Posted on 04/23/2018 9:24:19 PM PDT by Sontagged
One of the core beliefs at Bethel Church in Redding, California, is the need for new revelation from God, which is in contrast to the so-called old revelation of the Bible as it has been understood for the past 2,000 years.
New revelation can refer to many different things.
It includes knowledge about what’s currently taking place in heaven and new interpretations of Scripture that are based on direct revelation from the Holy Spirit, apart from a historical and grammatical hermeneutic.
It also includes what Johnson calls “new revelation of Jesus.”
And it includes creative ideas–such as fresh music lyrics that will result in mass conversions to Christianity and breakthrough inventions in science and medicine.
However, Bethel’s teachings about the need for new revelation inevitably shift the focus away from the written Word of God in Scripture, insofar as it has been understood for the past two millennia.
Their teachings also place Bethel outside of historic Protestant Christianity, based on the 16th century Protestant Reformation, which has taught that the church is to look to Scripture–not new revelations–for its beliefs and practices.
On this note, consider that even Pentecostals and charismatics–who believe in present-day miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as the gift of prophecy–have held that the Bible contains all that is necessary for living the Christian life. See, for example, a position paper published by the Assemblies of God—the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination—which upholds the sufficiency of Scripture.
It’s titled “The Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of Scripture.” And see the post written by charismatic theologian Wayne Grudem titled “The Bible is enough.”
But, clearly, Bethel leaders disagree that the Bible is enough. To show you what Bethel teaches about new revelation, take a look at these words written by its senior leader, Bill Johnson.
Bill Johnson On The Need For New Revelation
“I’m convinced that the pace of revelation will increase very rapidly in these last hours of history…. That acceleration of revelation is beginning in our day… ... It’s about the purposes of God being unveiled on the planet. On-going revelation and encounters with the power of God launch us into understanding of things we’ve never understood before.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 68)
“It is absolutely impossible to live the normal Christian life without receiving regular revelation from God.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 58)
“The key is to be spiritually discerning–to open our spirit man to direct revelation from God.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 60)
“We are the most to be pitied if we think we’ve reached the fullness of what God intended for His Church here on earth. All Church history is built on partial revelation. Everything that has happened in the Church over the past 1900 years has fallen short of what the early Church had and lost. Each move of God has been followed by another, just to restore what was forfeited and forgotten. And we still haven’t arrived to the standard that they attained, let alone surpassed it. Yet, not even the early Church fulfilled God’s full intention for His people. That privilege was reserved for those in the last leg of the race. It is our destiny.
As wonderful as our spiritual roots are, they are insufficient. What was good for yesterday is deficient for today. To insist that we stay with what our fathers fought for is to insult our forefathers. They risked all to pursue something fresh and new in God. It’s not that everything must change for us to flow with what God is saying and doing. It’s just that we make too many assumptions about the rightness of what presently exists. Those assumptions blind us to the revelations still contained in Scripture. In reality, what we think of as the normal Christian life cannot hold the weight of what God is about to do.” (When Heaven Invades Earth, Kindle edition, pages 162-163, emphasis mine)
“I am convinced that as His government and Kingdom rule increase on this earth … the Church will receive revelation like we’ve never known…. But first we must learn to hunger for and receive revelation as part of our everyday lives. That revelation will help us to carry out our earthly assignments with greater precision and wisdom.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 56)
“There are vast resources of revelation in heaven for the areas of education and business, the arts and music, and these resources have yet to be tapped anywhere near to their fullness…. Our job is to tap the revelation of the Lord in our area of talent or gifting so that we can accurately and powerfully reflect the King and His Kingdom.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 67)
“Presently, every denomination, church, and group seems to have revelation into certain Kingdom matters. Nobody has the whole picture…. But in these last days God is going to release a Spirit of revelation over the Church… We are coming into an hour where there will be a common revelation…. an hour when the people of God will simultaneously hear and see similar revelations, no matter the church or group.” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 68)
“The anointing on a coming generation will be great enough that the natural order of things will no longer apply. With a low-grade anointing and revelation, we have to live by natural principles and restrictions to get spiritual results. But Jesus brings this revelation, which is almost frightening.
