Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.You will recognize them by their fruits (Matthew 7/15-16)
Do you know any Bible prophecy teachers who can make the air blue with strong language like @$&!#*%X and !X@$%!!# ?
(BTW, I'm old enough to remember when mouths were cleaner than teeth - and that's pretty old, right?)
Let's have a little history on prophecy teachers of the past whose speech could be more acrimonious than harmonious.
Robert Cameron, a leading Canadian posttrib teacher and editor of "Watchword and Truth" during the last century, was militantly anti-pretrib.
In 1902, in a series in his publication covering pretrib rapture history and doctrine, Cameron described pretrib as a "novelty" and said that the first church it was taught in was Edward Irving's in London, England "by confessedly lying spirits" and "seducing spirits" who "were the authors of this novel, unscriptural, and misleading doctrine."
Cameron had been influenced by Robert Baxter who had joined Irving's church and soon had a "revelation" that the pretrib rapture would happen on July 14, 1835. Baxter eventually became disillusioned, left Irving's church, and wrote a tell-all book which stated that he and the other "prophets" in Irving's church who had been focusing on the same rapture "had all been speaking by a lying spirit, and not by the Spirit of the Lord."
My book "The Rapture Plot" reveals that the most vitriolic and caustic pretrib teacher of the past was John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren. In "The Coming of the Lord and the Translation of the Church" (Collected Writings, Prop. Vol. No. 4), he writes that his opponents are holders of "false doctrine." They also have "a loss of all spiritual intelligence," are "unreasonable," exhibit "ignorance" and "confusion" and "blindness." He declares: "How entirely this system destroys spirituality and divine intelligence!" (Which reminds one of the p. 1090 note in the "Scofield Reference Bible" stating that none of the disciples, except Mary and Peter, had even one "spark of spiritual intelligence" before Christ's resurrection!) But Darby was only getting warmed up.
He then added "unbelief and Satan," "absence of spiritual intelligence," "utter futility of its reasonings," "open blasphemy," "mass of unscriptural fancies and follies," "gross absurdities," "real blasphemies," and "blasphemies."
Was Darby applying these judgmental and offensive phrases to what he viewed as Irvingite aberrations? Or to persons openly hostile to God or the Bible? No. He was applying these abusive phrases to a published work defending the historic posttribulation rapture view!!
If John Darby the master "special effects" man had lived long enough, just think of the Hollywood studios who could have signed him up!
Maybe I should say that Jerry Jenkins is betting on fellow pretrib investors like Tim LaHaye and Thomas Ice who seem to have put all of their money - and a lot of their spin - on their pretrib rapture roulette wheel.
Since the 1830s pretrib gamblers have been addicted to numbers including the numbers of Bible verses which they think can be combined to "prove" a pretrib rapture.
Even worse is their desire to predict dates for it, some of which have been based on occult things like the measurements inside Egypt's Great Pyramid and constellations in the Zodiac! (See my book "The Three R's" for massive documentation on such speculation which so far has created only losers.)
The earliest pretribs gambled with only their British reputations (lawyer Robert Baxter had predicted the rapture would occur on July 14, 1835). Today's rapture robber barons and tribulational tycoons, especially in America, make millions of dollars with books, videos, films, music, and radio and TV shows - and often predict actual dates or, while playing it safe, merely talk about only "times and seasons."
Jerry Jenkins has to know that Corrie ten Boom's 1974 "Logos Journal" article "The Coming Tribulation" (which labeled pretribs as "the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days") revealed that millions of Christians were tortured to death" in China when the communists took over 1949 simply because they had been trusting only in pretrib rapture escapism that had been brought in by foreign missionaries! (And pretrib date-setting fizzles since then have caused many other such tragedies like the Chinese one!)
Even so, Jenkins has long seared his conscience and kept on making fortunes with the same fund-raising fly-away fraud. And he's even jumped willy-nilly into the current worldwide discussion on pretrib rapture history, preferring repeating to researching.
In the May 18, 2016 issue of "Christianity Today" Jenkins, while politely pilfering the rapture "cards" that hired guns like Thomas Ice like to misleadingly shuffle with, audaciously referred to "the fiction that the rapture is as recent as John Nelson Darby."
(Pretribs often like to say "rapture" instead of "pretrib rapture" as if they have a monopoly on that word - something I found Jenkins doing in that same May 18 magazine. And if you say you don't believe in a pretrib rapture, the pretrib rapturally-correct "thought police" like to make the dishonest claim that you don't believe in a rapture at all!)
