Posted by Kathi on March 2, 2010
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24
The body of Christ is overcome with the fear of deception… to the point they call the Holy Ghost an agent of satan and His works evil! We have been abnormal for so long that a return to biblical Christianity (normal) is dangerous and “evil”, scorned mocked and something to dismiss. This should not be so. Let’s look at this reasonably.
A man in our congregation got up out of his wheelchair and walked last week, after 38 years of confinement. We give all glory to God for this!
Ken was talking to someone about it and the man actually said, “Well you know… satan can do miracles too.”
I’ve even had people ask me with regards to my healing, “How do you know that was God?”
WHAT?
First of all – I’m not aware of any verse in the Book that talks about satan’s ability to heal. I don’t see that as a possibility when it comes to a creative miracle like this. But let’s suppose for the sake of argument that this is a miracle he is capable of pulling off.
For false christs and false prophets…
Therein lies the first clue. For FALSE christs (that would be a person or demon that exalts themselves AS THE SAVIOR and seeks to divert worship from Christ) and false prophets (that would be a person who deliberately prophesies lies for the express purpose of turning people from God) … Is Jesus a false Christ? Is He a false prophet? Or did He speak truly that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Was He false when He promised salvation, healing, and deliverance to His children? God does not lie.
…will rise and show great signs and wonders…
Therein lies the second clue. Yes – people prayed for Barry in obedience to the Lord and the way He chooses to heal – but no one has “risen” to show great signs and wonders that “prove” that they are the Christ or a prophet.
…to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
To deceive. The POINT of lying signs and wonders is to deceive. It’s to draw the elect away from Christ. It’s to cause people to give glory and praise to that which is false.
Guess what, brethren? satan does not come along and heal God’s people in such a way that they stand and shout praises to Jesus Christ and go around telling people what God did for them. IF satan heals it will be for his own glory and gain… not for God’s.
Do not doubt a miracle that brings glory to the Savior… He’s in the miracle-working business. 
Posted by Kathi on
Several people have asked me about the High Point Blessing videos I’ve posted on youtube. These are videos of some rather extreme encounters with the Lord – some documenting a healing, some of worship, some of a bunch of people falling on the floor… and people who’ve never seen this before are asking me, “Why?” or “What?” and “What’s the point?” or “Revival… why?”
Let me say this first: “Revival” is not posting a sign on the marquee and having a special speaker in for three nights of meetings. “Revival” is not hopped-up services, emotionalism, special music. Revival is a lot of things… and all of those things may be a part of revival… but Revival is not in the things. Revival is the raw power of God unleashed – heaven invading earth. Revival is the way Christianity is supposed to be all the time.
And let me say this, second: I am charismatic. I believe that all Christians should be filled with the Holy Ghost and fire as soon after their salvation as possible (preferably within the first five minutes…) and that healings, miracles, prophecy, and radical encounters with God similar to those in the book of Acts are not only “possible” today, but that those things should be the norm for all believers. I can only comment on revival within a charismatic context; I really don’t know about it in non-charismatic churches EXCEPT that historically, when revival has broken out in Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Catholic churches people have become Spirit-filled in a hurry
It’s hard to answer the question, “What does revival look like?” even within the broad umbrella of Pentecostal and charismatic churches because that varies from place to place and from person to person. It seems like the Spirit has an agenda when He pours Himself out on a church or region – in some places there is a manifestation of joy, or of adoption, salvation and repentance, healing, and so on. Although all of those elements may be present, there is often a focus on a particular area He wants to minister to us in.
From the book of Acts through the great revivals that swept North Carolina in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, to Asuza Street, to the Healing Revivals of the 1950’s, to Toronto, Brownsville, Lakeland, to High Point where the Blessing is being poured out right now… there are some similarities between them all:
(in no particular order)
- Salvations, repentance, and water baptism
- Spirit Baptism and a whole lot of speaking in tongues
- Manifestations of extreme joy or excitement (often that go on for hours or days, to hundreds of people at the same time)
- Extremely vibrant ongoing worship
- Prophecy
- People falling on the floor, shaking, twitching, etc.
- Healings and Deliverances
- People raised up into ministry callings and offices
- Visible manifestations of the presence of God and of angels
- A mass-scale re-alignment to God’s Word and His will
These things are not “a person or two or even ten” because all of this is pretty common among charismatics (and should be to all Christians). It’s the level that God’s doing it on. That’s why we often use the term “outpouring”.
