Volume One, Issue Four
3/11/98
Greetings from Guam in the name of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
THE USUAL STUFF
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THE FEATURE ARTICLE
The newsletter article this month is by Jeff Spencer from the “Quarterly Journal of The Irenaeus Foundation; Volume 3, Issue 1: Winter 1998. This article details the errors of the Third Wave very well. For those of you new to this newsletter, we use the term “Third Wave” as coined by C. Peter Wagner, one of the architects of the new counterfeit revival movement. The Third Wave movement covers all the linked movements of Word-Faith out of RHEMA, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, The Vineyard, Rodney Howard-Browne, Randy Clark, Rick Joyner, the Kansas City Prophets, the Toronto “Blessing” churches and many false teachers regularly televised on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Also included is the Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God heresy mixed with the Toronto “Blessing” represented in and the Brownsville A/G of Pensacola clones. Since these people are all still hanging out together at conferences worldwide and inviting each other to speak in their own churches, we can see that many of the tenants of the Third Wave are becoming common among those who spend much of their time trying to get more of the false anointing. False teaching, false doctrine, a false gospel, and a false anointing go hand in hand.
This article zooms in on the Brownsville A/G phenomenon to see if this movement is within the parameters of Christian orthodoxy. As you will read, it fails on many counts. Please do not allow people who follow the Third Wave movement to “leaven” your church or organization. It is their goal to get everyone to experience the false anointing and to come under the false teaching of that movement. Don’t be fooled by the new “tolerance” mongers out there ... by that I mean Christians who have been too heavily influenced by New Age secular concepts such as “my truth may not be your truth, so don’t judge me” or “if it isn’t a good thing, it will fade away”. This article points out, yet again, the absolute command of God to test the spirits, use discernment, and remain in sound doctrine ... all found in the Word of God.
This is a two-part article that I am attaching to this newsletter as two HTML files. If you are running Netscape 3.0+ or Internet Explorer 3.0+ the articles should appear at the bottom of this paragraph. If not, then you can save them to your hard drive and read them using an HTML editor.
In His hands,
DITC
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COUNTERFEIT REVIVAL: THE DECEPTION OF THE ELECT (Part One)
By: Jeff Spencer
Introduction. As an apologist, I find myself dealing with Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and Brownsville Assembly of God and their manifestations more than any other issue. I am, however, a bit surprised by the staggering popularity of this “revival.” With the problems of today’s evangelical church, such as the biblical illiteracy, its high emphasis on subjective experience, and its theological pragmatism (i.e., “if it gets good results and if it feels good, it must be true”), it is no wonder this “revival” is spreading throughout evangelicalism. Many people I know have embraced, to one extent or another, this “revival” as a movement of God.
This is the reason that I am writing about the “revival.” My thoughts will be presented in two parts. Part One, contained in this issue, will deal with biblical foundations that explain why such an article, one calling the “revival” into question, must be written. It is because the doctrines and the attending manifestations of this “revival” fall far outside the walls of Christianity, and thus, beg to be answered. Part Two, contained in the next issue, will deal directly with the false teachings of the “revival” leaders, such as the false Jesus, the false spirit, and the false gospel.
Part One. A church that does not love and seek truth will not stay in truth for long. Blaise Pascal, in Pensees, correctly stated, “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” And if the truth was so obscured in Pascal’s time, it is certainly more obscured in present times. Truth is simply not a concern for many believers today, who are eagerly searching for an experience-and apparently any experience will do. This is evidenced by the willingness of the evangelical church to welcome the teachings and manifestations of Brownsville Assembly of God. Sincere, Bible-believing people have been deceived by BAG’s false doctrines which are accompanied by occultic spiritual manifestations that have slithered into the Church disguised as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:4, 14).
Even a brief examination of this “revival” reveals Christianity is being distorted by false teachers. Many who name the name of Jesus are falling away from the Faith into error. Jesus prophesied this when He said, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). And, yes, this “revival” preaches false christs-from the false christ of Rodney Howard-Brown, who says, “Nothing Jesus did was because He was the Son of God. The Bible says He laid aside His royal robes of deity and when He walked the earth He did so as a prophet under the Abrahamic Covenant,” to the New Age occultic christ that is preached by the very man who prophesied the Pensacola “revival” and wrote the forward to a book by Pastor John Kilpatrick, Paul/David Yonggi Cho, who teaches, “There is a reason to use the power of the spoken word: through it you create and release the presence of Jesus Christ. . . Jesus is bound to what you speak forth. . . You create the presence of Jesus with your mouth. . .He is bound by your lips and your words.” Likewise, there is no shortage of false prophets who dispense a plethora of manifestations-roaring, barking, being pinned to the floor, uncontrollable shaking, laughing, etc., to the converted and the curious alike. Sadly, many are falling into this end-time deception due to experiencing one of these manifestations (i.e., “something spiritual happened to me, therefore, it is from God.”) or seeing changed lives (i.e., “Bill used to be a wild guy, but since he went to Pensacola, he sure is changed. Therefore, God is really moving there.”). Neither of these are valid reasons to believe God is behind the “revival” manifestations because the same thing happens in the cults and world religions-people are changed through subjective spiritual experience.
God has given us the guns to battle false teachings-His Word, which is “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). Through His Word, God has given us the commands to: 1) teach sound doctrine, 2) test all things, and 3) defend the Faith. By doing these three things, we can keep the Faith pure from the filth of false doctrine, and pass the true Faith down to those that come behind us (as opposed to the false faith that is being passed down in this “revival”). We now look at these three commands, our biblical foundation for doing apologetics, in more detail.
