Dr Clifford Hill’s personal encounters with the Kansas City Prophets.

This article is part of the final chapter of our series. Please see the base of the page for more information.

The Kansas City Prophets

When the Kansas City Prophets came, with their popular message of imminent revival, they also brought a teaching about prophecy which was contrary to Scripture and highly dangerous. This teaching focused upon signs and wonders, thus hyping the supernatural and sensationalising the prophetic ministry in a way that is totally foreign to the Bible.

In May 1990, David Pytches published the book Some Said It Thundered, which was timed to prepare the way for the visit of the Kansas City Prophets. The book catalogued their paranormal experiences, all of which were uncritically accepted as being the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, in his opening chapter, David Pytches referred to his first meeting with these men saying, “It blew my mind”.

This is a very serious admission for a church leader to make. There was a great need for clear thinking and the application of biblical principles to test this new spiritual phenomenon. David Pytches clearly failed to do this and therefore opened the way for deception to enter the Church. His book made no attempt to evaluate the supernatural occurrences reported. They were simply presented as the latest in signs and wonders to sweep across the charismatic horizon.

Typical of the incidents reported was the following account of a telephone conversation between Paul Cain and Mike Bickle. After the opening greetings Paul Cain said, “Why, Mike, you've got a bit of a sniffle and you are all wet. Your hair is standing up on the left side of your head”. Bickle called his wife, Diana, to look at him. “Sweetheart, Paul says I have a ‘sniffle’, I am all wet and my hair is standing up on one side, Am I all wet?” “Yes”, she said. “You have just come out of the shower!” “And is my hair standing up on one side?” “Yes”, she replied, “on the left side!” Paul Cain calls these strange experiences, “little tokens that the line is still open with the Lord”.¹

Pytches’ book ‘Some Said It Thundered’ catalogued the Prophets’ paranormal experiences and uncritically accepted them as being the work of the Holy Spirit.

Pytches simply accepted this as divine revelation without asking the question, 'Why would the God of all Creation, the Father of our Lord Jesus, reveal to a prophet that his pastor had just taken a shower?' This was not merely a trivialisation of prophecy, there was no consideration of the fact that this could have been 'divination' and that this is the way false prophets operate, to confound the unwary and exercise a controlling spirit over them.

Paul Cain and Bob Jones

Cain was hailed in Some Said It Thundered as a “present-day prophet” who received “a high level of revelation from God”.² In the book, David Pytches admitted that Cain was a disciple of William Branham and that “there was always a special bond” between the two men but he failed to mention that Branham was rejected by the Assemblies of God for heresy. His preaching was similar to the Arian heresy that troubled the early Church. Like Arius, Branham denied the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the person of the Holy Spirit and other fundamental tenets of the Christian faith. He claimed that his remarkable healing ministry was channelled through 'an angel' rather than the Holy Spirit.

Paul Cain still describes Branham as “the greatest prophet of the twentieth century” despite his record of heresy and neo-occultism. Cain himself claims that he is given supernatural knowledge through an angel and it would appear from his own testimony that his bond with Branham was never broken.

Even more significantly, in 1989 Wimber announced that he himself was “bonded to Paul Cain for life”. He did in fact break that bond a few years later, when his own health broke down and Cain fell from favour in the US following his prediction that the election of President Clinton would usher in an era of great blessing and a return to biblical morality in the USA and that Clinton himself would be the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

Cain's popularity rating further dropped after a visit to Iraq in the wake of the Gulf War when he was reported as saying that Saddam Hussein was a good man greatly misunderstood and unjustly treated by the Western nations.

Bob Jones, the senior Kansas City Fellowship Prophet, was reported in Some Said It Thundered to receive thousands of angelic visitations, appearances of Jesus and out-of-body experiences, and audibly to hear the voice of God. Jones was presented to the British public, both in the book and in his appearances at Holy Trinity, Brompton in July 1990, as a prophet of extraordinary insight - despite the fact that those who knew his record were aware that his paranormal spiritual experiences began in a mental asylum, to which he had been committed following a lifestyle of alcoholism, violence, fornication and drug abuse.
It was while there that, according to his own testimony, he was visited by demons who in 1990 were still appearing to him and with whom he claimed to hold conversations.³

Bob Jones’ paranormal experiences began in a mental asylum, where he claimed to have been visited by demons.

I visited Jones in his home in Kansas City in 1989 and was immediately aware of a demonic presence. I subsequently told him directly that I did not believe him to be a prophet and that he should cease deceiving the Church. It was very clear to me that Bob Jones was working through an evil spirit which he attempted to pass on to me through a form of 'laying on of hands' which I had not previously encountered.

I was taken to see Jones by Jim Goll, one of the Kansas City Fellowship's pastoral staff, also said to be a prophet. At that time, I had no knowledge of Jones' background, but it was this experience in Jones' home that raised doubts in my mind regarding Paul Cain's prophetic gifting. If Paul Cain really had the spiritual gifting he claimed, why was he not alerted to the presence of an evil spirit in Bob Jones' life?

1989-1990: Bringing Warnings

I was dismayed when I heard that Jones was to be included in the team John Wimber brought to England in July 1990. At that point I was faced with a dilemma. How could I alert the Church to my experience in Kansas City? I had already informed those responsible for the visit to Britain, but my warnings had been brushed aside.

Many years' experience in the pastoral ministry has taught me the importance of personal relationships and I especially covet right relationships with other ministers. I believe strongly in following the principles of Matthew 18 (namely; going first to the brother with whom there is a problem, if it cannot be solved privately then drawing in one or two others and finally as a last resort going to the church).⁴

In December 1989 and January 1990 I had several meetings and telephone conversations with David Pytches, reporting what I and two colleagues (one, a man with an established international ministry) had experienced during our visit to Kansas City. David Pytches had invited me to write the foreword to Some Said It Thundered but when he heard our report and my strong advice against publication, he withdrew the invitation and I was not able to see the book until after it was published in May 1990.

I subsequently learned that John Wimber had also advised against writing the book, saying that it was too soon to expose a new ministry to the public. When Pytches went ahead and wrote it, Wimber again appealed to him not to publish it, but he was determined to have it available before the visit of the Kansas City Prophets who he and Sandy Millar were sponsoring at Holy Trinity, Brompton in July 1990.

