Saved by taking a booklet – the shoddy ‘salvation’ of Mitch and Crown Jesus Ministries

Ezekiel 33:7-9: “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

On numerous occasions we have highlighted the easy-believist movement at large in many churches in our land, particularly prevalent in charismatic / Pentecostal type gatherings.

For many of these churches, simply stating that you believe there is a God, attending whichever charismatic, seeker-friendly fellowship is all the rage at the time and saying you want to do things for God is enough to have you classified as being saved (a word being increasingly abused by the charismatic movement).

Indeed, were all the people truly saved at all these meetings ran by charismatics then we would be living in a time of revival. Alas, we are not.

However, rarely is the nakedness of such easy-believist hyperbole exposed so clearly and admitted so openly as by the man known by the matey moniker of Mitch of Crown Jesus Ministries in Belfast.

Rather excitingly, we discovered following his recent appearance in Alf McCreary’s ‘What I Believe’ series with religious figures each Saturday in the Belfast Telegraph (which, with a few exceptions, might have been better titled ‘Heretic of the Week’), that good old Mitch’s real name is Keith Mitchell. Well worth the purchasing price of the paper alone!

Mitch took to Twitter during the week to highlight the shameful depths that so many church leaders go to in an effort to make it seem like they are bringing so many people into the fold of Christ.

He claimed that 44 pupils were saved at a Scripture Union event he spoke at by… taking a booklet.

That’s right, 44 young people were saved by sticking their hand out and accepting a booklet he handed to them.

Well, if it were that easy we would be getting on the main street of every town in Northern Ireland and prising people’s hands open to get them to take a booklet off us.

This is what he said on Twitter (which you can see for yourself, pictured, below):

“The Gospel still works.
44 pupils took booklets as their way of saying YES to Jesus.”

That might be their way of saying yes to Jesus, or perhaps to phrase it better, Keith’s (aka Mitch’s) way of saying people say yes to Jesus, but it’s not the way the Bible says we are to come to Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Romans 10:9-10 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

1 John 1:7-9 says: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

There are countless other examples we could give but that surely offers a flavour of the way by which we are saved.

Ephesians 2:8 says we are saved by grace through faith, not by taking a booklet.

Romans 10:10 says that by our mouth “confession is made unto salvation”, not by our hand reception of a booklet is made unto salvation.

1 John 1:9 says we can be cleansed of all unrighteousness by confessing our sins to God, not that we can be cleansed by taking a booklet off Keith (aka Mitch) or any other easy-believist.

Keith’s (aka Mitch’s) doctrine of salvation is not to be found anywhere in the Bible but is rather a figment of his own imagination.

The passage at the top of this article speaks of how the blood of the unsaved is on the hand of the watchman who fails to warn them of the danger they are in.

If Keith (aka Mitch) is preaching that accepting a (presumably) religious pamphlet makes you fit for heaven, then he is most definitely not speaking to warn the wicked from his way.

To do such to young people, who are generally more impressionable and easily influenced, makes it all the more reprehensible.

Of course, Keith’s (aka Mitch’s) previous form means we should not be too surprised when we see him propagating a false gospel.

Only last month we highlighted his disgraceful promotion of another false gospel, that of Romanism.

He brought in a Ron Huntley of Divine Renovation Ministry to spread his false message.

And over the summer he was one of the headline speakers at the charismatic Open Skies festival where the ungodly prayer brainwashing technique of ‘sozo’ was taught.

This is a man who is as those warned against in Ephesians 4:14, which says: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”.

Separation from Keith (aka Mitch) and Crown Jesus Ministries ought to be practised by all discerning believers.

We have previously faithfully warned Newtownbreda Baptist Church against its association with Crown Jesus Ministries and Keith (aka Mitch).

Will Newtownbreda Baptist Church and its minister, Pastor Trevor Ramsey, heed this warning and disassociate themselves from a church whose leader preaches salvation comes from accepting a booklet?

We hope and pray that they and he will do just that and we pray that all who hold the Word of God dear in our land will do likewise and be unafraid and unashamed to take their stand for Christ in this wicked day and generation.

Jeremiah 6:13-14: “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”

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”.

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.

Carryduff Elim continues charismaniac deceit with ‘Transform Ireland’ conference

Isaiah 29:13: “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”

More charismatic heretics are to be imported to our shores by Carryduff Elim Church this weekend as they host their ‘Transform Ireland’ conference on Saturday, 27 April.

