Today there are many Christian leaders whom I love and admire who say that the time of miracles and signs have passed. I respectfully disagree with them and find little scriptural basis for the position. But such arguments, while critical to the subject at hand, merit an article solely focused on them. But since I must be faithful to God and His Word as I understand them, our discussion today will be based on the principal that God continues to work in supernatural ways. So does God work miracles today? Yes! Does God heal in miraculous ways today? Yes! But the supernatural is a BYPRODUCT of a life surrendered to Jesus and the uncompromised preaching of the Gospel…NOT the focus! And discernment based on a comprehensive understanding of God’s Word must be exercised to determine what is of God and what is a counterfeit of the Enemy.

Acts 3:11-12 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

I have heard from several Christian brothers and sisters about how excited they are about revival having broken out in Lakeland and other cities visited by those from Lakeland. Beloved, it is with a grieved soul that I must warn you about the Lakeland Outpouring and Todd Bentley. This is a “different spirit” and not the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or YOU RECEIVE A DIFFERENT SPIRIT WHICH YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

Just three months ago I wrote an article consisting of excerpts from A.W. Tozer’s “Man: The Dwelling Place of God” on how to try the spirits (http://www.cyshift.com/trythespirits.html). I strongly suggest you read the brief article. It could not be more pertinent:

“Strange as it may seem, the danger today is greater for the fervent Christian than for the lukewarm and the self-satisfied. The seeker after God's best things is eager to hear anyone who offers a way by which he can obtain them. He longs for some new experience, some elevated view of truth, some operation of the Spirit that will raise him above the dead level of religious mediocrity he sees all around him, and for this reason he is ready to give a sympathetic ear to the new and the wonderful in religion”

Matthew 12:38,39 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “AN EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION CRAVES FOR A SIGN; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet”

Events such as the Lakeland Outpouring have happened before. In 1994 there was the Toronto Blessing and in 1995 the Brownsville Revival. The “manifestations” and methodology in all of these meetings have been very similar. Meetings usually have an extended “worship” time based on music where emotions are whipped into a frenzy and then people who wish a “touch from God” are invited to come forward. People come forward for all sorts of ailments including emotional, psychiatric, relational, and physical. These “healing” times are the focus of the meetings. After a brief description of the ailment, the leader “lays hands” on the person and / or hits them lightly on the forehead usually accompanied by a shout from the minister (Todd’s favorite word appears to be “BAM!” or “FIRE!”). The person then falls backwards and is caught by someone standing behind them for that a purpose. They then cover their legs for modesty’s sake. The person often lies on the floor for an extended amount of time and sometimes shakes and jerks. When they rise, they usually are in a state of euphoria but sometimes they laugh uncontrollably or make animal noises (barking like a dog, cackling like a chicken, crowing like a rooster, roaring like a lion, etc.). Such behavior is considered to be a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Many followers claim to have been healed of their ailments through this process.

Putting It In A Biblical Context

The leaders of these movements know that there is no scriptural basis for these “manifestations” so they claim that it is a “new thing” that God is doing. Consequently, (consciously or not) they undermine the authority of scripture as the measure which God has established to determine what is of Him and what is of the Devil.

The nature of these events should be obvious, but in order to place them more in perspective, let’s revisit a few well known Biblical events and inject these “new manifestations” and see how it sounds:

The Holy Spirit Falls on Jesus

Matthew 3:16 (YGTBK) After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him. He immediately went into a seizure and fell backwards into the water. When He came back up, He began to laugh hysterically.

Matthew 9:27-30 (YGTBK) As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “BAM!” and hit them between the eyes with the palm of his hand and Peter and John caught them as they fainted. After lying unconscious for several minutes, their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “Make sure that you tell everyone about this!”

