Answering "Counterfeit" Revival Leader, Rev. John Kilpatrick
The following is an article by Rev. John Kilpatrick of the Brownsville
Assembly of God, Pensacola, FL. It was a letter in response to critics
of what is going on at his church. First, I will give you the full text
of his article. Then I will give you my side-by-side answers to his questions.
Manifestations of God's Power
1995 by John A. Kilpatrick. All rights reserved. Used by permission
of the author.
Manifestations of God's Power
When observing, ask yourself:
1. Is Jesus being lifted up?
2. Are the Scriptures being elevated as the truth and pure Word of
God?
3. Is the Spirit manifested bringing truth and greater Spiritual values?
4. Is the Spirit manifested destructive to satan and his kingdom?
5. Is the Spirit manifested leading people to love God and each other
more?
God is coming out of the boxes we have placed Him in and doing what
He wants to do - God is God and we're not!
God will choose to offend our minds in order to reveal what is in our
hearts.
Manifestations:
1. Falling on the floor - (being slain in the Spirit)- Resting in the presence of God. Something tremendously important is being done within you (deep inner healing, preparation for ministry, physical healing, receiving of visions, feeling the love of God. )
2. Laughter - The medical profession has discovered health and wholeness comes through laughter. Healing can come through laughter.
3. Shaking ( head, hands, feet, and body ) - Sign of a much deeper happening. Not just the body is shaking, but there is a Prophetic shaking. This is often a type of intercessory prayer. People who shake are often used Prophetically. God will shake the status quo and our agendas, plans, complacency, and the theology that says God only works "this way." Everything built on sand will be shaken.
4. Deep bowing - The Jewish people who worship at the wailing wall do so with deep bowing. This manifestation is usually seen in intercessors.
This paper was passed out at Brownsville Assembly of God (11/5/95) to explain the manifestations that are taking place during the revival.
Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, FL. Pastor's Letter
God's people have gone through so much in the last few years that they have become stressed out - worn out and burn out. In fact, many Christians in America were asking, "Do you think God will send Revival to America?" We knew He was pouring out His Spirit in the former Soviet Union, parts of Europe, Africa, Canada and even Asia. Many were wondering, "Has America been set aside for judgment?" In 1992, as Dr. David Yongii Cho was contemplating this same question, the Holy Spirit prompted him to take out a map of the United States. As he did, the Lord revealed to him that Revival would begin in the small seaside town of Pensacola, Florida. The confirmation of this Prophecy was shared at the Assemblies of God national convention in St. Louis on August 12 of this year.
On Father's Day, June 17th. 1995 - The Revival Erupted!! It has become a sovereign move of God that has drawn people from all across America and even around the world. We have had over 8,000 salvation's and 87,000 first time visitors as well as many healings and deliverances.
Sincerely yours, John A. Kilpatrick Pastor of Brownsville of God in Pensacola 3100 W. Desoto St. Pensacola, FL. 32505 Church Office:904-433-3078
Now that we have seen the questions and statements, let me reply directly to both.
Question: Is Jesus being lifted up?
Answer: Are false signs and wonders being lifted up? -- yes. Jesus? -- not really. 1 Cor. 2:2 says: "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Jesus Christ cannot be "lifted up" unless the cross is preached. John 2:32-33 states "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." Christ draws all men to Himself by virtue of His death on the cross, not by advertising "revivals", "miracle healing services", not even by "signs and wonders". Where the gospel is not preached Jesus is not lifted up.
Many witnesses who have attended Toronto "blessing" style churches, which include the Brownsville AOG of Pensacola, FL (see my article called "A Different Gospel?" for a geneology of the Brownsville "revival"), have not heard clear preaching of the gospel message, which is eclipsed, in any case in all their meetings, by false "signs and wonders". The only interpretation I can make from this rhetorical question "Is Jesus being lifted up?" is that they think they are lifting Christ up by promoting a "Jesus" that is at their personal beck and call, just waiting to be rolled "up in a ball" and thrown across the room ...