“Teach Sound Doctrine.” Sound doctrine is of vital importance to the health of the Church. If a man does not hold to sound doctrine, he is not qualified to be in leadership over others. One of the main jobs, if not THE main job of the elder is to preserve and teach sound doctrine. The New Testament is full of verses to this effect. For example, Paul commands that leadership must hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). Contradict what? Sound doctrine! The leader must confront false doctrine with sound doctrine. Also, Paul tells Timothy that a good minister of Christ ensures the church is “nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6). Sound doctrine keeps the Church healthy. In fact, the Greek word for “sound” literally means “healthy.” Also, Paul instructs the Church to honor worthy elders, “especially those who labor in the word and doctrine” (1 Tim. 5:17). Paul again proclaims the importance of sound doctrine when he commands Timothy, “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. . . Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:13,16). Here, Paul claims sound doctrine can “save” someone. Save from what? In context, sound doctrine will save one from the deceiving spirits, doctrines of demons, and apostasy which Paul describes a few verses earlier (4:1ff). And sound doctrine can save the church from the deceiving spirits, doctrines of demons, and apostasy perpetuated by this modern “revival.”
Any church which devotes itself to the teaching of sound doctrine is an obedient church. Yet, many churches today are rejecting the teaching of sound doctrine and embracing a more appealing curriculum, such as studies done by psychologists, evangelical “exorcists,” or financial experts. In a day when these books are held equal to or even greater than the Bible, it is no wonder believers are more interested in having a subjective encounter with the spirit world than being taught in the Holy Word by the Spirit of God. We, right this moment, have the most biblically apathetic church in history. People are losing the ability to discern right from wrong and don’t even know it because psychologists have their self-esteem soaring and Kilpatrick and Hill have them shaking, howling, and staggering around the altar, encountering the occultic spirit that is being passed on in Brownsville. The Word of God centered service has taken a back seat to a self-aggrandizing, self-centered “Hey-look-at-what’s-happening-to-me” form of Christianity.
Paul could have been looking directly at the Church of the 1990’s as he prophesied a time when the church would not tolerate sound doctrine or those who teach it. In 2 Tim. 4:3-4, Paul says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” I cannot think of any better description of today’s church. Present-day pulpiteers rarely teach objective doctrinal truth obtained from deep studies of the Word. Rather, the trend is to proclaim light-hearted Christian truisms through anecdote-centered, feel-good sermonettes. Because of recent aggressive movements towards ecumenical acceptance of people despite major doctrinal differences, the pulpit is becoming a place, not for the broadcasting of absolute truth, but for the promotion of a watered-down, non-offensive form of the Christian Faith that is barely distinguishable from the cults such as Mormonism, Oneness Pentecostalism, or even the faith promoted by the gurus of the eastern pantheistic religions and its western counterpart, the New Age Movement.
Amazingly, the very things that move the Church into spiritual maturity and a deeper relationship with God, such as good theology, sound doctrine, and reason are now being touted as hindrances to one’s relationship with God. The Church is being told by people like Rodney Howard-Brown and Steve Hill to “turn off your mind and let the Spirit do as He pleases.” Beloved, that is not Christ’s message, that is Buddha’s message-Eastern mysticism and New Age occultism. We Christians should always be using our minds to serve and please the LORD. We should love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind (Matt. 22:37). God, by His very nature, is a rational Being who has created man in His image as a rational being. Therefore, to devalue rationality is to devalue God. If one turns off his mind, he has no defense against demonic influences that are so prevalent in these “revivals.” Yet, Christians ignorantly obey the “revival’s” occultic soothsayers, thus blindly embrace the same spirits and spiritual experiences that are epidemic among the cults and world religions, like shaking, roaring, barking, and laughing. Thus, the “revival’s” occultic gospel is spreading into church after church because turned-off minds cannot objectively analyze the teaching of the “revival” leaders and their supporters who are “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).
The Church is moving farther away from the Faith once-for-all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) and is rapidly becoming impossible to distinguish from the cults and occult. The only way the Church is to regain spiritual health and move towards maturity in Christ is to return to the Christ of the Bible and the Christian Faith as revealed in the Word. Sound doctrine is of vital importance.
“Test All Things.” Now that we have established the importance of sound doctrine, we see the command to test all teaching by sound doctrine. John warns, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits (or teachings), whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn. 4:1). Paul concurs, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thes. 5:21-22). Well, how do we test teachings brought into the Church? Do we test doctrinal truth by prayer, a feeling, an inner witness, or a spiritual manifestation that says it is true? Well, the Mormons would be delighted if we agreed to do that. They see these things as adequate tests for truth. In fact, when confronted with undeniable truths that prove the Mormon position wrong, every Mormon missionary with whom I have spoken retreats to subjective tests for truth by saying something like this: “Well, what you have shown me makes a lot of sense, but I prayed about my Faith and the Holy Spirit told me in my heart that it is true.” Likewise, those involved with the “revival” would be delighted if subjective experience was the only test for truth. In fact, the most common proofs used to prove the “revival” manifestations are from God are subjective proofs. Believers are commonly heard saying such things as, “God made me shake all through the service-I know it was God because my spirit bears witness with it.” Is this how we discern truth as Christians? Not at all. We do not test doctrinal truth by praying about it, listening to “still small voices,” or following our feelings. Almost every cult was started by someone who used these “signs” as tests for truth. Christians should never do this because the Bible does not teach us to listen to a “still, small voice,” pray about truth, or follow our feelings to find truth. This is because God has given an objective standard by which we test truth-His Word. For example, I don’t pray about how much gas is in my car when I have the objective measurement, the gas gauge, right in front of my eyes. In the same manner, one does not pray about truth when one has the objective measurement, the inerrant Word of God, which is Truth (Jn. 14:6, 17:17). If someone makes a truth claim, we don’t imitate the Mormon and pray about whether it is true-we rush to the Scripture and see if the claim stands up to the Word of God. Yet, more and more believers are rejecting this objective test and embracing the “revival” because it feels good, or it “bears witness to their spirit,” or “God told me in my heart that it is true revival.” When we reject the objective Word of God and begin relying on subjective inner feelings, experiences, or voices to adjudicate truth from error, we have jettisoned the Christian Faith and are dangerously walking in the kingdom of the cults.