I think that most people can wrap their minds around most of the above except for the vibrant worship, what happens when the power of God hits the human body, and visual manifestations. (If any readers want me to talk about the rest ask me in the comments!)
A friend sent me a message asking,
I don’t get it – people spinning in circles and muttering and yelling and waving flags(?) and glow sticks, it’s just an incomprehensible way to worship to me. Why do you do it? What’s the appeal?
Worship is one of those things that can be defined in many ways. We should all strive to make every single thing we do an act of worship. When we do our jobs, when we wash our dishes, when we hug our kids, when we grocery shop, we should be doing these things as unto the Lord (1 Cor 10:31, Col 3:17)… this makes these “mundane” tasks acts of worship.
However, that’s not “it”.
(side note: I’m not going to get into the difference between “praise” and “worship” here; just lumping it all together as “worship”)
Worship is expressions of love, honor, glory, and submission for our Lord. Let’s look at some natural expressions of this: You may show your kids you love them by washing the dishes and buying them clothes, but you also show them by wrapping them up in a big bear hug or throwing them in the air or grabbing their hands and dancing around the room with them. Looked at in other ways, a wife would hold her husband close or snuggle up and enjoy closeness… or we might throw a tickertape parade or write a song or do a choreographed dance to honor someone famous… we might stand and cheer for a football team… or a child might throw herself headlong into Papa’s arms…
These are all expressions of love and intimacy, honor and respect and excitement – and when expressed to the Lord, are forms of worship.
And so you will see people dancing, cheering and shouting (or muttering) praise (in their own language or in tongues), waving flags, jumping, spinning, kneeling or laying on the floor, or even just sitting quietly meditating on His goodness. Some people even draw or paint. There’s no one “right” way to worship – He loves all expressions when we worship in Spirit and in truth. And just as you don’t love your kids or your Dad or your football team in only one expression of love… we should seek to express our love to God in a myriad of ways.
We don’t see anything funny about standing and cheering until we’re hoarse when our team scores a goal… why then do we think it’s funny to cheer and shout and bless the name of the Lord? It’s perfectly natural to dance with our spouse… why is it “weird” to dance with the Bridegroom? It’s perfectly acceptable for a small child to dance with reckless abandon… why then do the children of God feel the need to “contain” themselves?
Extreme excitement is quite thoroughly biblical – King David’s ticker-tape parade for God (2 Samuel 6), singing and praise and rejoicing and joy and dancing and music (Psalm 149, 150), even singing in the face of adversity (Acts 16:25). The atmosphere of Heaven is wild, chaotic, beautiful praise (Revelation 4) – is it any wonder that Jesus prayed, “on earth as it is in heaven”?
The other thing that tends to be shocking for those who have not experienced it is the variety of physical manifestations of the glory and presence of God upon the human body. When people have a radical encounter with Him, it’s very common for people to shake, twitch, fall out on the floor (sometimes completely unconscious), laugh, cry, shout or even roar, dance or thrash uncontrollably, and a wide variety of other reactions. People often report feeling “drunk” or “high” (but let me say this: there is NO high like the MOST high)… sometimes for hours or even days (I’m on day 7 of a continual Holy Ghost High…)
One often sees this sort of reaction when people are prayed for, but it also often happens during worship or even spontaneously. If you watch revival videos you’re sure to see a prayer line or fire tunnel where people are simply falling en masse. It’s not an example of mass hysteria or expectation as some have suggested. I know people who have fallen on the floor resisting all the way and extremely quiet people who begin to shout with reckless abandon. I’ve fallen out unconscious while worshiping at home (and woke up on my kitchen floor with gold dust all over me – and no, I do not have any gold dust in my house). I’ve also walked into the church building to do something wholly mundane, with my mind on the mundane, and it’s like walking into a cloud of glory. BAM!
There should never be an expectation on the part of a worshiper or minister that people will fall or have some other reaction (tho sometimes when you’re praying for someone you know what will happen)… some people simply stand and receive. This is usually NOT due to fear or resistance. God knows what each person needs and if they NEED to fall on the floor, trust me, He’ll do it even with them resisting all the way. God also knows what we each need and sometimes we “need” to fall over or jerk or twitch or be unconscious, and other times what we need it to just stand and calmly receive. Some ministers are “pushy” because they want you to fall down (because they think it validates their ministry) and this is wrong. Falling on the floor is not what transforms a heart or heals a body. (Some ministers are excited, too – must not confuse the two!)
