Saturday, May 31, 2014

DECEPTION - Part 3

Joseph Herrin (05-31-2014)


















I want to continue to hammer home the message regarding the vital necessity for Christians to test all people and their messages carefully in this hour of great deception and spiritual darkness. An absence of critical examination of the words of men and women in the church today is leading to a great falling away from truth. The result is that multitudes of believers are embracing deception and being led into bondage to sin and Satan.

In the recent series titled Double Jeopardy - Deception and Bondage of the Bride of Christ, I focused on some of the errors of the prophetic movement, particularly mentioning Morningstar Ministries and International House of Prayer (IHOP). The leaders of these organizations are Rick Joyner and Mike Bickle. A common link between these two men is that they were both greatly influenced by Bob Jones, who was either an apostate prophet of God, or a false prophet possessed of an unclean spirit. I would actually lean toward the latter description as most likely.










Bob Jones

Bob Jones died on February 14th of this year at precisely 6:22 A.M.. Regular readers of this blog may recognize the symbolic meaning of the time of his death. For the past ten years I have been sharing that the number 6 represents the carnal flesh (for Adam was created on the 6th day), and the number 22 in the Scriptures denotes the cutting off of wickedness. Following is an excerpt from the book Evidence of Things Unseen.
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The Spirit has for quite some time spoken to me through numbers, and I noticed the prevalence of a certain number when we moved to this home. The house number was 2231, and the road we lived off of was County Road 22. When the Spirit showed me I was to use my push mower, the first thing I noted was that it was a 22" mower. I began to wonder about the significance of this number, and I was certain it had something to do with cutting grass, that is, removing sinful flesh. Before I was to leave this house, which would be our residence for two months, the Spirit revealed the significance. I did a search in my Bible software for the number 22 and I came up with the following.

Jeroboam, the king who made all Israel sin with the two golden calves he set up reigned 22 years and God cut him off (I Kings 14:20). Ahab, the king who did more evil than all the kings who preceded him because of his wife Jezebel, reigned 22 years and God cut him off. Furthermore, the Scriptures record the following about these other wicked kings:

II Kings 8:26-27
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of Yahweh, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

II Kings 21:19-23
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He did evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done. For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. So he forsook Yawheh, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahweh. The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house.

The number 22 has a correlation to wicked kings. As saints we are a nation of kings and priests, and there are among the saints those who are also wicked, for they have allowed the flesh to rule in their lives and have not dealt with it as they ought to. The number 22 speaks of cutting off this wickedness from our lives, even as my 22" mower was used to cut the grass that surrounded my new home on County Road 22. Another astounding confirmation of the symbolism of this number came at this time when a sister in Christ who sends out a daily Scripture, was led by the Spirit to send forth the following:

Ephesians 4:22
Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion...
Amplified Bible
[End Excerpt]

Recognizing the great disparity between my own view of Morningstar Ministries fifteen years ago, and the Lord’s view of it, I can empathize with those who have admired men and their ministries that are deceptive in appearance. Some have watched the memorial service for Bob Jones that was held at Morningstar, concluding that he was surely a godly man who was mightily used of God. Appearances can be very deceiving, as the Lord showed me through the movie Double Jeopardy. The main character greatly admired the sailboat Morning Star which became a place of great deception for her, and resulted in bondage. The first man given the opportunity at Bob Jones’ memorial service to speak on his behalf was Mike Bickle.

Mike Bickle was only 27 years old, and serving as a senior pastor at a church in Kansas City when he first met Bob Jones. From the time of their first meeting, the much older Jones with his uncanny prophetic abilities, very much impressed Mike Bickle and began to exert a great influence upon his life. In Mike’s speech at the Bob Jones memorial service, he stated that for a period of ten years he spoke and interacted with Bob on nearly a daily basis. In articles posted on the IHOP website, Mike Bickle speaks of the profound influence of Bob Jones, revealing that he was the catalyst in the formation of the International House of Prayer movement. In Part 3 of the series titled Savage Wolves, I shared the following.
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On the IHOP website is an article written by Mike Bickle which documents how IHOP came into existence. In this short history the name of Bob Jones is mentioned 28 times. In contrast the name of Christ is mentioned only 3 times. There is also a heavy focus upon angelic visitations. Following are a few quotes from the article.

The first word that Bob Jones gave to me on march 7, 1983

A. Bob Jones’ first prophecy to me, “You will lead a worldwide youth movement of prophetic singers and musicians that God will release in power evangelism and use to mobilize worldwide prayer for Israel. This youth movement will be given abundant grace to operate in the prophetic and intercession...”

Bob Jones encounter with angels – Aug. 8, 1975

A. History on Bob Jones: he was born in 1929 and grew up in the hills of Arkansas. He had two angelic experiences in his youth (Age 9 and 15). Bob met the Lord at age 39 (Sept. 1969). He worked on trees (spraying and trimming) for many years in Kansas City.

B. He had his first major prophetic experience on Aug. 8, 1975. Bob had a “near death experience” in which his spirit left his body and stood before the Lord. The Lord sent him back from death to help the earliest leadership of a future worldwide youth movement. Bob saw two angels who spoke to one another about the future outpouring of the Spirit in Kansas City. They described it as being like an atomic explosion of light and that it would be characterized with prophetic and intercession (in Jan. 1984 the Lord showed Bob that “prophetic and intercession” would need to be joined with “compassion and worship” to be complete).

C. Bob saw both a great revival and crisis coming on a worldwide scale just prior to Jesus’ return. Holy believing persevering prayer is God’s primary appointed means for releasing abundant mercy and grace through His Church in the time of revival and crisis.

D. God showed Bob that He would raise up a worldwide youth movement in Kansas City that would persist in night and day prayer that was led by prophetic singers and musicians. The first anointing will be on prophetic singers and musicians leading to an “open heaven.” God would answer their prayers by releasing revival in the Church, power evangelism (world missions), justice in society, pockets of mercy (“cities of refuge”) and worldwide intercession for Israel.

E.       The angel told Bob of the coming of a world war followed by worldwide famine. The urgent need for night and day intercession is understood in context to the coming worldwide crisis...

H.     On Aug. 8, 1975, Bob heard the angels speak to each other about God sending a spiritual and a natural breadbasket across the earth from a 500-mile radius around Kansas City in a time of natural and spiritual famine. The prophetic and intercession are redemptive gifts in the Midwest that are essential to releasing this blessing (bread, revelation, finances, houses of prayer, etc.).

I. The angels saw God raising up what we refer to as “pockets of mercy.” For example, there will be rain on areas in the time of drought and financial prosperity in the time of economic crisis...

C.      Bob tells of over 100 prophetic revelations of a youth movement rising up in KC (1975-1983). Bob’s former pastor testified of how Bob publicly prophesied of the young people that would come to south Kansas City in the spring of 1983 seeking revival through intercession...

Bob explained that God will give specific prophetic signs in heaven (i.e., the sky: including comets and weather patterns) and on the earth (earthquakes, etc.) to validate prophetic words. Signs in heaven (sky) and earth that are foretold with accuracy cannot be manipulated by man. Thus, they confirm the important content of the prophetic dreams and visions. God holds people accountable to believe and act in obedience when He confirms words by signs in the heavens...

Thursday April 14, Bob Jones is visited by Gabriel who says, “give the young man Dan. 9 and he will understand.” The Lord shows Bob that the fast will be confirmed by a comet unpredicted by scientists and it should start on May 7. This would be a significant time in which God would sovereignly speak to the youth movement and establish some of its spiritual DNA.
[End Excerpt]

A scripture that immediately comes to mind as I read about all of Bob Jones’ claims of having been visited by angels is the following:

Colossians 2:18
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.

It is concerning to me to hear a man speak continuously of the visions and angelic encounters he has had. Bob Jones testified that he would regularly have as many as 7 prophetic encounters every night. Rick Joyner shared that Bob would speak with him each morning, telling him what he had received the night before in his dreams and angelic encounters. This emphasis upon prophecy and mystical experiences, coupled with the de-emphasis of Bible study and the teaching of sound doctrine, has been the legacy left behind by Bob Jones. Some years back when Bob Jones was exposed for serious moral and ministerial transgressions while in Kansas City, Mike Bickle confessed that they had strayed into error. In the same blog post cited above, I included the following quotation taken from an online source.

