How Deep Do You Plant A Church?

“When the Greeks got the gospel, they turned it into a philosophy;

when the Romans got it, they turned it into a government;

when the Europeans got it, they turned it into a culture;

and when the Americans got it, they turned it into a business.”

―Biblical Scholar, Dr. Richard Halverson

There's many reasons to plant a new church here in North America. The number one reason I hear is that the need to plant churches is from Jesus' essential call to plant churches. First of all, there is no essential call from Jesus to plant churches, secondly there's only one church - the church that Jesus built, the one we call the Body of Christ

I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus didn't plant a church in a suburban neighborhood alongside four other churches, and he didn't insist that the lead guitarist become the worship leader for each congregation, He said (and put my first point in motion):

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

To start let's look at four very important words here and then we'll circle back to planting churches. Those words are Church, Hades, Disciples, and Nations. Church is not a building where the worship band has their light show and kicks off their concert series, it is not a series of buildings that funnel money to the denomination head office. The word that Jesus spoke we translated to 'church' is ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία) and that means "a group of people". Jesus could very easily have said "I will build my team" and maybe that's what He really did say. Let's go with that: Church = Team because Jesus sure didn't mean "Let's put up something with decent acoustics in the auditorium and plenty of office space."

Wretched Wednesday - Dr. Michael Brown Lights 'em Up

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:31-33)

Our God is not a God of chaos, so when the Holy Spirit had Paul lay out the order of worship in 1 Corinthians 14, order is the order of the day. If you want to prophesy, wait your turn, otherwise sit down and be quiet. If you want to speak in tongues wait your turn, but if you don't have a translator, sit down and be quiet.  Confusion is not allowed. Dr. Michael Brown, who denies being part of the NAR, is shown here on Wretched TV, how do you think he's doing in regards to 1 Corinthians 14?

Wretched Wednesday - the NAR is Nothing New

It was exactly one year ago when I first wrote about Montanism, back then the word started popping up in the WatchBlogosphere® and never having heard it before I did a bit of research on it. In the last paragraph or two of my post I touched upon a connection that should have hit me over the head, rang alarm bells, and set off signal flares, but I missed it. 

In the responses to that post Glenn Chatfield pointed out the connection I should have made, but neither of us took it any further than that. Suddenly one year later here is Todd Friel, Mr. Wretched himself, making the connection that Glenn and I should have made and expanded upon a year ago. 

The Modern Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

The Modern Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

A Sermon by John MacArthur

Oct 23, 2011

Well, now that I don’t have to preach on anything but what I want to preach on, since I finished the New Testament, I find myself all over the place, trying to decide what to preach on in sequence.  It’s a new kind of experience for me and I’m working on some kind of sequence that makes sense over the future.  But I am sort of at the liberty point of my life where whatever is on my heart is where I can go, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me.  And there is a subject that has concerned me for a long time, and I have wanted to address this subject, but it hasn’t been a part of the preaching through the gospels in the way that it can be now and that is the subject of the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit. 

After all the emphasis of so many years, 25 years of preaching through the four gospels, and much emphasis, of course, on the person of Christ, as it should be, much emphasis on the character of God and the nature of God as manifest in Christ and is seen elsewhere in Scripture, it is time now to give honor to the third member of the Trinity; namely, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the most forgotten, the most misrepresented, the most dishonored, the most grieved, the most abused, and I might even say the most blasphemed of the members of the Trinity.  That’s a sad thing. 

When our Lord cleansed the temple in John 2, He said that He was, in a sense, fulfilling the attitude of David from Psalm 69:  “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up, the reproaches that fall on you are fallen on Me.”  And what our Lord was saying was, “When God is dishonored, I feel the pain.”  “You have taken My Father’s house, which is to be a house of prayer, and turned it into a den of robbers.  You’ve corrupted My Father’s house.  You’ve blasphemed My Father’s name.  You’ve dishonored My Father.”  And I can say that I have long felt that same thing with regard to the Holy Spirit.  Yes, I grieve when God is dishonored.  It is a constant grief to me.  I grieve when Christ is dishonored. 

But in this contemporary sort of Christian evangelical church world, people are a little less reluctant to bring dishonor on the name of God and the name of Christ, but they think they have a free run at dishonoring and abusing the Holy Spirit, apparently, because so much of that goes on.  I’m not here to defend the Holy Spirit; He can defend Himself.  But I am here to say that reproaches that are falling on His holy name are falling on me as well, and mostly this comes in the professing church from Pentecostals and Charismatics who feel they have free license to abuse the Holy Spirit and even blaspheme His holy name – and they do it constantly. 