In the same "CT" piece Jenkins "found" pretrib is some "17th-century expressions of the rapture" and listed some practically unknown names, but gave no quotes or sources.
He undoubtedly wouldn't have labeled "Baptist Morgan Edwards" in 1788 as a holder of "a pre-tribulation rapture" if he had chanced upon a Google item titled "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View" in which "Dr. " Ice deliberately stopped his quotation of Edwards just BEFORE the sentence where Edwards tied his rapture to the second coming to earth in Matt. 24!
Well, Jenkins can find out if Ice (whose "Ph.D" came from a tiny unaccredited Texas school that was fined for illegally issuing degrees, according to World Net Daily!) is operating with a full deck if he Googles "Pretrib Rapture Pride," "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," "Be careful in polemics - Peripatetic Learning," and "Pretrib was NEW in the 1830s." And Jenkins may need some additional tranquilizers when he Googles "Prof. Wm. L. Craig Leaves Tim LaHaye Behind!" and "LaHaye's Temperament."
Right now stop and take a deep breath because you're about to hit a jackpot involving a famous hypocrite! Not only has Jenkins been gambling with countless numbers of trusting believers around the world with his 186-year-old pretrib delusion (which no Greek scholar before 1830 ever found in the Word - Google "Famous Rapture Watchers"), but for quite some time he has been a below-the-radar secret casino gambler himself even though he is the Chairman of the Board at Moody Bible Institute, a longtime evangelical icon that DOES NOT allow its students to gamble!!! Now that you're really awake, Google "Left Behind's Jerry Jenkins: Casino Hypocrite," "Jerry Jenkins Apologizes for His Gambling in Casinos," and "Jerry Jenkins Rebuked for Gambling" (Examiner, Oct. 28, 2013). By the way, one of Jerry's sons (one of the "chips" off the old block who has discovered the "sin" in caSINo) has followed in Jerry's noble footsteps and has a high-up position in a casino, as the above info brings out! It's obvious that multi-millionaire pretribber (and prefibber) Jerry knows how to spin the lucrative rapture wheel of fortune.
But does he have the Vegas idea how soon horrendous world events could collapse his ill-gotten pretrib house of cards and shuffle him off the scene?
Those desiring evidence for this are invited to read the following:
Spring of 1830: Margaret Macdonald's private handwritten account stated "I felt this [pre-Antichrist rapture] needed to be revealed."
Fall of 1830: Rev. Edward Irving's journal was the first publication to publicly teach the new pretrib rapture idea.
1833: British lawyer Robert Baxter revealed that "the [pretrib] delusion first appeared in Scotland" and was soon "adopted and upheld by Mr. Irving."
1834: After seeing pretrib introduced in Irving's journal, a letter Plymouth Brethren leader John Darby wrote described the new escapist doctrine by stating that "the thoughts are new." He also advocated the subtle sneaking in of the new view into other (Brethren) groups when he wrote "ordinarily, it would not be well to have it so clear, as it frightens people [who have] been trained in most opposite habits."
1842: Darby wrote that "There is much blessing in Switzerland, but a little commotion, because of the new [pretrib] wine, which does not suit well with the old bottles...."
1843: In a letter Darby gloated that the Swiss Christians were rapidly accepting the pretrib rapture "without knowing whence it came or how it sprung up all of a sudden" - that is, not knowing how he had quietly stolen the idea from Irving and his followers!
1861: Dr. Robert Norton (who had married Margaret in 1835) described her history-making 1830 pretrib revelation by writing "here we first see the distinction between that final stage of the Lord's coming, when every eye shall see Him, and His prior appearing in glory [before Antichrist's arrival] to them that look for Him."
1864: British scholar S. P. Tregelles wrote that pretrib was "first brought forward...about the year 1832."
1872: Thomas Croskery wrote that pretrib "was never heard of till it was proclaimed...in 1832."
1918: E. P. Cachemaille traced the pretrib origin to someone in Irving's circle in the early 1830s, adding that "there has since been much scheming to give the doctrine a reputable origin, scheming by those who did not know the original facts"!
1922: Canadian theologian Robert Cameron wrote that "the whole body of Christians, prior to the days of Edward Irving, were a unit in believing that the Church would not escape the Tribulation."
1927: Philip Mauro wrote: "...'dispensational teaching' is modernistic in the strictest sense...it first came into existence within the memory of persons now living..."
