"Our desire is for Jesus to be pre-eminent in all we do."
- Ray and Laila Bevan
On 23rd. August, 2013, I published an article advising and warning people that King's Church in Newport, under its Senior Minister Ray Bevan, was hosting the notorious Word-Faith heretic, fake healer, false prophet, nefarious End-Times deceiver, Mr. Benny Hinn. This article, amended as requested by Ray Bevan, can be found at:
http://watchman4wales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-circus-comes-to-town-benny-hinn-at.html
In that article I incorrectly said that Mr. Bevan had divorced his wife. Some 15 months later, he has contacted me to correct this wrong assumption on my part; it was his wife who divorced him. His requests were properly and promptly responded to. I have no problem in apologizing for and rectifying errors that are brought to my attention. Such an action is only right and proper.
I have asked Mr. Bevan if he would admit to his own error in regards to the hosting of Benny Hinn, and apologize to the people of Newport and beyond, who were thus exposed to great spiritual and emotional harm. I am sad to report that he has been quite unable to bring himself to do so. I sent him the personal testimony of a gentleman who attended one of these meetings with his friend, full of anguish at what had transpired. Mr. Bevan would not even acknowledge this gentleman's Christian concerns, let alone respond to them in any way.
In the interest of transparency before men and before God, the exchange of emails between us is published below. People who chance upon this may therefore have the opportunity to make up their own minds about all this, and comment if they so wish.
The last Pharisee that posted lying slanderous accusations claiming I divorced my wife faced
prosecution for deformation of character.my wife divorced me.please remove that lying
statement from your article and also apologise to the few that read it for the lies your
judgmental heart has spewed out.
Sent from my iPhone
prosecution for deformation of character.my wife divorced me.please remove that lying
statement from your article and also apologise to the few that read it for the lies your
judgmental heart has spewed out.
Sent from my iPhone
Hello Mr. Bevan!
The Lord will judge both of our hearts and indeed everyone else's in due time, and
you will answer for your actions as I will answer for mine!
I will comply with your request to amend my article, though I must say that for a
well-known Christian Pastor your missive is astonishingly lacking in grace, and as
for your reference to "the last Pharisee" as you term the person who previously
referenced your divorce facing prosecution, perhaps I could respectfully refer you to
1 Corinthians 6:1 which would put you very firmly in the wrong before God for
undertaking such an action, sir!
P.S. I assume you meant "defamation" rather than "deformation/"
Yours sincerely,
In Jesus' Name,
Rob.
Mr Thomas.the fact that you could slander a brother on such a serious issue without checking
the facts,reveals a major heart problem.how many more lies are being presented as truth
By you,deceiving many.As for showing a lack of grace to you,check out how Jesus and Paul
spoke to Pharisees,hypocrites,and slanderers.when are you going to pull the plank fr your
own eye?
Sent from my iPhone
the facts,reveals a major heart problem.how many more lies are being presented as truth
By you,deceiving many.As for showing a lack of grace to you,check out how Jesus and Paul
spoke to Pharisees,hypocrites,and slanderers.when are you going to pull the plank fr your
own eye?
Sent from my iPhone
Hello again, Mr. Bevan!
As you have noted, of course, I completely complied with the requests of your first email
to me, yet you have still chosen to get back to me in this fashion. I trust that your own heart
is devoid of any defects, sir, and your own eyes free of any wood?
I am a fallible man, saved by grace and grace alone. If a mistake I've made is pointed out
to me, I will rightly acknowledge it and apologize, as you have seen. We all hopefully learn
by correction. I will ask this of you, sir, in all sincerity, for the answer is very relevant and
important. Are you above correction? Are you infallible? Do you never get things wrong?
If you do, do you admit to your error and apologize for it?
I ask these questions particularly bearing in mind King's Church's hosting of Benny Hinn,
which was the catalyst for and focus of the article you took such exception to. I do find it
interesting that your only concern in contacting me was for your own name's sake, with no
mention whatsoever of Benny Hinn. Which leads me to ask this of you:
Will you, Mr. Ray Bevan, admit - on such a serious matter as this one - your own grave
error in having the church of which you are Pastor host this man? Is it not a fundamental and
vital task of the shepherd to protect the flock from harm? Will you, Mr. Ray Bevan,
apologize to all the good people of Newport and beyond who attended those meetings for
exposing them to such harm?
