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An Apostles Empire - the fight for dominion pt.1 Let me begin by asking - does accurate teaching of the Bible matter? In our day many would say no, just show me the power, give me authority and in this Christian Harfouche apparently delivers to those willing to submit and be trained by him. Doctrine was most important to the apostle Paul as it was to the apostle John. And they defined what an apostle is. The image Harfouche presents to people is marketed well. Called an apostle, prophet, miracle worker and doctor (that about covers it all). Many subscribe to his signs and wonders Christianity so they see nothing wrong with what he is saying. He promises the power and authority of Jesus to those who sit under his leadership and for the most part they believe whatever he is saying is what the Bible says. But it is not. Harfouche uses motivational speaking methods with Christian terms, concepts and scripture out of context to get people excited in their soul. One must check their bible carefully to see the accuracy of what is being said. Harfouche: Lay hands on yourself. Say, “I have within me through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God every provision necessary to fulfill my destiny in God. I am not afraid of transitional times. They are necessary to lead me to my destiny. They are necessary to lead me to my miracle.” (website) Lay hands on yourself? Really. Where’s that in the Bible? Are you going to authorize yourself, energize yourself, or heal yourself? In our first article the news (KITV) interviewed him about his healing services where he stated “I believe the Lord has put in us as humans in our physical bodies the ability to heal ourselves.” Man has the ability to heal oneself is a red flag to me and it should be to anyone familiar with the Bible. Harfouche also teaches, “You now have both the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ flowing within you.” (Course III GOD MAN- year one curriculum- IMI CORRESPONDENCE PROGRAM) Excuse me … the blood of Christ is in you? I have heard people pray for it to be applied but in you, like the Holy Spirit is in you! Bible verse - none. Sounds Catholic. Harfouche has package wrapped word faith confession for possession, prophetic declarations, Latter Rain / Manifest Sons of God teachings and other fringe concepts that are not Biblical into his sermons, teachings and practices. Even when he speaks correctly on subjects, he expands them into unbiblical areas. “The power of the God kind of faith can a never fail (ed. Note: Haginism). Faith is a supernatural holy force. Faith is a spirit that is so holy and righteous…. When you have been gassed by God – then you come to life. You step to another level, because when the germnination of the almighty starts working on the inside of you there is no death, There is no sickness, there is no poverty, there is no power of sin or the enemy that can be active in your life. Faith cannot be penetrated by an invading force, because faith is a Spirit.” Speaking of the God kind of faith, “have it and move, mountains, have it and have everything obey you…” All underlines are mine I don’t think this needs to be thoroughly explained. He used a biblical concept and ends up in a very unbiblical interpretation. God kind of faith, God does not have faith. Faith is putting trust in something grater than oneself, who would God trust? Is faith a spirit? Is faith is a force. To tell people you become sinless, immune to the enemy. That there is no death. Where is any of this promised in the Bible for today? Besides the statement of being gassed by God -- that certainly does not sound good. Another case in point - his teaching on the incarnation “He did not become a man to stay the only man that could do what he did when he was a man… he did not become human to stay the only one like himself.” “He became (yelling) human to give us his ability to resemble him in one measure or another so that when people see us they’ll say they have been with Jesus, (not by raising your voice like this, Jesus didn’t.) “He became a man and walked around dependent upon the heavenly Father so that the anointing would work through him and when he did what no man could do, he didn’t do it because of his divinity or his ability only,… he did it because of the anointing he was gaining in order to start something. Jesus started something that he is calling you to help finish, thank you very much.” …Somebody said well Dr. Harfouche, it is finished. Yes, Yes it is finished and he is sitting down waiting till all his enemies to be made his footstool.” What is he saying, implying, is that it is up to the church to take down his enemies. Jesus started it and we finish it. This is manifest sons of God teaching, and as a dominionist and it is bleached through his sermons. So Jesus needed the anointing to do what he did even though he was God? He takes this even further, “… The anointing can create something out of nothing. Even Jesus had to wait for the anointing. Jesus never did any miracles or confronted the enemy without the anointing.” (Course V ANOINTING, IMI) The anointing did not come and go with Jesus, it says the Spirit rested upon him (Jn.1:32-33), this theology Harfouche is presenting of Jesus needing the anointing to come to him (the Spirit) is incorrect. It presents Jesus as an ordinary human so that we too can do what he did, by the Spirit. Harfouche then goes into the book of Acts about receiving power. Again, power for what? To do miracles, what else. The bible says it is for being witnesses (martyrs) Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The power is for us to speak boldly about the gospel, to stand in the face of being a martyr. Jesus did not say here we were given power to do the exact same miracles he did (or greater). We are not duplicates. What he did say is signs and wonders would FOLLOW the preaching of the word, but it did not occur all the time, even with the apostles. Jesus also warned about false prophets that will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive the ELECT (Matt 24:24). So how does one know who is who? By their doctrine. Harfouche: “…. As a matter of fact, Jesus says that we will do even greater work than He, because He goes to His Father on our behalf. Then he tells us that we have the authority to use His name.” (Course V ANOINTING IMI) Greater works, not greater miracles, or greater signs and wonders. No apostle did a greater miracle than Jesus, yet he tells them they can? The apostles did not “feed the 5,000” or “still a storm” or “walk on water” or “appear and disappear at will.” The apostles who were personally trained by Jesus were unable to exhibit all the power Jesus did (Acts 27:9-44). No one should buy into the modern Latter Rain message that originated from William Branham, that they can do the same, or greater miracles than Jesus. It’s not based on the proper interpretation of Scripture. John 14:12, “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works." Can we expect as sinful men to do miracles, greater miracles that only the sinless Son of God could do? Harfouche and others say yes, it is all because of the anointing. It does not say of the apostles that volumes of books could be written of all the miracles they did as it says of Jesus in John 21:25. Harfouche says Philip baptizing the eunuch and disappearing “should be” common occurrence for today’s Church -- even though it wasn't for the apostles or the early church! Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave (John 11:43–44). When Dorcas died, the believers did not raise her, but sent for the apostle Peter to raise her from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). The Bible is consistent in teaching the majority of “signs and wonders were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43). These apostles were those who were with Jesus and saw Jesus resurrected. Paul says he is the last in line to have this appointment as an apostle (1Cor.15: 8-9). Today we are not hindered to pray for God to heal or do a miracle. But this is not what Jesus is saying. He says, “the works I do” you will do (works Gr. ergon). It means to work; toil as an effort or occupation; an act of labor. Greater works (Gr. miezon ergon) meant a more extensive ministry. It’s about quantity not quality. The book of Acts shows that the church carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus is NOT saying we will do greater miracles than He did. The greater works was Christ’s commission to be to be fishers of men which was seen on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out. The apostles never preached signs and wonders to attract the multitudes that did not believe, nor were they preached to those who already believed. Paul taught the church of the gifts being distributed, “Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? (1Cor.12:7-10,29-30, the answer is no).The gospel was first in all that the apostles did to the unsaved. Anyone who goes out to other people groups and nations to bring the good news is participating in this greater work. Yes, we may see miracles occur but our priority is to bring the gospel to the unsaved. The apostles did not embellish stories or exaggerate to bring attention to how God is using them. We should be careful not to use any deceit to further the gospel. International Miracle Institute His teaching modules on learning from him as an apostle do not come cheap. “God Man” module, International Miracle Institute, Course 1. Course Fee: $399. “The Seer” is a module, International Miracle Institute, Course 4. Course Fee: $399.” The Activity of Angels” is a module, the cost is ... you guessed it - $399. In their ad “Miracle institute is thousands of hours of study, each course is an accredited year of Bible college containing over 100 hours of teaching on 96 cds.” They offer for a love gift of $300 you will receive 1 year of IMI. Doctorate of Christian Theology Remaining Credits 210 Estimated Timeframe 3 - 7 years Program Value $12650.00 Scholarship Amount $7100.00 Partner Price $5550.00 In an ad for 2009, it says they graduated over 1,800 students from 89 nations. The numbers sound impressive, except when you do the math. That is averaged out to about 22 students per country. For example if the US was one of those countries, that would be less than one person in each state, or 22 in one state. Accreditation is an area I can’t fully address, though I took courses in Bible College for many years. From what I have read this information is going to disturb people and needs to be looked into further. Common sense dictates that you look into where you will spend your money to be educated, especially for Bible training,. Accreditation On Harfouche’s website: The International Miracle Institute is fully accredited through the This is a non-governmental accreditation agency designed to meet the needs of faith-based schools and seminaries. The Accrediting Commission International has a membership of over 307 schools, colleges, universities, and theological seminaries in 39 United States and 8 countries of the world. It is the world’s largest non-governmental accrediting body.” ACI is listed as Fake College Accreditation Agency. fake accreditation (6th down from top). ERS Employment Screening Resources- Unrecognized, Fake and Dubious Online College Accrediting Agencies On Credential watch http://www.credentialwatch.org/non/agencies.shtml On Wikipedia - Accrediting Commission International (ACI), also known as Accrediting Commission International for Schools, Colleges, and Theological Seminaries, possibly associated with International Accrediting Commission (IAC), also known as International Accrediting Commission for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries,[1][2] is an unrecognized educational accreditation corporation in the United States. It primarily accredits religious schools, including seminaries and Bible colleges, and also offers accreditation to non-U.S. schools that offer business education programs. ACI is not recognized by either Council for Higher Education Accreditation or United States Department of Education, the two institutions responsible for recognizing educational accrediting institutions in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accrediting_Commission_International - cite_note-Stooges-1 John Bear, Great Moments in Accreditation: The Case of IAC, ACI, and The Three Stooges, Quackwatch.com, (accessed January 8, 2012) Some call these Accreditation mills. This is not my opinion or view, but the facts from others who know about this. When I looked up this organization ACI and the man in charge (president- John F. Scheel, Ph. D) I was unable to get anything substantial. http://accreditnow.site/ However, we do find John Scheel received a degree from Aenon Bible College, which is an anti-Trinitarian institution. Scheel himself is not a Trinitarian. apparently raised in the UPC Oneness, now is associated with the anti-Trinitarian "Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship." an off-shoot of the UPC. http://accreditnow.site/index.php/dr-john-scheel/ Scheel, John Fread (Independent) On the ACI website (linked from BBB)- Please read "Our Mission" carefully: Helping non-government regulated schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries to have good educational processes, good educational processes to be better and better educational processes to be the best - One institution at a time! Really, this is on their introduction page. with pictures of the places they accredit, no names. I was surprised as I went to the BBB Better Business Bureau website. Looked up ACCREDITING COMMISSION INTERNATIONAL BEEBE, ARKANSAS 72012.
BBB
An Apostles Empire - Latter Rain Dominionism p.2
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Accreditation 02/13/12.BBB