|
The problem of false ministers is ubiquitous in the Church. Jesus warned us at the outset:
Take heed that no man deceives you, for many will come in My name... and will deceive many (Matt 24:4,5).
Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matt 24:11).
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (Matt 24:24).
True to His words, this is the situation today – the time of the End – the time of greatest darkness and deception in the world! That's hard to believe when you consider the extent to which Christian teaching has gone, fulfilling the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:14 that the Gospel would go into the whole world.
What Paul predicted has taken place – men (and some women) have risen up, speaking perverse (the margin renders this word as misleading) things, to draw away disciples after themselves (Acts 20:30).
God must have given Paul a very strong revelation about this, because he warned about this insidious danger for three years! (Acts 20:31.)
False Ministers Are...
What makes a false minister false? He shuns to declare to you the whole counsel of God. What makes a true minister true? He doesn't shun any of the truth (Acts 20:27).
That's not to say that a minister is false just because he teaches some error. I'm not saying that, and nor was Paul. It's all a question of motive. Many people with true hearts are still emerging from the sea of error they were placed in.
If you want to see falsity (in people) 'in action', then present to them some truth of God which is new to them, and see them reject it.
...with all unrighteous deception among those who perish... they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved (2 Thes 2:10).
Their self motive causes them to refuse truth, so:
...God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (2 Thes 2:11).
Because SELF is the fundamental driving force of their motivation, pride is present, and the spiritual ugliness that accompanies it. That's why Jesus said you would recognise them by their spiritual fruits (Matt 7:16).
He's talking to true believers. THEY can be given the insight to perceive some of this falsity. But false believers won't be able to, because they too are blinded by their own pride. You can only discern as the Spirit gives you spiritual insight. Otherwise you and I would be as much in the dark as everyone else.
This is not the place for a complete treatise on the subject of how to discern false from true. It is covered in depth in the books Testing The Spirits, and Apostasy in God's Church!
However, in brief, falsity is something that stems from an evil heart motive, deep inside. It is not something that you can tell by superficial sight.
Self-Elevation Or Abasement?
There is a misconception in many minds that if a man has a God-ordained assignment he cannot be false, because God has called him and uses him.
A false minister is called just as any other. He goes through the same process you and I do: he is called; he receives the Holy Spirit after initial repent- ance and conversion; he accepts an appointment to serve the rest of the Body, and he is commanded to bring forth fruit. But because he does not prove to be true to God over time, he becomes who he is.
Underlying his behaviour is one predominant motive. He does it more for himself than for God. As his life progresses, the grip of the self-motive takes over from the cultivation of a true God-motive.
Paul was aware of the very real danger of falling away and aborting (1 Tim 2:19). He said:
I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Cor 9:27).
It is only those who are called, chosen AND faithful who will inherit the reward (Rev 17:14). You are called to be faithful to God, not – like Lucifer – faithful to self.
But, when God calls a false minister to office – knowing full well how he will use the office – that man uses it subtly for his own glorification, instead of abasing himself while fulfilling God's call on his life.
He allows himself to be lifted up and that is what destroys his spirit so that he cannot be saved.
Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God (Mt 18:3).
Testing A False Minister
Look at this misconception again: if God uses a man to minister to others, to preach effectively, to bring new souls to Christ and see them converted, he could not be false. But if that were true, then Jesus would not have needed to give any warnings for us to beware people coming in His name.
The fact is, the most dangerous emissaries of Satan are within what is perceived as the Church, not outside it. They are cleverly disguised. They look the part. They act like the real thing. They appear with righteous motives (2 Cor 11:13,14), but they are devouring wolves (Matt 7:15).
God calls false ministers as well as true. It is their test, to see whether they will submit to Him, or usurp His honour. As He has called them, He lets them have opportunities in His name. If they have grown sufficiently in faith and knowledge, they can wield power over demons, they can perform some miracles, they can prophesy – all by His consent.
But that does not mean they cannot be false. God once spoke through a dumb ass (Num 22:28,30). It would be foolish to suggest that the ass was godly and converted, and will be in the kingdom of God. If an ass can prophesy, so can any man – if the Spirit of God moves him. It doesn't make him converted.
But there is a tendency in charismatic circles to adulate the 'prophets' who prophesy profusely, who perform on stage with their 'prophetic anointings', drawing the attention of people to them! (Remember Paul's words in Acts 20:30!)
If an ass can do it, these people are not much better than silly asses. Yet they get lifted up and given great acclaim. What a blasphemy! It's not the man who is anything, but God, because of His Spirit.
Likewise, with casting out demons, performing miracles, and healing people. Don't forget that Judas did all that. Was he saved? No (Jn 17:12).
Thousands who have cast out demons, healed the sick, prophesied in Jesus' name, worked miracles by the power of His Spirit, will be lost (Matt 7:23). Why? Because their underlying motives in doing all that they did were wrong. Essentially they were lawless (same verse).
You can't see that trait until you do something very unpopular – present them forcefully with truth of God that they do not presently know.
You are told to test all things (1 Thes 5:21), and only hold on to what is good. OK then, I challenge you, do it with your pastor. Present him with a truth that God has restored, to which he is not privy, and see how he handles it. If he rejects it, you can reject him.
It's a simple test, but not so simple to enact. For a start, you need courage; you need to be free enough yourself (not under his psychological control) to be able to do it; and then you have the difficulties that follow to cope with. If he responds (it's easier to ignore the challenge) he may come back to you with clever arguments that 'annul' your proposition. He can fool you with his rhetoric. Satan's so-called deep secrets (Rev 2:24, NIV) are very convincing to the undiscerning, so his response might destabilise you! You have to be well grounded in God's Word, and yielded to His Spirit to repel Satan's counterattacks.
Nevertheless you are called to stand up and fight against heresy, to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3), and to confront the enemy. Few actually have the guts to do it!
You Must Oppose Falsity!
That preamble sets the stage for what I must say now. It's no use being a dumb sheep where a flock is being devoured by clever, voracious wolves! It's no use reading what follows unless you are prepared to DO something about the problem.
False ministers come with a good front. They know how to present themselves. They sound nice. They look good. They appeal to your better nature. They subtly try to impress you, to win you over, to get your loyalty and win your support. You might think that is laudable, considering the objective – to further the Gospel. But what if it's a gospel that is lacking something of "the whole counsel of God"? (Acts 2:27.)
Do you think God is pleased by a message that is only halfway house? Is He pleased if you give your support to men who are subtly blaspheming His name by using the Gospel for self-promotion?
The fact that it was prophesied doesn't make it acceptable.
...My name is blasphemed continually every day (Is 52:5) [by preaching falsity, by human self- promotion masquerading as 'ministry', etc.].
If you care about God and the holy things of God, you have to take a stand. You have got to:
Awake! Awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! (Is 52:1.) [Zion or Jerusalem are symbolic figures for the Church, the people of God.]
The filthy garments most preachers present to you are not acceptable in God's sight. He wants a holy Church, not merely people who claim the blood of Jesus to atone for their sins while they ignore the standards of righteousness that define the sin they expect Him to cleanse!
What is one of the targets against which God adjures you to harness your spiritual strength? It's there in Isaiah 52:1 – "the uncircumcised and unclean". You don't tolerate false ministers. You oppose them and expose them (Eph 5:11). You warn the sheep, to protect them from harm.
Are you ready for battle? Here we go.
The Ever-Lengthening List
I have in front of me a magazine published by GOD TV. It is GOD TV GUIDE for Aug/Sept 2006.
The first half (about 32 pages) is devoted to advertising, promotionals, and write-ups about some of the features appearing on the TV channel. The second half is mostly a listing of all the programmes on the channel through August and September.
Many of the individuals who broadcast on this channel we have written to. God has given them input through us, which has either been ignored or rejected. Here is a list of the ones whom God has had us write to over the years, many of whom He has also given us dreams about:
(In the order they appear in the TV Guide.)
Creflo Dollar
Andrew Wommack
Benny Hinn
Joyce Meyer
Ulf Ekman
Rory and Wendy Alec (and their frontline manager Johnny Woodrow)
Kenneth Copeland
Rick Joyner (Morning Star)
Abundant Life Church Bradford (Paul Scanlon)
David Pawson
Derek Prince (now deceased)
Lynne Hammond
Jesse Duplantis
Colin Dye (Kensington Temple)
John Hagee
Cindy Jacobs
and others.
I am not saying that all these people are false, but many of them ARE! Some are just deceived by the pride that is still rooted in their hearts.
