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Pt.2 The Bethel version
of “As above so below,” Drawing heaven to earth
Bethel Church have taken on the theme as “On
Earth as it is in Heaven." Heaven is the model for Bethel’s life
and ministry. Bill Johnson teaches people how to recognize the
Holy Spirit's presence and how to follow His lead enabling them
do the works of Christ by destroying the works of the devil, and
this is When Heaven Invades Earth.
Gospel
Forum writes: “The present move of God has brought Bill into
a deeper understanding of the phrase, “on earth as it is in
heaven.” Heaven is the model for our life and ministry. Jesus
lived with this principle by only doing what He saw His Father
doing. Learning to recognize the Holy Spirit’s presence, and how
to follow His lead will enable us to do the works of Christ,
destroying the works of the devil. Healing and deliverance must
become the common expression of this gospel of power once again.
http://gospelforum.org/speakers/bill-johnson/
The Lord’s prayer which is about the return of
Christ, Johnson misinterprets to fit a “kingdom now” philosophy:
“This is the primary purpose for all prayer—if it exists in
heaven, it is to be loosed on earth” (Heaven invades earth,
Johnson: 59). “Such an invasion causes the circumstances here
to line up with heaven” (Johnson: 59). Thus invasion of
heaven on earth.
Is heaven our model or are we pilgrims on earth
on our way to heaven? This subtle difference can be more
important than one thinks.
Johnson says these
statements with a goal, and it is cleverly done. It has to do
with the church doing what Jesus did in miracles. Which does fit
well with the Latter Rain teaching.
In a sermon titled "The
Requirement of Miracles" (Dec. 11, 2011, evening service.
Source: ibetheltv.com).
Bill Johnson explains that the gospel preached by most of the
visible church, today and in recent history, is not the
authentic biblical gospel but a "different gospel." And
authentic means the gospel must be presented in the context of
signs and wonders. Without signs and wonders Johnson says it is
a "different gospel."
The world must have an
encounter with God, and that a Gospel without power is not the
Gospel that Jesus preached. What Johnson is proposing is what
Wimber taught as power evangelism. An identification we
will call Wimberism.
We need to recognize Johnson’s qualification for
authenticity has not been an accompaniment of the gospel since
apostolic era. The majority of evangelists did not regularly see
miracles with their gospel preaching, it was rare. What Johnson
is doing, intentionally or not, is bringing into question people
who were saved by the gospel message throughout history who
heard the message of Christ dying for their sins and
resurrecting from the dead as being insufficient for salvation
(1 cor.15:1-4).
So who is the one with another gospel?
To insist on this (because of Marks gospel
statement, who alone has this: Mk.16:15-16) is to say there is
no power present to save without miracle manifestations. The
Bible teaches that one’s response to believing the gospel (which
is called the power of God) is supernatural and the new birth is
a miracle of the Spirit, proving God is present confirming His
word. Again statements like this not only shows a lack of Bible
education but a prejudice of what the church has done for
centuries since the commission of Jesus in Mt.28; Jesus does not
say miracles will occur.
Johnson claims, “For decades the Church has
been guilty of creating doctrine to justify their lack of power.
. .” (Johnson: 116, When Heaven Invades Earth)
Not sure what he can point to that the church
has invented as doctrine, I can definitely point to what the
church has created by its false signs and wonders over the last
several decades teaching it must be present (as in the Latter
Rain heresies).
The basic premise is that
God always wants to do abundant and remarkable miracles but is
kept from doing so by the fear and unbelief of the church. God
awaits the arrival of specially anointed and enlightened
Christians who will make it possible for Him to bring at long
last an invasion of heaven to earth before the return of Christ.
That is the point of Johnson’s subtitle,
A Practical Guide to a Life of Miracles. Accordingly,
with the right information, zeal, desire, piety, faith and
anointing, any Christian can “make the supernatural natural”
(p.133).
Thus this is a revision of Joel’s Army that was
brought to us through the Vineyard by John Wimber which allowed
the Kansas city (latter rain) prophets to merge. Paul Cain was
the leader of this group who was friends with William Branham.
This association cannot be overlooked.
Kris Vollaton, is the associate pastor of Bill
Johnson’s latter rain church (associated with the NAR prophets
and apostles have been making himself known by promoting some
very disturbing teachings. Vollaton is a man that claims God
spoke to him in response to a question of having what Branham
had, God promised to give the Branham mantle to him and others.
