Ballymena a town beset with charismatic deceit as new Mid Antrim Vineyard church is founded

Jeremiah 12:10: “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.”

No doubt most readers will be familiar with the old saying, it never rains but it pours.

It essentially means that unwelcome occurrences come thick and fast one after the other or all at the same time.

And one might apply that to Ballymena in County Antrim, a town already troubled by the charismatic, Wrightbus-linked Green Pastures Church and now faced with a new church in a similar, shallow, easy-believist vein.

That church is Mid Antrim Vineyard, formed out of the extremely troubling Causeway Coast Vineyard church, based in Coleraine on the north coast of Northern Ireland.

It will be ran by Hugh and Alyson Reid (pictured, top), who have apparently been part of Causeway Coast Vineyard for the past 10 years and live in the Ballymena area.

As we have discussed on numerous occasions, anything associated with Causeway Coast Vineyard, or indeed the Vineyard movement in general, ought to be treated with the utmost of caution.

Infamously, the former lead pastor of Causeway Coast Vineyard, Alan Scott (pictured, below), told his sadly credulous followers when speaking at Causeway Coast Vineyard that he was “all in” with the Pope and poured scorn on the notion one could be opposed to the worship of Mary through the rosary, a dreadful Romish blasphemy and deceit.

Was he swiftly ejected from the pulpit (well, stage, pulpits are terribly old fashioned don’t you know?) and told in no uncertain terms such Christ-denying blasphemy would not be tolerated?

Of course not – he continued without fear of reproach before he got a big move to sunny California to take over at Anaheim Vineyard.

One of the key figures in Causeway Coast Vineyard is Peter Lynas, a hardened and determined ecumenist who has rightly earned the moniker, ‘Papist’ Peter Lynas.

Causeway Coast Vineyard’s lead pastors currently are husband and wife duo (that much-beloved combination of so many charismatic fellowships) Neil and Janet Young (1 Timothy 2:11-12, pictured, below) and Neil Young, as we have previously referred to, has something of a penchant for quoting Romanists on his Twitter page.

And back in May this year, Causeway Coast Vineyard held their ‘Encounter More’ conference, with two of the headline attractions being representatives of that awful, heretical US based megachurch, Bethel Ministries.

They were Jeremy Riddle, a leading character in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene, and Havilah Cunnington, a self-proclaimed prophet who is anything but. You can read about her ludicrous ‘prophecy’ by clicking here.

Causeway Coast Vineyard had further Bethel representatives present at their services in April on the same weekend that heretical organisation held a conference organised by Journey Community Church in Antrim.

Bethel Ministries is linked with all sorts of bizarre, outrageous practices and beliefs and is corrosive to any who come in contact with it.

From encouraging students at its ‘Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry’ going to a morgue to try to raise people from the dead to claiming God manifests Himself at their meetings through the medium of gold dust and feathers, it is plain to see this is a church which does not over burden itself with acquainting itself with the Word of God.

Throw into the mix the disputed claims of ‘grave sucking’ and the promotion of extra biblical revelation, and you have a church which is fearfully at odds with God’s Word.

But Causeway Coast Vineyard, which Hugh and Alyson Reid have been attending and leading small groups in throughout all of these blasphemes, was trumpeting these characters as wonderful examples to follow.

Also featuring at that conference were ABBA ‘prayer dancing’ and Rome supporting Pete Greig and another big fan of compromise with Romish blasphemies, Mike Pilavachi (pictured, below).

So anyone attending Mid Antrim Vineyard will be going to meetings ran by people who are happy to promote and be linked with a church which promotes heretics, false prophets and Romish compromisers.

We said at the start it never rains but it pours, and this is a veritable deluge of devilish deceits on offer.

Another very practical concern is over Hugh and Alyson Reid, the couple (there you are again!) who are taking on this new venture, which held its first service on 3 November.

Are they theologically trained? What qualifications do they have to be shepherds of what they would consider to be God’s flock (and no doubt there may well be some truly born again among it)?

This is the problem with so many of these charismatic, fellowship type churches. Of course, many training colleges are to be studiously avoided rather than studied at, but are these just enthusiastic individuals who have taken it upon themselves to have the spiritual oversight of, possibly, hundreds of souls?

There is a fine example of the setting up of, essentially, any old individual to be a priest or pastor and the fruitlessness of such in the book of Judges.

Judges 17:7-8, 10, 12-13 says: “And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.”

What was the qualification of this man to be a priest to Micah? Simply that he was a Levite.

Did it matter that he was not qualified for the role and was happy to serve in a house where idols were set up? Not to them, it didn’t.

What are the qualifications of these set up as pastors here in Mid Antrim Vineyard? The fact they call themselves Christian?