"Pastor Larry Thomas makes this insightful observation regarding being slain in the Spirit at Toronto Blessing meetings: I saw on videotape one time, everybody in the place was laying on their backside. He finally turned around and realized that the choir hadn't been blessed yet. And so he said "you all up in the cheap seats need some of this," and he went like that and they all fell down, except one old man with a hearing aid. And he looked around at everybody, and when he looked this way, you could see on the camera the hearing aid, and you knew why he didn't fall down, he didn't hear the command. And he looked around and then he [falls down]. Aw, c'mon! Do you believe the Holy Ghost is something you can roll up in a ball and throw it across the room and knock people down? What blasphemy! Do you think that the Holy Ghost wants us to imitate animals? I don't know what we've got to laugh about. The world's going to hell in a handbasket. Our loved ones, our families, our kids, our neighbours, are on their way to an eternity in hell and the church is sitting around laughing. This is no laughing matter." (Larry Thomas, No Laughing Matter, Audiotape, October 10, 1994)
... just hanging around so that he can "wash your feet" as Rev. Kilpatrick's cohort Rev. John Arnott of Toronto Airport Fellowship Church stated...
"In 'The Father's Blessing', Counterfeit Revival leader John Arnott conveys a conversation he had with Jesus Christ. During the dialogue, Arnott asked the Almighty what He would like to do when they met. Christ allegedly responded, "Oh, John, I just want to wash your feet." (Jonathan) Edwards warned against just such delusions. While Christ once (on earth) humbled Himself as a suffering servant, He is now exalted to the highest place so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Phil. 2:8-10). Rather than expecting Christ to bow and wash our feet as He once did with the disciples during His earthly sojourn, true disciples bow at Christ's feet in awe of His majesty and glory. As Edwards so eloquently elaborated, "Humility doth primarily and chiefly consist in a sense of our meanness as compared with God, or a sense of the infinate distance there is between God and ourselves ... There is no true humility without somewhat of this spirit ... We are not truly humble unless we have a sense of our own nothingness as compared with God." (Counterfeit Revival, Hank Hanegraaff, pg 104, 1997)
We should be "lifting up" Jesus by preaching the cross and the resurrection gospel and demonstrating that gospel message with our lives in service to HIM. The gospel message is rarely preached in Kilpatrick's meetings in its entirety. This has been documented over and over again by those who have visited his church. But just suppose, on the off-night, that the gospel message does somehow get through? Is the salvation of sinners through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, whereby we are justified before the Father, the highlight of the evening? No it is not. The high point is when the "anointed" lay hands on whoever comes forward, repentant sinner or not, and zap them to the floor. Is Jesus being lifted up? No, people are being propelled to the ground to lay in a trance state for hours as well as shake, scream, make animal noises, vomit ectoplasm, and laugh hysterically. Perhaps this is how they lift Jesus up. By debasing human beings to the point of being deluded or demonized. If this is what they call "lifting Jesus up" then perhaps they ought to take another look at the cross where Jesus was lifted up and repent!
Question: Are the Scriptures being elevated as the truth and pure Word of God?
Answer: Absolutely not! The Scriptures are being systematically stripped of their meaning and power by these modern-day self-proclaimed prophets with "new" revelations. Rev. Kilpatrick and his friends have not been able to justify one "sign and wonder" they are doing with Scripture. Nor have all their prophesies come true. When challenged, they either grow progressively more subjective with testimony after testimony that supposedly validates the "signs" and "prophesies", or they claim that it is something "new" and outside of Scripture. Which is it? Make up your mind. Are you sticking with Scirpture as the completed revelation of God's Word, or are you going extra-biblical? The Scriptures are used in Rev. Kilpatrick's meetings, but only as a means to an end to justify what they have allowed to come into their church (without even bothering to check out it's geneology, by the way). Scripture is not to be used by pulling verses out of context. Here are some of the many, many examples of how the leaders of the "counterfeit" revival movement use Scripture like some kind of message pulled out of a fortune cookie to validate their doctrinal whims:
Kenneth Copeland: "Copeland derives his definition of (the force of) faith from Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (KJV). He interprets the word "substance" as some transcendent, primary element that makes up the universe; it was and is activated by spoken words at the onset of creation (both God's original creation of the world and all subsequent creations, whether by God or man). Contrary to Copeland's view, the word translated "substance" in the King James Version is the Greek word _hypostasis_ which, in the context of Hebrews 11:1, means "an assured impression, a mental realizing." Far from being some tangible material or energetic force, faith is _a channel of living trust_ stretching from man to God. It is an _assurance_ that God's promises never fail, even if sometimes we do not experience their fulfillment during our mortal existence. Other translations render _hypostasis_ more precisely as "being sure" (NIV), "to be sure" (TEV), and "assurance" (NASB). Neither the original Greek text nor any of the modern translations support Copeland's understanding of faith. The same holds true for his understanding of spoken words. Besides, the idea of words functioning as faith-filled containers makes no sense if there is no such thing as a "force of faith" (requiring packaging and transportation) in the first place. Copeland's view of God fares no better biblically than his understanding of faith. He describes God as someone "very much like you and me....A being that stands somewhere around 6'2," 6'3," that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, little better, [and] has a [hand]span nine inches across." Copeland's statement is based on his _hyperliteral_ reading of Isaiah 40:12 ("Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, marked off the heavens with a [nine inch] span,..." [AV]). Yet following the same line of interpretation, one would also have to conclude that God literally held a basket full of dust and weighed mountains on a gigantic set of scales (v. 12b) -- an absurd proposition ruled out by the context of the passage. The fact is that Isaiah 40 makes extensive use of figurative language to underscore the vast difference between the Creator and His creation. Giving a literal spin on verses that figuratively describe God in humanlike (anthropomorphic) terms, Copeland makes God out to be a "spirit-being with a body, complete with eyes, and eyelids, ears, nostrils, a mouth, hands and fingers, and feet."[23] However, the Bible never intended to convey the notion that God has physical features like His human creation. Anthropomorphic descriptions were simply meant to help us understand and relate to our Maker. Jesus declared, "God is spirit" (John 4:24), not a spirit-being with a body (cf. Deut. 4:12). The Creator is, after all, "God, and not man" (Hos. 11:9)." (Hank Hanegraaff, 1994)
Benny Hinn: "One of the popular word faith teachings is that Jesus took on the nature of Satan and had to be born again. This doctrine is intrinsically linked to the "Jesus died spiritually" heresy which postulates that Jesus' shed blood was insufficient for the redemption of man; He had to suffer at Satan's hands in Hell and be born again as the first man to conquer death. Hinn also teaches this heresy: He [Jesus] who is righteous by choice said, "The only way I can stop sin is by Me becoming it. I can't just stop it by letting it touch Me; I and it must become one." Hear this! He who is the nature of God became the nature of Satan where He became sin!" (TBN 12/1/90)
John Arnott: "Wouldn't it be great if there was somewhere you could go and just get really filled up with power and love, the love of God? But it doesn't stop there. What happens is, there's a transference of His anointing where, not only do you see it, not only do you experience it for yourself, but you're going to take it home to your people." (John Arnott, Pastor of the Toronto Airport Fellowship, pastor's Meeting, October 19, 1994) Contrary to what Rev. Arnott asserts, Eph. 1:13 says"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." Also 1 Cor. 12:13 declares, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."
John Kilpatrick: "I would like to note that there was a statement made (by John Kilpatrick) that in these latter days that preaching and simply teaching the word was no longer sufficient, the Spirit had to get involved, through signs and wonders due to the much sin that abounded. This is unscriptural. If I'm not mistaken the Holy Spirit is involved in the preaching, and teaching of the word, and that it was through the foolishness of preaching that men would come to know the Lord (1 Cor 1:18-25). This passage also states that Christ is the power, and wisdom of God." (Robert C. Gray, 1996)
These are just a few of the statements of people involved in this movement where Scripture has been taken out of context and twisted to fit popular doctrines.
Question: Is the Spirit manifested bringing truth and greater Spiritual values?
Answer: Truth? Here's their form of truth:
"If you want to be intimidated and lampooned, go to the Brownsville Assembly to "try the spirit." I know because I went. Steve Hill was very upset when he came to the pulpit to preach that night. He said that he had to get something said before he could preach. Then he talked about the "FBI," which he defined as the "Fault-finding Brothers International." He spoke so arrogantly about anyone questioning this "move of God" that I had to claim the Blood to resist his criticism. This same intimidation has been reported all across the country. You will read of other similar statements in other parts of this report. A true move of God will invite Bible Bereans to line the walls and confirm the absolute truth of His visitation. It certainly will not offend God when we search the Scripture." (The End Times and Victorious Living, March/April 1997, Vol. 11 No. 2, page 14.)