The news about Jones was reported in the Olathe Daily Newspaper, 11/31/91. It contained that Jones admitted to sexual misconduct. He was removed from “ministry” to undergo a process of “restoration.” This news was also published in a book called “What Happened To The Fire” by Lee Grady (1994). On page 103 it states, “About a year later, after the church had become affiliated with John Wimber’s Vineyard network of churches, Jones admitted to a moral failure and was removed from his leadership position. Later, Mike Bickle stated publicly that he had promoted Jones improperly. He admitted that his church’s emphasis on prophecy and mystical experiences had been unhealthy and destructive.”

Then, in another review of the Kansas City Prophets, Bill Alnor of the Christian Sentinel reported the following: “Jones, who was using his spiritual authority to induce women to disrobe for him, was removed from that church...” The Apologetics Index, which is a ministry that researches resources on cults, sects and other religious movements, doctrines and practices, also reported on the matter. They state the following, that Bob Jones “was removed from the Vineyard Anaheim because of sexual improprieties, which consisted of encouraging women to undress in his office so they could stand ‘naked before the Lord’ in order to receive a ‘word.’” In addition to this, several cult watch organizations have put him (Bob Jones) on watch for the same thing.
[End Excerpt]

Sadly, nothing changed, for the emphasis on prophecy and mystical experiences continues with IHOP. Bob Jones, before his emergence as a prophet, spent time in a mental hospital. Bob later reported that during this time the Lord spoke to him and told him that in order to get his mind back he would either have to kill, or forgive, twelve people. This is NOT the voice of God. Yahweh does not instruct people to kill others to regain their sanity. There is a very high incidence of demonic possession and oppression among the mentally ill. With all of Bob’s claims of communicating with angels it should have been considered that these were fallen angels, or unclean spirits masquerading as messengers of God.

I Timothy 4:1
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons...

Brothers and sisters, do you understand that these are the “later times” of which the apostle Paul spoke? The Spirit EXPLICITLY stated that during the time we now live in many will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Where do you suppose this is happening? It is certainly occurring with the false prophets of the modern prophetic movement. Paul Cain, Bob Jones, Todd Bentley; these are just a few of the individuals who have been paying attention to deceitful spirits and promoting doctrines of demons.

The words of the apostle Paul are being fulfilled in this hour. You can observe it happening at IHOP, at Morningstar, at Bill Johnson’s Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and in the thousands of churches who are imbibing the unclean doctrines and practices being promoted by these places.



















I believe it would be profitable to identify two issues that contributed to Mike Bickle’s fall into deception. I do not say these are the only issues, but these two are readily apparent and serve as a lesson to others. One of the issues was pride. Mike Bickle was too immature at the age of 27 to be the “senior pastor” of a church. The vast majority of males in America are grossly immature. The phrase “late bloomers” hardly expresses the truth. There is a culture of childish irresponsibility that pervades American culture. A man of 27 years old is often less mature than a child of 14 a century ago. The apostle Paul gives the following admonition which I mentioned earlier in this series.

I Timothy 3:4-6
[An overseer]  must be one who manages his own household well..., and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.

Whether a man is a new convert, or has been a Christian for years while remaining spiritually immature, there is a great danger of placing such men in positions of church leadership. During his talk before those gathered at Bob Jones’ memorial service, Mike Bickle states that upon their first meeting Bob Jones told him that he was a “youth pastor.” Mike pridefully responded, “I am not a youth pastor, I am a senior pastor.”

The second issue that contributed to Mike Bickle’s fall into deception was a lack of patient testing of Bob Jones to know his character and his message before embracing him. Mike Bickle’s speech at the memorial service is very enlightening. He shared how he was previously in St. Louis preparing to relocate to Kansas City. A man with a prophetic gift told Mike that when he arrived in Kansas City that he would experience four things. One of the things he mentioned was that Mike would encounter a false prophet.

Mike goes on to share that when he arrived in Kansas City that he began hearing people tell him about this prophet who was there, urging him to meet him. Mike refused repeatedly, fearing that this was the false prophet he had been warned about. This prophet was Bob Jones. Mike finally agreed to meet with Bob Jones, and at once was struck by his strangeness and had deep reservations about him. Bob began prophesying to Mike Bickle about how God was going to use him to raise up a ministry that would eventually become what is observed today as IHOP. When Mike went home that evening he told his wife he had met “the strangest human being on the planet.” He stated that Bob Jones, “was either totally of God, or totally of the devil.” Mike’s leaning at the moment was that Bob was of the devil. However, Mike’s wife responded at once and said, “He is totally of God. I can tell right now.”

Brothers and sisters, Mike’s wife was also young at the time. They both grew up in a Christian culture that has abandoned the patient testing of people and their messages. The response of Mike’s wife violates the commandment of the apostle Paul to “Lay hands on no man suddenly.” A wife has a tremendous influence upon her husband. This influence can be used to tragic consequence as has been observed as far back as Eve giving to her husband Adam the forbidden fruit to eat. Mike Bickle’s wife could have withheld judgment. She could have encouraged her husband to test carefully both the man and his message. She did not do this. Instead, she used her influence to cause her husband to lower his guard; to allay his concerns; and to be more susceptible to the thought that this was a true prophet of God who had been sent to him.

I am including a link to the video of the Bob Jones memorial service. The portion where Mike Bickle speaks runs from the 22:00 - 35:30 minute mark. I encourage you to watch this entire portion of about 13 minutes, as I have some comments to share about Bob’s prophecy that IHOP would one day be located on Harry S Truman’s property. The following link will start the video at the appropriate point.

http://youtu.be/2k5LwlqWrxM?t=22m



Mike shares during the memorial service that one thing Bob prophesied to him was that he would eventually build on land that once belonged to former U.S. President Harry S Truman. It was later explained to Mike that the significance of this is that President Truman was the first national leader to recognize Israel as a sovereign state after it was established in 1948. It was explained that because of this act, the blessing of God resided on President Truman, for those who bless God’s people, Yahweh will bless. It was indicated to Mike Bickle that there would be a transference of blessing simply by locating to property formerly owned by PresidentTruman. Mike Bickle explains that these words of Bob Jones were fulfilled when 125 acres of land formerly owned by Harry S Truman were presented as a gift to IHOP in 2007.


















IHOP Property on Harry S Truman’s Land

There is much that is left out of the account. This land was not spontaneously gifted to the IHOP ministry as Bickle’s account may lead one to assume. A lawyer/real estate developer who has had a long association with Mike Bickle and IHOP approached the landowners and expressed interest in purchasing the land. When he found they were receptive to the idea, and offered a very attractive price, the news was made known to IHOP’s ministry partners. One of the ministry partners from Texas contacted Mike and said he wanted to pay for the entire purchase, including all closing costs. You might describe this as a self-fulfilled prophecy. A fuller account of the matter is available on a video posted at Mike Bickle’s website.

http://mikebickle.org/resources/resource/1385

In the video above Mike Bickle states that Bob Jones prophesied to him that he would lead a group that had “a ministry like Harry S Truman.” He goes on to explain that Harry S Truman was a political intercessor for the nation of Israel, and that the IHOP ministry to be located on land formerly owned by Truman is to be a center for spiritual intercession for the nation of Israel. In the plans for the $150 million dollar development of this land, IHOP has drawn up blueprints for a building to be known as The Truman Prayer Center.

If you listen to Mike Bickle speak about their acquisition of the Truman property, you will hear him mention Bob Jones repeatedly. Bob Jones was constantly relaying information to Mike Bickle (and later to Rick Joyner) from all the angelic encounters he was having. The soundness of these works raised up by Mike Bickle and Rick Joyner are just as sound as Bob Jones, the man who was acting as their spiritual guide to understand the will of God. If this man was deceived, and has in fact been hearing the voices of fallen angels and unclean spirits from the time he was in a mental hospital, then these ministries are in a lot of trouble.