The instability of such a situation was quickly exposed in the next chapter when this Levite, receiving a better offer, dropped Micah like a hot potato and took the false idols with him.

We have referred to enthusiasm and we do not dispute the genuine nature of Hugh and Alyson Reid’s efforts, and we would ask readers to pray for them that they might be awakened to the grave errors in the Vineyard movement, which go right to its roots, and reject such charismatic deceptions.

Likewise, we must also pray that such efforts, in their current guise, will not take off and instead that Ballymena, already having the similar charismatic deceptions of Green Pastures inflicted upon it, would experience a tremendous heaven-sent revival and not a revival which exists solely in the imaginations of those running such churches.

Let that also be our prayer for the rest of Northern Ireland, that God would move in mighty power throughout our country and bring great times of refreshing to this land.

Let us not be carried away by the lights and music of the charismatic delusion, but let us firmly set our eyes upon Christ, serious study of His Word and dedication to living a holy, righteous, sanctified life.

Acts 3:19: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”.

Wrightbus apparently saved, but Green Pastures criticism should focus on its heretic promoting

Colossians 3:1-2: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

While the whole sorry saga surrounding the future of the financially stricken Wrightbus, and the Green Pastures Church so closely linked to the owners which has benefited from around £16 million of donations in recent years from the struggling firm, has played out, there is an even greater shame than the mess which has filled newspapers for the past number of weeks.

It is absolutely tragic that the jobs of so many people, affecting so many families, could be left hanging by a thread.

Mercifully, it appears these jobs will now be saved following an announcement of a deal in principle having been struck.

A lot of ire has been focused on Green Pastures, the church ran by self-proclaimed “visionary” Jeff Wright, who also happens to be the majority shareholder of the Cornerstone Group which owned Wrightbus.

This has included peaceful protests at Green Pastures these past few Sundays, and much of the anger surrounds the frankly eye-watering level of financial support the church has received.

£16 million could pay for a lot of hymn books and pews, not that a church like Green Pastures would favour such old-fashioned items like that.

The generosity of Wrightbus seemed to fly in the face of conventional wisdom as well, given they made a “charitable donation” of more than £4 million to Green Pastures in the same year as Wrightbus recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.15 million.

We are far from being financiers or hot shot business leaders, but surely even a child would understand that doesn’t make a great deal of sense?

The anger and frustration of workers was further exacerbated by what seemed to be the glacial pace discussions over a rescue deal for the business from an English investor seemed to be progressing, with the “visionary” Pastor Jeff Wright again drawing a great deal of criticism.

The reason for this was due to the seemingly rather bizarre arrangement whereby the Wrightbus premises are owned separately from the manufacturing business and held in a company called Whirlwind Property Two, which is not part of the Wright group and is therefore not under the control of the administrator.

That property company is controlled by Pastor Jeff Wright.

Pastor Jeff Wright is one of the most senior figures, if not the most senior figure in Green Pastures and his church issued a statement on their Facebook page on 27th September, two days after it became apparent just how much of a hole Wrightbus was in.

Given his status, it is hard to imagine how he didn’t play a role in the composition of the statement, which could merely state how grateful Green Pastures was for the eye-watering donations it has received.

They said: “As any church would be, we are devastated by the huge number of job losses at the Wright Group and we are especially heartbroken because of the impact this will have on so many individuals and families in our local towns and communities.

“We understand the hurt, anger and confusion felt by so many, as many within our own congregation have been personally affected by these job losses and we are doing all we can to support them at this time.

“As with any donation we receive as a church, we are incredibly grateful for the support the Wright family have offered us. They, along with many others, chose to be generous when their family business enabled them to do so.

“The leadership, staff and people of Green Pastures Church will continue to love and serve people in our community in and through these challenging times.”

Cold comfort was the theme of the more charitable responses by those responding to the statement on Facebook.

And while Green Pastures and Pastor Jeff Wright have been on the receiving end of scathing criticism throughout this saga, we want to address something else about Green Pastures and Pastor Jeff Wright.

That is the leading role that Green Pastures and Pastor Jeff Wright are playing in the increasingly prominent charismania movement in Northern Ireland.

Green Pastures is typical of such churches in that services are more akin to rock concerts and where all forms of traditional worship are eschewed in favour of worldly entertainment.

And they welcomed into their midst in the spring one of the leading characters in the wretched American megachurch, Bethel Supernatural Ministries.

There are so many issues with Bethel it is hard to know where to start, but some of its dreadful charismatic excesses can be seen by clicking here.

Havilah Cunnington (or Havilah Cunning-one, pictured, below) of Bethel Supernatural Ministries performed at Green Pastures and claims to be a “prophet” and even sells a “Prophetic Personalities” course for $49 which apparently leads people to be “unleash[ed] into a bold life of hearing from heaven”.

