Johnson and his occult cronies are part of the hypercharismatic New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), also known as Word of Faith, Dominionism, Third Wave, Joel’s Army, Latter Rain, Modern day Prophets and Apostles and Manifest Sons of God. Their distinctive teaching is that the end-times church must be led by an elitist group of apostles and prophets in order to achieve dominion on the earth prior to Christ's return. In contradiction, Paul and other epistle writers give instructions about church government, referring to “overseers” and “deacons” not “apostles and prophets”. This demolishes the NAR claim that apostles and prophets must lead the end-times church. Furthermore, Revelation 19:11-21 makes it clear that JESUS CHRIST (NOT THE CHURCH) will achieve dominion on the earth (Revelation 22:19). The NAR promotes strategic-level spiritual warfare which contradicts Daniel 10 and Jude 9 which assigns spiritual warfare against territorial spirits to Michael and the angels not to human beings. The "apostolic unity" taught by the NAR is in fact personal submission to self-proclaimed apostles, it is not unity based on agreement on doctrine.
Designated as an "Apostle" by false prophet C Peter Wagner, Bill Johnson is "Senior Pastor" of Bethel Church, Redding, California, which is famous for dubious "manifestations" of gold flakes, glory clouds, angel feathers, angel orbs, grave sucking, open heaven experiences and much, much more. Johnson's wife Beni uses tuning forks as a prophetic act, and also believes she is called to the "prophetic act of waking up angels"!
Grave sucking is supposedly the act of "sucking" the anointing of dead believers from their graves. This is sorcery/necromancy (Deuteronomy 18: 10-11; Leviticus 20:27). The Bible tells us that the gifts are given as they are distributed by Holy Spirit as God wills (1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Hebrews 2:4). Christians have no need to travel around the world seeking the "anointing" of dead believers - this is to engage in witchcraft!
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| Beni Johnson, wife of Bill Johnson grave sucking at the grave of CS Lewis in Oxford. |
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| Bill Johnson at the grave of false teacher Smith Wigglesworth in Bradford. |
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| Here is Beni again hugging the grave of false teacher Charles Finney. |
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| Jesus Culture (a ministry of Bethel Church) |
Johnson: “Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know”.
Biblically it is essential for leaders to rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15); also believers are exhorted to test the spirits by the scriptures (1 John 4:1). In effect Johnson and his associate "super apostles" have no point of accountability or reference since they claim to have superceded the teachings of the original twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. This is nothing less than the spirit of antichrist who seeks to usurp the authority of the Word of God. Johnson is guilty of spiritual pride, the very thing he condemns in those who seek to understand the scriptures. Paul warned about the very first "super apostles" who sought to infiltrate the church in his absence (2 Corinthians 11:1-6). The definition of an "apostle of Christ" is one who was an "eyewitness" of Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry, and one who received direct teaching from Jesus personally. The apostles wrote the scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21-22). The word of God is eternal, it can never be changed (Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:25; Psalm 119:89).
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)
Johnson and his fellow apostates arrogantly claim equality and even superiority to the original apostles, but they prophesy the delusions of their own minds (Jeremiah 23:26).
And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
The leaders of the NAR boast an "Elijah anointing" which elevates them to a superior class of believer.
Johnson: "We will carry the Elijah anointing in preparing for the return of the Lord in the same way that John the Baptist carried the Elijah anointing and prepared the people for the coming of the Lord" (When Heaven Invades Earth p184).
"I live for the revival that is unfolding and believe it will surpass all previous moves combined, bringing more than one billion souls into the Kingdom" (p23).
The Bible does not speak of a great end time revival, but rather a false revival orchestrated by the Antichrist and the False Prophet (Revelation 6:2). The Antichrist will be the ultimate deceiver and the false Christ! (Revelation 13:1-18)
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. (Matthew 24:3-51)
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| John and Carol Arnott with Pope Francis last year. |
The teachings of "The New Order of the Latter Rain" were condemned by the Assemblies of God (AOG) at their General Council in 1949. As far as I am aware, the AOG still adhere to that position (at least officially). Unfortunately, due to the lack of spiritual discernment of individual pastors and the autonomous nature of their churches, the false teachings of the NAR are now creeping into the AOG by stealth.
Shame on you Elim for giving a platform to these dangerous heretics.
