A HUNGER IN THE CHURCH FOR THE SUPERNATURAL, WHETHER IT IS FROM GOD OR NOT
American churches have become little more than supernatural fan clubs–and the pew-sitters don’t care what spirit fills their appetite for thrills, chills and supernatural spills. Every Sunday across America, the Holy Spirit gets blamed for any number of ungodly activities and pronouncements. The Bible warns that in the last days, many in the Church will fall victim to seducing spirits. We’re in the last days.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
—1 John 4:1
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”
—1 Timothy 4:1
Modern “Christians” have attributed barking, clucking like a chicken, slithering across the floor like a snake and other ungodly actions to the Holy Spirit. Regardless of the warnings given in 1 John 4:1 and 1 Timothy 4:1, on any given Sunday, at churches across America, the Holy Spirit gets blamed for any number of ungodly actions.
Church-goers have developed a hunger for the supernatural–and in most cases, they don’t care how they satisfy their appetites.
Deliverance from Extreme Pentacostalism: A personal testimony of Bethel’s influence – This article is referenced at a number of locations around the Internet. However, the site the article originated from has taken it down. The linked site has all four parts on this page along with many comments.
The following excerpt is from Part One, A Dangerous Journey – My Wife’s Deliverance from Extreme Pentecostalism (Part 1).
Despite my initial caution & a nagging feeling of unease, I started listening to the answers that these extreme prophetic people would give to the sceptics.
Here are some of the things they said/say:
– God was revealing new things to the church today.
– God was moving in a way that was different & more relevant to the world now.
– How could these things not be of God, when people were singing his praises all within the safety of a church?
– No one can judge or dismiss the manifestations of the holy spirit, if you did then this then you were quenching the Spirit.
– David danced in the streets and people then thought he was crazy, but he was a man after the Lord’s heart. This meant that even though manifestations were similar to David’s dancing (disorderly behaviour) they were of God.
– The church at Pentecost had exactly the same spirit manifestations (like drunken behaviour…because in the Bible the mockers thought they were acting drunk therefore the early church must have had drunken spirit manifestations.
– Bill Johnson is such a kind, quietly spoken & gentle man therefore he must be a man of God.
– People from all over are coming in droves to these churches, so its has to be good.
– In the last days, God’s spirit will pour out on his people and this is that.
– No-one can judge the holy spirit. If something is done in the name of the holy spirit then it must be the holy spirit.
– Those who think that these manifestations are not of God are Pharisees (& are not open to things happening in the spirit outside of the Bible).
– People who were outside of these movements were missing out on a special anointing from the Lord.
I became convinced by these sorts of answers. I was drawn to it, I wanted to be around enthusiastic worshippers of God and I did not want to act like a so called Pharisee. It also looked exciting.
So began my journey into the world of extreme Pentecostalism, the teachings of Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, & the music of Jesus Culture.
(Little did I know how dangerous this path was going to be)…
For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
—2 Peter 2:18-19
The testimony rings true. Many are caught up in the desire to be “closer to God”–and so any charlatans who offer the experience of “true worship which is alive” can capitalize on this desire. Some or all of the following may happen.
- Ecstatic worship is promoted as “liberty in Christ.” This is not what “liberty in Christ” means, but so few know their Bibles, it’s accepted as the gospel truth.
- Shouting out and yelling is “proof” of this liberty.
- “Tongues” are proclaimed without interpretations. Repeatedly, in clear violation of 1 Corinthians 14:27-28.
- A total focus on the “Holy Spirit.” Many churches are really offering idol worship in the name of their spirits. Any who protest that the Bible clearly says that the Holy Spirit will NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF [John 16:13; 1 Cor 12:3], are threatened with “blaspheming the Holy Spirit.”
- Other churches who do not go along with a confused style of worship are labeled “dead churches.”
- New revelations are offered “from God.” This lifts up the authority of words spoken by men to that of God’s Word. Even revelations which are clearly contradictory to the Bible, spoken in a modern form [Malachi 3:6], or offered as a distraction are many times accepted as “a word from the Lord.” The lack of discernment among congregations is proof that the Holy Spirit is absent.
- Feelings, emotions and other “walk by sight” experiences are emphasized over the clear Word of God. Many times, the Word of God is not preached and the excuse that “the spirit is moving” is given. Would the Spirit of God offer an excuse for the Word not to be preached? It doesn’t matter how many times the pastor claims to “love the Word,” somehow, the Word keeps getting left out of the service.
- There is a GREAT emphasis on “The Presence” and “expectations” of an experience. Whether they admit it or not, the emphasis has shifted from Jesus to the experience of the person sitting in the church.
- Any Bible verses which contradict what the church is doing are dismissed out of hand. They are not answered, they are just ignored as if they did not exist. Christians are to pay attention to the whole counsel of God–not just some verses cherry-picked to lend support to ungodly actions during church services.
From part two:
I started engaging in what is called ‘soaking’. Soaking is a practice of opening your mind and spirit to the “lord” whilst listening to loungey “Christian” music. I gave up reading my Bible…because I wanted new revelations from God. I had heard mentioned in so many sermons (including writings by Rick Joyner) that the Bible was being superseded by new revelations. The people who only read the Bible were called “wordies” and these people (the “wordies”) were setting themselves up against the new spiritual move of “god”. The new spiritual movement was more important than the information in the Bible. So I gave my regular bible reading and embraced soaking.
I wanted to encounter God. I wanted something dramatic to happen, something exciting.
GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS
What the great majority of Americans inhabiting the churches do not understand: they believe they can fashion idols, lift up praise to them and as long as they call the idol “God Almighty,” then what they are doing meets with God’s approval.
Because most Americans do not know their Bibles, they do not know that the Israelites did the very same thing.