1936: Darby defender Napoleon Noel wrote that Darby "was first and foremost in teaching...the Rapture...."
1937: Alexander Reese wrote that the " 'any-moment' view of Christ's return only originated about 1830."
1957: In his book "The Rapture Question" (p. 162), top Darby defender John Walvoord, unable to find any pretrib teacher before the 1830s, described Darby as one of the "early pretribulationists"!
When I began my pretrib origin research more than 45 years ago, historians had long traced pretrib back to John Darby and the 1830s. It wasn't until my research uncovered long forgotten evidence in libraries in Britain etc. (that Darby had been preceded by the Irvingites as well as Margaret) that pretrib protectors began desperately to claim they'd found pretrib earlier in the writings of Morgan Edwards (1788) and Pseudo-Ephraem (7th cent.?).
Online articles condemning these and other claims for pretrib include "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View," "Pseudo-Ephraem Taught Pretrib - Not," and "Grant Jeffrey's Apocalypse Debacle." What you've just read is a tiny part of my most comprehensive 300-page book on pretrib rapture history titled "The Rapture Plot" - available online.
I should add that it isn't hard to find persons attempting to write about the past - especially if they adopt the hysterical method more than the historical method!
I have been working on this project for some months in an attempt to present all the arguments against Intra-Seal together in one place. The final transcript has been uploaded onto Amazon as it is too long for a blog post. My existing Intra-Seal posts are virtual excerpts from the publication and they will remain on the blog. At this point in time, my arguments are as exhaustive as I can manage, though perhaps there will be more to say on this subject in the future. I have priced the publication at the minimal cost available on Amazon: $0.99.
Some new insights into Intra-Seal are included which bring further clarity to the inherent problems associated with this deceptive teaching. Those of Prasch’s supporters who say that this question is not important need to think again. Prasch would preclude the Gentiles from hearing the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6) during the 70th week of Daniel, and he would abandon them to a lost eternity! In a different sense to pretribulationism, the lethal outcome of Intra-Seal is that souls may be lost due to another faulty eschatological teaching that has its roots in Darbyism.
The Intra-Seal Rapture Deception Exposed As devised and taught by Jacob Prasch https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06X6N2JJT Below is the description I have uploaded to Amazon:
The purpose of the publication is to expose Jacob Prasch’s systematic denial of the gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit during the 70th week of Daniel.
The Intra-Seal theory is relatively new in the world of rapture theories. Jacob Prasch seems to have brought it into the public domain at around the time he wrote his book “Shadows of the Beast” in 2011.
The timing of the rapture is a highly contentious subject amongst premillennialists, some even go so far as to suggest that if you do not believe their particular view, then you are not a genuine Christian. My aim is not to alienate those who believe a different view to myself, though no doubt this publication will offend some people. The truth is often offensive when it conflicts with our presuppositions. The Apostle Paul asked the Galatian Church: “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16).
The main flaw of pretribulationism is the timing of the rapture. All other pre-trib scriptural errors flow from this basic misconception. In contrast to pretribulationism, the problems surrounding Intra-Seal are not associated with the timing of the rapture at all, rather Intra-Seal is an attack upon the gospel itself, and as such I view it is a highly dangerous deception.
I have attempted to unravel the various false assertions of the Intra-Seal theory and compare them with the scriptures as follows:
Eschatology: The apostasy and the Man of Lawlessness in Bible prophecy.
The identity of the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 defies an unequivocal position.
Evidence that the restrainer is the Archangel Michael.
When precisely is the restrainer taken out of the way?
The murky history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory.
A summary of the Intra-Seal deception.
Two interim periods… The invalid parallel between the 70th week of Daniel and the period between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Pentecost.
The reversal of Pentecost as Prasch relates it to the 70th week of Daniel.
Is the metaphor of “the night” relevant to the period between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Pentecost?
The invalid comparison between the tribulation saints and the church in Smyrna.
The seven spirits of God - the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit.
Birth Pains as defined in the gospel of John are a defective eschatological motif. (John 16:16-24).
Does “The Shattering Of The Power Of The Holy People” refer to Israel or the church?
Does the Age of Grace come to an end during the 70th week of Daniel?
The recapitulation of the seven plagues and their timing.
The timing of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11:1-14.
More Intra-Seal errors: Michael and the term katechó (restrainer).
