullin

 Before reading this keep in mind that Dan Bohi has proclaimed in public that his definition of faith is not the same as what scriptures proclaims and teaches.

(Faith:Not Maybe, I Am, Part 1, at :50)
“I don’t like the definition of faith in Hebrews 11 because it doesn’t make sense to me, even though I know what it says.”
Mr. Bohi then goes on to give his definition of faith.  “ My definition of faith is a two letter word… :to”.  I believe we are being transformed from glory to glory.  We all experience glory…”
Mr. Bohi seems to be setting aside what Hebrews 11 teaches about faith, does not accept it, and substitutes his own special definition of faith.  Are we not to have faith in what God’s word says?



Responding to The Voice
Dan Bohi preached a message about living in the voice, available here: http://crossroadstabernacle.sermon.tv/Sunday_Morning_Messages/8543486 You may listen and verify what I report.
Some of what Dan says and the way he says it merely reflects a less formal presentation. That, in and of itself, is not necessarily a problem; stilted, over-formalized, and lifeless sermons bother me more. The content, not the delivery, of this sermon is what I will concentrate on. I will note my concerns in the order they occur in the message, if you wish to follow along.
Dan leads off by saying faith is hearing and obeying. He also states, correctly, that faith comes by hearing. Faith comes by hearing, it is not hearing. Obedience is an action taken because of faith. I do not disagree that if you are faithful, you will hear and obey; I disagree with calling these distinct things the same. This distinction can and should be made clear, even in a less formal presentation from a pulpit.
Dan compliments the congregation. He tells them while some churches require spoon feeding, they are ready for a buffet. Remember this statement when the sermon wraps up in another two hours.


We are told Moses became the greatest deliverer of the old covenant by hearing and obeying. Moses was the deliverer because he released the prophetic word of God. Dan does say these things were not things Moses could have dreamed up, but he tells us they did not show up until Moses released them with his voice. They did follow in time, after the proclamations by Moses, but it was God who released them, not Moses. Moses did not cause the plagues to happen by his voice.
Later, when the people fear God and tell Moses, they were content to get their information “second-hand,” we are told this desire for another person to be an intermediary is at the base of Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Really? Luther proclaimed the priesthood of believers.
In keeping with releasing the prophetic word, we are told the shrink back in Hebrews 10:38 means to fail to declare. Within context, the verse speaks of shrinking back from fear of what may happen to you if you live as a professing Christian. Not proclaiming your faith is more to the point, rather than not releasing God’s prophetic word.

Next, we are told it requires both the written word and the prophetic word to
glorify Christ. Keep in mind, the way prophetic word is used, this is saying it requires the
written word and prophets releasing miracles into being to glorify Christ. We are told of
Elijah releasing the word of God. We are told to hold on during trials because, if we do,
we will see greater power and miracles released.
Then, we are informed everybody has to have a history with God in the secret
place. We are told there are no shortcuts; people want shortcuts, they want laying on of
hands, but we have to have the time in secret. (This comes up again later.) Dan says
Jesus only had a ministry for three years because the rest of the time was spent in the
secret place with His Dad. Dan says Psalms 139 talks of God forming us in “the secret.”
Psalms 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's
womb. The unseen formation of the child in the mother’s womb is declared, not the
secret place Dan tries to propose this verse teaches.

Dan is not a medical doctor, nor am I, but the statements about healing a man
with a cancerous liver sound questionable. I do not deny God can or does heal liver
cancer, but consider the report. The man had 37 tumors on the liver and was expected
to die that week. When Dan touched him, his pain was gone. A follow up at the Mayo
clinic, showed no tumors remained. But then we are told a DNA scan was done on the
liver, and the DNA was different, the man had a new liver.
Questions: Why was a DNA scan done? Why on the liver itself and not a simple
cheek swab? Is it possible to have that many separate tumors on the liver
simultaneously? DNA can detect genetic markers that indicate predispositions to certain
cancers, did Dan mean to say these markers were gone? But again, why take the DNA
from the liver? A biopsy is the more likely procedure.
We are told if a Christian does not listen to God and obey, Satan can handle him
completely.

Dan intermingles 2 Chronicles 5:13 and Acts 2:2 He mistakenly says it is in Acts
where a cloud fills the house of the Lord. Acts refers to the house where the 120 were
waiting, not the house of the Lord.
We are told God wants to engrave His name on us. We are told Jeremiah 31:33
is the same as Isaiah 49:16 and 2 Corinthians 3:2-3. Judge for yourself.
Jeremiah
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,"
declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I
will be their God, and they shall be My people. Isaiah "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. 2 Corinthians You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. God writes on our hearts in the first text, He engraves us in His palms in the second, it is the Corinthians who are the letter in the third. Dan says God wants you to be a prophet and calls a woman in the crowd a prophet. Dan claims the Acts gathering started with the 520 witnesses to Christ’s resurrection and dwindled to 120 through people dropping out who were not willing to pay the price. I don’t find support for that in the first two chapters of Acts.
Dutch Sheets is mentioned to support the concept that Elijah was “birthing” the rain when he prayed for rain to return after a three year drought. We are told Elijah had his face between his knees (Scripture so states), but Dan includes he was grunting and groaning birthing the rain and embarrassing his assistant. I Kings 18:42-45 has the account. John 7:38 is tied in to further support birthing. We are reminded John says “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his koy-lee-ah shall flow rivers of living water.” Dan replaces the word belly from the KJV with the Greek word koy-lee-ah and says it means womb. Koy-lee-ah is the root form of the word used. The actual word is koy-lee-ahs, κοιλίας. It occurs seven times in this exact form in the New Testament. In six of those times, it is rendered womb, as in Luke 1:15, "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.” The word is a generalized term which can denote any abdominal organ. Context determines its proper translation. It is disturbing that Dan will take Psalms 139 which does refer to womb, and make it a secret place, and here, where the clear translation does not fit his purpose, he will inject the word womb where it does not belong. The only purpose is to promote a Gnostic God willing to give secrets in secret places.