He says, ‘Lift up your eyes,’ meaning, ‘With the way you see things right now, you cannot operate on the revelation I want to give you. But there is something available for a coming generation where the anointing is so extreme that every person will be ready for the harvest.'” (The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind, page 153) “Revelation comes piece by piece, layer upon layer, to generation after generation.” (Hosting the Presence, Kindle edition, page 52)
“In this hour the experience will help to open up those portions of Scripture that have been closed to us. No one in their right mind would claim to understand all that is contained in the Bible for us today. Yet to suggest that more is coming causes many to fear. Get over it, so you don’t miss it!” (When Heaven Invades Earth, Kindle edition, pages 104-105)
Allegedly, new revelations will enable Christians to perform greater miracles than those performed by Jesus, reap the greatest harvest of souls in history, and bring God’s kingdom to earth. We wouldn’t want to “miss it,” would we?
But, notably, apostles and prophets like Bethel’s own Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton are the gatekeepers to these new revelations.
So here’s Bethel Redding’s bottom line on new revelation: you’ve gotta have it, and they got it.
But are you willing to trust their interpretation of what God really means rather than contending for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3)? —– Holly Pivec is the co-author of A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement and God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement. She has a master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University.
OK. I tried looking it up and it seemed like it could happen as a result of viral or bacterial action but wasn’t sure.
If it’s intentionally done by man to create human hybrids, then yes, I would say those hybrids are disqualified from redemption.
I have heard those connected with the NAR say they are part of God or some such nonsense that indicated that they shared in deity.
I cuts ties with those folks.
I often wondered if she was truly saved, and the more I here from her especially, but also about the movement, the more I doubt it.
She and her husband certainly don’t have very much discernment even though they pass themselves off as very spiritual people in close touch with God.
This is not my theory or interpretation. I do not have the verses put together for this.
This is from Pastor Michael Hoggard, www.pastormikeonline.com, who has a “prophetic research ministry”, IDF, KJV, Bethel Baptist Church in Festus, MO.
If this is true, what do you do when the insurance company says “We can fix your cancer with CRISPR, that’s the only therapy we will pay for, and the doctor says “You have 2 months without it”?
Probably best to consider one’s decision before that point.
Isaiah 14:14
(Speaking to and regarding Satan, addressed here as the Prince of Tyre):
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, . . .
If he is denying the sufficiency of Scripture, which the quotes in the article indicate pretty clearly that he is, then he’s a wolf in sheeps clothing.
I have also seen some of the things that go on at Bethel, and the fact that they are allowed to continue and he has done nothing to reign in the excesses and false teaching also support that.
NEW BOOKLET: Beware of Bethel: A Brief Summary of Bill Johnson’s Unbiblical Teachings
https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=20820
(Yours, I presume, Pastor Bill)
And there is danger in claiming someone is a man of God when he’s not.
Do you think God would be pleased with that?
LOL. But be blessed.
You're kidding right? You do realize that in Paul's day there was no Bible as we know it today. Jesus and the first disciples had access to the Torah (the OT) - the NT did not exist at that time except in the minds of the authors. I believe Wiki provides a good overview as to how we came to the present day Bible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Christian_biblical_canon
Uh... I didn’t write an essay here, I just posted an article on a very well known subject matter, the NAR, and have stated my position
Please investigate the problem for yourself instead of (strangely) acting like you are my personal judge and jury just for posting about this very dangerous counterfeit
This is not a personal Matthew 18 matter between brothers in the Lord who are accountable in the same community, it is a warning of those who publicly preach a different Gospel; they are to be publicly condemned or criticized.