Colossians 2:8 bears a warning for us of falling for the nonsense spewed out by the like of Havilah Cunning-one. It says: “Beware lest any man (or woman, in this instance) spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

We have highlighted her outrageous claims and ludicrous excuse for prophesy previously, which you can read about by clicking here.

To recommend Havilah Cunning-one to anyone as a spiritual guide is reprehensible and yet that is what Pastor Jeff Wright has done by having her at Green Pastures.

While there may well be justifiable criticism of both Pastor Jeff Wright and Green Pastures over their role in Wrightbus’ collapse, there is much more fault to be found in promoting such disgraceful nonsense in the name of Christ.

The elevation of so many characters with no theological training in so many churches, particularly those in the charismaniac movement, is reminiscent of the religious situation in the days of the evil king of Israel, Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

1 Kings 13:33: “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.”

“Whosoever would” became a priest, and that appears to be the chief qualification to become a ‘pastor’ in so many of these churches.

Such a selection process was considered a symptom of Jeroboam carrying on in his “evil way” and the result was the dreadful pollution of religion in the land and the promotion of paganism and idolatry.

This is what we are seeing in Ulster today, sadly.

And what this does is leads to widespread ignorance, an environment in which all manner of false teaching can flourish as the listener is stripped of the power of discernment.

Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

Creating such an environment at Green Pastures where so many people are taken in by the bright lights, loud music and razzmatazz is what this church should be receiving most criticism for.

Dear reader, make sure your voice is heard audibly and continually sounding forth against such churches as that of Green Pastures.

Let us never be afraid to speak out against any fellowship which fails to abide by Biblical standards and any church which promotes heretics like those who find their home within the likes of Bethel.

Let us guard our separation diligently.

2 Corinthians 6:17: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”.

‘Sozo’ prayer brainwashing at charismaniac Open Skies Festival

2 Peter 2:1-2: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

The summer months are a popular time for various ‘religious’ festivals to be held throughout the country.

While we are not able to focus on every single one of them, one which took place last weekend is of particular note.

That is the Open Skies Festival which was held in Shane’s Castle in Antrim town from Friday, 9 to Sunday, 11 August.

It is not just because of the heavy involvement of Bethel and Hillsong musicians.

It is not just because of the heavy involvement of the Belfast based Crown Jesus Ministries supremo known only by the matey moniker of ‘Mitch’ (pictured, top).

It is not just because of the heavy involvement of one of the Causeway Coast Vineyard lead pastors, Tre Sheppard (pictured, below) or indeed any of the other characters who were speaking at the festival.

While all those issues deserve highlighting individually and collectively, there is another, even more sinister and concerning aspect of this event.

That is a session which was held on the Saturday morning of the festival entitled, ‘Introduction to Sozo’.

No doubt, many will be asking, what is Sozo?

An article from the Christian Post, which plays, to use a cricketing analogy, with a straight bat throughout, giving both sides of the argument without taking any particular strong view, gives us some details, which we will reproduce at intervals throughout the article (you can read it in full by clicking here).

It says: “The Sozo ministry or Sozo prayer started in Redding, California, in 1997 by Bethel Church — a nondenominational charismatic megachurch. The idea was inspired after a healing evangelist, Randy Clark, held a prayer training at the church.”

Several alarm bells should be ringing already at this point.

Bethel Church, based in Redding, California, is a dreadful organisation replete with heresies, false teaching and extra biblical nonsense.

This is something we have already highlighted on ‘Protestant Revival’ and you can read about some of the heresies of Bethel, including attempted raisings from the dead and the disputed practice of ‘grave sucking’, by clicking here.

Another alarm bell should be attached to the name of Randy Clark, leader of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which the likes of Open Skies and numerous churches we have featured are strongly influenced by.

He was a leader in what became known as the ‘Toronto Blessing’, the frightening movement which saw those falling under its spirit howling like dogs, laughing hysterically and rolling around the floor.

It is alleged by its practitioners that this is evidence of the Holy Spirit at work, but the spirit causing such dreadful manifestations is most certainly not holy.

Randy Clark, indeed, is said to have received his “anointing” in this ungodly delusion and deception by none other than the self-proclaimed Holy Ghost bartender Rodney Howard-Browne, a man whose heresy you can read of by clicking here.

The word ‘sozo’ is a Greek word, meaning ‘to save, keep safe and sound’. Using the language of the New Testament is another shallow effort by its creators to sound orthodox.

The Christian Post article continues: “The Bethel Sozo website describes Sozo ministry as ‘a unique inner healing and deliverance ministry aimed to get to the root of things hindering your personal connection with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’.”

What hinders our relationship with God is sin, whether we are saved or unsaved. Confessing of our sin and living a blameless life for Him is what gives us a closer relationship with God.