This was the end of the delivery of the message on the voice. What followed was a thirty minute talk on miracles that was supposed to be ten minutes. Dan mentions a service where “everybody” was healed. Later we find it was everybody that requested healing; still impressive sounding, but far different from what the first statement seemed to indicate. Several of the “healings” were people simply saying they were. There is a story of a lesbian being healed, but apparently not saved, or delivered from lesbianism. Remember Dan earlier said there were no shortcuts. Now, he relates doing an impartation service. Impartation is the belief some people are gifted to lay hands on others and give them the Holy Spirit and gifts for the five-fold ministry. The five-fold ministry refers to God raising up Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. If there are no shortcuts, why does Dan admit using them? Dan speaks of a twelve year old girl who he “saw” had been raped and abused. He says God was going to take away her memory of the abuse, she would not remember it. Later, she reportedly says she can’t remember her abuse. Yet why does she remember she was abused? Only the details are gone; that sounds like normal suppression of trauma. After all the talk of miracles someplace else, Dan comes in for a landing. He says the church he is in is like home, and it’s harder to do things at home. So, no healings will be attempted here. This church, that at the beginning was ready for a buffet, is told they need to get ready to be able to receive healings. This church, so like home, and ready for filling, is not as ready as a sinful woman, apparently left in her sin, to see healings. Dan says this church so ready for filling has a number of relational problems, some very fragile and hanging on by a thread. The call is limited to people having one of several generic issues guaranteed to be in a crowd of any reasonable size. The issues: Those going through a transition, those who have messed things up, those with bitterness, those afraid to step out in faith. Not that these are not real things to pray about and commit to God, but Dan comes in with a bang and leaves with a whimper. Dan ends with saying he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing, he’s just trying to follow the voice. I’d say that means he’s following the wrong voice. end of article

My notes I went to as well as contacted the Mayo clinic since that number of tumors should be a record.
No record on hand of that situation . Keep in mind hippa law plays into this but that number of tumors would have been a record plus Dan has a bad record of coming clean with information on the medical miracles he performs. Take for instance when Dan claimed to have raised the dead.

  Claims of People Being Raised From The Dead
Quote: “I prayed for a man. My brother and I were in revival in Coffeeville, Kansas… and we prayed for a man who was dead… and he came back to life. I prayed for a man when I did a revival at the Roy Clark Theatre in Branson… and he came back to life. I prayed for a man in Olathe, Kansas at a Tuesday night revival service at 9:04 pm… and he came back to life. I haven’t raised 600, like Heidi and Roland.. but I’ve done three because I’m a Nazarene and a Nazarene always has three points.” (laughter)
Source (2:40: Faith, Not Maybe: I Am, Part 2)
His reference was to Heidi and Rolland Baker who are involved in missionary work in Africa, and whose blog is full of stories about miraculous raisings from the dead, instantaneous healings, visions of the Lord, and many signs and wonders.  This is very disturbing, not only the raising from the dead claim without any solid documentation to prove such a serious claim; but also his apparent connection with, or at least knowledge of the Bakers, whose outrageous claims of raising many from the dead include an example in this story (Back From The Dead), which as far as I know, has no substantive proof behind it.
In another sermon, (10:27) in which he also says he prayed for a lady and her leg grew two inches, Mr. Bohi said:
“We prayed three times in our services for people that had been raised from the dead.  I don’t feel comfortable about that, ‘cause I’m a Nazarene.  And I don’t like to disrupt people and I probably wouldn’t pray for them if I knew they were dead but these people were dead and they came back alive.”
Mr. Bohi is again claiming miraculous raisings from the dead.  Is there any documentation of these occurrences?  Is there any proof?  I myself could claim this, and would you not want evidence of such a miracle?  And again, his mention of the Bakers, implying that he knows them and approves of their ministry, is very troubling.  His favorable mentioning of Bill Johnson is also troubling to me.

More On the Signs and Wonders Crowd/They are coming out of the woodwork

 Satan uses his supernatural “lying wonders and signs” to trap men into following him, while the Lord uses His miracles to lead men in a righteous path to follow Him. From the above verse, we see that men can be deceived into believing a lie if they are deceived into accepting lying signs and wonders. The Church is experiencing a lot of miracles at this time, but along with the true miracles of God there are also false gifts of power, signs and lying wonders, that are not of God. How do we discern the difference so that we do not get caught up in something that is not of God which could lead us into error?

