[RC] Re: [ RC ] 9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement ***

2019-03-12 Thread Billy Rojas 
I stumbled upon TGC not long ago; seems like a pretty good service.

Objective, doesn't whitewash anything.


About Bethel and related churches, I'm still trying to figure out the reasons 
for their appeal.

I must admit that parts seem good, but only parts. And other parts seem really 
off the wall,

like modern day theurgy,


Religion as spiritual entertainment, or as sometimes dubious do-it-yourself 
therapy.

Not bread and circuses, Bible and circuses.


But a lot of people are really turned on by it all. And the enthusiasm can be 
contagious,

no question about that.  I "get" that.


What I do not get is the whole package.  A mix of, to put it in such terms,

hot stuff and bad stuff.  And all kinds of good stuff they never even think 
about.


No idea about the pastors at Bethel, so I can't comment on that.  But if they 
are

anything at all like Joel Osteen, that would be a huge turn-off for me.


Get the right pastor and you have a Moon shot, basically.


There is a heck of a lot to being a good pastor, though. A heck of a lot.

How do pastors do it?  It takes full time commitment and then

some more commitment, above and beyond the call of duty.

I got to know a pastor in Longview some years ago, as a friend,

and he both filled me in and taught me about his calling

by my witnessing his example.  I will always remember him.

Something for me to think about forever.



Billy



From: Centroids 
Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 8:06 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Billy Rojas
Subject: Re: [RC] 9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement

Pretty accurate.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 12, 2019, at 14:03, Billy Rojas 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:


TGC

The Gospel Coalition


9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement
September 29, 2018  | Joe Carter 
<https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/profile/joe-carter/>


TGC Australia recently published an 
article<https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/price-awakening-examining-theology-practice-bethel-movement/>
 examining the theology and practice of the Bethel movement. The Awakening 
Australia<https://www.awakeningaustralia.org/#top> event—and its main speaker, 
Bill Johnson—are increasing the awareness of the controversial church 
throughout the continent. Here are nine things you should know about the 
Johnsons and the Bethel movement.


1. Bethel Church<http://bethelredding.com/> is a charismatic megachurch in 
Redding, California, that is primarily known for their popular music label 
(Bethel Music), worship music, and the teachings of the controversial senior 
pastors, Bill and Beni Johnson. The Johnsons became pastors of Bethel Church in 
1996. In 2005, the congregation withdrew from the Assemblies of God and became 
a nondenominational church. Since then the church has increased to 
approximately 9,000 members.


2. Bethel Music<https://bethelmusic.com> is a ministry of Bethel Church that 
includes a record label, music publishing, and an artist collective that 
frequently holds tours and events around the world. The president and 
co-founder of Bethel Music is Brian Johnson, the son of Bill and Beni. One of 
the most famous musicians to come out of Bethel Music is Jeremy 
Riddle<https://bethelmusic.com/artists/jeremy-riddle/>. A song written by 
Riddle, Phil Wickham, and Josh Farro titled “This Is Amazing Grace” was listed 
No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay Songs chart for 2014. Other Bethel 
worship songs are also popular in churches throughout the United States and 
Australia.


3. The Johnsons are frequently criticized for their teachings, which often 
veers from the suspect to the outright heretical. A prime example is Bill 
Johnson’s “Jesus Christ is perfect theology,” which claims that it is always 
God’s will to heal 
someone<http://bjm.org/qa/is-it-always-gods-will-to-heal-someone/>:

How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased their healing? 
Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins? Were the stripes He 
bore only for certain illnesses, or certain seasons of time? When He bore 
stripes in His body He made a payment for our miracle. He already decided to 
heal. You can’t decide not to buy something after you’ve already bought it.

There are no deficiencies on His end—neither the covenant is deficient, nor His 
compassion or promises. All lack is on our end of the equation. The only time 
someone wasn’t healed in the Bible (gospels) is when the disciples prayed for 
them. For example, Mark 9<https://www.esv.org/Mark%209/> when they prayed for 
the tormented child. They did not have breakthrough. But then, Jesus came and 
brought healing and deliverance to the child.


Jesus Christ is perfect theology—He is the will of God. We can’t lower the 
standard of scripture to our level of experience . .