Acts 2:1-18 (YGTBK) When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they all fainted. When they awoke, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (except for Thomas, Thaddeus, and Philip who suffered concussions because there was no one to catch them and they hit the wall as they fell) and they began to make animal noises, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why are these men roaring like lions, barking like dogs, crowing like roosters, and oinking like pigs?” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “I don’t remember there being a barn around here?” But others were mocking and saying, “They must be putting on a play!” But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not actors, as you suppose, for the amphitheater is far away; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall moo, and your young men shall convulse as with epilepsy, and your old men shall guided by angels: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall all faint dead away.’”

I could go on but you get the point. Utterly ridiculous, isn’t it? If you take the “manifestations” which they claim are of God and put them in a Biblical setting, it becomes incredibly obvious that it just doesn’t fit with how God works.

Events such as the Lakeland Outpouring are an inevitable result of allowing your feelings to be the measure of what is of God instead of the Bible. You get a church that looks and acts like a barnyard of animals, epileptics, and drunkards. You get the Barnyard Blessing or the Old MacDonald Outpouring (with a bark bark here, and a cackle cackle there, and a roar roar here).

Matthew 24:24-27 “For false Christs and FALSE PROPHETS WILL ARISE AND WILL SHOW GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS, SO AS TO MISLEAD, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms, [or ‘Behold, He is in Lakeland’ in this instance] do not believe them.”

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 For THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS IS ALREADY AT WORK; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the ACTIVITY OF SATAN, with ALL POWER AND SIGNS AND FALSE WONDERS, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH SO AS TO BE SAVED. For this reason GOD WILL SEND UPON THEM A DELUDING INFLUENCE SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE, IN ORDER THAT THEY ALL MAY BE JUDGED WHO DID NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH, but took pleasure in wickedness.

As I have said before, we have a subtle and insidious enemy who not only makes frontal assaults but has a long-term strategic plan as well. The Bible clearly states that false prophets will come in the last days and do such incredible miracles that even Christians will believe they are of God. Satan will empower them to do these things in order to get you to focus on the SIGNS instead of focusing on the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD! It’s like going to a fireworks show (Ooooooo….aaaaaawwww) or an amusement park where you go in and experience all sorts of unusual and exciting things (“Gather ‘round, ladies and gentlemen, for just a quarter…”). Once we’re mesmerized by the “show” we start to focus on the “wow” factor instead of remembering the Spirit and truth which we received through faith in GOD’S WORD…not faith in signs! We set aside the Bible as the filter through which all things must pass to be of God and accept the idea of “new revelation.” And since in the church today it doesn’t matter WHAT you believe about Jesus just as long as you BELIEVE, it is only a small step to acknowledge that God goes by many names so it doesn’t matter whether you believe in Allah or Buddha or any other of the “many faces of God.” And then we’re primed and ready for the coming of the Antichrist and False Prophet. Don’t think so? Just wait…

Again, listen to what A.W. Tozer has to say about such things:

“There are psychic experiences that thrill the seeker and lead him to believe that he has indeed met the Lord and been carried to the third heaven; but the true nature of the phenomenon is discovered later when the face of Christ begins to fade from the victim's consciousness and he comes to depend more and more upon emotional jags as a proof of his spirituality.”

“Whatever originates outside the Scriptures should for that very reason be suspect until it can be shown to be in accord with them. If it should be found to be contrary to the Word of revealed truth no true Christian will accept it as being from God. However high the emotional content, no experience can be proved to be genuine unless we can find chapter and verse authority for it in the Scriptures. 'To the word and to the testimony' must always be the last and final proof.”

The Horse's Mouth

But don’t take my word for it. Read Todd Bentley’s own words and watch videos of his services and determine for yourself. BUT A WORD OF CAUTION: I strongly advise AGAINST attending any of his services. The group psychology combined with the demonic influence there make it an extremely dangerous environment for Christians. This movement is being spread by the laying on of hands in what is called “impartation services” where they receive “the power” and go back to their own church and spread it. I don’t know what spirit is being imparted but the manifestations look more like demon possession than a Biblical anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Here is an audio file of Todd Bentley describing how he continued to be unknowingly possessed by 25 demons for years AFTER being a “born again” believer walking with the Lord! That’s a theological impossibility. The only answer is that he wasn’t saved then and if he doesn’t know the difference then he’s not saved now and probably still demon possessed which would account for a lot of these “miracles” and erroneous theology. And people are supposed to trust this man to discern whether what’s happening at Lakeland is of God or of Satan!?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSK9TyduR4