Do your own homework on this. I already did and that’s why I posted. Or contact FReeper Pastor Bill Randles and ask him about his great books on the topic.
Other than that, why the personal vitriol aimed at me? Weird.
Godlike ‘Homo Deus’ Could Replace Humans as Tech Evolves
Related: Can Bionic Leaf Solve Our Climate, Energy Problems
“It is very likely, within a century or two, Homo sapiens, as we have known it for thousands of years, will disappear,” Harari told an audience at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs recently. “Not because, like in some Hollywood science fiction movie, the robots will come and kill us, but rather because we will use technology to upgrade ourselves — or at least some of us — into something different; something which is far more different from us than we are different from Neanderthals.” . . .
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/technology/godlike-homo-deus-could-replace-humans-tech-evolves-n757971
“You know you’re over the target when you start catching flak.”
It appears you made a direct hit, however inadvertently.
I made no claims about anyone being a man of God, though I wholeheartedly accept my brother (in the Lord) Bill Johnson as a fellow believer in Christ and His finished work on the cross, and one with, as far as I can tell, much fruit to show for his sojourn to date — though I am not his judge and we will all stand before the only true Judge of the universe.
So please don’t put words in my mouth.
Also, you failed to answer my question regarding your scriptural authority, even as you condemn another for not meeting your, as far as I can tell, subjective criteria.
“In this hour the experience will help to open up those portions of Scripture that have been closed to us. No one in their right mind would claim to understand all that is contained in the Bible for us today....” (When Heaven Invades Earth, Kindle edition, pages 104-105) Bill Johnson
Allegedly, new revelations will enable Christians to perform greater miracles than those performed by Jesus, reap the greatest harvest of souls in history, and bring God’s kingdom to earth. Holly Pivec
Perhaps Ms. Pivec is falsely accusing Mr. Johnson in her blog, as I read nothing impugning the Bible in her quotes of him — her allegations notwithstanding.
The quote above makes it appear to me that Johnson is appealing to a greater understanding of (revelation?) what has already been delivered to the saints in the Bible — or have we exhausted its resources and plumbed its depths already?
You tell me.
First, I don’t recall any vitriol (violent hate and anger expressed through severe criticism) being directed at you in my posts, though I did challenge your position in a personal way as you personally attacked a brother in the Lord by labeling him as a heretic/false teacher. Or, at lease it APPEARED that way to me as you disseminated, with intent, the accusations of Holly Pivec.
What is the different gospel Bill Johnson is preaching per your understanding — since you accused him of that? Do you think he denies or does not teach 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 very clearly and consistently? Or do you just disagree with other elements of a “statement of faith” or “what we believe” as practiced by Bethel/Johnson?
For instance, Cessationist believers often attribute Pentecostal/Charismatic beliefs and practices as unbiblical, though they are right there evident in scripture.
You think I’m posing as your personal judge and jury? Simply for questioning your public condemnation of a well regarded and respected Christian leader (in large segments of the Christian community).
Perhaps you could consider me as a brother in the Lord exhorting you to love and good works.
And keep in mind a little bit of church history, where accusations and condemnations, excommunications and exiles, burnings at the stake and etc. were common fare within the realm of the “church.”
Even our earliest Americans (after native Americans) were subjected to persecution for sincerely held (and innocuous) Christian beliefs which led to their exile/flight and subsequent colonization of this land.
As an aside, I wonder if you believe there are still biblical church offices/ministries functioning in accordance with the Bible today:
Are there apostles today?
Are there prophets today?
Are there evangelists today?
Are there pastors today?
Are there teachers today?
(or pastor/teacher if you prefer)?
Does the church still have/need (all, some, or none) these offices/ministers for the work of edification in 2018?
;)
For later.
**I cannot go with the idea that Scripture is insufficient.**
But the Bible itself tells us that not everything is in the Bible.
Holy Tradition is of utmost importance, for these people knew Christ and the Apostles!
True; it'll do it for you.
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