In a previous writing I mentioned that the prophetic movement has adopted a whitewashed view of Count von Zinzendorf and the Moravians. There has been a great deal of whitewash applied to historical figures. Zinzendorf’s Moravians who joined him in the order he created that was dubbed The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed, were also known as The Fraternity of Moravian Brothers of the Order of Religious Freemasons. Readers who are unfamiliar with the diabolical character of Freemasonry may not understand how troubling an association with Masonry is. For those who are interested, I have a writing posted on this subject that is titled Freemasonry - The Spirit of Babylon.

I mentioned that both Morningstar Ministries and IHOP have deep ties to Zinzendorf. Rick Joyner has followed in the spiritual path of Zinzendorf by being initiated into the Knights of Malta, a group that springs from the same root as Freemasonry, The Knights Templars. Morningstar has purchased property at Moravian Falls, North Carolina, which is also where Rick Joyner lives. IHOP has named some of their property after the Moravian community that was established on Zinzendorf’s land in Germany. They have an apartment complex for interns that is called Herrnhut. They also have murals on their property that feature the Moravians and Zinzendorf, and they have publicly stated that their 24/7 prayer meetings are modeled after this group.

One begins to note a pattern when they see IHOP venerating Harry S Truman, and moving to property that he formerly owned, for Harry S Truman boasted of having attained “all of the degrees of Freemasonry.” Truman was a 33rd degree Freemason, and served as Grand Master of Masons of the State of Missouri.

Truman was Initiated: February 9, 1909, Belton Lodge No. 450, Belton, Missouri. In 1911, several Members of Belton Lodge separated to establish Grandview Lodge No. 618, Grandview, Missouri, and Brother Truman served as its first Worshipful Master. At the Annual Session of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, September 24-25, 1940, Brother Truman was elected (by a landslide) the ninety-seventh Grand Master of Masons of Missouri, and served until October 1, 1941. Brother and President Truman was made a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33°, and Honorary Member, Supreme Council on October 19,1945 at the Supreme Council A.A.S.R. Southern Jurisdiction Headquarters in Washington D.C., upon which occasion he served as Exemplar (Representative) for his Class. He was also elected an Honorary Grand Master of the International Supreme Council, Order of DeMolay.
[Source: http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/uspresidentasmasonspt3.htm]























Harry S Truman in Masonic Apparel

Albert Pike, author of the encyclopedic Masonic tome Morals and Dogma, and Supreme Commander of all Scottish Rite Freemasonry, a man whose statue stands in Washington, D.C., spoke the following.

That which we must say to the crowd is - We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition.

To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General [of the 33rd degree], we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees - The Masonic religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine.

If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay, the God of the Christians, whose deeds prove his cruelty, perfidy, and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him?

Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also God. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two Gods: darkness being necessary to light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive...

Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil.
[End Quote]

The Freemasons of the highest orders have revealed to them that the god of the lodge is Lucifer. He is testified to be the god of light, while Yahweh (Adonai) is professed to be “the God of Darkness and Evil.” What a deception has been pulled over the eyes of Mike Bickle and all those associated with the International House of Prayer that they would believe they would receive a divine blessing by acquiring the land of a 33rd Degree Freemason, a man who held the highest position in Freemasonry in the state of Missouri. What a profaning of the name of Christ it is to establish a house of prayer and stamp upon it the name of a chief servant of Satan.

In the video linked above, Mike Bickle shares that in Bob Jones’ first prophetic encounter relating to Kansas City and the future ministry that is now known as IHOP, that he saw two angels speaking and they were discussing a revival that would break out from Kansas City. They said it would be like an “atomic explosion of light” to bring revival to the earth. How twisted and cunning are the ways of Satan. Harry S Truman, a 33rd degree Freemason, understood the Luciferian doctrines. He recognized Lucifer (the light bearer) as the god of Freemasonry. Lucifer was known to him as the god of light. What manner of light should the people of God anticipate to break forth from Kansas City, from land formerly owned by this Masonic adept? What kind of light will come forth from a a building that is named in honor of America’s 33rd President, who was also a 33rd degree Freemason?

The very words Bob Jones claims to have heard the angels speak, comparing the light of revival going forth from Kansas City to the explosion of an atomic bomb, is filled with subtlety and dark innuendo. An atomic bomb is an instrument of destruction and death, and our Lord has told us that Satan “comes only to kill, steal, and destroy.” It was President Harry S Truman who ordered the atomic bombs to be dropped on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The effect of dropping these two bombs is estimated to have resulted in approximately 100,000 dead, and a similar number of wounded. The long term effect of these bombs is reported to be nearly 200,000 dead. The majority were women, children, and the elderly, for most men of military age were off fighting in the war. It is estimated that 65% of the casualties were 9 years old, or younger.
















A Mother Tending Her Injured Child - Hiroshima

The spiritually sensitive should have a sense of foreboding when they understand that Bob Jones was overhearing deceiving spirits, or fallen angels, comparing the acts of Harry S Truman in dropping the atomic bomb on these two cities, to the spiritual forces to be unleashed from Harry S Truman’s property in the hour in which we now live. This is the spiritual heritage of the International House of Prayer and The Truman Prayer Center.














A Victim of Truman’s Atomic Bomb

To understand the grotesque evil of Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on these two Japanese cities, one needs to understand what was truly going on in Japan at the time. Japan had been making overtures, seeking an end of war for months while President Roosevelt was still alive (another Freemason and a member of the New York financial elite). The Japanese had even advanced an offer of surrender that was nearly identical to the ultimate surrender agreement signed aboard the U.S. Naval Battleship Missouri (quite fitting that the ship was named after the state of the President who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan).















Japan was a beaten country, and the dropping of the atomic bombs served no purpose other than to demonstrate to the world that America had this awesome weapon, thereby announcing her ascendancy over all other nations. It also served the purpose of providing to the military/industrial complex data on the actual devastation wrought by nuclear bombs on centers of human population. It proved untenable to drop the bomb on Germany. Germany’s surrender came before the bom b was ready, and the fallout would have spread to other European nations. Japan was chosen because of its isolation from other American allies. There are myriads of sources that report the unnecessary use of the atomic bomb. Following is one account.

A Beaten Country

Apart from the moral questions involved, were the atomic bombings militarily necessary? By any rational yardstick, they were not. Japan already had been defeated militarily by June 1945. Almost nothing was left of the once mighty Imperial Navy, and Japan's air force had been all but totally destroyed. Against only token opposition, American war planes ranged at will over the country, and US bombers rained down devastation on her cities, steadily reducing them to rubble.

What was left of Japan's factories and workshops struggled fitfully to turn out weapons and other goods from inadequate raw materials. (Oil supplies had not been available since April.) By July about a quarter of all the houses in Japan had been destroyed, and her transportation system was near collapse. Food had become so scarce that most Japanese were subsisting on a sub-starvation diet.

On the night of March 9-10, 1945, a wave of 300 American bombers struck Tokyo, killing 100,000 people. Dropping nearly 1,700 tons of bombs, the war planes ravaged much of the capital city, completely burning out 16 square miles and destroying a quarter of a million structures. A million residents were left homeless.

On May 23, eleven weeks later, came the greatest air raid of the Pacific War, when 520 giant B-29 "Superfortress" bombers unleashed 4,500 tons of incendiary bombs on the heart of the already battered Japanese capital. Generating gale-force winds, the exploding incendiaries obliterated Tokyo's commercial center and railway yards, and consumed the Ginza entertainment district. Two days later, on May 25, a second strike of 502 "Superfortress" planes roared low over Tokyo, raining down some 4,000 tons of explosives. Together these two B-29 raids destroyed 56 square miles of the Japanese capital.

Even before the Hiroshima attack, American air force General Curtis LeMay boasted that American bombers were "driving them [Japanese] back to the stone age." Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold, commanding General of the Army air forces, declared in his 1949 memoirs: "It always appeared to us, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse." This was confirmed by former Japanese prime minister Fumimaro Konoye, who said: "Fundamentally, the thing that brought about the determination to make peace was the prolonged bombing by the B-29s."

Japan Seeks Peace

Months before the end of the war, Japan's leaders recognized that defeat was inevitable. In April 1945 a new government headed by Kantaro Suzuki took office with the mission of ending the war. When Germany capitulated in early May, the Japanese understood that the British and Americans would now direct the full fury of their awesome military power exclusively against them.

