---

Below are shortened versions (in the interest of space) of the Bryan Hupperts original Sheeptrax that he sent to me in the year 2000 regarding this subject, plus his later public telling of the type of mail he got afterwards.  Below that we have some 'testimonials' from other people that appeared internet after this year 2000 Sheeptrax. We also have links to Bryan's later Sheeptrax (year 2002) about this subject, thanks to Steve Morris (http://www.angelfire.com/in/HisName).

January 24, 2000

 Slouching Towards Avalon

 Hi, SheepTrax!

 Last week I wrote about Evangelical Thugs, those who use their ministry and position to destroy their brothers and hopefully struck a  Biblical balance between speaking the truth to hurt and speaking the  truth in love.

 This is one of those times when it is time to speak the truth in love -  and this is concrete hard truth. Because of the influence of compromised prophetic ministry, the church has been slipping steadily away from biblical orthodoxy in favor of more emotionally flavored religion, often skimping over the Bible as the authoritative  plumb line of Truth.

  And what does that have to do with Avalon? Everything. In English  mythology, Avalon is mythical, magical the resting-place of King Arthur, the king of Camelot who was faithfully served by Merlin the  Magician. His famed table was called the Round Table and his  magical sword Excalibur. Medieval imagery from what historians  wisely refer to as the Dark Ages is seeping like a sieve into a church  drunk with questionable wine.

  The solemn charge of a watchman is to sound an alarm when danger  is coming. I set this trumpet to my lips to announce: Danger is here!

 If you've read recent writings of many in the prophetic movement,  you'll note a sharp rise in medieval, mystical imagery... The knighthood and grail imagery being put forth  is opening the door to Catholic mysticism and apostasy in the  church. Does the emergence of many secret "prophetic round tables"  have anyone else on edge besides me? Or is the way for a class of  Protestants priests, those with a special "in" with God, being laid?  Has God done away with the priesthood all believers in favor of an  emerging new prophetic priestcraft?

 Let me share a vision I had more than a year ago about the state of the western prophetic movement. I have been aghast at the declining  biblical literacy among the charismatic, third-wave churches and  have been praying, seeking God, asking him for understanding how  to combat the rising tide of apostasy. In my spirit I saw many well- known and many more less known people who all bore the title of  PROPHET urinating in a stream. Downstream, I saw the saints of  God dipping their silver cups of Redemption into the waters trying to  quench their thirst. God's people were gagging on the impurities and  swirling human waste
polluting the river that flows from the throne of God....

 Mysticism is not the same thing as walking in the Spirit, and no wonder, it is a different spirit. The third wave church is spiraling away from Biblical orthodoxy and beginning to embrace a kind of non-Biblical mystical worldview. What's next? Relics, bleeding statues, "intercession" with the dead saints? Will we contend for the  faith once delivered unto the saints while allowing the Holy Spirit to  lead us, or will we be found to have abandoned the narrow way?  Will we continue to seek for a city whose builder and maker is God  or settle for a satanic imitation and be condemned with the new  religious mystics who are ever slouching
towards Avalon?

 © 2000 Bryan Hupperts

 SheepTrax Ministries, Inc.
 PO Box 270256
 St. Louis, MO 63126
http://members.igateway.net/~bryanh

--------------

Date sent:       Thu, 27 Jan 2000 09:09:05 +0000
To:              "Teri Lee Earl" <terilee@mindspring.com>
From:            Bryan Hupperts <sheeptrax@saintly.com>
Subject:         SheepTrax: Where There's Smoke...

Teri,

Here is my postscript and the judgement of a few prophets from Australia to follow.

Bryan

January 27, 2000
Where There's Smoke…

Hi, SheepTrax!

My wife and I just celebrated our 11th anniversary. When we were first married, we lived in an apartment complex. There was a young couple down the hall who had a unique dinner bell. When the girl would cook, their smoke detector would frequently go off with a blaring obnoxious pulsing screech. At first it was annoying, then it got to be funny. We all knew who was cooking that night. I tried teasing my wife about us getting one as well - a young husband's mistake.

Once I was driving past a storefront that had apartments overhead and smelled smoke. I went back and finally saw the smoke pouring from beneath the door. It was ajar so I pushed it open and called out to see if anyone was inside. Two steps in and up the stairs and I was engulfed in smoke. Suddenly, my senses were dulled and of almost no use. It was like trying to hear with earplugs on, and trying to see in the dark wearing sunglasses. My air supply was cut.

