The CoG Spirit of Witchcraft
In the previous explanation, some people will find my statement
rather strong that the Churches of God are dominated by a spirit of
witchcraft.
Anyone who
exercises spiritual control over others, to dominate them, to
oppress them, to limit or control them is being governed by, and
exercising this evil spirit of witchcraft. You may call it by
another name if you think the term is inaccurate, but it does not
change the evil nature behind it.
The following
should prove my point.
In May 1999, I
reached out to a number of CoG people by sending Awake! Awake!
7-3 (Just What Does It Take To WAKE UP The Churches of God?)
and some other materials which exposed the spiritual penury of the
CoG.
I received no
positive response. The reason why is illustrated by an e-mail from
Rick Stanczak, who demonstrated how much these people are in the
grip of Satan. His reply is included in my response to him which
follows:
Subj: Re:
What a HEAP! followed by "Just What is 'The Work'?"
Date: 15/05/99 19:27:05 TST
In a message dated 15/05/99 11:51:48 TST, stanczak@cwix.com
writes:
<< Ah
Malcolm...... What a HEAP!......
Of course,
your side-stepping the prima facie issue with mumbo-jumbo
distortions of focus would be expected coming from a false
profit and glory seeker like you. (Has Lady Di come back to life
as you prophesied, among many other false prophesies?? What is
the fruit of your nonsense?!)
Someone
mailed me some of your tapes a few years back, and I have never
heard so much self-aggrandizing and fawning support for
deceitful snake oil pushers like Benny Hinn and other
charismatic goof-balls. Oh they've got a spirit all right!
I'm sure it
would be wishful thinking on my part that you would hit the road
and take your spirit with you too.
Rick
Stanczak >>
DISCERNING THE SPIRITS (my reply)
For those
who want it, here is a Sabbath lesson on discerning the spirits.
We'll take the above message, and I will give you a Holy Spirit
analysis on the evil spirits infesting the writer's psyche,
which give rise to the following evil fruits.
1. Rude,
maliciously insulting:
Firstly, our
'friend' starts with rudeness. Rudeness is not in the catalogue
of virtues supplied by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 13:5). It comes
from a proud and arrogant spirit.
2. Hostility
and disparagement:
I would like
to call him my brother in Christ, but his attitude and approach
is denigrating and hostile. Two evils in one.
3. No love,
only hate:
He doesn't
come in love towards me or towards any others with whom he
disagrees on doctrine or other Christian practice. He thinks he
runs ahead of all the others, and does not need to practice
loving others. Love is the greatest Christian doctrine and
virtue. But clearly Rick doesn't have it. He has departed from
the faith! John would not have welcomed him into his home (2 Jn
10).
4. Mocking:
Rick mocks
the prophecy about Princess Diana's return to life, which God
has given us. Has Jesus returned yet? Are we to mock those
prophecies in the Bible, too? Mockers and scoffers have a wrong
spirit. I shouldn't have to quote to any of you what Peter said
about them!
5. Falsely
accusing:
Rick falsely
accuses me that I have had many other false prophecies, which
failed to come to pass. That is untrue. He knows next to nothing
about my work, nor about what prophecies God has given us. For
those who want the truth, we have had prophecies come true.
Here is the
first one: Early in our ministry in 1993 God told us to go to a
local car dealership and tell them some things. We did as God
said and told them what God had instructed. They mocked. Then
God spoke again. He said their garage would close.
13 months
later it did.
False
prophecy? No! True prophecy. If any want further corroboration
from us I can supply it. But by the tone of the objections, the
fault-finders don't want the truth, only to slander us.
Those who
don't seek truth or to be objective are guided by demon spirits.
Satan's minions all have that quality of fault-finding and
accusing.
6. More
false accusing:
<< Someone
mailed me some of your tapes a few years back, and I have never
heard so much self-aggrandizing and fawning support for
deceitful snake oil pushers like Benny Hinn and other
charismatic goof-balls. >>
Ask others
who know me whether I am self aggrandizing. What tapes are you
referring to? I bet you don't even know! If it was the set of 3
tapes about Jim Rector's misdemeanours against me, plagiarising
my publication "God's Church – Whose Authority?" on a tape he
made on 10th August 1996 entitled "Who Is The Greatest?", let
others hear those tapes and judge. You have arrived at your
conclusion. If we are to take any objective note of your
accusations, we need to have independent witnesses assess
whether what I said was self-aggrandising and fawning as you
falsely accuse. Otherwise, keep your accusative mouth shut. No
demon should ever be allowed this much latitude in a church
which claims to be part of God's Church!