The New Testament teaches that many false prophets will infiltrate the church. Jesus, in Matthew 7, cautions believers to “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” In the context of this passage, their “fruits” are their false teachings. The apostle Peter warns, “There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways” (2 Pet. 2:1-2). Paul says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). This is exactly what is happening in this “revival.” The leaders and supporters who desire to take “revival” from Pensacola back to their home churches are escorting the wolf right into the sheep’s pen. And one day, these shepherds will be horrified to find that the only member left in their flock is a well-fed wolf. Therefore, the testing of all things is quite literally a matter of life and death.
“Defend the Faith.” Based on the above facts that 1) we are commanded to teach sound doctrine, and 2) we are commanded to test all things because the world is full of false teachers, we are thus commanded to “defend the Faith.” Jude 3 commands Christians “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once-for-all delivered to the saints.” Furthermore, 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” In Acts 17, the apostle Paul defended the Faith against unbelieving philosophers. Jesus defended the Faith before the Pharisees. And in the same way, we today are not to sit idly by while the church is drifting farther and farther away from the teaching that defines the Christian Church as the Christian Church. We are being invaded by the New Age, by the cults, by the atheists, and now by Christians who have fallen into serious occultic error and are intent on spreading it like a cancer throughout the Church. Moreover, many leaders are letting it happen because they have been indoctrinated by our anti-Christian societal standards which say above all things we must be tolerant. In fact the one great commandment of our society is “Thou must be tolerant,” of all groups because “nobody has a corner on the market of truth.” Incredibly, the evangelical church has bought into this lie.
The Church is now slipping into a mindset which believes the confrontation of doctrinal error is ultimately an act of intolerance and bigotry. Therefore, in the name of “peace” and “unity,” false teaching is tolerated. And when untruth is tolerated, it won’t be long until it is embraced. As a result of our ‘please-don’t-make-waves’ mindset, the Church is filled with leaders and laity who are being “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). Most believers are failing to defend the Faith because they are being taught that the correcting of doctrinal error disrupts the “unity” and being critical is “unloving.” However, in most instances, being critical and correcting error is the most peace-making, unifying, and loving thing one can do! Jesus did it (Matt. 23), Paul did it (2 Tim. 2:17-18, Acts 17, etc.), and James taught that it could save a believer’s life (Jas. 5:19). We should follow the example of our Lord and His apostles and defend the Faith. Peace, Unity, Love, and Truth demand it. Besides, God commands it.
I believe the discernment of the Church has deteriorated to the point that many do not even notice that a significant portion of the evangelical church is deviating far from the historic Christian Faith. So, it is no surprise that little is being said about evangelicals being pinned to the ground for hours, being uncontrollably shaken like a rag-doll, roaring like a lion, howling like a wolf, barking like a dog, laughing at the preaching of the Word-and then standing up to say, “Bless you Jesus for giving me that experience.” Let me unequivocally state that Jesus has nothing to do with such behavior. But as long as the people are having a good time, no one is saying much at all, the roaring, howling, shaking, and laughing continues, and the Church CEOs are well pleased because more people means more money, which means higher salaries, the envy of peers, job security, and a more impressive resumé. After all, business is business, right?
Regrettably, “Why can’t we all just get along?” continues to be the battle cry of many evangelical leaders today. Under the feigned pretense of love for others and unity in the Body, they refuse to wage war with the enemy. And when our leadership cannot even point, aim, and fire the guns at the enemy, then us common folk certainly will not be able to fight off the invading enemy who is prowling like a lion seeking whom he may destroy. There is a life and death battle raging all around us, and our generals are asleep in their tents! The lion and his wolves are getting fat, beloved.
Conclusion of Part One. The Church today, for the most part, simply cannot discern Living Water from deadly poison. It is no wonder that Jesus asked in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Believers, let me assure you that we are commanded to defend the Faith-and if we do not, we will stand before Jesus one day and answer for it (2 Cor. 5:10-11). Those desiring the easy route, letting those in error continue in error even if it overthrows the faith of some (2 Tim. 2:18), will be judged very strictly (James 3:1). Beloved, get serious about your high calling from God, which is teaching sound doctrine, testing all things, and defending the Faith.
Sadly, the leaders of the false “revival,” along with believers who visit Brownsville and happily stagger back to their home churches eager to spread the occultic gospel, are now in the process of overthrowing the faith of millions. These perpetrators must be called to repentance. This brings us to the task at hand-Defending the Faith against specific claims of “revival” in the Brownsville Assembly of God. Does it line up with Scripture? Absolutely not. I will show you why in the next issue.
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BROWNSVILLE REVIVAL: THE DECEPTION OF THE ELECT (Part Two)
By: Jeff Spencer
From the “Quarterly Journal of The Irenaeus Foundation; Volume 3, Issue
1: Winter 1998
Web Site: The Irenaeus Foundation Introduction
In the last issue of the journal, I explored three biblical imperatives that help us to understand and address the “revival” centers around the world such as Brownsville Assembly of God (BAG) and Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. Part One of this series demonstrated three things. First, Christians are commanded to labor in sound doctrine in order to keep pure the teachings of the Christian Faith (Titus 1:9; 1 Tim. 4:13, 16). Second, Christians are commanded to “test all things” (1 Thess. 5:21-22). When someone brings a teaching into the church, we should test that teaching against the Word of God, the objective source of truth. Third, Christians are commanded to defend the Faith (Jude 3; 1 Pet. 3:15). When one’s teaching or experiential claim does not line up with God’s Word, we are commanded, “by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).
