Here are my prayerful observations on Perry Stone’s latest ministry update (it is linked at the end):
1. Perry’s use of Joel 2:28-29 cannot be a revelation of something “to come” due to Acts 2:17-18. Peter would say that what the people were witnessing 2000 YEARS AGO as the Disciples exited the Upper Room was a fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29. This is NOT some promise that has gone unfulfilled until our present time (2012 and beyond): this is a promise that WAS fulfilled when the Disciples obeyed Jesus by coming together in that Upper Room…and the Holy Spirit came. Therefore, God could NOT be the one who was speaking to Perry…speaking that this promise was YET TO BE FULFILLED.
The true teaching of Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17-18 is NOT some “future outpouring which is to come”…it is telling us that a time will come when the message of the Kingdom will NOT be limited in its teaching and scope: that what was once only the role of the Priests and the Prophets would now be done through ALL BELIEVERS…as the Holy Spirit indwells each and every believer, enduing them with the power to be witnesses for Jesus! This outpouring was not limited to “a younger generation”. This is even noted in the passage in Joel itself! It actually denotes that God’s Spirit will be poured out on ALL generations…young and old alike…EQUALLY!
Yet…the primary fact to denote is that this “outpouring” was instituted…as stated by Peter as he spoke to the people who had gathered outside the Upper Room…on THAT VERY DAY: a day in time which occurred approximately 2000 YEARS AGO! And God has been pouring out His Spirit from that time to now. There is NO NEW OUTPOURING to come.
2. Perry states “Satan, I am going to make you pay for what you have done.“ First, I would note that Perry said “I” and not “God is going to make you pay…”. That is a self-sufficient statement…not a God-sufficient statement. We, as believers, already know the final destination of Satan: the lake of fire. And, though Satan can wreak havoc in the lives of people, those who actually live in sin will never be able to stand before God and simply say “The devil made me do it.” Yes…the ULTIMATE blame for sin, etc. goes to Satan. But…we must take responsibility for our actions and failures…and our OBEDIENCE or DISOBEDIENCE to God. Satan will ULTIMATELY pay for all that he has done…but it will not be because Perry Stone has sought to make him pay.
3. Regarding Perry being told by God that he (Perry) is to be “mentor” and a “father to a generation.” - Perry said he “wants to be the Father to a generation” yet he didn’t feel he could because of all he is involved in. God GREATLY spoke to my spirit as I heard this statement from Perry. Every minister is to care for those under their care…whether young or old. When God spoke to Abraham, telling him that he would be “the father of many nations”…note that Abraham did NOT go public with that proclamation! Though God had spoken…Abraham never stepped forward to proclaim himself as the chosen one. I am SURE that God is saying “I want EVERY BELIEVER to care for EVERY generation. And the YOUNGER generation holds no special significance over the OLDER generation. I spoke in My Word that I would pour My Spirit out on ALL flesh…young and old alike! Every generation is significant! Every believer who still has the breath of life within them is a believer that I want to use! And I do NOT want what is spoken into the life of ANY generation to be a voice of FALSE DOCTRINE!"
4. The Study Bible which Perry says God told him to do - Many preachers/teachers do their OWN study Bible…which further SILENCES the voices of others within the ministry. Not only will Perry’s “partners” hear Perry’s constant voice…they will now even hear it almost EXCLUSIVELY as they study the Bible. There is “wisdom in a multitude of council.” It will be ESSENTIAL for those “partners” to seek out OTHER voices of confirmation…or false doctrine finds an unimpeded path. Not all men who author a study Bible are in error…but Perry HAS been involved in doctrinal error recently as he has begun to openly espouse the prosperity gospel. I will just say this how I felt God speak it: Beware of men who wish THEIR voice to the be the PRIMARY voice heard by followers! The Word of God needs to be CONFIRMED…not EXPLAINED by only one specific, chosen leader of a ministry. Personally…I would NEVER do a RON SMITH STUDY BIBLE. The Word of God needs to speak for itself. Then…there needs to be a VARIETY of PROVEN voices speaking in CONFIRMATION to that Word.
5. Perry says God spoke to him saying “I want you to build a gathering place. I am going to bring in youth and adults in conferences and meetings from around the world to Cleveland, TN.” Perry then goes on to tell of some gentleman who is “80 years of age” who “shared with us” some story of an “angel of God” appearing to a man…standing at “the foot of his bed”…and telling him that Cleveland, TN would be the “hub” for a worldwide revival “in the last days.” Of course, with the many religious/Christian organizations which are located in Cleveland, TN…the possibility of God using Cleveland, TN is actually not futuristic…it is just reality.