After Some Said It Thundered was published, Mike Bickle sent Pytches a 60-minute tape outlining the numerous inaccuracies he had noted. At the same time, I published an extensive critique in Prophecy Today questioning the accuracy of many of the incidents which were sensationalised in the book and using the teaching of the New Testament to question their validity.⁵

Many years' experience in the pastoral ministry has taught me the importance of personal relationships. I believe strongly in following the principles of Matthew 18.

I followed the Matthew 18 principles carefully and throughout 1990 had extensive correspondence, telephone calls and face-to-face meetings with John Wimber, Mike Bickle, Paul Cain, Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, as well as with David Pytches, Sandy Millar and many other British church leaders. It would not be ethical to reveal the detail of any of these private meetings and I only refer to them to demonstrate my commitment to maintaining unity in the Church and brotherly relationships within the Body of Christ.

There comes a point where, when all private means have been exhausted, false teaching and practice have to be exposed in order to 'contend for the faith' and to protect the Church from heresy. The New Testament shows the apostles constantly struggling to maintain the truth of the Gospel.

Paul warned the Corinthians about the danger of receiving anyone who “comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted” (2 Cor 11:4). John, writing to the Seven Churches in Asia conveying the message of Jesus, did not hesitate to name those who were troubling the Church with false teaching; the Nicolaitans in Ephesus and Pergamon and “that woman Jezebel” in Thyatira (Rev 2:20).

Jones in Britain

Jones was presented to the churches in Britain by David Pytches and Sandy Millar, sponsors of the 1990 tour, as a genuine prophet of the Lord. He was sensationally written up as having accurate powers of prediction in Some Said It Thundered, despite the fact that I had given David Pytches, both verbally and in writing, clear warnings about him before the manuscript was accepted for publication.

In two issues of Prophecy Today I referred to Bob Jones' occult connections. These were never refuted by the Vineyard/Kansas City Fellowship leadership. A report issued by Ernest Gruen (minister of one of the largest evangelical/charismatic churches in Kansas City) with the support of more than 40 local ministers charged Jones with prophesying through a familiar spirit.

Wimber was aware of the demonic influence in Jones' life and because of this he did not allow him to minister publicly with him on the platform in London. He only allowed Jones to minister privately to leaders. It was highly unfortunate that the preachers to whom Jones prophesied were not told of his occult connection. They were therefore not alerted to the possibility that they might be receiving a message which was not from God, and were thus exposed to deception.

The following year, 1991, Jones was dismissed from ministry after being exposed for what Wimber described as 'gross sexual sin' and a variety of other offences. He had been misusing his so-called 'prophetic powers' to solicit sexual favours from women.

The allegations listed by Wimber against Jones also included “using the gifts to manipulate people for his personal desires, rebelling against pastoral authority, slandering leaders and the promotion of bitterness in the Body of Christ”. This was just part of a lengthy list of Jones' moral failures which Wimber and Bickle sent to a number of church leaders and Christian media around the world. Such a catalogue of moral and spiritual failures could surely not have been perpetrated in the one year since his ministering in Britain.

Wimber took an enormous risk in bringing Jones to Britain in July 1990, since he was aware of his occult problem. There had to have been a powerful reason why he was included in the team. Jones was needed because it was his 'prophetic' powers that validated the whole Kansas City Fellowship ministry which had now been embraced by Vineyard. It was he who had prophesied over the fellowship in their earliest days.

There comes a point where, when all private means have been exhausted, false teaching and practice have to be exposed in order to 'contend for the faith' and to protect the Church from heresy.

As a sign that they would have a worldwide prophetic ministry he declared that there would be a three-month drought in Kansas City. That prophecy was given on 28 May 1983 and Jones further said that the drought would end with rain on 23 August. Bickle was embarrassed in 1990 when a minister of another church in Kansas City produced meteorological records showing above-average rainfall for June 1983 (seven inches) and average rainfall in July that year. Bickle still defends the drought story although he has changed the explanation several times. A different version appears in his latest book.⁶

Bickle still held on to the contention that Jones was a prophet despite his moral failings and his occult connections, because Jones gave divine validation to the so-called 'prophetic' ministry exercised by Kansas City Fellowship.

The Turning Point

The publication of Some Said It Thundered and Wimber's promotion of the Kansas City Prophets did immense harm in Britain by presenting a mixture of divination and personal prophecy as evidence of a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This caused great excitement among charismatics but it was a major diversion from the purposes of God.

It was also a major turning point in the charismatic movement. It marked a shift away from a Bible-centred expression of the Holy Spirit working through the lives of ordinary believers in the Church and paved the way for the next phase in the drift into experientialism and the acceptance of bizarre manifestations, exciting spiritual phenomena, non-biblical practices and extra-biblical revelation.

From that point in the summer and autumn of 1990 I believe that the charismatic movement actually became a stumbling-block to the Gospel. The charismatic movement, which the pioneers in the early years had seen as restoring New Testament ministries and gifts to the Church to enable her to fulfil her true prophetic function and save the nation, now became a hindrance to the fulfilment of those aims.

A major deception entered the Church very publicly in 1990. It had, of course, been there in a latent form for a very long time. Its roots can be clearly seen in the Latter Rain movement, but it probably goes back much farther than that to earlier heresies. 1990 was a turning point for the British Church because the deception was embraced by leaders - not just a few, but prominent leaders from mainline churches at well as from the house church streams.

The great deception, albeit taken sincerely into the British churches through these leaders, was not simply the acceptance of the false prophecy about a great revival beginning that year, but the embracing of a whole package of false teaching. At the end of the Holy Trinity, Brompton conference for leaders led by John Wimber and the Kansas City Prophets in July 1990, a statement was issued by a number of prominent leaders stating that they had examined the teaching and practice of the Kansas City Prophets and they were fully satisfied with its correctness.

This was despite the fact that one month earlier, Kansas City Fellowship leaders had confessed to 15 areas of error in their teaching and practice and there was no indication given of the way in which they had corrected those errors, neither had they had time to work through those corrections and to establish a firmer biblical base to their ministry.