Below are some quotes from Todd Bentley’s teachings on angels where you will hear about roaring like a lion, barking like a dog, and squawking like a chicken by “the spirit,” commanding angels to bring you money, angels who look like a bum and bring in bottles for trade in a convenience store, unsaved people experiencing God's lightening bolts, and an angel named Emma causing Todd to receive thousands of dollars in an offering (http://www.etpv.org/2003/angho.html):

“Suddenly, I fell under the power in the convenience store and, on all fours, roared like a lion. Then the shop clerk ran with fear and dived behind the counter with the two dope heads right behind him. By now, the entire atmosphere had changed. Then the atheist gets up, points his finger at me, and says, 'Is that your God?' At that moment, this dirty bum comes walking into the store with two bags of bottles or something, puts them up on the counter and says, 'You guys, listen to what these guys are telling you. Everything these guys are telling you is true.' He gets his money and walks out of the store.

"The first thing I thought when I looked at my friend was, 'That was an angel.' He was thinking the same thing. My wife and her girlfriend were waiting in the car and watching what was going on in the store. When we got into the vehicle my wife said nobody went in the store and nobody came out. This particular angel, I'm convinced, came looking like a bum. (He was like Angelo, the street person, who was given a privileged place in heaven, in Rick Joyner's book, The Final Quest.)"

“These throne-room realities began to be revealed to me in the meeting in Iowa as I gave thanks to God for the angelic beings. I made a conscious effort to remember that angels are in the spirit realm. As soon as I did that, throughout the service people were caught up into prophetic experiences. People in the service either saw a vision, heard heaven or smelt, touched, felt or had some kind of supernatural experience. Many people literally began to see the same open-eyed vision while others began to have different visions. It didn't matter whether the lights were on or off or whether people's eyes were open or closed.

"EVEN UNSAVED PEOPLE in the meeting who were into Transcendental Meditation began to see the lightning's of God manifest in the physical realm. They saw lightning bolts zip across the room for two and a half hours. The congregation began to freak out.”

“The most important thing angels do-they heed ‘the voice of His word,’ the word spoken by His saints on the earth. They heed His voice as it comes through His saints who declare His word on the earth.”

“It is important that we release the angels-if we don't, angels can be bound out of the battle. The Devil can be prevailing in his darkness in a region until we begin to release, bind and loose in heaven, and begin to pray to the Father to release the angelic hosts that we need as reinforcements.”

“I live in a place of breakthrough because I am so aware of the angels that I can say, ‘Lord, let world-wide evangelistic angels come with me right now. I'm going to Uganda.’ Then I'll go to Uganda and they'll give me a press conference and access to every television station and all the major newspapers in the whole country. I'll go and preach and have an incredible revival because I say, ‘God, let the harvest angels come with me. There are people who are going to inherit salvation. I don't want the Devil and darkness to prevail over the crusade, so I release the angels right now. I loose them in heaven now in Jesus name.’”

“as our prayers go up before God's throne as incense, they go into a bowl until it is full. Then the angel comes and releases the answer and the fulfillment of that promise”

“Scripture also speaks of another angel that releases finances. I understand that God will supply all my need according to His riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). Do you know what that means? There are riches in glory because the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. He is the God who supplies our needs according to His riches in glory. The bible even tells us that the silver and gold are His. So when I need a financial breakthrough I don't just pray and ask God for my financial breakthrough. I go into intercession and become a partner with the angels by petitioning the Father for the angels that are assigned to getting me money: ‘Father, give me the angels in heaven right now that are assigned to get me money and wealth. And let those angels be released on my behalf. Let them go into the four corners of the earth and gather me money. Let them gather my partners.’”