Further issues: Prasch’s maniacal handling of the 70th week of Daniel.
Why does it matter? Intra-Seal is much more than a timing issue.
God is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Conclusion: Can we reasonably write off the gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit during the 70th week of Daniel?
John Darby defender Dr. Paul Wilkinson dropped some names when beginning his rebuttal of the electrifying "Left Behind or Led Astray?" DVD produced by Joe Schimmel's Good Fight Ministries. And Wilkinson concluded, even before offering any evidence, that the DVD is full of "myths" and "lies"!
So I'll start my response to him with the following conclusions, even before offering any evidence, that have come my way: My first book "The Unbelievable Pre-Trib Origin" (1973) received undeserved kudos from "The Witness" (the oldest and largest Darbyist Brethren magazine in England) in April 1974: "What [MacPherson] succeeds in establishing is that the [pretrib] view outlined was first stated by a certain Margaret Macdonald...early in 1830." Later on world-class Australian scholar Dr. F. Nigel Lee (with nine earned doctorates) stated: "Dave MacPherson, in his various books, has made a major contribution toward vindicating Historic Christian Eschatology. The 1830 innovations of the disturbed Margaret Macdonald documented by MacPherson - in part or in whole - immediately spread to Edward Irving and his followers, then to J. N. Darby and Plymouth Brethrenism, and were later popularized by the dispensationalistic Scofield Reference Bible, by Classic Pentecostalism, and by latter-day pretribulationists like J. F. Walvoord and Hal Lindsey." And I haven't even thought of calling anyone a liar yet! While feeling unqualified to respond to some of Wilkinson's points, I will give the following facts: When Hal Lindsey's books see "the one taken and the other left" before the "man of sin" is revealed, we all know he's expressing the "kernel" of the pretrib view. But when Darby defenders read Margaret Macdonald's 1830 pretrib rapture account (where on lines 58-63 we see what I've long said is her main point: "the one taken and the other left" before "THE WICKED" is "revealed"), they sound like Wilkinson who, in his rebuttal, dares to declare that "her utterance bears no resemblance whatsoever to a pre-trib Rapture." Guess how he gets away with this. He stops quoting her at line 45 of her 117-line account and resumes quoting at line 60 and thus can omit quoting the rapture part ("the one taken") of her "kernel." Thomas Ice, Wilkinson's American counterpart, does the same nervy thing. When quoting her account in his 1990 BibSac article about her, he stopped quoting her at line 58 (just before "the one taken" etc.) and resumed at line 72 - and thus censored ALL of her "kernel"! For insights into Ice, Wilkinson should Google "Pretrib Rapture Pride," "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," and (by a British Ph.D) "Be careful in polemics - Peripatetic Learning." Wilkinson even calls Margaret a posttrib and somehow doesn't know that phrases like "The trial of the Church is from Antichrist" (lines 85-86) express her partial rapture view, that all partial rapturists (like Pember and Govett) talk the same way, and that even Walvoord's books describe partial rapturists as "pretribulationists"! (I also urge him to Google "X-Raying Margaret," "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," and "Pretrib Rapture's Missing Lines." And no one should confuse Margaret with Mary Campbell who was involved with telepathy and automatic writing.) When many including Darby visited Margaret in mid-1830, all (except Darby) concluded she was teaching a partial rapture form of pretrib. John Cardale visited the prayer meetings held in the Macdonald home and described them in his Dec. 1830 article in Irving's journal "The Morning Watch" (hereafter: TMW). Cardale listed 17 details about the speakers and what they taught. Amazingly, Darby's 1853 book described his visit to those meetings and listed practically word-for-word all of Cardale's details except one. Although Darby mentioned Margaret's "texts on overcoming" (the "tribulation" part of her "kernel"), he omitted the first half of her pretrib partial rapture "kernel" - what she taught about "the coming of the Lord" (rapture) as the church's "deliverance" before the "judgments coming on the earth" (which all, except Darby, understood as a pretrib separation!). Irving reflected her novel view in TMW in June 1831 when he saw a pretrib rapture in Rev. 12:5's "man child" who's caught up, and described the scene as the "two-fold company - the one gathered before , and the other after the travailing woman is cast out into the wilderness...." Is Wilkinson aware that TMW (Sep. 1830) was the first publication to publicly air pretrib? It saw "Philadelphia" raptured before "the great tribulation" and "Laodicea" left on earth. Meanwhile Darby was still defending posttrib in Dec. 1830 in the "Christian Herald." Darby idolizer Wilkinson was not happy when he heard Joe Schimmel saying that "the evidence is quite clear that Darby and his followers were late-comers to pre-tribulationism and that Darby was quite familiar with pre-trib teaching among the Irvingites before he accepted and then proliferated the doctrine...." Dr. Mark