"A time to weep... a time to mourn..."
(Ecclesiastes 3:4)
April 10th. 2013 was a sad, sad day for Christianity in Wales. It saw the birth of the so-called "Welsh Outpouring" at the Victory Church in Cwmbran. It started with the supposed healing of a man who got out of his wheelchair, that it transpired he had never been confined to in the first place! Last known Victory Church statement concerning this gentleman was that he was unavailable for interview, being under "pastoral care." (Don't give the game away, Mr. Haynes. Don't want egg all over your face, do you... and rotten egg at that...?)(Ecclesiastes 3:4)
To celebrate the first anniversary of the "Outpouring," Victory Church and their supporters will be partying heartily. Those of us who have not bought this shoddy counterfeit brand will be lamenting heavily, filled with consternation and dismay at the depth of damage being done to the true Faith by Richard Taylor and his bosom buddy Andrew Parsons as they build their empire, deliberately deaf to any voice that might dare to ask questions of them and their monstrous creation.
"I don't hear anything, Andrew! Do you?"
Their deafness and their wilful spiritual blindness they in turn impart to all and sundry who cannot - or will not - exercise wisdom and discernment, and "try the spirits" as is our Scriptural duty!
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
(1 John 4:1)
Taylor's current position at Victory Church is Founding Pastor and Executive Elder. Parsons is both Executive Pastor AND Executive Elder. Anyone know what an Executive Pastor is? Or an Executive Elder? Lofty titles, full of self-aggrandizement, self-bestowed and having no real Christian meaning whatsoever. Personally, I can only assume that these positions/titles mean that this proud pair have the final say on everything. They are the apex of their self-built power pyramid. Victory is THEIRS! How does this line up with Scripture? Consider the Lord's own teaching on such matters, if you will:
"But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all."
(Mark 10:42-44)
Like all megalomaniacs, they crave an empire that they can rule over and adoring subjects that will put them on the pedestals they think they deserve. In their case, this egocentric goal manifests itself as "Mission 50/10." They boast that they have a God-given mandate to plant 50 churches across Wales in 10 years. (If the Lord was intending to return before that decade is up, I suppose He'll just have to hold fire until the mission is fulfilled!) Strange that the Lord should apparently have initiated this long-term strategy, when He Himself taught:
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
(Matthew 6:34)
If not tomorrow, what price ten years' time? It is really important to emphasize that all of these intended church plants (termed campuses!) are Victory "territories" which are not independent but intrinsically linked to - and accordingly answerable to - the seat of power: the "mother church" in Cwmbran. "One church, many locations" as their slogan would have it, with the self-appointed Taylor/Parsons regime firmly in control. We all know, or at least should know, the fate of the blind who follow the blind...
"Where's Dai going, then? Must be off to plant another Victory campus...!"
But now merely winning little old Wales for Richard Taylor - sorry, Jesus - is not enough. Victory is out to conquer the world! The Terrible Twosome have created yet another monster called Victory International Ministry (VIM) in a bid for global domination! (Seems that VIM essentially comprises of just 2 men... yes, you've guessed it!) And yes, it was launched in furtherance of another of their amazing "words" purporting to be from the Lord!
Many and varied are the very real and grave concerns about Victory Church and its leadership, concerns which have been documented in detail on this blog and elsewhere. At the heart of the problem is the sad fact that men are following men, thinking those men are following God when they are actually cynically taking carefully calculated and highly questionable steps to self-fulfill a self-given "prophecy," that they would lead a revival "the likes of which the world has never seen before!" Please see:
"In 2013 after hosting a national conference in Cardiff The Lord spoke to them from psalms 2:8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession’ Today VIM is carrying an evangelistic anointing to the nations by hosting conferences, crusades, revival meetings and teaching
materials to resource the body of Christ in reaching nations."
materials to resource the body of Christ in reaching nations."
(Source: VIM)
If you really believe that God has given the nations to Taylor and Parsons for their inheritance, you no doubt also believe that your molars have been given to the tooth fairy for her inheritance!
VIM... scouring the world for fresh victims to dupe!
FRIENDS, YOUR SOUL IS MUCH TOO PRECIOUS TO BE ENTRUSTED TO THE GUIDANCE OF SUCH MEN AS THESE, MEN WHO HAVE PROVED THEMSELVES TO BE EMPHATICALLY
NOT
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THEY WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE! AS GOD'S HOLY WORD BALDLY STATES:
NOT
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THEY WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE! AS GOD'S HOLY WORD BALDLY STATES:
"Thus saith the LORD, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."
(Jeremiah 17:5)
One question to Mr. Taylor personally:
Do you think your heart has NOT departed from the Lord, when you teach children how to successfully steal from their local convenience store, on a national television programme where neither the Lord nor your own faith are even once mentioned?
One question to Mr. Parsons personally:
Do you think your heart has NOT departed from the Lord, when you give "the right foot of fellowship" (your own words, sir!) to an existing Christian congregation in Merthyr Tydfil, as you take over what was their chapel and have the audacity to call it a church plant?
To you both, I address this most relevant of quotes:
"YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME."
- Abraham Lincoln.
One question to all supporters of Messrs. Taylor and Parsons:
How can you support them, if you are a God-fearing and Bible-believing Christian?
To you all, I address this quote from "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen:
If you think it perhaps inappropriate to quote from a "fairy
story," please consider this very appropriate quote from the Word of God:
To you all, I address this quote from "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen:
"BUT HE ISN'T WEARING ANYTHING AT ALL!"
- a child who sees things as they really are.
"Oh dear! Have I been made a monkey of?"
"Oh dear! Have I been made a monkey of?"
story," please consider this very appropriate quote from the Word of God:
"AND THEY SHALL TURN AWAY THEIR EARS FROM THE TRUTH, AND SHALL BE TURNED UNTO FABLES."
(2 Timothy 4:4)
THE "WELSH OUTPOURING" IS JUST SUCH A FABLE. ITS LEADERS? FANTASY-WEAVERS...
"... HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF: FROM SUCH TURN AWAY."
(2 Timothy 3:5)