Many have set out to discredit and debunk this “revival” as a move of God, focusing on the unusual “manifestations” such as laughing, shaking, and temporary paralysis. I contend, however, that these manifestations should not be the main focus of the critique. The major problem with Brownsville is the false doctrine. Just as the presence of a disease brings forth certain symptoms in the body, the false doctrine brings forth the “revival” manifestations, the barking, roaring, shaking, etc., which are merely the symptoms of the disease. Thus, the real problem that needs to be treated is the false doctrine. This, Part Two of the series, deals directly with BAG’s false teachings, gleaned from their many books, audio tapes, video tapes, television appearances, my visit to the “revival,” and other sources. What you are about to read is definitive evidence that this “revival” wildly deviates from the Scripture and departs from the Christian Faith in almost every point of importance. They preach a false Jesus. They preach and pass on a false spirit. They preach a false gospel.They blatantly practice occultism disguised as Christianity. St. Paul warned of this in 2 Corinthians 11:4, when he said, “4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted; you may well put up with it!” All this is clearly documented below. The False Jesus of Brownsville
This “revival” movement has grown directly out of the bizarre doctrines and antics found in the Word-Faith Cult. Word-Faith preachers such as Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard-Browne, and Benny Hinn are well known for the false doctrine and antics that they inspire in their “revival” services. Moreover, the Jesus that is preached by the Word-Faith Cult is unquestionably a false Jesus, and the “revival” is inexorably anchored to the Word-Faith Cult. For instance, Rodney Howard-Browne is the preacher responsible for the “Laughing Revival,” which became famous in Toronto. Subsequently, it was taken from Toronto to Brownsville by the leadership of the Brownsville Assembly of God. Rodney Howard-Browne teaches a Jesus that was not God while here on earth. In his book, The Touch of God, Howard-Browne says, “Nothing Jesus did was because He was the Son of God. The Bible says He laid aside His royal robes of deity and when He walked the earth He did so as a prophet under the Abrahamic Covenant.”1 This statement is a denial of the deity of Christ, and thus, Howard-Browne teaches “another Jesus.”
In the same fashion, Brownsville pastor John Kilpatrick denies the deity of Christ, and thus, preaches “another Jesus.” In his book, When the Heavens Are Brass, Kilpatrick denies the deity of Christ in a manner similar to Howard-Browne. Speaking of Jesus’ miracles, Kilpatrick contends that believers should “walk as Jesus walked-and remember, He did it all as a man who did not pull from any source other than those that are available to man.”2 In other words, the miracles Jesus did was because He was merely a man anointed by the Holy Spirit, or “an anointed man.”3 This is a veiled claim that Jesus, while on earth, was not fully God-He was missing some aspects of deity. However, Kilpatrick makes this claim in a manner that is not so veiled. He teaches that Jesus “did not move in omnipotence on the earth.”4 In other words, Jesus was not all powerful when He was on earth. Next, Kilpatrick claims that Jesus “did not move in omniscience on earth. Had Jesus been omniscient, He would have known when He was coming back.”5 Finally, Kilpatrick strips Jesus of His deity by claiming, “Jesus was not omnipresent on earth. . . . Jesus could be only in one place at a time because He was not omnipresent.”6
Kilpatrick’s and Howard-Browne’s Jesus is a false Jesus for the following reasons. First, Jesus, when He took on flesh, was 100% God and 100% man. Jesus taking on flesh was not a subtraction from His Deity, but an addition of a human nature to the Divine Person. He is two natures, a divine nature and a human nature present within one person. He did not become less-than-God as Kilpatrick and Howard-Browne suggest. The infinite, eternal, unchanging divine Person, without changing or giving up any attribute, took on a new nature, a human nature, so Jesus is two complete natures in one person. Second, at no time did Jesus give up any of His divine attributes. The subtraction of even one of His divine attributes would mean that Jesus was not God. This is because the divine attributes of God “are essential characteristics of His being. Without these qualities God would not be what He is—God.”7 In other words, without each and every divine attribute, God would not be God. God minus even one divine attribute equals non-God. Apologist Norman Geisler explains that, “God is by his very nature an absolutely perfect being. If there were any perfection that he lacked, then he would not be God.”8 Third, Jesus submitted to a voluntary non-use of His divine attributes while He was on earth. He did not give them up. Thus, when He did not know the time of His second coming, He was speaking as a man, voluntarily not using His omniscience. He did, however, use His divine attributes at times, but never to benefit Himself. For instance, the miracles He performed were never to make His life as a man easier, but to benefit others. In conclusion, since the Jesus of Kilpatrick and Howard-Browne gave up divine attributes, then the Jesus of Brownsville is not God. Kilpatrick’s and Browne’s problem stems from the fact that they are altogether mistaken when they assert that God’s attributes can be divorced from His being and God still be God. The False Spirit of Brownsville
Brownsville not only preaches a false Jesus, they preach and impart a “different spirit” than the Holy Spirit. The spirit that is being imparted at Brownsville is localized, transferable, and imparted through various occultic techniques, not to mention that it causes un-Christlike behavior, such as barking, roaring, vomiting, shaking, and paralysis.
The spirit is localized and transferable. The spirit that is being preached in this revival is contained in one place-Brownsville. Therefore, in order to encounter that spirit, one must visit the “power center” where the spirit is in operation. To receive the spirit of Brownsville, one must go to Brownsville. Thus, Steve Hill can be heard touting the “value of a pilgrimage” in order to “receive a fresh touch from God.”9 In other words, you must travel to the power center where the spirit is manifesting if you want the spirit imparted to you.
However, the localized spirit does not necessarily remain localized. Once one visits the power center and receives the spirit, one can then take that spirit back to his own congregation and start another power center. Steve Hill claims “People from all over the world have been touched by God’s Spirit, either as they come worship with us, or as they visit others who have been here.”10 Thus, the spirit is passed on exponentially from Hill to seekers, and from seekers to those in their home churches, much like one candle lights a second, then the second one lights a third, and so on. The point is that you cannot receive this spirit unless someone that has it gives it to you.
In contrast, the Holy Spirit of the Bible is omnipresent, or everywhere present. Moreover, He is all-powerful everywhere. In other words, the Holy Spirit is omnipotently omnipresent and omnipresently omnipotent. There are no “power centers” that one must visit in order to encounter the Holy Spirit. In fact, the whole notion that the Spirit is more powerful in one place, thus you have to make a pilgrimage in order to encounter the spirit is not Christianity, but occultism. Furthermore, by claiming that the power is localized, Brownsville denies both the omnipresence and omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.