Not content with having inflicted the God-defying and blasphemous antics of the self-proclaimed ‘Holy Ghost bartender’ Rodney Howard-Browne (pictured, below) on the poor people of Carryduff and the surrounding area, they are bringing more such characters to Northern Ireland.

On this occasion they are bringing in Ken Gott (pictured, top) and Tim Dunnett from Bethshan Church in the north east of England, particularly centred around Sunderland and Newcastle.

Bethshan is yet another of the charismatic churches which has embraced the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and all its outrageous claims and manifestations.

Ken Gott is a very senior figure in the modern charismatic movement in the British Isles and indeed is credited with being the man who brought the Toronto Blessing to the UK.

This is, of course, the charismatic wave in which people were noted to have fallen over with “holy laughter” and often characterised by people lying on the ground in convulsions and roaring like lions and barking like dogs, apparently under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

This is an issue we have addressed on a couple of occasions of late and we would advise readers to turn to passages in Acts 13:6-12, Exodus 31:1-3, Acts 6:3 and Micah 3:8 to get an idea of the character, capabilities and conduct of those truly filled with the Holy Spirit.

You will see that the people mentioned in those passages, Paul, Bezaleel, Stephen, Micah, were all in full control of their faculties.

The same cannot be said for those operating under the ‘spirit’ of the Toronto Blessing and its offshoots.

A farmyard scene, which anyone who has had the misfortune of attending such events or anyone who has seen such videos on YouTube will have witnessed, is in no way edifying and is utterly repugnant to the Word of God.

Hebrews 12:28 outlines how anti-Scriptural these meetings are: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear”.

God instructed His people to show reverence to their meeting house. Leviticus 26:2 says: “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.”

There is no “reverence” or “godly fear” at those sort of meetings.

Indeed, there is a report online from a man who attended one of Ken Gott’s meetings back in 1995 in Sunderland. It is on a website called ‘Banner Ministries’, which, while we do not agree with everything on the site, does feature this very intriguing, first hand experience.

This is part of his account.

It says: “The band leader, between inane choruses, encouraged us to “receive” whilst doubling up and making short grunting noises at virtually every sentence, as indeed did other members of the audience. The majority were laughing and thinking it a huge joke.

“We were also urged to ignore these strange visible and audible manifestations and to “throw off constraint”. “It is catching!” was Pastor Ken Gott’s appropriate remark, whilst he too doubled up groaning as one with birthpangs.

“Great emphasis was placed upon wording such as “River of God, sets our feet a dancing, fills our mouths with laughter” and “We rejoice that the river is here”. “Drink the new wine” was sung in prophecy by a band member.

“Strange wafting of hands by those around us broke out, and a form of backwards breaststroke – “swimming in the Spirit?” Twitching, doubling up, swaying and so forth was evidenced throughout the audience. Significant comments from Pastor Gott were: “We have come too far, we can’t go back” and “The world loves this” and “God is into parties”.

Then there is this, from the same account.

“Now for the “ministry time” of the evening. This began by clearing the decks. Chairs were moved to the walls. Then the designated teams wandered around zapping the majority of people. We were approached but graciously declined to receive. When they ran out of targets, they turned upon themselves and eachother, this happening directly in front of us. Before long the hall resembled a battlefield, bodies lying everywhere, laughing, twitching, convulsing – and the teams wafting their arms over them.

“Before too long however, a large number of individuals began sitting up from the floor, looking around them bemused and bewildered, as if to say “What’s next?” It was at that point that my indignation and dismay gave way to pity for these poor deceived and deluded people.”

Getting “zapped” by the ringleaders in this deception is very much akin to what was happening in the video of Rodney Howard-Browne’s antics which we linked to our previous article on him. You can read the article by clicking here, although the YouTube video we had previously linked to the article has suddenly been removed by Rodney Howard-Browne’s ministry company, Revival Ministries International. We couldn’t possibly guess why.

Anyway, here we have Ken Gott saying “God is into parties”. What sort of a way to speak is that? Where is the reverence or godly fear?

He also said that “the world loves this”. Surely that is not the barometer by which anything should be measured.

1 John 3:13: “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.”

John 15:18-19: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

The natural state of the world is to hate that which is of God, just look at the vile abuse levelled at any who dare stick their head above the parapet and call out sodomy for what it is – sin.