Greater Spiritual values? What about humility, servanthood, sacrifice ... and above all, love? Would you call Rev. Kilpartick putting a curse on Hank Hanegraaff and the Christian Research Institute a good example of the spiritual value of loving your brother?:
"And Mr. Hanegraaff, I want to say to you, before you get back on national television and start spouting off at the mouth again about something of which you know nothing of, you'd better be careful, because God said, "Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord." And I want to say something else to you. If you want to keep any kind of a semblance of a ministry, you better back off from this revival and what God is doing. You better back off, because I'm going to prophesy to you that if you don't, and you continue to put your tongue in your mouth on this move of God, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down. I said, within 90 days the Holy Ghost will bring you down." (Rev. John Kilpatrick, Borwnsville AOG, 4/6/97)
Would you call the others who have thrown curses at those who disagree with them in this movement people who excercise "greater spiritual values"?
"Now I'm pointing my finger with the mighty power of God on me. ...You hear this. There are men and women in Southern California attacking me. I will tell you under the anointing now, you'll reap it in your children. You'll never win. ...And you children will suffer. You're attacking me on the radio every night; you'll pay, and your children will. Hear this from the lips of God's servant. You are in danger. Repent, or God Almighty will move his hand. ... " (Benny Hinn, Melodyland Christian Center, CA 10/7/91)
"How can a true man of God share the platform with men who pronounce curses upon people that don't give financially to their cause (such as Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn), telling them God will abandon them; they will suffer divorce; they will suffer financial hardship. Yet that is the message of the word-faith people with whom Howard-Browne associates." (Holy Laughter, Biblical Discernment Ministries, 3/96)
Paul Crouch of the Word/Faith Movement said he did "not want to see the ugly faces of heresy hunters (theology) and that he would "shoot heresy hunters if God doesn't", and also that "heresy hunters are to go to Hell." (Praise-a-thon (TBN), 4/2/91)
The Manifest Sons Of God/Dominion movement, which has many adherants in the Toronto/Brownsville movement, have even developed a doctrine of cursing.
"A sure sign of religious authoritarianism is a zealousness to rid the world of opposition to its peculiar tenets. In the minds of many dominion teachers the authority of the apostles and prophets must not be questioned. The Kingdom of God (as they understand it) must be free from dissension. Therefore it will be necessary that those who challenge their authority be removed. There are differences of opinion among dominion teachers as to how those dissenters will be removed, but there are essentially five ways in which that may occur: 1) God will supernaturally strike dead those who oppose His apostles and prophets; 2) God will send, or allow satanic forces to send, plagues upon those opposers; 3) The Church (or certain "overcomers") will pronounce God's judgment upon their enemies, thus moving God to destroy them; 4) The Church will, out of "necessity," use physical force by which it will judge, sentence, and execute penalties (including death) upon the opposers; 5) All or any combination of the above may take place. According to some dominion teachers, in order to effect this purging of the earth the overcomers must attain immortalization, thus becoming immune to any physical resistance to their program. Becoming immortal, and thus impervious to death and injury, will result from having attained spiritual perfection through obedience to the apostles and prophets." (Albert James Dager Media Spotlight Vol 8. - NO.1, 1992)
Now they are immortal?! I am glad I worship a God who is truly immortal as well as just and loving. I am glad none of these people are God or speak for Him. We would be in a heap of trouble if they were.
Question: Is the Spirit manifested destructive to satan and his kingdom?
Answer: From all the reports and what I have seen, not only is the "spirit" mainfested at Brownsville NOT destructive to "satan and his kingdom" but it is actually ushering in the great deception, whereby even the saints may be deceived, if it were possible. The "manifestations" in this church show the character of and match up much more directly with descriptions in Scripture of demonic manifestations. This "spirit" set loose in the Church today by people like Steve Hill, John Kilpatrick, John Arnott, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and on and on, is confusing and even demonizing Christians all over the world. This "spirit" is preparing people for the guy who will step forth with the MOST power yet. He will do lying signs and wonders, the likes of which these guys have only fondly dreamed. Everyone who buys into this power stuff will flock to him like sheep to the slaughter. The False Prophet will fool them all into thinking he is Christ returned. My comment to those who have been "anointed" by these movements is: "Guess what? You just joined the World Church. Better enjoy "the party" while it lasts. It will be short lived." Meanwhile, all across the world, people are dying in their sins. They don't need signs and wonders. They need confession of sin to a Savior that has paid their debt on Calvary. They need to really believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the only path via the "sign of Jonah" and the wonder of salvation. Signs and wonders may then follow, not by the hands of man but by the will of God.
