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Looking Beyond Toronto
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The supporters continually encourage objectors to "look at the
fruit" - so that's what this article does. But it follows the
biblical definition of "fruit" as something that is produced, or
grown, from the life of the tree. Therefore, we have to look at
the roots of the "Toronto Blessing" to establish its tree, and then
see what has grown from those roots [bearing in mind that Jesus
said "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit"] (Matt 7:18) Before going on, it is worth saying that the only reliable test of
spiritual experiences and teachings is the Word of God.. There have
been many claims of "good fruit" coming from the current renewal.
But these revolve around supernatural experiences (paralysis,
dumbness, immobility, crying, laughing, falling down and so forth)
or the supposed effects of those experiences, such as healing,
peace, love, happiness, boldness and so on. However - although many experiences are worthwhile and beneficial -
they do not constitute PROOF of anything. We do not need to offend
those who have benefited from this Renewal by doubting their
experiences; we simply need to look elsewhere for proof of the
movement's authenticity. People in other religions, in religious cults, or even in various
therapies claim to have such feelings and results. There is many
a happy believer in the Natural Law party, doing yogic flying; or
experiencing healing through Reflexology. Many Psychics claim to
heal and give prophecies by the power of God; many followers of
non-Christian religions claim to have supernatural encounters that
revolutionalise their lives. None of this proves they are in the
will of God. It is doctrine that distinguishes any movement as
authentic or otherwise. The very first book of the Bible gives us the clue - the mistake
Eve made was to look for "good things" outside of the express will
and plan of God! The forbidden Tree was "good for food, and
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise".
(Gen 3:6). Goodness, pleasantness and wisdom, therefore, are no
guarantee that a thing is in the will of God. The will of God can
be found in His Word and by considering His plan as a whole. As well as this, the Bible says that it is
possible to do great miracles and to behave in a charismatic way without
necessarily being in the will of God (i.e. it cannot be taken as
PROOF): How then can we know what is the true will of God? We must turn to
His Word! It is very noticeable that, in the current renewal, the Word is
being marginalised. Often the gospel is not preached, even when
unbelievers are numerous. Often, a few scattered Bible verses are
used as proof texts of physical manifestations, but no coherent
Bible teaching is given. There is no foundation stone, no rock, of
the Word of God upon which to place this renewal. Is it built on
sand? It could more accurately be described as the Rodney Howard-Browne
manifestation, since he was almost entirely responsible for loosing
this phenomenon onto the churches. He has been active in the
States since 1987, appearing on TV and conference platforms, and
holding 550 "revival meetings" in America in 1992 alone. But his
peculiar ministry came more immediately to public attention when he
led a series of 15 meetings in May 1993 at the Carpenters Home
Church, Lakeland, Florida (Pastor Karl Strader). There the
manifestations associated with his ministry were intensified and
thus became labelled "the laughing revival". (Report: "Charisma"
Magazine August 1993). Toronto Airport Vineyard were involved chiefly by their contacts
with Rodney Howard-Browne. Randy Clark, a friend of John Arnott,
the Pastor, attended RHB meetings in 1993, and after hearing about
Clark's dramatic response to them, John Arnott invited Clark to
lead a series of meetings at the Airport Vineyard to "pass it on".
This he successfully did, beginning in January 1994. By the end of this article, it will become clear why Toronto, not
America or Rodney Howard-Browne, is being presented as the origin
of the "renewal". Previous to the Howard-Browne ministry, the same manifestations
happened at meetings led by John Wimber as early as 1991. In
January 1991, Wimber led the Revival Fire conference in Anaheim,
California. According to one report, John Wimber - like many today,
in defiance of scriptural precepts - would command the Holy Spirit
to "come". In response, people would sob uncontrollably, laugh
hysterically, jump, shake and make animal noises. Now that the lack of conversions has become apparent, leaders have
renamed what is going on "times of refreshing" taken from Acts
3:19-21. This says: The word means the RESTORATION, from apo, "back, again,"
kathistemi, "to set in order," A linked idea, that of the
Regeneration, is used in Matthew 19:28 of the "restoration of all
things" when, as a result of the Second Coming, God "sets His King
upon His holy hill of Zion" (Ps. 2:6), and Israel, now in apostasy,
is restored to blessing under King Jesus. Once again, we are up against "replacement theology" when promises
made specifically to the nation of Israel are hijacked for Church
use, spiritualised and made to mean something altogether different! Very little is being said about the
doctrine, origins, purpose and goal of the "new move". It is my belief that
most churches and leaders DO NOT KNOW those things. Some leaders,
however, are promising an escalation into world revival, but are
cagey about how the transition will take place. Others hint at
"something being birthed in the Church" and "God is raising up an
Army". Overall, however, the idea seems to be, as one leader said
"Don't Analyse!" - just let it happen without wondering what it's
all about. Let the people enjoy themselves and party on, and
afterwards we will ask what it means. Well, I am going to "analyse" and also explain what it all means.