7. Mock &
speak evil of what you don't understand:
As for Benny
Hinn and charismatics whom you insult, have you cast out demons?
NO! Clearly not! They are running rampant throughout your brain!
Benny Hinn, for all his mistakes and aspects of false doctrine,
HAS cast out demons. Two of the participants on this forum have
seen this with their own eyes.
Let me ask
all you folks participating in this discussion (which is fast
developing into outright war between those who stand for Light
and those who stand for Darkness), which of you have cast out
demons? [No one replied!] If you have not, then don't judge just
because you don't understand what others do in their worship.
That is illicit, a demonic trait (Jude 10).
If my wife
and I have cast them out (and she does so frequently, she is an
intercessor also) are we not qualified to be heard in the
assembly? Is not the Holy One moving in us and guiding our work?
Yet all who don't understand, mock and try to find fault.
I have spent
time to highlight the falsity and demonic nature of this man's
attack on me. I hope that it proves useful to you on this forum
to learn the need to test the spirits as John commands (1 Jn
4:1). Spirits work through others. They bequeath bad traits,
chief among which is that of accusing falsely.
You are to
assess others by their spiritual fruits, not by their doctrine.
Many from our background have not yet come out of the deceptive
approach (of Satan) of judging another on the grounds of their
doctrine. "If they don't keep the Sabbath, or if they don't
believe like we do on this or that... then they're false.." This
is a false notion itself! When the Spirit of Christ lives in a
person, they are Christ's, even if they still have not come to
see where their doctrines may still be in error. So, beware
coming to wrong conclusions.
All who want
to examine Xxxx’s emphasis on praise should first read Merlin
Carother's book "Prison to Praise", before they try judging him
on that one!
God bless
you all – all, that is, who want to learn more and move on in
the power of the Spirit of God. (The ALLmighty!)
Are you
ready for miracles? Are you ready for the dead being raised.
It's coming. It's not far away. But when it does, are you ready
to preach about Jesus and not merely about your own petty
doctrines? People need setting free, not trapping again by the
dogmas of men!
Sincerely,
in His love, Malcolm (Heap)
PS What
follows is an article which I hope you find helpful. [End of
e-mail.]
In that e-mail I
also included the article Just What Is 'The Work'? Here is an
excerpt from it:
What IS The Work?
.....Jesus had told
them to wait in Jerusalem until that happened (Acts 1:4). They were
to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). That occurred (Acts
chapter 2). You know the story. That's when they became witnesses
for God:
You will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
They didn't reach
the ends of the earth. That commission is still continuing today.
Jesus prophesied that the gospel WOULD go to the ends of the earth
before He came again. I'm sure you know the scripture well! (Matt
24:14.)
We are now very
close to the time of Jesus' return, and the gospel IS going to the
world! But WHO is preaching it? Do you see, or are you blind?
It is not the
Worldwide Church of God, nor its offshoots, although some may lay
claim to that honour. Their impact is so minimal it is almost not
worth considering! I will come to who is preaching it in a minute.
First, let's notice something else that was hidden to you in the
Worldwide Church of God.
There are two
points about the Work which emerge from a careful examination of
these verses:
1) The Work is
carried on by the Holy Spirit, not just by men.
2) The Holy Spirit
provides supernatural POWER which gains people's attention and
inspires the preaching.
How is 'the Work' Done?
The Work of God is
carried on through the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is not a work
of man, although men (and women) are directly involved.
It is conducted by
the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Paul talked about the
uselessness of trying to reach the minds of men with human speech
alone (1 Cor 1:17). You can be the greatest orator the world has
ever seen, but if the Spirit of God does not lead you, your words
will do nothing to bring true life to your hearers.
This was part of
the problem with all that transpired in the Worldwide Church of God,
and why its work is finally disintegrating. Its operations were
humanly directed, humanly governed, and humanly led. The presence of
dominant hierarchy was one major indicator of this fact.
Seldom did
evangelism occur under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
That may sound
shocking to many ears, but there is much with which we should be
shocked about our former association!
Paul's preaching
was much different. He stated:
My message and
my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT'S POWER (1 Cor 2:4).
When have you seen
a demonstration of the Spirit's POWER? I bet you haven't if all you
have been exposed to is the preaching of the Worldwide Church of God
or any of its offshoots!
