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Thank you, Pastor Gruen for the opportunity to ask you some questions. 1. Did you ever hear the rumor that you recanted "aberrant practices "? If so what was your reaction?I was more disappointed, than shocked. I was disappointed that Mike Bickle and/or his I-hop staff would willfully, deliberately spread lies and it continues to this day. I receive several e-mails a month asking if I recanted, etc. (See e-mail I received this week in question #7.)2. What were you going through when you wrote your report?I really received tremendous support locally, and was not attacked by other ministers, so...

But why am I opposed to this 'Healing Revival' so soon after it has been announced? -It is because I already know Todd Bentley's ministry all too well, and this whole thing centers around him.

I have been to the outpouring in Lakeland twice with my family. I was wondering if any other Freepers have been as well. We went when it was still in Ignited Church which holds 700. It has moved to a church in Auburndale that holds 3,000, they then moved it to the Lakeland Convention Center that holds 9,000 and then to Lakeland Tigers Baseball stadium that holds nearly 12,000. Tonight it will be at Lakeland/Linder Airport, Sun and Fun Grounds. We have seen lots of healings and miracles. It has been going on for over 35 days and will be...

An Apostolic Pentecostal is a person that believes in speaking in tongues - glossolalia - as proof that a person has received the Holy Ghost. Pentecostals are people who believe in dramatic demonstrations of the Gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy or the interpretation of tongues. Pentecostal Oneness believers reject the concept of the Trinity and are convinced salvation relies upon the literal form of baptism; dunking rather than sprinkling and repentance of one's sins. People who are not familiar with Pentecostalism may think that the following descriptions are exaggerated and shocking, however the things depicted in this article...

I was about to ask someone on another thread which translation she uses and I thought maybe it might be better as an individual thread. I don't think this will become contentious, but who knows? So, the question: Which translation do you use for your personal Bible? If the answer is different: Which do you prefer? Why not use it as your personal Bible?

When I read of Deal Hudson’s outreach and encounter, I rejoiced. It shows that the work of authentic ecumenism continues. Deal used a difficult situation to make progress with another Christian.

Looks like Canada's not the only jurisdiction with human rights commissions acting as speech police - although in Delaware they're called human relations commissions: A Delaware state human relations commission is investigating allegations that a fifth-grade teacher told her class she wouldn't vote for Barack Obama because he is "scary" and a Muslim.   The mother of a 10-year-old student complained, saying her daughter's teacher made the comments during a mock primary on Super Tuesday last month at a southeastern Delaware elementary school. The student is a Muslim. The Democratic presidential candidate is a Christian, but he's had to fight against...

The Voice of Change is Stirring Us to Come UP from the Wilderness! Dear Friends and Intercessors: We are heading into two of the most rearranging, realigning months that we have ever known in the history of this generation. What occurs during these days will set a course for our lives and this nation. The Lord woke me at 1 o'clock on Tuesday morning, March 4th, 2008. As I walked into the bathroom I noticed a calligraphy verse: "Lean not on your own understanding." This verse lit up even though the light was not on in the bathroom. The verse...

WAREHAM, MA -- “Left Behind denies what Bible-readers have believed for centuries," says David A. Reed, author of LEFT BEHIND Answered Verse by Verse. "I'm just giving the preachers of the Reformation an opportunity to reply."   Reed's new book features Martin Luther and John Calvin on the cover, along with illustrious preachers Jonathan Edwards, William Tyndale, John Wesley, John Wycliffe and Charles Haddon Spurgeon – all pointing fingers of condemnation at Tim LaHaye's blockbuster novel Left Behind. "The founders of the Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregationalist traditions all testify against the teachings of LaHaye's novels," Reed explained.  ...

As a believer, I always see miracles and good things when God and prayer are involved. Tommorrow, at 1030hrs CST, my mother, Ann Bryan, will undergo heart surgery to replace/repair her mitrol valve in her left ventricle. She has been in the hospital for ten (10) days at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock, AR under intensive antibiotics for a diagnosis of endocarditis caused by a strep infection in her blood, and on her heart valve. Anyways, we believe in the power of prayer, and I have personally witnessed miracles here on FR. Any additional prayers sent her way would be...