Montanism - Nothing to do with Montana

St. Mary's Lake in Glacier National Park Montana

I've noticed that the word "Montanism" was appearing quite often in the WatchBlogosphere lately. When you see that happening it may be the Holy Spirit using Watchbloggers to spread a word that God needs spread, so I pay attention to these occurrences.

As I said,the word that I've seen being used is "Montanism" which at first I thought was an overly complex word that Christian theologians like to invent and smack about like a badminton shuttlecock. The next thing that came to mind was 'Montana' as in the state, or 'Montaña del Norte' which was the original Spanish name for the entire Rocky Mountain area (mountainous country of the north). But, of course, Montana and 'Montaña del Norte have nothing to do with Montanism. Nor is Montanism one of those 4+ syllable words that theologians love to invent, Montanism is actually a heretical form of Christianity and has been around for quite a while.

Montanism was known by its followers as the New Prophecy and to its adversaries as the Cataphrygian Heresy. It started as an early Christian movement in the late second century and was named after its founder, Montanus. Little is known about Montanus, and what documents that survive do not paint a complimentary picture. This is probably because the beliefs of Montanus and his followers contradict orthodox Christianity. Followers of Montanism unbiblically recognized women as bishops and presbyters (overseers and priests/elders) and also unbiblically claimed that apostles, prophets, bishops and presbyters had the the power to forgive sins. Even the Apostolic Church at the time realized that only God has the power to forgive sins (however confession has to be performed through a bishop or priest) But there's more, much more.

WWUTT Wednesday - Clowns Entertaining The Goats

When C.H. Spurgeon decided to cut the mustard he knew right where to stick the knife. I'm sure they had problems with false teaching in Spurgeon's time, but could you imagine if the Prince of Preachers saw the antics that passes for preaching in today's world?

The tomfoolery of Creflo Dollar, the narcigesis of Steven Furtick, the buffoonery of Todd Bentley... Spurgeon would be sure that Christ is just minutes out and coming in hot and fast. 

And we all should be thinking that too. Did you realize there's people out there that actually teach that Jesus Christ will not return until people have prepared the earth for His return? No, this is not some tiny cult hidden back in the hills that use very strange mushrooms in their services, this is the New Apostolic Reformation. Their teachings of Dominion Theology put their plans and dreams first, the gospel a far second. NAR, IHOP, the Purpose Driven Church, the Emergent Church - all lead to the wide gate of destruction.

Emergent Monday - The NAR’s Infallible Prophet Rick Joyner (and the New Breed)

The controversial New Breed doctrine goes under many 

different names, although it is often called ‘Manifest Sons 

of God’ theology by discernment ministries in the 1980s.

This was posted on May 24, 2016 at Churchwatch Central, and I'm sure you'll agree with me that it is an excellent expose of narcissistic psudotheology gone wild. All emphasis is from the author, minor corrections in spelling and grammar have been made because I'm an English major with OCD.

The problem with cults is that it is hard to convince people that they actually teach really bizarre or far-fetched doctrines. It’s hard to reconcile that they push such illogical concepts on people contrary to human reason or biblical truths.

THE NEW BREED DOCTRINE

One such cult is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) who believe they will raise raise up a generation known as the New Breed. This New Breed doctrine teaches that a generation of Christians will become “divine” or “God in human flesh” and will manifest Christ here on earth with powerful signs, wonders and judgments to cleanse the church and the world of all sin so Christ can return.

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THIS NEW BREED NONSENSE?

The reason why it is important to familiarize yourself with this teaching is because it is EVERYWHERE. You will see this theology emerge again and again in NAR revivals or in their attempt to promote conferences. You can detect it behind the theology of very popular movements that try to hide their theological ties to the NAR:

Emergent Monday - The NAR Has Their Own Bible Part 4

Holly Pivec at Spirit of Error is doing an outstanding job and exposing the New Apostolic Reformation so while my job has been quite ratcheted up, I'm going to repost these articles that Holly has revisited regarding the NAR bible. (Remember what I said about a cult? "Stay away from any group that has made their own bible")

In my past three posts (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3), I looked closely at a new translation of the Bible called “The Passion Translation,” produced by NAR apostle Brian Simmons. I showed why it is not a trustworthy translation.

