are we really better than we think?

VOL. 24, NO. 1 JANUARY-MARCH 2004 EDITOR: KEITH A. MORSE

by David M. Tyler

Are We Really Better Than We Think?Archie, a bi-vocational pastor,

sought counseling. At the first session,he gave a synopsis of his problem:

Archie said his whole life had beenone problem after another. His par-ents divorced when he was 10 yearsold. His father verbally abused bothhim and his mother. He never hadmany friends in school and feltlonely. Archie thought things wouldget better after he got married, butsaid things have not changed verymuch. Unfortunately, Archie said, heand his wife have been having maritalproblems for the past six years.Archie maintained he has always feltinferior. He had no self-esteem. Heasked how he could expect anyone tolove him if he didn’t love himself.Archie said he needed to learn to lovehimself so he could have normalrelationships and a happy life.

Archie’s account said a lot aboutwhat he believes regarding the natureof man. Archie’s words convey thebelief that:

• Self-esteem is a vital element ofhuman personality.

• Self-esteem is a feeling and not athought process.

• Being mistreated by others cancause a person’s self-image to deterio-rate and/or not develop properly.

• Self-love is a prerequisite to beingloved by others and loving others,including God.

• A person must fix his poorself-image.

Archie and his wife, Edith, serve theLord at a nearby Baptist church. Theymet while they were attending a Biblecollege in the Midwest. Archie be-lieves in the inerrancy of God’s Wordand is very orthodox when it comesto his preaching and teaching minis-try. However, when it comes to solv-ing life’s problems, Archie is veryunorthodox.

Archie is like many believers whohave no practical or ‘‘everyday” theol-ogy. Archie has taught others thedoctrines of sin, salvation, and theconnection between faith and works.He has preached at Bible conferencesand revival meetings. Unfortunately,

(continues on page 17)

Inside this Issue:Blown to Smithereens! ................................................. Page 2The Claims and Confusion of R.T. Kendall ................. Page 4Benny Hinn: How Great Thou Aren’t ......................... Page 5

2 · The Quarterly Journal January-March 2004

James Bjornstad ................................Cedarville, OHG. Richard Fisher ............................... Bricktown, NJRobert L. Griffin ...............................Florissant, MO

Personal Freedom OutreachP.O. Box 26062 • Saint Louis, Missouri 63136-0062 • (314) 921-9800

Visit PFO’s Web Site at: http://www.pfo.org

Joan C. Cetnar ................................ Kunkletown, PAM. Kurt Goedelman ........................Saint Louis, MOKeith A. Morse .......................................Denver, CO

Board of Directors:

2004–PFO. All rights reserved. These articles may not be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission. ISSN: 1083-6853. The QuarterlyJournal is the newsletter publication of PFO. Published by Personal Freedom Outreach, P.O. Box 26062, Saint Louis, MO 63136. PFO’s Journalfiles may also be obtained on floppy diskette for IBM-compatible computers from PFO.

©

BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS!David asked the question in Psalm 11:3, ‘‘If the

foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?’’David may have been referring to Saul’s defection or thecorruption of the priestly leaders, but he was strickenand alarmed by defection and corruption at the top. Thequestion is shouting for an answer today.

On July 22, 1946, the extremist Jewish underground ledby Menachem Begin, blew up the south wing of the KingDavid Hotel, which housed the headquarters of theBritish government in what was then Palestine. TheSecretariat building was the administrative nerve centerfor the thousands of British troops trying to keep peacebetween Jews and Arabs. Hundreds of pounds ofexplosives were smuggled into the lower Regence Cafe inlarge metal milk containers and placed against fourpillars that were the foundation of the entire six-storysouthern wing.

The infiltrators were disguised as Arab workers andappeared familiar. Around 12:40 p.m. the buildingshuddered and was brought down with a massive roarheard miles away. The aftermath was reported by thePalestine Post: 41 dead, 53 injured, 52 missing. This wasthe beginning of the end for British rule.

A similar outrage has overtaken the Church viaCharismatic extremism. Disguised as sheep, infiltratorshave crept in. Pillars are being undermined. If they are

blown away, we will be left standing in the rubble,crying out the words of David: ‘‘If the foundations bedestroyed, what can the righteous do?’’

Unfortunately, though the Jewish underground calledin bomb warnings to the King David Hotel, no one tookit seriously and no one responded. Then it was too late.Will the Church at large just keep waiting and just keepquiet?

Sadly, many ‘‘leaders’’ from the mainstream aid andabet the collapse by either indifference or tacit endorse-ment with appearances on the Trinity BroadcastingNetwork, mingling in the midst of heresies of the worstkind. Their silence is their approval. Many times it isexchanged for book endorsements.

The four pillars under attack are:

1. The concept of the sufficiency of Scripture. Theextremists are constantly touting ‘‘new words,’’ ‘‘nowwords,’’ or ‘‘fresh words,’’ as if the Scriptures have norelevance. They may give the Bible lip service, but knowtheir followers want prophecies, visions, stories, angelicappearances, dreams, voices, and visions. The new stuffmakes the Bible pale in comparison. Scripture is twistedand made to say things it never was intended to say.

2. Honesty and integrity. Healings are claimed, butfollow-up shows no healings; many of those purportedlyhealed actually have died with their disease. But to thosewho are entertained by these ‘‘miraculous’’ shows, the


David M. Tyler ................................ Granite City, IL

Dr. Jay E. Adams.....................................Enoree, SCDr. Edmond C. Gruss ...........................Newhall, CA

Dr. Norman L. Geisler ....................... Charlotte, NCDr. John P. Juedes............................... Highland, CA

Board of Reference:

January-March 2004 The Quarterly Journal · 3

THIS TIME HEDIDN’T COME BACK

Kenneth E. Hagin Sr., described by some as the fatherof the Word-Faith movement, has died. He was 86. Heentered a cardiac intensive care unit after collapsing athome last Sept. 14 and died five days later. Newspaperreports said, ‘‘an exact cause of death was not immedi-ately known.’’

Hagin was reared in a Southern Baptist household. Hebegan preaching at age 17 in a church consistingprimarily of Southern Baptists. His emphasis on themiraculous appealed more to Pentecostals, and he soonbecame an Assemblies of God minister.

In 1974, he founded Rhema Bible Training Center inTulsa, Okla., which now operates in 14 countries and has23,000 alumni. Rhema churches are located in more than110 nations.

Hagin said he became a Christian at age 15 when hedied and descended into hell. In his booklet, I Went toHell, he wrote that his heart stopped and he ‘‘was pulledtoward hell just like a magnet pulls metal unto itself.’’He said he ‘‘began to pray, ‘O God! I come to You in theName of the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask You to forgive me ofmy sins and to cleanse me from all sin.’ ... So I was bornagain ... and I’ve been saved ever since.’’

He claimed to have received the spiritual gifts ofhealing, prophecy, and discerning of spirits. He alsoclaimed to have had personal visions of Jesus.

Hagin said his theology unfolded from a revelation.However, critics have shown that he, in part, developedand plagiarized his teachings from the writings of E.W.Kenyon, a Bible teacher and author with metaphysicalleanings who died in 1948.

—MKG

JUST A LOT OF SMOKE?Finding images in the curls of smoke rising from a

disaster scene long has been a staple of supermarkettabloids and some newspapers. For example, a numberof papers ran photographs of both the fiery destructionof the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, andthe collapse of the World Trade Center buildings in New

EUROPEAN REVIVALPROPHESIED

Promises of the ‘‘greatest revival ever’’ long have beenused to entice those looking for the next move of God.Toronto, Pensacola, and Smithton are just a few locationsthat have attracted throngs of devotees during the pastdecade alone. Now, two American evangelists haveproclaimed that ‘‘the greatest revival of the Spirit’’ iscoming to Germany. (continues on page 20)

During Benny Hinn’s crusade held last August inBerlin, Germany, the faith healer invited to the platformGwen Shaw, founder of the End-Time Handmaidensorganization. As Hinn asked Shaw to pray for revival tocome to Germany, Shaw said to him and his audience,‘‘It will begin here, it will begin here.’’ When Hinninquired, ‘‘Are you prophesying now, that the revivalwill begin in Berlin?,’’ Shaw responded, ‘‘I am speakingit by the Holy Spirit. ... The Lord said that the revivalwould begin with this crusade. ... Pastor Benny, you gotno idea how important it is that you’re here.’’

Shaw went on to declare that Hinn’s Berlin meetingswould spark many fires ‘‘going throughout all ofGermany and all of Europe.’’ Hinn’s crusade audiencecheered with loud enthusiasm at Shaw’s alleged divinerevelation.

However, ‘‘prophetic’’ words — such as Shaw’s —speak only to the moment and to tantalize the naive andundiscerning. When they go unfulfilled, there is nary acry of ‘‘false prophecy’’ or charge of bearing false witnessagainst the Holy Spirit. The ‘‘prophetic word’’ is merelyignored, forgotten, or spiritualized. For example, in the1990s, modern-day ‘‘prophets’’ in the United States saidthat the greatest outpouring of the Holy Ghost anywherein the nation would occur in St. Louis and a 50-milesurrounding area. That Holy Ghost outpouring nevertook place and no one even thinks of holding the‘‘prophets’’ accountable. Regrettably, Hinn and Shaw willmeet the same reaction when the ‘‘greatest revival’’ failsto manifest in Europe.

Hinn’s endorsement of Shaw, her ministry, and herspurious prophecy of revival continues to demonstratehis lack of spiritual discernment. Hinn has a sustainedhistory of sanctioning questionable — and evenunorthodox — women, including Kathryn Kuhlman,Aimee Semple McPherson, Maria Woodworth-Etter, andUnity School of Christianity-trained minister JohnnieColemon.

—MKG


The notion of God “showing up’’has become a Charismatic cliché, andthe idea that it is desirableis evident from the title andsubtitle of R.T. Kendall’sbook, When God Shows Up -Staying Ready for the Unex-pected.

Others, as well, think thatGod “showing up’’ is a possi-bility and say so in their acco-lades for the book. Its backcover bears praise from the likesof Stephen Strang, John Arnott,Mike Bickle, and Paul Cain.

Some in Charismatic and con-servative camps see Kendall as atheological heavyweight. DavidYonggi Cho, Jim Bakker, and JohnStott all endorse him. Even Dr.James Dobson says, ‘‘I am privilegedto call this good man my friend.’’1

It is not that everything Kendallsays in When God Shows Up is wrong,but so much of it is. Thus the readermust decide if the good can outweighthe bad. Sometimes, the negative as-pects of a book can so overshadowthe rest that the reader must discountit entirely.

Foursquare pastor Jack Hayford, inhis praises of Kendall, tries to give usa clue as to what God “showing up’’means:

‘‘God is ‘showing up’ today! He’srevealing Himself and manifest-ing His power in remarkable andamazing ways — and hungrysouls are the primary candidatesfor experiencing His arrival afterthat fashion.’’2

So, according to Hayford, God“showing up’’ is an amazing

manifestation of God’s power. It isGod’s ‘‘arrival.’’ One starts to thinkthat God “showing up’’ can meananything.

Hayford goes on to say this pursuitleaves one paying a price ‘‘of beingstuck between the fanatic and theformalist’’ and causes one to ‘‘enterthe collision zone’’ and be ‘‘lifted tothe heavens.’’3 Such unclear state-ments end up sounding subjectiveand mystical.

WHO IS KENDALL?

R.T. Kendall is the recently retiredpastor at Westminster Chapel in Lon-don and the author of a number ofother books, including a book ontithing, and one entitled The Word andthe Spirit, written with Kansas City‘‘prophet’’ Paul Cain. According toKendall’s own chronology, he metCain in 1990.4 Cain then became

by G. Richard Fisher


The Claims and Confusion of R.T. Kendallalmost a resident prophet to Kendall’scongregation in the 1990s.5

Kendall’s book, Total Forgiveness, haswhat might be seen as psycho-

babble concepts of forgivingoneself and forgiving God.These ideas can nowhere befound in Scripture.

Kendall began his ministryat Westminster Chapel in Feb-ruary 1977 and served as pas-tor for 25 years before retiringin February 2002. WestminsterChapel has a history of emi-nently capable expositors fromG. Campbell Morgan (1904-1917and 1933-1943) to Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1943-1968). Kendall wasable to live off their capital whiledeparting seriously from their

theology and practice.

In the 1980s, Kendall became enam-ored with Arthur Blessitt, a Floridianwith a Baptist background whogained fame as the man who walkedaround the world carrying a 12-footwooden cross. Blessitt also walkedaway from his first wife, Sherry, andhas remarried. In 1990, upon an-nouncing his divorce, ‘‘Blessitt said hefelt this was God’s will for him at thistime’’ and asked ‘‘that people notjudge.’’6

Following Blessitt, Kendall movedon to introduce his congregation to‘‘Paul Cain, John Arnott, Randy Clark,[and] Rodney Howard-Browne,’’7

men who represent a further erosionof the orthodox foundation of West-minster Chapel. The biggest changecame in 1991 when Kendall and hiswife spent time at a Vineyard confer-ence with John Wimber, Mike Bickle,


Considering all that has been writ-ten about Benny Hinn in The QuarterlyJournal, it should be noted that PFOresearchers have made attendance atsome of his ‘‘Miracle Crusades’’ partof the analysis. To see Hinn in opera-tion is a sight to behold. His This IsYour Day broadcasts are a carefullyedited, sanitized, and propagandizededition of what takes place at thesemeetings. The whole process, whichbegins months before the event, isremarkable.

Last summer an announcementfrom Benny Hinn Ministries arrivedstating that a Miracle Crusade wouldtake place Sept. 11-12 in Springfield,Mo. Our invitation said:

‘‘The Church is experiencing thegreatest move of God in worldhistory! ... For years we havebeen told the greatest days areahead, but I am convinced thatthey are here! ... If you have aneed, come expecting yourmiracle! ... I’m expecting amighty visitation of the HolySpirit at the Springfield, MissouriMiracle Crusade. Whatever youdo, don’t miss it!’’1

Hinn’s ministry even enclosed 15‘‘Special Guest Passes.’’ The invitationalso included the instructions to im-mediately call a phone number ‘‘toreceive special admission for you, andyour friends at the Springfield, Mis-souri Miracle Crusade.’’ We complied.The passes also included the impor-tant notice that we were to ‘‘Presentthis pass at the Partner’s entrancebefore 5:00 p.m. for special admissionfor your family, friends and lovedones.’’2

We followed the instructions andarrived at Hammons Coliseumaround 4:45 p.m. Only one set ofdoors to the coliseum was open —there was no special ‘‘Partner’s en-trance’’ designated — as the crowdentered the auditorium. The left sideof the entrance was for those attend-ing the crusade in wheelchairs. How-ever, the wheelchair line had come toa standstill and an attendant wasturning people away, saying thatthere was no more room in thewheelchair section. So much forHinn’s call to ‘‘come expecting yourmiracle!’’