 As Christians we cannot receive nor accept all miracles, signs and wonders just because the word “God or the Bible” is attributed as to being the source of those things. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

 What should our role as Christians be in regard to acceptance of a sign, miracle or wonder? We are told to prove all things, not to reject them because they might be strange or new to us. However, we should not receive them either, until we first prove them. How do we prove things? All true Christians are in agreement that our standard is the Word of God, the Bible. God left us this Book as a reference, standard, or gauge so we could know whether something is good or evil, truth or error, right or wrong. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Here are some questions we need to ask when proving things. Does the sign, miracle or wonder line up with the Word of God? Is God receiving the glory for this miracle or is a man or woman being exalted? Can you picture Christ performing this miracle? Does the miracle draw attention to Christ or to the man performing the miracle? Does this wonder cause you love and worship God more? What is the purpose for this miracle? The Lord does not perform miracles just to exhibit His power to men. He does them for specific purposes and reasons.
This is demonstrated by the account of Jesus’ temptation of the devil to perform a supernatural feat so people would know He was God’s son. Look at Matthew 4:5-7, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Here, Jesus refused to do a miracle just to demonstrate He had power. He called this tempting God. God displays His power, signs, wonders and miracles for His purposes. Here are some of the reasons and purposes in the Bible where the Lord demonstrates His signs, miracles or wonders. The miracles listed in the Bible are far few than all the miracle workers we have around today so it seems to me this is not the norm.
One reason some people move too quickly to accept the things they believe to be God is that they are fearful of disobeying Him, and thereby angering Him. They do not yet understand the loving and patient nature of our Father. The Lord never minds us testing or trying things to see if He is in them. It is only when we put God on trial that we do wrong. If we come to Him with a humble and sincere heart, wanting to know the answer to an honest question, He is more than willing to reveal to us the truth about the matter. The only time we will not get an answer from God is when we approach Him rebelliously, demanding an answer from Him.
Many Christians are hesitant about proving or testing things as they tend to categorize this right along with “judging,” and they have been taught they are to judge no man. Most of us are familiar with the Scripture in Matthew 7:1 that says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” If we look at only this one verse, and we are trying to judge a situation, we will feel guilty about making an evaluation. However, we should look at all the other Scriptures related to this one, so we know how we are to judge. Let us continue to read the rest of this Scripture:

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Matthew 7:2-5

Examining all these Scriptures, we see that Jesus is not saying we are not to judge, but rather how we are to judge. We are to judge mercifully and according to the Word of God. We need to humbly submit the thing in question to the Lord and ask Him to show us if it is of Him or if the sign or wonder is from the devil. We need to go to the Word of God and seek the answer in the Bible. If the sign is from Him it will bear witness to our spirit, we who have the Spirit of Truth within us will be able to witness to and hear that truth. If we are uncomfortable about a sign, miracle or wonder, this could be the Holy Spirit warning us to test this thing. If a service is reduced to a circus atmosphere with weird things that don’t agree with God’s nature, His gifts and His Word, it simply isn’t our Lord. Some things just don’t pass the test. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

So we see another thing very much like the FIRE schools being promoted by Dan Bohi.

Another signs and wonders outfit with Nazarene endorsements. Notice on their about page this.
Power & Love Ministries was birthed out of the vision to see the Church of Jesus Christ catch hold of its inheritance to win the lost, as Paul says, “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Cor 2:4 NAS).
Why Schools of Power & Love?
It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to “come out of the closet!” We have the best kept secret of signs, wonders and miracles but until recently, they have been accessible only to those who might venture into one of our meetings! We believe that this is the season for Christians to demonstrate the gifts of prophecy, word of knowledge, and healing IN THE WORLD! We won’t be “arguing people into the kingdom” anymore…we will be demonstrating the love of God through revelation and power!

The plan is to hold Schools of Power & Love in cities across the US designed to empower you in the gifts of prophecy and healing as a lifestyle! These gifted teachers will not only give you a wonderful new understanding of power evangelism but then you will be “activated” as you “do the stuff” of the kingdom!

Why is NOW the time for Power Evangelism?

I traveled with Randy Clark and Global Awakening nationally and internationally from 2000 to 2007. During that time, we saw tremendous and numerous miracles in every country we visited. We took thousands of Christians from the US along with us on these international trips, trained them, and then watched them grow leaps and bounds as the Lord flowed through them resulting in tens of thousands of healings!
End quote

Notice the key words "We have the best kept secret of signs,wonders and miracles but until recently,they have been accessible only to those who might venture into our meetings." end quote
Notice only they have the secret, they have the power. What an insult to plenty of Spirit filled Christians
Wow the Holy Spirit needs a piggyback ride to your church and you need to go get him from these guys? Trust me thats not the Holy Spirit and what you will get is signs and wonders but those of the lying kind.

Second quote
"These gifted teachers will not only give you a wonderful new understanding of power evangelism but then you will be "activated" as you "do the stuff" of the kingdom. end quote

My comments

Notice you need them to activate you so you can do the stuff. This is all very similar to the FIRE schools now be promoted by Dan Bohi.
Yes we all are leaky vessels which need the filling of the Holy Spirit possibly daily. But this bunch notice is selling a NEW thing. What scriptures teaches is not new and they would have you believe that we are not operating on full power because a lot of stuff like shaking , people jerking like people who have epilepsy, people laughing uncontrollably, and being being slain by some spirit or frozen where they cant move.
This is a familiar spirit not the true Holy Spirit of scripture.
Reader Beware

http://powerandlove.org/about/endorsements/


additional resource Betty Miller 

Not The Kind Of Fire You Would Want

You Probably dont want the kind of FIRE advertised by folks like Dan Bohi and various FIRE schools.
Dont take my word for it lets just explore the fire the above folks are talking about giving you in a biblical context from scripture
A verse commonly taken out of context


Matthew 3:11-12

New King James Version (NKJV)



11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[a] 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Also Luke 3:16-17



Luke 3:16-17

New King James Version (NKJV)



16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”



And yes I get it that the Holy Spirit appeared like tongues of fire over the heads of believers at Pentecost. But lets examine these verses and there context.



John the Baptist states He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John does not state Holy Spirit fire. But seperates the two Holy Spirit and fire.