In this post, I will show four things to look for in a trustworthy translation. To illustrate those characteristics, I will contrast the The Passion Translation with another newer translation, the English Standard Version (ESV).

Four Characteristics of a Trustworthy Translation

A trustworthy translation is produced by a team of translators. Unlike The Passion Translation, which was produced by a lone individual, the ESV was produced by more than 100 Bible scholars – an international team from many denominations. Why is team translation work important? It provides checks and balances to make sure that the translation is accurate and doesn’t reflect the pet theological views of just one person or only a certain group of Christians.

A trustworthy translation is produced by reputable scholars. Apostle Simmons’ single credential – other than the fact that he claims to be an apostle – is that he assisted in a translation project of the New Testament for an indigenous people group in Panama. But he apparently has no formal academic training – only the on-the-job training he received during his eight-year stint in Panama working with New Tribes Mission.

Emergent Monday - The NAR Has Their Own Bible Part 3

A fragment of a Greek manuscript of the 

Gospel of John that dates to the second 

century. This fragment is housed at the 

John Rylands Library in Manchester, England.

Holly Pivec at Spirit of Error is doing an outstanding job and exposing the New Apostolic Reformation so while my job has been quite ratcheted up, I'm going to repost these articles that Holly has revisited regarding the NAR bible. (Remember what I said about a cult? "Stay away from any group that has made their own bible")

In my last two posts (Part 1 and Part 2), I wrote about a new NAR translation of the Bible, called The Passion Translation, which features drastically changed verses of Scripture. See three of those changed verses here.

In this post, I show how the translator of this NAR Bible, apostle Brian Simmons, attempts to justify his changes to Scripture.

In short, Simmons claims that the vast differences in meaning are the result of his decision to translate many verses from Aramaic manuscripts – not Greek manuscripts.  (Yet, I must mention that even those verses he claims to translate from the Greek are still drastically different.)

Simmons said the reason he decided to translate from the Aramaic is because new discoveries have revealed that the New Testament was originally written in the Aramaic language, not Greek.

Here is what Simmons says, in his own words.

“For centuries, it has been believed that the New Testament was first written in Greek. … Some scholars now lean increasingly towards the thought that Aramaic and Hebrew texts of the New Testament are the original manuscripts, and that many of the Greek texts are copies, and a second generation from the originals! This is radically changing translation concepts, and will result in many new translations of the New Testament based on Aramaic.” [Excerpted from “Translator’s Introduction” to Letters from Heaven by the Apostle Paul, the fourth installment of The Passion Translation]

Astounding Claims

These are astounding claims. If what Simmons says is true, then that would mean that all the standard English Bible translations–including the King James Version, the New International Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the English Standard Version – are not based on the earliest and most trustworthy manuscripts and should be replaced by new, more reliable translations, such as Simmons’ Passion Translation. 

Emergent Monday - The NAR Has Their Own Bible Part 2

Apostle Brian Simmons and wife
Candice

Holly Pivec at Spirit of Error is doing an outstanding job and exposing the New Apostolic Reformation so while my job has been quite ratcheted up, I'm going to repost these articles that Holly has revisited regarding the NAR bible. (Remember what I said about a cult? "Stay away from any group that has made their own bible")

In my last post, I wrote about a new translation of the Bible called “The Passion Translation”–released by New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) apostle Brian Simmons.

In this post, I will show you three of the verses Simmons has drastically changed in his new translation to make it look like the Bible promotes NAR teachings. I will contrast Simmons’ translation of the Bible with the standard English translations.

Galatians 6:6

Standard English Translations

• Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. (New International Version)
• Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. (New King James Version)
• Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. (English Standard Version)

The teaching being promoted: Church members should take care of the financial and other material needs of their spiritual leaders.

The Passion Translation

• And those who are taught the Word will receive an impartation from their teacher; a transference of anointing takes place between them.

The NAR teaching being promoted: The divine authority to minister with a specific miraculous gift–such as the gift of prophesying or healing people–can be imparted or transferred from church leaders to their followers.