There are numerous examples that prove that the name of God and Jesus Christ is being attacked regularly by America’s politically correct government. Many American leaders support the removal of the name of God from the currency of the United States. They support the removal of the name of God from the walls of Federal buildings (the Ten Commandments and encrypted scriptures) and from U.S. government documents, such as flag certificates. They also have tried to prevent the mention of God in the funeral ceremonies for deceased veterans buried in Veteran Administration cemeteries. Of course, everyone should remember the “One...

Washington DC, Feb 25, 2008 / 08:26 pm (CNA).- The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released the results of a detailed new study of the religious affiliation of the American public. The results reveal that the United States is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country, that one-third of Americans who were raised Catholic no longer identify themselves as such, and that the outflow of these Catholics is stabilized by Catholic immigrants. The survey also shows that a significant number of Americans change their religious denomination over their lifetimes. "We hope that the U.S. Religious...

Before there was a Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen, Oral Roberts was televangelism. He, along with a few other pioneers brought the tent revival into the age of mass communications; Roberts was broadcast on numerous television stations across the country. He stalked the stage, raised his voice, and had the audience in the palm of his hands. He appeared to indicate that he had special powers; he could heal the sick, mend the wounded, comfort the afflicted.Oral Roberts had wealth, power, prestige and an all-American family. He amassed a fortune and later...

My energy is not atomic it is Eternal and flowing , Alive ! And Creating , not manufactured . So as you see things constructed by man realize this ; All elements of the Universe and mankind evolve from My Hand and I AM CREATOR AND GOD ALMIGHTY . There will be an ATOMIC ANOMALY SOON yet far more reaching will be the effect on man's heart than just an incident or explosion Yet the critical element is not what has been pushed away , vaporized or displaced , but the raining down of My Spirit on mankind shortly...

The four biggest names in American Televangelism have united for an evangelistic outreach that is truly out of this world. Paul Crouch, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson and Kenneth Copeland announced earlier today that they have purchased the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope from the University of Manchester in Great Britain for a reported $130 million. The University had been looking to unload the Radio Telescope after funding for ongoing scientific research had dried up from the British Government. Faith healer Benny Hinn shared a vision that Jesus gave him several months ago, on a recent Praise The Lord broadcast: "I was...

Joel Osteen wants you to stand up straight. "Even many good, godly people have gotten into a bad habit of slumping and looking down," Mr. Osteen writes in his best-selling self-improvement tract Become a Better You. "[Y]ou need to put your shoulders back, hold your head up high, and communicate strength, determination, and confidence." After all, "We know we're representing Almighty God. Let's learn to walk tall." Mr. Osteen is the pastor of Houston's Lakewood Church, a Pentecostal congregation recently named the largest in the country by Outlook magazine, hosting some 47,000 souls in the former Compaq Center, where the...

Using only his Bible as a guide top internet evangelist Bill Keller has a new website entitled “A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan.” Bill Keller the founder of the controversial “LivePrayer” program running for the last eight years is no stranger to controversy. He has confronted the gay activists, Planned Parenthood, Muslim groups and even posted a video response to Osama Bin Laden.

Burton declined to say why the two resigned, but said both wrote the board to express their support for the school's mission.The resignations come a month after the resignations from the board of regents of two other televangelists, Jesse Duplantis and Creflo Dollar.Hinn and Dollar are among six televangelists being investigated by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley to determine if the high-profile preachers violated their organizations' tax-exempt status by living lavishly on the backs of small donors. They have denied wrongdoing.

For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. (Titus 1:7-9) I remember well the night the membership of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church considered my calling to be an elder amongst them. I remember contemplating the qualifications of an elder found in the...

If the ACLU has not contended against all the nativity scenes and public displays for a Christ centered Christmas, this year 2007 might be a pretty good Christmas in America. The only thing missing might be the knowledge of what it really means despite the smattering of meaning of Christmas TV specials.

It would seem that penning a Christian best-seller can't compete with a flap about how an actress looks in a bikini. Except in Texas. Readers of People magazine in Texas will find a big picture of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria, on the cover of the Dec. 17 issue that lands at the nearest grocery store checkout line today. The rest of the country gets a photo of Jennifer Love Hewitt creating a stir about whether she looks chubby on the beach. Osteen's photo will have a smaller spot on the national cover. It is clear...