It is a sad commentary on an alleged "revival" movement when mission fields all over the world are languishing for lack of missionaries and support to send new ones. If you want to really be "destructive to satan and his kingdom", get your heart right with God, get on your knees in prayer, get your mind on Jesus and His Word, and get out of your "fast food Christianity" so you can experience real food in the real world from the real God. There is only one way to defeat satan's attmepts at kingdom-building -- preach the gospel! (Rom. 1:16-17)
Question: Is the Spirit manifested leading people to love God and each other more?
Answer: I am wondering -- do the myriad of church splits cause by this "counterfeit" revival count as loving "God and each other more?" What about the hundreds of members of Brownsville who disagreed with what Steve Hill brought in and were asked to leave by people like John Kilpatrick? What about the upset caused in marriages and friendships? Do threats and curses to those who do not agree with them or join in demonstrate a deep love for people? A real "manifestation" of the Spirit is changed lives in relationships (Rom. 1:17, Eph. 5:18-6:4, Col. 4)
Subjective Statement: God is coming out of the boxes we have placed Him in and doing what He wants to do - God is God and we're not!
Objective Answer: The above phrase, in view of the actions of this movement, should read "God is coming out of the boxes we have placed Him in and doing what WE want Him to do". What a misguided viewpoint of God! God has never been nor will ever be in a box. When God tells us about Himself and how we should live through Scripture, that is not a box we have put God in! We, however, are often in emotional and spiritual boxes of our own making. I would say that ordering the Holy Spirit around is one HUGE box this movement has been trying to put God in:
"By saying the right formulas, can people control God? Can the Holy Spirit be held in the palm of the hand, pumped, or scooped into other people? Is it true that Jesus Christ will not come back until Christians all over the world unite under the leadership of new apostles and prophets and take control of the whole earth? Can Christians be gods? According to the teachings being circulated by some church leaders, the answer to all of the above is -- yes. In fact, the common thread between all these teachings is the last one, the thought that people are gods. For who else could control God, hold Him in the palm of the hand, or take dominion over the earth besides gods? ... John Arnott said "Yes, Lord, we're going to go for it, we're gonna try to do our part to bring the kingdom of God here...and wouldn't it be wonderful if the Lord would start to move in power and restore the church to its proper place and make us the head and not the tail?" Has not Arnott read II Thessalonians 2:3: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition?" ... Pastor George Byron Koch is alarmed at the suggestions inherent in such activities: "There are others involved in the Toronto Blessing who believe they are able to transmit the Holy Spirit into other people as they choose. They think the Holy Spirit is a power that they can pump, scoop, blow, and press into others, and there may even be such a power present. But it is not the Holy Spirit, and it should be rebuked. And those who may have used it should repent" ("Pumped and Scooped?" 1995). ... Not surprisingly, such 'prayer' techniques are common in many places where the Toronto thing is promoted. To the contrary, we must remember I Corinthians 12:11 when it comes to receiving the true gifts of the Holy Spirit: "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (emphasis added) The Toronto movement is teaching that they cause the Holy Spirit to go into people at their will by the laying on of hands." (B. M. Rocine, 1996)
There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the filling of the Spirit today in these churches. The Holy Spirit is not a "force of faith" that God used to create the universe that we may also use to "declare" and "speak things into existence" or to "anoint" other people with at will. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the triune soveriegn almighty YHWH!
Subjective Statement: God will choose to offend our minds in order to reveal what is in our hearts.
Objective Answer: If what we are seeing in the Toronto "Blessing" movement offends "our minds", then maybe it should offend us because it is clearly not of God. Such a sorry display of mesmerism and demonic manifestations does not square with God who wants us to think on all that is good:
Php 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
If what we read in Scripture offends us, on the other hand, then that is our problem. If the offence of the cross offends us, then we had better check to see if we are really saved. God does not offend us but He may allow the enemy to test and torment us so that God can put our lives back into proper perspective. It is only our poor perception of God's character that would allow us to be offended by anything God does. God, on the other hand, is in the process of renewing our minds so that we can find His will for our lives:
Ro 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
This "counterfeit" revival is offensive only because it has strayed so far away from Scripture into hedonistic emotionalism. Feelings now validate theology.