Emergent Monday - The NAR has their own Bible.Part 1

Holly Pivec at Spirit of Error is doing an outstanding job and exposing the New Apostolic Reformation so while my job has been quite ratcheted up, I'm going to repost these articles that Holly has revisited regarding the NAR bible. (Remember what I said about a cult? "Stay away from any group that has made their own bible")

First a quick update. Since I wrote this series back in 2013, Simmons has released more installments of his NAR Bible: Proverbs, Matthew, Acts, Hebrews and James, and Romans. NAR leaders, including Bill Johnson, continue to promote this translation and quote from it in the pulpit. And rave reviews from Simmons’ readers pour in. I’m disappointed to report that the Passion Translation has been selling extremely well based on its rank at Amazon. For those who have never heard of the Passion Translation, you can get up to speed by reading my first post.

A New NAR Bible

Beware: An NAR apostle has come out with his own NAR translation of the Bible, called “The Passion Translation.”

Apostle Brian Simmons, of Stairway Ministries, is the lone translator of this “groundbreaking” project. To date, he has released four installments of his new translation:

• Psalms: Poetry on Fire
• Song of Solomon: Most Amazing Song of All
• Luke: To the Lovers of God
• Letters From Heaven by the Apostle Paul

Next in line is Proverbs, Wisdom From Above, due out in Fall 2013.

Emergent Monday - Yes, Bethel Redding and Bill Johnson are part of the New Apostolic Reformation

Bill Johnson

Once again Holly Pivec at The Spirit of Error blog exposes more information on one of the most dangerous cults of all times, the New Apostolic Reformation. This time she exposes Bethel Redding and their leader Bill Johnson and their ties to the NAR. Bethel Redding is all about Matthew 24:24, when Bill Johnson took over in 1996 he changed the teaching of the church from Jesus to training people in prophecy, healing and other "supernatural gifts of God". Bethel is a Word of Faith movement that teaches that faith is a force through which anything can be done. The goats at bethel come not for the gospel but that warm fuzzy feel-good feeling and miracles. They come for signs and wonders like speaking in tongues, gold dust, diamonds, and angel feathers...

Yes, Bethel Redding and Bill Johnson are part of the New Apostolic Reformation

Following Christianity Today’s recent cover story on Bethel Church in Redding, California, I’ve been contacted by people wondering about Bill Johnson’s statements made in that article distancing himself from the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). The two specific statements he made are that his church does not have any official ties to theNAR and that he’s “not completely clear on what it is.”

Despite Johnson’s distancing himself from the NAR, he very clearly is part of it. Let’s look at his two claims.

What makes the NAR the NAR?

One of Johnson’s claims is that he’s not completely clear on what the NAR is. Interestingly, the author of the Christianity Today article said he laughed with disbelief. I. too, find Johnson’s claim hard to believe because the NAR is all about apostles–and Johnson clearly sees himself as one. 

Emergent Monday - Bickles Bible Botching

“Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the
difference between what is right and wrong;
rather it is the difference between right and
 almost right.” - CH Spurgeon

Thank you to all of you who've given me so much feedback on my NAR posts, but if you like my stuff, wait until you take a look at Holly Pivec's articles at the Spirit of Error blog. She is doing an incredible job of keeping track of apostolic-prophetic movement (the NAR or the “New Apostolic Reformation“) — the fast-growing movement within charismatic and Pentecostal churches that promotes modern-day apostles and prophets who assume great authority that biblically is not theirs to assume. Holly is the former managing editor of Biola University’s magazine, Biola Magazine, and a former contributing writer to the Christian Research Journal. She has a master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Biola. This is one of her most read postings:

Bickles Bible Botching

Mike Bickle–the leader of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, Missouri–is revered by many people in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement as a sound Bible teacher, as someone who majors on teaching people the written Word of God. 

But I have noticed something disturbing about his teachings. The Bible verses he uses to support them frequently have nothing to do with those teachings–and sometimes they actually teach something very different.

In this post, I look at one of Bickle’s teachings and show how he attempts to support it through the use of a botched interpretation of Scripture. This example should raise a flag of caution in people’s minds when they encounter his other NAR teachings.

The ‘Israel Mandate’

IHOP has a ministry called the “Israel Mandate,” that seeks to mobilize people to pray for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people. Well, this might all sound good–even to many traditional evangelicals who have, historically, shown strong support for Israel and Jewish people.

So, then, what’s the problem with the “Israel Mandate?”

Emergent Monday - Excuses Excuses

If you've been keeping track, the prophesy record for the NAR is pretty abysmal. Keep in mind that being a prophet isn't all about picking Super Bowl winners (am I right Rick Joyner?) but about speaking God's truth to others. The English word prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes, which can mean “one who speaks forth” or “advocate.”