The last thing that tends to freak people out is when they hear somebody say, “I saw an angel” or “the cloud of glory” or when things like gemstones and angel feathers start turning up. There’s no way I can address every phenomenon here (maybe someday in a book) but I’ll divide them into two categories: Things everyone can see, and things only a few can see. And I’ll say this of both: Yes – there are counterfeits out there… both from well-meaning or mistaken individuals, and the sort of counterfeit that satan serves up to distract us away from God. For every counterfeit there is a real (else, why would there be a counterfeit? No one prints up bright blue hundred dollar bills with their own face on the front and tries to spend those at Wal-Mart). I have my own personal criteria for judging such things, which boils down to this: “Holy Spirit, what is this that I’m seeing here?” and “Is Jesus getting the glory?”
Everyone can see gold dust, feathers, gemstones, etc. when they manifest. They are real, tangible objects that you can reach out and touch. I’m not going to touch on this too deeply but I will say this – we tend to operate under this subconscious mindset that the spiritual realm is intangible and untouchable and that is an extremely false – and exceedingly dangerous – mindset.
Angels (and demons) and visible glory are things that are usually seen (or perceived) by only a few people. Discerning of spirits is a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12:10) and revival has a tendency to activate that gift. Discerning of spirits shows the spirit that is at work: Holy Spirit? Flesh? Angel? Demon?
Again, like prophecy, I believe this gift is for all Spirit-filled believers. If you don’t see stuff and you want to, ask.
I’m amazed at how many Christians ask me… are they real? Yes – they are real. Yes, I really do see it. Yes, I really can reach out and touch it. I’ve taken to praying like Elisha prayed for Gehazi – Lord, let them see!
We’ve seen the visible, tangible glory of God – it looks like a shimmering cloud. I’ve seen it up close and personal at Lakeland and at New Day, and also have seen it on revival videos. I see angels (I actually see them everywhere I go). I sometimes see demons, too, but not all the time (thank goodness). Usually I only see them when I’m ministering deliverance and ask God to reveal the problem to me, or if I’m watching a deliverance I often see it as it leaves. I don’t interact with demons, period – “leave in the name of Jesus!” and I don’t generally interact with angels, or they with me – I ask God what they’re there for (if that’s not evident; sometimes it is) and ask Him to release them to minister.
Well – that’s just the tip of the iceberg… but it might answer some questions for some folks. Ask away in the comments if you want more
Posted by Kathi on
If you haven’t been following my twitter/facebook flow you may not know this: New Day the Church at High Point is in REVIVAL! This is the HIGH POINT BLESSING! We are having intense encounters with God at church – and at home – and on the streets – everywhere we go, God is pouring out His Spirit upon us.
Someone asked me (in a Christian online forum) the other day… Kathi, what IS revival anyway?
I’d like to offer two quotes. One my my initial response, the other a story John G. Lake told about an angelic encounter.
My response:
a word was given at our church recently: “this is THAT” … when it hit on Weds night we knew… that this was that which the this is that prophecy was talking about.
how do you know? when notable miracles start occurring. when people walk into the room and are healed without anyone praying for them. when people start speaking in tongues and they don’t even know what that is. when you are so consumed with the glory of God you sit and shake like i have all morning. my brain is burning. i might have to leave and go over to the church and just lay on the floor again. when you walk into a restaurant and people turn and STARE at you because the glory is on you. when services go for five hours and no one leaves the room even for a potty break. when you have bodies stacked up like cordwood. when the word “repent” is mentioned and people do by the hundreds. when the thought of a television being on makes you throw up a little. when you can see the fire of God in the air. When you look over and the same angel that was at Lakeland and I can see on the Brownsville videos and people have told me was in Toronto is in the front of the church. when a second even bigger angel that looks like that joins him….
And here is John G. Lake’s encounter:
It reminds of the vision known as the “Portland Vision,” where John G. Lake asked the angel, “What constitutes real Pentecost?” The angel reached for Lake’s Bible, opened it to the Book of Acts and ran his finger down the second chapter, that portion where the Spirit of God came down from heaven. Proceeding through the Book of Acts to its great outstanding revelations and phenomena, he said,
“This is Pentecost as God gave it through the heart of Jesus. STRIVE FOR THIS. CONTEND FOR THIS. TEACH THE PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR THIS. For this, and this alone, will meet the necessity of the human heart, and this alone will have the power to over come the forces of darkness. Pray. Pray. Pray. Teach the people to pray. Prayer and prayer alone, much prayer, persistent prayer, is the door of entrance into the heart of God.”