The lack of response to issues which God had me present to them, or their casual dismissal of what God had us give them, shows they are not fully in the will of God, and from their various responses, and from dreams which God gave us about a number of them, it showed the sorry state of the part of the Church which they represent, and incontrovertibly to the fact of the falsity of some!
I realise that such statements are outrageous to many believers who support these individuals. If you are one, you would doubtless respond: "How can you say that?! Look at their fruits [meaning physical results, not spiritual fruits]. Look at what they are doing for Jesus! Look how they are spreading the gospel! Look at the support they get; God must be behind them! Look at the numbers they are reaching! And look at the miracles God does in support of their work." etc.
All those things you mention are not central to what Jesus told you to use in discernment. Many are subjective aspects, based on human or physical factors that should not enter the equation about whether a man is true to God or false. You are commanded to test the spirits (1 Jn 4:1), not fall for the subtlety of the devil's cunning who can influence men with pleasant manners, good personalities, persuasive speech, and excellent presentation.
The human qualities that make a presenter likeable, persuasive, convincing, and to be supported and followed, are not necessarily God approved.
Like the followers of Jim Jones, who died in mass suicide in Guyana, could not see through his persuasive, pleasant personality and convincing rhetoric, nor can you if you think GOD TV is full of wonderful stuff that God is pleased with.
God portrayed it as a SICK woman! (Dream of 5th October 2001, given to inform us about GOD TV and the Rick Joyner 'Braveheart' conference at that time. Related, together with other revelations about them given to my wife and me, in the separate article God Digital and the False Revival.)
God revealed that they will be cast aside, as one more failure of man to promote the truth of God. He called them, gave them a chance, but they prefer human acclaim and appealing to people on a shallow level than promoting the unadulterated pure truth of God.
When God told me to go to their conference and distribute more of His truth (He told me how to do it, too, with very specific instructions), I was thrown out, and threatened with police removal if I didn't depart. It was a totally carnal response. Johnny Woodrow didn't ask God whether He HAD sent us, before throwing us out!
That is a sample of the same sort of response that you can guarantee from quite a number in the list opposite! And the list is ever lengthening!
True Prophets Are Rejected
Jesus' words still ring true today:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (Matt 23:37.)
The result will be this:
See! [Those to whom this prophecy refers will see their house demolished!] Your house is left to you desolate (Matt 23:38).
The confident, smiling faces of Rory and Wendy Alec, founders of GOD TV, may adorn their glossy promotionals, but they won't be able to reassure you when their work meets its sad end. And when that occurs, will you have been prepared for the time of Trouble that the Bible prophesies, but which they did not prepare you for?!
God reveals His plan to His apostles and prophets (Eph 3:5), but the ones with the most acclaim, with the most support (money!), who can afford to go on GOD TV, those guys are not privy to His plan. They are well out of touch with what is coming, and they don't let true prophets on, nor declare their revelations from God warning of what is imminent! The only prophets you get to hear on GOD TV are the false ones like Rick Joyner and Kenneth Copeland. The true prophets haven't got the cash to pay to be heard, because God's Work is done:
Not by [human] might, nor by [financial and technological] power, but by My [unseen] Spirit, says the Lord (Zech 4:6).
O, God utilises many of the speakers on the TV channel. God will use false teachers, but they are being judged at the same time, and will eventually be fuel for the fires of Final Judgement. God doesn't clam up the mouths of false prophets, false apostles and false teachers so they can't speak. He lets them do their dirty work, AND uses them to take Jesus to new people also, so the gospel is spread even through suspect individuals! God is ingenious. But the end of such individuals is foretold in Matthew 7:15-23.
So, don't be fooled by the fact that a man is preaching effectively, reaching people and bringing them to Jesus. Likewise, don't be fooled by miracles that God does through false ministers. He will heal the sick where there is faith, and His Spirit coming into them will cast out demons. Such supernatural events are not automatic approval of the men who are 'ministering' and who get some of the acclaim that all belongs to Jesus. God performs miracles according to His plan, according to faith in His Word, and because of His great love and compassion for people. It's for the people He does it, not for the minister and his unmerited 'glory'.
Don't have inordinate respect for any of these men. Have reverence for the truth of God. And don't think they have got all available truth. They haven't! There is much truth that they don't want to accept!
Many MM publications contain aspects of God's restored truth that most of these high profile evangelists refuse to accept, or would rather not.
God said to me: A preacher's success is not rated by the number of people he reaches, but by the depth of repentance he teaches.
The depth of repentance of charlatans is very shallow. Look at Rodney Howard-Browne, one of the false ministers advertising in GOD TV GUIDE (p 61). The words on his advert may be faultless and true, and rightly appeal to many, but if you are hooked by him, you'll not just have some of Jesus, you'll have a bunch of laughing spirits too (demons!), laughing like hyenas all the way to hell.
Do you want a compromised gospel? Many choose it! It's fun. In contrast, being crucified with Christ is not fun.
True prophets don't come to bring fun and frolicking. They bring truth that hurts, that requires a price for its acceptance, and rejection in its wake.
When False Prophets Prophesy
In the middle pages of GOD TV GUIDE appears a colourful spread on the prophetess Cindy Jacobs. "Cindy has prophesied over Rory and Wendy a number of times over the past eight years, with startling accuracy..." (p 32). But does that make her a true prophetess?
In Sunday Versus Sabbath: The Final World Crisis, we published the account of Cindy's vision of Fouling Up The River Of Life (p75). I won't repeat that here. It illustrates how God will give a false prophet a true revelation, because it applies to them. What her vision portrays is all the muck and spiritual filth that flows in this Gospel outreach as she and many others take their compromised spiritual teachings to the masses and make lots of money out of them. They get a lot of elevation, acceptance and acclaim, but they are fouling up God's River because they are not willing to accept the further truth that He promised He would restore at the end through the prophesied work of Elijah (Matt 17:11, explained more fully in the booklet Who Is The End-Time Elijah?).
If they don't accept what we bring from the Throne Room of God's grace, they will be rejected on the Final Day, even though they have done great exploits for Him at this time. Remember Asa. He served God all his life, but fell away right at the end (2 Chron 16:12).
God sent a prophet (seer) to Asa. Hanani told Asa the famous and oft-repeated words of 2 Chronicles 16:9, but the implication is that Asa's heart was NOT loyal to God.
Then Asa was angry at the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this... (2 Chron 16:10).
Many will be enraged at me for daring to speak against these highly respected and admired GOD TV personalities. But are we to admire the persons of men or the Person of God who walked this earth in purity and died for us?
What is the purpose and effect of the back- scratching promotional about Cindy Jacobs in GOD TV GUIDE? (Pp 32-22.) It is to cause you to listen to her, to believe and accept her, to trust her, and to elevate her in your estimation.
And Rory and Wendy Alec don't mind repeating the prophecies she has spoken to elevate them and GOD TV:
The GOD Channel is a harvest Channel and will receive great favour even where it is least expected... (p 33).
What did Jesus say about being accepted?
Woe when men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets (Lk 6:26).
Cindy Jacobs prophesied:
You are entering a time of harvest... and thousands of people are going to come to the Lord through your programmes... (p 33).
Yes, but so what? Does that make them (those who have the physical vehicle to reach people) great, or does it show God's greatness, for using ones who are filthy vessels and who will be discarded on the Day of Judgement?
There is a great anointing for miracles coming upon the GOD Channel – creative miracles – people that can't see, will see; people tuning into the programmes will rise up out of wheelchairs... (p 33).
Yes, indeed. But what is the effect of this on naive people (they will look to the human instruments of God's mercy) and on the operators of GOD TV? Does it not puff them up with satisfaction and pride?
God tests people, and the most pivotal test is to see whether you will accept pride or reject it. False prophets, false ministers, get lifted up. True prophets, true ministers detest being lifted up; detest adulation.
Here's a 'good' pride inducing prophecy:
You have the anointing, Rory and Wendy, and God is going to increase this for the miraculous. You're going to start seeing this as a couple... (p 33).
When a lady told Evan Roberts, in the now historic 'Welsh revival' 100 years ago, that he was the centre and focal point of what was taking place, he stepped down from leading. As a result, the revival died down and out. And many people today think Evan did the wrong thing, that he listened to an unjustified criticism. Whether it was justified or not, I don't know because I wasn't there. But one thing I do know, Evan did the right thing. He didn't want to be the focal point or perceived as the centre of what God was doing. If people's attention was being drawn away from Jesus and onto him, he felt he should step down so he was not taking anything away from Jesus.