Further reading:
http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/church-issues/warning-bill-johnson-and-bethel-church
https://walthope.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/grave-sucking-bill-johnson/
http://www.cicministry.org/commentary/issue124.htm
http://ag.org/top/General_Superintendent/Ministers_Letter/2015_issue_01.pdf
It will surprise you to know that my family and I moved to Redding ,CA to be a part of Bethel church a little over seven years ago. My husband never fully embraced Bethel church and it divided our home for a season. Our testimony is an in depth one, but I am so incredibly thankful that the Lord poured out His Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and led us to step out of Bethel and church and seek a Biblical foundation for our family. It was a long, painful and extremely lonely journey, but the Lord has revealed so much to both my husband, my children and myself. The culture you have shared on this post and videos is still very much the same. It's incredibly difficult to even try to stay friends with people who still attend Bethel. They seem to cast all those who do not believe in their values and ideals aside.
ReplyDeleteI commend you for your courage in sharing a post like this. It seems daunting for me to do so because the topic is so close to home. Like, seven minutes away close ;)
Not to be mean but why didn't you let your husband lead you?
DeleteThank God that the Lord led you and your family out of Bethel Claudia, it is a very powerful deception. May the Lord lead you into all truth as you follow Him. Thank you for sharing. God bless you tx
ReplyDeleteHeidi Baker a heretic? nonsense - you have placed the Holy Spirit in a box. Just because you do not like or do not understand - does not mean God's not in it. WHO ARE WE to judge how, when, where and through who God's Holy Spirit moves? When have you given up your life to move to Africa and be a full time missionary? Exactly, Now go back to your comfort zones.
ReplyDeleteWe are indeed required to "judge" Glenn:
ReplyDelete"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1
After finding out about Bethel ...I was so mad at Sid Roth for having Bill and his wife on his show. Grave sucking? What next. My main question is Katy Sousa came out of prison and straight to I think that "Bethel" location. Again finding her on Sid Roths show. I felt in my gut to throw away anything of hers from my home because John Paul Jackson did a teaching on taking on Satan and other principalities in the 2nd heaven...it can get people killed if they did what Sousa has been teaching. Any thoughts on Katy Sousa? M
ReplyDeleteAfter finding out about Bethel ...I was so mad at Sid Roth for having Bill and his wife on his show. Grave sucking? What next. My main question is Katy Sousa came out of prison and straight to I think that "Bethel" location. Again finding her on Sid Roths show. I felt in my gut to throw away anything of hers from my home because John Paul Jackson did a teaching on taking on Satan and other principalities in the 2nd heaven...it can get people killed if they did what Sousa has been teaching. Any thoughts on Katy Sousa? M
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts Melissa. I would have nothing to do with Bethel or Katy Souza either, they are a nest of demons in my view. I am rather wary of John Paul Jackson also by the way. God bless
ReplyDeleteSorry..grave soaking. When I found out John P Jackson passed and soon Myles Monroe I thought their must be a problem with these 2. But what? Do you know?
ReplyDeletesucking or soaking... John Paul Jackson was a false prophet and affiliated with the NAR and the Kansas City (False) Prophets: Mike Bickle, Bob Jones and Todd Bentley etc. I haven't done much research on Myles Munroe, so I can't tell you very much about him, but I do know he was also a false prophet/teacher.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djnvuci-8X8
God bless
I feel so stupid...I have just a few more questions but ...tomorrow thank you M
ReplyDeleteYou have made a false assumption anonymous. I am not married actually.
ReplyDeleteHow did Smith Wigglesworth get labeled a 'false teacher'? That man had more anointing on his teachings than most. However, I agree; grave-sucking (or soaking) is NOT what God intends for us. Seems to place the (dead) creature before the Creator. Seek God first and the gifts and greater indwelling will be given when He deems you're ready.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing a bit of research on Smith Wigglesworth.. he was not all he appeared to be Matt. Grave sucking/soaking is very dangerous... it is a form of necromancy and an abomination. God bless.
ReplyDeleteTreena, if you would, please turn me onto the anti-Wigglesworth material. I have a fairly thick compilation of Wigglesworth writings and--other than his belief physical violence had to be used in expelling the demonic (which, according to Scripture, Christ never modeled)--he walked a pretty solid faith walk. But I am certainly open to correction. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThere is quite a lot of material out there Matthew... The article on the link below goes into his false theology and methods:
ReplyDeletehttp://taministries.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Smith-Wigglesworth-The-Facts-v3.5.pdf
God bless
Hello. I was just listening to a radio interview between Jack Hibbs and Jan Markell and they brought up the topic of grave soaking. I had never heard of it, but pulled it up on-line and found your site. It's hard to believe that a true Christian would have anything to do with such an absurd practice, but I suppose there are those who will follow anyone if they aren't digging into the bible regularly. Especially now when Christ's return has to be imminent. Thanks for being a voice of reason.
ReplyDelete