Keeping my wits about me, I stepped back down into the fresh air and sunlight grateful for the rail I was holding to. My eyes stung, my throat was burning, and I coughed a lot for a better part of the morning. I later went and got smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher for our home because I saw first hand what damage smoke and fire could really do and I quit making jokes about it.

Somehow, in my thinking, I had learned to equate the blare of a smoke detector with a dinner bell. I didn't take it too seriously. When I was put into a situation where there was real danger, I got the sober message that this wasn't funny. A smoke alarm isn't a signal for dinner, it is a life and death warning of impending danger!

Which brings me to the prophetic…..

I wrote an article Monday called Slouching Towards Avalon about compromised prophetic ministry and I used some rather graphic images  to describe the human pollution that is being dolled off as prophetic ministry. The reactions were, to say the least, interesting.

A number of people unsubscribed from SheepTrax claiming I "touched" the anointing of the unnamed individuals telling me that we were not to judge the prophets. Actually, the Bible is pretty clear that all prophecy is to be judged. Others were offended saying it wasn't edifying enough. Others accused me of having all sorts of deranged motives and personal agendas and how dare I bring forth a public correction. But the vast majority screamed out "Yes, Lord. Truth! Finally, someone is taking these false prophets on." This stuff hit me from all over the planet.

The good news for someone with a calling like mine is that being a prophet, someone who speaks for the Living God, is quickly falling out of vogue.  Suddenly, everyone I know is now an Apostle - and I can assure you that just as it was with the euphoria of being a prophet, most people who are claiming to be apostles aren't. If you're a true Apostle, brace yourself for the coming wave of wannabes - they have no idea what they're in for and you're the person that will eventually attack.

Prophecy is for "exhortation, edification, and comfort." Exhortation is lovingly corrective in nature so you would suspect that that 1/3 of the prophecies going forth would be corrective. Surf the web and see - they aren't. The office of the Prophet carries even more authority because it is the call from God to speak the Truth, not wow the crowds with amazing stories, bizarre phenomena, coy word plays, and such. It is to speak life-changing Truth that will often pierce and heal the heart.

As long as I write, I will be faithful to God's call to speak forth his truth- and I won't be manipulated into becoming an ear tickler who speaks only delightful things. It's not part of the job description. Generally, SheepTrax are written to build up and inspire, and sometimes speak the hard necessary truth to combat the rising tide of apostasy in the church.

So much of what is called prophetic ministry has been compromised into a money making entertainment machine and I stand sick and sad watching many of these people trying to "out-do" each other with greater and greater revelation. Honestly, have you ever taken a page from the Gospel of John and just tried to live it for a single day? Perhaps we all ought to commit to living out the "Word" we already have. It would change the world - at the very least it would change us!

I was asked by Christian leadership that I am relationship with to have a group of prophets from Australia (Storm-Harvest Ministries) judge this article I wrote. I did and they were very supportive. I'll email you a copy of their reply if you care to read it. The image of those who have the title PROPHET urinating in the river and the people of God gagging on the impurities they are mixing in is certainly graphic - and sadly correct.

Prophets have been reduced to the status of honking dinner bells in the church. When people hear them, more often than not, their words are a form of entertainment. This is sin! Beloved, there is real smoke and fire coming upon the whole earth and when a prophet sets the trumpet to his lips to speak, you would do well to heed it, judge it, and if it's God, act upon it. It may well save your life.
 

© 2000 Bryan Hupperts
SheepTrax Ministries, Inc.
PO Box 270256
St. Louis, MO 63126
http://members.igateway.net/~bryanh
sheeptrax@saintly.com

Listen to SheepTrax Radio Magazine Saturdays from 1 until 2 p.m. CST
in St. Louis, MO on KJSL AM 630. SheepTrax Ministries is a reader &
listener supported 501©3 ministry.

-----------------------

Updates:
Bryan Hupperts has since discussed this issue again.
See:
Prophetic Irresponsibility (PDF) by Bryan Hupperts, Aug 12, 2002

Reports of the results of Merlin/Arthur mysticism mixed into 'prophetic' conferences and practices

The following are three revealing e-mails put out on two e-mail lists (specifically, ANZAC prophetic list and The Apostolic-Prophetic LIST) regarding the King Arthur/Merlin focus. These discussions were apparently generated by Bryan Huppert's "Slouching toward Avalon" (reproduced above) sent out by his SheepTrax mailing, which had been sent out at the time by Bryan (year 2000).