American officials, having long since broken Japan's secret codes, knew from intercepted messages that the country's leaders were seeking to end the war on terms as favorable as possible. Details of these efforts were known from decoded secret communications between the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Japanese diplomats abroad.

In his 1965 study, Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam (pp. 107, 108), historian Gar Alperovitz writes:

Although Japanese peace feelers had been sent out as early as September 1944 (and [China's] Chiang Kai-shek had been approached regarding surrender possibilities in December 1944), the real effort to end the war began in the spring of 1945. This effort stressed the role of the Soviet Union ...

In mid-April [1945] the [US] Joint Intelligence Committee reported that Japanese leaders were looking for a way to modify the surrender terms to end the war. The State Department was convinced the Emperor was actively seeking a way to stop the fighting.

A Secret Memorandum

It was only after the war that the American public learned about Japan's efforts to bring the conflict to an end. Chicago Tribune reporter Walter Trohan, for example, was obliged by wartime censorship to withhold for seven months one of the most important stories of the war.

In an article that finally appeared August 19, 1945, on the front pages of the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald, Trohan revealed that on January 20, 1945, two days prior to his departure for the Yalta meeting with Stalin and Churchill, President Roosevelt received a 40-page memorandum from General Douglas MacArthur outlining five separate surrender overtures from high-level Japanese officials. (The complete text of Trohan's article is in the Winter 1985-86 Journal, pp. 508-512.)

This memo showed that the Japanese were offering surrender terms virtually identical to the ones ultimately accepted by the Americans at the formal surrender ceremony on September 2 -- that is, complete surrender of everything but the person of the Emperor. Specifically, the terms of these peace overtures included:

Complete surrender of all Japanese forces and arms, at home, on island possessions, and in occupied countries.
Occupation of Japan and its possessions by Allied troops under American direction.
Japanese relinquishment of all territory seized during the war, as well as Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.
Regulation of Japanese industry to halt production of any weapons and other tools of war.
Release of all prisoners of war and internees.
Surrender of designated war criminals.

Is this memorandum authentic? It was supposedly leaked to Trohan by Admiral William D. Leahy, presidential Chief of Staff. (See: M. Rothbard in A. Goddard, ed., Harry Elmer Barnes: Learned Crusader [1968], pp. 327f.) Historian Harry Elmer Barnes has related (in "Hiroshima: Assault on a Beaten Foe," National Review, May 10, 1958):

The authenticity of the Trohan article was never challenged by the White House or the State Department, and for very good reason. After General MacArthur returned from Korea in 1951, his neighbor in the Waldorf Towers, former President Herbert Hoover, took the Trohan article to General MacArthur and the latter confirmed its accuracy in every detail and without qualification.
[Source: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html]

The Japanese had a very different view of Harry S Truman than that which the western press promoted. To the Japanese, President Truman was known as “Dirty Harry.” Years later, when the Clint Eastwood movie came out with this name, many Japanese thought the movie was about the 33rd U.S. President.

There is a similar whitewashing of Truman’s role in pushing forward the acceptance of Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948. Rather than Truman being a champion of the descendants of Abraham, his actions were based upon pecuniary motives. It is reported that while Truman was campaigning for election in 1948, and facing defeat, that his campaign was rescued by Abraham Feinberg, a Jewish Zionist and agent of the Rothschild banking family. According to now released FBI records, Feinberg personally pledged $100,000 to Truman’s campaign.

http://www.irmep.org/ila/feinberg/

Texe Marrs comments on the relationship between Feinberg and Truman, stating that Feinberg delivered to Truman a 2 million dollar bribe aboard their campaign train. The money was in suitcases filled with 100 dollar bills. The bribe was in exchange for Truman giving recognition to the new Zionist state of Israel.

http://www.texemarrs.com/092011/truman_and_the_jews_article.htm

This goes a long way toward explaining why Truman rebuffed offers of corporate employment after his two terms as President. Despite the fact that Truman received very little income after his Presidency, he showed no interest in pursuing lucrative contracts in industry. Historians have suggested that this was due to his strong sense of ethics and an unwillingness to capitalize on the office of the Presidency. It seems more likely that Truman had already made his money, freeing him up to pursue personal interests upon leaving political office.

The heroic image championed by Bob Jones, Mike Bickle, and others, of Harry S Truman being an intercessor for Israel is based upon lies and deception. It has all the hallmarks of a work of Satan who is “the great deceiver who deceives the whole world.”

Brothers and sisters, there is no divine blessing to be obtained by IHOP locating to the land once owned by this high ranking Freemason and chief servant of Satan. This deception is similar to the one I wrote about previously where BSSM students were visiting the graves of deceased Christians to receive blessing and anointing from the location. It is similar to the belief shared by people involved with Morningstar Ministries that there is an “open heaven” over Moravian Falls, North Carolina, and the suggestion that the location is a spiritual portal, a special place to contact angels. Tragically, I believe there may be truth to these claims, but the angels being contacted are the “deceiving spirits” that Paul wrote about. The Holy Spirit explicitly warned that many would be led astray by these deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons in these latter days.

If spiritual impartations, or access to angelic beings and spirits, is more pronounced at some locations than others, the specific locations Bob Jones has influenced both IHOP and Morningstar to acquire are far more likely to be cursed than blessed. The past history of these lands owned by Freemasons, men who practiced deception and lying while engaging in many immoral acts, has defiled these places. That Christians today would not attempt to cleanse these lands, or to renounce the unrighteousness of former owners, but have instead made heroes of wicked men, choosing to emblazon their names upon their ministries, reveals the effectiveness of Satan’s deception.

Is it not exceedingly necessary for Christians to test every man and every message carefully? Many are falling into great error by laying hands on men too quickly. Bob Jones should never have been embraced by Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner, or other leaders of the prophetic movement. He was a mentally disturbed man. He was conversant with deceiving spirits. He introduced Todd Bentley to the angel Emma, and other unclean spirits. To their continued injury, men in the prophetic movement will not allow Bob Jones’s influence to wane, even now that he has died. In a recent blog post, prophet Bobby Conner, an associate of Rick Joyner, and a fellow resident of Moravian Falls, shared how he had an encounter with Bob Jones in a vision of the night.







IT’S About the HARVEST! - LOOK AT YOUR HANDS! A Dream Concerning A Visitation From Bob Jones

by Bobby Conner
April 10, 2014
In the early morning hours of March 28, 2014 around 3:30AM I received a very vivid dream, which I feel is significant to help the Body of Christ gage (sic) the season we have entered into. This was much more than a mere dream. This was a prophetic encounter! The dream commences, I am in my study at my desk in Moravian Falls, North Carolina I am working on a new book.

The Holy Spirit said; “you have a visitor” thinking someone was at the door I am about to open the door. However the Holy Spirit said, “your visitor is at the window”. Turning to look at my windows, suddenly with a flash of light appearing just outside my window striding down what appeared to be translucent pearl colored stairs was Bob Jones. He had the most winsome warm smile and looked absolutely wonderful. However in the dream I was completely aware that Bob had gone to heaven on Feb 14. 2014.

Bob simply stepped into my study. I did not need to open the window he just walked right in. His appearance was incredible, he was firm and fit He was dress (sic) in a wonderful soft beautiful elegant white robe past his waist down below his knees, like a long shirt. His hair was extremely white and glistening I was amazed at his skin it was without blemish white and soft his smile was truly radiant and beautiful. His eyes were bigger than normal and extremely clear sparkling like that of an excited child.

I had been expecting his visit nevertheless words can’t describe my delight and thrill I was so excited to see my dear friend I said; “I been (sic) expecting this meeting!” And looking forward to it.” He quickly replied in an excited tone “Me too!” His next words were, “You are doing fine!” And he said placing both hands on his chest, “And I am doing wonderful.”

In this encounter is seemed as if we could communicate without actual conversation, spirit to spirit with our hearts. Then he said, “Have you noticed your hair?” I replied, “no not really!” He said in an instructive tone. “Run your hand through your hair.” Accordingly I ran my right hand through my hair it felt perfectly normal. Then Bob said in a delighted gleeful tone, “Look in your hand,” when I looked at my hand I had hundreds of golden pieces of strands. These golden particles seemed to me like the shaft (sic) of arrows only much smaller! They were round and very straight about one foot in length. 

