A very large part of Christendom in the United States is
enamored with those who claim to speak for God. If you think that’s an
overstatement, simply tune into some of the programing on Trinity
Broadcasting Network or some of the other cable religious networks. What
you will see are churches filled with thousands of Christians hanging
on to every word of a man or a woman who is declaring what God has just
revealed to him or her. The content ranges from the mundane to the
bizarre. To some observers who are fairly well versed in the Scriptures,
what they are hearing and seeing is laughable. But that’s a tragic
reaction by some who are forgetting that many of those being led astray
by the so-called new prophets and apostles are their brothers and
sisters in Christ.
Most North American believers are wonderfully and prayerfully
sympathetic to the plight of fellow Christians who are undergoing
terrible persecutions for their faith in foreign lands, yet too few have
a real concern for fellow believers here in the West who are being
spiritually seduced and whose biblical faith is being critically
undermined. The tendency is to write off most false preachers and
teachers as religious kooks and to think no more about their captive
audience. All true believers, whether or not they have been led into
false teaching, make up the body of Christ. When one part of the body is
seduced and suffers, it affects the entire body (
1 Corinthians:12:25-27).
Not only is such a cavalier attitude wrong biblically, but it is
extremely shortsighted and therefore blinds a person to the seductions
and ultimate deceptions that are involved. In this series of articles we
want to present a wider view of what’s involved with those who “claim
to speak for God,” demonstrating that it’s far more than a few
delusional zealots but rather a host of men and women, ministries, and
movements that have an agenda and methodologies, all of which are
contrary to the Word of God. In that endeavor, they have captured the
hearts and minds of multitudes of Christians, mostly those among the
Pentecostals and Charismatics, as well as staggering numbers of young
adults, many from conservative evangelical backgrounds.
Dave Hunt and I have addressed this subject in bits and pieces in our books and in many articles in
The Berean Call
newsletters, but we haven’t communicated in a comprehensive way the
extent of the spiritually destructive teachings and practices involved
in this movement nor the scope of this development and its agenda. Now,
however, there is a book available that covers the topic more
extensively than anything yet in print.
Wandering Stars: Contending for the Faith with the New Apostles and Prophets
, authored by Keith Gibson, not only explains the methods of this
movement from beginning to end, but it also exposes its satanically
inspired contribution to the progressive development of the kingdom and
religion of the Antichrist. Gibson’s observations need to be heeded:
“The majority of the church has not taken seriously the claims of the
modern apostles and prophets [that they are] introducing a new paradigm
into the Body of Christ. These claims are far more than idle boasts.
Indeed the paradigm shifts have already begun in many segments of
Christianity. To say that the movement has grown rapidly would be a
gross understatement” (p. 10).
The root fallacy of the movement is the view of how one receives
communication from God. Most if not all of the leaders subscribe to the
teaching that the Greek terms
rhema and
logos
found in the Bible describe different ways of hearing from God. This
has been a fundamental teaching among historic religious movements such
as The Latter Rain, Manifest Sons of God, and the
prosperity-and-healing-promoting Word/Faith teachers. They conclude
that
logos refers to the written word and
rhema
refers to the spoken word. Although the Bible uses the terms
interchangeably, making no distinction, in practice this false teaching
elevates what (supposedly) God has spoken to them as
equal to or
above
what is written in the Scriptures. It goes far beyond someone stating
that he “believes” that the Lord has impressed something upon his heart.
Gibson comments: “It is far different to claim an impression than it is
to loudly pronounce, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ The former is the hesitant
expression of a thought, something that may or may not be completely
true. The latter is a claim to divine revelation that by definition
cannot contain anything but truth and which carries divine authority and
must be obeyed.” Whether implied or declared, Gibson adds, “The words
‘Thus saith the Lord’ change everything. A higher level of authority is
being claimed. One should be extremely careful before one puts words in
the mouth of God” (p. 8).
Many do not realize the dire consequences of being seduced by the
“hearing from God” teachings. First of all, they completely undermine
the objective nature of the Scriptures. In other words, when the Word of
God is mixed with what some
believe they’ve heard from God, it is difficult to objectively determine what is truly
from
God. That fundamentally destroys the value of the Bible in the lives
of those who buy into the so-called new prophets of God. God’s written
word is no longer relied upon as a determiner of truth, especially
regarding the new doctrines presented, which those who are “hearing from
God” promote in abundance. Unfortunately, that’s fine with such false
teachers because their “new thing that God is doing” cannot then be
challenged by the “old written words” found in Scripture.
Gibson notes with great concern: “No doctrine is under more regular
assault from within the prophetic community than the doctrines relating
to the Scriptures” (pp. 67-68). He adds, “Today’s prophets, and
consequently their followers as well, are consistently sloppy in their
approach to Scripture, frequently ignoring context, history, and
grammar. They can even be seen redefining words when necessary to force
verses to fit their preconceived ideas. The intent of the author of the
text is rarely considered. The Bible is left to mean whatever the
prophets say it means today” (p. 71).
If conservative evangelicals think that this drift away from God’s
Word is a problem unique to Charismatics, they need to consider their
own churches. Is
discipleship a significant part of your fellowship? How about
apologetics ? In your Bible studies, are you actually studying books of the Bible or books by contemporary authors? Is the term
hermeneutics a foreign word to most members of your fellowship? If that’s the case, you also have something to be very concerned about.
In
Wandering Stars , Keith Gibson underscores the critical
necessity of hermeneutics for every believer. “Hermeneutics has been
described as the art and science of biblical interpretation. In handling
the Bible properly, one should consider such things as context,
history, grammar, and the genre of the literature among other things.