We need to look at the next verse to see the context which John was speaking in.

He states Jesus will gather His wheat into the barn (saved people) but He (Jesus) will burn up the chaff (unsaved people not sin in this context but unrepentant sinners) He with unquenchable fire (the fires of hell). You for sure do not want this type of fire.

How does Jesus describle the Holy Spirit look at John 14

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.



18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.



19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.



20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.



21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.



22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?



23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.



24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.



25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.



26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.



Then in John 16 Jesus shows the work of the Holy Spirit



The Work of the Holy Spirit

5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.



12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.[c]



Again not any fire in Jesus's description of the Holy Spirit

Probably a good reason to stay away from FIRE school
The fire they are advertising refers more to what Smith Wiggleworth taught and here is a seperate article refuting Wigglesworth unscriptural take on fire.

http://www.bereanresearchinstitute.com/03_Doctrines/D.0005_01_Wigglesworth_1_of_6_Pentecostal_Baptism_of_Fire.html

FIRE School-Spiritual Gifts For Sale-Only $65.00 Per Person

Acts 8:18-21


New King James Version (NKJV)
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Acts 13:8-11


New King James Version (NKJV)
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”
And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Now the argument could and probably would be made that Simons heart was not right that was his problem so someone with a right heart would be ok paying for spiritual gifts.
Well lets see what church history says as well as the obvious point of scripture that spiritual gifts are not for sale and can not be taught. Also some may bring up that workers are worth being paid but this FIRE school is about selling spiritual gifts and selling false revival to your church at an even heaftier price than the initial $65.00 per person.

Simony- (pron. [ˈsaɪ.mə.ni] or [ˈsɪ.mə.ni]) is the act of paying to receive sacraments, including those for ordination to a holy office or other position in the hierarchy of a church. The practice is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24 as having offered two disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, payment in exchange for their empowering him to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to anyone on whom he would place his hands. This is the origin of the term simony;but it also extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things".



The FIRE School people who are promoting Dan Bohi at these meetings and classes quote Phenius Bresee at the bottom of their banner saying ""We must have new Pentecosts; manifestations which will shake the place where we are assembled and shake the hearts of men..."  No where on Google or Bing could I find this quote attributed to Bresee no where to be found at all .

Phineas Bresse did say concerning Azuza Street
"Some months ago, among some of the colored people in this city, reinforced after a little with some whites, there began something which was called the “gift of tongues.” The meetings were held in a large rented building on Azusa Street. The professed gift of tongues was not the only peculiarity of the meetings, but much physical exercise of various kinds, with laying on of hands. The meetings attracted some attention, especially among that class of people who are always seeking for some new thing. "

When Bresee referred to physical exercise of various kinds with laying on of hands. He was referring to manifestations not of the Holy Spirit such as slain in the spirit and the other weird manifestations at Azuza Street.
Bresee took the denomination away from this.
Now Dan Bohi and FIRE Schools are trying to bring them back to what history shows Bresee rejected.

Phineas Bresse also stated
"but what little influence it has had seems to have been mostly harmful, instead of beneficent. It seems not only to have had at least some of the elements of fanaticism, but to be trying to inculcate such erroneous or heretical doctrines as mark it as not of the Spirit of Truth. The two principal things which are emphasized, and wherein they claim to differ from others, is, that Christians are sanctified before they receive the baptism with the Holy Ghost, this baptism being a gift of power upon the sanctified life, and that the essential and necessary evidence of the baptism is the gift of speaking with new tongues.
As far as has come under our own observation, or that we have seen experted by competent examination, the speaking with tongues has been a “no-thing,” a jargon, a senseless mumble, without meaning to those who do the mumbling, or to those who hear. Where in a few instances the speaker or some other one has attempted to interpret, it has usually been a poor mess.

It would be doing the few poor people who have been deluded by this thing no wrong to say that among clearheaded, faithful, reliable Christian people of this city the thing has no standing.

We are surprised at reputable papers giving credence to the almost unthinkably extravagant utterances in reference to such a matter before attempting to know whether there was anything to it or not. "

source  http://www.azusastreet.org/AzusaStreetBresee.htm

I have heard that Dan has been asked not to do certain things in certain Nazarene churches.
But can the true Holy Spirit be turned on and off like some water faucet?
For shure not because He is fully God and is not something conjured up or not by man at his whim and bidding.
Keep in mind Dan Bohi has stated Jesus is speaking new truth to him.
Also here was our interaction from someone who has been prepped and controlled by these people who are selling spiritual gifts for money.

The following is why I quoted the above verse that shows someone was struck blind. Many people are now being struck by spiritual blindness.

Manny and I had a very interesting conversation with a young lady and Rob McCorkle left before we had a chance to speak with him. I'm going to write a more detailed article on this Sat. The jest of it was I tried to ask this young lady where she found these manifestations I scripture. She said people fell forward. I said exactly only Jesus's enemies fell backward when they came to arrest Him. This girl was really trying to control the conversation often cutting off me and Manny trying to not let us speak. Manny bought up that no preacher is above scrutiny.

Than on that I went into what Dan preached giving exact quotes and I asked her if she thought the teaching matched up to scripture. I also pointed out where Dan actually stated he didn't like the definition of faith expressed in the book of Hebrews and than gave his own definition of faith outside of scripture by way of revelation knowledge I guess. Then things got ugly quick. She stated she knows the Holy Spirit and almost implied I wasn't saved. She said she fell to her knees and her arms were so heavy she could not move her arms. We questioned her experience and Manny asked her if she could be deceived. She stated no way because she knows the way the holy Spirit moves. I asked her where is this found in scripture. She could not answer. Than an older lady came by and stated she never believed in the stuff either until she went and was bought to her knees feeling a heavyness and was actually paralzed and could not move either. I asked again where is this expereince in scripture. I asked the young lady again about Dans teaching and how the Nazarene founder distanced himself from Azuza street and its manifestations.