Bob said in an excited informative manner, “do it again and again and again” each time more and more golden shafts appeared until my hands as well as his were overflowing with these golden strands. Bob declared with a wonderful twinkle in his bright blue eyes, and a smile of someone who knows a secret that you are about to learn, “watch closely!” Suddenly these golden shafts appeared to turn into wonderful huge stalks of ripe grain. These golden stalks filled not just our hands they were now huge you could hardly get your arms around them. And they continued to expand larger and larger. The rapid acceleration of their increase was breathtaking. 

Bob said with a child like smile,“YOU know what this means don’t you! “I replied somewhat tentatively,“I think I do!” He said in a most confident tone, “it is the HARVEST!” He said “the coming harvest will be spearheaded by the prophetic.” The Prophets will be used in an unprecedented way to announce and declare the fields that are now ripe and ready for harvest. The prophetic voices will sound a clear trumpet call bring (sic) forth the Body of Christ to stand-up and speak up becoming anointed evangelists. 

Bob said almost in a personal matter of fact manner, “it is so much better to watch from my vantage point.” He added, “I know we have much to talk about, but we will do that later!” And suddenly there was a strong flash of light extremely blue bright, and he was gone. In the dream I am standing in my study my body and mind both pulsating shaken to the core by the visitation.

Abruptly I am awake laying in my bed my body still responding to the event that I just experienced my heart pounding and my spirit electrified. The main enlightenment we must comprehend from this encounter is: it is harvest time. The end of the age is now upon us. Arise prepare your heart to thrust yourself into the harvest field.
Bobby Conner
EaglesView Ministries
[Source: http://bobbyconner.org/Articles.cfm?id=153]
(Emphasis Added)

One hundred years ago, a similar emphasis was being laid upon spiritual manifestations and angelic encounters in what is known as the Azusa Street Revival. A Christian brother who was concerned about what he was hearing visited this revival. His name was Frank Bartleman, and he gave the following account.

The temptation seems to be toward empty manifestations. This does not require any particular cross, or death to the self-life. Hence it is always popular... Any mission that exalts even the Holy Ghost above the Lord Jesus Christ is bound for the rocks of error and fanaticism.

This is an exceptionally insightful comment. Frank Bartleman pinpointed the most fundamental error of the prophetic movement today. I have observed it myself in an IHOP group that I spoke to some years back, and among churches that have embraced the prophetic movement. There is an emphasis on empty manifestations that do nothing to bring a man or woman to conformity to Christ. The disciple’s cross, the instrument Yahshua appointed to transform His disciples, is neglected. There is no emphasis on dying to self, and surrendering one’s life to be directed by the Spirit of Christ to that path He has appointed for our perfecting as sons.

You will observe this everywhere that Bob Jones has had an influence, for he was not a prophet of Yahweh. He promoted doctrines of demons and misled multitudes as he became inflated in his fleshly mind, speaking continuously of his encounters with angels. Let the people of God observe, and learn, from these errors.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

DECEPTION - Part 2

Joseph Herrin (05-28-2014)


















What passes for spiritual life in many Christian churches today bears no resemblance to the life of the early church that is set forth in the New Testament. Truly, those who call themselves followers of Christ have fallen from the example of sober minded saints who were intent on bearing the cross and making disciples of Yahshua, and they have become silly, ridiculous, and vain as they have embraced every new claim of God doing something supernatural in their midst. How has the church become a house of quackery where the most ludicrous deceivers are given a platform to speak nonsense to the body of Christ? Why are these men and women and their messages not tested to see whether they are of Christ? I believe a large part of the blame lies with the efforts of Satan, who has for decades worked to condemn and ostracize those who would exercise discernment and judgment among the body of Christ. This has driven the practice of exercising judgment out of the church, leaving her susceptible to the most egregious examples of spiritual charlatanism.

Before the Father called me out of the established church system, He appointed me for a season to serve as both an elder and a minister in a number of churches that had plural leadership structures. I have always recognized my call to be that of a teacher. In the fulfillment of this calling I have had many occasions to do the very things that Paul instructed Timothy to do.

II Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Being called to fulfill the role of a minister to God’s people in this hour, when spirituality and true commitment to Christ are at ebbtide, I found myself needing to offer correction to brothers and sisters in Christ on numerous occasions. I was unprepared for the reaction that I received. I wrote about this experience in an early article posted to the Heart4God website titled The Issue of Judging. I will cite a portion of that writing here.
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The Bible contains both clear admonitions to judge, as well as warnings against judging. On the surface these admonitions seem to be in contradiction to one another. However, we know that God is not the author of confusion, so there has to be a proper way to view all of these scriptures in harmony with one another.

This has long been a troubling issue for me because, as a minister with a prophetic gifting, God often has spoken words of correction, instruction and warning through me. On many occasions these words have not only been rejected, but they have elicited a very vitriolic response from brothers or sisters. Often my character and motives have been attacked because a member of the body did not want to hear truth, or allow the Spirit of God to delve into areas of their life that they had walled off from His inspection.

Because I grew up under the influence of the strong men of guilt, condemnation, and shame I have been quick to believe that I must have been in error when the words God had me share with others were rejected. I would look for the tiniest indication that the message of God was influenced and corrupted as it passed through the vessel of my flesh. Did I err by not speaking in love? Did I not have the person’s welfare in mind when I spoke to them? Did I let my own feelings of rejection add a harshness to the delivery of the word because I anticipated that I would be rejected and criticized?

I am certain that at times there was some substance to these questions that arose in my mind. However, I am fully convinced that the rejection of correction and warning is most often due to the fact that in the Western world the mass of Christian believers simply do not receive these things well. There is little true discipleship in churches. Members are courted and catered to. Offending a brother is looked upon as the most grievous of offenses. There are too many competing churches to risk offending a brother or sister. It is too easy for them to pack up and go somewhere else where no one will interfere with the way they choose to live their life.

In many ways, the mass of church goers are like spoiled children. They are given everything they want with little required of them in return. Even as a spoiled child pitches a fit or throws a temper tantrum when told they cannot do something, or when they are corrected, so do many of the saints of God. It is largely because such an atmosphere of tolerance and appeasement has been adopted in the church that the issue of judging has fallen out of vogue and is looked down upon as unkind and uncharitable.
[End Excerpt]























Men and women who are petulant in their fleshly form of Christianity will often respond to the person offering correction by telling them that the Bible commands believers not to judge others. The statement “Judge not lest you be judged” is bandied about as if it is the end of the matter. Christians are told that they are simply not to judge. If they attempt to do so they are labeled as being critical, divisive, or holier-than-thou. The large body of Scripture passages that command Christians to judge, to exercise discernment and correction, is neglected. Following is a further excerpt from the writing The Issue of Judging.
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Admonishments to judge:

In my ‘puzzling’ out this issue of judging I began by looking at scriptures that give instructions to judge. I did this because I wanted to understand the scriptures that say not to judge and I knew they could not violate these admonitions to judge. This is therefore a good starting point. The first scripture comes from our Lord and is found in the book of John.

John 7:24
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

The words rendered as ‘judge’ in this verse are the Greek word ‘krino’ which according to Strongs’ Dictionary is interpreted “to distinguish or decide, and by implication, to try, condemn, or punish.”

The context of this verse is not specifically a command to make judgments. Rather, it is a rebuke to those who make judgments according to appearance, condemning that which God has not condemned. The Jewish leaders were condemning Jesus because He healed on the Sabbath. These are told to not judge by appearance but to judge righteously. This principle of not judging by appearance is reflected in the following prophetic passage of scripture that foretells the coming of Christ.

Isaiah 11:3-4
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge [8199] after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove [3198] after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge [8199] the poor, and reprove [3198] with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
(KJV)

In this passage the word ‘judge’ is Strongs’ number 8199, shaphat (shaw-fat'); meaning to judge or pronounce sentence for or against. By implication, it means to vindicate or punish, and extended out it carries the meaning ‘to govern.’

