Influences from the East
(Isaiah 2: 6)
Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
The prophecies given by the Old Testament Prophets had multifold fulfilments.
Isaiah prophesied for his own time, he prophesied for the time of Christ and his prophecies have fulfilment in the last days.
This blog deals with the progressive Pentecostal/ Charismatic Movement.
There are many Christians who believe that what we are seeing today in the movement that began as the Charismatic Renewal is veering well off its original course and embracing error.
The Charismatic movement was born out the Pentecostal church in the early 1960s.
The Pentecostal church came about in the late 1800s – early 1900s with men such as Charles F. Parham and William Joseph Seymour.
Pentecostalism was distinctive from orthodox Christianity by its believe in “the baptism of, or in, the Holy Spirit” and the return of the gifts of the Spirit, spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12.
Emphasis was placed on speaking in tongues and in some cases this became the initial evidence of someone being baptised in the Spirit.
Before 1955 the religious mainstream did not embrace Pentecostal doctrines. However with the rise of the Charismatic movement, Christians from main line churches began to embrace this teaching and by 1967 it was making great progress in many denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church.
It gained much ground in the USA when a rector of St Mark's Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California, named Dennis Bennett shared with his congregation his experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. After this Dennis Bennett was asked to resign his position.
The move continued to grow and Dennis Bennett and his wife Rita toured America and also came to Great Britain, sharing their experiences and many non conformist churches embraced this teaching.
I remember hearing Dennis Bennett preach at Salford University and as a young
Christian, I was very much influenced by his teaching. I purchased his book “The Holy Spirit and You” and I became an avid supporter of this movement until around the 1990s when I realised that it was in error and separated myself from this movement.
Also at this time a South African-born Pentecostal minister by the name of David Du Plessis was one of the main founders of the charismatic movement that spread the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues to non-Pentecostal churches worldwide. David du Plessis, in fact, was known as “Mr Pentecost”.
Around 1967, the Charismatic renewal began in the Roman Catholic Church at Duquesne University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Up to this point there wasn’t much in common between the Pentecostals and Rome but then Roman Catholics began to get baptised in the Spirit and were experiencing the same manifestations as the non conformists and this brought about an ecumenical movement.
What was being said was, if Catholics were experiencing the same thing as Pentecostals, it must be of God.
In the 1980s there was a new move in the Charismatic movement which was known as “the third wave” or “the signs and wonders movement”.
This was identified by Peter Wagner a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary as the third phase in the Charismatic renewal.
The first being original Pentecostalism (early 1900s). The second in 1960s being the birth of the Charismatic’s and the third wave in the 1980s, which was another “movement of the Holy Spirit,” supposedly characterised by “signs and wonders”. It began in the Vineyard Church with the teachings of John Wimber, Mike Bickle, C. Peter Wagner, Jack Deere, and others. Professor Wagner characterized this Third Wave as being “a new moving of the Holy Spirit among evangelicals who, for one reason or another, have chosen not to identify with either the Pentecostals or Charismatic’s.”
This Third Wave goes even further with its emphasis on the sensational, including claims of signs and wonders performed by “modern-day apostles and prophets.”
Third Wave proponents essentially deny the sufficiency of Scripture and believe that God is communicating directly though modern-day prophets and apostles. Therefore, they believe that God is giving new revelation today that undermines the sufficiency and authority of Scripture.
Out of this has come what is called a new “Apostolic Reformation”.
This progression in the Charismatic renewal has been labelled by some as “Charismatic Chaos” or “Charismaniacs”.
Those that are Cessationist’s (those that believe that the revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased in the early church) see this movement as not of God and preach against it.
Whilst those who are Continuist’s embrace it.
However there are those from the Pentecostal denominations and early Charismatic’s think that this new wave of Charismaticism has gone too far.
The Third Wave is yet another movement that is based on people’s experience, (Experential Christianity) rather than on sound doctrine.
Proponents of the Third Wave Movement believed that it would bring forth end-time apostles and prophets to do greater miracles than were performed by Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles. These “new apostles and prophets” were said to be greater than any prophet or apostle that had preceded them. This teaching has resulted in many false prophets coming out of Third Wave churches.
The question arises: Has this Third Wave of Pentecostalism left in its wake a history of false teachings and destructive practices and have many been led astray?
We are warned in the scriptures about false teachers and false Christ’s arising in the last days.
The false teachers have always been around in the church from its inception but Jesus stressed the importance of recognising them in the latter days.
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no
man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Where is this movement going next?
Out of the Charismatic movement, we have seen the rise of money preachers, the Prosperity Gospel, Seed faith and Word faith movement. We have seen the rise of the New Agers and the Emergent Church.