Of these e-mails, I asked permission from the writer of the second e-mail below because she named a popular author's book. Other testimonials do not give the names of the minister(s) involved -- I'm sure that is unnecessary or redundant because at this point, the Arthur/Merlin focus has clearly been connected with certain 'prophets' who remain largely unapologetic about their interests. The purpose of these testimonies is clearly to warn Christians of the results of messing aroung with non Christ-centered spiritual sources. The e-mail addresses of the witnesses are suppressed because they do not need the nasty/prophetic 'cursing' mail I have sometimes received by 'fans' of the prophets who have revived this old legend and attempted to bring it to so-called 'Christian' pre-eminence.

Note: If you are disturbed by this mild exposure, please feel free to browse through A LOOK BACK AT PROPHECIES (Because Prophetic Irresponsibility May Provoke Over-all Despisement of Prophecy). This page is a gentle introduction to the subject and has links to teachings by various authors who explore the scriptural responsibility of the 'anointed' leader.

Dear Robert,

Thank you, thank you for printing Bryan Hupperts' comments. This is the third time I have written to the list, and I feel the urge to do so again because I haven't found any other forum where these "untouchable" issues are addressed with integrity.

We have had some first hand experiences with this knighthood mysticism which seems to hold a fascination among some prophetic camps. My husband was prayed over publically at a conference by a very well-known prophet and it sounded very positive and "spiritual". (we have this on tape) Later, however, while reading a book extolling the adventures of the Knights of Malta, we realized that this prophet had prophesied and exhorted my husband with direct quotes from an ancient knighthood commissioning ceremony. This same prophet's ministry conducts the round table idea that Bryan spoke about. There was also at least one instance I know of where a certain evangelist (whom you would surely know) was prophetically "knighted" by this same ministry with a sword which had the word "Excalibur" written on it.

Later, he researched it and found that "Excalibur" means "magical"-- undoubtedly because King Arthur's sword was named "Excalibur" and held special powers. In another instance, a pastor (again, someone high-profile) who is a member of this same round table group prayed over a man from Europe. When the man returned home, he narrowly escaped death three times that week. He called a friend for help who asked him what had been prayed over him recently. It turns out that in this "prophetic" prayer given by that pastor, the "Spirit of Camelot" was spoken over this man's life--which sounded extremely desirable and noble at the time. When the true meaning of this probably well-intended word was realized, it was broken and he had no further mishaps. I'd like to say that this is all a case of grown-up little boys playing King Arthur with their tin foil swords in the back yard, but we are dealing with a very real spirit world. The enemy will use whatever he can to defile the church. Somehow this idea of royalty seems very fitting for us kings and priests; but it is not of the true Kingdom, and not at all about the King of Kings.

I agree with Bryan that the fruit of this does not seem to exhibit the character of the Lord. But, admittedly, I don't know anyone who can render perfect discernment in the supernatural realm. God's ways are NOT our ways. So, for the sake of argument, what if He IS sending this gold. So what? Really---so what? At the end of the day, the important question will be--were we found worshipping our wonderful Father alone--not gold, or the "river" or anything else that EVEN HE HIMSELF may have sent our way.

We are often our own stumbling block on the road to true revival. On one hand, we're praying for the Holy Spirit to show up because we want a greater revelation of who Jesus is. We want to know our Lord intimately. Yet, as soon as some gold trinket shows up, we are immediately so distracted and "wowed" that we never get past the outer court. We forget the REAL treasure. We think we're pleasing the Lord with our so-called spiritual hunger by saying, "gimme, gimme". There's been this deafening cry out there---"More, Lord!" Well, more WHAT? I fear we may get what we ask for. I think He's shaking His head saying, "If only you had gone after the pearl of great price. There was something much more precious waiting for you." We have a long way to go. This seems to be another shallow response of a very shallow bride.

By the commandment of God, Moses lifted up a specially-made brazen serpent on a pole in the wilderness, and everyone who looked on it was healed of their deadly wounds. It was a genuine miracle. Yet that same artifact was carried around and treasured by the children of Israel until eventually it became such an outright idol that the Lord told Hezekiah to destroy it Certainly, we could learn a lesson here.

From: (address suppressed)
Subject Avalon

Date sent: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 11:40:54 -0800

 I wanted to just drop a line here as I read your article "Slouching toward Avalon" and do agree. The Lord began speaking to me about the whole King Arthur thing in 1995- with a very disturbing dream- one of those I wrote down and kept. In this dream I was rebuking an obviously evil looking man- his eyes were quite demonic and he was looking directly at me- I did not recognize him and I was aware that there was danger in this confrontation but the Lord was - with me. This guy was directly facing and looking at me at about two arms reach- when he opened his mouth and this rope covered with a sort of scrungy vine in the shape of a noose actually started to come out of his mouth. (I was thinking o great now what and getting a bit scared) The Lord must have shut his mouth- I did see it shut.... and I woke up.