Likewise, the word ‘reprove’ is Strongs’ number 3198, yakach (yaw-kahh'); meaning to be right or correct. In application, it means to argue, to decide, justify or convict, appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, and reprove.

This scripture is a prophecy of Christ, but as God’s stated purpose for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son, we can by implication draw application to ourselves from this passage. Judging, pronouncing sentence, determining a person’s right standing or wrong standing, or governing is not to be done by what our eyes see, according to appearance. Additionally, reproving, determining what is right or correct, putting forth an argument, making decisions, justifying, or convicting is not to be based upon what we have heard with our ears. In other words, right and wrong is not to be decided through what our physical senses report as it is weighed by our mind.

It is with righteousness that judging and reproving are to be done. What is the source of this righteousness if it does not arise from our reasoning as we evaluate that which is seen and heard?

Psalms 7:11
God is a righteous judge...

Psalms 11:7
For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.

God alone is the source of righteous judgment. As we behold Him we learn of His righteous judgments and we cast off our own judgments formed from what we see and hear. If we are to walk in righteousness, all of our judgments must originate with God lest we find ourselves condemning what God has not condemned and approving what God has not approved. The only acceptable judgment is that which finds its source in God. This is further revealed in the following verse.

John 5:30
"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Jesus is not referring here to hearing with His physical ears, He is speaking of hearing from God. Jesus’ judgment is in harmony with the Father’s judgment. They are one and the same. Jesus merely speaks that which He hears the Father saying. This is to be our pattern as well.

A further admonishment to judge is found in Paul’s instructions to Timothy.

II Timothy 4:1-2
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge [krino] the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove [1651],  rebuke [2008], exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Timothy, an elder in the body of Christ, is told to refute those in error. ‘Refute’ is Strong’s number 1651, elegcho (el-eng'-kho); meaning “to confute, or admonish.” The word ‘confute’ is defined as: to prove to be false or invalid; convict of error. Timothy is also told to rebuke. The word ‘rebuke’ is Strongs’ word 2008, epitimao (ep-ee-tee-mah'-o); meaning “to tax upon, i.e. censure or admonish; by implication, forbid.”

In this passage we see that Paul is telling Timothy that as an elder and leader in the body of Christ he is to admonish, he is to prove that which is error to be false or invalid, he is to convict of error, he is to censure those who hold to error, and he is to forbid continuing in error.

All of these things required that Timothy had to discern the mind of the Father to know what was false and what was true. As he did so he was to apply himself diligently to keeping the body free from error and clinging to that which was right. In similar manner, Paul exhorted Titus, another elder:

Titus 2:15
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Paul further elaborated to Titus:

Titus 1:12-13
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. For this cause reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith...

The word ‘reprove’ here is the same word spoken to Timothy. The word ‘severely’ comes from a Greek word meaning “to cut abruptly or peremptorily.” ‘Peremptorily’ is defined as: final, decisive, precluding discussion or hesitation. It should be noted that reproof and rebuke was not always to be given with such sharpness. This instruction was given to Titus due to the nature of the people he was ministering to. However, Paul gave Timothy this qualification on how to address those in the body he ministered to.

I Timothy 5:1-2
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Through the clear message of these passages we can clearly determine that the admonition to “not judge” found in some scriptures does not preclude an elder or minister from his clear responsibility of correcting, refuting, reproving, rebuking, censuring, etc..

Some further scriptures indicating that there is a proper place for judgment are found in Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church. These hold a somewhat different application in that these letters were not sent just to those who were elders, but to the body in general.

I Corinthians 5:9-13
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

This passage indicates that the church is to discern who among the body are immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers, drunkards, or swindlers. This discernment was to be followed with action. If the person would not repent they were to be shunned and the believer was not to even share a meal with such a one. In the same passage Paul corrected any misconception that this judging was to apply to those outside of the church. It is not the responsibility of the church to judge those outside of the church. Paul states that God will judge these.

In verse 12 Paul asks a rhetorical question, “Do you not judge those who are within the church?” Again, the word ‘judge’ here is the Greek word Krino which is interpreted “to distinguish or decide, and by implication, to try, condemn, or punish.”

That which precipitated this message to the Corinthian believers was the presence of sin in the body that was being tolerated, rather than exposed, confronted and removed. Paul speaks of those who were coming to partake of the Lord’s supper who were getting drunk and behaving gluttonously. Additionally, he addresses the issue of a man who was partaking of all of the rights of fellowship among the body when he was in gross immorality having taken his father’s wife for himself.

Paul clearly states that such sins are not to be ignored or glanced over. The members of the body are to discern those who are walking in disobedience and to reprove them for their error. If they will not repent they are to be ostracized, excluded from the privileges of fellowship.

By this we can deduce that any scripture speaking against judging does not forbid the actions that Paul states here are the clear responsibility of the body of Christ; to discern that which is blatant sin and to reprove those who are in sin, refusing to associate with them if they will not repent. Paul gives further instructions to the Corinthian believers regarding judging.

I Corinthians 6:2-3, 5
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this life? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide [diakrino] between his brethren...

The word ‘decide’ found in verse 5 is Strongs’ number 1252, diakrino (dee-ak-ree'-no); meaning “to separate thoroughly, that is to withdraw from, or by implication to oppose.” It also means to discriminate.

Again, this passage is prompted by the disobedience of the members of the body who were suing one another in civil courts. This body was very divisive, having different factions who claimed loyalty to different men. Some claimed they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and some of Jesus Christ. This divisiveness extended even into the arena of legal disputes and many were taking one another to court to their own shame.

Paul rebukes them for this and chides them for not being able to resolve their issues among themselves. He tells them they will judge the world and even angels. How much more should they be able to make simple judgments among themselves. In verse 5 Paul is asking them, “Can no wise man be found among you who can divide a matter and resolve it to its root issue, discriminating between right and wrong?” This was something the church should certainly handle themselves.

In this we can further deduce that any word against judging cannot be interpreted as infringing upon this obvious responsibility of the body to settle disputes among itself, even disputes that would be considered of a civil nature. The body is to police itself. They are to discern right and wrong from God’s righteous perspective and conduct their daily lives according to the dictates of what they have discerned.
[End Excerpt]























These Scriptures, and a great many more, shatter the myth that Christians are not to judge. It is really an untenable position to suggest that Christians should not judge. The individuals condemning so strenuously those who practice discernment and judgment in the body of Christ are violating the very principle they are promoting, even as they speak. To be critical of Christians who judge is an example of judging. (For those who have questions about the Scripture passages that speak against judging, and how they are to be harmonized with the many admonitions to judge, I recommend reading the full article cited above.)

The tragic fruit of the false doctrine of “Judge Not” is that the people of God have become passive when it comes to exercising discernment, and tolerant of many things that should not be tolerated. The church has become a menagerie, or circus, filled with ridiculous men and women who are declaring unsound things and engaging in unprofitable behaviors. I recently came across one egregious example of this as I read of Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church and leader of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Bethel Church is a Charismatic, Pentecostal church associated with the Assemblies of God denomination, and has weekly membership of about 3,500 people. Bill Johnson’s influence is much wider, however, as he is a popular speaker among the prophetic movement crowd.

Bill Johnson has supported the John G. Lake Healing Rooms. This is another one of those modern day movements that has been built upon the foundation of a past historical person who is being described as a champion of Christianity when the individual was in fact a charlatan and a deceiver. These John G. Lake Healing Rooms are spreading across America, with naive and gullible Christians flocking to them to receive healing (and fleecing). In one account of Bill Johnson’s involvement with these healing rooms, I read the following.

BILL JOHNSON AND THE JOHN G. LAKE ANGELIC HEALING ROOMS

How the Healing Rooms were founded. These healing rooms having “healing angels;” the Bible says:

Col. 2:18, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” KJV

I personally know a woman who reported to us that she had gone to Spokane, Washington with Bill Johnson and a group of Christians to investigate John G. Lake’s healing ministry... They wanted to see John G. Lake’s home. Some of Lake’s relatives had bought his home and were restoring it. They refused to let these weird Christians inside. However, they were pulling up old lanoline (sic) and other things and throwing this stuff out for the trash. The Christians, like vultures, grabbed the Lake trash out of the garbage. She brought this rubbish to her home and made a collage cross and hung it over her bed.

