He is my account of what I have seen at the 3 services so far...(some of the accounts were taken from a forum I have posted in):
"As I said before, I had heard of this “outpouring” or “revival” going on in Cwmbran and immediately decided to visit this place to see what was going on. In the end, as things worked out, I was able to go that same week. To the best of my knowledge it was “Day 38” of this “outpouring”.
When I found the church, I was greeted with what looked like an old industrial unit that had been converted into a church. They have done a very good job doing this, with a large lobby and coffee/café shop just inside. When I got into the lobby, there were hundreds waiting all squashed together so I sat on the window ledge at the corner and watched the crowds talking to each other.
When I found the church, I was greeted with what looked like an old industrial unit that had been converted into a church. They have done a very good job doing this, with a large lobby and coffee/café shop just inside. When I got into the lobby, there were hundreds waiting all squashed together so I sat on the window ledge at the corner and watched the crowds talking to each other.
There seemed to be about 15 or so men down the front of the lobby (next to the double doors which were not to be opened until the service started at 7pm because the worship band were practising - which I have found in other charasmatic services and thought this to be rather odd) who were starting to do their best to turn to start football-style chants e.g. “J-E-S-U-S”… “We love you, Jesus we do, we love you Jesus we do…” etc. Many joined in and I was genuinely taken aback by how so many wanted to ramp up the atmosphere and whip up people’s emotions. It was, for someone who is not easily impressed or surprised a very surreal atmosphere to be in with many jumping up and down, shouting and yelling. I regularly go to watch football on a Saturday and I cannot express this point enough - it genuinely felt like a "football-type" atmosphere.
As soon as the doors opened the music began playing and this did not stop once in almost 2 hours. Literally. The worship band played a selection of very modern (some very good) worship songs but continued to play them over and over again, so within a short space of time, many people around me were beginning to cry with emotion, one guy in particular jerking and having sporadic spasms through his body where he looked if he was fitting. This supposedly; was the “Holy Spirit”. For those who have looked into this, it was evident that these manifestations are also very common in Eastern Mysticism, especially in Hindhuism and Buddhism.
Then, I met a mother with a disabled boy. At first, I offered her my seat as she had nowhere to sit next to him. He seemed to be about 12/13 yrs of age. From working with special needs children for over 12 years I could tell that he suffered severely with cerebral palsy (or a related condition), to the extent he could not speak, nor communicate properly without an aid or help. His mother was becoming more and more emotional over the worship to the extent she was holding her boys hands and talking to him as she sang the words to him. While this may not be a bad thing at all, I could see where this was all going and sure enough, after about half an hour of worship, one of the speakers (someone Scottish from my recollection - Kenny Brandie) came to the stage.
He firstly began by apologising that his voice was going because he had been praying for so many people (which my instinct inside me felt like this was just a statement of pride on his behalf) and began to say about how many people have been healed during these recent meetings. An example given was someone healed of leukaemia by a “prayer cloth” that had come from the church (the person lived in Bristol). He also spoke of a wheelchair-bound individual who has been healed in a service and began “running around with the chair over his head” (which is difficult for a really strong person to do as wheelchairs do weight quite a bit).
The speaker then stopped one step short of what is commonly seen at Benny Hinn-style meetings. He told the audience that he “believed God is going to heal tonight” and listed a number of ailments that God was going to cure. As the music continued (as was constantly asked to ramp it up by the speaker), hundreds of people came down the front to be anointed with oil by members of the church (I think?) who had a "gift of healing".
This is when the women sat next to me wheeled her boy down the front for prayer. Many began shaking, falling down “under the Holy Spirit” (even though this is not mentioned in scripture), some began sobbing uncontrollably and the boy with his mother had at least within a few moments up to a dozen people holding him and praying over him. This scene continued for over an hour. The boy in the chair, by this time now had up to 8 or 9 people praying over him, with his mother receiving prayer in-between the time she was watching and hoping for an answer to their prayers for healing.
The speaker briefly got back up and made a short statement regarding salvation. Possibly just 2 to 3 minutes long then asked the worship band to pick up the music again and went back down. While everyone at this church are keen to stress that salvation "is the most important thing", it is clearly not the case. At least, not in how the services are conducted. While they do give the gospel, it was a very, very short appeal. It was also noticeably the 3rd agenda on this service list as we had over half an hour to 3/4 hour of worship then a request for healing to take place.
In the end I began getting more and more upset. Not only for the false hope that was given by the speaker (I won’t call him a preacher as he did not to my knowledge even look at a Bible when he was up on stage), but also for the boy in the chair who had been subject to nearly a dozen strangers holding him, having their hands over him for more than an hour while I am unsure of whether he knew what was going on.
I got to the point where I began to pack my things and leave. I saw people filing out slowly, some falling asleep on the sofas in the lobby and got in my car. I was so overcome with pity for this woman I had given my seat for that I went back in to talk with her. Sadly, she was still down the front surrounded by people praying for her son. The speaker was still urging the worship band to continue playing more and more, obviously to keep the “atmosphere” of worship and miracles going. At this stage I left and drove home.
I felt sad in many ways as the speaker had given the people a false sense of hope that God “was” going to heal. He only stopped very short of what was said at some other well-known “faith healing” ministries. The woman with the boy was expecting God to answer her prayers. I have no idea if she was even saved. If she wasn’t, and God chose not to heal her son, then that would surely push her further away from a saving knowledge of Christ.
Even Paul, asked the Lord to heal him and God in His infinite will decided against it.
Overall, I found the whole night totally, totally geared to emotionalism. From the lobby before the meeting where it genuinely felt more like a football match, to the worship being THE focal point of the meeting (and not God’s Word – because there was nothing from the Bible of any real substance)…everything seemed more like a production than an act of God.
Have people been saved? I have no doubt. Has God healed people? I wouldn’t say either way. I know God can and still does perform miracles. However, not on request like what was happening in Cwmbran. I certainly would doubt (in-fact I would bet my house on it) that everyone that has gone for healing has received it. That is not what happened with the Lord when He performed healing. He healed with a 100% success rate. In-front of everyone. He could raise the dead. These people can’t. You cannot cherry pick part of Jesus’s healing ministry and not stand it up against His criteria. There were so many scriptures that contradicted what was going on, especially with the "healing" that I found it difficult to stand by and look on.
Sadly, I feel that many people have been given a false hope and many, many will not still be around when all of the emotionalism and the attendances have died down. It is all very well to state that over 1,000 people have been saved. Yet, I do not see these people coming back. Where are these people? It is very worrying to see what is going on."
Bro. Rob, I also went another night to see what was going on, although cannot remember what night it was. What stood out for me again, was not only the huge emphasis on "healing" over the call for salvation, but also what I found in their book store. There were books by Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, TD Jakes and the like. Also, more interestingly, there was a book by Smith Wigglesworth. He was an old-time charasmatic faith healer from the 1800's I believe; who would kick and punch people to get rid of the "devil" (and thus heal people of cancer, diseases etc.). I strongly suspect this is someone who greatly influenced Todd Bentley. Todd over the past couple of years has visited Cwmbran and Victory Church. You can see the link and line of error being traced back to its source. Yet, these people are still buying these books and are lapping up the heresy being preached in Victory.
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This account was sent to me by Brother Steve, and is reproduced here with his full permission. My sincere thanks go to him for his willingness to share his personal observations on happenings at Cwmbran, and I very much hope that anyone reading his account will reach a similar sobering conclusion!
Anyone with concerns of their own is very welcome to post a comment, or email me at:
watchman4wales@yahoo.co.uk