We don’t need some charismatic delusion or gimmick to bring us closer to God, we need to study His Word and commune with Him in prayer ourselves.

The Christian Post article speaks to one keen practitioner of this heresy, a Paula Noble who is apparently an “Assemblies of God pastor” (1 Timothy 2:12).

Explaining how she handles sozo “appointments”, the article says “the person seeking inner healing meets with no less than two leaders, one who leads the Sozo prayer and another who records what God says throughout the meeting.”

This individual writes down what God apparently says to the “sozoee” and, even more remarkably, the pastor then tells them which bits of what the sozoee believe God is saying to them God is actually saying to them.

This Paula Noble says: “There’s a learning process for leaders too. [We need] discernment to say ‘that doesn’t sound like how Jesus would talk’ to someone because the enemy would totally try to sideline them.

“He’s never demeaning, He’s never harsh, and what He says always aligns with His word. So if the enemy tries to sideline a person and throw something else out there, I’m very quick to identify it.”

It’s very good of her to step in and let people know what God is saying to them.

She’s basically jumping in and saying: “No no, God isn’t telling you this bit. That’s actually the enemy (who is this enemy? If it’s the devil why can’t you say the devil?) The bit before, God was saying that nice bit, but this bit sounds a bit harsh, that’s not God.”

It is so obviously a nonsense and such a shameful, confused mess.

The point this woman is missing is that the entire practice does not “align with His Word”.

Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to consult a church leader of any sort to get them to tell us what God is telling us as we pray to Him.

We are told in God’s Word how to pray and how God hears us.

1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.

Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ help us as we pray, our mediator is Jesus Christ, not some self-appointed pastor and expert on a nonsense invented 20 years ago by a church which teaches all manner of heresy.

Think even of the Lord’s Prayer. Did Jesus say we ought to get a pastor or minister and a church elder to come in to the room with us and tell us what God is saying? Of course He didn’t.

Furthermore, this also creates the problem that the pastor advising the person praying has total control over them, having full authority over what that person believes is God’s will for their life.

And that brings us to the most frightening, sinister aspect of this whole thing – “divine editing”.

The Christian Post article says that Bethel has came up with six tools to make the sozo process more effective, one of which is divine editing.

This is what the article says: “Divine editing has also been linked to Dr. Aiko Hormann in relation to the Sozo prayer.

“‘If your childhood lacked nurturing, invite your Heavenly Father to fill in the voids created by lack of nurturing. He will ‘edit’ your memories — both ‘edit out’ painful memories and ‘edit in’ His nurturing,’ Hormann’s website describes.”

Brainwashing, then.

How else can you describe changing people’s memories?

What a frightening prospect.

You don’t like a memory from the past? Just wipe it out.

You want to put a happy spin on an unhappy memory? Just change it.

As well as brainwashing, it also sounds like hypnotism.

Another character interviewed who practices and leads sozo sessions said of her experience (a key word among the charismatic delusion):

“As the facilitator continued to prompt me with questions, I began to see the cross and Jesus with His hand out for me to grab.

“Eventually, Jesus wanted to take me up a staircase to see God but I was afraid. The facilitator prompted me to forgive my earthly father; I did. Then I was able to go up and see God, my daddy on the throne and even sit on His lap.”

Since then, she claims, she is able to “visit Jesus” as well as “snuggle and even dance” with God.

What on earth is this nonsense leading people into?

Where does it say in the Bible that we can sit on God’s knee for a cuddle or go for a dance with Him? The very notion is outrageous and blasphemous.

This nonsense ties in with the false, ungodly notion of so many alleged “Christians” today who view God as a sort of Santa Claus in the clouds.

Yet this is what the Open Skies Festival is encouraging every one of its attendees to get themselves tied up in.

May God have mercy on every single one of them and deliver them from such ungodliness.

Every single speaker at this festival ought to be ashamed of themselves and every single one is implicated in this wretched mess.

Those speakers were, in addition to Causeway Coast Vineyard’s Tre Sheppard and good old Mitch of Crown Jesus Ministries, Jonathan Martin of ‘The Table’ church in Oklahoma, American worship musicians Leeland Mooring and Jason Upton, Azman Khairuddin of Journey Community Church, Hillsong worship leader Benjamin Hastings and Dario Leal of 1st Ballynahinch Presbyterian Church.

To be part of a festival which introduces a form of prayer which is utterly unknown to the Word of God and includes brainwashing practices such as “divine editing” is repugnant.

We would urge everyone reading this to please share this widely to warn of this latest grave deception which no doubt will now be carried round many Pentecostal and non-denominational churches throughout Ulster.

Sozo has not made it round this neck of the woods yet, but this is the start of the latest lie which does harm to the cause of God in our land.

We are seeking to warn against it and urge you to do the same.