Apostles and Prophets

At the time of the July 1990 meetings I was not aware of the way John Wimber's ministry had been radically influenced by Bob Jones and Paul Cain. I had not then made a detailed study of their teaching. I subsequently listened to scores of their tapes and read numerous transcripts of their speeches and prophecies both at Anaheim and at Kansas City (some of these prophecies have been documented in earlier instalments of this series).

The publication of Pytches’ book was a major turning point in the charismatic movement, marking a shift away from a Bible-centred expression of the Holy Spirit and furthering the drift into experientialism.

John Wimber's teaching, particularly at the Docklands Centre in October 1990, showed the extent to which he had embraced their teaching. He spoke about Joel's Army, acknowledging that he had got the concept from Paul Cain and Bob Jones and saying that at first he had had difficulty in accepting it. From this one assumes that he must have recognised that the teaching he was giving was a complete reversal of Scripture. In the Book of Joel, the army of locusts is an army of judgment, but Jones and Wimber used it to say that the Lord was raising up an army of 'dread champions'.

This term was one which Bob Jones had invented and has no scriptural foundation (as shown in my previous chapter in this series, ‘The Role of Prophecy in the Direction of the Charismatic Movement). Central to Jones' scheme of 'end-times teaching' was the belief that God was raising up prophets and apostles. The prophets were to herald the way for the apostles who would govern the world.

Power and Authority

Mike Bickle, speaking at John Wimber's church in Anaheim in 1989, referred to the apostolic authority that was being given to Wimber and the leadership of the Vineyard churches. God was raising up prophets and apostles among them who would be recognised by the whole Church worldwide and through them God would give a new unity in the Church under their governmental authority. This authority would be extended into the nations throughout the world.

Prophets would be given the ability to know the secrets of men's hearts, to know what was being said in high places in Washington, Moscow and the capitals of the world. This revelation would give them enormous power which would enable the apostles to exercise their governmental authority to establish the Kingdom in preparation for the coming of Christ when they would present the Kingdom to him.
Bickle reported that on a number of occasions Bob Jones had prophesied,

…that the prophets had been emerging in the '80s and the office [had been increasing] in maturity, we're talking about the mature office of the prophet with full revelation, will be established in the '90s...then the office of the apostle with full signs and wonders will emerge - you know, with Jesus Christ visiting them and commissioning them. You know how that the Lord appeared to the apostles, that kind of level of apostleship, with the signs and wonders of a true apostle 2 Cor 12:12, the full signs and wonders of Jesus, that will begin to take place after that.⁷

Bickle also reported that Paul Cain said that the Lord had spoken to him and told him that:

…in the '90s when the office of the prophet is established across the nations with true revelation far beyond even what he is moving in right now, with revelation of the matters of state and government issues, and the secrets of men's hearts, beyond anything we have ever seen; he said when that becomes common in the body then their mission...will be to build the altar for the apostles. They will go ahead and introduce and establish the apostles, in their place and then the apostles will have government.⁸

As Wimber did not deny or correct these statements given to his own congregation, we must therefore conclude that he accepted them. In fact, these were not new thoughts for John Wimber. The prophets were confirming the conviction he had held for a number of years.

As far back as 1981, at the time Wimber assumed responsibility for the Vineyard group, he was already convinced that his mission was to lead an apostolic team with a worldwide ministry. He referred to it in the context of the mission given by Jesus to the apostles in the early Church.

He said, “the Holy Spirit has put on my heart that I am going to take a group from my church, we'll be ministering in much the same way, we'll be going as an apostolic group. As an apostolic group there is power and anointing far beyond your normal ability to perform.”⁹

When Wimber came to Holy Trinity, Brompton in July 1990 he was convinced that when he returned to Britain in October he would see the start of the great revival which would sweep across Europe. He was so fully persuaded of this that he brought his whole family over from America to witness the great outpouring of supernatural power. This would launch him onto his divine mission of worldwide leadership. He believed that the Vineyard was the true model of the restored end-time Church which he was divinely ordained to lead with his apostolic anointing.

The great deception taken into the British churches in 1990 was not simply the acceptance of the false prophecy about a great revival, but the embracing of a whole package of false teaching.

Change of Emphasis

When Wimber linked with Paul Cain and the Kansas City Fellowship he changed the emphasis of his ministry from signs and wonders in healing and evangelism to signs and wonders through prophetic revelation. The prophets would 'prophesy' that a Church would join the 'new breed' and become part of the Vineyard fellowship. This often led to congregations being split.

It was a practice which had caused deep resentment among the churches in Kansas City, but part of the Kansas City Fellowship's original vision was that there would be 'one church' in the city with one eldership serving under Mike Bickle, after Bickle submitted to Wimber's apostleship and the prophets reinforced and confirmed his authority. This fitted neatly with Wimber's own vision of the new unity coming into the restored Church.

This 'one-city-one-church' concept had been the cause of complaints against John Wimber's ministry in the USA where his visits left a trail of division. Wimber would lead a three- or four-day teaching and celebration event in a city with the backing of several local pastors. As soon as the event was over the Vineyard would plant a congregation in the area and churches which had co-operated would lose members and pastors would feel betrayed.¹⁰

In Britain we were spared the division that assailed many churches in the USA, partly due to the strong warnings given in Prophecy Today which alerted many leaders to the dangers which were threatening to cross the Atlantic.

Another decisive factor was the non-fulfilment of the predicted great revival. If there had been even the remotest sign of that prophecy being fulfilled, it is very probable that many charismatic churches in Britain would rapidly have come under Wimber's control.

Next week: The Kansas City Prophets’ reception in Britain.

References

1 Pytches, D, 1990. Some Said It Thundered. London, Hodders, p27.

2 Ibid, p16.

3 Vineyard Ministries School of Prophecy, Anaheim, 1989, Bob Jones, transcript of tape, p20.

4 Matthew 18 is often wrongly applied. Originally it was meant to apply to situations within a local church fellowship. Moreover, it deals with sin in personal relationships. It was never intended to apply to disputes over teaching and practice, or with any doctrinal issues. Both Paul and John did not hesitate to name those whom they judged to be false teachers and whose doctrine was deviating from the truth and thereby harming the Church.