Posted by Kathi on February 25, 2010
Revival BUSTED LOOSE at New Day last night. If you weren’t there – you flat-out missed it.
BUT – come to Temple Courts Fri night & church Sunday morning – God’s not gonna stop and neither are we!!
And I do mean… revival busted LOOSE. I’ve been in revival – I’ve seen the Spirit of God move with power – I have never, ever seen anything like this.
I can’t even give a play by play of what-all happened because I can hardly put a sentence together this morning. English seems like a foreign language. Ken and I can hardly walk. In fact he’s in the shower right now alternately crying and laughing…
Worship started spontaneously – and began to flow, and flow, and flow until we were all swept away. One of the teenagers got up on stage and joined in (or maybe she was already there, I don’t know) and they started singing a prophetic song that was just… 
Some of the purest worship I have ever seen or been part of.
NC Master’s Commission came and ministered – good group of young people. They did a couple of skits and tag-team preached and WOW it was incredibly good stuff. Then they did an altar call – they started praying for us (and people were getting stacked up like cordwood) and then our prophetic team started to minister to the MC folks…
WOW. I’m not sure exactly who the Spirit fell on first – if it was the girl I was praying for or the guy next to us – but it was like a lightning bolt hit. The girl I prayed for looked like Stacy Campbell for a few minutes, spun around, and fell OUT on the floor. The more we prayed for fire the more she shook. She never regained consciousness (read on…). And she was the driver for the group. 
The guy next to us fell on the floor and began shouting – and singing – alternately in tongues and english – then began to prophesy – it turns out he was the shy one who never was demonstrative or said much. He shouted and ROARED glory and praise to God for a good couple of hours. And then another… and then another… and then another…
Then one of the MC guys and Ken got hold of Barry, one of our brothers in a wheelchair.
Barry got up and walked last night. 
This is a healing-over-time – but definite. When he first came to ND he couldn’t move his legs and had no feeling in them. He’d been that way for 32 years. As he’s been prayed for, he’s regained feeling AND voluntary movement. Now he’s walking! Not able to put full weight, yet, but that’s coming. A paraplegic guy walked.
This went on for 2 hours – service wound down at 9:15, 9:30 or so nearly everyone was gone (we make it a point not to leave because the most interesting things happen after the less-interested folks go home 
) All this went on until just about 11:30. The MC kids missed their 11pm curfew but I think they had a good excuse.
Pastor Debbie, realizing the time, says, “Can anyone among the Asheboro crew even walk?”
There were only a couple. So the ones that could rolled the ones who couldn’t onto the cots we use for ministry and carried them out to the van…
I’ve got video … got to figure out how to upload it since the filesize is too big for my phone to do it as a message. There’s one video here – if the embedded won’t play here’s a link:
http://www.facebook.com/v/375095916280
Posted by Kathi on February 24, 2010
By their own admission, heresy hunters are heretics and cultists.
I woke up in the middle of the night pondering “the cult of the heresy hunters”.
It doesn’t really matter what you call them – I prefer the term “heresy hunter” (HH), others like “Online Discernment Ministries” (ODM’s) or even “apologists”. These are not people who see a theological stance or movement, disagree with it, discuss it where necessary and move on with their lives. These are people whose sole purpose in life is to attack and sow discord among the brethren using whatever means they feel is necessary – lying, blaspheming the Holy Ghost, manipulation, fear tactics, etc.
I have taken some heat over the years because my position is that these people are not saved and/or have forsaken their salvation. Could I be wrong? Sure. Only God knows a person’s heart and only He knows what names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But Jesus said that by their fruits we would know them, and the fruit of the heresy hunters is more poisonous than an unripe ackee.
Let’s look at what the heresy hunters use as a working definition of the word, “cult”.
