FALSE ACCUSATIONS OR FALSE ANOINTING?

The renewal controversy has produced some false accusations as part of its legacy. For instance, it began to be circulated that Hank Hanegraff, author of Counterfeit Revival, could be equated with the Pharisees since he had spoken against the Holy Spirit's work in 'renewal' (as in Matt. 12: 31-32, compare with verse 24). My understanding of this was that it was based primarily on Mr. Hanegraff's book, Counterfeit Revival.  If it was based on his book, this was completely unfounded. The truth was, Hanegraff's book unanimously steered away from discussion of demonic power. There was also a threatening 'prophecy' against Hanegraff by John Kilpatrick of the Brownsville Assembly of God Church. Although an apology and retraction was later made by Kilpatrick, certainly this situation did not bear good fruit. In each case, the pro-renewalists were left with egg on their face, and also a misbelief about Hanegraff's book.

This first example favors the anti-renewalists and so would not convince the reader to discern the critics, especially if they agree with them. So let me address the other side of this equation: Some critics not only engage in minor presentation difficulties, but also gross misrepresentations. I am not saying this is purposeful. But even those who seem to have valuable, apparently well-researched things to say, can miss the context so much that they are practicing a form of intellectual dishonesty.

For instance, on one prominent website I found an admirable crusade against the Great Renewal Deception.

This person was not Hanagraff, yet I would still consider the person who runs it a 'leader' in anti-renewal outcries. In one article that sought to expose the 'doctrine of demons,' the work seemed well researched and contained complete enough quotes. In fact, I could agree with much of what the author had to say. However, there was an absolute statement made about the Argentine revivalist Ed Silvoso and his Prayer Evangelism that was just as absolutely incorrect. Without reproducing the exact quote because of the author's copyright limitations, suffice it to say that the author was certain that Ed Silvoso's evangelistic teachings did not include street evangelism or other evangelistic events.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ed Silvoso's book, "That None Should Perish," is a foundational expository on the 'Prayer Evangelism' they used for Revival in Argentina. The majority of the book lays the foundation for the Argentine evangelical plan of 'Light Houses,' and by page 270 Silvoso has built up to the point of 'Neighborhood crusades.' This was nearly the last step to the evangelization model and is thus a part of it. He does not go into a detailed description of 'neighborhood crusades' because he probably did not think he had to. It is well understood by anyone remotely familiar with the South American revivals that these refer to open-air preaching or outreaches. In fact, on pages 134-137 of his book, Ed Silvoso gives an account of an open prayer meeting in the Main Plaza of the city that led many to Christ. Also, near the end of his book, he gives a personal testimony of how he overcame his personal shyness regarding witnessing to unbelievers.

Ed Silvoso practically thinks and breathes evangelism in his book, as well as contact with unbelievers. In addition to his book, I have listened first-hand to teachings or exhortations by Pablo Deiros, Carlos Annocondia, Claudio Friedzon, Ed Silvoso, and Sergio Scataglini. Throughout their teachings emphasized conversions, holiness, the Word of God, sin and repentence, as well as miracles or workings of the Holy Spirit (as a point of interest, many of these pastors are Baptists or have a Baptist background). In addition, there was plenty of exhortation to take Christianity outside of our comfortable and religious four-wall churches—even into dangerous drug-infested, street territory (according to the specific leading of the Lord). These revivalists or evangelists not only exhort others to do these things, but they themselves have done it. Yet, this 'critic' made a patently false statement regarding 'safe' evangelism, as well as engaged in an unfair attack regarding the Argentine's supposedly watered down, people-friendly gospel.

I presume that in the zeal to criticize and to lump everyone who seems to be 'renewal' into the Great Anti-Christ Deception of All Time, this critic (one who has written reams of articles on it) missed key foundational facts. It seems clear to me that this critic is so anxious to make the facts fit the theory that she ends up engaging in false accusations. Even though she could be commended for zealous concern, her approach negates and works against any legitimate concerns over deception. False accusations are a serious matter and since they are falsehood, they are a form of deception themselves.

Militant anti-renewalists generally chant the mantra of 'false signs and wonders' as a warning to people regarding renewal. They accompany quick, often outward, evaluations with a guilt-by-association tracing of the false power, culminating into the great Anti-Christ Conspiracy Theory. Since End-Time theories are fluid, subject to wide variety of interpretation and as prolific as multiplying bunnies, I do not have the space to address every issue this brings up. However, neither do I want to discount the truth within their cry. That is, there are indeed false wonders in these end times. Let us address the main issues so that we are not left without any acknowledgement.

During the first 'revival,' true apostles of the early church "performed many miraculous signs and wonders" (Acts 5:12) in the context of dependency upon the Holy Spirit, while boldly preaching Christ, in fear of the Lord, giving all credit to God alone, and in spite of persecution when it came. The Apostle Paul also mentioned miraculous signs and wonders as a sign of a true apostle, when he was forced to 'boast' for the young Christians at Corinth (2 Corinth. 12:12) In contrast, false apostle(s) within the Corinth church practiced a falsehood by empty boasting in "other men's labors" (2 Cor. 10:15), which means perhaps they did not even have real demonstrations of power.