The truth is, the present events and the way they are being handled
by leaders points unerring in the direction of the Latter Rain
teaching. In the late '40s and early
'50s, during the Pentecostal Healing Revival, there rose to prominence a
group
of men who later became known as the Latter Rain teachers. One of
them was Paul Cain, who later resurfaced in the 1990s as one of the
Kansas City Prophets - he came under the headship of John Wimber
and the Vineyard churches. Paul Cain's teaching (as most of the
KCPs) is pure "latter rain". The Latter Rain teachings were officially rejected by the
Assemblies of God in 1949 as heresy. Rightly so, since they
involved a man-child elite group of overcomers taking dominion over
all nations and reigning "in the heavenlies" while overseeing
drastic judgement on all who remained in the "old generation" -
i.e., the denominational churches! The latter-rain teachings
promised a Second Pentecost outpouring to empower this elite group,
and to incarnate the Christ within them to the degree that they
would be perfect and invincible, even to the overthrow of the
powers of the heavens. This "Second Pentecost" was prophesied to BEGIN IN CANADA, and to
spread from there to the whole world. The following quote was taken
from the Foreword to "The Latter Rain", by Richard Riss. This
Foreword was written in 1987 by James Watt, who in 1974 served as
Ern Baxter's Associate Pastor in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada -
the relevance of the link to Ern Baxter will be seen later in this
article. James Watt writes: Marc Dupont, of the Toronto Vineyard, writes that he sees Toronto
as one of the major wellsprings for world revival. He claims to
have received a significant prophecy in May 1992 and June 1993 of a
mighty wave starting in Toronto and flowing powerfully out
eastwards across Canada. He likens the present renewal to the John
the Baptist ministry, heralding the coming of Christ, and believes
that it will lead to major revival in the Western nations between
the years 2000 and 2005. (Reports in Mantle of Praise article and
Alpha magazine September 1994.). Then he makes this intriguing statement: "This move of the Spirit
in 1994 is not just a charismatic and pentecostal experience,
concerning power or gifting. It is one thing to be clothed with
power; it is another to be indwelt with the Person of God" The First Pentecost caused believers to be "clothed with power from
on high". The Second Pentecost is about the incarnation of Christ
into His Body. To spiritualise the scriptures, as all Latter Rain
teachers do, it is about the return of the Ark to the Temple! The
Coming of Christ (invisibly) into his Living Temple, the Church.
This takes place, according to the doctrine, at the "Feast of
Tabernacles" - which celebrates the Lord dwelling with His people.
When this happens, no longer will it be the Head (Jesus Christ) in
Heaven and the Body (believers) on earth - but One Perfect Man
filling both heaven and earth. This is what Latter Rain teachers
said we must expect in the final outpouring of the Church age! It is impossible to understand current events without linking them
to the teachings of the Restoration Movement and the Latter Rain
heresies. Few people realise just how influential the Latter Rain
movement was, and how firmly entrenched its teachings have become
in the Charismatic churches. Ern Baxter, who was instrumental in
setting up the Shepherding/Restoration movement in this country -
he was one of the Fort Lauderdale Five - worked with William
Branham at the time of the Latter Rain revival, and George Warnock
was Ern Baxter's personal Secretary for a number of years. Can he
have failed to imbibe their teachings? One of the most prominent leaders of the Charismatic Renewal in the
1960's and 1970's was John Poole, the son of Fred Poole, who was a
major Latter Rain teacher. In the early 1970's John Poole was a
frequent contributor to "New Wine", just about THE most important
magazine of the charismatic renewal. Many other links could be made. To save time, I will simply quote
Richard Riss, who wrote a sympathetic book on the Latter Rain
Movement. He says: What, then, are the distinctive teachings of the Latter Rain, that
so penetrated the Charismatic Renewal and the Restoration Movement?