Patterson also states on the DVD that Darby learned the pre-trib rapture from Irving. Here's Wilkinson's knee jerk reaction to Schimmel and Patterson: "The evidence is not only unclear, it is non-existent!" And here's my knee jerk reaction to Wilkinson: My Google piece "Edward Irving is Unnerving" - which mentions Patterson and Walker - proves that the evidence for Irving is existent! Right now let's look briefly at the earliest "rapture" development of the Irvingites and the Darbyist Brethren during the contested period stretching from 1827 to 1839: 1827: A few, including John Bray, have claimed that Darby believed in pretrib this early. But Darby's first two papers (1827 and 1828) discussed only the "heavenly church" and the "church's unity" - and Darby then looked for only the posttrib "restitution" and "refreshing" in Acts 3. (I invite all to Google "Is John Bray a PINO?") 1829: Darby's first paper on prophecy. He expected only the Rev. 19 coming. And he showed Irvingite influence. He mentioned "Mr. Irving" five times, "Ben-Ezra" (Lacunza) once, and "Morning Watch" twice. Darby said he was an avid reader of Irving's works and journal and heard Irving preach. (My "Rapture Plot" discusses Darby on 145 pages.) 1830: Margaret had her pretrib revelation in the spring. TMW (Sep.) reflected her pretrib partial rapturism (church/church dichotomy) and saw worthy "Philadelphia" raptured before "the great tribulation" and less worthy "Laodicea" left behind. Darby was still defending posttrib historicism in Dec. in the "Christian Herald" and waiting for only Matt. 25's "judging of the nations." (Darby discusses TMW four times in his 1830 paper and five times in an 1831 letter. Let me add that from 1830 to 1833 TMW repeatedly taught pretrib and any-moment imminence while Darby was still defending the posttrib view, as my "Plot" portrays.) 1832: Darby still doesn't believe in a future Antichrist but only in "present antichristian principles." 1834: We find Darby and the Jews waiting for the same day (Heb. 10:37). 1837: Darby saw the church "going in with Him to the marriage [Rev. 19], to wit, with Jerusalem and the Jews"! 1839: Darby's first clear pretrib teaching. His pretrib basis then (and many more years) was Rev. 12:5's "man child" caught up before a 3.5-year tribulation - but Irving had been the first one to use this Rev. symbol for the same purpose in TMW in 1831!
True, one can find a few minor errors in the "Left Behind or Led Astray?" DVD being discussed because no one is perfect including me. But I believe that as the world gets even more scary and dangerous, more and more pretribbers will overlook any blemishes in the same DVD and will congratulate Joe Schimmel and his group for their foresight and love for God's everlasting truth.
By now most everyone knows that the famous pretribulation rapture can be traced back to1830 and to a young woman in Scotland named Margaret Macdonald. But how many are aware that this end time belief has been dominated by males during the 187 years of its existence? My book "The Rapture Plot" (available online) lists several reasons why the male-dominated theological world of 1830 gave her no public credit for her novel prophetic invention: She was a female. She was young. She was uneducated. And she had been a Christian only a year. A few months after her history making revelation, a journal published by Rev. Edward Irving known as "The Morning Watch" (which had sent writers to interview Margaret in mid-1830) repeated the essence of her new view in its Sep. 1830 issue but gave her no credit - the first instance I've found of plagiarism in pretribulationism's history which has long been riddled with dishonesty! Credit for Margaret was still lacking two years later when the same journal talked about recent advancements in theology. It didn't mention her but undoubtedly had her in mind when it stated: "The Spirit of God has caused several young women, in different parts of Great Britain, to condense into a few broken sentences more and deeper theology than ever Vaughan, Chalmers, or Irving uttered in their longest sermons; and therefore more than all the rest of the Evangelical pulpits ever put forth in the whole course of their existence." In 1833, after he had joined Irving's church in London and then had become disillusioned with the new pretrib rapture that Irving had accepted, British lawyer Robert Baxter left that assembly and wrote a book exposing the same rapture notion, referring to it as "the delusion" that had "first appeared in Scotland" - but again Margaret's name was missing. Margaret's pretrib revelation was included in a book in 1840 by Robert Norton M.D. who, by the way, had married her in 1835 and who later became a leading historian in the Irvingite church founded by Irving. Although he didn't reveal Margaret as the pretrib rapture originator in 1840 (since it wasn't customary then to identify the authors of personal revelations while they were living), after Margaret died in 1841 he finally named her as the theory's originator in an 1861 book of his. Meanwhile John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren knew that the Irvingites had been teaching the new pretrib doctrine while he had still been clinging to the historical posttribulation view. He also knew that the secretive and