The spirit is received through various “techniques.” The spirit of Brownsville is passed on from one to another by various techniques such as touch, repetition of words, or turning off the mind and giving one’s self over to the spirit.
One technique for imparting the Brownsville spirit is through touch. Members of the prayer team at Brownsville touch those who have responded to the altar call and shout, “More, Lord!” This imparts the spirit of the “revival” onto the seeker. Video after video shows Steve Hill enthusiastically moving from one seeker to another at the BAG altar touching forehead after forehead yelling, “More, Lord!” The result is always the same-the spirit is imparted and it causes seekers to shake, laugh, roar, fall out, etc.
This technique, touching one in order to impart a spirit or power, is very common in New Age circles and their eastern counterparts. For instance, Swami Baba Muktananda imparted “guru’s grace” to followers through touching foreheads. This Kundalini yoga technique is called “shaktipat,” and it produces various “physical and emotional awakenings” such as “laughing, roaring, barking, hissing, crying, shaking, etc.”11 American New Age guru Mark Griffin claims shakitipat is “the transmission of spiritual power (Shakti) from the Guru to the disciple; a spiritual awakening by grace.”12 Guru Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandasji, an expert on Kundalini yoga, says of shaktipat,
Another technique of great importance is Shaktipat, the transmission of energy. A powerful yogi can transmit energy to an aspirant and awaken the Kundalini [power in one’s body]. This is accomplished in one of four ways: by touch, gaze, sound or thought. The yogi may touch the disciple and transmit energy through physical contact, or gaze at the disciple and energy flows from the yogi’s eyes. The yogi may utter words which carry energy or, more subtly, energy can be transferred directly by the yogi’s thought or will.13
Surprisingly, this occultic transmission of power from the leader to the disciple, is being embraced by the Christian community and guru Steve Hill is being heralded as a modern-day prophet.
Another technique employed by Brownsville leaders to pass the spirit on to others is through the repetition of words. This causes the spirit to be passed on from those who have it to those who want it. This is exactly how Steve Hill claims he got saved. In his salvation testimony, Hill claims a Lutheran minister told him in order to be delivered from his atheistic, degenerate lifestyle, just repeat the name Jesus over and over. Hill complied, “The sound of that name again and again seemed to bring hope from nowhere. The confusion and fear faded slowly as I looked to the ceiling and began to utter, ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!’ A peace, a warmth such as I never felt before, flooded my body. This power rushed in like a river and took command of everything. I kept crying out His name, louder and louder: ‘Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!’ The more I said it, the greater was my deliverance.”14 Steve Hill repeated the name of Jesus over and over again, and then was overcome by a spiritual power.
What is the problem here? If Steve Hill is telling the truth about how he “got saved,” then he is not saved-unless you believe that salvation can come apart from believing the true Gospel and apart from the true Jesus Christ. The experience Hill described cannot be a salvation experience for several reasons. First, by his own admission, the “presentation” to atheist Hill never dealt with the person or work of Jesus Christ. Which Jesus was the Lutheran minister preaching to the atheist? Certainly not the Christian Jesus because the Christian Jesus is not received through the repetition of a word, even His name. Second, the gospel was never presented to the atheist Hill. The only thing that the preacher said to the atheist Hill was he needed to speak the name of Jesus over and over in order for his life to be changed. There was nothing mentioned about putting faith in Christ or believing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Third, Steve’s experience is exactly what happens in Hinduism, occultism, and the New Age. The repetition of a word over and over again is the New Age occultic technique called a mantra. When a mantra is repeated, an occultic, demonic power overcomes the speaker. This is exactly how Hill describes his conversion! So, the main man behind the Brownsville revival, if we take his testimony to be true, is not even a believer in the true Jesus, but an occultic Jesus, a demonic spirit, that overcame him while he was repeating a mantra over and over-and this same occultic spirit is imparted to people who visit Brownsville.
Hill is using the mantra technique, repeating “More, Lord!,” and “Fire! Fire! Fire!,” to pass on the spirit at the Brownsville “revival.” For instance, the Brownsville prayer team, the group that prays for people at Hill’s altar calls, is instructed to impart the spirit only by touch and the repetition of words. Dr. Herb Babcock, former prayer team member recounts, “While on the prayer team, we were instructed to NOT pray in Jesus’ name. We were told to NOT pray for the needs of people. The only thing we were to do was touch people on their forehead and say, “More, Lord!” and keep repeating that until there was an “impartation” of the spirit being promoted in these meetings.” Babcock continues, “If the person did not respond in a reasonable time, move on to someone else. Any deviation from the limited procedure would result in being removed from the prayer team, which did happen to a few individuals.”15 Dr. Babcock wisely left Brownsville Assembly of God over this issue. To forbid prayer in the name of Jesus is certainly against the Word of God, as is the practice of imparting “different spirits” through occultic techniques.
Yet, Steve Hill uses mantra to tap into or bring on power. This is not a Christian practice at all, but a technique used in eastern religions, New Age, and occultic groups. The mantras, such as “More, Lord,” or “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” are certainly Christian sounding words, but they have the same occultic goal as Hindu mantras “Om” or “Hare Krishna”-invoking a spirit and passing on the spirit from one person to the other. According to Harper’s Dictionary of Hinduism, “The mantra is a formula comprising words and sounds which possess magical or divine power.”16 Another occultist says, “Mantra is a form of words or sounds which are believed to have magical effect when uttered with intent.”17 And by uttering the words “More, Lord!,” or “Fire!,” over and over with the intent of imparting the spirit of Brownsville during altar calls, Steve Hill has unequivocally left the Christian Faith and is practicing full-blown occultism.