Sandy Simpson of the “Apologetics Coordination Team” (Deception in the Church) writes,
“Any system of belief that desires to call itself by the name of a religion, but by its own beliefs teaches and promotes either explicitly or implicitly against the core beliefs of the religion whose name they desire to associate with, is rightly termed a “cult” of that religion.” (Sandy Simpson, Defining Terms) [source]
Sandy also quotes Alan Gomes (on the above site)
“A group of people, which claiming to be Christian, embraces a particular doctrine system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or organization, which system denies either explicitly or implicitly one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian Faith as taught in the sixty-six books of the Bible.” (Alan Gomes, Unmasking The Cults, Zondervan, 1995)
The heresy hunters teach and promote quite a few things that are explicitly and implicity anti-Christ and anti-Christian. Denying the redemptive power of the Cross. Sowing discord among the brethren. Denying the work and Person of the Holy Spirit. (and so on). Though they appear leaderless, as long as one touts their doctrine and toes their lines, they are considered to be “leaders” within the loose organizational structure and become “authorized” to teach this doctrine of hate to others.
Let Us Reason is another heresy hunter site that serves little purpose other than to attack Christians they disagree with. They include most revivalists, Pentecostals, and Word of Faith adherents in their “cults” category(along with Mormons, JW’s, and new-age gurus.
Let’s look at what LUR says about cults:
There are two ways a cult operates in falsehood. Theologically and sociologically. From belief and practice. Some are theologically dangerous others are sociologically dangerous. Not all cults are harmful to someone’s physical well being, but they are harmful spiritually if they mislead someone in their relationship to God through another gospel. They will all have control or manipulation over people in some fashion. They will hold the person to this particular group or church often with fear convincing them that there is no where else to go, no one else has the truth like they do. [source]
There are two ways the heresy hunters operate in falsehood: theologically and sociologically. They mislead people into believing that God is hateful, grace is inaccessible, and the Spirit of God is powerless. They further mislead people into believing that God wants them to be suspicious of everyone and everything, that the way of Christ is hatred, that lying is an acceptable practice, and that if one does not toe the line (as defined by the heresy hunters) that one is in danger of condemnation. They exercise fear and manipulation – attempting to convince people that they are hell-bound or even unsaved if they listen to certain teachers or engage in certain BIBLICAL practices. They go to great lengths to convince people that their way is THE way and that all churches (other than their own) are suspect – no one has the truth like they do.
Someone once said a cult is everyone who disagrees with your belief. This is essentially what the leaders of the these groups will state. If someone does not agree with their particular interpretation of the Bible or of God they are against God. This is their exclusivism at work. [source]
It’s interesting that the heresy hunters say this – and yet viciously apply the very same tactic. (If you’d like evidence, explore “Slaughtering the Sheep” or “End Times Prophetic Words” or “Christian Research Service” (but take care to protect your shoes, because I guarantee – you will throw up on them)
Several of them have come here and were so vile I had to stop them from posting (had to IP ban one guy who was so vile and malicious – all because I disagreed with him). I have gone to several of these sites and attempted to have a civil discussion with them. It doesn’t work. I was asked to leave Slaughtering the Sheep after posting a lengthy bit of Scripture that blew their position on the subject at hand right out of the water. My friend John Burton has tried to engage them as well, with much the same result. One can only conclude that since their theological positions cannot withstand challenge, they are unwilling to examine the Word of God and what it says and their only charge is, “Heretic! You’re against God! It’s obvious to everyone!” (And, of course, anyone who disagrees with that statement is also labeled an anti-God heretic).
Christian apologist Robert Bowman defines a cult as A religious group originating as a heretical sect and maintaining fervent commitment to heresy. Adj.: “cultic” (may be used with reference to tendencies as well as full cult status.( Robert Bowman, A Biblical guide to Orthodoxy and heresy.) [source]
Heresy hunters maintain fervent commitment to heresy. In fact, I have never met more committed, fervent, fanatical cultists in my whole life (and I’ve known quite a few genuine cult members)
Cult’s will say they are the way to Christ and Christ Himself is not the way. So they put themselves as a group or their teaching in between man and God. They become mediators between God and man. They do not have the Christian distinctive, but will claim to be Christian in their beliefs and practices. It was Christ himself who Said “I Am the way, the truth the life.” [source]
This is an excellent example of the lying tactics of heresy hunters. Yes, it is true – genuine cults employ this tactic. However, none of the revivalist/Pentecostal/WoF teachers they lump in with “heretics” teach anything of this nature. Not a one. Yet the charge is leveled…
There are some groups that have right doctrine but are steeped in legalism. Legalism are laws that are unscriptural or biblical laws that are no longer to be practiced. They make ones walk heavy and the effect is having them lose their joy. They become toilsome, harsh and inflexible. The Pharisees couldn’t show mercy the heavier matters of the law because of their legalism although they knew the Scriptures well enough. Love and legalism don’t mix, love is flexible willing to yield. Love, grace and peace are a family they bring health and growth to an individual. While extra laws are a burden and often times bring bondage if not exercised by an individuals own free choice, legalism may not affect ones salvation as much as it will affect their spiritual growth. It certainly can affect their relationship to the Lord. churches that are orthodox in doctrine can fall under a pastor or leadership that goes beyond their God given authority and manipulate the congregation or individual members. [source]
The doctrine of the heresy hunters is 100% legalism. Even in cases where they are right in saying that a person is a cultist or heretic, the HH’s are Pharisaical in approach to the point of being 100% wrong.