non-missionary-minded Irvingites had never wanted to share the new escapist doctrine with outsiders in a big way. In an 1834 letter while talking about the new pretrib view that Irving's journal had been teaching, Darby told fellow Brethren that "the thoughts are new," adding that during any teaching of it "it would not be well to have it so clear." In fact he gloated about this in an 1843 letter while telling about hearers who had been accepting the new fly-away belief "without knowing whence it came or how it sprung up all of a sudden"! Not one to let a good thing go to waste, Darby decided that he could capitalize on it if the Irvingites weren't going to. So between 1862 and 1877 opportunist Darby spread the "borrowed" pretrib escapism while planting new Brethren assemblies in countries around the world including the US. The highlight of my "Rapture Plot" book was my accidental discovery of a well engineered plot in the late 1800s to wrongfully credit John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren as the pretrib rapture originator. This was accomplished after his death by one of his followers who secretly and maliciously made many quiet revisions in early Irvingite and Brethren documents and skillfully covered everything up - a plot that has long been unknown by church historians everywhere! We now fast forward to Kansas and a simple gravestone in Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Atchison which is etched with "Leontine Cerre Scofield (1848 1936)." Leontine should have been one of the most famous women of all time. But she's still unknown because her husband never referred to her publicly after he became famous. He was obsessed with making money, legally and illegally. He stole thousands of dollars from friends and deserted Leontine and his children for several years. His desertion forced her to work for the family's support. He claimed he was converted to Christ in 1879. But a year later he was in a St. Louis jail for six months on a forgery conviction. He had stolen his mother-in-law's last $1300 in a real estate scam. On Dec. 8, 1883 Leontine divorced him for deserting her and their two daughters - and he remarried three months later! As late as 1899, when he preached D. L. Moody's funeral sermon, he was still issuing IOU's to keep from paying back the thousands of dollars he'd stolen! In 1909 he pulled off the biggest coup of his money-obsessed career. He became the biggest trafficker of the pretrib rapture which he featured in the margins of a book. The published work that made him wealthy is still a big seller today and is known as the Scofield Reference Bible which states on the title page "Edited by Rev. C. I. Scofield, D.D." (but it doesn't reveal that he added the D.D. himself instead of letting some institution confer it!). Although many in recent days have been abandoning the same 187-year-old fly-away fantasy after finding out the facts about its dishonesty-riddled history (as outlined in web articles like "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," "Pretrib Rapture Stealth" and "Pretrib Hypocrisy), males still seem to be dominating as writers, publishers, and promoters of it, and there seems to be no end of pretrib rapture books, videos, movies and internet articles. If women had had the same opportunities as men after 1830 (when a young lassie came up with the now-famous pretrib interpretation), their basically discerning and honest nature would have exploded this male-dominated theological hoax long before now!
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven.On
that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?’And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
Dr. George O Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God (AG) Pentecostal denomination is said to be as important to the AOG as the Pope is to Roman Catholicism. The Assemblies of God was formed out of the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century, and was characterised by supposed manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Many people may have come to genuine saving faith through the Assemblies of God churches since its formation. However, there have been major problems associated with a number of AG "ministries" and their dubious practices. The AG have spawned many false prophets andquestionable TV evangelists, including Benny Hinn, Morris Cerullo, Jim
Bakker, Paul Crouch and Jimmy Swaggart to name but a few. Derek Prince who played a major role in the disastrous Shepherding Movement and taught the false doctrine that Christians are subject to generational curses was AG.{1} The infamous Hillsong is affiliated with Australian Christian Churches (AG in Australia). The counterfeit Toronto Blessing (Laughing Revival)at Toronto Airport Vineyard was a direct result of John Arnott's visit to Argentina in November 1993 where Claudio Freidzon, an Assemblies of God evangelist, prayed the "anointing" over him. The Toronto movement was also heavily infuenced by Benny Hinn. The counterfeit Brownsville Revival was the long running "outpouring" at Brownsville Assemblies of God in Pensacola, Florida. Both these so called "revivals" were blighted by a wide range of unscriptural practices. The progressive corruption of the AG plainly indicates that true revival will not come from that quarter.
