‘Grave sucking’ and dead raising – Journey Community Church hosts ‘supernatural’ Bethel movement

2 Timothy 4:2-4: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

The Bethel Ministries megachurch, based in Redding, California, is well known for its outrageous antics and Christ defying behaviour.

From promoting extra-biblical revelation to attempting to raise people from the dead, it really doesn’t take much discernment to know this church is filled to the brim with heresy.

Then there is the falling gold dust and feathers which appear at their meetings, apparently sent by God, as He often did that in the Bible. Oh no wait, He didn’t.

A “glory cloud” also apparently appears at meetings, similar to the pillar of cloud that guided Moses and the children of Israel. One would imagine they would deny a smoke machine is in any way utilised at meetings.

Add in to the mixture the rumours of ‘grave sucking’, denied in somewhat unconvincing terms by Bethel’s leader, Bill Johnson, and you have a truly frightening prospect.

However, all this doesn’t seem to be deterring Journey Community Church in Antrim from inviting this heretical mob to spread their lies and deceits in Northern Ireland.

Bethel Church were in Glenmachan Church of God, a rather licentious pentecostal church in east Belfast, for a conference, called the Kingdom Come Conference, which was organised by Journey Community Church in Antrim.

We are not sure why they didn’t host the event at their own premises, but perhaps it wasn’t big enough to cope with the numbers they expected to join in this rejection of any form of decent worship or preaching of God’s Word.

The main draw, as it were, of Bethel Ministries is the method employed by so many charismatic heretics throughout our land and further afield – Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).

Music thumping out which sounds just like a pop concert carried out by any worldly music act, singers flailing about on stage, whipping the attendees into a frenzy, characterises much of this nonsense.

Creating a racket is not an indication of nearness to God.

Amos 5:21-24 says: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”

All this worldliness makes it easier to introduce the heresies taught by this evil movement, giving its adherents a false assurance of salvation.

And this is what Journey Community Church is inflicting on its followers and the people of Antrim and Belfast and throughout Ulster.

John Ashe (pictured, top) is the leader of Journey Community Church and he is quoted promoting the conference online.

He has serious questions to answer in organising and promoting this absolutely outrageous event.

Does he agree that there is extra Biblical revelation?

Bethel Ministries does.

Its leader, Bill Johnson, says in his book, ‘When Heaven Invades Earth’, the following: “Those who feel safe because of their intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him, we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond what we know.”

So the Bible doesn’t quite cut it for Bethel Ministries; private revelation, allegedly by the Holy Spirit, is very much the thing.

The Bible, however, stands alone. It says in Revelation 22:18: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book”.

But Bethel Ministries, John Ashe and Journey Community Church know better, they think.

Does John Ashe believe that it is possible, today, to raise someone from the dead?

Bethel Ministries does.

Another senior figure in that movement, Kris Vallotton, wrote in the Charisma Magazine of 27 February, 2012: “Some of the students from the Supernatural School of Ministry decided to go down to the morgue and “practice” raising the dead! Crazy? Maybe, but I admire their faith and their guts. It wasn’t Bill or me who gave them the idea, they were actually inspired by reading the Bible. Evidently, they thought they should believe what Jesus said. They definitely have more faith and courage than I do. So far they haven’t raised anyone at the mortuary from the dead, but it hasn’t deterred them a bit. I have heard of some students from another school that started a DRT team. You guessed it, the letters stand for Dead Raising Team! I really don’t know if they have had any success yet. I do know of several Christians who have raised the dead.”

That truly is laughable, isn’t it? Or it would be if it weren’t so sad.

Does John Ashe believe it would be appropriate for members of Journey Community Church to head to a morgue, perhaps at Antrim Area Hospital, to try to raise people from the dead?

As for the grave sucking, as we mentioned above, it has been denied in rather unconvincing terms.

In his book, ‘The Physics of Heaven’, Bill Johnson says: “There are anointings, mantles, revelations and mysteries that have lain unclaimed, literally where they were left, because the generation that walked in them never passed them on. I believe it’s possible for us to recover realms of anointing, realms of insight, realms of God that have been untended for decades simply by choosing to reclaim them and perpetuate them for future generations.”