This article is a "Berean" call to these churches to come back to Scripture! God penned Scripture through men of God for the express purpose of filling our minds and lives with it. To be "filled with the Spirit" is letting the Word of God dwell in you richly (Eph. 5:18, Col. 3:16-17):
Jer 31:33 "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."
2Ti 3:16-17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Tit 1:9 "He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it."
1Co 14:15 "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind."
It is through God's Word from the completed revelation of Scripture, at work in our minds and through our lives, that God reveals what is in our hearts:
2Pe 1:19 "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."
Col 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Man's flesh is inherantly sinful and deceitful. We live in a generation that uses the Star Wars motto "Luke, trust your feelings!". This motto has now infiltrated many churches and their doctrinal views who have bought into this movement. Feelings are good and created by God, but trusting your feelings to validate objective truth is a fool's errand. Feelings can be used by God but can also be manipulated by yourself, other people and demons. If satan wants to win you over to his side, do you think he is going to give you bad feelings? He would be far more insipid than Scripture makes him out to be if he did so. Remember, this is a being who had the audacity to try to use God's Word against Jesus when he tempted Him in the desert. The enemy will resort to anything to try to win people over. Apparently he is succeeding at Brownsville. If you are offended at what is going on at Brownsville meetings, perhaps you should allow yourself to be offended so that you will not make the mistake of getting involved in this "counterfeit" revival.
Manifestation: Falling on the floor - (being slain in the Spirit)- Resting in the presence of God. Something tremendously important is being done within you (deep inner healing, preparation for ministry, physical healing, receiving of visions, feeling the love of God. )
Answer Manifested In Scripture: Where's the "deep inner healing" or what is that exactly? Just because you feel good while in a meeting (by the way, it does wear off -- the "anointed" must be re-"anointed" on a regular basis) doesn't prove that you have been healed from inner problems. Confession of sins to Jesus Christ and to those you have wronged has a much more profound element of healing than a false feeling of bliss confered upon the unrepentant and unbelieving.
Where's the "preparation for ministry"? - unless you call "anointing" somebody else on down the chain "ministry". Eph. 4:12-16 says that the goal of leaders in the body of Christ should be "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." This is how the church is to prepare it's diverse members for ministry.
Where's the physical healing? Show me the proof. Secondhand hand-me-down stories just won't do. Show me someone who was blind who can now see. Show me someone raised from the dead, not just reviving for a minute at the point of death. Show me the deaf who can hear, the lame who have sprouted new legs. Listen, there are plenty of hospitals out there. If this is a real move of God, and Brownsville is the center of it, and the apostolic vision for the entire church in prophesy is emmanating from it ... get out there and get to work.
Where are these "visions" really coming from? Visions are no proof of a move of God unless they are 100% accurate in what they prophesy.
"Feeling the love of God"? Aren't God's abundant words and acts in Scripture and in our lives sufficient evidence of His love for us? Do they not believe that God loves them unless He confers on them some kind of "feeling" so they can feel good? What about our mandate to serve the One we love? Maybe it's time for us to confer on God some of our emotional capital. God wants us to serve Him, to obey Him. When we "are" and "do" what He wants we can be assured of our heavenly reward. While we are part of this earthly sphere our objective should be to die for Christ, to share with delight in His sufferings for us.
Manifestation: Laughter - The medical profession has discovered health and wholeness comes through laughter. Healing can come through laughter.
Answer Manifested In Scripture: I thought this was not part of the "laughter" movement? Why are the "anointed" of Brownsville laughing then? The differences between this "revival" and the Toronto "Blessing" are so miniscule you would have to look at it under a microscope to find ANY major differences. Apparently this laughter does not produce the fruit of telling the truth.
The medical profession studied natural self-induced laughter, not hysterical laugher brought on by Third Wave sorcery.
Manifestation: Shaking ( head, hands, feet, and body ) - Sign of a much deeper happening. Not just the body is shaking, but there is a Prophetic shaking. This is often a type of intercessory prayer. People who shake are often used Prophetically. God will shake the status quo and our agendas, plans, complacency, and the theology that says God only works "this way." Everything built on sand will be shaken.