Why do people think he did wrong by allowing the revival to end? Because they want the manifestations of revival more than they want the Giver. And it's the same today. Many who watch GOD TV do so because they want all the entertainment that goes with it, rather than the fulness and purity of Jesus. They don't want the cross. They want what the cross bought them, that's all.
Rory and Wendy Alec, élite ones
Some of the prophetic words spoken by Cindy Jacobs, Jean Darnall, and Jonathan David have had the effect of glamorising what GOD TV does and its hosts, Rory and Wendy Alec. The veracity of their words does not necessarily help God's cause.
"But why would God inspire such words to be spoken if they are not furthering His cause?" you may wonder. For the same reason Jesus called Judas.
Judas was not furthering God's cause. He was stealing from the common purse, and using the power or influence he had as Jesus' disciple for his own ends. Eventually the true nature hidden within him came out and was exposed. So it is with all the false prophets who look good, sound good, and seem to do good. Their day of downfall will come, too.
For some of them it will be very soon!
The evangelistic outreach on GOD TV is very low level spiritually. Most primary evangelism tends to be that way, so that is not necessarily a criticism, just a fact of which you should be aware.
The problem with it, however, is when people THINK it's the ultimate, and that there is little further to go in their spiritual walk or understanding. This letter illustrates:
Dear GOD TV Team, how blessed are we to receive such wonderful teaching via our own TV. The Hillsong conference is really awesome... (p 5).
And this:
Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, for televising the Hillsong Conference. The reception was crystal clear and we were deeply blessed by all the programmes. The GOD Channel is a blessing to us (p 5).
It may well have been most uplifting, and good. But such uplift can amount to entertainment if some aspects of God's Word are omitted from the agenda. (Such as the stark, frightening Bible prophecies that find their fulfilment in our day! We are only two years away from the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:21. See our book Daniel's Prophecies For Our Time!)
No wonder God warned the Alecs about this wrong trend of entertainment in GOD TV:
The Father said to us, "My children, I have not called you to entertain the masses but to prepare a vessel for Me from which I can pour out My anointing across the airwaves..." (p 2).
Naturally, human nature being what it is, they will not think they are entertaining people! They will think that they are being a receptive vessel for all that God wants to do in pouring out His Spirit. But one thing that is coming up will prove their deficiency. It is raising the dead.
When dead people come to life (who have been in the grave FOR YEARS) at God's call through Midnight Ministries, such miracles and testimonies will make the ones which God does through the personnel on GOD TV look commonplace or 'elementary'. The purpose of God resurrecting such people is to illustrate by physical allegory the spiritual restoration taking place – restoring Bible truths which the Church as a whole does not presently recognise.
IF ANYONE ON 'GOD TV' CAN PROPHESY OF, AND RESTORE LIFE TO PEOPLE LONG-DEAD, THEN YOU KNOW THAT THEY ARE APPOINTED BY GOD AS PART OF THIS WORK OF ELIJAH. But for those who ARE appointed as part of the end-time restoration of Elijah, they have higher authority and greater power at their disposal, just as Elijah did on Mount Carmel over the hundreds of false prophets who had man's acclaim, but not God's approval.
God's words to Rory and Wendy Alec, the prophecies of others, and their elevated, glamorised position at the helm of this multi-million pound enterprise, humanly makes them élite ones. It's a dangerous position from which it is very easy to fall.
"Time is short," says the Lord. "The time for playing church is over..." (p 2).
They don't know what God is getting at. They think the meaning of those words is clarified by what He said next about coming into deeper worship. It is, up to a point, but there is something else to which they are not privy. That is explained in Meetings With Jesus, so I will not go into that in detail here, merely to say that churches are not what God wants. He doesn't want His people inside churches, under the thumb of compromised ministers, where they give their loyalties to men. He wants them out of churches and in communion with Him through His Spirit in smaller fellowships, to prepare them for the Tribulation coming very soon.
He doesn't want them restricted by the control of false ministers who rule most churches, and who prevent the free moving of the Spirit. He wants them out from under unbiblical hierarchy. (NOTICE THAT – hierarchy is unbiblical! This is expounded with full exegesis in God's Church – Whose Authority?)
"This is the hour of your choice..."
And a choice that Rory and Wendy Alec won't want to face is that which is made clear in MM's books Our Sabbath Rest, The Controversy Concerning Law & Grace, and Sunday Versus Sabbath. The most popular current teachings are laced with subtle heresy. It's time for reformation.
The prophecy continued:
"...and I will blow on the lukewarm heart and as you repent, so I shall blow upon your heart and the coals shall start to burn... (p 2).
What you can quickly gloss over in the above words is "as you repent". What if the person doesn't repent? God can't transform them. They will stay lukewarm. But you don't tend to read the prophecy like that, do you? You tend to read it all positively for yourself, anticipating only the best, not the worst.
However, what God doesn't say, but which is implied, is often far more poignant than what He says.
Then Rory and Wendy Alec go on to say:
The season for playing on the outskirts of God's perfect will is finished, friends. The Lord is calling us to a higher level in Him (p 2).
This is very true and correct, but what those words mean to them is different from what they mean coming from God Himself. God is restoring truth that He wants the entire Bride to accept. We outline what this entails in Wielding The Divine Axe. Accepting these things means radical changes in thinking and lifestyle. But the self-satisfied performers on the GOD TV stage sets won't accept this radical reformation.
That's why God had them prophesy through their own mouth that "this is the hour of your choice" and about blowing on the lukewarm heart. They don't see themselves as lukewarm, nor as unreceptive to the winds of change that are blowing. The élite never do, because THEY are the centre of their operations.
What they don't see of themselves – and many others like them who appear on the TV channel – is that they are using Jesus' name for self-promotion, subtly making a name for themselves. They have become an edifice, an icon. They are lifted up instead of Jesus. It is an insidious transfer, but one which John warned against in 1 John 5:21.
But they like it; they like their position – just like the Pharisees did (Matt 23).
They are performers, who have come from the pop scene into their present limelight using Jesus' name. So the image they promote is not the best from God's perspective, and there is an unspoken message that goes to viewers with their persona that this blend of worldly appeal with Christian truth is OK.
Arrogance is not a part of New Testament teaching. It is the opposite! Paul talked of dying to self, of being rejected, opposed, going without (2 Cor 4:8-11), suffering and being afflicted (2 Cor 1:4-6), despairing even of life (2 Cor 1:8).
Are not most of the speakers on GOD TV also 'Prosperity Gospel' exponents? Is not the image that comes across one of being a Christian 'yuppie', well- to-do, successful in physical and financial terms. Is that image projected subconsciously to the audience?
Much more is conveyed by example than by words. Élitism is very subtly communicated.
Why The Message Is Misleading
On the first page of this article I underlined some words: misleading, and strong delusion. These words have great emphasis in Scripture, warning us of impostors, drawing away the minds of susceptible ones. Satan's strategy has become ever so subtle!
Why is GOD TV so successful? Because it panders to its audience. It fulfils a need. It gives people what they seek.
Sure there is a spiritual dearth in the land and some of that famine of hearing the Word is satisfied by what the TV channel promotes. But there is also an undercurrent of something else which reminds one of Paul's prophecy:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (2 Tim 4:3,4).
The most discreet, clever and effective forms of delusion – a means of Satan leading people astray – occurs as he mixes truth with human appeal. All you need is a wrong emphasis. Leave something out. Say the most obvious things that are right, but omit the parts that people don't like – persecution, death, suffering, and rejection for Christ's sake. Or play them down sufficiently so they are swamped by the nice things that people like to hear about – miracles, success stories, healings, deliverance, etc.
Let most of the preaching be up-beat, not too confrontational. Make sure it is entertaining, uplifting, positive. Leave a good taste in the mouth. Titillate the taste buds. Give them a smattering of Scripture – the parts they can accept without too much difficulty. But avoid the tough parts, avoid the controversy, avoid the harsh prophecies, avoid the judgment, the retribution. Don't present the God of wrath. Just present the God of compassion and love that people like to hear about, whom they can respond to.
Do you see the problem with most evangelistic TV viewing now? It's not that what is said is so dreadfully wrong (some aspects are, but not most of it). The problem is mostly a result of what is NOT said. (More revelation on this from God is contained in the article God is NOT pleased with Tele-Evangelism!)
For example, the Bible very early on states that God gave mankind a commandment to observe. It is not stated as a command in Genesis 2:3, but from the clear revelation of Scripture in Exodus 20:8-11 we see with hindsight that it was.