Let us not be silent or neutral in such a grave matter, but rather let us fervently and “earnestly contend for the faith” in this day in which we are called to live.

Green Pastures church welcomes in Bethel heretic ‘prophet’ Havilah Cunnington

2 Peter 2:1-2: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

There is a proliferation of charismatic churches springing up and, on the face of it, prospering throughout Northern Ireland at present, and among the most notable of these is Green Pastures, based in the Ballymena area in County Antrim.

Like many of the more notable of these movements, leading figures within them have close familial links to very high ranking and well to do businessmen, and Green Pastures is no exception.

Lead pastor, Jeff Wright, is the son of Wrightbus founder, Sir William Wright, a major figure in Northern Ireland industry.

And that same business acumen is carried over into the church, as Green Pastures was able to stump up £4 million a number of years ago to purchase a huge 97 acre site just outside Ballymena.

As well as building a church there, the plans also include, according to the Belfast Telegraph, “social housing, a hotel, car showroom, riverside restaurants, an outdoor pursuits centre, a training and education centre, student accommodation, a nursing home, an all-weather football pitch and a wedding chapel.”

Plans to also build a supermarket had to be abandoned last year following an outcry from business owners in the town centre who were concerned that such a move would have a detrimental effect on businesses in the town.

Such work is apparently well under way, and last month they welcomed in a representative of another church which has created its own mini village format, Bethel Supernatural Ministries based in Redding in California.

Havilah Cunnington (Cunning-one, perhaps) is a leading figure in Bethel and claims to be a prophet. She is a character we featured previously on this page as she was one of the figures invited to the ‘Encounter More’ Conference ran by leading lights in the charismaniac deceit, Causeway Coast Vineyard last month.

And the night after she finished her run at Causeway Coast Vineyard, she was performing on stage at Green Pastures.

We will remind readers of how she is a profitable ‘prophet’.

Havilah Cunning-one offers a “Prophetic Personalities” course, in which she “teach[es] on four types of prophetic gifts, unleashing you into a bold life of hearing from Heaven.”

There we were thinking God spoke through His Word.

Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

This “Prophetic Personalities” course costs $49, apparently. It is odd that if Havilah Cunning-one is so keen for people to be “unleash[ed] into a bold life of hearing from heaven” she should put a price on it.

Mind you, for $49 you do get “added bonuses” such as a “Deep Dive Cheatsheet for each Personality Type, 30 days of Activations, Private Q&A for Students and Private Facebook Community.”

A bargain, we’re sure you will agree.

We also looked at that time at one of her great ‘prophecies’, featured in an online video, appropriately called “The Trash Can”, in which she spoke “prophetically over” attendees, telling them, rather illuminatingly, “some of you have been birthing something”.

Her tremendous word from God was nothing more than a generic statement which could just have easily been spoken by a fortune teller hoping to dupe the undiscerning.

And sadly it is such spiritual fortune tellers which are polluting pulpits up and down the land today, never mind the fact that Havilah Cunning-one is acting outside the bounds set by God.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 illustrates this clearly: “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

We are told in God’s Word that we will know if someone is truly a prophet if their word comes true.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22: “And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

How can anyone in any possible way judge if Havilah Cunnington’s prophecy is coming or will come true? It is so vague and generic you couldn’t possibly make that call.

You might just as well stand up at the front of a church gathering and say, “some of you are thinking of buying a new car”. It is self-evidently nonsense to trumpet it as prophesy.

The passage quoted above says we are not to “be afraid of him” (or her in this case) whose word does not come to pass.

That word “afraid” carries the meaning of “standing in awe” and how many people erroneously stand in awe of such false prophets as Havilah Cunnington?

How many people are lured in to this nonsense by churches such as Green Pastures?

In addition to Pastor Jeff Wright (pictured, above), there appears to be a number of other pastors, “many pastors” (Jeremiah 12:10) in fact, including Pastor Barry Weir, ‘Pastor’ Karen Weir, Pastor Jonny Mullan, Pastor Trevor Dunlop and Pastor Jason Kennedy.

These individuals do a great disservice to the people under their direction by recommending a false prophet to them.

Indeed, there is much to be concerned about with Green Pastures Church.

There are the standard, but no less offensive to God, marks of God defiance present in so many such churches such as the rock music, absence of head covering for females and the eschewing of respectful dress for church, traditional hymns, the Authorised Version of the Bible and proper, Biblical gender roles within the church.

A look at their website also shows that their youth groups are called RIOT and Revolution, which are hardly the sort of things you would want to be promoting, and they even run classes on how to worship God through dance.

This is quite clearly a church which has incorporated the world so as to make it attractive to the world.

And this is quite obvious when they bring in Havilah Cunnington, a senior figure in Bethel Ministries, which claims extra-Biblical revelation and where some of its ministry students have visited morgues to try to raise people from the dead.