All this false teaching has come about because the Bible is no longer seen as the all sufficient Word of God.
With the false prophets, comes new revelation, new words from God and if God is still revealing truth then the Bible becomes less relevant.
We are seeing Ecumenicalism on a large scale, a unity of faiths.
Christianity is not exclusive any more. There are those that are trying to bring about an inclusive Gospel, after all they say, “we all worship the same God”.
Whether it is Yahweh, Allah, Bhudda, Krishna, Shiva, they say it is the same God.
The Church is being invaded by influences from the East.
Yoga, Transcendental meditation, Mantra’s, and a new influence known as the “Kundalini Awakening”.
Kundalini, in the concept of Dharma, it refers to a form of primal energy said to be located at the base of the spine.
Andrew Strom has written a book on this subject and has also made a number of video’s that are freely available on YouTube. Strom was part of the Charismatic Movement for over 30 years and is a believer in the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit, yet does not accept that this is of God but a doctrine of demons.
Greg Gordon (Sermonindex) comments on Strom’s book:
Quote.
Kundalini is one of the most frightening "invasions" in the history of the church. Andrew Strom has been part of the Charismatic movement for over 30 years - and was deeply involved in the modern "Prophetic" movement for 11 of those years. He is the founder of RevivalSchool.com and the International REVIVAL List. In this book, Strom traces this mass invasion of false spirits back to 1994, and shows how it culminated in the bizarre events surrounding Todd Bentley and the Lakeland revival in 2008. Also included in this 2015 edition are new warnings about Bill Johnson, Bethel church and the New Age-type practices that have been appearing in that movement. What are 'Kundalini' spirits? What are the signs of their presence? And how can such an invasion be turned around? All this and more is discussed in this provocative book. "A 'MUST READ'" - The Voice Magazine. "The church of Jesus Christ does not realize that it has been infiltrated by demonic forces. Discernment has been lost! A book that is beyond needful." -
Andrew Strom also has three video’s on YouTube entitled “The Kundalini Warning”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r5fMUct_co
The Kundalini Awakening.
This began in about 1994 with Rodney Howard Brown preaching an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that made you “drunk in the Spirit”.
Another manifestation was “holy laughter”. He was laying hands on people and they were throwing themselves about on the floor, running around laughing, screaming and shaking uncontrollably and making animal noises.
Needless to say, none of this is found anywhere in scripture, except in demon manifestation. See Mark 9: 14—29.
This is where it got its name “Kundalini”, because the physical jerking and uncontrollable shaking resembled the effects of the Eastern Kundalini experiences in Hinduism and the Kriya’s, the Kundalini cults.
This is Eastern religion and not Christian. It is not found in the Bible and therefore not doctrinally sound.
Kundalini is a Sanscrit term from ancient India that identifies the arising of an energy and consciousness which has been coiled at the base of the spine since birth, and is the source of the life force (pranic energy, chi , bio-energy) that everybody knows. Yogic science suggests that this energy triggered the formation of the child in the womb, and then coils 3 ½ times at the base of the spine to hold the energy field in stasis until we die, when it uncoils and returns to its source.
It is believed Kundalini may unravel and arise from the base of the spine (or sometimes from the feet) due to spiritual practices, or in response to life events, and when this happens it may move gradually, uncoiling like a snake, or quickly and explosively, into the gut, the heart or the head. This event can be startling and chaotic, frightening or blissful, and it usually triggers months and years of new sensations and changes in the person who awakens it.
Rodney Howard Brown became very popular in the prosperity Gospel and Word faith movements and began to have great influence on many well know church leaders. Even though none of this is taught in the Holy scriptures.
However this stuff gets mixed in with Gospel preaching and before you know it, it takes over.
This happened in the revival in Pensicola, Florida and the Lakeland revival with Todd Bentley. Who by the way was commissioned by the top pastors and leaders of the Charismatic Movement. Names like the main leader Peter Wagner and top prophet, Rick Joyner.
1 Timothy 4 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
It is imperative that true Christians awaken to the truth of scripture and stand against these heretical teachings and these false prophets.
We must guard against these false doctrines and study the Word of God, to arm ourselves against them.
We must pray for our Pastors and Teachers and ask God to give them wisdom and discernment in these last days.
2 Tim 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Jesus Christ.
The doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith. The scriptures are sufficient means, that the Bible is all we need to equip us for a life of faith and service.
It provides a clear demonstration of God’s intention to restore the broken relationship between Himself and humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour through the gift of faith. No other writings are necessary to equip us for this life of faith.
No new revelation is needed by Tongue, Prophecy, or Word of
Knowledge, vision, or by any other means.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
1 John 4: 1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