It is then that Perry begins to talk of the ministry center he is building…calling it a “16 million dollar gathering place.” Perry then states “This is going to be a hub or a headquarters or a gathering place for the move of God.” Perry then compares this to JERUSALEM.
Now…I am ALREADY assured by God (as He speaks to my spirit) that MANY already believe that I am in error to even mention ANY of this. But…God tells me that it is time to speak…even in the face of opposition. And…God is telling me to speak now…after almost 30 years…about all I have learned and gleaned from Him and His Word regarding the building of ministries…and when men go BEYOND his intentions for ministry!
In 1983, I became an employee of Heritage USA in Charlotte, North Carolina. That was the ministry location and empire of PTL founder and president Jim Bakker. God sent me to PTL at a time of great transition for Heritage USA and the PTL ministry. I became a PTL Singer…where I served for one year.
Heritage USA Ministries (which I will simply denote as PTL from this point on) was built on almost the same principles which are being spoken by Perry Stone now. Jim Bakker spoke regularly and often that it was “God” telling him to build. During my time at PTL, the announcement for the Heritage Grand Hotel and Ministry Center came. The construction for this project would begin during my tenure at PTL…yet I was not there to see it in its completion…nor the subsequent building which would take place on the PTL grounds. What ended up being built was astounding in its scope! Even more astounding? The scope of its fall! What was once the largest ministry on earth now ceases to even exist! As I have prayed over the recent days…I went to YouTube and viewed videos of PTL…the “BEFORE” and “AFTER” of it all. At its height…PTL was almost monstrous in scope and scale. And…it seemed that it was “ordained of God”…and, thus, that it was established forever!
Yet, behind the scenes, this 18 year old, immature, naïve teenager began to see the REALITY of PTL…and the PUBLIC APPEARANCE was not matching the BEHIND THE SCENES REALITY! I will not begin to delve into all that I saw…but it was EVIDENT that it was NOT God who was pushing the buttons and pulling the strings of PTL! Did God WANT to be in control? YES! WAS God in control? NO!
I could go into SO MANY aspects of what I saw and what God showed me that it would take a BOOK to contain it! I will abstain from writing it all here…even though many see what I write as a “mini-book” already!
Here is the key to all of this:
As I witnessed the many things “behind the scenes” at PTL…I became VERY troubled. I was young…I was impressionable…and I somehow knew that God was NOT “blessing” as the leadership claimed. It was there that God helped me to realize that NOTHING can be equated to “blessings of God” simply by looking at earthly success and kingdoms! I remember the realization of this when I felt God speak to me in prayer, saying “If wealth and great buildings and fine cars and the appearance of earthly success are signs of my blessings on believers and ministries…then wealthy drug dealers, the mafia, and every other wealthy law breaking sinner would be considered ‘blessed by God’…and they are NOT! Evil men will sometimes PROSPER…and good men will sometimes NOT prosper (at least by earthly standards)! The sign of My blessing on a ministry is NOT seen in earthly kingdoms! The sign of My blessing on a ministry is in its TRUTH…in front of the camera and behind the scenes!”
What I am about to reveal I have only spoken about to VERY FEW people…I believe no more than a half dozen people or so. While in prayer regarding the things I was witnessing while employed at PTL…God spoke to me these words:
“With your eyes, you will witness the fall and destruction of this ministry. It was NOT built under my authority nor instruction: it was built under the deception of men. I could have used it even still…yet the failure to REPENT has set in motion its downfall.” (I can only paraphrase what God spoke.)
Now…before someone sits in disbelief over what I have just spoken…let me reveal something that happened while I was a PTL Singer:
Some time in late 1983 or early 1984, we had a VERY SPECIAL and VERY UNUSUAL meeting. All of the employees were called to a meeting in what was known as “The Barn” (does this sound VAGUELY familiar…Perry has built a “barn” for ministry: coincidence?). EVERY employee of Heritage USA was called to this meeting (I am not sure who or how many were left at their job posts to allow the grounds to continue even operating). As we walked into The Barn, we were handed a bag of peanuts (the kind in the shell that you break open, leaving peanut husks everywhere) and told to sit on the floor. All the seats (to the best of my recollection…I saw NONE in the seating area of the auditorium) were removed…and there were two stools in the very middle of the entire auditorium. We were simply told that Jim had a VERY IMPORTANT word for all of us.