The Israelites DID NOT say “Hey, we’re worshiping a golden calf.”
They fashioned a golden calf and called it “God.”
They even went so far as to say “This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt.” They had “God” on their lips while they were dancing around a golden idol they had made with their own hands!
But, EXCITEMENT is the name of this game–and EXCITEMENT is what the wolves offer. Rousing “worship”–which exalts man and other entertainments featuring songs with occult references–is offered as praise to the idols erected in the churches.
All in the name of the God of the Bible.
2014 American “Christian” worship brings to mind those earlier Israelite idolaters.
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
—Nehemiah 9:18
What’s behind the worship of these gods fashioned by human hands? The Bible tells us behind every idol is a demon; a lying, seducing spirit.
No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
—1 Corinthians 10:20
The Bible also tells us that idol worship and the worship of those demon spirits will also be a HUGE FEATURE of the end times.
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,
—Revelation 9:20
“Idol worship? In Christian churches? Where? I don’t see it!”
Proof one: many people make the statement “MY GOD wouldn’t do this blah blah blah.” The statement that follows most usually have no resemblance to the God of the Bible.
One of the biggest idols in American churches is called “GOD IS LOVE.” This idol bears no resemblance to the God of the Bible. It takes one aspect of God’s being and emphasizes it until all of the others (justice, holiness) fade in the mind of this idol’s worshipers.
GOD IS LOVE is by far the biggest idol in today’s churches.
Proof two: the God of the Bible is an enemy of everyone who is a friend of the world. But the world has no greater friend than the American. Most Americans think “separating from the world” is that hour they spend in church each Sunday.
SELLING SIN BY ANOTHER NAME: The American Dream
Separating from the World: END TIMES SURVIVAL
Proof three: Churches routinely forgo regular services to spend an hour or more to importune a spirit to perform a “move.”
Proof four: The gods that inhabit many churches don’t condemn sin; don’t demand holiness; don’t adhere to God’s Word.
COUNTERFEIT HOLY SPIRIT: Lying Spirits of Deception in the Churches
Altered Spiritual Perception: The Altered Spiritual Reality in American Churches
American pew-sitters believe (wrongly) that they can consort with the enemy and his spirits by “rebuking” the devil or his demons. That is not Biblical.
Yes, we have power to trample upon all the power of the enemy [Luke 10:19] but that says nothing of “rebuking” the devil. Christians are to submit to God, stand, to resist. [James 4:7; Ephesians 6] Christians are certainly not to rail against the devil. [Jude 1:9; 2 Peter 2:11]
Do Christians have the authority to rebuke Satan?
Railing against the Devil: What does the Bible Say?
A counterfeit spirit is not the Holy Spirit?
Wouldn’t it make sense that if the Holy Spirit points the lost to the truth, then a counterfeit spirit called “another spirit” points those who are lost toward deception? This is the devil’s plan as recorded in the Bible. In our research, we have discovered this is one of Satan’s favorite strategies. How many have believed they have been led by the Spirit of God when later it becomes obvious that they had been seduced by a spirit of deception? This is why it is so important to have discernment, which only comes from knowing God’s Word and allowing His Spirit to lead us.
For example, I have known people who believed they were being blessed by the Spirit of God because they laughed hysterically, barked like a dog, slithered on the floor like a snake, or even clucked like a chicken. At first, they said they were not sure if it was God that was causing them to behave that way. Their line of thought went like this: if it was God, they did not want to miss out on what God was doing; thus they were willing to take the risk.
Now, here’s the real problem: if the counterfeit spirit didn’t make church-goers do obviously apostate actions (bark, cluck, slither, etc), wouldn’t that spirit be more of a deception than one that made the congregation act like a barnyard? But because these obviously apostate signs (barking, clucking, etc) of a counterfeit spirit have been publicized by the “discernment ministries,” church-goers believe that if they don’t do these things they must be in contact with the Holy Spirit.
And finally, the following from part four:
This false spirit, a false “jesus”, one that pleases the flesh, had been given permission by me into my life. If I knew the character of the Lord well or knew my Bible basics I would have recognized the false spirit simply by looking at what type of behaviour I was displaying when I was experiencing this “spirit”. I would have know that the fruit of the real and true Holy Spirit is peace, love, real joy, gentleness, self-control, humility, patience, kindness, faithfulness and goodness.
The Holy Spirit will not encourage mocking and scoffing those who point out error. That type of behavior does not come from the Holy Spirit. Mockers and scoffers will be present in the last days–and they will be people who were thought to be Christians. In other words, the mockers and scoffers will the the tares among the wheat.
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
—Jude 1:18
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
—2 Peter 3:3
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
—1 Timothy 4:1
Freedom from False Spirits of Revival
Satan is the father of lies.
Because the spirits are not tried, the church has counterfeit spirits in it. The Bible warned of such an occurrence–but the churches are full of people who are eager to substitute their own feelings, emotions and experiences for God’s Word.
This writer prays for the mercy of a God whose mercies are new every morning: for the blind who have “Jesus” on their lips but who are dancing around idols of their own making.
This writer prays for every single member of the Supernatural Fan Club that the modern American Christian Church has become.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Church Idols: Pastors and Teachers
- Do You Know if You are Going to Heaven? Be Sure!
- Idols
- Is Music Your Idol?
- Avoiding Error
- Christianity and the Occult: The Occult goes to Church
- LieKillers: Who Are LieKillers?
- Separating from the World: END TIMES SURVIVAL
by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
images:
1- Keerati, FreeDigitalPhotos.net/ETPR
2- Keerati, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
© Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report, 2012-14. © Mondo Frazier, DBKP and End Times Prophecy Report, 2007-14. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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