She than informed us we are not to question the annointed. I explained to her that if you are saved you are annointed by the Holy Spirit for service. She than stated "I'm done here and I want you both to leave this area right now". Even though her young man counterpart wanted to talk more. I actually apoligized to her for upsetting her. She said "leave now". I can tell you this whole encounter was not cult like, it was plain cultish. This is what leaders like Bohi get, a cult following. I also had a nice and civil conversation with a female evangelist who I know and love dearly. It was difficult to get anything out of my mouth but I told her the Hebrews definition of faith by Bohi. And she said she disagreed with that. I told her about Bill Johnson but she said Dan told her he only watched him a little on tv and wrote down one thing he thought was good. So where is Dans responsibility to not expose people to false teachers.

Than I tried to give her a copy of Mannys article on Bohi which she refused to look at. Shw was nice and we are still friends but look at this cult type adoration of Bohi. People not willing to be faithful Bereans and check to see if what's taught and going on is true in scriptures. Something that would stop you from checking scripture because they state they don't want to limit God I quarentee you that spirit is not of God. Folks the following the church back to Rome is here. Emergent is dug in and not even an issue anymore because its in to deep.
 Plus the false revival and signs and wonders movement is here and not going anywhere as well. And things with Bohis revivals are mild now compared to what they will get to once people are used to the false manifestations. This is conditioning by the enemy. And trust me as people buy in more and more will be served out as they want more and more. I've seen it before. People forget I was freed out of this movement.

Fire School Part 2

Ok so at the Nazarene GA we saw the latest Naz fad/heresy big fire school/Bohi promotion. Manny and I had a very interesting conversation with a young lady and Rob Mckorkle left before we had a chance to speak with him. I'm going to write a more detailed article on this Sat. The jest of it was I tried to ask this young lady where she found these manifestations I scripture. She said people fell forward. I said exactly only Jesus's enemies fell backward when they came to arrest Him. This girl was really trying to control the conversation often cutting off me and Manny trying to not let us speak. Manny bought up that no preacher is above scrutiny. Than on that I went into what Dan preached giving exact quotes and I asked her if she thought the teaching matched up to scripture. I also pointed out where Dan actually stated he didn't like the definition of faith expressed in the book of Hebrews and than gave his own definition of faith outside of scripture by way of revelation knowledge I guess.

Then things got ugly quick. She stated she knows the Holy Spirit and almost implied I wasn't saved. She said she fell to her knees and her arms were so heavy she could not move her arms. We questioned her experience and Manny asked her if she could be deceived. She stated no way because she knows the way the holy Spirit moves. I asked her where is this found in scripture. She could not answer. Than an older lady came by and stated she never believed in the stuff either until she went and was bought to her knees feeling a heavyness and was actually paralzed and could not move either. I asked again where is this expereince in scripture. I asked the young lady again about Dans teaching and how the Nazarene founder distanced himself from Azuza street and its manifestations. She than informed us we are not to question the annointed. I explained to her that if you are saved you are annointed by the Holy Spirit for service.

 She than stated "I'm done here and I want you both to leave this area right now". Even though her young man counterpart wanted to talk more. I actually apoligized to her for upsetting her. She said "leave now". I can tell you this whole encounter was not cult like, it was plain cultish. This is what leaders like Bohi get, a cult following. I also had a nice and civil conversation with a female evangelist who I know and love dearly. It was difficult to get anything out of my mouth but I told her the Hebrews definition of faith by Bohi. And she said she disagreed with that. I told her about Bill Johnson but she said Dan told her he only watched him a little on tv and wrote down one thing he thought was good. So where is Dans responsibility to not expose people to false teachers. Than I tried to give her a copy of Mannys article on Bohi which she refused to look at. Shw was nice and we are still friends but look at this cult type adoration of Bohi.

 People not willing to be faithful Bereans and check to see if what's taught and going on is true in scriptures. Something that would stop you from checking scripture because they state they don't want to limit God I quarentee you that spirit is not of God. Folks the following the church back to Rome is here. Emergent is dug in and not even an issue anymore because its in to deep. Plus the false revival and signs and wonders movement is here and not going anywhere as well. And things with Bohis revivals are mild now compared to what they will get to once people are used to the false manifestations. This is conditioning by the enemy. And trust me as people buy in more and more will be served out as they want more and more. I've seen it before. People forget I was freed out of this movement. We really need to pray for these people Bohi and those like him really have these poor folks in a cult type hold. This spirit is not of the Lord. Manny thanks for an exciting time playing good cop bad cop. Get some rest my dear brother

Fire Schools do we need them Part One-Does our lack of faith hinder God?

Usually I will start out with false teaching and than follow up with the truth of scripture. I'm starting this of with the truth of scripture.

The question is can our faith limit Gods power? If so we would need fire schools I guess for 65 dollars a person mind you. Wow free spiritual gifts (note the word free) for sale for only 65 a person and you wont just get one but multiple because we are going to teach you how to get and use these free gifts from God. Wow can someone jump up and SHOUT GLORY. What a deal of the century.
But can our faith limit God?
Last year I began to notice a common underlying theme and assumption in evangelical preachers which is: your faith is the limiting factor in God’s agency. Sunday after Sunday believers are exhorted to believe harder, perhaps coupled with prayer, that God will act to heal, to revive, to convert and save people and communities. But is it really our lack of faith (i.e. belief) which is holding God back?


The Gospels especially provide numerous convenient examples which would seem to support the idea that God cannot or doesn’t act miraculously unless people believe. Jesus is said to have done less miracles in towns which did not believe and we all know the expression, characteristic of various heeling's that “your faith has healed you” (e.g Mk 10:52). Less well known are the instances where someone is healed because of another person’s faith (the centurion’s servant in Mk 8, the lame man in Mk 2, Jairus’ daughter Mk 5). It would seem that someone, preferably nearby, needs to believe for miracles to occur!
Not, so. Jesus feeds the multitude twice though no one thought it possible (see John 6). Obviously Lazarus was raised when he was dead and past believing (though his sisters believed) but Jesus himself was raised by divine fiat when nobody believed it would happen. If we look closely we see that Jesus was indeed able to heal people in unbelieving villages by laying hands on them! (Mt 13:58; Mk 6:5) In fact, the evangelist does not say that he could not do miracles because of a lack of faith but simply that he did not
The idea that Jesus’ power is limited by man’s belief is rather absurd and arbitrary. In those cases where miracles were not forthcoming it seems more from Jesus’ own choice rather than him somehow being limited in agency. It is Jesus who tells the Pharisees that “no sign will be given”, the ball is always in His court! We may be limited to His Grace but His Grace is not limited by anything.
This has massive implications for our theology. Evangelical theology teaches that we must believe in order to be saved. Confusingly the word for “save” and the word for “heal” are the same in Greek but this should not allow us to project “your faith has healed you” onto our ideas of soteriology. It is always God who saves and His salvation is for everyone, regardless of whether they believe or not. Paul says it like this:
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labour and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially those who believe (1 Tim 4:9-10)
Too many Christians are worried that their unbelieving friends and family are outside of God’s grace, power and salvation. At best, their hope and prayer is that God will open that person’s heart to believe so that they may be saved. I do not wish to deny that faith and salvation are related but simply note that the faith which saves is not something outside and external to God, something out of His control, preventing Him from saving us. I agree with the Calvinists here: God produces faith, salvation is wholly from God.
Calvinists teach that regeneration precedes faith which is the idea that God awakes the sinner “from death to life” before that person believes. God’s action is prior to the person’s decision to believe. Indeed, most Calvinists would deny that we choose to believe but that faith is from God. As N.T. Wright puts it, the hearer of the Gospel strangely finds themselves believing it, believing the absurd proclamation that Jesus is Lord!
If one considers this for a moment it makes much sense. Which of us chose to believe in God or in the Gospel or in the miraculous? Rather, we found that, at some point we did believe it. Did we produce this faith or was it God? I think it was God. Faith is a sign, an awareness, but not a condition of salvation which is by God’s grace and His faithfulness (Eph 2:8).

But this faith, this belief that something is true must be differentiated from other aspects of conversion such as repentance and trust unto obedience. We must indeed choose to turn from sin, to confess it, to strive to obey God and trust in his sovereign authority over us, even when it seems crazy. This wilful transfer of power from ourselves and our reason over to God is something we do not just once but daily. The liberation from sin described in Romans 6 and 7 is all about the struggle we have to obey our new master God and not the old master called “Sin”. God justifies, and just as Jesus defeated Sin and Death, so must we die “with” him in baptism (the choice to live to God) and defeat Sin (by not obeying it) and Death (by one day being raised to new life)
And so the problem is not the world’s lack of belief, this is something God can directly influence and something the atheists have picked up on. Many atheists are clear that if God wanted them to believe in Him or in the miraculous, he could simply “show up in power” and win people over. The apologist’s retort (which I used to offer) that people would still not believe is a stretch and definitely unbiblical. Many of Jesus signs were designed to evoke faith, the first followers were convinced Messianic followers because they saw the risen Lord. Faith comes from hearing and seeing God in action not from an effort of the imaginative will.
I would argue that the fact that God does not write “Jesus is Lord” in the clouds every morning, or send fire from heaven down on atheist conferences is good evidence that God’s primary focus and requirement is not on evoking belief unto salvation. We know that God wants everyone saved (1 Tim 2) but if unbelief stood in the way then God would be doing everything possible to combat unbelief. He would be equipping his Church to do miracles in order to convince unbelievers. But this is clearly not happening so it can’t be His strategy
What then, are we to conclude, with the Calvinists, that God does not intend everyone to be saved? No, we are to conclude that faith (i.e. belief) is not the condition for salvation but the evidence of salvation. When Paul says “if you believe in your heart that God raised him [Jesus] from the dead you will be saved” (Rom 10:9) he is not telling unbelievers what to do in order to be saved, but assuring believers (Romans is written to believers) that their belief is evidence of their future salvation. Belief provides assurance. Unbelievers, though they will ultimately be saved and brought under God’s reign in Jesus (Eph 1:10) are simply unaware of it.
This approach to belief and salvation is to be commended for the peace it offers believers. Who but an egoist can experience the peace of Jesus if they think those around them are destined for destruction? Who can rejoice that they are saved but that their family is not? But the peace that comes from knowing that God is the saviour of all, and that, as believers, we are privy to this plan, conquers all fear that we are not able to convert our neighbours. When we read that God’s salvation is for all who believe (Rom 1:16) we are misreading the text: God’s salvation is revealed to all who believe but it is for everyone (i.e. Jews and Greeks i.e non-Jews). God is the God of all, he is the Saviour of all, the Gospel is Good News for all!
And so evangelical preachers should switch from “have more faith” to “be more faithful” if they are to really expand the Gospel. Not only is “believe harder” preaching to the choir, it does not advance the Gospel. But if pastors would take courage to preach faithfulness in action, loving obedience and service, the reign of God would visibly extend and increase in power. When this happens, people will look on and believe the Gospel that Jesus is In Charge, that he Is Boss, that Jesus is Lord

Beware of those advertising great endtime Revivals and Awakenings

Beware of those promoting a new Great Awakening or great Revival because of what scripture teaches in the end times.


Most, if not all of the preachers and evangelists (many call themselves prophets and apostles) agree that the time is short - the end is near. Among Christians in general, there is a great feeling of urgency to go about the task that has been set before the Church...to preach the gospel to all the nations. There is also general agreement that the Church has been, and to a degree, is still lazy, content to sit in their pews, pay their tithes, and bask in the reflected glory of their own little ponds. Most of the churches spend more time arguing with each other over jots and tittles than in going about their real job - reaching a lost and dying world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

While all Christians want to see a move of God, and conversions by the thousands (or even millions), we must examine several things in the light of The Word of God, and also in the light of published (written and spoken) statements made by those who are advertising this great revival and move of God. Links to other sites will be obvious by their blue color, so that you may go and read for yourself those things that are said that have a bearing on these questions. First and foremost is a small admonition that will weave a thread throughout this study. We, as Christians, live by faith...NOT by sight. Beyond that, I believe that most of us can agree-we are in the end times, spoken of in The Word, and it won't be very long before we see the rise of the anti-christ and his false prophet. But what does The Word say about these times? Is there going to be a great worldwide revival? What about the ''move of the spirit'' as typified in the Toronto Blessing/Vineyard and Brownsville Revival movement, and its attendant functionaries and proponents, such as Steve Hill, Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley, Paul Crouch, Kenneth Copeland, et al? What about the moral fiber of these alleged prophets of God? This question comes into play simply because of the influence these people have over thousands of believers throughout the world, and the millions of dollars being given to them to support their ministries so as to create this world wide revival.

This brings us to the question of: If there is no end time revival (or move of God) then how do we explain all the manifestations that are occurring in various places, and the appearance of revival that is occurring. How do we explain all the thousands upon thousands in other places that are coming to God during the crusades.

First, I believe that we need to examine very carefully the "manifestations" that are occurring in places like the Toronto Vineyard (now the Airport ??????), or at Brownsville AoG, or in the crusades that Benny Hinn puts on. The links appearing here will go into far more detail, and are from eyewitnesses. Aside from that, I can attest to having seen, on tape and on tv some of the manifestations spoken of. I find, in scripture, no corresponding description to what I have observed other than in Mark 1:23-26, where Jesus cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue, and after the "spirit had torn him", it departed. Try as I might, I can find no place, in Old Testament or New, where there are examples of people shaking violently, twitching uncontrollably, flopping on the floor like fish out of water, or laughing for hours on end in a manner more devilish than truly happy. I must admit to having the hair on my neck stand up when I observed many of these things, and failing at any time to receive a witness of the Holy Spirit that these things were from God. I do not doubt that the things, in most cases, were real, but the real question is from what spirit they came. In over 20 years of ministry, I have NEVER seen a manifestation of one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that did not, unequivocally, point to Jesus Christ, and glorify God in the doing of it. The Holy Spirit does not bring attention to Himself or to the person being used, but ONLY to Jesus Christ. As Jesus said "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall GLORIFY ME..." John 16:13-14. Many times during ministry, I have seen or heard things that the Holy Spirit did not bear witness with, and can be best explained as the flesh trying to simulate spiritual things, but these things I have observed on TBN, and via Brownsville tapes bear the imprint of the devil himself, not the Spirit of God.

Of great importance here is a question concerning the moral character of the people purporting to be instruments and ministers of God. Paul, in I Timothy gives a reasonable explanation of the type of character that must be possessed by a man of God, When talking about bishops, or deacons (translate pastors, shepherds, elders, or those in positions of spiritual leadership), two points become quickly obvious. One, that the person must have a good report of them which are without, and two, that they be not doubletongued, or greedy of money, and must HOLD THE MYSTERY OF THE FAITH IN PURE CONSCIENCE. My understanding of these passages are that a minister of God cannot do things in such a way as to cause those who do not know God (those who are without) to question him, or to bring reproach upon the name of God.

The second thing that a minister of God cannot be is doubletongued (lying, fibbing, exaggerating, stretching, or wishy-washy depending upon who he is talking to). I would submit that many of the ministers we have today such as Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, Steve Hill and others fail miserably in the question of being doubletongued. Aside from outright lies that they have been caught in, none of them seem to believe that the scripture is profitable for reproof, and reject any and all admonition from others concerning their heretical statements. Paul Crouch in particular has vocally cursed any who would dare to point out anything to him that does not meet with his own belief. When ministers of God presume to place themselves above the Word of God, and immune from what it says, or think to change what the Word says into something they want it to say, then they have gone beyond the point of just being in error, and fall squarely into the definition of ''ungodly men who have crept in''(Jude). ''Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots...to who is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever''.



Rodney Howard Browne started this off around 1987 when he stated “In 1987 when the Lord opened the door for us to come to the USA. He told us to stir up the churches, to get them on fire for God, so they would be stirred to win the lost.

Out of this came The Toronto Blessing, Pensacola Blessing, Lakeland with Todd Bentley and many other venues featuring bizarre manifestations that includes slain in the spirit, people acting like animals and many other weird manifestations not found in the scriptures.

Bill Johnson, Rick Joyner and many others also advertise their meeting as Great Awakenings.

Dan Bohi advertises his revivals as Great Awakenings as well. Here is what Dan’s stated mission is…

“A calling to awaken the church of Jesus Christ

to the power, purity, and freedom of the Spirit-Filled life,

found, realized, experienced and exhibited

in the lives of believers in the Book of Acts.”

It all sounds good doesn’t it?

What Christian does not want revival which would cause us to turn from all the false teachings that is rampant in the church today.

But wait the above listed are all false teachers so if a great Awakening or Great Revival would cause us to wake up, read scripture and then as a result not just live sanctified lives but turn from false teaching.

We would have to turn from all the above teachers if what they claim is happening.

But wait lets hold on the brakes and see what scripture teaches on this matter.

Does the Word of God tell us of an end-times world-wide or ''great" revival?

The closest we can come to a clear statement of what the end times shall be like is found in Jesus' words to His disciples in Matthew 24, sometimes referred to as the Olivet Discourse. The disciples came to Jesus, and asked:

vs.3: Tell us, when shall these thing be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

vs.4: And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you.

vs.5: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

vs.6: and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

vs.7: For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

vs.8: All these are the beginning of sorrows.

vs9: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

vs.10: and then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

vs.11: and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

vs.12: and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

vs.13: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

vs.14: and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.

vs.38: for as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark...

There are a number of points made in this discourse, and we will examine them one by one.

Vs.4-take heed that no man deceive you. Jesus was making clear that there would be people who would attempt, in any number of ways, to deceive the believer. By what means He did not expound upon, other than to say...

Vs.5-many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ. The construction of this sentence leaves the possibility that not only would some come saying that they were the christ (Mayatreya is a recent example), but of more importance, since Jesus was talking to His disciples (true believers), that many would come, simply, in His name, meaning that they were professing Christians supposedly ministering in the name of Jesus. That such people can exist is borne out in many books throughout the New Testament, such as Timothy, Peter, James, John, and Jude. Of interesting note here is a statement made, and supported by others, by Kenneth Copeland, about being ''a little Christ walking around up here''.

Vs.11- and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. Many Christians tend to rely upon an oft quoted section of the Old Testament concerning false prophets, in which God says that we shall know a false prophet if what he says does not come to pass. Assumption: if something DOES come to pass, then the prophet must be righteous. What is often skipped is the little squib in Deuteronomy 13:1-3, where God says if there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a SIGN or a WONDER, and the sign or the wonder COME TO PASS...thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Puts us in a bind as to who to believe, doesn't it? No. All we have to do is check out what the person is saying, and weigh it against the Word of God. If it doesn't line up, then they don't, and are to be ignored. Many today use scripture to support or destroy certain beliefs or points that they are trying to make, but we are admonished to use all scripture, which is given by God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2Tim3:16). The part concerning reproof and correction will come into serious play a little later.

Vs.14 - and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations... I think it is very important to note that Jesus said this gospel...shall be PREACHED (or published)...for a witness. Nowhere did Jesus say that the gospel shall be believed, or acted upon, or cause millions of conversions...only that it would be preached as a witness. The sinner cannot know he is a sinner unless the gospel of righteousness is preached to him, nor can he repent unless he knows..and how shall they know, if there is no preacher? Still, the point is that although we may use many different means (including this web presentation) to preach the gospel, there is no guarantee from scripture or otherwise that it will be believed and acted upon. Indeed, scripture in Matt.24:9-10 makes very clear that true gospel preachers and true believers will be hated, and afflicted, and even killed.

Vs.38-as it was in the days of Noah... I will have to admit here to a great deal of speculation concerning just exactly what it was like then. The Bible tells us only that God told Noah to build an ark because He was disgusted with the actions of mankind, and He was going to destroy them. Obviously, Noah was chosen because he conducted himself in a manner that was pleasing to God, and did not do those things that the rest of mankind was doing. The real speculation enters here. I think it is reasonable to assume that while Noah was gathering materials, and building what was a VERY large boat (ship?), some of the townsfolk had to be curious. I am sure that at some point, these people asked Noah what he was doing. Noah, upon explaining that he was building an ark, was then asked why? ''So that I can ride out the flood''. What is a flood? ''A whole lot of water''. Since there had not been rain on the earth up til this time, I doubt the people understood, and if Noah also said (I'm sure he did) that God had told him to do it, these worldly people had to have made a lot of fun of Noah. That happens to be a lot like today. People of the world are complete in their own eyes, and make fun of the things of God, even to the point of trying to stop Christians (particularly) and just about any other religious types from doing or saying anything that might ''offend'' them. Indeed, many are offended because of Christ.

All of this leads us to the point where we may reasonably say that the end times will be characterized by a number of things:

1. Increasing denial of God by the world.

2. Increasing ungodliness in activity.

3. Increasing demand by religious people for hearing & experiencing only what they want.

4. Increasing apostasia from sound doctrine and truth.

Rather than a ''great revival'', what we will see (and are currently seeing) is the apostasy of those claiming to be Christian, a great falling away from the truth of Jesus Christ and the written Word of God.

So again beware of those who go out and proclaim that they will bring a great Awakening to the church in these endtimes we are in.

Why because I say so?

No because the scriptures do not teach it.



Other sources John 8:12.com

And the various other false teachers listed websites and FB pages