The AG has grown to over 67 million members worldwide and is the largest Pentecostal Fellowship in the world.{2} That is 67 million souls who are at direct risk of spiritual deception through the ecumenical spirit of Antichrist! George O Wood showed his true ecumenical colours in July of last year when he attended Together 2016,an event endorsed by the Pope in Washington DC. This event was specifically engineered to unite Roman Catholics and various so called "Christian" denominations. Together 2016 formed part of the false unity amongst ecumenicals "Great Awakening", a phrase stolen from the series of revivals amongProtestantsintheAmericancolonies during the 1700's. The ecumenical counterfeit "awakening" puts darkness for light and evil for good. (Isaiah 5:20). Speakers and performers included Francis Chan, Ravi Zacharias, Lou Engle, Christine Caine, Southern
Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, Michael
W. Smith, Hillsong United, Lecrae, Jeremy Camp, Lauren Daigle, Casting
Crowns and Kirk Franklin, amongst others.{3} Wood's promotion of contemplative New Age guru Ruth Haley Barton raised a red flag in 2013.{4}
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) is the largest Lutheran denomination in the US. The Reformation was of course a single and divisive historical event based on scriptural principles. The ELCA have been progressively hurtling towards spiritual disaster for a number of years. The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was agreed and hailed as a “breakthrough” between the Roman Catholics and the Lutheran Church in 1999. The process of betraying the gospel of Jesus
Christ and undoing everything that Luther and the Reformers achieved is now reaching its final stage, the Reformation having been watered down to "a 500 year shared journey".{5} The Lutheran World Federation and The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity have released a joint
document titled“From Conflict to Communion" in order to facilitate theLutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation.{6}
"NEW ORLEANS (Aug.10, 2016) – The 2016 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly took several significant steps Wednesday moving forward the mission of this church as a church for the sake of the world." (emphasis mine-John 18:36!!!) "By a vote of 931 to 9, the assembly overwhelmingly accepted the "Declaration on the Way," a unique ecumenical document that marks a path toward greater unity between Catholics and Lutherans. Following the vote, an emotional assembly stood to applaud the momentous decision. At the heart of the document are 32 "Statements of Agreement" that state where Lutherans and Catholics do not have church-dividing differences on topics about church, ministry and the Eucharist. More tentatively, the document also explores differences that remain."{7}
What has been achieved by the Reformation and the blood of the martyrs is
being destroyed by worthless leaders, hirelings who do not care for
the flock (John 10:13). Luther would be horrified by these ecumenical developments! Wood now seems set to steer the AG onto an irreversible course towards
criticality. He is scheduled to join an international gathering of Christian leadersat The
Wittenberg Summit in Germany in October/November this year,Luther 2017,the event that celebrates the 500th
anniversary of Martin
Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints Church.{8} Wood will be sharing a platform with co-host Leonard Sweet. Sweet is a significant player in the emerging church/New Spirituality movement
and is a New Age
sympathiser. Social gospel promoter, Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent of the Wesleyan
Church will also be attending the event. In 2015 Lyon was appointed by
Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.{9}"She also has signed many documents with the usual suspects and their
names on it – Rick Warren, Bill and Lynn Hybels, Tony Campolo, Jim
Wallis, Ron Sider, and the like."{10}
The Roman Catholic Church maintains that the Council of Trent still remains authoritative, binding dogma, and thus their position remains exactly the same as it always has i.e. faith obtained through the sacraments and not the biblical principles upheld by Luther:
Sola Fide, by faith alone.
Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone.
Solus Christus, through Christ alone.
Sola Gratia, by grace alone.
Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.
In complete contradiction to the scriptures, the Roman Catholic Church violates and comes between true faith and Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man. (1 Timothy 2:5).
The Council of Trent Is The Roman Catholic Catechism
The General Council of Trent (1545 -1563)is said to be the embodiment of the Counter Reformation: The Council of Trent made pronouncements on justification, the seven sacraments, the Catholic Eucharist, the nature of the Latin Mass, Transubstantiation, the sacraments of Catholic Penance, Extreme Unction, Marriage and Holy Orders, and numerous other topics of doctrine and discipline.