Does John Ashe believe that “anointings, mantles, revelations and mysteries have lain unclaimed” because the dead didn’t pass them on before they breathed their last?

But hey, we’ll ignore all that because Bethel play some catchy music, won’t we?

The chief musician helping make Bible rejection look attractive is Kristene Di Marco, while also in attendance is Eric Johnson, the senior pastor and presumably a relation of the leader, Bill Johnson. Chris Cruz, the Young Adults Pastor and Jordan Di Marco, the pastor of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.

This is, of course, the school which boasts students who were trying to raise people from the dead.

The Kingdom Come conference was held over the past three days, from 4-6 April, and we would encourage readers to share this article widely to help warn of the dreadful heresies being promoted by Journey Community Church.

While the Antrim branch was hosting this event, there is also a branch in Downpatrick, County Down.

We would encourage all readers to speak out forthrightly and fearlessly against this church as it has entangled itself with the dreadful blasphemies of Bethel Ministries.

And to anyone who attended the conference, please consider this matter in the light of God’s Word and see whether such teachings as propagated by Bethel Ministries are in any way defensible.

1 John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

Leading apostasy in Antrim – Archdeacon Stephen McBride

Ecumenical fervency is very much the order of the day in the town of Antrim, and the chief architect of this Biblical betrayal is Archdeacon Stephen McBride.

A veteran ecumenist, the ‘Venerable’ Dr Stephen McBride is minister of All Saints Parish Church in the town.

During the recent ‘Holy Week’ events in the town, a lot of unholy mingling of the seed was going on, with many of the churches involved.

The ecumenical celebrations got underway on the Monday prior to Easter with an ‘Inter Church Prayer Service’ in St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. Given Rome teaches the praying to Mary and saints, surely we are entitled to ask the question, as we have done previously, to whom were they praying?

The Bible clearly teaches we are to pray to God alone. 1 Timothy 2:5 says: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

This service was followed up with another prayer service, this time in St Comgall’s Roman Catholic Church, also in Antrim. The speaker at the meeting was a so-called Protestant, Alastair Wallace (pictured), of Christian Fellowship Church in the town.

And the tin hat was put on this ecumenical betrayal on Good Friday, when the Antrim Clergy Fellowship organised its annual “walk of witness” through the town in a brazen act of defiance against God, which we featured earlier this week.

It began at Antrim Methodist Church (Minister: Rev Michael Gregory) before moving to Archdeacon Stephen McBride’s apostate abode of All Saints Parish Church. From there it moved to St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, before finishing off at High Street Presbyterian Church (Minister: Rev Colin McDowell).

By some distance the longest serving clergyman at their respective church in this area is Archdeacon Stephen McBride, who has spent much of the past three decades in the town.

And we have uncovered numerous details about him which mean he ought not to hold any position within the church.

He has a remarkably cosy and long-standing relationship with Rome, even for an apostate. A Belfast NewsLetter article states that these links go as far back as 2002, and no doubt much further.

It says that in 2002 the then priest in St Comgall’s “asked Archdeacon McBride to preach at a parish Novena” in order to put on a “more public display of togetherness”.

What is a Novena? It is a Roman Catholic ritual and according to the ‘Pray More Novenas’ website, “a Novena is made up of nine days of prayer and meditation, usually to ask God for special prayer requests or petitions. Novenas are often used to ask specific saints to pray for us”.

So a Novena involves the invocation of saints, despite the Bible’s teaching in 1 Timothy 2:5, as we have already referred to above.

Wikipedia continues and says: “The practice grew by the Middle Ages to include pious prayers for nine days before a feast in honour of a saint identified on a liturgical calendar. By the 11th century, the Novena practice had become a means in Christianity of praying to petition personal or spiritual favour to a saint, such as Virgin Mary. After the Reformation and Counter-Reformation era, the Catholic Church formally approved Novenas, in particular through the papal approvals of a large number of Novenas by Pope Pius IX.”

So the Novena has the stamp of approval from the Pope, “that man of sin, and son of perdition”, the man who blasphemously sets himself up in God’s place.

Wikipedia goes on to say: “The practice of the Novena is based in early Christianity, where masses were held for nine days with devotional prayers to someone who has died.”