5 Prophecy Today, Vol 6 No 4, July 1990.

6 Bickle, M, 1995. Growing in the Prophetic. Eastbourne, Kingsway.

7 Vineyard Ministries School of Prophecy, Anaheim, 1989, transcript of tape, p10.

8 Ibid.

9 Wimber, J, 1981, Healing Seminar Series, audio tapes, quoted in 'Testing the Fruit of the Vineyard', Media Spotlight, Washington.

10 James R Loggins and Paul G Hiebert, quoted in ‘Latter Day Prophets’, Media Spotlight, Washington.

Series Information

This article is part of a series, re-publishing the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’, an analysis of the ‘Toronto Blessing’ and a wider critique of the charismatic movement in the late 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

Clifford Hill continues to look at words of revival.

In this instalment of our series re-publishing Blessing the Church? (Hill et al, 1995), we continue to look at prophecies of revival that have been ubiquitous in the charismatic movement. Click here for previous instalments.

Prophecy in the Vineyard Movement

A significant element in the Vineyard/KCF ministry team which was developed in the late 1980s was the way in which the prophets confirmed one another's prophecies and added additional concepts which became incorporated into the body of teaching being given through the ministry.

Bob Jones, for example, confirmed Paul Cain's teaching on 'the new breed' and stated that this elite company of believers would eventually achieve divinity. He saw them,

…progressively going on in this righteousness until you take on the very divine nature of Christ himself and you begin to see Christ in the church. Christ won't come for the church until you see Christ in the church. Papa planted Jesus, he sowed him down here in this earth to have a whole nation of brothers and sisters that looked just like Jesus and he will have it.

My daddy's big enough to have his way and he's going to have him a nation of priests and kings. That's what his heart's desire is to have him a nation of sons and daughters that will talk to him just like his Son did. His son was an alpha son, your children are the omega sons and daughters.¹

Jones believed that the generation of children born since 1973 would form the final generation of believers whom God was preparing as the Bride of Christ to take control of the world and present the Kingdom to Christ on his return. Jones continued, “I do believe what he's beginning to do is a restoration of his very nature down here. Your children will cone behind you and they'll start on your level of righteousness and holiness and they'll take off from there."²

This, of course, is complete fantasy and a denial of the teaching of Jesus who said, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Our children cannot inherit our righteousness however much they may benefit from our love, our teaching, and our personal example.

The Vineyard/KCF prophets confirmed one another’s prophecies and added additional concepts – which became incorporated into the ministry’s body of teaching.

Jones went on to say that he had “a literal visitation from the Lord” and that Jesus told him a new version of Psalm 12:1, that it should read “Help, Lord, release the champions, the dread champions”. In the Bible, Psalm 12:1 reads “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men”.

Jones's version³ is completely different and has no other authority except his claim to have had a personal visitation and personal revelation from God. On the strength of that vision he built a whole doctrine which was accepted by John Wimber and incorporated into the Vineyard teaching. This became clear from Wimber's use of the concept.

Appealing to the British Church

In the leaflet advertising the October 1990 meetings there was a personal message from John Wimber who wrote, “God has given us a vision to see the body of Christ move from being an inactive audience to a Spirit-filled army”.⁴

This sounds wholly good and highly attractive to ministers who have seen very little growth in their churches, and to church members who long to break out from the cocoon of traditionalism that has characterised the Church in Britain for much of the 20^th Century. But Wimber continued, “In our opinion God is about to unloose a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit of an unprecedented magnitude...He is looking for individuals who will be ‘dread champions’ for his cause”.⁵

The significance of this phrase would have been lost on most of those who hurried to return their booking forms and registration fees. The phrase 'dread champions' was part of the teaching being given by Wimber, Cain and the Kansas City Prophets. It was linked with their teaching about 'a new breed' whom God was going to raise in the last generation before the Second Coming of Christ to evangelise the world and subdue the nations.

Peter Fenwick, in previous instalments of this study, has referred to one of the foundational teachings of the Restorationist movement being that evangelism would no longer be necessary because God was going to do it as a sovereign act. The respected and renewed Church would be so attractive that unbelievers would flock to it.

Wimber borrowed phrases from the Kansas City Prophets that showed his allegiance to their teachings.

This teaching was at the heart of the Wimber message in 1990. But by this time he had added a significant new dimension to 'restorationist' teaching. Wimber believed that signs and wonders performed by an elect company of leaders through a mighty impartation of supernatural power would sweep unbelievers into the Kingdom. In essence, this belief lay at the heart of his teaching on 'power evangelism'.

Confirming Each Other’s Words

A few months before they came to Britain that year, Paul Cain had been teaching at Anaheim with John Wimber, setting out his beliefs. He said that God was bringing to birth a new breed of Christians who would actually be the incarnate word of God and through them the Gospel of the Kingdom would be proclaimed, not simply by their words but by their lives. Cain said: “God's strange act is going to bring a new order of things and bring a new breed in and bring a transformation.”⁶

Amid much clapping, shouting, whistling and cheering he told the crowd,

There's going to be something in the wave of power and evangelism in these last days. Little children are going to lay their darling little hands on the sick and heal multitudes...We are going to be just like the Lord in that respect. They're going to say, 'Here comes that dreadful, fearful army of champions. Here comes those with a word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, the working of miracles, with a healing ministry, with the power to heal the sick and raise the dead, with the power to know what's going on behind the Iron Curtain.' You're going to really be a fearful group before this thing's all over with and I am resting in that.⁷

It is noticeable that Cain had picked up Jones's phrase about an 'army of champions'. This is another example of the prophets confirming each other's words. This is a highly dangerous practice which was roundly condemned by Jeremiah:

‘Is not my word like fire,' declares the LORD, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Therefore,' declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ‘Yes’, declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, "The LORD declares".' (Jer 23:29-31)

In ancient Israel the law required that the testimony of one witness should be confirmed by that of at least one other. If several prophets came declaring the same message it was regarded as divine confirmation.