But you won't hear this teaching expounded on GOD TV, because all the preachers are duped by the lie that it no longer matters about this commandment now that we are 'in Christ'. He is our rest, therefore we don't need what God prescribed each week. We can conveniently fit in with the human custom that was established by a pagan Roman emperor in the fourth century AD (Constantine), who imposed Sunday worship upon the Roman Empire for social convenience and political expedience.
Theologians, who didn't want to be snubbed by being labelled 'Jewish', called keeping the Sabbath 'Judaizing', which it is not. It is obeying a clear command of God. It is no more 'Jewish' or ritualistic than not committing adultery, not stealing, or not bearing false witness against your neighbour.
Do the controllers of GOD TV think: "Since the majority follow this Sunday error, and we don't want to upset people too much, well, we'd better not let anyone come on GOD TV who has a different theological assessment of that teaching, had we?"
Then there's the matter of festivals. How on earth did Christmas, Easter, Halloween, All Saints, and other pagan derivatives find their way into the 'sacred' calendar? They are not in God's calendar in the Bible. What happened to Pentecost? To Passover? To the other festivals we find in Scripture, festivals that Jesus kept? Why do we see in Acts that the Apostolic Church was keeping these days? Even NT churches which were predominantly Gentile were keeping the same festivals. (This is demonstrated in MM's publications The Festivals of God, or The Early Church Kept Israel's Commanded Assemblies.)
There have been some very serious apostate drifts take place in the Church since Jesus' time. And they don't have God's approval! Jesus wants them changed. He wants the Church brought back to the faith once delivered to the saints, which is NOT where she is currently! (Outlined in MM's booklet The Faith Once Delivered To The Saints.)
There is such a strong delusion that surrounds these teachings, with NT texts misappropriated in order to polarise minds against the Sabbaths of God (e.g. Colossians 2:16 which actually promotes what detractors argue against!), that it's hard to believe the Church could be so misguided. Why is it like this?
This is more fully explained in Benny Hinn's Dream Of Jezebel and the Last Outpouring.
The reason is that people prefer the error that is commonly taught than to face the stark reality of truth. Most people have 'itching ears' in that respect. They prefer to believe a lie, because their love for the truth is actually less than they care to admit.
Their approach is more experiential than faith- based. Faith for miracles and healing is taught. But faith to observe God's festivals, to keep His Sabbath holy, well, that's not such a desirable faith, is it? "We'd rather have the majority option that makes it simpler for us to fit into society – the world." The problem is, true theology does not accommodate that approach.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).
But if that's what you want, God will let you have it.
...and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved (2 Thes 2:10).
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thes 2:7).
Do you see one way it is at work very subtly?
When God allows false ministers to officiate and grants them signs and wonders, those are highly deceptive, because they convince believers that these men and their doctrine must be OK. They don't realise that God is responding to the faith and need of the people in His compassion; He is NOT approving of all the teaching they hear.
And the miracles end up convincing the ones who perform them that God must be pleased with what they are saying and doing. (See Dreams From God About Morris Cerullo, drunk on God's power.)
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan [highly deceptive!] with all power, signs, and lying wonders (2 Thes 2:9).
Satan can even use to his advantage signs and wonders that God does! That's the ultimate in cunning. He takes something that is authentic and uses it as justification for falsity!
It's very clever psychology. You won't argue against what is wonderful from God, will you? So, when you see that accompanying the ministry of a charlatan, you more readily accept error he promotes.
This is a massive problem throughout the 'charismatic church'. Miracles are used as money- raking assets. Prophecies are used for self acclaim. Pride is present all over the place. (This debacle, and the dreams from God about it, are summarised in three MM articles: Dreams From God About The Charismatic Church, The Charismatic Church Shrine, and The Subtlety Of PRIDE.)
The widespread influence of apostasy in the Church is not perceived, nor how pernicious it is, nor its causes. These are covered in more depth in MM's book Apostasy In God's Church!
A Wrong Emphasis
You won't have to look far to see the importance of numbers to GOD Channel's enterprise. On page 3 of GOD TV GUIDE you see the figure of "one billion souls". Humanly, that's impressive!
And that's why it is written. The majority do not see through the fallacy of big numbers. They think that the more people a ministry or TV set-up reaches, the more it must be of God. And it brings in people's financial support. It's why you read feature articles quoting impressive figures like this:
With some 30,000 visitors per day, Hillsong 2006 was an extraordinary event and GOD TV was privileged to extend its impact to the nations (p 4).
They think this is all a success story. Actually it's a story of failure, draped in the cloak of delusion. They overlook the fact that the more in tune with God you are, the less you fit in with the majority. When God does things in restoration, they start very small, hence the prophet reminds us with a question:
For who has despised the day of small things? (Zech 4:10.)
GOD TV has. And so have many of the preachers who perform on her stage. Few of them labour for what is impressive to God. They labour for what is impressive to man.
God is not interested in quantity, but quality. But we read on page 5:
With a vision to reach one billion souls for the Kingdom of God...
So where does this 'vision' come from?
I'll leave you to figure that one out.
It's a wrong emphasis! Remember what God said: it's not a matter of how many you reach, but of the depth of repentance you teach. (Not the precise words, but an accurate meaning.)
When you obey God unreservedly, people hate you – and even your own brothers, whom you think are in the faith, will disown you. But Jesus said:
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt 5:11,12).
The shallow spiritual agenda of GOD Channel, however, is looking for reward on earth instead of only in heaven, hence the emphasis on numbers, on acceptance, on physical expansion:
As the ministry of GOD TV continues to expand into different countries... Following a three year stint in America, Rory and Wendy have returned to the UK with a passion to see the British Isles fulfil their high calling in God and are very excited to be right at the core of GOD TV's new research and development facility in the South West of England. (GOD TV GUIDE, p 6.)
You don't need a research and development facility if you are listening to God and letting the Holy Spirit lead you individually. You do, however, if you are in charge of a massive human enterprise, and especially if you don't know where you are going or what you should be doing.
God spoke to me very specifically one day when I was writing to a well-established UK ministry. He said "I am not found in the institutions of men." That shocked me, because the ministry I was writing to was not just well-established and world-renowned, it also had some excellent Spirit-led teaching from which I was glad to learn. The problem with it was that they were not willing to learn from us, where they should have done. I had gone to them at God's call, and they shut the door on me, just like GOD TV did. They shut Jesus outside from then on, and that is the problem with GOD TV's operations. They can only go so far. God won't let them do all that the British Isles needs spiritually.
Yet they talk with arrogance as though they are the centre of God's operations in reaching this land. No, they are only a part of it. And their end is not far away.
When a movement of God becomes an institution of men, and throws out the prophets God sends, it is only a matter of time before judgement day arrives for them. Everything that is lifted up will be brought down: that is the most timely message of the prophets for many contemporary ministries!
Did you notice the other rubbish in their statement above? What is the high calling of God upon the British Isles? It sounds good, but there is no high calling upon a nation. That is upon individuals called to be part of the Bride of Christ, preparing to enter the Kingdom of God. Perhaps they meant Rory and Wendy's high calling in God? But ambiguity can also be part of the smokescreen to impress.
Going back to the issue of submitting fully to the will of God. Rejection, persecution and suffering are part of the course, not grandness, opulence, physical success, and other associated niceties that appeal to 'the flesh'.
My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience (Jas 5:10). Indeed, we count themblessed who endure... (5:11).
Don't look at the personnel on GOD TV and think you are looking at paradigms – there may be one or two (I did notice some men of God on their schedule) – nor at a set-up of which God approves. He uses many arrangements and people that are necessary evils. Instead, look for your paradigms in Hebrews 11, and notice the contrast. Those people did not have worldly success. They did not have what they sought in this life. They were rejected.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world [and much of the present Church!] was not worthy... (Heb 11:35-38).
Does this sound like the characters you see on GOD Channel? Who are you looking at? True men and women of God? Or charlatans and immature Christians to whom God has given a job, but who are not really in His ideal will?
Those Whom God Uses
You may find my words above offensive and think they are wrong. "Charlatans?! That's strong language! Too strong. No, it's not right!"
Well, consider what Jesus said of the religious leaders in His day, all pontificating, posturing and posing for effect. Isn't that what you see on GOD TV?
It's not all like that. Of course not. Some are trying to get their message across as effectively as possible, without being smug, or presumptuous, or visibly proud. But, if you have spiritual discernment, you CAN see it. Naturally, it is often subtly disguised by laudable sounding platitudes and theology.
What attitude did Jesus have? One of smug satisfaction, or fear to be acclaimed by the crowd?
Did He teach to gain personal influence or to give people the unadulterated truth? What was HIS motive? Self acclaim? Popularity? Never!