Yet Ken Gott is saying “the world loves” the antics which pass for worship in his church.

We trust it is clear that the spirit at work in such gatherings is most definitely not holy.

But Carryduff Elim is happy to bring this character, and no doubt he will not be doing it for free, to these shores to further spread his deceits.

Pastor George Ritchie and Pastor Gavin Allen (pictured, below) are the men in charge at Carryduff Elim and they bear a grave responsibility for what they are inflicting on the poor deceived attendees at that church.

They and their church were very much aware of the article we had written highlighting the utter inappropriateness of having the likes of Rodney Howard-Browne in your church’s pulpit.

Yet they were happy, despite having God’s Word brought before them to demonstrate why Rodney Howard-Browne ought not to be recommended to anyone, to persist with that event and now to arrange this one.

Indeed it is ‘Pastor George’ (pictured, below), as he is referred to in their schedule for the meeting, who will be welcoming everyone to this festival of frolics.

And while the seminars will wrap up in around 4.30pm, the big event will kick off at 7.30pm, called ‘Transformation Power’, and one can only imagine what carry on will be occurring during that.

We can only conclude that Carryduff Elim is fully caught up in the ungodly excesses of the charismatic movement and urge anyone who truly loves the Lord to separate themselves therefrom.

More than that, we would call on anyone reading this who knows anyone who attends Carryduff Elim or who is planning to attend this conference to share this with them to warn them of the great danger posed by this ‘Transform Ireland’ conference.

Do not allow yourself or anyone you know to come under the influence of this counterfeit Christianity, which says lots of the right sounding things but is ultimately an empty vessel.

Jeremiah 2:13: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

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.”

Peter Lynas and Evangelical Alliance join forces with Jesuit promoter Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson

Jeremiah 14:10-14: “Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.”

Much polluted worship is offered up in our land today and, like the Pharisees of old, those behind it think “that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 7:7).

Many believe that simply invoking the name of Christ will be sufficient to ensure their utterances reach the courts of heaven.

However, Psalm 66:18 tells us that “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me”.

And surely such a peril lies before those organisers of the prayer event held at the gates of Stormont, the would-be seat of power in Northern Ireland, were we not held to ransom by murderers and their apologists, on Sunday past, 24 March.

The event was organised by 24-7 Prayer Ireland, which is an ungodly organisation in the first place.

It is headed up by Alain Emerson (pictured on the right of the image at the top of this article), lead pastor of the anti-Christian charismatic Emmanuel Church, based in the Craigavon area.

Alain Emerson’s ecumenical rap sheet is so long it would make your eyes water, hence his richly deserved moniker of Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson.

You can read his lengthy list of betrayal of the gospel of Jesus Christ by clicking here, which reached its nadir (thus far!) back in November when he engaged in whole-hearted promotion of that wretched Romanist Ignatius of Loyola.

He is, of course, the man who founded the dreadful Jesuit order of priests set up specifically to lead the Counter Reformation, which fought to suppress the glorious light of the gospel, so wonderfully unveiled by God through Martin Luther and others.

Ignatius of Loyola’s Jesuit order led the centuries long, bloody Inquisition, in which untold millions of Protestants, Jews and Muslims were murdered simply for not being Romanists.

But Ignatius of Loyola is a great “dude”, according to Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson.

And on Sunday past he was leading this ungodly event under the auspices of 24-7 Prayer, which was held to, ostensibly, petition God to intervene and restore working government at Stormont and allow everyone to agree over the interminable ‘Brexit’ saga.

Presumably they believe God wants the murderers and apologists for murder of Sinn Fein to reassume control of our affairs.

Another leading figure in the religious deceit spreading throughout our land, ‘Papist’ Peter Lynas (pictured on the left of the image at the top of this article), was also heartily promoting this event.

‘Papist’ Peter Lynas is another whose ecumenical rap sheet is the length of your arm, and you can read all about that by clicking here.

He is the leader of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland and is a senior figure at Causeway Coast Vineyard Church in Coleraine, County Londonderry.

Alain Emerson’s Emmanuel Church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance, and the strong links between him and Peter Lynas were further demonstrated on Sunday past when he publicly expressed his support for, and attended, this initiative.

Peter Lynas tweeted after the event, saying it was “so great to be part of this”.

And indeed, beforehand, he actually appeared in a video alongside Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson or, as he matily referred to him in the video, “Ally”.