When have you seen
blind eyes opened at public meetings when the gospel is preached?
When have you seen deaf ears opened, lame people walk, cripples get
up out of wheelchairs, various sicknesses miraculously cured, demons
cast out of demoniacs, or even (dare I suggest it?) the dead raised?
You probably
haven't! Well, sorry if this shocks you! I have! I have seen all
those things occur at evangelistic meetings when those who preach
also have the faith to rely upon Jesus to back them up. That is, I
have witnessed all those miracles occur except one. I haven't yet
seen dead people raised, but I have read several authentic accounts
to know that it has occurred. Jesus said it would, and He gave the
command to do so (Matt 10:8).
The trouble for us
who keep the Sabbath is that all these miracles have been occurring
mostly through the preaching of those who don't keep the Sabbath in
the way we do. For want of a better description they are 'Sunday
keepers'.
And these are the
ones who are preaching the gospel to the world for a witness. They
are taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the former communist lands
of the USSR, eastern Europe, South America, Africa and around the
world, even in the farthermost corners and underground in red China.
The Baptism of the Spirit
You have probably
been baptized in water, but there is a baptism you have not been
told about which is more important if you are to do the Work of God.
Jesus told those
whom He had first commissioned that they would be BAPTIZED IN THE
HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 1:5). That phrase usually falls on deaf ears. It
means little to the uninitiated. But Jesus was telling them that
when He baptized them in His Spirit, they would be clothed with
power (Luke 24:49).
Paul was clothed
with this power. When he preached, Jesus backed him up by performing
miracles that convinced many of the presence of God. At Iconium:
Paul and
Barnabas spoke boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of
His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders
(Acts 14:3).
At Jerusalem:
The whole
assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul
telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done
among the Gentiles through them (Acts 15:12).
There are many
other places in the book of Acts describing the miraculous witness
that accompanied the preaching of the gospel. That is because those
who preached were baptized, as Jesus was, in the Holy Spirit AND
power (Acts 10:38). You can have the Holy Spirit without the power,
or you can have it with power. Miraculous signs and wonders will
only follow if you believe for them. You've got to ask, and expect
(Matt 7:7,11).
What is not
generally realised in Sabbatarian circles is that the same
miraculous signs and wonders have not ceased occurring where the
gospel is preached and those preaching it have faith to receive
demonstrations of miraculous power.
It is the power of
God which authenticates the divine source of the gospel message.
That is what it means to preach the gospel for a WITNESS!
Supernatural power convicts more than words alone.
When the Holy
Spirit came on that first N.T. Pentecost, it brought power. The Holy
Spirit has not left. It/He is still with us today. How much is God's
power utilized? It has been neutralised too often by false teaching
that has elevated unbelief above faith!
Faith clothes us
with power from on high. Unbelief undermines it. When the Spirit
descended on the disciples in that upper room, manifestations of
power erupted. If they had been as unbelieving as many of the
onlookers, do you think God could have done so much through them?
No. It was because of their expectancy, as well as their desperate
need for help, that they were recipients. They were expecting
something dramatic. Jesus had told them to wait and see what He
would do (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5). Coupled with that, they felt
vulnerable and knew their need for God after what had transpired.
God could work so mightily through them because they were open to
His Spirit.
By contrast, the
self-righteous, smug, complacent climate engendered in a comfortable
arm-chair church does nothing to aid the manifestation of the
Spirit's power. It stifles it. But that is the tragic legacy the
Worldwide culture has spawned.
The WCG Legacy
If you have been a
part of the Worldwide Church of God and thought that its doctrines
and spiritual experience were more or less complete, you won't have
received this 'clothing' of the Spirit Jesus mentioned in Luke 24:49
– this power from on high. Why not? Because you were not taught to
expect it, or to accept it.
And what you don't
believe you should receive, you won't. We all receive according to
our faith. We were actually taught to distrust any 'Pentecostals'
who promoted this baptism!
The Signs of This Baptism
Mark wrote Jesus'
words about what it meant to be baptized with His Spirit. He wasn't
just talking about receiving a small dose of the Holy Spirit, an
'earnest' or downpayment. One talent, if you like. He was talking
about an OUTPOURING that would demonstrate visible POWER through
supernatural signs and wonders...
(If you ‘itch’ to
know the rest, request the entire article, Just What IS The Work?)
Malcolm B Heap
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