By the time we actually made itinside the building, we could see onlya few rows of empty seats in the veryback of the auditorium. And standingbetween us and those seats werepeople pressed shoulder to shoulder,all with the same idea: get to thoseempty seats!

We also found ourselves standingbetween those seats and a concessionstand. People who already had seatswere coming our way to buy hotdogs, nachos, pretzels, popcorn,candy, and soft drinks. (Yes, appar-ently a concession stand is an impor-tant staple at a ‘‘Miracle Crusade.’’)Some who already had bought theirrefreshments were pushing them-selves through those trying to get tothe remaining seats. One woman bull-dozed her way through the crowd,holding her nachos in one hand andgesturing ‘‘Get outta my way!’’ withthe other. We wondered which fruitof the Spirit she was manifesting.

After close to an hour of beingpushed, shoved, and squeezed, we

finally located a pair of empty seats— at the very back of the auditoriumin the bleachers. The Miracle CrusadeGuest Passes, with their promise thatwe would ‘‘enjoy special admission,’’were of no use. They weren’t evencollected.

However, some did enjoy ‘‘special”seating. There were many emptychairs on the main floor, but ushersand guards turned away unautho-rized persons. This area was beingheld for select people and filled justbefore the start of the service. This is agimmick Hinn adopted from KathrynKuhlman. Years ago, Hinn reportedthat a Kuhlman confidant told him,‘‘Kathryn was so sensitive to the HolySpirit, that if one person sat on thefront row who was not of the samespirit, he would kill the service.’’3

Apparently Hinn didn’t want totake any chances, either. However, hispractice is contrary to the Word ofGod (James 2:1-4).

A crusade representative indicatedthat the coliseum held 9500 people.This is a far cry from other arenashosting Benny Hinn crusades, whereat least double that amount attend.This could indicate that Hinn is hav-ing to play to smaller venues to keephis ministry lucrative.

William Lobdell, staff writer for theLos Angeles Times, reported, ‘‘Dona-tions dipped by 12% for the firstquarter of [2003], say ministry offi-cials, a result of bad publicity and theweak economy that has hurt othernonprofits.’’4 The bad publicity spo-ken of includes the December 2002Dateline NBC special, which again


brought a national spotlight on Hinn’sunsubstantiated claims of healing andcharges of misuse of funds by hisministry.

As we waited for the crusade toofficially begin, we watched thecrowd. People continued to flock tothe concession stands and restrooms,climbing over and around us, up anddown the narrow aisles and steepsteps.5 Numerous cameras were inposition and readied to record thecrusade with all the detail of a profes-sional sporting event.

Of particular note was those whohad come for their ‘‘healing.’’ Wepaid close attention to those in wheel-chairs who could be seen from ourseats. We saw a blind man, whitecane in hand, who crawled to a seatin the section next to us. A man in therow behind us had no left ear. Awoman across the aisle from us had avisible cyst at the neckline of herdress. It is likely that all those whocame for healing had received thesame form letter telling them to comeexpecting their miracle.

However, like the thousands whoattend Hinn’s crusades elsewhere,these three left with the same infirmi-ties with which they came. If theycame expecting a miracle, they leftdisappointed.

At 7:00 p.m., the choir and orchestrawere in full force with audienceparticipation. Hinn’s musical celebri-ties for this crusade included JudyJacobs, Jimmie McDonald (whogained success singing at Kuhlman’smeetings for 15 years), and Hinn’scrusade mainstay, Steve Brock.

After only 15 minutes, the audiencewas led in a thundering rendition ofthe beloved hymn, ‘‘How Great ThouArt.’’6 And this could mean only onething: the star of the evening wasabout to take center stage. And righton cue, during the crowd’s exuberantsinging of the chorus’ ‘‘How greatthou art, how great thou art,’’ Hinnappeared on stage, the arena’s spot-lights focused and blazing on the faithhealer in his tailored white Nehrusuit.

The grand entrance during the cho-rus of ‘‘How Great Thou Art’’ is

another stage maneuver Hinn appro-priated from Kuhlman. During herown healing crusades in the 1960sand 70s, Kuhlman would glide backand forth across the stage, with thebell-shaped sleeves of her long whitedress floating in the breeze, while thefaithful resounded with choruses of‘‘How Great Thou Art.’’

Hinn now took the reins and led thefaithful in worship with a variety oftraditional hymns and contemporaryspiritual songs. During this time ofcontinued praise and worship, it wasinteresting to observe that one womanwho had been sitting in a wheelchairrose to her feet and stood whilesinging. She did not appear to haveany problems in doing so.

Jacobs and McDonald both per-formed solos, and Hinn told theaudience about the many opportuni-ties he is having to ‘‘preach theGospel’’ throughout the world. Hethen offered a message of and invita-tion for salvation. Regrettably, theorthodoxy of the message and callwould be undermined by his sermonsoon to come. The final order ofbusiness — before the healing cam-paign began — was the offering.Ushers flooded the auditorium withhundreds of buckets to collect theoffering envelopes.

On the offering envelopes, therewere sections for present supportersto increase their ‘‘current monthlyPartner commitment’’ by $50, $100,$150, or $250. Hinn also solicitedthose who would make a ‘‘SpecialOutreach Commitment’’ with a faithpledge in the next 30 days of $10,000,$5,000, $2,000, down to $250.

While Hinn told the people thatthey were not buying their miracle, hereally was soliciting donations withpromises of ‘‘give to get.’’ It’s aChristianized version of Las Vegas orthe lottery. Followers hope and praythat if they keep playing the numbers— contributing to Hinn to spread theGospel — their winning lot will sooncome their way and they’ll cash in.For those who forgot to bring cash ortheir checkbook, Visa, MasterCard,Discover, and American Express wereaccepted.

Having concluded the formalities ofsinging, announcements, an altar call,and the all-important offering, it wasnow time to begin the Miracle Service.

It long has been said that Hinndelivers false hope to his gulliblefollowers. The great danger and mis-fortune in this is that he does so at theexpense of Scripture. There are thosewho assert that Hinn, more recently,has become a better or more reliableexegete of Scripture. Yet, throughoutthe years, Hinn has routinely mangledbiblical texts. At the Springfield cru-sade, he fared no better and hisimpoverished exegesis was on dis-play.

The spiritually and physically de-bilitating consequences of his 20-minute sermonette on healing thatfollowed, and which set the stage forthe showcasing of his healing testimo-nials, were the real tragedy.

Hinn’s defenders who argue for hisascent into orthodox doctrine andentry into the mainstream would dowell to consider his words in Spring-field. Hinn told his faithful:

‘‘Ladies and gentlemen, forgive-ness of sin and the healing of thebody always go together. Alwaysgo together, they’re not separate.Tonight you saw many acceptthe fact that Jesus died on thecross for them. Their sins wereforgiven. They went back to theirseats with joy, knowing, havingthe assurance, salvation is theirs.And so it is. Of course, He didn’t[just] die for sin, but He sufferedfor disease. He was wounded fortransgressions, and bruised foriniquities, and chastised that wemay — we might have peace. Butit doesn’t end there, for it sayswith His stripes we are healed.With His stripes we are healed.Those of you sick in body, this isyour moment.’’7

Hinn continued his message:

‘‘Salvation, that divine grace wecall salvation, comes in twofolddynamics. There is the front ofthe cross and there is the back ofthe cross. So many preach thefront, they forget the back. Theysee Jesus on the cross and say‘Come into my heart.’ But if ever


you walk and look at the back ofthat cross, you’ll see His stripes.You [should] never forget theback of that cross. The front willgive you salvation, but His backwill give your healing. It’s atwofold salvation.’’8

Hinn next proclaimed:

‘‘In the communion we have thebread and the wine — or thegrape juice in some churches. ...The bread was broken for yourbody, the blood was shed foryour soul. It is the blood thatmaketh an atonement for thesoul, the Bible says. ... The bloodwas not shed to heal your body.Hear this. The blood was shed tocleanse you from sin. But thebody, what about the body? ...The body was broken that yourbody might be put back together.His body was broken, His bodywas broken that your body mightbe healed.’’9

And then Hinn brought his eiseg-esis to a head:

‘‘I’m telling you that the Scrip-ture says that Jesus Christ notonly died to save you, He suf-fered to heal your body. He isthe savior of the soul and thesavior of the body. Redemption,your redemption, in it your heal-ing is included. The healing ofthe body is included in the workof redemption. That is a fact — aneternal fact. ... I’m here in Spring-field, Missouri, to tell you Jesusstill heals. He still heals. And Hewill heal you tonight! ... So let’snot receive half, let’s receive thewhole thing tonight. ... But nowGod Almighty has always givenboth together. What is required isfaith. Remember this, it took faithto save you. You didn’t feelnothing [sic], you just believed it.You know how it feels to be — toget saved? You just said, yousaid, ‘Jesus, I’m sorry I’ve sinned.Come into my heart.’ Bang!You’re saved. It’s just that easy toget healed. Just that easy to gethealed. You don’t have to pray,you don’t have to pray alooooonnnng King James prayer.You just have to say, ‘Help!’”10

In just a few short minutes, Hinndelivered a litany of faulty biblicalinterpretations that would require aseparate article for full analysis. How-ever, a few critical points warrant animmediate response.

First is his assertion that salvation istwofold: ‘‘forgiveness of sin and thehealing of the body always go to-gether.’’ That would be a wonderfulpromise if true, but sadly it isn’t. Theidea comes not from Scripture, butfrom the imagination of Hinn (andother Word Faith teachers), andherein lies the harmful effects of falseteaching.

Those who buy into Hinn’s novelpremise are in for a disaster. Hinnrightly promises that salvation andforgiveness of sin are by the merits ofChrist’s death upon Calvary’s cross.But he undermines this biblical truthby wrongly promising that healing ofour physical body is by the merits ofChrist’s suffering. Scripture declaresthat Jesus was made sin (or a sinoffering) on our behalf (2 Corinthians5:21). Nowhere is it ever declared inGod’s Word that Jesus was madesickness for us. First Corinthians 15 isclear that ‘‘Christ died for our sins’’(v. 3). It does not say, ‘‘Christ sufferedfor our sickness.’’ In no uncertainterms, Hinn adds to the Gospel mes-sage preached by Paul which hereceived from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ‘‘Catch-22’’ for Hinn’s devoteesis that because, according to him, bothredemption and healing are guaran-teed as a result of the suffering anddeath of Christ, then there can be nocertainty about salvation (eternal life)when there is no healing. The webHinn weaves and which entangles hisfaithful is that when their physicalhealing is not realized, then anyassurance that their salvation is secureis equally suspect. Taken to its logicalconclusion, Hinn’s theology surmisesif God is not faithful when He haspromised to heal one physically, howcan He be trusted as faithful to saveone?

Richard Mayhue addresses Hinn’sunbiblical proposition:

’’...if healing is in the atonementand if it applies physically today,those who ask by faith for physi-

cal healing and are not healedhave no logical right to be as-sured of their salvation. In con-trast, God says that if we aresaved, we have every right tobelieve in our salvation. So ifphysical healing were in theatonement and if we ask to behealed and are not, not only dowe lose our assurance of thephysical, but we should also loseour assurance of the spiritual.Fortunately, such an unbiblicalconclusion can be reached only ifwe have first taken a wrongapproach to what the atonementis really all about — the forgive-ness of our sins.’’11

Hinn draws and declares his errone-ous theology by reading into the textof Isaiah 53 a promise that is notthere. The emphasis contained in thewhole of Isaiah 53 is directed towardspiritual healing — not physical heal-ing as a second and equal dynamic ofsalvation. The repetitive theme foundin the Isaiah passage is the absolutionof sin:

‘‘But He was wounded for ourtransgressions, He was bruisedfor our iniquities; The chastise-ment for our peace was uponHim, And by His stripes we arehealed. All we like sheep havegone astray; We have turned,every one, to his own way; Andthe LORD has laid on Him theiniquity of us all. ... For thetransgressions of My people Hewas stricken’’ (Isaiah 53:5-6, 8b).

Hinn wrongly capitalizes on thephrase, ‘‘by His stripes we arehealed,’’ found in the latter part ofverse 5. Hinn argues that the suffer-ings of Christ guarantee physical heal-ing, and that the death of Christguarantees spiritual healing (or for-giveness of sin). Yet Isaiah proclaims,Christ was wounded for our transgres-sions, He was bruised for our iniquities.Clear and simple, the ‘‘wounded’’ and‘‘bruised’’ speak to the eradication ofour ‘‘transgressions’’ and ‘‘iniquities,’’not to physical healing.

Those who look to Hinn for extraor-dinary biblical understanding getmore Scripture twisting. ConsiderHinn’s statement that Christ’s ‘‘bodywas broken that your body might be


put back together. His body wasbroken, His body was broken thatyour body might be healed.’’ Hinnagain makes a declaration foreign to— and contradicted by — the Scrip-tures. The body of Jesus was not‘‘broken.’’ In fact, the Bible says therequirement for a sacrificial lamb wasjust the opposite (Exodus 12:46, Num-bers 9:11-12).

Of Jesus’ body, John wrote: ‘‘Butwhen they came to Jesus and saw thatHe was already dead, they did notbreak His legs. ... For these thingswere done that the Scripture shouldbe fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bonesshall be broken’’ (John 19:33, 36).

Once again, Hinn has establishedhis false ‘‘healing in the atonement’’theology by reading into the Bible’stext and, more dreadfully, has madeJesus to say something He did notsay. Hinn told his Springfield audi-ence that, ‘‘[Jesus] said to His dis-ciples, ‘Take, eat my broken body.Broken for you.’’’ No such statementby Jesus can be found in the Bible.