Answer Manifested In Scripture: Prophetic shaking? What does this shaking prophesy? Now we are expected to believe that prophesy can come about by shaking. Where do they find this stuff in the Bible? If anything, shaking in the Bible is a human reaction to judgement from God (Hag. 1:6-7, Ez. 12:17-19)
Here is an example of someone who shook and prophesied that is supposed to be the "defining moment" of the Brownsville "revival":
"In an article in Charisma magazine, "pro-Pensacola" writer Lee Grady described one famous scene from the Brownsville revival which has been videoed and sent out everywhere. This event occurred on August 18, 1995, when 19 year-old Alison Ward got up to give her testimony. Mr. Grady says: "As she spoke, Alison shook in a manner so awkward that a casual observer might think she suffered from cerebral palsy. Then, while trembling violently, she issued a plea so heartfelt that those in the room say they heard God speaking through her. Chocking back tears she said intently: `God is in a hurry. There's not much more time. He aches and He grieves for your spirit.' At that moment Alison fell to the floor. A deafening chorus of moaning and wailing filled the room as people were moved by an almost eerie sense of God's love for lost souls ... Alison's eight-minute testimony, which was captured on videotape, represents the defining moment of this revival." (Brownsville Pensacola" Toronto or not?, Andrew Strom, 1996)
"If this statement was the "defining moment" for the Brownsville AOG "revival" then something is clearly amiss. It is very doubtful that this was a "word of knowledge" or "prophesy" from God. The young lady at Brownsville said "God is in a hurry". God never hurries. God operates outside of time and space. (Ps. 90:4, 2 Pet. 3:8) There may, indeed, be "not much more time left" for us before Jesus returns. However, we do not know the day or the hour of Christ's return. Only the Father knows the answer to that question. (Mark 13:32) Remarks like that should always be prefaced by "I believe there to be" or "The indications are that there is", not said as a statement of fact, because God the Father is not going to reveal the time of Christ's return to anyone, and certainly not to a teenager at Brownsville AOG. The one statement she made that is true was "He aches and grieves for your spirit". Although not stated in Scripture in specifically those words, we can be confident that God is not willing that any should perish and is patient and longsuffering with his creatures (2 Pet. 3:9) and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans to the Father (Rom. 8:26) as well as other references to the love of God for His creatures." (A Different Gospel, Sandy Simpson, 1997)
Everything that is built on the Rock is being shaken by this movement. Only those who have their foundations set deep into Jesus Christ and His Word will survive the mesmerism and demonic shaking of this movement.
Manifestation: Deep bowing - The Jewish people who worship at the wailing wall do so with deep bowing. This manifestation is usually seen in intercessors.
Answer Manifested In Scripture: The difference for the Jewish people is that a demon is not forcing them to bow down by giving them pain in their guts. Deep bowing was a major manifestation in the Rahjneeshees also. We can thank the Lord that Rahjneesh has long since "bowed out" of this life. Now, there was a guy who was majorly demonized!
This is one "manifestation" of this movement that is deeply troubling to me. It seems to me, upon firsthand observation, that it is mainly the most "anointed" leaders who get this symptom. I have come to the conclusion that, although other manifestations of this movement such as laughter and slain in the spirit can be attributed to a form of hypnotism brought on by hyper-suggestabilty (as well as other causes), this "deep bowing" manifestation has all the markings of demonization.
"Intercessors". Let me tell you a little bit about their ideas of intercession:
"Those who came for "intercession" before the meetings (in Guam) were told that Brownsville AOG had found new, improved ways to intercede. They were told to only praise and worship the Lord, to walk around the building liberally using their hands through the air, to not petition the Lord for anything during "intercession", and to use their prayer languages exclusively. When this "intercession" started, those who had already received the Brownsville experience, began to walk about the room, some speaking loudly in tongues or repeating the name of Jesus over and over again. Some went to the doors, the doorknobs, the chairs and every article in the room and drew crosses on each of these items with their fingers. Some walked madly about waving their arms and obviously getting worked up into a frenzy. This is what got them properly prepared for the service later. 1Ti 2:1 says: "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone -" Would it have hurt to pray that the Lord would send non-believers to the meetings? Intercession by definition means: "The act or an instance of interceding. A prayer to God on behalf of another or others." (Random House College Dictionary) To be an intercessor is to be a go-between on behalf of someone else. If one is not allowed to make petitions for someone else, they have been effectively halted from interceding. I am thankful that Jesus intercedes for us with the Father. Otherwise we would be in a disastrous state. What happened to the priesthood of the believers in all this "intercession"? " (A Different Gospel, Sandy Simpson, 1997)
Subjective Statement: God's people have gone through so much in the last few years that they have become stressed out - worn out and burn out. In fact, many Christians in America were asking, "Do you think God will send Revival to America?" We knew He was pouring out His Spirit in the former Soviet Union, parts of Europe, Africa, Canada and even Asia. Many were wondering, "Has America been set aside for judgment?" In 1992, as Dr. David Yongii Cho was contemplating this same question, the Holy Spirit prompted him to take out a map of the United States. As he did, the Lord revealed to him that Revival would begin in the small seaside town of Pensacola, Florida. The confirmation of this Prophecy was shared at the Assemblies of God national convention in St. Louis on August 12 of this year.