“You know why it's important to pray like this? Because the Devil wants to cut off your cash flow. He wants to hinder and block your finances. He wants to do whatever he can to hinder you from receiving the blessing and provision that God has for you. Sometimes praying about it isn't good enough because you need to prevail in heaven where the angels and demons are actually fighting. We want to push back the demonic forces, so sometimes we need to say, ‘Father, let those legions of angels assigned to release financial breakthrough, come into the earth right now and loose the Devil from the money assigned to me. I call in that money in the name of Jesus.’ Sometimes when I pray this way, bam! I've got the money I need within a few days. Yes, I get financial breakthrough because God is my source. If man doesn't have it for me, God does. Yet the Devil is trying to keep it from getting to me. Even though God heard me on the first day, the Devil wants to delay it 21 days or as long as he can. But I've got to get the angels involved with my incense and say, ‘C'mon God, let those angels come and help fulfill your word-you promised me the blessing of the Lord that makes one rich and You add no sorrow with it.’”

“I was at another meeting in Atlanta when my wife, Shonnah, saw two financial angels walk into the service and pour oil out on the pastor. Shonnah then knew there was financial breakthrough coming. That night two people wrote the pastor checks for $16,000 and $17,000 and others also wrote checks to Fresh Fire for thousands of dollars, which we used for missions to the nations. In addition, many people experienced great financial blessing as well. The day after this angelic visitation one guy had millions of dollars released to him-he had been waiting for about 10 years for this breakthrough. All this financial release came because my wife saw two financial angels walk up and stand on the platform. Can you imagine? We need to pray for the Father to give us financial angels for our lives, our church and region. With this angelic assistance, we will prevail and overcome the warfare trying to hold back our financial breakthrough.”

Concerning a visitation by an angel named Emma:

“She glided into the room, emitting brilliant light and colors. Emma carried these bags and began pulling gold out of them. Then, as she walked up and down the aisles of the church, she began putting gold dust on people. ‘God, what is happening?’ I asked. The Lord answered: ‘She is releasing the gold, which is both the revelation and the financial breakthrough that I am bringing into this church. I want you to prophecy that Emma showed up in this service-the same angel that appeared in Kansas city-as a sign that I am endorsing and releasing a prophetic spirit in the church.’ See, when angels come, they always come for a reason; we need to actually ask God what the purpose is. Within three weeks of that visitation, the church had given me the biggest offering I had ever received to that point in my ministry. Thousands of dollars! Thousands! Even though the entire community consisted of only three thousand people, weeks after I left the church the pastor testified that the church offerings had either doubled or tripled.

“During this visitation the pastor's wife (it was an AOG church) got totally whacked by the Holy Ghost- she began running around barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken as a powerful prophetic spirit came on her.”

He says that Satan is incapable of doing the kinds of miracles that he does:

“Some are even attributing good and wonderful manifestations of God's loving response to His children, to the devil! But this exalts no one but themselves when they choose to make a ministry out of their judgments and criticisms in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since when did the devil come to heal the sick, raise the dead, open deaf ears and eyes, lead people to salvation in Jesus, or preach that the Kingdom of God is at hand? Just when did the devil change his plan? For this reason, I asked my staff to remove from our website, articles that are causing such strife and division and deterring the Body from the very real and pressing focus of these last days.”

“God is not only a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but also a God of new things. Realize also, that if you spend time in His presence, in fellowship with Him, and if daily, you put on the full armor of God and spend time in His Word; you'll be more comfortable erring on the side of extravagance rather than quench the Spirit.”

“To apply doctrine to the response of God in our lives is wrong. For someone to assume that something that happens to us isn't of God because it's not in his or her doctrine or knowledge of Jesus is, in my opinion, to grieve the precious Holy Spirit.”

“Some people desire Scripture for every manifestation of God - for every detail of every God-given, Holy Spirit inspired vision, dream, encounter, or demonstration of the supernatural realm of God manifested on the earth. While I firmly believe that we're to defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I don't believe we're to defend divine manifestations of God, because they are proof within themselves of the Gospel”

“While it's good and right and biblical to test the spirits to see if they are of God, it's vital to realize that just because a type of vision or a sign is not listed in Scripture, that it's unscriptural, to be discounted, or false.”