GOD TV does not have the unadulterated truth so it is not able to even provide it. That's why God has to bypass them. And even if it did have it, many (perhaps most) preachers who frequent their frequencies would not go along with it, so GOD TV would not get the financial support it needs.
"Well, if GOD TV doesn't have God's truth, why does He still use them?" you may ask.
To answer that, look again at how Jesus used Judas. While Judas was with Jesus, and got what he wanted, he went along with Jesus' work. He even went out as an evangelist and preached the gospel, and, with the authority Jesus gave him, would have healed the sick and cast out demons! (Luke 9:1,2;10; Jn 10:5-8; Mark 6:7-13).
Mark says:
They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:12,13, NIV).
Judas was most probably used in exactly the same way that God used all the other eleven disciples – to preach the gospel, to heal the sick and to cast out demons. There is no evidence to suggest that God made any distinction between him and the others until later, at the last supper together.
We know with hindsight that there WAS a very important difference between Judas and the other eleven. But at that time such a difference was not apparent. Only Jesus knew, because God had given Him spiritual discernment to perceive Judas' nature and to know the future. Jesus was a prophet: and the greatest one to perform such a function.
Why did God use Judas to do His Work when He knew that Judas was a traitor? We don't know all the reasons, but we know one vital one – he was to fulfil Scripture. He was foreordained to betray Jesus. He was one vehicle God used to work out His plan.
And so are false ministers. They are vehicles God uses to enact part of His plan. But only by taking a close look at their spiritual fruits, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, can you tell who they really represent. The spiritual fruits (outlined in Galatians 5:16-26) indicate whether they serve themselves or God (Matt 7:15-20).
It is important NOT to confuse human works and achievement with spiritual fruit. Yet, most in churches do. They think that because someone has done much in the physical FOR Jesus, and has a big outreach, a massive corporate structure dispensing publications or tapes, reaching many thousands or millions of people, that those are the fruits that prove them true. They are not. They are merely physical achievements. You have to look deeper, much deeper, to see spiritual fruit.
Often that can take some years before you get to see the real spiritual merits – or demerits – of a person's life. Also you cannot do it humanly. It takes insight from the Spirit to see through the sham.
It takes the gift of discerning of spirits to see true spiritual reality, and that is as it says – a GIFT. It comes through the exercise of God's Spirit. It is a separate gift. You can have God's Spirit, but not have the gift of discerning of spirits, just as you can have bread without butter.
God gives true prophets this gift, to enable them to fulfil their function. And because most in the Church do not have this gift of discerning of spirits, God sends prophets to sound an alarm when it is needed. This is one such occasion.
Remember, spiritual fruits are not physical accomplishments. The establishment of a large institution, with many employees, a massive turnover, and a mega-outreach that influences the lives of millions, are not a certificate of God's approval, either on what is taught or on the ones involved.
Such accomplishments can be seen in the lives of many other 'great men' who were men of the world – successful, accomplished people, who worked hard and wanted to make something of their lives. What motivated them was selfish, personal ambition.
And unfortunately there are many Christians like that, many ministers too, whose success is due to hard work and wisdom – graft and craft! It's a worldly formula. But you don't work your way into the kingdom of God. You are accepted in by grace – as a little child, much in need of God's mercy, not as a proud conquering hero.
Have you seen the proud, conquering heroes on GOD TV? Well...? Be more circumspect.
Just to recap. The qualities which enable God to use a person in His service are these:
People can be used by God to preach the gospel if:
-
God calls them.
-
They make themselves available, i.e. respond.
-
They are hard workers, and
-
They accept the Word of God.
-
They may only accept God's Word superficially on an intellectual level. There are levels of acceptance and degrees of spirituality (we go from faith to faith – Rom 1:17). To go on and be chosen they need to:
-
Be willing to battle demonic powers, especially in their own personal lives.
-
Be willing to forsake all.
-
Be humble and develop God's nature.
All the fruits of God's Spirit are centred around humility, and that is often seriously lacking in a vast number of so-called 'ministers', who are more like overlords than overseers!
Many preachers have responded to God's call. Some are true and faithful. Some are charlatans. That doesn't mean all they preach is wrong. Some aspects can be right. But what they preach will be a mixture of truth and error.
Charlatans fulfil the first four provisions above, but they have increasing difficulty in accepting the last three. Pride holds many back.
Why God TV's Revival Is False
The basis of true spiritual ministry is humility. But humility is one of those things that you can't put in words. Either you know it and recognise it or you don't. And the majority don't.
There is a simple test, however. I mentioned it earlier. If you want to see whether a minister is true or false, just present him with new truth and watch his reaction. Of course, you have got to do this in the right attitude (Gal 6:1). If you don't have humility yourself, you are not in the right position to perform the test.
Only those led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God (Rom 8:14). A true minister will allow himself to be convicted by truth, and change to accept it, even though it may be a struggle. A false minister will reject it, or – as is most often the case – when he sees it coming, he will duck. It's the easy way out for him to say "I'm too busy," or "I've studied that issue before," or give some other excuse to avoid even considering it. Because he rejects God's truth, God will reject him.
We are in a time of revival now. God is reviving His people. This is the End-Time revival that was prophesied in Scripture, when truth would be restored prior to the Great Tribulation and Jesus' coming. (This is explained in Who Is The End-Time Elijah?)
But, in whatever God does, the devil is allowed to counterfeit it. And often the counterfeit precedes the real thing! Satan muddies the waters and God permits him to do his dirty work. It tests people. We all have to choose between good and evil.
The basis of God reviving His people is truth. Jesus expressed that axiom in this way:
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (Jn 8:32).
Today, the majority of Christians DON'T know the whole truth that God wants to reveal to them. Only if they accept the apostles and prophets whom He sends with the truth (Eph 3:5) can they know of it. Otherwise, they remain in partial darkness still.
Thus, the basis of revival is truth – the restoring of truth and the acceptance of truth. We are talking of biblical truth now, and of our uncompromising willingness to accept and live by it all, no matter what the personal cost to ourselves; not subtly spiritualising truth away under a shroud of deceitful words, as many do, saying that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life" while they carry on down their self-willed path.
They don't mean what He meant. It is their excuse NOT to live by the 'new' truth of the Bible that is inconvenient to them, or unpalatable. They are in rebellion. It is a highly dangerous position to be in.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear (Ps 66:18).
The true Work of God that brings revival to people right across the earth is based on one thing. It is not based on money. It is not based on human ability. It is not based on physical power of any sort.
It is:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord (Zech 4:6).
If I come to you, not by human ability, with only just enough human resources to do the task, but come at the Spirit's urging, Jesus has come to you. By His Spirit, He speaks through the words conveyed via a mere human being. So if you reject the human, you reject Him (Luke 10:16).
But if you accept me as a prophet, you believe my words, and you have the reward Jesus offers you:
He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet's reward (Matt 10:41).
Revival follows on from that.
Conversely, falsity is based on human factors. You can see that in GOD TV's work. It is bustling with human activity. There are people scurrying everywhere, busy, busy, busy. They are busy promoting one another, busy promoting people or ministries that pay them for air time, and busy scheming up new plans about what to do to reach and impress more people.
Did Jesus ever sit down and try to figure out how He was going to reach more people? Did He have a research and development facility, or suggest that His disciples 'got wise' and had such? Or did He continually listen to, and follow the lead of, the Spirit? And did He command you and me to do the same?
Isn't the emphasis throughout the book of Acts on the work of the Spirit, and the leading of the Spirit? Or does it emphasise that we need more money, better preaching, more effective or élite personalities, and a more 'strategic' agenda, to take God's truth to others?
GOD TV runs on money ("we rely on receiving this money" – GOD TV GUIDE, p 10) and personalities. That is what it is based on. It is not based on God and His Spirit. The latter is an adjunct, in reality. Their human activity is the centre or hub of it.
They claim they have "the anointing" of God. They 'hype' it up to make it sound special, and to make them look special, as they claim to 'dispense' this 'rarity'. But, a lone believer with Jesus out in the rain forests of Borneo, reaching half-naked natives, has the same 'anointing' with him, leading the ones God is calling to Christ. You can expect that, because Jesus promised it (Matt 28:19,20; Mark 16:16-20) to all who go in His name.
There is a big problem with the foundation of GOD TV. It is narrow, and not built on the Rock of the Word of God. It is only built on some of it; not enough of it. (A dream from God, which I will relate in a moment, depicts part of the problem)
GOD TV is effectively a human work with some of God's backing, as are many of the churches and ministries which appear there. They, likewise, are founded upon money and human personality.