While Hinn may contend his pointcan be argued from 1 Corinthians11:24, it cannot. The Apostle Paul, inciting Jesus’ command when He cel-ebrated the Passover meal with hisdisciples (e.g., Luke 22:19), does notexegete our Lord’s words into a‘‘twofold dynamics’’ theory of salva-tion. Moreover, the word ‘‘broken’’ inthe phrase ‘‘This is my body which isbroken for you’’ from the King JamesVersion (and New King James Ver-sion) is not supported by any otherancient texts or by comparison withother passages in the KJV. A.T. Rob-ertson states of 1 Corinthians 11:24:

‘‘Klomenon (broken) of the TextusReceptus (King James Version) isclearly not genuine. Luke (22:19)has didomenon (given), which isthe real idea here. As a matter offact the body of Jesus was notbroken (John 19:36). The breadwas broken, but not the body ofJesus.’’12

Additionally, it must be stated thatthe problem in Hinn’s proclamationcomes not from the use or citation ofthe word broken from the KJV pas-sage. There are many good Christianswho use 1 Corinthians 11:24 from the

KJV. The issue of concern here is thatHinn develops or bolsters the unbibli-cal concept of physical healing fromthe word imported into the passage.This is far afield from those notedabove and is more at home with thebiblical interpretations of cults whichbuild an elaborate doctrine upon anunqualified verse in Scripture. ButHinn must employ such a poor herme-neutic (here and in Isaiah 53) for hismessage of ‘‘physical healing’’ is thefoundation of his whole ministry.Without it, there would be no packedarenas, no television broadcasts with‘‘signs and wonders,’’ no best-sellingbooks on the miraculous — and nodeluge of donations to his ministry.

As Hinn wrapped up his healingsermon, he began to orchestrate themiraculous with nearly another half-hour of praise singing, this timeinterspersed with brief narrations ofbiblical healing accounts and personalexplicit admonitions including:

‘‘You on wheelchairs tonight, Ihave news for you. God Al-mighty paid for your healing.Don’t stay in that wheelchairtonight.’’

‘‘That wheelchair is not God’splan for your life.’’

‘‘You in those wheelchairs, youdon’t have to stay in thosewheelchairs.’’

‘‘Now listen: The job is done, theprice is paid. You don’t have tobe sick anymore.’’‘‘Come out of your wheelchair inJesus’ name.’’

‘‘Remember: whosoever shall callupon the name of the Lord shallbe delivered not only from sin,but from diseases and infirmi-ties.’’

‘‘As you call upon His name,miracles happen.’’

‘‘Lift your hands and receiveyour healing now.’’

Then as the music and the orders to‘‘receive your healing’’ reached a cre-scendo, Hinn began calling out themiraculous left and right:

‘‘Someone’s just been healed oflung cancer. I rebuke that lungcancer in Jesus’ name.’’

‘‘Lift your hands and ask Him toheal you. Don’t wait for me tocall out your healing.’’

‘‘Somebody’s neck has just beenhealed.’’

‘‘Somebody with bad circulation,you have something the matterwith your blood circulation. TheLord’s healing you right now!”

‘‘Somebody’s ears are beinghealed.’’

‘‘Stomach cancer is being healed.I rebuke it in the name of theLord.’’

‘‘Arthritis is being healed. Some-one with arthritis to my right. ...Pick up that right leg that hasbeen stiff with arthritis. I rebukethat arthritis in Jesus’ mightyname.’’

‘‘A skin condition has beenhealed to my right.’’

‘‘Somebody’s eyes are beinghealed way up there in the bal-cony, way up and to my leftsomebody’s eyes have just beenhealed.’’

‘‘Somebody with a tumor underthe right arm. The tumor isdisappearing.’’

And the healings just kept coming.‘‘So many healings, I can hardly keepup with the Holy Spirit,’’ Hinn la-mented. Blindness, cancers, muscleconditions, deafness, bone diseases,ulcers, even varicose veins could notwithstand Hinn’s claimed revelationknowledge and divine healing.

As Hinn continued working thecrowd, calling out a barrage of heal-ings, Steve Brock and ministry repre-sentatives made their way onto themain floor to cultivate those in theaudience for their healing. As Hinncontinued to announce the healings,ushers thrust multiple empty wheel-chairs onto the stage. The audienceroared at the sight. Yet, for all theempty wheelchairs and all the wordsof knowledge of divine healing, itseemed to have taken quite a whilefor individuals to come forward andtestify of their miracle. Where were allthe people who once were seated inthese wheelchairs?


Jack Deere, and a coterie of ‘‘KansasCity Prophets.’’8 One of Kendall’sfriends and former deacons acknowl-edges: ‘‘Some evangelicals believe thatR.T. in his pursuit of the glory of Godhas gone too far.’’9

When examining Kendall’s life, oneis tempted to ask, ‘‘Will the real R.T.Kendall please stand up?’’ He wasborn in Ashland, Ky., in 1935 toNazarene parents. He reports he sawChrist and heard His voice on a tripto heaven in October 1955.10 Hisalliances constantly shifted andchanged. He admits, ‘‘I have alwaysbeen an ambitious man.’’11

Kendall became a Nazarene minis-ter for a time, then became an Ortho-dox Presbyterian minister for a time,then became a Southern Baptist minis-ter, and describes himself as a ‘‘four-and-a-half-point Calvinist.’’12 All Ken-dall’s past personas were left behindwhen he came under the strong handand shadow of the still dominant butaging Lloyd-Jones at Westminster.Lloyd-Jones vetted much of Kendall’sministry. Kendall admits for a time hetried to sound like Lloyd-Jones.13

Kendall had his ‘‘blessed’’ Blessittphase, his ‘‘raising Cain’’ phase, andthen for a time Kendall says ofRodney Howard-Browne: ‘‘I probablybecame Rodney’s number one apolo-gist.’’14 At last he joined the outerfringes of what some have called the

counterfeit revival. Kendall has rein-vented himself more times than AlGore. There could really be a bookdone on the many faces of R.T.

SHOWING UPOR SHOWING OFF?

Kendall says in When God Shows Upthat God ‘‘manifests Himself,’’ but ifwe are not paying attention, ‘‘wecould completely miss seeing Hisglory — right before our eyes — andwe would not even know He hadshown up!’’15 If God “showing up’’ isanything like what happened to Paulon the Damascus Road (Acts 9) orIsaiah seeing God high and lifted up(Isaiah 6) or John’s vision of theglorified Jesus (Revelation 1) it isdifficult to imagine such a thing being

Is God “Showing Up” Today?(continued from page 4)

One recipient of a ‘‘healing’’ wasthe woman in the wheelchair whohad stood up during the singing. Sheclaimed to have been healed fromarthritis and was allowed on theplatform with Hinn. Hinn entertainedthe crowd by ‘‘slaying her in theSpirit.’’

One who was not as fortunate tomake it to the platform was a severelycrippled young man. A woman, pos-sibly his mother, worked fruitlesslywith him to straighten up. Hestruggled up and down the aisle, onlyto finally fall back into his wheelchair.

No doubt, their predicament wasone that was repeated all over theauditorium — and in other citieswhere Hinn takes his Miracle Cru-sades. People who leave sufferingfrom the same infirmity with whichthey arrived surely must strugglewith an eventual shipwrecked faith.Many will leave the arena with notonly a physical problem, but nowthinking there’s something spirituallyaskew. How cruel, unconscionable,and utterly heartless it is for one likeHinn to offer a false hope whichleaves in its wake devastating guiltand severe depression. This is theprevalent downside few realize andwhich is never presented on his ThisIs Your Day broadcasts.

2. The ‘‘before 5:00 p.m.’’ summonedattendees to be present more than twohours before the ‘‘Miracle Service,’’ whichwas scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.3. Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn Testimony,Orlando Christian Center, July 19, 1987,audio tape on file.4. William Lobdell, ‘‘The Price of Heal-ing,’’ Los Angeles Times Magazine, July 27,2003, pg. 30.5. Throughout the entire time of thecrusade, but most notably when a fewsoloists sang either during the offering orbetween the sermon for salvation and thesermon for healing, people were comingand going incessantly to the refreshmentstand. This was obviously very odd,although it fit perfectly into the ‘‘perfor-mance’’ aspect of things.6. Hinn’s appearance on stage less than 20minutes after the start of the service was adeviation from previous crusades we hadattended in the 1990s. During those cru-sades, the crowds were allured with amuch longer duration of group dynamicsthrough the music prior to Hinn’s arrivalon stage.7. Benny Hinn, sermon on healing atSpringfield, Mo. Miracle Crusade, Sept.11, 2003, transcript on file.8. Ibid.9. Ibid.10. Ibid.11. Richard Mayhue, The Healing Promise.Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers,1991, pg. 121.12. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in theNew Testament. Nashville: BroadmanPress, 1931, Vol. IV, Epistles of Paul, pg.164.

At 10:30 p.m. — and after showcas-ing only a handful of anticlimactic‘‘miracles’’ — the crusade came to anabrupt halt. Where were all the dra-matic healings that had been pro-claimed by Hinn? Although therewere a handful of people remainingon the stage, Hinn dismissed thecrowd with a reminder of how pow-erfully God’s Spirit had moved thisevening and with a plug for the nextmorning’s ‘‘anointing’’ campaign. Hequickly left the stage, with no indica-tion of an encore — at least nottonight.

As many of the people left thebuilding and walked (or were pushedin their wheelchairs) toward theircars, they passed four large tractor-trailer trucks. Three of these truckshad brought the lighting, sound,video, and stage equipment. Thefourth one housed the video produc-tion command center for the crusade.For such a show as this, much isneeded and hauled from city to city.In just a little over 24 hours, thosetrucks would again be loaded andsoon on their way to another city,once again to create ‘‘a mighty visita-tion of the Holy Spirit.’’

Endnotes:1. Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn Ministriesform letter, no date, copy on file.


missed. Ezekiel certainly did not missit, nor did Daniel.

It appears then that whatever God“showing up’’ means, believers mustbe prepared and attentive if they areto recognize it. This does stronglysuggest that there is much of us, selfand emotion, in this experiential pro-cess, and maybe less of God Himself.

Some would argue, and rightly so,that to suggest such a thing as God“showing up” is to deny, or at leastseriously undermine, the whole con-cept of Jesus Christ coming to earth inthe incarnation. God has already shownup. Matthew records: ‘‘Behold a virginshall be with child, and bear a son,and they shall call His name Emman-uel, which is God with us’’ (Matthew1:23).

Expositor and professor Charles R.Erdman comments on the truth ofEmmanuel:

‘‘The ancient prophet may nothave had in mind either amiracle or an event of the distantfuture, but the writer of theGospel saw that the true mean-ing of his prediction was realizedin the birth of Jesus, for he wasno mere pledge of divine deliver-ance but himself a divine Sav-iour, not only was his name atoken of the presence of God, buthe himself was manifest deity.’’16

John further affirms: ‘‘And theWord became flesh and dwelt amongus, and we beheld His glory, theglory as of the only begotten of theFather, full of grace and truth’’ (John1:14).

Paul declares: ‘‘God was manifestedin the flesh’’ (1 Timothy 3:16) and thewriter of Hebrews affirms: ‘‘God, whoat various times and in various ways,spoke in times past to the fathers bythe prophets, has in these last daysspoken to us by His Son’’ (Hebrews1:1-2).

Zacharias declared, ‘‘the dayspringfrom on high visited us’’ (Luke 1:78).

Believers who commit to the omni-presence of God realize that God doesnot have to show up because He isalready here (Psalm 139). They realize

up in a strange sort of way.’’ Ken-dall’s premise is: ‘‘He loves to showup in a way that offends the sophisti-cated!’’17 These phrases cause peopleto be open to manipulation by anyoneoccupying the stage. The ‘‘unusual’’and the ‘‘strange’’ are now claimed tobe of God. However, both of these canbe produced by the flesh and/or thedemonic.

ROTTEN ROOTS

Kendall details that his seeking ofthe strange began when reports fromToronto and Holy Trinity Bromptonin England came his way. There wasno careful searching of Scripture, ashad been promised in the preface ofhis book. Regarding Toronto, Ken-dall’s friend Charlie said to have ‘‘feltfairly certain it was of the Holy Spirit,although he was aware of howstrange it all seemed.’’18 So it wasCharlie’s word and not God’s Wordthat carried the day, even thoughCharlie was only ‘‘fairly certain.’’

Kendall then presents the TorontoBlessing as ‘‘an illustration of what Imeant by being open to the manner inwhich God chooses to show up.’’19

Kendall admits that in ‘‘October 1995’’the ‘‘‘Toronto Blessing’ came to West-minster Chapel.’’20

Here, finally, we find that God“showing up” is really shorthand forwarmed-over Toronto Blessing. Weremember Toronto introduced convul-sions, comas, animal noises, and al-tered states to its revival services inthe early 1990s.21 Kendall disingenu-ously states his ‘‘book is not about theToronto Blessing, which, nonetheless,serves as an illustration of what Imean by being ready for the way Godcan show up.’’22 Kendall’s protesta-tions seem hollow. This is about the‘‘Toronto Blessing.’’ This is nothingmore than cloning the experiences ofothers and saying that it is God.Toronto is the illustration, the model,and the paradigm. While the extremewing of the Charismatic movementboasts of the ‘‘new’’ and the ‘‘now,’’ itis just warmed-over Toronto.

It is hard to understand why the‘‘classic expositional approach that isso historic in British tradition,’’ which

also that He is here in the presence ofthe indwelling Holy Spirit. Christiansare in some sense always in thepresence of God. Jesus said, ‘‘I amwith you always’’ (Matthew 28:20).God is also there in a wonderful waywhen we open the pages of theScripture. In Scripture, Calvin sug-gested that God stands before us,contemporary with us. God has notgone anywhere, so He does not needto show up.