“If a person is of the mind-set that everything spiritual that happens or manifests in our lives has to be found in Scripture to be divine and of God, then that standard or belief would have to be applied to every area of one's life. God responds to each one of us in different ways so the specific way He speaks to any of His children should not become a doctrine of correctness.”

“To have a view that everything that happens in someone's life because of God's loving response to us as His children should be listed in the Bible or else it's wrong or evil, is like saying that Jesus, who is the Word represents a list of do's and don'ts.”

“Some people have even ventured to say that my visions and visitations are false. That's like telling someone who's just told you about a dream they had in their sleep that they didn't really dream it. In the case of my encounter with Paul the apostle, just as Paul didn't know if he was in his body or out of his body when he was taken into the third heaven, I don't know whether my encounter was in a vision or an actual encounter. I do know that it was not of the adversary.” [Just like the discernment he had when he was “saved” while still being possessed by 25 demons for many years.]

“In the case of the angel called “Emma,” who I described as having mother-like nurturing qualities, some have automatically assumed that my doctrine is that I believe in female angels. This has never been the case! For whatever reason God chose to show me this angel in a female persona, He did. This isn't to say that the angel was female.”

“People may see me or others sprawled out on the floor, or in heavenly laughter, or shaking because of the glory and presence of God, but try to look beyond and understand that something's happening in the spirit, trusting that there's that other realm that you may not see.”

“Revival is about new things happening, so it's important not to be quick to judge. There's no prototype for revival. It's not a cookie cutter thing.”

“If you cannot understand the supernatural things of God, or even if you disagree or choose to discount or discredit me in any way, then I urge you to look at the fruit. Every day we're seeing salvations. Every day people are being healed, not only physically, but emotionally too!”

“Please examine the fruit before you pick apart the worker. People are being saved! Certainly this is common ground with every believer - our hearts should always be for the lost. Can we not come together and make this our mission, understanding that our theologies may be different but that we agree on this very important and vital commission. We serve the same God. God is the Father of all of us. We are His children. We are all in the same family.”

“You may not understand some of the things that you see. It may be out of your paradigm or traditional way of thinking, but trust that if God didn't want this to happen that He is more than capable of shutting it down single-handedly without the help of man.”

“Nevertheless, trust that if what I'm doing is of the flesh or of the devil, I will fail, but if what's happening is from God, nothing and no one can quench this blazing revival fire unless God wills it.”

“Trust too what a respected Pharisee advised in Acts 5:38, 39: “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it - lest you even be found to fight against God.”

“Jumping into rivers of condemnation, disapproval, even censure before experiencing things for yourself could make you responsible for the loss of the one who may have come to the Lord but for quick judgments or criticisms. God is doing new things!”

“Signs, wonders, and miracles should be proof of the Gospel. However, Jesus said there would be false signs and wonders in the last days that were not done by Him (Matt. 7:21-23). Of this, I am well aware. Some people may do these things in His name and yet never really have a relationship of love and fellowship with Jesus. Salvation is knowing Jesus and being known by Him - it's much more than spiritual works or a verbal confession. I understand that lofty places in this visible kingdom are no proof of anyone's acceptance with God, and neither are the mighty works, even done in Jesus' name. However, the condition of the heart is what truly allies us with Him.”

I read through it but it is such a ham-handed attempt to push the Lakeland experience into the Biblical mold that it’s hard to know where to begin in responding to it. So many of the fundamental presumptions are flawed that it would take a full book to address it all verse by verse (which is more time and credit than I intend to lend to it). However, among it’s many pronouncements the author says that anyone who says that what is happening at Lakeland is not of God are “functional atheists” and that God did not require Biblical prophets to be completely accurate in their prophesies. I also find the following quote from the book (which is supposed to be a quote of what God said to Todd) revealing:

“Todd, if you can get people to believe in the realities of the spiritual realm (the manifestation of heaven touching earth—the prophetic word, angels, dreams, and people being healed and set free), then I will release more of My power. . . . My people don’t have trouble believing in Me, but when you mention that an angel showed up they quickly get into unbelief.”