More than 133 named prophets are mentioned in the Bible, including 16 women.These aren't folks who just woke up one day and thought to themselves "Hey, I'll be a prophet, the money's not good but the work is easy" True prophets are chosen by God to speak for Him

I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. (Deuteronomy 18:18)

True prophets of God aren't well loved in this sinful world, primarily because they are true prophets of God and say what God tells them to say. A shining example is Ahab, king of Israel. He had 400 false prophets telling him what he liked to hear, and one true prophet, Micaiah. The 400 predicted victory for Israel over that Arameans, but  Micaiah prophesied defeat and death, for which he was imprisoned. Of course Micaiah was right (2 Kings 22:1-40) Paul also has been known to prophesy, one of his most damning prophesies is found in his letter to the Romans where he tells of a world falling deeper into sin (Romans 1:20-32).

Enter the New Apostolic Reformation - it's not new, it's not apostolic, and the only thing they have reformed is the art of ear tickling - their false prophecy is staggering and nearly as creative as their excuses for spewing false prophecy in the first place. Let's look at a few. First is Dutch Sheets prophesying that the leaders of all governments will lead their nations righteously

Emergent Monday - IHOP and the Perils of Passion

Scott Pursley is the Senior Pastor at Lamb of God Fellowship in Livingston, NJ. He is a teacher who is well grounded in the Word. This article was originally presented in sermon form (mp3). Pastor Scott reformatted his notes for publication at BeyondGrace and are reposted here

The International House of Prayer, located in Kansas City Missouri is principally the vision of one man, its founder and chief doctrinal spokesman, Mike Bickle. Therefore a critique of IHOP is in the final analysis a critique of Mike Bickle’s teaching ministry. However, because of the unusual beginnings of Mr. Bickle’s ministry and rise to national prominence it is also necessary to focus on the teaching/preaching ministries of two alleged prophets, Paul Cain and Bob Jones. Their ministries are parallel developments and significantly influence and shape Mr. Bickle’s perception of IHOP’s divinely authorized origins.

The multi-million dollar ministry that is IHOP has it roots in the modest beginnings of the Kansas City Fellowship of the early 1980’s. According to Mr. Bickle, IHOP is a direct fulfillment of prophecies delivered to him by Bob Jones and Paul Cain. Repeatedly Mr. Bickle has declared that no one has been more integral to establishing the prophetic in his ministry than Bob Jones. Part of the mythology of Mr. Jones legendary status as a prophet are numerous false prophecies, now largely forgotten. These include claims of California being destroyed, nuclear weapons being detonated on the East and West Coast, and an oft repeated story of a drought confirming special ‘divine’ authorization on Mr. Bickle’s ministry.

From the very early days of Mr. Bickle’s ministry he adapted his own version of the so called ‘Latter Rain’ teaching of the late 1940’s made popular principally through the writing of George Warnock’s ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ (As well as a hand full of other, now obscure Pentecostal heretics). This parallel has been pointed out to Mr. Bickle on numerous occasions necessitating a public denial of IHOP’s dependance on Latter Rain teaching. However, no actual substantive explanation has ensued from Mr. Bickle regarding this allegation. The false teacher and Latter Rain proponent William Branham was very influential in the theological formation of the disgraced prophet Paul Cain. Paul Cain in turn influenced greatly both Bob Jones (who frequently referred to Mr. Cain as the greatest prophet of God on the earth) and Mike Bickle who often appeared with Mr. Cain in large venues around the U.S.

WWUTT Wednesday: Praying in Tongues

Believe it or not, there's actually people out there who believe that if you're not praying in tongues, you're not saved. According to the father of the word-faith movement, Kenneth Hagin, "peaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit." So if you're not speaking in tongues, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit.

He goes on to say that continuing to pray and to worship God in tongues helps us to be ever-con­scious of His indwelling Presence. And if you are conscious of the indwelling Presence of the Holy Ghost every day, that is bound to affect the way you think and live... When you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit. When you speak in tongues, you are talking to Him by divine, supernatural means.