 I wondered about this for quite some time- and would pray that Jesus would take care of it. I did have quite a bit of exposure to the whole experiential thing in the Vineyard and was heavy into Rick Joyners book "The Quest"- I thought it was all pretty cool. I attended a conference where the leader was specifically announcing that the Lord was seeking the west coast connection for one of the twelve-( I think that was the number) in some sort of prophetic gathering of leaders. I thought all this stuff was awesome... One leader showed up doing the Braveheart thing-(in intercession) I went home and did the Brave heart thing- complete with blue paint under my eyes... (sort of crazy sounding I know but I was never one to do things half way-)

 The straw that broke the back as they say, was at a conference where a leader was shooting arrows in the spirit... he said angels were there and to show them where you needed to be hit by the arrow. I put my hand on my heart- I've been though alot of wounding there- something hit me- in the chest but it felt like the core of my soul and it hurt alot. The whole group was standing and different things were happening all around. My thought was to just sit down and shake it off but at that precise moment the leader called out "take it" so I forced myself to stand.

 The conference was ending then- and I guess I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get translated right to heaven right then (I'm serious - it gets to be quite an addiction with the experiential stuff) So I figured I'd go and lay down on the floor and get some "more" - my flesh at this point was just wanting attention for some reason I see now as I remember thinking - maybe they'll find me days later! (stupid I know) Well when I went to pray on my face- I was quickly frozen to the floor. I could not have moved if I had wanted to- I felt like a new born baby must feel- could hear and I did understand but could not speak or move. I was quite afraid but the Lord was comforting me- I must say He did not leave my side. I laid there in a puddle of my own tears for quite a while. When I was able to get home I could not sleep- the next ten days I was bombarded with impulses of the complete stupid realm- I mean BOMBARDED....to the point my life was in danger.

 I must testify here that the presence of the Lord was closer to me and more real than ever- during this battle for my life- or what ever it was. A pastor who was not into the Vineyard at all- prayed for me and told me somehow a "third eye" or Kundalini had possibly been opened in my spirit- that's a fancy way of saying - the demonic counterfeit of the prophetic-a familiar spirit thing-in a great degree. When this happens you get the spirit of fear- etc. not any fun- at all.

 When I read an article Kathy Walters had written about the Merlin and Author thing seeking to gain entrance on the east coast-(in "Trouble in Prophet Land" http://www.harvestnet.org/lookback/troubleinprophetland.htm) it was called I did some research and found out the meaning of that evil vine I had seen coming out of that man's mouth. The vine was used as a symbol of the Templar Knights- it connected them to their idol- they all wore it and it gave them some kind of evil power. The Templar Knights- supposedly worshiped a severed head.... among other things. The symbolism is well depicted in the Rosslyn Chapel- a Templar Knight Shrine in Scotland. You can see for yourself - not just documentation (which I have in text) but also -in actual pictures- the green man, a face with vine growing out of it's nose extending through the chapel among the religious symbols. At the base of a pillar the vine comes out of Leviathan (large alligator ) with symbolistic meaning of the Nefilim as a given name.

 Were the Templar Knights- connected to King Arthur? (a legend most say)- after my research I concluded that the whole Knight hood thing is a mystical cauldron of necromancy and witchcraft on different levels.

 The connections are there- and why believing Christians would seek to "channel" (no pun intended) the prophetic gifting of God into association of something so VILE is quite frightening. They obviously don't have a clue what they are associating with- What God has given us is just as it should be and we should not make it "look cool" in the mystical realm in any form. There is nothing we can gain from King Author-

 My theology has changed in that I do believe that a Christian can get into serious trouble with demons if they open themselves up to it- the devil is not so stupid as to come at you like he really intends. He will disguise himself as an angel of light to get to you. This is not an easy thing to see when you are caught up in the emotional and experiential.This over emphasis is deadly- whatever form it comes in.

 The Lord has been so gracious to me as He is gently showing me how to just "walk" with Him. I am just a dumb sheep and glad to be one- hearing the gentle voice of my Shepherd...-- After what I've been through- I no longer take teaching into my heart that just "sounds cool" no matter what great "prophetic leader" self proclaimed or otherwise says.- I don't care of the vision was written in a book they say took ten years to write- I've got the only "Book" I need.

 Blessings of the Kingdom of the One True King- The Lord Jesus Christ - Y'shua our Messiah- I believe that was of Nazareth not
Avalon!