As Morris Cerullo prophesied many years ago, when the shaking comes, these things that are not built on the proper Foundation of God will fall.
Money corrupts and power corrupts. And where ministries rely upon either or both of these foundations the whole building has corruption inextricably inter- twined into its fabric. You can't always see it, but it's there somewhere because people are relying upon people to give them what they want, or need, in order to operate.
You don't need any of those things to operate by the Spirit. You just need the Spirit, and then the Spirit provides what you need physically.
The late Corrie ten Boom demonstrated how to truly follow the lead of the Spirit. You make sure you are in God's will first, then He provides what you need in the way of money and other necessities so that you can do what HE tells you to do. The central reliance is upon the Spirit (which is humbling) not money or other human factors (which are elevating). And the central command is from the Spirit, not from human leaders.
There are other reasons by GOD TV's is a false revival.
-
They do not promote the further biblical truth which God has restored at this time.
God has restored several aspects of biblical truth to the understanding, that He wants all who will to accept. But they don't want this. They threw us out and the literature we brought which contained that truth.
-
They promote false ministers as well as true.
-
They don't test the spirits (1 Jn 4:1).
-
They promote experiential encounters 'with God'. This can be dangerous, as seen at John Arnott's TACF (Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship – formerly a Vineyard church before they were expelled for their excesses, and where there are many evidences of demonic manifestations). Rory and Wendy Alec state:
We are praying the fire of God would fall upon you, that you would experience the Lord in a tangible way... (GOD TV GUIDE, p 3).
We explain in Testing The Spirits why seeking a tangible supernatural encounter is dangerous. We are to seek God for His righteousness (Matt 5:6) and His holiness (1 Pet 1:16), not seek manifestations or feelings. Anticipation of the latter invites evil counterfeits.
-
They promote some false teachings. The end time revival of which God prophesied in Scripture (Matt 17:11; Acts 3:21; Mal 4:6) is not based on a mix of falsehood and truth. It is based on pure truth alone. GOD TV's 'revival' is a counterfeit. It diverts attention away from what God IS doing (explained later).
I mentioned earlier about the false concepts enmeshed in Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter, church hierarchy etc., which GOD TV goes along with. Though there are others, this is not meant as a doctrinal critique. If anyone wants more truth, we make it clear in a raft of publications that sweep away the false dogmas that still bind most of the Church.
One lesser error that is promoted in GOD TV's GUIDE (pp 26-27) as "a history-making, world shaking day..." is the emphasis on praying for Jerusalem.
We will be linking up live for two hours with the International Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusa- lem. Led by Robert Stearns and Jack Hayford, this is an important global initiative representing millions of Christians... held annually on the first Sunday of October... (GOD TV GUIDE, p 26).
This is misguided reversion. To set aside a day for this purpose (Oct 1, 2006) is no better than what Catholics do in support of their policies that are often unbiblical and designed for political influence. It is a manipulative ploy. The fact that it is supported by millions of Christians only shows how misguided the majority of Christians are! (Never follow the crowd!)
I am really surprised that men like Jack Hayford, who ought to know better, promote such hype. It is not much more than drawing attention to themselves as 'leaders', and 'coordinating' prayer (which you cannot do – that is a human attempt to manipulate the Spirit) for specific humanly-desirable aims.
God doesn't need any person 'coordinating' prayer. HE does that through the Holy Spirit. He moves people individually to intercede in their own devotional time. See Jesus' admonition in Matthew 6:5-6 on that.
I wrote about this in MM's Newsletter 32 (p 10) of Sept 2005, I reproduce that here:
Praying For Jerusalem?
David wrote:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you (Ps 122:6).
And, because of this exhortation, many ritualistic Christians, especially Messianic Jews, pray for the literal peace of that city. Is that right?
Why not pray for the peace of Rome, or London, or Moscow? Why Jerusalem?
The answer is actually a few verses later:
For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, 'Peace be within you.' Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good (Ps 122:8,9).
It's not because of any intrinsic holiness or beauty in Jerusalem's metropolis. It was because of the people of God, and the house of God.
Jerusalem is no more special in God's sight now than any other city on earth. But at that time, during the theocracy of the Old Covenant, it was special, because of the purpose which God was working out.
He had called Israel forth from Egypt, giving her the opportunity to be a model nation, championing spiritual ideals that could create a just and happy society. Because God had revealed His truth to Israel, she was the apple of His eye (Zech 2:8; Deut 32:10).
God's love for Israel as a people is no more special than His love for any other nation. But because He had called them to accept His truth at that time, they were special for that purpose, and so Jerusalem was special too – not for its own sake, nor for the people's own sake, but for God's sake and for His truth's sake. God's love was extended for that reason.
That's why His house (first the Tabernacle, and later the Temple) in Jerusalem were so dear to Him.
Had Israel not had His truth, His commandments and instruction, she would have been just like any other nation and you would see no exhortation in the Bible to pray for her.
When Jesus came to Israel and was rejected by most of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, His truth was offered to all people, irrespective of race and regardless of nationality or geographic location. For a while, God has ceased to show preferential treatment (for spiritual reasons) to Israel, and now offers those whom He has called into His Church His privileges and truth. As Paul explains in Romans 11, God will again work with Israel as a complete nation in the Millennium, but for now His spiritual house is not in Jerusalem, but in those who accept the rule of His Spirit within them.
They are the spiritual Jerusalem – Jerusalem from above, which is free and "the mother of us all" (Gal 4:26). It is she whom you should pray for – God's true spiritual people. They are the city of God now.
In contrast, the physical city of Jerusalem "is in bondage with her children" (Gal 4:25). And "we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free" (Gal 4:31).
The New Testament admonition is to pray for the brethren (Jas 5:16), not ritualistically, but in truth. (End of article from MM's Newsletter 32, p 10.)
Misguided Notions
I hope that anyone who was deceived by this false notion, that we are still to pray for Jerusalem as a city, now sees the fallacy of such effort. It is merely HUMAN effort – empty ritualism. Even if people pray in tongues, and even if God gives prophetic utterance at such events, it is not because the agenda is correct. He lets people do what they choose to do. He lets them carry on in their misguided notions. (Read John 17:9.)
Rory Alec writes:
As the only television network, Christian or other, to be broadcast from Jerusalem [makes the enterprise seem special!] GOD TV is committed to praying for peace in the Middle East and reconciliation between Arabs and Jews (GOD TV GUIDE, p 27).
Why doesn't he join with the pope, then? He's got more in common with the pope than with God's prophets!
The reason church leaders get misguided like this is because of their elevated position. Pride allows the devil in to give some false notions. God hopes that, in the end, they will see their folly and be humbled by it. I hope that, too, because I care for these men of God.
War is coming to Jerusalem, not peace! Their prayers will not stop it. If they had listened to God's prophets, instead of throwing them out and disdaining their writings, they could have known what is coming.
The problem with most of the highly visible events like the above is – besides the unspiritual and misguided agenda – they are done to be seen by men (see Matt 23:5). They are for effect, to create a good impression. And the men at the helm are being lifted up. They are made to appear important.
The traps of self-importance and pride are subtle and insidious. That's why most people don't see them. They follow such leaders, like blind sheep.
Here is a choice piece of self-important rhetoric:
Wendy Alec said that the Lord had called GOD TV to serve as a prophetic voice to the nations and Jerusalem was a key to fulfilling this call (p 27).
Oh yeah? Apart from the complete fallacy of the second part of that statement, if GOD TV is meant to be a prophetic voice to the nations, then where are the copious revelations from the Almighty through them? All we see are occasional tid-bits of somewhat average communications from God, and when they come, Rory and Wendy get all excited about them and make a big meal of them.
No, sorry, they are NOT prophets, and GOD TV which they have established is NOT a prophetic voice for the Almighty to the nations. It may be a 'prophetic' voice of compromised, watered down theology to the masses, yes. That it may well be! But it is certainly not God's main prophetic vehicle of revelation, showing the way, shining His light on the path amidst all the darkness and confusion in Christendom.
We publish 'our' dreams and visions from God in a Dream Diary. God's communications to those whom He has called to be prophets (NOT for any self 'glory'!!) are regular. God speaks constantly. Each week He gives Helena and me several dreams and we record what God says. Another prophet in Ethiopia also records what God gives him in his Dream Diary. He notifies us regularly. Many of his dreams have relevance to the corner of the world where he lives, but some are global. It would be more accurate to say that he is a prophet to the nations. Certainly Wendy and Rory Alec aren't! Where is their Dream Diary?