We would urge readers to avoid Green Pastures at all costs and not to be taken in by their charismatic blend of matiness, worldly entertainment and pre-service cups of coffee.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

‘Encounter More’ heretics as Bethel Ministries take centre stage at Causeway Coast Vineyard conference

The Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, based in Coleraine on the north coast of Northern Ireland, is hosting a conference later this month featuring representatives of the anti-Christian Bethel Movement, as well as other Bible rejecting speakers.

Some of the leading figures of Bethel Church, which, in the light of God’s Word falls well short of that which is commendable or acceptable, will be taking part in the three day conference, running from Thursday, 23 to Saturday, 25 May.

The Bethel Movement is a frankly outrageous church, whose manifold blasphemies are so obvious it is hard to imagine any true child of God being taken in by them.

From encouraging students at its ‘Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry’ going to a morgue to try to raise people from the dead (yes, you read that correctly) to claiming God manifests Himself at their meetings through the medium of gold dust and feathers (yes, you also read that correctly), it is plain to see this is a church which does not over burden itself with acquainting itself with the Word of God.

Throw into the mix the disputed claims of ‘grave sucking’ and the promotion of extra biblical revelation, and you have a church which is fearfully at odds with God’s Word.

While Bill Johnson, the leader of Bethel, denies the ‘grave sucking’ claims, this is what he wrote in his book, ‘The Physics of Heaven’.

He said: “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.”

Now where exactly does Bill Johnson get this belief from? It’s not from the Bible, anyway.

It must be from his own imagination, he has not troubled himself to study what the Word of God has to say.

This attitude can be summed up quite neatly in the words of Jeremiah 23:16-18, which read: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?”

Does not the like of Bethel preach an endlessly positive message, telling everyone in attendance how great God thinks they are and what big plans He has for each of their lives? It doesn’t matter whether they’re truly saved or not, they’ll still be getting this message of peace and “radical” or “reckless” love from the motivational speaker, sorry, preacher, up at the front.

Now, does Causeway Coast Vineyard Church believe “anointings, mantles, revelations and mysteries have lain unclaimed” because the dead didn’t pass them on before they breathed their last?

Do they? If so, they should admit they agree with this pagan belief and, if not, why on earth are they inviting such heretics to their church?

The lead pastors at Causeway Coast Vineyard Church are husband and wife duo, Neil and Janet Young (pictured, above) (1 Timothy 2:11-12). Its associate pastor is Tre Sheppard.

Do they believe this?

How about another of that church’s leading figures, ‘Papist’ Peter Lynas (pictured, below), a brazen, determined ecumenist who is leader of the allegedly Evangelical Alliance?

Does ‘Papist’ Peter Lynas believe this? He is more than welcome to contact us on our Facebook page to clarify his position. He has been fond in the past of contacting our page but always seems to lose interest in speaking when directly confronted with and questioned about his ecumenical compromise. You can read about his ecumenical antics by clicking here.

The Bethel representatives to descend on Coleraine in just under two weeks’ time are Havilah Cunnington (pictured, top) and Jeremy Riddle.

One of the key weapons of intoxication utilised by Bethel is that of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), which they use to appeal to the senses, and Jeremy Riddle is a leading figure in this movement.

Interestingly, he was formerly associated with the Anaheim Vineyard Church, which just so happens to be where the former lead pastor of Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, Alan Scott, is now spreading his ungodly gospel.

Regular readers may remember Alan Scott is the one who, while at Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, said he was “all in” with the Pope and made light of the blasphemous Romish practice of Mariolatry. You can read about that by clicking here.

Havilah Cunnington, meanwhile, is apparently a preacher, showing, like Janet Young of Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, her utter disregard for the Word of God, which prohibits women preachers, despite what lies Bible twisters try to come up with to claim to the contrary.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 says: “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

Havilah Cunnington apparently offers a “Prophetic Personalities” course, in which she “teach[es] on four types of prophetic gifts, unleashing you into a bold life of hearing from Heaven.”

For just $49 (it’s amazing how these things are so much more expensive than salvation, which is free) you will also receive “added bonuses” such as a “Deep Dive Cheatsheet for each Personality Type, 30 days of Activations, Private Q&A for Students and Private Facebook Community.”

Where do we sign up?

Havilah Cunnington claims to be a prophet, and here is an example of her “prophecy” from a YouTube clip called “The Trash Can”, which, incidentally, is where we would recommend as the best place for any of her offerings.

“There is (sic) some of you in this season right now where you have been birthing something, and I’m going to say this prophetically over you and just look at me for a minute because I just believe this is going to go straight to your spirit.

“Some of you have been birthing something and you have spent years birthing it and you’re in a season where you’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this any more’.