Columbia Gorge Repertory Theatre/Jesse Merz, Artistic Director and Lisa Dozier announce that The Gospel According to Tammy Faye, a new two-act musical based on the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Messner, will be presented in three special industry readings in New York City, on Sunday, December 16 at 7PM; Monday, December 17 at 4PM and Tuesday, December 18 at 2PM. Mindy Cooper (choreographer for Dracula, The Musical) directs and choreographs and Seth Farber is the musical director. With a book by Fernando Dovalina and music and lyrics by JT Buck, The Gospel According to Tammy Faye is based on a...

SUNCOOK, N.H. — Betty Lynn Monroe believes her dog, Rambler, has had a conversion comparable to what humans experience. Monroe says that for months Rambler has been sitting in a corner and listening to her home Bible study group discuss the Bible. Then, last week during the prayer time, Rambler ran into their midst, lay down on the floor and looked up at them with "a look of pure regret and sadness," Monroe says. "It was as sincere as anything I’ve seen among humans at the altar at church." The group laid hands on Rambler and prayed that God would...

The complete text of the address delivered at the consistory by the president of the pontifical council for Christian unity. Good progress with the Orthodox, bad with the mainline Protestants, so-so with the "evangelicals" and Pentecostals. And meanwhile, with the Muslims... by Sandro Magister ROMA, December 4, 2007 – Eight days before it was published on the last day of November, Benedict XVI had announced the release of the encyclical on hope, "Spe Salvi," to the cardinals gathered in Rome from all over the world, at the meeting that opened the consistory. For many of them, the announcement came as...

They cut the line off at about 300 people.... Osteen arrived around 11 a.m. for a "meet and greet" with Super Wal-Mart employees. Edwin Del Rosario brought along a copy of Edwin's own self-published book, which he says was inspired by Osteen. The name of the paperback is "Divine Prescription for Your Total Prosperity." Rosario noted that he got only a "30-cent advance" for his book compared to Osteen's $13 million but "it's a start."

The Vatican’s top official on relations with non-Catholic Christians has called upon the Catholic Church to critically self-examine itself in response to the “exponential” rise of Pentecostal movements. At a meeting of the world's Catholic cardinals, Cardinal Walter Kasper, who serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said “self-critical examination of conscience” was necessary for the church body. “We must not ask first what is wrong with the Pentecostals but ask what our pastoral failings are and come to a spiritual renewal," the ecumenical leader said Friday, according to Agence France Presse. It is believed that...

A senior Vatican cardinal told a gathering of the world's top prelates Friday that the Roman Catholic Church had to examine what it is doing wrong in the battle for souls who are leaving the church to join Pentecostal and other evangelical groups.Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Vatican's office for relations with other Christians, told a meeting of more than 100 cardinals that the church must undergo a "self-critical pastoral examination of conscience" to confront the "exponential" rise of Pentecostal movements."We shouldn't begin by asking ourselves what is wrong with the Pentecostals, but what our own pastoral shortcomings are,"...

On today’s broadcast of his television show The 700 Club, Robertson stated that “God revealed� to him that he was an “idiot.� This surprising disclosure came during the show’s segment entitled “Bring It On,� during which viewers submit questions to Robertson for advice. Near the end of the segment, the following question was read to Robertson, “I have watched your show for years, and I have read most of your books. I respect you highly as a man of God, but lately my pastor has been preaching about the Old Testament prophets and how a true prophet is known by...

INN News Exclusive Interview with Benny Hinn Interviewed by INN Correspondent Joseph Knoll Transcript created September 6, 2007 Knoll: Pastor Hinn, I want to thank you so much for joining with us today. I know many listeners will appreciate that fact that you are willing to participate in this intimate and candid interview. Hinn: You are welcome Joe. I’m glad to be here. I have nothing to hide. I am a servant of the living God. He is the only one I answer to. Knoll: That’s interesting that you say you have nothing to hide. Isn’t it true that you...

Washington DC, Nov 8, 2007 / 11:29 am (CNA).- A top Republican on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is investigating the finances of televangelist preachers after allegations of corruption, the Associated Press reports. The investigation by Senator Church Grassley of Iowa is a response to reports of extravagant spending by preachers, whose purchases include Rolls Royces and a $30,000 conference table. Senator Grassley said in a statement he was acting on complaints from the public and news coverage of the organizations, which enjoy tax exemptions. Those under scrutiny include faith healer Benny Hinn, Georgia megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar, and one...