Well, of course, they don't have need for one for the few bits and pieces they receive.
Our hundreds of dreams, and Kassahun's in Ethiopia, are affirmation from God of what He is doing with us and saying through us. They are what Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians 10:18:
For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
It is a very misguided notion to think that you are God's prophetic voice to the nations just because you run a TV channel which appropriates the name of God! Surely it is a blasphemy to claim you are His voice when there is comparatively little revelation from God and no commendation from God about you to others which authentically shows your appointment!? I will relate some of God's commendation of MM, later.
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves... (2 Cor 10:12). We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us... (2 Cor 10:13).
And thus I will do.
Who Am I?
People ask, who am I? What authority do I have to say such unsavoury things about those whom they think are God's instruments?
I am:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight (Mark 1:3).
I have Jesus' authority as a prophet whom He has sent. I did not decide of my own volition to write all these things here.
...but men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21).
God spoke to me in a dream on 13th August 2006. In the second dream, He depicted me climbing a very tall, narrow tower, like a radio or TV mast. Here is that dream excerpted from my dream diary:
13th Aug 2006. 2) The precarious tower and GOD TV.
I was climbing to the top of a very narrow, extremely high tower. It was highly precarious and dangerous, and I felt very insecure. The view from the top was out of this world, but it sure was a hair-raising climb! even though I felt in the dream that I had done it several times before.
Comment: I didn't know what the dream specifically meant until the end of the day. After doing regular chores, God then moved me to begin writing an article on GOD TV, the TV channel that is devoted to Christian broadcasting.
The high tower in the dream allegorises a TV transmitting mast. It depicts my very tricky assignment, climbing up very high to give an overview of their operations.
In what I am writing here, I am fulfilling the dream by climbing up to the top of GOD TV's structure.
As I said, I did not decide to sit down and write an exposé of them. The dream came in the morning and I didn't know what it meant other than that it depicted an assignment of some sort, because I had climbed up several times before. Later in the day, I began to get prompts from the Spirit to write something about GOD TV, after God had brought someone to our home the previous day to give me their TV GUIDE.
Then in the afternoon, He gave me the title. (That is usually the first thing He gives me when there is something to be written. I have a writing ministry.) As I began writing, God began to guide me through it. You are now reading the result.
So, if anyone wants to find fault with me for doing this, they are finding fault with Someone Else as well. However, I am well aware that that won't deter many from denouncing me as other dreams portray. So be it.
Prophets have never been popular – except the false variety – and the words they bring from God are often hard to stomach. I realise that will be the case here for many who are avid supporters of GOD TV and the personalities who use it as a platform for their evangelism.
But this is a call to repentance and reformation. Radical reform is never easy or pain free. Exposing error and wrongdoing IS traumatic!
God's Commendation Of MM
Many believers don't grasp what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 10:18 about having God's commendation. They think that what they see in the physical – the big TV set-up, the financial provision flowing in, the large outreach to millions, the eminent personalities who appear on their screens, etc. – that these are evidence of God's commendation of their work for Him. Not so.
Peter had God's commendation when an angel of God spoke supernaturally about him to Cornelius (Acts 10:3-6). And Cornelius had God's commendation when God showed Peter in a vision about Cornelius (Acts 10).
Likewise, Paul received commendation from God when the Lord spoke in a vision to Ananias about Paul, and Ananias was commended by the Lord to Paul equally supernaturally (Acts 9:10-17).
Commendation is supernatural revelation, not human back-scratching. What you see right across the 'charismatic church' are counterfeit commendations, where men and women in ministry rely upon other men and women in ministry to approve their ministries. But what they say is not what God has told them in visions or dreams about the person. It is merely what they say humanly about him or her.
Then you see a colourful flyer advertising their up-coming 'conference' (which is a misnomer, too), publishing these human recommendations of why so-and-so is worth listening to, and the flattery that embellishes them or their ministries.
Much of it is deceit. It is hype. It is hypocrisy.
It is feigning God's approval, when all that is offered is man's approval.
You read unctuous statements like "he operates under a powerful prophetic anointing" or "in apostolic and strategic prayer". I'm sure you've read this stuff. It drips with guile. It makes you want to puke! Because, when a true prophet knocks on their door (metaphor- ically speaking), they spit at him and slam the door in his face! I speak with much experience of that.
All this is a sham. It's sick. No wonder God portrayed them as a sick woman in one of the earlier dreams we received about GOD TV and Rick Joyner's associated Morningstar organisation. (Recounted fully in GOD Digital and the False Revival.)
The commendation from God about Midnight Ministries comes frequently. God has revealed about us in MANY dreams and visions to other people. We have published some of these in Revelations From God About MM and What God Said About MM. We have also published others in some of our Newsletters or other publications. (Some are yet to be published.)
Following is a selection. The first excerpt is from MM's publication, The Bible Speaks Vol 4:
God's End Time Revelation Given To MM
In 2004, I received a letter from an 'unknown' Kenyan evangelist, Nicholas Ochieng Odero, about a dream God gave him on 26th June 2004. God will often speak to the 'nobodies' of this world. He cares for the downtrodden, the needy, the unrecognised, the despised. His love is such that He lifts up such God-fearing folks and puts down the lofty. There is a time for the 'big name' evangelists to fall, but the little people He raises up. This was the dream God gave Nicholas:
I saw Somebody in a white garment (robe) holding Malcolm's hand. He took Malcolm into a High Mountain. When Malcolm returned from the mountain his face was shining like a star. Helena and Zenya welcomed him with joy and we got together and praised God for what happened.
I replied to him about his dream:
"Your dream shows Jesus holding my hand, taking me into a high mountain, which symbolises the Throne Room of God, from where I have received inspiration to write all MM's publications. You saw me shining like a star. Moses' face shone after he came down the mountain after being with God (Ex 34:29-35).
"The dream is to confirm to you that anointing upon me, not for my sake, but for the sake of the truth that God is conveying through us, most especially in the writings. Righteousness is being restored!"
The beautiful song Days of Elijah contains those very words. Not only are these days of Elijah, but they are days of Moses and Ezekiel, too. Moses passed on teaching from God to restore righteousness to His people, and Ezekiel reminded them to obey what Moses had conveyed. God is now, again, restoring correct standards of righteousness.
The imagery in the above dream draws a parallel between what God gave Moses – divine teaching for the entire nation of God so they could remain in God's favour – and the teaching God has given through the pen of Midnight Ministries for the entire Church, for the same reason.
But a large segment of the Church does not want more truth. It is Laodicean and has shut the door on receiving more from Jesus.
Tragically, of those, Jesus says He will spit them out of His mouth! (Rev 3:16.) Can you imagine how awful that fate will be!? It's like He says to the foolish virgins: "I don't know you!" (Matt 25:12.) "You are not Mine while you are in that cool frame of mind."
Conversely, those who want further truth – like Moses – will shine:
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you (Is 60:1).
There is nothing more important to God at this time than the restoration of His truth to His people. For, it is the acceptance of truth that will bring full deliverance to His chosen (Jn 8:32). Partial truth isn't good enough. You need all available truth to understand Him more.
God confirms this restoration with supernatural signs, so people can know something very special is taking place. When Moses came down the Mount of God, his face shining, the people knew that he had been in God's presence and that he brought truth from Him.
The same sign was performed on the Mount of Transfiguration for Jesus (Matt 17:2). The disciples were to take heed! This was no ordinary Man. This was the Son of God. He had been in God's presence. He was His main Prophet. He spoke for God and brought fulness of truth.
That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world (Jn 1:9).
I am only a mere mortal, and not worthy to be compared with the Son of God. But I make no apologies for the revelations given to others about what my task is. It is to restore a correct doctrinal foundation for the entire Church at this end time, and lay it out in writing. That's why, in the dream above, Jesus represented Himself holding my hand, and taking me up into a High Mountain to receive from Him. "...you do well to take heed as a light that shines in a dark place..." (2 Pet 1:19).
You are reading some of the heavenly light that He has caused to shine 'from my countenance'. It is all because of Him; not because of me. But the world and the Church needs what He gave me to write down:
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you (Is 60:2).
That does not exclude you, or anyone else who loves God and His truths more than anything else (Phil 2:15). It includes you, for:
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever (Dan 12:3).
Let your light so shine before men... (Matt 5:16).
[And] the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you (Num 6:24,25).