“I remember this very clearly, two and a half… (corrects herself, maybe not so clearly!) three years ago, I was sitting in my living room and I was crying, I was saying, ‘God, I don’t want to do this any more, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not sure I can do this any more. I’m carrying this dream within me to do more and my life is so hidden, it’s so not what I was hoping it would be’.

“And there’s a season of transition where if we will hold on and do what we were created to do, which is birth God’s dreams, listen, you were created to birth God’s dreams.

“Your spirit will tell you what to do, just like your body will tell you what to do. I’m saying to you, look at me, trust your spirit. Your spirit knows how to birth the things God’s put within you.”

That certainly puts Elijah, Isaiah, Hosea et al in the shade, doesn’t it?

We were created to “birth God’s dreams”?

God has a divine will for each of His children, but where does she get the idea that God has dreams?

God fulfils His will, He doesn’t sit about hoping Havilah Cunnington or some of her poor deluded disciples will do Him a big favour and help Him fulfil these dreams or aspirations.

God ensures His will will be done, regardless of the devices of men.

As for Havilah Cunnington’s “prophecy”, it amounts to nothing more than what one might expect from a fortune teller or a horoscope, speaking in such vague generalities.

“Some of you have been birthing something” is her great prophetic revelation.

Were these the sort of prophesies recorded in the Bible?

Let’s look at some of the prophesies regarding the Lord Jesus Christ within Scripture.

Jesus’ birthplace was prophesied.

Micah 5:2: “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

The Bible itself attests, through Micah, that Bethlehem is one of thousands of areas where Jesus could have been born, but it was prophesied He would be born there.

Jesus’ earthly lineage was prophesied.

Isaiah 11:1: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots…”

The prophet Isaiah said that Jesus would come of the line of Jesse, from the line of King David.

The price of Jesus’ betrayal was prophesied.

Zechariah 11:12: “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.”

Zechariah prophesied that Jesus would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.

These are all specific things, aren’t they?

Micah, Isaiah or Zechariah didn’t say, “God has told me at some point in the future a man will come and do great things”, they said that Jesus would come to this earth, born in a specific tiny village, a descendant of David and he would be betrayed for a very specific amount of money.

They didn’t deal in vague generalities and they didn’t tell everyone they could be a prophet too if they bought a ‘how to’ manual for 49 shekels.

We trust, dear reader, this highlights how far removed Bethel Ministries and its speakers are from proper Biblical truth, and we would implore you to share this widely to help warn people off from going to this dreadful conference of rank apostasy.

And, if you are planning to attend this conference, won’t you even reconsider and pray to God that He will bring to your realisation how such an event is so far removed from being honouring to Him that it is actually outright offensive to Him.

For any reader, we would ask you to pray that such movements would be brought to nought and that such venues of false worship would be cast down and replaced with churches where God is truly lifted up and exalted.

Heretical Bethel welcomed into Causeway Coast Vineyard

Acts 20:28-30: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

Last week, we highlighted a conference organised by Journey Community Church in Antrim featuring leading figures in the Bethel Ministries movement.

The ‘Kingdom Come’ conference was held at Glenmachan Church of God in east Belfast and featured notable characters within Bethel such as Eric Johnson, Chris Cruz and Kristene Di Marco.

We also highlighted some of the outrageous beliefs taught by Bethel, quoting its leading figures espousing them.

This included extra-biblical revelation, attempting to raise people from the dead and the disputed practice of ‘grave sucking’, which Bethel leader Bill Johnson described as “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”.

Bizarrely, and sadly, this wasn’t enough to convince some of those who visited the facebook page connected with this page of the dangers of Bethel.

However, the fact remains that Bethel Ministries is a church and movement which ought to be shunned and repudiated by any true child of God.

Sadly, rejecting and remaining separate from that which is offensive to God is not a strong suit of Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, based in Coleraine, County Londonderry on the north coast of Northern Ireland, who promptly invited Bethel to their Sunday services immediately after the conference ended.

Indeed, Causeway Coast Vineyard Church is not only associated with that which is offensive to God, but it has shown itself to be part of the problem by the characters it associates with.

Its former lead pastor, Alan Scott (pictured, above), now slumming it in a Vineyard Church in sunny California, said in a service at Causeway Coast Vineyard that he was “all in” with the Pope.

Peter Lynas, leader of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland and a leading figure in Causeway Coast Vineyard, has repeatedly acted in a way which, in the light of God’s Word, is highly questionable.

Peter Lynas endorsed so-called Protestants running down to Dublin to cower before the Pope and criticised all who dared to speak out against such rank rejection of the Word of God.

Peter Lynas eulogised the ecumenical evangelist Billy Graham at his passing, despite the fact Billy Graham instructed poor lost Roman Catholics seeking the way of salvation back into the clutches of Rome.