In addition, concerning mantras, any word will do-even “Christian” words such as “Jesus” or “Lord.” One occultist, Michael Balarama of the Bhaktivedanta Meditation Society, advises the use of a number of mantras. He says of the different mantras, “You can choose one that appeals to you. They are all effective. The Vedas say there is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation, nor intellectual adjustment”18 Remarkably, two of the mantras that are recommended by Balarama are, “Lord Jesus have mercy upon us,” and “Hail Mary mother of grace, blessed is thy name and the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”19 Thus, in order to conjure the magical effect of the mantra, any word will do, even “Christian” words, such as “More, Lord!,” “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” This is proved by the fact that even occultists and eastern religions use the name of Jesus in mantras. Hence, even though the mantra technique is being used inside BAG, a Christian church, that does not make it any less occultic, even if the name “Jesus” is used.
Another technique used to pass on the spirit of Brownsville is to lead the congregation to turn off their minds, quit thinking, and let the spirit take over. The battle cry of the “revival” is “Turn off your mind and let the Spirit do what He pleases!” Rodney Howard-Browne instructs his audience to “tune out” by saying, “You can’t understand what God is doing in these meetings with an analytical mind. The only way you’re going to understand what God is doing is with your hearts.”20 In other words, don’t analyze, don’t think, just let your mind go and let God take control!
One clears the mind in order to come into union with God. The mind is seen as the enemy of true spirituality. Steve Hill instructed the crowd at Brownsville, “Now, let yourselves go. Don’t even think about what you are doing. Forget about those around you and what they are doing. Release your mind. Release your spirit and let the mighty river of the Holy Ghost take you wherever He wants you to go.”21 Notice the similarity of Hill command to the commands of several New Age/Hindu teachers,
Withdraw your mind from all created things (thinking about no thing). Such withdrawal of the mind is not the same as simply becoming unconscious, because there is a new focus of awareness. . . your mind will eventually become naturally quiet and still.22 You must achieve elimination of the mind, which is the arch obstacle in the spiritual path.23 Do not listen to your mind [but] . . . to my voice. . . . Give [your minds] to me . . . but it must be a complete handing over; no reservations; the mind is the source of delusion.24
In contrast, the God of the Bible is a rational, thinking God who demands His followers “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). To turn off the mind even for a moment or to fail to use it to the best of your ability at all times is to disobey God. The mind is an essential ingredient of the Christian life. The Christian grows in Christ-likeness primarily through the discipling of the mind. The Apostle Paul commands the church to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:1-2), so that one can prove the will of God. God desires His people to be a thinking people because He is the ultimate Rational Being. Truly, without our minds we are helpless to discern truth from error. That is exactly why so much error-a false Jesus, a false spirit, and a false Gospel-is being accepted by “revival” attendees. New Age occultism says “Out with the mind!” but Christianity says, “transform your mind!”
The point I have just made can be summed up as this: the leaders of Brownsville are using techniques from the occult, New Age, and eastern pantheistic religions to impart a demonic spirit to those that attend the “revival.” Whether it is by touch, mantra, or the emptying of the mind, the “revival” leaders are unquestionably practicing occultism, even though the practices and the spirits are identified by Christian names and titles (i.e., mantra = “persistent prayer”; emptying the mind = “letting God take over”; occultic spirit = “Holy Spirit”). To be sure, “revival” leaders are tapping into a power that yields desired results-lives are “changed”-but the power that is imparting the results is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible, but ultimately Satan himself. Thus, the power at Brownsville is not the Holy Spirit, but occultism through and through. Notice the uncanny resemblance between occultic practice and the “revival.”
| KUNDALINI | BROWNSVILLE | |
| IDENTICAL MANIFESTATION | "Kriyas"
Shaking, trembling, roaring, barking, weeping, laughing, paralysis, heat. |
"manifestation"
Shaking, trembling, roaring, barking, weeping, laughing, paralysis, feelings of heat or coldness. |
| IDENTICAL TECHNIQUES | "Shaktipat"
Transferred through touch, mantra, meditation. |
"Impartation"
Transferred through touch, repetitive prayer, emptying the mind. |
| IDENTICAL INSTRUMENTS | "Guru"
Transferred by a guru who is "on fire" (i.e., he has had someone impart the power to him.). |
"Anointed one"
Transferred by minister who has also been "touched" and received this "spirit" from someone else. |
| IDENTICAL RESULTS | "Transformation"
Surrendering to the power; inner peace; feelings of love; closeness to the deity; purification from doing evil; changed life. |
"A Changed Life"
Surrendering to the spirit; peace; feelings of love; cleansed; renewed commitment and intimacy with God; changed life |
The False Gospel of Brownsville
If the Gospel according to Brownsville is true, then salvation by faith alone through Christ alone is false. At BAG, the factor which determines your standing before God is how you live instead of how Jesus died to pay for your sins, past, present, and future. The “revival” is fueled by the preaching of a faith + works Gospel, in that one must clean up one’s act through repentance and then live a holy life for the remainder of one’s life if one wants to be with Jesus in glory. In order to have eternal life, Brownsville claims one must 1) turn from your sins, repent, clean up your life, 2) live a holy life from that day forward, 3) make a public confession of faith, 4) be baptized for cleansing. We will analyze the Gospel according to Brownsville in these four sections, not one of which is a part of the true Gospel.
To Be Saved, Clean Up Your Life. The Gospel according to Brownsville is one in which a person who wants a relationship with God must come to the altar and give up all known sin in their life. Then and only then will Jesus consider a relationship with you. This is clearly illustrated in Steve Hill’s sermon, “The Violence of Revival.” He says, “Since Jesus did His part, you must wage violent warfare against sin. If you want Jesus Christ to touch you and forgive you today, then you had better get violent about it. Get up and shake the devil off your lap.”26 Hill plainly presents salvation as something one must work for-we must “get violent” about the sin in our life or Jesus will not save us. In contrast, the Bible says we have no need to “get violent” about our sin in order to be saved, because Jesus got violent about sin in order that the world might be saved. He was tortured, crucified, and died on a criminal’s cross, thereby providing an atonement for our sin. We must simply trust in Him as the atonement for our sin. Since He dealt with our sin “once-for-all” we do not “deal” with our sin in order to be saved-we simply Trust Jesus. Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross, and to imply that we need to clean up our act or repent of sin in order to be saved is to deny the sufficiency of the atonement for sin that Christ made on the cross.