Re: [RC] 9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement

2019-03-12 Thread Centroids 
Pretty accurate. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 12, 2019, at 14:03, Billy Rojas <[email protected]> 
> wrote:
> 
> TGC  
> 
> The Gospel Coalition
> 
> 
> 
> 9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement
> 
> September 29, 2018  | Joe Carter
> 
> TGC Australia recently published an article examining the theology and 
> practice of the Bethel movement. The Awakening Australia event—and its main 
> speaker, Bill Johnson—are increasing the awareness of the controversial 
> church throughout the continent. Here are nine things you should know about 
> the Johnsons and the Bethel movement. 
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Bethel Church is a charismatic megachurch in Redding, California, that is 
> primarily known for their popular music label (Bethel Music), worship music, 
> and the teachings of the controversial senior pastors, Bill and Beni Johnson. 
> The Johnsons became pastors of Bethel Church in 1996. In 2005, the 
> congregation withdrew from the Assemblies of God and became a 
> nondenominational church. Since then the church has increased to 
> approximately 9,000 members.
> 
> 
> 
> 2. Bethel Music is a ministry of Bethel Church that includes a record label, 
> music publishing, and an artist collective that frequently holds tours and 
> events around the world. The president and co-founder of Bethel Music is 
> Brian Johnson, the son of Bill and Beni. One of the most famous musicians to 
> come out of Bethel Music is Jeremy Riddle. A song written by Riddle, Phil 
> Wickham, and Josh Farro titled “This Is Amazing Grace” was listed No. 1 on 
> Billboard’s Christian Airplay Songs chart for 2014. Other Bethel worship 
> songs are also popular in churches throughout the United States and 
> Australia. 
> 
> 
> 
> 3. The Johnsons are frequently criticized for their teachings, which often 
> veers from the suspect to the outright heretical. A prime example is Bill 
> Johnson’s “Jesus Christ is perfect theology,” which claims that it is always 
> God’s will to heal someone:
> 
> How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased their 
> healing? Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins? Were the 
> stripes He bore only for certain illnesses, or certain seasons of time? When 
> He bore stripes in His body He made a payment for our miracle. He already 
> decided to heal. You can’t decide not to buy something after you’ve already 
> bought it.
> 
> There are no deficiencies on His end—neither the covenant is deficient, nor 
> His compassion or promises. All lack is on our end of the equation. The only 
> time someone wasn’t healed in the Bible (gospels) is when the disciples 
> prayed for them. For example, Mark 9 when they prayed for the tormented 
> child. They did not have breakthrough. But then, Jesus came and brought 
> healing and deliverance to the child. 
> 
> 
> 
> Jesus Christ is perfect theology—He is the will of God. We can’t lower the 
> standard of scripture to our level of experience . . . or in most cases, 
> inexperience. It’s a very uncomfortable realization—not everyone can handle 
> it. Most create doctrine that you can’t find in the person of Jesus. He is 
> the will of God. 
> 
> 
> 
> 4. Beni Johnson also teaches some peculiarly unorthodox views of angelology, 
> such as that there are “different kinds of angels: messenger angels, healing 
> angels, fiery angels” who have “fallen asleep.” In a blog post she wrote, “I 
> think that they have been bored for a long time and are ready to be put to 
> work.” She relates a story about one of her students at the Bethel 
> Supernatural School of Ministry who claims God told her to go to the chapel 
> and yell “WAKEY WAKEY!” As Johnson says, 
> 
> Nothing happened for about five minutes, so [the student] turned around to 
> cross the road to go over to a shop. As she turned around, she felt the 
> ground begin to shake and heard this huge yawn. She looked back at the 
> chapel, and a huge angel stepped out. All she could see were his feet because 
> he was that large. She asked him who he was, and he turned to her and said, 
> “I am the angel from the 1904 revival and you just woke me up.” She asked 
> him, “Why have you been asleep?” The angel answered and said, “Because no one 
> has been calling out for revival anymore.” 
> 
> 
> 
> 5. Some members of Bethel—including senior pastor Beni Johnson—have allegedly 
> engaged in the practice of “grave sucking” or “grave soaking”—lying on a 
> person’s grave to “soak up” the deceased’s “anointing.” In an interview, Bill 
> Johnson has said that neither he nor Bethel encourages the practice of grave 
> sucking. However, in his book The Physics of Heaven, 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 b