Objective Answer: Christians being stressed out? Burned out? I think not. Try going to the mission field for the rest of your life. Try that kind of stress. How about suffering persecution for preaching the gospel, which is happening all across the globe to Christians in countries such as China, Indonesia, and the Sudan as I write this?
Here's what Randy Clark, one of Arnott's and Kilpatrick's co-"anointees", said about what God is doing by way of stress relief for the modern-day Christian: God decided to throw a party for His people because they "already feel so icky about themselves."(Randy Clark, Catch The Fire, TAV, 10/14/94, audio tape)
"Has America been set aside for judgement?" I think you can guess what my response is to that question. Given all the factors involved, I think that is what is happening right now in the "churches" of America. God is apparently seprating the sheep from the goats. Judgment time is just around the corner. The great apostacy is here. We have arrived. Remember when people used to say a few years ago, "It would be impossible for the False Prophet and the Anti-christ to come right now because there are just too many Christians in America and around the world. They would never follow those people. They would see through their schemes." Well, now that a number of churches are buying into this "counterfeit" revival, this statement no longer applies. We now have quite a few people in churches who are buying into this new fadish-experiential-subjective-feelings-are-the-proof-of-objective-reality type of Christianity that will usher in the one who has the most earthly power to show off to date.
If the "Holy Spirit" prophesied the "revival" in Pensacola through Dr. David Yongii Cho, then it is that same "Holy Spirit" who has also caused Dr. Cho to combine elements of Christianity with Buddhism and Taoism, as well as the idea of another dimension -- the fourth dimension -- the dimension of faith. If these false doctrines don't square with the Scriptures, then perhaps another spirit is the one who foretold of the Brownsville "revival" -- the spirit who is behind this whole movement.
Subjective Statement: On Father's Day, June 17th. 1995 - The Revival Erupted!! It has become a sovereign move of God that has drawn people from all across America and even around the world. We have had over 8,000 salvation's and 87,000 first time visitors as well as many healings and deliverances.
Objective Answer: "Erupted" -- yes. "Sovereign move of God" -- yes. All things come under God's sovereignty, even the enemy who is being allowed to fool many people right now who WANT to be fooled. "I prayed for the power to come" they all say and pray with one voice. Power was what you sought after and power is what you got! 2 Thes. 2:9-12 "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." Myths and tall stories are what you wanted to tickle your ears, and that is what you now have in abundance. 2Ti 4:3 "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."
The "salvation" figures of this "revival" are, at best, dubious. But they don't even hold a candle to the wildly exaggerated testimonial stories. And so is the fact that, to this day, they still continue to call this a repentance-based revival at Brownsville. Fortunately it is getting harder for them to tell people that those who go to Brownsville are falling down under the extreme conviction of sin, like they were telling everyone a year ago. The videotape of the first day of the "revival" pretty much tells its own story as far as that issue is concerned. Better get your copy quick. I have a feeling it will soon be out of circulation.
Signed: Sincerely yours, John A. Kilpatrick Pastor of Brownsville of God in Pensacola
Countersigned: Sincerely? The word "sincerely" as defined in the Random House College Dictionary says: "(1) free from deceit, hypocracy, or falseness ..." Do you find the statements made in this letter from Rev. Kilpatrick to be sincere? Sincerely wrong -- now I could buy that!
Copywrite Sandy Simpson, 5/29/97
Thanks to those who helped me write this.
This article may be freely distributed.