Soon, Jim Bakker came out and sat on one of the stools. With Jim was the Reverend James Robison (of the program “Life Today”). Jim came out and said that James Robison had come to speak with him…and Jim said that he KNEW that God had sent James Robison to PTL to speak this word. And now…Jim wanted James to speak this word to all of the employees. What was then said was quite astounding to me…I was shaken. God was INDEED speaking to…and through…James Robison. I remember being shocked that Jim would allow anyone to even speak such things!
What James Robison would basically speak…in humble brokenness…was this:
“God is not pleased with all that is going on a PTL. Jim Bakker has surrounded himself with “yes men”…and this has resulted in a lack of accountability . Many things being done in the name of “God” are actually not being instructed by God at all. God is declaring that unless there is REPENTANCE and unless things change…God will cease to strive with this ministry. The “yes men” need to go! And the leadership needs to begin to council Jim in WISDOM…not in blind gullibility. God can still use PTL to minister to the lost and dying and needy of this world…but it MUST turn away from the false gospel of wealth and greed which has so consumed its ministry. God ALWAYS wants to restore those who have gone astray…it is never God’s desire that some be lost in judgment. So…God is speaking to Jim Bakker and PTL: turn from your present course and set your direction and eyes on Him! There is still hope!” (paraphrased)
Sadly…we all know what would happen. History cannot be changed. As an employee and a PTL Singer…I saw a very small sign of change: but that lasted less than two weeks. Very soon…everything simply went back to “business as usual.” History now tells the story of Heritage USA/PTL Ministries….what once was.
There are many other examples of men who make the claim that “God is telling me to build”…all claiming that God wants to use THEIR ministry…THEIR place…to reach the masses.
Many forget the story of Oral Roberts…when Roberts claimed much the same as Jim Bakker…and much the same as Perry Stone. Roberts said God told him to “build”…to build a place where people would come, etc. It would become known as the “City of Faith.” With it, Roberts would build a hospital…a place where, if built, God would provide the cure for cancer…all according to Roberts. And…Roberts would raise the funds through “partners”…and the place would actually be built!
Yet…time would prove that God was NOT the voice speaking to Oral Roberts (listen: if God says something WILL happen…then it WILL happen: and vice versa!), In time, it would all fail…with bankruptcy looming and the hospital in great debt…the hospital closed…and no cure for cancer ever came. The hospital had opened in 1981...and by 1986 it had lost millions of dollars each year.
The hospital closed in 1989...only 8 years after its construction was completed.
With Jim Bakker and Oral Roberts…many thought they could not build it without God’s help. Many believed that the simple fact that these places WERE built was some verification that God was the one “blessing” these ministries. But just because a Christian ministry BUILDS does not mean that it is God INSTRUCTING them to build! But…in every instance…ministry leaders proclaim to the “partners” that they are “building” because “God told me to.” What else CAN they claim?!? Who would build anything while admitting “This is MY dream. This is what I want to do. God did not tell me to do it…I just WANT to do it.”
What we really see is that men can indeed build…but any kingdom built on ANYTHING other than JESUS and His truth (built on the ROCK) will one day crumble! Sadly…the millions upon millions of dollars spent during the time of “building” can never be recovered! And…the time and money lost in a DECEIVED attempt at building a kingdom of man is time and money that could have been spent reaching the lost! Further…the people who become disillusioned by the antics of ministries such as these are simply BEYOND NUMBER. Lives are destroyed, fortunes lost…and, the worst part, NON-fortunes are lost…as average men and women pour money into projects proclaimed by their favorite preacher and ministry as “God’s will and instruction to BUILD!” All the while…”partners” lavish praise on the ministry leader…believing any and all words which come forth from the leader’s mouth. It is “blind faith”…and each leader knows that he holds the power to sway his “partners” in their thinking. Face it: if the ministry leader proclaims something “is not of God”…then the “partners” will believe it. Conversely…if the ministry leader says something “is of God”…then the “partners” will believe it. The loyalty is to the MINISTRY LEADER…yet any loyalty to the Word of God is filtered through the ministry leader…and wisdom and discernment disappear among the followers. The PIED PIPER mentality rules and reigns within this realm of ministry. Any “voice of opposition”…anyone who questions the “voice of God” within the ministry…is quickly silenced. The ministry leader labels anyone who disagrees with what THEY (the ministry leader) say in a variety of ways…ranging from “simply wrong” to “carnal Christians” to “evil tools of Satan.”