The practice of prophets confirming each other’s words is highly dangerous and was roundly condemned by Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah's day the false prophets were picking up popular prophecies from each other saying that God would not allow Jerusalem to fall to the Babylonians, that the Egyptians would come to their aid and that no harm would come to the people. This encouraged them to continue living in the kind of idolatry and immorality described in Jeremiah 7:1-12 and it closed their minds to the warnings God was sending through the true prophets.

Bob Jones, Paul Cain, John Paul-Jackson, Jim Goll, Mike Bickle and Jack Deere (the Kansas City Fellowship School of Prophets) all confirmed each other's prophecies, adding bits out of their own imaginations. These all sounded good to the people so they were readily believed, even though they were contrary to Scripture. But the Word of God does not change: “How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?” (Jer 23:26).

Flights of Fantasy

Cain's prophecies were highly popular and the crowd got even more excited when he told them that God was about to give them this supernatural power which would transform their lives:

God is saying 'Arise and shine, for your light is come, behold the darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness, but the Lord will raise you up, the Lord will rise upon you and the nations will come to your light. You're going to shine, shine, shine! You're going to be the light of day and the light of life!...

God's going to have a whole company of people that are going to be like that and then the world will see the light and they are going to come to it, they are going to see it, all nations will come to your light and that's the way we are going to get world evangelisation.⁸

This teaching, which so excited the people, was utterly false, but John Wimber endorsed it so the people accepted it. They probably did not know the Bible well enough to know that it is Jesus who is the Light of Life and the words from Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come,” are part of a prophecy about the coming of Messiah.

Surely God will not share his glory with anyone else and nations will come to his light not to ours. It is surely a wicked deception to say “the nations will come to your light”! It is also interesting to see how Cain used prophecy to confirm the Latter Rain teaching that world evangelisation would result from the supernatural power which was going to be given to believers. This teaching was central to Wimber's message.

In Jeremiah’s day, false prophets were picking up popular prophecies from each other which worked to close the people’s minds to God’s true warnings.

In the same speech Paul Cain prophesied that the new breed would possess power to overcome the enemies of the Gospel and strike terror into them: “There's going to be an awesome, reverential fear and respect for the church because the church is going to regain her power, lose her restrictions, lose her weakness...you're going to be called upon by presidents and kings of nations, heads of state…"⁹

He then went on to say that believers would be given the power to strike dead those who opposed them, as happened to Ananias and Sapphira. He said that he knew two men who possessed this power, they were William Branham and Mordecai Hamm. He said, “If I had a hero, I think it would be William Branham or Mordecai Hamm.” He continued:

God is going to have his army and they are going to be a fearful bunch and they are going to go to every place on the face of the earth. All we have to do is see two people so anointed, two people here, two people there, two people over yonder and they will go forth and take that part of China, that part of Africa, that part of that island, or that whole island, or this nation or that nation, for one can set a thousand to flight and two can set ten thousand to flight.¹⁰

It is amazing what flights of fantasy people will absorb and actually believe if their respected leaders tell them it is true.

This is what has been happening in the charismatic movement, yet we scornfully dismissed the Hindu 'milk miracle' in September 1995. The Times reported that throughout Britain Hindus “gripped by a devotional frenzy” queued up at the local shrines to offer spoonfuls of milk to their gods. “It began with rumours on Thursday that the elephant-headed Gamesh idol in a New Delhi suburb had drunk half a cup of milk and within 24 hours millions of Hindus around the world seemed to have heard of the 'signal from the gods'" (The Times, 23 September 1995).

Some of the things we ask people to believe at charismatic celebrations are almost as unbelievable as the Hindu milk miracle. In the same speech as that reported above, amidst much cheering and clapping, Paul Cain promised:

You just wait until God does this strange act. Well, they'll fall all over you getting to God. All we have to do is seize what we are talking about tonight and they'll fall all over you getting to God! You are going to employ the tools of the trade after the impartation comes.¹¹

He went on to say that John Wimber was going to give that impartation: “When brother John Wimber stands here and gives that impartation, you're going to see more signs and wonders.”¹²

Teaching on Impartation

This teaching on 'impartation' is another doctrine which comes from the Latter Rain movement. Franklin Hall taught that he was given by God the power to impart immortality. He was giving this teaching in the early days of the Latter Rain movement in the 1940s but as recently as 1988, 40 years later, he was still giving the same teaching. He said at that time that at the moment he only had the power to give partial immortality from the feet up to the knees but gradually this would extend to the whole body.

It is amazing what flights of fantasy people will absorb and actually believe if their respected leaders tell them it is true.

This teaching on impartation has been picked up by others in the charismatic movement. For example, in the March 1995 newsletter sent out from Kingdom Faith Ministries by Colin Urquhart, he writes:

Dear friends, REVIVAL IS HERE! Praise God! The revival breakthrough has come to us at Kingdom Faith, by the grace of God. This month's tape tells you of the anointing that has caused this to happen. It is a word of personal testimony of what happened when Hector Gimenez was told by God to impart to me the same anointing that was on his own life.

This teaching on impartation is contrary to Scripture. As David Noakes will show in future instalments of this series, the teaching of Haggai 2 shows that we are able to pass on corruption, but not blessing. Blessing comes down directly from God. We can of course pray for God to bestow blessing upon someone, but we cannot impart that blessing ourselves. That authority is not given to us as human beings.

This is just one of the many aberrations and errant teachings that have got into the charismatic movement through false prophecy which then becomes incorporated into doctrine and forms part of a body of false teaching.

Next week: A summary of Latter Rain prophecies and some concluding thoughts for this chapter.

References

1 Paul Cain, speaking at 'School of Prophecy', Anaheim, California, USA, Vineyard Ministries International, November 1989; transcript of tapes published by Holly Assembly of God, Missouri. Session 7, Part II, p1.

2 Ibid p9.

3 Ibid p14.

4 Leaflet issued by Vintage Ministries, Edinburgh.

5 Ibid.

6 See note 1, p9.

7 Ibid p9.

8 Ibid p11.

9 Ibid p15.

10 Ibid p19.

11 Ibid p21.

12 Ibid p21.

Words of revival in the charismatic movement. Part 1 of 2.