So the Novena has its roots in prayer for the dead, which is a reference to the Romanist lie of purgatory, an absolutely anti-Biblical construct of the Roman Catholic Church. When we die we either go straight to heaven or straight to hell. There is no in between.

Look at the rich man in Luke 16. We are told in verses 22-23: “…the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…”

There was no in between for the rich man. He died and went straight to hell. And hell most assuredly exists, despite what Pope Francis might like to think.

The notion of praying for the dead is further demonstrated as a fraud when we look at 2 Samuel 12:18-23: “And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself , and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord , and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

David ceased praying for his child when he died. He didn’t keep praying, he didn’t hold a Month’s Mind mass, light a candle or pay a priest to earn his son a place in heaven.

David acknowledged no more could be done and acknowledged the comfort in the fact his son, who had not reached an age of understanding to call on God for salvation, was in heaven. He also rested in the comfort that he, as a saved sinner, was going to meet his son again in heaven.

Can you rest in that comfort? Are you saved? Have you repented of your sin to God and asked to be washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Jonah 2:9 says: “Salvation is of the Lord.” It can be found nowhere else. Acts 4:12 says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

We MUST be saved and Acts 16:31 tells us: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

Our sins, no matter how great, can all be washed away. Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

You can obtain forgiveness of God today. 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Don’t delay, 2 Corinthians 6:2 says: “…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

The fact that Archdeacon Stephen McBride preached at this Novena, an act disgracefully repeated soon after by then Antrim Methodist minister Rev Jack Moore, with all the lies and blasphemies it encapsulates, is frankly horrifying.

However, this is what Archdeacon Stephen McBride has to say about his blasphemous betrayal of true Christianity.

He said: “It was one of the most memorable days of my ministry.

“It speaks volumes for the maturity of the ecumenical relationships that have been developed in the town that it was possible for the two clergy from the Reformed tradition to preach at a Catholic Novena mission without creating a fuss from either congregation, because the time was right for this to happen, and our people were encouraging further such exchanges to be developed.

“It is a day I will never forget.”

One can be sure it is a day God will never forget, if Archdeacon Stephen McBride doesn’t repent.

It is also indicative of the disgraceful shepherding of the flock that Archdeacon Stephen McBride, permanent minister in All Saints Parish Church since 1995, has demonstrated, that he brought his congregation to the point where they were “encouraging further such exchanges to be developed”.

His job is to declare the full counsel of God, in season and out of season. Jeremiah was instructed by God that, though he be faithful in declaring His Word, the disobedient children of Israel would not listen to him. This, however, was not to stop him from declaring God’s message, and it ought not to stop anyone else.

Jeremiah 7:27: “Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.”

Archdeacon Stephen McBride is abandoning this charge and many others to which he should be paying close attention.

We will remind Archdeacon Stephen McBride of the 39 Articles, which are supposed to govern his church, the Church of Ireland.

Article 22, for example, concerning purgatory, says: “The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

Does Archdeacon Stephen McBride find Rome repugnant? Clearly not.

We’ll share another one of his 39 Articles with him now.

Article 31 states: “The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone.

“Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.”

Does he share that view? If not, then why he is being allowed to stand in a pulpit that is supposed to be used to honour God, when he is using it to undermine the gospel?

We are also told in a biography of Archdeacon Stephen McBride that he is a fan of various types of music, including rock music and Gregorian chant.

A particular favourite band of his is Led Zeppelin, a rock group noted for its links to the occult, something which is expressly warned against in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says: “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

His love for Gregorian chant, meanwhile, is further indication of his love affair with Rome. Gregorian chant is the music of the Roman rite and is performed in the Mass.

Why would any Protestant minister want to listen to music used in the blasphemous ‘worship’ of the Mass?

This is one of the many question marks which must be placed against Archdeacon Stephen McBride. If anyone reading this knows him or anyone connected to his church, we would encourage you to challenge him on these matters and encourage those you know to do so too.

We are living in an age of departure from God and the road to revival will be paved with faithfulness to God’s Word. Let us pray that God will take a dealing with apostates in the pulpits spewing out their deceits, so that once again we will see a revival in Ulster.