Ironically, Alain Emerson is also an ally of Peter Lynas in the ecumenical deceit spreading throughout Ulster.

In that video, and another posted by Peter Lynas afterwards, he talks about people joining with “us”, putting himself as one of the senior figures in bringing this event together.

Now, there is nothing wrong with praying for our country, in fact it is Scriptural, but does Peter Lynas think that fellowshipping with a man who promotes the founder of the Jesuits and has repeatedly engaged with Romanism is going to achieve anything beneficial for Northern Ireland?

Peter Lynas, mind you, doesn’t seem to be too worried about raising a voice against Rome. Instead, he praised professing Christians such as the then Presbyterian Moderator, Rev Charles McMullen, for toddling down to Dublin to cower before the Pope.

With this constant rejection of God’s Word, can there be any excuse for being involved with the Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, or indeed any Vineyard Church, Emmanuel Church in Lurgan or Portadown in County Armagh, or any church which is a member of the Evangelical Alliance?

Scripturally, there is no excuse.

We are told in Ephesians 5:11 that we are to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them”.

Jude v 3 says we are to “earnestly contend for the faith”.

We cannot do that when we are wrapped up in churches who very clearly set themselves up in opposition to the Bible.

Let us not forget, as unfortunately so many in our country seem to have done, that Rome, to this very day, denies the all-sufficient death of Christ at Calvary and pronounces its curse on those who believe that precious doctrine.

Rome teaches of a fictitious holding cell between heaven and hell called Purgatory, it teaches of prayer to Mary and long dead so-called saints, it teaches of the worshipping of idols and images and practises the blatant blasphemy of the Mass, in which they offer Christ up as a sacrifice again and again and again.

All of these teachings are Biblically illiterate and repugnant to the Word of God.

So why do ‘Papist’ Peter Lynas and Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson so willingly and gleefully work alongside them?

Dear reader that is a question we would love you to put to them, particularly if you or some connection of yours is in any way linked to any of the churches they represent, and that includes any whose church is in the Evangelical Alliance. You can find out which churches are members of the Evangelical Alliance by clicking here.

Won’t you even challenge your religious leaders about their involvement in such an organisation, if they are in the Evangelical Alliance, and won’t you even contact these men directly to challenge them on their persistent, repeated unscriptural activities and alliances?

You can contact Alain Emerson by emailing alain@emmanuel-church.co.uk and you can contact Peter Lynas at nireland@eauk.org and mark your correspondence for his attention and no doubt it will reach him.

Let us not be afraid to speak out in this day of apostasy to challenge those who serve to undermine the cause of Christ in our land.

James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

‘Holy Ghost bartender’ Rodney Howard-Browne bringing his heresy to Carryduff Elim

2 Timothy 3:1-5: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Carryduff Elim will next week welcome the heretic US based South African preacher Rodney Howard-Browne (pictured, top), a man who has blasphemously described himself as the ‘Holy Ghost bartender’.

Rodney Howard-Browne claims to have led almost 18 million people to God through his ministry, which is certainly quite a claim.

However, in this age of easy-believism and shallow pseudo-Christianity, such a figure must be treated with caution.

When you see recordings of some of the services he has led, that caution turns into grave doubt.

Videos of people writhing on the ground, convulsing in their seat, laughing uncontrollably and barking like wild animals can be easily accessed online. Just one such repugnant and indeed frightening video can be seen by clicking here.

These people are supposedly filled with the Holy Spirit, passed to them by Rodney Howard-Browne.

There is certainly a spirit at work in such events, but it is far from holy.

In the article we recently posted about Nicky Gumbel, the leader of the Alpha Course, and his deep involvement with the false charismatic teachings associated with what is called the ‘Toronto Blessing’, we highlighted what is actually symptomatic of being filled with the Holy Ghost.

These characteristics most certainly did not include convulsions, hysterical laughter and dog impressions, and we gave examples of Paul, Barnabas and Bezaleel, which you can read about by clicking here.

Given how recently we did so, we don’t intend to dwell on that point again, but the term Rodney Howard-Browne used of himself, the ‘Holy Ghost bartender’, needs examination in the light of Scripture.

Unsurprisingly, he is found to have fallen well short of that which ought to be expected, nay demanded, of a so-called preacher.

Using the term bartender, an Americanism, is ill-advised at best, given the very worldly connotation this brings with it.

Bars, or pubs, are most unChristian venues, despite what so many alleged Christians might like to think today.