[RC] 9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement

2019-03-12 Thread Billy Rojas 
TGC

The Gospel Coalition


9 Things You Should Know About the Bethel Church Movement
September 29, 2018  | Joe Carter 



TGC Australia recently published an 
article
 examining the theology and practice of the Bethel movement. The Awakening 
Australia event—and its main speaker, 
Bill Johnson—are increasing the awareness of the controversial church 
throughout the continent. Here are nine things you should know about the 
Johnsons and the Bethel movement.


1. Bethel Church is a charismatic megachurch in 
Redding, California, that is primarily known for their popular music label 
(Bethel Music), worship music, and the teachings of the controversial senior 
pastors, Bill and Beni Johnson. The Johnsons became pastors of Bethel Church in 
1996. In 2005, the congregation withdrew from the Assemblies of God and became 
a nondenominational church. Since then the church has increased to 
approximately 9,000 members.


2. Bethel Music is a ministry of Bethel Church that 
includes a record label, music publishing, and an artist collective that 
frequently holds tours and events around the world. The president and 
co-founder of Bethel Music is Brian Johnson, the son of Bill and Beni. One of 
the most famous musicians to come out of Bethel Music is Jeremy 
Riddle. A song written by 
Riddle, Phil Wickham, and Josh Farro titled “This Is Amazing Grace” was listed 
No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay Songs chart for 2014. Other Bethel 
worship songs are also popular in churches throughout the United States and 
Australia.


3. The Johnsons are frequently criticized for their teachings, which often 
veers from the suspect to the outright heretical. A prime example is Bill 
Johnson’s “Jesus Christ is perfect theology,” which claims that it is always 
God’s will to heal 
someone:

How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased their healing? 
Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins? Were the stripes He 
bore only for certain illnesses, or certain seasons of time? When He bore 
stripes in His body He made a payment for our miracle. He already decided to 
heal. You can’t decide not to buy something after you’ve already bought it.

There are no deficiencies on His end—neither the covenant is deficient, nor His 
compassion or promises. All lack is on our end of the equation. The only time 
someone wasn’t healed in the Bible (gospels) is when the disciples prayed for 
them. For example, Mark 9 when they prayed for 
the tormented child. They did not have breakthrough. But then, Jesus came and 
brought healing and deliverance to the child.


Jesus Christ is perfect theology—He is the will of God. We can’t lower the 
standard of scripture to our level of experience . . . or in most cases, 
inexperience. It’s a very uncomfortable realization—not everyone can handle it. 
Most create doctrine that you can’t find in the person of Jesus. He is the will 
of God.


4. Beni Johnson also teaches some peculiarly unorthodox views of angelology, 
such as that there are “different kinds of angels: messenger angels, healing 
angels, fiery angels” who have “fallen asleep.” In a blog 
post she wrote, “I think that they have 
been bored for a long time and are ready to be put to work.” She relates a 
story about one of her students at the Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry 
who claims God told her to go to the chapel and yell “WAKEY WAKEY!” As Johnson 
says,

Nothing happened for about five minutes, so [the student] turned around to 
cross the road to go over to a shop. As she turned around, she felt the ground 
begin to shake and heard this huge yawn. She looked back at the chapel, and a 
huge angel stepped out. All she could see were his feet because he was that 
large. She asked him who he was, and he turned to her and said, “I am the angel 
from the 1904 revival and you just woke me up.” She asked him, “Why have you 
been asleep?” The angel answered and said, “Because no one has been calling out 
for revival anymore.”


5. Some members of Bethel—including senior pastor Beni Johnson—have allegedly 
engaged in the practice of “grave sucking” or “grave soaking”—lying on a 
person’s grave to “soak up” the deceased’s 
“anointing.” In an interview, Bill 
Johnson has said that neither he 
nor Bethel encourages the practice of grave sucking. However, in his book The 
Physics of Heaven, Johnson says:

There are anointings, mantles, revelations and mysteries that have