After leaving Lake’s old home, Bill Johnson and his group went to the cemetery to visit his grave. This woman told us they all “rolled on the grave” to get Lake’s anointing. Then they went to the old building where he conducted his healings. To their amazement, the building was up for lease. She said, “A woman needed healing and they were in a back room. Suddenly, peace came into the room... A tall angel was in the room and healed her friend. They got Bill Johnson and when he came into the room, he claimed on Sid Roth program that the angel spoke to him and said, “Where have you been..... I’ve been waiting for you to come for 80 years.”

Sid Roth asked him, “Could you see the angel?” Bill Johnson admitted that he could not see the angel that he sensed his presence.... He then said, “He was about 10 or 11 feet tall.”

Johnson leased the John G. Lake building and thus we now having “Healing Rooms,’ around the nation. The woman friend of mine told us that many then went to Kathryn Khulman’s (sic) grave and rolled on her grave to receive her anointing.... Then they went to Aimee Semple McPherson’s grave and Corrie Ten Boom.
[Source: http://www.remnantradio.org/Archives/articles/PH/Newsletters/REV.%20BILL%20JOHNSON%20-%20HEALING%20ROOMS%20-%20GOLD%20DUST%20AND%20GEM%20REVIVALS%2005-01-10.pdf]

It is bad enough to fail to exercise spiritual discernment by embracing spiritual deceivers from the past. This error is exacerbated when individuals such as Bill Johnson encourage their followers to venerate these men and women, and to engage in bizarre and un-Biblical behaviors such as rolling on the graves of deceased individuals to receive their anointing. The prophetic movement has made much ado about spiritual impartations. Death presents no barrier for them in this practice. If you want the anointing of a deceased Christian, just visit their grave, or some other place they frequented, and you can receive an impartation of anointing. Such ideas are folly at best, and demonic at worst.

The following video shows John Crowder, another individual promoting this false type of spiritual impartation, at the gravesite of John Alexander Dowie. Bill Johnson has endorsed Crowder, who is here heard saying,

We've just come to the grave today to release to you an impartation of healing revival, of city building, restoration city-taking anointing, master-building apostolic anointing, and so we just rip it right out of the ground, we just suck it right off his dead bones, in Jesus name, and loose it to you., a healing-revival-glory-master-building-apostolic anointing glory...

http://youtu.be/pnrrvw4pz5k



There is a great irreverence among some of these individuals as well. About halfway through the video above John Crowder says, “Just take a hit off of controversial glory. Take a hit off of pioneering, forerunning glory.” The phrase “take a hit” is street slang that one might use when speaking of illegal drug use. It is common for people smoking marijuana to share the same cigarette, or joint. They would say “take a hit and pass it along.” To refer to the glory of God as something that an individual can take a hit off of is to greatly debase the holiness and reverence of Yahweh.

John Crowder speaks glowingly of Alexander Dowie, discounting the many newspaper accounts of his misdeeds as merely the attacks of an anti-Christian press. I do not know whether John Crowder has ever looked into the accusations against Dowie. There is much evidence to condemn the man as a deceiver who greatly misled great numbers of people and was the cause of great suffering for many. Dowie was extreme in his healing views, holding a belief similar to David Eells of Unleavened Bread Ministries, and resulting in similar tragic results (see the story of Kara Neumann).

Dowie taught that healing is promised in the atonement and insisted that those who sought faith healing give up all medical care. He viewed druggists and physicians as instruments of the devil. When his own daughter was severely burned after accidentally knocking over an alcohol lamp, he banished one of his followers for trying to alleviate her pain with Vaseline. He refused to allow her any medical treatment and she died in that condition. Many others who came to his faith cure homes died of their illnesses without any medical attention.
[Source: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/strange1.htm]

(For a Biblical understanding of faith and healing, I recommend the writing titled Understanding Faith and Healing.)

In his later years Dowie claimed to have had a revelation that he was The Elijah of the last days, and the first apostle of the Restoration. In his presumptuous role as Elijah, Dowie began to dress in garb modeled after Aaron’s High Priestly garments.























John Alexander Dowie

Dowie purchased land in Illinois and established the town of Zion. The entire town of about 7,000 individuals was comprised of his followers. Dowie owned all the property, and he controlled the local business that church members worked in. He was accused of misappropriating funds, a charge that has a factual basis to it as Dowie built for himself a 25 room mansion while most of the church members lived off of sub-standard wages for the time.

Although Dowie’s doctrine declared that physical health was promised to all mankind through the atonement of Christ, he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1905. He never fully regained his health after that, and suffered numerous subsequent strokes. He died after having been depressed and bed-ridden in 1907.

Dowie had chosen as his lieutenant a man as avaricious and deceived as himself. When Dowie suffered a stroke in 1905 while traveling in Mexico, W.G. Voliva, his second in command, took advantage of the situation and wrested control of Zion. Upon his return to Zion, Dowie sought to regain control, but was unsuccessful, being forced to be content with an allowance provided by the church. Voliva, continued to stress the promise of divine health as a consequence of Christ’s atonement, yet he also died after being stricken with cancer. In the year 1942, at the age of 72, Dowie’s successor confessed that he too had misappropriated church funds for his own personal use, and had committed “other serious sins.” There were numerous charges of sexual misconduct relating to Dowie and to Voliva, and it seems likely that it was to this that Voliva was referring. Voliva had previously proclaimed that he would live to be 120 years old, based upon the promise of God in Genesis 6:3. Nevertheless, he fell 48 years short of that goal.

Aside from Dowie suffering the horrific tragedy of his 21 year old daughter Esther being horribly burned by an overturned lamp that was fueled by alcohol, and subsequently dying, Dowie lost his young daughter Jeanie to sickness 17 years earlier when he was in the midst of his healing ministry and claiming remarkable success with others.

Understanding the true history of Zion, Illinois, and the ambitious, self-aggrandizing men who founded and ran the town, it seems implausible that John Crowder, or any other person, will be resurrecting and loosing any glory, or healing anointing, from that location. They can sing and dance atop Dowie’s grave, but heaven will not be moved to send forth an anointing.

Many naive and spiritually immature Christians are buying into this hokum. Members of Bill Johnson’s Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry have been visiting the graves of dead people and rolling on the graves, or “cuddling” with the spirits of the deceased.


















Students of BSSM at the Grave of Alexander Dowie


















BSSM Students at Maria Woodworth-Etter’s Grave



















2nd Year BSSM Students Sucking Up Anointing from Evan Roberts Grave
(Evan Roberts was instrumental in the Welsh Revival)










BSSM Students “catching some anointing” from Aimee Semple McPherson’s Grave



















Bill Johnson (on right) at Smith Wigglesworth’s Grave
[Source of Images: http://beyondgrace.blogspot.com/2011/07/bill-johnson-and-john-crowders-leaven.html]

Brothers and sisters, one has to exercise only a little discernment to discover that there is something wrong with the behavior that these Christians are engaging in. Only believers who have abandoned the practice of testing all things would be so gullible as to embrace such ridiculous notions. Neither Yahshua, nor His apostles, ever promoted the idea that a person could gain a spiritual anointing by visiting the grave of a dead person. This practice is very similar to the apostate Roman Catholic practice of venerating saints and building shrines at the locations they lived, or were buried. The apostles have declared to us that spiritual gifts and ministerial appointments, are administered by the Holy Spirit according to the determination of Yahweh.

I Corinthians 12:4-11
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

It is not up to Christians to choose their anointing for service. Paul declares in another place that Yahweh has prepared those specific works for each individual believer beforehand.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Yahshua for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It is not left to mankind to choose what anointing they will receive from God. We may “earnestly desire greater gifts” (I Corinthians 12:31) that we may employ them for the edification and benefit of the body of Christ, but it is up to Yahweh to decide whether we receive specific giftings. These things are not to be obtained by soaking up an anointing from the grave of a deceased person.

An absence of discernment is observable among those who are embracing such foolishness. It would take only a little investigation to discover that individuals such as John G. Lake, Alexander Dowie, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Aimee Semple McPherson were deeply flawed individuals who routinely practiced deception and lived immoral lifestyles. The following information on John G. Lake taken from one Internet website can be found corroborated at many other sources.