What next, a Holy Ghost brothel keeper? Or perhaps a Holy Ghost drug dealer? The very term is repugnant, offensive and blasphemous.

This is what Rodney Howard-Browne said: “I’m just the Holy Ghost bartender, I just serve the new wine and tell them to come drink.”

In an article which appeared in the Christian Research Journal in 1995, we get an indication of Rodney Howard-Browne’s character.

It says: “Laughter, he explained, ‘bubbles up’ from the same place the gift of tongues comes from. It was all in some deep spiritual reservoir that needed to be tapped the same way.

“Howard-Browne then began pumping us up to do just that. He led us in a song with these words: ‘I am drunk, I am drunk. Every day of my life I am drunk. I’ve been drinking down at Joel’s place every night and every day. I am drunk on the new wine.’”

“Then he asked us all to lift our hands and “’let that river of joy come out of your belly.'”

Rodney Howard-Browne claims to be “drunk” on the Holy Spirit and, of course, being a ‘bartender’, he is an enabler of other people becoming drunk.

It may sound in some way impressive to the undiscerning, to claim to be so full of the Holy Spirit it is pouring out of you, but spiritual drunkenness is the furthest thing from an indication of God’s blessing. In fact, it is directly linked to God’s curse.

When Moses was recapping the law to the people shortly before his death, he spoke of spiritual drunkenness which would come upon those who turn away from God.

Deuteronomy 29:18-21 says: “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law”.

Is not Rodney Howard-Browne blessing himself, and others, saying he shall have peace, and those near 18 million whom he claims have been saved through his ministry?

Does he not walk in the imagination of his own heart? After all, the outrageous behaviour he displays and causes others to exhibit is certainly not found in the Bible.

And such characters, we are told, add drunkenness to thirst and such characters the “Lord shall not spare” and God’s curse “shall lie upon him”.

What a fearful destiny lies before any who are drunken spiritually.

The prophet Isaiah also spoke of the same drunkenness.

Isaiah 29:9-14 says: “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”

This is clearly not drunkenness brought about by alcohol, but a strong delusion sent by God on those who are disobedient so they cannot see the truth.

And this is the same spirit which will be seen when the ‘Holy Ghost bartender’ invites people to drink his ‘new wine’ in Carryduff Elim.

On the Carryduff Elim website they have posted a video of people laughing hysterically and dropping under the influence of Rodney Howard-Browne, which means the church is under no illusions as to the nature of this heretic’s ministry.

Those in leadership at Carryduff Elim are guilty of helping to cause spiritual drunkenness in their congregation in the poor members of the church who attend the circus that is a meeting held by Rodney Howard-Browne.

And those who are responsible for the care of the flock are Pastor George Ritchie (pictured, above) and Pastor Gavin Allen (pictured, below).

What a dreadful disservice they are doing to the people who attend Carryduff Elim and to the people in the surrounding area who they should be seeking to reach with the truth, rather than bringing a propagator of deceit and delusion into the area.

It is most concerning that such a character should be coming to these shores and we would strongly encourage everyone reading this to please share this article widely so as to warn people of this false prophet coming into our land.

Let us call “time, gentlemen” on the ‘Holy Ghost bartender’ and make it very clear to him and to Carryduff Elim that we are wise to the deceits both he and they are propagating and the evil delusion they are helping to create in our land.

Ecumenists close Henry Cooke’s old church, May Street Presbyterian as charismatics take over

Old dead ecumenism in the traditional churches has led to the ringing of many a death knell on old churches and May Street Presbyterian Church is the latest to fall victim to the onward march of ecumenical compromise.

Once the clerical domain of that great Presbyterian figure, Rev Henry Cooke, who led the purging of Arians and Arminians from his denomination, May Street has long been reduced to a husk of a church, hence its closure as of last week.

Sad as it is to see a church go, it is equally sad to see it will now be put to use by some of the leading figures in the charismatic movement in Northern Ireland.

Central Belfast, a church under the auspices of Carnmoney Presbyterian Church, will take over the running of the church.

Readers of ‘Protestant Revival’ will be well aware of Carnmoney Presbyterian Church.

We first highlighted the antics which go on under its roof when we pointed out the foolish, irreverent action of its minister, Rev John Dickinson, who allowed himself to be carried out of the church in a ‘crowd surfing’ manner by the foolish people in attendance.