See For Yourself

Watch the Manifestations at Lakeland – Does this look like God at work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUJAaThoH7w

Video warning people about Todd Bentley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqJaJzHdGaI

Worship leader at Lakeland “revival” dances around stage, then mimes shooting gun at audience. 06-04-08 Meeting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93398rf6DcU

Girl back from the dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpAtnCfE6Cw

Full Endorsement of the Christian Broadcasting Network (a bastion of sound doctrine…NOT!) & the initiator of the “Toronto Blessing”
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5n7fb_lakeland-outpouring-coming-to-your_news

“I Want To Burn for You My Lord” - makes you wonder which “lord” they're praying to - can't you feel the diabolical spirit?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2046010224564580745&hl=en

Conclusion

Now that you’ve seen the videos, heard and read the teachings of this man…does this look like God? Does it fit the Biblical model for revival or an out pouring of the Holy Spirit (remember the YGTBK versions of Biblical events)? These should be rhetorical questions and it’s only in a world where the church has so lost its way that the question even has to be asked.

They claim that people are getting saved…are they? Or are they responding in an emotional fashion to an emotional experience which will quickly fade? Are they surrendering their lives (their plans, hopes, dreams, identity, all that they are) to what Jesus wants and repenting of their sins in a lifelong commitment and picking up their cross? Or are they just making a commitment to seek the next spiritual thrill? They claim people are being healed…are they? I’d be curious to find out how all these people who are being healed will be faring a year from now…How long will their faith last when the “miracles” stop and their emotions grow dull from the hype?

I know a young youth Pastor who had natural gifts in leadership and teaching. I loved to hear him teach but he experienced a series of trials that shook him to his core. He soon left the church and joined the Brownsville Assembly of God (where the Brownsville Revival occurred). I have no personal knowledge concerning why he did this, but I think he went looking for God…looking for the supernatural…looking for his miracle. After being on staff there for a year or two, he left disappointed. He soon returned to the area and started an emerging church sort of gathering. He had tossed out all of the sound doctrine which he had before accepted as true and started from scratch. This is the inevitable legacy of these movements. They last for a while and everyone gets all excited and then they hit an emotional ceiling and then the “miracles” stop and everyone looks around themselves dazed and with no foundation for their faith they either fade away or look for another wave to ride and become increasing more bizarre in their beliefs.

It is only through a devoted love and faith in the truth of God’s Word that we can survive the deluge of deceit which is assaulting the church (2 Thess. 2:7-12). And, rest assured, it will grow worse. Even now the church is so engrossed in false doctrine that many Christians have given up hope of finding a godly church and are now spiritual orphans desperately trying to find a way for their faith to survive. These Kansas City False Prophets talk about a great revival in the last days. Many redefine the concepts of the millennium and the rapture to say that the church will grow in influence and power until it rules the earth and only then will Christ return (Kingdom Now theology). But the Bible says the exact opposite…that most of the church will fall away from true faith in the last days (2 Thess. 2:3, 1 Tim. 4:1). So much so that Christ wondered if He would find faith on the earth when He returns (Luke 18:8).

Are signs what brought you to saving faith in Jesus? Was it an emotionally charged group meeting which caused you to be born of the Spirit? Was it a charismatic speaker on a pulpit which caused you to surrender the rest of your days to bearing the cross of Christ? If so, you have accepted a religion and Jesus of Nazareth is still a stranger to you. Beloved, “you did not learn Christ in this way” (Ephesians 4:20). “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).

Don’t be a follower of signs…be a follower of the truth of God’s Word.

Colossians 2:18,19 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the WORSHIP OF THE ANGELS, TAKING HIS STAND ON VISIONS HE HAS SEEN, INFLATED WITHOUT CAUSE BY HIS FLESHLY MIND, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' “