Prof Johan
Malan,
A
South African prayer ministry, Jericho Walls, organised an African Prayer Summit
near
During the past number of years since the release of his first two transformation videos, which also prompted Transformation Africa, George Otis was rightfully criticised by many evangelical Christians for the exaggerated portrayal of revivals and comprehensive societal transformations that allegedly occurred in places such as Cali in Colombia, Almolonga in Guatemala, Kiambu in Kenya, and Hemet in California. Subsequent events in these places, and also in the rest of the world, do not corroborate his claims and more often suggest an opposite movement.
At
the prayer summit near
Otis then concluded that the only hope for a troubled world is prayer. He
quoted from the prayer of Jesus: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10).
He insisted that the
Otis referred to scriptures such as the following to explain what transformation entails: “I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city” (Isa. 1:26). Traditional religions and witchcraft should also be renounced: “And many who had believed came, confessing and telling their deeds. Also many of those who had practised magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all… So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:18-20).
George Otis said that contrary to the film on human suffering, wars and natural disasters there are 500 communities in the world where revival is experienced at present. He said that prayer and fasting were critical activities in bringing about revival and transformation, which is the only way to overcome violence, crime and suffering. He said that when God is present in a community “everything snaps into place.” A transformed society is defined as “a neighbourhood, city or nation of which the values and institutions have been overrun by the grace and presence of God.” This calls for an invading supernatural power. Otis concluded his discussion on transformation by saying: “Kingdom values should be celebrated publicly and passed on to future generations.”
Comments: George Otis is renowned for his moral government theology in which a
form of generic goodness of God is promoted without relating His forgiveness of
sins to the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross (see George Otis and his
fallacious teaching). In fact, he never referred to the atoning death of
Christ and its significance for the salvation of sinners. He only once mentioned
the name of Jesus when he said that He prayed that God’s kingdom would come on
earth. This is a very serious deficiency and lies at the heart of his false
gospel. He strongly emphasises the subject of sin, and even devised a system of
spiritual mapping to define and list community sins, but recommend confession
and repentance without clearly indicating that Christ paid the price for our
transgressions by giving His life and shedding His blood on
Dominion theology is the main emphasis of the message proclaimed by Otis.
He favours Old Testament scriptures which describe
As
far as the
The grand schemes and expectations of the transformation movement are dispensationally completely out of place and will not be able to establish God’s kingdom in “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). Rather equip and fund evangelists and missionaries to go into the troubled and evil world to preach the gospel so that some may be saved.
The person who caused the biggest stir on the prayer summit was Graham Power of Transformations Africa. His talk induced certain members of the audience to withdraw from the Movement and even to resign from churches which still support this action.
In
his talk Graham again reviewed the vision that he had of transforming
Graham said that when he was touched on his shoulder he fell down but rose again after a short while. He fell down two more times. The third time he lay on the ground for 1½ hours. He felt an electric-like current flowing through his body while having “an amazing experience.” He also heard a voice speaking to him, saying, “I am the spine,” (six times), “I am the head of the spine” (six times), “I am the king” (six times) and “I am the king of kings” (six times).
Immediately afterwards, Graham had an experience outside his body. He saw
himself lying on the floor on his back with his arms stretched out in the form
of a cross. He then saw Africa forming around his body with his feet in
Graham acted in terms of these mystical revelations and drastically
expanded the scope of the Global Day of Prayer. He says that in 2006, 199
nations participated in this prayer event on the Day of Pentecost, and he hopes
that all 220 nations of the world will participate in 2007. He quoted Isaiah
66:18 where the Lord says, “It shall be that I will gather all nations and
tongues; and they shall come and see my glory.” Graham then added: “God’s plan
will start in
He
also quoted extensively from Isaiah 52:6-12, which actually refers to
Graham says that the true people of God should go to the high places,
such as mountains, to pray that His kingdom will come. He then announced that he
and a group of people will pray on top of
A
vision was shared with Graham Power by a certain person in
During his address Graham Power often talked about what God and the Holy Spirit are doing, but he never talked about Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and will rule the world in righteousness after His coming.
Comments: Graham Power is a committed leader and organiser of the
Transformation Movement. It is clear that he truly believes in the
extra-Biblical revelations that he received during his mystical experiences. He
obviously does not realise that his dominionist vision is at variance with the
Bible as it clashes with principles and nature of the church dispensation as
laid down in Scripture. The verses which he quoted from Isaiah 52 to
substantiate his kingdom vision are applicable to
Graham and his associates apply the conditions for
Although many Christians with noble intentions support the Transformation
Movement because they are deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in
Don’t they see the great falling away from biblical truth around us? (1 Tim. 4:1). These are surely end-time signs of a rebellious and spiritually hostile world that will be judged by God during the coming tribulation period when the Antichrist, as the man of sin, will rule the world. Lost souls should be plucked from the fire of the impending judgements to escape the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10). Those who say, “peace and safety” while dark clouds of divine wrath are gathering around the world, will experience sudden destruction in stead of the descending of God’s kingdom upon them (1 Thess. 5:3).
George Otis should rather extend his latest video of a troubled world and devise strategies for the saving of souls in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed sinners on the cross, instead of vain expectations of God’s kingdom being revealed during this dispensation.
Graham Power’s idea that more power will be generated by prayers offered from the top of high mountains has been derived from the strategic spiritual warfare approach followed by George Otis, Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, Ted Haggard and others. This type of prayer is aimed at pulling down demonic strongholds in heavenly places, but has no biblical foundation. We must revert to the basics of the gospel message, in which the major perspective is the counselling of sinners, preferably as individuals or in small groups. The transformation of entire societies will only occur after Christ has come to reward His saints and judge His enemies.