[End of excerpt from The Bible Speaks, Vol 4, pp 5-6]
Dreams From God
On the 6th October 2004, God also gave this dream to Nicholas:
Chosen To Restore Truths To The Church
"I dreamed that I was somewhere like a super- market. [Represents how preachers are merchandising God's gospel truth – people shop around to get what they want – corrupt!] It seems like I was working there.
Suddenly I saw you [Malcolm] with Helena. [We will be revealed to the world suddenly, through publicity as God raises 50 people from the dead.] Then I heard a voice telling me, "This is the man I have chosen to restore all things to the Church." [These are the days of Elijah – the prophesied restoration at the End!]
Then I heard another voice telling somebody to give you two cups of honey [2 years revival]. After that I did not see you again. [I will go when my task is done, like Elijah did, although not in the same way as Elijah, of course.]
Kassahun Ayele is a prophet in Ethiopia. God has given him many dreams about us, confirming God's appointment of MM. On the 10th August 2004, God gave him this dream:
Truth With MM Likened To The Ark of God
All the families of MM were gathered together in a large auditorium [symbol of the vast scope of God's worldwide Work]. We were seated at a rectangular form.
In the centre there was a large golden box heated by flames of fire inside it. We were warming ourselves from the heat coming from the box. While we were watching and warming, Helena stood and said that we are warming ourselves before The Ark of God. Someone asked her, "Are you telling us that the iron box is The Ark of God?" Helena answered "Certainly!"
The dream does not mean that we literally possess the Ark of the Covenant. That artefact is in Jerusalem, underground in Jeremiah's Grotto. (Some know this; some don't.) It will come out when it is God's time for it to be brought out. Angels are guarding it. It contained the holy things of God, which He bequeathed to His people (at that time, Israel).
What the dream means by that imagery is that we possess the holy things of God – His restored truth, revealed by God, which is sacred. Consequently we dwell with the holy 'fire' of God.
Kassahun had this dream on 13th January 2004:
MM Publications Reflect The Light of God
I saw the Bible surrounded by MM publications. Several bright rays were coming from the Bible and were reflected by the MM publications.
Meaning: It is another confirmation from Above that 'our' booklets contain truth from God. The Almighty will judge and condemn sceptics and rebels who reject us and His truths conveyed in 'our' publications.
Kassahun received this dream on 5th June 2001:
Malcolm Clothed in White.
I saw Malcolm in the house. He was clothed with gabbi. (Traditional garment of Ethiopia. It is very white. People dress in it in winter to be warm.)
He was writing something very powerful which revolutionised the whole world. I was very encouraged by his commitment.
On 23rd May 2001, God showed Kassahun this:
Dream of Many People Responding to MM Literature.
I was praying in my office. It was Sabbath. It was also night. Suddenly someone knocked on my door. After I had finished my prayer, I went to open the door. I couldn't see anyone outside. I went to search but I couldn't see anything. Puzzled, I went again to my office. To my surprise the office was filled with people. I saw all the truth-loaded sample copies [of Midnight Ministries' publications] hanging on the wall and exhibited them.
Most of the people gathered there were elderly. I began to tell them about our publications and to share with others whatever they want from all our publications. They agreed with joy.
Comment: It was the Sabbath. [This is an emphasis in the teaching / prophetic commission which God has given Kassahun.] It was also night [we live in spiritually dark times]. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, but he couldn't see anyone outside. [Jesus causes people to respond to the message he preaches.] When he went back into his office, it was full of people, [signifies that the people will be reached through mail] and all the literature was displayed on the walls of the office [MM publications reach many people and have a 'high profile' because they can be passed around in personal evangelism]. Most of these people were elderly [depicts mature believers who will appreciate MM literature more than the immature]. Joy came into their lives as a result of the truth we could pass on to them.
Jesus spoke to Isaya Owak in Kenya and said this: "Tell Malcolm that the publications he is writing are not his, they are Mine."
I knew that already, because of the anointing that is present when I must write. I couldn't do this task alone. No way!
And the many revelations in dreams confirm that MM's work is God's Work. It is not mine. I am merly a fallible human vehicle. I do my best, and thankfully, God backs me up with the inspiration to accomplish the task.
Our copious Dream Diary, even by itself, would be sufficient evidence of God's commendation on this ministry, but He confirms everything by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
Finally, here are just two more dreams from Kassahun, who also has a substantial Dream Diary of more than 100 pages (A4 size, containing hundreds of his dreams from God). If you would like a copy of that, please send between £6 - £10 ($10-$17 from Midnight in America in the USA) to cover our costs, and we will send you one.
2nd June 2003.
MM Holds the Torch of God's Truth!
Malcolm was holding a huge torch. From that torch there came meteorites like fireworks (it seemed like that in the dream) which spread to various places.
When the scene changed, I saw a multitude of people coming to Malcolm with their torches. The torch they hold doesn't have light and they kindle their torch from the burning torch of Malcolm. The more they kindle their torch; the more the huge torch on Malcolm's hand was brightening also. The light was very beautiful.
Meaning: As we give the truths of God to others, we are blessed and God blesses more. They can then take the torch of truth to others also. So the fire of God spreads.
...God has a great purpose for us as shown in the above dream. The torch you hold is the truth of God. It seems to me that your work is not finished and God has a special work for you, which will reach to the whole world.
Prepare for the next move of God in your life. Be glad my brother! Kassahun
4th June 2003. Woman Tries To Stab Malcolm
Malcolm was trying to save a white woman. She held a dagger and tried to stab Malcolm but instead she hurt herself. Malcolm saved her before she died.
Meaning: Depicts the opposition from the Church against us for promoting the unadulterated truths of God. When people oppose us and resist the truth of God, they are the ones who get hurt most.
The Church is not being prepared for the Great Tribulation. It needs to get ready! TIME IS SHORT!
Understanding The Will Of God
A lot of believers have the misguided idea that it doesn't really matter about pure doctrinal truth. They think that God is not bothered about it. Let me tell you, HE IS!
In its liberalism, the Church for the most part has tended to water down the importance of purity in truth, settling for a compromised counterfeit, one that 'accepts' Jesus but doesn't accept all He says. Many evangelists have another agenda now, to replace the one that God wants put at the forefront in these days of Elijah.
The evangelists' agenda is solely SOULS (no pun intended). God's agenda is TRUTH.
When the Truth of God is put in its principal place, God can do the rest. The more truth you can offer people, the more they can be prepared as the Bride of Christ for Jesus' coming. In one sense, the Church is holding up Jesus' coming because the Bride is not ready, and that because of the errancy of preachers in their self-willed, prejudiced approach.
Delete some of God's truth and you delete some of the efficacy of God's work in bringing full freedom. Delete more of His truth and you limit God even more. Taken to its extreme, if preachers were to completely dispense with the Word of God, there would be no Work of God. No one would be set free. Always remember John 8:32.
The power of Jesus to liberate is not in His name as if by a magic mantra. It is in the truth that accompanies it, that brings people into relationship with Him, into union with God, and into God's holiness.
That's what it's all about, and it's why we get so much opposition. It's why I have labelled GOD TV as an opponent of the pure Truth of God. (But I will retract that if and when they accept all we promote.) As such, their work is actually an antichrist, a counter- feit, despite all the good that God achieves through their compromised teachings and approach. It doesn't mean He approves of those. A wolf devours!
Remember the riddle about the devourer:
Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet (Jud 14:14).
How Will God Reach The UK?
A lot of supporters who give financial backing to GOD TV do so because they think that this is the main means God has chosen and is using to reach the UK with the gospel before the End of this Age. Of course, there are many individuals, ministries and churches who do their part as little pockets of revival here and there. But the 'big stuff', the mega-revival that will impact the whole nation, and spread into Europe and around the world is based on the restoration of God's 'lost' truths. As I have detailed here, with the accompanying divine commendation, we have been given those to restore to the Church. They are in MM writings, but we are a small home-based family ministry with tiny support.
In order to make a platform for us to be heard (because all ministries shun us), 'we' will raise people from the dead who have been dead for years. God will bring back 50 of such people buried years ago.
And when this comes to pass – surely it will come – then they will know that a prophet has been among them (Ezek 33:33).
Then the media will take the truth of God to this nation. GOD TV won't do it. Others will.
As Wendy Alec prophesied: 'Great Britain, land of end-time destiny': "...the slumber that has bound my people shall start to uproot... there dawns another day, a different hour... 'This is the day... O Great Britain I tell you that even as the glory has departed from the Lion [Britain], so the glory of the Lion of Judah [Jesus] shall return to rest upon you...' "
They think God needs their help! They think that prophecy refers to GOD TV. It doesn't. Watch and see whom it does announce. Malcolm B Heap
|