Clichés about God ‘‘showing up’’are perhaps just examples of sensa-tional and contrived terminology in-vented by Kendall and others. It doesa disservice to the incarnation andwork of God in and through Emman-uel, the Lord Jesus Christ. It mini-mizes the very real presence of Christin a believer’s life as one who neverleaves or forsakes. It seriously under-mines the doctrine of omnipresence.The whole premise is sub-Christian.Paul says, ‘‘in Him we live and moveand have our being’’ (Acts 17:28).There is no escape from God, whetherdarkness or distance.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD

Kendall may have come up with acatchy book title, but it sets up ascenario in which we need somethingmore than God has already done and isdoing. It convolutes the doctrine ofsanctification and makes the Christianlife at times a series of emotionalexperiences, bodily manifestations,and a hunt for altered states ofconsciousness. It confuses the doctrineof direct divine revelation (in thegiving of Scripture), tries to reproducea completed process, and manipulatespeople into ecstatic experiences. It isanother buzz word, putting people atthe mercy of Toronto ‘‘blessings,’’Pensacola ‘‘outpourings,’’ and God-chasing spasms.

There is no doubt that Kendall triesto open people up to the bizarre. Hesuggests that like the Pharisees, wemight ‘‘miss God’s Messiah,’’ so wemust be ready to let God manifestHimself in ways He ‘‘has never donebefore.’’ He goes so far as to say, ‘‘Ifelt I must prepare the people for theunusual — should God want to show


is promised in the book, is totallyignored.23 Kendall takes the historicPalm Sunday event regarding Jesusfulfilling prophecy (riding into Jerusa-lem on a donkey) and contrives thefollowing:

‘‘Countless incidents in the Bibletell of the Lord showing upwhen He wasn’t expected, al-though He should have been,and showing up in a manner thatwas surprising. God continues todo this today, and we must beopen to the unexpected time andthe unexpected manner of Hiscoming. For we may be surprisedto find that He has been aroundand we haven’t recognizedHim.’’24

More correctly we could say thatChrist showed up as expected becausethis is what the Word of God pre-dicted and prophesied. Palm Sundayshould have been expected since thetime that Zechariah gave his prophecy(9:9). It was an event completelywithin the boundaries of Scripture.Some of the people in some fashionrecognized the uniqueness of Jesus, orthey would not have shouted,‘‘Hosanna’’ — save now.

When we declare that God operateson the basis of His Word, we are onlydeclaring what the Bible teaches. Godfulfills prophecy as He says and as isexpected. God works in accordancewith His Word, and Psalm 119:65assures us of that fact: ‘‘You havedealt well with your servant, O LORD,according to your Word.’’ Carnalexperiences and carnal explanationsof experiences do not qualify. Howthe Palm Sunday event can be a basisof what Kendall is proposing is ludi-crous eisegesis.

DOCTRINE 101

Kendall, for all of the prestige andstatus of Westminster, apparentlydoes not understand the distinctionsbetween the concepts of revelation,inspiration, and illumination. Con-sider the following definitions:

Revelation: ‘‘The term revelationmeans intrinsically the disclosure ofwhat was previously unknown. InJudeo-Christian theology, the term is

used primarily of God’s communica-tion to man of divine truth, that is, hismanifestation of himself or of hiswill.’’25 There is natural or generalrevelation in which God reveals Him-self through nature (Romans 1:20), asan artist through his painting. Thereis also special revelation where Godat special times in history communi-cated with prophets and apostles forthe purpose of having these inspiredmen convey God’s message throughpreaching and in Scripture.

Inspiration: ‘‘Inspiration, then, as de-fined by Paul in this passage [2 Timo-thy 3:16], is the strong, conscious in-breathing of God into men, qualifyingthem to give utterance to truth. It is Godspeaking through men, and the Old Testa-ment is therefore just as much the Wordof God as though God spake every singleword of it with His own lips.’’26 Byextension, the same thing can be saidof the New Testament. Because theBible is complete, there is no contin-ued inspiration (or penning of sacredScripture), nor does there need to be.Cults thrive on claims of ongoingrevelation and additional scriptures.

Illumination: ‘‘Spiritual Illuminationrefers to the influence of the HolyGhost, common to all Christians.’’27

Henry Thiessen says, ‘‘illuminationdoes not deal with the transmission ofthe truth, but with the understandingof the truth already revealed.’’28

Illumination, then, is the Holy Spiritquickening our minds to understandsacred Scripture.

In writing about his experiences, itis obvious that Kendall is seekingrevelation and inspiration when heought to be seeking illumination. Weare promised illumination by God’sSpirit as we seek to understand andfollow God’s Word (John 14-16).Wanting God to ‘‘show up’’ is a clearcase of coveting the experiences ofdirect revelation and divine inspira-tion when it is not promised byScripture.

There is no way we can repeat thePalm Sunday event, nor must we. Therecord of Christ’s deeds and thefulfillment of prophecies are there forour edification. We do not have torepeat the experiences of Abraham,

Joseph, or the apostles. Through theirinspired stories we are reminded thatGod will be with us in our afflictions.Scripture does not require us to walkon water or multiply food. The wornout canard that the Bible does notstate that these things will cease mustbe turned around and we must insistthat it does not state they will con-tinue, otherwise we would not expectclothes to wear out in the wildernessor no longer have to shop for food ortake boats over water.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today,and forever. He will not change inHis nature, character, essence, andpromises to be with us (Hebrews13:5-8), but as Albert Gibbs remindsus:

‘‘A great deal of the confusion ofChristendom is the result of fail-ure to appreciate what is called‘dispensational truth.’ By ‘dis-pensation’ is meant the basis ofGod’s dealing with mankind, ora portion of mankind, throughvarious periods of history. An-drew Jukes has defined it asfollows: ‘God had dealt withmankind at various periods sincethe fall of man, in differentdegrees of intimacy and, in acertain sense, also on differentprinciples. Through it all, He hashad one purpose in view: toreveal what He is, and to showwhat man is; but this one endhas been brought out in differentways, and under varied and re-peated trials.’’’29

DEPRESSING ADVICE

Some of Kendall’s advice is off themark and may even be dangerous.His advice on depression is shallow,simplistic, and sad:

‘‘Angels Comfort Us When WeAre in Extreme Depression ...When we suffer from depression,we ought to know that Godknows we are suffering. He un-derstands. If a man of God likeElijah could know depression,then why should we feel guiltybecause we do, too?’’30

Angelic presence and comfort indepression are at best speculations on


Kendall’s part. God knowing andunderstanding is a given. The prob-lem is that the depression might becaused by a real physical ailment thatcould go undiagnosed and untreated.Anemia can cause depression. Sleepdeprivation can factor in as well.Depression can be caused by a num-ber of medications. We must be a bitmore compassionate and thoroughand ask the person to check on anymedications they are taking. If thereis a possibility of depression as a sideeffect, we should recommend thatthey contact their doctor for a changeor reduction in amount. Jesus said thesick have need of a physician and themost godly and humane course ofaction would be to refer a depressedperson to a competent doctor for aphysical checkup. It is not compas-sionate to glibly mouth angel talk.

Depression also can be triggered byguilt. There is no use telling a personto not feel guilty when he should. Inthe event that the depression is guilt-induced, we can point the person tothe One who can forgive, cleanse,remove guilt, and set their minds free.A guilt-ridden adulterer, for instance,should not be pointed to angels, butrather to repentance, God’s mercy,and grace. Forgiveness is a great guiltreliever.

Depression can be triggered by self-pity and brooding, in which case theperson has to be helped in breakingthat habit and developing a Philippi-ans 4 mind set. Depression is com-plex, and pawning the person off toangels is cruel and dangerous.

The way in which God treatedElijah was specific to Elijah. Elijah’sdepression appears to have stemmedfrom a combination of fear, runningfrom God’s will, sleep loss, and lackof nourishment (1 Kings 19). Godtreated each of those problems specifi-cally and in order. Elijah’s case shouldbe referred to only in general terms.His depression had physical, practical,spiritual, and peripheral components.God dealt with every one of them.

Os Guinness writes that we usuallyend up ‘‘being either practical at theexpense of being spiritual or spiritual

at the expense of being practical.’’31

Joanie E. Yoder also gives the prac-tical advice that, ‘‘If you are discour-aged because you are tired or over-worked, God’s initial remedy for youis probably extra sleep or a day off.The most practical remedy, if it’s theright one, is usually the most spiritualone.’’32

Jay Adams informs us on the com-plexities of depression:

‘‘Almost anything can be at theroot of the counselee’s depres-sion: a recent illness in which hegets behind in his work, hor-monal changes, a reversal of hisfortunes, the consequences ofsimple negligence, guilt over aparticular sin, self-pity arisingfrom jealousy or a disadvanta-geous turn of events, bad feelingresulting from resentment,worry, etc. The important fact toremember is that a depressiondoes not result directly from anyone of these factors, but rathercomes from a cyclical process inwhich the initial problem is mis-handled in such a way that it isenlarged in downward helixicalspirals that eventually plungeone into despair.’’33

The pastor/counselor needs to bean alert, aggressive, and knowledge-able helper, and his counselee well-informed. It may well be harmful tobe under the pastoral care of Kendall,as his grasp of personal problemsappears limited.

CANDY FROM STRANGERS?

Kendall’s advice on guidancesounds like a recipe for disaster: ‘‘Beopen to anybody at any time. You neverknow if God will send someone whowill give you a word that is lifechanging. I have had it happen to memore than once — by being open tojust anybody. God spoke, and theperson through whom He spoke may,for all I know, have been an angel.’’34

We are to ‘‘test all things’’ (1 Thes-salonians 5:21) and ‘‘beware of falseprophets’’ (Matthew 7:15). Just “any-body” could be David Koresh, JimJones, or Marshall Applewhite. De-

ceivers come in the guise of ‘‘angelsof light’’ (2 Corinthians 11:13-14).Psalm 1 advises that we not be opento just anyone for advice or influence.

SUBJECTIVISMORTRUE SPIRITUALITY?

A subjective orientation shows upin Kendall’s definition of spirituality.He teaches that ‘‘we can define spiri-tuality as the ability to close the timegap between the moment the Lordappears and our awareness that it isthe Lord.’’35 This is really just subjec-tive mumbo-jumbo.

Spirituality by any biblical defini-tion or explanation must be related toGod’s Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.Paul shows that our spirituality isprogressive and tied to walking inobedience to the Holy Spirit and theWord as we develop the fruit of theSpirit. The Apostle Paul instructs,‘‘For you were once darkness, butnow you are light in the Lord. Walkas children of light for the fruit of theSpirit is in all goodness, righteous-ness, and truth, finding out what isacceptable to the Lord’’ (Ephesians5:8-10). Theologians in the past oftenhave referred to praxis: living out inthe everyday the dictates of the Word.The Puritans saw it as all-aroundgodliness.

In Galatians, Paul urges: ‘‘For if youare led by the Spirit, you are notunder the law. ... But the fruit of theSpirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffer-ing, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control. Against suchthere is no law’’ (Galatians 5:18,22-23). With God’s strength, we canbe joyful, peaceful, patient, moregentle, more kind, good, faithful, andself-controlled.

True spirituality — called godliness— consists of the development ofgodly character qualities (2 Peter 1:1-12) and knowing and following thewill of God. John Walvoord points upthe varied parts of Christian spiritual-ity:

‘‘Service and our progressivesanctification, our knowledge ofthe Word of God, our guidance,assurance, worship, and prayerlife are not elements which fall


into separate categories, butrather are the varied lights of allthe colors of the spiritual life,which combined form a holy lifein the will of God.’’36

Paul shows that the spiritual manwill be a thinker and will view thingsin terms of biblical categories: ‘‘But hewho is spiritual judges all things, yethe himself is judged of no one. Forwho has known the mind of the Lordthat he may instruct Him? But wehave the mind of Christ’’ (1 Corin-thians 2:15-16).

Adam Clarke expounds the Paulineconcept of the spiritual man:

‘‘He who has the mind of Christdiscerns and judges of all thingsspiritual ... He examines, scruti-nizes, convinces, reproves ... Thespiritual man — the well-taughtChristian, convinces, i.e. can eas-ily convict, all men, ... his mindis enlightened, and his life isholy.’’37

Kendall’s view of spirituality asawareness seems so shallow whencompared with Francis Schaeffer’s ro-bust, biblical one. Schaeffer arguesthat there cannot be a true spiritualityapart from a growing, healthy rela-tionship in a local church setting. Hecalls for substantial healing in per-sonal relationships and substantialhealing in the interpersonal relation-ships in the church.38 True spiritualityis connected to character, behavior,and relationships. It is not a subjectiveinner awareness, but a heartfelt com-mitment to obedience and the out-working of that obedience in practicalbiblical terms.

Kendall is confusing at points whenhe merges God’s actions with Hispresence.39 Kendall tries to use thestory in Acts 12, where Peter isreleased from jail, as an illustration ofGod “showing up.”

In Kendall’s view, God “showingup” can be answered prayer, directrevelations, bodily manifestations,and many other things. When some-thing is everything, it is really noth-ing. Kendall quotes Mother Teresa inher asking, ‘‘Did you see Jesus to-day?’’40 and strongly implies that

seeing Jesus in others is a way thatGod “shows up.” God blesses worksof mercy and sharing our faith, butHe does not have to “show up” — Heis already there.

SPIRITUALWARFARE

Kendall’s advice on spiritual war-fare is fine as far as it goes, but leavesout the believer’s major defenseagainst the enemy. He writes: ‘‘Re-member that the devil is round aboutus. ... Be ready. ... Recognize him forwho he is. ... Refuse him. ... Resist.’’41

Kendall says nothing about quotingthe Word of God. Jesus quoted theWord, which resulted in Satan leavingHim (Matthew 4:1-11). The Word ofGod is the sword of the Spirit in ourarmor (Ephesians 6:17).

It is hard to understand how Ken-dall can put a so-called ‘‘propheticword,’’ a so-called ‘‘word of knowl-edge,’’ and even a ‘‘suggestion’’ onexactly the same level as Scripture.However, he does that very thing ashe teaches:

‘‘If God speaks to you through aword that’s preached or a pro-phetic word or a word of knowl-edge, or through a friend gentlytrying to make a suggestion, andyou reject that message, then youleave Him no choice but to dowhat He has to do to get yourattention.’’42

This comment by Kendall is naiveand less than protective of his flock(Acts 20:28-31). Modern ‘‘words ofknowledge’’ have been shown to bestatistical guesswork and in somecases outright deception and fraudfrom a crib sheet or ear receiver. It isshameless exploitation that gives falsehope.43 Because the word-of-knowl-edge scam has been run so often, weought to have nothing to do with it.

LITTLE GODS?