Even more pertinent, how does this present "renewal" fit in, and
where is it heading? George Warnock wrote a seminal "handbook" for the Movement, called
"The Feast of Tabernacles". Using that book as a base (though of
course other books cover the same ground) we discover that the
teaching included: It hardly need be said that these teachings are totally out of
line with the revealed Word of God. Each point could be fully refuted
by a proper use of the texts. It is not my purpose to do that
here, since it has been covered elsewhere, and many books and
documents can be obtained on this subject. [I recommend Al Dager's
"Vengeance Is Ours", Sword Publishers, Redmond WA, ISBN
0-9626632-0-4] George Warnock believed that a
forty-year wilderness experience would occur from the time of the
original Latter Rain revivals until the "new generation" arose to
"possess the promised land". The North Battleford revival began in
1949. Forty years later, Paul Cain (whose ministry had been on ice
during the intervening years) was back on the scene. Kansas City
Fellowship set up Grace Ministries as "a ministry committed to
seeing the church fully restored to the glory described in God's
Word". (hint). However, they needn't have bothered! Because, the Restoration
Movement had been doing their job for them. Almost without
exception, these latter rain heresies are also now the teachings of
the Restoration Movement! Slowly, carefully, and without ruffling
too many feathers, Latter Rain teachings have been introduced to
the Church until (in the UK at least) almost the entire Charismatic
Church is under their spell. A great sea-change has taken place over the last twenty years. What
the early Pentecostal Assemblies discerned as heresy and banned
from their platforms has crept back under another guise, been
adopted by the great majority of evangelicals, and is now racing
towards its fulfilment - the spurious Feast of Tabernacles! An article about the current Renewal in "The Morning Star", Rick
Joyner's ministry newsletter, was headed "Beyond Pentecost" and
teaches on "The Feast of Tabernacles", following George Warnock's
book almost word for word. The writers claim that what we are
witnessing now is just the beginning of "the great rain of the Holy
Spirit". They link Tabernacles with "the entrance of Israel into
the promised land" and they promise a great ingathering to follow. The trouble is, in a way they are right. For
there WILL be a worldwide revival of worship and praise, and all mankind WILL
follow after "the christ", who WILL perform astonishing signs and
wonders with the help of his counterfeit Church. The Latter Rain
teachings, unfortunately, are no powerless man-made creed, but turn
out to be the working agenda for setting up the Antichrist kingdom!
They activate mighty spiritual forces!! When I read, in Warnock's book this statement:
I cannot but turn to 2 Thess 2:4 which says: In no way do I want to imply that
the renewal, its participants and its supporters are openly satanic or
consciously promoting an antichrist deception. I am sure nothing
could be further from their thoughts. There is genuine zeal,
devotedness to God; and also amongst the bad reports of excesses,
some genuine miracles and salvation. There is always a MIXTURE in
deception, to convince the unwary that the move as a whole is bona
fide, to persuade the believer to "switch off his head" and to flow
unthinkingly in the wrong direction. But in order to discern the authenticity and acceptableness of any
"renewal" or new move in the Church, we must study its origins
(roots) and teachings (fruit) and compare them with scripture. Few people involved in the current events know the origins of the
phrases they are using (like Second Pentecost, or Latter Rain); few
leaders understand where the concepts they have been taught in
conferences, fraternals and elder's meetings have been coming from!
Many have never even heard of the Latter Rain, and would deny
having anything to do with such doctrine. Yet still they accept the
beliefs (outlined above) with which they have been subtly
indoctrinated over a period of decades! Ignorance is no excuse, for
the teachings are plainly contrary to the Word of God. Leaders, as
well as individual Christians, have a responsibility to TEST
supposed new revelations, not to accept and promote them just
because they are popular. is to revert to teaching and preaching
solid, biblical doctrine - about the all-sufficiency of Jesus, about the
coming apostasy and about the benefits of the FIRST Pentecost. If
this were done, not only would Christians not be "barren" and
"thirsty", so that they queue up to experience something "beyond
Pentecost", but they would be mentally and spiritually equipped to
reject the Latter Rain heresies. Tricia Tillin, Banner Ministries, PO Box 23, Belper, Derbyshire,
DE56 1QR, UK.
Produced and distributed by Banner Ministries. No Copyright. May be distributed electronically or on paper.
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