Furthermore, the HH’s go well beyond any God-given authority for their actions. They often argue that Paul confronted heretics. There are some fundamental differences between Paul and heresy hunters – namely that Paul was an apostle who was in relationship with the people he was confronting, AND his desires were redemptive.
LUR also gives some “Common Characteristics” for cults. I am including the graphic from their page partly because it’s illustrative of heresy hunter tactics, and partly because LUR’s terms of use require content to be cited exactly. Since the graphic is there, I’m including it.
For abusive cults, the key word is CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL by Submitting to the Leadership – leaders tend to be the absolute end, looked to as prophets of God, as specially anointed apostles. Or they can be a strong, controlling, manipulative personality who demands submission even if he changes his views or conflicts occur in doctrine or behavior. sometimes they can be looked on as God Himself. Often to obey a leader and their teaching is equal to obeying God.
It can take time for them to gain power over the new convert, but it will eventually be there. Control is usually overwhelming and can cover most aspects of the followers’ lives: Dress codes, activities, finances, time, possessions and relationships. They can dictate to the member who to see, what to do, what is the right thing to say, and how to say it. Various degrees of control can be experienced, from subtle manipulation to blatant ordering. They will expect Rigid obedience of the members time and activities – involving their followers in physically and emotionally draining activities leaving little time for privacy and reflection, or questioning their authority. Expecting one to show up when everyone else does, and everything is usually done in groups.
The methods of control which are used is usually FEAR of displeasing God the leader or both. Fear of rejection, punishment, losing ones salvation, missing the rapture, going to hell. Guilt, Fear, intimidation are Weapons used to maintain their loyalty and devotion to the group.
Intimidation and accusation are the most often used. For example, any questioning of authority is treated as rebellion, and not trusting. They suppress questions and conform to the groups behavior. They Discourage Critical or Rational Thought and Questions they will reply with comments like, “Satan is the cause of all doubt; he is keeping you from the Truth,” or it will take time to understand the deep things of God. Critical thinking is discouraged being called prideful or sinful or rebellious. No independent thinking is encouraged.
They over simplify answers to life’s questions, making everything for all situations as simple as black or white. [source]
Those are 100% the tactics of the heresy hunters. That is precisely what LUR itself does. An examination of the list on the above page [HERE] further illuminates the cult tendencies of heresy hunters. In fact, there are only a few list items that are NOT espoused by the heresy hunter cult.
Here’s another common tactic, this time from Slaughtering the Sheep:
?However, there will always be watchmen who stand on the wall who sound the alarm when false doctrine enters the camp. Todd Bentley and Rick Joyner call it persecution, and by token, we are persecutors. But, God’s Word calls us Bereans.
This is the conclusion of a longish page that sounds off against what they call false doctrine (but the things they are talking about are biblically defensible). They attack the people who call them persecutors and claim the title of “Berean” though they are so unlike the Bereans of the Bible, such a claim is laughable at best. This is a very, very common cult tactic: paint a picture of a bad guy. You’re not the bad guy. Therefore, you are the good guy. Except, cultists are not “good” by any standard. 
Lastly, I will draw from my own experience with Bud Press of “Christian” “Research” “Service” (in quotes because none of those three terms apply to Mr. Press or his site, in my opinion). He initially contacted me when I was the Director of ExWitch with a rather pressing problem (no pun intended): online Christian bookstores were (and still are) stocking occult titles. A few phone calls (including one to my former employer) showed that there isn’t really a whole lot the booksellers can do about the situation. They get a database of all books the publishers/distributors consider “Christian” – distributors are notoriously in error on this – and there it is! That’s the database. Most booksellers do not have the luxury of hand-selecting books. If they find out about a specific title, there is a possibility they can block it – but even if they do, it may re-appear if the book is reprinted with a slightly different title or ISBN.