Perhaps you would be so good as to read and digest this extremely sad personal testimony
of one of those Benny Hinn meetings at King's, and perhaps you would see it as being the
honourable thing to do to direct an apology firstly to this gentleman and his friend who travelled
some distance only to be very deeply offended and upset by what transpired, and then to
everyone else whose faith has been knocked sideways by this most regrettable event which
you and King's were responsible for hosting.
Every blessing to you Rob. For years I have had a huge love for the country of Wales and many of the people who live there. In my earlier years I found it so exciting to read about the Welsh revival with Evan Roberts and the gospel he preached. There is something so spiritually right about all of this, denying oneself, crowning Jesus supremely as King, having a hunger for God and reaching out to those He was calling you to minister to. Also interesting to see what happened to Evan later on. I believe it was a real attack on him. More recently, it has been wonderful to see what has been happening with Ray Bevan and the growth of King's Church.
I attended on one night in August 2013 and traveled from the West Midlands where I live in order to take a friend who 'needed ministry'. I was HORRIFIED. Firstly it was far too warm inside the church and inadequately ventilated. Hence, many, like myself had to leave and sit outside with symptoms of overheating and dehydration. The care of the members of Kings Church was lovely, but I listened with dismay as Benny made his appeals for money. He said something like 'Sow your seed, pledge £xxxx and God will give you that breakthrough you have been seeking' I watch others listening to all of this an there was no obvious reaction. I wanted to ask them 'What do you make of all of this?' I am sorry that some of our preachers sincerely believe in the prosperity and feel driven to resort to these type of tactics to maintain their near future existence. I saw others leave having come in faith, hoping God will meet their need, only to return disappointed. My friend and I offered to pray with them, but their despondency had overwhelmed them. Jesus' attitudes and teaching is quite clear, but it is so sad that we have in our self sufficiency amended His truth to suit our modern day. "Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof."
It is heartening that people like you share that love many of us have for the Welsh and that there will be a real return to God's values. I pray for pastor Ray and the faithful Christians who worship in Monmouth.
Adrian.
I attended on one night in August 2013 and traveled from the West Midlands where I live in order to take a friend who 'needed ministry'. I was HORRIFIED. Firstly it was far too warm inside the church and inadequately ventilated. Hence, many, like myself had to leave and sit outside with symptoms of overheating and dehydration. The care of the members of Kings Church was lovely, but I listened with dismay as Benny made his appeals for money. He said something like 'Sow your seed, pledge £xxxx and God will give you that breakthrough you have been seeking' I watch others listening to all of this an there was no obvious reaction. I wanted to ask them 'What do you make of all of this?' I am sorry that some of our preachers sincerely believe in the prosperity and feel driven to resort to these type of tactics to maintain their near future existence. I saw others leave having come in faith, hoping God will meet their need, only to return disappointed. My friend and I offered to pray with them, but their despondency had overwhelmed them. Jesus' attitudes and teaching is quite clear, but it is so sad that we have in our self sufficiency amended His truth to suit our modern day. "Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof."
It is heartening that people like you share that love many of us have for the Welsh and that there will be a real return to God's values. I pray for pastor Ray and the faithful Christians who worship in Monmouth.
Adrian.
So will you now, Mr. Ray Bevan, in an attitude of Christian humility, honesty, care and compassion, have the integrity to admit to this mistake, and apologize accordingly? This isn't a matter of who divorced who and why, it is a matter of the Gospel itself being brought into disrepute and the faith of any number of folks being blighted.
In Jesus' mighty and matchless Name,
Rob.
Mr Thomas,why are you still cloaking your deliberate slander of people as a"mistake"sin is not a mistake sir it is a violation of gods word ,
which you so piously finger point in others.i am not concerned about my reputation,but my concern is,if you can premeditatively print ,lies
knowing you have no proof
About my situation,how many others are being unjustly slandered by your acid tounge?you don't apologise for sin sir,you repent of it!!