Hill lays out many conditions for salvation, but the basic thrust of Hill’s false Gospel is this-”God wants to set you free but you have to do your part.”27 For instance, in his sermon, “The Silence of God,” Hill lays out these conditions for salvation, “There is also a pardon for you, but only after you confess, repent, and submit your life to Him.”28 Another sermon, “The Rebel’s Reward,” gives another set of conditions, “If you don’t repent of your rebellion, if you fail to obey God and get right with Him, then your wicked heart won’t be cleansed.”29 Pastor John Kilpatrick also denotes similar false requirements for salvation, “Even harlots, thieves, backsliders, and little children can release Heaven’s incredible power [notice the New Age terminology] by repenting, obeying, and submitting to God.”30 So, Hill and Kilpatrick have said we must get violent about sin, do our part, repent, confess, submit your life, obey, and get right with God. I must ask, “What about placing our faith in Christ, Steve and John?” Whatever happened to the word “believe”? Was Christ’s work on the cross not enough?
Kilpatrick and Hill lay out so many conditions for salvation that they are without doubt preaching a works salvation. The one thing that is abundantly clear is that Kilpatrick and Hill are abundantly unclear on how one must get saved. In fact, in the many sermons of the “revival” that I have read or heard, I have never once heard them correctly explain the Gospel-Jesus did all the work for salvation on the cross, and all we must do to be saved is to simply believe, or trust, in Jesus (John 3:16). He worked, we trust in Him. Plainly, to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is just not enough for Brownsville leaders. Truly, I have not heard them mention it at all!
To Be Saved, Make a Public Confession of Faith. According to Brownsville, one’s salvation is real only if the cleaning up of one’s act is done in conjunction with a public confession of faith. Hill claims that one of the many steps to salvation is “Confess Him publicly as our Lord and Savior.”31 Similarly, in his sermon “Counterfeit Conversion,” Steve Hill states this very plainly, “I believe people need to come to Jesus Christ the same way he died for them on the cross-publicly, boldly, and in front of everybody. It has to be real. Anything less is going to be counterfeit. . . . I demand the real thing because Jesus deserves the real thing.”32 Thus, if someone does not make a public, bold confession of faith when they clean up their life, their conversion is counterfeit.
To Be Saved, Live a Holy Life Until the End. Not only must one turn from all sin and respond publicly to an altar call to be saved, the person must live a holy life until he dies if he wants to be in heaven with Jesus. In fact, if a Christian has any sin in his life, he is not saved. In a recent sermon given on the steps of the Governor’s Mansion in Montgomery, Alabama, Steve Hill yelled, “If there is sin in your life and you are calling yourself a Christian, change your name! You are a heathen-at best a backslider!”33 Consequently, the presence of sin means the absence of salvation. Brownsville evangelist Dick Reuben illustrates that salvation can be lost through sin in one’s life when he says, “We [at BAG] don’t differentiate between those that have never received Jesus and those [ex-Christians] who are backslidden, because, you see, there’s no difference between a backslider and one who’s never known Jesus. They’re both sinners on the way to hell. If you don’t think you can backslide and miss heaven, then you didn’t read the same book I’ve read.”34
Kilpatrick teaches the same thing, saying, “I’m not so sure that everyone who is in the Body of Christ will be in the Bride of Christ!”35 In fact, Kilpatrick claims that “The Lord said to me when I was in prayer, ‘Not everyone who is in My Body will be in My Bride.’”36 Thus, the deciding factor that determines whether or not one gets to heaven is not one’s trust in Jesus, but how one behaves. People can trust Jesus from here to eternity and never see heaven because they misbehave and allow sin into their life. Heaven is only for those with clean lives, and sinful behavior can separate you from God forever. This is entirely different than the God of the Bible who declares that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). Eternal is a free gift, and it is exactly that-eternal. We did no work to receive eternal life, and we can do nothing to lose it.
To Be Saved, Be Baptized For the Forgiveness of Sins. Steve Hill believes that “transformation . . . comes as a result of water baptism.”37 Remarkably, in the chapter about water baptism in The Pursuit of Revival, Steve Hill very clearly claims that cleansing of sin not only comes through cleaning up your life, living a holy life as a Christian, and public confession of faith, but cleansing also comes through water baptism. Hill claims, “When an individual encounters the living God, like Paul did on the road to Damascus, he or she is changed in no small way. And the lives of those around him are affected as well, especially by the cleansing of sin that comes through baptism.”38 Thus, Brownsville teaches that unless one is baptized, one cannot be cleansed of sin. Simply trusting in Jesus and the work He did on the cross is not enough.
The Gospel according to Brownsville is undeniably a false Gospel. And a false Gospel yields a false salvation. Therefore, even though BAG claims that 120,000 souls have been saved, this claim must be categorically rejected entirely on the basis that the 120,000 people have not responded to the true Gospel, the true Spirit, or the true Jesus. They have responded to a false Jesus, a false spirit, and a false Gospel-something that Scripture warns about over and over again (cf. Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Cor. 11:4; Matt. 24:23-24; 2 Pet. 2:1). Tragically, people will spend eternity separated from God because of the “revival” that is being held night after night in Brownsville, Florida. Conclusion: Brownsville-Apostasy from the Faith
The Bible does not speak of a great end-times revival, but of a great end-times apostasy of believers. Could these “revival” movements be that great end-times falling away from the Faith? I believe it very well could be. The Bible declares that in the end times, there will be a great falling away from the Faith. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Furthermore, speaking of the last days in his last epistle, Paul states, “For the time will come when they [the church] will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4). It is undeniable that there will be a great deception among true believers.