For 30 years I have wondered why God even sent me to PTL. I never wanted to go. I argued with God. But I went after KNOWING it was his will. But…I realize that I have NEVER heard God’s voice speak to me “Go build a huge ministry that costs millions and millions of dollars. Get that money from “partners”. Spend that time and energy and money on a ministry which will focus on THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY SAVED…giving them a place to further focus on their own “blessing”…whether they see that blessing as financial and/or spiritual hype. Keep my people together…constantly focusing on EARTHLY subjects and each other. Focus on the needs of CHRISTIANS in every aspect of ministry. Let them partner with you. Build them up. Keep them happy. Give them a place to come. Do not worry about my command to “Go!” No…I want them here at your ministry center…busy learning from you…instead of going into the world and telling others about Me.”
You see…what I realize about ALL of these ministries is this: all of them can do what they do WITHOUT the kingdoms they have built…or are seeking to build! Oral Roberts didn’t need the City of Faith to be more effective: he just WANTED it. Jim Bakker did not need Heritage USA to be more effective: he just WANTED it. Perry Stone doesn’t need this new 16 million dollar center to be more effective: he just WANTS it.
And notice this CRUCIAL truth:
Each of these men had already begun to enter into FALSE DOCTRINE at the time that they claim God spoke to them to “BUILD!” Jim Bakker and Oral Roberts BOTH entered into the false doctrine known as the PROSPERITY GOSPEL at the very time in which they claimed God was speaking to them…claiming God wanted them to ask for money from “partners” in order to get donations for their projects. Perry Stone’s recent Manna-Fest programs have done this same thing: the programs featuring Walter Hallam have been nothing but teachings of FALSE DOCTRINE.
The patterns here are EERIE in there fulfillment…especially with Jim Bakker and Perry Stone both making one of their first buildings a BARN structure.
When I first felt God say “Perry is following the same spirit that Jim Bakker followed many years ago.”… I had NOT noticed that Jim and Perry both built a BARN as one of their first “instructions from God.”
Here is what God just spoke to me today: “My Word states that I will build My Church…and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Every community has churches…churches that I placed there for a DISTINCT purpose. It is the local churches which are ordained by ME to be the place of refuge when troubling times come. By working through LOCAL churches…EVERY community possesses the opportunity to reach THAT SPECIFIC community. And…whether in a time of plenty or in a time of need…the LOCAL churches which I have ordained can be my “light in the darkness”. Modern ministries have usurped the authority and even the provisions which were meant to be given and used within LOCAL communities. Mega-ministries have claimed to be My voice…doing so as they seek to gain a huge following, building kingdoms that I NEVER said to build. In doing so, they are actually thieves…thieves who steal the provisions which are meant to be used within communities around the world. Yet…the provisions are used to create large places of concentrated power…places where MEN are crowned Kings…Kings of THEIR OWN kingdoms. I ordained the CHURCH…local churches…so that ALL POWER remains concentrated IN ME…not IN MEN! I want places of refuge (churches) in EVERY city and community. And I want each place of refuge looking UP…looking to ME…not placing its focus on some KINGDOM OF MAN in some far away community! I want to reach Cleveland, TN through CHURCHES in Cleveland, TN! I want to reach Cleveland, OH through CHURCHES in Cleveland, OH! I want to reach YOUR TOWN through CHURCHES in YOUR TOWN!”
I have written what God has instructed me to write on this. I am SURE that the recent programs by Perry Stone have been false doctrine. The Bible PLAINLY exposes the teaching as such. I am in prayer for Perry, for the Church, for Christians everywhere. Time is short…and God has for too long been USED as an excuse for men to build their own little kingdoms. This nonsense must stop! God wants HIS GOSPEL to be proclaimed…not some hyphenated false gospel (when we have to define the “gospel” being taught because it isn’t THE Gospel!)!
It is time that ministries and ministers return to their TRUE calling. It is time for REPENTANCE and APOLOGIES in the Church. Jim Bakker wrote a book entitled “I Was Wrong.” It is time other false teachers write those same words…and that they return to TRUTH again.
The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-UPyQvdYDU
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