I believe in tracing a stream back to its source. Some while ago the Lord instilled in me a picture of people travelling through a parched land. Coming upon a stream, they gladly drank copiously of its water. But upstream and unseen, there was a dead animal in the water, its rotting corpse full of maggots and bacteria. This was floating downstream from the carcass, and being swallowed by those drinking the polluted water. Though feeling refreshed, what they were partaking of was imbued with an evil that would ultimately be very detrimental to their health and well-being.
In tracing the origin of this particular stream, or "outpouring" as they call it, I sadly found such a dead creature in the water!
Friends, we should be keenly aware that whilst there are true "outpourings" initiated by the Holy Spirit, there are also counterfeit "outpourings" not because God wants them, but because people want them, and the Enemy is more than happy to give people what they want. Though it follows that there is a heavy price to be paid for that deception!
Rightly or wrongly, this word "outpouring" does not sit well with me, for it now carries for me connotations of "revivals" purporting to be of the Holy Spirit, but actually springing from the will of man and fueled by heightened emotions in a super-charged environment of expectation of "signs and wonders."
One of my greatest concerns about this Cwmbran "outpouring" is that the Pastor - Richard Taylor - has as his mentor Tommy Tenney, who is intimately connected with the Brownsville, "Pensacola Outpouring." Tommy Tenney is undoubtedly a false teacher, who wrote the best-seller "The God-Chasers" which basically teaches that the Bible is a mouldy collection of old love letters; Scripture is where God has BEEN, and Christians need to chase after where God is NOW! The Bible is PAST TRUTH; REVELATION is where God is NOW. This in itself should be screaming out a warning that Tommy Tenney is in grave error, and a heretic to be avoided at all costs! Yet the Pastor of a Church proclaiming a new "outpouring" is profoundly influenced by this man, who was himself intimately connected with the previous FALSE "outpouring" at Brownsville.
I watched a video uploaded by Victory Church: "Naming your future according to your faith, not your fears - Tommy Tenney." The video description bills it as "Tommy Tenney brings a powerful word during his visit to Cwmbran Campus." (As an aside, one of the meanings of the Latin word 'campus' is THEATRE). The first 1/3 of the video is Mr. Tenney promoting his books and film (on sale there, naturally) and the remaining 2/3 is his "powerful word" based on 1 Samuel Chapter 4. This is him promoting the unbiblical gross error of "positive confession." Phinehas' wife died in childbirth owing to her not having uttered POSITIVE WORDS! The congregation swallows this teaching gladly, unquestioning of the actual Truth. But then, according to Tommy Tenney, God is no longer in TRUTH - that's where He's BEEN in the PAST!!! You cannot leave a comment on the video.
Thinking of this "God-chasing" taught by Mr. Tenney, I could see this directly reflected in the Pastor's video promoting the "outpouring" where he implores people to get themselves to Cwmbran to check out this phenomenon. This is obviously where God is NOW. My question is, has TRUTH been left behind in the PAST? And if Scripture is only of HISTORICAL worth, how is any current manifestation to be evaluated? If not by HOLY WRIT, then by WHAT?????
Are folks being saved BECAUSE OF or DESPITE OF what is happening there? If people are truly being saved, then praise be to the LORD for His infinite mercy! But I have very real misgivings about this whole business. For some time now I have been greatly fearing that Wales is being targeted for a counterfeit "signs and wonders" revival. And "signs and wonders" are integral to the Cwmbran experience. It is Victory Church's declared intention to break out into all of Wales. (And beyond - they already have a church 'plant' in Gloucestershire).
Tommy Tenney believes in the restoration of the "5-fold ministry," and would seem to be of a Kingdom Now mindset. A fundamental issue: why would a believer need to chase after God's presence? God through the Third Person of the Trinity INDWELLS the believer. God is with him/her at all times! But then, Mr. Tenney comes from the "Oneness" Pentecostal cult that denies the Trinitarian nature of God!
So few people today seem to heed the Scriptural warning to test the spirits. But nowadays the WORD is OUT, and EXPERIENCE is IN! The Enemy would certainly not want us to pay attention to the many passages speaking of apostasy and deception in the Last Days (which we are undoubtedly in!)
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." (2 Timothy 4:3)
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:13)
Naturally, anyone daring to seriously question this movement will be dismissed as being out of tune with what God is doing TODAY! But questions NEED to be asked. After all, we have a serious and sober duty to "EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS." (Jude v3)
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Further research has unearthed some very disturbing facts with respect to the background to the Cwmbran "outpouring." Details of these will follow in my next post.
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