According to the 7/24/21 issue of the Oregonian and subsequent issues. John Lake was arrested, charged, and forced to settle out of court for a blue sky scam in which he promised members of his congregation stock in a mining company if they paid their tithes in a lump sum. The stock was never delivered.

Nov. 21, 1933 Lake advertised the appearance of an Arab healer, Abdul Ben Shinandar in the Oregonian. On Nov. 25 the same paper uncovered that the Arab healer was actually Lake dressed in costume.

August 25, 1921 Lake was arrested and had to post $100 bond for impersonating a police officer.

The May 24, 1920 issue of the Oregonian and subsequent issues chronicle the arrest of John G. Lake after the death of Hanna Anderson who died of neglect when attempts to heal her of the flu failed. Not only did Lake not heal her, but he also failed to report the illness to the CDC which was required by law at the time. He was found guilty of laxity and fined.

Inability to Heal

The Hanna Anderson story is not the only example to show that Lake’s claims of tremendous healing power were exaggerated. Consider the following headlines.“Miracles Not Seen”- The Morning Oregonian, May 24, 1920“X-Ray Belies Healing”- Oregonian 11/27/21. This particular story is of a 7 year old girl with a severely fractured thigh whose parents denied her proper medical care and took her to Lake instead. Lake pronounced her healed, however when the girl still didn’t recover she was finally taken to physicians and the fracture was discovered. Doctors indicate that she would have been crippled for life had she not received proper treatment.

“Grandma says girl made to Hear Wasn’t Deaf”- Spokane Press 7/16/24
(This article does have a story of another woman who claimed to be healed and able to walk. There is also an interesting account in the same story of a woman who was “healed” by Lake 5 times but the “pain keeps coming back.”)

“Miracles Fail, Imp of Tragedy Stalks in Tent” Spokane Press 7/23/24

The reason John Lake became so popular is that, like Benny Hinn and others today, he had a very active PR machine. Many of the positive articles that appear about him were written by him. The reality is that he is long on claims and short on documentation.
[Source: http://www.remnantradio.org/Archives/articles/PH/Newsletters/REV.%20BILL%20JOHNSON%20-%20HEALING%20ROOMS%20-%20GOLD%20DUST%20AND%20GEM%20REVIVALS%2005-01-10.pdf]

With the resources available to Christians today, it is not difficult to discover the true history of men and women who are venerated by groups of believers today. I remember back in the days when I looked at Morningstar Ministries admiringly, that a book was published by a man named Roberts Liardon titled God’s Generals. This book proclaimed that many of the individuals who are now so widely admired among the prophetic movement were considered great champions of the faith by God.























The cover of the book includes photos of John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Kathryn Kuhlman. The book also includes chapters on William Branham, John Alexander Dowie, Maria Woodworth-Etter, and A.A. Allen. (I am unfamiliar with some of the other individuals named.) A greater collection of apostate deceivers could hardly have been joined together. This book was a big hit among the prophetic crowd, and continues to be popular today. It has influenced the thinking of thousands who believe the individuals featured in this book are truly God’s spiritual leaders who have greatly advanced the cause of Christianity. They believe this for no other reason than that Roberts Liardon has said so.

Why are so many Christians duped? It is partly because they have fallen out of the habit of testing all things. The apostle Paul admonished Timothy with the following words.

I Timothy 5:22
Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

The act of the laying on of hands is a sign of acceptance and endorsement. Paul is in essence saying that believers should not be too quick to accept any man, or his message. Each person should have their life examined to know their true character. Every message should be tested against the testimony of the Spirit and the Word. When we neglect to do these things, when we are too hasty in forming opinions about a person or message, we risk being caught up in the sins of others. The result is that we share responsibility for these sins.

Having had an Internet ministry for many years, I routinely receive links to other ministry websites, or to specific teachings, as they are forwarded to me by members of the body of Christ. Quite often I recognize that either the individual, or their message, is deeply flawed. Some people forward to me writings before they have even finished reading them. This is an inadvisable practice. Before we ever share another person’s teaching with another human being, or recommend an individual to others, we should have first performed our due diligence in examining both the message and the messenger.

I have erred in this area myself, particularly early on in my ministry. I was too quick to embrace some individuals who had some truth, only to discover later that they also had much error, sometimes very serious error. When I created the first Heart4God website I had a page that included links to other websites. After a few years I removed all the links as I became convicted by the words of Paul that are cited above. I knew some of the men and women whose websites I had links to were teaching error. Others I did not have enough familiarity with to know what all they were teaching.

I am not seeking to be uncharitable, for I have benefitted from the teachings of a great many men and women of God over the course of my life. There are many writings that I can heartily recommend. Yet, even among Christians whose lives and teachings I have found to be most praiseworthy, there can be the leaven of error. Recognizing this, I now tend to be much more specific when I mention another teacher. Rather than giving them a blanket endorsement, I will refer to a specific writing, or even a portion of one of their writings, that I found helpful. By doing so I am seeking to be more precise in my communication lest I should go too far and my words be misconstrued as an endorsement of some error the individual might be promoting.

In the same week that Rick Wiles conducted his interview with Anglican Bishop Tony Palmer, he did two shows with a man who was identified as Pastor Levy. Rick Wiles had never met this individual before, or even heard of him. Pastor Levy called up Rick Wiles’ office and said that a man whom Rick Wiles knew and respected had told him to call. Because Rick greatly respected the man who had made the recommendation, he spoke to Pastor Levy on the phone and summarily invited him to join him on an upcoming broadcast. This broadcast was extended to two shows, as Rick Wiles was very much impressed with the man’s message, speaking enthusiastically of it throughout the two hour-long interviews.

Two different brothers in Christ listened to these interviews and sent me links to them, asking me for my opinion of what Pastor Levy was sharing. His message was rather startling as he compared America to ancient Egypt, and foretold of great judgment befalling America in September of 2015. He stated that Christians should all head south to nations below the equator, or they would experience the dire judgments to befall America.

I listened to the first hour-long interview, and took some notes. I shared with the brothers who had written to me that some of the parallels between ancient Egypt and America were remarkable, but I was not hearing the Father tell me to leave America. As I shared in the recent series Double Jeopardy, Yahweh told me to return to Georgia which would be the location of my school of spiritual training, and I will not of my own initiative leave here. I will remain until Yahweh tells me I should move somewhere else.

A few days after Rick Wiles’ interviews with Pastor Levy, the broadcasts were removed from the TruNews website. Rick then shared in a subsequent broadcast that he had been deceived by Pastor Levy, and that the man was a fraud. Levy had supplied false credentials, had misrepresented the recommendation of the respected friend of Rick Wiles, and had given out some inaccurate information during the broadcasts. Added to this, it was suggested that Pastor Levy had ulterior motives for advising people to move to Central, or South America, for he was selling land to people who wanted to relocate.

Rick Wiles confessed that he had not performed any research at all into Pastor Levy. He had not even called his friend to verify whether he had in fact recommended him. He had not looked for Pastor Levy’s website, or examined his teachings, but had given him a worldwide platform to disseminate his message without knowing anything about the man. This confession is found in Rick Wile’s broadcast of May 22nd, the day after Rick aired the broadcast with Tony Palmer.

http://www.trunews.com/thursday-may-22-2014-david-jason-benham-2/

What is apparent is that Rick Wiles has not been performing due diligence in vetting those individuals, or their messages, that he is bringing onto his show. I am confident that Rick Wiles did no better in ascertaining the identity and message of Tony Palmer. If he had, he surely would have had cause to ask him some serious questions about his Roman Catholic loyalties and his apostate beliefs.

It is considered socially unacceptable today, to challenge another person regarding their life or beliefs. To do so is politically incorrect within the realm of the church, for it is viewed to be judging, and judging has been deeply denigrated. As Christians, however, we are remiss if we do not exercise discernment by testing both people and their messages. It will prove exceedingly costly as the end of this age approaches for Christians to neglect this vital responsibility. We live in an hour of apostasy and deep deception. We must be practiced in the task of examining all things closely. Let us not become partakers of the sins of others by laying hands on any man too quickly.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
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