The following story of my conversion, "His Open Arms Welcomed Me," is the first chapter of the bestseller Surprised by Truth, edited by Patrick Madrid (Basilica, 1994). "His Open Arms Welcomed Me" Paul Thigpen I was quite young the first time I saw him, so I don't remember where it happened. But I do remember being terrified by the sight: that tortured man, thorn-crowned, blood-bathed, forsaken. The sculptor had spared no crease of agony; the painter, no crimson stroke. He was a nightmare in wood. Yet I was strangely drawn to him as well. His open arms welcomed me; his...

END TIMES PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES OF ISAIAH.—CHARISMATIC, PENTECOSTAL, DISPENSATIONALIST CAUCUS THREAD.   This is posted for hopefully a mutually beneficial iron sharpening iron dialogue, discussion amongst the above interest groups. We must avoid throwing rocks at others to protect the decorum and rights of a caucus thread.  We must police ourselves on that score first and foremost. I will ask for any post crossing that line to be removed promptly. Please spare us the hassle.   Lurkers are certainly welcome to ask questions in the thread or VIA FREEPMAIL. Keeping in mind the rules of a caucus thread, please feel...

How to determine when Joel Osteen is speaking heresy:

*Cited as the orignal source on linked website Today is not uncommon to hear of a relative or friend who has left the Church for a non-sectarian Bible fellowship. A generation ago, such accounts were unheard of. Nor was there any mention of Fundamentalist, Pentecostal and Evangelical groups. We were only aware of only mainline Protestant denominations like the Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, etc.; and the non-Christian sects like the Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons -Arians too, but these were all in the background. Now, numerous non-denominational, non-sectarian, fellowship have mushroomed all over and parishes are losing members to...

This article is a part of a collection of essays written recently by Dr. Horton after his interview on 60 Minutes which aired on October 14, 2007. "Name it, claim it"; the "health-and-wealth" or "prosperity gospel" : these are nicknames for a heresy that in many respects is only an extreme version of perhaps the most typical focus of American Christianity today more generally. Basically, God is there for you and your happiness. He has some rules and principles for getting what you want out of life and if you follow them, you can have what you want. Just “declare...

In August, leaders at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas, “cancelled a memorial service for a Navy veteran shortly before it was to start because the deceased was gay.” That is how the event was described by the Associated Press. The report ignited a firestorm of bad press for the church with many accusing the congregation of homophobia. Initially, High Point Church had volunteered to host the funeral because the dead man was the relative of a church employee. However, the church withdrew the offer when the family asked that a choir of homosexual men (Turtle Creek Chorale) perform at...

Reviews are beginning to appear for Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis, and they are renewing an age-old question among fans of Schulz: What did Schulz believe about God? Newsweek deals with the question in this paragraph: The portrait of the artist as flawed human being has become a cliche, and Michaelis admirably steers clear of it. What he gives us instead is both a dynamic character study and a penetrating literary analysis. For the first, he dispels the myth of “Saint Charles,� recounting — with great sympathy, considering — how a father who created the best-known cartoon...

When I was in the eleventh grade I decided to study Latin. I don’t remember what it was that compelled me to study the language, but I suspect it had something to do with the small class size. Where most classes in my high school had twenty five or thirty students, Latin usually had only seven or eight. And so it was that for a year I studied Latin. The teacher, Dr. Helder, quickly became my favorite teacher and grade eleven Latin stands out as my favorite class in all my years of high school. Dr. Helder was faced with...

October 14, 2007 Commentary: "Faith & The Gospel" Welcome to another broadcast of the White Horse Inn. Joel Osteen in his bestselling book Your Best Life Now, Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential writes, "Don't sit back passively, hey I'm just looking out for you own happiness when I say, "You do your part and God will do his. Sure we have our faults, but the good news is God loves us anyway." Instead of accepting God's just verdict on our own righteousness and fleeing to Christ for justification Osteen counsels readers to just reject guilt and condemnation...

Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, removed a senior as student ministries director because of theological views that some at the college called "hyper-dispensational." "The matters of concern raised were viewed as being potentially divisive and not accurately representing the theological interpretation of Northwestern College," said an August e-mail announcing Josh Strelecki's removal. Strelecki holds to three controversial beliefs: that the book of James was written for Israel and not for the church; that the church started with Paul and not at Pentecost; and that Israel was saved by faith and works, not by faith alone. Dean Paulson, Northwestern's director...