Kendall’s statements about Christ,the believer, and the Godhead aretroubling. Kendall seems to be sayingthat Christ has been displaced in theGodhead and has to move over andshare His exclusive place in the Trin-ity with us. It almost sounds like the

old Herbert W. Armstrong heresy of aGod-family.

Armstrong taught that the Godheadcould not be limited to the Father andChrist, but that the Church wouldbecome part of the God family andthat, ‘‘The GOD FAMILY will thenRULE ALL NATIONS with the GOV-ERNMENT OF GOD RESTORED!’’44

He taught that the Trinity doctrinedestroyed the Gospel.

Kendall puts it this way: ‘‘Whatpossibility could there be that Jesuscould lose His place in the Trinity,that Jesus could be dislodged fromthe Godhead? Yet, Romans 8:17 says,‘We are ... co-heirs with Christ.’ Thismeans God loves us as much as Heloves Jesus.’’45 If Kendall is sayingwhat it sounds like he is saying, thenGod does not remain God, and theTrinity becomes an extended family.

Being a joint heir with Jesus cer-tainly means that we will share Hiseternal riches in a resurrected body,but it cannot be taken to the lengthsKendall pushes it. Roman law, ac-cording to biblical scholars, consid-ered joint heirs to be ‘‘equal inheri-tors.’’46

We will share Christ’s glory in somefashion in the hereafter, but we willnot dislodge Him. The Geneva StudyBible says, ‘‘As all the children in ahuman family are heirs of the fatheralong with the oldest brother, sobelievers are God’s heirs in and withChrist.’’47 This involves a change ofstatus for the believer, not a change ofnature. Jesus shares his future richesin heaven, not His deity or place inthe Trinity. Any truth pushed toextremes becomes heresy.

An inheritance is riches promisedfor the future. Anders Nygren illumi-nates Romans 8:17 with its emphasison joint inheritance:

‘‘In these Paul’s emphasis onboth present and future in rela-tion to Christ comes to expres-sion. In this life it is of primaryimportance that we are partici-pants with Him in His suffering.But in the life that is to come weare made participants in His


glory; only then shall we enterinto the inheritance which hasalready been assured for us.’’48

An expanding or growing Trinity isnowhere taught in the Bible. The ideaof Christ sharing His place in theGodhead with mere creatures is asibling to Armstrongism and cousinto Mormonism.

THE RETURN OF FREUD

Kendall also seems to buy intoquestionable modern psychologicaltheory, which suggests a link betweena person’s inability to believe Godloves him and that person’s relation-ship with his or her father. He seemsto be about 30 years behind the timesas he hitches his wagon to psycho-logical theory. Kendall writes:

‘‘There could be a psychologicalproblem. I know people whocan’t call God ‘Father’ because ofthe relationship they had withtheir own fathers. It may surpriseyou to know, I sympathize here.I never quite came up to my ownfather’s expectations.’’49

Kendall, at best, is imposing adebatable psychological interpretationon an event. The person could beusing the parent as an excuse forrejecting God’s love.

This writer had an abusive, alco-holic, unloving father who abandonedhis family following divorce. Thiswriter discovered in the Scriptures thetruth of the Fatherhood of God andrejoiced in the new relationship witha perfect, loving Heavenly Father whowould never abuse and never forsake.The concept of God as Father wasnourishing, comforting, and healing.The Holy Spirit illuminated and ap-plied that truth in wonderful ways. Iwas not bound to be an abusive fatherin need of some kind of psychologicalhealing.

Christ would not have told us topray, ‘‘Our Father which art inheaven’’ if it were impossible to doso. Peter assured believers that theyhave been released and redeemedfrom the aimless conduct (or vainhabit patterns) of their fathers (1 Peter1:18). If one is unable to accept,

process, and enjoy God’s love andFatherhood, there may be many po-tential causes, including lack of con-version or inattention to the Word,which must be determined.

Paul Vitz reminds us:

‘‘In the case of both parents, it ishigh time that these ‘explana-tions’ be called by their realname — a new variety of the oldprejudice known as ‘scapegoat-ing.’ When will psychologicaltheory be honest and largeenough to allow us the dignity ofaccepting that the fault is not inour parents — anymore than it isin our stars—but in ourselves.’’50

Jay Adams shows the tie-in tosecular self-love and self-image teach-ing and describes what the NewTestament presents:

‘‘What do the writers of the NewTestament epistles actually re-quire of their readers? Quite theopposite of self-image practices.They constantly insist that theirreaders love God and one an-other in spite of any deprivationthey may have experienced intheir backgrounds. Indeed theissue of deprivation is neverraised as an extenuating circum-stance to explain away sinfulliving. Are we to infer that therecipients of the epistles hadnone of the deprivations ...wouldn’t you expect to see strokeafter stroke given to converts inthe epistles rather than com-mands and exhortations to loveGod and love one another? Com-mands to love, regardless ofbackground and even in themidst of existing problems ofevery kind, appear in 1 Corin-thians 13 and innumerable otherpassages. Indeed, Jesus Himselftold us that Scripture can besummed up as a group of booksthat teach us how to love Godand one another. If that is so,how is it that the all-importantself-worth truth (that love forothers rests on love for self, andthis in turn on the love of othersfor one’s self) is not spelled outin Scripture?’’51

LAUGHING AT ONESELF

In making light of a ‘‘special call,’’Kendall shows the subjective natureof self-authenticating experiences. Thehumor he employs inadvertentlyshows how mystical and silly theseclaims are:

‘‘A friend I grew up with heardan audible voice saying, ‘Dale,preach!’ Someone else was plow-ing corn in the fields when hesaw the clouds were formed in aPC. He said, ‘God is saying to me‘Preach Christ,’ and he quitplowing corn and he startedpreaching Christ. (Those whoheard him very often said the PCreally meant ‘Plow Corn’!)’’52

In the end, the lesson is lost onKendall and his followers.

Kendall is also into personal pro-phetic words and gives high marks toPaul Cain,53 who teaches that theprophets and apostles of today aregreater than Elijah, Peter, or Paul.54

Benny Hinn has dubbed Cain ‘‘themost accurate prophet on the earthtoday,’’55 an inadvertent condemna-tion if there ever was one. Fallibleprophets is a made-up concept fabri-cated in recent years because of theconstant misses and failures of thefalse prophets dotting our land.

Kendall believes that propheticwords will ‘‘unveil God’s secretwill.’’56 Here again, Kendall is deadwrong. There are two kinds of knowl-edge with God: the things He wantsus to know and has revealed in HisWord, and the secret things whichbelong to Him alone. Deuteronomy29:29 is emphatic: ‘‘The secret thingsbelong to the LORD our God, butthose things which are revealed be-long to us and our children forever,that we may do all the words of thelaw.’’ Note that the acquiring ofbiblical knowledge is for obedience,not just to boast in discovery. Jesusspoke openly and said, ‘‘In secrethave I said nothing’’ (John 18:20).

Kendall burdens his followers witha yoke that makes things more diffi-cult than they need to be. Supposedlythese prophetic words come to en-


courage us, warn us, or give usspecific instructions.57 At the sametime, he makes scant mention of theBible, which is given to fulfill all thesefunctions (Romans 15:4, 2 Timothy3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:1-4). Kendall devotesfour lines58 to Bible reading, butmany pages to tell us the other waysthat God gives prophetic words. That,in itself, speaks volumes.

HEALTHY AND WEALTHY,BUT WISE?

Kendall hedges when it comes tothe ‘‘health and wealth’’ gospel. Hepresents verses that seem to supportthe prosperity message and suggests a‘‘balanced view of prosperity teach-ing.’’59 Some who endorse Kendall’sbook are committed prosperity teach-ers, or at least would not criticizethose who are. In the final analysis, itis hard to have a ‘‘balanced view’’ oferror.

Kendall does say that God is sover-eign, that He could make one pros-perous if He wished, but at times optsnot to do that.60 But even whenKendall appears to be headed in theright direction, we discover he’s mov-ing under the power of unbiblicalreasoning. He writes, ‘‘I often talk atWestminster Chapel about The PeterPrinciple.’’61 Kendall’s point is thatwe may rise to a level of incompe-tence and hate our success.

Again, Kendall is far out of evencurrent thinking. The Peter Principle isan outdated secular invention. In fact,we may rise to a level of success andlove it and be drawn away from God.

The Peter Principle was the work ofLaurence J. Peter and was the big rageat the beginning of the seventies.What Kendall failed to note was thatPeter claimed to correct, at least inpart, the inevitability of The PeterPrinciple in his subsequent book, ThePeter Prescription, released in 1972,two years after The Peter Principle.Peter subtitled the sequel, ‘‘How ToBe Creative, Confident and Compe-tent.’’ The trouble with followingsecular management theories is thatthey change or are outdated veryquickly. The Church is not to be

governed by old management theory,but by the clear structure of thepastoral epistles. The Word of God isadequate for all of Church life.

UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS

As a boy of about seven years ofage, this writer had a young friendwith a wagon with removablewooden sides. We were employed bythe neighborhood grocer, old Mr.Gibbs, to go and gather coal from acoal-littered field where full open coaltrains rumbled through daily andpieces of the black cargo bounced out.Mr. Gibbs heated with coal and prom-ised us 25 cents for each full wagonload. If we worked all afternoon wemight bring in five wagon loads.Exhausted from the summer heat andwaiting for our $1.25 (a huge amountback then), Mr. Gibbs proceeded tothrow a quarter at us and tell us toget lost. The disappointment and frus-tration stayed with us for a long time.

One can feel much the same waywith Kendall’s books. While thereader might expect the same caliberof delivery from the long history ofsolid exposition at WestminsterChapel, Kendall delivers anemic the-ology and shallow advice. History,doctrine, psychology, managementtheory, emotions (via Toronto), andvarious Bible portions are all throwninto a theological blender. The workof God, the ways of God, and theperson of God are mixed andmatched in a strange fashion. Ken-dall’s exposition is eccentric,subjective, and confusing. What reallyshows up is how far the Westminsterpulpit has moved from its roots.

Charisma magazine gave Kendall arenewed boost in the summer of 2002.In an article titled, ‘‘Don’t GetTrapped in Pigeon Religion,’’ Kendallconfesses that he has had a counterfeitspirit many times:

‘‘It seems to me that many of theclaims to the presence of theDove among us are nothing butpigeon religion — a counterfeitfor the Holy Spirit. In my ownhaste I have presumed the pres-ence of God in my life manytimes — when it was not the

Dove after all. Often it has been apigeon — not the heavenly Dove— that gave me a ‘religious’feeling. ... someone could easilyfall to the floor after beingprayed for and that there couldbe an entirely natural explana-tion for it.’’62

In his article, Kendall, in essence,debunks God “showing up’’ experi-ences as he describes an experience hehad at a church where falling downand laughing had become a norm forworshipers. Kendall says that, ‘‘I be-lieve that their expectancy was sohigh and the preconditioning so pow-erful that a pigeon could have donethe same thing.’’63

Just about anything will get peoplecharged up, according to Kendall:

‘‘There is nothing like a largecrowd to counterfeit the presenceof the Dove. A big group cancreate an expectant atmosphere.Nothing preconditions a leaderor a congregation like a churchthat’s filled with people. ... Buteventually one wakes up andcomes to terms with the soberingpossibility that it was all hype. ...A powerful leader (even a wor-ship leader or preacher) cansometimes control a crowd withhis or her gift and personality.The people out there may nothave a clue they are being ma-nipulated.’’64

So much for God “showing up.”Kendall’s admissions ought to bereviewed before one reads his books.

It is not even correct to speak ofecstatic experiences as God “showingup.’’ Ecstasy can come out of thehuman psyche or from the evil spiritworld. The way in which God workswith us is much different than theway Kendall suggests. Scripture indi-cates in various places that Godworks with us through what has beencalled dynamic understanding. AsGod addresses us in Scripture, theHoly Spirit gives understanding, con-viction, and decision making power,which brings forth transformation.These are cognitive events, as Ger-hard Maier explains when he writes:


’’...dynamic understanding takesplace where revelation meets theperson directly, transforming andprofoundly a l ter ing him.Through contact with the Wordthe person is not who he wasbefore. A dynamic transforma-tion has taken place. The Word‘cut[s] to the heart’ (Ac 2:37KJV).’’65

Maier further explains that this newdynamic understanding is not thrills,chills, and goose bumps:

‘‘It must be graphically under-scored that this has nothing to dowith emotionalism or ecstatic ex-cess. Revelation meets a personin the heart, and thus also in theintellect. It does not meet himsomewhere beyond the person asa central whole. Nor does thedynamic transformation men-tioned above remove the respon-sibility of response, of decision.Dynamic understanding takesplace just as well in a situationwhere the person is compliantand where the person drags hisheels. In any case the coordinat-ing center of his life has beenprofoundly touched.’’66

One should feel compassion forpeople in Kendall’s confusing envi-ronment, and for people who get theirbuttons pushed to create a God“showing up’’ experience. God is notshowing up in many of the waysKendall suggests. Kendall is onlyimagining it.

God is not the author of confusion.Kendall himself confesses it may beall man-made, after all, in his ‘‘pigeonreligion’’ analogy. The deep exposi-tion of G. Campbell Morgan and therich exegesis of Martyn Lloyd-Jones —still available in their writings — are afar better choice. Safe and properencounters with God can be found inHis dynamic and transforming Word.

Endnotes:1. See further, R.T. Kendall’s book cataloglisted on his web site, www.rtkendallministries.com/books.htm. Dobson’s en-dorsement is found in the listings forKendall’s Understanding Theology Volume IIand Volume III.