After looking at words of warning last week, Dr Clifford Hill turns to the many words of revival that have been given through the charismatic movement.

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.

Promises of Revival and Blessing

We look now at prophecies which contrast strangely with the warnings considered last week. By far the most popular prophecies among charismatics have been those promising renewal and speaking of days when great power and prosperity would be enjoyed by the Lord's people.

These prophecies actually pre-date the charismatic movement and began in the Latter Rain Revival movement in North America (see also the part of this series written by David Forbes). It is relevant here to note their persistence over a period of more than 50 years. Concepts which have no biblical foundation, some of which were banned as heretical in the 1940s, have reappeared time after time in the charismatic movement. They have been popularised by charismatic speakers and uncritically accepted.

A prophecy by David Minor which was given to an assembly of the Lutheran Church in the USA had a wide circulation among charismatics reaching many countries. It conveyed a message with a promise of revival preceded by a time of cleansing and purification of the Church. These were described as 'winds'. It is a long prophecy but it is reproduced here in full because of its influence in the charismatic movement.

TURN YOUR FACE INTO THE WIND

The Spirit of God would say to you that the Wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing through the land. The church, however, is incapable of fully recognizing this Wind. Just as your nation has given names to its hurricanes, so I have put My Name on this Wind. This Wind shall be named "Holiness Unto the Lord".

Because of a lack of understanding, some of My people will try to find shelter from the Wind, but in so doing they shall miss My work. For this Wind has been sent to blow through every institution that has been raised in My Name. Those institutions that have substituted their name for Mine, they shall fall by the impact of My Wind. Those institutions shall fall like cardboard shacks in a gale. Ministries that have not walked in uprightness before Me shall be broken and fall.

For this reason man will be tempted to brand this as the work of Satan, but do not be misled. This is My Wind. I cannot tolerate My Church in its present form, nor will I tolerate it. Ministries and organizations will shake and fall in the face of this Wind, and even though some will seek to hide from that Wind, they shall not escape. It shall blow against your lives and all around you will appear crumbling. And so it shall.

But never forget this is My Wind, saith the Lord, with tornado force it will come and appear to leave devastation, but the Word of the Lord comes and says, "Turn your face into the Wind and let it blow." For only that which is not of Me shall be devastated. You must see this as necessary.

Be not dismayed. For after this, My Wind shall blow again. Have you not read how My Breath blew on the valley of dry bones? So it shall breathe on you. This wind will come in equal force as the first Wind. This Wind too will have a name. It shall be called "The Kingdom of God".

It shall bring My government and order. Along with that it shall bring My power. The supernatural shall come in that Wind. The world will laugh at you because of the devastation of that first Wind, but they will laugh no more. For this Wind will come with force and power that will produce the miraculous among My people and the fear of God shall fall on the nation.

My people will be willing in the day of My power, saith the Lord. In my first Wind that is upon you now, I will blow out pride, lust, greed, competition and jealousy, and you will feel devastated. But haven't you read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"? So out of your poverty of spirit I will establish My Kingdom. Have you not read, "The Kingdom of God is in the Holy Ghost?" So by My Spirit, My Kingdom will be established and made manifest.

Know this also, there will be those who shall seek to hide from this present Wind and they will try to flow with the second Wind. But again, they will be blown away by it. Only those who have turned their faces into the present Wind shall be allowed to be propelled by the second Wind.

You have longed for revival and a return of the miraculous and the supernatural. You and your generation shall see it, but it shall only come by My process, saith the Lord.

The church of this nation cannot contain My power in its present form. But as it turns to the Wind of the Holiness of God, it shall be purged and changed to contain My glory. This is judgment that has begun at the house of God, but it is not the end. When the second Wind has come and brought in My harvest, then shall the end come.¹

This prophecy became influential in the charismatic movement as much for its emphasis upon 'holiness' as for the reinforcing of the expectation of supernatural power. But the concept of 'holiness' it conveyed was not biblical. The Hebrew understanding of holiness was of separation from the world. Hence the prophets could speak of the 'wholly otherness' of God. The temple vessels and priestly garments were 'set aside' from common use for the exclusive service of God.

Concepts which have no biblical foundation, some of which were banned as heretical in the 1940s, have reappeared time after time in the charismatic movement.

But this popular charismatic concept of holiness does not speak of a people 'set aside' from the world for the exclusive service of God a people who have renounced the values and ways of the world. It concentrates upon personal morality; the elementary things which all people of goodwill who accept the Ten Commandments as the basic rule of life should be following. There is nothing special about turning away from 'pride, lust, greed, competition and jealousy' which the prophecy says will cause the Lord's people to feel devastated!

In testing this prophecy, we should ask, why should this make us feel devastated? But the prophecy was never subjected to biblical testing - it was simply uncritically accepted because it sounded good and made people feel good. So it was passed around charismatic churches across the world.

Nobody queried the phrase “Have you not read, ‘The Kingdom of God is in the Holy Ghost?’", the answer to which has to be NO! It's certainly not in the Bible! Yet it is subtly used here to introduce a promise of “a return of the miraculous and the supernatural. You and your generation shall see it”.

This promise is certainly not in the Bible. Nevertheless, promises like this appeal strongly to Western Christians who long for power and prestige in a world where they feel powerless and lacking in social acceptance.

Rick Joyner’s ‘Harvest’

Another prophecy which had considerable influence in the charismatic movement was published as a small booklet entitled 'The Harvest' by Rick Joyner.² In this he predicted a time of worldwide revival and great spiritual awakening.

This was fully in line with the expectations and hopes of charismatics. It was a popular word that was eagerly received and passed on from one to another. It helped to reinforce the belief that a great and glorious, supernaturally-endowed Church was about to be raised up by God.

This belief was picked up and passed on by many charismatic leaders, who incorporated it into their teaching so that it became part of the accepted body of doctrine in the charismatic movement.

Rick Joyner’s ‘Harvest’ prophecy helped reinforce the belief that a great and glorious, supernaturally-endowed Church was about to be raised up by God.