Members of Gethsemane Pentecostal Church of Kansas City crowded around their new pastor, Sergio Martinez, at Columbia First Assembly of God to lay their hands on him in prayer for the success of his new Hispanic ministry in Columbia - the church’s fifth plant in the state in 21 years. Martinez, 27, left the crowd wiping tears from his eyes. Originally from Juarez, Mexico, Martinez moved to Kansas City three years ago specifically to become a Pentecostal minister, he said. Martinez started his Hispanic congregation this summer, and Columbia First Assembly of God is hosting them. So far he has...

MARIPOSA -- This is a mountain town where there's a Bible verse painted over a pizza-parlor door and a local politician keeps a cardboard cutout of John Wayne holding a Winchester rifle in his office as proof of fealty to the NRA. But a proposal to bring "Paintball for Jesus" to public land has some people riled. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm missing something in my upbringing as a Methodist, but Paintball for Jesus? God help us all. Seriously, this teaches bad habits of shooting each other," said Mariposa County Supervisor Brad Aborn, 71, the John Wayne fan who is a...

Juanita Bynum's story may read like soap opera, but her travails are a reminder of the longtime magnetism between celebrity Pentecostal preachers and scandal. The 48-year-old regular on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) made her reputation with a sermon renouncing pre-marital sex to search for a holy partner. She appeared to find one in a minister named Thomas Weeks III, wed him in a $1 million on-air ceremony, and together they went out to preach and teach the perfect Christian marriage. Then, in August she accused him of badly beating her in a parking lot (he has been charged, but...

A few Scriptures and some Quix commentary . . .  Keeping in mind . . .  THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW [FOLLOW WHO?] THOSE WHO BELIEVE . . . cast out demons . . . speak with other tongues . . . etc.  AND . . . by reasonable extrapolation: John 20:22-23 (The Message)The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson 22-23Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with...

"in the defense and confirmation of the gospel" (Phil. 1:7). As you go to gather with the saints this day, aren't you thankful that despite all the voices that cry out "you can't know the gospel! It is too difficult, too obscure!" that we do, in fact, possess the life-changing truth that God has saved in Jesus Christ, and that we can have peace with Him through faith in Christ alone? John promised that the truth would abide in us and be with us forever (2 John 2), and the continued progress of the gospel in our world today is...

In the past three years, Michael Boldea, Jr., has received the following five dreams: +* +* +* One of Five [1/5] April 30, 2004 God’s word will be “An Anchor In The Storm” John 7:37-38, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” It had been a busy four months. Geno and myself had been on the road since the beginning of...

The new morality born a generation ago is still not allowed into the circle of conservative biblical Christianity. This has driven some of it’s proponents to take another approach. Under the auspices of PC and tolerance the new morality crowd has developed a new theology. It is a theology drawn from what the Bible does not say.

Internet talk show host Reuben Armstrong announced he will file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a faith-based broadcast portal for dropping his show over a controversial book he authored. StreamingFaith.com, used by churches to broadcast their programs online, removed Armstrong's show earlier this month from the website because the talk show host "slandered a few of our beloved partners," Armstrong quoted Streaming Faith managers as saying. Armstrong's self-published Snakes in the Pulpit blasts four prominent megachurch pastors who preach what critics call the "prosperity gospel," alleging that they are "false prophets." "These four pastors – Bishop T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen,...

Back in June, USA Today ran an article [(http://www.usatoday.com/news/2007-06-24-ex-catholics_N.htm)] which questioned official U.S. membership numbers given by the Roman Catholic Church. According to the 2007 Official Catholic Directory, there are 64 million Catholics in the United States. As the article notes, however, this is likely an inflated number due to the way that Rome determines membership statistics. The numbers do not adequately account for members who are double-counted, die or just drift off into who-knows-what. If you were baptized Roman Catholic, then you are most likely still on the list; and I've met many ex-Catholics in the evangelical world. I'm...

The Assemblies of God has launched a campaign to double the denomination's current church plant rate in the United States. The campaign, called MX9, was unveiled during the denomination's General Council held recently in Indianapolis. The initiative calls networking the denomination's resources with the goal of seeing 1,000 new churches planted, or committed to be planted, by August 2009. So far, the denomination has received pledges to start more than 600 churches. According to the MX9 website, over the past four decades the AOG has planted a cumulative average of 267 churches per year -- and more than 18,000 communities...