2. Jack W. Hayford in R.T. Kendall, WhenGod Shows Up. Ventura, Calif.: GospelLight, 1998, pg. 7, italic in original.3. Ibid., pp. 7-9.4. R.T. Kendall, In Pursuit of His Glory.London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2002, pg.xvii.5. Ibid., pp. 109-113.6. ‘‘Blessitt Announces Divorce,’’ Charisma& Christian Life, August 1990, pg. 16.7. In Pursuit of His Glory, op. cit., pg. xi.8. Ibid., pg. 104.9. Ibid., pg. xii.10. Ibid., pp. 2-3.11. Ibid., pg. 81.12. Ibid., pg. 26, footnote 1.13. Ibid., pg. 33.14. Ibid., pg. 132.15. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 14.16. Charles R. Erdman, The Gospel ofMatthew. Philadelphia: The WestminsterPress, 1948, pg. 26.17. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 14.18. Ibid., pg. 15.19. Ibid., italic in original.20. In Pursuit of His Glory, op. cit., pg. xvii.21. See further, G. Richard Fisher, ‘‘TheAnimalization of Christianity — Chaos inthe Vineyard,’’ The Quarterly Journal, Vol.15, No. 2, and ‘‘All That Glitters... GoldFillings and Truth Decay in Toronto,’’ TheQuarterly Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3.22. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 16.23. Ibid., pg. 8.24. Ibid., pg. 26.25. Everett F. Harrison, editor, Baker’sDictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids,Mich.: Baker Book House, 1973, pg. 457.26. William Evans, The Great Doctrines ofthe Bible. Chicago: Moody Press, 1974, pg.194, italics in original.27. Ibid., pg. 197.28. Henry Clarence Thiessen, IntroductoryLectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rap-ids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing,1952, pg. 106.29. Albert Gibbs, Christian Baptism. KansasCity, Ks.: Walterick Publishers, 1966, pg.16.30. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 38.31. Our Daily Bread, devotional entry forSaturday, Feb. 17, 2001.32. Ibid.33. Jay E. Adams, The Christian Counselor’sManual. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterianand Reformed Publishers, 1973, pg. 375,italic in original.34. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 40,italics in original.35. Ibid., pg. 44.36. John Walvoord, The Holy Spirit. Find-lay, Ohio: Dunham Publishers, 1958, pg.224.37. Adam Clarke, The New Testament ofOur Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. New

York: Abingdon Press, nd, New Testa-ment Vol. 2, pg. 201, italics in original.38. See further, Francis Schaeffer, TrueSpirituality. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale HousePublishers, 1971, pp. 148-180.39. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pp. 47-48.40. Ibid., pg. 55.41. Ibid., pp. 86-87, italics in original.42. Ibid., pg. 77.43. See further, G. Richard Fisher, ‘‘Wordsof Knowledge: Mystical or Statistical? TheTruth Behind the Sham,’’ The QuarterlyJournal, Vol. 14, No. 1.44. Herbert W. Armstrong, Mystery of theAges. Pasadena, Calif.: Worldwide Churchof God, 1985, pg. 42, upper case inoriginal.45. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 104,ellipsis in original.46. Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in theGreek New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.:Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1973, Vol. 1,Romans, pg. 136.47. The New Geneva Study Bible. Nashville:Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995, pg. 1780.48. Anders Nygren, Commentary on Ro-mans. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press,1949, pg. 329.49. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 107.50. Paul C. Vitz, Psychology As Religion.Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. EerdmansPublishing, 1979, pg. 85.51. Jay E. Adams, The Biblical View ofSelf-Esteem, Self-Love, Self-Image. Eugene,Ore.: Harvest House Publishers, 1986,pg. 54.52. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 115,italics in original.53. Ibid., pg. 122.54. See further, Hank Hanegraaff, Counter-feit Revival. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1997,pg. 160.55. Benny Hinn, Praise the Lord show,Trinity Broadcasting Network, Nov. 20,1996, tape on file.56. When God Shows Up, op. cit., pg. 124,bold italics in original.57. Ibid., pp. 124-126.58. Ibid., pg. 123.59. Ibid., pg. 136.60. Ibid., pp. 136-137.61. Ibid., pg. 138.62. R.T. Kendall, ‘‘Don’t Get Trapped inPigeon Religion,’’ Charisma, August 2002,pg. 81. This article is adapted fromKendall’s book The Sensitivity of the HolySpirit, published by Charisma House.63. Ibid., pp. 81-82.64. Ibid., pp. 82, 84.65. Gerhard Maier, Biblical Hermeneutics.Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1993, pg.74. Note that Maier uses ‘‘revelation’’ in avery loose sense, meaning our personalencounter with God’s revelation in Scrip-ture.66. Ibid.


the great doctrines of the Christianfaith that Archie knows so well arenot relevant and practical to himwhen it comes to solving the prob-lems of everyday living. Archie’s the-ology tells him that Jesus died androse, that faith without works is dead,and that God answers prayer, but itdoesn’t tell him how to counselpeople who are depressed or fearful.Like many Christians today, Archielooks for answers outside of theScripture. He looks to psychology forinstruction and help. Psychology tellsArchie he needs to love himself.

Psychology has exerted a powerfulinfluence on Archie’s thinking aboutthe Bible and the work of Jesus Christ.Archie believes the Scriptures areinadequate and not sufficient to helphim meet his deepest problems or‘‘emotional needs.’’ Like so many inthe Church today, he believes the liethat there exists outside of Scripture,wisdom about man’s nature. Archiebelieves that the Wonderful Counse-lor didn’t tell him everything heneeds to know and, therefore, Godworked through unbelievers such asSigmund Freud and Carl Rogers to fillin the blanks.

While many Christians view psy-chology with respect and admiration,more secular psychologists and psy-chiatrists are voicing their lack ofconfidence in psychology’s claims,therapies, and scientific status. Thetitles of their books are revealing. Forexample, Manufacturing Victims: Whatthe Psychology Industry is Doing ToPeople by Tana Dineen; Freudian Fraud:The Malignant Effect of Freud’s Theoryon American Thought and Culture andThe Death of Psychiatry by E. FullerTorry; The Myth of Mental Illness andThe Myth of Psychotherapy by ThomasSzasz; and Toxic Psychiatry by PeterBreggin. The list goes on.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paultells his student to confront certainmen within the Church who areteaching ‘‘strange doctrines’’ (1:3).What Paul had anticipated in Acts 20when he wrote, ‘‘I know after my

departure savage wolves will come inamong you, not sparing the flock,’’had happened. Paul describes theirteachings as ‘‘strange doctrines ...myths ... speculations’’ (1:3-4) that donot further the Gospel and helppeople. Paul warns Timothy thatthese people want to be teachers, but‘‘do not understand either what theyare saying or the matters about whichthey make confident assertion’’ (1:7).While these people confidently assertthemselves as teachers and experts onmatters pertaining to God’s Word,Paul says they do not know what theyare talking about.

There are all kinds of strange doc-trines, myths, and speculations incounseling. Sigmund Freud’s doc-trines of the Id, Ego, and Super-egoare very strange. Alfred Adler’sspeculative theory of ‘‘striving forsuperiority,’’ Carl Rogers’ ‘‘ideal self,’’and Christian psychologist LarryCrabb’s theory of the ‘‘hollow core’’are unusual to say the least.

Many people who proclaim they areexperts and qualified to teach onmatters pertaining to behavior, do notknow what they are talking about.Paul said these people were not usingthe Scriptures correctly or ‘‘lawfully’’(1:8). They were not accurately han-dling God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15).Christians — ministers and laymen —need to be careful that their ministryis characterized by an accurate use ofthe Scriptures. An accurate use of theScriptures means one not only‘‘preaches the Word,’’ but one also‘‘counsels the Word’’ of God.

The Bible warns believers that theChurch will be inundated with doc-trines of demons, myths, perverseteachings, human traditions, worldlyfables, philosophies, speculations, anddeceiving spirits. This is certainly trueof the Church in our day. Many in theChurch have become so gullible itseems they no longer have the abilityto discern truth from error. It seemsthat many believers do not have theability to sort things out, to distin-guish between God’s thoughts andways and man’s thoughts and ways.There is nothing that demonstratesthis more than the gospel of selfism.

Help for Archie began with givinghim biblical hope. Losing hope is aserious concern. When a person loseshope, there is a danger of falling intodespair and concluding there is nosolution to their problem. They arethe ones who shoot themselves, di-vorce their spouse, or choose to livewith their chronic depression.

The prophet Ezekiel wrote, ‘‘Youwill loathe yourselves in your ownsight for all the evil things that youhave done’’ (20:43, NAS). People donot hate themselves. People hate theircircumstances and their behaviors thatled to those circumstances. Self-love isuniversal. Paul wrote, ‘‘No one everhated his own flesh, but nourishesand cherishes it.’’ If Archie trulyhated himself, he would not wantthings to be better for himself, butworse. Archie nourishes and cherisheshimself, and that is why he came forcounseling.

Archie’s troubles were not the resultof self-hatred and low self-esteem, buthis sinful behavior and/or attitudes.Sinners prefer themselves over othersand God (universal self-love). A studyof Archie’s life revealed sinful pat-terns and habits. He had been firedtwice for quarreling with his superior,and quit three other jobs because hebelieved he was not being treatedfairly. When we started counseling,Archie had not worked for over ayear. He admitted to anger, bitterness,envy, marital discord, and moneyproblems.

Sin, not low self-esteem, was Ar-chie’s problem. Archie lacked self-control. He was filled with self-pity.Envy usually accompanies self-pity.Archie was envious of Edith, who hadboth a good job and work record.Archie was envious of his brotherwho could afford things that he couldnot. Archie was idle. Archie failed topay his bills and was dodging credi-tors. Archie was unrepentant of hisanger and bitterness.

Dr. Karl Menninger, in his book,Whatever Became of Sin?, speakingabout modern prophets, secular andreligious, wrote:

The Gospel of Self-Esteem(continued from page 1)


‘‘In all of the laments and re-proaches made by our seers andprophets, one misses any men-tion of ‘sin,’ a word which usedto be a veritable watchword ofprophets. It was a word once ineveryone’s mind, but now rarelyif ever heard. Does that meanthat no sin is involved in all ourtroubles — sin with an ‘I’ in themiddle? Is no one any longerguilty of anything? Guilty per-haps of a sin that could berepented and repaired or atonedfor? Is it only that someone maybe stupid or sick or criminal —or asleep? Wrong things are be-ing done ... But is no one respon-sible, no one answerable forthese acts? Anxiety and depres-sion we all acknowledge, andeven vague guilt feelings; but hasno one committed any sin?’’1

Archie portrayed himself as a vic-tim. He complained that he wasalways being misunderstood and mis-treated. He was bitter and angry withhis parents, his wife, his employers,his brother, and his sister-in-law.Archie was bitter and angry towardGod, too.

Archie’s sinful behavior and atti-tude resulted in feelings of guilt.Archie felt bad. Archie should feelbad. People, like Archie, whose liveshave been disrupted by feelings ofguilt are referred to counselors whohelp them build their self-esteem.Low self-esteem is a euphemism forguilt. James Dobson says that lowself-esteem leads to all kinds of sinfulbehavior such as ‘‘neuroticism, ha-tred, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence,and social disorder.’’2 In other words,low self-esteem leads to sin, andtherefore, nurturing self-esteem leadsto righteousness. Unlike Scripture(Jeremiah 17:9), nowhere in psychol-ogy is the wicked heart mentioned.Nowhere is sin, the cross, the HolySpirit, and progressive sanctificationmentioned. Sin produces guilt, whichis reinterpreted or redefined as lowself-esteem. John MacArthur wrote:

‘‘Our culture has declared waron guilt. ... No one, after all, issupposed to feel guilty. Guilt is

not conducive to dignity andself-esteem. Society encouragessin, but it will not tolerate theguilt sin produces.’’3

We have lost sight of the fact thatsin, not low self-esteem, is the rootcause of our problems and the sourceof many troubles. Today we areexplaining these problems in unbibli-cal terms.

In Genesis 3:1-5 we have the firsttheological conversation ever re-corded. The Serpent promised Eve‘‘her eyes would be opened’’ if shewould partake from the forbiddentree. Nothing would be hidden fromher. Eve would understand the deepthings of God. She would be like God.

The natural tendency of all men isto throw off the restraints of human-hood and attempt to become God.What has grieved godly men andwomen over the years was theirstruggle with self. For example, in1898, Andrew Murray wrote that ‘‘theone real hindrance to this life of theSpirit is the power of our evil self.’’4In 1945, L.E. Maxwell wrote, ‘‘Self hasusurped the throne ... Self is the newand false center upon which man hasfixed.’’5 Thomas Watson wrote, ‘‘Themore one values himself, the less Godand angels value him. ... Self is anidol, and it is hard to sacrifice thisidol.’’6 Thomas Brooks wrote, ‘‘Self-seeking blinds the soul ... There is nota greater hindrance to all the duties ofpiety than self-seeking.’’7 John Calvinwrote:

’’... wherever denial of ourselvesdoes not reign, there either thefoulest vices rage without shameor if there is any semblance ofvirtue, it is vitiated by depravedlusting after glory. ... For, such isthe blindness with which we allrush into self-love that each oneof us seems to himself to havejust cause to be proud of himselfand to despise all others in com-parison. ... There is no otherremedy than to tear out from ourinward parts this most deadlypestilence of love of strife andlove of self.’’8

Nouthetic counselor and authorMartha Peace writes:

‘‘‘Self’ is at the center of ourlusts — our supposed needs forsignificance, worth, security,identity, or esteem. A psycholo-gized, man-centered view of Godand of man appeals to our natu-ral sense of loving ourselves andthus deceives us.’’9

And most importantly, the ApostlePaul, under inspiration of the HolySpirit, wrote: ‘‘For the flesh sets itsdesire against the Spirit, and the Spiritagainst the flesh; for these are inopposition to one another’’ (Galatians5:17, NAS). They all wrote about thesame thing. The struggle in their lifeis between God and self.

There is a struggle in the life ofevery believer to keep God on thethrone of his heart. It is difficultbecause man’s heart is constantly andrelentlessly trying to dethrone Godand enthrone self. Trying to keep Godon the throne of one’s heart is like atug-of-war. It is the flesh warringagainst the Spirit, and the Spiritagainst the flesh. ‘‘I want God on thethrone. I want self on the throne. God.Self. God. Self.’’

The allure to be God is present inevery man’s heart. Isaiah said it whenhe wrote, ‘‘All we like sheep havegone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way’’ (53:6). Mansuppresses the truth of God anduplifts self (Romans 1:18). Althoughman knows there is a God, he doesnot honor God, but honors self (Ro-mans 1:21). Man worships and servesthe creature rather than the Creator(Romans 1:25). Paul’s words are trueof all men. All men have a worship-orientation. No man is neutral. Allmen are worshippers. All men areself-worshippers.