Jesus, however, warns us sternly of false Christs who do wield power in Matthew 24:24:

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible."

"Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."

False prophets and those with an antiChrist spirit are known by more than false power. There are numerous scriptures on this subject, and we must consider the emphasis of Scripture rather than our own bias and need for instant or superstitious formulas. So, while again I do not have the space to address all the issues of the false apostle, I am giving enough key scriptures to get down to the core of the issue, which is righteousness. We may not be able to tell a person's right-standing with the Lord immediately, yet certainly it is wise to not be 'wowed' by any demonstration of power. Instead, we are to look for  their "fruit," just as Jesus said. There are far too many people out there who do not take Christ's warning seriously, and so follow a false Christ (pseudochristou as in Mark 13:21-22. This word may carry a dual meaning: falsely claiming to be Him and/or falsely pretending to be like Him with the same type of anointing/quality/purpose).

However, the specific "lawless one" (antiChrist) mentioned in 2 Thess should not be taken out of context. This "son of destruction," would have to also fulfill the rest of the Bible prophecy in that paragraph, as in 2 Thess. 2:4:

"He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

So, in order to not be so extreme, there came the term 'renewal' to suggest something less than full-scale 'revival.' Likewise, most anti-renewalists moderated themselves too by suggesting that we are leading up to being swept into the Anti-Christ Plan. On the one hand, we are always almost on the edge of revival, and on the other hand, we are on the edge of final phase of the ecumenical movement, with the evil renewalists laying the groundwork by their false wonders and false unity. My, how we back off and adjust our theories to fit the situation, rather than bother to consider tossing them out! Forgive me for being somewhat sarcastic about it, but I must in order to make my point.

Nevertheless, there are real concerns tucked into dramatic theories. Any unBiblical unity that would deny separation from error is certainly something to be concerned over. This is why I have already urged the reader to reject the authority any leader who would teach that it is not okay to speak the truth in love, and who seeks to quench any such growth in discernment either in full view or behind the scenes. 'Forced' unity is fake unity. Usually, there ends up being an apparent unity of sorts, with loads of division and strife behind this false front. I believe this is because no one is really mature or comes to maturity, since they do not 'grow up' enough to speak the truth in love, one to another.

UnBibical agendas, false workers, and false prophets do quite well in an atmosphere of superficial unity. This is why I have already urged the reader to not indulge themselves in blind acceptance of everyone on the basis of which 'banner' they hail from. The whole point of this document is to urge the pro-renewalist to contend with 'leaven,' to be certain not to put aside sound doctrine (2 Tim 4:1-4), and to separate from the foolishness of accepting abusive agendas (2 Corinth. 11:1-20).

However, while renewalists may err on the side of a feel-good unity, I have known some very divisive people out there who go well beyond concern over false unity. Indeed, they essentially preach a gospel of sectarianism and hate, while all the while claiming they are doing God a service. They think it their task to be against whomever they would group into the Great AntiChrist Legion. Amazingly, anyone who disagrees with them belongs to this group, whom they may ignorantly tack on other end-time labels such as 'Babylon, the Great Harlot.'

Of course, they are not alone. History is rife with so-called Christians who have decided all the tares belong in a group apart from them , while all the wheat belongs in their own group. Just a short step later, they are proceeding to 'war' against these horrible outsiders in the very spirit of the Great Harlot herself (Rev. 17:6).

And what if the Beast or an antiChrist throws the doctrinally 'pure' man in the dungeon for his faith? He may find himself beside a 'renewalist,' a Southern Baptist, or even a Catholic priest (don't think it impossible! Thousands were tortured to death, after all, in Communist Romania)!81 I fear that only then would such a one know the folly of his attitude. Yet, such is the carnal mind that is so easily nurtured in the nursery of freedom of religion in the Western world. How lightly we have treated the privilege of meeting and acknowledging each other as One in the Faith!

The Apostle Paul wrote during his first Roman imprisonment:

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Eph. 4:1-6 boldened word, mine)

These are not really discerning as much as unfairly misjudging and rejecting according to their own personal bias. Eventually, they will never be satisfied with anything but condemnation and rejection (inappropriate 'excommunication') of their brothers and sisters in Christ, which is the final outcome of their self-contained exclusiveness. Unscriptural division (hate) against their brothers is the ultimate expression of the works of their flesh and is a wickedness, and I have known both 'pro' and 'anti' renewalists to do it!

Just as the tares and the wheat will be in the same field until Christ's intervention (Matt. 13:24-30), 'leaven' can be perpetuated anywhere or any time, no matter what type of worship or particulars of cessationalism or not, 'Pentecostal' or not, or blatant cult or not. Hyper and unfair attack is no better than hyper-defensiveness. Yes, many are just as cultic as they were prior to 'renewal', and some are even more so. Many have been obsessed or addicted to various spiritual 'highs'. But this is not unique and it has happened to people over the ages no matter what they are exposed to—false power or no power. The truth is, some revel in their intellectual knowledge rather than in emotionally or spiritually charged experiences, and this is no better than those whom they tend to attack-- those whom they deem as more emotional, for instance. Either one can produce an ugly arrogance and lead to the grossest of sin and darkness.