“But, what I’m believing for is a generation –
a generation that’ll rise up with a corporate faith, a
corporate anointing to press into realms because
it’s my conviction that as much as God put on a William Branham,
or a Kathryn Kuhlman, or a Wigglesworth, He’ll put far greater
anointing on a company of people than He ever would on an
individual. To do that, there must be that corporate sense of,
‘we have to deal with the issue of obeying the rules of this
kingdom to tap into the resources of this kingdom’…we cannot use
the principles of this world and expect to tap into unlimited
resource of the kingdom of God”… …so, I was in a prayer
chapel and laying on the floor and I said, “God would you
give me the mantle of William Branham?” And, He said,
“Well, how could I do that? If I did that it would destroy you.”
Then, I was layin’ there and it was like, the Lord asked ‘how
could I do that’ so then I said – I waited about a few minutes –
I was thinking about and I said, “Well, you could put the
same mantle on a whole generation then we wouldn’t stand out
from one another.” He said, “Alright, I’ll do that.”
Isn’t that awesome? That’s what the Lord wants
to do. He wants to put the, He wants – not just the mantle of
William Branham, but how about the mantle of Jesus Christ?
That’s even a bigger one there, and, uh, He wants to put it on
every single person.
So, wasn’t that just a
great word that Bill brought
us right there…” (Aug.
15, 2010 sermon of Bill Johnson titled, “The Real Jesus”)
The fact that Bethel admires and wants to copy
Branham who not only denied the nature of God as triune but the
deity of Christ is beyond credulity. In their “Guide to the
Bethel Church (Redding, Calif.): Collection David Allan Hubbard
Library Archives
includes reading The Life of William Branham.
Book One. Jorgensen, Owen. Supernatural: The Life of William
Branham. Book Two. Jorgensen, Owen. Supernatural: The Life of
William Branham. Book Three. Jorgensen, Owen. Supernatural: The
Life of William Branham. URL:
http://library.fuller.edu/archives
When someone endorses William Branham it shows a
lack of biblical understanding and discernment. They are caught
up in trends, in this matter it would be the modern infatuation
of healing and miracles. Johnson is constantly
We can understand Vollatons theology by what he
writes on his website:
“Learning to control your thoughts is the
single greatest secret to successful living. We can learn how
to manage the kingdom that's within us.
I will not embrace an end-time worldview that
re-empowers a disempowered devil.
I will not tolerate any theology that sabotages
the clear command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations and
the Lords Prayer that earth would be like heaven.
I will not allow any interpretation of the
scriptures that destroys hope for the nations and undermines our
command to restore ruined cities.
I refuse to embrace any mindset that celebrates
bad news as a sign of the times and a necessary requirement
for the return of Jesus
I dont believe that the last days are a time
of judgment, nor do I believe God gave the church the right
to call for wrath for sinful cities. There is a day of judgment
in which GOD will judge man, not us.
Vollaton is speaking like a new age kingdomizer
that wants to have a personal invite to the NAR. In this short
proclamation that he denied a future tribulation. He denies the
devils last stand as a false messiah that will rule the world
before Jesus returns. This is everything we need to know in a
nutshell. The kingdom is already here according to Vollaton
“inside us,” this is the mystics view, like Rick Joyner, like so
many others.
These men cannot teach basic biblical doctrine,
this is why they focus on the topics that promote new
revelation.
When Heaven Invades Earth.” gives formulas for
performing miracles. Jesus did not say he would bring heaven to
earth. He taught the disciples to pray in Matt 6:10 Your kingdom
come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Bethel does not believe this, they are not pre
millennial. They believe and teach his kingdom is here and the
church is to manifest it. This is pure Latter Rain and the sub
doctrine called manifest sons of God. The kingdom begins when
Jesus returns and vanquishes his enemies, separates the sheep
from the goats(Mt.25) and begins his rule of iron from
Jerusalem. That is the Bible from Old testament to new. If
someone says otherwise it is guaranteed they have missing pieces
or added portions to the Bibles sequential events.
Bill Johnson, in his book When Heaven
Invades Earth also tells us the “Gospel” and the “Gospel
of the Kingdom” are different much like others espousing the 7
mountain mandate:
“…the company of people who have joined this
quest for an authentic gospel – the gospel of the kingdom
– is increasing.” (Johnson, Bill When Heaven Invades
Earth. 2003; p 27. Emphasis is in original).
