‘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.”

‘Christian’ rock band Rend Collective play for the Pope

Proverbs 13:20: “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

The ecumenical and anti-Christian nature of much of what goes on in ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ (CCM) circles was laid bare for all to see last week as one of the most popular of these bands performed during the Pope’s visit to the Republic of Ireland last week.

Rend Collective, who originate from Bangor Elim Church, were invited performers at the World Meeting of Families in Phoenix Park where Pope Francis performed the Mass for the crowd in attendance. The photograph above shows them smiling at Phoenix Park after having played for the Pope.

Not only were they invited performers, but they actually led the worship at the biggest Roman Catholic festival in Ireland for decades.

How much more compromised can you be?

So pleased were they to have consorted with Popery they bragged about it on their facebook page (pictured, below) afterwards.

They said: “What a crazy week leading worship in Dublin at the #worldmeetingoffamilies! We feel so humbled and honoured to get [to] sing about Jesus with so many (600,000 to be exact!). This is definitely a week we won’t be quickly forgetting!”

Laying aside the inaccuracy of the numbers performed to, as it is estimated less than 200,000 turned up, there is so much wrong with this public repudiation of God’s Word perpetrated by these professing Christians.

You can be sure that if Rome was concerned by the songs Rend Collective might sing that they wouldn’t have been invited, and this is all part of Rome’s tricks to lure foolish Protestants into thinking that, because the band they admire was performing in Dublin, the Roman Catholic Church isn’t so bad.

While it may not be considered especially kind by the modern “God is love” Christians who neither know nor want to know anything of His justice and judgment, Rend Collective are at best useful idiots for Romanism and, at worst, deliberately complicit in luring Protestants down the path of ecumenism. It is also possible the exposure to a largely new market of potential Papist purchasers of their music was appealing to them as well.

Many younger (and some older) Christians, and very sadly this includes a lot of those who attend the much more traditional churches, are far too fond of CCM and treat their favourite artists with the same sort of admiration as the unsaved person treats their favourite pop star.

This is utterly wrong.

We previously posted about one of the leading figures in Hillsong, Joel Timothy Houston, and his blasphemous expression of support for the Big Bang Theory and linked to an article on the ‘Protestant Standard’ website highlighting the ‘Heresy of Hillsong’, which you can read by clicking here.

That website also features faithful warnings to Christians regarding another leading CCM artist, Matt Redman, which you can read by clicking here.

This gives a flavour of the ecumenical spirit abroad within CCM, which has now reached real depths by this very brazen consorting with Popery by Rend Collective.

No doubt many young Christians will follow Rend Collective on facebook, where they bragged about their compromise, and this has the potential effect of softening their view of the lies and deceits of the Roman Catholic Church.

Rend Collective, who, as we have already mentioned originated from Bangor Elim Church, clearly have taken no stand against the Church of Rome, otherwise they would not have been invited, nor would they have accepted an invite.

This flies directly in the face of God’s Word, which says that we ought to “earnestly contend for the faith” (Jude v3).

Ephesians 5:11 says: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

However, there was Rend Collective on stage last week leading the fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

What a dreadful betrayal of Biblical Protestantism, which is true Christianity.

The words and sentiment of Psalm 119:115 should have been the response of Rend Collective when they received that invitation.

It says: “Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.”

This was the response of Nehemiah when the spoilers of the work to build the walls of Jerusalem came to try to engage in ecumenical dialogue with him.

Nehemiah 6:1-4: “Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.”

Despite persistent efforts to draw him away, Nehemiah knew that such ecumenical dialogue would hinder the work of God and as such he would have no part of it.

It is just such a shame that Rend Collective failed so spectacularly to follow this example.

Dear reader, please take care to ensure you are not caught up in this compromise. We must be ever vigilant as the devil is ever trying to sneak in and do damage to the cause of Christ.

1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”