The goal of hermeneutics is to understand the passage according to the
original intent of the author, as inspired by the Holy Spirit.” Simply
stated, “The Bible should be studied in its historical and grammatical
context and with the normal understanding of the words used. The intent
is to discover the meaning intended by the author of the particular
passage….It is essentially a belief that God meant the Bible to be
understood by the normal believer within the community of faith. This is
sometimes referred to as the ‘plain sense’ principle of interpretation”
(p. 70).
Simplifying it further, it involves not much more than what happens
when two people have a normal conversation. Both are aware of the
context of what they are communicating, know enough grammar to converse
in sentences, and understand the meaning of the words used. We all do
this every day, so it’s mystifying that most misunderstandings of
Scripture stem from not following the simple rules of hermeneutics.
Following such “plain sense” rules would eliminate the “prophetic
hermeneutic” (i.e., believing what a dynamic preacher says just because
he claims to be a prophet) that has caught many believers in the web of
blindly following those who claim to be speaking for God. Gibson has
seen the damage this has done to many believers’ trust in God’s Word. He
writes, “The impact of this ‘prophetic hermeneutic’ is serious indeed.
In the first place, as has already been stated, this type of approach to
Scripture causes the Bible to lose its ability to provide boundaries
for doctrine and practice because the Bible simply has no objective
meaning. The Scripture means whatever any particular prophetic teacher
declares that the Spirit has told him it means today. This style of
teaching also serves to remove any definite understanding of Scripture
from the common man who realizes that he simply cannot see all the
things in Scripture that these teachers are seeing. This makes the
average church person dependent on these ‘inspired teachers’ in order to
know what the Lord has said” (p. 78). Once that happens, the individual
is vulnerable to whatever such a teacher dishes out and whatever
direction the teacher wants to lead him.
Gibson spells out the tragic consequences of which few of us are
aware: “Because these prophetic teachers do not approach God’s Word
properly, they reach false conclusions. These false conclusions then
support aberrant doctrines and unbiblical practices. These unbiblical
practices and false doctrines undermine the historic truths of the
church and distract Christians from the pure faith and the true work of
the ministry” (p. 80).
It isn’t only ignorance of the Scriptures or mishandling them on the
part of many of the leaders of the prophetic movement. Some seemingly
distort them for their own purposes. Gibson quotes Wendy Alec, from her
very popular book
Journal of the Unknown Prophet . This is
what she claims she has received from Jesus: “For the Word alone is
yesterday’s manna and even they [prophetic teachers] have seen deep in
their hearts that it is no longer enough to feed my people” (quoted in
Wandering Stars , p. 86).
So the written Word of God is not only “no longer enough,” but it’s
also “yesterday’s manna.” Scripture tells us that leftover manna “bred
worms and stank” (Exodus16:20). Who would believe that Jesus, who is the
living Word, the same yesterday, today, and forever, the One who said,
“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (
Matthew:24:35;
Mark:13:31;
Luke:21:33),
would have anything to do with such a blasphemous statement? Yet
thousands accept it unquestioningly. We can’t judge Alec’s heart in
this, but it is obvious that she has relegated the written Word at least
to an inferior position in comparison to what she and others are
supposedly hearing from God today. Again, tragically, this is infecting
our brothers and sisters who are part of the body of Christ.
The Scriptures give us a sober warning that I believe is most
applicable to the day in which we live: “For the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall
turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables.” Again, sound doctrine is simply the teachings of the Word of
God, which every believer is to read, heed, and obey. Yet, according to
these teachers, since biblical doctrine stands in the way of the “new
things God is doing,” it must be downgraded.
Gibson quotes prophetic movement leader Francis Frangipane: “We have
instructed the church in nearly everything but becoming disciples of
Jesus Christ. We have filled the people with doctrines instead of Deity;
we have given them manuals instead of Emmanuel” (p. 122).
Frangipane and his cohorts have in fact done none of that. Gibson
notes: “Frangipane seems oblivious to the fact that teaching people to
become disciples of Jesus Christ would necessitate doctrinal instruction
if for no other reason than because to teach them who Jesus is
necessitates a doctrinal discussion. Additionally, how else is the
church to follow the words of Christ given in the great commission and
‘teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’
without instruction in doctrine?” (p. 114). Gibson’s response is
stunning in its simplicity, yet what is even more amazing is that so
many are not thinking through what they are accepting. He adds, “It is
simply neither possible nor profitable to attempt to bypass doctrinal
instruction. Discipleship may certainly involve more than merely
doctrinal instruction but it cannot involve less” (p. 114).
The leaders of the prophetic movement of necessity must make it
“involve less.” Rick Joyner, for example, declares: “We must first
understand that our unity is not based on doctrines. Such unity is
superficial at best. Our unity can only be found in Jesus. To focus our
attention on Him and learn to love and cover one another is far more
important than agreeing on all doctrines. Having like doctrines is not a
basis for unity...it is a basis for division!” (p. 115). Although
“doctrine divides” is the mantra of the new prophets and apostles, they
are correct in a way with which they would not agree.
Romans:16:17-18 sets the matter straight: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned
; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus
Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive
the hearts of the simple.” It is false doctrine, i.e., that which is
“contrary to the doctrine” taught by the biblical apostles, that
“cause[s] divisions.”
Of necessity and hopefully for edification, this first article
majored on the fundamental erroneous teachings of the New Apostles and
Prophets movement, i.e., its own false doctrines. With that
understanding, it should come as no surprise as to how bizarre their
beliefs and practices could and have become. In the next part of this
series, the Lord willing, we will glean (primarily from
Wandering Stars ) who the leaders are and what is involved in their global dominionist agenda.
TBC
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/they-claim-speak-god-part-one