What are the elements to this kingdom gospel?
Jesus as portrayed as a person that could only
do miracles in His Earthly ministry because He learned all of
the proper formulas
Instead of exalting the “Anointed One” (Jesus
Christ who is unique), the same miracles or greater miracles
than Jesus can be done by all if we are trained; all you need is
faith.
Joh 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and
greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my
Father.”
If you aren't seeing these "Greater Works" in your life, then
something not right. The problem is that it means a greater
extension of the work of the gospel message, not greater
miracles. We see this from the Scripture itself. No apostle
did a greater miracles than Jesus, but according to Johnson and
others we are today.
Anointing the anointed one
The anointing
Jesus received was the equipment necessary, given by the
Father to make it possible for Him to live beyond human
limitations…That would include doing supernatural
things. The anointing is what linked Jesus, the man, to
the divine, enabling Him to destroy the works of the
devil”…
Jesus had no ability to heal the sick.
He couldn’t cast out devils, and He had no ability to raise the
dead. He said of Himself in John 5:19, ‘the Son can do nothing
of Himself.’ He had set aside His divinity… …Jesus so emptied
Himself that He was incapable of doing what was required of Him
by the Father – without the Father’s help…” (p.20)
The Holy Spirit empowers all believers [Romans
8:9-11] to have the ability to live out a life that is like
Jesus; but we cannot do all that Jesus did, we will not be
sinless until the resurrection, we will not be in perfect health
until the resurrection. This is the error of the Latter Rain. A
supernatural lifestyle does not mean we must be able to do
miracles, God is the author of these and they can only be done
when He wills it.
In other words, Bill Johnson believes the
miracles Jesus performed came about because He being a man had
access to the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Johnson
teaches that Christians should be capable of wondrous feats of
healing and miracles because we too have the Holy Spirit. Thus
the incarnation of the Son of God is excluded from his equation
of who Jesus actually is.
“Those who feel safe because of their
intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of
security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all
have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will
always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing
to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know.” (Johnson:
76)
Beyond what we know is NOT to be beyond
scripture, otherwise it is not truth. 1 Cor. 4:6 Paul used
himself and Apollos as examples. That you may learn in us not
to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed
up on behalf of one against the other.”
May I point out that none have a full grasp of
the scripture, this includes him as well. While he makes the
insinuation of those whom subtract our abilities; his exaltation
of saved men has put them into the category of those who add to
their abilities.
We have all heard of fish stories, well here’s a
puffer fish story…
Johnson speaks of these greater works Story 1:
Apparently, an evangelist in Sri Lanka is beheaded, and a
Muslim comes by and sits his head by his body. His head
reattaches to his body and he comes back to life. To repay him
for his kindness, he led him to Christ, then proceeded to lead
him into town where the guys who killed him saw him, they too
were saved, and a massive revival broke out.
Story 2: A guy is murdered, and his body is
dismembered… cut into five pieces… and sent a limb to five
different villages and put them on display as a warning to
Christians not to come in there. After a few weeks, they buried
they guy. The church begins praying, and his limbs reattach and
he comes back to life. I have one question… who dug him up, and
how did they know he was alive? Did they hear him screaming from
the grave? (Research Bud Press)
No proof or Biblical justification is given,
Johnson stories have something that never took place in history.
It matters not to the majority of his audience who is seeking
power.
Johnson is insisting we must have signs,
miracles which goes contrary to Jesus who said, “An evil and
adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be
given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Mt.
12:39) The last sign for all, that is above all other signs is
His resurrection; which approves him as the Son of God. Which
happens to be the third point of the gospel. This reaffirms what
we are to be preaching.
Bill Johnson says, “Most all of the
experiences of Jesus recorded in Scripture were prophetic
examples of the realms in God that are made available to the
believer. The Mount of Transfiguration raised the bar
significantly on potential human experience…The overwhelming
lesson in this story is that Jesus Christ, the Son of man, had
the glory of God upon Him. Jesus’s face shone with God’s glory,
similar to Moses’s after he came down from the mountain…” (“Face
to Face with God” 2007, Charisma House, Lake Mary, FL; p 200.)