John Wimber and Vineyard

Undoubtedly the prophecies which have had the greatest influence in directing the development of the charismatic movement have been those coming from the Vineyard/KCF ministry. The Vineyard group of churches was founded by John Wimber in 1981 and in 1989 the Kansas City Fellowship of six churches was incorporated. Their major emphasis was upon prophetic revelation.

Wimber recalls that in 1987 he himself was at a low ebb in his spiritual life. He told his congregation that he hadn't heard from God for about two years.³ Nothing was going right in his ministry. David Watson, with whom he had become firm friends, had died of cancer despite Wimber's confidence that he would be healed. Up to that time he had been saying that they were seeing a considerable proportion of healings amongst those prayed for, including the healing of cancer. He has since confessed that that was not true and they actually saw very few healings.

Wimber's cup of bitterness was compounded in 1987 by the discovery of adultery and immorality among his leaders. He struggled to rectify these things during the next year and then he records, “On December 5th 1988 Paul Cain visited me in Anaheim. Paul was living in Dallas, Texas, at that time, and he had a proven, mature prophetic ministry on a level of which I had never heard before…”⁴

Paul Cain had been out of ministry for 30 years since the death of William Branham and his days as a Latter Rain Revivalist preacher. He says that God told him to attach himself to a man with an established ministry in order to promote his teaching about an end-time 'new breed' of men anointed with supernatural power. He could hardly have chosen a more appropriate moment to approach Wimber whose ministry appeared to be on the wane and who was in a highly vulnerable condition. Cain also accurately predicted a minor earthquake in California which convinced Wimber that God had sent him.

Paul came with reassuring words that God was with us. He said, ‘God has told me to tell you in the Vineyard, grace, grace.’ He said that if we repented God would spare us from judgment for our sins. Further, I was admonished to no longer tolerate low standards and loose living in the Vineyard, and to discipline and raise up a people of purity and holiness. My role, he said, would be significantly altered more authoritative and directive…Paul Cain (and others) also introduced a new dimension of ministry and God's working to the Vineyard…We have produced few people with a prophetic ministry…quite honestly, I didn't take prophecy too seriously. All that has now changed. During this past year I have had to look at prophecy seriously for perhaps the first time in my life.⁵

Undoubtedly the prophecies which have had the greatest influence on the charismatic movement have been those coming from the Vineyard/KCF ministry.

Paul Cain was introduced by Wimber as a prophet of extraordinary spiritual power and insight. He was presented to the British churches as the herald of a new breed who would be the end-time people of God possessing extraordinary spiritual power. In the write-up prior to his public meetings in Britain it was reported,

Today it isn't unusual for Paul to call out twenty or thirty people by name in meetings and to know the most intimate details of their lives (family relationships, birthdays, secrets of their hearts, prayers, where they live) and then bring prophetic direction regarding repentance, forgiveness, calling, gifting, and ministry.

However, the most satisfying aspect of Paul Cain's ministry isn't his remarkable prophetic insight into people's lives, although naming people and knowing intimate details of their lives does catch one's attention. More significant is his clarion call by word and example to live holy lives that are submitted to God, and thus join the new breed of men and women whom God is raising up in the 1990s.⁶

This promise of a 'new breed' was central to Cain's teaching. There can be no doubt that Wimber saw Cain as a divine messenger to give revelationary confirmation and support to his own teaching of 'power evangelism', power healing and power for signs and wonders and miracles.

Speaking on Wimber's platform in Anaheim in 1989, Cain said that there was going to be a worldwide spiritual awakening and the Gospel was going to reach every part of the earth. It's going to:

...reach every cavern, every cave, every foxhole, every land, every tongue, every nation...God is going to reach them with the supernatural, with the power evangelism that John Wimber so eloquently speaks about. It is the power evangelism that's going to do it...⁷

I tell you we're in a crisis stage right now where the church is going to be forced to pray and forced to believe for the prophetic ministry because that's our only salvation. If God doesn't raise up apostles and prophets and power evangelists and pastors and teachers, then we've had it because the church is going to fade into oblivion...⁸

This 'prophecy' was based upon Latter Rain teaching and the expectation that the restoration of the offices of Apostle and Prophet would be the key to raising a glorious end-time Church to rule the world. Cain continued:

God has reserved a day after due process and after preparation. God is going to raise up a people out of a people and they're going to be a bunch of nobodies from nowhere. They may not have a lot of degrees and they may not have a lot of clout and they may not have a lot of PR, they may not have a great vocabulary, they may not even be able to do any more than groan in the Spirit, but if that's all they do, it's going to be power. It's going to be powerful and it's going to accomplish more than all the beautiful words of oratory in the world...the Lord is doing his new things in these last days. The gospel of the kingdom is not just the word, it is the word and power. The word will do you no good.⁹

It is hard to imagine what Cain meant by the phrase 'the word will do you no good' as he did not elaborate it, but when such phrases slip out it indicates something basically wrong with the preacher's attitude to Scripture. Cain's prediction that ordinary people with little education and no special status were going to be given supernatural power was a highly popular prophecy received with great acclamation.

Next week: Prophecies of revival contd.

References

1 This prophecy was given by David Minor on 6 April 1987.

2 Joiner, R, 1989. The Harvest. Distributed by Morning Star Publications, N Carolina.

3 Pytches, D, 1990. Some Said It Thundered. Hodders, London, p52.

4 'Introducing the Prophetic Ministry', article by John Wimber in Equipping the Saints, special UK edition/Fall 1990, Vineyard Ministries International.

5 Ibid pp5-6.

6 Springer, K. Paul Cain: A New Breed of Man. Ibid p12.

7 Paul Cain, speaking at 'School of Prophecy', Anaheim, Vineyard Ministries International, November 1989. Transcript of tapes published by Holly Assembly of God, Missouri; Session 7, Part 1, p6.

8 Ibid p7.

9 Ibid p7.

Peter Fenwick asks: was the Toronto Blessing biblical – and does it matter?

(This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.)

The Toronto Blessing consisted of three distinctive parts: the manifestations, the receiving methodology and the claimed testimonies.

The Manifestations

I do not propose to spend a great deal of time on these. In Toronto receiving meetings strange things happened; people who were prayed for displayed unusual behaviour. Falling to the floor and lying supine was almost universal, and laughing uncontrollably almost as widespread.