What would such a deception look like? It certainly will not be something very obvious. Satan is not going to waltz into the church on Sunday morning and say, “OK everybody! Listen up! I’m Satan and this is the great apostasy, so get in line and follow me out the door and away from the Faith.” No, he is much more clever. His end times deception will be through a subtle twisting of biblical Christianity, mixing biblical truth with demonic error. So close is this mixture, in fact, that many believe it to be biblical Christianity, and thus, fall away from the true Faith. Because of his disguise as an “angel of light” and his ministers disguise as “ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14-15) everything they do looks and sounds very Christian. Thus, many believers are deceived and lead away from the Faith by deception through false doctrine-a subtly different Jesus, different spirit, and different gospel. In other words, the Great Apostasy from the Faith will be orchestrated by ministers who, on the surface, appear righteous and godly. Their teaching will be so close to true biblical Christianity that many will follow the false “angel of light” and the false “ministers of righteousness” away from the Faith, the true Jesus, the true Spirit and the true Gospel. This type of deception is what I believe is going on in Brownsville. The church is falling for the lies and near-truths that seems so close to what has been taught for centuries. As I have established above, Brownsville is indeed preaching another Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel than orthodox Christianity.
The difference is subtle enough to deceive many believers. As Charles Colson has pointed out, “I have spoken of frontal assaults and the sneak attacks. There is something worse. . . . The enemy is in our midst. He has so infiltrated our camp that many simply no longer can tell an enemy from a friend, truth from heresy.”39 So beware, beloved, there are those in your midst that want to lead you into this great apostasy. Stand firm in sound doctrine. Test all things to see if they are biblical, and if not, defend the Faith! Follow Peter’s decree and “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pt. 3:15). You won’t win a popularity contest, but you will be pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ as you snatch deceived believers from the very hand of Satan.
In this article, I have clearly and beyond doubt shown that Brownsville Assembly of God preaches a false Jesus, a false Spirit, and a false Gospel. It is my prayer that this article opened your eyes to the dangers of the “revival” due to the occultism and false doctrine being preached. If the doctrine is false, then the whole movement is false. God is does not work through a false Jesus, a false spirit, and a false Gospel-if He did, He wouldn’t have warned us about the dangers of false christs and false gospels over and again. The way God is working in Brownsville can be seen in the testimonies of the hundreds of BAG members who have recognized the danger and left the church because of its false doctrine. If you permit me to be quite frank, someone would have to be totally unconcerned about truth to continue to embrace this “revival.” Or, someone would have to be totally disinterested in the true Jesus, the true Spirit, and the true Gospel if he fails to speak out against this end-times deception. To be silent on this matter is to sanction it. ————————————————————————————————————
1 Rodney Howard-Browne, The Touch of God, 13-14.
2 John Kilpatrick, When the Heavens Are Brass (Shippensburg: Destiny Image Publishers, 1997), 22.
3 Ibid., 19.
4 Ibid. 20.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid. In all fairness to Kilpatrick, he does claim that Jesus was divine, which is totally contradictory to the statements in the text above. At best, Kilpatrick’s statements are complete contradictory confusion, and thus, by teaching unsound doctrine, he has disqualified himself as a church leader (cf. (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:9).
7 Walter Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), 451.
8 Norman Geisler, Creating God in the Image of Man? (Minneapolis: Betheny House, 1997), 28.
9 Steve Hill, The Pursuit of Revival (Shippensburg: Destiny Image Publishers, 1997), 105.
10 Ibid., 104.
11 Warren Smith and Danny Aguirre, “Some Examples of Holy Laughter in Other Religions,” SCP Newsletter, Volume 19:2, Fall 1994, 14.
12 Mark Griffin, “Center of Awakening” Web-site,
<http://www.mindspring.com/~coa/index.html.”
13 Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandasji, The Path of Kundalini Maha Yoga , On-line article,
<http://www.dyc.org/path/index.html#Shaktipat.>.
14 Hill, The Pursuit of Revival, 30.
15 Dr. Herb Babcock, “That’s How They Do It In Toronto!,” The End-Times and Victorious Living, Vol. 11, No. 2, March/April 1997, 18.
16 Margaret and James Stutley, Harper’s Dictionary of Hinduism: Its Mythology, Folklore, Philosophy, Literature and History (New York: Harper & Row, 1977), 180.
17 Richard Cavendish, Man, Myth, and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural Vol. 13 (New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1970), 1727-28.
18 Michael Balarama, “Bhaktivedanta Meditation,” On-line,
<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8612.>.
19 Ibid.
20 Larry Thomas, No Laughing Matter (Excelsior Springs, MO: Double Crown, 1995), 48.
21 Jimmy Robbins, “Pensacola Experiences,” The End-Times and Victorious Living, Vol. 11, No. 2, March/April 1997, 16.
22 Deb Platt, Mysticism in World Religions,
<http://www.digiserve.com/mystic/ .>.
23 Samuel Sandweiss, Sai Baba: The Holy Man and the Psychaitrist (San Diego: Birth Day, 1975), 206.
24 Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks, (Bangalore, India: Sri Sathya Sai Publication and Education Foundation, n.d.), Vol. 4 p. 15, and Vol. 7 p, 50.
25 Kurt Keutzer, “Kundalini Frequently Asked Questions” and “Siddha
Mahayoga Frequently Asked Questions,”
<http://www.execpc.com/~libra/kund/kundalini-faq.html.> accessed
14 January 1998.
26 Steve Hill, White Cane Religion (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 1997), 159.
27 Ibid., 21.
28 Ibid., 93.
29 Ibid., 80.
30 Kilpatrick, When the Heavens Are Brass, 138-39.
31 Hill, The Pursuit of Revival, 45.
32 Hill, White Cane Religion, 37.
33 Hill, The Pursuit of Revival, 143.
34 Dick Reuben, Brownsville Assembly of God Evangelist, 11/21/97 [audiotape].
35 Kilpatrick, When the Heavens Are Brass, 71.
36 Ibid.
37 Hill, The Pursuit of Revival, 113.
38 Ibid., 122.
39 Charles Colson, The Struggle For Men’s Hearts and Minds (Prison Fellowship, 1983), 16.
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