Eve’s desire to worship Godchanged to a lust to be God andworship self. Eve wanted to climb toheaven, as it were, and throw Godout. Isaiah wrote about Lucifer’s de-sire to be God: ‘‘But you said in yourheart, I will ascend to heaven; I willraise my throne above the stars ofGod, and I will sit on the mount, Iwill ascend above the heights of the


facts do not matter. False prophecies are proclaimed andthe false prophets are revered all the more. The lyingprophets go on record and their record shows them to befabricators and dissemblers. Claims are made with nodocumentation. Outright lies are constructed. When thelies are confronted, the response is, ‘‘touch not the Lord’sanointed,’’ yet it is obvious they are not the Lord’sanointed. They live in obscene luxury, but are given apass because money is equated with the blessing of God.There is no financial accountability.

3. The local church. The epistles bear out the importanceof the local church in God’s program. However, that isnot the emphasis of the wandering apostles and proph-ets. Anointing centers, mass meetings, healing encoun-ters, following the next ‘‘revival’’ or ‘‘breakthrough’’ aremore important. Find a ‘‘blessing’’ center (code foradrenalin out of control) or a place where God may bedoing divine dentistry, dispensing gold dust, or leavingangel feathers. One can always be ‘‘slain in the Spirit,’’which makes local church meetings seem downright dull.

EDITORIALS(continued from page 2)

Scream, shout, let it all hang out, shelve your mind, gointo altered states, but don’t dare talk about the localchurch.

4. Sound doctrine. There is a frightening cross-breedingof heresies today that will produce more mutantdoctrines warned about in Scripture. Oneness Pentecos-tals pollinate across Assembly of God lines. Deniers ofthe Trinity such as T.D. Jakes and Tommy Tenney minglewith orthodoxy as though they were straight on thedoctrine of God. Arch-heretic Finis Dake is promoted viahis study Bible.

Benny Hinn promises he will break financial bondageif one will send the prophesied amount of $77. His Godresembles a slot machine in Las Vegas or Atlantic Citymore than a Heavenly Father. Then there’s the outrage ofJerry Falwell endorsing ‘‘Brother Benny.’’

Jesse Duplantis claims to have a car that raptured himin a cloud from place to place and people believe it.Duplantis revels in referring to himself as the ‘‘RaginCajun’’ and has more the demeanor of a hokey profes-sional wrestler than a man of God. Oh yes, Duplantistalks routinely about meeting Paul and Jesus in heavenand it never dawns on listeners that he is suggesting a

clouds; I will make myself like theMost High’’ (Isaiah 14:13-14).

The Serpent knew Eve could notresist self-exaltation. We, the offspringof Adam and Eve, cannot resist iteither. We are idolaters. We are self-worshippers. John Calvin wrote that‘‘we may gather that man’s nature, soto speak, is a perpetual factory ofidols.’’10

Over the past several decades, theconcept of self-esteem has had apowerful influence on the Church.Christians, who have generallythought of self-esteem as sinful, con-tinue to be prompted by Christianauthors in their books to develop a‘‘healthy’’ self-esteem. These authorshave warned that a negative self-esteem is the basis of most psycho-logical problems and that it evenleads to sinful behavior.

If the advocates of self-esteem areright, we must change our emphasisfrom man’s unworthiness and focuson man’s worthiness and his right toesteem himself. The Church will needto recognize the tremendous signifi-

cance that this teaching will have inthe lives of its members.

But if the advocates of self-esteemare wrong, then clearly the Church’sfascination with self-esteem is hereti-cal. Jesus called His followers toimitate Him in denying themselves(Matthew 16:24). While not endorsingall of his positions, we agree with T.B.Maston when he stated:

‘‘The cross, with all that it sym-bolizes, permeates and givesmeaning and unity to all theethical teachings of Jesus.’’11

Jesus consistently tied together self-denial and the cross. The call of Godinto the Christian life is a call toself-denial. The cross — self-denial —is the path of every Christian. Theantithesis of the cross is self-love.Therefore, self-love is classified as a‘‘different gospel’’ (Galatians 1:6), op-posed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Endnotes:1. Karl Menninger, Whatever Became of Sin?New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1973,pg. 13.2. James Dobson, Hide and Seek. Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Flemming H. Revell, 1979,pg. 21.3. John F. MacArthur, Jr., The VanishingConscience. Dallas: Word Publishing Com-pany, 1994, pg. 19.4. Andrew Murray in William Law, Free-dom From a Self-Centered Life / Dying to Self.Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers,1977, pg. 6.5. L.E. Maxwell, Born Crucified. Chicago:Moody Press, 1973, pg. 56.6. Thomas Watson, The Duty of Self-Denial(and Ten Other Sermons). Morgan, Penna.:Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1998, pp. 14,29.7. Thomas Brooks, Precious RemediesAgainst Satan’s Devices. Carlisle, Penna.:The Banner of Truth Trust, 1968, pg. 189.8. John T. McNeill, Calvin: Institutes of theChristian Religion. Philadelphia: The West-minster Press, 1960, Vol. 1, pp. 691-694,(Institutes 3.7.2,4).9. Martha Peace, Attitudes of a TransformedHeart. Bemidji, Minn.: Focus Publishing,2002, pg. 41.10. Institutes of the Christian Religion, op.cit., Vol. 1, pg. 108, (Institutes 1.11.8).11. T.B. Maston, Biblical Ethics. Waco,Texas: Word Books Publishers, 1967, pg.162.

Editor’s Note: A fuller treatment by Dr.Tyler of the self-esteem gospel is availablein his work, Jesus Christ: Self-Denial orSelf-Esteem? (Timeless Texts, 2002).


York City, pointing out what appears to be a face in theascending smoke. The apparitions are more readilyvisible in a still photograph and probably would nothave been recognized at the scene by an unaided eye.Newspapers that publish these photos usually define theapparition but leave any further interpretation to readers.

Not so for Arnold Murray, televangelist and pastor ofthe Shepherd’s Chapel in Gravett, Ark. Recently, Murraycalled attention to a facial image found in the giganticclouds of ash rising at the eruption of Mount St. Helens,adding to it his commentary that works the UnitedStates’ most famous and greatest natural disaster intoend times prophecy.

On Sunday, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcanoin southern Washington state, erupted with the energy of27,000 atomic bombs. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran adramatic aerial photograph of the volcano’s primaryeruption which spewed rock and ash 16 miles above themountain. On the left side of the rising cloud is said tobe the ‘‘face’’ in Mount St. Helens. As with a stone thatMurray says contains the 10-million-year-old footprint ofan angel, the Mount St. Helens photograph is a favorite‘‘show and tell’’ resource for Murray.

Murray fuses this twentieth-century cataclysmic eventwith biblical prophecy through the unorthodox use of thephrase ‘‘vapor of smoke’’ found in Joel 2:30. He connectsthe dots of Joel 2 (eighth century B.C.) with Acts 2 (firstcentury A.D.) and then leaps right off the biblical pagesto the contemporary Pacific Northwest. ‘‘What smokeand vapor came up from the earth on Pentecost day toshow maybe that we could be in the latter days?’’ heasked his viewers during his broadcast on July 10, 2003.Murray outlines, in great detail, the facial features hesays appear in the cloud rising from Mount St. Helens.

‘‘God allowed the picture ... fire, smoke, and brimstoneto lock in a benchmark of time in the final generation ...He gives enough signs that you cannot help but believeHis Word,’’ he told his audience. The point not to bemissed for Murray’s followers is that on PentecostSunday 1980, God bolstered His Word with the effects ofa volcanic eruption. Other than claiming it to be a ‘‘sign’’of the ‘‘final generation,’’ Murray did not say why it wasa ‘‘face’’ — and not some other object — that appeared inthe smoke.

Murray’s prophetic observation is flawed on keyissues. First, seeing images and patterns in clouds ofsmoke are the products of one’s imagination. When Jesustold His followers to understand the times, He did notinstruct them to employ pareidolia — that is, the art ofseeing His face in a rusty road sign or the Virgin Maryon the side of a weather-worn barn. Christians are neverto engage in such a frivolous, abstract, and subjectivepractice as cloud watching. The signs which Christ said

NEWS UPDATES(continued from page 3)

form of communication with the dead that is forbiddenby Scripture.

A new Jesus who had to suffer in hell and be bornagain is welcomed. Utopia is promised and redemptionof the body offered now, though it is never delivered.Salvation, sanctification, and glorification are mixed,matched, and mingled in incredible confusion. Doctrineis shockingly referred to as ‘‘doo doo’’ and there is nooutrage! People are so far in the gutter that the sewercannot be far away.

These shameless charlatans are the devil’s instrumentto weaken the Church, even though Paul says it is thepillar and ground of truth. Their television broadcasts,along with their book deals, allow them maximumexposure to perpetuate massive heresies as they cava-lierly undermine Scripture, raze honesty in ministry,belittle the local church, and disregard sound doctrine.‘‘If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righ-teous do?’’

For over three decades, Christians have been encour-aged to write the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) in protest of a fictitious petition. The petition(known as ‘‘Petition #2493’’) is purported to be an effortby infamous atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair to removeall religious programming from the television airwaves.The petition is pure fiction, but attempts to stifle itcontinue to circulate within Christian circles. As a result,letters of protest from Christians steadily pour into theFCC’s office. (The fact that O’Hair was murdered inSeptember 1995 has done little to deter the crusadeagainst the spurious campaign attributed to her.)

In one very real sense, we could say, ‘‘Oh, that theO’Hair petition were true.’’ The Church would be betterserved if Christians signed their name, not on letters ofprotest, but on just such a petition to remove religiousbroadcasting. Pulling the plug on ‘‘Christian television’’with its destruction of the four pillars noted above,would be a tremendous advantage for the local church.The local church is God’s arrangement for worship,teaching, fellowship, encouragement, ministry, evange-lism, and so forth. It is not, and never will be, ‘‘Christiantelevision,’’ despite Paul Crouch’s repeated exclamation,‘‘We’re gonna have church tonight!’’

It is safe to say that the outlawing of religiousbroadcasting by the FCC will never take place. So whatshould Christians do? We can start by turning offreligious television and reading our Bibles, becomingactive in a local church (investing time, talents, andfinances), supporting good apologetics ministries, andwriting letters of protest to the false prophets, callingthem on their lies and lunacy. There needs to be anoutcry, and it needs to start now. We need to speak outto the managers of so-called Christian bookstores that arepromoting poison by the boatload. That is what therighteous can do. Act now while there is still time.

—GRF


LIFESTYLES OF THERICH AND SHAMELESS

Two local business-related publications last summerdisclosed the successes of their respective hometowntelevangelists. The St. Louis Business Journal examined the‘‘evangelism empire’’ of Joyce Meyer, while the SanAntonio Express-News revealed the spectacular income ofJohn Hagee. Each report revealed an opulent kingdomthat is amassing millions of dollars through donationsand the sale of books, tapes, and other materials.

The St. Louis publication sought, but was refused, aninterview with either Meyer or her husband, Dave. Thenewspaper also noted that an ‘‘exact revenue figure forthe ministry wasn’t available.’’ Joyce Meyer Ministries isnot a member of the Evangelical Council for FinancialAccountability, an organization that oversees and sanc-tions the financial activities of evangelical ministries. TheECFA regularly receives inquiries concerning Meyer andher ministry.

Despite these obstacles, the June 20-26, 2003, issue ofthe St. Louis Business Journal divulged prominent items inthe inventory of Joyce Meyer Ministries, including anannual income estimated at $57 million, a $19-millionheadquarters, Meyer’s personal silver Lexus SC 430sports car, and an eight-bedroom, seven-bath, 7,000-square-foot home valued at more than $500,000.

The Business Journal also said that within her officecomplex, the ‘‘hallway leading to the television studiofeatures larger-than-life murals of Meyer in variousspeaking poses.’’ Critics of Meyer long have noted herunabashed vanity. The Orlando Sentinel has stated thatMeyer has had ‘‘plastic surgery,’’ which the newspaperreported ‘‘Meyer readily admits.’’ She wears tailoredsuits and lavish jewelry. Likewise, photographs of Meyerfill her Web site and magazine publications. As oneapproaches the guardhouse at the front entrance to herministry’s headquarters, a large portrait of the Meyerslooms behind the guard.

While the St. Louis Business Journal reported on Meyer,the June 20 edition of the San Antonio Express-Newsrevealed John Hagee’s exorbitant income. The newspaperrevealed that for the year 2001, ‘‘Hagee’s total compensa-

JESUS SAVES,Yes JESUS SAVES

Christians have long sung of the saving power of Jesus.As they sing, they express the power of Christ to saveone from spiritual death. Recently, however, DallasCowboy’s cornerback turned CBS sports analyst DeionSanders gave new meaning to the popular hymn.Apparently Jesus is now saving from more than just theconsequences of sin. He saved Sanders $2,765 off a $4,265auto repair bill.

In 2001, Sanders had work done on his 1961 LincolnContinental convertible. Since that time, auto repair shopowner Phil Compton, along with his attorney, Ed Edson,have been trying to collect on the bill for the repair work.According to an Associated Press report, ‘‘The owner ofthe repair shop said Sanders wanted to pay only $1,500of the $4,265.57 bill, saying that Jesus had informed himthat was all he needed to pay.’’

Compton serviced the vintage automobile and returnedit to Sanders’ home in Plano, Texas, in November 2001.Pilar Sanders, former wife of the sportscaster, took thekeys and repair bill from Compton and retreated into thelocked house while bodyguards and housekeepersmoved other vehicles around the automobile to preventit from being returned to the repair shop. ‘‘When Sandersdrove up, he refused to pay the invoice amount, handingCompton a $1,500 check and saying, ‘Praise Jesus ... Ifollow what in my heart I’m told to pay,’’’ the APreported.

Compton filed suit in March 2002 in an attempt tocollect the outstanding balance. During the July 14, 2003,trial, held in Texas State District court, Judge Joe Coxruled in favor of Sanders. Testimony was given duringthe trial which stated that Compton had been told thatthere was a $1,500 ceiling on the cost of repairs.

Sanders told the AP that ‘‘I’m not hurting for money.And let’s be honest. A $4,000 bill, I could have written acheck a long time ago. But it’s the principle. I’m tired ofgetting ripped off.’’

—MKG

would be on the horizon would be real, concrete, andobjective events (Matthew 24).

