SECOND WARNING – BILL JOHNSON AND BETHEL CHURCH
By Andrew Strom
A couple of years ago we sent out a Warning itemizing a number of facts about Bill Johnson‘s ministry and Bethel Church in Redding. Numerous witnesses and videos from Bethel show that this church is spreading an “anointing” very similar to Todd Bentley – i.e. spiritual “drunkenness,” jerking, hysterical laughter, “angel orbs,” “fire tunnels,” spirit travel, mystical “portals,” etc. Plus constant talk in their ministry school of bizarre angel encounters and trips to the “third heaven.” All of it has an extremely “New Age” feel. And it is still going on today. (But even worse, as we shall see).
Bill Johnson strongly defended Todd Bentley – even after his divorce and remarriage. No wonder, for the “anointing” that both men carry seems almost identical (though their “style” is very different). These facts are beyond dispute and have been confirmed by many witnesses.
But whenever I say such things about Bill Johnson, people rush to defend him, saying what a “great guy” he is, and what a great ministry he has. And yes, he is a very charming man who does say good things. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be so dangerous. Deception always wraps itself in the best “sheep’s wool” it can find. Otherwise it would have no chance of deceiving the sheep! Why do you think the Bible warns of “SEDUCING” spirits in the Last Days – and “LYING” signs and wonders? If the deception was not so “seductive” then nobody would fall for it. And this stuff is very seductive indeed.
Things Get Worse
Several years ago the Bethel crowd put out a book which we only found out about recently. It was co-authored by Bill Johnson’s administrative assistant Judy Franklin with a foreword by Bethel pastor Kris Vallotton. Bill Johnson wrote two of the chapters and his wife Beni wrote another. In other words, it has Bethel’s stamp all over it. (It is still sold on the Bethel website).
So what is this book about? Here is what the blurb says: “Exploring the mysteries of God in sound, light, vibrations, frequencies, energy, and quantum physics.” Does that sound “New Age” to you? Yes! and it gets even worse. Please remember that this book has Bill Johnson’s name on it, and Bethel’s strong endorsement and participation.
When you open the book you find chapter headings like this: “Vibrating in Harmony with God,” “Good Vibrations,” “Quantum Mysticism,” and “The God Vibration.” And some of the sub-headings are even more astounding: “Dolphins and Healing Energy,” “The Power of Color,” “Human Body Frequencies,” etc. You might ask, What kind of “Christian” book is this? And the answer is that it is Bethel and Bill Johnson’s kind of Christian book. It literally has Bill’s name on it.
This is a peek into the real Bethel behind the scenes. When you look at this publication, suddenly you understand why we see all these weird videos and testimonies from Bethel of strange “New Age” terminology and bizarre spiritual practices. Now we know why. We have the evidence in black and white.
We have shown the contents of this book to leaders and people that have been fans and supporters of Bill Johnson. They have verified the source of it. And just reading this content has turned most of them from being a supporter of Bethel into an opponent in a matter of a few hours. It really is that bad. So openly “New Age” you could hardly believe it. With all this talk of “vibrations” in the book, perhaps we can now better understand why Bill Johnson’s wife Beni wrote in her blog: “I was talking with Ray Hughes the other day and was telling him about using a 528 HZ tuning fork as a prophetic act. Someone told me that this tuning fork is called the tuning fork of LOVE… the sound of this fork brings healing.” (Please note that crystals and tuning forks are used in NEW AGE therapy, not Christianity. And by the way, Beni Johnson for years has been co-pastor of Bethel alongside her husband Bill).
This might also help explain why Beni Johnson recently released a photo of herself “soaking” (lying down) on the grave of a dead Christian leader, and why Bethel students also put out photos of themselves “grave sucking” (as it is called), trying to “soak up” the anointing from the graves of dead preachers. I am not exaggerating. They actually do this.
I hope you can see how dangerous and unbiblical it all is. Somebody needs to confront Bill Johnson about it (yeah, uh, don’t hold your breath waiting on that to happen –editor). That is why I am including a whole new section of these disturbing facts in the 2015 edition of my book, “Kundalini Warning.” And it is also why I am writing this article. When Nadab and Abihu offered “strange fire” before the Lord in the Old Testament, they were consumed by God and died. (Lev. 10:1-2). “Strange fire” is still deadly today. The body of Christ needs to be warned.
As one of the graduates of the Bethel ministry school (BSSM) wrote to me:
“There would be all kinds of distracting behavior (random shouting, laughing, etc.) during school sessions and church services. When any guest speaker came to school, students would flock to the front to get as close to the speaker as possible. We were taught that any anointing we wanted could be received by simply “claiming it” for ourselves…. The drunken behavior and questionable teachings from some, if not all, of these speakers was shocking at times…. I would always hear people talking about their encounters with angels and how they visited heaven. One young woman I knew said she could see angels everywhere, she talked to them all the time, and she would help her friends to do the same.”
In summary, this is a very dangerous movement and the warning needs to be sounded as far and wide as possible.###
Read Strom’s articles on SLM: Kundalini Warning, the first Warning regarding Bill Johnson and Bethel Church, and Warning to the Super Apostles.
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Andrew Strom is a prophetic minister who has written several books and hundreds of articles exposing the error of Neo-Charismatics, in particular. He resides in New Zealand. His popular website is at: http://www.revivalschool.com.
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BUY THE BOOK, KUNDALINI WARNING! [Available in print and Kindle versions]
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