Peter Lynas described the likes of a Romanist Benedictine monk, Mark Ephrem-Nolan and ardent ecumenists such as Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Ken (No) Good as “incredible company” when speaking at the same Church of Ireland Clergy Conference as the pair specified and other unimpressive characters.

Peter Lynas described those who seek to take a stand against ecumenism as being guilty of “residual bigotry”.

Peter Lynas, as head of the Evangelical Alliance, has refused to take a stand against Biblical creation denier Glen Mitchell’s church, King’s Church in Bangor and Jesuit promoter Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson’s church, Emmanuel Church in the Craigavon area, being members of that organisation.

Peter Lynas compounded this by then being filmed alongside Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson (the pair are pictured together, below) in promoting a prayer event being ran by 24-7 Prayer Ireland, which Alain Emerson heads up. This organisation’s overall leader, Pete Greig, is a rampant ecumenist who has been advising the Roman Catholic Church on how to lure more people in.

And, just the day after Bethel Ministries finished their ‘Kingdom Come’ conference under the auspices of Journey Community Church in Antrim, they were taking both Sunday meetings at Causeway Coast Vineyard Church.

Eric Johnson, one of the senior pastors at Bethel, who claims to have been called to the ministry by a charismatic leader placing a finger on his head (you can hear his account of this by clicking here), spoke at the morning meeting.

The evening meeting was led by Chris Cruz, the Young Adults Pastor at Bethel Ministries.

Bethel’s arrival at Causeway Coast Vineyard was greeted with great enthusiasm on their social media outlets, demonstrating very clearly their support for such God-defiance as that demonstrated by Bethel.

So many churches are giving room to such movements as Bethel.

This is something which was foretold by the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God, when writing to Timothy.

It says in 1 Timothy 4:1: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”.

There can be little doubt that such gatherings, where individuals are falling over, convulsing on the floor, laughing hysterically and flat out unconscious, are “giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”.

There is certainly nothing of Christ in that.

Such churches like to make much of the Holy Spirit.

That’s fine surely, isn’t it? It certainly is, the Holy Spirit is one person of the Trinity, but they make things of the Holy Spirit which are simply not part of the Bible.

Where in the Bible is there mentioned laughing uncontrollably under the influence of the Holy Spirit? Where is there mentioned all manner of riotous behaviour being carried out under the influence of the Holy Spirit?

There is none, it simply isn’t there.

Furthermore, this over emphasis on the Holy Spirit is non-Scriptural.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to lead people to Christ and to glorify Him.

John 16:13-14 says: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t strive to bring attention to Himself, but rather to bring attention to Christ.

Being determined to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that you are falling over and laughing like a hyena is a sad corruption of God’s Word.

And, of course, these people are not filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Bible shows us what being filled with the Holy Spirit looks like.

Acts 6:3 says: “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”

It would be hard for Stephen or the other deacons to have shown much wisdom if they were writhing around on the floor, wouldn’t it? And we can’t imagine they would have been able to look after any business within the church whilst laughing uncontrollably.

Micah 3:8 says: “But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.”

Micah, the servant of God, was full of the Holy Spirit and was able to show judgment and point out the sins of the Israelites.

The charismatic movement is notable for its “judge not” approach, showing its biblical illiteracy. Ironically, they turn their “judge not” approach into a form of a holier than thou contest to be the least judging type of person. No wonder so many heretics have been allowed to creep in when you daren’t speak out against them.

There is the example of Paul, being filled with the Holy Ghost in Acts 13, reproving Barjesus for trying to turn Sergius Paulus away from the true gospel.

Did Paul writhe around on the floor barking like a dog or laughing like a hyena? Absolutely not.

He spoke sensibly and clearly, saying in verse 10: “O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”

Paul was very firm, blunt and clear in his speaking out against workers of error.

Could we not say in this day and generation, to the likes of Bethel Ministries and Causeway Coast Vineyard, “wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”

There is an endless stream of God-defiance coming out of Causeway Coast Vineyard.

Eventually, this will lead to judgment.

God has promised this.

On numerous occasions we have highlighted the errors of Causeway Coast Vineyard and yet it appears to be falling on deaf ears

We will just leave Peter Lynas, Causeway Coast Vineyard Church and Bethel Ministries with this word of warning from God’s Word.

Proverbs 29:1: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

If you or anyone you know is still involved with this church and you truly love the Lord, then won’t you separate yourself now and take a stand for Christ.

Revelation 18:4-5: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

And if you have not truly come to God in repentance for your sins, won’t you please do it even now, wherever you are. Whether you are at work, sitting on the sofa watching TV, lying in your bed, out for a walk, wherever you are, won’t you put your faith and trust in Christ for salvation and leave aside all the sideshows of these churches.

2 Corinthians 6:2: “…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

‘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.”