Murray demonstrates a disregard for truth and accu-racy and takes advantage of the ignorance and gullibilityof his television flock. He has based his interpretation ofBible prophecy on an erroneous date. Murray says theMount St. Helens’ eruption occurred on PentecostSunday in 1980. It did not. The volcano’s primaryeruptions began May 18, a week before Pentecost, whichwas celebrated on May 25, 1980. But Murray doesn’t lethistorical fact stand in the way of his interpretation. Thissort of implausible hermeneutic may titillate an audience,but does nothing to honor God by rightly dividing theword of truth.

Murray repeatedly calls those who challenge his Bibleinterpretations ‘‘Bible-thumpers,’’ ‘‘numbskulls,’’ and‘‘yo-yos.’’ However, it is Murray who would be morerightly regarded with such scorn. Despite his efforts toestablish himself as an extraordinary Bible teacher,careful examination of his ideas shows him a confusedteacher to be avoided.

—MKG


CODE TWO FOR DROSNINPerhaps former Wall Street Journal reporter Michael

Drosnin thinks the old saying, ‘‘One good turn deservesanother’’ should be revised to say, ‘‘One bad bookdeserves another.’’ At least that’s how Drosnin’s BibleCode II is being received. The book, released in December2002, is the sequel to his 1997 best-seller, The Bible Code.

Drosnin claims ‘‘a Bible beneath the Bible,’’ and that byskipping across an equal number of characters or spaces,one can form new words revealing the hidden messagesor codes of the Bible. Drosnin’s technique of equidistantletter sequencing (ELS) has been debunked by mostcountercult groups and secular investigators (see further,The Quarterly Journal, January-March 1998, pp. 4, 9-13).This kind of ‘‘letter play’’ can be done with any secularbook. How exact could all of this be anyway, becauseDrosnin uses a particular Hebrew Bible that is not thesame as other Hebrew Bibles? It is much like our choiceof modern translations, which may be the same insubstance, but not necessarily in style or word order.

Because of the popularity of Drosnin’s contrivedmethods and ominous predictions, the practice of findingcoded messages within Scripture has been successfulgrist for other dabblers in biblical prophecy, includingPaul Crouch, Grant Jeffrey, and Hal Lindsey.

In Bible Code II, Drosnin says he has uncovered aprophecy that speaks of an atomic holocaust in 2006. Hisearlier volume designated 1996 (the Hebrew year 5756)as being ‘‘encoded’’ for an ‘‘atomic holocaust.’’

GARNER TEDARMSTRONG DIES

Garner Ted Armstrong, disgraced televangelist and sonof the late Herbert W. Armstrong, died Sept. 15, 2003.Armstrong died from complications of pneumonia andhad been hospitalized for several weeks. He was 73.

In 1978, Armstrong was excommunicated from theWorldwide Church of God, the sect founded by hisfather. He earned all his degrees — a bachelor’s, master’s,and doctorate — from the Worldwide Church of God’sAmbassador College in Pasadena, Calif. Until his ouster,Armstrong was vice president of both the church and itscollege, and was the movement’s primary spokesman.

Following excommunication from his father’s church,Armstrong established his own ministry, the Church ofGod International, based in Tyler, Texas. In 1995,Armstrong resigned as church president and boardchairman amid charges of sexual assault. He continuedwith the church’s television broadcasts until removed bychurch leaders in 1997.

Armstrong continued his media presence through theGarner Ted Armstrong Evangelical Association and, in1998, established the Intercontinental Church of God.

Despite his expulsion from the Worldwide Church ofGod, the younger Armstrong remained true to the manyunbiblical and heretical teachings taught by his father.These included a defective view of the nature of God,conditionalism, Sabbath worship, festival keeping, andBritish Israelism.

Claims of Armstrong’s viewing audience for hisbroadcasts varied from 5 million to 20 million. Accordingto the Los Angeles Times, ‘‘his splinter churches amassedonly about 5,000 members, compared with an estimated80,000 for his father’s Worldwide Church of God.’’

—MKG

tion package amounted to more than $1.25 million.’’ Thisamount, critics charge, is ‘‘too high’’ and made him oneof the highest, if not the highest, paid non-profit directorfor the San Antonio area. Also, ‘‘Hagee’s compensationwas among the highest packages for television evange-lists in 2001, according to IRS 990 filings,’’ the Express-News further stated. The $1.25-million figure reflected$540,000 in compensation from Global Evangelism Tele-vision (the television unit of Hagee’s ministry), $300,000for serving as president of Cornerstone Church, and$410,000 in benefits from GETV, including contributionsto his retirement package.

Hagee’s retirement package, known as ‘‘The JohnHagee Rabbi Trust,’’ includes ‘‘a $2.1 million 7,696-acreranch outside Bracketville, with five lodges, including a‘main lodge’ and a gun locker. It also includes amanager’s house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and threebarns,’’ the newspaper disclosed.

Hagee and his wife, Diana, own a six-bedroom,5,275-square-foot home. The house, said to be ‘‘in one ofSan Antonio’s most exclusive gated communities,’’ isvalued at nearly $700,000.

Televangelists like Hagee and Meyer have long tried tojustify their lavish and unrestrained lifestyles by claimingthose in the secular business sector easily demand suchfinancial compensation. They also tend to excuse theirliving in extreme wealth by wrongly claiming that criticssay Christians should live in extreme poverty. There is,however, middle ground and Scripture clearly establishesthe character for those devoting their lives to ministry. Itis one of virtue, reputation, moderation, and balance(1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1).

Those who hunger for earthly palatial mansions,private jets, and costly sports cars, would do well toattempt to satisfy their insatiable desires in the secularworld rather than bring scorn onto the Gospel. TheGospel of Christ is one of self-denial and self-sacrifice,not an abundance of possessions (Luke 12:13-21).

—MKG


WILL THE REAL AUTHORPLEASE STAND UP?

In The Prayer of Jabez, Bruce Wilkinson explains ‘‘howthe remarkable prayer of a little-known Bible hero canrelease God’s favor, power, and protection.’’ But now,the first-person, autobiographical framework of thephenomenal best-seller of recent years is being disputed.

For more than a decade, Edward Plowman has kept hiseye on what he labels ‘‘an exercise in deception’’ in thearena of Christian writing. What is this exercise? It is‘‘ministry celebrities who cede most or all of their proseto [ghostwriters] who receive little or no acknowledg-ment.’’

In ‘‘Ghostwriters in the Machine,’’ his recent article forWorld magazine, Plowman discloses that it was ‘‘Mult-nomah Publishers editorial executive David Kopp, 53,who wrote Bruce Wilkinson’s blockbuster, The Prayer ofJabez.’’ Plowman further notes that ‘‘Missing from thecover of the first 8 or 9 million copies of Jabez is Mr.Kopp’s name; it now appears as a ‘with’ byline in smallprint.’’ In later editions, Kopp’s name appears on theinside title page, and Wilkinson acknowledges Kopp as‘‘his writing partner’’ on the acknowledgement page.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Associationadopted a set of standards for members which includes,‘‘co-writers or collaboration should be clearly identifiedas such.’’ Kopp told World that he ‘‘wishes the ECPA hadused the word ‘accurately’ rather than ‘clearly.’’’

—MKG

Drosnin, a reporter by trade, is neither a scientist noran archaeologist and does not speak Hebrew. Thereforehis books are rejected by many as baseless fantasy nomatter how creative.

His latest book posits that space aliens made a trip toour planet in the distant past and left behind obelisksnear the Dead Sea. These obelisks bear secret messageswritten on them, says Drosnin. He does not say what themessages are about. He offers no archaeological evidencefor these claims.

One code word that Drosnin produced was theHebrew lashon. He says the word should be interpretedLisan. The Lisan is the prominent projection of moon-scape-like marl that juts into the Dead Sea from east towest and is easily visible on a map of Israel. It is chalky,inhospitable, and riddled with deep valleys and highprojections. It is a crumbly mix of gypsum, limestone,clay, sand, and shell. It has worn down considerably overthousands of years and any buried ‘‘treasure’’ wouldhave been exposed long ago. Geologists in Israel foryears have known its makeup. All the aliens would haveaccomplished by putting the obelisks there is a guaranteethat no one would ever find the buried treasure. Thelocation is too remote.

Drosnin says — and wouldn’t you know it — that theJordanian Government, at the last minute, withoutexplanation, withdrew permission for him to do thearchaeological research on the Lisan (pg. 94) in Jordanianterritory where it rests. So, in the end he admits he hasnot been there.

Drosnin then creates other mean-nothing phrases (byletter skipping) and somehow comes up with the idea ofaliens seeding our planet, which is his answer to wherelife on earth began. Though he claims to be working inthe Hebrew Bible, any thought of a Creator in Genesis 1is out the window. Drosnin also says that some wordshave double and triple meanings. The words mean whatDrosnin wants them to mean.

Because Drosnin wrote the book in 2001 (with acopyright of 2002), he “found” nothing about weaponsinspectors, the Iraq war, and other current events, suchas United Nations Embassy bombings. Perhaps he willfind them in Bible Code III.

Drosnin sees himself as someone who has been chosento be the decoder and may be able to delay the world’send in 2006. Drosnin also claims to have an ‘‘in’’ with theMossad, Israel’s secret service. He says he has met withthe advisors to Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton,and with Ariel Sharon, but he offers no documentation.

Drosnin (like the Raelians) also lays out a scenario ofaliens bringing their DNA to earth via a spaceship (seepp. 143-145). He does admit that these wild ideas werebrought forth by Francis Crick as far back as 1973. Crickput himself out on the lunatic fringes of science with hisideas.

The evil genius of Drosnin’s book is that there isabsolutely no documentation for his claims, nor is thereany objective way to check his claims. Jesus talked abouttruth being established by two or three witness. Apolo-getics groups, like PFO, could never get away withundocumented assertions.

Drosnin’s work is clearly sci-fi futurism sprinkled witharchaeological mystery, spaceships, and obelisks no onehas ever seen that have the key to the end of days. Heclearly knows what drives the American mind and thatpeople are looking and longing for myths. That Drosnintalks about terrorists is no surprise. Suitcase bombs werebeing talked about in the 1980s in the novel The FourthProtocol.

Reviewer Randall Ingermanson concludes: ‘‘His ‘codes’are not science. They are not codes. They are so bogus ithurts.’’ Other critics say Drosnin’s original book ‘‘wasbased on a fundamental misunderstanding and misuse ofscience.’’ His sequel hasn’t fared much better. Onereviewer wrote, ‘‘If, like me, you found his first book tobe entertainingly silly, this one will be a real treat.’’

—GRF

Editor’s Note: The publications featured in PFO’s Books in Review section are available from Personal Freedom Outreach (P.O. Box 26062, SaintLouis, Missouri 63136). Please add $2.00 to the price listed for shipping and handling. Due to occasional price changes by the publishers, theretail amounts listed are subject to change without notice. These publications are also available to those who help to financially support the workof PFO. Please see our funds appeal flyer for details.

A CHRISTIAN WOMAN’SGUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING

MORMONISMby Donna Morley

Harvest House Publishers, 240 pages, $11.95

Mormon missionaries call upon millions of homesannually. And there’s a good chance that they’ve come toyour door during the past 12 months. Have you everfaced the Mormon at your door (or perhaps a Mormonneighbor) and been uncertain about what to say to thesesincere, but misguided people? For most Christians itcan be seen as a frightening encounter.

In A Christian Woman’s Guide to Understanding Mormon-ism, author Donna Morley allays those fears as she leadsher readers through the first half of the book on ajourney into the history, doctrines, and practice of TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Morley examines the character of Joseph Smith Jr., withwell-documented information from reliable sources. Shesurveys the various versions of Smith’s first-visionaccount, the purported origins of The Book of Mormon,and reviews the teachings of the Doctrine and Covenants.The final chapter of the first section examines the thirdLDS scripture, the Pearl of Great Price, and currentrevelations from the church’s leadership.

The second half of her work is titled ‘‘Questions to AskOur Mormon Friends.’’ Questions encompass the suffi-ciency of Scripture, salvation, God’s grace, baptism forthe dead, who Jesus is, becoming a god, the Trinity, andheaven. Sections in each chapter in this half include‘‘Looking to the Word’’ to comprehend what God’s Wordsays. At the end of every chapter is a section called‘‘Thinking It Over,’’ which aids readers to recap thepresented information.

Two appendices accent the volume. They are ‘‘HelpingOur Children Who Have Mormon Friends’’ and ‘‘AComparison Between Mormonism and the Bible.’’ Thelatter is a very practical understanding of the differentbiblical terms as compared to what Mormonism teaches.The last page of the book is a ‘‘Mormonism Fact Sheet’’with systematic questions to ask Mormons (along with

A TIME OF DEPARTINGby Ray Yungen

Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 175 pages, $12.95

The New Age is alive and well and may be living atyour local church. Ray Yungen issues what he calls ‘‘analert to the church of how and through whom New Agethinking is currently creeping into our pulpits, Sundayschool classrooms, prayer groups and Bible studies.’’

Yungen’s volume is a slow but worthwhile read: slowbecause of the huge amount of documentation andfirsthand quotes; worthwhile because it gets right to theinformation regarding how Eastern mysticism and spiri-tuality is invading the Evangelical Church.

Yungen takes several pages to explain the hugedifference between spiritual encounters described in theBible and in modern pantheism. The latter is creepinginto the Church via Roman Catholic contemplativeprayer and the writings of M. Scott Peck, ThomasMerton, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Keating, Basil Penning-ton, Gerald May, Morton Kelsey, John Main, MatthewFox, Brennan Manning, Richard Foster, Mike Yaconelli,and others. It is a frightening exposé of the lack ofdiscernment in the churches.

Yungen offers some fresh insights into propheticpassages, and shows how the new contemplative move-ment and the centering prayer movement are dressed-upEastern mysticism and are something the Bible warnsagainst.

The book has a handy glossary and index, the latterwhich makes retrieval of information easy.

Those who think they have read all the latest in regardto the New Age and disguised Buddhism will find ATime of Departing a real eye opener that reveals howmuch has been flying under the radar in Christianbookstores. By all means, get this book.

—GRF

Scripture responses). Morley suggests laminating thepage and keeping it inside your Bible.

Don’t be fooled by the title. Morley’s is an excellentstudy on Mormonism, and not just for women — menwill benefit equally from this important publication.

—AMG

are we really better than we think?

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