The glory came from within him, he showed his
closest disciples who he is, not who they are or what is
available to them. The purpose was to conform what he was going
to do
Johnson is insisting we must have signs,
miracles which goes contrary to Jesus who said, "An evil and
adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be
given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." (Mt. 12:39)
the last sign for all that is above all other signs is His
resurrection; which approves him as the Son of God. Luke 9:29-31
And as He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and
His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked
with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and
spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem.”
Will we see see Moses or Elijah show up when
Bethel church prays? That’s a greater miracle.
Does Bill Johnson agree with Kenneth Copeland that we too can do
what Christ did (dies on the cross for mankind’s sins) if we had
his knowledge. Mr. Johnson don’t subtract our abilities!
Well one error leads to another until the cup of
error is full.
The Physics of Heaven describes God as
bringing a new sound vibration. This is not at all what the
Bible teaches yet the Bible is referred to
Join Ellyn Davis, Judy Franklin, Bill Johnson,
Beni Johnson, Jonathan Welton, Larry Randolph, Ray Hughes, Dan
McCollam, Cal Pierce, and David Van Koevering share what they
sense God is doing in the realms of sound, light, energy,
vibrations, and quantum physics.
In one ad for this book “Let's
continue our journey together exploring the mysteries of God
hidden in sound, light, energy, frequencies, vibrations, and
quantum physics.
“All agree that the next
move of God will cause a shift at the deepest level of who we
are—perhaps the very ‘vibrational level’ that the New Age
movement has been exploring. They also all agree that there
are precious truths hidden in the New Age that belong to us
as Christians and need to be extracted from the worthless.”
(Ellyn Davis, The Physics of Heaven Kindle location: 447)
And how did the new age movement
discovered these truths when they do not believe the Bible?
A theme of the book is that God may somehow
bestow incredible power on believers through
vibrations/sounds/frequencies/energies, with “sound” mentioned a
number of times throughout the book. To get a
This book is just a precursor to the
revelation that God is going to give us when He releases a new,
transforming sound. (Judy Franklin, The Physics of Heaven,
op. cit., Kindle location: 188.)
What if there really are “good vibrations”
that God has imbedded into everything He created and we just
need to be open to ex Ibid., (Ellyn Davis, Kindle location:
860.)
The sound God desires to release will chase religion from the
church and bring truth. (Ibid., Ray Hughes, Kindle location:
1125 (Reference from John Lanagan’s tract on Bethel published by
Lighthouse trails).
False prophet Bob Jones has been speaking since
1995 that God is beginning to release a “new” sound to
prepare us for a second Pentecost. It will even change our DNA.
“We’re talking about 10 times the power that was released at
Pentecost.. Ibid., Bob Jones, Kindle location: 522.)
Exactly what religion will be chased from the
CHURCH? Religion is defined as
personal or institutionalized system grounded in belief and
worship. So are we to chase away the doctrine delivered by the
apostles? we already see Johnson's wrong interpretation changing
it.
The new age teaches healing through light and
sound frequencies. Some cause out of body experiences. Not
unlike Enkankar, the Ancient Science of Soul Travel ,a Religion
of the Light and Sound of God; Twitchell taught a variety of
occult exercises by which the ECK student could tune into this
ethereal sound of God. Life flows from SUGMAD in the form of a
cosmic sound currently called ECK (Short for Enkankar)
Richard Foster teaches our imagination can bring
of out of Body experiences, in his Celebration of Discipline.
3H0 called the healthy happy holy organization
says that discovering your unique vibration helps you know your
heavenly identity.
[T]here
is a group of human beings, integrating now . . . upon whom is
laid the burden of leading humanity. They are starting movements
that have in them the new vibration, they are saying things that
are universal in their tone,
they are enunciating principles that are cosmic.” (Alice
Bailey & Djwhal Khul, “The Labors of Hercules—Labor XII,”
Lecture by A.A.B.—1936, (Caux, Switzerland: Netnews Association
and/or its suppliers, 2002), http://www.netnews.org)
http://laluni.helloyou.ws/netnews/bk/hercules/herc1062.html.
Here we find a elucidation of the origin of this
teaching that Johnson and friends are propagating. This is new
age thought and practices of which the Bible speaks noting of.
The next move of the false spirit is the new age movement being
synthesized in the church. The new apostles and prophets are
part of what the new age movement calls the ascended masters. Be
aware; Beware.
pt.3 |