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Footnote #81  From page 12, From Suffering to Triumph by Richard Wurmbrand. Sequel to Tortured for Christ. Both are available from the ministry the author founded: Voice of the Martyrs,  P.O. Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005.
Quotes from page 12:
"I remember the Orthodox priest Ghiush with whom I had been in jail near Bucharest. The whole prison is underground. Cows graze over the subterranean cells.
I was then in the eight year of my sentence, I had grown used to everything. But one day a whole group of newcomers, all Orthodox priests, were brought in. From time to time, the wardens would shout, "All
priests out in the corridor!" and would beat them.
I sat near the priest Ghiush...my intention was to comfort him. "Are you sad?" I asked. He lifted beautiful eyes to me and replied, "I only know one sadness: not to be a saint."
All Christians, Baptists included, were horribly tortured and persecuted in Communistic Romania  while the country was under communist totalitarian rule. The reader also might be interested in page 81, where the author describes how the Byzantine Rite Catholic Church (1.5 million members) were the most persecuted in Romania. "Almost all its bishops and many priests died in jail under severe torture," the author says.

© Copyright 2000  by Teri Lee Earl All Rights Reserved

The Saga of Kilpatrick's Curse by C.P.I. (Contemporary Pentecostal Issues)
Details the April 6, 1997 false prophecy by Kilpatrick, and his subsequent apology to Hanegraaff, including his denial that it  really was a prophecy.

"Counterfeit Critique" by James A. Beverley. A critique of Hank Hanegraaff's "Counterfeit Revival"
from the Sept., 1997 issue of Christianity Today"
(Also the reader may want to be aware of the controversies that have beset Hank Hanegraaff since he became president of the Christian Research Institute (CRI), after the death of its founder, Walter Martin (June 26, 1989). The CRI Connection at http://www.waltermartin.com/cri.html is Walter Martin's Infonet, run by his daughter, Jill Rische, and her husband Kevin.)

LYING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
By Ken Mullis - about faking "manifestations" or emotionalism because of peer pressure

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Addendum (completed in Feb, 2001):

The above section complained of intellectual dishonesty found at the banner.org.uk site regarding Ed Silvoso. Yet another misrepresentation by the same author (Tricia Tillin), has been found recently in the article, "Keepers of the Keys: the Gates and Gatekeepers of The New Order," at http://www.banner.org.uk/res/gatekeepers2.html. Under the subtitle, 'Transition to David’s Temple', Tricia quotes from an article hosted here at HarvestNET at http://www.harvestnet.org/articles/gatekeeper-intercessor.html. After her short quote, she proposes certain thoughts as if they are taught in the article she quotes from (above), but they are not. She does not link or give a URL to our article as she makes these claims. She then follows with a quote from another article by Bill Burns, which has one sentence that substantiates one of her claims in the sentences prior. The problem is that she has written it as if the authors know or agree with Bill Burns, or as if they have said the same as he has. In addition, she writes as though the article hosted on HarvestNET has said many other things it did not say.

Yet another article with a little disingenuous research can be found at http://www.apologeticsindex.org/r06.html. It is called, "The Way Of Cain," by  Lisa Havener, and is a 114 page examination of the Toronto Blessing Movement. It is significant that the webmaster Anton Hein, posted it. Back in 1997 he posted a testimony at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~ahein/chang1.html about how he was blessed by the renewal and decided not to be a critic anymore. Yet Anton, like the author of this webpublished book, "A Little Leaven," has witnessed much error in the renewal since and is absolutely not supportive the error. He states that Havener is not scholarly to be considered doctrinally exact on all things, but that "The Way of Cain" has rung a cord of truth for those who are ex-Toronto movement, who write him thanking him for posting the article.

In her article Lisa Havener states, "When I first began asking questions about the Toronto Blessing, supporters told me that it was about "falling more in love with Jesus" and that it was only "some extremists following along on the fringe that were giving it a bad name." I have found this to be totally untrue: It is the genuine, sincere Christians following on the outskirts that give the movement any credibility, and it is the leaders of the movement, the pastors and speakers, those in the pulpit, who are modeling, encouraging (demanding might be a more appropriate word), rewarding, and passing on every bizarre and ungodly behavior..."(pg. 32) This is a significant quote and does ring true of the many unscriptural quotes by leaders found in the renewal (especially Vineyard and Toronto generated quotes) However, Lisa does engage in sloppy research. On page 43 she quotes Gayle Roger's harrowing testimony as if this were a standard renewal testimony. However, this quote comes from http://www.banner.org.uk/dev/gayle.html, and there is absolutely nothing at all in the testimony that would suggest this is a 'Toronto' or 'renewal' related experience.

Anti-renewalists are not the only one who have become blatantly disingenuous in the renewal civil war, either through sloppy enthusiasm or just plain dishonesty for the sake of their cause. The last section of this book (http://harvestnet.org/revref/leaven14finalevaluations.htm) mentions a misrepresentation by Randy Clark of Global Awakening. These are the type of things that happen when one is out to prove their particular view or views regardless of reasonable facts or research.

-Teri Lee Earl