Mr. Press became increasingly unreasonable and hateful during our phone discussions about this topic, to the point that he began calling the booksellers heretics. Given that one of said booksellers is a friend of mine and one of the most devoted Christ-followers I know, I took exception to that statement. Mr. Press would listen to no amount of reason on the subject – typical cult behavior.
Furthermore, Mr. Press attempted to recruit me into “the fold” – first by flattery (which didn’t work out too well for him), then by attempting to engage me in taking action against others (like Ravi Zacharias – another mistake as Ravi is one of my favorite authors) and then finally by asserting that since I came to Christ as a result of a vision, and since no one can have a vision of Christ (Mr. Press’s faulty interpretation of Scripture, in direct violation of several Scriptures in Acts), ergo, I’m not saved and I’d better do something about it.
At this point I distanced myself quickly. This is an extremely typical cult recruitment tactic (that many of the heresy hunters write about on their sites). Press into service, flatter, and if that doesn’t work – attempt to incite fear. Unfortunately for Mr. Press, I know my Savior and my salvation very, very well. One could say – on a face to face basis. I pity those who he and others of his cult have managed to influence, though.
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I could go on – but I think I’ve posted ample evidence: There is a cult in the modern Christian church – the cult of the heresy hunters. They hate God’s people and, if He shows up and does anything, they hate God Himself. In fact, one cult member state that he would rather burn in hell than serve the same God that John Burton and I serve. Given that John and I both adore our risen, living Lord and Savior, the Jesus Christ the Bible talks about, the Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever… that is a disturbing statement. I cried when I heard it.
AGAIN, I want to be very, very clear. Abundantly clear. I am not talking about disagreements about doctrine among people who love Christ. I am not talking about “well, the Baptists believe this, and the charismatics believe that” or the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism or how often communion should be served or when Jesus will return. This sort of difference is healthy (to the extent that it’s discussed with love) and is not a problem within the church. I’m not even talking about people who say there is no revival, that spiritual gifts are not for today, that there are no prophets or apostles today…
Lovers of Christ can differ on these things and still love Christ and still love those they are in disagreement with. And while we might attempt to persuade others to our position, if they do not embrace it that’s ok. We know they’re saved. We know they love Jesus. They know the same of us.
I am talking about people who eat, sleep, breathe, spew, and crap hatred. People whose sole purpose for getting out of bed in the morning is to spew hatred about other individuals. Their sole topic of conversation is alleged heresy. They gossip, conspire, malign, lie, and work very hard to “slaughter the sheep”. I’m talking about people who believe that I’m hell-bound for living a literal biblical lifestyle – for living out the Great Commission! For living the gospel! They want to convert me (and you) from leading people to Jesus, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the leper, casting out demons, prophesying and moving in the power and authority that Christ promised (and discipling others to do the same)… to promoting the same vile hatred that they promote. They travel earth and sea to win one proselyte and make him twice the son of hell that they themselves are… this is a travesty; a malignant cancer in the Church.
I know that quite a few heresy hunters read this blog. Here’s my challenge to you: stop, and see what the Bible really says. Don’t say another word until you read every single thing the Bible says about love. Be silent until you read everything the Word says about confrontation, about difference, about authority, about discord and about peace. Ask God to show you how those things are manifested in your life. Ask Him how your actions demonstrate your love for Him and for your neighbor. Ask Him to reveal to you those areas you need to change. Ask Him to show you the areas in your life that you have not sacrificed to Him. Climb on the altar and ask Him to burn those areas of your life. And most of all – ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Even one second in the presence of the Living God will utterly transform everything in you.
I issued a challenge like this on StS and didn’t get even one taker: Why not take some time to get to know a revivalist? I’ll even volunteer. Come and follow me around for a week. Go to church with me. Pray with me. Seek God with me. Go grocery shopping with me (it’s often an adventure). See how we live and how we minister. Ask questions and dialogue with us. Get firsthand information to form an opinion on, rather than gossip and spew. And all that I ask – ALL – is that your outward actions be subject to the spiritual authority present (that means in my home, your behavior is subject to my husband or me; in my church, your behavior is subject to the pastor. And all that means is that if you have nothing nice to say in a nice way, you don’t say it )
I’m betting I don’t get any takers here, either