Is this true? Is this biblical? The answer is "of course not". These quotes came from the NAR's own Kenneth Hagin who has said a lot of silly things, the least of which is his false teachings on praying in tongues

Emergent Monday: IHOP - Feeding the Undiscerning

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in  sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
(Matthew 7:15)

Once upon a time, Joseph Smith said that God sent him a message, so he started the Mormon Church. Ellen G. White also claimed a message from God and she started the Seventh Day Adventists. Mary Eddy Baker believes she got a message from God and she started the Christian Scientist church. Sun Myung Moon said he got a message from God and he started the Unification church. Muhammed claims to have received a message from God and started Islam.

Then there's Mike Bickle. In the 1980's Mike was a preacher in a small church St. Louis when a man named "Augustine told him that he had heard an audible voice that told him to prophesy "by the spirit of truth" to Bickle's congregation. Bickle allowed him to do this and was impressed by the seeming accuracy with which he described the condition of his church. In September of that same year Mike claims that while visiting Cairo, Egypt a mysterious, audible voice told him:

I am inviting you to raise up a work that will touch the ends of the earth. I have invited many people to do this thing and many people have said yes, but very few have done my will. (Source, page 60)

In 1999 Mike Bickle started the International House Of Prayer known for it's 24/7 prayer ministry. It has since grown to establish international ties, its own seminary, and an undergraduate program along with tying itself to the New Apostolic Reformation. And when I say it's a 24/7 prayer ministry, I mean it's really, really, Really 24/7. Nonstop praying 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is true that there's no such thing as praying too much, so the idea of a ministry dedicated to non-stop prayer is a good one. But what worries Christians is the type of prayer they use. IHOP is dedicated to contemplative prayer. Here are a few quotes on contemplative prayer by Mike Bickle. 

WWUTT Wednesday - Pancakes Anyone?

Yes, I've been doing a lot of reposting lately rather than generating original content, that's because it's been pretty busy around here and it's pretty demanding trying to get original content done considering the subjects I'm working on. As I continue with my series on the NAR my research lead into their ties with the occult, and if you've never written on the occult take my advice: Don't.

After a few sessions of dealing with that I feel a need to take a long hot shower, for an entire week. But I continue on, for as we slide deeper and deeper into the prophesied falling away I hope my words may reach one soul who is meandering around the internet looking for information and turn them toward the scriptures rather than a man made religion whose main purpose is to lead is to lead people away from God. So here's my next topic

Emergent Monday - The Occultic Roots of the NAR

This is the gravestone of William Branham, the man whose strange teachings fuel the strange fire of the New Apostolic Reformation. Every Easter, many of Branham’s followers visit his grave in Jeffersonville, IN expecting to see his resurrection. They believe that his rising from the grave will be the sign that Jesus’ Second Coming is at hand. Branham’s grave attracts hundreds of domestic and international visitors who believe, as Branham prophesied, that he was the messenger of the Last Days.

This occult Masonic pyramid gravestone is adorned with an eagle, Branham stated many times that the Bible compared God's prophets to eagles, however, he never provided one scriptural example of where this was the case. This grave marker Lists the seven churches of Revelation on one side, and a list of seven men whom Branham believed signifigantly impacted the church. They are Paul, Irenaeus, Martin, Columbia, Luther, Westley, and Branham himself. This stone is eerily similar to the Watchtower Memorial marking the grave of Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's witnesses. 

William Branham was a false prophet and major heretic who taught false doctrines and promoted occultism. Even with his outlandish teachings and proven false prophecies, there are many poor souls who still believe in him, promote his teachings, and are basing their ministries on his ranting.

Emergent Monday - The NAR and Their Day of Infamy

3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

“Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I can't lay claim to calling the NAR-Todd Bently debacle the "Day of Infamy" the honor of coining that phrase goes to Steven Kozar and the Messed Up Church blog, but the question did come up last week. When I wrote about the NAR's Spiritual Mapping gimmick, Alec Satin speculated that one would expect a great deal of immorality behind the scenes or perhaps even openly, so maybe a review of the Day of Infamy would answer questions like this.

Todd Bentley was born in Gibsons, British Columbia, a small community on the western coast of Canada. As told in his autobiography, his parents divorced while he was a child, and he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction¹ Even though criminal records of juvenile offenders in Canada are sealed, several media outlets have reported on Bentley's conviction at age 15 of sexually assaulting a much younger boy when he was 13. Bentley later said that the original article was true2 At age 17 Bentley was hospitalized after an overdose of amphetamines and hallucinogens. At 18 he converted to christianity and changed his lifestyle completely.