Sent from my iPhone
Mr. Bevan,
Why have you not answered me at all concerning what I have addressed to you on the Benny Hinn issues?
Do you refuse to admit error, and refuse to apologize for your complicity?
Was it a mistake or a sin to have threatened someone with prosecution, in violation of God's Word? I will not be so presumptuous
as to ask you if you repented. That is between you and God.
If you say my "mistake" was a sin, and not to be apologized for but repented of, then why did you ask me to apologize if that was
not the correct thing to do? Is this not a real contradiction?
I ask again, will you not admit your grave error, and apologize for your complicity in the matter of Benny Hinn? Will you refuse to
even acknowledge the concerns expressed in the copy of the correspondence which I forwarded to you? For if you cannot bring
yourself to do so, but fudge the whole issue by just back-biting at me instead, can you realistically take the spiritual and moral high
ground? What manner of man will such a cavalier attitude show yourself to be, Mr. Bevan? Are you really so unconcerned about
your reputation?
I have answered you. Will you not answer me?
In Jesus' mighty Name,
Rob.
Mr thomas,you do what all Pharisees do,when confronted with their own sin.call it a mistake!having benny hinn in my church
pales into insignificance compared to wilful deliberate slander.premeditated sin,posting a lie presented as truth,hidden under
a cloak of self righteousness .its amazing how you can judge others believing you are defending truth but accuse me of
backbiting by telling you the truth.your probably not used to people standing up to your hypocrisy.the harvest in Wales cries
out to be reaped,cowards like you stay in the barn criticising the reapers.
Mr. Bevan,
I do rather think that it may just be you who is not used to people standing up to your hypocrisy, and questioning
your actions (or indeed, in this case scenario, your conspicuous and most lamentable lack of Godly actions). Just my
opinion, of course.
Whatever you may think of me is one thing. But you have chosen to aloofly ignore what was brought to your attention
concerning a third party, who I have no connection with whatsoever other than being the recipient of his personal
testimony concerning one of the Benny Hinn meetings. Meetings you hosted that you can only say "pales into
insignificance" compared with me saying you divorced your wife when it was she who divorced you! (In any event, a
wife can't divorce her husband without good grounds, but I'm not going to labour the point; that is a matter between
you, the first Mrs. Bevan, and God).
I have held up my hand to admit to my error, and apologized. Which is something that you will not do, Mr. Bevan,
though you so clearly consider yourself the better man. (Truth is, no man is better than any other, for we are all
wretched sinners saved by grace alone). You are obviously sadly above being corrected yourself, unwilling to admit
to your own wrongdoing, and unable to muster the Christian grace to utter even the most basic of apologies to those
who have been grievously distressed and had their faith seriously damaged as a direct result of your wilful complicity
in the Benny Hinn travesty. What does that make you, Mr. Bevan? Does not such a man reveal - to use your own
terminology - a major heart problem? You call me a coward, strangely enough without you having any evidence for
making such an accusation (!) yet you yourself won't stand up and be answerable. What's truly being hidden here by
yourself under that cloak of self-righteousness you refer to?
This email exchange will duly be published, as we are meant to be transparent and not do things in secret, and most
certainly not when those things affect the Body at large and the integrity of the Gospel. Thus anyone who cares to
read this exchange can make up their own minds about you, and about me, and what manner of men we really are.
I'm not telling people what to think; they can weigh it all up and decide for themselves.
In the mighty and matchless Name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour,
Rob Thomas
A full 2 weeks have passed, and I have heard nothing further from Mr. Ray Bevan.
I can only say this. Shame on you, sir! Shame on you for your callous indifference to
the hurt and damage caused by the appalling neglect of your shepherding duties to
protect the flock, actually hosting the wolf in the midst of the fold! Shame on you for
your refusal to respond in a proper Christian manner! By your actions and cynical
lack of them, you have shown that your declaration of desire for Jesus to be pre-
eminent in all you do is just a sham! Shame on you, sir!
ADDENDUM 10/12/14:
A very interesting series of commentary and Charity Commission links dated 9/12/14
appears in the Comments Section of the original article:
