A Hyper-Charismatic Guide to Losing your Mind

If you want to abandon your Christian faith and become mentally unstable, just follow these simple steps:

• "It all starts with a Dream! A God-Sized Dream!" To get started, you must believe that God expects you to dream up some outlandish desire in order to accomplish your Destiny. Because if you attempt to "do the impossible," God will miraculously answer your prayers and thus "get all the glory." You must take risks, step out in faith, and do something impossible. You and your dream must become the focus of your faith.

• You then step out in faith and do something really stupid. (Often, this involves giving money to someone who teaches this stuff.)

• Next, this ridiculous thing you've attempted doesn't work and you've got big problems. (Wow, what a surprise.)

• Instead of admitting your big mistake, you will now focus all of your attention on the future and the great things that you'll accomplish after you get your breakthrough (your "Destiny"). Because the finished work of Christ dying on the cross to pay for our sins happened a long time ago, you will forget about it. Christianity gradually becomes a magic wand you keep waving around in order to get God to do stuff, and the "holy spirit" will demand more and more attention as he continually confuses you, embarrasses you and demands that you become more hungry, desperate and broken. He also wants you to be on fire.

• At this point you'll latch onto all of the sermons about fighting battles, getting a fresh new word from God, and fending off demons, pythons, and sneaky squids. "The devil knows about your Dream/Destiny and he wants to stop you!" You take your last few bucks to buy yet another book/DVD/CD/conference ticket, hoping to learn the "secret" to getting your breakthrough; you know, the breakthrough you wouldn't even need if you hadn't done something stupid...

• Here is where you'll probably find people to "prophetically" declare something over you, in order to give you a "breakthrough." Nothing will really change, but you'll try really hard to pretend otherwise. You might go to see famous "prophets" who claim to be "anointed," because you believe they can help you, but they only help you to lose more money.

• You have a suspicion in the back of your mind that you've entered a cult-like state of mind, but you don't want to admit it to anyone. There's a part of you that would like to go back to being a "normal" person, but you've been told that thinking that way is a direct attack of the devil.

• The Bible is no longer the story of God redeeming sinful mankind (The Gospel); it is more like a book of incantations to ward off evil spirits and make your dreams (finally) come true. You've largely forgotten about the simple Gospel message in your attempt to get secret knowledge from God (this is called "Gnosticism," by the way).

• You're (secretly) willing to skip the whole dream/destiny thing and just have some stability in your life, but the experts you're listening to tell you to "press in to get your miracle!" or something like that, and you still believe them. So, the very people whose bad ideas got you into this mess are the people you continue to listen to. How's that working for you?

• The one thing you don't want to do is have a "have a religious spirit." This meaningless catch-phrase keeps you locked into all of this chaos and confusion. How's that working for you?

• There are a number of bad ideas that you've been taught, and they all work together to prevent you from seeing the very obvious fact that you've become delusional. If you don't want to lose your mind, please read this article to see these bad ideas described and refuted: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs

• You refuse to acknowledge that a collection of bad ideas ("doctrine") has replaced the clear teachings of the Bible. In fact, you believe the doctrine that says "doctrine is not important." You like the teachers who teach you that teaching is bad. Here are a whole bunch of Bible verses that you are deliberately ignoring: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know!

• But you stick with those bad ideas because you like them.

• You continue to listen to false teachers because you like them.

• You continue attending a church that teaches false doctrine because you like it.

• Congratulations! You have lost your mind.

“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

— 2 Thessalonians 2: 11-12

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Here are a few more articles (with links to more articles) that discuss this difficult issue:

Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs

The Hyper-Charismatic House of Cards: Let It Fall and Be Free

Here's a recent episode of Fighting for the Faith where the author of this article (Steve Kozar) talks with Chris Rosebrough and @Aspree about this topic: How Not to Shipwreck Your Faith; here's the YouTube version: How Not to Shipwreck Your Faith

Here's a great little video from Chris Rice on this topic:

This article by Steven Kozar; check out his new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!

Hey Dr. Michael Brown, Your New Book is Already Useless!

Dr. Michael Brown has been very busy promoting his new book, even though it won't be released until April 3rd.

Here's an ad that is selling "signed and numbered" books:

Here's how this new book is described:

So, it sounds like Dr. Michael Brown is finally going to say something about the cesspool of false teachers in the Charismatic movement, doesn't it? Maybe he'll finally start calling out obvious frauds like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland, huh? Maybe he's taken a few hours to listen to the incredibly popular new Charismatic superstar, Todd White, right?

Nope.

Even though this book is already finished, he doesn't know what Kenneth Copeland teaches for sure. He has no idea what Todd White teaches. Here's what Brown said on his radio show just a few days ago:

Here's an article from last month that Dr. Brown pretends does not exist: Dr. Michael Brown, Here's Some Heresy Information For Your Upcoming Book. Brown claims that he disagrees with the Word of Faith teaching that Jesus went to Hell to fight off demons and become born again that he says Kenneth Copeland "used to teach..."

Here's a couple videos that many thousands of people have watched, but Dr. Brown pretends do not exist:

ATTENTION DR. BROWN: You've got absolute proof that Kenneth Copeland AND Todd White both teach this doctrine! And you expect people to buy your book so they can learn about doctrinal error in the Charismatic movement?

You either didn't bother to do much research on the topic of your already useless book, or worse, you are hiding doctrinal error within your own movement.

After Dr. Brown wrote another one of his "important books" about the hyper-grace movement, he had a meeting with the #1 Hyper-grace false teacher in the world: Joseph Prince. And he declared: "Joseph Prince is okay!" Here's an article about that train-wreck: Dr. Michael Brown Adopts a New Pet Wolf-Joseph Prince. 

In this most recent Line of Fire program Dr. Brown also said that he "abhors the carnal prosperity message." No, Dr. Brown, you do not. You are such a close friend to Sid Roth that you've not only been a guest many times, but you've even been a guest host on his idiotic, money-grubbing TV program. Here's a small compilation of the prosperity message from Sid Roth:

We can expect nothing to happen after this "important book" is released. Nothing, except that Dr. Michael Brown will have made more money on yet another book, while pretending he's a trustworthy expert. 

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Here are more articles and videos to consider (with many more links):

Does This String of Incredible Coincidences Connect Dr. Michael Brown to the NAR?

Dr. Michael Brown Ruins His Credibility on His Own Facebook Wall, Then Deletes All the Evidence

Michael Brown Can't Defend "Sneaky Squid Spirit"-Repeatedly Changes the Subject

Dr. Michael Brown (Sort of) Approves of These "Fine Christians..." Watch at your Own Risk!

Why Michael Brown & Friends are Right and Everyone Else is Wrong?

Gatekeeper of False Teachings-- Dr. Michael Brown

Pharisees and False Teachers: A Modern Day Look at the Crooks Christ Couldn’t Stand

Phil Johnson rebukes Dr Michael Brown.

The Dr. Michael Brown Checklist of Manipulation

Does Michael Brown Know More About Benny Hinn Than He Lets On?

Sneaky Squids and Sola Scriptura

Dr. Michael Brown probably doesn't want you to listen to this episode of Fighting for the Faith: Calamari Discord

Does This String of Incredible Coincidences Connect Dr. Michael Brown to the NAR?

New Apostolic Reformation

Dr. Michael Brown is trying very hard to make it appear like the New Apostolic Reformation barely even exists. He's recently completed an entire program devoted to distancing himself from the movement he doesn't think is real. In the process of describing the thing he doesn't believe exists, he ends up explaining some of the core beliefs of the movement itself... you know, the movement that doesn't really exist.

It seems that Dr. Brown fluctuates between two opposing ideas:

• On one hand, he wants people to believe that the NAR isn't real and if you believe in it you're "chasing shadows." He ridicules NAR critics as "conspiracy theorists," which is really a meaningless smear intended to stop people from even looking into the matter.

• On the other hand, he describes the specific ideas coming from the leaders of the NAR (primarily the late C. Peter Wagner) and he makes it clear that he doesn't agree with all of those ideas.

Here's a brief compilation video showing how Dr. Brown contradicts himself on the existence of the NAR:

In Dr. Brown's radio show he described some of the specific beliefs of the NAR and how he doesn't agree with them. While it is very good that Dr. Brown has explained why he doesn't believe in or agree with certain NAR teachings, like "Dominionism" and the NAR's idea of authoritative contemporary Apostles, he knows (and promotes) plenty of NAR leaders who hold to these very views. Looking at all the ways that Dr. Michael Brown is closely associated with the NAR, one would have to believe in a lot of incredible coincidences to think that Brown has nothing to do with the NAR.

Pirate Christian Media has done a lot of research, writing and podcasting on this issue, but Dr. Brown says that we're "not credible" because we're "unethical." Why are we "not credible?" Because he says so. Why are we "unethical?" Because he says so. This is another thought-stopping device. His gullible listeners will hear those accusations and assume they must be true. But we've provided reams of evidence to support our assertions about Dr. Brown (as well as links to more information at other websites). Dr. Brown has such a bias against Pirate Christian Media that when Chris Rice called into his radio show to ask him some tough questions about the prosperity gospel, Brown talked over him and turned off his mic because he thought he was Chris Rosebrough; check out this article to hear that story: The Brown Rice Controversy. Here's a series of really good articles and videos about Dr. Michael Brown from Chris Rice's blog: Is Not Satire on Dr. Michael Brown

In this sound clip of Fighting for the Faith, Chris Rosebrough plays an audio clip where Dr. Michael Brown is pretending he knows very little about the "so-called" NAR in a recent podcast, but then in another audio clip from 2010 (seven years earlier) he sounded completely different, like he knew exactly what the NAR was and what the core beliefs were and who the primary leaders were... you know, the movement that doesn't really exist:

Let's take a look at the incredible string of coincidences: 

Dr. Michael Brown is published by Destiny House, a New Apostolic Reformation book company that clearly believes its purpose is to publish the "words of God" from the new prophets of God. Here's a post about an article from Destiny House publisher, Larry Sparks: "We Need to Get Weird Again"

Destiny House Publishing is a publisher that publishes Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton, Danny Silk, T. D. Jakes, Myles Munroe, Sid Roth, Doug Addison, Chuck Pierce, Heidi Baker, James Goll, John Crowder, John & Carol Arnott, Rick Joyner, Patricia King, Todd Bentley, Shawn Bolz, Randy Clark... and DR. MICHAEL BROWN. (What a coincidence, huh?)

Here's a brand new Destiny House book that features Bill Johnson, Lou Engle, James Goll and... DR. MICHAEL BROWN:

Dr. Michael Brown has no problem recommending the NAR's new Bible translation called The Passion Translation from Brian Simmons. This is not a real Bible at all, but the work of one man who doesn't know the original languages but nevertheless wrote his own version of the Bible. Adding totally new thoughts, ideas and "revelations" to the Word of God is okay with Dr. Brown (he thinks the Passion Bible is: "passionate, vibrant, powerful, and beautiful;" but admits that it shouldn't be a primary Bible):

The Passion Translation is not just a little different, it actually changes the meaning of passages to fit the agenda of the NAR. Here's an article with just a handful of shocking examples: A New NAR Bible-Drastic Differences by Holly Pivec.  Wanna see what kind of snake-oil salesman Brian Simmons is? Watch him on Sid Roth's TV Show: John Chapter 22 is Really Important (But God Won't Allow Us to Read It Yet)

Let's talk a little bit about Sid Roth.

Sid Roth has no problem inviting the very fringe of the fringe of the Hyper-Charismatic, New Apostolic Reformation crowd onto his ridiculous and embarrassing show called "It's Supernatural." If Sid Roth can sell some books, CDs and DVDs, he'll invite anyone with an unbelievable story to come on the show and make some money. This is the worst kind of salesmanship to extract money from the vulnerable and naive. Every show sells something (a book/CD package, usually) that makes outrageous promises that it clearly can't deliver. This is what's known as fraudulent marketing. This is a huckster making money in the name of God. 

Here's an example of all the crazy promises from just one show's product:

"Also, if you buy this $39 book/CD set you will:

• Partner with His presence!

• Release His power!

• Transform your world!

• Overcome addictions!

• Be free of anxiety, fear and compulsive desires!

• Be delivered from mental strongholds, extreme behaviors and sexual sin!

• You will exercise God's authority in every area of your life and destroy the works of the devil!

• You will be encouraged to believe for whatever it is you need!

• Obtain freedom and receive the power to overcome and end a life of struggling!

• Put an end to depression, bad habits, sexual bondage, fear and shame!

• Understand how to end sin at its root!

• Receive the power to overcome accusation and persecution!

• Walk in freedom and victory over the works of darkness like never before!"

Here are just a few examples of the outrageous things that regularly appear on Sid Roth's show:

Sid Roth has had most of the big names from the NAR on his show, plus some lesser known people as well.

Guess what? Dr. Michael Brown has been on his show a number of times, and they consider each other good friends who've known each other since 1984. Here's a recent show where they're selling his dieting plan:

Now here's Dr. Michael Brown on his Facebook wall telling everyone how excited he is to be the guest host of "It's Supernatural:"

By the way, Dr. Brown was happy to have Jonathan Cahn on his on radio show recently, to promote another one of his (unbiblical) "I've Discovered a Secret (again)" books:

Here's a (very disturbing) compilation video of NAR superstars Bill & Benni Johnson, Heidi & Rolland Baker and Sid Roth:

Here's Sid Roth selling the false revival of Todd Bentley in 2008, right before the "Lakeland Revival" collapsed into humiliation and bankruptcy after the Charismatic Day of Infamy:

Sid Roth recently had Rodney Howard-Browne on his show, and promoted him as the man behind the "great revivals" of the 1990s:

If you're thinking, "Well, Dr. Brown isn't a money-grubbing outrageous TV host like Sid Roth, he probably just goes on Sid's program to preach the Gospel. If Dr. Brown really knew about the contradictory, unbiblical and ridiculous content on Sid Roth's show, he wouldn't have anything to do with it." 

Nope.

Dr. Michael Brown has been extremely clear about his full support and endorsement of his close personal friend Sid Roth. A few years ago Dr. Brown interviewed Sid Roth and put that interview on his YouTube channel. A listener wrote on Dr. Brown's YouTube page to gently warn him that Sid Roth wasn't trustworthy because he doesn't always tell the truth. Dr. Brown responded in the strongest possible terms that he trusted Sid Roth 100%. Here's a screenshot from that page:

(Sid Roth is a huge NAR promoter, cheerleader and profiteer... and he's also fully supported by Dr. Michael Brown. What an incredible coincidence, huh?)

“Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”

— 2 Corinthians 2: 17

“For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

— Romas 16: 18

“...and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”

— 1 Timothy 6: 5

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him.”

— Luke 16: 13-14

Michael Brown is a big supporter of Heidi Baker. In this short compilation we hear Dr. Brown wholeheartedly interviewing and endorsing Heidi Baker and her book; then we see him he repeating the story Heidi told him about how she was paralyzed by God for seven days... she couldn't even go to the bathroom:

As one of the leaders of the Brownsville Revival (from the mid 1990s), Dr. Michael Brown says the Holy Spirit can cause staggering, convulsing, laughter, and falling:

Sounds like Dr. Brown is okay with any and all disturbing manifestations, doesn't it? (What an incredible coincidence, huh?)

Here's an interesting way to consider this issue, from Pastor Chris Rosebrough's Facebook page:

A gigantic figure in the New Apostolic Reformation movement is Bill Johnson. Johnson was called an Apostle by C. Peter Wagner at the Todd Bentley commissioning ceremony (also known as The Charismatic Day of Infamy). In Dr. Brown's recent program he mentioned that his critics (tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists) believe that the NAR is a "Dominionist" movement that somehow seeks to "take over the world." He then went on to say that "Nobody I know believes that!" That statement by itself is problematic for Dr. Brown to say, because he always repeats that he has no time to listen to anybody's sermons. He usually refers to Bill Johnson as a solid Christian, but then admits that he really doesn't know what he teaches. This is an obvious deflection technique that Dr. Brown employs a lot.

Here's a quote from page 10 of the Lance Wallnau (also known as "Commander of the Millibars") compilation book (Destiny House, 2013) entitled "Invading Babylon: The Seven Mountain Mandate"

Notice the second sentence in the second paragraph? "In simple terms, dominion theology is the idea that Christian believers are called to not only preach the Gospel and win converts to Christ but also to establish the Kingdom of God on earth." Here's another strange quote from Lance Wallnau's recent book:

“When we set aside our religious agendas to make others a success, we have learned the Kingdom mindset and have become a part of the transformation movement.”

— Lance Wallnau: "Invading Babylon: The Seven Mountain Mandate"

Lance Wallnau has spent over a decade promoting and teaching the Seven Mountain Mandate as if it was something from the Bible, and everyone knows this teaching as a form of dominionism. Bill Johnson is in the same camp as Wallnau, otherwise why would they have collaborated on a Seven Mountain Mandate book together? 

In this video, Bill Johnson says this: "When the kingdom of God is preached there are automatically, when the Kingdom is preached effectively, there’s automatically, miracles signs and wonders to support the message. So when the Bible says when the kingdom of God will be preached throughout all the earth and the end will come is actually stating there will be full on manifestation and demonstration of the reality of God's dominion breaking into every culture, every society confronting every illness, every part of broken humanity, that will take place before the end comes. An effective preaching of the Gospel always brings the king into the room."

He's a confusing video from Wallnau at MorningStar Ministries, talking about how Christians are supposed to be taking over the seven mountains:

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’”

— Jesus in John 18:36

Dr. Brown thinks so highly of Lance "Commander of the Millibars" Wallnau that he had him as a featured guest on his show recently:

This "Dominionist," "Seven Mountain Mandate" teaching is prominent with many NAR leaders, including Lance Wallnau, Bill Johnson and this next guy, another close friend of Dr. Brown: Rick Joyner.

Dr. Michael Brown explains that although the (semi-fictitious) NAR believes that the "new Apostles on earth today are equivalent to the original Apostles in the New Testament," he rejects that belief and he doesn't think any of his friends really believe that either. No, Dr. Brown, you have plenty of friends that believe we're in a special new end-time season where God is giving us new Apostles who are equivalent to the (real) Apostles.

Here's a quote from the introduction of Rick Joyner's book (MorningStar, 2006), "The Apostolic Ministry"

“One of the most important events at the end of the church age will be the restoration of the apostolic ministry to the church. The ministry that opened the church age will be the one that closes it. The raising up of a victorious church, demonstrating for all time to all creation that truth will prevail over lies and righteousness will prevail over iniquity, will be the completed job of the apostolic ministry.”

— Rick Joyner, "The Apostolic Ministry"

Rick Joyner is at the core of the Hyper-Charismatic New Apostolic Reformation (but he's on the outer fringe of anything resembling Christianity); he was also one of the "Apostles" present for the commissioning ceremony for Todd Bentley (also known as The Charismatic Day of Infamy). Joyner claims to have trances that lead him to have direct contact with God and the original Apostles; he has written extensively about these visions in a series of best-selling books that would make probably make Joseph Smith cringe. His most popular book is The Final Quest, and it is a frightening and nightmarish story of Christians engaged in an end-times civil war where the Bible-believing Christians are killed by the "spirit-lead" Christians. It is a book of 100% new revelation that any Bible-believing Christian should treat as the worst kind of heresy imaginable.

Here's a recent video of Dr. Michael Brown promoting Rick Joyner and his MorningStar Ministries:

WARNING: This is (seriously) a very disturbing video of a "worship time" at Rick Joyner's MorningStar Ministries:

(Rick Joyner 's "ministry" is so far out there on the fringe that a voodoo ritual is considered "Christian worship," but it's also something Dr. Brown actively encourages people to send money to... what an incredible coincidence, huh?)

The New Apostolic Reformation, as defined by C. Peter Wagner, was the Charismatic movement that he and others originally called The Third Wave, but after the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville Revival in the mid to late 1990's, he came up with the name New Apostolic Reformation. Wagner believed the next big revival was the Lakeland Outpouring of 2008, but it completely imploded after The Charismatic Day of Infamy, where Todd Bentley was exposed as a fraud, adulterer and drunkard. Ever since the previous "revivals" fizzled, those leaders have been trying to start a new one. They've even got a new "super revival" coming up soon: "Light The Fire Again" (because all the other attempts to light the fire by renting stadiums and printing up fliers and building websites and producing emotionally manipulative videos and hiring emotional speakers and rock bands... has not yet lit the fire).

Notice that it says: "We are believing God to begin anew the mighty move of his Holy Spirit that swept across the earth at the close of the last century?" That's a direct reference to the Toronto and Brownsville "revivals" (and probably Smithton, too). A bunch of the leaders from that time are having a "reunion show" to talk about the good old days and get people all worked up again. Maybe they'll slay people in the spirit or get 'em down on all fours so they can bark like dogs again. By the way, you'll have to buy tickets for this "mighty move of the Holy Spirit" ($199).

Guess who is speaking at this reunion show? Yes, many of the original leaders of that "mighty move of God" that C. Peter Wagner called The New Apostolic Reformation...

Yep, that is the one and only Dr. Michael Brown, prominent speaker at the Toronto reunion show. He's gonna hang out with NAR leaders Randy Clark, Rick Joyner, John Kilpatrick, John Arnott... (What an incredible coincidence, huh?)

Speaking of John Arnott, he and his wife Carol were just recently "lighting the fire" on a special edition of Sid Roth's show:

There is a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, but it is a loosely-knit movement with no official leader or official doctrinal statement. A number of the key NAR beliefs originated in the New Order of the Latter Rain movement, which had splintered from the Pentecostal movement in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Latter Rain ideas were condemned by the Assemblies of God, but they've survived and flourished in spite of that.

Here's an official statement from the Assemblies of God: Endtime Revival: Spirit-led & Spirit-controlled. Some of the ideas that have come from the New Order of the Latter Rain are: the passing of an anointing by the laying on of hands; new revelations and "prophetic words" for the end times generation; a new generation of "manifested sons of God;" adherence to specially anointed end-times Prophets and Apostles; and supernatural healing as normative and expected. On top of those NOLR beliefs, here are some of the ideas that most NAR leaders believe:

• A belief that "ordinary" church growth is not good enough, we must have "revival" which is more "radical" and always involves fire of some sort.

• A belief that supernatural signs & wonders must be the practice of every Christian (regular Christians are to be pitied because they're not "on fire").

• A belief that the Holy Spirit is always desiring more attention for Himself, and He wants to make you do awkward, weird and humiliating stuff... because He wants to have greater intimacy with you. This same Holy Spirit can't function unless you attend manipulative "revival" conferences with speakers who yell a lot and rock bands who perform music from Hillsong and/or Jesus Culture.

• A belief that God really wants to give us this revival, but Christians haven't done enough to make it happen. We're not "hungry" enough, we're not "desperate" enough, we haven't "surrendered" enough, we're not "willing to burn" enough. We have to keep going to the next big conference or rally because each one is "The Most Important Event of Our Lifetime."

• A belief that we are to work toward, and expect, a "billion-soul harvest" sometime (very) soon.

• A belief that all of these crazy ideas are valid, in spite of the fact that they are not found in God's Word.

The Bible does NOT put these requirements on us.

Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

He did not die on the cross so we could run around for the rest of our life trying to "burn more" or "really go after Him" or repeatedly ask for "more Lord, more" or any such thing. On top of that, the Bible makes no mention of a "billion soul harvest," no matter how much Lou Engle yells about it as he rocks back and forth. The billion soul harvest was made up in the twisted mind of false prophet, Bob Jones.

Here's the "prophet" Bob Jones, at Rick Joyner's MorningStar Ministries making that "billion soul" prediction, just like he did for decades before:

This is the same "seer-prophet" that sat right next to Todd Bentley and couldn't "see" that he was a fraud:

Bob Jones, Todd Bentley, Rick Joyner, Patricia King, Heidi Baker, Randy Clark, Bill Johnson, Sid Roth, Lou Engle, John & Carol Arnott, Kris Vallotton, Chuck Pierce, Todd White, Benny Hinn, Lance Wallnau, Mike Bickle, Che Ahn, James Goll, Shawn Bolz, Cindy Jacobs... these are people who have similar beliefs and practices (and there are thousands more like them, with millions and millions of followers). There is not a secret conspiracy joining them together in a specific plot to do some horrible thing that is deeply hidden.

Nope.

These are just people who have certain theological beliefs that are similar and, we at Pirate Christian Media believe, wrong. There are plenty of true Pentecostals who also believe some of these teachings are wrong (like the Assemblies of God!), so this is not an issue of cessationism versus continuationism as Dr. Brown wants everyone to think. We believe these ideas are not supported by God's Word, and we believe that millions of people are being harmed greatly by these false teachings.

Dr. Michael Brown has made it clear that he rejects some of the beliefs of this NAR group, like the specific dominionist beliefs that most of them hold to, and the belief that modern day apostles are somehow authoritative like the New Testament Apostles. We are happy to know where he stands on these issues.

But in most other matters, it seems that Dr. Michael Brown has a lot in common with these people. He wants all of the other connections to be seen as coincidences. That's a LOT of coincidences. There could be ten more articles just like this one with more and more evidence of Dr. Brown's approval and participation in these NAR teachings. 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

— 1 John 4: 1

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

— 1 Corinthians 14: 33

“An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?”

— Jeremiah 5: 30-31

“And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.”

— Ezekiel 22: 28

“Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading.”

— Lamentations 2: 14

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

— Matthew 24: 2

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Here are a few really helpful videos from Chris Rosebrough addressing this issue:

Here's a great resource with a lot of information about the history of the New Apostolic Reformation and its origins in the New Order of the Latter Rain: What is the NAR?

Here's a gigantic article that Dr. Brown probably hopes you never read: Dr. Michael Brown Ruins His Credibility on His Own Facebook Wall, Then Deletes All the Evidence

The Creepy, Drunk and Weird "Encounter Gospel" GIF Gallery!

In my previous episodes of "The Encounter Gospel" I explained the fortune-telling ("prophetic") version, and then the Hypnotic Worship "Encounter Gospel." With this episode you can simply watch... and learn! Click on any one of the GIFs to watch more. Also, it might be a fun to watch this together as a family next Halloween (if your kids are old enough)!

(Documented Fraud) Todd Bentley Giving John and Carol Arnott an "Encounter"

Che Ahn giving this woman "an encounter"

Rodney Howard-Browne spreads a laughing "Encounter" with God in the nineties

Rodney Howard-Browne keeps Giving People "Encounters" today

Stacey Campbell having "an encounter" (John & Carol Arnott standing by, Hoping they don't get punched)

Randy Clark Giving Todd Bentley an "Encounter" (and falsely prophesying About him and his "great" ministry)

Randy Clark giving this woman a screaming in pain "encounter"

Heidi Baker having one of her many drunken "encounters"

Lou Engle Can give the whole room a "rock back and forth Encounter!"

An "Encounter" at Mike Bickle's International House of Prayer (IHOP) 

Multiple "encounters" at Bethel Church

For the truly adventurous, you can give people an Encounter they'll never forget! Watch Heidi Baker transfer a demon at Bethel Church on iBethelTV for all the world to see!

We just looked at Heidi Baker imparting some kind of demonic spirit, so we might as well study the outright Voodoo Festival at Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries:

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If you're feeling left out on all the fun, there's a good chance you'll see plenty of "encounters" at the Toronto Blessing Reunion Show coming up this April! Buy your tickets soon!!

"Judas Helped Me Get There" Worst Sermon Ever??

Here's another useful (and frustrating) sermon review from BezelT3. This episode features a "sermon" from "pastors" Adam and Candice Smithyman, who also make money as "dream mentors."

Here's Todd White Contradicting, Yelling, Electrocuting and Bragging

Here's Todd White contradicting himself about the way of salvation; on one hand he says that "we don't get anyone saved," but then he says that he can get people saved by claiming them with his super powerful words. He says "I can actually claim somebody that doesn't believe and there's no way for them to get out of it." This is utterly bizarre and confusing:

Here's Todd White, the highly-paid professional speaker, partnering with his "mentor and spiritual father," the ridiculous prosperity preacher Kenneth Copeland (seen with his good friend and fellow prosperity preacher Jesse Duplantis). Todd White talks about how God requires us to be "uncomfortable in order for this Christian life to work right," while Copeland and Duplantis desire comfort so much that they require their own private jets:

Here's Todd White, the highly-paid professional speaker, yelling a lot and telling God what He must do. "Right now!! Right now!! Right now!! Right now!!" seems to be the magic catchphrase: 

Here's Todd White, the highly-paid professional speaker, telling people stories that are... "shocking:"

Here's Todd White, the highly paid professional speaker, literally bragging about how good he is. How does he know how good he is? Because he lives with himself! Do not question this highly paid professional speaker:

“They tie up heavy loads, burdens that are hard to carry, and place them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to help them. They do all their works to be seen by people. They make their phylacteries wide and lengthen the fringes of their garments. They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called “Rabbi” by the people.”

— Jesus talking about the Pharisees in Matthew 23: 4-7

“You cannot serve God and mammon. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him.”

— Luke 16: 13-14

“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

— Luke 18: 9-14

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Wanna know how much money Todd White actually makes? In 2015 it was OVER $600,000!! 

Here's an article with details on Todd's obscene income: Todd White: How Much Money Does He Actually Make?

 Here’s a giant compilation of articles about Todd White: The Todd White Cornucopia of False Teaching 

The Hypnotic Worship "Encounter Gospel" of Bethel & the NAR Explained

In the previous episode of this little series, I wrote about the fortune-telling Encounter Gospel, but now I'm going to explain another great way to have an Encounter With God: Hypnotic Worship!

Here's a quick summary of the new and better Gospel of the Kingdom:

• People aren't really that bad, they just need to be convinced of how special they are-they need to understand their "true identity."
• Religion is the real source of people's problems, not rebellion against God (sin).
• God is desperately trying to get people to "accept" Him, but He's been hindered by the historic Christian Church, with its specific, Biblical teachings about Salvation, Heaven and Hell, The Atonement of Jesus Christ, and all other forms of unnecessary "head knowledge" found in the Bible. 
• People would believe in God if they could just see some proof for themselves, they need an experience of some sort.
• Bethel (and similar NAR churches) know how to give people the proof they need to believe that God is real, He loves them, and He wants all of their dreams to come true so they can fulfill their "Destiny."

How does Bethel teach you to provide proof of God's existence? How can you quickly and easily convert just about anyone you want? 

Give people an "Encounter with God." This is the new and better "Gospel of the Kingdom!"

You're practically guaranteed to Encounter God during the worship time at Bethel and churches like it (especially if they've got a moderately capable rock band, an emotional lead singer and plenty of electricity). The important thing is to suspend all of your disbelief and become completely open to the hypnosis of modern praise music (the very lengthy and repetitive songs will certainly help!).  

A gigantic church like Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, or many other wannabe churches can't reach many people when it's done person to person (plus, pastor/celebrities don't often like to mix with the general public). But packing thousands of like-minded, receptive and gullible people into a darkened room allows the full manipulation treatment to work its magic. Rest assured that once you've entered into this carefully controlled environment, the lights, fog machines, music and passionate song leaders will do the rest. You're gonna feel it! (Note: At a normal rock concert you would feel it too, but in this case we will always refer to "it" as God, the Holy Spirit.)

When this mass Encounter really gets going and the crowd is worked up into a frothy madness, the best worship leaders start making stuff up on the spot...

This Encounter thing is so important that churches are scheduling various events in order to make sure everyone has one. For instance, you can have a special Encounter service or conference at your church (the best ones have a guest speaker from Bethel!):

Of course, nothing beats the ultimate Encounter: going to an actual Jesus Culture/Bethel Event!! This is where God spends most of His time! (Although, there is this nagging question: If "one encounter changes everything" why do they keep scheduling these events? Shouldn't everything be changed by now??)

Here's another idea that seems to make sense: simply name your church "Encounter Church" or something like that:

This last Encounter thing is almost too good to be true, I hesitate to even mention it because unless you live in Nashville you'll never get to experience it for yourself. What is it? It's a church full of worship leader/rock stars! And if that isn't enough, they have Encounter Classes!!

In summary, here are the key points to understand:

• If your church doesn't have a rock concert of hypnotic worship music you cannot expect the Holy Spirit to make an appearance.
• The best way to Encounter God through worship is to purchase, perform and promote Bethel Music, Hillsong Music and whatever other new music is most popular at the moment.
• Old people who don't agree to the previous two points can still participate, but they must keep their outdated opinions to themselves.
• Young people are incapable of reading and comprehending the Bible, unless it is chopped up into tiny pieces and used as lyrical filler for modern worship music or as proof texts for speeches dramatically performed by appropriately attired pastors whose relatability is insured by their slavish devotion to cultural styles and trends...

Lastly, here are some important things to remember: 

• "Encountering God" through modern hypnotic worship music was never modeled or taught to the church in the New Testament... so just ignore that.

• "Encountering God" as an emotional experience induced by an emotionally manipulative environment was never modeled or taught to the church in the New Testament... so just ignore that.
• "Feeling the Presence of God" was never modeled or taught to the church in the New Testament... so just ignore that.
• The Holy Bible (God's Word) can be used as a prop to wave around in one's hand as verses get strip-mined to validate life lessons, but it must never command too much attention for itself and cause anyone to become overly religious. In doubt about how to use the Bible? Just ignore it. 

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Seriously, this is a very important topic; the hope of this article was to grab your attention and cause you to consider things that you might have overlooked and encourage you to more carefully delve into what the Bible actually teaches.

Here's a video with some sobering thoughts:

Here is a related episode of Fighting for the Faith with links to a lot of articles on this topic:

Heresy Hiding in Plain Site-A Pirate Gang Conversation

Dr. Michael Brown, Here's Some Heresy Information For Your Upcoming Book

Recently Dr. Michael Brown was on James White's program "The Dividing Line" and he took a very clear stand against the heresy that Jesus died and went to hell to be punished by Satan. Good job, Dr. Brown! It was great to hear such a clear proclamation of truth. 

“The heretical Word of Faith teaching that Jesus died in Hell... became sin and was born again as a glorified man, that’s a heretical belief that I categorically reject.”

— Dr. Michael Brown on The Dividing Line Jan. 2, 2018

In that same program, Dr. Brown mentioned that he knew nothing about Todd White or what he teaches (we understand that even though he recently spoke at a "One Thing" conference, Dr. Brown wasn't there for Todd's speech). Dr. Brown also mentioned that he's working on a new book about correcting bad teaching in the Charismatic movement, which we applaud.

We want to help Dr. Brown with his new book and sincerely hope it reaches many people with the clear Gospel message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

So here's a video of Todd White clearly teaching the exact heresy that Dr. Brown spoke against. You can also see Todd's mentor Kenneth Copeland yelling out this disturbing false doctrine to a nodding and approving Todd White:

“Jesus goes to Hell-I believe-He went to Hades, He went down and descended into the depths of the earth for three days and He pays for the sin of mankind”

— Todd White

“One! One! One born again human being defeated all of Hell! ALL OF IT!!”

— Kenneth Copeland

In summary, we are glad that Dr. Michael Brown wants to curb false teaching within the Charismatic movement and hope that these examples of contemporary leaders (like Todd White) teaching Word of Faith heresy helps in that cause.

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For further research:

The Word of Faith Cornucopia of False Doctrine

Dr. Michael Brown Ruins His Credibility on His Own Facebook Wall, Then Deletes All the Evidence

A "Blackface" Pastor and His Jam: Young Christians are in Trouble

Here's another informative and disturbing video from the great YouTube channel BezelT3. This time he's reviewing video footage from (yet another) conference, "The Awakening Conference" and this embarrassing speech from Chad Veach:

The Fortune-Telling "Encounter Gospel" of Bethel & the NAR Explained

Tired of getting no results with old-fashioned, Bible-based Christianity? It's time to go off the map with Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton and all of their New Apostolic Reformation friends! In this first episode of this series we will focus on the fortune-telling aspect of the "Encounter Gospel," so get out your tarot cards, oops... I mean get out your Destiny Cards and let's get started! Here's a quick summary of the new and better Gospel of the Kingdom:

• People aren't really that bad, they just need to be convinced of how special they are-they need to understand their "true identity."

• Religion is the real source of people's problems, not rebellion against God (sin).

• God is desperately trying to get people to "accept" Him, but He's been hindered by the historic Christian Church, with its specific, Biblical teachings about Salvation, Heaven and Hell, The Atonement of Jesus Christ, and all other forms of unnecessary "head knowledge" found in the Bible.

• People would believe in God if they could just see some proof for themselves.

• Bethel teaches how to give people the proof they need to believe that God is real, He loves them, and He wants all of their dreams to come true so they can fulfill their "Destiny."

How does Bethel teach you to provide proof of God's existence? How can you convert anyone you want? 

Give people an "encounter with God." This is the new and better "Gospel of the Kingdom!"

• Tell them something about themselves that can only be known supernaturally, exactly like a psychic, only much better!

• Always tell them something good about themselves; especially about how they have a great "Destiny" and how God thinks they're amazing.

• Do NOT call this fortune-telling, call it prophecy. Examples: "I operate in the prophetic," or "I have a prophetic gifting/anointing/mantle/office," or "Wow! I received a prophecy from Theresa and it was dead-on!" or "These aren't tarot cards-they're prophecy cards!"

• It helps if you have some stock phrases memorized ahead of time, like these: "I'm sensing a shift in the atmosphere," or "You've been waiting for a breakthrough, haven't you?" or "God wants you to know that you're very special and He hasn't forgotten about you."

• If your prospect appears skeptical or nervous, assure them that you're getting direct downloads from the third heaven realm.

• Remember, you want people to feel confirmed, accepted and convinced of their value as unregenerate and unreconciled people ("sinners"); so do NOT mention outdated ideas like the need to repent before a Holy and Sovereign God who is angry at their sin. This means that Jesus dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins can (and should) be ignored.

• If you don't have effective fortune-telling skills you can always bring people to a manipulative "church" service (the bigger the better!), where highly emotional music is performed, theatrical stagecraft with dramatic lighting is utilized, and unverifiable stories are repeated by skillful speakers who can sell God's "Presence" and convince audience members to make "decisions" for Jesus.

• Our next installment in this series will explain the Hypnotic Worship "Encounter Gospel"

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Topless Dancing at Christalignment "Workshop"-Does Kris Vallotton Approve?

Bethel Church Tells Witch that She's "On the Right Path" and "God is So Proud of Her!"

Cindy Jacobs Explains Her Psychic Ability as "Spiritual Reading"

Here are some NAR filmmakers and pastors talking about the Encounter Gospel that they gladly teach and promote:

“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

— Mark 1:4

“I baptize you with water for 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.”

— Matthew 3:11

“And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

— Luke 3:3

“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

— Luke 5:32

“And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

— Luke 24:47

“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.””

— Acts 2:38

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”

— Acts 3:19

“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

— Romans 2:5

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

— 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

— 2 Peter 2:9

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

— Proverbs 28:13

The Hyper-Charismatic House of Cards: Let It Fall and Be Free

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This article by Steven Kozar; check out his new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!

Kris Vallotton LIES About the Bible (And Carey Nieuwhof Loves It)

Carey Nieuwhof is an evangelical "leadership expert" who has various guests on his podcast to share their stories and ideas. In episode 149 he interviewed Bethel pastor Kris Vallotton. After telling stories of supernatural miracles at Bethel ("thousands!"), Vallotton tells Nieuwhof that "three-quarters of the book of Acts is miracles... if you took out all the miracles, most of the book would be gone." It appears that Nieuwhof has never read the book of Acts, because he totally agrees and does his best surfer-dude "Woooow!"

Listen to this ridiculous lie for yourself: 

The book of Acts is not three-quarters miracles, not even close. Kris Vallotton either doesn't actually read the Bible, or he's willfully lying about it. Is there another option? Is it possible that what he said is "sort of" true?

Nope.

Kris Vallotton is ignoring the mathematical fact that most of the book of Acts is not about miracles. Go ahead and read it for yourself. There are some amazing miracles, for sure, and those miracles helped to establish the Christian Church before we had the completed Bible. But the book of Acts is just one book in the New Testament, and the New Testament is just part of the whole Bible, and the whole Bible is really about God redeeming mankind through the atoning death of his son, Jesus Christ, who took our place on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. That is the focal point of the entire Bible!

Here is a chart (found online) of the miracles in the book of Acts:

Notice how that list is not 75% of the book of Acts? In the Reformation Study Bible the introduction to the book of Acts says this: "The centrality of the preached word to the church's growth is illustrated by the abundance of sermonic material in Acts. At least 30% of the words in Acts are found in the speeches of Apostles and other Christian witnesses."  Do the math...

New Apostolic Reformation

Vallotton and many NAR people like him, believe that the church should take dominion over the earth, and in order to do so we must provide people with "encounters with God." According to this belief system, God is waiting for us to become just like Jesus and supernaturally cause non-believers to become believers, based on how we prove God is real. How do we "prove" God is real? We either "prophecy over them" (like a fortune-teller or psychic), or we miraculously heal them. Here's an article about the crazy "prophetic" ministry at Bethel: Bethel Church Tells Witch that She's "On the Right Path" and "God is So Proud of Her!"

But in the book of Acts we see the (real) Apostles primarily preaching about Jesus. Wanna hear some great sermons? Go read the book of Acts! You will also notice that plenty of people did not believe the Gospel message, in spite of the miracles that had been taking place. The (real) Apostles are shown primarily preaching and teaching from the Scriptures-not doing personalized miracles or pseudo-fortune-telling for everyone they meet. There were no "Schools of Supernatural Ministry," either. The (real) Apostles didn't try to heal people until they got better at it-they just did it. By the end of the book of Acts we see a decline in miraculous activity, and we read of the Gospel message being spread by preaching and teaching through establishing churches. Although Bill Johnson built Bethel Church on his "only revival, all the time" philosophy, which he brought from the Toronto Blessing, he (and Vallotton) are actually ignoring much of what the book of Acts says-not to mention the entire Bible-and they are adding new teachings of men. Here are many Bible passages that Kris Vallotton probably hopes you ignore: Shocking Stuff you're Not Supposed to Know!

Carey Nieuwhof began his interview by saying that all Christians should get along with each other regardless of their "minor" differences, and he sets the stage for Kris Vallotton to push his hyper-charismatic "New Apostolic Reformation" agenda without question. Why? I would guess that Nieuwhof had good intentions, but he's incredibly gullible and it seems he hasn't done any research on Bethel-he just assumes that we can all learn something from Kris Vallotton because he's so successful, his church is really big and it claims to be experiencing thousands of miracles. Nieuwhof did not want his podcast to go off into the Cessationist versus Continuationist debate, but he went to the other extreme and just let Kris Vallotton spread his Latter Rain/NAR doctrine as if it was irrefutable, and he wholeheartedly agreed as Vallotton lied about the very Word of God.

In this interview we see a NAR leader (Vallotton) gaining prominence over a Seeker-Friendly leader (Nieuwhof), because apparently "numbers don't lie" and we can't question anyone who sounds sincere and makes great claims about himself, especially if he's got 13 books on the market.

The New Apostolic Reformation is merging with the Seeker-Friendly Church-Growth Movement, and it seems that everyone is consumed with leadership:

• "Leadership" demands results above doctrine, so there's no reason to question Vallotton.
• "Leadership" admires innovation above doctrine, and Bethel is certainly "innovative" (just like the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses).
• "Leadership" strip mines the Bible to find random verses that comply with contemporary business and growth ideas, so anyone can twist the Bible in order to "gets results."
• "Leadership" gladly looks to the pagan world for new ideas to promote growth or success.     

Want to see an example of how far from biblical Christianity this "leadership" thing goes? Here's an article from Carey Nieuwhof that seems like satire, but it's not: 5 Things The New IPhone X Can Teach You About Leadership (Whatever You Lead)

Here are a bunch of memes from (Pastor?) Kris Vallotton's facebook page; notice how he gladly quotes the success and motivational ideas from these non-Christians:

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Please do your homework on these serious issues facing the church:

Kris Vallotton RUNS From His Own Facebook Post!!

Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton Want the Mantle of False Teacher William Branham

Kris Vallotton: Prosperity Preacher Exchanging Love for Wealth

Listen to Kris Vallotton twist the daylights out of God's Word in the second half of this episode of Fighting for the Faith

Here's a perspective on healing that you'll never hear from Kris Vallotton: A Deeper Healing (Joni Eareckson Tada) 

Here's a gigantic compilation of articles: The Bill Johnson Cornucopia of False Teaching, Bible-Twisting and General Absurdity

Bill Johnson and the NAR "Super Apostles" don't want you to know about their involvement in the Charismatic Day of Infamy.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

The "Bethel Board"-Encounter God With This New Game! (No, it's NOT a Ouija Board, You Religious Pharisee)

(Please read this entire article)

We all know how important it is to have massive encounters with God, right? Well, now it can be fun, too! Introducing the brand new board game from Bethel Church in Redding, California: "The Bethel Board!" (And it's just in time for Christmas!)

Since the prophet Kris Vallotton decided that "Christian Tarot Cards" were okay (as long as we call them "Destiny Cards") we are now free to welcome any Occult, New Age, or fortunetelling practices into the church and into our living rooms! Imagine all the fun you'll have as you get direct downloads from the Third Heaven! With this spiritual-but-not-religious new board game, you'll be just like Bill Johnson himself (and without his vacuous, rambling and incoherent speeches to spoil all the fun).

And don't keep all the fun to yourself, invite your pagan friends over to play the game so they can get a "reading" on their "destiny!" They'll never know you're a Christian! What a great way to reach the lost with the message of Destiny, Presence Therapy, Dream Interpretation and Relationship Alignment.

For all of you narrow-minded people who think this is just a re-packaged Ouija board, you have nothing to fear because this game draws from the same divine energy of the Christ spirit, as ancient followers did and it operates only out of the third heaven realm to gain insight and revelation. Don't worry, Bethel Board encounters coming from the third heaven realm bring lasting life transformation and guidance! 

So pick up this supernaturally exciting new game at your local Christian Bookstore today!

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This whole article is fake, it's a crazy over-the-top satire piece. Or is it really "over-the-top?"

The language used in this article comes from Bethel Church and from Christalignment.org, in fact, the last paragraph simply inserts "Bethel board" into sentences taken word for word from the home page of Christalignment (note the bottom two paragraphs):

The people at Christalignment are serious about going undercover so they can use Destiny Card readings to tell people their "Destiny" (and not preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Here are some examples from the Christalignment website:

Christalignment and Bethel Church teach the same things! Here's a story written by a student of Bethel's "School of Supernatural Ministry" where students are encouraged to operate undercover at New Age/Psychic  fairs: Are You More Religious Than Jesus?

Here's a screenshot of the article:

Global Awakening, which was founded by Randy Clark (a very close friend of Bill Johnson and Bethel) produced a movie called Witch City that features their students doing exactly the same thing as Christalignment:

Please, read more about this important topic:

Kris Vallotton and Bethel Cannot Escape Link to New Age Occultism

Jen Hodge – trained in ‘using divine energy’, in touch with her ‘inner gypsy’ & ‘in the hands of the spirits’?

Bethelgate – looking under the rug of Bethel administration.

Hodge connects ChristAlignment to Bethel; Bethel retracts statement.

Kris Vallotton RUNS From His Own Facebook Post!!

The "Christian" Tarot Card Controversy at Bethel Redding

Read about witches getting positive "prophetic words" at Bethel Church: Bethel Church Tells Witch that She's "On the Right Path" and "God is So Proud of Her!"

“I used to preach Christ and Him crucified for sinners, but now I do readings on people so I can tell them their destiny.”

— NOT a Real Apostle from the Holy Bible

This article by Steven Kozar; check out his new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!

"Leviathan Spirit"-Biting Satire Aimed at LeClaire's "Sneaky Squid" Fails to Hit Target

Satirical writer, R. Loren Sandford, has tried to grab people's attention with another over-the-top article at CharismaMag.com, and this time he's set his sights on the writings of fellow Charisma writer (and former Senior Editor), Jennifer LeClaire. Unfortunately, it appears the gullible readers of this online magazine have failed to see the biting humor, and might actually believe this to be useful information:

Block the Leviathan Spirit's Deadly Attacks With This Spiritual Insight

Sandford begins his article by saying this:

"Recently, at a national level, as well as in the church, we have suffered an attack of the Leviathan spirit. Before you get too mystical about all that, understand that Leviathan is a metaphorical reference Scripture draws from the image of a great serpentine sea creature. It describes a spirit that works to twist words and perceptions in order to disrupt and destroy the people of God."

Being the clever writer that he is, Sandford then goes on to disprove his previous paragraph, by showing that the few Bible passages that even mention Leviathan at all make no claims about it being a dangerous spirit-being. 

In his provocative prose, (surely intended as a literary jab at LeClaire) Sandford begins to write about Leviathan as a metaphorical device and then gradually confuses the reader by turning it into an actual being-exactly the kind of mystical mumbo-jumbo that Jennifer LeClaire propagates! Check out these crazy quotes from Sandford:

• "In recent days, Leviathan has been at work in the body of Christ, as well as in the realm of government and society."
• "Incredibly difficult to dislodge, Leviathan feeds on pride, the assertion, first, that we are "right" in our perceptions and judgments and, second, that we are so holy, loving and in touch with God as to be immune to its influence."
• "Let us reject this poisonous, twisting serpent, pray it out of our lives and fellowships and stand on the principles of the kingdom of God in glory."

See how Sandford has demonstrated the total confusion that permeates the modern "prophetic" movement? It seems like every other article on CharismaMag.com is about some newly discovered demon, monster or secret "prophetic" something-or-other...

Sandford has written many of these silly and far-fetched articles in an attempt to show how far from Biblical Christianity these readers have strayed. Previous articles like "How to Discern Truth Amid a Sea of False Prophesies" and "Flood of Aberrant Doctrines Endangering True Faith" are bold, self-refuting satire articles intended to demonstrate the incoherence of having such articles alongside Charisma Magazine's constant flow of false prophets, misguided amateurs, and "Christian" fortune-tellers. 

Sadly, Sandford's clever use of satire was just too subtle, and it remains doubtful that CharismaMag.com readers will understand his intended meaning, which is this:

Charisma Magazine has abandoned Biblical Christianity in favor of publishing the vain imaginations of fallible people who spout nonsense in order to tickle itching ears and draw attention away from the true and unchanging Gospel message of Jesus Christ. 

That's a great message, so keep trying Mr. Sandford, and maybe next time you'll finally get through to these people!

Podcast Interview with Marcia Montenegro About "Jesus Calling"

Christian Answers for the New Age home page for Marcia Montenegro's ministry

Some of Marcia Montenegro's articles that were mentioned in this podcast:

Contemplative Prayer article

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young: A False Jesus?

One Thousand Gifts article

Rob Bell article

Jesus Calling By Sarah Young: WUI (Writing Under The Influence)

New Thought article

Other articles on this topic:

Multiple Articles about Jesus Calling from the Berean Examiner

10 Serious Problems with Jesus Calling by Tim Challies

About That Jesus Calling-10 Things You Might Not Know by Warren Smith (with links to more articles)

"The Ministerial Vs Magisterial Use of Feelings"-Guest Post by Pastor Wolfmueller

Here's a really informative and helpful article from Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller:

The Ministerial Vs Magisterial Use of Feelings

On this same topic, here's an interview with Pastor Wolfmueller on Issues, Etc: 

The Proper Role of Emotions, 11/30/11 Issues, Etc.

Dr. Michael Brown on Mushy Carl Lentz: Clear As Mud

Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong NYC recently appeared on The View where he utterly failed to give a direct answer to Joy Behar's direct question about abortion. Interestingly enough, he was able to give a clear and direct answer to the immorality of racism just a moment later. This is an example of Lentz doing the thing he's very good at:

Maintaining the largest possible audience by stating the most popular position, while avoiding clear answers on unpopular positions. 

In response to the complete failure of Carl Lentz, Dr. Michael Brown did the thing he's proven himself very good at doing:

Providing cover for a fellow Christian celebrity, while simultaneously trying to sound like a balanced and neutral mediator.

As a side note, this happened two years ago regarding a questionable Hillsong "Silent Night" video: Follow Up to Sleazy Silent Night

PLEASE read (and share) this important article (with links to more articles) from Church Watch Central:

Brown Lends Lentz a Spine?

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Here's a great podcast from Matthew Garnett on this same topic: Carl Lentz Sells Out the Babies and the Evangelicals

For further research, here's another article about Carl Lentz NOT clearly proclaiming the Gospel while trying to increase his audience size: Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Biffs It on Oprah's SuperSoul Sunday

Here's a great teaching video from "Bezel Triple 3:"

Here's a LOT more information about Brian Houston (Carl Lentz's mentor and senior Pastor) and his Hillsong church: "The Brian Houston & Hillsong Cornucopia of False Doctrine,  Abuse, Obfuscation & Money Generation"

For those of you who think it's mean and unloving to criticize Hillsong, Carl Lentz (or any other popular teacher) here's a list of Bible verses to consider: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

If you're having a knee-jerk reaction to try and defend Carl Lentz or Hillsong, check out: Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs.

Finally, here's an important article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

The Kenneth Copeland Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Word of Faith Sorcery and Big Piles of Money

Kenneth Copeland is a Word of Faith (WOF) superstar and has been able to maintain an air of credibility for 50 years, in spite of having done and said some really crazy and heretical things in a very open format. He is the king of the "Prosperity Gospel" and is proud of it. 

Here are a few videos easily found on YouTube:

“The more you get to be like Me, the more they’re going to think that way of you. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me. Hallelujah. That’s what you’re doing.”

— Kenneth Copeland giving a "prophetic word" as Jesus in the Believer's Voice of Victory Magazine, February 1987

“The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, ‘Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don’t let your tradition trip you up.’ He said, ‘Think this way—a twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain.’ And I threw my Bible down … like that. I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him.’ He said, ‘You are the very image, the very copy of that one.’ I said, ‘Well now you don’t mean, you couldn’t dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, if you’d had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could’ve done the same thing, ‘cause you’re a reborn man too.”

— Sourced from a tape: Substitution and Identification, 1989 Dated: 18th August 1999

“Because of his sinless life, Jesus walked in perfect dominion. God did whatever he asked, NOT because he was God’s son, but because he held the position of a righteous man. But that was Jesus, you say. But the Bible says that through our believing on Him, we have been given the same position of righteousness with God that Jesus has.”

— Kenneth Copeland in the Believer's Voice of Victory Magazine, September 1995

“By getting the Word deep into your spirit and speaking it boldly out your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances.”

— Kenneth Copeland in The Power of the Tongue, Published in 1996

Here are a few examples of the prosperity teaching from Kenneth Copeland in his own magazine:

A Kenneth Copeland Meme From Facebook

Whether or not he has taught heresy is simply a matter of watching him say heretical things in his own videos, books, recordings and interviews. What really needs to be understood is that a whole cluster of wrong assertions and assumptions are at the foundation of a "Copelandish" system: the Word of Faith belief system. Some essential Word of Faith beliefs are:

• The atonement of Christ doesn't "just" give us salvation, it also guarantees healing, wholeness and prosperity. This is the Health & Wealth gospel.
• Jesus lived His life as an example of a man totally submitted to God the Father (or "in right relationship") and when we live in total submission we will perform like Jesus. Jesus didn't die on the cross because we were unable to atone for our own sins so much as Jesus lived a life of victory that we can (and should) emulate.
• God spoke the universe into existence by using "the power of words." We, too, can create things using the power of words. (This ability to "speak things into being" is essentially a form of sorcery, but WOF people strongly disagree). 
• God is lowered and Man is elevated.

Before Bill Johnson, Brian Houston, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Todd White and most of today's WOF pastors and teachers, there was a series of people with specific new (and false) beliefs that took over a growing segment of the church. The most prominent of these people was Kenneth Hagin, who is usually considered the "father" of WOF teaching, although he actually plagiarized much of "his" teaching from E. W. Kenyon (See the book "A Different Gospel" by D. R. McConnell and the book "The Word Faith Controversy" by Robert M. Bowman Jr.). WOF people often refer to Hagin as "Dad Hagin." Since Hagin died in 2003, Kenneth Copeland has essentially taken over the role of senior leader of the WOF "movement" (which isn't exactly a movement because of how loosely it's organized, but it has to be called something).

Here is Kenneth Copeland explaining how he completely indoctrinated himself in the Word of Faith teachings of Kenneth Hagin:

This is from Kenneth Copeland's "Voice of Victory" Magazine

More about Kenneth Hagin: The Kenneth Hagin Festival of Demonic Idiocy

Some other prominent WOF teachers are Fred Price, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton, Marilyn Hickey, Rod Parsley, T. D. Jakes, Jim Bakker, John Avanzini, Pat Robertson, Morris Cerullo, Paula White, and the late Paul and Jan Crouch (founders of TBN). Not all of these people believe exactly the same things, but they share many core WOF beliefs. 

Recently, Copeland had a 50 year celebration of Word of Faith false teaching:

As a young adult, Copeland had a career as a professional pilot and, briefly, as a recording artist on Imperial Records where he had a minor hit record in 1957. In the fall of 1967, he enrolled in the then brand new Oral Roberts University, where he soon became the pilot and chauffeur for Oral Roberts (an early WOF superstar).

Here's a video that shows Kenneth Copeland teaching heresy in the past and very recently:

Here is WOF superstar, Benny Hinn, quoting Oral Roberts:

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland started their ministry (KCM) in 1967 and it's been continuing for 50 years.

The following articles show the true nature of Copeland's teachings and influence. These are from a number of different sources and perspectives, but they all agree that Kenneth Copeland is a False Teacher who should be avoided at all costs:

Word of Faith Superstar Kenneth Copeland Proven 100% WRONG (and Nobody Cares) from The Museum of Idolatry

Ken Copeland: God Gave Us Private Jets Because You Can't Talk to God in Coach from The Museum of Idolatry

Depraved Copeland Sets Satanic Snare for Christians from The Museum of Idolatry

Kenneth Copeland’s Living Legacy of Heresy by Costi Hinn

Wealth of Kenneth Copeland and Family Scrutinized from the The Ledger newspaper, July, 2008

Lifestyles of the Tele-Evangelist: Kenneth Copeland from InPlainSite.org

The Harmful Teachings of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland by Cedric Hohnstadt

Many Articles About Kenneth Copeland from Deception in the Church

Kenneth Copeland’s False Teachings and False Gospel Message from Berean Perspective Apologetics 

Our Experiences With Kenneth Copeland from Ex Word of Faith

Analysis: Copeland's Religious Empire Benefits His Family from USA Today

Just for fun...

-This article by Steven Kozar

5 Ways To NOT Celebrate The Reformation’s 500th Anniversary

Pastor Peter Burfeind

Here is a great article from pastor Peter Burfeind:

 5 Ways To Not Celebrate The Reformation’s Quincentenary This Year

"Pastor" David Hughes Gives Outrageous Parody Sermon But Everyone Still Believes Him!

"I really thought it would work this time but I was wrong. I mean, seriously, just listen to my vacant and pathetic rambling for ten or twenty minutes and you'll see that this is pure satire! Oh well, I guess I'll have to keep on trying," said famous parody "Pastor" David Hughes from Church by the Glades. He tried his best to give a ridiculous, over-the-top and exaggerated "Seeker-Friendly" speech as a form of instructive satire, but it appears that his audience failed to get the point, in spite of cringe-worthy statements like... 

• "Jesus leveraged popular culture, his presentation was remarkable!"
• "God wants to get all up in your stuff!"
• "Fun is cool! I don't apologize for fun, I think church should be fun, in Jesus name!"
• "Here's why we leverage popular culture, here's why we speak into culture, here's why we use things other churches won't use: It's Biblical."
•  "When we use pop culture in church we're just ripping off Jesus."

Hughes even went so far as to put the words CHURCH SHOULD BE FUN in bright lights on the two-story backdrop of his megachurch, hoping that the glaring idiocy would be too obvious to ignore. No one can blame him for making a valiant effort; he pummeled relentlessly for forty minutes in a bizarre collection of scripture-twisting, bad argumentation, a gross mischaracterization of Jesus being a crowd-pleasing communicator who attracted a large audience because he "wasn't boring," and even ending with a megachurch cliche: a manipulative story to try and justify his self-refuting spectacle. Yet, he was unable to get his point across about the dangers of the church becoming a parody of itself as it panders to the surrounding culture. "If I continue foisting these outrageous satires onto my church, I hope that eventually the people will notice that the true Jesus who died in our place to become the Savior of the world is clearly absent," said Hughes.

Although Hughes claimed to value "Jesus and the Bible" above everything else, he made his own ideas the focus of the entire speech instead of the Bible, and only referred to Jesus in little snippets, where he made it sound like Jesus was the Pop Star of his day. After Hughes did everything he could think of to be self-refuting, even using "I Heart (love) Pop" as the title of his sermon series, his parishioners still thought he was giving a biblical sermon. 

 "I was certain that jumping up and down on a gigantic couch would have done the trick last year, but this time I tried a different approach," said Hughes in an exclusive interview with Pirate Christian Media, "this time I went ahead and gave every stupid and far-fetched reason why an entertaining spectacle can be a viable substitute for an actual worship service. These people still think my thinly-disguised satire was real. I have to admit, I'm not too happy about this."

Hughes went on to say that he had more "sermons" to "preach" in this parody series, and he remained hopeful that his bombastic and ridiculous motivational speeches will eventually open the eyes of the nearly 10,000 listeners he reaches every week.   
 

---

Visual Proof That Modern Churches Are (Much) Better

A Manifesto of Christian Discernment

The "Disney-fication" of the Church Youtube video by BezelT3

Pretending to Accomplish Something at (Yet Another) Useless Rally in Washington D.C.

Here's a little article from Charisma Magazine featuring a short video from the recent Awaken the Dawn rally: "Watch the Masses Drive Out Darkness in Washington"

Here are the "lyrics" to the "song" being sung (with my apologies to actual songs with actual lyrics):

"When I move my body, when I move my feet, when I open my mouth, then the darkness flees..." (repeat over and over and over, jump up and down, etc...)

Let's be honest, folks, nothing is really happening here. Many of these people are wearing t-shirts from the last "world-changing" conference or rally that they attended. This is sad, delusional and useless activity being passed off as a "revival." Do these people really believe that darkness has now been officially driven out because they gathered and clapped and stomped and chanted?

“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

— 2 Thessalonians 2: 11-12

To really "drive out the darkness," Ricky Skaggs and a bunch of people blew shofars (take that, darkness!):

Remember when they changed the world last year? This was supposed to be the most important event in our lifetime:

Of course, that giant rally came after this other giant rally, which was supposed to be the most important event in-you guessed it-our lifetime:

Francis Chan gave a talk at this Awaken the Dawn event; here's an article about Chan's apparent endorsement of this "NAR/Word of Faith" moment: Francis Chan and Todd White Headline Upcoming IHOP Festival of False Teaching

Here's an article that I wrote in February 2016 about all the upcoming events and how the false prophet Bob Jones was supposed to have predicted all of this: I Refuse to Believe Bob Jones-I'm Staying Home

These events always feature prominent false teachers like Lou Engle, Todd White, Shawn Bolz, Heidi Baker and that whole gang of professional speakers; these people need speaking gigs, so they always promote the next thing as "the best thing ever." This man-made "revival" is, at best, a distraction from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. At worst it is leading people away from that true Gospel and is building a false religion based on unity for the sake of unity, a false gospel message, and emotionalism (that's why there's always manipulative music playing and people yelling from the stage).

Please don't get sucked into this stuff. Go to church. Be discipled in God's Word. Study the Bible so you can "hear the voice of God" for real. Finally, be free! You don't need to drive all over the place trying to find the latest and greatest "revival" that will ultimately let you down. Maybe this article will help: The Hyper-Charismatic House of Cards: Let It Fall and Be Free