A Questionable Response to “The Response”
By Brannon S. Howse
Among the endorsers of Governor Perry’s rally are C. Peter Wagner. This is the same Wagner, of course, who installed Todd Bentley as a “Prophet.” Evidently at some point, this connection became a concern even to the promoters of The Response, and Wagner’s name and picture were removed from The Response website. I have a printout, though, of the website when it included his name and picture.
In the video of Todd Bentley’s installation service, a man is introduced as Cheꞌ Ahn, who was also listed on the endorser page for The Response. Another friend of Mr. Bentley’s is Rick Joyner. A written statement and video clips on Rick Joyner’s website reveal Joyner discussing his efforts to restore Todd Bentley to ministry after Bentley divorced his wife and married another woman. Sadly, pro-family leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council also appeared on Joyner’s Morning Star program. Ironically, Perkins once sat on the couch across from Joyner and declared, “We need men who rightly discern the times and can rightly divide the Word of God….”
I believe if Tony were rightly dividing the Word of God, he would not be participating in the online TV program of Rick Joyner and speaking at a function for Rick Joyner’s Oak Initiative.
Months before Governor Perry’s “Response” was even announced, I reached out privately to leaders of some organizations that ended up participating in the event. I pleaded with them not to join in a spiritual enterprise with anyone participating in the New Apostolic Reformation and the Word of Faith movement. I documented for them the unbiblical teachings of the NAR and Word of Faith movements. Some of them returned my calls, and some did not. A few did their own research and agreed not to participate in The Response or promote it, but others continued to make excuses that they are not in agreement with the theology or doctrine of all involved but are “just uniting for prayer.” Yet 2 Corinthians 6:14 does not offer a loophole to make it acceptable to unite for the purpose of “just praying” with false teachers or those who embrace unbiblical theology: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
Likewise, 2 John 9-11 does not give us an “out” to partner with false teachers if we are “just praying”:
"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds."
Were those who participated in The Response and the like aware of the unbiblical reasons members of the NAR pray? Such reasons include the desire to receive extra-biblical revelations, to see Jesus literally manifested in the Church so Christians become a super-spiritual breed, able to defeat death and the curse of sin.
Another reason their prayers are unbiblical is the desire to bind Satan so a spiritual awakening can occur and permit them to successfully implement public policy initiatives. They believe the implementation of “kingdom values” will allow them to take over towns, cities, states, and nations and to ultimately establish a global Christian theocracy. But nowhere in Scripture are Christians called to “bind Satan,” much less to usher in the physical kingdom of God on earth.
Do not be shocked at the excuses and justification that supporters and participants in these events and projects circulate in order to avoid obeying the clear mandate of Scripture not to unite with false teachers. A lack of biblical discernment, research, knowledge, and commitment to the authority of the Word of God has created church leaders who are theologically and doctrinally weak. As a result, they embrace anyone’s call for revival, hoping that some kind of revival is better than no revival at all and that it will produce greater liberty and prosperity. I contend that what the Church needs to go through is a decrease in liberty and prosperity and an increase in persecution in order to see biblical revival. Our Christian brothers and sisters in China know this well.
We dare not settle for a false revival. The late Vance Havner put it best when he said:
"I am more afraid of false revival than of no revival—a false revival with a false gospel, false evangelists, false converts, false joy. It will seem so genuine that it would deceive, if possible, the very elect. Many church leaders will endorse it. Other good people will be afraid to oppose it for fear that they might be fighting against God."
The Church in America has been infiltrated by false teachers who use Christian leaders to raise their own credibility and gain acceptance by Christians who would otherwise reject their false teachings. I believe many American Christians will allow their commitment to reclaiming the country, reclaiming Congress, lowering taxes, and defeating progressives trump their commitment to the biblical mandate declared in 2 Corinthians 6:14 that I noted earlier.
The majority of professing Christians in America have succumbed to a form of Christianity that is anything but biblical. I recognize that much of what I am writing and warning about will be met with hostility, and I also know some will marginalize and caricature me because they cannot argue against my message, which is deeply grounded in the Word of God. Charles Spurgeon referred to this kind of situation when he preached:
"We shall not get back a strong race of Christians till we get back such a sturdy band of outspoken men as dare their reputation, if not their lives, upon the unvarnished testimony they give to the Truth they know, the Truth as it is in Jesus, the Truth as it burns in their own hearts and fires their tongues, the Truth as it commends itself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God!" (1903, Sermon #2854)
Copyright 2012 ©Brannon Howse. This content is for Situation Room members and is not to be duplicated in any form or uploaded to other websites without the express written permission of Brannon Howse or his legally authorized representative.