This action, in fairness to Rev John Dickinson (pictured, below), was prompted and encouraged by that leader of the 24-7 Prayer movement and ardent ecumenist, Pete Greig.

We previously wrote about him helping the Roman Catholic Church to lure more people through its doors and about how he claimed God had told him that He was “quite enjoying” a bunch of young women prayer dancing to the music of ABBA.

And it was his prompting which led to the embarrassing incident in Carnmoney Presbyterian Church, which saw Rev John Dickinson later giving a rather sheepish interview to the Belfast Telegraph indicating he didn’t plan to repeat such a ludicrous activity.

However, Rev John Dickinson was then entirely responsible for his actions when he tweeted his excitement at reading the life story of Vicky Beeching, noted Contemporary Christian Musician and so-called ‘gay Christian’, who describes herself as an ‘LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) equality campaigner’.

The book he expressed delight at reading is entitled ‘Undivided: Coming Out, Becoming Whole, And Living Free From Shame’, hardly a subtle title.

Regardless, these are the credentials of the minister of the parent church which has taken over the May Street Presbyterian Church building.

The old congregation has left after 190 years of worship on that site and, glorying in ecumenical compromise to the end, had a Romanist priest in attendance to wave them off.

‘Father’ Michael McGinnity of the nearby St Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church, which, a Belfast Telegraph article reporting on the matter says has “long been associated” with May Street Presbyterian Church, did a reading at the meeting.

May Street Presbyterian Church played host to a meeting of the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer initiative last May, organised by the local leader of the 24-7 Prayer movement, Alain ‘Ecumenical’ Emerson, the glorifier of Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola and lead pastor of Emmanuel Church in the Craigavon area.

‘Thy Kingdom Come’ is an ecumenical prayer initiative and has the backing of Rome, who produce prayer guides for those looking to take part in it.

And there it was, devoted to ecumenism to the last, even though departure from God is what closed it.

The church has amalgamated with Fisherwick Presbyterian Church and is the second ecumenical Presbyterian church to close in the past few months. It is following hot on the heels of Fortwilliam and Macrory Presbyterian Church, itself an amalgamation and formerly led by ‘Rev’ Lesley Carroll, a woman who expressed her desire for ecumenism to make progress in Northern Ireland at a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity event in a Roman Catholic chapel in County Tyrone.

She is also the Deputy Chief Commissioner of the (In)Equality Commission which brought the disgraceful legal action against Asher’s bakery.

This clearly demonstrates that ecumenism, which is a departure from God’s Word, leads to destruction, as has befallen Fortwilliam and Macrory and now May Street Presbyterian churches.

Jeremiah 29:17-19 speaks of how the people of Israel were warned about their apostasy yet failed to listen to God’s servants and they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians.

Ulster has had many faithful servants speaking out against ecumenism and other forms of religious betrayal. However, so many have refused to listen and May Street is the latest to reap this sorry harvest.

Those verses say: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.”

The service at May Street was called a ‘Dawning Of A New Era’ service, which is something of a fairly euphemistic badge to put upon death.

However, there is an element of accuracy to this as well as it refers to the new era of charismatism taking over as the chief interest of much of professing Christendom.

Just as straightforward ecumenism was de rigueur a number of decades ago, the charismatic movement, which eschews traditional, Biblical theology in favour of creating a venue of entertainment, is now all the rage.

The old dead churches are striving to survive by bringing in the rock bands and turning church into a concert and, in many cases, are currently enjoying a surge in popularity.

And, with Central Belfast, headed up by Rev John Dickinson’s son, David Dickinson (pictured, top), that is exactly what is happening.

David Dickinson also presumably didn’t have an issue with ‘Father’ Michael McGinnity being in attendance at the meeting as he too was there to apparently receive a special baton from May Street’s clerk of session, Arthur Acheson.

This is also a fine allegory for the passing of the baton from old style ecumenism, which has led to the death of so many churches, to the new charismatic ecumenism.

It is no less deadly, but gives the appearance of life as its adherents jump up and down to the latest inane, shallow compilations put together by the revered worship leaders so beloved in such establishments.

Dear reader, please don’t be taken in by this attractive to the senses veneer applied to the same old dead ecumenism which leads so many astray.

Instead, separate yourself from such and dedicate yourself to actually honouring God, rather than claiming to do so while engaging in actions which run contrary to that very claim.

1 Peter 1:15-17, 23: “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”