Lynn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Join the List email prophetic@revival.gen.nz
To Send material email prophetic@storm-harvest.asn.au
WEBSITES New Zealand Revival Bulletin
http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~revival  Dreams and Visions Supersite
http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~revival/index2.html  Storm-Harvest Ministries
http://www.storm-harvest.asn.au  EDITOR Robert I Holmes email
shm@storm-harvest.asn.au

THE AP LIST
Meri Burlingame: moderator
ap@myhome.net
Feb. 1, 2000

Moderator Note: During the past year there have been several posts on the AP about the swords and knighthood and other imagery out of the days of King Arthur, Merlin and the like.  Merlin holds the attention of the young generation of youth. A very prolific "prophetess" on the Internet distributed a whole book called Prophecies of War...and they were given by none other than the Angel Merlin.  Yet people continue to visit that person's site and seem to think such "revelations" line up with the Word of the Lord, even though they are often given by spirit guides and angels in opposition to the Word of
the Lord.

I have been in meetings where great swords were present. I have to honestly say I wasn't sure what the swords were used for, what their purpose was, therefore I was not in a place to say they weren't being used appropriately. For those of you who have been in places where there have been much of this imagery including the use of swords during times of anointing, I would be interesting in hearing your understanding of these things.

One meeting we were in I do remember thinking that I would not like to have an unsheathed sword pointed at my neck by someone I didn't know....but then I might have been missing something...I just didn't know what...

My first experience among those who use the imagery of drinking and toasting from cups of "spiritual" drink also came about recently. My take on these things......experiences are experiences.....God has allowed us to participate in many things because of where we were at and what we understood and knew. It seems he is calling us HIGHER...does that mean that the inferior or lower things were wrong? Not necessarily...perhaps the scripture is fitting that says...when I was a child I thought as a child, but now I have become a man....and put away childish things....

God is growing up His body....I sure wouldn't advocate some of the things that I did in my infancy in the Spirit...but God blessed me and others through them......but I have left some of those things behind as I have grown in the knowledge of His love......

Meri Burlingame

Brian is a prophet from Australia who we were
privileged to host in our home in August..and
who won our hearts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

From: Brian Grewal <briangela@ozemail.com.au>
Subject: Slouching toward Avalon
Date: 28/01/2000 4:33

1) Watchman NOT Whimpman:

Having set the trumpet to your mouth on these issues, you have discovered yet again where the hearts of many are really at. Rather than respond to the clear sound of a warning trumpet (Jer 5:19-21) many of God's people {especially leaders} are seemingly more content to live in the mire of mediocrity than to hear, respond and uphold the Word of God (Isa 22:12-14). Whilst the reasons for this mentality are many, these 3 appear to be the glaring ones.

(a) Prophetic Pollution:

The overall profile of prophets has changed dramatically over the past few years. This has been due largely to what you referred to as "compromised prophetic ministry". These ministers of mediocrity have subtly altered the portfolios of prophetic ministry. Warning, correction and rebuking etc are no longer considered by many to be relevant to "todays modern prophetic movement". Instead of Watchmen who are willing to take a stand {alone if necessary} we are encouraged to become Whimps who only say pleasant things and prophesy according to denominational lines!!

(b) Connoisseurs of corrupted wine:

At the end of the third paragraph you made the statement "a church drunk with questionable wine". It appears that this situation has been a consistent problem through recent years. I call it The Feast Mentality.

In the gospel of John 2:1-12 we are told the story of the wedding feast at Cana, vs 10 being the relevant passage. These men questioned "leaving the good wine till last", the problem being of course that they were already drunk with that which was inferior. Many Christians in my opinion have become connoisseurs of this same inferior wine and find it difficult to accept that what they are consuming is not the Will of God but the will of their own carnal desires. The end result being, that without humility and repentance these precious brothers and sisters will continue in their deception and even when the new wine does come they will be unable to receive it as their unchanged wineskins will burst (Luke 5:37-39).

(c) Doctrinal deception:

Paul the Apostle warned in 1 Tim 4:1 "Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons". See also 2 Tim 3:1-9 NKJV.

The medieval and mystical imagery you speak of is but one in a long line of deceptions brought into the church. Over the past 10 years or so the rise of eastern mysticism has gained credibility throughout the Body of Christ. More recently the area of counseling has grown to include teaching based purely on humanistic ideology. Some of the so called "miracles" surrounding several current ministries are nothing short of "lying wonders" 2 Thess 2:9 & 10.