There was a good deal of trembling and jerking, often known as the 'Toronto twitch', weeping and staggering in a seemingly-drunken fashion. Less common, but nonetheless widespread, were many other different physical movements, including certain sorts of dancing and animal movements, and, of course, the notorious animal noises. For the most part, all of these things were declared to be the result of the Holy Spirit being upon people in order to bless them.

When engaged in dialogue about the issue of the Toronto Blessing I found that all who were supporters of it nevertheless sought to play down the matter of the manifestations. It was said to me by people that they did not like them, but it was necessary to put up with them in order to lay hold of God's best.

Even though the whole of the Toronto Blessing was claimed to be a sovereign move of God, the mood amongst the practitioners generally ended up being to get these particular things under control - a strange way to respond to an alleged sovereign act of God!

Toronto practitioners generally ended up playing the manifestations down and trying to get them under control – a strange way to respond to an alleged act of God!

Generally speaking, people who went forward more than once at successive meetings tended to repeat whatever was the manifestation which they first received. If they became pogo jumpers, for instance, that is probably what they repeated at future meetings. It was also common for people who were prayed with to receive the specific manifestation characteristic of the person praying for them.

Backtracking from a Biblical Defence

During most of 1994, claims were made that all of these manifestations could be successfully held up to biblical examination, though I have to say, I have only ever seen attempts to give biblical authentication to the following seven: drunken staggering, losing bodily strength and thus falling down, laughing uncontrollably, weeping, trembling, lion roaring and convulsions.

This last one, convulsions, is a strange odd one out. Gerald Coates wrote in 'Toronto and Scripture' (Renewal magazine, November 1994) concerning “manifestations of the Holy Spirit's presence” that “Scripture gives more than sufficient evidence and endorsement for the following responses”. It was the strange odd one out because when he talked about convulsions he said “most if not all references to do with convulsions have a demonic source”. He proceeded to quote only Mark 1:25-26 and Mark 9:18, both of which are examples of the demonic at work.

This matter is in fact doubly strange as Gerald began by declaring he would give scriptural ‘endorsement’ for such responses. Convulsions, either in the form of strange uncontrollable jerks, or on the floor contraction-like writhings, were very common features of Toronto meetings, but I have never seen or heard of any being declared demonic.

Around the world at conferences and in papers, the claims that these things were biblical were strongly challenged. I do not propose here to repeat the basis of that challenge because the attempt to biblically vindicate, such as it was, has now been largely withdrawn.

The attempt to biblically vindicate the manifestations has now been largely withdrawn.

Late in 1994, the Vineyard International Council, a body which had some oversight of the churches which related to John Wimber, made the following statement which was reported in Alpha magazine:

We are willing to allow experiences to happen without endorsing, encouraging or stimulating them; nor should we seek to explain them by inappropriate proof-texting. Biblical metaphors (similar to those concerning a lion or dove, etc.) do not justify or provide a proof text for animal behaviour...The point is, don't try to defend unusual manifestations from biblical texts that obviously lack a one to one correspondence with a current experience. (emphasis mine)

I can only presume that this is a complete retraction of what was said in the earlier days. For example, in May 1994, Bill Jackson of the Vineyard Champagne Church, Illinois, produced a paper which was subsequently widely circulated and entitled, 'What in the world is happening to us?'. In his introduction he says, “Our purpose in putting this paper together is to develop a biblical apologetic for what we see happening among us. Much of what we are seeing is strange to the natural mind.”

That paper was issued to leaders who went to the Airport Vineyard Church, Toronto, and was then well used by them in their own churches in this country. The proponents have since clearly conceded that there was no biblical foundation for these manifestations.

I am in little doubt that no concession would have been made were it not for the fact that lots of us who are profoundly troubled by these things had made a very strong challenge about the feeble biblical ground the claims stood on. Without that challenge, for the reasons that I have already given, thousands of ordinary Christians would have continued in the delusion that it was all thoroughly biblical.

What Needs Biblical Justification?

However, that was not the end of the debate, because that same Vineyard International Council effectively then asserted that a biblical basis was not needed for such things. I quote again:

The absence of proof texts does not disallow an experience. If so none of us would, a) go to Disneyland, b) use computers, c) have worship bands.

All Christians ought to find a statement like this at very least surprising if not outrageous. How anyone can dare to say that we need no more biblical justification for something that is supposed to be a great move of God than we need for going to Disneyland, is completely outside the range of my whole Christian experience.

I am in little doubt that no concession would have been made were it not for the strong challenge made by many who are profoundly troubled by these things.

As this issue of what needs biblical justification and what does not will be dealt with in future instalments of Blessing the Church?, I will take this matter no further. Sufficient for me to say that it is now acknowledged there is no biblical basis for these strange things, even though they were a fundamental part of the whole Toronto experience.

Changing Declarations

We are not at the end of our problems with these manifestations. Many of their advocates have since begun to acknowledge that there is “a lot of flesh” and some demonic activity. In other words, they are saying 'there is something wrong'. But I have to draw attention to a number of things concerning these new statements.

• They do not go on to eradicate that which is of the flesh, or the demonic.
  
• They do not even go on to identify it.
  
• For most of 1994 it was emphatically declared to be the Holy Spirit at work - all of it.
  

Manifestations accelerated and got stronger when the one ministering cried such things as, “More Lord”, or wafted his hand towards the receiver. I ask myself what kind of Lord did they suppose they were appealing to, who will give them control of that sort over another believer? I further ask, what kind of Christian would want to have that kind of control?

Instead of being disturbed by this, many in this movement rejoiced that, as they supposed, God was using them.

But if they did find manifestations which were wrong after all, what were they going to do with the 'prophetic' interpretations which accompanied them? When someone roared like a lion, it was said that manhood was being restored to the Church; a man cock-a-doodle-dooing was God saying 'Church wake up!'; when young girls danced as round a totem pole, God was giving them a warrior spirit, and if your feet became hot there was God giving you the gift of evangelism. There have been many other such prophetic interpretations.

Next week: The receiving methodology and the claimed testimonies.