Canon IX: If anyone says that the ungodly is justified by faith alone in such a way that he understands that nothing else is required which cooperates toward obtaining the grace of justification . . . let him be condemned.
Canon XII: If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than trust in divine mercy, which remits sin for Christ’s sake, or that it is this trust alone by which we are justified, let him be condemned.
Canon XIV: If anyone says that a man is absolved and justified because . . . he confidently believes that he is absolved and justified . . . and that through this faith alone absolution and justification is effected, let him be condemned.
George O Wood "Shares his (worthless) thoughts" in a short video made in 2012: https://player.vimeo.com/video/64909891 *Wood trots out the lie that six different groups calling themselves "Christian" are all true representations of Christianity: ".....The Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Assyrian, the Coptic, the Ethiopian and the Armenian, and they cannot agree amongst themselves....." Whilst it is possible that there may be some true born again believers amongst these denominations, the denominations themselves do not represent the truth as found in the scriptures. Wood therefore bases his whole argument on a false premise! *Wood quotes an Orthodox Jew who observed: "You Christians cannot get your message across because you have so many differences. Your Jesus is the only one who has said 'Love your enemies' , but you don't follow your Jesus....." Scripturally those who do not follow Jesus are not his disciples: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27). *Wood condemns divisions in the church, but the scriptures say that there must be divisions: .....for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognised.(1 Corinthians 11:19). *Wood comes against free expression on the Internet, the minority who "airtheir views" in opposition to the course that he and other ecumenicals have determined. In other words, he seeks to diminish the credibility of those who maintain the scriptural position. Wood exalts himself above those who speak the Word of God.. there is nothing new under the sun. (Matthew 23:8-12; Ecclesiastes 1:9) *Wood continues in his folly and trots out a scripture out of context: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). The inclusivism that Wood talks about is not found in the scriptures. The differences between true believers and the Roman Catholic Church and other false denominations are core differences andanything but minor as Wood would have us believe! To embrace the Roman Catholic Church is to deny the gospel of Jesus Christ - it is that serious: .....what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?(2 Corinthians 6:14). *Wood "forgets" to remind us of some critical truths about"vicious wolves": I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30) *Wood also "forgets" to point out that love and truth are inseparable. (2 John 1:1; John 8:32). Unity depends upon truth... without truth there is no real love, just wishy washy emotional doctrineless ecumenism.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the
knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ..... (2 Corinthians 10:5)
To summarise, George O Wood makes a very pretty sounding little speech, but it is devoid of spiritual wisdom.
By engaging in spiritual formation, Wood goes specifically against the AOG Statement of Faith:
".....salvation is received through repentance towards God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ." {11}
"The scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)." {11}
Pope Francis assures atheists: "You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven." {12}
The Roman Catholic Church gives authority to the scriptures, the pope, the church, and certain traditions of the church: "Both Scripture and Tradition must be
accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and
reverence."{13}
Although the AG pose as an authentic "Christian" denomination, it is extremely doubtful whether the birth of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement resulted from a genuine move of the Holy Spirit. The
Church of God in Christ, The Assemblies of
God,The United Pentecostal Church
(UPCI) and The Pentecostal Church of God all have their roots in the problematic Azusa Street Revival:
"There is no question,
Azusa street meetings had spiritualist mediums, hypnotists, and others who
were interested in the occult. It was known that Parham who taught
Seymour rejected several
of the central tenets of the Christian faith." {14}
I am convinced that the AG is completely riddled with leaven. (Galatians 5:9). The very heart of the
Reformation has received a blow from which it is unlikely to recover. The vital teachings of Jesus Christ have been set aside and biblical faith is crumbling before our very eyes. George O Wood is the man who will be held responsible by God for the Pentecostal betrayal. (2 Peter 2:1-3).
My local AG branch,Trinity Life Church Leicester UK, operates under the ungodly stranglehold of Hind family and their
sycophants who care nothing for the scriptures. (Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4).Trinity Life Church is a
striking example of how not to oversee a church.{15} Already suffering from spiritual blindness due to a progression of serious departures from the scriptures, incredibly, TLC have now gone one better; they blatantly display the number of the beast 666! (John 3:20){16} You could not make this stuff up!
Jesus' warning continues to ring out against Babylon the Great, the woman dressed in purple and scarlet. (Revelation 17:4):
“Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says,‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” (Revelation 18:4-8)
